i think the trick may be if Lennon lets others with a vested interest in the code know about this issue , a multi- pronged discussion always fares better .. :) . I think the real issue is Freeview , they asked for the fairly open box to be closed down to suit their interests which i understand. This lock down has lead to basic wants being taken off the menu, if we had access to all the things we wanted i doubt we would be so worried about it. The ultimate box would allow people to make their own code from the ground up which would no doubt be amazing after a couple of years work.
Maybe that is the ultimate goal here a colaboration with Magic TV where people much smarter than most specify the hardware components and are allowed to code the software, MagicTV has a great product and everyone is happy, or as good as it gets....
Freeview may have done better than many of us first thought, including me. When I realised that encryption is not part of Freeview it dawned on me that it's the entertainment studios that are driving the lock-downs, not Freeview. There will have been a compromise of some sorts I suspect.
It's one I happen to like with the way the MTV is configured. Recordings are viewable with third party apps and Ian has now enabled the telnet/ftp combo and he is even talking about adding a ftp server to the MTV.
Apologies if this has been covered in this (very long!) thread already, but I'm in Aus and am thinking about getting a MagicTV for my Mum (in Palmy). They are a great deal cheaper in Aus ($299 online), but the model is different.
I am led to believe the firmware can be reflashed to a Freeview compatible version, but can it be flashed to a NZ compatible one?
I haven't bothered reading all 58 pages but I am looking at getting this or the upcoming 3700 that is coming out, I believe, sometime in September and I was wondering what the general consensus is on the brand and their products.
Like, does the unit's recording work fine on playback, unlike the Dish TV T1020 where Geekzone members have had to tell them that there are issues.
And do the makers respond to emails quickly, and are they helpful when responding?
aidanh: I am led to believe the firmware can be reflashed to a Freeview compatible version, but can it be flashed to a NZ compatible one?
You can be the first to find out! :D
By the time you get it over here the NZ version of the 3700 should be on sale. At which point, hopefully, there will be NZ firmware updates available for the 3700.
I certainly wouldn't go trying to reflash the 3600's firmware onto a 3700.
DaMo73: I haven't bothered reading all 58 pages but I am looking at getting this or the upcoming 3700 that is coming out, I believe, sometime in September and I was wondering what the general consensus is on the brand and their products.
Like, does the unit's recording work fine on playback, unlike the Dish TV T1020 where Geekzone members have had to tell them that there are issues.
I recommend reading the later pages at least.
Playback is reliable except for where it starts playing from is not consistent. Although, at any given spot the amount of error is consistent. It can be plus or minus several seconds. This particularly affects ffwd/frwd but anything that causes a jump in playback will trigger it.
Tuner reception may be of concern to some I believe. I live in chch so don't have enough experience with weak signal to comment too much here though. Others hopefully can fill us in.
Only other long term niggle is the speed of the EPG. It is a bit laborious when wading through the whole week to find the good programmes.
Pixel Magic have provided little bug fixes, and quite often. Communication is a one way affair. We complain and write emails and at some point in time a new patch appears.
i read about 45 of the pages and did a summary of the issues posted in this thread which may help... :)
NB: i have now done the upgrade to 3.16 overlayed with 1min 6 sec upgrade and have NO issues with sound dropping out after a FFD etc i am running sound via HDMI cable and have a pref for Dolby Digital set for your ref. It is the BEST setup so far by a mile .
FFD 1min and 2 sec and back 8 sec would be good, as i find 4 pushes Fwd results in seeing a 9th commercial for 6-10 secs currently . maybe some one has a record of the various tv stations and their commercial break gaps so we can optimise this setting ? :) :)
Just a quick update. I have cross compiled a mips http server based on busy box. I transferred this to the MagicTV and it runs fine, I was able download recorded programs over a http connection on port 80.
The only downside is the http server in busybox doesn't support generating directory listings so you have to know the name of the file you want to download - not really practical.
My next step is I am going to try and configure and compile a mips version of lighttpd. So I think I'm pretty close to releasing another firmware with support for transferring off recorded programs.
An update on the HDD upgrade. The Seagate 5900RPM drive has no issues so far. It is slightly noisier than the original one. When it is recording 2 channels, and the room is quiet, I can here the drive faintly, though my wife cannot. When you are watching a program though, any slight noise is drowned out.
Many thanks to 2lostkiwis. I downloaded the 3.16 Patch v1.2 firmware. All is working well with the 1 minute FWD jump. An added bonus is the fast forward and rewind in the 1.16 firmware is noticeably better than the 3.13 beta 6 that I was running. Keep up the good work. It is greatly appreciated.
Not sure if this has been covered before as I can't find a way to search just this thread. (is there a way?).
I use the function to extend the start times of recordings by 2 minutes. I set the recordings from the EPG. After the recording has finished, I select it & choose to play from beginning. The recording starts 2 minutes in from the actual start. Why, & can it be fixed?
It is the same with firmware 12 & 16. I have not tried as yet, to record any other way. I suspect it has something to do with the EPG start times.
I don't think it needs to be fixed because surely that's the way it's supposed to work.
The extra 2 minutes at the beginning (I set mine at 5 minutes) is a safety measure in case the tv station starts the broadcast before the scheduled time. So when playing back, the machine starts the playback at the theoretical actual start time of the program (i.e. in your case, 2 minutes into the recording). If the program started early then you can rewind and hopefully catch the beginning.
I think you will find most users would consider this to be a feature. I've had that turned on ever since I purchased the MTV3600 and in almost all cases the programme will start very close to if not slightly after the 2 minute advance recording start, that is very close to the advertised start time. For the odd occasion where the programme starts early your 2 minute advance recording will cover that situation, so just rewind or jump back.
On a side note, I've inherited a second MTV3600 and I have both on the "fixed firmware" with the 1 minute advance and 8 second rewind and find it FANTASTIC! I did have a Panasonic analogue HDD recorder and that feature was in it so 4 presses and I was back at the programme again, it was sorely missed until the "fixed" firmware became available. I am very grateful of the hard work put in.
There was another user who suggested the sound was missing on occasions. i too have had that happen whereas I never recall it before the fixed firmware upgrade. I'm not suggesting the fixing has caused it, nonetheless that version might have had another bug introduced. So far all I need to do is just hit a few rewinds (@ 8 secs a time) and it will start the sound again. It might happen approx 5-10% of the time when advancing using the 1 minute forward button.
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