MagicTV 3600.. my quick impression report (updated)

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › MagicTV 3600.. my quick impression report (updated)

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91 posts

Master Geek

#517437 6-Sep-2011 12:16

Thanks Ian the patch (3.16) is working well on my system. You have done a great job, some of the sleuthing is amazing. You have stated the patch enabled the telnet daemon too, did you post credentials for the MTV box? I have read this long thread but not looked elsewhere? I also am hoping to be able to archive recordings off the MTV one day.

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nigelb999

37 posts

Geek

#517592 6-Sep-2011 16:05

Hi there. I'm new to this forum, but am looking at buying a MagicTV 3700.

I've heard the unit is amazing and works well. Is this the experience of anyone else that has it?

But, what is this 3.16 patch that's being discussed? Does it fix some issues found on the 3700 unit? Does it need to be installed separately after receiving the unit from the store?

Nigel

lorenzo

91 posts

Master Geek

#517612 6-Sep-2011 16:24

nigelb999: Hi there. I'm new to this forum, but am looking at buying a MagicTV 3700.

I've heard the unit is amazing and works well. Is this the experience of anyone else that has it?

But, what is this 3.16 patch that's being discussed? Does it fix some issues found on the 3700 unit? Does it need to be installed separately after receiving the unit from the store?

Nigel

either the 3600 which I have or the new 3700 are probably one of if not the best terrestrial Digital PVR players available on the market.

No the patches are aftermarket hacks the smart guys here have devised to workaround one or 2 quirks. The specific patch changes the ffwd and frwd button functions to skip 1 min fwd or 8 sec back rather than the default 10 min back and forward. [I'll leave you to ponder why]

The thread also describes how to change the harddrive on the 3600 if you wish, the file format of video on the machine (has relevance for future mods) and relates a number of users experiences (mostly positive) with the 3600 over the last 2-3 years.

I highly recommend you read this loooong thread - there is some real gold here and at the end you will probably decide to buy a Magic box.

Jimmy22

377 posts

Ultimate Geek

#517617 6-Sep-2011 16:32

the 3700 is so new there are no good answers yet, the V3.16 patch suits only the 3600 as far as its possible to tell at the moment, it is only listed for the 3600 and no patches are listed for the 3700 as of yesterday. i would wait a short time before you go ahead for several reasons.

The 3700 needs a review
The 3600 has been privately patched and has a more open interface and if the gurus do not patch the 3700 despite it being better in almost every way you would be waiting a while to get the functions the 3600 has.
IF the software is not compatable to get the functions we enjoy on the 3600..... quite a while perhaps.

Note there is now a 3700 thread so direct the questions accordingly if you can to keep this thread related to the 3600 until we know they are pretty much one in the same or not .

hope that helps a bit

p.s. should mention i love the MTV3600 , dont want to put you off just advising to wait a week or two ;)

2lostkiwis

67 posts

Master Geek

#517896 7-Sep-2011 07:53

lorenzo: Thanks Ian the patch (3.16) is working well on my system. You have done a great job, some of the sleuthing is amazing. You have stated the patch enabled the telnet daemon too, did you post credentials for the MTV box? I have read this long thread but not looked elsewhere? I also am hoping to be able to archive recordings off the MTV one day.

Hi there, glad it's working well for you. I have not released the login details for the telnet server - mainly because I am not sure if I can get in trouble doing it? Anyway, once you login it naturally you get a shell and access to an ftp client. If you wanted to get files off at the moment you would have to have a local ftp server running on another machine. You'd also need to be comfortable with linux/unix - are you still interested?

I have compiled and got running two different http servers, thttpd and the one in busybox. They both work well but I have some other problems - at the boot time when I need to run the http server, the hard drive has not been mounted. Still working on it tho, as time allows.

Cheers,
Ian.

Jimmy22

377 posts

Ultimate Geek

#517935 7-Sep-2011 09:25

here is an interesting thread from the Aus side... http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=95076&st=240 they have the model MTV4000 which is non freeview and the 3700 which is , it is also half the price of ours currently...

Mac2008

121 posts

Master Geek

#518023 7-Sep-2011 11:17

nigelb999: Hi there. I'm new to this forum, but am looking at buying a MagicTV 3700.

I've heard the unit is amazing and works well. Is this the experience of anyone else that has it?

But, what is this 3.16 patch that's being discussed? Does it fix some issues found on the 3700 unit? Does it need to be installed separately after receiving the unit from the store?

Nigel

The firmware for the 3600, which this long post discusses, will not work on the 3700. Each product has a unique ID built in and firmware from one model will not load onto another.
(This is also the same with the Australian versions. The NZ firmware will not load onto them.)

Of course that does not mean that the smart people here can not alter the firmware to work, but the likelyhood is that any changes will be made to the new 3700 firmware, rather than changing the current 3600 firmware to suit the 3700.

And as has been said, it will take a while so when you buy your 3700, expect to use it with factory settings for a while. Which is not all that bad.

PimpMyMagic

267 posts

Ultimate Geek

#518705 8-Sep-2011 17:53

I, too would like to add my thanks to 2lostkiwis for the 3.16 patch, which I am running without problems.

For me, it makes the 3600 the best box going and I suspect it will remain so if we can also get an http server running for file exchange. It looks like this would be more problematic with the 3700 reportedly running encryption on its HD recordings.
I like the way Vuze includes a server which makes files available on TiVo for easy transfer to enable viewing downloads on my TV.
The more connectivity the better.

Bartanda

23 posts

Geek

#518786 8-Sep-2011 21:49

I would also like to express my thanks to 2lostkiwis for the 3.16 patch, also working without issue. My wife and I both love the enhancements.

I did wonder though if it might be easier to re-enable copy to USB that has been disabled. It appears to be not so much disabled but modified to be copy from HDD to HDD instead of copy from HDD to USB, effectively making it useless.

Also, if anyone knows where I should look to learn the telnet login credentials, as I'd love to be able to have a look inside. Purely for educational purposes.

Cheers and thanks again

Dave

evanh

152 posts

Master Geek

#521251 15-Sep-2011 05:14

Not that easy. To work out what had to be changed to adjust the skip amount, Ian relied on having two practically identical copies of the binary image that happened to have differing skips.

From that Ian was able to pick out the one piece of straw in the haystack that adjusted the skip amount.

Enabling disabled features at the binary level is not anywhere near as easy or even possible without adding in the removed code. Of course, adding in an alternative method using another piece of software (web server) is possible when there is a whole Linux OS running under there.

evanh

152 posts

Master Geek

#521252 15-Sep-2011 06:10

PS: The gory details are at http://2lostkiwis.com/wordpress/mtv3600/

latimers

54 posts

Master Geek

#521300 15-Sep-2011 09:14

Last night I had my Magic 3600 set to record the following programmes, using the EPG:

Maori Channel 9:30 pm-11:40 pm Rugby
TV3 11:30 pm-12:30 am CSI
Maori Channel 11:40 pm – 1:50 am Rugby

I watched the recording of the first rugby game and when I went to bed at about 11:45, I checked the Magic box and it was recording the second game.

This morning the display on the Magic box was still showing REC with a time of about 2 hours 45 minutes. When I look at the Recorded Programs display, the second rugby game is nowhere to be found and the CSI shows a time of 50 minutes (should be about 1:35).

I have my options set to pre-record for 5 minutes and to post-record for 30 minutes.

Can the Magic box not handle this? Or is it a software bug?

The problem now is that I don’t feel I can trust it.

Bob Latimer,

Jimmy22

377 posts

Ultimate Geek

#521312 15-Sep-2011 09:25

i would put it down to the post record, i have mine set 2min pre and 5 min post with no issues but those numbers are possibly a bit too much for it . tv is pretty much all on time now days although sports matches would possibly run over. it is a known issue and setting over lap to zero solves it but i have got away with the above , which is better than nothing.

latimers

54 posts

Master Geek

#521386 15-Sep-2011 11:20

It looks like the problem is that, although the recording uses only two different channels, there is a time when it is set to record three different programmes.

The way I have it setup, that's between 11:35 and 12:10.

It seems to me that even with a 2 minute pre- and a 5 minute post-, there will be a period from 11:38 to 11:45 when the same thing is true.

It seems to me that the only way to set the overlap to zero is to have a zero pre- and a zero post-. Or is there another way? I looked at the settings for the Magic box recording but couldn't find anything.

(I have found the actual programme start and end times to be most unreliable later in the evening. A programme that's scheduled to start at, say, 11:40 pm on TV3 can be as much as 15 minutes late starting. With a 2/5 setting I would miss the end of the programme.)

(I've checked the rest of the rugby broadcast schedule compared to the other programmes I have on series record, and last night is the only time this three-programme conflict happens.)

Jimmy22

377 posts

Ultimate Geek

#521391 15-Sep-2011 11:36

From what i can work out the over lap goes to another part of the recorder and fills in the recording when complete so if you dont eat into that little facility too hard it will cope and perform correctly . i cant say i have had any issues of time recently where stations were that far out, i set my clock to windows . com time to the second and EVERY night 3 news starts on the dot, hard to understand how they are 15 mins out only a few hours later, but as i said sport is the biggest issue with overtime , injury time, crash recovery time. You CAN set individual recording to go longer but leave your regular programs on the -2 / +5 setup ;)

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