FVP-4000T cannot turn on or off at times

M

Mark Kenny

New Member
I wonder if anyone can help me before I contact Humax. my new FVP-4000T will not turn on with either the remote or the button on the top of the box. This is even more frustrating as this happens only about half the times I try and no matter how many times I press the button or how long for it will not come on.
Even more apoplexing is that sometimes it will turn on and then turn straight off and if that isnt enough there are times when the red light will not change to blue but the tv comes on and the Humax box operates fine even though it is indicating that it is in standby.
I thought at first it was some kind of CEC link clash with the tv so I disconnected the HDMi cable to the tv but it still would not turn on.
This is my second box and the first one had the same problem(but only a couple of times) but the retailer could not find any problem in the showroom but he still gave me a new box.
Anyone else have the same problem ?
 
Mark Kenny said:
Even more apoplexing is that sometimes it will turn on and then turn straight off and if that isnt enough there are times when the red light will not change to blue but the tv comes on and the Humax box operates fine even though it is indicating that it is in standby.
Click to expand...
Are you aware that Blue is active but not recording, bright red is active and recording and slightly less bright red is standby?
 
Maybe this is a case of the HDMI not starting up rather than the box not turning on. We have experience of other Humax PVRs failing to initialise the HDMI if the unit is turned on while it is recording in standby.
 
Thanks for your input Martin and Blackhole. I did not know of the three status colours of the LED but I do now, the instruction manual indicates that the LED "lights red in standby mode and blue in operation mode" with no other description.I am sure that the box would not respond at all sometimes and the tv would not come on so this would preclude the 3 status colour theories. I will try it over the next few days to see how this new information translates to my box.
With regards to Blackholes theory, if the HDMi has not been initialised would trying again and again to turn the box on initialise the HDMi lead because when the box is in a "not responding mood" I try and try again but the box will not respond ?
Thanks
 
The problem with the HDMI is that (in the HDR-FOX), it requires a reboot to get it going - but while the box is recording (or preparing to record, or doing housekeeping) there is nothing you can do to force a reboot except power-cycle it (not a good idea in those circumstances). If an HDR-FOX is recording in standby, it is not uncommon for users to report no HDMI output when turned on.

The bulk of this forum is about us (as a community) learning the quirks of the HDR-FOX (primarily) over a period of several years while Humax brought out firmware updates which cured some of them and created others. As a starting point it is easy (but lazy) to assume the same quirks are likely to be endemic in their new boxes - manufacturers are not known for re-inventing the wheel. The FVP-4000T is a new box with significantly different functionality, but nonetheless likely to be based on a similar hardware platform - and potentially with similar flaws.

What's needed is for a significant population of 4000 owners to build up so that experiences can be compared. Does anyone recognise the symptoms the OP has described? How much of that is operator misunderstanding? There have been differences in user experience in the past simply because of the variability in HDMI handling by different TV manufacturers.
 
Thanks for the input Blackhole and I understand what you are saying about a new product having quirks, but whilst I am not a technical wizzard I have two other Humax PVRs and have used Humax for years so not a complete novice. In those years I have found all my boxes fantastic and easy to use with no unpleasant foibles.
If my problems are either because of operator knowledge or because of the 4000T HDMi quirks, I am a consumer that has paid over £200 for a recording medium that was bought on the strength of the Humax blurb and if they dont make it clear that something as important as the on/off action is considerably different to their previous products or in fact there is a problem with the HDMi then I believe it is not good enough.
What would other consumers who have less experience of PVR boxes think if they could not turn their new product on or off and not even be instructed in the manual how to ?
Whilst I am "off on one", initial judgment of the EPG is that it is awful and I find virtually imposible to use but I will reserve final judgment on the EPG when I have used it a little more.
Thanks for your input on my case anyway
 
This issue sounds very similar to the problems my mother has with her new FVP-4000T. She's previously had a PVR-9200T, two DTR-T1000 and a DTR-T1010 so is no stranger to Humax problems. Having abandoned YouView as being far too unreliable she was hoping the new box would be an improvement. Unfortunately it just seems to have a different set of issues. I struggle to understand why Humax can't get the basics right when they have so much experience.

As for the issue being discussed here, she reports that the box frequently won't come out of standby and has to be switched off at the back, sometimes more than once before getting a picture again. She also seems confused by the light on the front. I can't really add anything further to the discussion other than to advise on her setup for potential comparison. Her TV is a 2011 Samsung UE32D6530 and the FVP-4000T is running in the maximum eco saving mode setting. I've suggested she try changing the eco mode but being non-technical she has procrastinated doing this so far! Has anyone else tried this?
 
Having visited my mother yesterday I took the opportunity to make some changes to her setup. I switched off the self power-down setting as well as the reduced power standby mode. I also moved the HDMI connection from HDMI1 to HDMI3 in case there was a problem there. I'll report back once she's used it for a while with news if the problem's solved.
 
Got the same issues (unable to turn ON or OFF when box is already recording).

Previously I've rebooted to get it going again but obviously this disrupts any in progress recirding(s).

As a result I am also now trying without the "Eco" power settings to see if this improves stability. Not much else we can try here in terms of config that can be changed by the user.
 
As already stated above, it maybe that the unit is turning on but the HDMI connector is not working, you can prove this by temporarily using the composite video output (yellow phono connector) instead
 
Another thing to try would be to unplug, and reinsert one end of the HDMI cable.
 
It's been over a week since I made those three changes to my mother's setup and there has been no re-occurrences of this problem! I don't know for sure which of the three things I tried in post #9 fixed it as unfortunately now that it's working she won't let me change anything back to find out!

I'm not familiar with all the technical aspects of HDMI but I know that the port marked HDMI1 (DVI) was the one it was originally plugged into and the one just marked HDMI3 is the one it's now connected to, both with the same 1.4a cable. Does the DVI compatible port have additional functionality that may affect the Humax? The last three Humax YouView boxes she's had have all been connected on HDMI1 without issues also using the same cable.
 
loungelizard said:
Does the DVI compatible port have additional functionality that may affect the Humax?
Click to expand...
When a HDMI / DVI input is supplied on a TV / Monitor it is usually so that a DVI to HDMI cable can be connected, however DVI does not carry any audio, so that has to be connected to the TV / Monitor separately, usually via two phono sockets that are used only when this HDMI / DVI input is in use
 
Ezra Pound said:
When a HDMI / DVI input is supplied on a TV / Monitor it is usually so that a DVI to HDMI cable can be connected, however DVI does not carry any audio, so that has to be connected to the TV / Monitor separately, usually via two phono sockets that are used only when this HDMI / DVI input is in use
Click to expand...
That's what I thought. I've used DVI and VGA like that for computers to monitors in the past. I can't see why the Humax would dislike that aspect of the port so I'm now thinking maybe there's something else different with that port on the TV, CEC maybe, although I've never knowingly used CEC so not really familiar with it.
 
CEC provides a back-channel from the TV to the HDMI source so that the TV can pass remote control commands to the HDMI source (thus use the TV's handset for everything). If a HDR-FOX is the HDMI source, you definitely want to ensure CEC is turned off in the TV's menus (also known as Vieralink etc). I don't know whether the same applies to FVP-4000T, nothing has been mentioned so far.
 
Well, after my initial positive reports it seems that this issue is still occurring, just intermittently. Sometimes weeks will go by without a hitch, other times it won't come on reliably for days at a time. Is anyone else still having similar problems? Would a factory reset help the situation at all?
 
Just obtained new 4000T freeview with same lockup problem.

My local retailer phoned Humax who replied.
Go to Network Settings
Turn OFF Network Sevice ( it's on by default)

When set to OFF it stops 4000T searhing for OS updates which causing the lockup problem.
After doing the above I no longer get lockups.

Assuming Humax will do an update with next OS

graham uk
 
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