HDR Fox T2 and Foxsat HDR

Mal110

New Member
Hi,
I have had both the above units for ten years and highly recommend them. Reading this forum however shows me how little I know about them and what they are capable of. I only updated the firmware once and it remains the latest version. Other than that they are as they arrived. One is at home (T2) the foxsat is on a boat. The only problem I have had is copying films onto an external portable hard drive. If I record on the T2 I cannot watch on the foxsat. It cannot find them but they clearly are there. They could not be read then by the (T2) properly until my daughter changed the headings of the files containing the films. Humax support could not help although they tried. As it turns out we seldom record films so it has become a moot point but reading through the forum it seems incredible that both humax boxes couldn’t share films?
Also as a complete novice on this forum and with the technical aspects of how the receive signals. Yesterday I wanted to watch a sporting event on channel 266 which is one accessed via my broadband connection. Whilst I have managed this before with other similar channels I cannot now. Initially thought the T2 was not up to it as it’s getting on a bit but the forum gives me hope that I’m wrong.
Any advice would be helpful.
Mal
 
Yesterday I wanted to watch a sporting event on channel 266 which is one accessed via my broadband connection.
Neither the HDR-FOX nor the FOXSAT-HDR can do that.

Whilst I have managed this before with other similar channels
You haven't, at least not using the above units.

it seems incredible that both humax boxes couldn’t share films?
They can, but you require a conversion process. The "sidecar" files (as we call them), which carry metadata about the recording (the .TS file), are incompatible.

Any advice would be helpful.
Start here: https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/new-readers-start-here.839/
 
Summary

(If I haven't got this quite right I'm sure somebody will say so!)

Decryption:

HDR-FOX: All recordings are encrypted and cannot be played back on any unit other than the original recorder. Transferring a StDef (standard definition) recording to a USB stick/drive results in the copy being decrypted, transferring a HiDef recording does not. There are many ways to achieve decryption of StDef and HiDef recordings, see Things Every... (click) section 5.​
FOXSAT-HDR: StDef recordings are not encrypted, HiDef recordings are encrypted with no means to decrypt them, the only way around that being to install Nowster's Patch to prevent them being encrypted in the first place.​

Conversion:

For unencrypted StDef recordings, all you need to do is strip the sidecar files to make FOXSAT-HDR recordings playable on the HDR-FOX. Without sidecar files though, transport control is not available. FOXSAT-HDR requires sidecar files, but HDR-FOX sidecar files are not compatible. Use the AV2HDR utility to recreate them.​
For unencrypted HiDef recordings, the audio needs to be converted between AAC (HDR-FOX) and AC3 (FOXSAT-HDR). These are the encoders used in the broadcast, and not the fault of any particular PVR. See above re sidecar files.​

Sources:

 
FOXSAT-HDR: HiDef recordings are encrypted with no means to decrypt them
I don't remember anybody saying whether they'd tried decrypting these using the same style of key as works on the HDR-T2.
Has anyone tried it? I only have access to FoxSats that have been Nowstered.
Without sidecar files though, transport control is not available.
But can be easily restored using the sidecar package.
 
Thank you for your reply BH. I had already searched through your helpful new starters page, which is why I then went to search through the range of topics on the then 97 pages of information. What is clear is that there is a knowledge amongst members that is beyond the understanding of users such as myself. That is not to say we could not learn but it’s not what we want to do, the object is to carry films or tv programs recorded from the Fox HDR to the Foxsat without fuss or bother. So my question although moot has been answered.
As to not being able to view channel 266 Your answer was a simple confirmation of what I already experienced. A more comprehensive answer would be to (in simple terms) explain why? You might counter by saying I should have asked why. However I would argue it’s implicit. Now as to the channels I have accessed previously. You say neither box could do that, well the Fox hdr did but that channel no longer exists. It was commercial and had various travelogues you could access from a main screen unfortunately I cannot recall its title. Now I wholly believe you cannot receive channel 266 but I do recall watching other programs, admittedly some time ago, that did come through the broadband network.
Mal
 
A more comprehensive answer would be to (in simple terms) explain why?
There is a mechanism in the Freeview EPG to direct receivers (which are, in effect, dedicated computers) to access a video stream using the Internet connection rather than the broadcast channels. This has never worked on the HDR-FOX (in fact, trying to access one tends to crash), nor I believe on the FOXSAT.

Whatever you have viewed either did not involve the HDR-FOX/FOXSAT, or was not an Internet service... or just possibly you got very lucky and found one that did work when the rest of us had given it up as a bad job.

See here: https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/new-mheg5-freeview-channels.1855

What is clear is that there is a knowledge amongst members that is beyond the understanding of users such as myself.
The knowledge has been hard-won, by the many members of this forum contributing observations and trying things out when requested (reporting results) to pool knowledge. It was beyond all our understandings once - clarity has resulted from being around long enough to accumulate the knowledge.

Yes, it helps to have been around for a while so that the knowledge seeps in, but there are many users of the Custom Firmware who have no pretentions of understanding it and are quite content to do so nonetheless. Installation is just a case of following the instructions, using it is no more complicated than navigating a web site.
 
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