Ignoring / missing remote commands

El Shiftos

New Member
I've yet to take the plunge to a HDR-fox as I'm closely scrutinising other people's to make sure there aren't too many quirks or 'features' to drive me mad. If there are, I'll stick with my 9200 until it breaks :)

One thing I've noticed with my mother's HDR-fox is it missing remote commands. When the box is not recording, I can open the guide or menu, press the direction buttons and clearly see it ignoring 1 or 2 consecutive commands every 5-10 commands or so. This drives me mad and is a deal breaker in my book!

I've done all the usual like update the firmware, reset the box and search for devices/lights in the room that may be affecting operation.

Just throwing it out there to see if anyone else has experienced this problem?

Cheers
 
Is the "PVR" button on the remote flashing every time a button is pressed?

Presuming it is, this kind of behaviour is usually indicative of a failing hard drive. The operating system gets tied up trying to overcome write problems, and doesn't have time to process command inputs promptly. There are actions you can take to improve things, but ultimately a failing drive is a failing drive and needs replacing.

Quick Guide to Disk Recovery (click)
 
hmm those are the sign of type xxx problems that some boxes have. There is a group of us to have that issue. The problems comes and goes. When I moved over to BetaFTP the problem receded substantially. Cause you might need new batteries in the remote.

BH told me to return the box 9 months ago but the problem went away again then reappeared in October time or so and I had more time to fiddle around trying things out. Saying this you might not have this problem. Essentially at power up for the first few minutes you can get locked out via the remote then it's fine. Then reappears again latter, you just leave it and two minutes later it's fine. Then you can have the spongey keys where you need to press it a few time to get it to take the command.

My theory is the processor is just busy doing stuff and doesn't listen to the IR. If you use the performance stuff you can check the processor utilisation and HD temperature. During start up it's pretty busy hence my theory that it's related to not enough processor power and the way it polls the IR port.

Now I have entered into this conversation with people who have a different problem to this but then there is a group of "us" that have this problem. I recommend swapping to betaFTP and doing a disk check. Those too things did it which fixed the problem more or less. You aren't using 1.03.xx software are you ????. This has the reported effect on scrolling in the guide if you don't tidy up past expired programmes.
 
This is a new member on the forum, first post, in the vanilla HDR-FOX section, enquiring about his mother's HDR. I doubt the FTP server is even turned on, let alone the box being networked or running custom firmware. Consider the context when posting.
 
If it was my mothers it would be :) (would have been).

It does sound a bit like the 1.03.xx bug on scrolling the EPG. Then if it was my mother or mums I know they wouldn't be using the PVR function, but then she has a son. May be a good idea to check which version of the software it's running.

So considering your context BH you assumed it was the old remote issue and that breaks down into many issues of behaviour and that's an assumption to say it's the hard disk, doesn't have to be. Then we have the 1.03.xx issue so you didn't ask enough question did we to formulate the reply. New box from Humax direct could be 1.03.xx with loads of expired EPG events that need tidying up to make it respond reasonably when flicking around in the EPG.

The other remote problem doesn't manifest itself at boot up as recall. The type I've had and other it does for several minutes then goes away.
 
It is a stock, out of the box, non-networked HDR less than a year old. Firmware rev to be confirmed. It misses commands not only in the EPG, but also in the settings menu. I'm not messing with my Mother's HDR in case she needs to return it. Mine, however, will get the full custom firmware treatment along with any other bells and whistles that are available :)

It would appear that this problem only affects some HDRs and is not a feature, so I may get one from Humax grade A or take a punt on ebay.

Thanks for the comments chaps!
 
I see no reason you couldn't try a disk fix in an effort to cure it, and then return the firmware to standard afterwards.

Something else which can make the HDR slow to respond is unusual network activity, but as you say this one shouldn't have any network activity unless perhaps a fault in the circuit is making it think there is activity.

To finally eliminate the remote itself, monitor the output with a phone camera and check it is sending every time the buttons are pressed.

The track record of eBay prices is more than the Humax refurbs, and refurbs come with a warranty.
 
I was thinking of getting one from ebay sold as faulty and having a stab at repairing it myself (I do that kind of thing), that was until I saw the silly prices they go for. I mean £60 for a 'faulty' HDR....what's that all about?!
 
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