Mysterious comings and goings ...

Theophilus

New Member
3 days ago I contacted Humax UK support with the following query ... so far I've not even had an acknowledgement of my email, let alone a resolution ... ironically since raising the query the missing recordings have all reappeared, but will they still be visible tomorrow?


I purchased a refurbished FVP-4000T from Humax Direct two weeks ago (Invoice #xxxx xxxx).

I have a problem with my recent purchase and I am unsure whether this is related to the system settings (which seem to be OK), a more general software issue, or an underlying hardware fault which may have been why it was returned to be refurbished by the previous owner.

The issue is that when I call up “Home” / “Recordings” screen, although there are 15-20 recordings on the internal HD, these are not shown as having been recorded. The HDD status shows that approximately 20% of the disk is in use, but shows “Total: 0 recordings”

If I reboot the FVP-4000 the missing recordings are sometimes shown, and available to be played, but there is no consistency in whether rebooting / turning off mains power will have this effect. Some days I cannot see any recordings - although if I record a new programme it will be visible, until I restart the Humax the following day when it too may have disappeared.

Paradoxically, some days I can switch on and find all the missing recordings have reappeared.

I have an external HDD attached via the USB port (with recordings from my Humax HDR-Fox T2) and these recordings are visible and playable. However disconnecting this external HDD and rebooting the FVP-4000T has no effect on resolving the issue of the invisible recordings on the internal HDD.
Can you advise – is my refurbished box faulty or can this be resolved?
 
Humax support have a very poor track record of responding to emails unless you make phone contact first.
 
Humax support have a very poor track record of responding to emails unless you make phone contact first.
Thank you - I'm finding that out for myself!
Unfortunately due to deafness I find phone calls difficult, and appreciate companies that respond to emails - however as my FVP has now retained access to stored recordings for 3 days (!), I'll wait a little longer :)
 
Just received this from Humax - in context of not replying to my enquiry it reads like a sick joke :eek:

.............................​

"We are constantly striving to improve our products, in order to ensure that you have the most reliable and up-to-date set top box that puts you in control of your TV viewing experience. We cannot do this easily without your help and feedback, regarding the performance of our products.

So, when some customers experienced annoying bugs on our FVP-4000T (Freeview Play) boxes, we got to work straightway in order to find solutions and forever eradicate these annoying issues.

The good news is that those dastardly bugs are being exterminated, and the most up-to-date software will be available week commencing 21st November 2016.

We would like to thank you for your patience and remind you that we are always keen to hear your experiences of our products, because without you we wouldn’t be here.

We will send you another email closer to the time reminding you to update your device, but until then, if you need any assistance on our products or you simply just want advice, you can contact us via Email

Yours Sincerely,

___________________________________
SK Seo
Customer Services Manager
Humax Electronics Co. Ltd"
 
That seems like a really helpful reply that completely addresses your problems, doesn't it?:roflmao:
When they get rid of those dastardly bugs, all will be OK then. I just wonder in passing if it is actually one of those dastardly bugs that's causing your problems.
I somehow doubt it.
Try a different tack. Tell them that it is faulty, and you want to return it (or a replacement). No more, no less. See what they say to that. It is obviously not fit for purpose the way it is.
 
"The good news is that those dastardly bugs are being exterminated, and the most up-to-date software will be available week commencing 21st November 2016."
The number of times I've heard that. Humax never hit their date targets. It could well be several weeks or months late, going on their track record.
Even then I wouldn't put money on it fixing your bug. If by some small miracle it does, they will probably break something else.

For what it's worth, I don't think the box hardware is faulty and changing it won't fix it (and you'll obviously lose all your recordings). Their software is just cr@p, and always has been.
 
Have you tried reformatting the hdd to make sure you have a clean start??

I've tried connecting an external USB drive but my 4000 doesn't read any of them

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Have you tried reformatting the hdd to make sure you have a clean start??
That would make absolutely certain that he will not be able to view any of his current recordings. But after all, it's only telly.;)
I've tried connecting an external USB drive but my 4000 doesn't read any of them
But it's the internal HDD that the OP is having problems with.
 
That would make absolutely certain that he will not be able to view any of his current recordings.

Quite. But that's a small price to get rid of an instable filing system
All of which should go without saying

But it's the internal HDD that the OP is having problems with.

Yes but irony being he has no problem using an external drive but I do - just saying



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Problem Solved ! :thumbsup:

I don't want to tempt Providence and be sent back to square one ... but ... so far the problem of the invisible recordings has not recurred since I altered (no thanks to Humax technical support!) one of the settings in Power Management.

Unlike my earlier Humax devices (or if they did I missed it), the FVP-4000T has an option to allow signals to be transmitted via an antenna loop-through even when the Hummy is powered off.
By altering this setting to "Power Saving in Standby" to ON (in other words no loop-through) my recordings seem (so far ... it's early days) to remain visible after rebooting the box.

Coincidence ... or solution?
 
Coincidence... except maybe the power saving off option could (maybe) result in the next start-up not being a full cold reboot.

I don't know what Humax units you had previously, but optional power saving on standby (disabling aerial loop-through) has been a feature since at least HD-/HDR-FOX, and was introduced to address the Government's requirement for standby power less than 1W.
 
Coincidence... except maybe the power saving off option could (maybe) result in the next start-up not being a full cold reboot.

I don't know what Humax units you had previously, but optional power saving on standby (disabling aerial loop-through) has been a feature since at least HD-/HDR-FOX, and was introduced to address the Government's requirement for standby power less than 1W.

Thanks BH - I've had a couple of PVR 9200s and subsequently two HDR Fox T2, but I've never seen the option to ALLOW the signal to be looped through to TV when the Hummy was powered off before - I guess it was there (will check my HDR Fox when I've a minute!). I've always had to turn on my Hummy to enable a TV signal - must have been missing something all these years :laugh:

However, the other point against your suggestion, is that I have been trying disconnecting the power lead to the box in my desperation to effect a full reboot - so something else must be going on.
 
Not sure whether this will shed light but I have recently attached an external usb drive to my 4000 and when it reboots (which it does daily at the moment) with the external drive connected the internal drive recordings completely disappear

TO make them reappear I have to disconnect the external drive and reboot

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Thanks for the comment - that's what I've discovered too - if I leave my external USB drive disconnected when booting I can now see all the recordings on the internal HDD.

It's not ideal (I always used to leave the USB permanently connected on either of my HDR Fox T2 and never experienced an issue like this before) but its a work-around until Humax come up with better software
 
Quick update now that they applied the November fix so the box does not restart
have plugged in my external drive
came back yesterday to find all the recordings have disappeared
ergo it must still be re starting in the day????

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Quick update now that they applied the November fix so the box does not restart
have plugged in my external drive
came back yesterday to find all the recordings have disappeared
ergo it must still be re starting in the day????

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The recent "fix" certainly hasn't resolved my issue of the vanishing recordings on the internal HDD - as I posted above, the only way I've found around this is to leave my external USB drive disconnected (as the machine re-boots at least daily) and then plug the USB drive in when I want to play recordings on it - not ideal!
 
The recent "fix" certainly hasn't resolved my issue of the vanishing recordings on the internal HDD - as I posted above, the only way I've found around this is to leave my external USB drive disconnected (as the machine re-boots at least daily) and then plug the USB drive in when I want to play recordings on it - not ideal!
Yes I've found the same
Which implies the box is still rebooting

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