New version of software to fix iPlayer problem

I am using 1-03-03 firmware on HD-Fox T2. The lip sync on a broadcast programme is way out, and the 200mS adjustment is insufficient to correct it. However, on a recording made on an external HDD the lip sync is fine with no adjustment. To view a live broadcast, I start recording it, and after a few moments I view the recording with perfect lip sync. A poster on this forum said that the previous firmware version was OK, so where can I get that?
 
I am using 1-03-03 firmware on HD-Fox T2. The lip sync on a broadcast programme is way out, and the 200mS adjustment is insufficient to correct it. However, on a recording made on an external HDD the lip sync is fine with no adjustment. To view a live broadcast, I start recording it, and after a few moments I view the recording with perfect lip sync. A poster on this forum said that the previous firmware version was OK, so where can I get that?
Thanks, I already found it and it cures the problem. I now have to investigate what is wrong with it that the later version is meant to cure. If it's iPlayer I can live without it and use my laptop for that.
 
1.03.13 (HDR) / 1.03.03 (HD) restore iPlayer functionality, and were made available for download from the Humax website as of 20/03/2021. These firmwares update 1.03.12/1.03.02 with new certificates. It is no secret I regard this as remarkable, considering the length of time these models have been out of warranty. Humax first made a version of 1.03.12 available privately, with updated certificates, and this seemed to be satisfactory, but release of 1.03.13/1.03.03 has been accompanied by a new build of the executable which has proven unsatisfactory for HD-FOX: there are issues with the time it takes to change channel, and significant loss of synchronisation between sound and vision for many minutes (it catches up in the end)*. This does not appear to affect the HDR-FOX build 1.03.13.
If it's iPlayer I can live without it
You can definitely live without it, because iPlayer no longer works on HD-FOX and HDR-FOX, regardless of firmware updates or CF tweaks. I do not advise installing 1.03.13 / 1.03.03 – they have nothing to offer, 1.03.03 is positively detrimental, and (while it was working) we had a CF fix for iPlayer anyway.

my Humax has started to crash recently when launching iPlayer.
This is being actively discussed here: https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/iplayer-qtube-recent-issue.10569/. I suspect some aspect of the BBC's front end has changed, and is no longer compatible with Humax's browser implementation.
That was something like 18 months ago. I've just checked again, and I'm getting the same result as I did then – the iPlayer UI seems to work (albeit very slowly!), but the moment I try to play something it crashes and reboots.
 
You can definitely live without it, because iPlayer no longer works on HD-FOX and HDR-FOX, regardless of firmware updates or CF tweaks. I do not advise installing 1.03.13 / 1.03.03 – they have nothing to offer, 1.03.03 is positively detrimental, and (while it was working) we had a CF fix for iPlayer anyway.


That was something like 18 months ago. I've just checked again, and I'm getting the same result as I did then – the iPlayer UI seems to work (albeit very slowly!), but the moment I try to play something it crashes and reboots.
iPlayer still works fine for me on 1.03.02. My broadband speed is only 6.3Mbs. Playing a recording I made of Strictly Come Dancing on 1.03.03 (only to get lip sync at the time) works fine. I tried the Twitter app but it doesn't work, maybe because twitter has changed over time. I get a message saying I have to sign in to use it (but is that sign in to Humax account or sign in to Twitter? There's no way to sign in anyway.
 
@Dave W :

The combined experience on this forum is that iPlayer is no longer usable on the TV Portal on HDR-FOX and HD-FOX, and has not been since April 2022.

The first problem was that the Internet certificates baked into Humax firmware 1.03.12 (HDR-FOX) / 1.03.02 (HD-FOX) expired as of Autumn 2020. We have a custom firmware work-around for this (iplfix package), but Humax eventually released a firmware update 1.03.13 / 1.03.03. 1.03.13 (HDR-FOX) is OK, but 1.03.03 (HD-FOX) is buggy (as you have found out). Either way, iplfix was a better solution for CF users, so no version of the CF is derived from 1.03.13 / 1.03.03. Without either 1.03.13 / 1.03.03 or iplfix, iPlayer via the Humax TV Portal will not work.

What happened circa April 2022 (we presume) is that the BBC altered the way they serve iPlayer content. The network stack in the Humax firmware is fragile, and the new service triggers a bug which results in the unit crashing and rebooting within a few seconds of starting a programme.

Please check carefully. If your experience is different from this, we want to know about it and all the relevant details:
  • What is reported on-screen with Menu >> Settings >> System >> System Information (a photo would be good)?
  • Are you or are you not running custom firmware?
  • If you are running custom firmware, what are the versions reported bottom right of the WebIF home page (a photo/screen-shot would be good)?
  • If you are running custom firmware, is the iplfix package installed (see WebIF >> Package Management, Installed tab)?
  • What exactly have you succeeded in playing using TV Portal >> iPlayer (a photo of it selected on-screen would be good)?
  • What is your quality setting on iPlayer: Settings >> Settings & Help >> Video Quality?
I have to say I have tried (yet again) and succeeded in navigating all the way through to selecting a programme and confirming I have a TV licence, but then it just crashes.
 
@Dave W :

The combined experience on this forum is that iPlayer is no longer usable on the TV Portal on HDR-FOX and HD-FOX, and has not been since April 2022.

The first problem was that the Internet certificates baked into Humax firmware 1.03.12 (HDR-FOX) / 1.03.02 (HD-FOX) expired as of Autumn 2020. We have a custom firmware work-around for this (iplfix package), but Humax eventually released a firmware update 1.03.13 / 1.03.03. 1.03.13 (HDR-FOX) is OK, but 1.03.03 (HD-FOX) is buggy (as you have found out). Either way, iplfix was a better solution for CF users, so no version of the CF is derived from 1.03.13 / 1.03.03. Without either 1.03.13 / 1.03.03 or iplfix, iPlayer via the Humax TV Portal will not work.

What happened circa April 2022 (we presume) is that the BBC altered the way they serve iPlayer content. The network stack in the Humax firmware is fragile, and the new service triggers a bug which results in the unit crashing and rebooting within a few seconds of starting a programme.

Please check carefully. If your experience is different from this, we want to know about it and all the relevant details:
  • What is reported on-screen with Menu >> Settings >> System >> System Information (a photo would be good)?
  • Are you or are you not running custom firmware?
  • If you are running custom firmware, what are the versions reported bottom right of the WebIF home page (a photo/screen-shot would be good)?
  • If you are running custom firmware, is the iplfix package installed (see WebIF >> Package Management, Installed tab)?
  • What exactly have you succeeded in playing using TV Portal >> iPlayer (a photo of it selected on-screen would be good)?
  • What is your quality setting on iPlayer: Settings >> Settings & Help >> Video Quality?
I have to say I have tried (yet again) and succeeded in navigating all the way through to selecting a programme and confirming I have a TV licence, but then it just crashes.
I am eager to check out Black Hole's questions, but I have a dilemma. To access the internet I connect a cable from the box to my router. To connect my laptop I use the same cable from the box to my laptop. On my laptop I get a message saying that if the box can connect to the internet I can download a full web interface by 'clicking this link', which won't work because the box is not connected to the internet. Is the web interface downloadable from somewhere to save on a stick and add to the box? At the moment wifi doesn't come into it - maybe that's why I can access iPlayer OK.
 
I have to say I have tried (yet again) and succeeded in navigating all the way through to selecting a programme and confirming I have a TV licence, but then it just crashes.
I tried it too, twice, on my HD (with CF) and it crashes about 2 seconds into playing the video. The sound carries on for about another 5, with Crash shown on the front-panel display, before it reboots.
 
To access the internet I connect a cable from the box to my router. To connect my laptop I use the same cable from the box to my laptop.
So get another cable. Or are you short of ports on the router? In which case, buy a small switch to go in downstream.
 
To access the internet I connect a cable from the box to my router. To connect my laptop I use the same cable from the box to my laptop.
Why???!!

Presuming your "box" (which I take to mean your HD-FOX) is connected to the router by cable (fair enough), isn't your laptop connected to the router by WiFi?? If so, then your HD-FOX and your laptop will be on the same home network and the one should be able to see the other.

If for some reason your laptop doesn't have WiFi, or your router is not wireless, then do as prpr says and get another cable, and connect both laptop and HD-FOX to the router (not each other)!

On my laptop I get a message saying that if the box can connect to the internet I can download a full web interface by 'clicking this link'
So you only have the custom firmware "installed" in Flash and not actually running WebIF etc. In which case there is no way you have iplfix installed, and questions regarding the CF become irrelevant. The reduced set is:
  • What is reported on-screen with Menu >> Settings >> System >> System Information (a photo would be good)?
  • What exactly have you succeeded in playing using TV Portal >> iPlayer (a photo of it selected on-screen would be good)?
  • What is your quality setting on iPlayer: Settings >> Settings & Help >> Video Quality?
 
To be honest this is only of academic interest. iPlayer on the Humax is so slow and buggy these days it's not worth using. And even if it can be made to work the chances of it continuing to work for a few years is near zero.
 
Why???!!

Presuming your "box" (which I take to mean your HD-FOX) is connected to the router by cable (fair enough), isn't your laptop connected to the router by WiFi?? If so, then your HD-FOX and your laptop will be on the same home network and the one should be able to see the other.

If for some reason your laptop doesn't have WiFi, or your router is not wireless, then do as prpr says and get another cable, and connect both laptop and HD-FOX to the router (not each other)!


So you only have the custom firmware "installed" in Flash and not actually running WebIF etc. In which case there is no way you have iplfix installed, and questions regarding the CF become irrelevant. The reduced set is:
Yes, I can see the HD-FOX via the wifi to the router, and I got a message telling me the recording HDD was not connected and needs to be. I switched it on and instantly the webif package got installed. (in answer to prpr the box only has one socket to connect to router or laptop). I will check your questions soon.

I also have a Humax Foxsat HDR box with the nowster patch to prevent encryption of recordings. Will this patch work on the HD Fox T2 box?
 
in answer to prpr the box only has one socket to connect to router or laptop
:o_O: Well I know that, but you don't connect multiple devices to the HD, you connect the HD to the router/switch and likewise everything else. Then anything can talk to anything else. This is how networking works.
I also have a Humax Foxsat HDR box with the nowster patch to prevent encryption of recordings. Will this patch work on the HD Fox T2 box?
No. You have to decrypt afterwards, either on the box (very slow) or externally on a PC (Windows/Linux).
 
I switched it on and instantly the webif package got installed.
It wouldn't have got installed instantly, it was there (on the HDD) already but if your external HDD is turned off the firmware won't know that!

So new we need the answer to an extra question: did iPlayer work with or without the HDD turned on?
 
To be honest this is only of academic interest. iPlayer on the Humax is so slow and buggy these days it's not worth using. And even if it can be made to work the chances of it continuing to work for a few years is near zero.
And your point is...?
 
It wouldn't have got installed instantly, it was there (on the HDD) already but if your external HDD is turned off the firmware won't know that!

So new we need the answer to an extra question: did iPlayer work with or without the HDD turned on?
Here are my answers to your questions:

What is reported on-screen with Menu >> Settings >> System >> System Information (a photo would be good)?
Humax System Info2.jpg

Are you or are you not running custom firmware?
I am

If you are running custom firmware, what are the versions reported bottom right of the WebIF home page (a photo/screen-
shot would be good)?
Humax Portal info2.jpg

If you are running custom firmware, is the iplfix package installed (see WebIF >> Package Management, Installed tab)?
It wasn't but I've now installed it.

What exactly have you succeeded in playing using TV Portal >> iPlayer (a photo of it selected on-screen would be good)?
'Still Game'.
Humax Previous Searches2.jpg
Previously watched, now when clicked on,"something went wrong loading this programme".
Humax Wrong2.jpg

Exited the portal, tried again, now BBC iPLAYER screen is frozen.
Humax BBC iPlayer2.jpg

Started again, this time got to the iPlayer home screen. Clicked on 'Celebrity Race across the World'. Got "Something went wrong loading this programme' again. Removed the iplfix package. Tried again and got as far as 'Still Game' again. Clicked Play and the box crashed and rebooted. Tried again, same thing. I noticed the LED display had CrASH scrolling across before rebooting.

What is your quality setting on iPlayer: Settings >> Settings & Help >> Video Quality?
There are 3 options: HD, SD, Lower Quality. SD was selected. I now tried Lower, then I could start playing 'Still Game' again,
but I couldn't pause or stop it, only exit from the portal. I attach a photo of the screen - notice the quarter arc in the
centre, it's a hangover from an iPlayer animated 'wait' circle, and a similar arc has been there on all my previous visits.
Humax TV screen2.jpg

extra question: did iPlayer work with or without the HDD turned on?
The HDD was turned on but now I switched it off. After about three attempts I got 'Still Game' playing, but it soon crashed the portal.

So I have to accept the problems experienced by everyone else.
David
 
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