Remote issues since May firmware update, older firmware

penx

penx

New Member
Since the May firmware update, our remote stops working after several minutes (anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minutes).

(the remote is in STB mode, it still lights up when you press a key, I've tried a factory reset and different remote codes by holding down OK and 0).

Power cycling the box fixes the issue (without doing anything to the remote), so I suspect it's a hardware or software issue with the box/IR receiver - and the fact that it coincided with the firmware update on a device that has worked fine for years makes me lean towards software.

Humax support have told me to buy a new remote, that it's not a software issue, and that they won't provide me with old firmware to validate this myself.

Has anyone heard of a similar issue?

Does anyone know how I can get a copy of the firmware before the May 2022 update?
 
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I've only just noticed your post after I was directed here from the Digital Spy Forums.

I too am having this issue, though in my case the power button on the remote still functions even when none of the others do.

I found this firmware version from 2013, but after trying to install it, the Humax settings says it is still on the May 2022 version. That could be falsely reporting - I have only just "updated" the firmware with this file, so I'll keep an eye on it to see if there is any change in the Humax's performance.

 
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***UPDATE

More in hope than expectation, I left the Humax switched on and periodically tried the remote. It seemed to work for a lot longer this time, but come the end of the film that I had got engrossed in, again the only thing that the remote control could do was turn it off. I would guess between 2 to 3 hours from switching on to the remote no longer working properly: better, but still not right. Maybe there is also a hardware issue on my device?

I'm going to pack the unit away in it's box now, in the hope that one day either Humax or someone else comes up with a proper fix.
 
Have you checked that the handset is actually sending IR?

Black Hole said:
To test whether a handset is transmitting when expected (and not when not expected), view the emitter with a digital camera (eg the camera on a mobile phone). Digital cameras (not all - check with a known working remote) are sensitive to IR (Infra-Red) and the flashes will show up in the viewfinder (electronic, not optical). The iPad3 rear camera is not sensitive to IR but the front one is, so this is my favourite way to test IR handsets because it is like an IR-vision mirror. (Be aware that IR is being supplanted by RF, eg Bluetooth, but that does not apply to HD/HDR-FOX.)
Click to expand...
 
@Black Hole
Thanks for the reply.

I'm confident that the remote control handset(s) are working correctly because the fault happens with three different ones: two One4All types and also the Humax original.

I use a similiar method for testing remote controls, but I use a medium wave radio tuned to a quiet channel: turn the volume so that you can hear the background noise and then operate the remote handset as close to the radios internal aerial as possible. If it is working then you can hear the pulsing.
 
paul608085 said:
I use a similiar method for testing remote controls, but I use a medium wave radio tuned to a quiet channel: turn the volume so that you can hear the background noise and then operate the remote handset as close to the radios internal aerial as possible. If it is working then you can hear the pulsing.
Click to expand...
Is that specifically for RF handsets? It ain't gonna prove an IR handset is working if the LED is faulty!
 
@Black Hole
AFAIK, I don't have any "RF handsets".

This is a method that I have been using successfully since I first became interested in electronics over 40 years ago - were RF handsets around then?

One thing that I have realised that I didn't mention here, but did on the Digital Spy forum, was that when none of the other remote functions are working, I can always power off the Humax with the remote and turn it back on again to get another period of full operation until it fails again. So if I can still "power off", then the LED must be working?

forums.digitalspy.com

Humax HDR-1000S Remote Unresponsive After Some Time

I have a Humax HDR-1000S 500GB Freesat receiver which has developed a fault, and I'm wondering if anyone else has come across this before and either been able to fix it, or can confirm that it is terminal?
forums.digitalspy.com forums.digitalspy.com
 
Black Hole said:
Who has an AM radio to hand these days anyway?
Click to expand...

Very true!

We only have one AM portable now, (in addition to the "HiFi" and car radio), it is also very useful for tracing ADSL and VDSL broadband problems.

I haven't actually used it for it's intended purpose for years, but I'm not getting rid of it :)
 
I've been looking in to this a bit more today, and have found that the internal fan never seems to come on.

I'm not measuring any voltage on the terminals on the PCB.

The fan is label says 12 volts @ 0.11Amps, but the fan has 3 wires. I would guess that red should be +12 volts and black should be zero volts, (chassis ground) - but what should I be measuring in the white wire?

Does anyone have access to the service manual or circuit diagram for the HDR-1000S please and can advise?
 
paul608085 said:
The fan is label says 12 volts @ 0.11Amps, but the fan has 3 wires. I would guess that red should be +12 volts and black should be zero volts, (chassis ground) - but what should I be measuring in the white wire?
Click to expand...
The third wire on fans (if there is one) is a tacho feedback signal.
 
@MartinLiddle @Black Hole
Thanks for the replies.

I have just made a small modification to my HDR-1000S, in case the problem I have is temperature related. My perception was that the fan was never coming on, even after I had tried stressing the hard drive by making two very long simultaneous recordings, (many hours), and the hard drive felt very warm.

I cut the red wire going to the fan near to the PCB connector, and after stripping back a little bit of the insulation on the yellow wire going to the hard drive, I soldered the two together and taped the joint.

The fan now comes on whenever the hard drive is on, so as part of each startup, and shuts down a few minutes after being put in to standby.

I'm going to spend the rest of the evening testing it and will report my findings here tomorrow.
 
paul608085 said:
My perception was that the fan was never coming on, even after I had tried stressing the hard drive by making two very long simultaneous recordings, (many hours), and the hard drive felt very warm.
Click to expand...
It's possible, if the driver is dead.
 
Black Hole said:
It's possible, if the driver is dead.
Click to expand...

As the OP had linked this issue with a firmware update, I was thinking that the update might have inadvertently also stopped the fan from working afterwards? (It certainly isn't unknown for firmware updates to accidentally break something unexpectedly!).

Regarding my own unit:
After my modification last night, the remote control was still operating the receiver properly after being switched on for 12 hours - I left it on all night to test. :)

I have now fitted the 2TB hard drive, (replacing the original 500GB), and it is currently on test.
 
How does the fan working or not working implicate the remote control system, in as much as you made an electrical bodge to the fan and not any alteration to the firmware? This seems extraordinary, and extraordinary claims require some kind of rational explanation or evidence.

If a firmware update killed the fan, then it would kill the fan for everyone. I admit few people might notice, but nonetheless one would expect more reports.
 
@Black Hole

Black Hole said:
How does the fan working or not working implicate the remote control system, in as much as you made an electrical bodge to the fan and not any alteration to the firmware? This seems extraordinary, and extraordinary claims require some kind of rational explanation or evidence.
Click to expand...

In my experience, (over 40 years of maintaining electronic equipment), any recurring problem that takes time to appear, such as this problem, is likely to be temperature related. Perhaps the processor getting too hot because it is not being cooled properly? What I cannot explain is why the power button on the remote, (and only that button), continued to function when none of the other buttons did.

If the firmware is now preventing the fan from running as designed originally, then what I have done is bypassed that problem by making it run all the time that the receiver is operating. No need to alter the firmware.

Before my "bodge", I had put up with many months of the receiver having to be switched off after a couple of hours to regain full use of the remote control. Immediately after the "bodge" it goes for over 12 hours and still works fully. Can you explain that please?

Black Hole said:
If a firmware update killed the fan, then it would kill the fan for everyone. I admit few people might notice, but nonetheless one would expect more reports.
Click to expand...

Well at least one other person, the OP, has noticed it!

I don't know how many HDR-1000S's there are still in service, and of those, how many owners are members of forums such as this to report it?
 
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