Perhaps you could explain why you're confused ?
I already have, and quoted the relevant contradictory passages. Perhaps what you think you wrote isn't the same as what you actually wrote.
It says release date FEB 2021 not APRIL.
I know what it says, but the quoted "release date" is not the same as the date Humax made it available to the public. The availability was announced on this forum here:
https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/iplayer-stopped-working.9882/post-153813. Prior to that, there was an interim version labelled "1.03.12" (unfortunately), only available by application.
OK, sorry, it was 20th March not April (time flies). Nonetheless, it was not available to download from the Humax HDR-FOX support page before then, and it is new as of this year.
it turns out that the software update i downloaded from Humax is not an update, despite what it says on their page. Its the same version that i already have.
Unless you have already installed 1.03.13 since March 20th, it is not "the same version that I already have" (sic).
Funnily enough, it's already got some custom firmware, as you can see this when the box boots up, as it says so on the front panel.
If "it says so on the front panel", you do not have 1.03.13. If it says "Custom Firmware 3.13" on the front panel,
you do not have 1.03.13. If you have 1.03.12, 1.03.13 is not the same!
My posts are quite clear.
Your statements are mutually contradictory, so there is no point re-reading anything. Please resolve the contradiction, then we might get somewhere.
Wiping the slate clean, what I think I see is that you believe you have downloaded firmware update 1.03.13 hoping that might resolve some of your problems. I can tell you that, unless your problem is the inability to play iPlayer content via the TV Portal, 1.03.13 will not resolve anything. The only thing which might resolve your crashing/freezing problem is to work your way through the guide I directed you towards before:
In particular, it adds diagnostic and recovery facilities which might (or might not) solve your freezing/crashing issues:
Steps for Resolving HDR-FOX Crash/Reboot Issues (click).
...for which you are much better off having custom firmware installed than wiping it with 1.03.13.
If you really are processing the firmware update correctly, and it passes through the phases I have described (including a long pause of several minutes at "P091"), says "success", but has not actually changed
Menu >> Settings >> System >> System Information to show Firmware Version = 1.03.13, then either the update on your UPD is not what you think, or there is some serious problem I have never seen before. I cannot imagine "success" means anything other than verified success in writing to the Flash, and therefore firmware 1.03.13 being installed. I have never experienced this to fail, and it has never been reported to fail.
I
have downloaded 1.03.13 myself, I know the download was correct when I downloaded it, and it is difficult to believe Humax have changed the download file in the mean time (although, knowing Humax, just about any cock-up is conceivable).
With
any Humax firmware update installed, the VFD (front panel vacuum-fluorescent display)
will not scroll "Custom Firmware" during boot, and there will be no custom firmware facilities available
at all. If the VFD does still show "Custom Firmware" during boot, then
either the firmware you are trying to install is actually a custom firmware from this website and not Humax at all,
or "success" must be taken with a pinch of salt.