Looks like DSTV has been working hard behind the scenes. It is the 6th month that we have had the HD PVR and with me being technical minded i have lived with the flaws of the system. But the missus and sure loads of people in SA, I am sure it has been a frustrating nightmare!!!
So from the DSTV forums.
How to check and upgrade your system:
Updated software for the HD PVR was released 7 May 2009.
Quick check : while watching a video channel, press OK to display DStv touch. If the DStv touch menu includes News & Weather, your HD PVR decoder has the latest software.
To check software versions:
* Press MENU to go to the Decoder Menu
* Select Information Central
* Select Hardware Status
* You are now on the DSD Status screen
* Take note of the value on the 6th line (Appl SW). The latest version as @ 7 May is 1.14.1.114
* Press the right arrow twice to go to the Loader Status screen.
* Take note of the value on the 3rd line (Load Ver/Var). The latest version as @ 7 May is 13 / 2.
To download the latest software, please follow the steps below:
* Reboot the decoder. Wait for full video & audio to resume.
* Press MENU to go to the Decoder Menu.
* Select Advanced Options.
* Enter 9949.
* Select DSD Upgrade.
* Wait for the RED button to appear, then press RED and follow the onscreen instructions.
* Warning! Do not interrupt the download process (which could take up to 40 minutes) and wait for full video & audio to resume.
So what’s different in this updated software (released 7 May)?
* Vastly improved recording reliability
* Improved loading times for TV Guide data
* Faster response times when changing channels
* Addition of News24 and Weather24 interactive services
* Improved “trick mode” (when using PAUSE, FFWD, REW)
* Improved response to commands from the remote control
* Issues with audio loss mostly resolved (this was not observed during extensive testing)
* Improved HDMI stability (i.e. black screens during viewing)
* Stutter on SD channels (via HDMI) improved
* Improved SD video quality on all outputs
* Tuner 2 & 3 status screens (Decoder Menu, Information Central, Signal Status) now indicate if a recording is not in progress, ie. reason for no signal strength.
* Decreased observation of “frozen i-Plate” (this was were the i-plate displayed past events and did not update to display the current event)
* Decoder completely re-initialises after being in standby (previous software still had reports of this error, however this has not been observed in extensive testing.)
What else do you need to know?
* The use of any interactive service will clear the buffer.
* Exiting an interactive service always returns you to the “All Channels” environment.
* Audio loss on coming out of standby – we have had a few reports of this. It is resolved by changing channel.
* Audio glitches – we have had reports and observations of audio glitches after a FFWD or REW as well as when changing audio options. This however seems to be limited to certain brands of equipment (reciever/amps) used as not all customers observe this issue.
* Signal not found – some customers report this error after a reboot (low incidence rate).
* To resolve, go to Decoder Menu, select Advanced Options, enter 9949, select Network Set-up and press BLUE to “scan this network”.
* Duplicate channel 200 – some customers may need to initialise a rescan to remove the duplicate channels.
* Recordings not being listed in the Playlist – this has been observed only when 2 recordings end at exactly the same time. These recordings do however appear when the decoder is rebooted. There is an extremely low incidence on this issue and it is not consistently reproducable across all decoders.
* Reminders block recordings – We have had reports where a recording has failed when it is due to start exactly at the same time as a reminder has fired. There is an extremely low incidence on this issue and it is not consistently reproducable across all decoders.
* Multi Unit Dwelling is still not officially supported.
May 14, 2009 at 8:46 PM
Do you have errors?
Still loads of rebooting!!!!
Q: My decoder is rebooting continuously after the software upgrade.
A: While the decoder is rebooting:
Remove all 4 LNB tuners and reboot the decoder.
Once rebooting is complete reset to factory settings using the following steps:
Press and hold in the ‘Guide’ button for at least 5 seconds
In a very quick succession press ‘Exit’ followed by ‘OK’
A green applet requiring a pin will appear. Dial 1649 and accept
Select ‘Factory Settings’
Select ‘Restore Factory Settings’ and ‘Accept’. (NB: These buttons are pressed on the decoder’s front panel.)
Once the decoder starts booting up, screw back the LNB cables and go to the network set-up screen and press the blue button to ‘scan this network’
Once scanning is complete, press OK to launch the services.
Q: Recordings that were scheduled for the time during the upgrading process did not resume.
A: Re-initiate the recording.
Q: Decoder presents a frozen picture when rewinding immediately after channel change.
A: Reboot to resolve. NB: The buffer gets cleared after channel change. Wait for at least 10 seconds after channel change before rewinding.
HD PVR – I get an error “please try again later” when trying to download new software
Problem : When going to the upgrade screen, the RED upgrade button appears, when you press the RED button the message “please wait, DSD verifying upgrade” appears, follwed by a message “error, please try again shortly”.
Solution 1 : check that your decoder hasn’t already received the new software. On a video channel, press OK to display DStv touch. If the DStv touch menu includes News & Weather, your HD PVR already has the latest software, ie. you don’t need to do a download
Solution 2 : Reboot your decoder (power off , power on, wait for video & audio to resume) and then try again.
Solution 3 : if after doing a reboot you still get this error message, check the connector to tuner 4 on the back of the HD PVR.
Solution 4 : if tuner 4 is correctly connected