SRs GONE

Diamond Jim

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Aug 18, 2004
4,393
525
The Boilermaker State (#19)
I was scrolling through the channel list on the AZ Box Premium Plus with it jumped out of order. When I checked it out all of the channels are still listed, but the names on about half of them are are dim and the SRs are gone. Am I going to have to rescan and re enter those to the list or is there any easy way to restore these channels wtih out using all of that computer mumble jumbo that I do not understand?
 
The AZBox is what it is - Great when it works, PITA when it doesn't.
If you don't have a Good Backup, you will probably need to delete and rescan.
Have you considered a simpler Unit for everyday use, and just use the AZBox for what the other unit can't handle?
 
Mine has done that before, most of the time it rights itself. Sometime it doesn't. Azbox is real particular about messing with the sat list. And yeah, it seems to do it all on its own most of the time, doesn't seem like a lot of rhyme or reason to it.
I have also found that a lot of guys' lists just will not work in my Elite like the one I made did. Sadly I lost mine in a massive laptop meltdown about a year ago, and never bothered to rebuild it, it took a whole day of deleting and adding and renaming to get it like I wanted it. Sad to say, Jim, its the way of the Azbox. And I dont like it either, and it makes me just as mad as hell too that such a great box has to be such a pain in the go-go all the time. But it is.

I have resorted to using either my Dreamboxes or my Openbox (openbox for 99% of it, really) and I ONLY use the azbox when I must have the 4:2:2.
 
My Elite does the same thing. I can't do anything with the channel on the Azbox to fix it, and I can't delete the channel when it happens either. I haven't tried to edit the channel in the channel editor to fix it. What I do know is the channel still works fine and the dish moves the proper position. So do I care? I care more about a lot of other things that need to get done to make it through a day than the SR vanishing. It is on my "figure it out" list.

It is weird though.
 
Have you considered a simpler Unit for everyday use, and just use the AZBox for what the other unit can't handle?

I am using the Quali TV as much as I can, but what I wanted today I had to use the AZ.

I use USB sticks to store the channel and sat list. When there's a probelem stick them in and I am back in business in no time. But evidently they caught the bug the last time I backed them up becouse I keep getting th same stuf over and over again.
 
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I figured out why this is happened. For some reason, unknown to man the AZ Box decided to revert back to it's old antenna settings and TP list. I have have the North American list installed and it stayed intact. When the TP list reverted back any channel that didn't match a FR and SR was gone, those that did match an FR and no SR stayed on the list, but wasn't recieving any signal. Luckily the majority of the channels were saved and I only have to re scan a few. Man, I hate this reciever.:smash:
 
Like some others here, I've resorted to using an S9 for most everything I watch. I especially like the newer firmware's channel and sat layout. Made it easer to navigate for me. And it made it ever better once I figured out how to do record and playback TV and movies from an external hard drive.

On the AZBoxes I have, I usually store the 3 files that are accessible with FTP and put them in their own folder with the name as the date on it, id, 01_04_12. That way I keep a bunch of backup files for "emergency" situations such as yours. On thing that changed last summer though was that lightning got my Elite's LAN connection so the only way I can change that stuff any more is with the channel list backed up to a USB drive from the Ultra on the other system. Not a major problem for me but it is somewhat of a PINA after getting use to being able to access everything with the FTP/LAN connection from my computers.

They say that hind site is 20/20. I was talking to my Wife today about the blind scan feature that I've been infatuated with since I first got into FTA stuff a couple of years back. I can say that I have NOT found any feed anywhere with any of my blind scan receivers that wasn't already posted on a forum somewhere that I have access too. IMHO what that means is that unless you're really into scanning satellites ever day, I don't think that the lack of the blind scan feature in an otherwise good receiver is a major issue and it won't keep me from buying one in the future.

Live and learn, right! ;-)
 
I'e got a 107 channels stored on the AZ Box, only about 9 or so of them I can get on the Quali TV and none on the Traxis.

As for making files and all of that, I am not a fan of the computer. In the time it would take me to figure out what to do I can correct the problem by hand.

Yea, it's hard to beat some of these guys to the punch when it comes to posting feeds. I am not very very patient when it comes to blind scanning, so I am grateful for the ones who do it.
 
A lot of times when I have a corrupted file list, it's because of the renaming issues with the Azbox. Sometimes if you can identify the '0' SR channels, renaming them in the Advance Scan/ PID Edit window (or in Maz on a PC) will fix it. Also keep a thumb drive in the USB slot and backup the channel list before scanning or adding anything. Hope this helps.
 
I do not have problems with SRs but my Azbox Premium renames and changes the settings randomly so that two satellites have the same setting and names! I always make up backup of settings so I quickly restore them but since my blind scan hardly works and very slow when it does, I use feed hnting sites to update and also to insert changes in data. I have a Vu+duo which is more stable but also has bugs depending on what enigma2 image you are using. However, I find the Azbox's motorised positioner and the channel editor much better and simpler to use. Interestingly, after installing Enigma2, I am able to pick up more stations on some satellites than on the Original firmware but I get more stations cleared and better signal on the latter. Eg. I get NBC (12.5 w) on OF but not on enigma2. I am at 2.2E,49N (Paris,France)
 
Are you guys using the satellite list that comes with firmware 0.9.5308 or later? This issue should not be happening if you are using the latest firmware. Please note that if you had channels scanned in with a firmware older than 0.9.5308, you will need to do a factory reset once the latest firmware is installed as the old list will still be used.

The best way to correct this issue is to reconfigure and scan all of your satellites again via the following procedure:

1. Download the latest firmware from one of the many AzBox firmware mirrors such as AZBox Snapshots on a USB stick. At this time, the latest version is 0.9.5309.

2. Make sure the firmware is renamed from azbox-0.9.5309-patch.bin to patch.bin on your USB stick. The patch.bin file must also be saved at the top level of your USB stick and NOT in any folder in order for the receiver to detect it.

3. With the back switch off on your unit, insert the USB stick in any USB port and turn on the back switch

4. Once you see the blue screen, select "FORMAT APPLICATION AREA". This acts as a factory reset and will remove any corrupted settings.

5. Once the formatting is completed, return to the main menu and select USB and press OK to proceed in installing the latest firmware.

6. Once the firmware is installed and the unit reboots, quickly remove your USB stick from your unit.

7. Your unit should boot and bring you to the settings screen after a minute or two. Please note that the receiver will most likely be in PAL mode at this time so you may not see any image on your TV. In order to switch to NTSC again, press the following keys on your remote control:

- Resolution
- OK
- Right arrow
- OK 3 times

Please let me know if you continue experiencing issues.


Regards,

PwrSurge
 
Something else as well... If you wish to rename scanned channels, please don't do it from the channel list but rather from the PID Edit screen in Advanced Scan and/or from your PC. There is currently an outstanding bug where renaming channels from the Channel Selection screen causes the renamed channel to lose its SR information. This eventually causes channel list corruption and might be what some of you are experiencing. We are aware of this issue and will fix it once core development on the AzBox ME is completed and the unit is released in North America.


Regards,

PwrSurge
AzBox Canada
 
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yes, when viewing the renamed channel in Maz, it looks like an illegal character has been added. Deleting that character, or renaming in Maz also fixes the problem
 
I have resorted to using either my [strike]Dreamboxes[/strike] or my [strike]Openbox (openbox [/strike] for 99% of it, really) and I ONLY use the azbox when I must have the 4:2:2.
plug in Coolsat 5000 where Dreambox is and Manhattan where Openbox is and I'm pretty much the same way :)
 
There are ways to get around all of the negative issues. But, none are very simple. The "North Americanizing" of the AZBox is the first step. The rest can be hit or miss, and if you neglect one step or item, your screwed. Honestly, I don't like it either, but I have gotten to the point where I DON'T do much editing and when I do, I ensure that I have a back-up set of files ready to catch me when I fall.

What we really need is someone to develop a really good editor program, then, even if we have to gloss over the glitches and peculiar behavior of the box itself, at least we would have a helpful mechanism to speed up our work with our lists. I wish that these boxes were something more like the Coolsat 5K and we had a Channel Master editor to go along with them.

I thought that I was on to something a couple of times, but I always found a defect and it disappointed me.

However, my AZBox Premium Plus is serving me well and I DO use it constantly (more than I should). If only I were a good programmer, I could work on a lot of the issues that I detect. But, I am like the majority here, I am not a LINUX programmer. Sure wish I was.

RADAR
 
Diamond Jim. I have experienced the issue when you're scrolling thru the sat channel list and it jumps to a different satellite and channel. When that happens try pressing the yellow button on your remote. That should take your list back to the start before it skipped. it'll save re-scanning and re-loading.
 
That channel re-ordering thing and channel edit function have been troublesome for a while. Wish they could be fixed. Maybe we need to complain more to the AzBox people... Suppose they have been too tied up with new operating system software issues and new hardware.
Even with it's glitches I still find the units to work well and are stable.
-C.
 
Jim,

I know you hate using the computer with your Azbox but it is the one way to solve your problems. So before you just say you can’t do it keep reading for some solutions that are available.
I know your present system may not like the programs that are used in conjunction with the Azbox like Toolbox Azbox HD or Maz so here is one suggestion. You can get an inexpensive laptop for well under $300.00 to use only with your Azbox, then if you have a son who can help you get things sorted out or a neighbor who knows a little about computers to help you set it up for your Azbox. That would only take someone about 30 minutes to do. First you may have to print out the instructions you were already given on this so they could figure out what needs to be done.


That way whenever you need to get things done you will have a system to do it that is setup just for your Azbox, and will keep the wife happy that her computer is not messed up by any changes.

The Azbox may not be the easiest to use for first timers but once you get to understand it this box works like a champ. The problem is that your receiver had a corrupted channel- sat list from a long time ago and it was never fixed properly. This only exasperates the problem with use of the receiver and it will continue to do this until the problem is fixed properly.

You may need to delete everything and begin from scratch which would ensure that whatever you have there that is causing you the corruption is gone completely, and that includes wiping clean your usb stick.

If the new firmware is loaded properly then it should have set the list in both directories correctly but with constant use you really need to download the current channel list and re-send them to the receiver with the ACC program as that program will send that list to both directories for you. There is not one program that will do it all for you nor is there any magic bullet. These receivers were not designed for North America but with patience there are workarounds to get it to do what you want.

Since you have neither patience nor computer skills then the next best thing is to figure out a way around those things.
1) a smart neighbor kid who understands computers or a family member.
2) an inexpensive pc/laptop that can be used for the Azbox and put away when not in use.
3) wait till a new receiver comes out that can get those feeds you want to watch and then get rid of the Azbox.

The way it is though many of the newer DVB receivers do need the interface with a computer from time to time, this is just the way it is now.
I do understand your frustration and maybe you should be asking for help in learning the basics with a pc so you can get your STB back up in proper order again.
Once you learn it you will be surprised how easy it really is.
When I started I knew nothing about the Azbox, now it is like getting back on a bicycle.
 

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