Posts by dafish

  • Latest Firmware & MOL3 (only) Failing Hardwired (only)

    This Formuler had been working until latest update. Now it only works over Wifi when using MOL3. A Playstore sourced internet test reports LAN full speed access and no errors, and the "PlutoTV" app works just fine too. MOL3 only spins when attempting to stream TV.

    Interestingly, it's been doing some weird things since the update, and for a time I thought it was having an issue w/a thumbdrive. In fact, the formuler had, for 2 days, worked over Ethernet once I removed the thumbdrive. Today, now that I installed a new USB3 thumbdrive, MOL3 cannot stream TV shows using the Ethernet port - It just sits and spins. Doing a shut-down and removing the thumbdrive solves nothing. MOL3 can no longer play over the ethernet port. It can over Wi-fi, and again all other apps are fine over Ethernet. Only MOL3 is failing over Ethernet.

    I've also re-connected my Z8Pro. It too works just fine over the same wire and switchport. Mind you I've replaced the wiring anyway. Still won't work.

    Device: Z11 Pro

    Firmware: V11.3.5

    Launcher: V12.1.10

    IPTV version: V12.1.18

    Current Service Version: V12.1.10

    Current Storage Version: V10.10.31

    System Formuler Z11 Pro Max

    Software update reports this is latest version.

    Thoughts? Suggestions?

  • Software Update - MOL 3 v. 12.1.18 for Formuler Z11 Series and Z mini released

    Just to follow up:

    Since I removed external storage, a blank thumb drive, I've had little to no problems, and I had all the above previously. To recap what I did:

    1) Removed all external storage.

    2) Changed TV buffer to small (5 seconds) and set retry to 2 seconds.

    3) Disable AFR for live TV.

    The result was all but flawless, and what little issue there was struck me as streaming provide based.

    As of yesterday I re-enabled AFR for live TV. I believe this does cause some channel change issues, including slight additional switching delay and the occasional revolving screen, but it's relatively clean.

    I'll start working to feed in external storage again as I continue to narrow down breadth and depth of problem.

  • Software Update - MOL 3 v. 12.1.18 for Formuler Z11 Series and Z mini released

    I've made substantial progress. I'm not sure it's perfect, but I've made two significant changes to it's much much better:

    1) I had USB external storage attached. I'm not sure all is well there. It refused to see any recording on a 5TB External hard drive that had 3.5T of recording on it from MOL2. My PC and the Formuler 8 see it perfectly. This, a Z11Pro, does "seem" to accept o UB2 thumb drive. However, I've since removed it on the assumption it wasn't working well as a time-shirt buffer.

    2) I changed TV buffer to small (5 seconds) and set retry to 2 seconds.

    I can now switch channels at will, rapidly and repeatedly, without either blue screening or "wait" buffer circle sitting there for either a protracted time or (seemingly) locking up completley. Nor has it just exited MOL3 and dropper by into "home" on it's own either.

    I suppose I need to ask if there is some reason a Z11 Pro can't see files from a Z8 pro storage area before I over-react, but nonethe less I'm leaning towards external stoage problems.

    BTW, it was constantly claiming "network errors" too. No more. And no other changes of any kind.

  • Software Update - MOL 3 v. 12.1.18 for Formuler Z11 Series and Z mini released


    I'm having the same issue, although it's pretty inconsistent.

  • Anybody Know A Useful Backup & Restore

    The existing backup restore. is IMO, mostly useless. It's bad enough any MOL updates invalidates the backup config, but you can't config one box and transfer that to others? Lame beyond words. Trying to changing developers minds is usually pointless, so I won't waste time there. Instead I'll ask this:

    Does anybody know an Android backup and restore that would get what needs done accomplished? Or have a better idea?

    Thanks!

  • Remote Control Dead

    The remote for my Z8 Pro has stopped working. I suppose one could argue the Z8 could be bad, but since it's not responding to the Ir extender or the base unit I'm inclined to think the remote has up and died. Any suggestions? How does one replace this thing? Yes, I've replaced the batteries....

  • DVR Recording Locking Up Often - Bug Report?

    Did it again this morning. Recording yesterday and during the night. At a scheduled 7:10ma recording it did not start recording, and in fact has skipped at least 4 other scheduled movies. As always its streaming movies fine, and I can manually record something. Anything scheduled isn't being acted upon.

    How do we submit this as a bug report?

    what information can I offer to help?

    Thanks!

    -d

  • EPG is 1 Hour OUT?

    I've found that current code resolves to correct GMT. I'm using NTP for current time, and have told it what time zone I'm in. If you're in a time zone/GMT area that doesn't follow DST you may find it helful give it a different offset and be done with it.

  • DVR Recording Locking Up Often - Bug Report?

    Since the latest firmware release I've noticed an ongoing tendency for the DVR service to lock up. MOL, the Formuler, the provider, and streaming services as a whole continue, but the DVR recording service just hangs up and stops working. Scheduled recording remain in the shown calendar. If I reboot the system the schedule cleans itself up and everything restarts. For a few days, then it will do it again. When this happens the DVR service itself remains fine, I can play back any movie I want too. It also seems to do it between movies. It seems like the DVR scheduler just locks up.

    I'm on current firmware 7.11.3 on a G8 Pro.

  • amplify the audio volume

    JE:

    I was looking around on my AVR menu (an Onkyo), and it appears to have independant leveling per source. Might be exactly what you seek. I have to admit I've not screwed with it, but it sure seems to be an option.

    luck to you!

  • Speedtest Z8 vs iphone/Laptop

    I'm a rookie to what some of you have to go through, and I've lots more bandwidth (and it's fiber), so we're not really apples to apples however I've 30 years of networking so....

    Xhumeka:

    When your microwave runs it should not, really can't, affect 5ghz wifi. Water excites at 2.4, so 2.4 Wi-Fi is affected, but not 5ghz.

    Xagentx:

    I too get some buffering, and it's sure as heck not my network. My provider seems to have problems on some servers. I say this as moving to another channel always seems to give me a rock solid picture. Going back to the problem channel and problems return. My point then is that buffering issues "may" not have anything to do with you.

    As so why DCHP and static give you different results, the most likely is you aren't setting static up correctly. The most common mistake there is the router is deliverying (via DHCP) a DNS server different to the one you are stipulating when you set up the static IP address.

    Next, was I you'd I've be hooking a hardwired laptop up and checking to confirm I was getting solid performance to the jac you are using. You should pretty consistently double your Wi-Fi peformance when directly connected. Wi-Fi, no matter what, simply has performance limitations that directly connected don't have.

    Personally, when I "cut the cable" i upgraded my wi-fi routers. I run a relatively fast one at the ISP hand-off, drop to hard-wired immediately, and pass hard-wired out to other Wif-Ruters in the house. My point then is this: You need to be sure whatever your "services" router is has enough power. I'm using a simple Asus RT-AC86U, and it's more than fast enough.

    If you're hard-wired connections isn't truly fast consider replacing the connecing cables, maybe even punching down the wires to the wall jacks again. Push comes to shove you want to make sure your router/switch and your Forumler (as well as anything else in the path) are correctly negotiating power speed and duplex. When in doubt set them manually to 100/full.

    As to VPN's if you don't have a need due to regulatory or ISP interference, their very nature adds over-head. I wouldn't use it if I didn't have too.

    As a closing thought, if there is any chance your bandwidth is being used by others I'd correct that such that I either had excessive bandwidth or I'd prioritized IPTV traffic at my root router.


  • amplify the audio volume

    Odd. I'm on LPCM and I've plenty of signal coming from the Z8 such that its relatively equal to my DVD, the Roku, and various game machines. Each source has it's own vagaracies, but the Z8 as a source allowed me to set a point relatively equal to other things and move on. Heck I found it's volume adjust the most flexible of all.

    That said, you seem to be using the TV as a source switch, and I'm connecting my TV to my AVR (an Onkyo!) via HDMI/ARC (as you are considering). Still, I'm not using the amp to level anything, my sources are responsible for that. I just use ARC so I can get audio back from the TV for the rare times I stream something directly to it (aircast, etc). So I don't see any real difference between us.

    Is there any chance the real problem is you've got the "other" sources too high going to the TV?

  • Recording and No information questions

    Just as a reference point for others, I've now something like 130 movies on the DVR. I consider that a large enough sample size. Here is what I'm calling "my" average: 50 minutes of recording per gig of capacity. Said another way 1.2GB of capacity per hour.

    Musicfreak, based on my experience you will get 32/1.2 number of hours. Just under 26.7 hours from 32G of capacity.

    My sample set also suggests the movie average time is 1:56, and the would require, on average, 2.4G.

    I expect you can store something like 13 movies.

    If you have time-shift on that "should" decrease available capacity by 2 hours / 1 one movie. Roughly.

    Hope this helps!

    (Disclaimer: With 5TB of capacity I have the space to allow the law of large numbers and averaging to work for me. If you're planning on storing 3 movies on a tablet with 8G of capacity you need to check the movie sizes lengths pretty carefully!)

    :smiling_face:

    -d

  • EPG Normal vs UTC

    Mevi, thank you sir, but no, that's not apparently correct. Not to pick niggles, but as I'd said, I'm well aware of what UTC is.

    What I wonder is how they differ in function (as it apply so MOL). Frankly, they don't appear to be functionally different in this (current) version of the software.

    Case in Point:

    I'm in a midwestern state in the US. This time of year I'm GMT -5. I have the Z8 Pro set to "network time" and it's always correct for my area. FWIW, I've also tried it using the internal clock, and this makes no difference.

    If I open EPG and display Starz East and Starz West, they will show the exact same show on at the same time. Lets say "Jeopardy" at 3:00pm. Jeopardy will play at my local time as scheduled on EPG the "east' channel, but be wrong on the "West" (behind by 3 hours). Notice neither is correct relative to my time zone, for CA is 2 hours behind me and the east cost is 1 hour ahead of me.

    This happens regardless of if I'm using EPG time "Normal" or "UTC". And yes, each time I change it I clear EPG, hit "Refresh", power-cycled the box, and then cleared EPG again. There is no difference in display or behavior on the referenced channels (there may be on some channels, I can't monitor thousands).

    Clearly there was no need to manually enter an offset as was suggested. This implies the unit, when in either mode, is time zone aware. I suggest MOL is simply reading the time clock and determining for itself what time zone I'm in. This suggest the provider is sending a reference UTC/GMT time out as part of their EPG data, but it's equally possible MOL is simply calling for GMT time as part of it's code base.

    Thus:

    1) As has been shown, you don't appear to need to manually enter offset when in UTC.

    2) Since it's reading the time and applying offset to UTC on it's own, one again has to ask "what is the functional difference between "Normal" and "UTC"? (as regards MOL and the current software).

    As to the mystery of why I get Starz "East" shows at the my midwestern correct time and "West" shows are 3 hours behind when I"m only two hours ahead, I suggest the answer is: The "provider" is correctly referencing "Starz East" to UTC/GMT, and the MOL is correctly offsetting based on Z8 system time. Ergo I get the correct show displayed at the correct time for my time zone for that channel.

    Meanwhile "provider" has "West" time balled up in how they present it. How isn't clear, but one has to guess it's just not correctly set to report UTC/GMT time.

    Again, given the testing and examples shown above, there is no apparent difference. However, my EPG sometimes shows "no information" and for a time setting EPG mode to UTC was recommended. I'd like to know why that was too!

    Sam?

    Q1) What is the functional difference between "Normal" and "UTC"? based on today's code and hardware (Z8 Pro) as it applies to MOL?

    Q2) What was happening when you recommended, in the past, that users change from "normal" to UTC? Said another way, why did that solve folks problems?

    My thanks to all !!

    -d

  • EPG Won't Populate

    Recently, and I believe since the most recent firmware upgrade, my EPG has become unreliable. It seems to regularly stop populating. Clearing EPG data doesn't help, nor does a refresh. Rebooting usually solves it, although several reboots are occasionally required. Today nothing is solving it.

    Plenty of bandwidth, DNS is rock solid, directly connected, current firmware. Latency and Jitter are both solid too. It's neither network or DNS. All channels continue to stream with no drop-outs (well, no more than can be attributed to the occasional stream). Just "no information on everything.

    Suggestions?

  • Time-Shift - Any Reason To Not?

    Q1) Any reason to now Time-shift? I don't care about bandwidth use in particular, and I've plenty of HDD space.

    Q2) Is there a default amount of time that is "shifted", and is that configurable?

    Q3) If I change channels has the time shifted material been lost, or if I rewind do I simply rewind back into whatever was in the timeshift buffer?

    Q4) If I select "record" while in Timeshift does it add whatever was in the Timeshift buffer for that particularly selected broadcast/stream?

    TIA!

    -d

  • Picture Signal Issue ?

    I would look at updating the LG's firmware.

    These seem like an HDMI synch problem. Usually it's cable quality, sometimes it's a firmware problem.

    On my eqp I can turn anything on in any order. In fact, I usually leave the Z8 on, and the AVR and TV off. (I'm recording quite a bit these days). I can generally turn anything on in any order.

  • Recording and No information questions

    Th Z8 Pro definitely records. I've a Seagate Backup Plus HDD in 5Tb that is USB attached and am happily recording away.

    You do want to format it. Personally I used Window 10 and went with NTFS.

    I fine I'm using around 1.G per hour or recording as an overall experience.

    While it seems common here, I do not recommend flash drives, what you seem to be calling a "stick" for DVR use. Such memory devices aren't well suited to the heavy write/re-write nature of a DVR. There's a pretty good reason most commercial DVR"s use large MO HDD's.

    If it matters I've also confimed the recording format, being in .TS, are quite portable. I suggest VLC as a quality media player, but others will have other suggestions.

  • Where is the weak link?

    Hmmm

    I dunno. I too believe you simply select the highest res and refresh rate your display device (the Z8 in this discussion) and your TV can match.

    120 hz isn't uncommon, as an example.

    The display devices should upscale as needed or etc.

    But I'm a hack, so lets's what Sam tell us.

  • Search?

    Q1: How can I search the guide for content. Example: Movie name

    Q2) What is the intent of the "Search" icon available only in "Actions" of a presently streaming show?

    Thank you!

  • Ethernet speed problem

    You get 4 times the upload speed than you do download? You might want to check that again. That's not typical. Or even likely. Perhaps whatever test this is isn't accurate.

    If you're hardwired you might try testing on a PC or etc. If that continues to report the speed mismatch you've shown I'd take a look at our switch settings.

  • Recording - Adding Time Before And After

    I find I seem to miss a few minutes of some movies, some early some late. I'd like use the setup option to add time before and after each recording.

    Question:

    1) What will that do to a series of movies scheduled back to back?

    A. If they are on the same channel

    B. If they are on different channels

    Thank you!

  • Bandwidth Usage - Best Practice?

    • Model: Z8 Pro
    • Retail Box or Provider Box: Retail
    • Firmware version: 1.4.92
    • MYTVOnline 1 / MYTVOnline 2 version: 7.11.1-4514-3fa3198b1
    • Connection with provider: 400MB, fiber
    • Box connected with: 1 Gig Ethernet (hard-wired, no Wi-fi_
    • Did you factory reset your device? and when?: Yes, yesterday
    • Picture url (only https):
    • Video download url (only https):
    • What issue(s) are you having?            
    • What was were you expecting to happen?
    • What happened instead?
    • How can we reproduce the issue you are having?
    • What have you tried if anything to rectify the issue?

    When not watching the unit, (most of the time) I would like it to be in a state such that it's not constantly streaming data, from my service and/or ISP, yet still able to record when a scheduled recording time comes up.

    1) What is the best way to do this?

    2) When the unit is in power state "Suspended", will it wake up and record something I've scheduled in MOL?

    3) When the unit is powered on but I'm not in MOL, will it record something I've scheduled in MOL?

    4) When the unit is in powered off state will it wake up and record something I've scheduled in MOL? (Not as crazy as it sounds. The unit is certainly powered up enough to be scanning for remote input, so it's functioning even of "off".)

    Thank you!