Bargain Alert: New Ferguson HD DTT/Sat Combo Box - €63 before postage

mfsignal

STB wrote: »

Ferguson........... 01291, 01743, 01929

Thanks STB, BOSE Won't let me enter manual codes so I will have to try to find other brands using compatible codes as the list provided does not cover these.

willyb007

mfsignal wrote: »

Thanks STB, BOSE Won't let me enter manual codes so I will have to try to find other brands using compatible codes as the list provided does not cover these.

Try drop the '0' in front of the 3 codes given and try again, its worth a shot before splashing out on another universal remote:D

Tony

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=72892011

chisel wrote: »

anyone have the instructions bookmarked/to hand?

Fran

(still experimenting with the movie files)

Tony

Phil you can send a mail from my site , just click on my sig and use "contact us here" Don't want to post my email here as the spam bots will see it.

philahern wrote: »

Excellent Tony, thanks a million. Don't have an email for you and can't private message you for a copy of the firmware. I have one of those boxes that seemed to be out a lot so it will be interesting to see how it goes. I can test it this evening if you send it on.

philahern

Tony wrote: »

Phil you can send a mail from my site , just click on my sig and use "contact us here" Don't want to post my email here as the spam bots will see it.

Done.

STB

mfsignal wrote: »

Thanks STB, BOSE Won't let me enter manual codes so I will have to try to find other brands using compatible codes as the list provided does not cover these.

How old is the Lifestyle System ?

Page 44
http://www.bose.co.uk/GB/en/Images/owners-guide_Lifestyle-38-48-DVD-system_AM314480_00_tcm6-36060.pdf

Master Codes list for Bose URC
http://worldwide.bose.com/productsupport/en_us/assets/pdf/guides/speakers/cinemate/en/cinemtegsii_remotecodes_en.pdf

Tony

Guys please no more firmware requests for now as there are too many to reply to, hopefully we'll be able to publish a link tomorrow. Thanks for your patience

philahern

Tony wrote: »

Guys please no more firmware requests for now as there are too many to reply to, hopefully we'll be able to publish a link tomorrow. Thanks for your patience

Hopefully it will be released soon. I have had a quick look at the DTT channels and it seems to be fixed. There is possibly still a little issue with news channel but it's hard to tell and this is a huge improvement in what I was experiencing.

I have yet to test the satellite channels and over hdmi.

mfsignal

STB wrote: »

How old is the Lifestyle System ?

Page 44
http://www.bose.co.uk/GB/en/Images/owners-guide_Lifestyle-38-48-DVD-system_AM314480_00_tcm6-36060.pdf

Master Codes list for Bose URC
http://worldwide.bose.com/productsupport/en_us/assets/pdf/guides/speakers/cinemate/en/cinemtegsii_remotecodes_en.pdf

Thanks again STB. It's a 3YO lifestyle 38. I have found matchups to the codes given in that URC Master Code list, but they are still not triggering. I have ordered a plugin IR repeater that should have come with the BOSE (but didn't) so that might get it sorted. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the help.

Harcrid

Thanks for sending on that firmware Tony.

It seems to have fixed the sync issues for me. Audio on all channels is now in sync with the video, even on TV3 which was the worst one for me. I have only spent about 20 mins with it but very happy now that this issue has been resolved.

There is one thing that I have noticed though which did not happen before the upgrade. When I turn the box on, and select a HD channel from the EPG, I can see the channel and hear it perfectly in the EPG menu but when I press exit to view the channel in full screen I get a blank screen and the remote fails to work for 10-15 seconds. I can hear the audio from the HD channel I selected playing just fine but I have no picture. After this initial 10-15 second wait, the picture will stay blank until I scroll forward or back with the CH + key on the remote where it will then display ok.

Any subseqent attempts to select that same channel from the EPG menu will then work as normal.

However if I then go the the EPG to select a HD channel that I had not yet watched, then the same issue occurs. Once I have waited and the black screen has passed and I CH +, I can select this and the other HD channels I have previously watched as normal through the EPG. So the issue only occurs the first time I select each HD channel from the EPG.

Just as a final note on this, If I turn on the box and it's on a non HD channel, and I then scroll to a HD channel using the CH + button on the remote, the channel displays perfectly. So it's only an issue with selecting through the EPG.

Curious to see if I am the only one to see this so far.

**EDIT - It seems now that any time I select a new HD channel from the EPG I am getting the blank screen. **

chisel

I'm seeing exactly the same thing as celtxx.... and I'm just using scart, so I'm not actually seeing HD anyway. Its an EPG thing alright.

sync fixed even on TV3

thanks to Tony + the ferguson people for sorting it out.


BTW, I've done a little more work on being able to play movie files. I'm using a bit of SW called "SUPER". It will generally convert any file type from one to another.

Anyway, if I convert to: AVI container, H264@1920kbps video and AC3@192kbps, 24fps etc, I get smooth playback with no "freezes". Now, I haven't tried that since the new FW upgrade.....


Fran

reaper180

chisel wrote: »

I'm seeing exactly the same thing as celtxx.... and I'm just using scart, so I'm not actually seeing HD anyway. Its an EPG thing alright.

sync fixed even on TV3

thanks to Tony + the ferguson people for sorting it out.


BTW, I've done a little more work on being able to play movie files. I'm using a bit of SW called "SUPER". It will generally convert any file type from one to another.

Anyway, if I convert to: AVI container, H264@1920kbps video and AC3@192kbps, 24fps etc, I get smooth playback with no "freezes". Now, I haven't tried that since the new FW upgrade.....


Fran

same issues here,,
but how do you get it to play avi files,, ok some of my avi files will play but on others it says video codec not supported but i get sound!

Kristopherus

Thanks to Tony for the firmware update. When I extracted it to the usb stick the box did not recognise the file . After a bit of fidgeting and no little cursing, it eventually recognised it as a dump file,i.e. DumpFile_factory.abs. I installed that in Allcode+bootloader but am unsure if it is functioning as it should. Can anyone confirm/deny

reaper180

willyb007 wrote: »

Hi again lads,

Sorry to be a pest asking again about my own query's:(.

The last few days I have exhausted myself researching on the net about whether or not certain subscription cards will or not work with the Ariva 120. Being a relatively new box its hard to find any information on it.

So far I have only managed to discover that the S*y and Cyfra+ subscription cards will work.

Really like the functionality of my Ferguson and that combined with a sports card would be great, but only if someone can tell me for sure if this will work with the Ariva 120. Has anyone tried it?

just a note that the aljazeera card works fine,, any ideas how to backup a channel list

Tony

It should recognise it as SAT_20110627_V2.14B4.abs anything else is not the correct firmware file.

Kristopherus wrote: »

Thanks to Tony for the firmware update. When I extracted it to the usb stick the box did not recognise the file . After a bit of fidgeting and no little cursing, it eventually recognised it as a dump file,i.e. DumpFile_factory.abs. I installed that in Allcode+bootloader but am unsure if it is functioning as it should. Can anyone confirm/deny

Kristopherus

reaper180 wrote: »

just a note that the aljazeera card works fine,, any ideas how to backup a channel list

Reaper, what size of dish do you have for Al Jazera?

reaper180

Kristopherus wrote: »

Reaper, what size of dish do you have for Al Jazera?

80cm dish used for picking up hotbird and just a normal sky dish for astra

razor_ryan

Celtxx wrote: »

Thanks for sending on that firmware Tony.

It seems to have fixed the sync issues for me. Audio on all channels is now in sync with the video, even on TV3 which was the worst one for me. I have only spent about 20 mins with it but very happy now that this issue has been resolved.

There is one thing that I have noticed though which did not happen before the upgrade. When I turn the box on, and select a HD channel from the EPG, I can see the channel and hear it perfectly in the EPG menu but when I press exit to view the channel in full screen I get a blank screen and the remote fails to work for 10-15 seconds. I can hear the audio from the HD channel I selected playing just fine but I have no picture. After this initial 10-15 second wait, the picture will stay blank until I scroll forward or back with the CH + key on the remote where it will then display ok.

Any subseqent attempts to select that same channel from the EPG menu will then work as normal.

However if I then go the the EPG to select a HD channel that I had not yet watched, then the same issue occurs. Once I have waited and the black screen has passed and I CH +, I can select this and the other HD channels I have previously watched as normal through the EPG. So the issue only occurs the first time I select each HD channel from the EPG.

Just as a final note on this, If I turn on the box and it's on a non HD channel, and I then scroll to a HD channel using the CH + button on the remote, the channel displays perfectly. So it's only an issue with selecting through the EPG.

Curious to see if I am the only one to see this so far.

**EDIT - It seems now that any time I select a new HD channel from the EPG I am getting the blank screen. **

Did you do a Factory Reset after you installed new firmware

Kristopherus

Tony wrote: »

It should recognise it as SAT_20110627_V2.14B4.abs anything else is not the correct firmware file.

Thanks Tony. I'm watching Vinnie B now and there's a huge improvement. Wifey says its perfect, so that'll do me.ITV1HD was Ok as well. So something must have worked. Now all the improvements are via scart. Still a noticeable delay on TV3 via HDMI.
Is that latest file a standalone file or does the box require V2.14b2.abs to be on the stick as well?

reaper180

tv 3 is fine here via hdmi cable,, still trying to master the box but it seems to be all sorted with the new firmware

Fowler87

Will this firmware update be released for everyone soon? And will ya need to install the other update linked on the thread before installation of the new one ?? Cheers

reaper180

Tony was saying new firmware to be officially released probably tomorow, all you need is the latest firmware

james1966

hi guys any problems with the ferguson t60 as reguards the lip sync
thanks

philahern

Update: I tested the new firmware with hdmi and scart and all the DTT channels seem fine to me. Some of the satellite channels are still a little out but it's ever so slight, almost not noticeable. A huge improvement on the delays I was seeing.

I am seeing the same problem mentioned about choosing the channel from the epg locking up the box on a blank screen.

chisel

razor_ryan wrote: »

Did you do a Factory Reset after you installed new firmware

Would that not screw up the channel settings?

Tony

philahern wrote: »

I am seeing the same problem mentioned about choosing the channel from the epg locking up the box on a blank screen.

I'll get on to ferguson about that

chisel

The "new" EPG issue:

Just something I noticed tonight. When you select favourites, you have the various favourite groups to choose from. So you select say, group 1. The EPG will only display those channels. You can't see the other channels from other groups until you go back, choose favourites again and switch to the next group. I can't remember seeing this with the previous firmware.

Someone probably needs to upload the new FW, do a factory reset, then rescan to populate the DVB and sat channels to see if the EPG problem is down the the FW conflicting with willyb007 channel settings.

Kristopherus

Tony wrote: »

It should recognise it as SAT_20110627_V2.14B4.abs anything else is not the correct firmware file.

Had another go at getting that blessed file on the usb stick in such a way that it was the only .abs file that was visible and it worked:D. Had to rescan the DTT channels. Have checked the first 25 channels on my list, including ITV 1HD via both scart & HDMI and all are perfectly in synch. Happy days.:)

tadgh

Tony. Will new units (sold by you from today) now be shipped with the new firmware & customised Chanel list?

Dislanger

Sorry to distract you all from the firmware issues which I have been following, appreciating and putting into action.

I got my box early last week, picked the best of the advice, including the firmware with the embedded channel list, which all went very successfully.

Went to Germany for the weekend, came home last night, switched everything on, combi box showing 0001, switched on TV, blue screen on scart and HDMI; tried to change the channel, frozen............. nothing. Switched off, plugged out, plugged in, switched on.......hit power on remote, nothing, no stand by light, as we say in Cork, nottin.

I think I may just have a faulty box, but just in case, has this happened to anyone else? Thanks for the help.

Tony

tadgh wrote: »

Tony. Will new units (sold by you from today) now be shipped with the new firmware & customised Chanel list?

Yes as per earlier post

An.Duine.Eile

Upgrade to the new firmware last night. It is much improved on HDMI.

The fact I am on the look out for lip sync problems, I think I might be seeing them when there are none. Didn't see any case where a perceived lipsync was so severe that the program was unwatchable or commented on by anyone else.

It was more a 'could there by a sync problem?....ah no it's fine' situation.

Flicking thro the channel I did find a problem on a movie4men, it was a spagetti western. I suspect that the film was probably dubbed.

I have not seen a real lip sync problem with this version. It should be released.

stwome01

Great to hear the positive reports on the new firmware.
I've ordered one of these boxes from Tony during the weekend to replace a Sky+ box. (Thanks Tony)

I was thinking of putting the old Sky+ box in the attic with an magic eye. Combining the RF out of the Sky box with the DTT signal. Does anybody can I use the Loop out on the Ferguson box to pass on the Sky signal to the TV or is it only the satelite signal that is looped through?

The initial aim of this is to have a 7 day Sat epg on the same television as the ferguson. It would also allow me to record on Sat channel and watch another at no additional cost (if it works). Alternative I assume I could spilt the DTT signal before the box and have one branch go directly to the televsision.

darth_maul

OK, after a night of viewing with the new (beta) firmware I am satisfied that the lip sync issues are now fixed, this now makes this box the best current combo solution on the market, I have tried them all (triax, edision, xoro and mvision) and at the price this box comes in at combined with its features, remote and on screen layout, this box by far outshines the lot of them, I will be using them myself for customer installs.

So for anyone in the market for a Soarview/FTA combo then I would have no problem at all recommending this box to them
LINK to them on sale at Tonys site

Gerry Wicklow

An.Duine.Eile wrote: »

...

Flicking thro the channel I did find a problem on a movie4men, it was a spagetti western. I suspect that the film was probably dubbed.

Was also watching old movies on Movies4Men yesterday. The audio was out of synch on two different makes of box. presumably the issue was at their end.

philahern

chisel wrote: »

The "new" EPG issue:
Someone probably needs to upload the new FW, do a factory reset, then rescan to populate the DVB and sat channels to see if the EPG problem is down the the FW conflicting with willyb007 channel settings.

I did a factory reset and scanned again. The issue is still there so looks like it is related to the firmware. I'll revert back to an older firmware later and see if it was there before.

Vick7

reaper180 wrote: »

80cm dish used for picking up hotbird and just a normal sky dish for astra

I wouldn't mind the same setup. Do you need two different receivers for each sat?

marathont

Hi, Does anybody know if there is any screenshots (or even better, video) of this online, Would like to see what the interface is like. Thanks.

user1842

Just bought another one from Tony. Cheers for the discount.

On another note can someone recommend a universal remote for this. Slim cheap and cheerful?

John mac

marathont wrote: »

Hi, Does anybody know if there is any screenshots (or even better, video) of this online, Would like to see what the interface is like. Thanks.

http://www.ferguson-digital.eu/en/download/func-startdown/1115/

pictures.

Spocker

Got one of these from Tony last week - thanks Tony. Nothing more to add, I'll just wait for the firmware update.

stwome01 wrote: »

I was thinking of putting the old Sky+ box in the attic with an magic eye. Combining the RF out of the Sky box with the DTT signal. Does anybody can I use the Loop out on the Ferguson box to pass on the Sky signal to the TV or is it only the satelite signal that is looped through?

This is the setup I have, and I can confirm it works. My aeriel is connected direct to Sky box (in the attic) which is then fed to the Ferguson donwstairs (i have a seperate LNB feed to the Ferguson). I get DDT on the Ferguson box no problem (connected to tv via HDMI), and have my regular analogue channels on the TV, and the sky (analogue) feed - I'm using a Magic Eye to control the Sky box.

The only two issues I've noticed

• There is a severe degredation in the analogue signal when the Ferguson box is switched off (at the main switch at the back) - it's fine when it has standby power
• The magic eye can't be conntected directly to the Ferguson box, for some reason it doesn't work. I connected the feed to the Magic eye, then a little loop feed to the Ferguson - all fine that way. Then the loop out to the TV.

reaper180

Vick7 wrote: »

I wouldn't mind the same setup. Do you need two different receivers for each sat?

nope, 2 sat dishes using a diseq switch and just the one receiver

joe250

Dislanger wrote: »

Sorry to distract you all from the firmware issues which I have been following, appreciating and putting into action.

I got my box early last week, picked the best of the advice, including the firmware with the embedded channel list, which all went very successfully.

Went to Germany for the weekend, came home last night, switched everything on, combi box showing 0001, switched on TV, blue screen on scart and HDMI; tried to change the channel, frozen............. nothing. Switched off, plugged out, plugged in, switched on.......hit power on remote, nothing, no stand by light, as we say in Cork, nottin.

I think I may just have a faulty box, but just in case, has this happened to anyone else? Thanks for the help.

I had the same problem with one of there older ferguson receivers.
I tried to fix will rs232 but with no luck.
I had to be sent back to seller to be replaced.

Kristopherus

dmclean1842 wrote: »

Just bought another one from Tony. Cheers for the discount.

On another note can someone recommend a universal remote for this. Slim cheap and cheerful?

One For All Xsight Plus 12 Device Universal Remote Control. Available from Amazon for £40, down from £70.
Link:http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/bestsellers/electronics/813997031/ref=pd_ts_zgc_ce_813997031_more?pf_rd_p=243632447&pf_rd_s=right-5&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=1193708&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=04H285AVW77JAA6EDN8E#4

willyb007

reaper180 wrote: »

just a note that the aljazeera card works fine,, any ideas how to backup a channel list

Thanks very much reaper for confirming this for me much apreciated!:D To back up channel list, go to "Upgrade by usb" scroll across to "Dump file" press start. Thats it! Simples!

chisel wrote: »

The "new" EPG issue:

Someone probably needs to upload the new FW, do a factory reset, then rescan to populate the DVB and sat channels to see if the EPG problem is down the the FW conflicting with willyb007 channel settings.

Thats not my list on the new firmware, Can say tho it working fine for me. Thank you Tony for making this available to me.

darth_maul

Spocker wrote: »

Got one of these from Tony last week - thanks Tony. Nothing more to add, I'll just wait for the firmware update.



This is the setup I have, and I can confirm it works. My aeriel is connected direct to Sky box (in the attic) which is then fed to the Ferguson donwstairs (i have a seperate LNB feed to the Ferguson). I get DDT on the Ferguson box no problem (connected to tv via HDMI), and have my regular analogue channels on the TV, and the sky (analogue) feed - I'm using a Magic Eye to control the Sky box.

The only two issues I've noticed

• There is a severe degredation in the analogue signal when the Ferguson box is switched off (at the main switch at the back) - it's fine when it has standby power
• The magic eye can't be conntected directly to the Ferguson box, for some reason it doesn't work. I connected the feed to the Magic eye, then a little loop feed to the Ferguson - all fine that way. Then the loop out to the TV.

-- The degredation is analogue signal is usually caused by 2 poor quality drop cables running side by side allowing cross talk between cables, can happen on any box, if you can replace all cables with proper screened cable. If it is the box throwing out interference, good quality cables should not allow it to enter the RF feed.
-- A magic eye needs an uninterrupted run between sky box and magic eye, again not a issue of this box as none will allow power to pass through the rf input-outputs.

bmaxi

Just wondering if it is possible to play recordings made on a memory stick through the usb port on a TV. I've tried with a tv and and dvd player and get "no video files found".

Vince Cable

Spocker wrote: »

There is a severe degredation in the analogue signal when the Ferguson box is switched off (at the main switch at the back) - it's fine when it has standby power

The loopthrough obviously doesn't work unless it's in standby; leave it so or split the aerial feed.

STB

Dislanger wrote: »

Sorry to distract you all from the firmware issues which I have been following, appreciating and putting into action.

I got my box early last week, picked the best of the advice, including the firmware with the embedded channel list, which all went very successfully.

Went to Germany for the weekend, came home last night, switched everything on, combi box showing 0001, switched on TV, blue screen on scart and HDMI; tried to change the channel, frozen............. nothing. Switched off, plugged out, plugged in, switched on.......hit power on remote, nothing, no stand by light, as we say in Cork, nottin.

I think I may just have a faulty box, but just in case, has this happened to anyone else? Thanks for the help.

What firmware did you load onto it ? Sounds like the wrong firmware probably for another box altogether. It can also happen by switching off the box/pulling out the USB drive when originally updating the firmware Thats the only time you get errors like that bolded above. You can kill a box very easily by not following instructions carefully (I am not giving out to you - I have done it myself)

Your only safety net is recovery using a null modem cable between a PC/laptop and the R232 port on the box.

You need

1. a null modem cable (and a laptop/PC with a serial port). This cable connects between that serial port on the PC and the R232 port on the back of the Ariva box. The cable will cost you about €2 on ebay unless you know someone who works with PC's who has one lying around. Check that the port is on your PC - most laptops dont have serial ports anymore.
2. The software loader to fix it.
3. The Ariva 120 Combo firmware to load using the loader
4. To read the instructions (in the zip file with no 2)

It will take about 2 minutes to do, but read the instructions.

Mukah

Hey can anyone tell me how or point me to a 'dummys' guide to setting up the loop out on this box?

I want to try to use my old STB in another room, any help would be much appreciated!