Ferguson Ariva 250

O'Prez

<Ollie> wrote: »

There is no EPG, only now and next. You have to 'wake up' the channel at the program start time, so yes, manually input.

This is not as user friendly as a sky box, but it's a bloody great combo box for the price. I bought my third 150 box today for only €100. It's the exact same as the 250, but doesn't display the channel name on the box, and the remote doesn't work other devices like dvd players etc. Two features I have no interest in.

Great media player too, plays every file.

The Irish stations have 7 day EPG :cool:

STB

<Ollie> wrote: »

There is no EPG, only now and next. You have to 'wake up' the channel at the program start time, so yes, manually input.

This is not as user friendly as a sky box, but it's a bloody great combo box for the price. I bought my third 150 box today for only €100. It's the exact same as the 250, but doesn't display the channel name on the box, and the remote doesn't work other devices like dvd players etc. Two features I have no interest in.

Great media player too, plays every file.

"Wake up" On satellite yes, this is true. Whats actually happening you will notice is that when you pull up say BBC1, then the BBC2 epg will also populate. What it is doing is populating it per transponder (think frequency block for simplicity).

Unfortunately with practically all free to air receivers this will be the case as "Freesat" have decided to have one single transponder to hold its own epg data which these boxes don't populate from. There are normal non linux combo boxes (Technomate) that have hacked this or Sky Openeg's data but they are hacks that require manual interaction. Not done on Arivas unfortunately.

Thargor

O'Prez wrote: »

The Irish stations have 7 day EPG :cool:

And can you just highlight the programme you want and just hit record or whatever and it will do it? What exactly is the procedure for say taping the 9 o clock news, Im asking because anything more complicated will be too much for the people Im buying this for...

The Pontiac

O'Prez wrote: »

The Irish stations have 7 day EPG :cool:

STB wrote: »

"Wake up" On satellite yes, this is true. Whats actually happening you will notice is that when you pull up say BBC1, then the BBC2 epg will also populate. What it is doing is populating it per transponder (think frequency block for simplicity).

Unfortunately with practically all free to air receivers this will be the case as "Freesat" have decided to have one single transponder to hold its own epg data which these boxes don't populate from. There are normal non linux combo boxes (Technomate) that have hacked this or Sky Openeg's data but they are hacks that require manual interaction. Not done on Arivas unfortunately.

Didn't know the Irish channels had a 7 day EPG. :rolleyes:

Only hooked up a powered hard drive today, so just getting used to recording, pausing, etc. Thought I was an expert there for a while. Think I have just about grasped the difference between FTA and Freesat now. lol

STB

<Ollie> wrote: »

Didn't know the Irish channels had a 7 day EPG. :rolleyes:

Only hooked up a powered hard drive today, so just getting used to recording, pausing, etc. Thought I was an expert there for a while. Think I have just about grasped the difference between FTA and Freesat now. lol

I know, stuff you could really do without knowing!

SD_DRACULA

Does anyone have a link to the manual for the 250?
Also does this output in 1080p resolution?

Tony

SD_DRACULA wrote: »

Does anyone have a link to the manual for the 250?
Also does this output in 1080p resolution?

http://www.ferguson-digital.eu/en/download/HD-Satellite-Receivers/Ariva-250-Combo/manual_EN.pdf/

Capt'n Midnight

OK there is an android app for it for WiFi

Can it be controlled via LAN too ?

Is there a computer app for it ?

Can it stream output to the LAN ?

Capt'n Midnight

SD_DRACULA wrote: »

Does anyone have a link to the manual for the 250?
Also does this output in 1080p resolution?

Tony wrote: »

http://www.ferguson-digital.eu/en/download/HD-Satellite-Receivers/Ariva-250-Combo/manual_EN.pdf/

Looks like you could use a monitor with it

12.2 TV System
This menu is used to set the image parameters. Above all, you should determine the resolution
of the image sent over the HDMI connection. Select the highest possible resolution supported by
your HD television set in order to obtain the best image quality. The following resolutions are
available: 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p (50Hz), 720p (60Hz), 1080i (50Hz), 1080i (60Hz),
1080p (50Hz), 1080p (60Hz). If you select an unsupported resolution, your image will be lost or
become illegible – you can always use the F3key to return to the basic resolution, i.e. 576i.

SD_DRACULA

Thanks Tony.
Do you know if this will pick up uPnP players such as my NAS unit through the ethernet port or wifi dongle?
Could not find anything about it in the manual.

Tony

No idea sorry as I've not tried that.

SD_DRACULA wrote: »

Thanks Tony.
Do you know if this will pick up uPnP players such as my NAS unit through the ethernet port or wifi dongle?
Could not find anything about it in the manual.

bmaxi

gg69me wrote: »

i got a 250 lately aswell but not that impressed as it completely froze three times already and the only way to get it working again was to switch off the box at the back and allow it to reboot . seems to happen alot when i go into the entertainment section and try to download movie clips etc or it happened once when i was recording onto my mains powered hard drive....has anyone else had problems with their box freezing up completely or am i just jinxed?

Yes I've had that too. Doesn't bother me much as I don't really use the entertainment function but I can understand how it would annoy someone who does. I don't think all the questions regarding LAN operation have been addressed by Ferguson so we can only hope it will be solved in a future firmware update.

gg69me

bmaxi wrote: »

Yes I've had that too. Doesn't bother me much as I don't really use the entertainment function but I can understand how it would annoy someone who does. I don't think all the questions regarding LAN operation have been addressed by Ferguson so we can only hope it will be solved in a future firmware update.

Thanks for the reply bmax about your box completely freezing up aswell , i was beginning to wonder if i had bought a dud box . its a fair pain when you are recording an important program and it freezes up like happened to me last week but as you say maybe the next firmware upgrade will sort this problem out . this never happened to me when i was using the Ariva 120 box which is now moved to the kitchen and i am using the 250 in the sitting room as my main box buti might be swapping them around again , i see how it goes for a while...the weather app dosent seem to work either no matter how many cities i put in but sure not to worry it will probably be raining anyway , i am in ireland after all.

The Pontiac

gg69me wrote: »

Thanks for the reply bmax about your box completely freezing up aswell , i was beginning to wonder if i had bought a dud box . its a fair pain when you are recording an important program and it freezes up like happened to me last week but as you say maybe the next firmware upgrade will sort this problem out . this never happened to me when i was using the Ariva 120 box which is now moved to the kitchen and i am using the 250 in the sitting room as my main box buti might be swapping them around again , i see how it goes for a while...the weather app dosent seem to work either no matter how many cities i put in but sure not to worry it will probably be raining anyway , i am in ireland after all.

Is the hard drive partitioned? Also is the format NTSF or FAT32?

petersburg2002

A friend on mine got me one of these for my TV. Am i wasting my time using an indoor UHF aerial? Im in the centre of Dublin and never had problems receiving the old analogue with the indoor aerial.

The Cush

petersburg2002 wrote: »

Am i wasting my time using an indoor UHF aerial? Im in the centre of Dublin and never had problems receiving the old analogue with the indoor aerial.

The indoor aerial might work, the only way you'll know for sure is to test it with the box.

bmaxi

<Ollie> wrote: »

Is the hard drive partitioned? Also is the format NTSF or FAT32?

It will happen whether recording or not if that's where you're going, has happened to me with Youtube and CNN.

bmaxi

gg69me wrote: »

Thanks for the reply bmax about your box completely freezing up aswell , i was beginning to wonder if i had bought a dud box . its a fair pain when you are recording an important program and it freezes up like happened to me last week but as you say maybe the next firmware upgrade will sort this problem out . this never happened to me when i was using the Ariva 120 box which is now moved to the kitchen and i am using the 250 in the sitting room as my main box buti might be swapping them around again , i see how it goes for a while...the weather app dosent seem to work either no matter how many cities i put in but sure not to worry it will probably be raining anyway , i am in ireland after all.

I don't remember the 120 having full LAN capabilities but I could be mistaken. Weather app doesn't work for me either, STB gave a plausible explanation here
" A lot of issues with the entertainment functions are sorted in firmware V1.20B1. The one issue that remains is the weather link it is based on a google link which keeps moving stuff around. That is affecting the API from working."
It's a wait and see game, the box has so many qualities, I'm prepared to forgive it a few foibles.

gg69me

<Ollie> wrote: »

Is the hard drive partitioned? Also is the format NTSF or FAT32?

i connected up a brand new hard drive to my original 120 box and formatted it.
i used this hard drive for 6 months on the 120 box with no problems and just reconnected it to the new 250 box with no trouble in playing my old recordings just some trouble with the box freezing sometimes when recording....bye the way the box is on file system is NTFS as this was recommended in the original 120 manual if i remember correctly . what is the best system do you think...fat 32 or NTFS FOR THE 250 BOX.

grayface

grayface wrote: »

Does anybody have a link for firmware version 1.19B1 for Ariva 250, as I want to upgrade to this firmware on a friends receiver, and dont want to get it wrong.

Cheers and thanks in advance for feedback.:):)

Anyone find any link.?

Tony

grayface wrote: »

Anyone find any link.?

ftp://ftp2.ferguson.pl/ferguson/

Just wondering why the confused smileys ?

Thargor

Had a 250 and a dish delivered to the parents house the other day from Satellite.ie, thanks for the quick delivery, Im going down to set it up this weekend, just wondering if all the channels are already on it apart from the Saorview channels, as in once I get the dish pointed the right way with the sat finder they should all just show up?

Also should I bother updating to the latest firmware? It wont be used for anything except watching tv or the odd recording, no wi-fi stuff...

winston_1

Even if the channels are already tuned they will be out of date. The BBC have just changed a lot of their frequencies (again). Satellite frequencies change regularly.

www.bbc.co.uk/reception/info/sat_frequencies.shtml

Tony

Thargor wrote: »

just wondering if all the channels are already on it apart from the Saorview channels,

Yes they are as per the product page , if the receiver was shipped before last Friday you will need to retune BBC news and BBC 3 ,4

On 12 October:

BBC Three / CBBC and BBC News will move to
10.818 V 22000 5/6

BBC Four / CBeebies and BBC Red Button stream 1 will move to
10.773 H 22000 5/6

Source: BBC Blog
http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/info/sat_frequencies.shtml

Tony

winston_1 wrote: »

Even if the channels are already tuned they will be out of date.

That's an assumption on your part , any box shipped after last Friday should have the changes reflected in the channel list assuming the supplier provides this service.

winston_1 wrote: »

Satellite frequencies change regularly.

Regularly is over stating the case

winston_1

Tony wrote: »

Yes they are as per the product page , if the receiver was shipped before last Friday you will need to retune BBC news and BBC 3 ,4

On 12 October:

BBC Three / CBBC and BBC News will move to
10.818 V 22000 5/6

BBC Four / CBeebies and BBC Red Button stream 1 will move to
10.773 H 22000 5/6

Source: BBC Blog
http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/info/sat_frequencies.shtml

Also BBC Alba, BBC 1 NE and Cumbria, and all the BBC radio stations except 5 Live and 5 Live sports Extra. In fact the radio stations are still in a state of flux as they are not yet labelled in their new positions.

winston_1

Tony wrote: »

That's an assumption on your part , any box shipped after last Friday should have the changes reflected in the channel list assuming the supplier provides this service.

I very much doubt if they will. The radio changes are not yet complete so retuning will be required.

Tony wrote: »

Regularly is over stating the case

Don't think so.
There seem to be changes on Astra 2 every month, though admittedly most do not affect the BBC channels.

Tony

winston_1 wrote: »

I very much doubt if they will. The radio changes are not yet complete so retuning will be required.

Indeed but I was obviously referring to the recent change

winston_1 wrote: »

There seem to be changes on Astra 2 every month, though admittedly most do not affect the BBC channels.

Perhaps I missed these as they were minority channels but from my own experience I've only had to change the channel list twice so far this year. Also for some reason many freesat users had to re load their lists after Fridays change

Thargor

Sorry for all the questions but whats the handiest way for keeping track of these changes, it wont really matter as long as all the Saorview channels never move anyway.

STB

gg69me wrote: »

i connected up a brand new hard drive to my original 120 box and formatted it.
i used this hard drive for 6 months on the 120 box with no problems and just reconnected it to the new 250 box with no trouble in playing my old recordings just some trouble with the box freezing sometimes when recording....bye the way the box is on file system is NTFS as this was recommended in the original 120 manual if i remember correctly . what is the best system do you think...fat 32 or NTFS FOR THE 250 BOX.

This could be the cause of your problems.

You will notice that in the root of your drive that there are several files including: AMP_M.lst, AMP_I.lst and a few DVR files. Your recorded files will be in a directory called ALIDVRS2.

It is plausible that if they are files that were copied over from the 120 that they are not fully compatible with the 250. I suggest you delete (but keep a copy of) the AMP files and DVR files in the root directory.

I would also suggest you turn off Timeshift in the media menu.

I dont have issues with my drive, so I am wondering why yours is locking up the box. Is it independently powered and does it have the suggested write and read speeds as per the Ferguson manual ? If not this would certainly contribute to the smooth running of the box.

In other news, the latest patch version of 1.20 has Grooveshark in the entertainment menu not included with the original firmware. The patched version has issues with some of the epg data on some channels on satellite, so its your call whether you need one over the other.

Tony

Right here on boards That's where I first heard of the changes

Thargor wrote: »

Sorry for all the questions but whats the handiest way for keeping track of these changes, it wont really matter as long as all the Saorview channels never move anyway.

STB

winston_1 wrote: »

Don't think so.
There seem to be changes on Astra 2 every month, though admittedly most do not affect the BBC channels.

Not the main watched channels.

The BBC moves is an aside and will settle down as they complete the move off 2A to 1N is completed. It was predictable that BBC would have to go down the spot beam route due to the pressure put on by rights holders to not use pan European beams, especially with HD content. Expect C4 house to follow suit very soon. You may see Ch5HD etc fairly soon on Freesat as a result.

Either way the updating of channels via USB takes seconds and are updated in this thread among users.

grayface

Tony wrote: »

ftp://ftp2.ferguson.pl/ferguson/

Just wondering why the confused smileys ?

Hi Tony... because when I search for software version 1.19B1, even using your link from above, I get
_1.20B1


All I know is,,that the channel list my friend has,is only compatible with software 1.19B1, hence the reason for wanting that version.Have searched far and wide outside of this forum, for it also,but end up on this link mostly, http://www.ferguson-digital.eu/en/download/HD-Satellite-Receivers/Ariva-250-Combo/ Anyway thanks for your feedback and time .
Cheers grayface.

STB

grayface wrote: »

Hi Tony... because when I search for software version 1.19B1, even using your link from above, I get
_1.20B1


All I know is,,that the channel list my friend has,is only compatible with software 1.19B1, hence the reason for wanting that version.Have searched far and wide outside of this forum, for it also,but end up on this link mostly, http://www.ferguson-digital.eu/en/download/HD-Satellite-Receivers/Ariva-250-Combo/ Anyway thanks for your feedback and time .
Cheers grayface.

Is the channel list from your friend a dumpfile.abs ?

grayface

STB I am led to believe it is.

STB

grayface wrote: »

STB I am led to believe it is.

Well you could load the V.120b1 firmware doing upgrade by USB and Allcode+bootloader and then load the V1.19b1 channel list via USB doing a UserDB. I generally advise against doing this though as it may make the box glitchy.

Thargor

Do you have to rescan for the channels after a firmware update?

Is there any point in upgrading to the latest firmware from the previous one if you wont be using any wi-fi stuff?

grayface

STB wrote: »

Well you could load the V.120b1 firmware doing upgrade by USB and Allcode+bootloader and then load the V1.19b1 channel list via USB doing a UserDB. I generally advise against doing this though as it may make the box glitchy.

Cheers STB, so maybe better option, would be to try and find a channel list to suit software 1.20B1, rather than visa versa.Glad I have a Spiderbox, so much easier to find software and channel lists, or to edit one for one self.

Cheers.

Charlie-Bravo

STB wrote: »

Well you could load the V.120b1 firmware doing upgrade by USB and Allcode+bootloader and then load the V1.19b1 channel list via USB doing a UserDB. I generally advise against doing this though as it may make the box glitchy.

Was tempted to try and use the userdb file from my 120 box to transfer channel list to a 250 box but will not do so in this case. I don't have time at the mo to arrange the channels using the channel editor, if nobody else achieves this I'll look at it towards the end of next week....

STB

astrofluff wrote: »

Was tempted to try and use the userdb file from my 120 box to transfer channel list to a 250 box but will not do so in this case. I don't have time at the mo to arrange the channels using the channel editor, if nobody else achieves this I'll look at it towards the end of next week....

Do not attempt that! It WILL brick the receiving box and you will have to revive it with a null modem cable.

I was talking about using different firmwares within one box model, not among different boxes!

For a start the firmware definition and size is completely different for the 120 models!

I'll upload a sorted firmware by the end of the week. The channel list I have on my 250 box at present has Sirius, Astra 1, 2 Hotbird, and 9E/10E at present and would cause confusion, so i will have to seperate it.

Tony

Ah I see, sorry did not realise this . Ferguson always put only the latest version up even though they are still shipping 1.19. There is a way which might help you here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=72892011

grayface wrote: »

Hi Tony... because when I search for software version 1.19B1, even using your link from above, I get
_1.20B1

Shano81

HI,

I got a pre programmed box, but want to re scan all the stations as a couple have been lost already. Anyone able to give me an idiots guide, step by step instructions on how to do this?

I have googled it but can’t seem to find what I need!

I have also read through this thread but a lot of it goes over my head (as I’m not too good when it comes to things like this!)

Just simply want to rescan all the stations to get bbc3 and bb4 back! (but dont know where to start!!)

Thanks!

john_doe.

anyone have latest channel list for firmware 1.20B1

john_doe. wrote: »

can someone upload a channel list for firmware 1.20B1?

also has anyone considered getting the FTA guide from a RSS feed, i have tried and failed.

nice little box..

Tony

Re scanning all stations is a bad idea You will end up with a random order. better just to do a single transponder scan ( in TP list) of the channels you are missing, delete them first and then the re scanned channels will appear at the end of the channel list and you can then edit them back to where they were originally. Frequency details are here http://www.satellite.ie/acatalog/Frequently_Asked_Questions.html

Hope this helps

Shano81 wrote: »

HI,

I got a pre programmed box, but want to re scan all the stations as a couple have been lost already. Anyone able to give me an idiots guide, step by step instructions on how to do this?

I have googled it but can’t seem to find what I need!

I have also read through this thread but a lot of it goes over my head (as I’m not too good when it comes to things like this!)

Just simply want to rescan all the stations to get bbc3 and bb4 back! (but dont know where to start!!)

Thanks!

Tony

heres one I made earlier http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?qdutuivz5r94fl4

john_doe. wrote: »

anyone have latest channel list for firmware 1.20B1

bgengine1

Hi I've just setup my Ariva 250 - but I'm having problems with the internet connection.

I'm using firmware 1.19b1 ( straight from the box - unpatched)

I've set local network setting to DHCP, then rebooted and I can then ping the box - but when I go to youtube and select a clip - I get connection failed ...
( Internet is working on the network - I can get it on all my other devices laptops, PCs etc..)

any ideas ?

are there more setting that I must do ?

any help is much appreciated

regards

Shano81

Tony wrote: »

Re scanning all stations is a bad idea You will end up with a random order. better just to do a single transponder scan ( in TP list) of the channels you are missing, delete them first and then the re scanned channels will appear at the end of the channel list and you can then edit them back to where they were originally. Frequency details are here http://www.satellite.ie/acatalog/Frequently_Asked_Questions.html

Hope this helps

HI Tony,

Sorry for clogging this thread with idiotic questions! (and sorry for bothering you as you have been extremely helpful to others re: this box on other threads)

I actually saw that link when googling but not sure where to start with it.

When I was playing around with the menu on the remote I could not find any rescanning option. TP list?

BBc3 and bb4 arent showing up at all (not even without a signal) so they may be deleted already but I don’t mind editing some of the crap stations to insert the bb3/4 frequency – but I don’t know how to do that TP scan!!

Sorry again for bothering you, but I’m lost when it comes to this! Once I do it once, I’ll get more familiar with how to work the box!

If you could help, id be very grateful! (I’d love is there was an idiots guide to this box!)

Tony

Its in Menu, Installation. You have to wait until after 7pm when BBC3 and 4 start broadcasting

Shano81 wrote: »

When I was playing around with the menu on the remote I could not find any rescanning option. TP list?
[

Shano81

Tony wrote: »

Its in Menu, Installation. You have to wait until after 7pm when BBC3 and 4 start broadcasting

Thanks Tony,

I went through the menu lastnight and honestly couldn’t see any installation option for some reason!! I will have another look this evening just to be sure.

So 2 simple steps - Menu – installation – I will try that this evening!

Thanks again for your help!

STB

bgengine1 wrote: »

Hi I've just setup my Ariva 250 - but I'm having problems with the internet connection.

I'm using firmware 1.19b1 ( straight from the box - unpatched)

I've set local network setting to DHCP, then rebooted and I can then ping the box - but when I go to youtube and select a clip - I get connection failed ...
( Internet is working on the network - I can get it on all my other devices laptops, PCs etc..)

any ideas ?

are there more setting that I must do ?

any help is much appreciated

regards

Upgrade firmware to v1.20b1. There is a link a few pages back to the zip file. Extract the .abs file 9its all you need), put it on a USB device, insert in box. Go to upgrade by USB and choose allcode and bootloder. Click down to start and let it get to 100% and it will reboot. When it reboots after that do a factory reset (its in the menu - answer yes to the question it asks).

Youtube etc will work after that.

Please note that you will lose any TV channel lists you made as the firmware upgrade doesnt include channel lists.

But you can load the channel list above doing upgrade by usb and choosing USerDB (instead of all code+bootloader) by right clicking using the arrows and then click down to the file Tonys channel list file that you downloaded and have put on the USB device and clicking start.