Amiko Alien2 / SAB / GM / ST7162 ** SPARK** Discussion Thread

Groucho2000

Thanks Nowso. That would be great. I’ll try change the time setting and retuning.

Nowso

Amiko alien 2 spark 28.2 channel list

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/h44c496dc31wefp/AABJD_Y7Fc8QbHSKfsK7fG2za?dl=0

fta 1-100

101- entertainment
250ish music
301 Sport

retune soarview to your own regional area

cork_south

Having bought a tiviar my AA2 has been in the spare room gathering dust.

I am giving it to a relation who is moving from Virgin and will go with spark as it's more basic and more stable than E2 on AA2.

2 questions plz
1. I have spent hours tidying up the EPG.
How can I back it up to usb?

2. Some channels are no longer loading and some channels are missing as they have only been added since I last scanned.
How can I make sure existing untimed channels get tuned back in and how can I scan for new missing channels without messing up the EPG I just tidied up?

Thx guys!

Nowso

channel list you back up data base like in my upload above

you scan and theyl come up at the end of the list you can move them in on delete them or old ones

Nowso

New plugin for sh4 open atv that some of u might like

its a bit old but not near as old as the one most are using

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nctjwp23r5r0h77/enigma2-plugin-softcams-oscam-11391_openatv_sh4.ipk?dl=0

glog

So i have dusted off my old SAB Triple Tuner Unix box for use in a bedroom.
I really just want it to watch Saorview and FTA satellite off the one Channel list.
I tried the latest OpenATV 6.2 and Wooshbuild but to be honest it was a disaster - unusuable.

I have Hyperion 5.5 now flashed and it is stable enough. Rather than setting it up from scratch (i've forgotten) does any one have a suitable backup they can share?
Thanks
gLog.

Nowso

open atv is usable - once your used to setting iit up the old v2 softcam is down atm plugin posted above replaces that if needed - only trick is if ur using wifi u need to use ethernet to install wifi driver plugin

glog

Nowso wrote: »

open atv is usable - once your used to setting iit up the old v2 softcam is down atm plugin posted above replaces that if needed - only trick is if ur using wifi u need to use ethernet to install wifi driver plugin

Thanks Nowso - i don't think i'll need the softcam for what im looking to do with it?
TBH i flashed Open ATV 3 times - each time it was very laggy, spinners, just useless.
Maybe ill try it again tomorrow - any hints to setting it up?

Nowso

install Cache flush run that clear memory things run better - in extended gui and can run booster to 800 800 and 540 it using wifi - tends to affect the ethernet

drive formatted ext3 in spark recordings work better -ntfs will struggle with hd

dunno if alien back up would work

at times it can be slow but clearing memory or a reboot and clear sorts it out

Nigzcurran

glog wrote: »

So i have dusted off my old SAB Triple Tuner Unix box for use in a bedroom.
I really just want it to watch Saorview and FTA satellite off the one Channel list.
I tried the latest OpenATV 6.2 and Wooshbuild but to be honest it was a disaster - unusuable.

I have Hyperion 5.5 now flashed and it is stable enough. Rather than setting it up from scratch (i've forgotten) does any one have a suitable backup they can share?
Thanks
gLog.

Dunno if you got sorted but there is a thread on here with all the images and I’ve been using the old Hyperion 4 image for fta for years now without any issues on a sab triple tuner

deezell

glog wrote: »

So i have dusted off my old SAB Triple Tuner Unix box for use in a bedroom.
I really just want it to watch Saorview and FTA satellite off the one Channel list.
I tried the latest OpenATV 6.2 and Wooshbuild but to be honest it was a disaster - unusuable.

I have Hyperion 5.5 now flashed and it is stable enough. Rather than setting it up from scratch (i've forgotten) does any one have a suitable backup they can share?
Thanks
gLog.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1c-lgp9WYY4P5M59j7baKpVw0PF2uHIud

2018 backup, I think. Terrestrial will all need retuning anyway. It's changed a bit recently, and mine is looking at Kippure, which might not suit you.

Nowso

installed 6.2 and then added wooshbuild its petty decent

Nowso

Here an upto date backup of open atv 6.2 with wooshbuild

channels can be changed with tuner and autobouqetsmaker

network usb realtek dongle drivers installed aswell


https://www.dropbox.com/sh/abj90638sxa9429/AACah8jWbh62edI4qLDm3Ts5a?dl=0

NickNickleby

Hello Folks,

I've owned a Amiko Alien + for a couple of years now.
When 'building' it, I simply ran a satellite scan (my question refers only to satellite) and then selected the ones I want in the various Favourites. Now, I have about 120 channels in Favourites. Fine so far. I notice a couple of things happen. Most importantly, when the EPG download is running, it identify something like 871 channels as being active, then does the reading and parsing of the info. The resulting database is something like 17.1 MB

So to my question. Is it possible to delete the unwanted channels altogether. They tend to be things like multiple iterations of BBC and ITV channels. Then there's all the Hindi and Arabic channels that I can live without. I'm not asking for a step by step, simply, can it be done,(and perhaps from which menu).

TIA

Nowso

NickNickleby wrote: »

Hello Folks,

I've owned a Amiko Alien + for a couple of years now.
When 'building' it, I simply ran a satellite scan (my question refers only to satellite) and then selected the ones I want in the various Favourites. Now, I have about 120 channels in Favourites. Fine so far. I notice a couple of things happen. Most importantly, when the EPG download is running, it identify something like 871 channels as being active, then does the reading and parsing of the info. The resulting database is something like 17.1 MB

So to my question. Is it possible to delete the unwanted channels altogether. They tend to be things like multiple iterations of BBC and ITV channels. Then there's all the Hindi and Arabic channels that I can live without. I'm not asking for a step by step, simply, can it be done,(and perhaps from which menu).

TIA

on spark yes but no beal need on autobouqets maker you can change settings a bit -

NickNickleby

Hi Nowso,

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply.

When I originally configured the box (its using Spark) I did it via the Main Menu using the remote control. Quite a steep learning curve there! I have no experience of autobouquets whatsoever.

I'm hoping I can simply use the Main Menu from the RC and start deleting channels.

Is my logic good, re the EPG size? Fewer stored channels = smaller download and resultant database??

cheers and thanks

Nowso

NickNickleby wrote: »

Hi Nowso,

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply.

When I originally configured the box (its using Spark) I did it via the Main Menu using the remote control. Quite a steep learning curve there! I have no experience of autobouquets whatsoever.

I'm hoping I can simply use the Main Menu from the RC and start deleting channels.

Is my logic good, re the EPG size? Fewer stored channels = smaller download and resultant database??

cheers and thanks

if you set your epg to store on flash / extension drive in epg set up that will help - no real gain deleting lots of other versions if it stalls just reboot fixs most times

deezell

NickNickleby wrote: »

Hi Nowso,

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply.

When I originally configured the box (its using Spark) I did it via the Main Menu using the remote control. Quite a steep learning curve there! I have no experience of autobouquets whatsoever.

I'm hoping I can simply use the Main Menu from the RC and start deleting channels.

Is my logic good, re the EPG size? Fewer stored channels = smaller download and resultant database??

cheers and thanks

Connect to the box using OpenWebIf, just pop the ip address of the box into a browser. Bottom left of the display is bouquet editor. Create you own lists, delete dead or duplicate channels. All the channels from a selected source ( freesat, rtenl) are shown in the centre window, top right shows the bouquets, bottom right the channels assigned to the bouquets. Easy to use, edits are instant, no reboot.
The epg data base will not reduce in size by only having a small number of channels in a bouquet. Deleting a channel from a bouquet or an entire bouquet just removes some text lines from a file. The epg data for any channel, ( reasonable sized file) remains in the epg.dat. If you scan a tuner and add a new channell its epg data is already there.

Nowso

deezell wrote: »

Connect to the box using OpenWebIf, just pop the ip address of the box into a browser. Bottom left of the display is bouquet editor. Create you own lists, delete dead or duplicate channels. All the channels from a selected source ( freesat, rtenl) are shown in the centre window, top right shows the bouquets, bottom right the channels assigned to the bouquets. Easy to use, edits are instant, no reboot.
The epg data base will not reduce in size by only having a small number of channels in a bouquet. Deleting a channel from a bouquet or an entire bouquet just removes some text lines from a file. The epg data for any channel, ( reasonable sized file) remains in the epg.dat. If you scan a tuner and add a new channell its epg data is already there.

he is using spark so that wont work dezell

deezell

Nowso wrote: »

deezell wrote: »

Connect to the box using OpenWebIf, just pop the ip address of the box into a browser. Bottom left of the display is bouquet editor. Create you own lists, delete dead or duplicate channels. All the channels from a selected source ( freesat, rtenl) are shown in the centre window, top right shows the bouquets, bottom right the channels assigned to the bouquets. Easy to use, edits are instant, no reboot.
The epg data base will not reduce in size by only having a small number of channels in a bouquet. Deleting a channel from a bouquet or an entire bouquet just removes some text lines from a file. The epg data for any channel, ( reasonable sized file) remains in the epg.dat. If you scan a tuner and add a new channell its epg data is already there.

he is using spark so that wont work dezell

Oh yea, wrong quote, gloga s query

NickNickleby

Nowso wrote: »

if you set your epg to store on flash / extension drive in epg set up that will help - no real gain deleting lots of other versions if it stalls just reboot fixs most times

Thanks guys for the suggestions.

Nowso, I already store everything on the hard drive, but I'm presuming the DB is copied from the disk to the working memory after bootup, and therefor using more memory than necessary. Basically, I'm just trying to optimize it and speed up the EPG down loads. There are no other performance issues that require fixing, so perhaps I'm being too picky. I'm thinking of setting up the Timeshift and recording facilities, so trying to optimise the box first.

Anyway, being an inveterate fiddler, I'll play with it and if I spot any improvements, I'll update here.

Cheers!

Nowso

NickNickleby wrote: »

Thanks guys for the suggestions.

Nowso, I already store everything on the hard drive, but I'm presuming the DB is copied from the disk to the working memory after bootup, and therefor using more memory than necessary. Basically, I'm just trying to optimize it and speed up the EPG down loads. There are no other performance issues that require fixing, so perhaps I'm being too picky. I'm thinking of setting up the Timeshift and recording facilities, so trying to optimise the box first.

Anyway, being an inveterate fiddler, I'll play with it and if I spot any improvements, I'll update here.

Cheers!

if u have it set to your drive its should be ok - delete some of the channels that dont show - spark is a bit slow loading epg - you can maybe set a timer to do it at 6am or something see if it works - i am using enigma 2 as i want to stream to my laptop to record at times if not id use spark the whole time

SCOOP 64

Thinking of buying a Amiko Alien 2 Satellite Receiver from Ebay UK, will this work for soarview coming from UK?
dont know much about combi boxes, ,thinking of cancelling sky to save a bill. thanks
.
ps.add saids installed with PureE2 enigma2 image ???.

Nowso

free satellite channels yes

it will get the freeview / aerial but its awkward to run on enigma 2 - if your only want freesat satelite using your old sky connections get a freesat box or ull get gree to air channels without your sub working on your skybox

if your not up on enigma 2 - its not the easiest to use at the start so look at other options

SCOOP 64

My TV does not have Soarview so will need this to work on it ,is it just a matter of disconnecting sky box and connecting to this box (i have 2 leads going into sky box from dish), then connecting Aerial for soarview?

Nowso

soarview will work will need resetting up on enigma 2 on an old image

if u got one of these its supports soarview epg ang text etc and then leave one of the 2 coax in your sky box and move it to another room and have it extra on the uk free channels
https://www.freetv.ie/saorview-combo/

deezell

Careful now, if your current sky setup is sky Q, the satellite dish receiver Low Noise Block is completely different from the LNB required for traditional satellite receiver boxes. If it's an older sky installation, working with a standard sky HD box, then you will be able to reuse the dish without changing the LNB. You'll still need a terrestrial antenna for Saorview, or Freeview if you're in the UK or NI, or on the border.

SCOOP 64

I have the old type box sky+HD, i have a aerial in the loft i can use for Soarview, will all these devices record?
can you record one program and watch another?

deezell

SCOOP 64 wrote: »

I have the old type box sky+HD, i have a aerial in the loft i can use for Soarview, will all these devices record?

Yes, you're good to go. I'm presuming you have two cables from the sat dish to the sky box. connect both of these to the amiko. Two cable allows you to watch one sat channel while recording the other. The aerial plugs into the terrestrial aerial socket, and will allow recording of Sat while watching Saorview, vice versa, and recording of some saorview while watching another saorview (channels on the same transmission multiplex).
If the PURE enigma 2 image is decently setup, you should be good to go for satellite reception and the all important 7 day epg program guide. You'll need to plug in some kind of extra memorystick or drive to record, and to hold the epg info file without overloading the small box memory.
You will have to manually tune in the terrestrial channels, and then sort them into a list yourself, as the Pure E2 does not have the Saorview automatic sorting that exists in Saorview approved tuners. Enigma 2 is not for the faint hearted, but has its own rewards in versatility.
PS. Is there still no off the shelf non linux box combi box that has a combined 7 day epg program guide? Answers on the back of a €20 note please.

SCOOP 64

One small drawback ,my sky remote does the volume on my surround sound as well, no need for 2 remotes , take it it will back to 2 remotes for sound.