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

techdiver

deezell wrote: »

My Intuition tells me that something is amiss with writing to your HDD. I'm no unix expert, but it appears to me from my cross/HDD problems that the box is scripted to refer 'HDD' to the box memory when there is no or problematic HDD connection. Cross will quickly fill this, and if the box is in standby when cross updates the EPG, perhaps not leave enough memory for soft reboot. My installation pointed cross to the HDD, yet was not using the actual disk for storage until I unmounted and re-mounted the exact correct partiton of the disk, which then became 'HDD'
What happens if you don't use standby? (I don't). Will the box work away for days on end without problems. Change the cross upload time for a time when the box is live maybe, or just turn it off and do a manual update while slouched in front of the telly.

CrossEPG is definitely writing to the hard drive. I've varied that. If I delete the CrossEPG folder and epg.dat file it will be recreated on the hard drive once I run CrossEPG.

My hard drive is formatted in ext4.

I still can't figure out how CrossEPG would corrupt the entire enigma image to the point of not booting up and having to re-flash?? But it's my only suspect at the moment...

deezell

techdiver wrote: »

CrossEPG is definitely writing to the hard drive. I've varied that. If I delete the CrossEPG folder and epg.dat file it will be recreated on the hard drive once I run CrossEPG.

My hard drive is formatted in ext4.

I still can't figure out how CrossEPG would corrupt the entire enigma image to the point of not booting up and having to re-flash?? But it's my only suspect at the moment...

I suppose if you turn off the cross nightly update and see if the standby problem disapperars, that would confirm cross as the culprit. If thats the case you need to maybe look into automatically coming out of standby before a cross update occurs. (though this can turn on the TV if you use HDMI-CEC). I've read also somewhere that EXT2 is actually more optimal for working with these boxes, I dont know if thats worth a try.

techdiver

deezell wrote: »

I suppose if you turn off the cross nightly update and see if the standby problem disapperars, that would confirm cross as the culprit. If thats the case you need to maybe look into automatically coming out of standby before a cross update occurs. (though this can turn on the TV if you use HDMI-CEC). I've read also somewhere that EXT2 is actually more optimal for working with these boxes, I dont know if thats worth a try.

Yeah, I'll try that next. It's just getting jading at this stage. Far too much effort to keep the bloody thing stable.

Luckily (Unluckily) HDMI-CEC doesn't work either for me. Works initially after a fresh flash, but as soon as my TV disconnects once from it, it will never re-establish connection again. When I scan for HDMI-CEC on my TV it only identifies the box as "Recorder", whereas previously it would find "Enigma2". Reproduced on 2 different TV's.

deezell

techdiver wrote: »

Yeah, I'll try that next. It's just getting jading at this stage. Far too much effort to keep the bloody thing stable.

Luckily (Unluckily) HDMI-CEC doesn't work either for me. Works initially after a fresh flash, but as soon as my TV disconnects once from it, it will never re-establish connection again. When I scan for HDMI-CEC on my TV it only identifies the box as "Recorder", whereas previously it would find "Enigma2". Reproduced on 2 different TV's.

I'm using Zardoz' Hyperion image, very stable once I got the disc partition recognised as the HDD. It did fall off once, no EPG and I had to unmount/remount. Just clutching at straws here, but have a look and see what setting you have for Hard disk standby, is it on. If so turn it off and see what happens. My fingers itch to mess with HDMI-CEC but I'm not pressing it! EDIT Also turn automounts off in the disk manager, this kicks in I believe from standby, could be messing up read writes, corruption is usually caused by an interrupted write to memory, which might be the result of a change of direction of a file stream being written due to a change in an internal pointer.

Zardoz

deezell wrote: »

I presume that you extract them first from their zip files, then ftp them to the folders on the box matching those in the zip files.

Yes ,that is correct

There is no rats picon updater on the plugin list on the hyperion image I'm using, ( yours from a month or two ago). Do I need to run the script file that's in the zip.

No ,the plugin runs it when you run the plugin

The instructions on Rats site for installation are different, just put the zip in temp and press the blue button and proceed with installing.
This is a quote from his site -
"it's very easy to install though so dont worry
FTP the ipk to tmp folder
Depending on image used, on your receiver
Press Blue
Software Management
Install Local Extention
Memory /TMP
make sure a tick is in the file(s) you want to install
Green to install
Some images you may have to get to software management via menu"
Cant help noticing that none of the files are .IPK, which I understand is the format for plugins, so more confusion.

Yes ,you can install the plugin using the ipk method too but that can sometimes not work properly on an SH4 based receiver like the Alien 2.
The files I posted earlier are the extracted ipk file using 7zip.
I find it easier just to ftp them across.
I am attaching the ipk files here if you prefer that method.

Also, contained within the first Zip is a script file, "rat_plugin_update.sh" which installs Rat's bouquets, which I presume will overwrite all the changes I've made to the same bouquets, e.g. 'Entertainment'. Virtually all my channels on Cool EPG have nice picons, I don't want to start updating or installing stuff which might mess up what seems to be OK. Unless i can find a definitive set of instructions for moving from these two zip files to a non eventful install/upgrade, I'll leave well enough alone

Yes,you are correct Rats bouquets plugin will overwrite your existing bouquets .
Its not like Autobouquets which retains your existing bouquets but I find the channel order in Rats bouquets to be much better than Autobouquets .

I myself have 3 bouquets I like ,
1)General,mostly Irish and Uk terrestrial channel
2)Saorview
3)Entertainment

I just copy these into the updated Rats bouquets (I use the rest of his bouquets bar the first 3 ) via Dreamboxedit and ftp it over every so often.

Zardoz

techdiver wrote: »

I re-flashed again and now I regularly have to do a hard re-boot every few days as when I leave it on standby it tends to lock up again.

You should do a reboot every day to keep the receiver running well.
Just do it once a day ,it will improve the performance .

Even so, what frustrates me is that 2 weeks ago I went to turn the box on from standby and it wouldn't respond, so I did a hard re-boot, but then the box was in a boot loop for no reason what so ever. I hadn't changed any configuration, hadn't installed any more plugins. How can this happen so regularly?

That is strange ,I'm not sure why it would go into a boot loop.
What skin were you using ? Do you have permanent timeshift enabled ?

I've found that sometimes if the box is left in standby for a long time ,it shifts alot of the processes into Swap as opposed to Ram.
This can result in laggier performance when you awaken it from standby .
Hence a daily reboot is recommended.

deezell

Zardoz wrote: »

Yes,you are correct Rats bouquets plugin will overwrite your existing bouquets .
Its not like Autobouquets which retains your existing bouquets but I find the channel order in Rats bouquets to be much better than Autobouquets .

So how often does this run, on reboot? or just manually/timed. i assume just adding in the files will make it appear in the pluins list. If I just wanted to get missing picons updated without the bouquets script changing my bouquets every time, should I delete the update bouquets script, or would just FTPing in the picons file do the job. Its not a biggie, but for the information for other interested users. Sorry for being a PITA
EDIT
To answer my own question, I've just noticed that the second download file is not the list of picons, but a seperate picon updater. That's where my confusion lies, they are two very seperate plugins. One for bouquets, and one for picons. If you install the second you get the picon updater. If you just want the actual directory of picons , the url that this updater will download is in the script file, here it is http://www.satelliteworldz.co.uk/rats/picon.zip
This is a substantial folder, almost 4Mb, my existing picon folder is just over half a Mb. Memory is at a premium on the box, so it might be advisable to move the picon folder to the HDD if using this, but then thats another possiblity for delay and error. Picons stored in memory will be instantly available to the EPG.

Zardoz

deezell wrote: »

So how often does this run, on reboot? or just manually/timed. i assume just adding in the files will make it appear in the pluins list. If I just wanted to get missing picons updated without the bouquets script changing my bouquets every time, should I delete the update bouquets script, or would just FTPing in the picons file do the job. Its not a biggie, but for the information for other interested users. Sorry for being a PITA

The plugins will appear in the plugins list.
You run each plugin manually ,they are completely separate so if you just wish to update your picons just run the picon updater .

deezell

Zardoz wrote: »

The plugins will appear in the plugins list.
You run each plugin manually ,they are completely separate so if you just wish to update your picons just run the picon updater .

Thanks Z, I'd just noticed that but see my comments on picon folder size above

Zardoz

deezell wrote: »

Thanks Z, I'd just noticed that but see my comments on picon folder size above

4MB is fine deezel,they are stored in Flash memory ,not Ram ,so its not an issue.
I store them in internal flash ,it works very well.

If you are using my backup ,I have Rats Picons in the internal flash,its ~4MB ,you must have deleted some to reduce it to 0.5MB.
Some of the higher resolution Picons are much larger in size,I've seen some sets 35MB ,they would have to be run from the HDD or a USB stick.

deezell

Zardoz wrote: »

4MB is fine deezel,they are stored in Flash memory ,not Ram ,so its not an issue.
I store them in internal flash ,it works very well.

If you are using my backup ,I have Rats Picons in the internal flash,its ~4MB ,you must have deleted some to reduce it to 0.5MB.
Some of the higher resolution Picons are much larger in size,I've seen some sets 35MB ,they would have to be run from the HDD or a USB stick.

No I didn't delete any, just had a look in the folder, there are 900 and something Picons, just five short of the bee

deezell

Zardoz wrote: »

4MB is fine deezel,they are stored in Flash memory ,not Ram ,so its not an issue.
I store them in internal flash ,it works very well.

If you are using my backup ,I have Rats Picons in the internal flash,its ~4MB ,you must have deleted some to reduce it to 0.5MB.
Some of the higher resolution Picons are much larger in size,I've seen some sets 35MB ,they would have to be run from the HDD or a USB stick.

No I didn't delete any, just had a look in the folder, there are 900 and something Picons, just five short of the new rats list. The thing is, a lot of them are blank, with a file size of near zero. All the others a tidy 3k+. I assume the blanks will just display a default image. Just telnet'd a search for picon from outside home, maybe there's a second picon folder on the box. I'll check when home

techdiver

Latest issue.

I've lost a good few channels.

"Service not found!"
"SID not found in PAT"

Any ideas? I suppose I have to rescan everything again? Sigh!

Imstuck

Here's what I was advised;

You should update your satellites.xml and do a full scan every so often with clear before scan enabled. This will remove all the remnants. Then run Autobouquets

I don't use the terrestrial tuner at all & running autobouqets sorted it for me

Joeface

Small question , Changing channels on saorview side take a lot of time to change but the min I reach the satellite channels box works perfectly. If i am watch a saorview channel and press menu , box takes a good 2 -3 min to open it . but only takes 5-10sec if I am on a satellite channel .

Also notice that on the saorview channels the busy timer appears in the top left corner ever min or so as if its scanning or doing something in the back ground .

All the channels are in a single bouqet

what did I miss ??
Using ChampionC's e2 image

I have everything else the way I want it , this is my only outstanding issue

bappelbe

Joeface wrote: »

Small question , Changing channels on saorview side take a lot of time to change but the min I reach the satellite channels box works perfectly. If i am watch a saorview channel and press menu , box takes a good 2 -3 min to open it . but only takes 5-10sec if I am on a satellite channel .

Also notice that on the saorview channels the busy timer appears in the top left corner ever min or so as if its scanning or doing something in the back ground .

All the channels are in a single bouqet

what did I miss ??

I have everything else the way I want it , this is my only outstanding issue

What image are you on?
Sounds like you need a reflash. I have never had issues like that. Saorview takes a bit longer than sat but is still of the order of 2-3 secs or so.

deezell

bappelbe wrote: »

What image are you on?
Sounds like you need a reflash. I have never had issues like that. Saorview takes a bit longer than sat but is still of the order of 2-3 secs or so.

First . Do a rescan on one of the Rte channels in your area, don't clear previous settings, make sure bandwidth is 8 mhz, check voltage feed to antenna is off.When done, go to the bouquet, ' last scanned' and select one of the Saorview channels there. If it comes on with a normal delay, you need to rescan the second channel to and edit your epg with these. You could also reboot to spark to see how the Saorview is performing there, if it has the same problem, you might have a hardware issue in the tuner.

Technofobe

Whats the General feeling folks
Mains Powered USB drive for the alien 2
or usb powered from the Alien
Having some issues with hyperion 4.5 pixelating on the terrestial channels while recording HD sat channel
Have 2 portable usb drives a Toshiba 5200 rpm 100 gig 8mb cache
and a Maxtor 80 gig 5200 rpm 8mb cache and both give same result the afore mentioned pixelating
Does not happen in spark but i would like to stick with enigma
getting it in the ear from she who must be obeyed

Will a mains powered drive clear this up
Who is using one what size & make and does it spin down when the alien is off
Many thanks :-)

mass_debater

Technofobe wrote: »

Whats the General feeling folks
Mains Powered USB drive for the alien 2
or usb powered from the Alien
Having some issues with hyperion 4.5 pixelating on the terrestial channels while recording HD sat channel
Have 2 portable usb drives a Toshiba 5200 rpm 100 gig 8mb cache
and a Maxtor 80 gig 5200 rpm 8mb cache and both give same result the afore mentioned pixelating
Does not happen in spark but i would like to stick with enigma
getting it in the ear from she who must be obeyed

Will a mains powered drive clear this up
Who is using one what size & make and does it spin down when the alien is off
Many thanks :-)

Do the hdd speed test in Spark and post the results. Is the drive formatted ext3? You will get better performance in Enigma with ext3

deezell

mass_debater wrote: »

Do the hdd speed test in Spark and post the results. Is the drive formatted ext3? You will get better performance in Enigma with ext3

A while back I read in another forum that ext2 is optimal for these boxes. I'll have try find it again.

mass_debater

deezell wrote: »

A while back I read in another forum that ext2 is optimal for these boxes. I'll have try find it again.

They're pretty much the same just ext3 is more reliable as it has journaling backup features

Technofobe

mass_debater wrote: »

Do the hdd speed test in Spark and post the results. Is the drive formatted ext3? You will get better performance in Enigma with ext3

thanks for the replies
I had done the speed test in spark got 230mbs which spark maintained was good enough for recording 2 HD channels
Both drives were formatted as ext 3
The pixellation does not occur in spark
did not have it in open atv either
only seeing this in hyperion 4.5 I took the lazy out and used 2 backups rather than doing a complete install
Happens every time
Record say BBC1 HD
And switch over to RTE 1 HD and picture breaks up

Irish Traveling

Morning all,

I've just loaded the image by Zardoz from post here. Everything is working fine with the exception of saorview.

When I go to any saorview channels it brings up the channel info but no picture.

I have a saorview aerial plugged into tuner 3 on the box. Note, it was working in spark.

I'm new to this so any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

D.

Technofobe

Irish Traveling wrote: »

Morning all,

I've just loaded the image by Zardoz from post here. Everything is working fine with the exception of saorview.

When I go to any saorview channels it brings up the channel info but no picture.

I have a saorview aerial plugged into tuner 3 on the box. Note, it was working in spark.

I'm new to this so any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

D.

You will need to re scan terrestial for your local transmitter

Irish Traveling

Technofobe wrote: »

You will need to re scan terrestial for your local transmitter

Thanks. I'll try figure that out...... I might be back looking for more guidance!

Technofobe

What I should have said was
You will need to do a new scan to find your local saorview stations ( each area may use a different transmitter )
If you go to
setup
service searching
automatic search

You will see an option to search dvbt yes
Change search dvb s2 to no as this is the satellite stations
you should only need to rescan for saorview
Then in boquets find last scanned
and move them to whatever boquet you like

techdiver

So far this morning the box has locked up 4 times!

Twice whilst on ftp and twice for no reason when watching TV when I tried to invoke various menus.

Each time it happens the channel I'm watching continues to play fine, but nothing else responds.

Edit: 5th lockup!

jspuds

Does anybody know if its possible to configure the alien remote control for the TV like power on and volume?

deezell

jspuds wrote: »

Does anybody know if its possible to configure the alien remote control for the TV like power on and volume?

The settings HDMI -CEC on the box allow communication between the tv and the box, such as turning on the box also turns on the TV. You enable the drivers on the box, I presume tv also must have this capability. I keep away from it, I've not read any glowing reports on this thread. Have a read of this http://www.howtogeek.com/207186/how-to-enable-hdmi-cec-on-your-tv-and-why-you-should/

Kevin!

is their a way to generate a .m3u playlist from OpenWebIf for VLC? So you have a complete channel list within VLC without having to request them individually form OpenWebIf?

cheers