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

Slevster

Wheety wrote: »

Would this hard drive work with the Amiko Alien 2?

Seagate Expansion 500GB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive - Black

Everything I found online seems to be a couple of years old. Some people are saying you need a mains powered drive while others are saying usb powered works fine.

Use one of these Seagates. Works well. (Have used it for last 20 months)

witnessmenow

Hey has anyone ever had experience with a box that was just slower than it should be?

I friend of mine got a alien 2 new off a fairly popular .ie site (pretty sure its where I got mine too) and enigma is just really slow on it. Spark seems fine but I've tried 3 different images and they are all slower than they should be in the menu. For example if i press the down arrow 10 times it might move 5, pause then jump the last 5. I have tried 2 of the images on other boxes and they work fine. Any ideas what might be up?

This box would have came with a version of enigma but I never tested to see what that was like before replacing it

dpjmie

witnessmenow wrote: »

Hey has anyone ever had experience with a box that was just slower than it should be?

I friend of mine got a alien 2 new off a fairly popular .ie site (pretty sure its where I got mine too) and enigma is just really slow on it. Spark seems fine but I've tried 3 different images and they are all slower than they should be in the menu. For example if i press the down arrow 10 times it might move 5, pause then jump the last 5. I have tried 2 of the images on other boxes and they work fine. Any ideas what might be up?

This box would have came with a version of enigma but I never tested to see what that was like before replacing it

Try clearing cache on the box using the settings menu. Are you using different memory keys for storing data like epg guides?

DopeTech

witnessmenow wrote: »

Hey has anyone ever had experience with a box that was just slower than it should be?

I friend of mine got a alien 2 new off a fairly popular .ie site (pretty sure its where I got mine too) and enigma is just really slow on it. Spark seems fine but I've tried 3 different images and they are all slower than they should be in the menu. For example if i press the down arrow 10 times it might move 5, pause then jump the last 5. I have tried 2 of the images on other boxes and they work fine. Any ideas what might be up?

This box would have came with a version of enigma but I never tested to see what that was like before replacing it

That type of slowness is usually caused by a signal issue. Have you got the two sat tuners enabled with only one cable connected? Or maybe the saorview channels not tuned in for your area?

deezell

lensman wrote: »

Any one got a link to the latest channel list for UK channels, enigma2 not spark,...thanks

Just run autoboquets, that should bring all your satellite channels up to date, then do a manual scan for terrestrial if they're not complete. RTE ONE +1 recently changed. Use dreambox edit or webif to move and edit the bouquets after. If you are still missing a few, find the frequencies on Kingofsat.net and manually tune them into last scanned, add them to your desired bouquet from there.

alanhiggyno1

hi guys just a quick question to ask.friend of mine has upc and is on about getting the alien 2.is it a matter of plugging out upc box and plugging the alien 2 in..ill be setting it up for him anyway so just need to know if it will work off upc connections thanks

DopeTech

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

hi guys just a quick question to ask.friend of mine has upc and is on about getting the alien 2.is it a matter of plugging out upc box and plugging the alien 2 in..ill be setting it up for him anyway so just need to know if it will work off upc connections thanks

Its a satellite box so no it'll not work with UPC in any way. Think your friend needs to do a little more research.

alanhiggyno1

FrostyJim wrote: »

Its a satellite box so no it'll not work with UPC in any way. Think your friend needs to do a little more research.

ok so what would be the best box then or is it possable

DopeTech

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

ok so what would be the best box then or is it possable

They need to buy a dish with a twin lnb and a terrestrial aerial, get them installed, then load up a backup image from here. Most people here use one of the Hyperion v4.5 backups.

dav32cs

championc wrote: »

Why do a re-scan ? You are using the same satellites. Set it up in your house and just bring it to the other and plug it in

Just to see what channels actually weren't being received!They grey out after the scan if they aren't picked up so was easier to do that and then delete them through DBE to save them trying to select channels that aren't picking up.

Thinking of picking u one of the cheap meters to see if I can improve but given that you can't even see what one you're picking up there could be a good bit of fidgeting about. Don't think could justify spending bigger bucks for the proper set ups.

dav32cs

deezell wrote: »

One possibility is a problem switching polarity on the LNB. Check to see if channels of both polaritys are being received, by hitting the info button on a selection of channels.

Will do and check next time I'm out there, thanks.

Imstuck

deezell wrote: »

That resource is updated frequently, the image for hyperion was updated in may if you look through the Dropbox folders. EDIT In fact the alien 2 zip backup was done only 22 days ago. This is Zardoz backup, very stable, in post #3

Did Zardoz update that one with the new Rats plugins?
He mentioned he was going to do that but didn't want to annoy him!
In my phone at minute so can't see what's on the image, if not what updates are on it?
@Zardoz, is there an automatic updater on it for the picons??

Many thanks!

Slevster

dav32cs wrote: »

Just to see what channels actually weren't being received!They grey out after the scan if they aren't picked up so was easier to do that and then delete them through DBE to save them trying to select channels that aren't picking up.

Thinking of picking u one of the cheap meters to see if I can improve but given that you can't even see what one you're picking up there could be a good bit of fidgeting about. Don't think could justify spending bigger bucks for the proper set ups.

There is a signal meter included in the dreamdroid app (and perhaps the vu+ app also) . its very basic, but did help me at the weekend when I was changing the lnb on the dish. Ended up readjusting the dish slightly.
Ie while on the roof, messing with the dish, was able to zap to different channels using the app, and check the signal strength. So was able to adjust the lnb, and dish alignment to get a better signal. Was a lot handier than running up and down the ladder.
But obviously, this wouldn't be great if you are trying to set up the dish from scratch, or searching for other sats

BobbyT28

How to properly replace 32GB FAT32 USB (sda1) that I was using for epg and recodring with 1TB HDD?

I and using my old WD element 1TB hard drive. I formatted it in Sparks with ext3. I then plugged it in with the USB still connected and created a partition /sdb1 (1Tb size).

I then went to HDD manager and chaged the top option I think its hdd/something (in work at the mo) to sdb1 and mounted it successfully.

I can't get crossepg working on new drive and also, i've lost most of my channels and when I try and go into plugibns to do a scan I get a green screen.

So what do I need to do to properly setup a 1TB drive for Crossepg and recoding? What directory should I be recording too?

Why Am I getting a Green screen now? this happens now with the 1TB & USB drive and when I try access plugins!!

Thanks in adavance
BObbyT28

Technofobe

BobbyT28 wrote: »

How to properly replace 32GB FAT32 USB (sda1) that I was using for epg and recodring with 1TB HDD?

I and using my old WD element 1TB hard drive. I formatted it in Sparks with ext3. I then plugged it in with the USB still connected and created a partition /sdb1 (1Tb size).

I then went to HDD manager and chaged the top option I think its hdd/something (in work at the mo) to sdb1 and mounted it successfully.

I can't get crossepg working on new drive and also, i've lost most of my channels and when I try and go into plugibns to do a scan I get a green screen.

So what do I need to do to properly setup a 1TB drive for Crossepg and recoding? What directory should I be recording too?

Why Am I getting a Green screen now? this happens now with the 1TB & USB drive and when I try access plugins!!

Thanks in adavance
BObbyT28

Does the drive work if you pause tv
If the drive is not mounted properly I think that cross epg wil revert to saving in the internal memory ( not good )
If the pause works then the drive is mounted
go into setup and cross epg and double check where its saving to
does it say hdd ?

try deleting the cross epg folder and the cross epg.dat files on the drive and try again

also check in hdd manager where it shows sda1 try arrow right or left see if there is another partition sometimes on mine i see a sda5 as well as 1

dav32cs

Slevster wrote: »

There is a signal meter included in the dreamdroid app (and perhaps the vu+ app also) . its very basic, but did help me at the weekend when I was changing the lnb on the dish. Ended up readjusting the dish slightly.
Ie while on the roof, messing with the dish, was able to zap to different channels using the app, and check the signal strength. So was able to adjust the lnb, and dish alignment to get a better signal. Was a lot handier than running up and down the ladder.
But obviously, this wouldn't be great if you are trying to set up the dish from scratch, or searching for other sats

Hadn't thought of that as I use Dreamdroid regularly enough so must give that a shot. I picked up a cheap meter so hopefully between using the two or using them together I'll zero in on the best signal

BobbyT28

Technofobe wrote: »

Does the drive work if you pause tv
If the drive is not mounted properly
When I try unmount device I get an error
I think that cross epg wil revert to saving in the internal memory ( not good )
Have it set to record to HDD

If the pause works then the drive is mounted
Never tried that.
go into setup and cross epg and double check where its saving to
does it say hdd ?
Yes saving to hdd

try deleting the cross epg folder and the cross epg.dat files on the drive and try again

I can start recording, its just when I try to go into plugins I get the green screen. Very fustrating! And now the Man U match is on tonight and I haven't got any channels, thats why I want to get into plugins to do a auto bouquet scan! :P:P

also check in hdd manager where it shows sda1 try arrow right or left see if there is another partition sometimes on mine i see a sda5 as well as 1

How do I start from scratch re HDD. Setting up crossepg partitions etc?

I have 1TB HDD formatted to ext3, what method do you use when you first connect newly formatted HDD on turn on amikko for the first time?

Maybe if I make 1TB sba1 that was the USB and copy all the contents from USB on to HDD would that worK? NOt sure it will!

dpjmie

I'm hazarding a guess but maybe it's because of the size it can't recognize the drive... why not split the drive into 2-3 partitions and use two partitions for recording and one for crossepg/swapfile & miscellaneous data

BobbyT28

dpjmie wrote: »

I'm hazarding a guess but maybe it's because of the size it can't recognize the drive... why not split the drive into 2-3 partitions and use two partitions for recording and one for crossepg/swapfile & miscellaneous data

I know I do that in partition manager but how to I do it.

NOt at home at the minute, but the top one is media woulkd I create it as follows

hdd/media 500GB ext3 sda1
hdd/ 400GB a ext3 sdb1
hdd/ 100GB ext3 sdc1

OR should I have something as fat32?

What about SWAP? will this be just emulated?

Thanks for all the hlp,

BobbyT28

dpjmie

No from what I know the storage needs to be ext3 for writing.. so stay away from fat32... I h issues formatting drives using the box so I just did from a live Ubuntu cd using gparted

BobbyT28

dpjmie wrote: »

No from what I know the storage needs to be ext3 for writing.. so stay away from fat32... I h issues formatting drives using the box so I just did from a live Ubuntu cd using gparted

So If I partition the drive like stated above should I be good to go? Where should recodings go? hdd/media from what I remember?

adr_sullivan

i just got the amiko alien 2 box.

i have an old sky dish so that takes care of most of the chanels.
will i need to get a saorview aerial to get the irish channels as well or do i need to scan for them

thanks,

bappelbe

adr_sullivan wrote: »

i just got the amiko alien 2 box.

i have an old sky dish so that takes care of most of the chanels.
will i need to get a saorview aerial to get the irish channels as well or do i need to scan for them

thanks,

In short you need an aeriel and you will need to scan for saorview

go to http://www.saorview.ie/get-saorview/make-the-switch/coverage-map/ to see where your aeriel should be pointing and check which transmitter you are using.
Go to Wikipedia and search for the transmitter name, and note the frequencies of the 2 muxes (eg 474 and 498mhz are Mullaghanish).
press menu and go to service searching and search the 2 frequencies (select clear before scan on firse freq but not second) the channels are now in the "last scanned" bouquet.

adr_sullivan

bappelbe wrote: »

In short you need an aeriel and you will need to scan for saorview

go to http://www.saorview.ie/get-saorview/make-the-switch/coverage-map/ to see where your aeriel should be pointing and check which transmitter you are using.
Go to Wikipedia and search for the transmitter name, and note the frequencies of the 2 muxes (eg 474 and 498mhz are Mullaghanish).
press menu and go to service searching and search the 2 frequencies (select clear before scan on firse freq but not second) the channels are now in the "last scanned" bouquet.

thanks for that - a bit of a pain but will have to get it sorted

DopeTech

adr_sullivan wrote: »

thanks for that - a bit of a pain but will have to get it sorted

A cheap amplified one might do in the house if you don't want to go installing one outside. Depending on signal strength in your area you may even get away with a coat hanger.

adr_sullivan

FrostyJim wrote: »

A cheap amplified one might do in the house if you don't want to go installing one outside. Depending on signal strength in your area you may even get away with a coat hanger.

ii can actually see rte 1& 2, but when i try and open the channel i get a black screen.

going to try and flash it with new firmware from Zardoz - once i figure out how to

DopeTech

adr_sullivan wrote: »

ii can actually see rte 1& 2, but when i try and open the channel i get a black screen.

going to try and flash it with new firmware from Zardoz - once i figure out how to

You just need to rescan, that'll be setup for a different transmitter.

Technofobe

BobbyT28 wrote: »

How do I start from scratch re HDD. Setting up crossepg partitions etc?

I have 1TB HDD formatted to ext3, what method do you use when you first connect newly formatted HDD on turn on amikko for the first time?

Maybe if I make 1TB sba1 that was the USB and copy all the contents from USB on to HDD would that worK? NOt sure it will!

From my own experience
Boot into spark with the drive connected
delete any existing partitions
create 1 partition
format the partition as ext 3
Boot back to enigma 2
go to the blue panel and mount the drive
test the drive is working by tuning to a station and press pause
go to
setup
cross epg
configure
save to hdd ( in my case it shows the name of the drive as Maxtor 1 touch ) not just HDD
download now
see if it downloads
Mine downloads approx 14 mb data 900 channels

adr_sullivan

FrostyJim wrote: »

You just need to rescan, that'll be setup for a different transmitter.

got there in the end. had to select a different provider on the menu

now
1) figure out how to apply Zardozs' update
2) start deleting channels i dont need

dav32cs

adr_sullivan wrote: »

got there in the end. had to select a different provider on the menu

now
1) figure out how to apply Zardozs' update
2) start deleting channels i dont need

Download DreamboxEdit (http://dreamboxedit.com/category/download/), enter your box details and sort your listings out that way. A lot easier.