Thanks for the link Kestrel.

I've dowloaded it and will try and get installed tonight.
Will report back with my findings asap.

Hi

I'm new on the list. I found the link to the firmware and downloaded it last night. All is good. Thanks Kestrel.
Video file is now sorted in descending date order and you can see quite a bit more on the list than before.

Also I have picked up a few hints on this forum such as leaving no spaces in the file name. This worked a treat for one of the recordings that kept ending 25 minutes in although the file said it was 90 mins in total.

One thing I have noticed and perhaps someone can advise on this. When I had identical filenames and tried playing one of the recordings the system would go in to melt down and I had to reboot. Has anyone had similar issues? My concern now with the firmware upgrade is the renaming recordings to the program title, with weekly shows the title will be identical..

Any advise would be appreciated.

Ok - as well as the things mentioned above (REC symbol now disappears (finally!), new colours and longer timer list) I've noticed these changes:

Recorded video list is ordered by date and the screen has been rearranged.

The EPG can now have "padding" i.e you can have 5, 10 or 15 mins of extra time - not sure if it's added to the beginning as well as the end of the recording. This isn't useful yet as the only channel with full EPG is ABC and it runs to time really closely.

The arrow buttons to the left and right of the ENTER button causes a recorded program to jump forward/backward by about 30 seconds - this is great for skipping through ads.

I think that's all I've noticed so far. Will let you know if I find any more.

First of all thanks to one an all for their posts and Kestrel for hosting the new firmware.

I installed it over the weekend and echo the previous posts with regard to the rec symbol and added cosmetic features.

With regard to padding it actually adds to both the start and finish time so that if you pad 10 min it will start recording 10 in early and finish ten minutes later that the guide shows. Provided you use the guide and don't manually time record. A good feature given the way the commercial stations ignore their schedulng.

Unfortunately, every time you use the guide to time record it seems to clear all other scheduled timer records. This effectively means there is no use using the guide especially if you weekly record.

In addition, I note that it now possible to time record two programs which overlap - pretty sure this was not possible previously and an extremely handy feature.

On a more negative note, the File Manager has disapeared so that it is no longer possible to see exactly how much hard disc space is left and/or see the individual files which was useful if you wanted to erase part of a file -usually the tail end if padded.


Also once recording starts cannot power off the PVR - in the past could power off and if using timer record would simply restart the record. Also as in the past if you want the PVR to switch off after the record finishes you must use the timer to schedule the record and have the PVR switched off before it starts recording. Serious pain in the .... Not sure about the current set up but in the past even if the PVR was switched off when it started recording it would not auto switch off if you use the pvr in any way during the record period. Even greater pain in the ....

Other areas which need attention include:

Always a slight stutter where volume tries to catch up to picture when using goto function (takes about 3-5 seconds to get any volume) or when simply pausing out commercials during recording. When playing the recording back there is a slight stutter rather than a smooth transition. Most annoying.

As I understand it under normal chase play I should be able to start watching a recorded program even though it is still being recorded and effectively catch up. For example, if I start recording a one hour program at 7:30 pm so that it stops recording at 8:30 pm, I should be able to start watching that program say at 7.40 pm and continue atching that program until the finish of the program. Unfortunately what actually
happens is that I can only watch the program in the same intervals as the time lapse between starting the recording and playing it back. Using the above example, I start watching the program ten minutes after it began recording. After ten minutes the screen freezes and "end" appears on the screen, suggesting that this all that has been recorded. I then have to stop the play back and start from the beginning whereupon I can watch 20 minutes worth of program before it freezes and "end" appears on the screen, and so on.

Raised these issues with DGTEC by email, in June 2006 and have still not received any response whatsover - so much for cutomer service.

Any comments appreciated.

See the thread:
http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtop...p;hl=chase+play

The dgtec doesn't have a proper chase play. Instead, it has a pause mode. I also have a digicrystal, which does have an excellent chase play. The worst feature of the dgtec pause mode is that you if you want to keep a copy of the program you're chasing, you have to record it as well.

In the past, when you switched off the PVR while it was timer-recording, it would stop the recording. It never restarted for me unless I switched the unit back on.


This has always happened. To me it's no big deal. I'd use the goto function to get close, then FF/RW to find the exact spot. It was most annoying when the goto found the right spot and I had to rewind to hear what was going on!

[size=7]



Hi all this is how i use chase play on dgtec ,watch video till it says end ,take note at how many mins ,say ends at 20mins, use goto 20mins then press pause button ,then play, it should play with sound from 20mins on.

I'll have to check this out - because if this is the case then that really sucks.
I quite often set my timer manually for the commercial channels and then
use the EPG for the ABC. I wonder if you set the the EPG first, then do manual
timer there will be a problem?

I think this was always possible - dual tuners. Can record two channels (overlapping) and even watch
a recorded program (provided you initiate in playback before the recording starts).

This is another bummer if it's true.

Seems DGTEC is two steps forward and one step back with its firmware upgrades....


Yes, agree here. Oh for a One-Touch-Record button and a power-off after recording feature...

Yes - we should all send these same comments to DGTEC.

DO NOT TOUCH THE GUIDE IF YOU USE THE SCHEDULED TIMER! Even if you don't record using the guide there's a high probability of losing most of your scheduled timer slots if you press the Guide button or enter the guide via the menu. I've lost my timer list twice doing this.
Turning the ICE guide off doesn't help.

This is a MAJOR bug and DGTEC should be informed of it by as many people as possible.



When I received the email of the new firmware from DGTEC the sender stated "Feedback is appreciated."

Just because they don't respond doesn't mean they don't take notice of your feedback.

hmm I wonder where my manual went???

I got the new firmware but it has been so long since I last did it, I forget!! I unzipped into DGTEC\Upgrade and replaced the existing bin file (after making a copy in case I wanted to change my mind), but that didn't seem to do anything, I just powered back on and it started up like normal.. no "upgrading firmware" or anything...

am I missing something? I looked all over DGTEC and the rest of web for firmware upgrade instructions, no luck... and no manual to be seen....

any help would be appreciated, please don't kick me off the forum for forgetting such a core thing...

This is the firmware upgrade instructions that I downloaded from the old DGTEC site.
I used the same procedure for the latest firmware (060908ASUPA)

DG-SD PVR
Firmware Upgrade Procedure
1. Download upgrade file from DGTEC website www.dgtec.com.au. Save the file on your PC.
2. Connect the PVR to:
a. TV Monitor via component, S-Video or CVBS, and
b. PC via USB cable (use a standard USB printer cable)
3. PVR
a. Using the PVR remote control select Setup. Settings will be highlighted, press Enter.
b. Using the downward directional key on the remote control scroll down to USB in the submenu environment.
c. Press the > directional key and then press Enter when the Connect to PC message is displayed. If the PVR is connected to your PC correctly a message confirming the connection will be displayed.
4. PC
a. On the PC side double click on “My Computer”. The DGTEC drive will be displayed. Copy the firmware upgrade folder and paste it in the DGTEC Drive.
b. Open the upgrade folder in the DGTEC drive.
c. Extract the “bin” file from the folder by highlighting and right clicking the file. Select “Extract” from the options list. This part of the procedure may vary depending on the compression software installed on your PC.
d. Confirm that the bin file has been extracted from the folder.
5. Go back to the PVR and exit from the USB sub menu.
6. Turn the PVR off and then turn it back on. A message will be displayed informing you that the firmware is being upgraded. This may take 5 minutes, do not interrupt this procedure.
7. Once the firmware upgrade is complete another message will ask you to re-power the unit. Turn the power to the unit off by unplugging it from the power source. Then plug it back in and turn the PVR on.
8. Confirm that the upgrade is complete be selecting Setup from the remote control, select Settings and press Enter. Check that the firmware version has changed. The firmware version is displayed on the last line of the information box.


I hope this helps.

Found that if you immediately press the pause button then play button it plays correctly so you hear from the beginning. Still a pain though.




Important that you extract the BIN file so that it is no longer in a folder.

Correct could always record two programs at one time but pretty sure you could not use the "timer" to record two programs, ie. had to be there to press record for the second tuner. May be wrong, could be that you couldn't use timer to start recording two programs at exactly the same time, eg 7:30pm for both programs. Haven't tried this yet. Either way it is a big bonus to be able to use the timer for two programs especially if they overlap.

Ever since I bought my DGTEC a little under a year ago I have been using the timer to schedule simultaneous recordings with no serious problems.

Sometimes I get a false, "timer fail" message, when entering a program that overlaps with two other programs. In the example below Program 2 overlaps with Program 1 and Program 3 but not at the same time, so it should be a valid entry, but often generates a "timer fail" message.

Program 1:_________############__________________________________
Program 2:_________________##################__________________
Program 3:___________________________________##############_____

I have found that the order in which you enter the programs is important; Program 2 cannot be entered into the timer after both Program 1 and Program 3 have been entered because the timer thinks there are 3 programs overlapping at the same time (even though they're not). It's not smart enough to see that there are two different overlaps that occur at two different times, entering the programs in order 1, 2, 3 (or 3, 2, 1) avoids the problem of the simplistic timer logic from giving a false "timer fail" message.

Kestrel,

I tried this last night and had no problems. i.e. I set up a "manual" timer and then went
to the GUIDE and EPG'd a program. Nothing disappeared and both programs recorded fine.
perhaps this is an intermittent issue (hope not -as they are the worst).

That's why I used the term "high probability" because the bug wasn't consistent but certainly not worth risking a full timer list!

The first time it happened to me I lost the first 8 slots.
The second time I lost the first 20 slots.

I experimented by entering different times which disappeared inconsistently when entering the guide. One time of 1700-1730hrs was deleted 10 times out of 10 when I entered the guide which suggests that this may not be an entirely intermittent issue. I've taped a plastic cover over the guide button so I don't press it accidently and lose everything... again.

first off, thanks kestrel. much appreciated.

but my big problem is how do I delete recordings now without the file manager?

here in perth it looks like nine has a full guide now, but i haven't tried to record off it yet

Go to the Video Manager. Select the program with the up/down arrows.
Press the right arrow - you should now get a another highlighted section
giving you the option to Rename, Play, Delete or Exit. Use the arrow keys
to get to the Delete square then hit ENTER. Confirm. And then bye-bye program...

Failing that, activate USB and browse the HDD from your computer.

I've just installed and couldn't find the RF Modulator Channel Selector ... this is required for our setup as the programming of channels was only available through the remote (which is no longer around). I had to revert to the old build :(

- kartguru

I've just tried installing the new firmware and I get the "could take 5 mins" message but below that in red I get "Firmware update fail!!!" Oh no! I've tried unplugging but nothing is happening. Any ideas?

[quote name='freq' date='Sep 26 2006, 08:41 AM' post='492316']
I've just tried installing the new firmware and I get the "could take 5 mins" message but below that in red I get "Firmware update fail!!!" Oh no! I've tried unplugging but nothing is happening. Any ideas?
[/quote
Call DGTEC.
Otherwise try connecting PC and see if PVR drive is visible, reload bin file and try again.

Was wondering if someone has current pricing for this model? Best deals etc.
Cheers.

You should be able to find it for less than $400 (80GB model) otherwise don't bother,
and keep looking. Some have got it for even less, but I think it's still a pretty good
deal at $400.

Hi guys. Have any of you had any luck in getting videos off the pvr and playing them? I don't understand exactly how to join the .mts file and the other .001 etc etc files. I've read through the earlier posts but just can't seem to get any of those ideas to work. Have also spend about 3 - 4 hours looking online without any luck. Any help you guys could give would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

I found that Video Redo works fine. You can join the files together and also remove ads if you're really keen. There's a reduction in picture quality though.

(The DOS copy command using '+' doesn't work.)

The easiest solution is to use projectx. You don't need to join files. Projectx is free, and can also clean up damaged streams. Once projectx has created mpeg files, I normally use virtualdubmod (also free) to make xvids, but you can create standard dvds from the mpegs if you wish. There are plenty of tutorials on how to do this (use Google to find them).

I use MPEG Streamclip. Joining the mts and .001 files is very easy. Firstly you need to rename the .001 files as .mts and then open from within mpeg streamclip. I name them video1.mts, etc. If you select more than one file it opens as one long file (effectively joined.) Also, the best way to get them off the pvr onto computer is to do a "convert to headed mpeg" (from pvr saved onto computer hard drive) which is a very fast conversion with essentially the same file size and can be burnt straight onto dvd using toast. Hope that helps.

Incidentally have just called dgtec re: my firmware fail message. They're sending me an empty box to collect my unit and fix it for me. I've had the last two nights watching analogue tv and I'm having serious withdrawal - don't know how I'm going to survive

Just had my DGTEC PVR200 returned today after a repair - my second tuner never worked properly from new and unless I left the box running with tuner two on a different channel, all my timer recordings were unwatchable as a result...

First thing I noticed was an ominous rattling sound so I opened up the case and found a 5cm piece of metal that had broken off something. I couldn't find anywhere obvious where it came from so I simply removed it. Unit still works...

The second thing I noticed with the open case was the fan had been disconnected.. so I now can watch TV without the accompanying noise of a hovering helicopter. I guess this means it's not going to burst into flames without the fan? Anyone else have any experience with this?

I tested the unit this morning and scheduled a few things to record - everything worked like a charm in blissful silence. Fingers crossed it stays that way...

When I bought my DGTEC some time after it was first released, I was worried about the reported loudness of the fan. On turning it on for the first time, I could only hear the hum of the hard drive spinning and wondered what all the fuss was about. When I opened the case to install a bigger hard drive I found the fan wasn't even connected. DGTEC must have ensured that all further distributions of their PVR would have the fan disabled because it was unncessary and people were complaining about the noise.

I've had it for almost a year and while the left side of the case can get warm to touch I doubt it could ever burst into flames!

You burn uncompressed PVR video files to single-layer dvds? You must have a lot of DVDs...

DVDs are too small. You should never have to span a video across multiple discs.

Dual-layer DVDs are about as expensive (in price per gig) as hard disks.

HD DVDs will probably make me burn more.

Compressing video files is extremely resource expensive when you could download the same program off the net that has already been compressed for you. Some would argue the legality of this... but doing it yourself isn't any more acceptable.

Until HD DVDs, if you can afford it; buy more hard disks.

I bought my dgtec 2 months ago and noticed no noisey fan .
I want to know easy is it to install a bigger hard drive ,do you have to format it before installing, or just install it and format using format hardrive, from dgtec unit itself. what is the biggest harddrive capacity the dgtec will take i was thinking of installing a 320gb western digital witch should give 160hrs of recording I think this is the way to go as I cant be bothered converting the files and burning them to dvd

Unscrew, take out old hd, put in new one. You then initialise the new hd from the menu. I've put in a 320Gb hd - no problems.

I have found it hard to compress the files off the pvr successfully. Either the file sizes are waaayyy too big or the quality suffers (and it takes freakin ages.) Doing a straight convert is much much quicker and with file sizes that are similar (or slightly smaller) to regular dvds and no loss in quality. For example a film I recorded off sbs has a duration of 1hr 54 mins and takes up 3.6 Gb. I'm happy with that. I don't often burn things I record, just any films or programs that will never be released on dvd or would be too expensive to buy.

Well, I bit the bullet and upplugged the fan...

She sure does get hot - so I can see why DGTEC decided
it might need a fan. But it's been running fine so far and
the peaceful bliss is great.

I've had no trouble with the timer and EPG conflict that
Kestrel mentioned a few posts back - but I've noticed that
somethimes it doesn't name the program correctly in the
My Video listing. Sometimes it reverts to the date format,
even though I'm sure the guide had the correct name displayed.
It's not a big deal and in fact I think I prefer the date/time format.
It'd be nice if you could specifiy which format was displayed
(or even toggle between the two!!!) in the My Video listing.

I've done it once (disconnect the fan) on the Digtial DVD Recorder the DG-SD160DVR and the unit gets very, very hot. So not sure if this will affect the logectivity of the unit. But reconnected it after a few days, I understand the peacful bliss. Maybe I should do it again and if the unit fails within the 2 year warranty period, just simply plug the fan back in and claim it under warranty.

What do you think?

I have just installed the new firmware, new menu looked good but I was very dissappointed and reverted to the old firmware because of these problems,
1: unable to delete channels so as they are not displayed when using channel buttons.
2: File button showing harddrive space no longer functioning.
3: Songs transferred to playlist would not delete.

I reinstalled the new firmware twice off two downloads in case I was missing something. Has anyone else tried the new firmware and found the same faults/problems???

Thanks.

I would describe my unit as warm and no warmer than my dvd/vcr combo, amplifier, topfield stb, adsl router etc. Running electronics above ambient room temperature reduces their lifetime but only after several decades of use.

Thanks to all for all the comments!

I just installed the update yesterday and I too have the EPG/Timer problems... I've put in a few manual timers, then go to the EPG and all the timers have gone...

I've just sent an email to DGTEC, so we'll see what they say.

Anyone figured out the ICETV thing yet?

The features of the new firmware (outlined in previous posts) far outweight the new bugs.
The time-ordered My Videos list has been a major improvement for me, no more hunting through the list for new recordings or old recordings that has randomly moved.

1: Channels can be deleted using the Channel Edit section in the Menu.
2: The File Manager has been disabled (I never used it) but you can still use the LED pie-chart on the PVR to see the approximate amount of space remaining.
3: Playlist songs can be deleted by pressing the number 6 button. They can also be shuffled using the number 8 button.

Dgtec don't document their features so you have to hunt for them and you never know what you'll find.

Thanks, I probably didn't spend enough time hunting.

this may be a stupid question, but if you update the firmware do you need to re-format the drive??

No, you don't have to reformat the drive. If you do, you'll lose any programs
already on there.

Just a heads-up:

Browsing the DGTEC site tonight (hoping to find any clues about IceTV--nope) and discovered what seems to be new firmware for the SD200 and SD80...

http://dgtec.com.au/docs/061009B.zip

Hopefully this might do something about the EPG/Guide button problem, which has happily erased all of my timer settings every time I checked. (I stopped checking pretty quickly.)

Fingers crossed my three month Ice subscription might actually do me some good!

Will post any discoveries in a day or two, unless I'm beaten to it.

Cheers all,

Dan

It would be nice if they had a change log....

Or they made the source code available...

Or a mailing list to advise new downloads are available...

Excellent - I've downloaded it too. Will upgrade asap and report back.

Also just downloaded and will load up tomorrow night. Fingers crossed as always but it is good to see that DGTEC are providing upgrades,
Best regards to all,
Kevin

Forgive my ignorance but I have only just started playing with one of these today.

Worked out PIP but is there a way to "Swap" the two channels position and size with a button press (or two)? I know you can swap which one you are controlling/listening to. I want one small on top, one big(with sound) and just be able to press a button and the small one's channel goes to the big and vise versa (quite a normal function even my old analog twin tuner TV does it).

Doesn't seem to let you select a show (using timer button) from EPG (now) that has already started? Couldn't see any record the next 30 120 180 minutes type thing, is the only option to add a timer entry?

Can you sort the channels list? Only been able to delete entries or add them to favourites list. Channel up down seems to go through all (not deleted), not just favs.

Seems to record two channels and playback at same time, nice!

Files button does nothing?

No radio channels still?

icetv thing, does it do anything? Does it try to open a file, if so what filename (I will do decode of firmware file to search for text if I get the time)?. I know the icetv is in XML so wouldn't mind trying a test file. I see this model gets a mention on http://www.icetv.com.au/cgi-bin/webcoupon.cgi?client=dgtec but is not in their supported list.

The only big negative for me so far is the lack of a true swap in PIP mode.

1) After hitting the PIP button and selecting the channel(s) you want hit ENTER. Now using the arrow keys
you can shrink or expand the "top" channel. Hit ENTER again and using the arrow keys should allow you
to move the "top" channel around.

2) Correct and correct. Hopefully this will be added sooner rather than later.

3) Don't think so - but it's not like we have 50 channels to surf through anyway.

4) Yep - it's a great feature. Not sure of its robustness, but I've used it occassionally.

5) Not in the 060908 firmware version. It was usable in the earlier versions. Maybe in the 061009
version - but I haven't installed that yet.

6) Yes, there are two channels I can receive in Sydney.

7) Unless you are subscribed to IceTV I don't think it'll do anything.

There's a 30 day free ICETV trial page: http://www.icetv.com.au/cgi-bin/webfreetrial.cgi

Perhaps someone could sign up and see how it works...