Why doesn't SC just tell us this stuff rather than all the cloak and dagger?


Because Shaw management wants to ensure that SC is a NOT successful company. Just add a bit of profit seems to be the Shaw mantra for Cancom/SC.

Here's the only company offering TCM in the east - no advertising to get new customers.

They could easily "buy" show internet bandwidth from Shaw Cable and call on all homes in Shaw territory having a Bell Dish (pointed at Bell satellites) offering a satellite/internet bundle.

But Shaw does next to zippo with SC.

Whoa! I guess you meant the "skip" forward key - tried it and it works beautifully, except for now there are no listings beyond 3 days...

Sounds like SCman may be right, it seems this release does support going beyond the 3 days, so all they have to do now, is provide the guide data.

ARR & SCman,

Why doesn't SC just tell us this stuff rather than all the cloak and dagger?

ExpressVu used to post on a separate channel that the receiver was updated and the highlights of the release.

Why doesn't Star Choice do the same?

Readers here want to know so why no just tell us?


No company will ever give out information before they release the final product. Why would they want to give other company's like Rogers or Bell the heads up on what they were working on.

has someone veryfied if the firmware upgrade fix the handshake problems on
TOSHIBA tv sets ?

What about recording the music stations, or choice radio? I heard that they were working on that.

has someone veryfied if the firmware upgrade fix the handshake problems on
TOSHIBA tv sets ?

Is this handshake you speak of the DVI glitch every half-minute or so? I'd like to know if that's been fixed.

Options 6-4-8-1 now show an additional option - "Reserved"
Any idea what it's for?

I just tried to record a music channel for a couple of minutes and it recorded just fine, but in trying to delete it from the DVR list, I couldn't remove it in spite of the screen that pops up to ask if you REALLY want to delete it. Seems to me this was a problem before A8, when I experimented with recording music but nothing happened. However, there <was> an entry in the DVR list which could only be removed by factory reset.

Further developments:
- Called *C and did a factory reset to see if it would clear the music recording - but preserved hard drive recording.
- Tried once more to delete the litlle b*gger, to no avail.
-c Pulled the plug for a minute, powered up, tried to delete it, and it WORKED!
Hope this is a warning to anyone who wants to record a lot of music.

hmm that sounds like there is still at least one bug in this newer version. i hope it does not behave like that for tv too. i am disappointed because i am not one of the ones who gets this new version. even though i have been having a lot of on-going problems with the 530 lately. i think if they want a group of public testers they should ask people to volunteer to test instead of doing it at random. many of the random testers may never call to report a bug. some may not even watch tv much. it would make more sense to give it to people who are more technical savvy and who would really give it a run for its money. anyone on here who has it, please deliberately try to break it just to see if you can.

thanks.

it would make more sense to give it to people who are more technical savvy and who would really give it a run for its money.

The thing is that would only be a minority of the users, as I bet there are many 530 users out there that aren't even aware they have bugs. As with any testing, a random sampling is usually better.

[quote=Kevin270]lately. i think if they want a group of public testers they should ask people to volunteer to test instead of doing it at random. many of the random testers may never call to report a bug.


You can trust that there are "testers" using the software before it is released to the masses.
I know some people who had tested for *C in the past.

If 00.BC has not fixed "ALL" the bugs rest assured they will have another software update.....I have 00.BC now & I see many improvements, I.M.O. I am very happy with the new code. I hope that when you all have it you will agree with me.

gretzky, your question is too vague to answer.
I heard some Toshiba's worked fine and others didn't.
That was before BC.

gdewar, if you read the text at the bottom of the screen, there is a clue.
Looks like a future version will permit you to totally turn off the hard drive when in Standby or keep in constantly recording.

*** One trick that often works for me do delete 'stubborn' re4cordings is to PROTECT what you want to keep, and use the DELETE ALL function.
Try that, I think that's easier than a factory reset with ERASE. ***

Kevin270, sometime the best testers are those that are completly at arms length. If all the testers were techies, they would know how to use it. The best best is to give it to your wife to test. They spot things as being starge right off.

RE: The extended > 3 day guide data thing.

This is something they've been working on for a while (caching in memory or on the hard drive) and it sounds like they've finally put the code into the 530 to support the feature. The two major issues they actually had to deal with is how to have the extra data in the SAC stream without causing issues with the older receivers, which have encountered issues in the past trying to pull in too much guide info (anyone experience the persistant 'no info' issues 12 months ago) and overflowing the memory.

The other big issue was getting reliable guide data from the provider (tribune). There was some concern over this from the higher-ups as the IPG was frequently wrong to the point of uselessness on some channels (times shifted an hour etc.). I'm sure these sorted and hopefully introduce the searchable guide. I expect my wife to march me to the store for a 500 series receiver when this arrives!!

Nice to see that SC seem to be finally on the right path with the firmware though. Hopefully nothing will crop up when it is deployed to the remaining users.

Couldn't they target the extra guide data much like they targer firmware downloads? It would seem data accuracy is a bigger hurdle.

Kevin270, sometime the best testers are those that are completly at arms length. If all the testers were techies, they would know how to use it. The best best is to give it to your wife to test. They spot things as being starge right off.i guess more than anything is that i am disappointed that i will have to wait until january. originally i was told october, then they said november. then they said december. now they are saying january. it's even more annoying to realize that the new software is out there, but i don't have it after all of those empty promises. i guess i can wait another month with this buggy machine but like i said it is disappointing. the only thing that makes me feel a tad bit better is the fact that at least some people are saying that they have it. however the point of these people having the BC version is to test it. if they find problems with it that will mean yet another delay in getting the software. it may not come in january depending on what is found. from what i have read so far it does sound like a lot of the annoying bugs have been addressed. i am keeping my fingers crossed.

There are a couple of possible approaches to the guide data issues:
1. Wrap the legacy data inside an extended guide packet so the legacy will ignore the extra data and the 5XX can use use, but then you have to download new code to ALL the legacy boxes so it will ignore the extended data. Probably not the best solution.

2. Create a NEW guide downloader and in some future software download, tell it to go look there for data and blast the first 6 hour block down in 30 seconds like Bell does and then let the rest trickle in over several minutes.
Probably a better, but more expensive solution.

New Code Load:
Tough decision on wether to wait or not.
Since it looks like the selected download is 'opportunity' which means it could take up to 7 days before your receiver takes it as forced, a future batch, if all things are clear, could put it right at Christmas.

That would be a bummer if there were a problem and maybe they have a little less staff on at the time, not sure. I'm not convinced the story about us subscribers testing it is valid. I'm sure with the lickin' that *C & Moto took over the past few downloads it has ensured the it was well beta tested by a good size sample. There should not be any surprises by this time.

What problems that may remain, should already be well known, but I can understand them wanting to be cautious. If the number of things changed is as high as mentioned earlier, then there is always a risk. It's just the time of season that seems to be working against some of us.

[Kevin270, sometime the best testers are those that are completly at arms length. If all the testers were techies, they would know how to use it. The best best is to give it to your wife to test. They spot things as being starge right off.

Wow. Not too sexist.

None intended. Just an observation of fact.

*** One trick that often works for me do delete 'stubborn' re4cordings is to PROTECT what you want to keep, and use the DELETE ALL function.
Try that, I think that's easier than a factory reset with ERASE. ***

Did that - even protected/unprotected the recording itself and the only cure was the unplugging of the machine. Somehow that allowed me to delete it - go figger. I have a few items I want to save, so didn't have the drive wiped on the factory reset. Learned my lesson, though - won't be recording music unless I want to keep it forever!