The upgrade won't affect those with external harddrives attached, will it?

Considering how old 1.87 is, it can only make things better for those with external harddrives.
Edit: Or, alternately, Rogers will turn off the eSATA port...and you'll all be screwed. Eek! ;)

I fired off an email to Rogers asking them to ask their second level folks which version of SARA we'll be getting...I don't suspect I'll get an answer...

Hugh, perhaps you could put a quick link to the 8000 FAQ in the other thread so that people will know how to check their firmware revision monday morning and we can get that info right away?

The upgrade won't affect those with external harddrives attached, will it?

It *shouldn't* affect you but since I don't have an external drive to test with here in my lab, I won't go so far as to say uncategorically that it *won't*.

Nathan,

Edit: You know what else would be cool if we got 1.89? Laughing at all the Videotron folks who have mocked us for so very, very long. (kidding of course)

We are happy for you and agree with you that's it is about time!

Doubt you will have a version called 1.89... At an AVS Forum thread, I saw a member who had version 1.88.200.12 in his signature. Here with Videotron we have 1.88.19.1 ! Can't imagine why so many versions ahead of us !?

My sense is you will get 1.88.19.1 (and not 1.88.12.2 or 1.88.14.3 or even 1.88.18.1)

Hugh mentioned that the update causes the TV to display a brighter picture. I saw that immediately, I recall, and thought it was a good change for SD channels in particular.

There are good improvements with this update and there is only one problem remaining for us, at Videotron, and that was discussed in a Videotron thread a long time ago:

If the SA8300HD or SA8000HD is powered OFF on an HD channel, if it powers ON and tunes an HD channel, the resolution will be 480i. To resolve this, one must tune a SD channel then switch back to HD and everything is fine.

One way not to be bothered with this issue, is to set the Power ON channel to a SD channel so that when you change to an HD channel everything will be fine.

Yeah that "brick mode" line caught my eye, too.

I taking a wild guess - that "brick mode" is the default unauthorized mode that brand new boxes have, and they don't want thousands of customer to see a "This box is not authorized" message after reboot, not even briefly?

Anyone know?

"Brick mode" is a one-way, non-interactive mode where the set-top can only channel tune and cannot use any interactive services (ie. PPV, VOD etc).

For the first time in a long time, when I unplug and reboot my SA8300HD it sits there and downloads for about 5 minutes. It shows r260 (numbers could be off a bit) and counts down in hex until it gets r000 and then reboots again 2 times. I thought that it could be the new firmware downloading, but my firmware still shows 1.87. Maybe it is downloading and storing it on the HDD or flash memory until Rogers enables it?

Assuming SARA 1.88 activates the firewire port, will I need a 4 pin or 6 pin cable?

I want to order a long firewire from monoprice 'cuz my HTPC is in the basement and 8300HD on the main floor. I want to be ready for the 22nd!

Have the boys in Quebec confirmed the firewire works with the new firmware applied?

There is a thread regarding Videotron and firewire, it does work, but only after a fashion. A lot of the people have had difficulty getting it to work if you read through that thread.

Well, if and when someone gets it who is able to attempt firewire, be sure to document the results in the upgrade thread! :)

We will probably create a separate thread regarding Firewire and Rogers, once it is confirmed to be working.

We will probably create a separate thread regarding Firewire and Rogers, once it is confirmed to be working.I live in Scarberia so I should be one of the early folks to be upgraded. I also have an HTPC sitting right above my SA8300HD. Does anyone know of an easy way to test for an active firewire connection? If I plug a cable from the firewire of the cable box to my PC and it is active will Windows run the "Found New Hardware" wizard? I will have to check and make sure I have the right type of firewire cable first as I assume I need the large firewire at both ends and most of my cables have the small connector at one end.

Suggest you read the Videotron Firewire thread:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=48146

I live in West Toronto (High Park)...while I was watching TV 10 minutes ago, the 8300HD rebooted (outside display said "boot", took 3 minutes to come back online). How do I check the firmware version?

Hold down the select key on the PVR itself - not the remote- for a second or two until the mail light starts flashing. Then press info and pg up/pg dn to switch pages. Somewhere it will say something like o/s or software version 1.87.something ot 1.88.

Thanks. Unfortunately I'm still on 1.87.16.a11

I just hope they fix my problem: program is set to record all shows / all times, yet, if the show goes over by a couple of minutes, it cuts off and I miss the ending. I've had to resort to recording the following show, just so I can watch the last 2 minutes of my show.

What a pain.

That's a TVGuide issue, and most likely won't be fixed by the firmware update. If TVGuide doesn't provide the proper info to Rogers, your box won't have any way of knowing if a program runs long or not.

Ultimately, it's a Rogers thing, and probably nothing that the firmware can help. (though I won't swear to it, since there might be features in the new firmware that allow TVGuide to update info in a more timely manner...but I wouldn't hold my breath)

While I may be the first to report it (see other thread), I know I won't be able to flush out all of the little niceties.

Please let us know what you find!