A few questions before Vu+ Duo purchase

[technomate61]

Hi there

Have had a Spiderbox 7000HD for some time, and although I'm getting all the channels I could possibly want, I'd now like a box with a bit more sophistication, and my research so far suggests that a Vu+ Duo would be the best option for me. If I list my priorities for the new box here, could any existing owners confirm that the Duo can carry out the functions I'm looking for, and also suggest the best firmware to order from WoS to achieve what I'm looking for?

1. Excellent picture quality on HD (and good also on SD)
2. "User friendly" EPG - full 7 days for all the main channels on 28E, and preferably also Spanish D+, German, French channels etc on 13E/19E - channel numbers down the side with days/times listed along the top (scrollable for later starting programmes etc)
3. Ability to sort and renumber all my favourite channels e.g. 1 = BBC1 HD 2 = BBC2 3 = ITVHD.... 6 = E4 HD, 7 = More 4, 8 = BBC3 etc etc - and preferably to get the EPG up in the same order/numbering
4. Recording reservation by EPG or manual (I've seen mention of some sort of "series link" record option - is this just the "daily/weekly" option at the same time or does it somehow recognise the programme name in the EPG eg "Match of the Day" and adjust the start time from one week to the next?)
5. List of recorded programmes with most recent at top by default (but maybe other sort options?)
6. Easy cccam set-up
7. Nice to have - ability to edit recorded programmes on the box itself (eg chop out unwanted segments) and also transfer to PC to either watch or edit & save in one of the PC formats (eg MPEG-2, avi etc) but still in decent quality
8. Nice to have - environmentally friendly in terms of power consumption

Apologies for the long first post, but thought it would be easier to get it all done in one go - although I'll probably have a separate question in the "other satellite hardware" section regarding satellite feeds from my two dishes later on

Cheers
Technomate61

[Larry-G]

1. yes although it is worth saying that the spiderbox's have whats arguable the best HD picture on any box that i know of but i have no problems at all on my Duo.

2. yes, depending on the image you use. ViX for example has the single best EPG available of any image bar none.

3. yes this can be done either directly from the receiver it self ( very time consuming ) or via a dedicated bouquet / channel editor and a PC.

4. yes, although it's not as advanced as for example a sky box's but there is nothing closer in my opinion.

5. yes, depending on the image you use. ViX has many options available for sorting recordings etc.

6. that depends on your definition of easy.

7. you can easily FTP recordings from the receiver to a PC for editing etc.

8. not exactly sure but if you put the receiver into deep standby every night it consumes almost nothing power wise during this time.

[technomate61]

Thanks Phoenix for the swift & comprehensive reply.

I can hopefully find out how to do all these things after I've got the box but it sounds like it's the right choice from your answers - and that ViX is the image I should go for. Regarding (6) at the moment I put the file from my supplier onto a memory stick, transfer it to the Spiderbox and there's a "usb" option on the menu system from which I click on the file to load (can then view the results in a Client window) - I presume it's something similar.

My only other decision is whether to get a hard drive included or whether I can save a few £££ by fitting one myself (I've removed/refitted a hard drive from a JVC DVD/HDD recorder in the past so hopefully should be able to install one OK).

Have another query to post regarding satellite feeds but I'll almost certainly be ordering a box this week!

[Larry-G]

Fitting a HDD is a easy enough task and if you already have one to hand then fitting it your self would certainly save you a few bob, as for the other question regarding "you'r supplier" ?. I'm sorry but were not that kind of forum and cant offer any help there as per our rules. ( best get acquainted with them sooner rather than later ).

Truthfully only you can say which will be the best image for you, so i recommend you try a few out and see which you like best. I my self am a ViX user and all of my family find it very easy to navigate through the various menu's without problem.

any other questions you need help with just ask.

[technomate61]

Great thanks and advice noted on all fronts! Have posted my question re feeds in what I think is the appropriate section, have tried to phrase it in such a way as to not mention any unmentionables!

[Stanman]

Great thanks and advice noted on all fronts! Have posted my question re feeds in what I think is the appropriate section, have tried to phrase it in such a way as to not mention any unmentionables!

The unmentionables are that for a reason, rewording them, using euphemism etc is the same, cannot be discussed on this forum.

[technomate61]

Thanks. Just looking at the WoS ordering page for the Duo. 99% certain on this one, but I have my router installed right next to all my TV/AV equipment so can get a direct connection to the Duo - so I'm pretty sure I don't need either of the wi-fi or homeplugs options. Also, when I looked at the page earlier this week I'm sure it was giving me a £5 discount as a forum member, but can't find that now, would this have been a short term offer or have I not clicked on the right link?

[Stanman]

Its still available but need to go to the WOS section of forum on here to find it http://www.world-of-satellite.com/forumdisplay.php?210-World-Of-Satellite-co-uk-Forum-Member-only-deals!

[technomate61]

Thanks Stanman - will use your link when I place my order.

Cheers
Technomate61

[technomate61]

Well, I took the plunge a week or so ago, and purchased the Duo through WoS, with the Vix image pre-installed, and have to say I'm very impressed so far. I've tried to follow the guides and also work through issues by trial and error rather than bombard the forum with questions, and with the exception (so far) of editing my recordings - item 7 on my first post - have got all the items on my original "spec" working to my satisfaction.

The one problem that's troubling me at the moment is setting the locations for recording and the epg (see below). When the box arrived I found that my old 8GB pen drive wasn't working any more - either on my PC or the Duo, so I ordered a replacement - I did a single download of EPG data to the internal memory but left auto-updating off until the pen drive arrived. I'd wanted to find out how good the box was before splashing out on an internal Sata drive, so to start with I was using an external USB hard drive for my recordings - the one previously used in my Spiderbox, and recordings were being stored on it ok with no pen drive installed. Having been so impressed with the box I decided to go for a 2TB internal drive rather than the 1TB I'd originally intended purchasing.

I've had problems with a few movie recordings stopping just short of the hour mark with a message suggesting a possible problem with space on the USB drive, even though it still has 80-100GB free. Also, since the new 8GB pen drive arrived a couple of days ago, the Duo has been trying to use it for my recordings. When I go into blue button-vix-mount manager the pen drive & USB hard drive are showing as
Cruzer Fit (i.e. pen drive) - Mount: /media/hdd Device: /dev/sda1
USB 2.0 Drive - Mount: /media/sdb1 Device: /dev/sdb1
I changed these to Cruzer Fit - /media/usb and USB 2.0 /media/hdd, and accepted the re-boot, but found the Mounts had gone back to the previous settings ie not accepted my changes.

If I press Blue button-Vix-Mount Manager- USB 2.0 Drive - Use as HDD, then currently I get a software error on the box leading to a re-boot.

However I decided I'd wait until I'd got all my drives in place before re-testing.

My plan now is as follows -
1. Follow the guide "Disc installation/initialisation illustrated tutorial v2" to install/initialise my 2TB hard drive.
2. If still having trouble with mount manager, try to do a clean reinstall of the original Vix image as supplied by WoS to clear out any of my "trial & error" settings I'd made while testing the box out - what would be the best way to go about this? I spotted the back up options after I'd already done a bit of experimenting, it might be easier to go back to one of these first, but currently they're not showing via the Vix menus (Backup manager - problem with device, please re-format), but I think I can see them on my pc when connected via Flashfxp.
3. Initialise the internal hard drive, re-load my customised version of one of the bouquets, stored on my PC, re-do my diseqc settings, try setting up the EPG again and re-install cccam

Does this approach sound sensible, or does anyone have any other (better?) suggestions? Many thanks.

[technomate61]

Just a quick update on this - I've now installed/initialised my 2TB Internal HDD in the Duo, following the instructions in xarqi's excellent guide elsewhere on the forum. This appears to have sorted out the problems with the mount locations. I removed the external USB Hard Drive and plugged in the 8GB pen drive. Initially both that and the internal drive were coming up as Mount: /media/hdd but this time Mount Manager allowed me to change the pen drive to /media/usb.

Have been happily recording to the 2TB internal drive this afternoon from both tuners at the same time. I'm hopeful that the problem with movie recording stopping half way through will be resolved now also. Will update this thread once I've had a few days to experiment with this.

One remaining problem I have is trying to get the EPG loading to the pen drive rather than internal memory - menu>setup>system>EPG>settings does not give me the option to specify the EPG location - but probably best if I set this up as a separate thread once I've tried a couple of things out.

[judge]

EPG Location should be the first option in menu>setup>system>EPG>settings

Also, I prefer to save EPG to HDD but that's just my preference.

[Mr. Mister]

EPG Location should be the first option in menu>setup>system>EPG>settings

Also, I prefer to save EPG to HDD but that's just my preference.

Mine is also the same on all boxes.. EPG stored to internal HDD.. IMO.. the best place for it..

[technomate61]

Thanks guys will do the same then when I get that option back on my settings screen, but at the moment when I press menu>setup>system>EPG>settings the first option I'm getting is "Show EIT now/next in Infobar" and after that I've just got options to Enable specific EPG's. I'm sure I've seen the option at some point but it's no longer there now, any idea how to get the "EPG location" option back?

[Mr. Mister]

Menu > Set Up > System > EPG > EPG Settings

top option is : EPG Location

You can set it in there for CrossEPG

[technomate61]

Hi MM I realise that that's where I should be seeing the "EPG location" but at some stage it's disappeared from my EPG settings screen. (Apologies if I've misunderstood something here). As you can see from previous posts, I was having problems with mount locations at one point (solved now) and I wonder if that was when the option disappeared. Would an uninstall/reinstall of CrossEPG maybe bring it back - or is there something I can do through my PC's FlashFXP connection to the Duo? Many thanks.

[technomate61]

Just reporting back on the movie recording interruption problem (as promised) - this has also now resolved itself since the installation of the internal HDD - everything I've recorded since then has completed the full duration.

Very happy with my purchase - just got the one minor issue outstanding but I'm starting a new thread rather than prolong this one. Thanks for all the help & advice.