Humax iCord HD is broken!

[DJP]

Hi there,

It's an age since I posted on here; the main reason being for my move from southern Germany to the West Country in GB.
Since I've had my Humax it has actually been very rarely used.
In Germany it was set up to get programs from GB & it was actually bought in a panic because my GB contact for my Sky subscriptions started throwing a wobbler about leaving Sky-------------but hey he didn't so my Digibox remained my main source for my daily dose of British TV.

Well last year here in the West Country I had an additional dish fitted so that I could use the Humax to get German Satellite TV.
Yes I know, there's no pleasing some people is there?

Everything worked fine until about a week ago when I noticed that the Humax display showed "EPG 40%" constantly.
(I am used to regular EPG updates automatically occurring & being displayed fairly frequently)

That frustrated me so I used the mains switch on the back panel to switch it off.
Some days later I switched it back on & everything appeared to be working as I would expect it to; well until that "EPG 40%" message reappeared.

So off it was switched again!

Once again, a few days later it was switched back on but "no signal" was being received.
The media I had stored on the hard drive replayed but nothing from the Satellite.
It also seemed that all functions could be activated via the remote but a channel search was not possible due to the apparent lack of signal.

A couple of days later I used the back panel mains switch again to switch the Humax on.
The On/Off switch on the front panel was illuminated showing that it was powered up; but that was all that was working.
It did not respond the remote control regardless of new batteries being fitted.

The signal from the Satellite dish was/is strong.

So it seems that my expensive Humax has died on me.

Luckily I still have my "Topfield TF 4000 PVR" which has been pressed back into service.

Unfortunately the Topfield has failed to capture all of the German FTA channels that are available during the automatic channel scan.
Maybe it needs a software update but when I tried that I got the message "not available"

Fortunately I have a friend in Germany who uses the same model on a daily basis & I'm hoping he will be able to sort me out with possible new settings but if anyone has any tips, I'd be very grateful!

So back to my expensive, all singin' an' dancin' Humax!
Does anyone have any ideas of what may have gone wrong?
More importantly ideas of how it can be fixed.

If it's not a DIY fix, where could I get it fixed without having to pay out an arm & a leg?

Thanks in advance for any help you guys may be able to offer & remember KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid & no techy abreviations that I won't understand please

Cheers
John

 

[Captain Jack]

Can't advise on your receivers but how do you know that the signal from the satellite dish is strong? Can you check signal level on Topfield? Can you try tuning in manually to frequencies as opposed to an auto-scan?

Does Humax remain non-responsive if you disconnect the LNB cable from it?

 

[DJP]

Hi Captain Jack,

one of my thoughts was that the LNB may have been faulty, so the guy who installed it for me came to check it out & also check the dish alignment.
He gave everything there the thumbs up for the princely fee of £30

Yes the Topfield is showing very good strength & quality & yes manual tuning is also possible but I'm hoping my friend in Munich will know what needs doing.
I've arranged to "Skype" him so he can them see the settings on the on-screen-display when I go into "Initial set-up"

Cheers & thanks
John

 

[Captain Jack]

Ah OK. I guess we can rule out the LNB/dish/alignment issue then.

No idea on the receivers then... maybe someone else will be along shortly.

 

[Channel Hopper]

There was a thread not so long ago on the icord failing and required leaving in standby for hours.

edit


http://www.satellites.co.uk/forums/...icord-hd-lock-up-due-faulty-epg-download.html

From memory the unit isn't supposed to be available in Western Europe either, or at least has many features disabled, ( meaning flakey firmware is likely to be the root cause)

 

[DJP]

Thanks Channel Hopper,

this sounds like a similar problem which started with the EPG download display as mine did.
However my iCord appears to have gone a few steps too far as it does not respond to anything now.
I can't even switch it on so an attempt to carry out the described corrective measure is not possible.

I wonder if Humax has an address in GB that would be able to do a repair at a reasonable price?
Or as in my initial post, is there anyone out there who can fix this receiver at a reasonable price?

Cheers
John

 

[DJP]

Hi,

yes I'm back sobbing again.
After several days of intermittent problem free use it would appear that the problem has re-occurred.
Today I checked things out in preparation to watching the DTM Motor racing on the German ARD channel.
It switched on OK but after a short while I could not channel hop.
So I switched off via the rear mains switch & after a while back on again. But no response via the remote.
So I used the Menu button on the front panel, which provided a display:- New software available.
That was downloaded & now I have, once again an apparently dead iCord.

Does anyone have a solution please?

Cheers
John

 

[tjl]

Hi,

yes I'm back sobbing again.
After several days of intermittent problem free use it would appear that the problem has re-occurred.
Today I checked things out in preparation to watching the DTM Motor racing on the German ARD channel.
It switched on OK but after a short while I could not channel hop.
So I switched off via the rear mains switch & after a while back on again. But no response via the remote.
So I used the Menu button on the front panel, which provided a display:- New software available.
That was downloaded & now I have, once again an apparently dead iCord.

Does anyone have a solution please?

Cheers
John

I can only point you to this site and hope you find an answer
_"http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=119

 

[rolfw]

I can only point you to this site and hope you find an answer
_"http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=119

That section won't help, it's for Freeview terrestrial recorders.

If it were me I'd give that receiver a miss and go back to the Topfield. Any missing transponders can be added in the add/edit transponders section of the setup and all transponder details can be found at several sites, for example. _http://www.lyngsat.com/Astra-1KR-1L-1M-2C.html

 

[DJP]

Well I haven't had really enough time to browse that site but it does appear to cater more or less for the Freesat receivers rather than my Humax iCord.
Yes the good old Topfield is plugged back in & ready to get the DTM Motor racing on Germany's ARD channel this afternoon.

Trouble is that the iCord did cost me a load of money at the time and of course it is HD capable when working.
I find it pretty user friendly as well so I would like to see it working properly and back in its rightful place plugged into my TV.

The solution must be out there as I understand this to be merely a software problem.

Cheers guys!
John

 

[tjl]

True but there is also a section for Humax on their Freesat section which the OP may find useful

 

[DJP]

Hi I was sent this information from Humax but I am absolutely clueless as to what I should do with it.
Just why do people expect others to be computer wise?

If you visit _http://www.humaxdigital.com/uk/support/downloadcenter_model.aspx?category_seq=49 it will give full instructions on how to update this.

It'd be good if any of you can tell me where to start.

Please don't forget that I use the iCord for watching German satellite TV (when its working, that is)

Cheers

 

[PaulR]

I get so annoyed with these mindless one-size-fits-all responses.

What they have pointed you to is an area where you can download a software update. It doesn't specifically say iCord on the page but perhaps it's applicable to several PVRs. If you click on hdpvr.zip you will be prompted to download a file. You should save this onto a pen drive and then follow the instructions in your manual on how to update the software (might be called firmware) of Hummy.

You might need to extract the files from the zip - this is not difficult if you are running Windows XP or later on the computer you download on.

 

[DJP]

Hi Paul,

thanks for your reply, unfortunately I still remain clueless about what I am supposed to do with that information.
I guess its time for me to admit defeat & that this satellite stuff is just too complicated for me.
All I want to do is watch German Telly without having to take a course in computer programs & software thingies.

Are there not shops that can do these fixes for a sum of money?

Cheers

 

[Captain Jack]

I am not far from you - maybe I can take a look and see if I can update the software on your iCord?

 

[DJP]

Hi Captain Jack,

you certainly are only just up the road from me, so to speak.
It would be great if you could get me sorted out some time.
How can we get together at a time that suits you?
I'm a fairly "free agent" time-wise.

Cheers

 

[Captain Jack]

How about either early-ish Friday morning? PM me your address and I'll check how this update should go on the receiver.

 

[DJP]

Thanks, you have PM

 

[DJP]

Thank you Captain Jack for visiting me & sorting that problem out for me.
You made everything seem so simple, such a talent.

You're welcome here for "a cuppa" anytime

Cheers

 

[PaulR]

Well done Jack.

Was the update performed the same way as on the HDR? i.e. downlaod file onto a pen drive, insert pendrive into the USB slot (the iCord does have a USB slot, doesn't it?) and then find the relevant part of the menu to intiate the upgrade?

DJP - aren't you glad you didn't throw the towel in!