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Messages - TimC

#1
Getting Help / Re: Trouble starting IceBox
March 28, 2024, 11:58:07 PM
Quote from: boofhead on March 28, 2024, 09:11:32 PMI tried a hard reset option. It started booting and stayed on the IceTV screen for about 6 minutes. Something seemed a bit off so I restarted the box with the power button.

Most of the actions you have taken seemed fair enough, although I would have suggested a soft reset first.
A hard reset is fair enough as it takes the unit back to its initial setup. Interrupting it was unwise though.

You may now have partially reset software that doesn't load properly. You may need to reload the software manually.

General folder. this post shows how to reload the update.

However before to do that, try plugging the TV into the other HDMI port. It is possible the IceBox has switched HDMI ports. It does do that occasionally following a reboot.
#2
Quote from: raymondjpg on March 28, 2024, 01:58:25 PMN.B. This is something I would definitely NOT recommend, but only try if prepared to do a soft reset, or possibly even a complete re-install:

I think this is the key advice here. Especially when it takes me a day to recover all the addons I have running.
I had already done a Soft Reset to fix the missing Channels and LCN that were missed in the update scan (along with a bit of Channel Maintenance). 
I am not looking for an immediate fix. My setup is now working.
I am really looking for a more inbuilt solution that less experiences users would look for if they had channel/LCN issues.
#3
All,
I tried the Force Scan option and after a quick flash of a message (too quick to read) nothing happened.
It was all over in less than 1/2 a second.
I would have expected an extended delay while all the frequencies were scanned. So what it scans is outside my limited knowledge.

The remapping of the services was similar.  I tried both the Selected service and Map all to no avail.
#4
Thanks Everyone.  I'll give it a try when I can pry the IceBox from my wife.
#5
Quote from: raymondjpg on March 28, 2024, 10:01:59 AMYou could try the Force Scan option in the Web UI Configuration|Networks|Force Scan.

Youve lost me there Raymond. How do you get to "Web UI Configuration|Networks|Force Scan"?
#6
I started this thought on another thread, but brought it here as it is more relevant to the recent update.

The point I was making was regarding ongoing development and how the recent update worked.

I expressed a desire for a reset that didn't wipe my addons and a channel scan independent of a reset and was more effective and capturing both the channels and their relevant channel numbers.

With the recent update there seemed to be something close to what I have been looking for. The update was able to be implemented without wiping my addons and implemented a channel scan as well.  However, whether there was anything reset related involved in the update, I don't know. There also seemed to be something off about the related channel scan as well. It seemed that even the more experienced users were having missing channel and missing channel number issues. In my case the channel scan missed entire channels, as well as many channel numbers. Unfortunately, there was no way the redo the channel scan without a reset.  As a result, I had to spend another day reinstalling all my addins and tweaking the various settings to get the IceBox back to where it was.

I suspect the Channel scan with the update may need a slightly longer sample period for each frequency to be more reliable at capturing the all the channels and the related channel numbers. i.e. it would take longer, but return more data.

It looks like the possibility of a channel scan Independent of a reset is within reach. If you can have one with the update, it shouldn't take much more to put an option in the IceBox UI to allow it to happen.

#7
General / Re: Add Skip Thoughts
March 27, 2024, 04:31:56 PM
Sounds Great! The manual add skipping is not all that high on my list.

I am more interested to see if there is consensus on my desire to see a little bit of add with the skips.
 
In terms of priority, I would much rather see an ultra-soft reset that doesn't wipe out my addons. It took most of yesterday to get them back.

Next would-be stand-alone channel scanning that was more effective at capturing the correct channels numbers.
#8
Quote from: GreyNomad on March 27, 2024, 10:08:00 AMHowever, the most significant problem was with the ad skipping whereby after the ad break, the video repeatedly cut off and on, until finally there was just a blank screen.

That looks more like a HDMI issue.  Do you have a HDMI cable connected directly to your TV or is there something else in between, e.g. an AV Amplifier, a HDMI extender, HDMI splitter, HDMI switch, etc.)?

Sometimes with HDMI, something that interrupts the data flow can trigger the receiving device to go through a housekeeping check which results in a bit of flashing while the HDMI reconfigures itself. Sometimes the result can be a blank screen.  The more devices in the chain, the worse the flashing can get.

Usually a directly connected TV doesn't do that, but a bad cable may cause something similar.



 
#9
General / Re: Add Skip Thoughts
March 27, 2024, 12:22:16 PM
Quote from: TimC on March 27, 2024, 12:11:14 PMYes, but you need those buttons, whereas the ten minute buttons are only needed occasionally and you can get a ten minute skip using the left/right buttons.

I can appreciate that.  I remember it all well.  If I was a conspiracy theorist I would have said that it was all the work of the "Advertisers Cabal" trying to bring you down. I was so pleased to see IceTV survive it all.

Iterative progress is fine, I am just looking to stir up some thought about those iterative changes.

As a Skippa user I know the things that worked fron a viewer's perspective.

 
#10
General / Re: Add Skip Thoughts
March 27, 2024, 12:11:14 PM
Quote from: IanL-S on March 27, 2024, 07:31:26 AMThe left and right buttons can be used to manually skip; the more times you press the larger the skip. You can customize the skip.

Yes, but you need those buttons, whereas the ten minute buttons are only needed occasionally and you can get a ten minute skip using the left/right buttons.
#11
General / Re: Remote observation.
March 27, 2024, 01:14:09 AM
Quote from: Ian_AW on March 26, 2024, 04:46:12 PMI use a wireless mini keyboard. I've attached a cheat sheet for the commands to drive the IceBox.

I use a FLIRC dongle programmed to an old IR Skippa remote.  It lets me control the IceBox in my lounge via an IR remote extender.

Actually I am just now wondering if there is such a thing as an RF remote extender?
#12
General / Add Skip Thoughts
March 26, 2024, 11:56:07 PM
As an old "Skippa" owner I have a few questions about the add skipping function.

How do you tell if a file has been processed?

In the Skippa there was a way to see when a file had been processed and also a way to see which file was being processed.

The Skippa also had and automatic add skip function which I fairly quickly set to manual as the skip often happened before you were aware of an add being there and sometimes returned to the program with no awareness of the add break at all.
You would think that not being aware of adds at all would be desirable, but I always found it disconcerting.
To explain, when programs are put together, the producers love to put in some sort of action just before the planned add breaks and often return from an add break in a different scene and catch up on the suspenseful scene a little later, i.e. build on the suspense. When the skip happens a little early, you don't know if you have missed that last second action or not.  I always found I was constantly manually skipping back to see if I had missed something important.
As there doesn't seem to be a manual setting, my preference would be to see a second or two of the start of the add break, and return showing a second or two from the end of the add break. That way you are aware of what is happening, and you don't miss anything critical. Even better have settings available to allow the timing to be set by the user. I can live with 4 seconds of adds. There also needs to be a way to suspend the add skipping temporarily so you can navigate to the bit of program that was missed, otherwise, if you skip back to the bit that was missed, the add skip will just jump past it again.

In addition, I found that occasionally the processing indicated the beginning of an add break and the end of the next add break as one long add break i.e. the section of program between the two add breaks is also skipped. No criticism of the processing here. It is easy to see that the criteria for identifying the beginning and end of add breaks can easily be masked by a reception glitch. I expect that is just a fact of life that the processing can't really be perfect.
 
In fact, I am a little surprised that the stations haven't come up with a way to mask the indications the processing uses to spot add breaks, although I expect that they are more concerned about the competition they are getting from the streaming services to worry too much about us.  I do know I have dearly missed my two Skippas.

Can a manual add skipping setting be added?

I can see that the standard remote doesn't have the extra buttons that the Skippa remote has for manually skipping adds, but the up down buttons might be able to be re-purposed for manual skipping. i.e. if you are playing a recording that was processed for add skipping and Add Skipping was set to manual the 10 minute jump functions could be replaced with the Manual add skip functions. If not, the 10 minute jump function could be retained.  The context menu button could be used to toggle auto skipping on or off.

I am interested to know how others feel about the Add skipping function too.

Happy skipping
   
#13
Quote from: Daniel Hall at IceTV on March 22, 2024, 08:53:44 AMYes, at this stage the only way to perform a channel re-scan is via a 'soft reset', we are looking at other options now though.

Please do.  A soft reset means that I will again have to reinstall all my addons.  It was interesting to see that the update was able scan the channels without a soft reset.

I don't suppose there is a way to trick the icebox into believing that it has not installed the update?
#14
General / Re: Useful Plugins
February 12, 2024, 06:38:27 PM
Quote from: lyricraven19 on February 12, 2024, 04:28:09 PMThe cores on RetroArch on FireStick are just like plugins on a browser. Here, the cores include emulators, their ROM, and ISO files. Without this, you can't play any game. ROM and ISO files are mainly available on RetroArch; you need to download them.

How does this relate to the IceBox environment? Are you saying Kodi is a type of browser?
#15
General / Re: HDMI Questions
January 31, 2024, 02:00:51 PM
There is no DisplayPort Outlet