IceTV Forum

IceTV Guide for IceTV enabled PVRs => Topfield => Topic started by: mothy on April 18, 2012, 10:19:43 PM

Title: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: mothy on April 18, 2012, 10:19:43 PM
Been having an issue since about Sunday arvo (15/4/12) where my EPG fails to load and no [IceTV] recordings are uploaded to my TRF-2400.  After 6 (six) seperate calls to the IceTV support team (David #1 & David #2???) I was informed that support is closed. Please call back after 12pm.

The Ice support guys can see my account hitting their servers, but the servers fail to deliver the EPG and 'schedualled records' data.

The Ice support tech? Dave? [#usr/bin/perl\r\n;$dave="not-this-dave";\r\n print $dave;] keeps telling me me somebody will call back tomorrow, but they dont. 

Generally speaking I have been happy with their [IceTV] service up until now. 

They (one of the Daves') has admitted to IceTV having issues with the TRF-2400, and has been blaming ISP's such as iiNet and Vodafone for using cacheing proxy's which cause you to get another SUBSCRIBERS' EPG data.  [I can understand the proxy caching thing... I get it at work too; But getting someone elses cache? Doesn't appear that much, if any, reverse DNS lookups or even "lame ol'"session tokens are being used]

This is not my problem. NO EPG DATA OR SCHEDUALLED RECORDS - FULL STOP - That's my problem.

The 'Dave' twins have had me re-flash the TRF-2400, reset EPG data, go from wireless via the toppy wifi dongle back to ethernet, they can see my account accessing their server/s? but it's "just weird ... there is definately something weird going on ..." and their service fails to update either EPG or Recording info to the TRF-2400.

The only 'weird' thing is why they (IceTV) are not re-writting THEIR code to handle whatever changes may have been introduced by Topfield in the latest firmware update, desipte it having been released to the public months ago... [Fact: IceTV get the new firmware/s from their manufacturer partners before the public; for testing & integration with THEIR service.]

I rang up no less than 6 (six) times tonight .... All of which were unanswered. Then after 8pm - the phones shut down - please call back after 12pm .... [to get shafted by a bloke called 'Dave'* because 2nd tier support is sick - again] 

Any other TRF'ers getting shafted by Ice at the moment? I was told by a support *tech* from Ice that other TRF owners are having grief with Ice - Let's gang up and try to get THEM to fix THEIR product, instead of pi$$ing on Topfield and various ISP's for THEIR PROBLEMS with THEIR PRODUCT.

I'll be calling at 9am IceTV - See what your *sales* people have to say about all this .... Failing that (well, they couldn't even answer their sales line today), time to involve the Technical Editor of the SMH... Just look at what he did to Vodafone... Yes, Asher Moses.  You looking for some Fair Trade action? That along with IceTV being Ashers scoop for the month, and your brand being totally smashed to bits by the SMH, you would think, that be enough to get some action.

Tomorrows another day ... Maybe the 'David's can save IceTV from a trip to Fair Trade hearings and alot of bad press via the SMH? Dunno
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: Paul on April 18, 2012, 10:50:17 PM
Hi Mothy, sorry I can't be of any help, apart from to say that, touch wood, I've had no problems with my 2400 doing the right things re epg and scheduling via iinet. I feel your pain, hope things get sorted.

Cheers, Paul.
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: mothy on April 19, 2012, 12:25:58 AM
G'day Paul,

Thanks for your reply. I'm not currently (or ever have) used iiNet as an ISP, nor is my ISP downstream on either the Vodapwn or iiNet 'tier 1' networks (AFAIK).

Glad to hear your setup is working OK.

Just don't do the 1.17 firmware update ...

Again, thanks for posting Paul.  Much apreciated.

Regards, M
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: mothy on April 19, 2012, 11:39:51 PM
At this point - even your forum software is bug ridden. [An unpatched default install of PHP Nuke looks classy compared to this; #include($csrf, $lolz);]

Four days of calls, direct phone call from the IceTV Marketing Manager - gauranteeing a call back from *someone* before the phones get shut down at 8pm

Marketing Manager gave me his word.  Nobodys called back though.  Why would they.  Marketing Manager told me when he hung up, he was gonna go talk to "the" developer. That may or may not have happend. 

NONE OF THIS IS MY PROBLEM - IF YOU'RE A IceTV support tech/manager/sales etc. that is....

Must be Topfeilds problem.  Topfeild clearly DID NOT code the IceTV TAP that comes pre-installed with high end PVR's, such as Topfeild TRF-2400

I really am so pi55ed off at the moment, that I will have to post again tomorrow.

I'm truly upset that your technical staff -  after having the gumption to ask an end user to use Wireshark/Ethereal and grab *.pcap dumps to test wether IceTV's "pull" parser can cope with an extra line or two in the http header .... 1 (one (ok, two or three lines maybe)) line of regular expressions (aka regex) would/should have that covered.  Ever considered a http header white-list?

Why has it taken all week and inumerous phone calls just to be back at square one.

Your service and support used to be great. Now it sucks

Marketing Manager .... No - nobody called me back.  Why would they?  You seemed like a nice enough bloke when we spoke, but desipte your personal reassurance that I would be phoned back before 8pm 19/04/12  --> NOBODY CALLED ME, AND IN THE 4 PHONE CALLS I MADE TO IceTV BETWEEN 7:30PM AND 8:00PM [when you CLOSE], ALL CALLS WERE UNANSWERED.

Remind me again why I signed up for another 12 months of your "premium 'free-to-air' EPG/remote record from anywhere with internet access service that you hear all about whilst waiting on hold "for the next available operator" until the IceTV PABX times out (~6 minutes on hold) and forces you to leave a message/hangs up on you. Forcing you to phone back (if you want support*) into the support *que* just to have your call terminated after ~6 minutes.....

Yep - Great service (At least Bronwyn was helpful - Truly Bronwyn - Thankyou)... the techs dont seem to listen to the marketing manager, and nobody from IceTV ever seem to answer their phones)
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: prl on April 20, 2012, 11:29:23 AM
Quote from: mothy on April 19, 2012, 12:25:58 AM
G'day Paul,

Thanks for your reply. I'm not currently (or ever have) used iiNet as an ISP, nor is my ISP downstream on either the Vodapwn or iiNet 'tier 1' networks (AFAIK).
...
I use iiNet as my ISP, and I've never has this kind of problem with IceTV on my Beyonwizes. You'd think that any HTTP caching problems that the ISP has would mess up IceTV no matter what PVR was at the other end, unless the Topfield IceTV server is sending out different (and inappropriate) caching control headers from the Beyonwiz IceTV server.
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: Starionx on April 21, 2012, 01:20:58 PM
While I don't believe I have the same problem as Mothy, I now find that both my 2400's are only showing 1 day (today) of EPG. They were full yesterday. The last fetch was a few minutes ago.
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: keitay on April 21, 2012, 02:05:26 PM
Same EPG problem fo me, 2460  only showing 1 day (today) of EPG. was OK yesterday. Tried several times to update with no success. My ISP is TPG.
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: Paul55 on April 21, 2012, 03:33:50 PM
Same here - only today showing. I use JustEPG with XMLTV data.
TRF-2400 switched to standby every night.
My ISP is Bigpond, so that's quite a variety. I reckon that rules out ISPs being at fault.
My Beyonwiz machines are getting the full week od EPG data and my Toppy recordings are still set 5 days ahead.
My IceTV account shows both regular EPG and XML fetches in the last 30 minutes.
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: blip on April 21, 2012, 04:10:53 PM
I'm also only getting today's guide from the XML feed. The data for the rest of the week is not there. You can load the XML into your browser and see there is only one days data.
http://iceguide.icetv.com.au/cgi-bin/epg/iceguide.cgi?op=xmlguide (http://iceguide.icetv.com.au/cgi-bin/epg/iceguide.cgi?op=xmlguide)
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: Starionx on April 21, 2012, 04:50:07 PM
Others on the Topfield site (with different toppys) are having the same issue. I hope someone in ICETV land fixes this up soon!
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: Paul55 on April 21, 2012, 04:53:48 PM
I can confirm that my problem (3 posts back) is for XMLTV data only. When I pull up the native EPG, there is a full week's worth of IceTV EPG data.
Probably some corruption in the XMLTV data - now we just need to wait till IceTV notices.
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: Starionx on April 21, 2012, 05:17:16 PM
The EPG is back to a full week. Looks like it's fixed. :)
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: Dave at IceTV on April 21, 2012, 05:19:26 PM
Paul, blip and Starionx,

The cause of the xml guide running out today has been found and fixed.
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: Paul55 on April 21, 2012, 05:46:51 PM
Thanks Dave,
Are you able to explain the fault - in very basic terms?
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: Dave at IceTV on April 21, 2012, 07:00:33 PM
An update for something unrelated unexpectedly broke the XML feed.
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: raymondjpg on April 23, 2012, 11:35:31 AM
Quote from: prl on April 20, 2012, 11:29:23 AMI use iiNet as my ISP, and I've never has this kind of problem with IceTV on my Beyonwizes. You'd think that any HTTP caching problems that the ISP has would mess up IceTV no matter what PVR was at the other end, unless the Topfield IceTV server is sending out different (and inappropriate) caching control headers from the Beyonwiz IceTV server.
I have had an issue on and off over the past month with reservations passing successfully to a Topfield TF7100HDPVRt, but not updating with full red circles on the Ice My Week page. On raising a support ticket I was advised that it might be a caching problem with my ISP, but I was having no such problems with updating to full red circles with my Beyonwiz DP-P2.

Watching from the sidelines the seemingly endless problems that Topfield 24 series owners appear to be experiencing with IceTV, I wonder if in trying to fix their problems the IceTV capability of my usually reliable TF7100HDPVRt is somehow being compromised.

If that is the case, I would certainly prefer that it weren't so!

I sympathise with Topfield 24 owners. It took some eight months for Topfield to come up with a firmware version for the TF7100HDPVRt that worked with Ice, and did not run the risk of bricking the PVR. It looks to me as if Topfield 24 owners have been labouring with inadequate IceTV functionality for longer than that. I may have bought one if IceTV functionality was proven to be reliable, and given the rather erratic IceTV performance lately with the TF7100HDPVRt, even considered a second Beyonwiz DP-P2 to replace it. I have stuck with the TF7100HDPVRt mainly because file transfer to a Windows 7 pc is both faster and more reliable than from a DP-P2. I can live with red circles not updating on the Ice My Week page because I manually apply pre-padding to all PVR reservations, so check anyway that they have passed successfully to the PVR. This would, however, not be satisfactory for anyone setting reservations remotely.

I also sympathise with IceTV having to work with anyone whose competence or commitment to making a PVR sold as "IceTV-enabled" work reliably, might be seen as less than satisfactory.

But I really would like my old steam-driven TF7100HDPVRt to be working reliably again.
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: Vortical on April 25, 2012, 12:55:37 AM
Well I've got a 2460 and 7100HDPVRt both active with IceTV and using iiNet as my ISP and both my machines have been working solidly for a few months.

In fact the 7100HDPVRt has been rock solid for years now with zero timer fails.

The 2460 had a little dummy spit that was resolved quickly with IceTV around the time the last official release occurred.

I've certainly not experienced any eratic timer or epg behaviour lately on either of my IceTV enabled PVR's
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: raymondjpg on April 25, 2012, 08:15:48 AM
Quote from: Vortical on April 25, 2012, 12:55:37 AMIn fact the 7100HDPVRt has been rock solid for years now with zero timer fails.
Mine too, and EPG and timers still pass reliably to the PVR. It is only recently that timers have not been updating as they should on the My Week page.

Quote from: Vortical on April 25, 2012, 12:55:37 AMThe 2460 had a little dummy spit that was resolved quickly with IceTV around the time the last official release occurred.
Would you say that all IceTV issues have now been resolved with the 2460, and 2400? If they have I might seriously consider getting one to replace the 7100HDPVRt.
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: IanL-S on April 27, 2012, 04:02:54 PM
The current firmware for the 2400/2460/7100+ is essentially the same. That for the 7100+ has some features removed (IR rcording ... no loss to IceTV users), DLNA, Youtube and ShoutCast).

As far as I can work out, the IceTV part of the firmware is identical.

I have not been having serious issues with IceTV (2 x 2400 + 2 x 7100+). However, several times recently I have has no EPG data, or EPG data for one network completely absent. I have seen this both on the 2400 and 7100+. Strangely is does not seem to affect timer downloads which seem to be working OK.

I use BigPond cable and have never had any ISP related issues.

It is unclear if the issue is one related to the Toppy firmware or IceTV.
Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: raymondjpg on April 27, 2012, 06:43:58 PM
Quote from: IanL-S on April 27, 2012, 04:02:54 PM
The current firmware for the 2400/2460/7100+ is essentially the same. That for the 7100+ has some features removed (IR rcording ... no loss to IceTV users), DLNA, Youtube and ShoutCast).

As far as I can work out, the IceTV part of the firmware is identical.

I have not been having serious issues with IceTV (2 x 2400 + 2 x 7100+). However, several times recently I have has no EPG data, or EPG data for one network completely absent. I have seen this both on the 2400 and 7100+. Strangely is does not seem to affect timer downloads which seem to be working OK.

I use BigPond cable and have never had any ISP related issues.

It is unclear if the issue is one related to the Toppy firmware or IceTV.
As you pointed out to me in this thread http://forum.icetv.com.au/iceforum/index.php?topic=3340.0 on 14 March "IceTV have tweaked their servers in some way...." and go on to say "...and this incorrect indication of queued timers which have in fact downloaded has been remedied."

As the problem recurred recently with my TF7100HDPVRt I have come to the conclusion that some more tweaking has been going on. The problem has once again gone away, possibly temporarily, perhaps due to some tweaking back to what works for me, unless and until some more tweaking again results in what does not work for the TF7100HDPVRt. I hope not!

Your issue with EPG data for 2 x 2400 + 2 x 7100+ may, or may not, be related. You acknowledge elsewhere that you don't use your TF7100HDPVRt much, and may not have noticed the behaviour I have observed recently with this model, possibly due to hokey pokey tweaking.

There are probably not too many of us TF7100HDPVRt owners left. I've registered with the beta testing program principally so that this model is not overlooked in the quest for a better IceTV experience.

Looking at other threads for the 2400 and 2460 it appears that firmware has arrived at a point where it appears to work reasonably well with IceTV. As with the TF7100HDPVRt there may be a few more iterations before it can be set as working 100% reliably. At least there don't appear to be reports of firmware updates wrecking the PVR.

Title: Re: Problems with IceTV's service for TRF-2400 owners
Post by: rob_fakes on June 25, 2012, 06:57:05 PM
Are folks out there still experiencing this issue? I've only had my 2460 for a month or 2. Set up IceTV and JustEPG (using XMLTV) and it all seemed to be working fine until a few days ago at which point my EPG loads appear to have stopped working - or if they are working I can't see the resultant data. Just tried upgrading to the latest firmware, factory reset and re-doing all the setup stuff. No joy so far. I'll try Ice support in the next couple of days but thought I'd touch base here first.