Lots of links to it in here but I can't get the TF forum to work - anyone else have a problem or is it me?
Because Topfield don't want people to go there I think, breaking the default.aspx in their webserver.
So, the link is now:
http://forum.itopfield.com.au/default.aspx
(you will notice lots of links to the forum without the default.aspx, including from the Topfield webpages themselves).
I tried the link - still can't connect, same message as all day yesterday. If you have been able to connect I assume there is an issue with my browser.
I can't access it at all either it's definately been down since yesterday.
Prior to that Tony's link did work though.
I rang TF support and was told the site would be down for at least 6 weeks. Managed from Korea, ouside the control of people in Australia. Hard to believe though.
Quote from: mikeathome on May 06, 2009, 12:19:28 PM
I rang TF support and was told the site would be down for at least 6 weeks. Managed from Korea, ouside the control of people in Australia. Hard to believe though.
That's quite a long time to be down for.
Anyway thanks for ringing and letting us know.
Edit: The itopfield website and forum is hosted in Korea but as for why the 6 weeks + outage for the forums only has occurred we're all in the dark on that one.
Yeah, I expressed what I thought was an appropriate level of surprise/incredulity and the chap that I was speaking to went and checked with someone else to make sure. It was when I asked why fixing whatever the problem was needed to take so long that I was told that the website etc was managed from Korea and was beyond Australian control/influence. Also hard to believe.
Its a pity for TF sales though - after months of grizzling on the forums about the firmware it seemed to me that most of the users of the latest version were reasonably, if not completely, happy with it. Just the time to be looking for the positive publicity I would have thought.
Whoops, sorry for not checking earlier. It is just many try to get to the forums via the Topfield webpage which lists http://forum.itopfield.com.au which stopped working a long time ago, so I posted the correct link without confirming it was up.
Wow, 6 weeks!
Quote from: mikeathome on May 06, 2009, 02:32:06 PM
Yeah, I expressed what I thought was an appropriate level of surprise/incredulity and the chap that I was speaking to went and checked with someone else to make sure. It was when I asked why fixing whatever the problem was needed to take so long that I was told that the website etc was managed from Korea and was beyond Australian control/influence. Also hard to believe.
Its a pity for TF sales though - after months of grizzling on the forums about the firmware it seemed to me that most of the users of the latest version were reasonably, if not completely, happy with it. Just the time to be looking for the positive publicity I would have thought.
What I'd like to know is where they pulled this 6 weeks+ figure from?
With that sort of timeframe I'd expect it's getting a complete overhaul. ???
Might be to take the heat off them a bit with the Freeview stuff going out, wouldn't want to slow down the initial sales with a forum full of complaints...
Quote from: tonymy01 on May 06, 2009, 04:13:46 PM
Might be to take the heat off them a bit with the Freeview stuff going out, wouldn't want to slow down the initial sales with a forum full of complaints...
There is always DTV Forums & Whirlpool for that ;)
The sad thing is (like Mike mentioned above) the current 7100 & 7000 has pretty much been stabilised and the forum had become very quiet after the last public release.
Even a few of the people with major problems had noticed their boxes suddenly become reliable.
Both my 7000 and 7100 are rock solid with the latest firmware since it was released in Mid March 2009.
No freezes, no missed timers both Ice & FTA, FTA EPG is fixed in my area and it's done everything I've thrown at them both.
But mine have always functioned very well and I've never had any major problems
I am skeptical of the 6 weeks. There is no business reason that I can see for taking the forum down - it worked most of the time and as far as I can determine consumed little in the way of TF staff resources - it wasn't monitored (according to TF staff and I don't recall seeing any feedback from them) and, being pretty bog standard forum software, should not have required much maintenance. There could be a technical justification for a short break (as the service is clearly not deemed business critical) such as change of server or change of forum software, but there's no way this should take 6 weeks so it should be up sooner. But the decision might be political - in which case it might never come back.
Hi Gang,
Despite reading all the problems on the iTopfield forum people were having I purchased a Topfield 7100 on Saturday because it has the functions I want in a PVR. However the first unit wouldn't even boot. So back I went to Harvey Norman and got a replacement on Saturday afternoon. It worked fine until Sunday until it started rebooting ever hour or so to begin with and then deteriorated until by Sunday afternoon it was continually shutting down and rebooting.
Note that the units we got have the Firmware dated 17 March 2009.
Firstly I went to the forum for help yesterday afternoon but it is no longer there. So last night I tried to send an email from iTopfields support webpage but it doesn't work. Then about 9.30am this morning I tried to ring their 1300 number but it will not accept calls either.
This all seems very suspicious to me. To be honest I'm starting to wonder if something more serious might be up.
Hence I'm now wondering with the 2nd unit now having failed combined with not being able to get the wireless networking to work whether I should just give the 7100 a miss and purchase a TIVO even though it doesn't do all the things I want. I will be just happy to have a reliable working PVR.
Look forward to any feedback.
Cheers - Gordon
Does the Beyonwiz DP-P1 have the features you need? It is a more substantial number of features than the Toppy, but more reliable it seems, especially for its core function, as a PVR.
Hi again,
I finally got through on the phone this morning. Apparantly they were having problems with their phones.
Support assistance was great I must say.
So back out to Harvey normal to pick up a third unit and will keep my fingers crossed.
Gordon
Quote from: tonymy01 on May 11, 2009, 10:01:39 AM
Does the Beyonwiz DP-P1 have the features you need? It is a more substantial number of features than the Toppy, but more reliable it seems, especially for its core function, as a PVR.
Thanks for your reply.
Trouble is the Beyonwiz is a bit pricey for us.
I will give the Toppy one more try and see what happens.
Cheers - Gordon
People are getting the P1 for less than $600 now quite often.
As the Toppy forum is still "down", I thought that I may as well just add my tid bit here re my TF7100 PVR purchase today. I was going to buy one way back, but the many issues with this PVR until the last FW made me hold off. Bought one for under $600 (and I don't mean $599) at the Good Guys here in Sydney. I don't want to start a best buy thread, so I'll just leave it at this.
One other reason for buying a non Freeview PVR is that IMO these beasts will run out in the not too distant future. Even if manufacturers don't have to drop their non freeview compliant models if they want to sell other FreeView compliant models, volume will dictate that it's just not worth their while to support multiple platforms. I just couldn't live without ad skipping and the inability to transfer recordings to PC. These restrictions are IMO what FreeView is really all about.
As to the future of ICETV, that's a whole different can of worms. Perhaps they will continue to provide this excellent service to all of us that have non FreeView PVRs and also use the ICETV Remote functions - something I certainly wouldn't like to be without.
Quote from: JPP on May 12, 2009, 10:57:48 AM
As to the future of ICETV, that's a whole different can of worms.
Perhaps an IceTV PVR may be on the cards if the Non Freeview PVR's supply suddenly dries up?
Now that's a good bit of lateral thinking :).
Quote from: austini on May 11, 2009, 10:03:26 AM
Hi again,
I finally got through on the phone this morning. Apparantly they were having problems with their phones.
Support assistance was great I must say.
So back out to Harvey normal to pick up a third unit and will keep my fingers crossed.
Gordon
I'm glad you got through, but as much as it pains me to say it (I own a 5000 Toppy and LOVE it) I think you should look at replacing it with a different brand. I am yet to meat anyone that is happy with the newer Toppies. Someone I know, had their unit sent to Sydney, got it back, they updated the firmware while they had it, but it died again in a week. BTW, is it true that these units reformat the hard drive during a firmware update? Another friend complained about that to me. Sounds unbelievable to me! ::) All my friends that I talked into buying a Toppy hate me now. :'(
I hope I will have better luck Judy. If the latest FW doesn't behave as flawlessly as my Wiz does atm, it'll go back like a flash.
Btw, it does seem that upgrading FW reformats your HDD. I hope that this will not continue to be the case with future FWs - I believe the disk format was changed a few FWs ago and anyone upgrading from an old (3 or more FWs ago), will loose their HDD data.
Quote
I'm glad you got through, but as much as it pains me to say it (I own a 5000 Toppy and LOVE it) I think you should look at replacing it with a different brand. I am yet to meat anyone that is happy with the newer Toppies. Someone I know, had their unit sent to Sydney, got it back, they updated the firmware while they had it, but it died again in a week. BTW, is it true that these units reformat the hard drive during a firmware update? Another friend complained about that to me. Sounds unbelievable to me! ::) All my friends that I talked into buying a Toppy hate me now. :'(
I have had a 7100 since about September last year and have been through a few firmware updates but i have never had any problems as big as I've read elsewhere (touch wood).
My IceTV has worked great apart from a few hiccups which i believe were on the IceTV end anyways.
Yes the latest firmware did require a format of the hard drive but it wasnt too hard to transfer the records to an external drive before applying the update and then back to the unit after updating. Maybe they forced the format with the update to try and eliminate problems that people seem to be having.
Overall I love my Topfield - best $700 i have ever spent!
Quote from: craig.baldie on May 12, 2009, 10:18:52 PM
updating. Maybe they forced the format with the update to try and eliminate problems that people seem to be having.
Your right on the money there, that is exactly why they forced the hdd format with the March firmware release (20090317.upd).
Firmware changelog item 4 states the following
4. Changed : Application data in flash memory is moved out for stability.
- Warning : This feature requires user to format the HDD.It came up in beta testing and we were advised it was needed to stabilise the machine. And sure enough problems on the forums became few and far between since this firmware was released and implemented.
I beleive the only glitch is with IceTV losing the EPG after a while which is easily fixed after a restart and possibly just switching to and running the Air EPG for a short while before switching back.
Also anyone who complains they didn't understand the pvr was going to get formatted with this update would have to be blind and ignorant as both the Australian and Korean websites have the following pop-up before you can select OK to download the file which has been in place since the files were available to download.
WARNING
Updating to this firmware will cause the internal HDD (HardDisc Drive) to be automatically formatted.
Therefore please make sure you firstly view or backup any programs to an external HDD before proceeding
with the firmware/software upgrade
Quote from: Vortical on May 13, 2009, 01:07:22 AM
...
Firmware changelog item 4 states the following
4. Changed : Application data in flash memory is moved out for stability.
- Warning : This feature requires user to format the HDD.
...
That sounds like a completely bizarre reason to format the HDD.
Quote from: prl on May 13, 2009, 11:16:28 AM
That sounds like a completely bizarre reason to format the HDD.
That may well be Peter but the fact is this firmware has dramatically reduced owners problems.
Quote from: Vortical on May 13, 2009, 11:41:12 AM
Quote from: prl on May 13, 2009, 11:16:28 AM
That sounds like a completely bizarre reason to format the HDD.
That may well be Peter but the fact is this firmware has dramatically reduced owners problems.
Moving the "application data" (configuration data?) from flash to the HDD might possibly improve stability, but I can't see why that would necessitate a HDD reformat.
[speculation]
I did ponder whether the reason for the reformat was that the format of the internal HDD changed from ext2 to jfs. I was told in a recent post here that the HD Topfields use jfs for the internal HDD, not as I thought, ext2. Have they always used jfs for the internal HDD?
Certainly using jfs would improve the robustness of the filesystem after a crash, and the change from ext2 to jfs would require a reformat. Jfs (Journalling File System), as its name suggests, uses journalling to improve the ability of the file system to recover cleanly after a crash.
[/speculation]
I remember reading back on the sadly missed iTopfield forum, from the gurus that are in the know, that, to accommodate the application and firmware update on the HDD, a new partition had to be created. That was the reason given for the necessity to reformat.
Mac
Quote from: mac37 on May 13, 2009, 05:02:33 PM
I remember reading back on the sadly missed iTopfield forum, from the gurus that are in the know, that, to accommodate the application and firmware update on the HDD, a new partition had to be created. That was the reason given for the necessity to reformat.
Mac
That makes more sense. Thanks.
Quote from: mac37 on May 13, 2009, 05:02:33 PM
I remember reading back on the sadly missed iTopfield forum,
Not sure if you're all aware that there is another (the original) Topfield Forum, http://www.topfield-australia.com.au/phpbb2/ (http://www.topfield-australia.com.au/phpbb2/) that does have a section for the 7000 machines as well
Quote from: csutak40 on May 14, 2009, 01:48:30 AM
Quote from: mac37 on May 13, 2009, 05:02:33 PM
I remember reading back on the sadly missed iTopfield forum,
Not sure if you're all aware that there is another (the original) Topfield Forum, http://www.topfield-australia.com.au/phpbb2/ (http://www.topfield-australia.com.au/phpbb2/) that does have a section for the 7000 machines as well
I was not aware - Thank you.
Mac
Have decided to take advice given previously on this thread and get rid of the Topfield 7100. I have had a gut full of the stuck on run problem.
Whilst I'm still within the 30 days since purchase limit I'll get a refund. At this stage I'm considering purchasing the Beyonwiz DP-P2.
thanks for your help.
Cheers - Gordon
Quote from: Vortical on May 06, 2009, 12:26:05 PM
Quote from: mikeathome on May 06, 2009, 12:19:28 PM
I rang TF support and was told the site would be down for at least 6 weeks. Managed from Korea, ouside the control of people in Australia. Hard to believe though.
That's quite a long time to be down for.
Anyway thanks for ringing and letting us know.
Edit: The itopfield website and forum is hosted in Korea but as for why the 6 weeks + outage for the forums only has occurred we're all in the dark on that one.
This topic got hijacked very early and seems to have turned into a F/W thread for a little while then
nothing. Has there been any update on the iTopfield forums? Or are they still down for an unspecified time? Is it time to hammer Topfield with annoying phone calls, or perhaps Topfield in Korea?
Ron
I rang TF support yesterday as the six weeks was more than over. Was told that the forum would be back "soon" - pressed for more precision but didn't get it. Also the person I spoke to said that the delay was because a new web site was being developed - apparently web site developers cannot be held accountable for keeping to delivery dates as their work is "difficult". He would not confirm that the content of the old site was going to find its way to the new - although he did say that it wouild be a good idea.
Some of the user guides have recently been published on DTV Forum.
Progress report. No information available about the forum's return. Someone is (said to be) working on it. Comment was made that the more people that call and complain about its absence the more likely it is that the work will be given higher priority.
well I am on my 2nd Toppy. My first 7100 died after about 14 months but only needed to be sent back to Topfield once.
I now have a newer 7100 purchased January. Started palying up (freezing during playback and then not seeing Hard Drive) Sent it to Topfiled and 3 weeks later eventaully got it back. New firmaware and new HDD. The day after we got it back same problems occurred. I am frustrated by the lack of support I am getting. Difficult to get through on the phone and they do not reply to emails. Whay can't I be told to take it back to the place of purchase and get a new one? No I have to send it back to them again, only this time they will make it a priority....haha.
My wife has terminal cancer and sits at home all day. She relies on this machine to record and replay TV programs for her to watch. It does not does this reliably. My PC has a dualt tuner card and it NEVER plays up, so why can't Topfield get their one to work?? It only marginally better than the old Toshiba HDJ35? device I had.
I am sick of this. what should I buy that will do what I want if this time they don't fix it? Any ideas please.
signed
frustrated.
Quote from: mcarfa on August 12, 2009, 05:08:20 PM
... Whay can't I be told to take it back to the place of purchase and get a new one? No I have to send it back to them again, only this time they will make it a priority....haha.
...
My understanding is that the retailer should normally be the first point of contact for warranty problems. Unfortunately, though, I think for faults (rather than "unfit for purpose"), the retailer, like the manufacturer, has the option of offering repair or replacement. Some warranties offer replacement for Dead On Arrival, but you've probably had the 7100 for longer than those warranty conditions last, if they exist at all.
You could try contacting your local Fair Trading/Consumer Affairs office if you're unsatisfied with the service you're getting.
My topfield 7100 is a dream, it had had no problems (except one where it deleted a show we were in the middle of watching???)
The 7100 and IceTV is exactly what I wanted and its great knowing that having shows we want to watch will be there waiting for us even if the station
changes the time of the program!!
I could never go back to programing a timer :-\ no way.
Well got my Toppy back again today. Its still working -:) This time they needed to replace the power PCB whatever that means. Now I have new power PCB and new hard drive plus new firmware but no warranty extension even though Topfield have had the thing on and off for one month now. Still can't complain about that can I. Well I expect everyone to help by keeping their fingers crossed for me. ;D
Quote from: mikeathome on July 23, 2009, 09:19:06 AM
Progress report. No information available about the forum's return. Someone is (said to be) working on it. Comment was made that the more people that call and complain about its absence the more likely it is that the work will be given higher priority.
It's been a while now. Is there any further information on this? Obviously not a high priority for Topfield.
Regards
Ron
Why not call Topfield support and ask - there's a chance that adverse customer feedback to the forum removal could result in it coming back.
Quote from: mikeathome on September 05, 2009, 06:22:10 PM
Why not call Topfield support and ask - there's a chance that adverse customer feedback to the forum removal could result in it coming back.
I emailed them. Their reply was (I'm paraphrasing here) "The forum was a user run forum and we have no control over them". Sound like complete bulltish to me, but certainly doesn't sound hopeful for the return of the forum, does it? Can Vortical etc. comment on this?
Regards, Ron.
Maybe what they meant was that the support etc provided was not endorsed in any way by Topfield (even though they had provided the forum hosting and software LOL).
So they didn't like that users can say anything, so closed it down. Must be a pride thing.
Quote from: Notace on September 30, 2009, 11:05:52 AM
Quote from: mikeathome on September 05, 2009, 06:22:10 PM
Why not call Topfield support and ask - there's a chance that adverse customer feedback to the forum removal could result in it coming back.
I emailed them. Their reply was (I'm paraphrasing here) "The forum was a user run forum and we have no control over them". Sound like complete bulltish to me, but certainly doesn't sound hopeful for the return of the forum, does it? Can Vortical etc. comment on this?
Regards, Ron.
As far as the Forum coming back the beta testers have been told the same as everyone else.
I always thought having the two forums and websites would cause more confusion than anything else, I pretty much stopped using the DPG Topfield forums as soon as itopfield was online.
Having said that I have a distinct suspicion that Topfield wanted the topfield.com.au domain back so there can be no confusion over who is distributing the product.
I beleive that is what is causing the delay. So we will probably see a new Website and hopefully a new Official Forum,
Toppy.org.uk have created a Aussie Topfield section for those who can't wait for Topfield to get the forum up and running again.
http://forum.toppy.org.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=21
For those who haven't been made aware the Topfield forum has been back for a couple of weeks (actually it has started again with none of the old posts kept unfortunately).
http://www.itopfield.com.au/forum/default.asp (http://www.itopfield.com.au/forum/default.asp)