AVS Forum banner

Samsung GX-SM530CF - CableCard tuner and media streamer

Tags
samsung
75K views 468 replies 78 participants last post by  Dartman 
#1 ·
This IS the device I have been looking for - a CableCard box that I don't have to rent, small and it does Netflix, Amazon etc.


It is the perfect device for that TV in the kitchen or guest room where I don't want (or want to pay for) a large, clunky cable box or full DVR. It is small, about an inch thick and its footprint is smaller than an iPad.


Even though I have not yet been able to try this with a CableCard, I am impressed. It scanned and recognized all the Clear QAM channels and eliminated all the encrypted ones. Tuning is fast. Although it offers a setup option for 'Antenna' or 'Digital Cable System', it does not tune ATSC OTA signals (although I am suspicious that it might in the future).


I am not familiar with the Samsung SmartTV platform, but it seems to have the same functionality as their Blu-ray players.


You can see the manual and setup guide here:

http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/GX-SM530CF/XAA
 
See less See more
#325 ·
If that's the case maybe some smart hacker type needs to see what it would take to get it to use a different guide or at least a different way to load the guide it has.
Always ticked me off no new or repeat or year on the info their guide did give when it worked.
Pretty crappy to finally decide to step up and make a decent and cheap stand alone box then just walk away from it after only a few years.
That's part of the reason I loaded the TV guide app on this tablet, it works, its free, and all the date and repeat info is included, plus easy to setup favorite list.
BUT at least it still works and we can use alternate guides on a tablet or phone.
I bought a Samsung clear QAM and ota tuner when I got my first HDTV when they didn't include a digital HD QAM tuner and finally had to return it because it was so slow to change channels, remote had to be pointed right at it, etc.
They didn't seem to care the either so I bought the LG 3410? And it worked great
till Comcast encrypted everything.
I'm willing to give anyone a shot as once and a while some company makes something that's a complete homerun even if most times their stuff is so so.
 
#326 ·
Verizon is notorious for pointing fingers at everyone else. Same thing with their FiOS app for Samsung smart tvs that hasnt worked in over a year. But Samsung is just as guilty at providing pathetic support. I finally got a response from their office of the president and they told me the issue is still being worked on. My devices actually received guide data today without needing a power cycle but as of 7AM tomorrow morning......no information. It is a server problem on Samsung (Amazon AWS) end. My firewall is logging nothing but non existent responses from their IPs. However this does not explain why power cycling the units refreshes the guide data for a day. But its obvious to me that Samsung support doesn't know its a** from a hole in the ground and neither does Verizon much of the time. Im not even going to be Verizon customer for much longer once their selloff to Frontier here in Texas finalizes. :-(
 
#330 ·
Three days is an improvement. I was barely getting 24 hours before. I'm really not sure what is normal for these devices because mine never really kept that many days of guide info but I wasn't usually checking either. I just noticed it was an obvious problem when it was less than 24 hours.
 
#331 ·
Keeping a eye on the guide. Will see by Monday morning if it updates. If so then Samsung did something. What is crazy is that there is no communication between the engineers and Samsung support on these issues. Unfortunately because Samsung outsources most of the support to third world countries, we are stuck with these problems.
 
#335 ·
I kept pushing Samsung... I explained that many here (I gave a link to this forum) are having the problem.

At first, around 30-August, they told me that it was my cable provider. I explained that "we" are using several different cable providers including Time Warner, Comcast, Verizon, COX and in my case, WOW! (formerly Knology). So, same problem with "all" cable providers? I explained that I had done the unplug - plug in power cycle and usually got 24 to 36 hours of Guide which never updated after that.

Then they said I needed to send my unit it for service and asked for my Serial Number. According to Samsung I was out-of-warranty. I explained that I purchased two units on 30-December-2014 and they are in warranty. Well... built in September 2013 means out-of-warranty unless we send in a sales receipt. I balked a little and opened the second unit which was still new in the unopened box. As we all know, upon initial plug-in we got between 24 and 36 hours of Guide. So, I had to wait the two days or so to see that the Guide ended and I got the "No Information" on all programs.

I contacted Samsung again to find that my support ticket had been closed because they did not receive my sales receipt within 48 hours. I made my case again citing AVSForum - it is not just me. Upon being issued another support ticket number I scanned my receipt, gave the Serial Numbers for both units and send the receipt via email on 09-September-2015. Around noon (CDT) on 11-September I found that my Guide was populated (without a power cycle). I have been checking my Guide once or twice a day since to see how far in the future the information is populated. It looks like we are going to be getting plus 36 to 48 hours of Guide populated. The last time I used my Windows Media Center with my Ceton InfiniTV I was getting around 14 days.

Moral to this story? When all of our devices are out-of-warranty we will probably not get support.

As a footnote, Samsung does NOT monitor this or probably any other forum. If you have a problem contact Samsung and be patient. Keep trying and make your point. Be prepared to struggle to understand the support agent (language, accent issue). You will get transferred several times and the call will probable get disconnected. Call back and be a PITA if required - make your point and try to get the "correct department" to support your "specific device" - not easy. Be prepared with such things as your in-service date, Serial Number, and possibly a reference to this (or any other relevant) forum showing that it is not an isolated problem. Register your product so that, if you are a recent purchaser, we might all benefit from extended service. We have a couple of Samsung Smart televisions... I just bought a new LG UHDTV about a month ago partly because our Samsung televisions were not getting Guide information. May or not be related.

Anyway, Guide seems to be working for now.
 
#336 ·
I had similar problems with support. Most agents have no clue what these things are even after I spelled out the model number phonetically! I had to call their office of the president to get anywhere and even they stopped responding to me until last week. I got an email from them today saying they still have no update. To which I informed back this latest info. Something this simple should not be this difficult.
 
#338 ·
Sabooher, Yup, Support usually did not know what the device was. It did not matter which prompt I took with each telephone call - I always ended up being transferred several times and having to explain my problem/give a model number with each agent. That was frustrating enough. I am not a fan of the push-a-button for this group of devices, especially when the logical group of devices (television, media players, etc.) ends up with an agent that has no clue. As mentioned in earlier post, I fear the day when none of us have a device that is still in warranty. No single device in warranty equates to no serious support for any device. Period.

As far as the Guide information - in the past Microsoft has had a similar problem with populating their Guide for Media Center. With the roll-out of Windows 8 (being such as disaster) the support that had been managing and supporting Media Center was moved to different, more urgent (or lucrative) development teams. At least this was the rumor on the Microsoft forum(s). "We" assumed that the technicians that used to manage and monitor the population of Guide information into the Microsoft server were no longer taking care of that function. Microsoft is apparently dropping support for Media Center. This is probably an old story here (AVSForum) but being a Newbie here I have not yet scanned the forum for information. I landed here from a Google search for help with my GX-SM530CF Guide problem. Seeing that others here were having the same problem helped with my plan of attack. I had also learned from the Microsoft (Guide) situation as well as seeing that Synology (provider of my NAS) support does not normally read the forums, even their own. Users have to open a trouble ticket with the vendor of their device to get any action and having this AVSForum thread to back up my claim that it was 1) not my device(s), 2) not my provider and 3) I was not the only user having a problem helped greatly. I applaud all of you (AVSForum users) for your determination and updates of status. Knowledge is power.
 
#341 ·
Mine lost its WiFI lock at some point. Had to reboot it to re-establish that. Guide was fine, then. Only had a lipsync issue on one local channel, but that issue duplicated on an OTA-connected set, so it ruled out the box.
 
#343 ·
Looks like they've been resolved. At least as far as mine are concerned. Seems about a week is as far out as it goes, now. Oddly, my cable-company box stops at 10 days with some channels losing data at one week.
 
#346 ·
My guide is working and I just upgraded my router to a Dlink 868 ac1750 WiFi unit. The Samsung connects with it fine and I watched a portion of a 1080i video through Amazon prime that played nicely too, so it supports Amazon Video which I now have through Prime that I got a deal on on a one day sale.
That is a nice bonus for those using it with a non smart TV. I don't use it out front anymore, my sister uses it with my old CRT 34" HDTV and it works and looks great with it.
 
#348 ·
I know this is an old thread but anyone's guide acting up again? I got two of these devices and both exhibiting the same problems as last year. Power cycling them tends to correct it for a day or two then back to "no information" in the guide. I need to just cut the cord and do away with this junk, lol.
 
#352 ·
Same here. Getting the popup when pressing the guide button. . . tried power cycling, redoing the set-up with and without changing zip code (helped in the past, because it forced the box to retrieve a slightly different channel lineup), finally tried a complete reset which is a major PITA. . . Same issue with second box in bedroom, but without the popup. Just no guide info on that one. I reckon it will be broke until they fix it, or maybe never. I'm on Cablevision (Optimum) in NE PA near the borders of NY & NJ.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top