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iView-3500STB Tuner & DVR Owners Thread

613K views 6K replies 464 participants last post by  jbrantley130 
#1 · (Edited)
Overview;
Read all five posts first before asking questions.
If you are looking for firmware links they are at the bottom of post 5.

Update
The model with the far better remote they called "II" is apparently being upgraded again with the addition of a rear panel RE ch. 3/4 switch. It's not detailed on their site except for a firmware upgrade warning. See post 5.
Thanks to member satpro, the "II" version has had a 'mod' done for the USB port. The power feed now runs directly from the power supply, not from the board.

Carrying over from the short 'speculation' thread, Rjax44 and myself thought a fresh start would be in order. When I first saw this and the price, I sort of dismissed it. But, upon further reading and some debate, I thought I would give one a try. The price was raised to around $58 from a low of $40, but for a ATSC tuner w/ DVR capability??

(Note; these are also sold under the Homeworx name through Mediasonic. There are many others selling similar versions with different enclosures, most without a display. The basic electronics components are the same which means similar performance. The difference being the firmware and whomever writes it.)

Other than the price, what sets this apart from all others is the size or lack of. From the on line photos, you can't really tell it is as small as it actually is.

iViews's current (as of 1/23) websites page is here;

The DVR isn't the only thing that is tiny. The remote and the manual are also. I have been in contact with iView (with far better results and communications than some other encounter) and was told a revised manual and a firmware update should be available shortly.

Below are photos of the box and contents, rear panel, comparisons of the DVR and a 3 1/2" HDD enclosure, another of this and a a comparison between the original remote and the replacement. BTW, I'm not suggesting that anyone place a HDD enclosure directly on top of the DVR, I just used that for size comparison.

Note, the last photo, the top shield for the tuner was removed for the photo.
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Components;
System on a Chip (Processor) apparently is a MStar 7816, thanks to member blue_z;
ATSC_digital_TV_box_for_america
Quote:
The "system processor", or more correctly, the SoC (System on a Chip) is very likely made by MStar, a Taiwanese (not mainland China!) semiconducter manufacturer.
The part number for the SoC might be the MStar 7816, based on this product description.
MStar is a MIPS licensee, so the processor in the SoC is most likely to be MIPS.
There is a thread (elsewhere) on this SoC:
Discuss Here About Only All Mstar CPU Successful Repair & Problem History - GSM-Forum

Samsung S5H1411X01-T0 DTV receiver/demodulator (released 2007)
Spansion FL032PIF Flash memory 32 Mb
Nanya NT5TU32M1600BE System memory 64MB (Thanks to nickle2 for correcting the model number and to demonfoo for confirming the memory size)
Rafael Micro RT534 Modulator
Artschip JRC4558 Dual Op-Amp
?? NM120AA Tuner (unknown, possible Russian based company)
Interestingly, the demodulator is the same one used in this 10" Haier TV I reviewed;
Haier HLT10 10" portable LCD TV

Trying to read the text on some of these was a real eye strain. Namely the memory chip with the mark on the surface and the one chip inside the tuner. Neither of which I'm sure about at this time. Take a look below;

.
iView has joined the forum;
Quote:
To AVS Users,
We as IVIEW greatly appreciate the time and effort each and everyone one of you have taken to post your feedback both positive and negative. IVIEW has been monitoring and acknowledging your suggestions as we continue to improve our 3500STB. We are dedicated to provide a great product at a reasonable price. In order to improve our product and meet the needs of our consumers we ask for your help by continuing to provide us with your critiques and suggestions on how we can improve the product. The AVS forum has helped us tremendously to improve our product because it has provided us with insight into our product. We have remained silent on the forum because we preferred to listen and take into your suggestions without offering justification. Please do not confuse our silence as IVIEW not caring about our customers. Due to recent allegations made by Mediatronic we feel the need to clarify the allegations made against IVIEW. Our clarifications are for the users and our consumers and in no way are we attacking another company. To clarify IVIEW is a brand of Wiltronic Corporation which is under the parent company of Chengzhi Corporation. As many of you may know we are currently using MSTAR chip which uses general firmware, but our engineers at Chengzhi Corporation contribute to the firmware in order to improve our product. Our product is similar to Mediatronic product, but in no way did we steal, copy, or reproduce their converter boxes. Our converter box became available on the market ahead of Mediatronic’s product. Our firmware is unique and different from theirs because our engineers have created a product with QAM capability. The converter is uniquely ours therefore we are constantly creating new firmware to improve it. With that being said, we are currently testing a new firmware that will eliminate many of the issues our consumers were having, many of these issues were discovered by the users on this forum. We acknowledge our mistakes and are taking every step necessary to correct them. Please disregard the latest firmware that was posted on our website and we apologize for any inconvenience it might have created. Our new firmware will greatly improve the QAM capability, EPG menu, our recording system, and remote control. Your suggestions on our product have greatly influenced our improvements. As a gesture of our appreciation we would like to offer our new remote to any user who helps us improve our product by providing any suggestions. We here at IVIEW stand behind our product and will continue to improve and greatly appreciate any help. Please feel free to contact us for any questions or concerns at support@iviewus.com or by phone 909-627-9888 Monday through Friday 9am-5pm Pacific Time. We really do apologize for the inconvenience and IVIEW is dedicated to provide our customers with the best possible product.
Sincerely,
Evelyn
Technical Support
added comments regarding the addition of a ch. 3/4 switch & USB port power upgrade
 
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9
#5,078 ·
It's not that I'm looking to do you one better, but I'm still regularly using WMC on Vista for OTA. I know I'm probably a small demographic. :)

You're right about the EPG, which used to be pretty good. The workaround is that you can program recordings manually by date, time and channel, just like in the days of yore with VCRs. Millennials could most likely not wrap their brains around the concept. :p
 
#5,081 ·
Gee, I would think so, since Rovi hasn't provided the guide at all for years!

But I don't know what "epg123" is...is it any good, is it free? Really, you'd think that somebody would step into the breach with an advertising-supported guide, even though WMC doesn't have any slots for advertising...something like an add-on for Kodi might fill the gap...

Rovi is about the worst company on Earth, everything considered (you probably don't know a tenth of it).

--
max
 
#5,080 · (Edited)
A lot of people have - not all. I think the latest outage affecting cable systems has probably pushed a lot more folks over the brink. Follow the link I posted and go toward the end of the thread, and you'll see a lot more info about it.

Now, back to iView (sort of): Stellar Labs (MCM Electronics' house brand) now sells an iView clone for $29.99 49.99: http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/30-2890. But the manual shows the PVR options removed (sort of like the original HW-180s)! However, the photo from the manual looks like it was rather clumsily retouched. I wonder if the PVR options were truly removed from the firmware, or only from the manual, as Channel Master originally did with their CM-7003 :confused: I also wonder why :confused:

The remote looks somewhat like the small remotes for the iView 3200, eMatic, etc. The only difference I see is an extra button at the top that appears to switch the RF output between channel 3/4/loop thru. But the box has all the outputs of the 3500, and a front-panel numeric display like iView's 3500 too.

Note: the antenna power option provides 12V @ 100mA (the iView has antenna power, but IIRC it's 5V, unknown current). 12V is compatible with Stellar Labs' RF amplifiers (as well as their amplified antennas and splitters) that can take power via their RF output.

It's for OTA only, not cable/QAM. The Channel Search menu lacks the Air/Cable option! That makes sense to me, given the numerous problems all these boxes have with cable signals. But I'm kind of curious if it could be cross-flashed with iView firmware to restore the removed functions, while keeping the 12V antenna power....

I'm not so curious as to spend $30 to find out, especially since I can get a real 3500 for only $3 more.

Edit: Shockingly the price of this clone is up to almost $50! I guess the $29.99 was just a brief sale. As I said above, it was hardly worth it as $30 - definitely not at $50! But surprisingly, it's gotten mostly good reviews - I guess the folks buying it don't know about the 3500! And if anyone happens to wind up with one of these Stellar Labs boxes, I'd still be interested to learn if the PVR options were truly removed (and of course the System / Information screen contents).
 
#5,084 ·
I just wanted to jump in on this thread to thank everyone for their contributions. After reading this entire thread, I was able to set up my iview, get the clock set correctly and even got the channels in. I was limited because of the aforementioned 400 channel limit. Doing the manual scan did the trick for QAM channels. I am about to try recording. I hope it starts in 20 minutes like I programmed it to.
You all are Awesome and thank you for sharing your knowledge with everyone else.

I printed out the important parts mentioned in here so that I can put them in the "manual" for future reference.

Thank you everyone!
 
#5,090 ·
Well, I am saddened to report that today I purchased a 32GB SanDisk "elevate Ultra(R) USB 3.0 Flash Drive" at Target for the princely sum of $12.99 (regular price).

After formatting to NTFS on my computer, I set about testing it on my iView.

It worked PERFECTLY on all channels and all modes, including "chase play", rewinding, pausing, fast-forwarding live TV with ease. The test flash drive was reported as a working flash drive by another poster here, but I was skeptical.

Why am I sad? Well, as I described in my original message on this topic which was munged by my ISP, I hate being stupid. And I was very stupid before.

Now I am just as stupid, but apparently with the canonical answer to the question of "can you use a flash drive with an iView" (if my testing holds up). The answer basically is, "there are a VERY FEW that work, for unknown reasons."

Maybe later I'll share a few possible tricks that make this flash drive the CHEAP BUT EFFECTIVE answer to your iView problems...

--
max
 
#5,091 ·
Discovered a new bug, or at least quirk, with my iView today.

Here it is: I enter a single digit, say 5. But I don't press Enter; instead I press Up or Down to move to the next or previous channel. As you'd expect, the 5 I entered goes away and the iView changes channels according to whether I pressed Up or Down.

Now I enter another digit, such as 8. I find the 5 I entered earlier reappears, so I've now entered 58 instead of 8 :eek:

This strange behavior can be a bit annoying when it causes me to enter an incorrect channel number. No big deal though; I just press OK, let the stupid thing say "Invalid Channel," then try again.
 
#5,093 ·
Thanks! Quite a bit of useful information you've given us.

Based on the description: I believe this depicts the drive you're using: https://www.amazon.com/Sandisk-Ultra-flash-drive-SDCZ48-032G-A46/dp/B00EKWKN2O

If so, it's also available in 64GB and 128GB sizes: https://www.amazon.com/Sandisk-Ultra-flash-drive-SDCZ48-064G-A46/dp/B00EKWKO4G, https://www.amazon.com/SANDISK-SDCZ48-128G-A46-Ultra-Accessories-Electronics/dp/B019ADQBH8

Careful, though: there's also a Sandisk Ultra "Fit" flash drive that's much smaller; in fact it resembles the "bar" drive you described.

OTOH, there are also Sandisk Ultra "Dual" flash drives that are even larger than the plain Ultra models. Not sure what the deal is with those.
 
#5,094 ·
Be careful, remember I have been stupid before, and will be again...

Yes, that looks like the thing I bought at Target. Oddly, I paid six cents less than the Amazon price, but then Amazon changes their prices literally every second (I hate them and have never bought anything from them, but use their website for information for making brick and mortar purchases).

They have 32GB and 64GB ($20.99) versions at the Target a few blocks from here. The front packaging says, "USB 3.0 32 GB elevate SanDisk Ultra(R) USB 3.0 Flash Drive Transfer a full-length movie in less than 40 seconds^1 UP TO 10X FASTER SanDisk(R)".

The term "elevate" I believe refers to the fact you can retract the USB connector. The model number does not show on the packaging, but can be seen on the rear of the drive itself: "SDCZ48-032G". "Ultra" appears to be a generic performance brand name for SanDisk, and probably does NOT refer to any particular internal design (they use "Extreme" for their high-end flash drives, which ARE consistently rated as the fastest drives available to consumers).

"Dual" drives may be ones with "C" (micro-USB) connectors as well, that allow you to connect to a mobile phone, and then to a PC, I don't know. The itty-bitty "Fit" drives are a tiny form factor made by several drive makers and I would avoid those for an iView because there is no way a SSD controller can be made that small as described previously, they are for very tight space requirements around the USB ports.

It would be interesting to test the claim of "transfer a full-length movie in 40 seconds", but not that interesting, because this is just another fraudulent foot-noted claim designed to mislead the American consumer, like "up to 10x faster" (hey, Feds, you can arrest the guys at SanDisk in Milpitas CA at any time for fraud).

If I don't miss my guess, what SanDisk does for these cheap "Ultra" drives is use all the leftover SSD controllers they have laying on the shelves from their very popular SSD business, and cram them into their ugly weird flash drive packages and sell them at cheap-o retail outlets like Target, and that's the convulated way you wind up with a cheap flash drive that acts more like an SSD.

--
max
 
#5,095 ·
Thanks. Mostly I just wanted a visual confirmation that I had the correct models. I too tend to avoid buying directly from Amazon, although I'll buy from third parties that set up Amazon "stores" if they have a good rating. But the links above are from Amazon themselves, so if my local Target has them, I'll buy them at Target now that I know what they look like.

My guess about why SSD controllers work but the small integrated USB thumb-drive controllers don't, is that the SSD controllers probably include several megabytes of RAM for cache and buffering, while the integrated controllers include barely enough RAM to make the thing work at all. That would explain why I had trouble with time-shifting, when I tried to use a cheap micro SD card reader with a 128GB micro SD card. The micro SD card itself was plenty fast and recorded and played back the highest-speed channels I have with no issues, but when I tried to time-shift, which requires simultaneous writing and reading, I think the data going in and out kept bumping into each other due to very limited RAM. The playback couldn't keep up and kept stuttering.

As I've mentioned in the past, I've had good luck with PNY "Turbo Attache" 64GB and 128GB drives, but the way PNY names their thumb drives is very confusing, and others have reported that PNY "Turbo" or PNY "Attache" models don't work - only the "Turbo Attache" ones (with both words in the name) work, and they're hard to find. As with the Sandisk thumb drives, the Turbo Attache models are physically longer than the other models with only one of those words in the name :rolleyes:
 
#5,096 ·
Yeah, probably buffer size is the key. And you never really know what's in these crazy drives, my nightmare is it might change from production run to production run.

But as far as the SanDisk Ultra I got from Target, it is still working perfectly as of today, since I this afternoon I ran random tests on it, recording shows I don't want, pausing live TV for 10 minutes, then fast forwarding, rewinding at random, whatever, while I was working on other stuff (not much on TV today!). Not a single problem.

I seen those PNY Turbo Attache drives, passed 'em by because they looked too big and clunky, which I guess is the reaction of the average drive buyer, considering this is the biggest selling drive on Amazon, and it works like crap for iView recording:

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-128GB-METAL-MUF-128BA-AM/dp/B017DH3NOW

Looks great, though...

--
max
 
#5,097 ·
I'm using the 64 GB version of the Sandisk Ultra with my Mediasonic and so far it has worked great. So well, that I've removed the 320 GB hard drive and hub I was using to power it. It should be noted that for OTA where I'm at the max I have available is a 720p signal (about 6 GB per hour of recording). So I don't know how it will perform with a higher bandwidth signal. Next spring we will likely be moving very close to the Canadian border which will bring the Winnipeg stations in play (including 1080i stations) - so perhaps things will change. But I was using chase-play with the sandisk during the 3rd preseason Vikings game and the simultaneous read/write was being kept up with by the drive. I wasn't really considering flash drives as a reasonable option for chase-play previously, but it appears this will be a decent solution. (I typically find an audio stream online so I can listen to the radio call for Vikings football and use the box -- last year a TiVo -- to sync up the TV with the radio call).
 
#5,098 ·
Right now I'm just DVRing a 1080i DD5.1 channel for testing, looking at the "info" for the recording shows about a 1.88MB/s data rate (or about 15.04 Mbps), which is typical.

But there is another FHD channel here with no sub-channels and they show a data rate of about 2.2MB/s (17.6 Mbps). This to me is the "acid test".

In both cases the SanDisk Ultra records and "chase plays" perfectly.

A 720p DD5.1 channel typically runs at about 1.3MB/s (10.4 Mbps), with stereo sound it's about 1.03 (8.24 Mbps). So yeah, you can't necessarily go by what happens with a 720p channel, but my testing shows that the SanDisk Ultra can handle them all.

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max
 
#5,100 ·
The big test for me will be next Sunday when the Vikings are OTA. It will be time-shifting for about 3+ hours while I sync up to the Vikings radio call. Typically I have between a 10 - 30 second shift depending on which audio stream I can find that is behind the TV broadcast. That will be a lot of simulaneous read/write for an extended period of time to stress test it with.
 
#5,102 ·
I was wondering about longer shifts based on the default 1GB limit listed in the PVR configuration menu, I guess you can change the limit to anything the drive can support (I was thinking about up to an hour of pause before a three-hour program with commercials to be able to fast forward through the commercials, so that would exceed 1GB by a bit).

I've time-shifted an hour program with five minutes of pause, then fast-forwarded and rewound multiple times, no problems. You will always be limited by the size of the drive though; three hours of 1080i DD5.1 could be over 20GB...

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max
 
#5,103 · (Edited)
My local Fox station does about 6 GB of filesize per hour of recording. I'm curious what will happen. I've got the buffer set to the max 4 GB - but what will happen when it hits 4 GB? Does it fail and I need to resync? Does it just start losing minutes off the back end as more is added to the front end while it keeps on chugging along? I'm not sure how it handles it since I will only be pausing for seconds once I hear where Paul Allen's radio call is in comparison to the broadcast. :)

With the TiVo last year - that has a 45 minute buffer, but maintained the shift just fine for the entire game - so here's hoping the Mediasonic just keeps a nice, shifting buffer.
 
#5,105 ·
I do not know, but the fairest way would be to keep shifting forward. What did the fine documentation say? (JOKE!!!)

It does seem like I've seen the numbers on both ends of the slider updating at times, so that's probably it. I've never done much time-shifting, but the other day I was watching regular TV, and I had an over-whelming urge to fast-forward through the commercials, and quickly rewind to catch some dialog I missed, and I realized I had been spoiled by the iView just by testing it!

--
max
 
#5,104 ·
When it hits 4GB, it's supposed to "wrap around;" i.e., start writing over the beginning of timeshift.ts instead of continuing to extend the file. The only practical effect is that you can't rewind further than 4GB worth (about 40 minutes for your Fox affiliate), but since you'll only be 30 seconds or so behind, you probably won't even notice.
 
#5,110 ·
Yes; larger SSDs often perform better than smaller ones, so if a given size works, a larger size should work even better.

And thanks for the recommendation on the SanDisk. I'm now using the 64GB model as my main iView drive. Time-shifting engages so much faster now!

I'll check out the 128GB at Best Buy if I get a chance before Sunday, and see if Best Buy has a "Dallas surcharge" like Target. :rolleyes: But even $39 would be a good deal for 128GB.

BTW, I got lucky with my 128GB PNY: it was an amazing $31 from Amazon seller "maxproductsales" last year, but that deal's long gone: Amazon now charges $59.99 for it :eek:
 
#5,119 ·
I mentioned this earlier but I think it bears repeating:
I got lucky with my 128GB PNY Turbo Attache: it was an amazing $31 from Amazon seller "maxproductsales" last year, but that deal's long gone: Amazon now charges $59.99 for it: https://www.amazon.com/PNY-Turbo-Attaché-128GB-Flash/dp/B00JKCHQR4 :eek:
Note: you have to reformat it (NTFS recommended) before using it with an iView, HomeWorX, etc. As shipped, it's formatted in Micro$oft's dreaded exFAT, which our boxes think is FAT32, but isn't :p

This one worked well (if you can find one at a reasonable price; $59.99 is ridiculous). Another 128GB solution I tried was a 128GB micro SD card and reader, which worked fine for HD recording and playback, but wouldn't time-shift. I think the card reader wasn't up to the task, but I didn't try a different size or brand of SD card, so I can't be sure.
 
#5,115 ·
Wow. 9GB/hr sounds like pretty much the full payload of an ATSC 1.0 broadcast: 19.39 Mb/s, plus the .mts format overhead, I think works out to just shy of 20 Mb/s or 2.5 MB/s. Multiply by 3600 and you get 9GB/hr.

A 64GB drive would barely hold even 7 hours at that rate; maybe even less.
 
#5,116 ·
Yes, that's why I NEED a VERY large flash drive...

Actually, the iView info button shows 2.2MB/s when recording that channel (17.6 Mbps). I'm also including the time fudge I use when recording, so an "hour" recording is actually more like 1:06. But a 32GB drive would be lucky to hold three hours (actual capacity is about 28GB).

But it's a 1080i DD5.1 channel on a station with no other sub-channels. Typically, I see data rates of about 8-12 Mbps these days on other FHD surround sound sub-channels. For quite a while here we had two stations that had two FHD SS sub-channels and a few more SD sub-channels crammed into one 6MHz channel...

And that's why I feel fairly confidant to say that if a flash drive can record and time-shift THAT channel, it can record and time-shift any ATSC channel in the US. One time I thought I had found a flash drive that would work after some fairly cursory testing, then it failed miserably on THAT channel.

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max
 
#5,118 ·
Stick limit 64GB

[/QUOTE]

Unless the firmware differs in these v. the other siblings, these have a

64GB
USB Stick LIMIT
2TB USB Hard DRIVE LIMIT

The aforementioned, Target item, 64GB Sandisk Ultra, seems to work good for recording and time shift.

I only recorded one HD thing to test, I can't remember if it was 720p or 1080i, but did record with no issues. I lost interest in the recording quickly, like 100% of Big 5 shows. :p:D

I 99% watch record the diginets, and this doesn't seem to be an issue. Actually the USB STICK seems to work faster than a 2TB Seagate USB 3.0 external USB drive. Could be differences in the units and/or firmware since I've got an AT300 (stick) and AT263(drive).


I'd love if these and their siblings worked with larger sticks, but they tend to get pricey quick! Especially probably for the level like the Ultras.
 
#5,120 ·
Unless the firmware differs in these v. the other siblings, these have a

64GB
USB Stick LIMIT
2TB USB Hard DRIVE LIMIT

The aforementioned, Target item, 64GB Sandisk Ultra, seems to work good for recording and time shift.

I only recorded one HD thing to test, I can't remember if it was 720p or 1080i, but did record with no issues. I lost interest in the recording quickly, like 100% of Big 5 shows. :p:D

I 99% watch record the diginets, and this doesn't seem to be an issue. Actually the USB STICK seems to work faster than a 2TB Seagate USB 3.0 external USB drive. Could be differences in the units and/or firmware since I've got an AT300 (stick) and AT263(drive).


I'd love if these and their siblings worked with larger sticks, but they tend to get pricey quick! Especially probably for the level like the Ultras.[/QUOTE]

For the iView 3500STB, the only apparent limit is about 2.3 TB, probably for either HDD or flash drives (but you'd have to take out a second mortgage for a 2.3 TB flash drive). The limitation has to do with some special NTFS protocol firmware in the disk controller that allows virtually unlimited drive sizes, but the iView 3500 STB does not recognize it, so you are practically limited to the typical HDD size 2TB drive as the maximum.

You can use a 256GB SanDisk Ultra Flash Drive (SDCZ48-XXXX-256) in an iView 3500 STB. A couple weeks ago, you could have bought it on sale for $60 at Best Buy, they typically sell for $70 on Amazon. That's not a bad price considering how much more the SanDisk "Extreme" costs, or the fact that just a few years ago, that was the cost of same size HDD!

I DID run into a weird problem with my SanDisk Ultra drives, not sure what's going on. This doesn't have to do with the iView, but rather MOVING files from the drive to a PC, perhaps in conjunction with USB extension cables, maybe having something to do with having previously renamed the files using the PC.

In any event, I was moving files around, renaming them, and I noted that I could move about 20GB in less than two minutes, which is tantalizingly close to the package claim of being able to "transfer a full-length movie in less than 40 seconds*" (NOTE ASTERISK, TYPICAL PHONEY FLASH DRIVE PERFORMANCE CLAIM NONSENSE).

But then I just wanted to move (by cut and paste) about 20GB from the SanDisk to the PC, and IT TOOK LIKE TWO HOURS OR MORE!!! WTH!!! Then it happened again...

Same flash drive worked fine in the iView later, so I really don't know what happened. I do know that the SanDisk Ultra drives will typically pop up a message on the PC about "corrupt or missing device" when I plug it into the PC, but it typically doesn't make any difference for actual operations, everything seems to work fine...except occasional VERRRRRRRRRY slow transfer speeds...

Maybe because these drives have been formatted on the iView? I don't know, I hope it doesn't have to do with extension cables, I really NEED those for the Ultra...but more "fun" figuring it out...

--
max
 
#5,121 ·
Weird -- I transfer files (about 15 - 20 GB a time) 2 - 3 times per week (from the Homeworx, though). I copy files from the Ultra to the computer every couple days or so of my wife's daily chat shows and then use Handbrake overnight to make them easier to stream in Plex. I've seen consistent speeds so far in the transfer to PC with very little variance with no warnings or anything.
 
#5,122 ·
I may have damaged the USB port on my PC (actually a laptop) by strong-arming the fat SanDisk Ultra into a space that was clearly too small. That's why I got the extension cables, one for the iView to prevent wear and tear on that USB port.

That PC USB port may still be working, just not well. Or maybe it's some kind of bit-rot or thermal protection or something. I just wrote a one-hour 3.5GB HD video file to the 32GB drive, took five minutes, not bad, not great, but not a crazy amount of time. I'll fool around with various ports and drives and see what happens...

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max
 
#5,123 ·
3500STBII questions

Hello,

I'm new to the forum here. I bought the iView 3500STBII and have some questions now that it is in my hands.

1. I want to restore the factory default screens. How? When I first got it, I hooked it up to a monitor just to see what displayed. Now that I've placed it in my home where I want to use it, I can't get back to those screens.

2. The serial number of my device starts with 1707. The iView firmware update page lists a 1706 but not 1707. Does iView have any plans to provide firmware update for this device yet?

3. I have a serious problem with the remote control unit provided with the device. It is toggling some of the functions of my TV (e.g., on/off, TV system settings display), nor can I use the remote's numerical "1" button for the iView's channels because that button is turning my tv on/off. How can I configure the remote to work only with the 3500STBII device? My TV is a TCL Roku TV.

4. Is there a way to manually enter an OTA TV station? When I got the iView in my hands, I had it scan for stations to see what it could find. I noticed that the one station I most wanted was not listed. The station in question is KUHF, PBS Channel 8 in Houston, TX. It has around 8 digital channels - 1,2,3, 4,5,6,7,8. the channels 1-3 are TV broadcasts and the higher #s are its internet radio streams. My TV picks them up, but the reason for my purchase was so that I could record the PBS TV broadcast; my TV does not have PVR/DVR functions built in.

FWIW, I've submitted these questions on 9/23 to iView but have yet to hear anything from them.

Thanks,

John Howland
 
#5,124 ·
Hello,

I'm new to the forum here. I bought the iView 3500STBII and have some questions now that it is in my hands.

1. I want to restore the factory default screens. How? When I first got it, I hooked it up to a monitor just to see what displayed. Now that I've placed it in my home where I want to use it, I can't get back to those screens.

2. The serial number of my device starts with 1707. The iView firmware update page lists a 1706 but not 1707. Does iView have any plans to provide firmware update for this device yet?

3. I have a serious problem with the remote control unit provided with the device. It is toggling some of the functions of my TV (e.g., on/off, TV system settings display), nor can I use the remote's numerical "1" button for the iView's channels because that button is turning my tv on/off. How can I configure the remote to work only with the 3500STBII device? My TV is a TCL Roku TV.

4. Is there a way to manually enter an OTA TV station? When I got the iView in my hands, I had it scan for stations to see what it could find. I noticed that the one station I most wanted was not listed. The station in question is KUHF, PBS Channel 8 in Houston, TX. It has around 8 digital channels - 1,2,3, 4,5,6,7,8. the channels 1-3 are TV broadcasts and the higher #s are its internet radio streams. My TV picks them up, but the reason for my purchase was so that I could record the PBS TV broadcast; my TV does not have PVR/DVR functions built in.

FWIW, I've submitted these questions on 9/23 to iView but have yet to hear anything from them.

Thanks,

John Howland
These are all good questions, and I can only answer some of them, sort of...

1. You should be able to do anything you want from the setup menu. Exactly how to get to the setup menu depends on your remote and firmware; I have an old iView 3500 and don't use the original remote. I can say that the setup menu takes a LOOOONG time to show up after pressing the correct button on the remote ("MENU" on my old remote) for my iView, and you can crash the box if you try to press the button again.

2. Firmware: I guess iView is either mum on this issue, or mostly out of business...

3. Remote: that's a good one, I guess there's some IR code "namespace" collision between the two. I use a multi-device remote, but I assume it just memorizes the same IR codes and so might actually still emit a conflicting code even if it is currently only set for the iView...but then I don't exactly know. I think I've seen it myself with my receiver and the iView or something, but that was a while ago and I maybe am just imagining it. I also don't know if you might be able to reprogram your TV remote with different codes and then "pair" your essentially new remote with the TCL/Roku.

4. Yes, you can add a channel manually in the iView, but if it didn't turn up in the scan, it either can't be received, or couldn't be received when you did the scan. You could try a new (destructive) scan, maybe it will be there, or on my iView you can manually add a channel from the setup menu by finding the corresponding "physical" channel, and then "add" it to your channel list. There is a display of signal strength for each physical channel, and if it's too low, it won't be added. You would have to find the physical channel by looking it up on something like TVFool, or it doesn't really hurt anything to just "add" all the physical channels of a certain signal strength to your channel list if you don't know which "physical" channel corresponds to a "virtual" channel.

4a. Are you sure you can't record using your TV? I'm unsure as to the exact status of this feature, but I know Roku was looking at adding at least "chase play" (pause, rewind, fast forward) functionality to the TCL TV through the USB port. I know that some Samsung TVs in Europe allow this, but there may be laws/IP entanglements that prevent this in the US.

--
max
 
#5,125 ·
Here are my suggestions:

1. You should be able to get to the menus by pressing "Menu" on the remote as Max said. Once there, navigate to the "System" menu (it's the next-to-last menu, with the "gears" icon) using the left/right buttons, then go down to "Restore Factory Default" and select it. That will put everything back like it was when you got it (you'll have to scan for your channels again). If you have any trouble, post more details about what's going wrong and we'll try to help.

2. Exactly two days ago, iView posted new firmware versions to their Web site, a version for the 3200 and one for the 3500. (I wouldn't have even bothered looking if you hadn't asked!)

Anyway, it's likely that the "1706" and "1707" boxes use the same firmware. The first four digits of the serial number refer to the year and month of manufacture, and it's unlikely they changed firmware between June and July.

But to be sure, please go the the "System" menu again, go down to "Information" and select it, and post whatever is displayed on this thread. From that info I can probably figure out whether you have the latest firmware, and if not, whether the latest version on their web site is likely to be compatible.

3. There are no good solutions to remote interference like you're experiencing. My only suggestion would be to convert the iView remote to an RF remote, using something like the Next Generation remote control extender, then block the infrared LED on the iView remote so it won't affect your TV. You'd also have to place both the iView and NextGen "flying saucer" where the TV can't "see" the infrared signals coming from the latter, but the iView can. Not a very elegant solution but it's all I've got.

4. There is no "KUHF," but I suspect you mean "KUHT," channel 8 in Houston, TX. You can manually scan for it in the "Channel Search" menu - go down to "Manual Search" and select it. Enter the RF channel (for KUHT, that's the same as the displayed channel: 8), and look at the "Quality" bar. If you see at least three "purple" dots after the eight red dots, you should be able to scan it in by pressing OK. If not, its signal is too poor for the iView's tuner - try reorienting your antenna until the signal improves.

If the signal strength looks good but KUHT still won't scan in, paradoxically you may have better luck if you weaken the signal somewhat. (The iView's tuner seems to be susceptible to overload from strong TV signals.) Again, you can do this by reorienting the antenna, or by placing a splitter or two between the antenna and the iView (each 2-way splitter will weaken the signal by about 50%, or as the pros say, 3dB). It may take some trial and error to get it working.
 
#5,130 ·
Follow up on help comments

ping maxreactance, JHBrandt, TampBayOTA

Thanks for the help. I've got things settled for the most part. The suggestions to either cover my TV's IR or move the iView to another area were good but didn't work that well in practice. WRT the display conflict between the remote and the TV, I discovered that my TV will automatically close down its display after a delay, and I have a clear view of iView's menu screen and its options. I can live with that, so that is now a moot issue.

FYI, from the Menu|Info option, I got the following:
software version: 20170524V5.0
hardware version: 78021237836650

As noted, I did use the wrong call sign for Channel 8. Sorry about that. After fiddling and rearranging my antenna wires, I've got things squared away. I'm able to loop thru the antenna feed to my TV, and the iView now receives channels 8.1 and 8.2 without problem. The one difference I note between the channel selection on my TV and that of the iView is that the TV receives channel 20.1 and channel 20.2 whereas the iView receives channel 20.2 but not channel 20.1. It's odd, but again, that channel was not one of the ones that I definitely wanted to have the ability to record.

The next step for my testing is to actually record something. Unfortunately, that's going to have to wait till I can get some more USB flash drives. The ones I have I'm using for other stuff.

With regard to the flash drives, it seems to me I saw someone reporting good success using SanDisk (sp?) USB drives. Does the brand of USB flash drive matter?

Can USB 3.0 flash drives be used instead?
The user manual is not quite clear about the USB port. I know that I can use USB 2.0 sticks.

Also, has any guidance been given about using external USB 3.0 hard drives with the 3500STBII? Can the iView 3500STBII USB port provide the power for USB 3.0 sticks and drives?

For example, I have a Western Digital Elements hard drive that plugs into my pc's USB 3.0 port. The power for that drive is suppied as part of the pc's USB 3.0 port. It does not have an external power cord.

Thanks,

John
 
#5,131 ·
USB 3.0 drives and sticks GET THESE.

As noted, I did use the wrong call sign for Channel 8. Sorry about that. After fiddling and rearranging my antenna wires, I've got things squared away. I'm able to loop thru the antenna feed to my TV, and the iView now receives channels 8.1 and 8.2 without problem.
What about those radio stations feeds?

With regard to the flash drives, it seems to me I saw someone reporting good success using SanDisk (sp?) USB drives. Does the brand of USB flash drive matter?
Yes, you can use USB sticks.

YES IT MATTERS on BRAND AND MODEL.

I can confirm that these WORK for RECORDING and TIME SHIFT as the these units do it for HD 1080i, 720p, and SD 480i formats.

https://www.target.com/p/sandisk-cruzer-ultra-flash-drive-64gb-3-0-black/-/A-50584502#lnk=sametab

https://www.target.com/p/sandisk-cruzer-ultra-flash-drive-32gb-3-0-black/-/A-50584402#lnk=newtab

Can USB 3.0 flash drives be used instead?
So long as it states that it has USB2.0 backward compatibility.

The user manual is not quite clear about the USB port.
The manuals are pretty much useless.

I know that I can use USB 2.0 sticks.
These may limit options in recording to only 480i SD channels, or 720p ones, and not 1080i ones. And may not permit time shift.

Also, has any guidance been given about using external USB 3.0 hard drives with the 3500STBII? Can the iView 3500STBII USB port provide the power for USB 3.0 sticks and drives?
My ViewTV 263 & 300 are similar siblings of these, and YES they CAN POWER USB DRIVES or STICKS.

One has this drive.
https://www.target.com/p/seagate-ba...ve-stdr2000100-black/-/A-15182496#lnk=sametab


BUT

Stick to 2.5" sized disks. Larger 3.5" based ones will need to be on a POWERED HUB (not tried) or self powered. As there has been issues with 3.5" drives taking too much current draw on the USB port and the units can not handle that reliably.

For example, I have a Western Digital Elements hard drive that plugs into my pc's USB 3.0 port. The power for that drive is suppied as part of the pc's USB 3.0 port. It does not have an external power cord.
As per above, they should be fine.

ONE CAVEAT! Using LARGE DRIVES tends to slow the start up for recording. One user reporting they found that the 320GB size on the drive was the sweet spot to perform similar to a stick drive.

I can confirm that using my 2TB on one of mine, its slow to start recording or time shift. But does work for both.
 
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#5,135 ·
For brevity, consolidating and answering questions asked over multiple posts

TampBayOTA
"What about those radio stations feeds?" Nothing shows up under the iVies's category radio station feeds. KUHT does have four/five digital channels that are feeds for their radio channels. I'm working from memory here, but they are 8.4, 8.5, 8.6, 8.7 and 8.8; they are audio only streams with a screen display listing the channel number and general program content, such as global, classical, news and Mix (contemporary type music).

"So long as it states that it has USB2.0 backward compatibility" - no problem, AFAIK, all USB 3.0 is backwards compatible with 2.0 and 1.0. Transfer speeds slow down as the version # gets older (1.0 and 2.0) from what 3.0 is capable. maxreactance also commented about compatibility.

maxreactance
"Are you sure you can't record using your TV?" I double-checked the message Roku displays. Earlier this year Roku introduced the capability to record an OTA broadcast up to 90 minutes to a USB stick. I haven't looked at using it because AFAIK you can not schedule it. It seems like it'd be useful if you're interrupted watching something.
"I would still try to "pair" the TCL/Roku TV remote..." - I'll have to test things out. I'm up to four remotes now, but I only use the TCL/Roku TV remote every day. My plans for the iView are to schedule it to record on a daily basis one or two programs carried on the PBS channel to watch at a more convenient time. One is aired at 1:30 a.m. every day.

To summarize what all of you have said about the USB 3.0 flash drives, USB 3.0 flash drives will work with the

3500STBII but there are CAVEATS.
*Options to record 1080i content may be limited.
*The iView USB port is able to power some USB 3.0 flash drives and hard drives, but people have noted times where the iView heated up because of the load. *Therefore, it may be advisable to use USB 3.0 drives that have their own power
source instead of using the iView 3500STBII for power. To that end, the 2.5" drives draw less power than the 3.5" drives.
*Large drives work but can have slow start up for recording. So I need to take that into account when scheduling what start time to use to record a program.
*Users have had various results, and I should expect to have to test how well a USB flash drive actually works
*People have reported favorable results using SanDisk USB flash drives (Ultra drives and Cruzer).


JHBrandt
No, I'm not a cable user :) Too much to watch out there if I wanted to just using OTA and internet. Roku TV just by iteslf consolidates more content from across the internet than I have interest or time in watching or could realistically keep up with. There are over 30 some odd OTA TV channels for me to choose from excluding Roku channels.

WRT firmware and the iView's display of stations, I'm on shaky ground understanding how it pulls together. The iView web site warns to use only that firmware matched with the first four digits of the device's serial number, or there could be unexpected consequences that can not be recovered from. From my experience with pcs, in most cases you can recover from such a problem, but it's a nuisance. So I'm quite hesitant to install an earlier version until the mfr. releases one for the serial number I have (the 1707).

On the other hand, I think I saw what you're talking about wrt the display of the channel numbers on-screen. After I did the auto scan/search for channels, I edited them to delete those that were not of interest to me. I noticed that the list of channels were sequentially ordered and the numbers were re-written to maintain the numerical sequence when I deleted a channel. On the Menu screen, the first set of options involved scanning, EPG and channel presentation (LCN and some others I did not recognize). I have not decided if the iView's existing list presentation makes sense to me or not. I'm very used to my TCL/Roku TV presentation that shows the digital number of the channel and the call sign (13.2 Livwell). I grew up with those station's channel numbers and call sign. The iView's display is just different enough that I have to pause and focus on it to be sure that it is the channel I wanted to select. On the other hand, the sequence in which the channels are ordered matches that of the channels on the TCL/Roku TV. So on my TV, I'd see channel 57 MeTV followed by whatever one it is next whereas on the iView display it'd read something like 28 MeTV's call sign then 29 Grit (?) and so on.

By thw way, when I delete a channel, will I have to perform another scan to have it appear as a channel to watch? On the TCL/Roku TV, I have the option to "hide" a channel from viewing. If I want to unhide it, I just go to the relevnat menu option screen and toggle the "hide" switch off.

John
 
#5,136 ·
No, I'm not a cable user :) Too much to watch out there if I wanted to just using OTA and internet. Roku TV just by iteslf consolidates more content from across the internet than I have interest or time in watching or could realistically keep up with. There are over 30 some odd OTA TV channels for me to choose from excluding Roku channels.

WRT firmware and the iView's display of stations, I'm on shaky ground understanding how it pulls together. The iView web site warns to use only that firmware matched with the first four digits of the device's serial number, or there could be unexpected consequences that can not be recovered from. From my experience with pcs, in most cases you can recover from such a problem, but it's a nuisance. So I'm quite hesitant to install an earlier version until the mfr. releases one for the serial number I have (the 1707).
Iview tends to be pretty conservative on their firmware recommendations. The reason is, trying to load an incompatible firmware version will indeed ruin it, and obviously they don't want any more returns (or mad customers) than necessary!

But some of us are a bit more adventurous ;) (After all, the boxes are under $40.) And we've discovered that many different versions will often work on the same boxes. The important thing is to make sure that certain chips inside the box match, especially the SoC (System on a Chip) and the demodulator.

All the newer iViews have a 7802 SoC and a 1237 demodulator chip, so you need firmware written for those chips. These firmware versions were all written for these chips (as can be seen from the HW version displayed on the Information screen), so they will all work with your iView:
IVIEW-3500STBII (EPG Fixed) 1511 10/31/2016
IVIEW-3500STBII (1604) 1604 09/08/2016
IVIEW-3500STBII_Support QAM PSIP 09/28/2017

The other versions on iView's web page are all for a different SoC (specifically, a 7816) and will not work with your iView.
On the other hand, I think I saw what you're talking about wrt the display of the channel numbers on-screen. After I did the auto scan/search for channels, I edited them to delete those that were not of interest to me. I noticed that the list of channels were sequentially ordered and the numbers were re-written to maintain the numerical sequence when I deleted a channel. On the Menu screen, the first set of options involved scanning, EPG and channel presentation (LCN and some others I did not recognize). I have not decided if the iView's existing list presentation makes sense to me or not. I'm very used to my TCL/Roku TV presentation that shows the digital number of the channel and the call sign (13.2 Livwell). I grew up with those station's channel numbers and call sign. The iView's display is just different enough that I have to pause and focus on it to be sure that it is the channel I wanted to select. On the other hand, the sequence in which the channels are ordered matches that of the channels on the TCL/Roku TV. So on my TV, I'd see channel 57 MeTV followed by whatever one it is next whereas on the iView display it'd read something like 28 MeTV's call sign then 29 Grit (?) and so on.
Based on my testing, I thought that might be the case. That's why I recommend loading one of the first two firmware versions listed above. I believe iView's sequential numbers are meant to make life easier for cable users, since on those two older firmware versions, the channel numbers for cable TV often made no sense at all. A 3-digit sequential channel number is actually an improvement for cable, but not for OTA TV!
By the way, when I delete a channel, will I have to perform another scan to have it appear as a channel to watch? On the TCL/Roku TV, I have the option to "hide" a channel from viewing. If I want to unhide it, I just go to the relevant menu option screen and toggle the "hide" switch off.

John
In the "Program Edit" menu (the password is 000000 unless you've changed it), you can press 2 to Skip/Unskip a channel, or 4 to delete it. If you delete it, you will indeed have to rescan that frequency to get it back, and iView's sequential channel numbers will change. But skipping a channel is similar to hiding it. Pressing up or down on the remote will skip over skipped channels (hence the name), and (if you change your firmware) you can't tune to skipped channels by entering their channel-subchannel number either. However, they aren't completely hidden: you can still press OK and select them from the all-channels list, and (on the 09/28/2017 firmware) you can still tune to them by their sequential iView channel numbers. So they're sort of half-hidden.
 
#5,137 ·
My 3500STBII with HW version ATSC7816XD-01 was made before the hardware 3/4 switch was added. It has software version 20131213 aV13. It can't be counted on to respond to its remote control or record an entire program. Best results are using a hardware switch between its plug and wall outlet and cycle the power when desiring to actually control it.

It came with all Jackcon caps on the I/O board and various junk brand caps on the PS board. I replaced all the PS caps with Nichicons, but it didn't change the behavior.
Personally, sounds like it's time to replace it.

Be aware that the new iViews have a slightly modified recording format (although the file extension is still .mts) which may not play recordings from the old iView. A workaround is to rename the recordings with a PC, changing the extension to .m2ts. Then you should be able to play them as "movies" on a new iView.
 
#5,142 ·
I bought the SanDisk Cruzer 64Gb drive at Target referenced by TampaBayOTA today and started using it while getting familiar with using the remote and the PVR function on my 3500STBII.

First time I've messed around with these things, so take what I say with a big grain of salt. It worked afaict. I don't know how long the USB should last or what's considered normal wear and tear for them. The one thing that surprised me was that I recorded using PVR a program for a twenty minute segment, and the file size was about 910 MB. Anyway, I'll put it to the test tonight to record a 1/2 hour program. I can use the USB on both my iView and on my TCL Roku TV. The difference I saw between them was that the iView PVR enabled reverse and forward viewing options whereas the Roku (their USB media player) only had start and pause options to view the file.

I'll have to do more digging into the conflict between the iView remote and the TCL Roku TV. I was premature thinking I could work around that numerical 1 button turning my TV off. The iView's PVR function uses 1 to add programs to its schedule of what to record. Doing so turns off my TV. Arrrgh!

In general, I think I'm going to be pleased with the device and the SanDisk USB stick and will make use of it quite a bit in the future. I bought it for its PVR/DVR-like capability so that I could record some OTA programs that are shown when I'm asleep. I wanted something that was relatively cheap ($33 for me including tax, S&H) plus another $30 or so for USB flash drive and cables, that did not require additional lease or subscription fees and that was a standalone device. I don't subscribe to cable service, so it was not important that whatever I bought be able to access cable.

There are some things about the iView that will take time for me to adjust to or are just a bit troubling. Responsiveness feels sluggish. I had expected the controls to be faster. I've already mentioned the conflict issue between the remote control and my TV. iView needs to do a better job proofreading their owner's manual. I freaked out at first when the manual said to use AAA size batteries for the remote. The remote I received uses AA size batteries. Moreover, I never found the manual within iView's support pages. Maybe I was looking in the wrong place or using wrong search term. I did find it at a 3rd party site specializing as an archive for user manuals. The sequence of instructions in the manual don't seem to follow a 1 to 1 relation with the layout of the remote. I found that I had to flip back and forth to match instructions with the layout of the remote. That was irritating.

Thanks to JHBrandt, maxreactance and TampaBayOTA for your help and comments. I've copied and pasted them for reference.

John
 
#5,143 ·
I bought the SanDisk Cruzer 64Gb drive at Target referenced by TampaBayOTA today and started using it while getting familiar with using the remote and the PVR function on my 3500STBII.

First time I've messed around with these things, so take what I say with a big grain of salt. It worked afaict. I don't know how long the USB should last or what's considered normal wear and tear for them. The one thing that surprised me was that I recorded using PVR a program for a twenty minute segment, and the file size was about 910 MB. Anyway, I'll put it to the test tonight to record a 1/2 hour program. I can use the USB on both my iView and on my TCL Roku TV. The difference I saw between them was that the iView PVR enabled reverse and forward viewing options whereas the Roku (their USB media player) only had start and pause options to view the file.

I'll have to do more digging into the conflict between the iView remote and the TCL Roku TV. I was premature thinking I could work around that numerical 1 button turning my TV off. The iView's PVR function uses 1 to add programs to its schedule of what to record. Doing so turns off my TV. Arrrgh!

There are some things about the iView that will take time for me to adjust to or are just a bit troubling. Responsiveness feels sluggish. I had expected the controls to be faster. I've already mentioned the conflict issue between the remote control and my TV. iView needs to do a better job proofreading their owner's manual. I freaked out at first when the manual said to use AAA size batteries for the remote. The remote I received uses AA size batteries.
Life expectancy of a flash drive depends on the media, but you might get 30,000 "erase" cycles or so (or so say the flash drive manufacturers, but they're all liars). The controller will automatically write to the least-used sections of the media to extend its life.

File size can be a problem due to the (relative) inefficiency of the MPEG-2 codec used in broadcast TV. The latest codecs used for 4K streaming can have file sizes less than 1/5th of the equivalent MPEG-2 file. You need a powerful quad-core processor to play these files, though.

I think Roku only intended the USB recording option to allow you to pause/restart live TV. Probably you lucked out reading this forum, since I know they've had problems using USB drives in European model Samsung TVs that do the same thing.

I'd again recommend you do a search for pairing the Roku remote to solve the IR code collisions. Aside from that, I found that responsiveness increased dramatically when I began using a universal remote rather than the iView remote, but this was a really old iView. Even now, it takes several seconds to go into the "Menu" mode.

I'll proofread your post and change "iView needs to do a better job proofreading the manual" to "iView needs to actually write a manual". The remote on my old iView DID use AAA batteries, but apparently nobody "proofread" the manual in the interim...

--
max
 
#5,146 ·
My 3500STBII with HW version ATSC7816XD-01 was made before the hardware 3/4 switch was added. It has software version 20131213 aV13. It can't be counted on to respond to its remote control or record an entire program. Best results are using a hardware switch between its plug and wall outlet and cycle the power when desiring to actually control it.

It came with all Jackcon caps on the I/O board and various junk brand caps on the PS board. I replaced all the PS caps with Nichicons, but it didn't change the behavior.
Bought a new one from WalMart Online free shipping to store for $31.97 plus sales tax.

SN: 1707...; SW version: 20170524V5.0; HW version: 78021237836650.

Observations:
1-Besides the totally different product pages at the front of the manual, there are minimal differences on 2 manual pages noted, different back cover content, and a separate ES manual. (neutral)
2-View from bottom and rear is different, with tuner connectors moved farther from case edge, and bottom stampings and vents completely different. (NA)
3-Top cover is badly scuffed in multiple places, and anti-scuff/anti-slip feet are missing, suggesting that this may be a refurb unit. (not nice)
4-Too short 48" power cable has been shortened to 40". (regression)
5-Red channel LEDs have been replaced with pale green. (major improvement)
6-No evidence of identification channel or OTA channel numbers appear anywhere, except for the OTA channel in setup after entering the password each time. :frown: This produces confusion looking at onscreen displays, because several channels by chance match one or the other. e.g., 8.2 is on 8, 10.1 is on 10, 13.1 is on 13, 22.1 is on 22, 28.3 is on 28, 44.1 is on 44 and 50.3 is on 50. So, I can't enter 38 or 381 0r 38-1 and get WTTA's primary (ID 38.1, OTA 32). This channel numbering scheme is very definitely a (regression).
7-Signal strengths of an overoptimistic 100% were dominant before, absent now, though occasionally so far I have seen touching low 90s. (improvement)
8-OSDs from channel changes persist too long. (regression)
9-As before, no discoverable safely remove USB device function by button or menu, only by turning off iView. (NC)
10-On screen power up notification appears much more quickly. :) (improvement)
11-OSD play notification from play recording menu persistence seems lower. (improvement)
12-Renaming of prior recordings from .mts to .m2ts required to be able to play. (Thanks for notice from JHBrandt!; regression)
13-On reopening "Movies" menu, doesn't default to subdirectory last used (that containing the movies that needed extensions renamed to be able to play them). (NA)
14-No way to disable constant onscreen recording progress indicator. (NC)
15-Delay to initialize new recording seems longer. (too long, regression or not; using same 1TB USB2 HD)
16-No apparent way to disable timeshift. (NC)
17-Litters recording directory with unique .meta file for every recording. (regression)
18-Future (100+ weeks) illogical "date" embedded in recording filename has been replaced with current illogical "date". (USA date format, e.g. 01-02-2017/02-01-2017 {Jan. 2??? or Feb. 1???}, cannot be directly sorted, as can ISO 8601 standard format date, e.g. 2017-02-01 {Feb. 1}; minor improvement)
19-Still lacks FOSS filesystem support (e.g. EXT2, EXT3, EXT4, NFS, NAS), which means otherwise FOSS-only environment's USB storage devices cannot be shared between iView and other devices - special preparation/allocation of media is required. (NC)
20-Still lacks rear USB port (for keeping storage device and cabling neatly situated out of sight and out from in front of IR port, power on/off LED and LED channel display). (NC)

After extracting JHBrandt's post-2017-09-28 firmware upgrade posts from the USB noise I flashed to 20170928V5.0. That solved #6 . In spite of their shortcomings, the 3500STBII series definitely seems to be worth the $30+ twice paid. :)
 
#5,148 ·
Bought a new one from WalMart Online free shipping to store for $31.97 plus sales tax.

SN: 1707...; SW version: 20170524V5.0; HW version: 78021237836650.

Observations:

3-Top cover is badly scuffed in multiple places, and anti-scuff/anti-slip feet are missing, suggesting that this may be a refurb unit. (not nice)

4-Too short 48" power cable has been shortened to 40". (regression)

5-Red channel LEDs have been replaced with pale green. (major improvement)

6-No evidence of identification channel or OTA channel numbers appear anywhere, except for the OTA channel in setup after entering the password each time. :frown: This produces confusion looking at onscreen displays, because several channels by chance match one or the other. e.g., 8.2 is on 8, 10.1 is on 10, 13.1 is on 13, 22.1 is on 22, 28.3 is on 28, 44.1 is on 44 and 50.3 is on 50. So, I can't enter 38 or 381 0r 38-1 and get WTTA's primary (ID 38.1, OTA 32). This channel numbering scheme is very definitely a (regression).

8-OSDs from channel changes persist too long. (regression)
9-As before, no discoverable safely remove USB device function by button or menu, only by turning off iView. (NC)
10-On screen power up notification appears much more quickly. :) (improvement)
11-OSD play notification from play recording menu persistence seems lower. (improvement)
12-Renaming of prior recordings from .mts to .m2ts required to be able to play. (Thanks for notice from JHBrandt!; regression)
13-On reopening "Movies" menu, doesn't default to subdirectory last used (that containing the movies that needed extensions renamed to be able to play them). (NA)
14-No way to disable constant onscreen recording progress indicator. (NC)
15-Delay to initialize new recording seems longer. (too long, regression or not; using same 1TB USB2 HD)
16-No apparent way to disable timeshift. (NC)
17-Litters recording directory with unique .meta file for every recording. (regression)

After extracting JHBrandt's post-2017-09-28 firmware upgrade posts from the USB noise I flashed to 20170928V5.0. That solved #6 . In spite of their shortcomings, the 3500STBII series definitely seems to be worth the $30+ twice paid. :)
$30 for somebody else's used box? LOCK THEM UP!!!!

Sounds like they are sourcing the same parts as some of the latest other mStar boxes...

It may be less than the OSD persists too long, but that it is too big and covers too much of the picture. My TV(s) tend to have lingering OSDs after channel change, but they are small and tucked in the "overhang"...mStar manages not to violate the "10 foot rule", but then pointlessly tries to adhere to a "50 foot rule"...

The last used directory should be the only used directory (HPVR or whatever) according to the logic of mStar. Separate subdirectories are based on filename suffix. Not really a "media server", but it works well for relatively small record device sizes (>300GB, and flash drive timeshift/record entry speed is greatly enhanced too)...

Can't you just press the "Info" button (or whatever) to dismiss the recording progress indicator? That's what I do. Press it twice and you get some very interesting statistics about the recording (for me on my old box at least).

Can you disable timeshift by either never entering it in the first place, or by setting the timeshift size to 0TB in the setup menu? Now getting out of timeshift once started is confusing and usually doesn't work, but then I just ASSUME you can press "Stop" and it will stop, silly me...

--
max
 
#5,154 ·
I've spent a few hours searching this thread and the rest of the internet this morning trying to figure out how to easily transfer the .mts files that result from OTA recording with my3500STB to my network server easily, or at least take the USB HD to another room and play them on a Roku (used for streaming mostly) or a Kodi/Pi box (used for local/network playback). In the case of a 1 hour show recorded at 1080i, the file is about 6gb, and plays back beautifully via the Iview, or on my computer. When I plug the hd into my Roku, the file shows up, but says the codec is not supported. The .mts file is just a container.. the video and audio protocols are the same as .mp4, no? Do I really HAVE to "convert" the entire file (which, as of now, has taken 2 hours so far to convert three one hour shows using Jriver, and I'm only about 1/4 of the way through the process)?

Does anyone have a quick way to take the .mts files resulting from Iview recordings, then put them on their local network so they're playable by a local player in another room? I've searched around, but mostly just found a bunch of illiterate posts hawking probably-virus-ridden conversion programs.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
#5,156 ·
audio protocols are the same as .mp4, no? Do I really HAVE to "convert" the entire file (which, as of now, has taken 2 hours so far to convert three one hour shows using Jriver, and I'm only about 1/4 of the way through the process)?
I took a file off my similar devices and ran it through ffmpeg to go from the mts to mp4 format. It did it, but the audio sync was off a little, I need to find the setting to tweak that... That was a short 30 min Batman episode in 480i... didn't take that long.. Something in 1080i would take longer... Hmm.. Don't think I record anything in 1080 or 720 at all... nope... Just the diginets which are all 480i.

Does anyone have a quick way to take the .mts files resulting from Iview recordings, then put them on their local network so they're playable by a local player in another room?
Because of the amount of stuff I record, its easier to just take the USB drive out.. connect to a nearby box, and then cp that stuff to my NAS, and then play from there.

No conversions, I just point my Android box with VLC to the NAS with the MTS files on it and let VLC play them.

I just do something like:

find -type f ! -name "*sample*" -name "*.mts" -mtime -1 -exec cp -vn {} /home/mybox/NASlink/$DIRDATE/ \;

Which finds and copies the stuff from the last day into the directory structure I use for my playback.

I am hoping if I can find the right fine tuning to sync the audio I can add that to the commands executed. Although that would slow the move down.. I'll tweak that once I get the audio tuned up.
 
#5,155 · (Edited)
The recordings are mpeg2 at the source (which has nothing to do with the container) and mpeg2 is not playable by the Roku. They will need to be converted to mpeg4 to be playable on the network. With a beefy enough processor - Plex or Emby could certainly transcode on-the-fly for streaming. I use these boxes for recording my wife's daily chat shows. After recording, I move them over to my server and then either have Plex do ahead-of-time transcoding so they are ready when she wants to watch them - or I use handbrake to convert to h.264 mpeg4. Since I'm not concerned about file size (or that every single frame is as optimized as it can be) - I use the 'very fast' 720p preset in Handbrake for the conversion.
 
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