Walmart US Digital STB Questions - Page 3

I have software 2.5.59 (2.4.187) no my USDTV and have never had any messages about searching for updates either. I am in St. Louis and have no USDTV service.

My usd box will not display WYES dt-11 in N.O. Locks channel and shows strong signal strength but refuses to display a picture. Must be a PSIP issue. dt channel does not map to analog ch number. ALL other channels are ok(dt's 13 15 21 24 25 29 36 40 43 46 50)

@robertawillisjr

No, it has a usb connection on the back of the box that you plug a usb drive into then cycle the power to flash new firmware. If you need a firmware flash you email usdtv service and they will ship one to you with the firmware on it, along with a stamped return envelop. It really is the easiest firmware update method I have seen.

@phitz

I suggest you do as above. Email Steve Morse (smorse@usdtv.com) and expain your lockup on channel 11 issue to him. More than likely he will tell you you need firmware version 2.5.59 (might want to check to see what version your box is on currently.) This is what I did and it solved my problem, which was identical to yours.

-Suntan

Thanks to your replies I was able to find the tuner on the lower shelf by the rabbit ears and other miscellaneous stuff.
Now I have a choice, there seems to be early and later models. One of the four in stock is shrink wrapped and the other three are just taped boxes. The shrink wrapped box has some added text about a "30 day satisfaction return" (hey this is Wall Mart 30 days is the least I expect)
Is anybody aware of any software revision on newer models, is the shrink wrapped box the latest release?

I don't know about the software revisions...Suntan would probably be able to help you there.

I do have one question - does any universal remote work with this? I'm on the road again, and, well, I brought the USDigital box with me, hoping to snag some digital TV on the road. But I...umm...left the remote at home. (urp!) And of course, this box doesn't do squat without a remote.

I have even tried the Nevo remote program that comes with my iPaq 2215, and I can't get any codes working with it so far. It doesn't list Hisense (the manufacturer) in anywhere except the TV section of the downloads, and none of those 20 codes work with it.

Going to do some exploring. I might even buy another box and then move the second box into the bedroom or something...but I'm hoping to avoid that. If I can't get a universal remote to work with it, I'll likely just box it up until I go back home

For all things related to universal remotes try www.remotecentral.com .

Good luck. And let us know what you find out.

- Tom

So anyone just waiting for an update to magically occur is waiting in vain? This is what I thought. It is not a bad system, its just that I don't think some of the posters were aware of it.

Thanks

Yeah, I'm aware of RemoteCentral...I was hoping not to have to go searching through its huge site and that someone knew it right off ("Oh, you need the URC-387718").

Alas, a relatively quick search of the site and of the forums yields nothing matching U.S. Digital, US Digital or USDTV. And I mean NOTHING. 0% when you put it in quotes.

Oh, well, I tried! I might snoop around WallyWorld later today (one good thing - they're everywhere) and see if anything looks obvious.

Hi all -

Just brought this thing home and hooked up through component. The USDTV logo comes on for ~30 seconds, it flashes a message "testing flash" or something, then the message "USB test failed" comes on and that's all it does. Remote and power button are unresponsive.

Should I just return it or go through the hassle of USDTV customer service?

Thanks.

artulo - that sounds bad...I'd return it. Luckily, WallyWorld will likely exchange it with no hassle.

I looked for the Samsung SIR-T541 but it was always out of stock. So, I went to Best Buy and now my brother is going to get the LG-3510a as a Christmas present instead of the USDigital.

As for the USDigital, instead of returning it to Walmart, I'm thinking of keeping it for myself to play around with. I don't need simultaneous component/s-video/composite outputs so I might be happy with it.

I have the USDTV HDTV receiver, and have been using it for the past three months with no problems (receiving OTA in San Francisco). But last week I stopped receiving the local ABC affiliate (KGO). The channels are there (7.1 and 7.2) with strong signals, but no picture. Apparently, others in the area have noted this problem. I tried rescanning the channel, rescanning all channels, and unplugging the box. No luck.

Then the following came across the local HDTV Yahoo group from an engineer at KGO:

********
Per the revised ATSC specification for PSIP, we had to change out two
programs from 1 and 2 to 3 and 4, respectively. The program number
shows up in the PMT, which is supposed to direct the receiver where to
go look up the PIDs for the video and audio packets for each program.

We made this change last week -- December 14, about noon.

If a particular receiver's software has not been designed to update the
minor channel numbers (and corresponding video and audio information)
properly it could cause the problems that have been mentioned.

The Samsung T-151 is one of the early receivers, if I recall correctly.
********

The short of it is is that my USDTV box no longer can get this station. I'm wondering if I need a firmware upgrade. I'm at work right now and don't have the firmware numbers (I can send them later). Please help.... other than a firmware upgrade, is there something else I could try?

Thanks.... Brian

Brian,

Email Steve Morse smorse@usdtv.com with your explination of what is up. He is from the service department and he responded to my problems within 24hrs. I would suggest you include what your current firmware revision is for reference.

Let us know if a firmware update is needed for future reference.

-Suntan

I sure hope these changes won't "break" the USD receiver as other stations do this in other markets...

I heard back from USDTV. I'm using relatively current software on my USDTV receiver -- 2.5.57 (2.4.187). The USDTV rep had asked me to reboot the receiver and start with a clean slate -- scanning the channels. This didn't work. She doesn't have any suggestions for me now, but they will research the issue. On the SF Bay HDTV Yahoo group, there are some very recent postings that question what KGO did in the first place. We'll see what happens.

Folks considering this receiver might want to take this into account. It's troubling the broadcasters can make changes that essentially render receivers useless. It's clear to me now that HDTV is very much still in a beta testing phase.

Brian

More info I received from the USDVT (I'll say this for them... they sure are responsive:

"I found the group and saw that although there are others that are not experiencing this problem, we are definitely not alone with this issue. From the description the KGO engineer provided, you should absolutely not have a problem getting these 2 channels. Our software can handle that kind of change. We are attempting to get in contact with their engineering staff to determine the actual change was so we can resolve this for you.
We appreciate your patience and let me reassure you that we are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible."

Hope others find this useful. I will report back with anything new.

-- Brian

SO, I returned the reciever to WallyWorld, exchanged for another (that had already been opened, ha ha) and this one works fine. Overall I have been impressed with this little box, but it *is* my only experience with an HD STB. I have it hooked to a Philips Indoor antenna and get all the local channels that I should be getting OTA (between 12 and 21 miles away).

The "channel guide" seems useful, but for some reason only some of the channels have program data listed, while others have just a generic 'hdtv program" or similar title listed.

Watching MNF last night was fun, but I got lots of audio dropouts even though the signal strength bar was ~85% steady. No other channels were doing this so it must have been the channel.

artulo:

Where are you located? I suggest you add that to your user profile, so folks can respond to questions based on your location.

For example, here in the Seattle area, we have had ongoing problems with our ABC station KOMO-DT with picture and sound dropouts--sometimes together and sometimes not.

Everything HD is so new that everything is still suspect when a problem occurs. Could be the STB, could be a reception issue, could be the local station, could be the network feed, could be the source program, could be the HDTV, could be ???

Anyway, sounds like things are working well for you for the most part.

Regarding program data, it is sent by the local stations themselves as part of "PSIP" data. Some stations provide it and many do not. So, that is probably not a STB issue for you.

Problem might be fixed....just received this from USDTV support:

I just got off the phone with the engineers at KGO. We were able to
determine a problem that would have caused our receiver to not work
properly. They have fixed the problem as of about 3:00 PST. If you go back
and re-scan that channel, I believe it should work now. If the problem
persists, please let us know.

Can't wait to go home and try it out. -- Brian

Nice to see how responsive USDTV was to this issue! And KGO-TV's engineers seemed to step up to the plate, too. Good results!

For anyone who cared...

I mentioned earlier in the thread that I took my USD box with me on the road, but forgot the remote...and the box is pretty useless without the remote.

My Pocket PC - an iPaq 2215 - saved me. It comes with a more powerful infrared signal than most PPCs, and an amazing little program that acts as a super-loaded universal remote for TVs, cable boxes, VCRs, DVDs, satellite boxes, and the nonce.

It turns out that although it's listed under "Satellite" under the USD box's original manufacturer name (Hisense), you CAN use it to control the USD box!

You have to go to MyNevo.com and download the new set of codes under Satellite > Hisense. It's the first one on the list for me. Nevo's support says it's code 1535.

Now, this is only useful to someone who has this particular PPC, and the USD box, but I hope it saves someone from having to hunt it down!

Not sure about Tivo, but with replaytv and the samsung sir-t351 ( and other models), you told the replay that it was a samsung directv reciever, and then fine tuned the IR code for this reciever (7110 on the replay) so that it put out 2 characters (other wise a change to channel 25 would bring you first to 2 and then to 5) . Once you were throught with this rigamarole, you ocould get the IR thingy to change the channels on the samsung, and even had local listings on the channel guide ( no sub channels). Ovf couyrse, you onlyry record in SD.

A similar trick should work for tivo

That's great to hear. I just bought my brother a LST-3510A for Christmas and I hope this works with his Tivo.

Somebody help me out here. I know there must be but what would be the advantage of hooking up the 3510A DVR into the tivo. The sa tivo records analog ota and the 3510 records ATSC ota. The only advantage I might see is if you tv don't have enough inputs. Maybe I just not understanding the question. If it is just a matter of tivo remote being able to change the lst-3510a why not get a universal remote.

Well, my brother doesn't get very good reception from the analog stations and I'm hoping the LST-3510a HDTV receiver will be able to give him very clear and sharp TV for the first time.

And I want him to stlll be able to use the Tivo to record TV from the HDTV receiver so he won't miss shows like Lost, Enterprise etc (and hopefully those recordings will be nice and clear).

Even though he won't get all the full quality of HDTV, I'm hoping it will be a vast improvement over the crappy analog reception he is currently getting.

The 3510A is not a DVR. It is an ATSC OTA receiver and a DVD player.

The 3410A is the DVR. It records HD.

I've had the USDigital box for a couple of weeks now, and it seems to work fairly well as far as I know (first HD experience). I have a large outdoor antenna so the signal strength for my locals is always pegged, and I pull in a few stations from the next market over.

I've found that if you set the unit to any 4:3 mode, you have a letterbox option under aspect control. If you set the unit to a 16:9 mode, the letterbox is replaced with a pillarbox mode. No problem here.

When I receive a 16:9 broadcast, all is well. When I receive a 4:3 broadcast, only the two PBS stations behave properly. All the network stations have to be put into 'Zoom' mode to fill the screen. Is this a problem with the box? Or are the network affiliates actually broadcasting black sidebars along with their 4:3 signal?

most stations fills in the side with grey or black bars when it's not a true hd program. You will note that when you have a true hd program everything is just find but when they go to commercial you will see the side bars.

I went out and picked one of these up at Walmart. I also have an LG 3510a. The USDTV box is very close in sensitivity to the LG but doesn't do quite as well on two weaker stations in holding a lock. Overall, it's pretty good for the price (and also the fact it's available at Walmart). I had one local PBS station it would not add to the list (I assume it was a PSIP incompatibility thing). I think this may be fixable through firmware upgrades but I'm returning the box so I'll never know.

The PQ from it (HD football yesterday) seemed about on par with the LG.

The USDigital units require a software upgrade to fix the PSIP issue.. Just call them and they will send it to you...

William
KET

cpcat
Why are you returning the tuner, did you expect it to be an upgrade from your LG? I think I"ll pick one up soon, do you think I should wait for something better?