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hdtvman

Last reply Jul 11, 2023 · posted in FTA Receiver / Equipment Support

AMIKO Amiko Mini 4k uhd s2 x - strengths & weaknesses

After a long hiatus from the hobby (15 years), I have purchased a new Amiko Mini 4k uhd s2x. These comments apply to the 4k unit only as i dont have the earlier model. Here are my impressions.

1. Channel List and Satellite memory: Insufficient
I have maxed out the channel and satellite memory with FTA ku entries only (no scrambled). My ku 1 meter H2H setup covers 18 - 139 west. Even though the most Eastern and western sats are present on the channel file, there appears to be a bug - in the f/w that prevents the last satellite (139 west or anything below 30 west) from appearing on the list or from showing up when you press the sat or menu buttons in satellite installation to do scans. (maybe I'm missing something here...) (update: I see now it only displays satellites that have active video, so it should not say "all satelites, confusing...) For folks having C/ku setups with lots of arc visibilty these satellite and channel limitations will be severe on this receiver as they wl run out of channel memory.
2. Buggy and unreliable blind scan. Sometimes it just hangs on a scan of a sat with lots of transponders (as I'm writing this, it just hung on 81% of 121west scan). Although it appears to be improved in the last f/w (dated end of June 2023 ver 1.0.56), the tuner also still appears to go off to lala land after completing blind scans way to often, and even though pressing menu to back out and save, the video doesn't always display properly in newly found channels until turning the unit on and off or doing a hard reset. Subsequent blind scans on other sats may also not find anything until the unit is reset. My workaround is to start the blind scan from a channel that is already active on that sat, BUT thats useless on scanning new sats without active transponders found or known yet.
3. The channel editor (Ali editor) is cr*p software (and I'm being kind...) when compared to other proper channel editing software such as the old ChanneMaster, or even MediaStudio or Clarke-tech Editors which unfortunately may not be completely compatible with the type of .abs file that this receiver produces (i get invalid file or a corrupted channel list display when loading the Amiko .abs into these editors although the satellite and transponder listing from the same file are fine though...). Amiko and vendors would have less support issues if a proper editor with the usual options such as column, channel, pid, satellite sorting, etc... was made available or Amiko should debug why their .abs channel listings are corrupted when displayed in standard editing software other than Ali editor. Sadly, the software of the 1990s - like ChannelMaster, or Rod Hewitts DvbEdit & TSreader have spoiled me and are far superior to this Ali editor...
This receiver has a lot of positive aspects but if some of these issues stand unaddressed it will be frustrating for less experienced users.

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KE4EST

Jul 9, 2023

The main thing to remember is no FTA receiver is designed for the hobbyist FTA market in the US. I have stacks of FTA receivers, mostly junk. I started carrying Amiko because they have good support and for what it is, it works for the most part. Yes, there are some annoying things with any FTA receiver that we here in NA are trying to use as a hobby.
I have agree on the editor that is used. It is very old and not updated. But in Europe, where these receivers are marked for, they actually have most stuff free, so they just scan and not worry about it. Here we have so much scrambled stuff, it would be nice to have a better editor. I have no issues running them here, but everyones use case is different.

On the manual thing, you are correct, no manual. I asked about this. They say over there it is just so second nature to use these boxes and no one uses a manual. This is why I made the YouTube videos to make things more helpful. I don't think any of the receivers that have have gotten for samples in the last few years, had an actual manual.

Make me a list of stuff within reason that you have issues with and I will get it to Amiko.

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hdtvman

Jul 9, 2023

KE4EST said:
The main thing to remember is no FTA receiver is designed for the hobbyist FTA market in the US. I have stacks of FTA receivers, mostly junk. I started carrying Amiko because they have good support and for what it is, it works for the most part. Yes, there are some annoying things with any FTA receiver that we here in NA are trying to use as a hobby.
I have agree on the editor that is used. It is very old and not updated. But in Europe, where these receivers are marked for, they actually have most stuff free, so they just scan and not worry about it. Here we have so much scrambled stuff, it would be nice to have a better editor. I have no issues running them here, but everyones use case is different.

On the manual thing, you are correct, no manual. I asked about this. They say over there it is just so second nature to use these boxes and no one uses a manual. This is why I made the YouTube videos to make things more helpful. I don't think any of the receivers that have have gotten for samples in the last few years, had an actual manual.

Make me a list of stuff within reason that you have issues with and I will get it to Amiko.

completely agree! theres no free lunch and most of these receivers have some sort of compromise. I will do a bit more testing to be sure anything I report is a real issue and not a passing one or some other hardware or software glitch. Appreciate it!

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hdtvman

Jul 10, 2023

UPDATE: major progress on the Amiko 4k 2sx box. So... the box I purchased apparently had corrupt firmware/channel list combo and that is why it was running out of memory, blind scan issues, and occasional freeze ups were occurring. (BTW, this box was NOT purchased from KE4EST as I did not know at the time).
This box came originally with a 2019 firmware and fairly old channel list but it had lockup issues and that's what led me to put the new f/w on it. That by itself initially did not seem to help, as I had kept the older NA list already on the box. To try to fix it, and not sure if I did this completely right, I wound up resetting the box and reloading the complete European June 2023 new firmware (updated both software and channels). Then I loaded my new ku channel list as the "user" channels, tested that all was ok, and finally made the Ku list the new default overwriting the European default channels. All remained ok. No more blind scan issues or hang ups! So the new June 2023 firmware appears safe to me now. Also, I'm not running out of memory anymore.
The remaining issues are more cosmetic but this first one should be addressed by Amiko.
---The disappearing last satellite on list problem is still present but the workaround works. I just made a "141W Do not use" as the last satellite, and while it apears in the file in Ali Editor, it remains hidden on the receiver - BUT I can add new sats anywhere else on the list and they show up fine. So something was really hosed and wrong with the box software as delivered. lesson learned: get these boxes from folks who know how to load them correctly.
---improving AliEditor for better channel management especially when it comes to sorting the channel list display is also long overdue.
--- cosmetic niceties would be to display the satellite name on the actively scanning screen, change the "nothing found" button to OK instead of YES.
Otherwise this is a great receiver.
I'll be happy to share my new ku Atlantic/NA Satlist on request if useful. it is setup for universal lnb and with no DiseqC or 12v entries. it covers 15 west thru 139 west.

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hdtvman

Jul 11, 2023

hdtvman said:
UPDATE: major progress on the Amiko 4k 2sx box. So... the box I purchased apparently had corrupt firmware/channel list combo and that is why it was running out of memory, blind scan issues, and occasional freeze ups were occurring. (BTW, this box was NOT purchased from KE4EST as I did not know at the time).
This box came originally with a 2019 firmware and fairly old channel list but it had lockup issues and that's what led me to put the new f/w on it. That by itself initially did not seem to help, as I had kept the older NA list already on the box. To try to fix it, and not sure if I did this completely right, I wound up resetting the box and reloading the complete European June 2023 new firmware (updated both software and channels). Then I loaded my new ku channel list as the "user" channels, tested that all was ok, and finally made the Ku list the new default overwriting the European default channels. All remained ok. No more blind scan issues or hang ups! So the new June 2023 firmware appears safe to me now. Also, I'm not running out of memory anymore.
The remaining issues are more cosmetic but this first one should be addressed by Amiko.
---The disappearing last satellite on list problem is still present but the workaround works. I just made a "141W Do not use" as the last satellite, and while it apears in the file in Ali Editor, it remains hidden on the receiver - BUT I can add new sats anywhere else on the list and they show up fine. So something was really hosed and wrong with the box software as delivered. lesson learned: get these boxes from folks who know how to load them correctly.
---improving AliEditor for better channel management especially when it comes to sorting the channel list display is also long overdue.
--- cosmetic niceties would be to display the satellite name on the actively scanning screen, change the "nothing found" button to OK instead of YES.
Otherwise this is a great receiver.
I'll be happy to share my new ku Atlantic/NA Satlist on request if useful. it is setup for universal lnb and with no DiseqC or 12v entries. it covers 15 west thru 139 west.

---one more tweak for Amiko to consider in new firmware:
after completing blind scans, occasinally the box still returns to function with laggy or no video. Turning it on and off resolves the issue. So perhaps the tuner (or something else) is not getting reset correctly after the completion of the blind scans. this is with the newest version of the firmware from June 2023.

KE4EST

Jul 11, 2023

hdtvman said:
---one more tweak for Amiko to consider in new firmware:
after completing blind scans, occasinally the box still returns to function with laggy or no video. Turning it on and off resolves the issue. So perhaps the tuner (or something else) is not getting reset correctly after the completion of the blind scans. this is with the newest version of the firmware from June 2023.

I will let them know.
BTW, I forgot to mention the other day about your memory. Until I just seen you fixed it. But yeah, never had a memory fill up issue here. Glad you got it straightened out.

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

3 minutes ago · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Tech News Weekly 441

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL5XFOpX4_A

Direct YouTube Link - Tech News Weekly 441
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

3 minutes ago · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Home Theater Audio: JBL SCL-6 Speaker Custom Build! #shorts

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CRhynF2RE20

Direct YouTube Link - Home Theater Audio: JBL SCL-6 Speaker Custom Build! #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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teachtom

5 minutes ago · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Problem when I switch from Bonus View channels back to regular Dish channels

Hello everyone, new guy here. I'm trying to solve problem I'm having with Dish bonus view channels. When I'm watching the bonus view channels then I switch back to regular dish channels, after few minutes the screen flips to black and after 30 seconds flips back to regular channels and continues to flip back and forth until I turn off TV. After I wait 30 minutes and turn back on , I can use regular channels again. So, its after I switch from bonus view channels to regular dish channels the problem starts. Been trying to fix this for a month, but no luck
Here what I've done.
i contacted Dish support and they sent me a new Joey3, but no help. Switched to a different HDMI input on TV, no help. Used different HDMI cable , no help. Used different electrical wall plug, no help.
Finally got a Dish tech to check it. He ran all systems check and was OK. Finally he brought in a small TV and plugged in the HDMI out from the Joey to the small TV. He could not get the problem to occur on his small TV, so the new Joey was working OK. So, then the problem must be myTV. He made some phone calls and came back with the answer that there must be a problem with the analog to digital switch in my TV. Has anyone ever heard of a problem like this, or is it time to be looking for a new TV? My tv LG OLED65C8PUA. TV has been trouble free til now. Thanks

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dfergie

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!

Last reply 16 minutes ago · posted in What's Cooking?

What's For Lunch?

We have a Breakfast and Dinner thread so...

Continuing from the Breakfast thread, found Cornbread mix so ...
Yellow Cornbread Mix
2 Hatch Green Chiles -diced
1 Egg
2/3 cup of milk
add to greased pan
Bake for 400f 20-25 minutes(From instructions)
now to put together and try... this to go with pinto beans...

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TRG

Monday at 3:34 PM

Pork shoulder, refried beans, cheddar and chopped green chile burrito with a pint of pale ale.

Its nice being able to have a pint with lunch during the week or whenever. I've been enjoying the retired life.

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dfergie

Monday at 4:27 PM

TRG said:
Pork shoulder, refried beans, cheddar and chopped green chile burrito with a pint of pale ale.

Its nice being able to have a pint with lunch during the week or whenever. I've been enjoying the retired life.

View attachment 191651

Congrats! I love retirement, no wake ups, no e-mails...
Leftovers for lunch, bacon wrapped salmon fillet from Saturday and a KFC thigh from Friday, Tea.

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TRG

Monday at 4:50 PM

dfergie said:
Congrats! I love retirement, no wake ups, no e-mails...
Leftovers for lunch, bacon wrapped salmon fillet from Saturday and a KFC thigh from Friday, Tea.

I've been retired since October. It was very strange at first. But I'm loving it now.

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TRG

Yesterday at 4:11 PM

Creamy flat chicken enchiladas with green chile, beans and rice.

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dfergie

30 minutes ago

Layered Spicy Dorito / chili cheese Frito pie casserole…real sugar Pepsi

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TRG

16 minutes ago

I had a very unusual but delicious 1/4lb hotdog with cream cheese, raspberry preserves and chopped Hatch green chile. It is an unlikely combination but it works.

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N5XZS

Last reply 27 minutes ago · posted in Over the Air Television By RabbitEars.Info

New low power station with CP has been granted. "Albuquerque "

New low power station has been granted by the FCC and the new call leter is K33OB-D on RF ch. 33.

Will run at 15 KW ERP, this one runs from the Westside same location as KWPL-LD a HC2 owned station.

It's going to be aimed at eastern part of Albuquerque, so it's tightly focused beam pattern.

This new station is owned by Digital Network and what kind of programmings is unkown at this time.

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N5XZS

Yesterday at 4:51 PM

Yeah, there are some diginets like Heartland, Retro, The Family Channel diginetworks that we already have here in this market and we don't need duplicates, but bring the new diginets on like the Rev'n, Karate Acton movies, different kind of music videos on the new station. :hatsoff2

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comfortably_numb

Yesterday at 4:54 PM

N5XZS said:
Yeah, there are some diginets like Heartland, Retro, The Family Channel diginetworks that we already have here in this market and we don't need duplicates, but bring the new diginets like Revn, Karate Acton movies, different kind of music videos on the new station.

I watch MovieSphere Gold channel a lot. Many recent movies on that digitnet

N5XZS

Yesterday at 4:59 PM

Yes that's a good channel MovieSphere, only thing is the missing CC on it.

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comfortably_numb

Today at 1:35 AM

According to the FCC listing, the tower is near I-40 and Juan Tabo:

FCCInfo Results

FCC Info is a Radio and Television Station Search Engine provided by Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc.

www.fccinfo.com

primestar31

27 minutes ago

comfortably_numb said:
According to the FCC listing, the tower is near I-40 and Juan Tabo:

FCCInfo Results

FCC Info is a Radio and Television Station Search Engine provided by Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc.

www.fccinfo.com

Many of these in my DMA are on cell towers, so don't always reach very far because the towers aren't very high.

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Linus Tech Tips

33 minutes ago · posted in Linus Tech Tips

I Found Free Money in the Tech House

Time for another AWESOME video from Linus Tech Tips!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FoAOhbeo5Y

Direct YouTube Link - I Found Free Money in the Tech House
Linus on Facebook
The LTT Store

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Today at 1:32 PM · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Hollywood Faces the AI Tipping Point with Robert Tercek

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOgBoy9ScCY

Direct YouTube Link - Hollywood Faces the AI Tipping Point with Robert Tercek
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

0 Replies · 2 views

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zippyfrog

Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Today at 1:28 PM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Price Increase on Owned Equipment?

Did anyone have a price increase today on their equipment? I own my VIP211k's, and they have been $5.00. My bill that I received last week shows the "add-ons" as being $5.00. However, I just logged into my Dish account, and my "add-ons" are now $10.00. Did the additional receivers go up by $5.00 recently?

As I mentioned, my last bill shows $5.00 and under the notes, nothing is mentioned about a price increase.

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zippyfrog

Today at 11:29 AM

However, when I make a change (tried to add the Columbian pack for $2 so I could generate my bill) and there is a new line - it says "Access for TV" - whereas previously that line item was not there. I hope they aren't charging $5.00 for the initial TV now...

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telstar_1

Today at 11:45 AM

Apparently it's not an "owned receiver" fee but rather an extension fee that's applied to 2nd and subsequent viewing. Maybe that played into their decision to force a box at every TV- garnering those fees

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zippyfrog

Today at 12:34 PM

telstar_1 said:
Apparently it's not an "owned receiver" fee but rather an extension fee that's applied to 2nd and subsequent viewing. Maybe that played into their decision to force a box at every TV- garnering those fees

Possibly. In theory, $9 of the base pack has a rental fee built in. But now is this $5 a chance to get a little more? I don't know for sure. According to chat, it is a glitch and will be resolved in a timely manner, but we shall see. Part of my thinks there is a going to be a new charge, whether it is now or this fall. Here in Illinois, the law requires we are given 30 days notice of any fee changes, but I have not been given anything.

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MikeD-C05

Today at 1:11 PM

These fees are why streaming has caught on so well across the country and DISH is losing subs each quarter. Soon won't be enough subs to be profitable.

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telstar_1

Today at 1:28 PM

Does cable charge box rent?

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Bruce

Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Today at 1:16 PM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Dish Satellite now under 5 Million subscribers/Sling under 2 Million.

With the 1st Quarter Report just released, Dish lost another 180,000, now at 4.84 Million.

Sling now at 1.79 million subscribers, down approximately 190,000.

For comparison, YouTube TV now has about double the subscribers of Dish and Sling combined.

DISH & Sling TV Lost Over 366,000 TV Subscribers In Just 3 Months | Cord Cutters News

EchoStar Corporation, the owner of the DISH Network satellite television service and the Sling TV streaming platform, continued to experience steep declines in its pay-television customer base during the first three months of 2026. The company reported a net loss of approximately 366,000 pay-TV...

cordcuttersnews.com

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fmj77

May 11, 2026

I'm surprised Dish still has that many subscribers. I don't know a single person in my area that is still with them after getting either Starlink or fiber at their home. They all cancelled Dish and went with streaming. I used to get offers pretty regularly in the mail to come back to Dish, but no more. Haven't seen one in a couple of years now.

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Bruce

May 11, 2026

fmj77 said:
I'm surprised Dish still has that many subscribers. I don't know a single person in my area that is still with them after getting either Starlink or fiber at their home. They all cancelled Dish and went with streaming. I used to get offers pretty regularly in the mail to come back to Dish, but no more. Haven't seen one in a couple of years now.

Only about 3.6% of Households in the United States, still have Dish Network.

For comparison, YouTube TV has about 10%.

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Yespage

May 18, 2026

$25 a month for 1 gig, for two years with Spectrum. I'd be darned that their router was MUCH better than AT&T's. I didn't realize that what I thought was something else was the bloody router. Those buffering issues stopped when I swapped... after AT&T refused to lower my bill, after 25 years of high speed internet service. They wanted $80 or so a month for 1 gig, with no drop to a lower speed.

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telstar_1

Jun 2, 2026

I despise that most of all. I'm going to talk to a remote?

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tsunami2311

Friday at 11:03 PM

Yespage said:
$25 a month for 1 gig, for two years with Spectrum. I'd be darned that their router was MUCH better than AT&T's. I didn't realize that what I thought was something else was the bloody router. Those buffering issues stopped when I swapped... after AT&T refused to lower my bill, after 25 years of high speed internet service. They wanted $80 or so a month for 1 gig, with no drop to a lower speed.

1gbit up and down here from att start out great was suppose to be $60 for life of service, with years time it went back up to $80 I complained about they gave us $49 for year which about to end, I Wonder what prices will be when it "up" I in no way like ATT fiber service there DNS that are hardcode and unchange able in the router are some WORSE DNS I ever used. you know how much of pain it is to change DNS setting on EVERY single wireless device...

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mwdxer1

Saturday at 3:08 AM

Bruce said:
Only about 3.6% of Households in the United States, still have Dish Network.

For comparison, YouTube TV has about 10%.

I dropped Dish a couple years back after having them for 25 years. The pricing got higher and after we got high speed internet, I watched it less and less. It got to the point all I watched was TCM for classic movies. Many of them are on You Tube now and a Premium subscription is $14 a month. A far cry of the $100 a month was paying with AT180, Supers, and locals. I get locals OTA anyway. I took down the dish several months ago and tossed it. I owned all my my equipment, so nothing to return. Do I miss a traditional cable type service? No way. If I want one I have all of the free live streaming with Roku, the Fire Stick, as well as Google TV. Right now as I type this, I am watching episodes of "The Midnight Special" from 1976 on You Tube, ad free. Dish was fine for many years. I do not regret buying the equipment and installing it myself (No installers in 1999). I enjoyed Dish for many years. My thoughts, Dish & Direct will be forced to merge in time, or they both will be gone. Even cable companies are getting out of TV. Some are only selling the internet and phone packages.

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tanman

Sunday at 12:01 PM

telstar_1 said:
I despise that most of all. I'm going to talk to a remote?

Hello Computer On Phone GIF - Hello Computer Hello On Phone - Discover & Share GIFs

Click to view the GIF

tenor.com

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nelson61

Monday at 8:20 PM

A lot of it flows back to the 4 big networks.
Cable and satellite are their money tree.

But, in reality, each market need 1 or perhaps 2 news feeds - not 4 or more

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MikeD-C05

Today at 1:16 PM

nelson61 said:
A lot of it flows back to the 4 big networks.
Cable and satellite are their money tree.

But, in reality, each market need 1 or perhaps 2 news feeds - not 4 or more

In my area we get 2 news feeds spread over 4 local stations.
ABC/NBC (TEGNA)
Same news cast simulcast over both channels.

CBS/Fox (Sinclair)
Same news casters at 5pm, 6pm, 10pm.
Fox shows an hour at 9pm but same news casters.

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lordodogg

Last reply Today at 12:54 PM · posted in DIRECTV General Forum

HR44 rebooted overnight?

Hello again, haven't posted here in a while.

This morning, around 6:30am, I woke up and found the front panel lights on my HR44 on (I leave it off all the time as it is co-located with one of my Geminis).

Immediately thinking that either a reboot or power outage occurred, I checked the software version, and found that it's still the same release that was sent out last month.

I then ruled out a power outage by checking the clocks on my appliances and seeing that they're still correct (they reset when there's an outage, somewhat similar to the "blinking 12" on VCRs).

I then confirmed a reboot by checking the Upcoming Recordings (fka To-Do List) and seeing that the number was much lower than before (it always resets after a reboot).

I am definitely guessing what happened (and it may very well be actually what happened) is that the "Reset Required" prompt may have come up sometime overnight, and it eventually timed out and rebooted automatically. IIRC that prompt comes up when new software "plugins" have to be installed.

Would like to hear your thoughts, especially since I probably haven't talked to some of you reading this in a while (was a former CE member, left almost a year ago).

Thank you all in advance!

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Tom Speer

May 20, 2026

My HR54 blue light is on this morning. I think you ae right about the plugins. They are tweaking things in the customer National release. What version does your HR44 Genie have now? I think you are probably on the same varsion as the CE group today.

lordodogg

May 20, 2026

I believe mine says 0x1D7F

Tom Speer

May 20, 2026

That is what I have.

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lordodogg

Today at 12:54 PM

Happened again today & have new software, 0x1d88

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