Dumb question, I'm sure: Would it make sense for us to post and share our satlists?
it's not a satlist issue, it's how to make it
I think that it WOULD help some people if a basic satlist would be posted. That way, people with old corrupted sat lists who are having problems might be able to get to a basic list without all the European/Asian sats.
The problem, however is that if you don't make the backup directory RW and replace the backup sat list too, then, if the Azbox detects any inconsistency between your satlist and the channel/transponder data, then it seems like it will abort, and replace what you've just put in with the default list. Personally, I've been afraid to try replacing the default backup sat list, because I've been afraid that if there are still inconsistencies, that the box could go into a reboot cycle, and depending upon what is saved after doing a firmware upgrade, I wasn't positive how easy it would be to recover from this.
I HAVE found that if I have saved a good working set of the 3 *.dat files, that if I upload all three, effectively going back to a past working configuration, that then the Azbox will accept that, and allow you to insert the old working satlist. But putting just the satlist in by itself is less likely to work. This means, that if you have channels saved, that it may be that you can only insert someone else's satlist if you also insert the channel/transponder list that went with that list, thus losing your own channels.
There may not be a problem, if the small satlist has the satellites named exactly as they were when you saved the channels and transponders, however when I originally created my small satlist, I inadvertently changed the names of many of the sats, primarily because the default names of many of the sats were unnecessarily long. This meant that the channels/transponders I saved had names different from the default list.
Anyway, I think in the long run, depending upon what firmware version you have, that the best approach is to before saving any satellites or transponders, or after doing a reformat of application area followed by firmware update or reload, go to the trouble of deleting all those extra sats manually. It is laborious, but you can do it in an hour or two. Then, SAVE the 3 .dat files. Then, as you go forward and enter sat and transponder data, and scan in channels, make a habit of saving all 3 .dat files on a regular basis. That way, if you have any problems, and the receiver reverts to the old sat list, you can always go back to this saved working configuration, and you won't lose too much.
I originally used the .xml method to create my short list, but using that method is creating a blank slate with no channels. So whatever method you use to start out, you will risk losing your transponders and channels unless you save working .dat files.
The REAL solution for all these issues is for the Azbox people to come out with a working channel editor, but so far that is just wishful thinking. To date, after trying 2 versions of azboxedit and 3 versions of MAZ, none of them work very well. Some work partially with some firmware versions, but none will allow you to create a working sat/transponder list.
