Voom Box Version V00.05.08. Bugs/Problems/Feature Request

Status
Not open for further replies.

Sean Mota

SatelliteGuys Master
Original poster
Supporting Founder
Sep 8, 2003
19,039
1,739
New York City
Hoping to catch all Old/New Bugs in this thread. Also, problems that are not bugs but are a nuisance and last new requests for the software.

If you're having OTA mapping problems, send an email to wilth@optonline.net with the following information: your name, address, with zipcode, and phone number.

Who's Wilt? Read Here

Problems
  1. Pixelation after each channel changes. This has been reported using DVI/Component Input (this is a known issue and it's been worked on).
  2. If I press forward button, I get bottom PG guide. After pressing the yellow button (favorite), I expect to browse only my favorite list. It does not happen. It does not stay in my favorite list.
  3. Back or recall button does not work when one of the channels happens to come from OTA (One day it works another day it does not. Very unusual behavior.).
  4. Online guide briefly pops up on its own (Turning off Screen Saver will cure this behavior)
  5. Selecting ALL HD channels does not include OTA channels providing HD programming. Starz-HD not yet on ALL HD.
  6. There are no programs of this type (Favorite list bug)
  7. Analog sound problems.
  8. Change to a local ota channel. Go to edit your favorite list. The preview menu will default to channel 100 and not the local channel you were watching in the preview window. It should have stayed with the same channel. The same does not happen while watching a non-ota channel.
  9. PG information dissapears and reappears at will (turn off screen saver)
  10. Picture is lost while chaning channels and a black screen comes
  11. After you have created a favorite list. Let's say you want to take out a channel from your favorite list. You go to the favorite list and take out. Press Watch to continue watching the program. Then press favorite list button to bring the PG of the favorite list. After that hit the "Page" key in the remote control to navigate the PG upwards. What will follow is this screen:

    There are no programs of this type

    You can't get rid of it until you turn off the receiver. That is you won't be able to navigate your favorite list upwards until you turn off/on the receiver. The same does not happen with the ALL Channel list.
  12. Here's another bug: Change to a local ota channel. Go to edit your favorite list. The preview menu will default to channel 100 and not the local channel you were watching in the preview window. It should have stayed with the same channel. The same does not happen while watching a non-ota channel.
  13. Bug: My power on default changed (for the second time, first since factory reset followed by front panel reset). Now an OTA station 66-1, spanish.
  14. When changing channels sometimes you get a black screen without picture. You can still hear the sound but no picture. I usually click on the VOOM button or FAV button and the picture will come back in the preview (small) window. Then I hit the WATCH button and the picture will come back.
  15. There are several bugs in the Parental Control feature.

    1. If an HD channel is locked and you navigate to it from an SD channel, after unlocking, the HD channel becomes squeezed to 4:3.

    2. Digital sound output is not blocked on locked channels. Only analog sound output gets blocked.

    3. Sometimes after unlocking a channel, the channel gets locked the moment you switch to another channel. Sometimes it stays unlocked.
  16. -If I use the back function on my remote when in the channel menu, it takes my receiver all the way back to the top level menu.
    -The page button does not always page forward, sometimes it even pages back wards.
    -The small picture that appears at top right in the menu screen, is usually out of sync (black bar in center, picture split in half), especially if it is a SD picture. I have not seen this happen from a HD source.
  17. Tune to one of the following channels: 204, 206, 226, 229, 261, or 262 (any channel with 1309.375 frequency).
    2. Using the usual "9-8-8" trick, get to the hidden menu (where you do factory resets).
    3. Select the first menu item "manual tuning."
    (For a moment you will see "Left_Horiz" polarity selected, and then the check-mark will jump to "Right_Ve". I believe this is a bug itself: It looks like most of the VOOM's channels are set to "Right_Ve" polarity, except for these select channels, which are set to "Left_Horiz" polarity, but the program doesn't show that.)
    4. Without changing anything, highlight the "Tune" button and press "OK". A wrong channel will be shown! For example, channel 261 may show HDN, channel 206 may show Discovery, etc.
    5. To restore the proper channel mapping, select "Left_Horiz" and then "Tune" again. Also, if you change the channel with your remote, it may restore itself.
  18. On some SD channels, I notice some heavy white scratches appearing a lot. Some Sd channels are fine, other have this problem. Not sure how to explain, but they are about 1-2 pixels tall, and 10-15 wide, and are very frequent on brighter colors like solid green and red. I've never seen anything like this before.
  19. Also, when changing channels, I occasionally get a temporary message saying you cannot purchase this Pay-per-view, and then the channel picture comes on.
  20. When you go to Voom and then pick your guide... there somehow needs to be an option to start from the channel you are currently at. Starting at 100 everytime doesn't seem to be very good.
    And for some reason.. if I go to a music channel, the back button doesn't do anything. It doesn't take me to the last channel I was at.
  21. I tried to use my closed caption last night on sd channels and I can't get them to enable.

Problems fixed or about to be fixed

  1. Periodic Lockups (fixed with latest software)
  2. DD5.1 sound drops on some channels (fixed with latest software)
  3. Channel Mapping problems. (fixed for some)
  4. Sub-channel mapping (fixed for some)
  5. After doing Factory Reset Procedure the Box resolute to 720p
  6. Loud THUMP not just in my subwoofer but coming from all home theater speakers. Heard on Monsters-HD, Epics-HD and Cinema-HD (Fixed)

Feature Requests

  1. Scan feature for OTA mapping (Will be coming soon)
  2. Context sensitive guides that know what channel you are on. The guides don't start from where you are, they start from top of favorites or 100 depending which guide. This can't be too hard to fix.
  3. Discrete power on and off codes for programmable remotes
  4. A "-" key for direct entry of subchannels. Also important for remotes which can jump to specific stations (e.g., MX-800, Pronto, etc.)
  5. Search Feature for the PG (by name or partial name).
  6. Besides all Channels and all HD, can you also add an All Local Menu or Program Guide.
  7. It will great to have more than one favorite list but I do not know to what extend this is possible.
  8. A reminder or switch channel feature of the program that is about to start.
  9. program guide that you can jump to a day/time slot directly.
  10. If you can change the resolution from the control remote instead of having to manually hit the "Red" button in front of the receiver.
  11. allow preview window to optionally change with the channel change, or
    stay on channel that is being watched.
  12. it would be nice to be able to unlock a channel (or all the channels) for a specified number of hours.
  13. Transparent menus/guide. This is my main issue, and I'm 100% shocked that it isn't a feature. I have never heard one word about it, so assumed it would be transparent.This is going to burn into my TV without a doubt. There's no stopping it at this point because the solid yellow letters, symbols, and the very solid black line.

    Quicker channel changes: Changing the channel takes 2.5-4 seconds everytime. I see a grey screen while waiting, then it comes down, there is also slight pixelation on movement for the instant the channel comes on.

    Guide change 1: When looking further down in time, when I want to see another channel at the future time, I shouldn't need to manually go there everytime for each seperate channel. If I'm in future time and press up/down, it should not go back to current time.

    Guide change 2: Manually enter channels in the one line guide. If I try to enter a channel # to look at by typing it in... it goes to that channel instead of just bringing the guide there.

    Guide change 3: Quicker scrolling through the one line guide... I get about 3/second. That is way too slow considering I can't manually enter in the channel # I'd like to see on the guide. If you hold it down it should zoom through them at a much faster pace.

    SD change: There are only two options for watching SD content on widescreen TVs. Stretch and pillarbox... there should be a crop mode(pan and scan) for watching SD letterboxed movies, or for those that don't mind losing the top and bottom of the image.

    Remote: An exit button... I hate pressing back 4-5 times to get from the menus back to watching TV. On D* I press exit at any time, from any menu, and I'm back to watching TV without any graphics on the screen. I like that a lot.

    Guide: A quicker way to get to the 5 line guide... as of now you need to press the voom/blue button, and then select all channels, or just HD etc... there should be a single button to bring you to the last used one, or just to all channels, or have it selectable which one you want it to go to from a menu.

    Guide: Whole screen guide... the biggest one I can find is 5 lines, and with the page +/- button it does move quickly, but a full screen option would be nice.

    Remote/info button: When watching TV, there are TONS of ways to get the one line guide to come up, so pressing info once should give you the info of the show you're on, or currently at on the guide. You shouldn't need to press it to bring up the one line guide, then another time to see the program description.

    shortcuts on the remote: IE: on my D* remote, I press action 8 to change the stretch mode without going into menus. This would be a nice feature to have.
  14. you sohuld be able to hit back to go back to the channel you are currently on, and if you hit back when already on that channel, it should take the guide to the last channel you were watching.
  15. I think the VOOM program guide needs an overhaul. When surfing I'd like to know more about the program than the single line description offers currently. Now it gives you channel and title plus a not too accuratie indication of whether the show is HD or not. I'd request that the stop time be included, program duration, rating, and if a program is a repeat or if a sporting event is live.
  16. when you bring up the guide I wish it would start on the channel your currently viewing, rather than starting with 100. Also I wish there were channel lists that you could create, (like directv, and Dish have) so that when you change the channel manually using the channel up or down button, it would scroll only those channels that you have selected to be on those specific lists. Oh, and It isn't all that great that when you turn off the box, and turn it back on it always starts at 100, it would be better if stayed on the last channel watched.
 
Sean,

Thanks for catching mine. I know Wilt (how lucky are we to have a guy like that from the Mother Ship) said it would be on the list. This cataloging is a great idea.

Thanks for all your hard work and Happy Thanksgiving,
Tim
 
rudolpht said:
Sean,

Thanks for catching mine. I know Wilt (how lucky are we to have a guy like that from the Mother Ship) said it would be on the list. This cataloging is a great idea.

Thanks for all your hard work and Happy Thanksgiving,
Tim

No problem Tim. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I had a big banquet until I couldn't eat no more. Regarding Wilt, I do not know where VOOM users will be today without him. He has been a savior to a lot of the early problems and I am sure we will keep monitoring every individual case to ensure that we get our problems fixed.
 
So here it's what happens with the "Back" button on the remote. It works if both channels are coming from the satellite. But it will not work if one the channels happens to be an OTA channel. Try it!
 
It looks like the remote "Back" Button is working now. One day works another day it decides to take the day off. I hope tomorrow works again...
 
Here's something weird that has happened quite frequently. At first I thought that I had pushed the remote control by mistake but I realized that the other times the control remote was not near me.

It happens that while watching a movie or a program on Rush or WorldSport, the program guide will show up on the screen without touching the remote control, then it will dissapear and the browse menu shows up at the bottom and then that will dissapear and the movie or program will show up again. Have anybody seen this or is it my VOOM receiver only that has a ghost inside controlling my viewing habits. This is funny and I was even hesitant to post but maybe someone is in the same boat as me.
 
I seem to have a big obssession with this "Back" button on the control remote. To the point, it will not work switching or back between two OTA stations. Try it and see if works. Let me know. :)
 
In the current software there is no feature to remind you that a particular program will be starting. If there was a feature to remind you or to change to that channel once the program starts it will be great. Too many times I have to go to through my favorite list menu to get to the program that I was going to watch. This should not be difficult to integrate into the software.
 
Some basic guide enhancments.
-program guide that you can jump to a day/time slot directly
-search by program name or partial name in program guide
-allow preview window to optionally change with the channel change, or
stay on channel that is being watched.

- Better OTA when needed (possibly at reduced cost if possible)

Programming Additions
SciFi Channel
TechTV
Food
DIY
HGTV (coming right?)
BBC
my son says Boomerang and WAM

Exclusive changes
Change the Moster channel to Horror/SciFi - this should allow for more
content.
 
lizard20022000 said:
-allow preview window to optionally change with the channel change

I have not seen this feature in E* or D*. It maybe impossible to do...

lizard20022000 said:
... or
stay on channel that is being watched.

Doesn't the preview window stays on while browsing channels? What do you mean?

lizard20022000 said:
- Better OTA when needed (possibly at reduced cost if possible)

Explain.
 
The option to either have the preview window follow, or stay on the 'tuned' channel is available on the DishPlayer from E*. This may be using the Disk for something, but I would not think so. Thinking about this, It would just involve either doing exactly what it is doing now (staying on the 'tuned' channel), or as you scroll through the channel guide, tune the the channel.

maybe what I am not being clear about is what the preview window is. I am calling the preview window the small display in the upper right when the program guide is up
 
The Viewer's guide gives you another feature the program reminder feature which is not active yet.
 
I found this bug. It is not major but I have repeated it a few times.

After you have created a favorite list. Let's say you want to take out a channel from your favorite list. You go to the favorite list and take out. Press Watch to continue watching the program. Then press favorite list button to bring the PG of the favorite list. After that hit the "Page" key in the remote control to navigate the PG upwards. What will follow is this screen:

There are no programs of this type

You can't get rid of it until you turn off the receiver. That is you won't be able to navigate your favorite list upwards until you turn off/on the receiver. The same does not happen with the ALL Channel list.
 
Here's another bug: Change to a local ota channel. Go to edit your favorite list. The preview menu will default to channel 100 and not the local channel you were watching in the preview window. It should have stayed with the same channel. The same does not happen while watching a non-ota channel.
 
Bug: My power on default changed (for the second time, first since factory reset followed by front panel reset). Now an OTA station 66-1, spanish.
 
rudolpht said:
Bug: My power on default changed (for the second time, first since factory reset followed by front panel reset). Now an OTA station 66-1, spanish.

I do not understand. Can you be more specific?
 
Hello Sean
I read your post from Nov.29th in ref to
voom about the program guide appearing like if
you touched the VOOm button.

I was watching Monster Hd when it did it.
I think it did it twice during the movie.
It's like there is a invisible person in the
room touching the remote.
I told VOOm about it & they don't know of that occuring or heard of that happening.
about it
 
That's quite a surprise to me that they do not know about it. I have been experiencing the same quite often. It has happened in Monsters-HD, Epics-HD and the Cinema-HD channels. Right now is a random behavior. There are others (in other forums) that have experienced the same. There is supposed to be a software upgrade this month. I will wait until then to see if it's corrected.

Here's another problem that I have noticed and I want you guys to keep an ear on it since I do not think is my hardware. I have a sony receiver that outputs DTS and DD 5.1. I am hearing a very loud noise coming through the sub-woofer speaker like if someone was beating down on the floor (2nd floor). The other night I went to the 2nd floor believing that someone broke into my house but then I noticed that the noise came from the sub-woofer. It has happened on the monster-hd, epics-hd and cinema-hd. While watching DVD's the noise is not there. I have to test to see if I get the same while watching E* but I do not think there is a problem with the speaker or the receiver. Anyway, if you hear the same noise, please report it here. Thanks.
 
Glad I'm not the only one, This has been happening to me too, and whats strange is it only seems to happen on VoOm channels (exclusives), not on starz or showtime or anywhere else. Its like a very loud THUMP not just in my subwoofer but coming from all home theater speakers. So what I did was this, I got the manual for my home theater reciever (Pioneer VSX D509S) and saw that it had a setting for low band attenuation which it says that some DD 5.1 sources can create distortion causing low frequency events like this and to adjust this setting to remove it It had 3 settings 0, 10 , and infinity...at 0 I get a lot of thumping on VoOm channels, at 10 very rarely, just once in a while, and at infinity, none at all but I think I am losing a lot of low frequencies, might be imagining that though...anyway I left it at 10......but the problem is definitely VoOm specific

as for the other problem, I think we can deduce that there is definitely a ghost in the remote, its not the VoOm receiver. I know this because not only did I get a menu pop-up a couple times (but not lately) but a couple days ago my tv shut off while I was watching it, and I have my VoOm remote programmed to operate the TV. ( it was just sitting on the endtable....noone near it)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
***

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)