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New Software For Toppy 7000 Looks Promising


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As Vorticol has posted in the other thread:

New 0.99.80 firmware is available from the following link

http://www.itopfield.com.au/include/downlo...ame=0.99.80.upd

List of fixes and improvements see here

http://forum.itopfield.com.au/FindPost7148.aspx

I've started a new thread as 7K owners might well be (understandably) jaded about reading more posts about problems so might miss this important event.

I just upgraded both Toppys here. On unit 2, which failed to record while we were away after only a few days (because 0.84 firmware was installed), there are 17 new files. I tested accessing each one of those 17 and the machine performed flawlessly - access was lightningly fast. So it does really seem that the freeze problem has been solved, at last!!!

As you can see from the link Vorticol provided, there are still a few minor problems but it would appear the worst is over. It even looks relatively safe to try to connect the 630 GB external HDD I purchased in the USA.

Yes, it has been a rocky road and Toppy have not done their reputation any good by releasing this machine with terribly buggy software.

QUESTION: Is it really necessary to do a rescan? I did this on both machines as it is no big deal but I have to advise my friend about the upgrade to his Toppy (which I recommended he get - fortunately he hasn't experienced the problems we have had here) and would like to keep it simple for him if possible. He is an intelligent guy but gets easily frustrated and confused about connecting items together etc.

John

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Whilst it is great the new FW has finally been released......and the Beta Testers have been working really hard on checking this FW (which is already outdated by newer beta releases).....I think it is a touch too early to say that the freezing issue has completely been solved (though I certainly do hope this turns out to be the case).

I'm sure all Toppy 7K owners will be crossing their fingers that this resolves most of the outstanding issues.

In regards to the rescan, which Firmware is your friend's Toppy currently using ?

I'm not sure if the rescan is a necessity, but it "may" be worth spending the extra 5 minutes to rescan and redo timers (just to make sure).

Or, you could try updating the unit without a rescan and if problems occur, re-update the unit and perform the rescan.

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Agree with Dave L in that I hope your optimism is bourne out :) Must admit it would be great if we could just take the 7000 on its functional merits without the ever present caveat that some users are having some issues every now and again. Its a great PVR in terms of functionality and interface.

The scan after an upgrade is probably a hang over from the SD 5000 days. A procedure was developed over the years that minimised the chances of a dodgy FW upgrade happening. You could definitely just flash the FW and restart and in all likelyhood you'd have no issues. However if you wanted to be as sure as possible then every step is recommended.

If you're only upgrading every 6+ months or so then it probably worth the extra 5 minutes just for the piece of mind.

Regards

Peter Gillespie

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John, I am surprised you committed both machines to the upgrade in FW given the issues you had.

Hope the worst is over for your sake.

Well, 0.99.72's only remaining fault for me was the freezing as it had no missed timers (as 0.84 had) or weird HDMI antics. All the earlier versions tried here just had more bugs so I could not see there was anything to lose with 99.80. As long as all the recorded files are still there it is not really vital.

That said I'll not stick my neck out and proclaim it is near perfect. And it was a week or two before 0.99.72 gave difficulties. Time will tell.

Going out tonight so the main machine will not get a thorough testing until tomorrow night. In the meantime I'll be interested to read of the experience from others.

John

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Hi

"Looks Promising" are the operative words,the new engineer seems to be getting everything back on track but still a long way to go,fingers crossed but if its hardware/design faults their programming around TV will be 3D and the Toppy redundant by the time they sort it.

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i'am thinking of buying one in the next couple of days would i be mad to or go for somting like the homcast . the thing is will i regret it or do you think the new fixes will do the trick

thanks jamie

As others have said, it is way to early to say.

Many times we have seen f/w updates that looked the goods, only to find in a few weeks that there were still plenty of old and new issues.

I would not be crowing about this release until I'd seen it operating for at least a month because historically that is about when problems appear.

It does have promise but.

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Since 0.99.80 the beta testers have not seen the file list freezing anymore.

This was reason enough in our eyes to use this firmware.

We requested Topfield to make either 0.99.80beta or 0.99.82beta a public release to try to put that file list freezing issue to bed.

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i'am thinking of buying one in the next couple of days would i be mad to or go for somting like the homcast . the thing is will i regret it or do you think the new fixes will do the trick

thanks jamie

Jamie they MUST eventually get it right and could be very close now. But Lyle's comment is valid. I thought 99.72 was fine, and it was for 2 weeks (and why it took 2 weeks to break down remains a mystery).

And the really weird thing is that not all of us have experienced the same problems.

But it is by far the best PVR I've had in the system here, when it is not freezing that is. Its "skip" is instantaneous and demolishes the advertising rubbish in quick time + the FF speeds are excellent. I thought 64X was the ultimate on the Humax Smart until I experienced those even faster speeds on the Toppy. This is why I'm still hanging in with the 7000 despite some frustrations.

John

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Looked at a number of recordings last night and there was no freeze on accessing any of them in the normal manner.

However I did manage to lock it up once. I was looking at a file, stopped it, invoked the PIP to view a live broadcast, swapped over so the live broadcast was main screen, exited that but when I went to play the recorded file again it froze. Powering off was the only way of getting out of it. After this is behaved fine.

Now I'm not 100% confident I have described above the complete sequence of events. I might have inadvertently pressed some other button which threw it into a state of confusion. When trying to do something in a hurry it is easy to make a mistake.

But for the moment the new firmware has my nod of approval. But we can really only breathe freely along these lines if it holds for the next 2 weeks. Past experience has shown the new firmware looks fine but then collapses after awhile. We shall see.

John

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Firmware 0.99.80 is no longer publicly available. No doubt its due to the new bugs introduced (i.e. busted EPG) in attempting to fix the old bugs. You really have to wonder how they test things at Topfield.

Bummer.

EPG does not bother me so that is why it was not detected here. It is so unreliable I type in the names of recorded programs - most are weekly repeats so that is no big deal here. But it is such a relief to have those rotten freezes behind I'm a happy camper (for the moment at least).

John

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Firmware 0.99.80 is no longer publicly available. No doubt its due to the new bugs introduced (i.e. busted EPG) in attempting to fix the old bugs. You really have to wonder how they test things at Topfield.

This release only became public and we made it pretty clear the EPG is broken for some channels.

Topfield are aware of the EPG problems and are working to fix them.

To be honest I think freezing when trying to play files is a little more important than some channels in the EPG having gaps but those that don't want to update don't have too.

Also we can't stop people that already have 0.99.80 from spreading the update around. ;)

I think it has been pulled due to this announcement

Topfield would like to announce that the ICE TV Interactive feature will be available for the TF7100HDPVRt via firmware upgrade very soon. For further notifications please visit our website regularly.

http://www.itopfield.com.au/aus/company/ne...?idx=23&tb=

I guessing when 7100 firmware is released there would also be a 7000 firmware release if not then it would be reasonably soon after the release.

Edited by Vortical
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This release only became public and we made it pretty clear the EPG is broken for some channels.

Topfield are aware of the EPG problems and are working to fix them.

To be honest I think freezing when trying to play files is a little more important than some channels in the EPG having gaps but those that don't want to update don't have too.

Also we can't stop people that already have 0.99.80 from spreading the update around. ;)

I think it has been pulled due to this announcement

I guessing when 7100 firmware is released there would also be a 7000 firmware release if not then it would be reasonably soon after the release.

Thanks for the update Vorticol. I'm very grateful you informed us about 0.99.80 as it appears to have transformed the Toppys here.

And I agree that losing EPG (until the buig is fixed) is a lot less irritating than the freeze bug.

We should be grateful to the beta testers. They are helping us turn the corner with this potentially brilliant PVR. Yes it is a PIA it was released with bugs and in a perfect world should have been with held. But how many computer controlled items and programs are bug free these days? We demand greater and greater capabilities from items -> greater complexity -> more opportunity for bugs. Such is life, and in the context of the wide world the Toppy problems are pretty insignificant.

John

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Thanks for the update Vorticol. I'm very grateful you informed us about 0.99.80 as it appears to have transformed the Toppys here.

And I agree that losing EPG (until the buig is fixed) is a lot less irritating than the freeze bug.

We should be grateful to the beta testers. They are helping us turn the corner with this potentially brilliant PVR. Yes it is a PIA it was released with bugs and in a perfect world should have been with held. But how many computer controlled items and programs are bug free these days? We demand greater and greater capabilities from items -> greater complexity -> more opportunity for bugs. Such is life, and in the context of the wide world the Toppy problems are pretty insignificant.

John

Thanks for your kind words John

You may want to also read my post here Post #7292 specifically

http://forum.itopfield.com.au/FindPost7292.aspx

I'm sticking my neck out with some info I have divulged but it may help users understand a few things that they might not know.

Edited by Vortical
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My Digitalview PVR comes extremely close, had it for 9 months now and it hasn't missed a beat -- touch wood. :)

Yes but it's a bit more expensive and doesn't have no where near the amount of features the Topfield has most of which I couldn't live without now.

I think the 7000's are down below the $600 mark now.

Also my 7000 has not missed a single recording in over a year that's pretty damn reliable isn't it?

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My Digitalview PVR comes extremely close, had it for 9 months now and it hasn't missed a beat -- touch wood. :)

Clearly "hasn't missed a beat" excludes audio drop-outs or have you forgotten writing "Ive just watched a bit over an hour of "hunt for red october " recorded last night and only 1 dropout so far." followed by "It has a been a week since I upgraded the firmware and the occasional audio drop outs I was experiencing have now gone."

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Angelo - there must be something different about your setup - there are lots of people using HDMI with no issues. Can you describe your setup - are you going straight to the TV? Are you going through an amp? Are you using DVI? Do you start your equipment in any specific order?

And the big one - have you told Topfield about it?

cheers,

John

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