DStv Explora and Explora 3A reboots

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zs6rsw

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I wonder if anyone else is experiencing or has experienced DStv Explora reboots recently.

I have for many years had an Xtraview setup of an original Explora (primary) and a Pace 4 tuner HD PVR (secondary). The Explora started rebooting at random times around the end of November 2020 - anything from after a few minutes to a few hours. I took the Explora to the Multichoice agents in Waterglen (Pretoria) and the guy there said that this sometimes happens due to power failures and load shedding which corrupt the hard drive, that the hard drive needs to be reformatted and that this should solve the problem. He then formatted the drive, the display showed "PASS" and he said that it should then be fine. I asked what I should do if the problem continued and he said that I should then replace the Explora.

The reboot problem however continued and so I purchased a new Explora 3A. This also suffered from the same problem and was exchanged free of charge by the Multichoice Walk-In Centre in Randburg. The replacement Explora 3A however also suffered from the same problem, which made me assume that something must be wrong with my installation. I then over a period replaced the twin LNB and DStv Switch (5-2) for a Smart LNB, replaced the coax, replaced the Explora power supply, moved the dish to possibly improve the signal strength and replaced the multiplug (power adapter), but the problem continued. I even had Multichoice deactivate/cancel Xtraview before Christmas, but the reboots continued (even with the Explora 3A connected to just the power supply, one Unicable (coax) from the LNB and an HDMI cable to the TV set.

I should add that the old Pace HD PVR has never had any rebooting problems and shows a 98% signal strength and 100% signal quality. The Explora units typically show around a 71% signal strength and 100% signal quality.

During all this time I frequently called Multichoice on 0112892222 and they insisted that there is no known problem on their side.

I then decided towards the end of December to just leave things as they were and to wait until the new year, as I would then hopefully manage to get hold of someone senior on the technical side at Multichoice. The strange thing is that the reboots then ceased shortly after that and I am not aware of any reboots for about the past roughly ten days. I have during this time had Multichoice reactive my Xtraview and everything seems to be fine. The only thing I have not yet done is to replace the new Explora 3A with the old Explora to see if that one is still rebooting.

I also spoke to someone on the technical side at Multichoice last week and he said that he is not aware of any such problem.

Just wondered if anyone else has experienced this problem.

Thanks
Ray Webber
 
I had a few unexplained reboots on the Explora 2A lately. Sometimes a few minutes apart. The 3A was unaffected so it does not look like any thing from MC's side caused it.
 
What LNB did you install? LMX 501 (3 Unicable ports plus 1 Universal) or the LMX 502Z (2 unicable ports)?
I presume after XV was reactivated, you made sure that the two decoders were not sharing any userbands and frequencies with each other?

What are the userbands and frequencies in use for each decoder?

The 3A has a new Smart Card I presume?

What version is it as well what version of Smart card is installed in the Pace 4 tuner decoder ( the black one)
 
Hi Geoff.D

The Smart LNB is one with 1 Universal and 3 Unicable outputs. I would need to check on the box for the exact model number. The Explora 3A is set a decoder 2 (or whatever the exact setting/description is) as I don't think that setting can be changed on the old Pace 4 Tuner HD PVR. I wasn't aware of any reboots until around 19h07 today, when the 3A rebooted. I happened to walk past and noticed that the orange LED was lit.

If I set the 3A as decoder 1, it obviously clashes with the HD PVR and it very quickly periodically indicates that it has lost signal.

I don't know what smart card it has, but I bought the 3A in December and it was subsequently replaced by Multichoice due to the reboots, which continued until around the beginning of January.
 
zs6rsw said:
Hi Geoff.D

The Smart LNB is one with 1 Universal and 3 Unicable outputs. I would need to check on the box for the exact model number. The Explora 3A is set a decoder 2 (or whatever the exact setting/description is) as I don't think that setting can be changed on the old Pace 4 Tuner HD PVR. I wasn't aware of any reboots until around 19h07 today, when the 3A rebooted. I happened to walk past and noticed that the orange LED was lit.

If I set the 3A as decoder 1, it obviously clashes with the HD PVR and it very quickly periodically indicates that it has lost signal.

I don't know what smart card it has, but I bought the 3A in December and it was subsequently replaced by Multichoice due to the reboots, which continued until around the beginning of January.
Click to expand...
The reboots today was probably as a result of a complete mess that the EPGs were in from late last night.

You are correct. The HDPVR Pace 4 tuner does not provide any way to change the User band and frequency settings and thus is means no other decoder in an XV pair with it can make use of "decoder 1" settings.

Hence the 3A has to be set to use "decoder 2" or "decoder 3" settings.

The SLNB you have is the LMX 501.

For the record for others, these are the user band settings of each of the settings on the Explora decoders.

"Decoder 1" Userbands 0 1 2 3 -- also used for 4 tuners (can't be changed) and the HD PVR 2P (userbands can also be set within some restrictions)
"Decoder 2" Userbands 5 6 7
"Decoder 3" Userbands 3 4 8

The 5 series of HD decoders have 2 tuners but can be set to any userbands between 0 and 7.
4136 decoders (4U & 4S) are single tuner decoders - cant do any background work.
4137, 4138, are 2 - tuner decoders (do all sorts of things in the background and have a permanently available EPG)
 
zs6rsw said:
I wonder if anyone else is experiencing or has experienced DStv Explora reboots recently.

I have for many years had an Xtraview setup of an original Explora (primary) and a Pace 4 tuner HD PVR (secondary). The Explora started rebooting at random times around the end of November 2020 - anything from after a few minutes to a few hours. I took the Explora to the Multichoice agents in Waterglen (Pretoria) and the guy there said that this sometimes happens due to power failures and load shedding which corrupt the hard drive, that the hard drive needs to be reformatted and that this should solve the problem. He then formatted the drive, the display showed "PASS" and he said that it should then be fine. I asked what I should do if the problem continued and he said that I should then replace the Explora.

The reboot problem however continued and so I purchased a new Explora 3A. This also suffered from the same problem and was exchanged free of charge by the Multichoice Walk-In Centre in Randburg. The replacement Explora 3A however also suffered from the same problem, which made me assume that something must be wrong with my installation. I then over a period replaced the twin LNB and DStv Switch (5-2) for a Smart LNB, replaced the coax, replaced the Explora power supply, moved the dish to possibly improve the signal strength and replaced the multiplug (power adapter), but the problem continued. I even had Multichoice deactivate/cancel Xtraview before Christmas, but the reboots continued (even with the Explora 3A connected to just the power supply, one Unicable (coax) from the LNB and an HDMI cable to the TV set.

I should add that the old Pace HD PVR has never had any rebooting problems and shows a 98% signal strength and 100% signal quality. The Explora units typically show around a 71% signal strength and 100% signal quality.

During all this time I frequently called Multichoice on 0112892222 and they insisted that there is no known problem on their side.

I then decided towards the end of December to just leave things as they were and to wait until the new year, as I would then hopefully manage to get hold of someone senior on the technical side at Multichoice. The strange thing is that the reboots then ceased shortly after that and I am not aware of any reboots for about the past roughly ten days. I have during this time had Multichoice reactive my Xtraview and everything seems to be fine. The only thing I have not yet done is to replace the new Explora 3A with the old Explora to see if that one is still rebooting.

I also spoke to someone on the technical side at Multichoice last week and he said that he is not aware of any such problem.

Just wondered if anyone else has experienced this problem.

Thanks
Ray Webber
Click to expand...
I have an Explora 2A which also started rebooting into installation wizard - it then scans and reboots again into installation wizard. I changed the satellite from IS20 to Pace Lab 2 (the 3 signals were very good) and my decoder is running for more than 4 hours now without a problem. That is on manual setup - not quick setup.
 
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