Open View PVR

webula said:
any replies regarding your request ?
Click to expand...

I only have a 32Gb dongle which cost R198,40 direct from supplier. Going there tomorrow to have it tested and replaced if faulty, seems that this may be the cause of my playback/recording problems. Will ask them your questions regards swopping dongles.
 
@webula
Swopped out my dongle for a new one today, will have to do a few recordings to see if the problem is solved. They tried to test the original by plugging in to another decoder, but could not playback any of the recordings, kept getting a message saying that this recording could not be played back as it was recorded on a different STB. It was possible however to do fresh recordings on the dongle.
 
I think you have answered the question for me. recordings done on a dongle can only be accessed and played back when the dongle is connected to the original decoder used for the recording.
 
Hadn't used my OVHD box in quite a while. When I switched it on the other day I was greeted with a prompt for an OTA update. Apparently this will enable my DSD1465 to be "PVR" compatible.

So that update took its sweet time but it did finally install successfully. The one thing I notice now though is that after about an hours use the system gets very warm to the touch. It was not like this before. And the warmer/hotter it gets the less stable the picture becomes until after a certain time it loses signal completely. This is temporarily resolved by unplugging the unit and letting it cool down.

Is this just an issue only with my decoder or is it that the older decoders have issues in handling the upgrade to PVR status?

In any case, I had some time earlier and I popped into a Makro store and picked up one of those 15cm mini USB fans. It seems to do the trick. The decoder signal now is quite stable.
 
I don't know these decoders from personal experience. It sounds to me like either the decoder vents are blocked or an internal fan is not working. Do you know if this decoder has on board a HDD or other storage component?
 
Geoff.D said:
I don't know these decoders from personal experience. It sounds to me like either the decoder vents are blocked or an internal fan is not working. Do you know if this decoder has on board a HDD or other storage component?
Click to expand...

I don't see any vents anywhere on this decoder. Not sure about any internal cooling/fan.

Anyways, so I bought one of those Open View branded USB sticks (32GB- R199). The decoder is now a working PVR device.
Only a "pause" time of about 15 minutes lol but it does work and the recording of programs is also functional.
 
Vernon said:
I don't see any vents anywhere on this decoder. Not sure about any internal cooling/fan.

Anyways, so I bought one of those Open View branded USB sticks (32GB- R199). The decoder is now a working PVR device.
Only a "pause" time of about 15 minutes lol but it does work and the recording of programs is also functional.
Click to expand...
Any chance you could grab the system files off that PVR stick? Would love to see if one can use a standard flash drive or external hdd for this
 
Vernon said:
I don't see any vents anywhere on this decoder. Not sure about any internal cooling/fan.

Anyways, so I bought one of those Open View branded USB sticks (32GB- R199). The decoder is now a working PVR device.
Only a "pause" time of about 15 minutes lol but it does work and the recording of programs is also functional.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. If you need the USB stick then it def does not have an internal HDD.
 
I wonder how accurate the recording would be? I've notice sometimes that movies start or finish earlier than what is stated on the tv guide.
 
Magandroid said:
I wonder how accurate the recording would be? I've notice sometimes that movies start or finish earlier than what is stated on the tv guide.
Click to expand...
That would depend on a few things.
1. The accuracy of the EPG and how well it is maintained.
2. How recording works. Does the sw allow for a start and end buffer time?
3. What options a user has in scheduling recordings.
 
Ok, I think I got this figured out. The PVR stick you buy is blank and does not contain any files. If you insert any other USB stick in the decoder it will detect it, but will tell you that it is not compatible. The reason for this is that the decoder is looking for a specific vendor ID on the USB stick namely "OV-USB" and hence does not allow you to use any USB memory stick or HDD. I have searched the net and could not find a way to change the USB vendor ID and don't know if it is possible to do this without any special software or hardware. If anyone has found a way around this please do share.
 
AndreU said:
Ok, I think I got this figured out. The PVR stick you buy is blank and does not contain any files. If you insert any other USB stick in the decoder it will detect it, but will tell you that it is not compatible. The reason for this is that the decoder is looking for a specific vendor ID on the USB stick namely "OV-USB" and hence does not allow you to use any USB memory stick or HDD. I have searched the net and could not find a way to change the USB vendor ID and don't know if it is possible to do this without any special software or hardware. If anyone has found a way around this please do share.
Click to expand...
Have you tried connecting the OVHD dongle to a computer to see if you copy the files to a blank or new USB memory stick?
 
Speedster said:
Any chance you could grab the system files off that PVR stick? Would love to see if one can use a standard flash drive or external hdd for this
Click to expand...
Magandroid said:
Have you tried connecting the OVHD dongle to a computer to see if you copy the files to a blank or new USB memory stick?
Click to expand...

I bought a na9200 decoder and 32GB Openview PVR stick to play around with.

To answer the questions above - you can use a normal USB memory stick for the PVR function - *BUT* you have to change low level configuration information on the stick. Specifically, you have to change the Device Vendor and Manufacturer fields of the memory stick to "0V-USB" else the decoder rejects the stick. Otherwise there are no special configuration files.

Visit https://www.usbdev.ru as a starting point for the tools to change these fields. I successfully modified two Transcend Jetflash 64GB sticks I had laying around to work with the PVR. They use Silicon Motion (SMI) controllers and I used the SMI Mass Production tool's debug mode to update the CID (the version I used was smi_mptool_v2.5.27_v8_m1004_3257enaa)

Can you make a USB HDD work with the decoder? Perhaps... all depends on whether you can find the appropriate tools to change the device IDs. [Left as an exercise for the reader...]
 
Magandroid said:
Have you tried connecting the OVHD dongle to a computer to see if you copy the files to a blank or new USB memory stick?
Click to expand...
Lol. Have you tried reading what I posted? It is blank and do not contain any files...
 
Speedster said:
Although I can imagine that it has some pre-loaded configuration on it. I guess all we need is for someone to buy one and then let the config files out in the wild for the rest of us to load onto larger capacity USB devices.
Click to expand...
.

Hi. You could be right in a way. Cause dstv's explora hard drive is preloaded with the configuration on the hard drive for the set model. I formatted the drive and attempted to reuse it again on the explora and it didn't work anymore. This open pvr stick. i think when you format it on the na9200 decoder, it modifies the files with the serial number of the decoder.
 
with the older SD PVR and with the 4 tuner decoders, You could take any HDD compatible with the decoder model, stick it in the decoder and format the HDD via the relevant option. That HDD would then work with the decoder after that but would not easily be able to operate in another decoder or device. Not at all sure about the Explora range, as I have not had an opportunity to play around with them.
Whether the OpenView decoders have the same "formatting options" I can't answer, but I suspect there may be a hidden menu somewhere that would allow this. One just has to find that hidden menu .......
 
Hi there, I'm new here. I also bought the OpenView NA9200 and a 32GB OpenPVR stick recently. And I wish to add something very important about the USB stick. The 32GB one I bought is a USB2.0 drive, ie. it's not fast enough for recording HD channels (etv, eExtra, eMovies+, etc.) on the decoder. There are frequent jumps because the controller inside the USB drive is not able to keep up with storing the HD media content. This IMO is unacceptable. The Openview people should have made sure that the USB sticks they release for sale are at least USB2.1 or USB3.0 (preferably). Currently I'm able to record the standard definition (SD) channels (eg. BBC, Da Vinci, eReality) without any problems but recording HD is useless. Maybe someone can try out the 64GB OpenPVR sticks and try them out to see whether they're also USB2.0. Anyhow, thanks for the useful info about the Vendor ID "OV-USB".
 
Good point and observation! Us fellow users are the ones that unravel the true value of these things. The suppliers don't care either way. The Advertisers don't want you to record anything and neither do the content houses. So, all they are interested in is to say " Our decoder is a PVR" The fact that it hardly works is irrelevant actually for them.
 
I previously looked everywhere for the 64GB OVHD sticks but could not find them. Had to eventually settle for the 32GB ones.
 
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