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Openbox V8S first impressions

K

keveen2

Newbie
I bought the V8s version from shopizy2014 on Ebay. Arrived in quick time and was reassuringly sealed in plastic.
Chip: Ali HD35113511HD_21_08_2014_059E
Dual-Core CPU, 600 MHz MIPS Processor
DDR III 256M ,ROM 400M,Serial Flash 8M

Swapped the cables from my basic Goodmans receiver and help! How to set it all up. The instructions are basically useless for a first time installation for anybody who is not familiar with satellite technology. Where to start?
I know a bit so I first upgraded the firmware
Next problem was to know that I had to go to the Installation Antenna menu and enter the Local Longitude number: 28.38 E. Then I rebooted and suddenly the satellite list was populated. At first it kept asking something about a Motor - like it expected me to have a motorised dish.
I had uploaded the latest channel list too and found that the Sky UK 28A Satellite was already flagged as the correct one to use.
I did a channel scan and all good.

At first I thought the picture was just OK but I forgot I was using the SCART connection. As soon as I used the HDMI cable picture quality was and is excellent. My tv is not HD just 720P oldish Samsung Plasma but the quality is very good, better than the Goodmans (SCART only).

  • Channel change is very fast, much faster than the Goodmans.
  • I tested its recording ability using a Flash drive. I haven't recorded a full programme yet but the snippets are excellent quality. I didn't buy a Humax for example cos recordings are encrypted on the machine!!! Here it is just a ts file.
  • The media player works.
  • The menus are basic but do the job, it is the picture that counts.
  • The EPG is also just OK. Useable. You can't beat the real Freesat or Sky EPG. It takes a while for the EPG on the screen to be populated.
  • The Web TV is useless at the moment, not fast enough. I am using a fast Ethernet Home Plug but the speed seems too slow. I'll try wifi later.

So far very happy with it.

  1. Can I scan another satellite or just that one?
  2. Is their a better EPG?
  3. Still got no idea what Clines are and what I am supposed to do with it.
  4. I don't have Sky so I suppose I have to manually delete them from the favourites list?
  5. Is it the same as any other box out there?
  6. Anything else interesting to do with it?
  7. What can I do with the Loopthrough connector?
 
Scan any satellite you have plugged into it.
Epg is the standard one cant be updated.
Go here to find out what clines are, go here to request one.
Openbox V8s is the same as Openbox V8s, almost the same as Skybox/Openbox F5s, just a newer model with very little changes.
WebTV isnt that great on the box. You can use it for youtube and youporn though :binoculars:
The loop connector is just to use the satellite connection on another box (saving you fitting a splitter or another cable) but cannot be used on 2 boxes at the same time, one of the boxes has to be on standby.
 
crmorris2 said:
Scan any satellite you have plugged into it.
Epg is the standard one cant be updated.
WebTV isnt that great on the box. You can use it for youtube and youporn though :binoculars:
The loop connector is just to use the satellite connection on another box (saving you fitting a splitter or another cable) but cannot be used on 2 boxes at the same time, one of the boxes has to be on standby.
Click to expand...

Thanks very helpful. There is no Youtube app. Porn is there!
A pity there isn't a better EPG. It is adequate and that is about it. It takes a long time to get the feed. I have to select the channel before I see any information in the grid EPG.
Recording isn't very intuitive. There is no indication that I have set a particular recording to be recorded in the onscreen view. It is in the list in the Menus.

So all in all, excellent picture (the most important thing!), fast channel changing, good information about the channel being watched but cumbersome EPG. Faster to look at a TV app or paper.

For the price, worth it cos I can record and watch on other devices - no encryption!! :)

Oh and the Media Player is excellent - seems to play everything mkv, avi, mp4, flv. Might make my Asus O!Play media player redundant.
 
You can only scan other satellites if your dish is motorised, or fitted with more than 1 LNB, or if you manually move it to point at another satellite.

Also, it sounds like you only have the now/next EPG. You can get a 5 day EPG using XMLTV.

Stick a USB memory stick or hard drive in the USB port. Go to menu > system setup > EPG & time setting. Set EPG default setting to Internet (XMLTV). Scroll down to XMLTV settings & press OK. Select UK & select update. The EPG will download to the memory stick.
 
Stick a USB memory stick or hard drive in the USB port. Go to menu > system setup > EPG & time setting. Set EPG default setting to Internet (XMLTV). Scroll down to XMLTV settings & press OK. Select UK & select update. The EPG will download to the memory stick.[/QUOTE said:
Yes HMLTV is instant and more satisfying. It's not great cos now I can't get a timeline view, just the list of channels. It is the weakest part of the system it seems to me.
The missing button on the remote is for EPG.

Recording:
I have to switch the box off and then on again to get it to recognise a USB hard drive.
I had to turn the timeshift option off on what is probably a slower SD card as the recording was jerky. Also the timeshift option uses a huge amount of disk space. I found that the fastforward on playback works fine.
Another missing feature is a marker on the tv guide that a programme is set for record.
Click to expand...
 
I did reply but seems to have disappeared! I was having trouble with the EPG. When I downloaded the xmltv it changed the clock settings! Solved now :)
 
Its crap, most of the default links dont work. You can put links into an xml file and upload to the box but seems like a lot of hassle

---------- Post Merged at 06:28 PM ----------

Media player will be greyed out until you plug a usb hdd in that has media content
 
Kremmen said:
You can only scan other satellites if your dish is motorised, or fitted with more than 1 LNB, or if you manually move it to point at another satellite.

Also, it sounds like you only have the now/next EPG. You can get a 5 day EPG using XMLTV.

Stick a USB memory stick or hard drive in the USB port. Go to menu > system setup > EPG & time setting. Set EPG default setting to Internet (XMLTV). Scroll down to XMLTV settings & press OK. Select UK & select update. The EPG will download to the memory stick.
Click to expand...

i tried this with a fresh format 40GB HDD and it states. EPG decompress failed please check disk free volum any ideas ?
do i need a bigger HDD?
 
barnboot said:
Kremmen said:
You can only scan other satellites if your dish is motorised, or fitted with more than 1 LNB, or if you manually move it to point at another satellite.

Also, it sounds like you only have the now/next EPG. You can get a 5 day EPG using XMLTV.

Stick a USB memory stick or hard drive in the USB port. Go to menu > system setup > EPG & time setting. Set EPG default setting to Internet (XMLTV). Scroll down to XMLTV settings & press OK. Select UK & select update. The EPG will download to the memory stick.
Click to expand...

i tried this with a fresh format 40GB HDD and it states. EPG decompress failed please check disk free volum any ideas ?
do i need a bigger HDD?
Click to expand...

If you haven't installed the latest firmware (19/5/15), then this is a problem that we are all getting.

However, there's a problem with the F5s/F3s firmware. It has the "summer time" bug (programmes are 1 hour out on the EPG). It's working OK if you have a V8s though.
 
barnboot said:
Kremmen said:
Hammy2k said:
I am considering buying the V8s one question are the channel list a .bin file like my old X5
Click to expand...

Nope. The V8s use .dbs files like most of the other skybox/openbox models.
Click to expand...

i have the v8s i will check firmware it was flashed last week but it may have been old download. thank i will try and get back i did see 25/051903 lol now what's that
Click to expand...

flashed with latest firmware, all good work great now
 
missing channels

i need help, i have lost all sky movies but not sky in total my box is the V8s i have installed the new channel list but still no luck , what have i missed here?
 
barnboot said:
i need help, i have lost all sky movies but not sky in total my box is the V8s i have installed the new channel list but still no luck , what have i missed here?
Click to expand...

Did you deleted all channels, before installing new once?
did you check that channels update was successful (info after update from USB)??
 
pzubrzak said:
barnboot said:
i need help, i have lost all sky movies but not sky in total my box is the V8s i have installed the new channel list but still no luck , what have i missed here?
Click to expand...

Did you deleted all channels, before installing new once?
did you check that channels update was successful (info after update from USB)??
Click to expand...
Yes I delete all channels I checked and it said flash burn 100% I pressed info it said ok but no sky. I have tried several channel site downloads but none work . I am gonna delete cam and enter details again .
 
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