With each of the recent beta releases seemingly adding more bugs than they fix, Fetch TV have tempted fate for the fourth time with yet another beta, this time version 4.8.04-08. As usual, installation instructions are on the Latest Firmware page and I've installed the beta on my 8320HD.
It seems to have pretty well cured the repeating remote control bug, but I still get repeated horizontal/vertical slats on FF/REW'ing. Talk on AVForums.com suggests that Sky Player login doesn't work with this latest beta, but that's hardly a critical loss, since it's so awful anyway. Live pause now works for both SD and HD channels, but I've had a couple of "blank" recordings (possibly when doing 2 simultaneously), so I'm back on the Feb 2011 stable firmware again.
Friday, 1 July 2011
Thursday, 23 June 2011
New (buggy) beta firmware available
The third consecutive beta firmware (version 4.8.04-05) for the 8320HD has been released and can be downloaded here. The installation instructions are on Latest Firmware page as usual and I have applied to my 8320HD. On initial testing it actually seems to have largely fixed the remote control repeating bug, which is a huge relief.
However, two obvious bugs are still present - the repeated video slats in the bottom half of the screen during high speed FF/FEW and new bizarre bug that live-pausing SD programmes fails to hold the pause (it is released after 1-2 seconds). It's bizarre because HD programmes don't seem to be affected and will hold the pause as you would expect.
According to AVForums.com postings, Sky Player may be broken with this latest beta release. I could get all the way to the login screen, but I have no active subscription (only used the free month, which was so awful, I'd never pay for it) so it was tricky to work out if it was locking me out because of that or a firmware bug.
However, two obvious bugs are still present - the repeated video slats in the bottom half of the screen during high speed FF/FEW and new bizarre bug that live-pausing SD programmes fails to hold the pause (it is released after 1-2 seconds). It's bizarre because HD programmes don't seem to be affected and will hold the pause as you would expect.
According to AVForums.com postings, Sky Player may be broken with this latest beta release. I could get all the way to the login screen, but I have no active subscription (only used the free month, which was so awful, I'd never pay for it) so it was tricky to work out if it was locking me out because of that or a firmware bug.
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Tesco Direct finally throw in the towel
Tesco Direct haven't really liked the 8320HD due to its very buggy nature - it was even the victim of an Tesco Emergency Product Recall briefly last year because its initial firmware was so bad, it couldn't even record programmes!
Earlier this year, it disappeared for a few weeks without any notice, only to come back at a lower and lower prices, ending up at a very reasonable £155 (delivered) for its final few months. However, that record low price was accompanied by the death knell phrasing "while stocks last" and sure enough today saw the last remaining units sold and Tesco Direct putting up their discontinued notice.
All is not quite lost, because you can still buy an 8320HD directly from FetchTV themselves, albeit for a significantly higher price of £189.50 delivered. What this does to the future of the 8320HD is uncertain - Tesco were surely selling a lot more 8320HD's than Fetch TV due to a cheaper price, bigger brand name and both offline and online distribution.
It does worry me that the gap between stable firmware releases has been getting longer over time, suggesting that FetchTV have scaled back on that front due to lack of either commitment or finances. They promised a new UI over a year ago and I'm sceptical their latest deadline of Summer 2011 will be met. All I'd like is fixes for the remote control repeat and FF/REW bugs and the addition of auto-padding. I'd be happy to see a further 3-6 months delay for the new UI if that happened.
Earlier this year, it disappeared for a few weeks without any notice, only to come back at a lower and lower prices, ending up at a very reasonable £155 (delivered) for its final few months. However, that record low price was accompanied by the death knell phrasing "while stocks last" and sure enough today saw the last remaining units sold and Tesco Direct putting up their discontinued notice.
All is not quite lost, because you can still buy an 8320HD directly from FetchTV themselves, albeit for a significantly higher price of £189.50 delivered. What this does to the future of the 8320HD is uncertain - Tesco were surely selling a lot more 8320HD's than Fetch TV due to a cheaper price, bigger brand name and both offline and online distribution.
It does worry me that the gap between stable firmware releases has been getting longer over time, suggesting that FetchTV have scaled back on that front due to lack of either commitment or finances. They promised a new UI over a year ago and I'm sceptical their latest deadline of Summer 2011 will be met. All I'd like is fixes for the remote control repeat and FF/REW bugs and the addition of auto-padding. I'd be happy to see a further 3-6 months delay for the new UI if that happened.
Saturday, 4 June 2011
New (even more buggy) beta firmware available
Version 4.8.04-03 dated 27th May 2011 has turned up and here's where you get it:
http://media.fetchtv.net/upgrade/beta/upgrade8320HD-4.8.04-03-86f477676e.zip
Instructions on both upgrading and downgrading are on the Latest Firmware page, but I would tread very carefully with this particular beta firmware release. It's got new bad bugs in it such as crashing more often, not letting you log into Sky Player (no loss there then!), the GUIDE button often not working (use "0" instead) and it fails to pause live TV (it pauses it for a few seconds and then resumes).
However, its one small saving grace is that it doesn't repeat the previous remote control button anywhere near as much as the current stable release.
http://media.fetchtv.net/upgrade/beta/upgrade8320HD-4.8.04-03-86f477676e.zip
Instructions on both upgrading and downgrading are on the Latest Firmware page, but I would tread very carefully with this particular beta firmware release. It's got new bad bugs in it such as crashing more often, not letting you log into Sky Player (no loss there then!), the GUIDE button often not working (use "0" instead) and it fails to pause live TV (it pauses it for a few seconds and then resumes).
However, its one small saving grace is that it doesn't repeat the previous remote control button anywhere near as much as the current stable release.
Monday, 30 May 2011
Yes, you can downgrade your 8320HD firmware...
After being told for a long time by FetchTV that you can't downgrade your firmware once you've upgraded it (not good for people testing beta firmware out!), it turns out that there is a facility to do this.
Download the older firmware you want to downgrade to and put its unpacked files (autorun.html and upgrade.bin) at the top level of a FAT32-formatted USB stick as usual. Insert the stick into one of the 8320HD's two USB ports (go to Menu -> Media Centre -> USB and select autorun.html if nothing happens) and it should tell you that the older version isn't suitable. Press and hold the Info button on the remote and it will apparently force a firmware downgrade.
However, the snags with downgrades are 1) finding the appropriate old firmware zip file in the first place and 2) whilst this might improve the behaviour of some later firmware bugs (e.g. HD exports, remote control repeating etc.), it will also bring back nasty old bugs and crashes galore. Early firmware releases were incredibly crashy for me and I wouldn't really want to go back to any of those.
Thanks to MaffyBoon on AVForums.com for the downgrade tip.
Download the older firmware you want to downgrade to and put its unpacked files (autorun.html and upgrade.bin) at the top level of a FAT32-formatted USB stick as usual. Insert the stick into one of the 8320HD's two USB ports (go to Menu -> Media Centre -> USB and select autorun.html if nothing happens) and it should tell you that the older version isn't suitable. Press and hold the Info button on the remote and it will apparently force a firmware downgrade.
However, the snags with downgrades are 1) finding the appropriate old firmware zip file in the first place and 2) whilst this might improve the behaviour of some later firmware bugs (e.g. HD exports, remote control repeating etc.), it will also bring back nasty old bugs and crashes galore. Early firmware releases were incredibly crashy for me and I wouldn't really want to go back to any of those.
Thanks to MaffyBoon on AVForums.com for the downgrade tip.
Saturday, 21 May 2011
FetchTV wins two awards...stop looking so surprised
FetchTV, who market the 8320HD, recently won two awards at the Connected TV summit. No, they weren't for "most repeating buttons on a remote control" or "most annoying ad banners in an EPG", but actually for "Outstanding Connected TV Service" and "Outstanding Achievement in Connected TV" - who'd have thought it? Thanks to RowanDDR at AVForums.com for spotting this.
I guess with Youview - likely to steamroller the market that FetchTV/IP Vision have been struggling in - delayed until February 2012, they didn't really have much decent opposition this year. I can't say that any of FetchTV's paid content appeals to me at all (DRM-infested, self-destructing, often not cheap and often months late appearing) and the slow fixing rate of various serious bugs since the 8320HD's launch almost a year ago hasn't put FetchTV in anyone's good books (except, it appears, other TV industry luvvies, who I bet haven't even seen an 8320HD!).
I guess with Youview - likely to steamroller the market that FetchTV/IP Vision have been struggling in - delayed until February 2012, they didn't really have much decent opposition this year. I can't say that any of FetchTV's paid content appeals to me at all (DRM-infested, self-destructing, often not cheap and often months late appearing) and the slow fixing rate of various serious bugs since the 8320HD's launch almost a year ago hasn't put FetchTV in anyone's good books (except, it appears, other TV industry luvvies, who I bet haven't even seen an 8320HD!).
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Tesco Direct throw in free 1m HDMI cable
As part of their final offer, Tesco Direct have also added an extra free 1m HDMI cable worth £4.99 (er, you can buy cables for under £2 elsewhere!) when you buy the 8320HD. A bit strange perhaps, because the 8320HD comes with an HDMI cable already, but I guess it's always nice to have a spare.
I've just ordered an 8320HD for my sister for her birthday, but I'll be loathe to give it to her until Fetch TV release a firmware update to fix the dodgy remote control repeating bug. I'd also like Fetch TV to add auto-padding, because I'm still missing the beginning and ends of programmes unless I manually pad programmes (which is a pain to do). If they fixed those two bugs, the box would have no major issues for me (or ultimiately my sister!).
I've just ordered an 8320HD for my sister for her birthday, but I'll be loathe to give it to her until Fetch TV release a firmware update to fix the dodgy remote control repeating bug. I'd also like Fetch TV to add auto-padding, because I'm still missing the beginning and ends of programmes unless I manually pad programmes (which is a pain to do). If they fixed those two bugs, the box would have no major issues for me (or ultimiately my sister!).
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