Troublesome Freeview box

[barryk]

I keep getting this error message with the Freeview box I purchased from Dick Smith Electronics (DSE):
"Information: Software upgrading. Please don't turn off power".

This happens every time I turn Freeview on for my TV in HDMI mode.

Initially this message was on for 1 minute then 3 mins and now it stays on for at least 10 mins.

DSE told me that repair work costs $89 per hour. I saw several Freeview terrestrial recorder boxes for sale in DSE for around $110 or $130.

What courses of action do you suggest for me to resolve this issue?

Many thanks,
Barry.

[Speedy Gonzales]

Whats the brand / model of the receiver you've got now?? I take it this is connected to the internet somehow?? if it isnt, disable auto updating

[wainuitech]

Is it still under Warranty??

Since they have said

DSE told me that repair work costs $89 per hour.

That indicates they suggest its got a fault and if still in warranty shouldn't cost you anything.

If its under warranty still, and they refuse, then mention the CGA and remind them of the recent Fairgo program where they were found in the wrong charging for repairs relating to products under warranty.

[barryk]

Whats the brand / model of the receiver you've got now?? I take it this is connected to the internet somehow?? if it isnt, Mdisable auto updating

the box says freeview/hd g7503-dse hd digital terrestrial receiver. I got it from DSE about four years ago so doubt it is still under warranty. But will use my financial program to find out the date I bought it. Once I find out I will report back. Be in touch soon. No it's not connected to the Net. How do I disable auto updating if that's what the box is doing?

[Speedy Gonzales]

Go into its options see if there's an update/auto update option. I have no idea where it is. I dont have the same box. Have a read of the manual

[feersumendjinn]

I would imagine the auto-updating (firmware?) would be received "over the air" as my Zinwell 620hd does/did (it is an approved Freeview receiver though).

What it could be trying to do is update/add the new channels (Sommet sport etc) and failing for some reason, try going into it's settings and do an automatic channel scan.

Alternatively, have a look on DSE's website and see if there's any firmware or other updates there for it, put it on a flash drive and update it that way.

(Are you sure you don't have Freeview built into your tv?).

[Speedy Gonzales]

Dont think you'll find it on the DSE site now. So, you may have a hard time finding the fw update. Unless you ring them and see if they can give you a link

[gneill]

Dont think you'll find it on the DSE site now. So, you may have a hard time finding the fw update. Unless you ring them and see if they can give you a link

It may pay to check the power supply capacitors, mine has done them in, there is a site on the net that will tell you which ones to change. If you have problems finding it, give me a yell.

[barryk]

I did a search in my financial program for the transaction with DSE where I bought the Freeview (FVW) box and found what I think is the right one (but not 100% certain it is):
03/11/2009 DSE 587 $228.00

If the 03/11/2009 date is correct then I'm probably out of warranty with this FVW box but will check with DSE Glenfield which is just a few mins walk from here.

Two questions here: 1) Would DSE 587 be the correct store code for DSE's Newmarket store? 2) Perhaps I posted PressF1 forum messages about my major problem with TV signal reception around November 2009 (more info about this earlier problem follows below)?

I remember having a huge problem with the signal reception for my TV (the TV picture was terrible most of the time!) in my old Auckland Central apartment around that time. The aerial or aerial line was an analogue one. So I thought I would get a device that receives a digital signal to make that problem disappear! I saw the Freeview box at DSE's Newmarket store and bought it and took it home. It was a while (a few days? a few weeks?) before I managed to get past the security codes or something in order to make the box work.

Once I got the box working and receiving the digital signal, the TV was showing a perfect picture all the time :-)

With this thread so far, there have been several suggestions to try different things like checking the capacitors and turning off the updating option or something like that.

I can see that it will take an investigation of options to successfully resolve this current issue of making the update error message go away. (the update error message is "Information: Software upgrading. Please don't turn off power".).

I'd rather not spend another $120 to get another Freeview receiver to make this current issue go away.

I am absolutely certain my Freeview box is not built into my TV because the Freeview box is separate from my TV and I can easily move the Freeview box around :-)

[barryk]

And where do I look in the FVW box for those capacitors and how do I tell if they're done in or not? Thanks.