Since I switched to Optik TV a few months ago, I have had one glitch with the PVR that required a hard reset (which formats the hard drive). I’m posting the steps here in order to start building a repository of user documentation for Telus’ Optik TV platform.
1) Pull your set-top-box out so that you can see the connections on the back of it.
2) Unplug the power (small black round connection) so that all of the lights on the set-top-box go off.
3) In about 5 seconds, reconnect the power.
4) On the front of the set-top-box, press and hold down the OK button as well as the down arrow button at the same time. When you see the “LINK”, “HD”, “RECORD” lights on the front of the set-top-box blink rapidly, then you can release the two buttons.
5) If done properly, on your TV screen you should see a grey single gear.
After a couple of moments, the screen should advance to display 2 gears and a loading bar near the bottom of the screen. This indicates that your set-top-box is re-downloading the software necessary to perform the reboot. This stage will take quite a while to complete (approximately 30 minutes). Once that is done, you should see a screen with 3 dots which means the software is installed and your set-top-box is finalizing the settings and initializing.
Once complete, you will have a factory default configuration on your Optik TV set top PVR. Any recorded programs will be erased. The nice part of the Optik TV platform is that you will retain your PVR timers and series timers, and if you have configured remote recording control from the iPhone or website, it will still work.
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The Mint.com blog offers up a great info-graphic explaining why you don’t need that $250 monster cable to go with that PS3 and HDTV. Its succinct and to the point, and if you have recently purchased an expensive cable, you need to take it back and buy the cheapest HDMI cable that you can find.
Budget Planner – Mint.com
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The day Bell 6141 HD reciever owners have been waiting for is finally here. Last week, Bell TV (ExpressVu) began delivering firmware version 165 to customers. This new firmware, allows customers to connect a USB 2.0 drive to their 6141 receiver and record video!
You now have a HD PVR with nearly unlimited video recording storage, as you can swap drives to allow you more recording time. Please note that once data is recorded onto the drive, you cannot connect the drive to a computer; nor can you connect the drive to a different 6141 receiver. The 6141 can accept a USB drive up to 1 Terabyte in size, giving you a max recording capacity of up to 100 hours of High Def content.
If you have problems getting your USB drive to work, power cycle your 6141 and you should be good to go.
Please feel free to post your experiences in the comments.
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Is it just me, or has Bell dropped the ball lately with the program guide? Most of the shows I watch have only a generic description and nothing else, causing the PVR to either ignore the event, or record duplicates of the same show. This only started happening a lot at the beginning of October, and has caused me to set all of my times to record “All Episodes” and then manually “skip” the duplicates.
Shaw Cable on the other hand, seems to have their guide together, and it has correct info for almost every show that I checked. Now if only they had the same quality to their HD content that Bell has, and switching would almost be a no brainer.
I am at the end of my Bell contract, and extremly frustrated by the guide, and very tempted to switch now. So my question to the readers of this site is: Have you been having issues with the program guide? If so, please add a comment below with the symptoms that you have been seeing. Bell does read this site, so perhaps somebody will see this and take action!
Rant over.
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Today I noticed that my ExpressVu 9200 PVR now has software version V222. Changes besides updating to the new “Bell” logo include:
- HD logo on items in the PVR list.
- Grouping feature to group episodes of the same show together in the PVR window
- HD subtext on the HD channels in the Guide.
- Pressing the “Guide” button will now cycle through “All Sub”, “All Channels”, and “All HD”.
I’m sure that I have missed something here, so if you find something that I have missed, please leave a comment and I will update the list.
If you are noticing any bugs that have cropped up with the new firmware, try rebooting your receiever to see if it helps, as this will load the new fimware. If you are still having problems, please post a comment below and I will do my best to help.
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This receiver is the second MPEG-4 based receiver released by Bell. Based on the spec’s, this unit will be replacing the 6100 model. The cool thing about this new unit is that it is not a PVR, but it will become a PVR later this year when Bell releases new firmware activating the USB port! This will allow you to connect an external hard drive or an Archos 605 and 705 portable media player.The 6141 HD receiver comes with the PVR remote, and an new EPG (electronic program guide) allowing you to view up to three days of programming on the screen at one time.
Output ports include: Coax, Component, S-Video, Optical, HDMI.
Inputs: 1x Satellite In, OTA Antenna
USB, and Ethernet for future use.
If you have the new 6141, please feel free to post a comment with your experiences or questions.
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ExpressVu HD subscribers will be happy to know that we will be getting two new HD channels that we can subscribe to!
Bell ExpressVu is the first to launch the new Super Channel, and starting on November 2nd, ExpressVu HD subscribers will be the first to preview the new set of stations until November 22nd.
Read more…
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