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.

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.

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.

• 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.

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.

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.

Super Channel HD1 will mirror the content of Super Channel 1 in High Definition.

Super Channel HD2 will feature movies, and special events in HD.

In addition to the two HD stations, Superchannel will offer 4 standard definition channels, with SuperChannel 1 being a mirror of SuperChannel HD1.

There is no word yet on pricing, if anybody knows what it will cost, please post a comment below.

More information about Super Channel can be found at the bell website, playback magazine, and official Super Channel homepage.  You can also find more information on channel 329, and of course watch the free preview from November 2nd – 22nd on channel 843 and 844.

Its worth mentioning that ExpressVu has also stated that the Ethernet port, and the USB 2.0 ports on the two new recievers are to be disabled at launch, reserving them for “future use”.

With all of the uncertainty surrounding the new HD receivers, I’m glad I decided to rent my 9200. I won’t loose anything when the new receivers are finally released, and with the date pushed back, the new units will be available at the same time as my contract is up.

I’m still trying to “discover” all of the many changes, and I will post the updates as I discover them.

Here is a list that can get you started, if you notice anything new, please feel free to post below.

In summary, the unit feels a lot faster,  and more reliable. I also like the diagnostic changes, and the updates to the guide.

• Daylight Savings time fix (remember DST comes three weeks early starting this year).
• Picture in Picture (PIP) has been revamped to include “side by side” mode.
• The system information screen has been totally revamped, menu, 6-1-3
• The guide now shows more information, season, show number, and original air date. The same info is also shown on the PVR screen.
• The ability to rename events on the PVR.
• General bug fixes, HDMI audio sync, HD 30 second skip.

Rumour and speculation are rampant this week as news is starting to leak out that Bell ExpressVu will be releasing two new HD recievers sometime in April 2007. Just to be clear, this has not been confirmed, and my sources at Bell tell me that its “Very Likely”. Considering the enevitable upgrade to MPEG 4 later this year, it makes perfect sense that Bell would start to sell a new HD and HD PVR reciever.

The ViP-211 

The first rumoured unit is the Echostar ViP-211 HD Reciever. It is the relacement for the 61xx series of current HD recievers. Its nothing too spectacular, but it does have a smaller form factor than the current 61xx.

The ViP-622 DVR 

The second, and more exciting unit is the ViP-622 DVR, which is going to replace the 9200 / 9220 HD PVR. Aside from MPEG-4 support, this unit is not much of an upgrade, HD recording goes from 24hrs to 30 hours. Echostar did announce the ViP-622-1 at CES this year, which has a larger capacity drive, and support for adding additional external hard drives via the built in USB port. Hopefully, Bell will decide to use the 622-1. Pictured is the current ViP-622, which has been available to Dish Network subscribers in the states for almost a year.

I am very interested in these new recievers, and I hope to get my hands on the ViP-622-1 should be chose to release the model with the larger hard drive. If not, I will be waiting until MPEG-4 is ready, and let Bell upgrade me for free.

I should also point out, there is no word yet on what model number Bell will be using for these two new recievers yet.