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.
apeman DVR, HDTV, home theatre, Optik, PVR, Telus CIS430, Cisco, HDTV, Optik, OptikTV, Telus, Telus TV, TV
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.
apeman DVR, expressvu, HDTV, home theatre, news, PVR, tech, video 6141, Bell, Bell TV, BellTV, expressvu, HD, HD PVR, HDTV, satellite
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.
apeman 9200, DVR, expressvu, HDTV, PVR, rants Bell TV, expressvu, HD PVR, HDTV, Program Guide, Shaw Cable
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.
apeman 9200, DVR, expressvu, HDTV, PVR 9200, 9220, Bell, expressvu, HDTV, PVR
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…
apeman DVR, expressvu, HDTV, home theatre, news, PVR, tech
Last week, Bell ExpressVu quitely began shipping the new HD 9242 HD PVR to Bell stores. The new receiver, has been long expected because of ExpressVu’s impending shift to MPEG-4 over MPEG-2.
The new receiver, which has been rumored for several months now has finally shown up, and adds increased HD recording capacity (30 Hours, vs 24 hours on the 9200), its black! (unlike the silver unit in the picture) and it has an S-Video output for TV2.
Right now, there is no reason to upgrade your 9200 to the 9242 unless you are having technical problems, or you really need the extra 5 hours of HD recording capacity. Bell is not expected to begin rolling out MPEG-4 unil at least 2009.
If you have a 9242, I’d like to hear your impressions of the new unit in the comments below, likewise, if you have a question, please post a comment and I will do my best to answer it for you.
apeman expressvu, HDTV, news, PVR
The biggest complaint about the Bell ExpressVu PVR models was finally addressed today, all Bell ExpressVu receivers should now be capable of a 9 day program guide. I can’t confirm if this is the case for other reciever models first hand, but early reports and email tips show that this is the case.
The limitation of a 40 hour guide was by far the largest complaint of ExpressVu 9200 HD PVR owners, and owners of Bell’s earlier PVR models. ExpressVu had been quietly updating the firmware of their receivers over the summer, and just flipped the 9 day guide switch sometime today.
With the addition of the 9 day guide comes 9200 firmware version 150. I have not noticed any new enhancements other than the longer guide, but the extra days of information will be really useful for planning PVR recording timers.
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apeman 9200, 9220, expressvu, HDTV, home theatre, news, PVR, tech
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