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.

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.

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.

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.

Also, with the start of the fall TV season, Bell ExpressVu has discontinued Bell TV Magazine, replacing it with the new SHOW magazine. The new format is a welcome change, and likely tied to the conversion to a 9-day guide. The old magazine, which was a useless paper schedule has been replaced with a very readable useful magazine. SHOW magazine will launch their new website on September 1st.

Not the kind of news that we normally look forward to (new HD channels) but its a a win-win for ExpressVu customers, considering that after two years we did not expect to see a 9 day guide until MPEG-4 gets launched.

If you have noticed any new features with your ExpressVu 9200, please leave a comment below. If you do not see the 9 day guide yet, please power cycle your ExpressVu receiver to download and/or activate the new firmware.

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.

The main reason for the update to the list appears to be the addition of HDNet to StarChoice and Shaw Cable’s lineup. (not too surprising, StarChoice is owned by Shaw). Bell has had HD for a while now, and they still appear to be the HD leader in Canada.

I’m not expecting to see many new HD channels this year, Bell is expected to focus on upgrading to MPEG-4, adding additional bandwidth for HD channels, as they try to stay ahead of the Cable, and IPTV providers.

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.