I should update this thread to say that I changed absolutely nothing but today the Humax is appearing in the Network Locations section of Windows 10 File Explorer and lo and behold exactly as per Barry’s FAQ I can now transfer SD recordings to the computer. The transfer rate was a very acceptable 11MB/s and the recordings are decrypted and appear with a .mpeg extension and play in VLC. When I have time I will reverse some of the changes I made and see if I can understand the minimum requirement for this to work.

DavidA – 1 hour ago  » 

The question I am now asking myself is how can I make sure I don’t lose these recordings again as the system appears to be unstable.

I think the only real solution is to get someone who knows what they are doing to replace the faulty component on the motherboard.

norbellini – 2 hours ago  » 

one router netgear dg834g

Any WiFi extenders or similar?

Christina2018 – 55 minutes ago  » 

I was just wondered if anyone knew what the life expectancy of a freeview recorder box was on average?

My last one (which was the first one I’d had that recorded and wasn’t just a normal freeview box) a Humax 9300t lasted 7 years.

The 9300T has more known problems which render it unusable than most Humax boxes (although there are worse). The earlier 9200T has a much better reliability record but suffers from changes by the broadcasters (far more channels broadcast now than when it was introduced) so that the software struggles due to inadequate hardware resources. The later HDR-FOX T2 also has a good reliability record and many are still in service after nine years but a number of different hardware issues are emerging.

To try and answer the question, I would say the average life of the electronics in a Humax PVR is around ten years but a percentage will fail sooner than that. I agree with Graham that it is not uncommon to need to change the hard drive sooner than ten years.

Do keep in mind the possibility that changes by broadcasters might make a box obsolescent before the electronics fail.

mickiow – 29 minutes ago  » 

Apart from returning the box if still in warrantee, and Humax’s stock answer of re setting which I do carry out, what can be done to resolve it?

Depends what is causing it; on the HDR-FOX T2 for instance the Humax code has been examined and it seems that a significant number of network related issues do not have correct error handling and that results in crashes for people with sub optimal networks. How often do you get crashes?

It is the lost part recorded programs that annoy me!

I can understand that; I have only had an FVP-5000T for three months but so far the recording performance has been faultless.

RICWALLAR – 9 hours ago  » 

I have a similar issue but I cannot access from my PC any files on my FVP4000T to copy onto or play them on my PC. My PC is running current Windows 10 64 bit 1803. My Humax software is up to date (UKTFAE 1.03.45). The SAMBA server is enabled and the wireless network is connected and operating correctly.

I can’t persuade the Humax to show up in the Computers section of Network which other SAMBA servers do. However I can mount the Recordings folder with

net use h: \IPAddressRecordings

(Replace IPAddress with actual IP address of your Humax.)

I can then copy SD content from the FVP-5000T to my PC but it is, as far as I can tell, not being decrypted so is only useful as backup. Please can someone who uses this method tell us what the trick is to get the content decrypted?

In my PC File Explorer the FVP4000T appears, with a single folder called MyContents. This is shown as being empty. In Windows Media Player, under “Other Libraries” the FVP4000T appears under “remote libraries” with items called Music, Videos, Pictures, Recorded TV. All are shown as empty. But I have 195 recordings stored in the Humax internal HDD.

Are the recordings SD or HD or a mix? On my setup in Windows Media Player I get SD recordings shown in the video section. I only get sound on playback but I assume I would need to add CODECs to be able to get the video. However I can play the recordings with picture and sound in VLC.

bazatheman – 3 hours ago  » 

Hi all … just removed my TiVo and phone from my virgin media account … my mate gave me 2 hdr-fox t2 boxes last year ( was going to do this last year but was talked out of it with a promise of a v6 box free) now got my Hummy in line on freeview…. done a few mods already … yellow screen cover removed and harddisk upgraded…. baz

Have you installed the custom firmware (which greatly improves the capability pf the HDR-FOX T2)?