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You contact the retailer in the first instance. Information on consumer rights is available on the Citizens Advice website. As Humax have acknowledged the problem, the retailer may well offer a full or partial refund, depending how long you’ve had the box.
Or you could wait for the update.
Hi All,
Firstly, I want to report that my box is back working since last night. Checked again this morning and fingers crossed all is good. Recordings are back; pause works; recordings will play.
This is great news for me, but I hope that other users can also report some good news. Can anyone else confirm if their units are “fixed” ?
I would still would like to know, from Humax, what exactly is going on. Are they working in the background with software updates? Was my unit fixed permanently or temporarily, i.e. will it go down again?
I also note some users are linking the problem with the use of the app on their android phones. I have the app, but I use it very little, it’s just a bit of fun. However, I did use it approx 10 days ago to record a show, could this be linked with my box “deleting” the HDD some days later? I think this is very possible. I am going to delete the app from my phone for now, I won’t miss it too much. if this resolves the HDD issue I will be happy.
I Hope other users have some good news to report. Please let us know if the HDD issue resolved itself. In my view, Humax are still the Bad Boys for not being honest and upfront about this HDD issue. Let’s see if they come up with any news in the coming week or so.
Best of luck to all.
There have been no OTA s/w updates. The current release is still.18. This is not unexpected behaviour for disks that are failing. Short of physical damage, dropped being an example, they rarely fail “hard” in the sense that they don’t work at all. Very often they exhibit startup problems for a long period. It is of course perfectly possible that this is s/w related, but equally strange in that it is only impacting a small subset of users.
can also report recordings are back, visible/playable files, also can record to disc too. Have set up some stuff to record over the weekend so will see how it copes. I mentioned earlier I’ve never downloaded the app, but also noticed for past year+ how the disc keeps ‘firing up’ every few minutes day and night so wouldn’t be surprised if it failed – agree tho HDD’s don’t fail like that (a flash drive would) and agree too the products are not fit for purpose. We, the consumers, are performing the trials for their products and pay them for the privilege. Probably won’t do any good (but made me feel better) I put a review on AMAZON too. Good idea re. trading standards
mkiely – 5 hours ago » …I have the app, but I use it very little…
It’s not your interactive use of the app that is the problem. The problem is that the very fact that you have “paired” the app to your Humax box will cause the box to boot up every 20 mins, approx, to check the Freesat servers to determine if you have remotely set a recording schedule. You could have paired the app then never used it all but the box will still boot up as described.
mikey101 – 39 minutes ago » …I’ve never downloaded the app, but also noticed for past year+ how the disc keeps ‘firing up’ every few minutes day and night…
That is very strange, pairing of the app to the box would cause it to do that, or setting an on/off time in settings. There has not been any other cause for that reported in 3 years of use, afaik.
Personally I’m not convinced it’s the frequent HDD startup sequences that are at the root of the problem.
When my HDR1000 stopped recording I bought a brand new HDR1010 as soon as I had installed it I paired it with the same Freetime account, on the same iPhone, with the same scheduled recordings still on on the app and low and behold the identicle problem appeared on the 1010 as I had on the HDR1000. Could be a coincidence or maybe the same bug that had knocked over the 1000 did the same to the 1010 via the app schedule.
After a number of weeks of frustration at my “just out of warranty” Humax 1010S intermittently showing no recordings and failing to start any on demand shows, I finally got to the bottom of it after the insights on this thread so I felt it worth sharing my experience here in case it helps someone else.
Short version… the FreeSat app was the cause of the issue. I removed the connection to the app by signing out of My Humax on the 1010 and thereafter the problem disappeared.
Long version…
When I (or expectant “all technology should just work” child/wife/etc) started our 2 yr old 1010S, it would frequently show no recordings, even though we had about 250GB of data on the 500GB drive. Furthermore, I could get to the On Demand guides and select a programme, but it would try to buffer and then fail to start. This also meant that scheduled recordings also failed. Occasionally it would all work as expected, but more often than not the above would be the result. I tried all other tips that didn’t involve PC/Linux diagnostics (leave it for a while after turning it on, reset things, plug in a USB drive, upgrade firmware, etc) but it was still the same. I then bought a new 1TB drive off Amazon, swapped it out (which is easy) and then found the issue was the same. Out of warranty and now having voided it anyway, it was looking like a replacement was needed.
But then I came across this thread and miraculously the FreeSat app fix has sorted me out – I’m back to a 100% functioning 1010S, now with an almost empty 1TB drive to go at (and a 500GB one waiting to become an external HDD). More miraculously actually, seeing as I’m an app developer, I hadn’t considered this being the issue, but despite it representing fundamentally poor programming it is easy to see how this could feasibly be the issue. As you’d expect, if the FreeSat box is “connected” to a FreeSat app, there must be some communication between the two whilst you’re not using the box and/or on startup. Therefore, whilst the outcome might not obviously be related to the app, it is plausible that the issue is caused by it, and certainly removing the “connection” has fixed my box and and I’ve had zero recurrences of it since.
Hope that helps someone else avoid spending £ unnecessarily on a new drive and/or spending £££ on a new box. It’s a very shoddy bug from Humax/FreeSat I think, in what otherwise I think is the best box out there.
Edit: It doesn’t make any difference (because it’s not the fault of the mobile app itself but rather the software on the box), but I realise I should have stated, I was using the iPhone version of the FreeSat app. It isn’t the mobile app which itself is buggy though (admittedly it isn’t a great app, but that’s not the point of this thread!).
onebc – 51 minutes ago »
After a number of weeks of frustration at my “just out of warranty” Humax 1010S intermittently showing no recordings and failing to start any on demand shows, I finally got to the bottom of it after the insights on this thread so I felt it worth sharing my experience here in case it helps someone else.
Short version… the FreeSat app was the cause of the issue. I removed the connection to the app by signing out of My Humax on the 1010 and thereafter the problem disappeared.
Long version…
When I (or expectant “all technology should just work” child/wife/etc) started our 2 yr old 1010S, it would frequently show no recordings, even though we had about 250GB of data on the 500GB drive. Furthermore, I could get to the On Demand guides and select a programme, but it would try to buffer and then fail to start. This also meant that scheduled recordings also failed. Occasionally it would all work as expected, but more often than not the above would be the result. I tried all other tips that didn’t involve PC/Linux diagnostics (leave it for a while after turning it on, reset things, plug in a USB drive, upgrade firmware, etc) but it was still the same. I then bought a new 1TB drive off Amazon, swapped it out (which is easy) and then found the issue was the same. Out of warranty and now having voided it anyway, it was looking like a replacement was needed.
But then I came across this thread and miraculously the FreeSat app fix has sorted me out – I’m back to a 100% functioning 1010S, now with an almost empty 1TB drive to go at (and a 500GB one waiting to become an external HDD). More miraculously actually, seeing as I’m an app developer, I hadn’t considered this being the issue, but despite it representing fundamentally poor programming it is easy to see how this could feasibly be the issue. As you’d expect, if the FreeSat box is “connected” to a FreeSat app, there must be some communication between the two whilst you’re not using the box and/or on startup. Therefore, whilst the outcome might not obviously be related to the app, it is plausible that the issue is caused by it, and certainly removing the “connection” has fixed my box and and I’ve had zero recurrences of it since.
Hope that helps someone else avoid spending £ unnecessarily on a new drive and/or spending £££ on a new box. It’s a very shoddy bug from Humax/FreeSat I think, in what otherwise I think is the best box out there.
Edit: It doesn’t make any difference (because it’s not the fault of the mobile app itself but rather the software on the box), but I realise I should have stated, I was using the iPhone version of the FreeSat app. It isn’t the mobile app which itself is buggy though (admittedly it isn’t a great app, but that’s not the point of this thread!).
Thanks for the input this fits exactly with my suspicion that the problem is somehow induced by the app.
mikey101 – 18 hours ago »
I mentioned earlier I’ve never downloaded the app, but also noticed for past year+ how the disc keeps ‘firing up’ every few minutes day and night
Did you ever sign up for an account at myhumax.net?
Quote:As you’d expect, if the FreeSat box is “connected” to a FreeSat app, there must be some communication between the two whilst you’re not using the box and/or on startup.There’s a considerable amount of communication between box and servers to keep Showcase and the backwards EPG updated, regardless of whether the app is ever used or paired. Signing up for a myhumax.net account, and receiving a Reg Code, allows user-specific communication, such as recording requests or targeted recommendations/advertising. (Also perhaps including the use via the Humax portal of various social media apps?)
When a box has been linked via app-pairing, breaking the pairing apparently breaks the Reg Code link and stops all targeted communication. If a box gets linked via the Humax Portal, maybe it’s necessary to sign out of the humax.net account to break the link and stop the targeted communication. That might explain why some users get the fault without ever having downloaded the app.
Billibob – 12 minutes ago »
Thanks for the input this fits exactly with my suspicion that the problem is somehow induced by the app.
While it is possible that a paired app is the root of the problem, it is also possible that the vastly increased number of boots provides may more chances of hitting a combination of circumstances that gives rise to the problem.
Many, including myself, have the app installed on my phone but unpaired so it can be used as a remote with built in programme guide.
Before the app became available I and others very, very occasionally came across the no recordings problem, however it would be fixed just with a standby cycle. My theory is that this behaviour has now changed to the serious problem mentioned in this thread.
Hopefully Humax will find a solution soon.
There’s a considerable amount of communication between box and servers to keep Showcase and the backwards EPG updated, regardless of whether the app is ever used or paired. Signing up for a myhumax.net account, and receiving a Reg Code, allows user-specific communication, such as recording requests or targeted recommendations/advertising.
Possibly relevant – a516digital article from Aug 2015:
Quote:…broadcasters keen to exploit targeted advertising on TV have approached UK regulator Ofcom to find out how offering targeted advertising will affect them from a regulatory point of view.
On Tuesday, Ofcom responded by issuing new guidelines about the use of these new technologies, notably Sky’s Ad Smart service, that allow broadcasters to replace adverts shown on a normal TV channel with alternative targeted advertisements delivered via the internet.
Sky Ad Smart says it will select adverts based on “factors such as age, location, life style or even if they have a cat!” It obtains relevant customer data from Sky’s customer database and information from consumer profile experts such as Experian. According to publicly available information from Sky, Ad Smart is available on all Sky channels, plus Lifetime, CI, Fox and National Geographic, but may soon expand to other broadcasters.
Ofcom says that channels who have the ability to control which adverts go out to different users can do so under their current broadcast licences. But TV channels will need to keep recordings and a log of which adverts are being served to users and when they are being transmitted for compliance purposes. And broadcasters who want to use targeted advertising will need to write to Ofcom telling the regulator how they intend to produce recordings for whenever Ofcom or the Advertising Standards Agency want to investigate.
Where broadcasters don’t have control over which adverts go out during the ad breaks, then Ofcom says it’s likely the targeted ad service will need to come under a new broadcast licence.
http://www.a516digital.com/2015/08/targeted-adverts-on-tv-ofcom-issues-new.html
Preparing to comply with these new guidelines may be necessitating changes from both Humax and Freesat, which could perhaps have led to this recent increase in fault reports?
i have been away for a week so there has been no activity on my HDR-1010S. Have been reading all the latest posts so thought I’d retry if the HDD would be recognised. I opened the freesat app on my iPhone and switched on HDR1010S, went into settings to unpair the app. It then advised to go into settings and format the HDD (which has never happened before) so I pressed OK and it formatted the HDD! I was totally surprised this happened. My HDR1010S is now working correctly and I can pause, rewind and record. The app also works to schedule recordings. So glad I waited and didn’t waste money purchasing a new HDR-1100.
JamesB – 1 hour ago »
There’s a considerable amount of communication between box and servers to keep Showcase and the backwards EPG updated, regardless of whether the app is ever used or paired. Signing up for a myhumax.net account, and receiving a Reg Code, allows user-specific communication, such as recording requests or targeted recommendations/advertising.
Possibly relevant – a516digital article from Aug 2015:
Quote:…broadcasters keen to exploit targeted advertising on TV have approached UK regulator Ofcom to find out how offering targeted advertising will affect them from a regulatory point of view.
On Tuesday, Ofcom responded by issuing new guidelines about the use of these new technologies, notably Sky’s Ad Smart service, that allow broadcasters to replace adverts shown on a normal TV channel with alternative targeted advertisements delivered via the internet.
Sky Ad Smart says it will select adverts based on “factors such as age, location, life style or even if they have a cat!” It obtains relevant customer data from Sky’s customer database and information from consumer profile experts such as Experian. According to publicly available information from Sky, Ad Smart is available on all Sky channels, plus Lifetime, CI, Fox and National Geographic, but may soon expand to other broadcasters.
Ofcom says that channels who have the ability to control which adverts go out to different users can do so under their current broadcast licences. But TV channels will need to keep recordings and a log of which adverts are being served to users and when they are being transmitted for compliance purposes. And broadcasters who want to use targeted advertising will need to write to Ofcom telling the regulator how they intend to produce recordings for whenever Ofcom or the Advertising Standards Agency want to investigate.
Where broadcasters don’t have control over which adverts go out during the ad breaks, then Ofcom says it’s likely the targeted ad service will need to come under a new broadcast licence.
http://www.a516digital.com/2015/08/targeted-adverts-on-tv-ofcom-issues-new.html
Preparing to comply with these new guidelines may be necessitating changes from both Humax and Freesat, which could perhaps have led to this recent increase in fault reports?
Very interesting as I mentioned in an earlier post my problems seemed to coincide with ITV Player updating to ITV Hub. I wonder?
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