VectorZ - report on setup and 29/03/2012 test

[VectorZ]

This is a write up on how I set my system up including boot timings and a few configurations regular users might not be aware of.

DISCLAIMER: The following is just the experience and results of mine. They are in no way officially quoted, nor are they guaranteed to be the same figures you achieve with your tests/installs which may vary.

[SUP]*[/SUP]Some things to note - this is a pretty simple setup in order to keep timings typical to regular use without introducing diverse results from the likes of motorised dishes and mutliple sats etc:

• Basic setup with one tuner on fixed dish (Sly 28.2E) - second tuner not configured

• Samsung HDD installed so any timings reported may include a few seconds spin up times give or take

• MGcamd 1.35a was used to clear encrypted channels

• 2 memory stick adaptors with Micro SD cards were used at different points.

• Class 4 1GB Kingston (genuine) for flashing image

• Class 4 2GB Sandisk (origin unknown) for Picons and external memory

• Technomate claim that high quality components have been used which means when turning the system off, it should be left off for at least 1 minute for residual memory to clear. To accomodate this, at any point where I mention switched off it means that not only was the power switch at the back turned off, the power cord was also removed just to be anal In fact, to be even more anal, timings were done using this Stopwatch and this Countdown Timer (Flash required)

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Flashing image and Configuration Wizard

I extracted the TM-Twin-29-03-2012.rar and extracted the contents. I then put the update folder (and all of it's contents) onto a MicroSD and placed in the lower back USB port and turned the power switch on...

It took 8 seconds for the screen to appear asking to press the OK on the top of the box to update

It then took a further 2 mins 52 secs for the screen to appear saying:

Finished!
Please remove USB and
AC power Off and On​

So I switched off[SUP]*[/SUP] for 1 min and swapped the Flash USB stick for a different one, pre-formated FAT32 with a folder of Rat's Picons...

The reason I do this is it's the only way I can find (at the moment) of running Picons from USB. If you install them afterwards from plugins download, you only have the option to install them to hard drive or internal flash. By putting them on the USB stick now and booting up before the wizard will automatically mount USB and EPG will call them from there.

After turning the power switch back on it took 2 mins 11 secs for the first wizard screen to appear.

As mentioned above, to keep it simple I selected:

• simple > single > 28.2E > no DiSEqc for the first tuner, and not configured for the second tuner
• No channel scan
• Fixed IP for network settings
• No parental controls

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Channels and Reboot (timed)

After the wizard had finished I wanted to put some channels on quickly to see how long it would take to boot up again before being bogged down with numerous plugins and EPG's etc.

Using dreamboxEDIT (5.0.1.0) on the PC I imported a slightly tweaked version of Rat's Bouquets HD @DigitalWorldz Enigma2 [Fixed Dish] to the Twin box so there was a FTA channel to boot up to for timing, and in order to get a comparable timing for encrypted channels I also installed an EMU (MGcamd) and FTP'd over my own mg_cfg and newcamd.list config files to var > keys

To install EMU:

menu > plugins > download plugins > softcams > mgcamd 135a (1.35a-r0)

To configure EMU:

FTP newcamd.list (and mg_cfg if you have a tweaked one) into var > keys

menu > setup > softcam / CI > softcam manager:

CCcam​

disable startup​

stop​

MGcamd 1.35a​

enable startup​

start​

I then switched to BBC One HD before turning the power switch off at the back and waiting 1 minute.

From switching the power back on to when the actual picture for BBC One HD appeared on the screen took 1 min 53 secs

I then changed channel to Sly Sports 1 HD before turning off for 1 min and then switching back on again..... it took 1 min 55 secs for the picture to reappear.

The channel change time between both FTA and unencrypted was around a second. Not instant but too quick for me to measure accurately. The whole menu/key response in general is pleasingly nippy

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Image information

I then checked to confirm the image information:

menu > information > about

hardware - TM-Twin-OE
kernel - 2.6.18
image - Experimental
version - 2.3
build - 205
iQ version - TMTWIN-OE-iQ-29/03/12
driver release date - 29/03/12​

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EPG

As this is only configured for fixed dish Sly I only used the XMLTV-Importer and UK Rytec sources for the EPG. There was no need to configure CrossEPG although I have in the past just for UK and it never became an issue until a previous Beta image was tested.

menu > setup > system > EPG > settings:

EPG location - /media/usb/
automatic save - yes
save every (in hours) - 12
show EIT now/next in infobar - yes
enable EIT EPG - yes
enable MHW - no
enable freesat EPG - yes
enable ViaSat - no
enable Netmed EPG - no​

menu > setup > system > EPG > XMLTV-Importer

daily automatic import - enable
automatic start time - 07:30
standby at startup - disable
when in deep standby - skip the import
show in plugin browser - no
show in extensions browser - no
start import after booting up - disable
load long descriptions up to x days - 30​

services:​

Rytec UK XMLTV (tick)​

Rytec UK BBCi XMLTV (tick)​

manual​

<starts a manual import of EPG>​

When finished on mine it reports 67474 events imported

menu > setup > system > EPG > Load/Save > Save EPG

I then configured the graphical EPG by making sure I was back to just the TV picture and pressed the EPG button on the remote followed by the Menu button. You would then make your own preferential changes but make sure you have the following set:

enable picon - yes
items per page - 10 (any more and picons wont show due to row height)

save

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Plugins

I installed a few plugins I use on a regular basis to see if they affected boot up times or performance.

menu > plugins > download plugins

extensions:​

dreamexplorer (7.3)​

filebrowser​

shoutcast​

skins:​

vix-nightihd​

After installing the skin, I changed it in the menu and it asked to reboot Enigma. Once it came back up I turned off at the switch again for 1 minute and then back on again to time boot up.

From off to Sky Sport HD1 picture took 1 min 53 secs

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Network Mounts

I use quite a few network mounts to watch media from a PC upstairs. There may be a few ways of setting them up but this is how I did it.

On the PC running Windows 7 I shared a folder with an easy and descriptive name... tv - to avoid any possible path problems on either side of the divide, I stick to lowercase naming and no spaces. I then created a user account on the PC that had the appropriate access permissions to this folder and gave it a password.

lan > mount manager > add new network mount point

mount using - FSTAB (mount using linux)
active - enable
local sharename - tv (the folder within /media/net on the TM-Twin this will be accessible from)
mount type - CIFS share
server ip - 192.168.0.100 (the IP address of the PC/source your pulling from)
server share - tv (the descriptive name of the share you created on the PC/source)
use as HDD replacement - no
mount options - ro (read only. Use rw if you want to make it writeable but use with care)
username - myuser (user account that has permission on PC/source)
password - mypass (password you created for this user)​

Using the above I mount the following 7 shares:

tv
films
music
kids_tv
kids_films
training01
training02

In a final test to see what effect all the above resources would have on boot times and performance, I did a final power off for 1 minute and back on.......... 1 min 53 secs

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Conclusions

It would appear that none of this extra stuff has any effect on boot times, and performance is as responsive as it was at the start.... I always end up at the same 1 min 53 secs boot time.

As with previous experience during beta testing there will always be the odd glitch that'll lead to a spinning iQ or even a green screen but on the whole I'm very impressed with this box and would expect the odd gremlin on other available boxes.

There are a few features that I would like to see fixed however:

• I still can't get timeshift to work! I press pause and the pic pauses but when I resume it just waits a sec and jumps forward to the current point of source. This worked on previous beta's but for the life of me I can't get it going now.

• Perminant timeshift would also be nice.

• Recorded media plays back and performs well but avi/mkv from elsewhere are still prone to the periodic pausing problem. When resuming from a pause, sometimes the picture remains paused but the sound carries on. A few more pause presses will often resume normally but it is not ideal. I can also not rewind. I can jump back and forth set intervals using the set digit keys but not seeking.

• I noticed the play light on the front display would often stay on after a while. A reboot would clear it. I'd need longer testing to see if other lights went wrong as in previous beta's

• Info bar now/next updating

• Fan control bars working for Standby fan (fan speed works, but on-screen display doesn't)

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A few extra notes

During beta testing I've noticed a few little things and comments from others that might come in handy...

• wobbly power socket - if the point on the back of the box where you plug your power adapter into feels wobbly/loose, don't panic too much. This is only a socket on a bracket and not direct into the PSU itself. There's a good 3 inches of cable between the socket and the actual power supply which is firmly attached to the base.

• HDD wont mount or reports -1GB free space - on occasion i've had this problem and the only thing I could do to get it going again is to remove the HDD and connect it to the PC. I then wiped the partition using EaseUS Partition Manager (it's free) and create an unformatted NTFS partition before putting it back into the TM-Twin and rebooting. The drive will then be recognised and you can initialize/format it again. I did try doing Ext3 on the PC but it wouldn't recognise the disc/filesystem when put back in Twin
  
  This may also happen on Vu+ Duo or something similar and there may be another solution but as I don't have this box I don't know. Please share if you know a better way as it can be a horrible way to lose your recordings.

• Picons on USB - I mentioned at the start that at the current time the only way I know to get picons reading from USB is to put the folder on a USB stick in the back while setting up.

There are several services and ports running as default. Closing the uneeded ones may improve performance somewhere along the line or you may just be security conscious and would prefer them close.

 

[Rat]

Nice detailed write up VectorZ

I wont lie and say I'm really surprised at reading this and Digi's thread earlier but I respect both your findings and will be plugging mine back in soon and trying this latest image

lets just hope the next released image it another step forward and not a step back

I'll leave it there good to read though

 

[VectorZ]

lets just hope the next released image it another step forward and not a step back

Just the one step back. Fook me you're an optimist aren't you?

 

[F1Mad]

Great thread, VectorZ!

I used this as a guide to upgrade my own box, and it certainly helped a LOT. There are however some things that I had to do slightly differently, or didn't quite work for me, so here goes...

1) Flashing image and Configuration Wizard - Being lazy, I tried to put the update USB stick in the front of the unit rather than the back, but it just didn't do anything. As soon as I put it in the back, all was fine (I know you mentioned you'd put the stick in the lower back USB slot, but I just wanted to add more info as to what happens with other slots).

2) Channels and Reboot (timed) - After the update was applied, I had to do a scan when setting up the channels. I'm not sure if it's because I simply try to FTP Rat's bouquet and that's why none of the services were working, or whether I had to do the scan AND install Rat's bouquet from the plugins, and then overwrite it with the most recent bouquet by using dreamboxEDIT. In any case, doing the scan and loading the bouquet from plugins seemed to get me up and running again.

3) EPG - mine didn't have an option for "services" under "menu > setup > system > EPG > XMLTV-Importer", but had "sources" instead, which seemed to do the same thing (not sure if this means my image is slightly different to yours?).

4) Mounting of USB stick - Because my box was previously bricked, I had to disconnect the internal HHD until after the update. This meant that I only had the USB stick (with picons on) in the back. This meant that the USB stick got mounted as /media/hdd. However, after shutting down and re-connecting the internal HDD, once booted up the USB stick had been mounted as /media/usb and the HDD as /media/hdd (phew! All back to normal!!). Once this was done, then I could finally change the EPG location to be the USB stick.

I'll try the networking stuff next and post back here. The same instructions certainly didn't work on the "23/03/2012" image, but here's hoping to works on this image...

 

[VectorZ]

1) Flashing image and Configuration Wizard - Being lazy, I tried to put the update USB stick in the front of the unit rather than the back, but it just didn't do anything. As soon as I put it in the back, all was fine (I know you mentioned you'd put the stick in the lower back USB slot, but I just wanted to add more info as to what happens with other slots).

My memory isn't the greatest but I thought I used to use the front port when I first got it. Have you got the leaflet/guide that came in the box? I think it says on a diagram on there which ones can be flashed from

2) Channels and Reboot (timed) - After the update was applied, I had to do a scan when setting up the channels. I'm not sure if it's because I simply try to FTP Rat's bouquet and that's why none of the services were working, or whether I had to do the scan AND install Rat's bouquet from the plugins, and then overwrite it with the most recent bouquet by using dreamboxEDIT. In any case, doing the scan and loading the bouquet from plugins seemed to get me up and running again.

I've certainly done my own scans and bouqets previously but for the last hald a dozen times or so, sending from dreamboxEDIT was enough. Do you send a reload command when FTP'ing manually?

3) EPG - mine didn't have an option for "services" under "menu > setup > system > EPG > XMLTV-Importer", but had "sources" instead, which seemed to do the same thing (not sure if this means my image is slightly different to yours?).

Doh! Yep typo, well spotted

4) Mounting of USB stick - Because my box was previously bricked, I had to disconnect the internal HHD until after the update. This meant that I only had the USB stick (with picons on) in the back. This meant that the USB stick got mounted as /media/hdd. However, after shutting down and re-connecting the internal HDD, once booted up the USB stick had been mounted as /media/usb and the HDD as /media/hdd (phew! All back to normal!!). Once this was done, then I could finally change the EPG location to be the USB stick.

You should by rights be able to go into the mountmanager and play about with chosen paths yourself but I think it's a bit temporamental

I'll try the networking stuff next and post back here. The same instructions certainly didn't work on the "23/03/2012" image, but here's hoping to works on this image...

It's been a good'n for me although sometimes for no reason, a perfectly good share will show a x/cross on the status page warranting a 'mount again' or deleting and re-adding. I don't know if these anomalies are to do with iQ/TM or whether they happen on the Duo as well.