Emporium

The firmware issue which was unfortunately stuck with no updates was addressed pretty quickly (it can happen to anyone, and they did own up to it). 3 options were provided: If you have a small SD card (even a small 8GB was plenty - probably even smaller would suffice), you can download the required files, make yourself a microSD card and a procedure was provided on how to boot from the SD card and take the update to get past this. Other option was that Buzz would send you a microSD card to do the update if you really did not have and SD card, and not willing to buy $5(max) card... And in some rare cases where people could not follow instructions and bricked their boxes, Buzz did provide replacements. I had come into possession of a large number of 8GB microSD cards, and even though I do not work for Buzz, I personally even offered many users to create a card and ship it to them. For many of my colleagues, I had them bring their boxes into the office and I did the update for them. It was a simple process. Every company has had glitches and strange events. Hell I have boxes from all sorts, from generic Android boxes, Mii Boxes, Nvidia and even BeeLink. They have ALL had their issues. BeeLink even abandoned support for one of their boxes less than 6 months after release, when they could not fix some video issues when they first ventured into the S912 CPU. What distinguishes them is how they recover from it and provide the support. Buzz has not abandoned anyone. For every 100 happy customers, you will always have at least 1 grumpy idiot who doesn't even try to help themselves and all they do is complain. And they tend to be very vocal. So I take many of these complaints with a grain of salt. Those who are willing to debug and answer questions to determine the source of the problem, often get the help they are looking for and then some.

Also gave the X5 a pretty damn nice review also (4.7 on 5). And this was not just first impressions, it was after using it as his regular box for about a week.

The few bad reviews are from a handful of users who came here asking for help, but refused to answer the questions asked of them. They assume they know everything and refuse to answer simple questions. If the unit turns out to be defective (and every company has a few), Buzz is pretty damn good at replacing them. Also, one of the biggest issue with the U5, is people with previous buzzTV boxes, have a tendency of trying the lazy option when swapping boxes, and tend to use the power supply of their previous box. The power supply fits (unfortunately), and will often even power up the box. But the other boxes (except for the 4900) all use a 5V power supply. The 4900 and U5 use a 12V power supply and hence will be very unstable with a 5V power supply. Also, some people want the boxes so badly, and even though they are not for sale in their country, they will go through freight forwarders or other logistics companies to get their box to their country. If something goes wrong however, don't expect Buzz to pick up the warranty shipping to a country they technically do not ship to (even though they have in some cases). And because of this, they are pretty bitter. And I don't have issues with 4900 and the numbering. However during one of the last updates, for some reason the default sort order did change on both my 4900 boxes. But put it back to my preference and it was fine. Not saying buzz is perfect. Every company has a few issues with any product. But they are typically quite good at fixing issues quickly and taking care of their customers. But some people feel so entitled and do nothing but curse, don't cooperate for trying to identify the issue, and are so negative. No matter what you do some people are just miserable by nature.

Can you post the current Firmware and BuzzTV version you have on those boxes ? When you say factory reset, is that via the settings menu, or via the "pin" method ?

I also use cable on all my boxes and used to always disable my WiFi. But at the time, I recalled that on older laptops, it was the same intel chip that used to control both the WiFi and BT. So I figured, maybe the 2 were linked on these boxes also and it did seem to make a difference on that box which was having issues. Now, was it just coincidence ? maybe But obviously something gets latched, and for me, it did help a few times.

At this point in time, there is no option for that. It would definitely be a nice feature to add in the future. I know it has been available on other boxes for a while now, and once you mount an SMB share, you can even use it as a destination for recording and even timeshift. The only smb service at the moment, are when you enable the "Network Shares" option (in the Settings->BuzzTV Utilities section), which turns on the samba service and shares the internal storage on your network. Would also like to see the option to share the external storage also (USB or sata drive on the U5).

I used to have this issue quite a while ago on one of my 2 xrs4900 boxes, and they were both at same firmware level. I had tried everything and could not figure it out. Even tried toggling the WiFi and BT (which had helped previously - maybe try that) and could not figure it out. And it was working fine for months before that. Then suddenly one day it just started to work (not due to an update). I gave no clue what fixed it, but have not seen it since. I was waiting for the right time to do a factory reset (as next resort) but didn't have to do it finally.

Look for the Buzz xrs4500 or xrs4900. Remote is the same and those are in the harmony database. They have "BUZZTV XRS 4900", "BUZTV XRS4500" and "BUZZTV XRS 4000" Either one should work. Hey, even the X5 is listed - and it will work also.

And why would buzz care to support a 3rd party remote ? I am the first to say I am not a huge fan of the BT300/400 remote. It works, but not my favourite. Personally, my favourite remote for buzz boxes is the BT200 (which was the default has been discontinued), but the BT250 is a close second, and it does work with the X5 (default remote with The Classic).

When you say it "breaks" can you elaborate. I have not noticed any issues with EPG on my xrs4500 using XC at least (I have not tried any m3u). Have you tried Clearing the EPG after you update ? Have you tried Clearing the Buztv5 cache ? If there is any corruption, at least this will force it to redownload EPG. And under XC, is you EPG source set to set to XML EPG or Server EPG in the settings ?

Depending on the age of the "children" and how clever they are, you could put a remote power plug (like the TP-Link kasa plugs), and you can turn it off when you leave the house. I use a bunch of TP-Link HS-103 to turn off a small space heater in my daughter's room and other devices (like xmas lights) when we are not home and we forget to turn it off. I know older children may catch on and bypass the remote plug adapter, but it is something, better thank nothing Guess for you, it would ideal to have an "application" password, which would prevent any launching the BuzzTV 5 LiveTV or VOD app. Unfortunately it is not an option at the moment.

My E5 has been solid. No freezing issues at all with my service. I am wired however (not wireless). Are you wireless ? If so, just as a test, is it a possibility to connect it via wire ? Maybe it is an issue with wireless ? From the Update screen, can you post your Firmware version and IPTV software version ?

Simple way to Childproof it completely. Take away the remote. There is unfortunately no decent "app" remote. They've be able to unplug and plug it back to get power to the box, but they will just stare at the home screen

The problem is that most VOD are MP4 and do not have embedded subtitles by default. Sometimes (mostly on the 4k releases) they are mkv containers which include many subtitle tracks. Odds are that the VOD you chose do NOT actually include subtitles. There are some external players which allow you to try to download subtitles from sources like opensubtitles, etc... Just tried the Mummy (on my service) and it doesn't have subtitles either. Using Titan Player and selecting the subtitle option allows me to search on opensubtitles, and I chose one and it matched perfectly. But it was subtitles for everything in this case, not just the foreign parts). I also tried playing Barbie (4K version) using the "backup" player, and it had nearly 20 different subtitle languages to choose from Same for Equalizer 3 (4k version).

Are you sure the subtitles for the movie you are watching are not embedded into the movie (ie: not really a subtitle track) Some services will take movies blindly off various sources (especially for newer movies) and will just put them on their service without trying to get something "clean", if it is even available. So many released movies do often contained subtitles that are embedded in the video stream. Can't turn those off. Not saying that is the case here, but something to consider. Have you tried using a different player for VOD ? Primary, backup, or even external and use whatever player you want... ? Just to see if all players have the same issue.

On my xrs4500 I just checked and I have V20220919 (which I believe is the latest public release - but I could be wrong). Send your MAC address to allaboutbuzz and he can probably push the latest to your box.

Pretty sure nothing you did made a difference. It was probably a glitch on the server end. Either way, glad it is back up for you. Cheers.

FYI, on this forum we don't mention specific service names... It is not permitted. No information, sounds like an issue on the server end, but try clearing EPG to force it to redownload and see if it continues. And if it persists, you can try with smarters and see if it has same issue or not. BTW Is the date and time on your box correct ? Just making sure, since that could influence what you see or don't see in Program Guide

There should be no need to use smarters.. But nothing stops you from installing it in parallel to see if it makes a difference. It wil not replace your BuzzTV. Considering they said smarters, I am assuming you are using an XC type login (ie: portal with username/password), correct me if I'm wrong. Have you tried clearing the EPG, to force it to try to reload ? From LiveTV, press Menu->Settings->Configuration. Then scroll down to the GUIDE/EPG Settings section and select the CLEAR EPG option. If something get's corrupted, it may cause minor issues. While you are there, what is your "EPG Source" set to ? After a few seconds, give it a few seconds and see if it starts loading. Does the EPG say "No information" or does it say "Loading..." ? Also please post the version of BuzzTV you are using. Just press the MENU button, and it should be listed at the bottom as 5.0.xxx. BTW: I know it is obvious, but are you sure the issue is NOT server related ? If their EPG is not working, or outdated, it will obviously not populate your box.

Try downloading and installing the latest disney apk and see if that works for you. https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/disney/disney-android-tv/disney-android-tv-2-25-2-rc3-release/disney-android-tv-2-25-2-rc3-android-apk-download/

On the box and service that you have the issue with, are you using a MAC based sub, or XC ? Considering you say that you say it work on only 1 box, I am assuming it is MAC (but please confirm). When you say "then box states that recording is not supported", is that after it has apparently already recorded, or as you are setting it up to record. Have you tried to do a manual recording ? ie: As you are watching a channel, press the red button to start a recording, and see if that records fine that way. Now when watching LiveTV on that box, if you go into Menu->settings->configuration, on the top you have the player for LiveTV, what is it set to ? If you toggle it to the other option, does your IPTV still work ? I haven't used MAC based service in quite a while, so I can't say I have much experience with recording on MAC service (I will let others chime in on any restrictions/issues). May as well also provide the BuzzTV 5 version you are running. When watching TV, press "menu" and you should see it on the bottom of the menu.

To test/format SSD you are best to connect it directly to a PC (either directly internally, or via a USB->SATA adapter) and then format it while ensuring the filesystem type is set to exFAT. If you format the SSD on the U5 it will be formatted to FAT32 I believe (standard for Android and external filesystems), which will have the limitation of 4GB max single filesize limit, which is not an issue for short recordings, but it can fail for long recordings, or large VOD downloads (typically the 4k ones). You can also temporarily test by removing the SSD, and using a USB key (connected to a blue USB 3 port). Just make sure to set the destination in the settings to go to the USB key. When you see "media format not supported", is that when just streaming live TV or VOD ? Or when trying to playback something you recorded ? As requested earlier, WHAT video player do you have selected in the menu->settings->configuration screen at the top left for the LiveTV and VOD options ? Keep in mind that IF the stream is interrupted for any reason (bad Wifi, ISP glitch, etc..) the recording will fail, and will NOT resume. So are you hardwired (cable) to your internet or dependant on a WiFi connection ? If it is an option, try for a while to run an ethernet cable to the box. There are quite a few variables, and you need to eliminate them one by one. Does your IPTV service allow for more than one simultaneous connections ? If not, are you possibly watching on another device when the unit tries to record ? PS: You should never hijack someone elses thread. Your topic has NOTHING to do with the original topic of this thread (which was over a month old). You should start your own topic thread.

You say "Samsung SSD hardrive is properly installed and formatted". Stop making assumptions. Just provide info. Obviously something is wrong. When you say properly installed and formatted ? Formatted how ? On what device ? Using what file system type (FAT32, NTFS, exFAT) ? Have you tested the hard drive on a PC, to make sure you can properly write and read info onto it ? I have had a few SSD (Samsung, Micron, etc..) all fail at one point. I Samsung 850 Pro recently failed on my 4900 and it would suddenly eject for no reason. Replaced it with an Intel SSD I had lying around and solved the problem. And yes the SSD was getting flaky since I tried using it on a PC, and all seemed fine, and then at random the PC would crash and reboot. So quick glance it seemed fine, but it really wasn't. What player are you using for LiveTV ? If you swap to the other player, do your streams also work fine ?

First of all, I haven't checked the X5, but on The Classic (which should be the same), you can't select internal storage for VOD downloads. Only recordings can be set to internal. VOD downloads NEED an external storage device. For recordings, I use Solid Explorer (similar to ES file explorer) and all internal recordings are typically under "Internal Memory->Android->Media->BuzzXR4000.TV So you can copy them from there and put them anywhere else you want. Other option is to go into "BuzzTV Utilities"->"Network shares" and you can "enable network shares". Then from a PC, you can go to \\your.buzztvx5.ipaddress.here and you will see a share called "Internal" and you can then navigate to the same directory as mentioned above.

From Live TV, Menu->PVR->PVR Options and last option in the settings is "Download storage". Select it and then select the external drive. Then downloads should go to external drive.