Emporium

Wow.. This time, I plugged the box in (since it was unplugged to test another box), and as soon as I powered it up, got an update message within less than 5 seconds. Took update, rebooted and all looks good. Quickly checked many of the streams which were giving channel stream errors after 1.0.111, and they all seem to work great. Tested a few Catchup and they seem to work (and super quick to start playing). however navigation (FFW/REW) do not seem to work on Catchup. You start it, and it works great. But even if you press FFW or REW on remote, or highlight timeline and use LEFT/RIGHT DPAD and the cursor moves, but the stream do not follow the timeline marker. Did find some navigation issues with adult channels (ex: acess them from the "All Channels" category, and they are actually added to your channel history) I'll send you a PM later for the rest of the details on that aspect.

I use the BT200 with one of my X5 units and a BT250 on the other. I prefer those remotes to the bt300/400 remotes. But when you say that it does not control the volume, what does the volume control when you use the BT300/400 remote you got ? From the sound of it, you want the box to output a variable volume, and you want to leave your TV at one position (ie: something like 60% volume). That is what I do. You will need to disable one option, if I recall it is under settings->buzz tv utilities->volume control and there is a setting for FORCE MAX VOLUME. Disable that, and your remote should then control the volume output of the box itself. You may also need to disable the CEC settings under settings->hdmi or display option. If you had tried to program the remote to control your TV, you may need to factory reset the remote also. Hold the D-Pad Down button and the 0 (Zero) button for 4 seconds until it blinks 3 times to factory reset the remote.

Oops.. Guess I should stop replying at nights I completely ignored the fact that this was regarding the L1. You are correct, thanks for catching it, The L1 does not have recording. And I don't think BuzzTV 6 (on the L1) has the boot to live TV option (not yet at least), but nice thing is that as soon as it boot, you have a PiP window where the LiveTV icon is, and it is automatically streaming your last channel. And all you really need to do is hit "OK" on the remote to load up and continue streaming the same channel. I have not had streams freeze yet on the L1. They either work, or don't work. So for now, can't comment on the need to switch channel and come back to continue streaming. HDR10 and HLG, I don't have anything compatible with that, but I would be surprised if this specific model supported any. It is not advertised as such, and it is targeted as a budget box, so no frills. Just a lightweight box that works for what it was intended for with no additional bells and whistles. And that, it does well, and is pretty snappy, even considering the lower hardware specs.

Catchup is server dependant, so the server needs to support catchup. Not all do. The built-in LiveTV app does have an option to auto-start upon boot, so once it boots, a few seconds later it will launch the LiveTV and it will be at the last channel you were watching. I have it set up like that for my mom. Recording can be a little more complicated. In the sense that there are many things to consider. First of all, to record while you want something else, your service needs to allow multiple connections (hence XC API with 2 or more conenctions). Then depending on the box you get, it will have PVR or PVR+ capabilities. PVR+ is best since it will wake the box up to do a record. Also, a recording is only as good as the stability of the stream. If a stream glitches, then the recording typically stops. So some people get frustrated and try to blame the box, but it is not always the boxes fault. My personal recommendation I always make to family and friends, for best bang for the buck, is still the BuzzTV Classic. Same CPU as the X5 and U5. Included the BT250 Blutooth remote. And it just works

X5 SS and L1 are completely unrelated. One is BuzzTV 5, and one is BuzzTV 6 (lite or whatever you want to call it). I don't have streaming issues with X5 SS for now, other than recording issues, which they have addressed and I'll be testing shortly. Buzztv 6 v1.0.111 that was just released there was obviously player modification or something else which has broken a few streams. I have already advised buzz with the details. Pretty sure, server is irrelevant. I just gave them the server since I know they have access to it, and some way to reproduce. The key is... If you can reproduce it, it is easier for the devs to debug.

The P6 is just the hardware. Android 13 is the OS, and BuzzTV 6 is the application layer. Hardware is fine, and so is the OS. The BuzzTV 6 is constantly getting updated on a weekly basis and many features are being added. But in the meantime, if you want, BuzzTV 5 is also installed on the P6 and you are free to use it. However introducing a new box, is irrelevant to the whole scheme of things. H/W designers are not your s/w developers. And the BuzzTV 6 app development/progress, will not be affected if there is 1 model, or if there are 10 models using it. So I do not understand your point. How does releasing another h/w version affect the progress of the features you are referring to ? The Linux L1 box is also running a lite version of Buzztv 6, and it works like a charm for a budget box.

And have you left it on for 2 hours straight ?

**UPDATE WILL APPEAR 1 HOUR AFTER BOOTING THE BOX OR AFTER 2 HOURS IF BOX IS LEFT ON** I powered box up, streamed a channel for over 2 hours in the background, and then only when I went out to the home screen, about 20 seconds later, did it prompt me for an update.

I no longer use my google account on any of my media boxes. I have no need for it. I have all the APK downloaded, and I will not update unless I "need" to update. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Probably some strange glitch during initial setup. I know some of the stuff we ask to try sounds "pointless" to some, but there is a "logic" to the madness Anyhow, glad it works for you now.

I honestly don't you google play store much anyhow. Unless you have a paid app or subscription, it's not too critical. For most of the apps I use, I download the APK files from a number of mirror sites, or I have the APKs already on my NAS server and a USB key and side load them all. Other option is to use APTOID which is preinstalled on the box.

Just curious, are you connected wired or wireless ? I know it sounds dumb but whatever you are connected, try to switch. So if you are wired, try wireless (or vice versa) if possible. You could always try a hard reset to see if it was not some initial config glitch. You can follow this procedure.. Different box, but procedure is the same. https://stbtalk.com/topic/300-factory-reset-hard-reset-xr4500-xrs4500/

Same here.. As soon as you launch play store, since there is no account already on the box, it brings up the login screen.

Glad that worked for you. In the future, any networking issues, including buffering, freezing, etc.. or extreme cases like this one (no wifi detected) First thing to do is unplug modem/router for 30 seconds, and then plug them back in, just to start clean. Especially true if the router is also issued by the ISP. They are typically crap and tend to get overwhelmed too often, by streaming devices. At least the mystery has been solved.

I just tried on my E2, and no issue here. Just enabled subtitles (Closed Caption 1) and still works fine. What type of SUB you using (MAC or XC) ? if it is XC, what Stream type you using (Automatic, HLS/M3U8 or TS) ? If you have Timeshift enabled, just as a quick test, try to disable it.

I think on Android 9 and previously, yes. On Android 11+ (at least on buzz boxes) not really.. Pretty sure last update will do exFAT on anything over 32G I was surprised when I noticed it.. I can test again and confirm tomorrow when I am working from home. I'll take one of my unused SSD, I'll delete any partition on the SSD on my PC, then insert into U5, format it, then put back into PC and see what filesystem it has.

If it is not formatted, pretty sure the U5 will be able to format it. You can check the storage screen and it should give you option to format as portable storage (never format as internal).

I'd probably go with a decent quality USB3 stick as DU mentioned. Since this is a U5, smaller SSD are dirt cheap nowadays also and probably a better option. I just checked amazon canada and NEW you can find 256GB SSD for just over CDN$20. Better speed, more consistent, and will be hidden in the U5 anyhow. microSD is a last resort in my opinion. Keep in mind we have no specs on what speed class the MicroSD card is, and surely the driver is not optimized for speed.

It's the exact same software, so no big difference for support.

Keep in mind that the B5 does NOT have a USB3 port, they are all USB2. It is the entry level 5 series and there were choices that needed to be made obviously. So if bitrate (and any overhead) is too high, it may fail to keep up and timeshift can cause issues. I don't know what speeds the MicroSD can hit on this device, but you "MAY" have better luck by using a high endurance microSD card.

There is obviously something the current player doesn't like in the way it interprets the stream I think the best is to maybe message Buzz with details on which service, what type of sub (MAC/XC..) and which channels are causing the issue, so they can try to see if it is possibly a "bug" in the player. The easier it is for them to reproduce, the better chance of getting a fix.

Well, he can "technically" edit the MAC now that is is an option again But true, not with his/her current MAC.

Absolutely. With the BuzzTV 5 update on that box, it is still perfectly capable. But like you said and I mentioned on my last line, need a new server sub (not on this forum however).

Sorry, but this is a support forum for the hardware and buzz software. We do not discuss different services (which you already broke that rule). The box is not defective. The issue is with your service provider. If it is a MAC based sub, they need to do a reset on their panel. If it was XC, you need to get the url/username/password (which should have been given to you). If you can not get in touch with your reseller, then unfortunately you are out of luck. Like I tell every person getting into this hobby. Do not invest more than you are willing to lose. Even the best provider, which has been around for a years, can vanish tomorrow. This is just a "hobby". Time to look at other forums (since we don't discuss services on this forum), to find another service.

And the MAC account shows an expiry date of 2024..