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SF8 installation all-nighter= pounding headache and bleary eyes. FURTHER QUESTIONS..

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ruud82

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Okay, so following my bm5000s v SF8 thread, I finally got over my tech fear and plumped for an Octagon SF8. :yes!:

...at 4.00am this morning i was seriously regretting my decision!... By about 6.30am i was finally getting somewhere but running out of gas, channels were finally appearing on my tv! and so after 6-7hrs i decided to call it a night (or day) and get to bed for some sleep.

But today i still have some issues below that i hope you guys can help me fix (and/or help me understand).



  • When i bought my box i had vix preinstalled. Therefore any installation guides/hints that i followed i completely ignored the steps in relation to flashing the vix image. Should i have done this? The reason i ask is because throughout setting up my SF8 i kept getting crash screens for simple things and the box would reboot. I was getting some error messages before i even got near the nitty gritty. After going into VIX software updates option on the box and running an update this didn't happen again. Was this the correct action to take? I should add that it crashed once this morning but other than that it has been fine, i'm not sure if some crashes are par for the course?
  • Autoboquets/EPG - What sort of set up is advised. I notice both EPG options and Autoboquets are sluggish, quite often the vix logo appears top left when loading. Also, should i use autoboquet menus or epg menus when browsing channels? Seems almost like the same thing although EPG doesn't seem to have channel nunmers for me.
  • Rat's Picons - I have downloaded and saved to tmp files. It shows on my screen as a plugin but when i try to install i'm told that the files are unavailable. Am i missing a step here? i've read something about putting these onto USB? is there any way i can flash these onto the box for now? I realise that i will need to get a USB stick anyway for the 7day EPG which i have yet to attempt.
  • Programme/EPG Inteface - When i press left or right button on my remote i get the 2 line now and next schedule, however it's blurry and not as clear as all the other options such as the full EPG which is crystal clear. Is it supposed to be this way?


I'm sure many more questions will pop into my head but these were the main ones that come to mind after an initial set up and play.

All input/help would be much appreciated and like i say i'm a complete novice so it would be great if you could dumb down for me. lol

---------- Post Merged at 02:06 PM ----------

In relation to point two i should also add that when i press the yellow 'Provider' button i get the following list:

Arqiva (LBP Tv only)
BSkyB (4 sly channels)
BSkyB (All or most sky channels)
Freesat (Fashion One channel only)
Unknown (bunch of anytime and Box Office/Adult)

What is this?
 
Last edited:
for rats picons to work you should create a folder called picon. in the root i.e internal memory aklthough not recomended. for your channel list on autoboquets you just pick sky uk.
 
for rats picons to work you should create a folder called picon. in the root i.e internal memory aklthough not recomended. for your channel list on autoboquets you just pick sky uk.
do not try and put 7 day epg on without a usb
autoboquets is very good all you should tick is sky uk. it will pick evreything up
you can put picons on the root memory not advised though
 
mike123 said:
for rats picons to work you should create a folder called picon. in the root i.e internal memory aklthough not recomended. for your channel list on autoboquets you just pick sky uk.
do not try and put 7 day epg on without a usb
autoboquets is very good all you should tick is sky uk. it will pick evreything up
you can put picons on the root memory not advised though
Click to expand...

Thanks for getting back Mike.

What's interesting is that i don't have a Sky UK option. Only Sky England, Ireland, NI, Wales, Scotland. Would this Sky UK option give me Setanta in that list? And should i just be generating a main bouquet only?

I will get a usb and run both the epg and picon from it. I'm noticing even with the current now and next EPG changing channels is painfully slow. Will this improve speed?

I'll get there. lol
 
ruud82 said:
mike123 said:
for rats picons to work you should create a folder called picon. in the root i.e internal memory aklthough not recomended. for your channel list on autoboquets you just pick sky uk.
do not try and put 7 day epg on without a usb
autoboquets is very good all you should tick is sky uk. it will pick evreything up
you can put picons on the root memory not advised though
Click to expand...

Thanks for getting back Mike.

What's interesting is that i don't have a Sky UK option. Only Sky England, Ireland, NI, Wales, Scotland. Would this Sky UK option give me Setanta in that list? And should i just be generating a main bouquet only?

I will get a usb and run both the epg and picon from it. I'm noticing even with the current now and next EPG changing channels is painfully slow. Will this improve speed?

I'll get there. lol
Click to expand...


Hope you get there , but I would have bought a blade up and running in 5 mins ,, stuff all that hassle
 
Yes i had a blade which i set up for my dad and it was about 100times easier than this one lol. I'm hoping it turns out to be worth it though
 
ok reading from the start the box comes with latest vix image on so no need to try online update.
autobouquet maker you need to select your area only as if more than one could screw up channel numbers.
for epg best to use a micro usb stick or hdd setup,think wheelohas it in the tut.
dbe for loading files to box also in his tut.
you can always do an auto scan of 28.2 to get an a-z of channel info and add bouquet at a later time.
 
cactikid said:
ok reading from the start the box comes with latest vix image on so no need to try online update.
autobouquet maker you need to select your area only as if more than one could screw up channel numbers.
for epg best to use a micro usb stick or hdd setup,think wheelohas it in the tut.
dbe for loading files to box also in his tut.
you can always do an auto scan of 28.2 to get an a-z of channel info and add bouquet at a later time.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate. In terms of the Vix image, i really can't explain it but i would say i got around 10-15 crashes until i did the update.

Have managed to set up autobouquet. I've set it up the main buouquet list for my region and i've set up a custom bouquet list to include itv hd and setanta sports. If i find any others i'll add to this list.

I'll take a look into wheelos guide for the 7 day epg (y)- Can i expect an improvement in speed by installing this on usb? I find the menus really sluggish. I'm still uncertain as to whether i should navigate using the epg or the bouquet lists, both are sluggish.

I still need to attempt the picon usb installation. I can't find a guide for it. I have the rat's plugin picon updater, do i just need to drop a 'picon' folder onto a formatted usb and that's it ?
 
it should not be slugish in anyway loading up the channel list or epg. however, like i said do not carry on setting anything up till yo have a usb. rats picon updater is easy

1 put the the ipk file into temp folder
2. go into manager local extentions on your sat box and install it
3. once you have set up your usb using filezilla go into media/usb and place a folder in there called "picon" without the qoutes
4. go into your plugins run rats picon updater
5. your picons are done.
 
mike123 said:
it should not be slugish in anyway loading up the channel list or epg. however, like i said do not carry on setting anything up till yo have a usb. rats picon updater is easy

1 put the the ipk file into temp folder
2. go into manager local extentions on your sat box and install it
3. once you have set up your usb using filezilla go into media/usb and place a folder in there called "picon" without the qoutes
4. go into your plugins run rats picon updater
5. your picons are done.
Click to expand...

Got a USB and all set up thanks mate. The one step i was having difficulty was actually having current picons but after a bit of googling i found some. Managed to get the 7 day EPG set up also. It doesn't feel quick navigating but that might simply be because i've just came off sly.

Do you navigate channels in EPG or Bouquet mode Mike? I prefer the Bouquet mode as its easier to get to certain categories on the list but it doesn't show a 7 day EPG.

I think i'm finally getting there now. It's taken a lot of time. Thank you all for the help you have given so far.
 
on the epg page setup last line should be 5 days and can be changed to 7 days save and reboot as per screen instructions. select channel you want and press red button opens up that channel epg and scrolling down you should get 7 day epg.
using your bouquet blue button i just use the hd section as most of my channels are there and when scrolling down should show whats on now with how long program was/is on for.
wonder if you have setup usb for swap file as that reduces spinning vix?
box setups are best done when afresh and not dopey head and one reason why things dont fit.
step by step and i never bothered with picons(y)
 
cactikid said:
on the epg page setup last line should be 5 days and can be changed to 7 days save and reboot as per screen instructions. select channel you want and press red button opens up that channel epg and scrolling down you should get 7 day epg.
using your bouquet blue button i just use the hd section as most of my channels are there and when scrolling down should show whats on now with how long program was/is on for.
wonder if you have setup usb for swap file as that reduces spinning vix?
box setups are best done when afresh and not dopey head and one reason why things dont fit.
step by step and i never bothered with picons(y)
Click to expand...

I had a look but cant see an option to change to 7 days in the epg. I feel the slowness occurs when moving across epg screens into future programming.

What i'm also wondering is if it's possible to go into the all autobouquet and see more than a now/next?

I haven't touched swap files as i don't know what/where they are.

When setting up crossepg i set download frewuency to every day. Is this okay?
 
i had slowness in my solo a week ago and powered it off at rear then on again ,it clears bugs out and box speed was much faster but lost epg,did not mind that as new epg next day refreshed it.
not tried looking for more than now/next but by selecting channel an ok to go to it red button gives you more single epg.
also when on a channel epg on remote may reveal more.
swap file is setup to usb and helps box to work better.now to find the how to guide lol
 
Feckin hell Ruud, it looks like you spent as much time as I did getting a tutorial together. ;) seems like you got it mostly together, they are a cracking machine and when you do it again, for your Dad when he sees yours, it will be so much easier mate, i promise.
Unlike what running out says, easier does not say better, the skyboxes are the simplest thing in the world to set up, but that does not make them box of the year (nor is his Blade box), even though it is a good box, it's not a great box. if I were to wager, I would set up an Enigma box in less than 10 minutes from scratch, it is just the first time that makes it seem the big scary thing.
 
swap file is like emergency memory for box in times of stress less spinning vix symbol.when head is clear and awake go through swap file setup via remote.
 
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