New User, Plenty of Questions.... Sorry.

Stoke

Member
Hi people,

I'm a new user. I bought a box two weeks ago and I've slowly got round to setting it up, bit by bit. However, I've got a few questions/problems.... Really hoping you can help :)

So, firstly, storage. First drive didn't want to work, was a pretty old main powered and wasn't detected. Was found in dmesg though? Odd. Found a BUS powered imation which was detected but had problems initializing. Started fine at first but failed towards the end. The drive was clicking loudly which I've seen before and I'm sure is due to not enough power.... So, Y cable with an old phone charger and it's now fine. However, I just wanted some advice. I see lots of people using 2.5HDD in a caddy with no external. I have an adapter.... So I'm wondering are there any benefits to this? I guess the power consumption will be less but would love to know what people think.

The plugins section works on my box and has stuff like cacheflush but pressing download more doesn't work. Just seems to time out. Box OS is sucumsee.

Got an N line from a friend and placed in it in the newcamd.list file, enabled mgcam and it does seem to work ok but there are issues. I'm using the Wifi adapter that was included in the box (some unbranded generic nonsense) to connect to the internet. Occasionally, ill try and watch a channel and it won't play. If I then trigger some internet activity it'll work fine. Another time I was watching a channel and it stopped. Is it likely to be the wifi adapter or the line not working? It's really getting on my nerves. I'll try get a network cable but was just wondering if others had the same experience.
Is mgcam better than cccam?

I've got EPG on the USB drive, along with timeshift and recording. Is there any benefits to moving the EPG to a micro sd?

Think that's my questions for now :grin:
 
With the plugin question all feeds are down now on the Vix image.in other words you cant download them over the air.i don't personally use that image but i think iv'e read somewhere you can down load the plugin APK and FTP it to your box. for some reason the vix people don't like zgemma and the image is not officially supported on it (The image is patched and hacked so it works on zgemma).Again i don't have that image so any one else don't jump down my throat if that's wrong . :)
 
I have a 500gb 2.5" usb powered hdd connected to my zgemma which works fine. I use it mainly for recorded programmes.
Better to directly connect your box to your router via cable, or if this is not possible use power line adaptors. Wifi is not good.
I use a 64gb micro sd card for timeshift and swap file which works fine. This is neater than having a usb dongle in the front port.
 
[h=1]Hi Stoke I used the card below I prepared it with BOOTICE Sadly the price has just risen
Toshiba Exceria M302 64GB Micro SD Memory Card 90 MB/s 4K - THN-M302R0640EA from Amazon but now works fine. Same problem with downloading plugins but you can do it manually do check out the IPTV plugin its very good[/h]
 
Thanks for your replies guys. Very helpful so far....

OK, so the first thing I need to do is get a cable in. I think the WiFi adapter is part of my problem, especially with the drop outs. Perhaps it's not a very stable WiFi implementation? The adapter was thrown in for free as a GIFT (yup, that con does exist). Anyway, not to worry, I'll put a cable in tonight. I can pinch one from work, we've got millions of them hanging around in boxes in the office :grin:

With the plugin question all feeds are down now on the Vix image.in other words you cant download them over the air.i don't personally use that image but i think iv'e read somewhere you can down load the plugin APK and FTP it to your box. for some reason the vix people don't like zgemma and the image is not officially supported on it (The image is patched and hacked so it works on zgemma).Again i don't have that image so any one else don't jump down my throat if that's wrong . :)
That's a shame. I did read about some conflict between Zgemma and the Vix guys.... which is a shame. I like the zgemma hardware. I get that it's a cheap clone box but it gives access to Sat channels that I simply wouldn't be able to access without a super expensive Sky sub.

I will look into sideloading plugins via FTP. There's a few articles online, hopefully that'll help. I'm quite tempted to try wooshbuild though, seeing as from what I can read, they're a bit more lenient about plugins on zgemma. I've been reading about TSPanel, which I have but absolutely no idea how to use it. This box is way more complicated than I expected, but I'll get there. Thanks :)

I have a 500gb 2.5" usb powered hdd connected to my zgemma which works fine. I use it mainly for recorded programmes.
Better to directly connect your box to your router via cable, or if this is not possible use power line adaptors. Wifi is not good.
I use a 64gb micro sd card for timeshift and swap file which works fine. This is neater than having a usb dongle in the front port.
Thanks for your reply. So you think using a 2.5 inch drive powered by a caddy (in my case an adapter) via the BUS is a better option then? I must admit, it's tempting as I think it would bring the power consumption down. We also have dozens of laptop drives at work that are waiting to be 'decommissioned' (i.e. destroyed), I'm sure I could sweet talk the guys into letting me pinch one. I'm just not sure. The current setup is working pretty well, and some people say, don't fix what isn't broken.

I'm a bit confused about the SD card situation. Are you saying to use the timeshift via 64GB? I've found timeshift to be as good, if not better, than Sky, all by using the HDD. What is the benefit to using an SD here? My thinking for the SD was more about the EPG and swapfile? That said, I've not seen any slowdowns whatsoever, or is it merely to reduce the wear on the drive?

Finally, does anyone have an optimal set of AV Settings? I've played around and found all kinds of weird and not so wonderful quirks. 60Hz causes the frames to stutter like crazy, for example. (yes, my TV is 60Hz).
 
My 2.5" hdd is powered directly from the USB port on the Zgemma with no problems. I use a 64gb SD card for timeshift, swap file and EPG, to keep the full capacity of my hdd free for recordings. It's 64gb purely because I had one spare, a 16gb would be adequate
 
My 2.5" hdd is powered directly from the USB port on the Zgemma with no problems. I use a 64gb SD card for timeshift, swap file and EPG, to keep the full capacity of my hdd free for recordings. It's 64gb purely because I had one spare, a 16gb would be adequate
Yup, it sounds like your setup is pretty sweet to be fair. I'm tempted to try a bus powered drive, even though my current setup is working.
 
Is it worth getting a new one? I mean, I can pay for a lot of electricity for the cost of a new drive, or may be worth pinching an old drive from work and putting it in a caddy?

Up to you, but they really are quite cheap nowadays.
The problem with the "aquired" older ones from work is that you have no idea what state the heads or platters are in or
if they have bad blocks etc. so for peace of mind go I would go for a new modern slim USB drive. Loads on here using them without problems.
 
Is it worth getting a new one? I mean, I can pay for a lot of electricity for the cost of a new drive, or may be worth pinching an old drive from work and putting it in a caddy?

Up to you, but they really are quite cheap nowadays.
The problem with the "aquired" older ones from work is that you have no idea what state the heads or platters are in or
if they have bad blocks etc. so for peace of mind go I would go for a new modern slim USB drive. Loads on here using them without problems.
Ah to me that's not so much of a big deal. Hard drives are pretty tough nowadays, especially the laptop ones. I've been inquiring with the guys at work. I'm hoping they'll pinch me a 500GB one rather than something terrible like a 160GB one haha. I do have a spare 500GB drive at home, but it's from an old laptop of mine and I'd rather not use it.... maybe it's time?

Also, I'm not as bothered about losing stuff as some. I do record shows but I tend to watch them, and worst case if I miss out on one, well, bad luck.

I think for the time being I'll stick with this Imation. It does feel a shame as it's a decent portable drive, but I've not used it as a portable drive for several years.....
 
Also, I'm not as bothered about losing stuff as some. I do record shows but I tend to watch them, and worst case if I miss out on one, well, bad luck.

In that case, join us in the "32GB MicroSD / No Timeshift / Watch it sharpish or FTP it off" club ! Smoooooth... :smoke rings:
 
One day!

Currently, I've way too much time on my hands so happy to use "TFT-NET"!
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Two Finger Typing-NET!
Like "sneakernet"; but "digital"... :smoke rings:
 
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