tips and tricks by valiant ===========================
At on time or another when we got into fta we have all run into some problems in one form or another.and we have seen the posts in various forums asking help. In an effort to help as many as I can ,came up with this list, hope it helps at least one person.
1.The very first and I think most important thing is if your unit is down,-stop think logg in to your favourite site(hopefully here at http://www.tryfta.com) take a look see if people post the same problems. check and see -saves time and bandwith another great tool is the search button for finding almost anything you need and search for help
chech out status reports This will give you current status of whats happening
try this first: turn the box off from the rear switch, leave it off for a few minutes turn it back on (this will cure 90% of all problems. if not keep reading) .its often called the magic button
2.Problem no picture
Dont panic , things to look at are; are the keys current? are the keys rolling?Most newer units have auto roll processing screens, others do not.
Tip= download a good key grabber this will get you the keys.Make sure auto/roll is turned on.
tip=auto roll seens work fastest on certain channells 150/200 217/214 other guy
Ok the keys are correct what next? time to check your signal and quality levels, are they acceptable?have your antenna settings changed? Check make sure lnb type is correct(simple change here can mean loss of certain channels) make sure switch ports (if any) are correct. Next time check hardware=is cable ok no knicks cuts etc.is swtich working? is lnb ok? did dish move?
Tip-runn cable straight to reciever by passing switch to see if lnb or switch is the problem
Tip-if you suspect switch/port problem ,move ports to see if on or more has gon bad Do a visual check of all lines and switches, LNB's, and dish angles, verifiy the dish hasnt moved
tip - Take a marker after you have confirmed the alignment and mark a straight line over all adjustment points (azmith, and elevation) This is a refrence of a KNOWN WORKING ALIGNMENT, and if does get out of alignment, its just a matter of moving it back to where the marks line up and you have an aligned dish, and you can visually check to see if the dish has moved.
3.problem Missing channells (or scanning very little )
Now heres a common problem First are you aimed at the right sat.?Are antenna settings correct to your setup-correct lnb type? correct ferquency correct transponder switch and port settings? Some other things to look at are-is your sat file updated?are you running a new channel list?
Do a factory reset from within the menus ...or just delete all channels, then rescan channels.
Tip-When setting up your antenne use 12224 as transponder frequecy for most dish satwith the execption of 119(12239)and 121(11724) Tip-on 119 scan on 12239 but it will revert to 12224 as default(24) is a spotbeamed
DID YOU UPLOAD A CHANNEL LIST? maybe its not correct, diffrent areas, differnt lists, so be sure to do a scan of all sats. Do a factory reset from within the menus remenber to reset your settings again another thing to look at is what style of lnb you have if it doesn t match your anteena setup will miss many channels.
lnbs can and will fail-one sympton is recieving only vertical or horizontal tps. or if a major failure lose of total signal and quality Swap the LNBs to see if the problem is the lnbs
another thing too look at but might ound silly-Did you plug your RG6 cable in the correct spot in the back of your STB?
4.problem Wait for Picture or Standby
maybe your bin is out of date and time to load latest and greatest.auto roll on? it works best on certain channels - allow it to work .it may take time tip- auto roll seens to work fastest on channells 150/200 on dick and 212/417 for the guy up north check above -auto roll/keys issue
5.problem No EPG displaying?
1) What time is it? Make sure your Date/ time and GMT is correct. (Note that GMT should be set to reflect Daylight savings time make sure epg is selected for the number of hours.try recieve guide on some models make sure your sat file is current and correct
If you can choose how many hours your guide is, cut that number in half to allow more memory to the other channels
If using a pansat (may work for others) and you cant get the guide to work properly with provider up north then you need to rename the nimq1 satellite to Echostar1 92.
tip- epg populates on certain channells on the providers look in the facts and question section for epg for some good pionters
If you can choose how many hours your guide is, cut that number in half to allow more memory to the other channels
6.problem Glitches
1) Factory file time, this restores unit to near virgin status Download the factory Bin. It will clean those glitches up. Then download the Current bin right after. remember this also changes all your settings back to orignal so have to rest all your settings
tip - see if signal and quality levels are acceptable anything less then 50% quality is suseptical to weather problems
7.problem "Night Rider" (flashing lights):
ussualyy a sign of bad or corrupt flash or even in some cases interuppted process 1. Try re-flashing the factory flash again using the correct procedures,for your unit. Failure to wait for the all ZERO display interrupts the STB's processing of the data transferred. Interrupting the data processing may leave the STB w/ a corrupted file this is also sign of wrong file for wrong unit -make sure you are using correct file for your unit tip-let unit complete flash and reboot dont interupt process.
2. Then, when that works use the latest flash to get the scrambled channels.
tip -may take several attempts to reload factory flash tip-after reloading latest bin re set your antenna settings as they will revert to factory with factory flash
When flashing, be sure to wait not only until is says done. But you need to wait until it reboots and actually goes to a channel number. cables: What's the difference?
NULL MODEM cable: (called a "cross-over" or "twisted pair")--USED FOR VIEWSAT!!! Has 9 pins, but only these are required: Pin 2 to Pin 3 Pin 3 to Pin 2 Pin 5 to Pin 5
Straight through serial cable: Has 9 pins, but only these are required: Pin 2 to Pin 2 Pin 3 to Pin 3
8.problem seeing one sat but not the other
heres a possible switch problem again things to check 1. if ports are partialy stuck or shorted try switcing ports 2. run cable direct from that lnb to reciever and see if switch or lnb is gone bad 3 replace the switch 4. reboot the unit as switch can be simply stuck and not shifting
9.problem loading/flashing your unit(the ----- and 8888 and on) now heres an area where many people at one time or another fail
things to look at: 1. make sure you have correct cable for the unit your flashing(two basic types here straight and null, they look the same but are different) 2.make sure when you download the correct file that you unzipp or extract it to a folder 3.loader-use the right one for the right unit as there are many different units out there and most have thier own loader com port should be set to ?in tools you have 1-4 options 4.was download interruppted? 5.are we loading right file to right unit
tip -finding right com port=go into my computer view system info click on hardware open device manger then look for com port
tip-in each section theres usually a good sticky with loading procedures for your paticular unit
10 problem black and white issues
you tried to abjust settings and now screen is black and white one solution is using the rear switch to re boot unit -once or twice should be good.
Using the color button on the remote, write down all the levels under default(all of them). select User, change all the values to match the Default levels. Select EXIT. Turn Receiver OFF from the switch in the rear. Turn receiver back on. Now you will have color on both the Default and User selection. You can now tweak the user levels to ther settings that are good for youFta Box
11.problem sound is not working
if u turn channel and no audio could be a few things- check the odivous mute button,not it chances are its a dolby issue. if your not using a dolby surround system then go to menu, system settings and user options and turn off Auto Dolby Select. check audio button go thru settings. and also all your cables. try that magic switch again and reboot.
Well there may be more problems and more tips but i think by now you read enough.Hope this has helped at least one person.