Firmware Upgrade Trouble

[billys9319]

Although my unit is under warranty, they want to charge a $25 "handling fee" to ship me a replacement unit first, we seems a little ridiculous.

Just to clarify, the $25 fee is only charged for an advance RMA where we pay shipping both ways and provide packaging materials. Standard RMAs have no charge.

I'm really disappointed in the way the Ceton is handling this. We should not be having this many firmware failures on cards less than a year and 1/2 old. This would point to using inferior parts and will make people look for other options.

[Ryan]

I'm really disappointed in the way the Ceton is handling this. We should not be having this many firmware failures on cards less than a year and 1/2 old. This would point to using inferior parts and will make people look for other options.

This is my feeling exactly. I've had such a terrible time with my InfiniTV and Ceton support, waiving a little $25 fee seems like the least they could do, especially considering that I've been dealing with this problem for months with no resolution in sight. When I had a problem with a DOA Seagate drive, they waived their RMA fee, because it was the right thing to do.

I'm definitely looking into other options.

[grinchy]

I'm really disappointed in the way the Ceton is handling this. We should not be having this many firmware failures on cards less than a year and 1/2 old. This would point to using inferior parts and will make people look for other options.

This is my feeling exactly. I've had such a terrible time with my InfiniTV and Ceton support, waiving a little $25 fee seems like the least they could do, especially considering that I've been dealing with this problem for months with no resolution in sight. When I had a problem with a DOA Seagate drive, they waived their RMA fee, because it was the right thing to do.

I'm definitely looking into other options.

I guess I don't understand the issue - a normal RMA with Ceton doesn't cost anything... at least it never did for me. They sent me a new unit; when I received it, I sent it back in the box it came.

Is Ceton not issuing you an RMA for your FW flash issues?

[billys9319]

Not if it is not under warranty. Mine is 15 months.

[adam1991]

This would point to using inferior parts and will make people look for other options.

What other options?

[billys9319]

hdhomerun prime for one or I could go back to just using TIVO with its new 4 tuner box and companion boxes. If a product fails in a short time is not good so other options even with a greater cost now start to come in to play.

[KHTPC75]

It's been a while since I check on the ceton forums. I figured things would be better by now with their products but it seems like things have only become worse.

I've never had any upgrade issues but I'm afraid to give it a try ever again.

I've been pretty stable on FW 1.2.1.1, HW 6408 but partly because I picked up 2 HD Homerun OTA tuners. Most of what I record is OTA so I have a large antenna in my attic for OTA content with a pre-amp and a 50' RG5 Quad run back to the tuners. OTA Signal level and quality are perfect with flawless recordings.

I'll probably stay on these FW/HW versions after reading of all the problem everyone has been having with updates.

[erkotz]

Not if it is not under warranty. Mine is 15 months.

Have you opened a support ticket with us? Many times in threads people see a similar symptom and believe they have the same issue, when in reality they do not.

[TeddyR]

Have you opened a support ticket with us? Many times in threads people see a similar symptom and believe they have the same issue, when in reality they do not.

Yes. Open a ticket so that at the very least they are made aware of the issue and how widespread it may be. Hopefully they can then track it better and if it is the same issue or a "systemic hardware failure" they can find a fix for it or recall the bad batches.

[stokd]

Honestly, I doubt Ceton has enough capital to fund a recall on this product, especially since this isn't an issue that really impacts our everyday use. Since most users don't bother with firmware upgrades, we won't ever be able to prove that this is a widespread issue. The only reason I've really tried upgrading in the past was to fix issues that weren't ultimately firmware-related, so I'll happily continue to use my 99% working InfiniTV.

Most of us reading this thread are now stuck with a specific version of the software, and will over-react and become disgruntled with the way we are treated as consumers, believing the company knows something they aren't willing to share with us about why this issue really happened. With complaints like this, the Ceton Q falling off the radar, existing bugs that are slow to be fixed, promises to firmware updates that are months late, Microsoft's charging $15 for WMC in Win8, and Microsoft not really having big plans for WMC in the future, I do not see this product or the Echo being manufactured beyond a couple of years from now. It's unfortunate because I love the technology and what Ceton's trying to do - if this was Apple, tons of sheep would be rushing to copy and buy these devices.

[foxwood]

Microsoft's charging $15 for WMC in Win8

Most people buying a new computer will get Windows 8 "Home", so it will cost $100 to get Windows 8 Pro Pack which includes WMC. The $10 Media Center Pack only works on Windows 8 Pro. Or they could just buy a copy of Windows 7.

It seems unlikely that there will be many new users stumbling upon WMC with this sort of pricing, but it's still a viable option for people intent on building their own DVR - at least in the US. If you're mainly interested in managing a movie collection or torrenting your TV shows or you aren't in the US (so PlayReady DRM is not relevant to your local TV distribution systems), then there are probably cheaper alternatives that may be better than WMC for your needs - and there are definitely better supported alternatives!

[billys9319]

Have you opened a support ticket with us? Many times in threads people see a similar symptom and believe they have the same issue, when in reality they do not.

Yes. Open a ticket so that at the very least they are made aware of the issue and how widespread it may be. Hopefully they can then track it better and if it is the same issue or a "systemic hardware failure" they can find a fix for it or recall the bad batches.

Yes I opened a ticket and the first thing they did was to send it to the RMA department.

"We are transferring you to our RMA Department.

Your unit appears to have suffered from damage or hardware failure. In order to discuss service options we need to verify whether your Ceton device is still eligible for warranty services. Please provide the following information:"

[WhatHappend]

I was one of the first ones to report suffering from this issue. It is not just FW updates that fail. Channel lineups updates to flash fail too. Like when your provider changes/adds a channel to their lineup, after a power or sleep cycle you will not have the correct channel map loaded into the Ceton. You must wait until the Ceton downloads a new channel map to the working RAM (Some providers may not send channel maps very often). Since the flash is not able to write, the flash channel map will be stuck always the the old version. My flash failed when the Olympics were on and I couldn't watch/record the special Olympics after sleep/resume cycles (I had to disable sleep until the card was RMA'd.)

NAND flash memories have limited P/E cycles and if Ceton didn't manage wear leveling the flash part, it is likely that frequent channel map updates to the flash memory destroy the flash part.

[billys9319]

I was one of the first ones to report suffering from this issue. It is not just FW updates that fail. Channel lineups updates to flash fail too. Like when your provider changes/adds a channel to their lineup, after a power or sleep cycle you will not have the correct channel map loaded into the Ceton. You must wait until the Ceton downloads a new channel map to the working RAM (Some providers may not send channel maps very often). Since the flash is not able to write, the flash channel map will be stuck always the the old version. My flash failed when the Olympics were on and I couldn't watch/record the special Olympics after sleep/resume cycles (I had to disable sleep until the card was RMA'd.)

NAND flash memories have limited P/E cycles and if Ceton didn't manage wear leveling the flash part, it is likely that frequent channel map updates to the flash memory destroy the flash part.

Does anyone know if this has been corrected in the latest USB tuners?

[Paul Anderegg]

I've had CONSTANT problems with one of my two TV4 tuners.......it simply will not hold "CP Auth" for more than a few days.......and when it looses auth, i loose all cable TV service, the channels record still, but if I try to watch them live it says subscription required. A dozen Ceton tickets later, the problem still persists....the only thing Ceton ever does is ask for diagnostics and recommend updating firmware. Well, now the firmware updates give an error, and both cards now refuse to show S/N's or any information pertaining to the CableCard, I get a yellow ! mark....that's a new one for me.

I am buying an SSD since I want to reinstall my OS......will see if that clears the firmware update error.

Paul

[TeddyR]

I've had CONSTANT problems with one of my two TV4 tuners.......it simply will not hold "CP Auth" for more than a few days.......and when it looses auth, i loose all cable TV service, the channels record still, but if I try to watch them live it says subscription required. A dozen Ceton tickets later, the problem still persists....the only thing Ceton ever does is ask for diagnostics and recommend updating firmware. Well, now the firmware updates give an error, and both cards now refuse to show S/N's or any information pertaining to the CableCard, I get a yellow ! mark....that's a new one for me.

I am buying an SSD since I want to reinstall my OS......will see if that clears the firmware update error.

Paul

If its the NAND issue then reinstall would not help.

shut down... (not reboot, but actually power off the PC) then restart the PC to see if not able to see the cablecard SN resolves itself.

Try the FW update again and if it gets an error, open an case with Ceton... hopefully you purchased it from an approved reseller and it is within the warranty period.

as mentioned before elsewhere... I still think there is a design flaw or a problem with a component in the devices....

[tootal2]

I dont see how buying a ssd and reinstalling your os will fix the problem. I had that problem. all i did was pull the cable card out and put it back in and it was fixed.

I've had CONSTANT problems with one of my two TV4 tuners.......it simply will not hold "CP Auth" for more than a few days.......and when it looses auth, i loose all cable TV service, the channels record still, but if I try to watch them live it says subscription required. A dozen Ceton tickets later, the problem still persists....the only thing Ceton ever does is ask for diagnostics and recommend updating firmware. Well, now the firmware updates give an error, and both cards now refuse to show S/N's or any information pertaining to the CableCard, I get a yellow ! mark....that's a new one for me.

I am buying an SSD since I want to reinstall my OS......will see if that clears the firmware update error.

Paul

[Viventis]

I have the internal infiniTV and failed several times to upgrade the firmware and hardware. Sometimes it seemed to work and I would get the "shut down" message, sometimes the message would be that the upgrade failed, sometimes it said my hardware was not compatible! Since I was getting some errors when I tried to watch a second tuner, I used the "Discover Tuners" tool in the Ceton Diagnostic software (Windows, not Media Center). The tool is under "Devices." I did not "Clear Tuner Configuration" first, since I had such a time with Charter.

I have no idea if that did the trick or was a mere coincidence, but the next time I tried to update, it was successful! (the tuners all work now also) What this means, regardless of why it worked, is that one or two failed attempts to upgrade does not mean it won't work eventually.

[billys9319]

Resolved my issue.... I bought a TIVO XL4 that has 4 turners and a 2TB drive. More expensive but the wife loves it.

[cassel11]

New HTPC build in Jan 2013 due to relocation. First experience with needing a cable card. Past tuners ATI 650 and Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 worked flawlessly over past 4 years.
infinitiTV 4 PCI has been regularly losing CC validation on restart of PC. Subscription channels unavailable without validation. Worked with Insight Cable for several months. They replaced cable card twice and have paired more times than I can remember. Insight requested I confirm newest drivers and firmware. Discovered firmware failed to upgrade.

Have also experienced pixelation, subscription required error messages(when cablecard had just been paired), and tuner unavailable errors.

To isolate other components I took my build to a friends home on different cable system, installed old Hauppauge tuner and system worked without fail for over 2 weeks.

Opened ticket, RMA issued by Ceton but am I wasting time thinking a replacement will be any better?

$25 to handle in a reasonable time is a bit outrageous considering the card has never been stable.