OpenBox S9 HD PVR DVB-S2 Receiver, lowest price & best support in N. America

New OpenBox S9 Timer Fix File

OpenBox S9 — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:48:10 +0000

Available on the www.OpenBoxS9.us private support page.

Tested by FridgeVIPs for several weeks, seems to work well, adds some new features and fixes some feed issues. Upgrade instruction guide & screen resolution/timer guide included from S10/S12. New GUI shown but processes are the same. Here are my notes from checking it out:

-It does technically “fix” the timer. Looks like it does so by not really putting the box in standby. It will say “OFF” on the front display the whole time but no red light.

-It is full new GUI style. Don’t know if just a S9 file with new GUI enabled or if they made changes so that all OpenBox can run one file.

-I do not recommend loading this on S10 or S12. Since those units already have working timers the fake standby might mess with them. The new S10/S12 firmware is better anyway.

-It seemed to lose quite a bit of time just in my short testing. Might have been because how I tested it but did seem worse than normal S10 time loss of a couple minutes/day. Something for you guys to check.

-Original file booted to 1080 PAL mode. Switched default to 480i and preset everything for the clock so it works. Attached is the clock/resolution guide I made for new S10/S12 file, that explains how to set it and what NOT to touch.

-Put in an older NA satellite list and one of Mikhel’s backgrounds that looks good with the GUI.

-Tested on NBC-S2 on AMC-1. Didn’t see freeze/studder that I always saw to some degree with S9 before.

OpenBox parts now available, including front panel w/tuner lights for older S10

OpenBox S9 — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:34:28 +0000

We’ve now made select OpenBox S9 & S10 parts available for purchase. These are for our S9/S10 customers only, if you did not purchase your OpenBox from us, we will NOT sell you parts!

S9 parts are intended for self-repair of out of warranty units.

Since all S10?s are currently under warranty (unless you did something to void it) the only offering is the new version front panel with the tuner lights for retrofitting old version S10?s.

Remote controls are also available on this page.

http://store.fridgefta.info/?page_id=1386

IMPORTANT NOTES WHEN USING S10 (S9) WITH 4DTV, ANALOG C-BAND RECEIVER, LOOP THRU

OpenBox S9 — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:03:49 +0000

Copied here as this also applies to S9′s

Posted on October 11, 2011 by OpenBoxS10

IF YOU ARE RUNNING 4DTV, C-BAND ANALOG WITH AN S10 (OR REALLY ANY STB) AND/OR YOU HAVE AN S10 HOOKED TO THE LOOP THRU AS A SLAVE TO ANOTHER RECEIVER, YOU NEED TO READ THIS!If you have your 4DTV or analog receiver hooked up to the LNB/LNBF at the same time as an S10, YOU MUST USE BACKFEED PROTECTED POWER PASSING SPLITTERS!!!! FAILURE TO DO SO CAN AND WILL EVENTUALLY DAMAGE THE S10 OR MOST OTHER FTA RECEIVERS. SUCH DAMAGE IS VERY SPECIFIC TO THE LNB VOLTAGE REGULATOR AND IS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY.

4DTV and most analog C-band receivers send power to the LNB/LNBF when they are turned off. If they are not hooked up thru a protection/isolation circuit, they backfeed this directly into the S10 tuner which directly feeds it into the LNB voltage regulator. These splitters are voltage protected on both ports for the 2-way: http://store.fridgefta.info/?page_id=670 Many others do not have feedback protection or only protect one device.

IF YOU JUST USE A 4DTV OR ANALOG RECEIVER AS A POSITIONER OR POLARITY CONTROLLER AND IT IS NOT HOOKED INTO THE LNB ITSELF, THIS DOES NOT APPLY.

Loop thru use
This applies to most FTA receivers as well. You can and will backfeed voltage running on a loopthru. Not all FTA receivers kill the LNB voltage when turned “off”/put in standby.

The S10 loopthru is power protected. This means that the S10 won’t backfeed voltage into a device hooked into it. However, voltage can be passed from the slave device thru the S10. Similarly, if the S10 is made a slave on the loopthru of another STB that does not have backfeed protection (many of them), voltage can be sent right into the S10.

Setting any of this up wrong at the very least will cause polarity and channel issues. Worst case and the likely outcome will be that you will damage one or more components. Again, this kind of damage is NOT COVERED UNDER ANY WARRANTY!

New recommended LNBF for S9/S10, limited time pricing

OpenBox S9 — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:02:50 +0000

This weekend I tested the new DMS Avenger 321/322 Standard 0.1dB LNBFs. These appear to be a very good choice for the OpenBox S9/S10. Here are the advantages I see:

No DiseqC 1.2 movement/signal meter cutout like with Spitfire/universal LNBFs
Standard 10750 LNB frequency, with extended range up to 12750MHz
Faster blindscan than with Spitfire or other universal LNBFs
Different design and manufacture than Spitfire, those with Spitfire issues should not have them with the Avenger.
Close in performance to Spitfire but without the drawbacks.

For more information, check out the review/testing: http://www.fridgefta.info/forums/showthread.php?tid=23747&pid=56507#pid56507

Ordering pages:

DMS Avenger 321

OpenBoxS9.us Firmware 07312011 available

OpenBox S9 — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 13:42:43 +0000

Available on the private support page, customers only.

OpenBoxS9.us Firmware 07312011

Corrects issues from the 0728 release.
Fixes 22kHz issues. You can now run 10600/22kHz for universal LNBFs and increase your scan speed to over twice as fast as 07012011 firmware.
Faster, more accurate blindscan.
Minor DiseqC 1.2 bug fix
Other minor fixes
EU style “info”. CAS systems now shown on first “info” press, second brings up EPG for the channel.

ATTENTION ANYONE RUNING OLD GUI 07282011 FIRMWARE, S9/S10

OpenBox S9 — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:52:11 +0000

I received an email from OpenBox advising us not to use the new firmware due to something the engineer found. I do not know what the issue is, I did not see anything wrong in my testing. They are going to issue new firmware.

Since we do not know what the issue is, I advise anyone running the 07282011 firmware to either stop using immediately, or revert back to the 07012011 firmware until they give us new files.

I am withdrawing the files from the S9 and S10 support pages.

This DOES NOT affect the 07282011 new GUI firmware for S10, it is fine and is what I am running here myself.

Apologies from both FridgeFTA and OpenBox.

OpenBoxS9.us 07282011 new firmware available

OpenBox S9 — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:55:05 +0000

Note: This firmware and support is for FridgeFTA/OpenBox9.us customers only, and is available on the support page at http://www.OpenBoxS9.us

ALL FILES ARE USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Fixes 22kHz issues. You can now run 10600/22kHz for universal LNBFs and increase your scan speed to over twice as fast as 07012011 firmware.
Faster, more accurate blindscan.
Minor DiseqC 1.2 bug fix
Other minor fixes

New 07012011 North American Firmware!

OpenBox S9 — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 23:27:00 +0000

OpenBoxS10.info 07012011 Firmware – Improves many issues from 0607 and 0617, please observe the following notes and changes:

* Audio sync issues corrected

* Stutter on many H264 and other feeds corrected, smooth playback

* Sluggishness in menus and other operations corrected

* Clock/Timer works (s10 only)

* Old TP_PROG.DBS files now work

* Tuner check eliminated

* VFORMAT now cycles thru NTSC and PAL modes, will not get stuck in PAL with no picture. Keep pressing VFORMAT, wait 5 seconds & repeat until back in NTSC mode.

* ALi DVR format eliminated, now records selectable PS or TS. No need for PVR Tool

* Can output 1080i and 480i analog at same time without “nag” message

* North American version that includes MP4/MPEG2 Media Player, Record Manager

* Slightly improved blindscan speed over 0617 with Spitfire/Universal, but still needs work.

* S9 style layout, with OpenBoxS10.info backgrounds coded as boot and background from factory engineer (not changeable).

* Eliminates Plugs

Does not fix/known issues:

* No independent 22kHz. (Workaround coded into OUR files with slower blindscan for Spitfire/Universal.)

* Eliminates CAM controls (not needed by 99.9% of N.A. users, for subscription programming. If you need this, we can enable it.)

Special notes:

* If using older TP_PROG.DBS file with our default settings of 10600/22kHz, you must switch these to Universal 9750/10600

* Clock settings are pre-set in OUR file. Only change the date and time, don’t touch region or GMT usage. Date will be set to 01/11/2010 (EU format, day first, then month). Time is 24 hour (military format) and will be set at 00:00 (12:00am)

* As with our past files, default resolution is 480i. If using HDTV please change to 1080i_60 or 720p_60.

Released to all at http://www.fridgefta.info/forums/showthread.php?tid=23057

Easy video converter for the new OpenBox S9 media player firmware

OpenBox S9 — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:35:55 +0000

I found a very easy to use video converter to change XViD and many other formats into compact MP4 files for use with the new OpenBox Firmware with media player. Its not the fastest (speed depends on your computer and file transcoded) but it does produce high quality video assuming the input source is good.

You can download it free here for Windows, Linux & Mac: http://handbrake.fr/downloads.php

1. Click “Source” tab, upper left and select the file you want to convert.

2. Click “Browse” tab, select where to store the converted file and name it. I suggest plugging your OpenBox hard drive in and storing it direct to it.

3. Make sure “Normal” is selected for presets.

4. Click “Start” tab.

That’s it, wait for it to finish. No need to mess with any settings, the “normal” will produce a nice MP4 that will play flawlessly on the S9 or S10. Of course “nice” assumes your starting file is good quality too.

OpenBoxS9.us Firmware06172011 Released – Timer fix, media player & more!

OpenBox S9 — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 00:32:20 +0000

Note: This is provided to FridgeFTA/OpenBoxS9.us “Premium” customers ONLY. Do not email, post or PM for it if you did not get your S9 from us!!! Until the factory releases a working version on their own we do not have one for the S9 “Lite” package.

** IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO READ THE ENTIRE README AS THINGS HAVE CHANGED IN OPERATION AND FOR UPGRADING THE FILE. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN PROBLEMS **

The OpenBoxS9.us 06172011 file fixes/adds the following:

-Timer/clock now works. (Reports are that timer/clock still not functioning right on S9, OpenBox S10 works flawlessly).

-Media player for MPEG1, MPEG2 and MPEG4/H264 files!

-ALi .dvr recording format replaced with selectable PS/TS, meaning you can make a recording as a direct .ts, play on AZ or your computer without needing the PVR Tool to convert.

-VFORMAT now cycles thru both PAL and NTSC (USA/CA/MEXICO) TV modes.

-Can now run 1080i HDMI and 480i analog without the “NO OSD SHOW” nag.

-Increased USALS accuracy now integrated into S9, along with updated satellite & TP data

Due to past piracy of our PRIVATE S9 firmware, the new file is by request only. It will be emailed to you and be coded so the individual file is identifiable. PLEASE DO NOT SHARE OUR PRIVATE FILES!

To request your copy (Our S9 “Premium” customers only):

1. Open a support ticket at http://support.FridgeFTA.info
2. Title the ticket “new file request”
3. Include your PayPal email used for purchase. This is for verification, and is where we send the file.

Discussion/question thread for both the S10 and S9 versions: http://www.fridgefta.info/forums/showthr…?tid=22769