s4000 firmware

[buck401]

The Icecrypt site has withdrawn the 1.10.57 f/w and replaced it with the 1.10.32 f/w.

Hopefully the .57 f/w will be sorted out and we can enjoy the latest improvements!

[ColdAsICE]

The new release is expected this weekend.
I'll post it here for you guys to test before its released.

[ColdAsICE]

Sorry Guys no firmware yet!
Its Holiday time (Dragon Boat Festival) in the far East so everything is being delayed.

[buck401]

The Dragon Boat Festival was on the 23rd June.

Fingers crossed we might get something today (I know-I`m being impatient!!)

[ColdAsICE]

Got the new firmware for every model except the S4000....typical

[buck401]

Any chance of the f/w for the s3500. It will give me something to play with whilst waiting for the s4000!

[ColdAsICE]

Here it is at last.
Not general released yet until I have a report back from you guys.
Please let me know if you have any issues.

[joe2419]

will let you know how it goes

[berliner]

Just installed, ok so far but did a factory reset and had to restore my service data backup twice, as 1st time did not seem to restore and could not get out of the menus. Will see how things go.

[blakmumba]

Here it is at last.
Not general released yet until I have a report back from you guys.
Please let me know if you have any issues.
Channels fdu installed without problems. Had error message 'cannot decode epg data' twice but has since vanished. Program sypnosis still missing in 7 day epg, menu/icon menu not as smooth when navigating as v.32, if watching a recorded program of hard drive (pvr function) and then decide to delete it, it does but go out of pvr and back in and its still there!!! this in return locks the hard drive. Once locked it will NOT let you do a storage check and freezes the ice so mains reboot required and then allows you to delete the recordings and run a storage check. Going back to .32 as even thou I'll miss the epg, the ice 'for me' ran flawless and also included program sypnosis for the 7 day epg.

[buck401]

In addition to the above another problem. When recording the s4000 and s3500 will not go into standby.
No programme synopsis for the week is a real pain. Might go back to .32

[blakmumba]

In addition to the above another problem. When recording the s4000 and s3500 will not go into standby.
No programme synopsis for the week is a real pain. Might go back to .32
Yep that's true. Forgot to mention that (thanks Buck401). Goes into a loop with same message 'stop recording' when pressed 'no'. To stop the loop, you have to press 'cancel'.
Gone back to v.32. A real pain for me as have to disconnect and remove the ice to take over to pc to use porter and back again. Think gona sit on v.32 until firmware is sorted. Thing I don't understand is; I'm not a programmer so excuse my ignorance; but why not just implement the 7 day epg into v.32 without having to mess around with the menus etc. I preferred the v.32 icon menu as all icons were on main page and now you have 1 line of icons on main page with the background shadow box covering half the screen and then have to scroll onto next screen for the next set and so on.

[buck401]

Words fail me. This .67 f/w has more bugs than an entomology museum! Just gone back to .32 which is comparably stable.

[blakmumba]

Words fail me. This .67 f/w has more bugs than an entomology museum! Just gone back to .32 which is comparably stable.
I'm already back on v.32, a nightmare for me has have to remove ice to take over to pc and back again. It's like that saying 'if it ain't broken don't try fixing'. The thing that bemuses me is, why couldn't they have just used the v.32 firmware and just implemented the epg data tune into that?. Why try to change things around like the menu's etc, have an half working firmware and then release that to the public. This .67 f/w seems to be no different to the .57 f/w as the same problems exist on both. I think it was Echelon (apologies if I'm wrong) who mentioned it once on a different thread, 'why not have a dedicated epg channel like on the Blademedia, where you switch over too and it auto downloads the weeks epg'. For me personally v.32 is working great with the epg being the only downfall.

[berliner]

Also gone back to .32, as started to get the menus locking up.

[blakmumba]

Even though we have mentioned the various bugs, icecrypt have issued the firmware on their home download page!!

[ColdAsICE]

Hi Guys,
Sorry to hear your reports of all these bugs.
I've not seen all these on our test bench so can you please tell what loader versions you are using?
I need to replicate your issues to the Koreans.

[buck401]

Loader 1.54

[ColdAsICE]

Ok thanks, that's what I'm running so its not a loader issue.
I've seen the icon judder as you scroll from page to page, I don't understand why they implemented the second Icon page.
The EPG populates for 7 days and I am getting most of the synopsis for 24 hours not just now and next which is the case for the S3500.
The synopsis information is patchy as some channels have it and others don't.
I'm trying to make the receiver lock up and freeze but I've failed so far and I'm recording and deleting without issues.
This is the results of my tests over the weekend.

[blakmumba]

The synopsis information is patchy as some channels have it and others don't.
I'm trying to make the receiver lock up and freeze but I've failed so far and I'm recording and deleting without issues.
This is the results of my tests over the weekend.

Gona try the firmware once more to eliminate a bad install and will report back. Regarding the sypnosis information, on v.32 I get ALL sypnosis on each channel (or page) so this new firmware fails on that.

[blakmumba]

Can confirm the recordings do NOT delete. As mentioned previously, they delete, go out of hard drive and back in and it's still there. Box still locking up & everything mentioned in previous posts by myself and buck401 still exist. ColdAsIce I'm surprised yrs is the only one that's not having these problems as myself and others have had the problems mentioned above and as stated, I reinstalled v.67 to ensure it wasn't a problem on my end: heck I even stopped my firewall/anti virus before loading the firmware to eliminate that too lol.

[ColdAsICE]

After further testing we have discovered an issue with this firmware( and earlier v1.10.57) if used with hard drives that have 16Meg Cache memory.
If your S4000 has a Western Digital A/V drive it needs to have "DS" at the end of its model number i.e.
"WD5000AVDS" this is the 32M cache ram version which will work ok but if you have a "WD5000AVCS" this is the 16Meg version which will cause the receiver to crash.
This has come to light due to the new firmware using the Hard drive a lot more than previous versions.
1 Tb drives will have 32Meg anyway but 64Meg ver5sion would be better still.
This would help explain why this new firmware works for some machines and it makes other machines totally unstable.

[buck401]

Does this mean that older machines with the duff drive require a new HDD? Or will new f/w correct the problem.

What type of drive (say 1TB) will be needed and what interface with the s4000 (SATA or what)

[blakmumba]

Currently I'm using a Samsung F3 HD103SJ 1TB internal Hard Drive SATAII 32MB Cache hard drive. Do you think I'll also need to change this or like buck401 mentioned, will a new f/w correct this?
Tnx

[blakmumba]

ColdAsIce, any chance you could find out if sata III 6/Gbs will work with the ice s4000 and also if the Koreans are nice enough to revert the icon menu back to a single page? (2 line icons per page) Thanks :)

[ColdAsICE]

buck401, Only late machines had the Western Digital 16Mb Cache HDD fitted. Western Digital supplied them at the time of HDD shortage without notification of the spec change. No one noticed it until the new firmware upset the cart.
The S4000 uses sata interface, the prefered drive is the lowest spindle speed with the largest Cache. High speed and low Cache is the killer.
blakmumba, your request has already been made. I don't know why they increased the Icon pages and spead them across two. It doesn't make sense.
By the way your drive isn't one we have tested but the specs look ok. Remember that the sata interface on the S4000 is not the latest so new spec drives are making some of the freezing problems worse.
My S4000 has a Hitachi 1Tb with 32Mb Cache and it doesn't have the freezing problems seen on others but its nearly 2 years old.

[blakmumba]

buck401, Only late machines had the Western Digital 16Mb Cache HDD fitted. Western Digital supplied them at the time of HDD shortage without notification of the spec change. No one noticed it until the new firmware upset the cart.
The S4000 uses sata interface, the prefered drive is the lowest spindle speed with the largest Cache. High speed and low Cache is the killer.
blakmumba, your request has already been made. I don't know why they increased the Icon pages and spead them across two. It doesn't make sense.
By the way your drive isn't one we have tested but the specs look ok. Remember that the sata interface on the S4000 is not the latest so new spec drives are making some of the freezing problems worse.
My S4000 has a Hitachi 1Tb with 32Mb Cache and it doesn't have the freezing problems seen on others but its nearly 2 years old.
ColdAsIce your a good mate. Thanks for forwarding my request. Also will look into a 64 cache hard drive as enjoying this box to be honest. Love the media play back lol

[buck401]

I would be interested to know which 64 cache HDD could be easily swopped and working in the s4000.

[echelon]

I just took the lid off my icecrypt s4000 to visually check the label on the actual hdd drive I fitted two or three years ago

its a sata maxtor diamondmax 22 , 500 gig STM3500320AS with 32 meg cache and 7200 rpm spin speed , so cache seems ok at 32mb but its not a 5400 rpm spin speed

now how that affects me using up to date firmwares I have no idea as mine is still on an older one from several months ago

clearly it seems we now need a sata hdd with 32mb cache or 64mb cache and 5400 spin speed, didnt know this when I fitted my hdd 2 to 3 years ago !

[buck401]

Would this work: WD30EZRX 3TB SATA Hard Drive 5400rpm 6Gb/s 64 cache?

[blakmumba]

Would this work: WD30EZRX 3TB SATA Hard Drive 5400rpm 6Gb/s 64 cache?

Think you might struggle with 3TB as only ones pre-fitted into an ice s4000 are 2TB drives so doubt they'll have the drivers to recognise a 3TB. Its interface is also Sata III which; when i asked above, ColdAsIce reply was in quotes 'Remember that the sata interface on the S4000 is not the latest so new spec drives are making some of the freezing problems worse.'

[chris217]

Hi ColdAsICE,

Just to be absolutely clear. Is this bug specific to:


Drives from any manufacturer with 16MB cache;
Western Digital drives with 16MB cache;
Drives from any manufacturer with a cache of 16MB or less;
Western Digital drives with a cache of 16MB or less?


The sdparm command on my receiver reports the drive as an ST3320310CS. This seems to be a Seagate drive with 8MB cache. Will this be OK?

Thanks.

[ColdAsICE]

Originally the Koreans said the S4000 would support up to 4Tb but that was before they had been developed so it was a speculative statement that has to be taken with a pinch of salt.
As time has gone on it has been noticed that the faster spin drives would cause freezing issues.
It was thought that the combination of higher speed and higher temperature due to the lack of fan cooling could be the cause but now the cashe ram or the lack of it has been identified as a major problem with the larger faster drives.
It wasn't a problem on the older smaller slower drives so don't get worried if you have a older machine with 320Gb but if your thinking of upgrading the drive then consider the speed + cashe combination.
Its not specific to any manufacturer just some drives work better than others, general rule of thumb is the lower speed spin and the larger cashe the better.

[buck401]

No Idea what the cache is on my older 320GB or the spin speed. All I know is that the .49 f/w onwards causes freezing and other do***ented issues.
What is the way forward or am I stuck on .32 f/w forever?
Is SATAII better than SATAIII with 5400rpm and 64mb cache?

[blakmumba]

Is SATAII better than SATAIII with 5400rpm and 64mb cache?
Test have shown no speed difference between sata 2&3 when using a mechanical hard drive (ssd then different ball game). As off yet no mechanical hard drive has reached the full speed of sata2 let alone sata3. Sata3 is also backward compatible so will run on a sata2 port at sata2 speeds.
So to answer your question, the hard drive spec that your mentioning should be ideal :)

Sent from my iPhone

[buck401]

Can this be easily fitted: WD10EARX 1TB 3.5 internal 5400rpm SATAII 64MB cache, and will it work. I see one priced at 70 pounds.

[blakmumba]

Can this be easily fitted: WD10EARX 1TB 3.5 internal 5400rpm SATAII 64MB cache, and will it work. I see one priced at 70 pounds.
Standard 3.5" size so yep straight forward. Out with the old in with the new lol.
On a side note, make sure you get the hard drive in question from a reputable firm with a good after returns policy as these 'green' drives are pot luck, many people have had good drives and on the other hand, many have had theirs die within a couple of months. Hope that helps :)

Sent from my iPhone

[blakmumba]

ColdAsIce, any chance you could kindly ask the Koreans if they could either up date or add further drivers for the usb wifi dongles?. Downloaded the 'confirmed working usb wifi dongle list', purchased a Belkin F5D7050 v2000 as this was 'confirmed' to be working but for some bizzare reason mine is not. Then purchased a Belkin F6D4050 v2, again 'confirmed' as working on list yet same problem. Have read previous posts on how to attach correctly, switch off ice etc but no joy (no option of wireless). Both confirmed working on laptop/pc & really don't wanna go get a 3rd one as now have 2 lying around gathering dust.
Would be great if the request could be forwarded.
Thanks

Sent from my iPhone

[ColdAsICE]

buck401, We have used that drive with no reported issues. In fact its a recommended drive but Blakmumba is correct regarding the warranty. It pays to buy them from a good known source in case you need to make a claim.
Blakmumba, I will forward your request but I feel the answer will be that they are not responsible for the change of specification of third party devices from when they first tested.
The real problem is that some of those devices on the approved list have been inserted because some resellers reported them as tried and tested OK. This is where the errors have occurred.

[buck401]

Good.
At least a plan B.
I´m banking on a plan A with new f/w! Any news on that front as I´m still on f/w .32.

[ColdAsICE]

Your still on f/w .32 I'm afraid they are never that fast unless the Germans want it of course and it nice to see they have just released V1.10.67 so a fix might be a little quicker now.

[buck401]

Any one fitted the HDD described in post 36?
If so, what was the result?

[fatboy7]

Just fitted a 128g Kingston SSD, and got to admit its made the box a lot more stable than its been in a long time.

I know 128g is tiny these days, but god dam its quick.

I also used a little program called Crystal Disk to go through all my USB sticks to find the fastest for read / write and now use that in the rear for EPG data, which I also found to help.

I've used a multitude of HDD in this box and pre .67 always found 2.5 (laptop), drives to work better (mostly 5400rpm with large buffers), and really helped with heat as my big 1.5TB 3.5 HDD (WD), used to get rather hot (cant be good, given how close to the processor it is).

Hope it helps.

[buck401]

I will try the USB stick for the EPG and see how it goes.
I`m toying with the idea of buying the stc6000 rather than changing the HDD in the s4000.
No sign of any new f/w yet.

[fatboy7]

Sorry, more issues with .67 fw.

Start a recording with the record button, then channel up or down to any other channel (switches to T2), then return to the channel you started recording and you will have sound and a black picture, then all channels are now black (no picture) but with sound, but OSD still viewable. Have to restart to cure.

I know ! 'don't go back to your recording channel', but you may just stray past it while channel hopping.

I've just fitted a SSD so have just flash cleaned and put .67 on fresh, full service scan, fast USB in the rear for EPG, and MGCamd 138a, that's it no-other plugins or tools.

The SSD made a huge difference to stability of the box, but still locks up / freezes then comes back, occasionally.

Its so close, hope more FW is soon.

[buck401]

Just ordered the stc6000 which hopefully is more stable and sold the s3500.
Still waiting for the f/w fix so that I can upgrade the s4000 from .32
Fingers crossed!!

[fatboy7]

Sorry, more issues with .67 fw.

Start a recording with the record button, then channel up or down to any other channel (switches to T2), then return to the channel you started recording and you will have sound and a black picture, then all channels are now black (no picture) but with sound, but OSD still viewable. Have to restart to cure.

I know ! 'don't go back to your recording channel', but you may just stray past it while channel hopping.

I've just fitted a SSD so have just flash cleaned and put .67 on fresh, full service scan, fast USB in the rear for EPG, and MGCamd 138a, that's it no-other plugins or tools.

The SSD made a huge difference to stability of the box, but still locks up / freezes then comes back, occasionally.

Its so close, hope more FW is soon.

The box suffered a another lock up and kept locking up after every boot, had to flash the cleaner from boot menu rather than FW menu's, then put .67 back on, format user data, set everything back up again. My above issue is still there but its just black screen on the channel I started recording on, the others respond ok now.

The box is still unstable around the menus etc, feels like its a bad windows 95 PC, runs fine then dead slow, and you have to wait for it to catch up, or turn it on an off. And looks like this FW needs a good dose of flash cleaning, once a week.

buck401, I agree. Hope you got a good deal on your 6000, their normal price puts them right in the middle of a few very good box's (if you like E2).

[blakmumba]

Just ordered the stc6000 which hopefully is more stable and sold the s3500.
Buck401, nice purchase. Please let us know what u think of the box once set up as I'm also also toying with the idea of either purchasing the stc6000 or the vu+ ultimo (3x tuners which is a plus).
@fatboy7, I'm running the .67 for past few weeks & even though I'm getting the 'delete' problem (previous posts) and HATE the new icon menu, I've decided to stick purely for the epg and touchwood haven't had the box lock up on me as off yet since my last encounter with this firmware (got a feeling I've just jinx'd myself lol).

[buck401]

439 pounds with 1TB HDD.
I`m experimenting with not using the internal HDD and using an external USB 2.5 inch 1TB HDD. So far it is recording HD better. Still using the internal HDD
for the EPG. See how it goes

[plodge]

Off topic but as the convo is on hdd's i want to buy a new one wont really need more than 120gb, my current has 100gb 5400rpm and 8mb cache so reading this has raised more questions for me.

Obviously my options are limited due to the usb power can anyone suggest a good reliable hdd for use with s3500 pref 2.5" as i have a caddy for this already but if 3.5" is the best way to go then fine.

Thanks.

[ColdAsICE]

plodge, the hdd's theme mentioned here was really to do with the internal drive of the S4000 model.
Obviously the S3500 is a totally different machine the only thing you need to worry about is the power consumption if your not using a self powered Caddy.
The S3500 is limited to amount of power it can supply from its USB port.
If you already have the 2.5" caddy then just make sure your next drive is a low power consumption model.
WD green drives have been tried and tested OK.
buck401, nice purchase I'm thinking of upgrading my home S4000 to a STC6000 myself as I've just installed a nice new synology NAS and the extra features of the STC6000 is now calling me.
I'm uploading the new firmware for the STC6000 in the firmware section for you to try, let me know how you find it.
It has DLNA improvements which is what I want at use at home. My plasma TV's DLNA folder and file presentation is rubbish.
I can feel my wallet getting lighter already.

[buck401]

Mine is lighter!!
Received the new STC6000 and loaded the new f/w by USB with no problems and then my channel list from the s4000 without problem.
I then loaded the plugins: Mcas and Nasscam OK.
DNLA works perfectly accessing the PC media files.
Very disappointed that the EPG still not showing the programme synopsis apart from now and next.
Recorded 3 HD scrambled programmes and watched another all at the same time - no problems.
Couldn`t get Sync Player+ to connect to the PC but will try again later.
So far, quite pleased but will be really pleased with a full programme synopsis in the EPG. The machine seems more stable than the s4000.

[buck401]

Fitted new HDD - WD10EARX sata 2 5400rpm 64 cache - into s4000. Works really well with f/w .32 including HD.
Loaded the latest f/w .67 and the box is more stable.
Recorded HD film and watched without intervention - minor glitches but it did not freeze!
Still problem deleting recordings but temp solution is to reboot from power saving Standby.
Will persist with the .67 f/w for a few days.

[fatboy7]

Good luck, fingers crossed, just noticed our German friends are on .71, hope its got fixes in it, for ours....

[echelon]

just ordered a couple of WD20EARX , one is for my sly box, so the other can go in my ice , then I will update the firmware and see if my HD problems disappear or not
hopefully by the time I fit it there will be a new fixed f/w for the 4000 too ;)

details

Description
The Western Digital Caviar Green is a 5400 rpm drive that offers 2 TB of storage space for your music, videos, games, and other space-hungry applications. Thanks to its 3.5-inch form factor, this WD internal HDD fits perfectly into your desktop computer. You can access large or multiple files in a jiffy, as this WD internal HDD comes with a 5400 rpm spindle speed. The 6.0 Gbps SATA interface in this 5400 rpm drive allows for fast data transfer, and the 64 MB cache lets you search and retrieve the stored content within seconds. You can even enjoy enhanced gaming and multimedia content on the Western Digital Caviar Green.

Product Identifiers
Brand Western Digital
Model Caviar Green
MPN WD20EARX

Key Features
Enclosure Internal
Hard Drive Type HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
Capacity 2 TB
Buffer Size 64 MB
Spindle Speed 5400 RPM
Interface SATA III

Technical Details
Platform Mac, PC

[ColdAsICE]

This is the latest version for you guys to test.
I have already found that the blind search hangs.
Let me know your results.

[buck401]

What a disaster! Loaded up by USB, loaded OK. Having switched off my plugins before loading, not one would start! Tried deleting them but
nothing. Tried reloading including User Data Format - nothing. As I require the decoder for recordings tonight it was back to f/w .32
The f/w also sticks for up to 10 seconds accessing the menu.
It would be nice to know what this is supposed to fix.
I will try later loading Porter Express and the .78 f/w and see what else it does.

[joe2419]

keep getting invalid mac address

[echelon]

changed my hdd to a Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB Internal 2000GB 2TB WD20EARX and on .32 firmware

made no difference to the issues I have with sound and no picture on HD channels like bbc1HD and itv1HD

at least I know my hdd is one of the types recommended for when I upgrade my firmware again

stilll unsure why I get HD troubles as it works fine on SD

you would think that after all this time they would be able to get the basics right

[buck401]

New f/w on Icecrypt website downloads today.
Good luck!

[blakmumba]

changed my hdd to a Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB Internal 2000GB 2TB WD20EARX and on .32 firmware

made no difference to the issues I have with sound and no picture on HD channels like bbc1HD and itv1HD

at least I know my hdd is one of the types recommended for when I upgrade my firmware again

stilll unsure why I get HD troubles as it works fine on SD

you would think that after all this time they would be able to get the basics right

Echelon; just a long shot, but would me uploading a new channels list for you to try help in any way with the HD channels? (sly uk changed alot of channel frequencies around mid July).

[echelon]

Echelon; just a long shot, but would me uploading a new channels list for you to try help in any way with the HD channels? (sly uk changed alot of channel frequencies around mid July).

unlikely as it sometimes works for a while from a clean boot and its the same transponders I use on my spiderbox which works fine

[berliner]

Trues .78 twicw, found it stable on FTAchannels, but when using Xcam client i found the menus and pitcure locking, mainly on N*S channels, even updated the plugins to latest. Moved back to .32 again.

[buck401]

So have I

[ColdAsICE]

berliner, please try the newer bundle I have posted in the plugin section.
The API has been updated on the Xcam.

[buck401]

I see that the Icecrypt website has withdrawn f/w 1.10.78.
As ever, I hope that the various bugs are fixed quickly and the EPG programme synopsis is incorporated.

[ColdAsICE]

berliner, please try the newer bundle I have posted in the plugin section.
The API has been updated on the Xcam.

[fatboy7]

This has to be a little embarrassing for Icecrypt, that's two firmware versions now they have had so may issues within days of release they have had to withdraw them, and the rest are buggy at best.

Please Icecrypt, help us out with firmware that works, I'm sure we all love the box (not so sure actually, given how may are ending up on the bay at the moment).

Fingers still crossed...

[berliner]

Thanks Cold, updated plugins restored to .78 now a little more stable. Was going to tr
y Mgcamd but cant seem to get it working.
The main problem i have is the box freezes on Sly Italia channels and the EPG becomes giibberish, other channels seem to be ok, also a bit on UK. Decided to use Spiderbox for these channels.

Further update, gone back to .32 and using plugin from may12, now much more stable, still a few glitches on some sly uk channels.

[chris217]

Come tomorrow, it will have been three months since the seriously buggy V1.10.57 firmware was posted here. There is still no reliable replacement, which is very disappointing and, speaking personally, makes it highly unlikely that I will every buy an Icecrypt or related product again.

As a firmware developer, I appreciate that fixing problems like this can take time, but even so, three months for a consumer product is excessive.

ColdAsIce has kindly posted guidance as to some of the problems here, which is much appreciated. However, he (she?) appears to have been let down by the the development team in Korea.

[Gaza]

i agree come november its been 3 years i have been waiting for a receiver i can use with official software that works as it should. it seems that i need to go to enigma 2 to get the results i do find this hard to belive

[buck401]

ICE

Any sign yet of updated f/w for the S4000 or even a pre release we can play with?

[fatboy7]

Just checked with our German friends and they are still on .78 as well (with issues) since the 9/8/12.

We live in hope.