**** BEGIN LOGGING AT Sat Mar 15 02:59:56 2008 Mar 15 05:44:23 tonymy01: which firmware should I be using on my TF5000PVRt ? Mar 15 05:46:50 * rwhitby needs to find a computer with a parallel port so I can reprogram my JP1 remotes for the Wiz ... Mar 15 05:47:05 Hi Rod, How's the P1 going? Mar 15 05:59:40 which f/w... dunno Mar 15 06:00:44 hey Tony Mar 15 06:00:44 i was happy with the Aug 06 f/w for the last 5 or so months, until it did one of the sept06 bug symptoms which is to keep recording for many hours after it was meant to stop Mar 15 06:01:03 i am going to give the Nov07 a go when i get back to sydney Mar 15 06:01:05 * Yuv422 gave away his toppy Mar 15 06:01:23 hi eric Mar 15 06:03:12 I wonder what will happen if I flash a bad svc.dat file to the config Mar 15 06:03:43 I might have to rig up some safety measures Mar 15 06:14:48 why are you writing a new svc.dat? Is this to get short channel names? Mar 15 06:14:57 yeah Mar 15 06:15:15 there are still a few unknown fields though Mar 15 06:16:11 I've coded it up in such a way that we can replace unknown fields with proper values when we work out what they do Mar 15 06:16:56 unless what you think is a dword is actually 4 bytes or something... but that is still easy anyway Mar 15 06:17:10 so you are using packed structures? Mar 15 06:17:58 I'm just dumping bytes into arrays for the unknown sections Mar 15 06:18:07 but I'm loading it all in order Mar 15 06:18:38 so it is an array of bytes? Mar 15 06:18:49 yes Mar 15 06:18:54 or a structure of byte/word/dword and pointers? Mar 15 06:19:02 I've tried to guess a few field lengths Mar 15 06:19:16 but most are still just blocks of data Mar 15 06:19:46 I'm just writing a loader that unpacks the file into a structure Mar 15 06:20:00 with header fields then arrays of svc and rf data Mar 15 06:20:17 then I will reconstruct the file from that Mar 15 06:20:21 ok, it is just when i went to build a structure for the timerRAM area for the topfield (including unkowns), it didn't work unless i made it a packed structure as the compiler was aligning all my variables in the structure on a word or dword boundary without it. Mar 15 06:20:47 yeah structs are bad that way Mar 15 06:20:58 I don't rely on the size of my struct Mar 15 06:21:06 ok, good Mar 15 06:21:15 all my fields are typedefs to correct sizes Mar 15 06:21:19 u16 and u32 Mar 15 06:21:25 or unsigned char * Mar 15 06:21:41 I've got endian issues too Mar 15 06:21:47 as I'm on a big endian machine Mar 15 06:22:36 i hate little endian code, as all the stuff i have worked with in the past has been big endian and it is so hard to twist my head around it sometimes.. Mar 15 06:23:11 yeah big is nicer to look at Mar 15 06:24:36 you can adjust compiler packing Mar 15 06:24:45 I think it's pragma packing Mar 15 06:24:48 or pack Mar 15 06:24:52 I can't remember Mar 15 07:48:06 I'm going out now Mar 15 07:48:07 cya Mar 15 08:51:10 tonymy01: EPG_uploader 3.25 is telling me to contact you :-) Mar 15 09:50:15 tonymy01: I'm going to make an optware package out of perltgd Mar 15 20:09:47 3.26beta has been released Mar 15 20:09:57 for the november 07 f/w mainly Mar 15 20:10:04 see the topfield tap forum Mar 15 21:38:52 tonymy01: thx Mar 15 21:39:13 tonymy01: should I be using numbers for channel names in EPG uploader now? Mar 15 21:39:44 I'm now using perltgd on my "slug" (it's actually a Freecom DataTank running Optware) Mar 16 00:49:32 tonymy01: what's the biggest drive I can buy for the topfield, just plugging it in and it works? Mar 16 01:58:30 tonymy01: I'm in contact with the perltgd author, and we're on the way to making it an optware package :-) Mar 16 02:03:17 i have been using numbers for over a year Mar 16 02:04:11 it was really developed to make loading simpler and less config issues to think about Mar 16 02:04:35 dunno the biggest drive. 500 had been tried and works Mar 16 02:05:10 do I need the AV 500, or just a normal WD 500 will do? Mar 16 02:05:17 750 was tried an didn't work, but then someone else said they did get a 750 working in their unit Mar 16 02:05:19 I really like Jim's EPG tap Mar 16 02:05:33 obviously av is quieter, but the toppy will use either Mar 16 02:05:34 and being able to handle the favourites on-device is cool Mar 16 02:05:38 i like his tap too Mar 16 02:05:55 I've got it set up for round-trip now, just need to package it up and add a cron job. Mar 16 02:05:58 not a silly behemoth memory hog like justepg Mar 16 02:06:23 he has coded it exactly how i have been hassling Peter to code justepg for years now Mar 16 02:06:38 do you have the source? Mar 16 02:06:47 source of justpeg Mar 16 02:07:00 source of jim's epg Mar 16 02:07:04 no Mar 16 02:07:12 we should convince him to put it in svn Mar 16 02:07:23 but he has discussed how it is built Mar 16 02:07:38 he seems to be open source inclined Mar 16 02:07:51 and he used the tweakers memalloc instead of the tap one now, which is quicker and better too Mar 16 02:08:03 (firebirds perhsp?) Mar 16 02:08:33 I think it will be a piece of cake to have perltgd build timers and possibly upload epg to the Wiz Mar 16 02:08:51 i have started to look at it Mar 16 02:09:05 we need to get this into svn so we can all collaborate on it Mar 16 02:09:43 now that I have a solution which doesn't need a PC, I'm happy to spend time on improving it ... Mar 16 02:10:03 yep, i m using it instead of ted Mar 16 02:10:28 me too. Mar 16 02:10:34 i dunno if you read my message on the topfield forum Mar 16 02:10:45 which one? Mar 16 02:10:54 i had finally had enough of that vds bit of annoying software (ted) Mar 16 02:11:19 when john coded "obsalescence" into his new versions of it (one of which i am running) Mar 16 02:11:48 heh - I didn't upgrade when it required payment again. Mar 16 02:11:50 and his upgrade procedure won't take my 90 favourites that i have built over the years Mar 16 02:12:46 i couldn't believe it when two thursdsays ago, none of my timers fired and then i saw my timerlist was empty, and ran ted manually and it said "sorry, version expired" Mar 16 02:12:48 BTW, is there any downside to buying a black masterpiece to replace my silver tf5000pvrt? Mar 16 02:13:25 not really, just some graphic related taps can be a bit quirky, but i prefer the vfd and size of the unit compared to the 5K Mar 16 02:13:35 really, with perltgd I'm intending to keep running the topfield in parallel with the new wiz, cause the wiz is not wife-acceptable yet I think Mar 16 02:13:42 when does the f1 start today? Mar 16 02:14:00 it's usually 2:30 isn't it? Mar 16 02:14:19 well i have missed a few of my hd shows because the bloody networks move them each week Mar 16 02:14:46 (i just have about 6 weekly timers setup to record the shows i want to watch in hd) Mar 16 02:14:52 so you run a masterpiece, not a 5K ? Mar 16 02:14:58 no Mar 16 02:15:24 it would be my pref to have an mp now, but i am not going to invest much more time or moneyh into an sd pvr Mar 16 02:15:43 ok Mar 16 02:16:03 i think we can really open up a number of features on the wiz Mar 16 02:16:47 e.g automated timer setting, ntp&TZ time setting, file repair options, autodelete Mar 16 02:16:52 for a start, the number of key presses to get to the list of recorded files on the wiz is atrocious. Mar 16 02:17:05 none of this needs to tweak the wizdvp app at all Mar 16 02:17:25 yeah, i know, it is really silly how they managed the file manager Mar 16 02:17:46 can't view it while watching tv either like you can on a 5k Mar 16 02:17:59 I'm thinking I'll be running the 5K with a 500 disk for the family, and the Wiz with the built-in disk for my stuff. Mar 16 02:19:21 Iansav is a serious wiz defender, the wiz is his first pvr. everytime i bring up how a 5k does things, i get shot down in flames about how we shouldn't be asking to make a wiz into a topfield Mar 16 02:19:48 ian finally snapped though Mar 16 02:19:54 are you on the beta list? Mar 16 02:20:08 yep Mar 16 02:23:02 ian absolutely had a dummy spit on the beta forum about this latest f/w release not delivering any of the major bug fixes and bringing silly confusing new features (the bookmarking) **** ENDING LOGGING AT Sun Mar 16 02:59:56 2008