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starview problem

Discussion in 'Digital TV - UK & Europe' started by rat31, May 12, 2007.

  1. rat31

    rat31 Guest

    could anybody send me a step by step guide to set up my starview box i have a ntl connection,please help
     
  2. steo46

    steo46 Regular member

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    HIS GUIDE WILL HOPEFULLY HELP THOSE HAVING PROBLEMS SETTING UP, FLASHING AND SCANNING THEIR BOXES.


    1 Make sure you have an active cable feed- this will be true if you have a subbed box or a modem subscription and a digital service is available in your area. If you have no sub. just because you have a cable there doesn't mean it's an active line. Or it may have been active but been disconnected at the other end in the box on your street or at the point where it enters your house. There are only a limited number of connectors in these boxes, sometimes not enough for every house in the street, so if a subscribing customer needs access and there are no spare connections left they will disconnect a house that is connected if they no longer have a subscription. Or if you were subscribing and are now not it may be disconnected as a matter of course.

    Remember this guide is for for experimental and educational use only, please dont abuse this advice for viewing pay channels that you are not paying subscriptions for.

    2 Make sure your cable is working correctly-get a new pre- crimped cable not one that you attach the connectors on the end of the cable yourself, or check the cables with a tester if you know how to do this. Also make sure all your connections are tight and secure. (on the wall and into the back of your box and the RF adapter). If you are using a splitter make sure it's working correctly and not losing too much of the signal. Test by using the feed directly without the splitter 1st. (If you need a splitter get a Qamtex or vocom one). If you have signal problems you may have a fault in the small brown box where your feed enters the house- there is an adapter there too so you may have to check the cables in there too. Water may have got in etc. Or the Tap your house cable is connected to in the box on your street maybe faulty or the cable under your road from this box to your house faulty.

    3 Make sure the feed is plugged into the correct input at the back of the box- plug into the cable feed input NOT the RF input!

    4 Goto the Receiver section of the forum not the talking boards and download the latest WORKING firmware. and the GT Rom loader software. If the firmware is a zipped file extract it to its bin extension. If the loader is zipped or rared extract it to its exe extension.

    At present as of 31/01/07 -259 is the latest, dated 29th January 2007 on flashing- This is the official firmware.

    Also right now the 257 from the 26th January 2007 OR the 255 dated 22nd July 2006 also known as Cryptstar v1.1 are also working. The 257 has an improved EPG over the 255.

    [At present I'm still testing the 259 in comparison to the 257 due to occasional picture dropout on the 259 which did not occur for me on the 257- you may find this one more stable while its still working for autoroll.]

    In menu check your system information. If it shows the November 2006 firmware you may need to flash with the above or later if appropriate as this one may not work correctly in letting you access the CAS SYSTEM menu to enable EMU.

    (Please remember that this applies to UK only- sometimes if you are in Eire you may have to use an older firmware maybe the 257 for your box for it to autoupdate)

    5 Connect your box and PC with a Null modem cable and switch on your PC then cable box. Make sure your box is connected to the TV by a tested and working Full scart cable and the TV is set to the correct AV input that matches the scart that you are using.
    (Its not essential for the box to be connected to the TV in order to flash firmware or channel data, it will still work without. Only that it's easier obviously to make sure it works and test afterwards.)

    6 Make sure you know which com port on your PC the null modem cable is using and make sure the baud rate is set to 115200 in device manager in system settings in control panel.

    Make sure you know that the serial port on your PC is working and is connected securely to the PCs motherboard if appropriate. Its a good idea sometimes to remove all other devices such as printers/scanners or other unnecessary USB devices as sometimes there may be a conflict if the device is sharing a com port with the serial connector. This may be more relevant in older pcs with pre XP OS, such as Win 98 and you may have to alter BIOS settings to enable com ports or settings to let windows allocate them.

    If you have no serial port on your PC, say because it's a laptop you may have to get a USB to serial PORT adaptor cable to attach your Null modem cable to. You may need drivers installed also for the cable. (This is not the same as a usb to serial lead which won't work.)

    Or if you have a parallel port for a printer, a parallel to serial adaptor may be cheaper. Then attach the null modem cable to that. N.B. I have not tested that, its just a thought as the USB cables are expensive as opposed to the parallel adaptors which are only a couple of poun#s. If you have a desktop PC then you can purchase a serial adaptor and fit it to the motherboard if you know how.
    These cables can be purchased online or at somewhere like maplins.

    7 In GT Rom software make sure that you set the correct com port that matches the one that is being used in device manager. Press the Help button and read the instructions.

    8 Make sure App file only is selected and click Bin File then browse to the firmware in the directory on your PC and select it.

    9 You will then see "GCR 3510" in the STB model box. DO NOT TYPE ANYTHING HERE.

    10 If the box has had an older software installed which was working but no longer decrypts then switch it off at the back then back on again and tune to an unencrypted channel (No $ symbol)quickly before it gets caught in an auto-updating loop. ( Select OK and the channel list appears, move up or down to select a channel without a green dollar symbol on the right ($) & hit ok.) Make sure the channel is working then switch it into standby on the remote or the front of the box. You will then see the clock. If an older firmware is on the box and it starts to autoupdate the keys, but then sticks and then you put it in standby you will not be able to flash the box correctly. You must go into standby from a working unencrypted channel first.

    11 Run the GT Rom loader flash the ROM chip by pressing Download and watch the % progress increase until you see Download completed message on your PC. DO NOT SWITCH OFF UNTIL COMPLETE! That means you see the DOWNLOAD COMPLETE pop up on pc. The Starview will then switch on again.

    Its always a good idea not to do anything else on the PC while flashing to minimize the risk of corruption during the flash. And make sure you close any other running applications and none are scanning or start scanning during the flash. for example Antivirus/antispyware programs. Or that you are downloading anything from the net. It may not be an issue but better safe than sorry as maxing out the CPU can sometimes cause the flash to fail, the last thing you want is to damage the ROM chip in the starview.

    12 You can now disconnect your your Null modem cable from box and PC if you wish.

    13 If you have a previously bad flash switch it off then on at the back and make sure its on standby. Then Flash as guided above.

    If for some reason it won't go into standby and you see a constant moving green dot. You may want to wait to see if it goes into standby or switches on eventually or reflash from this state though it may not work. Some users have reported that flashing an older firmware 1st that was working then trying again may help. If your flash has failed or corrupted try again but 1st flash back the firmware that was on before your failed flash. Re download the firmware just in case you had a corrupted file then try again.

    14 If you don't know the state of the box switch it on see what happens see if there already has been a channel scan done before-meaning there are channels on it working or not. if so tune to an unencrypted channel as above then standby then reflash.

    15 If No channels at all goto standby then flash as above.

    16 You may want to do a factory reset then flash as above.

    17 If done after flashing the 1st thing you will have to do is a full auto channel scan in the installation section of the menu.

    18 you may have to alter the provider to a suitable one or scan on all to pick up the channels. Pure N*l areas have a symbol rate of 6887 whereas the others are 6952 sometimes you may have to auto scan more than once on the same provider.

    19 Once completed it will tell you ....channels found, exit on the remote and enter the Parental control section of the menu. Press "i " (info) then "2004" and you will enter the CAS system menu. (alternatively from the Main Menu press 1570). Scroll down to Key EMU and switch it on by toggling the volume arrows on the remote. Then move up to Nagravision and press OK select your area provider then press OK. Exit and scroll down to Default key and hit OK. It will flash "Please wait for saving" Exit all way back to main menu.

    20 Select User Setup and then set your desired language. Aspect ratio- 4:3 if you have an older set or 16:9 if it's a widescreen. Set the TV type. In UK its PAL (Phase Alternate Line) or you can set it to Auto but make sure it was on the correct one before that. Video output is best set to RGB if your TV can take this through the scart but make sure the setting on your TV for that scart AV input is also set to RGB in the menu or settings area on your TV set. Otherwise use CVBS (composite signal). The TV scart output of the starview (bottom connector) will give give you RGB output, the video output scart (top one) is only for composite video.

    Set the time- when highlighted move the arrow to the right and Time setting sub menu appears. In the time zone area set the GMT+..:.. section. This must be correct or your EPG times will be off. This will depend on the time of year, clocks going back forward will affect this. In the UK it will be either GMT+00:00 (In winter) or GMT+01:00 (in summer). Set the Current time by scrolling down then inputing the numbers in 24hr clock. The Timer section is for setting the box to come on or off to record from for example. Remember this only works on a 24hour basis, but you can set 8 changes and repeat daily if you want.

    21 In modulator use the arrows to select the output RF (radio Frequency) signal. If your box is connected to your TV with an aerial lead- again make sure the connections are firm the cable is previously tested as working and you have connected it to the correct output on the back of your box. The UK setting is PAL-I other regions may vary, in other PAL settings the picture may work but the sound may not work properly.

    In Rf channel select a number that you know that there is no existing channel being broadcast on or another device outputting on such as a video/dvd or other box. Sometimes its best to select the channel on the TV you wish to use then tune to a blank area with just clear snow and save. making a note of the frequency number on the TV if you can (21 to 69). Then set the same number on the starview then fine tune your TV. If you can't note the number on the TV just go through the numbers on the starview hitting OK until the picture appears. This a pain though as you'll keep having to flick from scart to RF on your TV. The default on the Starview is 38 I think you could tune your TV to this if you want to see if there is any interference.

    22 Set the On Screen Display (OSD) as preferred for time and opaqueness.

    23 The S/W Transfer enables you to transfer firmware or channel order/scan data from one box to another. There are guides on this in other sections of the forum so use the search function to find out how.

    24 Exit back out of the menu and check all your channels are working. You may have to wait a short time when you 1st tune to a $ channel as the box auto updates before the picture appears. All that then remains is for you to re order your channels if you wish in Channel edit in the menu, the default pass is 0000. If you've changed it and forgotten the master code is 1668 then go into settings again and set it to what you want.

    Good luck.
     
  3. rat31

    rat31 Guest

    many thanks
     
  4. 310radio

    310radio Member

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    Would have been quicker to post the link to this. lol
     
  5. steo46

    steo46 Regular member

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    It was on another forum and you would have to register to get this info so it was easier to cut and paste.
     

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