UPDATED NextBox Navigatr - December 2015/January 2016

[RogersMargaret]

Hi Community,

On December 15, 2015, I let everyone know that we had started to roll out the updated Navigatr guide.  Take a look here for that post. 

As we continue to roll out the update, customers will be notified ahead of time that they will be getting the new software.

If you have received the updated Navigatr software (i.e. since December 15, 2015) and would like to ask a question and/or share your findings/learnings, please do so in THIS THREAD.  

As always, the Community Guidelines and Terms of Use apply.

Thanks very much for keeping the community a pleasant place to be!

~RogersMargaret

[le1]

To be short and blunt, the Rogers Navigatr System is bad. It simply does not perform as well as the previous system. I notice that the star rating of movies is no longer available on Navigatr. Could this have been TV Network pressure on Rogers to abolish the star rating of movies because it was affecting viewer numbers. Something to think about!!

[lensman]

Being in among the first batch of guinea pigs to test this debacle back in July, and having posted many times in the original thread dealing with this issue, seeing NO RESPONSE from Rogers I decided to speak with my wallet. While I cannot cut the cord entirely (my whole business life revolves around my email address that would disappear if I said goodbye forever), I did cut all cable service right back to the "basic cable". I rarely have to use Navigatr now since there is virtually nothing worth recording on basic cable! My wife watches more TV than me and we both simply spend our time watching entire series on Netflix; Shomi as well, but that is a whole other issue and we only use it because it's free. Once Rogers starts charging for it then that, too, will be gone. Once our three cellphone contracts are up I am going to shop around for another deal there, too.

A someone mentioned earlier regarding that article on customer satisfaction, I am one of those who will tell anyone who will listen about my experiences with Rogers and it gives me great satisfaction to hear them say "Remind me not to jump over from Bell (or whatever other provider), then!" Yes, Rogers you may not have lost me as a customer (grudgingly) but you sure have lost potentialy many new ones...

It wasn't that long ago that I would have given Rogers perhaps an 8 out of 10 for overall satisfaction, now they get a 2 and I am happy to tell them that every time I get prompted to fill in that survey that pops up when logging in.

[remaxman]

Does anyone have a newer software verson than this one on their Netbox3 with navigatr? 

[remaxman]

You are to generous giving them a 2. -2 would be more accurate, 

[BS]

@remaxman Looks like current versions are software version 6.0.0.0132, changed recently from 129, and previously it was in the 3.0's.  That is the Cisco Videoscape platform by the way.  Amazing that Technicolor hasn't changed over their rights, as they took over all Cisco settop hardware (they have a box design of their at Technicolor and provide the same UI concepts, and IP options that Espial does).

The classic Version of 60.00.16 and VOD-Tier 3 Version - 60.00.14 are also Cisco modules.

These were all You can view the full component set by pushing esc for about 3 seconds until power light on the box blinks, then push down arrow two times and then push 2.

Under component info, you will see the old Cisco platform of 3.0.6.134 which is not at end of life and support, and various other Cisco modules of other version numbers - basic image file is 6.0.0.132.  Under troubleshooting, the Espial browser is now 6.0.8-1.1.90

All Cisco recompile dates are on January 20, 2016, well after the date that Tecnicolor took over from Cisco, but they still report Cisco Video Scape, so either they are maintaining that licensed model, or do want to associate with this new Navigtr and Nextbox.  December rollout had various dates on the Cisco moduals, and the changed modules pushed out recently appear to be mostly on the Cisco end.  No middle ware, JVM, and QTWebkit which provides the interface API's between the functionality, either RDK or RTN is ot stated.

Oh and I have not given numbers above the middle point, with a lot of 0's in a long time and I too was one who tended to rank them very high.  Not anymore - says a little something about their current model of customer service and satisfaction.

So we wait to see.

Bruce

[jjmartin]

I had 2 recordings of a series that I hadn't watched yet. After I watched the first one, it showed a familiar choice: watch, or delete. I deleted it. Then I found the only recording I had was the first one that I had just watched. Apparently when you finish watching a recording, if there is another one, the screen will jump to the next recording. It did NOT do this before Navigatr! Now I guess the only way I can see the episode I deleted is to join Netflix. Navigatr is disgusting!

[robindp]

Hello @jjmartin,

Yes, this is an extremely annoying bug - bit me once too.

What show did you accidentally wipe? You can visit the TV stations website (example: www.citytv.com) or www.rogersondemand.com to find and watch your show. 

[remaxman]

Same thing happened to me. But what realley ticked me off is my wife had some friends over and they were watching one part of a seies and then went to delete after it was over and they deleted the next one. She told me to cancel Rogers and call Bell that very second lol.

[8n]

• Slow performance on the 8642 PVRs under new system. Previous system was fine. Are you trying force a HW upgrade? 
• LARGE request for a list view to return instead of tiles.  Or give the option for one or the other.
• The font is too small.
• Inprogress, Recorded, Scheduled recordings  - no were is the time or channel displayed. You have to select a tile even to obtain the date. Rather than displaying a picture in the tile, display useful information. GO BACK TO THE PREVIOUS FORMAT FOR PVR DISPLAYS/FUNCTION. 
• When I tried to record mulible episodes of a particular program, a box was created for the program but nothing was recorded. WHY!! 
• Guide function is setup to display authorized channels. If I select Favourites then favourites are displayed correctly. ISSUE: The next time I got to GUIDE, then Favourites are displayed vs authourized channels. I then have to reset the Guide setup. 

[carlorobazza]

Anybody have luck using the "5 minutes more" option on the recording settings? 

I've changed my default recording setting to add 5 minutes to the scheduled recording times because some shows go a little past the scheduled end time.

I've also changed the individual series recording settings to add the extra 5 minutes, but it never seems to take. For example, I constantly modify Pawn Stars to add an extra 5 minutes, but it always ends at the "normal" time and whenever I check the settings, it's always back to "end on time".

Sorry... forgot to mention that I am selecting the "update settings" option to save my changes.

Is this yet another bug or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks.

[park]

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@carlorobazza wrote:

Anybody have luck using the "5 minutes more" option on the recording settings? 

I've changed my default recording setting to add 5 minutes to the scheduled recording times because some shows go a little past the scheduled end time.

I've also changed the individual series recording settings to add the extra 5 minutes, but it never seems to take. For example, I constantly modify Pawn Stars to add an extra 5 minutes, but it always ends at the "normal" time and whenever I check the settings, it's always back to "end on time".

Is this yet another bug or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks.

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Its not a bug, it (Navigatr) is a very large cockroach !

In addition to selecting 5 minutes more you have go up a few and select and click on Update recording settings.

Duuno whty Rogers does not answer these basic questions instead of just editing posts.

BTW: If I were I'd ask for a service tech to come out and show how to do use Navigatr.

In fact we all should.

[DrMike]

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@park wrote:

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BTW: If I were I'd ask for a service tech to come out and show how to do use Navigatr.

In fact we all should.

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I doubt very much if they would schedule a visit for that, but I LOVE the idea. They would be so inundated with calls. And then there is a real person to complain to, and maybe the sheer volume and venom might actually get through to someone upstairs at Rogers. Right now, we have zero assurance at all that anyone important is listening to us at all....

[park]

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@DrMike wrote:

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@park wrote:

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BTW: If I were I'd ask for a service tech to come out and show how to do use Navigatr.

In fact we all should.

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I doubt very much if they would schedule a visit for that, but I LOVE the idea. They would be so inundated with calls. And then there is a real person to complain to, and maybe the sheer volume and venom might actually get through to someone upstairs at Rogers. Right now, we have zero assurance at all that anyone important is listening to us at all....

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OK then pay us $80 or whatever it costs Rogers for a tech visit, to go to store a get trained.

[57]

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@carlorobazza wrote:

Anybody have luck using the "5 minutes more" option on the recording settings? 

Sorry... forgot to mention that I am selecting the "update settings" option to save my changes.

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If you are indeed updating/saving your new settings, there is one other possibility. The firmware is "smart enough" to know that if you're recording a programme that follows the first programme, it will not extend that first programme.  You would therefore see the end of the previous programme at the start of the next programme (if indeed the first programme goes long).  You may miss a few seconds. The firmware handles back-to-back recordings in this way to avoid more conflicts.

One alternative is to not do "back-to-back" recordings and always find the second recording on a different channel or different timeslot.

[park]

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@carlorobazza wrote:

Anybody have luck using the "5 minutes more" option on the recording settings? 

Sorry... forgot to mention that I am selecting the "update settings" option to save my changes.

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Then definately get a tech out. And have him swap in a NB3 if you only have an  NB2

[rgottinger]

I record several shows back to back to back on the same channel on Mondays and Tuesdays and have never had any issues whatsoever. Nor have i seen any issues with the 5 minutes after setting as with some stations that has become a staple.

[rgottinger]

Absolutely get rid of any NB2.

[BS]

@rgottinger  Yes, definitely the NB2 should be put to its grave - it has always been somewhat underpowered from day one with significant limitations, so give those users a free upgrade.  You must have lots of spare boxes around with the numbers of people who have walked.

By the way, be aware you will not be getting new boxes, just refurbished - probably just a factory reset, and often when the box comes to our homes by a tech, none of the the updates have been installed.  Best practice would be they install the new software builds and do a 48 hour burn in test.  Then they would find if there are box issues, or incompatabilities with the builds.

Bruce

[jenmcd]

After dealing with your customer support frequently over the last few weeks since Navigatr launched on your cable guide, I thought it might be helpful to list all the bugs I've been experiencing in one place. It's frankly shocking to me that this new guide managed to go to market without a better QA/debugging process. Here are the issues I've been experiencing:

Scheduled recordings just don't work:

-Last night's was the weirdest fail yet: I had scheduled The Flash for 8pm on ch 166 (it's a series recording). I got home at 8:30 and the red light was on (both on the PVR and next to the show's name in the guide). But when I went to the list to start watching it from the start, instead of seeing a showcard image of The Flash, it was just a black box. When I clicked into it, I got this error: "Sorry "" on "PVR AE4" cannot be viewed right now. The program may have been deleted, or there may not be enough resources available." So it just wasn't recording. Pressing the "record" button got me a message saying it was already recording. Then, just when it couldn't get any weirder, after 9pm, The Flash showed up in my list -- but when I clicked play it was actually the show that aired afterwards: iZombie. And the red record indicator in the guide next to the Flash image stayed on for two hours (until I rebooted). 

-Sometimes if the guide doesn't mark the show as "new" it won't record. Fun fact: the show actually is new!

-Sometimes if I try to record a show live, it says it's recording, the light turns on, but it's not in my guide and it's not recording.

Lost functionality:

-The previous guide had many features that this one does not. Closed captioning for instance. Tech support told me I had to turn it on for live TV before the recording to enable it, and presented this as a fix. This is clearly a bug with a poor workaround. Restore it to how it was before.

-Previously when you searched a show, it listed all the upcoming times it was airing. That functionality seems to be completely gone. It only searches VOD now?

-If you decide to end a recording mid-recording, you can no longer choose between 'stop and save' and 'stop and erase'. You have to stop, go back into the list, and then erase.

-You can no longer watch something while looking at your guide/list

Poor UX:

-It now takes multiple more steps to do anything compared to the old guide. You set a recording, and you have to click twice to confirm? You finish watching a recorded show, and instead of getting a prompt to erase it, you are bumped back to live TV and you have to navigate back to the guide to erase it? Come on.

-Shows that are currently recording are listed under "scheduled" for some reason. Tabbing between scheduled and recording is cumbersome.

-Having the scheduled and recording lists on the same page is confusing and adds nothing.

-The lag is insane. Sometimes it takes up to five seconds after you press a button for the response.

-The page up trick to FF 3 minutes only works sometimes now. 

-The same show is listed in multiple folders.

[OLDYELLR]

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@BS wrote:

@rgottinger  Yes, definitely the NB2 should be put to its grave - it has always been somewhat underpowered from day one with significant limitations, so give those users a free upgrade.  You must have lots of spare boxes around with the numbers of people who have walked.

Bruce

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In retrospect, the NB2 would probably work just fine if it had been left with the SARA interface. RTN bogged it down and Nextbox in choking it to death. I would agree a free upgrade to NB3 would help both customers and reduce complaints to Rogers.

Oddly, when my daughter upgraded from a STB terminal to a PVR 2 or 3 years ago, Rogers gave her a SA8300HD, not a NB2, which was current at the time. I guess Rogers uses up all the old boxex before giving out new models.

[rgottinger]

@jenmcd - I definitely agree about the User Experience degradation and functionality that isn't what it was but I also recorded The Flash, Agent Carter, Limitless and iZombie last night and all recorded successfully as they have since the 'upgrade'.

What sort of PVR do you have? Mine is a 9865HD and other than the usability issues, it has been pretty stable.