Updates to the Navigatr TV Guide - Version 6.6.0.0120

[shan-man]

Wow! An awesome technician came out to our house and fixed the problem. We had a powered 7-way (I think) splitter in the basement with built-in MoCA filter. He replaced with a stand-alone MoCA filter, a two way to split off internet, then a four way. This restored Whole Home. Perhaps the firmware update was a bizarre coincidence? I'm impressed with the resolution. Tech support also gave me a very nice credit for the trouble. Good on you Rogers.

[HiHoSilver]

As requested by the Rogershelps Twitter account, here is my bug report.

When cancelling an upcoming episode of a series recording, it looks like it's cancelled ... but often it records anyway (or, if you come back later to the list of scheduled recordings, it once again shows as scheduled).  I have not yet been able to find if there's a pattern as to which ones stay cancelled and which ones come back from the dead.  This did not happen before the new firmware.

Also, credit where credit is due:  the annoying multiple-second wait after deleting a recording has mostly gone away, so the effort to improve responsiveness has indeed helped in this case.  The only instance I've seen where this delay persists happens when deleting a recording that's still underway.

And finally, a suggestion of another way to enhance responsiveness:  after scheduling a recording, the box displays something to the effect of "Recording scheduled" on the screen.  For several seconds.  It does not respond to key presses on the remote until this message times out.  The user should be able to dismiss this message and get back to what they were doing - I'd suggest by pressing Exit, but some other method (e.g. an "OK" button on the screen) would work, too.  Just get rid of the forced several-second wait.

[57]

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@HiHoSilverwrote:

And finally, a suggestion of another way to enhance responsiveness:  after scheduling a recording, the box displays something to the effect of "Recording scheduled" on the screen.  For several seconds.  It does not respond to key presses on the remote until this message times out.  The user should be able to dismiss this message and get back to what they were doing - I'd suggest by pressing Exit, but some other method (e.g. an "OK" button on the screen) would work, too.  Just get rid of the forced several-second wait.

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This was done on purpose with one of the updates. It used to be that you could immediately go on to do other things, but this often caused issues with the scheduled recordings not being properly set because these boxes are not instantaneous.  Much better to have to wait a few seconds until the scheduling has been done properly, than to have issues.

[57]

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@RogersTonywrote:

The new firmware was only rolled out to older NextBox units that were having issues with responsiveness or sluggishness when entering commands from the remote.

RogersTony

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This is apparently not the case.  Several people over on Digital Home have reported that their 9865s have had the update and they too respond a bit more quickly to certain commands.

[HiHoSilver]

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@57wrote:

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@HiHoSilverwrote:

And finally, a suggestion of another way to enhance responsiveness:  after scheduling a recording, the box displays something to the effect of "Recording scheduled" on the screen.  For several seconds.  It does not respond to key presses on the remote until this message times out.  The user should be able to dismiss this message and get back to what they were doing - I'd suggest by pressing Exit, but some other method (e.g. an "OK" button on the screen) would work, too.  Just get rid of the forced several-second wait.

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This was done on purpose with one of the updates. It used to be that you could immediately go on to do other things, but this often caused issues with the scheduled recordings not being properly set because these boxes are not instantaneous.  Much better to have to wait a few seconds until the scheduling has been done properly, than to have issues.

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Better yet would be to only delay the user as long as is strictly necessary.  They managed to cut out almost all the delay in deleting a program; they should put some effort into doing something similar here.

Also, these boxes run Linux, a multitasking multithreaded operating system.  If there's a process that takes some time, put it in a background task or thread and let the user interface resume.  Yes, I know, the CPUs in these things are pitiful, but if they can handle recording several programs, playing one (or more in a whole home environment) programs back, and a user going through the guide simultaneously, they can handle a background task/thread that ties up all the loose ends involved in scheduling a recording.  (Nearly 30 years ago I used to deploy Unix systems that could run a small business' accounting etc. off a single 80386 CPU.  These boxes are way more powerful than that.)

[Lurker]

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@57wrote:

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@RogersTonywrote:

The new firmware was only rolled out to older NextBox units that were having issues with responsiveness or sluggishness when entering commands from the remote.

RogersTony

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This is apparently not the case.  Several people over on Digital Home have reported that their 9865s have had the update and they too respond a bit more quickly to certain commands.

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Can confirm that my NB3 was updated to 6.6.0.0120

Can't say anything about responsiveness, but can say that there is no font change in the guide.

Haven't powered up my 4642 yet to see what changes it received.

[kittyb]

Our update was just applied and the new font is hard to read. Nasty.

[BS]

Update just came today on our NB3 - NB2 was earlier in week - yes, I do find the font a bit more challenging. I see some improvement in performance on both boxes, but if we are achieving performance by compromising readability for those with vision issues (say like me and many others), this really isn't acceptable.  I already do things slowly in response to my visual acuity issues, I can live with a bit less speed for improved fonts.

And guess what, under law, my rights to accommodation trump making things easier for those without challenges.

Just saying.

They never have been able to wrap their heads around the font issue right from day one.

Bruce

[atkins28]

I’d be interested to hear why my non-pvr nextbox is now super sluggish to respond when trying to scroll or even exit the guide since this update was pushed??? My 3 boxes are less the 2 years old. Your excuse doesn’t seem to carry much water in my opinion as it was fine b4 and so frustrating since I’ve given up most nights and switched over to netflix.

[jt-kanata]

Wow, just wow! I came here thinking there was something wrong with my 8642 because of the fonts, and I can believe this was by design.

Maybe it's because I'm used to the performance issues, but I think I'd rather have it back to the way it was. The lag of the guide was less impacting than the lag of trying to read that font.

Who comes up with this stuff and signs off on it?! Not acceptable Rogers!