Persistent deletion of stored Freeview channels DBT2200

YouVoid

The problem:

We have a YouView Humax DBT2200 box (SW 32.23.50), connected to our Samsung TV using HDMI so get BT subscription channels. The YouView box is connected by ethernet cable to BT broadband / Draytek and to a Freeview roof antenna. (The antenna feed  / signal quality is fine direct to this TV and another TV)

The problem is that on (5) occasions now at switch on, we get onscreen banner " You need to set up Comedy Central or add it to your TV package. Press ok for more info." NB we never requested nor want these channels.

There is no escape from this screen using the remote buttons  - You View /BT box does not allow escape, only going to the EPguide, whereupon only channels from 307 upwards are available. - All the free to air Freeview channels have seemingly been deleted.

On pressing OK another screen offers 2 options only:

to accept a new package - for £10 or to accept an lesser Starter package for £4.50.

Note the only button is "ok" to accept one or other of these offers. No other suggested route out to quit. (Bad UI design!!)

This now does not allow us to tune to our original BT subscription and Freeview Channels - it now only tunes to channels 307 to 538 – so we are now suddenly denied service.

We have never asked for Comedy Central. We do not want this. We have done nothing to trigger this.

The only fix so far which I discovered is to do an entire rescan of the YouView box - taking 15 minutes or more to complete.

This has occurred 5 times now since June2019. 3 lengthy calls to BT helpdesk unable to fix so far. BT sent us new YouView box (despite my reservations) saying the old one faulty. Still no good, still happening with new box.

Probably spent about 8 hours on this.

Any suggestions, please? Thanks in advance for any help.

redchiz

Have you tried using your BT hub just to test? It may be that the Draytek router is not processing multicast/IGMP correctly.

zulu17

It seems to me that because channel 307 is the first channel in the Youview EPG Guide currently has the box is loading it when started. As it is a  subscription channel that is not subscribed to there are the various how to set up or subscribe to screens being displayed.
my recollection is that typically Youview boxes either display the last channel watched or the first  (lowest numbered) channel when starting or restarting.
I would also suspect that if the last channel watched was no longer tuned in to on the box it would probably load the next or first channel.
If you are able to navigate to one of the BT channels that are subscribed to  I suspect they will play. The Netflix  promotional channel 333 in the EPG should I think be one that would be available as well.
The issue as to why all Freeview channels  are no longer there is the one that needs to be focused on.

YouVoid

Hi Redchiz, tks for reply, I had not thought of that although I was feeling that it must be some sort of service / config messaging causing the problem; as if we had requested these comedy channels then to cause BT to send a new service config message over bband.

I had to stop using the HHub soon after I got it because it failed to work with DDNS because - surprisingly - it could not handle secure password strings. (there was a long discussion on the BT forum about this before I resolved the issue). So Hhub would not be a long term solution - but I agree worth a diagnostic try.

Do you know what multicast / IGMP behaviour is required - is there a standard or spec (I guess the You View service is defined by IETF or other open standards like IGMP - but with You View  / Humax proprietary mods??) I could refer to and verify with Draytek?

Also do you know if I can telnet into the YouView box? and check the config etc settings?

Many thanks

YouVoid

Hi Zulu17, thanks for you response.

In more detail, I need to recheck what happens - I dont think the Youview box is being switched on / off, only the TV (I am not the regular user - another family member is) AFAIK, the pattern is like this:

Last channel watched either a freeview channel or BTsport then the TV is turned into stby.

Then, on these 5-6 occasions on TV switch on again, we suddenly get the error condition where we only get ch's 307 up on the EPG and everything below has been deleted.

Today we expect a BT tech to call. Maybe he / she will have a solution.

Thanks again.

YouVoid

The BT Tech visited about this problem and provided an explanation.

He explained that the YouView (Humax) DBT2200 will delete all DVBT antenna channels if the RF signal level and quality are not within certain limits at its tuner. Apparently the box does this to "avoid damage"; I take it from this that it would otherwise overheat / meltdown when the digital chippery demands more processor power to recover a poor S/N, or gets too many RF volts at the input. The DBT2200 runs very hot.

Incredible behaviour and another example of poor quality (design) kit supplied by BT.

The Tech suggested that because of signal variations either due to transmission changes or cabling issues, the Humax box is deleting the freeview channels, and then reverts to the broadband only channels, triggering the offer of Comedy Central channels.

What a joke.

Any decent bit of radio kit must be able to be resilient against all reasonable signal conditions; the tv set tuners are, after all.

Will check antenna / cabling and give another try.

Louise Murdoch

Hi @YouVoid
Welcome to the forum.

Would you be able to let us know which transmitter you are receiving your signal from? If you are unsure of this, you can pop your details into Digital UK's coverage checker (http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/coveragechecker/). Detailed view will show you your most likely transmitter as well as any other viable options.

Secondly, can you confirm when you say you lose all Freeview channels, that all are missing, as if you did not have an aerial plugged in?

Thank you,
Louise.

moog

Hi youvoid,

Did you ever get to the bottom of this problem as my mum’s box exhibits exactly the same behaviour ... Cambridge East Anglia region. This has happened at least 4 times and first started in June 2019

Any help would be great as she is over 80 and this is stopping her using the TV

thanks Moog

eisoj

Hi, I have exactly the same problem . Was it ever resolved and if so what did you Do?

Stevef_fr8ys

Sounds like it could be an aerial problem.

First though, remove the aerial from the box and retune. You will get 0 channels but it will clear the box memory.

Then retune with the aerial in and see how many channels you now get and if it improves.

What happens if you plug the aerial directly into the TV bypassing the box. Do a retune and see if you have missing channels on the TV. If do this would indicate an aerial issue. A local installer would be able to advise further if so.

If it is just the box causing an issue, what box do you have? Do you have a contract with BT or TalkTalk? If so they may be able to help further.

eisoj

Thanks Steve for these suggestions. I’ve tried them now but still no free view channels. It’s happening to the other TVs in the house which are not connected to the box so it must be the aerial as you suggested. I’ll ring someone tomorrow. Thanks for your help.