Posts by justanotherjohn

Hi guys, I have just purchased one of these with the Cloud Ibox branding - Same box exactly. spent yesterday playing with it and got to say WOW for the price this is just amazing. I have a ***box F3 (does the job but in a ugly way and memory so small causes problems on a multisat system like mine), Alien Amiko SHD 8900 (an OK box if you wont be using softcams but all the enigma2 images are unstable and spark is lacking decent plugins so a no win situation) and I had a Dreambox 800SE HD (clone) that got stolen unfortunately. Up to now the Dreambox had been head and shoulders ahead of the others. But now this works as well as the dreambox, you have all the enigma2 plugins to play with if you wish or just stick with it as is out the box (mine came with VIX image and Sly UK Auto Bouquets set up.) Picture and sound are excellent, tuner is FAST and so is zapping between channels. Plugin a Ext3 or Ext 4 formatted USB HDD and you have full timeshifting and recording capability and a spare USB socket still which none of my other boxes have. Issues? Runs hot but this hasn't actually caused me a problem yet. Plenty of space to add a fan as other people here have mentioned if this becomes a problem. Cant really say I have had any other issues. It's ugly as sin and as no kind of front display. Remote is quite clicky but works really well - much better than the pile of **** remotes they give you with Amiko boxes. Oh and I guess one detterent for some people might be the maximum resolution of 720p/1080i - my other boxes all have a 1080p mode but I have yet to find a single 1080p channel to take advantage of this anyway so I can live without that.
I paid £72 plus postage for my box. I am including the link to the seller because they offer them as FTA and do not get involved in "Gifts" or CS.

They also sell the Openbox S6000HD version for £85. Considering both are same box I'm wondering if the Openboxes are newer stock and include the fan that they have started fitting on newer models?

Hope the info is of help.

Quote from sniffer

Yes, STB is definitely Amiko Alien 8900 have checked the box, was confused but think we understand and are on track now.

Will try to load this image HDMU_1447_E2_spark_211_git_5038_nodebug_nolcd_ Diff0_ffm_Flash

--- edit ---

Image seems to be Sucessfully loading.

I have a few question, What is the relationship between Enigma and Alien?

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Hi, others opinion may differ but personally I would steer clear of those HDMU images - I tried 3 and all were very unstable and have a very ugly default interface.
PKTeam Nebula 3 images are the most stable on the Amiko Alien 8900 boxes for some reason and very customisable too.

Relationship wise there is non as such - Enigma2 was an evolution of the Enigma linux images for Dreamboxes. Because the Alien boxes are Linux based boxes like many more out there some teams of coders have basically taken a dreambox enigma2 image that they like and patched it to work with the Alien box and remote. Because its still a fairly new box a lot of these images are a million miles away from stable right now - I tried pretty much all the ones in the firmware section here and on other forums and only ones I found good enough for everyday use are the PKTeam Nebula 3 or PKTeam Nebula mod by Vardan ones. Even these can take some fiddling around with to get working right - especially if you have a HDD you wish to use.
Spark software as just been updated to '60' and now adds the video streaming to a pc on the network feature that I think is a lot of peoples justification for using Enigma2. Also on the old Spark I had numerous issues with softcams and the remote that seem resolved with this update so you may find if you update the box in spark online you are happier just using that.

Quote from shwonk

hi thanks for reply

im using the recommended kingston usb stick formatted fat 32 ,box does recognise plugin update and instals then reboots ,when you go to plugins nothing there weird

Very strange. I'd try updating your box to latest software thats just come out. I had numerous issues on the last version (58) but on this new (60) version its running great.

Quote from shwonk

Hi all

I,ve put a plugin onto my usb stick for cccam emu,s
on screen prompt appears i load plugin but new plugin not showing in plugins
anywhere else to look

Im using spark image

Thanks
:cry_002:

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It doesn't show in plugins until you install it - when you put the usb in you should see a folder and magnifying glass icon pop up to show spark is searching the usb. if there is a valid plugin on there it will ask if you wish to upgrade, select yes then once thats done reboot, go to the plugin menu and activate the plugin which should now be shown in the list.

USB needs to be fat32 in Spark. If it isn't seen then might be that you haven't uncompressed the folder - some of the plugins are in the linux tar.gz format and have to be extracted a couple of times to get to the actual files (I use 7zip to extract).

Quote from nano

You have to install Spark 1.2.51 first to ensure the correct uboot loader is installed. If this loader isn't installed E2 will not go on to the box. Once you have downgraded you can then install the newest version.

Nano

I got my box a month back Nano - still sealed in original box and I didn't have to do this. Plugged it in, did the latest software update on the box menu that was available and never had any trouble installing the enigma2 images. Surely if he's only had this box a couple of weeks then it should come with the same software mine did straight from the box?

Quote from djmist

john: the HD's I have been using are all usb powered, ill try one with a power supply. Ill have a deeper look at the mounting later.

mikey: I have the drives formatted with Fat32

Drive needs to be formatted with ext3 or ext4 - these are linux based images so they don't support the windows file format.

After finally getting my box to work how I want (in enigma2 mind NOT Spark) I think your review is about right. I paid £79.99 for mine (SHD-8900) including next day delivery from that famous auction site. Brand new in sealed box.
Previously I've had an openbox s9 which had to go back as wouldn't drive my motor, then a Dreambox 800HDSE Clone which was superb but then stold in a burglary which then lead to a purchase of a ***box F3 as a short term solution. Against these the Alien kills the openbox and ***box but is absolutely shamed by the Dreambox clone. Like you said the enigma2 images are not great at the moment but also as you said the PKTeam nebula 3 image seems the exception to this. I'd avoid the HDMU images though as tried a few and all dreadful and unstable imo.
Spark doesn't play well with softcams and even using the sh4 friendly Oscam I consistently failed to get a steady service. So anyone looking to use a softcam I'd recommend flashing Nebula 3 from pkteam and installing Oscam on it from plugins menu and just stick with that. To me Spark is useless for anything other than FTA services or maybe with a card but haven't tried its card abilities to comment.
The remote is awful both in design and use (very slow).

But definitely worth £80 if you plan on using enigma2.

Quote from sniffer

Did not install E2, I thought it was already on, but I guess it isnt. From reading on the forums I have to load 1.2.51 upgrade software in Sparks so I can load the E2 , but it is not on the online service any more, So I have downloaded it off this site, but I still cant get 1.2.51 to load, I have unzipped it, formatted my Kingston usb stick to FAT 32, but I cant seem to load it, can anybody tell me the procedure please any help will be appreciated.

Thats not the latest spark software - you should be able to upgrade to the latest version direct from the box (I did just a few weeks back on a new box and was 1.2.58) then to install enigma2 you just power off the box, put in your usb stick with enigma2 folder on it containing enigma2 image (needs to be a Fat32 formatted stick and better if no other files on it) hold down the front panel select button until it shows FORC on the display then press down to show enig then right to install the enigma2 image from your usb stick. The wait for the install to finish and the setup wizard screen to appear on TV.

Quote from djmist

Yes, its is an Alien 2 image.

No use to me on my Alien SHD-8900 lol

I have the Pkteam Nebula 3 image running great now so no real need to bother with spark or any other images.
Thanks to everyone who gave advice :-)

Quote from djmist

The disk is mounted on sda1, i checked in mount manager. I have since tried a different HD and it would not initialise either.

Previously I had a 4gb usb flash drive connected and it worked ok so I dont know what the problem is.

Just to confuse things more - just because the HDD shows its mounted on SDA1 in mount manager doesn't mean your mount points are all set to SDA1 - initialising and recording need the mount points to all be set to point at the HDD to work. There should be a list of about 9 mount points in mount manager with names like "Movies" and "Media/Movies" - each one of these should show SDA1 on the right hand side - if not then just use the arrow keys until it does for each one then mount it manually and should be fine. I wouldn't personally set Automount on as I couldn't get my HDD working with Automount enabled.

Quote from djmist

The usb stick that I used initially to test the recording function and which worked, now does not work and behaves like the other drives I have connected. Im very frustrated.

To be honest I'd suggest flashing a different image - I tried several before finally finding one that worked with my HDD and was stable. I use a Pkteam Nebula v3 image on my Alien 1 but not sure what images are available for the Alien 2 but should be plenty of info in this and other forums.

One thing worth mentioning - I have heard that the Alien boxes don't have enough power output to power the HDD. So you need one with its own PSU or another USB port on another device if its the type with 2 USB connectors. I actually plug my second (power input) USB connection on my HDD into a mobile phone charger and works great.

Afraid thats about as much as I can advise but I'm sure some of the more experienced members here may be able to help you out.

Quote from djmist

When I go to initialise the hard disk it never gets past 50%, I even left it over night. The message comes up that the disk is initialising and I can watch TV while the process is working, but it never completes.

I even left it over night and still it was only at 50%.

Any ideas why this is?

I have an Alien 2 Triple tuner running Satstation Beta E2

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I had a lot of issues on and Amiko Alien SHD-8900 with initialising the HDD in Enigma2 images. With some images I just couldn't get it working but a lot of the time its simply that the HDD isn't actually mounted in the Mount menu so it won't initialise - the image see's the drive is there but can't do anything with it.
Not familiar with your image but would imagine like most enigma2 images there will be an extra menu for all the hardware settings (not the tuning menu etc). Somewhere in there there should be a mount menu or hard disk menu and look at the mounted hw. If your HDD is not mounted just manually change the mount points to sda1, reboot the box fully then try initialising, if still doesn't work look if there HDparm and SDparm menus and try SDparm as some drives don't work well with HDparm.

Still a relative newbie to this box and the old Linux sat scene but hope maybe this can help and if not hopefully someone more experienced than me can assist you.

John.

Quote from djmist

Have you tried the Satstation image? I have been running it for a few days now and the only thing thats wrong ius the remote freezing, bt it might only freeze for about 4/5 seconds at a time, every now and then.

Isn't that an Amiko Alien 2 image?

Quote from nano

I wasn't aware that SatStation did an image for the SHD8900? I thought it was just for the Alien 2.

I am just using the standard PKT Nebula V3 image on my SHD8900, downloaded from the PKT forum.

Code

http://pkteam.pl/

Be prepared to use Google translate unless you can speak Polish.

I also am only using OSCam with it. I have it running OSCam build 7924 and it works fine.

I download a newer version of OSCam every few weeks.

The ones i use on my box can be found here.

Code

http://download.oscam.cc/index.php?&direction=0&order=mod&directory=1.20_TRUNK/sh4-amino

I haven't suffered any freezes or anything like you describe on my own box. OScam works like a dream on it, if anything its more stable than my old DM7020Si which is ultra stable with OSCam.

Nano

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Hi Nano,

Thanks for the info - I actually did run your Nebula build and really liked it - loved the interface and HDD worked straight away whereas most images have to mess about with mounting etc before works. But then after a couple of days of stable use it broke after a channel list upgrade from Dreamset. I reflashed it and started tuning in my satellites and this time the same problem (green screen on reboot after the Nebula boot screen) occurred straight after tuning in 3 satellites. So I tried the Nebula by vardan mod that I'm running now and this is pretty good. Bit of tinkering to get HDD running but no green screens yet (touch wood). Only issue with it at present is that I find if I leave it switched on when I'm not watching (I tend to do this at night as Im running a ***box F3 in my bedroom from the loop out and I use the web interface on the Amiko to drive the dish) when I come back to use the Amiko its frozen and I have to power off and reboot to use again. I'm tempted to try the Nebula V3 image again but as things are pretty good right now its got me in two minds.
My oscam is perfect btw on any enigma2 image I've tried - its purely under spark that I suffer my oscam (and all softcam) issues.

When I get chance I do plan to factory reset the Spark image and start from scratch and see what happens - I will update this thread with the results of that in case its of any use to future forum members.

Thanks,

John.

Quote from satsok

i had none of these issues either with 8900 or alien2 (i have both)

some issues with all e2 images yes, but with spark they perform just perfect.

only one thing though, with alien2 the remote control was not responding well from the left side of the receiver, it was ok from the other side.
so i suspected a hardware misplace, and indeed when i removed the front panel i found the ir sensor to be soldered 3 mm off the right position, i fixed it and after it the box worked fine...

The Spark software is fine until actually try watching an encrypted channel via softcam and then all falls apart - freezing, stuttering and constant audio drop outs. Basically it acts like a bad server but the server is fine as the exact same softcam setup in enigma2 works flawlessly. I am going to factory reset the Spark image and try again to see.

The remote isn't an hardware placement issues as again the remote is fine under enigma2.

Thanks,

John.

Quote from nano

No idea why you are having the issues you state you are having.

I have exactly the same box, running the same image and i have absolutely no issues with it at all with either spark or E2.

What spark version and u boot version do you have on it. Have you done an online upgrade?

You have to remember this is a fairly new box on the market and most of the images are still not 100%, but they are getting better. It may be 12 months or so before all the bugs are completely ironed out.

I've been that impressed with mine that i purchased an Alien 2 on Saturday, it arrived today so hopefully i can find some time over the weekend to play with it.

Nano

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I am running the latest version of spark (upgraded online) which I think is 1.2.58se. I now have the PKTeam Nebula mod by vardan85 running and so far working pretty well with none of the issues I have experienced under Spark. But it does tend to freeze at times with the loading logo rotating. I liked the Nebula 3 image better but it kept green screening when trying to reboot after updating channels.

I've read in a few places that none of the enigma2 images for this box are stable as yet so I'm interested to know which enigma2 image your using and what plugins you run so I can try and see if this solves my problems?

Thanks,

John.

Quote from Robxxx7

How does the box operate with the HDD disconnected ? Would be worth seeing if the box responds better etc ... may have to give it 20-30 minutes to let your box cool down abit just in case before retesting ..suspect the HDD could be causing the box to have high CPU usage ... but will know for sure once HDD is disconnected and then test it for a bit

The first week I had the box I didn't have the HDD and was the same then as it is now with it connected. Also when having the most severe issues I have disconnected the HDD to see if any difference and there wasn't.

I have now flashed the PKTeam Nebula mod by vardan85 and so far this is running without the softcam issues I have had using Spark. I have the HDD running fine and the box is now running warm as opposed to hot like it does under Spark. But the catch 22 is that like all the enigma2 images I have tried so far its not exactly stable - even just changing channel seems to lock it up at times requiring a reboot via power switch which will no doubt eventually break the image and back to square one.
It does seem that enigma2 is the only way I can get a watchable picture and sound but need a more stable enigma2 image than any I've found so far.

John.

Quote from Robxxx7

Do you have a USB HDD attached to your box ?
Is the box located in a ventilated area (so air can move freely around the box)

Hi Rob,

Yes its a Western Digital External USB HDD attached to the box.
There is plenty of circulation around the box but I still notice that it runs VERY hot.

Thanks,

John.

I have posted an introduction - apologies as I actually thought I had previously done so.

I just attempted to post an in depth version of my issues and lost the post right at the end so for now I'm going to re-install the latest Nebula image and see what happens. If it fails I'll come back and give details.

I would appreciate if anyone can help with my Spark issues though (Latest version of the Spark software) -

1. The remote control is totally unresponsive - you can press a button and wait up to 3 minutes for the action to execute but if you then press it over and over you end up with all the commands being executed together when it finally reacts.

2. I have tried these softcams and all suffer from the same issue, sounds cuts out every few seconds and picture freezes often. Cccam 2.14, Mgcamd, ncam, Oscam. If I use Oscam under Enigma2 I get a perfect freeze free picture and no sound drop outs.

Plugin wise I have the e2remote plugin (disabled after first use), enigma2 upgrade (only active if installing an enigma2 image), calculator (pre installed and never activated), the online plugin update plugin (only active for installing plugins) and then the various softcams detailed above but only the one I'm using at the time is ever active).

The Spark software would be fine if I can get my picture and sound to work without any issues.

Hardware wise my set-up is the Amiko Alien SHD-8900 connected to a Technomate 80cm Dish and motor.

Thanks,

John.

Don't know if anyone can help but I have had nothing but problems with this box and now hate the thing.

If I use Spark then no matter what Softcam I use the sound and picture stutter and freeze every couple of seconds. I've tried CCcam 2.14, Mgcamd and Oscam and all equally as bad as each other.

If I use an Enigma 2 image then Oscam works without any of the issues I get under Spark even though its connecting to the same server. But then every single Enigma 2 image I try either doesn't work well straight away or when I find one that does work like the Latest PK Team Nebula 3 it just breaks once I finally get satellites tuned in and start organising my channel lists.

All I have done for the last 2 weeks is install various Enigma 2 images, tune them in and then watch them break and then have to start all over the next day. I installed the Nebula 3 image last night then from 3pm today I spent the day and night setting up the positions and tuning in and organising a channel list for the box the green screen on every boot now.

Also under Spark the remote is totally unresponsive, can press and press for up to 2-3 minutes at times with no response then suddenly it tries to execute all the commands together.

I've had an Openbox (was ok but wouldn't drive my motor), a Dreambox DM800SE clone (amazing box but got stolen), a ***box F3, horrible software but worked until a channel list update bricked it) and now this and right now its just unusable and the worst of them all because of the non stop problems.

As anyone else experienced these issues and have any fixes or is this the standard to expect from this receiver? Seriously regretting the purchase right now.

John.

**********************UPDATE - NOW I'M MAKING PROGRESS WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT I DON'T THINK ITS A TERRIBLE BOX. SOFTWARE NEEDS SOME WORK IMO BUT FOR THE PRICE PAID ITS A PRETTY GOOD DEAL************************