New Lifetime Ultra Firmware Today

[noxid]

There is a new firmware version on the fortec website dated 5-06-04.

noxid

[Anonymous]

Thanks noxid

Tried it this morning. My dp-2100 motor now works with USALS.
The bug where you would loose signal while doing a TP scan is gone.
Anybody else notice any positive changes.

[noxid]

Originally Posted by lintond

Thanks noxid

Tried it this morning. My dp-2100 motor now works with USALS.
The bug where you would loose signal while doing a TP scan is gone.
Anybody else notice any positive changes.

I've noticed the same things, but also that it does not get all channels when scanning. Try scanning AMC3 for example and see if it will pickup the PBS channels. Mine will not. I redid it with the last update and it did scan them in. Went back to the newest and still would not scan them?

Also only scans 35 channels on IA5. Usually 100-150?

noxid

[Anonymous]

AMC3 and IA5 scans worked fine this morning. Those were among the
first I tried. Thought the naming conventions for the PBS channels looked
a little odd (tv1 -tv6) but they all worked.

[Anonymous]

Correct method for doing factory reset.

Go to the factory reset sub menu hit 'ok'
you will see the pass code bar
then hit in order 'menu' 'info' and then '1668'
do nothing else
in about 15 seconds the receiver will reboot.

[ZeroBeat]

Lintond,
Is this the necessary procedure prior to doing the firmware update or only afer it has been done? Also is this specifically for the ULTRA? Thanks.

[wejones]

Originally Posted by ZeroBeat

Lintond,
Is this the necessary procedure prior to doing the firmware update or only afer it has been done? Also is this specifically for the ULTRA? Thanks.

I'm curious about this too. It's been a while since I upgraded the firmware on my regular Lifetime, but I don't remember doing a factory reset when I did the upgrade. It seems like it rebooted on it's own, and kept all of it's channel info and everything. Only problem I had, was that some channels I had previously scanned in had to be re-scanned because the AC3 wasn't previously recognized. But I'm pretty sure I never reset the thing completely, and it has been working fine, except for the flakey remote control, which has always been relatively non-responsive (ie I have to hit buttons multiple times before the receiver recognizes them).
Anyway, is the reset step necessary for the regular Lifetime, and if so, what bad can happen if you don't do it?

[Anonymous]

If there is a minimal change in the firmware from Frotec chances are
you would have no problem loading in a new version without a reset.
In your Fortec receiver there is flash memory and this memory holds
data tables that your firmware accesses to tune channels, move the
motor if it has one and much more. Well a programmer may decide
to change the data table, an item 3 digits long to an item that is 4 digits
long. Well if you dont do the reset, your receiver will work fine until one
day the firmware in the reciever goes out to the data table looking for
the item with 4 digits. The receiver will freeze or just do something
strange with the false data it got from the table.
So it is best to do the factory reset, both before a new firmware load and
after. The reset after a new firmware load will reorganize the data table if
needed. With version 2.32 you will see a new satellite list show up in
the antenna setup menu. Hope this helps you decide, I know its no fun
re-scanning all those channels.
Resets are recommended for anything in which firmware resides, IE
toasters, microwaves, toys, computers..

[BrianC]

If you follow the procedure from the Fortec site, just under the link to download the firmware, you should still maintain your channels.
To be safe, you can also use the software to extract your channel list and save it to disk.





Brian

[Skelp]

Lintond... I'm a little confused here.... if oyu do a facotry reset AFTER you do the firmware upgrade would that not wipe out the upgrade?

[Anonymous]

Thanks BrianC

Forgot about that link. Good info there, but they forget to talk about the
reset issue and the fact that the download starts automatically.
The download will start automatically if you happen to hit the timing
right between the time you turn power on and the time you hit the
download button. At first I found it very difficult, until I got used to it.
My trick is turn power on wait until you see the first green bar on the
display then hit the download button on the pc. You should see a blue
downloading bar on the pc almost instantly, if you dont, you missed.
Cancel and start over.