mwd Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Thanks wklie for the suggestions. Before I go any further, will a Factory Reset erase all my HD recordings? At the moment, c.7.55 pm Saturday night, the Magic is totally non-functional with or without remote. No matter what I try - on/off, rescan, etc. Not recording at all. Front panel not lit up at all. On screen alerts so far " no time", "check antenna/aerial" as before, "no channel available" No a Factory Reset will not erase any recordings. You will have to go through a full setup procedure after the reset. Your other problems I have never seen so will leave possible solutions to Wklie to suggest. If you switch off at the power point or the rocker switch on the back leave off for say a minute then power on the Magic should reboot itself within a couple of minutes. I found this worked for me on the odd occasion when it behaved weirdly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countryslicker Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 I switched the Magic back on around 10.30am today. On my TV screen I got "Welcome to Guided Setup". So I did the setup and the scan. Result: "Channels found:0" and "no channel available". The front panel of the Magic at present just has "Magic TV".Tried this afew times to no effect. It may be Seniors Moment, but I'm sure the power supply adaptor used to have a red indicator light. At present there is just a tiny rectangular pale green light showing. I tried re-booting a few times using the rocker switch, but no matter how many times I do a scan, there are no channels to be found. Last night I had to watch my TV direct with the Magic disconnected. It's unusable at present - not sure what to try next:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwd Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Can confirm the power supply has a very dim green led indicator. From your symptoms it would seem you have some kind of problem with the Magic tuners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countryslicker Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Thank you mwd:) Again still no channels can be found doing a rescan, so I now suspect the problem is definitely a dead tuner. I bought my Magic on 19th April 2012 - the price included "60 months Product Care" from Harvey Norman, so my warranty theoretically is valid until April 2017. On checking the extended warranty, I notice that only "minor faults" are covered (not a "major failure").Hmmm. The Product Care plan comes with phone technical assistance - I'll phone later today. However, as PixelMagic no longer exists, I doubt I will get anywhere making a claim. On Wednesday I will take the Magic back to my local Harvey Norman where I bought it and see what reaction I get. If no success with them, I might be tempted to take the matter further under Australian Consumer Law. A product like this RRP $699 should last more than 3 years. If I could simply get it repaired somehow somewhere, that would be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countryslicker Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 On thinking it over since my earlier post this morning I decided it was best to resolve the situation as soon as possible due to my going away on holidays very soon. The frustration was really getting to me:(. I phoned Harvey Norman Product Care - very helpful. Took my details and emailed me a "Conditional Approval Confirmation" to enable me to receive an in-store credit for $248 (the price I paid for the Magic almost 3 years ago). I took the Magic and the printed email into my local Harvey Norman - the same store from whom I purchased the Magic. The Manager did some more paperwork - no fuss - again very helpul - even made me a coffee! He said it was up to me to decide what to take. The store didn't have a big range of PVR's, and I didn't want to spend much at all, so I spent some unhurried time looking at their small selection. I just want something to reliably record programs as the Magic once did.. I decided to pay $48, which together with my credit, enabled me to bring home a Topfield TRF-7260 Plus (500 GB HDD, quad recording, series record, advert skipping, wifi dongle). Price on box $339. I've only opened the box and checked the contents so far - will install it later tonight. It has the smallest User Manual I've ever seen - just 14 pages. Local support is a bonus for a change. I'll miss my Magic - it was fantastic (up until it stopped functioning) and I certainly appreciate all the advice & info I've received through this thread over the past 3 years. So thenk you everyone! But today was decision day - it was time to put the past behind me and move on. If this Topfield lasts 3 years, I'll be more than happy. Cheers:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Referee Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 I decided to pay $48, which together with my credit, enabled me to bring home a Topfield TRF-7260 Plus (500 GB HDD, quad recording, series record, advert skipping, wifi dongle). Cheers:) You've got a great unit there. Now you can get into TAPs, but that is for another thread or site Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FynrDzynr Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 I'll miss my Magic - it was fantastic Magic still doing its magic here but a question for Wklie: Is there any way Countryslicker will be able to import all those recordings into the toppy? (quad recording is becoming more of an imperative here & 4TB drive is more than half full) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wklie Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Is there any way Countryslicker will be able to import all those recordings into the toppy? (quad recording is becoming more of an imperative here & 4TB drive is more than half full) A Magic TV recorded programme is a standard and normal .ts file. I don't know how much effort is required to convert those into formats required by other PVRs and to add metadata. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Referee Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Topfields will play .ts files, but I suspect that coming from the Magic they will not have the other accompanying .inf and .nav files. However they will play as media files. Skipping is not available with media files. There is a TAP which will create the necessary files so that skipping works properly. Alternatively another TAP will also allow skipping when playing as a media file. The recording information files are not available using either TAP. Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countryslicker Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 (edited) Thanks guys for your feedback. Despite the major problems with my Magic, most of the programs recorded up until mid-Feb played back OK (go figure), so I watched all of them before it was too late. Some from last year I wanted to keep, so I recorded them direct to DVD using my ancient Sony recorder. So when I returned my Magic yesterday I had no worries about what was still on the HDD. ***EDIT 4th March***: My original remote for the MTV3700TD that was being given away free has now been accepted by a fellow member. As mentioned in my previous post, the Topfield came with a miserable 14 page User Manual. I didn't feel comfortable undertaking an installation last night using such simplistic info, so I gave it a miss. I've now downloaded a proper 66 page Guide, so will make another attempt later this morning. I can feel Magic withdrawal pains already setting in LOL. Thanks for the link "referee" - I don't really understand TAPS at this point in time, but will read it at my leisure and see how I go. There is also a thread elsewhere on this Forum called "Topfield 7260 Any Good?", so will probably post there from now on. Edited March 3, 2015 by countryslicker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Referee Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 If I could suggest that you join the other forum for special advice on all matters Topfield. There's some helpful people there. Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21C Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I still have my original remote for the MTV3700TD - it was a bit problematic, so I got an identical Magic replacement about 2 years ago, but if anyone wants it no charge (just pay postage), let me know - first come, first served. It worked back in January, but no promises. Otherwise I'll bin it. PM sent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigandkim Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 (edited) Hey Guys, Need some help with the Magic. Everything has been operating as it should until yesterday. Last night we lost control of all functions through the remote. We changed the batteries in the remote, no change. No commands come through to the box. The little red light flickers when pressing a command. Its still recording programs which have been set. I have turned it off a couple of times but then it just goes back into recording what was programmed. This morning its stuck on SBS, and it is not recording anything. I have NOT done any firmware updates (haven't needed to) and I do not know what firmware is installed (cannot check). How do I get control of the unit to do a factory reset? Photo of screen display attached. (Error This upload failed-----If I could get the attachment to upload?!?!?!?!) It would appear something is wrong with the IR window or the remote possibly? Any ideas where to fix in Canberra? Edited March 9, 2015 by craigandkim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smc07 Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Hi First of all, great forum thread....lots of good info here. I have purchased 3 Magic TV's in total since about 2009, 2 new, 1 secondhand. The original one decided to slowly die and lose the ability to hold a channel (always started failing when viewing channel 7) till eventually nothing was watchable. The 2nd one has been going strong since the purchase date. In the last few months, the 3rd one developed all the same symptoms as the first. After reading through the forum I took a guess that the power supply was failing and I swapped it with the spare I had and also purchased another suitable supply. It seemed to work for a bit but is now back to the same broken signal and glitched sound. I believe both units in use are on the latest 4000 model firmware. Any quesses on what is causing this slow death of my Magic TV's? Always starts on channel 7 until it becomes unwatchable and the others progressively get worse as well. Seems to be skipping scheduled recording on and off as well. If you unplug it and reboot, it works for a while and then reception goes off again. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wklie Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 (edited) Need some help with the Magic. Everything has been operating as it should until yesterday. Last night we lost control of all functions through the remote. 1. Please power cycle the Magic TV using the rear power switch. 2. If the remote still does not respond, try connecting the Magic TV to your WiFi router through a network cable, then use the free Android / iOS remote app to control it 3. If it is still not responsive, turn off the power switch, open up the Magic TV, disconnect the HDD SATA cable. Then boot it up, if it becomes responsive, it means your HDD is dead and needs to be replaced. Edited March 11, 2015 by wklie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wklie Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 (edited) Any quesses on what is causing this slow death of my Magic TV's? Always starts on channel 7 until it becomes unwatchable and the others progressively get worse as well. If reception deteriorates and if it's not caused by the broadcast signal, then possibly some components are failing, such as the crystals around the tuners / demodulator ICs, or the ASL033 IC. Edited March 11, 2015 by wklie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smc07 Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 If reception deteriorates and if it's not caused by the broadcast signal, then possibly some components are failing, such as the crystals around the tuners / demodulator ICs, or the ASL033 IC. Is there an easy way to test this? or can they be replaced relatively easily? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wklie Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 (edited) Is there an easy way to test this? or can they be replaced relatively easily? If your loopout is completely dead (i.e. TV cannot tune to channels via the Magic TV loopout), the ASL033 IC is faulty. Forcing the Magic TV to use the second tuner, by powering up the Magic TV than record a different frequency first also helps to determine whether one tuner or both tuners are faulty. If only one tuner is faulty, the crystal for that tuner may be faulty. I believe replacing those components is more like a job for people who have good soldering skills or does electronics repair for a living... Edited March 12, 2015 by wklie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smc07 Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Cool. Thanks for the reply. I'll do some more testing. I'll swap the MAgic TV with the one I know is functioning perfectly and see if the symptoms appear again there and test as you suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigandkim Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 1. Please power cycle the Magic TV using the rear power switch. 2. If the remote still does not respond, try connecting the Magic TV to your WiFi router through a network cable, then use the free Android / iOS remote app to control it 3. If it is still not responsive, turn off the power switch, open up the Magic TV, disconnect the HDD SATA cable. Then boot it up, if it becomes responsive, it means your HDD is dead and needs to be replaced. Thanks wklie, powering down does nothing as mentioned, HDD appears to be good also (disconnecting did nothing). Going to try and get another remote as opposed to the app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwd Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Thanks wklie, powering down does nothing as mentioned, HDD appears to be good also (disconnecting did nothing). Going to try and get another remote as opposed to the app Sounds like the IR receiver in the Magic box has gone down if the red led on the remote is flashing. Usually it is just one or two buttons stop working on the remote not all of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigandkim Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Yeah pretty strange...don't know what else to do other than a new remote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
q6supvr Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Yeah pretty strange...don't know what else to do other than a new remote Hi, Don't know if you've checked the remote by watching the IR LED with your digital camera. If the LED is working you will be able to see it on your camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gawaterman Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 If you have a smart phone you can get an app which replaces the remote. That will at least check if its the remote or the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigandkim Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Does the phone app replace all functions of the remote? Will give it a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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