SKYBOX S12 - Testing Begins

[SatelliteGuy]

I ordered this receiver last Wednesday (May 9th) at noon and it arrived today (May 14th) direct from Hong Kong, China (mixeshop). Now that's what I call fast service!

It even arrived double wrapped for added protection. Now the testing begins.

[el bandido]

Very Good!
You will be OK if the receiver is not DOA. This was supposed to be checked before it was shipped.

[TunaDude]

hope you like your new toy there is some excellent reading around here for help learning only thing i wonder is why did you buy i from hongkong i hope you didnt pay to much ? with shiping and all this site sell fta as well and im sure there shiping is fast and units are checked out i have an open box s9 i love my toy always blind scanning with it ku only but i get by.

[SatelliteGuy]

Once I hookup this receiver does the firmware need to be upgraded? If so, what version?

[el bandido]

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

The satellite firmware in the box will probably be for Europe. You may download and install the firmware in post#55 of the thread in the above link. EB

[dr.zin]

backup the original firmware first,just in case.

[Guest]

You'll be anazed at its blind scan feed but it will miss some tp. I usually keep Lyngsat as a reference in case U need to manually scan in a missed tp.

[dr.zin]

that would be tricky for wild feeds.

[Guest]

Wild feeds almost always scan in with the skybox- nothing is perfect though.

[dr.zin]

it once missed rtv on 83w.
I had an old sat list and wanted to upgrade to include pbj.
I scanned and it didn't find it.I had to manually scan that tp and then it found the channels.

[SatelliteGuy]

It works!

However tonight I did a stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid thing! I didn't backup the original firmware before loading the new Legit firmware that EL recommended. I know Dr. Zin always recommends you do this and so do I, but I was in a hurry.

It turns out that I don't like the old onscreen graphics or the Legit background, so I spent hours hunting for new S12 North American firmware. After several more downloads and finding firmware in other languages I finally searched here and found this file [Only registered and activated users can see links]) that I LOVE!!! Thank you so much for providing this firmware that has the updated S10 to S12 style graphics.

So far I like this box, especially since I paid less than $80 for it.

[el bandido]

You can put your own background image in it if you do not like ours.

[dr.zin]

you can use mst firmware tool to rip images from various firmwares out there,I have seen some funny ones and unique ones.The reason I say backup firmware first is I have seen instances of s10 that had firmware when shipped not normally found on the net as upgrades.As an example,a may 4th 2011 firmware where the normal upgrade firmware of that time period was may 5th 2011.The may 4th didn't have lan manager support,the may 5th did.I was lucky and found a zip where the guy made a disaster recovery package pre clone detect and he just happened to add his original firmware dump.

[dr.zin]

When I got my s10 I was playing with so many different usb sticks and hardrives,my original dump got lost.So don't feel bad.

[SatelliteGuy]

You can put your own background image in it if you do not like ours.

I know EL, but I wanted to get away from the older S9 style onscreen graphics. The firmware file I downloaded has the newer style graphics as well as updated North American satellite listings including the SES 1 and SES 2 satellites.

Does anyone have a copy of the original Skybox firmware that came loaded on these units from Hong Kong that I blew away? If so, please post because I would like to have a copy as a backup.

[el bandido]

[Only registered and activated users can see links]