Testing the Hypercube

[eastof111]

Testing a Hypercube from a N.A. point of view.

The unit as shipped came with Euro a/c plug and will require an adapter which can be purchased at any Radio Shack store. It was shipped with a RCA to scart composite cable, HDMI cable and remote control unit. Luckily I had an a/c adapter from one of my old Openbox S9 available.

I connected the HDMI, component and RCA audio cables to the tv monitor. My tv monitor did not recognize the Hypercube using HDMI so I switched to component and it displayed the attached pictures. While in the a/v setup menu, I switched from component to HDMI 1080i/60 and rebooted.

I bypassed the setup wizard to see if it would automatically recognize the internet connection and it did without any problems.

Now have to setup the satellite list and tuners for U.S. because it came with Euro sats installed.

I know, bad pictures... LOL

Back to testing...

[rrob311]

Did you get this from the LegitFTA shop?

[eastof111]

No, I would definitely suggest you use LegitFTA shop.

[eastof111]

Got a little ahead of myself and tried to cut corners. Loaded my own sat list and it turns out in the plug ins section, there are options to down load sat lists from Atlantic, Euro, N&S America and Latin America via the internet.

Just to experiment, I erased all sat lists and loaded the E2 sat and IPTV lists I was using in the Raptor to see if it would work. Yes and no. The IPTV lists showed up fine in the favorites section but would not work. Same story with the sats favorite list.

Back to testing....

[el bandido]

Glad to see you got the Receiver!
How good is the blind scan?

[eastof111]

So far, no blind scan. Doesn't have a menu option so far for blind scan. Still loading the switch configs for the sats. Regular scanning seems to be fine so far on a few of the sats I've tried.

[eastof111]

After spending a few short hours with the receiver yesterday, I would like to comment on the operating system. Basically, for the main OS, it is very, very similar to PKT or HDMU Engima 2 OS, as used in the Optibox Raptor as the secondary OS.

With that said, the similarity ends. The Optobox Raptor uses Sti Linux for the main OS and it has blind scan capabilities. Whereas, the current Hypercube main Linux OS does not. It has a automatic, manual and fast scanning modes with the current firmware version. In the short time I've used the receiver, I have not been able to find a blind scan option in the menu nor it mentioned in the supplied operating manual. Now, to be fair, all the spec sheets posted on the internet indicate that the receiver does have blind scan capabilities. If this is the case, I would be the first to correct myself otherwise.

I would like to point out that there have been three firmware releases since January for this receiver. I am hoping that their next release will have the missing item.

As time permits, I will continue to post pictures and pros and cons of this new receiver with it's dual personality.

[ViP3R]

East I sent a message to GM asking about the Blind Scan.. I will update when I hear back.

[x302]

Very nice looking receiver. I like the fact it has 2 USB outputs AND a SD slot on the back. Hopefully it will blindscan, if not now, in the future.

[eastof111]

Thanks Vip3r... appreciate it.

[ViP3R]

Thanks Vip3r... appreciate it.

Received a message back east.

At the moment we do not have blind scan function but will added soon.

[eastof111]

Good to hear. When you get your unit and start testing, don't try the RESET BACK TO FACTORY settings. I did and now it's in a continuous loop trying to boot in to E2. Tried reloading firmware via various name and size or different ports with usb stks - no go. Boots fine in to Android though. Tried going from Android to E2 and it goes back in to loop mode. Filezilla still recognizes the files and directories while in loop mode. Definite glitches that need to be ironed out. Maybe the boot loader got corrupted.

Waiting for tech support -

[eastof111]

It's alive!!!! I guess persistence pays off. After many, many tries with different ports, different usb sticks by vendor and size or partition format, found an old Kingston 245 mb stick that the STB decided it liked. Some errors received were, no files found, bad partition or just not recognized period. All of the sticks I tried were formatted properly prior to copying the SU980 folder to the stick. Now, the STB won't recognize the other usb stick I used earlier for my settings backup, so I can't restore my last settings. Have to go through the process again.

Back to testing....

[el bandido]

Always interesting to work with a new receiver. Mine should be here by the end of the week! EB

[eastof111]

Yeah, I am glad to play with it. I was getting kind of bored after setting up the Hot Dish, motor and lnb I received. After I finish rescanning my fixed dishes, I will hook it up and see how the diseqc 1.2 works out. I'm kind of glad it pooped out on me; it created another learning experience.

One thing I haven't been able to duplicate is project Valerie. When I first initialized the ORIGINAL firmware, it asked me if I wanted to start project Valerie. Curious, I pressed the ok button. With that done, I had a nice, clear, not obnoxious skin. After connecting the network cable, it configured it self without my using the setup wizard, which I thought was rather strange. Later, after an hour or two, the skin changed by itself to a rather good looking skin. All this without my using the plugins downloads to accomplish this task.

I downloaded the same version firmware from their site to bring it to life and project Valerie is not there after initializing the stb. Checked the plugins section for the same skin and it doesn't seem to exist. Weird.

Back to testing...

[Sublime]

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

[eastof111]

"don't try the RESET BACK TO FACTORY settings"... Today I rebooted and reset to factory settings three times and it rebooted fine without any problems. On the second reset I copied some files via Filezilla and did the reset and it rebooted fine. On third try I added even more files, including doing a restore settings from a backup, then did the reset and it rebooted fine to an almost virgin state. So, now I am not worried if it gets screwed up again.

Valerie is still hiding somewhere LOL.. will have to check that out later.

[eastof111]

Had some time today to scan the ku band with fixed dishes. Did an Automatic scan which scanned all sats and a manual scan for some sats. Attached is a typical manual scan of 97 ku. It had no problems locking in the elusive KTFL SFO on 72 ku.

Also, attached pix of a typical favorites list that can be created.

I have to say that the SD quality is very, very good with this STB on a big screen. The HD quality is quite good too. I did not have to adjust the brightness and contrast display settings provided in the menu.

Back to testing...

[eastof111]

I had to move some boxes around today, so while things were unplugged I opened up the STB and took a gander inside. The unit is really put together very well. Didn't notice until I had to remove the screws that the case had shrink wrap type material on it. Everything inside is solid and tidy.

[el bandido]

My Hypercube arrived Friday but i have not had much time to look at it. So far, it looks and acts like the same E2 system I have been using on several other receivers. Enigma2 is a more advanced operating system than what most of us are used to seeing in a fta receiver, and having the receiver connected to a network is almost mandatory.

I did notice that the Hypercube will play the AAC radio channels on 139 West. I also noticed that the Hypercube will record the radio stations in .TS format. I think this is the only receiver I have that will do this. Improvements need to be made in the Hypercube's E2, but this is to be expected in a new receiver.

The Android side of the Hypercube looks very promising. The internet connection is far more advanced than any of my other fta receivers, and I look forward to testing the Android capabilities of the Hypercube. I will start a review thread once I have enough information to support it.

I guess we need to build a satellite file for the Hypercube. I do not think we have a good North American sat file for E2 posted on this site yet. EB

[eastof111]

Here a sat list I use which covers 43 to 139 both C and Ku.

[el bandido]

Valerie is present in the 1-21-2013 firmware. She has been removed in versions after that.

I am having problems getting the receiver to recognize some transponders. At present, my Hypercube will only play 6 channels on c band, 99West. I cannot get channels like Escapes to play, and I cannot get the receiver to recognize the transponder for Escapes. This is just one example of several. i am missing something somewhere, but I can get my other E2 receivers to play Escapes to some degree.

The E2 blind scan would help a bunch right now. I hope this feature is added soon because the receiver was advertised as having it.

The Android side of the receiver looks very promising. I have not had time to look at it much because of the channel issues with E2.

[eastof111]

When I get home, I'll check Escapes and see how it goes. I only scanned 101 and 97 C bands with the Cube and it scanned and played fine. I'll also check 139. No wonder Valerie disappeared on me. LOL

[eastof111]

Scanned 139 C and it stops scanning at 57%.

Had a little more time and scanned 103 C and it pulled in 111 services, played a few on that sat and there were no freezes.

99C scanned in with 103 services and no problems playing Escapes or most other stations.

Just for the heck of it, scanned in Simon Bolivar and it found 12 services and all played fine.

Like I mentioned earlier, I leave the bud most of the time on 101 for MeTV and it has no problems. Same with the side mounted lnb for 97.
It scans and plays that sat fine also.

[eastof111]

Started testing the Android portion of the receiver, but I first had to search the internet to acquire some free programs. The receiver does come with an apps store that you can use for downloading but you have to register and give out personal information.

1 - Installed Avast! Security for protection. It first checked all apps on the receiver then it proceeded to do an update of the definitions via internet. It rechecked the apps after the update and found a clean slate. This is the best rated program compared to the other six majors on the market.

2 - Installed Easy Uninstaller Pro just in case I had to remove some apps. This program made it very simple to remove non-working apps.

Some programs I tested are not compatible with the currently installed Android 2.35. The programs SHOULD be compatible and they do install properly, but for some reason they freeze or are forced to be shut down.

Some of these are:
Internet Radio 2.03 - great little program - runs really well on the Nexus.
RadiON 3.01
AndroZip Pro 4.6

I installed XBMC (for tv shows, movies and IPTV), but the current version is not compatible. Will try Plex and see how that one works out.

I hope they upgrade to a newer version of Android soon.

[el bandido]

Did you load the last Android update? I think the file date was 2-13-2013

[eastof111]

That's on the to do list for tomorrow. I have a feeling the STB came with the latest firmware installed. The release notes in the latest update says it's from Nov 3, 2012. But, release notes have been known to be wrong.

[eastof111]

"RE: Hypercube_Android_13022013
La version parece que es la misma, aunque ocupa mas que la anterior.

Yo la he instalado y no veo diferencias, lo unico es que la WIFI no funciona, sin embargo por cable si.

Alguien ha probado la WIFI con esta version de Android?

Un saludo"

This person claims the latest version is the same as the prior except it is smaller in size.
He installed it and the only difference is the Wifi doesn't work but the ethernet does work.

I haven't tried the Wifi either. I think I'll wait for a newer version.

[rrob311]

How is this box doing? Haven't heard anything in awhile.

[eastof111]

The last HDMU E2 release was late last year and Cynextra hasn't released anything new on the Android side since last summer. It's been shelved for a while so that it doesn't hog an output on the four way splitter.

[el bandido]

My Hypercube receiver has been moved to the obsolete box due to lack of support and overall poor performance. The Hypercube does record radio channels better than most other fta receivers but that is the only thing I can really use it for. Overall, the Hypercube is slow and has difficulty playing some S2 stations. The S2 problem seems to be in the chip because every firmware I have tried has the same issue. EB

[rrob311]

How are the streaming functions of it? Does it do well as a media player?

[ViP3R]

I think I used mine for about an hour, been in a box ever since.

[el bandido]

How are the streaming functions of it? Does it do well as a media player?

Almost ALL Enigma 2 firmware does well with media and networking. The trick to running Enigma 2 is a fast processor.
A receiver can only stream as good as the network it is connected to, and a lot of streaming issues or complaints come from slow or poorly constructed networks.
Hopefully we will see a better receiver from this company soon. I like Golden Media products, but the Hypercube fell short in what I expected or envisioned it to be.