No manual time setting on U4

[maverick#1]

I noticed today that the time on my Beyonwiz PVRs were 15 mins behind the actual time, ie if the actual time was 7.00am, the PVR time was showing 6.45am. The result of this is that all of my timers are starting 15 mins late.

I have 3 Beyonwiz PVRs, a DP-P2, a DP Lite i and a U4 and all of them were affected but there is an option on the DP PVRs to manually set the time, but there is no way I can see to manually set the time on the U4. The only options are to use the TV broadcast time or to use the internet (Settings > System > Time Settings). I don't have the U4 connected to the internet (and can't connect it to the net) so my only option is to use the TV broadcast signal.

I thought that the broadcast signal might be the cause but all of my digital TVs show the correct time and they also get their time from the broadcast signal.

Does anyone know if there's a way to manually set the time on the U4? Is this a bug in the Beyonwiz's firmware (U4 & DP PVRs)?

[MrQuade]

Does anyone know if there's a way to manually set the time on the U4? Is this a bug in the Beyonwiz's firmware (U4 & DP PVRs)?

You can't set the time manually from the GUI.

Even if you did it manually from the command line, one of the two automatic methods would set it back automatically.

There is no known bug with either of the two automatic time settings, so the obvious suspect is the time in your tv signal is off. Do you receive your tv over a regular antenna from a public transmitter, or are you on a private distribution system? But as you say, if your T3 isn't suffering the same.

I'm not sure how often the time gets set with it at transmitter time. Regular update or just on boot/resume? I would have assumed regular updates.

Have you tried a reboot in case something has gotten stuck?

[Paul_oz53]

There's no reason for it to be consistently 15 minutes out. As MrQuade suggested, reboot the U4 and the other wizzes but it seems unlikely to be a solution. That it affects 3 machines says it is a broadcast signal error. Does it only occur on one network? If so, you should let them know.

If it remains a problem then setting the pre padding to 20 minutes should mask the problem.

[Gully]

Not that I have seen any suggestion of a change but updating to the latest 19.3 beta firmware would be worth doing for lots of reasons and may also fix this.

Also, not sure what services you are recording or where you are but if it is a problem with local broadcasters, a daily timer for ABC might help as they tend to be the most reliable.

[maverick#1]

Do you receive your tv over a regular antenna from a public transmitter, or are you on a private distribution system?

Over a regular antenna from a public transmitter.

Have you tried a reboot in case something has gotten stuck?

Yes, I have all my timers set so the U4 goes into deep standby when the timer has finished and there have been a couple of timers start and end today, so its rebooted at the start of eaxh timer. I also did a couple of manual reboots today as well, hoping that would fix the problem, but it didn't.

I have just set my DP PVRs back to auto update time from the broadcast signal and the time is now correct. I have also now done a reboot of the U4 and its time is now correct so it must have been an issue with the broadcaster's time signal. It was so easy to fix the issue with the DP series PVRs. I guess I'm just a bit disappointed that, had the broadcast signal time continued to send the wrong signal, there would have been no way for me to adjust the time on the U4.

It would be good if Beyonwiz added the ability to set the time manually in a future firmware upgrade.

Thanks for your help, MrQuade, appreciate it!

[maverick#1]

Not that I have seen any suggestion of a change but updating to the latest 19.3 beta firmware would be worth doing for lots of reasons and may also fix this.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with v17.5. It's been really reliable for me. I have pulled the T3 out of mothballs to use as a guinea pig for the latest official non-beta firmware though. If I like it on the T3, I'll probably put it on the U4.

Also, not sure what services you are recording or where you are but if it is a problem with local broadcasters, a daily timer for ABC might help as they tend to be the most reliable.

Thanks for the suggestion. This is the only time this has happened and it seems to have fixed itself now, so hopefully this is a one-off issue, but if it happens again, I'll try what you've suggested.

[maverick#1]

... That it affects 3 machines says it is a broadcast signal error. Does it only occur on one network?

No. I wasn't sure if the U4 got the time only from one channel/network or from whichever channel it was currently using, so I tried flicking through every network (ABC, SBS, 7, 9 & 10) just in case. I only spent about 30 seconds on any channel so I don't know if I didn't spend long enough on each for the time to be updated, but it didn't fix the problem. The fact that the time is now correct on all 3 PVRs now that I've set them to use the broadcast signal again to me says you're right and it was a broadcast signal error.

If it remains a problem then setting the pre padding to 20 minutes should mask the problem.

Yeah, that's exactly what I had to resort to!

Thanks for your help, Paul_oz53.

[MrQuade]

It would be good if Beyonwiz added the ability to set the time manually in a future firmware upgrade.

It's not really possible given that the Wiz doesn't have a battery backed clock. If you ever lost power, the clock would be reset and would need to be set manually again. Not a good scenario if that happens while you are not at home.

If it is set to auto, then in theory it is always kept up to date (to the whims of the broadcasters). Network time is there best option if you have a reliable network connection.

It is well with your time to connect the Wiz to your network so that you can get network time, as well as use some of the other network features.