Tips and Tricks for Troubleshooting Your FTA Problems

FTA FORUM is ripe with posts made by numerous members seeking remedy from the various problems they have faced time and again with FTA. This article is a compilation of the most commonly encountered problems and will act as a guide to all users of FTA, both novices as well as experienced and will surely contribute a lot towards a hassle free FTA experience. Of course, for a comprehensive solution to any specific problem that you might be facing, an interaction with experts at FTA FILES is strongly recommended.

So to begin with, the first thing that you can do when faced with a problem is to turn off the box using the rear switch, and to leave it off for a few minutes before switching it on again. This alone will work towards resolving the majority of your problems, which also explains why it’s also sometimes referred to as the magic switch. Also there’s nothing to be worried if this does not solve your problem, for listed below are a number of commonly encountered problems as well as ways to get around them.

Problem 1 - No Picture:

Things that can contribute to this include keys that have stopped rolling or if the keys are not current. Also, while most of the newer units come equipped with auto roll processing screens, some do not.

A way out is to make sure auto/roll feature is turned on and to download a good key grabber, which will get you the keys. Also, auto roll feature seems to work faster on certain channels like 150/200 ... 217/214.

If your keys are correct then make sure if your signal and quality levels are within acceptable limits, or whether your antenna settings have changed. Your lnb type should be correct since even a simple change here can lead to loss of certain channels. Switch ports, if any, too should be correct. Next, its time to check hardware – like cable should be free of any knicks or cuts etc., switch should be working, lnb should be ok and that the dish was not moved.

Things you can do are: run the cable straight to the receiver bypassing the switch to make sure the problem is not with the lnb or switch. And if you think the problem is with the switch or the port, move ports to find out if any of them has gone bad. Visually check all the lines and switches, LNB's, and dish angles, and verify if the dish was moved. A good idea will be to mark a straight line over all adjustment points, both azimuth and elevation, after you have confirmed the alignment. This will act as a reference of a ‘known working alignment’. So if has gone out of alignment, all that you have to do is to just move it back to where the marks line up and you have a dish that is aligned. This will also allow you to visually check to see if the dish has moved.

Problem 2 - Missing Channels (or scanning very little):

A common problem, for which, you have to make sure you are aimed at the right satellite, your antenna settings are correct as per your lnb type and that there’s nothing wrong with your frequency or transponder or, for that matter, with your switch and port settings. Other things that you have to be sure of are whether your satellite file is updated or whether you are running a new channel list.

As a way out, perform a factory reset from within the menus, or you can delete all the channels and do a fresh rescan.

When setting up your antennae, you can use 12224 as transponder frequency for most dish satellite, with the exception of 119(12239) and 121(11724). Also, on 119, scan on 12239 though it will revert to 12224 since default(24) is spot-beamed.

Another factor that can lead to this problem is uploading an ‘incorrect’ channel list, since channel list tend to vary with location. So you should do a scan of all available satellites. Another thing you got to be sure of is whether the style of lnb that you have does match with your antenna setup or else, you will miss out on many channels.

Also, lnbs are not immune to failures and a major symptom of a failed lnb is if you are receiving only vertical or horizontal tps. And in case of total failure, you will loose signal and quality completely. So, swap the LNBs to find out if these are at fault.

Another thing you have to be sure of is whether you have plugged your RG6 cable in the correct spot in the back of your STB. This might sound silly but such errors does happen; so better check out.

Problem 3 - Wait for Picture or Standby:

The reason for this might be that your bin is out of date and that its time to load the latest and best bin. Auto roll feature should be on. It works best on certain channels, so allow it to work. It may take some time.

Also, auto roll seems to work fastest on channels 150/200 on dick and 212/417 for the guy up north. You can check Problem 1 above that deals with auto roll/keys issue.

Problem 4 - No EPG Displaying:

If this is the case then you have to ensure your date/time and GMT is correct. Do keep in mind that GMT should be set to reflect Daylight saving time. See to it that epg is selected for the number of hours and that your sat file is current and correct. You can try receiving guide on some models. If the device allows you to choose the number of hours your guide should be, cut that to half so that there is more memory available to other channels.

If you’re using a pansat (may work for others) and your guide isn’t working properly with provider up north then you have to rename the satellite to an appropriate name.

Epg tends to populate on certain channels. So a look at the FAQ section of the providers will throw up some good pointers.

And if you are confronted with something like Dish 119 info fills up but not Dish 110, then here’s what you should do.

In order to have a 7-Day Guide on Dish 110 and 119, press the SAT button on your remote.

Highlight ‘Dish Package’ and then press ‘OK’.

In case you don't have both 110 and 119, select the Dish Sat that you do have.

Exit out of the menu and Press the Guide button.
Press the ‘FIND’ button while still in the guide and let it sit on that channel for a few minutes.
The longer it is there, the more EPG will fill up, up to a maximum of 7-Days.

To have a 3-Day Guide, press the SAT button on your remote.
Highlight the relevant package.
If you don't have both, then select what you do have.
Exit out of the menu and Press the Guide button.
Press the "FIND" button while in the guide and let it to sit on that channel for a few minutes.
The longer it sits, the more EPG will get filled up, up to a maximum of 2-3 Days.

Do take into account that the EPG cannot fill up if you've selected ‘All SAT’ from the Satellite List button. Also, it cannot fill the latter EPG while watching Dish and vice-versa. This is simply not possible since the EPG fills Guide data ONLY from the
provider you are watching.

Problem 5 – Glitches:

Factory file time, this restores the unit to almost virgin status. Download the factory Bin, which will clean all those glitches. Next, download the Current bin. However, this will also change all of your settings back to original, so you’ll have to work on that.

Watch out for signal and quality levels since anything less then 50% quality is prone to be affected by weather related hazards.

Problem 6 – ‘Night Rider’ (flashing lights):

This is usually a sign of bad or corrupt flash or even interrupted process in some cases. Re-flashing the factory flash again using correct procedures for your unit might solve the problem. STB's processing of the data that has been transferred gets interrupted if you don’t wait till the all Zero display to come up. This in turn, may leave the STB with a corrupted file, which is also a sign of wrong file for wrong unit. So be sure you are using correct file for your unit.

Therefore, see to it that you are using the latest flash to get the scrambled channels. It may take several attempts to reload factory flash and after having reloaded the latest bin, reset your antenna settings since they will revert back to factory settings with factory flash. Also, its important that when flashing, you should wait not only till it says its done, but also until it reboots and actually goes to a channel number.

The difference between the cables:

Null Modem cable, also referred to as ‘cross-over’ or ‘twisted pair’ cable:

Used for Viewsat, this cable has 9 pins, though only the following are required:

Pin 2 to Pin 3
Pin 3 to Pin 2
Pin 5 to Pin 5

Straight through serial cable: 
It also has 9 pins, but only these are required:
Pin 2 to Pin 2
Pin 3 to Pin 3

Problem 7 - Seeing One Sat But Not The Other:

This problem is generally related to the switch and you should run a check of the following:

1. If ports are partially stuck or shorted try switching ports
2. Run a cable directly from the lnb to receiver to which has gone bad, switch or lnb
3. Replace the switch
4. Reboot the unit since the switch can get stuck, thus preventing it from shifting

Problem 8 - Loading/Flashing Your Unit (the ----- and 8888 and on):

This is a problem area where most have faltered some time or the other. So the things that you should look out for are:

1. The cable for your flashing unit should be correct. Cables can be of two basic types - straight and null. Both look the same but differ a lot.

2. Ensure you download the correct file that you unzip or extract to a folder.

3. Is the right file being loaded to right unit?

4. Was there any interruption during downloading?

5. See to it that you are using the right Loader for the right unit since there are many different units available and most are compatible with their own loader. Com port should be set to one of the 4 options in tools.

To find the right com port - go to My Computer - view System Info - click on Hardware - open Device Manger. Here, look for com port. In each section, there is usually a good sticky with loading procedures for your particular unit.

Problem 9 - Black and White Issues:

Screen has become black and white after you have tried to adjust the settings. A remedy to this is to re boot unit using the rear switch. Once or twice should be enough.

Using the color button on the remote, jot down each and every level under default. Next, select User and change all the values to match the Default levels. Select Exit. Using the rear switch, turn the receiver off. Turn the receiver back on. This should bring back color on both the Default and User selection. After this, you can tweak the user levels to the settings that are best for your FTA Box.

Problem 10 - Sound Is Not Working:

If you are turning channels but there’s no audio, this could be due to the following:

Check if the mute button got pressed.

If not, then chances are that it might be a dolby issue.

If you are not using a dolby surround system then go to menu - system settings - user options. Here, turn off Auto Dolby Select.

Check all your cables as well as audio button settings.
Reboot the system using the magic switch.

Problem 11 - Dish Moved Due to Weather Conditions:

When you are getting a very high signal and quality, use a permanent marker to mark it on your dish's skew and elevations. This way, you won’t have this problem ever again. If the dish was not moved to another location, use this handy satellite locator: /http://satcalculator.freehostia.com/

So, these are the problems that are commonly faced by FTA users. If you need help on anything else, or if you are faced with a problem not mentioned here, feel free to get in touch with FTA KEYS who are adept at solving such issues.