Monday 9 November 2009

Pace Twin PVR : no EPG after freeview retune

From Johns Car Blog

North West UK , so we had another freeview retune recently.
Only this time the trusty (and somewhat dated!) Pace Twin freeview recorder had lost its entire EPG guide , and no matter how long I waited it would never load....
funnily enough it did work if I selected 'Info' button to view current EPG and next program for a single channel.
A quick websearch unusually didnt turn up much (which was a surprise).
But at last I found the following gem...

Pace Twin - GENERAL thread (not bugs) on DigitalSpy.co.uk by pacetwin and davidbrown
thanks guys

The problem with the Twin is it's got limited EPG space, originally designed for 30 channels which have grown to over twice that, and every time a new part time channel starts it's EPG has to be stored. Pace decided that showing the programme times was important and then to load the details where there was room left. An algorithm is used to decide which programmes get the details. Sometimes you will see the last day in the EPG has gaps, this is the PACE prioritizing. Not sure how it works but I assume it fills in today and tomorrow first and then day-time programmes over night-time ones.

When I asked Tech Support many years ago they said 'details' may show for a while and then disappear as the Pace reallocates the EPG memory. Using a Favourites list means it doesn't have to store channels you will not see so more memory is available for the details.

I have 2 lists one for my favourite TV channels (TV ONLY) and one for the Radio channels (RADIO ONLY). Before going to the EPG I switch to the TV ONLY list using the left/right arrow keys and then press EPG. When I come out from the EPG I either stay in TV Only or switch back to the FULL list.

The less channels you have in your list the faster the EPG loads.

so there you go!
'Menu' button , select 'Your TV Lists', right arrow to select 'List 1'
right arrow , then right arrow to add each channel , remember to hit the green button to save your selections.
best try it just with BBC1 first to see if your EPG loads.

'List' then right arrow to select 'List 1' , OK to watch.
you will be limited to the channels you added. but its easy to switch back to 'All channels' if reqd

voila my 'restricted' list EPG now loads.
means I dont have to bin it just yet , but its days are probably numbered.......
trying to hold out for an HD freeview box though ;-)

heres a cool mod site for the Pace Twin
Pace Twin Wiki data

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Hooray! Thanks for that! I've been having the same problem with my Pace Twin and now not only do I have my EPG back but I've also not got a screen full of shopping channels!

I'm thinking of replacing it soon with a Sony DVD/HD/Freeview+ box, but shhhh! It might hear!

John Oldfield said...

glad to help, I posted this as it took way longer than expected to find an answer from google, hopefully it will keep some pace boxes from the bin lol
big thanks again to the original article posters :-)

as you say its like a member of the family now (with associated quirks) ....

Paulg41uk said...

Hi John,

Just a quick note to say Thanks for the info on the Pace twin tuner. I was about to go out and buy a new unit after the latest Freeview update meant I lost all the EPG. No my Pace is working properly again.

Cheers
Paul

Andrew said...

Thank you very much. I would never have thought of that.

Unknown said...

John,

I've been looking for weeks for a solution. Thanks for posting this information - very helpful. Since the freeview broadcast upgrade my Pace has also stopped recording programms correctly. I'd say 75% of programs now freeze just before they finish. Has anyone else had problems with recording. it used to be fine. Thanks Trevor.

John Oldfield said...

Hi Trevor,

glad it worked ok.

I have noticed the time of my pace unit doesnt seem to be updating all the time properly, but turning it on and off sorts it.

I have the odd failed recording (usually 2 secs) but thats par for the course with a pace lol

Always worth resetting the box once in a while and formatting the hard drive as a cleanup. seems to improve the reliability.

hth
John

John Oldfield said...

seems like you were right Trevor, my pace twin now seems to stop midway through.
I think its the end!

Unknown said...

John, Just to let you know my Pace Twin will now no longer switch on from stand-by, so I can't even watch recorded items. I have two Pace boxes and it's effected both. My brother also has a unit and this week his did the same. If you come across a solution please pass it on.
Thanks again, Trevor

Unknown said...

John, I contacted DigitalUK regarding the Pace not switching on. They gave me the support number for Pace; 0844 84 64 988.

Theu adviced to switch-off, disconnect the aerial and switch back on. When the display shows "----" press the on/off button on the unit. When it switches on (takes a few minutes) press 1 on the remote then put back into stand-by, reconnect aerial and it's all ok (for now..ha ha). Trevor