July 16, 2009 9:38 PM

Welp, maybe that theory is out then. Would love to get my hands on it to just see exactly what happened. If you decide to toss it out or something let me know.

No, I am not trying to get a free box. I have more than I can use now. Just curious about the whole situation and what may cause it.

When asking for setup help please include whether you are using a PC or Mac and

if you are using the Standalone Slingplayer or the web based setup program.

July 16, 2009 10:07 PM updated: July 16, 2009 10:09 PM

Brandon C said:

Dustin,
I have heard this can happen if you jump from a very old firmware straight to the 2.0.3.x firmware. Is that the case with you? Was you firmware a couple of years old?

Or if you do a factory reset and then jump "straight to the 2.0.3.x firmware."
IMOP I think Sling should wave the $30.00 Fee and any other fee's to repair this if it happens.
All Both our pro's are now over 2 years old and are still working great, "knock on wood" The only real serious problem we had was the speed crash issue we had many moons ago which was fixed by a FW update.
In anycase. We have also been researching HAVA and Sony. But right now HAVA, Sling and Sony all have bugs. You have to do workarounds.
The only plus right now is. HAVA seems to have the best customer support. But Who knows. That could change at anythime.
But like my wife said to me. Since your Sling stuff is doing what you want it to. All the work and equipment you put into getting it to work on your WIFI network. You should wait for it to break before moving on to some other product.


So if I were you. Since you said your Sling boxes are now door stops. I would look into HAVA. Stay away from Sony.

Good Luck

July 17, 2009 6:06 AM

Dustin said:

Linroe said: It was deliberate on Slingbox's part, I've had my box over 2 years and updated automatically and it still fail. SLINGBOX has porposely distroyed our boxes.

If they did it was a stupid plan, it took me 2 seconds to google and find not only this forum, but these threads lol

I would doubt it is deliberate. But with the speed crashing issue that went on for over 18 months until the new firmware in March fixed the problem the situation was unresolved for a long time.

Sling media just do not respond when people complain about their firmware causing problems. They stick their heads in the sand and hope the problem will go away until they get a fox for it.

If the speed crashing issue is anything to go by that could be 18 months.

If Evolution Works, Why So Many Idiots?

July 17, 2009 10:10 AM

Welp, I grabbed a Hava Titatium HD on Buy.com for 87 something, free shipping. It's 91 on Amazon.com with 9 bucks shipping, or 139.00 for the same box and a wireless attachment (I forwent that as it would downgrade streaming).

Since I know a lot of people are in the same boat, I'll post my thoughts on how it compared to sling. I'll keep the sling box around in hopes that one day Sling will do the right thing and fix these with some kind of firmware update for free (I can still get in and update the firmware/run the set-up, so I'd think they could do it).

July 18, 2009 7:18 PM

Am I correct that there is no way to retro the firmware? If you do a full reset does that downgrade the firmware? I finally unpacked my Pro (red unit) after moving a year ago, got prompted to download new firmware and now I have no remote.

July 18, 2009 9:13 PM updated: July 18, 2009 9:20 PM

I'd like to know what broke yours too. So we don't end up doing the same thing in the future.
We can remotely connect over WAN with both 1.5 on a USB key and 2.0 player. just fine to both my sling box pro and my Son's SB-pro.
Both are using FW 1.3.36.
All I know is we have updated the FW over the past couple of years. One right after the other without ever doing a factory reset.
The remote control still works and we never saw that Not made for usa message.

What I'm worried about is. One of these days they will do something to the FW to stop version 1.5 of the player from working.

July 18, 2009 9:19 PM

Brandon C said:

Chris_M said: Am I correct that there is no way to retro the firmware? If you do a full reset does that downgrade the firmware? I finally unpacked my Pro (red unit) after moving a year ago, got prompted to download new firmware and now I have no remote.

Not sure what you mean by no remote but the firmware should not cause the remote to not show up or not work. What Slingplayer version are you running and did you rerun A/V setup if its 2.0.3.x?

I had the same issue as this guy did. I just downloaded the newest software and then it told me I needed the newest firmware. So whatever is up to date as of 2 days ago, thats what I have :) On both a Mac and a PC.

BAsically the remote is grayed out. It's unusable. When you look at the widows, "Remote" is checked, but also grayed out.

When you try and reset up the sling box, it says "This box is not made for use in the USA" and basically you are screwed. All you can set up is to transmit the picture and sound of whatever is on the TV. I have to believe it was the latest firmware update, nothing else I did to it. Worked fine before

July 18, 2009 9:23 PM

I have done a factory reset by the way, after the remote issue. It still solves nothing. The basic problem is the firmware and I guess a good number of older boxes. It acts like the box was not made for use in the USA. THAT is the problem, because you cannot set up any cable boxes, DVRs, etc. It won't let you select specific boxes, thus you have no remote.

You can pick your cable lineup still, but again, that's as far as it will go. Enter your zip and it asks "Are these your channels?" However on the next screen it won't let you select a box make or model. It only has "Other" as an option.

IF we had a list of box codes, there is an option for that still. That might work. Anyone have the list (or know where to get it?)

July 18, 2009 9:32 PM

Dustin,
It is probably the firmware upgrade causing the "USA" problem and since it has that issue then the remote deal won't work cause you can't (or more properly) the Slingplayer program can't update the remote properly.

Does remote viewing work at all? As I have said before I would love to try and see if I can fix this. Just so I can put together the correct steps to do so. That's if fixing it is possible.

If you want to PM me and talk about how, maybe we can help the rest of the community resolve this. Heck I will even trade you a known good Classic for yours just so I can see what is actually happening and causing this.

When asking for setup help please include whether you are using a PC or Mac and

if you are using the Standalone Slingplayer or the web based setup program.

July 18, 2009 9:34 PM

Brandon C said:

Dustin,
It is probably the firmware upgrade causing the "USA" problem and since it has that issue then the remote deal won't work cause you can't (or more properly) the Slingplayer program can't update the remote properly.

Does remote viewing work at all? As I have said before I would love to try and see if I can fix this. Just so I can put together the correct steps to do so. That's if fixing it is possible.

If you want to PM me and talk about how, maybe we can help the rest of the community resolve this. Heck I will even trade you a known good Classic for yours just so I can see what is actually happening and causing this.

Remote viewing should work, but I haven't tested it. i'll try it tomorrow when I have the chance. In house I can still get a picture, but the issue is it's only what is on TV (and I have to use my real remote to change the channel)