About a month ago while remote viewing my slingbox, the remote control was suddenly disabled. I tried reseting, rebooting and upgrading the firmware on my SlingBox AV, but nothing fixed the issue.
Then I upgraded to the new SlingPlayer Beta and my problem was solved...for about a week. Now whenever I reset my SlingBox and re-run the setup wizard I get the following error message when I set my Country as USA:
"This SlingBox was not originally designed to to be used in USA. Click fix to changed the location or Contrinue to proceed anyway"
If I click fix and try another country, I get the same message for all available countries. If I continue, the setup succeeds, by my original problem (disabled remote in the SlingPlayer) persists.
Please help! College football season is in full swing and I'm dying with no SB at my tailgates!
Member
TAIPEI, Taiwanbryanod said: Remote speeds still not as fast as the sling but UDP 1.8mb 7100+ miles is a feat for sure. Thanks for showing me the tweak for the Hava the .reg file was cake.
Well it depends on upload and download. I was on a 2mb max download leased line.
Facebook youtube and things like this are blocked in China with a lot of US based sites. heavy net filtering here especially on TCP packet streaming.
UDP rocks.
If Evolution Works, Why So Many Idiots?
This issue is an absolute disgrace - if they do not fix the problem that THEY CAUSED they should be run out of business. Going ostrich is NOT THE ANSWER !
I think I have a work around. youll need the .bin file for your remote though. I couldnt find mine, but I didnt look very hard.
During the set up process choose s-video set up, the select other type device, when prompted, select the option to choose the location of the remote .bim file. Hopefully that will work.
Ill try and play around with it more later.
Member
South Florida, United StatesFor me... the remote works on my home network AND remotely on a PC. Just doesn't show up on the mac remotely. So, for me, it's gotta be unrelated to the .bin file. It recognizes my remote and controls my tv...except from ANY remote network on ANY mac.
Can't believe it
Looks like we're screwed
Unbelievable
So what now?
Take it back?
Everyone should.
Right now!
Frankly, I thought Sling would fix it but now it looks...
Unlikely.
Can't believe it.
Know what? That's life.
Member
Denver, United Statesmarcee said: For me... the remote works on my home network AND remotely on a PC. Just doesn't show up on the mac remotely. So, for me, it's gotta be unrelated to the .bin file. It recognizes my remote and controls my tv...except from ANY remote network on ANY mac.On the remote mac it might be the remote does not show up.... Do the keyboard commands work?
Member
South Florida, United StatesNothng seems to work, but I'm actually unaware of specific shortcuts. I tried return, pg up and pg down, random keys. Suggestions welcome.
I was on business in China and suddenly found that the remote was greyed out as well. I checked it again when I got home, and it's still not working. I'm not interested in Sling's generous $29 offer, since I assume this is something very simple. I'm running a Slingbox PRO, Slingplayer 2.0.3.508, firmware version 1.3.36.
I've been through the thread here and I am getting the same "not made for use in the USA" problem. Has anyone successfully rolled back the firmware on the device to see if that's the issue? I've rolled back the software to the 1.5.1, and that didn't solve the problem. I can't imagine this problem popping up with this many people and it *not* being related to the firmware update that was pushed by Sling.
Lead Moderator
Arizona, United StatesEBags, I have seen it happen when someone jumps too many firmware updates at one time. If you can go back to 1.0.3 firmware and then to the 1.3.x firmware it may fix it.
Brandon C said: EBags, I have seen it happen when someone jumps too many firmware updates at one time. If you can go back to 1.0.3 firmware and then to the 1.3.x firmware it may fix it.
Hi Brandon-
I rolled the firmware back to 1.0.39 (renamed as 1.3.41, dated 7/6/2009), and still received the error (I'm running Slingplayer version 2.0.something at this point). I then updated the firmware to 1.3.18 (renamed as 1.3.42, dated 7/7/2009), and still received the error.
I'm not sure what the correct thing to try next is. Maybe I'm doing something wrong with the Hex editor when I edit the files? I'm bummed that my Slingbox is suddenly "not designed for use in the US", and I'm surprised that Sling hasn't put forth an approved fix for something that seems to be affecting so many customers.
After monkeying with the Slingbox a little more, I got frustrated and started an online chat with Sling. I'll include a brief record of the conversation here:
11:08 AM EBags: I'm seeing a lot of people complaining about the same issue related to a firmware update
11:08 AM Federico: Hello Ethan
11:08 AM EBags: and I want to know A) when Sling is releasing a new firmware update
11:08 AM EBags: B) whether a fix for the issue is in the next update
11:08 AM EBags: and C) if not, why
11:09 AM EBags: I updated my firmware and suddenly my Slingbox was "not manufactured for use in the USA", which is ridiculous
11:09 AM Federico: I understand your both questions Ethan in regards of our firmware upgrades
11:09 AM EBags: previous to the firmware update, it was working perfectly
11:09 AM Federico: Your Slingbox is out of warranty but since this is an unusual problem...we will provide you support at no charge
11:09 AM EBags: ok
11:10 AM Federico: I will provide you some troubleshooting steps in order to try to solve the problem that you are having with the Slingbox
11:10 AM Federico: You will need to upgrade the firmware of the Slingbox first, if that doesn't work please unplug the IR cable from the back of the Slingbox together with the RCA cables from the Slingbox to the cable box and keep them unplugged after that, reset the Slingbox for 15 seconds and run the initial setup again and if you continue having the same error message A/V device not fully supported contact us back again through the phone line that is 1-877-467-5464 in order to take further actions
11:11 AM EBags: what further actions would be necessary?
11:12 AM Federico: If we determine that the problem is related with the hardware we could take the decision to replace the unit
11:13 AM EBags: ok
11:13 AM EBags: what are the hours that i can call that number?
11:13 AM Federico: We open from 7am to 7pm Pacific Standard Time from Monday to Sunday
11:13 AM EBags: is there a case number associated with my issue?
So, after not getting anywhere with Federico's steps, I called in to the support line and spoke to Sophia who took remote control of my PC, and tried a few more things which didn't work. She said that they were seeing a lot of these "not made for use in the USA" issues, and were handling them on a case-by-case basis, but that I would be given an RMA.
So, if you're having the same issue, I would recommend trying what I tried, let them know that you know they are aware of the issue, and would like your case examined since you have followed all of their steps.
I would hope that if Sling personnel are reading these forums, they would move forward with a firmware update that addresses this issue or escalate it so that it is addressed, especially since they are aware of it.
Lead Moderator
Arizona, United StatesThanks for the info hopefully it will help others. Glad they are going to RMA it.
Did you get resolution on this? I tried calling, but my box is out of warranty and they wouldn't talk to me unless I paid money up front.
Yeah, they sent me another box and RMA'ed the old one, even though I was out of warranty. I'd suggest trying again, going through chat and using the same dialogue I used in the conversation I posted above. They know this is a wide-spread issue, and I have the feeling they know the firmware is what killed the boxes, so they should definitely be helping affected people out.
EBags said: Yeah, they sent me another box and RMA'ed the old one, even though I was out of warranty. I'd suggest trying again, going through chat and using the same dialogue I used in the conversation I posted above. They know this is a wide-spread issue, and I have the feeling they know the firmware is what killed the boxes, so they should definitely be helping affected people out.
I tried, but they won't even talk to me without me paying them for support. They took $200 from me and they turned my slingbox into a paperweight with a firmware update. Now they want me to give them more money.
6:08 PM Joey: Unfortunately since the Slingbox is out of the warranty support we would have to charge you for the troubleshooting.
6:08 PM Joey: Thank you for contacting Sling Media, enjoy the rest of your day.
I am calling them right now and they asked me to pay $99 since I am out of warranty. So I asked him, "So what you are saying is that you offer firmware upgrades for free and when I upgrade and it breaks my slingbox, you are going to force me to pay for something you broke?"
He put me on hold and said he will see what he can do. I am waiting. I will report back with what I find.
They are going to cross ship a replacement. I had to give them a credit card number, but they will credit $99 once they get my now defective unit.
If they give any hassle, just phrase it exactly like I did in a polite but a little bit annoyed manner.
"So what you are saying is that you offer firmware upgrades for free and when I upgrade and it breaks my slingbox that is now out of warranty, you are going to force me to pay for something you broke?"
If that doesn't work, keep trying. I went through a couple of Customer Service Agents until I got one who knew something about the problem.
FourBeer said:Make sure you call them and follow the lead that I had. Just be polite but firm that you don't appreciate them updating your slingbox and making it a paperweight. Sounds very sleazy to me.EBags said: Yeah, they sent me another box and RMA'ed the old one, even though I was out of warranty. I'd suggest trying again, going through chat and using the same dialogue I used in the conversation I posted above. They know this is a wide-spread issue, and I have the feeling they know the firmware is what killed the boxes, so they should definitely be helping affected people out.I tried, but they won't even talk to me without me paying them for support. They took $200 from me and they turned my slingbox into a paperweight with a firmware update. Now they want me to give them more money. 6:08 PM Joey: Unfortunately since the Slingbox is out of the warranty support we would have to charge you for the troubleshooting. 6:08 PM Joey: Thank you for contacting Sling Media, enjoy the rest of your day.
Funny thing happened. I again followed the original instructions sent to me by Sling.
" Please follow these steps in order to see if this will solve the problem that you are having, you will need to upgrade the firmware of the Slingbox first, if that doesn't work please unplug the IR cable from the back of the Slingbox together with the RCA cables from the Slingbox to the cable box and keep them unplugged after that, reset the Slingbox for 15 seconds and run the initial setup again and if you continue having the same error message ''this slingbox was not originally designed to be used in usa'' contact us back through the phone line that is 1-877-467-5464 in order to take further actions because you may have a defective Slingbox "
This was after I got off the phone with Sling support and after trying before calling them. Well after I got off the phone and they agreed to ship me a replacement, I followed the steps again. This time I did not get the error. Instead I get no audio or video. However, I do get connectivity to the Sling. It let me configure the remote and cable box. I also was able to remotely control the box (both from within my LAN and also outside as well). I was also able to set it to "Audio Only" and I could hear the audio. However, no matter what I did I got no video. I tried the composite connection as well as the S-Video connection.
I figure I'll wait for the new Slingbox to show up and try that as well.
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