TIPS
AND TRICKS for optimizing your Manhattan RS-1933 Receiver
Updated October 26, 2011 by Mike Kohl
Future
updates and news can be found on the Manhattan-Digital website at www.manhattan-digital.net
Disclaimer:
Users accept all responsibility for the results of any do-it-yourself
downloading procedures.
If you do not feel comfortable using computers, USB sticks and other devices
used for file transfers, please contact a professional that has experience in
such matters and can guarantee their work.
Manhattan-Digital warranties will be voided through the use of
unauthorized third party files. Know
what you are doing and only use files authorized or released by
Manhattan-Digital.
There are firmware updates available on the Manhattan-Digital website,
released after initial production of the RS-1933 receiver, in an effort to
update and improve operating features, as well as fix software “bugs” that
have been discovered. Version
3.2, released on September 1, 2011, includes the important feature of uploading,
making it possible to save existing satellite memory files to a USB memory
stick, as well as download updates the same way.
We suggest that you update to at least this level of firmware so that
there is minimal future need to manually update entire files.
Updating to Version 3.2 and later versions will erase any Satellite,
Transponder and Channel information that you have in your receiver, but once
it is installed, this will be a problem of the past, and future updates will
literally take seconds to process.
Instructions
on Updating Your Receiver
Press
MENU button and look for TOOLS header, dropping with down arrow if necessary.
Enter TOOLS section and select INFORMATION.
Study the entry to the right of MAIN CODE, which will give you the
latest firmware version such as LRJM 3.2 (version 3.2) and a release date.
This will confirm the status of your receiver.
If you need to update, download from the Manhattan-Digital website, and
unzip the file. From the files
that are unzipped, save a copy of the “product-glass” abs file, onto your
USB stick.
Insert the USB stick into the USB port on back of the RS-1933 receiver.
Power on the receiver if not already turned on.
Once receiver has booted up, press MENU and go to TOOLS submenu.
Drop down and select the UPGRADE BY USB option.
Upgrade Mode should be in ALLCODE.
Move highlighter bar to Upgrade File and then toggle left or right to
select the above product-glass.abs file.
Drop down to START and press OK on the remote control.
Let the receiver update. It
should power off afterwards and then turn itself back on.
Go to TOOLS section of menu and select INFORMATION to check that the new
update version number is to the right of MAIN CODE.
Exit out and set up your receiver’s satellite configurations.
If you have Version 3.2 or higher number, and have set up your satellites and
transponders to your liking, as well as custom channel scans and edits, you
can now save them in an abs file as a backup.
Press MENU.
Select TOOLS submenu and drop down to DUMP TO USB.
After entering this Dump Menu, scroll through the options until
you see “USER DB” listed in the Dump Mode line.
Select START and press OK with the remote control, and wait for
receiver to save. This will
create a file of all satellites, transponders and scanned channels, and should
be saved with the name s3602_userdb_dump.bin
You can use this or any other similar backup file
to merge with future firmware updates. If
you have done some customizing and would like to merge this information found
in your receiver with a new firmware update, first confirm that you have the
Product Glass.abs file for that update (which you might want to rename with
your computer with something such as pglassV3.4 DATE.abs
(use the current date). Load
the renamed copy onto your USB stick, as well as confirm that the newly
created DUMP file.bin is also on that USB stick.
Tip:
If you run into problems in the next section trying to merge satellite
and transponder files with firmware versions (the latest one does not
register), erase any previous dump.abs files that may be on the USB stick.
It is entirely possible that the presence of a previous file will prevent your
receiver from overwriting a new dump.abs file onto the memory stick.
When you get a dump.abs file that works, load it onto your computer and
copy, renaming the file as suggested. While
the USB stick is in your computer, copy the renamed file onto the USB stick
and delete the dump.abs file. This
should minimize problems of this nature.
Reloading
to Merge Satellite and Firmware Info
Press
MENU, then go to TOOLS submenu, followed by UPGRADE
BY USB option.
Scroll over until you see ALLCODE in the Upgrade Mode line near top of screen.
Move highlighter bar to Upgrade File and toggle left or right to select above
product-glass.abs file.
Drop down to START and press OK on the remote control.
Let the receiver do its updating and wait for it to power off and then
back on. Go back to the UPGRADE
BY USB option.
Scroll over until you see USER DB in the Upgrade Mode line near top of the
screen.
Toggle until you find the user file (s3602_userdb_dump.bin).
Select START, press OK on remote control and confirm to burn flash.
Flash should burn and receiver will re-boot.
Satellite/Transponder/Channel data should now be merged with current firmware
file.
Press MENU-select TOOLS and check INFORMATION to confirm update version # in
MAIN CODE. Exit.
Saving a Copy of
Final Merged File to USB Stick
Press MENU-Select TOOLS submenu-drop down to DUMP TO USB.
Toggle so that ALL CODE is listed in Dump Mode line. Select START and
Press OK on remote control. This
should create an abs file with the name s3602_all_dump.abs
Make a copy from USB stick on computer and rename with date &
description with .abs suffix.
Example: 102511 CK
128e-001w v3,4.abs
RECORD
and DVR Operation
Study
the brief descriptions of functions in the Manhattan RS-1933 user manual, and
confirm that your settings and accessories are appropriate for the purpose
that you intend to accomplish.
USB Memory Sticks are limited in storage capacity and in most cases will not
function for High Definition mode recording.
You may see a prompt on the screen telling you that USB Speed is too
low. For normal standard
definition recording, we recommend a minimum of a 4 Gb
memory stick for excerpting a few episodes of a show.
If you intend to do HD recording, or any archiving that requires
substantial memory capacity, it is suggested that a large external hard drive
of at least 500 Gb be considered.
Results will vary by brand, but in all cases you should first format
the external hard drive before starting any recording.
There is a link on how-to format hard drives on this website.
It should also be noted that the maximum capacity that the RS-1933
receiver will properly function with is 2 Terrabytes,
and files are separated after 1 Terrabyte.
In addition to recording programming received via satellite, the receiver also
has the ability to play music and JPEG files such as photographs, if connected
via the USB port to an external hard drive or memory stick.
Operation can be described as intuitive, with simple pressing of the record
button on the remote control starting a recording event.
Study the remote control diagram in the receiver manual if unfamiliar
with button placement or function, and become comfortable with menu operation.
There are readouts of available free space, record time and file size
in the DVR section. Playback and
previewing can be assisted by customizing Fast-Forward (FF) and Rewind (RW)
times, which can be set for intervals of 30 seconds, 1, 5 and 10 minutes.
Once you have mastered such basic recording operation, you can then consider
timed recording.
If you depend upon the receiver clock to set a timed recording, be aware that
the clock’s accuracy depends upon the receiver being tuned to a live signal
with a time reference, or you can also manually set the time.
Please note that some channels from outside of North America use their
local time reference, so check the display on the menu screen.
Setting the clock manually can be done by going into Menu to SYSTEM
SETUP. Press Right arrow to
highlight in gold, and the Down arrow to reach Local Time Setting.
Press OK. Cursor
down so that GMT USAGE is highlighted.
Move left or right until this is changed to USER DEFINE.
Cursor Down to GMT OFFSET and then Left to reach your time zone.
Turn Summer Time ON if observed.
Exit out of all menus and Save.
Turn power OFF to test the clock setting.
Tip: A previously undocumented
feature has been discovered with the DVR/Recording section of the RS-1933
receiver. Suppose that you have a
transponder tuned in that has multiple channels. You can set up the receiver
for a timed recording of one channel, manually go to a second channel and
press the record button to immediately start recording, and then go to a third
channel and watch it live. While
the DVR will not initially acknowledge the process of setting up the second
recording, you should be able to find it afterwards and access both recordings
one by one. It is suggested that
users experiment with different configurations and find the most useful
arrangement to take advantage of these capabilities.
Please send any correspondence about your experiences to one of the
contact Emails on the Manhattan-Digital website.