Controlling a devive without a remote

Some also have crafty little screws in the battery compartment as well,
presumably to beef the area up o for all those who sit on remotes.
I need to get into a goodmans Smart talk one as several buttons are now on
the blink

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Dave W" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 16 Aug 2014 14:43:08 +0100, "tim....."
wrote:


"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
...
Have you had a look inside the remote.

I haven't managed to work out how to open it - without completely
destroying
the case

tim


I recently acquired a secondhand Humax, and your uncertainty of how to
open the handset got me to investigate mine, to see what state its
innards were in and clean out all remains of the previous owner.

I found I was able to run a thin spatula in the crack between the
front and rear, and at certain points it would go in further where the
latches are, so I marked their position. There are 14 of them, all
about 5mm wide, located as follows.

Two either side of the IR window at the front edge, two in similar
positions at the bottom edge, two on the sides half way between the
mute/power and white button rows, two between the 7/8/9 and
list/0/menu rows, two just below the media/guide row level with the up
arrow, two level with the opt+ button, and two just above "HUMAX".

I pushed a thin watchmakers screwdriver blade into one of the side
latch positions, and levered it to bend the back moulding sideways to
release the latch. Then wedging something into the gap created, to
stop it snapping back, worked my way round the other latches in
similar fashion.

Luckily the innards were in not bad state, but I wiped the contacts
over with a trace of white spirit to get rid of some gooey stuff which
I think was polish not some vital conductive fluid. Also it was very
easy to clean the mouldings and membrane of crumbs etc. It all snapped
back together with only very slight damage at my first incursion.

--
Dave W

Tim, what model Humax is it? If it's one I've got, I'll have a bash at
opening the remote to see how feasible it is.

Personally I bet you can do it. Once inside you should be able to
repair it as discussed elsewhere in this thread.


--
SteveT

On Sun, 17 Aug 2014 04:38:31 -0500, "Steve Thackery"
wrote:

Tim, what model Humax is it? If it's one I've got, I'll have a bash at
opening the remote to see how feasible it is.

Personally I bet you can do it. Once inside you should be able to
repair it as discussed elsewhere in this thread.

See my post yesterday.
--
Dave W

Dave W wrote:

See my post yesterday.

Sorry, Dave, I missed it. Certainly all the Humax remotes I've had can
be opened in that way.

--
SteveT

On 16/08/2014 09:57, tim..... wrote:
Some of you may recall that my Hummy remote is playing up

Well I've lost some more keys now so I investigated whether it was
possible to drive the machine if it packs up completely [1].

And yes, you can do the basic functions of setting up recordings via
the EPG (or the menu). And you can replay those recordings. But what
you can't do is delete them (except via a complete reformat)

WTF was the guy smoking when they thought that useful?!

tim


[1] I'm loath to spend 30 quid (plus P&P) on a replacement remote
when, when last available, a complete SD recorder including 500 gig
hard disk could be had for under 90. And I can't find a programmable
one where the retailer will "guarantee" that it can be programmed for
the Hummy - the one that I bought in the pound shop couldn't (Yes I
know!) - and they are all sold in blister packs that take a chain saw
to open :-(, so they won't take them back for this reason.
What model do you have? I "may" have a spare hanging around.

"tim....." wrote in message ...

Some of you may recall that my Hummy remote is playing up

Well I've lost some more keys now so I investigated whether it was possible
to drive the machine if it packs up completely [1].

And yes, you can do the basic functions of setting up recordings via the EPG
(or the menu). And you can replay those recordings. But what you can't do
is delete them (except via a complete reformat)

WTF was the guy smoking when they thought that useful?!

tim
+++++
Tim,

Probably not as nice as you wanted but have you considered enabling the FTP
server and then using your PC/Mac etc to delete the files relating to
recordings over FTP? A real 'sledgehammer' approach though.

Also, in the past I've 'fixed' those nasty foam conductive contacts using a
tidy circle of tin foil glued on with Evostick - neither pretty nor perfect
but it worked. However I find with TV remotes that often the problem is
oily grease building up inside. Either the rubber is degrading or it's
abosorbing oil from my fingers and transporting it into the remote.

Paul DS

"Steve Thackery" wrote in message
...
Dave W wrote:

See my post yesterday.

Sorry, Dave, I missed it. Certainly all the Humax remotes I've had can
be opened in that way.

--
SteveT

Well thanks everyone for the advice.

I've searched a bit more an found that generic alternatives are available
for as little as 12 pounds (I don't know why I didn't find these before).

So that is what I shall be buying

tim

"tim....." wrote in message
...
Some of you may recall that my Hummy remote is playing up

Well I've lost some more keys now so I investigated whether it was
possible to drive the machine if it packs up completely [1].

And yes, you can do the basic functions of setting up recordings via the
EPG (or the menu). And you can replay those recordings. But what you
can't do is delete them (except via a complete reformat)

WTF was the guy smoking when they thought that useful?!

tim


[1] I'm loath to spend 30 quid (plus P&P) on a replacement remote when,
when last available, a complete SD recorder including 500 gig hard disk
could be had for under 90. And I can't find a programmable one where the
retailer will "guarantee" that it can be programmed for the Hummy - the
one that I bought in the pound shop couldn't (Yes I know!) - and they are
all sold in blister packs that take a chain saw to open :-(, so they won't
take them back for this reason.

Grade A 9300T from Humax direct - £79 - I've bought several this way and
never had any problems. Think there's an extra P&P to pay on top.
http://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/Direct/...all?ck=factory

I've also used Cash Converters for other things - got a Panasonic portable
DVD that still has the stickers on and had hardly been used for a very fair
price. Mansfield are cheapest - 9150T for about £26 when P&P included.
http://webshop.cashconverters.co.uk/...=&search=humax

James