[hybridUSB]

It seems to be a very common problem despite it being referred to as "rare" by the support team.

Now, now. Keep in mind that here you'll find only posts of people that got the issue, while thankfully all the people that have perfect items won't post "It's working fine, i like it". The problem is that like this is impossible to understand if it's really widespread, or just for unlucky people.

Yeah, I understand the reality of those without problems not posting, but what concerns me is the lack of a definitive answer when the problem is posed to the support team. And knowing they have a problem with said device, went ahead and sold it to me. I realize they probably sell a few thousand of the Hybrid and compared to the amount of posts here it could be considered "rare". That's not what I want to hear when I have a problem. It sounds a little like damage control. If it is indeed "rare", just tell people that they can return the product for a replacement or a refund. I bought the product expecting the promises they gave me were true. All I'm looking for is my faith to be restored in this company. And I promise to come back and post my great experience if that happens to be the case.

[AlexTheStampede]

Uhm, you've got a point.

[italiancousin]

Gill,

Thanks for the note. It's good to hear that there are some good results being had out there, and I'm just as likely to complement as I am to complain, depending on the experience I'm having.

Despite early indications that all would be made well on this particular issue (see my posts and kudos to Elgato above), this situation is now approaching one of the worst I've ever had with a vendor online. I do hope it turns around and I'm glad it did for you.

When companies make things right for me, I'm the first to crow about their excellent service.

Just a followup gang. I was referred to Elgato Sales to get a replacement and I received EXCELLENT support and communication from Eddie in that department. I'm finally back up and running and all works just fine.

[exentropy]

I'm glad to hear that Mines still working fine too - long may it continue!
Gill

[eyetvuser]

I have received my 2nd replacement which works fine now for a few days. I am wondering now what to do with the Nova-T stick I bought during the 2,5 months repairs.

[Karlos]

El problema del Hybrid es de recalentamiento y la solución es calentarlo para que reconozca el puerto USB, en frío no funciona, en caliente sí

[Brewster]

This is a bit flakey but I have got my Hybrid to work by putting it a warm oven for a few minutes (about 70º C). It was that or the bin because I have given up trying to get it working any other way.

I had tried it on 3 Macs, 2 versions on OS X, zapped the PRAM on all the machines several times and plugged/unplugged the darn thing many hundreds of times. The vendor I had bought it from has disappeared and it's out of warranty so I was happy to take a risk.

If anyone else is equally desperate, try heating the thing up (at your own risk of course). I hope it helps.

[nigel_robinsonuk]

If you use a whacking great USB extension cable to enable the hybrid to reach the aerial cable (like I do) and unplug and re-plugged the USB extension cable from the hybrid (instead of from the back of the iMac).

Not sure if this applies to anyone else here, but it works for me. Beats paying to send it back.

[Jock Scott]

This is a bit flakey but I have got my Hybrid to work by putting it a warm oven for a few minutes (about 70º C). It was that or the bin because I have given up trying to get it working any other way.

I had tried it on 3 Macs, 2 versions on OS X, zapped the PRAM on all the machines several times and plugged/unplugged the darn thing many hundreds of times. The vendor I had bought it from has disappeared and it's out of warranty so I was happy to take a risk.

If anyone else is equally desperate, try heating the thing up (at your own risk of course). I hope it helps.

Tried the bakery trick. Worked like a charm
My stick is about 2 years old bought in Sweden. It also got worse by time. Lately I couldn't get it to start up what ever i did. But baking works fine

[mchahalholden]

I tried the hot oven trick on my Hybrid that was totally dead.. and it worked..

The person that came up with this fix is a genius..

Many thanks, this saved me just throwing it away..

[bronwyncarlisle]

I have this same problem. Am waiting for a reply from Elgato, but the stick is over a year old (a little bit) so I'm not expecting a great deal. It is certainly too expensive to treat as a disposable item to be replaced every year and a bit, so I'll not be buying a new one if they won't replace it.

Am going to try the baking trick. I wonder if keeping the stick on top of an external hard drive, or other heat-producing thing, might keep it warm enough to keep working if the computer needs restarting.

Later on that evening: Tried it, works like a charm. Just needs to be warm!

[mikieboston]

Hello, same problem with my eyetv hybrid that has been broken for a month.

It was 2 months past it's warranty when it broke. When i plug it in to my powered USB hub, it would draw as much power as it could, causing all other items in the USB hub to disconnect due to the power drain.

It wasn't the USB hub which was the problem as I tried it directly into the back of my MacMini, and still would not appear in the USB devices list.

I've just tried the warming trick (not in the oven, but another method - as this sounds downright dangerous!). And wow! It has started working again!

So for now I have placed the device to sit on top of a hard drive that gets quite hot. This is obviously not a suitable long term solution - and is possibly a fire hazard if I'm having to keep it on top of a hot device.

Elgato - you must have realised that this is definitely a serious hardware fault which is common (not 'rare') and you should be looking at replacing your customers devices before a fire risk, become a real incident. If people are having to 'cook' their devices before use.

Irrelevant of wether the devices are in warranty or not, I feel you need to get them replaced.

[bronwyncarlisle]

Elgato also seem to feel they should replace TV sticks that need heating to work. Get in touch with Nick Freeman, as mentioned earlier in the thread. I did and he's in the process of getting my older than a year stick replaced. Seems they want to examine them - a) to see that they really don't work, but probably also b) to figure out what the problem is. I was wondering if it was the cold or perhaps moisture.

[makomk]

For what it's worth, this isn't specific to the Elgato eyetv. I have the original-model A1C0 HVR-900 (which one version of the eyetv hybrid is a rebranded version of), and a few months ago it developed the same problem under Linux/Windows on non-Apple hardware. It comes up as USB 1.1 (or not at all under Linux), and I have to run the device for a while to warm it up and replug it to get it to detect correctly. I notice someone had the same issue with a Terratec Cinergy XS; that's quite similar hardware-wise.

[gener8or]

Wow- I don't believe this- I had basically thrown my Hybrid away after getting the USB 1.1 messages continuously, and reading on the forums here that it looked to be a hardware fault. I haven't touched it for about 6 months. It used to be plugged into my Mac Mini next to my TV, powered up 24/7, so part of me suspected that I might have overworked it anyway. It only stopped working after being unplugged for a day or so.

A couple of days ago I found the Hybrid in a box of crap in the cupboard and thought I'd plug it in to my new MBP, but it still had it's old problem.

Thinking it might be worth another google of the problem, I found myself in this thread. I thought the oven trick was just crazy enough to work, but I tried a slightly different method- using the usb extension cable that came with the Hybrid, I plugged the unit in to the MBP on the right hand side, left it unplugged from my antenna, and placed the Hybrid between my bum and the seat. The warmth generated from being plugged in as well as being covered by my (bony) ***** was enough to warm it sufficiently after 5 minutes that unplugging it and replugging it had EyeTV 2.5.2 recognizing it perfectly.

Bizarre fix, but I'm very happy!

Jase

[immaculate]

My Hybrid has also been suffering from this USB2 recognition problem and now seems totally dead. It started to have problems about 2 months after the warranty period ended, and is now about 18 months old.

Elgato refuse to do anything for me, saying that "devices fail". Well, yes, they do and I understand what a warranty is - but so many people have this USB2 recognition problem that it looks like a design and/or manufacturing hardware fault. (Perhaps they meant "our devices fail"?)

I got about 14 months of proper use for a device that cost me the equivalent of $200+. And Elgato expect me to replace it with another of their devices that could easily fail just out of warranty? Yes, right.

I'm going to talk my local Apple dealers and see what their experience has been of Elgato hardware failures.

[Mon1018]

I tried the hot oven trick on my Hybrid that was totally dead.. and it worked..

The person that came up with this fix is a genius..

Many thanks, this saved me just throwing it away..
The same as you!
come on!

[Gareth42]

Hi all,

Just wanted to add myself as another user of a Hybrid that a couple of hours ago started telling me that all 4 USB ports on my Mac Mini were 1.1 and not 2! I've read all through this thread and decided to try the oven trick. Pre-heated to 70 then pop it in on a piece of foil to prevent singeing for no more than 2 minutes, plug it back in and reboot and you should be good to go. It worked for me too.

Elgato you have a problem with some of your Hybrids and you know it. I understand you can't recommend this fix but for goodness sake admit there may be a need to revisit the design of this unit before you start losing customers.

I'll stick with you for now but suffice it to say I will not upgrade my software or buy any new hardware until it's been proved in the field for at least a year so I don't have to suffer any more problems.

Mine is less than a year old but rather than go through the pain of raising a ticket, returning the unit at my own cost and having to wait weeks or even months for a resolution I took the chance on the fix. That in itself should tell you something about how efficient your Customer Service (or lack of it) appears to be. Please try to improve....

Gareth

[aroojequ]

Thought I'd just add my 2 cents. (And give the thread a bump)
I also tried the oven trick, which did get the device to work albeit briefly.
There is clearly an issue with the Hybrid, and I have raised a ticket with a view to getting a replacement. I'm not sure that that will work either to be honest. I also have a WinTV Nova-TD which EyeTV fails to recognize, (works perfectly in BootCamp however)

I have a MacMini Core Duo 1.83, and a Macbook C2D 2.0; and the symptoms persist exactly the same on both machines. I have also tried EveTV 2.5 and 3.0. Sweet F.A.

Running 10.5.4 at the moment, but tried a test installation of 10.4.11 earlier today - nothing!

I'd be interested to know the progress that others are making. This thread is faily old now, what happened to those who came and went - did they find a cure?

[Dr.Pepper]

Hallo, guys! I’m having this problem for the second time now, my tuners seems to last about 1 year, before cracking down. Thank’s for the tip for warming the ***** up, bizarre yes, but it works when heated up. I was a bit to careless, so I heated it up too much. The plastic melted slightly, and now I wonder whether I am titled too get a new device from apple store. I got one the first time, but now my tuners is melted a slight. I will most definitively not buy a new tuner from elgato.

[pagelula]

same problem here. i also have a miglia dvb stick and the new eyetv dtt deluxe stick. they both work, only the eyetv hybrid does have this probelm! elgato please help!!

[Charmian]

I just spent an hour on the phone to Applecare re my USB 2 port appearing as USB 1 to eyeTV. They suggested an Archive and Install -- so I looked up onthe internet if this was a known problem and sure enough - there are lots of comments on this list.. My EyeTV hybrid is only 13 months old but I guess out of warranty -- if Elgato likely to do repairs or replacements on these Hybrids. Mine was bought in August 2007 in Australia..

[rama]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

The idea of heating up the unit is a brilliant solution to a problem that Elgato won't acknowledge as real.

I heated up my unit (not in the oven) slowly over an electric heater. Connected it. The live TV window attempted to come up, but couldn't. I unplugged and replugged in the unit to the usb port, and it came up! Yeah!

I'm still going to look for a replacement from Elgato, but at least I can watch and record tonight's (Tuesday) US presidential "debate".

Thanks again. Be well.

[jimh76]

Heating it up actually works - although, I favour the old armpit method over the oven.

I await Elgato's response to my service ticket - but warranty or no warranty, this becomes a "known issue" and should be dealt with as such. It's a shame that such a great product is spoiled by such a poor attitude to service.

[traxtopel]

I am on my second elgato hybrid, same issue as all you guys here.
The oven trick worked wonders. Still have little faith in this device.

Can anyone recommend a durable tuner.