Finally! An Email Response from Geniatech (June 2023)

[SWLinPHX 0]

Finally! An Email Response from Geniatech (June 2023)

For any who are interested, here is a copy of my message to Geniatech, along with their response and my reply.  I doubt I'll be hearing form them again.  They have basically abandoned EyeTV support, at least in North America:

Hello Mike, Ray (or anyone at Geniatech)...
 
Have tried to reach tech support for weeks with no response.  Therefore, can someone in the press or sales dept. PLEASE help me or direct me to the right place?  I just found and bought a 2010 model Elgato EyeTV HD box last month which is connected to my cable box via component for HD over analog.  I want to use it on one of two iMacs running either MacOS 10.6 (Snow Leopard), 10.13 (High Sierra) or 12 (Monterey).  I have it hooked up and running fine (it is connected via component cables to my HD cable box Cisco Explorer 4742HDC), but here are the problems:
 
• On Snow Leopard (using EyeTV 3.5.3) it will not download from TVGuide nor allow me to set up my cable box so that I can import its included program guide into the software.
 
• On High Sierra (using EyeTV 3.6.9) it at least let me set up my TVGuide subscription but it says it expires in one month (vs. the promised one year free) and will still not download from TVGuide nor allow me to set up my cable box so that I can import its included program guide into the software.
 
• On Monterey (EyeTV 4.0) it allows me to select Elgato's EyeTV HD as the tuner but will not accept my license key that came with the unit as the v3 software does, which as shown in the photo below is 67QLW-U5SNYVG-RXP3CT3-J6BVDP4.  Your website states those who purchased an EyeTV produce with v3 software after 2019 can obtain a free license key to v4.0.
 
...what's more, because you can't set up the included IR blaster to control the cable box from the EyeTV box, I can only record scheduled shows if I leave my cable box on all the time AND switch channels to the right one before every new recording, which obviously is impractical and defeats the purpose.
 
I have sent out forms and emails to Geniatech but still no response two weeks later.  I even called China but recordings are in Chinese, and the one in English still takes you to another Chinese-only recording.  I did get a live agent but she didn't understand English and hung up.  
 
I called Elgato out of desperation but of course they don’t support the product anymore but one man was kind enough to give me your contact info.  Please help ASAP.  Thank you!

SWLinPHX
Phoenix, AZ

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello SWL, 
 
unfortunately you ended up here in EU support, we didn't have this product in our range here, unfortunately I can't help you any further, I will send your request to US support again. But you must know that such old devices have long since been retired, the new Apple operating systems and the new eyetv software can no longer work with them. We do not have any data from Elgato to further support this product.
 
Freundliche Grüße / Best regards
 
GTESales Team
 
<image001.jpg>
Geniatech Europe GmbH (EMEA HQ)
Kaiserstrasse 100 (TPH 1)
D-52134 Herzogenrath 
 
Phone: +49-2407- 55290-80 - Fax: +49-2407- 55290-89
 
HRB Düren: 7197 - Steuernummer: 202/5771/2257
Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer gemäß § 27a Umsatzsteuergesetz: DE304695446 
WEEE-Registrierungsnummer:   DE 22625189

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Thanks for the response, but Geniatech’s website still lists EyeTV HD as a supported product to choose from the popup menu and that if a customer has purchased an EyeTV product that came with v3 after 2019 then they are eligible for a free update to v4.0.  However nowhere in the extensive Geniatech help files and technical support files does it mention that you have abandoned all EyeTV product support (it says the opposite actually) and especially that the program guide ceases to work with any version of EyeTV, even the newer 4.0.

Apparently Geniatech lost their agreement or did not renew their contract with the guide service and did not inform customers but have been incommunicado according to every user I’ve spoken to on the forums since August 2022. No explanation, not responses — nothing.  There are numerous threads of customers being completely ignored by your company since last year.

What’s more, even though thru much research and assistance dI found a workaround using an .xmltv file to import channel programs tailored for my area, now even the zip code search doesn’t work to import a channel lineup so now even importing that.xmltv file as a workaround no longer works (I don’t know if we can import channel lineups manually but there is no one to help or answer the questions even after paying for the update).

And all of this without any notice from Geniatech anywhere on their website.  Funnily enough though, they took my money no problem a few days ago when I paid to update to v4.0 (only to learn that it works no better than any of the v3 software because, although compatible with current macOS, the undisclosed program guide feature discontinuation makes the interface non-configurable — and that also prevents the IR blaster from working because you can’t set that up and test it in the software until you have the guide and channel lineup working!).

Again, after extensive research I learned that all of this has been true since last year, yet no press release or even mention on your website that Geniatech has abandoned EyeTV, and they continue to mislead customers and even sell v4.0 which only works for manual, attended recordings -- which amounts to a loss of about 80% functionality.  Doesn’t your press department there in Germany care, at least to address this or to announce it and not ignore all customer pleas? Why have you not announced all this in almost a year now so customers like me and the many on the forums don’t keep wasting their money and time?  Surely you can see that this is highly unethical and dishonest.

SWLinPHX
Phoenix, AZ

[Sandy 3]

There may be other promising signs. Previously eyeTV 4.0 was listed on the sales page as "unavailable". Today I noticed that it can now be added to the cart.

Of course it might all be a mistake. I'd like to think Geniatech has started investing some resources into continuing with the product.

I'd really like to think that.

[SWLinPHX 0]

2 hours ago, Sandy said:

There may be other promising signs. Previously eyeTV 4.0 was listed on the sales page as "unavailable". Today I noticed that it can now be added to the cart.

Of course it might all be a mistake. I'd like to think Geniatech has started investing some resources into continuing with the product.

I'd really like to think that.

I wouldn't hold your breath.  I was able to purchase the 4.0 upgrade which they claim to support (along with my EyeTV HD itself) yet I still got no support or even a response, except for the one above saying they couldn't help.  I even put in a request and got a refund for it and they still didn't reach out to me.  Since my post I have heard that part of the reason may be a DRM crackdown on devices that allow recordings (even OTA ones) to go to a computer or otherwise allow for a way for them to be re-edited and/or uploaded or sold online.  Not sure if that is the case here, although it doesn't look like Geniatech will be supporting or even responding to anyone using EyeTV products soon, especially in North America.

[~mj.* 0]

I did get an reply today too. Awaiting another response hopefully.

[ATSC-user 2]

In North America, I find that loss of XMLTV or whatever Internet-based EPG is not a big problem, because the ATSC standard used here always sends EPG program information over the air all the time.  One might need to periodically (maybe every 12-24 hours) ask EyeTV 4 (from the "Program Guide" window), especially to force a scan/update of the OTA program listings for channels one does not regularly watch.  Obviously, this means setting up a recording a week (or several days) in advance will not work, but for my purposes it is good enough.

FWIW, I am using EyeTV 4 (8531) with a Geniatech EyeTV Hybrid USB stick (ATSC, not DVB-T/T2) on MacOS, but I am NOT yet on Ventura.  I am a late-adopter and will wait before upgrading -- I do not need anything new in Ventura.

IANAL, but Geniatech might have legal problems with sales or providing support in the USA because Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) is actually enforced here.  Other countries might talk about DMCA-like restrictions, but they are not really enforced in most countries.  So only US residents really suffer due to those copying/editing restrictions.  Btw, DMCA is also what forced the switch from the older DVI interface to the HDMI interface -- DVI did not support enforcement of copyright restrictions while HDMI can.