andrew44

Ah - Jay got there first !

The crackling is probably the cause. A brief Internet search tells tales of humidity in junction boxes etc. I take it that the 'friture' - crackle, is on your 'ligne principale', and that you've checked or replaced your internal cables, plugs, sockets and filters. Can you check the box on a neighbour's line, who doesn't have friture ? Or maybe they have the same problem ? I can't remember the number to ask FT to check the line, but I'm sure someone will tell you. Tell them you have 'de la friture sur la ligne' (yes, it is the same word as for a fry-up). When we had a crackle on the line, and had it checked, FT immediately acknowledged a 'faute sur la ligne' and fixed it quite quickly. It worked wonders for us; I hope you're as lucky ! Andrew 44

Hard reboot ? Unplug/replug 4 times , http://www.free.fr/assistance/2342--3-videos-reboot-freebox-v4.html Andrew 44

'Trigger' (not Roy Rogers' horse), i.e. set off, started. But the others are right, of course. Andrew 44

Danny, Your quote from Free states that after migration to a Freebox 5 HD, the 'frais de résiliation' go back to 96€, not 'frais d'activation'. So if you wish to cancel your abonnement, it'll cost you the full rate, not the reduced one that Richy has earned for 3 year's loyalty. @+ Andrew 44

Polly, just check the French for 'byte' as in Gigabyte (Gb), and all will be revealed - ah, it starts with an 'o'. Also works for Kilobyte, Megabyte and Terabyte. It also explains the '8' reference (8 bits in a byte). HTH Andrew 44

Or upgrade your old Freebox (v.4 ?) to a Freebox HD v.5 with 4 Ethernet ports, built in WiFi, a Freebox HD TV box and 2 freeplugs. This may be free, depending on how long you've had your current abonnement. Check on your 'interface de gestion Freebox' on the Mon compte page on http://portail.free.fr/ Hope this helps, @+ Andrew (44)

It's simply because 'aucune de mes résidences (principale, secondaire) n'est équipée d'un poste récepteur de télévision ni d'un dispositif'assimilé'. 'Ne.......... aucun' is also associated. HTH Andrew 44

Sorry, Quillan, you got in first ! Great minds..... ! Andrew 44

I suspect this is a Sagem Fast 800 (or similar) driver compatibility problem. It connects via USB and requires software to work, unlike Ethernet.  See here :   http://seekbroadband.com/hardware/USB-Modems/Sagem-Fast-800-840-USB-ADSL-Modem It's compatible up to Win XP - I had one for my Free connection - and evidently it worked for Vista - but, like a lot of other stuff, the driver is no good for Win 7. I found this where someone has the same problem :    http://windows7forums.com/windows-7-software/28339-sagem-fast-800-840-windows-7-a.html I hope that this may help someone to put you on the right track. I'm a Freebox man, myself. Sorry if the links aren't 'live'. @+ Andrew 44

Thank you, Clair !

Bonsoir, France 3 Monday at 0h10  i.e.10 minutes after midnight... Programme about folk in Morbihan (56). You know who you are ! @+ Andrew 44

Hello WB, Have heard of Gimp - recommended by Micro Hebdo Mag. Try http://paint.net/ It's supposed to be as good as Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro - but free ! HTH Andrew

Please keep us informed, as I'm tempted to switch to Ubuntu Linux myself some time... You may also be interested in a small program called Netdrive   http://www.netdrive.net/    with which you can 'see' your Freebox HD and/or external HD connected to it, just as you can your local disc(s) in Explorer. Copying files is much simplified, though a bit slow ! Set up instructions can be found here    http://wiki.freeplayer.org/index.php?title=Acc%C3%A9der_directement_au_disque_dur_Freebox_HD_sous_Windows HTH again, Andrew

Hello Norman, On general recommendations, I installed Homeplayer instead of Freeplayer on XP, and I'm pretty sure there's an option for Linux in the 'download' section. http://homeplayer.free.fr/new/index.php?page=6 Homeplayer v. 1.5.8a (version zippée)   Cette version est destiné au autre OS que Windows: Linux/MAC OS10. Also found numerous Google hits for 'Homeplayer Ubuntu'. My nightmare getting Freeplayer or Homeplayer to work, magically disappeared when I disabled my Looknstop firewall ! Good luck ! HTH Andrew