Everything you need, organized the way you actually think.
This is where your box lands when it starts up. A big picture fills the screen showing something recommended, and underneath are rows of posters you can scroll through.
Everything on the box is reached from the menu strip down the LEFT edge of the screen. At first it is just a narrow column of small icons.
Whichever item you are on is shown in white with a small red line under its icon, so you can always tell where you are.
Use this when you know exactly what you want to watch.
An on-screen keyboard appears on the left. Spell out the movie, show or actor you are after, then choose the result you want. It searches films, series AND people, so you can look up an actor and see everything they are in.
If you have nothing particular in mind, the same screen has shortcut lists under the keyboard:
The quickest way to find something when you have nothing specific in mind. This is the "what is everyone watching?" section.
Rows of what is trending and recently added, laid out as posters. Move Left and Right along a row, Up and Down to change rows.
This is live television, laid out like a traditional TV guide.
Channel names and logos run down the left, time runs across the top. A red vertical line marks the current time, so anything it crosses is on right now. The programme you have highlighted is described in full at the bottom of the screen - times, episode and a summary.
Your box can hold more than one set of channels - your normal ones, plus any countries added through Chainlab World TV. You choose which set the guide shows.
Choose All channels to get back to your normal line-up. Nothing is deleted by switching - you are only changing what is displayed.
Chainlab World TV lives in this part of the menu. Hover Guide and Press Right to reach it. It has its own page in this guide.
Everything film-related lives here.
Hover Movies and Press Right to open its submenu:
Highlight a film and you get two buttons:
TV series, organised by show, season and episode.
Hover Shows and Press Right to open its submenu:
Choose a show, then a season, then an episode. Highlighting an episode shows its description and air date before you commit.
Live sport, grouped by league.
Choose a league to see what is on. Live events are listed with their start times.
The box's built-in fix-it tool. If something is wrong, try this first - it can usually sort the problem out on its own.
International live channels, organised by country. This is the one to use if you want television from home.
There are two halves to this: adding a country once, then switching between that country and your normal channels whenever you like.
From the menu that appears:
This is the part people get stuck on. Adding a country does NOT replace your normal channels. Both sets are there, and you swap between them using Groups inside the TV guide.
To get your normal channels back, do exactly the same thing - Guide, Press Left or Press Back, Group:, and this time choose All channels.
The setup and fix-it menu. Most people only come here when something needs attention.
IMPORTANT: below the main list there is a second, smaller "Settings", plus "Reboot" and "Power off system". Those will restart or switch off your box. Stay in the main list.
The box needs internet to do anything. If it is plugged into your router with a network cable, this is already sorted and you can skip this page.
The settings screen opens on a page called System. That is normal - it is not the page you want.
Once connected, that network shows "State: online". The box remembers it, so this is a one-time job.
Your box updates itself over the internet. There are no cables and nothing to plug into a computer.
When a new version is ready, an Update Available message appears on screen showing the new version number and its size.
Choose UPDATE NOW and the box takes over: a full-screen install screen shows a progress ring and four stages - Download, Verify, Apply, Restart. It restarts on its own when it's finished, usually in about a minute.
Choose Later and it will remind you again tomorrow. Nothing is lost either way.
Sound occasionally drops out completely on these boxes. Go to Settings and choose "No audio?" - it fixes it on the spot, no restart needed.
Settings > PVR/EPG Quick Setup rebuilds the channel list and guide. If you use World TV, also run Reload TV guide inside Chainlab World TV. Remember the guide only shows one group at a time - check Group: inside the Guide's OPTIONS panel.
Back out and play it again. The box looks for the best available source each time and will usually pick a different one. If several things won't play, run a Health Check.
Try another source for the same event - big events usually have several. If everything buffers, it's almost always WiFi signal: check Settings > Wifi Settings, or use a network cable.
Settings > Chainlab Helper > Health Check. It checks audio, video, performance, network, storage and the apps, and fixes what it safely can on its own.
Settings > Chainlab Helper > Send Diagnostic. That turns "it's broken" into something specific someone can actually act on.