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gene32
join:2004-05-03
Reynoldsburg, OH

gene32

Member

Anyone else having DVR stuttering problems?

When watching recorded, high definition shows on our DVR, every 5-10 seconds or so, the pictures stutters for 1 or 2 seconds. Anyone else have this problem? The stutter is REALLY minor but since it happens like clockwork (every 5-10 seconds), it's getting more and more annoying.

Dan, if I swap our DVR for another one, is there ANY way to save all the shows we have programmed to record or do we have to set everything up again? We had to swap out our DVR a month or so ago and my wife b*tched up a storm about needing to set up all of her recordings again.

Thanks

Big Jimmy
@wideopenwest.com

Big Jimmy

Anon

If you swapped out your DVR a month ago and that's when you started to see the problem, then it's the DVR. You could theoretically swap the hard drives between the two units, but that would mean not only cracking open the DVR, but also inheriting any problems the one before had.

If your signal is good when you're not watching recorded/timeshifted programming, then I'd say do a format of the hard drive, and if problems persist swing by the WOW office for a replacement. I'm sure you won't be happy about it, but your wife is going to need to set up all of her schedules again.. of course, you could hold off until the whole-home-DVR solution comes out, but that may be a long wait.
sgc7
join:2011-11-02
Naperville, IL

1 edit

sgc7 to gene32

Member

to gene32
There is no way to transfer the recording settings; only the recordings. If she writes down what she wants to record, it will be a breeze to setup the recordings again. You could just wait until Ultra comes out (it should probably be soon based on what everyone is saying).

Just_Dan
Premium Member
join:2011-03-24
Denver, CO

Just_Dan to gene32

Premium Member

to gene32
said by gene32:

When watching recorded, high definition shows on our DVR, every 5-10 seconds or so, the pictures stutters for 1 or 2 seconds. Anyone else have this problem? The stutter is REALLY minor but since it happens like clockwork (every 5-10 seconds), it's getting more and more annoying.

Dan, if I swap our DVR for another one, is there ANY way to save all the shows we have programmed to record or do we have to set everything up again? We had to swap out our DVR a month or so ago and my wife b*tched up a storm about needing to set up all of her recordings again.

Thanks

There is no way to save settings or recordings when you have to replace the DVR. Those units encrypt their data so only that unit can decrypt it, so even if you swapped the hard drive (which you are not allowed to do) it would get formatted in the process, and would be pointless. If you swapped the DVR, you would need to set everything back up again.

rjackal
Premium Member
join:2002-07-09
Plymouth, MI

rjackal to gene32

Premium Member

to gene32
I would try rebooting the DVR first. Pull the plug, wait 15 sec or so, plug it back in. Your settings and recordings will still be there.

As an aside, does holding the power button in while plugging it back do anything special? I read this on avsforum, I think.

dubbs
@bankone.com

dubbs to gene32

Anon

to gene32
The only problem Ive been having lately is that my dvr randomly turns itself off in the middle of watching tv and the whole thing reboots.
sgc7
join:2011-11-02
Naperville, IL

sgc7

Member

said by dubbs :

The only problem Ive been having lately is that my dvr randomly turns itself off in the middle of watching tv and the whole thing reboots.

I have that but only with VOD. When was your box manufactured?
gene32
join:2004-05-03
Reynoldsburg, OH

gene32 to Big Jimmy

Member

to Big Jimmy
said by Big Jimmy :

If you swapped out your DVR a month ago and that's when you started to see the problem, then it's the DVR. You could theoretically swap the hard drives between the two units, but that would mean not only cracking open the DVR, but also inheriting any problems the one before had.

If your signal is good when you're not watching recorded/timeshifted programming, then I'd say do a format of the hard drive, and if problems persist swing by the WOW office for a replacement. I'm sure you won't be happy about it, but your wife is going to need to set up all of her schedules again.. of course, you could hold off until the whole-home-DVR solution comes out, but that may be a long wait.

Well, we swapped out the first DVR for another problem but my wife tells me that the first one also had this stuttering issue. Where do you go to format the drive? (I'm at work now so I'm not in front of the DVR....is the format option easy to find?)
gene32

gene32 to rjackal

Member

to rjackal
said by rjackal:

I would try rebooting the DVR first. Pull the plug, wait 15 sec or so, plug it back in. Your settings and recordings will still be there.

As an aside, does holding the power button in while plugging it back do anything special? I read this on avsforum, I think.

Rebooting the DVR has no effect. What does holding down the power button while plugging in the power cord do? Guess I'll poke around on avsforum.
gene32

gene32 to sgc7

Member

to sgc7
said by sgc7:

There is no way to transfer the recording settings; only the recordings. If she writes down what she wants to record, it will be a breeze to setup the recordings again. You could just wait until Ultra comes out (it should probably be soon based on what everyone is saying).

Yeah, I'm thinking that this might be the best option....... waiting for their new DVR to hit.

rjackal
Premium Member
join:2002-07-09
Plymouth, MI

rjackal to gene32

Premium Member

to gene32
said by gene32:

Rebooting the DVR has no effect. What does holding down the power button while plugging in the power cord do? Guess I'll poke around on avsforum.

Here's the thread on AVS forum that I was referring to. It has lots of diagnostic / troubleshooting info on the SA8300 DVR.
Searching the page for "Hard Reboot" explains what holding the power button during plugin does.
»www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/ ··· t=471859
gene32
join:2004-05-03
Reynoldsburg, OH

gene32

Member

said by rjackal:

said by gene32:

Rebooting the DVR has no effect. What does holding down the power button while plugging in the power cord do? Guess I'll poke around on avsforum.

Here's the thread on AVS forum that I was referring to. It has lots of diagnostic / troubleshooting info on the SA8300 DVR.
Searching the page for "Hard Reboot" explains what holding the power button during plugin does.
»www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/ ··· t=471859

Thanks for the link, lots of good info in there!!
gene32

gene32

Member

To make matters even more bizarre, check this out. When my wife watches a show that was recorded on the HD ABC channel, we notice that weird stutter effect. Watching something recorded in HD on say, CW, no weird stutter effect. I watched a few minutes of something on ABC in HD live and no prob. I was also recording it and when watching it back from the DVR, weird stutters. Since this apparently only effects certain channels, any idea what the prob could be?

Man, those new WOW DVR's can't come soon enough.
sgc7
join:2011-11-02
Naperville, IL

sgc7 to gene32

Member

to gene32
said by »www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/ ··· t=471859 :

Hard Reboot.
Hard Reboot will refresh all available software and modules on system, as well as clear out memory cache. IPG and other data may take up to 30 minutes or more to fully download.

Turn off 8300 and wait 5 or more seconds.
Unplug power cord from 8300 and wait 5 or more seconds.
If you are resetting an external drive too, unplug it's power cord at this point and wait 5 or more seconds, then plug power cord back into external drive and wait 5 or more seconds.
Press and hold Power on 8300 front panel. While Power is depressed, plug 8300 power cord back in. Continue to hold Power until 8300 display says "boot" and/or begins to cycle a few times (usually about 15 seconds).

NOTE: Hard Reboot will resolve MANY issues with not only external drives, but memory issues too. You should WAIT until the reboot is completely finished before powering up. It usually takes about 5 - 10 min, depending on your application and IPG data. Best way to determine when the download is finished is to watch the front panel indicators. On the front panel, where the : (colon) seperates the hours and minutes, the bottom " . " dot will appear after all OS firmware has been loaded. An STB getting a download or initializing will be blank. Leave STB alone until dot appears.