| No cable = no DVR access? Thought I was going to outsmart the storm. Have a generator and recorded a bunch of shows in anticipation of the power outage. Power out at 5p, cable/internet still working at 11p when we turned in (out this morning as the battery backups gave out).
Have no access to DVR this morning (some message about it being disabled or unavailable)... which sucks of course.
Is this just DRM getting in the way? Is there some other reason that I can't watch shows I've recorded when the cable system is down? |
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aabaaf
join:2011-12-09
Lombard, IL | Have you checked, or can you check if cable is still up in your area? If not then the box can't "phone home", and say that you're paying for your DVR service. I have had a few instances where the DVR worked during an outage in my area, but that was usually when phone/internet was out, and TV was still working. Basically has to do with it being able to phone home, and verify you have the service. Technically you need to have the DVR service, to have a DVR box, but the system will still allow it to work as a cable box even if you don't have the DVR service anymore. |
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| no cable, no phone since last night. No DVR. One would think that the box might have to phone home within the last "X" days to make sure. How often does someone beat Comcast out of 2-3 days of DVR service when the cable it out compared to the box not working as it should during a cable outage where the box can't phone home? |
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 gar187erI do this for a living
join:2006-06-24
Dover, DE
kudos:4 | that made no sense.....the box has to be on active plant for the DVR to function..is it DRM, kind of, but its the nature of the DVR.
get a tivo if you want a stand alone.
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I'm better than you! |
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1 edit | In my area the dvr still works when the power goes out. It simply has to do with the way Comcast makes the DVR button command now go to the manage dvr settings page. You have to get the code to go straight the the DVR recordings and it should work. Also if your box has less than 20% space left then you can try to record anything and after it will bring up the message that says less than 20% remaining and then gives you a prompt to go to dvr recordings. You can get to it from there too. But like I said I was able to bypass the message and get the dvr working a second after the box powered on by getting a dvr remote code to go right to the dvr recordings. I'm in a Motorola area too.
edit: I found the info:
Try adding a macro button for my dvr and let us know what happens?
»en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use···e_Remote
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"The relationship between what we see and what we know is never settled..." |
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| Tried it... took all the codes but still says "dvr service unavailable" |
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gar187erI do this for a living
join:2006-06-24
Dover, DE
kudos:4 | reply to FifthE1ement
power going out isnt the issue....its having an active cable connection
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I'm better than you! |
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| said by gar187er:power going out isnt the issue....its having an active cable connection
In my area it has nothing to do with it. I was able to remove my cable wire, then unplug my box and still access my DVR after powering back up. It was say no DVR or similar but when I would press record on a channel it would bring up the 20% warning and allow me to view my recordings, from there I could start, delete, etc. Also I remember reading that Comcast changed the control command button for DVR settings and if you could get the code to go directly to "My Recordings" rather than what Comcast changed the button command too, which is "My DVR", you can get into the My Recordings similar to the 20% trick. Maybe it depends on the system and area?
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"The relationship between what we see and what we know is never settled..." |
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| reply to patryan9
Some time ago I had a situation where the cable and internet went out but still had electric power throughout. The problem was that down the street someone backed over a pedestal and knocked out an Alpha box and killed the signal for the neighborhood. Anyway, I found that during the cable outage I could view recorded programs. I understood what others have said here: no cable connection, no viewing of recorded stuff. My guess is that, yes, the DVR calls home, but only occasionally. It could be every 15 minutes, every hour, or so. I do not know.
Your situation is somewhat different in that you lost power and killed the DVR.
I hope it corrects itself. If not, call Comcast. A UPS might have solved the problem but the batteries might have run down or the inability to call home even though it was powered during the long cable outage might have killed the DVR's ability to play back your recordings.
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There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.
Sherlock Holmes in
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
A. C. Doyle
Strand Magazine, October 1891 |
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| reply to patryan9
This is where directv is better just need the dish and power. |
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gar187erI do this for a living
join:2006-06-24
Dover, DE
kudos:4 | yea that dish will work during a hurricane 
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I'm better than you! |
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| said by gar187er:yea that dish will work during a hurricane
Hide the HD duplicates and change the favorites list to view all channels.
Sure HD goes out in storms but SD stays put for much longer. And when SD goes out, the DVR works! Once the storm clears you have signal without waiting for maintenance crews to fix lines or hookup generators to power supplies. |
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1 edit | said by cypherstream:Hide the HD duplicates and change the favorites list to view all channels.
Sure HD goes out in storms but SD stays put for much longer. Except that does NOT work for the local nets, in all those MPEG4 (only) local markets, where ALL the local channels (ie: ABC, CBS, etc.) are ONLY broadcast in HD; 1/2 of IL's local markets on DTV are like this, including mine... ) |
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| you can add AM21 and get locals by OTA added to your guide. |
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 beachintechThere's sand in my tool bagPremium
join:2008-01-06
kudos:5 | reply to cypherstream
For the record I had HD, SD, Internet, and Phone through the entire Hurricane. Thanks Comcast. My neighbors with Dish were watching TV with us.
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Ex-Tech at the Beach.
I speak for myself, not my former employer. |
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| It all depends how hard your neighborhood was hit.
When our power went out, APC UPS kept my cable modem and wifi going for 2 hours. After that, I believe the battery in the Arris touchtone kept it up another 4, but not sure as I went to bed when the APC UPS died.
Next morning still no power. Went across the street and the Alpha power supply's LED on the side was dark. No longer green as usual. So if we had a generator we wouldn't have cable if the plant power is down. Now that's not cable's fault. It didn't just affect power and cable... AT&T wireless was down as well. Verizon Wireless signal was very low and not LTE anymore. Plus it was incredibly slow.
Power came on later that afternoon, and then a few hours later AT&T cellular phones came back to life. Verizon's signal improved and LTE came back. There's still thousands without power and my AT&T iPhone 5 does not get any internet access in certain area's. Some area's are no longer listed as 4G, but they are now "Edge" with delayed SMS, zero data. Cannot access visual voice mail unless I am at home.
So moral of the story is this was a big event and depending on where you live, it doesn't matter if you have Comcast, Service Electric, RCN, Verizon, AT&T, Blue Ridge Cable, etc.... if your out your out. |
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neufuse
join:2006-12-06
James Creek, PA | reply to patryan9
and that is why I have a tivo box with a lifetime contract....
our region still uses SA8300's they are starting to phase them out, but the new RNG boxes have the same guide... but if you don't have channel 800 (blank channel for DVR) you can't watch recorded shows... pull the cabel and the box won't let you watch... power goes out and cable doesn't come back the box wont even load the guide, just sit basically at the boot screen forever waiting for a signal...
at least tivo it doesn't need autorization or anything else to play recorded shows, the MAK key is stored right on the box for its encryption of the recorded shows |
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