hdtvguy
So Much For Subtlety
Premium
join:2003-11-12
St Catharines, ON
|  [Niagara] 6416 DVR blackouts
I am seeing an ugly pattern arise here. A few months ago with the season premiere of Heroes, 20 minutes in and the picture froze at that point. Picture quality was very good that night. Then a few weeks ago with a repeat episode of House, 15 minutes in and frozen again on my DCT6412 PHASE 3 DVR. Then later that night the same thing with Boston Legal.
Well last night it did it again with Prison Break 22min. in and the picture freezes. We went downstairs and picked up the the last part of it on a timeshifted analogue channel. The odd thing was that going back upstairs I saw that the DVR was still playing my recorded Prison Break, it was at the :57 min. mark, but nothing but black picture.
So I thought may be something is wrong with my DVR but then I remembered that my buddy was telling me about his expereience a few nights ago of recording Terminator Chronicles - the same thing, picture freezes 15-20 min. in and plays back nothing but black screen for the rest of the show.
Anybody have any ideas of what is going on here? |
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theninjasqua
join:2007-09-26
Oakville, ON
| Im having the same issue with some shows. However I've noticed that if I restart the DVR playback and fastforward through it back to the point where I was watching, it will usually start again. This isn't the case all the time though, sometimes it just won't work, or it says that the recording is only 15-20 minutes long. I have a tech coming on the weekend to hopefully fix what is happening, well more to do with my pixelation issues. I'll let you know how it goes.
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-theninjasquad |
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DrDog
VIP
join:2006-07-28
Fort Erie, ON | Other than swapping the box, there is not much a tech can do with a bad dvr recording, So if you do have anything you want to watch, better get it done now |
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Bucknet
join:2002-10-18
Hamilton, ON | reply to hdtvguy
This really sounds like a heat issue with the DVR, I would wonder if the cooling fan is doing its job or working at all. Is the DVR enclosed in a cabinet where the air movement is less than best for it. |
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brorjace
join:2007-12-09
Hamilton, ON
| reply to hdtvguy
don't forget too that some programming is encrpyted against recording. I know it happened to me 19 mins into the new Terminator Chronicles show at 19 mins, so I'm almost sure it's an encryption thing.
Sadly though, there's no way to be sure because its not like we can call up snap shots of what the network was doing at the particular time of the freeze up  |
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DrDog
VIP
join:2006-07-28
Fort Erie, ON | I have dvr'd every ep of the sarah connor chron, I have had no issues with any of the recordings, I don't watch network tv, so i always tape it so I can ffwd thru commercials |
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hdtvguy
So Much For Subtlety
Premium
join:2003-11-12
St Catharines, ON
| reply to brorjace
said by brorjace  :don't forget too that some programming is encrpyted against recording. This should never be because:
•1 As of summer 2006 the Federal Supreme Court struck down the ability of the FCC to mandate manufacturers to incorporate "broadcast flag" circuitry into their hardware
YEAHH FOR US!!
•2 Motorola was the only STB hardware manufacturer to incorporate broadcast flag technology
BOOOO FOR US!!
•3 Broadcast channels in the States should me marked "copy freely" CC1=(0x00), marking them "copy once" CC2=(0x02) is against FCC regulations.
YEAHH FOR US!!
So the problem to me is local DTV stations (that Cogeco uses) haven't bothered to stop using the broadcast flag. It is in the ATSC bitstream which Cogeco receives and at the headend remodulates it to QAM and sends it out to our Moto boxes which when seeing the RC_descriptor in the bitstream, now apparently does one of two things or both, stops the ability of the programmed to be viewed and prevents the box from redistributing the content, and the only way it has to do this is via 1394, i.e. FireWire.
If the RC_descriptor is now playing games with the ability to "copy freely" or "copy once" to the hard drive, these Moto boxes are soon going to become very NON-DVR, everyday STB's.
I now highly regret my decision to purchase the box outright versus renting it! |
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brorjace
join:2007-12-09
Hamilton, ON | reply to DrDog
HAHA good call dude  I HATE commercials :P But I'll bet it was a space problem on my DVR, I'm almost full so that might be where my problem lies) |
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hdtvguy
So Much For Subtlety
Premium
join:2003-11-12
St Catharines, ON | reply to hdtvguy
Well it happened again last night, 43 minutes into "Moment of Truth" and then 17 min. of dead air was recorded. |
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brorjace
join:2007-12-09
Hamilton, ON | reply to hdtvguy
is your hard drive full? or nearing being full? |
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hdtvguy
So Much For Subtlety
Premium
join:2003-11-12
St Catharines, ON
| said by brorjace :is your hard drive full? or nearing being full? It was at 47% last night before it started the recording, it has varied from low to high when the other recordings dropped. I'd have to ask my buddy what his was at when he lost Terminator Chronicles. |
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theninjasqua
join:2007-09-26
Oakville, ON | Mine is usually around 40% or so all the time, and I am having this same issue with the dropped recordings.
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-theninjasquad |
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hdtvguy
So Much For Subtlety
Premium
join:2003-11-12
St Catharines, ON
| said by theninjasqua :Mine is usually around 40% or so all the time, and I am having this same issue with the dropped recordings. Do you mind me asking is it a rental or purchased box? |
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DrDog
VIP
join:2006-07-28
Fort Erie, ON
| I know I was not asked but I am curious of the outcomes here, I rent my box, I have the 16 and I am normally anywhere from 40 to 70 percent full.
I dont recall ever having a program freeze on me, but I did notice something strange the other night. I was taping one show while watching another. I started to see some picture impairments that looked like a streaming video. I killed the other recording and the picture cleared up.
So that brings me to my point in all this, anyone taping at the same time as watching another program, when this occured |
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theninjasqua
join:2007-09-26
Oakville, ON
| reply to hdtvguy
said by hdtvguy :said by theninjasqua :Mine is usually around 40% or so all the time, and I am having this same issue with the dropped recordings. Do you mind me asking is it a rental or purchased box? Its a rental box. I didn't want to fork out $600 on a box, I figured these things would be pretty temperamental.
Dr. Dog, to answer your question. I have noticed it during those instances, where I am watching something on the DVR while something else is recording. But I have also had issues with pretty much any other scenario, be it watching something a DVR recording while not recording anything, watching live TV while recording something else, or while not recording something else (this one is rare), and especially while using the live TV playback after pausing and restarting and fast forwarding.
The thing is though, it is not always pixelation, it is also recordings stopping half way through (sometimes able to restart to watch the rest, other times no), and chopped audio.
I didn't have problems for about 3 months when I got the DVR, it worked great, but a few weeks ago it is progressively getting worse it feels like. To the point where I am hesitant to record something or pause TV in case it messes up and I lose the recording.
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-theninjasquad |
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hdtvguy
So Much For Subtlety
Premium
join:2003-11-12
St Catharines, ON
edit:
January 24th, @09:18PM
| reply to DrDog
said by DrDog :So that brings me to my point in all this, anyone taping at the same time as watching another program, when this occured Our usual routine is to tape all our programs, then go up later and watch them so as to skip all the commercials. Many times the "16" is actually taping two programs at a a time. I love the versatility of this box because even as both tuners are taping you can actually watch the stuff you've already DVR'd.
The problem the signal gets dropped while were not watching. By the time we get to watching the program that has lost signal, it's too late to try to grab the time shifted version.
This issue AFAIK occurs on the HD channels as I don't bother recording anything on the SD channels. I wish Cogeco had timeshifted HD locals like Bell has.
DrDog the terminator chronicles you mentioned recording with no problem, was it SD or HD?
Lately I have paid attention to which tuner drops the signal because I remember Marcer mentioned that when both tuners are used the 2nd one gets a slightly weaker signal, but the last few times this has happened I've been only recording using one tuner.
I guess till I find out whats going on here, for HD programs I really want to watch I'll have to start recording the SD version on the timeshifted channels.
It would be nice if Cogeco like Shaw would let their customers choose between a Moto box or a Tivo dual tuner 850 hour recorder! Especially at under $400!! |
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brorjace
join:2007-12-09
Hamilton, ON
| reply to hdtvguy
We're having a problem with the Guide and Series Recordings, I'm wondering if it's a problem in general with the Guide and 6412s and 6416s?
DrDog, any ideas on that? I'll have to check when I get to work, either that or I'll email someone and see if they have any ideas on it. |
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DrDog
VIP
join:2006-07-28
Fort Erie, ON
| HDTV
I only really watch HD, I sit her at my pc for most of the night, i watch tv only when there is something good now, so teh terminator would be in HD
I don't know if any of the known issues are related, but I will keep my ears open for the same complaints. I have a lot of shifts over the next few weeks so I should get a good number of dvr issue related service calls in that time |
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DrDog
VIP
join:2006-07-28
Fort Erie, ON | reply to hdtvguy
there are new boxes coming soon, the rumour is Fall 08, bear in mind that is a rumour |
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theninjasqua
join:2007-09-26
Oakville, ON
| reply to hdtvguy
The thing is, I'm not even recording HD broadcasts, they are all SD. How do you tell which turner you are using?
And yes it would be nice to have more choice when it comes to these things, this Motorola one isn't the greatest.
Series Recordings are an issue with me as well, half the time they don't even work it feels like.
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-theninjasquad |
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