There's no "minimum HDD size" AFAIK. I've not had any trouble with PC-formatted HDD, such as you describe, have you tried using the Setup menu's Check Internal HDD option?

You should be able to get the TViX to perform a format by attaching to a PC and deleting all existing partitions from the drive.

Also, on the timezone problems, have you tried selecting Internet as the source, setting the TZ to CST, turning off the DST flag, and then just leaving it for a bit? I think that you may find that the time setting is then correct after a while.

The setup option of "chkdsk" has never failed.

I will try deleting the drive using my PC.

The TZ flag performs as expected and documented. Right now it does nothing. I have left it "ON" and "OFF" for hours and seen no change. If I use "manual", offset the time, it sets back to one hour faster than EST as soon as I re-enable internet time (or when the clock updates). Always one hour fast, to the second. Not really a problem. I'll check back in March.

Yesterday I watched the unit turn on one hour before recording and do a scrolling countdown until the last minute when it did the coundown by the second. It doesn't do that today. It also did not turn off from a scheduled recording I had set for 3am today. These are just observations and I can't seem to duplicate these issues today. I also have not removed power in two days.

I have never seen any recordings listed under the recordings tab next to the scheduling tab. I was able record yesterday, and play back those recordings. The PQ seems fine. I have a fixed 1080p output. I hope I am not being a pest. Having learned the channel quirks, I went on to the recording & playback education. Thanks for your help.

How are you able to get recordings when the TViX thinks that your HDD is full??

How are you able to get recordings when the TViX thinks that your HDD is full??

Progress. I put the 160gb drive back. It failed a chkdsk. I connected my computer and created a primary partition. I then formatted it. I now have no "no space" error.

Seems the 500Gb drive has one of those reserved primary partition, like my laptop, used to hold OS backups and other junk. It was only about 200MB. I will try to get rid of it and see if that makes a happy drive. I have done a full format of the big drive and it never killed that partition. Now I need to to find a tool if WIN7 can't do it. Telling me there was no lower limit helped me find the problem. Things are getting better. I was able to record until the small partition filled up.

It will be nice when more HDD mounts are for sale. And when the "countdown to record" goes away.

Joe-as I recall, my 4100 had the 1 hour off problem back around 07 when I bought it.
Its sad they have not fixed it yet....

Enjoy your new toy.

Make sure you format to NTFS or Ext2 or Ext3.

Also as I recall it can handle multiple partitions and the remote allows you to select the partition you want to use as shown in the users guide.

Joe-as I recall, my 4100 had the 1 hour off problem back around 07 when I bought it.
Its sad they have not fixed it yet....

Enjoy your new toy.

Make sure you format to NTFS or Ext2 or Ext3.

Also as I recall it can handle multiple partitions and the remote allows you to select the partition you want to use as shown in the users guide.

Thanks, I saw the post on the time zone issue too. I was able to delete the FAT partition with XP's diskpart and make a new total NTFS partition. Scary though. Still testing. No dimming for the clock or other front panel stuff either.

How are you able to get recordings when the TViX thinks that your HDD is full??

For the notes: When the unit fails to shut off after a recording is supposed to be done, your disk might be full.

I saw the post on the time zone issue too. I was able to delete the FAT partition with XP's diskpart and make a new total NTFS partition. Scary though. Still testing.Are you sure that you have both the correct timezone and correct setting ("off") of the DST flag on the HDTV Setup menu? I'm not seeing incorrect times here when I do that with either of the two auto time sources available: via TV (I select my PBS station, since it's got the best clock) or via Internet. (I'm now retesting the Internet option after having used the TV one for many months)

Regarding HDD partitioning and formatting, I see little purpose in divvying up a video-recording HDD into muliple partitions. That's why I recommended deleting all existing partitions before letting the TViX format the drive.

Are you sure that you have both the correct timezone and correct setting ("off") of the DST flag on the HDTV Setup menu? I'm not seeing incorrect times here when I do that with either of the two auto time sources available: via TV (I select my PBS station, since it's got the best clock) or via Internet. (I'm now retesting the Internet option after having used the TV one for many months)

Regarding HDD partitioning and formatting, I see little purpose in divvying up a video-recording HDD into muliple partitions. That's why I recommended deleting all existing partitions before letting the TViX format the drive.

I guess I misunderstood the meaning of "in the area of DST". I didn't think it was a manual setting. I thought it was for users in AZ or HI. So the internet clock setting doesn't know the dates of the time change since it's UTC, and OTA channels use local time in their PSIP data. I though the STT was in UTC? Interesting. So I need to change this option twice a year, and then I need to power the unit off then on for it to have it an accurate clock.

Correct. I've asked for them to re-instate an "auto" DST option, but it hasn't happened yet (and I wouldn't hold my breath).

FYI, the original TViX PVR firmware assumed that the DST flag in the PSIP could be trusted so that a manual setting would not be needed. We quickly found out that wasn't true (at least back in those days) and it led to lots of problems, so the manual flag was installed. Unfortunately, it's been hard to get Minevox to reinstall the auto setting as an option. Go figure.

Correct. I've asked for them to re-instate an "auto" DST option, but it hasn't happened yet (and I wouldn't hold my breath).

FYI, the original TViX PVR firmware assumed that the DST flag in the PSIP could be trusted so that a manual setting would not be needed. We quickly found out that wasn't true (at least back in those days) and it led to lots of problems, so the manual flag was installed. Unfortunately, it's been hard to get Minevox to reinstall the auto setting as an option. Go figure.

Ok. I guess I should count my blessings. Having exact clock time is very nice. Now if I could only disable the countdown. After all, it is an unattended recording. Who's supposed to be watching? [joke] But 23 watt-hours per scheduled recording isn't free either.

Sorry about the HDD issue. Happens when you buy a used drive on eBay and keep missing that FAT32 partition just sitting there.

Put channel sorting on my wish list too, right after display of subchannel.

If your cable channels had PSIP data they'd be sorted. Maybe you can get the cableco to do its job better?

If your cable channels had PSIP data they'd be sorted. Maybe you can get the cableco to do its job better?

I'm sure they would help me out. With 10 DVRs and two TVs, only the TViX likes to keep them in random order. The CM7400 had them in sequentional order, but the numbers were wrong so I sent it back. Something else to live with I guess. Maybe I should rent a cable card. But where would I plug it in?

Maybe I will write TNT or USA and ask them to add PSIP data. Perhaps C-SPAN will since they are associated with the government.

.... Maybe I should rent a cable card. But where would I plug it in?

Ummm.. The "T" machine? :D

Ummm.. The "T" machine? :D

Already have it. Just doing some end of the world testing. But what really bothers me is HOW you can cause the random sequence. I can't figure that out, which really bothers me. I can understand switching scrambled with clear QAM by a coding error. But the box must be doing a sequentional scan. It's as if the "tool" used doesn't initialize the data segment. I'm so glad the Favorites functions good except with the guide button, which I never need.

My box has developed a new problem.

Whenever I activate the tuners (or the system activates the tuners according to the recording schedule) the unit shuts off after 1-2min. The tuners work since I'm watching OTA tv when the unit shuts down. I have turned up the fan speed from normal to high2 to see if that would help if heat was the problem but to no avail.

Any ideas anyone?

If I can't fix this problem does anyone have any experience with getting warranty work?

thx

My box has developed a new problem.

Whenever I activate the tuners (or the system activates the tuners according to the recording schedule) the unit shuts off after 1-2min. The tuners work since I'm watching OTA tv when the unit shuts down. I have turned up the fan speed from normal to high2 to see if that would help if heat was the problem but to no avail.


Sounds a bit like the ION crasher! Do you have an ION affiliate in your channel list? If so, try deleting it and any subchannels (Qubo, IONLIfe) and see if that fixes it.

Sounds a bit like the ION crasher! Do you have an ION affiliate in your channel list? If so, try deleting it and any subchannels (Qubo, IONLIfe) and see if that fixes it.

How do I delete a channel? Remember, I only have a few seconds if I go into HDTV mode before the unit shuts down.

Sounds a bit like the ION crasher! Do you have an ION affiliate in your channel list? If so, try deleting it and any subchannels (Qubo, IONLIfe) and see if that fixes it.

I receive WQPX in 720p and SD 480i and analog without any error.

How do I delete a channel? Remember, I only have a few seconds if I go into HDTV mode before the unit shuts down.

Remove the antenna line first?

cah95046 - if 95046 is your zip code then you are in San Martin, California and your local ION affiliate is KKPX (65.1, 65.2 (Qubo), 65.3 (ION Life)). Updating your profile with your approximate location would be helpful!

Some ION stations have started broadcasting additional subchannels - these are MPEG4 and encrypted. They are part of a subscription service called AirBox. Right now not all ION affiliates are broadcasting them and/or not all the time. If these additional subs are there the M6620 will crash.

Minevox (TViX) are aware of the problem and are hopefully working late into the Korean night to fix the problem. (Wishful thinking on my part).

Unplug the antenna as suggested, or you can try and skip the channel during a channel scan.

How do I delete a channel? Remember, I only have a few seconds if I go into HDTV mode before the unit shuts down.

I had to work fast but I was able to delete the ION channels before the system shut down. Seems to have fixed the problem.

Tvix really needs to fix this kind of problem. Bush league firmware.

cah95046
Some ION stations have started broadcasting additional subchannels - these are MPEG4 and encrypted. They are part of a subscription service called AirBox. Right now not all ION affiliates are broadcasting them and/or not all the time. If these additional subs are there the M6620 will

I have the older 3310 and a few years ago I discovered that ION channels caused the device to shutdown. I called the local ION office and had their engineer log onto this forum. He ended up providing a full TS snippet so Divco could fix the problem. They never did, and I was disappointed to see it wasn't fixed in the 6620 as well.

The other issue identified was that if you had the same programming on 2 different channels then the 3310 got confused and the EPG was blank for those 2 channels. I wonder if that's been fixed on the 6620?.

I had to work fast but I was able to delete the ION channels before the system shut down. Seems to have fixed the problem.

Tvix really needs to fix this kind of problem. Bush league firmware.

Specs:
support for codec:
MPEG-4 2 (ASP@L5, 720p 1-point GMC)

I have no idea what it means, but I have a lot of stuff that doesn't support MPEG-4.

cah95046 - if 95046 is your zip code then you are in San Martin, California and your local ION affiliate is KKPX (65.1, 65.2 (Qubo), 65.3 (ION Life)). Updating your profile with your approximate location would be helpful!

Some ION stations have started broadcasting additional subchannels - these are MPEG4 and encrypted. They are part of a subscription service called AirBox. Right now not all ION affiliates are broadcasting them and/or not all the time. If these additional subs are there the M6620 will crash.

Minevox (TViX) are aware of the problem and are hopefully working late into the Korean night to fix the problem. (Wishful thinking on my part).

Unplug the antenna as suggested, or you can try and skip the channel during a channel scan.

Thx for the suggestions. I used to live in San Martin but now in Utah

I have the older 3310 and a few years ago I discovered that ION channels caused the device to shutdown. I called the local ION office and had their engineer log onto this forum. He ended up providing a full TS snippet so Divco could fix the problem. They never did, and I was disappointed to see it wasn't fixed in the 6620 as well.

The other issue identified was that if you had the same programming on 2 different channels then the 3310 got confused and the EPG was blank for those 2 channels. I wonder if that's been fixed on the 6620?.

The original ION problem was fixed in the M6620N, but not in the R3310. Hopefully, the new problem will be fixed in the firmware soon.

I have skimmed through these 1,200+ posts and I am still uncertain if the M6620NP will fill all of my multi-media needs. I think it does, but I would like a TViX owner to confirm that the M6620NP has the attributes below.

1. Has an elegant, intuitive and easy to use graphical interface for my family to play the files indicated below. I would like the interface to display album/DVD art and allow for easy sorting by name, artist, genre, etc.
-Play DVD *. VOB files from my local Network Attached Storage (NAS) (HP MediaSmart Server)
-Play BD *.m2ts files from my local NAS
-Play *.MP3 files from my local NAS
-Display *.jpg files from my local NAS. Perhaps a slideshow with music?

2. Allows me to easily watch movies and shows from Netflick, Hulu, and Amazon.

3. Allows me to watch, record, and playback OTA HD programming. I understand that a program schedule interface is not available for this no-fee device.

Sorry for not framing my question using the appropriate container/format/codec names….I just can’t figure that stuff out. I know what a file extension is though!

I currently use a WD TV Live device for viewing movies and pictures and listening to music from my NAS. While it performs these tasks, the interface clunky and my family refuses to use it (I could work around these limitations if the WD TV Live used discrete IR codes for my Logitech Harmony Remote to access). I use a roku device for playing cloud-based content, but it often locks up . I would love to replace these devices.

I am also considering a Dune player to watch my NAS and cloud-based media, with either a TViX or Tivo device as an OTH tuner. I understand that Dune requires third-party software for elegant interfaces. I do not use cable or satellite.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and respond.

I have skimmed through these 1,200+ posts and I am still uncertain if the M6620NP will fill all of my multi-media needs. I think it does, but I would like a TViX owner to confirm that the M6620NP has the attributes below.

1. Has an elegant, intuitive and easy to use graphical interface for my family to play the files indicated below. I would like the interface to display album/DVD art and allow for easy sorting by name, artist, genre, etc.
-Play DVD *. VOB files from my local Network Attached Storage (NAS) (HP MediaSmart Server)
-Play BD *.m2ts files from my local NAS
-Play *.MP3 files from my local NAS
-Display *.jpg files from my local NAS. Perhaps a slideshow with music?

Yes to practically everything, except I'm not sure how the slideshow works. Music player is very basic, and the file sorting utility is still undeveloped. For a covert art interface, you have to use a third party program like TViXiE (www.tvixie.com)

2. Allows me to easily watch movies and shows from Netflick, Hulu, and Amazon.

No on the streaming services. I suspect any media player with SMB/NFS will have a hard time in the future complying to the license agreement of those content provider.

3. Allows me to watch, record, and playback OTA HD programming. I understand that a program schedule interface is not available for this no-fee device.

There is a minimal interface that lets you schedule by time, and it's faily simple to use. What it won't do is have guide info other than what the station broadcasts (none on cable), so all your recording information is sorted by time.

I currently use a WD TV Live device for viewing movies and pictures and listening to music from my NAS. While it performs these tasks, the interface clunky and my family refuses to use it (I could work around these limitations if the WD TV Live used discrete IR codes for my Logitech Harmony Remote to access). I use a roku device for playing cloud-based content, but it often locks up . I would love to replace these devices.

You'll have to define clunky. Most of these boxes are similar in the way it accesses your shares, skip between storage devices, etc. I'm sure your Harmony can learn the remote codes, there is not discreet on/off codes available.

I am also considering a Dune player to watch my NAS and cloud-based media, with either a TViX or Tivo device as an OTH tuner. I understand that Dune requires third-party software for elegant interfaces. I do not use cable or satellite.

With the exception of boxes like Boxee and the Tizzbird, I'm not aware of any device that can retrieve movie/music data on it's own. Most boxes require a third party app running on a PC to populate the art/synopsis.

I have skimmed through these 1,200+ posts and I am still uncertain if the M6620NP will fill all of my multi-media needs. I think it does, but I would like a TViX owner to confirm that the M6620NP has the attributes below.

1. Has an elegant, intuitive and easy to use graphical interface for my family to play the files indicated below. I would like the interface to display album/DVD art and allow for easy sorting by name, artist, genre, etc.
-Play DVD *. VOB files from my local Network Attached Storage (NAS) (HP MediaSmart Server)
-Play BD *.m2ts files from my local NAS
-Play *.MP3 files from my local NAS
-Display *.jpg files from my local NAS. Perhaps a slideshow with music?

2. Allows me to easily watch movies and shows from Netflick, Hulu, and Amazon.

3. Allows me to watch, record, and playback OTA HD programming. I understand that a program schedule interface is not available for this no-fee device.

Sorry for not framing my question using the appropriate container/format/codec names….I just can’t figure that stuff out. I know what a file extension is though!

I currently use a WD TV Live device for viewing movies and pictures and listening to music from my NAS. While it performs these tasks, the interface clunky and my family refuses to use it (I could work around these limitations if the WD TV Live used discrete IR codes for my Logitech Harmony Remote to access). I use a roku device for playing cloud-based content, but it often locks up . I would love to replace these devices.

I am also considering a Dune player to watch my NAS and cloud-based media, with either a TViX or Tivo device as an OTH tuner. I understand that Dune requires third-party software for elegant interfaces. I do not use cable or satellite.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and respond.

I love TVIX - for what it is. That being said-
The interface is intuitive. More utilitarian than elegant.
It will play everything.
SOL on Hulu, Netflix, etc.
Will record OTA programming. No season passes, and limited functionality as compared to a Directv DVR.

Had a WDTV Live myself. Regifted it to somebody else. Junk. Absolute junk. TVIX much better.

After having said all that, I am currently building an HTPC. My wife saw XBMC in action and absolutely swooned. TVIX may be relegated to guest rooms.

The slide show for photos works well. I haven't tired background music.

+1 on the XBMC. I don't have time right now, but that's in the future for me. It appears the only way to get what we all want - DVR, networked media playback AND internet channels.

Too bad DViCO can't get this figured out. Otherwise, the TVIX is a good device.

The slide show for photos works well. I haven't tired background music.

+1 on the XBMC. I don't have time right now, but that's in the future for me. It appears the only way to get what we all want - DVR, networked media playback AND internet channels.

Too bad DViCO can't get this figured out. Otherwise, the TVIX is a good device.

All these functions are limited by the underlying architectures. The chips are certainly changing quickly, unfortunately TV tuner integration may get lost in the next generations if there isn't enough market interest. I'm working to convince another manufacturer to bring a tuner product to market using Android, but there has to be a solution to the guide data acquisition that doesn't put near impossible barriers to small companies...but maybe that's intentional.

+1 on the XBMC. I don't have time right now, but that's in the future for me. It appears the only way to get what we all want - DVR, networked media playback AND internet channels.


You left out archiveing - being able to copy recordings over to my laptop. This has always been a Tvix strongpoint.

recording test:
Schedule created yesterday:
#1 7am to 7:30am M-F ch 71.4
#2 7:30am to 8am M-F ch 71.6
#3 7:30am to 8am M-F ch 28.8

REC List:
C28 30min created 08:00
C71 31min created 07:30

Folder contents:
C71 contains one file, content starting at 7:00am, create time 07:30am
C28 contains one file, content starting at 7:30am, create time 08:00am

Observation:
File titles are given the file name of the end of the recording, not the start.
#2 on schedule never recorded and no indication of why not. I was watching the front panel.
Channels were picked because they display the time continuously.

Any help?

Worked fine on 1-19. All I did was enable the time shift buffer.

Yes to practically everything, except I'm not sure how the slideshow works. Music player is very basic, and the file sorting utility is still undeveloped. For a covert art interface, you have to use a third party program like TViXiE (www.tvixie.com)

No on the streaming services. I suspect any media player with SMB/NFS will have a hard time in the future complying to the license agreement of those content provider.

There is a minimal interface that lets you schedule by time, and it's faily simple to use. What it won't do is have guide info other than what the station broadcasts (none on cable), so all your recording information is sorted by time.

You'll have to define clunky. Most of these boxes are similar in the way it accesses your shares, skip between storage devices, etc. I'm sure your Harmony can learn the remote codes, there is not discreet on/off codes available.

With the exception of boxes like Boxee and the Tizzbird, I'm not aware of any device that can retrieve movie/music data on it's own. Most boxes require a third party app running on a PC to populate the art/synopsis.

I love TVIX - for what it is. That being said-
The interface is intuitive. More utilitarian than elegant.
It will play everything.
SOL on Hulu, Netflix, etc.
Will record OTA programming. No season passes, and limited functionality as compared to a Directv DVR.

Had a WDTV Live myself. Regifted it to somebody else. Junk. Absolute junk. TVIX much better.

After having said all that, I am currently building an HTPC. My wife saw XBMC in action and absolutely swooned. TVIX may be relegated to guest rooms.

The slide show for photos works well. I haven't tired background music.

+1 on the XBMC. I don't have time right now, but that's in the future for me. It appears the only way to get what we all want - DVR, networked media playback AND internet channels.

Too bad DViCO can't get this figured out. Otherwise, the TVIX is a good device.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. It sounds like there isn't one single device that can do it all....except a HTPC. And I would imagine that a HTPC will come with all the expense and maintenance required of a regular PC.

I did the "unplug antenna-delete ION-plug antenna back in" thing last night and all my shut-offs seem to have gone away. Mine had gotten so bad it would even shutdown if you weren't using the tuners.

Does anyone know how to delete un-delete-able bookmarks? I have two or three left over from files long deleted, but I can't delete the resume bookmarks for the files.

You left out archiveing - being able to copy recordings over to my laptop. This has always been a Tvix strongpoint.

Another feature (mentioned before I think) is the ability to record directly to a networked device. I have a 6TB media server and it would be awesome if I could direct the TViX to record directly to it.

recording test:
Schedule created yesterday:
#1 7am to 7:30am M-F ch 71.4
#2 7:30am to 8am M-F ch 71.6
#3 7:30am to 8am M-F ch 28.8

REC List:
C28 30min created 08:00
C71 31min created 07:30

Folder contents:
C71 contains one file, content starting at 7:00am, create time 07:30am
C28 contains one file, content starting at 7:30am, create time 08:00am

Observation:
File titles are given the file name of the end of the recording, not the start.
#2 on schedule never recorded and no indication of why not. I was watching the front panel.
Channels were picked because they display the time continuously.

Any help?

Worked fine on 1-19. All I did was enable the time shift buffer.Joe, I haven't tried many manual recordings (since I do have PSIP data to play with on both OTA and cable) but I wonder if the missing recording occurred because the start times of #2 and #3 were identical? Perhaps staggering the times by one minute would eliminate this problem?

It seems that the word "created" should read "modified" in the listing.

Joe, I haven't tried many manual recordings (since I do have PSIP data to play with on both OTA and cable) but I wonder if the missing recording occurred because the start times of #2 and #3 were identical? Perhaps staggering the times by one minute would eliminate this problem?

It seems that the word "created" should read "modified" in the listing.

Since I started with a blank schedule, no folders, and no data on the drive, I don't understand which word I should change. My goal was to simulate (at a more reasonable hour) the schedule of The Daily Show, Leno and Letterman. I have disabled the time shift buffer (only) and will test again tomorrow morning. I will see if start time needs to be staggered also, but not tomorrow.

It took two days, but I got it. The file display, showing the file close time & date, is showing when the file was last modified (closed). That makes sense now.

All three recordings were performed this morning. I only know that because the files were visable with the USB port.

I turned the unit on about 9am to check, and it displayed "HELLO", then "WAIT", then turned off. No LED with resolution. This was repeated 3 times. I pulled the plug: no change. I was going ask about a factory reset, like hold down power while plugging in. I was hooked via HDMI to my TV and it never received any video. It might have shown 1080p, but I'm not sure.

But first I hooked up my laptop and turned the unit on. It displayed a static "USB" and I could see all the folders and files. I then erased all of them starting at PVR and below, powered off, and removed the USB line. I applied power and it went though the normal power up sequence without any problems. I lost all my recordings of course, but not the schedule.

So I'm doing a few very long HD recordings to be sure the disk drive is happy. So far so good. Since it is still connected through a Kill-A-Watt I'm sure it was off.

One of the most common calls I receive in support is when a recording schedule goes bad....probably from a missed recording that's still in the task, but that causes the TViX to not boot all the way. Sure way to check that is to pull the drive out and see if it will reboot.

There's one file you can delete (forgot the name but I believe it's a db file) in the PVR directory, I don't think it's necessary to delete the recorded files, should that ever happen again.

One of the most common calls I receive in support is when a recording schedule goes bad....probably from a missed recording that's still in the task, but that causes the TViX to not boot all the way. Sure way to check that is to pull the drive out and see if it will reboot.

There's one file you can delete (forgot the name but I believe it's a db file) in the PVR directory, I don't think it's necessary to delete the recorded files, should that ever happen again.

Next time I will copy any important files to the PC before erasing.

Is there a way to disable the pretty graphics when starting so that the channel I was tuned to is shown? Like it was with the previous firmware? Most devices like a TV, DVR (or VCR) power up to the last channel, even if it was the channel used to record a program. I said most, not all.

I have to admit, this is the first time I have recorded a program and have it listed as the end time, not the start time. Is this because I have used manual recording?

Is there a special name for the today & tomorrow type of recording? I've never seen that before either.

Is there a way to disable the pretty graphics when starting so that the channel I was tuned to is shown? Like it was with the previous firmware? Most devices like a TV, DVR (or VCR) power up to the last channel, even if it was the channel used to record a program. I said most, not all.

If the TVIX is off, pressing the HDTV or MOVIE button will turn it on and go to that mode without stopping at the menu. The HDTV button takes it directly to the last channel watched. The MOVIE button will take it to the Movie folder.

I have to admit, this is the first time I have recorded a program and have it listed as the end time, not the start time. Is this because I have used manual recording?

My understanding of this is that the file timestamp is simply when the file was last modified so yes, the end of the recording (manual or otherwise).

If the TVIX is off, pressing the HDTV or MOVIE button will turn it on and go to that mode without stopping at the menu. The HDTV button takes it directly to the last channel watched. The MOVIE button will take it to the Movie folder.



My understanding of this is that the file timestamp is simply when the file was last modified so yes, the end of the recording (manual or otherwise).

Thank you for the help. There isn't much to say about the file names.

Without benefit of PSIP data, there isn't much for TViX to go on for file names. :(

Without benefit of PSIP data, there isn't much for TViX to go on for file names. :(

How about file name of "UNKNOWN"? Then just put the recording start time, maybe also showing the start & stop time or duration. Using the end time is quite confusing. Since they are sorted by date/sequence, just add start time and it's not hard to find a program. Well, that does assume the guide listing you reference on the internet, like tvguide.com, TitanTV.com and others keep listing their titles by start time.

I will admit that PSIP data in the USA sucks. But it's all we have, or don't have. It's nice to learn new things.

When there is PSIP info the TViX uses whatever name it finds in the TS at start time as the file name for manual recordings, so I hadn't been aware of what happens when there is no PSIP. I suggest that you log onto the TViX MyQ&A Forum and post your suggested improvements there for the TViX engineers to see. That's the most likely way to get them incorporated into a future firmware.

When there is PSIP info the TViX uses whatever name it finds in the TS at start time as the file name for manual recordings, so I hadn't been aware of what happens when there is no PSIP. I suggest that you log onto the TViX MyQ&A Forum and post your suggested improvements there for the TViX engineers to see. That's the most likely way to get them incorporated into a future firmware.

I keep trying to find that. Could you post the URL please?

Hi all, just got my 6620 and wanted to ask if anyone experiences lag thru the menus, not always but too often it's there and sometimes it's very excessive!

Also, is there anyway to turn off the Confirm notification? If so I've missed it.

Thanks!

I keep trying to find that. Could you post the URL please?http://www.tvix.co.kr/eng/img/csimg.jpgRight here (http://www.tvix.co.kr/ENG/boards/MyAQ.aspx).

I tried to post this on the web site, but the write function was not working. My first post was there. I received email that I should hear back within one or two weeks. This is the new issue:


Firmware version 2.1.0

All M-F
Schedule #1 7am - 8am channel 84.1 1080i
Schedule #2 8am - 9am channel 85.2 1080i
Schedule #3 8am - 9am channel 84.1 1080i

All clear QAM. File names correct.

For #3, file created does not play. Info button reports 00:00:00 - 00:59:59
Video Info: unknown
Audio Info: unknown
File Size: 6.1 GB
Counter on front panel does not move from 000000 when play is attempted.
Other two recordings are correct.

Speculation?

I could post it. Two red stars meant it wanted a title.

I reported this problem to Dvico back in September. The symptoms were very similar - a second recording of a station that has subs overlaps with another recording. Just sits there at 00000 for a while, then goes back to folder.

No word of a fix :-(

I think I got the recordings to play - I had to pass them through MPEG2Repair, or StreamClip first - can't remember which now.

I reported this problem to Dvico back in September. The symptoms were very similar - a second recording of a station that has subs overlaps with another recording. Just sits there at 00000 for a while, then goes back to folder.

No word of a fix :-(

I think I got the recordings to play - I had to pass them through MPEG2Repair, or StreamClip first - can't remember which now.

Thanks. I appreciate the feedback. I'll see if it repeats.

I tried to post this on the web site, but the write function was not working. My first post was there. I received email that I should hear back within one or two weeks. This is the new issue:


Firmware version 2.1.0

All M-F
Schedule #1 7am - 8am channel 84.1 1080i
Schedule #2 8am - 9am channel 85.2 1080i
Schedule #3 8am - 9am channel 84.1 1080i

All clear QAM. File names correct.

For #3, file created does not play. Info button reports 00:00:00 - 00:59:59
Video Info: unknown
Audio Info: unknown
File Size: 6.1 GB
Counter on front panel does not move from 000000 when play is attempted.
Other two recordings are correct.

Speculation?

I could post it. Two red stars meant it wanted a title.Sorry, once again I don't understand your text. What "red stars" are you talking about? Does the file #3 play on some other device; e.g., VLC? Does running it through MPEG2Repair "fix" it? Did you log in on the My Q&A site?

Sorry, once again I don't understand your text. What "red stars" are you talking about? Does the file #3 play on some other device; e.g., VLC? Does running it through MPEG2Repair "fix" it? Did you log in on the My Q&A site?

Only if you sign-in to the web site can you see your posts. If you don't sign in, they don't show. I signed in (my post from yesterday now shows), selected the product and filled in the details. When I selected "write", nothing happened. I didn't notice the two red stars next to an un-named box. I went back later and posted the saved post. I saw the two red stars and guessed a subject was needed. After giving it a subject, the "write" selection saved my issue and the two red stars were removed. I received the email indicating a one or two week wait for a response.

I don't know if the file will play on another device. I have a BV-980H, so I might test that. It saves its recordings as .ts files without a wrapper also, file names being similar.

I don't know how to express my feelings when asked to try to "fix" it. I didn't "break" it.

1/24: repeated, file sizes about the same. BV finds the folders but not the files. BV wants .ts, DVICO makes .tp files.

I share you're frustration. I have the older 3310 and I frequently get recordings that don't play. I can bring them up into VideoReDo and then save them and THEN they will play. Frustrating...

I share you're frustration. I have the older 3310 and I frequently get recordings that don't play. I can bring them up into VideoReDo and then save them and THEN they will play. Frustrating...

I guess I can call it a learning experience.

I had to go back and reread my submission to Dvico.

I did an analysis of the problem back in October and pointed them directly to the problem with the recordings.

It has to do with the Program Association Table (PAT), which is the main program stream index for a MPEG2 transport stream. In a broadcast stream there is one entry in the PAT for each stream, whether it be a subchannel, data stream, or whatever.

When the M6620 records a program, it only records the one subchannel that was requested and writes a TP file that has a PAT with only one entry (for the recorded program). When you play back a TP file it reads the PAT and tries to play that (first and only) stream.

What happens with the recordings that have this problem is that the PAT is written with all the entries from the broadcast stream. When you go to play back this file it looks at the first entry in the PAT and tries to play that stream. If the program you recorded is not the first entry in the PAT it reads through the whole file looking for a PMT for it, doesn't find one, and stops (goes back to folders, or on to the next file). Note that the PAT is not always in subchannel order, for example here in New York the entries for WNET are in the order 13.2, 13.3, 13.1.

I was able to reproduce the problem here yesterday by making back-to-back recordings of 13.3 while at the same time recording channel 2.1. The first recording of 13.3 has a PAT with just one entry and played fine. The second recording had a PAT with 4 entries and didn't play. Not quite sure what triggers it.

Both MPEG2Repair and StreamClip will repair the problem - if you use MPEG2Repair you have to manually select the right stream in the combobox.

Paul

I had to go back and reread my submission to Dvico.

I did an analysis of the problem back in October and pointed them directly to the problem with the recordings.

It has to do with the Program Association Table (PAT), which is the main program stream index for a MPEG2 transport stream. In a broadcast stream there is one entry in the PAT for each stream, whether it be a subchannel, data stream, or whatever.

When the M6620 records a program, it only records the one subchannel that was requested and writes a TP file that has a PAT with only one entry (for the recorded program). When you play back a TP file it reads the PAT and tries to play that (first and only) stream.

What happens with the recordings that have this problem is that the PAT is written with all the entries from the broadcast stream. When you go to play back this file it looks at the first entry in the PAT and tries to play that stream. If the program you recorded is not the first entry in the PAT it reads through the whole file looking for a PMT for it, doesn't find one, and stops (goes back to folders, or on to the next file). Note that the PAT is not always in subchannel order, for example here in New York the entries for WNET are in the order 13.2, 13.3, 13.1.

I was able to reproduce the problem here yesterday by making back-to-back recordings of 13.3 while at the same time recording channel 2.1. The first recording of 13.3 has a PAT with just one entry and played fine. The second recording had a PAT with 4 entries and didn't play. Not quite sure what triggers it.

Both MPEG2Repair and StreamClip will repair the problem - if you use MPEG2Repair you have to manually select the right stream in the combobox.

Paul

Thanks Paul. You have more knowledge about this issue than I. Being able to record two sequential titles is critical to my use of this box. I guess this is only an issue when using both tuners. Since I can duplicate the problem I will see if I can find way to squish the bug. I can understand problems with CM-7400 and BV-980H since they are new. This thread started two years ago. When I buy a new car I expect the dealer to fix the problems.

Joe

Hi All,

I just registered here :D

I've ordered an M6620NP from Digital Connection on 01/18, but still haven't received an email confirmation, nor any other information/correspondence/tracking#/etc., which is a bit disconcerting. Is this the normal MO for this seller? When I logged into the site today and checked my order, it just shows “shipped”.

Secondly, I thought that after reading most of this thread, as well as some other discussions here and elsewhere, that I was making the right decision on this, over the CM-7400. I've been using a CM-7000 for about a year now, without any real issues, but sometimes I'd like to record more than two programs simultaneously, so I thought I'd get a second PVR/DVR for the bedroom. I decided against the CM-7400 due to reports of the external drive port not being actually useable, as well as the HDD being, IMHO, too small for a supposedly, state of the art unit. I intend to only use it for OtA broadcasting. I considered a TiVO unit, but it looks like the four tuner unit is not for OtA broadcasts.

Since there was apparently some delay with the order processing at Digital Connection, and my having re-read several pages of this thread, as well as some reviews and discussions elsewhere, I'm having some reservations about the M6620NP. I'm not really very tech-savvy, and I just like things to work fairly well out of the box. I also don't have a lot of time, nor the desire, to fool around with repairing/converting files, file-names, etc., as I've read here the past few days.

I know that the good folks here would likely help with any issues I may have with the M6620NP , but I don't like feeling like a PiTA, constantly asking questions, etc. Did I make the right decision getting the M6620NP , or should I have gotten the CM-7400 instead?:confused:

Thanks for your time and help.:)

Joe

Joe,

The email confirmation being generated by our store is bouncing because of your ISP....we're not sure why that is. If you want, I can PM you the tracking info.

Hi All,

I just registered here :D

I know that the good folks here would likely help with any issues I may have with the M6620NP , but I don't like feeling like a PiTA, constantly asking questions, etc. Did I make the right decision getting the M6620NP , or should I have gotten the CM-7400 instead?:confused:

Thanks for your time and help.:)

Joe

Hi Joe. The 7400 lasted about 18 hours before I sent it back. You can get more reviews on Amazon.com, Crutchfield.com, Walmart.com but NONE on channelmastertv.com even though several have be posted. I guess it's broke.

I don't think the CM-7400 would have been a good choice. CM does have their second firmware update out now, yet zero communications.

My main problem with the CM-7400 was due to being on cable, with no OTA access. You can find my review on the above web sites.

Joe,

The email confirmation being generated by our store is bouncing because of your ISP....we're not sure why that is. If you want, I can PM you the tracking info.


Hi,

I feel like a dolt. :o I've read almost every one of your posts to this thread, but I've never bothered to look at your signature, at the bottom of your post. I tend to do that for everyone though. I usually just look at the info in the left column, and from that I just assumed you were the AVS guru or mod or something.

I haven't had any problems with bouncing emails, that I know of. Once in a while one will end up in the spam folder, but I usually check that daily, or more. Nothing there.

The tracking info in a PM would be great, just so I know when to expect it.;)

Thanks,

Joe

Hi Joe. The 7400 lasted about 18 hours before I sent it back. You can get more reviews on Amazon.com, Crutchfield.com, Walmart.com but NONE on channelmastertv.com even though several have be posted. I guess it's broke.

I don't think the CM-7400 would have been a good choice. CM does have their second firmware update out now, yet zero communications.

My main problem with the CM-7400 was due to being on cable, with no OTA access. You can find my review on the above web sites.


Hi Joe,

Thanks for the info. I did a lot of reading before ordering the M6620NP, probably some of it was written by you;).

I only have OtA TV, no cable or satellite.

What was the problem with the CM-7400, if I may ask?

My CM-7000 has been pretty solid since around October 2010. It only missed an occasional recording here and there, less than a dozen for sure, and I use it pretty heavily, maybe 10 hours a week or so.

Most of the ones missed were likely my fault due to recording multiple shows simultaneously, and likely caused by the minute or two cushion before & after each show. I probably had two shows scheduled to start, while a previous show was still recording the cushion, so the recorder flipped out and didn't tape one of them.

Thanks again for the information,

Joe

Hi Joe,

Thanks for the info. I did a lot of reading before ordering the M6620NP, probably some of it was written by you;).

I only have OtA TV, no cable or satellite.

What was the problem with the CM-7400, if I may ask?

My CM-7000 has been pretty solid since around October 2010. It only missed an occasional recording here and there, less than a dozen for sure, and I use it pretty heavily, maybe 10 hours a week or so.

Most of the ones missed were likely my fault due to recording multiple shows simultaneously, and likely caused by the minute or two cushion before & after each show. I probably had two shows scheduled to start, while a previous show was still recording the cushion, so the recorder flipped out and didn't tape one of them.

Thanks again for the information,

Joe

The 7400, as I mentioned, has a problem with my cable. I am fed 25 vsb/analog channels, 140 clear QAM and enough scrambled channels to give me about 400 total. My Sony TV says "can not decode" when I make it tune a scrambled channel.

So my first clear channel is 26.x, my first scrambled is 50.x, and the 7400 found all 400 channels and disabled all of them. I enabled 26.1 and it said scrambled. I enabled 50.1 and it was my content for 26.1. This pattern is repeated, with (I think) all my clear channels being found.

So, from a programming point of view, the scan made two tables (like my TV), but then switched the good numbers with the bad numbers and left them all disabled. It has a command to enable/disable all channels - nice.

No issue with PQ or audio. It is pretty hot measuring 90F on the case surface. The TViX exhaust temp is about 90F on the output of the fan. Neither temp is bad, but the 7400 stays hot when off, and it uses a wall wart, so what makes the heat? The TViX is cold when off. It powers up about 60 seconds before a scheduled recording and scrolls the remaining time for the recording. I find that distracting and have a cover for the front. No physical networking problems with either unit. I have not tested network content. BTW, the channels on the TViX are tuned in a random order. I only have the HD channels and a few SD channels enabled, so it's not a big problem.

Hi,

I feel like a dolt. :o I've read almost every one of your posts to this thread, but I've never bothered to look at your signature, at the bottom of your post. I tend to do that for everyone though. I usually just look at the info in the left column, and from that I just assumed you were the AVS guru or mod or something.

I haven't had any problems with bouncing emails, that I know of. Once in a while one will end up in the spam folder, but I usually check that daily, or more. Nothing there.

The tracking info in a PM would be great, just so I know when to expect it.;)

Thanks,

Joe


It's not a problem with your e-mail specifically, not cerain but your IP has blocked our address....we had the same issue with Microsoft, but at least they made it easier to unblock it. I had another customer today, every e-mail I attempted to write to him was returned as being suspect as a "spammer" and asked I change the content, which I tried three times before I gave up.

Bear in mind that there are two kinds of customers. Being an OTA user myself and never having used the TViX with cable service, I scratch my head at some of he problems discusssed. Honestly, there should be two separate threads, one for OTA and other for Cable/QAM.

Currently, there is one major problem with OTA, the ION problem. And this is not the first time that ION has done something that breaks the box. I had no idea until we encountered this, that anyone licensing public spectrum could broadcast for pay non-ATSC-compliant streams....unfortunately, the TViX is one of the few boxes that seems to be affected by their new methods so complaining to them or the FCC is probably not going to yield any results.

But for OTA, it's fairly reliable and easy to use, even with the quirks.

Bear in mind that there are two kinds of customers. Being an OTA user myself and never having used the TViX with cable service, I scratch my head at some of he problems discusssed. Honestly, there should be two separate threads, one for OTA and other for Cable/QAM.

Currently, there is one major problem with OTA, the ION problem. And this is not the first time that ION has done something that breaks the box. I had no idea until we encountered this, that anyone licensing public spectrum could broadcast for pay non-ATSC-compliant streams....unfortunately, the TViX is one of the few boxes that seems to be affected by their new methods so complaining to them or the FCC is probably not going to yield any results.

But for OTA, it's fairly reliable and easy to use, even with the quirks.

You might suggest two things to people. First is get a GMAIL.COM account. They are free and place all spam in a folder for 30 days. Very cool, and free. I use it for everything since one of my ISPs doesn't even allow uppercase names. Gmail is great. I get all my mail there, then forward it to my real email.

Next: drop cable from the box. Why create a thread to just hold complaints? It would be simpler, especially since the CM-7000 is dead, to fill that void. The CM-7400 and TViX seem to make OTA people happy, but you should get the USB port working first.

As for my special problem, I guess you could ask the networks (CBS mainly) to not have their best programs back to back. In the olden days, the shows would have credits shown at the end of a program. Now, the credits are usually in the beginning, and a teaser is at the end running directly into the following program. Things have changed.

BTW, the Magnavox (Funai) MDR515H/F7 also has the ION OTA issue. Not all markets, but it seems to be spreading. I heard it might be an MPEG-4 issue, but I doubt that. Nobody has figured out the problem, and ION isn't talking. I get qubo on an NBC subchannel. No problems with ION or qubo over my cable feed.

"But for OTA, it's fairly reliable and easy to use, even with the quirks" is not going to make everyone happy.

You might suggest two things to people. First is get a GMAIL.COM account. They are free and place all spam in a folder for 30 days. Very cool, and free. I use it for everything since one of my ISPs doesn't even allow uppercase names. Gmail is great. I get all my mail there, then forward it to my real email.

Next: drop cable from the box. Why create a thread to just hold complaints? It would be simpler, especially since the CM-7000 is dead, to fill that void. The CM-7400 and TViX seem to make OTA people happy, but you should get the USB port working first.

As for my special problem, I guess you could ask the networks (CBS mainly) to not have their best programs back to back. In the olden days, the shows would have credits shown at the end of a program. Now, the credits are usually in the beginning, and a teaser is at the end running directly into the following program. Things have changed.

BTW, the Magnavox (Funai) MDR515H/F7 also has the ION OTA issue. Not all markets, but it seems to be spreading. I heard it might be an MPEG-4 issue, but I doubt that. Nobody has figured out the problem, and ION isn't talking. I get qubo on an NBC subchannel. No problems with ION or qubo over my cable feed.

"But for OTA, it's fairly reliable and easy to use, even with the quirks" is not going to make everyone happy.

Joe,

If I came across as being negative on cable, that wasn't my intention. It's not that manufacturers don't want to support it, but rather cable companies don't have the same mandate as OTA and therefore have absolutely no incentive whatsoever to make it easy for their competitiors. That extra few bucks they collect to provide local TV is an important source of revenue for them, we get that.

The inability to support cable is not for lack of trying....the box has improved in this regard in the early phases of development. But cable companies are moving targets, and that's just a simple fact.

Should we drop QAM? It's a tough call, but it has not been a decision made based on convenience.

BTW, thanks for giving me that update on other possible victims of the ION stations, I did a cursary search and didn't find any information the Google....it gives me a little ammunition to call the local ION station to lodge a complaint, and possibly the FCC if this problem continues.....they should have to uphold the same standards as every other broadcaster.

Next: drop cable from the box. Why create a thread to just hold complaints? It would be simpler, especially since the CM-7000 is dead, to fill that void. The CM-7400 and TViX seem to make OTA people happy, but you should get the USB port working first.



Should we drop QAM? It's a tough call, but it has not been a decision made based on convenience.

Funny I see more issue posts on AVSForum about Tvix products regarding ION OTA then I see QAM issues.

I for one would have never thought about buying the product if it did not have a QAM tuner.

BTW, thanks for giving me that update on other possible victims of the ION stations, I did a cursary search and didn't find any information the Google....it gives me a little ammunition to call the local ION station to lodge a complaint, and possibly the FCC if this problem continues.....they should have to uphold the same standards as every other broadcaster.

Having "ION" as part of the search makes a Google search virtually impossible. Google isn't that smart. Even searching for "ION CHANNEL" doesn't work. I guess we need patience.

Funny I see more issue posts on AVSForum about Tvix products regarding ION OTA then I see QAM issues.

I for one would have never thought about buying the product if it did not have a QAM tuner.

All I get is cable, so without the QAM tuner I would not be here either. I do think you haved proved one point: ION via cable isn't a problem. But does that really mean it's a PSIP problem? It has already been posted that having a PSIP doesn't mean qubo or ION is a problem. It's an unknown problem right now.

So far my only issue with the PViX is the channels are not sequential. My only problem is I can't record two titles back to back. See my previous posts. I haven't been here that long.

All I get is cable, so without the QAM tuner I would not be here either. I do think you haved proved one point: ION via cable isn't a problem. But does that really mean it's a PSIP problem? It has already been posted that having a PSIP doesn't mean qubo or ION is a problem. It's an unknown problem right now.

So far my only issue with the PViX is the channels are not sequential. My only problem is I can't record two titles back to back. See my previous posts. I haven't been here that long.

It took a while to figure out the problem was ION, it would not have been as easy to diagnose had they not done something similar in the past. Do we know for certain it's a PSIP problem? No, but the TViX scanning ION's PSIP is definitely what causes the TViX to crash, that's absolutely a certainty. The reason you don't have the problem on QAM is that cable can choose what they transmit, I'm not sure if they strip or ignore the info.

I was not aware of any issues with back-to-back recordings, otherwise I would have requested it to be corrected the last time DVICO fixed the ION problem a few firmwares ago. I will ask again, but I probably need to confirm the behavior is common to all QAM users before I go asking.....proper diagnosis is crucial at this point.

It took a while to figure out the problem was ION, it would not have been as easy to diagnose had they not done something similar in the past. Do we know for certain it's a PSIP problem? No, but the TViX scanning ION's PSIP is definitely what causes the TViX to crash, that's absolutely a certainty. The reason you don't have the problem on QAM is that cable can choose what they transmit, I'm not sure if they strip or ignore the info.

I was not aware of any issues with back-to-back recordings, otherwise I would have requested it to be corrected the last time DVICO fixed the ION problem a few firmwares ago. I will ask again, but I probably need to confirm the behavior is common to all QAM users before I go asking.....proper diagnosis is crucial at this point.

I am also trying to find the problem with sequential recordings. It does not seem to be related to the time shift buffer. Tomorrow I am going to try recording just one channel with two sequential titles. It's probably important to consider that the recording is made, just that the data is bad. A previous post explains that much better.

My cable feed strips all PSIP data, but does supply some SCTE-127 data for the vsb channels. Not always good data.

From the support site:
"
TVIX My QA


Blank file




Firmware version 2.1.0

All M-F
Schedule #1 7am - 8am channel 84.1 1080i
Schedule #2 8am - 9am channel 85.2 1080i
Schedule #3 8am - 9am channel 84.1 1080i
All clear QAM.
File names correct.
For #3, file created does not play.
Info button reports 00:00:00 - 00:59:59
Video Info: unknown
Audio Info: unknown
File Size: 6.1 GB
Counter on front panel does not move from 000000
Other two recordings are correct.

Solution?

Reply to your question is as below.



Hello Joseph,
Sorry about all your inconveniences.
We''ll check this issue again.
We recommend you to fix this file with MPEG stream program.
http://www.tvix.co.kr/ENG/faq/default.aspx?bserial=0&act=RD&pg=3&gText=TViX%20PVR&pSerial=79&id=356


thanks.



This mail is an outgoing message. If you do not want to receive,
please check “No” at the check box of “News Mail” under “Register” menu after log-in

DVICO INC. 463-824, 4F ALLIANZLIFE BLDG. 267-3 SEOHYEON-DONG, BOONDANG-KU, SUNGNAM, KOREA
TEL : 82-31-728-1394 / FAX : 82-31-717-8980 Copyrightⓒ 1997-2005 DViCO Inc. All rights reserved.

"

So I wait. Not a problem. Things could be worse.

When I called the local ION engineer a few years ago to let him know about the ION/TVIX issue, he was very interested. The reason is that ION is losing viewers if TVIX owners are deleting those channels from their boxes to prevent shutdowns. So just mentioning that you are recommending to all TVIX users to delete ION channels, should peak their interest.

Thanks. I left a message for the station engineer in the LA market. I got the feeling the last time I called that the addition of their new channels for the Airbox was an imperative, though by looking at the type of channels they plan to add, with the exception of Starz, I don't know who they are trying to target as an audience for their pay service.

I was not aware of any issues with back-to-back recordings, otherwise I would have requested it to be corrected the last time DVICO fixed the ION problem a few firmwares ago. I will ask again, but I probably need to confirm the behavior is common to all QAM users before I go asking.....proper diagnosis is crucial at this point.

Hi Kei,

I reported this problem to Dvico on September 23rd, 2011. The MyQ&A entry number is 20704. I updated my posting on October 5th with my analysis and pointed out that the problem is with the overpopulated PAT in these files. Other than an initial acknowledgement they have not responded.

The problem is not specific to QAM. I am OTA exclusively. I have not identified the exact circumstances that cause this problem to occur, however once you identify a subchannel that is susceptible, then it is easy to reproduce at will. Schedule two programs on the same (susceptible) subchannel back-to-back and schedule an overlapping recording on a different channel. For example this evening I scheduled the following
Channel | Start | End
13.3 | 22:15 | 22:17
13.3 | 22:17 | 22:19
2.1 | 22:16 | 22:39
The second recording of 13.3 has the problem and I can repeat it at will. What I don't know is why that particular subchannel! Channel 13 is WNET, the NYC PBS station, and 13.3 is their V-Me subchannel.

Unfortunately this is just one of numerous problems I have reported on MyQ&A that are still unresolved.:(

Paul

Hi Kei,

I reported this problem to Dvico on September 23rd, 2011. The MyQ&A entry number is 20704. I updated my posting on October 5th with my analysis and pointed out that the problem is with the overpopulated PAT in these files. Other than an initial acknowledgement they have not responded.

The problem is not specific to QAM. I am OTA exclusively. I have not identified the exact circumstances that cause this problem to occur, however once you identify a subchannel that is susceptible, then it is easy to reproduce at will. Schedule two programs on the same (susceptible) subchannel back-to-back and schedule an overlapping recording on a different channel. For example this evening I scheduled the following
Channel | Start | End
13.3 | 22:15 | 22:17
13.3 | 22:17 | 22:19
2.1 | 22:16 | 22:39
The second recording of 13.3 has the problem and I can repeat it at will. What I don't know is why that particular subchannel! Channel 13 is WNET, the NYC PBS station, and 13.3 is their V-Me subchannel.

Unfortunately this is just one of numerous problems I have reported on MyQ&A that are still unresolved.:(

Paul

Interesting, so this problem is encountered on both cable and OTA, but not on every channel? I'll have to set up a back-to-back recording to see if this occurs on any of my stations.

I'm guessing, but do not know for certain, that the engineers would have to analyze the whole channel including sub-channels, so a recorded file from the TViX may not reveal the problem. If I can replicate this problem on one of my stations, I can record the whole channel on the PC and send them a file.

Anyone in the LA market encounter this problem?

Mr. H,

A question, does it make any difference if you adjust the start/end time apart? Like, if there was a minute of two between the end of one and start of another?

Just a note... I get recordings that don't play on my 3310, and that's a single tuner unit. So it's happening WITHOUT a 2nd channel being involved.

Sorry, once again I don't understand your text. What "red stars" are you talking about? Does the file #3 play on some other device; e.g., VLC? Does running it through MPEG2Repair "fix" it? Did you log in on the My Q&A site?

I do not know if it it related but I frequently see something like
With
I set the pre/post record timer to 90 seconds.
Only OTA channels with
scheduled 8pm-9pm 2-1
scheduled 8pm-9pm 5-1
Watching/active 17-1then:
Shortly before 8pm, I get the alert box that tvix is going to begin recording 2-1. It counts down, switches to 2-1 and shortly after get the red dot.
Then I get the alert that it is going to being recording 5-1, it switches the video output to 5-1, displays red dot. When I look at the recording, sometimes (not always) I will find a very short recording (TS) of 2-1 (less than a minute), another recording (TS) of the full 2-1 program, and a full recording of 5-1. If I recall, the short recording shows up in the list of recordings immediately but the longer one only shows up later. I assumed that it is just part of how the recorder operates. Not ideal but very liveable. To link my experience, it sounds like you are getting first 2-1 but not the 2nd.
FYI- I have occasionally seen scheduled recordings not start. If you are getting TOD from different sources, I would guess that different out-of-order sequences of TODs could cause TViX not to correctly honor some of the timer events. It depends somewhat on how TViX builds and processes their queue or table of pending events. For a long time, I had TOD source set to auto-TV-all using lots of un-synced TOD sources. I recently selected a single strong channel as the source TOD. My unscientific perception is that that may have helped.

A question, does it make any difference if you adjust the start/end time apart? Like, if there was a minute of two between the end of one and start of another?

No, I tried a one and two minute gap this morning

Channel | Start | End

13.3 | 10:30 | 10:32

|{colsp=2}one minute gap

13.3 | 10:33|10:36

|{colsp=2}two minute gap

13.3 | 10:38 | 10:41

{colsp=3}overlapping recording


50.1|10:31|10:40
The second and third recording of 13.3 have the problem. Note that I turn the unit off and let it boot up to start making the recordings - not sure if that makes a difference.

I have a FusionHDTV card and can get a "full" recording if you need it. I have not been successful in uploading samples to Dvico.

Paul

No, I tried a one and two minute gap this morning

Channel | Start | End

13.3 | 10:30 | 10:32

|{colsp=2}one minute gap

13.3 | 10:33|10:36

|{colsp=2}two minute gap

13.3 | 10:38 | 10:41

{colsp=3}overlapping recording


50.1|10:31|10:40
The second and third recording of 13.3 have the problem. Note that I turn the unit off and let it boot up to start making the recordings - not sure if that makes a difference.

I have a FusionHDTV card and can get a "full" recording if you need it. I have not been successful in uploading samples to Dvico.

Paul

Paul, I had no problem making two bad recordings using your procedure. I didn't use the exact times, but came close. I also had 5 minutes of empty time between the recordings. Both channels were 1080i. Unit was in standby before the test also. Thanks for the information.

I spent too much time on this today, but can pretty much make it fail on any channel. I tried WNBC (2 subs), WABC (3 subs), WNET (3 subs + data), and WPIX (4 subs). I can pretty much pick any sub and it will have the problem.

I spent too much time on this today, but can pretty much make it fail on any channel. I tried WNBC (2 subs), WABC (3 subs), WNET (3 subs + data), and WPIX (4 subs). I can pretty much pick any sub and it will have the problem.

Before I drop this and go onto something else, I want to mention that I used 84.1 and 85.1 only. Only 84.1 has a clear sub. I wish the front panel would show the sub number and not a "C". Anyhow, I appreciate your support on this issue.

Just curious, but has anyone managed to figure out how to get tonight's Republican debate streamed to the 6620?

It is not on local OTA TV and I've tried the "Internet TV" option, but that doesn't seem to do anything remotely useful.

I can access it on-line at cnn.com on my PC, but it seems to me there must be a way to stream it to the 6620. Anyone managed that?

Paul

Just curious, but has anyone managed to figure out how to get tonight's Republican debate streamed to the 6620?

It is not on local OTA TV and I've tried the "Internet TV" option, but that doesn't seem to do anything remotely useful.

I can access it on-line at cnn.com on my PC, but it seems to me there must be a way to stream it to the 6620. Anyone managed that?

Paul

Not that I'm aware of. All the internetTV stuff is pre-programmed channels.

But there may finally be something that can do real internet video and TV tuning on the horizon. ;)

On my 3310 I set up 2 recordings for the same channel using the epg. I then edited the settings and changed them to 9:00-9:05, 9:05-9:10. Neither recording would play on the 3310, but BOTH played in VideoReDo.

Prices now shown on the DC web site for hard drives.

Hi,

In preparation for purchasing an M6620, I have read this whole thread. In addition, I borrowed an R2210 from a colleague at work. During the evaluation, it displayed a serious problem, one of the OTA channels locked up the unit causing it to reboot.
So, the question is, will the 6620 also shutdown on this station?
Is there anybody in the area who can confirm the behavior of an M6620 on this channel?
Based on my reading, I am pretty sure it is not an ION station.
I appreciate your help.

The station is WFSB-DT in Hartford, CT. RF channel 33, virtual 3.x. It is the local CBS affiliate.


Note, the R2210 is really all I would need, but apparently no longer available?
Note 2, the R2210 has the latest firmware.
Note 3, first post in this forum, hope I did this correctly.


Thanks in advance,
Bob

Hi, I am considering purchasing a TVIX HD M-6620N Plus. I have a couple of basic questions. In Billings, Montana I have only about 12 OTA channels so I believe it should work fine for me. What Hard drive would you recommend? Seams two choice are recommended. Western Digital and Seagate. Also is the WiFi worth having/ using? thanks

Originally Posted by JoeKustra
Is there a way to disable the pretty graphics when starting so that the channel I was tuned to is shown? Like it was with the previous firmware? Most devices like a TV, DVR (or VCR) power up to the last channel, even if it was the channel used to record a program. I said most, not all.

Joe, I never paid attention but just realized that on the main system page of the setup is an Autorun option that lets you choose DTV or Menu.

Hi, I am considering purchasing a TVIX HD M-6620N Plus. I have a couple of basic questions. In Billings, Montana I have only about 12 OTA channels so I believe it should work fine for me. What Hard drive would you recommend? Seams two choice are recommended. Western Digital and Seagate. Also is the WiFi worth having/ using? thanks

Preference in most DVRs are slow spin power saving hard drive. Speed is not a good thing as it means more heat.

I have just purchased and installed the TVIX HD M-6620N Plus, upgraded to 2.1.0 firmware.

Everything works fine except the HDD I installed. The HDD is a Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS
2TB 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive. I formatted it with MBR and NTFS. The HDD can be
read and written by the unit.

Movies, pics and audio that I copy from the PC to the HDD play fine on the unit.

The failure is in the record mode.
When I record a TV program, the recording is chunky, dropping frames and pixels.
It appears that the drive does not seem to be able to keep up with the data rate.

When I play it back, same thing: the recording drops out, pixelates. It
seems the problem is during the recording and not the playback. I say
this since the HDD can play back movies I have written to the drive from
the PC.

I think the HDD is fast enough at 3.0 GB/s. It runs cool @ 5400 RPM.

Perhaps I am missing one more step in the configuration of the unit.
What could be causing the recording to be so choppy?
Any ideas what I can do to test this further?
Perhaps try another SATA drive?

I have just purchased and installed the TVIX HD M-6620N Plus, upgraded to 2.1.0 firmware.

Everything works fine except the HDD I installed. The HDD is a Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS
2TB 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive. I formatted it with MBR and NTFS. The HDD can be
read and written by the unit.

Movies, pics and audio that I copy from the PC to the HDD play fine on the unit.

The failure is in the record mode.
When I record a TV program, the recording is chunky, dropping frames and pixels.
It appears that the drive does not seem to be able to keep up with the data rate.

When I play it back, same thing: the recording drops out, pixelates. It
seems the problem is during the recording and not the playback. I say
this since the HDD can play back movies I have written to the drive from
the PC.

I think the HDD is fast enough at 3.0 GB/s. It runs cool @ 5400 RPM.

Perhaps I am missing one more step in the configuration of the unit.
What could be causing the recording to be so choppy?
Any ideas what I can do to test this further?
Perhaps try another SATA drive?

I bought a used HITACHI Deskstar HDT725050VLA360 on eBay. After a few problems (mine) I have had no issues with data transfer with 1080i video recording. A temperature sensor placed at the fan output has never gone beyond 90F which is ok with me. The unit turns off in standby mode and drops to room temp. I prefer a 7200 rpm drive for video. I use that speed in all my DVR units. I have six that draw 24 watts.

I can think of nothing you can do that will cause your problem. Sorry.

Do you have a source of 480i content? I'm cable, so I have many SD, ED and analog channels.

Wireless question for my new M-6620N.

On the Network config page, the LAN setting has two options
nder TVIX Network Info:

- Wired Information
- Wireless Information <== DIMMED

The wireless option is dimmed. Why is that?

Also, the unit came with an antennae with a USB plug on the end of it. I have plugged
that into one of the host USB slots, but that has not helped the situation. The Wireless
Information option is still dimmed.

How can I get the wireless working? Of course wireless is preferable to run 20 ft of LAN cabling.

Do you have a source of 480i content? I'm cable, so I have many SD, ED and analog channels.

I am on an antenna. The source in this case was 720P.
I do not have a 480i source.

Wireless question for my new M-6620N.

On the Network config page, the LAN setting has two options
nder TVIX Network Info:

- Wired Information
- Wireless Information <== DIMMED

The wireless option is dimmed. Why is that?

Also, the unit came with an antennae with a USB plug on the end of it. I have plugged
that into one of the host USB slots, but that has not helped the situation. The Wireless
Information option is still dimmed.

How can I get the wireless working? Of course wireless is preferable to run 20 ft of LAN cabling.

I am using the upper USB port. I use a WNDR4000 dual band router, but the 6620 doesn't use the 5GHz band. I can assume your have reset the DVR & router (make/model?).

BTW, it's easy to plug the USB antenna into the CAT5 connector by accident. I can't explain lack of a wireless option.

I am on an antenna. The source in this case was 720P.
I do not have a 480i source.

Maybe you could try a different block size? I left my smaller drive at 4k. Just guessing. Every channel?

I have just purchased and installed the TVIX HD M-6620N Plus, upgraded to 2.1.0 firmware.

Everything works fine except the HDD I installed. The HDD is a Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS
2TB 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive. I formatted it with MBR and NTFS. The HDD can be
read and written by the unit.

Movies, pics and audio that I copy from the PC to the HDD play fine on the unit.

The failure is in the record mode.
When I record a TV program, the recording is chunky, dropping frames and pixels.
It appears that the drive does not seem to be able to keep up with the data rate.

When I play it back, same thing: the recording drops out, pixelates. It
seems the problem is during the recording and not the playback. I say
this since the HDD can play back movies I have written to the drive from
the PC.

I think the HDD is fast enough at 3.0 GB/s. It runs cool @ 5400 RPM.

Perhaps I am missing one more step in the configuration of the unit.
What could be causing the recording to be so choppy?
Any ideas what I can do to test this further?
Perhaps try another SATA drive?

In my experience, dropping frames and pixelation are caused by compression of the source video or weak antenna reception. This has nothing to do with my hard drive.

I use the TVix in a windowless room, and have tried 2 different indoor antenna. The results were staggering. Both antenna picked up the same channels. One antenna produced consistently great picture quality. The other antenna produced videos with dropping frames like crazy.

My hard drive records what I see on the screen, if it's garbage in I get garbage out.

In my experience, dropping frames and pixelation are caused by compression of the source video or weak antenna reception. This has nothing to do with my hard drive.

I use the TVix in a windowless room, and have tried 2 different indoor antenna. The results were staggering. Both antenna picked up the same channels. One antenna produced consistently great picture quality. The other antenna produced videos with dropping frames like crazy.

My hard drive records what I see on the screen, if it's garbage in I get garbage out.

My hard drive does not record what is on the screen. It records choppy pixelated frame-dropped video.

The antenna is roof mounted. The DTV reception is 100% clear, at 720 and 1080. What I see on the screen is pretty well perfect.

But when the recording begins, it all goes down the tubes.

SOLVED!

I am using the upper USB port. I use a WNDR4000 dual band router, but the 6620 doesn't use the 5GHz band. I can assume your have reset the DVR & router (make/model?).

The wireless device is an Apple Airport Extreme 802.11g (v5.7) and it is working fine now. The unit connects to the Airport just fine.

My idiocy: You first have to click on Network Settings and select Wireless as the network device. Doh!

BTW, it's easy to plug the USB antenna into the CAT5 connector by accident.

Yes, it certainly is easy to do that! I was jamming a USB stick in the CAT5 since I was trying from the front of the unit. The power cable gets in the way ... nasty ergonomics.

Maybe you could try a different block size? I left my smaller drive at 4k. Just guessing. Every channel?

I've tried a 720P channel and a 1080i. Same problem on both. They view fine, but recording falls to pieces.

My drive is 2 TB with a 4k block size.

Hmmm ... I wonder if I should try another drive :(

I've tried a 720P channel and a 1080i. Same problem on both. They view fine, but recording falls to pieces.

My drive is 2 TB with a 4k block size.

Hmmm ... I wonder if I should try another drive :(

I am on gmail.com and will send you a .tp file made last night at 480i if you wish. It's just over 1GB. I had to move it to my Win7 laptop, then over to this XP machine. As with all .tp files, any attempt to open it will try to fix it first. I have not done that. I am around all night.

I am on gmail.com and will send you a .tp file made last night at 480i if you wish. It's just over 1GB. I had to move it to my Win7 laptop, then over to this XP machine. As with all .tp files, any attempt to open it will try to fix it first. I have not done that. I am around all night.

Further info: If the HDD is not plugged into the unit, the PVR will record TV and play back fine using 192 MB of some sort of on-board memory.

Further info: While the PVR is recording, the entire system slows to a snails pace. The menus and remote unit response is sluggish instead of snappy. When I terminate recording, everything returns to normal. This suggests some sort of bus contention to me.

UPDATE: Further info: while recording a 10 minute segment just now, after a few minutes, the recording "settles in" and all is recording fine. No skips, dropped frames, and the unit is no longer sluggish. But when I play it back, it drops out, is choppy, etc.etc. This is just Plain Weird!

BTW: is this unit running Windows under the hood? Is that why the need for NTFS?

Thanks for the offer, but I have NO problems playing files. Just recording Live DTV.

Further info: while the unit is recording, the entire system slows to a snails pace. The menus and remote unit response is sluggish instead of snappy. When I terminate recording, everything returns to normal. This suggests some sort of bus contention to me.

BTW: is this unit running Windows under the hood? Is that why the need for NTFS?

What did the recording of live TV that you are having trouble viewing? Are you saying all TV you view is bad? Then it is not a HDD problem. I'm sorry, I thought you could view OTA channels, just not record them.

My summary: you are watching a good signal. You hit the red button. Things go bad. Have you disabled chase play? If you don't use it, it will keep your directories cleaner. But you don't have 140 channels to surf. The favorites function has a lot of guesswork involved.

I'm sure it's a version of Linux. NTFS is there for the file size I guess. But I could be wrong.

What did the recording of live TV that you are having trouble viewing? Are you saying all TV you view is bad? Then it is not a HDD problem. I'm sorry, I thought you could view OTA channels, just not record them.

I can view OTA fine, 720P and 1080i. It is only when I record OTA that the problemi, i.e. PVR slow response, picture itself pixelates and drops frames.

My summary: you are watching a good signal. You hit the red button. Things go bad. Have you disabled chase play? If you don't use it, it will keep your directories cleaner. But you don't have 140 channels to surf. The favorites function has a lot of guesswork involved.

What is chase play?
Perhaps there is a setting somewhere that I have missed, or accidentally enabled, that is causing the PVR to do way too much work when it is recording?!?!

BTW: in Settings > PCR the Auto TimeShift Start is Off. My intention: I do NOT want the PVR to continual record live OTA for timeshifting ... this is unnecessary wear on the HDD.

I can view OTA fine, 720P and 1080i. It is only when I record OTA that the problemi, i.e. PVR slow response, picture itself pixelates and drops frames.



What is chase play?
Perhaps there is a setting somewhere that I have missed, or accidentally enabled, that is causing the PVR to do way too much work when it is recording?!?!

BTW: in Settings > PCR the Auto TimeShift Start is Off. My intention: I do NOT want the PVR to continual record live OTA for timeshifting ... this is unnecessary wear on the HDD.

Yes. chase play, auto recording and auto time shift are all the same. I am at a loss. When switching channels I see all signal bars green since my signal is strong. I find it strange a HDD can cause this problem, but it sure does look that way.

When switching channels I see all signal bars green since my signal is strong. I find it strange a HDD can cause this problem, but it sure does look that way.

When I switch channels, each comes in strong with 6 RED bars, increasing in size, like a staircase. To the left of the bars is an antenna symbol. in RED. Is that fine?

Yes this is a strange one.

BTW: the HDD was NTFS formatted on Mac OS X using Paragon's NTFS driver. I don't think this should be a problem, since the PVR can play back movies that are on the drive.

Next step: I will reformat the HDD using Windows 7.

Thanks for your attention so far. I will solve this somehow.

When I switch channels, each comes in strong with 6 RED bars, increasing in size, like a staircase. To the left of the bars is an antenna symbol. in RED. Is that fine?

Yes this is a strange one.

BTW: the HDD was NTFS formatted on Mac OS X using Paragon's NTFS driver. I don't think this should be a problem, since the PVR can play back movies that are on the drive.

Next step: I will reformat the HDD using Windows 7.

Thanks for your attention so far. I will solve this somehow.

Good luck. You're right: they are red. I have too much stuff. I used Win7 also since the USB ports are unstable on my old XP machine.

Hi,

In preparation for purchasing an M6620, I have read this whole thread. In addition, I borrowed an R2210 from a colleague at work. During the evaluation, it displayed a serious problem, one of the OTA channels locked up the unit causing it to reboot.
So, the question is, will the 6620 also shutdown on this station?
Is there anybody in the area who can confirm the behavior of an M6620 on this channel?
Based on my reading, I am pretty sure it is not an ION station.
I appreciate your help.

The station is WFSB-DT in Hartford, CT. RF channel 33, virtual 3.x. It is the local CBS affiliate.


Note, the R2210 is really all I would need, but apparently no longer available?
Note 2, the R2210 has the latest firmware.
Note 3, first post in this forum, hope I did this correctly.


Thanks in advance,
Bob
Just an update on the channel drop out/reboot.

The R2210 also reboot when the same channel was tuned on a cable system. So it was not signal strength.

How can we determine if this will happen on the M6620?

Thanks,
Bob

Preference in most DVRs are slow spin power saving hard drive. Speed is not a good thing as it means more heat.

What hard drive would you suggest? What would work in this unit? Size is not as important as reliability. Also if the HD needs to be formatted I have XP as my os. Thanks

BTW: the HDD was NTFS formatted on Mac OS X using Paragon's NTFS driver. I don't think this should be a problem, since the PVR can play back movies that are on the drive.

Next step: I will reformat the HDD using Windows 7.

Yikes! I did reformat the HDD using Windows 7 (NTFS/4k blocks)

The good news: the PVR now functions fine. It records 2 x channels simultaneously and let's me browse YouTube at the same time. Playback
is flawless.

The weird news: the HDD now fails the disk check! I have no idea why, but it has something to do with the Windows 7 idea of NTFS.

Conclusion: I think I'll let sleeping dogs lie for now and see how this flies. At worst I'll have to reformat the HDD again in the future.

Thanks for your responses.

Update:: After playing with the unit for a while, the PVR says the HDD now passes the disk check. We are getting into ghost in the machine territory here. Anyway, the unit recorded a couple of show overnight, flawlessly. Happy now :)

Sound out of sync

Some of the DTV channels deliver sound of synch, usually by a few hundred milliseconds. I think the PVR itself might be aggravating a condition that already plagues DTV.

Question: When I playback a recording on the PVR, is there a way to shift the soundtrack ahead or back to manually synch it with the video?

What hard drive would you suggest? What would work in this unit? Size is not as important as reliability. Also if the HD needs to be formatted I have XP as my os. Thanks

If you read my posts above, you will see which drive I chose (WD20EARS 2TB). I think it is important to go for lower revs (5400rpm) so the drive runs cool.

That said, the drive is now working fine.

It is important to format the drive as NTFS using Windows. I made the mistake of trying to format the drive using Mac OS X with an NTFS driver plug-in, and ran into all the recording probs you can see above.

For more reliability, consider a 1 TB instead of a 2 TB drive. Less dense disk writing makes for more reliable writes and reads.

Currently, there is one major problem with OTA, the ION problem. And this is not the first time that ION has done something that breaks the box. I had no idea until we encountered this, that anyone licensing public spectrum could broadcast for pay non-ATSC-compliant streams....unfortunately, the TViX is one of the few boxes that seems to be affected by their new methods so complaining to them or the FCC is probably not going to yield any results.

But for OTA, it's fairly reliable and easy to use, even with the quirks.

Kei,
The thing Ion is trying to do is a conditional access system for OTA broadcasters that was approved by the ATSC in July of 1999.
Generally it allows the OTA broadcasters to scramble their OTA channels, including the HD signal, and require the end users to get a box to decrypt the signal. The only signal that they can not scramble will be the main 480i digital channel.
Here is some links describing this.
http://www.atsc.org/cms/standards/a_70-Part-1-2010.pdf
http://www.atsc.org/cms/standards/a_70-Part-2-2011.pdf
http://www.atsc.org/cms/index.php/standards/published-standards
http://www.atsc.org/cms/index.php

I discussed this in this post.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=21511414&postcount=1094

As for cable, it won't be much longer until entire cable channel line ups are encrypted so any aftermarket box sold will need a cablecard slot to work. The analog shutdown for cable is february 17th 2012. Some systems have already done this like comcast.

Thanks Jed1, I'll read up on it. Just doen't seem right.....we fought over broadcast flags in OTA streams just so that the stations could fully encrypt OTA signal for commercial use? And why can't they do this without field testing for compatibllity with existing hardware on the market?

I guess this is the best time to go ahead and lodge a complaint with FCC over the interference from this CA station.

Help!

When I turned the PVR on, up came the Language Selection screen. I thought that was odd but I selected English and continued.

The unit had been factory reset and had lost all programming information, channels, settings, everything. I set things up again.

I power it down.
Then I start it, and see this:

HELLO
WAIT
WAIT . . .

The last message above remains permanently and the unit never completes the boot-up and start procedures.

What next? What can I do to force a factory reset before power up?

Information: the unit is running the latest software and I get the same results (above) with and without the hard drive plugged in. I am at a loss to proceed any further.

It would be of interest to know just how much of ATSC's "A/70" standards for Conditional Access DTV broadcasting the FCC has actually signed up for. I'm not as pessimistic as Jed1 about the FCC's allowing all of our HDTV sets to become simple video monitors. (Note that just because ATSC is based in WDC, it's not part of the gummint, let alone part of the FCC)

Help!

When I turned the PVR on, up came the Language Selection screen....From your previous posts regarding flaky behavior of the unit, I'm guessing that there's either a loose connection or some hardware defect inside. Check that the HDD still works when connected directly to a PC. Then make sure that the HDD connections are firm and not under stress with the HDD cover in place and try the Safe Upgrade mode procedure (again). If that fails, it's time to contact your dealer about an RMA swap.

From your previous posts regarding flaky behavior of the unit

I do not recall any flakey behaviour of the PVR itself. The problem was the format of NTFS on the HDD. When Mac OS X formats it, it don't work. When Windows 7 formats it, it works fine. In either case, both Windows and the Mac can read & write the drive. This points to flakiness in the NTFS driver on the PVR, most likely the Linux NTFS driver.

I'm guessing that there's either a loose connection or some hardware defect inside. Check that the HDD still works when connected directly to a PC. Then make sure that the HDD connections are firm and not under stress with the HDD cover in place and try the Safe Upgrade mode procedure (again). If that fails, it's time to contact your dealer about an RMA swap.

The problem I am now experiencing occurs with and without the hard drive plugged in. The PVR has reset itself (thus the request for a Language) and now cannot make it past WAIT .... (The HDD is fine)

Update: I unplugged the unit from the power for 12 hrs. Plugged it in this A.M. and the problem persists.

If the PBO comes online first and gets the venus network name, then it goes to the PBO (so \tvix\venus\ resolves back to the PBO rather than the TVIX). This was not good. I guess turning both devices off and then on in the right order would be required. I added the IP of the TVIX under My Shortcuts and that worked fine without having to reboot anything but figuring out the address of the TVIX was basically guessing and not fun.

Sorry for this late reply dornamu... and sorry if this answer is redundant.

For your problem to determine the ip address of the PBO and tvix.
A simple solution is do a reservation on your router using the unique mac addresses of both devices.
That way, the PBO and TVIX will always have the same IP addresses.

The problem I am now experiencing occurs with and without the hard drive plugged in. The PVR has reset itself (thus the request for a Language) and now cannot make it past WAIT .... (The HDD is fine)

Update: I unplugged the unit from the power for 12 hrs. Plugged it in this A.M. and the problem persists.

If it has reset itself, you can go through the setup, and then the "wait" happens on reboot, correct?

If you have a flash drive, try doing the safe mode upgrade. If it does the same thing, then I suspect there maybe memory/storage poblems.

I do not recall any flakey behaviour of the PVR itself. The problem was the format of NTFS on the HDD. When Mac OS X formats it, it don't work. When Windows 7 formats it, it works fine. In either case, both Windows and the Mac can read & write the drive. This points to flakiness in the NTFS driver on the PVR, most likely the Linux NTFS driver. I am not trying to pick a fight or anything, but I'm curious as to the logic you used to draw this conclusion.

Granted, NTFS is a rather crappy drive format for various reasons, but I wouldn't call it "flaky." It has been in public use since 1993.

I don't recall formatting the drive with a MAC as one of the supported ways to pre-format the drive. I suggest the MAC NTFS driver is at least as suspect as the linux one on the PVR. Linux has supported R/W and format of NTFS for 3 years that I know of. As far as I knew until I read your post, MAC's could only read NTFS, not format or write to it.

In any case, why not simply use the TViX to format the drive? That's what I did and I haven't had any drive issues at all.

If it has reset itself, you can go through the setup, and then the "wait" happens on reboot, correct?

The unit has reset itself. And now it does not complete the reboot process.
I cannot reboot it successfully. Rather, it sits in:

WAIT ...

forever. It never advances beyond that.

I am not trying to pick a fight or anything, but I'm curious as to the logic you used to draw this conclusion.

Granted, NTFS is a rather crappy drive format for various reasons, but I wouldn't call it "flaky." It has been in public use since 1993.

Sorry, I will reiterate. The NTFS driver I am using is a read/write driver provided by Paragon Software, not by Apple. It may not be a flakey implementation of NTFS.

But. The PVR does not like it!

The Paragon NTFS formatting is obviously different from the Windows NTFS formatting, since the former does not work correctly on the PVR whereas the latter does. There must be some subtle differences between the two.

That said, both the Mac and Windows can read/write the drive, whether it is formatted by Paragon(Mac) or by Windows 7. Weird, huh? I can only put it down to "sensitivities" in the NTFS file system driver on the PVR itself.


I don't recall formatting the drive with a MAC as one of the supported ways to pre-format the drive. I suggest the MAC NTFS driver is at least as suspect as the linux one on the PVR. Linux has supported R/W and format of NTFS for 3 years that I know of. As far as I knew until I read your post, MAC's could only read NTFS, not format or write to it.

You are correct about Apple's NTFS driver. It provides read-only support. No format. No write. That is why I am using Paragon's NTFS driver instead. It reads, writes and formats NTFS. I hope that is clear.

In any case, why not simply use the TViX to format the drive? That's what I did and I haven't had any drive issues at all.

How do I force the PVR to format an HDD?

The PVR User's Guide says the unit will detect an unformatted drive and auto-format it.

Since the drive is already formatted, I have no way to "unformat" it. So I reformatted it with Mac's HFS file system and stuck it back in the PVR. The PVR did not recognise the Mac file system, of course. But neither did it offer to format the drive.

Does the TViX provide a command to format the drive? Where is such command?

BTW: This is all rather academic since I cannot even reboot the PVR. It sits in WAIT ... forever.

cheers,
rick

Here are the instructions for doing a "Safe Mode" upgrade

http://www.tvix.co.kr/ENG/faq/default.aspx?bserial=0&act=RD&pg=1&gText=TViX%20PVR&pSerial=38&id=379

If this does not work you should contact your retailer for return/repair.

Hi, H. That's what I (and Kei) said. Maybe the 3rd time it'll get through. :D

rick: After you've done the S.M. upgrade, you can probably format the HDD on the TViX, after deleting all its partitions via your PC's Disk Management app. (Find that by typing "Computer Management" into the search box that pops up when you click on the Start menu) That may be overkill, since it takes quite a while (I'm told) to format large HDD on the TViX and I doubt that the HDD is the real problem anyway.

Actually Rick, your MAC should be able to wipe the partition table off the drive. Believe it or not the underpinnings of OS/X are almost exactly like linux which is the mean reason for it's quickness and stability.

With the drive attached to your mac, open a terminal, become root, determine the correct identifier for the disk, and write zeros to the first 512 bytes using the "dd" command and you have a "new" disk. I'm not a regular mac user, but here's the commands:

su ###makes you root
diskutil list ###lists drives so you figure out which is the target drive
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN ###Unmount the disk so you can write to it. "N" is the disk number discovered in the above command.
dd if=/dev/null of=/dev/diskN bs=512 count=1 ###replaces the drive MBR with zeros.

WARNING: dd is a "dumb" utility. It does not do any safety or error checking. If you tell it to wipe the wrong drive, it will.

Back to the topic; I thought there was a format command in the menu, but maybe my memory is incorrect. Either way, the above steps will provide your TViX the chance to format the drive automagically. Sata drives are hotplugabble, so you can plug the drive in or out while the device is running.

I've asked them to provide some additional units for sale but did not hear back...I'll ask again. Unfortunately, the bracket is somewhat proprietary....glad they moved to a screwless solution in the newer models.

It's been over a year since that post. My drive mount needs a screw. Any change in drive mounting bracket purchase?

Here are the instructions for doing a "Safe Mode" upgrade

http://www.tvix.co.kr/ENG/faq/default.aspx?bserial=0&act=RD&pg=1&gText=TViX%20PVR&pSerial=38&id=379


Thanks Mr H and others. I placed the firmware in the root of the HDD and the unit fired up, upgraded the firmware and all is well.

As well, my recorded programs are still intact, which is a blessing.

I wonder if there is a way to save all the Settings to the HDD in case this happens again?!

After you've done the S.M. upgrade, you can probably format the HDD on the TViX, after deleting all its partitions via your PC's Disk Management app.

Nah. As you posit, the HDD is not the problem. The flash(?) memory on the unit was corrupted somehow.

Interestingly, the HDD formats in about 5 seconds on Windows 7. I wonder why it takes so long on the TViX.

WARNING: dd is a "dumb" utility. It does not do any safety or error checking. If you tell it to wipe the wrong drive, it will.

Back to the topic; I thought there was a format command in the menu, but maybe my memory is incorrect. Either way, the above steps will provide your TViX the chance to format the drive automagically. Sata drives are hotplugabble, so you can plug the drive in or out while the device is running.

Thanks for the dd advice. I am quite familiar with the utility, but I don't think I'll clobber the many program files already on the HDD. It is working fine.

News to me: the SATA HDD is hot unpluggable. Cool! Thanks.

And thanks to all for your feedback and help. All is well with the PVR once again.
What remains a mystery is what caused the memory corruption in the first place.

News to me: the SATA HDD is hot unpluggable. Cool! Thanks.


Unless your are running a server that many people are depending on to be up 100% of the time why would you risk it?

Unless your are running a server that many people are depending on to be up 100% of the time why would you risk it?

What do you think you're risking? The drives are designed to be hot-pluggable. That's one of the design purposes of the new SATA interface. The only danger would be a trashed file if you unplugged it during a file transfer. Equivalent to hitting the reset button or killing a program during a file transfer.

Nah. As you posit, the HDD is not the problem. The flash(?) memory on the unit was corrupted somehow.

Interestingly, the HDD formats in about 5 seconds on Windows 7. I wonder why it takes so long on the TViX.Static electricity (or even cosmic rays) sometimes plays havoc with a memory cell--and it only takes one if it's the right one.

If you tell Windows to do a "quick" format, it does. The TViX has no such option and therefore takes as long as does Windows to do a full format (which is never needed on a modern HDD, AFAICT :().

Sorry for this late reply dornamu... and sorry if this answer is redundant.

For your problem to determine the ip address of the PBO and tvix.
A simple solution is do a reservation on your router using the unique mac addresses of both devices.
That way, the PBO and TVIX will always have the same IP addresses.

You're absolutely correct and I do have servers in my network with fixed IPs, however I consider this solution as a bit of a kludge. Devices meant to work in a network should have better tools to play nice. Especially consumer devices like a PVR.

I and others have already complained about it but consider the fact that you can't change the network name from venus. I've been considering buying another TVIX (the pure TV tuners that have HDMI retail for about $150; the only one I've ever seen below $100 has been out of stock for months; and it's flaky) so the extra money for another TVIX is an easy decision. Why not just support network name changing? I have the same problem with the PBO which I have been considering another as well.

What about the way you must preprogram the limited 4 network slots with fixed IP? Sometimes, I just want to play a file from my laptop without copying the file over. What about simply remembering the last xx network names you browsed to and resolve them as necessary? These are relatively simple design decisions that went the wrong way.

Remote network turn on...

End rant.

Hi All,

I had not seen this mentioned but yesterday, I had a bunch of recordings set up. And I was watching stuff previously recorded as usual. Not thinking about it, I copied a file to a USB stick. Since this took about 25 minutes, there was a new recording that needed to start. The recording was for supposed to be from 9:30 to 10:00. After the copy finished, the channel switch message came up immediately and recorded from 9:45-10:15!

I had other recordings setup from 9-10 and 10-11 which were unaffected. I only had the one recording set up from 10-11 so the fact the other tuner kept going didn't affect it. If I had 2 recordings set up for 10, I wonder what would have happened...

I'll have to do some more testing...

Entertainus Interruptus or Why Does It Do That?

While happily watching a YouTube video or perhaps a previously recorded program
on the PVR, when the time comes for the unit to record a show, it does the following:

(a) interrupts the current viewing with a "countdown to record" dialogue
(b) waits either 15 seconds or until I click on OKAY, obscuring what I was watching
(c) stops whatever I was watching (in the case of YouTube this is really a naughty thing to do)
(d) changes the display to show the program being recorded
(e) puts the annoying red dot up in the OSD (which burns into the plasma)
(f) leaves me high and dry.

Of course I do not wish to watch the program being recorded. That is why it
is being recorded. I am also weary of leaving a big red dot on the screen (!)

So, when this happens, I have to navigate back to where I was and try
to pick up the entertainment from where I was interrupted.

In the case of YouTube, one must carefully enter the search terms using the
on-screen keyboard via the remote control (do not attempt after a few beers!)
which can take up to several minutes. Then YouTube presents the search results.

If the YouTube viewing suffers from Entertainus Interruptus, in step (f)
above I return manually (ten button clicks perhaps) back to the YouTube search
page and its accompanying on-screen keyboard.

But the text area is empty! After all that work, the unit not only trashed my
YouTube viewing, it forgot the search terms.

Can this be addressed in a future version of the firmware, please? It must be driving
users mad.

Yeah, we've all complained about this at least once. Has to be the worst "feature" of the device.

What do you think you're risking? The drives are designed to be hot-pluggable. That's one of the design purposes of the new SATA interface. The only danger would be a trashed file if you unplugged it during a file transfer. Equivalent to hitting the reset button or killing a program during a file transfer.

I tried this with the PVR. I fired it up sans the HDD. Then I inserted to HDD and waited. TV was received fine but when I went into Movies, the thing entered WAIT ... mode and I gave up after a time. I then restarted the PVR and it recognised the HDD. I have my doubts that it can auto-mount the SATA drive when it is inserted.

Inconvenient at best

The general philosophy of any GUI is to remember where you were before getting somehwere
new so that you can return there easily. This plays out quite nicely in the GUI for this
PVR when you hit the RETURN button. Except:

I am playing a previousy recorded program. The way I got there: Hit the SCHEDULE BOOKMARK REC. LIST button, select the REC List tab and then select the program to view. But when I hit the RETURN button to stop viewing, I am taken to the folder page containing all the recorded programs pertaining to that channel. Needless to say, it is painful to navigate back to the REC List tab and select another program to view.

Suggestion: when viewing programs on the REC List, when the user exits from viewing a program, please return them to the REC List. A very common operation is to run through the entire REC List and have a quite look a what it contains.

Which leads me to another inconvenience, related to the GUIDE. See next post.

What Time Was It Recorded ?

The REC List has some omissions that can make finding a previously recorded program very difficult.

(*) The REC List is missing the time of the recording - all that is shown is the date. It is impossible to locate a program based on what time of day it was recorded. This is important because:

(*) the File name shows as "CBUT" (for example) if the digital channel provides no program guide.

Thus, my REC List shows 10 programs on 12-02-12 and 12-02-13, all labeled "CBUT", with no other indication of what the program is, no indication of when it was recorded in the day. The only option is to watch them all to see what they contain. This takes us back to my previous post, where it is very painful to simply run down a list of recorded programs to see what they contain.

Suggestions:

(*) add the Time of Recording to the REC List

(*) allow the user to change the name of a program that has no
GUIDE information, i.e. from "CBUT" to "Marketplace"

(*) in the REC List, respond to the INFO key and provide more information
about the recorded program

(*) and please do not navigate the user away from the REC list

cheers,
rick

Rick, these seem good suggestions. If you want Minevox/DViCo to act on them, the best approach is to post them to the TViX MyQ&A Forum, because the company does not monitor this forum.

What Time Was It Recorded ?

The REC List has some omissions that can make finding a previously recorded program very difficult.

(*) The REC List is missing the time of the recording - all that is shown is the date. It is impossible to locate a program based on what time of day it was recorded. This is important because:

cheers,
rick

Hi Rick. The title shows with only date on the list, but the time is seen when you highlight the title, then look in the upper right quadrant. The blue "*Created" time is when that title ended. I already put in a request to have that changed to start time. But you know.....

It also shows it in mm/dd/yyyy date format there.

What do other users think of the SMB mount called venus which is broadcast from the PVR?

I was quite surprised and somewhat dismayed that this mount point is public, is writeable and does not seem to be able to be controlled in the settings. As one who is concerned with computer security, this bothers me.

I've been recording programs for the last 8 months with no problems other than the well documented inconveniences.
Anyone had the following problem?
The other day while watching a KDNL program in progress and something happened. I don't know if it was something I did with the remote or not.
The program stopped recording and I can longer record anything from the KDNL channel.
I tried manual and programmed recording. It always comes up as "UNKNOWN". The KDNL folder is in the PVR folder with all the other station folders.
Can anyone help with this?

Thanks
Steve

I've been recording programs for the last 8 months with no problems other than the well documented inconveniences.
Anyone had the following problem?
The other day while watching a KDNL program in progress and something happened. I don't know if it was something I did with the remote or not.
The program stopped recording and I can longer record anything from the KDNL channel.
I tried manual and programmed recording. It always comes up as "UNKNOWN". The KDNL folder is in the PVR folder with all the other station folders.
Can anyone help with this?

Thanks
Steve

Steve, it's just speculation, but maybe it's not your fault. Were you watching 31.1 or 30.1? KDNL transmits on channel 31 and uses PSIP to show as 30 like they were 10 years ago. If their PSIP data is gone, they should show on 31.1 and they might have fixed it already.

If it still shows on your TV as 30.1, then I'm at a loss what may have happened. I assume you are not using cable.

Steve, are you still able to tune KDNL for live viewing on TViX? If not, my guess is that the channel mapping got deleted from the box somehow and you'll have to rescan your channels.

Thank you for the responses Joe and TP.
I receive KDNL on 30.1. These are strictly OTA signals and the strength is good.
I'm able to view the channel through the TViX with no problems.
I have rescanned all my channels and it didn't help.
The reception and viewing is great. I press the record button and the time options appear on the right and at the top of the time selection appears the word UNKNOWN.
It's like it can't find something.
Every other channel records fine as 30.1 use to.

Thank you
Steve

... I press the record button and the time options appear on the right and at the top of the time selection appears the word UNKNOWN ...
That sounds like you are missing EPG data. The top item on the right is usualy "EPG" meaning record the rest of the program.

What do you get when you press the "Info" button? Do you get program name and progress on the left? Do you have the correct time on the right?

How does your unit get the time (manual, NTP, or DTV)? If you are set to DTV and the station is not broadcasting time info in their PSIP, that could really screw things up!

Thank you for the responses Joe and TP.
I receive KDNL on 30.1. These are strictly OTA signals and the strength is good.
I'm able to view the channel through the TViX with no problems.
I have rescanned all my channels and it didn't help.
The reception and viewing is great. I press the record button and the time options appear on the right and at the top of the time selection appears the word UNKNOWN.
It's like it can't find something.
Every other channel records fine as 30.1 use to.

Thank you
Steve

But does it have that special red ball showing it is recording? Is there a file created?

Well, I finally finished reading this topic after a few days, haha. It looks as though unlike the DTVPal, the TViX has actually made quite a bit of progress over the years. I'd still like to clarify a few things though, if I can...


One of the main complaints I've seen regarding the DTVPal over the years is that it has no manual clock setting, so stations with faulty PSIP information can ruin your ability to record by skewing your clock. Does the manual clock setting on the TViX cause it to completely ignore the clock setting on all the stations and just record when the system clock thinks it's the right time? I'd much rather worry about dealing with system clock drift than having my recordings randomly not happen because the station forgot what time it is.
Does the TViX allow you to configure it for static IP, or is DHCP mandatory? I don't have a DHCP server configured, so if I can't force the TViX to use a set address, I guess I would have to set up DHCP to use its file-sharing abilities.
Regarding the lack of CC support, I assume this is a problem because enabling captions on the TV also won't let you see them when watching a recording? I thought the whole point of HDMI was to send the picture information digitally and let the TV decode it, to prevent the signal degradation associated with analogue video cables. If that's the case and the TViX is sending the original video stream that it captured to the TV, the captions ought to work. If the TViX is decoding the stream itself and just sending the decoded picture digitally, then I guess that explains why nothing will make the captions appear. It's kind of sad, considering I can record DTV on my VCR and enable the captions on my HDTV, haha.
How does the TViX handle aspect ratios? I've seen on a Blu-ray player that when you output to 720p and then play a DVD with a 4:3 aspect ratio, the content is stretched and distorted to fill the 16:9 screen. Is the TViX smart enough to detect and preserve the aspect ratio or at least give you the option to fix it manually when it isn't detected?

I guess that's all that comes to mind at present. Thanks for any advice you folks can provide. :D

Well, I finally finished reading this topic after a few days, haha. It looks as though unlike the DTVPal, the TViX has actually made quite a bit of progress over the years. I'd still like to clarify a few things though, if I can...


One of the main complaints I've seen regarding the DTVPal over the years is that it has no manual clock setting, so stations with faulty PSIP information can ruin your ability to record by skewing your clock. Does the manual clock setting on the TViX cause it to completely ignore the clock setting on all the stations and just record when the system clock thinks it's the right time? I'd much rather worry about dealing with system clock drift than having my recordings randomly not happen because the station forgot what time it is.
Does the TViX allow you to configure it for static IP, or is DHCP mandatory? I don't have a DHCP server configured, so if I can't force the TViX to use a set address, I guess I would have to set up DHCP to use its file-sharing abilities.
Regarding the lack of CC support, I assume this is a problem because enabling captions on the TV also won't let you see them when watching a recording? I thought the whole point of HDMI was to send the picture information digitally and let the TV decode it, to prevent the signal degradation associated with analogue video cables. If that's the case and the TViX is sending the original video stream that it captured to the TV, the captions ought to work. If the TViX is decoding the stream itself and just sending the decoded picture digitally, then I guess that explains why nothing will make the captions appear. It's kind of sad, considering I can record DTV on my VCR and enable the captions on my HDTV, haha.
How does the TViX handle aspect ratios? I've seen on a Blu-ray player that when you output to 720p and then play a DVD with a 4:3 aspect ratio, the content is stretched and distorted to fill the 16:9 screen. Is the TViX smart enough to detect and preserve the aspect ratio or at least give you the option to fix it manually when it isn't detected?

I guess that's all that comes to mind at present. Thanks for any advice you folks can provide. :D

1 - Manual or internet clock setting. No PSIP or TVGOS needed. I use internet. See previous posts on time.
2 - DHCP works. I set my router to have a reservation for the unit. No clue on file sharing.
3 - No idea on CC.
4 - It doesn't do anything. Use your TV to change it. If you select 16:9 output and watch 4:3 over a 720p/1080i signal on a 16:9 TV, you get barn doors.

Above may or may not be true. It won't hurt my feelings if you make corrections.

Thanks for the reply. From what I've read in the topic, most people seem to be using the Internet time setting, rather than the manual one, so I wanted to see if anyone could confirm that the manual time mode worked correctly. My Internet connection is shoddy and likes to reset multiple times a day, so since I can't trust that there will be a connection available for the TViX to use for checking an NTP server, I think it's better to disable all time synchronization to prevent it from getting confused when it can't update the clock.

As for DHCP, I was just hoping I wouldn't have to go through the trouble of setting up a DHCP server for one device, since static IP is much more convenient and doesn't require one.

Thanks for the reply. From what I've read in the topic, most people seem to be using the Internet time setting, rather than the manual one, so I wanted to see if anyone could confirm that the manual time mode worked correctly. My Internet connection is shoddy and likes to reset multiple times a day, so since I can't trust that there will be a connection available for the TViX to use for checking an NTP server, I think it's better to disable all time synchronization to prevent it from getting confused when it can't update the clock.

As for DHCP, I was just hoping I wouldn't have to go through the trouble of setting up a DHCP server for one device, since static IP is much more convenient and doesn't require one.

I can add a bit more clarity to your 4 questions.

1. My conclusion is that most people use the internet clock setting. Once you've got the timezone and DSt settings right, it will be solid. As you've already discovered PSIP data is untrustworthy. You can use a manual clock setting but the way I see it, you can use the internet option even if your connection is flaky. It will be a good as manual when offline and if you do have internet it will simply sync it. If the syncing fails, it will just leave the time alone - same as manual. My experience indicates that the internet sync occurs at maximum once every 15 minutes (or more clearly, the last time I buggered with the time, it took about 15 minutes before I saw the time corrected).

2. You can use manually set IP (on wired, I assume it is the same for wireless). I don't use wireless for my own reasons but you do need to manually select whether the TVIX will use wired or wireless in the menus if you have both. It won't auto-switch. I don't see why the file sharing would not work with a manual IP.

3. The TVIX records the CC onto the file but simply lacks the capability of processing it internally and embedding onto the video. I can't answer the question of CC onto the HDMI because my set up doesn't support that.

4. There is a button that toggles
- Letter Box
- 16:9
- 16:10
- Zoom1 (makes typical widescreen content too thin)
- Zoom2 (same as zoom1 but shows more vertical)
- Pan/Scan (4:3)
With respect to playing live or recorded ATSC, if your systems are matched, you can toggle it to view the correct aspect ratio. What I mean by matched systems is that if you are using the RCA composite video output to an old 4:3 TV, you can use either Letter Box or Pan/Scan and everything will be the correct aspect ratio. If you use HDMI to a 16:9 TV, then set it to 16:9 and again everything will be the correct aspect ratio. Except files that have an inherent aspect ratio problem, for those times, I've been able to use the aspect ratio button to correct the problem. All this is standard stuff, not specific to the TVIX. But the TVIX handles it quite well.

Sometimes at 16:9 non-high def content won't fill the screen. There is a button that allows zooming or out. My experience is that dialing up 125% fills everything perfectly.

Hi All,

I'm answering my own question from way back because I didn't remember seeing anyone answer this.

You have to be in HDTV mode.

If two recordings are occurring, of course you're locked to only switching between the two channels so you know what's being recorded.

If only one is being recorded and you're on that channel, we can see the red dot and in the INFO button also indicates it is recording that channel.

My original problem was when you're recording only one channel and not on that channel. The solution is to press the GOTO button and it will show the channel list with a recording marker next to the channel being recorded. Still have to change to it to know the details of the recording...

Enjoy!

Hi All,

As I previously noted, my WDTV Live does not play the recorded files but the Patriot Box Office plays them fine.

Any others? I want another.

That sounds like you are missing EPG data. The top item on the right is usualy "EPG" meaning record the rest of the program.

What do you get when you press the "Info" button? Do you get program name and progress on the left? Do you have the correct time on the right?

How does your unit get the time (manual, NTP, or DTV)? If you are set to DTV and the station is not broadcasting time info in their PSIP, that could really screw things up!

OK it actually is a rectangular box that is titled RECORDING, followed bye EPG, Free Space, 30 min, 60 min, etc..
The UNKNOWN appears in another smaller rectangular box with the letters UNKNOWN. It actually appears over the top of the Recording box. It then disappears and shortly after the Recording box disappears.

"info" I get all the proper information. Matches all the other channels.

Time is set to NETWORK.

Keep in mind KDNL always recorded no proplem. While watching the recording it stopped recording and I can longer record that channel. All other channels record fine.

That sounds like you are missing EPG data. The top item on the right is usualy "EPG" meaning record the rest of the program.

What do you get when you press the "Info" button? Do you get program name and progress on the left? Do you have the correct time on the right?

How does your unit get the time (manual, NTP, or DTV)? If you are set to DTV and the station is not broadcasting time info in their PSIP, that could really screw things up!

But does it have that special red ball showing it is recording? Is there a file created?

I am way too familiar with that big RED meatball. NO, no meatball. It doesn't record. No "R" next to DTV 30-1. No file in the KDNL folder. "UNKNOWN" is all I get that is different from any information I am familiar with.
Thanks

Thanks for the information, dornanu. One more question regarding the aspect ratio: if you're watching content that's at a low resolution and doesn't fill the screen, does the zoom function automatically center the image when you enlarge it, or do you also have to manually position the image? My LG HDTV's zoom option requires you to position the image manually, which is tedious enough that I try to avoid having to use the feature. If the TViX lets you automatically fill the screen while positioning the image and preserving the aspect ratio, then that would be perfect, IMHO.

Regarding hard drives, would something like this work?:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148681

I do not have access to a Vista/7 machine, so I need a HDD that I can format from XP or the TViX itself, and I've had good results with Seagate in the past. I would assume that the increase in RPM from 5400 to 5900 wouldn't create too much extra heat, but I can search for a 5400 RPM drive if it's necessary. I'm guessing this particular drive's "SmartAlign" is the backwards compatibility feature of combining the 512-byte read requests into the 4K format automatically, which is why it's listed as being more compatible than other 4K drives, like the WD Green ones. Is that a relatively accurate assessment?

I do not have access to a Vista/7 machine, so I need a HDD that I can format from XP or the TViX itself, and I've had good results with Seagate in the past. I would assume that the increase in RPM from 5400 to 5900 wouldn't create too much extra heat, but I can search for a 5400 RPM drive if it's necessary. I'm guessing this particular drive's "SmartAlign" is the backwards compatibility feature of combining the 512-byte read requests into the 4K format automatically, which is why it's listed as being more compatible than other 4K drives, like the WD Green ones. Is that a relatively accurate assessment?

The drive I selected last month: HITACHI Deskstar HDT725050VLA360 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3 Gb/s. I bought for $50 on eBay. I used the USB port to format it (full format) from my XP machine, but stopped after I found it would take six hours. I then used my laptop running Win7. No problems once I deleted the existing FAT partition - it was used. I have filled it up to check for bad sectors.

A temperature probe on the fan output made it to 90F and stayed there. The ambient temp is about 70F. Since it only runs when on, it cools off. Many DVR units run 24/7. I have one that has 30,000 hours on its HDD. Its temperature is 102F as reported with the S.M.A.R.T. system.

It would be nice if we could buy mounting brackets. I hope this info helps.

Steve, are you still able to tune KDNL for live viewing on TViX? If not, my guess is that the channel mapping got deleted from the box somehow and you'll have to rescan your channels.

TP,
All channels are fine. Re-scanned anyway. It didn't help.
See some other of my posts above.
Found something new. I'm trying to delete the KDNL-DT folder and it says, "Warning Remove dir error." Then "OK" no YES or NO option.
I have no problem deleting any other folder.

Thanks
Steve

Thanks for the information, dornanu. One more question regarding the aspect ratio: if you're watching content that's at a low resolution and doesn't fill the screen, does the zoom function automatically center the image when you enlarge it, or do you also have to manually position the image? My LG HDTV's zoom option requires you to position the image manually, which is tedious enough that I try to avoid having to use the feature. If the TViX lets you automatically fill the screen while positioning the image and preserving the aspect ratio, then that would be perfect, IMHO

....

like the WD Green ones. Is that a relatively accurate assessment?

The image is centred and the zoom naturally keeps it centred (the centre of the content stays centred on the centre of the TV). However, while in zoom mode, you do have the option of manually positioning the image with the up/down/left/right keys. If you stop the video or get interrupted for a recording, you'll have to re-zoom but it's quick and easy.

Basically, for me most content simply fills the screen. For the times that it does not, I press the zoom button which brings up the zoom/pan menu in the upper right corner which the video continues to play, then volume up twice (it make sense) to zoom to 3x (which works out to 120%) then the channel up to increase in 1% increments to 125%, then zoom again to close the menu.

With respect to the drive, the Seagate looks to me like it will work. I bought a WD green drive and downloaded the XP WDAlign (I think this was what it is called) tool from the WD website and formatted the drive in XP.

TP,
All channels are fine. Re-scanned anyway. It didn't help.
See some other of my posts above.
Found something new. I'm trying to delete the KDNL-DT folder and it says, "Warning Remove dir error." Then "OK" no YES or NO option.
I have no problem deleting any other folder.

Thanks
Steve

Now were getting somewhere! My guess is that the folder somehow got made read-only. Hook it up to your PC and reset its permissions to R/W.

Now were getting somewhere! My guess is that the folder somehow got made read-only. Hook it up to your PC and reset its permissions to R/W.

Maybe the next update the programmers can remove the code that makes a folder read only? Taking code out is always easier than adding it.

I don't think that there's any code to do such, since nobody else has seen this issue AFAIK, but rather that it was some sort of glitch that occurred during that strange episode when Steve's TViX stopped recording the channel.

EDIT to avoid confusing new readers of this thread: Subsequent to Joe's post below, I confirmed that all TViX folders are normally marked R/O, so that was not the source of Steve's problem. Rather, as Steve found out two posts below this one, it was caused by some incomplete file operation that left some sort of detritus in one folder and made it impossible to write new files into that folder or even to delete it.

I don't think that there's any code to do such, since nobody else has seen this issue AFAIK, but rather that it was some sort of glitch that occurred during that strange episode when Steve's TViX stopped recording the channel.

Ok, that's not a problem. Then remove the code that checks for a r/o folder. Unless there is a reason to have a r/o folder.

UPDATE:
According to Win7 on my laptop, all the channel folders under PVR have the r/o attribute set. So ignore previous posts on this problem.

Still wish I could get a HDD cradle.

Now were getting somewhere! My guess is that the folder somehow got made read-only. Hook it up to your PC and reset its permissions to R/W.

I connected it to the computer. All I can see is the folders like PVR, BT, etc..
I opened the PVR folder and looked at the properties of all the folders and the attributes are all set at Read Only. However, I unchecked the one pertaining to the KDNL folder and it asked this folder only I said yes. Got out and rechecked properties, still Read Only is checked.
I tried to delete the folder and I got the following:
"Cannot Delete KDNL-DT: The Directory is not Empty" (There is nothing showing in the folder that I can see)

My solution was to rename the folder.
I tried recording 30-1 KDNL and it made a new folder and now works.
I have a corrupt folder I can't get rid of, but I can live with that.

Thanks for all the help.

Steve

Schedule forgets one specific channel

It took a while to figure out what has been happening with the Record Schedule function.

I noticed that once in a while, it forgot a "Record Daily" program item on channel CITV.
Then today I noticed that it all recordings for channel CITV. Even the ones that
have not been recored and including the ones that are marked every day or every
Tuesday.

Yes, I can delete the folder for channel CITV and have done so.

So what is going on? Everytime I set up a recording for channel CITV, or multiple recordings
for same, once the PVR records one program for CITV, it removes all scheduled recordings
for channel CITV.

UPDATE: Fixed it. The problem was PEBKAC. I was not using the Record Schedule function
properly. Took a while to realise what I was doing wrong. Nothing to see here. Move along :)

I tried recording 30-1 KDNL and it made a new folder and now works. I have a corrupt folder I can't get rid of, but I can live with that.Steve, the folders are normally created as R/O, but the files within are not. From the symptoms that you described in your final post on this above it's clear that there was some sort of glitch during the writing of the last channel 30-1 file. Did you try running either the TViX' own or the PC's chkdsk function? I suspect that doing so would clear that bogus file fragment so that you can delete the old renamed folder.

Schedule forgets one specific channel

It took a while to figure out what has been happening with the Record Schedule function.

I noticed that once in a while, it forgot a "Record Daily" program item on channel CITV.
Then today I noticed that it all recordings for channel CITV. Even the ones that
have not been recored and including the ones that are marked every day or every
Tuesday.

Yes, I can delete the folder for channel CITV and have done so.

So what is going on? Everytime I set up a recording for channel CITV, or multiple recordings
for same, once the PVR records one program for CITV, it removes all scheduled recordings
for channel CITV.Rick, I'm confused. You start by saying that this amnesia happened only occasionally but your conclusion seems to suggest that it's happening routinely. Which is it? Have you confirmed that this only occurs for one channel? And is that an OTA or CATV channel?

Rick, I'm confused. You start by saying that this amnesia happened only occasionally but your conclusion seems to suggest that it's happening routinely. Which is it? Have you confirmed that this only occurs for one channel? And is that an OTA or CATV channel?

Thanks for wading through my ill-written post. Rather than correct it, I'll move on and answer the above questions.

ANY scheduled recording for channel CITV that is periodically repeated, i.e. Daily or Weekly, is promptly forgotten by the PVR after the first instance is recorded.

This is not occurring on other channels, as far as I can tell. I have not tested all channels yet. I am re-resting CITV tonight, with a Weekly recording. But I am not crossing my fingers.

CITV is an OTA channel.

and a mini-rant:
I did read with dismay a posting above about R-O and R-W settings on files and folders in the PVR area of the HDD. I am encountering similar nonsense with my Movies sub-folders. I can copy files from my PC to sub-folders in Movies. But when I try to rename some of the those folders I am told by SAMBA that I do not have permissions to do so. On other folders therein, yup, I can rename them. Then I invoke a shell and recursively list the entire contents of the SMB mount (called venus) - call it black magic, but reading all directory entries on the mount did something. And voila! I can now rename the sub-folders that I was previously unable to. I know the SAMBA authors rev.engineered Microsoft's tortuous SMB protocol to get the thing working, but it seems it still has a way to go, even after all these years.
-- end of rant

And addendum to my original HDD troubles: I unplugged the HDD from the PVR. Then I plugged it into a Windows 7 box to copy some files from it to the local hard drive. I then unplugged the HDD, without doing a "Safe Unmount", reasoning that the HDD should be fine since I was only reading from it. How wrong I was. Windows 7 wrote to the HDD and as a result of my unplugging it, the drive became corrupt. I have tried to repair the disk several times with Windows 7, which tells me that the journal is populated with unwritten entries. But to no avail. Now Windows and the Mac cannot read the drive at all. I plugged it back into the PVR and the drive works just fine. NTFS seems to be a very questionable file system when such variability in reliability and recoverability is experienced across Windows, Mac and Linux. Give me ext2 or 3 or better any day.

Rick, I have it on good authority that EXT3 formatting of a TViX HDD works fine if you care to set that up. (Of course, that means that you can't simply connect the HDD directly to a Win7 PC anymore, without adding some drivers that is)

Rick, I have it on good authority that EXT3 formatting of a TViX HDD works fine if you care to set that up. (Of course, that means that you can't simply connect the HDD directly to a Win7 PC anymore, without adding some drivers that is)

Thanks TP. I may get another SATA drive to test out various formats. Would be good to know if the Linux running on the PVR recognises the EXT family, as well as the Mac's HFS+ family of file systems.

Now to figure out how to ssh to the PVR. Anyone done this?

Final note about file security: the FTP server on the PVR rightfully requests a username and password to login. I wonder why the SMB mount called venus is totally public and open? The latter is totally insecure and does bother me.

I get logged into the PVR just fine. Can see directories on the PVR in the FileZilla application. When I try to transfer files I get the error message 421 1 users(the maximum) already logged in. How do I fix this problem?

Status: Directory listing successful
Status: Connecting to 192.168.1.71:21...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Response: 421 1 users (the maximum) are already logged in
Error: Could not connect to server
Status: Delaying connection for 5 seconds due to previously failed connection attempt...
Status: Connecting to 192.168.1.71:21...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Response: 421 1 users (the maximum) are already logged in
Error: Could not connect to server
Status: Delaying connection for 5 seconds due to previously failed connection attempt...
Status: Connecting to 192.168.1.71:21...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Response: 421 1 users (the maximum) are already logged in
Error: Could not connect to server




Thanks,

Russ

I get logged into the PVR just fine. Can see directories on the PVR in the FileZilla application. When I try to transfer files I get the error message 421 1 users(the maximum) already logged in. How do I fix this problem?

Status: Directory listing successful
Status: Connecting to 192.168.1.71:21...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Response: 421 1 users (the maximum) are already logged in
Error: Could not connect to server
Status: Delaying connection for 5 seconds due to previously failed connection attempt...


Try power cycling the PVR.
Once that is done, try the file transfer again.

I have no trouble logging in with FTP and grabbing files.

Try power cycling the PVR.
Once that is done, try the file transfer again.

I have no trouble logging in with FTP and grabbing files.
Thanks. Tried it. No luck. The response I got from TVIX support was http://www.tvix.co.kr/ENG/faq/default.aspx?bserial=0&act=RD&pg=2&gText=TViXPVR&pSerial=79&id=381 was how to set up FileZilla. This did not work either. Don't know if it is an issue with FileZilla setup or a problem with the PVR... Not sure what to try next..

Thanks,
Russ

Thanks. Tried it. No luck. The response I got from TVIX support was http://www.tvix.co.kr/ENG/faq/default.aspx?bserial=0&act=RD&pg=2&gText=TViXPVR&pSerial=79&id=381 was how to set up FileZilla. This did not work either. Don't know if it is an issue with FileZilla setup or a problem with the PVR... Not sure what to try next..

Thanks,
Russ
Found the answer at http://wiki.filezilla-project.org/Using

The wiki site had a better explanation of setting the max users to 1 in the connection manager. All is good.

Now as to why the PVR's FTP service is set to one connection max is anyone's guess.

And why FileZilla by default is making multiple connections is another anyone's guess.

Interesting how multiple independent processes can conspire against us.

Hi All,

Just updating my previous question. I got a WDTV Live Streaming (model number WDBHG70000NBK). Not surprisingly, the results are exactly the same as the WDTV Live (non-plus).

So the current score is:

Patriot Box Office - Thumbs up!

WDTV Live (non-plus) & WDTV Live Streaming
- Only one file played ever
- Other files generate the unsupported format message but also stop the device from playing most other normally supported files requiring a reboot to correct.

I decided to jump on the TViX bandwagon, so I now own a unit, too. :D Everything's working as expected, although there is one thing happening that I wanted to see if anyone else has observed.

When the TViX turns off, it makes a rather loud click/clunk noise, almost like a physical switch is being thrown. The unit doesn't exhibit any problems when it's running, but since I don't remember seeing anyone else post about this, I thought I'd ask if it's normal or an indication of some kind of problem. I'm hoping it's just related to cutting the power, or something.

I decided to jump on the TViX bandwagon, so I now own a unit, too. :D Everything's working as expected, although there is one thing happening that I wanted to see if anyone else has observed.

When the TViX turns off, it makes a rather loud click/clunk noise, almost like a physical switch is being thrown. The unit doesn't exhibit any problems when it's running, but since I don't remember seeing anyone else post about this, I thought I'd ask if it's normal or an indication of some kind of problem. I'm hoping it's just related to cutting the power, or something.
No loud click/clunk noise at shutoff with my PVR.

Have your tried powering down with the HDD removed? Perhaps
the external disk is a loud sleeper.

It didn't make the noise before installing the HDD, so I opened the grate and got close to it during a power down just now. Judging by the direction the sound is coming from, it would seem that the HDD clicks when it shuts off. It's very quiet and doesn't make any weird noises when it's running, so perhaps it's due to parking the heads when the drive turns off.

I'm using a Hitachi Travelstar 5K500.B, since I couldn't find any 3.5" drives that had good reviews and operated at 5400 RPM. Since the drive needs support when it's in the horizontal position, I have it resting on an upside-down plastic cap secured to the bottom of the drive bay. It keeps the drive straight, and a lip on the cap prevents the drive from moving and working its way loose from vibration. I looked in the drive bay with a flashlight as the system was shutting down, and I didn't notice any movement from the drive when it clicked, so it appears to be happening internally and without relation to the mounting technique.

At least the problem doesn't seem to be with the TViX unit itself. I guess I'll just have to hope that the drive will continue to operate. If not, Hitachi gives a three-year warranty...

It didn't make the noise before installing the HDD, so I opened the grate and got close to it during a power down just now. Judging by the direction the sound is coming from, it would seem that the HDD clicks when it shuts off. It's very quiet and doesn't make any weird noises when it's running, so perhaps it's due to parking the heads when the drive turns off.

I'm using a Hitachi Travelstar 5K500.B, since I couldn't find any 3.5" drives that had good reviews and operated at 5400 RPM. Since the drive needs support when it's in the horizontal position, I have it resting on an upside-down plastic cap secured to the bottom of the drive bay. It keeps the drive straight, and a lip on the cap prevents the drive from moving and working its way loose from vibration. I looked in the drive bay with a flashlight as the system was shutting down, and I didn't notice any movement from the drive when it clicked, so it appears to be happening internally and without relation to the mounting technique.

At least the problem doesn't seem to be with the TViX unit itself. I guess I'll just have to hope that the drive will continue to operate. If not, Hitachi gives a three-year warranty...

My old 5000 will do this and I am 99.99% sure it is the hard drive arm locking into place when the spindle powers down to protect the platters when off. I think drives do this so that during shipping the arm doesnt crash into the platters, thereby destroying the new drive even before it see the end user?

Now as to why the PVR's FTP service is set to one connection max is anyone's guess.

And why FileZilla by default is making multiple connections is another anyone's guess.

Interesting how multiple independent processes can conspire against us.

Probably because it does not have the processing power to support multiple FTP threads, concurrently with decoding/playing back high bitrate AV content, thereby ensuring a minimum QOS level. Just my guess.

Filezilla is a program for general purpose computers, many of which today have absolutely no problem handling 10+ threads devoted to the FTP service. So this default makes sense to 99.999999999% of the user demographic.

My old 5000 will do this and I am 99.99% sure it is the hard drive arm locking into place when the spindle powers down to protect the platters when off. I think drives do this so that during shipping the arm doesnt crash into the platters, thereby destroying the new drive even before it see the end user?
My understanding is that laptop HDDs also park their heads when they turn off to prevent damage to the installed drive when the laptop is moving. It's not necessary in a stationary device like the TViX, but I'm glad it doesn't seem to be a sign of a faulty unit or HDD.

I've also been able to answer my question about the closed-caption support over HDMI: the TViX uses the HDMI to send commands to the HDTV to disable its caption menu. Not only do closed captions not work when watching live or recorded TV from the TViX, but the caption menu is greyed-out and can't be selected at all.

I wonder what the odds are of the TViX getting a final firmware update at this point, now that the Xroid is out? I'm tempted to post a feature request on the My Q&A forum to see if it gets any results. Realistically, I'm guessing there might be a chance of getting support for closed captions and having the TViX auto-detect duration changes in recorded files, so you can have proper chase-play support without having to stop and reload the video to get the TViX to discover the new length of the file. Fixing the new ION-related crashing problem and removing the "meatball" might also be possibilities.

Is it worth making a feature request on the official TViX forum, or is it pretty certain that the TViX isn't going to get updated again? None of the unit's shortcomings are particularly problematic for me (including a few minor bugs I've noticed), but I know other people who would want one if it had support for closed captions.

Is it worth making a feature request on the official TViX forum, or is it pretty certain that the TViX isn't going to get updated again? None of the unit's shortcomings are particularly problematic for me (including a few minor bugs I've noticed), but I know other people who would want one if it had support for closed captions.

A fix request is simple to do but hard to receive. And don't forget to adjust the clock for DST. That request is been around for a while.

I've also been able to answer my question about the closed-caption support over HDMI: the TViX uses the HDMI to send commands to the HDTV to disable its caption menu. Not only do closed captions not work when watching live or recorded TV from the TViX, but the caption menu is greyed-out and can't be selected at all.AFAIK, DTVCC data packets from the transport stream are not relayed via HDMI and I don't think that the old "Line 21" CC data stream makes sense there either. That's the most likely reason that your TV's CC menu is grayed out when you're watching an HDMI input.

Supporting DTVCC would require some considerable coding effort at Minevox and I'm not optimistic about that's happening at this point for the M6620--much as I would like to see it. :(

... I've also been able to answer my question about the closed-caption support over HDMI: the TViX uses the HDMI to send commands to the HDTV to disable its caption menu. Not only do closed captions not work when watching live or recorded TV from the TViX, but the caption menu is greyed-out and can't be selected at all. ...


Remember that the M6620 will play an external subtitle file (SRT file) and you can create one from a recorded program using CCExtractor (http://ccextractor.sourceforge.net/index.html). A bit of a pain, but you get there eventually!

The importer I got mine from told me that CC support through a firmware upgrade is unlikely due to design limitations. :(

AFAIK, DTVCC data packets from the transport stream are not relayed via HDMI and I don't think that the old "Line 21" CC data stream makes sense there either. That's the most likely reason that your TV's CC menu is grayed out when you're watching an HDMI input.

Supporting DTVCC would require some considerable coding effort at Minevox and I'm not optimistic about that's happening at this point for the M6620--much as I would like to see it. :(

But dont they support a tuner option and are therefore required by US regulation to support closed caption decoding and display? Could their products be banned from import to the USA or fined if they are not in compliance with FCC regs? If so, maybe someone should file a written complaint with the FCC-not that they will do anything about it?

AFAIK, DTVCC data packets from the transport stream are not relayed via HDMI and I don't think that the old "Line 21" CC data stream makes sense there either. That's the most likely reason that your TV's CC menu is grayed out when you're watching an HDMI input.
The thing that baffles me is that my old (and far more primitive) setup did work with CC. After the digital transition in 2009, I had to use a Zenith DTV converter box connected to my VCR with composite cables to record anything, and I also had to connect the VCR to the TV with composite cables.

If I play back a VHS tape recorded using the converter box on my HDTV, not only is the caption menu available, but it displays the captions from the tape. If such "ancient" technology works to deliver captions, it's hard to believe that there's no way to make the TViX work, especially since it records the raw transport stream and preserves the caption data. Even if the TViX can't parse the .tp file to detect the subtitles itself, you'd think that there would be a way to send the information to the TV to let it do the decoding and display instead.

It's also kind of baffling that they put so much effort into the subtitle support in the TViX by letting you change the size and position of the text (which is a feature I've never seen in another unit), yet they don't support the most basic and important source of captions for a box designed to record TV broadcasts.

To be clear, this isn't meant as some anti-TViX rant; I love my box and consider it a huge upgrade from the VCR I was using. I just find it unlikely that the difficulty in adding CC support is as high as people seem to think it is. Then again, perhaps it's due to the same firmware limitations that prevent the TViX from silently recording shows without interrupting what you're watching. One would also think that it would be easy to make a fix for that problem, but if the initialization procedure for DTV recordings was designed in such a way as to prevent it, it could take far more effort than the developers are willing to expend to fix that limitation, too.

Regarding the CCExtractor option, since raw HDTV dumps are so large, it would take a significant amount of time to transfer files from the TViX to a PC so that the subtitle data could be extracted. The only way around this that I can think of is if the TViX was connected via NFS to a computer, CCExtractor might be able to see the .tp file as though it was on a local disk, and then it could parse the file, extract the captions, and place the SRT directly on the TViX HDD without having to download the entire show from the TViX first.

If such a method would work, somebody might be able to create a CCExtractor automation program or script that would check the TViX PVR directory every X hours for new files and automatically dump the subtitles without requiring any user interaction. That would be almost as good as having native CC support, but I imagine there are other limitations that would prevent it from working, not to mention that somebody would need to create such an automation program first. It's an idea, at least. Since CCExtractor is already designed to be called from scripts, it might work in some form.

Regarding the CCExtractor option, since raw HDTV dumps are so large, it would take a significant amount of time to transfer files from the TViX to a PC so that the subtitle data could be extracted. The only way around this that I can think of is if the TViX was connected via NFS to a computer, CCExtractor might be able to see the .tp file as though it was on a local disk, and then it could parse the file, extract the captions, and place the SRT directly on the TViX HDD without having to download the entire show from the TViX first.

If such a method would work, somebody might be able to create a CCExtractor automation program or script that would check the TViX PVR directory every X hours for new files and automatically dump the subtitles without requiring any user interaction. That would be almost as good as having native CC support, but I imagine there are other limitations that would prevent it from working, not to mention that somebody would need to create such an automation program first. It's an idea, at least. Since CCExtractor is already designed to be called from scripts, it might work in some form.

I have an old Win XP laptop connected to the TViX via my home network. I just map the TViX drive and run CCExtractor. No other devices needed. CCextractor can see the TViX drive where the shows are. It does not have to move the file to the laptop. Using all CCExtractor defaults, I just drop the file name into it and go. It then makes the srt file in the same folder as the show. Very easy. Now the only thing left to do is to automate the process.

Disto,

I'm glad you confirmed that CCExtractor can operate on the TP files over the network without having to transfer the files to the PC first. How long does it take for CCExtractor to finish a file? Is the process significantly slower than when it operates on a local file? Also, are you using SMB or the TViX NetShare/NFS program for the sharing?

Automating the process could probably be done with a shell script or batch file, since CCExtractor is a command-line utility. I assume the basic process would be to recursively check for TP files on the TViX HDD, read in their names, and then check to see if there was a SRT file with the same name. If so, skip to the next file; if not, process the file.

It took an old Sempron 800mhz 1gig ram XP laptop connected via a 100 megabit lan just under 20 minutes to do a 1 hour show. The file was 7gig in size. Just using simple file sharing mapped drive on the laptop and TViX. Using a faster computer should decrease the time until the lan and/or harddrive saturate in data transfer speed.

... I would select Live TV, pick a channel (I did this several times) picking a different channel each time, and in about 30 seconds or less the box would shut off. This was different from the Ion TV issue in that the guide was populating correctly and everything seemed normal. ...

Frustrating behavior....

I got mine M5520N for about 3 months, it works most of the things I want to do. Yesterday I noticed the same behavior you mentioned above: it shuts itself down while I was watching a recorded program. I turned the box back on, and it shuts down repeated. This morning I tried it again and it seems to be fine now. Anyone has found the reason for this?

DST is here ... but PVR does not grab correct time

Is it just me?

DST has kicked in, and the only piece of electronic gear here that did not spring ahead
one hour was the PVR. Why? Dunno.

So, I set the PVR to Manual Time and fixed the time up. Then I set the PVR to "Time from TV",
using channel CITV which has the correct DST time. The PVR did not pick up the correct time,
and actually insisted in going back one hour.

Then, I set the PVR to "Time from Network". No dice. It would not recognise the correct
DST time, and insisted going back one hour.

What gives?

No more firmware upgrades?

I have read talk on this forum of late that there may be no more firmware
upgrades.

What gives? I bought this unit two months ago! From dealer, new, no less.
Not used. And I expected the get firmware upgrades into the foreseeable future.

Any word on this?

accessing venus twice simultaneously

On Computer 1, I am accessing the PVR's venus SMB mount just fine.

Then on Computer 2, I try the same, but receive the error message "Access denied."

My question: is the venus SMB mount configured to allow only one access at a time? If so, why?

@ wintinbin

Regarding DST, I assume you restarted the TViX after you changed it to get the time over the network, right? I noticed that changing DST to "on" had no effect on mine immediately, but after turning the unit off, it had the correct time the next day when I turned it on again. I'm guessing the TViX checks the time server at boot time. Since your post didn't explicitly mention it, I'll also note that you do have to change the DST option by hand; the TViX cannot adjust for DST automatically when you're using PSIP or network time.

Regarding firmware, DVICo never made any promises about updating the firmware, so we can't have any expectations regarding something they never said they would do. The 2.1.0 firmware is far more stable and has far more features than the original one, so the TViX has already come very far since its initial release. Seeing as the Xroid is going to supercede the TViX once a model comes out with DTV tuners, it wouldn't be surprising if the TViX didn't get any more firmware updates.

There have been no official announcements regarding the support status of the unit from DVICo, so we don't know what's going to happen. What we have to ask is, "What would a new firmware accomplish?" There isn't much to be done at this point, except to do things that DVICo has already stated won't happen, like adding CC support. Fixing the ION bug would be nice, but nobody's been able to make logs that would help them solve the problem, to my knowledge.

Regarding SMB, you're ahead of me. I tried typing the \\x.x.x.x IP address of my TViX into the Windows Explorer URL bar, and I got an error. I'm guessing the TViX can't do SMB without NetBIOS support, and since I have it disabled on my computer for security reasons, I probably won't be able to get files from the TViX without using FTP or USB. Oh well. If there's another way to see the TViX HDD contents over the network, I'd be interested to know what it is. From the documentation, it seems that the TViX doesn't have a NFS or UPnP server to go with its SMB one.

Anyway, it's already been established that the TViX only supports 1 FTP connection, so it likely has the same limitation for SMB. Earlier speculation in this topic surmised it might be due to hardware limitations, although it could be due to a sub-optimal design decision, too.

DST is here ... but PVR does not grab correct timeDST has kicked in, and the only piece of electronic gear here that did not spring ahead one hour was the PVR. Why? Dunno.Rick, as Aleron pointed out, the TViX does not have an Auto setting for DST. You must manually toggle the DST flag setting between On and Off when Daylight Savings Time starts and stops. This is all the more confusing because it does not then immediately change its time display unless you reboot the box.

BTW, how did your experiments with recurring recordings turn out? I don't recall seeing a post about that....

I have a universal remote and I am trying to do an auto scan in order to find a working code. Does anyone know what kind of class or category of device I should start with. Should I scan as a TV or a PVR or a something else?

Tony, save yourself effort and grief by getting a Harmony remote to integrate your HT setup. The Harmony database already has the TViX codes and you can select it by name. Plus, setting up and using a Harmony is much easier than the more primitive types. You can probably find a Harmony on sale for not much more than those others too.

Thanks for the info. I have a good learning remote. I just wanted to save a bit of time. Personally, I am a 'Lots of buttons' on my remote type of guy. I do not like the 'Activity' type of remote like the Harmony. None of the Harmony remotes have enough buttons for me.

I got mine M5520N for about 3 months, it works most of the things I want to do. Yesterday I noticed the same behavior you mentioned above: it shuts itself down while I was watching a recorded program. I turned the box back on, and it shuts down repeated. This morning I tried it again and it seems to be fine now. Anyone has found the reason for this?

I've had mine for almost a year now and this just started as well. Mine is powering off within a couple of minutes of turning it on. Doesn't matter if it is watching live or recorded. I've even yanked the power for a minute and the behavior continues.

I should add that I'm running the latest firmware and haven't done any additional channel scans. AFAIK, the ION problem in fixed on the 6620N anyway right? I guess I'll see who my local ION is and remove those channels just in case.

AFAIK, the ION problem in fixed on the 6620N anyway right? I guess I'll see who my local ION is and remove those channels just in case.
There was a problem with ION channels around the same time the box was released, but that problem was fixed in a firmware update. A new problem has appeared since then, and it isn't fixed. If your ION affiliate is broadcasting the encrypted MPEG-4 AirBox channels, the TViX will crash and turn itself off when it attempts to read the PSIP information for your ION station when it populates the program guide. The only way to fix the problem is to delete ION and its subchannels from the channel list, so the TViX won't try to scan them anymore. If you can't manage to do that before the TViX crashes, unplug the antenna connection first.

There was a problem with ION channels around the same time the box was released, but that problem was fixed in a firmware update. A new problem has appeared since then, and it isn't fixed. If your ION affiliate is broadcasting the encrypted MPEG-4 AirBox channels, the TViX will crash and turn itself off when it attempts to read the PSIP information for your ION station when it populates the program guide. The only way to fix the problem is to delete ION and its subchannels from the channel list, so the TViX won't try to scan them anymore. If you can't manage to do that before the TViX crashes, unplug the antenna connection first.

Thanks for the confirmation. I did delete the ION channels and it seems to be OK now.

I've had mine for almost a year now and this just started as well. Mine is powering off within a couple of minutes of turning it on. Doesn't matter if it is watching live or recorded. I've even yanked the power for a minute and the behavior continues.

I should add that I'm running the latest firmware and haven't done any additional channel scans. AFAIK, the ION problem in fixed on the 6620N anyway right? I guess I'll see who my local ION is and remove those channels just in case.

My 6620N has been shutting down on it's own since I purchased it. The shut downs seem to be directly tied to the Tuner section of the device as that is the only time I have noticed it shut down on its own. Yesterday I was on WPVI and noticed the clock was off so I hit menu to go into setup and it shut down.

Since it is so unreliable in tuner mode I have only been using it as a movie steaming device and picked up a Moxi DVR from eBay to use as my tuner.

DK, your shut-down issue is very likely to be caused by a local ION affiliate's new-fangled subscription-service subchannels. Delete the ION channels (all of them) from the GoTo channel list and I bet that the shut downs will cease.

If your cable channels had PSIP data they'd be sorted. Maybe you can get the cableco to do its job better?

I guess, since I get two ION channels, I should be glad the PSIP data is missing.

DK, your shut-down issue is very likely to be caused by a local ION affiliate's new-fangled subscription-service subchannels. Delete the ION channels (all of them) from the GoTo channel list and I bet that the shut downs will cease.

Ok, I deleted 60.1 60.2 and 60.3 which are the local OTA Ion station and will test it a few days and report back.

Thanks for the tip,

Mark

I had the same problems with ION. I noticed that ION channel 30.1 (Los Angeles) was playing Knotting Hill in HD and wanted to record it on my PVR. While I was watching it for just a short time, I noticed some weird scan lines on my display and very soon, the PVR turned off. I deleted the channel and my problems stopped.

I put a new WD20EARX 2TB drive in the M6620N PVR and took out the old WD20EARS 2TB drive which was about 66% full. I put the WD20EARS in a Thermaltake BlacX Duet e-SATA docking station to download the .tp files to my computer, which has an e-SATA computer connection and is very fast. I had been downloading the files to my computer using a LAN but it only carried 6.3 MB/sec. A USB 2.0 docking station could carry about 24 MB/sec but the new e-SATA docking station starts at over 100 MB/sec and ends at 37 MB/sec. I'm using VideoReDo TVSuite H.264 to cut out commercials and sometimes convert to .m2ts H.264 (27 minutes for 40-43 minute program without commercials) to burn to an AVCHD DVD-R using Roxio. My LG BD530 and LG BD560 Blu-ray players will play native .tp format but the 2 Panasonics will only play AVCHD.

I guess, since I get two ION channels, I should be glad the PSIP data is missing.Joe, it's actually not an issue for cable reception, since the cableco has no requirement and no interest in forwarding ION's subscription subchannels. ;)

If someone has a PC-based TV tuner, I wonder if logging the signal of an ION station using AirBox and sending the log to DVICo would get them to release a new firmware with a fix for the problem. Since the TViX can't even check an AirBox-enabled ION station without crashing, there's no way for a TViX user to make a log to send in with a bug report.

Also, since CCExtractor is FOSS, I wonder if DVICo could integrate similar functionality to automatically extract CC to SRT files when you record something (or maybe even get the TViX to just read the CC itself...). :p

DK, your shut-down issue is very likely to be caused by a local ION affiliate's new-fangled subscription-service subchannels. Delete the ION channels (all of them) from the GoTo channel list and I bet that the shut downs will cease.

For me, I'm sure it's not related to ION channels. I have tried several popular network stations in San Francisco 7.1, 9.1; as long as it's in TV mode, or recording, the tvix shuts itself off in about 1 minute time frame. I can not figure out what triggered into this (after 2 and half months). Finally I tried to unplug the power cord for several minutes. Now this 'shutdown by itself' problem is gone. I think this will come back later, as I mentioned, not sure what event triggered this. In our area, I think there is only two channels are ION related, 62.x something and I never watch them.

gshane--

It doesn't matter whether or not you ever watch the ION stations! If they're in the GoTo channel list and your ION affiliate is transmitting the MPEG-4 encrypted subscription subchannels, your TViX will crash when in HDTV mode. Delete the ION channels from the GoTo list and the crashing will then stop if it's caused by this issue.

However, in your prior post you said that the shut-downs occurred while watching a previously recorded show, so that makes it less likely that you were seeing the ION issue. (I'm not certain that it wasn't that, since I'm not sure whether or not the TViX performs background EIT updates in any mode other than viewing HDTV, but most people are reporting that they only see the problem when viewing HDTV)

@ gshane

As TPeterson pointed out, you don't have to actually watch an ION channel to crash the TViX. Whenever you engage the tuners by entering HDTV mode, the second tuner starts scanning all the available channels in the background to populate the EPG with PSIP information from each station. Since it's the PSIP information from ION stations that causes the TViX to crash and not the actual ION programming itself, the TViX will shut down the moment the second tuner retrieves the PSIP information for your ION affiliate. The only way to stop the TViX from scanning an ION channel and crashing is to delete ION from your channel list completely.

@ TPeterson

Since the TViX only shows the "Wait..." message when you enter HDTV mode and cause it to engage the tuners, it seems relatively certain that the TViX doesn't do a channel scan to populate the EPG if you select the option to view recordings from the main menu when you turn the box on. I think gshane meant that his TViX crashes while watching TV or making a recording of a TV program, not that it crashes while he's watching a recording. If that's correct, it explains why the TViX shuts down, as both cases would mean that the tuners were engaged, and his crash happens in the same time frame that it would take the TViX to complete its PSIP channel sweep.

Just found this thread...

Quick question.

Does anyone know the actual recording bit rate in Mbps for the TVIX PVR M-6620N, and can it be MANUALLY set to a particular quality setting, based on the end users discretion? (or is it permanently FIXED?) :confused:

Couldn't find the answer to this question on the TVIX website anywhere. :(

TIA :)

Just found this thread...

Quick question.

Does anyone know the actual recording bit rate in Mbps for the TVIX PVR M-6620N, and can it be MANUALLY set to a particular quality setting, based on the end users discretion? (or is it permanently FIXED?) :confused:

Couldn't find the answer to this question on the TVIX website anywhere. :(

TIA :)

It's not fixed and you can't set it. Content determines the rate. OTA 1080i will be about 18Mbs. A 1 hour 1080i HD program will create a file of about 8Gb depending on commercials that might lower the number if they are SD or DD2.0, and some TV's can show you the realtime bit rate.

You can control the output. Page 20.

These are estimates based on 1080i cable doing a manual recording.

Although some DVR solutions will transcode the material you record to let you save space, the TViX saves the raw broadcast. The size of each recording completely depends on what settings the station is using. An hour of HD content can be as low as 4 GiB or as high as 8 GiB, as JoeKustra said. One episode I recorded last week was 4.9 GiB, and the next week's episode was 7.8 GiB. Apparently the station manager tweaked some settings over the weekend, or something. If your HDD gets full, the TViX will let you just switch it out for an empty one, or you can transfer files from the TViX HDD to an external one via USB or LAN.

If someone has a PC-based TV tuner, I wonder if logging the signal of an ION station using AirBox and sending the log to DVICo would get them to ...

Yes, did that last December. Also offered to upload a sample, but they said they already had one. Me thinks they are dragging their feet on this one :(

Yes, did that last December. Also offered to upload a sample, but they said they already had one. Me thinks they are dragging their feet on this one :(

My last tries at bug reports in 1/2012:

Bug#1
All M-F
Schedule #1 7am - 8am channel 84.1 1080i
Schedule #2 8am - 9am channel 85.2 1080i
Schedule #3 8am - 9am channel 84.1 1080i
All clear QAM.
File names correct.
For #3, file created does not play.
Info button reports 00:00:00 - 00:59:59
Video Info: unknown
Audio Info: unknown
File Size: 6.1 GB
Counter on front panel does not move from 000000
Other two recordings are correct.
Solution?

Hello Joseph,
Sorry about all your inconveniences. We''ll check this issue again. We recommend you to fix this file with MPEG stream program.
thanks.

Bug#2
Have files named with their end time makes manual recording quite hard. It would be easier if they are saved by their start time.
This is Version 2.1.0 firmware.

Hello Joseph,
We''ll try to consider it in later.

thanks.

I gave up.

The recording timestamp problem is an easy fix, too. The text says it's telling you the creation time, but it actually reports the modification time, i.e. when the recording finished. It would be simple to fix it to read the other field and report when the recording started, but apparently we're not getting any more firmware updates. Perhaps they don't want to incur more anger by again neglecting CC support in 2.1.1. :rolleyes:

gshane--

It doesn't matter whether or not you ever watch the ION stations! If they're in the GoTo channel list and your ION affiliate is transmitting the MPEG-4 encrypted subscription subchannels, your TViX will crash when in HDTV mode. Delete the ION channels from the GoTo list and the crashing will then stop if it's caused by this issue.

However, in your prior post you said that the shut-downs occurred while watching a previously recorded show, so that makes it less likely that you were seeing the ION issue. (I'm not certain that it wasn't that, since I'm not sure whether or not the TViX performs background EIT updates in any mode other than viewing HDTV, but most people are reporting that they only see the problem when viewing HDTV)

Ok, this makes sense now. I did have those two ION channel on the GoTo list, and I removed them now. My previous message saying it shutdown itself while I was watching a replay of a program, and at the same time there was a background recording on-going. So it seems to be the same problem then. I didn't know that it does a channel sweeping at the beginning of the TV mode, and I didn't have this problem for 2 1/2 months but that could be some new changes from those stations. thanks.

gshane--

It doesn't matter whether or not you ever watch the ION stations! If they're in the GoTo channel list and your ION affiliate is transmitting the MPEG-4 encrypted subscription subchannels, your TViX will crash when in HDTV mode. Delete the ION channels from the GoTo list and the crashing will then stop if it's caused by this issue.

However, in your prior post you said that the shut-downs occurred while watching a previously recorded show, so that makes it less likely that you were seeing the ION issue. (I'm not certain that it wasn't that, since I'm not sure whether or not the TViX performs background EIT updates in any mode other than viewing HDTV, but most people are reporting that they only see the problem when viewing HDTV)

Mine still shut off even after deleting the 3 ION stations, and it crashed when I did not even go into the HDTV portion of the TVIX. I was in Movie mode and when I hit setup it shut off. That is when mine seems to shut down, when I hit the setup button. Does not do it often but it still does it. I might pull the HD out and test it for awhile just to see if it does not like the HD installed.....

It's not fixed and you can't set it. Content determines the rate. OTA 1080i will be about 18Mbs. A 1 hour 1080i HD program will create a file of about 8Gb depending on commercials that might lower the number if they are SD or DD2.0, and some TV's can show you the realtime bit rate.

You can control the output. Page 20.

These are estimates based on 1080i cable doing a manual recording.

Although some DVR solutions will transcode the material you record to let you save space, the TViX saves the raw broadcast. The size of each recording completely depends on what settings the station is using. An hour of HD content can be as low as 4 GiB or as high as 8 GiB, as JoeKustra said. One episode I recorded last week was 4.9 GiB, and the next week's episode was 7.8 GiB. Apparently the station manager tweaked some settings over the weekend, or something. If your HDD gets full, the TViX will let you just switch it out for an empty one, or you can transfer files from the TViX HDD to an external one via USB or LAN.



Thanks guys, I appreciate the detailed replys to my question. :)

One other thing...

Does anyone here have a concern/fear over the lack of COMPONENT VIDEO OUTPUTS??? (analog "hole" technology) :confused:

Kinda wondering if the broadcast content providers will figure out a way to block/restrict/frustrate the small group of us trying to archive our favorite shows again. :cool:

I've been burned before with their clever slight of hand techniques...

A few years ago, I purchased a very expensive digital video recording setup, that was setup specifically to record high-definition television shows & sporting events. (not a severely watered down SDTV or down-converted HDTV version)

I was using the IEEE 1394 Firewire input on a JVC D-VHS recorder ($$$$$) to capture the raw bitsream from a satellite set top box. Well, as some of you may already know, the content providers were not exactly thrilled about this "creative" method of recording their raw HDTV bitstream signal...so they embedded a broadcast flag into the actual bitstream that rendered my 1394 Firewire input totally useless. This digital bitstream signal manipulation effectively shut off access to the HDTV content I was trying to record. (full spectrum 1080i & 720p HDTV programming)

I was obviously bummed out, once I realized I had been effectively back-doored by the broadcasters in this regard. :mad:

So I said all that, to say this....

Does anyone here (who got the shaft before), fear that history will repeat itself? (because of the 'digital handshake' dependent HDMI 1.3 HDTV output)

As I understand it, the HDMI 1.3 digital video connection is standardized throughout the video industry. (regardless of the set-top box in question)

I wonder if they could somehow block the digital video OUTPUT(playback), in the same manner they blocked the digital video INPUT on my JVC D-VHS HDTV recorder? I never saw that bullet coming, until it hit me right between the eyes...

Please let me know if I'm just being too paranoid here. (and why) :D

Thanks guys, I appreciate the detailed replys to my question. :)

One other thing...

I was using the IEEE 1394 Firewire input on a JVC D-VHS recorder ($$$$$) to capture the raw bitsream from a satellite set top box.Please let me know if I'm just being too paranoid here. (and why) :D

I have the JVC and Mitsubishi D-VHS recorders.

Beyond that I have nothing to contribute, sorry.

It's true that HDMI supports DRM garbage, but to my knowledge, the TViX doesn't use any of it. That's apparently one reason why the TViX isn't DLNA certified: DLNA-compatible devices must adopt certain DRM schemes, and the TViX employs no copy protection. If the broadcasters did start trying to manipulate the MPEG-2 TS to prevent copying, it would also probably break DVRs like the CM 7400, TViX, and perhaps even TiVo. You can only do so much to "secure" broadcast content, and the really evil DRM schemes are forbidden by the FCC for broadcast content (AFAIK), since they wouldn't be compatible with the tuners in all standard ATSC TV sets.

Now, even if stations did somehow come up with a way to prevent you from copying shows with the TViX HDMI output, it doesn't matter. You can just use the USB or LAN functionality to transfer the files off the TViX to a computer. Unlike the CM 7400, recordings aren't "locked" to the HDD of the TViX. You can transfer them to another machine or even swap the TViX HDD into a regular computer to alter its contents. The TViX uses a standard NTFS partition with the unencrypted TS sent by the station you recorded, and there's PC software for manipulating that format.

I'm not a huge fan of HDMI either, but since the TViX is a foreign-made DVR that apparently doesn't utilize the DRM available over HDMI, there's nothing to worry about. Considering the gaping security hole created by letting you access the TViX HDD over USB and LAN, there wouldn't be any point in using HDMI DRM, anyway. ;)

One clarification: The Firewire encryption scheme, aka "5C" has nothing directly to do with the "broadcast flag" or HDMI. The BF is part of the ATSC spec. and was, at least temporarily, shot down by the FCC so that we may continue to view DTV without a decoder box on top of the set. 5C is built into the IEEE-1394 spec. and has been alive and well on Firewire since day one.

The cable companies and their content providers are not bound by the same FCC rules against encrypting content as are OTA stations. Technically, only the latter are "broadcasters" while the former are allowed to "protect" their stuff so that only valid subscribers may access it--and with 5C encryption, there are several levels of permitted access, ranging from no copying to infinite copying.

TPeterson comes to the rescue with the actual names of the protection schemes! :D

It would be pretty silly if broadcasters were able to set flags on their content that would require you to have a STB to watch the stations. If you needed to rent a STB to watch OTA TV, what would be the point of it anymore? It would be the same model as other pay-TV services. I'm surprised the FCC allows the ION stations to do the AirBox thing, but I'm guessing that ION couldn't do it anymore if they discontinued their three unencrypted channels.

As TPeterson said, the encryption used by pay-TV services is what requires you to have a STB to watch any of the channels (and a CableCard to record them), since standard tuners can't decrypt them.

Regarding the ATSC BF flag, I wonder if the TViX respects it. It's a little disconcerting to know that stations have the ability to mark content as un-recordable. If the subscription-free DVR solutions respect the BF and stations are ever permitted to use it, perhaps VCRs and other analogue recording options will again have a use...

Thanks guys!

TPeterson,

I appreciate the technical breakdown of the issue. I knew the details back then, but it's been 4+ years since I abandoned the whole IEEE 1394 Firewire DVHS recording path, and I must admit I completely forgot the 5C encryption was primarily setup to restrict access to the raw data stream for content on the PAY CABLE channels like ESPN, HBO, & SHOWTIME.

Thanks for refreshing my memory about what which HDTV content was scrambled...and what was not.

I am considering the 6620N, for it's ability to record and archive free HDTV OTA content ONLY...so I guess for now, an out-of-left-field copy protection scheme wouldn't be a pressing concern in that case. :)

I've read that since the entire broadcast frequency spectrum is technically "OWNED" by the U.S. government (but LEASED to the OTA broadcasters like ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, & PBS), and they must abide by their wishes to keep all their broadcast content free and unscrambled at all times. (enforced by the FCC)

I'm guessing it would take a federal court challenge (by those particular OTA networks), to actually circumvent the existing federal laws.

With that fear alleviated, it looks like a 6620N would be the perfect device for my specific needs right now. :D

I experienced what I assume is my first software glitch this evening. I loaded a recording from last night and tried to skip forward through the start padding to the beginning of the show, and nothing seemed to happen. I tried again, and I saw the jump value on the screen as "0" seconds, which explained the lack of results. I went into the options and found that both the forward and backward jump values for video and time shifting had changed to 0. I fixed the values and reloaded my recording, and the jump function worked normally again. I don't recall seeing anyone else post about such an experience, but I thought I'd mention it. Hopefully it's not indicative of a more serious problem. The unit started normally a few hours later to do its scheduled recording, at any rate.

... I saw the jump value on the screen as "0" seconds, which explained the lack of results. I went into the options and found that both the forward and backward jump values for video and time shifting had changed to 0....I've also seen this happen once. I've no idea what was the cause.

Mine did that last weekend as well. It has done it several times in the past. It also reset the channel used to set the clock (got set back to "Any Channel"), so I wonder what other parameters get reset as well.

I filed a bug report with DVICO earlier this week, but they've taken to ignoring my postings.

+1 to the list of "0" seconds jump value. Also, for me, any forward jump value of 100 seconds or more would result in unpredictable forward jump times.

I've complained about losing the jump settings. It's related to the unexpected shutdowns (like an ION station crash, etc.).

Also I've found can force a shutdown without saving by pressing the on/off button when the TViX says "saving" during a regular shutdown. It will shutdown without saving (so you'll lose any scheduled recording changes for sure). And you'll take the chance that the jump settings are reset to zero.

I've also noticed that the saving message before the system shuts down is sometimes displayed at half the front panel's normal brightness, but I can't find any specific cause for that behaviour, either.

Question:

Is everyone who is experiencing these 'jump' issues, using the most current OS software update from DVICO? :confused:

If so...

Did anyone notice the same issues with any of the previous software OS updates? Or is this a relatively NEW issue that has never been seen before?

Sean, it's been so long since I've seen the issue that I'm not sure if it happened with the latest firmware or not. Anyway, I doubt that it's a "new" issue. As doranu suggested, it may be related to ION-type shutdowns, and if so that would be a good reason for me not to have seen it lately, as I've deleted the ION stations from the GoTo menu.

I know it happens with 2.1.0, as that's the only firmware I've used. I also deleted the ION channels after doing the initial channel scan, so I've never had a sudden shutdown on my unit (yet, knock on wood...).

Sean, it's been so long since I've seen the issue that I'm not sure if it happened with the latest firmware or not. Anyway, I doubt that it's a "new" issue. As doranu suggested, it may be related to ION-type shutdowns, and if so that would be a good reason for me not to have seen it lately, as I've deleted the ION stations from the GoTo menu.

Thanks. :)

I'll likely do the same, as I rarely watch anything on the ION channels anyway. :cool:

On a separate note...

Which current 1TB-2TB HDD would you guys consider buying NOW, to install inside the TVIX M6620-N? (latest and the greatest) ;)

I'm going to order something soon, so I figured that I would ask you guys what has been working (reliably) for you thus far? Just trying to find the best reasonably priced HDD model I can buy. (that won't let me down)

Would anyone go so far as to say, that there is a CONSENSUS pick for the best HDD in this particular application? (continuous digital video recording/playback duty)

Western Digital? Seagate? Samsung? :confused:

Please post any specific hard drive models you would recommend that fit that description. :)

Any 'virtual locks' (or slam dunks)...would be greatly appreciated. :D

I have a short list of hard drives that I want to use, but I'd like to get some real-world feedback from the guys currently using this PVR first. (and your overall impressions of their performance/durability over time)

I'm trying to avoid an obvious mistake here.

I want to purchase a stable 1-2 TB hard drive, that has very good reliability and performance characteristics. More importantly, I want to avoid any inherently poor hard disk drives that have displayed short-term (or longterm) reliability issues in these TVIX PVR's. (with regards to this intense data-writing/re-writing application)

I'd like to hear about any HDD models that have repeatedly and constantly died a pre-mature death in this unit. :(

and...

Any HDD's that have experienced serious recording/playback issues due to internal overheating, or drives that will not format properly for use in the M6620-N.

TIA :D

@ Sean

I was in the same situation as you just a few weeks ago. I came to the conclusion that there is no current HDD that meets those criteria, as I was also looking for a 1-2TB drive that would work well in a DVR application.

The main limiting factor on disks suited for DVR installation is that heat and power ratings are more important than speed. Since a DVR will be reading and writing huge amounts of data at a relatively slow rate (~20Mbps), having a high-speed HDD isn't necessary, while having a cool-running one is. Most HDDs on the market are 7200+ RPM (because old HDD technology is trying to compete with the new SSD technology on speed), and a DVR runs cooler and more reliably with a 5400 RPM drive. That speed constraint alone severely limits the number of drives available for selection.

Among the slower HDD options, the Seagate Barracuda Green (1, 1.5, or 2TB @ 5900 RPM) and the Western Digital Caviar Green (1 or 2TB @ 5400 RPM) are the recommended choices, and Digital Connection (http://www.digitalconnection.com/Products/Video/tvixM6620NP.asp) even offers to bundle one of them with the TViX, if you buy the unit there. The problem with these drives is that on sites like Newegg that have more than 100 reviews, nearly 20% of those reviews said that the drives were either dead on arrival (DoA) or would die within a few weeks. I don't know if this unreliability is related to the floods in Thailand, but considering how much HDD prices have risen lately, I considered those failure rates to be too high to take the risk of buying one of those drives. Another theory is that it seems like HDD manufacturers have tried to raise the capacity of drives faster than they've been able to perfect the technology for sustaining those capacities, so high-capacity drives have a higher likelihood of failing than drives with < 1TB of storage.

The other route you can go is to buy a laptop HDD, as most laptop drives are designed for low power and heat generation to save battery life, which makes them ideal for DVR usage. The problem with going this route is that the TViX drive bay is designed to hold a standard 3.5" drive, while laptop drives use the smaller 2.5" form factor. As a result, a laptop drive won't simply slide into the TViX; installing it requires you to put the unit on its side, slowly lower the HDD into the drive bay, align the connectors, and push it into place. Once it's locked, the 2.5" drive needs some kind of wedge or support system installed underneath it, or else it will dangle and eventually bend and damage the SATA connector inside the TViX over time, because there's about 0.5" of clearance between the laptop HDD and the bottom of the drive bay. There also don't seem to be any "official" adapters for this type of installation, as most 2.5" -> 3.5" HDD adapters are meant for computer cases and assume you're using SATA cables, rather than a plug-and-play configuration.

If this all sounds less than ideal, that's because it is. :( HDDs are expensive right now, and the selection and quality seems fairly low, too. All I can tell you is that after considering the above, I opted to go the laptop HDD route. I figure it's not worthwhile to get the extra storage capacity of a 1-2TB drive if it's just going to die after I load it with 1.5 TB of content. As such, I opted to get a 500GB Hitachi Travelstar 5K500.B drive and klouge together a mounting system for it inside the TViX. If you look at earlier posts in this topic, I think you'll also find someone who inserted wooden wedges into his unit to keep a 2.5" HDD steady. :p (You need something that will support it and also prevent it from working its way loose from vibration.) Although the laptop HDD solution isn't particularly elegant, it has the significant benefit of allowing for excellent air flow around the entire HDD, which you can't get with a full 3.5" drive. My TViX has been recording for the past 30 minutes as I write this, and the air coming out of the fan vent is still barely warm. :D

I hope this deluge of information is useful in some way, even if it isn't what you were hoping to hear.

Aleron,

Wow...

Thanks for taking the time, to write such a comprehensive reply to my earlier post. :)

You hit on a number the key elements, that I have also have concerns about myself...

The number one concern in my book, is the very troubling decision by HDD manufacturers to push the envelope, and focus on building huge capacity hard drives (1TB-2TB), ...while the underlying technology to make those drives as reliable as possible is lagging far behind the curve. The short term/long term failure rates are totally unacceptable on many of the 1TB drives that I have researched. (in my opinion)

That data tells me, that manufacturers are clearly focused on the wrong end of the HDD technology front, and I hope the shaky reliability problem is given more attention in the near future.

The huge capacity hard drives available today, are a boon for us as modern HDTV PVR owners. But...that's ONLY if those drives can survive the torture of this type of extreme duty. You're right about the SPEED of these drives being a problem in these devices.

HIGHER SPINDLE SPEEDS (7200rpms) = HIGHER SUSTAINED DRIVE TEMPS

HIGHER SUSTAINED DRIVE TEMPS = INCREASED CHANCES OF SERIOUS RELIABILITY PROBLEMS (short term & long term)

I was already looking to buy my TVIX unit from the Digital Connection, and I was hoping the reliability of the WD 2TB drives might be "much better" than the larger capacity WD drives I have reviewed in the past couple of years. :cool:

It seems the reliability of these new WD 1TB+ drives, isn't really that much better today, than they were two years ago. (which is discouraging) :(

The surprising number of hard drives that arrive at your doorstep DOA is equally troubling, and absolutely unacceptable in this day and age. It seems the quality control inspection process at these factories is completely broken, or the people in charge are alseep at the wheel.

I was hoping that large reliability gap (vs. the smaller capacity drives) would have been closed in some significant fashion, since these larger 1TB+ drives have been around a while now. :confused:

It appears that hard drive manufacturers haven't found any real innovative solutions to solving these reliability issues (as quickly as I would like to see), ...so I'll either have to roll the dice on one of the two 5400-5900 rpm full sized 3.5" drives that I've been considering for use in the M6620-N, ...or use a modified 2.5" laptop drive like you proposed.

I have to admit, that I'm not exactly thrilled about the prospect of using a laptop drive in my new TVIX PVR. I understand your reasoning, but the extra work necessary to fit the drive in the HDD bay properly (and the severely reduced capacity), are not making me all that warm and fuzzy. :cool:

It certianly is an OPTION that I may need to consider though...

Thanks for the reply Aleron, and I hope others will chime in with their take on which HDD they selected. (and why) ;)

I know it happens with 2.1.0, as that's the only firmware I've used. I also deleted the ION channels after doing the initial channel scan, so I've never had a sudden shutdown on my unit (yet, knock on wood...).

Whatever ION is doing is probably not illegal. They have 50 stations. What if more stations do whatever ION is doing? I don't have it disabled since my cable feed strips the damaging part, or the damaging part is not yet added to my two ION channels. Time will tell.

+1 to the list of "0" seconds jump value. Also, for me, any forward jump value of 100 seconds or more would result in unpredictable forward jump times.

I guess I am another +1... I purchased the DVR with the latest firmware. I have not found any pattern to when the system seems to set the skip intervals to 0. I do not know what else it is loosing but it does maintain the channel list and the wifi ssid/etc. It is an aggravation.

Whatever ION is doing is probably not illegal. They have 50 stations. What if more stations do whatever ION is doing? I don't have it disabled since my cable feed strips the damaging part, or the damaging part is not yet added to my two ION channels. Time will tell.
The AirBox service is perfectly legal; the FCC allows broadcast stations to provide such services. The problem lies in the TViX firmware, which rather than ignoring the PSIP information for the extra MPEG-4 subchannels, crashes when it detects them. You won't have any problem with getting ION over QAM, because AirBox is OTA only. QAM also doesn't provide PSIP to crash the TViX. ;)

Also...

I've also noticed that the saving message before the system shuts down is sometimes displayed at half the front panel's normal brightness, but I can't find any specific cause for that behaviour, either.
Not that anyone probably cares, but I think I found the pattern for this. If you turn the TViX off when it's in HDTV mode, you'll see the "TViX Power Off" logo on the screen, and the "Saving" message on the front panel will be bright. If you turn the TViX off when you're browsing the HDD contents, the "Saving" message is displayed at half illumination. Oh, DVICo. :rolleyes:

@ Sean

Laptop HDDs are available in sizes up to 1TB, but IMO the increased stability of a 500GB drive is more desirable. That's still enough capacity for ~75 hours of recording, which sure beats the VCR I was using. :D Besides, if you really need the extra capacity for some reason, you can buy multiple 500 GB drives and swap them out. Just remember that you don't want to wear out the SATA connector inside the TViX by switching drives too frequently.

You could also buy a single 500 GB SATA drive and two 500 GB USB drives, then connect the external ones to the TViX's USB ports. You can't record directly to USB, but you should be able to copy files from the internal drive to the external ones to archive your material. If you don't want to buy three drives, just use FTP to transfer old recordings to your computer and set up TViX file sharing so it can play the files stored on your PC over the network.

The AirBox service is perfectly legal; the FCC allows broadcast stations to provide such services. The problem lies in the TViX firmware, which rather than ignoring the PSIP information for the extra MPEG-4 subchannels, crashes when it detects them. You won't have any problem with getting ION over QAM, because AirBox is OTA only. QAM also doesn't provide PSIP to crash the TViX. ;)



My PSA:
http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=airbox

All cable is local. Some do have PSIP. The CM7400 says it works with MPEG4.

Next: RCA DPH-1000R-HD. Thread started. Rock has been turned over.

It's my understanding that QAM has no built-in method for delivering program names and titles, so all cable companies that want to offer program information for QAM have to do so through a separate means, although I don't know what that is. Since AirBox isn't available over cable anyway, there's no chance of the TViX crashing from an ION QAM feed. The TViX is also able to play MPEG-4 files, but MPEG-4 is not valid for ATSC broadcasts. The MPEG-4 subchannels on ION stations are broadcast using encrypted MPEG-4 anyway, which is why viewing them requires you to rent a box from ION. It's not the encrypted channels themselves that crash the TViX; it's the information about them in the station's PSIP data that the TViX doesn't like.

FWIW, the TViX isn't the only unit that can get confused by PSIP data. My LG television crashes from the PSIP data on one of my PBS stations during certain programs. If I try to view the program information, the window never appears, and the TV spontaneously shuts itself off. Sound familiar? :D The power indicator doesn't change when the TV dies, so it isn't a proper shutdown when this happens. Thankfully, I can still watch those programs as long as I don't try to view their information, and the TViX handles that particular PSIP data correctly.

On another note, you've said, "All cable is local," in multiple topics now. What do you mean by this? Most cable channels are certainly not local, as the main point of having cable is for its non-local channels that aren't available OTA. If you mean to say, "All my cable channels are local," that would make sense, if you have the basic cable package that only provides you with your local channels. I must be missing something. :confused:

On another note, you've said, "All cable is local," in multiple topics now. What do you mean by this? Most cable channels are certainly not local, as the main point of having cable is for its non-local channels that aren't available OTA. If you mean to say, "All my cable channels are local," that would make sense, if you have the basic cable package that only provides you with your local channels. I must be missing something. :confused:

To keep it brief, I never said "channels". My "local" channels could be NY, Philly, Harrisburg or Scranton-Wilkes-Barre. I guess the FCC figures that since I could erect a 500' tower, they are HD clear QAM. So is ION SD digital from Williamsport. Every cable headend is controlled by the local office. Eight miles from here the lineup is totally different, with 70+ basic vsb/analog channels, like TNT, and 160+ clear QAM. For me TNT is a QAM digital 480i channel only since 2009. I can get it in HD for more money. This is from the same corporation that owns many headends that service middle PA to middle NJ. It can be confusing.

As for PSIP, I often wonder why my little 4:3 Sanyo HD digital TV shows "CBS" on the CBS vsb/analog channel 2. SCTE-127? I don't know. I also get CC on digital channels and my Sony DVR can record it.

Local cable just means that the headend & local office controls what you get, how you get it, and where you get it. They are all different. Sometimes an apartment complex or trailer park will contract with a cable company for service and a STB isn't needed. There are many variations. My little cable company even publishes the raw clear QAM channels on their BBS channels when something is going to change, and tells us subs with QAM tuners to do a rescan. Of course, things always change. I hope I have explained myself better this time.

Thanks, that helps. I'm not very familiar with how cable networks are structured, since I strictly use OTA TV.

In TViX-related news, I found out it's capable of playing files in slow motion by accident this evening. "The more you know", I suppose.

Anyone know if the TiVX can be used as NAS using the external USB or SATA ports? I know the internal drive shows up on my network but I connected a USB drive to my S1 and it did not show up on the network?

BTW, how did your experiments with recurring recordings turn out? I don't recall seeing a post about that....

Fixed it. The problem was PEBKAC. Sort of. I was not using the Record Schedule function properly, I guess. Took a while to realise what I was doing wrong.

The problem was in the user interface. When setting up a recording Schedlue entry, you can use the Next and Back buttons to navigate between the two setup screens. But when you go back to the first screen then return to the second, the PVR forgets the recording cycle and always resets it to "once". Without carefully re-specifying the recurrence cycle, e.g. to "Every day", and thereby working around the bug, I was getting the original behaviour I described.

Someone above mentioned submiting bug reports to Dvico. I have done the same and heard nothing back. Someone else mentioned that Dvico does not monitor this forum. Which is sad really, since this is where the action is as far as user observations and suggested bug fixes and improvements for Dvico's products.