Seattle, WA - Comcast [Text View] - Page 40

drgawd

07-24-07, 08:38 PM

Hi .... This poss only applies to those using the 1394 port on comcast stb. (moto 6200 in my case)

Anyone else now lost 6 of the HD broadcast channels with the "guide & stb update", (last thurs jul. 19th here in s.seattle?) ?? ch#'s 105, 106, 108, 109, 111, 112. All other subscribed channels are still viewable via 1394 & VLC player on pc. .... the 6 channels are there via dvi, borrowed a friends tv to check, just blocked to the 1394 port.

Any of you have friends or contacts higher up at comcast that could look into this and poss effect changes needed to have the channels made avail again?

--------------------------------------

Checking the stb's diag screens & reseaching some on net, loosing the 6 channels on 1394 port appears to be due to those 6 channels now have a RC-Flag=0x01 (enabled state) in the stb's D-06 channel status config. (all my other channels have that RC-flag set to 0x00 disabled).

RC-flag is Redistribution Control Descriptor (or part of it), also called Broadcast flag. Enabling that for a channel (or program) apparently has the effect, if not intent, of blocking that channel from being avail over 1394 port (on all stb's ?). The CCI (copy control) flag apparently gets auto set also to 0x02 (copy/record once) if RC-flag is enabled. But i don't record, and the CCI flag alone apparently doesnt block the channel across 1394.

Comcast's ccr's generally won't even discuss this issue. The last, 6th ccr a supervsor, did try to work with me as far as the RC-Flag=0x01 poss having been inadvertently and incorrectly set somehow in the stb/guide update, with that being a channel configuration issue vs 1394 issue. The ccr indicated they would email the Headend dept asking them to reset that setting, if it's incorrectly set for the 6 channels. Havn't heard back yet and the RC-Flag is still enabled

Since RC-Flag can techinically be enabled (but normally isnt) at the Tv station end, i called King & KCTS & KSTW, and chief engineers at King and KCTS verified they they don't set RC-Flag, and don't use, or include any copy control data in the stream they send to comcast.

Soooooo, back to the orig questions, any of you also loose those channels, or have higher up contacts at Comcast that could help?

TIA
-me

wareagle

07-24-07, 09:06 PM

Well, I don't want to sound like a complainer. But if anyone finds an improvement to the guide... (the only one I noticed is kids programs are in blue and sports are in green) feel free to let me know.

Supposedly (I haven't gotten it yet) for DVRs it has the following:

1. 30-second skip can be enabled.

2. Separate buffers are active for both tuners, so you can use the "swap" button to toggle between two programs without losing the buffer.

WirelessGuru

07-24-07, 09:08 PM

Hi .... This poss only applies to those using the 1394 port on comcast stb. (moto 6200 in my case)

Anyone else now lost 6 of the HD broadcast channels with the "guide & stb update", (last thurs jul. 19th here in s.seattle?) ?? ch#'s 105, 106, 108, 109, 111, 112. All other subscribed channels are still viewable via 1394 & VLC player on pc. .... the 6 channels are there via dvi, borrowed a friends tv to check, just blocked to the 1394 port.

Any of you have friends or contacts higher up at comcast that could look into this and poss effect changes needed to have the channels made avail again?
Oooooh. This just keeps getting worse. I use the IEEE1394 ports for my DVHS. i guess I will have to check that out when I get home. If that output doesn't display those channels any longer I'm gonna be (more) pissed.

Supposedly (I haven't gotten it yet) for DVRs it has the following:

1. 30-second skip can be enabled.

2. Separate buffers are active for both tuners, so you can use the "swap" button to toggle between two programs without losing the buffer.I kinda got used to just hitting FF twice and then hitting play as soon as I saw the program come back on and it would usually back up right to the start again, so the 30 second skip isn't that big of a deal. The buffers to allow swap might be a nice addition. i'll just have to see how much I use that.

What I would really like to see is them enable DVR program sharing between boxes. Those motorolas are supposed to support that feature. It'd be nice to be able to finish watching a program I DVR'd in the living room in the bedroom without having to record it on both boxes.

jimre

07-24-07, 10:25 PM

Oooooh. This just keeps getting worse. I use the IEEE1394 ports for my DVHS. i guess I will have to check that out when I get home. If that output doesn't display those channels any longer I'm gonna be (more) pissed....DVHS should still work just fine, even if the flags are now (incorrectly) set to Copy/Record Once. It's people doing firewire recording to PCs that will be screwed by this. I think all DVHS decks are 5C-compliant, and should record these channels just fine - although they may now prohibit you from making further copies of those tapes over firewire.

jameskollar

07-24-07, 10:34 PM

OMG, where to begin. Just got the Guide here on all of my boxes (2 6412s and one 3412). It's not that bad folks. My observations:

1) The SD channels look the same to me. Maybe they didn't screw that up here in Lakewood.

2) You can sort your recordings by date, name, etc. and it will remember how last left the sort. This is also true in other areas of the software.

3) Default guide height is double. Changing it to single is IMO much better. There are a lot of options for how the guide works so adjust to your taste.

4) Got the Jerry Springer recording as well as several others on my many boxes. Turns out that was caused by having series recording set to shows that are no longer airing. Delete those shows and the scheduled phantom recordings will go away. I suspect that during the upgrade, these older series screwed up the scheduling upgrade. Hopefully this is a one time problem. For now, all is fixed.

5) Double buffer is nice!

6) For me, pressing exit after pressing Guide is no big deal. It's kinda consistent and for me was easy to get used to.

That said, all's not perfect. I don't know how to use the favorites and I am disappointed in that my list of channels exclude from the guide is now gone. I am hoping setting favorites will take care of that but I have a bad feeling that will not do it.

I've only played with the new software for 15 minutes but so far it's not that bad. After reading some of the earlier posts I was afraid the sky was falling. It isn't for me. (No, I do not work for Comcast).

jameskollar

07-24-07, 10:50 PM

DVHS should still work just fine, even if the flags are now (incorrectly) set to Copy/Record Once. It's people doing firewire recording to PCs that will be screwed by this. I think all DVHS decks are 5C-compliant, and should record these channels just fine - although they may now prohibit you from making further copies of those tapes over firewire.

Just checked. My DVHS deck works on the premium channels. Not to worry.

k-y

07-24-07, 10:51 PM

Great, this is not sounding good at all. I was looking forward to an improvement with the new guide, now I'm getting kind of worried.

Any new word on when Fios TV's coming to Washington? I've heard this fall, and I've also heard fall 2008... I don't think Satellite will work for me with all the trees.

ABHD, when the FiOS installer came out to do my Internet, I asked him about the TV and he said that their closest TV hub was in Oregon and hadn't built anything out in Washington State yet. He said it usually takes 12-18 months to build out a repeater from one hub to another.

Steve Goff

07-25-07, 01:15 AM

The update process just fried one of my DVRs, sending it into a loop of turning on, turning off, etc. The phone tech could do nothing from his end and said that I'll have to exchange the box for a new one. This means I'm loosing my recordings, which I find pretty upsetting.

Audioplus93

07-25-07, 01:31 AM

In Seattle? You guys are griping, there are no HD terrestrial feeds there? I live in Sandpoint, ID, no terrestrial and Northland Cable has the monopoly supplying analog feeds to several $$$$ developments with no HD option, no Verizon or Comcast feeds. Everyone is buying 3 or 4 LCD's for their investment/vacation properties.

The developers turned down a proposal for Satellite option at pre-wire stage.

Other than HD on Satellite (home owners associations are fighting saying that homeowner doesn't own the outside deck railing), there's no other option.

Dan C

WirelessGuru

07-25-07, 02:51 AM

bigpoppa206

07-25-07, 05:56 AM

Weil,

Thanks for your advice. After I read this I called comcast and will upgrade my cable boxes...I am hoping they will provide the HDMI cables I need.

I was considering buying some pricey cables...but wont fall for the hype.
Check out monoprice.com (there's an icon in the upper right hand corner of each page) for HDMI cables. Their prices were great!

opus312

07-25-07, 09:42 AM

Pulled the power and reconnected, and it seems to be working again.

Whew. I've been deathly afraid of power recycle since the last time when it decided to reformat and dumped all my recordings...

opus312

07-25-07, 09:43 AM

Video of Comcast/Tivo interface - http://www.cnettv.com/9710-1_53-25635.html

Review of new Tivo HD - http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-video-recorders-dvrs/tivo-hd/4505-6474_7-32511935.html?tag=nl.e501

Electric T-Bird

07-25-07, 11:54 AM

Got my update here in Renton/Highlands. Seemed a lot more responsive. No dramatic pauses noticed yet

Go Hard

07-25-07, 12:04 PM

Well I went home yesterday to 5 recordings of Dark Angel. I've never watched the show before. I also had multiple season recordings set for show I don't watch, Q13 news (I watch 5 in HD), the Bob Costos show and a bunch of others. After spending about 45 minutes erasing the misc shows and trying to clean up what I wanted recorded, I have encountered the "can't delete the show" bug. I'm not very impressed with the new guide.

I liked that I could change the color of the menus and the 30 sec skip works great w/my harmony remote. I also had to try switching between buffers.

So how long until this guide is updated to fix some of these problems? Do we need to start posting on the iGuide thread?

BTW, don't forget about the Comcast Forum: http://comcastcentral.lithium.com/comcastcentral?category.id=Help

ABHD

07-25-07, 02:37 PM

ABHD, when the FiOS installer came out to do my Internet, I asked him about the TV and he said that their closest TV hub was in Oregon and hadn't built anything out in Washington State yet. He said it usually takes 12-18 months to build out a repeater from one hub to another.

Thanks for the info. This sounds consistent with us possibly getting it around next fall then.

canoncritic

07-25-07, 02:56 PM

driggity

07-25-07, 03:23 PM

Is anyone else dissappointed with the search feature of the new guide? It looks like you can only search by title and not by words in the description like you could with the microsoft guide. I actually used this functionality quite a bit and it sucks to lose it. I also dislike the fact that my DVR recordings are no longer grouped by series.

ABHD

07-25-07, 04:17 PM

Dugas

07-25-07, 04:22 PM

I'm looking to upgrade my Vista MCE machine to a Nvidia DualTV tuner for analog signal recording. To use the dual tuner function I need different set top boxes as the one's I have currently don't have S-Video out. What would be the best non-dvr boxs with s-video out to ask comcast for as I do my recording on my computer?

canoncritic

07-25-07, 05:11 PM

Thanks. Forgive my ignorance: how do I check this?

ABHD

07-25-07, 06:15 PM

Thanks. Forgive my ignorance: how do I check this?

Hmmm... not sure about that specific receiver, but on my receiver there is a button on the front to cycle thru the audio input for that HDMI channel you are using for the TV. For instance when I have HDMI 1 selected ( which is mapped from the comcast box to the tv) I can select audio format of HDMI, optical, analog etc.. Try the digital input button on the front, not sure if that's it but saw a pic of it.

If it's not in the manual or you still can't get it to work, maybe try posting in this thread or somewhere in the audio area.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=854964&highlight=605

Hope this helps.

BIslander

07-25-07, 06:18 PM

I need some help. I just hooked up a new Onkyo 605 a/v receiver with my HDTV. HDMI cables. Everything works well, except I am not getting audio on 660, 661 and 664. I haven't yet run tests to isolate the problem, but my hunch is the box. Is the digital signal for these "600" stations different than for other HD channels? I've talked with Onkyo techies who claim it couldn't be a defective receiver if other stations are coming in fine. Any suggestions out there? Box or receiver?
I have a 3412 STB connected directly to a plasma set using HDMI and the audio is fine on all of those channels. I don't think the STB can handle audio differently on a channel-by-channel basis. So, if you are getting audio via HDMI on some channels, you should be getting it on all of them.

Perhaps you should plug the cable box into the TV using HDMI to see what audio you get. If you have good audio on all channels, you likely have a problem with your receiver. If there's still no audio on 660, 661, and 664, then it's probably a problem with the cable box.

netjedi

07-26-07, 04:14 AM

I went with a Fusion card for my HTPC to receive the local HD QAM channels. Already had the workstation laying around, so after installing a fat 500g hard drive and the $150 fusion card and I'm extremely happy. Of course if you meant the premium HD channels, probably a cablecard as mentioned.

- I purchased a LeadTek Winfast HDTV Cinema since it was brand new and advertised Digital Cable support. Of course it doesn't work on Comcast, doesn't detect a damn thing. I plug the cable into my Philips HDTV and it's QAM tuner gets all the unencrypted channels including HD channels, but the card does not. Stinks.

What model Fusion card are you using to get the QAM channels over Comcast?

Thanks

Dave928

07-26-07, 07:14 AM

Am I correct that you can't program channels out of the default list? So you have to make at least 2 button presses to select a Fav list in the guide, and then it always resets the guide to chan. 1? :( :mad:

correct. you can not edit the default channel list like you could with the MS guide. so now instead of pressing "guide", you have to press "menu", "heart" (isn't that cute? not.) and "ok" twice to get to your edited channel list. what a pain.

this new guide totally blows.

and the SD picture has gotten worse. i'm seeing washed out blacks, motion skipping and scan lines. scan lines! it's like it's not even a progressive signal anymore.

you can't get rid of the "flip bar" on the bottom, like you could with the old guide.

this guide was either designed by 3 year olds, or for 3 year olds. i can't figure which.

as a Mac guy it's very hard to say this, but Microsoft got the old guide [mostly] right. it was pretty good compared to this POS...

drew00001

07-26-07, 02:50 PM

Other than HD on Satellite (home owners associations are fighting saying that homeowner doesn't own the outside deck railing), there's no other option.

Dan C

Dan,

Doesn't federal law prevent condo associations and apartment complexes from preventing use of satelite dishes? I thought this has been on the books for a long time. You may want to google the matter before going to the next meeting.

robglasser

07-26-07, 03:10 PM

Dan,

Doesn't federal law prevent condo associations and apartment complexes from preventing use of satelite dishes? I thought this has been on the books for a long time. You may want to google the matter before going to the next meeting.

My understanding is that they can not prevent you from putting one up as long as it's on your part of the property and not any shared part of the building. I could see the deck railing going either way. You see a lot of people putting mounting poles in 5 gallon buckets of concrete, or using a tripod, and then setting those on their decks. This way it's technically in your apartment/condo and does not damage or attach to any of the shared portion of the complex.

gdeep

07-26-07, 04:34 PM

My understanding is that they can not prevent you from putting one up as long as it's on your part of the property and not any shared part of the building. I could see the deck railing going either way. You see a lot of people putting mounting poles in 5 gallon buckets of concrete, or using a tripod, and then setting those on their decks. This way it's technically in your apartment/condo and does not damage or attach to any of the shared portion of the complex.

I just got directv installed in my patio yesterday using the tripod. My condo assoc told me to not mount anything to railing. So, check with your HOA....

ABHD

07-26-07, 06:24 PM

drew00001

07-26-07, 06:51 PM

gdeep

07-26-07, 07:56 PM

I just called and cancelled my Comcast internet service. Never really had a problem with it, it actually worked great, but decided I'd try Fios for a year since it's cheaper.

Don't know if it will help, but I requested more HD to be added as well, specifically all the new ones they've added to other Comcast markets. BTW, Supposedly, Tuscon Az, now has every available HD channel Comcast offers, but for some reason we don't. So I told them I'd most likely switch to Fios TV too when that comes.

Yes, I sent an email to Steve Kipp yesterday and he replied saying that new hd channels will come end of this year. I emailed him back and said what happened to Net Geo Hd which was coming soon (he said that couple months ago). Comcast seattle sucks. He also said more hd on demand program are coming (which i don't give a damm about).

mike_somd

07-27-07, 01:27 AM

Another thing I noticed about the iguide... nah it's not the iguide its the POSguide. The search function is a joke. You have to scroll through the alphabet like an old arcade game. Maybe this guide is so crappy that they are basically trying to force everyone to upgrade to the tivo guide when it's out.

bigpoppa206

07-27-07, 07:26 AM

- I purchased a LeadTek Winfast HDTV Cinema since it was brand new and advertised Digital Cable support. Of course it doesn't work on Comcast, doesn't detect a damn thing. I plug the cable into my Philips HDTV and it's QAM tuner gets all the unencrypted channels including HD channels, but the card does not. Stinks.

What model Fusion card are you using to get the QAM channels over Comcast?

Thanks
I went with the FusionHDTV5 RT Gold PCI card. Some folks like the USB version but I think thats just asking for trouble (never been a big fan of USB for large data transfers such as HDTV.) Any package you consider, the software is going to have its ups and downs. PS: I'm running XP SP2, NOT Media Center and not Vista. I see way too many complaints on those platforms when using a Fusion card.

newlinux

07-27-07, 11:53 AM

I use a fusion 5 RT lite on my dual boot Linux/XP Box and it works well for QAM and NTSC stations on both OSs.

drew00001

07-27-07, 01:37 PM

Comcast seattle sucks. He also said more hd on demand program are coming (which i don't give a damm about).

I agree on both points!! I even cut off the digital classic package until Comcast adds higher level of HD content.

Steve Goff

07-27-07, 02:49 PM

I really dislike the new iGuide. It is missing several features and is backwards in many ways. For example, it was late and I decided to record a show to watch it the next day. So I hit record and tried to turn off the box. But it would not let me turn off the box, giving me only the option to switch to the other tuner, which wouldn't let me turn it off after the switch, or go back, which does nothing, or cancel the recording. Stupid stupid stupid. The Microsoft software let you hit the record button and then turn off the box, with the recording continuing on. Also, you can't have the box display the time when it is off, a very useful feature if your deciding when to turn things on or just to use as a clock. And the search function is a big step back, requiring you to scroll through all the letters for each character in the title. And there are many more problems, perhaps too many to mention.

gdeep

07-27-07, 04:38 PM

I agree on both points!! I even cut off the digital classic package until Comcast adds higher level of HD content.

I got a reply back from Mr Kipp after telling him that comcast will lose lot of hd customers to directv for not adding hd channels soon. Following is his reply:

Yes, Nat Geo is still very high on the list. I also can tell you that
adding more HD channels is a top priority for the company and we
definitely don't want to lose our HD customers to satellite. Thanks for
your patience.

drew00001

07-27-07, 05:11 PM

I got a reply back from Mr Kipp after telling him that comcast will lose lot of hd customers to directv for not adding hd channels soon. Following is his reply:

Yes, Nat Geo is still very high on the list. I also can tell you that
adding more HD channels is a top priority for the company and we
definitely don't want to lose our HD customers to satellite. Thanks for
your patience.

I will likely wait until way after NGHD is released to sign up for Digital Classic again. I reverted to watching FSN, A&E, TBS, USA, SciFi, FX after the initial excitement of 660-665, which shows are only OK compared to the old faithfuls.

EZ Rider

07-27-07, 07:57 PM

All these comments (and the fact that my complex is no longer covering basic cable) is making me want to grab the Tivo HD and just stick with basic cable (the ~$45 level I mean).

good_ol_boy

07-27-07, 10:03 PM

Ok, I got the i-guide yesterday on my DVR finally, and for the most part I have to say that I am happy with it, mainly I love that the 30 second skip and tuner swap now work, and also that the remote lag seems to be gone, also I think that overall the navigation is a lot better.
But I have to agree that the search feature is kinda cheesy, I feel like i just got the high score on Tetris or something, lol. Also I have noticed that even though I have all my settings on 16:9, when the 'screen saver' comes up it is only in 4:3, so the sides of the screen are still subjected to stationary images, but that aint no big deal.

This is my biggest complaint though, when I set up something to record series it will record all showings on that channel at any time, not just the time slot I selected, for example, my wife set up charmed to record at I think 6 and 7 pm on TNT SD, but it also records the ones at 8 and 9 am, and the only way I can see to deal with this is to either cancel each one manually, or wait till the record and delete them. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this?

But just for the record I still like it a lot more than the M$ guide :)

Nausicaa

07-28-07, 11:02 AM

EZ Rider

07-28-07, 01:05 PM

Dave928

07-28-07, 05:01 PM

the remote lag seems to be gone

it's worse. it repeatedly locks up for 5-10 seconds...

Ric Crowe

07-28-07, 10:51 PM

I gotta say, change is not always good. Since the new guide push, I get lockups when trying to change stations. then it jumps 4 or 5 channels.
I see no way to hide channels, I don't watch any of the foregn language stations, and some of the other stations, and with the old MS guide I was able to remove those from the channel selector, the 3 on demand stations (547-548-549) is a pain, isn't that what channel 1 is for? If I was able to "hide channels" I wouldn't complain about that.
And the guide is wrong alot.

Anyone see a way to hide stations, so when surfing it skips right by....

Todd Nicholson

07-29-07, 12:35 AM

It hasn't been pushed to my box yet, but as I understand it you can't simply remove channels from the guide like with the MS guide. You have to make up a Favorites with the channels you want, then access your favorites guide that way.

summersr

07-29-07, 10:21 AM

Anyone see a way to hide stations, so when surfing it skips right by....

You have to create a favorites list and then you press "Guide" and then "fav" to access a list of only the stations you want to scan

I am still trying to figure out the Schedule a series function.
If the program occurs multiple times during the day, all of them are set to record
Seems confusing.

Also when you view what you have scheduled to record, it is by day you do not get a total view of what is queued for recording.

Like the 30 second skip feature though

Malcolm_B

07-29-07, 06:44 PM

Hate this new guide! Had to delete like 10 shows I never even programmed!!! And when you FF it doesn't back up a few seconds to make up for slow reaction time like before.

Roto

07-29-07, 06:57 PM

Hate this new guide! Had to delete like 10 shows I never even programmed!!! And when you FF it doesn't back up a few seconds to make up for slow reaction time like before.
I don't have the new guide yet, but I would guess that those recordings just show up the one time with the guide. I don't see it being a huge deal as long as it isn't really recording anything automatically.

I'd be fine with the short reverse after fast forward going away. There is a button for that which works just fine. Hit that instead of play and you basically get the same effect.

I'm anxiously awaiting the new guide just to get 30 second skip. The only real problem I've had with my cable box in the last couple years is an occasional random delay responding to button presses. I haven't had lockups in a long time. Hopefully that doesn't return.

jameskollar

07-29-07, 07:48 PM

I don't have the new guide yet, but I would guess that those recordings just show up the one time with the guide. I don't see it being a huge deal as long as it isn't really recording anything automatically.

I'd be fine with the short reverse after fast forward going away. There is a button for that which works just fine. Hit that instead of play and you basically get the same effect.

I'm anxiously awaiting the new guide just to get 30 second skip. The only real problem I've had with my cable box in the last couple years is an occasional random delay responding to button presses. I haven't had lockups in a long time. Hopefully that doesn't return.

As I said in a previous post, programs no longer airing can and most likely will schedule programs that will actually record and that are NOT part of your list. My advice, if you have not received the new guide yet, save yourself some hassle. Cancel any series recordings that are no longer being aired. It is ok to leave series that are currently new and airing.

opus312

07-29-07, 08:29 PM

Hate this new guide! Had to delete like 10 shows I never even programmed!!! And when you FF it doesn't back up a few seconds to make up for slow reaction time like before.

Fine by me, I hate the auto-backup...

Go Hard

07-30-07, 12:27 PM

So, I want record "Nascar Racing", as a series like it was w/MS, but it doesn't give me the option to set it as a series. Anyone have any idea why? I had 3 series set up on the MS software (abc, fox, espn) and none transfered over. I like that I should be able to set up one series to record all of the channels, but I never get the option.

wareagle

07-30-07, 03:45 PM

I just received a Comcast snail mail about the new guide, stating that the guide would be changing beginning the week of August 7. Since others already have it, I assume this date applies to Bellevue. I took jameskollar's advice and deleted dormant series recordings. My DVR will probably fail before they return, anyway.

Junior34

07-30-07, 04:52 PM

wareagle

07-30-07, 05:10 PM

Enjoy the MS Enhanced Guide while you can WarEagle. The new guide is horrible and not user friendly.
...

I think I can adapt to almost anything, and take advantage of any benefits of the new one. If the DVR doesn't hang up waiting to get around to emptying the remote command queue or randomly reboot, I'll be happy. The 30-second skip and buffer swap should be helpful. I don't make that much use of the guide, and seldom channel-surf. Most viewing is of series recordings that have been time-shifted. I just hope they don't choose to download the s/w while it should be recording an F-1 race at 5AM.

Roto

07-30-07, 07:14 PM

gdeep

07-30-07, 10:55 PM

Looks like i won't be getting the new guide after all as I just dropped comcast (lucky me I guess). I just signed up with Directv (hopefully they will add the hd channels they have promised).

Dave928

07-31-07, 02:27 AM

i'm curious what would happen if someone unplugged their box before the update, assuming you knew which night it was happening.

would it keep working normally with the MS guide, would it sense the old guide and auto-update anyway, or would the smoke come out of the box? ;)

zeus163

07-31-07, 02:55 AM

EZ Rider

07-31-07, 03:08 AM

This guide thing is not going well, by all accounts around here. I've also been told by non-forum-geeks (errr... enthusiasts) that it's a step back. Is this the guide they've had in other markets for a while?

Dave928

07-31-07, 06:57 AM

tech support told me this is what they've had in the [most of] rest of the country for a while now...

opus312

07-31-07, 09:56 AM

I think I can adapt to almost anything, and take advantage of any benefits of the new one. If the DVR doesn't hang up waiting to get around to emptying the remote command queue or randomly reboot, I'll be happy. The 30-second skip and buffer swap should be helpful. I don't make that much use of the guide, and seldom channel-surf. Most viewing is of series recordings that have been time-shifted.

This is something that's not often directly discussed here - there are huge differences in our use of DVRs. Features that are dealbreakers for some folks are meaningless to others. That's why the advantages of Tivo may or may not mean anything...

drew00001

07-31-07, 01:02 PM

Enjoy the MS Enhanced Guide while you can WarEagle. The new guide is horrible and not user friendly.

You can't remove unwanted channels.
You can't back out of the OnDemand shows selection without going to the main guide (At least thats what I have found).
The guide is hard to read (In my opinion).

I'm trying to talk my wife into the Tivo HD but she likes OnDemand. Does anyone know if you can remove unwanted channels in the Tivo guide?

You can . . . but have to set channels as either do not receive, received, and favorites. Many on Tivocommunity.com are pushing TiVo to adopt multiple favorites, as such is necessary now that there are so many channels.

Of course, I mark all the channels I absolutely never watch as do not receive.

drew00001

07-31-07, 01:04 PM

All these comments (and the fact that my complex is no longer covering basic cable) is making me want to grab the Tivo HD and just stick with basic cable (the ~$45 level I mean).

For similar reasons, I cut down to basic cable plus HBO on special for $7.99.

drew00001

07-31-07, 01:08 PM

While I have yet to enjoy the pleasure of seeing and using the new guide, I seem to remember that Tivo did the same thing in recording all instances of a show by default. However, Tivo allowed you delete a scheduled recording with one button and not the five or six commands we had to use with the MS guide...

I have had a Tivo for 3 years, so your reference may predate my experiences. In any case, my Tivo has only recorded a repeat when I specified new episondes only when Trininity Broadcast did not update their guide to show that the episode was a repeat. This has happened to me only a few times in 3 years.

allen98311

07-31-07, 08:04 PM

allen98311

07-31-07, 08:30 PM

http://broadband.motorola.com/dvr/downloads/URMD2.pdf

Page 40 - 42 descries how to setup a series recording.

drew00001

08-01-07, 01:36 PM

Steve Goff

08-01-07, 01:41 PM

The iGuide has cut off several of my series recordings before the end of the show, so make sure you change the Start Recording and End Recording times to compensate for this possibility.

WirelessGuru

08-01-07, 05:06 PM

Ok, I just stopped by my parents, who recently switched to digital cable and have two Comcast Motorola tuners. I believe they are the new ones. They are considering going back to analog because of excessive pixilation. I advised them against and suggested their biggest problem is the splitters, which they will eventually have to fix. I also suggested they may need a cable amplifier.

They just had the wiring updated 5 years ago, which I believe is quad shielded. It is split once right outside the box and again 20 feet from one end. The lengths from the original splitter are well over 100 feet.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions as to higher quality splitters (again, they need 2 two way splitters) and a good amplifier. Other suggestions are also appreciated.

As a side note, it would be very difficult to add any new cable, not to mention the fact that my parents would never agree to upgrading such again.I recommend a "drop amplifier" also known as a cable distribution amplifier. Personally I use the Electroline EDA-FT08100. the reason I use this model is because it is designed to allow a return path with no amplification. Normal distribution amplifiers also amplify the return path used for ordering on-demand programming and uploading internet requests and files. Amplifying the return path can cause these functions to not work correctly or cause slowdowns. It can also cause the cable modem to overload and possibly become damaged.

You may also look into picking up a few cable port terminators. they are essentially screw on caps that will terminate any leakage from open cable ports not in use.

drew00001

08-01-07, 05:33 PM

I recommend a "drop amplifier" also known as a cable distribution amplifier. Personally I use the Electroline EDA-FT08100. the reason I use this model is because it is designed to allow a return path with no amplification. Normal distribution amplifiers also amplify the return path used for ordering on-demand programming and uploading internet requests and files. Amplifying the return path can cause these functions to not work correctly or cause slowdowns. It can also cause the cable modem to overload and possibly become damaged.

You may also look into picking up a few cable port terminators. they are essentially screw on caps that will terminate any leakage from open cable ports not in use.

I am considering this amplifier, but it seems like a bit much. My parents only have 3 rooms that are wired for cable. Any suggestions for good splitters and/or amps that meet this requirement. Also, someone suggested on another site that my parents' splitters may be analog, when I should buy special splitters for digital cable.

Weil

08-02-07, 09:51 AM

<<I am considering this amplifier, but it seems like a bit much. My parents only have 3 rooms that are wired for cable. Any suggestions for good splitters and/or amps that meet this requirement. Also, someone suggested on another site that my parents' splitters may be analog, when I should buy special splitters for digital cable.>>

I have a Radio Shack 2 way splitter/amplifier with 4 outputs specifically for digital cable. It seems to work. sam

jimre

08-02-07, 12:54 PM

... Also, someone suggested on another site that my parents' splitters may be analog, when I should buy special splitters for digital cable.For splitters, just make sure they're rated 1 Ghz bandwidth, or "full bandwidth". Most modern ones from Radio Shack, etc should be fine. Older splitters designed for analog may not accurately pass frequencies > 500 MHz.

For amplifiers, make sure they're labeled "bi-directional" or "supports channel return". Digital cable is two-way; older amplifiefrs may only support one-way signal.

drew00001

08-02-07, 03:44 PM

Thank you for the good advice from all. I will be sure to get the 5-1ghz splitter and am weighing my options between a regal and radio shack splitters.

ppshooky

08-02-07, 03:58 PM

Budget_HT

08-02-07, 04:08 PM

Is anyone just using their built-in tuner on their TV to watch TV?

I found that I don't need a box to view HD stations, but for whatever reason, Kiro's signal strength is so weak, that it won't display the broadcast. It was fine up until, I think, April or May. A few weeks before the season finale of CSI.
My sister-in-law has your same problem with KIRO-HD. She lives in Kent. I think they moved the native channel for KIRO about the time you mentioned from 80-something to 110-something, probably a higher frequency. Her QAM KIRO-HD reception was fine before then.

I believe in your case and her case there is likely a transmission quality or signal power level problem which could be "in-house" (bad connection or splitter or cable) or outside in the Comcast network. These types of problems can affect some channels without affecting others.

Luckily, I get all of the HD cable non-pay channels without difficulty where I live in Renton. Note that my QAM-capable HDTV is plugged directly into the cable feed from Comcast - no splitters and no wiring inside the house.

I suggested to my sister-in-law that she order a Comcast HD receiver or DVR, have them make sure that it works successfully and later cancel it if she does not want their box. That should leave the signal quality adequate for her QAM tuner. In her case, Comcast is responsible for all of the "inside wire" that feeds each outlet in her condo.

ppshooky

08-02-07, 04:29 PM

My sister-in-law has your same problem with KIRO-HD. She lives in Kent. I think they moved the native channel for KIRO about the time you mentioned from 80-something to 110-something, probably a higher frequency. Her QAM KIRO-HD reception was fine before then.

I believe in your case and her case there is likely a transmission quality or signal power level problem which could be "in-house" (bad connection or splitter or cable) or outside in the Comcast network. These types of problems can affect some channels without affecting others.

Luckily, I get all of the HD cable non-pay channels without difficulty where I live in Renton. Note that my QAM-capable HDTV is plugged directly into the cable feed from Comcast - no splitters and no wiring inside the house.

I suggested to my sister-in-law that she order a Comcast HD receiver or DVR, have them make that work successfully and later cancel it if she does not want their box. That should leave the signal quality adequate for her QAM tuner. In her case, Comcast is responsible for all of the "inside wire" that feeds each outlet in her condo.
Thanks. I live in Renton, along the Kent border.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one. Could it also be the TV itself? I have a Panasonic 42".

My cable goes into an enclosure in our master, where it's split through out the house. When Comcast came to install my cable, they originally told me I had a strong signal through out the house. I get all of the non-pay channels without difficulty as well, except for the poor signal quality for Kiro TV and the Kiro station that overlooks Seattle.

dandd

08-02-07, 07:26 PM

You can . . . but have to set channels as either do not receive, received, and favorites. Many on Tivocommunity.com are pushing TiVo to adopt multiple favorites, as such is necessary now that there are so many channels.

Of course, I mark all the channels I absolutely never watch as do not receive.

How do you set a channel as "do not receive"?

drew00001

08-02-07, 07:59 PM

How do you set a channel as "do not receive"?

Press Tivo button>>messages and settings>>settings>>channel list.

Scroll up and down the list to highlight unwanted channels. After highlighting an unwanted channel, press select for each channel you want marked "do not receive." The check mark next to the channel is removed, which takes it out of your received channel list.

Its much easier than the instructions.

Budget_HT

08-02-07, 08:55 PM

Thanks. I live in Renton, along the Kent border.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one. Could it also be the TV itself? I have a Panasonic 42".

My cable goes into an enclosure in our master, where it's split through out the house. When Comcast came to install my cable, they originally told me I had a strong signal through out the house. I get all of the non-pay channels without difficulty as well, except for the poor signal quality for Kiro TV and the Kiro station that overlooks Seattle.
On the Samsung 451 external ATSC/QAM tuner STB, I had to fool it to receive the HDTV channels via QAM on cable.

First, it always missed some on the automatic channels scan. So I finally started the scan and stopped it after a few seconds, hoping to clear the memory off all digital channels. I had to set the cable type to IRD (instead of STD or HRC) to get the high-numbered channels to tune in at all.

Next I entered each native cable channel (whole numbered--it does not allow entries of sub-channels). For example, I entered 110 to get KIRO-HD, then received 110-1 (KONG-HD), 110-2 (KIRO-HD) and 110-3 (KIRO-SD). I entered each known native cable channel with similar results. The Samsung 451 then remembers each channel tuned in initially by this method. But this Samsung model does not map the native cable channels to their PSIP-equivalent logical channel numbers. Interestingly, when connected to an antenna instead of cable, it does map native OTA channel numbers to the PSIP logical channel numbers.

I have a small Polaroid HDTV with integrated NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners. It does auto scan and auto detect the digital channels and maps them to their PSIP equivalents. On this TV, I never see the native cable channels unless a channel lacks PSIP data.

The native cable channel to PSIP-based channel mapping seems to vary somewhat in the metro area, so the exact native channels may be different at your house.

Here are the "in-the-clear" HDTV channels on Comcast cable at my house, listed by PSIP number and native cable channel number:

4.1 -- 82-4 HD
5.1 -- 85-2 HD
5.2 -- 85-1
7-1 -- 110-2 HD
7.2 -- 110-3
9.1 -- 82-2
9.3 -- 82-3
9.5 -- 82-1 HD
11.1 -- 111-2 HD
13.1 -- 111-1 HD
16.1 -- 110-1 HD
22.1 -- 96-1 HD
22.2 -- 96.2

So, I would wonder if you are missing any other digital channels whose native cable channels are high-numbered, like 11.1 on 111-2 and 13.1 on 111-1.

Roto

08-02-07, 09:38 PM

I got the new guide today and I think it's a big improvement. The only downside I've found so far is most things I use from the main menu are one extra menu selection deep. Press DVR and you get choices like my recordings, scheduled recordings, etc rather than just taking me straight to my recordings. I'll learn to live with it, because I've found many more things that I like.

OnDemand is an improvement, at least for all the little 5 minutes stuff like music videos, it takes you back to the category you were in, and you don't have to navigate 5 menus deep from the beginning to go back. Now I might actually watch some of that stuff.

Also, right on the titles of the shows you are told if it's new or expiring soon. Hopefully it's accurate

Some have complained about lockups. So far my box is responding faster. I hadn't had lockup problems on the MS guide in a long time, but I would have times where it would take 10 seconds to respond to the remote. This hasn't happened yet, but it's also just faster to respond in general.

Dual buffers seemed to work well. I was watching a recording, I could hit last channel and it took me over to live ESPN, where I could rewind however much it had. Hist last again and I'm back to my recorded show. I just wish we'd have more hard disk space for this.

30 second skip works! This is the big one for me, especially with the better response from the remote, I get through shows a lot faster than with fast forward.

PSD00

08-02-07, 10:36 PM

I keep seeing references to the 30 sec skip on the forum I can't figure out how to get to it. I have a 3416 DVR and the new(?) iGuide. Could somebody tell me how to get the 30 sec skip? Thanks.

Roto

08-02-07, 10:59 PM

You just program it into your remote.
Here is the exact procedure to program a swap or 30 second skip to the remote.

1) Press the "Cable" button at the top of the remote to put it into Cable Box control mode.
2) Press and hold the "Setup" button until the "Cable" button blinks twice.
3) Type in the code 994. The "Cable" button will blink twice
4) Press (do not hold) the "Setup" button
5) Type in the code 00173 (for 30 second Skip) or 00236 (for Swap).
6) Press whatever button you want to map the skip or swap function to.

Marc
I've had the button programmed on my remote for years, but the MS guide had the feature disabled.

WirelessGuru

08-03-07, 02:26 AM

I keep seeing references to the 30 sec skip on the forum I can't figure out how to get to it. I have a 3416 DVR and the new(?) iGuide. Could somebody tell me how to get the 30 sec skip? Thanks.
Isn't it the "skip fwd >|"? button?

summersr

08-03-07, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by MarcL
Here is the exact procedure to program a swap or 30 second skip to the remote.

1) Press the "Cable" button at the top of the remote to put it into Cable Box control mode.
2) Press and hold the "Setup" button until the "Cable" button blinks twice.
3) Type in the code 994. The "Cable" button will blink twice
4) Press (do not hold) the "Setup" button
5) Type in the code 00173 (for 30 second Skip) or 00236 (for Swap).
6) Press whatever button you want to map the skip or swap function to.

Make sure you pay attention to step 6!!
I got in a hurry and pressed "My DVR" to see if the programming worked before I pressed the key I wanted for the 30 second skip.

Comcast hadn't a clue what the key code for "My DVR" was
I was able to look it up online and reset it to 00175 using the same instructions above but if you get into a rush you can change a button you don't want to change.

millworker

08-03-07, 11:55 AM

Is everyone getting Comcast Central? When I got the download yesterday, it showed up as an option but when selected, said it was unavailable. Today it is not even showing up as an option.

ppshooky

08-03-07, 12:10 PM

On the Samsung 451 external ATSC/QAM tuner STB, I had to fool it to receive the HDTV channels via QAM on cable.

First, it always missed some on the automatic channels scan. So I finally started the scan and stopped it after a few seconds, hoping to clear the memory off all digital channels. I had to set the cable type to IRD (instead of STD or HRC) to get the high-numbered channels to tune in at all.

Next I entered each native cable channel (whole numbered--it does not allow entries of sub-channels). For example, I entered 110 to get KIRO-HD, then received 110-1 (KONG-HD), 110-2 (KIRO-HD) and 110-3 (KIRO-SD). I entered each known native cable channel with similar results. The Samsung 451 then remembers each channel tuned in initially by this method. But this Samsung model does not map the native cable channels to their PSIP-equivalent logical channel numbers. Interestingly, when connected to an antenna instead of cable, it does map native OTA channel numbers to the PSIP logical channel numbers.

I have a small Polaroid HDTV with integrated NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners. It does auto scan and auto detect the digital channels and maps them to their PSIP equivalents. On this TV, I never see the native cable channels unless a channel lacks PSIP data.

The native cable channel to PSIP-based channel mapping seems to vary somewhat in the metro area, so the exact native channels may be different at your house.

Here are the "in-the-clear" HDTV channels on Comcast cable at my house, listed by PSIP number and native cable channel number:

4.1 -- 82-4 HD
5.1 -- 85-2 HD
5.2 -- 85-1
7-1 -- 110-2 HD
7.2 -- 110-3
9.1 -- 82-2
9.3 -- 82-3
9.5 -- 82-1 HD
11.1 -- 111-2 HD
13.1 -- 111-1 HD
16.1 -- 110-1 HD
22.1 -- 96-1 HD
22.2 -- 96.2

So, I would wonder if you are missing any other digital channels whose native cable channels are high-numbered, like 11.1 on 111-2 and 13.1 on 111-1.
Interesting. I'll check my channels at home.

My HD channels used to be all over the place (most in the 80s), but they steadily were re-arranged so that they would be on the -1 equivalent. And then a few months later, KIRO HD crapped out on me.

My local cable HD stations (off the top of my head) are:
4-1 = KOMO HD
5-1 = KING HD
5-2 = KING HD 2
7-1 = KIRO HD (won't display a signal)
7-2 = KIRO HD 2 (won't display a signal)

I'll check the rest tonight.

WSeattleGuY

08-03-07, 04:47 PM

I apologize in advance if this has been discussed. I searched and didn't find an answer.

I'm just wondering if the moto boxes will still output via firewire with the new guide. Also, I'm just about to get a new pc w/ vista. will the same drivers work on the vista machine? thanks.

IPA-Eric

08-03-07, 04:53 PM

newlinux

08-03-07, 06:43 PM

I never realized I could swap between the two tuners, however, I am wondering what purpose this serves? When I try to do PIP it doesn't work. Should I be able to do PIP using the box now?

So far, I am OK with the new interface, but the DVR really steams me. The series management is basically non-existent from what I can tell. I have not yet figured out to record just a specific time for a show, so for shows that run many times during the day, I get all of them :mad:

Thanks!

I don't have the new interface, but when I had tivo I had dual buffered tuners and that made PIP unecessary for me, since I could pause either buffer at any time and go back watch whatever I wanted in the buffer on the other tuner. Great for sports, especially having espnews on one buffer, where with their 30 minute updates I always could go see everything that has happened.

Go Hard

08-03-07, 06:46 PM

How do I get the 2nd tuner on the channel I want? Do I have to record one or both shows?

WiFi-Spy

08-03-07, 06:52 PM

timfierro

08-03-07, 09:34 PM

So far, I am OK with the new interface, but the DVR really steams me. The series management is basically non-existent from what I can tell. I have not yet figured out to record just a specific time for a show, so for shows that run many times during the day, I get all of them :mad:

It really does suck when you record something that has like a 3 hour marathon. You get them. Then 6 hours later, it wants to record them again. You can 'try' and tell the new software not to record, but it does anyway.

The old software used to let you delete individual airings. That way you could get a recording, watch it; then tell the dvr not to record those again as you already have seen it.

Unlike you, I really don't like the new DVR software. It is not as comprehensive as the old software.

Tim

ppshooky

08-03-07, 11:58 PM

On the Samsung 451 external ATSC/QAM tuner STB, I had to fool it to receive the HDTV channels via QAM on cable.
First, it always missed some on the automatic channels scan. So I finally started the scan and stopped it after a few seconds, hoping to clear the memory off all digital channels. I had to set the cable type to IRD (instead of STD or HRC) to get the high-numbered channels to tune in at all.
Next I entered each native cable channel (whole numbered--it does not allow entries of sub-channels). For example, I entered 110 to get KIRO-HD, then received 110-1 (KONG-HD), 110-2 (KIRO-HD) and 110-3 (KIRO-SD). I entered each known native cable channel with similar results. The Samsung 451 then remembers each channel tuned in initially by this method. But this Samsung model does not map the native cable channels to their PSIP-equivalent logical channel numbers. Interestingly, when connected to an antenna instead of cable, it does map native OTA channel numbers to the PSIP logical channel numbers.
I have a small Polaroid HDTV with integrated NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners. It does auto scan and auto detect the digital channels and maps them to their PSIP equivalents. On this TV, I never see the native cable channels unless a channel lacks PSIP data.
The native cable channel to PSIP-based channel mapping seems to vary somewhat in the metro area, so the exact native channels may be different at your house.
Here are the "in-the-clear" HDTV channels on Comcast cable at my house, listed by PSIP number and native cable channel number:
4.1 -- 82-4 HD
5.1 -- 85-2 HD
5.2 -- 85-1
7-1 -- 110-2 HD
7.2 -- 110-3
9.1 -- 82-2
9.3 -- 82-3
9.5 -- 82-1 HD
11.1 -- 111-2 HD
13.1 -- 111-1 HD
16.1 -- 110-1 HD
22.1 -- 96-1 HD
22.2 -- 96.2
So, I would wonder if you are missing any other digital channels whose native cable channels are high-numbered, like 11.1 on 111-2 and 13.1 on 111-1.Interesting. I'll check my channels at home.
My HD channels used to be all over the place (most in the 80s), but they steadily were re-arranged so that they would be on the -1 equivalent. And then a few months later, KIRO HD crapped out on me.
My local cable HD stations (off the top of my head) are:
4-1 = KOMO HD
5-1 = KING HD
5-2 = KING DT (weather station)
7-1 = KIRO DT (won't display a signal)
7-2 = KIRO 7. (won't display a signal)
I'll check the rest tonight.Here's the rest (the channels above and below were auto named on my TV)
9-1 = KCTS-DT
9-3 = KCTS DT
9-5 = KCTS DT
11-1 = CW11 HD (won't display a signal)
13-1 = KCPQ HD (won't display a signal)
16-1 = KONG HD (won't display a signal)
22-1 = KMYQ HD
22-2 = The Tub (The Tube)
112-11 = Comcast Weather

Wow, I didn't know so many other stations had lost their HD signal (I typically don't watch any of the local stations above channel 9). I'm tempted to try and do an auto program again to see if I can get the HD stations I've lost, I'm just worried that I'm going to have to re-delete/block the stations I've already deleted.

pastiche

08-04-07, 02:40 AM

11-1 = CW11 HD (won't display a signal)
13-1 = KCPQ HD (won't display a signal)
16-1 = KONG HD (won't display a signal)
22-1 = KMYQ HD

FWIW, here's the latest update to the QAM list:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10921115#post10921115

It lists all of the above, including both transport and PSIP channels, so it might help in the troubleshooting.

It looks to me as if ppshooky might have a signal strength problem at high frequencies:

KIRO, KONG, KSTW, and KCPQ are transported at much higher frequency (channels 110 and 111) than the ones that he is receiving KOMO, KING, KCTS, and KMYQ (channels 82, 85, 96).

Budget_HT

08-04-07, 02:58 AM

FWIW, here's the latest update to the QAM list:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10921115#post10921115

It lists all of the above, including both transport and PSIP channels, so it might help in the troubleshooting.

It looks to me as if ppshooky might have a signal strength problem at high frequencies:

KIRO, KONG, KSTW, and KCPQ are transported at much higher frequency (channels 110 and 111) than the ones that he is receiving KOMO, KING, KCTS, and KMYQ (channels 82, 95, 96).
There are some small differences between your latest list and what I see here in Renton. For example, the native cable channels are different for 9.1, 9.3 and 9.5. See my earlier post for those channels in our area.

This does not surprise me. Each Comcast service area (head-end and downstream) can vary from others.

BIslander

08-04-07, 04:44 AM

How do I get the 2nd tuner on the channel I want? Do I have to record one or both shows?
No recording is necessary. Switch to the second tuner and then use the guide or punch in the numbers for the channel you want. The box will then start buffering that channel.

If you want to be able to rewind back through two programs at once, don't hit the Last Channel button to switch between the programs. That button switches channels on the tuner you are currently watching. Rather, use your Swap button to switch between tuners, each of which will be buffering whatever channel was last tuned in. BTW, if you have a silver Comcast DVR remote, the PIP Swap button should already be set to switch between tuners. So you don't have to build a button of your own.

BIslander

08-04-07, 04:55 AM

Isn't it the "skip fwd >|"? button?
You get a :30 skip when you hit the skip forward >>| function on other remotes. But that button doesn't appear on the Comcast remote, which is why you have to make a button yourself. The Skip >>| button on my Harmony remote works fine with a Comcast 3412 DVR and the new guide.

opus312

08-04-07, 02:46 PM

It really does suck when you record something that has like a 3 hour marathon. You get them. Then 6 hours later, it wants to record them again. You can 'try' and tell the new software not to record, but it does anyway.

I stopped using series recording a while back, now just schedule each week separately. It's easier if you go thru scheduled recordings > Other Showings. No reason why this shouldn't work with already recorded programs, or that searches shouldn't be saved, which would make it a lot easier, but of course that would be Comcastic and therefore not allowed. So you hafta do it before the last scheduled episode records, or you'll need to go thru search again.

pastiche

08-04-07, 07:28 PM

There are some small differences between your latest list and what I see here in Renton. For example, the native cable channels are different for 9.1, 9.3 and 9.5. See my earlier post for those channels in our area.

This does not surprise me. Each Comcast service area (head-end and downstream) can vary from others.

It would be surprising if channels other than those that are locally inserted (105-XX), etc. are enumerated differently by region. The additional overhead of re-encoding the same programming repeatedly would be substantial.

I have seen some tuners that are incapable of properly enumerating subchannels that are non-contiguous (i.e. 82-2 doesn't exist, therefore, 82-1, 82-3, 82-4, 82-5 are renumerated). My PSIP-capable tuner enumerates the 105 multiplex as 105-XXXX, while my non-PSIP-capable tuner enumerates the 105 multiplex as 105-XX, for example.

KCTS maintains that its channel positions are as follows:

Antenna Reception, Comcast w/ STB, Comcast w/o STB
9-1 KCTS-DT, 109 KCTS-DT, 82.1 KCTS-DT
9-3 KCTS Create, 112 KCTS Create, 82.3 KCTS Create
9-5 KCTS-HDTV, 108 KCTS-HDTV, 82.5 KCTS-HDTV

Source: http://www.kcts.org/tvschedule/dtv.asp

For the record, I'm not trying to be contrary; just trying to look at this from all angles and get to the bottom of it. :)

ppshooky

08-05-07, 01:33 AM

FWIW, here's the latest update to the QAM list:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10921115#post10921115

It lists all of the above, including both transport and PSIP channels, so it might help in the troubleshooting.

It looks to me as if ppshooky might have a signal strength problem at high frequencies:

KIRO, KONG, KSTW, and KCPQ are transported at much higher frequency (channels 110 and 111) than the ones that he is receiving KOMO, KING, KCTS, and KMYQ (channels 82, 85, 96).
Thanks for the list.

Mine show up differently, but as BudgetHT said, it may be a bit different because we're in Renton.

I did manage to fix the problem though. I first attempted to do a channel scan, but that ended up duplicating the HD stations I was having problems, where only one would work and the other wouldn't. But, no matter which I deleted, it would delete the one that works.

So, I did a reset and that seems to have fixed the problem for now. But, now I have to go through all of the channels again and delete the ones that don't receive any reception.

Faceless Rebel

08-05-07, 06:45 AM

I'm out here on Sand Point and they haven't given me the new guide yet. I have the 3412 still, I meant to go swap out the box for the 3416 so I could have more HDD space but I never got around to doing it.

Todd Nicholson

08-05-07, 12:51 PM

Just got my information in the mail yesterday here in Anacortes about the new guide roll-out. Supposed to occur the week of August 14th.

SirChaos

08-05-07, 08:26 PM

Just got my information in the mail yesterday here in Anacortes about the new guide roll-out. Supposed to occur the week of August 14th.

Ditto for Marysville area.

Budget_HT

08-06-07, 01:59 AM

It would be surprising if channels other than those that are locally inserted (105-XX), etc. are enumerated differently by region. The additional overhead of re-encoding the same programming repeatedly would be substantial.

I have seen some tuners that are incapable of properly enumerating subchannels that are non-contiguous (i.e. 82-2 doesn't exist, therefore, 82-1, 82-3, 82-4, 82-5 are renumerated). My PSIP-capable tuner enumerates the 105 multiplex as 105-XXXX, while my non-PSIP-capable tuner enumerates the 105 multiplex as 105-XX, for example.

KCTS maintains that its channel positions are as follows:

Antenna Reception, Comcast w/ STB, Comcast w/o STB
9-1 KCTS-DT, 109 KCTS-DT, 82.1 KCTS-DT
9-3 KCTS Create, 112 KCTS Create, 82.3 KCTS Create
9-5 KCTS-HDTV, 108 KCTS-HDTV, 82.5 KCTS-HDTV

Source: http://www.kcts.org/tvschedule/dtv.asp

For the record, I'm not trying to be contrary; just trying to look at this from all angles and get to the bottom of it. :)
Right now I only have two QAM tuners--one built into a small Polaroid HDTV (this one converts "Comcast w/o STB" to the PSIP-specified OTA-equivalent channels) and a Samsung "451" HDTV digital tuner-only STB (this one supports PSIP mapping on OTA ATSC channels, but not on cable QAM channels). So, my testing capabilities for QAM channels is limited.

The Samsung STB did show 9.5 HD appearing from Comcast on 82.1, and so on as I stated above.

I am not trying to be contrary either. I am just reporting my observations as another data point. I don't understand why Comcast would vary the QAM channel assigments, even though I understand how they could.

Hopefully this will all settle in and the channel shuffling will stop.

Grampa

08-07-07, 12:52 PM

I live on Capitol Hill in Seattle. I have Comcast's Digital Classic package with the Motorola 6412 as part of my basement HT. I'm getting a new TV for an upstairs room. What stations it will pull in without another Comcast box? The TV is a Sony with NTSC and ATSC/QAM tuners.

My basement DVD player has a built-in ATSC/QAM tuner (no NTSC), and it picks up pretty much everything on the channel map posted by pastiche above. It does not pick up "simulcast" channels in the 30-74 range, which I assume are scrambled. Will the new TV receive those channels on its NTSC tuner? Any chance of them coming in digitally? Thanks.

SeattleAl

08-07-07, 03:30 PM

A native clear QAM tuner will pick up all the digital and HD channels in the basic, non-extended cable package. That means everything up to Channel 29. Channels 30 and up are apparently encrypted and not available digitally without a Cable Card. They're still available in analog for now, so it's not a big deal until they are removed.

Grampa

08-07-07, 07:15 PM

Channels 30 and up are apparently encrypted and not available digitally without a Cable Card. They're still available in analog for now, so it's not a big deal until they are removed.
Thanks. I guess the only down side to getting those channels in analog is that they won't look as good as they do coming through the cable box, right? On the other hand, I'm not crazy about paying Comcast another $11/month when that TV will not get much use.

smashhead

08-07-07, 07:32 PM

Todd Nicholson

08-08-07, 09:22 AM

BIslander

08-08-07, 05:35 PM

For any of you who have gotten the new guide, are they also updating the firmware at the same time. I'm currently using 12.31 with buggy remote queue/fastforward/rewind problems since 12.35 caused daily reboots.
Yes, there's a new version of the firmware. I've had the new guide for a few weeks and have not seen the 12.35 reboot problems or the 12.31 shuttling issues or frame grabbing when switching from HD to SD channels. The new box has its own issues. But, those old bugs are gone and it's great to be able to swap tuners and use the :30 skip.

wareagle

08-08-07, 06:46 PM

Yes, there's a new version of the firmware.
...

What is the version number?

sangwpark

08-08-07, 08:47 PM

Checked mine. Yup. New firmware. 12.35. Mine has reboot twice for no apparent reason in the last 5 days. However, it hasn't missed or interrupted any recordings thus far.

--
Sang

Todd Nicholson

08-08-07, 08:50 PM

Checked mine. Yup. New firmware. 12.35. Mine has reboot twice for no apparent reason in the last 5 days. However, it hasn't missed or interrupted any recordings thus far.

--
Sang

With the new IGuide or the MS guide? Rebooting with the MS Guide and firmware 12.35 is pretty normal I think, but I thought it would be a thing of the past with the new IGuide.

sangwpark

08-08-07, 08:59 PM

That would be the new IGuide...

--
Sang

Roto

08-08-07, 09:56 PM

I’ve been reading this forum thread from its early beginnings…. I’m kind of sad. This iguide fiasco is probably the last gasp of air before the competition obliterates Comcast. The Fios trucks are half a block away digging up the neighborhood. Also, the new DirectTV HD capacity should be coming online soon (end of year?). I’ve always liked Comcast. They have always provided good customer service imo.
The new guide isn't even a blip in the whole scheme of things. It's not that different from the previous one, and I'd say other than series recording, it's better than the Microsoft guide. Besides, the Microsoft guide was only being used in Washington.

I will be interested to see what happens when DirecTV brings all those HD channels on. I'm sure most people will end up disappointed when they get a bunch of simulcast stations that hardly have any actual HD content. I hope that's not the case, but I can't imagine A&E and the History Channel will suddenly get a bunch of HD shows by the end of the year. Comcast will have time to get the stations added. Verizon has a lot of installs to do before making a dent, and I haven't heard that what they're offering now is so different from the competition.

Roto

08-08-07, 09:59 PM

With the new IGuide or the MS guide? Rebooting with the MS Guide and firmware 12.35 is pretty normal I think, but I thought it would be a thing of the past with the new IGuide.
I used to get reboots like that almost nightly a few years back, but haven't seen it recently.

Mike777

08-08-07, 11:36 PM

Do you think they install the new guide overnight? The mail said the week of August 7th. So far, no new guide in Wallingford in Seattle.

Al Shing

08-09-07, 12:39 AM

I think it showed up a week late in my area. They probably printed those mailers and then ran behind schedule. It's not worth reprinting the mailers for only a week.

wareagle

08-09-07, 01:18 AM

But then, just what does "the week of August 7th" really mean?

Al Shing

08-09-07, 02:55 AM

I think the change did take place on a Tuesday overnight into Wednesday morning.

ABHD

08-09-07, 03:05 AM

I didn't get anything in the mail about the new guide yet, but I just got home and have a message on my machine that says within the next 10 days I will get the amazing new guide. I can't wait, this is the first upgrade Comcast has done in over 7 months! Finally we are getting the guide the rest of the country has had all along. Who cares about the recent Comcast HD additions other areas have, just give me that new guide! :p

tluxon

08-09-07, 10:21 AM

Well, I got the new software overnight and my first impression is I liked the MS software better. The new guide only shows 5 channels per page without giving me any longer span of time. With the new guide I cannot "see" the recorded shows by simply pressing the MYDVR button like with the MS guide. Now I have to press MYDVR->My Recordings. There also appears to be no equivalent to the Settings->Diagnostics menu selection and I've been unable to find the firmware or software identification.

What's supposed to be so great about this new software?

Tim

Reference

08-09-07, 10:29 AM

I think that's a common misperception that's causing people to be disappointed. The new software isn't supposed to be better. It's not even supposed to be great. It's only supposed to make this market consistent with the rest of Comcast's markets. That's the only real reason they're doing it, I bet.

Having written that, our non-DVR boxes switched over a few nights ago here in Wallingford and it's the same software I've seen elsewhere with non-Comcast DVRs (Marysville) and it's decent enough. With software updates, hopefully it'll get better. However, we didn't give our Comcast DVR a chance to switch over. Instead, we unplugged it and replaced it with a new TiVo HD. We're still using our very first Comcast DVR box (6412?) from back during the beta roll-out. We've been incredibly lucky in that it's operated mostly flawlessly as long as we didn't eat up more than 60% or so of the storage with recorded shows. Beyond that, it became increasingly unreliable and we didn't really want to chance it with the new software, especially after the barrage of poor notices it's received here from people I trust when it comes to this stuff. As you might expect, of course, the TiVo is mostly fantastic but, like the new Comcast guide, it could use improving which I hope to see with software updates soon enough.

tluxon

08-09-07, 10:31 AM

Say, can someone please tell me how I can start a recording and then stop it a few seconds later without it being deleted?????? Sometimes I see portions of ball games that I want to save without having to save the whole thing!

And what's the deal with not automatically recording an extra minute at the beginning and end of a show? Is there no way to get this when I begin recording a show already in progress?

I gotta turn off the TV - this is stressing me too much! :confused:

BIslander

08-09-07, 11:09 AM

What is the version number?
My DCT4312s have firmware version 16.35 and software version 74.58-3061. There's a thread with discussion about these non-Microsoft boxes:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10731495

I ran into one problem with the upgrade. Some recordings would only play for a few seconds, then freeze and go to black. The recordings showed as complete, but could not be played. Comcast said this was a known issue that sometimes happens when downloading the new guide. A tech came out with a new box and it works fine.

twstrickland

08-09-07, 11:48 AM

Not happy at all with the new guide! For some reason my DVR records the Early Show everyday! Is anyone have problems with the sound? I have a really old amp and am wondering if the problem is with it. By old I mean pre DD. Ouch.

Namrrats

08-09-07, 12:17 PM

I’m not happy with the new guide either. I’m hoping that the issues I have with it will be fixed through upgrades. Or maybe they can be fixed through some settings that some of you may know about. My friend got the upgrade too and he has the same issues as me.

My issues with the new guide are:

- No jump back after fast forward.

- Not being able to delete channels from the guide listing. I have the lowest digital line up so I don’t get a lot of the channels that show up in the guide. It makes surfing the guide completely useless. I heard about the workaround of setting up all your channels as “favorites” and go through them this way. But my friend said he tried that and when he hits “favorites” it always starts with channel 2 and he can only browse up and not back.

- I don’t like how I have to view my upcoming scheduled recordings. The new guide breaks up your scheduled recording by the day. So for me to see recordings for next week, I have to flip through each day (even though those days may not have any recordings) just to get to next week. What a complete waste of time. I like it the old way where I can go to my scheduled recording and see everything that’s recording in the upcoming weeks

- Grouping of recordings. The new guide doesn’t sort my recordings in groups of the same name. So now I have 5 episodes of the same show in my list that I have to go through instead of just seeing the name once with a (5) next to it.

Hopefully they fix these issues because they are very annoying.

This is my first post. I’ve been visiting this site for years now and finally decided to sign up.

Todd Nicholson

08-09-07, 01:04 PM

For no jump after fast-forward, simply press the replay button when fast-forwarding rather than play. It's a good work-around.

You cannot cull channels from the guide like you could with the MS guide, so you with this guide you have to add the channels you want to a favorites list, then access the channel list through your saved favorites list.

brente

08-09-07, 01:24 PM

just an fyi, but I found that after the moto DVR was updated with the new guide, it wouldn't play any of my recorded programs (the screen would stay black, and the time indicator would stay at zero). I pulled the power, reinserted the power plug, waited for the box to reset, then the DVR played back the programs ok.

opus312

08-09-07, 04:52 PM

Well, just got the new guide and firmware update to 16.35

The good news: 30 second skip, finally. Scheduled recordings show the date when more than a week out, eliminates some confusion. Looks like it's eliminated the jump-back after FF? If so, I like it, always hated that backup.

The bad news: FF4 speed, which had been one of the few advantages over Tivo, is now back to Tivo-type speed, less than half of what it was. No way to view all scheduled recordings on one screen, have to view by day. The recordings screen no longer indicates which programs are Saved? There's often no way to go back to previous screen, have to exit then start over. Many of my previously scheduled recordings got doubled up and were now scheduled twice, had to go thru and delete one of each.

ABHD

08-09-07, 06:37 PM

Got the phone call yesterday about the new guide being updated in the next 10 days, and the new guide was already up and running this morning. I briefly checked it out this morning, but actually have to say it's not as bad as I was excpeting after reading some of the posts here. So far, no problems with my recordings and it seems a bit more responsive speed wise. Just gotta get used to it I think, but so far I can live with it. Although maybe I just haven't spent enough time with it to discover any flaws or annoyances yet...

Michael Warner

08-09-07, 09:01 PM

Woke up to the new guide here as well. It has its quirks but so far so good. Use the "Last" or "Previous" button to work back through the menus without exiting. 30 second skip is a plus and pressing two buttons to get a list of favorite channels is no big deal. The most unexpected bonus is that I can now view channels 110 and 116 which had been dead for the past five months or so. Go figure.

brente

08-09-07, 10:57 PM

As was noted already, I did confirm with Comcast that there is currently no way to change the channel listing with the new guide and you have to use the favorites list to reduce the number of channels to cycle through (although, you have to use the favorites button to do so). Seems like typical Comcast - one step forward, and three steps back - the new guide is faster and has some other cool features, but the lack of ability to customize the guide will drive my family crazy (there's just too much crap on their lineup to have to wade through it all).

You would think that Comcast would've listened to their customers and included this capability - they may still add the ability to customize the channel guide in a future guide update. I asked Comcast about an eta on their TIVO software as I'm sure it will be supported with their guide, but they had no eta to offer.

Because of this, I'll probably end up returning my Comcast DVR boxes and replacing them with Tivo HD boxes (I already have an S3, and while the OnDemand functionality would be nice, the S3 is rock solid and does address many of the issues already raised with the new Comcast guide)...

Dave928

08-10-07, 12:47 AM

As was noted already, I did confirm with Comcast that there is currently no way to change the channel listing with the new guide and you have to use the favorites list to reduce the number of channels to cycle through (although, you have to use the favorites button to do so). Seems like typical Comcast - one step forward, and three steps back - the new guide is faster and has some other cool features, but the lack of ability to customize the guide will drive my family crazy (there's just too much crap on their lineup to have to wade through it all).

everyone can have their own favorites list.

on comcast's user forums they've said that the reason you can't edit the main guide list is that they want you to see the entire list in the hope that you'll maybe see something interesting that you don't subscribe to and will call and upgrade your package subscription = marketing!

jaydeflix

08-10-07, 01:47 AM

Well, I don't want to sound like a complainer. But if anyone finds an improvement to the guide... (the only one I noticed is kids programs are in blue and sports are in green) feel free to let me know.

the only plus I found (and it might have already been called out since I'm still reading) is the HD Channels Only guide... Otherwise... well, I'll add my gripes once I'm done reading.

artseattle

08-10-07, 02:01 AM

I just got the new interface today. For the first time since October I got the "random reboot" while channel surfing. I used to get this all the time with firmware 12.35. I had the phone tech roll back the firmware to 12.31 and never again had the reboot.

My new firmware says 16.35. Is anyone else having this problem?

Art

artseattle

08-10-07, 02:13 AM

tluxon, you can stop a recording midstream by going to the "Scheduled Recordings" section. Click on the program and then choose, "Set or Cancel a Recording" This is the red dot. You can then select "Don't record this program." This will stop the recording but retain what has already been recorded. This window also allows you to add time to the ongoing recording. I think this is a handy new feature which can be used to extend the recording time on shows like sporting events.

Let's start collecting tips and tricks!

Art

holl_ands

08-10-07, 02:38 AM

Date on i-Guide Manual found in wikibook link is 2004.

Anyone have a link to a Manual that is more recent???? How close it is????

brente

08-10-07, 03:49 AM

everyone can have their own favorites list.

on comcast's user forums they've said that the reason you can't edit the main guide list is that they want you to see the entire list in the hope that you'll maybe see something interesting that you don't subscribe to and will call and upgrade your package subscription = marketing!

but, you can't channel change forward/backwards through the favorites list, so it's not very flexible.

I do understand why they might not want you to change the channel list, but that doesn't address the issue that there is no way to hide channels (or descriptions of channels/shows) that I'd rather not have my kids find by accident, as there was with the previous guide. If this is indeed Comcast's decision, then they'll just lose more business than they'll gain in the end

brente

08-10-07, 03:51 AM

When I spoke with a Comcast CSR today, they gave me this (obviously wrong) web site address to provide feedback on the guide as: www.comcastsea\newguidefeedback.com

anyone else run across the correct address?

opus312

08-10-07, 08:48 AM

However, we didn't give our Comcast DVR a chance to switch over. Instead, we unplugged it and replaced it with a new TiVo HD.

Is the external hard drive enabled on the HD?

brente

08-10-07, 10:54 AM

Is the external hard drive enabled on the HD?

according to this TIVO Community FAQ (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=350510), no

Go Hard

08-10-07, 11:37 AM

decatab

08-10-07, 11:56 AM

I got to the feedback site using
comcastsea<dot>com<slash>newguidefeedback
(sorry, AVS blocks me from adding the address.)

Put in your complaints.
I have the same problems
1) Early Show auto recording - Customer rep said that the download include the scheduled program by mistake. What did they do? Use the software test image for the download?
2) no way to remove channels from the TV guide listings. No fix to this. I'm hoping that enough of us complain about this that they will make the fix. I can't believe everyone else in the country accepted this TV guide limitation.
3) have to enter 3 digits to select channel with digit keys. Cust rep said to go to setup and turn on auto-tune. I thought auto-tune was a TV guide listings feature to view the channel on the guide that's currently highlighted, as it was on the TV Guide that came with my TV.

decatab

08-10-07, 12:15 PM

RE: new guide updates

The record light on my Comcast DVR (moto dct 3412) turns on when the dvr is turned off. I turned on the dvr and the light goes off and verified that nothing is recording or is scheduled. I wonder if they changed the behavior so to use this RECORD light as the "recording scheduled" light. Does not make sense to me that they would do that. Looks like a bug to me.

wareagle

08-10-07, 12:28 PM

I got to the feedback site using
comcastsea<dot>com<slash>newguidefeedback
(sorry, AVS blocks me from adding the address.)
...

http://comcastsea.com/newguidefeedback

brente

08-10-07, 02:30 PM

Thanks decatab & wareagle!

guapote

08-10-07, 02:47 PM

[QUOTE=opus312]Well, just got the new guide and firmware update to 16.35

The good news: 30 second skip, finally. Scheduled recordings show the date when more than a week out, eliminates some confusion. Looks like it's eliminated the jump-back after FF? If so, I like it, always hated that backup.

We got the new version yesterday. How do you access the 30 second skip?

Thanks in advance.]

wareagle

08-10-07, 03:06 PM

...
How do you access the 30 second skip?
...

30-second skip: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Programming_the_Remote#Add_30-Second_Skip

Steveo369

08-10-07, 03:40 PM

The record light on my Comcast DVR (moto dct 3412) turns on when the dvr is turned off. I turned on the dvr and the light goes off and verified that nothing is recording or is scheduled. I wonder if they changed the behavior so to use this RECORD light as the "recording scheduled" light. Does not make sense to me that they would do that. Looks like a bug to me.

Not a bug. This is a 'feature', and is described (warned about) in the mailer Comcast sent out. Basically, if you're recording a show, DO NOT turn off your DVR, as it will stop recording. I had to set my Harmony remote to leave my cable box on all the time.

No, I don't understand why they would do this either, seems totally dumb. The MS guide had no problem keeping the recording portion functional w/o actually having the box 'on'...

wareagle

08-10-07, 03:50 PM

...
3) have to enter 3 digits to select channel with digit keys. Cust rep said to go to setup and turn on auto-tune. I thought auto-tune was a TV guide listings feature to view the channel on the guide that's currently highlighted, as it was on the TV Guide that came with my TV.

Auto tune:
See channel entry behavior -- http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Using_i-Guide/User_Setup#Channel_entry_behavior

(No iGuide here, yet, but I just got a message on the box telling me how to turn on Auto Tune. I suppose it won't be long before I get to experience it all for myself.)

decatab

08-10-07, 04:33 PM

Not a bug. This is a 'feature', and is described (warned about) in the mailer Comcast sent out. Basically, if you're recording a show, DO NOT turn off your DVR, as it will stop recording. I had to set my Harmony remote to leave my cable box on all the time.

Believe or not, I was not recording anything and nothing was scheduled. I turned off the DVR and the red record light comes on. I turn on the DVR and the record light goes away. The Comcast rep could not explain it either. I'll have to see what it does when I actually record something.

No, I don't understand why they would do this either, seems totally dumb. The MS guide had no problem keeping the recording portion functional w/o actually having the box 'on'...

I don't understand why they went this way either. It's a take away from the previous guide. I'll have to train everyone else in the house to not turn off the DVR when the Record light is on (assuming it works as before).

jaydeflix

08-10-07, 04:43 PM

Ok. So, I agree with most of the points, but, I'm seeing something else very annoying.

Back in the MS Enhanced version, it was very simple to see every Series I had subscribed to.

Now, after the change, the only way I seem to be able to see it is to look at the Series Priority. But, when I go there... well, two things

First and most important, most of my shows ARE NOT THERE ANYMORE. Lost? lost. CSIx3? Murder in the First. Heroes? Dead as Gwen St.. Captain A... Phoen.. err.. damn. Blood. E. Hell.

Second... Well, actually, the second problem resolved itself. The series priority order was totally futzed number wise. like, 3 33s, missing 14-16.... oh, there's an issue. NCIS was there when I first looked. It isn't now. Great. This is painful

SeattleAl

08-10-07, 07:00 PM

Navigation in the Series Priority screen is a little screwy. If you use the Page Down and Page Up keys to move up and down the list, it actually changes the priority order, which might lead one to think stuff is missing.

Use the cursor down key to tab down to the down arrow and up arrow keys at the bottom of the screen, and then press Enter to scroll down the list. This may work better for you.

jaydeflix

08-10-07, 07:05 PM

quarque

08-10-07, 07:53 PM

I've had the new guide for a few days and I find it to be an obvious improvement over MS. Yes it works differently but some things are better organized. Many of the complaints seem to stem from ignorance. Once I figured out how to use it the guide seems better to me on most accounts. I agree that there are still some things sorely lacking like editable channel list etc. I don't find the Favorites all that useful as a work-around. But hey, it records correctly and doesn't reboot! That's all I need.

jaydeflix

08-10-07, 08:55 PM

cliffg

08-10-07, 08:56 PM

Received the new guide software late Wed, played around with it a little bit last night. A few comments, based on about 30 minutes of experience:

Most of the functionality and usability is a wash, compared to the previous (MS) software. Most of the differences could be resolved easily and intuitively. My wife doesn't like the format and presentation as much as the previous guide, but it's not a huge gripe.

It does seem more responsive and deterministic, which I'm very happy about (I have two 6412s, and one was quite slow, and the other ok - the slow one had quite a bit more schedule series, recordings, etc).

Clobbering half of my series list is my biggest gripe. For me, the feature I like the best about DVRs is being able to set it to record any and all episodes of a series I like, and never worrying again about when the season starts, or if the series is taking a hiatus, etc. Now I will have to pay attention to all of my favorite series and hopefully schedule each one before it starts. Major irritation (my percentage of "casual TV viewing and watching commercials / promos for shows" is almost 0).

The organization of recordings and scheduled shows is not as nice, but it's workable.

30 second skip will be nice once I program it in (I used to have it in a Tivo from many years ago).

Cliff

jaydeflix

08-10-07, 09:00 PM

Clobbering half of my series list is my biggest gripe. For me, the feature I like the best about DVRs is being able to set it to record any and all episodes of a series I like, and never worrying again about when the season starts, or if the series is taking a hiatus, etc. Now I will have to pay attention to all of my favorite series and hopefully schedule each one before it starts. Major irritation (my percentage of "casual TV viewing and watching commercials / promos for shows" is almost 0).

Thank *FSM* this isn't just me. Did you call comcast to try to get to the bottom of it?

What I found *really* odd was that Heroes was set to record this week despite not apparently being subscribed. I subscribed, told it New Only, and it disappeared from the To Do list. But that's fubar'd right there, I tell you what.

quarque

08-10-07, 09:20 PM

Oh, and another DVR problem. Why can't I tell it to only record a tv show only at a specific time? I don't want to record both daily showings of Countdown. I only want the 5p showing. I don't *need* the 9p showing. And it isn't a repeat. Grr.

Go to the feedback link listed below and put his down as a "bug" or major deficiency. This is not rocket science. Making a decent DVR interface could be done properly by any number of high-school geeks (if properly motivated!). There is no excuse for things like this. Tivo solved most of these issues years ago - why can't they just look at a Tivo and duplicate the functions?

http://comcastsea.com/newguidefeedback

jaydeflix

08-10-07, 09:25 PM

Go to the feedback link listed below and put his down as a "bug" or major deficiency.

Well, if someone had already called and found it was a known problem, I wouldn't have bothered =)

Tivo solved most of these issues years ago - why can't they just look at a Tivo and duplicate the functions?

Because that could be considered theft. Look up the legal definition of 'taint'.

Al Shing

08-10-07, 09:35 PM

Well, if someone had already called and found it was a known problem, I wouldn't have bothered =)

I don't think this was a known problem before this week. My DVR retained all my original series, and added a bunch that I didn't originally have. Perhaps to fix one bug, they added another.

Dave928

08-10-07, 10:03 PM

but, you can't channel change forward/backwards through the favorites list, so it's not very flexible.

actually, you can go forward. if you hit the "FAV" button it goes to the next channel in your favorites list...

jaydeflix

08-10-07, 10:06 PM

I don't think this was a known problem before this week. My DVR retained all my original series, and added a bunch that I didn't originally have. Perhaps to fix one bug, they added another.

Got that bug too so I wouldn't call it fixed either =)

jimre

08-10-07, 10:23 PM

Go to the feedback link listed below and put his down as a "bug" or major deficiency. This is not rocket science. Making a decent DVR interface could be done properly by any number of high-school geeks (if properly motivated!). There is no excuse for things like this. Tivo solved most of these issues years ago - why can't they just look at a Tivo and duplicate the functions?
Because most of the "obvious" DVR functionality has been patented, either by Tivo or ReplayTV. That's why it's not as easy as it seems.

brente

08-10-07, 10:26 PM

actually, you can go forward. if you hit the "FAV" button it goes to the next channel in your favorites list...

correct - forward only (I should only have said you can't go backwards through the favorites list)

quarque

08-10-07, 10:36 PM

Because most of the "obvious" DVR functionality has been patented, either by Tivo or ReplayTV. That's why it's not as easy as it seems.

If that's true how can they make a DVR at all? It is still doing the same basic things as a Tivo, just not as well. Let me rephrase my earlier point: don't "copy" a Tivo but to learn from it what a proper design is. If they just did that and applied it to their own design we wouldn't all be wasting our time here.

Cbass98

08-10-07, 10:41 PM

Hey guys, I moved here from Cincinnati, OH a couple of months ago. We had TimeWarner there, and I was able to get QAM channels for free without even subscribing to the basic $10/month programming. On Monday, my roommate and I decided to cancel our basic $10/mo Comcast cable. I was still able to get free QAM channels up until today (Friday). I'm not sure if their system just updated or if this is just a temporary outage.

Does anyone know if you need at least the basic $10/mo package to get the free QAM channels here with Comcast? Thanks.

jaydeflix

08-10-07, 10:44 PM

If that's true how can they make a DVR at all? It is still doing the same basic things as a Tivo, just not as well. My earlier point was not to "copy" a Tivo but to learn from it what a proper design is. If they just did that and applied it to their own design we wouldn't all be wasting our time here.

Because, generically speaking, if Tivo can prove that Comcast (or anyone) designed a feature based on their design, they can manage to win a lawsuit. At Microsoft, the legal dept called it Taint, but that might have been the internal term.

quarque

08-10-07, 10:49 PM

Because, generically speaking, if Tivo can prove that Comcast (or anyone) designed a feature based on their design, they can manage to win a lawsuit. At Microsoft, the legal dept called it Taint, but that might have been the internal term.
OK, so you do what a Tivo does only so poorly it can't be claimed in a lawsuit that you copied something that actually works. What a system!

opus312

08-11-07, 10:04 AM

When recording, sometimes I get the red light with the clock, and sometimes REC appears on the front of the box. Anyone else run into this? Seems to be random behavior...

Nausicaa

08-11-07, 10:12 AM

When recording, sometimes I get the red light with the clock, and sometimes REC appears on the front of the box. Anyone else run into this? Seems to be random behavior...

I notice REC appears only when I manually start a recording in progress. It then goes away a few moments later and is replaced with the clock. The red light also appears and remains on for the duration of the recording.

For scheduled recordings, it's just the red light that appears.

Budget_HT

08-11-07, 11:25 AM

On one of my HDTVs with internal QAM tuner, I have lost KMYQ 22-1 and 22-2 (The Tube). On this Polaroid TV I only see the PSIP-mapped channel number if PSIP is present.

On my other Smasung 451 HD STB with QAM, I can still tune those channels in on QAM native 96-1 and 96-2. The Samsung box does not support PSIP channel mapping in the QAM mode. (PSIP mapping works fine in the OTA mode.)

Is anyone else not seeing the "MyQ" stations--HD and SD?

jaydeflix

08-11-07, 12:49 PM

Has anyone found a way to turn off the big onscreen notice that your recording is finished when you're watching something recorded?

I was watching a saved program as one is likely to do and something was being recorded in the background. At the top of the hour, this *huge* dialog pops up to let me know that the show that was being recorded has finished recording. And it stayed up for a good 5-10 seconds. Highly annoying.

markhs

08-11-07, 12:55 PM

Just returned from vacation to find the new guide on my DVR. I made suggestions about improving some features on the MS guide and now wish I hadn't. What a giant leap backwards! :eek: I have been playing with it for a few hours now and am researching alternatives to Comcast (possibly DirectTV). Anyone know what the Verizon FIOs schedule is for the Sammamish area? The only redeeming feature of the switch over is that I now have a 30 second skip. If I can find a decent alternative to Comcast I'll jump in a second.

wareagle

08-11-07, 01:05 PM

Has anyone found a way to turn off the big onscreen notice that your recording is finished when you're watching something recorded?
...

I think the "Exit" button will remove it although I can't be sure, since I haven't been inflicted with the new guide yet. I haven't heard of any way to eliminate it permanently.

jaydeflix

08-11-07, 01:10 PM

I think the "Exit" button will remove it although I can't be sure, since I haven't been inflicted with the new guide yet. I haven't heard of any way to eliminate it permanently.

I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

If the remote was permanently glued to my hand, I could test that. Or I could just pause the tv show I'm watching (which is what I did).

What scares me is that someone, somewhere, wrote a spec for that particular feature and no one in this room of people who would have had to approve the feature said 'Won't this interfere with the "Watching TV" experience?'

Of course, it is only there for a few seconds, so I'm sure everyone said 'oh, that's fine', but, no one stops to think about, for lack of a better word... 'artistry'. TV shows have pacing. I hate pausing in the middle of a show to go to the bathroom. I'll wait for commercials and then pause.

I downgraded from Tivo to MS Enhanced when I moved from a boat to terrestial land. Now I'm downgrading again... I think it's going to be back to Tivo soon enough.

Faceless Rebel

08-12-07, 12:48 AM

Random note of interest:

NFL Network HD has been added as channel 417. Too bad it's blacked out for me because neither I nor Comcast want to pay the NFL's blood money for that 99% useless network. I just hope Comcast and NFL reach some kind of deal for broadcast of the games which will be on NFL Network in November on InHD or something.

wareagle

08-12-07, 01:46 AM

...
NFL Network HD has been added as channel 417.
...

417 is neither HD nor new.

opus312

08-12-07, 03:50 PM

I notice REC appears only when I manually start a recording in progress. It then goes away a few moments later and is replaced with the clock. The red light also appears and remains on for the duration of the recording. For scheduled recordings, it's just the red light that appears.

Yesterday it was recording with no indication at all - no red light and no REC. I found out it was recording when I tried to power off the box to change the HDMI resolution. There's no longer any indication on the DVR Recordings screen either...

opus312

08-12-07, 03:53 PM

What scares me is that someone, somewhere, wrote a spec for that particular feature and no one in this room of people who would have had to approve the feature said 'Won't this interfere with the "Watching TV" experience?'

Probably the same guy who decided it would be a terrific idea to require powering off the box in order to toggle CC or change HDMI resolution...

jaydeflix

08-12-07, 05:35 PM

Probably the same guy who decided it would be a terrific idea to require powering off the box in order to toggle CC or change HDMI resolution...

Agreed on the CC, but I wonder if the HDMI thing is more technical in nature.

Another thing I'm trying to figure out... sometimes, if I hit 'stop', I get asked if I want to delete the recording. Other times, it just goes back to Live TV.

I always want the option to delete. And I never want to go back to Live TV. If I do, I'll click Live TV.

Roto

08-12-07, 05:47 PM

Another thing I'm trying to figure out... sometimes, if I hit 'stop', I get asked if I want to delete the recording. Other times, it just goes back to Live TV.

I thought the MS guide always gave you the option to delete when you hit stop. That's what i was in the habit of doing when I finished watching something. The difference with the new one is you have to be close to the end, like the last two minutes or something, then it will give you the option. Now if the show is over and there is 5 minutes left on the recording I fast forward to the end. Then I don't have to go back to my recordings to find it before I delete it.

rader023

08-12-07, 06:06 PM

jimre

08-12-07, 09:52 PM

Do you guys get macro blocking during sports on the 104-113 channels. When the game speeds up the HD starts to go to crap. Is this a comcast thing, specific to the channel or is it the box. My ps3, blu-ray etc. Have no problems through the same type of HDMI cables.Comcast has (at least to date) always passed thru the original bitstream from local HD affiliates, without additional compression. MPEG2 "macro blocking" artifacts are usually due to insufficient bitrate at the source when the action gets fast; it's normally a source problem, not Comcast-specific. You'd see the exact same thing either OTA or Comcast. It's often worst with KIRO and KING - since they use part of their HD bitrate to carry weather or traffic sub-channels. They aren't giving us (or Comcast) the full bitrate they receive from CBS or NBC.

rader023

08-12-07, 10:40 PM

Thanks jimre for the info. Depressing but informative! I wonder if they will ever improve bitrate as more people move to digital/HDTV.

WiFi-Spy

08-12-07, 11:43 PM

Welcome to broadcast hd

opus312

08-13-07, 01:22 AM

With the new software, is there any way to jump to the end of a recorded program? Getting there with FF4 is pretty tedious. And there appears to be no way to REW from the end, as you could with the Microsoft software...

Faceless Rebel

08-13-07, 01:31 AM

417 is neither HD nor new.

Hmm...why is NFL Network on both 180 and 417 then?

wareagle

08-13-07, 03:13 AM

Hmm...why is NFL Network on both 180 and 417 then?

180 and 417 were listed as being in different packages at one time, but were actually the same content. 180 isn't listed on the Comcast site now, although it has reappeared in the guide after being missing for a while. I'm not sure why they ever needed to have the same channel appear under different numbers. At any rate, neither is HD.

sangwpark

08-13-07, 11:11 AM

RE: NFL Network HD...if you remember, all HD simulcast contents from NFL Network last year were shown on 664, and not 180 and/or 417.

Maybe this year's different? Dunno...

--
Sang

wareagle

08-13-07, 11:36 AM

RE: NFL Network HD...if you remember, all HD simulcast contents from NFL Network last year were shown on 664, and not 180 and/or 417.

Maybe this year's different? Dunno...

--
Sang

This year may be different, but it won't involve putting HD on an SD channel (such as 180 or 417).

BlackLab

08-13-07, 07:32 PM

I had my gripes with the Microsoft guide but this "new" one is just an abomination. It's every bit as slow as the Microsoft guide and has the following "enhancements:"
- Graphics, fonts and menus circa 1995.
- No FF back-up. So if you're going quickly through commercials, you spend a good minute getting back to the end of the commercial break. Horrid.
- The lack of an editable channel guide. Using favorites takes a minimum of 2 extra clicks. Lame.
- Recorded shows appear in one giant list without folders.
- Obtuse and user unfriendly menu navigation throughout. Scrolling up takes takes you through a list but scrolling down takes you to the menu buttons? WTF?
- Can't see all of your scheduled recordings in a single list. You have to scroll by day?
- Did I mention it's ugly and looks like total crap in HD?

I'll try out the Tivo interface when it's available and if that doesn't perform well, I'm buying a Tivo HD.

Roto

08-13-07, 08:05 PM

I had my gripes with the Microsoft guide but this "new" one is just an abomination. It's every bit as slow as the Microsoft guide and has the following "enhancements:"
- Graphics, fonts and menus circa 1995.

Different from the MS Guide how? Main thing I noticed is lots of menus have 2 columns instead of one so you can see more choices on the screen at one time

- No FF back-up. So if you're going quickly through commercials, you spend a good minute getting back to the end of the commercial break. Horrid.

redundant with the instant replay button that skips back about 7 seconds. Hit that instead of play. The old way often backed me up further than I wanted and 30 second skip is much better than fast forward anyway.

- The lack of an editable channel guide. Using favorites takes a minimum of 2 extra clicks. Lame.

I agree with this one, though it doesn't bother me much.

- Recorded shows appear in one giant list without folders.

We had folders before? I never had enough diskspace to bother to find out
- Obtuse and user unfriendly menu navigation throughout. Scrolling up takes takes you through a list but scrolling down takes you to the menu buttons? WTF?

I have no idea what you're talking about here

- Can't see all of your scheduled recordings in a single list. You have to scroll by day?
I agree on this one, but I like the viewing by day for viewing upcoming shows and viewing by channel.

- Did I mention it's ugly and looks like total crap in HD?

Again, same as the old guide. I can see why people would consider going to Tivo, but I don't get all this outrage over the changes. Tivo was always better than the cable box. Most of the negative changes are pretty minor. You didn't even mention the series recordings grabbing all shows that aren't marked repeat. That's the only complaint I've seen in this whole thread that I would consider a real problem over the old guide.

The HD Tivo is tempting, but losing OnDemand (which is quite a bit better with the new guide) and paying the Tivo fees on top of buying the box isn't worth it to me yet. I might reconsider when they enable the external hard drive port, assuming Comcast still hasn't done anything to give us more disk space.

Roto

08-13-07, 08:14 PM

Do you guys get macro blocking during sports on the 104-113 channels. When the game speeds up the HD starts to go to crap. Is this a comcast thing, specific to the channel or is it the box. My ps3, blu-ray etc. Have no problems through the same type of HDMI cables.
Go check out the HD Programming forum, especially as more football game threads get going. You'll see a lot of the same comments and the actual production teams are often participating to get feedback.

Anything you get over cable and satellite isn't going to compare with the bitrate you get with BluRay. Broadcast television only has so much bandwidth and everything has to get compressed more. Plus cable is still using Mpeg2 to do that compression.

jaydeflix

08-13-07, 08:24 PM

Oh gods. Just found another glaring bug.

I have three shows scheduled for 9p tomorrow, Countdown, Eureka and Reno 911!.

Never mind the fact that I don't want to record the 9p Countdown, and that Reno is listed as a repeat but the Series settings says new episodes only...

right now, it says it will record countdown and reno 911.

So, I go, double click the record button on Countdown, say Don't record this program. It sets Eureka to record. Now, I don't want Reno 911 to record, so I double click record on that and tell it not to record and now IT'S GOING TO RECORD COUNTDOWN.

I just told it NOT to record countdown. MANUALLY. Why does it want to override WHAT I JUST TOLD IT.

Sorry. This is just BS.

wareagle

08-13-07, 09:07 PM

...
The HD Tivo is tempting, but losing OnDemand (which is quite a bit better with the new guide) and paying the Tivo fees on top of buying the box isn't worth it to me yet. I might reconsider when they enable the external hard drive port, assuming Comcast still hasn't done anything to give us more disk space.

I believe that capability has been available for the TiVo Series 3 since May:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/04/how-to-use-your-tivo-series3-esata-port-to-add-an-external-driv/

Roto

08-13-07, 09:17 PM

Yes, and I'm not willing to pay extra for the Series 3. Apparently the HD Tivo has the eSATA port, just not the most current firmware, so people expect it to become enabled down the road.

drew00001

08-14-07, 12:36 AM

Yes, and I'm not willing to pay extra for the Series 3. Apparently the HD Tivo has the eSATA port, just not the most current firmware, so people expect it to become enabled down the road.

You can always replace the 160GB in the TivoHD with a bigger drive. 500gb drives are only $150.

summersr

08-14-07, 09:21 AM

Hope this is not a trend

Yesterday the iGuide program listings for 272 (SciFi) channel did not reflect what was on...jeez

boykster

08-14-07, 11:59 AM

272 is the Science channel, not SciFi, but yep, it was all out of whack last night.

drew00001

08-14-07, 01:40 PM

Does anyone have any news about any of the following HD channels being available on Sea Comcast?

Discovery launches Animal Planet HD, Discovery HD (different from Discovery Theater HD), TLC HD, and The Science Channel HD later this week.

August
Animal Planet
Discovery
TLC
The Science Channel

September
Cinemax (MoreMAX)
HBO (HBO2, HBO Family, HBO Signature)
History
Starz (Starz Comedy, Starz Edge, and Starz Kids)
TBS
The Weather Channel

October
CNN

October/November
Cartoon Network
CNBC
FX
SciFi
USA Network

December
Tennis Channel

1Q '07
ABC Family
Disney Channel
Toon Disney
ESPNews

Dish Network will add the first group this month, and DirecTV will begin adding channels in the second half of September, but they won't be the only ones. You can also expect to see most of these channels on Comcast, FiOS, and other cable providers this year.

buti_oxa

08-14-07, 01:50 PM

BlackLab wrote:
- Obtuse and user unfriendly menu navigation throughout. Scrolling up takes takes you through a list but scrolling down takes you to the menu buttons? WTF?

I have no idea what you're talking about here

It is not a big deal for some, bothers people like me or BlackLab to no end. For an example, go to My DVR/Series Priority. If you have more than four series scheduled, you see 4 lines of series and under them, a line with 4 icons. Pressing down arrow brings you from line 1 to line 2 and so on. From line 4 you go to the icons, and next screen is one of them. So it takes you 5 down presses to get from line 1 to line 5, but only 4 up presses to get from line 5 back to line 1.

They have problem with separating navigating content and navigating screen in many places. In find screen, you expect to get down to the list of shows by pressing down as usual. You cannot, of course, because down arrow changes the current letter! So, the had to use OK button here for switching from top to bottom part of the screen. MS guide solved this difficult design problem better.

plateauman

08-14-07, 02:34 PM

I can't seem to figure out how to set up the Mariners HD games on 664 as a series. I can manually select to record one show, but there does not appear to be a way to create a series on this channel.

With the previous software I could record all instances on a channel which worked for this purpose since there were only Mariner MLB games on this channel. Can't seem to find that functionality anymore?

Am I missing something or is this there no way to set up a series for a particular sports team?

billymac

08-14-07, 06:08 PM

I just got back from vacation late Sunday and noticed the new guide. One word. YUK!!!!! What the heck happened here? This is like 1 step forward 3 steps back. What happened to the MS guide? This thing is loaded with bugs, quirks and limitations. Why does recording stop when you shut off the DVR?!!! That's nuts. No two digit direct channel selection? No grouping of similar series recordings in "my recordings"? Many more keypresses for what used to be just one. I've got to say, this is definitely not a smart move on Comcast's part and I hope they listen carefully to those of us with complaints. I had no beef with the MS guide. It worked and it worked consistently. This new guide is a major step in the wrong direction and definitely not one I would bet my money on. I'm seriously considering 86'ing my DVR and investing in a Tivo Series 3. I hope this is something they'll address quickly.

tristan2

08-14-07, 06:57 PM

I'm a new to HDTV as of today. I just purchased a Pioneer 6010FD (60" 1080p plasma) and I installed my HD box this morning.

I am still breaking in the TV so have not taken time to watch much in terms of TV. But I did tune to Discovery HD and it was mind blowing. But almost equally amazing to me is how bad the SD material shows on this TV. My 16 year old RP CRT combined with analog cable looked much better. Some of the stuff (like comedy central) is almost unwatchable.

Is this normal? Is there anything I can do to improve the qualify of the SD stations (like buy a receiver with a good scaler and route the cable through it)?
Thanks

wareagle

08-14-07, 07:13 PM

...
No two digit direct channel selection?
...

See channel entry behavior here:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Using_i-Guide/User_Setup#Guide_Setup

TheOrkinMan

08-14-07, 07:37 PM

When recording, sometimes I get the red light with the clock, and sometimes REC appears on the front of the box. Anyone else run into this? Seems to be random behavior...

I've seen this exactly twice, and in both cases it seemed like the box was trying to tell me there was "a problem with the ReCording". In those 2 cases, I found that it was still recording a show it started 4-5 hours earlier.

Between this glitch and the fact that I can no longer record KCTS or UHD due to dropout, I'm not impressed.

Yeah - I know it's probably a problem with signal strength and bandwidth, but it seems coincidental that it's suddenly so bad with the new firmware.

jameskollar

08-14-07, 09:37 PM

BIslander

08-15-07, 12:51 AM

From my experience, rEC appears on the box when you are viewing the tuner where the recording is taking place. If you are viewing the other tuner, you get the red light instead. I haven't seen an explanation anywhere. That's simply what I have observed.

SuperRob

08-15-07, 11:58 AM

Reposting from the HDTV Programming thread ...

I'm new to Comcast, and specifically HD, so I'm hoping someone in the area can offer some answers to these questions. Please be gentle if I'm covering familiar ground for you ... a search didn't turn up what I'm looking for.

Given that the UFC went HD in February, I set up a party for next week assuming that the UFC 74 would be in HD on Comcast in Seattle. I'm starting to see things suggesting that Comcast doesn't have any HD PPV events in my area. Am I stuck seeing it in SD? For what it's worth, I called Comcast and asked if the show would be in HD, and the nice gal on the phone assured me that it would be in HD on channel 801, but I don't see any indication in the guide or elsewhere that this is the case.

I've read threads from people who have much different channel lineups than I do out here. Is Seattle really that far behind? I'd love FoodTV in HD, but it looks like there's only a handful of cities that have it. Is there a place I can go to find out when/if they're adding channels in my service area?

Finally, is there any way to update the HD Channels on the Quick Menu? It seems to have left several off the list, and I had to set up a Favorites menu to get around it.

Thanks for your patience. I'm coming from DirecTV, and while it's nice to have HD finally, the surprising lack of content is a bit of a shock.

jefbal99

08-15-07, 12:49 PM

Go Hard

08-15-07, 01:02 PM

jaydeflix

08-15-07, 11:44 PM

Nausicaa

08-16-07, 12:10 AM

I finally found a nice part of the change.

I can pause a recorded show and it stays paused. For at least 20 hours.

That's the first thing I've found that I think is an improvement over the MS Enhanced.

Is that really a "good" thing? I'd be worried about screen burn-in.

I was actually happy that after a few minutes, the MSE would go back to the menu and then live TV.

jaydeflix

08-16-07, 12:15 AM

Fair enough, I wouldn't leave the TV on for all those 20 hours. I was more annoyed at the fact that I couldn't pause the show, do dishes for 10 minutes and come back. I thought the time out was a little too much. I'd settle for a screensaver after 10 minutes. Especially if I have a ton of programs to dig through. It was always just a little too short a time out for my needs.

Well, that and LCDs shouldn't get burn in =)

seahawks

08-16-07, 12:23 AM

I have the same problem trying to set a series recording for Nascar, it doesn't give you the option at all.

I came across two problems right away, it won't give you the record series option for some channels, and second it will record the same program multiple times even if you choose record new in the series, if the program is shown multiple times. It really sucks, I called comcast and they gave me a different box, with the same problem:) does anyone have any updates on this?

Al Shing

08-16-07, 03:18 AM

Just an FYI, I looked at your channel line up and 801 is NOT an HD channel. It is on of the SD In Demand PPV channels. You would need an HDPPV channel to get this in HD. I suggest you talk to your local Comcast office rather than the 800 number.

Historically, when there is HD PPV programming scheduled, they will add the HDPPV channel a couple of days before the event on Channel 800, and then remove it after the program airs. This wouldn't be reflected on the web page channel line up, but I suppose the people who are looking for this kind of programming would know when to look for it. They may or may not send messages to the cable boxes announcing this stuff, but as far as I know, they've carried the HD PPV programs in the past that were available to cable.

Go Hard

08-16-07, 01:33 PM

SirChaos

08-16-07, 02:54 PM

Marysville got the iGuide last night. All my boxes got the download.

I had to clear out the random scheduled recordings on two of my DVR's, the third had no problems.

So far I'm really happy about the 30 second skip and the color schemes, but I wish the graphics were more suited for high resolutions, as they look like crap on a HD, but look okay on a standard TV.

I wish the DVR grouped recordings by Program Name, like the MSTV did before, but all in all it's not completely terrible.

-SirChaos

SuperRob

08-16-07, 04:08 PM

Historically, when there is HD PPV programming scheduled, they will add the HDPPV channel a couple of days before the event on Channel 800, and then remove it after the program airs. This wouldn't be reflected on the web page channel line up, but I suppose the people who are looking for this kind of programming would know when to look for it. They may or may not send messages to the cable boxes announcing this stuff, but as far as I know, they've carried the HD PPV programs in the past that were available to cable.

Thanks for the info, Al. I'll check closer to next weekend.

rader023

08-16-07, 04:16 PM

Im in Bothell and still have the old guide. That is with a given date of the 7th and had Comcast out on tuesday and they thought I should get it with a "box reset". After the reset, nothing. So maybe Ill be able to use the MS Guide forever!!!!!!!!!! but i doubt it.

Todd Nicholson

08-16-07, 04:28 PM

Just got the new guide here in Anacortes. So far it's fine, although I haven't dived in real deep. What does seem to be fixed is the random reboots and the problem with the FF/RW command queue. I also really like being able to swap between tuners. I especially like that when you pause one tuner, swap to the other, then swap back that the tuner is still paused where you left it. It's gonna be nice this year watching football on both Fox and CBS like the old days with DirecTivo.

wareagle

08-16-07, 04:33 PM

Im in Bothell and still have the old guide.
...

Same here in Bellevue. I'd really just as soon get started on the learning curve.

SuperRob

08-16-07, 04:48 PM

I'm in Kenmore, and have had the new guide for a week, but then again, I just had my service installed last weekend and the box is new. They probably loaded the guide on all the new boxen automatically.

bikerscott

08-16-07, 04:51 PM

jaydeflix

08-16-07, 06:28 PM

as numerous others have mentioned, some shows are getting multiple recordings despite setting the DVR to only record 'new' episodes. I really don't need five copies of 'the soup'. I suspect the back end data for the guide isn't properly communicating what is 'new' and what is a rerun.

It isn't just that. It's also a question of what defines a repeat vs. new. I mean, except when Colbert is on vacation, the episode is 'first run', but it is repeated through the day. Is it a repeat? Not by standard tv definitions. But that's the problem with those multiple showings of cable tv shows.

On the other hand, Reno 911 shows as a repeat and still records. And *that* is a slight bug.

And, if they allowed you to record just a single time, that whole 'Is it actually a repeat' question would be moot. That way I could just record the 6p countdown and the 11p daily show... (and you could grab just one timestamp of yoru show too)

jefbal99

08-16-07, 06:30 PM

SuperRob

08-16-07, 06:35 PM

I'm in the seattle area and one of those who is not pleased with the new guide and DVR changes. My list of complaints. (these are just the ones where my TIVO or the previous software did this just fine)

1. Changing channels is slower. If I hold down the channel button (or press several times) to move through a list of channels, there is significant pause, so much that I often miss the channel I'm trying to go to. It's virtually impossible to channel surf.

2. as numerous others have mentioned, some shows are getting multiple recordings despite setting the DVR to only record 'new' episodes. I really don't need five copies of 'the soup'. I suspect the back end data for the guide isn't properly communicating what is 'new' and what is a rerun.

3. A ton of random recordings. After I went in and deleted ALL of my series recordings (I shoudl never have had to do this) it seems to have reduced the number of random recordings but I still get the occasional cable in the classroom show which I have never recorded and never would.

4. The random recordings filled up the DVR and started to delete older shows that I hadn't watched yet. I lost content that I wanted to see. Thank you very little.

5. I haven't found a way to remove channels from the list that I'm not interested in. Because Comcast forces me to buy blocks of channels there are things that I never ever watch. I could care less about Disney, Noggin, or the home shopping crap-taculars. I used to be able to turn off those channels so I didn't have to waste guide time or channel surfing time. Now I can't. very annoying.

6. HD decoding is poorer. A coupel of times while watching HD content I've seen NOTICABLE signifcant HD encoding or decoding artifacts. Huge pixel blocks. Yes it only lasted a second or so, but the old software was much much better. I haven't really tested this extensively but I shouldn't have to either.

7. Guide interface. I don't really like the new guide interface. Overall it seems to have much more lag than previously. I wish the effort put into allowing me to change my guide colors was put into ANY of the above items. Some really poor resource allocation decisions were made on this project.

8. No series recordings for 'sporting events'. I watch a lot of motorcycle racing and some formula 1. Sometimes it's broadcast at odd hours (F1 is live depending on what country so it might be 1 AM or 1 PM) The previous software let me setup a series that would catch all of this. Now I might as well be programming a VCR.

#8 alone is a deal breaker for me. Frankly with the limited selection of HD channels and the amount of time I spend watching 'major network' content in the first place, I'm seriously considering dropping Comcast because of this 'upgrade'.

1. It's very hard for me to believe that someone who's owned a TiVo still channel surfs. I have been a TiVo user since they came out, and that was a common complaint ... they're slow at flipping channels. Then again, the entire point of TiVo was to NOT "channel surf" looking for something to watch. TiVo completely broke me of that habit, so it's surprising to hear of someone who's had a TiVo that still does it.

2. This is a common issue with some programs, and more commonly, specific channels. The Daily Show or South Park are frequent offenders.

3. Haven't run into this yet. I'm wondering if you've got someone's old box and there's an old series recording set somewhere. That said ...

4. This would piss me right off, if a recording you didn't ask for deleted a show you wanted to watch. I'd be on the phone *itching a blue streak to Comcast.

5. It took me a day to set up favorites lists to fix this problem. All you have to do is set up your favorites, then press Guide, then Fav. Bingo. You can even have multiple favorites, so I set up another one of just HD channels to fix the problem with the HD Channel Guide inexplicably not including some of the HD channels. All I have to do is hit Guide, then Fav, and then Fav again to flip between favorites lists.

6. This might just be coincidence. This is only GUIDE software ... the processing engine hasn't changed. Keep an eye on it, but even you said it only happened "a couple of times".

7. You're assuming that it takes the same amount of resources, or even the same skill set, to implement guide colors as it does for say, performance tuning. I hear this argument a lot, not just restricted to this particular product/service. (I can't believe Company A is wasting time doing B when they could have done Z.) It's not a fair argument. Having worked in software development, I can tell you that you can't just pull an 3D modeler off his work and ask him to program physics.

8. You absolutely should. Vote with your wallet!

jaydeflix

08-16-07, 06:41 PM

1. It's very hard for me to believe that someone who's owned a TiVo still channel surfs. I have been a TiVo user since they came out, and that was a common complaint ... they're slow at flipping channels. Then again, the entire point of TiVo was to NOT "channel surf" looking for something to watch. TiVo completely broke me of that habit, so it's surprising to hear of someone who's had a TiVo that still does it.

Must be nice to live in such a world. We have a number of recorded shows, but, frankly, we rarely like to watch them twice, so I can't watch them when I'm home alone, she can't watch them when she's home alone. What do we do then? We channel surf. Until *every* show is available in On Demand, there's no real option. Tivo doesn't break you of this habit. Nor really should it. If anything, it'll probably increase it. I mean, if you don't have the time to watch a full episode that you have recorded but you want to watch tv, what are you going to do?

And it'd be nice to vote with my wallet. But I can't. I'm in an apartment with no real option for a dish and no ability to afford an HD Tivo to replace this guide/dvr.

tluxon

08-16-07, 06:52 PM

I find it interesting that the original plan was that once the Microsoft software was proven out in our region, it would be rolled out to the rest of the country. I wonder what the final roadblock was that caused them to abandon that plan and pass the old national guide on to us instead.

I had no huge problems with the Microsoft software at 12.31 and preferred many things about it. It seems there were fewer button presses for many functions, and the gude re-populated much faster after a reboot (required to un-"break" the transport functions after firewire capture). Nonetheless, I have found some things I like about the new iGuide software.

1) The 30-second skip was long overdue for these DVRs.

2) Swapping between the two tuners should make multi-game viewing much easier this coming football season.

3) Manual recordings are much more cumbersome to set due to the lack of numeric key input, but they are no longer limited to 30 minute and hour multiples recording lengths.

4) Color choices for the guide - yippee!! :rolleyes:

5) At least I can set the guide for single height rows to get 6 rows at a time displayed like the Microsoft guide did by default.

A big negative (for me) that may not have been mentioned yet is that if a show is broken up into two or more shorter segments (I like to divide football games into segments (halves or quarters) to incrementally free up drive space as my viewing catches up), no distintion is made in the recording information as to what time the recording began.

Another thing that really bugs me when I want to see the time status on playback of a recording is that seconds are no longer displayed.

I frequently use the "Exit" button to remove popups, but if I hit it at the wrong time, the recording I'm watching "exits" to the last live channel. This requires that I search the My Recordings list again to resume play of what I had just been watching. I would expect this behavior from the "Last" button, but NOT from the "Exit" button! This should be at the top of the list of things to fix.

...I wish the DVR grouped recordings by Program Name, like the MSTV did before...Actually, it will do this if you hit the right arrow when the "My Recordings" list comes up. The header toggles between sorting methods.

drew00001

08-16-07, 07:06 PM

Must be nice to live in such a world. We have a number of recorded shows, but, frankly, we rarely like to watch them twice, so I can't watch them when I'm home alone, she can't watch them when she's home alone. What do we do then? We channel surf. Until *every* show is available in On Demand, there's no real option. Tivo doesn't break you of this habit. Nor really should it. If anything, it'll probably increase it. I mean, if you don't have the time to watch a full episode that you have recorded but you want to watch tv, what are you going to do?

And it'd be nice to vote with my wallet. But I can't. I'm in an apartment with no real option for a dish and no ability to afford an HD Tivo to replace this guide/dvr.

I agree SuperRob does live in a nicer world, but note that the effect of TiVO on channel surfing differs for everyone. Personally, I channel flip but not anywhere near as much as I did 2 years ago, when I was given a hand-me-down TiVO S1. YMMD. ;)

SuperRob

08-16-07, 07:12 PM

Must be nice to live in such a world. We have a number of recorded shows, but, frankly, we rarely like to watch them twice, so I can't watch them when I'm home alone, she can't watch them when she's home alone. What do we do then? We channel surf. Until *every* show is available in On Demand, there's no real option. Tivo doesn't break you of this habit. Nor really should it. If anything, it'll probably increase it. I mean, if you don't have the time to watch a full episode that you have recorded but you want to watch tv, what are you going to do?

And it'd be nice to vote with my wallet. But I can't. I'm in an apartment with no real option for a dish and no ability to afford an HD Tivo to replace this guide/dvr.

Well, admittedly, my TiVo had an expanded hard drive, and I have liberally used the thumbs-up and thumbs-down to make sure I had a bunch of Suggestions that I would watch if I wanted, but otherwise, didn't care about.

Plus, if that doesn't do it, I'd just play some video games, which is my main hobby. :)

bonnie_raitt

08-17-07, 01:13 AM

The HD Tivo is tempting, but losing OnDemand (which is quite a bit better with the new guide) and paying the Tivo fees on top of buying the box isn't worth it to me yet. I might reconsider when they enable the external hard drive port, assuming Comcast still hasn't done anything to give us more disk space.

It is enabled. I added a 750 Gis drive a couple of months ago

[Edit}Oops, I read a later post and saw you wre referring to the HD Tivo. I just assumed you wre talking about my S3

bonnie_raitt

08-17-07, 01:22 AM

Must be nice to live in such a world. We have a number of recorded shows, but, frankly, we rarely like to watch them twice, so I can't watch them when I'm home alone, she can't watch them when she's home alone. What do we do then? We channel surf. Until *every* show is available in On Demand, there's no real option. Tivo doesn't break you of this habit. Nor really should it. If anything, it'll probably increase it. I mean, if you don't have the time to watch a full episode that you have recorded but you want to watch tv, what are you going to do?

And it'd be nice to vote with my wallet. But I can't. I'm in an apartment with no real option for a dish and no ability to afford an HD Tivo to replace this guide/dvr.

Don't you and your significant other have shows you like that theother one doesn't? Whenever my wif eis gone or busy, I watch Bill Moyer or 60 minutes

skyboysea

08-17-07, 11:18 AM

Must be nice to live in such a world. We have a number of recorded shows, but, frankly, we rarely like to watch them twice, so I can't watch them when I'm home alone, she can't watch them when she's home alone. What do we do then? We channel surf. Until *every* show is available in On Demand, there's no real option. Tivo doesn't break you of this habit. Nor really should it. If anything, it'll probably increase it. I mean, if you don't have the time to watch a full episode that you have recorded but you want to watch tv, what are you going to do?

The last time I have watched something live was on 12/22/2003. The next day I got the DTivo. We keep a mix of shows I like to watch, shows my wife likes to watch, shows we both like to watch and all making sure to have shows of different length to fit the time we have available.
There is no better OnDemand than a DVR so you already can have all the show OnDemand, you just have to organize your DVR.