Hello All,

Recently I have noticed that when I have "pass-though" enabled (basically enabling all formats in the settings menu->Advanced Settings->Output Formats on the HD8300 from TWC with passport s/w) and using HDMI interface that between some adverts the format changes from 1080i to some other format (usually 480p) and then changes back to 1080i when the programme/show returns. I can confirm that this is happening on the TNT HD channel (#710) but probably on others too.

This is very annoying because a few seconds of picture/sound is lost while the DVR is selecting the output and if it happens to be the last ad in the break then it's a few seconds of the programme/show that is lost...

I can obviously force the 8300HD to output in 1080i only but I thought that the optimum was to give the HDTV the raw format and let it decide which format to output or convert to.

Has anyone else started seeing this behavior?

I'm not sure why TWC would change the format in mid-stream for just a couple of ads, perhaps saving capacity?

Thanks for reading my post.
I believe that would be because.... Just because a show or movie is broadcast in HD, doesn't mean the ads will be! Typically they are not. Therefore the format changes on the fly. Personally, I have not noticed this to be a problem although I am using TWC wSARA software.

I have been trying to figure out if this problem is that the box is actually going from 1080i to 480i or if it's simply the switch from HD to SD and back for commercials. The difference is that the format shouldn't really change for commercials, it should still be 1080i, just SD quality with side bars. It's not the same as the format change when tuning to/from HD/SD channels. Not sure if the OP knows that not all content is not HD and most commercials are SD, it has nothing to do with the cableco.

I have been trying to figure out if this problem is that the box is actually going from 1080i to 480i or if it's simply the switch from HD to SD and back for commercials. The difference is that the format shouldn't really change for commercials, it should still be 1080i, just SD quality with side bars. It's not the same as the format change when tuning to/from HD/SD channels. Not sure if the OP knows that not all content is not HD and most commercials are SD, it has nothing to do with the cableco.
That's what I meant to say.... Format = HD vs SD, Resolution=1080i vs 480i vs ... I don't believe the reso changes. I'm not at home to check it out, but I believe the reso stays put on 1080i even though most ads come through in SD quality with sidebars.

Hello All,

Recently I have noticed that when I have "pass-though" enabled (basically enabling all formats in the settings menu->Advanced Settings->Output Formats on the HD8300 from TWC with passport s/w) and using HDMI interface that between some adverts the format changes from 1080i to some other format (usually 480p) and then changes back to 1080i when the programme/show returns. I can confirm that this is happening on the TNT HD channel (#710) but probably on others too.

This is very annoying because a few seconds of picture/sound is lost while the DVR is selecting the output and if it happens to be the last ad in the break then it's a few seconds of the programme/show that is lost...

I can obviously force the 8300HD to output in 1080i only but I thought that the optimum was to give the HDTV the raw format and let it decide which format to output or convert to.

Has anyone else started seeing this behavior?

I'm not sure why TWC would change the format in mid-stream for just a couple of ads, perhaps saving capacity?

Thanks for reading my post.
I've never seen resolution change "hiccups" while watching any HD channel on TWC-SD.
I would hypothesize your cable company is inserting local ads and has the equipment set up wrong...

Give them a call and ask for a maintenance supervisor...and follow up with an email...

That's what I meant to say.... Format = HD vs SD, Resolution=1080i vs 480i vs ... I don't believe the reso changes. I'm not at home to check it out, but I believe the reso stays put on 1080i even though most ads come through in SD quality with sidebars.
My AVR clicks going in and out of DD, but I get no rez changes - ever - from program to commercial.

I'm waiting for TWC to show, but thought I'd pass some time here and get ready for their arrival by using collective wisdom.

8300 started acting up yesterday. Pixelization, freezes, etc. Signal strength is excellent. I did a cold boot (after leaving it off a couple of minutes) and the problem recurred. The 150GB drive is only 1/3 used with stored content.

I had problems recording last night (first time ever) with the same problems -Pixelization, stop/start, and even had a taping that aborted after 13 minutes (of 1 hour scheduled).

I even have trouble with "Swap" PIP button to access the other tuner/cache. It sounds like the box is cranking and having problems writing to disk (like when your PC has a disk error or bad cluster).

I returned today and the buffer was likely full, with the same pixelization problem(s).

I'm expecting a replacement box to remedy this, but I'm also open to suggestions for before (or when) they arrive.

I'm expecting a replacement box to remedy this, but I'm also open to suggestions for before (or when) they arrive.
I imagine that they'll check signal and noise level before swapping your box.

I imagine that they'll check signal and noise level before swapping your box.

You're not imagining :)

Though I had not checked the connections today, I had just 2 weeks ago. At that time I did all the checking, only to find out they were changing some things on the Digital programs.

When I mentioned that, and the word ingress, he simply said "I see you know what you're doing - I'll get a new box." A 10 minute service call.

So far, so good. Thanks for the quick reply.

Hey guys I have a bit of a problem I was hoping someone could help me with:

I have an 8300HD connected via HDMI and everything gets converted to 1080i. When I go into settings to choose 1080i and 720p, it just stays stuck at 1080i. When I connect the TV via component, I can successfully choose all outputs. Anyone have any clues?

Gemstar Acquires Rival Aptiv Digital

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6429378.html?display=Breaking+News

Does this mean Passport will be replaced by TV Guide (Eewwwww!!!)?

Hey guys I have a bit of a problem I was hoping someone could help me with:

I have an 8300HD connected via HDMI and everything gets converted to 1080i. When I go into settings to choose 1080i and 720p, it just stays stuck at 1080i. When I connect the TV via component, I can successfully choose all outputs. Anyone have any clues?

During the HDMI handshake the TV is telling the 8300HD to do 1080i .

It seems there is now some "Cleverness" built in. If the HDMI system reports from the Video device that it can not handle a particular resolution then the 8300, in all it's great wisdom does not show it or allow it to be selected. I think the way to get around this is to disconnect the HDMI cable from the 8300 and reboot the 8300. Now the 8300 has no idea what the Video device can and cannot accept so it better allow you to set what you want. You should be then able to plug in the HDMI cable, perhaps requiring a reboot as they are not that clever, and hopefully the setting will stay, but then again . . . .

I am not sure about the above, but then again it sounds logical... which means I am probably wrong.

It seems there is now some "Cleverness" built in. If the HDMI system reports from the Video device that it can not handle a particular resolution then the 8300, in all it's great wisdom does not show it or allow it to be selected. I think the way to get around this is to disconnect the HDMI cable from the 8300 and reboot the 8300. Now the 8300 has no idea what the Video device can and cannot accept so it better allow you to set what you want. You should be then able to plug in the HDMI cable, perhaps requiring a reboot as they are not that clever, and hopefully the setting will stay, but then again . . . .

I am not sure about the above, but then again it sounds logical... which means I am probably wrong.
Depends how clever it really is. It will do a handshake when reconnected and if the display says "only send me 1080i" then that's probably what it will do. What display accepts only 1080i?

Well,

My TV accepts 480i/p 720p and 1080i/p, so I don't understand.

Well,

My TV accepts 480i/p 720p and 1080i/p, so I don't understand.I don't know about your specific set, but many sets DO NOT accept all scan rates on the HDMI input.

It might help if you would tell us what the Make and Model is of your set.

Sorry guys, I have a Westinghouse LVM42W2 connected via HMDI>DVI on DVI 1.

Yeah that works, but I want to view 480i/p SD in 720p.

Yeah that works, but I want to view 480i/p SD in 720p.
Then only "turn on" the 720p and 1080i output formats in General Settings.

But I want to use HDMI because both of my component inputs are taken up.

It was the cable, OH MAN!! I swapped my 100 Monster Cable with my 15 Monoprice cable and BAM, 480i/p 720p 1080i all stick. UNBELIEVABLE!!

Another endorsement for Monoprice! :)

And recognition that $100 for a cable is no assurance of anything (except $85 wasted) :rolleyes:

Far be it for me to stick up for Monster, but are you sure it was the cable itself and not just the connections? For $100, I'd plug it back in and see. If it was the cable, I'd be seeking a refund, even if it's been used for quite some time.

Trust me, it was the cable. I've been troubleshooting this issue for over a month now, and stupid me didn't think to try a different cable.

Plugged in the Monster and cold booted again just to see, still same issue. Connected Monoprice cable and cold rebooted, works again.

Hope you can get your money back. :)

I was hoping the same, LOL!! :D

Dave,

Any advice on calibrating my set?

Trust me, it was the cable. I've been troubleshooting this issue for over a month now, and stupid me didn't think to try a different cable.

Plugged in the Monster and cold booted again just to see, still same issue. Connected Monoprice cable and cold rebooted, works again.

The issue I first saw with Monster cables is that the HDMI connector spec is completely god awful. It SHOULD have some form of latching mechanism, or something to really secure the connection. Consequently, a big, thick, heavy cable like they do stand a LOT of chance of simply pulling ever so sightly out of the connection as it make it appear the cable isn't working properly. I mean, plug the damn thing in a blow on it, you have a 70% chance of dislodging it!

Anyone remember SCSI connectors? Big, heavy connectors and thick, heavy cables. Much like a Monster HDMI cable. The SCSI guys specified a system of wire bails to insure the connection stays solid, solid. Ugly yes, but you could actually yank on the cable and NOT break the connection, it was there to STAY.

I guess the HDMI spec people did not think an average joe could manipulate the old SCSI wire bails (which by the way were on many connectors of that period), could not handle a screwdriver (ala DB connectors) Or Press to Release which are on many flimsy PCMCIA ethernet cards to attach the dongle for the big ethernet connector. Even the typical RJ push to release plug is capable of being dealt with by almost anyone with a phone.

All I can say is that the HDMI spec designers have proved themselves to be bigger idiots than the general populace

I don't think "press to release" is of any issue with the fumble fingered. Best example of a very well designed connector is the Dock connector on iPods, is very small, has many lines and a "squeeze to release" set of latches. Even on boards where they are whining about EVERYTHING, I have never seen a whine about that connector!

Hi,

We have two Scientific Atlanta 8300HDs in our house (TWC). Each unit is hooked up to a separate HDTV (Sharp 37d40u). One unit works fine.

When changing channels on the other one, it will "often" just start rolling the channels. So, if I am on channel 255 and hit the up channel button on the remote, it will go to channel 256 and then 257 and so on. Usually, I can press another button (e.g,. down channel) and cause it to stop rolling.

I called TWC and they switched out the unit. It still continues. I switched the remote with the the first 8300HD (the one that works) and it still continues. I also removed the UPS, but to no difference.

Help? Does any one have any ideas?

Thank you,
James

Do you have any flourescent lighting in the room?

No, we have no flourescents. This is in a bedroom. It occurs when the overhead light is on or off; when the lamps are on or off. But I am curious - why would flourescent light affect it?

James

No, we have no flourescents. This is in a bedroom. It occurs when the overhead light is on or off; when the lamps are on or off. But I am curious - why would flourescent light affect it?

James
The ballasts can generate the same frequency as the IR carrier. I have seen this a couple of times when the homeowner changed the bedside lamps to flourescent and the bedroom IR had terrible interference.

I have problems sometimes when the sun is shining in just right and reflecting off the glass part of the cabinet door.

I have problems sometimes when the sun is shining in just right and reflecting off the glass part of the cabinet door.

Well, IR is infrared (i.e. heat), so strong sunlight reflecting off glass could over power and wash out the IR transmitter.

Well, IR is infrared (i.e. heat), so strong sunlight reflecting off glass could over power and wash out the IR transmitter.FWIW, I know that, I was just adding to the list of potential causes for IR problems in case the OP has the equipment in a glass cabinet. :)

Hey all,

I have been doing pretty good with my SA 8300HD box for a while now, but I just got a second 8300HD for more space and 2 additional tuners (didn't feel like dropping the cash on a SATA drive yet). Now, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the remote control situation worked out. I've been searching on the forum, but the same remote controls both boxes and I can't find a way to pair one remote to one DVR and the other remote to the other DVR. Anyone have any suggestions? It's annoying that anything I do does the same on both DVR (changing channels, settings, etc)

Thanks,
Bill

Only way I can think of is to have a paper "flap" that covers one 8300's remote window and manually swapping which on is covered. Very INELEGANT and a major PITA, but it will do what you want.

billv,

Most folks with this problem simply keep one unit off. Then, when you want to use to other to view, schedule, etc., they simply press the Power button. The Power is a toggle, so it turns one off while turning the other on. The 8300 records with power off or on.

Hey all,

I have been doing pretty good with my SA 8300HD box for a while now, but I just got a second 8300HD for more space and 2 additional tuners (didn't feel like dropping the cash on a SATA drive yet). Now, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the remote control situation worked out. I've been searching on the forum, but the same remote controls both boxes and I can't find a way to pair one remote to one DVR and the other remote to the other DVR. Anyone have any suggestions? It's annoying that anything I do does the same on both DVR (changing channels, settings, etc)Just leave one off while the other one is on. To switch to the other one, hit the POWER key on the remote then switch inputs. I was using this setup with an HDMI switcher so all i had to do was simply hit the POWER key to swap DVR sources.

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/502/60995Plasma_42PX50_Right_5.jpg

You could also get a REMOTE EXTENDER system, also known as an IR REPEATER.

The local stores seem to stock only the systems that have a matching pair of
overly large IR Receiver and IR Emitter modules (e.g. Terk Leapfrog).
This means you have to somehow bury the STB and bulky IR Emitter out of sight of your R/C.

The similar Powermid system also employs a pair of overly large units, but the Receiver Module
can be located out of sight (e.g behind equipment) and will accept an external IR Emitter cable:
http://www.smarthome.com/manuals/8213.pdf
http://www.smarthome.com/8210.html
http://www.smarthome.com/8213.html
http://www.smarthome.com/8170s.html

Here are some additional (more complicated) IR Extender Systems:
http://www.smarthome.com/_/IR_Distribution/_/Rr/nav.aspx
http://www.hometech.com/infrared/rcvrs.html
http://solidsignal.commerce.atomz.com/?q=remote+extender&site=com&new_search=1
Note that most require an interconnecting distribution hub/power supply,
to which small IR Sensor and IR Emitter cables are connected....

========================================
Place the IR Emitter over the sensor window on Box#2, making sure to block out any other signals.
Then locate the IR Sensor at least a couple arm lengths away from Box#1.
If the IR Receiver is far enough away, you can point to the one you want to control.

From most people's sigs, it appears all DVR users are on Passport 2.6.002. Is that going to be the last release, or are any more upgrades going to be released?

Hey all,

I have been doing pretty good with my SA 8300HD box for a while now, but I just got a second 8300HD for more space and 2 additional tuners (didn't feel like dropping the cash on a SATA drive yet). Now, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the remote control situation worked out. I've been searching on the forum, but the same remote controls both boxes and I can't find a way to pair one remote to one DVR and the other remote to the other DVR. Anyone have any suggestions? It's annoying that anything I do does the same on both DVR (changing channels, settings, etc)

Thanks,
Bill

There's a simple and easy solution to this problem. I've documented it in the "SA 8300hd/dvr.. IR/RF compatable?" thread right here in this Forum. You'll need to buy an appropriate universal remote, but you'll then be able to add a virtually unlimited number of identical components to your system.

In the theater I have two SA8300HD DVR's stacked one above another. In the Great room there are two systems each with ts own STB which, being an SA product, has the same shortsighted problem.

In the theater there is a very sophisticated IR control system where the end user device, the remote, (Philips iPronto) sends IR commands to a PC which then issues all IR sequences with macros as needed to fulfill the users command. The iPronto uses a protocol that no device in the theater recognizes. The PC has 8 output IR zones available to it so it can steer an IR sequence to a specific component and only that component. All components are either in the common zone (different protocols and addresses for each component) or in a dedicated zone. One of the DVR's is in the common zone, the other in a dedicated zone. I had to completely mask the IR repeater and the IR window on each SA8300HD since the IR emitters I use are so powerful and the units stacked one on top of the other that there was too much leakage of IR. It now works perfectly.

In the Greatroom I programmed a philips ProntoPro (TSU6000) to handle all of the components through two RF adapters set to two different addresses. That configuration can be bought on eBay today for about $400 (1 - ProntoPro (used) 2 - RF adapters (new)). All of the IR commands for system 1 are issued in RF to RF/IR converter 1's address. Similarly those for system 2 are issued in RF to RF/IR converter 2's address. Nice thing is that pointing the remote is no longer required. One remote now handles either system. We generally use either system1 or system 2 but not both at the same time.

Anyone know how to force the guide to reload on an 8300 w/Passport short of rebooting it? For some reason, my guide never updates. Once it loads that day, unless the box is restarted, I never get any program changes. I've compared this to several other people that have an 8300 and their's all work properly (i.e. if a program change occurs it is reflected on the guide). Anyone have a similar problem?

Anyone know how to force the guide to reload on an 8300 w/Passport short of rebooting it?
What's wrong with rebooting?

What's wrong with rebooting?
he might be in the middle of recording something, i've had it give me the HDCP run-around int he middle of recording something, very frustrating.....just went down to the local bar and got drunk until the recording finished, came back, reset the box...

What's wrong with rebooting?

It's a pain is the arse. I tried kicking it but all I did was break a toenail. I guess I'll just live with it until a better model comes along...

twelvepbrs & KzY: You guys need to blend your strategies. :D

twelvepbrs & KzY: You guys need to blend your strategies. :D

Or get much stronger toenails. Or wear steel toed boots.

It's no help today.....but at least someone in the industry admits there is a BIG PROBLEM with HDMI/HDCP
and better test/certification techniques are being developed:
http://www.digitaltvdesignline.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=QAJ2MAR4NPJYSQSNDLRSKH0CJUNN2JV N?printableArticle=true&articleId=198900437

I've never tried to get HDMI/HDCP to work with an SA8300HD, but I've got 3 HDMI sources plugged into a switch, the switch and a fourth source plugged into my receiver, with the receiver plugged into my television and it all works perfectly. HDMI is the only connection coming out of any of these sources, with the receiver playing sound from all of them. These are seven randomly purchased products (the four HDMI/HDCP sources, the switch, receiver and television) from 7 vendors: Onkyo, OPPO, TiVo, RCA, Sony, Mitsubishi and Belkin. I use three of the four sources on pretty much a daily basis. It's hard for me to believe that HDMI compatibility problems are that rampant.

Anyone having problems getting an HDMI device other than their SA8300HD to work?

I've never tried to get HDMI/HDCP to work with an SA8300HD, but I've got 3 HDMI sources plugged into a switch, the switch and a fourth source plugged into my receiver, with the receiver plugged into my television and it all works perfectly. HDMI is the only connection coming out of any of these sources, with the receiver playing sound from all of them. These are seven randomly purchased products (the four HDMI/HDCP sources, the switch, receiver and television) from 7 vendors: Onkyo, OPPO, TiVo, RCA, Sony, Mitsubishi and Belkin. I use three of the four sources on pretty much a daily basis. It's hard for me to believe that HDMI compatibility problems are that rampant.

Anyone having problems getting an HDMI device other than their SA8300HD to work?
are you sure all of these sources are actually requiring a successful HDCP handshake everytime you run them? it might depend on the content, etc...

twelvepbrs & KzY: You guys need to blend your strategies. :D
yeah, except i don't even have my 8300 anymore; hell i don't even have a cablecard anymore, just living on free basic (with local HD's in the clear) until they add ESPN2HD hopefully before the next world-cup :rolleyes:

are you sure all of these sources are actually requiring a successful HDCP handshake everytime you run them? it might depend on the content, etc...One Blu-ray player (PS3), two upconverting SD DVD players (one of them my housemate's, an inexpensive RCA DVD recorder with which to copy things from expanded and premium cable programming for her use) and TiVo S3, onto which I record things from HBO, Showtime and expanded digital cable as received via CableCARDs. Playback of theatrical release Blu-ray discs, upconverted CSS protected DVD content and TiVo recordings from secure digital cable channels must be HDCP encrypted when transmitted on HDMI or DVI, according to AACS, DFAST and CSS licensing agreements.

running two SA8300HD units into a DVDO VP50. The firmware upgrade to 2.0.86 in Passport fixed all the random reboot problems I had.

I am running one SA8300HD into a Pioneer Plasma through an Aroura card and an HDMI to DVI cable. I never turn off the DVR. I do power down the Plasma. Occasionally I get no picture or complete snow, Audio being OK as it is not on that cable. Cycling the power on the plasme (sometimes need to do it 2-3 times) fixes it. Just a pain in the arse.

I saw the first problem that might be HDMI related today; I was playing a Blu-ray disc of Happy Feet and perusing the extra content. There were two music videos. When I played either, the resolution of the television would switch from 1080p to 480p and I'd lose sound, but not video (the receiver's display said "No Signal"); returning to the menu and starting the video again restored it. The type of sound delivered to the receiver went from decoded multi-channel Linear PCM to encoded Dolby Digital. It could just as well be a kink in the PS3's firmware or in the encoding of the disc's extra content menu.

:)

Hi, my SA 8300 (mine has the latest Passport sw 2.0.86), has been locking up while recording two shows at the same time, and you select one of them with the list button to watch from the beginning. I seem to remember that I was able to do this before, although it doesn't seem to work now. If I select one of the shows, it will come up with a screen that says "one moment please" and just stay there. I have to unplug the power cable to get it to reset. anyone notice this recently??? Bug or feature???

thanks,

Tim

Im going to apologize right off the bat for not reading all 211 pages of this thread before I post this, sorry if its been asked before and please be so kind as to point me in the right direction and I'll be forever in your debt.

I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about home theater equipment. I have a new 8300HD connected via HDMI to a new Samsung HL-s5687W 56" DLP. The picture on HD is remarkable!!!
The question I can't resolve is the aspect ratio. I have set the STB 8300HD to "Widescreen" and "stretch 4:3 picture". I get a full screen picture with the TV set to either "16:9" or "wide-fit". However, the channel guide from the STB displays in 4:3 in anything but the "wide-fit" tv setting. I don't particularly care for the wide-fit setting and would prefer 16:9.
Shouldn't the guide be "stretched" to 16:9 according to my setting in the STB? The thing looks like *ss when I set it to 16:9 on a HD channel, then flip through the guide and its 4:3. I'm getting tired of having to change the settings repeatedly as I move from analog to HD channels.

Also, output is set to 720p and 1080 and its TWC btw.

Thanks ya'll

Vince

I have an 8300HD in TWC Cable Land in Milwaukee, WI. Outputting via HDMI to my Sony 60A2000

Just had my TV calibrated, and the ISF tech suggested attempting to change the cable box HDMI output to RGB, however the two button sequence he pressed to get into a special setup menu was not working (Holding down INFO+GUIDE). Apparently he has seen this box many many times before without issue.

I know the Select+Exit diagnostics menu, but this was not the same one apparently. Has TWC disabled this special menu, or maybe I am just entering the wrong sequence?

I have an 8300HD in TWC Cable Land in Milwaukee, WI. Outputting via HDMI to my Sony 60A2000

Just had my TV calibrated, and the ISF tech suggested attempting to change the cable box HDMI output to RGB, however the two button sequence he pressed to get into a special setup menu was not working (Holding down INFO+GUIDE). Apparently he has seen this box many many times before without issue.

I know the Select+Exit diagnostics menu, but this was not the same one apparently. Has TWC disabled this special menu, or maybe I am just entering the wrong sequence?
I never heard of an INFO+GUIDE menu....mine doesn't do anything other than INFO....or GUIDE.

If your SA8300HD is operating differently than it did before,
perhaps OCAP has been downloaded....check Versions pages.

TWC-Milwaukee was designated as an OCAP test area:
http://broadcastengineering.com/infrastructure/Ocap-cable-ready-20060122/

..........Shouldn't the guide be "stretched" to 16:9 according to my setting in the STB? The thing looks like *ss when I set it to 16:9 on a HD channel, then flip through the guide and its 4:3. I'm getting tired of having to change the settings repeatedly as I move from analog to HD channels.
Vince
It should be but it's not. Mine does exactly the same.

The question I can't resolve is the aspect ratio. I have set the STB 8300HD to "Widescreen" and "stretch 4:3 picture". I get a full screen picture with the TV set to either "16:9" or "wide-fit". However, the channel guide from the STB displays in 4:3 in anything but the "wide-fit" tv setting. I don't particularly care for the wide-fit setting and would prefer 16:9.
Shouldn't the guide be "stretched" to 16:9 according to my setting in the STB? The thing looks like *ss when I set it to 16:9 on a HD channel, then flip through the guide and its 4:3. I'm getting tired of having to change the settings repeatedly as I move from analog to HD channels.

Also, output is set to 720p and 1080 and its TWC btw.
The channel guide is (only) 4:3 and no setting on the 8300HD changes that. The "wide fit" you mention is the display stretching the image from the box. I do not like to stretch my images either as I consider it distortion.

The channel guide is (only) 4:3 and no setting on the 8300HD changes that. The "wide fit" you mention is the display stretching the image from the box. I do not like to stretch my images either as I consider it distortion.

Thanks. I'll have to live with the wide fit afterall!

INFO+GUIDE are pressed with the power OFF. This is how you get to the initial setup screens, at least with SARA.

Hi, my SA 8300 (mine has the latest Passport sw 2.0.86), has been locking up while recording two shows at the same time, and you select one of them with the list button to watch from the beginning. I seem to remember that I was able to do this before, although it doesn't seem to work now. If I select one of the shows, it will come up with a screen that says "one moment please" and just stay there. I have to unplug the power cable to get it to reset. anyone notice this recently??? Bug or feature???

thanks,

Tim

I had had the same issues when using HDMI to an Sony A2000 TV, finally gave up and switched back to composite video, no more lockups, but no HDMI either. First STB was brand new in a box, swaped it out, replacement box did the same thing. Beaten by Time Weenie.

INFO+GUIDE are pressed with the power OFF. This is how you get to the initial setup screens, at least with SARA.I've seen the SARA initial setup screens--I don't think that there is an equivalent under Passport.

Hey guys,

I also would like to "apologize right off the bat for not reading all 211 pages of this thread before I post this, sorry if its been asked before and please be so kind as to point me in the right direction and I'll be forever in your debt."

I have a Sony KDL 40xbr2 LCD, Time Warner in Los Angeles with a SA 8300HD. Do you guys know if there is a way to change the color of the gray sidebars when watching SD channels. If I'm watching non HD on an HD channel the sidebars are black, but with SD channels like VH1 some times have the top/bottom black bars and the righ/left bars are gray.

Hey guys,

I also would like to "apologize right off the bat for not reading all 211 pages of this thread before I post this, sorry if its been asked before and please be so kind as to point me in the right direction and I'll be forever in your debt."

I have a Sony KDL 40xbr2 LCD, Time Warner in Los Angeles with a SA 8300HD. Do you guys know if there is a way to change the color of the gray sidebars when watching SD channels. If I'm watching non HD on an HD channel the sidebars are black, but with SD channels like VH1 some times have the top/bottom black bars and the righ/left bars are gray.
The gray bars are generated by the 8300HD and there is no way to change them. The black bars are generated by the broadcasting station. There is no way to change them either. :D

I had had the same issues when using HDMI to an Sony A2000 TV, finally gave up and switched back to composite video, no more lockups, but no HDMI either. First STB was brand new in a box, swaped it out, replacement box did the same thing. Beaten by Time Weenie.


While I don't have HDMI (yet, anyway) I did have problems with 8300HD's locking up/rebooting. I got a laptop cooler and stuck it under the STB. All my problems went away! The DVR doesn't run hot anymore....I'm not saying this will fix anything, but for me, it worked.

The gray bars are generated by the 8300HD and there is no way to change them. The black bars are generated by the broadcasting station. There is no way to change them either. :D

Mmmm, I'm not so sure about that, my impression is that the gray bars come from the cable head end, not the 8300. Supposedly for plasma owners because black apparently increases burn-in, while light gray not as much. No matter, it's HUGELY distracting!

As Passport does NOT provide an option like SARA apparently does, one is left to "tricks" to deal with it. I just started using a new trick that seems to work really well. I have my display set to display 4.3 sources in 4:3 and 16:9 sources in 16:9 (sometimes called the "Normal" settings).

Now this makes no sense, BUT tune to a HD channel then go to Settings/More Settings/Aspect Ratio and set the primary to 4:3! Yes, I know, doesn't make sense, and I couldn't even think of any logic why it might work. BUT, HD and SD channels all display undistorted AND all have black side pillars.

You have nothing to lose in trying it!

Mmmm, I'm not so sure about that, my impression is that the gray bars come from the cable head end, not the 8300. Supposedly for plasma owners because black apparently increases burn-in, while light gray not as much. No matter, it's HUGELY distracting!Your impression is wrong. Standard definition 4:3 channels don't have any bars in the picture itself (unlike 4:3 transmitted in a high-def 16:9 channel). The displaying device or STB has to put something on the sides if displaying content delivered as 4:3 in a 16:9 window, if the user wants to view it OAR and uncropped. SARA has an option to change the bar color, because the bars are being added by the 8300HD.

The grey is supposed to decrease burn-in, but many televisions also use grey bars--my old Panasonic CRT RPTV did. It's only "HUGELY distracting" to some people; it never particularly bothered me. (TiVo S3 uses black bars, BTW).

The grey is supposed to decrease burn-in, but many televisions also use grey bars--my old Panasonic CRT RPTV did. It's only "HUGELY distracting" to some people; it never particularly bothered me. (TiVo S3 uses black bars, BTW).
I employ mental masking. :)

The grey is supposed to decrease burn-in, but many televisions also use grey bars--my old Panasonic CRT RPTV did. It's only "HUGELY distracting" to some people; it never particularly bothered me. (TiVo S3 uses black bars, BTW).
i think a lot of it depends on your viewing environment, if you're in a well-lit room, the grey might just look like a non obtrusive ambient lit diffuse surface, but if you like to watch in a theater like setting with all the lights off, the grey bars may appear kind of bright and therefore distracting

It's the 25th of April. My 8300hd has regressed back to the 3rd of April.

Nothing from the past 2 weeks is there. Even the 'Save until manually deleted" shows are gone. Shows that were deleted have been resurrected and put back on the saved list. My Managed Series list does not reflect my recent changes. AAARRRRRGGGGG. My saved 'SG-1' -- gone. :( A hard boot did not change the situation.

Everything was fine yesterday. Plenty of HD room, no hour glasses, not to much in the scheduled recording, everything A-OK. Today - gone

What bugs me most is when I swap the machine out, all my Series Managed shows have to be put back in. Most of my shows are not currently being aired. You can't add them if they are not on the schedule.

I hold little hope of getting it out of the time warp and bringing it back to date. Any Suggestions?

Even

Even, that kind of sounds like what's happened to some people in Lincoln who had Navigator pushed onto their SA STB's/DVR's. Of course, we don't know where you are since you don't have your location in your member profile, but is it possible your TWC made the switch to Navigator from Passport?

I have a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD running passport software via HDMI to a Sharp Aquos 46" LCD (the one from Costco-LC-60C46U-same as 46D62U). i have it set to 1080i and 480i resolution. Time Warner Cable San Diego is the cable company.

One thing I've noticed is that the picture quality is less than perfect...it looks good at a distance, but up close, there is pixelation. I notice it especially on sports (basketball in particular). Up close, there is a small Halo around the players and on Fast movement, the picture blurs/pixelates a bit.

I've only had the TV/Box for a couple of weeks, so I'm trying to isolate the cause to make sure neither are defective.

Does anyone know if HD sports through Cable tend to blur or pixellate a bit?
Does anyone know if the SA 8300HD has a tendency to cause this?
Does anyone know if this is a common problem with the Sharp 46" LCD's?

I tend to notice stuff like this that doesn't bother others, but it drives me nuts...I also want to make sure none of my new equipment is defective.

Any help would be appreciated.

Zac

Does anyone know if HD sports through Cable tend to blur or pixellate a bit?Pixellation is likely the result of compression or other issue at origination or the station. It is unlikely that cable has introduced this.
Does anyone know if the SA 8300HD has a tendency to cause this?The 8300 will not impact this at all (crap in = crap out).
Does anyone know if this is a common problem with the Sharp 46" LCD's?The blurring you are seeing is probably due to the rise time issue common to LCDs.

Thanks for the response, Dave...to sum up-you think this is probably from the TV? If so, I need to think about whether I'm willing to accept it long term.

Zac

WARNING:

Make sure your DVR erase setting is set(default) to `Do not erase til I erase'....otherwise after two weeks your wife will go ballistic when she finally gets to watch her old movies and they are gone!


THis just happened to me 10 minutes ago and she left just to calm down...I was accused of `intentionally' erasing them! :rolleyes: :mad:

Even, that kind of sounds like what's happened to some people in Lincoln who had Navigator pushed onto their SA STB's/DVR's. Of course, we don't know where you are since you don't have your location in your member profile, but is it possible your TWC made the switch to Navigator from Passport?

Thanks Archiguy,
I changed my profile to reflect my location (Jacksonville, NC) . No Navigator yet, still Passport. I did replace the box, didn't want the chance of it happening again.

Question: If I get an external Sata would it have to stay plugged in all the time? I am thinking of keeping the internal drive fairly full and keeping the less-full sata unplugged until there is something I want to keep for quite a while. I normally have to wait a weekend or two before I can watch &/or transfer the shows on to dvd.

Shows that get frequently re-watched generally stay on the SA for convenience.

Thanks
Even

Question: If I get an external Sata would it have to stay plugged in all the time? I am thinking of keeping the internal drive fairly full and keeping the less-full sata unplugged until there is something I want to keep for quite a while. I normally have to wait a weekend or two before I can watch &/or transfer the shows on to dvd.You don't have to keep it plugged in all the time--it won't split files between drives and so long as a larger percentage of the external drive is empty, it will place new recordings there, so you can do what you want to do.

You didn't say that you wanted to do these things, but FYI, you won't be able to use the external drive with any other SA8300HD, nor can you use multiple external drives at the same time--if you format a second drive, your SA8300HD will not recognize the first and it won't be usuable without reformatting.

Did you want to disconnect the drive in order to avoid mistakenly deleting? Why not just mark recordings "Save Until I Delete"?

...nor can you use multiple external drives at the same time--if you format a second drive, your SA8300HD will not recognize the first and it won't be usuable without reformatting.

Hey Mike, do we know this for sure? My recollection is that we tried to convince someone to try this out and let us know, but I don't recall anyone doing it or seeing it not work.

Did you want to disconnect the drive in order to avoid mistakenly deleting? Why not just mark recordings "Save Until I Delete"?


Hi Mike

Everything I had saved for the past 2 weeks was gone, even those that were marked 'Save Until I Delete' . Shows that were previously deleted a month ago (by me) reappeared but had an unplayable error. It was if the last 2 weeks never happened.

I do run out of room on the internal drive, so an external drive is an option to consider. I keep some programs for a long time to rewatch. Sometimes its easier than making/finding the dvd. Most of the time they are 'how to' shows or Educational/ documentary shows.


Even
(Eagerly awaiting the arrival of a Harmony 880 remote in May !!!)

There are no absolute guarantees on your recordings always being there, but NEVER disconnecting the external drive decreases the odds of losing things.

Hey Mike, do we know this for sure? My recollection is that we tried to convince someone to try this out and let us know, but I don't recall anyone doing it or seeing it not work.It's just what I recalled--it's possible that I'm wrong. Maybe there are people successfully swapping drives.

It's just what I recalled--it's possible that I'm wrong. Maybe there are people successfully swapping drives.

Theoretically, I can't see why it wouldn't work. It starts with a clean format for an external drive and writes the data according to it's own proprietary OS (a regular computer can't recognize it). Each new drive attached should perform identically, no? And once an "old drive" is reattached, what would prevent it from reading the data that it itself had previously written?

But you're right. Somebody must have tried this by now, it's too easy to do. Fact is, this discussion should probably occur over on the external drive thread, as that somebody might not see it here.

It's just what I recalled--it's possible that I'm wrong. Maybe there are people successfully swapping drives.
SARA or Passport? I too thought that I had seen one or two reports of this on the External drive thread.

SARA or Passport? I too thought that I had seen one or two reports of this on the External drive thread.
I have seen them sporadically, too, though I couldn't point to any. And I don't recall many people trying it, and those that did (supposedly successfully) are not regulars. For me at least, this falls into the urban legend category. And therefore my advice to new people is to leave it connected and powered, and if someone tells them they can swap drives, they should ask the poster if they are doing it.

Theoretically, I can't see why it wouldn't work. It starts with a clean format for an external drive and writes the data according to it's own proprietary OS (a regular computer can't recognize it). Each new drive attached should perform identically, no? And once an "old drive" is reattached, what would prevent it from reading the data that it itself had previously written?One reason why it wouldn't work is if all of the indexing information for both drives is kept on the internal drive.

It took a bit of searching, but I found this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8826391&&#post8826391) post by Paul Chiu where he claims to have done this using two external drives on an STB running Passport Echo 2.5.066. He continued to make reports on it for at least another month, with various problems. I think that he eventually used 2 400GB externals and a 750GB one, with increasing problems with the 750GB. In his case, all of the programs stored on all of the drives showed up in the Saved Programs list, and it would ask that the drive be attached if he tried to play something not on the internal or the currently attached drive (matches my theory on all indexing being contained on the internal).

There was an ensuing discussion of this in the External Drive thread, involving both pepar and Riverside_Guy (it was only 5 months back).

I've PM'ed him asking for a comment here, but he hasn't posted since mid-March, so he might not be around (or maybe he just hasn't been posting).

michael,

i am alive!

i just have been watching blu-ray and hd-dvd that's all.

as for those SATA to my 8300HD DVR running passport 2.6.002, it works exactly the way you quoted.

the entire index of programs are there everytime i press "LIST".
if i were to select a program from an earlier SATA drive, it'll bark and post a "Playback Error" and if i power off the 8300HD DVR and connect the SATA with the movie, then it'll work once i power on everything. yes, it's a hassle and sometimes it even requires a quick boot of the 8300HD DVR with the right SATA drive, but it's not all that trouble as each 400GB or 500GB SATA can hold quite a lot of HD 1080i or 720p material that i still cannot buy through blu-ray or hd-dvd.

i have accumulate six 400GB and two 500GB SATA content now. the sole 750gb SATA i'd tried did not work, so that's the real issue i have.

again, blu-ray and hd-dvd with the hdtv works so much better as there are ZERO artifacts even with fast action, like those in the film Stealth or MI3.

hope this helps!

paul




It took a bit of searching, but I found this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8826391&&#post8826391) post by Paul Chiu where he claims to have done this using two external drives on an STB running Passport Echo 2.5.066. He continued to make reports on it for at least another month, with various problems. I think that he eventually used 2 400GB externals and a 750GB one, with increasing problems with the 750GB. In his case, all of the programs stored on all of the drives showed up in the Saved Programs list, and it would ask that the drive be attached if he tried to play something not on the internal or the currently attached drive (matches my theory on all indexing being contained on the internal).

There was an ensuing discussion of this in the External Drive thread, involving both pepar and Riverside_Guy (it was only 5 months back).

I've PM'ed him asking for a comment here, but he hasn't posted since mid-March, so he might not be around (or maybe he just hasn't been posting).

I apologize in advance for seeming to rain on this idea. But we now have a "universe" of one successful swapper. In light of all of the hassles people have in getting just one drive to work properly, I'll need to hear from more people who've tried this before recommending - or even suggesting - this to others. Of course, those people need to be equally successful.

Eight drives, though, is very impressive! But imagine one's disappointment - or rage - if one's 8300HD fails and needs to be swapped.

Thank you, Paul, for responding to Mike's query. :)

I have a 8300HD from TWC Northwest Ohio with a Calvary 500 GB external SATA that is recognized and seems to be working fine. STB is connected to Polaroid 37" LCD via HDMI cable. DVR shows Passport v2.6.002 OS v PowerTV 6.14.74.1sp.

Problem I am seeing (yes, I have searched and did not find SAME problem, if this is elsewhere, please reply, don't flame) is that with SATA drive plugged in, I do not have any live TV buffer. I can pause the live action, but it does not create a buffer, only pauses at that instant, I have no rewind or fast forward. It will hold at that point in time for quite some time but on screen display shows no "green line" buffer and I cannot fast forward. If I change the channel and switch back, it of course reverts to live action. This happens on either tuner, have tried to "swap" channels and see if it exists for either, it does not. Even during live play with no pause, there is no rewind or fast forward.

If I disconnect the SATA drive and reboot the STB, the live buffer comes back, but if I hook the SATA drive back on, the live buffer goes away.

Is this supposed to be happening? Unfortunately, at this writing I do not know the specs of the drive inside the SATA enclosure, my boss got it off a website named buy based on price but did not recognize that it was SATA (he tries, but yes, I know...). So I brought it home. I can pull it open to check the drive inside if that will help.

I can also add any diag screen info that might be needed if anyone thinks that might help.

Not to flame, but that's been discussed in many, many, many posts in this thread. If you do a thread search for "+SATA +live +buffer" (no quotes) you'll hit 10 of them.

The long and short of it is that connecting an SATA expansion drive disables live "trick-play" functions (PAUSE, FF, RW, etc), though those functions continue to work for recordings. What happens is that the DVR will record on whichever drive has the highest percentage of space free; if that drive is not the internal drive, you lose live trick-play. When the external drive becomes fuller than the internal, it'll switch back to it and trick-play will briefly return.

Passport does not specify suppport for the external drive; this can't be called a "bug", since the drive doesn't have to work at all.

I haven't done Boolean searches for a long time, tried searching this forum without the + sign for those exact terms without the +'s and it returns 35 pages of pretty much non-info...

I'll just unplug the drive for the hockey games as unplugging and replugging the drive did not seem to "lose" any recordings.

Those that follow these forums religiously may know this stuff backwards and forwards but this thread itself is daunting, to say the least, to those not fully familiar with the ins and outs of the digital realms.

Thank you very much for the info, and for not going negative.

One reason that you may not find info on the external drive on this thread is that there is a thread dedicated to the 8300HD and External SATA- It Works! (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=516559&page=1&pp=30). Though this started out working just on SARA, more recent versions of Passport have enabled partial operation of the external drive. My link above is to page 1 (they are up to 163 pages now), you will see a link there to pepar's piece on the ext drive. He was one of the first to get the drive working on Passport. (and will probably make a comment as well :) )

I am in Merritt Island FL BHN customer.

One of my SA8300HD DVR's startred portring no room to record shows. There were three shows recorded, I erased them, An hour later it cambe back with the same message.

Is there any way to cause the Drive to be reformated knowing I will loose everything on It which is just the list of things I want it to record. There are no saved shows. I used to be able to do this on a TiVo

Any help Appreciated

I am in Merritt Island FL BHN customer.

One of my SA8300HD DVR's startred portring no room to record shows. There were three shows recorded, I erased them, An hour later it cambe back with the same message.

Is there any way to cause the Drive to be reformated knowing I will loose everything on It which is just the list of things I want it to record. There are no saved shows. I used to be able to do this on a TiVo

Any help Appreciated

I have had success just by unplugging and plugging it back in. No loss of anything but ti does return the drive to reporting the actual memory available on the drive.

I am in Merritt Island FL BHN customer.

One of my SA8300HD DVR's startred portring no room to record shows. There were three shows recorded, I erased them, An hour later it cambe back with the same message.

Is there any way to cause the Drive to be reformated knowing I will loose everything on It which is just the list of things I want it to record. There are no saved shows. I used to be able to do this on a TiVo

Any help Appreciated
I belive that if you just reboot the drive, you will have plenty of space and you will not lose any programs currently recorded.

Cynthia

Hi all,

I have been able to get into the diag menu (select exit / exit), however under the 'tuning' section, it is tuned to the diag channel (611). I can't find a way to tune to other channels to check for 5c or 0x02. If I use the tuning function, it changes channels and I can hit 'exit' to go back to the diags, but the tuned channel also reverts.

What am I doing wrong? How else can I check for 5c or 0x02 issues?

Thanks

Hi all,

I have been able to get into the diag menu (select exit / exit), however under the 'tuning' section, it is tuned to the diag channel (611). I can't find a way to tune to other channels to check for 5c or 0x02. If I use the tuning function, it changes channels and I can hit 'exit' to go back to the diags, but the tuned channel also reverts.

What am I doing wrong? How else can I check for 5c or 0x02 issues?
What are "5c or 0x02 issues?" Are you having problems with the operation of your 8300HD?

I'm glad I found these forums. I had been wondering if I could add an External Drive to my 8300. So I went to NewEgg and ordered the following:

VANTEC NEXTSTAR 3 NST-360SU-BK
500GB Seagate SATAII 16MB Cache ST3500630AS.

Everything arrived yesterday. I had everything together, hooked to the DVR, and running in about 20 minutes. Very nice. Finally no more running low on space,especially when your wife is a week or 2 behind on her soaps :D .

What are "5c or 0x02 issues?" Are you having problems with the operation of your 8300HD?I assume that by "5C" he mean DTCP (which has no relevance to anything related to these STBs other than their generally non-functional 1394 connections). I believe that "0x02" is an embedded CCI (Copy Control Information) flag code for "Copy One Generation".

I assume that by "5C" he mean DTCP (which has no relevance to anything related to these STBs . . .
That was pretty much the jist of my query. The "0x02" thing, too. :rolleyes:

I have TWC in upstate NY, passport / echo.

The 8300HD dvr is fine for about 6 weeks when it flashes an error warning that I do not have enough space left to record my shows. And this with only 9 hours of stuff saved!

I call TWC and they say to return it which I do with no hassle whatsoever. They just give me a new machine with no questions asked.

But everytime I do this I lose my stuff and I have to spend the time reprogramming everything. I have done this 3 times since January.

I have saved up to 15 shows but after about 6 weeks just having 9 hours saved I get the out of space error.

Here is what I see in Diagnostics Mode which confirms the space issue:

Under DVR INFO:
Capacity---148.9 Gb
Firmware--- 20.00K20

Under DVR AVFS:
AV Capacity---146.9 Gb 65584 clusters
AV Used Space--- 141.7 Gb 63242 clusters
AV Free Space---5.2 Gb 2342 clusters
AV Cluster Size--- 4700 sectors

I have 6 HD shows saved totaling 9 hours.

SA's site states that the 8300HD should give me 20 hours of HD content.

I did read somewhere else about the unit "buffering" for future shows?
I know I could go out and get an outboard drive but I never save more than 15 / 17 hours per week which is all usually watched by Sunday afternoon.

Any suggestions?

I have TWC in upstate NY, passport / echo.

The 8300HD dvr is fine for about 6 weeks when it flashes an error warning that I do not have enough space left to record my shows. And this with only 9 hours of stuff saved!

I call TWC and they say to return it which I do with no hassle whatsoever. They just give me a new machine with no questions asked.

But everytime I do this I lose my stuff and I have to spend the time reprogramming everything. I have done this 3 times since January.

I have saved up to 15 shows but after about 6 weeks just having 9 hours saved I get the out of space error.

Here is what I see in Diagnostics Mode which confirms the space issue:

Under DVR INFO:
Capacity---148.9 Gb
Firmware--- 20.00K20

Under DVR AVFS:
AV Capacity---146.9 Gb 65584 clusters
AV Used Space--- 141.7 Gb 63242 clusters
AV Free Space---5.2 Gb 2342 clusters
AV Cluster Size--- 4700 sectors

I have 6 HD shows saved totaling 9 hours.

SA's site states that the 8300HD should give me 20 hours of HD content.

I did read somewhere else about the unit "buffering" for future shows?
I know I could go out and get an outboard drive but I never save more than 15 / 17 hours per week which is all usually watched by Sunday afternoon.

Any suggestions?
Try a cold reboot. Turn the 8300HD off and then unplug it, or remove AC power some other way, e.g. switch on surge suppressor/outlet strip. (You are using a surge suppressor, aren't you? !) Wait about five minutes and re-apply AC power. After the display once again shows the time, turn the 8300HD on.

This rebooting is pretty mich the only thing subscribers can do when they encounter problems. Thankfully, it does remedy a lot of problems.

Thank you for your help.
I will do that.
My gratitude speaks.

Thank you for your help.
I will do that.
My gratitude speaks.Bruce, could you go back and update your profile to include you location. Your first post says "upstate NY" - but that is an awful big area (and there is a fairly "fuzzy" perception of what that means as well).

Thanks

Ok, done.
I am in Saugerties, NY 12477.
Profile edited.
Thanks!

I have TWC in upstate NY, passport / echo.

The 8300HD dvr is fine for about 6 weeks when it flashes an error warning that I do not have enough space left to record my shows. And this with only 9 hours of stuff saved!

I call TWC and they say to return it which I do with no hassle whatsoever. They just give me a new machine with no questions asked.

But everytime I do this I lose my stuff and I have to spend the time reprogramming everything. I have done this 3 times since January.

I have saved up to 15 shows but after about 6 weeks just having 9 hours saved I get the out of space error.

Here is what I see in Diagnostics Mode which confirms the space issue:

Under DVR INFO:
Capacity---148.9 Gb
Firmware--- 20.00K20

Under DVR AVFS:
AV Capacity---146.9 Gb 65584 clusters
AV Used Space--- 141.7 Gb 63242 clusters
AV Free Space---5.2 Gb 2342 clusters
AV Cluster Size--- 4700 sectors

I have 6 HD shows saved totaling 9 hours.

SA's site states that the 8300HD should give me 20 hours of HD content.

I did read somewhere else about the unit "buffering" for future shows?
I know I could go out and get an outboard drive but I never save more than 15 / 17 hours per week which is all usually watched by Sunday afternoon.

Any suggestions?The unit "buffers" at least one channel all of the time, recording it temporarily to a reserved area; this is why you can do "trick-play" functions on "live" television (PAUSE, FF, RW, etc). It has two tuners and buffers both continuously, except that if you don't use (record or display) the tuner that's not being displayed for some hours, it will stop buffering it until you do. It also will not buffer non-recordable channels like video-on-demand menus.

The two buffers consume 8.8 GB each (into which a maximum of 1 hour will be recorded) for a total of 17.6 GB, permanently allocated. This leave 131.3 GB. That will hold 20 hours of digital content, if it averages no higher than 15.66 Mbps. The 20 hours is an optimistic estimate; locally, broadcast content runs up to 18.4 Mbps average (CBS) and no lower than 15 (the CW and NBC); ABC and Fox are running 17 Mbps. So I could only get 20 hours in 131.3 GB if I stuck to the CW and NBC. I should get at least 17 hours though.

The bit rate at which they encode is entirely up to the local network affiliates (except for Fox, who get their content from the network already encoded to broadcast rates), so this will be different in your area; in any case, it's unlikely that you'll get a whole 20 hour of HDTV recorded.

There are two ways of rebooting the machine, "warm" (pressing and holding the power button until it says "boot" in the LEDS) and "cold", which is basically to unplug the unit and plug it back in (I'd suggest pressing the power button once to put it in a standby state first). I'd suggest that you perform a cold boot.

The 8300HD dvr is fine for about 6 weeks when it flashes an error warning that I do not have enough space left to record my shows. And this with only 9 hours of stuff saved!

Do you cancel programs that are recording before they finish recording?

I've heard/seen somewhere that when you do this, the space that was being used is not freed up for future use.

I don't know if this is true, but I do it quite often. I run into rhe out of space issue every 4-6 weeks. I cold reboot (wait until nothing recording & pull the power plug) and the problem goes away for another month or so.

I did as you suggested and did a cold reboot and it worked. Thanks.

I now have only 52.3g used and my free space went up to 94.6.

My gratitude to all.

Ok, done.
I am in Saugerties, NY 12477.
Profile edited.
Thanks!
I think we meant for you to set up a sig(nature) containing your location, cable company, software & version so that it is shown in all of your posts.

I did as you suggested and did a cold reboot and it worked. Thanks.
I now have only 52.3g used and my free space went up to 94.6. My gratitude to all.
Glad we were able to help. I'm concerned that you had a string of 8300HD's and they all did the same thing. If you are not using a surge suppressor and you have "dirty" power, it's possible that spurious EMI/RFI and/or spikes are "confusing" your boxes.

Thanks.
I have most of my devices connected to an APC 600w UPS.

Looking at the undervoltages, overvoltages etc that my ups is showing I have gotten 25 seconds of power problems in the last month which should have been intercepted by the battery but you never know.

Thanks again for your help and patience.

Hi all,

I have been able to get into the diag menu (select exit / exit), however under the 'tuning' section, it is tuned to the diag channel (611). I can't find a way to tune to other channels to check for 5c or 0x02. If I use the tuning function, it changes channels and I can hit 'exit' to go back to the diags, but the tuned channel also reverts.

What am I doing wrong? How else can I check for 5c or 0x02 issues?

Thanks
Once the Extended Diagnostic Menus are enabled, thereafter you can
tune to any channel and then CH611 to view diagnostics for that channel.....
Turning power OFF will cancel the extended diagnostic display mode.
Some systems use something other then CH611, which will be revealed after
you enter EXIT/SELECT, EXIT.

To return to the selected channel, hit "BACK" or "RETURN" key.

To select another channel, simply change channels and reselect CH611 to view menus.

From within the TUNING menu, you can cursor over to the DISPLAY CHANNEL field
and enter a new channel number.....or enter via SOURCE ID field.....
or tune directly via the TUNE TO FREQ and PROGRAM NUMBER fields
(if you know the numbers).

Note that the SOURCE ID may not have a "0" in the first field.
And sometimes one or more of these fields are somehow "blocked"...

==================================
At the bottom of the TUNING menu, you'll find the CLEAR TO AIR field,
indicating that you may be able to record to a PC/Mac via the Firewire
interface.....if you could ever get it to work properly....mine locks up....

If you want to check specific bits, you'll have to decode the Firewire data.
More info in the fol. thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=403695&page=1

Thanks.
I have most of my devices connected to an APC 600w UPS.

Looking at the undervoltages, overvoltages etc that my ups is showing I have gotten 25 seconds of power problems in the last month which should have been intercepted by the battery but you never know.
Well, something had to have caused this problem in ALL of those different boxes. Barring a string of bad ones - which is not completely impossible - the only common denominator is your house. If this box goes south again, you should take a closer look at your power.

It also could be the UPS....and perhaps even TWC's Edge Modulators at the local network node....

Hey guys, my apologies if this has come up before (213 pages is a lot to sift through). But, I got my TWC SA 8300HD hooked up via Denon 887 to a Sony v2500 through hdmi. On SD through 480i, I get annoying sidebars that can only be fixed by zooming or stretching, something that's annoying in its own right because everyone either looks fat or things get cut off. I've talked to TWC and they tell me that's the only way to get rid of the sidebars, but I simply refuse to believe this. Please tell me this isn't true. I also tried forcing 1080i picture by setting the picture compatibility settings to just 1080i, but still, same nasty picture and same annoying sidebars, but at least I'm able to let the TV handle the zooming or stretching. Any suggestions?

renzo3,

Well, believe it, it's true, unless you can figure out to put a 4:3 SD image into a 16:9 display without sidebars. You either get sidebars or you stretch the image, simple as that.

Hey guys, my apologies if this has come up before (213 pages is a lot to sift through). But, I got my TWC SA 8300HD hooked up via Denon 887 to a Sony v2500 through hdmi. On SD through 480i, I get annoying sidebars that can only be fixed by zooming or stretching, something that's annoying in its own right because everyone either looks fat or things get cut off. I've talked to TWC and they tell me that's the only way to get rid of the sidebars, but I simply refuse to believe this. Please tell me this isn't true. I also tried forcing 1080i picture by setting the picture compatibility settings to just 1080i, but still, same nasty picture and same annoying sidebars, but at least I'm able to let the TV handle the zooming or stretching. Any suggestions?Hi, Renzo3. Could you be a little more specific? I don't understand what you mean by "get rid of the sidebars".

If you're getting an SD image that's 4:3, and trying to display it on a 16:9 monitor, how else could you possibly get rid of the sidebars (i.e., use all the pixels on the screen to display an image instead of having unused pixels on each side of the picture) except by zooming or stretching the image?

Are you actually complaining about the color of the sidebars (like, they're currently gray and you want them black)? That's a different question: "How do I change the color of the sidebars to black?" (I don't personally know the answer to that question, but someone else will.)

(Well, Dave, your connection stayed solid and you beat me to the punch this time! :))

(Well, Dave, your connection stayed solid and you beat me to the punch this time! :))True, but you added a point I didn't think about. Even though the OP wants to get rid of the bars, making them black in a darkened environment does make them less distracting for SD viewing. Personally, I expand all my SD viewing, so the bars are a non-issue for me.

If that was his question, a thread search for "side bars" yields the answer: click here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10366471&&#post10366471).

Sorry to be repetitive.

To get rid of the side bars press the "#" key on the remote until it stretches.

Sorry to be repetitive.

To get rid of the side bars press the "#" key on the remote until it stretches.If you reread the OP you'll note he mentioned stretching/zooming, that was part of the complaint. The bottomline is there is no way to get rid of the bars without stretching, either using the # key for the 8300 to do it or using 480i to let the TV do it.

Last week I got an SA 8300HD DVR for use with my Sharp 37HV6U HDTV. The
remote control supplied with the DVR is a UR5U-8800-TWR, replacing the
old remote (unmarked, but probably an AT8400) that had worked with the
replaced Pace settop box.

1) With the old remote, I could press the TV button on the remote and
then the VIDEO SOURCE button to select the input source for the TV.
I have not found a way to do that with the new remote. If I press TV
and then VIDEO SOURCE, the CBL button lights and then the aspect bar
pops up to select normal, zoom, or stretch.

I have tried all the listed Sharp TV setup code numbers for the
remote (251, 081, 019, etc.), but none solves this problem. For some
I can get close, as long as I am still in the remote programming
mode: pressing VIDEO SOURCE brings up the menu to select the TV input
source, which is what I want. However, as soon as I exit the
programming mode for the remote, TV + VIDEO SOURCE reverts to just
bringing up the aspect bar, no more menu to select the TV input.

This behavior makes me think the setup code number isn't the problem,
but that this remote's VIDEO SOURCE button is somehow tied to only
changing the aspect. That's too bad because the # button and the
BYPASS buttons also bring up the aspect bar. One button (#) to do
this would be enough; three is overkill.

Do you know of any tricks to get this new remote to invoke the TV's
input selection menu?

2) I noticed that frame-at-a-time slow motion on the 8300HD operates
better going forward than in reverse. In reverse it seems to jump
multiple frames at a time. I assume this is just the way the 8300HD
works. Right? In contrast, with other DVRs I have seen that reverse
works as smoothly as forward, one frame at a time.

3) The new remote has a SHIFT/MODE button. What does it do with this
DVR? Other than lighting the CBL button briefly, it seems to do
nothing. The remote's pamphlet is not very informative: "SHIFT/MODE
controls the SHIFT/MODE feature." Maybe it is inactive under
Passport and is a placeholder for some future Navigator function.
This button is labeled as HELP in the UR5U-8800L remote's online
documentation, but as SHIFT/MODE in the UR5U-8800-TWR remote.

Jeff

I need some help with a problem with my TWC HD-DVR, the 8300HD. I have it hooked up with HDMI cables to my Onkyo txsr604 and from that to my TV. I keep having problems when I change from something on the DVR to live tv or sometimes changing from HD to non-HD channels that I lose all audio and my receiver shows No Signal meaning that no audio is being sent to it. What can I do to stop this?

Charlotte, NC

jeff_kn

2. That's the way mine works too. I never noticed that before, but then I rarely FF/REW in slo-mo.

3) The new remote has a SHIFT/MODE button. What does it do with this DVR? Other than lighting the CBL button briefly, it seems to do nothing. The remote's pamphlet is not very informative: "SHIFT/MODE controls the SHIFT/MODE feature." Maybe it is inactive under Passport and is a placeholder for some future Navigator function. This button is labeled as HELP in the UR5U-8800L remote's online documentation, but as SHIFT/MODE in the UR5U-8800-TWR remote.Different cablecos use different remote models for various reasons: cost, availability, stock on hand, etc. Not all buttons are necessarily used by all cablecos.

It might be worth fiddling with to see if you notice any obvious functionality, but it's quite likely you just have a "spare button" on your remote that has a function in somebody else's cable system, but not in yours.

2) I noticed that frame-at-a-time slow motion on the 8300HD operates
better going forward than in reverse. In reverse it seems to jump
multiple frames at a time. I assume this is just the way the 8300HD
works. Right? In contrast, with other DVRs I have seen that reverse
works as smoothly as forward, one frame at a time.
Jeff

Yep, there is no frame-by-frame functionality in reverse. Don't know why, as it doesn't seem a difficult function to program, and especially since it works fine in FF.

Yep, there is no frame-by-frame functionality in reverse. Don't know why, as it doesn't seem a difficult function to program, and especially since it works fine in FF.I'm not an expert in MPEG encoding, but I *do* know that the compression scheme typically involves starting with a fully-defined frame, and then having some "delta frames" that only capture the changes in the picture from the frame immediately prior to the current one. Every few frames, a new fully-defined frame is included so you start over from a clean slate. (The MPEG format is very flexible, and the encoder can select how many delta frames are included between each fully-defined frame, as well as other parameters that trade off between PQ and file size.)

Going forward in the video, you always have the information you need for the next image: Either a fully developed frame, or the subset of information that you need to change from the last image shown (which in turn may have been built by modifying the previous image, etc., etc.).

If you go backward, and you start with a fully defined frame, then to get the frame right before that one you need to jump back to the last fully-defined frame and then apply all the "delta frames". To get the frame just before that one, you go back to the last fully-defined frame and apply all the delta frames except for the last one. To get the picture just before that, you go back to the last fully-defined frame, and apply all the delta frames except the last two. Etc., etc. Eventually, you get to the fully-defined frame itself, and then repeat the process going backwards towards the next-earlier fully-defined frame.

So, for simplicity, when going backward it's possible that the MPEG decoder just jumps from fully-defined frame to fully-defined frame, skipping the tedious mucking-about with all the delta-frames in-between.

(Note: I don't *know* that that's why the slo-mo reverse playback was designed that way. (I didn't even stay in a Holiday Inn last night!) I'm just pointing out that there is a definite difference between going forward and going backward in an MPEG-encoded video file, and that *might* explain the difference in slo-mo playback.)

That sounds as good as anything IMHO. It's easy enough to REW a bit in slo-mo, then FF in slow-mo to get what you are looking for, so it doesn't seem to be a really big deal, just one of life's little curiousities. :)

any help?
I need some help with a problem with my TWC HD-DVR, the 8300HD. I have it hooked up with HDMI cables to my Onkyo txsr604 and from that to my TV. I keep having problems when I change from something on the DVR to live tv or sometimes changing from HD to non-HD channels that I lose all audio and my receiver shows No Signal meaning that no audio is being sent to it. What can I do to stop this?

Charlotte, NC

any help?
I need some help with a problem with my TWC HD-DVR, the 8300HD. I have it hooked up with HDMI cables to my Onkyo txsr604 and from that to my TV. I keep having problems when I change from something on the DVR to live tv or sometimes changing from HD to non-HD channels that I lose all audio and my receiver shows No Signal meaning that no audio is being sent to it. What can I do to stop this?

Charlotte, NCProbably not a great deal to be done. It sounds as if the Onkyo loses protocol synchronization with the STB when you switch to a non-HDMI source and back, though its a little mystifying how this can happen in a way that loses audio but not video. I don't have an 8300HD anymore and I'm not sure that I ever saw this for the brief period when I did (it was running the wretched SARA IPG, causing me to dumped it after about a month and purchase a TiVo Series 3, though I'd previously used an 8000HD running Passport for 3 years). I do know that while I had it I had it connected directly to the television. I bought an Onkyo HTiB with an HDMI switching receiver and a 3-into-1 switch after I got the TiVo and have 4 HDMI devices switched through the switch and receiver. I very ocassionally lose sound on my PS3 while viewing Blu-ray discs, but it comes when I switch sources.

Do you have a second HDMI device connected to the receiver? If so, have you tried briefly switching to it?

Frame by frame advance:
My manual says to hit PAUSE, and then hit FF to get one frame to advance.

If I hit PAUSE and then FF, I just get FF. Does anyone else have this problem?

try pause and the left/right cursor/direction buttons.

I think I tried that but I'll give it a shot tonight to be sure.
Thanks

try pause and the left/right cursor/direction buttons.

Right, that's how frame by frame works, but only in forward mode. If you hold down the direction button while in pause mode, you get slow motion. Neither really works properly in reverse, as we've discussed.

You can also get slow motion another way - by hitting the play button twice, quickly (a "double press"). It's very tricky though, to time it just right. I only get it right about a quarter of the time. The pause + direction-button method is more reliable.

try pause and the left/right cursor/direction buttons.Hey cool VisionOn, thanks. ;) I never knew that tip/trick.

Arch', I have the same batting average as you with the “double press” method. :D Now I’ll just do it this way. :cool:

Frame by frame advance:
My manual says to hit PAUSE, and then hit FF to get one frame to advance.

If I hit PAUSE and then FF, I just get FF. Does anyone else have this problem?Any chance the manual you are looking at is for SARA, not Passport?

Hi - All,
I'd like to say upfront that I did my due diligence on trying to search for posts similar to mine. I'm sure there is something out there, but I wasn't very successful. I'm using an 8300HD with Passport software in Staten Island - TWC. I can't seem to find an option to see the remaining disk space on my hard drive. I hooked up a similar box for a family member in NJ Comcast with what I believe is Sara software and they get their disk usage everytime they bring up a recorded show.What's the trick? I'm sure I'm missing something and the only manual I have came off the net and is geared toward Sara. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Frank

For those of you who have external drives connected to your box, has anyone tried connecting the external drive to a pc and transferring the shows to the pc hard drive?

For those of you who have external drives connected to your box, has anyone tried connecting the external drive to a pc and transferring the shows to the pc hard drive?
Discussed many times - the formatting is different from one to the other. An 8300HD external drive will look unformatted to the PC and a PC-formatted drive will look unformatted to the 8300HD.

I'd like to reference a post from way back in January:

Quote:
Originally Posted by scherer326
So basically everyone with Time Warner now has to get there sound either from the tv or receiver, not both at the same time.

I can no longer get audio from my tv and receiver at the same time. I think this is stupid. Just my two cents (now sound has to either come from the tv or receiver, not both. The client should be able to make the decision where they want there sound coming from.)



You can get audio from both at the same time.... Stereo audio.... Not 5.1.

Setting the audio setting to HDMI should give you 2 channel pcm out the HDMI and optical/coaxial ports. Your receiver should be in its 'auto' mode to accept PCM instead of DD though.

The way it SHOULD work is that the outputs should be able to carry different formats. This way the HDMI could negotiate for what it wants (2 channel PCM usually) and let you specify via the settings what you want out the opt/coax output (DD or 5.1 PCM or Stereo PCM).
I spent a lot of time hooking up a setup for some friends. Using the Explorer 8300HD I tried to connect the HDMI audio to the TV and use one of the composite analog outs to go to a Sony Bravia DVD and Surround Receiver they purchased. Obviously it didn't work. I got the HDMI audio to the TV - no problem. Bu the TV/Video feed on the AV unit had no sound. From reading the post above it's apparent why. It's just not supported by the box. Why Sony would manufacture an AV setup that has the Bravia name with no Digital inputs is beyond me. (But that's a rant for a different day) My question is - Can I grab the fixed output from the TV itself (Bravia 46 XBR2) and run that into the A/V receiver as input? I wanted to check to see if that would work first before I took the damn thing off the wall again.

Thanks,
Frank

Hi - All,
I'd like to say upfront that I did my due diligence on trying to search for posts similar to mine. I'm sure there is something out there, but I wasn't very successful. I'm using an 8300HD with Passport software in Staten Island - TWC. I can't seem to find an option to see the remaining disk space on my hard drive. I hooked up a similar box for a family member in NJ Comcast with what I believe is Sara software and they get their disk usage everytime they bring up a recorded show.What's the trick? I'm sure I'm missing something and the only manual I have came off the net and is geared toward Sara. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Frank
I was just about to post the same question, and also looked throughout the thread. Does anyone have any idea about this? Thanks.

Passport echo does not have a "fuel gauge" read-out of a free disk space. Neither does TiVo. Some DVRs do, some DVRs don't.

Was afraid of that, thanks. I know why tivo doesn't do it, since it has three different quality levels. I wonder why Passport leaves it out? Ah well.

I was just about to post the same question, and also looked throughout the thread. Does anyone have any idea about this? Thanks.Passport echo does not have a "fuel gauge" read-out of a free disk space. Neither does TiVo. Some DVRs do, some DVRs don't.

What Passport does have that SARA doesn't (besides slick graphics by professional designers instead of crappy jaggy line-art and fonts that most freshman high-school computer geeks could have done a better job on) is a per-recording indication (little full and half-full hour-glasses) of impending deletion, with an ability to set the exactly order in which recordings will be deleted. Much more useful than a "gas gauge" which has little meaning in terms of how much recording time remains. The same amount of free disk space might hold nearly two hours of Fox HD, a single hour of CBS HD or 8 hours of the SD digital simulcast of the Learning Channel.

I will admit that the gauge is oddly comforting, false comfort though it may be :D. It certainly doesn't hurt anything, and I read in one PR that they did add it to Passport Echo 2.7 well over a year ago. though I can't find that PR anymore. I also haven't heard anyone here say that they'd been pushed 2.7 yet.

Was afraid of that, thanks. I know why tivo doesn't do it, since it has three different quality levels. I wonder why Passport leaves it out? Ah well.Today when I think of TiVo I think of my Series 3 and recording almost soley digital cable with through CableCARD--the quality levels don't enter into it, since in most system even the analog channels will be mapped to digital simulcast and the TiVo won't be encoding anything itself. An HDD "fuel gauge" remains a persistent ask by TiVo users.

Hi - All,
I can't seem to find an option to see the remaining disk space on my hard drive.
Frank
You can find free space listed on one of the (many) extended diagnostic pages:
At SA8300HD front panel, hold both EXIT and SELECT until you see "DIAG",
then hit EXIT again.....note the diagnostic channel number displayed...
thereafter, while watching a particular program, you can tune to the diagnostic
channel to reenter the extended diagostic menus.

About as convenient as finding a particular OnDemand program.....

You can find free space listed on one of the (many) extended diagnostic pages:
At SA8300HD, hold both EXIT and SELECT until you see "DIAG" on front panel,
then hit EXIT again.....note the diagnostic channel number displayed...
thereafter, while watching a particular program, you can tune to the diagnostic
channel to reenter the extended diagostic menus.
For me, that immediate, direct-to-channel access only works for that "session." After being turned off, I need to do the 8300HD Two-Finger Salute again. It's clueless if I turn it on and enter 6-1-1 w/o it.

try pause and the left/right cursor/direction buttons.

Works as advertised. I must have been dreaming when I thought I tried this before.

Thanks for your help.

Probably not a great deal to be done. It sounds as if the Onkyo loses protocol synchronization with the STB when you switch to a non-HDMI source and back, though its a little mystifying how this can happen in a way that loses audio but not video. I don't have an 8300HD anymore and I'm not sure that I ever saw this for the brief period when I did (it was running the wretched SARA IPG, causing me to dumped it after about a month and purchase a TiVo Series 3, though I'd previously used an 8000HD running Passport for 3 years). I do know that while I had it I had it connected directly to the television. I bought an Onkyo HTiB with an HDMI switching receiver and a 3-into-1 switch after I got the TiVo and have 4 HDMI devices switched through the switch and receiver. I very ocassionally lose sound on my PS3 while viewing Blu-ray discs, but it comes when I switch sources.

Do you have a second HDMI device connected to the receiver? If so, have you tried briefly switching to it?

No I only have the 8300HD hooked up HDMI. Is the 8300 causing this you think? Or the stereo receiver?

No I only have the 8300HD hooked up HDMI. Is the 8300 causing this you think? Or the stereo receiver?I don't think that there's any way to know. As I said, I'm running 4 devices through an Onkyo HDMI switching receiver (with the help of a 3-into-1 switch, since the Onkyo only has 2 HDMI inputs; HDMI is the only A/V cable coming out of any of them, with the receiver playing sound from HDMI. It all works miraculously well, with only the occasional glitch, easily and quickly fixed.

Since most cable providers are (illegally, I think) refusing to support HDMI, you probably can't get your 8300HD switched out on that complaint.

I have had it switched a few times already.

I'm hoping someone on this list can assist me. I have an SA 8300 HD through TWC in NYC using Passport software. Today when I turned on my TV the cable box was off. This sometimes happens if TWC has an issue during the night. When I turned my box back on, the recorded list was outdated, showing no programs recorded since 5/11, and listing several shows that I had deleted since the 11th. Basically, every season finale of every show I watch (which had been all listed and accounted for before the box turned itself off last night) are no longer listed. Attempting to access listed programs that I previously deleted resulted in a "program not available" error, so I know that the actual state of the data on the disk hasn't been reset to the 11th, just the listing. I've tried soft rebooting & hard rebooting, and have been told by TWC that the next step is to wait for a technician, who will be coming on Friday. Unfortunately, the most likely outcome of that visit will be a replacement of my box, which does nothing to help me retrieve the shows that I so badly want to watch. Please please please someone tell me there's a way to get the list to properly recognize all the programs currently saved to the hard drive so that I don't have to go nuts from missing the finales of every show I follow!

HELP!!!!! :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

If you fail at this, I would tell TWC to send you a copy of the finale of every show you recorded and how to do that is not your problem, but theirs. I would call it, using their term, "THEFT OF SERVICE". They get very nasty when someone steals service from them, shouldn't they do what is necessary to restore what they took from you?

Did you try just a reboot (Unplug, wait 10-15 seconds, plug it back in)

I actually told the TWC woman that in order for the situation to be "resolved" in my mind, they need to provide the programming lost, but of course, her answer was, "there's really nothing more we can do." I did unplug and re-plug, that's what I referred to as a hard reboot. No improvement though :-(

If you fail at this, I would tell TWC to send you a copy of the finale of every show you recorded and how to do that is not your problem, but theirs. I would call it, using their term, "THEFT OF SERVICE". They get very nasty when someone steals service from them, shouldn't they do what is necessary to restore what they took from you?

Did you try just a reboot (Unplug, wait 10-15 seconds, plug it back in)
The latter is good advice, and pretty much the only thing we as subscribers can do. As for the former, I'm sure that somewhere in the many finely printed pieces of paper we get from our cable companies, there is something that gets them plenty of wiggle room. After all, we do not own the content on our DVRs.

If you fail at this, I would tell TWC to send you a copy of the finale of every show you recorded and how to do that is not your problem, but theirs. I would call it, using their term, "THEFT OF SERVICE". They get very nasty when someone steals service from them, shouldn't they do what is necessary to restore what they took from you?I don't think that the cable company provided any guarantee that they would always deliver the services you subscribed to. The most one can expect would be a refund for the period of time that programs were not recorded (meaning - the service was not delivered).

Yeah, they said they would refund me the cost of the DVR service...all $9 of it! That hardly makes up for the 9+ hours of programming that are suddenly inaccessible to me, or the fact that I can't start watching next season's episodes of my shows until I find a way to see the finales that went poof on me with no warning. I'm trying now to figure a way to access the 8300HD's hard drive via my PC to see if I can locate the missing files, but of course with no luck so far. This kind of glitch is really intolerable, makes me want to punch TWC in the face! When a company's entire support system consists of reboot-hard reboot-replace, it really isn't what I'd call support at all.

I bet speaking to the right person and a strong leter to their boss will get you some compensation.

A funny but true tale.

When I was working early in my career I had the rule when there was an issue with a subcontractor, "always go up the chain". We were having a big problem with AT&T providing service and we were a major account (The Sperry Rand Corporation). I started at my offical contact and when he was not there I "went up the chain". It turned out that all of Support and Service management was at an offsite. I reached the Secretary of the President and CEO of AT&T. She told me her boss was unavailable after hearing my problem tale. She must have had a bad day though, she also told me he would be in at 7AM tomorrow and nobody would be there to answer his phone but him. I called and he answered. I was polite but firm. The following occurred:

The offsite (he was not aware of) was cancelled at 9AM that morning. Everyone was sent home. My official service Rep called at 10AM and was very unhappy. He had been removed from the account and was on special assignment to change the processes that allowed the entire Service Management team to be unavailable to the customer. We was a Director level (reported to a VP). I became very well known very quickly in the environs of ATT.

With regard to cable providers I was given a partial rebate on my DVR rentals by BHN because the units did not work properly on HDMI (old software, they are now fine, not perfect, just fine) We agreed that I should only have to pay 1/2 the normal fee and was given a credit for 1 year of rental at that rate for my 2 units. Lump sum, up front. I was told if not fixed after 12 months the credit would be re-instituted. It has been fixed. The 12 months is not up. They did not ask for their money back.

Dave,

You set your sights too low. I understand what you are saying, but there are those in the chain of command/control that are very attentive to a customer's issue and will go out of their way to make ammends. The local desk jockey in service can not be one of those. Many would like to be, but they can't. However, higher up the chain. . .

I spoke to 2 different "support" people at TWC regarding this today. Both times I asked if there was someone else I could speak to about the issue. Both times I was told that I just had to wait for the technician to come out on Friday. They've clearly written me off, and don't give a rat's ass about this particular issue. What's worse is, even if they DO replace the box on Friday, not only do I lose out on all the programming for sure, but there's no guarantee it won't happen again.

Yeah, they said they would refund me the cost of the DVR service...all $9 of it! That hardly makes up for the 9+ hours of programming that are suddenly inaccessible to me, or the fact that I can't start watching next season's episodes of my shows until I find a way to see the finales that went poof on me with no warning. I'm trying now to figure a way to access the 8300HD's hard drive via my PC to see if I can locate the missing files, but of course with no luck so far.

as someone who went through the exact same thing when TWC updated the box a few months ago and erased a good portion of what I recorded, take the money, save your energy and use your PC to watch those shows by other means. Either at their official screening sites, or not.

When I did get my TWC bill for that period I found that I had been refunded about $45 instead of just the previous week of DVR service so you may get a nice surprise.

Well, as all of the shows I watch were in HD, I don't even know where to go to find high-quality versions of these programs, and watching them on a 12" screen instead of a 50" one isn't really my preference. I'd tried in the past to watch episodes of Ugly Betty off the ABC site, only to have my connection conk out on me too many times for the show to be watchable, even with broadband internet. My only other option now is to hunt down pirated versions of the missed programs and cry cry cry...

Dave,

You set your sights too low. I understand what you are saying, but there are those in the chain of command/control that are very attentive to a customer's issue and will go out of their way to make ammends. The local desk jockey in service can not be one of those. Many would like to be, but they can't. However, higher up the chain. . .Iagree (sort of) - but I felt that your "Theft of Service" argument was (quite ) a bit extreme.

I'm hoping someone on this list can assist me. I have an SA 8300 HD through TWC in NYC using Passport software. Today when I turned on my TV the cable box was off. This sometimes happens if TWC has an issue during the night. When I turned my box back on, the recorded list was outdated, showing no programs recorded since 5/11, and listing several shows that I had deleted since the 11th. Basically, every season finale of every show I watch (which had been all listed and accounted for before the box turned itself off last night) are no longer listed. Attempting to access listed programs that I previously deleted resulted in a "program not available" error, so I know that the actual state of the data on the disk hasn't been reset to the 11th, just the listing. I've tried soft rebooting & hard rebooting, and have been told by TWC that the next step is to wait for a technician, who will be coming on Friday. Unfortunately, the most likely outcome of that visit will be a replacement of my box, which does nothing to help me retrieve the shows that I so badly want to watch. Please please please someone tell me there's a way to get the list to properly recognize all the programs currently saved to the hard drive so that I don't have to go nuts from missing the finales of every show I follow!

HELP!!!!! :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

You may have received a software "push" (I won't call it an upgrade) last night. That is the ONLY time my box is turned off overnight (and is on some channel they select, not me, when the box re-boots).

I believe the lost recording problem has happened to others when software has been "pushed" overnight by TWC, according to my recollection of earlier posts here.

Yeah, usually the only time my box turns off is when TWC rolls out some sort of update, though the support people seemed unaware of anything like that happening last night. I've never had my recorded list reset itself backwards like it did in this case though. I'm extra-special annoyed now that I've learned one of the lost shows was the series finale, not just the end of the season, so the chances of it being re-run in HD are slim to none :-(

If you fail at this, I would tell TWC to send you a copy of the finale of every show you recorded and how to do that is not your problem, but theirs. I would call it, using their term, "THEFT OF SERVICE". They get very nasty when someone steals service from them, shouldn't they do what is necessary to restore what they took from you?

Broadcast programs are like a Box of Chocolates---once they've gone through your System they are GONE.
TWC is not authorized to store them on their servers....hence they can't respond to your request.

TWC must negotiate and pay for the privilege to put particular programs on their (OnDemand) servers.
We keep hearing that broadcast programs should also become available,
once they upgrade this summer to OCAP/SDV with Instant Response VOD.

On a brighter note, downloadable "near-HD" broadcast reruns are available now
from most networks with 1280x720 HD-Lite by this summer:
http://www.tvtechnology.com/pages/s.0114/t.4446.html
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6442478.html

I think I need to clarify something...

First off, I understand how the DVR system works. Its a hard drive that records the incoming signal. The cable company does not have servers that house any of the TV signals being broadcast, hence I never would ask them to re-send me episodes. The only way I would get them again would be if they were re-broadcast.

Having said that, I also want to repeat that I did not erase or otherwise remove the programs in question from my DVR. The box got switched off by something done by the cable company, and when I started it the list of recorded shows was over a week out of date. Any shows listed that I HAD deleted could not be accessed. I can only assume that the shows that I hadn't deleted but that aren't listed are still stored somewhere on the hard drive, its just the software that isn't seeing that the shows are there. I would love it if the cable company's technician could fix the software so that it recognizes that the programs are still there, but I highly doubt that the "technicians" they employ are knowledgeable to do anything more than reboot the box, and if that fails, replace it. Now I am faced with watching 10 hours of programming (from 2-3 weeks ago that I'd been saving) all in basically a day so that I don't miss watching that stuff as well if they take my box away. Replacing the box does not fix the issue. Pretty much everything I had been saving to take me through the summer rerun season eaten in a flash. And HD quality or no, I can't get my laptop to display in HD on my TV, so those downloadable episodes are not an attractive solution.

Pretty much everything I had been saving to take me through the summer rerun season eaten in a flash. And HD quality or no, I can't get my laptop to display in HD on my TV, so those downloadable episodes are not an attractive solution.While you have suffered an unfortunate event, your situation is no different than where you'd be if your box suffered a hard drive crash...except that you at least still have some of your programming.

Cable outages happen. DVR problems happen. Stuff happens.

While I really do empathize with your frustration, it may perhaps help lessen the sting if you keep in mind that all you've really lost is some television programming. If this is the worst thing that's happened to you in the last few days, then in the grand scheme of things you're still doing pretty good.

JennyDee,

Why let them remove the Box? it does not sound like it is broken.

Well, if it does something like this just from being rebooted, it isn't what you would call reliable. Besides, that seems to be TWC's solution for every problem with their cable boxes/DVRs. "Something went wrong? Here's a new box!" I've basically been informed that that will be the last resort at a "fix" when the tech comes out if he can't figure out the problem on-site.

In the 2+ years I've had 8300HD DVRs, I've never lost internal drive content due to power outages and/or surges. In the approximately 16 months that I've had external drives attached, I've lost content on one drive attached to one DVR. (The other never even hiccuped.) The content lost included six or seven (unwatched) episodes of Deadwood. My plan had been to record them all and then watch three or four at one sitting. Bang, there went the entire season as there was no way I was going to begin watching mid-season; the plot was barely followable anyway. (The town idiot even had me scrambling for a dictionary/thesaurus!) There've been outages since, but I've "weathered" them without losing anything. I'd call my loss (and jennydee's) a fluke, but it is something that can happen, and happen at any time. There are no guarantees.

Not something that someone who's lost a bunch of season finale's want to hear, but that's just the way it is. :(

Jenny,

I don't know if either of these SARA tips will work for you, but you've got nothing to lose:

Hard Reboot. Hard Reboot will refresh all available software and modules on system, as well as clear out memory cache. IPG and other data may take up to 30 minutes or more to fully download.
Turn off 8300 and wait 5 or more seconds.
Unplug power cord from 8300 and wait 5 or more seconds.
If you are resetting an external drive too, unplug it's power cord at this point and wait 5 or more seconds, then plug power cord back into external drive and wait 5 or more seconds.
Press and hold Power on 8300 front panel. While Power is depressed, plug 8300 power cord back in. Continue to hold Power until 8300 display says "boot" and/or begins to cycle a few times (usually about 15 seconds).
NOTE: Hard Reboot will resolve MANY issues with not only external drives, but memory issues too. You should WAIT until the reboot is completely finished before powering up. It usually takes about 5 - 10 min, depending on your application and IPG data. Best way to determine when the download is finished is to watch the front panel indicators. On the front panel, where the : (colon) seperates the hours and minutes, the bottom " . " dot will appear after all OS firmware has been loaded. An STB getting a download or initializing will be blank. Leave STB alone until dot appears.

Total Reset. From AVS - vegggas:
I don't think this is common knowledge, but it could save many users a lot of grief. Most failed units can be revived with total reset performed by user, depending on failure type. Instead of replacing unit and losing your shows, try this trick as last (or first) resort. This is known to reset unit no longer displaying Video, unable to lock on to one/both tuners, unable to read Hard Drive, or no longer able to get a download (display counting or hunting).
Complete reset can be done by removing power and all connections for an extended amount of time. This means remove power cable, coax cable(s), eSATA cable, everything, so it can fully discharge capacitors and memory. This can take anywhere from 4 - 24 hours (although it MIGHT work in less than 30 Min), so pick a time that you are not going to be using unit, like overnight and while at work.
After leaving it disconnected overnight, repower it (but don't turn it on) with just the basic connections (no eSATA) and let it sit until it gets a full download, which could take a long time. Basic OS download should be complete once you see time, or dot (depending on your settings), appear on front panel, usually within 3-7 minutes. IPG may take up to an hour, but unit could be turned on at this point.
If it works, unpower unit and reconnect as normal, consider yourself lucky you didn't have to swap it out.
BTW, leaving unit off while repowering and downloading is always a good idea and should be done whenver you may reboot unit. Powering on while downloading OS can result in early fragmentation of memory and erratic results.

FWIW, when I lost my content I experienced the same symptoms as jennydee; programs that had been long deleted reappeared on the list and ALL programming that had been on the external drive was gone. It was like it had taken a trip back in time. No manner of reboots would restore it. Un-plugging and re-hot-plugging the external drive caused the box to say "Hi, I see you've attached an external drive. Would you like me to format it?" Grrrrr. :mad:

But you're right, she's got nothing to lose . . . :)

Well, I don't think anything will recover them, but there is no harm trying. I do seem to remember someone else having a similar problem and they were somehow able to rebuild the index, but it was a long time ago and it may not have been the same problem. It seems like it was around the time some folks started playing with swapping external drives.

Jenny, a trip to www.eztvefnet.org/ might be in order (if you have an idea of doing bit torrent). Won't be HD, but will be 16:9 and generally of pretty good quality.

so I got an hdmi cable today just for the hell of it to hook up my SA8300hd dvr to my lcd.
I've been using component and it looks great...but I wanted to see what it looks like on hdmi...
only problem is that I can't get any sound when using the hdmi cable.
I dont have to hook up seperate audio cables do I? I'm pretty sure hdmi carries audio and video hence the convenience.
I'm in nyc with twc if that helps...same thing happens on both my tv's no sound via hdmi but I do have a picture.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

so I got an hdmi cable today just for the hell of it to hook up my SA8300hd dvr to my lcd.
I've been using component and it looks great...but I wanted to see what it looks like on hdmi...
only problem is that I can't get any sound when using the hdmi cable.
I dont have to hook up seperate audio cables do I? I'm pretty sure hdmi carries audio and video hence the convenience.
I'm in nyc with twc if that helps...same thing happens on both my tv's no sound via hdmi but I do have a picture.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

You have to change the audio out on the 8300 to HDMI. On your remote push settins and then the yellow button for more settings. Scroll down to audo out and change it to HDMI.

I'm not sure if this is the correct spot to post this, but I am new to the cable TV arena. The first thing that I noticed about my 8300 and TWC-Houston is that if I purchase a movie, I do not have the ability to record it on the DVR. Is there anyway to perform this? According to TWC this violates copywrite laws (bull). So, I thought I would ask all you geeks out there. Can you help? :)

I'm not sure if this is the correct spot to post this, but I am new to the cable TV arena. The first thing that I noticed about my 8300 and TWC-Houston is that if I purchase a movie, I do not have the ability to record it on the DVR. Is there anyway to perform this? According to TWC this violates copywrite laws (bull). So, I thought I would ask all you geeks out there. Can you help? :)Hi, Txnmoore. This thread is specifically for 8300HD users with the "Passport" user interface. If you are a TWC-Houston customer (soon to be a Comcast-Houston customer), then you have the SARA user interface.

There are two other threads that will likely be more suited to future posts for your equipment: The Houston, TX - TWC (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10630604#post10630604) thread in the "Local HDTV Info and Reception" forum, or the SA 8300 HD Tips & Tricks -- SARA (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=471859) thread in this current forum. While it won't address your current question, I highly recommend you read the first "Tips & Tricks" post, as it has a wealth of information on how to get the most out of your SARA-based 8300HD.

To avoid starting an off-topic discussion on this thread, I have sent you a Private Message with an answer. Click the "UserCP" link on the left side of the menu bar at the top of this message screen to get to your private messages.

I'm not sure if this is the correct spot to post this, but I am new to the cable TV arena. The first thing that I noticed about my 8300 and TWC-Houston is that if I purchase a movie, I do not have the ability to record it on the DVR. Is there anyway to perform this? According to TWC this violates copywrite laws (bull). So, I thought I would ask all you geeks out there. Can you help? :)I have no qualms about brief off-topic excursions :D. Your cable provider is right--recording pay-per-view does violate copyright. The copyright law disallows copying of any copyrighted work, but grants specific exceptions, such as the right to copy free over-the-air broadcasts for personal use. Pay cable is not exempted, and recording of it can be controlled.

FCC regulations define how the cable companies can mark their digital content. Anything in their core basic tier (the minimum level of service that you can buy, which you must buy to get any cable television service, typically around 20 channels) must be marked "Copy Freely" and cannot be encrypted. All local free-to-air television channels which they rebroadcast, analog or digital, must be part of the core basic tier and therefore freely recordable.

Anything not in the core basic tier can be marked "Copy One Generation" and encrypted on digital outputs of cable receivers, like 1394/DTCP. Recorders with 1394/DTCP connections can decrypt such content and record it, but the recordings must themselves be encrypted and marked "Copy No More" on playback, which recorders will not make further recordings of. The effect is that you should be able to make a single recording of "Copy One Generation" content with the proper equipment, but that recording cannot be used to make further copies.

FCC regulations allow content sold via the Video On Demand and Pay-Per-View business models to be marked "Copy Never"--no recorder may make a permanent copy of it, though DVRs may keep ephemeral buffers of up to 90 minutes of it for "trick-play" functions (PAUSE, REW, FF, etc).

The relevant FCC regulations are Code of Federal Regulations Title 47, §76.1904 (http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=80edb272c396a181a7dc268ba85ddc46&rgn=div8&view=text&node=47:4.0.1.1.4.23.3.4&idno=47), entitled "Encoding rules for defined business models". (Definitions of the terms used--like "unencrypted broadcast television" and "video on demand"--can be found in CFR Title 47, §76.1902 (http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr;sid=80edb272c396a181a7dc268ba85ddc46;rgn=div8;vie w=text;node=47%3A4.0.1.1.4.23.3.2;idno=47;cc=ecfr)).

There've been a couple of really good discussions of this in this forum, which should have been permanent stickies. I found one in the archives: "What are the real FCC rules regarding encoding and encryption? (http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=501035&highlight=copy+protection)".

FWIW, when I was testing an SA8240HD and had some PPV channels free, I was able to record them on the DVR. Since Michael stated that FCC regs allow such channels to be marked "Copy Never", I suspect the ability to record to the DVR depends on the cableco. All Cox PPV channels here are marked "freely", but I don't know if that changes once you actually purchase something, though I doubt it.

The keyword is "allow"--the FCC regs don't ever require the use of the secure copy control modes. The regs only forbid that any of them to be used on anything in the core basic tier and forbid the use of Copy Never on anything other than VOD and PPV. Often I think that the providers accidentally screw this up--well, we know that they sometimes transmit some channels in the core basic tier marked with a secure mode. Eventually someone tries to record a local OTA channel over 1394 and gets blocked by improperly set copy control flags; if they complain, they can get that fixed. But no one will complain if they can make clear copies of HBO or if they can unexpectedly make recordings of PPV :).

esata to esata (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10226&cs_id=1022602&p_id=2882&seq=1&format=2&style=) Perhaps a kind soul can help me out here.

I've got a TWCNYC 8300HD box. I confirmed in the diagnostics screen that SATA is enabled. I have a 500 gig WD "mybook" that functions fine via its USB. I don't know that I've got the right cable for the eSata port (it surely plugs in correctly on both ends) as I admit great confusion over L vs I and Sata I vs. II (which seem to describe speed not connector). I can't find any direct link in this thread to the approprit cable.

What I have is here (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10226&cs_id=1022602&p_id=2882&seq=1&format=2&style=) described simply as esata to esata (type I to I).

If this is the wrong cable I'd ask anyone who can to point me to the correct cable with a link.

I've tried hard boots, soft boots and have done the hot plug to no aval.
Thanks in advance for the great help I know I will receive here.

Thanks

HC

OK, I have the 8300HD DVR model from TWC NYC (in Queens).

Every time SD commercials come on, the volume level is WAY too high. Anyone have this problem? I have the audio coming out of the box via Toslink/fiber to my Marantz 8001.

Thanks

hsb

Everyone has this problem

Obviously this is a bit pointless for us given the Navigator future but it's interesting anway.

Aptiv Digital, the upstart EPG developer that was recently acquired by Gemstar-TV Guide (see [itvt] Issue 7.26 Part 1), unveiled a number of new products and applications at the NCTA Cable Show earlier this month, including new versions of its Passport, Passport DCT and Passport Echo EPG's. According to the company, the new versions of its EPG's are designed to support a set of new or revamped cross-platform interactive applications, that enable such features as VOD, video mosaics and TV-based caller ID. Aptiv also used the show to demo the Passport Echo EPG's OCAP support and consequently its compatibility with a number of OCAP software stacks and set-top boxes. "Cable Show attendees this year will experience brand new IPG versions and a range of applications to help cable operators redefine their service offerings and maximize the potential of their cable systems," Dan Ward, Aptiv's VP of sales and marketing, said in a prepared statement. "Our interactive program guides have new advanced feature sets and built-in seamless support for our new set of applications. Combining our applications such as Interactive Video Mosaic and iSubscribe or the new features of Venue and Video-on-Demand will provide MSO's with exceptional tools to drive revenue and customer satisfaction."

New and/or revamped applications and tools on display in Aptiv's Cable Show booth included:

* A version of the company's ShowRunner VOD application for the Motorola platform (note: the app has been available for the Scientific-Atlanta platform for around four years now). According to the company, ShowRunner is a client application that is headend-configurable for a variety of impulse-based services, including single-offer, free-on-demand, transactional VOD, and subscription VOD. It is designed with a biaxial interface, so that genres or categories are menu-scrollable on the horizontal plane, displaying vertically scrollable and selectable titles. Aptiv claims that the menu "easily walks a viewer through" the VOD selection and purchase. The application's interface is also hierarchical, with super-categories, libraries and feature channels that are configurable as virtual channels, accessible directly or through the EPG.

* A version of the company's Venue product for the Motorola Platform (like ShowRunner VOD, Venue has been available for the Scientific-Atlanta platform for four years). Venue is a configurable template for creating custom, multilevel VOD applications: according to the company, multiple Venues can be seamlessly linked to create hierarchical on-demand menus, and each Venue screen in the navigational hierarchy can be configured to display a single category of listings and the return path to previous Venue levels. Aptiv claims that combining Venue's interconnectivity with ShowRunner VOD's architecture, MPEG stills and video streaming creates a customizable and intuitive hierarchical interface that seamlessly links navigational, informational and revenue-generating services. Venue can also be configured with a biaxial interface, including horizontally scrollable categories displaying vertically scrollable and selectable listings: in this configuration, it can be set as the default power-on channel, in order to promote premium channels and services.

* A new version of the company's Interactive Video Mosaic application that will be available in the next versions of Passport and Passport Echo for the Scientific-Atlanta platform (note: Interactive Video Mosaic recently launched as a product for the Passport DCT platform). The application is a multichannel/multiscreen showcase and navigator for promoting content: it provides cable operators with customizable or template-based video venues to display multiple thumbnail video streams on one channel; viewers can watch multiple scaled video streams, listen to each stream's audio feed by highlighting it, and launch services by selecting a video pane. In addition, more information about programs can be displayed by pressing the "info" button, and programs can be recorded directly from the application, when viewed via Passport Echo on a DVR set-top. Aptiv suggests that MSO's can use the app to drive revenue by streaming preview clips of premium services and linking to its iSubscribe impulse subscription app.

* Harvest, a viewership data collection tool that enables cable operators to track how their services are being utilized. According to Aptiv, the application protects the anonymity and privacy of the end-user by logging set-top usage without specific subscriber information. Because the usage data it generates is available on-demand, the company says, operators will be able to make programming and advertising decisions based on real-time data. The app produces a basic daily report generated from the collection of logs, as well as daily raw database files for advanced data mining. It is available for Passport, Passport DCT and Passport Echo.

* Bill View, an application that promotes bundled packages, while providing subscribers access to their billing information. The app is data configurable and can display bundled packages on screen. It is available for Passport, Passport DCT and Passport Echo.

* A new version of the company's Caller ID app that can run on Passport DCT and Passport Echo on the Motorola platform (it has been available on Passport and Passport Echo for the Scientific-Atlanta platform for over five years). The app, which Aptiv says is compatible with any backend caller ID solution, displays a banner at the bottom of the screen with the phone number, option line number, and name of the incoming caller. It allows end-users to display a call history of up to four phone lines by accessing preferences in the settings menu.

* Front Door, a tool designed to simplify the installation and management of Aptiv's new set of interactive TV applications. According to the company, it is a server-based application management portal that is scalable and enables customization of regional application deployment: MSO's can customize application deployment on a region-by-region or headend-by-headend basis for their entire system for a single Front Door server, Aptiv claims. The tool features administrative security, can be accessed from an Internet browser on any networked, authorized and Internet-ready PC, and enables the installation, configuration and removal of a variety of Aptiv applications.

http://blog.itvt.com/my_weblog/2007/05/aptiv_unveils_n.html

Everyone has this problem

Crap. So everyone has the SD/HD volume level problem? I was hoping it was a setting that I missed or something.

20 years ago when I was in college, one of the comic strips in the student newspaper had a character whose job it was to turn up the volume at the TV station when the commercials came on.

I think of that strip every time I'm watching a 5.1-ch HD show, and the commercials come on at 5x the volume of the show...

It is really a sad state of affairs when broadcast stations, and I hold them to be the culprits, no longer want to provide a quality viewing/listening experience.

On the viewing side, how many times has a HD picture been shown as a small HD formatted frame surrounded by black bars all around. It generally happens after an SD to HD switch like from a commercial back to the prime material. Is there no one watching the monitor. It is called a monitor for a reason!!! Sooner or later someone wakes up and fixes it.

On the listening side, the changes in volume by program content are just plain bad practice. I make it my personal goal to never buy a product advertised at an increased average volume level. One of these days I will get to the point of contacting the product advertiser and telling them why I will no longer buy their product (Yeah I know I have too much free time). I will be sure to tell them the station and time of the offending commercial so they know who to blame.

I have given up trying to watch CW as the number of commercial interruptions and poor sound quality just make it too hard.

And of course the FCC, the consumers watchdogs are too busy watching the consumer and not the industry they are supposed to be watching. But then again the FCC has never cared about quality unless it is spelled in four letter words.

My 2 cents

As Passport does NOT provide an option like SARA apparently does, one is left to "tricks" to deal with it. I just started using a new trick that seems to work really well. I have my display set to display 4.3 sources in 4:3 and 16:9 sources in 16:9 (sometimes called the "Normal" settings).

Now this makes no sense, BUT tune to a HD channel then go to Settings/More Settings/Aspect Ratio and set the primary to 4:3! Yes, I know, doesn't make sense, and I couldn't even think of any logic why it might work. BUT, HD and SD channels all display undistorted AND all have black side pillars.

You have nothing to lose in trying it!

This trick does work, but there is something about the 4:3 setting that messes with the black/brightness level output from the box. If you have HDNET test pattern recorded, check it and see if your blacks aren't being crushed.

20 years ago when I was in college, one of the comic strips in the student newspaper had a character whose job it was to turn up the volume at the TV station when the commercials came on.

I think of that strip every time I'm watching a 5.1-ch HD show, and the commercials come on at 5x the volume of the show...
Maximum level is the same for all programming, but compression is used on commercials making the average level higher. When I fall asleep watching TV, it is always a commercial that wakes me up. :)

20 years ago when I was in college, one of the comic strips in the student newspaper had a character whose job it was to turn up the volume at the TV station when the commercials came on.

I think of that strip every time I'm watching a 5.1-ch HD show, and the commercials come on at 5x the volume of the show...If you would permit a SARA user to submit an observation: Here is a technical article (http://broadcastengineering.com/audio/broadcasting_digital_loudness_matching/index.html) that explains the issue and explains the cable box role in it. I note that my current version of SARA does not provide the settings the article refers to - and there is no mention of Passport. There can also be issues with surround sound receivers in how they handle digital 5.1 and 2.0. Matters can be worse when separate analog audio (L/R) and digital inputs are used on receivers.

I've also personally found that the audio enhancement mode that I use on my Yamaha receiver can make tremendous differences in perceived audio with different commercials. Some commercials sound way too loud (compared to others) in my normal (70mm Spectatular) mode - yet are quite normal with a standard straight Dolby Pro Logic mode. It's like the audio mix on the commercial had conflicting enhancement (?) incorporated. Since I zip past most (not all) commercials, I've learned not to let it bother me. BTW: This problem seems to be there more on local commercials than network ones.

Okay I understand all of the audio sound stuff (I really do) but bottom line I don't care. The ultimate test is not maximum level, not audio protocol not ... BUT what I or the average listener hears. We all use different equipments, we all have specific auditory acuity, BUT I don't care. When a commercial blasts its audio I don't care why, I only care that it does. The content is sent by the broadcaster and forwarded by the cableco's.

What I want is the same AVERAGE level of volume all the time. With the ability to adjust it via my volume control BUT not having to do so every 10-15 minutes.

Bottom line, leave all of the techy details out, just fix the problem. The majority of listeners all agree that the problem exists.

Okay I understand all of the audio sound stuff (I really do) but bottom line I don't care. The ultimate test is not maximum level, not audio protocol not ... BUT what I or the average listener hears. We all use different equipments, we all have specific auditory acuity, BUT I don't care. When a commercial blasts its audio I don't care why, I only care that it does. The content is sent by the broadcaster and forwarded by the cableco's.

What I want is the same AVERAGE level of volume all the time. With the ability to adjust it via my volume control BUT not having to do so every 10-15 minutes.

Bottom line, leave all of the techy details out, just fix the problem. The majority of listeners all agree that the problem exists.Then Barry, turn off 5.1! ;)

Dave,

If it wasn't for the smiley I would tell you my real thoughts using FCC banned language.

It is interesting that the article you reference has most of the discussion with output through the RF modulator. Are there people still doing that who have a need for HD signals? I can't believe that. Interesting article though.

My point is "I Don't care" All I am really concerned with is the end result, My experience. I guess I am now taking the view of the majority of consumers not the understanding acceptance of the technically minded engineer. It comes with advanced age.

Barry,

And my original point is that there is not a "single point" solution. I provided the article (there have been others) to provide some background. My "turn-off the 5.1" comment really was to comment that there are problems integrating new technologies, to avoid these problems, then avoid the technologies. But we all would prefer that these problems be resolved. It's just that we can't blame a single entity for them.

Dave,

If it wasn't for the smiley I would tell you my real thoughts using FCC banned language.

It is interesting that the article you reference has most of the discussion with output through the RF modulator. Are there people still doing that who have a need for HD signals? I can't believe that. Interesting article though.

My point is "I Don't care" All I am really concerned with is the end result, My experience. I guess I am now taking the view of the majority of consumers not the understanding acceptance of the technically minded engineer. It comes with advanced age.
As cheerfully as possible :) and acting as the (cable industry's) devil's advocate, if your bottom line is that you "don't care," theirs is that you "don't matter." With STB's for the most part being supplied by the cablecos which get ad dollars, what incentive do they have to develop STBs that undo the efforts of their advertisers? And what alternatives do you have? Only when competition in the form of third parties entering the STB biz with the about-to-go-into-effect law (supposedly) freeing us from the grips of the cable industry is there a glimmer of hope that the subscribers' voices will be heard.

Then Barry, turn off 5.1! ;)
Great volume swings happen right out of the TV speakers in regular stereo mode too. 5.1 must really be bad, maybe I won't get that surround sound system. :( Dan

I am still looking for help with this issue. It seems to be a handshake problem with the 8300 not the Onkyo 604 causing this. Please help!!!

I need some help with a problem with my TWC HD-DVR, the 8300HD. I have it hooked up with HDMI cables to my Onkyo txsr604 and from that to my TV. I keep having problems when I change from something on the DVR to live tv or sometimes changing from HD to non-HD channels that I lose all audio and my receiver shows No Signal meaning that no audio is being sent to it. Now also when I power on the tv and receiver I get no audio for the first 10 minutes or so. What can I do to stop this?

Charlotte, NC

Has anyone seen any updates beyond 2.6.002?

Anyone around STILL on the 1.8.xxx series? :eek:

What I want is the same AVERAGE level of volume all the time. With the ability to adjust it via my volume control BUT not having to do so every 10-15 minutes.

Dolby Labs has a solution for this problem that it is trying to get equipment makers to add to their systems (actually license for a fee) that is supposed to solve the volume level problem. The presentation from them that I saw went into get detail about measured volume versus perceived volume and how the TV broadcasters get around the limits imposed by the FCC on increasing the volume level for commercials.

Dolby Labs has a solution for this problem that it is trying to get equipment makers to add to their systems (actually license for a fee) that is supposed to solve the volume level problem. The presentation from them that I saw went into get detail about measured volume versus perceived volume and how the TV broadcasters get around the limits imposed by the FCC on increasing the volume level for commercials.
The $64 question is: Do the equipment makers concede that there is a problem?

- with the corollary being: Do the equipment makers anticipate curtailed earnings if they do not address the issue?

Cynical or realistic?

The "right" way to solve an issue is at the source. Meaning NOT the cable company but the channel. I dare say they already pay a pretty hefty dollar to have a high end engineer monitoring things. Absent equipment, it can at least be partially controlled right there.

As for equipment this makes me think back to 40 years ago. Did a lot of radio work and we HAD to have these big Tectronix comressors/limiters... which we HATED because they were noisy AND you could easily hear the pumping even on 10 dollar crystal radios.

Still, the bottom line is they WANT to hit us over the head with commercials. This has not changed one iota in 30 years no matter HOW many customer complaints are made.

Oh, I used to like to surf to MTV/VH1 during commercials to see what video pop music folks were doing, but those channels run their ENTIRE audio output on the verge if not slightly distorted, so long ago I stopped doing that.

Most of the problems I've seen with LOUD COMMERCIALS have been when local stations
insert local adverts.
I also see many local news quickie breaks that are much too LOW in volume....
They simply aren't paying attention to levels when they insert commercial/news breaks.

And now, the cable companies have the ability to insert their own adverts!!!!!
Many times I've noticed different adverts playing on the analog and digital versions of the same local station.

And I'm really tired of TWC-SD pushing their THREE-PLAY package DURING
a non-local program, rather than waiting for the commercial break!!!!!

PS: Dolby DIALNORM isn't working---each station picks a fixed number
and it never, ever varies...as it should, according to the program source encoding.

I am still looking for help with this issue. It seems to be a handshake problem with the 8300 not the Onkyo 604 causing this. Please help!!!

I need some help with a problem with my TWC HD-DVR, the 8300HD. I have it hooked up with HDMI cables to my Onkyo txsr604 and from that to my TV. I keep having problems when I change from something on the DVR to live tv or sometimes changing from HD to non-HD channels that I lose all audio and my receiver shows No Signal meaning that no audio is being sent to it. Now also when I power on the tv and receiver I get no audio for the first 10 minutes or so. What can I do to stop this?

Charlotte, NC

Hook the HDMI from the 8300 directly to your TV and the audio from the 8300 to the Receiver. That seems to work for everyone. If you persist with wanting to go 8300 to Receiver to TV via HDMI you'll likely never resolve this.

I thought the 8300 couldn't process digital audio simultaneously from the HDMI and the optical?

I thought the 8300 couldn't process digital audio simultaneously from the HDMI and the optical?


I don't think it can. It will either output to the HDMI or from the audio output on the box. I have vido via HDMI and audio feeding the 5.1 stand alone receiver.

Is there a way to tell the 8300 to send audio through the optical and video from the hdmi?

Is there a way to tell the 8300 to send audio through the optical and video from the hdmi?
I convert the HDMI to DVI with a simple HDMI-to-DVI cable run to a DVI switch. I have the COAXIAL digital connected to my pre/pro for audio. I prefer coaxial digital to optical - less conversions - but the optical should be able to be used instead of coaxial. I think the key is for the 8300HD to NOT think downstream HDMI components "do" audio. I don't think it will work if the 8300HD HDMI smarts see audio capabilities downstream.

I thought the 8300 couldn't process digital audio simultaneously from the HDMI and the optical?It can't. I don't know about Passport, but SARA has a setting to switch from HDMI to Dolby Digital. This directs audio to the HDMI port (2.0) or the digital optical/coax ports (5.1). If you absolutely want to use the TV speakers some of the time, you will probably need to add RCA audio cables from the 8300 to the TV. This way you can leave any audio setting Passport has alone and still get audio to both the TV and Onkyo. Adding audio cables defeats the purpose of the HDMI cable, but since HDMI uses the TV to determine what audio can be received, you don't have much choice. Of course, you could just always use the Onkyo for audio and not worry about it. Why have high-end audio gear if you are not going to use it? Using it all the time is not going to shorten it's life to any great degree.

I forgot about that menu option to switch it to DD instead of HDMI. That solves it then. Thanks!

I forgot about that menu option to switch it to DD instead of HDMI. That solves it then. Thanks!That begs the question, are you using Passport or SARA? If SARA, then you are posting in the wrong thread. ;)

That begs the question, are you using Passport or SARA? If SARA, then you are posting in the wrong thread. ;)Yeh, we don't want to remid Passport users that SARA does have some advantages. ;)

Good morning All

I did a fairly quick search of the thread to see if anyone encountered this situation before. To summarize, I bought a new component stand and had to disconnect my setup. When I plugged in my 8300HD I noticed now that the LED display no longer shows the resolution. Before, it would display 1080i or 720p or 481i depending on what station I was tuned to. Now it's blank on top. when I'm on an HD station it no longer displays the HDTV indicator either. I think I recollect an indicator that said Auto on the display as well. that is no longer present. I searched through the settings on the box but can not find anything that would activate this feature. When I look at my output formats they are set from 1080i thru 480i.

Any idea if this is a box malfunction or an additional setting I can no longer find. When I hooked up the box originally, the display showed all the info from the get go.

Thanks in advance,
Frank
8300HD - Passport software
Time Warner Cable - Staten Island, NY
Sony KV-36HS510

Is there a way to tell the 8300 to send audio through the optical and video from the hdmi?

This is undoubtedly going to vary greatly by cable company, area, box and software. The way it works for me is that when I set "Dolby Digital" on the 8300, NO audio passes through HDMI. When I set HDMI on the 8300, audio goes out HDMI AND through the optical cable to my AVR. Suits me fine as late night I switch the 8300 to HDMI and turn off my AVR... without having to turn my TV audio on and off, it's on all the time, but when the 8300 is Dolby Digital, the TV does NOT have audio.

Yeh, we don't want to remid Passport users that SARA does have some advantages. ;)I'd say that it had a single advantage--that the SATA expansion drive works flawlessly. Anything that SARA can do, Passport can do better and more gracefully and it can do many things that SARA can't. On the hand, I'd be surprised if many times more cash had been spent on developing it.

I'd say that it had a single advantage--that the SATA expansion drive works flawlessly. Anything that SARA can do, Passport can do better and more gracefully and it can do many things that SARA can't. On the hand, I'd be surprised if many times more cash had been spent on developing it.
SARA = four-letter word
Poop = four-letter word

:)

SARA = four-letter word
Poop = four-letter word
SARA = ?

:D :D :DWas that necessary :rolleyes:?

I thought of one more "advantage": SARA has a disk usage gas-gauge. Not much practical us (unless you record solely analog, which is all at the same bit rate). Nevertheless a curiously soothing little meter which doesn't hurt anything :).

And Pass Port is TWO four letter words, so what? :)

Must be a sllllooooowww day for some folks. ;)

As I've said many times, I've used both and I still can't think of a single thing Passport does that SARA doesn't that I need, or even want.

I don't watch parts of mulitple recordings, so I care nothing about bookmarks.
I don't use my DVR to do searches, TitanTV works so much better and has more data.
I don't use my DVR for Wishlists, though I probably would for some, but TitanTV also does this much better.
I rarely use the "gas gauge", so that is not really a plus in my book.
Slicker graphics and more colors do little for me until it's HD, widescreen, and contains more than 1.5 hours worth of data, all of which are more a function of what the cabelco is willing to spend vs any Passport/SARA defficiency.
I don't have ANY problems setting SARA to pass through desired formats so my TV can expand 4:3 content to fill the screen unlike the many that have posted in this thread and the difficulty my daughter continues to have with this issue using Passport in NC.

I'll certainly admit that going from Passport to SARA might be more of a challenge than the other way around, but then I've moved all over the country and I've always adapted to whatever was available to me. Some people adapt, others buy their way out of the dilema. ;)

And Pass Port is TWO four letter words, so what? :)

Must be a sllllooooowww day for some folks. ;)
Hey, it raised your beats per minute, didn't it? :)

Hey, it raised your beats per minute, didn't it? :)No, not at all. It's a slow day for me too :) , so I thought I'd fire some salvos and stir the pot a little. :) :D :)

Seriously, I'm not into mine is better than yours, especially since the only option this month is a still relatively expensive S3, but some folks just can't resist getting in their slams on the 8300, SARA, or whatever the topic of the day is.

BTW, were you a Sopranos fan?

Seriously, I'm not into mine is better than yours, especially since the only option this month is a still relatively expensive S3, but some folks just can't resist getting in their slams on the 8300, SARA, or whatever the topic of the day is.Every time someone says anything in SARA's favor (davehancock's "Yeh, we don't want to remid Passport users that SARA does have some advantages. ") I have a hard time resisting slamming it. Using it for a few weeks was one of the more traumatic experiences of my life. I'd truly love to bitch-slap whatever management at S-A came up with the idea of licensing this rough reference-platform for deployment in the homes of innocent customers. If TiVo S3 hadn't been available, I truly think that I'd have had to stop timeshifting television. I refuse to pay anything to lease a POS the use of which caused me as much mental anguish as the SA8300HD running SARA.

I applaud your adaptability, DoubleDAZ.

I refuse to pay anything to lease a POS the use of which caused me as much mental anguish as the SA8300HD running SARA.

I applaud your adaptability, DoubleDAZ.Thank you. You know we discussed SARA, etc., when you moved, so I know full well what you went through even though I'm not sure WHY you had THAT much difficulty. I suspect part of it was that you knew you could always opt for the S3, so there was no real reason to put too much effort into SARA, you were either going to get used to it fairly quickly or abandon it, which is what you ultimately did.

I have to tell you again though that I get really frustrated with Passport whenever I visit my daughter. It's not so much that I can't figure it out, it's that EVERYTHING is different and it's just not worth the effort for my 2 week visits. I actually like the simplicity of SARA over Passport, and even the Moxi software I use at my sister's in Wisconsin, though both have features I like (but don't need).

If I didn't have ready access to TitanTV, I suspect I'd be in the same boat as you and would have seriously considered the S3 were it not for the SDV and other defficiencies (and Tivo as a company). I once bought a computer that was orphaned too soon (Amiga) and am a little gun-shy now about new, unproven technology. I have no doubt I'd enjoy using an S3 until SDV or something messed it up, but I don't want to get so locked into a technology that I can't see straight, like so many Tivo fanatics. To me, it's only TV. I can live without Passport. I can live without Tivo. I can't live without my DVR, no matter how crude some think it may be. :)

In defense of SA, like others, I don't think they intended SARA to be the end-user software that it's become. I think they expected cableco's to opt for 3rd party stuff, like Passport, but many cableco's, being the cheapskates they are, opted to just use what was the cheapest and here we are. Hopefully, OCAP, DCAS, and more the analog turn off will convince them they need to give a lot more credence to good, useable software if they want to stay in the DVR game. My hope is that it all goes retail and you get what you pay for, but at least there are options that everyone can choose from, not just what the cableco shoves at us.

The suitability of cable DVR really shouldn't depend upon the user's ability and willingness to access the Internet to use and search an online guide; the devices are intended to be sufficient when used by themselves. Most folks don't have HTPCs, so they have to get up and go to another room to use a PC. Arguing that it's just fine because you can do that doesn't work for me :D.

The reason why I had such a big problem with SARA is because I've personally spent decades writing consumer electronics UI and I know it's not that hard to come up with something reasonably usuable. Rough graphics and poor UI offend me when I'm being asked to pay the same amount as for a decent product. Again, I don't blame the SEs who wrote SARA--I truly believe that they were told to create and maintain it as a programming tool and not as a polished end-user product. S-A's corporate management has to have explicitly decided to license it for field deployment by their customers; it's not legal to distribute the reference platforms for most other hardware.

No, not at all. It's a slow day for me too :) , so I thought I'd fire some salvos and stir the pot a little. :) :D :)

Seriously, I'm not into mine is better than yours, especially since the only option this month is a still relatively expensive S3, but some folks just can't resist getting in their slams on the 8300, SARA, or whatever the topic of the day is.

BTW, were you a Sopranos fan?
My jab at SARA, my first ever, was completely tongue-in-cheek as, I believe are davehancock's jabs. We sit down in about 25 mins to watch the Final Episode. It's been impossible to NOT hear/see spoilers. Don't remember how he did it, but even Paul Begala worked one in on the Situation Room.

I forgot about that menu option to switch it to DD instead of HDMI. That solves it then. Thanks!

You're welcome :)

My jab at SARA, my first ever, was completely tongue-in-cheek as, I believe are davehancock's jabs. We sit down in about 25 mins to watch the Final Episode. It's been impossible to NOT hear/see spoilers. Don't remember how he did it, but even Paul Begala worked one in on the Situation Room.I know you and Dave are just poking fun and Michael is sincere in his criticisms. He has used both and has rarely, if ever, criticized just for the sake of frustrating those of us who have little other choice, unlike some others. At any rate, hopefully there will be alternatives soon, even for Passport users. In view of the coming switch to Navigator for some, my latest point is that no one should get overly attached to their DVR software. They may find themselves in Michael's position and then have a big decision to make or, at least a new learning curve with which to cope.

As for the Sopranos, I know what you mean about spoilers. I"m a regular viewer of HOTP and Fred did a great job of waiting to post articles until the broadcast ended on the West coast. I trust you'll enjoy the finale, and even though it's off-topic, I hope you'll let me know what you thought, work it into another HD post if need be. We just finished John From Cincinnatti and all I can say is, "Holy Cow!" :)

The reason why I had such a big problem with SARA is because I've personally spent decades writing consumer electronics UI and I know it's not that hard to come up with something reasonably usuable. Rough graphics and poor UI offend me when I'm being asked to pay the same amount as for a decent product. I could be wrong, but I truly believe support for legacy equipment with limited RAM, etc., plays a role in SARA's lack of spiffy graphics, more colors, and up-to-date fonts, at least here with Cox. I've tried to find out what kind of legacy-type STBs Passport works on, but have never gotten an answer. Now, if Passport works on the ALL the same equipment that SARA does and is able to include the graphics, etc., then obviously I am misguided and need to rethink my stance, though I don't condone supporting such equipment in this day and age in any event. By doing so, they snub their noses at their more high-paying customers and those are the ones who should be getting something worthwhile for their money IMHO.

As far as TitanTV goes, I have always maintained my opinion would most likely differ if I were in a different environment, but that doesn't mean the reasoning for me is invalid. We all make decisions based on our environments and I believe it's important that all arguments, pro and con, be available to those making similar decisions. Unfortunatley, offering such arguments leads some to feel that we are apologists when all we are trying to do is make the most of what we have available. There are plenty of threads available for ranting and it's more considerate not to garbage these threads up with something other than constructive criticism, something I and the Mods appreciate. :)

Ok, I'm done, back to Passport.

I could be wrong, but I truly believe support for legacy equipment with limited RAM, etc., plays a role in SARA's lack of spiffy graphics, more colors, and up-to-date fonts, at least here with Cox. I've tried to find out what kind of legacy-type STBs Passport works on, but have never gotten an answer.All you had to do for an answer was go to Aptiv Digital's page on the non-DVR of Passport (http://www.aptivdigital.com/passport/passport.asp). There's a note on that page that says that it runs on every digital box back to the Pioneer Voyager 1000 and S-A Explorer 2000 series. I kinda doubt that there's anything more "legacy" that it needs to run on--no one uses analog boxes anymore. There are no large complex textures or graphics in the Passport UI--just some professionally composed line graphics and smooth purchased fonts. A matter of a few kilobytes of digital art assets.

It's clear to my eye that no professional graphics designers were involved with the visuals in SARA nor were any even half-way competent Human Factors engineers employed in the UI functional design. (It's not the way that it looks that sucks--I could learn to live with that). This would indicate to me that it was intended as a reference platform, being a working collection of demonstrations of how to use the OS and middleware to bring out the various advertised capabilities of the hardware in a UI. Maybe a sufficient number of customers asked them whether they could license it for field deployment that they couldn't resist the additional income. I don't know; we're unlikely to ever know how the product evolved or came to be used this way.

Perhaps there is/was no additional revenue. Perhaps SARA is the software SA built to give their STBs enough functionality to make sure that they worked. Some customers opted for the "stock" software while others modded theirs with "after market" software.

I've always felt that it was functionality that counted - not window dressing! (Yes, I'm one of the XP users that chooses the "classic" look, as the computer is faster without all the extra overhead of a glitzy interface - but each to his own).

But honestly, isn't the Passport vs SARA (vs TiVo) more about the interaction with the users guide vs more fully utilizing the hardware features than the UI glitz? :)

But honestly, isn't the Passport vs SARA (vs TiVo) more about the interaction with the users guide vs more fully utilizing the hardware features than the UI glitz? :)Well, to some degree, sure, but there are features in Passport and Tivo that some folks need/want/appreciate more than I do and they have every right to argue that those features make Passport better for them. My hangup has always been that it really does't matter as long as one doesn't have a choice in the first place, and the only choice we have at the moment is the S3 at a price.

If SARA came out tomorrow with nicer graphics, a better font, more colors, I'd be happy, though not overly impressed. If they added a decent search feature they might get my attention. And if they added a Wishlist, they'd definitely get my attention and I could probably discontinue using TitanTV so much.

HD support is in SARA 1.89, but unless that comes with 3 hours of data, the ability to see an entire channel's schedule for the day at the press of a button, and things like that, I don't see the point. A 1.5 hour x 5 channel grid provides no more functionality in HD than it does in expanded SD.

Would I opt to pay $5/mo more for a 14 hour IPG, an expanded grid, and Wishlist? Maybe, but I suspect the average sub wouldn't and that's just one reason why we don't have the option. Will I pay $10/mo more for the Tivo interface when it comes to SA units? Probably not. That's $120/yr and for that kind of money it should be a one-time fee. The increased functionality just isn't worth it to me. I am one of those who doesn't want everything in a single box. I don't even like pressing the Menu button now and relegating the broadcast to the tiny window in the top right. I'd be happier if the box were wireless and interfaced directly with TitanTV (or any other IPG) via my notebook.

But, we are getting way off-topic. :)

All you had to do for an answer was go to Aptiv Digital's page on the non-DVR of Passport (http://www.aptivdigital.com/passport/passport.asp). Thanks, I checked that site at one time, but I guess I missed finding that or I was looking for something else at the time and never checked back. What strikes me as funny though is the image on that page looks very much like SARA, just different colors and better fonts, though it's really hard to tell with such a small image. I suspect you are right though, SA simply didn't invest in graphics designers and used what their in-house programmers put together. I don't know when SARA was designed, but it seems like I've been using the same IPG long before 1999 when Passport first appeared.

Perhaps there is/was no additional revenue. Perhaps SARA is the software SA built to give their STBs enough functionality to make sure that they worked. Some customers opted for the "stock" software while others modded theirs with "after market" software.That's what I meant by "reference platform". A reference platform is a programming tool which is provided in source code form with the hardware, or to people buying the RTOS and middleware with which to create third party software for the hardware (like Pioneer Broadband/Aptiv Digital)--it should have working examples of how to use the RTOS and middleware packages to make the hardware do everything the spec sheet advertises that it can do. It doesn't have to be pretty because programmers don't care.

A reference software platform is generally not licensed for distribution to end-users (software licenses state precisely what usage is allowed; if you wanna do something else with it in a big public way you better go negotiate another license or you will end up in court). It's possible that SARA was licensed from the beginning for end-user distribution, but it would have been unusual. My suspicion is that some of the cable operators in the beginning looked at it and said "What's wrong with using this?" and approached S-A to make a deal to distribute it. I could be wrong :). In any case, whether it had ever been distributed at all, SARA or something like it would have had to exist to support S-A's cable STB hardware and software development.

Doesn't it seem to you that they have simply implemented the rather bare bones minimal functionality reference platform rather than using it as a blueprint to develop a really good IPG?

Then again, aren't they actually doing that w/Navigator? And judging by the reports I read, it seems they are not doing a particularly good job there either!

They need guys like Mike and the Dave's and I along with Pepar! We sure would do some arguing among ourselves, but I'd bet we'd come up with a damn good product!

That's what I meant by "reference platform".
Ahh, my mistake. I, as an A/V-ophile, take "reference" to mean something very high end, i.e. gear by Classé or Meridian.

Ahh, my mistake. I, as an A/V-ophile, take "reference" to mean something very high end, i.e. gear by Classé or Meridian."Reference" is a term that A/V-ophiles take from engineering. Whereas engineers mean "example of proper use of" a piece of hardware or software tech, A/V-ophiles mean "example of state-of-the-art application of" some A/V or A/V-related technology. In the A/V-ophile usage, it tends to be testing related: "how did the new product perform when compared to our reference platform (i.e., the best that we've ever seen)"?

"Reference" is a term that A/V-ophiles take from engineering. Whereas engineers mean "example of proper use of" a piece of hardware or software tech, A/V-ophiles mean "example of state-of-the-art application of" some A/V or A/V-related technology. In the A/V-ophile usage, it tends to be testing related: "how did the new product perform when compared to our reference platform (i.e., the best that we've ever seen)"?
Context is everything.

Here's some typical STB/PVR "Reference Designs" which provide "proof of performance"
to prospective buyers and developers, as well as a known "working" starting point for
further development, such as adding unique, tailored IPGs:
http://www.broadcom.com/collateral/pb/97110-PB03-R.pdf
http://www.broadcom.com/collateral/pb/93740-PB02-R.pdf
http://www.broadcom.com/collateral/pb/93510-PB03-R.pdf

Most of the problems I've seen with LOUD COMMERCIALS have been when local stations
insert local adverts.
I also see many local news quickie breaks that are much too LOW in volume....
They simply aren't paying attention to levels when they insert commercial/news breaks.

And now, the cable companies have the ability to insert their own adverts!!!!!
Many times I've noticed different adverts playing on the analog and digital versions of the same local station.

And I'm really tired of TWC-SD pushing their THREE-PLAY package DURING
a non-local program, rather than waiting for the commercial break!!!!!

PS: Dolby DIALNORM isn't working---each station picks a fixed number
and it never, ever varies...as it should, according to the program source encoding.

TWC-SD is absolutely terrible about the volume variances. As you say, it's always in the later commercials in the break (3rd or 4th, iirc) where they insert the local commercials. They're always cranked up to "eleven." :( :mad:

TWC-SD is absolutely terrible about the volume variances. As you say, it's always in the later commercials in the break (3rd or 4th, iirc) where they insert the local commercials. They're always cranked up to "eleven." :( :mad:I don't know how you can complain about LOCAL commercials, when you can't be bothered to ADD YOUR LOCATION TO YOUR PROFILE (please).

We had that problem in Rochester, NY with TW - but after some complaints they pretty much "squared it away". I helped to get the problem resolved here by recording examples, then processing the audio tracks in an audio editing program and sent them graphic files showing the volume variations. Turned out they were moving everything over to a different digital system, and had failed to use their Dolby Loudness meter. They went back and cleaned their files up.

I think this link (http://www.scientificatlanta.com/developers/devoverview.htm) gives credence to Michael's assertion that SARA began as and remains part of the development kit to show operational capabilities, etc., and act as a bare-bones application. I don't know when SARA first appeared. I believe both Tivo and Passport appeared in 1999. However, it also seems to me that SARA is an extension of the same interface I've been using since getting Cox cable here back in 1994. I must admit I never really paid much attention to what was running back then to display the IPG. I could be wrong, but it seems this is how the IPG looked way back then when I was using VCR Commander to record programs.

I don't know how you can complain about LOCAL commercials, when you can't be bothered to ADD YOUR LOCATION TO YOUR PROFILE (please).

We had that problem in Rochester, NY with TW - but after some complaints they pretty much "squared it away". I helped to get the problem resolved here by recording examples, then processing the audio tracks in an audio editing program and sent them graphic files showing the volume variations. Turned out they were moving everything over to a different digital system, and had failed to use their Dolby Loudness meter. They went back and cleaned their files up.I don't know specifics, but it's been cleaned up a lot here too. I think one of the stations mentioned getting new equipment that provided more control over audio and things like that.

Does anyone know of a way to get to the list of recorded programs (e.g., the results of the "List" button) via normal channel selection in the Passport SA8300HD.

We have a Sony Location Free (like a Slingbox) and one of the copies of the location free software we own doesn't have the right remote control codes and is not updatable.

Someone had posted that channel 1000 on their SA8300HD got them to their list of recorded programs, but that doesn't work w/SA8300HD TWC-San Diego.

Tried pressing List and then channel up/down, but the channel change just drops you back into the last channel you looked at.

Any ideas appreciated!

Thanks...

I don't know how you can complain about LOCAL commercials, when you can't be bothered to ADD YOUR LOCATION TO YOUR PROFILE (please).
[snip].


TWC-SD. I took that to mean San Diego.