I live in Chester County, PA and I also have problems with audio and video dropouts on certain HD channels. However, yesterday, Sunday, there were no problems; watched the Daytona 500 on FoxHD, Cold Case and Desparate Housewives - all with no problems. This is unusual as Desparate Housewives usually always has problems, as does "24" and anything on NBC HD. I never have had a problem on HBO HD, ESPN HD, the Comcast HD station or either of the two INHD channels. Several of my neighbors have the same problem, but one resident in our development who lives very close to where the initial cable feed comes into the development has never has a problem.

To those outside of Delaware;

Are you're audio & video dropouts occuring ~ every 20 seconds throughout primetime? This is what we are experiencing.

Originally posted by Carl Jones
To those outside of Delaware;

Are you're audio & video dropouts occuring ~ every 20 seconds throughout primetime? This is what we are experiencing.

Not consistently. That is pretty much the way it was during JAG, but not as much during Numb3rs. And in case you read my post before I edited it, I am still on a 6208, so there is only one tuner involved....

-Randy

Originally posted by Carl Jones
To those outside of Delaware;

Are you're audio & video dropouts occurring ~ every 20 seconds throughout primetime? This is what we are experiencing.

No, I am in St. Paul and having sporadic problems on multiple HD channels. I get this intermittently on INHD2, HBO-HD, as well as FOX and CBS. It was fairly annoying during the Grammy broadcast last week. Only noticed one or two dropouts during the Daytona 500 yesterday. I'm pretty sure it is a problem coming from outside my home since I get this on both of my 6412 boxes. On the diagnostic screen I will also see occasional burst of thousands of errors. This happens even though the AGC and SNR are "good" (36db, 50%). I called comcast several weeks ago when INHD2 was down all day, and the CSR said they were having generalized HD problems. Guess it is time to call again. Recording HD is nice in theory, but not good in practice if the recordings are unwatchable.

no 9.15 in Alabama yet, but I am enjoying my 6412. I am a former DTIVO user and I am as pleased with the 6412 as the TIVO unit. I want to thank everyone who has posted to this site, I have learned a lot of valuable information.

Thanks again

Here is a little test that I did. It will show that while there are certain channels involved it really has to do with which tuner you are using. For me it seems to be the second tuner. I didn't even have to record anything.

I tuned to the Daytona 500 and everything was great hit the swap button and tuned to the Daytona 500 race again. It started stuttering and droping the audio so I swapped back and everything on the 1st tuner was still good. I skipped back a few times and watched the same audio/video that stuttered on tuner 2 this time on tuner 1 without a problem.

So at least for me if someone says that Lost was fine but JAG stuttered that means that Lost was recorded on tuner 1 and JAG on tuner 2.

Originally posted by quartrj
Here is a little test that I did. It will show that while there are certain channels involved it really has to do with which tuner you are using. For me it seems to be the second tuner. I didn't even have to record anything.

I tuned to the Daytona 500 and everything was great hit the swap button and tuned to the Daytona 500 race again. It started stuttering and droping the audio so I swapped back and everything on the 1st tuner was still good. I skipped back a few times and watched the same audio/video that stuttered on tuner 2 this time on tuner 1 without a problem.

So at least for me if someone says that Lost was fine but JAG stuttered that means that Lost was recorded on tuner 1 and JAG on tuner 2.


That is exactly right - as I explained in my previous post. And that one tuner phenomena seems to be confined, at least from the reports here, to Delaware. I have TRIED to convey that to Comcast. I hope others reinforce that.

I just got off the phone with COMCAST as expected they told me that no one else has reported this problem. When I told them that I know others have had this problem the CSR told me that she has not had it reported to her how lame is that. Any way they told me that they had to send out a technician to view the problem. I told them I didn't know how that will help but she insisted that they needed to send someone out. So I agreed to a Sunday 11:00am - 2:00pm visit.

Here is the kicker when she asked me if there was anything else she could help me with I told her that the DVR functionality right now is unacceptable so I felt it was not fair that I had to pay for it. She agreed and said that my account will be credited a prorated amount. I said ok but insisted that I was not going to pay for the DVR service until it was fixed. She told me that she is noting that on my account.

Will have to see if this works but it may wake them up if all of us call them and refuse to pay until it is fixed.

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by quartrj
Here is a little test that I did. It will show that while there are certain channels involved it really has to do with which tuner you are using. For me it seems to be the second tuner. I didn't even have to record anything.

I tuned to the Daytona 500 and everything was great hit the swap button and tuned to the Daytona 500 race again. It started stuttering and droping the audio so I swapped back and everything on the 1st tuner was still good. I skipped back a few times and watched the same audio/video that stuttered on tuner 2 this time on tuner 1 without a problem.

So at least for me if someone says that Lost was fine but JAG stuttered that means that Lost was recorded on tuner 1 and JAG on tuner 2.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by cgoldst
That is exactly right - as I explained in my previous post. And that one tuner phenomena seems to be confined, at least from the reports here, to Delaware. I have TRIED to convey that to Comcast. I hope others reinforce that.

cgoldst you are correct and I did understand your original post, but as I read other reports there seems to be comments regarding specific shows and that those shows always seem to skip (like 24) and others that don't. Then another post that said that show never skips but for them JAG skips.

I was hoping to try give those people this simple step by step test to see if they have a different problem or if it is the same as ours.

We must stand together and refuse to pay until it's fixed.

Originally posted by drdr
No, I am in St. Paul and having sporadic problems on multiple HD channels. I get this intermittently on INHD2, HBO-HD, as well as FOX and CBS. It was fairly annoying during the Grammy broadcast last week. Only noticed one or two dropouts during the Daytona 500 yesterday. I'm pretty sure it is a problem coming from outside my home since I get this on both of my 6412 boxes. On the diagnostic screen I will also see occasional burst of thousands of errors. This happens even though the AGC and SNR are "good" (36db, 50%). I called comcast several weeks ago when INHD2 was down all day, and the CSR said they were having generalized HD problems. Guess it is time to call again. Recording HD is nice in theory, but not good in practice if the recordings are unwatchable. I live just south of St. Paul, same comcast cable system as you. I have not experienced any of the problems you describe nor have I seen anything posted in the local AVSforums thread regarding these dropouts. I have leased two 6412s since Nov. 15th and had a 6208 before that. Get your box swapped out and have comcast check your signal/wiring.

Originally posted by Carl Jones
To those outside of Delaware;
Are you're audio & video dropouts occuring ~ every 20 seconds throughout primetime? This is what we are experiencing.
I live outside of Delaware, just south of Philadelphia if that qualifies, and I have audi and video dropouts every 10 seconds or so on FOX HD on the 2nd tuner only. It's been like this since I got my 6412 a month ago and has never changed. The only workaround for me to get a good recording is to set the first tuner to FOX HD ahead of time.

Originally posted by trojan125
This thread was around 50 pages when I found it...now over 160!
It has some good information if you can find it but it's almost at the point of being unuseable... Do anybody know of any other sites that might be present this same type of 6412 info in an easier to use format....

(please don't suggest the SEARCH option...i'm hoping for something more somewhere out there)

Thanks.

I think what really needs to happen is for this thread to be morphed into its own subforum here at AVS forums, similar to the "ReplayTV & Showstopper PVRs" subforum that exists in the Digital Video and Audio Devices and Gaming section.

If we dropped this thread (or made it read only) and started a new subforum, we could put the common Q&As in a separate thread, or just let them be asked again in new threads, and then answered once instead of multiple times.

I don't think this would be too much work for the moderators (just making a new subforum and stopping write access on the old one), and it shouldn't bog down the server any more (same amount of traffic, or even less, just organized better).

It's always seemed weird that so many different topics are being discussed in this single thread.

Originally posted by quartrj
Here is a little test that I did. It will show that while there are certain channels involved it really has to do with which tuner you are using. For me it seems to be the second tuner. I didn't even have to record anything.

I tuned to the Daytona 500 and everything was great hit the swap button and tuned to the Daytona 500 race again. It started stuttering and droping the audio so I swapped back and everything on the 1st tuner was still good. I skipped back a few times and watched the same audio/video that stuttered on tuner 2 this time on tuner 1 without a problem.

So at least for me if someone says that Lost was fine but JAG stuttered that means that Lost was recorded on tuner 1 and JAG on tuner 2.

To be honest...I don't know if it's tuner specific. I will test this tonight to see.

I have a different audio problem from the rest of you - about 4 times since I've had the box (a month now), both before and after the firmware upgrade, I've just lost audio altogether. Unplugging for 15 seconds restores the audio, but then I lose all the guide information. Anybody have an idea (audio is going through my Sony receiver, and is working on other inputs even when it goes off on the Motorola input, so I know it's not the receiver malfunctioning).

Originally posted by dmlove51
I have a different audio problem from the rest of you - about 4 times since I've had the box (a month now), both before and after the firmware upgrade, I've just lost audio altogether. Unplugging for 15 seconds restores the audio, but then I lose all the guide information. Anybody have an idea (audio is going through my Sony receiver, and is working on other inputs even when it goes off on the Motorola input, so I know it's not the receiver malfunctioning).

I don't know if this is the same as my similar issue. The problem for me is the Kenwood receiver stops recognizing the digital audio input. I fix this by turning the dial on the receiver to a different input source and then back to the digital input and the sound is back. This isn't a problem caused by the Comcast box because it also happens with the DVD player when I change discs. You might try to see if my fix works for you so you don't need to unplug the Comcast box.

Regarding the audio drop outs I've experienced them a couple times in Eugene, Oregon with 24, but it was while I was watching live, not recording, the programs. I thought it was a problem with the source so I switched to the analog channel. I'll check to see if it is tuner specific next time.

Originally posted by dmlove51
I have a different audio problem from the rest of you - about 4 times since I've had the box (a month now), both before and after the firmware upgrade, I've just lost audio altogether. Unplugging for 15 seconds restores the audio, but then I lose all the guide information. Anybody have an idea (audio is going through my Sony receiver, and is working on other inputs even when it goes off on the Motorola input, so I know it's not the receiver malfunctioning).

I have had this same problem twice, about three weeks ago. As in your case, my receiver was fine and all other sound input and output was normal. As I recall, I nothing brought the sound back until I unplugged my 6412 and everything came back fine. Both times, unplugging the motorola box did the trick. Once again, this happened about three weeks, maybe a month ago and hasn't happened since. I have fw 9.12 now and not sure what I had at that time, although I assume it was the same. Coincidentally tho, I have a Sony receiver also, an STRDE995.

Mike

Originally posted by hdfan29
I live outside of Delaware, just south of Philadelphia if that qualifies, and I have audi and video dropouts every 10 seconds or so on FOX HD on the 2nd tuner only. It's been like this since I got my 6412 a month ago and has never changed. The only workaround for me to get a good recording is to set the first tuner to FOX HD ahead of time.

I once had the problem of having break-up on one tuner only on several channels, and it turned out to be a signal strength issue. It was fixed by replacing a passive splitter (3dB loss) with an active (lossless) splitter.

While both tuners see the same signal level, one tuner is more noisy, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the "noisy" tuner is lower, causing the problem. (If the signal level is so low as to cause problems with both tuners and many channels, it is almost always caught at installation.)

Now, having said this, I would not expect tuner break-up when the diagnostics show "good" or even "fair" signal levels when tuned to the suspect channel.

A good test to see if signal level is your problem is to eliminate a splitter. If the problem goes away, call Comcast and get them to replace the splitter with an active model.

Originally posted by tall1
I live just south of St. Paul, same comcast cable system as you. I have not experienced any of the problems you describe nor have I seen anything posted in the local AVSforums thread regarding these dropouts. I have leased two 6412s since Nov. 15th and had a 6208 before that. Get your box swapped out and have comcast check your signal/wiring.

I'm actually at the north end of Shoreview. I'm not sure swapping the box will help since I'm having this issue on both 6412s. I suspect it is either an intermittent wiring problem outside my home or something specific to an area of the northeast suburbs. I think I'm on the Roseville system.

Wouldn't a signal problem show up on the diagnostic screen? If the signal and AGC are good, I would think something else is wrong. I suppose it is possible that they brought me two defective 6412s with identical problems.

Originally posted by JKJ95
I am also having this problem. Just read through this thread for the first time. I have 16 series recordings set up and when ever I want to change the priority list it freezes when I confirm the change. The only way to fix is to unplug. You then have to wait several hours for the guide to reload. Has anyone talked to comcast about this? I have been waiting to call because I am tired of talking to their tech support.

Jeff

I also have this lockup problem. Although it only TRULY locked up on me when I attempted to delete a series recording. It would lock for about 30-60 seconds minutes when adding a series, with the remote light on the front lit solid, but then it would respond again after about 30-60 seconds.

I don't know if it matters, but all the series that I know it has locked up on were on analog channels, and had lots of shows in the series (think real world or osbournes on Mtv).
I am in the Portland OR area, although I don't see how that matters, it has to be an iguide/firmware issue. What shows did it lock up on for the rest of you with this problem? Were there many shows in the series?

Furious

I've read this thread and can't seem to find the solution to this phantom 1989 recording. I've unplugged the box, rebooted, deleted all my saved recordings, and it still shows up. Any ideas?

For those of you with consistent problems, in this thread or another one, there is a phone number for Comcast corporate. I don't suggest abusing it, but when I called to report the problem I (and everyone in Nashville) has with rewinding certain channels, I at least got a good response (not the "no one is reporting this" b.s.) I get a phone call about every week or two with an update or just "have things improved?" and I have the phone number of at least two people I can call directly if I want to. One is only customer service I think and the other is two layers above the techs they send out and well versed in the technical issues.

But the local, first-line people are worse than worthless.

I just did a search on "Phamtom 1989" and found a number of posts addressing this issue. Give it a try... :>)

I'm guessing the RF signal is split like this on the 6412:
|
+--+
| |
| +--+
| | |
1 2 3


1=Tuner 1
2=Tuner 2
3=2-way Communications/modem

This could explain why tuner 2 has more problems than tuner 1. A stronger input signal might help, as long as you don't boost noise too much.

Originally posted by andyross63
I'm guessing the RF signal is split like this on the 6412

This seems reasonable, since the diagnostic screen shows that the snr is about 3db higher on tuner 1 than on tuner 2.

Well I completely removed my splitter and unless an inline splice has the same effect it did not resolve my second tuner problem.

Originally posted by drdr
This seems reasonable, since the diagnostic screen shows that the snr is about 3db higher on tuner 1 than on tuner 2.

How do you get to the diagnostic screen.

Originally posted by Bruce Blakeslee
I just did a search on "Phamtom 1989" and found a number of posts addressing this issue. Give it a try... :>)

I've been reading this forum for awhile now, and I too have seen the problem addressedseveral times, and the only solutions that I remember were to unplug and/or delete all saved programs - which BamaUnc1 had said they had tried.

BamaUnc1 - I'd try both steps again - maybe leave it unplugged overnight. And if its still there in the AM, call Comcast and have the box swapped out.

As a group, we may be smarter than the CSRs, but they still have the power :)

Slipping into Deep Ponderance.... Can you imagine if Comcast tech support monitored and took an active roll in resolutions instead of one or 2 employees chiming in here and there on the sly? We could actually get our money's worth!

Originally posted by quartrj
How do you get to the diagnostic screen.

Press the power button to turn off the unit and then quickly press the OK/Select button. The menu will come up.

Originally posted by crossbeaux
I think what really needs to happen is for this thread to be morphed into its own subforum here at AVS forums, similar to the "ReplayTV & Showstopper PVRs" subforum that exists in the Digital Video and Audio Devices and Gaming section.

If we dropped this thread (or made it read only) and started a new subforum, we could put the common Q&As in a separate thread, or just let them be asked again in new threads, and then answered once instead of multiple times.

I don't think this would be too much work for the moderators (just making a new subforum and stopping write access on the old one), and it shouldn't bog down the server any more (same amount of traffic, or even less, just organized better).

It's always seemed weird that so many different topics are being discussed in this single thread.

This has been done, but it's not part of AVSForum and the website name is banned here. PM me if you want the web address.

I tried the two resetting methods listed a few pages back and found that AndyRoss63's worked. I had that 1989 recording since I've had the box, and despite numerous times unplugging the box or trying to delete it, it wouldn't go away and was taking up 6% of my available storage. In case you missed it here's what worked for me...

Turn Box Off
Hit OK/Select within 2 seconds to enter the diagnostics menu
Hit in sequence: Replay, My DVR, My DVR, My DVR, Live.
"Clr" will appear on the box. I then hit Ok/Select again and the box reset itself.
When I powered it back up a few seconds later the phantom recording was gone, along with all programing data and all stored programs. It's a complete wipe so any season pass type stuff will also be gone. Since I didn't have any of that set up I didn't see it as a big loss. I'll follow up if I have any issues as a result of the reset.

Originally posted by rodneyremington
This has been done, but it's not part of AVSForum and the website name is banned here. PM me if you want the web address.

And I'm suggesting that the folks here at AVS forum create the subforum, because that's where the huge pool of visitors are. I think the original poster about this topic wanted them to create an entirely new forum and there were some cost issues. I'm suggesting they simply create a subforum, which shouldn't involve any cost, aside from the labor to set it up (which I assume is minimal). By doing this, the multitudes who already visit here can continue here. There's already a great amount of informed and interested folks here. The other forum doesn't have it, at least not yet.

Originally posted by quartrj
Well I completely removed my splitter and unless an inline splice has the same effect it did not resolve my second tuner problem.
Same here. I also checked the signal through the diagnostics menu and both tuners show the SNR as "Good" (around 34-36db), though tuner 2 always seems to be 1-2 db lower than tuner 1. AGC on tuner 2 is always 10% lower than tuner 1 too. I actually get better numbers on FOX HD than on Discovery HD, but I don't have any dropouts on Discovery HD like I do on FOX HD on tuner 2. I just wish someone somewhere could at least say for certain what the actual problem is. It is very aggravating to have to "babysit" your DVR just to get it to work right.

I'd also like to see a dedicated sub-forum such as that for ReplayTV & Showstopper. It's very obvious from the size of this and other AVS threads devoted to the 6412 and it's various software incantations and markets that there is a lot of interest out there. It won't be long before the number of people owning a 6412 will far outweigh those owning a ReplayTV and/or Showstopper and even eventually Tivo, so the demand will be growing even stronger going forwards. Searching through a single long thread such as this one is very tedious and inefficient.

you should pm rodney to get that other forum.
this thread is just ridiculusly clogged up by people asking the same questions and reporting the same problems over and over again.

every 50 posts seems to recycle through every issue the 6412 has.
if avs is worried about bandwidth or whatever then they would be trying to help solve all the dupe posts.
or maybe it isnt really an issue for avs so it doesnt matter thet every 50 posts someone asks the same questions all over agian.

Originally posted by hdfan29
I live outside of Delaware, just south of Philadelphia if that qualifies, and I have audi and video dropouts every 10 seconds or so on FOX HD on the 2nd tuner only. It's been like this since I got my 6412 a month ago and has never changed. The only workaround for me to get a good recording is to set the first tuner to FOX HD ahead of time.

I have posted about this same issue. I live in Delaware County PA. So, seeing these other posts, I do not believe it is a hardware isue.

Originally posted by crossbeaux
The other forum doesn't have it, at least not yet. Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

Really? I beg to differ. Seems that everyone with a question is here. Seems everyone with an answer went to the other forum.

Originally posted by jmayers5
I also have this lockup problem. Although it only TRULY locked up on me when I attempted to delete a series recording. It would lock for about 30-60 seconds minutes when adding a series, with the remote light on the front lit solid, but then it would respond again after about 30-60 seconds. Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

Are we up to 6 of us now? I have informed as many people as one can at Comcast regarding this specific issue. I know they read this thread and have been assured they are aware of it.

Looks like we have to wait for the next version of the i-Guide to fix it. I'm told by Q2 they will release it. We'll see.

Originally posted by crossbeaux
And I'm suggesting that the folks here at AVS forum create the subforum, because that's where the huge pool of visitors are. I think the original poster about this topic wanted them to create an entirely new forum and there were some cost issues. I'm suggesting they simply create a subforum, which shouldn't involve any cost, aside from the labor to set it up (which I assume is minimal). By doing this, the multitudes who already visit here can continue here. There's already a great amount of informed and interested folks here.

I agree, I asked them to do the same thing, but those in charge here had other plans, or no plans, I'm not sure which. That's why the other forum was set up. There were many posts on this topic but they all got deleted. There is some discussion of this in the forum feedback section here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=509830

stevemsu -

the 1989 recordings seem to have finally disappeared from my upstairs 6412, but the one downstairs has had one for over a month. i have a lot on it i don't want deleted but i will try dumping them to dvhs in the morning and do the "clean sweep" method.

when i first started having this problem, Comcast tech support's answer was that "these boxes weren't around in 1989". genius!!!!

Regarding the long thread here, a not perfect but workable solution would be to just create more threads, one each for audio, analog recording, digital recording, remote issues and so forth. If there was enough posting done in those threads I'm sure you could petition the Owner/moderators of AVS to make them "sticky" threads so they might stay close to the top of the page . Just a thought...

Those of you in San Francisco or other areas where you were able to get Comcast to fix identically named channels in the guide, can you PM me with any info that would help me get Comcast Nashville to fix a similar problem here? The newly added HD FOX channel here is named identically in the guide to the old analog version, and tonight my HD recording of "24" jumped to the old channel.

Originally posted by keenan
Regarding the long thread here, a not perfect but workable solution would be to just create more threads, one each for audio, analog recording, digital recording, remote issues and so forth. If there was enough posting done in those threads I'm sure you could petition the Owner/moderators of AVS to make them "sticky" threads so they might stay close to the top of the page . Just a thought... This is the most workable solution, although we can't stickie them all. People are already complaining about too many stickies! :)

What I will do is put a stickie thread together that has links to all the major 6412 threads. So feel free to start new threads on major sub-topics pertaining to the 6412 w/ iGuide (which won't necessarily be limited to Comcast since some other cable companies are/will be using the iGuide with their Motorola DVR's).

good call on that.

Originally posted by DSperber
I've observed something about the combined behavior of my 6412 and JVC 40K that seems to explain why the 6412 at times seems to simply ignore button pushes from the remote for a while (seemingly "buffering" them, only to suddenly perform them all in a quick series).

...

I know this may not explain all of the non-responsive symptoms others have observed (especially if they have no 40K connected), but it definitely explains at least some of the remote lockout situations I have encountered which stem from properly setting up for a D-VHS archiving from 6412 to 40K.

I have a somewhat different issue with my 6412 and my JVC 5U, which I've had for a little more than a week now. The firewire handshake is quite robust, and I can always get a connection whenever I start up my 5U (other than for VOD channels, which never go through as designed). Whenever the 5U is on, my 6412 remote also acts sluggish, with the stored buttons suddenly firing a few at once, etc. Initially I did get the 5U non-receiving channel message for a few channels after using and playing around a lot with the 5U testing it out, but turning the 5U off, then the 6412 off and on, and then the 5U on cured it; it hasn't happened since the 2nd day I had the 5U. Because the firewire handshake is so good, I just leave the 5U off until I need it, usually putting the 6412 onto the DVR screen with the program I want to transfer, then turning on and setting up the 5U with rec-pause, then going back to the 6412 to start it up carefully with it responding slowly to the remote and un-pausing the 5U, then monitoring the recording on the 5U. Once I'm done, I turn off the 5U, and the 6412 remote works fine again.

yeah, both my 5U and my 30K render my 6412's pretty useless whenever they are connected to each other and the dvhs decks are on. i have to prep whatever programs I plan on recording to DVHS before i turn on the DVHS deck, then press play or pause to start the program once the dvhs tape is ready to go. maneuvering within the guides is SLOWWWW with the firewire connection active and the dvhs power on.

Anyone else in Philadelphia have a really really long download going on now??

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher

What I will do is put a stickie thread together that has links to all the major 6412 threads. So feel free to start new threads on major sub-topics pertaining to the 6412 w/ iGuide (which won't necessarily be limited to Comcast since some other cable companies are/will be using the iGuide with their Motorola DVR's).

Even better idea..:)

Called Comcast about my "1989" situation. They tried a couple of things locally, none which worked. Then ended the call saying that they will delete it from their office, but it will take a couple of minutes. As of this morning, 12/31/1989 is still there.

Can Comcast see what is on our DVR's and can they manipulate it remotely?

I'll probably just do the hard drive sweep, but it will be a pain to set up all my series recordings again. Oh, well.

They can't see it. You just got an ignorant csr. They think a "hit" from the billing system cures all. I had the 1989 problem and wiped the HD out. In fact, the correct sequence to accomplsh this was just a few pages ago in this thread.

I had the 1989 bug too....it went away......they did somethign from the office to delete it. I would try to delete it and when I would, it would delete the show above it........

Now for a new issue.......my wife was not happy about dropping DirectTV for Comcast because of her tivo loss.........but for HD, I wouldn't spend that much to upgrade D-TV. She has a 6412 in the bedroom that she records all of her Novella's on (spanish soaps). When ever she records them it says 60minute show but it is only 2 minutes that is super slow, and if it does record all 60min and she does a fast forward it asks her to delete the show. Any one see this yet? I have none of these issues on 3 other 6412's but the one that she uses is the only one that records any spanish channels.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Paul

RE: Delaware Problems.

Called Comcast today & they say they are aware of the audio dropout/pixelation problem we are complaining about. I was given a 1 month credit & they claim a fix is in the works and they should resolve the issue by the end of this week.

Chris

Originally posted by rxlowry
RE: Delaware Problems.

Called Comcast today & they say they are aware of the audio dropout/pixelation problem we are complaining about. I was given a 1 month credit & they claim a fix is in the works and they should resolve the issue by the end of this week.

Chris

Chris this is good news were you able to get the name of the person who helped you, if so will you share it with us so we can get the same info. The last time I called comcast they schedulled someone to come out to my house this comming Sunday. If they will have a fix by then I don't want to have them send a technician.

Originally posted by rxlowry
RE: Delaware Problems.

Called Comcast today & they say they are aware of the audio dropout/pixelation problem we are complaining about. I was given a 1 month credit & they claim a fix is in the works and they should resolve the issue by the end of this week.

Chris

This is good news. I have already swapped out the DVR but still having same issues. I'll be calling to get that credit too, but hopefully they get it fixed.

Originally posted by rxlowry
RE: Delaware Problems.

Called Comcast today & they say they are aware of the audio dropout/pixelation problem we are complaining about. I was given a 1 month credit & they claim a fix is in the works and they should resolve the issue by the end of this week.

Chris

I had a technician by today at around 2:00pm. Explained the problem. Told him it wasn't the box. He switched it anyway to confirm. New box, same problem. He said he had heard of a similar problem from another technician today. He called his supervisor to see if he knew anything. He knew nothing. I suggested that they check out a box back at their office. I mentioned that the problem started about a week ago. He said that was when they did some things around the digital simulcast. He said he would talk to others at the office.

I poked around a little bit. The four channels I have problems with: NBCHD, ABCHD, CBSHD and PBSHD all reside on two frequencies (759 and 765 MHz). Seems like there must be something to this.

Anyway, I hope your right and they have found the problem. Seems like something at their end to me.

Originally posted by Zoomin88
This is good news. I have already swapped out the DVR but still having same issues. I'll be calling to get that credit too, but hopefully they get it fixed.

Just to add... I called Comcast and they did confirm the problem was on their end and not the DVR. Just as rxlowry indicated, they also said they should have it resolved by end of week. I too was given a credit.

Originally posted by paulyahnig

Now for a new issue.......my wife was not happy about dropping DirectTV for Comcast because of her tivo loss.........but for HD, I wouldn't spend that much to upgrade D-TV. She has a 6412 in the bedroom that she records all of her Novella's on (spanish soaps). When ever she records them it says 60minute show but it is only 2 minutes that is super slow, and if it does record all 60min and she does a fast forward it asks her to delete the show. Any one see this yet? I have none of these issues on 3 other 6412's but the one that she uses is the only one that records any spanish channels.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Paul

Yes, I've seen something similar on BBC America. Apparently it has to do with full marker frames not being in the data stream. Does it do it on your other 6412s? I'm guessing its the channel and not the hardware.

I try to keep my wifes show off the 60" as she can't watch it, gives her headaches....but will try........

Originally posted by quartrj
How do you get to the diagnostic screen.

Do it the fast way. With the unit off, press the menu key twice (on/off) then press select.

It will turn on the (user settings) screen, then turn it off, then the (diagnostics) screen.

The 9.15 firmware upgrade came through here today, but I had to unplug my box to get it to update, otherwise it wouldn't turn on. As soon as I did a unplug it started to "DL".

Originally posted by DaveFi
The 9.15 firmware upgrade came through here today, but I had to unplug my box to get it to update, otherwise it wouldn't turn on. As soon as I did a unplug it started to "DL".

I got it as well, but did not have to unplug...

I can add Comcast has indeed stated that there has been an issue in our area & that it should be corrected by 4:00 PM this afternoon. For those in Delaware who PM'd me with their personal info please let me know tomorrow if you are still having problems.

Hi everyone, I just had my Comcast 6412 installed yesterday. I was a former Cox customer and had the 6412 from them as well.

A couple of quick questions I have that I couldn't find going through this thread.

1. Is it normal that right now in the guide it only has data for the next 3 hours or so. Why would this be happening? Can I refresh the guide somehow?

2. Has anyone found a solution for the audio sync problems? I have noticed picture and voice to be out of sync a bit.

3. Is there a way to see future recordings coming up? Or all of the series you have set to record?

Thanks for your help!!

Originally posted by Carl Jones
I can add Comcast has indeed stated that there has been an issue in our area & that it should be corrected by 4:00 PM this afternoon. For those in Delaware who PM'd me with their personal info please let me know tomorrow if you are still having problems.

I called Comcast at 1:10pm EST and spoke to a CSR named Samuel and he confirmed the 4:00pm deadline to me as well.

So I cancelled my Sunday appointment but the interesting thing is he said that ALL of the effected customers will be given credit when the issue is resolved.

Originally posted by kevin86
Hi everyone, I just had my Comcast 6412 installed yesterday. I was a former Cox customer and had the 6412 from them as well.

A couple of quick questions I have that I couldn't find going through this thread.

1. Is it normal that right now in the guide it only has data for the next 3 hours or so. Why would this be happening? Can I refresh the guide somehow?


Not sure how long you have waited but it takes several hours to download the guide data. This will happen every time you unplug the box or when comcast updates it's programming.

I have a Samsung HLN 507W that I have calibrated through Service Menu adjustments and have been satisfied with the results. As of last night I have the 9.15 firmware upgrade and I must say that the PQ has improved a bit. I wonder if anyone else has noticed a change. It seems that, especially on analogue channels, the color is a bit more vibrant and more detail is evident.

I haven't had a chance to really play with it much so as far as freezing and such it is too early to report any improvement yet.

JTMav

Originally posted by kevin86

3. Is there a way to see future recordings coming up? Or all of the series you have set to record?


Press Menu and select the DVR icon. Now choose DVR Schedule. You'll figure it out from here.

Just got 9.15 firmware update in the Hartford, CT area. Hit the box at 3:00a.m. while I was watching a classic movie--don't ask I just couldn't sleep. LOL Took about 11 minutes and I was still able to see the end of my movie.

Mute/Recording/Power bug is still there with 9.15. Come on guys! That's an obvious bug!

What DID they fix with this, then? I thought that was a very obvious bug (and don't start with the "never turn it off thing", unless Comcast states that explicitly, I'm turning it off and on as I please.).

Originally posted by DaveFi
Mute/Recording/Power bug is still there with 9.15. Come on guys! That's an obvious bug! Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

Comcast feels it is a feature not a bug. It was never intended to be fixed in 9.15.

Supposedly the power off then on black screen no audio is fixed as well as the Analog Freezing.

My area has no plan to roll out 9.15 soon, so I have to wait. They are too busy trying to deploy the i-Guide to the non HD DCT-2000. Oh goodie :(

Originally posted by DaveFi
Mute/Recording/Power bug is still there with 9.15. Come on guys! That's an obvious bug!

Apparently this is a feature, not a bug. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Carl Jones
I can add Comcast has indeed stated that there has been an issue in our area & that it should be corrected by 4:00 PM this afternoon. For those in Delaware who PM'd me with their personal info please let me know tomorrow if you are still having problems.

No difference here. 5:00pm.

Having the box go "mute" when powering on during a recording is no good.

I use a Harmony remote which always does the same set actions to power on. So when I want to turn the box on during a recording, it mutes, then I have to go through all the commands in the PVR secton because I have the "mute" button mapped to my receiver, not the 6412.

Originally posted by Carl Jones
I can add Comcast has indeed stated that there has been an issue in our area & that it should be corrected by 4:00 PM this afternoon. For those in Delaware who PM'd me with their personal info please let me know tomorrow if you are still having problems.


At about 4:10 PM Comcast went to a blank screen with the record light lit when the tuner was turned off. At 5:30 the screen was still blank and I unplugged the unit, plugged it back in and THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE. Still the one tuner drop out problem.

Originally posted by cgoldst
At about 4:10 PM Comcast went to a blank screen with the record light lit when the tuner was turned off. At 5:30 the screen was still blank and I unplugged the unit, plugged it back in and THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE. Still the one tuner drop out problem.


Update: I just called Comcast and they said the fix for the 6412 will NOT be today (and never was to be today) but TOMORROW.

well that makes sense since it is 6:15 and I still have the problem

Strange...

I recorded That 70's Show while watching LOST tonight. When I played it back, there were no problems as before, so I assumed that Comcast fixed the issue.

Why isn't my box recording the West Wing? It SHOWS the red filled in circle and yet, it's 9:26 and I can't even FORCE it to record because it thinks it IS recording?

Why can't they change the name of the local HD-ABC channel so the stupid box won't stupid keep switching to the stupid non-HD channel to record stupid shows that are in stupid HD?

And why isn't my box recording the West Wing tonight? Why should I be forced to DOWNLOAD a show from the internet that my cable box was supposed to record for me?

Why don't we get any fixes to these MAJOR problems?

Why do I ask these questions which I know will go unanswered by anyone who can actually FIX these problems?

Originally posted by ohmyjosh
Why isn't my box recording the West Wing? It SHOWS the red filled in circle and yet, it's 9:26 and I can't even FORCE it to record because it thinks it IS recording?

I had a similar incident earlier this week when trying to record Medium. I had it set up as a series recording but decided to cancel this week's recording earlier in the evening because I planned to watch it live. Then my plans changed so I went back and activated the record setting again. I double-checked when the show started by looking to see if it was added to my recorded programs list, and it wasn't. I went to the tuner that was supposed to be recording it and pressed record. It noted that it was recording. So I had to stop the recording (that wasn't happening) and press the record button again. This time it started.

So I think there may be a bug that can mess up a series recording if you cancel and then re-select the recording of a specific episode.

Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

We were just updated to Firmware 9.15 as of 4 am.

I still had the problems last night. I'll call & e-mail again today. I hope they just ran into issues & will finish today?? They SWORE the fix would be completed by 4:00 yesterday.

Originally posted by Carl Jones
I still had the problems last night. I'll call & e-mail again today. I hope they just ran into issues & will finish today?? They SWORE the fix would be completed by 4:00 yesterday.



Hey Carl:
Being in the legal profession, I can assure you none of those people want to be under oath!

Originally posted by Zoomin88
Strange...

I recorded That 70's Show while watching LOST tonight. When I played it back, there were no problems as before, so I assumed that Comcast fixed the issue.

The problem that I see is only on 4 channels: ABCHD, NBCHD,CBSHD and PBSHD. Since The 70's Show is on FOXHD, I wouldn't have a problem recording that. For what its worth.

Originally posted by Carl Jones
I still had the problems last night. I'll call & e-mail again today. I hope they just ran into issues & will finish today?? They SWORE the fix would be completed by 4:00 yesterday.

I just have a bad feeling that the HDTV community is so small, especially in Delaware, that we will get very little attention (not that Comcast pays that much attention to anyone). The only thing that seems to motivate them is a switch to satellite. I'm not sure there is a viable option to replace the HD recording capability of the 6412 with Directv. Crossing my fingers that Comcast (1) really knows what the problem is and (2) is willing to fix it (because I think it has something to do with digital simulcasting).

Originally posted by ohmyjosh
Why isn't my box recording the West Wing? It SHOWS the red filled in circle and yet, it's 9:26 and I can't even FORCE it to record because it thinks it IS recording?

Why can't they change the name of the local HD-ABC channel so the stupid box won't stupid keep switching to the stupid non-HD channel to record stupid shows that are in stupid HD?

And why isn't my box recording the West Wing tonight? Why should I be forced to DOWNLOAD a show from the internet that my cable box was supposed to record for me?

Why don't we get any fixes to these MAJOR problems?

Why do I ask these questions which I know will go unanswered by anyone who can actually FIX these problems?

I am an IS Director for a major educational institution. What we all need to understand is that these items are not fixed instantly. These systems are computers and run on software which requires a process to deal with bugs. Generally once a bug is defined programmers must review the code in place to see what has caused the problem. Once they determine that, they have to produce a fix that does not break something else. Once that is done the fix must go through a QA process to make sure it will work as advertised and then be rolled out. Generally, patches are made up of a number of bug fixes and are rolled out to the users in blocks over a period of time so as not to overwhelm the network bandwidth.

Some patience is required here. Everything I see is leading me to believe that Comcast is being very responsible in watching for bugs, working with Motorola to get them resolved and rolling them out in a planned effort not to make things worse.

The same is true of the iguide. We have had one major upgrade to this software and from what I am hearing another upgrade is coming later this spring or early summer. What we have now works fairly well compared to the previous guide and I have hopes that the next upgrade will add some additional functionality that will bring us very close to the Tivo. Motorola and comcast know that is the target. I am certain that we will be there and surpass Tivo in the not too different future.

I am not a polyana but I do know what goes into this stuff. While I was annoyed with the 6208 problems I LOVED having the capability I was given. At this point, with the 6412, you'll have to pry it out of my cold dead hands to get it away from me.

Originally posted by ohmyjosh
Why isn't my box recording the West Wing? It SHOWS the red filled in circle and yet, it's 9:26 and I can't even FORCE it to record because it thinks it IS recording?

Why can't they change the name of the local HD-ABC channel so the stupid box won't stupid keep switching to the stupid non-HD channel to record stupid shows that are in stupid HD?

And why isn't my box recording the West Wing tonight? Why should I be forced to DOWNLOAD a show from the internet that my cable box was supposed to record for me?

Why don't we get any fixes to these MAJOR problems?

Why do I ask these questions which I know will go unanswered by anyone who can actually FIX these problems?

I had a similar problem last night with missing the scehduled recording of West Wing. I had not changed our series recording setting so that did not cause the problem. I am in the Boston area so I am wondering if this was a problem with Comcast in Boston or with our DVR box. We missed a series recording of the Newshour with Jim Lehrer earlier this week, That was the first time we had this problem. I hate to swap boxes and lose our recordings and settings if that isn't the problem. By the way if it matters our recording was set for the regular station not HD and we were recording Project Runway at the same time which came through fine.

For those in Delaware...today's response from Comcast;

"Dear Carl,


We apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry.

Our Head end investigated this issue thoroughly. These channels were
recently change in New Castle and are on a different frequency. This
happen last Wednesday morning.

It seems that this is not a widespread problem, and if you continue to
see this sub-standard service, we recommend a service call. You are
currently scheduled for a tech on 2/26/05 between the hours of 8am and
11am. Someone over the age of 18 must be present for the install.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any more questions.


Thank you for choosing Comcast."

Something to do with the move of analog to digital I suppose?

Any one have a idea when south brunswick area of NJ will be getting 9.15? Looking to get rid of some of the bugs in 9.12.

Thanks

Originally posted by Carl Jones
For those in Delaware...today's response from Comcast;
It seems that this is not a widespread problem, and if you continue to
see this sub-standard service, we recommend a service call.
Thank you for choosing Comcast."
Something to do with the move of analog to digital I suppose?


Does the above mean they will be making SOME change in the service today that MIGHT correct the problem or does it mean that all of us with this problem up to today need to make (another) service appointment?

Originally posted by cgoldst
Does the above mean they will be making SOME change in the service today that MIGHT correct the problem or does it mean that all of us with this problem up to today need to make (another) service appointment?

I don't see any point of another service call. I had a technician out on Tuesday. There's nothing that can be done at our end. Clearly the changing of frequencies for the digital simulcast has screwed up HD on the second tuner of the 6412. As I feared, we are such a small number of the total users, Comcast feels no need to address our problem. Sounds like we're out of luck. Unless the firmware upgrade addresses this, but I haven't heard of anything it changes with digital issues.

Originally posted by JTMav
I have a Samsung HLN 507W that I have calibrated through Service Menu adjustments and have been satisfied with the results. As of last night I have the 9.15 firmware upgrade and I must say that the PQ has improved a bit. I wonder if anyone else has noticed a change. It seems that, especially on analogue channels, the color is a bit more vibrant and more detail is evident.

I haven't had a chance to really play with it much so as far as freezing and such it is too early to report any improvement yet.

JTMav

I have the HLN46 Samsung. I can't say that I've noticed a difference in PQ since my FW update. As an aside, the very first phantom 1989 file I got was 2 days after the update.

South Jersey (Washington Twp Area) rec'd 9.15 upgrade around 1:00AM this morning...10-15 minute DL. I didn't really have any major issues with 6412 as others in this thread, so I can't tell if it addresses specific issues mentioned throughout. I will post any noticeable differences (PQ, etc...) as discovered.

Chris.

Originally posted by cgoldst
Hey Carl:
Being in the legal profession, I can assure you none of those people want to be under oath!

:D :p

How does one check the firmware version?

Originally posted by rxlowry
How does one check the firmware version? Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

02/24/05
Here is what Firmware and Software is currently running on the 6412 with the i-Guide.

This is from the d08 Code Modules menu:

Bootloader: 04.01
Firmware: 09.15
Software: 49.10*

This can be found by turning the 6412 off and then immediately hitting OK/Select.

Below is from within the i-Guide Setup menu:

S/W Ver: 71.44 - 1203
Firmware: 09.15

This can be found by selecting Menu twice. Scroll to Setup and hit select. Scroll to Cable Box Setup and hit select. Scroll to Configuration: Select to display and hit select.

* I was told by a Comcast engineer that this is the actual software version.

Originally posted by Carl Jones
For those in Delaware...today's response from Comcast;

"Dear Carl,


We apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry.

Our Head end investigated this issue thoroughly. These channels were
recently change in New Castle and are on a different frequency. This
happen last Wednesday morning.

It seems that this is not a widespread problem, and if you continue to
see this sub-standard service, we recommend a service call. You are
currently scheduled for a tech on 2/26/05 between the hours of 8am and
11am. Someone over the age of 18 must be present for the install.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any more questions.


Thank you for choosing Comcast."

Something to do with the move of analog to digital I suppose?

<translate>

F. U. Pay me anyway

</translate>

Does anybody know if the series recording numbering bug (described below by another poster) has been fixed in 9.15? It is a really annoying bug because it prevents you from changing the priorities across the numbering gaps.

2) I ran into an issue where after creating several series recordings. The numbering on the series priority list got messed up. The numbering ran from 1-10, skipped 11 and 12, continued on with 13-15, repeated 16 twice, 17, then 18 twice. Yes, two numbers were missing in the sequence (11-12) and two numbers were repeated (16, 18). Anytime I was at number 14, which happened to be at the bottom of the page I couldn't change the priority of the show. If I hit page up, the screen would jump up a page (rather than changing the priority of the show) and would select #8. If I hit page down, the selection would jump down a page. The behavior of the page up/down buttons would stop moving the show up and down in the priority list and would revert to a true page up/down. I was able to fix this by deleting all series numbered 10, 13-18 and then reentering them. When I did this, the new series entries were correctly numbered and page up/down worked correctly again. I'm not sure how I got into that situation with the messed up series priority numbering in the first place, but it was after several series were entered, deleted, modified, and moved in the priority list.

Anyone know when Delaware is getting upgraded to 9.15, we are still at 9.12

Accoriding to Patty (CSR) from Comcast at 3:30 today:

"We know about the issue with the 1 tuner and are installing new software, we are hoping & keeping our fingers crossed that on or by March 1st all issues will be fixed.

The March one timeline is to remove the analog freeze issue.

Originally posted by markjrenna
Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

02/24/05
Here is what Firmware and Software is currently running on the 6412 with the i-Guide.

This is from the d08 Code Modules menu:

Bootloader: 04.01
Firmware: 09.15
Software: 49.10*

This can be found by turning the 6412 off and then immediately hitting OK/Select.

Below is from within the i-Guide Setup menu:

S/W Ver: 71.44 - 1203
Firmware: 09.15


On my box, Bootloader is 4.41 and the software version in the diagnostics menu is 53.09. I still have 9.12 firmware. The i-guide setup version still shows 71.44-1203

My 6412 got the 9.15 update last night. I have't seen any freezing. I did however loose audio on both cable and recorded shows. I was forced to unplug the box and loose the guide data as described in the 6412 thread. That didn't solve the problem and I was about to give up but tried playing a recording. Audio came right on and has been fine since.

Originally posted by andyross63
On my box, Bootloader is 4.41 and the software version in the diagnostics menu is 53.09. I still have 9.12 firmware. The i-guide setup version still shows 71.44-1203 Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

02/24/05
Here is what Firmware and Software is currently running on the 6412 with the i-Guide.

This is from the d08 Code Modules menu:

Bootloader: 04.01
Bootloader: 04.41

Firmware: 09.12
Firmware: 09.15

Software: 49.10*
Software: 49.13*
Software: 53.09* (Unconfirmed)

This can be found by turning the 6412 off and then immediately hitting OK/Select.

Below is from within the i-Guide Setup menu:

S/W Ver: 71.44 - 1203

Firmware: 09.12
Firmware: 09.15

This can be found by selecting Menu twice. Scroll to Setup and hit select. Scroll to Cable Box Setup and hit select. Scroll to Configuration: Select to display and hit select.

* I was told by a Comcast engineer that this is the actual software version.

Looks like Comcast has pushed out a few different versions of the i-Guide.

Good to hear ProGear. I guess it was such an impressive upgrade you stayed home today to catch some "Live Team Coverage" of Snownami '05. ;)

I've been trying to stay current with this thread, but haven't seen this problem. I have fw 9.15 and i'm located in San Francisco.

Tonight around 7:10 pm my box shutdown and wouldn't take any input from the remote. I was walking out the door when it happened and had to leave. When I returned the box was back on but wasn't recording a show it was supposed to record.

When I checked the box, all of the recorded shows were deleted and all of my series recording settings were deleted.

I called Comcast support and all I got was a "sorry. it is an electronic device and will have some problems." They suggested that I sit at home on Saturday and wait for a technician to come test my box. When I asked about the other problems I've seen (all have been noted on this thread) such as individual shows being deleted, HD series changing to analog, etc. She just said "sorry, we're working hard to make improvements". Then she actually told me that problem with the HD series changing to analog was functioning that way to save space!

Has anyone else had this problem? Or have insight into the solution?

These problems are starting to add up. If Tivo had a dual tuner HD box, I'd gladly pay a few hundred dollars to have consistent service and an easy to use interface.

The summary of the call was "Sorry, but please pay your bill".

Sacramento now has Firmware 9.15. I can tentatively say the analog freeze has been eliminated, at least in my case.

I was getting the analog freeze fairly consistently when I first got the DVR about a month ago. About 2 weeks ago, it stopped happening. Now tonight, the thing must have frozen about a dozen times (and I lost 3 shows that I was recording since I had to kill the recording in order to channel up to unlock the freeze. Not sure why the problem went away for so long then came back. Doesn't seem like a software/firmware problem on the box (what changed over the last 2 weeks on my box? - Nothing).

I am still on 9.12. Called Comcast to get an update on the firmware and they confirmed that the download is now scheduled for 3/1 (not 2/24 as was previously told to me).

I did get them to give me a month's credit for all the hassle. This is getting very frustrating. I have to babysit the thing to make sure it records what I want to record. Might as well have a VCR for that!

Being an IS Director for a major educational institution doesn't qualify you as an expert on cable, it just means you're good at making excuses for technological snafus. These issues, the analog freezes and the dropouts, have been going on for months and that's far from instantly.

I had 3 service calls for the same issue and it wasn't until the third that a Comcast technician even had a clue what the issue was and that it wasn't something that could be fixed on-site.

If they can charge $9.95 a month for this service, they can fix it in a timely manner. Despite my 3 service calls and numerous customer service calls, I was never once offered a credit, so I don't think patience is something I owe Comcast or Motorola.

Originally posted by Mike3
Being an IS Director for a major educational institution doesn't qualify you as an expert on cable, it just means you're good at making excuses for technological snafus. These issues, the analog freezes and the dropouts, have been going on for months and that's far from instantly.

I had 3 service calls for the same issue and it wasn't until the third that a Comcast technician even had a clue what the issue was and that it wasn't something that could be fixed on-site.

If they can charge $9.95 a month for this service, they can fix it in a timely manner. Despite my 3 service calls and numerous customer service calls, I was never once offered a credit, so I don't think patience is something I owe Comcast or Motorola.

You're right, it does not make me an expert in cable but neither do I need listen to twits.

You can continue to be as inpatient as you like. Won't change a bit of the reality of the world. I make excuses for no one.

Wow, this is one long thread... I'm just chiming in because I just had my own Comcast HD-DVR installed. So far everything seems to be operating nominally, but I really haven't spent any time with it. Based on what I've learned from these forums, I made sure all the gear they brought in was up to date -- the box is the 6412, and the remote is the DRC800, so I guess I'm up to speed.

I did have to go through the set up routines in order to disengage my TiVo from the cable box - no need to use that as a signal source any more, I can use the TiVo to record SD stuff and save the limited storage on the HD-DVR for the four programs we watch each week that are available in HD.

My question, in case anybody knows an answer: What's up with Sinclair Broadcasting? I'm in the Nashville, TN area, and just now when I scanned the HD channels; instead of WZTV-HD, which is the Fox affilliate here (for "24"), there is a slug on the screen that says "Sinclair Broadcasting, the owner of WZTV, has demanded the comcast stop carrying the WZTV-HD signal."

Anybody know what's up with that?

--PS

Originally posted by driver49
My question, in case anybody knows an answer: What's up with Sinclair Broadcasting? I'm in the Nashville, TN area, and just now when I scanned the HD channels; instead of WZTV-HD, which is the Fox affilliate here (for "24"), there is a slug on the screen that says "Sinclair Broadcasting, the owner of WZTV, has demanded the comcast stop carrying the WZTV-HD signal."

Anybody know what's up with that?

--PS Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

Good luck with your 6412.

Here is the Sinclair/Comcast story...

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section_id=10&screen=news&news_id=39510

If you really want to get upset, go the the Sinclair Broadcast group website and click on the rainbow icon "Cable HDTV Negotion Status."

I was especially impressed with paragraph 4, "Payments to Sinclair Should Not Increase Your Cable Bill." I wonder who wrote that, and what sort of fantasy world he (or she) lives in! In reality, I think it just shows their contempt for their viewers (which can also be judged by the quality of most of their programming).

In an unrelated matter, I have noticed that when I'm watching (not recording) a show and I pause (or FF or RW), the recording bar shows "To be Announced" instead of the name of the show. This started on one tuner, and now is true with both. If I record the show (just select record from the menu), the name of the show is then shown. Has anyone else seen this problem?

Originally posted by cgoldst
Hey Carl:
Being in the legal profession, I can assure you none of those people want to be under oath!

Well I can tell you I'm ashamed & embarrased that I reported here what I was told by Comcast. As of today...still no change. Their cure all is to send someone out to mojo my cable line & replace a box I don't believe needs replacing. You just want to believe when you finally get someone to fess up & tell you something. I guess they go to a special school for that. Reality is audio & video droputs STILL on tuner 2. Such a waste of time & money. I guess I'll go to church Sunday & try my own mojo!!

Originally posted by docarter
In an unrelated matter, I have noticed that when I'm watching (not recording) a show and I pause (or FF or RW), the recording bar shows "To be Announced" instead of the name of the show. This started on one tuner, and now is true with both. If I record the show (just select record from the menu), the name of the show is then shown. Has anyone else seen this problem? Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

Yes. You have to pull power from the 6412. Once it reboots it will get guide data back (may take a few hours) and your problem will be fixed.

Here's something new regarding the "phantom 1989" recordings.

I got my second one overnight, again on the discovery channel (analog) recording.

Last time, I was able to turn the box off, wait a few minutes, pull the power plug, and then when it came back up the program was no longer a 1989, and I was able to watch it in full with no problems.

This time, I tried the same technique, but afterwards the 1989 was still there. I have a particular saved recording that I really don't want to have to delete, so using some of the other 1989 removal techniques discussed here were not optimal.

So I figured I needed to get the box to somehow do a file system check which I hoped would get it to "relink" the 1989 file. I figured maybe because I had turned the box off for a few minutes before pulling the plug it might have had time to get itself settled enough to not require a full file system check when it got plugged back in.

So I vowed to cause maximum file system damage. I set it to record two shows at the same time and then pulled the plug after it started recording them both for a minute. I also left it unplugged for over 5 minutes just in case there is some battery-backed memory inside the 6412. When it came back up, the 1989 was properly relinked and I was able to watch it in full.

Moral of the story: multiple power plug pulls, plus possibly leaving it unplugged for more than 5 seconds may be necessary to fix 1989 recordings.

Originally posted by andyross63
On my box, Bootloader is 4.41 and the software version in the diagnostics menu is 53.09. I still have 9.12 firmware. The i-guide setup version still shows 71.44-1203

I need to post a correction, or something changed. My notes that I had made a few days earlier show the software version as 53.09. I just double-checked, and it now says 49.10.

Here's something more interesting: OnDemand now works! Ever since I got the 6412, the menus would work, but the video and audio didn't. I wonder if Comcast sent some minor patch to send it back a level? Or maybe there was some update at the head end.

OK, I have two 6412 boxes, and the one upstairs is working perfectly. However the one downstairs appears to have just gone on the fritz....

My wife went to turn on the TV and she noticed that the cable box was off. When she turned it on, we got a black screen and the display shows a light on the lower left side of the display window (Message?) and 0 (zero), and that's it. In this state, no buttons on the remote or front panel do anything except Power, which turns the unit on or off. I can see the LED that indicates remote commands are being sensed, but they don't appear to do anything.

It isn't totally cooked as I can get into the display setup menu when I power off and press Menu. So at some level it is still working.

Has anyone seen anything quite like this? Any suggestions?

-John

I read the first 10 and last 10 pages of this thread trying to find out if there was anything on the HD picture quality from the 6412. The reason is that I read on a thread over at the Flat Panel discussion that the hard drive buffering lead to a pretty serious drop in picture quality when compared to the non DVR STB. signal over the DVI. Comcast will be out tomorrow morning to install a 6412 and I'm also going to pay for a non DVR HD STB so maybe I'll be able to answer my own post as well as tell you how it looks compared to an E* 6000U HD sat receiver on a Sharp LC-45GX6U. Anybody have an comments on the quality of the HD with the 6412 as compared to other HD sources.

I saw no change in PQ going from the nonDVR box (?5200?) to the 6412. This is a straight digital recording of the signal. The only time DVRs reduce PQ is when they have the encode, like with an external TiVo. The D*TV TiVos have no effect on PQ as they just record the stream too.

Bill

"I saw no change in PQ going from the nonDVR box (?5200?) to the 6412"

Thanks for the good news. I guess when think about it, how can a bit stream be degraded by being recorded on a hard drive.

I'm hoping for a little bump in HD PQ in going from the component E*6000 to the DVI 6412. The component video input on the GX6U is limiting PQ according to one review I read. If the PQ is not much better, then I guess Comcast is compressing their signal more than E*.

My experience with component versus DVI has not shown any noticeable improvement in PQ. I spent hours doing side by side comparisons of all kinds of sources, moving and frame by frame, and saw nothing. In fact, since the DVI input on my Panny 42PHD6UY disables color and a few other adjustments I ran into some issues with DVI that I could not tweak as I could with component. Now, this may depend on the display, and the GX6U may have an issue there, but I sure can't see that DVI is substantially better despite it being digital. With the 6412 you have a choice of component and DVI - so you'll be able to test it. Oh, and I think many if not most will agree that cable HD is less compressed than satellite over all, maybe less so with E* than D*TV.

Bill

Like Bill Ball I too spend a lot of time comparing comp to DVI and couldn't see a noticeable difference, then I decided to calibrate my set and found that the DVI is a better picture. I was sure this wouldn't be the case but after a fairly significant calibration the DVI wins. This is with a Samsung HLN 507w and the 6412. Both analogue and digital look better, INMO.

JTMav

The difficulty I'm having is with too-strong black levels on some network HD programs. For example the White House in West Wing must be the worst-lighted office building in America. That show's lighting has always been annoying, anyway. I've also had too much black in Crossing Jordan and Lost. So maybe it is ABC and NBC that's my problem. Black levels are perfect from inHD and DiscoveryHD.

I'm connecting the DVR via component inputs to a 32" Sony XBR digital set (the one that does both 4:3 and 16:9). I also have it connected via S-video to a Pioneer DVD recorder. The Pioneer allows me to change the IRE which helps.

Does anyone else think the black level is too strong on some network HD shows?

Originally posted by John Williams
My wife went to turn on the TV and she noticed that the cable box was off. When she turned it on, we got a black screen and the display shows a light on the lower left side of the display window (Message?) and 0 (zero), and that's it. In this state, no buttons on the remote or front panel do anything except Power, which turns the unit on or off. I can see the LED that indicates remote commands are being sensed, but they don't appear to do anything.

It isn't totally cooked as I can get into the display setup menu when I power off and press Menu. So at some level it is still working.
Have you tried unplugging it for a minute or so? It may just need a simple reboot.

" I think many if not most will agree that cable HD is less compressed than satellite over all, maybe less so with E* than D*TV"

Sounds like I'm taking a step in the right direction in switching back to cable from E* which I've had since 2001.

Comcast should be here in the next couple of hours. I'll let everyone know how it looks on the Sharp 1920X1080P 45 inch LCD.

BTW: Can I send the mpeg2 stream from the 6412 via firewire to my HTPC and display it on the Sharp? I've got it set up doing 1:1 pixel mapping with a NVDIA 6800 which should be able to decode mpeg2

Originally posted by John Williams
OK, I have two 6412 boxes, and the one upstairs is working perfectly. However the one downstairs appears to have just gone on the fritz....

My wife went to turn on the TV and she noticed that the cable box was off. When she turned it on, we got a black screen and the display shows a light on the lower left side of the display window (Message?) and 0 (zero), and that's it. In this state, no buttons on the remote or front panel do anything except Power, which turns the unit on or off. I can see the LED that indicates remote commands are being sensed, but they don't appear to do anything.

It isn't totally cooked as I can get into the display setup menu when I power off and press Menu. So at some level it is still working.

Has anyone seen anything quite like this? Any suggestions?

-John

This happened to me. I just took it back to Comcast to get a new one.

I believe it needs to be reauthorized, call Comcast and tell them to reauthorize it.

I just watched my recording of Star Trek: Enterprise today, only to see it stop at 50 mins.

I'm bent!!!

That was it for me, I called Comcast and told them I was not going to pay for this DVR one more minute, tell they flash it with the new 9.15 firmware.

Has anyone thought about filing a class action lawsuit against Comcast/Motorola for renting/selling a bug ridden box they call a DVR?

COMCAST: Where is UPN-HD in Indianapolis

I'm giving up on Comcast I just bought the DirectTV HD DVR if it works out I'm gonna keep it.

Originally posted by chavel
" .

Comcast should be here in the next couple of hours. I'll let everyone know how it looks on the Sharp 1920X1080P 45 inch LCD.




Are you able to see any PQ difference between 1080i and 720p on your 1080p display ?

My PQ is decidedly better on 1080i sources, but I'm pretty sure this is because I have a native resolution 1080i display, and have to throw away info in order to watch 720p. Your set should allow you to see any real differences, if they are noticeable.

"Are you able to see any PQ difference between 1080i and 720p on your 1080p display"

I haven't checked 720P vs 1080i yet for the 6412. But for E*6000U HD STB 1080i might be a little better. I am able to switch back and forth between DHD Theater on the 6412 and on E* same program and there is not enough difference in PQ between the sat on component and the 6412 on DVI to make a call. I have to wait for the 6412 to go through its download so more later.

I believe I read something about lines going though the picture/recording.

I am on my 2nd DCT-6412, The 1st did not have a line problem but the 2nd does.
A line will race acrossed the screen on live/recorded shows. I know this isn't normal.

Any ideas.

I'm still waiting (4 hours) for the box to go through its download. The HD is fine but the 480i stations are unwatchable. The Comcast CSR said it was a reception issue and setup a service call.

Originally posted by John Williams
OK, I have two 6412 boxes, and the one upstairs is working perfectly. However the one downstairs appears to have just gone on the fritz....

My wife went to turn on the TV and she noticed that the cable box was off. When she turned it on, we got a black screen and the display shows a light on the lower left side of the display window (Message?) and 0 (zero), and that's it. In this state, no buttons on the remote or front panel do anything except Power, which turns the unit on or off. I can see the LED that indicates remote commands are being sensed, but they don't appear to do anything.

It isn't totally cooked as I can get into the display setup menu when I power off and press Menu. So at some level it is still working.

Has anyone seen anything quite like this? Any suggestions?

-John

Ummm? How much of this thread have you read? The answers are in it many times.

I hope you have a few recordings on the box. Just go to my DVR menu if you have something recorded & play it. When you hit stop the live picture will come back. If there are not any recordings on it then unpluging it will work. Seems there is a bug on allot of units causing this. The only way to avoid it for now is to never turn the DVR off. I also think maybe the newest firmware up date will fix it too.

These Comcast people are really something. There was a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer about Comcast acknowledging a problem with the 6412 boxes. They said that some were experiencing problems when fast-forwarding. The article asked for patience and stated that all the boxes would have the software patch sent to them by the end of the week. Here is the end of the week and nothing. Firmware is still 9.12 and some programs still can’t be forwarded. If I try, the program freezes and if you select “resume” it starts all over from the beginning. Monday I am going to ask for a new box. I wonder how they’ll react.

Originally posted by eafenyes
Monday I am going to ask for a new box. I wonder how they’ll react.

COMCAST just dosen't care. How will they react? They will say OK we will send someone out to bring you a new box. And since it is not the box the new one won't work either. All they want is for us to keep paying them.

Yesterday I picked up a Direct TV HD10-250 from Circuit City. I've got 30 days to return it, so the race is on.

I already have
http://www.directv.com/see/landing/cbs_hd.html
http://www.directv.com/see/landing/fox_hd.html

For these other two channels they say I need a waiver, not a problem Direct TV submits the forms, but may take a few weeks.
http://www.directv.com/see/landing/abc_hd.html
http://www.directv.com/see/landing/nbc_hd.html

I'm mainly concerned about the local channels so i will stay with who gets me the programming I want first.

Originally posted by eafenyes
These Comcast people are really something. There was a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer about Comcast acknowledging a problem with the 6412 boxes. They said that some were experiencing problems when fast-forwarding. The article asked for patience and stated that all the boxes would have the software patch sent to them by the end of the week. Here is the end of the week and nothing. Firmware is still 9.12 and some programs still can’t be forwarded. If I try, the program freezes and if you select “resume” it starts all over from the beginning. Monday I am going to ask for a new box. I wonder how they’ll react.

I have had firmware 9.15 for over a week now. I am in Center City, Philadelphia.

Yeah, I just can't believe how Comcast doesn't care and how they just want our money. At my house all they did when I complained of a poor signal is replace my underground service (which required retrenching because there was no conduit), replace the coax outside and inside my house, and provide a heavy duty splitter so I could send separate cables to my DVR and my DVD recorder. I can see now this was their greed showing. Silly me for being appreciative.

Sorry, but I'm weary of the Comcast bashing, especially when you are in fact receiving a personal service call. Others here say that Comcast has issued credits on their bills. By all means if you're displeased get your DirectTV. Meanwhile, I for one trust that Comcast is working to resolve the issues that some are having not only because they want to keep you as a customer but because they want to attract many new customers. I know I'm not experiencing these problems in Eugene, Oregon; maybe because our cable network was completely rebuilt within the past six years.

And no, I have no interest of any kind in Comcast. But I sure like their way of doing business much better than their predecessor and I think this DVR is amazing. Oops, there I go sounding appreciative again. Sorry if that's not appropriate for this forum. Okay, now your turn to beat me up.

Everytime I modify my series recording priority or try to delete, I also have to unplug. I let it sit there for 1 hour waiting for it to 'finish' did nothing. Solid activity light on the front but nothing finished. Unpluging it worked :-/


Originally posted by jmayers5
I also have this lockup problem. Although it only TRULY locked up on me when I attempted to delete a series recording. It would lock for about 30-60 seconds minutes when adding a series, with the remote light on the front lit solid, but then it would respond again after about 30-60 seconds.

I don't know if it matters, but all the series that I know it has locked up on were on analog channels, and had lots of shows in the series (think real world or osbournes on Mtv).
I am in the Portland OR area, although I don't see how that matters, it has to be an iguide/firmware issue. What shows did it lock up on for the rest of you with this problem? Were there many shows in the series?

Furious

Originally posted by quartrj
COMCAST just dosen't care. How will they react? They will say OK we will send someone out to bring you a new box. And since it is not the box the new one won't work either. All they want is for us to keep paying them.

Yesterday I picked up a Direct TV HD10-250 from Circuit City. I've got 30 days to return it, so the race is on.

I already have
http://www.directv.com/see/landing/cbs_hd.html
http://www.directv.com/see/landing/fox_hd.html

For these other two channels they say I need a waiver, not a problem Direct TV submits the forms, but may take a few weeks.
http://www.directv.com/see/landing/abc_hd.html
http://www.directv.com/see/landing/nbc_hd.html

I'm mainly concerned about the local channels so i will stay with who gets me the programming I want first. Wow, that is alot of useless information for 6412 users. Next time post something that is on topic and moves the discussion forward. I have two 6412s and while not perfect, the 6412s and iGuide provide me alot of HD value for $19.90 / month. I am very pleased with comcast's customer service and technical support. I have experienced a few minor 6412 bugs but have not missed a recording during the 3 months I have been using the 6412s.

Originally posted by tall1
Wow, that is alot of useless information for 6412 users. Next time post something that is on topic and moves the discussion forward. I have two 6412s and while not perfect, the 6412s and iGuide provide me alot of HD value for $19.90 / month. I am very pleased with comcast's customer service and technical support. I have experienced a few minor 6412 bugs but have not missed a recording during the 3 months I have been using the 6412s.

I guess what some of you don't realize is that COMCAST is a big company. While you in your area may be receiving quality service there are others that are not.

There are about 5-6 COMCAST users in the Delaware area that is having a problem that basically renders our 6412 useless. My previous post is to one of those users that asked a specific question.

There are many different topics running through this thread because for various ( I'm sure valid ) reasons AVS has not setup a separate sub-forum for the 6412.

Therefore my post was directed to another individual who has been having similar problems as I and is getting the same run around from COMCAST as I.

I'm happy for you that your system is working well but you and I don't live in the same service area. I wish I haven't missed a recording in 3 months like you but I can't say that.

About moving the discussion forward your post doesn't do that at all. You are just attacking my post and telling everyone how great you situation is.

However my post clearly talks of an alternative service that is available for the others that are having the same problem as I and at least for me, giving COMCAST a deadline for fixing my problem that they are ignoring or I plan on switching to an alternate service that works in my area.

Because of the multiple topics running through this thread I only comment on the one that are pertinent to my area. Perhaps you should do the same.

I wonder if he will be able to resist.

Originally posted by 5*General
I believe I read something about lines going though the picture/recording.

I am on my 2nd DCT-6412, The 1st did not have a line problem but the 2nd does.
A line will race acrossed the screen on live/recorded shows. I know this isn't normal. Any ideas.

yes I have this problem too. didn't have it with my old 5100. I am gonna call this week and schedule for a replacement.

I just experienced a problem I don't think was discussed before. I record the Daily Show and since the 6412 doesn't distinguish between new and rerun, I have a weekly ritual of going through the next week's recording schedule and deleting the duplicates. (I know, I could set up a manual record, but...). Anyway, this week, on one of those days, all the Daily Shows were not listed as such, but instead as "No info available" or some similar language, the same as you see if you unplug the unit and iGuide isn't refreshed yet. Later days were fine, just that one day. I went to the Guide and the shows were also listed that way.

However, when I went back to the list of upcoming recorded shows to delete the unwanted ones, the delete option wasn't available. There's no way to delete these individual programs. I can only hope that once the shows record I can delete them then.

Anyone else ever see this?

Just to let everyone know -- the "zero display" issue was solved when the local Comcast CSR sent a signal to zap the box over the wire while it was powered on. Prior to that, no amount of long-term unplugging or button pressing would bring up anything other than the display setup menu when it was powered off, so it was certainly in a "bad place" there for a while.

Interestingly, the CRS knew exactly what to do because he'd received a few other calls in Nashville with the same issue over the past couple of days. Makes me wonder if they were doing something to their network that caused some boxes to glitch out? He mentioned something about it trying to access OnDemand (on boot-up?) and failing, but I didn't have time to get more information out of him.

In any event, it is fixed now, and all my recordings and schedules are still in place, amazingly enough.

-John

Originally posted by crossbeaux
I just experienced a problem I don't think was discussed before. I record the Daily Show and since the 6412 doesn't distinguish between new and rerun, I have a weekly ritual of going through the next week's recording schedule and deleting the duplicates. (I know, I could set up a manual record, but...). Anyway, this week, on one of those days, all the Daily Shows were not listed as such, but instead as "No info available" or some similar language, the same as you see if you unplug the unit and iGuide isn't refreshed yet. Later days were fine, just that one day. I went to the Guide and the shows were also listed that way.

Have you tried not deleting the shows the Daily Show records. For me, the guide data has gotten better and as long as I don't delete the 11 pm EST show (the new one) for a few days it won't record repeats of it. Still not perfect, but much better than having to delete 5 shows per day.

Originally posted by proudx
yes I have this problem too. didn't have it with my old 5100. I am gonna call this week and schedule for a replacement.

I just replaced my 2nd w/ a 3rd. They give me a recondtioned one. Thanks Comcast

Ordered my 4th.

When the 6412's came out, there was a lot of posting about how the 6412 was much better than the 6208. Basically the 6208 was considered a POS. I still have my 6208, and while I miss having two tuners and the larger hard drive, I have had none of the problems that all you 6412 users have experienced.

Jack G

Originally posted by anilpani
I have had firmware 9.15 for over a week now. I am in Center City, Philadelphia.

Can I bring mine over:)

Originally posted by Jacktheg
When the 6412's came out, there was a lot of posting about how the 6412 was much better than the 6208. Basically the 6208 was considered a POS. I still have my 6208, and while I miss having two tuners and the larger hard drive, I have had none of the problems that all you 6412 users have experienced.

Jack G Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

My 6208 (although not perfect) was no where near as buggy/problematic as my 6412. Once the 6412/i-Guide has all of its issues worked out (whenever that will be) it will be one of, if not the best DVR available.

I just can't live without dual tuners now. No way I could go back to the 6208. I just have to deal with it, for now.

Originally posted by scanpa
This is the Full DVR STB Clear / reset. This will delete everything and cause the box to reset and download Account settings, and I-Guide info

the correct buttons are as follows

STB Power Off

15 Sec replay / rewind
15 Sec replay / rewind
15 Sec replay / rewind
My DVR
Live
Live
Live

Is there a way to do a almost full reset like doing everything you mentioned but keeping the recordings? I'm asking since I had a weird problem with 9.15 last monday. Normally, after a x amount of weeks, the tuner would freeze while on channel 262 and then a channel up or down will fix it. However, last monday - the live feed was fine as I can go back and pause. It was the recorded version that had a weird problem since the only functions that actually worked were play and rewind to beginning. No matter if I did the replay, rev/ffw or pause, it will be in play mode with no sound while it did acknowledge the signal as it showed the command i sent on the screen. But no matter what, it wouldn't go out of play mode without audio. It wasn't the mute problem either because other recordings and live had sound. Even a power cycle didn't fix it so I just deleted it instead and asked my mom what I missed as she watched the entire thing while I fell asleep. I do the same recording daily and this was the only time it happened on channel 262 since I had the box for almost 3 months. This is the 3rd box and the first two did have the bad power supply.

Update for the Dallas proper folks, just talked to Comcast and still no go on the 6412. After being told a couple months ago to call back towards the end of the first quarter of '05. Now they are saying June.

Originally posted by quartrj
I guess what some of you don't realize is that COMCAST is a big company. While you in your area may be receiving quality service there are others that are not.

There are about 5-6 COMCAST users in the Delaware area that is having a problem that basically renders our 6412 useless. My previous post is to one of those users that asked a specific question.

There are many different topics running through this thread because for various ( I'm sure valid ) reasons AVS has not setup a separate sub-forum for the 6412.

Therefore my post was directed to another individual who has been having similar problems as I and is getting the same run around from COMCAST as I.

I'm happy for you that your system is working well but you and I don't live in the same service area. I wish I haven't missed a recording in 3 months like you but I can't say that.

About moving the discussion forward your post doesn't do that at all. You are just attacking my post and telling everyone how great you situation is.

However my post clearly talks of an alternative service that is available for the others that are having the same problem as I and at least for me, giving COMCAST a deadline for fixing my problem that they are ignoring or I plan on switching to an alternate service that works in my area.

Because of the multiple topics running through this thread I only comment on the one that are pertinent to my area. Perhaps you should do the same.

I wonder if he will be able to resist. Yeah, that's it...I didn't realize that Comcast is a big company...geezus :rolleyes:

I am probably guilty of not moving the discussion forward but I get tired of seeing posts like your's describing in detail what channels they can get from another provider, how they are going to dump comcast and get a dish blah blah blah. I didn't see anyone asking you what locals you can receive from *D. That is just plain old thread crapping dude. If you want to discuss topics specific to your area, go to your local comcast thread. This is a general discussion on iGuide and 6412..don't hijack it with crap about *D locals in your area.

Originally posted by andyross63
Have you tried unplugging it for a minute or so? It may just need a simple reboot.

0 just means the box is not authorized. My original 6412 was this way after the download as it was sitting at 0 as the tech left as soon as the dl started. I called Comcast and they had to hit the box and then an hour later, it worked.

Originally posted by mwhip
Update for the Dallas proper folks, just talked to Comcast and still no go on the 6412. After being told a couple months ago to call back towards the end of the first quarter of '05. Now they are saying June.

mwhip,

If I remember...part of Dallas is still on a two cable system (A/B Cable)...are you in that area? If so, dont hold your breath, I doubt there's much work going on to make the 6412 support dual inputs (so little demand)...hopefully Comcast is working on upgrading the infrastucture to a modern single cable system.

-Steve

Originally posted by davisdog
mwhip,

If I remember...part of Dallas is still on a two cable system (A/B Cable)...are you in that area? If so, dont hold your breath, I doubt there's much work going on to make the 6412 support dual inputs (so little demand)...hopefully Comcast is working on upgrading the infrastucture to a modern single cable system.

-Steve

Yeah I am still in the two cable system and the upgrade they are doing is to the single cable system.

But isn't more than one tuner the future?

Originally posted by tall1
..don't hijack it with crap

Please just stop.

Just noticed, here in a snowy Delaware morning , that my 6412 was reset last night and that it now has firmware version 9.15.

I'll check later if it resolves the issues with the audio/video on the second tuner.

Originally posted by Zoomin88
Just noticed, here in a snowy Delaware morning , that my 6412 was reset last night and that it now has firmware version 9.15.

I'll check later if it resolves the issues with the audio/video on the second tuner.

Yes - as promised, Comcast has delivered the 9.15 Firmware to the great State of Delaware. HOWEVER, it has done NOTHING to resolve the ONE bad tuner audio and video drop out problem for the major network HD channels. Our 6412's remain useless for recording HD on those services. We ALL (once again) need to inform Comcast of this situation or they will believe the firmware delivery has indeed fixed the problem!

I too noticed that my firmware was updated overnight to 9.15. It also appears that a few of the channels in the analog section have been simulcast as Digital. I think I noticed channel 8 (Comcast), 7(WB), and 11. At least they are very clear and have the DD on the info bar. There could be others but I had to shovel snow to get out this morning so no time to mess with TV.

Also, I won't really be able to report back on whether or not my HD skip/stutter has disappeared. I only really noticed this on primetime HD broadcasts and it didn't happen on the same network all the time, although NBC is a major culprit. Will check this out over the next few nights and report back. Who knows, maybe they got it right this time.

Originally posted by cgoldst
Yes - as promised, Comcast has delivered the 9.15 Firmware to the great State of Delaware. HOWEVER, it has done NOTHING to resolve the ONE bad tuner audio and video drop out problem for the major network HD channels. Our 6412's remain useless for recording HD on those services. We ALL (once again) need to inform Comcast of this situation or they will believe the firmware delivery has indeed fixed the problem!
I don't think the problems I was experiencing were the same as yours. Although the symptoms are very similar, mine was not tuner specific. It didn't matter which tuner I used, if I saw drop out on one tuner, I saw it on both. I won't be able to tell until tonight if it's fixed or not, since last night's recordings were done while it was still using 9.12 firmware.

Originally posted by rodneyremington
I agree, I asked them to do the same thing, but those in charge here had other plans, or no plans, I'm not sure which. That's why the other forum was set up. There were many posts on this topic but they all got deleted. There is some discussion of this in the forum feedback section here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=509830

Thanks! I was actually looking for information about that site and you provided it. Now I have one more source for solutions than I had before. I enjoy AVS and have been happy with the service and information received here, but the more sources the better.

BTW ... to add even more to the mystery ... I received the 9.15 firmware update late last week. Unfortunately, I have had several analog freezes since then. Wife reports one on HD, but she's not 100% certain of that...

Originally posted by BJMoose
I don't think the problems I was experiencing were the same as yours. Although the symptoms are very similar, mine was not tuner specific. It didn't matter which tuner I used, if I saw drop out on one tuner, I saw it on both. I won't be able to tell until tonight if it's fixed or not, since last night's recordings were done while it was still using 9.12 firmware.

BJMoose I posted this once before but I will repeat it here for simplicity sake.

Here is a little test that I did. It will show that while there are certain channels involved it really has to do with which tuner you are using. For me it seems to be the second tuner. I didn't even have to record anything.

I tuned to the Daytona 500 and everything was great hit the swap button and tuned to the Daytona 500 race again. It started stuttering and droping the audio so I swapped back and everything on the 1st tuner was still good. I skipped back a few times and watched the same audio/video that stuttered on tuner 2 this time on tuner 1 without a problem.

So at least for me if someone says that Lost was fine but JAG stuttered that means that Lost was recorded on tuner 1 and JAG on tuner 2.

If you try this and see your problem it is the same problem as the rest of us here in Delaware.

I am also in Delaware and got the 9.15 FW this morning. I have not played with it yet so I can't comment on the freeze ups.

I did want to share that I had the 1989 problem but it is now gone. I had tried all of the common fixes as described here and elsewhere but nothing worked. I'm not sure whether the FW fixed it or the re-boot (or the combination) but the file is now missing from my list of recorded programs (happy day).

I am in central NJ. I have had 9.15 since end of last week and have been holding off in sending out a message saying that all is working.

My wife was unable to fast forward on any shows that were on any of the spanish channels. This was a HUGE issue as I dropped Direct TV to go back to comcast and in doing this, she lost her TIVO and as I am sure many people here in can understand, made me the bad guy. :-)

I actually went out and got a stand alone Tivo Series 2. After setting it up, the picture was almost un-watchable. I was very un-impressed with it. I have always been a fan of Tivo. But after using the Series 2 and finding the slow menus again and the bad picture quality, I was very happy to go back to my comcast box.

2 days after we got the tivo the 9.15 release came out and fixed all of my wife's problems with Fast Forward....so back the tivo went, and now we both have DVR's. Actually running 4 of them in the house. :-)

Only issue left that I now have and can live with, and if it has been talked about already I am sorry.......when I go in and modify the "To Do List", it does not always save the changes. Has anyone else seen this?

Originally posted by cgoldst
Yes - as promised, Comcast has delivered the 9.15 Firmware to the great State of Delaware. HOWEVER, it has done NOTHING to resolve the ONE bad tuner audio and video drop out problem for the major network HD channels. Our 6412's remain useless for recording HD on those services. We ALL (once again) need to inform Comcast of this situation or they will believe the firmware delivery has indeed fixed the problem!
Same here in the Philadelphia suburbs. Got 9.15 last night, still have constant dropouts and pixelation on the 2nd tuner on FOX HD only.

I was getting pixelation and dropouts (I didn't notice until Sunday) on HBOHD and SHOHD... on both tuners... I was going to call this morning about it, but with the updates (which I forgot about), it was fixed. I'm wondering if you all who are having the issues should call up comcast about the issue.

I mean, I would normally say here, it's worth a try, but I've dealt with comcast before, too. ;)

Can anyone with 9.15 tell me whether it fixes the problem where you get green flashes when both tuners are on analog channels? I leave one of my tuners permanently on BBC America when I'm not recording :(

Still on 9.12 here in St. Paul.

Appears I now have version 9.15 here in Bucks County, PA.

Originally posted by cgoldst
Yes - as promised, Comcast has delivered the 9.15 Firmware to the great State of Delaware. HOWEVER, it has done NOTHING to resolve the ONE bad tuner audio and video drop out problem for the major network HD channels. Our 6412's remain useless for recording HD on those services. We ALL (once again) need to inform Comcast of this situation or they will believe the firmware delivery has indeed fixed the problem!

Problem still exists. I've written Comcast....again.

3rd 1989 recording overnight in 3 weeks (why is this happening now after 3 months of none?). Fixed it again with my newly discovered technique described a few pages back (record two things at once, pull power cord while recording, wait at least 5 minutes before reconnecting). For anyone stuck with a 1989 this is the best way to fix it so you can watch whatever was recorded without losing it.

I called my local Comcast office in Huntsville, Alabama today asking about the 9.15 firmware upgrade. The lady I talked to was aware of the 6412 problems, but was under the impression that they were still waiting for Motorola to release a fix. When I told her that other Comcast systems were deploying the new firmware, she said she didn't know about it, but placed a message for a tech to call me (haven't heard from them yet).

The *only* thing I desparately need is the analog channel lockup fix and it seems that a few people posting here have seen it after the 9.12 --> 9.15 upgrade. Has anyone seen an official announcement that 9.15 is supposed to fix this? Is there a changelog somewhere on what is different/fixed/still broke in 9.15?

It's driving me crazy that I cannot consistently tape Monk or Battlestar Galactica (USA and SCI-FI). I tried three times to record last week's BG and got recordings of 32 minutes, 36 minutes, and 48 minutes respectively. Aaargh.

mr 2828

thanks for that info. i have a 1989 recording that's been on one of my 6412's for a month now! i will try your method when i get home.

in atlanta, still no 9.15. doh!

Originally posted by quartrj
If you try this and see your problem it is the same problem as the rest of us here in Delaware.

Trust me, I'm not experiencing the same problem. I've had this going on since I first got the 6412 back in early November. I've had numerous discussion up the line with Comcast. When the dropout occurs on my system, it is in both tuners, not just one. I've tested this every which way but Sunday and that's how it is on my system.

In order for you to know that your problem is not fixed means you would have had to test it and have it occur during the daytime since the upgrade just arrived overnight. I NEVER experience my problem during daytime TV or on any analog or SD channels. It is only on primetime HD broadcasts and even then it is sporadic. I'll post after observing for a couple of days and let you know if it's fixed.

BTW, when I came home from work this afternoon, I noticed that there are several more analog channels that are now SD than what I remembered this morning.

My 1st recording after the 9.15 upgrade was House on FOX.
I watched the 1st 5 minutes of the recording and there were no audio dropouts or pixelation. Hopefully this is true for all the channels that had this problem. I have not tried the other channels yet.

Originally posted by Zoomin88
My 1st recording after the 9.15 upgrade was House on FOX.
I watched the 1st 5 minutes of the recording and there were no audio dropouts or pixelation. Hopefully this is true for all the channels that had this problem. I have not tried the other channels yet.


The problem is not on Fox in Delaware. It is the SECOND tuner on ABC. NBC, CBS and PBS. Use "quartbj"'s method - on prior page -to determine if you have it.

I received 9.15 early this morning here in St. Paul MN -- about 2:30 a.m. The download process was longer than others have reported -- about 45 minutes.

To answer my own question from the previous page: No green flashes evident so far when both tuners are on analog channels.

Originally posted by cgoldst
The problem is not on Fox in Delaware. It is the SECOND tuner on ABC. NBC, CBS and PBS. Use "quartbj"'s method - on prior page -to determine if you have it.

Ok.. I'll test those too. I thought for sure I've seen issues with FOX recordings on the 2nd tuner.

If you are referring to quartrj comment:
"I tuned to the Daytona 500 and everything was great hit the swap button and tuned to the Daytona 500 race again. It started stuttering and droping the audio so I swapped back and everything on the 1st tuner was still good. I skipped back a few times and watched the same audio/video that stuttered on tuner 2 this time on tuner 1 without a problem."

Wasn't the Daytona 500 on FOX?

Originally posted by cgoldst
The problem is not on Fox in Delaware. It is the SECOND tuner on ABC. NBC, CBS and PBS. Use "quartbj"'s method - on prior page -to determine if you have it.

The problem is FOX on the second tuner. Happens in the Philly Burbs as well...I live in Radnor. I also see it on WPHL-HD, which is one channel up from FOX.

I have not been home to see if I have gotten the update, but from what I am reading, it does not look like it fixed the problem.

It may very well have to do with the broadcast signal strength of FOX-HD...but, I am not yet sure. IT just seems that either Comcast will not acknowledge the problem or Comcast does not know what to do.

pete

Originally posted by sberube
Everytime I modify my series recording priority or try to delete, I also have to unplug. I let it sit there for 1 hour waiting for it to 'finish' did nothing. Solid activity light on the front but nothing finished. Unpluging it worked :-/ Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

This is a problem I first reported a few months back in this thread. Seems that a handful of us have this problem.

Now, since I reported the problem there have been two updates to the 6412. One is the Firmware has been updated from 9.12 to 9.15. The second is the Software has been updated from 49.10 to 49.13.

My problem (like yours) is always with the Series Priority. But, mine is not every time I make a change.

I have made some minor changes to my Series Priority list recently. The changes are as follows: deleted two series, changed the order of priority, and changed how many episodes to record in a couple. Happy to report that the 6412 did not lock up. Now, I don't know if the Firmware/Software updates addressed the problem or not.

You may want to verify your Firmware/Software versions against mine.

Here is how to check:

Turn the 6412 off with the Power button and then immediately hit the OK/Select button on the remote.

This is from the d08 Code Modules menu:

Bootloader: 04.01
Bootloader: 04.41

Firmware: 09.12
Firmware: 09.15

Software: 49.10*
Software: 49.13*
Software: 53.09* (unconfirmed)

* This is the actual i-Guide software. The S/W Ver: 71.44 - 1203 is not the correct version.

Originally posted by Zoomin88
Wasn't the Daytona 500 on FOX?

NBC and FOX share NASCAR broadcast rights I only did the test for a few seconds if the race was on FOX it may have been when NBC was just talking about it. I didn't watch the whole race.

I haven't tried my test on FOX yet I wll try later tonight.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by markjrenna
[B]Comcast NJ - Union/Verona


Here is how to check:

Turn the 6412 off with the Power button and then immediately hit the OK/Select button on the remote.

This works too: With the 6412 off, hit Menu on then off, then OK/Select button on the remote.

Originally posted by quartrj
NBC and FOX share NASCAR broadcast rights I only did the test for a few seconds if the race was on FOX it may have been when NBC was just talking about it. I didn't watch the whole race.

I haven't tried my test on FOX yet I wll try later tonight.

Cool... I'm will be trying the other stations tonight, as my FOX recording worked like a champ last night.

The Daytona 500 was definitely on FOX. Avid fan of #88 Dale Jarrett...

Zoomin88 <-- get it?

:D

Originally posted by cgoldst
The problem is not on Fox in Delaware. It is the SECOND tuner on ABC. NBC, CBS and PBS. Use "quartbj"'s method - on prior page -to determine if you have it.
Okay, I called Comcast today about a few different things and actually spoke to someone who is interested in what's going on. She was a CSR but with a lot of tech knowledge so I was able to describe things in detail and she confirmed a couple of things.

First of all, she acknowledged that there have been problems. The problem that many of you are having, with the second tuner...that was not part of the firmware fix. That is something happening on the Comcast Head end and this CSR said that it was supposed to have been fixed on their end by this morning. So when you get home from work today, alternate between your two tuner to see if it is indeed fixed. If not, she advised to please call in because our calls are the only way they can know what's going on.

My problem seems to be box related in that it's happening on both tuners, so my symptoms are different from yours. I've got a box swap scheduled for Friday, early evening. I'll let you know the results. Meanwhile, I'd be interested to here if there are any improvements with your problem today.

BTW, this CSR seemed genuinely interested in the fact that this thread exists. She said she will check it out and register any widespread issues with Comcast in Delaware. So, if you haven't done so already, go to your profile and make sure that if you're in Delaware that your location shows it.

I haven't had a problem with analog freezing since I received the firmware update yesterday.

I have not had any freeze ups either (since getting 9.15) but I am waiting to declare success since my problem is intermittent (I went a week or 2 w/o freeze ups but then started getting them several times a night).

So far so good though.

I got a call last night from a Comcast tech. After quizzing him, he was definately knowledgable and very aware of our problems. Our conflict is head end and maybe more since the simulcast started 2/16. I could not pin him down on when it would be fixed. The purpose of his call was to let me know that they are very aware and they are working on it. They are watching this forum. Keep calling in & reporting here. There are not many of us (HDTV & 6412 users) so the few of us need to stay vocal.

My disclamer: Any and all statements reported by me from Comcast representatives may or may not be true (burned one too many times)!!

Possible Fix For Bad Reception on Analog Channels 02-99

Hi all. I’m in Novato, CA. About 10 years ago our little cable company upgraded to an all-fibre network and made “digital” set top boxes available. A few years later, we finally succumbed to their incessant marketing and had our first ”digital” set top boxes installed (Motorola DCT-5000’s). The reception on the digital channels was perfect as advertised, but you guessed it, the reception on the analog channels 02-99 was horrible. Needless to say we were “very, very” disappointed.

The cable company installer was very knowledgeable and said this was normal. But just to be sure, he checked the signal strength from the pole to our house and all the outside and inside wiring. Everything was OK.

Then he told us not to be so upset because he had a magical fix! He went outside and replaced our old 4-way splitter with a new “powered” signal amplifier/splitter. From the splitter, one cable ran to our bedroom TV, one to another bedroom’s TV, one to our kitchen TV, and one to our living room TV.

Since we did not have an electrical outlet near the new splitter, he installed another smaller device in the living room between the outside cable and the cable that went into the set top box. It had an electrical cord attached to it that he plugged into an electrical outlet. He said this device sends electricity back through the coax to the new splitter that he installed outside. Incidentally, all the new hardware and wiring was FREE.

We then turned on all the set top boxes and TVs and the digital channels were still perfect, but now the analog channels were almost perfect. Not quite as good as the digital channels, but certainly just as good as plugging the cable directly into the TVs!

Our little cable company was later sucked up by AT&T Cable, which was then purchased by Comcast Cable.

A few weeks ago we succumbed to Comcast’s incessant marketing, and I installed 3 of the new Motorola DCT-6412 dual-tuner set top boxes. I’m still using the now old “powered” signal amplifier/splitter.

We then held our breath, turned on all the set top boxes and TVs, and thankfully, the picture was still perfect on the digital channels, and best of all, just as good as it had been on the analog channels. The firmware on these boxes is 9.15, I never turn them off, and so far they have worked flawlessly recording shows on both tuners as advertised.

I don’t know if our situation is unique, or this solution will work for anyone else. But I’m told that Comcast will install one of these “powered” signal amplifier/splitters for free. All you need to do is ask them. So you really have nothing to lose if it doesn’t improve your analog channel picture quality.

Finally, since we don’t have any High Definition TV’s as yet, I don’t know if the “powered” signal amplifier/splitter will adversely affect HDTV picture quality.

Hope this helps someone.

Tony

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BJMoose
[B] That is something happening on the Comcast Head end and this CSR said that it was supposed to have been fixed on their end by this morning. So when you get home from work today, alternate between your two tuner to see if it is indeed fixed.



BJ - No change as of 4:17 PM. I e-mailed today and will call now - again. I agree all we Delawareans need to keep the pressure on.

"Hope this helps someone."

It does. I'm a few miles down the road from you and my lower analog channels are so bad that my 6412 can't even down load the guide and other updates. Comcast said they would be out to boost the signal. I'll bet I know what they're going to do now.

Originally posted by BJMoose
Okay, I called Comcast today about a few different things and actually spoke to someone who is interested in what's going on. She was a CSR but with a lot of tech knowledge so I was able to describe things in detail and she confirmed a couple of things.



The only kind of CSR I seem to get give me canned responses like "unplug your box and if that doesn't fix it, call for a service appointment. Frustrating. I wish I could believe that they really know what the problem is and are working on a fix. I sometimes feel that they are just telling us what we want to hear. Continuing to cross my fingers...

Since it appears that I may need to live with the bad second tuner HD reception in Delaware, I've been trying to figure out how the box processes recordings so that I can use the good 1st tuner. I know that if I schedule one program, the box records on the "unwatched" tuner. So, if I keep the box on the second tuner, it will record off the first. Okay so far. What happens when I schedule two at the same time? Does it take the first program (the one with the lower channel number) and record it on the "unwatched" tuner and then record the second on the "watched" tuner? Some other algorithm? Any one tested this out?

Ok...I'm getting PISSED!
This is the second week in a row I've recorded Lost in HD and there have been audio dropouts and video breakups galore - I'm talking every 5 seconds. What is the problem here??????????????? Oh, and it's not just Lost. Anything in HD.
Was there some firmware that screwed me up because everything worked perfectly in weeks past.

Originally posted by wrighda
The only kind of CSR I seem to get give me canned responses like "unplug your box and if that doesn't fix it, call for a service appointment. Frustrating. I wish I could believe that they really know what the problem is and are working on a fix. I sometimes feel that they are just telling us what we want to hear. Continuing to cross my fingers...
Yeah, I should have written down the woman's name that I spoke to. I called back when I came home and tested my 6412 and saw no change. I also reported that others had no change with this problem. This time I got a guy who gave me all the stock answers you mention. He said all the Delaware CSRs work on the same floor, but in separate booths. He said he would try to locate the woman I talked to to see if she knew something he didn't.

This guy hadn't heard anything about a 'second tuner' problem, but the lady I spoke to earlier knew all about it...even described if for me. She lives in Delaware and is experiencing it on her own system. I guess we'll see what gives over the next few days. I'm awaiting a box swap now.

Originally posted by Joe_R
Ok...I'm getting PISSED!
This is the second week in a row I've recorded Lost in HD and there have been audio dropouts and video breakups galore - I'm talking every 5 seconds. What is the problem here??????????????? Oh, and it's not just Lost. Anything in HD.
Was there some firmware that screwed me up because everything worked perfectly in weeks past.
This problem existed before the firmware update. The firmware was just issued on Monday night and you obviously had the problem last week too. If you really want to guarantee a good recording, you can do it, but it is a pain.

The 6412 always turns on to channel 8 on tuner 1. If you swap it to tuner 2 and leave the unit on, the box will think you're watching something on tuner 2 and therefore record your programs on tuner 1 (the good tuner). Of course, if you record 2 programs at the same time, all bets are off because one of them will definitely be on the bad tuner. I'm the eternal optimist and am holding on to the hope that sooner or later Comcast will get this fixed.

Originally posted by BJMoose
This problem existed before the firmware update. The firmware was just issued on Monday night and you obviously had the problem last week too. If you really want to guarantee a good recording, you can do it, but it is a pain.

The 6412 always turns on to channel 8 on tuner 1. If you swap it to tuner 2 and leave the unit on, the box will think you're watching something on tuner 2 and therefore record your programs on tuner 1 (the good tuner). Of course, if you record 2 programs at the same time, all bets are off because one of them will definitely be on the bad tuner. I'm the eternal optimist and am holding on to the hope that sooner or later Comcast will get this fixed.

Thank you. I'll give it a try. Is is just HD recordings? Or does the analog recording get funked up too?

Originally posted by Joe_R
Thank you. I'll give it a try. Is is just HD recordings? Or does the analog recording get funked up too?
The reports are all on the major network HD channels: ABC, CBS, NBC, WB, and FOX. I've never seen it on the Comcast network, ESPN, PBS, or the INHD channels. There was a freeze-up problem that some reported on analog channels (I never experienced that), but that was supposedly fixed by this latest 9.15 firmware.

I'm having a problem with the 6412 in that sometimes when I turn on the TV in the middle of recording, it will show up double screened. if i change the channel or go to the guide, it will correct itself. anyone else have this problem? I'm viewing on a panasonic 4341 pdp

Originally posted by Joe_R
Thank you. I'll give it a try. Is is just HD recordings? Or does the analog recording get funked up too?

The problem is with the reception on the second tuner, not just recordings. In my case, if you tune to channels ABCHD, NBCHD, CBSHD and PBSHD, there are dropouts constantly. Check out those channels on the second tuner and I'll bet you'll see it. The recordings are actually perfect. They are an exact copy of the bad transmission.

Originally posted by ///MD
I'm having a problem with the 6412 in that sometimes when I turn on the TV in the middle of recording, it will show up double screened. if i change the channel or go to the guide, it will correct itself. anyone else have this problem? I'm viewing on a panasonic 4341 pdp

I get that as well....via my DVI connection only. I have my Pronto config'd to change channels when it turns everything on.

Originally posted by BJMoose
The problem that many of you are having, with the second tuner...that was not part of the firmware fix. That is something happening on the Comcast Head end and this CSR said that it was supposed to have been fixed on their end by this morning. So when you get home from work today, alternate between your two tuner to see if it is indeed fixed.
Not only is it still not fixed, but now whenever I try to change the channel to FOX HD the whole thing locks up. I'm about ready to kick this thing out the window. I can't believe they would put something this buggy on the market.

Originally posted by wrighda
The problem is with the reception on the second tuner, not just recordings. In my case, if you tune to channels ABCHD, NBCHD, CBSHD and PBSHD, there are dropouts constantly. Check out those channels on the second tuner and I'll bet you'll see it. The recordings are actually perfect. They are an exact copy of the bad transmission.

To my dismay, the audio dropouts/pixelation is still there for me too.
I finally found, in this huge thread, the post instructing how to program the swap button on the remote. After doing this and switching to the 2nd tuner, you can see clear as day the audio dropouts/pixelation in real time.

As others mentioned, it was occurring on ABCHD, NBCHD, CBSHD and PBSHD. FOXHD seemed to be working fine.

That's too bad, I thought maybe I was OK. I watched Lost last night & all was fine. It must have been on the 1st. tuner. The second was recording Smallville which was also fine. However as others mention, droputs are occuring only on ABC, NBC, CBS, & PBS HD channels. I see in the local Philly section, they are now experiencing this issue.

Do NOT replace the 6412 if this is what you are experiencing. I'm on my second box & problem is still the same. This is DEFINATELY not something fixed by a simple box swap.

For those in Delaware; we continue to report our issue over & over in this thread (I think we've documented this pretty well) to the point in which we are adding to an already overloaded thread. I WILL START A DELAWARE THREAD IN THE LOCAL SECTION FOR THOSE OF US WHO WISH/NEED TO DISCUSS ISSUES SPECIFIC FOR US. I will continue to monitor the Philly thread as well for issues that may impact us.

Originally posted by ///MD
I'm having a problem with the 6412 in that sometimes when I turn on the TV in the middle of recording, it will show up double screened. if i change the channel or go to the guide, it will correct itself. anyone else have this problem? I'm viewing on a panasonic 4341 pdp

I have the same problem via DVI cable. Does not always happen, and does not matter if I am recording a program or not. Running 9.12

-steve

Originally posted by Zoomin88
To my dismay, the audio dropouts/pixelation is still there for me too.
I finally found, in this huge thread, the post instructing how to program the swap button on the remote. After doing this and switching to the 2nd tuner, you can see clear as day the audio dropouts/pixelation in real time.

As others mentioned, it was occurring on ABCHD, NBCHD, CBSHD and PBSHD. FOXHD seemed to be working fine.

My understanding is that there are 2 HD channels per frequency. The interesting thing is that these 4 channels are the pairs on two frequencies (759 and 765, if I remember correctly). There has to be some interference associated with these frequencies. I don't know anything but it would seem to me to be a matter of changing the frequencies that these channels are on. Any Comcast engineers out there?

What issues, if any, has the new firmware fixed? I've seen reports of people receiving it, but I haven't seen any reports of fixes or added features.



Thanks!

HDFAN the Fox problem you were expereiencing was not related to your box as I noticed it too via QAM.

///MD as you've probably figured from the previous posts it's related to the use of a DVI cable and there'e really not anyway around it. It's more of a nuisance thing anyway, unless of course you were recording two progrmas at the same time and couldn't change channels. In that event, try unhooking the DVI and plugging it back in, maybe that will do something.

Also as for recording two programs at one time and not getting the dropouts... schedule one program a minute early and tune the box to the opposite tuner that you want the first program to record on so that can record on the correct tuner for both unless both programs are on bad channels.

Fortunately, I only get dropouts on Fox and the WB so I never have to record two programs at the same time from those channels. However, I am greatly disappointed that this problem is not resolved yet.

Originally posted by Hopeless
What issues, if any, has the new firmware fixed? I've seen reports of people receiving it, but I haven't seen any reports of fixes or added features.

Thanks!

I asked the same thing a few pages back. Did the firmware upgrade fix anything? I know the tuner problems and breakups are still happening (luckily, that hasn't happened to me that I know of), but what about the analog channel freeze-ups? What about any new features?

Originally posted by Carl Jones
I get that as well....via my DVI connection only. I have my Pronto config'd to change channels when it turns everything on.

Regarding the split screen issue -
Also try bringing up the guide and then exiting. This can be done easily even if both tuners are recording.

Considering the other bugs some people are experiencing, this is a very minor nuisance.

As I have posted before, I am experiencing the bad reception on the 2nd tuner for Fox (234) and WPHL (235). So, I wanted to see if the 9.15 update helped.

I turned off the box and switched tot he service menu. I saw that 9.15 had been installed. So, I turned the box back on and...no picture or sound! I tried a couple more on/offs, still nothing. So, I decided to turn it off and let it sit over night, maybe something was still configuring.

So, this morning, I go down and turn it on. Still no sound or video. I decided to unplug the unit and llow it to reset. After doing this, I started receiving audio and video once again.

However, I immediately noticed two things. First, the picture on my analog channels had gotten significantly worse. Picture was unclear, more snow than before.

Second, related to the Fox-HD issue, it was worse. Tuner one was now not working on Fox-HD - no sound or video, just a blank screen. The program guiode would come up, but nothing else. Tuner two was showing a picture and sound, but it had the same pixelization and audio drop problem that I have been experiencing.

Everythign else, including all other HD channels, appeared OK.

I called Comcast, and told the CSR everything I had already done. She asked me to check my connections to make sure they were not loose. I told her they were fine. She then said she would send a signal. She said it went through but there was no impact. So, she said she would have to send someone out. I asked her to make sure they had two boxes (I have two 6412s) with them, because I cannot schedule another 3 hour time block to be at home. But, she offered no explanation, no potential cause, nothing.

So, I was curious if anyone else has experienced this after the 9.15 update?

Thanks.

pete

Originally posted by cmpalmer
I asked the same thing a few pages back. Did the firmware upgrade fix anything? I know the tuner problems and breakups are still happening (luckily, that hasn't happened to me that I know of), but what about the analog channel freeze-ups? What about any new features? http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=507017

Thanks Marc, that was exactly what I was looking for...

Originally posted by hdfan29
Not only is it still not fixed, but now whenever I try to change the channel to FOX HD the whole thing locks up. I'm about ready to kick this thing out the window. I can't believe they would put something this buggy on the market.

See my other post. Same exact thing now happening to me.

pete

Originally posted by hdfan29
[B I can't believe they would put something this buggy on the market. [/B]

You have to remember that these DVRs were rushed to market as a response to the DVR solutions from the satcos, my guess is that cablcos would just as soon have nothing to do with DVRs, they would much rather have you hooked up to their VOD programing.

I just talked to a CSR and this is what I got from him,

Here's what I got back after talking to the HeadEnd guys in regards to firmware 9.15 being downloaded in some markets on the avsforum you showed me:


I think the firmware your talking about is the same one I'm talking about in the monolith, 53.14 build. As I said, it doesn't fix any bugs, it just supports the new chipset. All firmware releases and schedules are set by the Comcast Media Center in Denver.

I am lost, I cannot believe that Comcast of Indianapolis has no idea what is going on with the Moto DCT-6412 let alone "What the firmware is"

Comcast: Try reading AVSForums.com

Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

Some advice to all. Stop calling CSR's. They are not at all aware of all the technical details regarding the 6412, HD, DS, audio drop outs, lock ups, and any other technical issue.

To get real answers you must call corporate. Explain you need to speak to an engineer and you will be put in contact with one in your local area. The engineer's will help and tell you as much as they can.

Mark

Mark - How do we contact corporate? Do you have a number?
Thanks!

Originally posted by markjrenna
Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

To get real answers you must call corporate. Explain you need to speak to an engineer and you will be put in contact with one in your local area. The engineer's will help and tell you as much as they can.

Mark

Mark, Do you have a # I can call. Indy's tech/CSR are lost up here. I have had 4 DCT-6412's. I am on my 3rd this week and looking at a 5th, all with the same problems. The 4th one I had for 6 hrs and it locked up, I recorded a program last night, it started at 6:00p and locked at 6:07. I came home at 6:57. I changed the channel and it started recording then stopped. I played it and it played to 6:07 and then jumped to 6:57 and played to 7:00p.

This is a Biggest joke (6412) I have ever been part of. Someone shake me and wake me up.

Just incase you missed Carl's post those of us in Delaware that are having the video/audio drop out issue

Please use the following thread

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=515937

Thanks it will make it eaiser for all or us

Originally posted by bronowyn
Mark - How do we contact corporate? Do you have a number?
Thanks! Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

Here you go:

Comcast Corporate Office:

Philadelphia, PA
(215) 665-1700


This is what I did back in July to get the desired results I wanted from Comcast...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=426107

Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

There appears to be a new bug that affects the 6412 with Digital Simulcasted channels.

Comcast has started to Digitally Simulcast a few channels in my area. The channels look great but there is a bug. If I hit (Reverse) Re1 the picture rewinds very slowly and is very choppy and then jumps to the beginning. Same thing with (Fast Forward) FF1, the picture fast forwards very slowly and is choppy and it jumps to the end.

The problem is not apparent when Re2 through Re4 and FF2 through FF4 are used.

So, I had the Tech come out last night.

He checked everything, he was very knowledgable.

I was a little worried because it looked clear when he first came. As the night went on however, it got worse. Then, my other box started tiling last night.

After checking my 6412's signal and finding it fine... after changing the cable from the box to the wall, after seeing it tiling on the other TV, after changing the splitter in the attic, he went outside and looked at the node.
Nothing wrong with the node, nothing wrong with my connection to the node.

He had earlier in the evening mention that he's got another appointment right near me. He then speculates that the problem is with the node.

He hooked me up directly to the node bypassing everything in my house (and kept it hooked up inside my house at the same time...). Still pixelization!

So, they are sending maintenance to look at my node (and fix it) today or tomorrow.

So, this problem that I encountered is not the same as DE. Though, I though it was. :)

[QUOTE]I'm having a problem with the 6412 in that sometimes when I turn on the TV in the middle of recording, it will show up double screened.

This is a bug previously discussed in this thread. The workaround is to change channels back and forth once, or bring up and exit from the guide.

I am from the WoodBridge area of NJ. I just noticed today that the lower channels in my area 2-4-5-7 picture quality has greatly improved. I checked to see if they were converted to Digital but they weren't the signal is still analog. Has anyone else noticed a BIG improvement in picture quality on Analog Channels?


Rob

Rob, are you certain they didn't go digital. I'm in Newark, DE and as of March 1, several of the previously analog channels here are now digital. You can tell quickly (as opposed to going into diagnostic mode) by looking at the info for the DD symbol. Can't wait until they all are digital.

I went into the service mode by turning off the box then quickly pressing ok on the remote which brings you to the service mode. I went to check if I saw Qam 64 or 256 but all I saw was that it was analog signal.

Rob

Originally posted by rob316
I went into the service mode by turning off the box then quickly pressing ok on the remote which brings you to the service mode. I went to check if I saw Qam 64 or 256 but all I saw was that it was analog signal.

Rob

When you do this test you need to be on the channel your testing, also only some analog channels are being simulcast digitally..not all. For a listing of those channels currently being simulcast in Delaware go to the local Philly thread where I have posted the list.

Yes I was on Channel 7 when I did this. The Channel is still defintely Analog . I have 3 cable boxes all Digital and I have 1 TV that only has coaxial going straight in with no cable box all of them even the one without the cable box the reception is alot better

Originally posted by BJMoose
You can tell quickly (as opposed to going into diagnostic mode) by looking at the info for the DD symbol. Can't wait until they all are digital.

Since the 9.15 upgrade, I am no longer seeing the DD symbol when it appears I should be. I was watching CSI the other night, the lead-in said broadcast in dd5.1, yet I did not see the DD symbol. Anyone else experience this?

pete

I've had the loss of Audio twice and loss of 5.1 another time since the 9.15 upgrade. Try playing a recording.

I've had my 6412 for about three months now, an all of the sudden Friday evening, I started to get this very high pitched clicking noise. It doesn't do it all the time, but it does do it often now when recording and not. But I guess it is always recording.

On Friday I recorded 3 hours of Sci-fi and had lots of freezing and audio drops outs when I played back one of the three shows, the others were with fine or minimal to the point I don't remember.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

-Bruce

Got the 9.15 update on Friday early morning. Wasn't really having any propbems before that. I read that some had their boxes revert to non dolby digital audio. Mine stayed in the DD mode. I've noticed that only one tuner showes the DD symbol and not the other tuner on the HD channels. But it is putting out the full dolby signal. Can tell this on the receiver display. Apparently it can be sending 5.1 even if it doesn't indicate it.

Not exactly 1989 problem...but similar. I have blank entry in my DVR Recordings list "Thu 12/31 at 7:00p, 0 min" I tried to Delete it and now none of my recorded programs will play...no response to remote commands. No hard drive related functions working (pause live show, rewind, etc...) since trying to delete entry. I am going to try a few things listed in previous posts, but I don't want to lose all of my recorded programs...I will post results later. Anyone experience similar issue?

Chris.

I have this same issue.

I've tried to delete it. Strangely, it comes up with the name/description of the last DVR item I watched. But it sits blank in the list. Since it doesn't seem to be taking up any space (0 min), I'm ignoring it! :)

I'm guessing it's a bug with the 9.15 fix. I'm sure comcast will be hearing about it from others (and we'll see the increase of this issue on the boards).

Originally posted by Kaiser-Soze
I just emailed the link to a dozen people :)

Tho I truely hate rebates.

CompUSA's having a rebate/sale again this week... not quite as cheap, but nicer UPS... $25 off instant, $45 rebate, so you get a bit cheaper even if you hate rebates :)
Belkin 900VA UPS w/ AVR (http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=318494&pfp=srch1) , for $50...
I think mine has definitely helped the stability/reliability of my Tivo, 6412, and my DVD recorders...
(not to mention I can still record programs during blackouts! :-) )

bronowyn and progear

that's basically the same as the 1989 recordings, especially if you tried playing the zero minute recording. playing the 0 minute recording kind of acts like a virus in terms of watching anything else. unplugging the 6412 is the only remedy to have things work normal again but the 0 min. recording will probably still be there, just don't play it.

I've had it too (and before 9.15) & it DOES lock everything up if you hit play. Mine showed up as Dawn's did though, not "1989".

Originally posted by oleus
bronowyn and progear

that's basically the same as the 1989 recordings, especially if you tried playing the zero minute recording. playing the 0 minute recording kind of acts like a virus in terms of watching anything else. unplugging the 6412 is the only remedy to have things work normal again but the 0 min. recording will probably still be there, just don't play it.

Unplugging the 6412 (for a few minutes) unlocked everything, recordings are fine, drive functions back to normal. The "0" minute recording has turned into the phantom "1989" but DVR works fine as long as you don't touch that entry in your recordings list, otherwise the lock-up will re-occur. Only concern after restoring is I noticed several audio-drops, and freezing AFTER this whole incident...until yesterday I have never experienced any audio or freezing with th 6412 at all, even prior to 9.15 update.

Chris.

Originally posted by progear
Unplugging the 6412 (for a few minutes) unlocked everything, recordings are fine, drive functions back to normal. The "0" minute recording has turned into the phantom "1989" but DVR works fine as long as you don't touch that entry in your recordings list, otherwise the lock-up will re-occur. Only concern after restoring is I noticed several audio-drops, and freezing AFTER this whole incident...until yesterday I have never experienced any audio or freezing with th 6412 at all, even prior to 9.15 update.

Chris.

It seems to me that a lot of what we see could be the result of badly fragmented hard drives. The unlabeled or '1989' recordings could be 'lost' fragments that just get a defaul label put on them by the file system. And if your HD is highly fragmented, you could see more stuttering, drop outs, etc., due to the drive having a harder time reading/writing. When you pull the plug with recordings going on, as suggested earlier, you create an event where the box knows it will have a file system corruption, so it does some self-diagnosis and fixes the problem on boot up, clearing the pre-existing lost fragment in the process. At least that is how it looks to me. Maybe if they put a daily or weekly maintenance routine in the software or firmware where it does a defrag it might take care of a lot of these problems....any thoughts?

-Randy

For those with the phantom/1989 recordings: Does it disappear if you let the drive fill up and start auto-deleting?

My guess for the weird date is that the box's OS uses 1/1/90 as 'day 1'. That bad entry possibly has a date entry similar to FFFFFFFF, which in signed hex means -1. Does it list a time, too? I wonder if it's 11:59 pm on 12/31/89.

I received the 6412 this weekend. Originally I could not see any of the digital channels through either tuner. Tried a signal booster amp that I had, and then I started getting digital channels on one tuner, but the second tuner was pixellated. So, I pulled in a new cable run to replace the 20-year-old cable that was going to 6412. Now I have channels on both tuners, but the second tuner still breaks up on some channels, and not just the HD channels. Last night, I set it up to record two shows at the same time, one from DiscoveryHD, one from PBSHD. As expected, one of the tuners was fine during the recording, the second was broken up, just like it usually is.

Checking the box, it looks like the tuner signal strength is about the same for both.

Originally posted by IFLYSWA
...When you pull the plug with recordings going on, as suggested earlier, you create an event where the box knows it will have a file system corruption, so it does some self-diagnosis and fixes the problem on boot up, clearing the pre-existing lost fragment in the process. At least that is how it looks to me. Maybe if they put a daily or weekly maintenance routine in the software or firmware where it does a defrag it might take care of a lot of these problems....any thoughts?

-Randy

I think you are right on target with some sort of drive maintenance routine or utility...has anyone rooted out the exact cause of the "mystery" entries? I have some suspicions as to what triggered it...first I decided about 3 minutes into a program (HD) that I wanted to record it, so I hit record...at the conclusion of the recording, I went back to check where in the program it had started recording. Because I was on that channel prior to the program starting, it grabbed from the buffer and started the recording back at the beginning of the program. After FF through the program I decided to dump it...at that point, after confirming DELETE, all hard drive functions locked-up, and blank entry "0" min entry appeared in my recordings list...the process of retrieving from the buffer and susequently recording after the fact is a behavior which may have caused some fragmentation or allocation issue...just a thought, since this surfaced immediately during this process. I will try pulling the plug with 2 recordings running however I don't want to lose my existing recordings...if anyone has done this successfully without losing previous recordings?

Chris.

So... the resolution is to unplug the box, wherein it turns into a phantom 1989 recording, that if I try to play, will ruin all my other recordings? I think I'd rather keep it plugged in, cause the blank recording isn't doing anything at all.

Dawn

Dawn...I was able to recover my other recordings and tested them after unplugging, but "phantom" entry still exists. It appears that any command executed while on the "phantom" program will lock up all of your drive functions again. I was concerned about losing the previous recordings when pulling the plug while recording 2 simultaneous programs as suggested in several prior posts...I can live with the entry for now, but at some point my OCD will get the better of me and I will need to find a way...


Chris.

Maybe someone already brought this up, but: is it possible that this "phantom" recording (and I've had it since I got my box this past weekend) is actually the buffer file?

I tried a delete on it, too, and got an "operation failed" message, causing the box to hang for a minute or so before it returned to normal operation.

You won't lose any old recordings if you pull the plug while recording two events. In fact the whole reason I resorted to that tactic was to keep my old recordings instead of having to blow them away to get rid of the 1989. Make sure to keep it unplugged for at least 5 minutes before plugging it back in. Although I haven't experimented enought to know if that matters or not, it is how I did it the previous two times I fixed a 1989.

The only other way I know of to get rid of a 1989 for sure is to do the box reset sequence described previously in the thread where it will erase all your recordings and series timers permanently. It's like reformatting the drive.

I think everyone should try to fix 1989s when they appear because I think they do take up space on the drive even if they claim to be zero minutes long. If you manage to repair one you will usually see it has the whole program recorded there, so it definitely is not zero minutes in reality.

Originally posted by frankz1
The audio setup menu has no effect on what happens when you connect to an A/V receiver via Optical/Digital cables. It only effects the analog outputs.

Sorry for dredging up a 2 month-old post - but lately I've been having an issue with my audio.

Firstly, I am absolutely hooked up to my receiver via optical. I have no other inputs into it.

Now - when I'm watching shows (mainly on Fox HD), and I use the FF/RW skip buttons rapidly (like to skip through commercials) - what often happens is the audio level goes way down. The only way to fix it is to get to the audio menu (Menu -> Menu -> Setup -> Audio) and change the compression level from "Heavy" to "Light" then back to "Heavy". When I do this, the audio goes back to normal. For awhile. It happens quite frequently.

Anyone know of an issue, or if there is some way to fix this? I wish I knew exactly what those Audio settings did (Heavy - Light, Matrix, Stereo, etc) so I could tell just what I was giving up by chaging some of them.

Rgds,

JohnW

After several months without a 1989 phantom recording, I recently got one for the first time. Since it sounded interesting, I gave it three thumbs up (just kidding). After watching everything I cared about, I deleted all of my recordings, so the 1989 thing is all I have left (I had hoped it would go away). It takes up 3% of my recording space. While I currently have no real recordings, what is the best way to get rid of it?

Re: the Phantom 1989 recording...

Since it's the major topic of discussion lately, I'll give background on my situation. I mention how to delete it several pages back.

Mine showed up almost as soon as I got the box. I wasn't keeping a large number of shows on file nor did I have a lot of Season Pass's set up. It seemed to happen when I was recording a show and cancelled the recording while watching the show. No idea if this was just coincidence or not. I also noticed it would take on the description of recently watched shows. I think the theory that it's fragmented info is most likely scenario. I went through the full drive sweep I mention earlier and have had zero issues since. I'm still on version 9.12.

I just learned something new and thought I would share it with those who didn't know this existed (since Comcast does not give the complete documentation for the 6412). This is from the iguide manual

Slow Motion
Your DVR is equipped with slow-forward and slow-rewind functions
to give you crisp and clear Slow Motion images. Ever wonder what
the referees are looking at when they review a controversial play?
Use Slow Motion to get an inside look.To activate slow-forward,
press PAUSE and then FAST FORWARD .To use slow-rewind,
press PAUSE and then REWIND .To return to regular speed,
press PLAY.

I found this out by accident and then looked it up online. I'm going to read more of the manual to see what else I don't know.

I tried the record two programs and unplug the unit deal about a week ago. I am pretty sure that I waited at least 5 minutes before plugging back in, but the 1989 recording was still there. Does this work pretty consistently for most? I might try it again and wait much longer to plug the unit back in. Has anyone tried just recording a lot of content on it to see if the unit auto deletes it when it gets full. I have been reluctant to try this as I believe mine showed up when the box somehow recorded a 30 minute sitcom for like 6 hours (or until there was no space left). After I deleted the 6 hour show the phantom recording showed up. There were no problems with the 6 hour recording though, other than I never programmed it to record that long.

Thanks,

Kris

kgd -

i am having the same problem. i can't get my current 1989 recording to disappear...i tried the "record two programs/unplug/wait 5 minutes" method....didn't work. waited longer to plug in....didn't work.

i have also tried forcing it off by filling up the hard drive but that doesn't work.

i used to just wait a week or two and they would always go away....not this time, i've had it over a month!!! and i think it's actually taking up more than 3% of space even thought that's what it's reported as.

and actually trying to delete it freezes up the box and causes me to have to do an unplug.

argh!