I actually like the current iGuide colors, but what a sentence! Adding another color scheme should be simple, but I still hope they fix this stuff first:


- Invisible/inaudible HDNet/HDNet Movies, ESPN2 channels ;)
You have that problem too, huh..except with mine I can't see or hear TNT-HD either...?!?! :p :D

As I understand it both Comcast and the iGuide people stay on top of this site. They are due to roll out a new version of the iGuide later this summer and hopefully it will contain enhancements to the functionality. I am far more interested in functionality enhancements than color schemes how pretty this looks. I have been able to modify the colors to my liking using the choices built into the iGuide already.

markjrenna listed all the phone numbers for Comcast and iGuide a while back. You might want to try searching on his name to get that posting.

Gemstar-TV Guide/i-Guide - (212) 626-2564
Comcast Corp Office - (215) 665-1700

I feel stupid asking this, and I've tried searching and can't come up with an answer to my problem. I'm not totally new to all of this having hooked up quite a few systems over the years.

I've had my 6412 for quite a while, but am just now adding a dvd recorder to this system. The 6412 has cables running to the tv/dbs inputs on my Yamaha receiver. I'm using optical outputs for the sound. I have a vcr and the dvd recorder cables running from the inputs/outputs to the proper connections on the receiver. But......I am not able to receive any video or cable sound on either device. Each device plays on it's own, meaning I can watch and listen to both tapes and discs, with the sound coming from my system properly. And I can watch output from the cable box without problem, but just not through either device.

What am I missing? I've stared at the hookups endlessly, read the manual, and it appears all my connections are correct. I'm stumped. I know someone who REALLY knows what they are doing will take one glance at my setup and show me my errors, but can anyone offer any help as to what else I can check to make this work?

Thanks very much.

I recently ran into a similar audio issue when adding a DVD recorder and discovered that I needed to also run the RCA L/R to the receiver from the 6412, in addition to the optical, in order for the audio outs on the receiver to pass the audio to DVD Recorder/VCR.

Besides being based on a badly outdated, 1980's interface design, the iGuide graphics potentially are destructive for plasma screen owners. Significantly, even with careful use, the over-saturated, red TV-Guide logo, white type and white separation lines create serious plasma burn-in problems with long-term use. Also, the rudimentary design and the overly dark, comic book-like colors draw attention to themselves as much as they aid navigation, and actually make the content less readable.

I'd like to see the iGuide designers revamp their interface with a more modern look and use less saturated, neutral colors, or perhaps even a translucent overlay.As a plasma screen owner, I second this request. Most broadcasters have switched to on-screen graphics that are more subtle and/or transluscent because they look better, and they are more plasma-friendly.

My TV is more important to me than my cable TV service. If one of them has to go, it won't be the TV. I have already ditched one media player product for this very reason.

I recently ran into a similar audio issue when adding a DVD recorder and discovered that I needed to also run the RCA L/R to the receiver from the 6412, in addition to the optical, in order for the audio outs on the receiver to pass the audio to DVD Recorder/VCR.This issue is a limitation of the receiver, not the 6412. A few high end receivers can downmix digital audio input to output analog audio through line level A/V jacks, but this is a pretty rare feature. Wish my own Rotel preamp/processor could do it.

As a plasma screen owner, I second this request. Most broadcasters have switched to on-screen graphics that are more subtle and/or transluscent because they look better, and they are more plasma-friendly.

My TV is more important to me than my cable TV service. If one of them has to go, it won't be the TV. I have already ditched one media player product for this very reason.
I am not in the menus enough that their colors/saturation/brightness worries me, but I am constantly hounding my wife/daughter to stop hitting pause and leaving that "elapsed time bar" on screen. It wouldn't be that bad that the center of the image is bright red, but the bar doesn't dissappear if the player is paused.

This issue is a limitation of the receiver, not the 6412. A few high end receivers can downmix digital audio input to output analog audio through line level A/V jacks, but this is a pretty rare feature...

It's not the 6412's issue at all...however, if the 6412 had a coax (cable signal) out/thru enabling the signal pass to the DVD recorder, this would open-up some additional possibilities, and make for a simpler setup. I know the moto 5100, 6200, 6208 had the coax out/thru but I am assuming that copy protection issues guided the decision to remove it from the 6412. For example, recording the HD feed from the 6412 to the DVD recorder, rather than the SD signal...I have to run component or composite direct to the Line-in of the DVD recorder to pull this off. Everything is letterboxed but the quality of the recording is much better...

We have a rear projection... but if I need to pause for extended periods of time, I just turn off the TV. :)

I feel stupid asking this, and I've tried searching and can't come up with an answer to my problem. I'm not totally new to all of this having hooked up quite a few systems over the years.

I've had my 6412 for quite a while, but am just now adding a dvd recorder to this system. The 6412 has cables running to the tv/dbs inputs on my Yamaha receiver. I'm using optical outputs for the sound. I have a vcr and the dvd recorder cables running from the inputs/outputs to the proper connections on the receiver. But......I am not able to receive any video or cable sound on either device. Each device plays on it's own, meaning I can watch and listen to both tapes and discs, with the sound coming from my system properly. And I can watch output from the cable box without problem, but just not through either device.

What am I missing? I've stared at the hookups endlessly, read the manual, and it appears all my connections are correct. I'm stumped. I know someone who REALLY knows what they are doing will take one glance at my setup and show me my errors, but can anyone offer any help as to what else I can check to make this work?

Thanks very much.

If I'm understanding your question right, you're using your receiver to switch your video signal? If so, for the video, you'll also have to run a video feed directly to your recorder to see anything. The way you have it set up, as soon as you switch your receiver to your vcr or dvd you cut the video signal from the 6412. The way you have it, you can record from the 6412, but you can't simultaneously watch it from the recorder while it is being recorded.

Alternatively, connect your vid-outs directly to the tv.

I am not in the menus enough that their colors/saturation/brightness worries me, but I am constantly hounding my wife/daughter to stop hitting pause and leaving that "elapsed time bar" on screen. It wouldn't be that bad that the center of the image is bright red, but the bar doesn't dissappear if the player is paused.
If you hit the EXIT button while in PAUSE mode, the progress bar is removed from the image on the screen.

We have a rear projection... but if I need to pause for extended periods of time, I just turn off the TV. :)
That's what I do, and depending on how long a period I'll be away from the display, I just turn the whole system off as the recording will begin playing from where ever you stopped it at earlier.

I live in Chicago, and just had Comcast service installed in my house yesterday. When I placed the order for the STB I specifically requested the 6412, and yet when the tech arrived I got the 6208. He told me I could just go to a location and exchange it, but I have since heard that this isn't allowed.

In short, my question is: Can anyone tell me how to upgrade to the 6412? In Chicago, they tell me that they're not distributing them which of course is not true.

We have a rear projection... but if I need to pause for extended periods of time, I just turn off the TV. :)
You're preaching to the choir. You might have a common sense solution, but some family members don't give a crap.
That's what I do, and depending on how long a period I'll be away from the display, I just turn the whole system off as the recording will begin playing from where ever you stopped it at earlier.
Ditto

If you hit the EXIT button while in PAUSE mode, the progress bar is removed from the image on the screen.
I hadn't realize this. I can start training my 4 year old to hit exit tonight.

I specifically requested the 6412, and yet when the tech arrived I got the 6208.
I would keep scheduling appointments for an exchange (that are convenient to me) and keep sending the tech away every time he arrives with the wrong box. I would also ask the csr for a "dual tuner dvr", not a 6412.

If I'm understanding your question right, you're using your receiver to switch your video signal? If so, for the video, you'll also have to run a video feed directly to your recorder to see anything. The way you have it set up, as soon as you switch your receiver to your vcr or dvd you cut the video signal from the 6412. The way you have it, you can record from the 6412, but you can't simultaneously watch it from the recorder while it is being recorded.

Alternatively, connect your vid-outs directly to the tv.

Absolutely makes sense, and that worked! I guess I thought that the video signal would be passed through the receiver regardless of which component I was switched to. I did as you said, and it's working. I have picture and sound through the DVD recorder, and just a picture (no sound) through my vcr. I'll play with it some more to try to get the sound on the vcr. But right now, thanks to your help, I'm much better off. Thanks very much!

Absolutely makes sense, and that worked! I guess I thought that the video signal would be passed through the receiver regardless of which component I was switched to. I did as you said, and it's working. I have picture and sound through the DVD recorder, and just a picture (no sound) through my vcr. I'll play with it some more to try to get the sound on the vcr. But right now, thanks to your help, I'm much better off. Thanks very much!

Glad to have helped. For the audio you'll have to use the analog-out on the 6412 to your vcr, not the digital-out. They ouput simultaneously, so it's not a problem hooking them both up (i.e. digi-out to your receiver and ana-out to your vcr). If you want to feed the audio to both your vcr and your dvd-recorder, you could always use Y-splitters on the analog rca cables.

If you hit the EXIT button while in PAUSE mode, the progress bar is removed from the image on the screen.Good point. However, it still leaves the video image paused on the screen. Depending on the image, that may or may not present a problem for plasma burn in. When I'm pausing a DVR playback for a length of time, I just STOP the playback, which kicks the video back to the last live channel.

Nevertheless, any such workarounds should not be excuses for iGuide to leave its user interface as is. Overly saturated graphics are just inferior design these days.

If you hit the EXIT button while in PAUSE mode, the progress bar is removed from the image on the screen.
I gave this a try yesterday. Its a good news/bad news scenario.
The good news is that it works on prerecorded material.
The bad news is that when pausing live tv, the progress bar will redisplay itself every time the minute hand on the clock changes.

Sorry, this has probably been addressed, but I can't find it easily in this uber-long thread.

I've had the 6412 since last year and haven't had too many problems with mine, but lately it seems that the hard drive doesn't hold as much content as it once did.

Last night it was 98% full, but the only recordings I had were a 3 hour HD program (from TNT-HD), plus about 10 or 12 standard definition recordings, most of them movies off of TCM of less than 2 hours each - so, say maybe 25 hours of SD. When I add all this up it just doesn't seem like I'm getting the capacity I should - in the past I know I've had several more HD recordings on there and it wasn't nearly that full.

Is this something that a complete reset of the system would cure? Any suggestions? (Besides to watch stuff sooner and delete it).

If you hit the EXIT button while in PAUSE mode, the progress bar is removed from the image on the screen.


True, but it comes back in about a minute. Then you have to hit the EXIT button again, but like a bad penny, it again comes back in about a minute, etc., etc.

As far as I know, there is no PERMANENT way to get rid of the progress bar.

Only if you are on the threshold of having enough signal will this amplifier make ANY difference.

Is this correct?

I've read through nearly all of the posts in this thread pertaining to the Motorola signal booster, but I'd still like to ask whether or not getting one might do me some good...

My SNRs are "good " and "fair" at 35 and 32 and my AGCs are at about 55, yet I do still occassionally experience pixelization on some high-definition channels. Is it worth installing that Motorola booster? At only $38 on Amazon.com, I'd be happy to spring for it even if it would make for only a marginal improvement in terms of eliminating the break-up on HD channels or improving the PQ on the analog channels. But if the SNR and AGC are such that it won't make any difference at all, then of course I wouldn't want to waste the money. (In case it's relevant, my house came pre-wired with three cable jacks and I am using two of them -- One into the 6412 and the other directly into another TV.)

Thanks!

Good point. However, it still leaves the video image paused on the screen. Depending on the image, that may or may not present a problem for plasma burn in. When I'm pausing a DVR playback for a length of time, I just STOP the playback, which kicks the video back to the last live channel.

Nevertheless, any such workarounds should not be excuses for iGuide to leave its user interface as is. Overly saturated graphics are just inferior design these days.

I gave this a try yesterday. Its a good news/bad news scenario.
The good news is that it works on prerecorded material.
The bad news is that when pausing live tv, the progress bar will redisplay itself every time the minute hand on the clock changes.

True, for some reason I thought we were talking about a recorded program. In any case, if using a CRT or plasma display, pausing the image for an extended length of time is not a good idea anyway, even if you could keep the progress bar of the screen. If I'm going to be away more than 10-15 mins, I'll turn the display off or go back to live TV. I've never tried it, but you might be able to pause the program you are watching and then swap tuners to an in motion live show, then swap back to the paused live show when you are ready to resume. I'm not sure if this works though, never tried it.

Last night it was 98% full, but the only recordings I had were a 3 hour HD program (from TNT-HD), plus about 10 or 12 standard definition recordings, most of them movies off of TCM of less than 2 hours each - so, say maybe 25 hours of SD. When I add all this up it just doesn't seem like I'm getting the capacity I should - in the past I know I've had several more HD recordings on there and it wasn't nearly that full.

I believe analog recordings take up more space than digital ones, so with all those 2 hr analog movies you mention, it probably is quite full.

Well, that seems strange because it had been my experience that SD programs took up much less space. I deleted a couple of the SD programs and it only dropped the percentage by a couple of points each time. Conversely, when I delete an HD recording it takes the number down a lot more. I don't want to delete everything right now, but it just seems that if I did that one by one at the rate they seem to go down I wouldn't reach zero even when they were all deleted.

I know the "buffer" keeps the past hour of an SD program, but only 15 minutes of HD, so that would seem to confirm that an HD program takes up a lot more space.

Are you making the distinction between an SD program in the analog band (below channel 100) vs. an SD program on the digital channels (above 100)? It makes sense that those 480i digital channel recordings would be more efficient than analog, but seems that HD just has so much more data that it used more space regardless.

I believe analog recordings take up more space than digital ones, so with all those 2 hr analog movies you mention, it probably is quite full.

Just an FYI, but on a 6412 w/ 120 GB HD, only aprox 109 GB is allocated to DVR storage.

From Motorola 6412 DVR specs page:

An integrated 120 GB hard drive lets you record up to an estimated 60 Hours of Analog, & aprox 90 hours of standard digital TV or 12–20 hours of HDTV. You can maintain a personal library of your favorite programs to watch whenever it's convenient.

It also depends on what the signal's bandwith is. Not all Analog/SD/ED/HD programs are sent at the same rate...

I believe analog recordings take up more space than digital ones, so with all those 2 hr analog movies you mention, it probably is quite full.

While I think that is true for disgital SD vs. analog, neither takes near the space of HD...and as Scanpa mentioned, bitrate/bandwidth is going to affect the size of the file, particularly in the HD realm....

-Randy

Another thing to look to, is the DS: Digital Simulcasting of all Analog Ch 02 - 100 has begun.

Here on the Hershey Pa. Comcast system, 31 of 69 Analog Ch are now in DS Mode. :) More space when recording shows from these ch, plus Digital Audio.

Picture Quality on DS Ch is allot better then it's Analog counterpart, since the STB no longer has to re-convert the signal back to analog for the crappy & cheep analog tuner... :D

Another thing to look to, is the DS: Digital Simulcasting of all Analog Ch 02 - 100 has begun.

Here on the Hershey Pa. Comcast system, 31 of 69 Analog Ch are now in DS Mode.
scanpa, have they removed any of the analog channels after they are simulcast?

scanpa, have they removed any of the analog channels after they are simulcast?

No, analog Ch 02 - 100 will remain until comcast forces all of the cable subscribers into getting either a Digital STB or a Cablecard.

If you do have a DCT STB, then it will auto switch to the digital signal.

example:

Ch-8 CN8 has 2 signals for that ch. 1-analog & 2-Digital,

non Digital STB will only see the analog ch-8 signal, and the Digital STB will see & use the Digital QAM256 ch-8 signal. Both will still be on Ch-8!

Some interesting news...

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA608653.html?display=Features&referral=SUPP

Highlights...

"• On the set-top front, Motorola Inc. debuted its new all-digital box, the “DCT3412,” the companion to its “DCT6412” series.

The DCT3412 is an all-digital, dual-tuner HD digital-video recorder with a Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification signaling gateway, which Motorola was positioning as the center device in its whole-house platform. Motorola said MSOs could configure the set-top to have hard drives ranging from 120 gigabytes to 320 GB.

The set-top was shown as the centerpiece to Motorola’s Ucentric Digital Home Platform. The platform supports OpenCable Application Platform applications, the company said."

Those of us with 100% DS will be happy to see the 3412. secondly the 320 GB HD will be sweet! :)

Glad to have helped. For the audio you'll have to use the analog-out on the 6412 to your vcr, not the digital-out. They ouput simultaneously, so it's not a problem hooking them both up (i.e. digi-out to your receiver and ana-out to your vcr). If you want to feed the audio to both your vcr and your dvd-recorder, you could always use Y-splitters on the analog rca cables.

If I could just ask for your help one more time. I seem to have lost how to hook up the vcr. I have the dvd going, no problem. But I can't seem to get the vcr to record picture or sound. I understand the y-splitter for the audio, but where do I get the video? I thought I had it, but it was just the video from the dvd recorder. I'd have to turn the dvd on to get the picture to record in the vcr. That seems too clumsy.

How do I get the additional video cable into the vcr? Then I split the audio from the cable box, one set into the vcr, the other into the dvd recorder?

Thanks again!

Those of us with 100% DS will be happy to see the 3412. secondly the 320 GB HD will be sweet! :)

I feel that most people would just like to have the ability to use External HD via FW or USB. (hot Swap Mode) :D :D

I have 3 120gb External USB Seagate HD on my Computer and there all 99% full! :p

If I could just ask for your help one more time. I seem to have lost how to hook up the vcr. I have the dvd going, no problem. But I can't seem to get the vcr to record picture or sound. I understand the y-splitter for the audio, but where do I get the video? I thought I had it, but it was just the video from the dvd recorder. I'd have to turn the dvd on to get the picture to record in the vcr. That seems too clumsy.

How do I get the additional video cable into the vcr? Then I split the audio from the cable box, one set into the vcr, the other into the dvd recorder?

Thanks again!

John: You have a couple of choices, depending on what inputs your tv/dvd-recorder/vcr accept. From your original post, it sounds like you originally have your svid-out from your 6412 going to your receiver. Is this correct, or are you using the component-out cables through your receiver? And what kind of cable are you now running into your dvd recorder? If your vcr is like mine, it only accepts a composite-in anyway, in which case you can simply use the composite-out (yellow) from the 6412 and plug it into the composite-in on the vcr.

If you hit the EXIT button while in PAUSE mode, the progress bar is removed from the image on the screen.

Thanks for the tip. I occasionally hit the pause bar to look at a spectacular sports play. Problem is the "progress bar" usually obliterates the part of the screen I want to see.
While on the subject, is there an easy way to do slow motion?

...mike

Thanks for the tip. I occasionally hit the pause bar to look at a spectacular sports play. Problem is the "progress bar" usually obliterates the part of the screen I want to see.
While on the subject, is there an easy way to do slow motion?

...mike

the pause button is also a frame by frame button! :)

Also, if you hit the FF button while it's paused, it will slow FF (or conversely, you can Rew while it's paused, and get slow rewind).

My parents have a 27" Analog TV, (viewed from about 13'), with S-video. Since there is only one Motorola dual-tuner DVR offered, that is what my folks will be getting, even w/o HD.

Does anyone have a similar setup? If so, how does it look?

They only have Analog cable. They got tired of waiting for the Digital Simulcast to be completed, they want to get more channels and a DVR already, and hopefully similar PQ.

I have HD and 6412. I think when they changed the Analogs from 'High 1' to 'High 2', it really improved them, plus some channels are DS already, and supposedly it will be done by month's end.

My parents have a 27" Analog TV, (viewed from about 13'), with S-video. Since there is only one Motorola dual-tuner DVR offered, that is what my folks will be getting, even w/o HD.

Does anyone have a similar setup? If so, how does it look?

They only have Analog cable. They got tired of waiting for the Digital Simulcast to be completed, they want to get more channels and a DVR already, and hopefully similar PQ.

I have HD and 6412. I think when they changed the Analogs from 'High 1' to 'High 2', it really improved them, plus some channels are DS already, and supposedly it will be done by month's end.It will look good for Analog channels. It will look great for Digital/DS'd channels. They should be very pleased.

There are some minor differences in PQ from Composite to SVideo. You may want to compare the two to see which looks best on their TV.

My parents have a 27" Analog TV, (viewed from about 13'), with S-video. Since there is only one Motorola dual-tuner DVR offered, that is what my folks will be getting, even w/o HD.

Does anyone have a similar setup? If so, how does it look?

They only have Analog cable. They got tired of waiting for the Digital Simulcast to be completed, they want to get more channels and a DVR already, and hopefully similar PQ.

I have HD and 6412. I think when they changed the Analogs from 'High 1' to 'High 2', it really improved them, plus some channels are DS already, and supposedly it will be done by month's end.
It should look quite good. Just be certain that the YPbPr setting in the configuration screen (hit MENU when box is OFF) is configured for 480i, otherwise you will not have any on-screen menus when watching downconverted HD.

It will look good for Analog channels. It will look great for Digital/DS'd channels. They should be very pleased.

There are some minor differences in PQ from Composite to SVideo. You may want to compare the two to see which looks best on their TV.
Thanks. They have a fall 1990 Mits.; it was a great TV for it's time, one of the first, IIRC, to have s-video. I would think s-video would be better.

With this TV, when an s-video connection is present, it ignores Composite, so I will try s-video first, and see how they like it, I am sure it will be fine.

It should look quite good. Just be certain that the YPbPr setting in the configuration screen (hit MENU when box is OFF) is configured for 480i, otherwise you will not have any on-screen menus when watching downconverted HD.
That setting is really for HD channels, right? (rather than Component) And, yes, it would have to be 480i.
Also, 4:3 Override should be turned ON, correct?

I believe the defaults are 1080i and OFF, which, AFAIK, results in nothing on any channels on an Analog TV.

My parents have a 27" Analog TV, (viewed from about 13'), with S-video. Since there is only one Motorola dual-tuner DVR offered, that is what my folks will be getting, even w/o HD.

Does anyone have a similar setup? If so, how does it look?

When we first received our 6412 in Sacramento, we still had our 32-inch Sony 4:3 SDTV installed (the new HD set had not arrived). I immediately noticed a significant degradation in picture quality on the interlaced, analog channels when the old cable box was replaced.

Specifically, every analog channel was fuzzy (not sharp) when viewed through the 6412, and the signal strength seemed to vary widely from channel-to-channel (the brightness/contrast and color quality really varied). This problem remains now that the 6412 is connected to a 43-inch plasma HDTV, only it is more noticeable since the TV is bigger and higher in resolution). It is very frustrating, and it appears as if the 6412 just is not capable of displaying an optimized analog signal.

If either of your parents has any sense of photographic quality (I am a professional photographer), they will notice this (if it's a problem in your area), though they may be willing to live with it. The installers may feign ignorance, and even try to convince your parents that they see no difference (my Comcast installer, a subcontractor, did this and left quickly because he was being paid a flat fee for each job). I suppose it could be a problem limited to Comcast Sacramento, but I have read other forum complaints on this from 6412 users around the nation. Comcast even sent out a call center supervisor and two experienced techs to doublecheck the setup and see the problem firsthand. They swapped out our 6412 (twice) trying to solve this. Finally, they gave up, saying it is a known issue at Motorola.

According to Comcast Sacramento, the only solution appears to be a next-generation digital cable box that will correct the analog tuning problem (should one ever be made available). A more likely scenario is that your local Comcast office will move all the analog channels to digital before a replacement arrives, which theoretically should correct the problem.

However, most of the channels that already have been converted to digital in the Comcast Sacramento area still look just as bad as the remaining analog channels (14-99) that have yet to be converted. So I now believe that once a conversion to digital is made, the Comcast engineers then have to plow through the channel lineup and make adjustments to the signal of each for digital broadcasting. In Sacramento, this does not seem to be happening quickly. Only the basic local channels (3, 6, 8, 10, 13) look good on the digital simulcast channels, but even one of these (NBC channel 3), still is very fuzzy. The problem was bad enough that we just stopped watching virtually all analog channels for about three months. Recently, some of the underwhelming digital channels have shown improvement, but the quality for most is still lackluster given Comcast's premium prices.

The worse part of all this is that Comcast Sacramento is virtually unresponsive regarding information on progress in the conversion to digital. Their reps are very nice and polite, and they always offer "to send someone out." However, they have no information and accurate answers to questions. Thus, communications with customers leaves much to be desired. Ideally, you should hope the problem does not occur in your area, or that your parents don't notice any difference.

My parents have a 27" Analog TV, (viewed from about 13'), with S-video. Since there is only one Motorola dual-tuner DVR offered, that is what my folks will be getting, even w/o HD.

Does anyone have a similar setup? If so, how does it look?

They only have Analog cable. They got tired of waiting for the Digital Simulcast to be completed, they want to get more channels and a DVR already, and hopefully similar PQ.

I have HD and 6412. I think when they changed the Analogs from 'High 1' to 'High 2', it really improved them, plus some channels are DS already, and supposedly it will be done by month's end.

I have that setup in my living room. Works fine! You can tune the HD channels, but the on-screen info doesn't display, so it gets confusing for a min until you realize you are on an HD channel with a SD TV. Worth it to me, just for the DVR.

That setting is really for HD channels, right? (rather than Component) And, yes, it would have to be 480i.
Also, 4:3 Override should be turned ON, correct?

I believe the defaults are 1080i and OFF, which, AFAIK, results in nothing on any channels on an Analog TV.
I believe that when YPbPr is set to 480i, the 4:3 override is disabled as everything is locked to 480i.

Also be aware that HD channels will be letterboxed, although I'm not certain if the TV Type option (4:3/16:9) has an effect on 480i.

I have that setup in my living room. Works fine! You can tune the HD channels, but the on-screen info doesn't display, so it gets confusing for a min until you realize you are on an HD channel with a SD TV. Worth it to me, just for the DVR.
Using S-video, the Info. bar will be present on Digital SD and Analog channels, correct?

I believe that when YPbPr is set to 480i, the 4:3 override is disabled as everything is locked to 480i.

Also be aware that HD channels will be letterboxed, although I'm not certain if the TV Type option (4:3/16:9) has an effect on 480i.
I would set the TV type to 4:3, in case it matters.

You are probably right about 4:3 Override, it would be pointless. That setting must be disabled, because it would be 480i either way.

As an aside, does it still show YPbPr, even with S-Video (or Composite)?

Is there any way to turn the All-On button into a button that ONLY turns the TV on and off? (ie: not do anything to the cable box or audio receiver.) I ask because I don't want family members to use it as an All-Off button, and have it turn the cable box off during an in-progress recording. I'd rather just leave my cable box and audio receiver on all the time.

Using S-video, the Info. bar will be present on Digital SD and Analog channels, correct?
Yes, the info bars and all on-screen info is present on everything, except the HD channels.

Is there any way to turn the All-On button into a button that ONLY turns the TV on and off? (ie: not do anything to the cable box or audio receiver.) I ask because I don't want family members to use it as an All-Off button, and have it turn the cable box off during an in-progress recording. I'd rather just leave my cable box and audio receiver on all the time.

They could just push the TV button, then the power button to turn just the TV off. That's how everyone in my house is trained. The 6412 seems to be happier if it just stays on all the time.

They could just push the TV button, then the power button to turn just the TV off. That's how everyone in my house is trained. The 6412 seems to be happier if it just stays on all the time.

I could do that. However, I'm talking about teaching a 5-year-old who can easily work my DirecTiVo. The DirecTiVo had a simple but effective basically flawless remote. All remotes should have this capability:

TV: on/off only.
DVR: everything except on/off, mute, volume up/down.
Receiver: volume up/down and mute only.

Otherwise, you need to worry about which button was last pressed before pressing the next button, or what equipment is on or off before turning everything else on or off.

I could do that. However, I'm talking about teaching a 5-year-old who can easily work my DirecTiVo. The DirecTiVo had a simple but effective basically flawless remote. All remotes should have this capability:

TV: on/off only.
DVR: everything except on/off, mute, volume up/down.
Receiver: volume up/down and mute only.

Otherwise, you need to worry about which button was last pressed before pressing the next button, or what equipment is on or off before turning everything else on or off.

I remeber those days and I feel for you. Have you investigated the programmable remotes that are on the market? Unless there are some hacks for the comcast remote, that seems to be your only option.

Has anyone in Chicago's 6412 become very sluggish for On Demand? While mine used to be pretty quick, it now displays "One Moment Please" after very single command, and it waits a few seconds each time.

My neighbors just got Comcast attached, and I wonder if something the technician did when hooking them up might be responsible. (I live in a two unit building). How likely is that?

One final question: Every once in a while, I will turn on my TV to discover that the 6412's screen is totally black. If I change channels, it will display the guide, but no picture. I have to go into the DVR and play back a recorded show to get it to snap out of it. Once I do this the picture displays normally again. Is this something that otehrs have experienced? (Sorry, this thread is so long its hard to read absolutely all of it--I did read most of it.)

Thanks for your help!

Has anyone in Chicago's 6412 become very sluggish for On Demand? While mine used to be pretty quick, it now displays "One Moment Please" after very single command, and it waits a few seconds each time.

My neighbors just got Comcast attached, and I wonder if something the technician did when hooking them up might be responsible. (I live in a two unit building). How likely is that?
You were lucky before. At least by me, it's always taken 4-5 seconds for things to begin.

One final question: Every once in a while, I will turn on my TV to discover that the 6412's screen is totally black. If I change channels, it will display the guide, but no picture. I have to go into the DVR and play back a recorded show to get it to snap out of it. Once I do this the picture displays normally again. Is this something that otehrs have experienced? (Sorry, this thread is so long its hard to read absolutely all of it--I did read most of it.)
This is a well known bug. To fix it for now, unplug the box, wait a minute, plug it in, then wait at least 1 minute before turning it back on. I would do this after turning it off first, to be safe. You then will need to wait a few hours for the guide data to reload. You will NOT lose any settings, recordings or scheduled recordings. It's best to do this before leaving for work in the morning, or before going to sleep so it will reload while you are not using it.

The only 'fix' is to leave the box on all the time if it bothers you. It only happens about every 4-8 weeks, so I just reboot it as listed above.

This is a well known bug. To fix it for now, unplug the box, wait a minute, plug it in, then wait at least 1 minute before turning it back on. I would do this after turning it off first, to be safe. You then will need to wait a few hours for the guide data to reload. You will NOT lose any settings, recordings or scheduled recordings. It's best to do this before leaving for work in the morning, or before going to sleep so it will reload while you are not using it.

The only 'fix' is to leave the box on all the time if it bothers you. It only happens about every 4-8 weeks, so I just reboot it as listed above.

Actually, the fix he was doing is much easier (play a pre-recorded program for a moment, and then return to live TV). But, I agree the best way to avoid it is to leave the 6412 on all the time.

I could do that. However, I'm talking about teaching a 5-year-old who can easily work my DirecTiVo. The DirecTiVo had a simple but effective basically flawless remote. All remotes should have this capability:

TV: on/off only.
DVR: everything except on/off, mute, volume up/down.
Receiver: volume up/down and mute only.

Otherwise, you need to worry about which button was last pressed before pressing the next button, or what equipment is on or off before turning everything else on or off.

I remeber those days and I feel for you. Have you investigated the programmable remotes that are on the market? Unless there are some hacks for the comcast remote, that seems to be your only option.

By using commands found on www.remotecentral.com and www.hifi-remote.com for the Radio Shack and All For One remotes, I was able to (just about) solve all my issues. Now, I always keep the 6412 remote in Cable mode, but changed the Power button to only control the TV power, and the TV/VCR button to only change the TV's inputs, and the Volume/Mute buttons to only control my Receiver ... all within the Cable mode. I just have to make sure nobody ever uses the All-On button ... I'm thinking of ripping it off and filling in the hole!

(My apologies if this issue has been addressed, but I haven't been able to find it in this thread. I've also read the 6412 manual.)

I'm trying to change the 4:3 override setting from 480i to 480p, but I'm unable to. When I turn off the 6412, hit Select, and go to User Settings, the menu comes up, but there is no cursor and I can't change any of the settings.

In case it's relevant, which perhaps it may be, my 6412 is connected to my 60XS955 via a DVI/HDMI cable, and my cable provider is Comcast (Montgomery County, MD).

Thanks!

Couldn't find if anyone else had this problem or not. Running the 6412 through a Pioneer 1014 and the audio keeps cutting out. The signal switches from Dolby to Stereo every five to ten seconds. It is extremely annoying and makes it unbearable.

As background, this is the second 6412 I have had. The first one Comcast put in lasted about 4 hours before it died. It amazed me how I had to convince the tech that since the unit would not display any internal diagnostics that I doubted the wire coming from the pole to my house could be the problem. Although it was funny watching him climb up the pole to check the connection. You'd think they'd at least train those guys to identify poison ivy. Probably file a workers comp claim.

Anyway, after installing a amplifier, I now have any acceptable picture but the audio problem did not improve. The cable strength levels show as good.

Any help would be appreciated as I'd rather take a beating than call Comcast again.

Do you have the 1014 forced to digital signal input for that audio source? Not left on auto-sensing and obviously not on analog. I know this might not exactly fix the issue but it will ensure that your receiver is not the part going buggy. Set it as fixed digital. If it's droping between formats of 5.1 to stereo (which happens sometimes with commercials to show, etc...) it has to be the feed or the way your particular 6412 is handling it....

Good luck.

I'm trying to change the 4:3 override setting from 480i to 480p, but I'm unable to. When I turn off the 6412, hit Select, and go to User Settings, the menu comes up, but there is no cursor and I can't change any of the settings.



My question was answered for me as follows on another forum:

"You're accessing the display of the settings, not the area to change the settings.
To change the settings, you need to hit OFF and then MENU."

Sorry for the stupid question! I didn't realize there were two different areas to access.

I posted a message a couple weeks ago about a problem I have been having with ground loop bars on my screen. I tried passing the cable through the cable connectors of my Monster Cable power conditioner. The ground loop went away. So did INHD and INHD2. Those two channels go between being fine, being gone entirely, or lots of macroblocking. All other channels appear fine.

I called Comcast and had them come out and have a look. They disconnected the cable from my home's ground and the bars went away. They reconnected it and the bars came back. They said I should call the power company and let them know that there is 60 Hz power on my home's ground.

I called the power company and they told me that anything on my side of the power mast is considered my equipment and it is my responsibility to call an electrician and get it fixed.

Before calling out an electrician, I sent away for the cable isolator someone recommended. It got rid of the bars, but I had the same problem with INHD and INHD2 that I had when I passed it through the Monster Cable conditioner.

Does anyone have any ideas why using an isolator would cause problems for those two channels but nothing else? Would there be a problem with me just disconnecting the connection between the cable and my home's ground since that does get rid of the bars? My projector doesn't have DVI input, so DVI isn't an option for me.

I'd welcome an ideas or suggestions.

Thanks!

Joe

The ground loop went away. So did INHD and INHD2. Those two channels go between being fine, being gone entirely, or lots of macroblocking. All other channels appear fine.

Have you tried using a good cable amplifier in combination with the isolator or the Monster Power Center? It could be that your signal is just barely strong enough, and the loss that is introduced by the isolator or the power center causes you to lose some of the high frequencies - like INHD. An amplifier might fix that. As far as disconnecting the ground, I would imagine that the problem would be that if there is a lightning strike or other power surge that affects the cable line, it would go directly to your components instead of being diverted by the ground before it enters your home. The monster power centers do come with ridiculously large connected equipment warrantees though...

I agree it must be a signal strength issue. I started with an amplifier - figuring I was splitting the cable 4 ways in my living room so I got the Motorola amp and it's damn near perfect.

I posted a message a couple weeks ago about a problem I have been having with ground loop bars on my screen.
Can you describe these bars in more detail? I occasionally see what looks like very faint "waves" traveling up the screen. They're not dark, and they're not sharp edged. And it isn't just one - the screen is filled from top to bottom with them as they travel up the screen.

Does this sound like what you're seeing? I only see them once in a great while and even then, they're so faint I have to really look hard to see them. Next time I notice them, I'll have to try removing the ground connection on the cable to see if they go away.

I agree it must be a signal strength issue. I started with an amplifier - figuring I was splitting the cable 4 ways in my living room so I got the Motorola amp and it's damn near perfect.

Thanks StuJac! I'll try the amp. Do you have a model number or a link for finding it? I assume I need to be careful what I buy so it has the correct bandwidth and can handle the two-way traffic for On Demand.

Just out of curiosity, are INHD and INHD2 at a substantially different frequencies from the other HD channels? I'm puzzled about why they would be the only ones affected.

Scooterboy, your description sounds like what I am seeing. I see faint bars slowly traveling up the screen. They seem easiest to see when there are large areas of the same color on the screen, a clear blue sky for instance. The bars are very wide so I can usually only see one gradation from dark to light at a time. If you are seeing many of them at once, then your interference may be at a frequency other than 60 Hz.

Joe

Google for "motorola cable amp" - you'll find it. Prices vary quite a bit - you can usually find a decent deal on the web.

No matter what you do, don't buy an el cheapo "cable amp" from Rat Shack for $20. They are completely worthless (I know; I tried and returned it). After reading quite a bit on this topic, I ended up getting a professional cable "drop amp" that is used by cable companies. The brand is Electroline (Canadian company). They don't sell direct. I bought mine on eBay -- this guy's web site has more cable amp info than you might care to know! http://www.cabletvamps.com/education.htm

Specifically, I used the cable amp to fix the problem I was having with INHD1 and INHD2. Originally, the signal going into my 6412 was being split into 6 lines (about a 15 dB drop on each line). So, the signal was weak, and that was impacting INHD1 and INHD2 only! After adding the cable amp, the signal strength was too high (the cable amp has four outlets and it boosts each outlet +7 dB above the incoming line). So, I added a -6 dB attenuator and reduced the 6412 input to just about line level. Now everything is fine. The 6412 is a finicky beast!

If reading this message gives you a headache, another possibility is to ask the cable company to come and check the signal. If they find the signal is attenuated, they would probably install an Electroline drop amp themselves.

Found a link to a really great Motorola DCT6400 Series Technical Guide/Installation Manual at:

http://*******.com/dh4jv

It has lots of technical info on:
- boot error codes
- diagnostic code explanations
- clearing the hard drive, etc.

Just out of curiosity, are INHD and INHD2 at a substantially different frequencies from the other HD channels? I'm puzzled about why they would be the only ones affected.

Yes, sort of. In our system, they are mapped to ATSC channels 115.1 and 115.2. They are the highest frequency channels on our Comcast system. The nearest one is somewhere on 112.

So I'm thinking about getting the Motorola booster, but I have a question.

If my whole goal is to just up the picture quality in my bedroom, can I hook it up just in here, betweeen the cable coming out of the wall and the box? Or does it have to be hooked up where our splitter is in the house? My sister doesn't watch nearly enough TV for me to go through the hassles of crawling in the attic and finding an outlet somewhere.

So I'm thinking about getting the Motorola booster, but I have a question.

If my whole goal is to just up the picture quality in my bedroom, can I hook it up just in here, betweeen the cable coming out of the wall and the box? Or does it have to be hooked up where our splitter is in the house? My sister doesn't watch nearly enough TV for me to go through the hassles of crawling in the attic and finding an outlet somewhere.

Yes, you can connect it in the bedroom and it should work just fine. I use 3 of them in my house with great results.

I just got the 6412 from Comcast a week ago and I ran into my first serious problem.

The NBA Finals Game 7 (Game 7!) is on tonight and it is not showing up in the tv guide. I called Comcast and a CSR who didn't sound like she knew what she was doing said it should be on there and if not then the new guide data should come in at 3-4 am this morning. Well it didn't. Alos, last night I unplugged the box, and the tv guide listings were deleted and then it went through the process of downloading them. So now I have 2 separate recordings scheduled, ABC news to end 2 hours late and Jeopardy to end 2 hours late.

I'm a little frustrated because I stayed up late to do this and it didn't work. I am also afraid that sometime today the guide will update and not record the news or jeopardy because they will be superseded by the game.

I just got the 6412 from Comcast a week ago and I ran into my first serious problem.

The NBA Finals Game 7 (Game 7!) is on tonight and it is not showing up in the tv guide. I called Comcast and a CSR who didn't sound like she knew what she was doing said it should be on there and if not then the new guide data should come in at 3-4 am this morning. Well it didn't. Alos, last night I unplugged the box, and the tv guide listings were deleted and then it went through the process of downloading them. So now I have 2 separate recordings scheduled, ABC news to end 2 hours late and Jeopardy to end 2 hours late.

I'm a little frustrated because I stayed up late to do this and it didn't work. I am also afraid that sometime today the guide will update and not record the news or jeopardy because they will be superseded by the game.Sounds like it is time to dust off the old (reliable) VCR.

I just got the 6412 from Comcast a week ago and I ran into my first serious problem.

The NBA Finals Game 7 (Game 7!) is on tonight and it is not showing up in the tv guide. I called Comcast and a CSR who didn't sound like she knew what she was doing said it should be on there and if not then the new guide data should come in at 3-4 am this morning. Well it didn't. Alos, last night I unplugged the box, and the tv guide listings were deleted and then it went through the process of downloading them. So now I have 2 separate recordings scheduled, ABC news to end 2 hours late and Jeopardy to end 2 hours late.

I'm a little frustrated because I stayed up late to do this and it didn't work. I am also afraid that sometime today the guide will update and not record the news or jeopardy because they will be superseded by the game.

Had the same problem on Fox, when Idol added Thursday night due to a problem on Tuesdays show. It showed up in the guide a few hours before airtime. However since you do not have the NBA finals setup as a series recording, then yes, if the guide is updated, then the 2 shows you have currently selected to record will not record.....

Right now ABC has a 2 hour movie listed in the timeslot for the game! :eek:

I just got the 6412 from Comcast a week ago and I ran into my first serious problem.

The NBA Finals Game 7 (Game 7!) is on tonight and it is not showing up in the tv guide. I called Comcast and a CSR who didn't sound like she knew what she was doing said it should be on there and if not then the new guide data should come in at 3-4 am this morning. Well it didn't. Alos, last night I unplugged the box, and the tv guide listings were deleted and then it went through the process of downloading them. So now I have 2 separate recordings scheduled, ABC news to end 2 hours late and Jeopardy to end 2 hours late.

I'm a little frustrated because I stayed up late to do this and it didn't work. I am also afraid that sometime today the guide will update and not record the news or jeopardy because they will be superseded by the game.
According to the DCT-6412 User’s Reference Manual under "Manually Schedule a Recording":

"You can set a Manual Recording to automatically record a specific time and channel:

Step 1: Select DVR from the Main Menu, then select Set a Recording.
Step 2: Select the start and end times and the day you wish to record
and confirm your settings.
Step 3: A channel list will then appear, allowing you to select the
channel to record. Select the channel you want.
Step 4: A "Create a New Recording" Screen will appear, select Create
a Recording to confirm your settings or select the Recording
Options Icon for additional Recording options."

So you don't have to dust off your VCR, just program the 6412 as if it were a VCR.
:D

According to the DCT-6412 User’s Reference Manual under "Manually Schedule a Recording":

"You can set a Manual Recording to automatically record a specific time and channel:

Step 1: Select DVR from the Main Menu, then select Set a Recording.
Step 2: Select the start and end times and the day you wish to record
and confirm your settings.
Step 3: A channel list will then appear, allowing you to select the
channel to record. Select the channel you want.
Step 4: A "Create a New Recording" Screen will appear, select Create
a Recording to confirm your settings or select the Recording
Options Icon for additional Recording options."

So you don't have to dust off your VCR, just program the 6412 as if it were a VCR.
:D


Danm, I forgot all about that Manual Time & Ch recording mode! :D

Good one cavaniws! :cool:

According to the DCT-6412 User’s Reference Manual under "Manually Schedule a Recording":

"You can set a Manual Recording to automatically record a specific time and channel:

Step 1: Select DVR from the Main Menu, then select Set a Recording.
Step 2: Select the start and end times and the day you wish to record
and confirm your settings.
Step 3: A channel list will then appear, allowing you to select the
channel to record. Select the channel you want.
Step 4: A "Create a New Recording" Screen will appear, select Create
a Recording to confirm your settings or select the Recording
Options Icon for additional Recording options."

So you don't have to dust off your VCR, just program the 6412 as if it were a VCR.
:D
Good info. Thanks.

The Guide was updated with the NBA Game info about 5:15pm Eastern. :)

The Guide was updated with the NBA Game info about 5:15pm Eastern. :)
Crap. I'm going to miss the first hour because my settings will be deleted.

Here in LA we were upgraded to firmware 9.19 this week.
Does anyone know which fixes/changes are contained in this upgrade.

Crap. I'm going to miss the first hour because my settings will be deleted.
To my surprise when I came home tonight the iGuide was working like a charm and recording the NBA Finals. It must of worked because last night I set it to record a program on ABC which started at the same time (ABC News?) and set it to record an extra 2 hours. Then when the iGuide was finally updated this afternoon the iGuide was smart enough to figure out I wanted to record the NBA Finals. When I selected the NBA Finals from the DVR recording it was set to end 2 hours long, which the iGuide let me change even though the recording was in progress.

This impressed me. However I would have been more impressed if it had updated a few days earlier.

Only have had a couple minor problems w. the 6412. One recorded program couldn't be accessed - it appeared and acted like a corrupted file on a PC. Finally deleted it - and had a heck of a time dtoing that.

Now for my question:
The remote wants to default certain functions to the AUX button. For example, when I push the pause button, instead of pausing it does nothing because it lights up the AUX button. I then have to manually press the cable button and the functions work fine after that. If I turn off the TV via the remote and then turn it back on - various buttons again default to the AUX instead of controlling the cable box.
Obviously this is NBD - just annoying because i always automatically start pressing various cable box controls and then realize I have to press the cable button first. It doesn't affect all cable controls, just some.

Once again want to thank this group for educating me how to program the 30 second skip feature into the remote. That is by far the most used button.

...mike

OK. Well, I'd still keep the reliable VCR around anyway. I guess, for now, you can put it away. :D

I've been reading/searching various threads for two hours but I apologize if this has been answered because it's a pretty large issue.

I can't watch a recording if either tuner is on a HD channel. If I try to do so, the screen goes black, and I can exit to the guide but can't see channels again untill I turn the box off/on.

Any help is appreciated. Is this a hardware/software issue? Should I return my box?

That's got to be a bad box. I've never experienced this although I get a ton of quirky stuff on my 6412. Probably not what you wanted to hear but it looks like you might have to trade it in.

I've been reading/searching various threads for two hours but I apologize if this has been answered because it's a pretty large issue.

I can't watch a recording if either tuner is on a HD channel. If I try to do so, the screen goes black, and I can exit to the guide but can't see channels again untill I turn the box off/on.

Any help is appreciated. Is this a hardware/software issue? Should I return my box?

Its Only 77 pages long at 60 posts per page :D

I've heard of and seen the black screen, but dont recall it being necessarily tied to an HD channel. Try unplugging the box for a few minutes then plugging it back in. You WILL Lose the guide data, so do it before you goto bed or leave for work, so you arent missing the Guide. You will NOT lose recordings. This has worked for me. The recurring answer for preventing this is to leave the box on all the time. This debate is easy to find in here, so I'm not going to go down that road.

Hope that helps

The remote wants to default certain functions to the AUX button. For example, when I push the pause button, instead of pausing it does nothing because it lights up the AUX button. I then have to manually press the cable button and the functions work fine after that. If I turn off the TV via the remote and then turn it back on - various buttons again default to the AUX instead of controlling the cable box.
Obviously this is NBD - just annoying because i always automatically start pressing various cable box controls and then realize I have to press the cable button first. It doesn't affect all cable controls, just some.
...mike

Have you programmed the AUX for any device? I programmed AUX for my receiver, and then linked the volume to that. So now when I press the volume button, the AUX lights up as it changes the volume, but when I do Pause, channel change, etc.. the Cable light comes on. For awhile, I was getting annoyed until I realized what was happening.

Yours is behaving like it thinks that AUX is something weird. If you have AUX set up to be something, I'd try to do it again and make sure that its set up correctly. If you never set AUX to be anything. See if you can find a like to return it back to factory. I dont know the links off hand, but I think a link to the remote manual has been posted here in the past

Kaiser Soze - I thought I found something relevant on page three but by page twenty I thought I was going to go insane, ha. I will try that tonight, I also have some corrupted recordings so hopefully they will disappear as well.

StuJac - If above doesn't work I'll pick up a new one. I live 5 minutes from the Comcast place so it's no big deal.

Thanks,

I have a feeling that your box is set to send a resolution that your TV doesn't accept. Maybe 720p? You should check the config settings by turning the box off with the remote and then pressing the "menu" button to bring up the settings.

you're right my tv doesn't accept 720p, i will investigate...

Hello,

I'm in Chicago, and I have been having some audio drop outs lately, especially on Comedy Central. Audio will simply cut out for several minutes mid-Daily Show. It also happened once on INHD. Audio still works on other channels when this happens; the audio only cuts out for the one channel.

Has anyone else in Chicago had this problem? Can someone please give me a quick recap on what acceptable signal strengths are, and how to check this diagnostic?

Thanks very much!

-Shahid

Hello,

I'm in Chicago...

-Shahid

Hi Shahid...
You might want to check this link to the Chicago Comcast forum (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5798812#post5798812) for local info. Someone here probably can possibly give you some guidance on signal levels, or you might save yourself a little time by doing a quick search in this topic. Anyway, I hope that helps some...

-Randy

Hi Shahid...
You might want to check this link to the Chicago Comcast forum (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5798812#post5798812) for local info. Someone here probably can possibly give you some guidance on signal levels, or you might save yourself a little time by doing a quick search in this topic. Anyway, I hope that helps some...

-Randy

Thanks, I didn't know about the Chicago forum. I did find people mentioning audio drop outs in this thread, but they seemed to be different (because they didn't seem channel specific)...

Can you describe these bars in more detail? I occasionally see what looks like very faint "waves" traveling up the screen. They're not dark, and they're not sharp edged. And it isn't just one - the screen is filled from top to bottom with them as they travel up the screen.

Does this sound like what you're seeing? I only see them once in a great while and even then, they're so faint I have to really look hard to see them. Next time I notice them, I'll have to try removing the ground connection on the cable to see if they go away.
I saw the rolling waves tonight and thought I'd try your trick of removing the ground connection to see if it would help. It didn't. As a matter of fact, removing it caused a much bigger rolling bar on the s-video connection coming from my tivo so I reconnected it.

Although removing the ground connection did not get rid of my waves, while I was looking at where the cable comes into the house, I tried something else that COMPLETELY cured my rolling wave problem.

First I have to describe what was there. My comcast tech had installed an amplifier where the cable enters the basement. This amp has what appears to be two inputs and one output. But one of the inputs is really a power cable. It's a standard coax cable that terminates into a transformer which plugs into an outlet and powers the amp. The other input is the actual signal cable.

Both of these input coax cables were coiled up and tied together with a tie wrap. I immediately thought that a power cable so close to a signal cable might be my problem. So I cut the tie wrap and separated the two coils.

BINGO! I went back upstairs and the waves were gone!

So even though removing the ground didn't do it for me, I still owe you a debt for making go down and look at the setup. Thanks!

Watching Leno tonight (Friday evening 6-24) when box suddenly snapped off. When I turned it back on, all stations were "to be announced," and I needed to input my code for every channel - same as happens if you unplug your box for awhile.

Could this have been them sending a firmwear upgrade?

Watching Leno tonight (Friday evening 6-24) when box suddenly snapped off. When I turned it back on, all stations were "to be announced," and I needed to input my code for every channel - same as happens if you unplug your box for awhile.

Could this have been them sending a firmwear upgrade?
This sounds to me like some sort of power surge/outage. It only takes a second of no power to lose all your iGuide info. I have my 6412 plugged in to a UPS to prevent such occurrances.

Watching Leno tonight (Friday evening 6-24) when box suddenly snapped off. When I turned it back on, all stations were "to be announced," and I needed to input my code for every channel - same as happens if you unplug your box for awhile.

Could this have been them sending a firmwear upgrade?
If it was any form of software or firmware update, you would see a DL on the display with a spinning bar for several minutes before the reboot. What most likely happened was either a power glitch or it crashed and rebooted itself. Or more remotely there was some form of update (channel changes or similar?) that required a reboot to reload access information.

I'm a brand new member here and I want to thank you all for your contributions to this knowledge database; it is great! I recently purchased a Samsung 5067 DLP TV and had a 6412 STB installed. My problem is that the second tuner on the 6412 didn't pull in any signal at all on INHD and INHD2; all other channels were perfect. First tuner had no problem. Comcast swapped STB's and the new one tuned fine on both tuners but kept crashing and resetting. Third and fourth STB's are just like the first...no problem with tuner 1 and no INHD's on tuner 2. Signal strength is high according to Comcast. Have line amplifier. 6412 diagnostics show good SNR and good AGC on both tuners on all channels except when they are set on INHD's, then tuner 2 is invalid. Any ideas? Thanks.

I'm a brand new member here and I want to thank you all for your contributions to this knowledge database; it is great! I recently purchased a Samsung 5067 DLP TV and had a 6412 STB installed. My problem is that the second tuner on the 6412 didn't pull in any signal at all on INHD and INHD2; all other channels were perfect. First tuner had no problem. Comcast swapped STB's and the new one tuned fine on both tuners but kept crashing and resetting. Third and fourth STB's are just like the first...no problem with tuner 1 and no INHD's on tuner 2. Signal strength is high according to Comcast. Have line amplifier. 6412 diagnostics show good SNR and good AGC on both tuners on all channels except when they are set on INHD's, then tuner 2 is invalid. Any ideas? Thanks.

Interesting how only tuner 2 has problems...hmmmm...


have you tried taking out the amp?...or stuck a splitter in to knock the signal strength down?....These tuners sometimes have problems if the signal is too strong...

What frequency is Inhd1/2 on? is it at the high end of your cable system (750Mhz?) perhaps it is rolling off?

I've got a splitter installed with one cable going to the STB and the other to the TV for analog tuning. When I go into the STB diagnostic menu, it shows 34 for SNR for most channels on tuner one and about 30 to 32 SNR for most channels on tuner two. 719 and 720 show as unavailable on tuner 2. INHD is 719 and INHD2 is channel 720. The channels below (702 to 709) and above (722 and 723) work fine. The problem before the amp was installed was that 719 and 720 were breaking up badly and SNR was only 27 to 28 on tuner two. So, now the signal is much better, and in fact the channels worked with both tuners with my second STB (but that one kept resetting.) So...too much signal still? I can't imagine that all these 6412's could be bad. Or is it a design flaw with tuner 2 not getting a strong enough signal. It's a mystery. Call in Mr. Monk... :)

I'm a brand new member here and I want to thank you all for your contributions to this knowledge database; it is great! I recently purchased a Samsung 5067 DLP TV and had a 6412 STB installed. My problem is that the second tuner on the 6412 didn't pull in any signal at all on INHD and INHD2; all other channels were perfect. First tuner had no problem. Comcast swapped STB's and the new one tuned fine on both tuners but kept crashing and resetting. Third and fourth STB's are just like the first...no problem with tuner 1 and no INHD's on tuner 2. Signal strength is high according to Comcast. Have line amplifier. 6412 diagnostics show good SNR and good AGC on both tuners on all channels except when they are set on INHD's, then tuner 2 is invalid. Any ideas? Thanks.

In our little State (Delaware), we had MAJOR problems on the 2nd. tuner from February until about two weeks ago. Today our issues are much better but not perfect. The learning from this is; the 2nd. tuner is not as robust as tuner one (regardless of signal strength shown). Until you get your particular issue resolved, I suggest you do most of your recording on tuner one. If you need info on how that's done let us know.

Thanks, Carl. And I thought all the strange stuff only happened in California...

I checked tuner 2 this afternoon and still no signal at all on INHD. Nor do I get On-Demand signal at all. I will continue to harass Comcast until they wrestle me into submission (cablecard).

Alrighty, so I got my Motorola signal booster, and went into the diagnostics menu to check out the SNR and the AGC.

SNR: 19 dB
AGC: 16%

Ugh. This picture quality is incredibly poor. Granted, the coax cable I have here in the room is going from one side of the room, along two walls, and and half of another to the box. Why is my signal so horrible, even with the booster?

Alrighty, so I got my Motorola signal booster, and went into the diagnostics menu to check out the SNR and the AGC.

SNR: 19 dB
AGC: 16%

Ugh. This picture quality is incredibly poor. Granted, the coax cable I have here in the room is going from one side of the room, along two walls, and and half of another to the box. Why is my signal so horrible, even with the booster?

Could be alot of things.

Poor signal from the feed line to the House (or there coax is bad/old)

Leaky Coax/Connectors

Old, bad or poor quality Coax / splitters / connectors inside the house. Do not use Coax from Radio Shack, make sure you use a good brand of R-6QS.

Max Recomended dist from the Cable provider's Pole Distrubution drop Amp to the Cable box is under 100' You may need your Cable provider to replace the main line. Also have them check the signal strength at the following locations.

Drop pole
Feed line enters the structure
Line to STB

This should tell you & Them where the signal loss begins.

Good Luck

I've got a splitter installed with one cable going to the STB and the other to the TV for analog tuning. When I go into the STB diagnostic menu, it shows 34 for SNR for most channels on tuner one and about 30 to 32 SNR for most channels on tuner two. 719 and 720 show as unavailable on tuner 2. INHD is 719 and INHD2 is channel 720. The channels below (702 to 709) and above (722 and 723) work fine. The problem before the amp was installed was that 719 and 720 were breaking up badly and SNR was only 27 to 28 on tuner two. So, now the signal is much better, and in fact the channels worked with both tuners with my second STB (but that one kept resetting.) So...too much signal still? I can't imagine that all these 6412's could be bad. Or is it a design flaw with tuner 2 not getting a strong enough signal. It's a mystery. Call in Mr. Monk... :)

INHD1/2 in the bay area at 681Mhz. The same frequency as Telemundo's Digital transmitter. If you have any ingress problems on your network they get knocked out.

I think the reason it only happens on tuner 2 is because tuner 2 seems to pick up a lot more ingress. That combined with ingress on the cable causes the problem. How does your analog channel 65 look? If it has any lines across it you have an ingress problem.

Comcast can fix it, it just takes time.....

FW 9.19 downloaded in Novato California as of this morning.

Wow, Kevini, great post! I'm printing it out to show the cable guy. Hopefully this will be the ticket. My On-Demand finally came in today after two days waiting. Maybe HD cable will finally be a two-tuner reality. Thanks.

Frank

FW 9.19 downloaded in Novato California as of this morning.

I'd be curious to hear what (if anything) is different. What was your previous version? Stilll 9.15 here.

I'm not exactly sure when I got 9.19 here in the D/FW area, but I am on it now...I just thought to check last night. I have noticed no differences to this point; but then I was experiencing no problems, so that is a good thing!

-Randy

FW 9.19 downloaded in Novato California as of this morning.

Still at 9.12 in Richmond, VA

I'd be curious to hear what (if anything) is different. What was your previous version? Stilll 9.15 here.
My previous version was 9.15, and so far the only difference I have seen is I now can turn my STB off and then on again and actually have a picture. Before I would get a black screen and I would have to play one of my recordings to get the picture back.

My previous version was 9.15, and so far the only difference I have seen is I now can turn my STB off and then on again and actually have a picture. Before I would get a black screen and I would have to play one of my recordings to get the picture back.

That bug seemed to be hit and miss. Mine would only do it after a couple of weeks. Time will tell if this one is definitely fixed.

I noticed the remote light seems to stay on a bit longer than before. It also blanks the screen between channel changes. Rapid channel up down also seems a bit quicker.

Kevin

Alrighty, so I got my Motorola signal booster, and went into the diagnostics menu to check out the SNR and the AGC.

SNR: 19 dB
AGC: 16%

Ugh. This picture quality is incredibly poor. Granted, the coax cable I have here in the room is going from one side of the room, along two walls, and and half of another to the box. Why is my signal so horrible, even with the booster?

This sounds like you checked the Out of Band Tuner, and those numbers probably say 'Fair' next to them. Check the In-Band Tuners, and tell us what you it reads on each tuner.

FW 9.19 downloaded in Novato California as of this morning.

Still at firmware 09.15 here in Metro Boston with Comcast.

On another note, how loud is your 6412? I sit about 9 feet away from mine and I can clearly hear the HD chugging away. It gets so loud sometimes that I need to turn the volume up on my TV several notches just to hear what's on.

Are all 6412s like this, or should I just turn mine in for a new one? I've had mine since August of '04 and it was one of the first ones distributed in the Boston area.

Still at firmware 09.15 here in Metro Boston with Comcast.

On another note, how loud is your 6412? I sit about 9 feet away from mine and I can clearly hear the HD chugging away. It gets so loud sometimes that I need to turn the volume up on my TV several notches just to hear what's on.

Are all 6412s like this, or should I just turn mine in for a new one? I've had mine since August of '04 and it was one of the first ones distributed in the Boston area.

Is 9.19 going to solve the bug where the series recordings pick up any show that isn't explicitly marked as deleted? I LOVE deleting two Simpsons every day along with about 30 Teen Titans episodes througout the week from the scheduled recordings list. Then, when my power goes out, I have to do it all over again. :(

Still at firmware 09.15 here in Metro Boston with Comcast.

On another note, how loud is your 6412? I sit about 9 feet away from mine and I can clearly hear the HD chugging away. It gets so loud sometimes that I need to turn the volume up on my TV several notches just to hear what's on.

Are all 6412s like this, or should I just turn mine in for a new one? I've had mine since August of '04 and it was one of the first ones distributed in the Boston area.
I have Comcast in LA, got the 6412 a week ago and have not had a noise problem. You may want to trade it in.

My previous version was 9.15, and so far the only difference I have seen is I now can turn my STB off and then on again and actually have a picture. Before I would get a black screen and I would have to play one of my recordings to get the picture back.
The reason it was 'fixed' was due to the reboot. Simply unplugging/replugging would have fixed it sooner.

Is 9.19 going to solve the bug where the series recordings pick up any show that isn't explicitly marked as deleted? I LOVE deleting two Simpsons every day along with about 30 Teen Titans episodes througout the week from the scheduled recordings list. Then, when my power goes out, I have to do it all over again. :(Nope. Firmware won't ever fix that. That is a pure i-Guide/TV Guide data issue. I love deleting a bunch of "The Daily Show" too. I guess First Run Only means every episode. :D

Just checked my config and Stockton, CA is now 9.19 as well.

Regarding noise, I also happened to get a noisy one when I picked up a 2nd 6412 recently. I took it back after a week and got one that was nearly silent (maxtor quickview drive). That one died though (hard drive developed a loud "click of death") and I had to swap it out. The 3rd one I have now is also pretty quiet... good enough.

Anyway, Yes definitely keep swapping until you get a good one.

Nope. Firmware won't ever fix that. That is a pure i-Guide/TV Guide data issue. I love deleting a bunch of "The Daily Show" too. I guess First Run Only means every episode. :D

The i-guide/TV Guide data is only as good as Comedy Central supplies. It's the fault of CC, not i-Guide/TV Guide.

Anyway, I don't understand why you guys put up with this. Why don't you just set up a weekly manual recording rather than a series recording. Choose a DOW/time that you know will be a first-run. Problem solved.

The i-guide/TV Guide data is only as good as Comedy Central supplies. It's the fault of CC, not i-Guide/TV Guide.
Possibly. But two simple things could be done to fix the problem.

1) CSI reruns have a date in the their description. It would be a piece of cake for the Guide people to notice that the date is "in the past" and it should be tagged as a rerun.
2) The 6412 already has a "on this channel only" option. The software guys could also add a "on this day of week only" option. This wouldn't fix daily recordings, but would help weekly series recordings.

or the originator could simply add "repeat" to their guide data. If they did, your series recordings would work just fine. Why should the i-guide/TV Guide jump through hoops?

or the originator could simply add "repeat"
Absolutely! That would fix everything.

Why should the i-guide/TV Guide jump through hoops?
Because it is their product and it isn't performing as it should. I agree it isn't the Guide people screwing the data up, but in the software world, programmers constantly code for "user error".

Talking about the iGuide, does anyone have a delivery date on the next update to the iGuide?

or the originator could simply add "repeat" to their guide data. If they did, your series recordings would work just fine. Why should the i-guide/TV Guide jump through hoops?


This would work except several network & cable Ch. do Encore presentation of New Episodes. For those shows, they need to add the word Encore instead of saying it is New.

Besides getting the obvious bugs fixed, I agree 1,000% with the latest comments concerning "tagging" repeat shows in some way. I set up "Monk" as an example. Do you have ANY idea how many episodes popped up to record??? Jeez, I'll have to set a manual recording to overcome this. Too bad....it shouldn't be that way.

I used to have Dish network satellite, and one thing they were better at than Comcast was that their listings data provider almost always properly listed New shows and non-new. Also I find from time to time that the Comcast listings will just have a generic description of a show instead of details of the particular episode. Also sometimes the info does not contain the year the episode was aired. Lastly, am I the only one who finds many of the Comcast movie descriptions to be umm a bit "snarky"? I would prefer less random editorializing and more facts.

I used to have Dish network satellite, and one thing they were better at than Comcast was that their listings data provider almost always properly listed New shows and non-new. Also I find from time to time that the Comcast listings will just have a generic description of a show instead of details of the particular episode. Also sometimes the info does not contain the year the episode was aired. Lastly, am I the only one who finds many of the Comcast movie descriptions to be umm a bit "snarky"? I would prefer less random editorializing and more facts.
Dish would also let you know why scheduled recordings were missed. If a show didn't record like you wanted to you could go to the past schedule portion, click on the scheduled event and it would tell you if it was a rerun, or if the show was pre-empted by a special event or if no show was scheduled that week, etc.

Just checked my config and Stockton, CA is now 9.19 as well.
My wife woke up in the middle of the night because the 6412 turned on and the sound was coming loud and clear over the HT speakers (the 6142 is hooked up directly to my receiver). I checked the firmware version and sure enough it was 9.19. I am in a suburb of Los Angeles, BTW. I must have gotten the update recently.

An earlier poster in this thread pointed out that the mute bug may be a feature and not a bug after all. He thought that if you had a scheduled a recording in the middle of the night it was a good thing that the box would be automatically muted. Ortherwise, with a HT speaker setup, you would be woken up to the sound of your STB turned on, scaring the crap out of you in the process. However, the remote does not have a button to un-mute the STB, just the tv (although most of us have programmed another button).

Well, it looks like that feature/bug is gone now, courtesy of the firmware update. I will have to remember to turn the receiver off now before going to bed.

Talking about the iGuide, does anyone have a delivery date on the next update to the iGuide?To the best of my knowledge... There won't be any updates to the current i-Guide. Comcast and GuideWorks are creating a new "Mosaic" i-Guide that will replace our current i-Guide. The new Mosaic guide is suppose to enter Motorola's Acadia testing soon. If all goes well we may see the new guide by the fall.

I have no idea if it addresses the plethora of issues nagging the current i-Guide. I only know that Comcast is interested in controlling our viewing experience. Seems to me there is a bit of a difference on what we, the paying customer want, and what Comcast is going to give us.

Only when we get the new guide will we know for sure.

P.S.: The i-Guide should incorporate TiVo's 28 day rule at minimum. There is no reason the same show should be recorded again and again.

My wife woke up in the middle of the night because the 6412 turned on and the sound was coming loud and clear over the HT speakers (the 6142 is hooked up directly to my receiver). I checked the firmware version and sure enough it was 9.19. I am in a suburb of Los Angeles, BTW. I must have gotten the update recently.

An earlier poster in this thread pointed out that the mute bug may be a feature and not a bug after all. He thought that if you had a scheduled a recording in the middle of the night it was a good thing that the box would be automatically muted. Ortherwise, with a HT speaker setup, you would be woken up to the sound of your STB turned on, scaring the crap out of you in the process. However, the remote does not have a button to un-mute the STB, just the tv (although most of us have programmed another button).

Well, it looks like that feature/bug is gone now, courtesy of the firmware update. I will have to remember to turn the receiver off now before going to bed.Can anyone else with 9.19 confirm this? Might be just me, but I think this will be more bad than good.

Lastly, am I the only one who finds many of the Comcast movie descriptions to be umm a bit "snarky"? I would prefer less random editorializing and more facts.
No, you're not, in fact, some of the descriptions I've seen make it seem as if they don't even want you to watch the movie because it's so bad. I think it was Gigli that had a particularly damning description as one that I can think of offhand. I also would prefer just the facts, and whatever entity is inserting those comments to keep them to themselves.

My wife woke up in the middle of the night because the 6412 turned on and the sound was coming loud and clear over the HT speakers (the 6142 is hooked up directly to my receiver). I checked the firmware version and sure enough it was 9.19. I am in a suburb of Los Angeles, BTW. I must have gotten the update recently.

An earlier poster in this thread pointed out that the mute bug may be a feature and not a bug after all. He thought that if you had a scheduled a recording in the middle of the night it was a good thing that the box would be automatically muted. Ortherwise, with a HT speaker setup, you would be woken up to the sound of your STB turned on, scaring the crap out of you in the process. However, the remote does not have a button to un-mute the STB, just the tv (although most of us have programmed another button).

Well, it looks like that feature/bug is gone now, courtesy of the firmware update. I will have to remember to turn the receiver off now before going to bed.
Alternatively, you could set the receiver for a different input before you go to bed. Or turn it off.

Alternatively, you could set the receiver for a different input before you go to bed. Or turn it off.
Right, but the point is remembering to change a setting or turning off additional components, and if you forget then you will pay the price.

It's kind of silly to argue about having to remember to turn off the receiver. You had to remember to turn off the 6412 before the update, right? Why not just join the rest of us and leave the 6412 on and switch off the receiver instead?

You will still only have to turn off one device when you go to bed. Well, two I guess. You still turn off the TV, I assume.

Better yet, get a Harmony remote (I have the 676) and program it to leave the 6412 on and turn everything off with one simple click of the "off" button. Then you are truly down to just one button click at the end of the day, and you don't have to deal with any of the issues that arise from turning the 6412 off.

To the best of my knowledge... There won't be any updates to the current i-Guide. Comcast and GuideWorks are creating a new "Mosaic" i-Guide that will replace our current i-Guide. The new Mosaic guide is suppose to enter Motorola's Acadia testing soon. If all goes well we may see the new guide by the fall.

I have no idea if it addresses the plethora of issues nagging the current i-Guide. I only know that Comcast is interested in controlling our viewing experience. Seems to me there is a bit of a difference on what we, the paying customer want, and what Comcast is going to give us.

Only when we get the new guide will we know for sure.

P.S.: The i-Guide should incorporate TiVo's 28 day rule at minimum. There is no reason the same show should be recorded again and again.

My TiVo also didn't try to record all these repeats through a season pass. The only time I had extra Simpsons repeats there was when the guide data was incorrect. Doesn't TiVo use TVGuide's data as well?

The only time I had extra Simpsons repeats there was when the guide data was incorrect.
That IS the problem with series recordings.

The guide marks each program with one of three settings: "new", "repeat" or " ".
You can see this when you look at any program in the guide. new and repeat are always correct. It is the third setting - the empty setting - the lack of a setting that causes the problem. The box treats the empty setting as new.

Doesn't TiVo use TVGuide's data as well?I believe that TiVo uses Tribune data.

Doesn't TiVo use TVGuide's data as well?

No, despite the TV Guide logo (which is actually there as part of a patent-related lawsuit settlement.) TiVo gets their guide data from Tribune. I've found my TiVo's guide data to be somewhat more accurate than the data Comcast ships down, although there are some channels and shows that are poorly reported in both (Comedy Central is notorious for this.)

That IS the problem with series recordings.

The guide marks each program with one of three settings: "new", "repeat" or " ".
You can see this when you look at any program in the guide. new and repeat are always correct. It is the third setting - the empty setting - the lack of a setting that causes the problem. The box treats the empty setting as new.

Regardless, he's correct in that TiVo handled it much better. I had been using the non-HDTV DirecTiVo for a long time and always only got the new episodes of Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Carnivale, etc. Now with the 6412 I get every showing of the current week's new episode, which can mean a plethora of repeats.

Regardless, he's correct in that TiVo handled it much better. I had been using the non-HDTV DirecTiVo for a long time and always only got the new episodes of Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Carnivale, etc. Now with the 6412 I get every showing of the current week's new episode, which can mean a plethora of repeats.Right on Rick!

The bottom line here is that this issue needs to be fixed.

Why don't you just set up a weekly manual recording rather than a series recording. Choose a DOW/time that you know will be a first-run. Problem solved.

Can you point me how to do this? I found how to create a manual recording, but I didn't see a way to have it automatically repeat. For example, if I want one show to record at a certain time every day M-F, and have another show record once a week. Also, setting the time is a nightmare. I had to change it one minute at a time.

-B

Can you point me how to do this? I found how to create a manual recording, but I didn't see a way to have it automatically repeat. For example, if I want one show to record at a certain time every day M-F, and have another show record once a week. Also, setting the time is a nightmare. I had to change it one minute at a time.
I agree setting the start/end times is horrible. It goes very slow at first, then goes way too fast.
Press Menu
Pick DVR from the quick menu
Pick DVR Schedule
Pick 'Create a manual recording'
Select your start and end times (do NOT add any additional front or back times, as you can do that later.)
Select the day you want the recording to begin
Confirm your selections
Scroll or type in the channel you want to record, then hit OK/Select
Choose the Recording options icon
From there you can change how often to record, record priority, and extra start/end time.

To delete a manual recording, just choose it when viewing the recording schedule, and use the 'DO not record' option, like skipping a series recording. Unlike a series recording, skipping a manual recording will DELETE it, even if it's a repeating recording!!

Also, in the recorded program list, programs will just be listed by their date/time, and not the program name.

Alrighty, so I got my Motorola signal booster, and went into the diagnostics menu to check out the SNR and the AGC.

SNR: 19 dB
AGC: 16%

Ugh. This picture quality is incredibly poor. Granted, the coax cable I have here in the room is going from one side of the room, along two walls, and and half of another to the box. Why is my signal so horrible, even with the booster?

The 16% AGC indicates too much signal. Try removing the signal booster. Why did you get it anyway?

Also where in the chain of things is the booster installed?
Once the signal level gets too low, it's too late to install a booster, you are just amplifying noise. It must be installed before the signal is split and lost in to much cabling. Install it where the cable enters the house.

I used to have Dish network satellite, and one thing they were better at than Comcast was that their listings data provider almost always properly listed New shows and non-new. Also I find from time to time that the Comcast listings will just have a generic description of a show instead of details of the particular episode. Also sometimes the info does not contain the year the episode was aired. Lastly, am I the only one who finds many of the Comcast movie descriptions to be umm a bit "snarky"? I would prefer less random editorializing and more facts.

mr2828:

That is exactly why my roommate and I have dubbed him "Sarcastic Movie Critic Guy". :-)

Regardless, he's correct in that TiVo handled it much better. I had been using the non-HDTV DirecTiVo for a long time and always only got the new episodes of Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Carnivale, etc. Now with the 6412 I get every showing of the current week's new episode, which can mean a plethora of repeats.
You'll get no argument from me. Do it the way TIVO does it or, as I mentioned a few posts back, a couple simple changes could be implemented to reduce the number unintended recordings. Either way, if it helps, I'm for it.

That is exactly why my roommate and I have dubbed him "Sarcastic Movie Critic Guy". :-)I happen to like "Sarcastic Movie Critic Guy." Granted, it's not raw facts, but it's better than having some Hollywood suckup describe every movie as though it were worthy of an Academy Award.

I have just received my 3rd & 4th 6412. The R/C I got is different from the first 2 called a comcats dvr-3. Now it has a complete PIP section - complete with PIP on/off, channel +/- , swap, etc.
See attached image (taken from the web..) as it matches my remote exactly.
I do not think that PIP works, because no signal is sent when pressing PIP on/off.
I do think that this may be a sign of PIP to come...

I do think that this may be a sign of PIP to come...
Maybe, but at least you now have extra buttons to map other commands to. I'm using those buttons for 30 second and 3 minute skips.

I have just received my 3rd & 4th 6412. The R/C I got is different from the first 2 called a comcats dvr-3. Now it has a complete PIP section - complete with PIP on/off, channel +/- , swap, etc.
See attached image (taken from the web..) as it matches my remote exactly.
I do not think that PIP works, because no signal is sent when pressing PIP on/off.
I do think that this may be a sign of PIP to come...

jvheitz:

That is the remote I have had for nearly 11 months here in Boston with Comcast. The "swap" button is used to switch between the two tuners in the 6412. Otherwise, how would you use that feature without a "swap" button?

The PIP button has never worked in the past 11 months, though it *may* be a sign of things to come.

I do think that this may be a sign of PIP to come...The 6412 is incapable of providing PIP. If PIP is ever accomplished it will be a software only solution. Maybe via the next i-Guide "Mosaic".

How did you get 3 minute skip? I understand how to do 30 second skip.

How did you get 3 minute skip? I understand how to do 30 second skip.
I found the answer in this thread somewhere???
If I remember correctly it is simply a macro of 6, 30 second skips in a row.

30, 60, 90, 120 (and more) Second Skip

Create a 30 second skip using the following directions:

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

Next, you create a macro using your new 30 second skip:

1) Press and hold down the "Setup" button until the light blinks twice.
2) Press 995.
3) Press the key you want to assign the X second skip to.
4) Press the button that you have used for the 30 second skip x times. (2 times for 60 seconds, 3 times for 90 seconds, and so on.)
5) Press and hold the "Setup" button until the light blinks twice to exit programming.

X = 30, 60, 90, 180, etc.

Maybe, but at least you now have extra buttons to map other commands to. I'm using those buttons for 30 second and 3 minute skips.
I have this newest remote too. Can you guys provide a summary of the buttons which do not work currently and are good candidates for re-programming?

Anyone use the HD Zoom/Enter button?

How about TV/VCR / Input?

Here is a quote from the Comcast user guide:

Note: The Picture-in-Picture On-Off, Move, PIP CH+, and PIP CH- buttons are not currently functional and are reserved for future use.

These is the only specific listing of buttons that do not work, as stated in the guide.

Everyone,

The PIP Buttons on the remote are for your TV/Monitor PIP, the Box itself does not and would not be able to do PIP as PIP on the 6412 would require a 2nd. Video Card.

Set your TV/Monitor code into the remote and then try the PIP Cmds. It works for my Sharp Tv.

I would not expect the STB to require additional video cards - it would have to be a firmware/software issue. (also, the SA8300 does not have "dual video cards")
Since there are 2 tuners, and you can swap back and forth between them it should definitely be a software issue.
If you were to use the PIP feature that came with your TV, then you would need another "video card" for the additional outputs from the STB to your TV

I would not expect the STB to require additional video cards - it would have to be a firmware/software issue. (also, the SA8300 does not have "dual video cards")
Since there are 2 tuners, and you can swap back and forth between them it should definitely be a software issue.
If you were to use the PIP feature that came with your TV, then you would need another "video card" for the additional outputs from the STB to your TV


Ok, let me put it another way, the 6412 can only output 1 Tuner at a time period, no Firmware update will fix this. The 6412 does not do PIP unless the DVR & the HD is removed.

This is from a Comcast Head End Mgr.

I have just received my 3rd & 4th 6412. The R/C I got is different from the first 2 called a comcats dvr-3. Now it has a complete PIP section - complete with PIP on/off, channel +/- , swap, etc.
See attached image (taken from the web..) as it matches my remote exactly.
I do not think that PIP works, because no signal is sent when pressing PIP on/off.
I do think that this may be a sign of PIP to come...

Comcast originally gave you the wrong remotes with your 6412. The remotes you describe (without PIP) are supposed to be distributed with the no-tuner 6200, and probably the 6208, which I think may be a single tuner device. (We have a 6412 and a 6200), each with the correct remotes.

The Swap button does work on the 6412 remote, but not the others.

Ok, let me put it another way, the 6412 can only output 1 Tuner at a time period, no Firmware update will fix this. The 6412 does not do PIP unless the DVR & the HD is removed.

This is from a Comcast Head End Mgr.
I don't fully understand the software/hardware requirements, but why couldn't they offer pip through software? I would think they could do it in a similar fashion to the guide's pip window. I realize that you couldn't change the pip channels with this solution, but it still seems doable.

Comcast originally gave you the wrong remotes with your 6412. The remotes you describe (without PIP) are supposed to be distributed with the no-tuner 6200, and probably the 6208, which I think may be a single tuner device. (We have a 6412 and a 6200), each with the correct remotes.

The Swap button does work on the 6412 remote, but not the others.


Now this I find interesting. I have a Swap button on my remote that, when pressed, apparently does nothing. I am afraid to go to a Comcast location and ask them for a "correct" 6412 remote though, since when I originally asked for a 6412 I was met with many puzzled looks...

I don't fully understand the software/hardware requirements, but why couldn't they offer pip through software? I would think they could do it in a similar fashion to the guide's pip window. I realize that you couldn't change the pip channels with this solution, but it still seems doable.

Thats a good question, I will email this to some of the Comcast Tech People and see what they say....

Hey everyone, have a safe 4th of July Weekend.

I don't fully understand the software/hardware requirements, but why couldn't they offer pip through software? I would think they could do it in a similar fashion to the guide's pip window. I realize that you couldn't change the pip channels with this solution, but it still seems doable.The i-Guide's PIP window is just scaled video. The 6412 does not include the hardware necessary to do full functional PIP. Maybe, as I said, the next version of the i-Guide will handle PIP.

Don't hold your breath.

Now this I find interesting. I have a Swap button on my remote that, when pressed, apparently does nothing. I am afraid to go to a Comcast location and ask them for a "correct" 6412 remote though, since when I originally asked for a 6412 I was met with many puzzled looks...

Trojan:

Did you check to make sure you pressed the very button on the top to select "Cable Box" or something like that? The buttons on top let you switch between TV, Cable Box, and something else.

If that doesn't work, I'd call Comcast in your area and ask them why first. Then, if it is a defective remote, swap it out.

Trojan:

Did you check to make sure you pressed the very button on the top to select "Cable Box" or something like that? The buttons on top let you switch between TV, Cable Box, and something else.

If that doesn't work, I'd call Comcast in your area and ask them why first. Then, if it is a defective remote, swap it out.


I will do that, thanks for the suggestion!

Choose the Recording options icon
From there you can change how often to record, record priority, and extra start/end time.

I'm having a problem at this step. I can bring up the menu that shows how often to repeat the recording, but it does not let me change the setting. There are no side arrows on either of the first two options. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

-B

Overall I'm pretty happy, but I've noticed a couple of weird bugs:

1) Occassionally, Dolby Digital playback will not be allowed. The DD icon will disappear from the on screen info menu as well. Power cycling the box usually fixes the problem.

2) I seem to have two versions of the main menu. One that has about 14 options, including the ability to check messages, and one that has only 8 options, and does not allow me to check messages. I have a message indicator on the box right now, yet no feasible way to actually check messages.

2) I seem to have two versions of the main menu. One that has about 14 options, including the ability to check messages, and one that has only 8 options, and does not allow me to check messages. I have a message indicator on the box right now, yet no feasible way to actually check messages.

It sounds like you are accessing the 'quick' menu. I don't remember off-hand when you get that one vs. the full menu, but I believe it depends on what state the box is in when you hit the button. When you hit 'menu' and get that, hit 'menu' again and you should get the full one. You will have to scroll down to see all the options, though....

Hope that helps...

-Randy

both of my 6412's have been crashing multiple times daily recently, resulting in broken recordings and lost guide info. anyone else experiencing this?

keenan, thanks for the helpful info on setting up the 30-sec (& multiples) skip buttons.

Is it possible to program a button to turn the closed captions on and off?

oleus, I have two 6412s, and the original one I had from last year began locking up twice daily after receiving the 9.19 firmware recently. I had some other problems from that box like "1989 recordings", so I threw in the towel and took it back and swapped for another one. The new one has been perfect so far. I recommend to everyone to always swap your box if you have any problems or annoyances out of it.

keenan, thanks for the helpful info on setting up the 30-sec (& multiples) skip buttons.

Is it possible to program a button to turn the closed captions on and off?
I don't know, that section I posted above was something I believe markjrenna posted here awhile back and then scanpa sent me a copy by PM. I just retrieve it whenever the question comes up and post it.

I suppose you could program a macro to do that but I have never tried it.

<corrected for accuracy>

That would have been me :D

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5311368&&#post5311368

Sorry... :o I fixed the post to reflect the true provenance of the info.. :)

880 also uses rechargeable batteries (supposedly lasts <9day) and comes with a recharging cradle to keep it in...I'd rather stick with something like the 6 Series and just replace the batteries every 2-3 months

Photo of the 880
http://www.pcworld.com/news/graphics/120438-n_041405_harmonyb.jpg

Photo of the different 6XX's
http://www.lewishq.com/images/harmony_6XX_comparison.jpg


They all use the same software, only difference is in the button layout (and number of buttons)...each is programmable however you want

works great with the 6412 and other stuff I have

Speaking about the 880, does anyone know if the 6412 profile already has the 30 second skip and what button is it assigned to? If not, what button have people assigned it to on Harmony remotes? Thanks.

What is the function of this button ? It doesn't seem to do anything. On my Sat box
DishNet 811 I can change the size of HD/SD programs. Is this posible with the 6112?

Speaking about the 880, does anyone know if the 6412 profile already has the 30 second skip and what button is it assigned to? If not, what button have people assigned it to on Harmony remotes? Thanks.
It does have a 30 second skip. Not sure where it was originally...I think it was in the lcd screen. I moved to the 'E' button, to the right of the '0'. The '+' button I have programmed for the 'back' function.

keenan, thanks for the helpful info on setting up the 30-sec (& multiples) skip buttons.

Is it possible to program a button to turn the closed captions on and off?

I, too, made use of his 30 sec. skip set up. It is the most used button on the remote.

I too, would like to create a macro for turning on closed captions. I don't need them most of the time (Yet<G>), but for a program like South Park, it is useful. No one can ever understand someone else's kids<G>.

...mike

..

I, too, made use of his 30 sec. skip set up. It is the most used button on the remote.

I too, would like to create a macro for turning on closed captions. I don't need them most of the time (Yet<G>), but for a program like South Park, it is useful. No one can ever understand someone else's kids<G>.

...mike

..

They killed Kenny, You bastards........ :D

Timmyyyyy!!!!!!

I've seen reference to being able to use the firewire output to archive shows to a pc. I'm assuming that something needs to be done to the files once they're on the computer to be able to watch or edit them, right? :confused:

Has anybody created a user guide for this? If so, is there one that applies to mac users, or just pc?

Thanks.

Jim

Try these two threads...I haven't tried this and don't have a Mac, but I have a feeling your answers can be found here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=403695

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=353608

Good luck!
-Randy

both of my 6412's have been crashing multiple times daily recently, resulting in broken recordings and lost guide info. anyone else experiencing this?Yep. I often turn on one of my 6412s and no guide info or at random times of the day it will reboot. It rebooted halfway through Scent of a Woman on skinamax last night and split the recording. I have 9.15 firmware and both of the boxes reboot at various times. It doesn't feel like a STB issue but who knows.

Regarding the firewire output on the 6412 (Comcast finally deliverd mine yesterday!), is there a reason why I couldn't use that output as an input to my DVD recorder to record material? Is there some copy protection involved I'm not aware of?

The 6412 seems to work well, but I did have a few problems with no sound coming out of the unit (neither composite nor optical digital sound). If I turned the unit off and then back on, the sound returned (?). Anyone else have that problem??

Yep. I often turn on one of my 6412s and no guide info or at random times of the day it will reboot. It rebooted halfway through Scent of a Woman on skinamax last night and split the recording. I have 9.15 firmware and both of the boxes reboot at various times. It doesn't feel like a STB issue but who knows.

I had this happen 4 times over the past 3 nights. When I finally called Comcast, the support person told me that the problem was caused by the fact I never turn the DVR off! She said I need to turn the box off overnight at least once a week (ostensibly to get updates from the head-end).

Has anybody else been told this? Does this make any sense? I told her I didn't think this made much sense to me, but she was adamant that the box had to be turned off overnight at least once per week. If true, it calls into question the prevailing wisdom that the box should never be turned off.

Has anybody else been told this? Does this make any sense? I told her I didn't think this made much sense to me, but she was adamant that the box had to be turned off overnight at least once per week. If true, it calls into question the prevailing wisdom that the box should never be turned off.

I haven't been told this, and I virtually never turn mine off. I have the most recent firmware that I have seen reported on the forum, so it appears my head-end has no problem updating the box here. I wouldn't really have a problem turning it off if it were necessary, but as it stands I never even think about doing it.

-Randy

I had this happen 4 times over the past 3 nights. When I finally called Comcast, the support person told me that the problem was caused by the fact I never turn the DVR off! She said I need to turn the box off overnight at least once a week (ostensibly to get updates from the head-end).

Has anybody else been told this? Does this make any sense? I told her I didn't think this made much sense to me, but she was adamant that the box had to be turned off overnight at least once per week. If true, it calls into question the prevailing wisdom that the box should never be turned off.

I don't believe that. Sounds more like a bad box. Anyway, I have been told to leave it on and turn it off on occasion. Doing that as told, I don't believe either does anything pro or con to solve any issues with the 6412.

I NEVER tun my box off and it gets updates just fine. The CSR is not correct in her evaluation, surprise, surprise......

I'm in mid Michigan and got the firmware update today. 9.19 now. I always turn mine off when not being used, no problems, had it since early Dec.

I just received 2 6412's today (both of my 6200 mysteriously crashed) --

The tech swapped out the boxes but not the remotes - I wasn't here and my wife just assumend it was the same box as they look alike.

Since there is no swap button on my remote how do I move from tuner to turner.

Also does the dual tuner work like a tivo -- ie I can record 2 shows at once or record one show and watch another?

thanks

Michael M

i am also getting much more frequest box crashes, resulting in broken recordings and missing guide info. this is happening daily on both of my 6412's so i don't think it's my box.

i am also getting much more frequest box crashes, resulting in broken recordings and missing guide info. this is happening daily on both of my 6412's so i don't think it's my box.

You may have a power or signal problem. The 6412 is very sensitive to voltage changes. Try it on a UPS.

i am also getting much more frequest box crashes, resulting in broken recordings and missing guide info. this is happening daily on both of my 6412's so i don't think it's my box.

I'm in Atlanta too, with a 6412 and two 2244's. They have all reset simultaneously at least twice in the last two days, when I was actually there. I believe they are doing this purposely from the headend to tinker with the channel configuration. On one of the resets, the digital simulcast channels that had been analog for two weeks, got mapped back to digital.

i am also getting much more frequest box crashes, resulting in broken recordings and missing guide info. this is happening daily on both of my 6412's so i don't think it's my box.
Ditto here. My 6412 worked great from November to mid-June. Now it's crashing every day!

You may have a power or signal problem. The 6412 is very sensitive to voltage changes. Try it on a UPS.This is a red herring. Many folks have chased the power thing (including me) and found it is always something else. I have 2 6412s plugged into the same UPS and they often times reboot independantly of each other. It ain't the power. I think markjenna finally tracked the 4:50/4:20 power recycle back to the series recordings but I think this is something different. In the twin cities we have been switching to DS so that sounds like it may be the issue as km speculated earlier.

After I recently received firmware 9.19, my first 6412 box that I had since last November began doing the 4:50/4:20 lockups. The more recent 6412 I have upstairs was fine with 9.19. I took the old one into Comcast and swapped it out, and now the new one is running perfectly. I advise anyone with the lockups to try swapping their box out, multiple times if necessary, to get a good working one.

Just thought I would let you know that I have received an update to the firmware to 9.19. I believe it was downloaded late Thursday. I am on the Stone Mountain headend.

I have not noticed any changes or what the new version fixes or breaks.

I live in Atlanta and it looks like we went straight from 9.15 to 9.19. I have a Comcast 6412 box.

If not, how does one change from one output to the other? I tried a seach in this massive thread but came up empty.

...mike

Regarding the firewire output on the 6412 (Comcast finally deliverd mine yesterday!), is there a reason why I couldn't use that output as an input to my DVD recorder to record material? Is there some copy protection involved I'm not aware of?

My guess is you've already tried this by now. But just in case, the answer is you can't do it. The DVD recorder's Firewire only works with DV video sources. What is exported via the 6412's Firewire is a data stream: either MPEG 2 from analog channels or .m2t from the network HD channels.

Since there is no swap button on my remote how do I move from tuner to turner.

You can't. You have the wrong remote. Comcast needs to give you the correct remote -- the one with a swap button.

Also does the dual tuner work like a tivo -- ie I can record 2 shows at once or record one show and watch another?
Yes.

Question: Over the last few weeks I've noticed a sharp increase in the amount of macroblocking appearing ONLY during motion shots and scenes where there is flashing lights or extreme lighting changes...for example, ESPNHD's spinning motion graphics on the black background and DiscoveryHD's promo with the rollercoaster, etc...

These are the only times the blocking occurs...otherwise the HD looks wonderful. I recently installed a Motorola signal booster but it had no effect. With the 6412, I can pause and rewind these examples and advanced through frame-by-frame to display the severe blocking so it must be the incoming signal as it is being captured digitally. I can watch previously recorded content with motion, etc., on the 6412 drive and no blocking occurs...I have removed the booster, changed the cables, etc...

I can't be the only one to have ever seen this...I know the mere mention of signal compression gets many in these forums up in arms, but something has changed...anyone have any thoughts?

Chris.

Chris,

My guess (since this is over the past few weeks) is that they may have increased the compression to make room for Digitally Simulcasting all Analog channels. Jersey and the Philly area are scheduled to be completely Digital Simulcasted by mid August if not sooner. Your system may be almost out of bandwidth so that may be what is happening.

It is worth a call to your local Comcast Office and try to get a Headend engineer to explain your problem. Don't bother with any CSR's, this is beyond their training.

Regarding the 4:20 am/4:50 pm...

I had this problem until I cleared my hard drive using the Hard Reset. I then setup all my Series Recordings again but this time I did not add any time before or after each SR.

I'm thinking that if you have this lock up problem you might want to see if you have any SR's with additional time before and/or after and remove it.

So far that seems to have fixed my lock ups.

I feel this is an i-Guide issue and not related to any Firmware version.

Thanks Mark...I suspected it may have had something to do with some of the changes going on...the timing seemed a little more than coincidence. Can I simply call my local office and ask to speak to a headend engineer? And, if the bandwidth is the issue, will this likely disappear once the digital transition is complete...

Thanks again,
Chris.

For those of you having your boxes crash & or reset by itself. I would ask this. Now that it's almost summer & it's getting quite warm out. How hot is it inside your house now? If you don't have air conditioning & it's very warn inside, It could be that your box is getting too hot. It will crash if it hits a certain temp. Mine has only done it once. I have my DVD player sitting under my 6412. Most of the time it's off & I only play one movie & then shut it off. One night the 6412 was recording & I watched 2 movies. When I was done playing the movies I went to the 6412. The instant I swapped rec's. on the 6412 it crashed. This was the only time I have watched 2 movies in a row & recorded with the 6412 all at the same time & it was the only time it has ever crashed. Both boxes were very hot.

I know this is not the answer for everyone but I may be the prob. for some.

For those of you having your boxes crash & or reset by itself. I would ask this. Now that it's almost summer & it's getting quite warm out. How hot is it inside your house now? If you don't have air conditioning & it's very warn inside, It could be that your box is getting too hot. It will crash if it hits a certain temp. Mine has only done it once. I have my DVD player sitting under my 6412. Most of the time it's off & I only play one movie & then shut it off. One night the 6412 was recording & I watched 2 movies. When I was done playing the movies I went to the 6412. The instant I swapped rec's. on the 6412 it crashed. This was the only time I have watched 2 movies in a row & recorded with the 6412 all at the same time & it was the only time it has ever crashed. Both boxes were very hot.

I know this is not the answer for everyone but I may be the prob. for some.
Nice try... :) :D

The ambient room temperature will not affect these boxes as long as they have adequate ventilation, as they typically run at 100-115 degrees normally. If your room is above that temperature I'd say a crashing DVR would be the least of you problems.. :p :D

This thing is so far inferior to the Cox Pioneer based unit that I'm pulling my hair out. SO many people here said that it was better, MUCH better, but I now think those people are merely being cheerleaders and haven't actually spent time with both units equally. I can honestly say I'm extremely disheartened by the operation of the 6412 on Comcast and SORELY miss my Cox unit. The ONLY thing this unit seems to have over the cox is it doesn't get hung up as much and is a little more responsive. Otherwise, the cox box is superior in every other way.

1. The Search feature:
Searching with this thing is so much less intuitive than the passport software, it's painful to use any time I try to find a show and it doesn't find shows half the time!

2. Recording settings:
On the Passport unit I can set up recordings to record at specific times on specific channels AT SPECIFIC DAYS AND TIMES in addition to first time vs. rerun settings. I can't find ANY way to set this Comcast unit to record a specific show ONLY ON A SPECIFIC DAY AND TIME. THIS leads into number 3.

3. PATHETIC first run vs. rerun detection:
If I set any of my shows to record only on a specific channel and first run only, I still get numerous recordings of not only the same episode but even previous episodes, so much so that frequently it fills my my DVR! Try it yourself, set it to record The Real World first run shows only, you'll get any new season Real World episode that comes on on any day at any time. Also try the Dead Zone or the 4400. My Passport NEVER had issues like this, because I could set it to record the show only on specific DAYS AND TIMES and even beyond that the first run detection seemed a lot better...

4. No Fast Forward auto rewind:
On the Passport unit, when you fast forward through commercials it automagically rewinds a tiny bit after you hit play. This may seem counterintuitive but they have it timed so well that once you get used to it, you almost always hit the return of the show perfectly. I am constantly having to rewind back when fast forwarding because my response times are pretty good but not THAT good while fast forwarding at high speed. Also, the Passport will rewind a little more if you are fast forwarding at a higher rate and a little less than at a slower rate to account for the response time difference.

5. Recording scheduling and viewing:
The Passport is an absolute BREEZE to view what is currently recording, and shows currently recording are easily distinguishible in the recorded shows list. I do like the way you can view scheduled recordings by day on the Comcast unit, but I have yet to find a convenient way to determine what is recording at the current time.

6. Guide:
The guide on the Comcast really doesn't hold water to the Cox Passport unit. You can't even go back before the current time on the Comcast to see what was on earlier in the day! Also, how do you skip forward days at a time, on the Passport you can hit a number and then the right arrow and it will skip forward that many days, right now I have to keep holding the arrow key until I get to the day I want, a ROYAL pain when trying to go forward more than a day or two.

Can ANYONE tell me if I'm doing something wrong and these gripes are unfounded due to my not knowing something special about the Iguide's operation? WHY IN THE WORLD would anyone think this unit is better than the Passport? WHAT is better about this unit than passport, I simply can't find anything that comes close to making up for the above listed issues I have. I'm so disheartened by this POS and the fact that where I live I have no other options, COX WHERE ARE YOU, GET SOME MARKET PENETRATION IN MASSACHUSETTS, I WANT MY PASSPORT BACK!!!

Tom

Nice try... :) :D

The ambient room temperature will not affect these boxes as long as they have adequate ventilation, as they typically run at 100-115 degrees normally. If your room is above that temperature I'd say a crashing DVR would be the least of you problems.. :p :D

I agree. My box is in the basement, where it stays cool even on the hottest days. Plus, it is in an open cabinet with plenty of ventilation. Also, it didn't crash on particularly warm days.

I'm inclined to go along with the earlier theory that it has to do with the DS conversion. The CSR I talked to didn't specifically mention anything about software updates. All she said was that the box needed to communicate with the head-end. She might have been referring to the change in channel configurations rather than software downloads.

So far it hasn't crashed since I began turning it off at night (except for nights when it is recording something when I go to bed). We'll see what happens...

1. The Search feature:
Searching with this thing is so much less intuitive than the passport software, it's painful to use any time I try to find a show and it doesn't find shows half the time!


I really only have wanted to search by show title and have never had a problem, so I can't help you there. If I remember correctly, though, you want to hit <OK/SELECT/whatever the middle button is on the remote> once you've entered the last letter of your search. Even though it seems to be sorting and searching as you enter letters, it seems like it doesn't totally refine it until you enter the last letter. I don't know if that will help you or not, but I thought I'd mention it.

2. Recording settings:
On the Passport unit I can set up recordings to record at specific times on specific channels AT SPECIFIC DAYS AND TIMES in addition to first time vs. rerun settings. I can't find ANY way to set this Comcast unit to record a specific show ONLY ON A SPECIFIC DAY AND TIME.

My ReplayTVs do this, and it would be nice.

4. No Fast Forward auto rewind:
On the Passport unit, when you fast forward through commercials it automagically rewinds a tiny bit after you hit play. This may seem counterintuitive but they have it timed so well that once you get used to it, you almost always hit the return of the show perfectly. I am constantly having to rewind back when fast forwarding because my response times are pretty good but not THAT good while fast forwarding at high speed. Also, the Passport will rewind a little more if you are fast forwarding at a higher rate and a little less than at a slower rate to account for the response time difference.

I programmed a button for 30-second skip, so through using that I don't really have this problem. You might want to try that to see if it works for you.

5. Recording scheduling and viewing:
The Passport is an absolute BREEZE to view what is currently recording, and shows currently recording are easily distinguishible in the recorded shows list. I do like the way you can view scheduled recordings by day on the Comcast unit, but I have yet to find a convenient way to determine what is recording at the current time.

On my box the currently recording show is at the top of the list when I hit My DVR on the remote.


I haven't had the opportunity to compare the Comcast box with the Cox version, so I really can't say much about the differences. From your note, it sounds like Passport incorporates some the features I have on my ReplayTVs, and I would love to see them on Comcast boxes. However, since Comcast has a big interest in iGuide, I wouldn't look for any shift to Passport in the future. There will be a TiVo-based unit offered next year sometime, but in the meantime hopefully we'll see some of the changes mentioned incorporated into iGuide. Many of your points have been raised with Comcast...time will tell if they choose to implement any of them. While the iGuide-based box is far from perfect, it does pretty much everything I need it to do and lets me record HD, so I am pretty happy with it....

Regards,
Randy

6. Guide:
Also, how do you skip forward days at a time, on the Passport you can hit a number and then the right arrow and it will skip forward that many days, right now I have to keep holding the arrow key until I get to the day I want, a ROYAL pain when trying to go forward more than a day or two.

Tom,

For item #6 - Use the B and C buttons to reverse/advance 24 hours with each press. Unfortunately you can't go prior than the current time.

The i-Guide does have a lot of pitfalls. I guess I'm used to them now. Who said the i-Guide is better than Passport?

#2 - There is full manual recording control. Go into menu, choose DVR, then go to DVR schedule. There is an option for create a manual recording. During the process of creating the recording, don't miss by accident the options button on the final screen that will let you choose things like whether you want it to be one time, weekly, etc.

#3 - Yes, but a lot of this is the fault of the guide listings data provider that incorrectly marks things as new, or doesn't mark things as repeats.

#4 - There is a skip-back "replay" 15 seconds button on the remote. Use that to exit fast forwarding. Also if your remote is one that can be programmed to have a 30 second skip ahead function, you may find this is preferrable over fast forwarding through commercials. I do.

#5 - Simply go to My DVR / listings depending on which remote you have, where it lists all your recordings. The ones at the top are what are currently recording.

#6 - As mentioned elsewhere, there are day advance buttons on the remote.

This thead is long, but all these answers were here to find if you would have searched for 5 minutes.

Can ANYONE tell me if I'm doing something wrong and these gripes are unfounded due to my not knowing something special about the Iguide's operation? WHY IN THE WORLD would anyone think this unit is better than the Passport? WHAT is better about this unit than passport, I simply can't find anything that comes close to making up for the above listed issues I have. I'm so disheartened by this POS and the fact that where I live I have no other options, COX WHERE ARE YOU, GET SOME MARKET PENETRATION IN MASSACHUSETTS, I WANT MY PASSPORT BACK!!!

Tom

EDIT: Deleted emotional outburst that made me sound like an idiot. Sorry folks.

Can ANYONE tell me if I'm doing something wrong and these gripes are unfounded due to my not knowing something special about the Iguide's operation? WHY IN THE WORLD would anyone think this unit is better than the Passport? WHAT is better about this unit than passport, I simply can't find anything that comes close to making up for the above listed issues I have. I'm so disheartened by this POS and the fact that where I live I have no other options, COX WHERE ARE YOU, GET SOME MARKET PENETRATION IN MASSACHUSETTS, I WANT MY PASSPORT BACK!!!

Tom

OK, deep breaths, deep breaths...

Repeat after me "Cox is no longer, Comcast is" "Cox is nolonger, Comcast is" ...

"Bad is what I have, Good is what I long for."

Most others have given you advice on how the 6412 can do most of what you are looking for. All you can do now is chill and wait for the improvements that are bound to come as updates to the firmware and the iGuide roll out. This is still a competitive (satellite providers and phone companies are at least looking to break in) market and Comcast is watching very closely to what we want and ask for.

It may not yet be everything we want but it's an outrageous change from what we had just a few years ago...

Bruce,

Well put, and I'd also remind everyone that, in theory, Comcast should have a TiVo-based solution sometime in 2006, assuming that TiVo doesn't mess up the deal....again. No telling at this point if it'll use the existing 64xx boxes or a newer one, but either way is fine with me since I didn't buy the Comcast box in the first place.

-John

..........Can ANYONE tell me if I'm doing something wrong and these gripes are unfounded due to my not knowing something special about the Iguide's operation? WHY IN THE WORLD would anyone think this unit is better than the Passport? WHAT is better about this unit than passport, I simply can't find anything that comes close to making up for the above listed issues I have. I'm so disheartened by this POS and the fact that where I live I have no other options, COX WHERE ARE YOU, GET SOME MARKET PENETRATION IN MASSACHUSETTS, I WANT MY PASSPORT BACK!!!

Tom
There is an excellent FAQ on the 6412 and links to 6412 Manuals at:
http://www.**********.com/viewforum.php?id=4
:D

EDIT: oops - forget AVS has blackballed this great 6412 site. Try this URL:
http://*******.com/b3vzd

Well, I hate to buck the trend, but I'm siding with Tom and Randy. The i-Guide is nice but it does need some work. And there is nothing wrong with constructive criticism.

I have searched this forum and posted eons ago in this very thread some questions and was given some answers. My remote is so flaky it won't allow me to program the 30 second skip, half the time it keeps defaulting to "AUX" for some as yet unknown reason, and it seems to like to skip around what is selected even when it does work. I'll hit TV on it and power and it'll turn off the cable box, don't know what's up with that. I'm moving in 2 weeks to a new location (unfortunately still comcast serviced) so I'm not going to muck around too much with this box, I've had it for 2 months and have played with it quite a bit, it's just so much less refined than the Passport, I don't think any of my questions seemed out of line. I don't think the top recording is showing as the currently recording show, actually I think there is something wrong with the box as it shows the record light basically all the time. I could go back in this thread and point out several posts of people replying to earlier posts of mine saying the iguide was superior to passport but either way those are also in this thread. I usually do use the instant replay button when fast forwarding but it's still FAR less intuitive than the automatic functions on the cox unit. Guys I know I'm stuck with this thing for now and don't take it the wrong way, I'm just hoping also that there are Comcast empl. reading this and perhaps they fix some of these issues. My BIGGEST gripe bar none is the inability to specify days and times for a given show, both my replay and the passport unit had this, the first run flag may very well be a problem with provider information but the fact remains that without being able to narrow down when a recording happens it's a major defect in my opinion, I can't believe more people don't have a problem with it, my unit will FILL UP with the same shows over and over again, I kid you not, I'm constantly deleting the same shows over and over and over, I deleted the real world, the last 2 episodes, at least 8 total times including the actual first run, this is CRAZY that I can't tell it to only record the show on a specific day at a specific time, I would think this to be a fundamental thing! Thanks for the advice, once I move I'll try to program the new remote (I'm leaving the cable box at the house I'm in now so I'll be getting a new setup when I move) with 30 second skip and go from there. I'm just so disappointed with this unit, considering it's the exact same hardware and I know what's possible with the passport system!
Tom

My BIGGEST gripe bar none is the inability to specify days and times for a given show...

Tom, I apologize for my previous post. You can specify days/times for a specific show. Reread mr2828's post which has your answer to your biggest gripe:

#2 - There is full manual recording control. Go into menu, choose DVR, then go to DVR schedule. There is an option for create a manual recording. During the process of creating the recording, don't miss by accident the options button on the final screen that will let you choose things like whether you want it to be one time, weekly, etc.

I would trade in that remote for a new one. Sounds like you have a bum remote.

My BIGGEST gripe bar none is the inability to specify days and times for a given show, both my replay and the passport unit had this, the first run flag may very well be a problem with provider information but the fact remains that without being able to narrow down when a recording happens it's a major defect in my opinion


If you haven't got a manual for the box, use Google, find a site and download one. Then you can learn how to use the box properly.

You can setup manual recording, specifying days and times. It may not be the most intuitive of interface, but it's there! I set up manual repeating recording for The 4400 and The Dead Zone for exactly the reason that it was picking up too many repeats! Just read a manual. :D

Mark

If you haven't got a manual for the box, use Google, find a site and download one. Then you can learn how to use the box properly.

You can setup manual recording, specifying days and times. It may not be the most intuitive of interface, but it's there! I set up manual repeating recording for The 4400 and The Dead Zone for exactly the reason that it was picking up too many repeats! Just read a manual. :D

Mark
As I indicated in my earlier post, there is a link to the User Handbook at:
http://*******.com/b3vzd

I think that you guys are supplying what could be a bit of a workaround for what Tom is saying is his biggest gripe, but I don't think you are hitting what he is after. He wants to be able to do a series (show-based) recording, and tell it what days to look for the show. That *could* elminate some of the repeated recordings. Again, my ReplayTV does this, and apparently the Passport software does, too, so it is doable. I don't believe it is possible with the iGuide, though.

That said, Tom, there is a little easier way to work around this...it isn't as convenient as the RTV or Passport way, but it is far quicker than setting up manual recordings and also doesn't let your drive fill up with unwanted shows. Take 5 or 10 minutes and sit down and look at your future scheduled recordings. I am assuming that you know when the shows you want will be on. Just go to the Menu, select DVR, select Scheduled Recordings, then go through, day by day, and just tell it to not record the individual shows that are duplicates. Select the show, choose the recording options, then select Don't Record this Program. It doesn't kill your series recording set up, it simply skips that particular show that it had scheduled.

I hope that helps.

-Randy

Edited to make the first paragraph have something approaching a point...RH :)

As I indicated in my earlier post, there is a link to the User Handbook at:
http://*******.com/b3vzd

I've read the manual, and tried to set a manual recording to repeat. However, on the recording options screen, the repeating recording option says "NONE" and I can't change it! Am I missing something? I have the 9.15 firmware.

Well, I hate to buck the trend, but I'm siding with Tom and Randy. The i-Guide is nice but it does need some work. And there is nothing wrong with constructive criticism.

No issue. The iGuide does need a good bit of work and I have my fingers crossed that Comcast and TV Guide are moving along. Won't know until we see what they come up with. My only belief is that what ever we have now is much better than the last version we had and the next version will be better yet.

Perhaps I am too much of an optimist...

Good solid suggestions are what will push this along and an understanding that not every suggestion will be included in the next upgrade. Tivo, Microsoft and Cox each have items we would all want incorporated into the iGuide. As long as we continually push these guys along they will keep moving.

For me, while I covet every modification that each of you have suggested, I am still happier than a pig in mud with what I have. I never mis a show I want to see. I time shift all over the place. I record the stuff I want to see while my wife watches the stuff I don't want to see. This is just too good. Every improvement will be luscious and enjoyed.

I've read the manual, and tried to set a manual recording to repeat. However, on the recording options screen, the repeating recording option says "NONE" and I can't change it! Am I missing something? I have the 9.15 firmware.

I just checked my box. There are arrows pointing left and right on the 'repeating' option. The default is NONE. if you use your left or right direction on the remote, it cycles through the options 'MON-FRI', 'Every Day' and 'Once a Week' (sorry if I didn't quote the options word-for-word). If you can't see the arrows, or there are no opens left or right, you have a faulty box!

My firmware is 9.15 also. :cool:

Mark

I'm quite happy with the 6412 as well. The following would be big improvements, however:
(1) A dedicated button on the remote for closed captions
(2) A 500GB HDD with one hour HD buffer

My #1 priority to fix would be the 'lock up/freeze' problem. Too many times I go to change a channels or swap tuners and I have to wait for the box to finish whatever the heck it's doing. I'd also like it see being able to assign different remote ID's to each box so multiple boxes can be in the same room. They also need to get the guide/box fixed so when you say record only new programs it records only new programs and not all the repeats along with it. Maybe I'm spoiled by the D* HR10-250 but these issues are enough for me to cancel Comcast and stay with D*, HD-Lite and all.

Hey All !
I used to read keep current reading this thread almost every day but haven't in a while now. I have to say I was kinda stunned to see that it is now over 150 pages! Anyhow, I've had a 6412 for roughly 6 months now and it seems that with every update to the I-guide, my box freezes and locks-up more and more. I have to believe that part of the reason is that I am still stuck at the 9.12 firmware. Seeing that some of you now have version 9.19, I'm starting to wonder if Comcast will ever update our (technology challenged) area of the country. Is anyone else still stuck at this level firmware? Most importantly, without reading through the last 70 pages of this thread, has anyone ever figured out a way to force the box to re-download the firmware? Maybe they have a newer version available on our front-end but, for whatever reason, it isn't automatically downloading. Thanks for any info!

I think that you guys are supplying what could be a bit of a workaround for what Tom is saying is his biggest gripe, but I don't think you are hitting what he is after. He wants to be able to do a series (show-based) recording, and tell it what days to look for the show. That *could* elminate some of the repeated recordings. Again, my ReplayTV does this, and apparently the Passport software does, too, so it is doable. I don't believe it is possible with the iGuide, though.

That said, Tom, there is a little easier way to work around this...it isn't as convenient as the RTV or Passport way, but it is far quicker than setting up manual recordings and also doesn't let your drive fill up with unwanted shows. Take 5 or 10 minutes and sit down and look at your future scheduled recordings. I am assuming that you know when the shows you want will be on. Just go to the Menu, select DVR, select Scheduled Recordings, then go through, day by day, and just tell it to not record the individual shows that are duplicates. Select the show, choose the recording options, then select Don't Record this Program. It doesn't kill your series recording set up, it simply skips that particular show that it had scheduled.

I hope that helps.

-Randy

Edited to make the first paragraph have something approaching a point...RH :)

BINGO, Randy gets it. I saw the info on creating a manual recording so OK you CAN specify specific recordings that way, but it's a workaround, not a true solution! My gripe is that you can't just do it while creating a series recording, knowing they have the option under manual recording makes it even stupider that they don't include this with a series. I will probably have to either create manual recordings or try the do not record this show trick Randy mentioned and see how it works, the point is that the option should be part of the series recordings, it would just make it SO much easier. Basically on the passport setup when you do a series recording it brings up advanced record options and you can uncheck days you don't want it to record, it's just so intuitive when doing a series recording to have that option right in there! Thanks for the feedback though, I'll go a little more in depth with the unit once I move and get the new one, hopefully the remote will be better on that one too. I know some of you are trying to help but I think Randy understands because he had a replay with the functions I'm talking about, I had a Replay for 2 years and the cox passport box for 1-1/2 years after the replay so for the last 3-1/2 years I've had most of these features so to suddenly go without them is a shock, I think maybe since you folks probably never got used to having these features you don't know how much better things can be, if you know what I mean. Anyway, thanks for the help, I'm so glad this forum exists!
Tom

it seems that with every update to the I-guide, my box freezes and locks-up more and more. I have to believe that part of the reason is that I am still stuck at the 9.12 firmware.
I'm not sure what you mean by "update to the I-guide", but I'm just outside of Chicago and am still at 9.12 and have no lock-up issues.

According to this post at http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13870381 the Chicago area will start to get the 9.19 6412 software today.

I just checked my box. There are arrows pointing left and right on the 'repeating' option. The default is NONE. if you use your left or right direction on the remote, it cycles through the options 'MON-FRI', 'Every Day' and 'Once a Week' (sorry if I didn't quote the options word-for-word). If you can't see the arrows, or there are no opens left or right, you have a faulty box!

My firmware is 9.15 also. :cool:

Mark


This is really odd. I have NO arrows left or right on the repeating option, and even pressing enter does nothing. If I press left or right on the remote, the yellow indicator on the DVR's display doesn't even light up to signify the signal was received! Anyone in MA have this problem?

I have searched this forum and posted eons ago in this very thread some questions and was given some answers. My remote is so flaky it won't allow me to program the 30 second skip, half the time it keeps defaulting to "AUX" for some as yet unknown reason, and it seems to like to skip around what is selected even when it does work
Tom

My remote always defaults to AUX as well - everytime. I finally have gotten in the habit of hitting "Cable" first. I was able to program the 30 second skip w. no problem.

...mike

The following information is quoted from the "inside i-Guide User Reference Manual" located at:

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

--- Start of Quotes ---

Manually Schedule a Recording
----------------------------------------
You can set a Manual Recording to automatically record a specific time and channel.
Step 1: Select DVR from the Main Menu, then select Set a Recording.
Step 2: Select the start and end times and the day you wish to record
and confirm your settings.
Step 3: A channel list will then appear, allowing you to select the
channel to record. Select the channel you want.
Step 4: A “Create a New Recording” Screen will appear, select Create
a Recording to confirm your settings or select the Recording
Options Icon (it looks like wrench) for additional Recording options.

Use the UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT buttons on your remote to change the
Recording Options:
• Change the frequency of the recording, such as every
day or once a week.
• Specify how many recordings to save.
• Set a Save Until parameter, either until you delete or
automatically when space is needed.
• Change the start and end times in order to catch every
minute of a program, even if it runs over.

--- End of Quotes ---

These same recording options are available for Series Recordings. And you can go back and change them at any time as follows:

From the Main Menu
Select DVR, then select Future Recordings to see a list of your
scheduled recordings. Highlight a program title and press OK or INFO.

Select the Record Icon from the program information screen. Then select the Recording Options icon.

Or are they both active at the same time?

(Sorry if this is a repeat question.)

A side question: Is one type of HD output considered betteer than another (480 v. 720 v. 1080?) I am viewing on a Panny 50" plasma.

Thanks.

...mike

HD Rookie ,
The interactive program guide/menu software (I-guide) is updated independently of the firmware. For instance, when I originally got the DCT-6412, there was no "On Demand" movie feature. In subsequent updates to the guide software, it has been added and I can now watch the "awesome" collection of free movies Comcast offers each month! (/sarcasm)

rad ,
Thanks for that link! Living, more or less, in the Chicagoland area, I hope this turns out to be true.

I just received 2 6412's today (both of my 6200 mysteriously crashed) --

The tech swapped out the boxes but not the remotes - I wasn't here and my wife just assumend it was the same box as they look alike.

Since there is no swap button on my remote how do I move from tuner to turner.

Also does the dual tuner work like a tivo -- ie I can record 2 shows at once or record one show and watch another?

thanks

Michael M

Can anyone respond to my questions?

Can anyone respond to my questions?

You must have missed it, someone already did.....

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5861598&&#post5861598


Quote:
Since there is no swap button on my remote how do I move from tuner to turner.

You can't. You have the wrong remote. Comcast needs to give you the correct remote -- the one with a swap button.
Quote:
Also does the dual tuner work like a tivo -- ie I can record 2 shows at once or record one show and watch another?

Yes.

I'm thinking about purchasing a UPS. I know some of you have reported that plugging the 6412 into a UPS has solved problems you were having. Is there any other reason to consider buying a UPS? Does anyone have evidence that sudden loss of power will damage the 6412 in any way other than wiping out the Guide info?

Since there is no swap button on my remote how do I move from tuner to turner.
There are at least two ways I know of to do this.

Because I use a Harmony remote, and because the remote knows I have a 6412, the remote allows me to swap tuners.

If you only have the 6412-remote-that-isn't-really-a-6412-remote, Comcast tech support can tell you the steps you need to follow to program one of the keys on that remote to perform the swap function.

I know this because, when I picked up my box, they gave me the wrong remote, and when I called tech support, they told me I had three options: (1) Go back and exchange the remote; (2) Program a button I didn't need for anything else to do the swap; or (3) Use another programmable remote, like the Harmony. Since I had the Harmony, I didn't keep the instructions they gave me for programming the 6412-remote-that-isn't-really-a-6412-remote to do the swap. I figured eventually I'd get up off the couch and take a drive to exchange it for an actual 6412 remote. Hasn't happened yet, though. :)

i would seriously consider getting an independent power source "power station" for my HT setup (and 6412 specifically) if i knew it would stop these random crashes on my boxes.

is anyone using one of these power sources for their 6412, and has it helped?

Or are they both active at the same time?

(Sorry if this is a repeat question.)

A side question: Is one type of HD output considered betteer than another (480 v. 720 v. 1080?) I am viewing on a Panny 50" plasma.


I believe both component and DVI are active at the same time (I haven't seen a configuration option to turn on one or the other, and I've only got the cables to use component right now so I can't test it).

As for resolution, you should use the one that looks best on your panel. From looking at Panasonic's website, all three 50" panels they have listed are at 1366 x 768, so I don't know which would be best -- 720p would be scaled up a bit, and 1080i would be scaled down a bit. I'd try each one in turn and see how it looks. Make sure you look at SD content, 720p and 1080i on each -- ie. ESPN (SD), ESPN-HD (720p), INHD (1080i).

Hope that helps.

Is there any way to get the 6412 to give me any technical information about the broadcast I'm watching? I'd like to know what format the broadcast is in (1080i, 720p) and how much bandwidth is being used, so I can tell what I'm looking at.

Thanks,

Jonathan

As expected, the CSR's advice to power the box off overnight at least once per week didn't help (I didn't really expect it to, but I had to humor her). Last night it crashed 3 times. So much for that theory.

Comcast is sending a tech out this afternoon to look at the box. I'm sure he'll probably recommend swapping it out. Before he comes, I would like to get a sense of how widespread this problem is. In my case, the box had been mostly working OK since November, with only an occasional glitch. Now it has crashed 7 times over the past week or so.

If anybody else is seeing a similar pattern, I would like to hear from you. If you don't want to clutter the forum, you can PM me. I especially want to hear from anybody who has already had the box replaced and is still seeing the problem.

Thanks.

As expected, the CSR's advice to power the box off overnight at least once per week didn't help (I didn't really expect it to, but I had to humor her). Last night it crashed 3 times. So much for that theory.

Comcast is sending a tech out this afternoon to look at the box. I'm sure he'll probably recommend swapping it out. Before he comes, I would like to get a sense of how widespread this problem is. In my case, the box had been mostly working OK since November, with only an occasional glitch. Now it has crashed 7 times over the past week or so.

If anybody else is seeing a similar pattern, I would like to hear from you. If you don't want to clutter the forum, you can PM me. I especially want to hear from anybody who has already had the box replaced and is still seeing the problem.

Thanks.

Call Comcast and MAKE SURE the tech is bringing another box with him. Just swap it out for a new one. That has seemed to be the only sure way of having your box fixed. Some have had to swap the boxes multiple times until they get a good one. This includes boxes which have been good for months and suddenly become flakey.

Call Comcast and MAKE SURE the tech is bringing another box with him...

And make sure you have/get the NEWER remotes as well...I think the company protocol is to only give the NEW remotes (w/SWAP button) to those who ask!

Chris.

Is there any way to get the 6412 to give me any technical information about the broadcast I'm watching? I'd like to know what format the broadcast is in (1080i, 720p) and how much bandwidth is being used, so I can tell what I'm looking at.

Thanks,

Jonathan

That's Easy, Comcast (most Locations) send all HD to your STB in 1080I

That's Easy, Comcast (most Locations) send all HD to your STB in 1080I
That is not correct!
People have inquired about this, and they said, nationwide, Comcast sends all HD to your STB in its native resolution. Then, you set your STB for one res. or the other, since their is no native output setting.

You can program SWAP.

Look here:

http://*******.com/bjd89

http://t i n y u r l.com/bjd89 no spaces.

Can anyone respond to my questions?

See post #4701.