Any way I can control the display's aspect ratio ("format") using comcast's "universal" remote control?

When in "TV" mode the remote only works for the volume and input functions. I'm forced to use the TV's remote to change aspect ratio (which I do frequently). Annoying.

Thanks for any help,
Anondonk

Any way I can control the display's aspect ratio ("format") using comcast's "universal" remote control?

When in "TV" mode the remote only works for the volume and input functions. I'm forced to use the TV's remote to change aspect ratio (which I do frequently). Annoying.

Thanks for any help,
Anondonk

Nope you have to access it via the STB user menu.

User Setup Menu

To access the User Setup Menu, start with your STB on.

turn off the STB and press Menu.

To exit the User Setup Menu screen just hit the power button.

Nope you have to access it via the STB user menu.

User Setup Menu

To access the User Setup Menu, start with your STB on.

turn off the STB and press Menu.

To exit the User Setup Menu screen just hit the power button.


Right. I got that. I'm not intested in changing the STB's aspect ratio (output). I need to change the display's aspect ratio back and forth (I watch widescreen hd in "Automatic" and SD in "4:3". The STB's overlay menus also tend to screw up the aspect display when in "automatic" mode -- fixed by switching it out and back in).

Currently I have to use the display's remote ("format" key) and I'm assuming I'm out of luck using comcast's remote for that purpose.

Thanks for the info, though.
Anondonk

Right. I got that. I'm not intested in changing the STB's aspect ratio (output). I need to change the display's aspect ratio back and forth (I watch widescreen hd in "Automatic" and SD in "4:3". The STB's overlay menus also tend to screw up the aspect display when in "automatic" mode -- fixed by switching it out and back in).

Currently I have to use the display's remote ("format" key) and I'm assuming I'm out of luck using comcast's remote for that purpose.

Thanks for the info, though.
Anondonk
Well, the Comcast remote is programmable, so you can get the code(s) for your TV here: Remote Control Pages (http://www.hifi-remote.com/ofa/advanced.shtml) and then learn how to program the Comcast Remote from here: Wiki on Motorola 6412 (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR) and here is a page listing the codes for the Comcast/Moto 6412 if you need further info on the codes on that box from Moto Cable Box codes (http://www.hifi-remote.com/cgi-bin2/ueic.cgi?cbl_0476)

Of course all the normal precautions, such as writing down everything you're doing and understanding the risks of doing it :) I would recommend reading the Wiki page first to get some sense of how it all works.

I sort of take it with a grain of salt, but I spoke with a Comcast customer service representative today regarding the DD5.1/HDMI audio bug, and the rep said that there a new firmware will be pushed to all boxes tonight/early next morning. I pressed him if that was just for my area, but he said all boxes, so I am not sure how accurate the info is. He put me on hold for a few minutes to confirm when/if this firmware push was happening, he came back and said it is planned for 3:00am and will take a couple hours to complete. The customer service reps name was Don and I placed the call around 6:50pm EST. Let's hope for the best. I am in central Massachusetts and my head end in in Westford, MA.

Since this box has 2 tuners, is it possible to have 2 tv's side by side, and have each tv play get its own tuner? I would very much like to do this.

If this is not possible, what would it take to do this (other than another box)?

Thanks in advance! :)

EDIT: I have cox, not comcast. :cool:

It doesn't matter who your provider is, you can't do that. While the box has two tuners, it only has one output. The only way you can do it is to get a second box.

In theory it's possible but regretfully you can have only one output source at a time with the current generation of STB's.

It doesn't matter who your provider is, you can't do that. While the box has two tuners, it only has one output. The only way you can do it is to get a second box.

Time to open it up and play! :p :D

Since this box has 2 tuners, is it possible to have 2 tv's side by side, and have each tv play get its own tuner? I would very much like to do this.

If this is not possible, what would it take to do this (other than another box)?

Thanks in advance! :)

EDIT: I have cox, not comcast. :cool: Not possible. Only 1 tuner at a time can be displayed by the DCT box, so even though there are multiple outputs which can be taken to different TVs, they would all display the same thing. Picture in picture is also not a capability of this DCT box so you can't display two different inputs on 1 TV either.

oh, thats too bad. I would love to have that! possibly a future feature?.... :p

Not possible. Only 1 tuner at a time can be displayed by the DCT. Picture in picture is also not a capability of this DCT box so you can't display two different inputs on 1 TV either.

That is a big problem. I have my STB conected to a 103" HP PJ screen and I can go into the iGuide and look at what's coming up while my wife watches tv. The image is so freaking huge from 10ft away that she doesn't really care because the part of the screen she is watching is still about a 48" diag. :D

That is a big problem. I have my STB conected to a 103" HP PJ screen and I can go into the iGuide and look at what's coming up while my wife watches tv. The image is so freaking huge from 10ft away that she doesn't really care because the part of the screen she is watching is still about a 48" diag. :D[/QUOTE]


What is the point of you post? I don't understand your post.

ajwees41

The fact that picture in picture is not an option.

The fact that picture in picture is not an option.

Not an option but there is an easy workaround to gain use of your TV's PIP. Split the signal before it goes to the 6412. You can then get all the analogs to display alongside what the 6412 gives you.

Even if it was an option you would need a 6412 phase3 and the guide to support it. The guides are the only thing thast I see that need upgraded to make PIP work on a phase 3 or later dvr.

ajwees41













Not an option but there is an easy workaround to gain use of your TV's PIP. Split the signal before it goes to the 6412. You can then get all the analogs to display alongside what the 6412 gives you.

What is Cox currently giving out? I got my box about 1½ years ago. I believe I have a phase 2 (I have a DCT6412/2000).

Maybe I can exchange it for a phase 3?

What is Cox currently giving out? I got my box about 1½ years ago. I believe I have a phase 2 (I have a DCT6412/2000).

Maybe I can exchange it for a phase 3?

Where are you located? It all depends what the local service centers have in stock.

6412 phase 3, 6416 aphase 3 with a 160GB hard drive, or a 3412 an all digital version of the 6412.

ajwees41

I sort of take it with a grain of salt, but I spoke with a Comcast customer service representative today regarding the DD5.1/HDMI audio bug, and the rep said that there a new firmware will be pushed to all boxes tonight/early next morning. I pressed him if that was just for my area, but he said all boxes, so I am not sure how accurate the info is. He put me on hold for a few minutes to confirm when/if this firmware push was happening, he came back and said it is planned for 3:00am and will take a couple hours to complete. The customer service reps name was Don and I placed the call around 6:50pm EST. Let's hope for the best. I am in central Massachusetts and my head end in in Westford, MA.
For what it's worth, I was told the same thing by the Comcast tech tech who came to my house today to fix the HDD issue on our 2 DVRs I posted about a page or two ago. He had some less than complimentary things to say about the 6412's reliability. Regarding the firmware, he said that because so many of these boxes are exhibiting problems (he said it seems like everyone he knows with one is having problems) Comcast is rolling out a firmware update to all boxes startitg tonight. I asked if he meant all at our headend, and he replyed that he meant all nationally. He also said that he's never heard that the Tivo interface will be coming to the 6412 and it can't be coming anytime soon or else he would know, so it doesn't sound like all of his info is very reliable or timely.

For what it's worth, I was told the same thing by the Comcast tech tech who came to my house today to fix the HDD issue on our 2 DVRs I posted about a page or two ago. He had some less than complimentary things to say about the 6412's reliability. Regarding the firmware, he said that because so many of these boxes are exhibiting problems (he said it seems like everyone he knows with one is having problems) Comcast is rolling out a firmware update to all boxes startitg tonight. I asked if he meant all at our headend, and he replyed that he meant all nationally. He also said that he's never heard that the Tivo interface will be coming to the 6412 and it can't be coming anytime soon or else he would know, so it doesn't sound like all of his info is very reliable or timely.

Funny, the tech that came to my house said that they don't tell them anything till about a week before stuff happens...who knows what the hell Comcast does...

Thanks to those who responded to my problems in the SF Bay Area. The odd low SNR and AGC readings must've been related to some local problem. Disconnecting unused splits didn't affect it at all, but by Monday the readings had gone up substantially (into the "Fair" to "Good" range). Now if we can just get Motorola to address the HDMI repeater issue . . . .

Funny, the tech that came to my house said that they don't tell them anything till about a week before stuff happens...who knows what the hell Comcast does...
Yeah, that's why I was thinking that you could take what I was told with a grain of salt. He acted like he knew what he was talking about, but the whole Comcast-Tivo deal has been pretty well publicized, so if he were that much "in the know", why did he not know about that?

I didn't get a firmware update last night, so we'll see if he had any clue at all about what he was saying.

ScanPa, any knowledge of a Comcast-wide firmware push to correct widespread issues?

I sort of take it with a grain of salt, but I spoke with a Comcast customer service representative today regarding the DD5.1/HDMI audio bug, and the rep said that there a new firmware will be pushed to all boxes tonight/early next morning. I pressed him if that was just for my area, but he said all boxes, so I am not sure how accurate the info is. He put me on hold for a few minutes to confirm when/if this firmware push was happening, he came back and said it is planned for 3:00am and will take a couple hours to complete. The customer service reps name was Don and I placed the call around 6:50pm EST. Let's hope for the best. I am in central Massachusetts and my head end in in Westford, MA.


Well I woke up this morning and found 12.31 on my box. Whoohoo. I had to get to work, so I was not able to see if it fixed my HDMI/DD5.1 problem. I am kind of shocked that the rep actually had the correct info. So let's hear from others... what does the new firmware fix?

Even if it was an option you would need a 6412 phase3 and the guide to support it. The guides are the only thing thast I see that need upgraded to make PIP work on a phase 3 or later dvr.

ajwees41

Do you think it can be done with a firmware upgrade and we would just need to use different video outputs, or is it a hardware/internal wiring thing that would need to be addressed, basically a new unit needs to be made for proper PIP/POP to work?

I agree... it doesn't seem heat related, at least not with my unit. It does seem sporatic, but it is obviously fairly common with these units, and firmware doesn't seem to address it... yet.

shane

Seems to me like it is much more likely to occur when something is recording on the other tuner.

Seems to me like it is much more likely to occur when something is recording on the other tuner.

Very possible. I haven't had it long enough to be able to test this theory... but I will. Either way, it needs to be fixed.

shane

Well I woke up this morning and found 12.31 on my box. Whoohoo. I had to get to work, so I was not able to see if it fixed my HDMI/DD5.1 problem. I am kind of shocked that the rep actually had the correct info. So let's hear from others... what does the new firmware fix?

FWIW, I checked and I still have 12.22 on my unit:rolleyes:

Do you think it can be done with a firmware upgrade and we would just need to use different video outputs, or is it a hardware/internal wiring thing that would need to be addressed, basically a new unit needs to be made for proper PIP/POP to work?


The 6412 phase 3 and newer boxes are supposed to have the hardware to support PIP. The first and second phase 6412's will not do PIP. It will also require a Iguide or whichever guide the cable company is using to support PIP none of the current guides support PIP.

ajwees41

Unbelievable, but I had 12.31 on both of my boxes this morning also. I've got to say that I'm surprised.

12.31 in Dallas also. DD5.1/HDMI bug is fixed.

My biggest gripe with these units are the remote control delays! It can drive a person up the friggin wall. Any idea's if this latest firmware will fix it?

My other problem is one of my rooms is on it's 3rd box and they all have the same problem, the image and the guide get all distorted after a few hours. What's the deal with that?

These boxes suck, i hope comcast/cox whoever gives up on motorola and moves on.

My other problem is one of my rooms is on it's 3rd box and they all have the same problem, the image and the guide get all distorted after a few hours. What's the deal with that? What exactly to you mean, "distorted?"

I just purchased a HP4260N Plasma. When I connected via HDMI I get no sound and a message comes up with HDMI audi unavailable. I get sound on SB channels. Everything is fine when connected with component cables. I checked my firmware version and it is 12.31. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Roger

12.31 in Dallas also. DD5.1/HDMI bug is fixed.


can anyone confirm this for MoCo County Maryland?

i can tell you that as of last night it was still 12.18 in balto md.

this morning as well 4/27/06...

jim

can anyone confirm this for MoCo County Maryland?

You can confirm it for yourself:

Press MENU, MENU, SETUP, CABLE BOX SETUP, SELECT TO DISPLAY. Your firmware is listed there.

12.31 in Portland OR as well. I didn't believe it when I read Comcast was rolling it out in multiple areas at the same time, but I'm glad to be wrong.

You can confirm it for yourself:

Press MENU, MENU, SETUP, CABLE BOX SETUP, SELECT TO DISPLAY. Your firmware is listed there.

I could...if I were at home...but I'm at school (where I live currently) and don't have access to my box

now if Comcast allowed remote access to the box via the ethernet, then we'd be having a different discussion (wait is there even ethernet on that back of that hunk of crap? probalby not but whatever)

Well... it's 12.31 here in N. Cal. Regardless of what number firmware it is, it still does not address several issues.

I am not a happy camper with this device. Having come from the TiVo world might be my problem as I've seen and have experienced MUCH better.

The HD PQ is very good, but the unit and its interface leave a LOT to be desired. Its lack of functionality and its errors put it very low on my list of 'well-engineered' items.

The unit indicates that it is 20% full when there is only 5 hours SD recorded on it. Well, by my math that gives me a whopping total of 25 hours of total space... in SD! Ugh.

The command delay issue is a real pain. It was lagging several seconds last night... while NOT recording anything, and it appears to be unrelated to any specific channel, function, time, anything. It's just plain sporatic, without rhyme or reason or cause.

Is everyone with unit putting up with this, or is it just a few of us that are experiencing it and find it intollerable? :(

Cheers

shane

Well... it's 12.31 here in N. Cal. Regardless of what number firmware it is, it still does not address several issues.

I am not a happy camper with this device. Having come from the TiVo world might be my problem as I've seen and have experienced MUCH better.

The HD PQ is very good, but the unit and its interface leave a LOT to be desired. Its lack of functionality and its errors put it very low on my list of 'well-engineered' items.

The unit indicates that it is 20% full when there is only 5 hours SD recorded on it. Well, by my math that gives me a whopping total of 25 hours of total space... in SD! Ugh.

The command delay issue is a real pain. It was lagging several seconds last night... while NOT recording anything, and it appears to be unrelated to any specific channel, function, time, anything. It's just plain sporatic, without rhyme or reason or cause.

Is everyone with unit putting up with this, or is it just a few of us that are experiencing it and find it intollerable? :(

Cheers

shane


I have been using the same 6412 for the last 18 months. It was the first one I got and I have never had to change it. I guess I am just blessed.

The only other PVR I have used is Microsoft's Windows XP Media Edition and this is better than that. It does have some short comings and a clunky feel, but it does everything I need of it. I time shift most of my viewing and when I was away for 10 days in England, it dutifully recorded all my shows so I had a fiest when I came home.

I am waiting for the new iguide and perhaps the Tivo interface, both due out later this year. But for the moment I am content.

I have had a few instances of command lag but they have been far between and short lived. I can see how that would be annoying. I change the batteries in the remote every few months (3 - 4) and that seems to help significantly with sluggishness.

I would like to have the Whole Home Interface but it is not a killer.

What can I say, I look forward to coming home and watching the shows I have recorded over the last 24 hours and then looking for things to watch on VOD. My biggest complaint is that there are so few things worth watching or recording on TV. With hundreds of channels I have never had a single time slot where I needed to record more than two shows while I watch a third on my TV through a splitter. Sad.

The move to digital channels has been great, they are much, much better than the SD channels were as far as picture quality goes. However, pritty junk is still junk and it still doesn't handle the issue of poor programming.

I have read lately that the 6412 III and the 3412 have PIP circuitry built in. Once/If that gets activated by Comcast I would consider upgrading to the 3412.

This will only get better. The more compitition we have between Comcast and Verizon (in New Jersey) and other providers, the better off we will all be. There is no perfect system out there yet. I just keep watching and get exicted over each advance and change. What a great time to be alive.

Well... it's 12.31 here in N. Cal. Regardless of what number firmware it is, it still does not address several issues.

I am not a happy camper with this device. Having come from the TiVo world might be my problem as I've seen and have experienced MUCH better.

The HD PQ is very good, but the unit and its interface leave a LOT to be desired. Its lack of functionality and its errors put it very low on my list of 'well-engineered' items.

The unit indicates that it is 20% full when there is only 5 hours SD recorded on it. Well, by my math that gives me a whopping total of 25 hours of total space... in SD! Ugh.

The command delay issue is a real pain. It was lagging several seconds last night... while NOT recording anything, and it appears to be unrelated to any specific channel, function, time, anything. It's just plain sporatic, without rhyme or reason or cause.

Is everyone with unit putting up with this, or is it just a few of us that are experiencing it and find it intollerable? :(

Cheers

shane

I'm in San Francisco and I still have 12.22. I'm putting up with all the annoyances, fondly remembering the joy of DirecTV with Tivo. But the HD abilities of the 3412 make me accept it. I really look forward to the possible Tivo upgrade some time in the future though.

...Is everyone with unit putting up with this, or is it just a few of us that are experiencing it and find it intollerable? :(
Oh, the unit is still one big POS, and the poorest working piece of consumer electronics I've ever had to use, but there are still degrees of dissatisfaction. The firmware upgrade many of us have finally received resolves at least a few of the more annoying problems. Sure there are more, but it's an improvement.

Why do I personally put up with it? I don't have a lot of choices if I want to be able to watch and record HD material. My area has a number of OTA stations broadcasting in HD, but I live in a reception hole, so OTA isn't an option (not that there are a lot of OTA recorders, other than PCs). DirecTV does not yet broadcast locals in HD in my area. Comcast offers no choices at this time other than the Motorola. There aren't even any PC-based tuners which accept cable cards, so I can't build my own solution.

I'd dump this thing in a minute if I could find an alternative. But I can't, and since it works at least most of the time, I keep it.

How about one of the Sony DHG-HDD250 or 500 units that have a cablecard and TVGOS??? They are MUCH better and are only single tuner, but they were clearing out the 500GB version at $249, so just get two:D!!!

I have three, looking for a fourth.

How about one of the Sony DHG-HDD250 or 500 units that have a cablecard and TVGOS??? They are MUCH better and are only single tuner, but they were clearing out the 500GB version at $249, so just get two:D!!!

I have three, looking for a fourth."Clearing out" being the key there. They were (to my knowledge) the only DVR that accepted a cable card, and they didn't last very long. However, if I could find the 500GB model for $249 on clearance somewhere, I'd probably buy one.

Last I heard Tweeter in the Southeast Region still have a few, but that was a few weeks ago:rolleyes:

I'm sure it won't be long before the 250GB one's are cleared too.

How about one of the Sony DHG-HDD250 or 500 units that have a cablecard and TVGOS??? They are MUCH better and are only single tuner, but they were clearing out the 500GB version at $249, so just get two:D!!!

I have three, looking for a fourth.

Lets see. $249.00 x 2 = $498.00

Comcast charges $10 a month for the dual tuner box.

My investment would be returned in just under 50 months or 4 years, 2 months. At that point I would have antiquated equipment, if it even still worked.

Nah, I'll stay with comcast until something better and with the same cost comes along.

Lets see. $249.00 x 2 = $498.00

Comcast charges $10 a month for the dual tuner box.

My investment would be returned in just under 50 months or 4 years, 2 months. At that point I would have antiquated equipment, if it even still worked.

Nah, I'll stay with comcast until something better and with the same cost comes along.But there are other factors. Like the fact you'd then have 1TB of storage, instead of 120GB. And at least the possibility of being able to actually watch more than 80-90% of the things you record (that being about my success rate with the Motorola). <g>

Oh, the unit is still one big POS, and the poorest working piece of consumer electronics I've ever had to use...

I'd dump this thing in a minute if I could find an alternative. But I can't, and since it works at least most of the time, I keep it.


Well put. I too hope for a good future change-out of devices and GUI's.

The image quality is very good. I'll say that.

As for the implication that battery freshness has something to do with the lag... nah. Not in my case. Fresh batt's, just picked!

I am not fond of the volume level change from HD to SD... holy crap, it's like 30db difference!

Also, mine has a terrible hummmmmm. Probably a bad ground somewhere. My D*TiVo with the *exact* same setup didn't have it, so it's obviously the unit. I'll fix it somehow... I hope. It's very distracting.

So much not to like. Still not sure it won't go sailing out the window when I get home. ;)

cheers

shane

The unit indicates that it is 20% full when there is only 5 hours SD recorded on it. Well, by my math that gives me a whopping total of 25 hours of total space... in SD! Ugh.

Don't PANIC! There is a quirk where the first recording will show a minimum of 3%. It seems as if there is some fixed overhead for the first recording, or just a bug in how it calculates things. Typically, digital SD will be about 1%/hr, and analog SD about 3%/hr. The analog rate is higher than often quoted for a Tivo (1G/hr) because Comcast uses a high bitrate on the MPEG encoding. As areas move to ADS, you will see your 'analog' channels (those below 100) drop to 1%/hr or so.

In other words, your 5 hours are probably only using about 17% (depending on rounding.)

Don't PANIC! There is a quirk where the first recording will show a minimum of 3%. It seems as if there is some fixed overhead for the first recording, or just a bug in how it calculates things. Typically, digital SD will be about 1%/hr, and analog SD about 3%/hr. The analog rate is higher than often quoted for a Tivo (1G/hr) because Comcast uses a high bitrate on the MPEG encoding. As areas move to ADS, you will see your 'analog' channels (those below 100) drop to 1%/hr or so.

In other words, your 5 hours are probably only using about 17% (depending on rounding.)

Alright... Let's say you are correct (and I have every reason to believe you), this would give me just under 30 hours of SD recording time. The salesperson told me that this unit has 60 hour SD recording capability and 15 hour HD. I take it that he was not quite up to speed on the true size and capacity of this unit...

No real biggie, it just didn't meet expectations or match what I had been told.

So... how much HD should this thing be able to hold... currently?

Thanks

shane

Alright... Let's say you are correct (and I have every reason to believe you), this would give me just under 30 hours of SD recording time. The salesperson told me that this unit has 60 hour SD recording capability and 15 hour HD. I take it that he was not quite up to speed on the true size and capacity of this unit...

No real biggie, it just didn't meet expectations or match what I had been told.

So... how much HD should this thing be able to hold... currently?

Thanks

shane

This is from my 6412 User guide:

Estimated Recording Hours for DCT6412

Analog Channels - 24-32
Standard Digital Channels - 38-73
HDTV Channels - 10-15

Alright... Let's say you are correct (and I have every reason to believe you), this would give me just under 30 hours of SD recording time. The salesperson told me that this unit has 60 hour SD recording capability and 15 hour HD. I take it that he was not quite up to speed on the true size and capacity of this unit...

No real biggie, it just didn't meet expectations or match what I had been told.

So... how much HD should this thing be able to hold... currently?

Thanks

shane

I confronted Comcast reps a couple of times on this and they were either mumbling and eating their words or playing dumb and pretended they didnt understand :-)

The 6412 is pretty consistent at 3% per 1 hour of analog SD (anything under 100).

The digital SD and HD channels are all over the place:
* For digital SD channels, it varies from channel to channel, going from 1% (eg Science channel) to 3% (eg NBATV)
* For HD channels it seems to vary depending on the content, I've seen it as low as 6% per hour and as high as 8% - with rounding in effect.

It also counts the two buffers as part of the reported percentage. When you start recording, you will notice an immediate drop in that number because the buffer is not being used and it gets returned to the pool. The buffers are as Comcast described them about 45 minutes of analog SD (2-3%).

Infact this factoid can be used to temporarily use the buffers for recording until you watch/delete something else. Simply have both tuners record music channels or other channels (eg radio) that take up very little space. This gives you an additional 5-6% of space. But you have to make sure you delete something before the recordings end - i do not know what it will do if it is at 100%, no buffer space and nothing marked for deletion :-)


I am not sure why the number jumps when the HDD is initially blank. I have also observed that and Comcast reps played dumb when asked this.

Another firmware not updated note - I'm still at 12.18 in southeast MI.

ncaahoops & bobby94928

Thanks for the great info. I guess my 'usage' is pretty normal... and that tells me that at least *that* aspect of the device is not screwing-up. ;)

The PQ is so good it can be scary and I guess that makes most of these problems almost worth it.

Watching an HD recording this evening it was very jerky... odd. Other recordings that were SD and HD... no problems at all. Hmmm... Inconsistancy makes troubleshooting difficult, and it can be somewhat annoying. Ugh.

Cheers

shane

Is everyone with unit putting up with this, or is it just a few of us that are experiencing it and find it intollerable? :(

Cheers

shane

I am putting up with this thing mainly because of three things

1. Promo pricing I got inlcuding HBOHD
2. Local Pro Sports Coverage for NBA and MLB
3. OnDemand for kids programming so that their recordings do not waste precious space on the 6412 :D. Only Disney stuff is missing from the kids programming OnDemmand so that gets recorded

I never had a Tivo before so I can't compare there but I recently got a 622 with Dish Network since I lost all hope for Comcast to add ESPN2HD for World Cup Coverage. The 622 is much better IMO (though not perfect) than the 6412.

As far as your humming noise make sure that the tech properly grounded the point of entry to a pipe or metal rod. If not call Comcast and they should fix it for you.

The 6412 does everythign I want there are only two things that annoy me
1. Command delay bug
2. Guide not properly tagging syndicated programming as repeat. One example is Conan. In addition to his new shows reorded I get all syndicated shows. About 3-5 that I have to delete every week. Comcast owns the guide company too so they should be able to fix it

A maybe dumb question: I can play the video on a second tv, but cant get audio since there is only one audio output on the 6412? Help please
J

A maybe dumb question: I can play the video on a second tv, but cant get audio since there is only one audio output on the 6412? Help please
JWhy not just use a splitter on the audio output?

A maybe dumb question: I can play the video on a second tv, but cant get audio since there is only one audio output on the 6412? Help please
J

Or if going into an AV receiver, you could use one of the digital audio outputs (Coax or Optical)

I am putting up with this thing mainly because of three things

1. Promo pricing I got inlcuding HBOHD
2. Local Pro Sports Coverage for NBA and MLB
3. OnDemand for kids programming so that their recordings do not waste precious space on the 6412 :D. Only Disney stuff is missing from the kids programming OnDemmand so that gets recorded

I never had a Tivo before so I can't compare there but I recently got a 622 with Dish Network since I lost all hope for Comcast to add ESPN2HD for World Cup Coverage. The 622 is much better IMO (though not perfect) than the 6412.

As far as your humming noise make sure that the tech properly grounded the point of entry to a pipe or metal rod. If not call Comcast and they should fix it for you.

The 6412 does everythign I want there are only two things that annoy me
1. Command delay bug
2. Guide not properly tagging syndicated programming as repeat. One example is Conan. In addition to his new shows reorded I get all syndicated shows. About 3-5 that I have to delete every week. Comcast owns the guide company too so they should be able to fix it


Yup... I'm with you on the 'promo' reasons. Me too, that and not having to come up with the scratch for a D*TiVo nor Dish DVR. Also, from most accounts the PQ is superior on cable due to the minimized compression. I must say that the PQ is fantastic.

As for your #2 point above... Even the great TiVo wouldn't help you there. Any Comedy Central program that is repeated is multi-recorded. This sux for setting up series schedules... how well does the 622 do in this regard? :confused:

The hum... hmmm... yes. This is where i don't think you got my problem quite right. You see... the cable coming into the house is the same (well grounded) cable that the Tivo fed one of it's tuners with. No hum ever there. More importantly... the hum becomes LOUD when I pause, FF, rew.... etc. In other words if I am watching something quiet in INHD let's say, little if any hum. I will press the ff or rew or pause button and after a 1/2 second delay... HUMMMMMM.... for as long as it is not in the Play mode. :(

If it were a ground issue, it would be evident at all times. This is different and a bit odd. This doesn’t mean that I won’t investigate farther and see if somehow further or better grounding does not in fact cure the issue. I will always make a valiant attempt to correct. ;)

I am tolerating all these issues until new units come out… or my year-long special rate is up. Of course, on the horizon is the Verizon fiber network which sounds pretty sweet. :D

cheers

shane

I am putting up with this thing mainly because of three things

I never had a Tivo before so I can't compare there but I recently got a 622 with Dish Network since I lost all hope for Comcast to add ESPN2HD for World Cup Coverage. The 622 is much better IMO (though not perfect) than the 6412.


Don't lose hope! During the Winter Olympics Comcast temporarily switched out INHD2 and replaced it with UniversalHD (NBC's channel) showing Winter Olympic events in HD (I think those were also broadcast on other non-HD channels like USA, MSNBC, etc). Of course it never hurts to call Comcast and remind/pester them about it :)

I'm sorry if someone has already remarked on this, but I just noticed that since 12.31 the bug that caused FF and RW to fail (going much, much too slowly) when an IEEE1394 connection is made has gone. I just firewired my 6412 to my TV and the box still behaves properly for now.

I'm sorry if someone has already remarked on this, but I just noticed that since 12.31 the bug that caused FF and RW to fail (going much, much too slowly) when an IEEE1394 connection is made has gone. I just firewired my 6412 to my TV and the box still behaves properly for now.



That's strange I have a 6412 phase 3 with cox in Omaha NE with firmware 12.31 and the FF and RW bug is still seen.

ajwees41

Maybe it's just the plug-in and activation order. I guess it'll hit me as soon as I turn things off and on in the wrong order. Ugh.

Changing the subject back to the possible solutions to bugs in the 6412; I received my new cooling fan on Wednesday and so far it's worked remarkably well. The remote communicates flawlessly with the box, the audio glitches have disappeared and the temperature went from an average of 128-132 to a solid and consistent 113. It's made a huge difference and, as an added bonus, it's dirt cheap (9.00). Here's a link;

http://store.yahoo.com/nexfan03/laptop-cooling-pad.html

You are right, ajwees41. I have no idea what sequence of events caused it, but the bug is back. It makes IEEE1394 useless. What crap.

It also counts the two buffers as part of the reported percentage. When you start recording, you will notice an immediate drop in that number because the buffer is not being used and it gets returned to the pool. The buffers are as Comcast described them about 45 minutes of analog SD (2-3%).

Infact this factoid can be used to temporarily use the buffers for recording until you watch/delete something else. Simply have both tuners record music channels or other channels (eg radio) that take up very little space. This gives you an additional 5-6% of space. But you have to make sure you delete something before the recordings end - i do not know what it will do if it is at 100%, no buffer space and nothing marked for deletion :-)


From my experience in sw development, I would *hope* that they would simply lower the buffer size from, say 45 minutes as you've stated down to whatever's available.

From my experience in sw development, I would *hope* that they would simply lower the buffer size from, say 45 minutes as you've stated down to whatever's available.

The buffer is NOT part of the DVR allotted space.

in a 120 GB hard drive only 109GB are used for DVR storage. the rest is used by the buffer and other system uses.

for SD buffering uses aprox 400 - 800 megs of space per 60 min buffer

for HD the file per buffer is aprox 750 megs - 3.3gb of space. per 30 min buffer

it has no bearing on the DVR space %.

The buffer is NOT part of the DVR allotted space.

in a 120 GB hard drive only 109GB are used for DVR storage. the rest is used by the buffer and other system uses.

for SD buffering uses aprox 400 - 800 megs of space per 60 min buffer

for HD the file per buffer is aprox 750 megs - 3.3gb of space. per 30 min buffer

it has no bearing on the DVR space %.
I think your numbers are doubled. HD is typically only about 15 minutes. Analog SD is 45 minutes. Digital SD is all over the place, depending on compression. I've seen from about an hour up to over 2 hours.

On my currently empty drive, diagnostics show:
System - 238MB
GPFS - 2861MB
PVR Content - 109944MB
PVR Index - 1431MB

I assume PVR Index is the schedule database. I'm not certain what GPFS is, although 'FS' could mean File System (maybe this is the directory?)

Has anyone ever seen some of these issues?

1. Full guide data only goes out about 1 week. It will sometimes fill in, but then the box will freeze for several seconds, and when you check, the second week has lost the titles and descriptions. The times, coloring (kids, sports, movie), and New/Repeat flags are still there.

2. Rebooting the box, and having single recordings (those picked off the guide) move ahead one hour? Some of them ended up 'inside' longer recordings and couldn't be deleted. Then on another reboot, they move back!

This is on a 6412 P2, which I've had since December 2004. The guide issue started happening last November. I used to get a week or two after a reboot before it acted up, but now I generally can't get even one day, although I've gotten 2 or 3 days a few times. I did a DVR/HDD reset back in December to get rid of a 12/31/89 recording, but that didn't seem to fix it. I also tried the 'Factory Reset' (n DL), with no change. After the first DVR/HDD reset, I had once created a repeating manual recording that overlapped Saturday night/Sunday morning, and tried to the SAT-SUN repeat so it would also record Sunday into Monday morning. That caused weird issues where it tried to record on Friday, but wouldn't record on Saturday. I was eventually able to delete it, but I wonder if it screwed something up. (I ended up created two separate repeating recordings.)

I have done another DVR/HDD reset, so I'll see if reoccurs. Otherwise, I guess I may have to break down and see if Comcast can do something, or end up replacing it. The box is not overheating, as the temp is typically 100-108.

Where do you find the temp readout?

Where do you find the temp readout?

Starting with the box on, turn it off and immediately press "select" and you'll enter the service menu. Page down to hd/pvr status (or something like that) and enter. Page down once and you'll see the current and max temperature.

My max temp is 133. Before going to this laptop cooler my machine ran as high as 132 but was mostly at or above 128. Now it's a solid 113 and the remote communicates much better; pretty flawlessly. I still get glitches with audio and breakup but not as much.

My 6412 (with DVI) has been experiencing audio drop outs on all my standard def stations. THe HD stations seem unaffected by this. I just called comcast and they had me turn off my box and claimed they could not see it from their end and are therefore sending a tech here Thursday with a new box. I told her the new box MUST HAVE DVI and she claimed it would.

Does any of this sound reasonable to you all? Should I try some othe solution before turning in my box? I have a few movies recorded in HD that I either haven't seen yet or like to watch and I don't really want to loose them.

The buffer is NOT part of the DVR allotted space.

in a 120 GB hard drive only 109GB are used for DVR storage. the rest is used by the buffer and other system uses.

it has no bearing on the DVR space %.

The moment you start a recording the buffer space is freed up and the DVR space-used goes down. If you start two recordings (one on each tuner) back to back you will see that the percentage drops down even more. I have also used the trick mentioned above when I was running out of space and it does verify that the <b>buffer is part of the DVR space % calculation</b>

If the buffer is not part of the DVR space % then how do you explain the above behavior? :-)

I have no clue how the allocate the actual megabytes. I am only referring to how the DVR space % behaves which indicates the above :-)

I think your numbers are doubled. HD is typically only about 15 minutes. Analog SD is 45 minutes. Digital SD is all over the place, depending on compression. I've seen from about an hour up to over 2 hours.

On my currently empty drive, diagnostics show:
System - 238MB
GPFS - 2861MB
PVR Content - 109944MB
PVR Index - 1431MB

I assume PVR Index is the schedule database. I'm not certain what GPFS is, although 'FS' could mean File System (maybe this is the directory?)

I think HD depends on the content. I noticed around 6% per hour for concerts with stationary singers (eg Sarah McL concert), and as high as 8% for sports (eg NCAA tourney).

Digital SD is indeed all over the place. Some of them are actually less than 1% per hour (eg ESPN News).

I think HD depends on the content. I noticed around 6% per hour for concerts with stationary singers (eg Sarah McL concert), and as high as 8% for sports (eg NCAA tourney).

Digital SD is indeed all over the place. Some of them are actually less than 1% per hour (eg ESPN News).
HD recording size also depends on compression and MBPS.

I wasn't sure what keywords to search on for this...

We were leaving on vacation for a week and I tried to set the DVR not to record a few shows that weren't a priority as I was worried about it filling up. I set a few shows not to record only to find when I got home that they had recorded. Also, since I can watch Sopranos On Demand I tried to tell it not to record it in addition to a Desperate Housewives recap episode on at the same time. I toggled DH to "don't record" and went to do the same to Sopranos and DH was toggled back to record with Sopranos set not to record. Go to toggle DH off again and Sopranos is back on. I just deleted Sopranos series instead. But I think the recap episode recorded anyway.

Why doesn't the box listen to what I tell it??

Thanks,
Mike

My 6412 (with DVI) has been experiencing audio drop outs on all my standard def stations. THe HD stations seem unaffected by this. I just called comcast and they had me turn off my box and claimed they could not see it from their end and are therefore sending a tech here Thursday with a new box. I told her the new box MUST HAVE DVI and she claimed it would.

Does any of this sound reasonable to you all? Should I try some othe solution before turning in my box? I have a few movies recorded in HD that I either haven't seen yet or like to watch and I don't really want to loose them.

Kracko;

This is the single most frequently complained about aspect of this quirky box. It was so bad on my box that I got a new one. Same thing on the new box. Then I got a laptop cooler (see posts above) for next to nothing (9.00) and the audio dropouts have been reduced by half. It's partly a function of the temperature - the cooler will drop your temperature. There is absolutely no other solution and this one is only a half solution. I still have audio dropouts on analog channels only far less than before. Check your temperature.

In the Hartford, CT area, COMCAST just upgraded the 6412 p3 firmware from 12.18 to 12.31.

But there are other factors. Like the fact you'd then have 1TB of storage, instead of 120GB. And at least the possibility of being able to actually watch more than 80-90% of the things you record (that being about my success rate with the Motorola). <g>

I know that I probably use this system differently than many but I have never run out of space on the 120GB hard drive. I generally watch everything I have recorded within a couple of days and have never had an instance of not being able to watch something I recorded due to problems with the box.

I know many people want to retain recordings for longer periods of time than me and that would certainly be limited by the size of the disk. I would be happy to have more space, but I can easily live with what I have. Perhaps more space would change some of my viewing habits as they now stand.

Bruce

Kracko;

This is the single most frequently complained about aspect of this quirky box. It was so bad on my box that I got a new one. Same thing on the new box. Then I got a laptop cooler (see posts above) for next to nothing (9.00) and the audio dropouts have been reduced by half. It's partly a function of the temperature - the cooler will drop your temperature. There is absolutely no other solution and this one is only a half solution. I still have audio dropouts on analog channels only far less than before. Check your temperature.

Thanks StuJac, I'll look into this. I just checked my box and the max temp is 133 while it was currently running at 115.

Thanks StuJac, I'll look into this. I just checked my box and the max temp is 133 while it was currently running at 115.

I got a 4 fan cooler from nexfan or nextfan, don't remember. Total including shipping was less than $20. I think my post with link was on page 244 of this thread.

http://store.yahoo.com/nexfan03/tunocowi4fas.html

Here's something that I ran into yesterday. I scheduled my 6412 to record a baseball game using iGuide and the unit stopped recording before the game ended. I guess the game extended beyond the time that iGuide anticipated.

Is the any way to add additional time to a scheduled recording to provide some margin?

Would I have captured the entire game if I recorded the next show listed in iGuide?

Bob

Is the any way to add additional time to a scheduled recording to provide some margin?
The recording options let you set additional time at the beginning or end of a scheduled recording. If you are looking at a program in the guide you have already set to record, just hit the record button again to access the options.

Has anyone noticed that the Recording Priority screen doesn't work very well? I try selecting a program and then moving it up in priority via the Page Up and Page Down buttons, and it will work to move something a few spaces, and then all of a sudden I'm moving another program up. And then quirky things happen where the priority numbers on the left skip certain numbers - for example, it will go "11,12,14" and there will be no #13.

I was trying to move something up in priority a couple screens, and it just couldn't be done.

Anyone else having this problem?

Here's something that I ran into yesterday. I scheduled my 6412 to record a baseball game using iGuide and the unit stopped recording before the game ended. I guess the game extended beyond the time that iGuide anticipated.

Is the any way to add additional time to a scheduled recording to provide some margin?
You can add up to an additional two hours to the end of a recording. This is the best approach since it is continuous. It is in the recording options after you press record or the red record button on the screen. You can also start a recording up to 15 minutes ahead of time.


Would I have captured the entire game if I recorded the next show listed in iGuide?

Bob

Yes, providing the next program was long enough to cover the end of the game. You would probably miss a few seconds when it switches from one program to another.

Check my 6412 and its still at 12.18....COME ON COMCAST MOCO GIVE ME 12.21!!

Thanks ceccacci and ncaahoops for the helpful recording technique advice.

Bob

Has anyone noticed that the Recording Priority screen doesn't work very well? I try selecting a program and then moving it up in priority via the Page Up and Page Down buttons, and it will work to move something a few spaces, and then all of a sudden I'm moving another program up. And then quirky things happen where the priority numbers on the left skip certain numbers - for example, it will go "11,12,14" and there will be no #13.

I was trying to move something up in priority a couple screens, and it just couldn't be done.

Anyone else having this problem?

Somewhere back in the bowels of this thread there is a lot of discussion about this. I also have the problem and haven't been willing to go through the hassle yet of fixing it. I think it occurs when you edit the list and then just use the exit or last buttons to get out of the list (instead of using the "save changes" or whatever it's called control on the screen to say you're done).

A symptom of this problem will be that one or more of the priority numbers in your list will be missing or duplicated. i.e. you have a priority 6 and an 8, but no 7. Or you have two shows with priority 10. At that point you can move things around in the list (or maybe you can't). But when you come back to the list, nothing has been moved.

If you delete all the items from the list and re-enter them, the problem should be fixed. Some say that if you delete just the last ones (up to where the duplication or missing item is), that will also fix the problem.

Lets see. $249.00 x 2 = $498.00

Comcast charges $10 a month for the dual tuner box.

My investment would be returned in just under 50 months or 4 years, 2 months. At that point I would have antiquated equipment, if it even still worked.

Nah, I'll stay with comcast until something better and with the same cost comes along.

There are "other" monetary benefits to using this box and cablecard as well, but I'll leave it at that:D

Check my 6412 and its still at 12.18....COME ON COMCAST MOCO GIVE ME 12.21!! Hey, you could be stuck at 9.19 like those of us in Tigard, OR.

Hey, you could be stuck at 9.19 like those of us in Tigard, OR.
9.19 is for the 6412 Phase I and II. The 12.xx series is for the 6412 Phase III and 3412.

Has anyone noticed that the Recording Priority screen doesn't work very well? I try selecting a program and then moving it up in priority via the Page Up and Page Down buttons, and it will work to move something a few spaces, and then all of a sudden I'm moving another program up. And then quirky things happen where the priority numbers on the left skip certain numbers - for example, it will go "11,12,14" and there will be no #13.

I was trying to move something up in priority a couple screens, and it just couldn't be done.

Anyone else having this problem?
There are MAJOR bugs in the series priority list. Generally, only move or delete ONE program at a time. After doing that, use the CONFIRM icon to save everything. Then go back and make your next change. In your case, you may need to move it a little at a time, saving each time.

Check the Wikbook (link in my .sig below) Bugs section.

You can add up to an additional two hours to the end of a recording. This is the best approach since it is continuous. It is in the recording options after you press record or the red record button on the screen. You can also start a recording up to 15 minutes ahead of time.
You need to be careful about adding extra time, especially with series recordings. There is a known bug that causes the box to lock up when it tries to process the series list between 4:20 and 4:50 am and pm. You may have no problems for months, then it will lock up twice a day. Then it may start working again. It all depends on the circumstances causing the bug as programs move around.

There are MAJOR bugs in the series priority list. Generally, only move or delete ONE program at a time. After doing that, use the CONFIRM icon to save everything. Then go back and make your next change. In your case, you may need to move it a little at a time, saving each time.

Check the Wikbook (link in my .sig below) Bugs section.

Cool. Thanks! I figured it was a bug and i wasn't going mentally insane. Mostly, I'm just going mentally insane trying not to fill this thing up with HD goodness. I figure once I've watched the 5 nature shows that they constantly repeat on INHD, I'll have more room. :)

There are MAJOR bugs in the series priority list. Generally, only move or delete ONE program at a time. After doing that, use the CONFIRM icon to save everything. Then go back and make your next change. In your case, you may need to move it a little at a time, saving each time.

Check the Wikbook (link in my .sig below) Bugs section.

Oh... hey.. thanks! I had been wondering what the work-around was for this.

shane

After nearly two years I just experienced my first real problem with my Phase II box. An HD movie that I recorded would not play - it started and then went blank. When I closed out of it an error message came up (with an error code number - I didn't write it down). All of the other recordings play fine - hopefully this is an isolated case and not the start of an ominous trend.

So I have 2 boxes, one is with my HD PJ and the other is with a Sony Trinitron that is not HD. My question is concerning the Trinitron. I have the box set to 480i so I can watch the HD channels and still use the iGuide, but I cannot get the Discovery HD, INHD, INHD2, UHD, or TNTHD channels to show a picture. I get the other HD channels just fine.
If it helps any, the DiscHD is where the problem starts and all the other channels that won't work are higher numbered channels, above the DiscHD channel. IIRC, the screen is black and the message states that I am not authorized to view that channel. The message is different from the one for, say, HBO or other movie channels which I think says that I need a subscription to watch that channel. This is really pissing me off because this is the TV in my bedroom and I really like watching the nature specials before bed. :mad:

We were leaving on vacation for a week and I tried to set the DVR not to record a few shows that weren't a priority as I was worried about it filling up. I set a few shows not to record only to find when I got home that they had recorded. Also, since I can watch Sopranos On Demand I tried to tell it not to record it in addition to a Desperate Housewives recap episode on at the same time. I toggled DH to "don't record" and went to do the same to Sopranos and DH was toggled back to record with Sopranos set not to record. Go to toggle DH off again and Sopranos is back on. I just deleted Sopranos series instead. But I think the recap episode recorded anyway.

Why doesn't the box listen to what I tell it??
Mike,

I'm not sure anybody answered this question yet. This behavior is a known quirk with the box. Whenever you select a program in the "scheduled recordings" page and tell it to not record, it will check what else is happening at that time and automatically enable any recordings that occur at that time. It's basically a flaw in the way that they tried to get the box to go ahead and record something that was previously in conflict with another program. What you need to do is either live with only one of the two shows being recorded, or go into the series priority list and edit your series recordings so it only keeps one episode or something. You could delete the series and recreate it when you come back too.

You need to be careful about adding extra time, especially with series recordings. There is a known bug that causes the box to lock up when it tries to process the series list between 4:20 and 4:50 am and pm. You may have no problems for months, then it will lock up twice a day. Then it may start working again. It all depends on the circumstances causing the bug as programs move around.

That is good to know! I wasn't aware of this bug, although i may have run into it but didn't realize it.

Has anyone noticed that the Recording Priority screen doesn't work very well? I try selecting a program and then moving it up in priority via the Page Up and Page Down buttons, and it will work to move something a few spaces, and then all of a sudden I'm moving another program up. And then quirky things happen where the priority numbers on the left skip certain numbers - for example, it will go "11,12,14" and there will be no #13.

I was trying to move something up in priority a couple screens, and it just couldn't be done.

Anyone else having this problem?

I just started having this problem too. It never ends w/ these things.

Checked it last night after a couple hours of use.
Temp 100. Max 117.

Not bad compared to some I've seen posted.

Studder on recorded HD material seems to be fixable by pausing and then playing.

Remote lag seems to occur mostly when at least one of the tuners is on an HD channel. Lag mostly occurs when attempting to control HD content. Or so it went last night... Heat is not a factor for mine.

shane

You can add up to an additional two hours to the end of a recording. This is the best approach since it is continuous. It is in the recording options after you press record or the red record button on the screen. You can also start a recording up to 15 minutes ahead of time.


Yeah for sports programming I also just pad the recording. My 622 (E*) on the other hand automatically adds extra time whenever I have recorded a game (MLB, Soccer, NBA.etc). I don't know exactly how they do it but it has worked great since I got it.

As for your #2 point above... Even the great TiVo wouldn't help you there. Any Comedy Central program that is repeated is multi-recorded. This sux for setting up series schedules... how well does the 622 do in this regard? :confused:



I have not Ttried these recordings on the 622 but my guess is that it will also record multiple recordings since the are not properly tagged

Don't lose hope! During the Winter Olympics Comcast temporarily switched out INHD2 and replaced it with UniversalHD (NBC's channel) showing Winter Olympic events in HD (I think those were also broadcast on other non-HD channels like USA, MSNBC, etc). Of course it never hurts to call Comcast and remind/pester them about it :)

I bit the bullet and got my 622 back in Early March. I did not want to risk missing some first round games from the WC thay are only on ESPN2HD. I kept my 6412 for other resons. Yeah I am still hoping they would do something similar to what they did on the Winter Olym. That way I'll get more recording space for WC coverage :D

No firmware update in Firestone, CO (north of Denver). Still at 12.18 on my 6412 PIII box.

I bit the bullet and got my 622 back in Early March. I did not want to risk missing some first round games from the WC thay are only on ESPN2HD. I kept my 6412 for other resons. Yeah I am still hoping they would do something similar to what they did on the Winter Olym. That way I'll get more recording space for WC coverage :D
Well, they didn't enable ESPN2HD for the baseball playoffs last year, so I wouldn't get my hope too high for WC. Then again, only the first round baseball games were on anything other than FOX, so maybe they didn't think it was worth it.

I just started having this problem too. It never ends w/ these things.
Generally, the only way to fix series issues is to delete and recreate them. You may be able to start at the last and work forward until you get to a missing number, then try adding them back in.

Not sure if this is an old problem that many are having or just me.

This is about the 3rd or 4th time I have watched a record program and two thirds of the way or so into the show it freezes as I am advancing past the commercials with the 30 sec. skip. Once it has frozen it will not play anything. If I select a recorded program it goes to live. Also will not FF FR or anything to do with a recorded program. A reboot (unplug unit) seems to solve the problem but that is a pain in the A.. as it wipes out the EPG for the next 2 hours or so. This is the second night I have had to do this, it BS.

DCT 6412 III
F/W ver: 12.31
S/W Ver: 71.44-1203
HD temp: 97


Steve

Had firmware 12.31 installed but still have the HDMI audio problem (No Dolby 5.1) even though several on the forum have stated it was fixed. Anyone else have the problem with 12.31?

Not sure if this is an old problem that many are having or just me.

This is about the 3rd or 4th time I have watched a record program and two thirds of the way or so into the show it freezes as I am advancing past the commercials with the 30 sec. skip. Once it has frozen it will not play anything. If I select a recorded program it goes to live. Also will not FF FR or anything to do with a recorded program. A reboot (unplug unit) seems to solve the problem but that is a pain in the A.. as it wipes out the EPG for the next 2 hours or so. This is the second night I have had to do this, it BS.

DCT 6412 III
F/W ver: 12.31
S/W Ver: 71.44-1203
HD temp: 97


SteveHappens to me frequently. Usually it comes back on it's own after a couple minutes, but occasionally I do have to unplug it to reset.

I have Comast with 6412 III running 12.18 firmware and just started few days ago having the following problem. When powering on, I don't have any video or audio content displayed or heard, only onscreen info and guide and My DVR overlays and menus. I can channel up/down and guide info will display, but no picture/sound.

I can force the DVR to show program content by going to OnDemand and choosing anything to play, or running something from my Saved folder, or from MyDVR. Once that happens, audio/video all work normally on channel surfing, etc, until the next power off/on cycle where I am once again seeing a blank screen with no sound and just the info bar.

Any ideas?

Thanks...

I had a similar problem a while ago and it was suggested here that it was a video card issue and to try resetting (unplug for a short time and then plug back in). This worked for me.


Steve

Watching a program that involves fast forwarding or rewinding or jumping back/fro or slow-motion is becoming more and more of a pain with this device :-) Sometimes I just copy it to DVD and then watch it with a DVD player.

Watching a program that involves fast forwarding or rewinding or jumping back/fro or slow-motion is becoming more and more of a pain with this device :-) Sometimes I just copy it to DVD and then watch it with a DVD player.

Good idea, and I completely understand, but what a pain in the a$$. Time-wise it's like watching it twice. Ahhhh... technology.

shane

My 6412 is about 1.5 years old and the only issue I have had (up until today) is the occassional freeze. However, I turned the box off this morning and now I can not get it back on. I have unplugged it for 30 minutes, plugged it back in, but it still won't turn on via the remote or from directly from the box. My fear is the box is fried and I will need a replacement. The problem is my DVR was over 90% full and I really don't want to replace the box and lose all of those recordings if I can fix it. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can try to get the box back on? I called customer service and they weren't much help except for scheduling a tech to come out, but that is not until Saturday. I can't wait that long w/o watching HD.

Watching a program that involves fast forwarding or rewinding or jumping back/fro or slow-motion is becoming more and more of a pain with this device :-) Sometimes I just copy it to DVD and then watch it with a DVD player.


Not an option if most of what you watch is HD, sorry to say.

-

I have Comast with 6412 III running 12.18 firmware and just started few days ago having the following problem. When powering on, I don't have any video or audio content displayed or heard, only onscreen info and guide and My DVR overlays and menus. I can channel up/down and guide info will display, but no picture/sound.

I can force the DVR to show program content by going to OnDemand and choosing anything to play, or running something from my Saved folder, or from MyDVR. Once that happens, audio/video all work normally on channel surfing, etc, until the next power off/on cycle where I am once again seeing a blank screen with no sound and just the info bar.

Any ideas?

Thanks...

This problem has been around almost since the beginning. Never has been a fix other than to just leave the box on all the time.

My 6412 is about 1.5 years old and the only issue I have had (up until today) is the occassional freeze. However, I turned the box off this morning and now I can not get it back on. I have unplugged it for 30 minutes, plugged it back in, but it still won't turn on via the remote or from directly from the box. My fear is the box is fried and I will need a replacement. The problem is my DVR was over 90% full and I really don't want to replace the box and lose all of those recordings if I can fix it. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can try to get the box back on? I called customer service and they weren't much help except for scheduling a tech to come out, but that is not until Saturday. I can't wait that long w/o watching HD.
When you plugged it in, did it display 8888 briefly, then a row of lines, and hear the drive spin up? If not, verify that the power cord in the back is fully seated (it's removable). Otherwise, you may have a dead power supply.

When you plugged it in, did it display 8888 briefly, then a row of lines, and hear the drive spin up? If not, verify that the power cord in the back is fully seated (it's removable). Otherwise, you may have a dead power supply.

Nothing happens at all when I plug it back in. Do you know where I can pick up a replacement power supply to see if that is the problem?

Nothing happens at all when I plug it back in. Do you know where I can pick up a replacement power supply to see if that is the problem?If nothing happens at all when you plug it in and you're sure it's getting power, there's not a lot you can do. Comcast won't like you opening it up and trying your own repairs. Afraid your recordings are gone. (Well, unless you could convince them to swap hard drives, but I'd be shocked if you were able to do that.)

However, there's no reason to wait until Saturday for a tech to come out either... Just take it into a local office and have them swap it out for a new one.

If nothing happens at all when you plug it in and you're sure it's getting power, there's not a lot you can do. Comcast won't like you opening it up and trying your own repairs. Afraid your recordings are gone. (Well, unless you could convince them to swap hard drives, but I'd be shocked if you were able to do that.)

However, there's no reason to wait until Saturday for a tech to come out either... Just take it into a local office and have them swap it out for a new one.

That's just the thing, I am not sure if it is getting power which is why it could be the power supply cord. If I end up getting a new one and have a choice between the 6412 or 3412, which one should I go with?

That's just the thing, I am not sure if it is getting power which is why it could be the power supply cord. If I end up getting a new one and have a choice between the 6412 or 3412, which one should I go with?
Well, try to get a different power cord and try plugging it in to a different outlet on a different circuit. If it still doesn't work, the power supply, or perhaps the whole box, is certainly fried. Highly doubt Comcast will swap the PS in your current unit or swap your current HDD to the new STB, but it's definately worth a shot. If you currently receive your basic cable channels in analog format with the 6412, the basic channels will actually be different on the 3412, as they will be all digital.

The harddrive is coded to the hardware in the box, so you can not swap harddrives.

ajwees41

The harddrive is coded to the hardware in the box, so you can not swap harddrives.

ajwees41
We don't know this for sure as no one has ever posted their findings after this type of experimentation and i've never seen any official documentation about this feature, but it's possible and probable that this exists, so we can conclude that it is most likely implemented on this equipment.

Good idea, and I completely understand, but what a pain in the a$$. Time-wise it's like watching it twice. Ahhhh... technology.

shane

I usually only do that for long programs that I will be jumping around. I just copy them overnight or when I am not going to be around. The problem is that both the 6412 and the DVD recorders are each half of the solution, so I have to use a combination of both to get things done. It would be nice if I could do everything with one device :)

Not an option if most of what you watch is HD, sorry to say.

That's true for those who want to watch in HD.

Those problems I observed seem to be more with the 1% channels, not sure why, or perhaps it is because I watch 1% channels in that fashion.

So, in my quest to experience EVERY frackin' bug this POS has to offer, I achieved the dreaded 12/31/1989 empty recording last night. :mad:

And, having searched this thread and having read several of the posts regarding this bug... other than erasing the entire HDD and losing all my stored information, there doesn't seem to be a fix.

Did I miss something? Is there a way to delete this without dumping everything?

Help appreciated.

shane

So, in my quest to experience EVERY frackin' bug this POS has to offer, I achieved the dreaded 12/31/1989 empty recording last night. :mad:

And, having searched this thread and having read several of the posts regarding this bug... other than erasing the entire HDD and losing all my stored information, there doesn't seem to be a fix.

Did I miss something? Is there a way to delete this without dumping everything?

Help appreciated.

shane
If you have the patience...
On occasion they will remove themselves. I had one a few months back that cleared itself up within a couple days.

If you have the patience...
On occasion they will remove themselves. I had one a few months back that cleared itself up within a couple days.



Patience? Sure, why not. I've had this POS for about 2 weeks, have experienced many of the problems that have been addressed on this thread and I haven't thrown it out the window... yet. ;)

What's another couple days? By then, something else is sure to develop. :eek:

Actually, this is a very minor thing. It doesn't really seem to affect the performance (like so many other bugs this thing has), but it's just a small annoyance... another in a very long list.

What I don't quite understand is... Why?
Why did this POS get released? Why did it get used by Comcast instead of a possibly better unit? Why hasn't firmware fixed these issues? Where is Comcast in getting these problems eradicated? Why is this the ONLY unit that my area Comcast offers? Ugh… :mad:

shane

So, in my quest to experience EVERY frackin' bug this POS has to offer, I achieved the dreaded 12/31/1989 empty recording last night. :mad:

And, having searched this thread and having read several of the posts regarding this bug... other than erasing the entire HDD and losing all my stored information, there doesn't seem to be a fix.

Did I miss something? Is there a way to delete this without dumping everything?

Help appreciated.

shane

You can call Comcast and ask them to send a restart signal or just unplug/replug it on your own. I have had that 12/31/89 bug 3-4 times so far, and 1-2 reboots seem to solve the problem, without having to erase the hard disc.

The Comcast reps may be in complete denial or totally clueless about this bug. Just ask them for a hit, not a reformat.

But one note: When you notice the bug, do not start playback of anything else on the box as it may affect the other recordings.

The most I lost from this was the affected recording, and sometimes things that tried to record while it was in crazy mode.

You can call Comcast and ask them to send a restart signal or just unplug/replug it on your own. I have had that 12/31/89 bug 3-4 times so far, and 1-2 reboots seem to solve the problem, without having to erase the hard disc.

The Comcast reps may be in complete denial or totally clueless about this bug. Just ask them for a hit, not a reformat.

But one note: When you notice the bug, do not start playback of anything else on the box as it may affect the other recordings.

The most I lost from this was the affected recording, and sometimes things that tried to record while it was in crazy mode.


I have this as well, problem with a unplug restart is it really foobars the scheduled recordings. After I did this I still have the 1989 blank all my recordings of course said to be announced till the guide data refreshed, and No I have situation where it schedules things on both tuners , and I have to go thru deleting one, but at times it still records on both tuners the same program. I'd be tempted to just replace the box but last time I checked they were out of them.

I had my 6412 series 2 unit for over 12 months with only the problem of annoying delays when I used the remote -- until this week. In the last few days I experienced crashes and reboots which went into an unless loop, then freezes, then a daily recording not being done, then the 1989 bug, and finally no picture, just snow.

I drove my 6412 to the Comcast store and was lucky that they had a rebuilt series II so I can keep my investment in a DVI cable to my HD television and not have to buy an HDMI cable. Should I have taken a series III instead -- is it better?

Does anyone else suspect that something was done at the Comcast end to trigger a healthy Motorola to fail this week after working for a year?

Does anyone else suspect that something was done at the Comcast end to trigger a healthy Motorola to fail this week after working for a year?

Ahhhh... nothing like a little paranoia to add to the mix :D
Nah... it's just crappy design, crappy build and crappy software, combined into a simply wonderful package!


I drove my 6412 to the Comcast store and was lucky that they had a rebuilt series II so I can keep my investment in a DVI cable to my HD television and not have to buy an HDMI cable. Should I have taken a series III instead -- is it better?


Well... skim back through this thread and you'll find enough problems with the PIII to make anyone shy away from it. But not having had the PII, I don't know what other's experiences have been. PIII is no dream-machine. :(

shane

Per the diagnostic menu, what does the "OOB" Status stand for? And does it have any relevancy to pixelation problems. My OOB SNR is a measly 18db. I thought I read somewhere in this post that it needed to be around 24-30+ range?

Starting on Monday, my 12+ month old 6412 has apparently stopped recording some shows. I checked the scheduled recordings and they all showed red (no conflicts), left the house, came back later and only one "sequence" of programs had recorded. If two were scheduled at the same time, only one recorded.

So far, it's managed to miss Gilmore Girls (my daughters favorite), two episodes of House, and ER. Gilmore Girls was on an analog channel, House and ER on HD. I caught it right after not taping America's Next Top Model and when I looked at the scheduled recordings (at around 8:20PM), it showed a scheduled one hour recording starting at 7PM and ending at 8PM on the right channel, but the timeslot was over and the program name showed as "To be announced". My cable guide was completely up-to-date.

I did the reboot/reload firmware thing last night, but tonight my wife arrived home at 9:15 and found that ER, which had started fifteen minutes before was not taping and did now show up on the scheduled shows (it did this afternoon).

Both tuners are working, because I can watch another channel while succesfully recording another, but the taping is really screwed up...

Oh yeah, Comcast Digital Cable in Huntsville, AL. I'm at work now so I don't know my firmware version...

I'm with Shane, this box seems to suck more the more you use it (not a good feature in an electronic device -- especially one that I'm trying to get my wife to use instead of her beloved DirecTV Tivo). One of our two DCT-6412s (both with 12.31 firmware) developed a new issue last night. I sat down to watch one of the Secrets of the Dead (excellent historical series on PBSHD if you haven't seen it) that I had saved on my DVR. I turned on the first one and discovered that it wasn't Secrets of the Dead which I had told the box to record but History Detectives. Now the strange thing is that I know PBSHD had played the correct Secrets of the Dead at the correct time (the time that I had told the box to record it) because I watched the first five minutes the other night when it was supposed to be recording before going to bed. I figured oh well, I'll just watch one of the other ones and re-record this one. So I start up one of the other Secrets of the Dead that I had recorded, and no sound. I tired to fast forward to a different spot to see if the sound was just out on the intro and discovered that I couldn't fast forward or rewind. I tried turning the box off and then back on; no help. I tired unplugging and plugging it back in; no dice.

This box is horrible!!! If it can't reliably perform the basic functions for which I have it (recording shows), why am I paying $15/ mo for it ($10 for a DVR and $5 for the box fee)? Come on Ccmcast, why have you unleased this stinking piece of poop on your customers? Is this how you define Comcastic? Your HD picture quality is beautiful (much, much better than DirecTv), but your equipment leaves too much to be desired

Because my wife despises this box more than I do, I picked up one of the new dual tuner stand alone Tivos yesterday as a Mother's Day gift for her (her main TV is an SD unit, so the lack of HD isn't an issue). If Tivo had the Series III available, I'd be tempted to get one for myself right now. I wish COmcast used the SA-8300 in more places; I've read a lot of good comments about that box.

I just got the same audio recording glitch. I have a PII set up on an HD PJ outputting at 720P and I recorded another HD show, but no sound came through. I could fast forward, stop, rewind, but still no sound.
My other PII is hooked up via S-Video to a non HD TV outputting at 480i so I can watch the HD channels but the box says that I am unauthorized to watch INHD, INHD2, DiscHD, UHD, and TNTHD. Is it because these channels are not broadcasted in 480i, or do I have a problem with the box? I thought that when you set the box to output at a certain resolution, that resolution would be output on all channels.
But this leads to another question I have. I have heard that the PIII's are better at analog channels, so since I would be using it on a nonHDTV, wouldn't the PIII be a better match?

I just got the same audio recording glitch. I have a PII set up on an HD PJ outputting at 720P and I recorded another HD show, but no sound came through. I could fast forward, stop, rewind, but still no sound.
My other PII is hooked up via S-Video to a non HD TV outputting at 480i so I can watch the HD channels but the box says that I am unauthorized to watch INHD, INHD2, DiscHD, UHD, and TNTHD. Is it because these channels are not broadcasted in 480i, or do I have a problem with the box? I thought that when you set the box to output at a certain resolution, that resolution would be output on all channels.
But this leads to another question I have. I have heard that the PIII's are better at analog channels, so since I would be using it on a nonHDTV, wouldn't the PIII be a better match?

My setup is all analog along with the 6412. I can watch all the HD channels that I am allowed/subscribed to. Obviously they have the black bars in my case. I can watch INHD and INHD2 and DiscoveryHD with no problem. I am also able to record them to a DVD recorder via S-video. Are those channels you described included in the cable channel package that your 2nd box is signed up for?

My setup is all analog along with the 6412. I can watch all the HD channels that I am allowed/subscribed to. Obviously they have the black bars in my case. I can watch INHD and INHD2 and DiscoveryHD with no problem. I am also able to record them to a DVD recorder via S-video. Are those channels you described included in the cable channel package that your 2nd box is signed up for?

I thought once you sign up for a subscription, you get it for all your boxes!?!? My other box plays those channels just fine. That's what is so confusing. Are you telling me that on top of renting 3 boxes, I have to pay extra per box to get all the non premium (HBO, SH, etc..) HD channels?

No, you should get all the same channels on every one of your boxes. Call Comcrap and have them fix whatever the problem is. Don't take no for an answer:D

I thought once you sign up for a subscription, you get it for all your boxes!?!? My other box plays those channels just fine. That's what is so confusing. Are you telling me that on top of renting 3 boxes, I have to pay extra per box to get all the non premium (HBO, SH, etc..) HD channels?What you've subscribed to and what Comcast has actually authorized the box to receive are not always the same thing. You'll have to give them a call.

No, you should get all the same channels on every one of your boxes. Call Comcrap and have them fix whatever the problem is. Don't take no for an answer:D

Thanks Dave! BTW, the custom HP screen is amazing! I can watch TV in the middle of the day with all the lights on and windows opened. Thanks for the great deal and working out the small details with me.

-Mark V.

I had a similar problem a while ago and it was suggested here that it was a video card issue and to try resetting (unplug for a short time and then plug back in). This worked for me.

Steve
Thanks Sundance, that worked for me too, all is back to normal.

This problem has been around almost since the beginning. Never has been a fix other than to just leave the box on all the time.

Yep leaving the power on all the time will work, but sometimes the d**m panel light seems as bright as a flashlight :) BTW, a power off/on reboot cleared it up for me.

Thanks...

Shane, in response to your dreaded date recording, one of my employees had the same issue. We finally got the 12.31 firmware update night before last and he said that got rid of it for him, so maybe you can apply pressure and get the update. Other than that, nothing he did got rid of it, but in his case, it wasn't taking up alot of space.

BTW, what caused it was that he had a power spike during a recording and it caused the box to crash suddenly, was there ever since.

Quick question, and if it is redundant I apologize. Can anyone tell me what bugs are fixed with the 12.31 firmware upgrade? I think the HDCP bug is supposed to be fixed (when trying to run HDMI from PIII to Denon 3806, but can anyone tell me in a quick note what the list of bugs are that were fixed? My boss is looking for a detailed list, and I know I saw it somewhere once but it was so long ago, I had given up hope that Comcast would ever download the fix. Thanks in advance.

Check the wiki:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Firmware_and_Software

Ken

I thought once you sign up for a subscription, you get it for all your boxes!?!? My other box plays those channels just fine. That's what is so confusing. Are you telling me that on top of renting 3 boxes, I have to pay extra per box to get all the non premium (HBO, SH, etc..) HD channels?

I don't know, I was only asking. If they do that it would certainly not surprise me.

Shane, in response to your dreaded date recording, one of my employees had the same issue. We finally got the 12.31 firmware update night before last and he said that got rid of it for him, so maybe you can apply pressure and get the update. Other than that, nothing he did got rid of it, but in his case, it wasn't taking up alot of space.

BTW, what caused it was that he had a power spike during a recording and it caused the box to crash suddenly, was there ever since.


Thanks much...
But I've had 12.31 since I got this buggy thing. No power spike either. It just appeared after watching and deleting a recorded show. Nothing unusual otherwise. :(

Oh well, just another in a long list of things that firmware should fix... and doesn't.

Cheers

shane

Libracolo, 12.31 firmware does not resolve the "STB does not support HDCP repeaters" problem . . . at least with my Denon 4806. Still no way to successfully connect the 6412 to a switching AVR.

BTW, KenG, the only information the Wiki has on 12.31, that it disables the 30 second skip button, is wrong. At least I'm still happily skipping 30 seconds with a self-programmed button on the Comcast remote.

Shane, in response to your dreaded date recording, one of my employees had the same issue. We finally got the 12.31 firmware update night before last and he said that got rid of it for him, so maybe you can apply pressure and get the update. Other than that, nothing he did got rid of it, but in his case, it wasn't taking up alot of space.

BTW, what caused it was that he had a power spike during a recording and it caused the box to crash suddenly, was there ever since.
What probably cleared the 12/31/89 recording was not the firmware update, but the reboot. It may take a few tries, but rebooting will either clear the recording, or make it show up as a lost recording.

[QUOTE=Tom KoegelBTW, KenG, the only information the Wiki has on 12.31, that it disables the 30 second skip button, is wrong. At least I'm still happily skipping 30 seconds with a self-programmed button on the Comcast remote.[/QUOTE]
Some features like the 30-second skip appear to be options that can enabled or disabled in the firmware. Different areas can enable or disable it, and probably many others features, to suit their requirements or work properly with their equipment. Sometimes, it may be disabled by mistake.

Libracolo, 12.31 firmware does not resolve the "STB does not support HDCP repeaters" problem . . . at least with my Denon 4806. Still no way to successfully connect the 6412 to a switching AVR.


Does anyone have an ETA on when this will be fixed? This is the last step in cleaning up my mess of wires. Currently, I have component and optical audio hooked up to my AVR, which then cross-converts to HDMI to go to my TV.

I thought once you sign up for a subscription, you get it for all your boxes!?!? My other box plays those channels just fine. That's what is so confusing. Are you telling me that on top of renting 3 boxes, I have to pay extra per box to get all the non premium (HBO, SH, etc..) HD channels?
No, all cable companies that i know of allow you to access programming you subscribe to on ALL STB's you lease from them. It MAY be different in your area, but i highly doubt it.

I think the space left issue is a problem with some firmwares. It doesn't really affect me personally since I reboot my box constantly, and I've never noticed it before. Everytime I dump a movie via Firewire I have to reboot it or else I can't FF/RW anymore.

but I just got another DCT6412 III for my Mom from my cable company (same as my other box, both have software 2.7.027 and Firmware 12.27 and both were brand spanking new when I got them. Still were shrinkwrapped).

It seems the box slowly loses hard drive space as it's on. It's weird. She only had about 8 hours of SD recordings and it said there was no more space. I said that can't be right. I accessed the Diagnostics Page (Menu, Down, B, Down, B) and it said less than 400mb left. So I rebooted the box, went back to the Diags page and it had 80gb+ left.

I checked it about 15 hours after it was on and the space left went down to about 78gb. Strange.

Rebooting it took it back up to 80gb+.

I told her to just get in the habit of rebooting it every week by holding down the Power button for 3-5 seconds.

-Derek-

So I rebooted the box, went back to the Diags page and it had 80gb+ left.

I checked it about 15 hours after it was on and the space left went down to about 78gb. Strange.

Rebooting it took it back up to 80gb+.

-Derek-

The 2gb difference could be from partially allocating/deallocating the dual-tuner buffers?

I told her to just get in the habit of rebooting it every week by holding down the Power button for 3-5 seconds.
You must not have i-Guide, as I think this is a feature of Microsoft's TV software. i-Guide users have to unplug to reboot. It's possible the space loss is MS's bug, not Motorola's.

You must not have i-Guide, as I think this is a feature of Microsoft's TV software. i-Guide users have to unplug to reboot. It's possible the space loss is MS's bug, not Motorola's.

He has the 6412 with Pioneer Passport Echo.

ajwees41

I actually didn't notice this was the iGuide thread. I have the Passport software.

And if you read my whole post, you'll see that the 2GB isn't from the buffers. They have their own allocated space (I don't know how much it is right now). It just slowly loses HDD space for some reason.

-Derek-

I actually didn't notice this was the iGuide thread. I have the Passport software.

And if you read my whole post, you'll see that the 2GB isn't from the buffers. They have their own allocated space (I don't know how much it is right now). It just slowly loses HDD space for some reason.

-Derek-

I don't know how they are reported in the diagnostics pages, but using the consumer interface, the buffers are part of the reported % DVR space used.

Or could it be related to program guide updates?

Or could it be buggy software that leaks memory (well disc space in this case)?

Or doing some internal maintenance or defragging by moving things around?

Thanks to this forum, I dedicated the once "zoom" button to "30second advance". Simplicity suggests that the "15 second rewind" now be programmed to the left of that button, instead of up high, where it is. Any advice on instructing me? Thank you very much.

I don't know how they are reported in the diagnostics pages, but using the consumer interface, the buffers are part of the reported % DVR space used.

Or could it be related to program guide updates?

Or could it be buggy software that leaks memory (well disc space in this case)?

Or doing some internal maintenance or defragging by moving things around?

I am not sure...

Like I said, I don't notice it on my box since I am always rebooting it...

There's also another problem on her box...it seems if she's recording 2 things and goes to play back something already saved, the play back of that saved program is jittery, like it's going at 15fps or so, but the audio is in synch... I figured out if you go back to live tv, then hit Swap, then hit Swap again, then go play the saved program it plays fine. This is SD content too. Not even HD stuff...

I think we got a bad box...

I told my Mom I would go get her another one, but she has stuff on the HDD that she wants to permanently save and she doesn't get the whole transfering to computer thing...I told her I would put it on a DVD and she didn't get it. LOL.

So I guess until it breaks permanently she wants to keep this one lol.

Also, this is the Passport software...like I said above I posted the HDD space issue in this thread by accident.

-Derek-

Derek




You should really post over in the Cox Cable 6412 w/ Pioneer Passport Review and Discussion board you will get more help since it has passport echo.

ajwees41

Yeah, I wasn't really looking for help. Someone in this thread mentioned about space issues...

but I didn't realize I was in the iGuide thread...

what I was getting at was...perhaps rebooting the iGuide boxes will free up the missing space.

-Derek-

So here's a fun one. I went down to the 'non-recorded-non-program' dated 12/31/89 which takes on the info of whatever I last watched or deleted. Since I couldn't delete it, I tried to play it. It froze my box up real dead.

Like real Dead.

So I unplugged it. Problem solved. 12/31/89 is gone.

But wait! What's that? Why it's something I deleted 3 days ago... back in it's entirety... and *playable*! A ghost recording back from the dead. I deleted it and no 12/31/89 to replace it.

I think we're good. No other ill effects except of course, having all Guide info gone.

shane

So here's a fun one. I went down to the 'non-recorded-non-program' dated 12/31/89 which takes on the info of whatever I last watched or deleted. Since I couldn't delete it, I tried to play it. It froze my box up real dead.

Like real Dead.

So I unplugged it. Problem solved. 12/31/89 is gone.

But wait! What's that? Why it's something I deleted 3 days ago... back in it's entirety... and *playable*! A ghost recording back from the dead. I deleted it and no 12/31/89 to replace it.

I think we're good. No other ill effects except of course, having all Guide info gone.

shane

I wish that trick worked all the time, but it doesn't! I've had one of those undeletable phantoms for weeks now. I still have about 10 hours of stored video that I need to watch so I can't just hard reset the machine yet (which so far, has been the only 100% reliable way of getting rid of the sucker!).

I too played with the phantom and screwed my box up really bad! At one point, I could hear the HDD clicking and the TV flickering as the HDD tried to seek to the non-existent sectors! I couldn't get out of this mode so I pulled the power lead too. Left the machine unplugged for about 1 min. The phantom still haunts my HDD!

I'm currently trying to catch up on the stored programs so I can reset the damned thing! :D

I got rid of mine real easy. I let the thing record up to 100% & it deleted the oldest thing on the HD to make room. The 12/31/89. It then brought back an old recording I deleted long before. Just make sure you've watched the next oldest recording in case it deletes it too when the HD gets to 100% & over.

Deleting the 12/31/89 before the reboot is risky - it may jump on to other programs. I did that before and lost a couple of programs. Deleting after rebooting is safer.

Wow... I just LOVE this unit!! Gee I wish all electronics were as well engineered as this! Nice job Moto! :rolleyes:

Ugh. :(

shane

Well my original 6412 sh*$ the bed last night and I am exchanging it for a new one today. Are all the boxes being released HDMI only? I am in the Boston area and have a DVI only TV. I assume I will need an HDMI/DVI converter of some sort.
Thanks for any help.

JTMav

Well my original 6412 sh*$ the bed last night and I am exchanging it for a new one today. Are all the boxes being released HDMI only? I am in the Boston area and have a DVI only TV. I assume I will need an HDMI/DVI converter of some sort.
Thanks for any help.

JTMavThe newer boxes (the Phase III's) are HDMI only, but some areas still have some DVI Phase II's. I use a Phase III with an HDMI->DVI cable, myself. They're pretty easy to find.

Something like these will work for you:

http://www.bestdealcables.com/LineList.aspx?LineID=13

We currently have a 50% off sale on all Best Deals cables and accessories right now too:)

The newer boxes (the Phase III's) are HDMI only, but some areas still have some DVI Phase II's. I use a Phase III with an HDMI->DVI cable, myself. They're pretty easy to find.
Thanks. Is there much difference between Phase II and III?

Thanks. Is there much difference between Phase II and III?Some say the Phase III has a better analog tuner, if Comcast in your area still has analog-only channels. Other than that, and the HDMI vs. DVI thing, different bugs are about the only difference I know of.

Some say the Phase III has a better analog tuner, if Comcast in your area still has analog-only channels. Other than that, and the HDMI vs. DVI thing, different bugs are about the only difference I know of.
I am on my way to exchange the box. I'd be surprised if the rep at the office knows the difference or if I will have a choice. My phase I box freeze up problem really got bad right before it gave up the ghost. Hopefully we'll get Red Sox-Yankees tonight. :D
Thanks for your help.

Anyone know if there are shortcuts to jump to specific things in the menu? Like pushing the Menu button on the remote and then "1" jumps you to the HD menu or something like that (I know this doesn't work - just an example).

Or do you have to scroll back and forth to all the options every time?

Good lord, please don't buy that $18 adapter

you can get a 6' dvi-hdmi cable at monoprice daught kom for about $5 + shipping

Good lord, please don't buy that $18 adapter

you can get a 6' dvi-hdmi cable at monoprice daught kom for about $5 + shipping
Ebay works great too, i got a 10' gold plated DVI to HDMI cable for under $11 taxed and shipped. ;)

In my opinion, a DVI to HDMI cable is probably a better buy than an adapter AND a cable. At least he wasn't offered a $100+ monster cable :rolleyes:

Well, the new dual tuner Tivo that I bought my wife for Mother's Day arrived yesterday. I surprised her with it early and hooked it up last night. Being away from Tivo for the past month and a half (we had DTV Tivo SD and HD DVRs prior to Comcast) I almost forgot how simply a DVR was supposed to work (these things are actually supposed to make your TV watching less stressful; Motorola, you may want to take note of that). What a dream it was working with the Tivo. The availability of the dual tuner model sealed the deal for me, and the wife couldn't be happier. Now I can't wait until CCast releases the Tivo interface for my DCT-6412. Hopefully the unit isn't still plagued with all of these problems that seem to be hardware related when the Tivo interface comes out.

As to the Best Deal Cables link that Dave offered, let me offer my experience with this new company -- they are simply awesome. They respond very quickly. They are extremely knowledgeable (at least Jason, one of their cofounders is; I don't have experience with anyone else there). And you won't believe the quality of their cables. I'm not one who is willing to sign off on a lot of the cable hype (the only Monster's that I own were ones that I got with significant discounts), but the build quality of these cables seem to be a good value. I only have an HDMI to DVI Best Deals cable, but I know of several folks who have purchased several of their cables in the past month, and they couldn't be happier.

mcamden

what are you tivo'ing since you have the 6412? do you still have satellite or ota you are watching or are you using the tivo with the 6412 in some way?

tnx
jim

Good lord, please don't buy that $18 adapter

you can get a 6' dvi-hdmi cable at monoprice daught kom for about $5 + shipping

As I said, it's not $18 for the adapter, it's ~half price now so it's only $8.75.

As to monoprice cables, I doubt they are of the quality you get with these BDC cables. These are fully 1080p rated and thick as a small snake:eek:

Remember, you get what you pay for:rolleyes: I have done MANY installations and calibrations where there were pixelating, interference and snow issues where it turned out to be the cheap a$$ cables that were the culprit.

I don't buy into all the esoteric high end and Monster Cable hype either, but there is something to be said for using a good quality cable. It just doesn't have to have all that fancy, shmancy snake braid covering and gold lettering that they charge you double for.

Just look at the history of all those SDI issues when it was getting big in the consumer market here with aftermarket mods and the like to DVD players. Numerous times it turned out that the problems people were having were because their cables weren't true 75 Ohm RG-6.

These are not Monster Cables by any means. On the contrary, that is the reason this company probably exists.

Ebay works great too, i got a 10' gold plated DVI to HDMI cable for under $11 taxed and shipped. ;)

In my opinion, a DVI to HDMI cable is probably a better buy than an adapter AND a cable. At least he wasn't offered a $100+ monster cable :rolleyes:

You don't know me very well, do you:rolleyes:?

There should be no difference whatsoever if you use an HDMI cable and an adapter if they are of good quality. And this way you are already ready for an upgrade if/when you go with an HDMI display. This is really a smart move if you are running the wire thru a wall or ceiling since this way you only have to run a cable once, so in the long run you save money.

You may as well go buy that 1968 Volkswagon Vanagon for $200 off eBay since it will get you from here to there and that's all that matters.

You may as well go buy that 1968 Volkswagon Vanagon for $200 off eBay since it will get you from here to there and that's all that matters.

It would be worth a great deal more considering that the Vanagon didn't come on the market until 1980. :) Perhaps the 1968 was a van, Kombi, Westfalia, or Transporter (take your pick).

Hi Jim,
I had two DCT-6412s; one for my HDTV and one for the SDTV that my wife uses in her den. I kept my DCT-6412 for our HDTV (I can live with its pecularities much better than my wife can). I swapped out the DCT-6412 in my wife's den with the dual tuner stand-alone Tivo and a Comcast digital box (not sure of the exact number -- something like Motorola 5200). I'm feeding the Dual Tuner Tivo with the digital cable input from the digital box and an analog RF cable input. It does a really good job of prioritizing the analog cable input with the digital box input. If you want to watch or record two analog channels, it has an internal splitter and two analog tuners that handle everything. If you want to watch or record one analog and one digital, one of the analog tuners is disabled and replaced by the input from the cable box. I messed with it for several hours last night and didn't run into any conflicts or problems. If HD isn't an issue for you (which it isn't for our backup TV that is in my wife's den), then this is a great alternative to the Crapcastic 6412.

I've got a strange problem I don't see listed in the wikibooks entry. This happened a little while ago and has reared its head again. There has been what appears to be a series recording (judging by the record symbol seen in the scheduled recording list) for Primetime this week and last week. The only problem is that I do not have Primetime in my series priority list. The last time this happened I think it may have also been Primetime but I'm not positive.

I've got a strange problem I don't see listed in the wikibooks entry. This happened a little while ago and has reared its head again. There has been what appears to be a series recording (judging by the record symbol seen in the scheduled recording list) for Primetime this week and last week. The only problem is that I do not have Primetime in my series priority list. The last time this happened I think it may have also been Primetime but I'm not positive.


Is there something in your series priority list that at one time matched Primetime's channel and time-slot? Maybe Commander In Chief?

Remember, you get what you pay for:rolleyes: I have done MANY installations and calibrations where there were pixelating, interference and snow issues where it turned out to be the cheap a$$ cables that were the culprit.
If that's true, then why does my $11 ebay cable deliver the same, if not better (honestly), PQ than the $100 monster cable we have for our other HDTV (yes they were compared on the SAME setup at one point).

I didn't say that an adapter plus a cable would be more convenient or better, i said it would be a better buy, as a single cable would be cheaper. And if you were to route the cable and then want to change, you could simply buy an adapter so the DVI end would be HDMI. Sure it's HDMI>DVI>HDMI, but since it's all digital, it shouldn't make a difference.

Every point of connection (i.e., cable end to adapter, etc.) is a potential point of failure or performance degradation.

A good design has properly terminated cable ends and avoids adapters, extension cords and any other avoidable disruptions to a clean and continuous transmission line, whether for analog or digital.

"All or nothing" digital is really an analog square wave that is great until you reach a threshold where the signal cannot be discerned from noise, at which time the receiver delivers nothing.

Bill Ball,

I'm not familiar with Laptop coolers, when flipped over, does it blow air into the unit (DVR), or pull air out of the DVR?

Also, where did you find the cooler?

Thanks,
JayMan.

These things suck air and exhaust out the rear. Remarkably effective, maybe even more than when under a laptop as it augments the normal upward convection of heat when placed on top of the 6412.

I bought mine at Fry's. Others have mentioned and linked to some online sale sites since I left my post.

I see some comment about the command delays not being related to heat. Well, if it's not then I just had a remarkable coincidence. For electronics, cooler is better anyway, so I'm leaving it on. It is totally inaudible and the one I bought uses very little current. Some of the Nexfan models use quite a bit more current and are overkill in terms of fans.

Bill

Is there something in your series priority list that at one time matched Primetime's channel and time-slot? Maybe Commander In Chief?

Yes, I do have Commander in Chief in my series list. Is that the same time as Primetime? I thought CiC aired on Tuesdays? Primetime is airing on Thursday (I know because I was checking tonight's recordings and told the DVR not to record it).

Is this true?

Thank you for contacting us in reference to the On Screen Guide.

After researching your inquiry, I regret to inform you that Comcast does not
control nor edit the information provided by the TV Guide Channel. May I
suggest contacting the TV Guide Channel at www.tvguide.com?

I hope this information is useful. If I can be of further assistance, please
let me know. Thank you for taking the time to e-mail us.


I emailed them to complain that they hadn't updated the guide data for Lost last night. ABC announced early in the day that Lost would run longer by four minutes.

Yes, I do have Commander in Chief in my series list. Is that the same time as Primetime? I thought CiC aired on Tuesdays? Primetime is airing on Thursday (I know because I was checking tonight's recordings and told the DVR not to record it).


CIC was on Thrusdays Abc cancelled it. They were airing Primetime in it's place.

ajwees41

CIC was on Thrusdays Abc cancelled it. They were airing Primetime in it's place.

ajwees41

So I guess the DVR isn't smart enough to know the difference?

That is true.

None of the cable companies provide guide data it's provided by a third party. I don't know who.

ajwees41

Is this true?



I emailed them to complain that they hadn't updated the guide data for Lost last night. ABC announced early in the day that Lost would run longer by four minutes.

So I guess the DVR isn't smart enough to know the difference?

This thing isn't smart to know that repeat shows of Soprano's, Big Love, Daily Show... etc. shouldn't be recorded. You can set it to 'First Run Only', but it won't matter.

shane

So I guess the DVR isn't smart enough to know the difference?

It's not the dvr it's the Iguide. Passport Echo which Cox in Omaha NE uses was smart enough not to record it.

ajwees41

Comcast Jax, FL...I set up a series recording for As the World Turns on the HD CBS channel, which runs from 2pm-3pm every weekday. It was working well, recording the correct show for a long time, however, recently it's gone haywire.

For the past few weeks, we've come home on a Wed, Thurs or Fri after work, and instead of recording ATWT at 2pm, it recorded Guiding Light at 3pm (same channel...CBS HD). If it's Wed night and we notice this, we'll look at our scheduled recordings, and it shows Guiding Light at 3pm and no mention of ATWT. If I then scroll right to the Thurs schedule, that shows GL at 3pm also...same with Fri, and even all the way into Mon, Tues, Wed, etc. of the next week.

The clock on the DVR guide screen seems to be correct every time we check it.

Last night and today was even weirder...Last night I checked the schedule tor Thurs and Fri, and it listed ATWT TWICE, both at 2pm, with one listing having the single red dot icon and the other listing having the red dot with the two right parentheses. That seemed odd enough, but I just happened to get home from work today at 1:45, and at about 2:05, I noticed the DVR was not recording. I checked the schedule, and it now had two entries for GL at 3pm (and both had the single red dot, no parens). I started a manual recording so my wife doesn't beat the crap out of the DVR tonight, and when 3pm rolled around, it started recording GL.

A little more checking in the schedule shows that instead of Survivorman at 10pm on Fri (science channel, digital), it was ready to record Discoveries This Week, which is on thet channel at 11pm...one hour later.

Very weird. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks!
Gary

Comcast Jax, FL...I set up a series recording for As the World Turns on the HD CBS channel, which runs from 2pm-3pm every weekday. It was working well, recording the correct show for a long time, however, recently it's gone haywire.

For the past few weeks, we've come home on a Wed, Thurs or Fri after work, and instead of recording ATWT at 2pm, it recorded Guiding Light at 3pm (same channel...CBS HD). If it's Wed night and we notice this, we'll look at our scheduled recordings, and it shows Guiding Light at 3pm and no mention of ATWT. If I then scroll right to the Thurs schedule, that shows GL at 3pm also...same with Fri, and even all the way into Mon, Tues, Wed, etc. of the next week.

The clock on the DVR guide screen seems to be correct every time we check it.

Last night and today was even weirder...Last night I checked the schedule tor Thurs and Fri, and it listed ATWT TWICE, both at 2pm, with one listing having the single red dot icon and the other listing having the red dot with the two right parentheses. That seemed odd enough, but I just happened to get home from work today at 1:45, and at about 2:05, I noticed the DVR was not recording. I checked the schedule, and it now had two entries for GL at 3pm (and both had the single red dot, no parens). I started a manual recording so my wife doesn't beat the crap out of the DVR tonight, and when 3pm rolled around, it started recording GL.

A little more checking in the schedule shows that instead of Survivorman at 10pm on Fri (science channel, digital), it was ready to record Discoveries This Week, which is on thet channel at 11pm...one hour later!
I've also seen some weird time-shift issues lately, but only after I reboot (unplug and replug) the box. If I reboot it again, it goes back to normal.
You may want to try rebooting it, letting the guide data reload, and see if it fixes itself.

I'm new to this thread and tried a search on this topic with no results. I hooked up my 6412 to my new SONY Bravia LCD via HDMI. Everything worked great until I switched channels from SDTV to HDTV. When I did I lost my picture(sound was OK). The only way to get picture back was to cycle TV off and on. It doesn't matter which channels I switch from but any SDTV channel to any HDTV channel causes the problem. Using comonent cables cures this.
Any thoughts? :confused:
Thanks.

Everything worked great until I switched channels from SDTV to HDTV.Sounds like your TV doesn't like to "resync". Set your 4:3 Override to "OFF".

They hit my box with 12.31 this morning. I'd never have known it if I hadn't been in the middle of watching something when my box shutoff for 10 minutes.

I noticed some issues with both Series Recordings and One Time Recordings when they change. Sometimes it just records as if the series/recording was still around, other times it gets into bizarreness. A couple of times it showed three programs using the time slot, and it was rather unpredictable at recording time. At times those programs refuse to be removed or changed... But this is only happening rarely.

Is this true?



I emailed them to complain that they hadn't updated the guide data for Lost last night. ABC announced early in the day that Lost would run longer by four minutes.
My iguide'd dvr missed the last 4 minutes of LOST but my tivo got them. I haven't cut my service with TIVO yet and might not if this continues.
Is this common? IGUIDE doesn't know about program start & end times but TIVO does?

My iguide'd dvr missed the last 4 minutes of LOST but my tivo got them. I haven't cut my service with TIVO yet and might not if this continues.
Is this common? IGUIDE doesn't know about program start & end times but TIVO does?


It sounds like the guide data was wrong.

ajwees41

My iguide'd dvr missed the last 4 minutes of LOST but my tivo got them. I haven't cut my service with TIVO yet and might not if this continues.
Is this common? IGUIDE doesn't know about program start & end times but TIVO does?


Same thing happened with me. From what I understand, ABC made the change from Lost being 61 minutes to 65 minutes about 36 hours prior to air time. The problem isn't really Tivo vs. IGuide, it's zap2it(Tivo) vs. TVGuide(IGuide).

Also, the software in the box must be written to recognize and accept changes to already cached entries. I have no idea whether the dreadful Motorola 6412 does this. Anyone?

If the box doesn't notice a change to a cached entry, the service could be excellent at reflecting changes from the program provider, but that would be useless to the end user.

That is true.

None of the cable companies provide guide data it's provided by a third party. I don't know who.

ajwees41

Ok, but shouldn't the cable companies take responsibility? If TV Guide is the provider, Comcast is the customer, not me. The same applies to TiVo. Tribune provides their data and when there are problems the subscriber reports it to TiVo who takes it up with Tribune. I don't pay TV Guide, Comcast does.

Ok, but shouldn't the cable companies take responsibility? If TV Guide is the provider, Comcast is the customer, not me. The same applies to TiVo. Tribune provides their data and when there are problems the subscriber reports it to TiVo who takes it up with Tribune. I don't pay TV Guide, Comcast does.


Yes I think they should. It also comes down to last minute changes also.

ajwees41

Same thing happened with me. From what I understand, ABC made the change from Lost being 61 minutes to 65 minutes about 36 hours prior to air time. The problem isn't really Tivo vs. IGuide, it's zap2it(Tivo) vs. TVGuide(IGuide).

How does TIVO do in recording Sprting events that go into OT/Extra innings? and shows delayed by long running sports events?

Yes I think they should. It also comes down to last minute changes also.

ajwees41

TiVo got the change, as long as your box connected prior to show time to receive the update.

How does TIVO do in recording Sprting events that go into OT/Extra innings? and shows delayed by long running sports events?

No better than any DVR. No one can know that a sporting event is going to run over and by how long. You just have to pad.

Same thing happened to me re: Lost.
The good news is ABC this week started making Lost available on their web site for free. Unlike the Itunes version, it contains commercials.

Fortunately, I have both my 6412III and TiVo (free-basic) set to record LOST and INVASION.
Both systems ended LOST early and started INVASION early.
Both showed program info indicating the original longer LOST durations!?!?

(BTW: My wife gets so upset when the DELETE PROGRAM box comes up before the coming attractions are over, she treatens to watch TV live! Oh, noooooo....)

We also received the v12.31 software update on the 6412 Phase III sometime during the past couple of days. Now, the box is slow to respond when changing channels and fast forwarding, and occasionally (but pretty regularly) freezes up for 1-3 minutes at a time after using these functions.

Last night, it did this again while I was changing channels to test the ADS conversion on channels 2-13. I waited. The cable box did not respond. I pushed the button a couple of more times, and still, nothing happened. I surmised it would soon unfreeze and catch up, and so I stopped clicking and left the room, not really knowing what channel the box was on, but thinking it was 934 (In an experiment, I recently set the DVR's mini LCD screen to display the clock, rather than the current channel).

I was distracted for longer than I expected. When I returned to the den 20 to 30 minutes later, I was dismayed to see the Subscription Notice box centered onscreen for channel 936, which we do not subscribe to. I immediately powered off the cable box, and saw strong image retention on the 43-inch Pioneer plasma screen. I could still read the type!

30 minutes later, the message was less visible, but still readable. I entered the (white background) diagnostic screen and spent about 10 minutes flashing through the various setup options to help balance the image retention and further reduce the fade out visibility. I then turned the TV off and went to bed. This morning, the retention has faded and the message is now unreadable, but the unfocused letters and three lines of faded type are still faintly visible -- very faintly.

I am calling Comcast to complain.

Be careful with this. Do NOT display the clock on the DCT-6412's LCD screen -- display the current channel. If the box freezes or is slow to respond, turn off the TV while you wait, especially if you have a plasma display.

Be careful with this. Do NOT display the clock on the DCT-6412's LCD screen -- display the current channel. If the box freezes or is slow to respond, turn off the TV while you wait, especially if you have a plasma display.
If a display can be damaged in so short a time, then it is a poor design, or you have it in hyper-bright/hyper-contrast mode. Turn down the brightness and contrast to realistic levels, and you'll greatly extend the life of any CRT or Plasma display.

Be careful with this. Do NOT display the clock on the DCT-6412's LCD screen -- display the current channel. If the box freezes or is slow to respond, turn off the TV while you wait, especially if you have a plasma display.[/QUOTE]


If you are talking about the time/channel display on the front of the 6412 it should not have any effect on burnin on the tv.

ajwees41

We also received the v12.31 software update on the 6412 Phase III sometime during the past couple of days. Now, the box is slow to respond when changing channels and fast forwarding, and occasionally (but pretty regularly) freezes up for 1-3 minutes at a time after using these functions.

This is the same problem many of us have been seeing for a long time. It does sometimes get worse or better depending on the firmware release but doesn't ever work correctly and changing DVRs doesn't help. Sometimes powering it down by removing the power will speed up the response temporarily.

The following is the chat with Comcast support about the slow response problem. At least they now admit that it is a problem.

chat id : 8f31d6bc-25e7-47f4-b2a1-a2d77063777f
Problem : Cable TV/General Inquiry
Michael > Many customers on the AVSFORUM have been compaining for months about the slow response of the 6412 DVR and have been waiting for Comcast to fix the problem. It doesn't occur with all customers but for the ones that do have the problem, changing DVRs do not help. When will this problem be fixed?
Michael > The following is a link to a thread in the forum. Look at the last posts and you will see what I mean.
Michael > http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=464986
Michael > I also have a 6200 on another HDTV in my home and do not experience the slow response times. Prior to installing the 6412 on my main HDTV, I had a 6200 on that TV and also did not experience the slow responses.
Michael > The only way to aleviate the problem temporarily is to disconnect the power cord for about 15 seconds. It may then work OK for 1 or 2 days but then slows down again until after a week it is unusable causing me to disconnect the power again.
Eric > Thank you for contacting Comcast Cable support, my name is Eric.
Eric > I can see your posts, this wont take me long to read them.
Eric > We have reported this issue to Motorola and they are working on an update. I cant say when they will be completed though. I can tell you that its happens when the guide is updating listings though. Which it does several times through the day. the reason unplugging it helps is because it makes it reload the entire guide, which the box can do without issue
Eric > Its only when its updating.
Eric > Sorry I cannot be more specific to an estimated time of repair.
Eric > Is there anything else I can help you with?
Michael > It appears to be a problem with IGUIDE and the 6412 since other people with the 6412 and Passport do not have the problem.
Eric > Thats good to know for my future reference . My resources were not that specific about the guide version, just that its been reported and worked on.
Michael > Yah, it only happens with IGUIDE. Thanks.
Eric > Thank you for choosing Comcast. Have a nice day.
Eric > Analyst has closed chat and left the room

Be careful with this. Do NOT display the clock on the DCT-6412's LCD screen -- display the current channel. If the box freezes or is slow to respond, turn off the TV while you wait, especially if you have a plasma display.


If you are talking about the time/channel display on the front of the 6412 it should not have any effect on burnin on the tv.

ajwees41[/QUOTE]

My recomendation to use the DCT-6412's LCD to display the current channel (and not the clock) is made because the DCT-6412 Phase III with Firmware v12.31 tends to freeze up for a few seconds or minutes at times during fast forwards and channel changing. If it does, you won't be able to tell what channel you are on (or are being switched to) once the machine unfreezes.

This can occur in instances when you've hit the channel button a few times trying to get it to unfreeze. So, I say, let the LCD display the channel, and you at least will see the new channel being displayed on the tiny LCD screen as the switch occurs, even if the display doesn't immediately change channels. In this instance, after the freezing, the 6412 landed on a channel that we had no subscription to and the iGuide Subscription notice (poorly designed with pure white type) stayed on screen until I came back in the room...The notice was only on screen for 20 or 30 minutes at most and the burn-in is only very faintly visible, but it is very disturbing.

This TV is a consumer model (PDP-4304) from Pioneer, a well-regarded manufacturer, is one year old (just out of warranty of course), always operated in Pioneer's reduced brightness "Movie" mode, and has been carefully calibrated with the Digital Video Essentials disk. It has NEVER been operated in the torched (Vivid) modes as I am a discriminating professional photographer. However, it is connected via HDMI, and to achieve proper calibration, the Contrast/Brigthness settings had to be increased to +3 Contrast and +6 Brightness when Comcast switched us to the 6412 Phase III (about six months after the TV purchase). Without these Brightness/Contrast changes for HDMI, there would be little or no shadow detail in scenes on both HD and SD channels. The TV also has an orbiter mode to combat the potential effects of burn-in and it is turned on.

Previously, the original DCT-6412's connection was using a DVI cable and this allowed us to set lower calibration levels (@ -10 Contrast and -2 or so Brightness). While the Pioneer's Brightness levels may have diminished during the second six months of ownership, this dramatic change in output levels to the TV occured immediately upon unplugging the DVI cable from the old DCT-6412 and plugging in a new HDMI cable to the new Motorola Phase III HDMI port. (Again, we made this change about six months ago).

I suppose the need for a somewhat higher brightness/contrast setting could be the Monoprice.com HDMI cable or, possibly, the 6412 Phase III HDMI port just does not pass through the same luminance signal level as the DVI port on the original 6412. However, the need to increase the Brightness/Contrast levels on the TV was obvious and dramatic when we switched to the comcast/Motorola Phase III DVR -- I even posted here about it (in this or the Plasma forum).

So I'll watch the screen closely over this weekend and see if the image retention dissipates more, and perhaps even work to try and reduce the feint effect by running gray and white screens using the computer. Next week, I'll decide whether a complaint to Comcast is warranted...

This can occur in instances when you've hit the channel button a few times trying to get it to unfreeze. So, I say, let the LCD display the channel, and you at least will see the new channel being displayed on the tiny LCD screen as the switch occurs, even if the display doesn't immediately change channels
The problem is that many times it just hangs for a minute or 2 without anything happening (even the channel indicator does not change). During that time, you cannot even power the unit down without removing the power cable. This gets to be very bad when you hit the channel change button several times so it could take more than 5 minutes before you can do anything.

So, I just double-checked, and here is a comparison of the calibration settings between the Pioneer PDP-4304 HDTV described above and a Sony DVD Player using component cables and the settings between the Motorola DCT-6412 via HDMI and the same Pio HDTV (the Pio retains different settings for each input device). I conclude the HDMI signal level being received by the TV is troubling. Are any other DCT-6412/Phase III users with well-calibrated HDTVs experiencing such differences?

DVD-PLAYER to PIONEER PDP-4304 (via Component)
Contrast -13
Brightness +1
Color -5
Tint -2
Sharpness +2

MOTOROLA DCT-6412 Phase III to PIONEER PDP-4304 (via HDMI)
Contrast +3
Brightness +6
Color -9
Tint -0
Sharpness +1

I conclude the HDMI signal level being received by the TV is troubling.The Moto 6412 HDMI/DVI port puts out standard "studio-levels" (16-235) as opposed to "PC-levels" (0-255). It corresponds directly to a reference DVD player (such as the Bravo) so the calibrated HDMI/DVI settings for the reference DVD player apply directly to the Moto. The display unit must be set to expect those studio levels. Many displays are set to PC-levels by default and have to be reset.

I have no idea what your display or DVD player (if it has any) HDMI/DVI ports are setup for. Check the documentation or call the manufacturers.

Calibrated settings for component have absolutely NOTHING to do with those for the digital input!!

What calibrated source did you use to arrive at this jumble of numbers? I understand you used DVE for the DVD player component connection; how did you "calibrate" the Moto HDMI/DVI and OTA modes in the Pioneer???

Same thing happened with me. From what I understand, ABC made the change from Lost being 61 minutes to 65 minutes about 36 hours prior to air time. The problem isn't really Tivo vs. IGuide, it's zap2it(Tivo) vs. TVGuide(IGuide).


For those in the eastern and central time-zones, Monday night will be a good test of zap2it vs. TVGuide with the President speaking for 20 minutes at 8:00 eastern, 7:00 central. Fox has scheduled Prison Break and 24 to start 20 minutes late because of this. My Tivo has already picked this up and adjusted recording times accordingly. We'll see if the Moto does as well, but I doubt it.

Ever since Comcast has been reportedly pushing out the latest firmware revision, I have been unable to access the Main Menu to see if mine has been updated.

With the STB powered off, I use to hit the MENU button twice, and the diagnostic menu would be displayed. Now, with the STB off, the first press of MENU quickly displays "16:9" in the display (from the Customer Menu), and the second press of MENU causes the clock to display, with a black screen.

I have a 6412, Phase II and a 3412. Both responding the same.
Am I doing something wrong, or did my STB's get updated and now Menu access has changed?

Thanks, in advance.

Ever since Comcast has been reportedly pushing out the latest firmware revision, I have been unable to access the Main Menu to see if mine has been updated.

With the STB powered off, I use to hit the MENU button twice, and the diagnostic menu would be displayed. Now, with the STB off, the first press of MENU quickly displays "16:9" in the display (from the Customer Menu), and the second press of MENU causes the clock to display, with a black screen.

I have a 6412, Phase II and a 3412. Both responding the same.
Am I doing something wrong, or did my STB's get updated and now Menu access has changed?

Thanks, in advance.
Don't turn the box off. Just hit the red menu button twice, select setup, then select cable box setup, then go to configuration and select ( select to display ) That will give you all the configurations of your box, the firmware version is on the right side of the display.

Laters,
Mikef5

I see tvguide.com has updated the schedule for Monday night, with Prison Break and 24 starting 20 minutes after the hour. Has anyone checked their guide yet to see if it received the update?

I see tvguide.com has updated the schedule for Monday night, with Prison Break and 24 starting 20 minutes after the hour. Has anyone checked their guide yet to see if it received the update?


I just checked, no change.

Does the 6412 support HDMI audio? I have a new plasma and have it connected via HDMI cable. I am able to receive audio on SB but not on HD channels. Comcast CS is clueless. It works fine via component connection just not via HDMI.

Thanks,
Roger

Anyone using a 6412 with a DVI output please answer this question. I just recently hooked up my 6412 with a DVI to HDMI cable in lieu of the component cables I was using. Overall the PQ is a bit better with the DVI to HDMI cable. The only problem I now have is on all 480i material the picture shifts about 1 inch to the right. 720p and 1080i is just fine. My 4:3 setting on the STB is set to 480i because I like to stretch the material with the "wide zoom" feature on my Sony RPTV. Why does the 480i material shift through the DVI/HDMI cable?

Thanks

Anyone using a 6412 with a DVI output please answer this question. I just recently hooked up my 6412 with a DVI to HDMI cable in lieu of the component cables I was using. Overall the PQ is a bit better with the DVI to HDMI cable. The only problem I now have is on all 480i material the picture shifts about 1 inch to the right. 720p and 1080i is just fine. My 4:3 setting on the STB is set to 480i because I like to stretch the material with the "wide zoom" feature on my Sony RPTV. Why does the 480i material shift through the DVI/HDMI cable?

Thanks

I have the same setup (except with an HP plasma) and no shift to the right.

I just checked, no change.

I called customer service to see why the guide had not been updated and they suggested unplugging the box and letting the guide repopulate. I think it's ridiculous, but I'm giving it a shot. There's no reason I should have to reboot the box to get a stinkin' guide update. Comcast pisses me off that they won't take responsibility and just pass the buck.

That is true.

None of the cable companies provide guide data it's provided by a third party. I don't know who.

ajwees41

I now think the ignorant CSR thought I was referring to the actual TV Guide Channel, as referenced in the response I received. I wrote back to specify that I am referring to the iGuide that controls the DVR. We'll see what kind of response I get. These people are morons...

My 4:3 setting on the STB is set to 480i because I like to stretch the material with the "wide zoom" feature on my Sony RPTV. If you are happy with the massive picture distortion that the stretch provides, why do you worry about a little offset??!!

If you are happy with the massive picture distortion that the stretch provides, why do you worry about a little offset??!!

First off, I am not worried, just curious as to why just 480i and nothing else. Secondly, "massive picture distortion" stop yourself already. It is minimal at best. Besides we are talking about SD material anyway, so no critical viewing anyway

Gov

First off, I am not worried, just curious as to why just 480i and nothing else. Secondly, "massive picture distortion" stop yourself already. It is minimal at best. Besides we are talking about SD material anyway, so no critical viewing anyway

Gov
I also get a shift when displaying SD in 3x4 mode. I really notice it when the screen saver kicks in since the right inch or so isn't covered by the screen saver, or the info bar at the bottom for that matter. I'm not sure why this happens. I tried adjusting the screen position on the 6412 but that just moves the menues within the guide box the guide it self remains offset the same amount. If i move the position on the tv , the guide and tv pic move the same amount. by the way me tv is a pdp50. If anyone has figured out how to fix this, let us know

Be careful with this. Do NOT display the clock on the DCT-6412's LCD screen -- display the current channel. If the box freezes or is slow to respond, turn off the TV while you wait, especially if you have a plasma display.
Just a nitpick: The front panel display is an LED (Light Emitting Diode, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led), not an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LCD).

I now think the ignorant CSR thought I was referring to the actual TV Guide Channel, as referenced in the response I received. I wrote back to specify that I am referring to the iGuide that controls the DVR. We'll see what kind of response I get. These people are morons...


Well, I'm shocked. My guide is now showing the time change for FOX.


Edit: I had padded "24" by 1 hour because I figured the time change wouldn't be picked up. Now that it has been picked up, the 1 hour of padding is no longer there. I have now paddded it by 30 minutes, because I have a feeling the Pres. will delay start times by more than the 20 minutes FOX is planning on.

Well, I'm shocked. My guide is now showing the time change for FOX.


Edit: I had padded "24" by 1 hour because I figured the time change wouldn't be picked up. Now that it has been picked up, the 1 hour of padding is no longer there. I have now paddded it by 30 minutes, because I have a feeling the Pres. will delay start times by more than the 20 minutes FOX is planning on.

Check your scheduled recordings, because my DVR picked up the guide update but was scheduled to record the president thinking it was Prison Break. The 8:20 airing of Prison Break was not selected to record.

Has anyone actually tried the SATA hard drive connection???

Check your scheduled recordings, because my DVR picked up the guide update but was scheduled to record the president thinking it was Prison Break. The 8:20 airing of Prison Break was not selected to record.


Mine actually got it right, but thanks for the heads up.

Whoohoo!!
Had a new mess-up happen this evening.

The wife tuned into Survivor about halfway through the recording process. She started watching from the beginning. At 10PM, when the recording was finished... when she was about 1/2 way through watching it... it stopped recording (as it should have), began recording the next hour (reunion segment), and...

Wham! The tuner switched to the other recording that was in progress. Ok that was wierd, but here is the wierd and seriously messed-up part... the Survivor recording DISSAPPEARED! Gone... deleted. So she missed the last half of the show and was pissed! :mad:

And, it's now developed another odd thing. When watching a recording... if I hit the 'Live' button it will ask me if I want to 'Delete the Recording'! This happenes if it is still recording or not. It used to just switch me over to whatever was 'live', but not anymore.

Man... this 6412 PIII is one serious piece of $hitt. :mad:

shane

We also received the v12.31 software update on the 6412 Phase III sometime during the past couple of days. Now, the box is slow to respond when changing channels and fast forwarding, and occasionally (but pretty regularly) freezes up for 1-3 minutes at a time after using these functions...Last night, it did this again...I surmised it would soon unfreeze and catch up, and so I stopped clicking and left the room...When I returned to the den 20 to 30 minutes later, I was dismayed to see the Subscription Notice box centered onscreen for channel 936, which we do not subscribe to...This morning [Saturday-gmw], the retention...faded and the message is now unreadable, but the unfocused letters and three lines of faded type are still faintly visible -- very faintly...

A couple of pages back in this thread, I posted the information above regarding a Pioneer PDP-4304 plasma TV being used with the Motorola DCT-6412 Phasee III. The TV experienced image retention/burn-in, partially caused by the malfunctioning DVR's slow and freezing channel selection/fast forward functions.

Afterwards, oate Friday night, we turnd the TV off and went to bed worrying. At mid-day on Saturday, some 12 hours after the initial incident, I turned on the Pio, and the feint image rentention was still visible! My heart sank further. However, I have good news to report. We then ran the TV on a high-definition channel for a couple of hours. When I checked the screen later for any lingering effects, the image rentention/burn-in effects were no longer visible!

I'm very surprised the phenomena took so long to disappear, but it did -- entirely. How's that for a storybook ending?

I remain conerned about the Motorola DCT-6412 Phase III v12.31 firmware problems, and the slightly higher Contrast/Brightness settings that are necessary when using this TV with an HDMI-HDMI connection to the Motorola, but this crisis literally faded away...

The Moto 6412 HDMI/DVI port puts out standard "studio-levels" (16-235) as opposed to "PC-levels" (0-255). It corresponds directly to a reference DVD player (such as the Bravo) so the calibrated HDMI/DVI settings for the reference DVD player apply directly to the Moto. The display unit must be set to expect those studio levels. Many displays are set to PC-levels by default and have to be reset.

I have no idea what your display or DVD player (if it has any) HDMI/DVI ports are setup for. Check the documentation or call the manufacturers.

Calibrated settings for component have absolutely NOTHING to do with those for the digital input!!

What calibrated source did you use to arrive at this jumble of numbers? I understand you used DVE for the DVD player component connection; how did you "calibrate" the Moto HDMI/DVI and OTA modes in the Pioneer???

Of course, the analog Component connections have no bearing on the digital HDMI connections -- they merely were noted because the TV's brightness/contrast settings for the analog (DVD Player) connection are so much lower than these same settings for the (DCT-6412 Phase III - HDTV) input (see below). Also, we previously used the original Motorola DCT-6412 with a DVI connection to this TV and those brightness/contrast settings for the ATSC signal were similar to the analog settings used for the DVD Player...The big change in brightness/contrass settings immediately became necessary when we switched DCT-6412 models (and cables). Obviously, I'm concerned that running the HDTV with higher settings will reduce the life of the plasma display...I've asked Pioneer support about this, but received no useful information. Perhaps I should call again...

DVD-PLAYER to PIONEER PDP-4304 (via Component)
Contrast -13
Brightness +1
Color -5
Tint -2
Sharpness +2

MOTOROLA DCT-6412 Phase III to PIONEER PDP-4304 (via HDMI)
Contrast +3
Brightness +6
Color -9
Tint -0
Sharpness +1


Also, I forgot to note that the HDTV (ATSC) input is calibrated from the DCT-6412 Phase III using a recorded version of the short, Comcast "Tune Up" broadcast, which usually is played monthly (I think on one of the INHD channels). This steps customers through a basic HDTV brightness/contrast/color balance calibration, as well as a 5:1 audio check.

i just got the 3412-hooked to a new sammy 56dlp with hdmi. looks great

upstairs i have an older hd panny hooked into the crappy phase2 6412.

i like the 3412 better- no pixalation or stutter. i think i will trade the 5412 in for a newer box.


.02

Also, I forgot to note that the HDTV (ATSC) input is calibrated from the DCT-6412 Phase III using a recorded version of the short, Comcast "Tune Up" broadcast, which usually is played monthly (I think on one of the INHD channels). This steps customers through a basic HDTV brightness/contrast/color balance calibration, as well as a 5:1 audio check.

I have comcast but cannot find this "Tune Up" broadcast. I also searched the INHD website. Could you give me more detail please?

Has anyone actually tried the SATA hard drive connection???Many people. None successfully. Search the thread for "SATA" and you'll find all the attempts.

How does TIVO do in recording Sprting events that go into OT/Extra innings? and shows delayed by long running sports events?

I don't know how Tivo handles it since I don't own one. But I can tell you how my E* 622 handles it :D . Whenever I record an sporting event it always pads extra time. I have not hecked how much extra they add and if it's different from sport to sport. But I guess this is a nice approach to it. In our 6412 I always just either extend the reording or record the next show on the guide.

Mine actually got it right, but thanks for the heads up.

I checked last night and two recordings were now listed for Prison Break - the manual recording I set and the regular series recording. So I guess it finally compensated and corrected the error. I tried to cancel the manual recording I had set and my box froze up. I unplugged it and checked this morning and it was gone and everything looked good.

I see that ABC is keeping to the 9-11 schedule for GA tonight, airing a shorted repeat of last night's episode beginning at 8:20.

I have comcast but cannot find this "Tune Up" broadcast. I also searched the INHD website. Could you give me more detail please?

In the past they showed this TuneUp on Saturdays early morning (don't remember if it was 6:45am or 7:45am). Looks like they don't show it regularly anymore. And I believe last time I was looking for it it was not in the guide but they still showed it. If you have enough space set some timers to record Saturday mornings and then adjust so that you only catch the TuneUp section. Then once you have it don't delete it as it comes handy and it's been hard to get lately