The stuttering is not an MDMI issue. The exact same thing happens on component.

It's amazing that a company with the resources that Comcast has can't seem to determine a cause of this annoying glitch! Just amazing!

How many Comcast engineers does it take to screw in a coaxial cable?

These are probably poor questions, but I am new to the 6412 and new to watching HD broadcasts...

If I am watching a show in HD on the 6412, is it normal for the commercials to scale back to 4:3?

Also, is it normal for the guide to be in a 4:3 format (on a 16:9 broadcast and a 16:9 TV) and not fill the screen (only when you are tuned to a HD channel)... But if you are watching a SD channel, the guide then fills the entire screen...

The above issue also effects the screen saver... If the 6412's screen saver kicks on while tuned to a HD channel, it will be in a 4:3 format and leave some of the tv show on the left and right of the improperly sized screen saver.

(Firmware 12.31)

If I am watching a show in HD on the 6412, is it normal for the commercials to scale back to 4:3?Absolutely. Most commercials are 4:3, and so they appear 4:3 even on widescreen televisions.

Also, is it normal for the guide to be in a 4:3 format (on a 16:9 broadcast and a 16:9 TV) and not fill the screen (only when you are tuned to a HD channel)...Yes.

But if you are watching a SD channel, the guide then fills the entire screen...It doesn't work that way for me.

I had stuttering problem too. I have 6412/III. But I notice that the stutter is pretty much gone after around 11pm, which let me to believe it might not be the DVR's problem, but bandwidth bottleneck instead, when a lot of people are watching at one time. If so, then there's nothing we can do until timewarner fix their pipe.

Another problem I had is, when I am watching a recorded show, the sound would go out after a few seconds, and the only way to bring it back is to pause/forward/rewind and re-play it. Why is this happening? Any idea?

Thanks!

My stuttering occurs on shows I play back as well, not just live shows. And the weird thing is I can watch the same part of the show, and one time it stutters, and a day later it plays perfect. So I don't think bandwith has anything to do with it.

The stuttering is not an MDMI issue. The exact same thing happens on component.

It's amazing that a company with the resources that Comcast has can't seem to determine a cause of this annoying glitch! Just amazing!

How many Comcast engineers does it take to screw in a coaxial cable?

Amen! I guess you saved me the trouble of hooking up component cables as a fix for the stuttering. Thanks! :)

New Comcast issue: Last night I was looking ahead in the program guide. On days after Daylight Time goes in effect early morning March 11, the prime time shows are all showed an hour earlier than they should be! Let's hope they wake up and fix that glitch before March 11.

New Comcast issue: Last night I was looking ahead in the program guide. On days after Daylight Time goes in effect early morning March 11, the prime time shows are all showed an hour earlier than they should be! Let's hope they wake up and fix that glitch before March 11.
The guide data is correct. It's just that the box isn't adjusting the times for DST. Worst case scenario is that the box will report the wrong time after March 11th. Programs should still record with no problem.

Anyone else had their DVR go bonkers like this before? (Comcast, SF Bay Area)
Mine said it was full and I needed to erase recordings....In reality, I had one recording saved and space was at 7%! Then it failed to record a scheduled listing. Some future scheduled recordings (especially 8pm CBS) have no description and there are no menu icons to cancel or reset. Full reboots have not resolved this. Worse of all.....it ATE my 2-year old recording of the Lingerie Bowl! POS!!!

It doesn't work that way for me.

He probably has his TV set to stretch SD material and therefore it is stretching the guide as well...I'm guessing you don't stretch SD and therefore yours is still 4:3.

Anyone having issues with missing channels? I tried tuning into DiscoveryHD, all I get is "This channel will be available soon". I can watch DiscoveryHD just the day before. It's not just this channel, some channels have gone missing too.

I have tried power-rebooting the cable box w/ no luck.

Oh, and does anyone know how to stretch the menu all the way? I can't find it anywhere in the setup. The only thing I can do right now is to have the TV stretch it.

Thanks!

Anyone having issues with missing channels? I tried tuning into DiscoveryHD, all I get is "This channel will be available soon". I can watch DiscoveryHD just the day before. It's not just this channel, some channels have gone missing too.

I have tried power-rebooting the cable box w/ no luck.

Oh, and does anyone know how to stretch the menu all the way? I can't find it anywhere in the setup. The only thing I can do right now is to have the TV stretch it.

Thanks!

Hi William,
Where are you located and on what cable service? If it is in the DFW area and you are on TWC, then you are out of luck. Let me know if that is the case and I'll pm you with more info...no reason to bog down the 6412 thread with a local issue. If not, though, you might want to find the thread for your area in the Local HD Info and Reception forum and check to see if others are reporting the same issue(s) or ask the question there...

Good luck,
Randy

What's a DFW? I am in West LA. I have posted my questions in the local thread instead, thanks for the reminder.

My question about how to stretch the menu still remains though. If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

"DFW" = "Dumb F**king Weatherman" maybe, hehehe;):D:p

Just kidding of course. I think he means Dallas-Ft Worth....as in Texas.

My question about how to stretch the menu still remains though. If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!
There is no setting in the DVR for that. The only way to stretch the menu is to have the TV stretch it (with the DVR's 4:3 Override set to 480i or 480p). There's no way to stretch the menu on HD channels.

Hi William,
Where are you located and on what cable service? If it is in the DFW area and you are on TWC, then you are out of luck. Let me know if that is the case and I'll pm you with more info...no reason to bog down the 6412 thread with a local issue. If not, though, you might want to find the thread for your area in the Local HD Info and Reception forum and check to see if others are reporting the same issue(s) or ask the question there...

Good luck,
Randy

William says he is in the LA area, and I am, like you, on TWC in the DFW area. So it sounds like it is not a local problem. I've seen that message a few times lately, but the channel has appeared after several seconds. I'm interested in any additional info you have on it, and it sounds like people in other parts of the country will be too.

Bernie

I had stuttering problem too. I have 6412/III. But I notice that the stutter is pretty much gone after around 11pm, which let me to believe it might not be the DVR's problem, but bandwidth bottleneck instead, when a lot of people are watching at one time. If so, then there's nothing we can do until timewarner fix their pipe.

Another problem I had is, when I am watching a recorded show, the sound would go out after a few seconds, and the only way to bring it back is to pause/forward/rewind and re-play it. Why is this happening? Any idea?

Thanks!
William, The sound disappearing is one of the most annoying things. I've had it happen with both some live and recorded shows. On the live shows, the only way for me to get the sound back is to change the channel or turn the box off and back on. With recorded programs, messing with the pause, ff, and rew buttons sometimes works; sometimes I can't get the sound to work at all. It really peed me off last summer when it screwed up the sound for my recording of a Jerome Bettis special on the NFL Network; I haven't seen that special on again, so I'm still kind of mad that the recording didn't work.

As to the stuttering, I called CCast today because it's gotten almost unwatchable on some channels (both live and recorded for me). The CCast tech on the phone told me that it's an issue that is affecting many people. When I asked her if that meant nationwide and how much it's affecting many people, she wasn't able to provide additional info beyond that she's been getting even more calls about DVR problems than usual.

Tivo software can't get here quickly enough.

My area is going to get a fairly substantial channel line up change in a week. Many of the stations are going to be moving channel numbers. What is going to happen to the programs I have series recordings set up for on those channels? Will the box figure everything out on its own (I'm guessing not likely), or will the box emit a white smoke and never work again (most likely given my experience with iGuide).
The line up change has come and gone so I have an update.

On a channel where the channel name stayed the same the series recordings changed their channel numbers and are set up correctly.

On the channels that changed their name, the series recordings did not change. This happened on my local HD channels since they had been incorrectly labeled without the 'D' or 'HD' at the end of the name. My previous HD series recordings are now pointing at the SD analog channels.

I didn't have any series recordings on channels that were outright deleted, so I'm not sure how the DRV handles that.

Here is an interesting issue. My setup is:
Sony XBR2 connected via HDMI thru Switch
Motorola 6412 III Comcast via HDMI thru Switch
PS3 via HDMI thru Switch
360 via component to TV
Sony DVD Changer via HDMI thru Switch
Switch is a Video Storm TMDS61

The problem I have is whenever I switch from the Comcast DVR to another source and then back or even turn off everything and turn back to Comcast DVR the menu settings for resolution seem to reset to 480p. I have to manually change them back to 10:9 and 1080i via the white menu EVERY darned time. This did not happen when I used a Gefen HDMI switcher. Any ideas?

Stupid question from a newbie: Do you (or should you) turn off this DVR when you finish watching? Would it still record scheduled show if I do that?

Thanks!

Stupid question from a newbie: Do you (or should you) turn off this DVR when you finish watching? Would it still record scheduled show if I do that?

Thanks!

Although it will record fine when turned off, the general consensus is to leave it on. There is very little, if anything, to be gained by turning it off. The only time it really freaks with regard to this is if you try to turn it off while it is recording...for some reason it doesn't like that...

Randy

Stupid question from a newbie: Do you (or should you) turn off this DVR when you finish watching? Would it still record scheduled show if I do that?

Thanks!

Never Ever turn off ANY DVR. Not worth it, IMO ... and if 'off', it can't record anything!

Stupid question from a newbie: Do you (or should you) turn off this DVR when you finish watching? Would it still record scheduled show if I do that?

Thanks!

Turning it off actually puts in a standby mode. It will continue to record scheduled shows, and it will continue to receive schedule updates. There is a minor complication if you do turn it off (really standby) but you also save some power and, more importantly to me, reduce the noise that the DVR makes. (Our Tivo makes no noise when it is left on, but the 6412 has a noisy disk drive and/or fan.)

If you turn if off the display does not show the time or channel (I have ours set to show the channel when it is on).

The only minor inconveniences if you have your box set to turn off when you're not watching it are: 1) when it turns on to record a show it puts itself in "mute" mode so that it won't disturb you if you forgot to turn off an audio system; and 2) when if finishes recording a program it will turn itself off, even if you were watching something that was previously recorded.

To deal with the first situation just push the "mute" button on your remote to unmute the DVR.

To deal with the second situation, just turn the DVR back on. YIf you were watching something that was recorded (which is almost always the case for us), you can easily resume where it was.

WIth our Tivo we never truned it off unless we were leaving town. With the 6412 we turn it off always because of the noise it makes.

Anyone having issues with missing channels? I tried tuning into DiscoveryHD, all I get is "This channel will be available soon". I can watch DiscoveryHD just the day before. It's not just this channel, some channels have gone missing too.



I get this problem from time to time with certain channels, and invariably when I check the channel's frequency in the diagnostics mode's in-band status page, its frequency (in MHz) is in the high 700's.

The problem is that signal loss is higher at higher frequencies, and due to the many splits in the line along the way to feed various rooms, plus a fairly long run (my room would have to be the furthest one in the house from where the cable enters the house.. :( ) means on those higher frequencies, it's hit or miss if I can get enough signal to get the channel at all, and even if I do, dropouts are much more likely.

Try connecting your box as close to where the cable enters the house as possible (you will need to hook it up to a TV to check, so if it enters in the basement and you don't have a TV there, or an old portable or something you can take with you, you'll just have to do it elsewhere), or at least remove any splitters between the box and where the cable enters the room.

If you can get the channels after doing that, then it's the same problem I have, you've got too many splits or some other internal wiring problem.

If you don't get the channel even after connecting it directly where it enters the house, you're probably not getting a good strong signal in the first place, and you'll need to get a tech out to take care of that.

whenever I switch from the Comcast DVR to another source and then back or even turn off everything and turn back to Comcast DVR the menu settings for resolution seem to reset to 480p.It is falling back to 480p because the HDCP handshake with the display is failing.

Hi,

I've had my dual-tuner 6412 since sometime in 2005 and haven't had an issue with it until just this past weekend. I bought an HDTV a week ago. With the new TV, the 6412 has gone from its former resting place on top of the TV, to a shelf on a cabinet underneath the TV. The 6412 is the only thing on the shelf, there is no door on the cabinet, and there's about 6-8 inches clearance up top. Sides are a little tight, maybe only and inch on either side. There is a back on the cabinet.

Over the weekend I started running into a problem where I would pause live HDTV and when trying to unpause or go back to a live signal, the DVR would freeze. Can't change tuners. Can change channels, but when I change back I'm still stuck. Can't go into the DVR and play anything. Had no issue at all last weekend or during the week. Got stuck a few times this way last night. Then I was recording Battlestar Galactica last night (in SD), came along around 10:45 to start watching, and when I hit play on the DVR it started not at the top of the show but at the 10:45 mark, then froze, then when I hit restart from the beginning it would skip back to the start and jump right back to 10:45. Couldn't get out of the loop and had to shut the box off again.

Any ideas? Am I overheating the box or is it choking on HD? Ambient room temperature was between 60 and 65 degrees. DVR was at 49% full and after turning the box back on I deleted a bunch of shows and got it down into the twenties somewhere, still had the issue. I did not attempt unplugging the box and doing a cold start since I had BSG set to record for the west coast repeat and didn't want to chance the box missing it.

Thanks,
Dave

Hi,

I've had my dual-tuner 6412 since sometime in 2005 and haven't had an issue with it until just this past weekend. I bought an HDTV a week ago. With the new TV, the 6412 has gone from its former resting place on top of the TV, to a shelf on a cabinet underneath the TV. The 6412 is the only thing on the shelf, there is no door on the cabinet, and there's about 6-8 inches clearance up top. Sides are a little tight, maybe only and inch on either side. There is a back on the cabinet.

Over the weekend I started running into a problem where I would pause live HDTV and when trying to unpause or go back to a live signal, the DVR would freeze. Can't change tuners. Can change channels, but when I change back I'm still stuck. Can't go into the DVR and play anything. Had no issue at all last weekend or during the week. Got stuck a few times this way last night. Then I was recording Battlestar Galactica last night (in SD), came along around 10:45 to start watching, and when I hit play on the DVR it started not at the top of the show but at the 10:45 mark, then froze, then when I hit restart from the beginning it would skip back to the start and jump right back to 10:45. Couldn't get out of the loop and had to shut the box off again.

Any ideas? Am I overheating the box or is it choking on HD? Ambient room temperature was between 60 and 65 degrees. DVR was at 49% full and after turning the box back on I deleted a bunch of shows and got it down into the twenties somewhere, still had the issue. I did not attempt unplugging the box and doing a cold start since I had BSG set to record for the west coast repeat and didn't want to chance the box missing it.

Thanks,
Dave

You can check to see if your DVR is over heating. I just looked at mine, after about 2 hours of playing back recorded programs it shows a temperature of 99 degrees, with a maximum of 117 degrees. To check the temperature on your box follow the instructions at http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Configuration#How_to_check_the_temperature

Anyone know of a way to solve this problem -- when I have my 6412 on a channel for more than an hour or so, I lose audio. It comes back if if I change the channel or turn the box off and on. I'm using coax from the 6412 to my receiver for audio. I have had a lot of problems with audio not being on recorded programs on my DVR, not sure if it's related.

I had a tech at the house over the weekend installing the Comcast digital phone service; I was able to show him several problems with my 6412. He checked the signal extensively and felt confident that our signal is very good. He said he's pretty sure the problem is that it's a faulty DVR. When I told him that this was my fourth 6412 in just a couple of years, he he responded that they have a lot of trouble with this box and that isn't an uncommon number of replacements for a single customer. Wow; that seems excessive to me. I'm reluctant to swap the 6412 because I have the Star Wars trilogy in HD saved on it, so if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

It's just a badly acted space opera ... swap it :p

It's just a badly acted space opera ... swap it :p

Oh no you didn't go there...

I wish I could swap it for a Series 3, but the wife put the stop on that after we needed to buy a new fridgea coupl eof months ago.

I wish I could swap it for a Series 3, but the wife put the stop on that after we needed to buy a new fridgea coupl eof months ago.

That's probably a wise choice. The Series 3 refrigeration capabilities are known to be exceedingly poor!

FWIW, my TiVo wishlist finally caught two more HD Star Wars showings - 2 and 4, after previously catching 1, 3 and 5 - on HBO-HD! I know a lot of folks ahve it reorded/saveed from the CineMaxHD 6-movie-thon event a few weeks ago, but I don't even get MaxHD.

IMO, the movies will show up often enough on either of the HD channels to allow you to re-record them again someday. Just swap the 6412 at least - before it fails completely!

That's probably a wise choice. The Series 3 refrigeration capabilities are known to be exceedingly poor!

:)

I get this problem from time to time with certain channels, and invariably when I check the channel's frequency in the diagnostics mode's in-band status page, its frequency (in MHz) is in the high 700's.

The problem is that signal loss is higher at higher frequencies, and due to the many splits in the line along the way to feed various rooms, plus a fairly long run (my room would have to be the furthest one in the house from where the cable enters the house.. :( ) means on those higher frequencies, it's hit or miss if I can get enough signal to get the channel at all, and even if I do, dropouts are much more likely.

Try connecting your box as close to where the cable enters the house as possible (you will need to hook it up to a TV to check, so if it enters in the basement and you don't have a TV there, or an old portable or something you can take with you, you'll just have to do it elsewhere), or at least remove any splitters between the box and where the cable enters the room.

If you can get the channels after doing that, then it's the same problem I have, you've got too many splits or some other internal wiring problem.

If you don't get the channel even after connecting it directly where it enters the house, you're probably not getting a good strong signal in the first place, and you'll need to get a tech out to take care of that.

I had a box (3416) that had a lot of problems on one of the two tuners. The menu showed the error rates very high (70000). Even when connected directly to the cable where it enters the house. This box was brand new, never been used. Another box (6412) in another room works fine.

I took the bad box back to the comcast office and had them swap it for another (but only got a 3412). It works fine. So there ARE bad boxes out there.

I had a box (3416) that had a lot of problems on one of the two tuners. The menu showed the error rates very high (70000). Even when connected directly to the cable where it enters the house. This box was brand new, never been used. Another box (6412) in another room works fine.

I took the bad box back to the comcast office and had them swap it for another (but only got a 3412). It works fine. So there ARE bad boxes out there.

I specifically asked for a 6416 (we don't have 3412 or 3416 yet). The person behind the desk didn't know what I was talking about (par for the course). I had to show her how to look up the model number. Unfortunately, they didn't have any that day. I then sent an email (Brighthouse allows that). I was told they had them in so I went down and traded my 6412 in.

You can get one, but you have to be persistant.

Today our area just upgraded the 9.19 firmware to version 16.35. Now all of a suddon the video scaling does not work when you are in the guide. Instead of the current video scaling to fit the upper right hand corner, the guide now just overlays on top of the current video. This used to work in the prior firmware but now appears to be a bug. Does anyone else experience this issue?

6412/2500 (Phase 2) DVR
Reading, PA 19606

Today our area just upgraded the 9.19 firmware to version 16.35. Now all of a suddon the video scaling does not work when you are in the guide. Instead of the current video scaling to fit the upper right hand corner, the guide now just overlays on top of the current video. This used to work in the prior firmware but now appears to be a bug. Does anyone else experience this issue?

6412/2500 (Phase 2) DVR
Reading, PA 19606
That happens if the menu/guide screens are positioned too far to the right. It's easy to fix:

1. In the main menu, select Setup, then Screen Position.
2. Hit the left arrow a couple of times.
3. Leave the setup menu and see if the problem is fixed. If it isn't, repeat the steps.

Thanks, I'll give that a shot then. I just tried it but I'm in an On Demand session. No matter what I push (guide, My DVR, Live, Replay, Last, Ch+, etc...) it just shows the on demand time bar. That sucks that this box cant multitask the seachange VOD application and I-Guide. Passport on an SA3200 at the in laws can do it. You can change settings or browse the guide while playing VOD on Blue Ridge Cable. I find it very annoying that you can't do it here.

I moved the guide to the right a bit because theres a very thin vertical line on the right of the screen that the guide and quick menu does not cover. I can't position the guide to fit on the screen without the video shining through at the right most edge no matter how far right I position it.

Ok cool I just got the video scaling to work. Your fix is great thanks again! I also had to move it up a little bit. Now only if the guide filled my entire 4:3 screen. Still have that thin vertical line at the right most edge.

Surprised I didn't see anyone mention this one... I was looking at my scheduled recordings and noticed my DVR skips over Sunday, going from Saturday to Monday. I'm sure it's related to the early change in DST, but odd nonetheless. I didn't look to see if my recordings next week are off by an hour.

Surprised I didn't see anyone mention this one... I was looking at my scheduled recordings and noticed my DVR skips over Sunday, going from Saturday to Monday. I'm sure it's related to the early change in DST, but odd nonetheless. I didn't look to see if my recordings next week are off by an hour.

Mine was doing that on Wednesday. I checked in the regular guide, and found that my recordings were still marked. When I checked back Thursday morning, the "scheduled recordings" was back to normal.

How do you hookup a DVR to a regular TV? My in-laws got a second DVR for their bedroom but it's not a HDTV. They only had coax so tried that and it's not working. I think they have to use composite or s-video? I don't recall if the DVR even supports s-video.

Thanks.

The DVR supports s-video. When they tried the coax, did they change their TV to channel 3? It needs to be there to work properly. The HD channels will not work over the coax or composite, just the SD ones. They will need to go s-video to get the HD channels. At least I think s-video will transport the HD channels.

William, The sound disappearing is one of the most annoying things. I've had it happen with both some live and recorded shows. On the live shows, the only way for me to get the sound back is to change the channel or turn the box off and back on. With recorded programs, messing with the pause, ff, and rew buttons sometimes works; sometimes I can't get the sound to work at all. It really peed me off last summer when it screwed up the sound for my recording of a Jerome Bettis special on the NFL Network; I haven't seen that special on again, so I'm still kind of mad that the recording didn't work.

As to the stuttering, I called CCast today because it's gotten almost unwatchable on some channels (both live and recorded for me). The CCast tech on the phone told me that it's an issue that is affecting many people. When I asked her if that meant nationwide and how much it's affecting many people, she wasn't able to provide additional info beyond that she's been getting even more calls about DVR problems than usual.

Tivo software can't get here quickly enough.

I did try the fix for stuttering video last night. It was doing it really bad. First I tried turning it on and off a few times. That did nothing to help the issue. Then I switched the box output from 1080i tp 720p for a couple of minutes. Switched it back to 1080i and all was well, at least for now. Thanks for the tip guys! Wonder when Comcast will fix this issue though? :rolleyes:

The DVR supports s-video. When they tried the coax, did they change their TV to channel 3? It needs to be there to work properly. The HD channels will not work over the coax or composite, just the SD ones. They will need to go s-video to get the HD channels. At least I think s-video will transport the HD channels.

I think he went out and got a new cable and it's working now. Thanks. I do recall that the box will output the HD channels on the S-Video from back when I had the plain HD box hooked up to my TiVo. I would record the HD channels to the TiVo to get a better quality picture.

I think he went out and got a new cable and it's working now. Thanks. I do recall that the box will output the HD channels on the S-Video from back when I had the plain HD box hooked up to my TiVo. I would record the HD channels to the TiVo to get a better quality picture.

HD Channels via S-Video output. will only be Widescreen SD picture. HD & 16:9 will only output via Componenet and DVI / HDMI.

You know it would be cool if the 30 sec skip and 15 sec rewind worked with on demand. It would be a whole lot easier to jump around to specific times by counting the button presses.

And yes, it still irks me how none of the menus will show while playing video on demand. Maybe I want to schedule some recordings later during a commercial. Maybe during a boring spot I want to surf the guide to see what comes on tonight and if they are repeats. Perhaps I want to change a setting.

You know it would be cool if the 30 sec skip and 15 sec rewind worked with on demand. It would be a whole lot easier to jump around to specific times by counting the button presses.

And yes, it still irks me how none of the menus will show while playing video on demand. Maybe I want to schedule some recordings later during a commercial. Maybe during a boring spot I want to surf the guide to see what comes on tonight and if they are repeats. Perhaps I want to change a setting.

The VOD uses it's own layer of software.

There are currently 3 types of VOD software available, I have only seen 2 of the 3.

That is the main reason you can not access the STB or DVR software while running VOD.

Ok cool I just got the video scaling to work. Your fix is great thanks again! I also had to move it up a little bit. Now only if the guide filled my entire 4:3 screen. Still have that thin vertical line at the right most edge.
That seems to vary with the channel. Some channels cause the graphics to be pulled in from the right, some will fill it out.

The VOD uses it's own layer of software.

There are currently 3 types of VOD software available, U have only seen 2 of the 3.

That is the main reason you can not access the STB or DVR software while running VOD.

Yeah I kind of thought thats what the problem was. I did see that it has it's own seachange VOD application. It's a shame that the Motorola box can't multi task though. The Passport guide on an SA3200 system with Concurrent VOD allows you to do anything with the guide or system settings when VOD is playing. I'm not sure if it's just a better box, or better written software.

Comcast purchased thousands of Motorola boxes though, so they can't be that bad... I would hope that the SA boxes are only better because of better written software. Their PowerTV layer is open source (I've downloaded a manual for fun), so perhaps that has allowed developers to create much more robust applications for the system.

Yeah I kind of thought thats what the problem was. I did see that it has it's own seachange VOD application. It's a shame that the Motorola box can't multi task though. The Passport guide on an SA3200 system with Concurrent VOD allows you to do anything with the guide or system settings when VOD is playing. I'm not sure if it's just a better box, or better written software.

Comcast purchased thousands of Motorola boxes though, so they can't be that bad... I would hope that the SA boxes are only better because of better written software. Their PowerTV layer is open source (I've downloaded a manual for fun), so perhaps that has allowed developers to create much more robust applications for the system.

I have heard about the same amount of complaints for both SA & Moto.

It's a shame the end user is the one to suffer.

FYI,

The Comcast SA STB are all going to I Guide Software later this year.

HD Channels via S-Video output. will only be Widescreen SD picture. HD & 16:9 will only output via Componenet and DVI / HDMI.

Yes, I remember that.

I have always wanted a 6416 STB to replace my 6412 and Comcast always said they did not have these in my area (S.E.PA). Today there was a Home and Garden show nearby and Comcast was there. I told the rep that I would go with the Comcast telephone package if when they installed the new modem, they would also exchange my 6412 for a 6416. He said that would be ok. As far as I know, the 6416 is a direct replacement with HDMI output and also separate audio out for the music channels. Is that correct? Thanks.

I have always wanted a 6416 STB to replace my 6412 and Comcast always said they did not have these in my area (S.E.PA). Today there was a Home and Garden show nearby and Comcast was there. I told the rep that I would go with the Comcast telephone package if when they installed the new modem, they would also exchange my 6412 for a 6416. He said that would be ok. As far as I know, the 6416 is a direct replacement with HDMI output and also separate audio out for the music channels. Is that correct? Thanks.
The only difference between a 6412 and a 6416 is the hard disk size (120 GB vs. 160 GB). Both types of boxes come in three phases, with phase 1 and 2 having DVI and phase 3 having HDMI.

I'm in the Boston North area and this HDMI bug is killing me. I'm still on 16.20 and wondering when we'll go to 16.35 for the fix...

I'm in the Boston North area and this HDMI bug is killing me. I'm still on 16.20 and wondering when we'll go to 16.35 for the fix...Which HDMI bug do you mean? If it's the one where the STB doesn't do HDMI/HDCP handshaking with repeaters (such as AVRs) then stop waiting because that bug was fixed with firmware V16.20. There may be a firmware V16.35; but perhaps you're thinking of V12.35 which also fixed the HDMI/HDCP repeater handshaking problem.

If the bug you mean is the HDCP repeater handshaking bug, and you now have firmware V16.20, it should be fixed on your STB. Check it out.

BTW -- There is an entire thread devoted to this topic here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=649941&goto=newpost)

Which HDMI bug do you mean? If it's the one where the STB doesn't do HDMI/HDCP handshaking with repeaters (such as AVRs) then stop waiting because that bug was fixed with firmware V16.20. There may be a firmware V16.35; but perhaps you're thinking of V12.35 which also fixed the HDMI/HDCP repeater handshaking problem.
I don't know which one the previous poster is referring to, but firmware 16.35, according to the wiki, is supposed to address a certain HDMI/HDCP issue. I don't know which issue that update addresses, but I do know that firmware 16.20 definitely has some problems in certain setups where HDCP fails if the TV is turned on while the box is on. There are some posts here where people have the problem every time they turn the TV on. I personally haven't had it happen to that extreme, but I did experience the bug a couple of times since receiving the update.

I don't know which one the previous poster is referring to, but firmware 16.35, according to the wiki, is supposed to address a certain HDMI/HDCP issue. I don't know which issue that update addresses, but I do know that firmware 16.20 definitely has some problems in certain setups where HDCP fails if the TV is turned on while the box is on. There are some posts here where people have the problem every time they turn the TV on. I personally haven't had it happen to that extreme, but I did experience the bug a couple of times since receiving the update.
Sorry, didn't know there was a sequence of issues here. The problem started for me with the 16.20 firmware "upgrade" on Comcast last fall (I wish I could downgrade). I have a front projector that needs to be turned on when I want to watch TV. The cable box is on all the time as I also have a Tivo hooked up to it. When 16.20 was installed, my HDMI (actually DVI) stopped working on startup.

My painful workaround is:
- Turn on the projector
- Unplug & replug the HDMI connection on the back of the cable box
- Power down the cable box & bring up the cable box setup menu
- Change TV type to 16x9 (it's reset every time to 4x3)
- Change resolution to 1080i (it's reset every time to 480)
- Exit setup menu & power up the cable box

Even more painful when the DVR is recording something in high def since this sequence will cause the recording to stop.

Yes, I need 16.35 and I need it now. I should really whine to Comcast to try to get some of my money back here.

Has anyone had an issue with the noise from the hard drive and/or fan on this unit? I have it in the bedroom and it is driving me crazy with this high pitched hum (I think it's sending subliminal messages lol). I swapped it with the regular box in the den where it's inside of a cabinet so I don't hear it but would prefer to keep it in the bedroom. Any ideas?

Whisper quiet here.

Whisper quiet here.Obviously Motorola has fixed all their problems and everyone is tickled pink with the results. :eek:

Sorry - I couldn't hear the post above the noise my 6412 makes.

It is noticeably the loudest of 3 DVRs in a rack here (one S3, one ancient S2 with a dying fan and the 6412). Except when the Series 2's fan 'catches' but a gentle tap makes it whisper quiet again.

The 6412 is consistently noisy - drive and fan. I think that's because the box has a gazillion holes and odd airflow path - I doubt a fan & hard drive pair in one device need be louder than that in another. The 6412, with all its holes, still gets way hotter than either TiVo.

Anyone know what spinning circle patern and d1 means on the display? I was wathcing something on the DVR and it just shut off and d1 is on the display.

Has anyone had an issue with the noise from the hard drive and/or fan on this unit? I have it in the bedroom and it is driving me crazy with this high pitched hum (I think it's sending subliminal messages lol). I swapped it with the regular box in the den where it's inside of a cabinet so I don't hear it but would prefer to keep it in the bedroom. Any ideas?

YES! Not as bad as yours seem to be, but the DVR is noisy, and as someone else mentioned, it runs hot so I'm not surprised that the fan runs when it is on and for some time after it is turned off. My Tivo Series 2 makes no sound at all.

I do turn our 6412 PIII off when not in use to eliminate the noise (and to save some power). With the DVR on it continuously records whatever channel it is set to, so the fan runs more and if the drive makes noise then that is going all the time. Turning it off (which really means "stand-by") still allows the box to record scheduled shows and to receive updates, but the room is completely silent otherwise. Turning it off also means the DVR is silent when we're watching a DVD.

Anyone know what spinning circle patern and d1 means on the display? I was wathcing something on the DVR and it just shut off and d1 is on the display.
d1 is really dL for "download". Your cable company is sending a download to the box.

d1 is really dL for "download". Your cable company is sending a download to the box.
Thanks

I've seen the following issue a couple times recently- all my scheduled recordings are changed to "To be announced", even though there is guide data for everything. The info in the scheduled recordings seems to show corrupt channel numbers like 10607. Nothing records (DVR displays ch 0 & does nothing) unless I delete my series recordings & reenter them. More annoying are the single show records, which I can't remove & prevent me from setting up 2 recordings during that time period.

Anyone else see this sort of thing? Any way to delete a single episode "To Be Announced" recording w/o doing a full hard drive reset?

Stephen,

I've seen the same kind of thing -- perfectly good guide data but "To Be Announced" on all recordings. In my case they do record, though.

One other odd thing is that sometimes at the beginning/ending of playback of these recordings they show up as TBA, which triggers my parental controls (I guess TBA is considered unrated.) It is getting annoying having to enter a 4-digit code just to start/finish a recorded show.

Ghost in the machine somewhere....

-John

I've seen the following issue a couple times recently- all my scheduled recordings are changed to "To be announced", even though there is guide data for everything. The info in the scheduled recordings seems to show corrupt channel numbers like 10607. Nothing records (DVR displays ch 0 & does nothing) unless I delete my series recordings & reenter them. More annoying are the single show records, which I can't remove & prevent me from setting up 2 recordings during that time period.

Anyone else see this sort of thing? Any way to delete a single episode "To Be Announced" recording w/o doing a full hard drive reset?
You can remove any stray recording (one that no longer match up with guide data) by scheduling two other programs at the same time. After the second one, a dialog shows up asking if you want to cancel the new recording or the "lowest priority" one, which at this point should be the TBA recording (since it's the oldest one). Tell it to cancel the TBA recording, and you're set. (Maybe someone should add this to the wiki? I think this is a handy tip everyone should know, as I-Guide does a lousy job responding to changes in the guide data.)

You can remove any stray recording (one that no longer match up with guide data) by scheduling two other programs at the same time. After the second one, a dialog shows up asking if you want to cancel the new recording or the "lowest priority" one, which at this point should be the TBA recording (since it's the oldest one). Tell it to cancel the TBA recording, and you're set

Not in this case. Now it just continually offers me a choice of canceling one of the new recordings I am trying to set, never offering to cancel the TBA one. On previous software versions, this method (keep on scheduling new recordings in same slot) used to work for me, eventually offering to delete the offending recording sometimes requiring repeated attempts, but not now. Also previously it was just one recording changing time slots slightly, and leaving a "zombie" that could be deleted using that method.

Not in this case. Now it just continually offers me a choice of canceling one of the new recordings I am trying to set, never offering to cancel the TBA one. On previous software versions, this method (keep on scheduling new recordings in same slot) used to work for me, eventually offering to delete the offending recording sometimes requiring repeated attempts, but not now. Also previously it was just one recording changing time slots slightly, and leaving a "zombie" that could be deleted using that method.
That's very weird - I never had it not offer to delete the recording I was trying to remove. You might try scheduling recording the "manual" VCR-style way, in case that makes a difference. Point to the TBA entry in My Recordings, then press Record (this will bring up the manual record screen with the start and end times already set). Make a pair of recordings this way and see what happens.

I had a similar problem when the time for a program would change (from 10:00 to 10:01 for example). It would leave an orphaned recording. Trying to record two other programs would have the box simply give me an option to delete one or the other of the new recordings, never the old recording. This only happened if the old recording was a manual recording, and for that reason I've started using the series recordings a lot more and have not had the problem for months.

I have a problem with losing sound sometimes after pausing, skipping or fast forwarding. I'm not certain where the problem lies, but I suspect the Motorola 6412-III.

I have the hdmi output of the DVR connected to the TV but for video only. I have an optical cable connected from the DVR to a Samsung HT-Q80 audio system. (I'd like to just connect the DVR to the audio system via hdmi and then to the TV, but I only have firmware 12.31 so that won't work yet.) I use a Harmony 880 remote.

Often, but not always, after fast forwarding, pausing or rewinding, we'll lose sound when starting to play again. There is often a "click" sound from someplace when this is going to occur, but sometimes the click sound happens without and the audio works fine. To recover when we can sometimes just step through the various audio inputs for the AVR, sometimes other techniques. It always recovers if we power down the AVR and then turn it back on. I suspect a sync problem someplace.

The problem never happens when playing a DVD.

I don't see anything about this problem in the Wiki. Anyone else having a problem like this? Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Bernie

I don't know which one the previous poster is referring to, but firmware 16.35, according to the wiki, is supposed to address a certain HDMI/HDCP issue. I don't know which issue that update addresses, but I do know that firmware 16.20 definitely has some problems in certain setups where HDCP fails if the TV is turned on while the box is on. There are some posts here where people have the problem every time they turn the TV on. I personally haven't had it happen to that extreme, but I did experience the bug a couple of times since receiving the update.

does anyone have any updates regarding the 16.20 problem described above (where the HDCP fails due to the TV being turned on while the box is on). i noticed this problem after the firmware update in the fall, but just now started researching the issue, as i'm getting tired of having to disconnect and reconnect the hdmi cable on the back of the 6412 to work around this problem (can't just simply power on and off if the 6412 is in the middle of recording a program). you would think they would test for these types of issues prior to releasing a firmware "upgrade."

I have a problem with losing sound sometimes after pausing, skipping or fast forwarding. I'm not certain where the problem lies, but I suspect the Motorola 6412-III.

I have the hdmi output of the DVR connected to the TV but for video only. I have an optical cable connected from the DVR to a Samsung HT-Q80 audio system. (I'd like to just connect the DVR to the audio system via hdmi and then to the TV, but I only have firmware 12.31 so that won't work yet.) I use a Harmony 880 remote.

Often, but not always, after fast forwarding, pausing or rewinding, we'll lose sound when starting to play again. There is often a "click" sound from someplace when this is going to occur, but sometimes the click sound happens without and the audio works fine. To recover when we can sometimes just step through the various audio inputs for the AVR, sometimes other techniques. It always recovers if we power down the AVR and then turn it back on. I suspect a sync problem someplace.

The problem never happens when playing a DVD.

I don't see anything about this problem in the Wiki. Anyone else having a problem like this? Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Bernie

I too have the same problem. This occurs when playing a recorded show. I can usually, get the sound back by exiting the show and then replaying it. Where it was when I exited is remembered so it isn't to much of a problem.

Well my 2-year run with the 6412 has come to an end. The 16.20 firmware finally killed it. Until the 16.20 firmware was inflicted upon me, the 6412's only fault was sometimes not responding to commands and then "catching up". Annoying, but not fatal.

Then came 16.20. Since then I've had total lockups necessitating at least 5 resets (the kind that keep the recordings). This last lockup however, didn't respond to either a reset or a full factory reset (which formats the disk and starts over). At the end of that I couldn't even get any video out of the thing.

So I traded it in (giving up the 3 Star Wars HD recordings off HBO) for a 3416.

Right away I noticed that the 3416 seems to respond to commands more quickly.

Since it does still have the 16.20 firmware, though, I'm not gonna gloat or anything. But you might want to consider trading in that 6412 when it's convenient.

So I'm leaving you all for the 3416 Thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=604142&goto=lastpost).

Thanks for all the tips and workarounds; they're still pretty applicable to the 3416, after all (mainly the 30-second skip programming).

I had mentioned before that I am trying to get a 6416 to replace my 6412. I talked to the Comcast rep this morning and he said the 6416 is not available in SE Pennsylvania. He could get me a 3416 but I am not sure if it has HDMI and the seperate audio output. What are the drawbacks if I would go with the 3416?

I had mentioned before that I am trying to get a 6416 to replace my 6412. I talked to the Comcast rep this morning and he said the 6416 is not available in SE Pennsylvania. He could get me a 3416 but I am not sure if it has HDMI and the seperate audio output. What are the drawbacks if I would go with the 3416?

The 3416 is the all digital version of the 6416. If you have ADS at your head end it will work just fine. It has HDMI and a separate audio output.

How do I know if I have ADS in my service area?

How do I know if I have ADS in my service area?
One quick way is to tune into several 'analog' channels (typically those below 100) and look for the Dolby logo on the info screen.
Alternative methods are listed here:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Configuration

Also, if they offer a 34xx series box, then you probably have ADS in your area.

Just got the new firmware....wow, what a difference...everything is smooth and responsive...no more button lag so far...what did they change in the interface? It looks slightly different?

The non-one-click-to-DVR is annoying but whatever...I'll live

::this is the Version 16.35 firmware btw

Just got the new firmware....wow, what a difference...everything is smooth and responsive...no more button lag so far...what did they change in the interface? It looks slightly different?

The non-one-click-to-DVR is annoying but whatever...I'll live

::this is the Version 16.35 firmware btw

The font is a little different.

Just got the new firmware....wow, what a difference...everything is smooth and responsive...no more button lag so far...what did they change in the interface? It looks slightly different?

The non-one-click-to-DVR is annoying but whatever...I'll live

::this is the Version 16.35 firmware btw

I got my 16.35 update the other day as well. I'm annoyed that they still haven't eliminated the "your recording has finished" pop-up.

hmm had a little HDMI glitch last night when I went to switch my HDMI splitter, the DVR wouldn't break the HDCP and forced a switch to the component cable input on the box....dunno if this was a singular event or if that happens every time...I'll report back the next time it happens

I got my 16.35 update the other day as well. I'm annoyed that they still haven't eliminated the "your recording has finished" pop-up.

Just push exit when you see this pop up. That'll get rid of it quick.

Just push exit when you see this pop up. That'll get rid of it quick.True. But I agree with Mike20878. It's still a PITA to have to do that. It's a minor irritation compared to some other problems with the unit, but I personally don't see the value of the "Recording Done" message.

True. But I agree with Mike20878. It's still a PITA to have to do that. It's a minor irritation compared to some other problems with the unit, but I personally don't see the value of the "Recording Done" message.
It's the accumulation of all these "minor irritations" that shapes our overall view of the product. To me, it's quite clear that the interface designers never tested this stuff with actual users. The "Recording Done" message is a good example. Most of the time, when this message appears, I'm either not watching TV (and thus don't need the message) or I'm watching something different (and thus don't want to see the message). So it's at best an irritant. Another example is the "small" change in functionality of the My DVR button. Instead of taking you to your list of recordings (which is what you want 90% of the time), it now takes you to another menu, whose other entries you use only 10% of the time. This is fundamentally bad interface design, and even rudimentary usability testing would have showed that.

OK, rant over.

My 6412III won't change channels via the remote control's number pad. Channel up & channel down work fine. I just can't jump directly to a channel via the number pad. This problem exists on the original remote as well as my Harmony 880. Any ideas?

My 6412III won't change channels via the remote control's number pad. Channel up & channel down work fine. I just can't jump directly to a channel via the number pad. This problem exists on the original remote as well as my Harmony 880. Any ideas?

Try going into the Guide Setup on the 6412. Go to Channel Entry Behavior and make sure Auto-Tune is selected.

Try going into the Guide Setup on the 6412. Go to Channel Entry Behavior and make sure Auto-Tune is selected.

That was it. I'm not sure when I changed that preference, but it's sure nice to have it back. Thanks.......

Another example is the "small" change in functionality of the My DVR button. Instead of taking you to your list of recordings (which is what you want 90% of the time), it now takes you to another menu, whose other entries you use only 10% of the time. This is fundamentally bad interface design, and even rudimentary usability testing would have showed that.
I disagree on this point. I like the current MyDVR behavior better than the previous. I make of habit of checking scheduled recordings periodically, as the DVR's series recording feature tends to schedule things I don't want or not schedule something it should (like my recent Deal or No Deal experience). I don't find pressing one extra button to access recordings to be an inconvenience, especially when I gain a shortcut to the scheduled list.

Having said that, I do agree with your general point. There are a large number of minor quirks that make I-Guide annoying at times. The software has a hard time dealing with changes in guide data (for individual recordings at least - series recordings seem to work OK). Add the occasional channel name conflict where an SD and HD channel share the same name (that happened in my area recently with ESPN2), as well as the loss of guide data after an outage and the inability to change recordings that become "To Be Announced" directly, plus the very limited search feature and rather dumb favorites handling, and so on. Minor things that add up to a not-so-friendly interface.

If/when Tivo software is available, I will probably wait and see what others have to say about it, and if it is significantly better than I-Guide, count me in.

Overall I-Guide is functional, but really far from complete. They should download the guide data to the hard drive to preserve the information after a power outage. They should make it more graphical with animations, alpha blending, transparencies, and numerous beautiful design features found in today's modern day computer programs.

They sure do have a lot of work to do. When Tivo comes out i'm game.

It's the accumulation of all these "minor irritations" that shapes our overall view of the product. To me, it's quite clear that the interface designers never tested this stuff with actual users. The "Recording Done" message is a good example. Most of the time, when this message appears, I'm either not watching TV (and thus don't need the message) or I'm watching something different (and thus don't want to see the message). So it's at best an irritant. Another example is the "small" change in functionality of the My DVR button. Instead of taking you to your list of recordings (which is what you want 90% of the time), it now takes you to another menu, whose other entries you use only 10% of the time. This is fundamentally bad interface design, and even rudimentary usability testing would have showed that.

OK, rant over.But it was a good, well-stated rant -- and right on the money. :D I fully agree with everything you ranted about -- so you saved me having to write my own rant about the extremely poor UI design of the 64XX and 34XX STBs. :eek: Thanks.

Another example is the "small" change in functionality of the My DVR button. Instead of taking you to your list of recordings (which is what you want 90% of the time), it now takes you to another menu, whose other entries you use only 10% of the time. This is fundamentally bad interface design, and even rudimentary usability testing would have showed that.


I agree. It reminds me of the change to my credit union's ATM software: the first question is whether you want English or Spanish language menus. The vast majority of users (>95%) use English.

Another bug-found: I had problems last night while I was watching Prison Break last night...I was watching my recording of Prison Break live (I was caught up on the timing) however, when I went to Guide, the channels it showed were the ones the other Tuner was on (which happened to be a lot further down in the guide). Another annoyance...

And I had one glitch last night while fast-forwarding where the DVR-froze and then executed all the commands at once...only has happened once though since the new firmware upgrade...

Overall, performance is greatly improved, but there are still somethings that really bug me about the GUI...and yeah, the Recording Finished is annoying

I agree. It reminds me of the change to my credit union's ATM software: the first question is whether you want English or Spanish language menus. The vast majority of users (>95%) use English.
Well, that's a little different. The ATM has to be configurable to be used by any person each time. Your DVR should be configurable to your preferences indefinitely.

I've noticed with the new guide/firmware update the front LCD now displays EAS when in emergency broadcast system lock. Also the UI is a little different when watching a preview video on demand.

Another bug-found: I had problems last night while I was watching Prison Break last night...I was watching my recording of Prison Break live (I was caught up on the timing) however, when I went to Guide, the channels it showed were the ones the other Tuner was on (which happened to be a lot further down in the guide). Another annoyance...
How did you access the show - by going through My Recordings or by swapping tuners and rewinding to the start of the show? I assume you went through the menu (it's more convenient). Going through the menu puts the DVR in "Playback" mode, as opposed to "Time-Shifted" mode (which is what it would've been had you swapped tuners and rewound). When in Playback mode, neither tuner is technically active for display. If you enter the guide, you will see whatever channel you were tuned to prior to entering Playback mode. In Time-shifted mode, the tuner is technically active, so pressing Guide will bring up the info for that channel.

Not a bug, but I will admit that this is certainly among the many minor inconveniences that add up to a larger overall frustration. I think it can be easily addressed simply by making the Guide default to whatever channel the show was recorded on when in Playback mode.

I agree. It reminds me of the change to my credit union's ATM software: the first question is whether you want English or Spanish language menus. The vast majority of users (>95%) use English.

I love the newer SunTrust machines. They have the option to set your preferences and it remembers them for each transaction. When I use one of the newer machines I never get asked to select my language preference.

It's the accumulation of all these "minor irritations" that shapes our overall view of the product. To me, it's quite clear that the interface designers never tested this stuff with actual users. The "Recording Done" message is a good example. Most of the time, when this message appears, I'm either not watching TV (and thus don't need the message) or I'm watching something different (and thus don't want to see the message). So it's at best an irritant. Another example is the "small" change in functionality of the My DVR button. Instead of taking you to your list of recordings (which is what you want 90% of the time), it now takes you to another menu, whose other entries you use only 10% of the time. This is fundamentally bad interface design, and even rudimentary usability testing would have showed that.

OK, rant over.

The sad thing is they did beta testing on these! I know because I participated and gave feedback on the "recording done" message, among others. I'm happy to see they did implement one of my suggestions (I don't know if it's because of me necessarily), and now you can go through the menu items left or right and it will continue to the beginning or end.

I miss my TIVO! And I need some help. I just got a DVR box from Comcast. I noticed the red LED light on that some other posters mentioned and I naively thought that meant my program was happily recording. So in the past week, of all 30 things I tried to record, my new DVR machine managed to record 3. One had the mute issue where there's no sound for 5 minutes and the other 2 were fine. Last night I realized why these recorded and nothing else had... they WERE NOT on back to back, nor was I watching live tv, so they didn't require the second recorder to function. I have deduced that my swap feature isn't working right. When I hit "swap" on the remote, the channel goes to the one that is supposed to be recording. However all it says is "one moment please... channel coming shortly" or some such message and the channel never tunes in and thereby the recording never happens even though the red LED light is on indicating it should be recording as planned. Any ideas? Thanks.

Try going into the Guide Setup on the 6412. Go to Channel Entry Behavior and make sure Auto-Tune is selected.
With Auto-Tune off, you must use 3 full digits (002), or press OK/Select (2, OK/Select). Even with it on, you can use the above to tune faster.

I miss my TIVO! And I need some help. I just got a DVR box from Comcast. I noticed the red LED light on that some other posters mentioned and I naively thought that meant my program was happily recording. So in the past week, of all 30 things I tried to record, my new DVR machine managed to record 3. One had the mute issue where there's no sound for 5 minutes and the other 2 were fine. Last night I realized why these recorded and nothing else had... they WERE NOT on back to back, nor was I watching live tv, so they didn't require the second recorder to function. I have deduced that my swap feature isn't working right. When I hit "swap" on the remote, the channel goes to the one that is supposed to be recording. However all it says is "one moment please... channel coming shortly" or some such message and the channel never tunes in and thereby the recording never happens even though the red LED light is on indicating it should be recording as planned. Any ideas? Thanks.


That is not proper operation for the box. First thing to do is to get the box reset. You can do that by calling the support number and go through the prompts until you get to the one that says it will reset your box. If that doesn't resolve the problem you should exchange the box.

I suppose it is also possible that they only authorized one of the tuners in your box, but I've never heard of that happening.

I miss my TIVO! And I need some help. I just got a DVR box from Comcast. I noticed the red LED light on that some other posters mentioned and I naively thought that meant my program was happily recording. So in the past week, of all 30 things I tried to record, my new DVR machine managed to record 3. One had the mute issue where there's no sound for 5 minutes and the other 2 were fine. Last night I realized why these recorded and nothing else had... they WERE NOT on back to back, nor was I watching live tv, so they didn't require the second recorder to function. I have deduced that my swap feature isn't working right. When I hit "swap" on the remote, the channel goes to the one that is supposed to be recording. However all it says is "one moment please... channel coming shortly" or some such message and the channel never tunes in and thereby the recording never happens even though the red LED light is on indicating it should be recording as planned. Any ideas? Thanks.

Call comcast and make sure they have authorized all your programming, usually when that message comes up, it's because the box hasn't been hit, if it has then you need to get a new box, I've got two of them, one of them doesn't get all the programming it should get, I haven't really complained to them, because I don't even care about the stations I"m not getting.

Another example is the "small" change in functionality of the My DVR button. Instead of taking you to your list of recordings (which is what you want 90% of the time), it now takes you to another menu, whose other entries you use only 10% of the time. That was a good change IMHO. I use the top two options in that menu at least once every day, so having a quicker way to get to the Scheduled Recordings list was a great improvement.

The sad thing is they did beta testing on these! I know because I participated and gave feedback on the "recording done" message, among others. That just goes to show that people are different. The folks who design software often have to design for the lowest-common denominator -- the functionality that most everyone can figure out how to use -- rather than the ideal for the power-user.

However all it says is "one moment please... channel coming shortly" or some such message and the channel never tunes in As another poster mentioned, it could be that the cable company doesn't have you properly configured for the channels you're supposed to receive. Alternatively, it could be bad signal confusing the box as to whether you're supposed to receive the channel or not.

That was a good change IMHO. I use the top two options in that menu at least once every day, so having a quicker way to get to the Scheduled Recordings list was a great improvement.
Interesting. That's what I get for assuming to know how people use this thing. Obviously, I did not do any usability testing on it. I too use the top two options at least once a day. However, I use the top left option (list of recorded shows) several times a day, and the top right (upcoming recordings) about once a week. I was perfectly happy to use the old method (menu button/highlight DVR/ Select) to get to the Upcoming Recordings selection because I go there seldom. I can see that if you go there every day (although I don't know why you want to), you're more happy with the current setup.

I think it would be great if the MyDVR button was user-setable. Some (like me) could have it go directly to the list of recordings, some could have it go to the menu. Others might even want to go directly to the list of upcoming recordings. The MyDVR button is really just a shortcut button, because you can navigate to all these lists without using it (start with the Menu button instead). So it would be nice to allow users to set the shortcut they want.

(Of course, what I really want is for the blankety-blank response time problem to go away. The rest of this is gravy.)

Forgive me for asking this - seems a very basic question I was sure would have been addressed, but 15 minutes of searching has yielded nothing.

I have the 6412 with a 50" Pioneer Elite Plasma 1130HD display (720p/1080i) and a Denon 3806 AVR. I am trying to determine the best settings on the 6412. I think I remember reading somewhere that the Pioneer scaler is superior to the Moto, so it makes more sense to set the 6412 to 480i/p rather than 720p or 1080i and let the Elite handle the upconversion. Is that correct? Also, should it be set to 480i or 480p?

Forgive me for asking this - seems a very basic question I was sure would have been addressed, but 15 minutes of searching has yielded nothing.

I have the 6412 with a 50" Pioneer Elite Plasma 1130HD display (720p/1080i) and a Denon 3806 AVR. I am trying to determine the best settings on the 6412. I think I remember reading somewhere that the Pioneer scaler is superior to the Moto, so it makes more sense to set the 6412 to 480i/p rather than 720p or 1080i and let the Elite handle the upconversion. Is that correct? Also, should it be set to 480i or 480p?

If you set your 6412 for 480i/P, you will get an upscaled SD picture. Set your 6412 for either of the HD settings, 720P or 1080i, whichever looks best ot you on your display.

I remember reading somewhere that the Pioneer scaler is superior to the Moto, so it makes more sense to set the 6412 to 480i/p rather than 720p or 1080i and let the Elite handle the upconversion. ABC, FOX, NG and ESPN are all native 720p. The rest of the HD channels are 1080i.

By outputting 480p/i to your display, you are forcing the Moto to downconvert these channels so that your display can re-upconvert them! How does that make sense?? :confused:

IAC, YOU CANNOT DEFEAT THE PIONEER SCALER!! The native resolution of the Pioneer is 1,280x768, a non-standard HDTV resolution. It has to scale EVERYTHING it sees.

For the best PQ on the 720p channels, output 720p; for the 1080i channels, output 1080i :eek: That minimizes (but does not eliminate) the amount of scaling taking place and will provide the best PQ.

Forgive me for asking this - seems a very basic question I was sure would have been addressed, but 15 minutes of searching has yielded nothing.

I have the 6412 with a 50" Pioneer Elite Plasma 1130HD display (720p/1080i) and a Denon 3806 AVR. I am trying to determine the best settings on the 6412. I think I remember reading somewhere that the Pioneer scaler is superior to the Moto, so it makes more sense to set the 6412 to 480i/p rather than 720p or 1080i and let the Elite handle the upconversion. Is that correct? Also, should it be set to 480i or 480p?
Set the main resolution to 720p or 1080i, whichever works better for you. Set the "4:3 Override" to 480i if you want the TV to upscale SD (set it to Off or Stretch if you want the DVR to do the upscaling).

Interesting. That's what I get for assuming to know how people use this thing. Obviously, I did not do any usability testing on it. I too use the top two options at least once a day. However, I use the top left option (list of recorded shows) several times a day, and the top right (upcoming recordings) about once a week. I was perfectly happy to use the old method (menu button/highlight DVR/ Select) to get to the Upcoming Recordings selection because I go there seldom. I can see that if you go there every day (although I don't know why you want to), you're more happy with the current setup.

I think it would be great if the MyDVR button was user-setable. Some (like me) could have it go directly to the list of recordings, some could have it go to the menu. Others might even want to go directly to the list of upcoming recordings. The MyDVR button is really just a shortcut button, because you can navigate to all these lists without using it (start with the Menu button instead). So it would be nice to allow users to set the shortcut they want.

(Of course, what I really want is for the blankety-blank response time problem to go away. The rest of this is gravy.)

My sentiments exactly!!

crossbeaux, I have to agree with you completely. I want to be able to go directly to my list of recorded shows without having to push another button.

That is not proper operation for the box. First thing to do is to get the box reset. You can do that by calling the support number and go through the prompts until you get to the one that says it will reset your box. If that doesn't resolve the problem you should exchange the box.

I suppose it is also possible that they only authorized one of the tuners in your box, but I've never heard of that happening.

Called them today and the box reset failed, as did unplugging the box. Both tuners should be working based on what Comcast's readings tell them. I went in with my box to exchange it and lo and behold, Comcast is out of boxes for at least 1 week.

Thanks for your suggestions.

As another poster mentioned, it could be that the cable company doesn't have you properly configured for the channels you're supposed to receive. Alternatively, it could be bad signal confusing the box as to whether you're supposed to receive the channel or not.

I guess I'll know when I try a replacement box. Thanks!

Call comcast and make sure they have authorized all your programming, usually when that message comes up, it's because the box hasn't been hit, if it has then you need to get a new box, I've got two of them, one of them doesn't get all the programming it should get, I haven't really complained to them, because I don't even care about the stations I"m not getting.

The second tuner doesn't get any stations at all. I did call Comcast and nothing they tried remotely worked so I have to get a new box.

Thanks!

Be sure to tell Comcast that you have had some difficulty with their hardware and that they should give you some freebies.

I was perfectly happy to use the old method (menu button/highlight DVR/ Select)I don't like that mini-menu. I like the way TiVo handles it. From TiVo Central, everything is a single click: 2 for the To Do List, for example. I'd rather that. Give me a button that gets me into a mode where the whole key pad works for me to select what I want to do from there.

I don't like that mini-menu. I like the way TiVo handles it. From TiVo Central, everything is a single click: 2 for the To Do List, for example. I'd rather that. Give me a button that gets me into a mode where the whole key pad works for me to select what I want to do from there.
I agree, having numbers assigned to menu options (hopefully, in addition to highlight/select) would be very convenient.

In a usenet newsgroup someone just pointed out that the president/general manager of Time Warner for north Texas has his e-mail address at and that he does answer e-mail (or that someone answers for him). It is at: http://www.timewarnercable.com/dallas/aboutus/management/default.html

I just sent him a nice note about the lack of firmware upgrades to enable the DVR to connect to a surround sound system via HDMI - and that I haven't found anyone in Time Warner who knows what firmware is. Told him that while I'd like the upgrade, I'd settle for knowing someone was working on the problem.

If you're a Time Warner customer and have the problem you may want to let him know that you'd like it fixed too.

Bernie

I just power-reboot my box and it's been 2 days, most channels in TV guide are still showing "To Be Announced". Any idea how I can fix this? I have timewarner cable.

Thanks!

I just power-reboot my box and it's been 2 days, most channels in TV guide are still showing "To Be Announced". Any idea how I can fix this? I have timewarner cable.

Thanks!

same here in Los Angeles.....I imagine someone called them already?

Hello,

Sometimes I will set a recording for an HD channel only to have the SD version recorded. This has happened for one-time events and series. Are there any known workarounds?

Thanks,
Doug

Sometimes I will set a recording for an HD channel only to have the SD version recorded. This has happened for one-time events and series. Are there any known workarounds?Make sure that you've set the "this channel only" option when programming the recording and that the recording screen is showing the HD channel number.

Hello,

Sometimes I will set a recording for an HD channel only to have the SD version recorded. This has happened for one-time events and series. Are there any known workarounds?

Thanks,
Doug
That happens if the SD and HD channels share the same name in the guide. That happened in my area recently with ESPN2HD (both the SD and HD channels were called "ESPN2" in the guide). Fortunately, Comcast has since fixed the problem (by changing the HD channel's name to "ES2HD").

If this is the case for you, the only workaround I know of is to schedule a manual VCR-style recording (as opposed to using the guide). You may try calling your cable company and inform them of the problem, but CSR's are often unaware of the issue and don't know how to deal with it (it may take a lot of complaints before they realize the problem is on their end).

Interesting. That's what I get for assuming to know how people use this thing. Obviously, I did not do any usability testing on it. I too use the top two options at least once a day. However, I use the top left option (list of recorded shows) several times a day, and the top right (upcoming recordings) about once a week. I was perfectly happy to use the old method (menu button/highlight DVR/ Select) to get to the Upcoming Recordings selection because I go there seldom. I can see that if you go there every day (although I don't know why you want to), you're more happy with the current setup.

I think it would be great if the MyDVR button was user-setable. Some (like me) could have it go directly to the list of recordings, some could have it go to the menu. Others might even want to go directly to the list of upcoming recordings. The MyDVR button is really just a shortcut button, because you can navigate to all these lists without using it (start with the Menu button instead). So it would be nice to allow users to set the shortcut they want.

(Of course, what I really want is for the blankety-blank response time problem to go away. The rest of this is gravy.)

I agree. I do not like the change. When I hit my DVR I want to go straight to the listing of shows as it did before. Or at least give us some discrete IR code that will do that...

I agree. I do not like the change. When I hit my DVR I want to go straight to the listing of shows as it did before. Or at least give us some discrete IR code that will do that...

You could set a macro to the MyDVR button that would press the button and add a select press.

Hey Folks,

I got the Moto 6412 about a month ago and have been relatively happy with it. The biggest issue I have is this 'delay' problem that other users have reported where the DVR seems to 'freeze' then execute all button commands in quick succession.

Anyway, my question is does anyone have any advice on getting Analog channels to look better? All "standard" cable channels with no digital counterparts look really bad (like MTV, VH1, Com Central, Bravo, etc), almost looks as bad as bunny ears. Really blurry, noisy and static-y. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on this?

Thanks,
-Chris

Anyway, my question is does anyone have any advice on getting Analog channels to look better? All "standard" cable channels with no digital counterparts look really bad (like MTV, VH1, Com Central, Bravo, etc), almost looks as bad as bunny ears. Really blurry, noisy and static-y. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on this?
Until your area implements ADS, you can try seeing if boosting the signal strength will help. This may not always help, as if the signal is rather weak to begin with, all you do is add more noise. For any amp you do get, make certain it is 'digital cable' or 'broadband' compatible, and place it as close to your main feed as possible, before any splitters.

If there are several splitters before the box, try seeing if you can rearrange things to minimize the splitters in front of the cable box before trying an amp.

Hey Folks,

Anyway, my question is does anyone have any advice on getting Analog channels to look better? All "standard" cable channels with no digital counterparts look really bad (like MTV, VH1, Com Central, Bravo, etc), almost looks as bad as bunny ears. Really blurry, noisy and static-y. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on this?

Thanks,
-Chris

Low signal strength or poor connections can cause visual and audio artifacts. The signal level can be low for a number of reasons--
too low at your entrance
poor downstream connections
kinked or crushed coax
defective or too many splitters

Before buying an amplifier I would call the Cable Co. Ask the tech who comes out to drop, then at each splitter (if any)and then at the box. In my area the techs are happy to remake all the connections or to replace a splitter.

Signal strength takes a 3.5dB hit on each leg of a two way splitter and on a three way 2 of the 3 legs take a 7dB hit.

A good signal will take care of noise, but as already mentioned you need to go all digital to get better PQ-- and for many channels it will be much better.

Signal strength takes a 3.5dB hit on each leg of a two way splitter and on a three way 2 of the 3 legs take a 7dB hit.


I have a two way splitter after the cable comes out of the wall, but it is being used as more as an extender; the other output is not connected to anything. Do I still get the signal loss even though no device is connected to the other output on the splitter? If I get a single coax extender would that allow me to accomplish the same thing without sacrificing signal strength?

I have a two way splitter after the cable comes out of the wall, but it is being used as more as an extender; the other output is not connected to anything. Do I still get the signal loss even though no device is connected to the other output on the splitter? If I get a single coax extender would that allow me to accomplish the same thing without sacrificing signal strength?

Yes and yes. (loss with splitter, (largely) eliminated with a 'coupler' or 'extender')

I have a two way splitter after the cable comes out of the wall, but it is being used as more as an extender; the other output is not connected to anything. Do I still get the signal loss even though no device is connected to the other output on the splitter? If I get a single coax extender would that allow me to accomplish the same thing without sacrificing signal strength?

Yes and yes..... you still get loss through the splitter and, with a barrel connector you get no loss.

Yes and yes..... you still get loss through the splitter and, with a barrel connector you get no loss.

Awesome, picked up an extender @ Longs today, hopefully it will help! Thanks for the advice!

I have a two way splitter after the cable comes out of the wall, but it is being used as more as an extender; the other output is not connected to anything. Do I still get the signal loss even though no device is connected to the other output on the splitter? If I get a single coax extender would that allow me to accomplish the same thing without sacrificing signal strength?
The loss is there whether or not the other port is connected. If the unused port is not terminated there will also be reflections that will further degrade the signal. Replace it with a female to female F adapter and there will be almost no loss.
:)

The loss is there whether or not the other port is connected. If the unused port is not terminated there will also be reflections that will further degrade the signal. Replace it with a female to female F adapter and there will be almost no loss. :)
Or better, get a longer, high-grade (RG6 or RG6 Quad Shield) cable. Also verify all connections are good. I hate the tiny F-connector barrels on most pre-made cables. They are very hard to align as the threads typically start right at the edge. Higher-end cables, or ones you make yourself with Snap-N-Seal style connectors have a bit of run-in at the end and have much longer barrels (the part you turn) which makes it much easier to install.

Anyway, my question is does anyone have any advice on getting Analog channels to look better? All "standard" cable channels with no digital counterparts look really bad (like MTV, VH1, Com Central, Bravo, etc), almost looks as bad as bunny ears. Really blurry, noisy and static-y. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on this?


Do you have a "Phase III" box? The Phase III boxes are labeled "DCT 6412 III" on the lower right front panel. They also have HDMI outputs, the earlier models have DVI outputs. The III boxes also have a small fan. The Phase III boxes have much better analog channel picture quality

Do you have a "Phase III" box? The Phase III boxes are labeled "DCT 6412 III" on the lower right front panel. They also have HDMI outputs, the earlier models have DVI outputs. The III boxes also have a small fan. The Phase III boxes have much better analog channel picture quality

I'm pretty sure its the Series II one. It has a DVI port, not HDMI. I've compared closely to ones on the WikiBook and I'm 99% sure it is that one. I heard that comcast will let you exchange it for the new box with HDMI at no extra charge,but I had already invested in an DVI->HDMI cord before I heard that so I'll just stick with what I have for now. I did swap the splitter for the single extender, and it does seem like it made a slight difference. I have to call a tech or check the outside splitter myself to really get it better.

I think part of the problem is my refurb Philips plasma doesn't display color properly in some cases (I get this grainy noise effect with certain shades/colors).

DCT6416 III with Comcast

I decided I'd edit this message and post a list of gripes for this DCT6416 III box that I've had since Wednesday.

Guide Issues:
1. I can't seem to fix an issue I'm having with the guide and menus. Whenever I am on an HD channel the guide is scaled to 4:3 but when I'm on an analog or SD station the guide scales to 16:9 and fills the screen. Is there any way I can fix this. It is very annoying.

2. The iguide doesn't use enough of the screen. I have a 50" plasma and I can only see 5 channels on the guide at a time. That is insane. I should be able to modify that and get rid of that annoying "Learn More" banner at the bottom.

3. Favorites - the docs show multiple favorite lists can be configured. Apparently this feature has been removed.

4. I'd like to be able to remove channels from the guide that I will never ever view. Home shopping channel, fox news, etc.


STB issues:

I'd like to be able to output both tuners to my tv so I can use the TVs built in picture in picture function.

I'd like a 30sec reverse skip, so when I accidentally go to far, I can quickly go back.

Ok. That is all I can think of for now. If you know how to deal with any of these issues please let me know.

Thanks,
-Mark

Guide Issues:
1. I can't seem to fix an issue I'm having with the guide and menus. Whenever I am on an HD channel the guide is scaled to 4:3 but when I'm on an analog or SD station the guide scales to 16:9 and fills the screen. Is there any way I can fix this. It is very annoying.
You probably have 4:3 override on the box set to STRETCH, or your TV is set to stretch 480i material. For the box see:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Setup#4:3_OVERRIDE

2. The iguide doesn't use enough of the screen. I have a 50" plasma and I can only see 5 channels on the guide at a time. That is insane. I should be able to modify that and get rid of that annoying "Learn More" banner at the bottom.
Complain to your cable company. It's advertising, and the only way to get rid of it is to cancel your service.

3. Favorites - the docs show multiple favorite lists can be configured. Apparently this feature has been removed.
This is only in the latest software.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Using_i-Guide/User_Setup#Favorite_Lists_Setup

4. I'd like to be able to remove channels from the guide that I will never ever view. Home shopping channel, fox news, etc.
Using a favorite list is the only way to do this for now.

STB issues:

I'd like to be able to output both tuners to my tv so I can use the TVs built in picture in picture function.
It only has one set of AV outputs, so it can only output one thing at a time. All outputs send the same thing. The RF, composite, and S-Video are downscaled to 480i if needed (graphic overlays will NOT be visible on 480i outputs if the component/DVI/HDMI are outputting 480p+).

I'd like a 30sec reverse skip, so when I accidentally go to far, I can quickly go back.
There is already a 15-second reverse skip. If you have the right remote, it's the curly counter-clockwise arrow. Otherwise, you can program some keys:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Programming_the_Remote

My wife and I picked up a 6412 (Phase III) from our local office today. When we connected it to our plasma via HDMI, we got a "du1" message on the front panel with no video output on the TV. I switched cables to component and everything worked fine... but we want to hook up via HDMI. We called Comcast Cust Support, they said to bring it back. We did, got another. it did the same thing - works fine via component, didn't appear to do anything with HDMI. We called Comcast again, this time the tech said that 'du1' meant it was downloading and to leave it sit for 30 minutes. We did that, came back and now with HDMI we get the guide info, but no content. So we let it sit overnight,. no change in the morning. The display was blinKing between '353' and '9: 4' constantly. We have a tech scheduled to come out this week. What the heck could that be all about???

My wife and I picked up a 6412 (Phase III) from our local office today. When we connected it to our plasma via HDMI, we got a "du1" message on the front panel with no video output on the TV. I switched cables to component and everything worked fine... but we want to hook up via HDMI. We called Comcast Cust Support, they said to bring it back. We did, got another. it did the same thing - works fine via component, didn't appear to do anything with HDMI. We called Comcast again, this time the tech said that 'du1' meant it was downloading and to leave it sit for 30 minutes. We did that, came back and now with HDMI we get the guide info, but no content. So we let it sit overnight,. no change in the morning. The display was blinKing between '353' and '9: 4' constantly. We have a tech scheduled to come out this week. What the heck could that be all about???

I can't help with that issue but have a question for you or others...does Comcast regularly allow customers to exchange boxes these days? I know they didn't in the past but I see from time to time that some folks do it.

That would be great and I'd be there today if that's the policy...I live in Schaumburg IL. and have an office a mile away.

Where are you dougb415?

I'm in Huntsville, AL. Yes, they allow us to bring in units and exchange away (as long as they have boxes in stock).

Update: While the 6412 is not responding to the remote, we are getting a channel (ABC Family, ch 43) on the display. We have the digital package, and this is one of the analog channels. Picture looks *really* good.

We're going to leave it sit; the tech told my wife yesterday that if the unit is not responding to the remote, that it is downloading.

We seem to be making more progress. It switched itself down to History Channel (40). I tried going down one more channel - it took a while for the audio to come in, but eventually that came in too. Now it has switched itself down to TBS (37).

My wife and I picked up a 6412 (Phase III) from our local office today. When we connected it to our plasma via HDMI, we got a "du1" message on the front panel with no video output on the TV. I switched cables to component and everything worked fine... but we want to hook up via HDMI. We called Comcast Cust Support, they said to bring it back. We did, got another. it did the same thing - works fine via component, didn't appear to do anything with HDMI. We called Comcast again, this time the tech said that 'du1' meant it was downloading and to leave it sit for 30 minutes. We did that, came back and now with HDMI we get the guide info, but no content. So we let it sit overnight,. no change in the morning. The display was blinKing between '353' and '9: 4' constantly. We have a tech scheduled to come out this week. What the heck could that be all about???

It could be that your HD output is set to DVI not HDMI. (I'm guessing that the that 'U' on the front display is supposed to be a 'V' and the '1' is supposed to be an I') Hook your the STB up through component, turn it off, and hit menu on the remote right after. It should bring up your config menu. There should be a section called 'additional settings'. go to that setting, hit OK and it will bring up a new menu. On this screen, change the HDMI/DVI mode to HDMI. That might fix your problem. Check out this page from the wikibook for more info:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Setup#Additional_HDMI_Settings

Good luck!

I have a 6412 connected via component cables to my Samsung HLS-5687 in Sherwood, AR. When I came home Wednesday night to watch American Idol (I know, I know), ALL my recordings were not listed. I unplugged the box and restarted it, but to no avail. Comcast was not able (or unwilling) to help me. The tech support says that sometimes the DVR will delete all the programs even though I've said to "Keep until I delete" the recordings. Even my series recording list is gone!

It's extremely important to get these recordings back as I've only seen 5 HD hours of this year's 24 and the entire season was kept only on my DVR (85% free as of Tuesday night). I don't want to wait until it comes out on DVD in December. :(

The box has S/W Ver: 74.53-3321 and Firmware 16.20.

Thanks!

I have a 6412 connected via component cables to my Samsung HLS-5687 in Sherwood, AR. When I came home Wednesday night to watch American Idol (I know, I know), ALL my recordings were not listed. I unplugged the box and restarted it, but to no avail. Comcast was not able (or unwilling) to help me. The tech support says that sometimes the DVR will delete all the programs even though I've said to "Keep until I delete" the recordings. Even my series recording list is gone!

It's extremely important to get these recordings back as I've only seen 5 HD hours of this year's 24 and the entire season was kept only on my DVR (85% free as of Tuesday night). I don't want to wait until it comes out on DVD in December. :(

The box has S/W Ver: 74.53-3321 and Firmware 16.20.

Thanks!

if the recordings are not listed, then they are gone, the HDD index file has been cleared out.

Sorry!

It could be that your HD output is set to DVI not HDMI. (I'm guessing that the that 'U' on the front display is supposed to be a 'V' and the '1' is supposed to be an I') Hook your the STB up through component, turn it off, and hit menu on the remote right after. It should bring up your config menu. There should be a section called 'additional settings'. go to that setting, hit OK and it will bring up a new menu. On this screen, change the HDMI/DVI mode to HDMI. That might fix your problem. Check out this page from the wikibook for more info:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Setup#Additional_HDMI_Settings

Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestion, but my machine is on firmware 12.35, and that additional menu did not come in until 16.20.

I got this from the 312th page in this thread (!) and is what I am in the process of trying right now:

"There is no need to wait for any time period. The STB loses power completely as soon as it is unplugged.

Push the {power} & {menu} keys in together while re-connecting the power cable. This is how you access the Boot Menu. (note: hold these buttons down until the display says 'boot')

Arrow up/down till you get to (n dl) and then press the {select} key.

The STB will then Begin Downloading:

STB Software
EPG Software
Firmware

The STB will then reboot
The STB will then set the STB Clock
The STB will then download your account settings.

The STB will then begin the download of IPG info."

...so I did the complete reboot / software download and config. The local Comcast office evidently is current as of firmware version 12.35. Oh well. When using the component cables only, the machine appears to work as expected. Then I hooked up the HDMI cable; the display now reads "duI", which I would agree corresponds with DVI. The remote will not do anything. The box is locked on the local ABC-HD channel. Switching back and forth between component and HDMI, both my wife and I could see that the HDMI source was a little sharper and brighter.

The display on the box is flashing 'h' and the current time back and forth. It's been doing that for approx 10 minutes.

if the recordings are not listed, then they are gone, the HDD index file has been cleared out.

Sorry!

But...I've only seen 5 hours of this year's 24! And I didn't delete the episodes. How would the index have been deleted so I can prevent something like this from happening again in the future?

Thanks for the quick answer.

I'm in Huntsville, AL. Yes, they allow us to bring in units and exchange away (as long as they have boxes in stock).

Update: While the 6412 is not responding to the remote, we are getting a channel (ABC Family, ch 43) on the display. We have the digital package, and this is one of the analog channels. Picture looks *really* good.

We're going to leave it sit; the tech told my wife yesterday that if the unit is not responding to the remote, that it is downloading.

I'm also in Huntsville, AL and I have a 6416 III, how come they gave you a 6412? You might want to ask them.

-Mark

I'm pretty sure its the Series II one. It has a DVI port, not HDMI. I've compared closely to ones on the WikiBook and I'm 99% sure it is that one. I heard that comcast will let you exchange it for the new box with HDMI at no extra charge,but I had already invested in an DVI->HDMI cord before I heard that so I'll just stick with what I have for now. I did swap the splitter for the single extender, and it does seem like it made a slight difference. I have to call a tech or check the outside splitter myself to really get it better.

I think part of the problem is my refurb Philips plasma doesn't display color properly in some cases (I get this grainy noise effect with certain shades/colors).

Check with Comcast. They may be willing to swap out the cable if you get a new box or charge a minimal fee. You also may be able to get a 6416 PIII box which will give you another 40MB of space.

It only has one set of AV outputs, so it can only output one thing at a time. All outputs send the same thing. The RF, composite, and S-Video are downscaled to 480i if needed (graphic overlays will NOT be visible on 480i outputs if the component/DVI/HDMI are outputting 480p+).


Another alternative is to split the incoming cable with a splitter and feed one end into your Cable Box and the other into your TV. You can then use Picture-in-Picture as long as one of the channels is not encrypted. This also has the added advantage of watching a third program as two other programs are being recorded.

A couple of caveats. 1) Be careful that you still have enough signal strength. If not, you will need a powered amplifier. 2) If you have ADS, typically you will only be able to pick up the analog versions on the split cable and therefore the picture will not be as good.

I'm also in Huntsville, AL and I have a 6416 III, how come they gave you a 6412? You might want to ask them.

-Mark

Hi Mark,

Did you get yours from a tech, or from the office? And does yours work via HDMI? I finally disconnected HDMI last night and hooked it up via component. We have a tech coming out Tuesday,maybe there will be a fully functioning 6416 waiting for me when I get home from work ;)

Hi Mark,

Did you get yours from a tech, or from the office? And does yours work via HDMI? I finally disconnected HDMI last night and hooked it up via component. We have a tech coming out Tuesday,maybe there will be a fully functioning 6416 waiting for me when I get home from work ;)

Well, we now have a 6416, but it too does not work with our set when we tried connecting via HDMI. The guy tried 5 different sets yesterday, plus we had tried 2 on Friday. I do find it hard to believe that those are all faulty units, and now we're thinking that perhaps this box does not talk to LG TVs that have DVI (not HDMI) input.

Hi Mark,

Did you get yours from a tech, or from the office? And does yours work via HDMI? I finally disconnected HDMI last night and hooked it up via component. We have a tech coming out Tuesday,maybe there will be a fully functioning 6416 waiting for me when I get home from work ;)

I only just last week ordered the HDMI card for my Panasonic. Once it comes in I will let you know. I've been running on component cables so far. The box came with the installer when he installed the cable.

p.s. we really need to get comcast in hsv to update their software. I could see being a couple of minor versions behind but 12.35 is a long way from 16.20

Is anyone using this box with Windows MCE or any other Media Center Software, what is your setup like? I'm trying to determine if it is worth the investment in a Tuner card for my PC.

-Mark

Well, we now have a 6416, but it too does not work with our set when we tried connecting via HDMI. The guy tried 5 different sets yesterday, plus we had tried 2 on Friday. I do find it hard to believe that those are all faulty units, and now we're thinking that perhaps this box does not talk to LG TVs that have DVI (not HDMI) input.

It could be the cable. Did you try other cables? I also would unplug the cable and plug it back in with the TV on. Sometimes there are problems with handshaking.

Also, the HDMI/DVI setting is not based on the firmware but rather the software. The software version it showed up in is 74.53. You may want to just see if it is there. It probably won't make a difference but it is worth a shot.

As a last resort you can hook it up by component. I would experiment with setting the box to 1080i or 780p. Also, I would try setting the override to 480i or 480p and see whether that gives you a better picture for Standard Def signals. Often the TV is better at up/down converting the signal then the moto cable box.

I only just last week ordered the HDMI card for my Panasonic. Once it comes in I will let you know. I've been running on component cables so far. The box came with the installer when he installed the cable.

p.s. we really need to get comcast in hsv to update their software. I could see being a couple of minor versions behind but 12.35 is a long way from 16.20

16.20 is the next version available after 12.35. 16.20 has a bunch of problems so hopefully they will upgrade you to 16.35 at some point.

Also, the HDMI/DVI setting is not based on the firmware but rather the software. The software version it showed up in is 74.53. You may want to just see if it is there. It probably won't make a difference but it is worth a shot.



it's not the DVR or EPG software either. it is part of the Boot loader code.

It's part of all Motorola Boxes, It's like the STB BIOS layer of software.

How each layer of software runs
User menu & Diagnostic menu.
HDD & Base CPU code.


The Firmware is like the Variable Control Codes & Device Drivers.

There are several layers of Software running on these STB.

I only just last week ordered the HDMI card for my Panasonic. Once it comes in I will let you know. I've been running on component cables so far. The box came with the installer when he installed the cable.

p.s. we really need to get comcast in hsv to update their software. I could see being a couple of minor versions behind but 12.35 is a long way from 16.20

I recieved my HDMI terminal board yesterday and tried HDMI on the 6416 III and it works just fine. However, I think the component cables actually provide a slightly better picture on HD content. It might be that I have not properly configured the picture on that input, or perhaps I have spent more time fine tuning the component input.

What are the symptoms, do you just get a black screen? Some channels work but not all?

-Mark

It could be the cable. Did you try other cables? I also would unplug the cable and plug it back in with the TV on. Sometimes there are problems with handshaking.

Yes, I tried other cables; same results.


Also, the HDMI/DVI setting is not based on the firmware but rather the software. The software version it showed up in is 74.53. You may want to just see if it is there. It probably won't make a difference but it is worth a shot.

Yes, that is the software version I have. However, there is a FAQ on the Motorola website that says that the unit it is connected to must be HDCP-compliant. The LG plasma is not HDCP-compliant.


As a last resort you can hook it up by component. I would experiment with setting the box to 1080i or 780p. Also, I would try setting the override to 480i or 480p and see whether that gives you a better picture for Standard Def signals. Often the TV is better at up/down converting the signal then the moto cable box.
Right now we are using it via component. Tried changing it from 1080i to 720p then plugging in the HDMI cable, still a no-go. SD signal is looking really good @480p.

I read that the SIMA VS-HD31 HDMI switcher should fix the problem, as it is HDCP-compliant. I'm going to pick one up at the local CC, have already ordered some new cables from monoprice.

What are the symptoms, do you just get a black screen? Some channels work but not all?

-Mark

As soon as I plug in the HDMI->DVI cable (our TV has DVI), the box displays "duI" and then becomes non-responsive. Different numbers and letters will flash intermittently on the 6416, and it will change channels by itself. The picture looks fantastic, definitely better than component.

BTW, we are only 2 firmware upgrades behind here. Odd that it would go 12.35->16.20->16.35, but that's the chain...

It sounds like its an HDCP handshaking issue then? (since your TV is not HDCP compliant?) Or is that only a DVI thing? I have a DVI->HDMI cable hooking into my Philips plasma, and I actually had to call Comcast to have them enable HDCP on the box. At first, when I had plugged in the cable, I got this error that said "HDCP handshake failed, use YpBpR to view picture" or something along those lines. The picture would flash for a moment, then go black. I only got that message once. Reading the wiki pointed me to where its shows if HDCP was enabled, and it turns out it wasn't. I was lucky that the support person I spoke with knew what I was talking about, and she was able to enable HDCP remotely. And it works now!!

It makes you wonder why they just don't enable HDCP by default.

As soon as I plug in the HDMI->DVI cable (our TV has DVI), the box displays "duI" and then becomes non-responsive. Different numbers and letters will flash intermittently on the 6416, and it will change channels by itself. The picture looks fantastic, definitely better than component.

BTW, we are only 2 firmware upgrades behind here. Odd that it would go 12.35->16.20->16.35, but that's the chain...

With the power off, if you hit menu on the STB with the hdmi plugged in (and the active input) you will get additional HDMI options. I think one of the options are DVI and HDMI. If I set it to HDMI I also get the "dui" message on the STB. Perhaps, it just isn't configured correctly in this menu.

-Mark

It sounds like its an HDCP handshaking issue then? (since your TV is not HDCP compliant?) Or is that only a DVI thing? I have a DVI->HDMI cable hooking into my Philips plasma, and I actually had to call Comcast to have them enable HDCP on the box. At first, when I had plugged in the cable, I got this error that said "HDCP handshake failed, use YpBpR to view picture" or something along those lines. The picture would flash for a moment, then go black. I only got that message once. Reading the wiki pointed me to where its shows if HDCP was enabled, and it turns out it wasn't. I was lucky that the support person I spoke with knew what I was talking about, and she was able to enable HDCP remotely. And it works now!!

Good to know. I was thinking about trying DVI to HDMI converter from my PC to my Panasonic 9UK. It my look better than the Panasonic's PC input and I'd also be able to use pip.

-Mark

With the power off, if you hit menu on the STB with the hdmi plugged in (and the active input) you will get additional HDMI options. I think one of the options are DVI and HDMI. If I set it to HDMI I also get the "dui" message on the STB. Perhaps, it just isn't configured correctly in this menu.

-Mark

I'm pretty sure I tried this already, but what the heck, can always try one more time. Thanks!

I'm pretty sure I tried this already, but what the heck, can always try one more time. Thanks!

Nope. Here's a quote right from Motorola's website:

"Motorola DCT6208 and DCT6412 models have a DVI connection with built-in HDCP (High-bandwidth digital content protection), an industry standard security feature. Unfortunately some TV manufactures do not integrate this industry standard into their television design. This means that the DVI connection on those HDTVs will not work with our HD/DVR equipment. As an alternative connection for viewing HDTV, use the component connection or the IEEE1394 digital connection (please note "C the Interactive Program Guide and DVR Menu system is not supported by the IEEE1394 connection). You can use both component and IEEE1394 connections and toggle back and forth to see and use the menu system."

I'm still waiting to hear back from the folks at Radiient about their switcher.

My local TWC franchise is testing 16.35 and allowed me to do a user test. So far the results are very positive. The HDCP problem when connecting to a surround sound via an HDMI cable is resolved. So far we have not had any occurrences of the loss of sound that frequently occurred after rewinding or fast forwarding. You can now setup multiple Favorites lists, i.e. for different family members, and switch between them.

I've updated the wikibook to describe how to setup the multiple lists and how to switch between them. http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Setup

Bernie

Is anyone else here in Los Angeles? I have the 6412 III and firmware 12.31 but I read that it will be a handshake problem if I want to connect it to my Onkyo receiver instead of direct to the TV so I called to ask for the upgraded firmware and the guy sounded clueless and said for that they have to send a technician. Is that true?

Don't they just send a signal to upgrade instead of coming out? Is it something anyone else in L.A. has been able to get from Time Warner yet?

Also, I've had my box since December 2005 (they claim) and I've just now bought a HDTV. If I hook up the HDMI to my HDTV HDMI will it just work or do I need to change something in the set up of the box (or do I have to have a tech come out and do something to the box to make the HDMI work)?

Has anyone found a vista driver for the 6412?

Is anyone else here in Los Angeles? I have the 6412 III and firmware 12.31 but I read that it will be a handshake problem if I want to connect it to my Onkyo receiver instead of direct to the TV so I called to ask for the upgraded firmware and the guy sounded clueless and said for that they have to send a technician. Is that true?

Don't they just send a signal to upgrade instead of coming out? Is it something anyone else in L.A. has been able to get from Time Warner yet?

Also, I've had my box since December 2005 (they claim) and I've just now bought a HDTV. If I hook up the HDMI to my HDTV HDMI will it just work or do I need to change something in the set up of the box (or do I have to have a tech come out and do something to the box to make the HDMI work)?


It is true that it will not work connected to the receiver until the firmware( and software) is upgraded. If you try it you will get a message that the HDCP handshake could not be completed (or words to that effect) and then no picture or sound. See http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Bugs#When_turning_the_box_on.2C_it_may_not_display_a_picture .2C_the_picture_may_be_solid_green.2C_a_blue_box_may_appear_ displaying_an_HDCP_error.2C_or_multiple_images_may_appear_on _HD_channels for more explanation. (You'll want to save that page and refer to it in the future too.)

The people at the Help desk don't know about firmware, and many techs don't either. There is nothing that they can do about it so it isn't part of their training. Sending a tech is a waste of your time and theirs.

You are correct, that it has to be pushed from the head-end. Before they can upgrade the all the customer boxes they must install a series of prerequisites on internal equipment, updating software and possibly the version of the Guide that they use. When upgrading the firmware on the customer DVRs or STBs they also upgrade the software in the box to work with the Guide. There are also some glitches for some models of STB's that have been discovered at some locations and they are being worked. My post just above yours gives an update in my area and I got involved because of the problem you are describing (although with a different receiver).

Bernie

Is anyone else here in Los Angeles? I have the 6412 III and firmware 12.31 but I read that it will be a handshake problem if I want to connect it to my Onkyo receiver instead of direct to the TV so I called to ask for the upgraded firmware and the guy sounded clueless and said for that they have to send a technician. Is that true?

Don't they just send a signal to upgrade instead of coming out? Is it something anyone else in L.A. has been able to get from Time Warner yet?

Also, I've had my box since December 2005 (they claim) and I've just now bought a HDTV. If I hook up the HDMI to my HDTV HDMI will it just work or do I need to change something in the set up of the box (or do I have to have a tech come out and do something to the box to make the HDMI work)?bernie33's reply to this post is right on the money. Excellent synopsis of the problem and a well-informed response. I just want to mention that here is an entire thread devoted to this subject (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10130462#post10130462) that you may want to check out as well.

Audio Dropouts 6412 Ph II 16.20 using SPDIF

I get a lot of audio dropouts playing recorded shows mainly when audio is dolby digital. It is not in consistent spots and happens a lot after fast forwarding. It is especially bad on FOX HD. When it happens on Fox it also seems to be accompanied with a change in overall volume level, up or down.

If I hook up the HDMI to my HDTV HDMI will it just work?Yes.

Unplug the power to the Moto DVR, hookup to your TV via HDMI, turn the TV on then reattach the power to the Moto. The DVR will wake up, recognize the HDMI TV and set itself properly.

I've updated the wikibook to describe how to setup the multiple lists and how to switch between them. http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Setup
There was already information on Favorites list under the iGuide section. The Setup category is for general setup of the Motorola box. Favorites is a feature of iGuide. I'll look through it and maybe add some of the information to the iGuide section, where it belongs.

6412 Phase III.

I am having issues on just a couple of channels. It is only on ultra high def, major bandwidth type stuff. I've only really seen it when watching Planet Earth on Discovery HD and the Isle of Wight stuff on MHD (209?)?

I have a mixture of sound interruption/stuttering as well as "blocks" maybe 1" high by 8" wide of blank type screen. The remainder of the screen is fine.

Suggestions?

6412 Phase III.

I am having issues on just a couple of channels. It is only on ultra high def, major bandwidth type stuff. I've only really seen it when watching Planet Earth on Discovery HD and the Isle of Wight stuff on MHD (209?)?

I have a mixture of sound interruption/stuttering as well as "blocks" maybe 1" high by 8" wide of blank type screen. The remainder of the screen is fine.

Suggestions?
What is the "quality" of the signal reaching your Moto box? The boxes are sensitive to too strong or too weak a signal and will exhibit those problems you describe if your input signal quality is not adequate.

6412 Phase III.

I am having issues on just a couple of channels. It is only on ultra high def, major bandwidth type stuff. I've only really seen it when watching Planet Earth on Discovery HD and the Isle of Wight stuff on MHD (209?)?

I have a mixture of sound interruption/stuttering as well as "blocks" maybe 1" high by 8" wide of blank type screen. The remainder of the screen is fine.

Suggestions?

I used to have frequent hiccups via a crappy amp but I upgraded and haven't had a drop since....

6412 Phase III.

I am having issues on just a couple of channels. It is only on ultra high def, major bandwidth type stuff. I've only really seen it when watching Planet Earth on Discovery HD and the Isle of Wight stuff on MHD (209?)?

I have a mixture of sound interruption/stuttering as well as "blocks" maybe 1" high by 8" wide of blank type screen. The remainder of the screen is fine.

Suggestions?

You could have a weak signal to your cable box. I had similar issues with the HD channels. I ended up buying this booster

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Motorola-Signal-Booster-484095-001-00/sem/rpsm/oid/44964/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

It cleared up the issues I was having. A nice thing about this booster is that it is compatible with my cable modem.

cjcote

You could have a weak signal to your cable box. I had similar issues with the HD channels. I ended up buying this booster

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Motorola-Signal-Booster-484095-001-00/sem/rpsm/oid/44964/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

It cleared up the issues I was having. A nice thing about this booster is that it is compatible with my cable modem.

cjcote
I also got one of those at Amazon and it helped my DVR tremendously. I used to lose signal, program guide, reboot and all of those things seemed to be better after hooking this up. I also had several connections on a splitter.

Be careful using the booster. Call Comcast and have them measure your signal level before hooking one up. I bought one and put one in only to later have Comcast measure my signal level and tell me that I was lucky that I did not fry my box due to a very high signal level.

Since Monday my 6412 (firmware v. 16.20) has been having the following problems: On Monday and Wednesday I turned on the display to see only a black screen on the HDMI input. The STB is also connected via component and I have no problem receiving a picture through that input. Switching the STB on and off did not correct the problem, but unplugging and rebooting the STB did. On Tuesday and Thursday I experienced a different problem. On those days the picture came throught the HDMI link just fine but on several HD channels the video is oddly jerky. It's kind of hard to explain because I'm not seeing freezes or blocking or picture drop-outs, but rather jerky motion as if individual frames are dropping out and then the other frames are being repeated to fill in the gaps. This issue is noticeable when watching live TV on certain channels as well as recorded material. As with the HDMI issue unplugging and rebooting seems to correct the problem, but only, apparently, temporarily. I have had this STB and display for over a year and have not had these problems until now. I believe that I have been running firmware 16.20 for some time now, and these problems have not appeared until this week. I don't know whether they are related or not but it is oddly coincidental that they would both appear at the same time.

Has anybody else experienced similar issues? Is this perhaps a hardware problem with only my box suggesting that it is failing and needs to be replaced? I have not even tried calling Comcast technical assistance. They will do the one and only thing that they are trained to do in any situation: send a resent signal to my box. Maybe it's worth a try, but I just have no faith in them. (I picture the Comcast help center as a room full of talking monkeys, each of which is issued a telephone and a plastic control box with only a big white button in the middle. The extent of their training is to answer the phone and push the button, which sends the reset signal. They do this for every call. When they hit their daily quota of button pushes they get a banana.)

Audio Dropouts 6412 Ph II 16.20 using SPDIF

I get a lot of audio dropouts playing recorded shows mainly when audio is dolby digital. It is not in consistent spots and happens a lot after fast forwarding. It is especially bad on FOX HD. When it happens on Fox it also seems to be accompanied with a change in overall volume level, up or down.

I had the EXACT same thing Monday night with 24. If I switched to live it was fine, but off of the recorded file I had audio dropouts and visual glitches.

I'm having them come next Saturday to swap out my version II box to a version III (with HDMI) Maybe it will help...

I don't know if this is kosher or not. If it's not I apologize:

Tonight at 7:30pm on MPT (Maryland Public Television) there's a show called Artworks This Week. It's going to feature some paintings by a group I'm in including one of my own. I'm traveling for work and won't be home but more importantly I don't have the ability to capture TV to my computer. Could someone who has the ability DVR the show and capture it to their computer? We can work out how to transfer it later but I'd like to edit the portions that feature the work and put it on our group's website.

Feel free to email me at buskerdog at yahoo but I won't be at computer until much later. The show re-runs during the week a couple of times I believe.

Also, in case anyone is curious, our group has a show running right now in Towson. More info is here (http://www.towsonartistsgroup.com/april-show).

Thanks for any help!

Whether kosher or not, are you sure you intended to post this in a thread about a specific Cable Company DVR? :)

Whether kosher or not, are you sure you intended to post this in a thread about a specific Cable Company DVR? :)

You know, I subscribe to this thread and the Baltimore Comcast thread and I think I got them mixed up. But also a lot of people in this thread seem to be in the Baltimore Comcast area, so it's not totally random. :eek:

I have a 6412 phase III STB hooked up to my Sony 46xbr2 via HDMI. Every once in a while when I toggle between the two tuners on the box or even between a HD and SD channels, the screen goes blank yet I can still hear the audio. My only remedy is to turn the TV off and back on again. Is this a TV problem or STB problem? Any thoughts would be appreciated

I have a 6412 phase III STB hooked up to my Sony 46xbr2 via HDMI. Every once in a while when I toggle between the two tuners on the box or even between a HD and SD channels, the screen goes blank yet I can still hear the audio. My only remedy is to turn the TV off and back on again. Is this a TV problem or STB problem? Any thoughts would be appreciated
You don't specify, but I assume you wait a while before giving up on the image coming up. Also, I also assume you try switching tuners again and it doesn't bring the image back. I know on my TV it takes a while for the image to sync in when switching between HD and SD.

When this happens when switching tuners is it because you are also switching between HD and SD. In other words it might just be simply due to switching between HD and SD channels.

You don't specify, but I assume you wait a while before giving up on the image coming up. Also, I also assume you try switching tuners again and it doesn't bring the image back. I know on my TV it takes a while for the image to sync in when switching between HD and SD.

When this happens when switching tuners is it because you are also switching between HD and SD. In other words it might just be simply due to switching between HD and SD channels.

Thanks for the response. I do wait for awhile before giving up and have tried switching tuners and channels. As with you, my TV normally takes a little time to go from HD to SD but in these cases it just goes straight to a blank screen in the same color as my TV menu is set to ( blue, green, etc.). I assume this is not a problem and happens most often when the dreaded remote delay occurs with the box and it switches numerous times from pushing the button too often. Since the TV is new I just want to make sure it is not a defect.

Hosed DVR on 6416? I came home tonite and wanted to watch something that I had recorded on Discovery HD. do whats needed to pick the recorded show, press play - nothing happens. I press Exit a few times, get back to where I was, try a different show. Same thing - NADA. I go back to Live TV (which otherwise works fine), press pause then play a few seconds later. Doesnt play. So to me, sounds like just the DVR component. Do I need a tech to come out with a new box? (which means that 24 is gone!)

Thanks in advance

Hosed DVR on 6416? I came home tonite and wanted to watch something that I had recorded on Discovery HD. do whats needed to pick the recorded show, press play - nothing happens. I press Exit a few times, get back to where I was, try a different show. Same thing - NADA. I go back to Live TV (which otherwise works fine), press pause then play a few seconds later. Doesnt play. So to me, sounds like just the DVR component. Do I need a tech to come out with a new box? (which means that 24 is gone!)

Thanks in advance
Last ditch effort, try a hard reset by unplugging the 6416 power cord, wait 15-20 seconds, then reconnect it and power it up.

Thanks for the response. I do wait for awhile before giving up and have tried switching tuners and channels. As with you, my TV normally takes a little time to go from HD to SD but in these cases it just goes straight to a blank screen in the same color as my TV menu is set to ( blue, green, etc.). I assume this is not a problem and happens most often when the dreaded remote delay occurs with the box and it switches numerous times from pushing the button too often. Since the TV is new I just want to make sure it is not a defect.

This could be the proverbial HDMI handshake issue. Just for the heck of it, have you tried a component cable connection to see if you have the same problem?

Last ditch effort, try a hard reset by unplugging the 6416 power cord, wait 15-20 seconds, then reconnect it and power it up.

Just what I was going to suggest. I had the same problem a few weeks back, and this did the trick. No problems since.

This could be the proverbial HDMI handshake issue. Just for the heck of it, have you tried a component cable connection to see if you have the same problem?

Thanks
No I haven't tried that but if it gets too annoying I will. As long as I know it's not the TV.

Thanks
As long as I know it's not the TV.

If a component connection eliminates the problem, you'll know it's an HDMI issue. If what's going on is really bothersome, you may even prefer component, especially if you can't really detect any difference in picture quality (I can't on my TV). If you find that it is an HDMI issue, it could still be "the TV" in that it isn't estabishing a proper handshake with the cable box, whereas other TV's can and do establish a proper handshake relatively quickly. If they didn't, complaints like yours would be even more numerous on these threads than they already are!

my TV normally takes a little time to go from HD to SD but in these cases it just goes straight to a blank screenSet your 4:3 Overide=OFF.

Just be aware that switching 4:3 Override OFF breaks Closed Captioning.

Just be aware that switching 4:3 Override OFF breaks Closed Captioning. :confused: Not on my system.

Set your 4:3 Overide=OFF.
Setting your 4:3 Override=OFF will cause the cable box to upscale the SD content instead of the TV. This may have two other side effects (besides the closed captioning).

1. The cable box may not do as good of job upscaling the SD content. Therefore, your SD content may not look as good.

2. You may not have as many choices on scaling your SD content (since the TV sees it as HD content). This may limit how you view SD content depending on what scaling choices you use.

Bug Found: When either fast-forwarding or rewinding, the box occasionally stops outputting Audio via the SPIDF. This is with HDMI.

Work-Around: Pause the show and push mute and then un-mute and the Audio should return.

Quite annoying.

Hosed DVR on 6416? I came home tonite and wanted to watch something that I had recorded on Discovery HD. do whats needed to pick the recorded show, press play - nothing happens. I press Exit a few times, get back to where I was, try a different show. Same thing - NADA. I go back to Live TV (which otherwise works fine), press pause then play a few seconds later. Doesnt play. So to me, sounds like just the DVR component. Do I need a tech to come out with a new box? (which means that 24 is gone!)

Thanks in advance
Try resetting the Cable Box (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Resets#DVR_Authorization_and_Factory_Full_Reset). I had the same thing happen and resetting the cable box fixed the problem.

Bug Found: When either fast-forwarding or rewinding, the box occasionally stops outputting Audio via the SPIDF. This is with HDMI.

Work-Around: Pause the show and push mute and then un-mute and the Audio should return.

Quite annoying.

I can second that analysis - HIGHLY annoying. Been around since I got my 6412-PIII.

I'll try the mute (on your Cable remote I presume), but what usually gets my unit out of the funk is switching to the other tuner and back after pausing playback.

Bug Found: When either fast-forwarding or rewinding, the box occasionally stops outputting Audio via the SPIDF. This is with HDMI.

Work-Around: Pause the show and push mute and then un-mute and the Audio should return.

Quite annoying.

This problem went away in firmware 16.35 for us.

I can second that analysis - HIGHLY annoying. Been around since I got my 6412-PIII.

I'll try the mute (on your Cable remote I presume), but what usually gets my unit out of the funk is switching to the other tuner and back after pausing playback.

I have not noticed it recently since I changed my output to DVI (instead of HDMI). Can anybody else confirm this analysis or am I just lucky! :)

Last ditch effort, try a hard reset by unplugging the 6416 power cord, wait 15-20 seconds, then reconnect it and power it up.

I did that on my way out the door this morning, and it appears to be working now. Thanks!

Ok, I think my 6412 is crazy. For some unknown reason, I record most of my shows off the hd channels and seems like the 6412 goes back to recording these shows off the sd channels then all my shows starting tonight was recorded but went to the sd channels and recorded those. Like Lost was recorded on the sd channel and not the hd channel. Anybody else having this problem?

Ok, I think my 6412 is crazy. For some unknown reason, I record most of my shows off the hd channels and seems like the 6412 goes back to recording these shows off the sd channels then all my shows starting tonight was recorded but went to the sd channels and recorded those. Like Lost was recorded on the sd channel and not the hd channel. Anybody else having this problem?

We set up the DVR to always record series on a SD digital channel, but it often reverts back to recording on an analog channel (channel number below 100). This is with firmware 16.35

I have used the 6412 III for over a year and it has performed flawlessly. Since 16.35 (about a month ago), I get constant freeze-ups and delayed remote action. Will trading in the box for a 3416 make a difference? Thanks.

I have the 6412 p2 with 16.35. Prior to that I had fw 9.19. I haven't noticed any performance improvements in 16.35. In fact I think it's a tiny bit slower than 9.19. When your in the full screen guide, HD video in the upper right hand corner looks choppy. Especially if you scroll through the guide really fast. Also my Comcast Central buttons along the left hand side look NOTHING like they do on http://www.comcast.com/newguide or http://comcastcentral.lithium.com .

There are pro's though:
My 1989 phantom recordings disappeared and I haven't seen one since.
Multiple Favorites lists.
3 Line Mini-Guide.
Comcast Central.
DVR style time bar in On Demand programs.
Slightly smudged screen font. Took a while to get used to, but I did.

A few bugs:
On a 4:3 TV on an SD channel the info bar does not fill the entire bottom of the screen. Theres a pixel or two on the right edge where you can see the program behind the info bar.

When it was first installed my guide was not scaling the video in the upper right corner. Found out on this site that I just had to move the screen position to the left a little bit under Guide Setup.

The dropped framerates in the scaled video (upper right hand corner) while navigating the guide or main menu.

Complete lockups at the top of the hour... then all your remote commands execute all at once. Same issue with 9.19.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

We set up the DVR to always record series on a SD digital channel, but it often reverts back to recording on an analog channelSet your series recording options to "This Channel Only"!

Set your series recording options to "This Channel Only"!


That is what we always do. That is why it is always a surprise when the DVR has switched to recording them on a different channel. And it happens repeatedly although I haven't tried to figure out a pattern to when it does occur.

Ok, I think my 6412 is crazy. For some unknown reason, I record most of my shows off the hd channels and seems like the 6412 goes back to recording these shows off the sd channels then all my shows starting tonight was recorded but went to the sd channels and recorded those. Like Lost was recorded on the sd channel and not the hd channel. Anybody else having this problem?
What are the NAMES of the channels in the guide. Series recording seems to use the channel name, not it's number. If multiple channels have identical names, it usually reverts to the lowest channel number.
In most areas, they often try to rename them such as:
ESPN for analog, ESPND for HD.
The only way to fix it is to complain and tell them to rename the channels to have unique names. Otherwise, instead of using series recordings, you can either pick to record off of the guide, or use the manual recording (VCR-style) option to record programs that repeat at the same time and channel.

What are the NAMES of the channels in the guide. Series recording seems to use the channel name, not it's number. If multiple channels have identical names, it usually reverts to the lowest channel number.
In most areas, they often try to rename them such as:
ESPN for analog, ESPND for HD.
The only way to fix it is to complain and tell them to rename the channels to have unique names. Otherwise, instead of using series recordings, you can either pick to record off of the guide, or use the manual recording (VCR-style) option to record programs that repeat at the same time and channel.

BINGO! I think you've got it. For the channels with the problem, the names are the same for both the analog and digital versions of the channel. Comedy Central is the one where it usually happens. Setting up manual recordings may be the best way around the problem. I'll have to try it and see. We would lose the ability to record "new shows only", but that may be the lesser of two evils.

If I were going to suggest naming the channels differently I'm not sure what I would even suggest to differentiate them that would make seense to most people. They already append a D to the channel names of the HD channels.

I have the 6412, Phase II, firmware 16.20, connected via component. I've been having problems the past few days with video freezing/pixelation/tiling and audio dropouts. I know there is a known issue with firmware 16.20, but for me it happens on live TV as well as recorded or time-shifted material.

I called Comcast today and they blamed the firmware. They sent a signal to reset the box; didn't help. I've unplugged the box to reset it; didn't help. My signal strength has been measured in the past and has always been strong. I'll be calling them again tomorrow morning.

Any ideas?

I have the 6412, Phase II, firmware 16.20, connected via component. I've been having problems the past few days with video freezing/pixelation/tiling and audio dropouts. I know there is a known issue with firmware 16.20, but for me it happens on live TV as well as recorded or time-shifted material.

I called Comcast today and they blamed the firmware. They sent a signal to reset the box; didn't help. I've unplugged the box to reset it; didn't help. My signal strength has been measured in the past and has always been strong. I'll be calling them again tomorrow morning.

Any ideas?

What you see on your TV is always time shifted out of the 6412, live or not. It's probably time to get a new box.

I have the 6412, Phase II, firmware 16.20, connected via component. I've been having problems the past few days with video freezing/pixelation/tiling and audio dropouts. I know there is a known issue with firmware 16.20, but for me it happens on live TV as well as recorded or time-shifted material.

I called Comcast today and they blamed the firmware. They sent a signal to reset the box; didn't help. I've unplugged the box to reset it; didn't help. My signal strength has been measured in the past and has always been strong. I'll be calling them again tomorrow morning.

Any ideas?

Turn off the 6412 and then quickly hit the OK (select) button, it should bring up a service menu. Go to the 4th entry, and select that. It should show you info for each tuner, look for the area where it rates the signal strength. Ideally it should say "good" for both tuners. If it says fair or poor, the signal is probably too weak.

Hope this helps...

I have a recording on the DVR that shows in the list the length is 2:00 (2 hours), when you play it back it also shows 2:00 as the length. When the recording gets to about 0:48 the length changes to 0:52, and when it hits 0:52 it stops playing.

Any ideas?? The DVR Authorization and Factory Full Reset did not help.

Turn off the 6412 and then quickly hit the OK (select) button, it should bring up a service menu. Go to the 4th entry, and select that. It should show you info for each tuner, look for the area where it rates the signal strength. Ideally it should say "good" for both tuners. If it says fair or poor, the signal is probably too weak.

Hope this helps...

I checked my signal strengths and my tuner 1 was "good" but tuner 2 was "fair." I'm wondering if this is actually the cause of the audio/video drop-outs I've seen lately. I thought it was problems with ABC, but it could be that we were only watching ABC shows. What could cause a fair signal on just one tuner?

Thanks.

I finally got my 6412 setup via HDMI. I have an HDMI switching receiver (the Denon 4806), but of course the older versions of the firmware in the 6412 didn't like "repeaters". So for the first year or so that I had the box, I was using analog component. Now that I have it set up with HDMI, I have run into an odd quirk--the 6412 doesn't seem to want to remember the 4:3 conversion settings in the service menu. Since I have a TV with very good upconversion and with the dreaded aspect ratio lock when it receives a 720p or 1080i signal (a Fujitsu plasma), I would prefer to feed the set native 480i rather than having the 6412 do the upconversion. I set the 4:3 handling options for 480i, and it seems to stick for a day or two. But then it eventually goes back to upscaling the 4:3 content to 1080i. Is this a known bug? Is there anything I can do to fix it? I speculate that the box "sees" the HDTV through the HDMI and decides it wants to upscale, and that that is the reason I am seeing this behavior when I had no problem with component. But that's just guesswork . . . .

Sigh. My 6412 failed to record the first 53 minutes of 24 tonight. I'm about ready to look into DirecTV. :(

HDMI setup question...

I just got a 6412 P3 in preparation for getting new HD TV. It is curretnly hooked-up to a standard TV via composite video. I was looking at the 6412 setup for the HDMI option and it is not there. Does the 6412 have to "detect" an HDMI connection before the option shows-up in the setup? (My firmware is 16.35.) Or is my STB defective?

Sigh. My 6412 failed to record the first 53 minutes of 24 tonight. I'm about ready to look into DirecTV. :(

I had the exact same thing happen to me about 2 months ago. After reading through forums I discovered two things

1) Use a UPS with this box as brownouts can cause it to act weird
2) never let the harddisk get filled up then set a HD recording (like 24).

So now I make sure the box has at least 25% empty before setting an HD recording. its sad, but unforutnately, Motorola didn't build us such a reliable and stable box.

maybe firmware V16.35 will be better if and when Comcrap ever sends it out.

BTW, you can watch the most recent 24 at

http://www.fox.com/24/

I can't figure out how to initiate a issue without it being a reply. Sorry. My 6412 which I've had for over a year has been pixelating and archiving quite a bit lately. Yesterday, it stopped completely with the "waiting for information" screen on every channel except a few which were so badly distorted that they could not be viewed. I called and they tried to ping it with no success. I am going to exchange it today for a new one - hopefully. Last time I did this I was given refurbished equipment and it took three tries before I got a new one which worked correctly. What DVR model is the latest so I know what to ask for? I assume they are still Motorola boxes, in which case what will the model number be on the Comcast nameplate? My current one has 3412 on it, I believe. I'm hooking it up to a Samsung DLP. I'm in the Chicago area. Thanks for the help.

I can't figure out how to initiate a issue without it being a reply. Sorry. My 6412 which I've had for over a year has been pixelating and archiving quite a bit lately. Yesterday, it stopped completely with the "waiting for information" screen on every channel except a few which were so badly distorted that they could not be viewed. I called and they tried to ping it with no success. I am going to exchange it today for a new one - hopefully. Last time I did this I was given refurbished equipment and it took three tries before I got a new one which worked correctly. What DVR model is the latest so I know what to ask for? I assume they are still Motorola boxes, in which case what will the model number be on the Comcast nameplate? My current one has 3412 on it, I believe. I'm hooking it up to a Samsung DLP. I'm in the Chicago area. Thanks for the help.

I just swapped mine out for the latest version (with HDMI) and it's a 6416 phase III (the 16 at the end denoting it has a 160 gig HD instead of 120)

This box must be actively screwing with me, because for no reason whatsoever, it decide to change a program on me.

A show I was recording airs twice a day, and I set it to record the first showing each day. This is not a series recording, mind you, I simply went through the guide day by day hitting record on the earlier showing each day for the week, then hitting the day+ to go to the next day, lather rinse repeat. Nothing else was scheduled to record on the box within several hours of the show.

Well, today, I happened to be around when the earlier showing should've started recording, and lo and behold, the box was doing nothing. So I check my scheduled recordings and what do I find? THE DAMN BOX CHANGED MY RECORDING. It was now set to the later showing.

After manually changing the channel to make sure it was on (it was) and making it record the show directly by hitting record as the show was airing (worked just fine), I checked the rest of the week's recordings. It's changed the time for tomorrow's showing as well, but not the remainder of the week.

IF this had been a series recording, and IF there'd been a conflict with other recordings, maybe I could understand the box changing things to record another timeslot, but when I tell it to record show X in timeslot Y, THAT IS WHAT I EXPECT IT TO DO.

Maybe it's a minor thing, I mean, hey, it was still planning to record the show, but I record it when I do for a reason. The later slot does in fact sometimes conflict with other recordings so I don't want it recording then. But even if I didn't have a reason like that, there's still no justification for this box changing my orders.

Who the hell programmed these things? Satan?

HDMI setup question...

I just got a 6412 P3 in preparation for getting new HD TV. It is currently hooked-up to a standard TV via composite video. I was looking at the 6412 setup for the HDMI option and it is not there. Does the 6412 have to "detect" an HDMI connection before the option shows-up in the setup? (My firmware is 16.35.) Or is my STB defective?

The settings should be there, but you have to go into the hardware setup, not the iGuide setup that you can access the menu key on your remote. The instructions are at http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Setup

In case you get yourself into a situation where you cannot display the results on your TV screen, the settings are also displayed, one line at a time, in the display on the front of the DVR itself.

Bernie

I checked my signal strengths and my tuner 1 was "good" but tuner 2 was "fair." I'm wondering if this is actually the cause of the audio/video drop-outs I've seen lately. I thought it was problems with ABC, but it could be that we were only watching ABC shows. What could cause a fair signal on just one tuner?

Thanks.
There is a splitter inside the box to feed the second tuner.
The second tuner is also the default tuner for a scheduled recording.

I have a recording on the DVR that shows in the list the length is 2:00 (2 hours), when you play it back it also shows 2:00 as the length. When the recording gets to about 0:48 the length changes to 0:52, and when it hits 0:52 it stops playing.

Any ideas?? The DVR Authorization and Factory Full Reset did not help.
Most likely it lost the signal while recording. That occasionally happens. I once had a recording covering Cartoon Network's Adult Swim Block contain nothing but the local inserts after the first few minutes. Others who watched live said the signal went dead except during the inserts.

The settings should be there, but you have to go into the hardware setup, not the iGuide setup that you can access the menu key on your remote. The instructions are at (URL omitted).

In case you get yourself into a situation where you cannot display the results on your TV screen, the settings are also displayed, one line at a time, in the display on the front of the DVR itself.

Bernie

Thanks for the response. I did go into the hardware settings (Power OFF and press menu on the box) and the only setting is for component - no HDMI anything. The unit has an HDMI port on the back though. My concern is that the box does not "know" it has HDMI.

When you plug an HDMI cable in, the box will recognize it.

There is a splitter inside the box to feed the second tuner.
The second tuner is also the default tuner for a scheduled recording.

So, does a fair signal on the second tuner mean something's wrong with the splitter and therefore the box?

So, does a fair signal on the second tuner mean something's wrong with the splitter and therefore the box?

I've had this issue in the past, and it was a signal strength issue caused by crappy wire / connectors between the house and the pole. The two tuners are on different frequencies and a lot of times the 2nd tuner has the weaker signal. I would complain to them to replace the wire / connectors as necessary to get the signal "cleaner" into the box.

No Audio on HMDI output?

I just hooked-up my 6412 P3 with HDMI output to my new TV, and I get picture but no audio. I swapped the cable from the 6412 to my DVD player, and I get both audio and video, so I know it is not the cable or input on the TV. Any ideas?

I just hooked-up my 6412 P3 with HDMI output to my new TV, and I get picture but no audio.Is the STB setup menu set for DVI or HDMI mode??

Is the STB setup menu set for DVI or HDMI mode??

I found the setting as well and that was the issue. Get audio now.

I did also find that my new Samsung won't accept 480i over the HDMI, so of I set the 4x3 overide to 480I (to let the TV do the upconversion) it does not work. I will take 480p over HDMI and and 480I over component works as well.

I also noticed that the 6412 has to detect an HDMI connection and then switch to that mode, so when I change my inputs on my TV, it takes a second or 2 for the 6412 to switch to HDMI mode and then another brief pause for the TV to detect it. I may just stay with component input from 6412 to TV as none of this happens with that.

I did also find that my new Samsung won't accept 480i over the HDMI, so of I set the 4x3 overide to 480I (to let the TV do the upconversion) it does not work. I will take 480p over HDMI and and 480I over component works as well.
That's odd. What happens (or doesn't) when "it does not work."? I've got my DCT6412 III set up with 4:3 override as 480i. I send it to my Sammie HL-S5086 on HDMI via a "pass through only" AVR and have no issues.

This box must be actively screwing with me, because for no reason whatsoever, it decide to change a program on me.

A show I was recording airs twice a day, and I set it to record the first showing each day. This is not a series recording, mind you, I simply went through the guide day by day hitting record on the earlier showing each day for the week, then hitting the day+ to go to the next day, lather rinse repeat. Nothing else was scheduled to record on the box within several hours of the show.

Well, today, I happened to be around when the earlier showing should've started recording, and lo and behold, the box was doing nothing. So I check my scheduled recordings and what do I find? THE DAMN BOX CHANGED MY RECORDING. It was now set to the later showing.

After manually changing the channel to make sure it was on (it was) and making it record the show directly by hitting record as the show was airing (worked just fine), I checked the rest of the week's recordings. It's changed the time for tomorrow's showing as well, but not the remainder of the week.

IF this had been a series recording, and IF there'd been a conflict with other recordings, maybe I could understand the box changing things to record another timeslot, but when I tell it to record show X in timeslot Y, THAT IS WHAT I EXPECT IT TO DO.

I have seen it get confused when you mix an overlapping manual program and a guide-scheduled program of exactly the same channel (neither one a series). I have also seen it sometimes get confused when the program schedule changes, sometimes it picks up the new program, sometimes it cancels it out, sometimes it freaks out... But I haven't seen exactly what you describe. My guess is that it is probably some glitch/bug during the schedule updating process.

Comcast bought out our cable system, so I'm getting Comcast. :) I have to make a decision on packages/equipment this week.

I have several simple questions on the 6412. MY present HDTV has DVI connections, and I know the 6412 came with DVI.

Is there a unit with HDMI and will it work with a DVI-HDMI cable adapter? I may want the HDMI for a future purchase.

Will the 6412 output 1080i over component vid without down-rezzing?

I apologize in advance if this has been covered but with over 9700 posts, this thread is huge :eek:

Thanks,
ss9001

Comcast bought out our cable system, so I'm getting Comcast. :) I have to make a decision on packages/equipment this week.

I have several simple questions on the 6412. MY present HDTV has DVI connections, and I know the 6412 came with DVI.

Is there a unit with HDMI and will it work with a DVI-HDMI cable adapter? I may want the HDMI for a future purchase.

Will the 6412 output 1080i over component vid without down-rezzing?

I apologize in advance if this has been covered but with over 9700 posts, this thread is huge :eek:

Thanks,
ss9001

This 6412/16-3412/16 will work just fine with a DVI-HDMI adaptor.

There is no down-rezzing over component, at least not at this time.

That's odd. What happens (or doesn't) when "it does not work."? I've got my DCT6412 III set up with 4:3 override as 480i. I send it to my Sammie HL-S5086 on HDMI via a "pass through only" AVR and have no issues.

I did more checking and found I can set the primary video setting to 480I and it dispalys fine via my HDMI connection. When I set my primary to 1080i and set the 4:3 overide to 480i, I get a "not supported" message on the TV. When I set the 4:3 overide to 480p, it works???

You want you 16:9 "priimary" set to 1080i if you have a 1080p HDTV and you may want to set it to 720P if you have a 720p set especially if you watch a lot of 720p programs (ABC, FOX, and ESPN) 4:3 overide should be set to either 480i or 480p which works best and whichever you like best.
You certainly do not want to downscale your "primary" 16:9 HD resolution programs down to SD 480i or 480p.

You want you 16:9 "priimary" set to 1080i if you have a 1080p HDTV and you may want to set it to 720P if you have a 720p set especially if you watch a lot of 720p programs (ABC, FOX, and ESPN) 4:3 overide should be set to either 480i or 480p which works best and whichever you like best.
You certainly do not want to downscale your "primary" 16:9 HD resolution programs down to SD 480i or 480p.
Yes - that is how I have it (16:9 at 1080i). I was just trying to diagnose why the 4:3 480p overide works while the 480I overide creates an "unsupported" message on my Samsung hlt6187s.

RE: 4:3 Override:

With a Moto 6412 Phase III connected to a Pio 4312 plasma (1024x768 resolution) via HDMI, we set the HDTV to 720p rather than 1080i (720p is the closest res to the display's native 768 res). We also set the Moto's 4:3 Override to "Off" and receive terrific standard definition digital channels (most of the time). When we use this "Off" setting, we're letting the Pio plasma handle the 4:3 scaling, and it really excels at this. Your TV's scaling capabilities may differ, but internal scaling capabilities is one reason why some HDTV's cost more than others.

Due to bandwidth limitations on their network in many communities, Comcast tends to overcompress their SD channels and squeeze too many into a small slices of spectrum. When Comcast does this, image quality does suffer. Also, if your local franchise is going through ADS conversion, the SD picture quality may fluctuate wildly (ours did for two years during this conversion). But we've found the "Off" 4:3 Override setting works best for us.

Note: there is a big difference in the 6412 and the 6412 Phase III models. The "Off" 4:3 Override setting sinply did not work in the original 6412. In reality, all Moto 6412 models produce terrible 4:3 scaling.

RE: 4:3 Override:

With a Moto 6412 Phase III connected to a Pio 4312 plasma (1024x768 resolution) via HDMI, we set the HDTV to 720p rather than 1080i (720p is the closest res to the display's native 768 res). We also set the Moto's 4:3 Override to "Off" and receive terrific standard definition digital channels (most of the time). When we use this "Off" setting, we're letting the Pio plasma handle the 4:3 scaling, and it really excels at this. Your TV's scaling capabilities may differ, but internal scaling capabilities is one reason why some HDTV's cost more than others.

Due to bandwidth limitations on their network in many communities, Comcast tends to overcompress their SD channels and squeeze too many into a small slices of spectrum. When Comcast does this, image quality does suffer. Also, if your local franchise is going through ADS conversion, the SD picture quality may fluctuate wildly (ours did for two years during this conversion). But we've found the "Off" 4:3 Override setting works best for us.

Note: there is a big difference in the 6412 and the 6412 Phase III models. The "Off" 4:3 Override setting sinply did not work in the original 6412. In reality, all Moto 6412 models produce terrible 4:3 scaling.

Hmm...I thought if you set 4:3 Override to OFF, the box would scale SD content to whatever you had HDMI set to (720p in your case). In other words, your box is now doing the SD conversion.

My understanding is that if you want your TV to do the conversion, set 4:3 Override to 480i. I might have it all backwards though :)

Yes - that is how I have it (16:9 at 1080i). I was just trying to diagnose why the 4:3 480p overide works while the 480I overide creates an "unsupported" message on my Samsung hlt6187s.

HL-T6187S specs say it should support 480i over HDMI, but I've read reports that other Samsung models do not, even though their manuals say they should.

Hmm...I thought if you set 4:3 Override to OFF, the box would scale SD content to whatever you had HDMI set to (720p in your case). In other words, your box is now doing the SD conversion.

My understanding is that if you want your TV to do the conversion, set 4:3 Override to 480i. I might have it all backwards though :)
I thought this was the case as well - I was trying to set the 4:3 overide to 480i so that it just passed the native 480i content through and left it alone so my TV could do the scaling. Otherwise it appears to take the 4:3 content and scale it into a box in the 16:9 1080i picture.

I thought this was the case as well - I was trying to set the 4:3 overide to 480i so that it just passed the native 480i content through and left it alone so my TV could do the scaling. Otherwise it appears to take the 4:3 content and scale it into a box in the 16:9 1080i picture.

Would be nice if the box had native passthrough. Just left the signal alone...

Yes - that is how I have it (16:9 at 1080i). I was just trying to diagnose why the 4:3 480p overide works while the 480I overide creates an "unsupported" message on my Samsung hlt6187s.

MY 2 year old Samsung 56" DLP will not accept 480i over DVI or HDMI. I bet that is the problem. I mostly use Component, have the 4x3 overide set to 480i, and only occassionally switch to DVI, to show those interested that it doesn't have a better picture than component. :D