Originally posted by wareagle
(You really should ask them, and not us.)

Thanks! I'll call Click network right away and ask them to describe their personal experiences using Comcast's MSTV vs. their own product. I'm sure I'll get a well thought out and useful answer, instead of dead air on the other end of the phone line. Thanks again for your help!

Seriously, if someone is chastised for asking questions, whats the point of this whole board? Just put one post at the top that says "Any questions about anything, call Comcast instead of posting here".

I think you mean the 688. I believe the 680 is identical to the 676
Hep, I did mean the 688--sorry for the confusion. My understanding is that the 680 was built for, and has buttons relating to, the WindowsXP Media Center, while the 676 has more universal buttons (of course, with the Harmony, any button can be programmed to perform any task, so perhaps I am splitting hairs!)

Originally posted by HonestAbe
Thanks! I'll call Click network right away and ask them to describe their personal experiences using Comcast's MSTV vs. their own product. I'm sure I'll get a well thought out and useful answer, instead of dead air on the other end of the phone line. Thanks again for your help!

Seriously, if someone is chastised for asking questions, whats the point of this whole board? Just put one post at the top that says "Any questions about anything, call Comcast instead of posting here".

It was just a suggestion, and not a chastisement. I provided you with all the information I could find as a result of a simple online search (which was obviously more than you already knew), but there's no way for anyone who isn't a Click subscriber to know anything more about their system. My own inclination would be to avoid the single tuner 80GB 6208.

Originally posted by burger23
Hep, I did mean the 688--sorry for the confusion. My understanding is that the 680 was built for, and has buttons relating to, the WindowsXP Media Center, while the 676 has more universal buttons (of course, with the Harmony, any button can be programmed to perform any task, so perhaps I am splitting hairs!)

I found a site that has a picture of them side-by-side:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/voom/CEDIA-2004/NewHarmonyHR.JPG

Most people on the harmony forum seem to prefer the 680 regardless of whether you've got a XP MCE or Tivo or other DVR. That's why I decided to go with that one.

--
Steve

Merged thread into this one. (Post #500 on page 25.)

Originally posted by ntaylor
I don't have an answer to your question, I got lucky I guess and ended up with the DVR remote for the 6412. But having come from the DirecTivo, the Comcast DVR remote still sucks and immediately forced me to go get a Harmony 680 to avoid a divorce. It isn't a touch screen, but it is fantastic. Check out the remote control section of the forum.

I got my DVR just after Thanksgiving and they had already run out of the remotes by then. The current estimate, according to Comcast, is February, for when they'll get more remotes in stock.

I was lucky enough to get the new DVR remote from the N.Seattle office with my 6412 box...but I have a Pronto and a bunch of ProntoNeo remotes, so I already learned the IR codes.....

Anyone near the west Shoreline area want to swap a std comcast remote for a new one? PM me and we'll talk....I'm out of town until after the new year....

Cheers,

Rich

Well, I'm thinking about doing a remote consolidation once-and-for-all by getting a Pronto TSU3000.

Say - is it considered "normal" for the 6412 to become basically unresponsive several times a night? It's very frustrating pressing buttons on the remote more than once to get it to respond in the first place, but when the box decides to be unresponsive for a period of time, it's virtually impossible to keep from loading up the buffer with a number of button presses. Are other people having this problem as well or do I perhaps have a defective box?

Thanks,

Tim

Originally posted by tluxon
Well, I'm thinking about doing a remote consolidation once-and-for-all by getting a Pronto TSU3000.

Say - is it considered "normal" for the 6412 to become basically unresponsive several times a night? It's very frustrating pressing buttons on the remote more than once to get it to respond in the first place, but when the box decides to be unresponsive for a period of time, it's virtually impossible to keep from loading up the buffer with a number of button presses. Are other people having this problem as well or do I perhaps have a defective box?

Thanks,

Tim

From what I understand, this is a common problem at the moment.

Originally posted by tluxon
Say - is it considered "normal" for the 6412 to become basically unresponsive several times a night? It's very frustrating pressing buttons on the remote more than once to get it to respond in the first place, but when the box decides to be unresponsive for a period of time, it's virtually impossible to keep from loading up the buffer with a number of button presses. Are other people having this problem as well or do I perhaps have a defective box? This was a constant problem back when the 5100s were first rolled out. A firmware update seemed to fix the problem on that box. Maybe the same bug is now affecting the 6412.

According to shannonv of Microsoft,

"VOD scrolling issue - this is a bug that we've fixed and it is now being tested. Hopefully it will be rolled out to subscribers soon. This issue can be triggered by scrolling quickly using the either the page up/page down or the up/down buttons. The temporary work around is to use the arrow keys and not scroll too quickly."

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4807554#post4807554
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not sure this will cure all 6412 hangups, but the VOD is what triggers the ones I've experienced.

I wonder when we can expect a firmware update.

I've searched this thread and have not seen a clear response to this. sorry if it's been answered and I missed it.

In Seattle with the MS/comcast DVR, can you record on a firewire connected DVHS? If so, can you record both live and previously recorded shows?

Also, what is the general consenses of the two comcast interfaces (Iguide & MS)? Which is better? (I know I don't have a choice.) Do they handle 1394 recording the same or differently?

Thanks, Pete

Originally posted by Club Chapin
...Also, what is the general consenses of the two comcast interfaces (Iguide & MS)? Which is better? (I know I don't have a choice.) Do they handle 1394 recording the same or differently?.... Since most (all?) of us have only seen the one UI that Comcast gives us - not both - might be hard to get any real comparisons. Also, I think I/O functions like the 1394 output are handled by the low-level Motorola firmware (sometimes called a "mini operating system"), not the application software (like MSTV). So probably the 1394 functionality would be identical on all 6412s. In either case, I think it's just treated like a firewire display: one-way output only, of whatever's currently being viewed.

In Seattle with the MS/comcast DVR, can you record on a firewire connected DVHS? If so, can you record both live and previously recorded shows?

Yes. Yes.

Thanks Guys. Guess I'll give comcast a try.

Originally posted by Club Chapin
Thanks Guys. Guess I'll give comcast a try.
There are some recent posts in the Portland, OR, Comcast thread describing DVHS recording experiences from a 6412, but with the iGuide software instead of MSTV (since everyone but Washington state has iGuide).

Well.... I've had Comcast now since the launch of the new 6412 and I'm fed up with the poor image quality on the 6412 with Aanlog Channels, the lack of intuitive channel organization and an interface that can't hold it's own to a TiVo , Windows MCE or even the 1st Generation Echostar/MS Dishplayer.

Although the hardware is fast and the searching capabilities are great, the lack of a 30 second skip is a major bummer and a detraction from using the unit. The Hard disk on my 1st (which failed) and now my second unit is also unacceptably loud. It kind of sounds like someone is running water in another part of the house. I've used Seagate hard disks for years, whish one can usually never hear but these drives are not acceptable for use in a consumer device that should be used in a quiet room.

Although the ability to watch all my HD channels without dropout due to bad weather is a great option, I 'm having a hard time giving up my TiVo and DirecTV's great image quality.

I'm not sure that, if at this point, I will be a Comcast subscriber for much longer.

I had great hopes for the 6412... But at this point... The technology and Comcast's image quality needs to make some major improvements.

Thx,
Vidkidd

Well Happy New Year Sunshine!

I can honestly say I've had no problems with Comcast and their DVR service - the analog channels can look as bad as they want - I rarely watch them - normally I record the HD movies for later viewing- the analog looking so bad argument reminds me of a bunch of girls b*tc*ng about their frizzy hair...and it is getting really old and uncontructive..

i'm sure many would agree...

New Year's Resolution #1 - Get a life!

Last night (Jan 2) I recorded Law and Order followed by Jordan - both were unwatchable due to continuous breakup and tearing. Did anyone else have the same problem?? It was the HD channel (105) that I recorded. This only happened once before and I don't recall if it was an HD program.

I also recorded Law and Order and Jordan (in HD) and had no problems at all. Well, almost no problems. I did have an occasional audio drop out. I watched them both on a slight delay while they were recording.

Happy new year to all!

I have to agree that the analogs are icky, but if the 2 tuner sucks that much bandwidth, then Comcast will have to boost what they have, or go all digital. They know that in order to really beat the satellite companies, they need to go all digital.

Other than that, I love pausing live TV, I love recording without messing with tape, I love HDTV (occasional dropouts and all), I love pretending I have a 30 second skip button, and I am looking forward to a great 2005!

Bob

I thought the Digital package was all digital. Can you set it up to tune only digital channels?

Pete

I think I ran into a new bug: series recording changing its timeslot. I have a series recording setup for 2 shows that just recently changed their timeslots by 1 hr (later) and 1 of the series is recording, the other isn't. Both are set to record @ <specific time> which in this case is the original timeslot.

Before:
Show @ 12:00
First run & repeats
record @ 12:00 only

Show @ 12:30
First run & repeats
record @ 12:30 only

After:
Show @ 1:00
First run & repeats
record @ 12:00 only
- this one isn't recording (as expected) and I had to make another series recording setup for 1:00 (since it only gave me the option of anytime or 12:00)

Show @ 1:30
First run & repeats
record @ 12:30 only
- this one still works and is recording the show @ 1:30 although it is specifically setup for 12:30 only (bug, I think)

So, I think the second one is the bug. That or the first one is correct to shift to the new time (although then the bug would be the record @ time).

nodrog2,
I had the exact same problem trying to recording on 105 last night, plus it only recorded the first 15 minute of the second program

Originally posted by Bruceko
nodrog2,
I had the exact same problem trying to recording on 105 last night, plus it only recorded the first 15 minute of the second program

I contacted Comcast and was told they will make a note on my 'file' that this occured. I suppose I need a few more failures before action is taken. From seeing this happened to you as well, now I'm not sure if its a box or transmission problem. Anyone else with thoughts on this??

Originally posted by nodrog2
Last night (Jan 2) I recorded Law and Order followed by Jordan - both were unwatchable due to continuous breakup and tearing. Did anyone else have the same problem?? It was the HD channel (105) that I recorded. This only happened once before and I don't recall if it was an HD program.

I have had problems recording either a local HD or Disc. HD while making another recording. Especially if you are also playing a program from the HD at the same time. The UI gets slow too.... Once last week the unit was in FF1 for 12 mins, unresponsive from front panel buttons. I left it alone and it rebooted itself. It recovered but missed recording the show that started on the hour.

Example: Last night I was watching a movie on INHD. I was recording Las Vegas from KINGHD at the same time. Then I got a message stating 'Do you want to record a show on KINGHD at 9:59pm?'
...Hate this as the tuners can't be shared between overlapping programs on the same channel. You are, I believe, forced to cancel the recording to continue watching the channel you're on. The tuner will switch to the new recording by default, which is a good thing. This UI confuses me to this day the way it is worded. I test S/W and am an advanced C-Band and ex-DTV satellite user (non-Tivo user). Then the recording started, and it had macroblocking. .:mad I cancelled the recording and watched live.
<OK now> :rolleyes:

Needless to say, because the Directivo is so expensive and their lack of HD locals, Comcast is still the deal around here. Actually for a 1st version DVR, this unit is great overall. For superusers, it may be lacking in HD space, UI and memory. Keep in mind that more firmware releases are coming as well.

Just in case anyone cares - I had this box installed yesterday and the installer had a new remote for me. I asked him about availability and he said they had just gotten them in Monday. He worked for Pacific Cable and I am in Marysville.

For you guys looking into the Harmony 688 remote, I can definately say it is worth it. I use it with the Comcast DVR, TiVo, and about 6 other components with no problems. There is a pretty thorough review of the remote over at Gear Live.

Try this:

Schedule recording of consecutive programs on 105.

Play a recorded program throughout the overlap period.

Replay the recorded channel 105 programs and observe the terrible pixelation and audio breakups during the overlap period on both recordings (and none outside the overlap period).

I didn't see this on 104 but did on 663. My limited testing hasn't covered all combinations, but the above scenario seems consistently repeatable.

I definitely think the "soft padding" needs to be softened further, so that consecutive programs on the same channel don't overlap, and thus also don't tie up both tuners. The ideal solution would be to provide the user with options so that the default action could be controlled.

I'd like to be able to extend a scheduled recording by 30 minutes or 60 minutes, to allow for recording of shows back-to-back on the same channel.

Originally posted by shannonv
Looks like I'm not going to be able to check in as often as I was in the past. Anyone want to work for me? :) hmm, maybe...might be fun.

But mostly I'd like to see a UI change so that the 'last' button (on remote or in UI) functions as a simple 'pop' off a pushdown stack.

I constantly find myself going from mini-guide to info - and last takes me back to mini-guide. But the sequence of 'mini-guide/info/more info/last' takes me back to the current channel, not the mini-guide. Annoying, especially if you have changed the mini-guide to a different range of channels. Same sort of annoyance in the IOD menus, last does not consistently take you back one level.

OK, this has happened every single week.

Back to back recordings in HD on the same channel (Q13) of Billioniare and House ALWAYS has pixelation and sound breakup at the "crossover" time. Can we PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE get rid of the enforced 1 minute pre and post record times? And while you're at it, get rid of the pixelation. Oh, and stick with the same tuner on back to back recordings.

Other than that, you'll never get me to give up my HD PVR. It's good right now, and I am anticipating it getting it even better. Congrats to Comcast, Motorola, and Microsoft for a very decent and relatively bug free PVR!

Well, I recorded Alias last night on 104 and watched West Wing on 105 at the same time and saw pixellation and had audio dropouts. So, recording two HD shows and watching one HD causes problems. That's essentially what's happening when the DVR is recording one HD channel and I'm watching another HD channel.

The pixellation and audio dropouts don't seem to be in the recording but in the display. While watching West Wing, I could back up when I spotted pixellation or had an audio dropout and replay it, but the problem wasn't there.

Originally posted by artshotwell
Well, I recorded Alias last night on 104 and watched West Wing on 105 at the same time and saw pulsation and had audio dropouts. So, recording two HD shows and watching one HD causes problems. That's essentially what's happening when the DVR is recording one HD channel and I'm watching another HD channel.

The pixellation and audio dropouts don't seem to be in the recording but in the display. While watching West Wing, I could back up when I spotted pixellation or had an audio dropout and replay it, but the problem wasn't there.

I have a pixellation/audio drop out issue only when I am recording one program and watching another-- and immediately after I use the Fast Forward button to skip through a commercial. I then turn the power off to the cable box, wait 5 seconds, power up again, and the pixellation/audio drop issue is gone.

So beware using the FF feature on one show when recording another since there will be a minute or so void as the box reboots.

Got my 6412 on Monday. Have a "problem".

The unit is behind a smoked glass door. The remote that came with it must be 4 feet away or it won't work. With the glass door opened, it works at about 7 feet. I replaced the batteries, same effect. I learned the codes into my MX500 remote and got better results, but not great. The Tivo behind the same glass works at 20 feet, but the Motorola box only works at about 9 feet (I have to lean in from where I sit). My A/V reciever also works at 20 feet without problem behind the same glass

Is anyone else experiencing this? Should I call it in?

The monkey who installed this HD tuner on an HD set used the 5-component cable dealie, but connecte them to the composite outputs and composite inputs on my tv! The 5 wires are r,g,b and r,w for audio. He actually connected the g to composite, and the r-w for audio, and left the r,b video not connected to anything. I provided him an optical audio cable for the av receiver, he told the Misses that he doesn't need that cable. I will be asking for my $15 installation fee refunded.

Originally posted by artshotwell
Well, I recorded Alias last night on 104 and watched West Wing on 105 at the same time and saw pixellation and had audio dropouts. So, recording two HD shows and watching one HD causes problems. That's essentially what's happening when the DVR is recording one HD channel and I'm watching another HD channel.

The pixellation and audio dropouts don't seem to be in the recording but in the display. While watching West Wing, I could back up when I spotted pixellation or had an audio dropout and replay it, but the problem wasn't there.

FWIW, it's a known issue that 104 has audio/video drops during shows and this is the broadcast itself and not the box. However, the box adds to the problem by causing its own audio drops as well on HD playbacks. :)

Originally posted by TayX
FWIW, it's a known issue that 104 has audio/video drops during shows and this is the broadcast itself and not the box. However, the box adds to the problem by causing its own audio drops as well on HD playbacks. :)
The dropouts I was seeing was on 105 while also recording 104. And, each time I saw or heard a dropout, I backed up a few seconds and ran though that scene again and there were no dropouts this time. I haven't yet looked at my recording of 104 from last night.

NBC-HD shows on 105 have always had audio dropouts every few minutes -- even before the 6412, with the 5100 & 6200 too. Which leads me to believe it's a KING5 problem.

Originally posted by jimre
NBC-HD shows on 105 have always had audio dropouts every few minutes -- even before the 6412, with the 5100 & 6200 too. Which leads me to believe it's a KING5 problem.
Except when I back up the video a few seconds and run through the audio dropout again, there's no dropout. Same for video blocking... back up the DVR a few seconds to run through the bad segment again, and it's clean. This all leads me to think it's a processing problem on the 6412.

There were several audio dropouts during Law & Order last night...each time I backed up the video a few seconds and ran through the dropout segment and there was no dropout. all this last night while recording HD on 104.

I'm having the same pixelation problems (with very minor audio drop out problems). I know it's not the broadcast because it only happens when i'm not watching a program live (when watching live, there are no problems). I'm going to mess around with it more... it's only seemed to happen when I'm recording two HD programs at once. Maybe the box just simply isn't fast enough to keep up with all that data it's trying to save. I think to help out I'm going to stop recording the hd channel when shows aren't actually broadcast in HD (I frequently record simpsons on the fox hd channel just because it looks nicer than the normal analog channel).

My whole recording of House (fox) on tuesday and Quintuplets (fox) yesterday were so bad I just erased both recordings without watching them all.

I might add here that with the 6412 there's no such thing as live. If you're watching a show 'live' you're really watching a playback off the hard drive. It's always recording and playing back the so-called 'live' channel.

Originally posted by avdork
Got my 6412 on Monday. Have a "problem".

The unit is behind a smoked glass door. The remote that came with it must be 4 feet away or it won't work. With the glass door opened, it works at about 7 feet. I replaced the batteries, same effect. I learned the codes into my MX500 remote and got better results, but not great. The Tivo behind the same glass works at 20 feet, but the Motorola box only works at about 9 feet (I have to lean in from where I sit). My A/V reciever also works at 20 feet without problem behind the same glass

Is anyone else experiencing this? Should I call it in?



Mine is behind a smoked glass door also. Even with the door open the remote response is not very good.

However I think its the cable box as the the DVR remote controls the TV volume fine (from 20 feet or more). I have one of the older motorola cable box remotes and thats no better. I also programmed my universal hitachi remote and that has the same issue. I am assuming it's something with the IR receiver on the 6412. I haven't called it in because apart from that the box is working well and I would just as soon not have some of the other issues some people are dealing with.

The 6412 has a 30-second skip!!

Edit: Unfortunately, it turns out this is untrue with the MSFT software, so I'm deleting the following details to avoid confusion. Sorry.

...

Tim

tluxon, i believe those only work with the non ms boxes with iGuide. Unless things have changed in the last two weeks. I already tried and failed two weeks ago with those codes.

psloan is absolutely correct. This is old information that has been discussed several time previously in the Forum (do a search). Boxes with the MSFE software do not support in any way 30-sec skip

Thanks. I've deleted the details to avoid confusing others. Sorry.

Tim

Just started a couple of days ago:

I record Good Eats at 230 am, and up until sunday all was good. However, my recent recordings have had issues with the audio. The video is fine, but sound has a gravelly distorted sound to it.

This is only happening when it is a scheduled recording -> if I record manually (just press record) then playback later, it's all fine. Im trying a different channel tonite (diff show) to try to eliminate channel issues.

One other wierd thing, when I was messing with my recording scheduling....it listed channel 665 as the channel to record (even tho I browsed to 35 FOODTV). The UI sees foodtv as 665 for some strange reason.

Anyway, anyone else have anything like this happen?

Rich

Boykster - sounds like you need to ctrl-alt-del that thing.... :)

jimre:

I wish it was that easy :p

I setup another recording last nite, but haven't had a chance to check it yet. I've tried unplugging it for 30 mins, recreating the recording schedule, deleting all other recordings, etc.

It seems that there is something wrong during the encoding...as there are no problems with scheduled digitital or HD channels...just the analog. But it works fine when I just manually record an analog show.

Goofy...

Rich

Probably the rest of us have never seen this bug, because we can't stand to watch analog channels on the 6412 (much less record them). Those channels get recorded on my ancient, trusty ReplayTVs.

I'm stuck waiting for my plane at McCarron airport in Vegas (post-CES) and they've got free wifi!

I'll let you know when I hear about Comcast's plans for releasing our first update. One side benefit besides some improvements in the MSTV software is a more recent Motorola firmware version (9.12). That may improve some of the issues you're seeing with AV stuff.

I meant to invite you to stop by the MS booth when I was working our station but I was too busy to post. Oh well.

Your issue reports and feature requests are being heard and a good number of them have already been addressed in our code and are just waiting testing/certification from Moto and Comcast.

The glitch that made the last couple of minutes of Desperate Housewives unwatchable because I also record Boston Legal is on the list, right?

Hi Shan: Welcome back.
I am glad to see that you guy's are listening to our concerns. Now if you could figure out a way to backdoor a 30 sec. skip!
Happy new year.

Bob

Someone posted on the Seattle-Comcast board last week to the effect that no Comcast messages were showing up on the 6412 box, although there were messages on non-DVR boxes. I don't believe I've seen a single message on the 6412. This problem should be added to the list, and it would be nice if someone with the old hardware could let us know when any important messages show up (not PPV wrestling, of course).

Anybody else getting a "freeze" problem with their 6412?

My 6412 will, on occasion, "freeze" and stop responding to commands, remote or otherwise. Most frequently, it seems to happen when I'm fast forwarding through a commercial -- which stinks because then the progam continues in fast forward mode throughout the entire rest of the program. This manages to ruin whatever is left of the show by letting you see what is going to happen -- at high speed -- without letting you hear what is going to happen. Frustrating, to say the least. Usually, when it freezes if I am patient and don't press play a million times, it will stop freezing and/or freaking out and give me back control after five or ten minutes. Last night, however, it froze, freaked out, and then reset itself. Positively brilliant. It managed to hose all the currently recording programs in the process, too.

I was just glad that it didn't hose all my scheduled recordings -- which took 45 minutes to redo the last time it did the "crash" thing."

Anyone else have this malady? Or is my box just reminding me that it is new technology? (I do still love HD recording, however... what can I say).

I had the same freeze problem in FF last night, although the box didn't reset -- it just eventually gave control back to me.

I get the freeze also, on a pretty regular basis. It has not reset for me, but it's similar to what one would see on a relatively slow Windows machine when it's 'thinking'- the commands queue up while you're pushing buttons and nothing is happening, then they all execute at once, followed by a return to normal.

One could call it normal Microsoft behavior- not a bug, a feature!

Perhaps we need a CTRL-ALT-DEL button on the front of the 6412 ;-).

Let's put it on the remote instead for us lazy folk ;).

QUOTE]Now if you could figure out a way to backdoor a 30 sec. skip![/QUOTE]

I just got my 6412 with MSTV in Spokane, WA. I will be using it for HDTV recording only while using my old ReplayTV for SD recording. So far, the only glaring omissions from the software that I see is the lack of a 30 second skip (and that is huge) and the inability to establish a theme recording based on topic or title keywords (like "fly fishing"). Otherwise, the interface is pretty darn slick and I look forward to them rolling out VOD in our market soon.

The reason you don't see messages on the 6412 with MSTV is that TVG implemented a proprietary messaging scheme instead of the one implemented by Motorola. We support the standard Motorola one. Funny side note is that Bay Area subscribers have gotten messages about Comcast jobs in NJ and KOMO in WA but we're here in the bay area. I guess there are issues with message targeting... We've worked out a solution that is agreeable to Comcast and you may start seeing messages on your MSTV box very soon.

As for the occasional freezes, this occurs periodically on iGuide as well (at least it does for me) so there might actually be something going on below both of us that causes this. We're working on testing a few hypotheses here internally to better understand what might be happening.

I'll keep you posted in case we have any news or need any more input from folks in the field on this.

As a few other people have mentioned, I'm seeing major video breakup when recording two HD programs at the same time. Maybe the hard disk can't write data fast enough to keep up with the combined bitrate?

I experienced major video break up, and occasional audio drop outs, while recording "24" in HD last night and Extreme HomeMakoever (or whatever they call it) on analog TV at the same time. "24" was almost unwatcheable. The video was much better in the 2d hour of 24 when the analog show was no longer being recorded. Is this a known issue and is a fix in the works?

Can anyone provide technical information regarding the format, bit rate, etc of the muisc on the Music Choice channels we are getting in the Seattle area? The audio quality sounds quite good. I'd be curious how it compares to the same service via DirectTV and to streaming audio over the Internet (most of which seems to be at 64 kbps or lower).

Originally posted by shannonv
...As for the occasional freezes, this occurs periodically on iGuide as well (at least it does for me) so there might actually be something going on below both of us that causes this. We're working on testing a few hypotheses here internally to better understand what might be happening.... These freezes used to happen all the time on my moto 5100 box - way before the 6412 existed. Same behavior - unit keeps showing current program, but becomes non-responsive to remote commands, but commands are actually being queued up. Control is regained & all queued commands are issued at once something like 2-3 minutes later.

Comcast seemed to fix it back then with one of their firmware updates. I forget the firmware version #, but I think it was the same update that fixed the DVI/HDCP problem (where you had to turn the cable box off before your TV).

Just chiming in with the video tearing/audio dropouts:

I so far have believe I have only seen it with the locals. Most of the time it is a combination with 113/105 - 113/104, 113/105, 104/105. I don't recall having seen this happen when dual recording DHD/InHD or HBOHD. It *always* happens during simultaneous recordings/overlap. Watching a recorded show (analog/SD/HD) hasn't seemed to make it worse.

I have not experienced skipping back making it come through clear, nor have I ever experienced that watching the affected recorded shows afterwards made them better - same amount of tearing/dropouts so for me it is getting recorded this way on disc. It seems that either the splitter cuts too much signal for dual recording HD or that the HDD is too slow (writes take much more time than reads and thus probably why I haven't noticed any worse recording if I happened to be watching a recording while dual recording).

I've also experimented with recording two shows, stopping one for a minute or so and then restart recording the 2nd. While stopped, BOTH channels were clear (I would flip over to the continuing recording to see if it was still good and then flip back to the channel I stopped the recording with). As soon as I started recording the 2nd channel again, both would immediately start tearing/dropout. This only makes sense if there is some type of additional processing/writing happening if an actual recording is happening versus just the buffer recording as I would have expected the tearing while watching 1 'live' and recording the other as the 'live' is still recording the buffer...

YMMV...

I think Video-On-Demand is largely overrated, unless you have one of the premium services. One huge plus to the MSTV software, however, is that it makes VOD pretty user friendly. I found this to be a big plus compared to the old Comcast interface, which was beyond horrible. With the 6412, I found myself spending a bit more time perusing the HBO on-demand titles, simply because the interface made it simple. Nice improvement here.

There are still a number of bugs, though -- and I'm sure I'm not the only one that has experienced the 6412 lockups from bad VOD data. Hopefully that will get fixed -- it seems like a Comcast data problem, but a bit of bad handling of bad data (ie crash instead of nice little error message).

I have seen the breakups on Discovery HD, but primarily on KING HD. Last night I encountered the problem in a slightly different manner. I was recording The Tonight Show, and was watching it "live" (not viewing the recording). I paused the viewing for a few moments, and when I resumed it the breakup began. I switched to the recorded version and saw the same problem. Only when I terminated the recording did the video/audio return to normal. This is the first time I've seen the problem when recording only one program, but usually when I view and record the same program I just watch the recorded version. It would seem that I must've forced the use of both tuners with what I did last night. I think I'll avoid that in the future.

Originally posted by DaveH77
I experienced major video break up, and occasional audio drop outs, while recording "24" in HD last night and Extreme HomeMakoever (or whatever they call it) on analog TV at the same time. "24" was almost unwatcheable. The video was much better in the 2d hour of 24 when the analog show was no longer being recorded. Is this a known issue and is a fix in the works?

Has anyone the answer for this problem? Is it in the works?? As a side question - I leave my 6412 on all night but several times it has powered off during the night. It comes up okay, no problems other than me wondering IS it a problem??

Originally posted by DaveH77
I experienced major video break up, and occasional audio drop outs, while recording "24" in HD last night and Extreme HomeMakoever (or whatever they call it) on analog TV at the same time. "24" was almost unwatcheable. The video was much better in the 2d hour of 24 when the analog show was no longer being recorded. Is this a known issue and is a fix in the works?

I saw the same behavior with parts of the first hour of "24" and a bunch of it during the 2nd hour. Unwatchable, really.

Ok I got my 6412 hooked up to my Samsung 5063 last night and am still working through the whole deal. Questions I have so far are:

1) Is there a wish list type of feature with the MSTV software? I seem to have to enter a search from scratch each time. I'd like to record all shows based on a topic or keyword as opposed to a TV series.

2) Is there a way to dim the LED of the 6412?

Sorry if those questions have been answered, I couldn't find the information. I also thought I had seen a list of feature upgrades coming to MSTV but can't seem to find that either.

Originally posted by darkburst
Ok I got my 6412 hooked up to my Samsung 5063 last night and am still working through the whole deal. Questions I have so far are:

1) Is there a wish list type of feature with the MSTV software? I seem to have to enter a search from scratch each time. I'd like to record all shows based on a topic or keyword as opposed to a TV series.

2) Is there a way to dim the LED of the 6412?

Sorry if those questions have been answered, I couldn't find the information. I also thought I had seen a list of feature upgrades coming to MSTV but can't seem to find that either.

1) No.

2) No.

Upgrades -- no promises of anything, and no indication of when. Some bug fixes appear to be "in testing".

I have my 6412 set to record a series show on both the HD & SD channels. While watching last night I noticed that it didn't have the little red circle to indicate it was recording. So I hit record. It asked if I wanted to stop or continue recording. So I continued to record on the HD channel. Towards the end of the show I did the same thing on the SD channel. Sure enough I only got the last few minutes to record on the SD channel. It recorded most of the HD channel because I had been watching it and some was in the buffer. Why did my shows not record on their own like their supposed to? I have other series shows (kid shows) set to record and they've been working fine.

Also, the other day I went to watch a show that was set to record and it stopped recording in the middle of show.

Anything obvious I should be looking for in correcting this problem in the future? I want to be able to rely on the DVR to work if I'm not home.

I had problems recently with the amazing race. Somehow it switched to recording it on two tuners at the same time. Then when my wife tried to cancel one it canceled both. I then watched one of them, was the first 24 minutes. I then deleted it, it also deleted the other recording from the other turner at the same time.

I also thought I had Alias set to record. But it never happened and is no longer in the q.

I have 2 teen aged boys so they may have been changing things in the schedule, but in any case I doubt they could have made these errors happen.

--pat

I've noticed that if you happen to get two recordings of the same show...that you can't delete just one. They both go.

It was Alias I had set to record. Neither channel recorded on its own. I just thought it strange that it thought it was recording already when I pressed record, but it wasn't. (I'm hearing the theme from Twilight Zone right now );)

Is there any chance that the "feature" that forces a minute or so before and after a show to record will be addressed??

Last night I had it set to record LOST and then ALIAS. My wife happened to be watching tv during this time, so when Lost was over and Alias should have started, it popped up asking if it could change the channel or stop the recording. Of course she was watching something she wanted to watch, so she selected stop the recording. If it did not record extra at the end of one and extra before the other it would not be forced to use both tuners, and my wife would not have killed my recording.

We should have the option of not padding at all, or it should at least be smart enough to realise that both shows were on the same station and it could have just recorded both without using the other tuner.

This is VERY troublesome.

Good think I still have both shows set up to record on my Tivo.

Is there anywhere we can go to formally complain about this to Comcast?

cicdude, welcome to the club. We are all waiting for Comcast/MSFT to address the overlap issue. An inelegant solution for the Lost/Alias issue is to set up Lost to add a one hour addition to the end. This option is available through the "series option" menu. You can add this to every Lost episode or just one. The main problems with this approach are: DVD recording list only shows "Lost," and if you just want to watch "Alias" you have to FF to it. About once a week, I check my scheduled recordings and see if I want to change consecutive shows to just the first show with additional time.

Hope this helps.

Art

Thanks for the welcome and the tip Art. I've only had the new DVR since Sunday.

This will work for me for awhile as long as the shows that are back to back are the same channel. I don't know why I didn't think of that myself!

Thanks again.

Cicdude, you almost got out of having to watch Alias this week, but for that darned TiVo. These overlap problems could be easily avoided, if you'd just set all your timed programs manually. The simplest and oldest way to do things is almost always the most dependable.

what we REALLY need is 3 tuners......2 for recording...and 1 for watching.......


Rich

Originally posted by boykster
what we REALLY need is 3 tuners......2 for recording...and 1 for watching.......
Rich
Or, two 6412s.

Originally posted by boykster
what we REALLY need is 3 tuners......2 for recording...and 1 for watching.......


Rich Just don't ever watch anything *live*

Originally posted by jimre
Just don't ever watch anything *live*

How bout we just never watch anything?

I'm actually considering a second 6412....i wonder if I can get both 6412's with HD active or not. When I got my first HD "sidecar" tuner, they said they could only have 1 HD box at each house....

Rich

Well, never watching anything would certainly be healthier for all of us :)

But Comcast let me have three HD boxes, no problem - although only one of them is a 6412 (two others are 6200s). They seemed quite happy to charge me an extra $5-10 or whatever a month for them.

lol...

well good to know that Comcast will gladly charge more and give us the boxes...now...to see if I can convince the wife that the extra $$ is a good thing....right.

Cheers,

Rich

After using the 6412 with MS Foundation software for a few weeks, I have come up with a list of my top 5 issues. There are lots of things I really love about this box, such as the HD picture quality, the ability to record 2 HD programs at once, the speed/performance/snapiness of the UI and the nice clock display, but my issues below are issues that would cause me to switch solutions instantly if another box were to be made that solved these problems. I have other issues beyond these, but these are my top 5 and the issues that will keep me searching for a better solution.

I'm sure some, if not all, of these have been brought up in this thread before, but I figured it's a good idea to post anyway, in case they weren't, or just to add my voice to the "me too" list of things I would like to see changed.

My issues with the the 6412 running MS Foundation:

1. Skipping through commericals is a royal pain. If you're not going to allow a 30-second skip, you need to use a similar method to what TiVo uses to jump back a bit when transitioning from ff/rew to play.

2. Search doesn't work well and is unfriendly. Why does it need to show a list of "No matches found on xxx" for every day that it didn't find a match? I've had a lot of difficulty finding the days where it actually DID find a match because you can't navigate over to the list of "No matches" items if the first page has no matches. Just show the found shows and if there are none, just a single item that says something to the effect of "No matches found."

3. The remote controls are not addressable (i.e. you cannot put 2 boxes in the same location and control them independently). This is a problem for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that you really need 2 of these boxes because the storage space is insufficient (#5 below). The second reason is that now with all the great HD and other premium content available, it is possible that you might want to record more than 2 things at once.

4. Selecting an item from either a search list or an item in the guide, and then pressing "Last" to go back puts you all the way back to the beginning of the list instead of your last position in the list. This is a big pain when you're trying to set up recordings from the guide and you're a couple of days or more in the future. "Last" should go back to the last point of navigation.

5. The recording space is insuffucient, especially if you're recording HD content. This would not be such a problem if you could control 2 boxes next to each other, but unfortunately the remotes for the 6412 boxes aren't addressable (see next issue). There also does not appear to be any known method of adding external storage. It feels like the storage space needs to be *at least* doubled on these boxes.

Good summary- with the addition of:

6. Improper handling of two shows recording sequentially on the same channel. Should not require the use of both tuners to record the one minute lead/lag overlap, and should not cause breakup of the picture and sound during that interval.

Originally posted by tonygod
3. The remote controls are not addressable (i.e. you cannot put 2 boxes in the same location and control them independently). This is a problem for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that you really need 2 of these boxes because the storage space is insufficient (#5 below). The second reason is that now with all the great HD and other premium content available, it is possible that you might want to record more than 2 things at once.


Turn one box off and the other on, then you can at least set seperate recordings easliy. Although I haven't checked to see which functions are still operational when the 6412 is turned off this should work in theory.

Originally posted by Jimbo Moran
Turn one box off and the other on, then you can at least set seperate recordings easliy. Although I haven't checked to see which functions are still operational when the 6412 is turned off this should work in theory.

That's no good because the menu button puts you into some configuration menu when the unit is turned off and you could screw up your box's settings.

There is a solution, but its neither cheap nor easy:

Use a zoned IR setup, and put each cablebox in a different zone. Using stick on emitters (low power, short range) and covers, it is possible to control 2 boxes stacked without interference.

Xantech makes an addressible IR router, that accepts an IR code to set the output IR zone. You need a learning remote that you can program with multiple codes (in sequence) -> first the address code for the router, then the command for the cable box.

I actually do something similar, but with a slinke (for ir control) married to a software program that I wrote to handle the zone mapping.

Elegant when setup properly, but neither cheap, nor easy. A simple toggle switch (like on the back of my 200 cd changer) with an address and seperate IR codes would make life cheap and easy.

Rich

Originally posted by tonygod
4. Selecting an item from either a search list or an item in the guide, and then pressing "Last" to go back puts you all the way back to the beginning of the list instead of your last position in the list. This is a big pain when you're trying to set up recordings from the guide and you're a couple of days or more in the future. "Last" should go back to the last point of navigation.



Here's a suggestion that I found quite useful in selecting programs to record using the search or guide, and avoiding getting lost using the "last" button:

Originally posted by xkode2002
You can press record once on a program in the list and a little red dot shows up and you're done. The list is still exactly where you left off (you never even left the list) and so you can just keep paging or scrolling one-by-one down.

Also, if you hit the record button twice it will set up a series recording.

My projector doesn't display the resolution it's receiving unfortunately. However I'm interested to know if anybody else is using the DVI port and whether the behavior is to always send the HD resolution selected in the setup menu (power off, hit Menu) or to send the content default resolution instead.

The reason I ask is because fiddling around with changing the HD output resolution seemed to produce NO picture quality difference on a 720p show. Since my Dwin is native 720p, I assumed setting the HD output to 1080i would result in a noticeably worse picture. But it didn't. In fact, I couldn't tell the difference.

Now I heard some strange rumor that Comcast makes all stations convert to 1080i before sending them their feed... but I highly doubt this is the case since I get 720p off of the 1394 port when I record shows like Lost using CapDVHS.

I'm noticing some odd behavior on my 6412. Several times: I've scheduled a recording. Ready to view it and there are two recordings of the same program on the list of recorded programs. Both are really the same recording. If I delete one, both are gone. That's disconcerting. Both, show the same recording time, date & channel. Sometimes both recordings show as separate listings. Sometimes both recordings show as Program Name (2).

Originally posted by xkode2002
My projector doesn't display the resolution it's receiving unfortunately. However I'm interested to know if anybody else is using the DVI port and whether the behavior is to always send the HD resolution selected in the setup menu (power off, hit Menu) or to send the content default resolution instead.

The reason I ask is because fiddling around with changing the HD output resolution seemed to produce NO picture quality difference on a 720p show. Since my Dwin is native 720p, I assumed setting the HD output to 1080i would result in a noticeably worse picture. But it didn't. In fact, I couldn't tell the difference.

Now I heard some strange rumor that Comcast makes all stations convert to 1080i before sending them their feed... but I highly doubt this is the case since I get 720p off of the 1394 port when I record shows like Lost using CapDVHS. AFAIK, the 6412 is exactly like the other Moto HD boxes (5100, 6200) - it always displays the HD resolution specfied in setup. It's been an often-requested feature to automatically switch the display to match the content's resolution instead, but that doesn't seem likely to happen.

And despite near-religious arguments about which is better, including zealous debate over matching "native screen resolution" -- personally, I don't think there's that much difference between 720p & 1080i. Both look really good on pretty much any set that can display both.

An auto-switch to the original signal resolution would force your monitor to re-sync with each channel change. That would drive me nuts - and slow things down quite a bit if you are a channel surfer.

Hi folks,

Apologies if this has been covered, but I haven't found a discussion of this exact issue yet.

MY 6412 arrived from Comcast a couple days ago (I'm in the SF Bay Area, California) and before hardly having a chance to look at the manual I needed to set up two overlapping programs. One was 8-9 p.m., the other 8:30-9:30. I found a brief statement in the manual that told me to press "Swap" to change to the 2nd tuner before programming the 2nd (overlapping) program. I did try to do this, but I see no indication anywhere on the front panel or on screen indicating which tuner I'm talking to at any given time. I would have thought the DVR would be smart enough to figure out to use it's 2nd tuner for the 2nd program. Or, at least it could warn me if it thought there was a conflict. Instead, what happened is I got the 1st half of the 8-9 program and then the entire 8:30-9:30 program. What's up with this?

Tonight with more time to spare (and less pressure, since I didn't need either recording) I set up a test to record to programs at once, and I carefully pressed "swap" -- this time after exiting the guide so I knew I was changing tuners -- before programming the 2nd recording. This seemed to work correctly.

But why isn't the box smart enough to figure out to use both tuners to record two programs? Or what did I do wrong?

Thanks,
--George

Yefchak --

Nobody here can help you much, since this forum is for 6412 with MSFE and the interface is not the same. Try posting to the forum for 6412 with iGuide at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=464986&perpage=60&pagenumber=1

Oops sorry... that's the thread I thought I was reading/posting to.

While watching an non-HD program on an HD channel (thus creating vertical black bars on the left and right of the screen) the blacks in the postage stamp area will be have a red colored haze to them as compared to the black of the side bars?

This is particularly noticeable during the brief blank screen between commercials - the postage stamp has a red haze in it but the sidebars are nice and black.

Blacks look nice and black on a 10IRE window so I dont think this is my set's grayscale (especially since the sidebars are black).

Thanks!!

Aren't those bars part of the source signal (eg, the station is broadcasting a full 16x9 HD picture consisting of a 4x3 SD picture plus black bars)? Not sure the 6412 can do anything about those bars, or the picture within them.

Thanks :-)

Just for clarification (probably wasnt clear from the post), I'm not concerned about the black bars being there - I understand why that happens and how they work (part of the source for a non-HD program on an HD station, etc...)

Whats confusing me is that far as my set is concerned its receiving a 16x9 image thats black on both sides. So why would the 4:3 area on a SD digital broadcast have a different color black than the sidebars? Is it possible this box is contaminating the black level in the signal somehow?

Thanks!!

I'm trying to decide whether to dump my dual DirecTIVO setup and move to Comcast for the HD recording functionality (HDTivo just too expensive). So would you guys say it is still a good deal to move to comcast even with all the problem with back-to-back HD recording and no 30-second skip? I'm trying to convince myself so I can convince to wife to learn a new UI (she's really liking the tivo GUI). So for those who has jumped from DirecTivo back to cable, was the move worth it?

Originally posted by cnjvh
Thanks :-)

Just for clarification (probably wasnt clear from the post), I'm not concerned about the black bars being there - I understand why that happens and how they work (part of the source for a non-HD program on an HD station, etc...)

Whats confusing me is that far as my set is concerned its receiving a 16x9 image thats black on both sides. So why would the 4:3 area on a SD digital broadcast have a different color black than the sidebars? Is it possible this box is contaminating the black level in the signal somehow?

Thanks!! My guess - it's probably related to whatever device the station is using to "inject" the SD picture into the HD stream. I don't know what broadcasters use for this, but perhaps it screws up the black levels, or maybe their SD & HD equipment isn't calibrated to match each other, or etc....

Originally posted by Abubo
I'm trying to decide whether to dump my dual DirecTIVO setup and move to Comcast for the HD recording functionality (HDTivo just too expensive). So would you guys say it is still a good deal to move to comcast even with all the problem with back-to-back HD recording and no 30-second skip? I'm trying to convince myself so I can convince to wife to learn a new UI (she's really liking the tivo GUI). So for those who has jumped from DirecTivo back to cable, was the move worth it? Unless you're fortunate enough to live somewhere in the Seattle area w/ good OTA reception - then DirecTV & Comcast are really your only 2 choices. It's definitely not as slick as Tivo and you will definitely miss the 30-second skip (much less the automatic Commercial Skip I have on my Replays). But it's definitely usable, and way better than what Comcast has offered in the past. All I can say is try it (unless you're addicted to CSI or other CBS shows in HD since Comcast doesn't offer CBS-HD in Seattle area due to KIRO's idiot parent company).

The good thing about Comcast is you can try it for a month & cancel if you don't like it, since you lease the equipment instead of owning it.

Originally posted by jimre
My guess - it's probably related to whatever device the station is using to "inject" the SD picture into the HD stream. I don't know what broadcasters use for this, but perhaps it screws up the black levels, or maybe their SD & HD equipment isn't calibrated to match each other, or etc....


I'm sure you're right, it must be something station related. I'm just trying to make sure its not MY equipment ...I'll feel more reassured if others are seeing this as well.

Thanks!!

Not to change the subject entirely, but does anyone have a solution for the 6412 not having a coax output? On my old box, I have a cable going out that is hooked up to a few other TV's around my house on ANT B.

This box doesn't have a coax out, only a video out. Any ideas how I could get this working again? I would like to use the DVR/movie/pay per view up in my bedroom from time to time without getting another cable box.

I think Radio Shack sells a little modulator.

Since the 6412 doesn't have an RF modulator (and corresponding coax output jack) you'll need to get your own modulator & hook it to the video/audio output jacks of your 6412. The output is sent over coax on ch. 3 or 4. Something like this one from Radio Shack (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=15-2526) or else there are higher-quality ones from manufacturers like Channel Plus or Channel Vision

Originally posted by artshotwell
I'm noticing some odd behavior on my 6412. Several times: I've scheduled a recording. Ready to view it and there are two recordings of the same program on the list of recorded programs. Both are really the same recording. If I delete one, both are gone. That's disconcerting. Both, show the same recording time, date & channel. Sometimes both recordings show as separate listings. Sometimes both recordings show as Program Name (2).

I've been seeing this behavior as well. Very disconcerting.

I have noticed the same thing as well. I have also had several programs record only 25-30 minutes of the actual 1hour show. Not making the WAF very good for this.

I've been recording Sunrise Earth on weekends on Discovery HD and now notice that the MS software is grouping the recordings. They show in the list as (2) Sunrise Earth. Clicking that shows a new list of the 2 recordings. They are different shows, but with the same generic title.

I've had the 6412 in Spokane for about 2 weeks now. So far, it has been great to be able to record HD, which is the real reason I jumped on this as soon as I found it was available. We still use an old ReplayTV hooked up via s video to record SD and that works fine with the 6412 unless it happens to be recording on both tuners already when the Replay wants to take over, but that's something for me to deal with. Overall, I like the UI and watching recorded HD is awesome. Here are some things I've experienced that are gripes:

1. No 30 second skip. I've gotten pretty good using FW3 and then jumping back once or twice with the replay button, but this is a major omission in my opinion.

2. Some video breakup on HD recording. Some shows will black out for about 2 seconds every couple of minutes. While still watchable, annoying. I'm unsure if this is the original HD feed or an artifact of the recording, however. But, I've seen it on more than one show.

3. There is no ability to set up a "themed" recording based on key word.

4. The font on the mini guide and guide are way too big. Also, when the show is 1/2 hour long, you can only read the first 10 or so characters and it does not auto-scroll the entire title. Trying to guess what the show title is without pressing info can be a fun game.

5. The record light on the front of my unit does not work. The only way I can tell if something is recording is to go to My DVR.

Many of these have been hit upon throughout this thread, but I hope reiterating them will help Microsoft and Comcast prioritize fixing things.

Andy

A new clue on video breakup when recording two channels at once:

On Monday I recorded 24 and Las Vegas simultaneously, both in high def. Just prior to the start of those shows, I was watching a recorded show. When I finished watching the recorded show I started watching 24, time shifted by about 15 minutes, and was dismayed to see frequent breakup in the video, although it was still watchable. As an experiment, I paused the playback of 24 and turned off the 6412 for awhile, noting the time. After about 10 minutes I turned the 6412 back on and resumed watching 24. When playback reached the point in time when I had turned off the 6412, the video breakup went away. About 10 minutes later the playback reached the time when I had turned the 6412 back on and sure enough, video breakup resumed. I paused and turned the 6412 off until the top of the hour (about a 20-minute wait), then turned it back on and resumed playback. You guessed the result -- the last 20 minutes of the recording were free of breakup. When I later watched the Las Vegas recording the video breakup came and went at the same points in time -- breakup while I was watching a recording, clean while the 6412 was turned off.

Conclusion: The signal strength is adequate to cleanly record two high def shows simultaneously. The video breakup occurrs only when I watch a show while recording two shows.

The cause of the problem is internal to the 6412 box. A solution is needed from either Motorola or Microsoft (I don't know who is responsible for this problem), channeled to us as an update from Comcast.

Has anyone tried comparing picture quality between DVI and component outputs? Comcast only supplied component cables but I'm wondering if DVI would provide a better picture (not that I think my current picture is bad).

If you have compared, I'd be interested to hear your findings (including what kind of TV you tested with).

I just received the new DVR today.

Sure seems like a slow and unresponsive box. Maybe it will just take some getting used to. Sure has a lot of annoying issues for me. Maybe I haven't figured them out yet.

Did a search here, but could not figure out how to set aspect ratio or resolution for this, either the DVI or the component. The manual was incorrect in how it said to adjust these. That menu does not exist as they say it should.

The component is outputting 480/60, according to my display.

How do you adjust these?

Guide:
Is there a way to adjust what the guide displays. There are several channels that I do not subscribe to and the box knows this and does not let me view them. Why can't it also not display programs on these channels? It knows what channels I don't get.

I subscribed to the digital package and they seem to have also thrown in the analog package. Can I have them turn this off? The analog looks like junk. I don't want it in my tune ring, and I don't want it in my guide. Surely they could make an easy way to turn this off and I just haven't found it.

DVI

I have a fully HDCP DVI system. This unit does not output on the DVI output. When I first turned on my display (Sony VPL-HS10) there was a screen that said something along the lines that it did not see HDCP and to use the component outputs. Since then, when I switch to the DVI input on my DVI switch I get about 3 seconds of HD and then it goes black. It does not give me this HDCP message again.

Any thoughts on how to clean up the guide, set aspect and resolution, and whip DVI into shape?

I don't think that the DVR is fully to blame for the DVI issue, I run the signal through a Gefen 4 x 1 DVI switch, then through a Gefen 100' fiberoptic DVI cable, both of which are supposed to be HDCP compliant to my HDCP display, but this has been a finicky setup before, although my Bravo D1 and Sammy STR-165 (and DVHS through 1394/165) work fine (HTPC does not, but I think it is missing the proper voltage to power the Copper->Fiber converter). Have not tried the 6412 direct into the display yet...

Any help or suggestion anyone has to offer would be greatly appreciated. The guy that set it up had no clue about the DVI/HDCP issue and I didn't catch that the component was 480/60 until after he left.

Thanks, Pete

Originally posted by res
Conclusion: The signal strength is adequate to cleanly record two high def shows simultaneously. The video breakup occurrs only when I watch a show while recording two shows.

The cause of the problem is internal to the 6412 box. A solution is needed from either Motorola or Microsoft (I don't know who is responsible for this problem), channeled to us as an update from Comcast.
I've long suspected that the problem was in playing back. Which doesn't happen with the 6412 turned off. I'm recording Alias and West Wing tonight. I turned the 6412 on about 9:15. I'll check playback of both shows after both go off at 10.

Let me strike the questions about resolution and aspect ratio. I missed the bit in the manual about pressing the menu button with the unit OFF. Just set the resolution and aspect as it should be set for my display.

I'm still curious about how to make the guide and tune ring behave...

Thanks again, Pete

You can remove channels from the guide by selecting Menu > Settings > Channel List and Favorites.

I ran a little test tonight. Recorded both Alias and West Wing on 104 & 105. With the 6412 turned off. About 15 mins in I turned it on and watched Alias. I didn't go into the DVR to play back from the start, I simply watched in real time. Then I watched West Wing at 10pm after both recordings were done. Absolutely no breakup or audio problems in the first 15 mins, then there were occasional breakups through the rest of the program. When watching Alias from 9:15 to 10pm, there were no breakups at all. There were audio pops, though I don't attribute them to the 6412.

So it seems fair to say that with two HD recordings taking place, just turn on the 6412 and watch either one and video dropouts start. Leave the box off and there are no dropouts.

I don't even have to be recording two programs to get pixelation. If I record 105 and watch it at the same time (not the recording, but "live"), when I pause or rewind (to get out of sync with the recording) then the breakups start. It seems to be some sort of disk access problem.

You can remove channels from the guide by selecting Menu > Settings > Channel List and Favorites.

I did this, but the information remains in both the guide (Menu>HDTV) and the ondemand. For example I only subscribe to HBO, not Cinemax, Starz, or Shotime. But when I select Menu>HDTV, programming for these channels is in the listing. The same is true of on demand programming (which is otherwise pretty cool! [I was not a cable subscriber before yesterday])

Also, how do I get a listing of analog, digital, HD, and channels I subscribe to for setting up the tune ring? They have left me none of this info, nor have they told me where to get it.

You'd think that at a minimum that it would be smart enough to only include channels that I subscribe to in the tune ring, and let me remove from there. Same for the guide. I can't fathom why they don't do this. I guess they want to frustrate their customers. It's easy to see why people hate the cable companies.

I shell out a significant amount of cash each month to these guys now. Couldn't they make it a little bit easier?

Thanks, Pete

Originally posted by wareagle
I don't even have to be recording two programs to get pixelation. If I record 105 and watch it at the same time (not the recording, but "live"), when I pause or rewind (to get out of sync with the recording) then the breakups start. It seems to be some sort of disk access problem.
Of course, when you're watching live, you're also recording. With the 6412 there's no such thing as 'live.' So, if you're recording 105 and watching it, you're, in essence, making two recordings.

FYI for all of you talking about the pixelation problems. This was a big problem with Cox 6412 w/ Pioneer Passport with the last firmware when tuning to 2 HD channels and using transport functions. The problem was identified to be an unexpected interaction between the 6412 and the headend. The fix eventually ended up being a change at the headend along with a firmware update back in November sometime. Search this thread for "HD tiling" bug as we called it:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=414680
At the time I even posted pictures of some sample "tiles" from my 6412. I'm very surprised that Comcast/MSFT was/is not aware of this problem.

Ok, so is everyone having the issue where you can't pull up the Guide (or even change channels sometimes) when you are on an HD channel? If I pull up HBO-HD, or KOMO-HD for example, I am unable to use the guide until I first switch back over to an SD channel. Other times, it won't even let me change channels back from an HD to SD channel until I power cycle the box.

Now where is that Ctrl-Alt-Del button?

Originally posted by artshotwell
Of course, when you're watching live, you're also recording. With the 6412 there's no such thing as 'live.' So, if you're recording 105 and watching it, you're, in essence, making two recordings.

The point I was making was that watching didn't induce the problem until I did something to get the two out of sync, such as pausing.

Originally posted by wareagle
The point I was making was that watching didn't induce the problem until I did something to get the two out of sync, such as pausing.
I agree that pausing etc seems to cause problems. But, I noticed last night that just watching one of two recordings as it's in progress, and not doing anything else, seemed to cause a little pixellation. Turning the 6412 left two completely clear recordings. Could be coindicence.

Wanting to see if anyone else has experienced this and/or know of any solutions.

For the last two weeks have had Lost and Alias set to record on 104. Lost records without a problem. Alias ends up only recording one minute, the minute of overlap with Lost.

Last night I checked the DVR while watching Alias and it showed it as recording. In fact during the overlap it showed both Lost and Alias recording. 15 minutes into it I checked Alias and it also showed it recording. This morning I checked and only 1 minute recorded.

I'm thinking I'll either add 60 minutes to Lost but then I lose Alias as a selection or I'll try extending Alias by 60 minutes to see if it picks up the show.

Any idea why Alias is only recording one minute?

Originally posted by Club Chapin
I did this, but the information remains in both the guide (Menu>HDTV) and the ondemand. For example I only subscribe to HBO, not Cinemax, Starz, or Shotime. But when I select Menu>HDTV, programming for these channels is in the listing. The same is true of on demand programming (which is otherwise pretty cool! [I was not a cable subscriber before yesterday])The Menu->HDTV option seems to be a "canned" query, which is always run against the entire guide. You are correct that it doesn't filter out results based on which channels you've removed from the guide. Not good for you, but I'd argue there are just as many people (like me) who'd prefer to see ALL the HD shows, including those in non-subscribed channels. If I can see what I'm missing, then I can decide whether to subscribe or not.
Also, how do I get a listing of analog, digital, HD, and channels I subscribe to for setting up the tune ring? They have left me none of this info, nor have they told me where to get it.No such list. It's frankly pretty hard to find exactly what's included in your subscription packages, both before & after you sign up. Welcome to Comcast...You'd think that at a minimum that it would be smart enough to only include channels that I subscribe to in the tune ring, and let me remove from there. Same for the guide. I can't fathom why they don't do this. I guess they want to frustrate their customers. It's easy to see why people hate the cable companies.I totally disagree. Maybe you have a different idea based on your term "tune ring" but I think that "Favorite Channels" are almost always a TINY subset of all the channels you've scubscribed to. Much easier to ADD my 12 actual favorite channels than to delete the 230 channels I'v subscribed that AREN'T my favorites.

A few points regarding CC support:

1) SHORTCUT FOR TOGGLING CC? I hate the fact that I need to turn off my DVR and go into the special setup menu in order turn CC on or off. I realize that a majority of people leave CC either on or off all the time, but there is a significant minority of people who like to toggle this behavior while watching programming. I'd really like a shortcut to toggle the on/off behavior for CC. I'm OK with all the special CC settings being in the OFF-MENU location since I think it's reasonable that those be set once and left alone, which brings me to my second topic...

2) CC OPTIONS DON'T WORK? None of the settings in the menu like font or color or transparency for CC seem to work on my 6412. The CC always looks the same --- pretty bad, actually... the text could do with some cleaning up, which brings us to...

3) UNREADABLE TEXT. Well, pretty darn close anyway. I used to think my TV's NTSC CC with it's big blocky letters was ugly, but at least that was legible.

What are other people thoughts/experiences?

Originally posted by jimre
I totally disagree. Maybe you have a different idea based on your term "tune ring" but I think that "Favorite Channels" are almost always a TINY subset of all the channels you've subscribed to. Much easier to ADD my 12 actual favorite channels than to delete the 230 channels I'v subscribed that AREN'T my favorites.

Thanks for the answers. As far as the above goes, I am referring to the entire tune ring (Ch +, Ch - and guide) Right now, a + or - steps past every channel that I haven't removed, whether I am subscribed or not. I agree that favorites is a much smaller subset that is what I actually watch. I think I'd like it to automatically disable from the main tune ring (ch +/ ch-) the channels I am not subscribed to. (I haven't set up favorites yet, are they ch +/-? I just went down a list of channels and unticked some of the ones I don't use {this removed them from the guide, although not the ondemand or HDTV listing}. I'm not sure what a lot of them are.)

at any rate, thanks again. Once I'm used to it, the benefits will hopefully outweigh the frustrations of this new box.

Is there a resource where I can get a channel lineup for comcast seattle, at least to use that as a start for removing channels?

Thanks again, Pete

Originally posted by thordad
Wanting to see if anyone else has experienced this and/or know of any solutions.

For the last two weeks have had Lost and Alias set to record on 104. Lost records without a problem. Alias ends up only recording one minute, the minute of overlap with Lost.

Last night I checked the DVR while watching Alias and it showed it as recording. In fact during the overlap it showed both Lost and Alias recording. 15 minutes into it I checked Alias and it also showed it recording. This morning I checked and only 1 minute recorded.

I'm thinking I'll either add 60 minutes to Lost but then I lose Alias as a selection or I'll try extending Alias by 60 minutes to see if it picks up the show.

Any idea why Alias is only recording one minute?

I also have seen this exact behavior and it is HIGHLY IRRITATING. Two nights ago, Lost and another show were recording. 30 min into the shows, the DVR showed they were recording. When I checked last night, Lost was gone but the other show was there. I had also set Law and Order to record, and both lost and the other show ended at 9 pm while L&O started at 10 pm. Of course, L&O did not record at all! And again tonight, nothing is scheduled to record all night except ER and I made sure ER was scheduled. Just checked it - NO ER.

I am officially mad. I owned the DISH PVR 508 and had no recording issues at all. Do the people with iGuide have to put up with this? And am I doing something wrong? This is ridiculous.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BEK
[B]A few points regarding CC support:


I need CC and find that if I stay in CC1 when playing some HBO movies that a black square superimposes for audio. If I vhange to CC2 it is okay but it's a pain having to switch around all the time. I Changed the color to yellow and made it transparent which really helps. I think the trouble is that the need for CC is pretty small and too insignifigant to bother with - I hope that's not true.

Incidentally I bought a device called TV Ears and they are terrific, much better than any other I tried, which includes Radio Shack and Recoton. They are infrared, only line of sight but clarity is so good that often I don't have to read the CC.

Nodrog, thanks for the info regarding your CC experiences.

When I tried to adjust the font, color and transparency I saw no effect.
I don't think I ever tried CC2.
Any hint about why I wasn't seeing a color change, etc.. when I adjusted the associated settings?

Originally posted by BEK
Nodrog, thanks for the info regarding your CC experiences.

When I tried to adjust the font, color and transparency I saw no effect.
I don't think I ever tried CC2.
Any hint about why I wasn't seeing a color change, etc.. when I adjusted the associated settings?

Did you change the settings at the bottom to USER? I changed my font to yellow and chose transparency in order to see action behind CC.
Good luck. Incidentally I have no vested interest in TV Ears, I just think they fit my needs real well.

I'm having the same problems that at least two others have noted about the 6412 failing to record programs. I think my problem does not relate to the 1 minute overlap issue. I've had several occasions where the DVR says it recorded 60 minutes of a program, but in fact I have only a few minutes. During an Amazing Race this past week, the DVR recorded the first 20 minutes, and the last 25 or so, leaving out a chunk in the middle.

I had Microsoft Ultimate TV with DirectTV before switching to Comcast for the affordable HD. The recording in my old set-up was completely reliable.

Unreliable recording is really bad. I wonder if I have a bad box -- or would this more likely be a software issue for which an update could be issued?

I'm at risk of getting abused by other family members for making the switch . . .

During an Amazing Race this past week, the DVR recorded the first 20 minutes, and the last 25 or so, leaving out a chunk in the middle This sounds like a reboot- did you show 2 separate listings for Amazing Race: one for the first 20 minutes-and the other for the final 25 minutes?

Your suggestion is correct -- Amazing Race showed as two listings in the DVR. Now, why would the device choose to reboot during a recording?

The first month I had the 6412, it behaved perfectly. Now it reboots at least once a day (I know this happens because after it reboots the cable box is off). I have watched the box reboot itself 3,4,5 times in a row before it manages to stay on (current time is displayed on the box). I have not discovered a pattern. I have the same pixellation issues when recording 2 shows and watching a third as described by others. And I never ever use the FF or RW features if recording 2 shows at once. Fortunately I have 2 networked RePlayTV's that I use a backup to record all programs--useful for filling in the holes in shows that end up being split into two recording because of a reboot

Originally posted by nodrog2
Did you change the settings at the bottom to USER?

Doh! That was my problem. Thanks nodrog. My CC looks worlds better. Now if only I could toggle it ON/OFF without turning off the DVR...

Originally posted by BEK
Doh! That was my problem. Thanks nodrog. My CC looks worlds better. Now if only I could toggle it ON/OFF without turning off the DVR...

Hopefully that will be addressed as well as the pixelating problems that are such a pain. Our problem is not enough users need CC, it's great getting older isn't it.
If you, or any other users find the right CC, be it 1 2 3 etc , one that works for most formats I would appreciate the info.

I'm currently set to CC1 and it's working well for me on most shows. I thought CC1 was the usual channel to use and that the other channels were for other languages. I'd assume that if there was nothing on CC1 then there would be nothing on the other channels either, though if you happened across a show which had (say) Spanish on CC1 then CC2 could conceivably have English (though I personally have never seen this happen).

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BEK
[B]I'm currently set to CC1 and it's working well for me on most shows.

I also usee CC1 mostly but like I say, some HBO audio puts a black rectangle in the middle of the screen unless I change to CC2. Then I have to do the power bit to go back to CC1.

Enough on this I guess as it is off the topic for most others.

Originally posted by burger23
The first month I had the 6412, it behaved perfectly. Now it reboots at least once a day (I know this happens because after it reboots the cable box is off). I have watched the box reboot itself 3,4,5 times in a row before it manages to stay on (current time is displayed on the box). I have not discovered a pattern. I have the same pixellation issues when recording 2 shows and watching a third as described by others. And I never ever use the FF or RW features if recording 2 shows at once. Fortunately I have 2 networked RePlayTV's that I use a backup to record all programs--useful for filling in the holes in shows that end up being split into two recording because of a reboot

I have 2 6412s

one in the HT and is having the same recording problems with alias and lost that others have discribed. The one in the bedroom is going crazy. I reboots multiple times in a row, at random and in the middle of watching TV. I dont think its a full reboot because the guide works fine right away.

anyideas???

I'm another user with the short Alias recording issue. I've been out of town, so I have not checked last week's recording, but the previous week showed a full hour, but contained only one minute.

Before reading these posts, I thought I had hit a weird bug. My Lost recording ended before scenes from next week, so I switched over to the recording of Alias to watch just that part, hitting stop at about the one minute mark (I remember stopping it when the Bahamas location title came up). Then, later when I went to watch Alias it ended at the same point I hit stop previously. I thought my actions were related to truncating the recording, but it sound like that may not be the case.

Whatever the cause, this is a big, hairy bug. What is the most effective way of getting attention focused on this by Comcast (I imagine it is they who must then work with MS on a fix)?

Thanks,

--Mike

Since I posted the original question about Lost and Alias, I'm glad to see I'm not alone. I'm beginning to think the software is unable to handle the strange start/end times of ABC programs. Both of these programs start 1 or 2 minutes past the hour and are inconsistent from week to week.

Last Thursday I tried to recreate the situation with CSI and Without A Trace. The guide showed these both starting on the hour, not a minute or two late. The recordings of both shows worked without a hitch.

This Wednesday I'm going to setup both Lost and Alias to record an extra hour. Hopefully I'll get Alias on at least one of the recordings.

Given this seems to be a software bug, I hope Shannon from Microsoft is reviewing the board for issues.

I think it's time for a firmware update (or two). My 6412 is at 9.09, and I've seen references on the i-guide board to 9.12, with them clamoring for another update. And there's a definite need for an update to the Microsoft part after our two months of beta testing.

Funny you should ask. My 6412 firmware just got updated today. Last week it had this:

Guide Build: 17.16 (24378S)
GIOS: 9.09
Page Version: 24385It now has the following:

Guide Build: 17.16 (25036S)
GIOS: 9.12
Page Version: 24385So the Guide Build has been updated - this is the core MSTV FE "client" software running on the box. And the GIOS has been updated - this is the Motorola firmware. But the Page Version is still the same - these are the "user interface pages" that you see on the screen. Hopefully this will fix a lot of the bugs we're seeing....

Originally posted by jimre
Funny you should ask. My 6412 firmware just got updated today...

Oooh! So did mine. I checked this morning and it was still 9.09 -- now on to more and different bugs. (My Guide build shows 17.18.)

Originally posted by wareagle
... (My Guide build shows 17.18.) Yep - sorry, typo. Mine says 17.18 as well.

How do I check the version? Sorry if this has been answered already, but my search turned up nothing.

Originally posted by AGSmith
How do I check the version? Sorry if this has been answered already, but my search turned up nothing. I believe it's Menu->Settings->Cable Box->Diagnostics

On December 16th I posted that I was on Guide build 17.16 (243785).

Now we are on Guide build 17.18.

My guess is that not much has changed.

Nothing *visible* should have changed, since we're on the same "Page Version" as before (these pages are the visible user interface). This version should be all underlying bug fixes.

Update to

17.18 (25036S)

GIOS 09.12

here as well.

Lets hope for some of our requests to have been fixed

Rich

I've done the search, but can't seem to find anything about this on this thread. My question concerns the series options and repeats when it comes to shows like The Simpsons that are syndicated to death. I understand that Comcast needs to keep up with their guide, but I don't understand about the "record at" function. I've set the options to do only new, but of course it records a bunch that aren't new because the guide doesn't say new. Fine, so I set the next option to record on channel 13 at 8:00pm only. Nothing changes. I change it again to record all showings (still only new), and it adds about 21 more recordings. I go back in and change it back to record on channel 13 at 8:00pm only and nothing is scheduled to record. Anyone else have this problem and is there a solution or do I just have to wait for almight Comcast to do an update?

I've noticed the same problem recording The Simpsons. I tell it to record only channel 113 at 8:00 PM, but it ignores that setting and insists on recording every show, regardless of time. My solution was to program a manual series recording at 8:00 PM every Sunday night.

I stressed the 6412 quite a bit last night with simultaneous recording and overlaps, and saw nothing of the pixelation problem. Perhaps a fix for that has been incorporated. Or else I'm determined to jinx the system.

A note to shannonv of MS (and Motorola as well as Comcast in general) -- it would really be nice if we knew what purported fixes have been included in this version so we could expedite our beta testing.

Thanks Joe! That's what I've been doing too, but I try to mess around with the thing at least once a day to see if any of the bugs have been fixed. It's kind of lame that Comcast doesn't tell you what works and what doesn't work. I'm fine with bugs, as early adopters of new tech you kind of have to be, but I just like to know what works correctly and what doesn't work correctly instead of just messing around hoping that it works today. Oh well, Comcast isn't exactly known for their steller customer service. There still is no announcement in my email that the DVR box is available in my area and I've had the darn thing for weeks now!

I've got the updated firmware, too.

Alias recorded in full after Lost, tonight.

--Mike

Now I am really happy. When I am recording something on an HD channel and watch something that has been recorded, my HD channels all go black. The only way to get it back is to reset the box, which I have done like 10 times. I called Comcast and they are sending a guy out today with a new box. Amazing.

Originally posted by Llamas
I've got the updated firmware, too.

Alias recorded in full after Lost, tonight.

--Mike

I didn't check the firmware but Lost and Alias both recorded successfully for me last night. I had added 60 min to my record time for both Lost and Alias and for both I recorded 2 hrs.

I'm going to keep Lost with the extra hour as a safety measure for Alias until I'm sure this wasn't a fluke. That way I'm sure I get Alias one way or another.

Has anyone able to figure out discrete power codes for the 6412?

As far as I've been able to tell it doesn't support discrete power codes but I thought I'd ask anyway. I find this really annoying as I've been having a hard time incorporating this box into my HT macros without discrete power codes.

Motorola cable boxes have never had discrete power codes. You can "fake" discrete on/off with remote macros as follows:

"discrete" off:
=============
MENU
<delay .5 sec>
POWER


"discrete" on:
=============
MENU
<delay .5 sec>
POWER
<delay .5 sec>
POWER


This works because if the unit is OFF, the MENU button will turn it on & bring up the diagnostics menu. It's not pretty - you'll probably get ugly screen flashes. But it mostly works. You might have to play with the delay times, depending on your remote.

Just leave it on. Why do you need to turn if off?

--pat

I just leave mine on all the time. But last year those "pseudo-discrete" codes came in handy when the 6200 boxes had a bug with their DVI/HDCP copy-protection. Before they fixed this bug, the workaround required turning the cable box off before turning the TV off, and likewise TV on first, then cable box. Fortunately that bug was fixed last fall.

Anyone found some good tips and tricks for running the 6412? Here's one. Maybe we can start collecting them somewhere.

1) Skipping commercials. To mimic the FF then rewind briefly that TIVO offers, you can press FF up to four times to quickly fast forward past the commercials. Instead of pressing Play to stop the FF, press the Instant Replay button. I can do this pretty well with FF2 but FF3 is still too fast for me to catch the resumption of the show.

Others?

Art

Originally posted by psloan
Just leave it on. Why do you need to turn if off?
If I leave on the 6412 my audio stays on as I don't turn off my amplifier (it doesn't have discrete power codes either).

I leave my 6412 turned on all the time but quite often the next morning it is in the off position. During the night something happens. If its a new download I suppose that could cause it. Any thoughts?

Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

Looks like Microsoft is making a big splash with their Guide Software.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050128/verizon_microsoft_tv_11.html

Looks like Shan is going to be very busy!

With this updated firmware, does the 30 sec skip work now?

The 30-sec skip will never work on the 6412-- software is designed so it will never work.

Originally posted by burger23
The 30-sec skip will never work on the 6412-- software is designed so it will never work. To be clear (from a previous ShannonV post): the MS software supports 30-sec skip just fine. But the feature was deliberately disabled at Comcast's insistence - and they are Microsoft's actual customer, not us.

Originally posted by jimre
To be clear (from a previous ShannonV post): the MS software supports 30-sec skip just fine. But the feature was deliberately disabled at Comcast's insistence - and they are Microsoft's actual customer, not us.

That is what I thought and since Comcast just updated the firmware, I was wondering if they added this feature back in. Has anyone actually tried it to see if it works?

Originally posted by jimre
To be clear (from a previous ShannonV post): the MS software supports 30-sec skip just fine. But the feature was deliberately disabled at Comcast's insistence - and they are Microsoft's actual customer, not us. Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

What is very strange is that on the i-Guide (for Comcast also) the 30 Second Skip works just fine. Go figure.

Note: My 6412 has had Firmware 9.12 since I received it in November.

IMHO, if Comcast has a way (and they do since I have to use their box), they will NEVER allow the 30-second skip. Too much pressure from the networks. I use 2 ReplayTV 5040's to record my non-digital content-- and, of course, they have automatic commercial advance. While I really miss this feature, being I realist I have got the FFx3 followed by RWx2 followed by Play done to about 7 seconds--something my wife and I can live with :-)

Originally posted by burger23
IMHO, if Comcast has a way (and they do since I have to use their box), they will NEVER allow the 30-second skip. Too much pressure from the networks. I use 2 ReplayTV 5040's to record my non-digital content-- and, of course, they have automatic commercial advance. While I really miss this feature, being I realist I have got the FFx3 followed by RWx2 followed by Play done to about 7 seconds--something my wife and I can live with :-) Comcast will NEVER willingly allow their own equipment to perform any kind of commercial skip, 30-second or otherwise. It's not just "pressure from the networks". Don't forget - Comcast IS a TV network. They own G4/TechTV, Golf Channel, E! Entertainment, OLN, International Channel, Comcast Sportsnet, Style Network, etc. And of course they very nearly ended up owning Disney/ABC last year. Not to mention selling local cable "insert" ads on other people's networks. Advertising revenue is very important to them, and they're not going to do ANYTHING to make it easier to skip commercials.

Lots of posts on this, but in the last 3 days, 4 recordings have approx. only 3 minutes each of actual recorded program. The recoding info says there is the proper amount of recording - 33 minutes, or 1 hr 3 minutes - but the status bar says different. On two of the programs I looked and the DVR said it was recording right up to the end, but playback cannot access whatever is happening. I've tried unplugging, but did not lose recordings nor scheduled recordings, nor series recordings as found in Series Manager, so maybe I didn't do the hard reset right. I am extremely disappointed in my switch from DirecTV Tivo. For those from MS who monitor this forum, please fix this, you see it is engendering a large amount of ill will. Thank you to anyone who has any hints on what to do in the meantime. Thank you.

SeattleUser - did your 6412 get updated to the new firmware last week? A lot of people had similar problems in the past, but I haven't yet seen any of these complaints from people with upgraded firmware. Interesting to see if yours is upgraded or not.

To check: Menu->Settings->Cable Box->Diagnostics

new version should have:

GIOS: 9.12
Guide Build: 17.18

SeattleUser - I see you also posted in the 6412 w/ IGuide thread. That's for the version of the 6412 *without* Microsoft software (most places except Seattle). If they're having the same problem w/ truncated shows, then it can't be a Microsoft problem, must be something in the core Motorola firmware.

Build is 17.18
GIOS 09.12

I posted to 6412 w/ IGuide because I didn't know this thread existed. I have Microsoft. I also had Ultimate TV - the MS precursor to the operating system in the 6412 - and it had similar problems with it, shows not recording, not recording completely, delays on clicks, not understanding repeats as does Tivo, etc, etc. Check old posts. Having lots of negative flashbacks now. Hopefully this helps the MS people looking at this.

Thanks to this thread, I dumped my Tivoes and returned to (gasp!) Comcast. After the obnoxious installers left, I must say the initial impressions are not that bad. The analog channels weren't as bad as I expected (maybe my expectations where lowered enough), and the DVR worked mostly as expected. The HD channels were great; HD HBO movies were so good that I've watched a few filmed I would have never watched otherwise. With my MCE2005 server recording with 2 receivers, a bedroom extender, and a MCE2005 HTPC recording CBS HD next to the MS DVR, I finally got a networked HDTV DVR solution I can live with.

However, I do have one problem of which I don't see mentioned in the thread (maybe it has been mentioned but my search didn't find it: when watching HD recordings, FF1 would sometime hang the system. The DVR would be in perpetual FF mode and none of the buttons on the remote or front panel would work. The only way to stop this would be to unplug the DRV. Not a good way to enjoy TV. Anyone else having this problem? Know of a work-around to stop it aside from reboot?

Originally posted by burger23
IMHO, if Comcast has a way (and they do since I have to use their box), they will NEVER allow the 30-second skip.

I wonder if as Remotes become smarter, or are now, we can get around the lack of 30 sec skip by a command macro of the form:

. . . FF, FF, FF, FF (Wait 3.2 seconds) Stop.

I find that I can sort of do this manually, but will probably be moving up to a smart Remote and hope that they will support such macros. (if not now in the future)

Originally posted by Abubo
...However, I do have one problem of which I don't see mentioned in the thread (maybe it has been mentioned but my search didn't find it: when watching HD recordings, FF1 would sometime hang the system. The DVR would be in perpetual FF mode and none of the buttons on the remote or front panel would work. The only way to stop this would be to unplug the DRV. Not a good way to enjoy TV. Anyone else having this problem? Know of a work-around to stop it aside from reboot? Microsoft already has a fix for the "stuck on FF" bug & has delivered it to Comcast. Whenever Comcast finishes their testing & sends out the next update for the "Page Files" we should get that fix.

. . . FF, FF, FF, FF (Wait 3.2 seconds) Stop.

I have a Phillips Pronto programmable remote and you can program in time delays as part of a given button action. I will give your suggestion a try when I get back in town (Spokane) on Friday.

Originally posted by mll
I wonder if as Remotes become smarter, or are now, we can get around the lack of 30 sec skip by a command macro of the form:

. . . FF, FF, FF, FF (Wait 3.2 seconds) Stop.

I find that I can sort of do this manually, but will probably be moving up to a smart Remote and hope that they will support such macros. (if not now in the future)

Wouldn't that take you to FF4? According to the FAQ (for MSFT FE -- don't know about Palo Alto):

"FF – (3,15,60,300x default speeds)"

So 3.2 seconds of FF4 would advance 960 seconds. For a 30-second advance it eems like 2 seconds of FF2 would do it, 0.5 seconds of FF3, or 0.1 seconds of FF4 (if the remote can react that quickly).

Originally posted by wareagle
Wouldn't that take you to FF4? ... So 3.2 seconds of FF4 would advance 960 seconds. .

I am using the i-Guide system, so the timeing may be different, It seems to me that it takes about 1-2 seconds of FF4 to get 3 minutes, but if I can tune the Remote, then we can see what seems to work. Otherwise we are stuck with manual fast forwarding...

Thanks for the computation, I did not do it, but just wanted to raise the possibility of using the remote with sufficient flexability to achieve the skip 3 minutes function.

Two issues:

1) still having recordings record only a couple minutes of a show then, despite it saying it recorded the whole show in the minutes of the recorded info screen, it has only about 3 minutes of accessible recording. I see lots of other posts regarding this problem, but no solutions. Has anyone found anything that works?

2) Trying to figure out why, when I have Simpsons set to record on Fox at 8:00 only (and New Only) it records every instance from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.? Again, I've seen posts, but the solutions are to do Manual records, which end up recording every instance, new or repeat, which is not what I'm trying to do. It would be great if we could restrict recordings to particular days, or even better, Tivo somehow figured out how to get only the truly New shores, whatever time or day they were on. Either way, anyone figure out how to record just the new Sunday episodes?

Originally posted by mll
Thanks for the computation, I did not do it, but just wanted to raise the possibility of using the remote with sufficient flexability to achieve the skip 3 minutes function.

I'm not sure the response time to the commands is predictable enough to time a 30-second skip with any degree of accuracy. I suppose 3 minutes would be easier to achieve, but less useful since the length of commercial breaks varies so much.

In fact I'm not even sure if the 'x' factor of each FF speed is consistent. I'm pretty sure the jump back button does not always jump back the same amount of time. It might be affected by things like the number and location of key frames in the MPEG2 stream.

--
Steve

When I first got my 6412 I set up a bunch of series recordings for a certain show. That show was on back-to-back-to-back on some days so I set up a series recording for each time slot. That worked, except that the DVR showed multiple duplicate listings in my recorded shows. It was as if it would lump all the recordings of that show together, regardless of time slot, and then list that identical grouping multiple times.

When I saw what was happening I lived with it for a few weeks until I realized that maybe I was wrong to set up a different series recording for each time slot, and that maybe the 6412 would only require a single series request to record all episodes on that channel for that show, regardless of the time slot. But this didn't prove to be the case as it didn't record certain showings on nights when multiple episodes were aired.

Can someone explain exactly what a "series" recording is supposed to be? (e.g., is it connected to a time slot or not?)

Has anyone else been fighting this problem? Thanks.

Far as I can tell a series recording is a set with the same title. Time slot or day doesn't seem to make a different. I haven't tried anything that 's on different channels.

Thanks for the reply Art. In my case the show is always on the same channel, but some episodes record and other's don't (unless I set up a separate Series for each time slot).

Originally posted by BEK
Thanks for the reply Art. In my case the show is always on the same channel, but some episodes record and other's don't (unless I set up a separate Series for each time slot).
Interesting... far as I can tell, I haven't missed any recordings. But, I suspect my recording sked isn't as busy as yours. Art

There is a menu called something like 'series manager'. under it you can select a series and you will see that you can change the default settings to 'record on channel at any time'. So that leads me to believe that the default series record is to record at the specified time only. I wish there was a way to change the default so that every time I set up a new series I don't have to go in and modify the settings. I always change it to 'record at any time' in case something bumps my show to a new channel or (such as in the case of Lost recently) it will record the shows that end up being 1hr5min.

Originally posted by djmattyb
There is a menu called something like 'series manager'. under it you can select a series and you will see that you can change the default settings to 'record on channel at any time'. So that leads me to believe that the default series record is to record at the specified time only. I wish there was a way to change the default so that every time I set up a new series I don't have to go in and modify the settings. I always change it to 'record at any time' in case something bumps my show to a new channel or (such as in the case of Lost recently) it will record the shows that end up being 1hr5min.
I don't think the default series is to record at the same time only. I have a series recording set for Carnivale on HBO and it seems to record about every instance of the show during the week. Guess it's time to go fiddle with the series manager.

I wonder if my problem is that I initiated the Series recording from the Guide and that maybe in that scenario it assumes you want to only record the Series in that specific time slot. But then when I initiated Series for the same show in the other time slots (again, from the Guide) I got the weird multiple-listing problem I described earlier. I'll check out my Series Manager settings tonight.

BEK, I, too, get weird double-listings. I set up all my recordings from the Guide. Only in the last few minutes have I gone in and set the series options for the series I have scheduled. I'll see what happens.

I tried to create a pseudo 30 second skip on my Phillips Pronto remote and I can say that it sort of worked. It took a little trial and error, but here is what I found was close

Program a button for FF, FF, FF Delay 1.2 seconds, Play

I found that the results were inconsistent between 25 and 45 seconds, so I'm not sure how useful it will be. I'm not sure if this is a function of the remote sending it's IR commands, the reaction time of the 6412, or both. Also, it is probably actually slower that manually fast forwarding and attempting to hit play in time since it takes about 5 seconds for the whole macro to cycle, then you press it again, etc. It's not nearly as good as instant access 30 second digital skip.

Regarding my previous post on the pseudo 30 second skip, I found that I used this quite a bit last night. I would still use the FF3 manually, but in those cases where you hit Play too soon before the end of the commercials, I would use my new Skip button and then possibly the Replay button once or twice. This was better than going to FF2 and then blowing past the end of the commercials.

Art, I fixed all my Series last night. They had all been set to record only in a specific time slot. Didn't think I had done them all from the guide but maybe I did. I fixed them all. Then I noticed that in some cases the Scheduled recordings indicated it would record the exact same episode twice if it aired again later the same night [sigh]. So I ended up switching a few shows back to the timeslot method. If I end up getting lots of duplicate episodes recorded I may have to switch a few other Series back too. But I'm hopeful that things will improve now. Oh, and thanks to djmattyb who pointed out the Series Options. I had looked at these when I first got the box but had forgotten they included a time option.

EDIT: Accidental repost deleted. Sorry. [grrr Damned Back button did me in]

Originally posted by amorsell
Regarding my previous post on the pseudo 30 second skip, I found that I used this quite a bit last night.

Note: I have not build this up, but I have a Replay, and find that I have "macroized" a 2 and 3 minute skip. If the pronto can be programmed with a 2 and 3 minute skip, and if it is more reliable, then you may want to try those, also?, It seems to me that many of the shows have 2 minute sets at the start and then move to 3 minute setss, so I find that these are quite useful.

BEK - Yeah I know what you mean. I'm having to watch the scheduled recordings every night until I get a feel for how this works.

So has anyone archived a HD show from the DVR to a PC via Firewire? Is that possible?

Originally posted by Abubo
So has anyone archived a HD show from the DVR to a PC via Firewire? Is that possible? Sure. Just follow the instructions in the first post in this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=403695&perpage=20&pagenumber=1).

Chalk one up for Microsoft -- there are a number of people reporting a common DVR bug in forums dedicated to iGuide. The problem is that a recording set up for an HD channel reverts to the corresponding SD channel -- apparently because the NAME in the guide is the same for the SD and the HD channel. I haven't had any problem with 108, 109, 112, and 119, which are all referred to as KCTSDT, or NFLNET (same name for 180 and 181), so it's not likely to show up with the Microsoft guide. This is a bug that would be very frustrating, especially since the fix seems trivial -- change the names.

OK, I have been a DirectTV customer for years, with UltimateTV.

I LOVED UltimateTV, but made to move to Comcast DVR with HD in the past month.

Even though there are numerous bugs, while UltimateTV had absolutely ZERO bugs, I am glad I made the switch. HD is awesome !!! and I am saving a few bucks.

Now for the stupid question.

I have been reading the forum for hours, and have only gotten through 18 pages, and I am experiencing many of the problems described, and have many of the same gripes as told by others.

But my question is how do I know what system I have: iGuide, or Microsoft.

I am Comcast, in Guilford, CT.

and if I have Microsoft, I cannot setup the skip button, but with iGuide I can?

Finally, what are some cool things I can do with the Motorola 6412.

thanks

joe

Currently only Washington state Comcast customers have access to Microsoft software-- so you have iGuide.

The 6412 allows recording to built in hard drive up to about 12 hours--2 shows can be recorded at the same time while watching a previously recorded third show.

Originally posted by walshja
...my question is how do I know what system I have: iGuide, or Microsoft.

I am Comcast, in Guilford, CT.

Microsoft is only available in Washington State, so you have iGuide.

Here is a forum for 6412 with iGuide:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=464986&perpage=60&pagenumber=50

Do I hear an echo???

Originally posted by artshotwell
Do I hear an echo???

No, just two simultaneous replies to the first posting in two days.

For those of you who have had (or still have) the HDtivo (directv) and are now using the Seattle area 6412, how are you liking the change in function and interface for navigating and recording HD material? It looks like there are some 6412 glitches but that overall people are enjoying using it.

Also are the connections in place in the back of the 6412 to playback or archive recordings to a DVD recorder? This is easy to do with the HDtivo as it has the RCA output connectors to allow direct recording on a dvd recorder. Is there audio and video outputs from the 6412 so that the same can be done? Many thanks.

Some recordings fail to start.

I've noticed that some recordings are failing to start, which is very strange. For instance, I've got ABC Evening news set to record every night at 6 pm on KOMO. They show up in the scheduled recordings list, but then they don't record. They were working at one time, then I went in and set some series options, including leaving only the most recent recording.

This is very disconcerting.

Art --

I set up series to test for you, with both 4 and 104. Which did you have trouble with?

Last night when Lost and Smallville were starting to record at 8pm, I saw that in the DVR guide there were two entries for Lost. Both said they started at 8:00, and Smallville was recording with only one entry. I happened to be watching a recorded show at the time and of course the DVR was unresponsive (or at least several minutes delay). When watching Lost on a delayed basis the pixellation and audio breaks were horrible. I believe this is well documented in this thread but I didn't want Comcast/MSFT to ignore it just because it wasn't repeated ad nauseum.

I don't know if a software/firmware update can address this or not. It seems that it's a "horsepower" problem.

Sure like the addition of Ch107 KIRO-HD, however.

Tim

Originally posted by hendjaz
...Also are the connections in place in the back of the 6412 to playback or archive recordings to a DVD recorder? This is easy to do with the HDtivo as it has the RCA output connectors to allow direct recording on a dvd recorder. Is there audio and video outputs from the 6412 so that the same can be done? Many thanks.
In addition to the standard HD component outputs, the 6412 has a firewire output for HD capturing (.ts stream with AC3 audio) and RCA (composite) jacks for 480i ouput and stereo audio. I don't know if your HDTivo outputs 480p and anamorphic, but the 6412 doesn't. For non-HD, the best it can do is 480i with the HD's 16:9 aspect ratio letterboxed in a 4:3 format.

All the best,

Tim

Originally posted by wareagle
Art --

I set up series to test for you, with both 4 and 104. Which did you have trouble with?
My problem was with 4.

Originally posted by tluxon
In addition to the standard HD component outputs, the 6412 has a firewire output for HD capturing (.ts stream with AC3 audio) and RCA (composite) jacks for 480i ouput and stereo audio. I don't know if your HDTivo outputs 480p and anamorphic, but the 6412 doesn't. For non-HD, the best it can do is 480i with the HD's 16:9 aspect ratio letterboxed in a 4:3 format.
All the best,Tim
I think the 6412 will output SD in 480p. If you make the change in the setup menu.

I have been following this thread for a while and have not seen where someone has addressed this issue (if it even is one). I just bought a Lite-on DVD recorder (#5005) to record some of the progs off the DVR. When I pipe an S-video connection to the DVD recorder (or directly to the TV for that matter - I checked), the HD aspect ratio is messed up no matter what I do. I have the box connected via DVI to my 16:9 TV with the box set at 1080i and 16:9. Everything is fine with widescreen HD signals. When I view the same image on the s-video connection, the image is compressed with black bars on the top and bottom. If I go into the power off menu of the box and change the tv type to 4:3 PS, the black bars go away, but the sides of the image are chopped off (maybe 5-10% on each side) then the image is stretched sideways to compensate. The 4:3 LB setting looks the same as the 16:9 - with bars. What am I missing?

fcastle, you're not missing anything. Unfortunately the 6412 (and all Motorola HD boxes) doesn't downconvert HD anamorphically so it doesn't preserve 16:9 via S-video or composite outputs no matter what settings you try. If you want 16:9 aspect ratio preserved you have to capture to a PC via firewire port and then downconvert yourself using software (see my sig link below).

Originally posted by moyekj
fcastle, you're not missing anything. Unfortunately the 6412 (and all Motorola HD boxes) doesn't downconvert HD anamorphically so it doesn't preserve 16:9 via S-video or composite outputs no matter what settings you try. If you want 16:9 aspect ratio preserved you have to capture to a PC via firewire port and then downconvert yourself using software (see my sig link below).

That's weak. And thanks!

An issue I'm having that I haven't seen anything about is the audio being off-sync. The audio seems to be playing a tick earlier than the video and I find in annoying. This happens outputted through both analog and digital outs, either through the TV or through my receiver respectively.

Anybody else experiencing this? Is there a reason or work-around?

Thanks,
Jeff

Audio sync. Yes, yes. Annoying. Glad someone else is seeing it, too. I see it now and then and haven't figured out if it's the station, the cable or the box. Audio just a tick ahead of the video.

I have noticed that too..esp when coming out of a ffw/rew. Some channels (KOMO previously) were worse than others.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen that it's consistant, so I can use the audio delay on my receiver to compensate for it.

Rich

I found out a bug in 6412.

If you have a HD recording going on, you cannot enter the user settings menu. Try this:

1. Start some HD recording.
2. Turn off the STB
3. Press Menu to enter the user settings menu.

Nothing happens. No user settings menu.

Do any of you guys see this or my STB is broken.

Thanx

_Golu.

This is what I'd expect.

Originally posted by golu
I found out a bug in 6412.

If you have a HD recording going on, you cannot enter the user settings menu. Try this:

1. Start some HD recording.
2. Turn off the STB
3. Press Menu to enter the user settings menu.

Nothing happens. No user settings menu.

Do any of you guys see this or my STB is broken.

Thanx

_Golu. It doesn't work by design. In 6412 with Passport software if you do this it will actually kill any ongoing recordings, so probably MSFT software does not allow this on purpose for that reason.

it's kind of a bummer the way it is. I wanted to switch to a 720p output to watch a 720p source while recording something else, but the box wouldn't do it. same problem as above (can't bring up user settings menu)

Originally posted by artshotwell
My problem was with 4.

My first test recording of the 6PM ABC news on 4 was OK. I'll check tomorrow to see if the second one replaces the first.

An issue I'm having that I haven't seen anything about is the audio being off-sync.

I've seen this in Spokane many times for the last 1.5 years (with the older Motorala, pre DVR box and with the 6412). It is a problem with your local cable "head end" and the way it pulls together the HDTV signals and then distributes them. I've called Comcast technical support on this a couple of times and they have resolved it temporarily by re-synching the audio and video. It happens so often and inconsistently that I just live with it now.

We have the same problem with recordings failing to start. Actually, we've had the problem since we first got our box back in November. After only a couple weeks we took the box back to Comcast and they gave us a new one, but it did not help. I'm surprised that it hasn't been fixed yet as it's a pretty serious problem. BTW, we're over in Spokane and only record non-HD channels.

Well, I had another recording fail to start. Recording Lou Dobbs on CNN at 3pm. Set for daily recording, save only last recording.

Anyone notice 107 is now available? It will be nice to have another HD channel to complain about.

Originally posted by wareagle
My first test recording of the 6PM ABC news on 4 was OK. I'll check tomorrow to see if the second one replaces the first.

Art --

My test setup again recorded the 6PM ABC news on 4, and replaced the previous episode, so I don't seem to have any problem with that series.

I'd like to second the suggestion made on the basic Seattle forum that you take a look at the iGuide/6412 forum. They seem to have a lot more problems than we do with MS.

Wareagle, your new recording -replaced- an earlier episode? For me, every time I set up a series recording to leave only the latest episode recorded, I'd get no recording at all.

As for all those iGuide issues, all that means, at best, is that Microsoft makes a better product, not a good or great product. Though I'd call it a good product.

Well, I lost another scheduled recording. I had set a 10 pm Friday night recording of Monk on USA. One minute was recorded, starting at one minute before Monk started. The recording ended just at the top of the hour.

I was checking the recordings I have set up for tonight and noticed "Boston Legal" was missing. The series recording is still set up, but there are no upcoming episodes listed. I then checked the guide and saw that, for both 104 and 4, there is nothing but a big blank listed in the schedule for 10-11PM tonight and also for next Sunday. Actually the info has the name of the last program accessed via the guide and "10:02pm-11:00pm 2002". Anyone else see this?

Originally posted by artshotwell
Wareagle, your new recording -replaced- an earlier episode? For me, every time I set up a series recording to leave only the latest episode recorded, I'd get no recording at all.

That's correct. The previous day's recording was gone and the current one was there, just as it should be. Strange that people have different problems.

Originally posted by wareagle
That's correct. The previous day's recording was gone and the current one was there, just as it should be. Strange that people have different problems.
Well, I'll try that again with an unimportant series. But, all my problems have been with series recordings where I've made any changes to the series options.

I've been experiencing occasional truncated recordings but this weekend things got worse. Last night I found that 4 shows recorded over the weekend had been truncated. One had 6 minutes of an hour recorded. Another had 1 hour and 42 minutes of 2 hours recorded, etc...

And in one case a show had IT'S MIDDLE CHOPPED OUT. It showed as recording the whole hour on the PLAY/FF/RW timeline display but there was approximately 30 minutes between 28 and 58 minutes which was gone (it would JUMP from 28 to 58 minutes when either PLAYing or FFing or RWing).

I don't know if it is relevant, but all these shows were on analog channels. I record a lot of analog stuff but most of those recordings usually work fine. I did have a couple of shows this weekend which got fully recorded, so the DVR was batting something like .300 for the weekend --- pretty pathetic IMO.

My DVR has lots of disk space (hovering around 30% full) so it couldn't be running out of space. I did just replace the stereo cables with a TOSLink optical audio cable friday night, but I can't see how that could be relevant to this problem and besides, I had seen this kind of problem occasionally before the weekend.

Anyone seeing any problems like this?

EDIT: One other weird behavior I noticed last week was a show which lost every other second of audio (~1 second on, ~1 second muted for the entire show).

I did several recording this weekend and only one was truncated...to one minute. I lost several before the weekend. I had one last week truncated to 20 minutes and there was a note in the program information that the entire recording wasn't done because of a power outage or system error.

I don't recall seeing anything in the program info about the truncated shows on my box and I think I would have, but they're all deleted now. I'll check again next time it happens, not that that would really make things any better.

I've been pretty happy with the 6412 up to this point, but if it's going to lose parts of the shows I ask it to record then what's the point? I was a dinosaur using a VCR and an 8 hour tape to record all my weekly shows before I got the 6412. That may have been old-school, but at least it was reliable.

I recall reading rumors here about an upcoming update which might fix problems like this. Any news on that?

Originally posted by BEK

I recall reading rumors here about an upcoming update which might fix problems like this. Any news on that?

Over at the I-Guide forum there has been some discussion of the upgrade of the firmware from 9.12 to 9.15, now being pushed around the country, and this might apply (or not) since I-guide and MSFE may be software on top of the firmware?

I just got 9.15 , I'm on I-Guide, and it seems as though a few of my problems, PowerOff/On --> NO TV, and HD--> poor response, may have gone away.

Sorry I don't have more info, but as far as I can see Combats has not been definitive about upgrades.

Comcast NJ - Union/Verona

Currently a couple markets have received the 9.15 Firmware upgrade. Comcast is trialling it to see what the break fix is like. So far Comcast's short list of bugs seems to be addressed in 9.15.

Analog Freezing and and Power on no video/audio to name a couple are corrected in 9.15.

We should see all markets receive 9.15 in a month or so.

Mark

I was under the impression that MS has a software update for us Washingtonians which will be rolled out at some point.

Originally posted by BEK
I was under the impression that MS has a software update for us Washingtonians which will be rolled out at some point. Seattle-area 6412s got an update recently, on Jan 25 I believe. This updated the Motorola firmware to 9.12 (we had an ever older version than everyone else), and the MSTV core software to 17.18. As always there are still more updates to come, including the Motorola 9.15 firmware update (being test-deployed in some markets) and an updated version of MSTV's "Page Files", which I hear should fix the "runaway FF" bug among other things.

Yes, it's the "Page Files" update I am hoping might fix the truncated recording problem. Is this wishful thinking?

Let's hope not.

Originally posted by BEK
Yes, it's the "Page Files" update I am hoping might fix the truncated recording problem. Is this wishful thinking? From what I understand, that's probably wishful thinking. As it was explained to me - the "Page Files" are the user interface - all the visual elements that you interact with, essentially like HTML pages. I think truncated recordings is more likely a problem with the low-level OS (Motorola), the core MSTV application software, or some weird interaction with the EPG data.

Oh well. Thanks for the info jimre.

I've only had the box for a month. I'll give it another month or two to see if it continues to miss/truncate shows (it truncated 5 out of 8 shows for me this weekend). Before now it had averaged maybe one truncation a week which (and I can't believe I'm saying this) was more acceptable. But a dvr which truncates recordings even occasionally is not one I am going to stick with for very long.

EDIT: Called Comcast about this. They recommended I power-cycle the machine by unplugging it. I guess I'll give that a try.

Originally posted by BEK
...I've only had the box for a month. I'll give it another month or two to see if it continues to miss/truncate shows (it truncated 5 out of 8 shows for me this weekend). Before now it had averaged maybe one truncation a week which (and I can't believe I'm saying this) was more acceptable. But a dvr which truncates recordings even occasionally is not one I am going to stick with for very long.... What channel(s) are you seeing this on? Analog? Digital SD? Digital HD? All of the above?