For the second time in the last week or two, my TVGOS has been inaccessible. The screen displays a large message saying that listings are currently being rebuilt and will return in 24 hours. I've no idea why this is happening. And I noticed yesterday that only one out of the next eight days had anything listed. Every day except next Monday just had "No Listing" for every half hour on every channel. Anybody else having this problem? If the listings aren't back like they should be tomorrow, I'm wondering if I should redo the initial set-up as when I first got the unit. Does this sound like a problem with the TVGOS data broadcast from my local host station? I'm wondering if I should try contacting someone...

For the second time in the last week or two, my TVGOS has been inaccessible. The screen displays a large message saying that listings are currently being rebuilt and will return in 24 hours. I've no idea why this is happening. And I noticed yesterday that only one out of the next eight days had anything listed. Every day except next Monday just had "No Listing" for every half hour on every channel. Anybody else having this problem? If the listings aren't back like they should be tomorrow, I'm wondering if I should redo the initial set-up as when I first got the unit. Does this sound like a problem with the TVGOS data broadcast from my local host station? I'm wondering if I should try contacting someone...

Start by tuning to what should be your host channel, and they do the "G* Factory Test" under the "9012" -> TV Guide menu that is described in section 1.2.16 of my FAQ. If it fails the VBI test section, the problem is probably with your host channel's equipment.

Try calling or emailing the engineering department of your host channel and tell them that it appears that they are not sending out VBI data for the Gemstar/TVGOS systems.

I have to do this on occasion to get them to "reboot" their black-box equipment. Within about a half hour of them doing their reboot, I can usually re-run the VBI test and see it "Pass".

Once they reboot, your listings should start populating after the next download time (provided your system is off).

Eddie,
In one of your posts you mentioned using the Sony with a CableCard, are you doing that now?

The "local" Charter office in Bft keeps telling me that I can't watch their HD channels with their CableCard. I've asked that since the CableCard is only a decryption key, why it doesn't have the decryptions keys in place for the HD channels.

Of course, they were unable to answer that questions! (I seriously doubt if they even understood that question!) LOL

Mine's been doing the same on occasion the past few months. That and the occasional smattering of "No Listings" and/or "No Title". Or sometimes it just goes completely blank (all "No Listings"), and I have to reset, and then it comes back full within a few hours. Whenever it loses a channel's listings, it refuses to record a show that's programmed on that channel during that period. If it weren't for the great integrated tuners, this thing would almost be a total white elephant to me (I paid considerably more than the $249.99 Tweeter closeout price).

I'm beginning to think that the cable and satellite companies are paying these stations off to keep screwing it up so we'll have to rent their DVR's.

Unfortunately not. Would it matter if I changed zip codes to something north of RI?
Sorry, nevermind, same problem, WENH-DT is their SD digital channel.

This may have been discussed before, but, I had Bones and Justice red dotted to record and it disappeared. Is this a broadcast flag, TVGOS, or Sony issue?

fox

Mine's been doing the same on occasion the past few months. That and the occasional smattering of "No Listings" and/or "No Title". Or sometimes it just goes completely blank (all "No Listings"), and I have to reset, and then it comes back full within a few hours. Whenever it loses a channel's listings, it refuses to record a show that's programmed on that channel during that period. If it weren't for the great integrated tuners, this thing would almost be a total white elephant to me (I paid considerably more than the $249.99 Tweeter closeout price).

I'm beginning to think that the cable and satellite companies are paying these stations off to keep screwing it up so we'll have to rent their DVR's.

I wonder if it's something with the local TVGOS provider. My unit started doing this last week. I thought it was because I had to turn off the unit for a few minutes last Saturday afternoon. I ran the VBI test (as per an earlier post) and it passed.
So, I think I'll just sit tight and see if the listings get back in shape over the next couple of weeks.


Mitch

I wonder if it's something with the local TVGOS provider. My unit started doing this last week. I thought it was because I had to turn off the unit for a few minutes last Saturday afternoon. I ran the VBI test (as per an earlier post) and it passed.
So, I think I'll just sit tight and see if the listings get back in shape over the next couple of weeks.


MitchAre you getting the guide info from WTTW OTA? (I am.)

I know you were getting it from WBBM OTA awhile back.

Are you getting the guide info from WTTW OTA? (I am.)

I know you were getting it from WBBM OTA awhile back.


My host channel still shows something like 1:0-2 which I assume(d) means channel 2. There's definitely no "11" or "0xB." So, yes WBBM OTA is still my source.


Mitch

My host channel still shows something like 1:0-2 which I assume(d) means channel 2. There's definitely no "11" or "0xB." So, yes WBBM OTA is still my source.


Mitch

If the Host number starts with a '1' isn't it from cable?

I thought host numbers with a '0' were OTA.

Just wondering

If the Host number starts with a '1' isn't it from cable?

I thought host numbers with a '0' were OTA.

Just wondering

I didn't know that, but it really shouldn't matter - I have cable channel 2 set up as well as OTA channel 2.
But, it might point the finger at the cable company.


Mitch

If the Host number starts with a '1' isn't it from cable?

I thought host numbers with a '0' were OTA.

Just wondering

That is correct...

<snip>
From my experience, chances are it is the station's problem. This is what I am dealing with right now. I lost guide data, and I am still trying to contact the PBS station to get them to look at their equipment.

Spiff,

Have you had any luck fixing your problem.
I'm curious if there's a large scale problem with Gemstar that's affecting lots of folks.

Or, another question - to anyone who might have a thought on the matter, since I appear to get my TVGOS from cable channel 2, do you think the cable company inserts the TVGOS data? In other words, I had thought WBBM (the local channel 2 affiliate) inserted the TVGOS data and it was just passed through the cable system. But, now I'm wondering if the cable company inserts the TVGOS information.
This would also jibe with the whole channel 2 thing. If I was a cable company and I was responsible for inserting TVGOS data, I would probably just set it up to use the first channel in my line-up (i.e. channel 2).


Mitch

Spiff,

Have you had any luck fixing your problem.
I'm curious if there's a large scale problem with Gemstar that's affecting lots of folks.

Mitch

Yes mine has been working OK for the last several days...

Here's a new one for me...

Using CableCard with Comcast in Montgomery County, MD, and getting TVGOS from OTA PBS Channel 22, both my 250's now list data only for stations in the upper tier.

Like, for HBO HD on 228? Perfect.

CNN, on 62? "No Listing"

Everything in the double digits is w/o data, everything in the triple digits is fine.

This just started over the weekend..before that all was OK.

Thoughts?

Thanks

There's an open box HDD250 locally...no remote. I'm wondering if you guys would recommend this or not. I would be hooking it up w/ Comcast, no cablecard (only care about the QAM in the clear channels and analog channels). Does it tune both of these? I currently use Tivo. Does the box work well once it's set up and running or are there weekly annoyances that would make me wish I never left Tivo?

The cable company doesn't insert the GEMSTAR data. They have to pass it along with the normal NTSC analog video signal. If the cable company demodulates the video and remodulates the NTSC signal the VBI data will be lost (unless they have special equipment to maintain it.) Note they can remix the physical channel to a different channel without demodulating the video signal then the VBI information is maintained. If they use an all digital delivery then the VBI informaiton is lost.

Or, another question - to anyone who might have a thought on the matter, since I appear to get my TVGOS from cable channel 2, do you think the cable company inserts the TVGOS data? In other words, I had thought WBBM (the local channel 2 affiliate) inserted the TVGOS data and it was just passed through the cable system. But, now I'm wondering if the cable company inserts the TVGOS information.
This would also jibe with the whole channel 2 thing. If I was a cable company and I was responsible for inserting TVGOS data, I would probably just set it up to use the first channel in my line-up (i.e. channel 2).

There's an open box HDD250 locally...no remote. I'm wondering if you guys would recommend this or not. I would be hooking it up w/ Comcast, no cablecard (only care about the QAM in the clear channels and analog channels). Does it tune both of these? I currently use Tivo. Does the box work well once it's set up and running or are there weekly annoyances that would make me wish I never left Tivo?

PLEASE BUY IT FOR ME [GRIN]!

I have never had TIVO but have had great success with the HDD500 and HDD250 I have owned. I have never lost any listing data in these units. (I returned the HDD250 to get the HDD500 for $250 at Tweeter).

I have abused the unit and it still maintains all my scheduled recording and listing data. (By abuse, I mean forcing new host channels and not being able to see a guide until it is shutoff over night, but all the show that I have scheduled keep recording with no guide info showing. In the morning the entire guide returns, all 8 days. GEMSTAR only sends 3 days at a time so this means that it is able to reuse the guide information stored on the HDD after it finds the new host channel I select.)

The only nagging issues are that for some reason scheduled shows will vanish (1-2 every 3-4 months). You have to periodically look in the schedule recording list and make sure all your shows are listed. It seems to have some thing to do the GEMSTAR data as the same show will disappear from units that are in MN and FL. Also their is brief interruptions in the DD5.1 output when playing back programs (like .5 seconds and it happens every 20min or so).

I also have made a HTPC that works for OTA HD recording. I can't find any way to record clear QAM using windows MCE. MS is supposedly adding encrypted QAM support to their next OS.

There's an open box HDD250 locally...no remote. I'm wondering if you guys would recommend this or not. I would be hooking it up w/ Comcast, no cablecard (only care about the QAM in the clear channels and analog channels). Does it tune both of these? I currently use Tivo. Does the box work well once it's set up and running or are there weekly annoyances that would make me wish I never left Tivo?

I would grab that open box DVR immediately.

As you may know the biggest issues with these machines are the TVGOS, and Cablecards.

I've used mine with just OTA, Cablecard, and plain old analog cable, and the TVGOS system worked best with analog cable.

No remote is not a problem either. Mine work great with the Logitech Harmony 880. And if you don't have one of those, you can get a RM-Y823 on eBay or at this great site, which another member posted earlier (and thanks again):

http://www.dvdremotecontrols.com/Mfrs/Sony/SonyDSS/RM-Y823.htm

Enjoy!

Start by tuning to what should be your host channel, and they do the "G* Factory Test" under the "9012" -> TV Guide menu that is described in section 1.2.16 of my FAQ. If it fails the VBI test section, the problem is probably with your host channel's equipment.

Try calling or emailing the engineering department of your host channel and tell them that it appears that they are not sending out VBI data for the Gemstar/TVGOS systems.

I have to do this on occasion to get them to "reboot" their black-box equipment. Within about a half hour of them doing their reboot, I can usually re-run the VBI test and see it "Pass".

Once they reboot, your listings should start populating after the next download time (provided your system is off).

Thanks for the help, Spiff, but it turns out that my host channel, WNPT Ch. 8 (Nashville PBS), is apparently broadcasting the TVGOS data because my unit passed the VBI test. So now I don't know what to do. I'm leaving my unit off each night and I'm also making sure that it's off for some of the other download times during the day. But right now, I only have listings for today (Monday) and this coming Friday, nothing else over the 8 day period. Should I try resetting TVGOS, maybe using a different zip code in the Ch. 8 viewing area? Maybe this is completely coincidental, but I started having this problem just after adding INHD2 to my channel line-up. Any thoughts on what to do next?

Anybody else on this forum in the Nashville area having trouble with their TV listings?

Can somebody please help to set me straight. Just got off the phone with Comcast Tech and he told me that I could not receive an HD signal w/o their box. He said it was new this year. Even though I watched all the season finallies in HD on my Sony. The problem is that my cable was inadvertantly disconnected by them recently and now after they reconnected me, I no longer can receive my HD signal on their HD channels ie 231, 232 etc. I only care about the networks, big 4, since I have Direct Tv for the other stuff. He also told me that I can not receive HD signal OTA. "I should be careful, because that sounds like stealing" When I asked to speak to a supervisor, he said he was the supervisor. Am I missing something?

unless that inadvertant disconnection was comcast installing some sort of filter on your line the tech was feeding you pure bull$hit. in regards to the broadcast HD feeds i dont think its legal for them to block you. no, you do not need the comcast stb to watch nbc, fox, cbs, abc, upn, wb. the network feeds are supposed to be unencrypted, even if you are only subscribing to basic expanded cable. (channels 1-78)

now here is the rub, i know that comcast will install a filter if you tell them that you only want analog BASIC cable (channels 1-14 or 25 i think). its possible that such a device will also filter out the HD network feeds. (a situation that is easily remedied)

have you tried a channel rescan?

oh yeah Over The Air HD signal is just that, in the air for free, so if your tv/dvr has a built in ATSC tuner for OTA and QAM tuner for digital cable you should just rescan a see what happens

recieving OTA is stealing W T F !?!?
if they would only train/educate and pay these people better it would go a long way to inprove customer service

Thanks for all who replied. I'll probably go for it, see how it works, and get the 4 year warranty if I like it. Otherwise it looks like I could sell it for at least what I'll probably end up paying (hopefully under $200). I know it won't be as nice as tivo, but i don't want to pay $800 for the S3.

Thanks for all who replied. I'll probably go for it, see how it works, and get the 4 year warranty if I like it. Otherwise it looks like I could sell it for at least what I'll probably end up paying (hopefully under $200). I know it won't be as nice as tivo, but i don't want to pay $800 for the S3.

Just to add my $.02...

I own the HDD250, and I AM waiting anxiously for the TiVO S3. I might even be first in line to buy it. I want dual tuners, a guide that doesn't depend on Gemstar, and the TiVo-specific functions (like Season Passes).

I do have issues with my guide every once in a while (but it is usually the fault of the host station's equipment).

Does the guide seem to be more reliable via OTA or Analog cable?

Does the guide seem to be more reliable via OTA or Analog cable?

In my case, I have gotten the guide in both ways (OTA and Cable). Currently it is via cable, since I disconnected my antenna (after my cableco finally added the last holdout - the CBS affiliate - to their lineup).

I have had issues both ways - mainly because it seems that the cable company just passes through the signal that the host station provides to them - complete with the VBI data.

When the station has equipment problems that cause a failure to insert the data into the signal, it doesn't matter if the station is a cable station or OTA - the data is missing either way.

Eddie,
In one of your posts you mentioned using the Sony with a CableCard, are you doing that now?

The "local" Charter office in Bft keeps telling me that I can't watch their HD channels with their CableCard. I've asked that since the CableCard is only a decryption key, why it doesn't have the decryptions keys in place for the HD channels.

Of course, they were unable to answer that questions! (I seriously doubt if they even understood that question!) LOL

Thats not true as I am using the cable card and receiving all my HD channels. It works the same as if the card was used in a TV with the card slot. I picked mind up at charter but had to get the tech to come out. He knew the right person to talk to about programming it. Sony had some problems with cable cards working on my unit so I send it in and they updated the firmware.

If anyone is not receiving the TV Guide, first try changine the zip code to a several different distant areas leaving the unit turned off for 24 hours. The Guide won't be right but at least you will know it is working properly. If you receive the Guide then you might have a problem in your area. The Guide is transmitted over PBS analog stations and Beaufort, SC gets its signal from WVAN channel 9 out of Savannah, GA. We found that WVAN was not transmit the info and their techs went to work on the problem and I'm happy to say it is now working. I talked with their tech today, they are still doing some testing and will let me know when they are finished. If you are experiencing a problem call them at 800-386-7380 and press 1 to speak to a tech. Disregard what the message tells the consumer to contact their manufacturer. I hope this info is helpful.

Just to add my $.02...

I own the HDD250, and I AM waiting anxiously for the TiVO S3. I might even be first in line to buy it. I want dual tuners, a guide that doesn't depend on Gemstar, and the TiVo-specific functions (like Season Passes).

I do have issues with my guide every once in a while (but it is usually the fault of the host station's equipment).

Please post a comparisson here for us if you do. I'd be interested in seeing how the TiVo S3 handles listings, especially with regard to local OTA digitals. For example, is the lineup complete or are there channels missing as with the Sony/Gemstar?

Please post a comparisson here for us if you do. I'd be interested in seeing how the TiVo S3 handles listings, especially with regard to local OTA digitals. For example, is the lineup complete or are there channels missing as with the Sony/Gemstar?

My S2 has all of the local channels that appear in the cable lineup. It is updated frequently, and you get messages whenever channels are added or deleted. I have to assume that they will do the same with the digital OTA channels (but I will be opting for the dual cablecards and skipping the antenna input).

I decided to try HDMI to my new Sony 32" LCD (32XBR1) bedroom tv from my HDD500. I get no sound via HDMI for any of the digital channels. THis is mainly the cable HD channels like CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS as I am only using basic cable. The analog cable sound is fine. What gives? Via component sound is heard on all channels.
I can't find any hidden menu item I might be missing? Anyone?

The TiVo Series 3 was announced today and it seems to have some serious drawbacks. I think I'll stick with my Sony for the time being. Hopefully some of these will be fixed in time. There is no way to remap unencrypted QAM channels and there is no guide data for digital cable channels without CableCARD. This is not a problem for the Sony. Another feature present on the Sony but missing on the TiVo S3 is HD menus. The icons and text were ported over from the S2 and look jagged and stretched when viewed on a HD display. Whether or not this can be changed with a firmware update remains to be seen. TiVo to Go and Multi-Room Viewing are missing. It has been said the encoding/decoding chips used in the S3 are outdated and something of a kludge (same as those used on some older Motorola DVRs for example) but I'll leave that up to someone familiar with Broadcom chipsets to judge.

There are a bunch of reviews up but the PC Magazine review serves as a good overview:

Text Review
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2014609,00.asp

Video Review
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2014570,00.asp

I've been reading the reviews on the Series 3, and I have to say that I am not as excited as I was before I read them. The Sony has a crappy UI, sketchy listings, and a single tuner, but it has a lot up on the TiVo S3. Low resolution menus, the lack of an in menu video feed (like the one in the corner of TV Guide), limited aspect ratio options (Full which is stretch, one level of Zoom, or standard... no side stretch), the 30 minute pause time (I've grown accustomed to setting my Sony at 90 minutes), and it ships with the eSATA port disabled. All this time, and simple things like these are still an issue. Don't get me wrong, I'm getting one, but I am disappointed to see how half assed the unit is.

I decided to try HDMI to my new Sony 32" LCD (32XBR1) bedroom tv from my HDD500. I get no sound via HDMI for any of the digital channels. THis is mainly the cable HD channels like CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS as I am only using basic cable. The analog cable sound is fine. What gives? Via component sound is heard on all channels.
I can't find any hidden menu item I might be missing? Anyone?

You properly have the digital audio turned on which only gives you audio thru the fiberoptics output on the back of the unit. Go to menu, preferences/ audio and turn digital audio off. This will route you sound thru the HDMI cable to your set. This should take care of your problem.

Is there any possible way to 'edit' while recording as in editing out commercials or in this case not record certain songs from concerts without making each selection a separate entry?? Basically the same was a video recorder would work (without the tape).

I've been reading the reviews on the Series 3, and I have to say that I am not as excited as I was before I read them. The Sony has a crappy UI, sketchy listings, and a single tuner, but it has a lot up on the TiVo S3. Low resolution menus, the lack of an in menu video feed (like the one in the corner of TV Guide), limited aspect ratio options (Full which is stretch, one level of Zoom, or standard... no side stretch), the 30 minute pause time (I've grown accustomed to setting my Sony at 90 minutes), and it ships with the eSATA port disabled. All this time, and simple things like these are still an issue. Don't get me wrong, I'm getting one, but I am disappointed to see how half assed the unit is.
Plus the 800.00 price tag, the 224.00 to 469.00 activation service fee, the 199.00 lifetime subscriber transfer fee, and the 10.95 to 19.95 a month Tivo guide fee.

Hmmmmm....naw, you can have Tivo, I'm keeping my FREE TVGOS guide, recording 60 hours of HD, 250.00 Sony DVR's. I love them! :D

I decided to try HDMI to my new Sony 32" LCD (32XBR1) bedroom tv from my HDD500. I get no sound via HDMI for any of the digital channels. THis is mainly the cable HD channels like CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS as I am only using basic cable. The analog cable sound is fine. What gives? Via component sound is heard on all channels.
I can't find any hidden menu item I might be missing? Anyone?

I have the same TV, in a 40 inch version, the 40XBR1. Same exact problem. No sound from any digital channels, using HDMI.

Yes, I have 'digital audio' set to 'auto.'

My typical home setup was, HDMI from the DVR to the monitor, and then digital optical from the monitor to the amp. That worked perfectly with my old DirecTV HR10-250. Got all the audio on all the channels, whether I was using just the TV speakers or the amp for Dolby Digital. And, it also allowed me to use just the TV with OTA, and I still got Dolby Digital to the amp.

When I got the HDD250, I had no such pass-through. I wasn't getting any HDMI audio to the TV at all. So, I hooked up a digital audio cable from the HDD250 to the amp. Then I got sound, but not Dolby Digital. The big 5.1 LED display on my amp was showing just LF & RF instead of LF, RF, C, LR, RR and Sub.

As the factory default, 'digital audio' was set to 'off.' When I set it to 'digital audio auto,' I got my Dolby back.

So the unit passes Dolby Digital via the digital optical output...and not HDMI? Huh?

I'm kind of baffled here...if HDMI is digital audio, why doesn't it output the 5.1 signal? Do I need a new amp with an HDMI input to get HDMI Dolby from the HDD 250?

This seems like a design flaw to me. HDMI is there to pass video and audio, digitally, to a digital TV. Why on earth would you have to turn 'digital audio' off, to have it work?


Thoughts?

There's an open box HDD250 locally...no remote. I'm wondering if you guys would recommend this or not. I would be hooking it up w/ Comcast, no cablecard (only care about the QAM in the clear channels and analog channels). Does it tune both of these? I currently use Tivo. Does the box work well once it's set up and running or are there weekly annoyances that would make me wish I never left Tivo?

If you buying it from a dealer with warranty, I would say yes if the price is right. I purchased mine from Best Buy without remote. You can order one from Sony for $40. I send it back to Sony for a checkout and firmware updates. One update allows the cable card to work proper. I am enjoying my unit and only paid $225 for it. Sonystyles offers an extended warranty and I got five years for $79.

Is there any possible way to 'edit' while recording as in editing out commercials or in this case not record certain songs from concerts without making each selection a separate entry?? Basically the same was a video recorder would work (without the tape).

Not that I'm aware of except when you are transfering it to tape or DVD.

Though the S-video out............... :mad:
I don't think so.

Then the only way to 'save' selected 'clips' of a program is to make 'separate' entries (recordings) of each??

Tivo3 is out.

$800 for it and $13/month forever. I won't run out in my socks & buy 1. Period.

I wish Sony better built 250/500s that can get guides from internet, ie. via USB port!

My host channel still shows something like 1:0-2 which I assume(d) means channel 2.


Mitch


Mitch,

I am also having problems receiving listings. I've had my unit since the beginning of the year, and never had any problems with it. Just this week the listings have become spotty. Some are there and others are "no listing" I also have 1:0-2 listed as my host channel. I have Wide Open West cable. The VBI test passes. It looks like Saturday of this week is a full listing, but after that everything is "no listings.

Rammitinski,

You say that you need to reset every so often...How do you do it? Do you loose anything? Do you need to reorder your channel list?

Spiff,

Is there any way to force a different host channel? I did not see this mentioned in the FAQ.

Thank you all...

Chris

A new, Japan-only Sony DVR gets a write-up in PRVwire.com.

http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/12/sony-has-a-new-pvr-too/

Mitch,

I am also having problems receiving listings. I've had my unit since the beginning of the year, and never had any problems with it. Just this week the listings have become spotty. Some are there and others are "no listing" I also have 1:0-2 listed as my host channel. I have Wide Open West cable. The VBI test passes. It looks like Saturday of this week is a full listing, but after that everything is "no listings.

<snip>


Chris,

It sounds like you have experienced the exact same problem as me.
However, as of yesterday, mine appears to be filling in again. It does that goofy day 1, 2, and 8 thing, so today and tomorrow were filled in and next Monday was OK when I checked yesterday. So, I think things are back to normal (he says with fingers crossed).

Here's some additional info:
I emailed WBBM and WOW on Sunday night. A guy from WBBM called me back yesterday and as far as he could tell, there was no problem at their end nor with their feed from Gemstar. It was a very professional discussion, so I had no feeling that he was just feeding me a line.
I haven't heard from WOW, but it is interesting that things seem to be filling in as of yesterday. In my email to WOW, I simply asked them if they did anything recently that may have affected the VBI channel/Gemstar feed through channel 2.
That said, I also left the unit off as much as possible for the past couple of days so that may have helped things as well.

So, are your listings for today and next tuesday still messed up?


Mitch

Well,

My TiVo S3 is now on order direct from TiVo. They think it will ship on Thursday, so I won't get it until sometime next week.

I will share my comparison findings when I get it.

So, are your listings for today and next tuesday still messed up?


Mitch

Long story - short,... Yes.

I was out of town on business the last two weeks. (Still read the forum. So I was aware of the possible problems, and the addition of the Channels to the guide info.) When I got back yesterday afternoon, the wife was complaining about the missing listings. I did a rescan to correct the 7.1 - 7.3 problem, and added the new channels. We left the unit off between about 9P and 9a, but listings did not fill in. I checked all of the pertinent info, host channel, VBI, and then posted, the unit has been off since then.

Hopefully, I'll have some sucess this evening.

Yikes! Those looking forward to using the TiVo S3 for unencrypted digital channels (most cable providers offer the local HD channels in the clear even with basic service) are in for a surprise. They can be tuned directly but no guide data will be received for them. That means recordings must be done VCR style. A CableCARD is a must if you want to avoid this.

However, it gets worse...

If you use a just a single CableCARD (which as the above shows is a must if you want to use digital) you lose dual-tuner capability for analog cable and analog OTA.

With no CableCARDs installed you get dual-tuner capability for the analog side but have no digital functionality other than directly tuning without guide data. If you install one CableCARD you can receive guide data for the digitals but you then lose dual-tuner capability on the analog side. If you install two CableCARDs you get dual-tuner capability on the digital side but dual-tuner capability is still lost on the analog side.

I think now would be an ideal time for Sony to introduce a new dual-tuner model don't you think?

Yikes! Those looking forward to using the TiVo S3 for unencrypted digital channels (most cable providers offer the local HD channels in the clear even with basic service) are in for a surprise. They can be tuned directly but no guide data will be received for them. That means recordings must be done VCR style. A CableCARD is a must if you want to avoid this.

However, it gets worse...

If you use a just a single CableCARD (which as the above shows is a must if you want to use digital) you lose dual-tuner capability for analog cable and analog OTA.

With no CableCARDs installed you get dual-tuner capability for the analog side but have no digital functionality other than directly tuning without guide data. If you install one CableCARD you can receive guide data for the digitals but you then lose dual-tuner capability on the analog side. If you install two CableCARDs you get dual-tuner capability on the digital side but dual-tuner capability is still lost on the analog side.

I think now would be an ideal time for Sony to introduce a new dual-tuner model don't you think?


Can you give us a link, or perhaps a hint, of how you discovered this? Were you a beta tester? Because it sounds like you have in-depth knowledge of a unit that's yet-to-be-released.

Thanks

With no CableCARDs installed you get dual-tuner capability for the analog side but have no digital functionality other than directly tuning without guide data. If you install one CableCARD you can receive guide data for the digitals but you then lose dual-tuner capability on the analog side. If you install two CableCARDs you get dual-tuner capability on the digital side but dual-tuner capability is still lost on the analog side.

I read Megazone's description to mean that installing two cablecards will give dual tuner functionality to both analog and digital tuners. Has another reviewer explained otherwise?

Indeed there is no channel mapping, as would be needed for local HD channels without cablecards. Not cool.

Then the CNET review says:

"Aspect ratio control--full, "panel" (pillar boxed), or zoom--is limited to content that was originally recorded in standard-definition, but it works no matter what resolution you're outputting. That means that even if you've set the output to 1080i fixed, you can still stretch or zoom a show, so long as it was originally broadcast in 480i."

This appears to mean that you cannot stretch an SD unpconvert picture on an HD channel because it is received as 1080i or 720p and you are stuck with pillar bars. Also not cool.

Chris,

So, are your listings for today and next tuesday still messed up?


Mitch


UPDATE

I got home this evening and the guide has filled in with information for today, tomorrow and next Tuesday. So far so good!

But.... I guess during the rescan of the channels there seems to be new channel assignments recognized. Digital WCIU 26.1 is now 27.3, 26.2 is now 27.4, and there is now a new channel 27.5

I read Megazone's description to mean that installing two cablecards will give dual tuner functionality to both analog and digital tuners. Has another reviewer explained otherwise?

What he said is below. I read it as no CableCARDs give you dual-tuner analog, one CableCARD gives you one analog and one digital and two CableCARDs give you dual-tuner digital or again one digital and one analog.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=315892

"If you insert only one (single-stream) CableCARD, then the entire unit reverts to single tuner operation. That means you lose the dual-tuner capabilities for antenna and analog cable, not just digital cable. With no CableCARDs installed you have dual-tuner operation for antenna and analog cable, two CableCARDs gives you dual-tuner digital cable."

UPDATE

I got home this evening and the guide has filled in with information for today, tomorrow and next Tuesday. So far so good!

But.... I guess during the rescan of the channels there seems to be new channel assignments recognized. Digital WCIU 26.1 is now 27.3, 26.2 is now 27.4, and there is now a new channel 27.5

Good news Chris.

BTW, I don't have the same channel changes you have. If I enter 27.3 or 27.4 or 27.5, nothing tunes in. 26.1 and 26.2 still work the same for me.


Mitch

I wish Sony better built 250/500s that can get guides from internet, ie. via USB port!
I agree, maybe an upgrade could fix this in the future?

Hi!

Just picked up a 250 on ebay a few weeks ago, and I am having a problem that I haven't seen in this thread.

I can't seem to delete any of my recordings, either by selecting the recording in the list and hitting the menu button on the remote and selecting the delete episode option and clicking "yes" that I really want to delete it. When I do that, it just goes back to the recordings list and the recording is still there.

If I play a recording and push "stop" then try to select the "delete" from the menu that comes up, nothing happens. All other menu commands seem to work.

I tried the soft reset with the two buttons on the front panel of the unit and still get the same behavior.

Also, everytime I turn on the unit, it starts playing the most recently played program automatically. Is there any way to turn that off so that it goes straight to live tv?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

-Nate

Was this bought new in the box or was it a floor sample? Maybe it is stuck in demo mode. That would make it difficult to delete a program and would automatically play it in a loop. I would think a reset would take care of it but maybe a trip to the service menu is in order.

Sony DHG-HDD250/500 FAQ
http://www.spiffspace.com/sonydvr.html#Section1

Demo Mode PDF
http://www.spiffspace.com/DHGHDD250-500instruct.pdf

I agree, maybe an upgrade could fix this in the future?
Sony's still selling new & much better hdtv dvrs in Japan, but they don't care about US market!

We're all on our own to figure it out!

I got home this evening and the guide has filled in with information for today, tomorrow and next Tuesday. So far so good!

Victory was short lived. Nothing more has filled in. The listings end at about 3am tomorrow (thursday) morning. Nothing was added on to next tuesdays listings.

I don't know what I did, or didn't do, to get them to fill in...but their not working again.

currently the system is using a cable channel for the guide data. Is there someway to force the system to use an OTA channel instead?

What he said is below. I read it as no CableCARDs give you dual-tuner analog, one CableCARD gives you one analog and one digital and two CableCARDs give you dual-tuner digital or again one digital and one analog.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=315892

"If you insert only one (single-stream) CableCARD, then the entire unit reverts to single tuner operation. That means you lose the dual-tuner capabilities for antenna and analog cable, not just digital cable. With no CableCARDs installed you have dual-tuner operation for antenna and analog cable, two CableCARDs gives you dual-tuner digital cable."

MegaZone further clarifies (later in the same post):

"The unit has two tuner blocks. Both do NTSC, ATSC, analog cable and digital cable. You can record two of any sources - two digital, two analog, one of each - with or without CableCARD.

You need CableCARD only for encrypted digital cable channels, or for guide data (and what it enables) on clear digital cable channels. Without CC you can record by time and channel.

If you insert only one CableCARD, the entire unit goes single tuner. With no cards, or two cards (or one multi-stream), it is dual-tuner."

I think this means that with a single card, only one tuner is active. With no card or with two cards, both tuners are active and ANY two sources can be recorded, including two analog.

Meanwhile, the Tivo seems to have some drawbacks. I'm sticking with my HDD500 + Comcast 6412, of which the latter may soon be replaced by a 3416 160GB box (and then Tivo software to run it). But it's nice to know that if my Sony does a crash and burn, there is another good option out there.

I think this means that with a single card, only one tuner is active. With no card or with two cards, both tuners are active and ANY two sources can be recorded, including two analog.

That is correct. It's not logical for a CableCARD to affect analog OTA or analog cable but it does on the TiVo. Bottom line is not to get just one singlestream CableCARD. Get two singlestream CableCARDs or one multistream CableCARD if you want to record two things at once.

The TiVo lacks PIP while looking through program listings or menus which is another drawback. Sony is releasing a Blu-Ray/HDD recorder unit in Japan later this year. Maybe we'll get one at CES in January.

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20060913/sony1.htm

I've never owned a TIVO but people I know who have them love 'em.

I have an HDD250 (BB Open box $200) and HDD500 (Tweeter $250) that for less than half the price of a TIVO and install give me 2 tuners with basic cable and OTA antenna (no CC). I guess I've been lucky with my TVGOS because I have NEVER had an issue with losing recordings or listings. This is probably a function of my local PBS TVGOS equipment and engineering team.

Unless my 2 crap out and the new TIVO corrects some of the less desirable issues (the not getting QAM listings without a CC kills me), I'm gonna stick with the Sony for now.

Victory was short lived. Nothing more has filled in. The listings end at about 3am tomorrow (thursday) morning. Nothing was added on to next tuesdays listings.

I don't know what I did, or didn't do, to get them to fill in...but their not working again.

currently the system is using a cable channel for the guide data. Is there someway to force the system to use an OTA channel instead?

To isolate the problem, trying using a different zip code in your setup turning it off for 24 hours. Try one in a different city. If you guide comes up correctly then there is a problem with the guide in your area.

I've never owned a TIVO but people I know who have them love 'em.

I have an HDD250 (BB Open box $200) and HDD500 (Tweeter $250) that for less than half the price of a TIVO and install give me 2 tuners with basic cable and OTA antenna (no CC). I guess I've been lucky with my TVGOS because I have NEVER had an issue with losing recordings or listings. This is probably a function of my local PBS TVGOS equipment and engineering team.

Unless my 2 crap out and the new TIVO corrects some of the less desirable issues (the not getting QAM listings without a CC kills me), I'm gonna stick with the Sony for now.

If you're talking about unencrypted QAM channels, you can get listing for them by remapping the appropriate guide channels to the desired QAM frequency. i. e. if WFLA HD NBC is 84.1 on QAM, find WFLADT in the listing and map the frequency to 84.1(if there is no WFLADT shown, WFLA should also work since the programing is usually the same).

UPDATE

I got home this evening and the guide has filled in with information for today, tomorrow and next Tuesday. So far so good!

But.... I guess during the rescan of the channels there seems to be new channel assignments recognized. Digital WCIU 26.1 is now 27.3, 26.2 is now 27.4, and there is now a new channel 27.5

Talking with Sony and TV Guide, the only way the guide updates will take place is with the unit turned off. I will get missing areas of the guide if I don't leave my unit off over night.

If you're talking about unencrypted QAM channels, you can get listing for them by remapping the appropriate guide channels to the desired QAM frequency. i. e. if WFLA HD NBC is 84.1 on QAM, find WFLADT in the listing and map the frequency to 84.1(if there is no WFLADT shown, WFLA should also work since the programing is usually the same).

Yes, this works fine on the Sony but apparently not on the S3 TIVO.

Victory was short lived. Nothing more has filled in. The listings end at about 3am tomorrow (thursday) morning. Nothing was added on to next tuesdays listings.

I don't know what I did, or didn't do, to get them to fill in...but their not working again.

currently the system is using a cable channel for the guide data. Is there someway to force the system to use an OTA channel instead?


Hmmm. Mine appeared to be doing good last night. Now you got me worried. :)
Spiff's FAQ (look at his signature in one of his posts above) has instructions for forcing a given host channel.


Mitch

Hmmm. Mine appeared to be doing good last night. Now you got me worried. :)
Spiff's FAQ (look at his signature in one of his posts above) has instructions for forcing a given host channel.


Mitch

Use caution when doing this. Unexpected results can happen (from what I heard) if the host channel is NOT blank in the TVGOS diagnostics screen.

Does anybody know whether a HDD250/500 can still playback movies that were originally encrypted on the cable e.g. from HBO, after you take out the CableCard for instance when you move?

thanks,

-tom-

Has anyone been able to archive movies from a HDD250/500 to (any) DVD recorder, in down-res'd anamorphic 16:9? Or is the Sony unable to output 480i anamorphic when it downres's?

thanks,

-tom-

Tom...

Both should work fine. Taking out the cablecard won't affect what's already on your HD.

And the Sony downrezzes just fine. For instance, I have a composite video/audio L&R coming out of the back of the unit to another room....and at the same time I'm using HDMI for my HD set.

When I'm watching high-definition, the HD set, is perfect of course, but the SD analog set in the other room just letterboxxes the video, black bars top and bottom, in 16X9. With 480i source material it shows it on the SD set full frame, 4X3.

Go for it!

Two questions for anyone kind enough to answer:

1. Has anyone else experienced momentary freeze-ups accompanied by loud popping/cracking sounds and sometimes pixellation? I've been getting this from time to time, sometimes more often than others. Watching Dancing with the Stars in HD last night was almost futile at times, the problem was so bad. When I did a rewind, I found that the problem was recorded in the video on the hard drive, so it's possible the problem was with either ABC, the local affiliate or Comcast, rather than with the DVR. Although, since I've had the problem before and since on other channels, it's probably either Comcast or the Sony DVR. Anyone else experiencing this?

2. Does anyone know what happens to QAM-tuned channels once a CableCard is stuck in the DVR? I'm wondering if I'll get all the clear-QAM channels I get now on their current frequencies (e.g. ABC-HD on 92.2) plus whatever I subscribe to from Comcast on their assigned channels, or instead just the latter. In other words, would I get ABC-HD in two places, 92.2 (clear QAM) and 202 (Comcast) or just in one place, 202?

Thanks!

Two questions for anyone kind enough to answer:

2. Does anyone know what happens to QAM-tuned channels once a CableCard is stuck in the DVR? I'm wondering if I'll get all the clear-QAM channels I get now on their current frequencies (e.g. ABC-HD on 92.2) plus whatever I subscribe to from Comcast on their assigned channels, or instead just the latter. In other words, would I get ABC-HD in two places, 92.2 (clear QAM) and 202 (Comcast) or just in one place, 202?

Thanks!

Using a cablecard will prevent you from using the QAM channel assignments. It won't understand if you punch in 92.2 - you will probably end up at cable channel 92 (whether it is analog or digital).

Two questions for anyone kind enough to answer:

1. Has anyone else experienced momentary freeze-ups accompanied by loud popping/cracking sounds and sometimes pixellation? I've been getting this from time to time, sometimes more often than others. Watching Dancing with the Stars in HD last night was almost futile at times, the problem was so bad. When I did a rewind, I found that the problem was recorded in the video on the hard drive, so it's possible the problem was with either ABC, the local affiliate or Comcast, rather than with the DVR. Although, since I've had the problem before and since on other channels, it's probably either Comcast or the Sony DVR. Anyone else experiencing this?

2. Does anyone know what happens to QAM-tuned channels once a CableCard is stuck in the DVR? I'm wondering if I'll get all the clear-QAM channels I get now on their current frequencies (e.g. ABC-HD on 92.2) plus whatever I subscribe to from Comcast on their assigned channels, or instead just the latter. In other words, would I get ABC-HD in two places, 92.2 (clear QAM) and 202 (Comcast) or just in one place, 202?

Thanks!


2. They will probably be remapped to other channels and put on other frequencies.

Thanks, HD_Dude, but...

Both should work fine. Taking out the cablecard won't affect what's already on your HD.


I've looked at the cablecard spec and the HDD250 user manual, and from that I see that it "should work". Which IME does not necessarily prevent a company like Sony - who is also a publisher of lots of that content on the HDD - from doing something nasty to further limit what you can do. So, my question is - does it actually work - have you (or anyone else) actually pulled out the cablecard and still been able to play back cable-encrypted content that you previously recorded?


...the SD analog set in the other room just letterboxxes the video, black bars top and bottom, in 16X9...

But that is "postage stamp" widescreen, not anamorphic. If you were getting anamorphic, and played it on a 4:3 TV it would look squeezed, and on a widescreen it would stretch. Just like a "widescreen enhanced" DVD. It doesn't sound like you would have a use for that mode of output.

Anyone else, please? Can you get true anamorphic 16:9 480i out of this thing when it downrezzes?

Thanks, HD_Dude, but...



I've looked at the cablecard spec and the HDD250 user manual, and from that I see that it "should work". Which IME does not necessarily prevent a company like Sony - who is also a publisher of lots of that content on the HDD - from doing something nasty to further limit what you can do. So, my question is - does it actually work - have you (or anyone else) actually pulled out the cablecard and still been able to play back cable-encrypted content that you previously recorded?




But that is "postage stamp" widescreen, not anamorphic. If you were getting anamorphic, and played it on a 4:3 TV it would look squeezed, and on a widescreen it would stretch. Just like a "widescreen enhanced" DVD. It doesn't sound like you would have a use for that mode of output.

Anyone else, please? Can you get true anamorphic 16:9 480i out of this thing when it downrezzes?

I am almost certain that I was successful in burning a widescreen DVD via the Svideo port. The source was a widescreen HD concert that aired on ABC. Unfortunately I can't remember the output setting that I used. I also am not sure if I had to change the video format on my TV to make it look right.

Just to try it out, I just played back a widescreen HD recording on the HDDVR, and I can view it via the Svideo input on my DVD recorder. It is the same aspect ratio as the original, and isn't stretched or shrunk. I didn't actually burn a disc in this case, but it looks right on the screen. I have the DVD recorder in progressive mode, and the feed to the TV from the DVD recorder is via component video.

NashGuy,
With a cablecard installed all channels will be remapped to the equivalent Comcast channel, just like their own boxes do. I don't have to guess like the other responders did because I have a cablecard installed. The nice thing about the cablecard is I get all the channels I subscribe to, not just the clear QAM ones. And the TVGOS downloads info based on the Comcast channel numbers for almost all the stations. Also, I don't have to rescan when Comcast adds/deletes/moves channels around. When Comcast makes a change I get it immediately, as long as it is a channel available with my subscription. I purchased this box specifically because it could do all this, with a cablecard installed, just like the Comcast dvr.

NashGuy,
With a cablecard installed all channels will be remapped to the equivalent Comcast channel, just like their own boxes do. I don't have to guess like the other responders did because I have a cablecard installed. The nice thing about the cablecard is I get all the channels I subscribe to, not just the clear QAM ones. And the TVGOS downloads info based on the Comcast channel numbers for almost all the stations. Also, I don't have to rescan when Comcast adds/deletes/moves channels around. When Comcast makes a change I get it immediately, as long as it is a channel available with my subscription. I purchased this box specifically because it could do all this, with a cablecard installed, just like the Comcast dvr.

Who said I was guessing?? :D

Thanks, Spiff and ddz! Good to know. However, I'm concerned that should I install a Comcast CableCard, I will no longer be able to get INHD and INHD2. I don't think that they're officially offered as part of the lifeline basic cable service ($11.50/mo), it's just that they don't encrypt those channels. But if I stuck in a CableCard, I don't think I'd be able to tune to those channels anymore. Same goes for a few SD digital channels I get but really shouldn't, such as VH1 and whatever my neighbors happen to be watching via OnDemand! On the other hand, channels would be ordered more rationally and wouldn't switch around like they do with QAM. And perhaps I'd have fewer HD cable reception problems with the CableCard rather than via clear QAM, although I doubt it.

Thanks, Spiff and ddz! Good to know. However, I'm concerned that should I install a Comcast CableCard, I will no longer be able to get INHD and INHD2. I don't think that they're officially offered as part of the lifeline basic cable service ($11.50/mo), it's just that they don't encrypt those channels. But if I stuck in a CableCard, I don't think I'd be able to tune to those channels anymore. Same goes for a few SD digital channels I get but really shouldn't, such as VH1 and whatever my neighbors happen to be watching via OnDemand! On the other hand, channels would be ordered more rationally and wouldn't switch around like they do with QAM. And perhaps I'd have fewer HD cable reception problems with the CableCard rather than via clear QAM, although I doubt it.

You will not be able to access those channels if you aren't subscribing to them.

Yes, this works fine on the Sony but apparently not on the S3 TIVO.

Sorry, I misread the earlier post. Thought it reffered to the Sony.

You rock, TWinbrook! It turns out that my unit was in demo mode (which also explains why it always would start playing the most recently played program when turned on, another annoying feature)! I've turned it off, and all is well. Thanks for the help! I'd looked at the spiffspace FAQ, but missed the link to the instructions on demo mode.

-PismoNate

Was this bought new in the box or was it a floor sample? Maybe it is stuck in demo mode. That would make it difficult to delete a program and would automatically play it in a loop. I would think a reset would take care of it but maybe a trip to the service menu is in order.

Sony DHG-HDD250/500 FAQ
(link removed, but is available in original post)

Demo Mode PDF
(link removed, but is available in original post)

Has anyone been able to archive movies from a HDD250/500 to (any) DVD recorder, in down-res'd anamorphic 16:9?

I use a Panasonic DMR-E85H DVD recorder, connected to the Sony via S-Video. When I archive 16:9 material, on the Sony I set FORMAT to either SD OUT or 480i, and SCREEN MODE to SQUEEZE. This gives me the entire widescreen image, downrezzed and "squeezed" into a 4:3 SD frame.

When I play the DVD back on my Panasonic widescreen HDTV, I set the TV's aspect to either "Full" or "Wide", and it expands the picture back to its original aspect ratio. If I want to play it back on a 4:3 TV, I have to copy the VIDEO_TS folder from the DVD to my computer, use software to set the aspect flag to either "16:9 auto letterbox" or "16:9 auto pan&scan" depending on how I want the picture to appear, and then burn a new DVD from the modified VIDEO_TS folder.

I think some DVD recorders allow you to set the aspect flag manually, but I don't remember which ones. As it happens, most of the stuff I archive is 4:3 material anyway.

Just to try it out, I just played back a widescreen HD recording on the HDDVR, and I can view it via the Svideo input on my DVD recorder. It is the same aspect ratio as the original, and isn't stretched or shrunk. I didn't actually burn a disc in this case, but it looks right on the screen. I have the DVD recorder in progressive mode, and the feed to the TV from the DVD recorder is via component video.

Hey spiff, thanks for trying that out! Can you tell me, when you watched that way, were there any black bands on the sides of your screen, and if so where?

thanks,

-tom-

Hey spiff, thanks for trying that out! Can you tell me, when you watched that way, were there any black bands on the sides of your screen, and if so where?

thanks,

-tom-

The source material was full screen HD content from ABC (it was "Dancing with the Stars" - recorded for my wife since she was out of town!). It wasn't letterboxed or pillarboxed (no bands).

When viewing the feed that the DVD recorder was outputting, it looked like the original (no bands), and filled my entire 16:9 screen. I had the HDDVR set in "standard" mode (not SD out).

The person that mentioned the "squeeze" screen mode might be on to something. I swear that I had to use that when I transferred something else to DVD. I would have to try burning something to see if I can duplicate what I did last time.

...When I archive 16:9 material, on the Sony I set FORMAT to either SD OUT or 480i, and SCREEN MODE to SQUEEZE. This gives me the entire widescreen image, downrezzed and "squeezed" into a 4:3 SD frame....


SQUEEZE mode: that's the ticket! Thanks, jtbell.

Just curious -
Will these record 1080p if it is ever broadcast?

Just picked up the Tivo S3 at the local Best Buy. Can't wait to hook it up and check it out!

I won't have cablecards installed yet, but OTA HD is great here...and I'll hook up cable just for grins.

I'll let you know what I think....but if it's good, I'll be flooding the market with used 250's.....

(fingers crossed)

but if it's good, I'll be flooding the market with used 250's.....

(fingers crossed)

Just PM me and send the 250's My way.

You can have all the TiVo's you want [GRIN]!

HD-Dude: PM if you are selling any of your 250's... those Ebay prices are ridiculous....

Just picked up the Tivo S3 at the local Best Buy. Can't wait to hook it up and check it out!

I won't have cablecards installed yet, but OTA HD is great here...and I'll hook up cable just for grins.

I'll let you know what I think....but if it's good, I'll be flooding the market with used 250's.....

(fingers crossed)

Mine has arrived too. I will hook 'er up tonite and see how it works. Charter is coming tomorrow afternoon to install cablecards.

Just curious -
Will these record 1080p if it is ever broadcast?

My guess is "No". I don't think anyone will be broadcasting 1080p OTA any time soon, though, so it is probably nothing to worry about.

HD-Dude: PM if you are selling any of your 250's... those Ebay prices are ridiculous....


AMEN to that!

The Tivo S3 is, In some ways, different from the traditional Tivo interface.

The 'Guide" now lists channels on the left side...not the whole screen. But when you light up one of the channels, the right side shows all the shows on that channel, all evening long.

Cool...but different.

Also, when you press the 'info' bar, you have all these options, including, what the other tuner is tuned to.

Very cool.

Setup was predictably easy...

And you know? It's as good looking as the Sony...even looks a LOT like the Sony....

More later....

The Tivo S3 is, In some ways, different from the traditional Tivo interface.

The 'Guide" now lists channels on the left side...not the whole screen. But when you light up one of the channels, the right side shows all the shows on that channel, all evening long...

HD_Dude,

My current S2 Tivo has the same guide. I am not sure what you mean when you say it is different. Did you have the "Grid" guide on your other TiVo? This is configurable on the old Tivo, but I haven't tried it on the new one yet.

I have to reserve judgement on my S3 until I get my cablecards installed. I haven't been able to see any HD content on it yet (and my wife is insisting on watching Dancing with the Stars - ugggh).

More to come...

I was casually looking at DVRs a few weeks ago and saw the Sony DHG-HDD250 and HDD500 on sale in many places, as well as Sony Style. What happened? It seems as if they were pulled from the shelves and Sony erased them from their sales site as if they never existed.

I would like to buy one of these - especially since my only thing is OTA HD viewing (I'm one of those who would rather not pay for cable or dish and most certainly not for TIVO).


Does anyone know if Sony plans to re-introduce this unit (perhaps new and improved) or is there another company with plans to build one of these?

Thanks in advance. :)

That's right Spiff...

The old Tivo's guide configuration ...as in the S1 and the DirecTV version... was a grid...find the channel, and then scroll to the right to see what was on in later hours.I didn't know the S2 was different...like the S3.

So theS2, and now S3 have a 'no scroll needed' config...nice.

But I had to laugh...when I turned on the guide, and there, on the right side was that little red box...which said...'TV Guide'


Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I should have clarified...

The S2 allowed you to use either the "live guide" or the "grid guide". If you push the info button on the remote while the guide is on screen, you can change this preference.

The S3 might have this feature too.

Thanks...I'll check it out.

Cablecards coming tomorrow, hopefuly..

I don't come to the Sony HDD forum to read about Feevo.
Maybe you guys should go to a Tivo board...or do they charge a fee there too?

There is a forum for TiVo Series3 HDTV DVRs.
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=51

They don't charge fees. ;)

I don't come to the Sony HDD forum to read about Feevo.
Maybe you guys should go to a Tivo board...or do they charge a fee there too?

You're absolutely right! Keep your Tivo comments in the Tivo forum. This is a Sony forum.

That's right Spiff...

The old Tivo's guide configuration ...as in the S1 and the DirecTV version... was a grid...find the channel, and then scroll to the right to see what was on in later hours.I didn't know the S2 was different...like the S3.

So theS2, and now S3 have a 'no scroll needed' config...nice.

But I had to laugh...when I turned on the guide, and there, on the right side was that little red box...which said...'TV Guide'


Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Dude - hi step it to the correct forum!

You're correct...

My apologies.

Perhaps this is the wrong forum... Does anyone know why the DHG-HDD250/500s were pulled from store shelves?

Perhaps this is the wrong forum... Does anyone know why the DHG-HDD250/500s were pulled from store shelves?

Lyca, read back in this thread a bit. They were discontinued nearly a year ago.

Marc

1. Price
2. Quirks
3. Poor/incomplete/error ridden documentation & support
4. Lazyness of people to learn how to use it
5. No 1394
6. No ability to replace HDD by customer

Easier to rent a STB. See #1 & 4. Numbers 1-4 also apply to the Goldstar version.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=337424

Anybody notice a new boom on ebay for these? There are a lot of both models listed,
250s are going for near $500, and 500s are going for up to $1000.

oh, the days when 500s were $250-$500, (I got 2 back in the day).

(to the previous post - I have no desire to rent any cable box or pay/rent for any Tivo.) The Sonys are perfect for my use.

Anybody notice a new boom on ebay for these? There are a lot of both models listed,
250s are going for near $500, and 500s are going for up to $1000.

oh, the days when 500s were $250-$500, (I got 2 back in the day).

(to the previous post - I have no desire to rent any cable box or pay/rent for any Tivo.) The Sonys are perfect for my use.

THOSE WERE THE GOD OLD DAYS.

I bought two units during the GOOD OLD DAYS!

These Discontinued units are fetching high prices on eBay!

I'm glad i waited for this 42inch Sharp 1080p LCD HDTV out in October for 2500! Can't wait to pair this up with my great HDD250s, HDDVD & Blu-ray! :)

When Sony's coming out with updated version of HDD250???

THOSE WERE THE GOD OLD DAYS.

I bought two units during the GOOD OLD DAYS!

These Discontinued units are fetching high prices on eBay!
Should i sell mine HDD250s for 1000 each? ;)

Nope. These units are great! and even greater if I figure out how to upgrade to those new 750GB Seagate drives!

Why were the Sony's discontinued?

1. Price
2. Quirks
3. Poor/incomplete/error ridden documentation & support
4. Lazyness of people to learn how to use it
5. No 1394
6. No ability to replace HDD by customer



7. Sony wasn't making enough money off them
8. Sony wasn't making enough money off them
9. Sony wasn't making enough money off them


It's always about the money.

But its too bad, because I have grown to absolutely love my HDD 250's.

Why?

1. No fees....ever
2. Amazing picture, whether live or recorded
3. Amazing Dolby 5.1
4. Customizable in so many ways
5. Best looking DVR in the world (Motorola? Ugly! DirecTV HR10-250? Ugly!
6. Program Title and/or channel on front display
7. Did I mention no fees...ever?


Yes, even though I now have the new HD DVR product that I'm not supposed to mention here, I still love the Sonys. EBay? No way. They're staying here.

Fact is, I was caught up in the frenzy over the product-that-shall-not-be-named-here. I might return it...and just go with the Sony's.

Well, I bought my unit at the end of November, 2005 and it has worked flawlessly until two weeks ago.
The only thing I did at that time was to clean up the cable clutter behind the TV which included unplugging the unit for a few minutes.
Since then it's been showing partial listings (i.e. lots of "No Listing" or "No Title" in the guide).
I've called the host channel station, changed zipcodes in the setup, went back to my actual zipcode - it seemed like things were working again but no such luck.
Yesterday I turned it on and it said it was updating the listings based on the setup change I made - I didn't make any setup change.

So, today I unbundled the coax cables so they are back to rat's nest mode behind the TV - I'm wondering if there's some interference issues between the cables or because I had them coiled or something.

If that doesn't work, I'm probably going to have to do the "reset to factory default" thang and just spend the hour or so getting the channel listings back the way I like them. :(

But, if anyone who has experienced such problems has any other suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Thanks,


Mitch

Why were the Sony's discontinued?

7. Sony wasn't making enough money off them
8. Sony wasn't making enough money off them
9. Sony wasn't making enough money off them
10. Probably because they were too darn expensive.
11. They weren't marketed right.

I didn't even know these units were out there until I read this forum back in "the day."

I was wondering where you guys were at. I'm glad to see that there are more of you out there that feel the same way I do about these, they are GREAT!! I LOVE THEM LOVE THEM LOVE THEM!!!! NO FEES!!!

:D

Should i sell mine HDD250s for 1000 each? ;)

Nope. These units are great! and even greater if I figure out how to upgrade to those new 750GB Seagate drives!

I have two I'm keeping -- and just BOUGHT my 3rd one today.

I doubt you will be able to upgrade the Hard Drives. From some postings
I have seen - SOMEWHERE - Sony has made even replacement with the
same drive impossible. I THINK they have used some proprietary format
on the hard disk.

OF COURSE I COULD BE WRONG!

I have two I'm keeping -- and just BOUGHT my 3rd one today.

I doubt you will be able to upgrade the Hard Drives. From some postings
I have seen - SOMEWHERE - Sony has made even replacement with the
same drive impossible. I THINK they have used some proprietary format
on the hard disk.

OF COURSE I COULD BE WRONG!
I AGREE!

Why can't Weakness.com figure out how to upgrade Sony units??? Tivo3 have already been hacked http://www.weaknees.com/series-3-hd-tivo.php

Why can't Weakness.com figure out how to upgrade Sony units???

Maybe you need to ASK THEM [GRIN]!

Go For It!

Maybe you need to ASK THEM [GRIN]!

Go For It!
maybe they don't even know about the existence of Sony units!

Well, I bought my unit at the end of November, 2005 and it has worked flawlessly until two weeks ago.
The only thing I did at that time was to clean up the cable clutter behind the TV which included unplugging the unit for a few minutes.
Since then it's been showing partial listings (i.e. lots of "No Listing" or "No Title" in the guide).
I've called the host channel station, changed zipcodes in the setup, went back to my actual zipcode - it seemed like things were working again but no such luck.
Yesterday I turned it on and it said it was updating the listings based on the setup change I made - I didn't make any setup change.

So, today I unbundled the coax cables so they are back to rat's nest mode behind the TV - I'm wondering if there's some interference issues between the cables or because I had them coiled or something.

If that doesn't work, I'm probably going to have to do the "reset to factory default" thang and just spend the hour or so getting the channel listings back the way I like them. :(

But, if anyone who has experienced such problems has any other suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Thanks,


Mitch

Hold on Mitch, I've got the same problems so I do not think that it is anything that you have done. I'm just about at the same step, but do not want to take it. If I do resort to doing a "factor reset" I will also force the host channel to OTA, that way I will not have the cable company to suspect.

I'm still guessing that the problem is not our units, but an outside problem. If this is the case, anything we do will not resolve the problem. (Outside of changing the source of the information)

I'm going to make a post in the Wide Open West forum to see if anyone else is having problems with their TVGOS.

Yes, even though I now have the new HD DVR product that I'm not supposed to mention here, I still love the Sonys. EBay? No way. They're staying here.

Fact is, I was caught up in the frenzy over the product-that-shall-not-be-named-here. I might return it...and just go with the Sony's.

I'm sure people here wouldn't mind if you posted a review of the TiVo Seires 3 (there, I said it... looks over shoulder) in terms of how it compares to the Sony. As long as it's a comparison I think it's fine. It was just all the questions specific to the TiVo that were being posted that got out of hand.

Why can't Weakness.com figure out how to upgrade Sony units??? Tivo3 have already been hacked http://www.weaknees.com/series-3-hd-tivo.php

It might be worth asking them though I suspect the TiVos are easy to hack and upgrade where as the Sonys are definitely not.

Hold on Mitch, I've got the same problems so I do not think that it is anything that you have done. I'm just about at the same step, but do not want to take it. If I do resort to doing a "factor reset" I will also force the host channel to OTA, that way I will not have the cable company to suspect.

I'm still guessing that the problem is not our units, but an outside problem. If this is the case, anything we do will not resolve the problem. (Outside of changing the source of the information)

I'm going to make a post in the Wide Open West forum to see if anyone else is having problems with their TVGOS.Make that three of us (although I'm OTA only).

How, exactly, do you do a "factory reset" anyway? As long as I don't lose recordings, I'll try it.

It just kills me that it worked perfectly for the first few months I had it, and then "boom" - after the warranty was up, naturally.

7. Sony wasn't making enough money off them
8. Sony wasn't making enough money off them
9. Sony wasn't making enough money off themFor $800 & $1,00 a pop, for a HDD, PS, case, a couple of PCBs' and some firmware, how couldn't they make $$ off them. 7. Did I mention no fees...ever? Where there ios a will there is a way with the other HDD recorder. 11. They weren't marketed right. I already thought of that, but didn't include it. Actually, that probably is the #1 reason.

Must be the one and only maybe isn't?

As I kind of followed it's course right from the start, I would have to agree that the marketing part was the biggest issue. Then probably the price. They weren't selling at all until they first knocked down the price by a couple hundred bucks.

Make that three of us (although I'm OTA only).

How, exactly, do you do a "factory reset" anyway? As long as I don't lose recordings, I'll try it.

It just kills me that it worked perfectly for the first few months I had it, and then "boom" - after the warranty was up, naturally.

The factory reset is described in Spiff's FAQ (check out his signature).
Apparently, it will cause you to lose your recordings, though.

I'm a bit frustrated by this, but since a bunch of us are having the problem, I think I will sit tight before pulling the pin out of the factory-reset-grenade.

Rammitinski: When did you buy/install your unit?


Mitch

I think it was right before Xmas, last year.

I was just at Fry's Electronics and they still had these for full price, the 500's (saw 2) for $999 and the 250's (saw 8) for $799. I'm really surprised they haven't discounted them yet there too.

This may have been discussed before, but, I had Bones and Justice red dotted to record and it disappeared. Is this a broadcast flag, TVGOS, or Sony issue?

The last two weeks, I had both House and Bones scheduled to record. Throughout the course of the week up to each broadcast, the scheduled recordings were cancelled no less than three times. My wife and I kept scheduling them, and a day or two later, they would be removed. They were always removed overnight, when we had the DVR turned off for the guide download.

Finally we wised up and scheduled the recordings a few hours before the shows aired and left the DVR turned on so that it wouldn't receive any guide data. The shows recorded as scheduled. Hmmmm...

The factory reset is described in Spiff's FAQ (check out his signature).
Apparently, it will cause you to lose your recordings, though.

I'm a bit frustrated by this, but since a bunch of us are having the problem, I think I will sit tight before pulling the pin out of the factory-reset-grenade.

Rammitinski: When did you buy/install your unit?


Mitch

Try the TVGuide Reset instead of the Factory Reset. That leaves your programs intact. I've done it twice when I've had that screen and it works great. Go into the service menu, then select the TV Guide menu, then select Reset to Factory Default from there. It basically starts you from when you turned the box on the first time, but it leaves your recordings. You'll have to input your zip code and everything and the host channel will be blank.

I do it this way-
on the front panel hold down the guide button and the exit button at the swame time. THis will cycle the unit off and reset the guide.

Neither of those things helped. The guide never totally resets. When I do the "2 button" thing, the guide just comes back as it was. I entered in 99999 for the zip the other day and left it off overnight. The next day the guide was blank and I reset to my zip. The same channels with the same channel numbers, (some of which I originally had to change), came up that I had programmed in there before the reset.

The guide was all "No Listings" again today, but I checked 24 hours in advance to tomorrow, and it was all filled in. It drives me nuts.

I really don't want to do a factory reset, because there's a couple of things on the hard drive that I don't want to lose. But this has been going on too long, and I have got to do something different.

I really don't want to do a factory reset, because there's a couple of things on the hard drive that I don't want to lose. You sure a 'reset' will wipe the HDD??

You sure a 'reset' will wipe the HDD??

Check the FAQ, Section 1.2.16 for info on what each type of "reset" will do. Perhaps the "reset user configuration" choice might be an option, or the "TV Guide - Reset to factory defaults" option - NOT THE SIMILARLY NAMED ONE UNDER THE MAIN 9012 MENU.

Like others, I've had a lot of problems the past couple of weeks with my TVGOS. I've called my local host station twice to see if everything's OK on their end but they never return my calls. It dawned on me today that I started having these problems shortly after I dropped my host station from the channel line-up in TVGOS. I re-assigned the listings for my host station (WNPT Ch. 8, Nashville PBS) from the analog cable feed on to the SD digital feed of the same station. Of course, the TVGOS data is transmitted via the analog feed. (I could still tune to and receive ch. 8, it just wasn't in my channel line-up in the listings.) Anybody know if that could be the source of my problems with TVGOS? Lately, it has only occasionally downloaded any new listings, usually after I see a screen saying the listings are currently inaccessible and are being rebuilt but will return in 24 hours. The next day, I'll have listings for days 1, 2, and 8 but then it never downloads any new listings again until several days later, when it rebuilds itself again.

I've reassigned the listings for that channel back to the analog feed on Ch. 8. I'll let y'all know if that makes any difference over the next few days.

Well, I decided to offer up my DVR to the full-factory-reset-gods and did the 9012 factory reset this morning.
I have clock already. But, I won't turn it on to check the listings until tomorrow morning at which time I will report whether things are better.
If not, then I'm pretty sure the problem's gotta be with Gemstar.

NashGuy: It's believed (if not actually true) that you need to have the host channel "active" in your TV guide listings to get the information. It doesn't hurt.


Mitch

Anybody know if that could be the source of my problems with TVGOS?


ABSOLUTELY - I did that by MISTAKE 6 months ago!

I have two I'm keeping -- and just BOUGHT my 3rd one today.

I doubt you will be able to upgrade the Hard Drives. From some postings
I have seen - SOMEWHERE - Sony has made even replacement with the
same drive impossible. I THINK they have used some proprietary format
on the hard disk.

OF COURSE I COULD BE WRONG!

I picked up my 2nd 250 today at the Tweeters in Bailey's Cove in Northen VA. Paid $348 after taxes. Just the unit, no box, no remote, just a 250 in bubble wrap. Guy said there were 3 units left in the Tweeter universe and the 4th one (not mine) was sold in the Fairfax VA Tweeter's yesterday. They call the stores that have them as demo floor models and ship them for sale when asked.

Anyway, the Tweeter employee said the 500 had some kind of problem with the drives and that's why they sold for $250. Funny I never heard that problem on this forum.

Then the shocker was his story that one of his customers bought a 500 (new, full retail) that had this problem and a Sony tech came out to exchange the drive(s). But, the custumer had a larger hard drive (supposedly a terabyte) to which the Sony tech installed for him - QED. Seems the tech could format the customer provided hard drive on the spot.

Sounds fishy....what does the Fourm think? Meanwhile I'm packing my '250 for the firmware and CableCARD upgrade.

Anyway, the Tweeter employee said the 500 had some kind of problem with the drives and that's why they sold for $250. Funny I never heard that problem on this forum.


All I can say is I have (2) HDD250s and (1) HDD500.

The 500 DISK died yesterday. Back to Sony Next week.

Then the shocker was his story that one of his customers bought a 500 (new, full retail) that had this problem and a Sony tech came out to exchange the drive(s). But, the custumer had a larger hard drive (supposedly a terabyte) to which the Sony tech installed for him - QED. Seems the tech could format the customer provided hard drive on the spot.

Sounds very fishy to me, too. I have NEVER heard of a Sony tech going to a customer to perform service. I thought they all have to be sent in to Pennsylvania for repairs.

All I can say is I have (2) HDD250s and (1) HDD500.

The 500 DISK died yesterday. Back to Sony Next week.
Do you think this could have been a heat issue? These things do run hot.

Anyway, the Tweeter employee said the 500 had some kind of problem with the drives and that's why they sold for $250. Funny I never heard that problem on this forum.


I don't believe it. I bought my second 500 on February 4th, 2206, the first day the price was dropped to $250 and I have used it every day since with absolutely no problems. In fact the employee who sold it to me on that day told me that as soon as it was known within the company that the price had dropped, employees scooped up most of them just leaving a scant few for others to snatch up.

Do you think this could have been a heat issue? These things do run hot.

I doubt it is heat for two reasons!

1) It died without even being used for 3 months.

2) It has perfect OPEN cooling environment!

NashGuy: It's believed (if not actually true) that you need to have the host channel "active" in your TV guide listings to get the information. It doesn't hurt.


Mitch


To tell you the truth. I've had two of these units and never had the host channel "active" in the TV Guide Listings. I've been working flawlessly for over eight months. I did not even know which was my host channel until I started having problems a couple of weeks ago. I think that the key is that the host channel needs to be enabled in the Sony Channel Listing.

Anyway, the Tweeter employee said the 500 had some kind of problem with the drives and that's why they sold for $250. Funny I never heard that problem on this forum.

Then the shocker was his story that one of his customers bought a 500 (new, full retail) that had this problem and a Sony tech came out to exchange the drive(s). But, the custumer had a larger hard drive (supposedly a terabyte) to which the Sony tech installed for him - QED. Seems the tech could format the customer provided hard drive on the spot.

Sounds fishy....what does the Fourm think?

Bollocks. Completely untrue on both counts.

The DHG is probably one of the better termally controlled DVRs... and that's with its hard drive(s) never shutting off! I've got the HDD500 on one side of my stack and a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD on the other, and the Sony is rarely more than warm to the touch while the 8300 is scorching hot. Had Sony added a second tuner and relied less on the TV Guide software (I mean *at least* let the user set the clock themselves!) it probably would have done better.

My list of why it didn't last long:

1. Absolute reliance on TV Guide software, which simply doesn't work in many locations (although it has worked flawlessly for me)

2. Bad (non-existant) marketing

3. Minor bugs that were never corrected (and that includes the last firmware created for the unit - I saw no improvement going from the oldest to the newest)

4. Price - it simply was too expensive for the mass market. Although with the price of the new Series3....

Otherwise I love the unit. I very much like its recordings management system, I like that mine has 500gb of space (what's with the new TiVo only offering 250gb? They have 750gb drives available now!), I like the picture quality, I like the responsiveness (and smooth picture when using trick play) and, of course, its great looks. Sure, it's not perfect - there's still many things I would like to see different. But compared to the Scientific Atlanta its operation is a marvel.

And while I think the new TiVo sounds absolutely fantastic - I mean seriously, how does that NOT sound like a great piece of hardware - I just don't like the fees involved.

Check the FAQ, Section 1.2.16 for info on what each type of "reset" will do.

It says that Reset User Configuration in the 9012 menu also resets the TVGOS system. That hasn't been the case for me. I tried it again today to make sure my memory was correct. After the unit reboots, and leads me through the initial channel scan, it does ask me to confirm my old TVGOS settings (and change them if necessary). After I do that, leaving my original settings unchanged, my old channel list is intact, along with the guide data that I had before I did the reset.

It seems to me that the following three actions in the 9012 menu do not overlap:

TV Guide --> Reset to Factory Defaults: resets TVGOS and erases your guide data and channel-list customizations. You have to re-enter your cable/air setting and ZIP code, and wait overnight for new listings.

Reset User Configuration: resets all the customizations that you made in the Sony menus (except for TVGOS), and clears the channel list in Preferences --> CH +/- List --> Edit CH +/- List. You have to do a fresh channel scan when the unit reboots.

Format Hard Drive: Erases all your recorded programs. I think this leaves all your other settings and TVGOS intact, but I've never tried it so I can't say for sure.

To do all three of the above items at once, use Restore Factory Default in the 9012 menu.

Well, I turned on my DHG this morning after waiting the requisite 24 hours after doing the Reset to Factory Defaults yesterday morning.
When I turned it on, it showed a message that said something like, "Disk error recovery was successful" with an "OK" button that required selecting it to continue.
I found this kind of interesting given the talk about bad 500s (mine's a 250).
But, this could also just be an artifact of the defaulting process.

Anyway, after selecting "OK," it told me there were multiple cable companies, etc in my area and I had to pick one. So, I picked mine (Wideopenwest Chicagoland - Cable Ready [i.e. I don't have a cable box from WOW]).

It then showed the listings and every entry had "No Listing" in it.
Before I did the reset, I at least had some entries populated. :(
But, I guess I should give it another 24 hours to see if maybe it wasn't collecting the listing data due to the disk error thing or the need to have the cable company specified.
But, I'm also thinking there are bigger issues at play here.


Mitch

It says that Reset User Configuration in the 9012 menu also resets the TVGOS system. That hasn't been the case for me. I tried it again today to make sure my memory was correct. After the unit reboots, and leads me through the initial channel scan, it does ask me to confirm my old TVGOS settings (and change them if necessary). After I do that, leaving my original settings unchanged, my old channel list is intact, along with the guide data that I had before I did the reset.

It seems to me that the following three actions in the 9012 menu do not overlap:

TV Guide --> Reset to Factory Defaults: resets TVGOS and erases your guide data and channel-list customizations. You have to re-enter your cable/air setting and ZIP code, and wait overnight for new listings.

Reset User Configuration: resets all the customizations that you made in the Sony menus (except for TVGOS), and clears the channel list in Preferences --> CH +/- List --> Edit CH +/- List. You have to do a fresh channel scan when the unit reboots.

Format Hard Drive: Erases all your recorded programs. I think this leaves all your other settings and TVGOS intact, but I've never tried it so I can't say for sure.

To do all three of the above items at once, use Restore Factory Default in the 9012 menu.

Thanks, I will clarify this in the FAQ.

Well, I turned on my DHG this morning after waiting the requisite 24 hours after doing the Reset to Factory Defaults yesterday morning.
When I turned it on, it showed a message that said something like, "Disk error recovery was successful" with an "OK" button that required selecting it to continue.
I found this kind of interesting given the talk about bad 500s (mine's a 250).
But, this could also just be an artifact of the defaulting process.

Anyway, after selecting "OK," it told me there were multiple cable companies, etc in my area and I had to pick one. So, I picked mine (Wideopenwest Chicagoland - Cable Ready [i.e. I don't have a cable box from WOW]).

It then showed the listings and every entry had "No Listing" in it.
Before I did the reset, I at least had some entries populated. :(
But, I guess I should give it another 24 hours to see if maybe it wasn't collecting the listing data due to the disk error thing or the need to have the cable company specified.
But, I'm also thinking there are bigger issues at play here.


Mitch

Definitely give it another 24 hours. I remember that when I first setup the unit, it then needed to know which cable system I was using. Only after I gave it that information, was it able to fill in the listings.

Definitely give it another 24 hours. I remember that when I first setup the unit, it then needed to know which cable system I was using. Only after I gave it that information, was it able to fill in the listings.

1) You must have your Sony DVR configured right - HOST Station Enabled.

2) it is a slow as molasses - I remember reading the protocol somewhere
it can actually take 72 hours to 100% Populate the whole TV guide from
Scratch.

1) You must have your Sony DVR configured right - HOST Station Enabled.

2) it is a slow as molasses - I remember reading the protocol somewhere
it can actually take 72 hours to 100% Populate the whole TV guide from
Scratch.

I think it actually takes about 6 days

The days fill in like this (where the each day fills in as shown)...
1 2 8
1 2 7 8
1 2 6 7 8
1 2 5 6 7 8
1 2 4 5 6 7 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

I think it actually takes about 6 days

The days fill in like this (where the each day fills in as shown)...
1 2 8
1 2 7 8
1 2 6 7 8
1 2 5 6 7 8
1 2 4 5 6 7 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Ya - that is the protocol I found somehwere on the Internet [GRIN]!

I thought it was 3 days - but you are probably right.

SLOW [GRIN]!

Well, I added my host station back to my listings grid and it's also included in the Sony channel up/down list. Unfortunately, that didn't do the trick. After the unit was powered off overnight and this morning and afternoon (during several download periods), it still failed to download any new listings. So it's behaving as usual. I only seem to get updates periodically when the unit decides to "rebuild" the listings.

I've decided to do a TV Guide Reset to Factory Defaults and hope the unit behaves as it did when I first got it back in May. I'm also thinking about hooking a small OTA antenna to the unit and see if getting the host channel data downloads that way may bring better results than getting them via Comcast.

Yeah, I'm sitting patiently to see what happens over night with regards to the listings.
I thought I remembered having to wait a second day when it came out of the box, but I wasn't sure. I'll report tomorrow morning.

Nash: BTW, I have both analog cable and OTA, and it picked up the cable channel for the host channel so I don't think adding an antenna will help.


Mitch

I've been having a problem with ABC 7.1 (WLS-HD Chicago) for the past month. It used to work great. 7.3 (digital weather) comes in instead. 7.2 (ABC SD delayed feed) comes in fine. so does 7.3. It's really weird; I can sometimes get the HDD250 to show a frame of 7.1 and then it goes away and shows channel 7.3 but it says 7.1 WLS-D1 on the display. It is driving me crazy. I have to fix this before Oct. 4 - Lost! I was wondering if anyone else has had problems in the Chicago area with 7.1? I am using a Winegard SquareShooter OTA indoors. The signal strength is below normal. I don't have any other OTA problems save CBS - the square shooter sucks with vhf...
I don't have any other HDTV receivers to test to see if the HDD250 has the problem.

I've been having a problem with ABC 7.1 (WLS-HD Chicago) for the past month. It used to work great. 7.3 (digital weather) comes in instead. 7.2 (ABC SD delayed feed) comes in fine. so does 7.3. It's really weird; I can sometimes get the HDD250 to show a frame of 7.1 and then it goes away and shows channel 7.3 but it says 7.1 WLS-D1 on the display. It is driving me crazy. I have to fix this before Oct. 4 - Lost! I was wondering if anyone else has had problems in the Chicago area with 7.1? I am using a Winegard SquareShooter OTA indoors. The signal strength is below normal. I don't have any other OTA problems save CBS - the square shooter sucks with vhf...
I don't have any other HDTV receivers to test to see if the HDD250 has the problem.

Yes, this happened a few weeks ago. You need to do a new OTA channel scan. That should fix the problem.

Mitch

Yeah, I'm sitting patiently to see what happens over night with regards to the listings.
I thought I remembered having to wait a second day when it came out of the box, but I wasn't sure. I'll report tomorrow morning.

Nash: BTW, I have both analog cable and OTA, and it picked up the cable channel for the host channel so I don't think adding an antenna will help.


Mitch

I have Comcast (now called Timewarner) in Los Angeles, and when I got my 250 back in June 2005, and hooked it up to both cable and ota, it immediately acquired the guide from pbs 28 on cable channel 3. Sometime later the guide channel migrated to ota channel 28 and since then I have not been able to get it to switch back to cable. Also have a 500 unit, and it behaves the same way. My suggestion is to use manual recording until the guide returns.

In my experience, guide problems are usually outside the box. The guide is a nice feature but not needed for recorder operation. Just record your programs manually and your unit will always record them. The same thing cannot be said for recordings you program with the guide.

Yes, this happened a few weeks ago. You need to do a new OTA channel scan. That should fix the problem.

MitchThe only problem he's gonna have with a rescan is that what was 26-1, 26-2 and 26-3 before will now be mapped to 27-3, 27-4 and 27-5. Myself and someone else in our local thread with the Sony are having this issue. It's a PSIP problem with their station. In order to record from the guide on these channels, you'll have to change the channel numbers to the erroneously remapped ones. Hopefully, this will be resolved soon.

Before I call Sony, has anyone else had this problem? All of a sudden, the picture loses sysc and gets really sluggish and for no reason the unit powers down and powers back up as like I pulled the plug and replugged it back into the wall and I get the Welcome screen.

Anyone else have this problem?

Thanks

The only problem he's gonna have with a rescan is that what was 26-1, 26-2 and 26-3 before will now be mapped to 27-3, 27-4 and 27-5. Myself and someone else in our local thread with the Sony are having this issue. It's a PSIP problem with their station. In order to record from the guide on these channels, you'll have to change the channel numbers to the erroneously remapped ones. Hopefully, this will be resolved soon.

Actually, the analog antenna scan shows 27.3, 27.4, 27.5 which appear to be The U!, MeTV, and some Chinese station. But, 26.1, etc. AND 27.3, etc can still be tuned in on my TV. Only 27.x can be tuned on the DVR.

More importantly, though is that the listings having nothing in them other than "No Listing" and an occasional "No Title."

It really sucks that this is happening just as the new season is starting.

So, what is the current status of other folks' TVGOS listings both for Chicago area and elsewhere? Are they completely blank (i.e. nothing but "No Listing" entries)? Partially filled in? Completely filled in and correct?


Mitch

Glitches in the system.
My local ABC affilate is on 89.3. I can directly access the channel, but it doesn't show in the channel scan. IOWs', I can't 'surf' that channel. I can record it after I pointed the TVGOS to that channel number in the TVG setup menu.

Yeah, I'm sitting patiently to see what happens over night with regards to the listings.
I thought I remembered having to wait a second day when it came out of the box, but I wasn't sure. I'll report tomorrow morning.

Mitch

Well...I did the factory reset on the tv guide, I was able to select my cable system last night (Wide Open West - Chicagoland), I left the sony turned off during two of the guide update sessions last night,...AND...Still no listings this morning at 9am.

The "no listing" problem started about 2 weeks ago. I know that Mitch G is also having the same problems. We are both using channel 2 on the Wide Open West cable system to get our guide information. Is anyone else in Chicagoland having the same problems? Or, does it just seem to be isolated to Wide Open West customers?

I have been reading on this forum for a long time and now I have a question about a problem that started last night. The hdmi output seemed to quit working on my 250 last night. The picture would come on for a brief second and then you hear a slight pop and go off. There was some message that came up about not being able to send this program over hdmi but it was up for just a few seconds before it would go off. It would continue to do this, after turning the system off for a while I thought I would hook the cables back up to see if it would work? Everything is fine with the cables. I was just wondering if anyone else may have experienced this problem? Thanks
rlh149

There was some message that came up about not being able to send this program over hdmi but it was up for just a few seconds before it would go off.


I was watching THT-HD via Comcast Cable and I got that same message
last night and it WOULD NOT go off. I had to SWICTH to Component
out - to get back to watching TNT HD.

I was watching THT-HD via Comcast Cable and I got that same message
last night and it WOULD NOT go off. I had to SWICTH to Component
out - to get back to watching TNT HD.

Sounds like it's one of those hdcp (licensing) issues to keep you from copying the HD version of the program and selling it on Ebay or some other sinister consumer plot/conspiracy.


Mitch

Well...I did the factory reset on the tv guide, I was able to select my cable system last night (Wide Open West - Chicagoland), I left the sony turned off during two of the guide update sessions last night,...AND...Still no listings this morning at 9am.

The "no listing" problem started about 2 weeks ago. I know that Mitch G is also having the same problems. We are both using channel 2 on the Wide Open West cable system to get our guide information. Is anyone else in Chicagoland having the same problems? Or, does it just seem to be isolated to Wide Open West customers?

OK. I think we can agree that something's screwed up between our box and the power plug on the TVGOS box at Gemstar headquarters. :)

BTW, I emailed Sony and Gemstar (using their TV Guide On-line customer support portal) complaining about this. I have no expectations of hearing anything useful from them. But, I figured it was worth the cost of the stamp to try.


Mitch

Sounds like it's one of those hdcp (licensing) issues to keep you from copying the HD version of the program and selling it on Ebay or some other sinister consumer plot/conspiracy.


Mitch


I agree with you 100%. It was just the first time I have seen
this SINISTER intervention - stopping me from watching a
live Sports Event.

I was being so EVIL [GRIN]!

I have a HDD 500 and am currently using Charter as my service provider. I am hooked up to my Sammy via HDMI interface connection. The channel changing is quite slow. It takes about 5 to 6 seconds to change channels. It does not matter if they are Analog, Digital or Hi-Def. Is there some set up that would mahe changing channels much quicker?

I have a HDD 500 and am currently using Charter as my service provider. I am hooked up to my Sammy via HDMI interface connection. The channel changing is quite slow. It takes about 5 to 6 seconds to change channels. It does not matter if they are Analog, Digital or Hi-Def. Is there some set up that would mahe changing channels much quicker?

Try setting the resolution (screen mode?) to the resolution of your TV (e.g. 720p) instead of using "Auto-HDMI." I think that speeds things up.
I think I also found that using component instead of HDMI was faster, but that analysis was made about 9 months ago and I could have been wrong - in other words, it wasn't a scientific analysis.


Mitch

I have a HDD 500 and am currently using Charter as my service provider. I am hooked up to my Sammy via HDMI interface connection. The channel changing is quite slow. It takes about 5 to 6 seconds to change channels. It does not matter if they are Analog, Digital or Hi-Def. Is there some set up that would mahe changing channels much quicker?

Switch to component. I don't have an HDMI connection on my TV but it doesn't take anywhere near 5 seconds to change channels; maybe 1?

Actually, the analog antenna scan shows 27.3, 27.4, 27.5 which appear to be The U!, MeTV, and some Chinese station. But, 26.1, etc. AND 27.3, etc can still be tuned in on my TV. Only 27.x can be tuned on the DVR.

More importantly, though is that the listings having nothing in them other than "No Listing" and an occasional "No Title."

It really sucks that this is happening just as the new season is starting.

So, what is the current status of other folks' TVGOS listings both for Chicago area and elsewhere? Are they completely blank (i.e. nothing but "No Listing" entries)? Partially filled in? Completely filled in and correct?


Mitch
Not a problem here. Every channel that is mapped on TVGOS displays programming information for everything that Gemstar provides. However, they can sometimes be painfully slow about revising new changes to a broadcast lineup. (Although, I tend to believe the problem lies more with the affiliates than with Gemstar)
I wanted to see the new remastered Star Trek, but information was not available, not even to the show's debut.
I kinda fault Weigle broadcasting (owners of 26.1, 26.2, and 26.3) and probably signing a last minute agreement with Paramount for broadcast rights to the TOS. Star Trek finally did show up for the next weekend though.

Their is an auction for a newly purchased HDD250 on eBay now.

Search for item number 160032014208.

The auction states it was bought new at Brandsmart. If anyone near Atlanta, GA or Miami, FL could check it out, we would appreciate it greatly.


Brandsmart (http://www.brandsmartusa.com/current_fl_ga.htm)

Not a problem here. Every channel that is mapped on TVGOS displays programming information for everything that Gemstar provides. However, they can sometimes be painfully slow about revising new changes to a broadcast lineup. (Although, I tend to believe the problem lies more with the affiliates than with Gemstar)
I wanted to see the new remastered Star Trek, but information was not available, not even to the show's debut.
I kinda fault Weigle broadcasting (owners of 26.1, 26.2, and 26.3) and probably signing a last minute agreement with Paramount for broadcast rights to the TOS. Star Trek finally did show up for the next weekend though.


Robin,

What's your host channel?

Mitch

People are probably getting tired of my little trip down "No Listing" lane, but maybe someone in the future will find some solice and comfort in this. :)
If nothing else, it's therapeutic for me.

The current working theory is that the local cable company is somehow screwing up the host channel feed.
So, tonight I decided to start fresh again. I did the factory default reset again, but, this time I disconnected my cable. So, it can only use OTA.
And, just for the heck of it, I decided to force the host channel to be our local PBS channel (11) since it's a stronger signal than the other local host channel (2).

And, now I wait ....


Mitch

People are probably getting tired of my little trip down "No Listing" lane, but maybe someone in the future will find some solice and comfort in this. :)
If nothing else, it's therapeutic for me.


I'm not tired of your "trip", just going for the ride. ;)

Excellent idea on cutting out the cable company and forcing OTA only. iF you get listings, this will prove it's Wide Open West.

Well, I got what look like good listings for the OTA channels (although it didn't list 11.3 nor the WCIU digital channels). But, it's enough proof for me.
And, the host channel is OTA-11 (WTTW).

So, I reattached the cable, and told the DVR I have cable now using the standard setup menu (i.e. no hidden, trick menus). Now, I wait again ....

I expect the host channel to stay at OTA-11. So, hopefully this will work.

Chris: BTW, I called that number at WOW yesterday and hit 0 and spoke to an operator for a while. She was genuinely interested in helping me. She listened to what I said and didn't just spout standard responses or anything. But, the best she could do was say she would try to pass my information along to someone who could help. Again, I think she meant it. But, I don't have much hope that it'll go anywhere.


Mitch

BTW, I called that number at WOW yesterday and hit 0 and spoke to an operator for a while. She was genuinely interested in helping me. She listened to what I said and didn't just spout standard responses or anything. But, the best she could do was say she would try to pass my information along to someone who could help. Again, I think she meant it. But, I don't have much hope that it'll go anywhere.
Mitch

Mitch,

I emailed WOW customer support last night. The reply I received is as follows:


>Thank you for contacting WOW! via email.
>
>I have forwarded this issue to our Network Operations Center to see if we are >doing anything to the Gemstar Information.
>
>Respectfully,
>
>Dana, ID# W25
>Tech Support
>WOW! Internet, Cable, & Phone

Hopefully, with the multiple complaints, WOW will troubleshoot and resolve the issue.

Well, I got what look like good listings for the OTA channels (although it didn't list 11.3 nor the WCIU digital channels). But, it's enough proof for me.
And, the host channel is OTA-11 (WTTW).

So, I reattached the cable, and told the DVR I have cable now using the standard setup menu (i.e. no hidden, trick menus). Now, I wait again ....

I expect the host channel to stay at OTA-11. So, hopefully this will work.

Chris: BTW, I called that number at WOW yesterday and hit 0 and spoke to an operator for a while. She was genuinely interested in helping me. She listened to what I said and didn't just spout standard responses or anything. But, the best she could do was say she would try to pass my information along to someone who could help. Again, I think she meant it. But, I don't have much hope that it'll go anywhere.


Mitch You might want to go into the "channel edit" listings and look for WCIU, WWME and Create (26.1, 26.2 & 11.3). They're in my OTA listings.

They might be all the way at the end of the list, and you will have to turn them "on" and enter the digital channel assignment numbers, as I did.

I'm having that same problem this week with Bones and House getting removed from my scheduled recordings. The title and episode descriptions of the shows did not change, so I don't think the recordings were cancelled due to TVGOS thinking these are different shows (unless there is some hidden ID code for the shows that is changing). Sure seems like TVGOS is able to cancel recordings at the networks' request. Is anyone else having this problem? What I don't understand is why, if TVGOS is doing this, why they aren't going all out and making it completely impossible to record the shows or deleting certain recorded programs from the hard drive.

I'm having a similar problem with a regular recording of a certain show disappearing from the schedule, but with a twist. My wife gets home from work later than I do, so we record the 6pm local news (from WYFF-DT in Greenville SC) to watch later in the evening. I extend the recording slot by 30 minutes so it include the NBC Nightly News which follows, so we can watch both conveniently, but that shouldn't affect what I'm describing here.

Here's the scenario: On Monday, I set the news to record "regularly", and it gets recorded OK through Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, the 6pm news is listed under a different name, and is often pre-empted anyway, so this schedule entry isn't effective on the weekend. But by Monday, it has disappeared completely from the schedule, and I have to set it again in order to get the next week's 6pm news.

Right now, the red dot with an R marks the 6pm news for tonight through Friday, and the following Monday and Tuesday. I'll try to remember to watch carefully this weekend and try to find out exactly when that recording disappears from the schedule.

I do not have this problem with "Jeopardy!" which we also record every weeknight. I never have to reset this recording, unless I remove it myself temporarily for some reason.

Mitch,

I emailed WOW customer support last night.
<snip>


Now, before you non-Chicagoans start complaining about this digression into Chris' and my problems, you may be able to use this information in the future if you ever run into a similar problem. :)

I got a call from a WOW technician. He said they are waiting to hear from WBBM to make sure they know which VBI channel WBBM sends the gemstar info on so they can verify whether or not the data is valid where they receive it.
He said that they don't see anything wrong with VBI channel in general (i.e. they can see the closed captioning coming across).
He also said that they don't do anything to the channel 2 signal. It is a straight pass-through.

I also followed up with WBBM yesterday to confirm with the guy there whether or not they can actually see that the data from Gemstar is valid and good. He confirmed they can.

So WBBM says the data is passing through their system just fine.
WOW says they don't do anything to the signal from WBBM. In fact, the WOW guy indicated they are careful not to tinker with the WBBM signal since they had problems with the signal quality a few years back and he got a hat from WBBM for cleaning it up. :)

So, right now, my feeling is that the digital transmission equipment at the WBBM egress or at the WOW ingress is messing with the signal somehow. But, I'm also hoping that my WTTW OTA feed will work fine so I don't have to worry about this any more. Yet, it's still kind of interesting talking to these guys.


Mitch

Robin,

What's your host channel?

Mitch

OTA WTTW Channel 11

Well, I got what look like good listings for the OTA channels (although it didn't list 11.3 nor the WCIU digital channels). But, it's enough proof for me.
And, the host channel is OTA-11 (WTTW).

So, I reattached the cable, and told the DVR I have cable now using the standard setup menu (i.e. no hidden, trick menus). Now, I wait again ....

I expect the host channel to stay at OTA-11. So, hopefully this will work.

Chris: BTW, I called that number at WOW yesterday and hit 0 and spoke to an operator for a while. She was genuinely interested in helping me. She listened to what I said and didn't just spout standard responses or anything. But, the best she could do was say she would try to pass my information along to someone who could help. Again, I think she meant it. But, I don't have much hope that it'll go anywhere.


Mitch

Mitch,

To find the channel information for 11.3, you have to go into channel edit and scroll through the channel listings to find it. Trust me, it's waaaay down in there!! Once you find it you can edit and move next to channel 11's slot. Sorry if this sounds very rudimentary.

Bobbie

Mitch,

To find the channel information for 11.3, you have to go into channel edit and scroll through the channel listings to find it. Trust me, it's waaaay down in there!! Once you find it you can edit and move next to channel 11's slot. Sorry if this sounds very rudimentary.

Bobbie

Bobbie,

Thanks. I actually knew this but forgot about it. So, rudimentary or not, it jogged my memory.

I'm also pleased to see that you are getting good, full listings from WTTW OTA since that's my source at this time.


Thanks,


Mitch

WTTW OTA - or, so I thought.
I just checked what my host channel is and it's back to being cable channel 2!
Although it was using OTA-11 this morning, it got switched to cable-2 either when I told TVGOS that I "now have cable" or when I scanned channels.

Son of a gun. Of course I checked this only after organizing the channel order in TVGOS. Well, maybe I should just focus my energies on getting the problem fixed at the source instead of trying to use OTA-11.

Let's see what tonight's TVGOS download brings ....



Mitch

More on recordings disappearing from the schedule- I noticed that when you highlight the show whose recording was de-scheduled and then press RECORD, the first indicator that appears is the red circle with an R, not the plain red circle (one-time recording) one would expect. I am in touch with TVGOS' technical services dept. now and will pass this along. By the way, TVGOS stated that they are not currently able to override end users' recordings and suspect that it could be illegal to do so. Therefore, this is mostly likely a bug, possibly related to the fact that both problem shows are on FOX.

WTTW OTA - or, so I thought.
I just checked what my host channel is and it's back to being cable channel 2!
Although it was using OTA-11 this morning, it got switched to cable-2 either when I told TVGOS that I "now have cable" or when I scanned channels.

Son of a gun. Of course I checked this only after organizing the channel order in TVGOS. Well, maybe I should just focus my energies on getting the problem fixed at the source instead of trying to use OTA-11.

Let's see what tonight's TVGOS download brings ....



Mitch

Bummmmer!

I was hoping that OTA 11 would stick as your host channel. This would have been an effective "work around" to issues that we are experiencing. I can kinda understand why the equipment would switch, "in theory" using a cable channel as the source would be more reliable than an OTA one.

WOW is currently just "kicking the tires", let's hope that they take some ownership of the problem and fix it.

When I checked my listings this morning (with Cable-2 as the host channel), new stuff that would have come in last night was blank - as would be expected given Chris' and my problems.

So, I reset the TVGOS information again - but this time I used the more benign restore TV Guide defaults instead of the full factory default reset.
This cleared out the TVGOS stuff including the host channel, but didn't clear out the DVR's channel listings.
The weak theory I'm going with here is that the channel scan messed with the host channel. I kind of doubt it, but what do I have to lose?

So, I did the reset; checked that the host channel was blank; then did the "force host channel" thing to force OTA-11 as the host channel.
We'll see if it sticks. If not, then we really are at the mercy of WOW.


Mitch

Those of you receiving TVGOS over OTA-WTTW (Bobbie and Rammitinski?), do you also have cable? If so, is it analog or digital cable via a cable box?

Thanks,


Mitch

More on recordings disappearing from the schedule- I noticed that when you highlight the show whose recording was de-scheduled and then press RECORD, the first indicator that appears is the red circle with an R, not the plain red circle (one-time recording) one would expect. I am in touch with TVGOS' technical services dept. now and will pass this along. By the way, TVGOS stated that they are not currently able to override end users' recordings and suspect that it could be illegal to do so. Therefore, this is mostly likely a bug, possibly related to the fact that both problem shows are on FOX.

Mark:
I was, and still am, having this problem with my machine. For me, it is usually been CBS (CSI Miami and others), but has also happened w/NBC, ABC and Fox - can't tell you how many times I lost "Lost". One thing I tried was to disable auto-off, and to leave the machine off so it couldn't get any add'l gemstar data to see if Sony's contention that it was a Gemstar issue. I still got it to drop. This usually happens over night, but I've also had it happen hours before a recording. In other words, I have no idea what's causing this, but it ain't getting fixed. One thing I did notice is that it didn't happen often this summer. I'm thinking that with the new season, I've schedule more things for recording, and it just can't keep track of them.

Sorry to hear about those having issues like dropped recordings etc. sounds frustrating. I have 2 500s and have never noticed any dropped recordings but my TVGOs data source (over Cable) seems very stable. I do 'Weekly recordings all the time and it seems fine. I don't baby the setups or do manual recordings generaly, and have no recording problems. I don't like how back-to-back recordings get shortened though, seems like computer wizardry could overcome that delay.

I recently hooked up a new tv and the 500 was very stubborn at setting up again., The format mode would not work but after a few TVGOS resets I was able to get it working again. I have noticed this behavior on 3 or 4 of these units. ( I had some 250s before I got the 500s).

The machines can be a little glitchy, (esp with faulty TVGOs data broadcasts) but overall the 2 machines I have are amazing and reliable.

Sorry to hear about those having issues like dropped recordings etc. sounds frustrating. I have 2 500s and have never noticed any dropped recordings but my TVGOs data source (over Cable) seems very stable.

I recently hooked up a new tv and the 500 was very stubborn at setting up again., The format mode would not work but after a few TVGOS resets I was able to get it working again. I have noticed this behavior on 3 or 4 of these units. ( I had some 250s before I got the 500s).

The machines can be a little glitchy, (esp with faulty TVGOs data broadcasts) but overall the 2 machines I have are amazing and reliable.

My 250 and 500 have also been virtually flawless with recordings. I have lost some when the start time changes due to a presidential address or something but I have become alert to these and try to check in advance. I also do not do "R" recordings; I set up every week, typically on the weekend. It also seems clear that if your TVGOS source is stable/consistent then you will have few guide problems - I am glad that my PBS station appears to either have either a competent technical team or a good set of TVGOS hardware!

Those of you receiving TVGOS over OTA-WTTW (Bobbie and Rammitinski?), do you also have cable? If so, is it analog or digital cable via a cable box?

Thanks,


MitchNo, I'm OTA only, with a direct coax feed from antenna.

I really didn't want to mention this in my last post - I was waiting to see if your forced host-channel stuck. But from my experience, whenever I had anything connected to that cable input, it would always revert back to looking for the host channel from that line. And then, just like yours is doing, it would go blank again within a day or two, because it wasn't picking up any info from that source.

The way I found this out was, I had my SD Dish service going into it, and I could view it on cable analog channel 3, after it was picked up and entered in on a scan. Nothing I tried could get it to revert back to the OTA host channel, AS LONG as I had something hooked up to the cable input that wasn't passing the data. Everytime I would try to reset, it seemed to at first lock onto OTA analog 11 and get a few hours or a day or two's worth of info, then revert back, and the host channel and guide would always eventually go blank. So then I detached it, and my H.C. was 11 OTA again - and that stuck.

I never tried the "forcing" of the host channel method, because I was afraid I might damage the unit (and my warranty was expired). I just wanted to see if it worked for you first, but, as it is, I've been getting full listings anyway the last few days.

So, from everything I know and can surmise, I'd say the problem is in the unit's not getting the info from the cable host channel.

Sounds like it's back to square one again for you.

has anyone been successfully upgrade/add hard-drives?

I'm running out of space with my 250s!

Try setting the resolution (screen mode?) to the resolution of your TV (e.g. 720p) instead of using "Auto-HDMI." I think that speeds things up.
I think I also found that using component instead of HDMI was faster, but that analysis was made about 9 months ago and I could have been wrong - in other words, it wasn't a scientific analysis.


Mitch
I removed my HDMI cable and installed the Componet cable and changed the resolution to 1080i. This seems a little better (approx 3 to 4 seconds to change channels). I also tried Variable 1 with the same results. Perhaps I'm expecting it to change channels as quickly as mt Sammy.

Is anyone having problems in the Fort Worth area with HDNET channel 770 (Charter is the Cable provider)? I can not get the Guide to fill in. It only fills in each evening with 48 hours worth of data. Gemstar has been working on this issue since June and have not fixed it yet.
For example it fills in from monday 3:30am to Wednesday 3:30am. Never filling in more than that.

Joe,

Are you sure you are going to the 8th day to see if the guide data is there? Every day you get day 1,2 and 8. So after 7 days of uninterrupted daily updates you have a fully loaded guide. This is covered every 30 posts or so. There is never any info on day 3,4,5,6,7 of the guide until the updating has been running multiple days.
Is anyone having problems in the Fort Worth area with HDNET channel 770 (Charter is the Cable provider)? I can not get the Guide to fill in. It only fills in each evening with 48 hours worth of data. Gemstar has been working on this issue since June and have not fixed it yet.
For example it fills in from monday 3:30am to Wednesday 3:30am. Never filling in more than that.

Not that this is any real news, but take a look here;

http://www.tvtechnology.com/hd_notebook/one.php?id=957

F**k Hollywood and the NCTA!

So, here's the process I started a few days ago:
(BTW, Spiff, thanks so much for collecting the data that makes up your FAQ.)

Day 1
****
0) Left cable and antenna connected.

1) Used 9012 menu -> TV Guide -> Restore Factory Defaults
THIS IS DIFFERENT THAN THE FULL RESET TO FACTORY DEFAULTS.
It just resets TVGOS and it did require doing the TVGOS setup (i.e. zipcode, etc.)

2) Used 753... menu to see that host channel was BLANK as would be expected.

3) Used 963... option to force host channel to analog antenna channel 11.

4) Used 753... menu to see that host channel was still blank but patience is a virtue. (I hoped it would fill in with OTA-11 tomorrow morning).

5) Turned DVR off to let the updates come in.

Day 2
*****

6) got message about picking cable company set up. This message didn't come up until after the 1:46PM update.

7) Used 753... menu to see what the host channel was - IT SAID OTA-11!

8) Turned DVR off to let the updates come in.

Day 3 (today and here's the good news/bad news part)
*****
9) Checked listings in the afternoon - Everything had "No Listings" in it.
HOWEVER, OTA-11 is still the host channel.
So, I'll wait another day and see if the listings start to show up.


So, it's holding OTA-11 for the host channel, but no listings.
Any of you OTA-11 users having problems now? Regardless, I'm going to wait it out for another day before pondering my next move.


Mitch


Mitch

So, here's the process I started a few days ago:
(BTW, Spiff, thanks so much for collecting the data that makes up your FAQ.)

Day 1
****
0) Left cable and antenna connected.

1) Used 9012 menu -> TV Guide -> Restore Factory Defaults
THIS IS DIFFERENT THAN THE FULL RESET TO FACTORY DEFAULTS.
It just resets TVGOS and it did require doing the TVGOS setup (i.e. zipcode, etc.)

2) Used 753... menu to see that host channel was BLANK as would be expected.

3) Used 963... option to force host channel to analog antenna channel 11.

4) Used 753... menu to see that host channel was still blank but patience is a virtue. (I hoped it would fill in with OTA-11 tomorrow morning).

5) Turned DVR off to let the updates come in.

Day 2
*****

6) got message about picking cable company set up. This message didn't come up until after the 1:46PM update.

7) Used 753... menu to see what the host channel was - IT SAID OTA-11!

8) Turned DVR off to let the updates come in.

Day 3 (today and here's the good news/bad news part)
*****
9) Checked listings in the afternoon - Everything had "No Listings" in it.
HOWEVER, OTA-11 is still the host channel.
So, I'll wait another day and see if the listings start to show up.


So, it's holding OTA-11 for the host channel, but no listings.
Any of you OTA-11 users having problems now? Regardless, I'm going to wait it out for another day before pondering my next move.


Mitch


Mitch

Mitch - I think it is safe to say that the experience you are going through is part of the reason that Sony no longer sells this unit. The TVGOS system isn't terribly reliable, and subject to too many failure modes.

Mitch - I think it is safe to say that the experience you are going through is part of the reason that Sony no longer sells this unit. The TVGOS system isn't terribly reliable, and subject to too many failure modes.

But I don't see that as Sony's Fault.

I OWN four (4) of these boxes.

I'm in the Boston Area - actually Southern, NH.

I have Comcast Cable with (4) Cable Cards and OTA - HD from Boston.

ALL 4 work just fine. I just installed my 4th one this morning and
already the TV Guide is populated.

I think the whole problem is the HOST Stations.

But I don't see that as Sony's Fault.

I OWN four (4) of these boxes.

I'm in the Boston Area - actually Southern, NH.

I have Comcast Cable with (4) Cable Cards and OTA - HD from Boston.

ALL 4 work just fine. I just installed my 4th one this morning and
already the TV Guide is populated.

I think the whole problem is the HOST Stations.

I'm not blaming Sony - I am complaining about the inconsistency of the TVGOS system and its implementation. When the host channels have a problem, they typically have no idea (at least my host channel doesn't). I have to email them to let them know that they aren't sending VBI data. The stations have no interface to the box - to them it is a "black box" device. All my host channel can do to theirs is "reboot" it.

So, it's holding OTA-11 for the host channel, but no listings.
Any of you OTA-11 users having problems now? Regardless, I'm going to wait it out for another day before pondering my next move.


Mitch


Mitch

PBS 11 via cable has given me consistent TVGOS listings all summer. So it would seem that you should not have any trouble OTA. Comcast is just passing the same signal along to me.

I'm not blaming Sony - I am complaining about the inconsistency of the TVGOS system and its implementation.

AMEN - WE AGREE the problem is with the HOSTS!

I'm guess I'm lucky with Boston Host Channels.

I don't blame Sony for abandonning TVGOS given the issue with the TVGOS delivery system. You can blame the host channels, but it's ultimately Gemstar's responsibility to deliver the product. I'm kind of surprised the host channels bother with it in the first place. And the manufacturers like Sony are at the mercy of two other organizations completely out of their control (i.e. Gemstar and the host stations).
Personally, I would like to see Gemstar selling the ad-space on the left side of the listings screen - then I would feel a bit more confident that Gemstar and the host stations were actively supporting and investing in the service.

That said, my current problems appear to be the local cable company. (Of course if I wake up tomorrow and there's still no listings, then I'll have to start wondering what's going on.) When TVGOS works, you can't beat the price. :) When it doesn't work, you pay the price of working through the problems as best you can. That's the trade off with a service like Tivo. You can either pay cash money to Tivo for pretty much flawless operation - or at least someone you can call when it doesn't work, or you can pay with time and a bit of frustration with a system like TVGOS.

As long as the TVGOS information is provided for free, I'll stick with it just because I'm cheap. If I was a doctor, then I would probably just plunk down the money for a Tivo and schedule an extra surgery or two to pay for it. :)

So, I have my fingers crossed that I start seeing listings tomorrow because I can't schedule any surgeries without risking arrest.



Mitch

Mitch, I feel exactly as you do. The whole TVGOS seems to be a flawed business model--since the consumer isn't paying anything directly to Gemstar or the host station, they're not very incentivized to make sure the service actually works. I'm still trying to figure out if the problem here is my unit, the Nashville host station, or Comcast. My host station won't even talk to me. (I'll remember that come their next beg-a-thon pledge drive.) I've got in a call to Sony support to investigate but haven't heard back from them yet...

How hard/expensive would it have been for Sony to put a cheap 56 kbps dial-up modem in these units that could have dialed a toll-free number every night to a Sony (or Gemstar) server to download listings, thereby avoiding the mess of all these host stations? The cost of that service could have been covered by ad space on the listings grid (which I've never actually seen used with TVGOS). Even putting a little wireless antenna in the unit and an antennaed base that plugs into the phone jack (like a cordless phone has) shouldn't have upped the cost too much... And with such a system, the loss of analog stations in 2009 wouldn't be a problem.

Actually, most recorders that use the preceding version of TVGOS (L7) are getting ads. It took them awhile to get around to it (they just started maybe 2 years ago or less), so they'll probably eventually be popping up sometime on the Sony.

Earlier this week I did a factory reset of everything except the hard drives. The first two days I had "no listings". I decided to wait and see what happened if I left the unit to it's own devices. After the first two days of "no Listings", then I got the message that the unit was d/l listings and to leave the unit off for 24hrs. This message was there for the next two days. This morning I have listings, but they end tommorrow morning at 3:30 am.

The host channel has not changed (Cable 2). I do not think that the unit did anything different. I think that WOW may have been passing the data for a short time yesterday. (That's my only guess as the data does not seem to have updated with the 1:21 am d/l this morning.)

most recorders that use the preceding version of TVGOS (L7) are getting ads. First time I have seen anything on any version of the TVGOS software. Can you tell us more about these different versions as I am still surprised (pleasantly) that there are no ads.

The other amazement is how (mostly) flawlessly the data has been in my area. :eek: Of course, now that I have said that....................

Maybe I should look into scheduling some surgeries. :)

I still have a schedule full of "No Listings." :(
But, based on Chris' experience, I wonder if there's more at play than just WOW or Gemstar.
I guess I'll leave things alone for a few more days to give the unit a chance to figure things out.

Who knows.



Mitch

If you having problems with TVGOS, may I suggest trying a different zip code to see if you still have a problem. Try one from a different PBS area. The channels will not be correct but at lease you will know where the problem is. I was not receiving any guide and changing the zip mine came up. I then contacted TVCOS and in two weeks the problems was corrected.

If you having problems with TVGOS, may I suggest trying a different zip code to see if you still have a problem. Try one from a different PBS area. The channels will not be correct but at lease you will know where the problem is. I was not receiving any guide and changing the zip mine came up. I then contacted TVCOS and in two weeks the problems was corrected.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to sit tight for a couple more days first, but then probably try that.

BUT, I have to ask, how did you contact TVGOS?



Mitch

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to sit tight for a couple more days first, but then probably try that.

BUT, I have to ask, how did you contact TVGOS?
Mitch

I know there are a lot of complaints on this forum about the reliability
of Sony's TV Guide versus TiVo. Sure you pay for TiVo and you probably
get a phone number to call with TiVo and things do get FIXED faster.

However you might find it interesting that TiVo uses the same SERVICE
from Gemstar as Sony does.

http://www.gemstartvguide.com/whatwedo/tvgonscreen.asp

I have NO IDEA if this is a GOOD number for TVGOS help - but maybe
people at this number can point you in the right direction.

(610) 293-3022

Well, I just turned my TV and DVR on this morning and I was pleasantly surprised to see listings for today, tomorrow, and next Friday (days 1, 2 and 8, the normal first time download). I had completely reset the TVGOS system on Monday afternoon and I didn't get anything until Thursday overnight. I'm not too excited, though, because I've had other instances over the past few weeks when I'll get an initial "days 1-2-8" download but then nothing more for several days. If I get more listings overnight tonight, that might mean that my calls and emails to Sony and the host station did some good (or I just got lucky).

To be quite honest, I kinda like the TVGOS and it works reasonably well most of the time...just set it and forget it, so to speak. However, it seems like we lose our TVGOS datasream, like clockwork, every 2 months and it takes a full week or longer to fix the problem and have the IPG recover. Ugh! Almost all of my headaches with TVGOS would disappear if they were to digitally distribute IPG (PSIP and the Internet). It's too back Sony discontinued the HDD250/500 because I would pay money for a USB/TCPIP dongle.

I have never had the SONY 250 or 500 miss a guide update. If I watch TV through the early morning download 2-4am then it picks up the listings later in the morning or afternoon.

I had a previous Standard Def TVGOS PVR from philips and had lots of guide issues. Different downloads would cause the unit to reset and delete it flash and have to start the guide downlaod process from scratch. I had this unit at the same time as the sony units and had them on the same host channels. So the guide data was good and the unit was bad (I have read alot of similar reports with that philips unit when used in the United States.) BTW, The philips unit displayed ads and featured up comming show in the add pane. It started displaying the ads after 3-6 months. I am guessing the these companies pay a fee to Gemstar and are given a no ad period based on how much up front fees they pay Gemstar. I liked the featured show of the day. It alerted me to new shows that were on that evening.

My success might be due to the fact that I have about 3-4 channels that transmit the TVGOS information (PBS, ABC, FOX, CBS). I have noticed that some times the SONY will change its host channel. I can only conclude that individual host channels must periodically fail. I am receiving my TVGOS information from the MSPL area. Are the people that only have a PBS host channel in smaller TV viewing areas? (Here in Minnesota it gets pretty cold in the winter so we might watch more TV then most other areas.)

My Sony gets it from WTTW 11 (PBS) here in Chicago. When I first got my SD Panny E85 a couple of years back, it was also getting data from 11. Awhile back the Panny switched over to WYCC 20 (a smaller, local PBS station). Once, when I reset it not too long ago, it started getting it from WLS 7 (ABC), but then after a day or so, it switched back to 20.

I never had any problem getting it from 11 with the E85. And I didn't have any problems with the Sony and 11, until a couple or so months back. My E85 (and a Sony RDR-HX900 I subsequently acquired), have never had any problems at all getting it from 20.

I strongly suspect the problem with my Sony DHG-HDD500 stems from within the unit itself. I may have fouled it up somehow by connecting my satellite receiver to the cable input, and for some reason, it's stuck in that mode. I just don't relish the idea of having to send it in for repair just for this problem (I'm back to the occasional, interspersed "no listings" and "no titles"), since the DVR and the tuner themselves work fine.

Exactly how is TV Guide info transmitted to the DVR?
When you speak of "analog" for a TVGOS host station are you meaning the signal is NTSC (analog) or do you mean the obtaining method is simply via an Over The Air antenna. It just seems wierd that TV Guide information, or any information (i.e. data) would be transmitted in an analog format when digital "O"s & "1"s would be the best way to provide information. Any light on this will be appreciated.

Well, it's been fun these last few months. My TiVo Series 3 arrived this morning and the Sony is going up on eBay as soon as the cable guy gets here. Thanks for all the info, guys.

Exactly how is TV Guide info transmitted to the DVR?
When you speak of "analog" for a TVGOS host station are you meaning the signal is NTSC (analog) or do you mean the obtaining method is simply via an Over The Air antenna. It just seems wierd that TV Guide information, or any information (i.e. data) would be transmitted in an analog format when digital "O"s & "1"s would be the best way to provide information. Any light on this will be appreciated.

See Section 2.1.3 of my FAQ (link is in my signature below). It is carried in the vertical blanking interval of an NTSC broadcast. This is why it is referred to as "VBI data".

Thanks Spiff72!

I was really hoping the NTCS avenue was NOT the case...

Regards,
Lyca

I strongly suspect the problem with my Sony DHG-HDD500 stems from within the unit itself. I may have fouled it up somehow by connecting my satellite receiver to the cable input, and for some reason, it's stuck in that mode. I just don't relish the idea of having to send it in for repair just for this problem (I'm back to the occasional, interspersed "no listings" and "no titles"), since the DVR and the tuner themselves work fine.

Have you done any of the "reset to defaults?" Either the TVGOS-only reset or the full-DVR-stuff-it-back-in-the-womb reset?

I didn't realize OTA-20 was an option. I may have to saunter over there if things don't get better.
But, then again, maybe all my messin' around has messed it up.


Mitch

Have you done any of the "reset to defaults?" Either the TVGOS-only reset or the full-DVR-stuff-it-back-in-the-womb reset?

I didn't realize OTA-20 was an option. I may have to saunter over there if things don't get better.
But, then again, maybe all my messin' around has messed it up.


MitchNo, I was just waiting to see if my getting full listings lately was going to hold up.

I'll probably try every method except the "complete, HDD wipe-out" one now.

Their is an auction for a newly purchased HDD250 on eBay now.

Search for item number 160032014208.

The auction states it was bought new at Brandsmart. If anyone near Atlanta, GA or Miami, FL could check it out, we would appreciate it greatly.


Brandsmart (http://www.brandsmartusa.com/current_fl_ga.htm)

I checked both Atlanta locations. Someone bought the last 2 NIBs couple weeks ago.

Well, it's been fun these last few months. My TiVo Series 3 arrived this morning and the Sony is going up on eBay as soon as the cable guy gets here. Thanks for all the info, guys.

I have two HDD250's, and got the Tivo S3 a week ago..I'll keep the Sony's, although they'll be used only for the kids' cartoons.

They're just so much work!

I don't blame Sony, I blame their reliance on a sketchy, trouble-ridden guide system. I agree with the prior poster who wished for an internet-based guide.

Although I am happy to say that for the kids, it works well.

For me, I'll keep the Tivo S3 very busy. I'll be creating season passes, creating wish lists, deciding whether to keep or delete the dozens of HD shows I record, I'll be cruising though day after day of rock-solid guide listings...and so on.

Instead of just trying to make it work.

For those who have rock-solid TVGOS..you're very lucky. For the rest of us, at least we now have the option of going with another vehicle.

For a fee. :( ;) :)

Also, if it's something I really want to watch, I'll watch it whether it's in HD or not!

Content is more important to me than resolution! :rolleyes: :D :)

I have NEVER seen this happen before...

I was watching a recorded program on my HDD250 a few minutes ago, and it stopped playing the program, and switched to CSPAN2, which was showing some sort of emergency broadcast (white text superimposed over the program that was airing on CSPAN2). There is a tornado warning in a neighboring county.

I have NEVER seen this happen before! It switched back to the channel that the DVR had been tuned to previously, but didn't go back to the recorded show I was watching.

I figured that I would switch over to my new Series 3 Tivo and check the weather report - they had broken into the football game on my ABC affiliate. I noticed that it wasn't recording a program that was set to record at 6:00 pm. I went to the recording history for the Tivo, and it said it wasn't recorded because the tuner wasn't available. I switched to the show that should be recording, and started a manual record, and then my Tivo did EXACTLY the same thing that the Sony had just done a few moments earlier (went to CSPAN2). It has been doing this every 5 minutes now. The recording stopped when it did it again, but it does go back to the correct channel after the alerts.

You must be in The Outer Limits. ;) :D

You must be in The Outer Limits. ;) :D

Apparently, I am no longer in control of my TV set!

I used to get pissed when they showed the weather graphics on my HD shows, causing them to drop into SD. Now they are actually changing channels on me!

FWIW. I was in Nebraska Furnitue Mart in KC today and they had several HDD500 for $499NIB. They also had an openbox HDD250 for $279. I had them check it and it appeared to work fine but they don't allow return of clearanced openbox items so I decided to pass.

Apparently, I am no longer in control of my TV set!

I used to get pissed when they showed the weather graphics on my HD shows, causing them to drop into SD. Now they are actually changing channels on me!

Sheesh. Can this be turned off??? I am trying to watch a movie here, and every 5 minutes it stops playback. This is irritating for a tornado warning that is about 3 counties away. I realize it is a safety thing, but it is the middle of September, for crying out loud.

Never heard of this. Your cableco is remotely switching your channel? And killing a scheduled recording?

Never heard of this. Your cableco is remotely switching your channel? And killing a scheduled recording?

Yep.

Someone in another forum just posted this:

Welcome to the new EAS rules. (Emergency Alert System)
When any cablelabs certified box gets the eas message, it has to effectively cease whatever it's doing and switch to whatever channel has been designated as the eas channel.

If tivo can figure out how to make the box resume recording after a eas interuption it would be pretty cool, as no other digital cable dvr does that so far.

(well, sa and motorola, anyway.:o)

Hopefully they only do this for the actual emergencies (like tornado warnings). Hopefully they don't do this for TS warnings and winter storm warnings.

This is almost as bad for the consumer as copy protection! :( :mad:

Whatever happened to warning sirens?

My son and I went around to some retailers today looking for whatever when I stumbled on this. Just got back from a local best buy and they had a 500 and 250 open box. the 250 had nothing other than the box itself. the 500 had pretty much everything except the hdmi cable. My son was looking for the charter moxi unit but the cable co is out till the cows come home. Anyway the 500 was mark at 699 and the guy came over and asked if he could help? I said will you take $300 for the 500hd? he looks incredously at me like...how dare you...anyway he goes away and comes back a minute late and sez ok (musta checked with manager)...really wasn't in the market to buy...but he called my bluff. the 250 was also on the shelf and I said...what would you want for that...the kid sez make me an offer....well i sez..it has nothing but the box...how bout $100...SOLD!...

Moral of the this story..check out the best buys...the product is getting long in the tooth.

I plan to keep the 500, my son may or may not buy the 250, but if not, i will offer them on here, (if they allow that).

(oh, I noW Have 2 500...2 250's....lol)...Oh btw..the tivo 3....whats the subscription montly?

HDAddiction

Those of you receiving TVGOS over OTA-WTTW (Bobbie and Rammitinski?), do you also have cable? If so, is it analog or digital cable via a cable box?

Thanks,


Mitch

I have limited basic cable, w/o the box, just running into the 250 cable input. I use the DVR as the primary cable decoder. I don't have digital cable, but RCN can't or chooses not to scramble the local OTA high def signals on the coax. I have a cheap $14 Walgreens purchased RCA pair of rabbit ears connected to the ext. ant. input, and the system settings in the setup with antenna on input "AIR" Cable on input "CABLE".

Bobbie

has anyone been successfully upgrade/add hard-drives?

I'm running out of space with my 250s!

Somewhere in the posts, it's been said that it can't be done, but no further explanation has been given as to techniques used and failed. I'm intrigued by the technique that people used for upgrading series 1 TIVO's using a linux blessing tool that allowed the OS to read the drives when installed. I'm wondering if anyone tried this approach. Any documentation out there?

I have NEVER seen this happen before...

I was watching a recorded program on my HDD250 a few minutes ago, and it stopped playing the program, and switched to CSPAN2, which was showing some sort of emergency broadcast (white text superimposed over the program that was airing on CSPAN2). There is a tornado warning in a neighboring county.

I have NEVER seen this happen before! It switched back to the channel that the DVR had been tuned to previously, but didn't go back to the recorded show I was watching.

I figured that I would switch over to my new Series 3 Tivo and check the weather report - they had broken into the football game on my ABC affiliate. I noticed that it wasn't recording a program that was set to record at 6:00 pm. I went to the recording history for the Tivo, and it said it wasn't recorded because the tuner wasn't available. I switched to the show that should be recording, and started a manual record, and then my Tivo did EXACTLY the same thing that the Sony had just done a few moments earlier (went to CSPAN2). It has been doing this every 5 minutes now. The recording stopped when it did it again, but it does go back to the correct channel after the alerts.

If this happened with both units, I would have to say that it must have been a fault with the cable company. Just a thought?

Bobbie

If this happened with both units, I would have to say that it must have been a fault with the cable company. Just a thought?

Bobbie

No, it seems to be a "feature". As I said above, it must be part of the way that the cableco is notifying the public in emergency situations...

And for the person who asked what the fees for the Tivo are, it is $12.95/month for your first TiVo, and $6.95/month for addtional units. The S3 is my second tivo...

If you having problems with TVGOS, may I suggest trying a different zip code to see if you still have a problem. Try one from a different PBS area. The channels will not be correct but at lease you will know where the problem is. I was not receiving any guide and changing the zip mine came up. I then contacted TVCOS and in two weeks the problems was corrected.

There phone number is 800-386-7380 and select option for techs. Nice people to work with. I just got home from a trip and found no guide up on mine so I'm trying a different zip code to see if it still comes up.

My TV guide was up this morning after changing my zip code. TV GOS uses analog PBS stations to transmit their guide assigning your zip code to a particular stations area. The station for Beaufort, SC happens to be in Pembroke, Ga which is 60 miles away making me wonder if signal strenght could be the problem which could vary from time to time. Beaufort has its own PBS station WJWJ and the transmitter is only 16 miles away from my location. I changed my zip code to 29488 Walterboro, SC which is in WJWJ area and have no problems receiving my tv guide. I feel that many of us are living in fringe areas which could cause the problems I read about on this forum. I think we all need to flood TV GOS with calls with our problems. Come Monday morning I will be on the phone with mine. I'm convinced that there's nothing wrong with our units but just a tv guide problem.

Somewhere in the posts, it's been said that it can't be done, but no further explanation has been given as to techniques used and failed. I'm intrigued by the technique that people used for upgrading series 1 TIVO's using a linux blessing tool that allowed the OS to read the drives when installed. I'm wondering if anyone tried this approach. Any documentation out there?
I wonder if Sony techs agree to install 750GB drives for me when I send them my unit??? that would make 1.5TB HD wonder!!!

The [TVGOS] station for Beaufort, SC happens to be in Pembroke, Ga which is 60 miles away making me wonder if signal strenght could be the problem which could vary from time to time. Beaufort has its own PBS station WJWJ and the transmitter is only 16 miles away from my location. I changed my zip code to 29488 Walterboro, SC which is in WJWJ area and have no problems receiving my tv guide.

It's possible for a ZIP code to be in the TVGOS "service area" of more than one station. My normal TVGOS host station is the PBS station in Greenville SC (WNTV-29). Last winter we had a major ice storm in the Upstate which knocked out the power here for a day, and for several days in some parts of Greenville. When the power came back on here, we didn't get a signal from WNTV until their transmitter came back on the air, but overnight my Sony's TVGOS found the PBS station in Asheville NC (WUNF-33) and got its listings from there. It turned out that those two host stations list exactly the same channels, as far as I could tell!

After WNTV came back on line, I reset TVGOS and let it pick up that station again. I can get a decent signal from it over a wider range of antenna orientations than I can with WUNF. I think the criterion is that if the closed-caption data comes through, then the TVGOS data probably does also.

I suspect that the TVGOS software searches channels sequentially, and normally stops at the first channel that has recognizable data. It could be that Beaufort is in the TVGOS service areas for both the Georgia station and WJWJ, but the Georgia station has a lower channel number, so your TVGOS picked up that station. But the signal wasn't stable enough to actually get good listings from. And Walterboro might be only in WJWJ's service area, which forced TVGOS to use that station when you entered a Walterboro ZIP code.

Hi folks,

I'm looking for an explanation as to what might have happened to my unit yesterday. It got into an odd mode.

It's on a UPS that gives it about 30 minutes runtime, and we've had no outages, so I can rule out power loss. I'm using it with cable / cable card and it has the version .13 firmware and the 161-6 fix. It's been running like a champ for many months. All was well as of Saturday.

Anyway, yesterday (Sunday) I went downstairs to watch some recordings at about 9:10 pm. It should have just finished recording BSG on what is for me channel 754. When I turned it on, it was on channel 3 (huh?) which I think is a local CBS affiliate in SD, and it thought the time was 8:16. It immediately turned to channel 754 and started recording. Uh, oh.

I did a front panel reset (exit & guide buttons) and when it came up it gave me the "Pick your cable provider..." and "24 hours for guide listings" thing. OK, but the weird part is that it once again thought it was 8:16 pm. I reset it again, this time with a hard unplugging for a few minutes, and plugged it in again. Still no time lock after ~20 minutes (it usually gets the correct time within 2 minutes of giving the --:-- display).

Turned it on, it thought it was 8:16 pm. Reset once more, went to bed, and this morning all is back to normal except my channel order is scrambled.

What would cause such an oddity. I can see a VBi glitch causing it to reset the listings and ask for the provider again, but the time lock thing scares me. Note that during this period, another device that uses the same time signal worked fine and could pull the time off our local PBS station no problem.

Thoughts?

Marc

It's possible for a ZIP code to be in the TVGOS "service area" of more than one station. My normal TVGOS host station is the PBS station in Greenville SC (WNTV-29). Last winter we had a major ice storm in the Upstate which knocked out the power here for a day, and for several days in some parts of Greenville. When the power came back on here, we didn't get a signal from WNTV until their transmitter came back on the air, but overnight my Sony's TVGOS found the PBS station in Asheville NC (WUNF-33) and got its listings from there. It turned out that those two host stations list exactly the same channels, as far as I could tell!

After WNTV came back on line, I reset TVGOS and let it pick up that station again. I can get a decent signal from it over a wider range of antenna orientations than I can with WUNF. I think the criterion is that if the closed-caption data comes through, then the TVGOS data probably does also.

I suspect that the TVGOS software searches channels sequentially, and normally stops at the first channel that has recognizable data. It could be that Beaufort is in the TVGOS service areas for both the Georgia station and WJWJ, but the Georgia station has a lower channel number, so your TVGOS picked up that station. But the signal wasn't stable enough to actually get good listings from. And Walterboro might be only in WJWJ's service area, which forced TVGOS to use that station when you entered a Walterboro ZIP code.

This might be true but with my zip changed to Walterboro, Charter Cable does not come up on the list of cable companys.

How do you find out if TVGOS is even available in your area? As I'm sure you guys know, they won't talk to consumers on the help line.

Grrr. After receiving a listings guide download overnight last Thursday, I've gotten nothing since. So nothing's changed. Still only getting listings very sporadically. And I've spent over 90 minutes with Sony tech "support" on 2 different calls over the span of a week and have gotten nowhere. This is ridiculous. If the thought of an HD Tivo-type device with no monthly fees sounds too good to be true, that's because it is.

In case anyone cares, I gave up on my OTA-11 host channel last night after 3 or so days of continued "no listings."
So, I decided to try and force the host channel to be OTA-2 (the default for me has been Cable-2) and see what happens.
Although OTA-2 is a rather weak signal for me, I figured what have I to lose?
Well, this morning I checked and it is using Cable-2 for the host channel. So, for some reason this time the force-host-channel didn't stick.

So, I called my guy at the cable company to ask what the status is. He had been waiting for a call from channel 2 and gemstar and hadn't received one yet (it's been about a week). So, I gave him the contact information I had for channel 2. Anything I can do to help. :)

Then I called the Gemstar number posted above. I selected the tech option (even though I'm not a cable or host channel operator :)) and spoke to a technician. I have to tell you if the Gemstar service was as good as the tech customer service, we wouldn't have these problems. I expected some gruff about being an end-user and not an operator, but he was more than willing to talk about the problem and see what could be done.
Since I was at work, he said he would email me the trouble ticket so that I could run the applicable diagnostics and reply with the results.
I also gave him the phone number of the cable guy and he made it seem like he was definitely gonna call the cable guy.

So, as is the norm lately, I wait ....


Mitch

Since I was at work, he said he would email me the trouble ticket so that I could run the applicable diagnostics and reply with the results.
I also gave him the phone number of the cable guy and he made it seem like he was definitely gonna call the cable guy.

So, as is the norm lately, I wait ....


Mitch

Would you mind posting what he has suggested as diagnostics? I am curious what they propose... PM them to me if you don't mind - I wouldn't want anything "dangerous" to get out in the wild...

Thanks

How do you find out if TVGOS is even available in your area? As I'm sure you guys know, they won't talk to consumers on the help line.One way to try would be to post that question over on your local area (or closest to it) OTA HD thread. There may someone over there that uses the Sony. There may also be people there using an SD device with TVGOS, but, at least in my area, my HD Sony and my 2 SD DVR's get their info from two different stations. But they may still have some info that would help.

To find out if TVGOS is transmitted you could ask employees at a local AV store (it could happen!), call cable provider, post the question in the "Local HD" forum for your city here at AVS.

and to Nashguy - NO, I don't think this HD Tivo-like device with no fees is too good to be true, Both of mine are truly good! But I know it can be frustrating. Most problems stem from the providers' sending out the TVGOS signal improperly IMO. I think my 2 machines just get better and better, I notice TVGOS improves all the time. I used to see no actor names in listings, now it seems common.