Sony DHG-HDD250/500: Official Thread [Text View] - Page 3

lussie

08-07-05, 02:31 AM

So I've been playing with my HDD-500 and I found out some interesting stuff.

There seems to be something with pressing Menu followed by "Screen Mode" and a numeric key combination.

This is documented in the "Setting up Demo Mode" Document on sony's site.
(Since this is my first post, I cannot paste the URL)

Anyway In the Demo mode, you can run some TV guide tests..

You can get to demo mode by doing the following:

MENU -> "Screen Mode" 9012
=====================
- Demo Mode
- Restore Factory Default
- Format Hard Drive
- Reset User Configuration
- TV Guide
- Reset to Factory Default
- G*Factory Test
Flash Test
VBI Test
ATSC Test
Serial Test
IR Test

Anyway, so I was playing around and learned the following:

MENU -> "Screen Mode" 1234
=====================
- Main
- Software Main
- Software Module
- Firmware
- Network
- HDD
- Signal

Pretty much the HDD 500 is using Western Digital Hard drives.... ;-)

I'm really interested in the Network Option in that menu.

Time to look at the MonteVista Linux Kernel...

Anyway, the next thing I did was to remove the power safely by doing the following:
- Clicking the power button to set the machine in stand-by mode.
- Simultaneously holding down the "Exit" and "TV Guide" buttons on the console
- Removing the power cord after seeing the "power" light displayed on the console.

I then put a USB key in the USB port and plugged the power cord back in.

- The power light illuminated
- The "Sony"logo appeared on the screen, and the HDD-500 rebooted.
- The "Welcome..."message appeared but it froze at step 6.

Then it rebooted again..

I actually think it was trying to boot from USB.

Anyway, I took out the USB Key and rebooted and it seemed ok, except for that it asked me to re-enter my zipcode, etc.

Cheers,
-Kevin

P.S. I *REALLY* hate this Gemstar/TV Guide... I miss so many features from Tivo :(

jklaffen

08-07-05, 03:24 AM

dp70

08-07-05, 12:20 PM

Excellent first post, Kevin. Welcome!

MrU

08-07-05, 02:34 PM

Just curious if anyone has had luck with not only remapping the channel number, but actually being able to change from Air to Cable or vice-versa. If I move the cursor to this, it doesn't appear to let me alter it, at least by pushing the right or left arrow keys.I've noticed that some channels allow the Air/Cable setting to be changed, but others don't. Haven't figured out any pattern to it though.

wrc15963

08-07-05, 03:55 PM

My DHG-HDD00 started having a new problem this morning where I can't watch HBOHD because of the following message: This program is not available when connected to HDMI or DVI equipped monitor. You may change channel or use the Component or SD Video output. I have had problems recording HBOHD because of CCI problems, however is this a similar problem?

merc

08-07-05, 07:27 PM

My guess is that you are having the dreaded, not all that uncommon, HDCoP handshake problems... HDCP is buggy as hell and does nothing to prevent piracy. I'd guess it is just the Studio's attempts to be more like Microsoft? I've heard that AACS will even include a BSOD screensaver? :p

Daniel Tonks

08-07-05, 10:37 PM

I had HDCP problems due to a bad HDMI cable - I could get an image for regular stuff but the DVR could not negotiate HDCP. The symptoms were a black screen when trying to play back the movie trailer that came preloaded - it's flagged as copy protected and won't play over HDMI without HDCP. Check your System screen, it'll tell you if your display has been HDCP authenticated.

wrc15963

08-08-05, 12:14 AM

I checked the system menu and the HDCP for all channels is Authenticating. I added a Gefen HDMI Switcher five before this problem developed so maybe that is the problem.

wrc15963

08-08-05, 12:34 AM

I removed the Gefen and that didn't change anything. I have discovered that if I go to the HD channel from another HD channel or analog I get the "This program is not available when connected to HDMI or DVI equipped monitor. You may change channel or use the Component or SD Video output" message. However, if I come from a digital non HD channel the station tunes normally.

Daniel Tonks

08-08-05, 01:58 AM

If it just says "Authenticating" then you have a problem (that's what mine showed). Also HDCP is a "general" thing and should authenticate instantly whenever you turn the DVR on, irregardless of what you're watching.

Does that screen also show the list of supported video formats? If it says N/A, try a different HDMI cable.

Ad Astera

08-09-05, 03:07 AM

It happened to a co-worker and I see it has happened to my set as well....

My carefully crafted Guide setup has been trashed. Hours spent ordering, organizing and today it is all screwed up.

I am only using OTA.

Many channels are missing in among the guide data, I have now a raft of HBO and other cable crap flooding my guide listings. My guess is that this new flood of guide data has forced out some of the channels I actually wanted.

As I said, it happened to a co-worker as well. I think there is something seriously flawed with this box. Lets hope Sony has firmware upgrades lined up. My last attempt at emailing them about problems with the box got me "Turn off the machine and unplug it for a half hour, plug back in and run through the set up again."

Right.

So, anyone else in San Jose seeing Guide mishaps?

Daniel Tonks

08-09-05, 05:24 AM

That's an issue with the TVGOS software, not specifically the DVR. Pretty much everything running TVGOS has suffered from these "channel resets" (fortunantly I haven't seen one yet), some even every week.

Look for the TVGOS "poll" thread in the RP Television forum for more information.

baskaran

08-09-05, 05:39 PM

The same thing happened to me as well. I cannot understand how Sony could sell a DVR that relies on a third party to provide a critical DVR functionality. This is a fundamental design flaw and I expect Sony to fix it soon. I will call Sony support and see if they even understand what I am talking about.

I advise others evaluating to purchase this unit to defer your purchase until Sony fixes this serious bug.

wrc15963

08-09-05, 06:26 PM

I was navigating thru some menus when the DVR crashed and when it came back up my TVGOS was empty. I guess I will be reordering my guide again when it starts to rebuild after the download tonite. Sure would be nice to have a network connection so we could download the complete 8 days at one time. Sony and TVGOS really need to improve on this system. I have used TIVO for five years and never had any problems. I think some firmware and TVGOS software upgrades are required.

plumeria

08-09-05, 06:56 PM

<snip>

I advise others evaluating to purchase this unit to defer your purchase until Sony fixes this serious bug.

Thanks for the heads up warning - duly noted and purchase deferred.

Peter
p.s can you program it like a basic VCR with channel number and start-stop times without using the electronic (POS) guide?

Ruidh

08-09-05, 09:02 PM

can you program it like a basic VCR with channel number and start-stop times without using the electronic (POS) guide?

Yes. But it is quite the expensive dumb DVR.

I'm still trying to figure out the recording scheduler. I told mine to record Gilmore Girls which is being shown multiple times this week and next and it didn't pick up all showings in its recording list.

Spahrkee

08-09-05, 11:56 PM

Using Comcast cable in SF, turned on my unit this evening to find that 85% of my TVGOS listings were gone -- lots of "no listing." Extremely frustrating.

PhillyC

08-10-05, 10:43 AM

Loss of guide info and channel arrangement was a frequently recurring problem with the LG DVR. I have been lucky so far with the Sony, and have not had a single loss yet. (This is without a CableCARD, since Comcast can't get one to work yet.) I am alarmed that this problem is happening to many of you, as I'm sure I am not immune.

Does the problem happen with or without the CableCARD?

TVGOS seems to be the only game in town, and the crudeness of their software may be why hardly any manufacturer wants to market a DVR. Sony must have worked with them and reached some level of comfort before deciding to give the DVR a shot, but they can't be too happy with them right now. Sony has a reputation to protect and Sony's name IS on the DVR.

It seems unreasonable that the guide works the way it does, scrapping all your data and setup randomly, and that they cannot even add a couple of missing channels for your area although you are forced to download hundreds that you don't need, etc., etc.

Someone at TV Guide needs to get slapped around. No wonder you can't ever talk to anyone there.

paul_j_ghosh

08-10-05, 01:39 PM

Anyone have a discrete or toggle code to turn on/off closed caption? Perhaps one of the codes from Sony Tivos?

baskaran

08-10-05, 08:07 PM

By the ways, if you guys have found any reproducable bugs on the HDD500 (not related to TV Guide), please let me know.

Well... I have seen my HDD250 get into a mode where the rendered video stream is corrupted (repeating frames display of blocky image) on KRON 4.1 and NBC Weather 11.2 channels in the San Francisco bay area. The signal strength seems pretty good in diagnostic screen and the audio is not affected.

I also have a HDTV tuner in my Sony KD34XBR960 TV and it has no problem with those channels at the same time that my HDD250 has the problem. In fact, I have not seen this problem with my TV ever.

Baskaran

Spahrkee

08-10-05, 08:36 PM

Does the problem happen with or without the CableCARD?

I've got the CableCARD.

brubeck

08-11-05, 12:29 AM

Well... I have seen my HDD250 get into a mode where the rendered video stream is corrupted (repeating frames display of blocky image) on KRON 4.1 and NBC Weather 11.2 channels in the San Francisco bay area. The signal strength seems pretty good in diagnostic screen and the audio is not affected.

I also have a HDTV tuner in my Sony KD34XBR960 TV and it has no problem with those channels at the same time that my HDD250 has the problem. In fact, I have not seen this problem with my TV ever.

Baskaran

I live in the SF Bay Area and have had two problems with the unit:

1. As described by Baskaran, channels 4.1 and 11.2 are unusable because within a few seconds the video gets corrupted. Changing off and back of the channel temporarily fixes the problem, but within a few seconds the video is corrupt again. My RCA DTC-100 has no problem with these channels.

2. I experienced the TV Guide reset bug and just spent the last hour reconfiguring my guide to display the correct channels in the correct order. I've had the unit for a month and this is the first time I've seen this problem. If this TV Guide reset bug happens frequently, it will effectively make the guide useless.

Overall my experience has been positive but these are significant issues that Sony needs to address with a software download. Has anyone had any luck contacting Sony about this stuff? I'll contact Sony and post if I get anywhere.

Dave

Ruidh

08-11-05, 12:26 PM

So I've been playing with my HDD-500 and I found out some interesting stuff.

Awesome stuff. I expected more hacking at this box given the Linux under the cover. The Network option is especially intriguing. I expect that upon plugging in a USB network interface it would be automatically recognized. Then someone could do a port scan and see what services are running. If there's a telnet service, it might be possible to telnet in (after suitably guessing the root password) and take a look around without cracking the warranty seal.

idjit_rabbit

08-11-05, 02:27 PM

I have had my DHG-HDD250 for about a month and like it a lot but occasionally it misses a recording event. I came home last night in the middle of a show that it should have been recording and it wasn't. I checked the schedule and it was correct. I booted it by doing the "exit" "TV Guide" buttons and when it came back up the recording event executed. They definitely got some bugs to fix. What's interesting is that it did the same thing last week in the same time slot but then I had it scheduled with a manual event and this week I had it scheduled to record the specific program. Both times I had an event that recorded two hours earlier which recorded fine.

baskaran

08-12-05, 12:15 AM

I called Sony's toll-free number and explained the problems I have with the HDD250. The rep said she is documenting everything I said but did not have anything to help. She said she is referring me to their product specialist and someone will call me tomorrow. I will post back if I have any more information.

I request others having similar problems to call sony and complain.

The same thing happened to me as well. I cannot understand how Sony could sell a DVR that relies on a third party to provide a critical DVR functionality. This is a fundamental design flaw and I expect Sony to fix it soon. I will call Sony support and see if they even understand what I am talking about.

I advise others evaluating to purchase this unit to defer your purchase until Sony fixes this serious bug.

baskaran

08-12-05, 02:32 PM

I got a call back from a Sony 'product specialist'. I do not have good news.

First of all, he does not seem to understand the capability of the unit. He kept saying that I shouldn't get any TV Guide data without a cable connection. And, the unit is not supported for Guide related issues if I do not have cable connection. I told him that, Sony did not market the unit that way and the unit is completely useless as a DVR without the TV Guide data.

Next, I asked him about the decoding problems. I think he sort of understood what I was telling him. The problem appears to be with the decoder in the unit. It trips on some data in the stream often. I told him that if I pause the unit, rewind and play it back, it plays fine for another 5 seconds before the video freezes/messes up.

He said he wants a tech to look at it. But, there is no field tech to look at it at my home. Instead, I will have to send it to a suburb of Philadelphia, PA paying for the shipping. Then wait for 3 weeks or so to get the unit back.

What is the guarantee that Sony will even find the problem when the unit not receving channesl 4.1 & 11.2 in the SF bay area.

I bought it just about 2 months ago from Frys. I will see if there is any way I can return it back.

Sony has very poor support for an expensive piece of equipment.

So, buyer be warned.

Baskaran

I called Sony's toll-free number and explained the problems I have with the HDD250. The rep said she is documenting everything I said but did not have anything to help. She said she is referring me to their product specialist and someone will call me tomorrow. I will post back if I have any more information.

I request others having similar problems to call sony and complain.

PhilB

08-12-05, 04:50 PM

I request others having similar problems to call sony and complain.

While calling and complaining may help you feel better in the short term, it will do nothing in the long term.

Make sure that when you call Sony that they open a case to document your problem and have the CSR you speak to read back the case contents to ensure they properly document your issues. I have had too many instances where CSRs failed to understand what my issue was and put in the wrong information.

-phil

kong

08-12-05, 09:42 PM

After enjoying the unit for a few months I had no issues. I moved and the cable company is the same(Service Electric) but different city. I had to remove the cablecard and now I am just stuck on 2 OTA channels. I cannot even bring up the tvguide data or enter the Menu... One other note, I have my connection onto a SD 13" TV until I get to setup my room. I do not have the component cables connected, only a composite to the 13" tv...How do I hard reboot???

PhilB

08-12-05, 10:10 PM

Next, I asked him about the decoding problems. I think he sort of understood what I was telling him. The problem appears to be with the decoder in the unit. It trips on some data in the stream often. I told him that if I pause the unit, rewind and play it back, it plays fine for another 5 seconds before the video freezes/messes up.

I bought it just about 2 months ago from Frys. I will see if there is any way I can return it back.

Baskaran

Before you return the unit, you may want to call the TV stations in question and ask to speak to engineering. Explain the problem to the engineer and see if they have any ideas. In my experience, TV engineers are helpful and want to resolve such issues as it goes against their engineering grain to have some unexplained issues with their product. Give as much info as you can including what other channels do work. Many of the engineers in city know each other personally and may be able to talk to the other station's engineers to find a solution.

-phil

kong

08-13-05, 09:43 AM

My system is now froze. I can get a channel for only about 2 minutes then it resorts to going to channel 99... I cannot bring up the "Menu" or my "Recordings". I need to input a new zip code. Does anyone know how to hard reboot this device??? This is getting to be a pain... I have the device unplugged until later tonight... Thank you.

alerion

08-13-05, 10:59 AM

The manual list two ways of doing a 'reset' (does not state if hard or soft and may not be what you are referring to as a reboot). One is to unplug the device for more than a minute, which you have already done by moving. The other is, with power on, press the 'exit' and 'TV Guide' buttons simultaneously on the front face of the receiver (not the remote).

After a reset, the receiver will go through finding the clock and its startup routine. There is no image on screen while this is happening. It will then shut down. You can then turn it on and it will behave normally (or what passes for normal :))

I had to do this when the TVGOS was not allowing me to re-order channels or add or delete channels. It worked. Prior guide data, timer settings and recordings were retained.

It also sounds like one of the first steps after reset would be to re-scan channels and re-do TVGOS setup.

I am using OTA only and have no cable card experience.

kong

08-13-05, 12:29 PM

alerion

08-13-05, 12:56 PM

I tried both ways, still no luck... I wonder if the menu options only appear over compnent,dvi??? I have it temporarily hooked up to a 13" standard definition television. Does the change in cable companies change anything? I have the Cablecard removed. Still no option to get to my "menu" screen.
Bingo!

Tried the composite output, which I have connected to a VCR: the menu and TVGuide do not appear over the composite video! In addition, no channel information or logos appear on screen.

As for cablecard and cable company, I have no idea.

MrU

08-13-05, 09:15 PM

I have it temporarily hooked up to a 13" standard definition television. Still no option to get to my "menu" screen.If you want to get the User Interface to use the composite outputs, just press the FORMAT button until you see SD OUT on the front panel, then press enter or just wait a few seconds.

kong

08-13-05, 11:13 PM

Badda Bing!!! Thanks!!! You guys just saved me from a migraine...

mrdon8

08-15-05, 09:23 AM

I currently have a Replay DVR and use the Quick Skip to skip over commercials. I’d like to move to HD recording, but am concerned that the Sony unit does not have the skip feature. How difficult would it be to skip commercials using the fast forward feature?
Don

merc

08-15-05, 09:33 AM

Don,

You can set the advance and replay buttons to custom settings. I have my replay button set for 15 seconds, and my advance button set for 1 minute. To skip the commercials, I press the advance button from two to four times, depending on the length of the commercial break. It works very well for me.

Rbrodzinsky

08-15-05, 12:23 PM

I had the same problem, last week, with TVGOS, and I live in Union City, CA. So, it might have been something with the Guide here in the Bay Area. Frustrated the hell out of me, took about an hour to redo everything, and I blamed the kids :-)

But - at least the recording schedules were not messed up!

ANGEL 35

08-16-05, 06:43 PM

Bump in the night

ay221

08-16-05, 10:41 PM

Is there a way to tell how much disk space or estimated hours are left for further recordings?

MrU

08-17-05, 12:17 AM

Is there a way to tell how much disk space or estimated hours are left for further recordings?Sure... Menu->Preferences->System->System Menu will show remaining disk capacity in percent. You can look in the Record List to see how much disk space (in percent) your recordings use. When the remaining space gets low, you will see an indication on the DVR progress bar... something like "Near Full" and "Full".

ay221

08-17-05, 11:08 AM

Sure... Menu->Preferences->System->System Menu will show remaining disk capacity in percent. You can look in the Record List to see how much disk space (in percent) your recordings use. When the remaining space gets low, you will see an indication on the DVR progress bar... something like "Near Full" and "Full".

Thanks, I see it now. I think it would of been more helpful if Sony had the percentage remaining in the record list screen instead of having to do menu-pref-sys-sys menu.

Ruidh

08-17-05, 12:27 PM

Stork3000

08-17-05, 03:23 PM

Ruidh

08-17-05, 03:46 PM

You aren't doing anything wrong. The unit just doesn't do name-based recording as you'd like. Your suspicions are correct; you need to have them with the same title in the same timeslot. I'm with you, though, I sure wish it did.

Well, that's just stupid. My 5 year old Series 1 TiVo can do *that*.

It looks increasingly like this Sony is a placeholder for a Cablecard TiVo somewhere in my future.

infinitespecter

08-18-05, 04:30 PM

GBrock

08-18-05, 05:03 PM

That's kind of funny. My experience with a media center PC made me buy the Sony.

merc

08-19-05, 08:21 AM

Am I doing something wrong with recordings?

I set the Sony to record House "regularly" last Tuesday. I got the show from last Tuesday, but it made no attempt to record the Monday showing?

I tried to add Arrested Development "regularly" which has been showing four episodes a night for the past few weeks, I had to add it *four* times to get all episodes.

Does this only record shows with the same title in the exact same timeslot? What am I doing wrong? Sounds to me like it is working just right. Why would you want to record the same episode of the same show more than once?

If you are looking to build a "House Special Channel" that's a whole nother thing, but with what you described, it seems like the Sony is working perfectly...?

Although there are things that I wished the Sony did, which I can do on my ReplayTVs, I've found the Sony to be very nice as a Cablecard Tuner/HD-DVR. For me, the only real problems I've seen is the inability to set up the guide for the second channels of INHD and HDNET.

Previously, I used an HTPC for timeshifting OTA HD content and the Sony is heads and tails above that box, IMO.

Ruidh

08-19-05, 10:48 AM

Sounds to me like it is working just right. Why would you want to record the same episode of the same show more than once?

The Monday showing was not a repeat of the prior week's show. Since I wasn;t watching House in the regular season, all the summer repeat episodes are new to me.

Previously, I used an HTPC for timeshifting OTA HD content and the Sony is heads and tails above that box, IMO.

You've got me there. I never did get Myth TV working with HD content. But, I still think it's just a placeholder for a Cablecard TiVo in my future.

mmorris48

08-21-05, 05:43 PM

This afternoon I read all 19 pages of this thread. Why? Because I have had my heart set on
buying the HDD500. It was supposed to ship last
November (2004).

When it didn't ship, I built two MythTV systems,
each with two tuners, one SDTV and one HDTV.
It was the most fun I've ever had building something
from just the parts, but it was also the hardest damn
thing, as well. Nothing worked the first time, and
it always took Google lookups to find how to make
things work.

After reading the 19 pages of this thread, I no longer
want a Sony HDD500. My MythTV systems, each
soon to have an Air2PC HDTV tuner added, suffer
none of the main problems discussed in this thread.

I was very surprised to learn that Sony actually uses
Linux, and find it shocking that while they actually
have two tuners (SDTV and HDTV), only one program at a time may be recorded.

The thing I am most impressed by, with the Sony
HDD500, is the picture quality as reported by all
the owners. The picture quality of my systems
is acceptable, but actually quite poor. No doubt
this is because the TV sets are 10 and 20 years
old, respectively, and obviously not HDTVcapable.

Earlier this afternoon, just after starting to read the
thread I thought, "Well, maybe I'll get an HDD500
just for backup, say if I hose MythTV during an
upgrade". But not anymore. It was so damn hard to
get all the pieces of MythTV (mythtv, ivtv, lirc, etc.)
to work, I wouldn't want to suffer through all the
TV Guide troubles. Troubles that look like they
are not going away anytime soon. (How could
Sony make a design choice to use ANALOG TV
for listings? Yikes!)

Thank you, to all of the current HDD500 owners
who took the time to post their experiences and
answers to all the questions. All of your information
has been a big help to me.

I hope Sony will announce follow-on products
to the HDD500, but I won't be holding my breath.

--
MM

merc

08-21-05, 07:39 PM

MM,

I don't know about Rochester, but here in Houston with TWC cablecard, the Sony and its' guide is pretty dang good and much better than my previous HiPix HTPC HD-DVR.
YMMV.

baskaran

08-21-05, 11:17 PM

[...]
I wouldn't want to suffer through all the
TV Guide troubles. Troubles that look like they
are not going away anytime soon. (How could
Sony make a design choice to use ANALOG TV
for listings? Yikes!)
[...]
--
MM

There is nothing wrong in using an ANALOG TV channel to retrieve the TV Guide listing information. The main problem with the Sony product and I believe with all products that use TVGOS is the way the information is processed and presented to the user. The user is flooded with TV Guilde data for channels that are not available for viewing. It is left to the user as a painful exercise to filter this and reorder the channels only to be scrambled again at a random point in the future.

Why did Sony choose such a lousy system (TVGOS) that hurts its reputation? Is this another sign of the downward spiral that Sony seems to be caught? TVGOS provides probably the worst user experience compared to TIVO and Dish DVR.

alerion

08-22-05, 06:57 AM

Why did Sony choose such a lousy system (TVGOS) that hurts its reputation? Is this another sign of the downward spiral that Sony seems to be caught? TVGOS provides probably the worst user experience compared to TIVO and Dish DVR.
Both TiVo and Dish charge for program data. Did Sony have any choice other than TVGOS for free OTA guide data? Most stations are not fully implementing PSIP.

GBrock

08-22-05, 11:10 AM

I don't think that they had any other choice for a free guide. But I sure wish there were some competition. For the past few weeks I haven't received any guide data for Saturday and Sunday. The weekdays I have data, but I get blank half-hour blocks for every station on the weekends. There's no question that this is a pretty decent DVR that's hobbled by a lousy guide. Almost makes me willing to pay that outrageous Tivo fee.

baskaran

08-22-05, 11:32 AM

Both TiVo and Dish charge for program data. Did Sony have any choice other than TVGOS for free OTA guide data? Most stations are not fully implementing PSIP.

Yes, I agree, TVGOS is the only thing available for free. But, Sony could have integrated this guide in their product in sucha a manner to give a much better user experience.

nascar24

08-22-05, 07:21 PM

I am so glad that I came across this thread before I purchased one of these units. It seems to have a lot of problems, and these issues have helped me to make the decision to get a Media Center PC and HD card instead.

I would go with the Sony before I did that, I have my 37" Westy connected both to a Sony HDD500 and my pc and my dam ATI HDTV wonder is nothing but a nightmare when it comes to even working let alone recording. At the moment the HDTV part of the card does not work with the ATI software, Im using a user created software package to use the HD part of the card now. SInce I bought my HDD500 I have yet to have an issue with TVguide, Knock on wood.

nascar24

08-22-05, 07:26 PM

nascar24

08-22-05, 07:29 PM

dan1123

08-22-05, 09:13 PM

dan1123

08-22-05, 09:38 PM

I am so glad that I came across this thread before I purchased one of these units. It seems to have a lot of problems, and these issues have helped me to make the decision to get a Media Center PC and HD card instead.

If you think TV listing glitches are major problems, just wait for the nightmare of hardware and software/driver compatibility on an HTPC. I guess you could get one pre-made for $1200, but then you're spending an extra $500, and I'm sure the experience won't be problem-free.

When I had my PC with a tuner card hooked up to the TV, there were so many problems. The computer was noisy, the software was glitchy, half the time it wouldn't record when or what I expected, if it recorded at all. Not to mention the difficulties in getting just the right resolution, timing, and picture adjustments from the video card to my HDTV. If I wanted to watch a recorded program while recording another, I could just forget about it. Either there was resource contention, or my Athlon 2700+ just couldn't handle the load.

I much prefer my quiet HDD250 box, and I can handle minor TVGOS glitches. I don't have cable, and don't want a subscription, so I really had those two choices.

PhillyC

08-22-05, 10:05 PM

Whats the trick to change days in the guide to another day without scrolling? I checked many pages of this thread and couldnt find it. I know it can be done as someone in this thread said it could be.

Go to the Listings screen and highlight any program. Punch in the number of hours you want to go forward (or backward) and the menu will come up with several choices.

MrU

08-22-05, 11:15 PM

Whats the trick to change days in the guide to another day without scrolling? I checked many pages of this thread and couldnt find it. I know it can be done as someone in this thread said it could be.PhillyC is correct, but here is a shortcut that might save a few keystrokes...

When in the listings, enter the number of hours, then right-arrow to move ahead, or left-arrow to move back.

MrU

08-22-05, 11:22 PM

I don't know if everyone has noticed it, but Bellamy has started a Poll for Sony DHG-HDD500 & 250 owners.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=571609

So if you have one of these, cast your vote!

elblack

08-23-05, 01:32 PM

I was looking at the Sony HDD500 and HDD250 on the datavisioncomputer website. They list in their description a Memory Stick media slot and it shows it in the picture of the unit. I went to the SonyStyle website and in the thumbnails of their DVRs it shows the media slot but when you go to each of the HDD500 and HDD250 items the picture doesn't show the slot and it isn't in the description. Does anyone know if this is a new feature that was recently added or a feature that was on the first units issued but discontinued?

PhilB

08-23-05, 03:26 PM

Does anyone know if this is a new feature that was recently added or a feature that was on the first units issued but discontinued?

The prototypes had memory stick, but I think that Sony got smart enough to realize that memory stick would not be a selling point and the added cost was cutting into their profit so they took it off of the revamped units (HDD250 and HDD500).

-phil

baskaran

08-23-05, 04:15 PM

Hi I live in SF South Bay and have no problems with either 4.1 or 11.2. I have watched KRON 4.1 for over an hour without problems, but NBC Weather is boring after 5 minutes.

I also have not had trouble with the TVGOS, and I have remapped most of my stations. I guess I am just lucky.

I am having a minor problem though with certain stations not showing up in my listings. I can switch to them manually, but they don't show up in any of the station listing options.

I am glad you are not seeing the problem others have seen. How old is your unit? Manufacture date? Firmware version?

Thanks,

Baskaran

gigaguy

08-23-05, 04:22 PM

nascar24

08-23-05, 10:00 PM

Thanks for the info on skipping to other days, That works great. Now all I need is a full page up and full page down button and I would be happy, It is kind of a pain and slow going up and down the TV guide. Should be a much quicker way to do it then there is. Other than that Im happy with it, Havent recorded a whole lot of HD since it is off season but did record HD to the IMAX last weekend off UPN and all looked great. Looking forward to the new season of TV and true HD recording. Some of the new shows loook intresting, If they last. :)

Edit: Just noticed you can page up and page down, Just didnt look close enough, Now its perfect, I cant believe I have been using the roll button to do this. Me read the instructions, you have to be kidding LOL :p

MrU

08-24-05, 12:35 AM

Anyone try to dub 16:9 video from this machine to a standard def DVD recorder? esp thru the S-Video Out? I want to dub fullscreen 16:9 video to my Panny E80 DVD recorder via S-Video, (it has no Component IN jacks).Take a look at posts #131 and #136 in this thread.

From #131:
Did a DVD recording from the output of the Sony and it looked spectacular.From #136:
It was a HiDef 16x9 recording onto a DVD. It was recorded squeezed to 4x3 and the stretched on playback to restore widescreen format. It took almost no hit in quality.

0t1s1

08-24-05, 06:13 AM

None of my scheduled recordings are executing...And no errors are showing up in the recording history. Anyone having a similar experience? Any tips? :mad:

Ruidh

08-24-05, 01:46 PM

Anyone having trouble with the Sony sending data to the display which appears too large for the display? When I use the guide, it appears that the edges of the picture are behind the bezel.

0t1s1

08-24-05, 02:28 PM

Anyone having trouble with the Sony sending data to the display which appears too large for the display? When I use the guide, it appears that the edges of the picture are behind the bezel.

Have you tried different settings using the format and screen mode buttons on your remote? Maybe they can help...

I do notice that the TV Guide Menus are bigger or smaller depending on the format of the last channel you were in before you went into the guide...Maybe this is related to your issue.

alerion

08-24-05, 04:43 PM

PhilB

08-24-05, 05:53 PM

Somewhere in these threads there is mention of excessive overscan with this tuner. To me it is noticeable. My Sony TV already has that problem and the HDD250 makes it worse. I do not know of any way to adjust overscan on the tuner/dvr. It is possible to do so on the TV.

Does anyone know what adjustments can be made from the service menu and how to do so?

What is your connection to the monitor? Are you using component or HDMI?

-phil

alerion

08-24-05, 06:43 PM

What is your connection to the monitor? Are you using component or HDMI?

-phil
HDMI to DVI into Sony KV-34XBR910.

Ruidh

08-24-05, 10:39 PM

What is your connection to the monitor? Are you using component or HDMI?

I'm using component.

MrU

08-25-05, 01:31 AM

Anyone having trouble with the Sony sending data to the display which appears too large for the display? When I use the guide, it appears that the edges of the picture are behind the bezel.Somewhere in these threads there is mention of excessive overscan with this tuner. To me it is noticeable. My Sony TV already has that problem and the HDD250 makes it worse. I do not know of any way to adjust overscan on the tuner/dvr. It is possible to do so on the TV.

Does anyone know what adjustments can be made from the service menu and how to do so?Overscan is a function of the TV, not the settop box. It's up to the settop box to guess how much of the video the TV is going to hide, and to not display important content too close to the edges. From what I can tell, the program guide comes to within about 6% of each edge (at 1080i). Apparently too close for some TVs.

But anyway, here is a link that describes how to adjust the overscan on Sony TVs:
http://www.keohi.com/keohihdtv/brandspecific/sony/servicemenu_sony.html
I'm not sure if it will work on your particular model, but it might be worth a try.

There is also a lot of good information about tweaking Sony TVs in the files section of Yahoo's SonyHDTV group (but you will need to register):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SonyHDTV/

Hope this helps.

alerion

08-25-05, 06:45 AM

MrU,

Thank you.

There is also an excellent service menu thread in this forum for the Sony KV-34XBR910:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=295646

The thing I like about the first link you posted is its simplicity. Appreciate the help.

davidNJ

08-25-05, 09:17 AM

Gents,

Been lurking and reading this forum quite a bit as I just got a Sony 55" Grand Wega and a HDD250 (connected via HDMI) last week. I'm having issues and my cable company (Cablevision here in NJ) has been little help - let me explain what's happened so far:

On Saturday the tech came out to install my CableCard. We wanted to install the card in the TV, but I told him that I felt the cable connection cna card should go in the DVR. He insisted it should be in the TV but told me that if I had to change it, I could call the number on the Host ID setup screen and they could change it for me.

I setup the HDD250 with my zip code and left it for a day - no guide. I called Sony on Monday and they told me that the Card and cable should be connected to the DVR - fine, I think - "I'll just call CableVision to have it switched in my records".

Well, after speaking to around 10 different card and HD experts, noone was able to figure it out - with the last guy telling me that "they don't support the Sony DVR on their network." A tech is coming out to day to re-provision the CableCard and link it to the DVR - we'll see what happens...

I guess what I wanted to ask the good folks here is:

1. What should my proper connection be?
2. Are there any other Cablevision users in NJ using the HDD250?
3. If #2 applies, are you able to get the guide running over cable only?
4. Am I just better off returning this unit to Sony and going with the 8300HD?

Thanks in advance!

Dave

merc

08-25-05, 10:15 AM

If I were you, I'd keep the cablecard in the HDTV and just add another one to the Sony HD250. That way you can watch HD-HBO while recording HDNET. :) Cablecard rental here in Houston on TWC is only $1.75 per month and we install them ourselves and then call back into TWC to give them the cablecard registration and activation info from the on-screen menu of the Sony DVR.

As for the guide, if you can't get it on the Sony, then YES, I'd switch to the 8300.

Ruidh

08-25-05, 10:16 AM

I setup the HDD250 with my zip code and left it for a day - no guide. I called Sony on Monday and they told me that the Card and cable should be connected to the DVR - fine, I think - "I'll just call CableVision to have it switched in my records".

Thank Cablevision. I had the same problem in LI. There are a lot of posts in the HDTV display area about Cablevision stripping out the guide data from Channel 13.

The solution I found was to add an antenna. At first I had a cheap set of rabbit ears which pulled in a very grainy channel 13, but it was good enough to get the guide data. I just told the Sony that the antenna only received Channel 13.

wrc15963

08-25-05, 10:18 AM

My recorder has also skipped 3 scheduled recordings this week. On one of the shows it recorded the last minute and indicated it had recorded successfully. I have rebooted the system several times but that did not resolve the issues because it continued to miss recordings after the reboot. On the shows it missed one was record once and the others were record weekly.

Alan Curry

08-25-05, 10:34 AM

wrc15963

08-25-05, 11:00 AM

Comcast with Cable Card

jklaffen

08-28-05, 12:18 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel Tonks
If you can simply post the button numbers along with what they do, that would be enough for me to create and post the needed Pronto hex. Or, since discrete power has already been posted in this thread, just the number for Previous Channel.

Incidentally, if you kept notes on what other buttons did something (even bad somethings), that would also be useful.

108 = Previous Channel
46 = On
47 = Off

Was the hex code for Previous Channel ever posted? I may have missed it.
Thanks.

paul_j_ghosh

08-28-05, 12:55 PM

I uploaded a CCF to remotecentral with all buttons including previous channel some time ago.
http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/files/rcfiles.cgi?area=pronto&db=devices&br=sony&dv=hdtvreceiverdvr&md=dhghdd250&fc=&kw=&st=&ar=&dt=&so=&pg=1&file=ccf_templates/complete_system/paul-ghosh_ccf2.zip

0000 0067 0000 0015 0060 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 01c2

Codes for on/off/prev on remotecentral.com at http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/files/rcfiles.cgi?area=pronto&db=discrete&br=sony&dv=hdtvdvr&fc=

Anyone discover closed caption toggle/on/off code?

skierrob

08-28-05, 01:49 PM

alerion

08-28-05, 03:47 PM

I have had the DHG-HDD250 for about a month with no problems.

For the past two nights, however, I've had a wierd guide problem.

I originally turned off a ton of channels that I didn't want to see in the guide.

Whenever the guide updates for the past two nights, however, a ton of those channels are being turned back "on" in the guide automatically.

The next morning, I turn them off and they aren't in the guide.

But the next day, they are back and turned "on" with guide data for days 1 and 8.

Anyone have any advice?
Last time I had a wierd guide problem I did a 'reset' and the problem stopped. Pull the plug for a few minutes or hit 'exit' and 'tvguide' buttons simultaneously on the front panel of the reciver.

After reset, make sure setup is correct and edit channels as needed. Hopefully they will stay edited. Worked on mine, when the problem was it not allowing me to turn off and on channels and reorder them.

Unscientific explanation: its little brain gets overloaded and needs a reset. In my owners' manual, the word 'reset' is mis-printed as 'rest.' (top of p. 83) :)

Edit: Too wierd: mine just did the add random channels thing too. Hadn't looked at TVGuide in days. I followed my own advice and will report tomorrow night if it worked.

kong

08-28-05, 08:03 PM

After moving from my last house with no issues from the TV Guida data stream I am now encountering "no listing" issues. I had reset, re-booted several times to no avail. I only get some channels here and there. It has been 2 days. I am actually 15 miles closer to the OTA towers that broadcast ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS...

skierrob

08-28-05, 08:23 PM

nathan118

08-28-05, 08:41 PM

Well I bit the bullet and ordered the 250. I'm using straight OTA, so this sounds like a good option for us. Looking forward to trying it out later this week. Everyone's posts have been very helpful in deciding. I was really close to going for a HTPC...but that was gonna several hundred dollars more than this, and sounded like an even bigger pain. I'll keep you guys posted.

sneals2000

08-28-05, 09:26 PM

One more strange question.

I want to record some PVR'd content to my computer. So I've got the Sony to my Hauppage tv tuner card using S-Video.

On my TV, I'm using auto-HDMI.

When trying to record a HD program, I get the following problem: While I get the proper 16x9 output on 1080i and 720p signals on my TV, my signal output to the computer is converted to 4x3 with the side effects of skinny people, etc. None of the screen settings on the Sony seem to affect the SD outputs -- they only change the HD picture. Note that I see the same issue if I plug the SD cable into my TV -- when viewing via the HDMI cable I see the 16x9 but if I use the S-Video I get skinny people again (I have a 4x3 HDTV).

Of course, when recording a SD program, everything looks fine on both the computer and my HDTV.

Again, any advice is appreciated.

Looks like the SD outputs are generating 16:9 anamorphic full-height/full-width video when tuned to 16:9 HD programming. This is why people look tall and thin - it is the same as a DVD player playing anamorphic video when set-up for feeding a 16:9 display, but actually feeding a 4:3 screen.

For many people this is what they would want - they are watching an HD show and want to record it to DVD or VHS, so use the SD output to feed this. When they replay they can flip their TV into WIDE or 16:9 mode and watch an SD full-resolution (rather than letterbox and zoomed) version.

Is there a config option anywhere in the Sony menu set-up to set the SD output display ratio to 16:9, 4:3 full-frame or 4:3 letterbox 16:9 - as you'd find on most DVD players?

skierrob

08-28-05, 11:01 PM

Sneals....

I guess you are right, although it looks like junk when I try to play something back on an SD 4x3 Television.... most of them don't have all the fancy screen size controls that our great HDTV's do. :(

Oh well......

Robert

Daniel Tonks

08-29-05, 02:07 AM

Here it is:

0000 0067 0000 0015 0060 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 01c2

kong

08-29-05, 04:08 PM

After getting my projector and Carada screen setup, I was able to change the "format" from SD(connected to a 13" set) to 1080i late last night. For some unknown reason when I switched the format to 1080i I was able to download 2 1/2 days worth of Guide data last night. It doesn't make sense why it wouldn't download the guide from SD but when I did switch it to HD it downloaded...So far so good!!!

alerion

08-29-05, 06:49 PM

Last time I had a wierd guide problem I did a 'reset' and the problem stopped. Pull the plug for a few minutes or hit 'exit' and 'tvguide' buttons simultaneously on the front panel of the reciver.

After reset, make sure setup is correct and edit channels as needed. Hopefully they will stay edited. Worked on mine, when the problem was it not allowing me to turn off and on channels and reorder them.

Unscientific explanation: its little brain gets overloaded and needs a reset. In my owners' manual, the word 'reset' is mis-printed as 'rest.' (top of p. 83) :)

Edit: Too wierd: mine just did the add random channels thing too. Hadn't looked at TVGuide in days. I followed my own advice and will report tomorrow night if it worked.
This was in response to skierrob's inquiry (post #602). It worked. Channels that were off stayed off.

hednic

08-29-05, 08:01 PM

I have a SONY 34XBR 960 HD TV and opted for Cablecard from Cox. I was and am happy with the results and not having to rent a stb tuner from Cox. The problem was that because the cablecard was in the TV and the cable was running from the outlet to a DVD recorder I had, and then to the TV, that I was able to view any of the digital channels but could only record the analog channes from the cable. Last week I purchased the SONY DHG-Hdd500 and split the signal coming from the cable with one going to the TV that had a cablecard installed and the other going to the new SONY PVR. I called COX soon after and said I needed to rent another cablecard for a SONY DVR and explained why. The technician came today and installed the second cable card in the PVR and Voila! Now I can view any digital channel directly on my TV and also record any digital channel through the SONY DHG-HDD500 with the HDMI cable directly to the corresponding input on my TV. No problem, except that COX is charging me for an additional "digital service" instead of charging me for renting a second cablecard because they believed it was for another "outlet" (TV) I explained to them that the second cablecard was installed in the PVR not a second TV and that the PVR was coming from the same outlet and only that the signal was split so that I would have the ability to record any digital channel just like any of their customers with a COX pvr. The customer service rep spoke with her supervisor and said they had never heard of a SONY PVR that takes a cablecard and that the supervisor would have to e-mail several people in the company to see if the technician was wrong to install it in a PVR since "Cox only supports cablecard in TVs! She said I was the very first person in Northern Virginia to call with this situation! I don't believe it. What gives? How could they not know that these exist im the market. Doesn't the FCC agreement require thenm to offer the cablcard for any DCR hardware? Now I'm afraid that they are going to send another technician back to my place to take out the cablcard from the PVR. Any suggestions?

nathan118

08-30-05, 05:32 PM

Woo hoo, my 250 is here! Now to cross my fingers and hope we have good tv guide service here in the los angeles area. I'll be sure to post my results for anyone still on the fence.

wrc15963

08-30-05, 08:19 PM

I continue to have recordings fail with the message "Recording not permitted by service provider." My unit has a CCI setting of 0x00. I was wondering if this is consistent with other units that have a CableCard on the Comcast system? If you do have a CCI setting of 0x00 are you having failed recordings? I would also like to know if others have a different CCI setting so I can call Comcast again to see if I can resolve this problem.

skierrob

08-30-05, 10:21 PM

Nathan:
I'm in the Los Angeles area also (actually, in Long Beach) and the TV Guide for me is on PBS Channel 28 Analog. We get pretty much all the stations in the guide... the only exception is we don't get Channel 50.1 in the guide (an Orange County PBS station that's HDTV signal is still in "test" mode). Beyond that, we get full guide listings.

In Long Beach, I get all the local stations in digital from off-the-air... including 2,4,5,7,9,11,13,28,50,56, etc.

Robert

nathan118

08-31-05, 01:10 AM

Thanks for the heads up rob. about 5 hours later i have logos and the time. I went through and starting organizing things, but I made sure to leave 28 analog on in the listings. Hopefully in the morning there will be some show listings. So far I'm pretty impressed. I'm using straight OTA, no cable card. I'll keep you posted.

Actually...I don't think I get 50,56, or 58 in digital on the listings grid. Is there anyway to add them? Originally 28.1 didn't come in, but I found it in the listings and manually put in the "tune to" number and it works. Any help is appreciated!

skierrob

08-31-05, 02:49 AM

Nathan:

For channel 50, find the analog version and tune it to channel 50.2. That's the SD version of that PBS station. You can do the same with 56.1 ... find the analog KDOC listing and tune it to 56.1. I do not think I was able to find 58 -- but I'm not at home at the moment so I'll have to get back to you later on that one.

Note that it took me a *good* 24 - 36 hours before I had listings, so be patient. :)

Now the fun part is organizing your guide and tuning out stations that you don't want to see......

Robert

skierrob

08-31-05, 02:55 AM

nathan118

08-31-05, 12:00 PM

Well maybe I'm lucky, but after night #1 I have listings for days 1, 2, and 8. I scheduled a recording of regis and kelly in a few minutes just to test it. :D haha.

Thanks rob, I'll add those puppies later. There isn't usually anything good on them, but the more HD content the better! I think it's just 50 that's HD. I'm pretty sure this was answered already, but will it pull down the proper guide data after changing from 50 to 50.1? That's as long as the analog and digital have the same scheduled content correct?

As for turning off what I didn't want and re-ordering, that only took me maybe 20 mins. Granted I only have about 10 ota channels on my list, so that makes it a lot easier.

Update: First recording worked flawlessly. 1 min advance is great for commercials, and 5 sec replay is great if the advance overshoots into the show a little.

I was looking around and found that "Prison," a new show on Fox starts tomorrow. It even had a special "new" icon next to it, since it's the pilot episode. If I hadn't looked I would have missed it. I like how in the "search" you can find shows in HD.

Like most everyone, some channels I turned off in the listings have reappeared, but I don't think it's a huge problem. I have the 10 or so channels I watch in positions 1-10, so I don't have to go below the last show ever. I did notice this only happened when I went back into the listings editor to change 50 and 58 to their digital counterparts, so maybe accessing the editor at all can screw stuff up. I'll make sure I've got stuff set before I go back and turn channels off.

nathan118

08-31-05, 02:13 PM

Just wanted to report that I did reboot my box two days ago per the advice given in this forum. However, tonight I had additional channels in my guide again that I had previously turned off. :(

Did this happen to anyone else again? Any ideas on how to prevent it from happening every 2-3 days?

Thanks!

I mentioned this in my post, but can you just order the channels you do want to see at the top, and then not go below your last "preferred" channel?

alerion

08-31-05, 02:23 PM

Like most everyone, some channels I turned off in the listings have reappeared, but I don't think it's a huge problem. I have the 10 or so channels I watch in positions 1-10, so I don't have to go below the last show ever. I did notice this only happened when I went back into the listings editor to change 50 and 58 to their digital counterparts, so maybe accessing the editor at all can screw stuff up. I'll make sure I've got stuff set before I go back and turn channels off.
When I was having a problem with channels showing up, I turned them off then immediately did a reset. After the reset, they were still off and have not shown up in the 3 days since.

Ruidh

08-31-05, 03:11 PM

I mentioned this in my post, but can you just order the channels you do want to see at the top, and then not go below your last "preferred" channel?

I think you'd really want to exclude them as you don't want shows from those channels turning up in your Search screens.

That said, I haven't had any trouble with renumbering. I've extensively reordered my list (HD channels at the top, digital cable next followed by analog cable) and excluded channels I never watch (shopping and sports channels).

buccikong

08-31-05, 03:25 PM

alerion

08-31-05, 08:24 PM

buccikong

08-31-05, 09:39 PM

Just wanted to report that I did reboot my box two days ago per the advice given in this forum. However, tonight I had additional channels in my guide again that I had previously turned off. :(

Did this happen to anyone else again? Any ideas on how to prevent it from happening every 2-3 days?

Thanks!

It has happened to me a few times in the past week or so. I rebooted as well, and additional channels were still added. It's odd, the guide was fine for the first few months that I've owned this unit, now it keeps adding channels...

Unfortunately I have no idea what causes this problem or how to correct it.

kong

08-31-05, 10:02 PM

I've had the DHG-HDD250 since May and have a question for other owners. Does anybody's unit display show promotions in the ad panel under the video preview window when viewing the guide? Instead of displaying show promotions, as seen in the manual, I just have two "TV Guide On Screen" windows.

Thanks.

I only have the 2 TV Guide On Screens just like you. A liitle advertisemnt would be ok, say for upcoming shows on networks...

houselog442

08-31-05, 10:11 PM

I got a question on SONY's HD recording units. Since there are 21 pages already in this thread, i havent read all them thru so this question may have been answered. Since this unit has a cablecard setup does this unit have a QAM tuner and if it does can it record the unscrambled HD programs?

alerion

08-31-05, 10:46 PM

...It's odd, the guide was fine for the first few months that I've owned this unit, now it keeps adding channels...

Unfortunately I have no idea what causes this problem or how to correct it.
Wonder if the issue is with the TVGuide data stream? Unfortunately it seems like there's nobody to contact except this forum...

Daniel Tonks

09-01-05, 07:04 AM

baskaran

09-01-05, 10:43 AM

Wonder if the issue is with the TVGuide data stream? Unfortunately it seems like there's nobody to contact except this forum...

Please search for postings from me and a few others in this forum. You are not alone in having this problem. However, I heard from Sony that Gemstar has fixed this problem and are uploading updated software to the Sony units. According to Sony I have the updated software now and should not see this problem again. He asked me to call him if I see the problem again.

Here is what I was asked to check to see if I have the current version:

Go to TV Guide -> Setup -> Change System Settings -> key in 753159852

Look at the line starting with 08: (second line I believe). If it starts with "08:01:42/08:06:20/" then you have the latest version that fixes the problem according to Sony.

Hope this helps...

Baskaran

alerion

09-01-05, 11:12 AM

...

Hope this helps...

Baskaran
I did not know that Sony could or was downloading software updates. I will check. Thank you.

nathan118

09-01-05, 12:44 PM

I checked the software version, and I have that updated one you listed.

Yesterday some channels turned from off to on randomly, but today they are ok. Of course there is no way of knowing if my software was updated, so we'll see.

I also pulled guide data for a second straight day, now have 1, 2, 7, 8.

Last night I had scheduled to record US Open highlights because they were in HD. Today when I looked though, I had a couple minutes of Letterman in HD, and then US Open highlights in SD. That's odd because I didn't even know letterman was broadcasting in HD, and in the listings he isn't listed that way. Guess it takes them a bit to catch up.

Still impressed with this box.

Oh, and I love the S-Control with my sony tv. The DVR sits way low to the ground out of IR sight, so being able to use the tv's line of sight is great!

buccikong

09-01-05, 01:48 PM

Look at the line starting with 08: (second line I believe). If it starts with "08:01:42/08:06:20/" then you have the latest version that fixes the problem according to Sony.

I have the version you indicate, but it says:
Build Time: Jan 21 2005

You'd think that they'd update the Build Time if they did in fact push new software...

larmic1

09-01-05, 03:23 PM

I've had the DHG-HDD250 since May and have a question for other owners. Does anybody's unit display show promotions in the ad panel under the video preview window when viewing the guide? Instead of displaying show promotions, as seen in the manual, I just have two "TV Guide On Screen" windows.

Thanks.
I was told by a Gemstar rep some time ago that the next version of TVGOS software for our DVRs will include the ad capability. If it is anything like the other software versions such as in the Panasonic DVD recorders, expect to see a lot of Bowflex and timeshare ads!

Larry

alerion

09-01-05, 05:56 PM

Look at the line starting with 08: (second line I believe). If it starts with "08:01:42/08:06:20/" then you have the latest version that fixes the problem according to Sony.

Hope this helps...

Baskaran
yup, got it. Thanks!
Mine has the same Jan 21 build time as buccikong. Probably the physical manufacturing date, or component/chipset date??

bestlab

09-01-05, 09:46 PM

I'll see if anyone wants to answer my questions about my HDD500 - I have a full guide and all the OTA HD Stations and the analog cable stations
They have all the local Digital Broadcasters on the cable and my QAM tuner will only pick up 4 of the 5 - I have run the scan several times and no CBS - It shows up as "Channel 713" on a cable box ABC,NBC,Fox show up on my Sony DHG-HDD500 with the normal PSIP info (their analog OTA chan in decimal format) - The PBS is different -it should read 28.1 but shows up as 90.60 - I wonder why the CBS doesn't scan in - it's there at "Chan 713" on the Comcast boxes.
Another strange thing - I was checking what the frequencies of the QAM received chans were and the came up as 627m~ ABC, 621m~ PBS, but both FOX and NBC show 537m~ (the same) but I get both as separate HD signals- how'd they do that???? There are many other unencrypted signals - I think they are VOD or similar since they are movies and sports not shown in the titantv list nor on the TGOS for my Comcast build-
Any ideas how I can get Comcast 713 with this unit???
hidden menus? - I have found is the TGOS diagnostic screens which are gibberish -the two diagnostic screens from the standard system menu are nice --haven't found the file details etc for recorded pgms (size,encoding etc)or the raw tuner channel list (frequencies or actual UHF channel)- - I've talked to sony and they are helpful at the second level but won't discuss items beyond the manuals topics. - I'm ok with that -
any one know any trick key sequences to load unencrypted Cable HD channels - -My CBS OTA has multipath problems and Id like to have the cable signal.-
Thanks Buccikong-- I'll try the amp - when I had a cable modem I had low receive and high transmit levels because of the very old coax in the drop

buccikong

09-01-05, 10:32 PM

Any ideas how I can get Comcast 713 with this unit???

Perhaps you need a cable amplifier to pick up your CBS. Without an amp, I can barely pick up any of the QAM channels on my unit. My cable provider is Time Warner and they installed an amp for free. The QAM channel numbers are different than the cable box numbers for me. If you try an amp, I'd suggest doing a full scan and manually checking all of the channels added - your CBS may show up as something other than 713.

nathan118

09-02-05, 01:45 AM

Tonight I had the first recording I actually cared about, that new show Prison Break. I started to watch it about a half hour before it was done recording, but it was having a weird audio/video problem, so I waited for it to finish.

When I started to watch it when it was all done, the problem continued. What happens is every 35 seconds like clock work the video gets jarbled for a split second, then starts again with no audio for another 3 seconds, then the audio comes back on. I can literally count out about 35 seconds between each one, and sure enough, there it is.

I've recorded other stuff with no problem, and I tested another program with no problem. Anyone have a similar issue? Even reseting didn't help, it just screwed the clock up by 1 hour. :p

Daniel Tonks

09-02-05, 04:04 AM

buccikong

09-02-05, 08:28 AM

Look at the line starting with 08: (second line I believe). If it starts with "08:01:42/08:06:20/" then you have the latest version that fixes the problem according to Sony.

Unfortunately, the fix doesn't work, I had new channels added this morning. Maybe you can call your contact to inform them.

nathan118

09-02-05, 10:34 AM

Nathan: Could very well have been the source. That's the problem with HD: it's so new and there's still so many problems at the headend they you never know whether an issue is caused by YOU or THEM.

See if it happens again... the Sony doesn't appear to have a true "live" mode like some other DVRs, as it's about 1 or 2 seconds behind a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD on the same channel. So it seems like it's always reading off of the disk.

I was thinking the same thing. I started recording another program and then watching it while it still recorded, no problems. Oh well, my divx player and the internet can be my backup when this puppy (or live feeds) have problems.

merc

09-02-05, 10:42 AM

So it seems like it's always reading off of the disk. I think that's correct since you can hit the back/rewind button and it will playback stuff which just occured live.

PhillyC

09-02-05, 11:22 AM

The delay time must be a choice of the manufacturer. The Moto 6412 is always buffering live TV, but the delay between "live" on the 6412 and the same program from a different source is negligible, or maybe one second. The Sony delay can be about 6 seconds. I discovered this as I watched a ball game live on the Sony while I was on the phone with a friend. He had the same game on and was reacting to plays before they happpened! I've since used PIP to compare and get the same result. So yes, the Sony has a LONG delay due to buffering.

Daniel Tonks

09-02-05, 07:27 PM

There's a difference between always "writing" to the hard drive and always "reading" from the hard drive. I suspect that "live" mode on most DVRs is essentially live decoding of the stream, and you only start reading the stream written to disk when you rewind or pause. Which makes sense for something like the 8300HD, which can have DVR capabilities totally disabled by the cable company so that it's just a "dumb" cable box.

On the Sony, I suspect that there's no "real time" decoding - it's always writing the stream to the drive before it again reads it a couple seconds later and decodes THAT. Thus the extra long delay. But also perhaps why its trick play performance is a lot better.

alerion

09-02-05, 08:47 PM

...Thus the extra long delay. But also perhaps why its trick play performance is a lot better.
Presently I own both the Sony and a Dish 942 PVR. The Sony 'trick play' is better, though it's close. Haven't tried an A/B comparison of live to find out delays. Satellite locals are definitely delayed; don't know about OTA between the two PVR's.

Daniel Tonks

09-03-05, 05:07 AM

Comparing OTA to cable, OTA on my old HDTV receiver used to be about 0.5 seconds ahead of anything on cable, but now it's about 3 seconds behind.

The Sony's trick play is a heck of a lot better than the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD, which in addition to having an annoying 1+ second delay between you hitting RW or FW and it actually doing anything (it's possible to hit RW, wait a second, hit PLAY and have nothing occur except a brief pause), also looks more like a slow slideshow of images during RW or FF unless you're in the fastest mode.

In comparison the Sony is sooooo smooth and responsive.

PhillyC

09-03-05, 11:08 AM

All true. The trick play features are very smooth.

So I wonder why the unit's response time is so slow in other ways, like when bringing up the guide.

Daniel Tonks

09-03-05, 07:19 PM

I get the feeling the Guide software and/or program listing database is not continually buffered in the background... almost like it has to initialize/start up each and every time you hit GUIDE.

merc

09-03-05, 08:11 PM

I don't know if this is a known glitch or not... but I just tried several times to record Forrest Gump on TNT-HD and each time the record light lites up, but then goes off. At the same time, the lock icon goes from unlocked to locked and then back again to unlocked as it stops recording.

Did I mess up some setting on this somewhere or is this a known glitch?

brt3

09-03-05, 09:44 PM

Run, Forrest, run!

Daniel Tonks

09-03-05, 10:12 PM

Check the record log. Probably an error about copy protection.

wrc15963

09-03-05, 10:13 PM

bestlab

09-04-05, 01:17 AM

The manual mentions paging thru the TV guide with the channel rocker - I noticed that it works on the Favorites also - I don't see any mention of that in the manual - Since the favorites categories seem to be ordered alphabetical - I was planning on renaming mine - but no need now

merc

09-04-05, 01:32 AM

Press menu, recording history and then press select on the highlighted show that would not record. When I have had this problem it indicates the recording not permitted by service provider. Please let me know if your unit show the same message. Yes damnit! Mine says "Recording not permitted by service provider".

What the heck is that???
Is this some sort of "copy never" broadcast flag BS?

I pay Time Warner around $110 each month, and if I cannot timeshift shows I desire to watch later, I am gonna cancel my service and move to Direct TV. Tomorrow, I will be calling to complain and demand a month refund since I am obviously NOT satisfied with the cable service.... :(

EDIT: I've tried to record other stuff on TNTHD and none of it will record. Seems like the entire channel is copy never??? :eek:

nathan118

09-04-05, 01:57 AM

That's crap merc, sorry they're screwing you. Hopefully you can get that settled, maybe someone can fix some stuff and get that turned off.

merc

09-04-05, 02:14 AM

ARGHHH.... this crap is pushing me closer and closer to the dark side... two wrongs might not make a right... but it sure will make me feel less powerless against this kind of Hollywood crap... ;)

nascar24

09-04-05, 05:49 PM

Yes damnit! Mine says "Recording not permitted by service provider".

What the heck is that???
Is this some sort of "copy never" broadcast flag BS?

I pay Time Warner around $110 each month, and if I cannot timeshift shows I desire to watch later, I am gonna cancel my service and move to Direct TV. Tomorrow, I will be calling to complain and demand a month refund since I am obviously NOT satisfied with the cable service.... :(

EDIT: I've tried to record other stuff on TNTHD and none of it will record. Seems like the entire channel is copy never??? :eek:

I agree with you on the copy BS the movie industry is pulling on us trying to record movies OFF TV we want to watch later in HD. The whole thing is a joke and I thought all this was worked out when this kind of stuff went down with the VCR, But, No its all back with the HD stuff. Its really out of control, Problem is your Sony HD recorder will be useless with Dish providers. As far as that goes it not just cable thats pulling this its the whole industry so you are not safe going that route either.

alerion

09-04-05, 07:17 PM

ARGHHH.... this crap is pushing me closer and closer to the dark side... two wrongs might not make a right... but it sure will make me feel less powerless against this kind of Hollywood crap... ;)
TNT-HD records fine on Dish 942 PVR, no flags. However, the Sony OTA reception and picture quality is much better.

Cable+OTA or Sat+OTA or OTA only?...to be or not to be...

...remarks from the dark side :eek:

nathan118

09-05-05, 05:28 PM

Instead of giving a dad-to-day report on my guide's updating I waited til it was all full, which is today. It added one day of listings each day, and starting today I have 8 full days of listings. I've recorded 7 different things, and 6 were flawless. The one messed up recording I had could have been the broadcast, but I have no way of knowing.

I love how the guide tells you when shows are new. It might not say repeat on all the others...but I assume if it doesn't say new, it's a repeat right? Still impressed with this box.

rbienstock

09-06-05, 05:32 PM

So can this unit record HD from cable if it has a Cable Card installed, or are all the channels "Record Never"? If it makes a difference, I'm on TimeWarner in New York City.

nathan118

09-07-05, 01:44 AM

So today I had to wake up early for work, and of course I had to check and see if my listings were there...but day 8 was not. I still don't have them tonight, but my question is, will that day show "no listings" until it becomes day #2 of the update? (because it updates days 1,2, and 8 everyday right?) Reason I ask is because it should be smart enough to look at the guide data you do have, and then fill it in...but I guess if it's broadcasting a basic "file" every night, it wouldn't be customizable to your needs.

Anyways, I think I'll refrain from turning the dvr on at 6:30 in the morning from now on, it might still be updating.

MrU

09-07-05, 02:18 AM

I've tried to record other stuff on TNTHD and none of it will record. Seems like the entire channel is copy never??? I recorded a few minutes of TNTHD without any problems. I suspect the problem is with your local cable operator. But I don't know how you'll convince them of that.

MrU

09-07-05, 02:24 AM

So can this unit record HD from cable if it has a Cable Card installed, or are all the channels "Record Never"? If it makes a difference, I'm on TimeWarner in New York City.Normally, yes, unless TWC is setup differently in NYC. I have TWC (on the west coast) and have never run into the "record never" problem.

Sirluckyj

09-07-05, 03:34 AM

Has anyone done a A/B PQ comparison between HDMI and Component on the Sony unit? Thanks.

Jim

nascar24

09-07-05, 01:06 PM

So can this unit record HD from cable if it has a Cable Card installed, or are all the channels "Record Never"? If it makes a difference, I'm on TimeWarner in New York City.

It all depends on your service provider having everything setup correctly. Phil_C is still trying to get his cable card problems worked out with comcast. You might want to head over to www.broadbandreports.com Comcast forums to see his continuing problems with getting a cable card to work with his HDD500. While other systems have no problems getting the Cabke card to work with the HDD500.

0t1s1

09-07-05, 01:44 PM

I have Comcast in the Chicagoland Area (Westmont) and am using a CableCard and have mostly had good luck with it. One problem I began to have was I was missing recordings of Entourage and Weeds on HBO-HD & SHO-HD with the message that "Service Provider doesn't allow recording" :mad: :mad: or something similar to what others have seen in this forum.

I called Comcast and asked them to fix the broadcast flags copy protecting these channels that I PAY for and the CSR on the other end of the phone said she couldn't and she wouldn't. :eek: :eek: I explained that the Motorola Cablebox that I rent from them could record these shows but I preferred to use the Sony DHG-HDD500 w/ CableCard for my own reasons (more hard drive space but I didn't tell her that). She said I was "supposed to" record and watch these shows with THEIR box...not the Sony. :confused: :mad: I proceeded to explain that I also rented the CableCard from them and that it was ALSO their equipment and should allow me to record these channels.

After listening to her waffle around a bit and reject my request several times (She kept claiming the bottom line was the Sony was NOT their equipment and that how it received and handled their signal was not THEIR problem) I decided I had given her enought grief to make myself feel better (I slept GREAT that night! ;) ).

I asked her what the process to cancel my service and switch to satellite was (which I wouldn't do but I had to continue salting the wounded CSR) and then told her I would think about it for a week or so after which I would call and cancel. ;)

Oddly enough, and it is probably a coincidence though I hope it is not, I noticed that my scheduled recordings for Entourage and Weeds on HBO-HD and SHO-HD respectively began to record successfully. Unfortunately this happened only in time to record the last to episodes of the Entourage season but at least it is working for next season! :)

I read earlier about similar problems with TNT-HD. I have not tried to record this channel yet but I plan to test it soon. I will post my findings.

Anyone have any similar experiences or comments? What are anybody's thoughts on this being a fluke? Could Comcast really have flipped the flags back? I hope so....

wrc15963

09-07-05, 02:04 PM

I am happy to see someone else has been having the same problem as I have. Missery loves company. I have had a few failed recordings on HBOHD but my biggest problem is with Sci-Fi at the moment. I have been working with a tech supervisor over at dslreports to resolve this issue. Read the following thread and if you want to join in it might help to get things moving. http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13893132 BTW I'm in Burr Ridge so we have a common problem.

Ken H

09-07-05, 03:42 PM

Ken H

09-07-05, 03:46 PM

Holy Crap... this is a serious problem and we need to address it immediately. If you mean that this is some kind of desired effect by Comcast or other cableco's, then you are completely, 100% wrong.

If you mean we need to address mistakes cableco's are making in this area, feel free to let them know how you feel. Call, write a letter, send an e-mail, etc.

The problem is that the number of subscribers using this technology is so small that it's a low priority for most cableco's. I know this from direct first hand information.

Ken H

09-07-05, 03:49 PM

I am happy to see someone else has been having the same problem as I have. Missery loves company. I have had a few failed recordings on HBOHD but my biggest problem is with Sci-Fi at the moment. I have been working with a tech supervisor over at dslreports to resolve this issue.Good that you are finding the right people to talk to. I would say you'll probably have to be patient, because most of the technicians are relatively new in understanding the technology and how to troubleshoot it. Again, based on 100% of the feedback I've seen it is just a matter of time for the cableco to figure it out.

0t1s1

09-07-05, 04:26 PM

The fluke was it happened in the first place.

Bottom line is that all other instances of someone losing the ability to record HD have been nothing more than a mistake in the technology.

In the future, don't expect this type of issue to get resolved, let alone understood, buy a CSR. Ask to be contacted by a technical resource, or contact the local Comcast business office. Eventually they will figure it out.

Thanks Ken H

alerion

09-07-05, 05:57 PM

Has anyone done a A/B PQ comparison between HDMI and Component on the Sony unit? Thanks.

Jim
Yes, I have, into a Sony KV-34XBR910 TV. In fact, spent hours this last weekend in a 3-way comparison with another receiver. The short answer is they are different, because the TV treats compnent and DVI differently, and in some cases each resolution differently for the same input.

Initially, component looked darker and richer (actually too dark). After adjusting DVI settings in the TV service menu, DVI looks better (this Sony TV has DVI, not HDMI). Unfortunately, I only have a 480p version of Digital Video Essentials, but the test pattern built into the Sony DVR is a little useful for calibrating 1080i inputs.

I subjectively observe that the HDMI has slightly more detail.

kong

09-07-05, 07:11 PM

If you mean that this is some kind of desired effect by Comcast or other cableco's, then you are completely, 100% wrong.

If you mean we need to address mistakes cableco's are making in this area, feel free to let them know how you feel. Call, write a letter, send an e-mail, etc.

The problem is that the number of subscribers using this technology is so small that it's a low priority for most cableco's. I know this from direct first hand information.

I understand that completely. I am the 2nd person to use CABLECARD in Service ELectric Wilkes-Barre area. I had half my channels knocked out on a weekend when there was no one to talk to on the phone. They extended my free HBO for an extra week.

jklaffen

09-07-05, 07:23 PM

but the test pattern built into the Sony DVR is a little useful for calibrating 1080i inputs.

Alerion,
How do you access this test pattern?

Thanks

Nevermind, I found it here:
Interesting HDD500 Secret Menu

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I've been playing with my HDD-500 and I found out some interesting stuff.

There seems to be something with pressing Menu followed by "Screen Mode" and a numeric key combination.

This is documented in the "Setting up Demo Mode" Document on sony's site.
(Since this is my first post, I cannot paste the URL)

Anyway In the Demo mode, you can run some TV guide tests..

You can get to demo mode by doing the following:

MENU -> "Screen Mode" 9012
=====================
- Demo Mode
- Restore Factory Default
- Format Hard Drive
- Reset User Configuration
- TV Guide
- Reset to Factory Default
- G*Factory Test
Flash Test
VBI Test
ATSC Test
Serial Test
IR Test

Anyway, so I was playing around and learned the following:

MENU -> "Screen Mode" 1234
=====================
- Main
- Software Main
- Software Module
- Firmware
- Network
- HDD
- Signal

Ken H

09-07-05, 07:43 PM

It all depends on your service provider having everything setup correctly. Phil_C is still trying to get his cable card problems worked out with comcast. You might want to head over to www.broadbandreports.com Comcast forums to see his continuing problems with getting a cable card to work with his HDD500.Have you checked the CableCARD topics in the HDTV Hardware Forum? They have experence back to last year, when they were introduced.

PhillyC

09-07-05, 08:23 PM

Have you checked the CableCARD topics in the HDTV Hardware Forum? They have experence back to last year, when they were introduced.

Yes, Ken. I also have a thread here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=556673

Today is ten weeks and Comcast cannot get a hit to reach my card. Low priority is right. I'm at the point of trying to decide if I should send e-mails and letters to the FCC, TV stations, newspapers, etc.

alerion

09-07-05, 10:11 PM

[I]MENU -> "Screen Mode" 9012
=====================
- Demo Mode
- Restore Factory Default
- Format Hard Drive
- Reset User Configuration
- TV Guide
- Reset to Factory Default
- G*Factory Test
Flash Test
VBI Test
ATSC Test
Serial Test
IR Test

For clarification, the test pattern is at
-G* Factory test which on mine is one more sub-menu from -TV Guide

Come to think of it, because the Sony can vary output format (480p, etc...) and output component or HDMI, it could be used in the service menu of the TV to fine tune contrast, brightness and color for all the various formats.

Ken H

09-07-05, 11:10 PM

Yes, Ken. I also have a thread here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=556673

Today is ten weeks and Comcast cannot get a hit to reach my card. Low priority is right. I'm at the point of trying to decide if I should send e-mails and letters to the FCC, TV stations, newspapers, etc.I'm truly sorry to hear of your predicament.

How far up the food chain have you gone locally?

PhillyC

09-07-05, 11:28 PM

Ken,

I have a local tech supervisor looking into this for the last 9 weeks. By chance, he recently received an e-mail from a Comcast engineer in Colorado saying that the Sony DVR is supported. There are HDD500's working in other Comcast regions. Those accounts are provisioned exactly like mine, according to the supervisor. My card sees the Comcast network, but never receives the hit with channel info.

I've been asking to talk to the engineer myself, but am getting stonewalled on that front. I'm at a loss as to what to do next. If anyone here has a contact way up the chain that can wake these people up, I'd really like to talk to him.

Sirluckyj

09-08-05, 03:51 AM

Alerion: Here is what I got on the G* Factory Test:

Flash: Pass
VBI: Fail
ATSC: Pass
Serial: Fail
IR: Fail

What did you get? Thanks.

Jim

alerion

09-08-05, 06:55 AM

Alerion: Here is what I got on the G* Factory Test:

Flash: Pass
VBI: Fail
ATSC: Pass
Serial: Fail
IR: Fail

What did you get? Thanks.

Jim
Same.

I have no idea what they mean. Other than I hate failing at anything :rolleyes:

Brian

Sirluckyj

09-08-05, 08:20 AM

Alerion: I think the failed means they are not hooked up. Serial = USB, IR = IR controller, etc. I do not know what VIB is though.

Jim

ps: I hooked up the Sony via HDMI this morning. It seems to give a slightly darker, more bold picture as compared to component. I would have to get an HDMI switcher to use HDMI as my HD D* receiver uses HDMI.

Ron

09-08-05, 08:43 AM

Here's a little tip for Pronto NG owners: to make the DHG-HDD500 feel more responsive, set the minimum IR duration time to 0.17 seconds for each code.

(Note that you'll need the latest Pronto NG / ProntoPro NG firmware and editor for IR duration support.)

Thanks for this tip, and thanks to you and the others who have posted the discrete codes for on/off and prev channel - thanks especially to the person who figured them out (don't remember your name, sorry!).

Anyway, could you please remind me how to set the ir duration? I do have 2.1.1, and I seem to remember seeing this somewhere, but I can't remember where!!

Daniel Tonks

09-08-05, 12:45 PM

Should be a Duration button near the bottom on the screen where you pick from a database or learned IR code.

alerion

09-08-05, 01:56 PM

Come to think of it, because the Sony can vary output format (480p, etc...) and output component or HDMI, it could be used in the service menu of the TV to fine tune contrast, brightness and color for all the various formats.
For those who have access to HDNet, from DBSTalk:

"Record HDNet at 8:00AM ET on Tuesday mornings.

HDNet Test Patterns
Wonder how your home theatre is doing? Wish you had test patterns to help set it up? Well, HDNet is here to help. This short program will help you get the most out of your home theatre setup by providing you with the same professional test patterns HDNet uses to set their gear."

stan1822

09-09-05, 01:34 AM

I've had mine for a couple of months, but now I am ready to declare that it is a POS.

Sometimes the guide does not update, or it is incomplete ("No Listing"). Once the unit locked up, had to pull the plug to get it to react again. And last night it forgot all the weekly/regular recording I entered, so I have to start over.

My verdict is don't buy, at least not until Sony releases a firmware update. I have been watching http://esupport.sony.com/perl/model-news.pl?mdl=DHGHDD250 , but no luck :-(

nascar24

09-09-05, 08:25 AM

Opinionated

09-09-05, 11:28 AM

My verdict is don't buy, at least not until Sony releases a firmware update.

I have wanted to buy this for over two months. Every time I am about to pull the trigger I read something that puts me off.

Does this unit even have a method for updating the firmware?

I had the opportunity to stop by a Sonystyle store a few days ago. I wanted to see this up close. Surprisingly they didn't have it attached to anything. Just sat there useless.

I asked a clerk if it can be recorded by other methods if the TVGOS doesn't work right- I had already received positive answers on this board to the question- he said no. What's the point of these Sonystyle places if the clerks are clueless and they don't even bother having a working unit up?

Almost all the problems I read here relate to recording by the TVGOS. I really want the ability to record HDTV mostly by QAM. If I am content to program the unit the way one programs a VCR- forgetting about TVGOS- would anyone then recommend buying?

Rbrodzinsky

09-09-05, 11:50 AM

I have wanted to buy this for over two months. Every time I am about to pull the trigger I read something that puts me off.

Does this unit even have a method for updating the firmware?

I had the opportunity to stop by a Sonystyle store a few days ago. I wanted to see this up close. Surprisingly they didn't have it attached to anything. Just sat there useless.

I asked a clerk if it can be recorded by other methods if the TVGOS doesn't work right- I had already received positive answers on this board to the question- he said no. What's the point of these Sonystyle places if the clerks are clueless and they don't even bother having a working unit up?

Almost all the problems I read here relate to recording by the TVGOS. I really want the ability to record HDTV mostly by QAM. If I am content to program the unit the way one programs a VCR- forgetting about TVGOS- would anyone then recommend buying?

I have been completely satisified by the unit, my one (and only) TVGOS reset not withstanding (and if you look here, a lot of us in the Bay Area had the problem on the same day, I'm still convinced it was something sent to us, not the unit per se). You can program it like a VCR, quality is excellent.

I've learned never to believe anything I hear from someone working in a store, except for how much an item costs and if they have one in stock (and not always that). Since day one of HDTV, sales clerks have totally misunderstood the technology and capabilities of any unit (guess it isn't just with HDTV - but I still marvel at how many think you need satellite or cable to get HDTV).

Rick

PhillyC

09-09-05, 11:57 AM

Almost all the problems I read here relate to recording by the TVGOS. I really want the ability to record HDTV mostly by QAM. If I am content to program the unit the way one programs a VCR- forgetting about TVGOS- would anyone then recommend buying?

There is no way to set the clock manually. If you can at least get clock info, but have no program listings, you can set recordings manually. The problem is that every program on your HDD will be titled "Unknown" in the list of recordings, which will get very confusing.

You should put your location in your profile. Search for people in your area with your cable company to see if there are guide problems. My guide has been flawless, a pleasant experience after the horrific guide problems of the LG DVR.

Opinionated

09-09-05, 12:17 PM

I know I would have Guide problems. The problem would be I would have no guide.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=567125

I should have a clock. My VCR's get their clock data from the PBS station.

The thing is that except by subscribing to the cable company's equipment, this still remains the only decent alternative to recording HDTV. Especially when a QAM capable tuner is itself over $250.

VCR also don't tell you what is recorded. I have to decide if it's worth buying a glorified but dumb HDTV recorder. Mostly I lean yes but.... there is always something.

At least I would wish all the problems people are having would move the price down.

Ken H

09-09-05, 12:58 PM

For those who have access to HDNet, from DBSTalk:

"Record HDNet at 8:00AM ET on Tuesday mornings.

HDNet Test Patterns
Wonder how your home theatre is doing? Wish you had test patterns to help set it up? Well, HDNet is here to help. This short program will help you get the most out of your home theatre setup by providing you with the same professional test patterns HDNet uses to set their gear."

The idea for HDNet test patterns came from a discusion here at AVS in September 2001:
http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=42882

Here was the HDNet reply, about a year later in August 2002:
http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=159995

nascar24

09-09-05, 05:29 PM

Lucetius

09-09-05, 07:21 PM

So far so good for me.

Received my unit last Friday. Connected the cable (no cable-card) and performed a scan. was able to get all unscrambled channels as well as local HD.

Next morning (Saturday) installed a HD antenna in my attic and scanned for OTA channels. (120 of them.) spent the better part of the day turning of channels and cleaning up the guide. Did not think the Antenna in the attic would work as I'm in Upland, CA, approx 35miles from the towers and I'm up against the MTN's. My picture is solid and amazingly clear. (I don't really like tennis but the HD picture was so clear I ended up watching it all day) Note: The OTA HD and the cable HD picture quality are identical. (our cable provider is Adelphia)

Next morning (Sunday) 1st guide data download. had 4 days worth; 2 days at the beginning of the week, 2 days at the end. I left all the OTA PBS stations on.

Over the next couple of days I Received one extra days worth of data in the guide each night. What's odd is that in some cases, I lost one day and picked up two others. that doesn't make sense.

Have recorded several shows. (HD and SD) Both look great. Haven't had any skipping issues.

Had my Cable Card installed today. Just plugged it in and that was it. Almost 2 easy. My premium channels weren't on yet but I was told it would take an hour or two for them to show up. We are keeping our Digital cable box for now so we can watch and record 2 different channels.

Couple of notes / observations.

This thing is slow!! Changing channels, going to the menu, etc is a test of my patience. This is my main gripe.

Yes, as has been stated by everyone else, the guide is a mess to begin with. Once you get it organized, it's livable.

I wish there was a page up / page down feature for the guide.

Picture quality is great!!!

Recording, watching live and pre-recorded shows is all great!! (I've never had TIVO so DVR is new to me) Being able to pause live TV is brilliant.

With out the cablecard, when I scanned the cable channels, they came in at odd locations. (i.e. not consistent with my digital cable box) The cable CBS-HD channel came in at 2.1 where as with the cable card, it's now 937. Not that it makes a difference but I now have to re-arrange my entire guide. :(

Happy customer so far.

nathan118

09-09-05, 07:23 PM

I have wanted to buy this for over two months. Every time I am about to pull the trigger I read something that puts me off.

The "quality" of this box seems entirely dependent on the source you are recording from, and where you live. I have OTA in los angeles, and it's wonderful. Other people using cable though have had problems, or people in some regions have gotten shotty tvgos data/consistency.

Best advice for tv guide data is to see what people in your area are getting.

bestlab

09-09-05, 08:07 PM

Almost all the problems I read here relate to recording by the TVGOS. I really want the ability to record HDTV mostly by QAM. If I am content to program the unit the way one programs a VCR- forgetting about TVGOS- would anyone then recommend buying? My epg resets to blank listings several times a week - sony says it is a comcast problem??? -I hear the hdd500 switching between cable and antenna several times an hour when off - Maybe that is the problem --Anyway to answer your question - I find that tuning to the channel you want to record in the future - hold the record button - then go to menu Rec List and menu and edit the recording to the times and date you want -but it will be titled unknown - Not what I am satisfied with but it works till I can fix the epg.

KevinCLovesU

09-09-05, 08:51 PM

alerion

09-09-05, 09:50 PM

...BTW, did anyone else's DVR come with an "Available in 30/200 hour and 60/400 hour" sticker? I get the feeling that it's a floor model.]]

Thank you thank you thank you 3x for all help in advance.

(first post yay!)
Congratulations and welcome from a slightly less new newbie.

Yup, the sticker was there and the unit came factory sealed.

Don't have cable, so can't answer the rest.

wrc15963

09-09-05, 11:26 PM

HELP! My DVR records analog cable flawlessly, and I love it (especially Chasing Playback), but digital cable (at least HD, I haven't tried other digi channels, but I will) DOES NOT. The "red dot" on the guide goes away a power cycle, but it remains in the schedule list (not suspended, active). The "Recording Starting" alert even appears. The REC light goes on momentarily, then goes off. Nothing shows up on the rec list. I use CableCard from WOW cable. I will do some "investigation" and call Sony if need be.

BTW, did anyone else's DVR come with an "Available in 30/200 hour and 60/400 hour" sticker? I get the feeling that it's a floor model.]]

Thank you thank you thank you 3x for all help in advance.

(first post yay!)

I believe you are having the same issue that I and others are having with the Recording not permitted by service provider error message. I have been working with Comcast and they do not have their copy protection system working. I am going to call Sony and see what they say because this is either a CableCard or firmware problem. If more people call Sony maybe they will look into the problem and we can get this issue resolved.

KevinCLovesU

09-09-05, 11:37 PM

^I have WOW, not Comcast. I will be giving them a call sometime.

My Sony rep said that I most likely was trying to record copy-protected material. F**king cable companies. I'll get un touch with them sometime.

wrc15963

09-09-05, 11:47 PM

The problem has occurred on Time Warner & Comcast. What programs were you trying to record when this happened.

KevinCLovesU

09-10-05, 12:12 AM

^The O.C. and Reunion. Fox News at 9 and David Letterman record. I'm SURE now that it must be copy prtotection. WOW wouldn't tell me ANYTHING.

Don't we consumers have the right to 1 copy? I think that's in the manual. Didn't this battle go on with VCRs? Ugh.

Otherwise, I love my DVR. Greedy cable companies. Well, what else can I use, a VCR? Don't think so.

wrc15963

09-10-05, 04:06 PM

Opinionated

09-10-05, 04:41 PM

it is a copyrighted program and it will not record it period...... and the only answer was my apologies sir but that is the way the recorder works. You just have to love Sony.

Every program is copyrighted. If they all insert a flag this DVR could become a doorstop overnight.

Is that Sony's view?

PhillyC

09-10-05, 09:08 PM

I doubt that this is true. I've been given totally false information about the DVR by Sony reps before. You probably got a rep that was guessing or just misinformed.

PhilB

09-10-05, 11:07 PM

I called Sony and they know the recorder does this and there is no fix for it. It is not the cable company but it is a copyrighted program and it will not record it period. I explained that the shows it will not record were just regular shows and not movies and the only answer was my apologies sir but that is the way the recorder works. You just have to love Sony.

I agree with PhillyC. It sounds like you got a CSR who didn't know a PVR from his/her ass in the ground.

Sony's help line might be good at helping to order a user manual, but from my experience they don't know anything about the products their employer manufactures.

If you can't record OTA content re-broadcast by your cable company, it is the cable company's fault. What you can do about it, unless you get lucky, is almost nil. Such is the price for the opprotunity to pay too much money for very little useful content.

-phil

nascar24

09-11-05, 12:21 AM

inlogan

09-11-05, 06:36 PM

I recorded The O.C. just fine OTA, so it's not the program that's blocking it. It must be an issue with your cable.

dlhoppe

09-11-05, 08:14 PM

I'm pretty sure this has been covered before, but I can't find it in this forum. I'm wondering if someone found the remote control keystroke that will bring back the previous channel without having to select from that channel list? I found the posts where people have figured out the "codes" for custom programmable remotes, but my Sony remote doesn't have that capability. Is there something that can be done on the stock remote to get directly to the previous channel?

Thanks.

Daniel Tonks

09-11-05, 09:38 PM

The DHG-HDDxxx use the same codes as all other Sony TiVos, so if you have some remote capable of controlling those you should get Jump. There is nothing you can do to the stock remote.

Ruidh

09-12-05, 12:30 PM

I wish there was a page up / page down feature for the guide.

Channel +/Channel - pages up and down through most screens.

bestlab

09-12-05, 07:50 PM

I was told today that since I was having trouble getting the EPG to work when connected to cable and Ant - that if I reset the TV guide to g*default using the 1920 menu access - then used setup to specify only Ant and let it load - which it did - and then use Guide setup to add the cable to the setup - it would then reload - but use the OTA antenna station as default VBI source instead of the cable - and allow me to get cable listings on the screen - using the OTA VBI ;source. I think I tried this about a week ago without success - and today it seems to be still using the cable channel for update - (i.e not working) - This was in response to my vehement demand that if there was a way to prioritize the acquistion to the OTA signal - while allowing the EPG to display cable listings ---that would solve my and no listing and "crashing" every 72 hours or so -epg problems -
Does anyone else have experience using this method successfully?-it's supposed to tell the unit to look on the antenna first - I know the antenna has a good VBI - by using the G*test function.

Ruidh

09-12-05, 10:37 PM

LJG

09-13-05, 10:47 AM

Has anyone used the HDD500 with IO Digital cable of Long Island with a cable card?

Ruidh

09-13-05, 11:25 AM

Has anyone used the HDD500 with IO Digital cable of Long Island with a cable card?

Yes, search for my messages over the last month.

In brief, you'll need to add an external antenna (it dosn't have to be a very good one) to get the guide data.

mango halley

09-13-05, 07:29 PM

I'm not sure that I have seen this simple question, but I understand that this unit (Sony HD DVR) cannot record one HD channel while you Watch another HD channel? It has only one tuner? In very plain words , can you record Leno in HD while watching Letterman in hd?
thanks.
Mango

PhillyC

09-13-05, 07:43 PM

No, but you can record a current program while watching a previously recorded program.

Ron

09-14-05, 08:21 AM

The way this thread has evolved (great resource for info) we should find out if the moderator can edit the thread title, to take out the word "preorder" now!

Anyway, I don't know if anyone has had it long enough to find out yet, but I didn't see this in the manual, so I wonder if anyone knows...

If you have it set to record a weekly half-hour show via the guide, and they do one episode (season finale, for example) for one hour, does the sony record the whole hour, like ReplayTV would?

LJG

09-14-05, 08:40 AM

Yes, search for my messages over the last month.

In brief, you'll need to add an external antenna (it dosn't have to be a very good one) to get the guide data.

Thanks, quick question about cable card install by cablevision, did the cablevision tech need to program anything or did he just isert the cablecard into the cablecard slot.

The reason I ask is I have an appointment set and may not have the Sony in time and I was hoping he might be able to leave the card.

bierboy

09-14-05, 10:17 AM

The way this thread has evolved (great resource for info) we should find out if the moderator can edit the thread title, to take out the word "preorder" now!... I agree. I had asked in an earlier post in this thread that they make it a "sticky", too, but that's apparently been shot down. I would think this unit is popular enough (certainly as much as the LG 3410A which has it's own "sticky").

PhillyC

09-14-05, 10:41 AM

If you have it set to record a weekly half-hour show via the guide, and they do one episode (season finale, for example) for one hour, does the sony record the whole hour, like ReplayTV would?

I have seen the Sony make this adjustment. It seems to work as long as the increased program time slot (1 hour, 2 hours, whatever) includes the normal time slot. The LG did this also, so it's probably a built-in function of TVGOS. It has not worked with sports, like a football game that runs over.

YMMV, since TVGOS makes everything a big secret and I have not seen this documented anywhere.

Ruidh

09-14-05, 12:30 PM

Thanks, quick question about cable card install by cablevision, did the cablevision tech need to program anything or did he just isert the cablecard into the cablecard slot.

He did have to get some data of the display and call it in to have the card correctly provisioned.

The reason I ask is I have an appointment set and may not have the Sony in time and I was hoping he might be able to leave the card.

Let's hope it comes in time.

Ruidh

09-14-05, 01:39 PM

wrc15963

09-14-05, 03:41 PM

Grrrrrrr!

The Sony dropped my scheduled recordings for Bones and House last night. They were just gone off the scheduled recordings list. I didn't notice until Bones was halfway over.

Very pissed here. Anyone else missed recordings? Ever figured out why?

Yes my unit has done this in the past and also did it last night. I recorded Bones and House but it just skipped Rock Star: INXS. There was no indication why it did not record it just missed it. All three of these shows are set to record weekly.

0t1s1

09-16-05, 04:13 PM

I hate to say it but I check that all of my programs are scheduled correctly EACH day and also make a point of making sure the recordings start as scheduled.

Kind of kills the whole idea behind DVR's but mine has me trained. It seems just when I start to trust it again it will miss something. Good thing I don't trust it anymore because it has been working fine! :D

I'll probably miss all my scheduled programs for the weekend and lose all of my epg since I made this post today... ;)

Ruidh

09-16-05, 11:28 PM

New problem.

SInce last night, the following trext has been displaying instead of the guide data: "Updated information will be available within 24 hours. The Guide is rebuilding your channel list based on your setup change."

Ummm. I didn't change anything in setup. My recordings have continued and I can search for programs, just not view the listings. I did the front panel reset this morning.

UPDATE 9/18: It seems to have resolved itself. I don;t know if it was related to my redoing the TVGOS setup yesterday. But there are still chunks of guide data missing on a lot of channels one week out.

PhillyC

09-17-05, 04:51 PM

wrc15963

09-17-05, 07:33 PM

wrc15963,

Now that my CableCARD is working (yippee!), I did not get any TV Guide info downloaded last night. The guide has always worked OK without the card. I'm going to do a reset and see if that takes care of it, but I'm worried that the card is somehow not allowing the guide info through.

Did you have any issues with the guide after your card was working?

I don't think mine got the TV Guide info the first night. I would go ahead and do the reset and see what happens by tomorrow morning. You have suffered long enough and it would be nice to finally have everything work with your CableCard.

Carl_Ballard

09-17-05, 10:23 PM

alerion

09-17-05, 10:43 PM

bestlab

09-18-05, 12:48 AM

I'm about ready to buy one of these units, but have a question. To get all my OTA channels, it looks like I'll need two antennas. Can I hook up two seperate antennas to the two RF inputs on the HDD500? How does it combine the signals, or does it have to "pick" the antenna input?one thing that is not clearly explained in the manual is that while for cable - a scan always overwrites the previous channel lineup -( whatever odd unencrypted channels + subscribed channels happen to be on cable at the time you scan the cable will be all you can tune )-
In the case of the antenna OTA input - you have a choice of doing overwrite or alternately a separate "Auto Add from antenna" which lets you rotate or switch the antenna and then rescan to pickup the rest of the OTA stations to the channel list --
As far as I can determine - if the channel doesn't scan in you cannot tune it manually (no DXing capability)

Daniel Tonks

09-18-05, 04:36 AM

It should be noted that the "auto add from antenna" feature does not seem to scan in CHANGES made to previously scanned HDTV channels. For instance, recently two channels around here made some changes - one fixed their PSIP mapping and the second added a subchannel - and these two changes were not reflected by "auto add", just a complete overwrite scan.

And you're correct, you must do a scan before you can tune any HDTV channel in - although it is still possible to check the potential signal strength via the system menu.

Combining multiple wideband antennas aimed in different directions is NOT as simple as it may sound and is generally NOT recommended. Instead, invest in a rotor.

alerion

09-18-05, 08:16 AM

Combining multiple wideband antennas aimed in different directions is NOT as simple as it may sound and is generally NOT recommended. Instead, invest in a rotor.
I agree with the difficulty of do-it-yourself antenna combining. In this town, antenna installers sell an 'area special,' a tv antenna that essentially combines 3 directional/channel-tuned antennas into one. It is a product manufactured for the specific market and combines the various signals into one downlead as part of its design, I would imagine other metro areas have the same thing available. The advantage of no rotor is mechanical simplicity and no need to manually rotate the antenna to receive programs you may record while absent.

Carl_Ballard

09-18-05, 09:33 AM

Thanks guys. Guess my next step is find one antenna that does it all. At least I'm moving forward at long last. About 2 years ago I couldn't get squat with an antenna, yesterday I tried a small antenna and got most of my channels from inside the house - I thought I'd need to install on the roof and still have trouble. I'll be ordering a HDD500 later today!

77haven

09-18-05, 09:44 AM

Can someone explain to me how to rest the TVGOS? I have searched to no avail.

Thanks

PhillyC

09-18-05, 10:47 AM

Can someone explain to me how to rest the TVGOS? I have searched to no avail.

A quick search for "reset" gives the answer. Or try page 83 of the printed manual.

PhillyC

09-18-05, 10:57 AM

I don't think mine got the TV Guide info the first night. I would go ahead and do the reset and see what happens by tomorrow morning. You have suffered long enough and it would be nice to finally have everything work with your CableCard.

I did a reset last night. It looks like it won't help because this morning the TIME is still wrong on the front display. Without the card, the correct time would display a few minutes after a reset, although the guide needed overnight to download. I even tuned to the local PBS station (11 analog) before turning the unit off, since that was the host channel for the last three months.

It looks like the suffering will continue. :(

bestlab

09-18-05, 02:57 PM

I did a reset last night. It looks like it won't help because this morning the TIME is still wrong on the front display. Without the card, the correct time would display a few minutes after a reset, although the guide needed overnight to download. I even tuned to the local PBS station (11 analog) before turning the unit off, since that was the host channel for the last three months.:( check previous posts #671 and #713( during Aug-Sept)for the hidden "9012" TVGOS menu - where you can check to see if the channel you are tuned to is sending VBI packets - I solved my problem by turning off the cable PBS channel -per a previous post - it was as I suspected sending corrupted data - turning the antenna to the OTA PBS channel while the unit is off -assuming no conflicting recording sched- will load the basic listing info for the next two days in less than 12 hours in my experience - The FAQ at TVGOS.com talks about the schedules for TVGOS data (about 4x per day)

wrc15963

09-18-05, 03:19 PM

Checking the diagnostics screen, the Host Channel is shown as 0:0-17 (off air PBS), but the VBI Host is showing as 0:0-51 - which, if I check it, is an extremely fuzzy PAX. Perhaps I should remove 51 from the DVR's list to prevent any attempt at locking onto such a weak channel?...

I went to the diagnostic screen and I do not see the Host Channel or VBI Host information as you have listed. Is this the diagnostic screen from the following path? Preferences, System, Diagnostics.

PhillyC

09-18-05, 06:31 PM

I went to the diagnostic screen and I do not see the Host Channel or VBI Host information as you have listed. Is this the diagnostic screen from the following path? Preferences, System, Diagnostics.

From another poster:

Diagnostics screen: go to the main Guide Setup menu (the one with three options). Move the cursor highlight over the first option, "Change System Settings" but do NOT hit Select. Type in the number "753159852". You'll now be in the diagnostics menu... use up/down to select category, and left/right to see other screens. When you first enter the menu, if you hit RIGHT you can see what Host Channel it's using (ignore the VBI Channel, that seems to just be the last channel you were on before entering). Most of the screens won't be particularly useful, but there's one where you can see your Guide packet decoding statistics and, if you tuned the Host channel before entering diagnostics, you can see live decoding statistics.

gigaguy

09-18-05, 06:51 PM

Can you load dvd or DVD-R movies onto the hard drive instead of only TV broadcasts?

alerion

09-18-05, 07:37 PM

Can you load dvd or DVD-R movies onto the hard drive instead of only TV broadcasts?
nope.
There are no external inputs, except antenna and cable.

bestlab

09-18-05, 07:58 PM

I went to the diagnostic screen and I do not see the Host Channel or VBI Host information as you have listed. Is this the diagnostic screen from the following path? Preferences, System, Diagnostics.there is another way to monitor the VBI packets -tune to the channel you want to monitor for TVGOS VBI - hit {menu} -then on the upperleft of the remote - press {screen mode} -don't select any menu selection - just key in {9012} you will get a new list - scroll down to {TV Guide} and {select} - select G* Factory test - (don't use the G* factory default unless you want to start from scratch with the EPG) --- it will then display a color bar screen with the VBI packets being received if TVGOS is on that channel - If its not it will show VBI fail and the VBI good reading will stay at zero - usually it will show about 1 or 2 good packets per second I use this method to make sure I have no cable channels feeding TVGOS info

Sirluckyj

09-19-05, 03:25 AM

wrc15963

09-19-05, 10:21 AM

Is anyone with this Sony DVR using a Gefen HDMI Switcher and if so, what, if any, problems are you seeing? I've heard that it causes the unit to switch from, say 1080i, to 480i. Any comments would be appreciated. Also, will the PQ quality improve using HDMI vs component? Thanks.

Jim

I tried the HD-241N and had to send it back for a refund. With the switcher in place I had a HDCP problem where the Sony would not authenticate with the TV. With the switcher out of the picture it never has an authentication problem.

Sirluckyj

09-19-05, 02:32 PM

I just talked to Gefen. They confirmed a problem with the 2x1 HMDI switcher. They have a new 4x1 HDMI switcher. They are going to see if this problem has been corrected on the new unit and email me. If so, I will get it. I'll advise.

Jim

0t1s1

09-19-05, 04:29 PM

I noticed two nights ago that something was supposed to be recording and when I looked at the face of the machine the RECORDING indicator was not on. I looked at the recordings list and the shows that were to be recorded were there. On closer inspection I noticed that the time readout was entirely wrong and was in fact frozen on the display. No matter what I did the display showed 6:32pm (or somewhere close by there).

After I made sure my recordings were done for the evening I did a reset. I couldn't do it using the buttons on the face because none of them reacted. I had to unplug the unit for a few minutes. It came back on and the and the remote and the buttons on the face began to operate properly but the time was incorrect. If I remember correctly the time was not set it all, it was blank. It reset itself overnight and everything appeared normal until this morning. It was acting similarly but it did go back to normal without a reset.

Anyone else seen this happen? Could there be a problem with the Auto-off feature that happens in the middle of the night? Most of the time I turn it off myself in the evening but I was transferring something from the Sony to my DVD recorder. I have noticed that the show freezes on the "Delete" page at the end of playback and that it is a little sluggish to come back to life the next morning...Maybe its a combination of being left on and the playback "End" menu is left on when the unit is trying to automatically shut itself off...? Does anyone know if you are watching the machine when it is scheduled to turn off will it just shut down on you or will it give you some kind of warning about what is about to happen?

inlogan

09-19-05, 04:32 PM

Does anyone know if you are watching the machine when it is scheduled to turn off will it just shut down on you or will it give you some kind of warning about what is about to happen?

I was watching TV Saturday night at 1am and it just shut off without any warning.

Stork3000

09-19-05, 05:13 PM

I was watching TV Saturday night at 1am and it just shut off without any warning.

This is not the anticipated behavior for the unit. You should normally get a warning when its auto-shutdown is about to happen. In my own case, I haven't had it shut down without warning yet, and I have seen the warning several times.

inlogan

09-19-05, 11:08 PM

This is not the anticipated behavior for the unit. You should normally get a warning when its auto-shutdown is about to happen. In my own case, I haven't had it shut down without warning yet, and I have seen the warning several times.

Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention and missed the warning. It was a long night of being out ;-) I just know it shut off right at the end of SNL at 1am. It took me a second to remember it was supposed to do that. Since the warning before the channel change comes 2 minutes before and then goes away before the change, I bet I was away during the last commercial break before they came back to wave goodbye and missed the warning. Does it also happen 2 minutes before shut off?