Local CBS here is still not transmitting digital TVGOS. Has anyone heard when they will be back online?

The best way to find out is to call and speak to a station engineer. If you station is like our CBS station most of the time they don't know that they are having a problem with TVGOS.

Anyone experience this too?

I hear that occasionally, even months and years ago. Even when I was getting a steady download.

I am having zero listings downloads. Even the 250 which was performing perfectly is now empty.

That it is a universal issue seems likely.

Also, is anyone else having problems with TVGOS dropping scheduled recordings? My box seems to hate Dollhouse and Chuck,

One of my boxes hates Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy.

Another box, recently, the Sunday lineup on NBC.

Some others here and there.

Strange.

I hear that occasionally, even months and years ago. Even when I was getting a steady download.

I am having zero listings downloads. Even the 250 which was performing perfectly is now empty.

That it is a universal issue seems likely.Yes, I acknowledge that this is not a new thing, as I used to hear it back when everything was going well. The only difference is that I hear it a whole lot more lately and at times where I previously never heard (or noticed). For instance, I get these "clicks" at like 9:37AM, 11:15AM, etc., whereas they used to happen only at night.

One of my boxes hates Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy.

Another box, recently, the Sunday lineup on NBC.

Some others here and there.

Strange.

I see that from time to time. My 250 seems to hate DWTS and Lost. And lately, everything on NBC (shows up as No Listing or No Title).

ft

Is there anybody out there from the DFW tv market that can discuss whether they are having TVGOS download issues and Clock issues? Do they know which station is transmitting the TVGOS data?

Also, is it really necessary to have the latest firmware update? If so, which is it and how do I get it?

Thanks.

I'm in the DFW market. Digital TVGOS is being broadcast on digital CBS 11.1. It's been working for me as analog KERA 13 isn't broadcasting TVGOS anymore (well, they might be, but according to this forum, Gemstar stopped transmitting analog guide data a few weeks ago). I can confirm that analog guide data has stopped. I have an analog Panasonic DVR using TVGOS v9 that is no longer receiving guide data.

As far as issues, yes I have had them. When the analog TVGOS data stopped a few weeks ago, I just ran a G* Test from the 9012 menu on 11.1 and all three of mine switched over. Concerning clock issues, I haven't had them except for what I will explain in the next post.

The firmware of the Sony doesn't have to be updated for any of this to work, at least currently. We end users do not have control over the TVGOS versions.

Hope that helps.

Thanks, but that's what I was using. I still can't find the search help.

In Google you can search for "01.44" and it will find all instances of "01.44".

In the forum search when you key that in it finds all posts with "44" in them.

It's actually easier to use the Thread Tools, download the thread (which opens up in your default text viewer/editor) and use it's search.

I haven't done a lot of searching so I hadn't noticed that behavior. I tried a few searches and it seems that the search engine is treating "." as a separator character when used outside a quoted string and it ignores information before it when used inside a quoted string (only tried a few searches so it may behave differently than my limited sampling). Usually, when a search engine treats a character as a separator, there is a special character or some other construct that can be used to tell the search engine to use the character literally and not as its search engine function. I tried a few of the things commonly used in searchs and in parsing programming instructions, but didn't come across one that worked. If you do run across instructions for this search engine, I'd be interested.

I'm in the Dallas market and am OTA only. There is no analog TVGOS in this area as of 2 weeks ago. I have three units working with a digital host.

One of my 250s rebooted itself after a freeze Friday night. When it came back up, it had reverted to the base TVGOS software 8.01.42, but my listings were still there. Based on my previous experience, I simply tuned to digital CBS 11.1, ran G* Test, and turned it off hoping everything would update. When I ran the G* Test, the clock came back, but it was exactly 1 hour off.

I checked it the next day after being off for about 18 hours. It had not downloaded the next TVGOS version. So, I ran the G* Test again, and this time, I did a Force Host Channel command.

On Sunday, I checked it after being off for about 14 hours. I had TVGOS version 8.05.40, the next version. Great, so at least it is downloading something from the digital host. I switched channels, tuned back to digital CBS, ran G* Test, and turned it off. I checked it about 9 hours later to see if it had 8.06.44, but it did not have it. I did the G* Test and the Force Host Channel procedure again. I'll check it again when I get home tonight. Hopefully it will have 8.06.44 by then.

However, as of now, my clock is still 1 hour off. My Clock Set channel shows to be digital CBS. Maybe it will correct itself once it gets the latest TVGOS software. Anybody have suggestions on how to get it to the correct time?

FWIW, my time zone version on this 250 and a fully functional 500 are 84. The VBI version (may be the wrong name) on the 500 is currently 104. I don't think I checked it on the 250. I have another fully functional 250 whose time zone version is 100.

I was having lockup issues, but was hesitant to do a full reset as others here have reported problems getting their channel lineup back. It seems promising that they would come back since I am getting TVGOS updates. I'm not going to do it until forced to. I know everything is a balancing act right now.

Long story short, it would appear that the TVGOS software downloads are working on digital CBS in Dallas. I just want my clock back.:rolleyes:

However, as of now, my clock is still 1 hour off. My Clock Set channel shows to be digital CBS. Maybe it will correct itself once it gets the latest TVGOS software. Anybody have suggestions on how to get it to the correct time?

Long story short, it would appear that the TVGOS software downloads are working on digital CBS in Dallas. I just want my clock back.:rolleyes:

Until you get to 08.06.44, you'll be an hour off until early April when the earlier firmwares/patches "knew" that DST was to begin. Since DST changed in 2007 to early March, only 08.06.44 "knows" this. Of course, if you don't update in the next couple of weeks you'll eventually get the right time...:p

I have an HDD 250 I'd like to sell. With Manual and Remote. $450 plus shipping. Unit is in perfect working order and cosmetically 100 %.

Before TVGOS got buggy, this box worked perfectly on the Guide It still works perfectly on Manual Timers. This has the .13 software.

PM me for further.

I now have a dish ViP 612 which does the same thing OTA, so I don't need this box.

I have always had problems with reception on my Sony DVRs compared to what I receive on my TVs. This has led me to believe that Sony put low end tuners in these DVRs.

I recently sold one of my Sonys and one of my TVs to a relative. I set everything up at her house. I cannot get several channels on the Sony ("no signal") that come in fine on the TV's tuner.

All of the transmitters are in the same farm. They are within 4 degrees of each other, 174 -178 degrees from her house. The problem channels are 174 and 175 degrees azimuth. I have adjusted the antenna in tiny increments until I lost other channels with no luck on the problem channels.

I have considered telling her that a different antenna or an amplifier might be necessary but I am reluctant to have her spend money on something that might not fix the problem. It seems certain that replacing the tuner card in the Sony with a better one would work since the one in the TV is receiving all of the local channels fine.

I have always had problems with reception on my Sony DVRs compared to what I receive on my TVs. This has led me to believe that Sony put low end tuners in these DVRs.

I recently sold one of my Sonys and one of my TVs to a relative. I set everything up at her house. I cannot get several channels on the Sony ("no signal") that come in fine on the TV's tuner.

snip

I have considered telling her that a different antenna or an amplifier might be necessary but I am reluctant to have her spend money on something that might not fix the problem. It seems certain that replacing the tuner card in the Sony with a better one would work since the one in the TV is receiving all of the local channels fine.I don't think you can swap the tuner "card" out of these Sonys. The problem isn't that the tuner is a low-end component. The problem is that these DVR's are very old. I think the last of these rolled off the assembly line in 2005 (or maybe 2006).

The ATSC tuners back in those days weren't very sensitive. The newer ones are so much better at picking up signals and working with weak signals. The TV is probably newer than the DVR, so it probably has a more sensitive tuner.

Unfortunately, I don't think there's anything you can do, short of getting a better antenna so that the DHG receives a stronger signal. I wouldn't spend any money on a set of rabbit ears, but a rooftop antenna might do the trick. But then again, that can be a costly proposition.

I live in central Dallas and am receiving the data stream from Channel 11.1, the local CBS affiliate. I was able to update to the latest frimware over two nights (it takes two steps), but am absolutely blocked from getting the correct time to display. The unit has has the correct UTC, but has received no time zone packets based on several zip codes I have tried. The time displayed has remained incorrect.
I have not been able to get the channel grid to populate, so obviously I have no listings. I am getting great updating on the ads in the lower left corner of the display. Good to see the priorities of the broadcasters are in order.

I have always had problems with reception on my Sony DVRs compared to what I receive on my TVs. This has led me to believe that Sony put low end tuners in these DVRs.

I recently sold one of my Sonys and one of my TVs to a relative. I set everything up at her house. I cannot get several channels on the Sony ("no signal") that come in fine on the TV's tuner.

All of the transmitters are in the same farm. They are within 4 degrees of each other, 174 -178 degrees from her house. The problem channels are 174 and 175 degrees azimuth. I have adjusted the antenna in tiny increments until I lost other channels with no luck on the problem channels.

I have considered telling her that a different antenna or an amplifier might be necessary but I am reluctant to have her spend money on something that might not fix the problem. It seems certain that replacing the tuner card in the Sony with a better one would work since the one in the TV is receiving all of the local channels fine.
My recent extended warrantee repair at Sony in Pennsyvania was replacement of the tuner board. It receives better now, but is still not as good as the tuner in my HDTV.

I don't think Sony cheaped out. My guess is that the technology has advanced since 2005.

You may be correct and I may be all wet. :D However, since VBI doesn't exist in digital, where has the VBI from the digital host channels been coming from all this time if it wasn't from the inserted "VBI in MPEG"? Does the TVG1 stream contain "VBI" also? I have no idea on that so I won't speculate further. :confused:
Possumgirl, as for wet, I think we've ALL been taking a bath (or beating) from Sony and Marcovision!

Yes, I've long wondered about the "vbi" labels in the diagnostic menus, chalking it up to laziness on the part of the TVGOS people (which they demonstrate amply in other respects). Remember that in 2005, it WAS vbi packets that they were checking...

And when digital TVGOS (I'm NOT talking about the SCTE 127 stream) appeared around the country during last summer/early fall, there certainly wasn't any VBI being broadcast digitally, because that's the SCTE stream has only barely started appearing here and thererecently...and yet the G* test said "packets", with vbi here and there on the test page....so I've always interpreted VBI to mean something like"possible TVGOS packets!" Because exactly what that page means is anybody's guess beyond that...

On another topic, fox200, in a post the other day, linked to some TV Guide Diagnostics pages (TV Guide Diagnostics document (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=137490&d=1237686416)), which I planned to use Saturday to check through my Sony's diagnostics menus. I put it off until Sunday, and - unfortunately - on that day (and today) I have received no downloads.

But anyway, yesterday I did write down all the info asked for in that document, and I here summarize the DATA part of that document....maybe it would be useful for us to see what a number of us have in our diagnostic menus in a consistent way. (Unfortunately, when I copy and paste it, all table portions lose their tabularity; for use of others, I am trying to attached the compressed form of the original document, without MY data in it)...

TV Guide Diagnostics - VERSION 8
(compressed to data portions alone)

To identify the cause of the problem, you must review the TVGOS diagnostic
information screens to obtain…

From the Section System-System Info diagnostics screen, note the following
values:
Date and Time 3/23/2009 0:27
Number in brackets [x] 3
Guide Version 08.01.42/08.06.44
Video Source OTA

From the Section System-Statistics diagnostics screen, note the following values:
ZIP Code 94705
Host State 0x80
Host ID 0x13B
Host Chan * (blank)
VBI Chan * 0:5-1
OTA Lineup 0xACDA
CR Lineup 0x0
CB Lineup 0x0
CC Lineup 0x0
SU Chg N/A
Last SU N/A
Last ChMap N/A

From the Section Reception-Slicing diagnostics screen, note the values for
“Since Cold,” “HostChan,” and “CurrChan” for each of the following:
Since Cold Host Chan Curr Chan
Starts 239830 0 0
Ends 239470 0 0
Drops 524 0 0
TypeB 193048 0 0
BCorr 227 0 0
BErrs 42 0 0
TypeC* 0 0 0
CCorr 0 0 0
CErrs* 0 0 0
CBad* 167 0 0


From the Section Reception-VBI Stats diagnostics screen, note the following
values:
TotFrTape 46367
2XLines 0x0
GemstarLines 0x0
EnabledLines 0x0


From the Section VBI Data-VBI Info diagnostics screen, note the following
values:
VBIState 0x05
LastClkSet 3/23/09 0:22:30
NumClkSets 30
LastASetEnd N/A
LastSrchSt 3/22/09 21:30:50
LastSrchEnd 3/22/09 21:32:33
NumSearch 3
LstSCause 12
PrvSCause 12
LastDLStart N/A
LastDLEnd N/A

From the Section Other – Clocks 2 diagnostics screens, note the values for
Failing Clock Chan Fffffffd
Clock Set Chan 0:5-1

Remember that what's above could have been influenced strongly by the fact that I received no downloads during the previous night...

I have always had problems with reception on my Sony DVRs compared to what I receive on my TVs. This has led me to believe that Sony put low end tuners in these DVRs.

Besides the old 4th generation issue (newer generations handle multipath much better), the Sony also has a hard time with very strong VHF-Hi (7-13) stations overloading the tuner and "bleeding" into the upper UHF band, hindering reception (a common problem with contemporary wideband tuners). If you are in an area that is all-UHF, you could try putting a VHF/UHF splitter in line with the antenna, with the UHF part fed into the Sony through a 300/75 balun transformer. Leave the VHF part empty. That will filter out all VHF signals that may be hampering UHF reception.

If you need VHF and can't do this - or if you are sure that a nearby UHF is causing the overload instead, then try a Radio Shack variable attenuator in line. This will at least tone down strong VHF's & UHF's that may be causing bleeding and overload (but unfortunately you will also be turning down the desired signal - that's why the option above is best for UHF). Having an attenuator in line is always a good idea if you use any amps or preamps. (Most people who use distribution amps put the attenuator after the amp, but I like to put them in ahead of the amp. That way I have more control and can stop the amp from overloading - for once the amp overloads, you can't fix things with an attenuator further down the line. I'm a DXer, and find the attenuator-before-the-amp method doesn't hinder my reception of weak signals).

Set attenuator to Min signal, then turn the signal up. If the signal comes in during the midrange but then starts to break up near Max, then back off until the signal seems steadiest.

Note also that the offending strong signal may be an analog one...that will disappear Jun 12th! So the tuner is less likely to suffer from overload after the transition.

From the Section System-Statistics diagnostics screen, note the following values:
ZIP Code 94705
Host State 0x80
Host ID 0x1B
Host Chan * (blank)
Wow, your Host ID says you're in Portland, OR!
It should be 0x5 for San Fran/Oakland.
You must have a REALLY GOOD antenna.

Wow, your Host ID says you're in Portland, OR!
It should be 0x5 for San Fran/Oakland.
You must have a REALLY GOOD antenna.

Okay, I'll show my dumb side :o How do you translate the HostID field into something meaningful? I know it gets set right after the guide finds a zip code match.

I hope the software upgrade helps with the tuning, I had an old (OLD) Samsung HD tuner and it was pretty bad, updated it over serial to a newer software and it has much better reception after the upgrade.

Okay, I'll show my dumb side :o How do you translate the HostID field into something meaningful? I know it gets set right after the guide finds a zip code match.Unless they just recently changed things (could be), your Host ID (not Host Channel) was the hex equivalent of the GBA (Gemstar Broadcast Area) you were in. That GBA list is published as the "Substitute Zip Code" list in the DTVPal+ User Guide for TVGOS Setup.

I hope the software upgrade helps with the tuning, I had an old (OLD) Samsung HD tuner and it was pretty bad, updated it over serial to a newer software and it has much better reception after the upgrade.Are you sure you intended to post in this thread?

The download schedules come from the zip code packets.
[...]
If the host channel is analog, only the analog schedules are generated. If the host channal is digital or the zip code packet is received over a digital VBI channel, the digital schedule(s) is (are) included in addition to the analog schedules.
[...]


Based on this information, I think I found the reason why my downloads stop whenever my host channel sets. My digital host channel is being told to use an analog download schedule, and it can't. The DLTimer field time coincides with one of the times in the analog DL Schedule, not the Digital schedule. Since my host isn't an analog host, I get no listings. This may be a side effect of connecting to the analog vbi channel over cable long enough to get the channel lineup when I was stuck at that point on 3/8. Apparently my DVR is stuck between the analog world, and the digital world. I may have to do another reset to get around this issue (Since 3/8, I have done both a TV Guide/Exit reset, and reset user configuration, but that has not changed anything). I think I have to clear the download schedules that are there, and hope that my unit syncs up to the right schedules after a reset. I have a window of opportunity starting Thursday night where I won't have anything to record for 3 days. I might be able to get back up and running by then (even if I have to make manual recordings for a couple of days).

Mark

Unless they just recently changed things (could be), your Host ID (not Host Channel) was the hex equivalent of the GBA (Gemstar Broadcast Area) you were in. That GBA list is published as the "Substitute Zip Code" list in the DTVPal+ User Guide for TVGOS Setup.

I don't think that applies to the sony's. My host ID is 13B hex.

I don't think that applies to the sony's. My host ID is 13B hex.That used to be the GBA for FOX KCBA or FOX KTVU. Do you still get listings and what's your host channel?

That used to be the GBA for FOX KCBA or FOX KTVU. Do you still get listings and what's your host channel?

You said it was the hex equivalent of a GBA....but isn't KTVU in the SF metro area, which is - like - 5 or something?

PS...in any case, thanks for noticing my typo above, which - as rcrach noted - would have been 13B...which is the hex equivalent of - what? - 315...OAKLAND???

...though I admit to not being as fluent in hex as when I programmed a computer in hexadecimal a few years (actually decades) ago...

Just to add more data: Since first week of March, I lose listings and ads every weekend. The last entry is always Saturday at 3am. The ads reappear on Monday morning, and the listings start to reappear Tuesday morning, and get filled during the day. Since I use only manual recording (no cable card, no OTA), I can live with this for now.

I live in NE PA and get Philly, NY, and local stations from a cable company that might get its data via RCN and/or Comcast.

I left my DVR on G*Test all night on my #2 PBS (19.2) and now my time is not 5 min fast and I have a guide where there was no info before!!!!!!!!!!

I will check further tonight to see what all I do have, it does look to be full just from a quick glance.

Looking for a better contact to TVGOS(macrovision) to complain about lack of listings. My Email contact to TVGOS just gets the generic response to contact equipment manufacture(Sony).
Michael

My situation is going from bad to worse.

From the behavior of the two 500's, it seems to me that not getting data over a long period- or corrupted data- or whatever is happening- corrupts the software, which unsettles the entire unit.

One of the 500's became unresponsive almost all the time. I started with front panel resets - but the fix was temporary-and later on was forced to pull the plug once. Hail Mary reset TV Guide settings. All guide settings -and .44 firmware- completely lost and no clock. Later today I will attempt to connect to OTA digital and see what happens if it didn't pick up anything from cable and analog over 24 hours.

Second 500 is beginning to freeze. At the end of watching a show, I FF a little and it froze solid. Did a front panel reset, did the G-test which got me back a clock. Now afraid to use it at all.

The 250 which was working perfectly, stopped getting listings on Saturday. Still showing ads however.

Looking for a better contact to TVGOS(macrovision) to complain about lack of listings. My Email contact to TVGOS just gets the generic response to contact equipment manufacture(Sony).
Michael

Same here.

I received the 8.06.44 update from a digital host and got my clock back. My 250 had reset itself to 8.01.42 over the weekend.

One thing to note, and it may have been said here before, but the clock on the front panel was still one hour off even though the clock in the TVGOS listings was correct. Once I did a G* Test, the front panel showed the correct time.

Also, I may be doing a TVGOS Factory Reset this weekend on my 500. I've been having lockup issues since late last week. I'm a little nervous doing it as I know others have said they have not gotten their channel lineup back. It seems if I got the software updates then it should get the channel lineup.:confused:

I'm in Dallas and OTA only.

I'm almost ready to give up on this thing. I'm not getting new listings anymore. I suppose my experience is like Joe Kustra's where I get nothing over the weekend and listings start to trickle in on Tuesday. It's such a PITA.

I'm currently using Comcast and have just upgraded to Digital Preferred and I'm thinking about getting a CableCard for my Sony so that I can record all of the extra channels I'm getting, but I'm afraid that the process of adding a CableCard will further junk up my Sony.

I'm decided against getting the Comcast DVR, but I'm seriously considering the HD-STB for $6.50/month and using the Firewire port to record off of, but that's not that classy.

My other option would be a TivoHD with a CableCard and keeping the Sony for use on the kitchen TV.

I gotta rethink my options.

ft

I received a response from my local CBS station on the TVGOS problem. It follows:
The TV Guide folks are having problems with the equipment they installed at WGCL. It was creating jitter and actually degrading our entire digital signal. As a result we removed the service from our stream. As soon as TV Guide can make the necessary repairs we will reinstitute the service. I do not have a timeline on their repairs.
Have not gotten any response back from the analog source yet, but perhaps this is part of the whole problem we all are having.
Michael

I left my DVR on G*Test all night on my #2 PBS (19.2) and now my time is not 5 min fast and I have a guide where there was no info before!!!!!!!!!!

I will check further tonight to see what all I do have, it does look to be full just from a quick glance.

When you say you have a guide? Is that listing of TV shows where before you had no listing for all stations?
or where no info before? you had no guide stations showing and guide was blank?

Mike

I received the 8.06.44 update from a digital host and got my clock back. My 250 had reset itself to 8.01.42 over the weekend.

One thing to note, and it may have been said here before, but the clock on the front panel was still one hour off even though the clock in the TVGOS listings was correct. Once I did a G* Test, the front panel showed the correct time.

Also, I may be doing a TVGOS Factory Reset this weekend on my 500. I've been having lockup issues since late last week. I'm a little nervous doing it as I know others have said they have not gotten their channel lineup back. It seems if I got the software updates then it should get the channel lineup.:confused:

I'm in Dallas and OTA only.

I, too, have just started getting lockups/freezes on one of my newly-recovered (digital listings) units. Last night it rebooted while I was watching a recording at exactly the same time it was to have started recording '24'. After it reset, I did the G* test on my digital host channel which recovered the time (had been 20min slow). Later, when I was watching another recording the unit stopped responding to inputs at the same time another recording was to start. I kept watching the program (commercials and all!) and it recovered about 1/2 hour later and started the recording, albeit a 1/2 hour into 'Castle'.

I know others have had these issues in the past (first time for me) and have done a reset to fix the issues and I could do this but I also don't want to lose my grid as it is not clear it will return anytime soon.

I'll see if it records tonight while I'm not watching something at the same time.

I'm almost ready to give up on this thing.

My other option would be a TivoHD with a CableCard and keeping the Sony for use on the kitchen TV.




If the Sony doesn't work out, I am seriously considering the new Moxi HD DVR. It is pricey but unlike TIVO, doesn't have monthly fees and supports clear QAM (channel mapping) without a cablecard.

www.moxi.com

I, too, have just started getting lockups/freezes on one of my newly-recovered (digital listings) units. Last night it rebooted while I was watching a recording at exactly the same time it was to have started recording '24'.

See my post above. It's bad enough when it freezes when watching while recording, but two of my units are now just freezing - when not recording.

It's like a spreading virus.

That used to be the GBA for FOX KCBA or FOX KTVU. Do you still get listings and what's your host channel?

I still get listings in San Jose CA. It used to be KQED channel 9, now it's KPIX 5.1. Never got listings from KTVU. Never reset, forced host, lost the clock, never did anything. If the listings stop filling in they always restart before I need them.

If the Sony doesn't work out, I am seriously considering the new Moxi HD DVR. It is pricey but unlike TIVO, doesn't have monthly fees and supports clear QAM (channel mapping) without a cablecard.

www.moxi.com
Does the Moxi rely on TVGOS, or get listing info over the internet?

I had not known that the unit supported clear QAM.

I still get listings in San Jose CA. It used to be KQED channel 9, now it's KPIX 5.1. Never got listings from KTVU. Never reset, forced host, lost the clock, never did anything. If the listings stop filling in they always restart before I need them.
I'm in San Jose too, but I'm unable to get channel 5 (CBS) analog. Is your Sony getting analog 5?

I received a response from my local CBS station on the TVGOS problem. It follows:
The TV Guide folks are having problems with the equipment they installed at WGCL. It was creating jitter and actually degrading our entire digital signal. As a result we removed the service from our stream. As soon as TV Guide can make the necessary repairs we will reinstitute the service. I do not have a timeline on their repairs.
Have not gotten any response back from the analog source yet, but perhaps this is part of the whole problem we all are having.
Michael

Lets hope they fix it soon. What are the email contacts for those stations? Maybe more inquiries will get their attention.
I wonder who pays for digital TVGOS service. We know we are not paying for it, advertisers probably don't want to pay big bucks for it as its a small niche market.

I'm in San Jose too, but I'm unable to get channel 5 (CBS) analog. Is your Sony getting analog 5?

I do get analog 5, but I have a giant antenna on my roof with rotor. It's an older double boom weingard on a 15 foot mast. I get everything coming off Sutro Tower. I've also seen VBI data on 5 but I'm not sure if it's TVGOS data. One strange thing, channel 20 and 36 analog are off the air early but I still get listings for them in the guide. go figure.

Does the Moxi rely on TVGOS, or get listing info over the internet?

I had not known that the unit supported clear QAM.

The moxi requires a broadband internet connection for listing updates.

Does the Moxi rely on TVGOS, or get listing info over the internet?

I had not known that the unit supported clear QAM.

Clear QAM is limited as most of the cable channels are not clear QAM. Cablecards are also reaching near obsolescence as cable companies are moving to switched video.

The Moxi would become much more impressive if it incorporated Tru2way and if the cable companies would be quicker to implement the service.

If the Sony doesn't work out, I am seriously considering the new Moxi HD DVR. It is pricey but unlike TIVO, doesn't have monthly fees and supports clear QAM (channel mapping) without a cablecard.

www.moxi.com


I don't fully understand why they didn't put an ATSC tuner into this unit, I don't subscribe to HD cable and use the Sony over the air ATSC tuner to record my HD.

The moxi requires a broadband internet connection for listing updates.

Does it do Wifi?

I, too, have just started getting lockups/freezes on one of my newly-recovered (digital listings) units. Last night it rebooted while I was watching a recording at exactly the same time it was to have started recording '24'. After it reset, I did the G* test on my digital host channel which recovered the time (had been 20min slow). Later, when I was watching another recording the unit stopped responding to inputs at the same time another recording was to start. I kept watching the program (commercials and all!) and it recovered about 1/2 hour later and started the recording, albeit a 1/2 hour into 'Castle'.

I know others have had these issues in the past (first time for me) and have done a reset to fix the issues and I could do this but I also don't want to lose my grid as it is not clear it will return anytime soon.

I'll see if it records tonight while I'm not watching something at the same time.

At this point if you reset there is a real good chance your not going to get your GRID back at this time. Been 6 days for me, While everything is now up to date and I get ads no grid is being downloaded.

At this point if you reset there is a real good chance your not going to get your GRID back at this time. Been 6 days for me, While everything is now up to date and I get ads no grid is being downloaded.

If you have everything but a grid - with the correct time- is it possible to do manual recordings?

Does it do Wifi?

No integrated wifi, although it should for $799. You could use a wireless adapter.

If you have everything but a grid - with the correct time- is it possible to do manual recordings?

Yep, The one saving grace of getting a correct clock, I have set all my recordings to manual, Only downside to this is there are no labels for your show other then Day and time. It still irritates me there is no way to set the clock manually. So if you are not able to get a correct clock then it does pretty much become a brick.

If you have everything but a grid - with the correct time- is it possible to do manual recordings?

Yes. It basically becomes an HD VCR. Just hit the 'Record' button and it will pop up a menu that you can enter date, start/stop time and channel to record.

Yes. It basically becomes an HD VCR. Just hit the 'Record' button and it will pop up a menu that you can enter date, start/stop time and channel to record.

Thanks. If no freezes and I can get back to even that level with one of the 500's that lost its grid- or even the others if that is in their future- I can live with that for now.

Yep, The one saving grace of getting a correct clock, I have set all my recordings to manual, Only downside to this is there are no labels for your show other then Day and time. It still irritates me there is no way to set the clock manually. So if you are not able to get a correct clock then it does pretty much become a brick.

I hope we all get clocks at least.

Back to the future. We lived a long time with VCR's...and these are HD :cool:

From a full factory reset (March 10,) I finally got the TV guide grid back!

The time line is as follows (might not be exactly accurate )

It took over 3 days for my 250 to get a clock but then the time was 1 hour late!

It took an additional 2 days for the clock to adjust to DST (5 days from full factory reset)

This morning (14 days from full factory reset) I was greeted with option to choose my cable provider, chose Time Warner and TV Guide listing although incomplete appeared.

I guess patience has its rewards.

I will leave the unit alone for now. I am a happy camper once more! I can’t believe how much we missed having the use of our DVR!

At this point if you reset there is a real good chance your not going to get your GRID back at this time. Been 6 days for me, While everything is now up to date and I get ads no grid is being downloaded.


This was very true for me also, I have two units,
one works ok because I did not reset it the other I reset and it
has no GRID....

mike

From a full factory reset (March 10,) I finally got the TV guide grid back!



Is this from OTA or Cable. Do you have a Host channel [analog or digital]?

From a full factory reset (March 10,) I finally got the TV guide grid back!


That's great news! Where are you located? Are you sure you don't have a lingering analog host in your area?

From a full factory reset (March 10,) I finally got the TV guide grid back!


Do you have analog in your area? Where are you located?


Mike

Got listings for today, tomorrow and sat. Been 2 weeks since the last download and a week since the listings went bye bye. Clocks been good all this time, set fine for daylight savings time and the grids were there. Haven't done anything but wait it out. Funny thing listings are there for KPIX 5.1 cable but no listings for KPIX 5.1 over the air, another thing the ads were there and then went away while checking the guide out, came back when I went back to it and then gone again when I checked it again a few minutes ago. Have no idea who is the host now. ZIP 95125

Well, this morning I have both channel lineup and listings, go figure ??
I checked to see if a host channel had locked in and to my surprise it was 0:9.0 (my local OTA PBS analog and what it always was for years) ????
What... tuned to analog 9 and I checked the VBI Slicer screen and sure enough there was data coming in on both the host ch and current channel.
Also checked my Pioneer kuro and it still shows the CBS digital (KPIX 5.1)as the host.
Very strange but I got data (for now) !!!!
TvGOS must have had PBS (KQED) turn back on the data until they get the issue resolved with CBS digital ??

Todd

I, too, have just started getting lockups/freezes on one of my newly-recovered (digital listings) units. Last night it rebooted while I was watching a recording at exactly the same time it was to have started recording '24'. After it reset, I did the G* test on my digital host channel which recovered the time (had been 20min slow). Later, when I was watching another recording the unit stopped responding to inputs at the same time another recording was to start. I kept watching the program (commercials and all!) and it recovered about 1/2 hour later and started the recording, albeit a 1/2 hour into 'Castle'.

I know others have had these issues in the past (first time for me) and have done a reset to fix the issues and I could do this but I also don't want to lose my grid as it is not clear it will return anytime soon.

I'll see if it records tonight while I'm not watching something at the same time.

It will record as long as you don't turn it on. If you turn it on and try to time shift to the beginning of the program being recorded, there's a good chance it will lock up. The same goes for previously recorded programs, as you experienced.

It's almost a 75/25 chance it will happen, and only when something is being recorded. My 500 worked fine on Saturday night with an in-progress recording, but froze up on me on Monday when trying to time shift to the beginning of an in-progress recording.

Is it just something in software getting corrupted or could it be bad, or the quantity, of VBI packets being received? I only suggest the VBI packets because during the freeze up last night, I was getting 2-3 packets per second (8pm-10pm). On Saturday night, when it worked fine, I was getting 1 packet per second (10pm-11pm).

I too have performed the resets, and everything came back fine. Of course that was when we still had our analog host.:rolleyes:

Well, my guide has a few blanks in the data, but looks good otherwise, been down 7 days.

Might not hurt to also check and peak your signal level for the station you are trying to get data from i.e. peak the digital as an interruption no matter how small could cause problems..... Just a thought.

I do have listings thru next monday at 7pm!!!!!

I am getting VBI packets on analog 19, the Host channel is 18-0 tho.... (digital 19) KC area.

Well, this morning I have both channel lineup and listings, go figure ??
I checked to see if a host channel had locked in and to my surprise it was 0:9.0 (my local OTA PBS analog and what it always was for years) ????
What... tuned to analog 9 and I checked the VBI Slicer screen and sure enough there was data coming in on both the host ch and current channel.
Also checked my Pioneer kuro and it still shows the CBS digital (KPIX 5.1)as the host.
Very strange but I got data (for now) !!!!
TvGOS must have had PBS (KQED) turn back on the data until they get the issue resolved with CBS digital ??

Todd

I was about to say the same thing. My analog PBS host had stopped TvGOS for ~2weeks now, but while I was doing some investigating in the 753 menu, I discovered my clock had most recently been set by my old host! Did not have a host listed, but I did the G*test to confirm and it passed immediately. I am really excited that it is back on (for whatever reason). All I want is my lineup back!!! I think you have a pretty good theory there. Until they can roll out this magical SCTE 127 standard, it only makes sense that if PBS can broadcast TvGOS on analog, why not.

Anyways, I will keep you guys posted if things workout tomorrow and I have my lineup back.


COX Cablecard + OTA Gainesville, FL

FWIW
2 500's OTA only

Recently CBS 0-2 started broadcasting VBI data again and I was able to recover one of the machines that I screwed up with an accidental "Reset to Factory Default".
So far it's been good but usually missing part of day 7 and all of day 8.
I leave it on 0-2 and turn off the machine.

2nd machine has been doing the same thing.
Yesterday I recored 2 shows and started watching the first about half way through so I could skip the ads. Twice, but not always, it froze for about 2 to 3 min. and then returned to the last command. ie FF or REW. This has rarely occured on this unit except in the old days of adding ads.
One thing I found interesting is that the front panel clock would also freeze for the length of the freeze up then immediatly return to the correct time when the unit kicked back in. Don't know if this means anything but thought I'd mention it.
Anyone else ever notice this?
Also left the unit on a non VBI channel by accident and turned on and lost another day of listings and all ads. Clock is still correct with listing until mid-day saturday.

I will soon be reseting one of the machines to perform a test.
Will explain test and results in detail in the near future.

Based on this information, I think I found the reason why my downloads stop whenever my host channel sets. My digital host channel is being told to use an analog download schedule, and it can't. The DLTimer field time coincides with one of the times in the analog DL Schedule, not the Digital schedule. Since my host isn't an analog host, I get no listings.

Interesting. I had the same situation the last couple of days and no listings for Sunday through Tuesday. Today, things went a step further. My host remains digital, but the entire DL schedule is analog. There was a Last Successful Start at 2:31 AM today (but certainly no successful finish).

Leaving the G*Test on the digital host channel doesn't get me anything either.

OK,
Obviously TV guide or whoever it is has been messing around with the Digital changeover which obviously didn't work and told the analog stations to start broadcasting again. As once again PBS here in Detroit is now the channel my HDD500 has locked onto. I checked that channel while all this was going on and it hadn't been broadcasting anything. It really would be nice if they told people what was going on. So now I'm back to having a grid with some blanks in it but it is obviously repopulating. I'm really surprised they couldn't sort this out in a weeks time and had to turn the analog on again:rolleyes:

From a full factory reset (March 10,) I finally got the TV guide grid back!

The time line is as follows (might not be exactly accurate )

It took over 3 days for my 250 to get a clock but then the time was 1 hour late!

It took an additional 2 days for the clock to adjust to DST (5 days from full factory reset)

This morning (14 days from full factory reset) I was greeted with option to choose my cable provider, chose Time Warner and TV Guide listing although incomplete appeared.

I guess patience has its rewards.

I will leave the unit alone for now. I am a happy camper once more! I can’t believe how much we missed having the use of our DVR!

I believe you only got it back because they have started broadcasting analog data again, I can confirm that as I checked the analog station when this was all going on and it wasn't giving me anything. While now it is. Just a failed week or longer attempt at a digital changeover.:eek:

Hello everyone. Thanks for all of the information that you've shared over the years.

Our 250 started having problems last week. The clock was off and we were loosing our programming. It has happened once or twice over the last 3+ years. But we have always recovered. But this time, nothing worked to restore the system.

I have been unable to detect any VBI activity on any of the stations that have been suggested here at the forum. I tried contacting Time Warner Cable (Hudson Valley Center, NY) and the technical support people there don't understand the issue. I e-mailed Macrovision for assistance a couple of days ago but have had no response (and probably will not have one).

Today I contact Sony and waited to talk to a level 2 support person named Bill. I wanted to share with you what he told me.

He informed me that the problems are national and that they have had a couple of hundred call come in to them recently. He explained that Macrovision is having a problem delivering the TVGOS information through its system to the cable companies (this might explain the freezeups and other issues).

Most importantly, upon questioning, he told me that it is true that Sony is working on a firmware/software undate that will be available soon (he suggested April) to help with this problem and that they are working with Macrovision to try to get things resolved. The update will be done through the USB port on the DVR.

Take it for what it is worth, but Bill suggested that Sony does not want to see this equipment become obsolete.

As someone suggested recently, we all need to chill a little and allow things to happen. In the meantime, at least it is possible to time shift by catching up with our favorites through a number of web sites that stream TV programs including the network web sites.

Like everyone here, I look forward to having functionality return to our unit soon.


drbug

One thing I found interesting is that the front panel clock would also freeze for the length of the freeze up then immediatly return to the correct time when the unit kicked back in. Don't know if this means anything but thought I'd mention it.
Anyone else ever notice this?

In one of my recent freezings, the unit was recording a show starting at 9:00 PM. At 9:03 PM, I went to cancel the recording and the unit froze and all commands were ignored. The clock remained at 9:03 PM for 15 minutes until I decided to pull the plug (at 9:18 PM). Upon plugging it back in, the clock showed 8:59 PM, and then it would start recording again when the time changed to 9:00 PM..and then would continue recording with the clock stuck on 9:00 PM. After 5 attempts at cancelling (each time the clock reset to 8:59 PM - like the Groundhog Day movie!), I finally managed to cancel the recording by getting into the proper menu before the 8:59 PM changed to 9:00 PM. In the recordings section, I had 5 recordings all supposedly starting at 9:00 PM !

The clock went back to normal after that. (It was 9:53 PM by then).

I've never had a problem before other then the automatic reboot during one of the TVGOS version nationwide upgrades.

Well, this morning I have both channel lineup and listings, go figure ??
I checked to see if a host channel had locked in and to my surprise it was 0:9.0 (my local OTA PBS analog and what it always was for years) ????
What... tuned to analog 9 and I checked the VBI Slicer screen and sure enough there was data coming in on both the host ch and current channel.
Also checked my Pioneer kuro and it still shows the CBS digital (KPIX 5.1)as the host.
Very strange but I got data (for now) !!!!
TvGOS must have had PBS (KQED) turn back on the data until they get the issue resolved with CBS digital ??

Todd

Yep! They turned analog back on in the Bay Area! KQED

Hello everyone. Thanks for all of the information that you've shared over the years.

Our 250 started having problems last week. The clock was off and we were loosing our programming. It has happened once or twice over the last 3+ years. But we have always recovered. But this time, nothing worked to restore the system.

I have been unable to detect any VBI activity on any of the stations that have been suggested here at the forum. I tried contacting Time Warner Cable (Hudson Valley Center, NY) and the technical support people there don't understand the issue. I e-mailed Macrovision for assistance a couple of days ago but have had no response (and probably will not have one).

Today I contact Sony and waited to talk to a level 2 support person named Bill. I wanted to share with you what he told me.

He informed me that the problems are national and that they have had a couple of hundred call come in to them recently. He explained that Macrovision is having a problem delivering the TVGOS information through its system to the cable companies (this might explain the freezeups and other issues).

Most importantly, upon questioning, he told me that it is true that Sony is working on a firmware/software undate that will be available soon (he suggested April) to help with this problem and that they are working with Macrovision to try to get things resolved. The update will be done through the USB port on the DVR.

Take it for what it is worth, but Bill suggested that Sony does not want to see this equipment become obsolete.

As someone suggested recently, we all need to chill a little and allow things to happen. In the meantime, at least it is possible to time shift by catching up with our favorites through a number of web sites that stream TV programs including the network web sites.

Like everyone here, I look forward to having functionality return to our unit soon.


drbug

Thank you for your report drbug:)

Hello everyone. Thanks for all of the information that you've shared over the years.

snip

Like everyone here, I look forward to having functionality return to our unit soon.


drbug

I really hope this is true. This Sony DVR is the best CE purchase that I've ever made. Hopefully, WHYY (philly) turns their TVGOS signal back on and that Comcast knows what to do with it.

I really can't justify a TivoHD and getting a CableCard only makes sense if the TVGOS folks straighten this all out.

If Sony releases a firmware update, I would commend them for it and go out and buy a BluRay player (well, actually, I'm going to get one anyways, but maybe it'll be a sony player).

ft

So I emailed the station engineer at KPIX and he called me back and emailed too. He said he would have to get back to me about my question and then this was in the inbox when I got home:

Sent: Monday, March 23, 2009 9:41 PM
To: Englehaupt, Michael
Subject: Request - Engineering, Michael Englehaupt


Hello Mr Englehaupt,
Do you know when the SCTE 127 data stream will be activated for the
TVGOS support?
Thank you

I spoke w/my contact at TVGOS. He said that KTVU is also supposed to be
sending data as well, but they have had a problem in the past few weeks.
He expected that the problem there would be fixed in the next day or
two.
Regards,
Mike
Michael Englehaupt
Director of Engineering
KPIX-TV/KBCW-TV

KTVU? I am surprised

Interesting. I had the same situation the last couple of days and no listings for Sunday through Tuesday. Today, things went a step further. My host remains digital, but the entire DL schedule is analog. There was a Last Successful Start at 2:31 AM today (but certainly no successful finish).

Leaving the G*Test on the digital host channel doesn't get me anything either.

As with everything I write on here, the next day I have a different story to tell. I posted that message last night, and this morning I looked at the schedule, and the download that was getting ready to start was from the Digital download schedule (ID70). Then when I got home tonight, I looked at the last started download time (mine supposedly never finish either), and it was off the digital schedule as well (ID27). However, the next scheduled start time now is off the analog schedule (ID81) again (the same one from last night). Now I'm thinking there is just one ID that is trying to download from the analog schedule. Whatever it is doing, it seems to be missing the data again (although it is harder to tell now, because of the screwed up listings that have been downloading).

Mark

You said it was the hex equivalent of a GBA....but isn't KTVU in the SF metro area, which is - like - 5 or something?

PS...in any case, thanks for noticing my typo above, which - as rcrach noted - would have been 13B...which is the hex equivalent of - what? - 315...OAKLAND???

...though I admit to not being as fluent in hex as when I programmed a computer in hexadecimal a few years (actually decades) ago...Are you saying you really meant your Host ID is 0x13B and not 0x1B???

Yes, 0x13B = 315 = San Fran South Bay Area G4 TVGOS broadcast by FOX KCBA or FOX KTVU. San Jose puts you in South Bay area, correct?

I'm glad all of you who are getting your analog hosts back. I'm starting to get nervous though that something must be really wrong for them to be doing this. I don't have a chance of getting TVGOS data off my old analog host channel because they turned off their analog transmission on 1/5/09, and installed a new digital transmitter that they are transmitting on now (what would macrovision/gemstar be doing now if the entire country had switched on Feb. 17). There are only two analog stations left in this area, and I don't know if they would go to the trouble of giving them equipment to use until they get past their problems. Even the analog cable channel that they are using the inserter with is hosed (maybe even fewer listings on my analog DVR than my Sony). So whatever is wrong with the digital data is also affecting the converted data. :mad:

Mark

Sorry to report that we have no movement here in NY. The Unit which was not TVGOS wiped has no listings but an accurate clock, and the wiped unit still has no listings and the clock is still incorrect. Tried a soft reset and after the reset the clock was still wrong. Tried the Gemstar Test and other than steady packets (of what ?) on 2.1 the CBS affiliate, no changes.

Oddly, the ads I got a day or so ago are gone.

I'm tempted to do another reset at midnight so at least the clock will be accurate.

well here's a Houston data point.... I came back from vacation last Sun to find the unit was doing nothing since the guide was gone. I unplugged and replugged then noticed the daylight savings time hadn't been picked up. It was an hour off. I did the G* test, (I think the time corrected itself then) then did the force digital host to 11-1. After sitting overnite and through today, my guide is back and using 11-1 apparently.

You said it was the hex equivalent of a GBA....but isn't KTVU in the SF metro area, which is - like - 5 or something?

PS...in any case, thanks for noticing my typo above, which - as rcrach noted - would have been 13B...which is the hex equivalent of - what? - 315...OAKLAND???

...though I admit to not being as fluent in hex as when I programmed a computer in hexadecimal a few years (actually decades) ago...Host stations are associated with a GBA. A GBA is the Gemstar/Macrovision version of a Nielson DMA. GBA's are defined by zipcodes/timezones and sometimes TVGOS versions (at least they were 2 years ago for legacy vs. G4). Simplisticly, given a specific GBA, there are one or more host stations within that GBA broadcasting different versions of TVGOS data depending on receiving equipment TVGOS version/zipcode/timezone.

Are you saying you really meant your Host ID is 0x13B and not 0x1B???

Yes, 0x13B = 315 = San Fran South Bay Area G4 TVGOS broadcast by FOX KCBA or FOX KTVU. San Jose puts you in South Bay area, correct?
Well, I am in Berkeley about 12 or 13 miles due east of Sausalito, which would make me more north than south, I would say...

antenna aimed directly at Sutro tower in San Francisco...which is to say pointed slgnificantly below (i.e., south of) west...

So, no, not in the south bay....on the other hand where does KTVU broadcast from?

until recently my Sony has always been locked onto KQED and it just picked that again as its host channel (though that was probably overnight, and my unit has not yet resumed getting listings (fingers crossed)...I'll have to go back and see what host ID says today...I don't really understand what host ID is about...and what does G4 in your post mean

My 3410a had had CBS analog as IT'S host channel for about ten days, but it also stopped gettings listings over the weekend, and hasn't switched back to PBS 9....

nice messing around courtesy of TVGOS

Host stations are associated with a GBA. A GBA is the Gemstar/Macrovision version of a Nielson DMA. GBA's are defined by zipcodes/timezones and sometimes TVGOS versions (at least they were 2 years ago for legacy vs. G4). Simplisticly, given a specific GBA, there are one or more host stations within that GBA broadcasting different versions of TVGOS data depending on receiving equipment TVGOS version/zipcode/timezone.
Well, I understand about GBAs (and DMAs), etc...but I always thought I was in the SF metro area...hmmm

Hi everyone,

I'm in the Indianapolis area and have No Listings 100% accross the board starting Monday, with partial listings on Saturday and Sunday. Another person in this area has just a few holes here and there but mostly filled in. So, my unit is wonky and I need to reset it. But which level...?

I'm OTA/Cable+card. I use OTA to pull in WFYI 20 (analog) as a host, though in the past I've been able to get 8-day listings via 20.1 (digital) using the G*Test procedure.

I've been doing front panel (exit-guide) resets since noticing the lack of listings a few days ago. Traditionally the time comes back up within a minute or two of the exit-guide reset on this thing, but starting this weekend I've noticed that even 30 minutes later, I'm still at --:--. At that point I usually get impatient and run a G*Test, and the time comes back (using either analog or digital version of WFYI). But every morning, still no listings, and doing an extended G*Test doesn't get me any listings either.

Since someone else in my area IS receiving data via the same OTA method I am, I know it's due to some issue on my end. What steps would be recommended here? I don't want to over-nuke the thing, after reading the experiences of some other posters here.

Thoughts?

Marc

well here's a Houston data point.... I came back from vacation last Sun to find the unit was doing nothing since the guide was gone. I unplugged and replugged then noticed the daylight savings time hadn't been picked up. It was an hour off. I did the G* test, (I think the time corrected itself then) then did the force digital host to 11-1. After sitting overnite and through today, my guide is back and using 11-1 apparently.

When you say "guide was gone" does that mean:

1. You had an empty grid with "no listings"?
OR
2. You had no grid at all that said "no data"?

Hello everyone. Thanks for all of the information that you've shared over the years.

Our 250 started having problems last week. The clock was off and we were loosing our programming. It has happened once or twice over the last 3+ years. But we have always recovered. But this time, nothing worked to restore the system.

I have been unable to detect any VBI activity on any of the stations that have been suggested here at the forum. I tried contacting Time Warner Cable (Hudson Valley Center, NY) and the technical support people there don't understand the issue. I e-mailed Macrovision for assistance a couple of days ago but have had no response (and probably will not have one).

Today I contact Sony and waited to talk to a level 2 support person named Bill. I wanted to share with you what he told me.

He informed me that the problems are national and that they have had a couple of hundred call come in to them recently. He explained that Macrovision is having a problem delivering the TVGOS information through its system to the cable companies (this might explain the freezeups and other issues).

Most importantly, upon questioning, he told me that it is true that Sony is working on a firmware/software undate that will be available soon (he suggested April) to help with this problem and that they are working with Macrovision to try to get things resolved. The update will be done through the USB port on the DVR.

Take it for what it is worth, but Bill suggested that Sony does not want to see this equipment become obsolete.

As someone suggested recently, we all need to chill a little and allow things to happen. In the meantime, at least it is possible to time shift by catching up with our favorites through a number of web sites that stream TV programs including the network web sites.

Like everyone here, I look forward to having functionality return to our unit soon.


drbug

Thanks drbug for the follow through. This pretty much follows my two calls with 2nd tier support specialist.

EVERY person that owns a Sony DHG-HDD250/500 should call Sony - get through to the support specialist - and insist they get on the email list so they can download the firmware fix asap.

I have had a couple of peeps email me and say they cannot get through to second tier support; so you may have to put your foot down, of course be polite.

When you say "guide was gone" does that mean:

1. You had an empty grid with "no listings"?
OR
2. You had no grid at all that said "no data"?

I'm pretty sure it was "no listings" ..... at least the stations that have not updated still show that. It is still trying to populate a few stragglers.

I'm glad all of you who are getting your analog hosts back. I'm starting to get nervous though that something must be really wrong for them to be doing this. I don't have a chance of getting TVGOS data off my old analog host channel because they turned off their analog transmission on 1/5/09, and installed a new digital transmitter that they are transmitting on now (what would macrovision/gemstar be doing now if the entire country had switched on Feb. 17). There are only two analog stations left in this area, and I don't know if they would go to the trouble of giving them equipment to use until they get past their problems. Even the analog cable channel that they are using the inserter with is hosed (maybe even fewer listings on my analog DVR than my Sony). So whatever is wrong with the digital data is also affecting the converted data. :mad:

Mark

Really no reason to be concerned. If the DTV switch had taken place on Feb 17, there would have been ONE change for everybody in the nation. And even if Macrovision and Sony ran into problems the "time table" would have been the same for eveybody and the solution would have arrived quickly.

However, most major DMAs have had multiple DTV changes (Houston aleady 3 or 4 and 3-6 more are a strong possibility). All DMAs are on different time tables, and there is some FCC chatter of some going to October of this year. So instead of ONE hard date, we now have zillions of floating dates across the nation.

In one very strange way this may be actually good - that is: Sony is learning (or should be) how their unit is performing in different multiple hostile environments for which it was "never" intended. That is one good strong reason alone for the firmware fix - to make a stronger more durable product.

This also provides Sony and Macrovsion real in the field experience from real customers to make the next generation of products better - more durable in hostile environments. Of course someday? hostile environments will be over? maybe 97% of the nation by December 31st of this year?

Hitachi has "just" come out with a whole line of OEM "fanless" hard drives that are silent and have "nil" heat load - made specifically for DVRs.

New lines of DVRs are now coming to market in Japan and Europe. The only "real" problem for a new line of DVRs for the USA is Macrovision huge license fees that OEM's have to pay. Sony (or any OEM) would have to sell several million units to over come those fees. Sony, Panasonic, Samsung can all have DVRs on the maket in short order - but the current fee structures prevents it - and that may be "exactly" the goal of Macrovison?

Previously Gemstar (and no one seems to know about Macrovision) was so intently "lawsuit happy" that no other company could come out with competing service. In otherwords, there needs to be real competion to Macrovison for the consumer to benefit.

I'm pretty sure it was "no listings" ..... at least the stations that have not updated still show that. It is still trying to populate a few stragglers.

Ok, that confirms that Houston market is basically working for CBS digital, and the Sony Box will function (though lock ups can still occur), as long as a Full Factory Reset is "not" performed. The box has to maintain a "grid" and "channel map"..........if either of those are lost, the unit can only manual record (with its limitations), until the firmware fix is applied.

New lines of DVRs are now coming to market in Japan and Europe. The only "real" problem for a new line of DVRs for the USA is Macrovision huge license fees that OEM's have to pay. Sony (or any OEM) would have to sell several million units to over come those fees. Sony, Panasonic, Samsung can all have DVRs on the maket in short order - but the current fee structures prevents it - and that may be "exactly" the goal of Macrovison?

Previously Gemstar (and no one seems to know about Macrovision) was so intently "lawsuit happy" that no other company could come out with competing service. In otherwords, there needs to be real competion to Macrovison for the consumer to benefit.Gemstar gave CE manufacturers three options -- (1) pay $$$$$$$ for a full license, (2) pay $$ per unit to use the EPG patents to make your own guide, and then provide your own guide information, or (3) pay $ per unit to use our software with our advertising and get the benefit of our program information via TVGOS. Companies like Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, Dish Network, Moxi, and TiVo all went for option #1 or #2, while CE manufacturers like Sony went for #3.

By most accounts, Macrovision reduced their EPG patent licensing fees by a substantial amount in the past six months or so. Furthermore, they are now making TVGOS information available for an added fee to EPG patent licensees. For the first time, CE device manufacturers have the option to to create their own guide that uses TVGOS information. IMO, the drivers for this change are PSIP and true2way.

With PSIP information available -- even if limited-- TVGOS is no longer the only game in town for program information over the airwaves.

Over the next 18 months, an array of true2way TVs, STBs, and DVRs will hit the market that all use the cable company's software and guide information. Cable companies already paid $$$$$$$ for a full license to the EPG patents, and/or pay a much smaller per unit fee because they've already agreed to purchase millions of licenses per year. CE manufacturers like Panasonic and Samsung do not have to pay EPG patent or guide data licensing fees, because all that is borne by the cable company when the true2way software is used.

With PSIP information available -- even if limited-- TVGOS is no longer the only game in town for program information over the airwaves.

Over the next 18 months, an array of true2way cable TVs, STBs, and DVRs will hit the market that all use the cable company's software and guide information. Cable companies already paid $$$$$$$ for a full license to the EPG patents, and/or pay a much smaller per unit fee because they've already agreed to purchase millions of licenses per year. CE manufacturers like Panasonic and Samsung do not have to pay EPG patent or guide data licensing fees, because all that is borne by the cable company when the true2way software is used.


Pretty much my point, OTA options are nill. PSIP is almost worthless to many. It's all driven by cable and sat companies. It would nice to have real competition of Guide providers for OTA - like the newspapers OTA may be left to die, very sad.

I've update the firmware in both of mine. The first one (that I bought new) came with .05 firmware, and I updated it quite a while back. The second one I bought used from someone here a few months ago. It had old firmware when it arrived, and I updated it after I had it a few days. I actually have a third 500 in shipment to me now, again purchased from someone here on the forum. If it doesn't have .13 firmware, I'm sure I will update it quickly.

The update procedure is really simple, and no recordings or other settings are lost in the process.............

I've done a pretty thorough search of this thread - probably hiding in plain sight - can someone point me to the update procedure?

[snip]

Today I contact Sony

[snip]

The update will be done through the USB port on the DVR.

[snip]

drbug

This is what I have been wanting to hear. Heck, I would pay for a proper software update. I wonder if we will have to download the update into a USB flash, or if we will be able to get a cheap pre-programmed flash drive by mail from Sony.

Pretty much my point, OTA options are nill. PSIP is almost worthless to many. It's all driven by cable and sat companies. It would nice to have real competition of Guide providers for OTA - like the newspapers OTA may be left to die, very sad.

As you know, there are two major guide data providers -- Macrovision's TVGuide and Tribune Media-- and Tribune has shown no interest in pursuing an off-air data service. If someone wants to provide an alternative, they are going to have to license guide data from one or the other, and deliver it via the Internet like TiVo and Moxi. The obvious problem is that guide data licensees are all faced with recurring per unit fees, which must be accounted for in the purchase price, or assessed via a subscription.

Schedules Direct is a non-profit operation which licenses guide data from Tribune, which it then offers to MythTV users for $20/year with "no profit made from the fees." If you figure an average product lifetime of five years, that is an extra $100 in added cost (slightly less discounted for TvM). Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers require a return; if you figure a modest 15% for each, that adds an extra $152 to the price of the product. That's a lot less than the $399 TiVo wants for "lifetime" (with feature updates and phone line access to a dial-up ISP), but still a significant cost on top of the hardware, software, Macrovision EPG patent licensing fees, and support / warranty costs.

Just moved from from component out to HDMI out on my DHG. I've checked the manual and this thread and can't find an answer to this 'irritation'. Signal path is DHG -> HDMI -> LCD.

Every time I power off/on the LCD, the DHG's output format resets to auto-HDMI - driving me fracking nuts.

Is there a config option in the DHG to retain 1080i as the default output format via HDMI?

Thanks in advance.

Just moved from from component out to HDMI out on my DHG. I've checked the manual and this thread and can't find an answer to this 'irritation'. Signal path is DHG -> HDMI -> LCD.

Every time I power off/on the LCD, the DHG's output format resets to auto-HDMI - driving me fracking nuts.

Is there a config option in the DHG to retain 1080i as the default output format via HDMI?

Thanks in advance.

I gave up on that. I switched back to component a long time ago and quite honestly, I didn't notice any difference ... other than the DVR stayed set at 1080i.

ft

When you say "guide was gone" does that mean:

1. You had an empty grid with "no listings"?
OR
2. You had no grid at all that said "no data"?

OK, what's the difference between "no listings", "no data", and "no title"?

I have never noticed "no data", but I do have a lot of "no listings" and "no title" blocks. The funny thing is that the "no listings" blocks are always 30 minutes, while the "no title" blocks are typically correct for the show in that time slot (i.e. Wednesdays on ABC I get a "no title" block from 9PM to 10:02PM for Lost).

Just curious as to why I get a random smattering of these blocks, even on the same day.

ft

I've done a pretty thorough search of this thread - probably hiding in plain sight - can someone point me to the update procedure?


http://www.spiffspace.com/sonydvr.html#Section1110

OK, what's the difference between "no listings", "no data", and "no title"?

I have never noticed "no data", but I do have a lot of "no listings" and "no title" blocks. The funny thing is that the "no listings" blocks are always 30 minutes, while the "no title" blocks are typically correct for the show in that time slot (i.e. Wednesdays on ABC I get a "no title" block from 9PM to 10:02PM for Lost).

Just curious as to why I get a random smattering of these blocks, even on the same day.

ft


The may help:

Pic 6986:
No Grid
No Channel Map
No Data

Your Sony has channel Map, and Grid; therefore it can put stuff there if it has it, and if it matches.

Pic 6988: Current DL version 112

Pic 6989:
6.7 million schedule rejections
1.5 millsion shows rejected
700,000 Description rejected
All those rejections because of no grid and no data, because of no channel map

Pic 6990: No Channel Map.......as well as most eveything else missing.

You box still has a grid and channel map, so it is working "reasonable well" because it can accept the data and has a place to put much of it; but not all of it because of some the "no listings" and "no titles" - mapping and grid is "not" 100% accurate. And it will not be until we all get a firmware fix.

Just moved from from component out to HDMI out on my DHG. I've checked the manual and this thread and can't find an answer to this 'irritation'. Signal path is DHG -> HDMI -> LCD.

Every time I power off/on the LCD, the DHG's output format resets to auto-HDMI - driving me fracking nuts.

Is there a config option in the DHG to retain 1080i as the default output format via HDMI?

Thanks in advance.

I think I read somewhere way back in this thread that updating the Sony firmware to .13 fixes this. One of my units is connected via HDMI and it stays on 1080i.

The may help:

snip

Great post HoustonPerson. A picture is worth a thousand words ...

I had misread the "no data" thing. I thought you meant that the "no data" tag would show up on the grid. As such, there was a point after I had performed a reset where I had that whole "no data" screen without a grid or anything, but eventually, I got a grid.

i'll have to take a look to see how many rejections I'm getting.

Thanks.

Just FYI, but even after obtaining a lineup, you will get "rejections" for every channel that is turned off in the TVGOS channel lineup.

Originally Posted by AZHTfreak
Just moved from from component out to HDMI out on my DHG. I've checked the manual and this thread and can't find an answer to this 'irritation'. Signal path is DHG -> HDMI -> LCD.

Every time I power off/on the LCD, the DHG's output format resets to auto-HDMI - driving me fracking nuts.

Is there a config option in the DHG to retain 1080i as the default output format via HDMI?

Thanks in advance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Yes there is an option to control that.

You can choose to have all the Sony output at 1080i OR you may prefer to have it automatically pick only between 720p and 1080i depending on source. For example your TV may prefer a 720p for FOX or ESPN or ? - - but it may also prefer 1080i for NBC and CBS. Test, because everyones situation is different.

You can choose to have all the Sony output at 1080i OR you may prefer to have it automatically pick only between 720p and 1080i depending on source. For example your TV may prefer a 720p for FOX or ESPN or ? - - but it may also prefer 1080i for NBC and CBS. Test, because everyones situation is different.

For many hdtvs/monitors connect to the DHG this isn't true. When the HDMI connection is initiated when you power on your set...the set via the HDCP protocol sends a 'recommended' resolution to the Sony. This seems to override any default output format you've set the Sony HDMI to. That's why I use component also. A firmware fix for the Sony is required (and we'll probably never see it.)

DSC06989.jpg

How do you get to that screen? TIA

My recent extended warrantee repair at Sony in Pennsyvania was replacement of the tuner board. It receives better now, but is still not as good as the tuner in my HDTV.

I don't think Sony cheaped out. My guess is that the technology has advanced since 2005.

Did they replace the tuner with the exact same board or a newer board?

I've done a pretty thorough search of this thread - probably hiding in plain sight - can someone point me to the update procedure?Does not the unit revert back to the old firmware everytime it's reset, though?

That's what I'm vaguely remembering, so if it's true, be forewarned.

Signing back in because I am not getting email updates on this thread and I have clicked the "Subcribe To This Thread" a dozen times.

That's it. Period. Case closed.

The tuner in the Sony is actually pretty good for it's generation. I think it's a 4th generation, and although it's not the absolute best of all the 4th gen. ones I've tried (only a couple or so were really better, though), it's by far not the worst.

They really didn't "cheap out" in any way when they built these things.

They may not have cheaped out but they certainly didn't use the best tuners available at the time. The Sceptre TV and the Sony 250 that I sold to my relative were bought at the same time. The tuner in the TV is much better, it picks up every local digital station flawlessly.

There is a difference between the two that may or may not be a factor though. The TV only has an ATSC tuner so it does not receive analog channels.

I guess I will call Sony and ask if there is any newer board that is compatible.

They may not have cheaped out but they certainly didn't use the best tuners available at the time.Probably. I did say that, though. I just meant that in the sense that they are very well-made units overall, compared to most of the standalone consumer-grade recording devices that have come out since (actually, maybe other than the TiVo's, all).

They came out just before everything was really cheapened down. They're sort of reminiscent of the Sony RDR-HX900 HDD/DVD recorders that were out back then. In fact, when I stack them, they look like siblings - almost like fraternal twins. The HX900 was built like a tank.

Besides the old 4th generation issue (newer generations handle multipath much better), the Sony also has a hard time with very strong VHF-Hi (7-13) stations overloading the tuner and "bleeding" into the upper UHF band, hindering reception (a common problem with contemporary wideband tuners). If you are in an area that is all-UHF, you could try putting a VHF/UHF splitter in line with the antenna, with the UHF part fed into the Sony through a 300/75 balun transformer. Leave the VHF part empty. That will filter out all VHF signals that may be hampering UHF reception.

If you need VHF and can't do this - or if you are sure that a nearby UHF is causing the overload instead, then try a Radio Shack variable attenuator in line. This will at least tone down strong VHF's & UHF's that may be causing bleeding and overload (but unfortunately you will also be turning down the desired signal - that's why the option above is best for UHF). Having an attenuator in line is always a good idea if you use any amps or preamps. (Most people who use distribution amps put the attenuator after the amp, but I like to put them in ahead of the amp. That way I have more control and can stop the amp from overloading - for once the amp overloads, you can't fix things with an attenuator further down the line. I'm a DXer, and find the attenuator-before-the-amp method doesn't hinder my reception of weak signals).

Set attenuator to Min signal, then turn the signal up. If the signal comes in during the midrange but then starts to break up near Max, then back off until the signal seems steadiest.

Note also that the offending strong signal may be an analog one...that will disappear Jun 12th! So the tuner is less likely to suffer from overload after the transition.

Currently all of the digital channels are UHF but after the transition 3 of the local channels will be using VHF high.

I don't think overload or bleed over is the problem because I have tried using a UHF / VHF splitter. Multipath or weak signals are more likely the culprit. My relative did not mount the antenna on the roof "because it might cause a leak". So, she mounted it on a 10' mast near the house with the house (2 stories) between the antenna farm and the antenna LOS.

Besides her resistance to mounting on the roof, what is frustrating is that the TV's tuner is having no problem with her current set-up. I tried switching the cables that feed the TV and Sony. I also tried feeding the Sony directly from the main cable (before the splitter). Nothing changed.

Just moved from from component out to HDMI out on my DHG. I've checked the manual and this thread and can't find an answer to this 'irritation'. Signal path is DHG -> HDMI -> LCD.

Every time I power off/on the LCD, the DHG's output format resets to auto-HDMI - driving me fracking nuts.

Is there a config option in the DHG to retain 1080i as the default output format via HDMI?

Thanks in advance.


Upgrading firmware to 1.2.13 solved this problem for me. This wasn't a problem using HDMI with an older HDTV, but my newer TV would always cause the DVR to revert to "Auto HDMI". It drove me nuts too. See paragraph 1.1.10 here: http://www.spiffspace.com/sonydvr.html.

Just moved from from component out to HDMI out on my DHG. I've checked the manual and this thread and can't find an answer to this 'irritation'. Signal path is DHG -> HDMI -> LCD.

Every time I power off/on the LCD, the DHG's output format resets to auto-HDMI - driving me fracking nuts.

Is there a config option in the DHG to retain 1080i as the default output format via HDMI?

Thanks in advance.

As far as I know, there is no option to get it to stick. I had the same problem when I was on 1.2.09. After I went to .13, it stuck.

Other than that, maybe a user config reset might do the trick.

Edit: reading the rest of the posts makes me think that .13 is definitely the answer. Follow the directions over at spiff space verbatim, and make sure to use a small/old jump drive. I tried it with an 8gb and I got stuck at "loading software" I think. When I used a POS, no name 128mb stick, it only took a few seconds before it got past that screen and actually installed.

Is this from OTA or Cable. Do you have a Host channel [analog or digital]?

Both OTA and Cable no cable card. Just check host channel is analog PBS 28. I am in Orange County CA. They must have turned the TVGOS feed back on.

I forced my unit to a digital channel last night and I will check later if it stuck.

If it didn't, I'll keep it on analog for now. In my experience unit freezes up if I try to force a digital host too many times.

Does not the unit revert back to the old firmware everytime it's reset, though?

That's what I'm vaguely remembering, so if it's true, be forewarned.

No. Unlike the TVGOS firmware, when you update the SONY firmware it sticks.

Currently all of the digital channels are UHF but after the transition 3 of the local channels will be using VHF high.

I don't think overload or bleed over is the problem because I have tried using a UHF / VHF splitter. Multipath or weak signals are more likely the culprit. My relative did not mount the antenna on the roof "because it might cause a leak". So, she mounted it on a 10' mast near the house with the house (2 stories) between the antenna farm and the antenna LOS.

Besides her resistance to mounting on the roof, what is frustrating is that the TV's tuner is having no problem with her current set-up. I tried switching the cables that feed the TV and Sony. I also tried feeding the Sony directly from the main cable (before the splitter). Nothing changed.


I have similar reception problems with the ATSC tuner in the DVR. I have a group of stations all broadcast from the same hill. I can get all of them except for CBS (UHF frequency assignment 39). The tuner in my TV and my converter box have no problems getting this station with >75% signal strength. Once in a blue moon the stars align and it will pull in CBS. I think it just doesn't handle multipath very well.

I was about to say the same thing. My analog PBS host had stopped TvGOS for ~2weeks now, but while I was doing some investigating in the 753 menu, I discovered my clock had most recently been set by my old host! Did not have a host listed, but I did the G*test to confirm and it passed immediately. I am really excited that it is back on (for whatever reason). All I want is my lineup back!!! I think you have a pretty good theory there. Until they can roll out this magical SCTE 127 standard, it only makes sense that if PBS can broadcast TvGOS on analog, why not.

Anyways, I will keep you guys posted if things workout tomorrow and I have my lineup back.


COX Cablecard + OTA Gainesville, FL

So, my lineup IS BACK!!! Woo hoo. Waiting for some guide info now. BUT, interesting note:

I forced my analog host last night when I realized it was transmitting again. This morning, checked the host to see if it had locked on, and it did, but not where expected. Some how it finally decided to lock on to my digital host. Oh well, as long as it works.

Probably. I did say that, though. I just meant that in the sense that they are very well-made units overall, compared to most of the standalone consumer-grade recording devices that have come out since (actually, maybe other than the TiVo's, all).

They came out just before everything was really cheapened down. They're sort of reminiscent of the Sony RDR-HX900 HDD/DVD recorders that were out back then. In fact, when I stack them, they look like siblings - almost like fraternal twins. The HX900 was built like a tank.

I almost bought an HX900 when I was trying to decide on my first digtal system. The cost was just too much. I went with a DHG-250 and a Panasonic DVD / VHS combo recorder which automatically upconverts and displays in 16:9 ratio.

Don't get me wrong. I love my Sonys. I just hate the sense of impending doom that someday I'll have a long power outage or disconnect everything to add a component and end up with all of the problems that others are having. I seem to have been lucky so far (maybe because I use a battery back-up). I suspect that many of the problems that others are experiencing begin after power outages.

No. Unlike the TVGOS firmware, when you update the SONY firmware it sticks.

Mine didn't after I did a complete factory reset. Unit reverted to .05.

Ray

For many hdtvs/monitors connect to the DHG this isn't true. When the HDMI connection is initiated when you power on your set...the set via the HDCP protocol sends a 'recommended' resolution to the Sony. This seems to override any default output format you've set the Sony HDMI to. That's why I use component also. A firmware fix for the Sony is required (and we'll probably never see it.)

You may be correct, I have had this one on HDMI on a Plasma so long (with auto HDMI - that works great), I have forgotten. Forcing a setting to a chose of 720p or 1080i may apply to only componet (which I did with some older Samsung DLP models). The older Samsung could not handled Auto HDMI without giving constant fits.

How do you get to that screen? TIA

After you go to the first information screen (ID#, sw version, source, etc.), then each time you go page down (or up) take you to a "new" grouping (or series of related screens of info) screens.

1. So start with your main information page.
2. Then page down until you come to the group called "Section Memory - yadayadayada). That will be the first of several "Section Memory" screens
3. Then page right (like turning the pages of a book), until you come to the screen you are looking for; such as picture 6989.

any time you page "down" take you to a "new group of related screens"

any time you page "right" take you to another page in that related group (some of them seem to go on for miles, but yes there is a end to them; and then they rotate and start over again)

I checked this morning and I listings for Sunday has all filled in. But still nothing for Monday forward.
I noticed that this board has been busy as of late. Did everyone here get laid off? My excuse? been sick at home for a couple of weeks, glad I am self-employed.
Michael

Did they replace the tuner with the exact same board or a newer board?
Since the performance is still below the reception on my HDTV, my guess is that I now have new-old-stock for the tuner board. The relay sounds a bit different, when it clicks. Also my hard disks are much quieter now. They did not show any replacement of the hard disks on the invoice.

Ok, for those of us that are forced into manual recordings we have developed “Red Dot Crazies”. This is the insanity brought on by “unknown” listed in your listings of recordings. After a page of these you have no idea what is in the box.

And then – The President Gives A Speech. I’m a smart guy, so about an hour ahead of time I knew to adjust the manual time accordingly. All the shows we wanted last night were on CBS………..so to be extra careful I just added three hours.

This morning when I came into the room – “Darn the Sony Box Had another Fit!” It was “off” and still recording.

That did not take but a second to discover, I had gotten AM and PM confused – did not even “look” at that field when adjusting the recording time. There is a big difference between 12:05PM and the 12:05AM I actually wanted. LOL

No fear, I will just “Edit The Recording” and “stop it” – Nope - Sorry No Can Do In This Mode – It’s still recording. So I had to edit the time to “end” a couple of minutes ahead of the current time. And that fixed that problem.

Thanks Mr. President for my 10.5 hour recording.

Pic 6992: Red Dot Crazies

Pic 6991: 10.5 hour recording – this page is really neat when you have a couple of screens full of “unknowns”

Schedules Direct is a non-profit operation which licenses guide data from Tribune, which it then offers to MythTV users for $20/year with "no profit made from the fees." If you figure an average product lifetime of five years, that is an extra $100 in added cost (slightly less discounted for TvM). Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers require a return; if you figure a modest 15% for each, that adds an extra $152 to the price of the product. That's a lot less than the $399 TiVo wants for "lifetime" (with feature updates and phone line access to a dial-up ISP), but still a significant cost on top of the hardware, software, Macrovision EPG patent licensing fees, and support / warranty costs.

Actually it is offered to a wide range of applications (not just to MythTV although MythTV was a major driver in the establishment of Schedules Direct). The limitation is that the application MUST be free (under the terms of the license from Tribune Media Services). So the cost cannot be compared to what it would be for a commercial application (for which, I'm sure, Tribune Media Services would charge more).

Originally Tribune Media Services offered it for free (via Zap2It) for non-commercial applications but withdrew it when it was abused by commercial applications. This is what led to the development of Schedules Direct.

Hi all!!

Yesterday, under the PROMOTIONS tab on the TVGOS menu I saw an entry for "Guide system re-initialization." When I scroll down to this item, on the bottom left it reads (in the place where the ads would normally be) "Are you having trouble getting a lineup or listings?" When I pressed the INFO button (or left arrow) the screen instructs you to go to the SETUP menu and use the Zip 00000. Then turn unit off for 5 minutes and when you turn it back on again use your correct zip. It claims that listings should return within 24 hours.
I am pretty sure I have seen this reset method posted on other threads in this forum but this is the first time I had heard of it appearing on the PROMOTIONS menu within the TVGOS menus.

Worth a try!

Robin

Ok, for those of us that are forced into manual recordings we have developed “Red Dot Crazies”.

I created a form for recording additional data about my recordings, e.g. program name, episode title, actual times, etc. It doesn't fix the problem, but it helps.

No fear, I will just “Edit The Recording” and “stop it” – Nope - Sorry No Can Do In This Mode – It’s still recording. So I had to edit the time to “end” a couple of minutes ahead of the current time. And that fixed that problem.

I often add time on the end in case a show runs long. If I'm present after the show ends and it's still recording I just a) toggle the machine on if necessary and b) press the stop button on the remote. A menu comes up whose first entry is "Stop recording". Click right to accept.

No analog TVGOS restart in Seattle, yet.

Host = Houston TX CBS digital Ch11

As posted by others around the country, my listing data went till 7pm Mon 3/30/09.

Checking today's status, I now have listings till 7pm Tue 3/31/09.

Every time I power off/on the LCD, the DHG's output format resets to auto-HDMI - driving me fracking nuts.

Our Sony is hooked up to a Sony KDS-60A2000 TV with HDMI, and the output sticks on 1080i; and has since day one. I've never upgraded the Sony firmware.

With the original firmware, is it possible it depends on the TV it's attached to and how that TV handles HDMI? (Just guessing).

I checked this morning and I listings for Sunday has all filled in. But still nothing for Monday forward.
I noticed that this board has been busy as of late. Did everyone here get laid off? My excuse? been sick at home for a couple of weeks, glad I am self-employed.
Michael

Oh yea this great economy has had me sitting at home for the last 4 months. No jobs here in Michigan either. A nice 11.6 percent unemployment rate!:mad::rolleyes:

FWIW
2-500's OTA only
Left both 500's turned off on CBS 0-2 last night.
Both are missing days 4,6,7,8
Just checked CBS 2-1 VBI and it's pumping out 126/min. which is the best it's been in a long time.
Will leave on set to 2-1 after VBI and see what happens.

I have listings through Sunday for two of my Sonys that already had listing grids.

On the third unit - I had done a reset of the TVGOS system before the digital host was available so I had no grid. I am not getting (as far as I can tell) the digital host over Comcast so I have a pair of rabbit ears receiving Ch 24.1 (45.3) OTA (Hartford, CT).

It gets a crappy signal in the room it's in so it took until yesterday to update to the latest patch (08.06.44) and get the correct clock. Today, lo and behold, I was asked what cable service I had when I pressed the guide button. I now have a grid with "No Listings" but I'm hopeful that they will populate overnight. Host is shown as 0:45-3 which is 24.1.

I have NO analog TVGOS sources.

You can choose to have all the Sony output at 1080i OR you may prefer to have it automatically pick only between 720p and 1080i depending on source. For example your TV may prefer a 720p for FOX or ESPN or ? - - but it may also prefer 1080i for NBC and CBS. Test, because everyones situation is different.

You have this backwards. Your television has a native display mode, which is 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, or 1080p (CRTs can have more than one native display mode depending upon which input is selected, especially HD-ready CRT televisions, but LCD and Plasma sets have only one native mode). Your television also has a scalar chip, which is uses to convert signals to its native display mode (e.g. if your television's native display mode is 720p and it receives a 1080i broadcast signal, your television uses the scalar chip to convert the 1080i signal to 720p before displaying it). The Sony also has a scalar chip, which allows you to specify the format output by the recorder to your television. You get to choose which of the scalar chips does the conversion to your television's native display mode (you should choose the device that has the better scalar chip). However, if your television's native mode is 720p and you have the recorder output a received 720p signal as 1080i, the signal will be converted from 720p to 1080i by the recorder and then converted back from 1080i to 720p when it is received by the television (this is a case where 2 is not better than 1).

My plasma has a resolution of 720p and even though the information display shows that it is receiving a 1080i broadcast, the signal is converted to 720p before it is displayed. This is also true components attached to the various HDMI, component, s-video, and composite inputs. You won't get a better picture than the original source signal when your television upconverts a 480 signal, but it is displayed in the set's native resolution. On the other hand, my HD-ready CRT has a native resolution of 480i from its tuner, a native resolution of 480p from the component DVD input, and a native resolution of 1080i from the component HD input.

If only they could build a 50+ inch CRT television.:D

I checked this morning and I listings for Sunday has all filled in. But still nothing for Monday forward.
I noticed that this board has been busy as of late. Did everyone here get laid off? My excuse? been sick at home for a couple of weeks, glad I am self-employed.
Michael

Same here. The last two nights I have had updates that give me a 5 day guide, currently through Sunday. Maybe TVGOS is trying to alleviate the problems by sending less data (fewer days) while they work on things.

I see other areas have listings a bit further out, but consistently so.

BTW, my host is still digital, but my DL schedule still shows only analog times.

I don't think overload or bleed over is the problem because I have tried using a UHF / VHF splitter. Multipath or weak signals are more likely the culprit. My relative did not mount the antenna on the roof "because it might cause a leak". So, she mounted it on a 10' mast near the house with the house (2 stories) between the antenna farm and the antenna LOS.

Besides her resistance to mounting on the roof, what is frustrating is that the TV's tuner is having no problem with her current set-up. I tried switching the cables that feed the TV and Sony. I also tried feeding the Sony directly from the main cable (before the splitter). Nothing changed.

The following is a portion of one of my much earlier posts.

I have found that it is easy to overload the input to the tuner and, consequently, foul up reception. I have an amplified antenna in my attic (from before the FCC rules superseded those of my homeowners association) that enters a four-way splitter that feeds my TV, 2 HDD250s, and an analog DVR. When I adjusted the antenna for optimal reception on my TV, I found that I frequently had problems with recording quality on the HDD250s. To remedy this, I adjusted the antenna direction by viewing the signal strength for each of the channels that I record using one of the HDD250s. This resulted in the loss of some of the more distant stations that I used to be able to view with the TV, but has eliminated problems with recording quality caused by overload or multipath interference.

Both my Sony and my LG 3410a have been playing games, since the units stopped getting listings over the weekend.

Before the goofiness started on around 3/9, my Sony had ALWAYS gotten data from analog PBS 9...after a several days of no listings, then an overnight leaving unit on (after G* test), it resumed getting listings, but with no host channel. Like others' units, listings stopped last weekend, and maybe day before yesterday PBS 9 showed up as host channel again...still no listings, but yesterday, when I checked the DL record - which had shown ZERO activity since 3/9 - I was interested to see that there were current downloads (or download attempts - I don't know how to interpret what this screen says), mostly from the analog DLs, but a few from the digital DLs...but still no data as of today...

(My 3410a, which I pushed to analog CBS 5 as a download host around 3/13, where it stuck UNTIL finding no listings for the last several days, had switched back to PBS 9 by yesterday, but apparently the clock was about (not exactly) an hour off in the evening (though I didn't realize it at the time) judging by the recordings AND we had a brief power outage late evening, after which the diag menu showed a host of 0x0 (i.e., zilch)...and TODAY, it is showing 0x5...back to CBS 5!

jeez!

After tuning both recorders to the local digital CBS station, running a G* Test, and leaving the recorders on for 48 hours, neither recorder received a time zone packet during this period. I then forced both recorders to use digital CBS as a host channel and also as a clock set channel. I turned both recorders off and other than using them to record a couple of programs, they remained off for 48 hours. During this period neither recorder received a time zone packet. This is extremely bad news.:( Possumgirl has had different results when doing this so there is still some room for hope. It is possible that there is a problem with the digital information broadcast by my local CBS station given the problems that have occurred in other markets. Without receiving a time zone packet, the recorder's clock cannot be set correctly. Other than this one issue, I have been able to successfully recover from a complete TVGOS reset using only digital sources (I had to get a time zone packet from an analog source to test the remainder of the recovery process). Right now both recorders still have their digital host channels so I am again going to suspend testing to see how long the digital hosts stick before reverting to analog. Then I plan to implement my new approach to simulating the digital-only environment and see what happens. The new approach should allow me to eliminant many of the steps in my present test procedure.

On another note, I have noticed over the last few days that my grid is missing data for day 8 and is only partially populated for day 7. This has been true on a rolling basis. The missing day 8 partially fills in when it becomes day 7 and fully fills in when it becomes day 6, while the new day 8 is all No Listings. Almost all of the missing data is after 8:00PM on day 7.

On another note, I have noticed over the last few days that my grid is missing data for day 8 and is only partially populated for day 7. This has been true on a rolling basis. The missing day 8 partially fills in when it becomes day 7 and fully fills in when it becomes day 6, while the new day 8 is all No Listings. Almost all of the missing data is after 8:00PM on day 7.

I am experiencing the same issue here in CT. May be a system-wide thing.

I AM getting time zone packets and listings exclusively from a digital source.

If only they could build a 50+ inch CRT television.:D

They can build 50" CRTs. The problem is that they don't build people's back strong enough to lift them ... unless you're Lou Ferrigno.

Also, there isn't a wood strong enough to make a media stand that can hold a 50" CRT.

;)

On another note, I have noticed over the last few days that my grid is missing data for day 8 and is only partially populated for day 7. This has been true on a rolling basis. The missing day 8 partially fills in when it becomes day 7 and fully fills in when it becomes day 6, while the new day 8 is all No Listings. Almost all of the missing data is after 8:00PM on day 7.

Same thing here except the cutoff time is 5:00PM, so they didn't even bother to chop the data off by time zone. ;)

They can build 50" CRTs. The problem is that they don't build people's back strong enough to lift them ... unless you're Lou Ferrigno.

Also, there isn't a wood strong enough to make a media stand that can hold a 50" CRT.

;)

My TV is 50 inch 4:3 CRT - rear projection, which produces 46 inch picture in HD. These sets became obsolete because most people prefer thin TVs.

Ray

Host = Houston TX CBS digital Ch11

As posted by others around the country, my listing data went till 7pm Mon 3/30/09.

Checking today's status, I now have listings till 7pm Tue 3/31/09.

Same here on my good working unit. Houston, TX

On another note, I have noticed over the last few days that my grid is missing data for day 8 and is only partially populated for day 7. This has been true on a rolling basis. The missing day 8 partially fills in when it becomes day 7 and fully fills in when it becomes day 6, while the new day 8 is all No Listings. Almost all of the missing data is after 8:00PM on day 7.This is happening to virtually everyone to some extent or another, myself included. Currently my day 8 is zilch, my day 7 is partially populated, and the rest is pretty much filled in. TVGOS folks are clearly screwing around with the amount of schedule they send for reasons only they could explain.

Well, what do you know! Last night I noticed that my DHG had found a (digital) host channel. (Comcast north NJ. Channel is 90-1, the actual cable channel for 13-1, PBS.) I didn't have channel line-ups yet, though. But this evening I was asked to choose a channel line-up. No program listings yet, but I have hope that they'll be there tomorrow.

For reference: I haven't done much of anything to the DHG for several days. I had successfully re-acquired a clock set channel (also 90-1), but I had made no further progress... until yesterday.

So, hang in there! There is hope. :o
Dave Kristol

Hi all!!

Yesterday, under the PROMOTIONS tab on the TVGOS menu I saw an entry for "Guide system re-initialization." When I scroll down to this item, on the bottom left it reads (in the place where the ads would normally be) "Are you having trouble getting a lineup or listings?" When I pressed the INFO button (or left arrow) the screen instructs you to go to the SETUP menu and use the Zip 00000. Then turn unit off for 5 minutes and when you turn it back on again use your correct zip. It claims that listings should return within 24 hours.
I am pretty sure I have seen this reset method posted on other threads in this forum but this is the first time I had heard of it appearing on the PROMOTIONS menu within the TVGOS menus.

Worth a try!

Robin
Has anyone tried this, if so, did it work? Thanks

Host channel was blank yesterday, even though I had full listings. Today it says OTA CBS (WBBM). Same for the clock.

http://www.spiffspace.com/sonydvr.html#Section1110

Thanks. Mines went out today. I found a fat32 usb drive, put in the files, updated my box, and found out what digital channel is outputting the data packets. CBS for my town. My clock updated correctly. So now I turned off my box and hopefully tomorrow evening I should get some tv guide screens filled in.

Comcast (New Haven, CT) began passing the digital TVGOS from the local PBS channel (24.1) today. After passing the G-Test, I used the 963... code to perform the VBI search. A few hours later I came back to the channel grid/line up and the host set to 24.1. A few more hours and I have almost all the listings w/descriptions for 8 days. Oh yeah, I have the ads back too, yay!

Now to see if the host channel sticks. I realize that people have had problems with the host channel. However, I also read that a lot of people without channel grids (me included) had a digital signal but still no channel grid. So, maybe Macrovision has changed something. Or maybe the local PBS and/or Comcast made a difference. Hopefully things are getting better.

Comcast (New Haven, CT) began passing the digital TVGOS from the local PBS channel (24.1) today. After passing the G-Test, I used the 963... code to perform the VBI search. A few hours later I came back to the channel grid/line up and the host set to 24.1. A few more hours and I have almost all the listings w/descriptions for 8 days. Oh yeah, I have the ads back too, yay!

Now to see if the host channel sticks. I realize that people have had problems with the host channel. However, I also read that a lot of people without channel grids (me included) had a digital signal but still no channel grid. So, maybe Macrovision has changed something. Or maybe the local PBS and/or Comcast made a difference. Hopefully things are getting better.

I wouldn't doubt your getting your grid from analog since it appears Macrovision turned on the analog signal again because of all the problems.

My TV is 50 inch 4:3 CRT - rear projection, which produces 46 inch picture in HD. These sets became obsolete because most people prefer thin TVs.

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) based rear projection TV's have very small CRTs. The image is bounced off mirrors onto the screen. With the old fashioned tube TVs (direct view), the CRT is the screen. The 43" Sony is the biggest I've ever heard of. I think it weighed around 350 lbs.

I wouldn't doubt your getting your grid from analog since it appears Macrovision turned on the analog signal again because of all the problems.

I don't think so. I'm north of Hartford, CT and have now gotten a grid and filling in listings from a "cold" start. The ONLY analog host we ever had here was the local PBS station which switched off that source at then end of Feb and switched on digital last Thursday. This was reported by a station engineer on our local thread.

Is anyone else using OTA in the NYMA getting anything at all ? I'm still dead.

Hardly worth mentioning, but just to let Sony know of my existance, I posted notice to them on their support website under "Television" the number of HDD 250's I own and their status, asking for notice when firmware/software was available to function in the digital enviorment. Received the following reply:

<Thank you for contacting Sony Support.

Customer input and response is invaluable in the continued support and
development of our products. We want you to know that we appreciate your
feedback.

Thank you for your time.

The Sony Email Response Team
C623
Gary>

At least it was not negative.

Well, what do you know! Last night I noticed that my DHG had found a (digital) host channel. (Comcast north NJ. Channel is 90-1, the actual cable channel for 13-1, PBS.) I didn't have channel line-ups yet, though. But this evening I was asked to choose a channel line-up. No program listings yet, but I have hope that they'll be there tomorrow.

For reference: I haven't done much of anything to the DHG for several days. I had successfully re-acquired a clock set channel (also 90-1), but I had made no further progress... until yesterday.

Follow-up: This morning I have partial program information: many, but not all, titles, some program information. I didn't do anything since last night when I peeked at the guide. And the channel I left it on was not the Host Channel.

Dave Kristol

You have this backwards. ...................
If only they could build a 50+ inch CRT television.:D

You did not read my post closely enough. See pages 74 amd 75 of your Sony manual for better detail explanation. Different TV's will respond differently to the Sony Recorder. Most (not all) will respond correctly to your HDMI options and choices. Component offers a more reliable choice on older TV's - this is in regard to selecting the Sony's output resolution.

I have lost count of the HDTV's we have had in our home. One of those "required" component "native" to function correctly. Another worked best with Variable 2 choice of 1080i/720p via HDMI - that was the only way a particular older Samsung could handle it. But all the others worked perfectly with AutoHDMI. If you look closely at the bottom of page 75 double asterick for AutoHDMI, the Sony will change its output format automatically for the best picture IF the monitor (your TV) CAN actually process it correctly.

AFAIK, most HDTV made during the last two years can process AutoHDMI correctly. Those made as recently as 4-5 years ago, IMHO had a 50/50 chance of doing this correctly, and that would often require a "forced" output selection on the Sony Box.

Hi all!!

Yesterday, under the PROMOTIONS tab on the TVGOS menu I saw an entry for "Guide system re-initialization." When I scroll down to this item, on the bottom left it reads (in the place where the ads would normally be) "Are you having trouble getting a lineup or listings?" When I pressed the INFO button (or left arrow) the screen instructs you to go to the SETUP menu and use the Zip 00000. Then turn unit off for 5 minutes and when you turn it back on again use your correct zip. It claims that listings should return within 24 hours.
I am pretty sure I have seen this reset method posted on other threads in this forum but this is the first time I had heard of it appearing on the PROMOTIONS menu within the TVGOS menus.

Worth a try!

Robin
Has anyone tried this yet to see if it works?

Has anyone tried this yet to see if it works?

I've done the 00000 trick before but just through the normal setup screen. Not sure if it makes any difference where it's accessed. If you're not getting TVGOS data it won't make any difference anyway.

At least it was not negative.It was a 'form' letter, might as well be negitive. ;)

After tuning both recorders to the local digital CBS station, running a G* Test, and leaving the recorders on for 48 hours, neither recorder received a time zone packet during this period. .

Maybe you could get time packets from WMPT on 22-1 in the DC area. What zip code are you using?

You did not read my post closely enough. See pages 74 amd 75 of your Sony manual for better detail explanation. Different TV's will respond differently to the Sony Recorder. Most (not all) will respond correctly to your HDMI options and choices. Component offers a more reliable choice on older TV's - this is in regard to selecting the Sony's output resolution.

I have lost count of the HDTV's we have had in our home. One of those "required" component "native" to function correctly. Another worked best with Variable 2 choice of 1080i/720p via HDMI - that was the only way a particular older Samsung could handle it. But all the others worked perfectly with AutoHDMI. If you look closely at the bottom of page 75 double asterick for AutoHDMI, the Sony will change its output format automatically for the best picture IF the monitor (your TV) CAN actually process it correctly.

AFAIK, most HDTV made during the last two years can process AutoHDMI correctly. Those made as recently as 4-5 years ago, IMHO had a 50/50 chance of doing this correctly, and that would often require a "forced" output selection on the Sony Box.

I read your post just fine. I know how auto HDMI works. As written, your post claims that a TV may prefer to receive some stations as 1080i and others as 720p. This simply is not so. If you have an LCD or Plasma set, it only has one native resolution and that is the only resolution it prefers. Using the Auto HDMI setting allows the Sony to determine what that one resolution is via the HDMI handshake that occurs and the recorder then uses that format for all output. The Auto HDMI setting is for those people who regularly change the monitor to which the recorder is attached, those who don't know the native resolution of their monitor, or those who are too lazy to set it to the desired value. Using Auto HDMI defaults you to using the scalar chip in the recorder to convert non-native signals to native format. If you have experienced a problem with Auto HDMI not functioning properly, you should install the Sony firmware update (.13). As I understand it, there were display connectivity issues with some of the earlier firmware versions. As far as your comment about the double astrisk at the bottom of page 75, the comment for the double asterisk has no relavance whatsoever to this discussion and you are misreading the line on which it appears, which is telling you exactly what I have said above, that the recorder selects the one resolution it uses for output based upon the monitor. It does not mean that the recorder changes its output resolution because the monitor has changed its native display resolution and told the recorder via the HDMI interface to send a different format.

I read your post just fine. ............mat.


Ok, sorry I not able to help ya.

Maybe you could get time packets from WMPT on 22-1 in the DC area. What zip code are you using?

I realize that you are trying to be helpful here, but you have jumped into the middle of a series of ongoing posts regarding testing. I am not having problems with my recorders at all. I have been using one of my recorders on and off over a long period of time to test recovery from a complete TVGOS reset in a digital-only environment. I have developed test procedures to simulate the digital-only environment and have been trying to prove that these recorders will not become bricks as a result of a full TVGOS reset after the cessation of analog broadcasts. Using a time zone packet from an analog source defeats the purpose of the test (I have no problem getting these from the analog stations around here, quite the contrary, I have to take special measures not to get them). During the testing process, I have discovered that 9.1 does not seem to be broadcasting TVGOS time zone packets, although everything else seems to be present. I have tried receiving time zone packets using 9.1 as the VBI channel and running a G* Test. I have also tried this using 9.1 as the host channel to receive downloads while the recorder is turned off. Neither method was successful. However, others have been able to get time zone packets from a digital channel so either the CBS digital broadcasts are deficient or the others weren't careful in their tests and observations. I think that the former is more likely than the later.

Ok, sorry I not able to help ya.

Again you have it backwards. You're not helping me, I'm helping you.

What is the consensus of opinion today, what we think we know seems to change daily, is it possible to go from a total TVGOS reset to upgrading the software and getting a clock and data with just a digital host?

With the unit at my mother's not getting any data for a couple of weeks and then freezing at every occurrence I was forced to do a TVGOS reset. I did the unfreeze procedure in total.

Right now it is just directly attached to cable and for two days no clock or anything else.

The worst news is that the G-test fails on the usual channel that Cablevision was using, the scroll TV listing channel 14. I don't get this part, because I also use Cablevision, about 10 miles away, and the G-test on 14 passes on my two units (although one still is getting nothing and the other some very sparingly).

Continuing, my mother's unit is now a brick- except for the couple of recordings still available to be watched. If nothing happens in a couple of days I will bring it to my home and try something here. Maybe try off the air digital- I get a much better reception here then at her location.

So, if I can't get anything from cable, is it thought today possible to, from scratch, get a clock, and the software update at least, from a digital OTA host? I think I read - much too many posts here- that it may have been done.

For those of you who are following my recovery testing...

I'm nearing the end of my third day with both recorders set to a digital host channel and a digital clock set channel. Surprise! During the last 8 hours each recorder received 1 time zone packet (the first received from a digital source in both cases).:cool: I know that these are supposed to be broadcast with much greater regularity, but where there is one there has to be others. Right? Hope beckons yet again.:) And yes, the download timers list entries from the digital download schedule. Also, listings are almost entirely filled in through 7:30PM of day 7 with no listings from 8:00PM of day 7 through the end of day 8.

The reception of a time zone packet from a digital source means that I can resume recovery testing with some expectation of success (although the tests will run much longer than anticipated if I'm going to need to wait 3 days for the clock to be set:().

After a full factory reset it took me 2 weeks to reacquire the Grid and listings. On Monday, I forced the host channel to digital just in case the TVGOS Analog feed from Channel 28 (Orange Ca) is turned off again. Yesterday, I was recording News Hour on 28.1 when the unit froze, the front panel indicated that it was recording but, the remote would not respond to anything. I have a feeling that the procedure of forcing a digital channel as a host has a lot to do with these lock ups/freeze ups as this only happens when I do this procedure.

I did a soft reset and to my disgust found out that I have lost not only the clock (expected), but also my grid and all listing. Previously when I the unit freezes up, the soft reset only affected the clock and when I do the VBI search from my digital host, in my case 2.1 (CBS) the clock would update in a couple of seconds. No so this time, the clock read 1:14am when it actually was 6:45pm.

Checked clock this morning and it is 1 hour late, at least there is progress
At lunch when I go home I will to enter zip code 00000, turn the unit off for 5 minutes (as I read in the previous post) turn the unit back on and enter my correct zip code.

I am keeping my fingers crossed. It looks like the only alternative I have should the SONY become obsolete is the Moxi. At $799.00 it is still expensive, but before Sony discontinued the DHG series I got my 250 for the same amount. Although I must admit that, after seeing a 250 at Best Buy for $199.50 I bought that and returned the one that I bought for full price.

Host channel was blank yesterday, even though I had full listings. Today it says OTA CBS (WBBM). Same for the clock.

Host channel was 0:0-3 this morning. Is that supposed to be analog WBBM? I did the VBI Search before going to work this morning, so I hope to have it back to WBBM-DT when I get home. Throughout all of the loss of listings, I have never lost ads or had TVGOS version downgraded.

Many areas across the USA appear to have analogue TV guide turned back "on" (either or OTA and/or Cable).

Still it is a no go in Houston.

For those that still have grid and channel map in Houston the Digital will work fair - but not reliable. For those without Grid or Channel map you are dead in the water without the "yet to be received Sony Firmware Fix"

Unfortunately, Sony appears to be changing their tune - they may not be able to come up with a reliable firmware fix? Leaving all customers in the lurch, with absolutely "no news" on their web site.

1)Comcast (New Haven, CT) began passing the digital TVGOS from the local PBS channel (24.1) today. After passing the G-Test, I used the 963... code to perform the VBI search. A few hours later I came back to the channel grid/line up and the host set to 24.1. A few more hours and I have almost all the listings w/descriptions for 8 days. Oh yeah, I have the ads back too, yay!

Now to see if the host channel sticks. I realize that people have had problems with the host channel. However, I also read that a lot of people without channel grids (me included) had a digital signal but still no channel grid. So, maybe Macrovision has changed something. Or maybe the local PBS and/or Comcast made a difference. Hopefully things are getting better.

2) I wouldn't doubt your getting your grid from analog since it appears Macrovision turned on the analog signal again because of all the problems.

1) Good to hear the feedback that the CPTV digital OTAs and CPTV digital CableTV TVGuides are being received and updating.

2) CPTV confirms that Macrovision is not providing analog updates to the CPTV analog OTA and CPTV analog CableTV feeds.

CableTV operators will pass the CPTV digital TVGuide to their subscribers and as an option may (should) also convert it back to analog, on any analog channel if they so chose, for legacy analog TVs/VCRs/etc.

At the moment, CPTV confirms that there is no TVGuide data being re-inserted into the CPTV's Comcast analog CableTV channel 7 or the simultaneous SD digital channel.

Many areas across the USA appear to have analogue TV guide turned back "on" (either or OTA and/or Cable).



Checked what used to be the analog OTA channel in the NYC area, PBS 13, nothing there.

I lost my guide about 2 weeks ago, but I found a new channel. Was this a nation wide thing? did everyone's stations change?

Pardon my ignorance (and my curiosity), but a quick scan over the last dozen or so pages reveals members tagging themselves as New Member, Member, Senior Member, Advanced Member, AVS Special Member, AVS Gold Member, Supporting Member, SelectaVisionSupport, Possumgirl, Cubit, ota hdtv addict, Infinity or bust, Tin Ears &amp; Bad Eyes, and Ilive4HD. While many of these tags are self explanatory, I was wondering if there were any actual criteria that one has to meet in order to use the titles Senior Member, Advanced Member, AVS Special Member, and AVS Gold Member, or are these titles self assigned?:confused: Did I miss a FAQ somewhere?

Some are automatically assigned (like mine) after you've reach a certain number of posts, or are some type of "paid" member as is "Special Member". Others are obviously self-assigned. For instance, you could be "Official DVR Crash Test Dummy" if you wanted to be............. :D

Go to UserCP, then Edit Your Details, then Custom User Title.................

Checked what used to be the analog OTA channel in the NYC area, PBS 13, nothing there.

Just for fun........I did soft reset; it's been two weeks. Just to see if Houston had turned back on any OTA analogue for TV Guide. It is still a no go here.

Of course I lost the digital clock --:--

I left the unit off for about 2 hours - nothing.

So turned the unit back on, tune to digital host, run G Test, and clock went thru all its resets in less that 5 min. with 100% accurate time.

Everything is back exactly like it was - still go grid, channel map.

That soft reset did clear out all the rejection lines - now back to zero. They were up to TEN million before the reset.

It recoved ad downloads "instantly" and they are new too, with current times.

Guess they want to make sure you get the ads LOL

Did I miss a FAQ somewhere?

I wondered myself. It's not self tagged.

I saw I became a "senior" when I passed 200 posts.

............................................................ ........................

I just changed my tag to reflect my location. I wish everyone would do that so when someone writes about their situation we know where it is happening.

Guess they want to make sure you get the ads LOL

Yeah, I noticed that too and before I even got my grid back. Seems to be a priority order to restoration!

What is the consensus of opinion today, what we think we know seems to change daily, is it possible to go from a total TVGOS reset to upgrading the software and getting a clock and data with just a digital host?


I have gotten the latest TVGOS version starting from 08.01.42 (08.06.44), the correct time, a new grid and listings from a TVGOS reset in the last several days. I have no analog host; only the new PBS digital as posted by jzareski about an hour ago.

I believe another CT forum member (sisson_dog) has done the same.

Host channel was 0:0-3 this morning. Is that supposed to be analog WBBM?Don't know. Mine says 0:0-2, which is analog 2, and WBBM-DT is actually on 3, so by right, that would read as 0:3-1 - although if it were WBBM digital, I would think it would read 0:2-1.

That one's got me stumped.

Don't know. Mine says 0:0-2, which is analog 2, and WBBM-DT is actually on 3, so by right, that would read as 0:3-1 - although if it were WBBM digital, I would think it would read 0:2-1.

That one's got me stumped.

I wish they would go back to analogue in Houston and stay that way until Sony/Macrovision get it fixed.

I have gotten the latest TVGOS version starting from 08.01.42 (08.06.44), the correct time, a new grid and listings from a TVGOS reset in the last several days. I have no analog host; only the new PBS digital as posted by jzareski about an hour ago.

I believe another CT forum member (sisson_dog) has done the same.

Jzareski writes that no data is being inserted by the local cable company, have you done all this OTA?

Jzareski writes that no data is being inserted by the local cable company, have you done all this OTA?

Mine has been all OTA so far.

However, I am getting digital TVGOS VBI packets on the Comcast HD channel now (as of Tuesday).

jzareski was noting that Comcast was not converting the digital TVGOS received from CPTV to analog for their (previous) analog host channel 7, nor their digital SD channel. It does appear to be coming over the HD digital channel.

Mine has been all OTA so far.



Might or might now be relevant, but which do you have, a 250 or 500, and more importantly, with which firmware version.

Might or might now be relevant, but which do you have, a 250 or 500, and more importantly, with which firmware version.

It's a 250 with either .05 or .06 (I have three so I don't recall for sure as I'm not home)

It's a 250 with either .05 or .06 (I have three so I don't recall for sure as I'm not home)

Of the three I have, the one that seems to be doing the best under the circumstances -of TVGOS's sparadic listings- is a 250 with .06.

Last week I attached an antenna to my 500 that is not getting downloads even as it sits side by side with a 250 that does, ran a G-test on the OTA [digital] CBS feed that passed and left it on for the afternoon download. The guide mostly filled.

Since then, just off cable, nothing.

Today, I did a G-test on its [analog] cable Host channel that passed (as usual) but I kept is on for the afternoon. It filled through Saturday and next Monday.

Whatever it means, this unit can get data but -unless it's a coincidence- only when running the G-test and then leaving it on.

Weirder by the day.

Also weird that from the same cable company- Cablevision- I have a channel that passes the G-test, but, less then 10 miles away, at my mother's home, the test fails.

The upstairs unit has now gone about six days, and the time didn't reset to "reality".

I unplugged the unit, and gave it a day. I plugged back in, and am waiting to see if I get a time stamp.

I don't think so. I'm north of Hartford, CT and have now gotten a grid and filling in listings from a "cold" start. The ONLY analog host we ever had here was the local PBS station which switched off that source at then end of Feb and switched on digital last Thursday. This was reported by a station engineer on our local thread.

You sure it isn't on again, They turned it off here as well and turned it back on a few days ago because of all the problems.

You sure it isn't on again, They turned it off here as well and turned it back on a few days ago because of all the problems.

See jzareski's note from post 15166:

"1) Good to hear the feedback that the CPTV digital OTAs and CPTV digital CableTV TVGuides are being received and updating.

2) CPTV confirms that Macrovision is not providing analog updates to the CPTV analog OTA and CPTV analog CableTV feeds.

CableTV operators will pass the CPTV digital TVGuide to their subscribers and as an option may (should) also convert it back to analog, on any analog channel if they so chose, for legacy analog TVs/VCRs/etc.

At the moment, CPTV confirms that there is no TVGuide data being re-inserted into the CPTV's Comcast analog CableTV channel 7 or the simultaneous SD digital channel."

CPTV is the only local channel that has (and will) provide TVGOS data.

Of the three I have, the one that seems to be doing the best under the circumstances -of TVGOS's sparadic listings- is a 250 with .06.

I've confirmed that it's .06

Pardon my ignorance (and my curiosity), but a quick scan over the last dozen or so pages reveals members tagging themselves as New Member, Member, Senior Member, Advanced Member, AVS Special Member, AVS Gold Member, Supporting Member, SelectaVisionSupport, Possumgirl, Cubit, ota hdtv addict, Infinity or bust, Tin Ears &amp; Bad Eyes, and Ilive4HD. While many of these tags are self explanatory, I was wondering if there were any actual criteria that one has to meet in order to use the titles Senior Member, Advanced Member, AVS Special Member, and AVS Gold Member, or are these titles self assigned?:confused: Did I miss a FAQ somewhere?
Who cares about these designations? Well, I guess we care SOME since - as you can see- I have chosen one that's relevant to my interests (as well as having added a recent signature regarding the team in the NCAA's that I'm following closely).

But what would really be helpful on a thread with this much activity is that people put their LOCATION (even if only general), so that when you post something specific to you (and therefore, to some extent, your location) readers would know in part what it is relevant to, WITHOUT having to keep a scorecard for the various posters in this thread!!!

PLEASE include a location or area in your profile, which can be reached via the UserCP tab at the top of the page....

Thanks - from Tony and others who have requested this in this thread!

PS still no data since the weekend - aargh! (did I say that on an earlier post?)

The upstairs unit has now gone about six days, and the time didn't reset to "reality". I unplugged the unit, and gave it a day. I plugged back in, and am waiting to see if I get a time stamp.

To all who are having trouble getting even so much as the correct time........... Try hooking up an antenna if possible. I got the time on one of my 500's this way after spending several days waiting for it to set from cable. Apparently (in my area at least) neither the time nor the TVGOS data are being passed through Charter cable at this time, although they have been in the past. YMMV :confused:

I have OTA and CableCard, have run Gtest on just about all of the 400+
channels I get. Got VBI in 2 locations. CBS Hd 15.1 OTA and CBS Hd
612 on cable. I can see correct clock UTC in the 753 charts but no time
zone pkts. Not many analogs here and they all fail VBI. 753 shows (3) and
08.06.44. Lots of activity on most screens, but no clock and no grid.
Any hope?

If anybody out there has either one of this products, please tell us what you think of these units. With all the problems that we are all experiencing with our Sony DHG250/500 I am looking at purchasing a DVR that works in a pure digital environment!

The MOXI does not have OTA tuner so you would have to subscribe to cable, plus my research indicates that a lot of people experienced problems earlier models. I can't find the Echostar TR50 for sale anywhere so I quess it has been discontinued? What is on the horizon?

Thanks in advance for any info.

I wish they would go back to analogue in Houston and stay that way until Sony/Macrovision get it fixed.

just some more Houston data. I have a fully populated guide through next Wednesday. Early Thursday is patchy, while late Thursday is "no listing."

I have a friend in the area who ran the G* test, to fix his clock and replicate my "success". His clock was over 6 hrs off. After one G* run he was exactly one hour off, then after another day he re-did it and it then seemed to account for DST. His guide shows one massive block that says "no data". He doesn't even have any subdivided blocks of 1/2 hr or 1 hr. He is showing 11-1 as his provider, but he cannot get a guide yet. He does get the pushed advertising.

I've confirmed that it's .06

Maybe it does make a difference.

I upgraded one 500 to .13.

Unfortunately it sits in a sad state of being reset, in a situation where an indoor antenna does not pick up the digital channel, an outdoor antenna is impossible, and where Cablevision is not sending any VBI packets.

If Cablevision ever does restore the feed, maybe with the .13 firmware, something will improve.

Or it will just sit there as a work of modern art- with four dashes.

If anybody out there has either one of this products, please tell us what you think of these units. With all the problems that we are all experiencing with our Sony DHG250/500 I am looking at purchasing a DVR that works in a pure digital environment!

The MOXI does not have OTA tuner so you would have to subscribe to cable, plus my research indicates that a lot of people experienced problems earlier models. I can't find the Echostar TR50 for sale anywhere so I quess it has been discontinued? What is on the horizon?
If you're looking for a dual-tuner OTA DVR, there are just two options: TivoHD and DTVPal DVR. Both can be purchased without recurring fees. See my signature for FAQs on each.

Dish Network suspended shipments of the DTVPal DVR on February 20, but dealers expect more units in late April or May.

If you want a HDTV DVR for cable, then the options are the TivoHD and Moxi. Both can be purchased without recurring fees.

These are the only products now on the market that allow you to record in high-definition while you watch a previously recorded show. A few other single-tuner products exist, but they are watch-or-record only devices (they can't do both at the same time).

What is the consensus of opinion today, what we think we know seems to change daily, is it possible to go from a total TVGOS reset to upgrading the software and getting a clock and data with just a digital host?
[...]
So, if I can't get anything from cable, is it thought today possible to, from scratch, get a clock, and the software update at least, from a digital OTA host? I think I read - much too many posts here- that it may have been done.

You may get different opinions here, but I think I have. (BTW, I'm also in N. NJ, on Comcast.) My DHG involuntarily got a full reset. Once it picked up the TVGOS firmware upgrades, I was able to get a correct clock. Just within the past couple of days I've gotten program listings. (FWIW, host channel 90-1 on Comcast.)

I think it should be possible to at least get to having a correct clock, at which point you have an HD VCR. Whether you can progress to getting channel lineups and program listings seems to be highly dependent on what's happening in your local area.

Dave Kristol

If you're looking for a dual-tuner OTA DVR, there are just two options: TivoHD and DTVPal DVR. Both can be purchased without recurring fees. See my signature for FAQs on each.

.....
If you want a HDTV DVR for cable, then the options are the TivoHD and Moxi. Both can be purchased without recurring fees.

These are the only products now on the market that allow you to record in high-definition while you watch a previously recorded show. A few other single-tuner products exist, but they are watch-or-record only devices (they can't do both at the same time).

I just purchased a $350.00 computer and the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 board. It is a dual tuner board. The computer has Windows Media Center installed on it. With an internet connection, I get a TV Guide and I can point and click on a TV show that I want to record.

Now I am only recording off of cable and then transfer the data to a portable hard drive to take on the road with me.

So far, the recordings in Standard definition are great. It does say on the website that it might take up to 5GB per hour in High Def MPEG-2 quality.

I just purchased a $350.00 computer and the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 board. It is a dual tuner board. The computer has Windows Media Center installed on it. With an internet connection, I get a TV Guide and I can point and click on a TV show that I want to record.


With your setup you should look into www.snapstream.com software,
I use it on a PC for SD but with the problems with my Sonys I may build a PC with HD dual tuner and 3 Tbyte.

Mike

just some more Houston data. I have a fully populated guide through next Wednesday. Early Thursday is patchy, while late Thursday is "no listing."


Same here in Seabrook, TX

Mike

I just purchased a $350.00 computer and the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 board. It is a dual tuner board. The computer has Windows Media Center installed on it. With an internet connection, I get a TV Guide and I can point and click on a TV show that I want to record. Some people find HTPCs more trouble than they are worth to setup and maintain. But if you are an enthusiast that likes to regularly 'tweak' your computer setup, then a PC DVR may be just right for you. AVS has an entire forum devoted to the subject.

If you've already got a PC running Vista that you can repurpose, then adding a tuner card for OTA (or clear QAM) can be a relatively low-cost alternative to a new standalone DVR. Just don't buy a new HTPC thinking it will save you money. In addition to the upfront cost, the typical PC also consumes about four times as much electricity as a standalone DVR (i.e. $10/mo compared to $2.50/mo for the Sony and TiVo).

on the other hand where does KTVU broadcast from? Looks like San Fran (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=80&q=call%3dktvu)

what does G4 in your post meanG4, I assume, means generation 4 (v8 & v9), where legacy means v7 and below.

You sure it isn't on again, They turned it off here as well and turned it back on a few days ago because of all the problems.

A simple G* test proves that there is no VBI guide data coming from the analog feed. Also, the clock section in the 753...menu shows that the digital station is the clock source, the failing channel was the old analog channel.

See jzareski's note from post 15166:

"1) Good to hear the feedback that the CPTV digital OTAs and CPTV digital CableTV TVGuides are being received and updating.

2) CPTV confirms that Macrovision is not providing analog updates to the CPTV analog OTA and CPTV analog CableTV feeds.

CableTV operators will pass the CPTV digital TVGuide to their subscribers and as an option may (should) also convert it back to analog, on any analog channel if they so chose, for legacy analog TVs/VCRs/etc.

At the moment, CPTV confirms that there is no TVGuide data being re-inserted into the CPTV's Comcast analog CableTV channel 7 or the simultaneous SD digital channel."

CPTV is the only local channel that has (and will) provide TVGOS data.

:confused: Not quite sure what your talking about but I can confirm that the only reason I'm getting a TVGuide now is because the analog PBS channel through comcast I might add is now broadcasting the data again. And I think a lot of the peoples TVGuides are now working because of this.

A simple G* test proves that there is no VBI guide data coming from the analog feed. Also, the clock section in the 753...menu shows that the digital station is the clock source, the failing channel was the old analog channel.

Well Digital TVguide was never working here in Detroit and it was obvious that's why they turned on the analog feed again. Ive done the G test as I have stated in other posts. Digital worked for everything but getting me a grid so yes the clock set from Digital would work.

Here in CT I can verify and promise that all OTA and cable sources of guide data is digital. jzareski's (of local PBS channel CPTV) posts and a quick call to a local Comcast head-end tech confirm that there is no analog data being sent over cable. This would require extra equipment on Comcast's end that they are not required to get (which means they probably won't).

Here's the weird thing. One 250 got the channel grid, a full weeks worth of listings, ads, and the host channel is set to the digital HD CPTV cable channel. The host has been set to that since Tuesday. It seems to get guide data just fine while off.

The other 250, also hooked to cable, was missing about half the listings and had no host channel set. I decided to go through the setup again and make sure it was setup the same way as the fully working unit. Now I'm waiting for the channel grid for 2 days and the host channel still won't set.

They both have the .13 firmware update and 08.06.44. I don't get it. I'll keep waiting though. Right now I'm happy to have 1 unit that is working entirely normal.

:confused: Not quite sure what your talking about but I can confirm that the only reason I'm getting a TVGuide now is because the analog PBS channel through comcast I might add is now broadcasting the data again. And I think a lot of the peoples TVGuides are now working because of this.

You're in Detroit, correct? cheneyp, jzareski, and myself are in Connecticut. We have an entirely different local PBS station, different cable systems, with different equipment, and different techs. I don't doubt that you may be receiving data via an analog channel. Here in CT though, we do not have an analog source as this time. The local cable systems may eventually install the equipment to do this, but they aren't right now.

So much to say, so little space to explain.

This brick is becoming heavier. LOL

Short Story: The unit reset itself, "twice" late yesterday. Clock is now 1 hour off exactly, and version has gone back to 00.00.00.

Time Zone Version is 120. There are a few new data lines on maybe 1 or 2 screens - but nothing important IMO.

All the ads have been cleared out; but the schedule for new ads for the next 24 hours is 5 pages long.

If the clock does not fix itself during the day today...........I will have to "Adjust the Red Dots" for tonight - all by one hour.

You may get different opinions here, but I think I have. (BTW, I'm also in N. NJ, on Comcast.) My DHG involuntarily got a full reset. Once it picked up the TVGOS firmware upgrades, I was able to get a correct clock. Just within the past couple of days I've gotten program listings. (FWIW, host channel 90-1 on Comcast.)

I think it should be possible to at least get to having a correct clock, at which point you have an HD VCR. Whether you can progress to getting channel lineups and program listings seems to be highly dependent on what's happening in your local area.

Dave Kristol

Great news Dave. I'm glad your Comcast has gotten their act together for you.

As for me, I am no longer getting data from Comcast's "1:93-0" channel. Host ID shows as "1:0-2", which is the analog CBS station. I typically get "No Listings" for Days 6, 7, and 8. Then listings start filling in sporadically for Days 1-5. For instance, I currently have ~90% listings for Today (Friday 3/27) through Monday. About 75% for Tuesday and 0% for Wed-Fri, although Wednesday has a few "No Titles".

I have been leaving the Sony tuned to "1:3-1" Digitial CBS overnight before tuning it off. I may try leaving it tuned to Analog 2 for the next couple of nights.

ft

My clock went bad a couple of days ago and I haven't been able to get it to update it with resets, etc... It was off by about 90min. I was also missing some listings data. I did a reset to default last night (keeps the recordings and schedules, but wipes the channel listing). The channel OTA auto scan worked fine, but after sitting over night the unit still doesn't have a clock. Can't set to record w/o a clock, so even if the listings come back, my Sony is nearly useless. I tried looking for VBI packets on 13, 11, and 19 well as their .1 digitals. (I read on rabbitears.info that display 11.1 was really 19.1 digital so I thought I would force an attempt). Nothing. I sent an email to CBS11 about this. Anybody else still having trouble?

My clock went bad a couple of days ago and I haven't been able to get it to update it with resets, etc... It was off by about 90min. I was also missing some listings data. I did a reset to default last night (keeps the recordings and schedules, but wipes the channel listing). The channel OTA auto scan worked fine, but after sitting over night the unit still doesn't have a clock. Can't set to record w/o a clock, so even if the listings come back, my Sony is nearly useless. I tried looking for VBI packets on 13, 11, and 19 well as their .1 digitals. (I read on rabbitears.info that display 11.1 was really 19.1 digital so I thought I would force an attempt). Nothing. I sent an email to CBS11 about this. Anybody else still having trouble?

Sounds like your in Dallas (if not, oops :o). You should be able to get your clock to set by doing the G* Test on 11.1 or 19.1. It will be one hour off until it gets to 8.06.44.

The one thing that worked for me was performing the G* Test on 11.1, at which point the channel says its something like 1023-65355, go up a channel, go back to 11.1, run the G* Test again and make sure the channel says it's 11.1 now. I then did the Force Host Channel command, let it sit for a few minutes, and then powered off.

One of my 250s reset to 00.00.00 last week, but luckily kept the grid. It took two days to get back to 8.06.44.

One thing to note, at least in Dallas anyway, is that the last Guide update I have only goes through Tuesday until 6:30pm. So, I'm not sure if it's a transmission issue or if I need to run G* Test and Host Channel procedures again.

FWIW, I have a Pioneer plasma whose base software is 8.01.68, that I haven't had to do a thing to. It's been getting updates through all this wackiness, but it too is only showing listings through next Tuesday.

Weird..

How is it I got an "ATSC Test: PASS" on analog CFTO-9? ATSC:PAT = 1 Good, ATSC:PMT = 1 Good. CFTO does have TVGOS VBI, but how can an analog station pass an ATSC test? Makes me wonder about the test.

CFTO-9 has added the "Air" channels once again. I wonder if my ignored e-mails weren't ignored after all (or else Sony support did pass on the issue). I can now switch back to my local host - instead of Buffalo.

My clock source switched to analog PBS Ch8 (from digital CBS Ch11).

Checking analog Ch8 via "G* Factory Test" shows packets are active again. I assume my DVR will migrate back to Ch8 as host channel.

I have OTA and CableCard, have run Gtest on just about all of the 400+
channels I get. Got VBI in 2 locations. CBS Hd 15.1 OTA and CBS Hd
612 on cable. I can see correct clock UTC in the 753 charts but no time
zone pkts. Not many analogs here and they all fail VBI. 753 shows (3) and
08.06.44. Lots of activity on most screens, but no clock and no grid.
Any hope?

Good news I hope? Got a correct clock today for the first time in 3 weeks.
No grid yet.

Looks like San Fran (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=80&q=call%3dktvu)

G4, I assume, means generation 4 (v8 & v9), where legacy means v7 and below.
So my question remains what is Host ID 315???, which is what my Sony STILL shows, though it has been showing PBS 9 as host channel for days and STILL is getting mostly no listings, with one singular exception...although earlier in this week, it had gotten NO listings for next Tuesday, today I noticed it DOES have complete listings for next Tuesday and maybe 10% listings in the AM for Friday, as though there WAS some data downloaded overnight, but it didn't reach any further than day 5....
???
(My LG3410a, which has also been on host channel 9 for most of this week has barely a dribble of listings for next week..say 10% on 3 of the days, and today at noon, when I checked the diag menu , was the FIRST time in a week that it had anything for LastDLEnd besides n/a (which I take to mean failure)...it actually had an end date/time (earlier today)....so I was hoping that it would start a download at 1:45 PM this afternoon, but it didn't (judging by the guide light...oops...too much about the LG

With regard to stations showing "vbi" packets on the G*test...only PBS 9, and CBS 5 and 5.1...nothing from KTVU...

bwal23...I also checked my DTVPal manual, and the only SF bay area fake zip code shown is 00005 for San Fran/Oakland/SanJose

(by the way. my 3410a shows a host ID of 0x716, whereas a couple of days ago it was 717...I don't understand what EITHER of them means...is the host ID supposed to be the ID for the host channel???

And where did you see anything about G4...was it the manual YOU referred to?
:confused:

My clock source switched to analog PBS Ch8 (from digital CBS Ch11).

Checking analog Ch8 via "G* Factory Test" shows packets are active again. I assume my DVR will migrate back to Ch8 as host channel.

Mine has been having fits all day.......really cannot tell what is going on.

It has reset itself about 4 times today; but still a brick LOL

Does anyone own a TVGOS Version 9 device that is designed to hold more than 48 hours of listings? By design, the V9 TVGOS in my Sony LCD only shows listings for the next 48 hours. Could Macrovision be skimping out on providing full 8 day listing grids because many of the newer "V9" devices do not support listings that far out?

You're in Detroit, correct? cheneyp, jzareski, and myself are in Connecticut. We have an entirely different local PBS station, different cable systems, with different equipment, and different techs. I don't doubt that you may be receiving data via an analog channel. Here in CT though, we do not have an analog source as this time. The local cable systems may eventually install the equipment to do this, but they aren't right now.


This was not directed at you, Was directed at the rambling they replied to me about nothing as far as I could tell.:rolleyes:

Yes, I am in Dallas. Should have made that clear. I googled this problem and see I'm not alone. w w w.spiffspace.com/forum/index.php?topic=29.0;prev_next=next#new

Does anyone own a TVGOS Version 9 device that is designed to hold more than 48 hours of listings? By design, the V9 TVGOS in my Sony LCD only shows listings for the next 48 hours. Could Macrovision be skimping out on providing full 8 day listing grids because many of the newer "V9" devices do not support listings that far out?

The V9 TVGOS in my 2 month old Mits LCD is called TVGuide Daily, and it only shows 24 hours. :o

Yes, I am in Dallas. Should have made that clear. I googled this problem and see I'm not alone. w w w.spiffspace.com/forum/index.php?topic=29.0;prev_next=next#new

Sounds like your in Dallas (if not, oops :o). You should be able to get your clock to set by doing the G* Test on 11.1 or 19.1. It will be one hour off until it gets to 8.06.44.

The one thing that worked for me was performing the G* Test on 11.1, at which point the channel says its something like 1023-65355, go up a channel, go back to 11.1, run the G* Test again and make sure the channel says it's 11.1 now. I then did the Force Host Channel command, let it sit for a few minutes, and then powered off.

One of my 250s reset to 00.00.00 last week, but luckily kept the grid. It took two days to get back to 8.06.44.

One thing to note, at least in Dallas anyway, is that the last Guide update I have only goes through Tuesday until 6:30pm. So, I'm not sure if it's a transmission issue or if I need to run G* Test and Host Channel procedures again.

FWIW, I have a Pioneer plasma whose base software is 8.01.68, that I haven't had to do a thing to. It's been getting updates through all this wackiness, but it too is only showing listings through next Tuesday.
Not sure what I'm doing wrong, but this my 3rd try to post this reply...

Yes, I am in Dallas. Should have made that clear. I googled this problem and see I'm not alone. w w w.spiffspace.com/forum/index.php?topic=29.0;prev_next=next#new

Does anyone own a TVGOS Version 9 device that is designed to hold more than 48 hours of listings? By design, the V9 TVGOS in my Sony LCD only shows listings for the next 48 hours. Could Macrovision be skimping out on providing full 8 day listing grids because many of the newer "V9" devices do not support listings that far out?

There's certainly something happening with regard to the length of the listing grids. Here (LA OTA - digital host 2-1) I've been getting only 5 days of listings on my HDD250. It does update every day to keep 5 days but has "No Listing" for days 6-8.

If anybody out there has either one of this products, please tell us what you think of these units. With all the problems that we are all experiencing with our Sony DHG250/500 I am looking at purchasing a DVR that works in a pure digital environment!

The MOXI does not have OTA tuner so you would have to subscribe to cable, plus my research indicates that a lot of people experienced problems earlier models. I can't find the Echostar TR50 for sale anywhere so I quess it has been discontinued? What is on the horizon?

Thanks in advance for any info.

I read the specs on the Moxi and it has TWO ATSC tuners according to a spec sheet I read somewhere online. I have the Echostar. Works well (but not as well as the Sony), the most common being it just re-boots while you're watching a program. See this thread...
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=972197&page=1

5 day listings continue.... Here on OTA digital CBS.

The other thing that I have noticed this last week is that there have been a LOT of last minute programing changes this last week between the published guides (weekly newspaper); the on-line TV-Guide web site, and some of the actual network's websites themselves. This includes FOX, CBS, and a few others. I don't know what's happening on that side of the equation but it's definitely not helping our situation with TVGOS.

In all cases my "next day" updates the night before didn't update to the most recent changes and threw the recordings off. Anyone else notice this?

Regards
MK

This was not directed at you, Was directed at the rambling they replied to me about nothing as far as I could tell.:rolleyes:

Well, I think it was directed at me. I quoted the local PBS engineer's note confirming that there was NO analog TVGOS being generated by them OR being converted by Comcast.

The point was that there are no more analog TVGOS sources in our area. The ONLY one we had converted to digital. Therefore my "cold start" to full listings happened in a digital-only environment. I think our local success may speak to the team at the individual stations and how they work together with Macrovision.

Well, I think it was directed at me. I quoted the local PBS engineer's note confirming that there was NO analog TVGOS being generated by them OR being converted by Comcast.

The point was that there are no more analog TVGOS sources in our area. The ONLY one we had converted to digital. Therefore my "cold start" to full listings happened in a digital-only environment. I think our local success may speak to the team at the individual stations and how they work together with Macrovision.

Ok, That made more sense.:)

Some people find HTPCs more trouble than they are worth to setup and maintain. But if you are an enthusiast that likes to regularly 'tweak' your computer setup, then a PC DVR may be just right for you. AVS has an entire forum devoted to the subject.

If you've already got a PC running Vista that you can repurpose, then adding a tuner card for OTA (or clear QAM) can be a relatively low-cost alternative to a new standalone DVR. Just don't buy a new HTPC thinking it will save you money. In addition to the upfront cost, the typical PC also consumes about four times as much electricity as a standalone DVR (i.e. $10/mo compared to $2.50/mo for the Sony and TiVo).

Kill-a-watt shows each of my two main computers consume 230 watts.
The HDD250 consumes about 40 watts as I remember
230/40=5.75

At SDG&E rates in San Diego that adds up.

Still, the 250 runs 24/7/52 but the computer only needs to run while watching and/or recording. Assuming 8 hrs/day TV use, that is a KWHR consumption ratio of 1/3 for the HTPC. For 4 hrs/day TV the HTPC is a bit more economical.

Probably to close to call. What do you think?
As to your first statement, Right on. It can be a real PITA

Suprise!
My Tv has a correct clock and it's 2 days of listings!
Haven"t had that for 3+ Weeks!
Cw

I am on cable/comcast

I need the Sony TV eqivalent to the 753 code....I can't find where I wrote
it down... the Mits code is the same!

Cw

So my question remains what is Host ID 315???, which is what my Sony STILL shows, though it has been showing PBS 9 as host channel for days and STILL is getting mostly no listings, with one singular exception...although earlier in this week, it had gotten NO listings for next Tuesday, today I noticed it DOES have complete listings for next Tuesday and maybe 10% listings in the AM for Friday, as though there WAS some data downloaded overnight, but it didn't reach any further than day 5....
???
(My LG3410a, which has also been on host channel 9 for most of this week has barely a dribble of listings for next week..say 10% on 3 of the days, and today at noon, when I checked the diag menu , was the FIRST time in a week that it had anything for LastDLEnd besides n/a (which I take to mean failure)...it actually had an end date/time (earlier today)....so I was hoping that it would start a download at 1:45 PM this afternoon, but it didn't (judging by the guide light...oops...too much about the LG

With regard to stations showing "vbi" packets on the G*test...only PBS 9, and CBS 5 and 5.1...nothing from KTVU...

bwal23...I also checked my DTVPal manual, and the only SF bay area fake zip code shown is 00005 for San Fran/Oakland/SanJose

(by the way. my 3410a shows a host ID of 0x716, whereas a couple of days ago it was 717...I don't understand what EITHER of them means...is the host ID supposed to be the ID for the host channel???

And where did you see anything about G4...was it the manual YOU referred to?
:confused:At this point I'm just plain tired of (burnt out) messing around with TVGOS. I should have put my foot down months ago. It's ridiculous what b******* we put up with these days. A FIX SOON meaning 4+ months is ridiculous. While I'm looking for a replacement (reviewing MOXI and TIVO HD), I'll be using the Comcast Cable TVGUIDE on their website. And Titan as a backup. I'm not interested in an HTPC solution and am now forced to use manual timers on a digital TVGOS compatible device.

P.S. I do hope for all of you hanging out for a solution, that it comes SOON (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15566943) (as in the un-Macrovision version of the definition (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soon)).

P.S. I do hope for all of you hanging out for a solution, that it comes soon

Seems to be working OK here in CT so there is hope! All those analog remnants seem to be screwing up most markets...

I've been lineupless since my factory service reset, some weeks ago. Tonight I climbed on the roof and added clipleads to the active elements of my UHF antenna. UHF was fine for OTA digital, but I could not get PBS VHF 9 VBI. With the clip leads I get analog VBI now. Tomorrow, I hope to be able to pick a cable system. By the next day I might have a lineup.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but from reading these posts, I'm under the impression that, once I get my lineup back, I won't need the analog host unless the DVR gets reset. My clipleads kill my reception for a number of UHF digitals....

I might also note that my CBS VHF analog channel (5) now has VBI, sort of. PBS has a steady stream of VBI, but CBS goes several minutes with no VBI, then has VBI for about a minute, and then it stops. CBS does not show bad packets and seems to have a better visual signal than the PBS channel. PBS has mostly good packets, a few fixed packets, and rarely a bad packet.

I wonder if a bad packet every ten minutes will prevent things from coming back?

SF Bay Area... 6 days of guide for 3 days in a row, but updating nicely, and the host is showing as 5-1, as is the clock set channel. So, except for no days 7 & 8, it seems to be working fine. I had reverted, as did Tony, to analog 9 over the weekend, but it switched by itself to 5-1.

Luckily, I haven't had to do a "start-from-scratch" load, as so many others have.

Rick

Seems to be working OK here in CT so there is hope! All those analog remnants seem to be screwing up most markets...

I have to agree with cheneyp. After reading about the units recovering this week (even though several of them were analog), I decided to reset my unit (which is also in a digital only environment) to try and fix a problem I have been having.

On Wednesday night at 10:00pm, I decided to do the TV Guide - reset to factory default just once, so I wouldn't have to get the two patch versions over again. However, when I did the reset it still wiped my firmware back to 08.01.42/00.00.00. I then did a G* Test and made sure the packets were counting, and that the 753 menu clock was set. Then I went to bed.

Thursday morning my clock was set, but 1 hour off (as expected). I also had the first patch version 08.05.40. I ran a G* Test like I always have to do after a patch version installs, and went to work.

Thursday around 5:00pm, I had the 08.06.44 patch. After another G* Test, I turned it off.

This morning (Friday) I had a bunch of packets, but no channel lineup (as expected). I figured I might not get a channel lineup, since that is where it got stuck last time I did this the week of March 1st.

When I got home tonight at 4:00 pm, I was surprised to see that my channel lineup had loaded. Everything is currently 'No Listing', and I'll see what happens overnight.

So to recap, after a total reset at 10:00pm on Wednesday, my grid was back (with No Listing) in less than 48 hours. The G* Test is the only manual procedure I did during this time. I didn't use the force host channel procedure, because I've learned, playing with this unit for the past month, that the DHG knows how to find VBI data without my help.

I know there are still several people with units that have suffered resets, and been unable to get channel lineups, and some who don't even have clocks. I can only guess that there may just be something wrong with the TVGOS data in your area, and in some cases it may be non-existant. I'm sure with the sporadic guide data we have been getting of late, that macrovision has been tweaking the data stream, and I do believe that has helped. So if the TVGOS is not working in your area, I think it is only a matter of time until it is working again.

Mark

Good news. I finally got around to trying that soft reset again a couple of nights back, and when my unit was recording something last night, it wasn't frozen anymore.

So that seems cleared up, and everything's all good - at least until the next time they screw around with the signal, anyway.

My listings for the last couple of days has been as follows:
days 1-5 full listings
days 6 and 8- only partial listings till 8:00 pm and then no listings at all after that
day 7- no listings at all for the full day
This pattern has been the same since at least Wednesday.
Is this about what everyone else is getting ( time zone dependent as to cutoff on days 6 and 8 )
Michael

My listings for the last couple of days has been as follows:
days 1-5 full listings
days 6 and 8- only partial listings till 8:00 pm and then no listings at all after that
day 7- no listings at all for the full day
This pattern has been the same since at least Wednesday.
Is this about what everyone else is getting ( time zone dependent as to cutoff on days 6 and 8 )
Michael

Same here in CT....

Same here in CT....Here in the Philly area (Host channel KYW-DT, 3.1 OTA), things are a little bit different, but follow the same pattern:

Day 6: Complete listings

Day 7: Complete up to 8PM, then partial (2 or 3 channels out of 15 turned on)

Day 8: Partial listings up to 8PM (continue from day 7), then all "No Listing"

So there's something magical about 8PM. In the not-too-distant past I had noticed a cutoff (between listings and no-listings) around 4AM of day 8, when the day 8 listings were missing (which wasn't always.)

So apparently, if we don't mind having only 5-6 days of semi-reliable listings, things are dandy. I say "semi-reliable" because right up until showtime Thursday night TVGOS listed a new episode of Bones on Fox, but what should appear but American Idol instead! Sigh...

The TV is continuing to get good TVGOS updates....

left the hdd250 off last night....

This AM the clock was of by about 7 hours, and it had gone through a reset with no grid. No Host channel, good vbi stream on 705 (comcrap dig CBS).

45 MIN later...no clock. I'm thinking it will be going through the 48hr rebuild and update process. Firmware was down to 8.01.42 I believe.

Come on BAY AREA!

Cw

I knew it couldn't last, and this thing spreads like a virus.

My - up to now- good 250 locked up when playing while recording. A front panel reset caused the clock to be an hour behind and the TVGOS software version to be reset at .00

Strangely grid is still there even with the same listings it had before the incident- now off by an hour.

Since it has been updating on the new schedule of only a few front days I am hoping I can get back to version .44 in short order.

Even if I get so lucky, will it continue getting locked up?

I have three of these things and have had to do a front panel reset now on all of them, it's weird how different the result. The two 500 did not revert the TVGOS software version to the original.

Damn.

And here in NY DMA, still no clock, post reset. It has been about a week. I'm afraid to disconnect the second unit.

I knew it couldn't last, and this thing spreads like a virus.

My - up to now- good 250 locked up when playing while recording. A front panel reset caused the clock to be an hour behind and the TVGOS software version to be reset at .00

Strangely grid is still there even with the same listings it had before the incident- now off by an hour.

Since it has been updating on the new schedule of only a few front days I am hoping I can get back to version .44 in short order.

Even if I get so lucky, will it continue getting locked up?

I have three of these things and have had to do a front panel reset now on all of them, it's weird how different the result. The two 500 did not revert the TVGOS software version to the original.

Damn.

I could almost just post "ditto" to that. My steady-as-a-rock 250 also locked up last night just watching a recording; no recording going on or scheduled. But it didn't respond to a front panel reset. Unplugging gave me about the same result you had though. Software reset to 00.00.00 but grid and listings stayed and time zone stayed so a G* test gave me correct time an hour slow. I left it on overnight and it updated to 08.05.40. Did another G* test to restart VBI. Presumably it will get back to .44 sometime today.

Having a recorder is great, but it sure would be nice if you could actually watch the programs you've recorded. :D

And here in NY DMA, still no clock, post reset. It has been about a week.

What does DMA stand for? Where in the NY area are you and what is your source?

On one 500 in Northern NJ on one of the Cablevision systems, I am in the same situation.

Having a recorder is great, but it sure would be nice if you could actually watch the programs you've recorded. :D

You should have read the contract that came with the unit. You get to occasionally record and watch stuff but in exchange you must give up your sanity and the devil gets your soul. :D

By the way, I'm undecided between running the G-test and leaving it on or turning it off. Maybe I can even get something in this afternoon's download. Is the suggestion to better leave it on or to turn it off when trying to get the software to update?

Folks,

HELP!

I'm in Indianapolis, using OTA + Cable+card. I get my TVGOS from the OTA side; BrightHoseNetworks doesn't pass the VBI info.

A week ago, I was getting ~ 5 days of listings, more or less. A person I know who is OTA only here in Indy said he had 8 days of listings, with some empty spots here and there. So, I thought it was a problem on my end and reset my unit severely. Did the TVGOS restore default (in the TVGOS menu, not the one that wipes recorded content). I Re-scanned the antenna, resetup the zip code as 00000 and turned it off. Then after a while set the zip to my real zip code and left it off overnight. I had a clock in the morning, but no grid/guide/or option to pick a cable system.

I've tried re-resetting, unplugging, everything, leaving the thing on G*Test on the digital host for hours. I get a clock but nothing else.

I'm leaving the whole thing off for 36 hours to see if that helps. I'll check it tomorrow morning again. But I'm not optimistic.

I exchanged emails with the WFYI engineer who had reset the encoder on Wednesday (based on email reports from me) and has no reason to believe at this point there is anything wrong on his end. I think I'm his only complaint.

I'm worried I might be caught in some analog/digital issue. Both WFYI-20 (analog) and 20.1 (digital) pass the VBI test, and either can be used to set the clock in my experience. Could it be that the Sony is seeing just enough activity on the Analog side that it's sticking there, but there's no real data on that due to Macrovision's idiocy? And if so, why wouldn't leaving it in G*Test mode on digital fix me up?

What should I try next to investigate what's going on? The other person in my area that I talk to is traveling so no joy there about learning if he's still getting listings.

What can I do on my end to get further knowledge?

Marc

What does DMA stand for?

Designated Marketing Area (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_market).

My listings for the last couple of days has been as follows:
days 1-5 full listings
days 6 and 8- only partial listings till 8:00 pm and then no listings at all after that
day 7- no listings at all for the full day


That's what I'm seeing here today. This is the first time I've checked the full eight days in a long time, so I can't confirm how long it's been happening.

(OTA, from an analog PBS station in Asheville NC.)

Designated Marketing Area (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_market).

Thanks. I figured something like that but that designation is irrelevent to our issues.

And here in NY DMA,

In and around NYC you could be on any number of cable companies including from Comcast to Time Warner to Cablevision. You could be on FIOS, you could be OTA.

And to make things even more complicated you may be on different systems from the same cable company with different results. On one system from Cablevision I am passing the G-test while on another of their systems a few miles away, it fails.

Folks,

HELP!

I'm in Indianapolis, using OTA + Cable+card. I get my TVGOS from the OTA side; BrightHoseNetworks doesn't pass the VBI info.

A week ago, I was getting ~ 5 days of listings, more or less. A person I know who is OTA only here in Indy said he had 8 days of listings, with some empty spots here and there. So, I thought it was a problem on my end and reset my unit severely. Did the TVGOS restore default (in the TVGOS menu, not the one that wipes recorded content). I Re-scanned the antenna, resetup the zip code as 00000 and turned it off. Then after a while set the zip to my real zip code and left it off overnight. I had a clock in the morning, but no grid/guide/or option to pick a cable system.

I've tried re-resetting, unplugging, everything, leaving the thing on G*Test on the digital host for hours. I get a clock but nothing else.

I'm leaving the whole thing off for 36 hours to see if that helps. I'll check it tomorrow morning again. But I'm not optimistic.

I exchanged emails with the WFYI engineer who had reset the encoder on Wednesday (based on email reports from me) and has no reason to believe at this point there is anything wrong on his end. I think I'm his only complaint.

I'm worried I might be caught in some analog/digital issue. Both WFYI-20 (analog) and 20.1 (digital) pass the VBI test, and either can be used to set the clock in my experience. Could it be that the Sony is seeing just enough activity on the Analog side that it's sticking there, but there's no real data on that due to Macrovision's idiocy? And if so, why wouldn't leaving it in G*Test mode on digital fix me up?

What should I try next to investigate what's going on? The other person in my area that I talk to is traveling so no joy there about learning if he's still getting listings.

What can I do on my end to get further knowledge?

Marc
You're experiencing the same thing everyone else on here is, and theres really not much you can do about it.

What does DMA stand for? Where in the NY area are you and what is your source?

On one 500 in Northern NJ on one of the Cablevision systems, I am in the same situation.


DMA = Designated Market Area, the US is divvied up into markets by number of TV, radio, newpapers the population gets, so NYC metro is #1, LA #2, etc
all the way down to You Betcha Rural Alaska #259

My 250 (Long Island) seems to be working ok and I use strictly OTA

5 day listings continue.... Here on OTA digital CBS.

The other thing that I have noticed this last week is that there have been a LOT of last minute programing changes this last week between the published guides (weekly newspaper); the on-line TV-Guide web site, and some of the actual network's websites themselves. This includes FOX, CBS, and a few others. I don't know what's happening on that side of the equation but it's definitely not helping our situation with TVGOS.

In all cases my "next day" updates the night before didn't update to the most recent changes and threw the recordings off. Anyone else notice this?

Regards
MK


Didnt notice on my Sony but my Echostar DTVPAL DVR got really jammed. Bones (NO BONES American Idle), LIE TO ME (NO LIE TO ME American Idle),
and on Thursday the 11th Hour became a 3 hour TV show due to March Mental Madness