Guess I am really lucky! I am using over the air signal on my Sony and after updating the unit with Sony's firmware update, have had no problems! TVGOS works just fine over the air.

Suggestion. If you have cable and are having problems, can you connect a UHF antenna and try to receive the updates over the air instead of via cable?

Subtle changes and another first for MySonyBox:

Pic 7921: This is the first time (on its own) to reach 0xf78 on two consecutive NumSearch’s. Less than one day to go for the next NumSearch.

Pic 7922: Memory imbalance grows. Did not use box in heavy duty mode last night so as of now, it has no effect.

Pic 7923: CheckSumErrors remain very low. If you are getting more than a few hits per day, then you may want to check your connections. I found a slightly loose connection on the back side of a wall plate, only noticeable when tapping the wall plate fairly hard. Once that loose connection was tighten this error rate dropped about 90-97% (2 is a lot less than a few hundred).

Pic 7924: For the vast majority of Digital Downloads the Houston failing clock channel has been “blank”; except for the last couple of weeks when both “failing” and “Clock set channel” reflected 11-0. Now the set channel shows 11-1. This really does not mean anything because it is the same RF 11; still it is strange reporting and this difference only showed up last night?

Pic 7925: The “newer” relationships are still maintained for VBIStats.

Now that Cox in Kansas and Arkansas has (as of today, November 17, 2009) gone to 4 digits for most of its HD channel lineup you cannot set up the channel guide to use 4 digits. The box will tune to any 4 digit channel, but you can't go into the guide and set up that channel with it's corresponding channel information/programming. I do have the latest firmware .21 on the box. When you attempt to set up the new 4 digit channel it only allows you to input 3 digits in the menu setup. This is crazy since the box allows you to tune to a 4 digit channel. One example is that CBS HD is now channel 2005 instead of 705.

Does anyone know of a work around or if Sony is going to release a firmware update beyond .21 to allow 4 digit setups?

I had a chat with Sony Support this morning and Robert reported that Sony is aware of the problem and will be working on a fix/firmware update.

He was unable to give me a timeframe for the fix but promised it would be coming very soon. I think it would help if anyone else having this problem would contact Sony via their web chat and let them know it is a problem for all users who have 4 digit channels via cable.

He said Sony would announce the fix once it was done.

You can contact Sony Support via this link: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/support-contacts.pl?mdl=DHGHDD250

Well, after the 5 min uplug last night, lockups have gone away. The memory Allocated and Blocks used initially stay synced, but as of this morning, they are off by one. Quick recording test showed no lockup though.... I'll wait and see.

I'm getting good updates for the past few nights...the host channel is blank.
I'm thinking it may be in the process of changing over to my OTA CBS digital.

Cw

[...]
Pic 7924: For the vast majority of Digital Downloads the Houston failing clock channel has been “blank”; except for the last couple of weeks when both “failing” and “Clock set channel” reflected 11-0. Now the set channel shows 11-1. This really does not mean anything because it is the same RF 11; still it is strange reporting and this difference only showed up last night?



What I have seen is, that if a clock set happens when the unit is off, it shows the xx-0 channel, and if it sets when the unit is on, it shows the xx-1, or xx-2 channel. I believe the host channel works the same way, which is why most report the xx-0 host, but a few report xx-1. I think the host channel setting when the unit is on is rare though.

Mark

What I have seen is, that if a clock set happens when the unit is off, it shows the xx-0 channel, and if it sets when the unit is on, it shows the xx-1, or xx-2 channel. I believe the host channel works the same way, which is why most report the xx-0 host, but a few report xx-1. I think the host channel setting when the unit is on is rare though.


The post I linked to below, and the post following it, seem to support your statement.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16843201#post16843201

I had a chat with Sony Support this morning and Robert reported that Sony is aware of the problem and will be working on a fix/firmware update.
He was unable to give me a timeframe for the fix but promised it would be coming very soon. I think it would help if anyone else having this problem would contact Sony via their web chat and let them know it is a problem for all users who have 4 digit channels via cable.
He said Sony would announce the fix once it was done.


Although I don't (yet) have this problem with my CableCo, I'm glad to see that Sony is apparently still continuing to provide some level of support for these DVR's. :)

Although I don't (yet) have this problem with my CableCo, I'm glad to see that Sony is apparently still continuing to provide some level of support for these DVR's. :)

Awesome. I just tried the email but the server is almost dead. I want them to let me do manual recordings with .21 firmware. Can't hurt to ask. My cable company just sent out notice that channels over 21 are going digital and it will be sending out free converters. They also implied a digital TV doesn't need one. That is scarry.

Oh, just wanted to mention that my cable feed stopped packets a few hours ago.

I had a chat with Sony Support this morning and Robert reported that Sony is aware of the problem and will be working on a fix/firmware update.

He was unable to give me a timeframe for the fix but promised it would be coming very soon. I think it would help if anyone else having this problem would contact Sony via their web chat and let them know it is a problem for all users who have 4 digit channels via cable.

He said Sony would announce the fix once it was done.

You can contact Sony Support via this link: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/support-contacts.pl?mdl=DHGHDD250

Email sent. Glad to help.

Now that Cox in Kansas and Arkansas has (as of today, November 17, 2009) gone to 4 digits for most of its HD channel lineup you cannot set up the channel guide to use 4 digits. The box will tune to any 4 digit channel, but you can't go into the guide and set up that channel with it's corresponding channel information/programming. I do have the latest firmware .21 on the box. When you attempt to set up the new 4 digit channel it only allows you to input 3 digits in the menu setup. This is crazy since the box allows you to tune to a 4 digit channel. One example is that CBS HD is now channel 2005 instead of 705.

Does anyone know of a work around or if Sony is going to release a firmware update beyond .21 to allow 4 digit setups?

Cable only? If so, tune to the channel, then hold down the red record button until the manual menu shows. Adjust the time & date, etc. and save. All recordings will display "Unknown" with this method though. If you get an error when trying to save the manually scheduled recording, just go back to .13 firmware and try it. Works for my six to seven digit channel numbers.

If your cable company says that you won't need a converter for a digital TV....then that sounds like good news. Here in comcast land, they mixed everything up so that you have to have a converter (really a decoder) to receive raw cable above channel 34...and therefore no clear QAM. Up till this wonderful change I could at least Clear Qam my major networks...so that while I was recording, I could watch the majors in HD. YMMV
:)

Cw

If your cable company says that you won't need a converter for a digital TV....then that sounds like good news. Here in comcast land, they mixed everything up so that you have to have a converter (really a decoder) to receive raw cable above channel 34...and therefore no clear QAM. Up till this wonderful change I could at least Clear Qam my major networks...so that while I was recording, I could watch the majors in HD. YMMV


I'm hoping that doesn't happen in my area (Comcast SE PA). We have our 2 DTA's installed for the secondary TVs, but clearQAM is still coming in fine. In fact, since they started moving the analogs to digital (about a year ago), they opened up all of the extended Basic channels to clearQAM. Saves a lot of HDD space on the Sony.

If they end up clamping down on clearQAM, I will try and weasel a free CableCard from them, in addition to the regular SD-STB that I have.

Hopefully, I never have to go down that road.

Rescanned my cable into my TV last night. I stand corrected, still getting clear Qam Comcast below channel 34. But, to recieve Cable channels above that, I need their decoder box, and THEN I loose the clear QAM.
But, the rumor is that comcast plans to scramble everything eventually...

I guess the cable compainies aren't considered a monopoly since we have options of Dish, OTA and Cable but geezzzz....they seem to do whatever they want.

Cw

Rescanned my cable into my TV last night. I stand corrected, still getting clear Qam Comcast below channel 34. But, to recieve Cable channels above that, I need their decoder box, and THEN I loose the clear QAM.
But, the rumor is that comcast plans to scramble everything eventually...

I guess the cable compainies aren't considered a monopoly since we have options of Dish, OTA and Cable but geezzzz....they seem to do whatever they want.

Cw

Cable companies are not regulated like broadcast companies by the FCC. As long as you can get C-SPAN for "free", the government keeps their hands off cable. And there are virtually no laws for cable. It's as open as the internet. But, and this is just my opinion, there is no economic advantage to scramble any channel that makes money from ads. I just don't see NCB/U (soon to be bought?) going to advertisers and telling them how many viewers they LOST last quarter because the signal is now jammed. It's hard to buy any flat panel without a clear QAM tuner. True, most of the country lives in or near a major market. Yet the government and broadcasters treat Wyoming the same as New York for the most part. The government does have some weak influence or we would have 'a la carte' cable which Sen. McCain wanted 30 years ago but he gave up on it. Too much pressure from the ABC/Disney/ESPN cartel.

If your TV has a diagnostic display, does it say that channel 2 is "analog" or "QAM"? There is a difference. On my cable, the channels in analog are shown on the DHG and on my TV without a decimal point. If they have a decimal point (or "-" on the TVGOS listing), they are QAM64/256. I can not display those signals on my Sony DVR or TV. But their raw form, like 84.1401 or 106.1601 can be watched in HD and recorded manually on the Sony or LG. That's good enough for me. I get what I pay for.

I have CNBC on right now. Your wonderful state has just passed a law that makes "green" TV sets mandatory by 2011. I wonder if this will make the DHG illegal since it uses 40 watts when in standby mode? We live in interesting times!

Rescanned my cable into my TV last night. I stand corrected, still getting clear Qam Comcast below channel 34. But, to recieve Cable channels above that, I need their decoder box, and THEN I loose the clear QAM.

Cw

Hi CW. Mabuttra pointed me to your posts here from the spiff space forums (thanks again, Mark!)

I've been trying to get the grid and listings back up on my DHG for over 4 days now (also located in SF Bay Area, but in Palo Alto - about 35 miles south of Sutro Tower).

I was wondering if you could share your current set-up for getting the grid and listings back up. Reading through your posts, you recommend antenna hooked up to the OTA input, and raw cable (no cable card) going to the cable input, right? Do you then tune into channel 9 on the DVR and turn the DVR off? Or should I go ahead and split the raw cable feed and connect to both OTA and cable inputs?

I have no cable card from comcast (I just get the raw feed that's supplied to all units in my condo complex) and do have an antenna. As of now, I have done the factory reset, upgraded to .21 software, have the antenna hooked up to the OTA input, and raw cable into the cable input, have rescanned all channels, tuned into channel 5.1 (supplied by cable, not OTA) and then turned the DVR off. I get the clock and ads up fairly quickly (within a few hours), but 4 days later, still no grid/listings. I'm guessing I need to tune into channel 9 (supplied by OTA feed) instead?

Thanks in advance for the help!

-D

Hi CW. Mabuttra pointed me to your posts here from the spiff space forums (thanks again, Mark!)

I've been trying to get the grid and listings back up on my DHG for over 4 days now (also located in SF Bay Area, but in Palo Alto - about 35 miles south of Sutro Tower).

4 days later, still no grid/listings. I'm guessing I need to tune into channel 9 (supplied by OTA feed) instead?

Thanks in advance for the help!

-D

What zipcode have you loaded and are you getting ZipPkts? No match with your zipcode means no listings. LUPkt should be growing also.

What zipcode have you loaded and are you getting ZipPkts? No match with your zipcode means no listings. LUPkt should be growing also.

Zip code I'm using is 94306. ZipcodePkts is at 785. Is LUPkt same as LineupPkt? If so, then it's at 188. Where would I find a zip code that's confirmed to work for the SF Bay Area? Thanks.

-D

Zip code I'm using is 94306. ZipcodePkts is at 785. Is LUPkt same as LineupPkt? If so, then it's at 188. Where would I find a zip code that's confirmed to work for the SF Bay Area? Thanks.

-D

You could try 94301, 3, 4 and 5. Those are all in your city. There are several bay area folks here. I lived in San Mateo until 2003. You could also email your host station and ask if they support TVGOS for your zip code. That might be quicker.

Mark pointed out to me last week, that he does not believe anyone in the Bay Area has rebuilt their grid strictly on OTA since the digital transition.
I'm am Hybride with both Cable Card (comcast) and OTA and have been able to rebuild grid and get regular updates for several weeks. Until I put up the antenna...things were hit and miss. I think the grid comes from the cable, and some updates on OTA...

Cw

Zip code I'm using is 94306. ZipcodePkts is at 785. Is LUPkt same as LineupPkt? If so, then it's at 188. Where would I find a zip code that's confirmed to work for the SF Bay Area? Thanks.

-D

You have a computer and a printer? Be nice, but spend money on a stamp and mail a letter to the COO, CEO, etc. of Comcast. Ask if they are supporting TVGOS for your location.

I did that after a year of service visits due to poor reception on channels above 30 and no fix. I even made a graph of the signal strenth vs channel number. One week after the letter there were three Comcast trucks parked in my apartment complex looking for the problem. They found a bad amplifier two blocks away under a house that was involved in a fire about the time my signal got bad. If you need the names of the corporate officers let me know. At least start telling them about your problem on comcast.com and/or comcast.net.

If your host is an OTA channel, it could be harder but not impossible.

Opps,

Being in a hurry, I only read a partial quote of your post.

My grid rebuilt with the raw cable split between the cable and antenna inputs.
In the last few weeks I've done both it with and without cable card.
I've never rebuilt with cable + OTA....because I've only been OTA for 10 days....and didn't want to dump my grid. My host channel was cable PBS analog 9... 10 days ago, I switched the Ant in to OTA and have been getting good updates each night. My host channel is now blank.

Hope this helps....keep trying, sounds like your setup should work. What channel you tune to is irrelevant for this....there is another method that hadworked for upgrading the grid info by tuning to the host channel and leaving the unit on.

The worst part is waiting....waiting for something to happen

Cw

WUSA-DT Wash DC update: Tues night starting receiving VBI packets after a week of nothing WUSA-DT/FIOS. Other users having similar issues so problem probably with TVGOS server at the station. Wed starting getting guide updates so things looking back to normal here.

My grid rebuilt with the raw cable split between the cable and antenna inputs.
In the last few weeks I've done both it with and without cable card.
I've never rebuilt with cable + OTA....because I've only been OTA for 10 days....and didn't want to dump my grid. My host channel was cable PBS analog 9... 10 days ago, I switched the Ant in to OTA and have been getting good updates each night. My host channel is now blank.

The worst part is waiting....waiting for something to happen

Cw

Thanks, Cw and Joe, for your input. I tried switching the zip code last night to 94301; will see if anything loads when I get back from work this afternoon.

As for the waiting, I don't mind it so much as long as I have Hulu. :D
My girlfriend, on the other hand, is a little less patient. I think she got spoiled by her Comcast DVR. We're moving in together and according to her, I have till December 5 to figure this thing out, as that's when she has to vacate her current dwelling and loses her Comcast DVR. :)

I'd really like to get this DHG working... It will be one of those little personal victories... man against machine... :D

If I don't get this going in the next week, however, I'll probably get my gf the HD Tivo; wouldn't mind having the Netflix and Pandora features.

Anyway; rambling on now. Thanks again for the help. Will post my progress as I chug along.

-D

While I am waiting on Sony to update their firmware to accept 4 digit channels in the setup in the TV Guide setup, I thought I would record my HD shows over the air instead of cable. Only to find all the OTA channels gone from the TV Guide channel list. When I go into channel setup I can't change the channel from "cable" to "antenna" like I could before (it is grayed out and stays on "cable"). Does anyone know how to recover this? I am using a cable card as well as an over the air antenna. I can tune to the channels that are OTA, just can't set them up in TV Guide. Do I have to reset my box? Suggestions?

You will need to change the TV Guide setup to tell it you have both "Cable" and "Antenna" connected. It will then need to download your OTA lineup.

You will need to change the TV Guide setup to tell it you have both "Cable" and "Antenna" connected. It will then need to download your OTA lineup.

I thought of that, but upon checking the setup it shows that I already had both selected. Since I did not use the over the air for sometime to record it has simply disappeared from the TV Guide Listings on its own. It was set up that way (both Cable and Antenna) when I reset the box with the new firmware upgrade last Spring. I have not messed with the settings since then since it was working fine. Should I just completely reset the box?

I don't think that they would simply disappear on their own, but then I have been wrong (once) before. ;) Are you sure that they're not just turned "Off", and residing way down at the end of your channel list?

Well, changing zip code to 94301 didn't get me anything. Think I'll follow Cw's procedure by splitting the comcast cable and feeding it into the antenna and cable inputs. Will update with any progress.

-D

-D

If you split your cable raw into the Ant Input, make sure you rescan the Antenna Channels. And if you have any doubts at all, rescan both.
I'll be curious if you have the same success as I have had...

And, as stated a few posts above, make sure you set your TVGOS setup to be cable and OTA.

Cw

Cw,

Did the rescan on both ANT and CABLE inputs and made sure TV guide was set up with both as well. Trying to recall, did you get your grid with the .21 software installed?

Thanks.

-D

-D

Yes, the .21 firmware is installed. Did you wake up this morning to find a gift under your TV?

Cw

Sadly, no gift gift this morning. I'm contemplating starting with a clean slate; split of the raw cable into ANT and CABLE inputs, do a factory reset and the .21 update and then just leave the damn thing alone until Monday.

-D

-D

Is Comcast your cable provider? That is mine in Santa Rosa.
This can be a very frustrating process...
But is seems the best to do is get everything setup right and wait.

If you don't have a grid, I see no harm in going back to a Factory Reset and starting fresh. I did that about 2+ weeks ago. Within a few days with the cable split setup, I got a grid, and then updates within 24hrs.

I've been perfect now for a week with my new setup....good updates, no lockups (Thanks HoustonPerson....the unplug trick worked....and now my memory blocks are staying equal).

Don't get frustrated if nothing happens over the weekend. That seems to be a time when the data is pretty flaky...

Cw

Cw,

Yes, Comcast is my provider here.

Never got a grid, so will do the reset, get this set up properly, and just wait.

Thanks!

-D

This is really starting to pi$$ me off. I still haven't reacquired the Grid on the unit that lost on Nov 12th (see post below). And now today, the unit in our bedroom has lost it's Grid in the exact same fashion. I turned it on, it briefly displayed (on it's front panel) the last station I had it tuned to, then the front panel displays "1 NEW BAR", and is tuned to channel 1 (which is nothing in my area), and the forking Grid is GONE. This is is exactly how it happened on my unit in the family room. I had not used this bedroom DVR since last weekend, and it was acting fine (not slow) when I used it last. Both of these units have CableCards installed. Both units show the "Cause" as "9". My other unit with CableCard (as well as my TV with CableCard) have not done this (yet). I have never seen behaviour like this from my units prior to installing the CableCards on Oct 19th.

Has anyone else using CableCard seen anything like this?

One of my HDD500's (the main one in the family room) apparently decided to reboot/reset itself last night, losing it's Grid. :mad: We had been watching SYTYCD and then Criminal minds last night, during which time the DVR had been responding v-e-r-y slowly to the remote. :o I had CSI-NY set to record, but that did not occur. Apparently it reset itself shortly after I turned it off after Criminal Minds ended. :eek::eek::eek: The "Cause" shows as a "9" for those interested in such things.

So now I'm waiting for a Grid on my primary unit once again . . .

Never got a grid, so will do the reset, get this set up properly, and just wait.

-D

Quick Update: Did the reset, updated to .21, re-scanned, and reset TVGOS settings this morning (around 10:00 AM). Just peeked (1:07 PM) at the front panel of the unit; the clock is back, showing the correct time. Fingers crossed...

This is really starting to pi$$ me off. I still haven't reacquired the Grid on the unit that lost on Nov 12th (see post below). And now today, the unit in our bedroom has lost it's Grid in the exact same fashion. I turned it on, it briefly displayed (on it's front panel) the last station I had it tuned to, then the front panel displays "1 NEW BAR", and is tuned to channel 1 (which is nothing in my area), and the forking Grid is GONE. This is is exactly how it happened on my unit in the family room. I had not used this bedroom DVR since last weekend, and it was acting fine (not slow) when I used it last. Both of these units have CableCards installed. Both units show the "Cause" as "9". My other unit with CableCard (as well as my TV with CableCard) have not done this (yet). I have never seen behaviour like this from my units prior to installing the CableCards on Oct 19th.

Has anyone else using CableCard seen anything like this?

It doesn't sound like you lost your host channel, but only lost your channel mappings. I have cable card and I had to once map all my channel in the TVGOS channel editor by hand (the TVGOS channel lineup didn't match my setup). Once I mapped them, they all stuck.

Can you go to the channel editor and start mapping your channels? (TVGOS setup menu.) The grid for each newly mapped channel will no populate until the next download interval.

TIP - I have learned to not map channels I don't watch. The SONY guide is faster and is less likely to lockup with fewer channels in the grid display (it doesn't download networks that are not mapped).

It doesn't sound like you lost your host channel, but only lost your channel mappings. I have cable card and I had to once map all my channel in the TVGOS channel editor by hand (the TVGOS channel lineup didn't match my setup). Once I mapped them, they all stuck.

Can you go to the channel editor and start mapping your channels? (TVGOS setup menu.) The grid for each newly mapped channel will no populate until the next download interval.

TIP - I have learned to not map channels I don't watch. The SONY guide is faster and is less likely to lockup with fewer channels in the grid display (it doesn't download networks that are not mapped).

I guess I didn't explain fully. The Grid is gone, the Channel Lineup is gone, the HostChan is gone (normally not a problem once a Grid is obtained), and all of the packet counters were reset to "0". It's not simply that the "Listings" were gone, I wish that were the case.

Most of my CableCard channels did have the correct channel numbers by default when it acquired the Lineup previously. However, there were a few channels that I had to edit manually.

I agree that turning off any unwatched channels is the thing to do. By default, the CableCard lineup had a gazillion channels turned on, and the DVR suffered because of it. I had gone through and turned off most of them. I wish there were a command for "All Channels OFF" , the opposite of the "123123123 - All Channels ON" command. It would be much quicker to just go through and turn ON the few channels that I want, instead of having to turn OFF a million that I don't want.

Still having freeze up problems. Seems to only occur on my local CBS station when it is recording and trying to watch a previous show. Time will freeze as well. Have to do a front panel reset to get it to work. Sometimes it will start a recording for about 2 to 3 minutes and then reboot. Trying a factory restore and reinstalling the .21. Not sure if this is more of an issue with Rovi or the machine, but think it is the former because it is happening to both units. Will let you know how long it takes for a grid and such.
Michael

Well it happened again for the second time in 4 years.
Lockup while recording, no response to any commands until the recording completed. Successfully used the procedure posted on Spiffpace to cure the DVR but for some unknown reason all the video was gone and the TV showed a black screen. However the Guide and all menus displayed perfectly. Even recorded programs did not show

Pause to scratch head.

Not the HDMI cable, or menus would not appear. Screen mode ? message said "not available", format ?, still on auto HDMI. Bad tuner ?, no that would prevent grid reception and would not affect recordings, Video decoder shot ? Perhaps
To make the story short, removed power for 5 minutes and voila, all back to normal.

Next day, Guide and listings back, TVGOS operating normally on the 4 year old HDD250.

My condolences to all the posters with TVGOS problems. The only advise I can offer is to move to San Diego where XETV still transmits analog TVGOS data OTA and via TWC.
My unit is locked on 1:06, the cable channel for XETV and has never lost the grid or listings. except for performing the TVGOS reset and then only for one day.

Woke up to find no listings except for today. Last night I saw that briefly, and then they were back...but now they're really gone.

So...frontpanel reset and we'll see.

Cw

then the front panel displays "1 NEW BAR", and is tuned to channel 1 (which is nothing in my area), and the forking Grid is GONE.

Both of these units have CableCards installed.

I think your cable provider is sending your cable card a command that is causing this. When I changed my cable package my cable company sent something that cause the same type of behavior where the DVR started on Channel "1" which is the VOD virtual channel. For me the guide was never lost, but I have OTA also configured. Maybe you should add OTA to your cable in Sony setup. During the cable companies subscription maintenance your card might briefly have no channels so the entire guide system gets dropped. If you had some OTA channels then it would have a channel to hold your listings for.

If you are not able to get any OTA channel, you can move your cable coax to your ANT in and do a OTA rescan on the Sony. Assuming your Cable provider has some analog channels the Sony should find some analog channel.

Note - I have had my SONY do the channel 1 VOD thing about 4 times in 3 years.

^^^

WhatHappend -

Thanks for the information. Actually, I do have OTA channels set up also (I always have). I just had the four CableCards installed on Oct 19th, three in HDD500's and one in my Mits TV that has V-9.1.56 TVGOS. In the month since I've had the cards installed, this is now the second time that this has happen(e)d. Both times were on HDD500's, but a different unit each time.

It is interesting what you said about your "Channel 1" being VOD. My hardcopy Charter channel list says that my "Channel 1" is VOD also. But if I tune to ch-1, it displays the video from my local CBS station (which is CableCard ch-704). This happens on all 3 DVR's as well as the Mits.

What about that command for "All Channels OFF"? I tried a few things on a hunch, but no joy . . .

^^^

WhatHappend -

Thanks for the information. Actually, I do have OTA channels set up also (I always have). I just had the four CableCards installed on Oct 19th, three in HDD500's and one in my Mits TV that has V-9.1.56 TVGOS. In the month since I've had the cards installed, this is now the second time that this has happen(e)d. Both times were on HDD500's, but a different unit each time.

It is interesting what you said about your "Channel 1" being VOD. My hardcopy Charter channel list says that my "Channel 1" is VOD also. But if I tune to ch-1, it displays the video from my local CBS station (which is CableCard ch-704). This happens on all 3 DVR's as well as the Mits.

What about that command for "All Channels OFF"? I tried a few things on a hunch, but no joy . . .

What brand of CC did you get? Mine is a Motorola Single stream card.

^^^

Motorola, H/W Version 0469927002. I don't see anything in the DVR's /Preferences/System/CableCard screens that tells me about the number of "streams".

One more screen shot . . .

^^^

Motorola, H/W Version 0469927002. I don't see anything in the DVR's /Preferences/System/CableCard screens that tells me about the number of "streams".

Does your card say M-CARD on the front? If so, it is a multistream card.



Here is a photo of a M-CARD:

http://www.charter.com/Visitors/_CMSImages/sup_motorola_CableCARD.ccom





My single stream card looks like this:

http://media.arstechnica.com/guides/other/cablecard.media/cablecard.jpg

^^^

Mine look like the M-Card in your top photo. I had to go pull one out to look at it, since I didn't really get to look closely at them before the installer did his thing.

So is this "bad news"?

We were watching the LSU/OleMiss game using the family room DVR (which currently has no Grid). I was tuned to CableCard ch-704 (local CBS) and since the ending to the game showed absolute stupidity on the part of coach Les Miles, I attempted to save the last half-hour segment so that my son (who was not home) could see it later. I made the discovery that with CableCard channels, if you do not have a Channel Lineup, it is apparently impossible to set a manual recording? It repeatedly told me that I could not record that channel because it was not in my Lineup. I changed to an OTA channel, and found that I could then set a manual recording even though the OTA channels aren't currently in my Lineup either (since have no Lineup or Grid). Can anyone confirm this, or does anyone know a workaround for CableCard channels?

This is really starting to pi$$ me off. I still haven't reacquired the Grid on the unit that lost on Nov 12th (see post below). And now today, the unit in our bedroom has lost it's Grid in the exact same fashion. I turned it on, it briefly displayed (on it's front panel) the last station I had it tuned to, then the front panel displays "1 NEW BAR", and is tuned to channel 1 (which is nothing in my area), and the forking Grid is GONE. This is is exactly how it happened on my unit in the family room. I had not used this bedroom DVR since last weekend, and it was acting fine (not slow) when I used it last. Both of these units have CableCards installed. Both units show the "Cause" as "9". My other unit with CableCard (as well as my TV with CableCard) have not done this (yet). I have never seen behaviour like this from my units prior to installing the CableCards on Oct 19th.

Has anyone else using CableCard seen anything like this?

The unit in the post I quoted here has reaquired it's Grid as of this morning. This was accomplished on the first NumSearch, and directly from the LastSCause of "9". So this unit has mangaed to recover in only 2 days. This unit is connected to the same antenna and cable line as my primary unit that still has not recovered after 8 days. :confused:

We were watching the LSU/OleMiss game using the family room DVR (which currently has no Grid). I was tuned to CableCard ch-704 (local CBS) and since the ending to the game showed absolute stupidity on the part of coach Les Miles, I attempted to save the last half-hour segment so that my son (who was not home) could see it later. I made the discovery that with CableCard channels, if you do not have a Channel Lineup, it is apparently impossible to set a manual recording? It repeatedly told me that I could not record that channel because it was not in my Lineup. I changed to an OTA channel, and found that I could then set a manual recording even though the OTA channels aren't currently in my Lineup either (since have no Lineup or Grid). Can anyone confirm this, or does anyone know a workaround for CableCard channels?

I have to assume this is not the first time you tried this action since upgrading to .21 firmware? I only mention this because I get that same message when trying to do a manual recording on my digital cable channels if .21 is loaded.

I have to assume this is not the first time you tried this action since upgrading to .21 firmware? I only mention this because I get that same message when trying to do a manual recording on my digital cable channels if .21 is loaded.

No, it's not the first time. But it is the first time I've tried since having the CableCard installed but not having a Channel Lineup (Grid). I am familiar with your issue with the extended (4-digit) decimal place QAM numbering of your Cable sysem. I didn't have that problem while using QAM, because my system only has two decimal places.

The issue I'm having now is that I cannot set any type of recording (manual or otherwise) for a CableCard channel (example: 704) because it tells me they don't exist in my Lineup. This is true, because I lost my Lineup a week ago on this machine. I can however, set a manual recording of an OTA channel even though those channels aren't currently in my Lineup either (since I have no Lineup).

Possibly this is somehow related to the fact that when you use CableCard the "Channel Scan" function for the cable input is disabled? I am hoping for input on this from other CableCard users.

The unit in the post I quoted here has reaquired it's Grid as of this morning. This was accomplished on the first NumSearch, and directly from the LastSCause of "9". So this unit has mangaed to recover in only 2 days. This unit is connected to the same antenna and cable line as my primary unit that still has not recovered after 8 days. :confused:


WS, in those pictures I see you have BFirst and BPkts; does that mean your Sony Box is getting a legacy TVGOS download? That is what I would get during the old analogue days OR on the Artec. I cannot get that just digital only?

^^^

Not as far as I know. The HostChan that was set is "0:36-0" which is my CBS digital OTA station.

^^^

Not as far as I know. The HostChan that was set is "0:36-0" which is my CBS digital OTA station.

OK

Um? I see there is also LastFrTape too? which I only got on analogue or Artec?


Did Mark or someone tell us onetime they can get a grid without BFirsts or BPkts?

Is it possible your cable card corrects your OTA digital (sort of like an Artec)? I know that makes no sense.

Full 8 day listings, No HostChannel set.

Pic 7927: NumSearch 4 and 0xf78 with 0x04 – somewhat fast to that level. Shortly after this picture was taken it went to 0x05; but HostSUFlag did not change.

Pic 7929: Completely different VBIStats relationships from what WS reports?

^^^

So you finally got your Grid OTA without the Artec?

^^^

So you finally got your Grid OTA without the Artec?

No, can only get grid with Artec, but have to immediately remove it, to help prevent lock ups. If it is left connected it will lock up immediately. The two grids types in Houston (legacy and digital) are not compatible.

So, basically, Houston (and I guess SF) still do not work correctly.

AFAIK, it works correctly in Dallas, New Orleans, Kansas City, St. Louis (maybe Atlanta?).

Spent the last 4 days in Dallas, at 3 different houses; two with Time Warner (basically the same as Comcast), and one with ATT U-Verse.

Knowing that someday the Sony Box will be a thing of the past, I played with the respective DVR's a lot (several hours).

Each of the Moto Boxes on the Time Warner system allowed recording 2 shows at the same time. I think this is the best DVRs that TW offers at this time. IMHO, it is a POS compared to the Sony Boxes. You could write book on "basic" features missing in the DVRs. Add to that slow, cumbersome and tedious. Just of few of the major items missing; automatic queue backtrack to get across commercials and start in the "correct" place. Custom "catalog" building for keyword searches. Custom channels display listings in the order you want. Automatic native mode resolution - vs. forced fake resolution. Just to name a few. Unfortunately on this 4 day visit all the TW systems I played with had serious compression issues, even on programs that should have been compression free artifacts? I do not know what the problem was; because I have seen good signals before at those 2 locations - so something was not correct?

I got to spend about 8-10 hours with the ATT UVerse. It was a significantly more powerful DVR Moto box than the one offered by TW. Record 4 shows at once is the big plus and in this case it was driving 3 TV’s in the house. It was significantly "faster" than the TW system by a factor of at least "4" times; but still not as fast as the current Sony Box. Queuing was similar to the TW system; but because it was a lot faster than TW it was more Sony like - still no automatic backtracking like Sony! No catalog of "keywords" either. I cannot really vouch for PQ or Sound quality since the installation there was all low quality equipment etc. But from what I saw it looked good (I only saw 480i and 720p displays and the 720p was not a good one).

I think everyone knows the quality and level of service is different in every neighborhood and house in the USA. So it is entirely pot luck if these things work for you.

Rovi promises to offer real DVR's (through companies that make them; Tivo, Pace, etc. ) next year that are more Sony like in performance and features, whole house boxes, and record 4 channels at once. Of course those promises have been made before too.

Sorry if this have been covered but I lost all HD channels (I'm on Comcast in Boston area) recently and speaking to Customer support, the "converter box" would fix that. When I got to comcast I was told No box since I'm on basic. I'm connected straight to the cable, no box, no cable card, no nothing. Would the converter box have got my HD channels back or a cable card? I don't think the converter box would work with my Sony hdd250s but a cablecard might? Any insights or (As I suspect) do I have to upgrade my service? Then I think I'm OTA only..

^^^

Mine look like the M-Card in your top photo. I had to go pull one out to look at it, since I didn't really get to look closely at them before the installer did his thing.

So is this "bad news"?

The SONY was developed before the M Card was designed. I would see if you can get a Single stream card. The TIVO HD guys need the M CARDS to save them money per month, so the Cable company shouldn't mind doing the swap.

A few weeks ago I swapped out my cable card because I was trying to eliminate possible problems. They replaced it with an M-card.

It took about a weeks later for my system to start to work properly...in the normal spurts and fits along the way. To make a long story short...With Cable Card in (M-card) and OTA I am doing well. Had one suprise on Saturday morning when my grid had no listings except for Saturday, but by Sat night, it was back.

So for me, the M-card works. At first, I had constant lockups, but after a little help from HoustonPerson (the 5 min unplug, replug) I have be lockup free.

Hope this helps

Cw

Came home 30 minutes ago, and after 3+ days of waiting I have a grid and full listings for the next 8 days! Cwallace56's method worked for me, here in the SF Bay Area (Palo Alto). Host Channel is showing as 1:0-5

To summarize, here's what I did last Friday (11/20/09) morning (around 10:00 AM):

1. Split the comcast raw cable feed into both the ANT and CABLE inputs of the DVR (as per instruction from cwallace56)
2. Performed factory reset
3. Updated the software to .21 version
4. Did rescan of both ANT and CABLE channels
5. Reset the TVGOS and used 94306 zip code (made sure to state that both ANT and CABLE were used in TVGOS setup)
6. Turned the unit off and let it sit until today (Monday, 11/23/09). Note: The clock on the front panel was set by approximately 1:00 PM on Friday.
7. Turned the unit back on at 4:25 PM to find a grid and full listings! :D

Wanted to say many thanks to Cw, Joe, and everyone else for their help! Time to go play around with the unit. Will update with any other findings.

-D

^^^

Mine look like the M-Card in your top photo. I had to go pull one out to look at it, since I didn't really get to look closely at them before the installer did his thing.

So is this "bad news"?

The SONY was developed before the M Card was designed. I would see if you can get a Single stream card. The TIVO HD guys need the M CARDS to save them money per month, so the Cable company shouldn't mind doing the swap.

In this case it doesn't matter which card you have. The S card can only support one QAM 256 stream and the M card can support 5 QAM 256 streams or 6 QAM 64 streams at one time. The M card was developed to support dual QAM tuner dvrs by using a single card instead of using two S cards. They no longer make any S cards. By the way both the S card and the M card can be used in single Qam tuner devices that are one way and tru2way capable. The M card is used in single and multi QAM tuner devices that are one way and tru2way capable.

The problem you have maybe related to the wiring configuration that you mentioned in this post:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=17195202&postcount=18799
If you still have this setup or something simular you maybe having problems with your return path signal dropping out, which causes the card to deactivate which inturns TVGOS see as a cable card removal and sends the guide back to start to aquire a in the clear cable channel list. If the signal improves then the card reactivates which TVGOS sees as a cable card insertion then sets the guide back to start to reaquire a cable card lineup.

In the clear QAM cable and OTA signals do not have a return path signal so you can get away with your wiring configuration but when you subscribed to digital cable services, (Cablecard, cable boxes, and cable modems), then the return path signal becomes critical for proper digital cable operations.

If this is your problem then my advice that I gave you would solve the problem:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=17200159&postcount=18809

It must be mentioned that older devices with QAM tuners with Cablecard slots have less tolerence to weakend return path signals than do newer Cablecard equipped devices. Cable modems also have a better operational range.

^^^

Not as far as I know. The HostChan that was set is "0:36-0" which is my CBS digital OTA station.

If this was an OTA host channel it will be "1:36-0". "0:36-0: is the physical location in your cable lineup. If the host and the clock set channel are the same then you are locked onto an in the clear analog host channel or the virtual analog channel assignment of your host station in a cable card lineup.
If you have 0:36-0 as a host and a number like 702 as a clock set channel then you are locked onto a digital host and 36 is the physical location of your host station and 702 will be its virtual channel assignment.
You can check this in the diagnostics part of your sony menu which is mentioned on page 38 of your sony's manual.
http://www.docs.sony.com/release/DHGHDD250-500rev2.pdf

We were watching the LSU/OleMiss game using the family room DVR (which currently has no Grid). I was tuned to CableCard ch-704 (local CBS) and since the ending to the game showed absolute stupidity on the part of coach Les Miles, I attempted to save the last half-hour segment so that my son (who was not home) could see it later. I made the discovery that with CableCard channels, if you do not have a Channel Lineup, it is apparently impossible to set a manual recording? It repeatedly told me that I could not record that channel because it was not in my Lineup. I changed to an OTA channel, and found that I could then set a manual recording even though the OTA channels aren't currently in my Lineup either (since have no Lineup or Grid). Can anyone confirm this, or does anyone know a workaround for CableCard channels?

The message you got is not refering to the channel list in TVGOS but the channel list that is stored in your dvr. It is mentioned on page 41 of your owners manual:
http://www.docs.sony.com/release/DHGHDD250-500rev2.pdf

It states: The channel +/- list contains all of the channels to which your HD DVR will tune as you use the channel +/- buttons. Note that the channels that your HD DVR can tune may not be the same channels which maybe listed in the TVGOS program guide.

Jed1 -

Thanks for the detailed, informative post.

I'll have to check concerning exactly how many connections and splits and such that I have in my cable line currently. I have made some changes in the past few months, and some connections to seldom used rooms are presently disconnected. I'll need to make a diagram (possibly tomorrow) and PM it to you. I was not aware about the importance of the return path for CableCards. The amp I'm currently using is bi-directional. I'm pretty sure that the cable line to my family room TV currently does not go through the amp at all. I really need to check all of this out and then talk to you more about it, because the fact that I have suffered two of these "CableCard resets" is a real PITA.

The HostChan definitely is OTA. I said it was "0:36-0" from memory, not while looking at the screen. I am absolutely sure about the "36-0" part. I often mix up the leading "0" or "1" since my DVR's are opposite of my TV with regard to RF inputs. But I can assure you that the HostChan is OTA digital CBS, not FSSW (Fox Sports Southwest) which is my cable channel 36.

I checked a few minutes ago, and the cable channel from which I attempted to record the ending of the game is in fact in my Channel +/- list, and can be tuned with the Channel up/down button. The message I got was "the show cannot be scheduled to record because this channel is not present in my Lineup". As I mentioned before, the funny (not) thing is that it will allow me to schedule a recording by the exact same method for an OTA channel, even though my Lineup is totally empty of all channels (no Grid/Lineup).

Edit: Investigating further, I discovered that in simply turning on the DVR and attempting to record (using the "Right" button on the directional ring) a CableCard channel that the DVR is tuned to (WITHOUT changing channels) the behaviour that I described in the paragraph above applies. However, if I change to the channel first, then I can in fact record it. I don't know if this is documented anywhere, I don't recall ever seeing it. But then I really never have tried recording this way before, since in the past I've always been lucky enough to have a Grid and Lineup. Obviously on Saturday the DVR was tuned to the proper CableCard channel for the game when I turned it on. So that's why I couldn't record the ending segment of the game. Then afterward when I changed to an OTA channel, it was the "channel change" that allowed the "record" function to work . . . not the fact that it was an OTA channel. I've found that if I turn the DVR on with it tuned to an OTA channel, I can in fact set a recording on that channel without having to do the "channel change" first.

4 days and no grid yet, all software up to date though.
My girlfriends 500 shutdown after doing a firmware upgrade. Tried to do the SW revert back, but ended up losing everything, all recordings and such. Not sure if there is a way to revert back with out losing the whole setup back to a factory state. This was done through the front panel buttons. SW revert was the power button after the repair question.
Michael

[...]
The HostChan definitely is OTA. I said it was "0:36-0" from memory, not while looking at the screen. I am absolutely sure about the "36-0" part. I often mix up the leading "0" or "1" since my DVR's are opposite of my TV with regard to RF inputs. But I can assure you that the HostChan is OTA digital CBS, not FSSW (Fox Sports Southwest) which is my cable channel 36.
[...]


WS65711,

You are correct, it was Jed who got it backwards. 0:x-x is an OTA channel, and 1:x-x is a cable channel.

Mark

.............. I'll need to make a diagram and PM it to you. I was not aware about the importance of the return path for CableCards. The amp I'm currently using is bi-directional. I'm pretty sure that the cable line to my family room TV currently does not go through the amp at all. I really need to check all of this out and then talk to you more about it, because the fact that I have suffered two of these "CableCard resets" is a real PITA . . . . . .


Jed1 -

I guess I found that I can't attach a diagram to a PM, so I'm attaching it here so that you (or anyone else that has any suggestions) can see it . . .

-D

Glad to hear you had success. Interesting that your host channel is 1:0-5
and mine is 1:0-96 (analog PBS). You never know with these.

After one week of no lockups...last night I started having them on any recording.... really would like to know what changed!?!

That's just how it rolls...

Cw

Jed1 -

I guess I found that I can't attach a diagram to a PM, so I'm attaching it here so that you (or anyone else that has any suggestions) can see it . . .

WS65711,
Can you give what type of amp you have and is it a variable or fixed output and how many dB does it add to the signal. Also can you tell me which hdtv has the cablecard, the 65" or the 46".
It is possible that you can be overdriving (to much amplification) your in coming feed.
Your diagram is very helpful. Also is there a website where I can check the amp out?

WS65711,

You are correct, it was Jed who got it backwards. 0:x-x is an OTA channel, and 1:x-x is a cable channel.

Mark

Mark,
Are you sure about that. If you go into the TVGOS diagnostics there is a menu section either before or after the clock menu that is called input configuation and this will tell the number of each input.

Of the five TVGOS equipped devices that I haved owned over the last 12 years, four of them I could enter the diagnostics menu and all of them had the cable input as 0 and the antenna input as 1.

Just look at the two quotes below, each one has a cable card and has the analog cable lineup scanned on the antenna input and they both have analog host channels on the antenna input which is 1 on their dvrs.

In fact I gave my version 8 RCA DLP to my sister early last month and she had a cablecard installed by comcast and I had to do the same thing because comcast doesn't have a virtual analog host channel in their cable card lineup. I split her cable feed and scanned the analog comcast cable lineup onto her antenna input and setup TVGOS for antenna and cable. Her host channel and clock set channel is 1:06 which is analog cable channel 6 which is WHP out of harrisburg.

Came home 30 minutes ago, and after 3+ days of waiting I have a grid and full listings for the next 8 days! Cwallace56's method worked for me, here in the SF Bay Area (Palo Alto). Host Channel is showing as 1:0-5

To summarize, here's what I did last Friday (11/20/09) morning (around 10:00 AM):

1. Split the comcast raw cable feed into both the ANT and CABLE inputs of the DVR (as per instruction from cwallace56)
2. Performed factory reset
3. Updated the software to .21 version
4. Did rescan of both ANT and CABLE channels
5. Reset the TVGOS and used 94306 zip code (made sure to state that both ANT and CABLE were used in TVGOS setup)
6. Turned the unit off and let it sit until today (Monday, 11/23/09). Note: The clock on the front panel was set by approximately 1:00 PM on Friday.
7. Turned the unit back on at 4:25 PM to find a grid and full listings! :D

Wanted to say many thanks to Cw, Joe, and everyone else for their help! Time to go play around with the unit. Will update with any other findings.

-D

-D

Glad to hear you had success. Interesting that your host channel is 1:0-5
and mine is 1:0-96 (analog PBS). You never know with these.

After one week of no lockups...last night I started having them on any recording.... really would like to know what changed!?!

That's just how it rolls...

Cw

Sorry if this have been covered but I lost all HD channels (I'm on Comcast in Boston area) recently and speaking to Customer support, the "converter box" would fix that. When I got to comcast I was told No box since I'm on basic. I'm connected straight to the cable, no box, no cable card, no nothing. Would the converter box have got my HD channels back or a cable card? I don't think the converter box would work with my Sony hdd250s but a cablecard might? Any insights or (As I suspect) do I have to upgrade my service? Then I think I'm OTA only..

I use a HDD250 with a Comcast Motorola M-Card CableCard on Boston's South Shore and haven't had any problems. In the Boston area, the first CableCard is free for Comcast users, so adding that would be a no-brainer. You don't need to change your service, but Comcast will charge you for a truck roll to have a tech visit your residence since they don't allow customers to pickup and install CableCards in the Boston market.
The only HD channels available on Comcast Basic in the Boston area are WGBH, WBZ, WCVB, WHDH, WFXT, WSBK, and WBPX. In my town I still get all of those with my QAM tuner. The physical channels are 84, 85, 86, 87, & 99 and they map to 2.1, 4.1, 5.1, 7.1, 25.1, 38.1, and 68.1. Sometimes Comcast changes the physical channels and you need to rescan from time to time.
Do you still receive the SD channels? Both digital and analog?

Mark,
Are you sure about that. If you go into the TVGOS diagnostics there is a menu section either before or after the clock menu that is called input configuation and this will tell the number of each input.


No question about it. I'm OTA only, and my host is always 0:x-x.


Just look at the two quotes below, each one has a cable card and has the analog cable lineup scanned on the antenna input and they both have analog host channels on the antenna input which is 1 on their dvrs.

[...]


That is a good point about their host channels. This just makes me think that both of their DVRs were actually getting the TVGOS data over cable, and splitting the cable into the antenna input really wasn't necessary, since they both got the host channel from the cable input, and not the antenna input.

Mark

No question about it. I'm OTA only, and my host is always 0:x-x.



That is a good point about their host channels. This just makes me think that both of their DVRs were actually getting the TVGOS data over cable, and splitting the cable into the antenna input really wasn't necessary, since they both got the host channel from the cable input, and not the antenna input.

Mark

Mark,
I just checked my TVGOS diagnostics on my version 9 Pioneer and the Section Setup menu / Input configuation it is numbered like this:
0 ANT/CABLE A In
1 ANT B In

If I scroll to the right in that menu I come to a section that is called Tuner Configuation and it says this:
0 DIG Cable
1 ANA-A
2 ANA-B

If I don't use cable I can hook up my OTA antenna to either A or B. With in the clear cable I can use A or B but with the cable card, which I am using in both tvs, my cable feed must be on input A.

My question is are your sony dvrs set up the same way. I looked at your owners manual and it shows the cable input on the far left and the antenna input to the right of the cable input. Please check the Input configuation menu in your TVGOS diagnostics to see how it is labeled.

Mark,

Yes my host is cable 1:0-96... but I tried for weeks to rebuild my grid just with cable in, without sucess. After spliting the cable, I can rebuild a grid in 48hrs....go figure. I'm not convinced that the host channel listed is where the data stream is at all times. Empty host channels and data in?

Honestly, there are some very bright people on this forum trying to make sense of the 953 screens ... and the opinions vary....I stated a few weeks ago that I doubt anyone at sony really knows what these machine are doing. Maybe one or two engineers working now in the mail room.

And why were they discontinued so quickly? After 2012 it's all over anyway.

Cw

WS65711,
Can you give what type of amp you have and is it a variable or fixed output and how many dB does it add to the signal. Also can you tell me which hdtv has the cablecard, the 65" or the 46".
It is possible that you can be overdriving (to much amplification) your in coming feed.
Your diagram is very helpful. Also is there a website where I can check the amp out?

The 46" Mits is the one that has CableCard and TVGOS. The 65" Mits is a late 2002 model (WS65711) and pre-dates CableCard, HDMI, etc.

The amp is an older Radio Shack model. It does have a variable output. I'll have to dig out the model number and other info when I get home this afternoon.

Mark,
I just checked my TVGOS diagnostics on my version 9 Pioneer and the Section Setup menu / Input configuation it is numbered like this:
0 ANT/CABLE A In
1 ANT B In

If I scroll to the right in that menu I come to a section that is called Tuner Configuation and it says this:
0 DIG Cable
1 ANA-A
2 ANA-B

If I don't use cable I can hook up my OTA antenna to either A or B. With in the clear cable I can use A or B but with the cable card, which I am using in both tvs, my cable feed must be on input A.

My question is are your sony dvrs set up the same way. I looked at your owners manual and it shows the cable input on the far left and the antenna input to the right of the cable input. Please check the Input configuation menu in your TVGOS diagnostics to see how it is labeled.

The Sony has an Antenna input, and a Cable input. Here are links to a couple of pictures from my TVGOS recovery page:

This one shows it is configured for OTA only (http://members.cox.net/mabuttra/tvgos/080142/images/047.jpg).

This one shows host channel as 0:12-0 (http://members.cox.net/mabuttra/tvgos/080142/images/049.jpg), and VBI channel as 0:12-1.

From previous experience, since my host channel is blank, if I connected the cable line to the cable input and reconfigured it for OTA + Cable, my host channel would become 1:0-12 (cable analog CBS) within 24 hours. My DVR loves the analog cable data, and I have never been able to get the DVR to lock onto the digital OTA host if it can find the analog data.

Mark

The Sony has an Antenna input, and a Cable input.................


And to elaborate, the inputs are pre-defined. The Antenna input (Input-0) works for analog and digital antenna signals, and low analog cable signals below channel 13 (since the frequencies are the same as OTA-VHF). The Cable input (Input-1) works for analog and digital cable signals, and is also the input enabled for CableCard usage. I don't know if anyone's ever tried tuning analog OTA-VHF via the Cable input, but I would suppose that would work.

Attached is a photo I took this afternoon that shows that the Antenna is Input-0, and the Cable is Input-1 as far as TVGOS is concerned. Also attached is an image from page-17 of the HDD500 manual.

Thanks for your reply. No I don't get anything digital anymore only analog 4, 5 etc. Even 84, 85 etc are gone.

/Peter

I use a HDD250 with a Comcast Motorola M-Card CableCard on Boston's South Shore and haven't had any problems. In the Boston area, the first CableCard is free for Comcast users, so adding that would be a no-brainer. You don't need to change your service, but Comcast will charge you for a truck roll to have a tech visit your residence since they don't allow customers to pickup and install CableCards in the Boston market.
The only HD channels available on Comcast Basic in the Boston area are WGBH, WBZ, WCVB, WHDH, WFXT, WSBK, and WBPX. In my town I still get all of those with my QAM tuner. The physical channels are 84, 85, 86, 87, & 99 and they map to 2.1, 4.1, 5.1, 7.1, 25.1, 38.1, and 68.1. Sometimes Comcast changes the physical channels and you need to rescan from time to time.
Do you still receive the SD channels? Both digital and analog?

Next problem now that I don't have cable anymore, now suddenly the grid is not filling in so what do I have to do to tell the Sony to use Antenna only for the grid? I already redid the setup with antenna only.

If you still have a channel grid and you just need to get it to keep on filling with program listings, go into "Change system settings" and change the ZIP code to a distant one that's way out of your area. Then the Sony will get listings from whatever OTA channels it finds with guide data, while searching in vain for an "official" host channel for that ZIP code.

You need to have the correct ZIP code only when you're trying to get a fresh channel grid.

If you've still got your old cable channels in the Sony's +/- channel list, it might help to do a cable channel scan to clear them out (assuming you no longer have a cable signal coming in, of course).

Today, Thursday afternoon, I checked and now have a grid on the unit I reset back to factory settings along with a format of the disk. Installed the firmware .21 version all on this past Saturday the 21st. So makes it about 5 full days to get the grid. Time was back pretty quick and the updates within a day. I did use it for some recordings and such. The only other thing I did this morning was a zip reset, but don't think it help speed things up. Did leave the unit set on the host station when off. All this in a digital only enviroment. OTA only. 2.1 WSB OTA host.
Hope I haven't left out anything. Having a tough time typing as I am using my laptop. Seems like I have a virus or something with my desktop and XP Pro, as it just keeps shutting down and rebooting on me. Will not stay on long enough for me to get a virus scan in.
Anyway, just my report on the dvr, still have to deal with my girlfriends unit as it will not power up past the welcome screen. Hate to do a clean and wipe as she will lose all her recordings. Any suggestions?
Michael

The 46" Mits is the one that has CableCard and TVGOS. The 65" Mits is a late 2002 model (WS65711) and pre-dates CableCard, HDMI, etc.

The amp is an older Radio Shack model. It does have a variable output. I'll have to dig out the model number and other info when I get home this afternoon.

It looks like Radio Shack still sells the amp that I have (Model 15-2506), even though I bought mine a number of years ago . . .

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103093

Thanks. Of course, as soon as I posted here they decided to fill up the grid after three days with no listings. I'll try your method anyway on one of them.

If you still have a channel grid and you just need to get it to keep on filling with program listings, go into "Change system settings" and change the ZIP code to a distant one that's way out of your area. Then the Sony will get listings from whatever OTA channels it finds with guide data, while searching in vain for an "official" host channel for that ZIP code.

You need to have the correct ZIP code only when you're trying to get a fresh channel grid.

If you've still got your old cable channels in the Sony's +/- channel list, it might help to do a cable channel scan to clear them out (assuming you no longer have a cable signal coming in, of course).

Can one of these remotes be put in a mode similar to what Mits has for their remotes so a separate learning remote can 'learn' a discreet P-on and P-off command? I know there are 'hex' codes for this, but my 'learning' remote does not have PC programming ability. I have a URC MX-450 and need discreet power on and off commands.

Questions for any '500' owners;
Anyone that has a 250 and a 500 notice any increase in noise level for a 500 over a single HDD 250?
Is there any real difference in power consumption between the two?
Can you tell which HDD is in use and what is where on the drives?
Does the 1st drive 'fill up' then spill over to the 2nd HDD?

Questions for any '500' owners;
Anyone that has a 250 and a 500 notice any increase in noise level for a 500 over a single HDD 250?
Is there any real difference in power consumption between the two?
Can you tell which HDD is in use and what is where on the drives?
Does the 1st drive 'fill up' then spill over to the 2nd HDD?

I have one of each. The 500 seems to split recordings evenly over the two drives so for instance right now mine shows drive 1 has 47.9% remaining and drive 2 has 48.6% remaining. It doesn't fill one and then the other. I don't know of any way for a user to determine what is where on what drive. Just like other computers, the OS "file manager" decides where to store.

I'd guess the two units have similar power consumption but I don't know how one would check that and I've never cared. :)

Noise level? Not sure what you're asking there. :confused:

Noise level? Not sure what you're asking there. :confused:

I think he's asking if the HDD500 is noisier (audibly) than the HDD250.

I think he's asking if the HDD500 is noisier (audibly) than the HDD250.

Hmmm, okay, in that case neither one of them make any discernible (to me) noise.

Questions for any '500' owners;
Anyone that has a 250 and a 500 notice any increase in noise level for a 500 over a single HDD 250?
Is there any real difference in power consumption between the two?
Can you tell which HDD is in use and what is where on the drives?
Does the 1st drive 'fill up' then spill over to the 2nd HDD?

If you wish to find the real-time, daily, or weekly power consumption there is a device called a Kill-A-Watt. You can find it on ebay and other locations. My HDD250 draws 40 watts on standby and 42 watts when on. My fridge draws 200 watts in cooling mode.

To watch a recorded program, including TV, DHG (2), 5.1 JVC receiver, and other minor devices running off my largest UPS takes 400 watts. I keep my electric bill down by CFL and LED bulbs everywhere. There has to be more power drawn by the HDD500, but probably not much.

I let one of my DHG units fill up. It erases the oldest recording first. But the icon about being "almost full" shows up when you do anything that causes the recording time to display. I then erase everything. This causes recording to use the whole drive and not just the first few cylinders. Sort of like tire rotation on my car.

The 500 seems to split recordings evenly over the two drives so for instance right now mine shows drive 1 has 47.9% remaining and drive 2 has 48.6% remaining.

As far as I can tell, it always starts a new recording on the drive that has more free space at the moment, and (for me so far at least) it always keeps each single recording on one drive. I don't know from experience what would happen if you started out with (say) five hours of free space on both drives, and then tried to record a six-hour program, because I've never been in that situation. My guess is that it would fill up whatever drive it started recording on, and then start deleting old programs off that drive without continuing the recording on the other one.

Right now, drive usage on my 500 is very asymmetrical because I've been systematically dubbing old programs from it to my computer using a Hauppauge HD PVR, for burning AVCHD DVDs that I can play in my Blu-ray player. By chance, most of the ones I've done so far have been on one drive, so now that drive is about 12% full while the other is about 40% full. Both were at around 70% when I started the dubbing project.

Finally after many months of wondering who? I noticed yesterday that the guide information for over the air shows, is showing up. This is for the Tulsa, Ok. viewing area. I have not checked this in some time since I moved the HD 250 to another room. I did check and the local PBS station channel 11 is doing the broadcasting. This is good news for us in this area who have been waiting for it. I know I have seen several posts from people in this area and I am sure they will be happy also.
Thanks
rlh149

I'd guess the two units have similar power consumption but I don't know how one would check that and I've never cared.Amp meter. You don't care if a device is a power hog or not? :(I think he's asking if the HDD500 is noisier (audibly) than the HDD250.Yes, audible type noise.there is a device called a Kill-A-WattI have three. Nice to have especially when you can get them for as low as $17. ;) Though, I question the accuracy of it compared to a true RMS reading mid end DVM (that I also have).As far as I can tell, it always starts a new recording on the drive that has more free space at the momentMakes sense. To balance the use of each drive as opposed to always filling up the 1st drive and only using the 2nd if needed.

Amp meter. You don't care if a device is a power hog or not? :(

I've replaced the BIG power hogs here with energy star models so the DHGs are low on my list of things to worry about, especially since I'm not about to toss them out. :D

I haven't been following the forum since I updated my two HDD250's firmware for the digital transition, but now I have a problem that I hope someone can help with. I bought a HDD500 and tried the firmware update with no success. I tried the unplug reboot, used a properly formatted flash drive on the Sony approved list with the Sony folder holding the update files, and, while the flash drive blinks, nothing happens. I am at my wits end trying to figure out why I can't get the update to work. Any suggestions from anyone out there?
Thought I'd restore unit to factory default, but getting to the service menu by pressing Menu, Screen Mode, 9012, doesn't get me anywhere. Have tried doing Menu and Screen Mode simulaneously, but that doesn't help. How do I get into the service menu?

Note that no modern electronic device consumes power in an RMS sort of way (like a light-bulb or a toaster). Thus an RMS reading ammeter won't be at all accurate. Switching power supplies have a very non-linear current consumption and the current waveform is in no way sinusoidal; and even inductive loads (transformers, motors, etc.) will have a power factor less than one, so though the current waveform may be sinusoidal, it's out of phase (to some greater or lesser degree) with the voltage. An ammeter cannot measure either. A wattmeter, OTOH, integrates instantaneous current*voltage over time to accurately show true power usage.

Amp meter. You don't care if a device is a power hog or not? :(Yes, audible type noise.I have three. Nice to have especially when you can get them for as low as $17. ;) Though, I question the accuracy of it compared to a true RMS reading mid end DVM (that I also have).Makes sense. To balance the use of each drive as opposed to always filling up the 1st drive and only using the 2nd if needed.

I doubt that you need to do a "Restore to Factory Default", but the link shows you how to get to the 9012 menu . . .

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=16654312&postcount=17530

[QUOTE=cwallace56;17599119]Mark,

And why were they discontinued so quickly? After 2012 it's all over anyway.

I don't know if anybody else saw this but what happens in 2012 ?

SS-Stingray

2012....Mayan Calendar.... end of the world stuff.

Was having a frustrating day...

So this was the 2nd Saturday morning in a row that my grid only has Sat listings. It all came back this evening. WTF?!?

Cw

Hi all. I recently moved. I had cable before and everything was fine. I now am using OTA only. I did everything as normal, but haven't got any listings/grid. I got the clock and ads on the side, but nothing else. I am in San Francisco. Am I SOL with just an antenna, or is there something else I can do to help? Any help would be appreciated. Many thanks.

Finally after many months of wondering who? I noticed yesterday that the guide information for over the air shows, is showing up. This is for the Tulsa, Ok. viewing area. I have not checked this in some time since I moved the HD 250 to another room. I did check and the local PBS station channel 11 is doing the broadcasting. This is good news for us in this area who have been waiting for it. I know I have seen several posts from people in this area and I am sure they will be happy also.
Thanks
rlh149

Been that way for months. Talk to Mark Norman the Engineer at OETA if you have problems. They were having some interference in their audio from the onscreen data, is why they shut it down for a few weeks. They were going to leave it off but decided to do some testing, I am guessing because of all the emails myself and several other Sony users were bombarding them with. It has been working fine OTA since September. The only problem now is that Rovi has removed the guide data for some channels we previously had guide data for.

As far as we know (mark, and others....) no one has been able to get their grid back by OTA in the Bay Area... since the digital transition. Getting updates works fine. Maybe someone else can elaborate on this topic....I'm still a bit of a novice at this.

Cw

Thus an RMS reading ammeter won't be at all accurate. Switching power supplies have a very non-linear current consumptionI never thought of a switching PS being a issue as far as measuring AC current.A wattmeter, OTOH, integrates instantaneous current*voltage over time to accurately show true power usage.I find it hard to believe a $17 device is, or could be more accurate than a $350 DVM in spite of what you posted. :confused: Though, those "Kill-a-Watts' have a 'wattage' function, they also have a amperage function as a DVM has. I can't dispute what you said about measuring switching PS, but what then would be the measurement device of choice to correctly measure these devices? I have never seen any DVM or the like that measures 'wattage', only amperage.

Thanks. Did a full restore to factory default, which formatted drive and did antenna scan, which picked 70-odd digital channel, all of which come in strong and clean from my roof-top antenna. But the unit still won't accept the firmware update---have tried 3 different flash drives from the Sony approved list. Called Sony and they are sending me a flash drive with the update---will have to wait and see how it works.

Comcast in the Atlanta area is suppose to be transmitting TVGOS on the analog version of 97 (WSB) but I have not seen any updates thus far. Anyone else?
Also, I hooked up an antenna for one of the units to try and get an OTA signal for WSB, 2.1, but after doing a scan (without the cable card), I get some odd frequency for 2.1. It shows 57mhz( in band), and 75.250 mhz (out of band). Should be 623mhz. Any ideas on this? I checked some other channels-both cable and air. They all showed an out of band of 75.250mhz. And the frequencies for the air channels I checked are correct. Is this something with the cable? Oh, this is up in Woodstock where all this is happening. The out of band does not show up on my air only units in Decatur.and all frequencies are correct for each channel.
Michael
PS, My other unit I reset at my Decatur house took only 4 days to get a grid OTA. This one I had left alone, except to check for a grid.

Thanks. Did a full restore to factory default, which formatted drive and did antenna scan, which picked 70-odd digital channel, all of which come in strong and clean from my roof-top antenna. But the unit still won't accept the firmware update---have tried 3 different flash drives from the Sony approved list. Called Sony and they are sending me a flash drive with the update---will have to wait and see how it works.

I have experienced problems when trying to upgrade from a USB stick that I had used previously to upgrade. Here is how I got it to work:

1) Remove the USB stick from the Sony.
2) Pull the power plug on the Sony.
3) Plug the Sony back in (doesn't matter how long you wait).
4) Let the Sony come up, and go through its initialization.
5) Turn the Sony on.
6) Re-insert the USB stick into the Sony.

If the USB stick still isn't recognized, then do all those steps again. Make sure you don't have the USB stick plugged into the Sony, until after you turn the Sony on when the power is reapplied. If doing this twice still doesn't work, then use another USB stick, and start over at step 1.

I gave this procedure to someone over on spiffspace, and they said it didn't work for them, but it has worked for me two or three times.

Mark

I never thought of a switching PS being a issue as far as measuring AC current.I find it hard to believe a $17 device is, or could be more accurate than a $350 DVM in spite of what you posted. :confused: Though, those "Kill-a-Watts' have a 'wattage' function, they also have a amperage function as a DVM has. I can't dispute what you said about measuring switching PS, but what then would be the measurement device of choice to correctly measure these devices? I have never seen any DVM or the like that measures 'wattage', only amperage.I can't vouch for the accuracy of a Kill-a-Watt device, I'm only pointing out that if you plug a load into the Kill-a-Watt and it shows a power factor of 0.75, for example, then the actual power consumed in Watts = [RMS current]*[RMS voltage]*0.75. However, without a device to measure the PF, but only an AC ammeter and a voltmeter (i.e. a DVM), you'd have no idea what the third factor of the right-hand-side of that equation was. A true wattmeter computes the [instantaneous current through the load]*[instantaneous voltage across the load] and integrates over time to obtain average power consumed, and thus the actual effect on your electric bill. Notice how every UPS marketed to power computer equipment has a max VA (or KVA) rating nearly twice its max wattage rating - the loads (primarily switching supplies and transformers) are presumed to have a power factor somewhere between 0.5 and 1.

As a final example, grab a LED night-light, one of those that's rated at about 0.2 to 0.3 watts, and measure the RMS current and RMS voltage. With mine, I get 20.6ma @ 120V (apologies for my DVM which only cost about 60 bucks some 15 years ago). Multiply that out and you'd mistakenly assume the night-light consumed 2.5 Watts!!!! However, these night-lights use a highly reactive (RC) circuit to limit the LED current to 20ma., so the PF in this case is <0.1.

Why aren't wattmeters more common? No clue. How accurate is the Kill-a-Watt? No clue other than the manufacturers web site claims 0.2%. Why is it much less expensive than your DVM - it's made in Taiwan using a mass-produced specialized chip intended to do one thing only.

As far as we know (mark, and others....) no one has been able to get their grid back by OTA in the Bay Area... since the digital transition. Getting updates works fine. Maybe someone else can elaborate on this topic....I'm still a bit of a novice at this.

Cw

That sucks. It kinda makes the unit useless then. I guess that is what I get for not wanting to pay for cable. Is that true for others in the bay area? Or has anyone had any luck with OTA?

That sucks. It kinda makes the unit useless then. I guess that is what I get for not wanting to pay for cable. Is that true for others in the bay area? Or has anyone had any luck with OTA?

It appears SF is like Houston and receives only listings downloads via OTA and not the data required to build a Grid from scratch.

This means you are left with two choices. Locate a friend that receives analogue downloads from a cable provider in your area to build your initial grid.

Or

Use a device like Artec or DTVPal to build the initial Grid.

http://www.spiffspace.com/forum/index.php?topic=188.0

To date neither Rovi nor Sony have expressed any interest in solving the problem.

Why aren't wattmeters more common? No clue. How accurate is the Kill-a-Watt? No clue other than the manufacturers web site claims 0.2%. Why is it much less expensive than your DVM - it's made in Taiwan using a mass-produced specialized chip intended to do one thing only.

Here is a report by CU:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/march-2009/appliances/energy-monitors/overview/energy-monitors-ov.htm?resultPageIndex=1&resultIndex=1&searchTerm=kill-a-watt

And from Wikipedia:
A modern digital electronic wattmeter/energy meter samples the voltage and current thousands of times a second. The average of the instantaneous voltage multiplied by the current is the true power. The true power divided by the apparent volt-amperes (VA) is the power factor. A computer circuit uses the sampled values to calculate RMS voltage, RMS current, VA, power (watts), power factor, and kilowatt-hours. The simple models display that information on LCD. More sophisticated models retain the information over an extended period of time, and can transmit it to field equipment or a central location.
I have one, it shows the LG 55LH90 TV (LED back lit) at maximum energy saving draws 70 watts, PF .99 and is still bright enough for comfortable viewing in a fairly bright room. The HDD250 measures about 35 watts.

That sucks. It kinda makes the unit useless then. I guess that is what I get for not wanting to pay for cable. Is that true for others in the bay area? Or has anyone had any luck with OTA?

Not quite true. Grids have been restored, OTA, but by using the TVGOS enabled converter box method. They've also been restored by feeding in the signal from a VHS tape made per-transition. Once the grid is in place, the signal from KPIX has been keeping it up to date with no problems (after the initial transition glitches).

Not aware of anyone who has had a pure, Sony DHG-only, OTA grid restore. Mine made it through the transition like a champ, and has had nary a problem since.

The Channel guide for my Sony DHG-hdd500 is all wacked out. I updated to the current firmware to fix the guide problem so it updates from the digital channel guide but the problem is that the stations that the guide tunes to are all incorrct 8.1 is 14.3, 11.1 is 11.8 and so on. So when it tries to record a program it gets the right channel number but records the wrong program. In other words the guide is right and the listings just the channel is incorrect.
Tried to download the firmware update again but it doesn't do anything when I put in the thumb drive Help, it's pretty worthless as a dvr

The Channel guide for my Sony DHG-hdd500 is all wacked out. I updated to the current firmware to fix the guide problem so it updates from the digital channel guide but the problem is that the stations that the guide tunes to are all incorrct 8.1 is 14.3, 11.1 is 11.8 and so on. So when it tries to record a program it gets the right channel number but records the wrong program. In other words the guide is right and the listings just the channel is incorrect.
Tried to download the firmware update again but it doesn't do anything when I put in the thumb drive Help, it's pretty worthless as a dvr

Richard,
You may need to remap the channels. Do a search on this fourm on how to remap. I wish all of our problems are this easy.........SS-Stingray

frank70 & catmother; Thanks for the replies. It seems censor patrol is about no doubt due to some excessive "whineing" here. :mad:
I did see that review in CR on those devices. I will have to make some comparisions between my RMS DVM and a Kill-a-Watt devices that use switching PS.

I recently purchased a Dtv PAL DVR and noticed how much better the OTA signal is compared to my DHG-500. Has anyone been successful at upgrading the tuner in the Sony? For me, being OTA only, this would be great.
I really don't want to go the cable route.

Rob

Comcast in the Atlanta area is suppose to be transmitting TVGOS on the analog version of 97 (WSB) but I have not seen any updates thus far. Anyone else?
Also, I hooked up an antenna for one of the units to try and get an OTA signal for WSB, 2.1, but after doing a scan (without the cable card), I get some odd frequency for 2.1. It shows 57mhz( in band), and 75.250 mhz (out of band). Should be 623mhz. Any ideas on this? I checked some other channels-both cable and air. They all showed an out of band of 75.250mhz. And the frequencies for the air channels I checked are correct. Is this something with the cable? Oh, this is up in Woodstock where all this is happening. The out of band does not show up on my air only units in Decatur.and all frequencies are correct for each channel.
Michael
PS, My other unit I reset at my Decatur house took only 4 days to get a grid OTA. This one I had left alone, except to check for a grid.

I can confirm that my TVGOS grid has finally returned after several months of outage! (Marietta, GA/Vinings headend) The listings have been gone since the digital conversion.
It would appear that my Panasonic unit with cablecard requires the analog version and seems to be acquiring it from Channel 97 (WSB).

Thanks SS-Stingray, I'll look for the thread and see what occurs. Odd thing is that I also updated the channel guide problem on my Sony HDD 250 with the same drive/process with no issues

frank70 & catmother; Thanks for the replies. It seems censor patrol is about no doubt due to some excessive "whineing" here. :mad:
I did see that review in CR on those devices. I will have to make some comparisions between my RMS DVM and a Kill-a-Watt devices that use switching PS.

Somewhat OT but a relevant subject nevertheless.
Your reply prompted me to use an Entech model 411 True RMS DMM and measure the input to the Kill-A-Watt. Read 115.2 VAC and the Kill-A-Watt reads 115.4 VAC.
This is at the output of an APC 1200 VA UPS feeding the HDD250 and the 55LH90 TV with the TV off.
This model UPS outputs a stepped sinewave.

After several hours searching the net, no luck finding any analysis on the effect of a stepped sine wave on measurement accuracy of the K-A-W or true RMS voltmeters.

Look forward to your test results.

Voltage accuracy was not a issue, just current. According to frank70, the issue is measuring a switching PS vs most anything else (xformer based).

One of my HDD500's (the main one in the family room) apparently decided to reboot/reset itself last night, losing it's Grid. :mad: We had been watching SYTYCD and then Criminal minds last night, during which time the DVR had been responding v-e-r-y slowly to the remote. :o I had CSI-NY set to record, but that did not occur. Apparently it reset itself shortly after I turned it off after Criminal Minds ended. :eek::eek::eek: The "Cause" shows as a "9" for those interested in such things.

So now I'm waiting for a Grid on my primary unit once again . . .

Alright... This unit made it up to NumSearch 5 and had tons of everything except HostChan and Grid. :(:(:( My unit that lost it's Grid two days after this one has long since recovered (only took two days). So this evening I decided to do a "9012 TVGuide Reset" and we'll see what happens . . . :rolleyes:

It appears SF is like Houston and receives only listings downloads via OTA and not the data required to build a Grid from scratch.

This means you are left with two choices. Locate a friend that receives analogue downloads from a cable provider in your area to build your initial grid.

Or

Use a device like Artec or DTVPal to build the initial Grid.

http://www.spiffspace.com/forum/index.php?topic=188.0

To date neither Rovi nor Sony have expressed any interest in solving the problem.

Thanks for all the info, it is a big help. Does anyone know if DirectTV or Dish would work for the cable provider part, or is it just for comcast or at&t? Also, does anyone know of a place to buy either the Artec or DTVPal? I would love to get the grid back, but not at too high a price.

Somewhat OT but a relevant subject nevertheless.
Your reply prompted me to use an Entech model 411 True RMS DMM and measure the input to the Kill-A-Watt. Read 115.2 VAC and the Kill-A-Watt reads 115.4 VAC.
This is at the output of an APC 1200 VA UPS feeding the HDD250 and the 55LH90 TV with the TV off.
This model UPS outputs a stepped sinewave.

After several hours searching the net, no luck finding any analysis on the effect of a stepped sine wave on measurement accuracy of the K-A-W or true RMS voltmeters.

Look forward to your test results.The so called "Simulated Sine Wave" or "Stepped Sine Wave" of course bears little resemblence to a sine wave. It's basically a 50% duty cycle pulse - thus the RMS would be 50% of the peak voltage. I don't have a scope handy so I don't really know what the peak voltage is, but I have two CyberPower UPSs that measure ~100VAC and ~90VAC on both digital and analog meters, so I'd guess the peak is about 200V. I could measure the peak voltage with a full-wave rectifier and a capacitor if I had the energy.

For pictures of a stepped sine wave, visit:
http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/reviews/power/Belkin_F6C1500TWRK_UPS_6.html

Voltage accuracy was not a issue, just current. According to frank70, the issue is measuring a switching PS vs most anything else (xformer based).Actually, transformer powered equipment is likely to have a lower power factor because of the inductance directly across the line. I have no idea what sort of power supply the Sony has. I was simply commenting on the advisability of considering PF (which the Kill-a-Watt does) when measuring power consumed by any device.

One of my HDD500's (the main one in the family room) apparently decided to reboot/reset itself last night, losing it's Grid. :mad: We had been watching SYTYCD and then Criminal minds last night, during which time the DVR had been responding v-e-r-y slowly to the remote. :o I had CSI-NY set to record, but that did not occur. Apparently it reset itself shortly after I turned it off after Criminal Minds ended. :eek::eek::eek: The "Cause" shows as a "9" for those interested in such things.


I noticed something strange with this DVR later last night (after my post above). All (or almost all) of the dates/times for previously existing recordings are now incorrect. I have not made any new recordings since this unit reset itself on 11/12 as detailed in the quoted post. Many of my recent (but prior to 11/12) recordings are showing dates like 12/11, 12/23, etc. And the "start" times for the existing recordings all indicate "X:07" or "X:17", as if they had started at 7 minutes or 17 minutes after the hour. :confused::confused::confused: I played back sections of several of the recordings and they still appear to play ok. :o

Thanks for all the info, it is a big help. Does anyone know if DirectTV or Dish would work for the cable provider part, or is it just for comcast or at&t? Also, does anyone know of a place to buy either the Artec or DTVPal? I would love to get the grid back, but not at too high a price.


Item Number for the Artec: 201-128-001
Located here:

http://www.meritline.com/artec-t3apr-t-tvr-dtv-converter-box-with-tv-guide---p-34159.aspx

Artec Model T3APR-T(TVG)

at least there is no extra freight to pay.

I do not think DirectTV or Dish will build the grid.

I use the Artec "only" to build the initial Grid; and then remove it. I use OTA only for the SonyBox. I do not have cable or sat.

I picked up another DVR. It was only used for OTA with a working grid.
I changed the zip code, enabled cable and did a auto scan for OTA & cable. What I was going to do is let it sit with just OTA connected and see what happens without the 'Artec jump start' procedure. I also thought about just doing a full reset. The DVR does have the firmware update.

Input?

I noticed something strange with this DVR later last night (after my post above). All (or almost all) of the dates/times for previously existing recordings are now incorrect. I have not made any new recordings since this unit reset itself on 11/12 as detailed in the quoted post. Many of my recent (but prior to 11/12) recordings are showing dates like 12/11, 12/23, etc. And the "start" times for the existing recordings all indicate "X:07" or "X:17", as if they had started at 7 minutes or 17 minutes after the hour. :confused::confused::confused: I played back sections of several of the recordings and they still appear to play ok. :o

Did you check to see if your UTC time is correct? When I was testing earlier this year I noticed that recording date/time is apparently stored as an offset from UTC (adjusted for time zone). As an example, if I had a recording made 4 days prior to my test and the UTC got reset to 01/01/04, my recording would show as being made on 12/27.

I noticed something strange with this DVR later last night (after my post above). All (or almost all) of the dates/times for previously existing recordings are now incorrect. I have not made any new recordings since this unit reset itself on 11/12 as detailed in the quoted post. Many of my recent (but prior to 11/12) recordings are showing dates like 12/11, 12/23, etc. And the "start" times for the existing recordings all indicate "X:07" or "X:17", as if they had started at 7 minutes or 17 minutes after the hour. :confused::confused::confused: I played back sections of several of the recordings and they still appear to play ok. :o

Had the same thing happen to my girlfriends 500 unit. Then it locked up the next day---would not power up, no time. nada-- had to do a front panel reset at the welcome screen. Tried to just revert the software but ended up with a full reset and format. And of course, lost all her recordings. One of my units did the same thing this week---time off for all the previous recordings and it reset itself. I did a format hard drive and have not gotten a grid yet, but usaully takes 4-5 days to get one here OTA, digital. This unit was locking up while recording. My guess is that the hard drive was fragmented and needed a format to get it to work again properly.
Michael

A little over 4 years since this thread was started. Sure seems much longer than that, with 655 pages and 19,629 posts. Lots of worry about these being bricks and such over that time, yet they still work, even with all their quirks.
Only drawback is too many shows to keep up with.
Michael

Item Number for the Artec: 201-128-001
Located here:

http://www.meritline.com/artec-t3apr-t-tvr-dtv-converter-box-with-tv-guide---p-34159.aspx

Artec Model T3APR-T(TVG)

at least there is no extra freight to pay.

I do not think DirectTV or Dish will build the grid.

I use the Artec "only" to build the initial Grid; and then remove it. I use OTA only for the SonyBox. I do not have cable or sat.

Thank you for the info. I am going to go ahead and order this. More than I thought I would spend, but still cheaper than getting cable or sat. And I do want my grid. I will update once I get it.

I just noticed you are the person who wrote the artec get a grid guide and want to thank you for that as well. You save some of us a huge headache and prevent a paperweight with the dvr. Iam glad this thread exists.

A little over 4 years since this thread was started. Sure seems much longer than that, with 655 pages and 19,629 posts. Lots of worry about these being bricks and such over that time, yet they still work, even with all their quirks.
Only drawback is too many shows to keep up with.
Michael

I wonder if there is another specific device that has so many passionate users? We could analyze cost/performance on other devices, yet I really like my Sony. I also have an LST-3410A and two Toshiba DVD/DVR recorders hooked to HD tuners and, being a TV addict, it can be a challenge to keep up with shows. Now that Comcast has bought control of NBC/U, 2010 should bring more changes to the cable/OTA TV world. We live in interesting times.

My grid is back on the unit I had to format the drive to get to work again. That was Tuesday, so it took only 3 days this time to build a grid ota, here in the Atlanta area. Much better than some of the other parts of the counrty from what I hear.
Michael

We live in interesting times.I would not use the term "interesting".

BTW, a fair percentage of recorders on e-bay are being sold a second time. As in third hand. :rolleyes:
To make things worse (depending on your perspective), the price is still close to what they sold for when new :eek:

I would not use the term "interesting".

BTW, a fair percentage of recorders on e-bay are being sold a second time. As in third hand. :rolleyes:
To make things worse (depending on your perspective), the price is still close to what they sold for when new :eek:

It's a round about way of saying life with a DHG is chaos and we are involuntary participants. I understand the phrase is an old Chinese curse.

Sometimes I get bored and ask the eBay seller "how do I set the clock without a TV Guide signal?" They usually don't post the question or lack of an answer. And, you're right, the prices are way too high for any product this far into its life cycle. People don't factor into the cost what is takes to keep the DHG running continuously. I wonder if they will be banned in California with their new "vampire power" law.

I'm also big on two letter words. When someone says "do" or "go" I automatically say "no", then think about it. Have a nice day.

life with a DHG is chaos and we are involuntary participants.I would change "a DHG" to "Digital television". ;)People don't factor into the cost what is takes to keep the DHG running continuously. I wonder if they will be banned in California with their new "vampire power" law.If so, then every CATV DVR would be on the list especially SA and Moto who have a stranglehold on the cable TV market! :mad:the prices are way too high for any product this far into its life cycleFWIW, $515 was the cheapest I have seen a '500' sell for (I've seen them sell for over $750 if I remember correctly) and $280 for a '250' on e-bay. Both I would consider mostly 'fair'. One thing I will have to admit is these have been relative problem free as far as the electronics and hardware goes.

(Of course, both of mine will break after saying this)

When someone says "do" or "go" I automatically say "no", then think about it.But, I bet you then "go" ahead with it, or "do" it anyway. :D

I wonder if they will be banned in California with their new "vampire power" law.



The new CA regulations do not address "vampires" at all. Only TV power consumption. Here's a snippet from the L.A. Times article of 11/19.

Starting in 13 months, new TV sets will have to meet energy-efficiency standards that slash the amount of electricity they consume. The regulations also will lower owners' monthly electric bills.

The first-in-the-nation criteria, approved unanimously Wednesday by the five-member California Energy Commission, is aimed at cutting the amount of electricity used by new high-definition TVs of up to 58 inches by a third starting Jan. 1, 2011. More stringent rules that take effect Jan. 1, 2013, would create a cumulative 50% power savings.

The standards don't apply to any of the approximately 35 million TV sets currently in use in California or units sold in the coming year.

So we can just happily keep using our DVRs (for now). :D

Seems to me it was mentioned at one time that you could map channels 1000 - 1024. Was that lost with the .21 update? Here in Cincinnati, Time Warner has moved all HD content above channel 1000 with cable card. I can tune to those channels, but cannot record on or map them - very frustrating. In any conversations with Sony, has anyone ever heard them address this flaw? Would anyone venture to guess if Sony will issue another update?

Seems to me it was mentioned at one time that you could map channels 1000 - 1024. Was that lost with the .21 update? Here in Cincinnati, Time Warner has moved all HD content above channel 1000 with cable card. I can tune to those channels, but cannot record on or map them - very frustrating. In any conversations with Sony, has anyone ever heard them address this flaw? Would anyone venture to guess if Sony will issue another update?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17550266#post17550266

HELP!!!

HDMI output died. unit froze up, soft reset it a few times to no avail. finally determined that it locks up w/no output when connected by HDMI. tried 2 TVs, and 2 cables, no go.

composite output still works and unit will not freeze up.

what gives? i do have a store 5yr warranty, but that will be a PITA.

HELP!!!

HDMI output died. unit froze up, soft reset it a few times to no avail. finally determined that it locks up w/no output when connected by HDMI. tried 2 TVs, and 2 cables, no go.

composite output still works and unit will not freeze up.

what gives? i do have a store 5yr warranty, but that will be a PITA.

Unplug the Sony Box for 6 min.. Then plug back and leave it "off" until the clock resets itself on the front panel - - that could be from 15 min to 24 hours. That is just a tad stronger reset than the front panel reset; but you will not lose any recordings. It will clear internal memory conflicts, that a front panel reset will not always do.

I would change "a DHG" to "Digital television". ;)If so, then every CATV DVR would be on the list especially SA and Moto who have a stranglehold on the cable TV market! :mad:FWIW, $515 was the cheapest I have seen a '500' sell for (I've seen them sell for over $750 if I remember correctly) and $280 for a '250' on e-bay. Both I would consider mostly 'fair'. One thing I will have to admit is these have been relative problem free as far as the electronics and hardware goes.

(Of course, both of mine will break after saying this)

When Sony discontinued this DVR Tweeter wound up with the renaming inventory and put them on sale for $250. Brand new in the box.

Unfortunately I found out one day late and all Tweeter stores in San Diego were already sold out..
Bummer

Seems to me it was mentioned at one time that you could map channels 1000 - 1024. Was that lost with the .21 update? Here in Cincinnati, Time Warner has moved all HD content above channel 1000 with cable card. I can tune to those channels, but cannot record on or map them - very frustrating. In any conversations with Sony, has anyone ever heard them address this flaw? Would anyone venture to guess if Sony will issue another update?

Please use the link and then email as many Sony sites as possible. More voices to this problem the better.

But, I bet you then "go" ahead with it, or "do" it anyway. :D

I hold out as long as possible. Usually I win. At work, when my boss asks "Do I want to ...." I always say no. Should he ask "Will I ..." I say "of course". Amazing, but he's never caught on to it.

I find the DHD the most valuable part of my entertainment system. Nothing comes close in quality or capability. I'm always stating its properties to others who have a Tivo or cable DVR. To paraphase: is it live or is it a Sony DHG? I have a full grid and lineup, but can only record like a VCR. I don't care since the end result is outstanding. If Sony made a new DVR, I'd buy it in a nanosecond.

Seems to me it was mentioned at one time that you could map channels 1000 - 1024. Was that lost with the .21 update? Here in Cincinnati, Time Warner has moved all HD content above channel 1000 with cable card. I can tune to those channels, but cannot record on or map them - very frustrating. In any conversations with Sony, has anyone ever heard them address this flaw? Would anyone venture to guess if Sony will issue another update?

You can test that theory by loading the .13 update. You can always add back the .21 if it doesn't help. I've done that several times.

When Sony discontinued this DVR Tweeter wound up with the renaming inventory and put them on sale for $250. Brand new in the box.

Unfortunately I found out one day late and all Tweeter stores in San Diego were already sold out..
Bummer
That was in 2006. Thats how I got my two. After reading about them on here a day or two late, I called every store in town, but they were already sold out. So I started calling ones in California and got got an open box one shipped to one of the stores here. When I went to pick it up they were surprised that I was able to find one. Then about a week later, after checking everyday, I was able to score one on Twitter.com for 250.00 as well. I think I got the last one, because when I went back to try to get one for my friend they were gone.

Unplug the Sony Box for 6 min.. Then plug back and leave it "off" until the clock resets itself on the front panel - - that could be from 15 min to 24 hours. That is just a tad stronger reset than the front panel reset; but you will not lose any recordings. It will clear internal memory conflicts, that a front panel reset will not always do.

did as follows... between 12 and 18 hours it picked up a clock on the front (although the wrong time).

unfortunately unsuccessful.

any more ideas?

crap... sometimes i surprise myself.

i tested 2 hdmi cables and 2 different displays. same result on every conceivable combination.

then i tried my 3rd cable. works. go figure.

verified failure of both cables using an xbox... neither work. son of a...

ironically, whats eating at me most is that i have been preaching to those around me lately who are gobbling up those expensive azz best buy cables for $12/foot for their black friday and xmas TV purchases that they are WASTING THEIR MONEY.

and low and behold, my TWO no-name HDMI cables fail within 1 week of being new, and my last HDMI cable that has been working flawlessly for 2 years is my Monster Cable 8 meter cable.

DOH!

crap... sometimes i surprise myself.

i tested 2 hdmi cables and 2 different displays. same result on every conceivable combination.

then i tried my 3rd cable. works. go figure.

verified failure of both cables using an xbox... neither work. son of a...

ironically, whats eating at me most is that i have been preaching to those around me lately who are gobbling up those expensive azz best buy cables for $12/foot for their black friday and xmas TV purchases that they are WASTING THEIR MONEY.

and low and behold, my TWO no-name HDMI cables fail within 1 week of being new, and my last HDMI cable that has been working flawlessly for 2 years is my Monster Cable 8 meter cable.

DOH!

I've bought a number of cables from MonoPrice.com and never had a bad one or failure, and, they have great prices. I have multiple HDMI cables from them, and a 50' DVI-D to HDMI from my HTPC (in my office) to my HDTV (in the family room) which has worked flawlessly for 4 years (plus a 50' TOS Link to the receiver for the audio).

I'd never shell out for a Monster cable when MonoPrice provides such quality cables at such reasonable prices.

did as follows... between 12 and 18 hours it picked up a clock on the front (although the wrong time).

unfortunately unsuccessful.

any more ideas?

I also tried the 'unplug' fix for an incorrect clock. Didn't work for me either.

I've now installed the firmware update 1.2.21 from the Sony site. Clock came up correct right after install. Shows my host channel as still set to 4.1 I haven't seen listings yet though. I have to check if the TVGOS version is current or if I have to wait for that to update now (and do a G* for as long as it keeps downloading patches).

I also tried the 'unplug' fix for an incorrect clock. Didn't work for me either.

I've now installed the firmware update 1.2.21 from the Sony site. Clock came up correct right after install. Shows my host channel as still set to 4.1 I haven't seen listings yet though. I have to check if the TVGOS version is current or if I have to wait for that to update now (and do a G* for as long as it keeps downloading patches).

You don't have to do the G* Test after patch downloads with the 1.2.21 firmware. You only have to run the G* Test to get things going again if you are running the old firmware.

Mark

ok, turns out my cables ALL test fine. it is fluky output-wise.

it performs correctly when hooked up to 60hz dlp projector via HDMI

120hz lcd tv does not work except for a smidgen of audio bits a fraction of a second long and a occasional blip of still video. it had previously worked for a bout a week ( just been relecated from full time projector to the TV)

is there something fluky going on with the TV/dvr? hdmi settings? i don't see any on the tv.


EDIT
F me... I turned off everything and UNPLUGGED everything. Turned everything back on.. BINGO. works again.

I am not at all familiar with HDMI, is there some kind of pairing or something that has to be initially set up, or that can fluke out and require my fix above?

EDIT AGAIN
my clock still is not correct... on 1.2.21

ok, turns out my cables ALL test fine. it is fluky output-wise.

it performs correctly when hooked up to 60hz dlp projector via HDMI

120hz lcd tv does not work except for a smidgen of audio bits a fraction of a second long and a occasional blip of still video. it had previously worked for a bout a week ( just been relecated from full time projector to the TV)

is there something fluky going on with the TV/dvr? hdmi settings? i don't see any on the tv.


EDIT
F me... I turned off everything and UNPLUGGED everything. Turned everything back on.. BINGO. works again.

I am not at all familiar with HDMI, is there some kind of pairing or something that has to be initially set up, or that can fluke out and require my fix above?

EDIT AGAIN
my clock still is not correct... on 1.2.21
Do you still have your listings grid? I did not see how you get your signals--OTA or cable? For me, it takes only about half hour to get a correct clock, but that is with it tune to the host station with it on. I think last time I had a clock issue at my girlfriends I think I did a force host for the OTA station as the cable has not been sending it out, or the transmission is bad through them.
HDMI has that funky handshake deal, so it sometimes takes a moment or more to properly sync up. My 500 almost always does this when I first turn it on. It runs through my Denon AVR. The 250 is not so bad. I may try swapping cables around since you had problems so I can see if I need to upgrade mine.
Michael

cable QAM

cable QAM


So using the 752... diagnostic screen "Section Other - Clocks 2", what is your "Clock Set Chan?" I'd ask about your "Host Chan", but I understand you can't see that with .21 firmware. Your clock will not be accurate until you have received (at some time) a "TimezonePkts". Also, "N Sane" counts the "time" packets. I get one every 15 seconds and I can watch it move while tuned to my host channel. But "time" alone isn't enough. It needs the help of time zone and full date to be accurate.

............. I'd ask about your "Host Chan", but I understand you can't see that with .21 firmware..............

You can see the HostChan with the .21 firmware, but it periodically comes and goes. So sometimes when you look it will be blank, other times it will display.

You don't have to do the G* Test after patch downloads with the 1.2.21 firmware. You only have to run the G* Test to get things going again if you are running the old firmware.

Mark

Yes, I realized that shortly after writing this as my guide started to populate.

Same ole thang for Houston.

3 to 4 days ago there was a Rovi reset - 800a I think with Welcome Screen etc?

Yesterday, with 0xf78 HostSUFlags I noticed it went through at least 3 sets of 0x0 to 0x05 VBIState while still on NumSearch 1

Today on NumSearch 2 there are No Ads, and Day 8 is "No Listings", and HostSUFlags is back to 0xe68. Went from search cause 9 to 12

There has not been a "real" Host Channel set for 2 months or so?

So using the 752... diagnostic screen "Section Other - Clocks 2", what is your "Clock Set Chan?" I'd ask about your "Host Chan", but I understand you can't see that with .21 firmware. Your clock will not be accurate until you have received (at some time) a "TimezonePkts". Also, "N Sane" counts the "time" packets. I get one every 15 seconds and I can watch it move while tuned to my host channel. But "time" alone isn't enough. It needs the help of time zone and full date to be accurate.

I may have misunderstood what you meant. The number of TimezonePkts received can be seen on the VBI Stats screen. Some people get them fairly often while some of us get them only a few times each week. The N Sane field on the Clocks2 screen is something different. I believe it's related to checking for clock drift. Whatever it's using to do that, it's not TZ packets received.

You can see the HostChan with the .21 firmware, but it periodically comes and goes. So sometimes when you look it will be blank, other times it will display.

Could be other items that exhibit that behavior too. I can get different readings on some items that could be related to what type of data is in the download stream or if I'm tuned to the host channel. Also, due to using .13 firmware, a 9012 diag can cause some items to update, like LastClkSet. We're all at the mercy of the software, but buggy diagnostic data really sucks.

I may have misunderstood what you meant. The number of TimezonePkts received can be seen on the VBI Stats screen. Some people get them fairly often while some of us get them only a few times each week. The N Sane field on the Clocks2 screen is something different. I believe it's related to checking for clock drift. Whatever it's using to do that, it's not TZ packets received.

I'm going out on a limb here, so consider it an educated guess. I know you can get a good (or bad) time back after a power off/on and waiting a few seconds. That means other variables, like time zone, are saved over a power failure. I count 12 TZPkts a day (usually). NSane is likely, as you said, an update that could correct for drift, like in Windows. And, like in Windows, the drift correction "would/could" be applied only if your clock is way off. My signal is quite reliable, yet about once a month my front panel time deviates from internal time by 60 seconds slow. Then I run the 9012 test and the front panel jumps and all times are the same. When this happens is not related to external data, since this 60 second error happens at different days on three different DHG units (one of which, I swear, has its own personality).

You can see the HostChan with the .21 firmware, but it periodically comes and goes. So sometimes when you look it will be blank, other times it will display.

I just wanted to add that this is the same behavior that the .13 firmware also has with the digital TVGOS data. This behavior is not new to the .21 firmware. The DHG just doesn't care whether it has a host channel, or not with the digital data. On the other hand, DHGs that get their data exclusively from an analog cable station will still see a host channel 100% of the time no matter which firmware they are using. In the analog world, a blank host channel means no listings.

Mark

This post is from November 12th:
One of my HDD500's (the main one in the family room) apparently decided to reboot/reset itself last night, losing it's Grid. :mad: We had been watching SYTYCD and then Criminal minds last night, during which time the DVR had been responding v-e-r-y slowly to the remote. :o I had CSI-NY set to record, but that did not occur. Apparently it reset itself shortly after I turned it off after Criminal Minds ended. :eek::eek::eek: The "Cause" shows as a "9" for those interested in such things.

So now I'm waiting for a Grid on my primary unit once again . . .

This post is from December 2nd:
Alright... This unit made it up to NumSearch 5 and had tons of everything except HostChan and Grid. :(:(:( My unit that lost it's Grid two days after this one has long since recovered (only took two days). So this evening I decided to do a "9012 TVGuide Reset" and we'll see what happens . . . :rolleyes:

Finally got the HostChan and Channel Lineup (Grid) back yesterday on this unit. The Hostchan is displayed as "0:11-0" which is my OTA PBS station. The Grid appeared during NumSearch 2 this time around. I believe that the Grid might have appeared sooner (following the "9012 TVGuide Reset") except that for several days leading up to last weekend I had noticed that none of the important fields were incrementing, even though I continued to get Listings on my other units. I don't know if the HostChan/Grid would have ever come back if I had not done the "9012 TVGuide Reset". If I should lose the Grid again, I think I will do the Reset right away . . .

Finally got the HostChan and Channel Lineup (Grid) back yesterday on this unit. The Hostchan is displayed as "0:11-0" which is my OTA PBS station. The Grid appeared during NumSearch 2 this time around. I believe that the Grid might have appeared sooner (following the "9012 TVGuide Reset") except that for several days leading up to last weekend I had noticed that none of the important fields were incrementing, even though I continued to get Listings on my other units. I don't know if the HostChan/Grid would have ever come back if I had not done the "9012 TVGuide Reset". If I should lose the Grid again, I think I will do the Reset right away . . .

With all the changes that have taken place here the last 2-3 weeks, that may apply here too. After missing day 8 listings mid morning, it had filled in half of day 9 by 8PM; but still had portions of day 8 missing. This was all on NumSearch 2 after their (Rovi's) latest "reset".

because ratios of the data coming in are all different, multiple sets of new VBIState cycles within the same NumSearch, and usually reaching HostSUFlag of 0xf78 within 24 hours (sometimes 12 hours)...............I have felt the initial Artec Grid could be preventing the full VBIState "above" 0x05 to yeild the 0xff8. It is like it "wants" the full 9012 reset, to set itself up correctly..........but then again I do not want to give up 7 days of listings, and can always wait for the 8th to show up.

I have two 250s and one 500 connected to Bright House in Tampa, FL area. Everything as fine up until a couple days ago. the 250 and 500 that have cablecards used to have eight days of listings but starting a couple days ago each of them only has about 24 hours of listings at a time. The other 250 that does NOT have a cablecard installed still is showing eight days of listings. Any idea what the issue might be on the ones with only 1 day of listings? I suspect it has something to do with the cablecards since only the units with cablecards are acting funny. all three are connected to cable with no OTA.

ok, its been 3 days since i got mine displaying through HDMI, but I am still suffering from wrong time.

i upgraded to 1.2.21, unplugged, and plugged in again and left in "off" for 24 hours.

it has the wrong time. i have guide data (leftover from before the chaos).

i have tried sifting through this thread for a solution...

anyone have proper procedure for

1. resetting ALL guide data (this needs to be done, as now my listings are all messed up from duplicate channels and switches, etc)

2. getting the clock correct (can anything be more prohibitive on a DVR??!!)

3. verifying guide data is coming down the pipe

this thread is wonderful, but equally mismashed and difficult to follow.

TIA!

ok, its been 3 days since i got mine displaying through HDMI, but I am still suffering from wrong time.

i upgraded to 1.2.21, unplugged, and plugged in again and left in "off" for 24 hours.

it has the wrong time. i have guide data (leftover from before the chaos).

i have tried sifting through this thread for a solution...

anyone have proper procedure for

1. resetting ALL guide data (this needs to be done, as now my listings are all messed up from duplicate channels and switches, etc)

>> you could use the 9012 TVGOS reset that will 100% clear the grid and reset the clock to zero

2. getting the clock correct (can anything be more prohibitive on a DVR??!!)

>> see note below - this implies there is somerthing wrong in getting a correct TVGOS to your SonyBox?

3. verifying guide data is coming down the pipe

>> numerous information screens (depends if digital or analogue and which version of software is running) will tell you if data is coming in..........but it does not always tell if it is correct data.

this thread is wonderful, but equally mismashed and difficult to follow.

TIA!

If I recall correctly you are cable only? not using OTA? This implies there is a problem with the cable legacy TVGOS from "your" provider.

I am in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and my Sony 500 is downloading guide data w/o any problems!

ok, its been 3 days since i got mine displaying through HDMI, but I am still suffering from wrong time.

i upgraded to 1.2.21, unplugged, and plugged in again and left in "off" for 24 hours.

it has the wrong time. i have guide data (leftover from before the chaos).

i have tried sifting through this thread for a solution...

anyone have proper procedure for

1. resetting ALL guide data (this needs to be done, as now my listings are all messed up from duplicate channels and switches, etc)

2. getting the clock correct (can anything be more prohibitive on a DVR??!!)

3. verifying guide data is coming down the pipe

this thread is wonderful, but equally mismashed and difficult to follow.

TIA!

I'm not saying this is the perfect solution, as others here are far more knowledgable than I am. But you and I do share cable only reception. Here's what I would do.

1. Reset the unit by using the 9012 menu, TV Guide, then Full Factore Restore. There is no "are your sure". You then have a clean unit. After it goes through the reset, format, and gets quiet, turn it off for 15 minutes.

2. Turn the unit on and follow the first time setup options. Only scan cable, terminate the ANT input if you have a termination fitting. Turn it off when done.

3. After 30 minutes, follow the SpiffSpace instructions to update the firmware to 1.2.13. I keep both 1.2.13 and 1.2.21 on the same small flash drive. All I do is name the folder "Sony" for the one I want to load.

4. Leave the unit off for 12 hours.

5. The 9012 TVGuide diagnostics may be needed to cause updates to be applied. It never hurts to check it. If you are really lucky, the host field will have a valid channel number in it, but if it's not blank that's a good sign.

After you turn it on, use the 753159852 diagnostic screen to check your TVGOS update. If it says 08.01.42/08.06.44 you should have an accurate clock. If it says 08.01.42/00.00.00 then you are probably not getting a TVGOS signal and should ask your cable supplier if they have stopped supporting that service. If they no longer support TVGOS, you have some decisions to make. If they still support it, then tell them you are not getting a signal and would they look into the problem. Also, weekends are a bad time to get good Rovi data. You might need to let it run until next Tuesday to acquire the Host Channel.

But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

Ads came back for a time yesterday, but all gone today.

8 day listings but about 20% are No Listings or No Titles for all 8 days, mostly CBS is missing - about 50% for the 8 days?

New ratios for EPP, DPP, and Sort Control - - they are almost at equal amounts. And since yesterday lighting storm 0xf78 was reached in about 10 hours on NumSearch 1 with cause 9 with 0x05 VBIState.

All the houses across the street are getting new "transformers" today. I talk with the crews, the said they are old and failing.

I was reading the DTVPAL DVR forum, and over the last few days, several people in various cities have lost the listings for their ABC affiliate. Yesterday I noticed on my Sony, that my ABC listings are missing for Friday, Saturday, and now Sunday of next week. The rest of my listings are 100% complete. Is any one else seeing this in their area?

Mark

I have a 3th unit HDD500 that I have been testing.
I did a full reset last month, no clock, no grid, and no listing,
Did the USB 2.1 upgrade, last month
Received updated clock soon but no grid.
And I would look after a few days and no grid, and
after a few more days and no grid,

Today I had sometime to play with it I turned it on and
WOW, grid and listings......In Houston...

Host Chan 0:11-0
VBI 0:2-1

Also OTA only!!

On the other units I know that 11-1 is where I get the listing.

Mike

I was reading the DTVPAL DVR forum, and over the last few days, several people in various cities have lost the listings for their ABC affiliate. Yesterday I noticed on my Sony, that my ABC listings are missing for Friday, Saturday, and now Sunday of next week. The rest of my listings are 100% complete. Is any one else seeing this in their area?

Mark

Yes, same thing here...3 full days of no listings for our O&O ABC station on either 7.1 or 7.3 (which is a 24/7 weather channel). However, 7.2, ABC's Live Well network, has listings.

had to do a soft front reset... can't do 9012 full factory reset without original remote or harmony remote, can I?

does the new firmware display the callsign now? for example, NBC is OTA channel 8.1... this is cable QAM 78.3 but is now displayed 8.1. i'm not sure how to determine this on the DVR, but I can view this on my media center PC in windows 7. other channels, comcast has recently moved from odd ball channels to their OTA callsign, such as FOX which was previously 77.3 and is now on 17.1 (same as OTA). PBS and CBS.

i'm just about positive COMCAST is making another attemp to piss me off...

could this be jackin up my stuff?

had to do a soft front reset... can't do 9012 full factory reset without original remote or harmony remote, can I?

does the new firmware display the callsign now? for example, NBC is OTA channel 8.1... this is cable QAM 78.3 but is now displayed 8.1. i'm not sure how to determine this on the DVR, but I can view this on my media center PC in windows 7. other channels, comcast has recently moved from odd ball channels to their OTA callsign, such as FOX which was previously 77.3 and is now on 17.1 (same as OTA). PBS and CBS.

i'm just about positive COMCAST is making another attemp to piss me off...

could this be jackin up my stuff?
The QAM cable channels that broadcast local channels are being mapped to what they broadcast on OTA so it cuts down on confusion. In the guide it will say "Air 8.1" or "Cable 8.1". If you do a channel rescan all of the QAM channels that broadcast HD locals should remap to what they broadcast on OTA.

gotcha, that makes sense. i did a rescan and it did clear things up a ton.

now if it would just pick up a clock and guide i'd be set... grrr.

I was reading the DTVPAL DVR forum, and over the last few days, several people in various cities have lost the listings for their ABC affiliate. Yesterday I noticed on my Sony, that my ABC listings are missing for Friday, Saturday, and now Sunday of next week. The rest of my listings are 100% complete. Is any one else seeing this in their area?

Mark

Sorry. No problems with ABC or any other channel. Very strange. I enabled WPVI from Philly and will see what happens tonight.

In my area, the ABC affiliate in Columbia SC has no listings from 5 AM Wednesday onward. The ones in Charlotte and Asheville NC have no listings from 4:30 AM Friday onward. All the other stations in my listings are well filled-in.

I was reading the DTVPAL DVR forum, and over the last few days, several people in various cities have lost the listings for their ABC affiliate. Yesterday I noticed on my Sony, that my ABC listings are missing for Friday, Saturday, and now Sunday of next week. The rest of my listings are 100% complete. Is any one else seeing this in their area?

MarkSame 3 days missing on Sony (and all days missing on DTVPal) here in Philadelphia (TVGOS host KYW-DT 3.1).

My girlfriends 500 locked up again. No front panel, nothing coming on. Hoping not to have to do a complete format and reset again. Just wondering if the hard drive might me starting to fail. Before the lockup, could not get any signal out of the unit, but all of the menus and such would show up, so I know it is not a cabling issue between the dvr and tv. I pulled out the cable card and could get for a moment the analog cable only, not any qam or digital ota stations
Any ideas out there on this?
Thanks, Michael

My girlfriends 500 locked up again. No front panel, nothing coming on. Hoping not to have to do a complete format and reset again. Just wondering if the hard drive might me starting to fail. Before the lockup, could not get any signal out of the unit, but all of the menus and such would show up, so I know it is not a cabling issue between the dvr and tv. I pulled out the cable card and could get for a moment the analog cable only, not any qam or digital ota stations
Any ideas out there on this?
Thanks, Michael

When you go into 9012 for a Full Factory Reset and after the third time it cannot come up with a clean/corrected hard disk, there there is most likely a failure. It is somewhat common on the first running of 9012 full reset (after running ok for several years), to see a message that it is correcting hard disk errors; most of the time it will fix things just fine on the first attempt. If no errors are reported via the 9012 reset, then the lock up is most likely caused by other issues.

I was reading the DTVPAL DVR forum, and over the last few days, several people in various cities have lost the listings for their ABC affiliate. Yesterday I noticed on my Sony, that my ABC listings are missing for Friday, Saturday, and now Sunday of next week. The rest of my listings are 100% complete. Is any one else seeing this in their area?

Mark

Same problem exists here in the Detroit area. It shows up in all four of my TVGOS devices (OTA) which include a Sony TV with version 9, Sony DHG recorder, Toshiba HD TV with DTVPal converter, and a Liteon DVD recorder with DTVPal converter. That's channel 7.1 in this area but the local ABC affilate's channel 7.2 is listed in the TV Guide.

Pic 7986: ABC has gone to No Listings for OTA

Pic 7987: ABC has lost its call letters for OTA

Pic 7988: But retains call letters for cable

Pic 7989: New ratios for EPP, DPP, and Sort Control. This is after 2 days on NumSearch 1 with HostSUFlags at 0xf78.

There are also a few issues throughout the 8 day grid, several programs and time slots are “wrong”……..sometimes they get corrected on the day the program airs, sometimes not?

As others and myself have indicated a full 9012 reset factory defaults maybe in order to take out the Artec grid and see if it can make it’s own grid via OTA.

When you go into 9012 for a Full Factory Reset and after the third time it cannot come up with a clean/corrected hard disk, there there is most likely a failure. It is somewhat common on the first running of 9012 full reset (after running ok for several years), to see a message that it is correcting hard disk errors; most of the time it will fix things just fine on the first attempt. If no errors are reported via the 9012 reset, then the lock up is most likely caused by other issues.

What would cause a no signal message, even though the channels are there?
I am at the state now that the only way hopefully to reset is through the front panel button procedure as the unit no longer will power up. Just the welocome screen is all that happens and then locks up/shuts down. Counts to 6 and then shuts off. Nothing responds to any input. Never gives the other info after the 06 count. Last time just froze with 06 on the front. So, guess I might try again, just hate to keep messing with it if something else is causing a problem.
Michael

I decided to do a format and clear nvm. Unit reset back to factory with .05 software.
Question? Why and how would it pick up time without the digital update? As well as show any VBI count since all is digital now?
Any thoughts?
Michael

No ABC here listings here in Ft. Myers since this Thursday. Maybe Rovi and ABC are at war? SS- Stingray

I was reading the DTVPAL DVR forum, and over the last few days, several people in various cities have lost the listings for their ABC affiliate. Yesterday I noticed on my Sony, that my ABC listings are missing for Friday, Saturday, and now Sunday of next week. The rest of my listings are 100% complete. Is any one else seeing this in their area?

Mark

Awesome. I enabled WPVI from Philly and it's missing most listings. My usual ABC feed, WNEP, is full. I can't wait to see how this turns out.

I decided to do a format and clear nvm. Unit reset back to factory with .05 software.
Question? Why and how would it pick up time without the digital update? As well as show any VBI count since all is digital now?
Any thoughts?
Michael

The version 1.2.21 "digital update" is kind of a misnomer. It did little more than turn on the reception of TVGOS digital data by default, whereas on older firmware you had to run the G* Test to turn on the digital data. 1.2.05 should work fine as long as you run the G* Test first. See this (http://members.cox.net/mabuttra/tvgos/080142/intro.htm) page, where I recovered a grid, and full listings using firmware 1.2.13, and TVGOS base version 08.01.42.

Mark

TVGOS in Western New York is down, apparently from the end of last week. The only source is from Canada; the CTV network on CFTO in Toronto.
I have noticed the "No listing" for ABC, but I noticed I didn't have listings for most of my CATV services. Then I noticed I didn't have the ads. When I looked in the diag. screen, my host channel was the Canadian analog host on cable 12. :(

What, Houston has listings and now we don't? :confused:

I was reading the DTVPAL DVR forum, and over the last few days, several people in various cities have lost the listings for their ABC affiliate. Yesterday I noticed on my Sony, that my ABC listings are missing for Friday, Saturday, and now Sunday of next week. The rest of my listings are 100% complete. Is any one else seeing this in their area?

Mark

This morning I checked ABC WPVI and the Sony is missing only Thursday and Sunday. Might it be that Rovi is setting mouse traps to make ABC start using 1080i? With all those LCD HD screens being sold at low prices, ABC isn't going to look as nice. Maybe Fox will be next.

I know many are dealing with various other issues. But since I did a full reset, installed the latest firmware, waited 20 days for my grid to come back (about 4 months ago)...I've been dreading the day that we have a power failure and have to start all over again. Well, we had a power failure this weekend. It was off for close to an hour. When the power came back on, just for my sanity, I waited until the clock came back before I checked the Listings. When I opened the listings, the grid and listings were all still there, complete and useable. The TVGOS version was also still at the latest level.

Did the firmware update switch this information to non-volatile memory? Does anyone know? It was very cool to see that I did not lose anything in the power failure.

I know many are dealing with various other issues. But since I did a full reset, installed the latest firmware, waited 20 days for my grid to come back (about 4 months ago)...I've been dreading the day that we have a power failure and have to start all over again. Well, we had a power failure this weekend. It was off for close to an hour. When the power came back on, just for my sanity, I waited until the clock came back before I checked the Listings. When I opened the listings, the grid and listings were all still there, complete and useable. The TVGOS version was also still at the latest level.

Did the firmware update switch this information to non-volatile memory? Does anyone know? It was very cool to see that I did not lose anything in the power failure.

That is how it has always been for me and how it was intended to work. The FW update and TVGOS information are stored on the HDD and HDDs are non-volatile. The original shipped FW is also stored in Flash on the SONY and if you do the complete restore will be saved back to the HDD as it was shipped.

I suspect that those that have issues losing the grid after a power failure have some TVGOS file that is corrupted on the HDD and the system on power up deletes the corrupt information and starts with no grid. No one has ever reported a lost a FW version with a power outage. The downloaded TVGOS version maybe be lost if the TVGOS grid information is lost.

The best thing I ever did for my DVR was to do the full factory reset which formatted the hard drive. As stated before, I had to wait 20 days for my grid to come back, but it was worth it. Since full factory reset and the latest firmware all of my lockups...etc. have ceased. It's probably something that should be done for any hard drive over 3 years old -- especially with the continuous write/delete/write/delete going on.

Thanks for the input.

This morning I checked ABC WPVI and the Sony is missing only Thursday and Sunday. Might it be that Rovi is setting mouse traps to make ABC start using 1080i? With all those LCD HD screens being sold at low prices, ABC isn't going to look as nice. Maybe Fox will be next.As an experiment, I went into the TVGOS channel editor and added my local ABC station's analog channel (i.e. WPVI) in addition to WPVI-DT 6.1, and mapped it to the same digital channel 6.1. Yes they still have listings for the analog channels! Lo and behold, this evening I now see the full 8 days of listings for WPVI, but only through Thursday for WPVI-DT.

So whatever is wrong, you may be able to temporarily get around it by adding in your analog version of the digital ABC channel that is missing listings. At least until ROVI get around to removing the old analog channels from the guide.

Comcast in northern New Jersey-No listings for ABC in New York, Philadelphia and New Haven the past week.

I am not getting ABC listings after Friday night, and no listings at all after Saturday night.

As an experiment, I went into the TVGOS channel editor and added my local ABC station's analog channel (i.e. WPVI)
I don't have any analog channels left in my channel editor.

I don't have any analog channels left in my channel editor.Are you sure? In my case, they were WAY down at the bottom, were turned OFF, and had NO channel assigned. The only way I could identify them was by the call sign (e.g.: WVPI vs WPVIDT).

The version 1.2.21 "digital update" is kind of a misnomer. It did little more than turn on the reception of TVGOS digital data by default, whereas on older firmware you had to run the G* Test to turn on the digital data. 1.2.05 should work fine as long as you run the G* Test first. See this (http://members.cox.net/mabuttra/tvgos/080142/intro.htm) page, where I recovered a grid, and full listings using firmware 1.2.13, and TVGOS base version 08.01.42.

Mark

I thought VBI was only in line 21 of a NTSC signal and has nothing to do with a ATSC signal. If so, then why/how does it show up on the Sony in a digital only setup?
Thanks, Michael

Rovi is such a great company to work for – where is my paycheck? LOL


Most areas in the country no longer have an analogue ABC to choose from, but there is a good chance you do have the non-active cable ABC channel to choose from.

Picture 7990: This the original (yellow) ABC 13-1 OTA, notice bogus call letters – that is because of the No Listings, etc The station number had to be changed to prevent conflict so I just entered the 47-1. I left the original in its original position, so I will know if and when the “listings” come back.

Picture 7991: This is the non-used cable ABC (was like position 492?), has the correct call letters and program listings, and is full 8 days complete in one night. Simply used the correct station number and placed below the “real” non-working ABC. As soon as program listings are corrected then I can turn off the ABC cable, etc etc.

I thought VBI was only in line 21 of a NTSC signal and has nothing to do with a ATSC signal. If so, then why/how does it show up on the Sony in a digital only setup?
Thanks, Michael

You are right, VBI is strictly an analog term. However the "VBI" counts listed on the G* Test screen (in versions prior to 1.2.21) are just an indication of the presence of TVGOS packets (analog or digital). You can tune to your digital host channel, and run the G* Test on the old firmware, and the VBI counts increment, even though, as you point out, there is no such thing as VBI in an ATSC signal. Apparently, because of the confusion of the term VBI, the .21 firmware "fixed" the G* Test, so it does not report digital data as VBI counts.

Mark

Rovi is such a great company to work for – where is my paycheck? LOLYour fired! You are way to knowledgeable and this company can not afford your types.

Wanted:
CSR for large consumer electronics media company. Starting pay $7./hr. :D

On a more serious note, that's interesting about using another ABC station listing. Was that the same station, or another station outside of your market? The ABC listing here does have correct call letters.

I just recovered from a loss of TVGOS service on all three of my devices (no idea what was wrong) and the current channel lineup now has only ONE listing for my ABC affiliate. No separate OTA, cable, analog and/or digital entries like the other networks have, only ONE! This is with my Mits TV. Both DVR's are ok since they didn't loose the grid, just went to 'no listings).

Also, what appears to be a updated/newer set of listings for my market showing 630+ channels, the listings on the Mits show the old list of around 450 channels. :confused: That doesn't present a problem per-say, since what I need/watch is available.

Are you sure? In my case, they were WAY down at the bottom, were turned OFF, and had NO channel assigned. The only way I could identify them was by the call sign (e.g.: WVPI vs WPVIDT).
Yes I'm sure. I've checked several times. One of my local stations has not had any listings since the switch over, WB 61-1. I was hoping that I could use the analog station listings, but they are no where to be found. I can see the listings for cable WB 61-1, but can't change it from cable to air, as that option is grayed out (was that new with .21?).

I never listened to audio off of this directly from a TV. The audio always went to a audio receiver. Now, I have a 2nd deck, the 250 got moved to a bedroom and I'm trying to use a HDMI connection to a Sammy LCD, but I only have analog audio. Digital stations have no audio. Is there some issuw with the Sony and digital stations? I do not see any user settings that would cover this. I tried two of the three HDMI inputs, but no difference. My SD DVR using HDMI has no issue.

I also read in the Sammy manual a possible HDMI V1.3 issue where older STBs' (V1.2 or earlier) might have issues forcing you have to use analog audio cables connected separately.

Ideas?

I never listened to audio off of this directly from a TV. The audio always went to a audio receiver. Now, I have a 2nd deck, the 250 got moved to a bedroom and I'm trying to use a HDMI connection to a Sammy LCD, but I only have analog audio. Digital stations have no audio. Is there some issuw with the Sony and digital stations? I do not see any user settings that would cover this. I tried two of the three HDMI inputs, but no difference. My SD DVR using HDMI has no issue.

I also read in the Sammy manual a possible HDMI V1.3 issue where older STBs' (V1.2 or earlier) might have issues forcing you have to use analog audio cables connected separately.

Ideas?

Check to see if you have Dolby Digital on or off. I use HDMI directly to my HDTV and have no problem with the audio, but the Dolby setting must be OFF.

With your remote, press Menu. Go to Preferences. Go to Audio. Go to Dolby Digital. Choose Off (if it isn't already). If it is already Off, then I have no idea what else you can try. :confused:

Thanks. I just discovered that after a lengthly search here. What does that matter??

As an experiment, I went into the TVGOS channel editor and added my local ABC station's analog channel (i.e. WPVI) in addition to WPVI-DT 6.1, and mapped it to the same digital channel 6.1. Yes they still have listings for the analog channels! Lo and behold, this evening I now see the full 8 days of listings for WPVI, but only through Thursday for WPVI-DT.

So whatever is wrong, you may be able to temporarily get around it by adding in your analog version of the digital ABC channel that is missing listings. At least until ROVI get around to removing the old analog channels from the guide.

Yay! It works! After reading your post several hours ago I did this and the listings are beginning to fill in already.

As Frank said, I found that ALL of the old analog channels in the L.A. area are now down at the bottom of the channel list. Rovi must have re-org'd that thing sometime since June because I didn't move those channels down there.

In the "believe it or not" category, I emailed them about the ABC listings problem and got this response within 15 minutes or so.

Hello xxxxx,

We apologize for this issue; we are aware of it and our engineers are working on fixing it now. This should be fixed very soon.

Thank you,
CE Tech Support

One out of three DHG units lost a minute on its front panel display. It should return by 07:00 EST. However there are no TVGOS packets being sent. I do have full listings for both ABC channels WNEP & WPVI. Finger's are crossed.

I finally finished dubbing everything I'd been saving on my 500, to my computer, using a Hauppauge HD PVR. So on Monday evening I did a "Restore Factory Default" from the 9012 menu, set up TVGOS (OTA only), and installed the 1.2.21 software. I figured it was time to start over from scratch with this unit after nearly four years. I checked the recovery process twice a day:

Monday, 6 PM: initial setup.

Monday, about 10:30 PM: the clock set.

Tuesday, 7 AM: TVGOS version had updated from 08.01.71 to 08.05.40.

Tuesday, 6 PM: TVGOS version had updated further to 08.06.44.

Wednesday, 7 AM: Advertisements now appeared, but no channel grid yet

Wednesday, 6 PM: Channel grid in place.

The ABC digital channels are completely missing, which didn't surprise me too much because they haven't been getting new listings recently. I "recovered" two of them by re-mapping the corresponding analog channels. However, I never had an analog entry for the third one, only the digital. After Rovi fixes the data, I'll have to reset TVGOS and get a fresh channel grid.

I received this email from TVGOS today. Everything has been working for sometime now. I did notice ABC guide missing but its now all filled in.

Hello Eddie,

The updates have been made and your TV Guide should be working now. Please let us know if you are still having issues. If you are, please reset the TV Guide; to do this you will need to go to set up with in the TV Guide, hit the down arrow once, and type in 653274147 (won't see these numbers on the screen). The TV Guide will disappear and the unit may restart. After this you will need to leave the TV off from 11:45pm - 6:00am. If you are still having issues, please collect a set of the diagnostic information for us (see attached document).

Thank you,
CE Tech Support

I received this email from TVGOS today. Everything has been working for sometime now. I did notice ABC guide missing but its now all filled in.

Hello Eddie,

The updates have been made and your TV Guide should be working now. Please let us know if you are still having issues. If you are, please reset the TV Guide; to do this you will need to go to set up with in the TV Guide, hit the down arrow once, and type in 653274147 (won't see these numbers on the screen). The TV Guide will disappear and the unit may restart. After this you will need to leave the TV off from 11:45pm - 6:00am. If you are still having issues, please collect a set of the diagnostic information for us (see attached document).

Thank you,
CE Tech Support
Thats a good way to lose your grid, I know from experience. EDIT: On the Sonys that is, not sure about TV's though.

So is anyone else NOT receiving guide data from Sunday AM on?

Thanks

Thats a good way to lose your grid, I know from experience. EDIT: On the Sonys that is, not sure about TV's though.

So is anyone else NOT receiving guide data from Sunday AM on?

Thanks

As I said, I'm not having any problems and if you refering to the reset, I don't plan to do it. I only notice the ABC listing missing when others reported the same problem which came back up on its on.

I never listened to audio off of this directly from a TV. The audio always went to a audio receiver. Now, I have a 2nd deck, the 250 got moved to a bedroom and I'm trying to use a HDMI connection to a Sammy LCD, but I only have analog audio. Digital stations have no audio. Is there some issuw with the Sony and digital stations? I do not see any user settings that would cover this. I tried two of the three HDMI inputs, but no difference. My SD DVR using HDMI has no issue.

I also read in the Sammy manual a possible HDMI V1.3 issue where older STBs' (V1.2 or earlier) might have issues forcing you have to use analog audio cables connected separately.

Ideas?

I had the same issue with my last Sony TV. I found that I could only get audio from analog stations on the TV's audio out. But any station being received by the Sony DHG that made my "Dolby" indicator light up was silent unless I disabled the Dolby setting on the DHG. Now I have a newer Bravia. From the DHG I feed HDMI to the TV and optical to a JVC receiver. The analog TV output also feeds the JVC. So I can select analog stereo from the TV or digital from the DHG. This XBR9 TV works converting the digital to analog, but the JVC makes noise when doing a 30 second skip. No noise on the optical, so it's being caused by the TV. Since there is no 5.1 on any TV I know of (only two speakers), there is no downside to killing the Dolby setting on the DHG. I should mention that I haven't enabled any TV speakers since 1990. Hope this isn't too confusing.

I have a 250 and a 500. Both are at firmware level 1.2 .21. Last weekend for some reason I seem to have last all the guide data in the 250. I've tried a variety of things this week to no avail. I have no guide data, I have no channel data, and I don't think I'm getting any ads. I'm on Comcast cable, there are cablecards in both units. I've been getting data successfully since the digital changeover last February.

Has anyone written a new procedural suggestion for recovering guide data in this instance? Luckily this happened at a time of year when there's a significant number of reruns, and it's not as critical as it might be at another time. Nonetheless, I'd like to get it fixed. I would appreciate any suggestions anyone might be able to offer.

Thank you for your time

John O'Boyle

Will unplugging the unit for say 5 to 10 minutes (other then the clock) dump the listings?
I was doing some cable management and had to unplug the deck twice. After I was through, I checked the listings and just about all of them showed "No listing".
After a couple of hours I checked again and the listings were all back. :confused:

BTW, enabling the SD listing of my ABC affiliate and it does show listings unlike the HD/DTV entries (either OTA or CATV).

I had the same issue with my last Sony TV. I found that I could only get audio from analog stations on the TV's audio out. But any station being received by the Sony DHG that made my "Dolby" indicator light up was silent unless I disabled the Dolby setting on the DHG. Now I have a newer Bravia. From the DHG I feed HDMI to the TV and optical to a JVC receiver. The analog TV output also feeds the JVC. So I can select analog stereo from the TV or digital from the DHG. This XBR9 TV works converting the digital to analog, but the JVC makes noise when doing a 30 second skip. No noise on the optical, so it's being caused by the TV. Since there is no 5.1 on any TV I know of (only two speakers), there is no downside to killing the Dolby setting on the DHG. I should mention that I haven't enabled any TV speakers since 1990. Hope this isn't too confusing.

http://electronicdesign.com/Articles/ArticleID/21602/21602.html.
may explain many HDMI/HDCP/EDID problems.

The HDMI/EDID issue may also explain why users report that DB 5.1 cannot pass from a source via HDMI to a TV and then to an AVR via SPDIF. If the TV EDID reports it has 2 speakers and can only accept 2 ch stereo that is what the source sends and thus no 5.1 is available to pass on.

Current TV sets seem to do better. My 55LH90 does pass 5.1 from a Sony HDD250 DVR and an LG DB390 BR player under these conditions to a Sony 820 AVR vis SPDIF which duly reports DB 5.1 on the display. 390 audio has to be set to pass through for this to work.

The HDD250 audio needs to be set to Dolby Digital on for this to work. If that is off the AVR reports LPCM and 2 ch stereo. This works for live and recorded programs as long as the original broadcast carries 5.1 sound.

Why this works with the LG TV ?. Pure speculation. Perhaps because this TV has an SRS audio option reported by the EDID to the source as capable of 5.1

Due to the large variety of AV devices connecting via HDMI, EDID errors are more the rule than the exception. As long as every device, AVR, DVD, Tivo, STB's (especially prone to errors), TV etc correctly identifies itself all is well. If not, you know what happens from your own experience. There are free EDID readers available but AFAIK only for computer monitors. This makes troubleshooting EDID errors for AV devices dicey to say the least.

I finally finished dubbing everything I'd been saving on my 500, to my computer, using a Hauppauge HD PVR. So on Monday evening I did a "Restore Factory Default" from the 9012 menu, set up TVGOS (OTA only), and installed the 1.2.21 software. I figured it was time to start over from scratch with this unit after nearly four years. I checked the recovery process twice a day:

Monday, 6 PM: initial setup.

Monday, about 10:30 PM: the clock set.

Tuesday, 7 AM: TVGOS version had updated from 08.01.71 to 08.05.40.

Tuesday, 6 PM: TVGOS version had updated further to 08.06.44.

Wednesday, 7 AM: Advertisements now appeared, but no channel grid yet

Wednesday, 6 PM: Channel grid in place.

The ABC digital channels are completely missing, which didn't surprise me too much because they haven't been getting new listings recently. I "recovered" two of them by re-mapping the corresponding analog channels. However, I never had an analog entry for the third one, only the digital. After Rovi fixes the data, I'll have to reset TVGOS and get a fresh channel grid.

JT can you post a picture of your current "VBI Info" and "VBI Stats" screens?

Thanks.

I am doing a 9012 reset factory defaults today.

Well the 500 unit I reset via front panel button has ads now, but still waiting for the grid to rebuild. Info is coming in on the 753... screens. Did notice on the first screen that no host has been set but the number after the time at the top has gone from (2) to (3). Not sure what that means. Running .05 at the moment and have plan to use it as such when I hook back to cable. Need to verify that cable TVGOS is not getting to the house, even though Comcast claims it is sending it to Woodstock, GA.
Michael

Well the 500 unit I reset via front panel button has ads now, but still waiting for the grid to rebuild. Info is coming in on the 753... screens. Did notice on the first screen that no host has been set but the number after the time at the top has gone from (2) to (3). Not sure what that means. Running .05 at the moment and have plan to use it as such when I hook back to cable. Need to verify that cable TVGOS is not getting to the house, even though Comcast claims it is sending it to Woodstock, GA.
Michael

[2] means the flow of digital data is stopped. [3] means the unit is receiving digital data. With FW versions earlier than the current .21, running the G* test resumes the digital flow when it stops after receiving each version patch.

http://electronicdesign.com/Articles/ArticleID/21602/21602.html.
may explain many HDMI/HDCP/EDID problems.

The HDMI/EDID issue may also explain why users report that DB 5.1 cannot pass from a source via HDMI to a TV and then to an AVR via SPDIF. If the TV EDID reports it has 2 speakers and can only accept 2 ch stereo that is what the source sends and thus no 5.1 is available to pass on.

Current TV sets seem to do better. My 55LH90 does pass 5.1 from a Sony HDD250 DVR and an LG DB390 BR player under these conditions to a Sony 820 AVR vis SPDIF which duly reports DB 5.1 on the display. 390 audio has to be set to pass through for this to work.

The HDD250 audio needs to be set to Dolby Digital on for this to work. If that is off the AVR reports LPCM and 2 ch stereo. This works for live and recorded programs as long as the original broadcast carries 5.1 sound.

Why this works with the LG TV ?. Pure speculation. Perhaps because this TV has an SRS audio option reported by the EDID to the source as capable of 5.1

Due to the large variety of AV devices connecting via HDMI, EDID errors are more the rule than the exception. As long as every device, AVR, DVD, Tivo, STB's (especially prone to errors), TV etc correctly identifies itself all is well. If not, you know what happens from your own experience. There are free EDID readers available but AFAIK only for computer monitors. This makes troubleshooting EDID errors for AV devices dicey to say the least. Thanks for the above. I did notice playing back recordings made off of digital stations had no issue with the audio.
After spending 20 minutes reading posts from a search in this thread, I did stumble across this issue. I did have Dolby set to 'Auto'. I never use internal TV speakers, but where this 2nd deck is located, I didn't want to hook up a receiver/amp so I forced myself to use the crummy amp that Sammy gives you. I did modify the set so I am able to hook up external speakers, but since the internal audio section is so bad, that didn't make much of an improvement.

I don't understand why that setting should have any bearing.

Thats a good way to lose your grid, I know from experience. EDIT: On the Sonys that is, not sure about TV's though.

So is anyone else NOT receiving guide data from Sunday AM on?

Thanks
I'm in Tempe and have also noticed no data from Sunday going forward. I've asked on some other forums about this but have received no response. Both my DVR and TV are not updating so I suspected a TVGOS fault but, as I say, could not get confirmation.

[2] means the flow of digital data is stopped. [3] means the unit is receiving digital data. With FW versions earlier than the current .21, running the G* test resumes the digital flow when it stops after receiving each version patch.

Thanks Possumgirl, I never knew that. I learn something new everyday. So that's why ROVI wants to know what that number is. That would be a quick way to tell (for people running the older firmware), when you need to run the G* Test.

Mark

did a full factory reset on tuesday.

reset up the guide, and did a channel scan (cable only)

installed 1.2.13 firmware and left off.

i turned it back on today, and as of 10:30pm today (thursday), no clock, and "no data" on guide.



has comcast successfully stopped guide data or what?


EDIT: according to TVGOS comcast is supposedly broadcasting data on both analog and digital CBS (WWMT) but i get no host channel going to that is 7513 screen.

I'm in Tempe and have also noticed no data from Sunday going forward. I've asked on some other forums about this but have received no response. Both my DVR and TV are not updating so I suspected a TVGOS fault but, as I say, could not get confirmation.
Wondering if theres something wrong with channel 8's equipment?

[2] means the flow of digital data is stopped. [3] means the unit is receiving digital data. With FW versions earlier than the current .21, running the G* test resumes the digital flow when it stops after receiving each version patch.

Not too sure if QAM qualifies as digital, but I always have a [3]. My host is 1:0-15, as is the Clock Set Chan. Channel 15 is quite analog. I do receive digital data on other channels, so maybe that's causing the [3].

Wondering if theres something wrong with channel 8's equipment?

I called Channel 8 (602-496-2308) about noon yesterday and asked the person that answered phone about TVGOS not updating.

She said "the engineers are aware of the problem and are working on it".
She didn't have any idea when it might get fixed.

JT can you post a picture of your current "VBI Info" and "VBI Stats" screens?

Sorry about the delay... here they are. These may or may not be what you want, because after I got my channel grid, I set the ZIP code to an out-of-state one so this unit is now searching continuously for a new host channel. This is to work around the problem I described a while ago of Host Chan setting and unsetting every few days, and not getting any updated program listings while it was set.

Using the HDMI output, there is no 1080i format option as with component. Why is that? 'Auto HDMI' slows down the handshake (video and especially audio). I can switch it to 720p, but there is a noticeable drop in resolution when using a Sammy 1080 LCD where it wasn't noticeable with a Mits 1080 DLP.

Using the HDMI output, there is no 1080i format option as with component. Why is that?

Beats me. :confused:

Mine is set to 1080i using HDMI right now. When I cycle through the formats using the FORMAT button, it comes between "Std Out" and "720p".

You only have three choices?
The choices are the same here except 1080i is replaced with Auto HDMI.

I just noted the ones that came before and after 1080i.

My complete sequence is Auto HDMI, Variable 1, Variable 2, Variable 3, SD Out, 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i, then back to Auto HDMI and repeat the cycle.

This week my 500 stopped tuning QAM signals. Did a rescan and nothing is found. Signal quality seems fine - I can tune QAM if I plug into my TV directly. Could the tuner have gone bad??

You have 'Auto HDMI' and 1080i?? I can tune QAM if I plug into my TV directly. Plug what directly into the TV? Do you have a separate STB?

You have 'Auto HDMI' and 1080i??

Yes.

Any idea why I wouldn't? Is it EDID related?

Sorry about the delay... here they are. These may or may not be what you want, because after I got my channel grid, I set the ZIP code to an out-of-state one so this unit is now searching continuously for a new host channel. This is to work around the problem I described a while ago of Host Chan setting and unsetting every few days, and not getting any updated program listings while it was set.

Ok, thanks that helps a lot. Maybe Houston is getting closer to actually working - hard to say.

Do you think, if you had started with your zip code (not out of state), that it would now work correctly? Or is that method still required for your location?


My EPP and DPP and Sort Control now seem to follow a similiar pattern as yours........but my timezonepkts and stationpkts are always "equal" - I think Houston is the only one still doing that?

My initial search cause is 9 - just like all of them; but I have not seen the 8 since the analogue days. Mine almost always goes to 12 for NumSearch 2 and above...........and sometimes to a 22/25 about 5-7 weeks of no grid.

I should have my "on" late today (about 25 hours off); hope to have a grid?

You have 'Auto HDMI' and 1080i??

I have the exact sequence that JTBell posted. With my previous TV I kept the output on 1080i because the screen went really squirrely during the handshake using Auto-HDMI when changing channels. My new set doesn't have that problem so I just use the Auto now.

All 8 days have filled in for the digital channel. The ABC logo off to the side disappeared, but oh well....

Ah, good. I suppose the ABC digitals have also returned to the channel lineup. I'll do a ZIP 00000 reset on my 500 tonight so as to get a fresh lineup and see what happens.

I called Channel 8 (602-496-2308) about noon yesterday and asked the person that answered phone about TVGOS not updating.

She said "the engineers are aware of the problem and are working on it".
She didn't have any idea when it might get fixed.
Hopefully soon. Thanks for the information.

All 8 days have filled in for the digital channel. The ABC logo off to the side disappeared, but oh well....

Same here... Listings are back, but the ABC logo is replaced by the local station's callsign. Also (although I'm not sure if anyone but me had noticed that they had been missing as well) the listings are back for A&E-HD. Just like ABC, the analog version had listings but the digital version didn't. Hmm, ABC, A&E-HDhd, maybe it was an "A" thing (except that AMC-HD had listings all along)......

Hopefully soon. Thanks for the information.
I just talked with KAET at 602-496-2308. I told them that we had no listings past midnight tomorrow. I was told that they were having to replace equipment (which is in-house) and that it "just" needs to be installed and should be functional in ~2 days. Hopefully that was a padded pessimistic estimate.

Completed 9012 Reset Factory Defaults yesterday about 3PM, with all the trimmings. Clock and ads were back very fast.

Friday:
12/18/09 6:10PM All is in order except the Grid, correct first page software ads, complete etc. EPP and Sort Control are 28 and 29. DPP is 3. About 26 hours into NumSearch 1 with 0xe68

The unit will remain "off" until this time tomorrow for another check.

Since forums usually just contain posts with problems, just wanted to report that I haven't had any issues since July. TV Guide works like a charm.

You have 'Auto HDMI' and 1080i?? Plug what directly into the TV? Do you have a separate STB?

Sorry - plugging the cable directly into my TV - my TV can tune the QAM channels... however, the Sony no longer seems to find them. It does find the analog cable channels. strange and new problem...

Not too sure if QAM qualifies as digital, but I always have a [3]. My host is 1:0-15, as is the Clock Set Chan. Channel 15 is quite analog. I do receive digital data on other channels, so maybe that's causing the [3].

It is probably better to say that a [2] indicates that TVGOS data has not been received since the last reset, and a [3] indicates that TVGOS data has been received since the last reset. This applies to both analog, and digital data.

This is more noticeable for people who are running the old firmware in a digital environment, since after a reset (such as a power outage), the TVGOS data stops (a [2] is shown) until the G* Test is run, then it becomes a [3]. People who are receiving analog data, or are running the .21 firmware probably wouldn't notice a [2] after a power outage, since it would only show until the first clock set happens (just a few minutes), and then it would be a [3].

Looking at my TVGOS recovery (http://members.cox.net/mabuttra/tvgos/080142/intro.htm) page, all the pictures I took after a reset, and before I ran the G* Test show a [2], and all the pictures taken after I ran a G* Test show a [3], which basically proves out what Possumgirl said. I had never noticed this before, until Possumgirl mentioned it.

Mark

edit4ever; How about OTA? Have you tried those?

mabuttra; Nice write up and well formatted web pages. One would think since 50-75% of the entries in all of those diag. pages are worthless, Rovi would re-write all of that and just delete all of the fluff. Line after line of crap. These f*cking programmers with their inflated egos and their damn hex crap. :mad::mad:

Since forums usually just contain posts with problems, just wanted to report that I haven't had any issues since July. TV Guide works like a charm.

Be patient. Eventually ROVI will get around to messing with your data and you will have some fun like many others here. I've probably missed a few problems myself, since checking day 8 listings isn't something I do daily. I do envy you though.