I just purchased a Toshiba Symbio firewire HD DVR box to work with my Toshiba 42HP95 plasma screen. I know there are people using this box with the rear projection screens.
I've found the Symbio is very tempermental. There have been times that I've tried to pause live TV only to get the message 'Not available at this time'. Usually then I have to pull the power on the Symbio, let it reboot and it works.

Anyone find this?
Thanks.

-Jody

I just purchased a Toshiba Symbio firewire HD DVR box to work with my Toshiba 42HP95 plasma screen. I know there are people using this box with the rear projection screens.
I've found the Symbio is very tempermental. There have been times that I've tried to pause live TV only to get the message 'Not available at this time'. Usually then I have to pull the power on the Symbio, let it reboot and it works.

Anyone find this?
Thanks.
-Jody

The Symbio can be quirky. I've had mine for about 5 months and have only had to do the "Hard Reset" on it once. I think a lot of it's touchiness is due to the TVGOS system, which it pretty much relies on. If TVGOS is goofy, then the Symbio will have less than optimal performance.

One other point, if the Symbio is recording something, then you cannot use the live TV control features. My son inadvertently set the Symbio to record a show every time it came on and it was in to heavy re-runs. that caused no end of problems until I discovered what was happening.

Thanks Harley.

But, and please correct me if I'm wrong. When the Symbio is recording a show, you can't watch another recorded show or start the show thats recording from the beginning can you? I tried that and got the 'That Command is Currently not available' (or something like that) message.

Actually my TVGOS has been very good. I have the latest Toshiba TV and I'm hoping the two entities have worked out their problems.

Thanks again.

-Jody

Thanks Harley.

But, and please correct me if I'm wrong. When the Symbio is recording a show, you can't watch another recorded show or start the show thats recording from the beginning can you? I tried that and got the 'That Command is Currently not available' (or something like that) message.

Actually my TVGOS has been very good. I have the latest Toshiba TV and I'm hoping the two entities have worked out their problems.

Thanks again.

-Jody

Yep. The Symbio locks channel selection when it records, all you can do is monitor what it is watching.

I have a Symbio on my Toshiba 56HM195, and a Tivo on my non-HD setup. I use the Symbio only for the recording of HD shows that I want - it's too flaky and too restrictive when its recording to act as a heavy-duty PVR.

I've also had problems with my Symbio that require me to do a power-pull reset. Most show as 1394 errors ("1394 playback error", "1394 communications error"). Are other Symbio owners getting these? I have about one every day or two.

PBanders

I can't say that I've seen the issues that you have. I have had problems where the Symbio wouldn't play a show and then I had to do a power cycle.

I also had an issue last week where I did a manual recording and the unit wouldn't play that recording. This was before they added the two channels that were missing in my TV Guide so I'm hoping it was just a manual bug.

-Jody

Could/would any owners of this take a nice closeup of the circuit board that has the chipset showing the manufactuer and part number of the ICs'?

I have a symbio connected to myh 42x95 toshiba plasma display, getting ota HD and Dish network (811 box). I was wondering if the symbio can record anything other than ota signal, meaning from other inputs such as my dish box? THe manual is absolutely worthless in this dept. thanks

You cannot record from the 811. Symbio and D-VHS can only record from the TV's internal tuners.

- Mike

Has anyone used this on another set with HAVi?

Would someone remove the top and take a closeup of the board with the chipset on it and post the photo?

You cannot record from the 811. Symbio and D-VHS can only record from the TV's internal tuners.

- Mike
Thanks. I was hoping that there would be a way for it to work, even i hte non-HD mode but it doesn't seem that way. Maybe I shoulda ponied up the $ and gotten a Dish 942. But everyone told me this year was not a good year to buy a 942 as there's a revolution of sorts coming next year....we'll see. Thanks again!

The Symbio can also record from Video 1. See page 12 in the Symbio manual under, "One-touch Recording". It can ONLY record from Ant-A, Ant-B, and Video 1, not from Video 2, 3, ColorStream (component), or HDMI.

FWIW, I'm doing an exchange with my Symbio to see if I can get rid of my connectivity problems. I'm having them RMA the one I have and I ordered a second one. As a result, I'll have two Symbios for a short time - so I'm going to try and see if I can connect two of them at the same time. Anyone else try this before, or does anyone have a Symbio or other AVHD plus a second recording device connected (AVHD or D-VHS) via 1394 simultaneously?

The Symbio can also record from Video 1. See page 12 in the Symbio manual under, "One-touch Recording". It can ONLY record from Ant-A, Ant-B, and Video 1, not from Video 2, 3, ColorStream (component), or HDMI.When I said "you cannot record" there was an implicit "High Definition". Video 1 is NTSC only. However, it is interesting that it can digitize the analog SD.

- Mike

pbanders

Any luck daisy chaining the two Symbios? I thought it should be capable but there's nothing about it in the manual.

-Jody

OK, here is a twist. I have TimeWarner cable hooked to Ant-A, I'm using a cable card, which means I'm using the TV's (46HM95) internal tuner, so I'm meeting the two restrictions mentioned above: 1) it can ONLY record from Ant-A ..., and 2) can only record from the TV's internal tuners.

Therefore, my question is: Can the Symbio record content coming through the cable card?

The Symbio can also record from Video 1. See page 12 in the Symbio manual under, "One-touch Recording". It can ONLY record from Ant-A, Ant-B, and Video 1, not from Video 2, 3, ColorStream (component), or HDMI.

You cannot record from the 811. Symbio and D-VHS can only record from the TV's internal tuners.

Yes because the cablecard isn't a tuner. The cablecard allows the TV's internal tuner to unscramble the premium channels you subscribe to.
I have my cable coming into Ant-1 with the cablecard inserted. The 1394 cable runs from the TV to the Symbio and using the TV Guide I can easily set recordings and timeshift live tv.

-Jody

I tried connecting two Symbios to my 56HM195, it was a no-go. I got messages saying that while it recognized the second Symbio (you could see it in the 1394 devices dialog), it was ignoring it for recording.

Having two Symbios for a while helped me figure out what the problem was with my system - cooling. I had the Symbio in a large, but non-ventilated entertainment center. Even with leaving the door open, it was too hot for the Symbio, which has only passive cooling. I moved the Symbio out of the cabinet and put it in open air, where it seems to be working OK now without 1394 communication errors and lock-ups. It's noticeably cooler to the touch.

There's a little button that's accessible through the back panel of the Symbio - anyone figure out what it does? It doesn't seem to be a reset.

I have found that the Symbio runs much hotter than the other DVRs I've used. So far I haven't had the errors that you were talking about but I have thought of taking it out of the cabinet and putting it on top of the wall unit.

Too bad you can't daisy chain the Symbios. I've found that lately I'm coming close to filling up the drive with HD content, it's only 20 hours so that's not that hard.

Don't know about the button in the back.

-Jody

I’m considering adding a Symbio to my current set-up. I have Tivo but really would like to record HD shows off my Antenna.

If I understand correctly you cannot watch another show of any kind while the Symbio is recording & that you can’t start watching the show that is being recorded from the start (we usually start NASCAR about 1 ½ - 2 hours after it starts.)

Is there a work around for either of these?

The only way you can watch different content than what is being recorded is if you watch an analog channel while digital is recording, or vice versa. You can't even switch inputs while recording.

Thanks pbanders! I've download the manual it is so helpful :(

I hate to sound stupid but will you expand......

Question 1:
I cannot start a show that is recording from the start (if it's been over an hour) Correct?

Question 2:
The only thing I will record with the Symbio will be antenna HD shows...... what can I watch while it's recording off ANT2?

My setup:
Ant1 Cable
Ant2 Antenna
SVideo Tivo
Component 1 DVD
Component 2 PS2

Pbanders

The only way you can watch different content than what is being recorded is if you watch an analog channel while digital is recording, or vice versa. You can't even switch inputs while recording.

What do you mean by this? Isn't the tuner completely locked once the Symbio starts recording?

-Jody

Pbanders



What do you mean by this? Isn't the tuner completely locked once the Symbio starts recording?

-Jody

Although I don't own one...yet, but I think what he meant is you can use one of the tuners in the TV to record and the other to watch a different show. Of course, this is assuming your TV has dual tuners (ATSC & NTSC)....hopefully, I'm correct. :rolleyes:

In addition to my questions below I have one more before I order one....

Question 3:
My TVGUIDE is accurate on the cable side but only shows about 50% of my HD channels. Can I manually record from the channels that do not show up?

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

Question 1:
I cannot start a show that is recording from the start (if it's been over an hour) Correct?

Question 2:
The only thing I will record with the Symbio will be antenna HD shows...... what can I watch while it's recording off ANT2?

My setup:
Ant1 Cable
Ant2 Antenna
SVideo Tivo
Component 1 DVD
Component 2 PS2

WannaB

I'll try and answer your questions if I can:

Q1: Correct if it's still currently recording you have to wait for the recording to end before you can start it from the beginning

Q2: Here's where I could be wrong. My experience is that you can't change the input on the TV so if you're recording something on Ant1 you have to leave the tv on that input. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but also say how you can get around this.

Q3: Yes you can set manual records.

-Jody

Pbanders

What do you mean by this? Isn't the tuner completely locked once the Symbio starts recording?

-Jody

Yes and no. "Yes" means that the tuner you're using for recording (don't forget, there are two tuners, the analog tuner and the digital tuner) is locked and the channel cannot be changed. "No" means that you CAN watch a show on the other tuner.

Example: I'm watching channel 712 (HD digital) and want to record it. I push the record button and the digital tuner locks to that channel. I then switch to channel 66 (analog) and watch the show on that channel, while the Symbio continues to record the show on channel 712. This isn't a guess or "theory" - I've done this and it works just fine.

Thanks so much, I'll try that this weekend.

-Jody

pbanders

Thanks for the heads-up, it worked, i recorded a program on a digital channel and using the direct channel selection was able to go to a analog channel. I did notice that you can't change channels in the guide though, the guide prompts you to continue the recording or cancel it, even if you're going from digital to analog or reverse.

-Jody

I have the Symbio connected to my dual tuner Toshiba 72hm195 (using a cablecard) and have been able to record one show and watch another but like the previous posted mentions, you can record HD and watch and analog station or vice-a-versa. But I can't change channels using the #'s on the remote - I can only change channels using the "channel up" or "channel down" on the remote.

Has anyone tried to connect a PC to the Symbio via firewire? I'd like to be able to pull things in from the web and transfer them from the PC to the Symbio for playback. Not much of a techical guy so we'll see if I can pull it off.

/Joe

Anyone know if you can move recordings off of the symbio and onto a dvhs recorder (This would include copy once content)?

I would also like to know if there are drivers available for a PC for the Symbio boxes. So I could extract the data off the Symbio's Hard Drive.
Also I was wondering if anyone has put a bigger Hard Drive in one of these Symbio's. ie Take the 160 G and utilizing a cloning program such as ghost cloned all the data onto a say 250 G drive and then put it into the Symbio so that you would have more space? What would be the biggest drive you could use?
Sam

Is this in the wrong Forum? I would have thought this would have been easier then harder.
Sam

I have a Symbio on my Toshiba 56HM195, and a Tivo on my non-HD setup. I use the Symbio only for the recording of HD shows that I want - it's too flaky and too restrictive when its recording to act as a heavy-duty PVR.

I've also had problems with my Symbio that require me to do a power-pull reset. Most show as 1394 errors ("1394 playback error", "1394 communications error"). Are other Symbio owners getting these? I have about one every day or two.

:confused: I am also having problems with the sameNavy error. I have the same tv 56HM195, love the set, but the symbio gives this error "1394 playback error" and I cannot resolve. I have tried unpluging and disconnecting fire wire. Any other suggestions. I have even tried to hit the small recessed white button on the back. I am not sure what to do... Help!!!

:confused: I am also having problems with the sameNavy error. I have the same tv 56HM195, love the set, but the symbio gives this error "1394 playback error" and I cannot resolve. I have tried unpluging and disconnecting fire wire. Any other suggestions. I have even tried to hit the small recessed white button on the back. I am not sure what to do... Help!!!

Temporary solution: if you have other 1394 devices, disconnect them and plug the Symbio directly into the TV (or keep all other devices powered on).

Permanent solution: Call toshiba and ask for a firmware upgrade on your TV.


I have the latest firmware for the 42HP95 and the Symbio functions without any major problems. An occasional reboot is necessary (once per month).

What is the cable that connects to the TV, my unit I bought without cables unfortunately. Is it a firewire 4pin to 4pin? 4pin to 6pin? 6pin to 6pin? Thanks

The symbio has a six pin connector. I don't know what your TV has, but on mine its a four pin connector.

Thanks yeah its 6 to 4.
Cheers!

Anyone knoe if you can move recordings off of the symbio and onto a dvhs recorder (This would include copy once content)?Yes you can. I've copied programs to a Mac running virtualDVHS. It works, but it copies in real time.

I have a Samsung DLP HLR series. I have read that the Symbio only works with Toshiba branded TV's with TVGOS but I have heard that it works with other brands as well as long as they have TVGOS and IEEE 1394 link. Any experince with this issue? good or bad?

I contacted Indigita and they are selling a CinemaVu branded version of this device. They say it will work on many different types of TV, my Samsung included. Since the OEM of the Symbio and the RCA is Indigita and their CinemaVu device is apparently the same as these two I was hoping that the Symbio would also work on my Samsung. Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.
Mike

I have a Samsung DLP HLR series. I have read that the Symbio only works with Toshiba branded TV's with TVGOS but I have heard that it works with other brands as well as long as they have TVGOS and IEEE 1394 link. Any experince with this issue? good or bad?

I contacted Indigita and they are selling a CinemaVu branded version of this device. They say it will work on many different types of TV, my Samsung included. Since the OEM of the Symbio and the RCA is Indigita and their CinemaVu device is apparently the same as these two I was hoping that the Symbio would also work on my Samsung. Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.
Mike

...are compatible with a large number of TVs:

http://www.cinemavu.com/compatibility.html

That's a interesting find.
The prices are ridiculous though especially since you can still find a stand alone unit that will record analog also for the same price. :(

Again, 'compatibility' doesn't really matter. its standard AVHDD and just about any TV with firewire in it will work.

Thanks for your responses.

Mike

After I get it I will update you all to let you know for sure.

Mike

Using the Mitsubishi TV, I can record any video including HD to the Toshiba fireware recorder. It works pretty well and picture is great. But I dont seem to get any audio out via the digitial SPDIF output from the TV to the input on the AVR? Anyone knows if this should work? The recorder itself does not have any outputs for digital audio.
thank you

Although the Samsung recognizes the Symbio and it is able to play back the preinstalled data it is not a recognized recording device when I try to record using the Record feature on TVGOS or the Record botton on the remote.

Anyone have any idea how I would get this to work? Also, is it possible to update the software on the Symbio to work with other Brands other than Toshiba? Install the Indigita CinemaVu image for example....

If this is not possible is it possible to replace some propritary hard ware with something more generic that would limit what brand TV you use?
Any advice or help would be appreicated. I am desperate.

Thanks,

Mike

Thanks for your responses.

Mike

After I get it I will update you all to let you know for sure.

Mike


It only works kind of. I can playback the preinstalled data but no recording capability yet. See my post above.

HAven't found any great deals on Symbios from retailers, but I picked one up on E-bay for $105.

Has anyone been able to clone the Symbio drive to a larger HD and expand the partition by using partition magic or some other method?

I'm thinking of getting one of these to go with my Toshiba 42HP95 Plasma. Does the Symbio work on name based recording, or is it time based (VCR like)?

I'm thinking of getting one of these to go with my Toshiba 42HP95 Plasma. Does the Symbio work on name based recording, or is it time based (VCR like)?You select the name of the program with the TV guide if that's what you mean by "name based recording". You can also record VCR style if you wish as some channels may not have listings in the TVGOS.

I'm thinking of getting one of these to go with my Toshiba 42HP95 Plasma. Does the Symbio work on name based recording, or is it time based (VCR like)?
depends on what your tv does. the recorder doesnt provide that capability. If the TV has TVGuide, then you will be able to use the TVGuide to record programs by selecting the program and hitting record. You can do the program search thing and such similar to TIVO or Motorola cable boxes but not quite as sophisticated or fast.

You select the name of the program with the TV guide if that's what you mean by "name based recording". You can also record VCR style if you wish as some channels may not have listings in the TVGOS.

That is not what I meant...name based recording is you select a program and it will record that program no matter what time it is on. So for one week say "My Name Is Earl" came on at 8:00pm instead of 7:00pm, the Symbio would see that in the guide and still record the show.

I also would like to know if anyone has PC drivers for the Symbio. Or any way to extract recorded contents to the PC.

I have yet to figure out how to archive off stuff saved on the Symbio in any way. One approach I tried was to try to record it to my camcorder, and then transfer that to my computer. But I couldn't get that to work either. I plugged in my camcorder to the "Output" of my Toshiba 50HP95 plasma. I can see the output on my camcorder when I'm watching any of the TV channels. But as soon as I play anything from the Symbio, my camcorder screen blanks out. Thoughts on how to fix this?

That is not what I meant...name based recording is you select a program and it will record that program no matter what time it is on. So for one week say "My Name Is Earl" came on at 8:00pm instead of 7:00pm, the Symbio would see that in the guide and still record the show.

SYmbio has absolutely nothing to do with that.
Its done by your TV guide.
The box is nothing more than a HDD and a 1394 controller, there's not even a timer or anything similar.

I go the Symbio yesterday and plugged it into my 50HP95. The TV recognizes it and the symbio records live tv automatically. But for some reason or other, it will not record with the record button, nor will it record any shows set to record on TVGOS.
Do I have to wait 24 hrs for the TVGOS to repopulate before I can record anything, or might I have a defective unit?

You need to use the TVGOS to record, wait for this to populate the unit uses this primarily.

Well, not sure what happened, but it works now :)

Good deal, where did you get it from, how much was it?

I found that using the firewire on my Mitsu with TVGOS precludes watching other inputs. If I turn off TVGOS and use the TVs internal program guide (short look into the future) I can record HD OTA and watch any other than an antenna input on my TV. PITA setting up recordings as you have to do it every day.

$105 + 10 shipping from Ebay.

OK, I'm confused. I thought that their was only one model of the symbio, but at Amazon I've found 2 with two different prices. Is one a US model and the other a European model, or are they different?


Toshiba 160HD4 Symbio AV 16GB Hard Drive Recorder
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000AEH400/ref=pd_sl_aw_alx-jeb-9-1_ce_25308148_1?tag2=amd-google-20

X Symbio Hard Drive Recorder
http://www.amazon.com/X-Symbio-Hard-Drive-Recorder/dp/B0006ORDUA

OK, I'm confused. I thought that their was only one model of the symbio, but at Amazon I've found 2 with two different prices. Is one a US model and the other a European model, or are they different?


Toshiba 160HD4 Symbio AV 16GB Hard Drive Recorder
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000AEH400/ref=pd_sl_aw_alx-jeb-9-1_ce_25308148_1?tag2=amd-google-20

X Symbio Hard Drive Recorder
http://www.amazon.com/X-Symbio-Hard-Drive-Recorder/dp/B0006ORDUA
Good question.
The cheaper one weighs about twice as much as the other, but has no picture.

Looks like the same model number..

I ordered the "X Symbio" and it should be here tomorrow. I'l post after I get it connected and running. I have a Toshiba 42HP95 plasma...it should work out of the box.

I ordered the "X Symbio" and it should be here tomorrow. I'l post after I get it connected and running. I have a Toshiba 42HP95 plasma...it should work out of the box.Thanks!

Thanks!

Does your TV guide on screen work at the moment?
Thats the key to getting the DVR to work

Does your TV guide on screen work at the moment?
Thats the key to getting the DVR to work

Yes, it works fine. I currently have Dishnetwork, but thinking of changing to cable and use a cablecard.

I received it today and have it up and running. It does work, but the controls are a little slow. I did have to unplug the power cord once to get the live TV funtions to work. One thing I learned...have the TV on before you connect the symbio cord. That fix the problem. I've recorded a few things, and am still learning the functions, but for what I paid, it will do OK.

Has anyone been able to get their Symbio to work with a DVHS emulator on a PC (such as CapDVHS). I know it has been done with VirtualDVHS software on the Mac as described in thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=652422.
If you haven't gotten to work yet, any suggestions please for other software, besides CapDVHS that might work? So far I am not having luck with CapDVHS.

I received it today and have it up and running. It does work, but the controls are a little slow. I did have to unplug the power cord once to get the live TV funtions to work. One thing I learned...have the TV on before you connect the symbio cord. That fix the problem. I've recorded a few things, and am still learning the functions, but for what I paid, it will do OK.Thanks for the update.
Is the symbio you received brand new? And is there any indication of why they added the "X" to the name?

Thanks for the update.
Is the symbio you received brand new? And is there any indication of why they added the "X" to the name?

Yes it is new, but from what I understand Toshiba is no longer making the Symbio units, hence the drastic price cuts. It seems to be the same model, maybe just a model number change only. I did have some problems with it the first day, but after the guide updated overnight everything works OK, just take some getting used to compared to a Dish PVR.

I owned a Symbio a few months ago, but sent it to Toshiba service under warranty. Other than the occasional glitch requiring a reboot, the Symbio worked very well for us. I reluctantly sent it in because it's hard drive would knock every few seconds when the tv was on. When they got it, they said it couldn't be fixed and they don't have any replacement units so they paid me my full purchase price of $280 including shipping and tax.

I held out from just buying a new one at the same price since I had a feeling that there'd be closeout sales soon. My wait has been wise as it's now less than half price. I ordered one yesterday and expect it to arrive on 12/7. I hope it doesn't have the same knocking noise.

Shado,
Could you report back soon and let us know if yours knocks every few seconds like my old one did?

Thanks

Yes it does knock a little, but i believe that is normal. It's just the sound of the hard drive recording from the buffer. I really don't notice it unless the volume is really low. So far I have not had to reboot it yet and except for once it has recorded every show.

Got my X-Symbio from Amazon today and it's definately a factory sealed, new unit. The new one makes the same noises as the one I sent back to Toshiba so the noise must be normal. The manual does mention the noise, but explains it should only happen occasionally. I can't beleive I sent them a perfectly good unit and they they said it was "dead" and bought it back from me. O well, their loss, since now I've got another brand new one for less than half the cost of the other. BTW, I have the Symbio hooked up to my 42HP95 and so far it's working perfectly.

Well,
I figured out what the clicking noise in the Symbio is. It's obviously coming from the hard drive, but the reason it's active all the time when the TV's on is that it's storing the currently displayed program in a temporary buffer in case you want to use the feature that pauses live TV.

I have an RCA DVR 2160 connected to my Toshiba 62HM195. This DVR is very similar to the Symbio.

Whenever I record to my DVR, it always displays small digital "tearing" when I play back the content. I know when I am watching the show live, it is fine, just the content off the DVR displays the minor tearing in random spots. This is just an annoying problem I wish I could figure out. I've tried resetting the TV and DVR with no luck. I just called Toshiba to get the latest firmware for my 62HM195 so hopefully that helps.

Anyone have similar issues??

I got a symbio a couple weeks ago off ebay ($71.00) to hook to my 57H94. It has worked very well for me thus far. reading this thread has been educational.

I have a Symbio with a failed hard drive. Anyone know how to configure the new drive?

I have a Symbio with a failed hard drive. Anyone know how to configure the new drive?
I don't know the answer to this question, as I've wondered the same thing.

I do plan on making a back-up image with Ghost software and having it ready for when the Symbio's HD fails. At that point I may have a chance of restoring it when the time comes.

I'll report back here with the results when I get a chance to do it.

I've had my Symbio for a couple of months and it's been great up until last week. Suddenly, programs are not playing back. Older tracks on the disk will play, but when I attempt to playback anything new, there's no video/audio (the TV times out and gives a blue screen). Playback controls show the time bar, so the Symbio appears to be controlled OK by the TV. Is there a "master reset"? There's no mention in the manual. Or perhaps the portion of the disk is bad? Any ideas?

Thanks,

I've had my Symbio for a couple of months and it's been great up until last week. Suddenly, programs are not playing back. Older tracks on the disk will play, but when I attempt to playback anything new, there's no video/audio (the TV times out and gives a blue screen). Playback controls show the time bar, so the Symbio appears to be controlled OK by the TV. Is there a "master reset"? There's no mention in the manual. Or perhaps the portion of the disk is bad? Any ideas?

Thanks,
Unplug the Symbio completely, power down the TV and unplug for a few minutes. Turn back on and plug in the Symbio again.
Check the IEEE1394 Devices menu, sometimes resetting it there can fix errors.

I have a Samsung DLP HLR series. I have read that the Symbio only works with Toshiba branded TV's with TVGOS but I have heard that it works with other brands as well as long as they have TVGOS and IEEE 1394 link. Any experince with this issue? good or bad?

I contacted Indigita and they are selling a CinemaVu branded version of this device. They say it will work on many different types of TV, my Samsung included. Since the OEM of the Symbio and the RCA is Indigita and their CinemaVu device is apparently the same as these two I was hoping that the Symbio would also work on my Samsung. Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.
Mike
Don't believe Toshiba's disclaimer, which misleadingly says "Toshiba Symbio AVHD recorder model 160HD4 is compatible only with Toshiba Integrated HD television models 51H94, 57H94, 51HX94, 57HX94, 46HM94, 52HM94, 62HM94, 52HMX94, and 62HMX94." I am using my Toshiba Symbio 160HD4 with my Sharp Aquos LC45GD7U set which has TV Guide on Screen and i.Link support with DTCP copy protection and I can record all digital cable channels received including encrypted premium channels decoded using the CableCARD installed in my Sharp TV set by local cable company (Time Warner). The Toshiba 169HD4 works fine with my TV set, with full capability to record and play digital TV from both broadcast and all my cable channels including premium channels. Setup is trivial, plug it in and run the included firewire cable to the TV. The 160HD4 device has no controls of its own, not even a power switch. Scheduling recordings is done via the Sharp TV set's built in TV Guide on Screen (TVGOS), which receives program listings *free* from my local cable company (Time Warner). To playback, I use the Sharp TV remotes 'i.Link' button to popup a control window, select the recording to play, and push play. Easy.

The main drawbacks of using the 160HD4 with the Sharp Aquos LC45GD7U set that I have noticed are:
(1) TVGOS filenames for recordings are not assigned by the Sharp TV's TVGOS, so it can be hard to figure out which recording is which.
(2) Unlike the Toshiba TV sets, the Sharp's remote controller does not have dedicated buttons for controlling 160HD4, which means that one has to use the virtual buttons in the i.Link popup window on the Sharp TV set. Still, this is not much of a handicap, as the Sharp's popup virtual buttons seem easy to use.

The device really doesnt have much hd space or really great support. I returned mine and got the TIVO s3. The TIVO HD might be a better option for you/

Just a sanity check for me, I'm a new user of a used Symbio. Guess its audio is only two channel stereo, correct? It won't output through the tv's digital output, even for HD shows with DD? Sucks, but I guess I should have known better. TIA.

Now that I've actually recorded something, I'll answer myself :) It does record/playback the digital audio on a digital channel. I thought it wouldn't output the audio on the digital output since the Demo that's on it doesn't have any sound. Don't know what's going on there, but it made an ass out of me.

WannaB

I'll try and answer your questions if I can:

Q1: Correct if it's still currently recording you have to wait for the recording to end before you can start it from the beginning

Q2: Here's where I could be wrong. My experience is that you can't change the input on the TV so if you're recording something on Ant1 you have to leave the tv on that input. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but also say how you can get around this.

Q3: Yes you can set manual records.

-Jody

Not sure if anybody cares now since the original questions/answers were 2 years ago.
Answers for Q1 and Q3 are still the same but I find a way around issue for Q2.

I just found a brand new Symbio neglected at Frys and after reading a lot of Symbio
related posts at AVSForum I started to play around with it trying to find something
that makes it more useful.

To enable the Symbio to record from Antenna 1 and watching another input source
(Components, S-Video, Composite Video or HDMI) you need to set up your "Theater-Net
on-screen device control." It is described on Page 44-45 on the following manual:
http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/tacpassets-images/models/62HM94/docs/62HM94_om_e_rev1.pdf

Then once you are recording to Symbio you can switch Input by selecting the "Device"
button on the Toshiba TV remote control. Apparently this button is not locked out
so you can select any other input except Antenna 1 or 2. It also means you can not
go back to Antenna 1 or 2. To stop the recording you have to use TGOS or if it is a manual
recording I just press the REC button on the Toshiba TV remote. I also checked the result
of the recording and it seems to be OK (not affected by changing the input source.)

I think this could be a bug that has not been thought out before because on my TV
almost all buttons are locked out while I am recording. I cannot even change to another
analog channel if I am recording on Digital channel like some other people reported that
they can. But it make sense that this feature should be do-able since after all the
recording is from the TV tuner while other inputs are not using the tuner portion.

This bug/feature may only exists on my TV and Symbio combination. So for your reference
my TV is Toshiba 62HM94, Software Version 1.4.1 Oct 19 2004 - 14:49:19. FW: 1.20
DBEP: 65. So I will be interested if anybody can do what I can do here. If you can please
post your TV model and maybe Software Version. Hopefully there are more hidden
bugs/features :-)

Hope you find the information useful for those who can replicate it.

Does anyone know if HBO has changed their copyright policy? I used to record their movies on my SYMBIO (Toshiba 51H94) but for the last couple weeks they will not record. I can, however, record from regular channels. Also, the pause feature doesn't work with HBO either, but will with regular channels.
Regarding using Theatre-Net to watch other inputs while recording: It doesn't work for me.

Does anyone know if HBO has changed their copyright policy? I used to record their movies on my SYMBIO (Toshiba 51H94) but for the last couple weeks they will not record. I can, however, record from regular channels. Also, the pause feature doesn't work with HBO either, but will with regular channels.
Regarding using Theatre-Net to watch other inputs while recording: It doesn't work for me.

One possibility is that yourcable operator switched it to "copy never."

Another possibility is that your Symbio needs a reboot (which happens to me every once in awhile).

Apologize in advance for the cross-post with the indigita thread in the 1394 forum, but I need some assistance. My symbio HD crashed. I'd like to use the ol freezer trick to get the rive up and running long enough to clone the drive and put the image on a new 160 GB HD. Anyone have any success in doing this?

thanks for the input. I haven't checked with my provider (Comcast) yet, but I have rebooted many times. (I have to do that quite often)

I am wondering if anyone has any idea how to reset my symbio I get this error any time i try to record. Thanks for any help.

himesky,

Have you tried re-booting your tv?

That is what it took. I tried it about 10 minutes after I purchased one on EBAY.

Has anyone figured out a way to connect the Symbio to a PC so we can download HD content via the net onto the PC and transfer to the symbio for viewing?

I've had the symbio for 2.5 years now and other than the occasional glitch forcing me to reboot (every 10 months) it works great!

Just wondering if the Symbios is working for anyone anymore. Ever since my TVGOS started broadcasting in digital, I no longer get the guide updates. I had thought that I would still be able to record manually by hitting the record button when a show comes on that I want to record, but that doesn't seem to work. The only thing I can do with it is watch the shows that I've recorded prior to the digital conversion.

Just wondering if the Symbios is working for anyone anymore. Ever since my TVGOS started broadcasting in digital, I no longer get the guide updates. I had thought that I would still be able to record manually by hitting the record button when a show comes on that I want to record, but that doesn't seem to work. The only thing I can do with it is watch the shows that I've recorded prior to the digital conversion.

My Symbio recorder is still working because I'm getting TVGOS by using the DTVPal digital to analog converter to get the TVGOS legacy data stream. As far as I know, there are only two easily obtained devices that can do this, the DTVPal (and DTVPal+) and the special TV Guide version of the Artec digital to analog converter. These converters use a method that was provided by TV Guide and most CBS owned TV stations to keep analog TVGOS devices working after the analog broadcast cutoff date. It works pretty well in my area, but I understand that some areas are still having problems with the TVGOS legacy data stream. I hope this helps.