from what I've read it requires a QAM tuner. Not sure what you mean by ATSC. maybe they're the same thing.
An ATSC tuner is a digital tuner. You have an ATSC tuner which is QAM256 compliant. Yours is one "notch" better than a regular ATSC tuner because you can pull digital signals from your cable line, in addition to an antenna.

An ATSC tuner is a digital tuner. You have an ATSC tuner which is QAM256 compliant. Yours is one "notch" better than a regular ATSC tuner because you can pull digital signals from your cable line, in addition to an antenna.


oh, cool. Thanks for the info!

Is there a way to customize the program guide on a 3412? I would like to remove unwanted channels.
Only partially. You can first configure Favorites channels. If you use the FAV button on the remote, it will jump to your next Favorite channel. The only way to cut the guide to just favorites is to do Menu/Menu, then choose Favorites.

from what I've read it requires a QAM tuner. Not sure what you mean by ATSC. maybe they're the same thing.
ATSC tuners are for OTA (Over the Air) which require you connect an antenna to your TV to receive that content. A QAM tuner will pull clear/unencrypted digital/HD channels off of your cable feed and display to the TV. Now do you want to use an antenna to receive the free HD locals, or were you planning on pulling them in via your cable connection? Either way, it will be the same programming (including DD 5.1 when available), but pulling from the cable feed will require a QAM tuner, whereas the OTA channels require only a standard UHF/VHF antenna and an ATSC tuner. You do get cable TV service (even if it's not digital) from the cable company right? Such as the basic analog channels, maybe about 2-80? If so, the cable company is also broadcasting the locals, unencrypted, in HD to your house with DD 5.1 when available.

P.S. please don't post twice.

I had been using the 3412 with no problems until this last weekend, when my daughter tried the Comcast On Demand, couldn't get it to work, was advised to unplug the unit, plug in, and then it (On Demand) worked.

However, ever since then, whenever we turn on the TV and 3412, the Guide info shows briefly, goes away, and then the 3412 turns off (not power, just the TV signal). To watch TV again, I have to go to My DVR, select a recorded show, watch it briefly, then Exit.

Anyone with similar problem? Is there a way to get back to "normal" with the 3412?

Called COMCAST this morning - I had to reset the box, and they sent a signal from the central office, and all is right with the world (at least as regards my 3412). They said sometimes that can occur if you pause a recording, and don't get back to it. But, that was not the case. Just gremlins.

I had been using the 3412 with no problems until this last weekend, when my daughter tried the Comcast On Demand, couldn't get it to work, was advised to unplug the unit, plug in, and then it (On Demand) worked.

However, ever since then, whenever we turn on the TV and 3412, the Guide info shows briefly, goes away, and then the 3412 turns off (not power, just the TV signal). To watch TV again, I have to go to My DVR, select a recorded show, watch it briefly, then Exit.

Anyone with similar problem? Is there a way to get back to "normal" with the 3412?
This is a long-time bug in all models. Just unplug it and plug it back in, and it will be fixed for now. The only long-term fix is to never turn the box off.

Happened to get a tech on the phone today who actually uses the DVR. She was astounded to discover that the Guide Setup options are gone (flip bar position, flip bar timeout, etc). She has no idea why they removed these options - she said "I thought they were supposed to be IMPROVING this thing."

I don't see how anyone who's used another DVR could possibly be happy with Comcast's stone age version. No slow motion on recordings, no skip forward, unresponsive remote, etc, etc....

Happened to get a tech on the phone today who actually uses the DVR. She was astounded to discover that the Guide Setup options are gone (flip bar position, flip bar timeout, etc). She has no idea why they removed these options - she said "I thought they were supposed to be IMPROVING this thing."

I don't see how anyone who's used another DVR could possibly be happy with Comcast's stone age version. No slow motion on recordings, no skip forward, unresponsive remote, etc, etc....
Are you sure the guide setup options are gone? There are typically 2 screens worth of menus to scroll through.
Skip forward (30-second skip) appears to be a firmware issue, and even with the same version number, different areas can enable/disable various options.
For slow forward or reverse, go into pause mode, then hit FF or REW. You will get roughly half speed. For HD recordings, I've found FF1 and RE1 seem to be slower than play. On SD, it is roughly 2-3x.

Are you sure the guide setup options are gone? There are typically 2 screens worth of menus to scroll through.

Yep, they're gone. Went thru it myself, then again with the tech who had used guide setup before and was shocked to find it's no longer available.

Skip forward (30-second skip) appears to be a firmware issue, and even with the same version number, different areas can enable/disable various options. For slow forward or reverse, go into pause mode, then hit FF or REW. You will get roughly half speed. For HD recordings, I've found FF1 and RE1 seem to be slower than play. On SD, it is roughly 2-3x.

Thanks, looks like slow motion actually works now. I've tried this several times previously, and nothing happened when I hit FF after hitting pause. Still no skip forward, near as I can tell - is there a particular button on the remote for this function?

By far the biggest frustration is the lack of responsiveness to the remote. Sometimes it's almost instantaneous, but other times it can take 15 seconds or longer for the box to recognize a remote command. When you're in FF2 or FF3 and can't get back to play, it's enough to drive a guy up a wall. Then you hafta go to REW, and the same thing happens. grrrrrrrr

Thanks, looks like slow motion actually works now. I've tried this several times previously, and nothing happened when I hit FF after hitting pause. Still no skip forward, near as I can tell - is there a particular button on the remote for this function?
There is no button pre-programmed, but you can reprogram one:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Programming_the_Remote#Add_30-Second_Skip

There is no button pre-programmed, but you can reprogram one:http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Programming_the_Remote#Add_30-Second_Skip
M

Thanks. Unfortunately, I'm in WA state, looks like this won't work. My PgDn button does not function as 15-sec-back, as indicated in the URL. I tried programming as described - I get the curved forward arrow when I press the mapped button, but it doesn't actually skip ahead at all. Sigh...

This question has probably been asked before, but why not move this whole discussion to a forum where there would be separate threads by subject, rather than a single thread for everything?

Unfortunately, I'm in WA state


Nothing unfortunate about that!

As for the DVR differences here, I wouldn't trade the capability of pruning unwanted channels from the guide for that 30-second skip.

This question has probably been asked before, but why not move this whole discussion to a forum where there would be separate threads by subject, rather than a single thread for everything?
It's the way AVS Forum works. Everything is more or less forced into one giant thread. As it is, there are already at least 3 AVS Forums threads I know of covering the Motorola DVR's.

Somebody else started a site, but AVS Forums got PO'd and if you try to post the link, it comes up censored. You can go to the Wikibook Help page and use the last link (Unofficial 6412 User's Forum) in the 'Online Discussion Forums' list:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Online_help

Is this a common problem?

When I change from a channel that is higher then 100 to channels 2-99 the picture stutters. I can fix it by changing the channel +1 and then back but that is rather annoying. Should I ask for a new box or is this something I will just have to learn to deal with?

Thanks

Is this a common problem?

When I change from a channel that is higher then 100 to channels 2-99 the picture stutters. I can fix it by changing the channel +1 and then back but that is rather annoying. Should I ask for a new box or is this something I will just have to learn to deal with?

Thanks
Does the stutter happen for 2-5 seconds then stabalize? If so, this really isn't a bug, it happens with both of our Adelphia Moxi HD DVR's as well. Your 2-99 channels are analog, correct? When switching from a digital channel to an analog channel, the tuner will take a second to lock onto the analog channel, plus the analog is being converted from the analog feed, to digital for the HDD buffer, then back to analog for transmission to the display. It suppose you could call it a bug, but it's just inherent in the technology.

Does the stutter happen for 2-5 seconds then stabalize? If so, this really isn't a bug, it happens with both of our Adelphia Moxi HD DVR's as well. Your 2-99 channels are analog, correct? When switching from a digital channel to an analog channel, the tuner will take a second to lock onto the analog channel, plus the analog is being converted from the analog feed, to digital for the HDD buffer, then back to analog for transmission to the display. It suppose you could call it a bug, but it's just inherent in the technology.

It happens for much longer then 2-5 seconds. I would say it is more like 2-3 minutes.

Can I get something out of the USB port on my 3412? I want to get some SD and HDTV programs to my PC but don't have Firewire port. In the owners manual states that you should not try to hookup anything to this port, is there any risk of damaging the STB?

Thanks

Can I get something out of the USB port on my 3412? I want to get some SD and HDTV programs to my PC but don't have Firewire port. In the owners manual states that you should not try to hookup anything to this port, is there any risk of damaging the STB?

Thanks

Comcast has not made the port active. Only the firewire port is active.

There is nothing you can do other than get a firewire card for your PC. that is the best route in any case since there has been a great deal of experimentation and work done with the firewire port.

Can I get something out of the USB port on my 3412? I want to get some SD and HDTV programs to my PC but don't have Firewire port. In the owners manual states that you should not try to hookup anything to this port, is there any risk of damaging the STB?

Thanks

You can try but it won't do anything. The reason why FireWire does work because it's technically used to transport video streams (in fact, that's pretty much how FireWire came into existance). Your STB sees the FireWire as just another video output (like your DVI or Component) and just sends the video over that. So you're not really "copying" the mpg file stored on the internal hard drive but rather re-directing the transport stream to a different location (in this case, your PC). It's a lot like recording to a VHS tape.

You can buy a cheap FireWire card for under $30 these days -- I would go that route.

I am having a problem with my 3412 that I haven't seen mentioned. I am using the cable box with a transcoder to convert from component to RGB. I have an Altinex TR6102HD transcoder and also a generic model which is very similar to the Key Digital.

With either transcoder, if I select 1080i the monitor syncs up ok but the image is shifted to the left so that I cannot see the whole image. It is cut off on the right and there is just a black band.

Setting the cable box to 480p give me the correct image, but that kind of defeats the idea of having a HDTV.

Does anyone have any idea what I can do to fix this? Or, is this just the way this particular model works?

Bruce and Fender4645,

I live in Mexico City, so maybe here the USB port is active. I will try this tonight, although what you mention about the firewire port being made specifically for av transfer sounds very logical, I think I'll ask a friend for his PC with firewire to run some tests.

Thanks for the info

I am having a problem with my 3412 that I haven't seen mentioned. I am using the cable box with a transcoder to convert from component to RGB. I have an Altinex TR6102HD transcoder and also a generic model which is very similar to the Key Digital.

With either transcoder, if I select 1080i the monitor syncs up ok but the image is shifted to the left so that I cannot see the whole image. It is cut off on the right and there is just a black band.

Setting the cable box to 480p give me the correct image, but that kind of defeats the idea of having a HDTV.

Does anyone have any idea what I can do to fix this? Or, is this just the way this particular model works?

Can your monitor handle 720p and if so, is the image still shifted? Sorry, I don't have a solution for you. I'm just curious. :D

Is this a common problem?

When I change from a channel that is higher then 100 to channels 2-99 the picture stutters. I can fix it by changing the channel +1 and then back but that is rather annoying. Should I ask for a new box or is this something I will just have to learn to deal with?

Thanks

Not sure if this is the same problem, but I have observed that when switching from an HD source to a digital simulcast channel, the video freezes momentarily every few seconds. The fix is to switch to another SD channel and back again. The same thing can happen when switching from an HD source to an SD DVR recording. I have spoken with several CSRs about the problem and a couple have acknowledged this to be a known issue, but not one that affects every 3412. We swapped boxes and checked all of the wiring connections from the street to the STB, but failed to fix the problem. The one CSR who seemed to be most in the know said he has heard the problem appears to be in the tuner which is not handling the switch from HD to digital simulcast cleanly. He also said the fix will probably be a firmware upgrade.

My monitor will not handle 720p at all. It only handles 480i, 480p, 540p and 1080i.

Not sure if this is the same problem, but I have observed that when switching from an HD source to a digital simulcast channel, the video freezes momentarily every few seconds. The fix is to switch to another SD channel and back again. The same thing can happen when switching from an HD source to an SD DVR recording. I have spoken with several CSRs about the problem and a couple have acknowledged this to be a known issue, but not one that affects every 3412. We swapped boxes and checked all of the wiring connections from the street to the STB, but failed to fix the problem. The one CSR who seemed to be most in the know said he has heard the problem appears to be in the tuner which is not handling the switch from HD to digital simulcast cleanly. He also said the fix will probably be a firmware upgrade.

That is the same problem I am seeing. Thanks for the info.

Bruce and Fender4645,

I live in Mexico City, so maybe here the USB port is active. I will try this tonight, although what you mention about the firewire port being made specifically for av transfer sounds very logical, I think I'll ask a friend for his PC with firewire to run some tests.

Thanks for the info
USB is not active anywhere, as Motorola needs to provide a firmware version which activates the port, and then a software update which offers it some functionality. Motorola has not enabled it yet with any publicly released updates.

I noticed that even though I set the 3412 on a certain channel at night, it sometimes turns on in the morning on another channel (the one that I had last recorded on the DVR). With the dual tuners, is there a primary and secondary tuner, so it always starts up on the primary? Or, does it always start on the channel you last recorded?

I noticed that even though I set the 3412 on a certain channel at night, it sometimes turns on in the morning on another channel (the one that I had last recorded on the DVR). With the dual tuners, is there a primary and secondary tuner, so it always starts up on the primary? Or, does it always start on the channel you last recorded?

For me, in Union county New Jersey, it always starts on the last channel watched. If a recording was done in the middle of the night then it starts on the statation that was recorced (last watched)

I understand that this is not true at all locations across the nation. I have heard that some Comcast Head Ends force a start on a particular channel, usually their channel. (In NJ it is Channel 8)

Bruce

Yes, the same here in Lancaster, PA always starts on channel 8 and I was wondering if there was a way around this. I hate channel 8 and prefer it to start where I left off. I do not leave the box on becasue the display light is annoying when I am sleeping (makes the room seem too bright).

It really must be location-specific, since the only consistency in ours is that it always starts on the channel last used with the DVR. Definitely not the Comcast channels (8-news; 25-sports), though, since I hardly ever watch those.

last night I went to record the sopranos on hbo hd. it did not stop till this morning 632 minutes later. every happen to anyone/

I noticed that even though I set the 3412 on a certain channel at night, it sometimes turns on in the morning on another channel (the one that I had last recorded on the DVR). With the dual tuners, is there a primary and secondary tuner, so it always starts up on the primary? Or, does it always start on the channel you last recorded?
It will usually use the 'other' tuner when there is only a single recording (the 'other' is the one NOT being used to watch TV.) If the box is off at the time, that will be tuner 2. Normally, the only time the 'in use' tuner will change is if two recordings occur simultaneously. If you have extra time padding on your recordings, that could cause this if the recordings otherwise look like they just are one after another.

Hello all, my first post here on AVS.

Just purchased a Comcast branded Motorola 3412. When I called Comcast (California) to activate it, I found out there was no serial number. Comcast says this starts with an "M" or "G". My two Moto 6412 STB's indeed have serial #'s and are rented.

I have searched thru the diagnostics menu to find the SN with no luck. Also, it seems like the 3412 STB has been reset as it does not have any info like my rented 6412's do.

Basic question is... can this 3412 STB be activated? Is there any way to find the serial number? Should I let the box sit for awhile?

Comcast suggest I rent a box from them. Right now im feeling at a loss.

Thanks,
-MO

Hello all, my first post here on AVS.

Just purchased a Comcast branded Motorola 3412. When I called Comcast (California) to activate it, I found out there was no serial number. Comcast says this starts with an "M" or "G". My two Moto 6412 STB's indeed have serial #'s and are rented.

I have searched thru the diagnostics menu to find the SN with no luck. Also, it seems like the 3412 STB has been reset as it does not have any info like my rented 6412's do.

Basic question is... can this 3412 STB be activated? Is there any way to find the serial number? Should I let the box sit for awhile?

Comcast suggest I rent a box from them. Right now im feeling at a loss.

Thanks,
-MO


Where did you purchased a Moto DCT series STB here in the US? They are only bulk sold to MSO's.... They are not sold to the end consumer in the US, unlike Canada. If you got one from EBAY, it is most likely STOLEN. Comcast Will not activate a non Comcast issued / rented STB.

Looks like another box will be recycled on ebay!

Yes, got it on eBay. Bummer... I should have researched here before I purchased. Because Comcast lets you use your one modem, I figured the same thing for the STB.

Thanks for the info.

Is there any way for an individual to legally purchase a Moto STB? I thought there wasn't and hence any time one is sold, it must be stolen (un-returned).

Is there any way for an individual to legally purchase a Moto STB? I thought there wasn't and hence any time one is sold, it must be stolen (un-returned).

Not in the US. The DCT-5xxx, DCT 62xx, DCT-6208, DCT-64xx, or the DCT-34xx are not available to the end user for purchase here in the US. You can however legaly buy them in Canada at Best Buy.

The only ones I am aware they got rid of in the US at our head end, were the GI/Moto DCT-2xxx Series paper weights. We just recently sold those to the public. But there also long since out of date.

Have any 3416's turned up for civilians on Comcast?

Crazy, im going thru it with the seller. Arrrrgh.... Should I report to any authorities? Yeah right, I doubt they would take it seriously. If anything else have their account suspended on eBay.

I officially purchased a paper weight and could not re-sell it due to the fact that its just not right.

Cheers,
-MO

Crazy, im going thru it with the seller. Arrrrgh.... Should I report to any authorities? Yeah right, I doubt they would take it seriously. If anything else have their account suspended on eBay.

I officially purchased a paper weight and could not re-sell it due to the fact that its just not right.

Cheers,
-MO

Sell it to someone in Canada.

~Ky

Sell it to someone in Canada.

~Ky

True... Canadians are the king of hacks if thats what they would use it for. If it does go back up on eBay, it will certainly state that it cannot be used on any Comcast network.

Looks like im going to end up renting a 3412.

BTW... why would eBay allow such a thing to sell and let the seller state that it can be used with a Comcast subscription?

True... Canadians are the king of hacks if thats what they would use it for. If it does go back up on eBay, it will certainly state that it cannot be used on any Comcast network.

Looks like im going to end up renting a 3412.

BTW... why would eBay allow such a thing to sell and let the seller state that it can be used with a Comcast subscription?

Is this the auction? 9720055349

If so, it plainly states that it is for Canadian cable co's and also admonishes to check with your operator before buying...

Nope, this was the auction 9721313422

Nope, this was the auction 9721313422
The seller of that auction should be notified that he is falsely advertising the 3412 as a unit with a "240 gig hard drive." To my knowlege, no company even MAKES a 240 GB hard drive, what is this guy thinking????!!!!!

You would think he could do a tiny bit of research and find that 34'12' = 120 GB hard drive............

The seller of that auction should be notified that he is falsely advertising the 3412 as a unit with a "240 gig hard drive." To my knowlege, no company even MAKES a 240 GB hard drive, what is this guy thinking????!!!!!

You would think he could do a tiny bit of research and find that 34'12' = 120 GB hard drive............

more to the point, Ebay should be informed and the buyer should get a refund!!!

My 3412 is particularly insensitive to IR remote signals. I mean that I need to point the remote directly at the unit for the operation to register. This is true whether I use the Moto remote or my Harmony, and is not typical of any of my other components. Is this normal for this STB and is there anything I can do about it?

Anyone here see the web special for Digital Platinum for $59.99 for 6 months? I signed-up 10 days ago and my bill came for the full amount, which is $106.XX locally. I called 1-800-COMCAST and was told I had to contact the web dept directly to get this correct since it was a web-only promotion. The phone center does not have this promotion.

So I chatted online and the person found the special, but could not find the code for it?? They told me to re-submit the order and then they could get the price changed. I did that and the person handling the order confirmation could not find the codes either and told me to call 1-800-COMCAST. This special has been up for at least 2 weeks, how can no one have the codes?????????????????

Is this normal for Comcast?? I have only ever had expanded basic service and this seems ridiculous.

I have spent about an hour searching for scanpa's website address. I have found references to the site, but not the site itself. Can any help me out and post or PM me the link! Thanks.

I have spent about an hour searching for scanpa's website address. I have found references to the site, but not the site itself. Can any help me out and post or PM me the link! Thanks.

For Various Motorola DVR & Remote related files go here:

http://www.scan-pa.com/AVS

My 3412 is particularly insensitive to IR remote signals. I mean that I need to point the remote directly at the unit for the operation to register. This is true whether I use the Moto remote or my Harmony, and is not typical of any of my other components. Is this normal for this STB and is there anything I can do about it?

Is it behind a door at all? Try new batteries would be my first guess. Usually when remotes loose their range and are more picky about direct line of sight it means the batteries are going.

I have a 6412, I don't find it particularly insensitve.

Anyone here see the web special for Digital Platinum for $59.99 for 6 months? I signed-up 10 days ago and my bill came for the full amount, which is $106.XX locally. I called 1-800-COMCAST and was told I had to contact the web dept directly to get this correct since it was a web-only promotion. The phone center does not have this promotion.

So I chatted online and the person found the special, but could not find the code for it?? They told me to re-submit the order and then they could get the price changed. I did that and the person handling the order confirmation could not find the codes either and told me to call 1-800-COMCAST. This special has been up for at least 2 weeks, how can no one have the codes?????????????????

Is this normal for Comcast?? I have only ever had expanded basic service and this seems ridiculous.

Sadly it is normal. I have yet to talk to someone who didn't have them screw up their promotion when it started/ended in one way or another. You will love how if you downgrade in the middle of the month they pro-rate the rest of the month, somehow give you a credit in there, etc etc.

One thing I have discovered is dont' get too frustrated with one person, and call back the next day and speak to a different person. I had an issue with billing for ESPN Full Court, and the 1st person I spoke to could not understand my logic because she wouldn't stop repeating what the computer says, and use some common sense and actually *GASP* write it down on pen and paper and work it out. I called the next day, within 5 minutes I had the credit to my account.

Is it behind a door at all? Try new batteries would be my first guess. Usually when remotes loose their range and are more picky about direct line of sight it means the batteries are going.

I have a 6412, I don't find it particularly insensitve.

I have the same problem. I have a Har. 659 and a Mot. 3412. Since I bought it the 659 has suffered from battery drain issues. The first thing to go is the 3412. It wont recieve worth a crap unit you load new batteries. I think it is a Harmony issue because the Comcast supplied remote work fine from longer distances.

Maybe the length of the signal can be increased to give better performance.

Sadly it is normal. I have yet to talk to someone who didn't have them screw up their promotion when it started/ended in one way or another. You will love how if you downgrade in the middle of the month they pro-rate the rest of the month, somehow give you a credit in there, etc etc.

One thing I have discovered is dont' get too frustrated with one person, and call back the next day and speak to a different person. I had an issue with billing for ESPN Full Court, and the 1st person I spoke to could not understand my logic because she wouldn't stop repeating what the computer says, and use some common sense and actually *GASP* write it down on pen and paper and work it out. I called the next day, within 5 minutes I had the credit to my account.

Well, I called 1-800 COMCAST back and managed to speak to the same lady as I did the first time. She was very pleasant (which I have to admit EVERYONE I have spoken to at Comcast has been) and she apologized and sent an issue "memo" to her superior asking for help in the issue. She said she would call me as soon as her boss replies to her about the codes. I am not worried, I just wasted over an hour of my work day dealing with it. I love the service (Platinum/DVR) though!

Can the remote for the 3412 be programmed to not power off the DVR using the "All On" button?

My phase I 6412 with Microsoft guide died yesterday, so I replaced it with a 3412 today. The former analog channels seem better than they were with the old box, but I've encountered one annoying "feature" - I've found that the transport functions on the 3412 are really terrible. No matter what speed I choose, the motion seems to be the same as FF1 or REW1 was on the 6412 -- slow. They were great (FF2 or 3 & REW 2 or 3) on the 6412. I'm not sure if it's anything anyone outside the Microsoft guide s/w world would encounter, so I'll post about it here as well as on the Washington forum. For reference the Motorola firmware version is 12.31.


Update -- a power cycle suggested by another MSFT customer fixed the slow transport. It's still not as controllable as the 6412 was, but it will do.

Oops! Power cycle fix was short-lived.

Can the remote for the 3412 be programmed to not power off the DVR using the "All On" button?
The All On button is a permanant macro that sends power commands for all devices. You cannot replace the All On macro with another one, or delete it.

You need to map a dummy code onto the power button. This will disable allowing the remote to power the box on and off with a normal Power press or macro.
Press and release Cable to set the mode.
Hold SETUP until 2 blinks
Type 994, should get 2 blinks
Press and release setup, then type 00000
Press Power
Should get 2 blinks.

Now the remote will send an invalid code for power, which the box ignores.

To allow you to turn the box on and off with the remote, created a SHIFTed power command:
Press and release Cable to set the mode.
Hold SETUP until 2 blinks
Type 994, should get 2 blinks
Press and release setup, then type 00144
Press and release Shift
Press Power
Should get 2 blinks.

To send a power command, press and release Setup before hitting power.

Of course, you can also use the power button on the box itself.

I just added this to the Wikibook, on the Remote Control page (link in my .sig below)

excellent - thanks!

Just got off the phone with Comcast tech support and asked the guy which box i should go with. He said the 3412 would be his choice and that my local office should have both. I have read through and searched a good portion of this thread and have seen many people ask should i trade in my 6412 for the newer 3412 and it seems like its a crap shoot as to which way to go.
I have a few questions regarding this and a couple other things.

For someone like me who has neither which one would be the best choice? If they have a few sitting in the office should i be checking revision numbers (if they exist) and get a particular one?

Also any other former ReplayTV users here care to comment on how much ill be missing my RTV once i make the jump?

If i set up my HTPC with the appropriate HD card is there an issue with encryption on any of the HD channels? I was thinking that once the signal comes out of the STB then its fair game for any recording device right?

JIf i set up my HTPC with the appropriate HD card is there an issue with encryption on any of the HD channels? I was thinking that once the signal comes out of the STB then its fair game for any recording device right?
I'm not certain if HD computer tuner cards with CableCard exist yet. Basically, the industry only recently created standards to support it. And as expected, it has SEVERE restrictions. The worst is that for HD decoding, the ENTIRE SYSTEM must be certified, and full resolution can only be used with HDCP (requiring HDMI or DVI). You cannot simply buy a card and stick it in any old computer. If you make a change to that certified system, it may become decertified and not decode HD.

Further, more and more channels have 5C copy control turned on, which often prevents any form of copying.

For someone like me who has neither which one would be the best choice? If they have a few sitting in the office should i be checking revision numbers (if they exist) and get a particular one?

Also any other former ReplayTV users here care to comment on how much ill be missing my RTV once i make the jump?
There have been some issues with the 6412 Phase III and 3412 having slow remote response issues. They seem to have better analog quality if your area has not converted to ADS yet.

The 6412 Phase II (has DVI instead of HDMI) seems to be a bit better, but no longer seems to be directly supported (no firmware updates for a long time.)

You may want to look through the Wikibook (link in my .sig below) to see the issues. I've never used Tivo or Replay TV, but it would probably be a bit of a letdown. Don't let the bug list scare you though. Most are only for specific issues, and many have workarounds.

Has anyone ever had any issues with their 34xx where basic DVR functions cease to work? i.e. you can't pause, rewind, or fast forward anything? I've had my 3412 for about a month now and just in the past few days this has happened twice. The only way to rid of it is to power-cycle the box. When I press one of the commands on the remote, you can tell the box is getting it because the little LED flashes on the box -- just nothing happens.

Also any other former ReplayTV users here care to comment on how much ill be missing my RTV once i make the jump?

I still have my ReplayTV 5160. Its advantages are a better interface and automatic commercial skip.

I also have a Comcast Motorola 6412 (not 3412 but comments applicable). Its advantages are dual tuners and HD recording capability. Programming the 30 sec skip helps partially overcome the loss of automatic commercial skip.

Between the two I find my usage 95% 6412 to 5% Replay. If I had to choose, obviously I'd go with the 6412.

Just got off the phone with Comcast tech support and asked the guy which box i should go with. He said the 3412 would be his choice and that my local office should have both. I have read through and searched a good portion of this thread and have seen many people ask should i trade in my 6412 for the newer 3412 and it seems like its a crap shoot as to which way to go.
I have a few questions regarding this and a couple other things.

For someone like me who has neither which one would be the best choice? If they have a few sitting in the office should i be checking revision numbers (if they exist) and get a particular one?

Also any other former ReplayTV users here care to comment on how much ill be missing my RTV once i make the jump?

If i set up my HTPC with the appropriate HD card is there an issue with encryption on any of the HD channels? I was thinking that once the signal comes out of the STB then its fair game for any recording device right?
Between 3412 and 6412 is all preference, the 3412 is ALL digital, however the 6412 may still pick up the digital simulcast.

As for recording, i don't know exactly what you want to do, but i don't think you understand how the STB works. The RF out of the box, if yours even has one, DOES NOT simply loop through the original cable feed, it just outputs A/V signals content in ANALOG form, so any HD content output through RF will be downconverted to 480i by the STB. Also, there are NO CableCard enabled PCI/computer cards, and that is the only way you can decrypt digital channels without an STB. The only way you can really get digital content to your PC would be to run a firewire connection from the Moto DVR to your PC and capture (digitall of course with no PQ loss) in real time using CapDVHS or a similar program. There is a thread in here about that, but if the content is 5c flagged "copy never," you can record it to the DVR, but you will not be able to transfer it to your PC. As of yet firewire is the only way to transfer digital content/HD content to a PC from the feed provided by your cable company.

Between 3412 and 6412 is all preference, the 3412 is ALL digital, however the 6412 may still pick up the digital simulcast.

As for recording, i don't know exactly what you want to do, but i don't think you understand how the STB works. The RF out of the box, if yours even has one, DOES NOT simply loop through the original cable feed, it just outputs A/V signals content in ANALOG form, so any HD content output through RF will be downconverted to 480i by the STB. Also, there are NO CableCard enabled PCI/computer cards, and that is the only way you can decrypt digital channels without an STB. The only way you can really get digital content to your PC would be to run a firewire connection from the Moto DVR to your PC and capture (digitall of course with no PQ loss) in real time using CapDVHS or a similar program. There is a thread in here about that, but if the content is 5c flagged "copy never," you can record it to the DVR, but you will not be able to transfer it to your PC. As of yet firewire is the only way to transfer digital content/HD content to a PC from the feed provided by your cable company.
Thanks for the info twitchee3,
Your right i dont fully understand all the ins and outs, but i know there are a few different suppliers of HD Tuner cards for HTPC's and that some of the concerns i read about over in the HTPC forum were that these cards could not decode encrypted signals. I wasnt aware of any card either that allowed the use of a cable card and wasnt asking about that.
I see now that my question was not worded correctly and if i wanted to use the HTPC to record via firewire that may be my only choice.
I should be asking this in the HTPC forum and will at some point.
A sales rep at Tweeter had told me that Comcast was supposedly coming out with a new DVR with the TIVO UI, and then of course the new TIVO series 3 is coming out in the near future.
Is the general consensus that one of these 2 choices will be the way to go and get away from these buggy Moto boxes?

Thanks for the info twitchee3,
Your right i dont fully understand all the ins and outs, but i know there are a few different suppliers of HD Tuner cards for HTPC's and that some of the concerns i read about over in the HTPC forum were that these cards could not decode encrypted signals. I wasnt aware of any card either that allowed the use of a cable card and wasnt asking about that.
I see now that my question was not worded correctly and if i wanted to use the HTPC to record via firewire that may be my only choice.
I should be asking this in the HTPC forum and will at some point.
A sales rep at Tweeter had told me that Comcast was supposedly coming out with a new DVR with the TIVO UI, and then of course the new TIVO series 3 is coming out in the near future.
Is the general consensus that one of these 2 choices will be the way to go and get away from these buggy Moto boxes?
Perhaps, but the Comcast provoided TiVo is still in it's VERY EARLY R&D stages, and the TiVo Series 3 will not provide two way functionality when it first comes out, so interactive features such as VOD, PPV, and other such functions will not be available. Also, it will most likely be no where NEAR as hackable as previous TiVo models, and i don't believe it has firewire, but someone correct me if i'm wrong. Without firewire or a decent way to hack the device, there will be no way with current equipment available to transfer digital/HD content with no PQ loss, or the sustaining of HD resolutions, to a PC or HD DVD/Blu-Ray disc.

I still have my ReplayTV 5160. Its advantages are a better interface and automatic commercial skip.

Boy do I miss my ReplayTV, the Comcast DVR is crap. Quick and easy downloads, no stutter, a coherent interface . . . I really wish ReplayTV made a modern DVR with 2 tuners and HDTV. I honestly hate my Comcast DVR enough that I would pay for a Series 3 Tivo. Now they just have to release the damn thing and I have to convince my wife that I will die a horrific death without one.

I woke up this morning to find my DVR acting like it had been reset. All my programs were there, and it remembered my programs, but things like the DVR view were reset to default. Kind of like it lost power during the night. Suddenly HD programs I had recorded which were perfectly playable before stutter and drop frames. I am having the same problem now with live HD.

I hate this Comcast box, I will seriously pay money to anyone who comes out with an HD DVR I can use with Comcast. Comcast is charging $10/month too much for this piece of crap, and I am only paying $5/month for it. I've tried turning the box off and back on again but no change. Any suggestions? I am on firmware 12.31.

I woke up this morning to find my DVR acting like it had been reset. All my programs were there, and it remembered my programs, but things like the DVR view were reset to default. Kind of like it lost power during the night. Suddenly HD programs I had recorded which were perfectly playable before stutter and drop frames. I am having the same problem now with live HD.

I hate this Comcast box, I will seriously pay money to anyone who comes out with an HD DVR I can use with Comcast. Comcast is charging $10/month too much for this piece of crap, and I am only paying $5/month for it. I've tried turning the box off and back on again but no change. Any suggestions? I am on firmware 12.31.
You're in luck, the TiVo Series 3 HD DVR dual tuner DVR is coming out soon.

You're in luck, the TiVo Series 3 HD DVR dual tuner DVR is coming out soon.

Define "soon"...

Define "soon"...
It's slated for release in Q3 of this year, but it may not come out till the end of the year, so perhaps "soon" was an overly presumptious word.

The only problem - another $$ bucks a month (13, 15, 20??) for tivo service, and a 1st gen box that may be BUGGY also.

I had to be out of town this past week, so I set my 3412 to record 24, house, and Lost. My recording of 24 is missing the first half hour, House in intact, and luckily I got home at 9:20 on Wednesday to find the record light on but no LOST in the DVR listing. I hit the record button and it showed that it was recording but after the show was over...NOTHING.....

I guess I can't count on this dvr to do what it was intended for....

-ken

No you cannot count on it, I had it set for the series of Sopranos and Big Love on HBO and it worked the first week and showed it set to record the second week for both shows.

We missed being home when they aired and I thought no problem, that's why I bought the DVR. Get home and nothing - not even shceduled to record anything. On Demand took care of the Sopranos, though. Still, the series recording was gone and I have not powered the 3412 down or noticed and power outage around the house.

I also had it set for Blow Out and that worked and it mysteriously recorded a spin-off of that show - Salon Diaries at 5am recently. That was ok since it was a related show and I had never heard of it and was glad to check it out, but it seems the DVR has a mind of its own - now I feel I have to proactively double check everything I want to record - might as well be a VCR at that point.

Catmann --

You can also find "Big Love" OnDemand. Second page, last entry (for me, anyway).

One thing that seems to trip up series recordings is having a program set to record only at a specific time. I set mine to record at any time, and then cull out any duplicates from the scheduled recordings. More work, but better than missing some and it doesn't use up disk space if I clear it out ahead of time (which I usually have 10 days to do).

Hmm, I'll check on the Big Love OnDemand - did not see it, but did not seek it out either.

Can you believe that no one at Comcast can find the proper web-special codes for me yet! ($59.99 digital platinum for 6 months)?? I ordered on 5/6, got the bill for full amount and called on 5/16 and I still keep checking and everyone is submitting requests and forms and this and that, but no one online or at the call center can find this code. Very strange.

I had to be out of town this past week, so I set my 3412 to record 24, house, and Lost. My recording of 24 is missing the first half hour, House in intact, and luckily I got home at 9:20 on Wednesday to find the record light on but no LOST in the DVR listing. I hit the record button and it showed that it was recording but after the show was over...NOTHING.....

I guess I can't count on this dvr to do what it was intended for....

-ken

It is a fine piece of equipment. Where do I get in line to pay for a serries III Tivo?

A couple of weeks ago it recorded the Sopranos for 600 minutes.

Since 480I is the standard, I think it is highly unlikely for it to not be able to handl 480I.

What Brand, Model number and year of MFC. & Screen Size.

I have my DCT-3412 (firmware 12.22) going into a Westinghouse 42" LCD HDMI. When I set the SD mode of DCT-3412 to 480i (default is 480p), the SD channels are all blank (black screen).

Does anyone know how to change the background color on the DCT3412? I'm talking about the color of the "black bars" on the sides of the screen on 4:3 broadcasts on the 16:9 display through HDMI. I've read that black bars pose a risk for burn-in on the plasmas. I just purchased a samsumg HP-S4253 and don't want the bars to burn in on the sides from 4:3 broadcasts.

Thanks!!

Does anyone know how to change the background color on the DCT3412? I'm talking about the color of the "black bars" on the sides of the screen on 4:3 broadcasts on the 16:9 display through HDMI. I've read that black bars pose a risk for burn-in on the plasmas. I just purchased a samsumg HP-S4253 and don't want the bars to burn in on the sides from 4:3 broadcasts.

Thanks!!

Use your TV or DVR's Stretch or Fill screen or zoom settings.....

this will get rid of the bars.

There is no way to change the black color.

So far twice now my 3412 has been recording a show and suddenly changes channels. It then goes back to the correct channel and starts recording again. I am kind of afraid to replace it and get a worse model. After reading the video quality was not as good on the replacement boxes maybe I should stick with this wierd problem.

Well, got 2 3412s the other day. Primitive devices compared to the HD Tivo. Very annoying trying to sort out all the series recording issues. The disk space sucks! Does anyone know how to check in the diagnostics menu to see if the external drive support is enabled or not?

Does anyone know how to check in the diagnostics menu to see if the external drive support is enabled or not?
While the STB is on, press 'Power' on the box and then immediately press 'Select'. I'll save you the time though...you can't hook up an external drive for more space.

It does have the external SATA ports, and with models like the 8300 they have enabled external storage. So I might as well check ;). I know HOW to get to that menu fender, what I'm asking is which line in the diagnostics menu shows whether it is on or off.

Try line D11. Or wherever interface status is listed.

Yeah... it just wasn't that intuitive what all the different things meant. I'll poke around some more. I sincerely doubt it is enabled, but I've been wrong before.

Yeah... it just wasn't that intuitive what all the different things meant. I'll poke around some more. I sincerely doubt it is enabled, but I've been wrong before.

The SATA ports are NOT enabled on Comcast. I've tried and asked Comcast people as well.

-Ken

My old 6412 died so I went down to turn it in and they gave me a 3412. I didn't realize the HD was so small. I went from 250GB to 120GB!:(

That's just not right.:(

My old 6412 died so I went down to turn it in and they gave me a 3412. I didn't realize the HD was so small. I went from 250GB to 120GB!:(

That's just not right.:(

It doesn't make any sense, either. Both the 6412 and 3412 are 120GB.

Oops. My mistake. For some reason I thought I had more space.

The drive seems to be filling up much faster on the 3412 for some reason.

Dave, the 3412 is digital only. So it could be that the hard drive does indeed fill faster recording the digital feeds. Certainly I've been surprised how fast the thing seems to fill :(

The digitals take less space on the drive than their analog equivalents, since they are converted at the headend and the analogs are converted to digital less efficiently by the box prior to being stored on the drive.

If you say so... all I know is this box is having a really hard time with multiple streams, compared to say the 6412 I had with Cox and the HD Tivos I had with D*. If I'm recording another stream I can't FF/RW anything without it chunking all to hell. Anyone else see that?

If you say so... all I know is this box is having a really hard time with multiple streams, compared to say the 6412 I had with Cox and the HD Tivos I had with D*. If I'm recording another stream I can't FF/RW anything without it chunking all to hell. Anyone else see that?

It's a fact, rather than an opinion.

I've had a lot of trouble with the 3412 transport functions not working properly (with the Microsoft guide s/w), seemingly triggered by hitting the FF quickly a couple of times. Power cycle restores normal function every time. This has nothing to do with how full the disk is, and appears to be another Motorola firmware bug.

The digitals take less space on the drive than their analog equivalents, since they are converted at the headend and the analogs are converted to digital less efficiently by the box prior to being stored on the drive.
Analogs are typically recorded at roughly 3%/hour. SD digital can be <1% to 3%/hr. HD can be 8-12%/hr. Also, satellite tends to compress HD and SD severely due to restricted bandwidth. Cable generally doesn't compress HD, and SD will vary depending on popularity (little watched will be highly compressed) and content (cartoons and talking heads may be compressed more than sports channels.)

I just picked up the 3412 model today from Massachusetts Comcast and I can't get the 1394 firewire output to work as the 6412 model would.Anyone have any experience with this problem? Jack

Did you check the diagnostics menu to make sure it is turned on?

Have you tried both ports on the 3412?

I couldn't find any way of accessing the diagnostics on this unit.Do you think I need the manuel? Jack

I did try both ports with no success.I'm hooking it up to a JVC 40000 d-vhs unit which worked great with the older 6412 model. Jack

jackdevlin --
You should use the same method of accessing the 3412 diagnostics as for the 6412:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Configuration

Well, I signed up for Comcast Gold and received a 3412 I HDTV / DVR box at the start of May. Originally the box was tuned to the wrong region, but after a software download the box was then configured for my region and all worked very well. The picture quality on SD was acceptable and on HD was simply astonishing. ALl was configured perfectly, with HD coming in at 1080i, 4:3 overide at 480p.

While watching TV late last night my 3412 powered down and began a download automatically. The firmware was updated from 12.22 (i believe thats my previous version) to my current firmware 12.31. I was looking forward to this update hoping it would further enhance a good service.

Well, to cut it short I have just got shafted. My SD picture is now absolutely disgraceful with lots of artifacts and clay faces now appearing all over the place. During dark scenes I have what looks like cloudy grey squares appearing. I switched through my range of HD material, and went for the trusted Discovery HD to see what was really going on with my picture. To my disappointment my HD reception is now worse as well. Infact, HD does not really look like HD anymore with a lot of what an amateur would describe as noise. Then there is the DVR function, which no longer lets me record a channel and change to a different channel if that show is on at the current time. The only way I can record one show and watch another is if I set a recording up hours in advance. Finally, to add insult to injury my box now seems to work in slow motion when changing channels.

I am using a Samsung HP-S4253. As mentioned above, on the previous firmware all was fine with an outstanding picture. Its only since the update to 12.31 that things have got bad. It must also be noted that performance through my Xbox 360 remains as good as before, eliminating the chance of the TV being the problem.

Can anyone make any recommendations or offer solutions to help me restore performance of my 3412 pre firmware update.

Well, I signed up for Comcast Gold and received a 3412 I HDTV / DVR box at the start of May. Originally the box was tuned to the wrong region, but after a software download the box was then configured for my region and all worked very well. The picture quality on SD was acceptable and on HD was simply astonishing. ALl was configured perfectly, with HD coming in at 1080i, 4:3 overide at 480p.

While watching TV late last night my 3412 powered down and began a download automatically. The firmware was updated from 12.22 (i believe thats my previous version) to my current firmware 12.31. I was looking forward to this update hoping it would further enhance a good service.

Well, to cut it short I have just got shafted. My SD picture is now absolutely disgraceful with lots of artifacts and clay faces now appearing all over the place. During dark scenes I have what looks like cloudy grey squares appearing. I switched through my range of HD material, and went for the trusted Discovery HD to see what was really going on with my picture. To my disappointment my HD reception is now worse as well. Infact, HD does not really look like HD anymore with a lot of what an amateur would describe as noise. Then there is the DVR function, which no longer lets me record a channel and change to a different channel if that show is on at the current time. The only way I can record one show and watch another is if I set a recording up hours in advance. Finally, to add insult to injury my box now seems to work in slow motion when changing channels.

I am using a Samsung HP-S4253. As mentioned above, on the previous firmware all was fine with an outstanding picture. Its only since the update to 12.31 that things have got bad. It must also be noted that performance through my Xbox 360 remains as good as before, eliminating the chance of the TV being the problem.

Can anyone make any recommendations or offer solutions to help me restore performance of my 3412 pre firmware update.


This is to update - the performance was so bad that I started investigating my signal strength and other issues. The cable line into my apartment runs into an Electronline EDA 2100 drop amp and then is split 3 ways.

My diagnostics were:
d03 OOB Status: SNR 20.4dB Good, AGC 10% Good
d04 Inband Status: Tuner 1 SNR 35dB, AGC 47% / Tuner 2 SNR 35dB, AGC 49%

I removed the 3 way split and went to one line and the following happened:
d03 OOB Status: SNR 19dB Fair, AGC 7% Fair
d04 Inband Status: Tuner 1 SNR 32dB, AGC 45% / Tuner 2 SNR 32dB, AGC 46%

That result did not make a lot of sense as I thought signal strength should increase when I removed 2 of 3 lines. I then did a final test, removing the booster and splitting the line into 3 as was original when apartment was built, with some strange results:

d03 OOB Status: SNR 21dB Good, AGC 16% Good
d04 Inband Status: Tuner 1 SNR 36dB, AGC 60% / Tuner 2 SNR 36dB, AGC 59%

How can this be? Either I do not comprehend the results correctly or something is wrong with the booster. However, without the booster and maintaining a 3 line split gives me the greatest picture, the highest dB for SNR and the highest AGC values.

Can anyone make sense of these results for me please?

The booster was either adding noise or amplifying the signal too much and then overdriving the input tuner circuits in your DVR. Digital receivers of any type are "happier" with a lower level signal that is still above the noise floor (SNR reading is the indication for that), rather than a hotter signal that tends to overdrive the digital receiver front end.

Digital is somewhat tongue-in-cheek here, since the baseband signal is really analog carrying a digitally-modulated payload.

[QUOTE=PhilH930] During dark scenes I have what looks like cloudy grey squares appearing.





I have what I think is the same problem. When watching a great HD picture if the scene has something like a dark sky the rest of the picture is great, but just the dark sky has boxing.

I was led to believe it was my new TV Mitsubishi WD-73827.

Has anyone else Had this problem?

Guys, my 3412 either doesn't seem to be recording or it won't play anything back.

N/M- It appears my firmware was update last night so after unplugging it, everything seems to be working again.

I seem to have problems at times with HD stuttering, most of the time it's specific to Red Sox games on NESN-HD. Here's my set-up:
Cable in from street, appx 30ft to a splitter.
One side of splitter, appx 75ft to another splitter. That splits to my 3412 and my cable modem.
The other side of the 1st splitter feeds 2SD boxes and 2 tv's with no boxes. No issues on these other tv's (Slightly snowy pic on tv's w/no boxes)

The readings on the 3412 are as follows:
IB Status:
Tuner 1: Correctable: 257
SNR 32.0 Fair
AGC 80% Poor
Tuner 2: Correctable: 143-274
SNR 32.4 Fair
AGC 82 Poor
OOB:
SNR 21.2 Good
AGC 19% Good

When I removed the splitter, my values improved to:
IB tuner 1:
SNR 33.7 Good Correctable 0000
AGC 80% Poor
Tuner 2: Correctable 0000
SNR 34.5 Good
AGC 79% Poor
OOB:
SNR 21.8
AGC 18% Poor

I couldn't test the stuttering, because the Sox weren't on.
The problem was after moving the splitter, I moved my cable modem to the end of one of the multi-splits, and got no internet service.

Would a Moto-signal booster help?
I can't do much about the cable runs, I could maybee try the modem in a different area, but I'm running wireless and thid is the best point in the house for a signal. Maybee switching to a G set-up would help, I'm running B now.
Any thoughts? I'm lost.

Cable in from street, appx 30ft to a splitter.
One side of splitter, appx 75ft to another splitter. That splits to my 3412 and my cable modem.
I also had a problem with splits, a long run and my cable modem. Yes, try the booster. You want the booster as close to the entry point of the cable into your house as possible. It should definately be on the line before you do the split to your 3412 and cable modem - preferably before the 75 foot run. I've had luck with the motorola booster and two different ratshack boosters. I know some here haven't had as much luck with ratshack as I have, but they work for me.

What are the modem's signal levels? (Typically, go to 192.168.100.1 and check the various pages.) I would try to set it up with the first split going to your modem and the other half going through the amp and then splitting to video sources.

What are the modem's signal levels? (Typically, go to 192.168.100.1 and check the various pages.) I would try to set it up with the first split going to your modem and the other half going through the amp and then splitting to video sources.

Downstream:

SNR: 33dB
Power Level: -9 dBmV

Upstream:

Power Level: 39 dBmV

These are the values with the modem splitting with the 3412.
I couldn't, for whatever reason get a connection on one of the other lines (I was able to last year, but not now).

What do these values mean? Are they bad, good, will the Moto signal booster help?
Thanks.

I know folks recommend not plugging the 3412 into a surge protector because of voltage variability. However, I find the fact that the box loses all its program guide data when there is a power outage really disturbing. I want to put it on a UPS. Will I encounter the same problem as if the 3412 was plugging into a surge protector?

Downstream:

SNR: 33dB
Power Level: -9 dBmV

Upstream:

Power Level: 39 dBmV

These are the values with the modem splitting with the 3412.
I couldn't, for whatever reason get a connection on one of the other lines (I was able to last year, but not now).

What do these values mean? Are they bad, good, will the Moto signal booster help?
Thanks.
Your SNR is definetely on the low side (I think 33 or 34+ is recommended), and the downstream is on the weak end (+/- 10 is good, +/-15 are the limits). Your upstream is excellent (generally best to keep it below the 50's, with the limit being around 60). It may not hurt, and may be an advantage, to put the amp before the modem. The main issue will be if it drops your SNR further. Maybe a stronger signal will help, but you need to be careful about any extra noise the amp may introduce.

I know folks recommend not plugging the 3412 into a surge protector because of voltage variability. However, I find the fact that the box loses all its program guide data when there is a power outage really disturbing. I want to put it on a UPS. Will I encounter the same problem as if the 3412 was plugging into a surge protector?
I don't know why anyone would avoid a standard surge protector. It should not have any effect. A UPS should also be OK. I have one on my 6412, and it has helped on two power outages (one outlasted the battery, though.) If you have any RF amps, the box will lose any signals unless it also is on a UPS.

Unfortunately, the amp is in the basement, where the cable enters the house. However, I'm really worried about losing the guide data most of all (as well as protecting the devices against power surges). Just losing signal doesn't wipe the program data, right?

Your SNR is definetely on the low side (I think 33 or 34+ is recommended), and the downstream is on the weak end (+/- 10 is good, +/-15 are the limits). Your upstream is excellent (generally best to keep it below the 50's, with the limit being around 60). It may not hurt, and may be an advantage, to put the amp before the modem. The main issue will be if it drops your SNR further. Maybe a stronger signal will help, but you need to be careful about any extra noise the amp may introduce.

What causes the noise?
What gives a low SNR?
Is there a way to reduce noise while increasing the signal?
Is there any way to put the modem after the 3412?

I don't know why anyone would avoid a standard surge protector. It should not have any effect. A UPS should also be OK. I have one on my 6412, and it has helped on two power outages (one outlasted the battery, though.) If you have any RF amps, the box will lose any signals unless it also is on a UPS.

You should not have any Motorola DCT STB on a surge protector unless it also has built in power conditioning to prevent changes in voltage.

Most Good UPS have power conditioning built in. They work great.

Hi again. I've got some weirdness using my Outlaw Audio 1070, and thought maybe ya'll might have some insight...

I've got the 1070 hooked up now. Running the Comcast DVR and Panasonc 77 DVD player into the 1070 via Outlaw HDMI/DVI cables, then out of the 1070 to my NEC 42xr4 via another DVI/HDMI cable. *the 1070 has two DVI inputs and 1 DVI output*

http://outlawaudio.com/products/1070.html

the weirdness seems to be this: When I shut off the 1070 (I leave the DVR on all the time as recommended here), and turn the 1070 on again, the DVR will RESET ITSELF for 4:3 mode! I have to go into the setup menu everytime and reset it to 16:9 mode.

could this be an HDMI handshaking issue? Any thoughts???

fwiw...I used to have my rig setup differently...direct HDMI from the DVR and the DVD to the TV. But, I just got it mounted to the wall, and really needed to clean the cabling up.

My DVR is a 3412 with the lastest firmware.

thanks for any insight...

Can you (anyone) remove the hard drive from the 3412 and attach it to a PC via USB external enclosure and pull the mpeg-2 data streams or recording right from the hard drive? Baring the usually illegality of the whole situation, COULD it be done? Are the recordings in a straight mpeg-2 format or is it proprietary? Moreover, can you replace the anemic 120G HD with a larger one and do the hard drive reformat for the 3412?

Nope, they are encrypted on disk.

So outside of FireWire, (which doesn’t let you record shows with the 5c flag) you could use composite video out and plug that into your video in on your video card and record the analog signal, unrestricted. -- Sounds like work.

So outside of FireWire, (which doesn’t let you record shows with the 5c flag) you could use composite video out and plug that into your video in on your video card and record the analog signal, unrestricted. -- Sounds like work.

I've done this before, and I get ground loop interference, so I always have a nice low hum to my recordings. But it does work(obvoiusly only for SD material). It will output HD channels in widescreen format, which looks pretty sharp on a monitor(for being 480i), but never plays back as good as it looked when viewing.

I've been plowing through here but maybe have missed it....does the 3412 provide PIP (not Swap)?

Not that I've found...

I've been plowing through here but maybe have missed it....does the 3412 provide PIP (not Swap)?

Not with the current software.

I just traded in my non-working 6412 pI for a 3412 today, and made it all the way up to page 19 of this thread w/out finding the answer to my problem, so I'm sorry if it's already been asked and answered. In the guide, it lists channel 810 as my NBC high def, where it had been 807 (I'm in eastern Mass). The content of that channel, however, is 807, not 810 (807 is Boston, 810 is a Rhode Island station, I think). Also, channel 850 had been ESPN2 high def, as of yesterday anyway. Today, it's gone. Did I pick up an old box that didn't have the right guide/channel info already installed? Should I do a system reset? (I'm not psyched about having to find something else to do besides watch tv right now while it reloads...lazy).
thanks.

I just traded in my non-working 6412 pI for a 3412 today, and made it all the way up to page 19 of this thread w/out finding the answer to my problem, so I'm sorry if it's already been asked and answered. In the guide, it lists channel 810 as my NBC high def, where it had been 807 (I'm in eastern Mass). The content of that channel, however, is 807, not 810 (807 is Boston, 810 is a Rhode Island station, I think). Also, channel 850 had been ESPN2 high def, as of yesterday anyway. Today, it's gone. Did I pick up an old box that didn't have the right guide/channel info already installed? Should I do a system reset? (I'm not psyched about having to find something else to do besides watch tv right now while it reloads...lazy).
thanks.


Yes.

STB Authorizeation and Factory Full Reset

*** Be warned this will erase all STB Settings & Your Cable Account Info from the STB ***

*** This will normaly (some reports that it will on the 34xx series) not delete your DVR settings or Stored Shows on the Hard Drive. ***

Reset procedure

Step 1

Unplug Power Cord from STB.

Step 2

on the STB, Press & Hold {Power & Menu} Keys while plugging the Power Cord back into the STB.

The Display should now say (BOOT)

Step 3

Let Go of the {Power & Menu} Keys and press the up or down arrow keys till you see (n DL) on the Display.

Step 4

Push the {Select} Key To begin STB Authorizeation & Downloading of STB software, IPG software, STB / DVR Firmware from your Cable Head End. Could take up to 20 min to download. You should see [DL] in the display with a led line moving in a square.


After it completes this Download the STB will then Reset/reboot and begin to download the Time setting info for the STB Clock & Download your cable account info and settings. After this is done, it will begin to populate the IPG info. Keep your STB on Standby/Off mode to speed up the IPG Data download. Could take up to 24 Hours to fill in all 2 weeks of IPG info.

Not with the current software.
That's unfortunate considering the documention on the 3400 series states PIP. Obviously Comcast has either disabled or not included this capability in their box, although the documentation states the PIP buttons are reserved for future capabilities. Which leaves me with the SA8000 for PIP....

The Motorola 34xx & 64xx boxes support closed caption conversion to open captioning, from the same menu from which you configure the output video resolution. However, this appears to work only with HDMI. Has anyone gotten this feature to work any other way?

The Motorola 34xx & 64xx boxes support closed caption conversion to open captioning, from the same menu from which you configure the output video resolution. However, this appears to work only with HDMI. Has anyone gotten this feature to work any other way?
CC is only displayed on component/DVI/HDMI when NOT sending 480i. For any 480i signal, whether 4:3 override is set to 480i, or you use the composite, RF or S-Video outputs, you MUST use your TV's own CC function.

I am sending audio out from the comcast DCT3412 to a denon 2805 receiver and and sending video from the DCT to a Sharp LCD via HDMI. Is there a way to turn off the audio transmission over HDMI since sometimes the TV will show a message "an incompatible audio signal was received". I have the audio turned off on the TV and the TV itself does not have any speakers so there's no sound issue, just that this message is annoying.

thanks

Hi,
Just got the DCT 3412 from Comcast and found out that the directional buttons on my remote control the DVR functions (pause, play, replay, ff)...any way to turn this off? I am so used to using the directional buttons to navigate the mini guide while I am watching a channel.

Help! :-(

The directional buttons should nagivate the mini guide, you might have to push the middle button first to bring up the mini guide - otherwise yes it will control the DVR's FF/REW/etc functions.

3412 does not do PIP (Comcast model) but does allow Swap between 2 channels (or 1 channel and 1 recording).

Ground-loop - get yourself a "DC ground-blocker / isolation transformer", I picked up a couple for $7-8 ea. from http://cablesandconnectors.com/
(http://www.cablesandconnectors.com/PIX/cal109.jpg) the 75-504
works like a charm.

CC is only displayed on component/DVI/HDMI when NOT sending 480i. For any 480i signal, whether 4:3 override is set to 480i, or you use the composite, RF or S-Video outputs, you MUST use your TV's own CC function.Hmmm... that doesn't jive with my experience yesterday, but maybe I missed something.

Is there a way to turn off the audio transmission over HDMI since sometimes the TV will show a message "an incompatible audio signal was received".My television has a specific setting for handling this. I don't believe that is handled at the source.

I saw a post about this earlier in the thread, but I want to make sure I understand the conclusion.

Is it correct that the general consensus is to leave the box sending 1080i as long as your TV supports it, even if the TV's native resolution is 720p? That's what I've been doing, in the assumption that the TV can probably do a better job of 1080i->720p than the box can. But the double conversion of 720p content (720p->1080i->720p) bugs me.

Question... once you have a recorded program can you set it to save until I delete? Or can you only do that when scheduling the recording? I can't figure out how to do it.

Question... once you have a recorded program can you set it to save until I delete? Or can you only do that when scheduling the recording? I can't figure out how to do it.
When you select the program from your recorded DVR shows, there is a menu choice called, I think, "Delete Priority" that you can set. It's an incredibly horrid user interface choice to use that name. Anything that starts with "Delete", makes me think of, uh, DELETING the program. Which it doesn't do. And, just to add insult to injury, once you set the delete priority, there's no visual cue to tell you that the priority has been reset. Each program that I've set to keep until I delete, looks exactly like every other program. no special icon, no special color, nothing. I have no idea if this feature even works at all.

how come i can't get the optical out to work? i have my samsung hl-p4663 hooked up via hdmi, but have to get audio through rca jacks. i've tried messing w/ all the settings i could find and scoured the internet, but all for nought. any suggestions?

oh yeah, the audio is through a sony receiver, which i know will take the optical audio, b/c my dvd player can do it.

also, you know what would be cool? motorbikes in warhawk. that'd be sweet.

Ah, thanks for the priority tip! It is indeed poorly worded.

Ah, thanks for the priority tip! It is indeed poorly worded.

Thye could word it "Edit Delete Priority."

how come i can't get the optical out to work? i have my samsung hl-p4663 hooked up via hdmi, but have to get audio through rca jacks. i've tried messing w/ all the settings i could find and scoured the internet, but all for nought. any suggestions?

oh yeah, the audio is through a sony receiver, which i know will take the optical audio, b/c my dvd player can do it.

It's a known issue with HDMI and the optical output. Search this forum and/or the 6412 forum for numerous discussions on this.

Anyone knows if the 120GB HDD in the 3412 can be upgraded/replaced?

Thx,

I saw a post about this earlier in the thread, but I want to make sure I understand the conclusion.

Is it correct that the general consensus is to leave the box sending 1080i as long as your TV supports it, even if the TV's native resolution is 720p? That's what I've been doing, in the assumption that the TV can probably do a better job of 1080i->720p than the box can. But the double conversion of 720p content (720p->1080i->720p) bugs me.

I guess it depends on what you watch. If you watch mostly sports(ESPN,ESPN2HD, as well as FOX and ABC obviously) are 720P, so setting the box to 720P output, there is no coversion happening. If you watch 1080 mostly, then you would get 1 conversion in the cable box.

If you set the box to 1080, you get 1 conversion with the 1080 channels, but on the 720P channels you get 2 conversions.

Is 2 conversions better than 1 conversion done by the box rather than the TV? Honestly I don't notice a difference, and just leave it on 720P for my Samsung DLP.

I am still having HD stuttering, but only on certain channels.
ESPNHD was fine today during the US Open.
When coverage switched to NBCHD, I had bad stuttering.
I installed a Motorola signal booster, and the stuttering got better, but it is still there at times.
My in-band ststus is as follows:
Tuner 1:
SNR: 36.0 dB Good
AGC: 62% Good
Tuner 2:
SNR: 35.7 dB Good
AGC: Good

OOB Status:
SNR: 21.8 dB Good
AGC: 11% Good.

Is there anything that I can do to gert rid of the stuttering?
Why do I get it on some channels & not others?
Do I have a bad STB?
THANKS!!!

I saw a post about this earlier in the thread, but I want to make sure I understand the conclusion.

Is it correct that the general consensus is to leave the box sending 1080i as long as your TV supports it, even if the TV's native resolution is 720p? That's what I've been doing, in the assumption that the TV can probably do a better job of 1080i->720p than the box can. But the double conversion of 720p content (720p->1080i->720p) bugs me.

Just try both and use whatever looks best to you.

I have a small 23" LCD (1366x768) and it looks noticeably sharper using 1080i output than 720p. Higher res in = better picture. I guess.

If the TV was exactly 1280x720, maybe it would skip that 2nd "conversion" but obviously it has to convert EITHER format to the native rez of the panel, which isn't exactly one or the other of the 2 HD formats, so...... YMMV

Just try both and use whatever looks best to you.

I have a small 23" LCD (1366x768) and it looks noticeably sharper using 1080i output than 720p. Higher res in = better picture. I guess.

If the TV was exactly 1280x720, maybe it would skip that 2nd "conversion" but obviously it has to convert EITHER format to the native rez of the panel, which isn't exactly one or the other of the 2 HD formats, so...... YMMV


You will most likely get a much better picture if you have the set top output 1080i. I have two of them and one feeds a panny 900 projector and the other one feeds a jvc tv and they look considerably better when the set top doesn't have to de interlace it. I have to say the set top deinterlaces very poorly IMHO.

Both displays are 720P.

is it possible to change the guide to only show my favorite channels or to delete channels off the guide?

Only if you have the Washington State Microsoft guide s/w. Do you?

After reading through this thread i was expecting a horror show with the 3412 DVR performance.
Granted its a step back from my ReplayTV and some Tivos ive setup for my family, but so far its working well.
No stuttering or lag when using the remote. PQ is almost the same during playback as watching live. 30 sec advance feature works well. I was really impressed when i recorded 2 HD shows the other night that were on different channels at the same time and watched a third.
I normally didnt archive my shows when using my ReplayTv, so the storage issue with the 3412 isnt a big deal for me. Watch it delete it problem solved.
Anyone know if the 30 sec advance time can be modified to 15 secs? Also how far back does the instant replay button take you?

You will most likely get a much better picture if you have the set top output 1080i.

Frankly (and perhaps a bit embarassingly), I haven't been able to discern a significant difference. I'm usually pretty picky about video quality, but maybe I'm not looking for the right things. The fact that I can't quickly switch back and forth to compare definitely complicates matters. I ran in in 1080i for about a week after I got it, and now I've been running it in 720p for a few days, and both look fine to me.

PQ is almost the same during playback as watching live.

Shouldn't it be exactly the same? I was under the impression that the box wrote the stream directly to disk without any modification (no additional compression, etc.).

Shouldn't it be exactly the same? I was under the impression that the box wrote the stream directly to disk without any modification (no additional compression, etc.).
I believe you are correct. In fact, I think even watching live is actually being read from disk a split second after it is written to disk.

Shouldn't it be exactly the same? I was under the impression that the box wrote the stream directly to disk without any modification (no additional compression, etc.).
I was going on my ReplayTV experience. Where you could select 3 levels of compression. I was assuming there was some sort of compression used.

The Replay was re-compressing an uncompressed signal.

Looks like i spoke to soon. While playing with the remote and scrolling through the On Demand menus, i tried pressing exit and the TV screen went blank, the DVR display went off, then on, then displayed some gibberish and then when the TV display came back on all station information was gone along with some of the menu information.
Is this a power off and reboot thing and whats the best way to get the channel data back again?

Does anyone know if the 3412 is sending Dolby 5.1 over HDMI

I've called Comcast a few times now and the people that answer the tech support lines don't seem to know what Dolby 5.1 or HDMI are and they first just say they don't know and then they say they don't think so, but I've never really got a straight answer out of them.

I miss my DirecTV Tivo. It was with me for almost 5 full years, had two tuners, and worked flawlessly. I ditched it to go High Def, and although HD certainly looks amazing, dealing with the 3412 is a chore.

1) I get dropouts and stuttering. Sometimes in the source material, sometimes in the playback itself. It's totally random. Sometimes I'll get an audio dropout on a recorded show, HD or SD, and I'll rewind and replay it, and the sound will be there. Sometimes it won't. The whole thing is very annoying. It comes and goes randomly.

2) I get a different form of stuttering somtimes. Like watching someone with a strobe light, like it's dropping frames. Once it starts, it won't stop. Occurs with both live TV and DVR recordings. The only way to stop it seems to be rebooting the unit. Is this a common problem and solution?

3) Series recording is 100% worthless. It works about 25% of the time. Re-records the same episodes over and over again. Doesn't record at all sometimes. Sometimes reboots in the middle of a recording. Manual recording times (like Mon-Fri, 11:00 PM for The Daily Show) seem to work OK. But then all the recordings show up in my recorded programs list with no program names, which is annoying.

Bring on the new Comcast Tivo unit, or the S3 Tivo. I'd forego my on-demand to have a Tivo again. This thing pretty much sucks.

1) Normally don't have this unless I have #2

2) All the freaking time with both my boxes. Reboot fixes it for a couple days. Seems to happen when I have been FF or RW a lot.

3) It's not as intuitive as Tivo, that's for damn sure. Works MOST of the time for what I want though.

I don't love my 3412 either (also coming from TiVo, also using it for about two weeks). But I'm not having any problems with dropouts or stuttering. I had some when I first got it, but it appears that the cable signal was a bit weak. I took a spurious splitter out of the equation and I haven't had that problem since.

I can't comment on series recording, because we have the Microsoft TV software here, which is completely different from what you have. It seems to work ok for me, but the interface really leaves something to be desired.

Last night I called Comcast customer service to complain about some major issues we've had of late with our 18 month old 6412. He arranged for a technician to come out this morning to swap it out with a 3412, assuring me that the firewire ports would work just as they had on the 6412 (I use them to feed our JVC D-VHS recorder and to capture with my laptop).

I just got off the phone with my wife and she said the Comcast technician was there and swapped it out, but told her "the firewire ports aren't working even though your husband thinks they are". Well, I made captures with my laptop as recently as last night from the 6412 so it wasn't just my imagination that the firewire ports were working.

Does anybody know what the technician might have been talking about? Is anybody having problems capturing from the 3412 with firewire?

Thanks,

Tim

My 3412 firewire ports work. I don't know how the tech could tell if they were working without trying to send data from the box to an external piece of equipment, since the diagnostics won't indicate active unless they're actually in use.

Last night I called Comcast customer service to complain about some major issues we've had of late with our 18 month old 6412. He arranged for a technician to come out this morning to swap it out with a 3412, assuring me that the firewire ports would work just as they had on the 6412 (I use them to feed our JVC D-VHS recorder and to capture with my laptop).

I just got off the phone with my wife and she said the Comcast technician was there and swapped it out, but told her "the firewire ports aren't working even though your husband thinks they are". Well, I made captures with my laptop as recently as last night from the 6412 so it wasn't just my imagination that the firewire ports were working.

Does anybody know what the technician might have been talking about? Is anybody having problems capturing from the 3412 with firewire?

Thanks,

Tim

Maybe he thought you were trying to connect a hard drive to add more space. I've dumped numerous shows off my 3412 with no problems.

That's a relief - thanks.

Since our 6412 was using the Microsoft software, is the 3412 going to be just about the same? Or will I have some of the additional programming options I've seen mentioned here?

That's a relief - thanks.

Since our 6412 was using the Microsoft software, is the 3412 going to be just about the same? Or will I have some of the additional programming options I've seen mentioned here?

It looks the same. Possibly new bugs. I have one I didn't have with the 6412 Phase I -- the transport functions (FF & REW) are fragile. They tend to break in a way that makes them useless until you do a power cycle (unplug). I sort of think it's triggered by hitting FF rapidly (a bad habit of mine, to quickly get to FF2). Sometimes the time indicator stops, sometimes even moves backwards, accompanied by a somewhat random access of the disk.

My JVC 40k D-VHS isn't seeing any firewire output. Am I supposed to access some other menu besides the setup menu to turn the ports on?

My JVC 40k D-VHS isn't seeing any firewire output. Am I supposed to access some other menu besides the setup menu to turn the ports on?


There is no turning on. They either work or not. Did you try both ports? Whatever you did to get the 6412 to work should be used with the 3412.

My mistake. It was actually working. I just forgot that sometimes when I've been capturing from one firewire output to the laptop I have to disconnect the other one to the 40k and plug it back in. The 40k needs some kind of reinitialization I believe.

Anyway, I went to the service menu you get by powering off immediately followed by pressing Select. It showed that the firewire port to the 40k was active.

So far, everything seems to be working just like the 6412.

I am a newbie to this. I have a Comcast Motorola DCT 6412 DVR and was able to capture video to my computer with my video card which had VIVO. Then I got a new computer that does not have the VIVO video card and the old card does not fit the new computer (the new card is PCI). I installed firewire and tried to capture the video from the DVR using Nero and get this message: Cannot find Capture device". The DVR says the ieee 1394 is installed. I downloaded the driver for the DCT 6412 and that won't work. What am I doing wrong? Please reply to jama (at) ascotworld (dot) com if possible.

Thanks
jama

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Firewire

When i want to record a series of shows, what do i choose"All episodes" or "New episodes and repeats" i don't want it recording the same episodes twice?

I have a 3412. I'm actually pissed off at it right now because the power went out here an I lost all my recorded shows! I actually had to reset it. But... I just noticed this. Now, when I press pause (or slow motion) and then 'Exit', the overlay stays off! Before I had to press 'exit' every 20 seconds or so.

Cool!

When i want to record a series of shows, what do i choose"All episodes" or "New episodes and repeats" i don't want it recording the same episodes twice?
'All epsisodes' will record everything, irregardless of the New/Repeat flag. 'First Run and Repeats' may work the same, as the iGuide software assumes a program with no New/Repeat flag is 'new'. 'First Run' will NOT record those tagged as Repeat, but will record New and untagged programs.

Finally, if you delete a recording after watching it, and it's listed again, it will be re-recorded if it occurs after the next Series list scan (typically between 4:20 and 4:50 am and pm.) Also, making changes to your series list will sometimes cause a rescan.

That's a drag...my set doesn't have PIP! Maybe someday Motorola will develop the necessary technology to provide this highly complex function in it's STB...lol! :(


amajamar


It's not Motorola that needs to develop the necessary technology. The 6412 phase 3 and higher have the hardware to support PIP,but the IPG's like Iguide need to be updated.

ajwees41.

'All epsisodes' will record everything, irregardless of the New/Repeat flag. 'First Run and Repeats' may work the same, as the iGuide software assumes a program with no New/Repeat flag is 'new'. 'First Run' will NOT record those tagged as Repeat, but will record New and untagged programs.

Finally, if you delete a recording after watching it, and it's listed again, it will be re-recorded if it occurs after the next Series list scan (typically between 4:20 and 4:50 am and pm.) Also, making changes to your series list will sometimes cause a rescan.
Wait, so if i want 1 recording of every episode being aired which should i use?(would all episodes record the same episodes more then once? thats what i'm worried about)

Use First Run only then.

Using the DVR shuttle commands (FF/REW and even Pause) on my 3412 is like throwing gasoline on a fire. If I'm lucky, they simply do not work. If I'm not lucky, it locks up the DVR completely and the box has to be unplugged. The 15-sec replay (and 30-sec skip that has to be hacked into the remote) work a lot better though, and I use them exclusively. I don't even pause live TV.. I just let it play, and then push the 15-sec rewind button a bunch of times when I get back.

Use First Run only then.

Using the DVR shuttle commands (FF/REW and even Pause) on my 3412 is like throwing gasoline on a fire. If I'm lucky, they simply do not work. If I'm not lucky, it locks up the DVR completely and the box has to be unplugged. The 15-sec replay (and 30-sec skip that has to be hacked into the remote) work a lot better though, and I use them exclusively. I don't even pause live TV.. I just let it play, and then push the 15-sec rewind button a bunch of times when I get back.
exchange the box, mine hasn't locked up once....damn thing is flawless apart from video quality(not horrible, not great)

Ditto. There are good boxes out there; and the great thing about leasing them from Comcast instead of buying them is that you can exchange them as much as necessary to get one that works best for you.

I don't think they could ever sell this box to the public. It is not ready for prime time way too many problems / bugs.

I just noticed this. Now, when I press pause (or slow motion) and then 'Exit', the overlay stays off! Before I had to press 'exit' every 20 seconds or so.On my 6412 and 3412, when viewing a recorded program, pressing Exit will remove the overlay, and it will stay off. But when viewing a program that is still being recorded or a live one that has been paused, the overlay will pop back up once a minute.

I discovered yet another annoyance last night. We had a thunderstorm and our cable was OUT. Totally out. It stinks to miss Entourage and Deadwood, but hey, we figured we'd watch stuff we already had recorded. But no -- seems that if the cable system is out, you can't do ANYTHING with your box. Sure, you have programs recorded on that hard drive, but you won't be able to access them.

I find this to be the height of stupidity! Why in the world would you design a product like that??

With all the annoyances, I'm thinking very, very hard about ditching Comcast entirely. I didn't love DirecTV, but they were way more reliable than Comcast has been.

Oh, and thank you Comcast, they said our cable is likely to be out for "at least 24 hours". Are you kidding me???

I don't think they could ever sell this box to the public. It is not ready for prime time way too many problems / bugs.Remarkably, they do sell this box to the public in Canada, and even more remarkable is how proud some of the owners are that they own this device.

Why in the world would you design a product like that?Control.

I discovered yet another annoyance last night. We had a thunderstorm and our cable was OUT. Totally out. It stinks to miss Entourage and Deadwood, but hey, we figured we'd watch stuff we already had recorded. But no -- seems that if the cable system is out, you can't do ANYTHING with your box. Sure, you have programs recorded on that hard drive, but you won't be able to access them.

I find this to be the height of stupidity! Why in the world would you design a product like that??

With all the annoyances, I'm thinking very, very hard about ditching Comcast entirely. I didn't love DirecTV, but they were way more reliable than Comcast has been.

Oh, and thank you Comcast, they said our cable is likely to be out for "at least 24 hours". Are you kidding me???

If it didn't loose power, and just lost a signal then I would think the DVR playback would still work, but if it rebooted w/o getting the signal from cable, then of course it won't work. If it did then you could just unplug the box and take it anywhere and play back stuff, Comcast obviously doesn't want that happening.
I'll try removing the cable from mine and keeping the power and see what mine does.

Also FWIW, I've only had my cable go out like twice the past year after bad storms. Some probably depends how much of your area is on power lines vs underground. They say D* doesn't go out, total B*%$^&. I'm in CC or Best Buy all the time, and just was this weekend in a strong thunderstorm, and all the TVs in the store were dropping frames and pixelating like mad. At school in the food court area they had TV's on a D* dish, would go out during bad storms. In the spring season, this could be like 2-3 times a month.

If it didn't loose power, and just lost a signal then I would think the DVR playback would still work, but if it rebooted w/o getting the signal from cable, then of course it won't work. If it did then you could just unplug the box and take it anywhere and play back stuff, Comcast obviously doesn't want that happening...

It did lose power because we rebooted it -- it's on a UPS, so it would not have lost power unless we did it ourselves. Maybe it would have worked if we had left it on?

I can understand the argument about Comcast not wanting you to move the box around, but that's a pretty weak argument. I can ABSOLUTELY do that with my DirecTV Tivo, no problem. When I cancelled my DirecTV service, I kept my Tivo (I own it) and after a week or so I wanted to watch a show I had on the Tivo. I plugged it up, turned it on, and it worked fine, albeit with no program guide or anything like that. But my recorded shows were still there and playable.

Also FWIW, I've only had my cable go out like twice the past year after bad storms. Some probably depends how much of your area is on power lines vs underground. They say D* doesn't go out, total B*%$^&. I'm in CC or Best Buy all the time, and just was this weekend in a strong thunderstorm, and all the TVs in the store were dropping frames and pixelating like mad. At school in the food court area they had TV's on a D* dish, would go out during bad storms. In the spring season, this could be like 2-3 times a month.
Obviously nothing is perfect. It takes a monster storm to kill my DirecTV signal. It is very dependent on how well your dish is aimed. I got pretty frequent dropouts for a while, then re-aimed my dish for a better signal, then I got practically zero dropouts. Did I occasionally get dropouts? Yes. But I get that from Crapcast cable with NO weather problems. Just the standard dropouts and stuttering from the DVR. At least with the satellite, the problems are in little spurts. Right now my cable has been out for over 24 hours. No internet, no TV. Nada. That's incredibly annoying for $165/month. And no amount of "We're sorry sir, here's $4 off your bill" will make that better.

Does anyone have a problem where only certain HD channels will display and the others continue to say "Channel will be available shortly". I have comcast HD service via the Motorola DVR-3412 in the Southeast Michigan market. (3) HD channels will not display (WB-Digital), (INHD) and (INHD2). Comcast has reset the box remotely (2) times with no luck.

Does anyone have a problem where only certain HD channels will display and the others continue to say "Channel will be available shortly". I have comcast HD service via the Motorola DVR-3412 in the Southeast Michigan market. (3) HD channels will not display (WB-Digital), (INHD) and (INHD2). Comcast has reset the box remotely (2) times with no luck.

Set both tuners to the HD channels you are having problems with.

Then hit power and quickly press the ok/enter button to go into the diagnostic menu.

Check the In-Band and Current ch. pages and see what your Signal strength is. Also make sure you do not have any splitters before the cable box that might not be allowing the full bandwith of your cable system through.

Set both tuners to the HD channels you are having problems with.

Then hit power and quickly press the ok/enter button to go into the diagnostic menu.

Check the In-Band and Current ch. pages and see what your Signal strength is. Also make sure you do not have any splitters before the cable box that might not be allowing the full bandwith of your cable system through.

All (3) Channels have the following from the diagnostics menu:

In-Band: Not available - rest of page blank
Current CHannel Status: Primary A/V SOurce: Unknown - rest of page blank

Using the DVR shuttle commands (FF/REW and even Pause) on my 3412 is like throwing gasoline on a fire. If I'm lucky, they simply do not work. If I'm not lucky, it locks up the DVR completely and the box has to be unplugged.

I've also been plagued with FF/REW problems on the 3412. Someone on the Washington State (Microsoft guide s/w) board posted that he had correlated the problem to use of the firewire port -- requiring a power cycle following any use of the port in order to clear up the FF/REW. I decided to try disconnecting the firewire and so far (just this morning) have had no further problems with the FF/REW. Perhaps there is a correlation. I'll continue to monitor it through normal use without having firewire connected.

Does anyone have a problem where only certain HD channels will display and the others continue to say "Channel will be available shortly". I have comcast HD service via the Motorola DVR-3412 in the Southeast Michigan market. (3) HD channels will not display (WB-Digital), (INHD) and (INHD2). Comcast has reset the box remotely (2) times with no luck.

Definitely sounds like a signal-strength problem. Check for multiple splitters, dirty connectors outside, etc.

I still have not exchanged my box but sometimes it changes channels for no reason. Maybe the neighbor has the same remote :). We record all our shows and start watching 15 minutes or so in to the show so we can fast foward over the comercials. We where watching a show and recording another show and the box changed channels like 4 times. It changed to another channel then changed back to the channel we where watching 4 times before I changed the channel and changed back again myself. It did this on both tunners becuase the show being recorded stopped and started 4 times. Wierd. I haven't changed the box as they all seem to have trouble anyway.

Blaine

let's see, i've had the 3412 for a week and have encountered the following problems:

- audio mutes after ff'ing through show. sometimes rewinding back a bit and playing brings it back, somtimes i have to stop the recording. not good for pausing live tv
- experienced very slow ff/rev on dvr. had to unplug to reset
- extended delay processing remote commands, then all go at once
- problems with firewire recording to computer - some network channels work, some don't (might be cable signal issue rather than dvr, but not 5c
- still a dumpy 13 hours of hd recording space

amazingly half baked product to bring to market. all this, and i get to pay an extra $10 a month for the pleasure!

let's see, i've had the 3412 for a week and have encountered the following problems:

- audio mutes after ff'ing through show. sometimes rewinding back a bit and playing brings it back, somtimes i have to stop the recording. not good for pausing live tv
- experienced very slow ff/rev on dvr. had to unplug to reset
- extended delay processing remote commands, then all go at once
- problems with firewire recording to computer - some network channels work, some don't (might be cable signal issue rather than dvr, but not 5c
- still a dumpy 13 hours of hd recording space

amazingly half baked product to bring to market. all this, and i get to pay an extra $10 a month for the pleasure!

I find it mind blowing that Tivo cant bring the series 3 to market faster given what is out there now pretending to be DVR's. Is there any cable company DVr out their that some one likes?

let's see, i've had the 3412 for a week and have encountered the following problems:

- audio mutes after ff'ing through show. sometimes rewinding back a bit and playing brings it back, somtimes i have to stop the recording. not good for pausing live tvIt's not really a mute, since pressing the mute button doesn't unmute it. :) What I typically have to do is cycle the audio system through its sources. I suppose that does some howdidoo with the optical port and resolves the problem. Annoying, but not overly so.

- experienced very slow ff/rev on dvr. had to unplug to resetHaven't experienced that.

- extended delay processing remote commands, then all go at onceI think that's happened once in three weeks.

amazingly half baked product to bring to market.Compared to what? These are minor annoyances as compared to having to watch commercials, or being unable to watch anything in HD.

I find it mind blowing that Tivo cant bring the series 3 to market faster given what is out there now pretending to be DVR's.Maybe it is because there are so many challenges to overcome that it is taking so long.

In the end, it will be expensive, and just like folks shouldn't be surprised that it is taking so long, folks shouldn't be surprised that it will be expensive. We aren't in a position to know what's involved, unless we've tried to do it ourselves.

Is there any cable company DVr out their that some one likes?FWIR, no. That really should help folks understand the flakiness of the current Motorola box, and the delay of the TiVo box.

bicker1,

half baked compared to any well designed and executed product. every one of the problems relates to the core functionality of the box. the purpose of a dvr is to allow you to record and watch shows. i just listed 5 things that degrade that experience.

this is not the first dvr to come to the market, nor the first that motorola made. compared to the 6412 vII that i was using before, this box sucks in comparison. by and large, the 6412 worked pretty well. i occasionally had the remote delay, but nothing worse than that. i figured that a new product might actually be an improvement, but this one is going back for a 6412 if i can swap it out.

perhaps my problems are hardware issues, but based on this thread and the 'recording' thread, it looks like firmware problems. all of these issues had to have been identified in beta testing (if any was done) and are inexcuseable to bring to a production model. the delay on the remote commands happens almost every time i use ff/rew, it is just a matter of how bad it is.

computers recording video is not really that new, and many people have home built htpc's running free software that do a better job than this box. i would be happy to beta test this box for free, but i am not thrilled about having to pay for it in its current state. if this one wasn't ready, then just keep the 6412's in circulation and fix the problems. the 3412 is a step back, and that is why i am irritated.

half baked compared to any well designed and executed product.I'd disagree. I've seen many product where there were things about the core functionality that users didn't like. In business, two things prompt refinement: Competition and customers in vast numbers being willing to pay a premium for refinement.

this is not the first dvr to come to the marketThough it is among the first HD DVRs that isn't tied to a satellite system. Regardless, see above.

compared to the 6412 vII that i was using before, this box sucks in comparison. And my 3412 is better than my 6412 III was. So clearly that's not a matter of the design, nor the firmware, but rather the specific boxes you've tested, themselves.

bicker, there is a difference between not liking something and it not working. not liking something means i have to go through three steps instead of one to do something. not working is having to do a hard reset by pulling the plug on the unit or not being able to control the unit as it ff/rew through an entire program.

i believe comcast has had the 6408, the 6412 v1, v2, and v3 before the 3412. all were hd dvrs.

i intend to replace this unit, but by reading this thread, it is apparent that i am not the only one having these problems.

Quick Question - I'm not sure if this has been answered already....

Can a slim profile DVD player (little feet) be put on top of the DCT-3412? Thanks in advance.

Nothing should be put on top of a 3412, big feet, little feet. You must let the box breathe or it will overheat.

bicker, there is a difference between not liking something and it not working.Exactly. The 3412 does work, even though we don't like how it works.

guess you would be ok with a car where the brake pedal is attached to the steering wheel. every time you hit the brake, it swerves into a tree to stop. you might not like it, but it works :)

I'm sorry that you're having a hard time accepting that people actually do have working, functional, operational, and practicable 3412s. It's a shame that rather than keeping this about AV, you feel driven to confront an opposing opinion with a personal attack. :(

Both of my 3412p1 STB's work for me.

Since it looks like the next Iguide upgrade is on the way, Here is what my 3412p1 are both at:

When I first got them both and started this thread, the STB had the following:

S/W Version: 71.44 -1203
F/W Version: 12.22 Date: Aug 08, 2005
Boot Loader: 05.05
Iguide Version: ASTGSC Version: 49.38

as of Feb. 2006 They have had the following:

S/W Version: 71.44 -1203
F/W Version: 12.31 Date: Jan 24, 2006
Boot Loader: 05.05
Iguide Version: ASTGSC Version: 49.45

What does everyone else have on there 3412p1 STB?

S/W Ver: 71.44-1203
Firmware: 12.31

I don't see where to get the other information.

S/W Ver: 71.44-1203
Firmware: 12.31

I don't see where to get the other information.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Firmware_and_Software

S/W Version: 71.44 -1203
F/W Version: 12.22 Date: Aug 08, 2005
Boot Loader: 05.08
Iguide Version: ASTGSC Version: 49.38

that was hardly a personal attack - i was just following your logic to an corresponding conclusion. we obviously have different expectations of our CE devices. as i am tired of aruging semantics further, this is the last i will say on the matter.

to return to the AV discussion, i have SW 71.44 - 1203, FW 12.22. perhaps the 12.31 version fixes some of the problems, but it has not been rolled out here.

I have a 3412 and am having problems with audio dropouts and pixelation. On a program I recorded, these problems occured but when I rewound and played the same scene it played correctly. What does this suggest as to where the problem is. Comcast insists I have a signal problem and not a DVR problem. Any ideas?

Why can't I do a series recording of MLB Baseball on NESN HD? I don't get an option to set up a series recording. I can do a series recording on any other program.

I bet you're using digital audio connections. If so, the audio problems sound like a handshake problem between audio source and audio output. Lots of things can affect that, not the least of which is inherent variability in the reliability of the protocol. I find I have this happen a lot when I'm using 30 second skip on my cable box (but fast-forwarding never causes a problem). Rewinding sometimes clears the problem, but typically I have to cycle the audio output through its available ports.

Is it possible to configure the remotes so that 2 dct3412s can be in the same room and operate independently? Thanks!

With the lack of range on the remotes, I would doubt it would be a major problem unless you are talking side by side TV's.

Anyone else have the issue where the box just turns itself off completely at random? It is not frequent, but maybe once per week. Kind of strange. It's not the remote as it has been in a different room and it still happened.

Is it possible to configure the remotes so that 2 dct3412s can be in the same room and operate independently? Thanks!

NO.

All of the Moto DCT Series STB models use the Same IR Codes. just the 1 set...

There is no 2nd. set of codes.

I just joined the Forum (got a 3412 for 3 days) I don't know how to change the resolution of this STB. I can't find instruction anywhere. I use COMCAST, the box is working perfectly connected to my 60" Sony XBR TV HDTV is good.
Thanks for the help. I see some of you guys switching from 480P to 720P to 1080I but I can't see how to do that. Thank you for the help.

Regards
Gabriele

I just joined the Forum (got a 3412 for 3 days) I don't know how to change the resolution of this STB. I can't find instruction anywhere. I use COMCAST, the box is working perfectly connected to my 60" Sony XBR TV HDTV is good.
Thanks for the help. I see some of you guys switching from 480P to 720P to 1080I but I can't see how to do that. Thank you for the help.

Regards
Gabriele

You can change resolution by turning off the box with the remote and then pressing the menu button. This is how you get to User Settings.

gsartori: Here's the answer to your question:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Setup#Accessing_User_Settings

You'll find a lot of useful information in that Wikibook.

Bob & Bicker thanks to both of you. Why they didn't put a conventional setting in the menu is out of my understanding.

Gabriele

Bob & Bicker thanks to both of you. Why they didn't put a conventional setting in the menu is out of my understanding.

Gabriele

What would a conventional setting consist of?

Bob & Bicker thanks to both of you. Why they didn't put a conventional setting in the menu is out of my understanding.

Gabriele

I suspect they wanted to prevent their average user (who has a standard definition set) from fiddling with this and inadvertently making their picture distorted or unviewable. It would dramatically increase the calls to customer support, that's for sure. :rolleyes:

As I see it, if you're smart enough and driven enough to seek out a place like AVS, you've demonstrated that you can be trusted to handle such options and actually learn what they do before messing with them (same probably goes for the service menu on your TV). So kudos to you. ;)

As I see it, if you're smart enough and driven enough to seek out a place like AVS, you've demonstrated that you can be trusted to handle such options and actually learn what they do before messing with them (same probably goes for the service menu on your TV). So kudos to you. ;)

oooh I see. :-) Motorola set-up this forum and use it as filter in order to give information only to the people that knows how to get here. Right? :D

Rather, I suspect that this menu accesses settings that are either inaccessible or not readily accessible to the software that drives the regular menus. Software is often built in layers, and not every lower-level operation is typically made available to higher-level platform elements.

Software is often built in layers, and not every lower-level operation is typically made available to higher-level platform elements.

Yes -- turning on and off closed captioning without having to turn off the box seems to be one of those, unfortunately.

can anyone tell me what the main differences are between this and the 6412?

can anyone tell me what the main differences are between this and the 6412?

The 3412 has no analog tuners, and thus can only be used in areas which have implemented digital simulcast. It may have different bugs, in addition to different interfaces, depending on which 6412 version you refer to: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Identifying_your_model

They are virtually identical except that the 34XX does not have an analog tuner. It only works on areas that have completed implementing digital simulcasting.

I just received HDMI cables from Monoprice (item #2281) and am trying to use them to hook up my Moto 3412 (Comcast Seattle) to my Panny 600u. I have been unable to get any picture on my 600u using these cables; are there any special commands or settings I should be enabling in order to get this working? Using the supplied component cables I get a picture no problem.

Thanks folks.

Bean66

The obvious question is have you selected the HDMI input on the TV set?

Have you checked the maintenance screen on the 3412 to verify that it knows that an HDMI cable is connected?

I have a 3412 and am having problems with audio dropouts and pixelation. On a program I recorded, these problems occured but when I rewound and played the same scene it played correctly. What does this suggest as to where the problem is. Comcast insists I have a signal problem and not a DVR problem. Any ideas?
Someone mentioned that perhaps it's a digital audio problem. That may be, but not necessarily. I get the same problems, and I have my 3412 hooked up via HDMI to my TV for video only, and audio (analog L/R) to my receiver. I have an old Harman Kardon receiver which I love, but it's only got one digital input, which I use for DVDs. So, it's analog audio with Dolby Surround only from my 3412.

My point being, you're likely to have audio problems and pixelation no matter how your audio is connected. Usually restarting the unit (unplug / wait 15 seconds / replug) helps.

I have a 3412 and I'm using Comcast in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay). Does anyone in my area attacched a DVHS VCR? If yes, does it work?
I attacched mine this morning but it doesn't record. I can see on my Sony TV video from the 3412 and the DVHS both via 1394. The connection electrically work but when I try to record on tape I only get a blank tape. I use this VCR with my HDV camera and it works without a problem. It is a JVC 40000.

I was wondering if Comcast disable the recording capability on the 1394 bus here inthe Bay Area. Tomorrow I will try to tape with my other STB that is not DVR (I want to keep a copy of the Italy-France game )

Thanks for the answer
Gabriele

I have a 3412 and I'm using Comcast in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay). Does anyone in my area attacched a DVHS VCR? If yes, does it work?
I attacched mine this morning but it doesn't record. I can see on my Sony TV video from the 3412 and the DVHS both via 1394. The connection electrically work but when I try to record on tape I only get a blank tape. I use this VCR with my HDV camera and it works without a problem. It is a JVC 40000.

I was wondering if Comcast disable the recording capability on the 1394 bus here inthe Bay Area. Tomorrow I will try to tape with my other STB that is not DVR (I want to keep a copy of the Italy-France game )

Thanks for the answer
Gabriele

I've recorded from a 3412 to CapDVHS (software-based recorder) via Firewire and it recorded fine. have you tried both FW ports?

The obvious question is have you selected the HDMI input on the TV set?

Have you checked the maintenance screen on the 3412 to verify that it knows that an HDMI cable is connected?

I have managed to get a picture over HDMI but it's sporadic. I need to fiddle with the cable on the 3412 end (plugging/unplugging/wiggling it) and I eventually get a picture - a beautiful stable picture. Perhaps a faulty connector on the STB? If I turn off the equipment for a while and come back later it seems I lose my connection again. I have a DVD player hooked in to HDMI 2 on the 600u and have no problem getting a picture so I suspect it's a problem with the STB.

Thanks folks

I've recorded from a 3412 to CapDVHS (software-based recorder) via Firewire and it recorded fine. have you tried both FW ports?


Is the channel 5c protected?

ajwees41

Is the channel 5c protected?

ajwees41

No, none of my channels are 5c flagged (at least none that I'm aware of). There have been reports, however, of some systems in the Bay Area flagging their channels. This seems to be more of a "bug" then intentional.

No, none of my channels are 5c flagged (at least none that I'm aware of). There have been reports, however, of some systems in the Bay Area flagging their channels. This seems to be more of a "bug" then intentional.

Where do you see if a channel is 5C flagged?

Thanks
Gabriele

Where do you see if a channel is 5C flagged?

Search for "5C" on this page: http://replayguide.sourceforge.net/dct6412/

Where do you see if a channel is 5C flagged?
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Configuration#How_To_Check_If_DTCP.2F5C_is_Enabled

Andy -- my reference specifies connecting the firewire; do you know whether that is required in order to get a valid 5C reading? I know it is necessary to have it connected for the "active ports" flag to be meaningful.

I just got the 3412-1 this weekend. Unfortunately, I have not been successful in programming the remote for my TV (Hitachi 42HDT52A). I used all the Hitachi codes on the remote code page but not worked. Have anybody been able to program their remote to control a Hitachi plasma? If so, can you share what code you used?

Thanks to this forum I made quickly a good use of the 3412. I'm now in condition to record digitally from 1394 (I got all the HDTV Italy-France in a single D-VHS tape, yummy), but I may have to go back to dishnetwork, here the reason and I would love somebody to prove me wrong since I would really love to stay with cable and avoid antennas and the wiring:

1) The 3412 doesn't have the 30 sec. FW skip it has only the backward skip. THis is fundamental for skipping commercials one of the main reasons to have a DVR in the first place

2) The FF function is very buggy. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it freeze everything and I can't unlock it anymore. I can hear the sound but the video is freezed

3) The HD size is lame. I never get 15H HDTV or 60 SDTV and they would be bad enough. Nobody builds HD so small this days, it is not even a save of money, I dont know why they do this. On my 2004 DISH DVR I had 250GB with real 25H of HDTV

4) SD channels are very bad. I thought DISH or DTV (got that too) were bad enough in SD but Comcast is almost unwatchable for my taste

5) Ethnic channels horrible. RAI totally impossible to watch. Real resolution is probably 180X120. Chinese channels a bit better but still a tragedy. Also Chinese channels have a lot of graphic added on with local ads. Beside being very annoying it assume decompression-recompression and the quality is just incredibly low vs. Dish.

6) Search and find function are hilarious. The way to type a program name is so much 1960', Who designed this a kid prone to bad jokes?

So far I don't see too many reasons to stay with Comcast and the 3412. You guys may convince me otherwise and I would love that. I really like the clean installation of cable Vs. a satellite system with several STB and DVR but at this point the TV is a pain to use and watch vs what I was getting with the less than perfect DISH. What I really love about Comcast is the ability to see stuff downloading them and the 1394 output but everything else is pretty pathetic.

I'm sure however that all of you are staying with cable for a reason, I would love to know your reasons, may be I missed something important and once I know I will love cable myself.

Regards
Gabriele

I stay with Comcast for one reason only - can't access Dish satellites from this location. Pretty much everything you say about Comcast's DVR is true. Search is a joke, particularly fun when a program starts with The. And of course, there's no way to save searches.

Sending signals from the remote to the box is a hit-and-miss proposition. Nothing more fun than being in FF and nothing happens when you hit play. So you rewind and the same thing happens. ugh ugh ugh

2) The FF function is very buggy. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it freeze everything and I can't unlock it anymore. I can hear the sound but the video is freezed

Try a power cycle of the 3412 after unplugging the 1394 cable. For me, that cures the FF/REW problem (until the next use of 1394).

1) The 3412 doesn't have the 30 sec. FW skip it has only the backward skip. THis is fundamental for skipping commercials one of the main reasons to have a DVR in the first place


I have two 3412 DVRs and the 30 sec FWD skip works fine on both of them. I'm running the latest software and firmware. I can't access the boxes while I'm at work, but I believe my Software and Firmware versions are as follows:

S/W Version: 71.44 -1203
F/W Version: 12.31

I'm sure however that all of you are staying with cable for a reason, I would love to know your reasons, may be I missed something important and once I know I will love cable myself.


1. No HD-Lite from Comcast
2. Don't have to buy 2 Dual-Tuner HD-DVR's
3. No contracts
4. With digital simulcast, the SD channels are now passable

Everything you say about the 3412 is true (except the 30 sec. FWD skip which works on both of my 3412's). Just hoping that the TIVO interface will come soon - that should be a big improvement.

I have two 3412 DVRs and the 30 sec FWD skip works fine on both of them.

Comcast apparently uses different software, depending on where you're located. The 30-sec skip does not work in WA state.

Comcast apparently uses different software, depending on where you're located. The 30-sec skip does not work in WA state.

We have Microsoft guide s/w in WA, but I think the 30-second skip has worked at some time everywhere else. We've never had it.

We have Microsoft guide s/w in WA, but I think the 30-second skip has worked at some time everywhere else. We've never had it.

Yeah, as soon as I saw "Microsoft Enhanced" in the guide, I knew I was in trouble...

Yeah, as soon as I saw "Microsoft Enhanced" in the guide, I knew I was in trouble...

But you do get to edit unwanted channels from your guide listings.

I have Seattle area Comcast and my channel guide hasn't shown anything past 4:30 the Wednesday afternoon for the last week. Is there a way I can force a net connect or whatever it takes to get the guide data updated further out?

Thanks!

Tim