This could go the other direction as well... especially if one happens to live in a "better run" TWC division.

FWIW, from the articles it seems that Charlotte is becoming the center of the East Division and, compared to what we've read here about some of the other divisions, it IS one of the better run divisions. Charlotte is also the national engineering HQ.

I hope we (Charlotte) don't see any degradation from the reasonably good service we have had here, and that it rubs off on the divisions that could use it.

I am in Austin and I have a 8300HD that was just updated to the new Navigator. I had one question for ya'll.. Currently, my "Guide" channel shows up in 4:3 even though my HD channels are 16:9/1080i. Is there a way to get native widescreen on the Guide so I can see more info on the shows? Because of the font size and padding, the new Guide shows much less info than the old one!

To get the stretched guide, you will need to get one of the new Samsung boxes.

I am in Austin and I have a 8300HD that was just updated to the new Navigator. I had one question for ya'll.. Currently, my "Guide" channel shows up in 4:3 even though my HD channels are 16:9/1080i. Is there a way to get native widescreen on the Guide so I can see more info on the shows? Because of the font size and padding, the new Guide shows much less info than the old one!

To get the stretched guide, you will need to get one of the new Samsung boxes.

Unfortunately, the Sammy's stretch job doesn't provide any useful additional real estate... it is just a simple stretch of the 4:3 guide to fill the 16:9 screen.

To get the stretched guide, you will need to get one of the new Samsung boxes.

Why in the world would anyone want a stretched image??? You don't gain anything except distortion.

Why in the world would anyone want a stretched image??? You don't gain anything except distortion.

Don't shoot the messenger! Just answering his question, not saying I like it :rolleyes:

Why in the world would anyone want a stretched image??? You don't gain anything except distortion.And yet there are people who do. You can try to reason with them about it forever and they'll still prefer a stretched image to having bars around the image. It's like some religious issue :rolleyes:.

And yet there are people who do. You can try to reason with them about it forever and they'll still prefer a stretched image to having bars around the image. It's like some religious issue :rolleyes:.

I'm an OAR person and agree that you cannot argue with or convince those who believe otherwise.

One clarification on the Samsung boxes... the stretched guide is NOT a user choice... you get a stretched guide anytime the box's display setting is set to 16x9, regardless of the Normal/Stretch/Zoom aspect ratio settings used to control display of 4:3 source material.

The 3260 and the 3270 still have HDMI issues with ODN v3.2.0_15 and SW v4.3.5.3. It sometimes will show a blackscreen instead of the guide. Then it wants to show pink screens. Most of the time the HDMI issues recover on their own but it does happen. Or sometimes the box will show digital snow which is probably the colored screen. It happens on one of my 3270's hooked up to a Sony 55" HDTV but it happens to other TV brands. Anybody having this issue?

TWC San Diego is getting new Cisco boxes in the next coming months. Model numbers are 8640HDC for the HD-DVR and 4640HDC for the HD-STB.

The 3260 and the 3270 still have HDMI issues with ODN v3.2.0_15 and SW v4.3.5.3. It sometimes will show a blackscreen instead of the guide. Then it wants to show pink screens. Most of the time the HDMI issues recover on their own but it does happen. Or sometimes the box will show digital snow which is probably the colored screen. It happens on one of my 3270's hooked up to a Sony 55" HDTV but it happens to other TV brands. Anybody having this issue?

Fortunately, I've not experienced any of that with the 3090 and the same software combination.

TWC San Diego is getting new Cisco boxes in the next coming months. Model numbers are 8640HDC for the HD-DVR and 4640HDC for the HD-STB.

Hmmm... starting to wonder if the new Cisco boxes will be introduced here as well... now that they FINALLY got the 3090 working pretty well here. ODN 3.2 / FW4.3.5.3 nailed almost all of the lingering issues in the 3090 (but introduced the flaky Pause freezups that seem less frequent now than when the software was initially updated).

One clarification on the Samsung boxes... the stretched guide is NOT a user choice... you get a stretched guide anytime the box's display setting is set to 16x9, regardless of the Normal/Stretch/Zoom aspect ratio settings used to control display of 4:3 source material.

Ugh, yet another reason to not trade in my 8300HD

Ugh, yet another reason to not trade in my 8300HD

I found it somewhat jarring when I first got my 3090 as a replacement for an 8300HDC... but mainly because it was just "different and not because it looks all that bad. Other than certain channel logos that obviously should be circular (e.g., TNT, ABC, etc.), there is no obvious clue that the guide is stretched. Fonts look completely normal - they were probably chosen with stretching in mind.

When I recently added a second non-DVR box (4250HDC) for a new bedroom TV, after watching the 16:9 Samsung guide for a year the non-stretched guide on the 4250 looked just as jarring as 16:9 initially did.

In any case, even if the stretched guide still bothered me, I would still take it along with the Sammy's 320GB HDD and subtle black appearance over the 160GB drive and oh-so-fugly silver spaceship 8300HD/HDC. Great trade-off in my book. A new 86xxHDC would be OK with me, too... but I wouldn't want an 8300 of any flavor.

All that said... it would be welcomed if TWC rolled out a native 16:9 guide that took advantage of the extra real estate.

In any case, even if the stretched guide still bothered me, I would still take it along with the Sammy's 320GB HDD and subtle black appearance over the 160GB drive and oh-so-fugly silver spaceship 8300HD/HDC. Great trade-off in my book. A new 86xxHDC would be OK with me, too... but I wouldn't want an 8300 of any flavor.

I don't know, I'd rather keep my 8300HD with a working 500GB external drive + 160GB internal drive than take a samsung with just a 320GB internal drive and no options for expansion. I hear what your saying though.

I don't know, I'd rather keep my 8300HD with a working 500GB external drive + 160GB internal drive than take a samsung with just a 320GB internal drive and no options for expansion. I hear what your saying though.It seems amazing to me that TW (as well as the other cable companies) continue to neglect the need for significantly larger HD storage capacities. Both satellite companies do offer external drive capability - and that would be where I would have headed IF being "Gatored" took away my external drive (but, fortunately, I have a 8300HD box).

I don't know, I'd rather keep my 8300HD with a working 500GB external drive + 160GB internal drive than take a samsung with just a 320GB internal drive and no options for expansion. I hear what your saying though.

Cisco makes a 8640HDC with a 500gb Hard Drive. Why TWC did not buy that unit instead of the 325GB HD. Price cannot be that different. Such a puzzle. WOODY

Quick question for those with Navigator since we have it coming. If you CLICK HERE (http://www.dslreports.com/faq/sciatl/3.1_Using_diagnostic_screens) you see a detailed user guide for the SARA diagnostics. Has anyone put together or seen anything similar for Navigator. This would be very useful information.

I am in Austin and I have a 8300HD that was just updated to the new Navigator. I had one question for ya'll.. Currently, my "Guide" channel shows up in 4:3 even though my HD channels are 16:9/1080i. Is there a way to get native widescreen on the Guide so I can see more info on the shows? Because of the font size and padding, the new Guide shows much less info than the old one!

Yup, that the way that combo works. I'd be glad, another box I've seen shows the guide in stretch-o-vision that one can NOT disable and I'd FAR prefer the 4:3.

FWIW, from the articles it seems that Charlotte is becoming the center of the East Division and, compared to what we've read here about some of the other divisions, it IS one of the better run divisions. Charlotte is also the national engineering HQ.

I hope we (Charlotte) don't see any degradation from the reasonably good service we have had here, and that it rubs off on the divisions that could use it.

I'm totally with you there. The idiots who are running the store up here are completely botching the SDV transition by not straightforwardly telling folks about it (dumping it in the channel changes page does NOT qualify as any real notification), nor have they said boo about what the policy is regarding TAs (and we're three weeks from that switch).

And yet there are people who do. You can try to reason with them about it forever and they'll still prefer a stretched image to having bars around the image. It's like some religious issue :rolleyes:.

EXACTLY. I'm totally convinced that stretch-o-vision exists 100% because so many actually WANT IT.

I'm an OAR person and agree that you cannot argue with or convince those who believe otherwise.

One clarification on the Samsung boxes... the stretched guide is NOT a user choice... you get a stretched guide anytime the box's display setting is set to 16x9, regardless of the Normal/Stretch/Zoom aspect ratio settings used to control display of 4:3 source material.

OAR is actually very interesting... Cameron has said his "primary" view in Avatar was 16:9. Yet, in theaters, it was 4:3 in IMAX and 1:2.35, he did say it was cropped for widescreen theatrical release. I've long held the belief that all features are shot with them KNOWING exactly how each setup looks in 4:3 to 1:2.35. I think it is done to insure none looks too odd.

BTW, for the Sammies, if you set it to 4:3 in display settings, do you get a non-stretched guide? The box I saw in Durham could NOT be set in any way too show a 4:3 guide, no matter what settings I tried...

It seems amazing to me that TW (as well as the other cable companies) continue to neglect the need for significantly larger HD storage capacities. Both satellite companies do offer external drive capability - and that would be where I would have headed IF being "Gatored" took away my external drive (but, fortunately, I have a 8300HD box).

Not to mention that I have LONG maintained this is a fabulous business opportunity for them... I'd bet you a ton of folks would pay either a one time fee, or any additional buck or so monthly to have a box that had a lot more storage. Not to mention that I also think 160G drives are virtually special order items... with 1.5T right now being the best value (cost per MB).

Cisco makes a 8640HDC with a 500gb Hard Drive. Why TWC did not buy that unit instead of the 325GB HD. Price cannot be that different. Such a puzzle. WOODY

To me the real puzzle is why they don't offer an option of a 500G box for a buck or so more. I 100% agree that there is virtually no cost difference to them...

There must be another reason. Most companies employ bean counters of some sort. It must have something to do with the number of programs that TW wants to allow you to save on the drive. A smaller drive forces you to erase programs to add newer ones. On the other hand, if they can save a dollar per unit at the wholesale level, they would probably do it. Think how many units TW is buying. That number could be very substantial.
Bernie

BTW, for the Sammies, if you set it to 4:3 in display settings, do you get a non-stretched guide? The box I saw in Durham could NOT be set in any way too show a 4:3 guide, no matter what settings I tried...

It will if you use the analog outputs. With HDMI connected to an HD display, I think the display's EDID overrides the menu settings if you try to force 4:3, so nothing happens when you change the setting between 4:3 and 16:9.

It's been a while, but when I first got the Sammie I was able to get real 4:3 SD (S-Video) output (including the guide) to my Panasonic DVR with the HDMI disconnected from the HDTV and the menu set to 4:3 aspect ratio.

There must be another reason. Most companies employ bean counters of some sort. It must have something to do with the number of programs that TW wants to allow you to save on the drive. A smaller drive forces you to erase programs to add newer ones. On the other hand, if they can save a dollar per unit at the wholesale level, they would probably do it. Think how many units TW is buying. That number could be very substantial.
Bernie

I think there are a combination of reasons... both reasons you mentioned probably are in play. I have also thought that they may not want to make the huge base of 160GB drive DVRs already in use to become undesirable/obsolete. However, a small fee for a larger capacity drive would address any initial cost issues and reduce the rush for the newer units... so it's still a bit of an illogical mystery.

I think there are a combination of reasons... both reasons you mentioned probably are in play. I have also thought that they may not want to make the huge base of 160GB drive DVRs already in use to become undesirable/obsolete. However, a small fee for a larger capacity drive would address any initial cost issues and reduce the rush for the newer units... so it's still a bit of an illogical mystery.

It's also a factor of lead time. The upper management have to order thousands of units and want to minimize costs, so they'll go with the prevailing technology at order time, which may be somewhat behind the curve for current tech.

160GB drives may have been close to state-of-the-art at initial order time; who knew that costs would come down so quickly that a 1TB unit might be more cost effective now, but maybe the tech isn't rock-solid, so they'll go with a lower capacity unit that's more reliable. When you have thousands (make that HUNDREDS of thousands of units) out there, even a 1/2 of 1 per cent failure rate can be a major disaster!

My own PC experience shows this. In the late 80s, it took a good chunk of change just to get a 100MB (megabyte, not gigabyte) hard drive (and it had reliability issues). My iMac from 2004 had an 80GB unit. My new iMac from November 2009 has a 500GB unit!

My own PC experience shows this. In the late 80s, it took a good chunk of change just to get a 100MB (megabyte, not gigabyte) hard drive (and it had reliability issues). My iMac from 2004 had an 80GB unit. My new iMac from November 2009 has a 500GB unit!

I go back a little farther than that... In the early-mid 80's I built up dozens of PCs for the cable MSO I worked for, for a new custom inventory and purchasing system that required a hard drive for the original IBM PCs we used... a WHOPPING 5MB (that's not a typo) hard drive. The remote PCs "phoned home" nightly to the home office PC via 1200 baud Hayes Smartmodems.

When I finally scrounged up the substantial cash for a home PC a few years later, the then state of the art 66MHz 486DX Dell had a "humongous" 240MB HDD and a 2400 baud modem, lol. Now I have no PC with less than a 320GB drive (including notebooks), plus 2TB of NAS on a gigabit home network (with 4 wireless N access points - 3x 2.4GHz + 1x 5GHz), connected to a relatively "slow" 8MB/s RoadRunner internet connection.

Whoulda thunk it? So yes, I think your added points are also in the mix of why they have been slow to update the hardware. But it still doesn't sit right that when the 3090s were rolled out they were a mix of 160GB and 320GB versions... and the 320s were rolled out first, then switched back to 160s. If there were any reliability issues with the 320GB drives I think we would have gotten wind of them here, and we haven't.

Quick question for those with Navigator since we have it coming. If you CLICK HERE (http://www.dslreports.com/faq/sciatl/3.1_Using_diagnostic_screens) you see a detailed user guide for the SARA diagnostics. Has anyone put together or seen anything similar for Navigator. This would be very useful information.The diagnostic screens shown there are pretty old. I looked as mine just before the "upgrade" and they were up to 39 screens.

I have captured the diagnostic screens for MDN (don't know about ODN).
To access you need to:
Press & Hold front panel SELECT button until the Mail Icon shows up (takes several seconds)
Press front panel INFO button and first page of 28 diagnostic screens will show up.
Use PAGE + and PAGE - buttons on remote to navigate between screens
Several buttons (A, B, GUIDE, MENU to name a few) toggle the background between full screen or picture-in-picture size screen.
Use EXIT to exit.:)

I'll look into publishing those screens. I'd like to get some confirmation that they are similar on ODN.

Does anyone know when they are going to start pushing this update to boxes in the Binghamton, NY area?

I think there are a combination of reasons... both reasons you mentioned probably are in play. I have also thought that they may not want to make the huge base of 160GB drive DVRs already in use to become undesirable/obsolete. However, a small fee for a larger capacity drive would address any initial cost issues and reduce the rush for the newer units... so it's still a bit of an illogical mystery.

I've noted on another thread that:
ONE reason may be that the cable companies think that there will be a migration to "Network DVR"* (where programs are stored in a remote server and played back on demand - think customized On Demand) and don't want to enable high capacity storage thinking it would compete with this new concept. So the remote DVR may be here soon.

*This concept was originated by TW year's ago. In fact, it was originally known as "Mystro". Due to some adverse court decisions TW shelved plans for "Mystro" and put their software people to work on "Navigator" (and thus "Navigator" became known as "Mystro"). In the meantime, Cablevision attempted to move ahead with the concept (RS-DVR), rather than invest in DVR boxes. They ran into legal challenges from the movie studios and cable networks which delayed any roll-out. However, in August 2008 a Court of Appeals ruled that the concept was legal. This was appealed to the Supreme Court which recently upheld that decision.

The diagnostic screens shown there are pretty old. I looked as mine just before the "upgrade" and they were up to 39 screens.

I have captured the diagnostic screens for MDN (don't know about ODN).

To access you need to:
Press & Hold front panel SELECT button until the Mail Icon shows up (takes several seconds)
Press front panel INFO button and first page of 28 diagnostic screens will show up.
Use PAGE + and PAGE - buttons on remote to navigate between screens
Several buttons (A, B, GUIDE, MENU to name a few) toggle the background between full screen or picture-in-picture size screen.
Use EXIT to exit.:)

I'll look into publishing those screens. I'd like to get some confirmation that they are similar on ODN.

The MDN diagnostic screens look totally different than the ODN screens. Somehow MDN has smaller fonts and still occupies almost twice as many pages as the ODN screens, and much of the MDN stuff seems nearly undecipherable - but my only chances to look at them have been at a friend's house and I pop up the diagnostics pages when they go to the kitchen (they don't share my curiosity, lol, and would probably freak out if they saw me doing something I "wasn't supposed to be doing":eek:).

A good deal of the ODN screens are devoted to SDV - IP addresses, SDV Group numbers, etc. Academically interesting to some of us, but not much practical info... so I rarely go into the ODN diagnostics. The Samsung diagnostics pages provide more pertinent information to the user such as RF signal levels, current video and audio formats and bitrates, current tuner status (analog, digital, freq, SDV), current HDD status, last reboot time, display EDID, versions of all currently loaded apps, etc, etc... plus the ability to reboot the box remotely.

Does anyone know when they are going to start pushing this update to boxes in the Binghamton, NY area?TW used to have an on-line schedule (http://www.timewarnercable.com/northeast/learn/cable/navigator/nav_release.html) for the migration but when I go there now with a Binghamton ZIP code it says:

"Your migration to the Navigator Guide has begun."

Yea in our divsion (Ben and i )It has been stating that for weeks now ...with no progress whatsoever ! Means very little til' i see some dates on there !:rolleyes:

TW used to have an on-line schedule (http://www.timewarnercable.com/northeast/learn/cable/navigator/nav_release.html) for the migration but when I go there now with a Binghamton ZIP code it says:

"Your migration to the Navigator Guide has begun."

Thanks for the link. That is interesting, I put my actual zip in there and it says the same thing. I guess I am not sure what that means. I know it hadn't completed as of 1:30 AM this morning when I went to bed.

Yea in our divsion (Ben and i )It has been stating that for weeks now ...with no progress whatsoever ! Means very little til' i see some dates on there !:rolleyes:

Probably means nothing 'til you actually see blue and silver graphics on your box!;)

Hahaha !!! Sounds good to me !!!

Yea in our divsion (Ben and i )It has been stating that for weeks now ...with no progress whatsoever ! Means very little til' i see some dates on there !:rolleyes:

Here in Greensboro NC we were the very first SARA area converted to Navigator. It went smooth as butter thanks to the first class engineers and marketing staff here that kept most folks up to date on the progess. I got both a call and e mail the night before each of my boxes were converted. I also had a follow up call that gave us a number to call in case of any problems or questions. Now that is what I call custmer service. Of all the issues I might have wih TWC the Navigator rollout was not one of them.. Since we were the Lincolln of SARA I belive they went out of their way to make all went well here . WOODY

I just wish our division could be half the divsion that your's is . Dates ..mailer's ...phone call's .That is how a Time Warner division should be run much like in the Carolina's !:)

Here in Greensboro NC we were the very first SARA area converted to Navigator. It went smooth as butter thanks to the first class engineers and marketing staff here that kept most folks up to date on the progess. I got both a call and e mail the night before each of my boxes were converted. I also had a follow up call that gave us a number to call in case of any problems or questions. Now that is what I call custmer service. Of all the issues I might have wih TWC the Navigator rollout was not one of them.. Since we were the Lincolln of SARA I belive they went out of their way to make all went well here . WOODY

I actually experienced your Greensboro rollout (sort of)... my daughter's grad school apartment is in Greensboro but the billing address and phone # for the account is here, so we got the calls and mailers. It did seem to be done very well, and she had no problems with the actual update, either (of course, she had already used Navigator here so there was no learning curve). The Passport to Navigator rollout (back in '08, I think) also went well here, with a similar level of customer communications.

The diagnostic screens shown there are pretty old. I looked as mine just before the "upgrade" and they were up to 39 screens.

I have captured the diagnostic screens for MDN (don't know about ODN).
To access you need to:
Press & Hold front panel SELECT button until the Mail Icon shows up (takes several seconds)
Press front panel INFO button and first page of 28 diagnostic screens will show up.
Use PAGE + and PAGE - buttons on remote to navigate between screens
Several buttons (A, B, GUIDE, MENU to name a few) toggle the background between full screen or picture-in-picture size screen.
Use EXIT to exit.:)

I'll look into publishing those screens. I'd like to get some confirmation that they are similar on ODN.
Instead of getting up and pressing the INFO button, simply hit DOWNARROW on R/C.
You can change channels while in Diagnostic mode.

Yea in our divsion (Ben and i )It has been stating that for weeks now ...with no progress whatsoever ! Means very little til' i see some dates on there !:rolleyes:From what I recall from that roll-out schedule it was a couple of different boxes a week. Mine (8300HD) was relatively early on April 27 with the schedule extending well into May. Note that TW normally does upgrades and changes on Tuesdays (early morning).

From what I recall from that roll-out schedule it was a couple of different boxes a week. Mine (8300HD) was relatively early on April 27 with the schedule extending well into May. Note that TW normally does upgrades and changes on Tuesdays (early morning).

I recently had eyes on the rollout schedule for MDN 2.5 in Raleigh and it was exactly that way... the schedule listed each night's box type and how many boxes were being upgraded that night. Not all of a particular box model would necessarily be updated in a single night... it seemed that somewhere between 10k and 15k units were updated each night and the schedule ran for several weeks. It was more than just Tuesday mornings, though.

I think that the number of boxes done each night depends on the "severity" of the update... around the same time that Raleigh was was rolling out MDN 2.5, a patch was issued to Charlotte ODN boxes and it was completed in a much shorter time frame (more boxes per night). A SARA to to Navigator update may go out to even fewer boxes per night than Raleigh's MDN 2.4 > 2.5 update.

On Tuesday night we recorded several shows and spent most of Wednesday afternoon watching them. They all worked fine except for one, While watching the recording of The Good Wife, every time you would try and fast forward through the commercials the picture would freeze, the timer would move and you could guess where the commercials ended and the show started again. I called TW and the answer was "huh". Any ideas what happened. The other shows where fine and one we recorded last night and watched today was fine.

Yea in our divsion (Ben and i )It has been stating that for weeks now ...with no progress whatsoever ! Means very little til' i see some dates on there !:rolleyes:

Yea Ben and Abyss!

It's too bad that they don't give you a roll out date by box type like some other divisions did! Are you the division where it says, "Coming in May" and that's it? If that is true, I would think you would have your Gator before the end of the month! Let's hope!

At least the fact that the Answers on Demand Channels SHOW Navigator information is a very good sign. I agree, it SUCKS that they are rolling this out "under the hood" in your division!

Most divisions do Gator updates between 2-5am on Tuesday and Thursday nights. However, I know at least one division that got Gatored at 10AM on some boxes! So any time is fair game.

I'll through this out for discussion too! What other TWC divisions got their Gators downloaded to the boxes with no preparation notices at all? For my division it was funny! Some got notices and some didn't! Than about three days AFTER I got a Gator (Mid April, 2008) I got a TWC notice that said it was coming soon! hahaha.

Jack

...every time you would try and fast forward through the commercials the picture would freeze, the timer would move and you could guess where the commercials ended and the show started again.

Sounds like normal Samsung FF :D

I recently had eyes on the rollout schedule for MDN 2.5 in Raleigh and it was exactly that way... the schedule listed each night's box type and how many boxes were being upgraded that night. Not all of a particular box model would necessarily be updated in a single night... it seemed that somewhere between 10k and 15k units were updated each night and the schedule ran for several weeks. It was more than just Tuesday mornings, though.

I think that the number of boxes done each night depends on the "severity" of the update... around the same time that Raleigh was was rolling out MDN 2.5, a patch was issued to Charlotte ODN boxes and it was completed in a much shorter time frame (more boxes per night). A SARA to to Navigator update may go out to even fewer boxes per night than Raleigh's MDN 2.4 > 2.5 update.

My hope is a national June roll-out for MDN 2.5 (or ASAP.) I understand that this needs to be a national update because it contains the components that will activate the Remote DVR Management Feature. This feature, in conjunction with registering for a My Services Account on your local TWC web-site, will allow you to program your DVR from your Internet Connection and/or mobile phone. So far, only Brighthouse Networks and some parts of North Carolina (sister affiliate of TWC) North Carolina got MDN 2.5.

All of the NYC and Maine SARA to Navigator transfers as I understand will start with MDN 2.4.6_19, which is very stable.

Jack

On Tuesday night we recorded several shows and spent most of Wednesday afternoon watching them. They all worked fine except for one, While watching the recording of The Good Wife, every time you would try and fast forward through the commercials the picture would freeze, the timer would move and you could guess where the commercials ended and the show started again. I called TW and the answer was "huh". Any ideas what happened. The other shows where fine and one we recorded last night and watched today was fine.

How long have you had Navigator and the box?

It might have been a transmission issue from the local head-end with regard to that channel during the recording process or playback process. Can you reproduce the error on the same channel using a different program? Can you record another program on that same channel and get the same error on playback?

If the above tests show good recording and playback, you just had a one-time recoding glitch and I wouldn't worry about it. If it happens again, using the above test, try turning off the box, unplugging the box for 5 minutes, and plugging it back in allowing the system to reboot. Often times, this can fix glitch problems like this:

Another Question:

Was this episode of "The Good Wife, that you had set up to Record a one-time issue? (i.e "Record This Show") or did you set it up to "Record This Series?"

Remember with Navigator Guide Data:

1.) Newly installed or downloaded guides can take up to 24 hours for all seven days of guide data to populate. In many cases, new installs may only go out by 3 days until a full 24 hours have completed.

2.) When Setting Up Series Recording for your fist week with Navigator: (and even thereafter if you can help it) DO NOT DELETE SHOWS IN THE MIDDLE OF RECORDING THEM! Let Navigator do at least one complete recording of a series. If you need to delete a series, do it through the Series Manager, but before the recording starts. If you delete a series in the middle of recording it, Navigator will think it made an error, and will keep looking out for more episodes to record of that series. Navigator needs to see AT LEAST ONE instance of a series for the populated guide data to be able to record it. Remember, under Record Series With Options you can set up on what channel(s) the series should record, The Number of episodes to keep, and Set Series Priorities. These options are some of Navigator's most useful features!


( I am going to post the Guide Data Tips to the TWC-Untangled Blog)

Jack

To access Remote DVR Manager (CLT soft launch), customers must:

Subscribe to Digital Basic service and have at least one MDN or ODN-based DVR. No other services are required, and there is no charge to access Remote DVR Manager.

Register for a TimeWarnerCable.com user name and password to access the application. To register, customers must have a recent statement to retrieve their 4 digit customer code (printed in the upper right hand corner). PayXpress customers may retrieve their customer code by selecting "View statement details," then "View PDF statement" from within PayXpress. Customers who require assistance with registration issues should be transferred to the Digital Identity Group ("DIG") at corporate care.

The web application is compatible with Internet Explorer 7 or higher, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera and most other current web browsers (note, IE 6 is not supported). The mobile-optimized version is compatible with most browser-enabled smart phones and touch devices including Apple iPhone, Blackberry and Android-based phones.

To access the PC version, go to: myservices.timewarnercable.com & click on MyTV
To access the mobile version, go to: mdvr.timewarnercable.com (note: registration for a user name & password must be completed on a PC prior to accessing the mobile site).

FAQs:

Remote DVR Manager will let customers manage their upcoming recordings remotely
Currently, the application cannot manage past recordings (shows already recorded)
Customers cannot register for or manage their username or password using the mobile version of Remote DVR Manager

Can I view what I already have scheduled to record at home using the Remote DVR Manager?
Yes! You will be able to see a list of everything that you have scheduled to record on your DVR.

Can I use my cell phone to automatically record all of the episodes of my favorite show?
After you are registered, yes, you can!

Can I delete a previously recorded show to make room for a new recording?
No. Currently, you can only manage future recordings.

Is there a charge to use this new service?
No. There is no extra charge to use the Remote DVR Manager.

Can I watch programming using the Remote DVR Manager that I have recorded on my DVR?
No. In order to view a recorded program you will need to watch it from the DVR.

Can I reset my password on my cell phone?
No. You will need to use a computer.

Information about RemoteDVR. Charlotte will be the first to get it followed by other divisions. San Diego might not get it right away as they don't have MDN v2.5 deployed. MDN v2.5 is probably in the final stages of testing here in San Diego. Once they deploy it then they'll eventually enable RemoteDVR.

It's also a factor of lead time. The upper management have to order thousands of units and want to minimize costs, so they'll go with the prevailing technology at order time, which may be somewhat behind the curve for current tech.

160GB drives may have been close to state-of-the-art at initial order time; who knew that costs would come down so quickly that a 1TB unit might be more cost effective now, but maybe the tech isn't rock-solid, so they'll go with a lower capacity unit that's more reliable. When you have thousands (make that HUNDREDS of thousands of units) out there, even a 1/2 of 1 per cent failure rate can be a major disaster!

My own PC experience shows this. In the late 80s, it took a good chunk of change just to get a 100MB (megabyte, not gigabyte) hard drive (and it had reliability issues). My iMac from 2004 had an 80GB unit. My new iMac from November 2009 has a 500GB unit!

One nugget, 1984, I got a 10MB (yup, ten) drive for 2200 retail (I paid 1800 with an employee discount).

The 160Gs were totally fine in the SD days... totally inadequate once HD broadcasting started.

I go back a little farther than that...

Ah, remember 1200 baud modems very well, back then there effectively was no Internet (as we think of it today) and that modem woke me up to the word of BBSes. Some guys I "met" via that mechanism I'm still in touch with.

The diagnostic screens shown there are pretty old. I looked as mine just before the "upgrade" and they were up to 39 screens.

I have captured the diagnostic screens for MDN (don't know about ODN).
To access you need to:
Press & Hold front panel SELECT button until the Mail Icon shows up (takes several seconds)
Press front panel INFO button and first page of 28 diagnostic screens will show up.
Use PAGE + and PAGE - buttons on remote to navigate between screens
Several buttons (A, B, GUIDE, MENU to name a few) toggle the background between full screen or picture-in-picture size screen.
Use EXIT to exit.:)

I'll look into publishing those screens. I'd like to get some confirmation that they are similar on ODN.

Hmmm, I use the DOWN ARROW, but INFO does the same thing.

One pain is that it overlays whatever is showing, so it can be close to impossible to read the whole screen at times. BTW, LEFT and RIGHT ARROW also page screen to screen.

I DO recall hitting some key combo that had 3 levels of brightness to the text, but I haven't been able to find that magic again (not that it's at all needed).

If you tune to a premium you don;lt sub to, you get a black background... but some of the stuff in there is specific to the tuned channel, so this "trick" only works for certain "observations."

Not to mention we get gyped in NYC... only 28 screen! BTW, I think the "mail icon" is very box specific, maybe just Cisco/SA boxes?

I applaud the concept of a comprehensive guide to diagnostic screens, I also widh that over time, it gained some explanation of some of the items in there!

On Tuesday night we recorded several shows and spent most of Wednesday afternoon watching them. They all worked fine except for one, While watching the recording of The Good Wife, every time you would try and fast forward through the commercials the picture would freeze, the timer would move and you could guess where the commercials ended and the show started again. I called TW and the answer was "huh". Any ideas what happened. The other shows where fine and one we recorded last night and watched today was fine.

Can't pin this one on ODN/MDN, very rarely (2-3 times per year??) I have seen this as well... even back to the Passport days. It's like they have a NO FF flag set (and if they figure out how to do that, we'll be in purgatory big time)!

I recently had eyes on the rollout schedule for MDN 2.5 in Raleigh and it was exactly that way... the schedule listed each night's box type and how many boxes were being upgraded that night. Not all of a particular box model would necessarily be updated in a single night... it seemed that somewhere between 10k and 15k units were updated each night and the schedule ran for several weeks. It was more than just Tuesday mornings, though.

Odd, my general anecdotal impression is when we got 'gatored, MUCH larger numbers were involved. We had HDC/ODN boxes being handed out for something like 12-18 months before any dynamic updates happened.

All of the NYC and Maine SARA to Navigator transfers as I understand will start with MDN 2.4.6_19, which is very stable.

Jack

As is my oddball _21 version is!

Odd, my general anecdotal impression is when we got 'gatored, MUCH larger numbers were involved. We had HDC/ODN boxes being handed out for something like 12-18 months before any dynamic updates happened.

I went back and looked at it again... I guess my memory is not as good as it used to be:o, but not THAT far off. They updated 244k MDN boxes in six weeks spanning March and April. There were either one or two runs per week, occuring on Tuesdays and/or Wednesdays.

One nugget, 1984, I got a 10MB (yup, ten) drive for 2200 retail (I paid 1800 with an employee discount).

The 160Gs were totally fine in the SD days... totally inadequate once HD broadcasting started.

in 1971 the company I worked for bought a 7mb drive for an IBM mainframe.
$20,000 used, would have been $40,000 for a new one

I'm confused.

Why are people discussing hard drives from 1984 and diagnostic screens while ignoring hdtvfan2005's post that TWC has launched a remote scheduling beta here in Charlotte!

This is a frequently requested feature! I expected Satch Man to have 5 posts about it already! :p

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=18596170&postcount=6038

To access Remote DVR Manager (CLT soft launch), customers must:

Subscribe to Digital Basic service and have at least one MDN or ODN-based DVR. No other services are required, and there is no charge to access Remote DVR Manager.

Register for a TimeWarnerCable.com user name and password to access the application. To register, customers must have a recent statement to retrieve their 4 digit customer code (printed in the upper right hand corner). PayXpress customers may retrieve their customer code by selecting "View statement details," then "View PDF statement" from within PayXpress. Customers who require assistance with registration issues should be transferred to the Digital Identity Group ("DIG") at corporate care.

The web application is compatible with Internet Explorer 7 or higher, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera and most other current web browsers (note, IE 6 is not supported). The mobile-optimized version is compatible with most browser-enabled smart phones and touch devices including Apple iPhone, Blackberry and Android-based phones.

To access the PC version, go to: myservices.timewarnercable.com & click on MyTV
To access the mobile version, go to: mdvr.timewarnercable.com (note: registration for a user name & password must be completed on a PC prior to accessing the mobile site).

FAQs:

Remote DVR Manager will let customers manage their upcoming recordings remotely
Currently, the application cannot manage past recordings (shows already recorded)
Customers cannot register for or manage their username or password using the mobile version of Remote DVR Manager

Can I view what I already have scheduled to record at home using the Remote DVR Manager?
Yes! You will be able to see a list of everything that you have scheduled to record on your DVR.

Can I use my cell phone to automatically record all of the episodes of my favorite show?
After you are registered, yes, you can!

Can I delete a previously recorded show to make room for a new recording?
No. Currently, you can only manage future recordings.

Is there a charge to use this new service?
No. There is no extra charge to use the Remote DVR Manager.

Can I watch programming using the Remote DVR Manager that I have recorded on my DVR?
No. In order to view a recorded program you will need to watch it from the DVR.

Can I reset my password on my cell phone?
No. You will need to use a computer.

Is remote DVR scheduling really THAT popular? It's not like TV shows are scheduled on the fly by networks so that you would need to set the recording immediately or else you miss it. Multi-room viewing, or heck, a full screen guide, would seem more beneficial

Is remote DVR scheduling really THAT popular? It's not like TV shows are scheduled on the fly by networks so that you would need to set the recording immediately or else you miss it. Multi-room viewing, or heck, a full screen guide, would seem more beneficialIt's been an option on TiVo for years (since at least 2005) and I've never found a use for it (you can even program a recording by clicking a button in the guide at Zap2It.com).

I can see where you might occasionallly hear about something airing tonight that you weren't aware of from a co-worker and use it from the computer at your desk (or your cellphone, etc).

I'm confused.

Why are people discussing hard drives from 1984 and diagnostic screens while ignoring hdtvfan2005's post that TWC has launched a remote scheduling beta here in Charlotte!

Because a release in one test market means effectively nothing to everyone else.

It only means something when TWC finally tells you it's arriving in your area.

Because a release in one test market means effectively nothing to everyone else.

It only means something when TWC finally tells you it's arriving in your area.

This is very true!

I have been pleading with them, (OK, not pleading LOL) to roll out the new MDN Navigator 2.5 here in Milwaukee in the TWC Web Untangled blog. You need that, or the latest version of ODN, (don't know what that is) for the DVR Remote Manager, plus a TWC My Services Registration at your web-site to use it.

Jack

Is remote DVR scheduling really THAT popular? It's not like TV shows are scheduled on the fly by networks so that you would need to set the recording immediately or else you miss it. Multi-room viewing, or heck, a full screen guide, would seem more beneficial

Seems to me that it's 100% a smoke screen to try and deflect attention from things like IPG features I used for 2-3 years before I got 'gatored (search) that I have lost, plus a lack of external HDD support, i.e. a TON of stuff I'd guess is far more important to the majority of users.

No doubt there are some who may consider it useful, but I suspect by a HUGE margin, folks want stuff that got lost to happen first before remote scheduling!

Remote DVR scheduling is a feature that I'm quite looking forward to. Frankly, I expect to use it only rarely. BUT, when you do need it, it's very important. I back up my hard disk every night even though I expect (hope?) never to use that backup.

Two or three times over the last few years, somebody has told me about a show that I really wanted to watch, but I wasn't going home in time to set the DVR. Of course, with modern scheduling, it only really matters for network shows, since cable shows are generally re-broadcast several times.

Riverside is right (though perhaps a bit too bitter about it), I'd prefer several other improvements (longer descriptions, bigger disks, official support for external drives) ahead of remote programming, but I do think remote programming is a nice feature, and I'm glad they're adding it.

-barry

Advertising-wise, remote scheduling is a wiz-bang impressive feature: DirecTV (I think) has built an entire ad campaign around it. Difficult to get much traction with, "Now with support for external disk drives!" :D.

Seems to me that it's 100% a smoke screen to try and deflect attention from things like IPG features I used for 2-3 years before I got 'gatored (search) that I have lost, plus a lack of external HDD support, i.e. a TON of stuff I'd guess is far more important to the majority of users.

No doubt there are some who may consider it useful, but I suspect by a HUGE margin, folks want stuff that got lost to happen first before remote scheduling!

I agree with you Riverside,

I want better search parameters on the keyboard, (Keyword search) Guide Filtering, and Manual Recording before Remote DVR functions. Very possible that TWC could be using Remote DVR functionality as a smoke-screen to hide the fact that some basic features like the examples above that should be there, aren't. At least, not yet.

Jack

Advertising-wise, remote scheduling is a wiz-bang impressive feature: DirecTV (I think) has built an entire ad campaign around it. Difficult to get much traction with, "Now with support for external disk drives!" :D.That's so true: DireecTV does have support for external drives (as does Dish), but they never have included it in advertisements.

That's so true: DireecTV does have support for external drives (as does Dish), but they never have included it in advertisements.In the DirecTV ads, the people using remote rescheduling do it on their mobile phones because they realize they're not going to get home in time to watch their favorite show: guy on the floor of his bank during a robbery; police hostage negotiator who can see he's gonna be involved in a situation for a while. If these shows were so important to them, why weren't they recording them in the first place :rolleyes:? The only time I watch live TV is when I'm bored and channel surfing. I even buffer live sporting events at least half an hour so that I can zap the ads.

Whatever--it does make a good ad, whereas most of the things people here want would not.

I agree with you Riverside,

I want better search parameters on the keyboard, (Keyword search) Guide Filtering, and Manual Recording before Remote DVR functions. Very possible that TWC could be using Remote DVR functionality as a smoke-screen to hide the fact that some basic features like the examples above that should be there, aren't. At least, not yet.

Jack
Jack I agree with you 110%. WOODY PS- Copy to vrc/dvd burner would be better for me than remote dvr management.
:p

I don't think there's any smokescreen, here, I think that michaeltscott and davehancock have it right: DirectTV has been advertising this feature pretty heavily, and TWC feels that it's necessary to respond to those ads.

-barry

I don't think there's any smokescreen, here, I think that michaeltscott and davehancock have it right: DirectTV has been advertising this feature pretty heavily, and TWC feels that it's necessary to respond to those ads.

-barry

Agree, there is a perception that this is a highly desired feature. I'm not denying that it is and could prove useful, but I concur with others that there are far more useful/important features we should get first such as Guide Filtering (my #1), Keyword Search (my #2) and eSATA support across the board. Other things like a true 16x9 guide would be nice but are not pressing.

Since Charlotte, NC already has MDN 2.5 they will likely roll with Remote DVR first, probably next month.

Jack

Advertising-wise, remote scheduling is a wiz-bang impressive feature: DirecTV (I think) has built an entire ad campaign around it. Difficult to get much traction with, "Now with support for external disk drives!" :D.

Yes, from a marketing perspective I can imagine that Remote Scheduling will be cool, so long as Guide Filtering, Keyword Search, and Manual Recording are also a part of Navigator's "evolving process." And the fix for external drives connected to C-terminals and Samsung boxes running ODN all are important.

Slightly OT, but what do you guys think of TWC's new untangled Web-blog where the tech staff answers questions? Have you used it? Several people are talking about the good and bad of Navigator. We should all make comments there! This shows some community involvement by the company, and I think that is a good thing.

Jack

Riverside is right (though perhaps a bit too bitter about it), I'd prefer several other improvements (longer descriptions, bigger disks, official support for external drives) ahead of remote programming, but I do think remote programming is a nice feature, and I'm glad they're adding it.

-barry

Well, you do have a point, but I feel more angry than bitter, I'd rather come across more as angry than bitter! However, I still logically think remote scheduling a deflection to delay or not give us what far more folks WANT.

Advertising-wise, remote scheduling is a wiz-bang impressive feature: DirecTV (I think) has built an entire ad campaign around it. Difficult to get much traction with, "Now with support for external disk drives!" :D.

EXACTLY. Somehow I still 100% think if given a choice, cable co customers would put external HDD support, an actual search function many of us USED to have, director's names in movie info, etc. above remote scheduling.

Then again, I also realize the group I'm speaking to here ain't the norm. An awful lot of intelligent folks simply don't fully comprehend all the issue because they just don't care all that much. ALL of them I'd guess would have peripheral knowledge of DTV campaign. so they may THINK they need it "first" because the other guy has it and it's a BIG thing because somone spend tons of ad dollars on it.

...hide the fact that some basic features like the examples above that should be there, aren't. At least, not yet.

Jack

Ah, ever the optimist! Bitter or angry as I come across at times, I LOVE hearing some optimism i injected into the thread, it's like "not all is lost!" Bravo.

Since Charlotte, NC already has MDN 2.5 they will likely roll with Remote DVR first, probably next month.

Jack

You mean I (and the rest is us) may not have to wait 12-18 months for 2.5 rollout<g>?

I dunno, it sure seems like a far sounder idea to get everyone ON 2.5, give it a month or two to shake out, then go remote and play it up big. Not to mention ODN.. somehow I think we have a much larger ODN distribution than MDN (anyone ever see any figures?).

Slightly OT, but what do you guys think of TWC's new untangled Web-blog where the tech staff answers questions? Have you used it? Several people are talking about the good and bad of Navigator. We should all make comments there! This shows some community involvement by the company, and I think that is a good thing.

Jack

Not OT at all! I took a 2 minute look, it seems we can only "post" in response to something specific they say. Of all the "items" they list, only 2 have anything to do with the IPG AND both have to do with Texas.

Not OT at all! I took a 2 minute look, it seems we can only "post" in response to something specific they say. Of all the "items" they list, only 2 have anything to do with the IPG AND both have to do with Texas.

LOL!

That's what I thought too! But I've got some comments over there, as "Jack" and they have published them. Let me look and I will try to find the blog where my comments are:

Here is the home page for TWC untangled:

http://www.twcableuntangled.com/

OK! I have Two Recent Comments in the "How to Use Social Media to Complain to Us" You should see them in the recent comments section below. Click on the truncated comment to read all of it.

http://www.twcableuntangled.com/2010/04/how-to-use-social-media-to-complain-to-your-cable-companyisp/

Actually, you can talk about anything you like that relates to TWC and they will publish it. (As long as its not vulgar or obscene) It took me a bit because you can just respond to the blog that closest matches your question. I'm the guy with the long, but detailed posts! LOL! But its not just for Texas. The titles of the blog people seem to be all corporate executives at TWC. My plan is to provide constructive feedback, praising them when they do something right, but pointing out problems that need correcting. At least we have some qualified people who are doing the blogging (and the reading of the comments) and not some CSR who has no knowledge of what's going on! The more people that find out and constructively comment on this blog, the more likely that these executives will listen and work to correct problems or add features to Navigator.

Jack

You mean I (and the rest is us) may not have to wait 12-18 months for 2.5 rollout<g>?

I dunno, it sure seems like a far sounder idea to get everyone ON 2.5, give it a month or two to shake out, then go remote and play it up big. Not to mention ODN.. somehow I think we have a much larger ODN distribution than MDN (anyone ever see any figures?).

But hey Riverside,

You got a good Oompa-Loompa in your box with MDN 2.4.6_21 that NO ONE ELSE HAS!!!! Maybe, you'll be the first in New York to get MDN 2.5!

Jack

TWC's Chief Optimist!

somehow I think we have a much larger ODN distribution than MDN (anyone ever see any figures?).MDN is running on all of the legacy boxes--DVR or otherwise--in markets where they've switched to Navigator; ODN runs on all of the boxes they've distributed since July 2007. Let's say that you started out with the boxes in the homes of 400,000 customers, with many of them having multiple boxes. How long would it take for all of those boxes to be replaced with new boxes because they wore out and failed? I would guess that there's still significantly more MDN boxes than ODN.

I can see where you might occasionallly hear about something airing tonight that you weren't aware of from a co-worker and use it from the computer at your desk (or your cellphone, etc).

I used the TiVo remote feature maybe 3 times in the years I had it. It was always when I heard about a specific episode of a show I didn't usually watch. A couple of times when I was at work, once when I was out of town. Not hugely useful, but it seemed pretty awesome the few times I did use it. Personally I'd much rather have an external drive, though.

I've got an SA 8240HDC and I think I've got the newest version of Navigator, but I can't figure out how to get at the diagnostic screens. Holding down the Select button on the box shows the mail icon, but when I hit the Info button on the box it just gives me info for the show that's playing. If anyone can tell me what I'm doing wrong, I'd appreciate it. :D

I switched from TiVo to the TW DVR just this week, when my HD TiVo bricked. Now that I've figured out the features, I honestly think the DVR is just as good as the TiVo. The DVR has the minus of a much smaller hard drive (and no Netflix, but my blu-ray player has that), but the TiVo was didn't always play nicely with the Tuning Adaptor. (Pre-digital TiVo beats them both, but now I'm addicted to HD.)

Is remote DVR scheduling really THAT popular? It's not like TV shows are scheduled on the fly by networks so that you would need to set the recording immediately or else you miss it. Multi-room viewing, or heck, a full screen guide, would seem more beneficial

Lots of people use this type of feature. I don't because I have never had access to it. I am looking forward to it though. Space issues on two different boxes prevent me from setting EVERY show I like to record automatically at every new airing. I record various shows on two different boxes depending on the space available at the time. Some times I forget to set a show to record and don't remember until I've already left home. At those times I've longed for the ability to control the DVR remotely.

Holding down the Select button on the box shows the mail icon, but when I hit the Info button on the box it just gives me info for the show that's playing. If anyone can tell me what I'm doing wrong, I'd appreciate it. :D

Try hitting [Down] on the remote after the mail icon lights up (you can use the remote to hold [Select] as well).

The more people that find out and constructively comment on this blog, the more likely that these executives will listen and work to correct problems or add features to Navigator.

Jack

Oh you absolutely DO have a point there... but I gotta say I'm not sure how effective trying to squeeze what you want to say into something that might only be VERY vaguely attached to the issue. Best example... they announced my market is going heavy SDV, 241 channels, 76 HD one. but NO WORD about TAs. Given the list of items to "comment on" I see no place where it might fit in.

Then again, I just found out the announcement they listed has disappeared, some think it means it got dealyed, others think it will still happen (well, one guy who is a regular AVSer).

But hey Riverside,

You got a good Oompa-Loompa in your box with MDN 2.4.6_21 that NO ONE ELSE HAS!!!! Maybe, you'll be the first in New York to get MDN 2.5!

Jack

TWC's Chief Optimist!

Ha... within it's design specs (much of which I do NOT like) it actually is pretty stable considering the issues many others seem to have.

Meanwhile, does ANYONE outside of (part of?) the NC market have it yet? Doesn't it seem it has to hit San Diego for a while before any other markets?

MDN is running on all of the legacy boxes--DVR or otherwise--in markets where they've switched to Navigator; ODN runs on all of the boxes they've distributed since July 2007. Let's say that you started out with the boxes in the homes of 400,000 customers, with many of them having multiple boxes. How long would it take for all of those boxes to be replaced with new boxes because they wore out and failed? I would guess that there's still significantly more MDN boxes than ODN.

Interesting. I DID see a few months ago that they WERE still handing out 8300HD/MDN boxes after all those in my market thought it was all ODN running HDC/Samsungs. Prior to that, it seemed only HDC/Samsungs were going out... but that impression only came from the NYC thread and what was regularly reported there. Matter of fact, I "knew" that ONLY based on my aunt getting one for a service call...

Lots of people use this type of feature. I don't because I have never had access to it. I am looking forward to it though. Space issues on two different boxes prevent me from setting EVERY show I like to record automatically at every new airing. I record various shows on two different boxes depending on the space available at the time. Some times I forget to set a show to record and don't remember until I've already left home. At those times I've longed for the ability to control the DVR remotely.

When it comes down to it, I'll take the features I mentioned, but I forgot a VERY important one to me. Probably more important than the others. MRV, TWC needs to implement Multi-Room Viewing on non-DVR boxes. I would actually get tremendous use if I could get a set top for the bedroom and watch my recorded shows from my theater room.

Just got a mailer today about navigator in the mail ...YES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Over the next few weeks it says .:)

Maybe this will light a fire up TWC in regards to their Navigator software.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/10/cox-plus-package-brings-advanced-trio-ui-500gb-multiroom-dvr/

That's a different looking guide huh HD CLOWN? That looks cool the video window in the middle .... I hope it does in deed light a fire under TW's butt !

Maybe this will light a fire up TWC in regards to their Navigator software.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/10/cox-plus-package-brings-advanced-trio-ui-500gb-multiroom-dvr/Hmm ... maybe. Are there really that many markets where TWC competes directly with COX? If not, they probably don't really care.

Hmm ... maybe. Are there really that many markets where TWC competes directly with COX? If not, they probably don't really care.Perhaps you should rephrase that:
Are there ANY markets where TWC competes directly with COX?

Just got a mailer today about navigator in the mail ...YES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Over the next few weeks it says .:)

START PLANNING THAT PARTY ABYSS!!! LOL!!!

Jack

Hmm ... maybe. Are there really that many markets where TWC competes directly with COX? If not, they probably don't really care.

Is that new guide being developed by Cox, or a third party for Cox?

Jack

Is remote DVR scheduling really THAT popular? It's not like TV shows are scheduled on the fly by networks so that you would need to set the recording immediately or else you miss it. Multi-room viewing, or heck, a full screen guide, would seem more beneficial
Only place I see using remote scheduling (except maybe the co-worker mentioning something I would not be home for) is for programming an individual show while away from home for over a week. Without manual recording (more important for me), you cannot program individual shows in advance. /Dan

Is that new guide being developed by Cox, or a third party for Cox?

Jack

It's being developed by NDS or maybe cox. Cox designed it along with NDS and Frog design inc.

You know it satch ...Ben will be happy about getting his too. I think if our division comes through soon with navigator than that perverbial monkey will be lifted off are CNY subs back's !:D

You know it satch ...Ben will be happy about getting his too. I think if our division comes through soon with navigator than that perverbial monkey will be lifted off are CNY subs back's !:D

Yea that's right!

Cuz you and Ben are like in the same area! What is your current TWC box model number? They often go by box type and the downloads are generally between 2am-5am when the boxes reboot and you'll see instead of the usually boot sequence a countdown thing that that will say something like F-100, F-1, or ALT-100, or ALT-1 or some letter/numbers combination. The numbers will count up to 100 or maybe down from 100 and might repeat about 2 or 3 times.

(Like waiting for the New Years Eve Big Ball to Drop At Times Square!) I can see you Abyss, with pizza or tacos and beers on the night of the changeover, counting down or up aloud along with the numbers on your box!!!! hahaha)

Anyway, the countdown,and/or count-up usually takes about 20 minutes to an hour. (Average time seems to be about 25 minutes.) If you get a phone call the day of the change-over or get a notice when your area is converted, you probably for best results should turn off your TV and box when you go to bed that night so that between 2-5am the download isn't obstructed in some way by the box doing something. (Like, you're gonna sleep that night, anyway!!!! hahahaha) If you leave your box on all the time and just turn your TV on and off, the box will be off the next morning and you'll just see the guide on your screen.

You know about writing down all your settings for things like Favorite Channels, Display Settings, Aspect Ratio (for your TV) and Audio Settings a few days before, right? Than you can cross-reference your settings list when your "Gator" comes.

I hope they give you a head's-up download day! One division got Gators with no warning with the download starting at 10am!

Jack

two 8300 hdc's and a 8240...Knowing time warner saying a few weeks for the launch we might have by the end of the week ! Who knows;)

Just got a mailer today about navigator in the mail ...YES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Over the next few weeks it says .:)

Nothing here yet, but my mother got hers today and called me in a panic. I have my trusty 8300HD. I may stop at my local TWC office tomorrow and see if they have any of the new boxes in yet. I really want to compare an 8600 or 4600 to the older boxes.

Maybe this will light a fire up TWC in regards to their Navigator software.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/10/cox-plus-package-brings-advanced-trio-ui-500gb-multiroom-dvr/

The irony is they say it replaces the "terrible" Passport software! Which I'd jump for joy to get... not to mention I think that Passport had advanced beyond the version we had prior to being 'gatored.

Only place I see using remote scheduling (except maybe the co-worker mentioning something I would not be home for) is for programming an individual show while away from home for over a week. Without manual recording (more important for me), you cannot program individual shows in advance. /Dan

Except the last time I was away for 4-5 days, I knew ahead of time one or 2 things that got automatically recorded would get deleted due to lack of space.

You know about writing down all your settings for things like Favorite Channels, Display Settings, Aspect Ratio (for your TV) and Audio Settings a few days before, right? Than you can cross-reference your settings list when your "Gator" comes.

I hope they give you a head's-up download day! One division got Gators with no warning with the download starting at 10am!

Jack

My advice expands on that... more important, IMO, is to write down your entire series recordings list. Some will come over, some will not, so it's best to KNOW what you had before, so you can be on the lookout to get those set up once a NEW episode appears. I'd also write down what stuff is waiting for viewing. Generally, those tend not to get deleted, but again, it's best to be able to SEE everything made it OK.

One big kind of gotcha is you'll be seeing a lot more exclamation marks in the recorded shows list. Assuming SARA just checks ahead 48 hours like Passport did, Gator goes 72 hours out. As long as I lived with it, it still seems disconcerting.

My advice expands on that... more important, IMO, is to write down your entire series recordings list. Some will come over, some will not, so it's best to KNOW what you had before, so you can be on the lookout to get those set up once a NEW episode appears. I'd also write down what stuff is waiting for viewing. Generally, those tend not to get deleted, but again, it's best to be able to SEE everything made it OK.

Unfortunately, if an out of season show doesn't transfer there is nothing you can do about it until it comes back in season. Just something to be aware of for those about to be 'gatored.


One big kind of gotcha is you'll be seeing a lot more exclamation marks in the recorded shows list. Assuming SARA just checks ahead 48 hours like Passport did, Gator goes 72 hours out. As long as I lived with it, it still seems disconcerting.

I still haven't seen this ever. I recently had the 320GB drive filled to 99% (almost all of this season's 24 and Fringe remain unwatched on my DVR) and not a single warning, exclamation mark or whatever appeared. I didn't lose or miss any recordings, as I returned home from my trip a few hours before the scheduled Friday night recordings, so I was able to watch enough to make room for that night's recordings and then got it back down to 75% over the weekend, where it's hovering now.

In hindsight, I missed an opportunity to observe how the box would have behaved in that situation. I should have left the watched shows undeleted to see what it would have done with Smallville and SG:U, since I was there to watch them anyway. I'm assuming it just would have not recorded them, but I don't know for sure.

Maybe it's an MDN versus ODN thing... I do know my friend with the MDN box does get warnings as you described.

BTW... at 99% capacity, there was 42 hours of HD programming recorded.

The irony is they say it replaces the "terrible" Passport software! Which I'd jump for joy to get... not to mention I think that Passport had advanced beyond the version we had prior to being 'gatored.

Agreed. I had Passport on my 8300HD and it was extremely stable and functional. It wasn't always that way, the first year or 2 of having my 8300HD had lots of random annoyances, but the last years of Passport software were trouble-free for me.

Navigator regressed in some basic features and certianly in stability and reliability. A local rep for BrightHouse had made a comment tha ttheir main goal was to "bring back lost functionality". It just blew my mind that software in development and limited deployment for FOUR years couldn't match the previous software. TWC should really give up on rolling their own software entirely and buy it from someone else.

Nothing here yet, but my mother got hers today and called me in a panic. I have my trusty 8300HD. I may stop at my local TWC office tomorrow and see if they have any of the new boxes in yet. I really want to compare an 8600 or 4600 to the older boxes.

Yea let me know if you are able to get your hand's on a cisco or samsung box ? Perferably a cisco box though. :cool:

just found this out ben ......http://www.timewarnercable.com/northeast/learn/cable/navigator/nav_release.html


Still a month away for me !!!!! End of june !!!! Might better say july !!!! The only good thing is i now have a date !!!

Someone in Raleigh has reported a new update was pushed to their 8640HDC and that it fixed the HDMI bug

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18615458#post18615458

Hmm ... maybe. Are there really that many markets where TWC competes directly with COX? If not, they probably don't really care.

Well, San Diego, CA for sure has both, but only in limited areas (very limited areas!) do you have a choice of provider. Otherwise, where you live determines your cable provider (some areas are Cox only, some are TWC only).

Someone in Raleigh has reported a new update was pushed to their 8640HDC and that it fixed the HDMI bug

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18615458#post18615458

Sure wish they'd fix that with the Samsung boxes in Austin :mad:

Someone in Raleigh has reported a new update was pushed to their 8640HDC and that it fixed the HDMI bug

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18615458#post18615458

June 16th for me as well. 8300 series DVR. I just talked to a rep at the Great Northern Mall and he was clueless about Navigator. Looks like the 4200 series non DVR boxes are getting it May 18th. Great, my mother will have one Gatored box and one SARA box. I feel the headache already.

I may stop by the main office on Erie in Syracuse since that is the central hub for our division. However, it seems as if no one knows anything about new hardware. I was looking at the boxes they are updating and I can't believe they are hitting Pace 500 series boxes. They can't even run SARA!

June 22nd here ....Shouldn't we be able to get cisco or samsung boxes that come equipped with navigator before those launch dates ?:confused:Don't believe i have ever seen a pace box are they an hd model ?

Oh well it's drive-in season for me june should go fast !!!! Looking forward to Toy Story 3 (June ) :)

June 22nd here ....Shouldn't we be able to get cisco or samsung boxes that come equipped with navigator before those launch dates ?:confused:Don't believe i have ever seen a pace box are they an hd model ?

I specifically asked about getting a preloaded box and was told they don't have any new hardware yet. Also, a point to make is that Raleigh just got a software update that fixed the HDMI bug so hopefully we will get that version. I'll post any info I find.

Be looking forward to the info .....Yea i'm a lil' curious as to what version of software we will get as well !

Maybe it's an MDN versus ODN thing... I do know my friend with the MDN box does get warnings as you described.

BTW... at 99% capacity, there was 42 hours of HD programming recorded.

Wow, seems like a real bad thing for ODN... no warnings that a recorded show may be getting close to being deleted to make room for new shows! Seriously, I have had as little as one hour with a single recorded show with any exclamation mark on it. I usually check and find that it actually is legit... I can count 17-18+ hours of scheduled recordings in the next 3 days (72 hours). Seems reasonably reliable...

Hard to believe ODN simply has no warnings whatsoever... could there be a setting? OR, maybe it's a function of the Samsung 3090 code?

Which sparks a question... I take it there are 2 significant software versions, ODN and one for the Samsung itself. I can spot ODN in your sig, but I'm afraid I'm a tad mystified at the rest of the alpha numeric "soup." I ask because they just opened a walk-in TWC "store" within hiking distance (little less than a half mile hike there). Not as big as the one most Manhattanites go to (23rd street), but a good location to cover the "middle third" of the island (there is another one way cheek by jowl with the Bronx). I was doling some errands and asked about 3209G Samsungs... the girl at the desk seemed confident about Samsungs, but said they had 320G ones with no conviction.

Agreed. I had Passport on my 8300HD and it was extremely stable and functional. It wasn't always that way, the first year or 2 of having my 8300HD had lots of random annoyances, but the last years of Passport software were trouble-free for me.

Navigator regressed in some basic features and certianly in stability and reliability. A local rep for BrightHouse had made a comment tha ttheir main goal was to "bring back lost functionality". It just blew my mind that software in development and limited deployment for FOUR years couldn't match the previous software. TWC should really give up on rolling their own software entirely and buy it from someone else.

I agree, but I think the horse has left the barn on that.

I got some odd MDN version that only exists in my head end (northern half of Manhattan) that was kinda shaky in series recordings, but I noticed a slipstream update last November that did seem to deal with the issues I was having. Since then, I HAVE to say it's been reliable, WITHIN it's apparent design parameters. THAT is the issue, it simply is NOT "designed" to do a LOT of the things Passport did for years prior.

The one big thing Passport didn't have was the auto rescheduling for series recordings. My beef there is it took me many months to completely understand it's parameters, but nice as it seems, I'd much prefer the "old"
way.

The one big thing Passport didn't have was the auto rescheduling for series recordings. My beef there is it took me many months to completely understand it's parameters, but nice as it seems, I'd much prefer the "old"
way.

My wife is the main master of our PVR schedule, so I can't personally comment much on this feature. She tells me she likes the conflict resolution stuff, but she also did manage many years without it, just fine.

My wife and I fall in the "non-TiVo" camp (best way I can put it). We know what we want to watch and when we want to watch it. We schedule it in advance, and we've never run into a situation where we had a last minute recording we couldn't set in time, or catch on the 2nd airing. Thus, all the PVR features that "think for me" are useless to us. This is one of the reasons I ended up selling my TiVoHD and adding a second PVR.

Wow, seems like a real bad thing for ODN... no warnings that a recorded show may be getting close to being deleted to make room for new shows! Seriously, I have had as little as one hour with a single recorded show with any exclamation mark on it. I usually check and find that it actually is legit... I can count 17-18+ hours of scheduled recordings in the next 3 days (72 hours). Seems reasonably reliable...

Hard to believe ODN simply has no warnings whatsoever... could there be a setting? OR, maybe it's a function of the Samsung 3090 code?

Which sparks a question... I take it there are 2 significant software versions, ODN and one for the Samsung itself. I can spot ODN in your sig, but I'm afraid I'm a tad mystified at the rest of the alpha numeric "soup." I ask because they just opened a walk-in TWC "store" within hiking distance (little less than a half mile hike there). Not as big as the one most Manhattanites go to (23rd street), but a good location to cover the "middle third" of the island (there is another one way cheek by jowl with the Bronx). I was doling some errands and asked about 3209G Samsungs... the girl at the desk seemed confident about Samsungs, but said they had 320G ones with no conviction.

I don't think ODN EVER deletes a series recording to make room for another... it apparently just stops recording when there is no room. The only setting in Series Manager even remotely related is the choice to Keep All Episodes, Last 7, Last 5 or Last 3. There is no "keep until space is required" option, which is fine by me... the only show I would consider using that option for anyway is NFL Live, which I watch (or not, according to what the teasers indicate for that particular show) and delete daily anyway. All of my series are set for "Keep all Episodes", which really only effects my 24 and Fringe recordings... anything else I rarely, if ever, have more than two episodes unwatched.

I don't have the Samsung firmware/middleware version in my sig... it's 4.3.5.3, which is unique to Charlotte as far as 3090 systems go... AFAIK, every other 3090 system has 2.4.9.x. The 2.x version in NYC was downloaded the same week as the 4.x we have here... and the Pause bug was released simultaneously with both of them (but several other bugs were fixed here, such as HDMI output resolution getting stuck at 720p as well as the "channel not available" recording issue) . I suspect that they are very similar, if not identical, outside of the version number. We did get a very quick update from 4.3.5.0 to 4.3.5.3 (about 2 weeks, as I recall) that fixed the atrocious FF/REW behavior that was in 4.3.5.0.

I don't think ODN EVER deletes a series recording to make room for another... it apparently just stops recording when there is no room. The only setting in Series Manager even remotely related is the choice to Keep All Episodes, Last 7, Last 5 or Last 3. There is no "keep until space is required" option, which is fine by me... the only show I would consider using that option for anyway is NFL Live, which I watch (or not, according to what the teasers indicate for that particular show) and delete daily anyway. All of my series are set for "Keep all Episodes", which really only effects my 24 and Fringe recordings... anything else I rarely, if ever, have more than two episodes unwatched.You'd hate Passport Echo then--it has only two retention choices, "Keep Until Space Needed" and "Keep Until I Delete". Its list of available recordings is in deletion order, with stuff on the bottom deleted first, as needed, new recordings placed on top--you can change that order at will.

TiVo has several "Keep At Most N Episodes" settings as well and "Keep Until I Delete". Not a huge fan of that, though it'd be okay if TiVo would place automatically deleted episodes in its "Recently Deleted" folder, so that it could be restored. If a Season Pass' "Keep At Most" count is about to be exceeded, it will delete the earliest recording, which is gone forever.

You'd hate Passport Echo then--it has only two retention choices, "Keep Until Space Needed" and "Keep Until I Delete". Its list of available recordings is in deletion order, with stuff on the bottom deleted first, as needed, new recordings placed on top--you can change that order at will.

TiVo has several "Keep At Most N Episodes" settings as well and "Keep Until I Delete". Not a huge fan of that, though it'd be okay if TiVo would place automatically deleted episodes in its "Recently Deleted" folder, so that it could be restored. If a Season Pass' "Keep At Most" count is about to be exceeded, it will delete the earliest recording, which is gone forever.

ODN's Keep All Episodes, which is what I have things set at, is essentially the same as Passport's "Keep Until I Delete", and I have no problem with that. I was just responding to Riverside's comment that ODN had a problem because it didn't warn of impending deletions, which is not a problem since it NEVER deletes solely to make room for new recordings.

Actually, it just reinforces that I am glad that I do not have MDN, BUT... it really reinforces what I have said here several times - to a very large extent what we perceive as the right or wrong way to run a DVR is shaped by what our initial experience is with... ANY change from those early habits is percieved as just plain wrong. Two years into cable HD-DVRs and I STILL really miss my 1.3x intelligible play speed and 30 second commercial skip from my Panasonic DMR85.

Got my mailer today and it was surprisingly informative. Our division starts Navigator deployment on May 16 with the 4200 series.

HDMI issues With TWC Navigator:

Approximately, once every 4-6 months, I will have an issue with my SA-8300 MDN box. When I power up the box/TV by pressing the POWER button on the remote, I will get a "Mode Not Supported" message on the screen. This is a known "handshake issue" with the Navigator Guide and the boxes. "Handshaking" refers to how well the HDMI cable/box/TV syncronize with each other when they are turned on.

The workaround is to turn off the box and than reboot it. A warm reboot for the Navigator system is to do the following on the front of the box:

1.) Press and hold the VOL+ and VOL- button simultaniously.

2.) While holding down the VOL+/VOL- buttons, press INFO

3.) Let go of the buttons when the screen goes blank. The box will re-boot immediately.

Another issue with HDMI handshaking that I DO NOT have, but has been reported by several friends, is that some of the newer model SA/Cisco boxes will sometimes not hold the Output resolution Setting when they are turned off. (The selection of 480i, 720p, 1080i) This is also true of some of the Samsung boxes.

If you are getting handshake issues with "Mode Note Supported" using HDMI cable, you have three options:

1.) Reboot your box. (Turn the box off first and than reboot for best results.)

2.) Use Component Cable for your HDTV instead of HDMI

3.) If the problem persists, or recurrs more than every few months, request a box swap or try a new HDMI cable

MDN/ODN Navigator boxes should have a software update developed and downloaded to them, to better deal with these HDMI issues.

Jack

Got my mailer today and it was surprisingly informative. Our division starts Navigator deployment on May 16 with the 4200 series.

Sounds good Ben!

Did they give you a full schedule for the rest of the boxes?

Jack

Sounds good Ben!

Did they give you a full schedule for the rest of the boxes?

Jack

Click Here for Navigator deployment schedule! (http://www.timewarnercable.com/northeast/learn/cable/navigator/nav_release.html)

Funny how the guy working at the TWC service center had no idea.

TWC Guy: "I've never heard of an 8640 DVR"

So, I explained it to him. Then I asked if they had a schedule for deployment and what boxes would get it first.

TWC Guy: "They Don't tell us that stuff, but I think the DVR would get it first"

:rolleyes: LOL, the DVR is getting it last. Thanks to abyss for the schedule link so I could find out on my own. I am amazed that TWC has such piss poor information dispersement. I mean, really? You can't issue an email blast or company memo about stuff this important. Almost everytime I deal with a rep, I know more than them and I don't WORK THERE!

So far, the information on the web, VOD channel and now in the mail has been superb, but do they really think people won't call with questions???

Wow, I am in Central NY too and I am surprised with that schedule. I got an automated call yesterday saying that over the next few weeks they will be doing the upgrade, but according to your link the 8240 (which I currently have) won't be done until mid-end June.

I also called to talk to them about the availability of the 8640 and the answer I got is that they don't know when they will get the boxes, but it will probably be a while (for my area at least).

Wow, I am in Central NY too and I am surprised with that schedule. I got an automated call yesterday saying that over the next few weeks they will be doing the upgrade, but according to your link the 8240 (which I currently have) won't be done until mid-end June.

I also called to talk to them about the availability of the 8640 and the answer I got is that they don't know when they will get the boxes, but it will probably be a while (for my area at least).

Well, Jeff Unaitis said new installs were getting the new boxes. This is another case of one hand not knowing what the other is doing.

ODN's Keep All Episodes, which is what I have things set at, is essentially the same as Passport's "Keep Until I Delete", and I have no problem with that. I was just responding to Riverside's comment that ODN had a problem because it didn't warn of impending deletions, which is not a problem since it NEVER deletes solely to make room for new recordings.

Actually, it just reinforces that I am glad that I do not have MDN, BUT... it really reinforces what I have said here several times - to a very large extent what we perceive as the right or wrong way to run a DVR is shaped by what our initial experience is with... ANY change from those early habits is percieved as just plain wrong. Two years into cable HD-DVRs and I STILL really miss my 1.3x intelligible play speed and 30 second commercial skip from my Panasonic DMR85.

Strange since my version of ODN has the save until space is needed feature. It works very well. I have 32.1.33. I cannot fantom why yours lacks that featurew. WOODY

Funny how the guy working at the TWC service center had no idea.They are usually dependent totally on what is on their computer screen. If it is not there (or the info can't be founc) they, of course, have no idea!:rolleyes:

TWC Guy: "I've never heard of an 8640 DVR"Same story. BTW: all they know is DVR and HDDVR.

So, I explained it to him. Then I asked if they had a schedule for deployment and what boxes would get it first.

TWC Guy: "They Don't tell us that stuff, but I think the DVR would get it first"

:rolleyes: LOL, the DVR is getting it last. Thanks to abyss for the schedule link so I could find out on my own. I am amazed that TWC has such piss poor information dispersement. I mean, really? You can't issue an email blast or company memo about stuff this important. Almost everytime I deal with a rep, I know more than them and I don't WORK THERE!

So far, the information on the web, VOD channel and now in the mail has been superb, but do they really think people won't call with questions???Probably they should FIRE the folks responsible for what is on their CSR's computer screens.

A few weeks ago I was able to talk to a tech guy for TWC and he said the testing of Navigator and the new boxes (whatever they were going to be) did not go well and that they are giving up. So I don't think we will see new boxes anytime soon. So, my question is, has anyone had any luck with an external drive with Navigator and the 8300HDC DVR?

Just went an got a 4240 at the rome office for the tv in the kitchen so i can play around with navigator on May 18 or 19th ....Ha HA !!! Rome did not have any cisco's or sammies ben !!!!:(

Strange since my version of ODN has the save until space is needed feature. It works very well. I have 32.1.33. I cannot fantom why yours lacks that featurew. WOODY

You can go into an individual recording after it has been recorded and make that choice for that show... but there is no option for Series Manager to set that for regular series recordings. Again, I have no interest in the feature, anyway.

Just went an got a 4240 at the rome office for the tv in the kitchen so i can play around with navigator on May 18 or 19th ....Ha HA !!! Rome did not have any cisco's or sammies ben !!!!:(

Hahahaha!!!!

Abyss can't wait for June! "I want it in May!!!! No!!! I want it Now!!!!" hahaha!!!

So, how big is the TV in your kitchen, Abyss? That IS kind of funny though, the first TV that gets a Gator in the house is in Abyss's kitchen! hahaha. That way, you can get your food and stuff ready for the party and watch Navigator's "countdown" at the same time!!!!

Jack

19 " zenith !!!:eek:

I thought about it, but I'll likely be at my mother's house helping her with it.

Dave, points are all well taken. I'm just saying that one would think corporate would have some training on this. The guy I talked with was at the Time Warner store at Great Northern Mall where they have setups and try to sell services to subscribers. It's right next to the FiOS kiosk. You would think that they would also have the latest box running Navigator on display there and that these "sales" people would at least take the initative to inform themselves to gain subs and help their own bottom line. When I used to work retail in electronics I always learned as much as possible about what I was sellng. It always helped when the customer knew (or at least feels) like the sales person is knowledgable.

Well, finally, Time Warner Cable has given me something I'm pleased about -- Remote DVR scheduling. Here in Charlotte, they've done a soft roll-out of the feature so it's available but not being promoted yet. Works great -- the online guide allows searching by title, keyword, cast/crew name and it takes about 5 seconds for the signal to reach your DVR. Plus it lets you see a list of everything on your DVR. Now, just want that keyword search available on my box -- and Weather Channel HD. Then I'll shut up for a while.

I still haven't seen this ever. I recently had the 320GB drive filled to 99% (almost all of this season's 24 and Fringe remain unwatched on my DVR) and not a single warning, exclamation mark or whatever appeared.

Maybe it's an MDN versus ODN thing... I do know my friend with the MDN box does get warnings as you described.


Wow, seems like a real bad thing for ODN... no warnings that a recorded show may be getting close to being deleted to make room for new shows! Seriously, I have had as little as one hour with a single recorded show with any exclamation mark on it.

I'll tell you what is odd is that we have "his" and "hers" 8300HDs both running MDN in our house and my wife's 8300HD does show red exclamation points for programs that are about to be deleted and mine does not. I lost both the Virginia Tech vs Nebraska and Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee games this year because I was unaware that they were about to be deleted. If my 8300HD had the red exclamation points like my wife's does, then I would have found other programs to delete so I could continue to savor those victories in the off season!

LOL!!!! I just got an email blast informing me of Navigator deployment. This is funny because this is EXACTLY what I was talking about up above. All they had to do was send this out to their "sales" people so they'd have a clue!

You can go into an individual recording after it has been recorded and make that choice for that show... but there is no option for Series Manager to set that for regular series recordings. Again, I have no interest in the feature, anyway.

You can go to scheduled recordings and set series recording to save until space is needed. Not trying to pick a fight but it is a feature available on Navigator. I think we have both covered this teritory now, New subject. WHEN WILL WE GET KEYWORD SEARCH. Anyone have a clue. WOODY

You can go to scheduled recordings and set series recording to save until space is needed. Not trying to pick a fight but it is a feature available on Navigator. I think we have both covered this teritory now, New subject. WHEN WILL WE GET KEYWORD SEARCH. Anyone have a clue. WOODY

RemoteDVR has keyword search but not Navigator. I think they'll add it in ODN v4.0 or some future version of it.

RemoteDVR has keyword search but not Navigator. I think they'll add it in ODN v4.0 or some future version of it.

Navigator MDN 3.0 is being developed as is ODN 4.0. It is RUMORED that this will be the release that will get Navigator up to all the bells and wistles of a decent guide. When that first number changes in a release, that's when major things happen.

If you want to let the tech team know about new features, send them a blog at the new TWC Untangled Site. I asked a question about a week ago about problems and possible solutions for re-transmition contracts, and this week, they have an excellent article up about it. The inquires go directly to the tech team. This is for ANYONE with TWC. As long as people are constructive with comments they will read/publish them. I went to the Navigator Software Feature Checklist. It talks about the guide being rolled out to Texas, but you can praise and complain in that blog and the engineer guys will read it. BUT, we need more people like us leaving comments over there! Here is the URL:

http://www.twcableuntangled.com/

I would definitely ask about Keyword Search, and maybe if enough people request it, they might add it to an update this year.

Jack

My dumb question of the month!

I know for MDN that is Mystro Digital Navigator, but what does the O stand for in ODN? Is that something like "Open Development", as would be something used to describe true two-way interactive devices? What is the full unabbreviated definition of OCAP? I have never had an ODN box.

Jack

GREAT!! So I just bought a 1TB drive for my 8300HDC eSATA-- it cost me 120 bucks. I'v had a 500GB external drive since end of 2006.

So now TWC is going to "UPGRADE" me to Navigator from SARA and RUIN my DVR so that I can't use an external SATA drive??

I'm going to be FORCED to go to DirectTV **BY** TWC because they are so stupid that they think people would rather have new broken Navigator software than be able to use an external drive? We have crappy 150GB drives in these DVRs... that is pathetic and makes the DVR about useless with HD.. I had to go for 3 days without external drive while waiting for the new one and it made me realize how small and pathetic a 150GB drive is for HDTV recording - now they call cutting the eSATA port usability an UPGRADE???!!!!

TWC has always been a horrible company, now I know they are completely out of touch and borderline stupid.. Forcing me into their competition by cutting features and raising price. WHAT FOOLS!!

The Directv DVR's do support eSATA but it acts as a replacement to the internal drive meaning that you only get 1 TB of space rather than 1.5 TB combined space.

My dumb question of the month!

I know for MDN that is Mystro Digital Navigator, but what does the O stand for in ODN? Is that something like "Open Development", as would be something used to describe true two-way interactive devices? What is the full unabbreviated definition of OCAP? I have never had an ODN box.

Jack

O in ODN means OCAP.

OCAP means Open Cable Access Platform which is also marketed as tru2way.

The Directv DVR's do support eSATA but it acts as a replacement to the internal drive meaning that you only get 1 TB of space rather than 1.5 TB combined space.

thats fine sinse I am happy with 1.15TB now. I however am NOT happy with 150GB which after almost 5 years they are DOWNGRADING me to wth their socalled "upgrade".. I'm so pissed off at TWC now I could spit.

thats fine sinse I am happy with 1.15TB now. I however am NOT happy with 150GB which after almost 5 years they are DOWNGRADING me to wth their socalled "upgrade".. I'm so pissed off at TWC now I could spit.

Why not see if Time Warner will get you an 8300HD set top? They work with eSATA after migration for most people. I would explain to them that if they cannot provide a set top with eSATA enabled then you'll be forced to switch providers. They may at least offer a newer 320GB model.

Why not see if Time Warner will get you an 8300HD set top? They work with eSATA after migration for most people. I would explain to them that if they cannot provide a set top with eSATA enabled then you'll be forced to switch providers. They may at least offer a newer 320GB model.

Well I'll try.. I want to know if that Samsung HD DVR that they're using with navigator will have the eSATA port enabled.. A tech on the phone said new TWC customers are getting them.. but not sure if she knew what she was talking about. It was after hours and she wasn't local. I think it's the Samsung SMT-H3270. Not sure yet.....

Well I'll try.. I want to know if that Samsung HD DVR that they're using with navigator will have the eSATA port enabled.. A tech on the phone said new TWC customers are getting them.. but not sure if she knew what she was talking about. It was after hours and she wasn't local. I think it's the Samsung SMT-H3270. Not sure yet.....

Rule of thumb is that ODN boxes don't work with Navigator.

Try to get an MDN box like an 8300HD.

My other thought is that I may (if I can get one) try an 8640 and replace the internal drive with my own.

I guess the first step would be to get the 8300HD MDN box if at all possible. That's what I had for years until the last one I had started acting up REALLY bad a couple yrs ago. Then I got an HDC and am on my second one now which needs replacing -- soooo sluggish.. The Samsung 3090/3270 HD-DVR Thread I found might be helpful but need to research that later..

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1152474&page=16

Do you work at TWC? Thx for suggestions-

I don't think ODN EVER deletes a series recording to make room for another...

Ah, but truth be told, I typically try to never get to the stage where something may be deleted, so I appreciate the warnings while I find them annoying!

I think the ONLY option MDN has is x number of episodes, default is 7. Other than that, I kind of assume it works by "save until space is needed." I remember that option in Passport, but don't think I ever saw it in MDN.

it really reinforces what I have said here several times - to a very large extent what we perceive as the right or wrong way to run a DVR is shaped by what our initial experience is with... ANY change from those early habits is percieved as just plain wrong.

I agree you do have a point, BUT even so, if the box simply never warns me of anything, that puts the burden 100% on me. I assume if you fill up, it will simply not record anything else (but my guess is it may leave a trail in the log of "not recorded due to no space." THAT is far more likely (IMO) to happen than if I got a warning and had enough time to correct the situation.

I'll tell you what is odd is that we have "his" and "hers" 8300HDs both running MDN in our house and my wife's 8300HD does show red exclamation points for programs that are about to be deleted and mine does not. I lost both the Virginia Tech vs Nebraska and Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee games this year because I was unaware that they were about to be deleted. If my 8300HD had the red exclamation points like my wife's does, then I would have found other programs to delete so I could continue to savor those victories in the off season!

I am VERY fuzzy on this, but I recall SOMETHING odd if I set a series recording to anything other than "last 7 episodes" default.

To amplify something I said, the "default" is "save until space is needed" when it's for an already recorded show. I am not aware of being able to change THAT default, as the option seems to only come up when it's already recorded. Never looked farther as that would absolutely be my choice anyway.

Nevertheless, I DO embrace the diversity of opinions! AND that we all should have choices, even for settings I may scratch my head over!

You can go to scheduled recordings and set series recording to save until space is needed

Don't think so in MDN... I ONLY see that option for a specific show that already has been recorded.

How does it work for when your getting the update to the boxes ? ...I mean i just picked up a 4240 how does it know that now that household just added a 4240 ? Is it on file ? baffled ! :confused: Hey ben you picking up a 4240 or 4250 so you can toy around with it or are you going to your mom's house ? LOL ....Kind of like the new box out in the kitchen can listen to 80's music choice when i'm doing dishes ! ABYSS = Dishwasher

How does it work for when your getting the update to the boxes ? ...I mean i just picked up a 4240 how does it know that now that household just added a 4240 ? Is it on file ? baffled ! :confused: Hey ben you picking up a 4240 or 4250 so you can toy around with it or are you going to your mom's house ? LOL ....Kind of like the new box out in the kitchen can listen to 80's music choice when i'm doing dishes !

abyss, the MAC ID's are on your account. TWC knows exactly who has what and when they are connected by pinging them. When you added that box to your account, it was put in the system so it would have authorization on the network.

I'm sure I'll have to go to her house and help her with it. I'm trying to get info because Jeff Unaitis said we were getting 4600 series non-DVR boxes which should run Nav faster.

You have a picture of what the 4600 looks like ?

Click Here to link to a post about the new HD Hardware. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18277422#post18277422)

Pitch black.... i like that color goes with theater setup !!!!

Yes, the new boxes are quite nice looking. If they had those in Rome, I'd get one for my bedroom. I'm hoping we get the Navigator version with the HDMI bug fix. I'm currently planning on taking out my projector set up and installing a Panny V10 65" Plasma. I (we as in wife) want to brighten the room and a front projector isn't going to work. Looks like someone will get a cheap Mits HC6500 as I'll likely see it. So, I'll be using HDMI cables and really do want to have issues with the resolution switching.

A side note to people using Navigator now. How does the guide actually display format wise? For example, I have my current set up to display native resolution (which Nav has), however, when I do this it stretches 4:3 pillarbox to 16:9. I want this, but when you do this the guide also stretches, then reverts to 4:# on an HD channel. It's really annoying hiving the guide change from 4:3 to 16:9 stretched all the time. On Navigator does the guide remain 4:3 or behave the same way?

Of course the solution is to just deploy a 16:9 guide and be done with it.

Yes, the new boxes are quite nice looking. If they had those in Rome, I'd get one for my bedroom. I'm hoping we get the Navigator version with the HDMI bug fix. I'm currently planning on taking out my projector set up and installing a Panny V10 65" Plasma. I (we as in wife) want to brighten the room and a front projector isn't going to work. Looks like someone will get a cheap Mits HC6500 as I'll likely see it. So, I'll be using HDMI cables and really do want to have issues with the resolution switching.

A side note to people using Navigator now. How does the guide actually display format wise? For example, I have my current set up to display native resolution (which Nav has), however, when I do this it stretches 4:3 pillarbox to 16:9. I want this, but when you do this the guide also stretches, then reverts to 4:# on an HD channel. It's really annoying hiving the guide change from 4:3 to 16:9 stretched all the time. On Navigator does the guide remain 4:3 or behave the same way?

Of course the solution is to just deploy a 16:9 guide and be done with it.

One thing I believe Navigator does differently than some other box OSs is that when you have the output set for 16:9 display, the output is ALWAYS 16:9, even if the content is 4:3 and you set the box to NOT stretch it (it outputs 16:9 with pillarboxed 4:3 content embedded in it in that case)... so the TV never sees any 4:3 content and attempts to stretch it. If you set the box to stretch 4:3, it does so without stretching the guide content, which remains a 4:3 overlay over the 16:9 content.

This setup actually works well since many TVs and AVRs do not have separate stretch/normal settings for 4:3 vs 16:9 content. Navigator never stretches 16:9 content (no matter whether you have it set for normal, stretch or zoom) but can stretch or zoom (or not) 4:3 content - your choice... but no settings ever need to be changed in the box or display as you change channels.

Another nice feature is that whatever setting you choose (Stretch/Zoom/Normal)in the m enus becomes the permanent default, but the aspect control on the remote can temporarily override the setting if you want for a particular show, then once you change channels it reverts back to your default menu setting. I normally do not stretch anything, but occasionally zoom letterboxed 4:3 content to fill the screen without altering aspect ratio... this lets me do this without having to undo any settings after the show is finished.

The 57 inch mitsubishi i have has a really great picture . When i was with dish network and i had the Voom package with true HD wow knock your socks off. I believe the Voom package was shown in MPEG 2 .Could have passed for mpeg 4 ! I miss my voom package.

Pitch black.... i like that color goes with theater setup !!!!

A major reason I put up with the early 3090 bugs rather than revert to an 8300... that and the 320GB drive. The new Cisco boxes would be an alternative for me but they are not as of yet offered here.

I know recently there is some confusion as to what we will be getting in cny as well the sammies or the cisco's ? i want a cisco preferbaly !

Well, Albany has the Cisco boxes and since we fall under the same basic coverage area, I assume we will get them as well. The TWC website has documentation for ALL of them in our division right now, including the Samsung. Personally, I don't like Samsung products going back to when I used to service them. I like the design of the 8640 and would like to give is a run.

Also, glad to hear that Nav leaves the guide one size no matter the actual content. The other reason I'd like to update my DVR is that the 8640 is capable of producing a 16:9 guide and hopefully TWC will implement one at some point.

Albany has them out for distribution ..ben ? Is it safe to say we wont see any new boxes til' about the end of summer then . Did Mr. Unaitis jump the gun then with saying new boxes will be available this month ? I know he said "new"customers but the rome office had no idea of when they would be getting them or do they have them conceiled ?

Albany has them out for distribution ..ben ? Is it safe to say we wont see any new boxes til' about the end of summer then . Did Mr. Unaitis jump the gun then with saying new boxes will be available this month ? I know he said "new"customers but the rome office had no idea of when they would be getting them or do they have them conceiled ?

Customers on the Albany forum have reported that they indeed have the 8640HDC. HE only said that we will be getting them, he didn't give a date. However, I can fathom running Navigator on a 2000 series or a Pace box. They barely run SARA now. There are going to be alot of unhappy people with those old boxes.

He didn't say sometime in May for the cisco's ? My fault i must have perceived it that way. Yea only thing a pace will be good for is a paper weight huh ...LOL!

He didn't say sometime in May for the cisco's ? My fault i must have perceived it that way. Yea only thing a pace will be good for is a paper weight huh ...LOL!

May was to new subs with Nav already pre-loaded. I don't know when service centers will have them for existing subs. He was vague when it came to that. I inquired about getting a pre-loaded Nav box from the Clay service center yesterday and the guy there didn't even know what I was talking about. I had to explain to him that the 8640 was the latest hardware DVR from Cisco. :rolleyes:

That figures !:mad:

Strangely today my 8640 got updated to the new guide data. My 8600hd in the bedroom still has the old data. The 8640 has the orginial airdate and longer show and cast data plus gives the director also. My 8600 still has the awful trunciated discriptions. Maybe they are doing ODN first then MDN. For a change we got no heads up on this change. However I LIKE IT. Now get full discriptions, cast and Director in addition to airdate on all shows. The movie discriptions have been vastly enlarged also.. Hope my MDN gets the new discriptions soon. Could this be in preparation for keyword search? WOODY

Strangely today my 8640 got updated to the new guide data. My 8600hd in the bedroom still has the old data. The 8640 has the orginial airdate and longer show and cast data plus gives the director also. My 8600 still has the awful trunciated discriptions. Maybe they are doing ODN first then MDN. For a change we got no heads up on this change. However I LIKE IT. Now get full discriptions, cast and Director in addition to airdate on all shows. The movie discriptions have been vastly enlarged also.. Hope my MDN gets the new discriptions soon. Could this be in preparation for keyword search? WOODY

Well, as long as Navigator continues to evolve I think it will be a very viable solution for TWC. Things like keyword search, guide filtering, and multi-room DVR can make it a true player in the field. It truly has come a long way since the early days in Lincoln! I'm just happy we should be getting a functional version of it.

Strangely today my 8640 got updated to the new guide data. My 8600hd in the bedroom still has the old data. The 8640 has the orginial airdate and longer show and cast data plus gives the director also. My 8600 still has the awful trunciated discriptions. Maybe they are doing ODN first then MDN. For a change we got no heads up on this change. However I LIKE IT. Now get full discriptions, cast and Director in addition to airdate on all shows. The movie discriptions have been vastly enlarged also.. Hope my MDN gets the new discriptions soon. Could this be in preparation for keyword search? WOODY

San Diego has had that guide data for quite some time. I think we were the first to get it.

Pitch black.... i like that color goes with theater setup !!!!

Yes but with an ugly baby blue front segment display.

May was to new subs with Nav already pre-loaded. I don't know when service centers will have them for existing subs. He was vague when it came to that. I inquired about getting a pre-loaded Nav box from the Clay service center yesterday and the guy there didn't even know what I was talking about. I had to explain to him that the 8640 was the latest hardware DVR from Cisco. :rolleyes:

I got an automated phone call today about navigator, after my notice in the mail from yesterday. Looks like they've decided to get the word out!

Yes but with an ugly baby blue front segment display.

Looks fine to me. Matches everything else in my system. I suppose we can all find likes and dislikes with any one piece of hardware though.

San Diego has had that guide data for quite some time. I think we were the first to get it.

Charlotte got the guide data the same time as San Diego. Raleigh got it 6 months later. Skip forard another 6 months and now Greensboro and the triad getting it. WOODY:(

Click Here to link to a post about the new HD Hardware. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18277422#post18277422)
Hey Ben,

I posted in the thread yesterday that a tech guy from TWC told me they were giving up on the new cable box because they were having problems running Navigator on it. This was only a few weeks ago. Have you heard something different?

ODN's Keep All Episodes, which is what I have things set at, is essentially the same as Passport's "Keep Until I Delete", and I have no problem with that. I was just responding to Riverside's comment that ODN had a problem because it didn't warn of impending deletions, which is not a problem since it NEVER deletes solely to make room for new recordings.

Actually, it just reinforces that I am glad that I do not have MDN, BUT... it really reinforces what I have said here several times - to a very large extent what we perceive as the right or wrong way to run a DVR is shaped by what our initial experience is with... ANY change from those early habits is percieved as just plain wrong. Two years into cable HD-DVRs and I STILL really miss my 1.3x intelligible play speed and 30 second commercial skip from my Panasonic DMR85.

Actually, it does delete to make room. However, for some reason, if you set series to Keep All Episodes, that makes each individual episode "Keep Until I Delete". Weird. You can quickly check it: series set to keep last n episodes show "plain" in Scheduled recordings, while those set to keep all show with the green "do not delete" icon.

Navigator MDN 3.0 is being developed as is ODN 4.0. It is RUMORED that this will be the release that will get Navigator up to all the bells and wistles of a decent guide. When that first number changes in a release, that's when major things happen.
...
Well, first number change 2->3 for ODN brought new color scheme and hosed eSATA. Don't think there were many other changes.

My 8640HDC got "upgraded" to 3.2.0_15. Lost sort by favorites. Gained "All Showings", maybe HDMI bug got fixed as well, haven't checked yet.
Noticed that switching from FF to play happens on press of the Play button now (it used to be on release of the same button). I am not sure if that is due to 3.2.0_15 or 8640HDC; I know for sure that 8300HDC with older ODN did it on release.

One poster in another forum mentioned that Charlotte is getting the Cisco boxes though they still have the HDMI bug. Raleigh is the only one that has the patch that fixes the HDMI bug.

Pretty soon Charlotte will be getting the new Patch that will fix the DD and HDMI bugs.

I've also contacted my division about these bugs as they plan on deploying the Cisco boxes in the next few weeks.

Noticed that switching from FF to play happens on press of the Play button now (it used to be on release of the same button). I am not sure if that is due to 3.2.0_15 or 8640HDC; I know for sure that 8300HDC with older ODN did it on release.

I'm certain the FF on press happened with the upgrade. I used to key up so I time my release of the button to help stop where I wanted to. Then it got all over the place stopping when and where it wanted to. Now it has gotten better. I have noticed the amount of time it jumps back to varies based on how long the recording is.

Has anyone noticed the Pause / Freeze up gotten better? I was thinking it had gotten better until couple hours ago I paused for ~30 mins and it messed up. Haven't tried it again, turned off tube, lissnin to college radio Blues show. wsge.org streams too.

My 8640HDC got "upgraded" to 3.2.0_15. Lost sort by favorites. Gained "All Showings", maybe HDMI bug got fixed as well, haven't checked yet.
Noticed that switching from FF to play happens on press of the Play button now (it used to be on release of the same button). I am not sure if that is due to 3.2.0_15 or 8640HDC; I know for sure that 8300HDC with older ODN did it on release.

Same changes noted on upgrade to 3.2.0_15 on the Sammie 3090, including the change in the behavior of the Play button coming out of FF. I was so used to holding the play button during FF operations (on both the 8300HDC and the 3090),waiting to release it at the right time... took me a long time to adapt to the new way, even though it probably is "more correct" this way.

Hey Ben,

I posted in the thread yesterday that a tech guy from TWC told me they were giving up on the new cable box because they were having problems running Navigator on it. This was only a few weeks ago. Have you heard something different?

I was just reporting on what our division head was stating.

I doubt that's true about not releasing new cable boxes. All the other divisions are having smooth transitions with the cisco's. Sure there have been a few minor and miniscule problems but not enough to justify a drop of new cable boxes. If it in fact is true then our division is being to cheap and to picky.

One thing I believe Navigator does differently than some other box OSs is that when you have the output set for 16:9 display, the output is ALWAYS 16:9, even if the content is 4:3 and you set the box to NOT stretch it (it outputs 16:9 with pillarboxed 4:3 content embedded in it in that case)... so the TV never sees any 4:3 content and attempts to stretch it. If you set the box to stretch 4:3, it does so without stretching the guide content, which remains a 4:3 overlay over the 16:9 content.

Don't you think it may be a hardware issue at work? My MDN never stretches the guide, but down by you, MDN sure does stretch it on my cousins non DVR box... to the point that was NO WAY I could get it shrunk to what it SHOULD be displayed as.

I pounded on it because I thought it HAD to be a software issue... gave up when I thought the hardware had to play a role...

Well, Albany has the Cisco boxes and since we fall under the same basic coverage area, I assume we will get them as well.

I wonder how long it make take the 8640 to make it's way downstate (NY)...

You don't have cisco's in nyc riverside ?

Actually, it does delete to make room. However, for some reason, if you set series to Keep All Episodes, that makes each individual episode "Keep Until I Delete". Weird. You can quickly check it: series set to keep last n episodes show "plain" in Scheduled recordings, while those set to keep all show with the green "do not delete" icon.

Makes me laugh because I have not seen 2 episodes of anything on my box since back when there was no HD!

You don't have cisco's in nyc riverside ?

Not 86xxs.Lotsa 8300s. We got 3090s, but am hesitant because mine seems pretty consistent and reliable. Now that I can hike blocks to new TWC store, I'm "more" anxious for them to have 8640s.

Yea that's the series i'm holding out for too. I heard there great boxes ! I assumed the size of the big apple that cisco's would have been there first for the empire state ! There i go assuming again...lol !

Don't you think it may be a hardware issue at work? My MDN never stretches the guide, but down by you, MDN sure does stretch it on my cousins non DVR box... to the point that was NO WAY I could get it shrunk to what it SHOULD be displayed as.

I pounded on it because I thought it HAD to be a software issue... gave up when I thought the hardware had to play a role...

I've had MDN on a Pioneer Voyager HD and ODN on an 8300HDC and an 4250HDC - they all behaved the same way in that regard. Of course we all know that the Samungs always stretch the guide, but not in the grotesque pixelated way that the MDN Pioneer did in your visit to Raleigh. None of them, including the Samsung, switch between stretching and not stretching the guide based on whether the content is 4:3 or 16:9, which is what I was referring to in response to Ben's question.

Of course, you would know better since you saw it, but your experience in Raleigh would be consistent with an SD digital box (or an HD box stuck on 4:3 aspect output) whose output was being stretched by the TV.

I doubt that's true about not releasing new cable boxes. All the other divisions are having smooth transitions with the cisco's. Sure there have been a few minor and miniscule problems but not enough to justify a drop of new cable boxes. If it in fact is true then our division is being to cheap and to picky.

I asked a cable guy working in our neighborohood. He said it was the Samsung boxes being phased out. WOODY

Think of all that waste of time and money with the sammies just to be phased out ! How much business does samsung lose from this ill fated decision ? :(
The testing on the samsung's had to of went bad or sluggish in cny now that the cisco talk has been on the forefront !

Think of all that waste of time and money with the sammies just to be phased out ! How much business does samsung lose from this ill fated decision ? :(
The testing on the samsung's had to of went bad or sluggish in cny now that the cisco talk has been on the forefront !

I would think they'd stay with Cisco just for compatibility and consistency. Ideally TWC would have just one model of SD and one model of HD. That would make everything easier from service to support. Right now, engineers have to get Navigator working on so many different boxes, some of which probably can't handle it, that it delays the whole process. I used an SA2200 with SARA and it was abysmal. The box responded so slowly to commands that you didn't know if it was getting them.

Sounds like box series should be put out to pasture ! I have always been kind of partial to the explorer 8000 design kind of futuristic looking !

http://www.sciatl.com/ExplorerClubGuides/images/24130-lores.jpg

Ok, I have been going over SO many post here on AVS the past day I'm starting to see double :) hahaha Quick question...
I have a SA 8240HDC and a 1TB My DVR Expander... I got the Format box to come up but nothing after that...
Is the box I got work properly with eSATA?
Does the Navigator Software work with eSATA?
If I get a 8300HD box should everything work properly?
Anybody have success with the 8240HDC or the 1TB My DVR Expander?

Thanks everyone!
BTW Im in TWC Milwaukee area...

Is the box I got work properly with eSATA?
Does the Navigator Software work with eSATA?Currently, no boxes with a cable card (HDC models) work properly with an external drive. It did at one time, but they broke it and haven't fixed it. Many people report success with an external drive with non-cable card boxes. You find more info in this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=516559&page=271

I asked a cable guy working in our neighborohood. He said it was the Samsung boxes being phased out. WOODY

I think the 3260 and 3270 are much better looking than the Cisco boxes. San Diego is going to be deploying them soon and they'll probably be deploying the HDMI and DD patch soon. KC, MO will be deploying new code next month for the Cisco boxes.

Think of all that waste of time and money with the sammies just to be phased out ! How much business does samsung lose from this ill fated decision ? :(
The testing on the samsung's had to of went bad or sluggish in cny now that the cisco talk has been on the forefront !

I would think they'd stay with Cisco just for compatibility and consistency. Ideally TWC would have just one model of SD and one model of HD. That would make everything easier from service to support. Right now, engineers have to get Navigator working on so many different boxes, some of which probably can't handle it, that it delays the whole process. I used an SA2200 with SARA and it was abysmal. The box responded so slowly to commands that you didn't know if it was getting them.

Ideally, TWC would want to keep multiple vendors, especially in the current OCAP/tru2way environment where the boxes theoretically are interchangeable. I think things started out with this intent... to use both new Cisco and new Samsung boxes in different divisions, always having two vendors to play off each other.

Although it seems like there is light at the end of the tunnel for Samsung 3090 issues, the 3270 has its own set of issues. Not sure, but the 3090 might not be available any longer and TWC probably has had its fill of Samsung issues between the 3090 and 3260/3270 and seems to have defaulted back to SA/Cisco. Word is that Charlotte, a 3090 beachhead system, has started deploying 4600 series non-DVR boxes, but no definitive word whether the DVR boxes will be switched to 8600s. At least the 8600 is comparable to the 3090.

May all be moot issues if the FCC has it's way (http://www.imsresearch.com/press_release_details.html&press_id=1409).

Currently, no boxes with a cable card (HDC models) work properly with an external drive. It did at one time, but they broke it and haven't fixed it. Many people report success with an external drive with non-cable card boxes. You find more info in this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=516559&page=271

What If I am able to get my hands on a 8300HD box??? Any luck with those and eSATA as of late?

What If I am able to get my hands on a 8300HD box??? Any luck with those and eSATA as of late?

Those are working... at least with the current cersion(s) of MDN.

What If I am able to get my hands on a 8300HD box??? Any luck with those and eSATA as of late?Yes, I have an 8300HD with an eSATA - no problems. I have a customer in Buffalo who had a 8300HDC with a 1TB Apricorn whose external wouldn't work. He took that 8300HDC in to TW and exchanged it for a 8300HD and the external drive again worked fine.

Now who knows when TW may make a change to MDN that will drop the eSATA?:mad:

Yes, I have an 8300HD with an eSATA - no problems. I have a customer in Buffalo who had a 8300HDC with a 1TB Apricorn whose external wouldn't work. He took that 8300HDC in to TW and exchanged it for a 8300HD and the external drive again worked fine.

Now who knows when TW may make a change to MDN that will drop the eSATA?:mad:

So even if I do get my hands on a 8300HD it will only work until the new version of the software comes out? Really?
Why would TWC break something that works???

Why would TWC break something that works???Bwaahahahaha

Recently time warner took the shopnbc channel from a tuning adapter accessible channel now i can't get it on my TIVO .... another example that TWC don't care about certain things that they consider "Small Potatoes" case in point lack of caring about eSATA supported software.We're little fish in a big pond !

I just returned a 8240 because my hard drive would not work when then pushed navigator on Tuesday.. I got an 8300HD with navigator today and it works with my hard drive just fine again. Using a 640gig Western and a Vantec enclosure.
So even if I do get my hands on a 8300HD it will only work until the new version of the software comes out? Really?
Why would TWC break something that works???

Ok, I have been going over SO many post here on AVS the past day I'm starting to see double :) hahaha Quick question...
I have a SA 8240HDC and a 1TB My DVR Expander... I got the Format box to come up but nothing after that...
Is the box I got work properly with eSATA?
Does the Navigator Software work with eSATA?
If I get a 8300HD box should everything work properly?
Anybody have success with the 8240HDC or the 1TB My DVR Expander?

Thanks everyone!
BTW Im in TWC Milwaukee area...

Hey,

Sup! In the Milwaukee area too! Welcome to the Forum!

The ONLY boxes that work with the expander drives are the NON-C and no Samsung units. There were unconfirmed reports of maybe one or two people on the forum that got drive expander units to work on the C-boxes, but that has not been confirmed. There is something in the hardware/software of the C-boxes/Samsungs that prevent the drive expanders from working.

You have two options if you want to be able to store more shows:

Try to get a non-C no Samsung DVR, which is getting harder to do.

-OR-

See if you can get the newest DVR box model from one of our local offices the new Samsungs, I believe have a 300GB hard drive. You should call and ask TWC what the newest model DVR box is for our division. I think we have Samsungs, but I am not sure of the model number. When you call the main Milwaukee number, post back what they say if you can. I only have an 8300-HD box. But it works fine. The Mayfair and West Allis Centers are the closest to me for service locations.

Jack

Just passing some info along. I have a TWC Northeast Ohio Samsung SMT-H3270 STB and the manual says it's a 320 GB (SATA) HDD. The manual also gives instructions for hooking up an external drive via E-SATA. It's not something I find a need to do, but the manual says it can be done.

I received the letter today telling me Navigator was coming to Upstate NY. According to the website it will be sent to my 8240HDC on June 22.

Having read the horror stories on this forum about the software really makes my stomach turn. I like the simplicity of the SARA software and its program guide.


Am I just being paranoid or Navigator that bad?:eek:

I received the letter today telling me Navigator was coming to Upstate NY. According to the website it will be sent to my 8240HDC on June 22.

Having read the horror stories on this forum about the software really makes my stomach turn. I like the simplicity of the SARA software and its program guide.


Am I just being paranoid or Navigator that bad?:eek:

The current versions of Navigator are stable modern units. While not Tivo it is slowly catching up to Passport. Once you learn to use it I think you will love it.

Rule of thumb is that ODN boxes don't work with Navigator.

Try to get an MDN box like an 8300HD.

My other thought is that I may (if I can get one) try an 8640 and replace the internal drive with my own.
I got an 8300HD at the TWC office today. I'll hook it up when I catch up on my shows and wait for the change over.

I know recently there is some confusion as to what we will be getting in cny as well the sammies or the cisco's ? i want a cisco preferbaly !
I'm in Elmira and asked about the Samsung at the office, they said it will be a cisco box, not a Samsung. SA is made by Cisco so I wasn't sure she knew what I meant.. but that's what she said.

On the phone with TWC after hours a few days ago a person told me we were getting Samsungs, but for now only new customers are getting them.. It's hard to know what to believe, but I'll take the word of a local person at the TWC office over tech support in Albany any day.

The current versions of Navigator are stable modern units. While not Tivo it is slowly catching up to Passport. Once you learn to use it I think you will love it.

Nav is slowly catching up to old Passport but at the same time new Passport is moving further away.

Rovi even introduced another guide this week:

http://hd.engadget.com/2010/05/11/rovi-introduces-latest-cable-guide-that-youll-never-see/

http://www.rovicorp.com/products/ce_manufacturers/guide_ce/totalguide.htm?link_id=rightnav

Really grinds my gears, that TWC never stuck with Aptiv/Rovi stuff.

I have a general question about Navigator,

What exactly is involved when they do a software update from say MDN 2.4.6_19 to MDN 2.5? Is it really that long and hard of a project to go from one version to another? Is it just something like OK the test labs have it working well, than do they just flip the switch between 2-5 am. (The time most Navigator boxes get updated.) Or is it something much more involved?

For example, let's say that all of the divisions in a certain location or many locations from a representative sample all have the same version. For this illustration, it doesn't matter if its MDN or ODN, but lets say that Navigator version X is excellent and very well liked and customers really want version Y. And version Y has been tested and works well. The techs like it, the customers want it. And let's say that three divisions, for instance San Diego, Florida, and North Carolina have version Y. And it's AWESOME! Why can't TWC just update everyone on Navigator version X to version Y within like a month of version Y's release? Why can't TWC be more forthcoming about release dates?

Why is it that people with version X may have to wait for 8-12 months for version Y, and other divisions might release version Y in 1-3 months? Sure, there's differences in the division and head-ends, but is it really THAT different where there is such fluctuation in software release dates?

Jack

I have a general question about Navigator,

What exactly is involved when they do a software update from say MDN 2.4.6_19 to MDN 2.5? Is it really that long and hard of a project to go from one version to another? Is it just something like OK the test labs have it working well, than do they just flip the switch between 2-5 am. (The time most Navigator boxes get updated.) Or is it something much more involved?

For example, let's say that all of the divisions in a certain location or many locations from a representative sample all have the same version. For this illustration, it doesn't matter if its MDN or ODN, but lets say that Navigator version X is excellent and very well liked and customers really want version Y. And version Y has been tested and works well. The techs like it, the customers want it. And let's say that three divisions, for instance San Diego, Florida, and North Carolina have version Y. And it's AWESOME! Why can't TWC just update everyone on Navigator version X to version Y within like a month of version Y's release? Why can't TWC be more forthcoming about release dates?

Why is it that people with version X may have to wait for 8-12 months for version Y, and other divisions might release version Y in 1-3 months? Sure, there's differences in the division and head-ends, but is it really THAT different where there is such fluctuation in software release dates?

Jack
Whats really frustrating is being in the North Carolina market is that Charlotte gets the new versions first. Then Raleigh market gets it 4 to six months later. We here in the Triad have to wait four to six monts after Raleigh. For God's sake we are all in the same market division here. Think about being frustrated when towns 45 miles away have features you can only dream about. Oh yes Charlotte and Raleigh used to have Passport while Greensboro was stuck with SARA for years and years and years. WOODY

Whats really frustrating is being in the North Carolina market is that Charlotte gets the new versions first. Then Raleigh market gets it 4 to six months later. We here in the Triad have to wait four to six monts after Raleigh. For God's sake we are all in the same market division here. Think about being frustrated when towns 45 miles away have features you can only dream about. Oh yes Charlotte and Raleigh used to have Passport while Greensboro was stuck with SARA for years and years and years. WOODY

Hopefully this will change as Time Warner consolidates divisions into large regional ones. After all, wasn't the PRIMARY reason TWC gave for going to Navigator the ability to QUICKLY rollout new features and updates?

and yes, I know it was to not have to pay licensing fees... I'm using THEIR reason which they stated publicly.

As for Greensboro being stuck with SARA for years... we STILL have it! At least they are starting to rollout Navigator this month.

I asked a cable guy working in our neighborohood. He said it was the Samsung boxes being phased out. WOODY

Interesting... of course I wonder if that is market or national related. OR it could be they will be looking at the new Ciscos (8640) as they roll them out to decide on a national policy. They DID make a BIG splash about "partnering" with Samsung.

Does anybody know the exact HD DVR model number for the samsungs?
I wanna have so I know I'm getting the right one...
Also are there problems with the Samsung Model?
My Audio gets out of sync with my HDMI connection sometimes...
If I did get the Samsung one, 40HRs of HD recording would be enough for me, I would almost rather get the Samsung cause rumor is with the next update they might break eSATA anywise...

Hey,

Sup! In the Milwaukee area too! Welcome to the Forum!

The ONLY boxes that work with the expander drives are the NON-C and no Samsung units. There were unconfirmed reports of maybe one or two people on the forum that got drive expander units to work on the C-boxes, but that has not been confirmed. There is something in the hardware/software of the C-boxes/Samsungs that prevent the drive expanders from working.

You have two options if you want to be able to store more shows:

Try to get a non-C no Samsung DVR, which is getting harder to do.

-OR-

See if you can get the newest DVR box model from one of our local offices the new Samsungs, I believe have a 300GB hard drive. You should call and ask TWC what the newest model DVR box is for our division. I think we have Samsungs, but I am not sure of the model number. When you call the main Milwaukee number, post back what they say if you can. I only have an 8300-HD box. But it works fine. The Mayfair and West Allis Centers are the closest to me for service locations.

Jack

Ideally, TWC would want to keep multiple vendors, especially in the current OCAP/tru2way environment where the boxes theoretically are interchangeable. I think things started out with this intent... to use both new Cisco and new Samsung boxes in different divisions, always having to vendors to play off each other.

Although it seems like there is light at the end of the tunnel for Samsung 3090 issues, the 3270 has its own set of issues. Not sure, but the 3090 might not be available any longer and TWC probably has had its fill of Samsung issues between the 3090 and 3260/3270 and seems to have defaulted back to SA/Cisco. Word is that Charlotte, a 3090 beachhead system, has started deploying 4600 series non-DVR boxes, but no definitive word whether the DVR boxes will be switched to 8600s. At least the 8600 is comparable to the 3090.

May all be moot issues if the FCC has it's way (http://www.imsresearch.com/press_release_details.html&press_id=1409).

As usual, on the money! Sourcing from only one OEM is never a smart idea when there are choices... you can't play one off against the other!

Would NEVER touch a 3270... totally unwilling to give up PIP.

Now who knows when TW may make a change to MDN that will drop the eSATA?:mad:

That BE the $64,000 question! Some markets in NC have the next big MDN version, 2.5.x... I have yet to hear about external HDDs not working there... let's hear from the triangle, are your external still working OK after the 2.5 transition?

Why would TWC break something that works???

Kidding, right? 2.x ODN was OK with external HDDs, but every version of 3.x has it broken. Not to mention all the features a lot of us totally lost when they ditched Passport for ODN/MDN.

Has anyone gotten a 8300HD and the eSATA port didn't work???

See if you can get the newest DVR box model from one of our local offices the new Samsungs, I believe have a 300GB hard drive. You should call and ask TWC what the newest model DVR box is for our division. I think we have Samsungs, but I am not sure of the model number. When you call the main Milwaukee number, post back what they say if you can. I only have an 8300-HD box. But it works fine. The Mayfair and West Allis Centers are the closest to me for service locations.

Jack

From what I read, all 3270 Sammies come with a 320G drive. The slightly older 3090 has a lot of 160G model in the field, but people HAVE gotten 320G equipped 3090s. AND it's pretty clear you CAN field upgrade a 160G 3090 to a 320G model... long as you use one specific 320G drive.

Just passing some info along. I have a TWC Northeast Ohio Samsung SMT-H3270 STB and the manual says it's a 320 GB (SATA) HDD. The manual also gives instructions for hooking up an external drive via E-SATA. It's not something I find a need to do, but the manual says it can be done.

Doesn't matter, if TWC's software doesn't support it (which it does not) it ain't gonna happen.

Does anybody know the exact HD DVR model number for the samsungs?
I wanna have so I know I'm getting the right one...
Also are there problems with the Samsung Model?
My Audio gets out of sync with my HDMI connection sometimes...
If I did get the Samsung one, 40HRs of HD recording would be enough for me, I would almost rather get the Samsung cause rumor is with the next update they might break eSATA anywise...

The two models that TWC has been using are the SMT-H3090 and the SMT-H3270. Which of those is deployed depends on the market, but I believe that Charlotte and NYC are the main markets with 3090s.

The 3090 is older and after about a year of deployment really doesn't have any significant bugs with the ODN 3.2.0_15 / Samsung v4.3.5.3 package that we have here in Charlotte. The only significant annoyance right now is the freeze-up on extended Pause that was just introduced with the 4.3.5.3 Samsung software. With earlier firmware I used to have issues on my 3090 with audio getting extremely out of sync after any kind of transmission glitch (briefly pausing the feed would correct this), but it has not occurred in some time now. 3090s have been issued with both 160GB and 320GB drives.

The 3270 is newer and has a few features stripped of it versus the 3090 (mainly no PiP and fewer output connections). AFAIK, all 3270s have had 320GB drives. My understanding is that the 3270 still has some kinks to be worked out... maybe someone from San Diego (which has 3270s with the latest software) can chime in on the specifics. The general sense of things seems to be that these issues (on top of a year of working out the 3090 kinks) are pushing TWC back towards Cisco boxes (8600 series being the closest equivalent).

Personally, I think the 3090 and the 8600 are very close to being equals AS LONG AS YOU END UP WITH A 320GB 3090. If your system is issuing 3270s, I would hope that 8600s are coming soon, especially if PiP is important to you.

The current versions of Navigator are stable modern units. While not Tivo it is slowly catching up to Passport. Once you learn to use it I think you will love it.

Indeed, my overall impression is SARA folks WERE happy because they got a lot of new functionality they did not have, while folks that HAD Passport were unhappy because a lot of stuff that DID have got lost.

BUT I can see some who had working HDDs in SARA NOT happy when they got ODN and that support WAS broken. There's a large variety of what gets folks dander up!

But "modern units," I'm not so sure about.. my 8300HD is really very ancient (I think I've had my unit at least 5 years) and MDN is actually quite stable and consistent... within it's design limitations.

Whats really frustrating is being in the North Carolina market is that Charlotte gets the new versions first. Then Raleigh market gets it 4 to six months later. We here in the Triad have to wait four to six monts after Raleigh. For God's sake we are all in the same market division here. Think about being frustrated when towns 45 miles away have features you can only dream about. Oh yes Charlotte and Raleigh used to have Passport while Greensboro was stuck with SARA for years and years and years. WOODY

100% w/Jack & Woody. TWC as a whole seems to make tons of money, but they also are very bush league run. Some may posit it's due to the local markets having way more control over any national policies... and that MAY be likely because we have learned they are consolidating into 2 national units. So a system wide policy SHOULD be easier to implement... then again, that will take years because there WILL be a certain level of push back that will take a while (and some strong leadership from the top) to eradicate.

...and yes, I know it was to not have to pay licensing fees... I'm using THEIR reason which they stated publicly.

I find that a legitimate business decision, one I actually WOULD have made had I run the company. BUT I also would have made 100% sure my home grown solution was at LEAST on a par with what some markets already had and I would do a highly planned national rollout with every customer totally informed AND kept in the loop.

I find that a legitimate business decision, one I actually WOULD have made had I run the company. BUT I also would have made 100% sure my home grown solution was at LEAST on a par with what some markets already had and I would do a highly planned national rollout with every customer totally informed AND kept in the loop.

Yea, I agree with why they did it even if they said it was for another reason. My point was that they touted loudly that they were doing this was to rollout updates and features more quickly, yet neighboring markets and markets around the country continue to have various versions of the software.

Yea, I agree with why they did it even if they said it was for another reason. My point was that they touted loudly that they were doing this was to rollout updates and features more quickly, yet neighboring markets and markets around the country continue to have various versions of the software.

I think there are a few different reasons...

As far as Navigator rollouts to SARA systems, it seems to me that there has been a near continuous stream of systems converting since Greensboro broke the ice. Sucks for you guys that CNY wasn't at the very top of the schedule, but I don't think they have stopped updating SARA systems.

For MDN updates... MDN 2.4.6_19 has been pretty universal and stable until 2.5 was recently rolled out in a few systems. Unless 2.5 has shown some ugly bug that we haven't heard about here, I wouldn't be surprised to see it rolled out most everywhere else fairly soon. Keep in mind that even within a single system, the rollout is spread across many weeks (six weeks in Raleigh to update all MDN boxes to 2.5).

ODN rollouts have been a bit more fractured, with as many as three or four versions being deployed at any given time during the past year. My guess is that the Samsung issues have had a lot to do with this, with the early Samsung adopting systems such as San Diego and Charlotte getting two or three updates ahead of other systems just to keep ahead of the problems with the Samsungs. I think that right now things are not too bad with the multiple ODN versions... most systems are at 3.1.3_3. After several months experience with 3.2.0_15 here and in San Diego, it looks like that is now being rolled out elsewhere as well (Raleigh appears to be in a 3.2 rollout right now... I would expect others to follow).

Navigator coming to west Texas (El Paso) "in the next few weeks." By this city's TWC office, that could mean anywhere from this month to August. Glad they could give us such a good heads-up.

We're still waiting for HD channels that were supposed to be added back in March and for the channel line-up change to four digits (also supposed to be in March).

Oh well, I should have time to get thru the recordings I currently have waiting to watch (Tudors, Nurse Jackie, Tara). Also, with the end of the regular TV season this week, I won't have to really worry about the majority of my series recording.

Kidding, right? 2.x ODN was OK with external HDDs, but every version of 3.x has it broken. Not to mention all the features a lot of us totally lost when they ditched Passport for ODN/MDN.Actually, they broke it twice. I don't remember the exact version numbers, but 2.x had a working esata, 2.y broke it, 2.z fixed it, then 3.x broke it again. It is the fact that they fixed it once that keeps me hoping they'll fix it again, even though they never claim to support it.

I think there are a few different reasons...

As far as Navigator rollouts to SARA systems, it seems to me that there has been a near continuous stream of systems converting since Greensboro broke the ice. Sucks for you guys that CNY wasn't at the very top of the schedule, but I don't think they have stopped updating SARA systems.

For MDN updates... MDN 2.4.6_19 has been pretty universal and stable until 2.5 was recently rolled out in a few systems. Unless 2.5 has shown some ugly bug that we haven't heard about here, I wouldn't be surprised to see it rolled out most everywhere else fairly soon. Keep in mind that even within a single system, the rollout is spread across many weeks (six weeks in Raleigh to update all MDN boxes to 2.5).

ODN rollouts have been a bit more fractured, with as many as three or four versions being deployed at any given time during the past year. My guess is that the Samsung issues have had a lot to do with this, with the early Samsung adopting systems such as San Diego and Charlotte getting two or three updates ahead of other systems just to keep ahead of the problems with the Samsungs. I think that right now things are not too bad with the multiple ODN versions... most systems are at 3.1.3_3. After several months experience with 3.2.0_15 here and in San Diego, it looks like that is now being rolled out elsewhere as well (Raleigh appears to be in a 3.2 rollout right now... I would expect others to follow).

I'm not talking about rollouts, I'm strictly talking about updates and patches. I get that rollout times will vary, but already deployed areas should all have the most up to date patches and/or versions. This was a main reason they said they wanted to do it in house.

Navigator coming to west Texas (El Paso) "in the next few weeks." By this city's TWC office, that could mean anywhere from this month to August. Glad they could give us such a good heads-up.

We're still waiting for HD channels that were supposed to be added back in March and for the channel line-up change to four digits (also supposed to be in March).

Oh well, I should have time to get thru the recordings I currently have waiting to watch (Tudors, Nurse Jackie, Tara). Also, with the end of the regular TV season this week, I won't have to really worry about the majority of my series recording.

I feel for you, but our division has NO plans to update our channel align. I asked and explained why our channel alignment sucks to Jeff Unaitis in detail. He doesn't agree with me :rolleyes:

We now have some analogs moved into digital only (SDV) and while our HD lineup is one of the best in the country (rivaling both sat providers) the channels are ALL OVER THE PLACE. Now, guide filtering would fix this, but I don't know when we will get that feature. Currently, our HD channels span THREE tiers (700, 800, 900) and in no way mirror there SD counterparts. IE: If you watch Food Network on SD channel 39 one would expect to find its HD equivalent at 839, right? Nope, it's 827. Makes a lot of sense! I sent him links to show him what Charlotte is doing with the 1 plus the number guide, but he doesn't like it and stated it has nothing to do with Navigator being deployed. True it doesn't have to do with Navigator, but a new guide is a good time to re-align so people only have to adjust to the change together.

What's going to happen is a year down the road they will migrate more digital only and re-align confusing people even more.

I'm not talking about rollouts, I'm strictly talking about updates and patches. I get that rollout times will vary, but already deployed areas should all have the most up to date patches and/or versions. This was a main reason they said they wanted to do it in house.

I still think MDN has lived up to that ideal... and ODN is close at the moment, though I agree it has definitely not been that way for very long.

I sent him links to show him what Charlotte is doing with the 1 plus the number guide...

Generally I like the idea of the new lineup here, but there could have been a little better work with the broadcast channel assignments... they are seemingly random assignments in most cases that could have had some relationship to either the their broadcast assignments or the old analog cable assignments. For example, the new NBC channel assignments could have been either 106/1106 (matching the analog cable assignment) or 136/1136 (matching the broadcast assignment). Instead, 120/1120 matches nothing.

The broadcast channel numbers gets even more out of hand when you consider all the possible channels they could appear as... in my home, depending on what device I'm watching on, our NBC affiliate can be viewed on the following channel assignments (all via cable... no OTA): 6
6.6
36.1
84.6
98.164
120
1120
I realize that the 84.6 and 98.164 are just the raw QAM slots, but I (and others) I have a TV that doesn't display virtual channel numbers. The other 5 possible channel assignments are all controlled by TW mapping... a little tightening up would help. Some channels still have their virtual QAM channels set to match the old HD broadcast cable assignments in the 200s, which no longer exist. The PBS affiliates, with all of their subchannels, are an even bigger inconsistent mess. Its no wonder that less inclined folks (like my wife) just give up and watch the traditional SD feed (6) wherever they are watching.

Another minor issue I have is that they put A&E with the "movie" channels instead of with other more broad-interest cable networks such as USA and FX, which A&E is more like than AMC or TCM. In general, however, after the initial learning curve it is much preferable to having stuff scattered all over the place.

I still think MDN has lived up to that ideal...

Well, we'll see with the deployment of the 2.5.x MDN series.

Of course, it also depends on what each of us consider "timely." While I don't "demand" instant national rollout, I consider anything more than 2 months to be bad and more than (3-6) that terrible.

Just passing some info along. I have a TWC Northeast Ohio Samsung SMT-H3270 STB and the manual says it's a 320 GB (SATA) HDD. The manual also gives instructions for hooking up an external drive via E-SATA. It's not something I find a need to do, but the manual says it can be done.The manuals for units with eSATA ports say they support external drives but usually say "if supported by your provider". Your provider will not officially support it so they do not have to supply technical support. The boxes will do it natively, but the software has to offer the function too. MDN Navigator mostly works, latest ODN Navigator does not. It takes two to tango (box and software) for eSATA to work. /Dan

let's hear from the triangle, are your external still working OK after the 2.5 transition?


Yep my external drive is still chugging along just fine with 2.5. You will have to pry my 8300HD out of my hands...

Yep my external drive is still chugging along just fine with 2.5. You will have to pry my 8300HD out of my hands...

AWESOME! Well I'm gonna go to my Local TW Store and TRY to get a 8300HD again, crossing my fingers they have one!

I just noticed but the navigator guide now shows Original Air Dates on most everything. In the information of the guide. Is that new or been there for awhile?

Here in Northeast Wisconsin (Green Bay), our division had Navigator 3.1.3_3. I received a SA8300HDC and plugged in a external hard drive. After a reboot my space used went from 2% down to 1%. I never filled up the internal hard drive to truly know if any recordings would have went to the external one but was curious that the space used changed. We recently got a new version of Navigator 3.2.0_15 and haven't tried the external drive yet on this version. I also picked up a Samsung 3270, another HD DVR. It's got a lot more power than the Scientific Atlanta model. When you are viewing an HD channel and hit the 'Guide' button, it fills the entire screen. It's nice in that you can read the guide better in that it's bigger.

Here in Northeast Wisconsin (Green Bay), our division had Navigator 3.1.3_3. I received a SA8300HDC and plugged in a external hard drive. After a reboot my space used went from 2% down to 1%. I never filled up the internal hard drive to truly know if any recordings would have went to the external one but was curious that the space used changed. We recently got a new version of Navigator 3.2.0_15 and haven't tried the external drive yet on this version. I also picked up a Samsung 3270, another HD DVR. It's got a lot more power than the Scientific Atlanta model. When you are viewing an HD channel and hit the 'Guide' button, it fills the entire screen. It's nice in that you can read the guide better in that it's bigger.

Rumor has it that the Samsungs will be phased out in the next year in favor of the new Cisco units. Is rumor true only time will tell.

Well I went to my local TW Store to return my 8240HDC, and was told that they only had the Samsung 3270 HD DVR's. So I knew that I would at least get a bumo in my DVR space so I took it...
WOW the 3270 IS WAY faster than my old SA model. For kicks I tried plugging in my DVR Expander and it read it and wanted to format, checked my space and nothing... Is there a message that pops up saying it's ready? Cause when I checked my space, still stayed the same... :( Anyone get a 3270 to work with eSATA? If not no big deal, very happy with this unit...

You might be seeing a 1TB WD My DVR on the classifeids soon otherwise. Might just keep it too, what does everyone think? eSATA enabled soon on the Samsungs?

Rumor has it that the Samsungs will be phased out in the next year in favor of the new Cisco units. Is rumor true only time will tell.

Rumor has it that the Samsungs will be phased out in the next year in favor of the new Cisco units. Is rumor true only time will tell.

San Diego still carries Samsung boxes but they are hoping to deploy the Cisco boxes in a few months.

On Wednesday, 5/12 TW switched my 8300HDC over to navigator with a 1TB external HD. Through Thursday, 5/13 all was well. I was able to record and playback from the DVR. Today, Friday 5/14, the drive showed 0% full, but all my recordings were listed but would not play. After rebooting, the listings were gone. I tried recording a 1-hour show and it showed as recording but when I tried to play it back the show was listed but the display said again 0% full and the listed show would not play. I have lost over 70 shows and am furious at TW.

Anyone know why this is going on and whether a fix is in the works? I've disconnected the external HD and will see whether anything records tonight but having only 20 hours of High Def recording capability is unacceptable to me.

Joel

Well I went to my local TW Store to return my 8240HDC, and was told that they only had the Samsung 3270 HD DVR's. So I knew that I would at least get a bumo in my DVR space so I took it...
WOW the 3270 IS WAY faster than my old SA model. For kicks I tried plugging in my DVR Expander and it read it and wanted to format, checked my space and nothing... Is there a message that pops up saying it's ready? Cause when I checked my space, still stayed the same... :( Anyone get a 3270 to work with eSATA? If not no big deal, very happy with this unit...

You might be seeing a 1TB WD My DVR on the classifeids soon otherwise. Might just keep it too, what does everyone think? eSATA enabled soon on the Samsungs?

From what I've read, the usual way that ODN boxes fail with external drives is that they work fine at first, but then overnight, they fail.

Let us know how it works in your particular case.

-barry

http://www.multichannel.com/blog/BIT_RATE/31115-Next_Gen_Set_Tops_Triple_the_Horsepower.php

Even faster STB's are coming within the next few years. Cisco sez that they can produce a STB with 3,000 DMIPS next year. Cisco also expects more and more STB's to use multicore CPU's but Samsung boxes are already using multicore Broadcom SoC's. The 3050; however, uses a conexant chip that is single core.