New Record Issue: Not changing channel properly sometimes HELP

[PeterGibbons]

I'm about ready to ditch my Replay 4504. It changes channels fine when I'm watching TV. It changes channels fine about half the time it records though. This has caused me to miss many shows and its driving me banans.

I've tried changing the blaster codes and resetting the box. I've moved the IR sensors around. I can't seem to get it to stop missing shows.

Any help would be greatly appreciated before breaking down and going with the Comcast PVR box.

Currently, the Replay is hooked up via IR to a Comcast Scientific box.

Thanks!

[bigpaulo]

I've been having the same problem... happens rarely when changing channels manually, but seems to be happening with alarming frequency when my 5040 is supposed to change channels in order to record shows... maybe 1 in 12 is failing this way.

Help! I even repositioned my IR Blaster to better align it with the IR receiver on my cable box. Any suggestions would be much obliged.

[Ace987]

Can't help you get better results with your IR Blaster, but I might be able to offer you some advice when using a cable box.

Back when I was using a cable box, I split the cable and used both the both and Replays internal tuner. Setup the Replay so one of the inputs is the cable box and the coax is just Analog cable. You'll have two lineups, 1-1000 for digital cable with the box and 1001-1099 for cable using Replay's tuner. Get rid of channels 1-99 as those will be the same as 1001-1099.

This scheme worked pretty well as most of my recordings we're being recorded right off of the internal Replay tuner. The other channels typically repeated several times a week, so if I missed one, I could just record it later.

And to answer a question I'm sure you might have, there is no way to make the analog channels 1-99 while making digital 1001-1999, not without 3rd party software that is.

[krkaufman]

I'm seeing the same thing w/ my 5040 IR-blasting to a Comcast Motorola cable box, occasional failure to change channels when attempting a scheduled recording.

[CrazyCanuck]

I'm seeing the same thing w/ my 5040 IR-blasting to a Comcast Motorola cable box, occasional failure to change channels when attempting a scheduled recording.

I started having the exact same problem last week with a Comcast Motoral cable box (Model DCT2244). The replay 5040 correctly changes the channel when I do it manually every time, but when it does it on its own for a scheduled recording it screws up. Prior to last week, I never had a problem with the IR blaster correctly changing channels.

Also it isn't screwing up in the typical way when an IR messes up, such as merely dropping a digit or entering the digits multiple times. It is simply selecting the wrong channel. I don't know if this is true but it seems that it was always is selecting channel 67.

Interesting enough I have the same cable box model (DCT2244) down-stairs and the replay 5040 I have hooked up to it isn't having any problems. Both are using the same IR blaster code. And like I said nothing had changed upstairs but its just started screwing up last week.

[LegalDawg]

I'm having the same problem with a Dish Network 301 box and a Replay 5060. It's been happening for about a month now. Before then it worked fine. I haven't made any changes to the setup.

Was there an update pushed out that affected the IR codes somehow?

[scoot13]

I use a Dish 301 and had to fine-tune my IR blaster settings a little bit. Look at this page for detailed info on changing those settings...
http://www.replayfaqs.com/4DCGI/Detail_FAQ_Display?ID=138&Session=JCVCTEUPDLKQKXT

It seems pretty accurate now except if it reboots for some reason. Then it will sometimes restart on the wrong channel. :(

[Cloaked]

I'm having the same problem with a Dish Network 301 ...

Was there an update pushed out that affected the IR codes somehow?

I saw the same behavior with my 301 starting early October and suspect it received more crap.. er, a firmware update about that time. Testing with the Dish remote shows the 301 now responds _very_ slowly. Fortunately I was able to "slow things down" with the Replay through Fine Tuning and (knock on wood) the tuning has been reliable since. I'm using 850ms on everything except 'Response Delay'.

[PeterGibbons]

ok, glad to hear I'm not alone. I have since changed back to the 476 IR blaster code and it seems to be working a bit better...gone all weekend on Tgiving so we'll see how pi$$ed I am on Sunday!

[Cutrock]

I'm having the same problem as the others in this post using Comcast. I have the Comcast Motoral cable box (Model DCT2244). I've noticed that it's having problems dialing in ch. 576, Showtime. I've tried several different codes, 0476, 0810 (which was the code that used to work for the past 18 months), and a new one, 7400. This code 7400 even has the DCT2244 model number associated with it, but none of the codes I've tried are working reliably for the upper 500 channel registry.

Has anybody found a reliable code for Comcast yet? I'm going to keep plugging in numbers to see if I stumble on the right one...

[barmar]

See this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=749399) for my Comcast/DCT2000 issues.

[Cutrock]

Well, I think I discovered my IR problem with Comcast. It seems that Comcast deleted a couple of Showtime channels, of which I was never notified. However, the Replay guide still lists those channels! I double-cleared the channel line up on the Replay and then reloaded the channel guide, but those two Showtime channels still show up. So, I manually deleted them. All this time I've been thinking that none of the new codes were working because those deleted channels were the ones I was using for my compliance test. Luckily, I decided to test those channels directly through the box using the box's remote. That's when I discovered those channels don't actually exist anymore...Nice waste of a couple hours of vacation!

Called Comcast, and found out that they've recently dropped two East coast feeds of showtime from my line up. On the flip side, however, they've FINALLY added FOX REALITY! I don't know why, but I never received any sort of notification of the changes...

[CrazyCanuck]

Still having problems with my DCT2244. I've been using code 7400. I'm going to try some of the fine tuning mentioned the tread that barmar quoted. I'll try for a week and see how it goes.

Strange thing is, that I have changed nothing and the IR was working flawlessly. I'm guessing Comcast made somesort of update in its firmware over that last few weeks.

[Jonesmnt]

I'm having similar problems. This past Saturday my Showstopper 2030 (upgraded to 120G) stopped changing channels on my Time-Warner/Pioneer cable box. It still will go into record mode, but the channel won't change. Please explain how to change the blaster codes and any other tips you might have

[CrazyCanuck]

Here is the DNA website link regarding fine tuning:
http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/support/replaytv/document.asp?docID=223

In browsing the different codes, it lists the model number of the cable box that the code applies to. I noticed that there is a "7400 A" code which only list the DCT-2244. I selected it two days ago, and so far it seems to be working.

I also further fined tuned it on one of my replays according to the thread that Barmar mentions. I am hoping to do a comparison between the box with 7400 A "fine tuned" and 7400 not fine tuned. Hopefully both will work flawlessly so I can get rid of the fine tuning which seems to slow down channel changes. (Though I rarely channel surf, so it won't matter that much.)

[Howaraj1013]

Having this same issue with a Charter Motorola DCT-2244 & our 4504 RPTV.
Latest code is 7400A fine tuned to:
Ent:No
min: 3
Delays Int-act,Res,Pr,Int-com: 700, 200, 850, & 750