Comcast, Richmond CA. We had a little power outage yesterday
(it's like a 3rd world country here at times - very fragile
infrastructure) and the TDC 575D gave up.

I should give up on this technology and drop back to
VCRs, which are horribly clunky and difficult, but rugged.
Any advice?

I put my box on a UPS. I've had one fry in a surge and from then on used a UPS as a surge protector and power backup. Side bonus was not losing all guide data in one of those 5 second PG&E burps.

Hello,

I'm a newbie to this forum. I saw a few references to downloading recorded shows from the Pace Vegas. But I didn't see any concrete solutions or suggestions. I've had the Vegas for about a year and I'm about to switch to an HD DVR. But I would like to keep some of my recordings before I return it to Comcast (in Berkeley, CA). I've tried hooking up Pace's IDE disk to a SuSE Linux box and a Mac OS X (Leopard) machine but was not able to mount the filesystem on either system. I would appreciate any suggestions or solutions on transferring recorded data from the Pace Vegas TDC575D SD-DVR.

Thank you.

Hello,
I would like to keep some of my recordings before I return it to Comcast (in Berkeley, CA). I've tried hooking up Pace's IDE disk to a SuSE Linux box and a Mac OS X (Leopard) machine but was not able to mount the filesystem on either system.

If it were that easy the whole world would quit buying DVDs.

Ever hear of the 'analog hole'? That's your best option.

Armstrong cable company sad if you can hook anything to the unit or download any thing recorded from it, was your bonus. They will not support anyone in doing it or activating any ports.

This is what Pace has to say:

Lee,
An external eSATA drive can be added by:
1. removing power from the TDC575D
2. connect the eSATA drive to the Pace box and power on the drive.
3. apply power to the Pace box. you will see a dialog box asking if you want to format the new drive. select yes.
Your new drive will be ready to use. It will only work with the Pace box that it was formatted to.
You can not control what shows are recorded to the external or internal HDD.
You can not connect it to your PC to watch movies.
Regards,
Pace Technical Support
________________________________________

I just tried this with a new, out of the box eSATA drive but no go. Has anyone gotten this to work, or been able to add an external drive to the Pace Vegas DVR? Is there a max HD size? The internal HD is woefully inadequate and I would love to be able to increase the storage space on it.

TIA
Kevin

Hi Kevin,

I just tried this with a new, out of the box eSATA drive but no go. Has anyone gotten this to work, or been able to add an external drive to the Pace Vegas DVR? Is there a max HD size?

Who is your cable provider?

Hi Kevin,



Who is your cable provider?

Comcast, in Seattle. I'm new to them, had Dish network for years and just got cable in my area so I really hope this can work!

Thanks,
Kevin

Comcast, in Seattle.

Sorry Kevin. The eSATA port is disabled in areas served by Comcast.

Bummer, thanks for the info.

I have the Vegas DVR and the cable box is making my screen zoomed in. I cannot get a full picture on the screen. I've looked at all of my settings and TV settings, but no luck. This is only a problem on the cable coming in... the on screen guide comes in just fine. any thoughts?

I'm not really sure about the Pace boxes but I know the Motorola's can't be accessed in the manner you're trying to use, I would assume the Pace's would be similar though. On the Moto's you cannot do anything via the USB ports, they are basically disabled. To get content off the DVR in it's digital form you have to use firewire, play it back real time while recording & it can't have the copyright flag turned on. There is no way to access the drive directly as you are trying to do it though, unfortunately.

I've read just enough posts to be dangerous, so let me try to summarize what I think I've learned:

As a Comcast customer, it appears I cannot use a Comcast DVR and transfer the content to my PC (not to mention another device like my smartphone):

Pace DVR (SD) apparently is inaccessible via any of its ports (eSATA, USB, Ethernet) for this purpose.
Motorola DVR (HD) has some hack available to get live video out via Firewire, but no way to transfer recorded video.


In summary, it looks like if you want to be able to transfer content to your PC (and other devices), get a Tivo.

Am I missing something?

BTW, I hate that the Pace has no controls on the unit (not even power or channel) and a minimal display (no channel, no time) that is often wrong (e.g., what looks like a "Play" symbol (triangle) comes on when the DVR is not in Play mode). Comcast must have gotten quite a deal on these POS. I hoped that after a year, they might have a different offering for a SD DVR, but I went in to the Comcast office today and they say the Pace is still the only game in town.

We're on our second Pace SD-DVR. The first one went completely toes up. This one is OK except that there are times when, while it's turned off, it sounds like it's turning on internally and the hard drive is spooling up. It happens frequently at around 11 PM and maybe 4 -5 AM. At first I thought that maybe Comcast was sending signals to the box but that often? Has anyone seen similar behavior in their Pace?

We're on our second Pace SD-DVR. The first one went completely toes up. This one is OK except that there are times when, while it's turned off, it sounds like it's turning on internally and the hard drive is spooling up. It happens frequently at around 11 PM and maybe 4 -5 AM. At first I thought that maybe Comcast was sending signals to the box but that often? Has anyone seen similar behavior in their Pace?

I don't think so, but I haven't been observing the box closely at those times. Of course, it makes constant clicking noises, which I presume is due to accessing the hard drive. I assume that's due to the box constantly recording whatever it's tuned to so you can go back in time, etc.

I suffered a power outage the other day. When my Pace SD-DVR started it up, I kept seeing a "Not Authorized" error message showing on all the channels except the local analog ones. My regular Motorolla (non-DVR) cable box had no problems. I called Comcast and they were not able to help. They tried sending a signal to the box several times and also had be pull the power from the box for a minute and the plug it back in to restart, no luck though.

I don't want to swap it out for another box, because I still have a lot of recorded programs and have no way of getting them off the box.

Any ideas on what else I can try to get the box to reinitialize?

Pace DVR (SD) apparently is inaccessible via any of its ports (eSATA, USB, Ethernet) for this purpose.

Let me clarify a few things about the eSATA port on Pace boxes. The eSATA port (when active) is strictly used for extra storage capacity. However, as noted earlier in this thread, cable companies have the option to enable/disable it. Comcast disables the eSATA port for all Pace DVRs.

Even if it were active, you couldn't copy the files and play them on your PC since the files are encrypted.

BTW, I hate that the Pace has no controls on the unit (not even power or channel) and a minimal display (no channel, no time)

This box is targeted at a very cost conscious market segment, hence there are no front panel controls.

that is often wrong (e.g., what looks like a "Play" symbol (triangle) comes on when the DVR is not in Play mode).

That symbol indicates that its playing from the HDD, not just that you're playing pre-recorded content. If you swap tuners, you're playing from the HDD, if you time shift live video, if you're playing from the HDD, even if you hit the LIVE button, you're still playing from the HDD.

I suffered a power outage the other day. When my Pace SD-DVR started it up, I kept seeing a "Not Authorized" error message showing on all the channels except the local analog ones.

Do you know if your DVR is a CableCARD model or was it one that was obtained before July of last year?

Can you post a screen capture of the not authorized message?

Let me clarify a few things about the eSATA port on Pace boxes. The eSATA port (when active) is strictly used for extra storage capacity. However, as noted earlier in this thread, cable companies have the option to enable/disable it. Comcast disables the eSATA port for all Pace DVRs.

Even if it were active, you couldn't copy the files and play them on your PC since the files are encrypted.

This box is targeted at a very cost conscious market segment, hence there are no front panel controls.

That symbol indicates that its playing from the HDD, not just that you're playing pre-recorded content. If you swap tuners, you're playing from the HDD, if you time shift live video, if you're playing from the HDD, even if you hit the LIVE button, you're still playing from the HDD.

Thanks for the info. I'm impressed that someone from PACE cares enough to be active in this forum.

As for the box being targeted at a very cost conscious market segment: since Comcast picked it up, one could infer that they are in this very cost conscious segment. However, they charge $9/mo. for it now, with no multi-service discount. It's difficult to believe that the cost of a couple of front panel buttons (channel up/down) would break their profit margins. If they were giving these boxes away (as some companies are rumored to be doing/contemplating for digital cable converters when they go all-digital), that would be a different story.

I do find it amusing that the box setup menu still has an option for choosing whether to display time or channel on the box. I'm assuming the code for this menu resides in the box? It appears it was too much trouble for Comcast to change it from what they use with their Motorola DCTs.

I'm currently trying out a Tivo S2DT and liking it so far. I must say, however, that the PACE's 2 hour live TV buffer seriously stomps the 30 minutes on the Tivo. This morning I turned on the news about 40 minutes into the one hour program, saw an item of interest in the ticker, figured they must have had a report about it earlier in the program, and was just able to catch the story about 30 minutes earlier. However, when I missed a detail in the 3-minute report and wanted to back up to catch it, the beginning of the report was already outside the 30 minute buffer and no longer available. That sucked.

Do you know if your DVR is a CableCARD model or was it one that was obtained before July of last year?

Can you post a screen capture of the not authorized message?

It is not a CableCard model. I am pretty sure that I got it before July of last year.

The message is :
" Not Authorized"
the Channel name
"For ordering information, press info"

It is not a CableCard model. I am pretty sure that I got it before July of last year.

The message is :
" Not Authorized"
the Channel name
"For ordering information, press info"

The symptoms sound like your box has not be authorized for the digital tier of services on the cable headend. Do you know what Comcast did when they "sent a signal" your box? If the services were removed, then refreshing or a warm init will not help.

The symptoms sound like your box has not be authorized for the digital tier of services on the cable headend. Do you know what Comcast did when they "sent a signal" your box? If the services were removed, then refreshing or a warm init will not help.

I do have a subscription to the digital tiers. A non-DVR box works fine. The problem started after a power outage in my neighborhood. Comcast has sent an init signal several times and have tried the restart procedure too. Nothing has worked. Tech came out to the house and could not find any problems with the line. Signal strength is good.

Comcast has sent an init signal several times and have tried the restart procedure too. Nothing has worked. Tech came out to the house and could not find any problems with the line. Signal strength is good.

As I mentioned before, it sounds as if your box either:

1. Lost authorization for the channels in question.
2. Had the authorization removed (by accident).

Neither an Init nor a reboot will solve this. Do you know how to get into diagnostics? If so, can you do a screen capture (or write down the values) of the current channel status when on an unauthorized channel?

Also, if at all possible, you may want to have your cable provider check that your box remains authorized for the services in question.

As I mentioned before, it sounds as if your box either:

1. Lost authorization for the channels in question.
2. Had the authorization removed (by accident).

Neither an Init nor a reboot will solve this. Do you know how to get into diagnostics? If so, can you do a screen capture (or write down the values) of the current channel status when on an unauthorized channel?

Also, if at all possible, you may want to have your cable provider check that your box remains authorized for the services in question.

The proper authorization for the inaccessible channels is there. The authorization was never removed. This has been confirmed. If the authorization was removed from my account then I wouldn't be able to watch those channels on my other TVs that use regular Comcast boxes.

From the Current Channel Status:
Tuner 1
Tuner Freq 578980 KHz
Modulation mode QAM 256
Chan Status UNAUTH
Preview No
Chan Number 29
Encrypted Yes
Connected Yes
PCR Lock Yes

Purchasable No
Purchased No
Epoch Number 0x00
Epoch status 0x00
Auth Reason 0x20

Serivce Number 0
Service ID 0x0018f0
Parental Control Status Not Avaiable
Mute status NO

My TDC-575D has SW version 74.62-3337 and FW version 9.26. I have a problem where all of my recorded programs show up under diagnostics, but under "My Recordings" I only see four programs on each of "View by date", View by channel" and "View by title." The four programs are different on each of the three "View by" menus.

Is there anything I can reset that will fix the listings for the "My Recordings" menus?

Also, I cannot clear all locks under "Master Locks." When I select "Remove all locks" the setting never changes,

I don't think this thread is used very much anymore but I decided to post my experiences here anyway. My TiVo died recently after 5 years of loyal service (moment of silence). Instead of repairing it or purchasing a new one, I decided to try out a DVR from Comcast since they offered it for free for six months. The model they gave me is a Pace TDC577x Tahoe. Though the quality of the recordings is incredible and I love having two tuners, I've been having a lot of problems setting up series recordings (the equivalent to the TiVo Season Pass).

First, it does a terrible job of knowing what is a new or repeat episode. I set it to record only new episodes of CSI and it tried to grab 15 episodes on a Saturday afternoon that were at least 4 years old. This can really foul up my other recordings if they are at a lower priority level than CSI is. I'll end up with a CSI repeat instead of a new episode of another of my shows.

I tried finding the specific airing of CSI I wanted via the grid and then selecting it to record the series but on this channel only. This has 3 different results I have seen. (1) on some shows, this will work as intended. (2) on some shows, "this channel only" will only apply to the channel with the first chronological showing. So with CSI, even though I was on CBS, it still tried to only take the episodes from the other channel. (3) It won't record any of the showings at all (this is the case with General Hospital).

I went to watch one of my shows recently and got only sound; no picture. Turns out it recorded from the HD version of the channel instead of the SD. Since, I don't have an HD TV, that's why no picture. There have been times I checked my future recordings list in the morning, saw two shows scheduled to be recorded that night, check again later that day, and now those shows were off the list eventhough they were still on the grid.

So basically, I have to babysit my recordings. I've given up on series recordings and have gone back to manually picking the individual shows I want recorded per day. I really don't know if this is a Pace problem or with Comcast's clunky software and service. Anyone having a similar problem? I wonder if I should ask Comcast for a different box.

I have followed the process mentioned in earlier posts to display the diagnostic screen. TV on ,press power and then select button, but the unit turns off, no diagnostics. I have a comcast remote and pace tdc575d. Is the remote using the wrong codes? I have tried 0476,1376,and 1877.

Thanks
I turned the IR bypass on, and the default code of 0237 worked just fine with a very basic universal remote.

Hope that helps.

I have recently replaced my Motorola DVR with a PACE Vegas DVR. But I can no longer get the new IGuide on the PACE DVR which was downloaded on the other Mot DVR around a month ago. Is this something not availble for Pace yet or this is just not getting downloaded for my Pace DVR. For the latter case can someone help me with instruction set to force PACE DVR to download IGuide.

Re - A25 iGuide
Out here in the bay area only the Moto boxes got the new guide.

I got a TDC577x vegas yesterday from comcast. its hooked up to a 42" monitor (no closed captioning on the monitor). earlier for CC, i just used to turn it on the motorola box; now with the pace box, comcast says that it doesn't have any CC decoding.
is there someway i can turn CC on this box?

So the TDC575D isn't capable of sending digital video out to a television?

So the TDC575D isn't capable of sending digital video out to a television?

As far as I know its video outputs are limited to component, S-video, composite and RF out.

is there someway i can turn CC on this box?

Vegas doesn't render captions, but it will pass them through so that your TV can render captions. Have you enabled caption rendering on your TV?

Has anyone had a problem with the 575 where your recording doesn't have sound? When you go to play it back, either you have no sound, or the video freezes up.

No. The Pace playback is working fine in Boston.

it's a cool machine

saw it at my buddie's house

i was amazed at it's capabilities.

Just got a Vegas DVR from Comcast in Seattle, WA yesterday.

Seems to be working OK except I can't get the front panel to display anything except the useless icons (power, mail etc.)

The DVR set-up menu has the option to display either the channel or the time. I tried both options and the front panel displays neither. GRRR...

Any ideas? Thanks in advance for any help.

Abizar

There is no other display on the Vegas.

The box uses a common software - if there was a display, you could choose it's mode.

thanks for the information... guess I'll return it and get one that does have the ability.

I realize this is a nit but its actually VERY annoying to not see that the channel or the time at a glance

I am trying to use a Slingbox with my TDC575D. Even though the COMCAST-TDC575D is listed as supported by Slingbox, the remote does not work properly. The Pace responds to Slingbox commands, but does the wrong thing, rewinding in response to a change channel command, etc.

It looks like I may need to make a custom code table. Anyone know where I can get the codes?

I am trying to use a Slingbox with my TDC575D. Even though the COMCAST-TDC575D is listed as supported by Slingbox, the remote does not work properly.

According to this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15522582&highlight=sling#post15522582), the Sling database appears to have some errors in it. If you select the Motorola 6412, your Slingbox should work.

According to this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15522582&highlight=sling#post15522582), the Sling database appears to have some errors in it. If you select the Motorola 6412, your Slingbox should work.

I found out that the correct (or at least a useable) answer is DVR - Comcast - Other - Code 1. This gives a virtual remote similar to the real thing. The only flaw I can detect is that the "B" and "C" buttons don't change the day of the week as they do on the real thing. I'll try the 6412 just to see what happens.

Sling tech support was, once again, completely useless. Faced with what was OBVIOUSLY a code table problem, they insisted on reloading the firmware AGAIN and finally gave up when I refused to waste any more time by hooking up a different video source.

Feh.

Hello folks.

I'm having an issue with my Denver Comcast Pace TDC 575D.

I've had it for around 2 years. Recently, the HDD is losing space.

The DVR guide only shows two programs saved but shows it is 100% full.

I went into the diag menu and the hard disk doesn't appear full there.

Anyone have an idea? I don't really want to have to return it to the CSR because Comcast is a PITA to deal with when returning equipment.

Is there a way to do a hard reset of the equipment? Aside from pulling A/C.

Thanks for the space.

The DVR guide only shows two programs saved but shows it is 100% full....I went into the diag menu and the hard disk doesn't appear full there.

This is a known issue with TV Guide. To solve it requires a reboot.


Is there a way to do a hard reset of the equipment? Aside from pulling A/C.

Not with this particular box. For Pace boxes with front panel keys, you can do a soft reboot in diags by pressing Info and then the select keys.

*canceled*

Last night or so, my Pace 575D on Comcast in the South San Francisco Bay Area (California) upgraded from 97.18 (I think) to 99.98. I noticed a few minor changes only. It lost my scheduled recordings, so I had to set them up again, but my saved recordings were fine.

I've only had the DVR for about a week (I was forced to migrate from analog cable when they got rid of half the channels a few weeks back), so maybe it's not a new upgrade, but I hadn't seen mention of it in this forum, so I thought I'd mention it.

Last night or so, my Pace 575D on Comcast in the South San Francisco Bay Area (California) upgraded from 97.18 (I think) to 99.98.

Are you sure about these firmware #s? What diagnostic screen are you getting the firmware revision from?

Are you sure about these firmware #s? What diagnostic screen are you getting the firmware revision from?

I get that from pressing Menu | Setup | Cable Box Setup | Configuration, and it's listed as "Firmware Rev". I've tried getting into the "boot" menu by pressing OK after pressing power a bunch of times (both with and without RF Bypass on), but I can't get that screen to come up. I just double-checked, and yes, it says "Firmware Rev 99.98".

I have a new Pace Vegas DVR from Comcast. I have an SDTV, but I can't get into the user settings menu, so the DVR thinks I have an 16:9 TV. I've tried to turn off the device and then press the menu key, but that doesn't work. Since there aren't any buttons on the DVR, I can't access the User Settings that way.
Any suggestions? This is really frustrating, because all HD programming shows up hugely magnified on my TV.

I've been using the same Pace Vegas DVR for about 2 years now and have been waiting and waiting for Comcast to update the firmware to accomplish everything that lindend has indicated were in the new versions. It finally happened, I'm also in the Bay Area like Taed.

The diagnostics dashboard from pressing 'ok' just after 'power' indicates that the SW Version is 10.75. From the Comcast 'Setup' menu and 'Cable Box Setup' the 'Configuration' indicates S/W Ver 75.69, and Firmware 99.98

Unfortunately I am not too happy with some of what has transpired.

First all my DVR series recordings were deleted, not the recorded programs, but the fact that I want new recordings of a specific title saved. The problem is that I did not expect this and for the last week have been manually recording programs because they were not showing up as an 'scheduled recording'. The bad and annoying part is that many of the shows are off for the summer, and so I can't put the series recording back in place until the show is back next fall or even until 2010 for some shows, and I will probably miss an episode or two because I won't be paying attention to when every show returns, or remember the name of every show that had a scheduled recording.

The very big elephant sized problem may be similar to what jctl reported. I do not have a HDTV. Prior to this new firmware, shows that were in widescreen had the traditional letterbox bars. After getting the new firmware the DVR seems to be permanently stuck in zoom mode. I can not get any response when I press the 'HD Zoom' button, and I do not want to be in zoom mode. The DVR display does not even flicker the regular indication that a button was pressed on the remote control. Shows on network TV that were previously widescreen are now zoomed, and have the edges of the frame cut off to fit on my 4:3 tv, and the shows are not as crisp as they previously were. Other shows that were in 4:3 are also being forced zoom so I lose action around all four edges of the screen, and the picture is not as crisp because it is zoomed.

I waited so patiently through Comcast dragging their knuckles on upgrading the firmware to help stabilize this DVR. It was absolutely annoying when the DVR would lock and reboot, and then take 5-10 minutes to reboot and let me regain access to channels and OnDemand. Comcast even sent something to plug the DVR into and then plug this device into the wall. Unfortunately they picked some 1.5" x 3.5" brick that has absolutely no chance of fitting into my powerstrip and so it goes unused.

If this DVR will no longer let the user be in control of the 'HD zoom' button to put it in the proper display format, I suspect that many people will return this device. Watching TV in zoom is not enjoyable except for few seconds at a time trying to read small text or graphics on screen. The director of any show did not frame the shot for only the center of the screen to be displayed and all the edges dropped, and it is not the proper resolution leading to fuzziness.

I know that most of these issues are Comcast being dopes and not properly testing. But why would the firmware eliminate the ability to unzoom??? Especially why would it put me into permanent zoom instead of letting me choose if I have a widescreen or not? Because this DVR does not do HD, I would guess that many people are not using it on widescreen tvs and would prefer to have it in the intended display for a specific show, whether that is wide screen or 4:3 but not zoomed for all shows no matter what, or the option to choose which mode they want it in.

I just picked up this box from Comcast today and haven't been able to get the remote to work. I managed to program it for my TV, but i can't seem to get Pace box to respond to anything. I tried all the Pace codes in the remote's manual, which didn't get me anywhere.

A few google searches brought me here, maybe someone can help me?

Use the Motorola STB code.

I have a recurring recording problem with my new Comcast Pace DVR that's driving me crazy. Every once in a while the entire program won't record. When I start playing the recording, it will show that the recording is 60min long, but after playing a few minutes, it will suddenly show that the recording is 20min long, and it will stop after 20 minutes. It's not always 20min, but it frequently is. In other words, the DVR thinks it has recorded the whole program (and I think the red "record" light is always on for the whole hour), but it either only recorded 20 minutes or the recording gets corrupted somehow.
Any ideas for what could be wrong? Comcast replaced my Pace DVR with another one, but the problem cropped up again after a few days. It seems to accelerate -- at first only once a week or so, then a few times a day. It's almost worse than having no DVR, since it's the luck of the draw whether the program will complete or not.
Thanks for any help.

First, thank you Linden for assisting us. Your advice saved me from buying an external SATA drive to try and hook up to my DVR because my SATA port is disabled. I just want to report a small bug that I have found. The configuration of my Pace 575 is:

Model: DCT
S/W Ver.: 75.69-a25p2-2.51.r-8
Firmware: 99.98
Region: 0

I have several programs set to record the series but only the new shows. Unfortunately, with some shows it still records the repeats even though they aren't labeled as "New" in the Guide listings. I have to go in and cancel the recordings that are repeats manually, and sometimes they don't stay canceled. That may just be due to the way I exited the screen for the recordings for the day. The shows that I am having trouble with are:

Rescue Me on FX
Warehouse 13 on Syfy (formally SciFi)
Eureka on Syfy
That's Impossible on History

Maybe you could pass this on to the group that deals with these things as I know that Comcast would be a black hole with information like this. Thanks again for all your help.

Would it be possible to "accidentally" have the firmware activate the SATA port so I can increase my storage space?

Paul

I just upgraded my father to a Comcast DVR and it appears the search feature is very limited compared to Direct TV DVRs. It appears you can only search by title and only titles which are already in the schedule.
On Direct TV you are able to create wishlist for programs that have not yet entered the schedule. You can also search by actor and keywords. Does the Comcast Pace DVR have any of these program search features? Thanks for your help!

I have a new Pace DVR and the other day I unplugged it to connect it to a surge protector. Now it won't turn back on. The power indicator (which is the word power) just stays red and won't turn blue. I tried unplugging to power cycle it, but it doesn't work.

Upon being plugged in, it goes red, makes noise and then turns off completely. Then the red light comes back on but it won't do anything from there.

Any ideas what's wrong?

My parents just got their first DVR from Comcast and it is this TDC 575D piece of junk.

The biggest annoyance right now is that when we're fast forwarding commercials, apparently at any speed, once we hit play instead of skipping back to where you wanted it to play, it usually jumps ahead. In football, you miss the entire next play. Even at the slower speed of forwarding, it still jumps ahead.

Does anyone else see this? Is there any setting that will use a jump back feature (like any good DVR) when you hit play after forwarding?

My experience with the Pace DVR led me to conclude that it's pure crap. In 2008, I went through three of these units. Each one developed serious problems up to and including completely freezing up. They were all very noisy and your could hear the hard drive revving up for no apparent reason at times. The clattering sound at night was very annoying. After returning the third unit, the local Comcast office gave me a Motorola DCH3416 at a significant discount for 12 months. Unfortunately, that discount expires this week and now I have to make a decision about retuning the Moto for another crappy Pace, saving $7.00/month, or keeping the Moto. Not great choices.

My parents just got their first DVR from Comcast and it is this TDC 575D piece of junk.

The biggest annoyance right now is that when we're fast forwarding commercials, apparently at any speed, once we hit play instead of skipping back to where you wanted it to play, it usually jumps ahead. In football, you miss the entire next play. Even at the slower speed of forwarding, it still jumps ahead.

Does anyone else see this? Is there any setting that will use a jump back feature (like any good DVR) when you hit play after forwarding?
I hit ffwd, then when the show starts, hit the 30sec rewind button. Often I have to hit it 2 or 3 times to go back far enough, but it is almost instantaneous. I can tell just by watching how many times I have to hit it usually. The 30 sec rewind for Comcast SF Bay Area is the little 3/4 circle arrow button above and to the left of the 5 way control.

I have a new Pace DVR and the other day I unplugged it to connect it to a surge protector. Now it won't turn back on. The power indicator (which is the word power) just stays red and won't turn blue. I tried unplugging to power cycle it, but it doesn't work.

Upon being plugged in, it goes red, makes noise and then turns off completely. Then the red light comes back on but it won't do anything from there.

Any ideas what's wrong?

I have this same problem. Any idea what would cause this?