You certainly have a quality AVR and running your system through it is one of the reasons I'm sure you got it in the first place, however, this whole HDMI thing is still kind of young and iffy IMHO, though apparently getting better. I'm finally planning on upgrading to an HDMI AVR in the near future and have been wondering what perils that might entail! Probably gonna stick with component to my Panny plasma (768p) regardless, as that's the only way I can use its PIP function. I have been looking at AVRs that have component out as an option though, just for that reason. What I don't know is if any of these AVR video processors might make 480i source material look any better than the Panny's vp already does with it. Otherwise, I don't see a compelling reason to run the DVR through it.

Sorry to hear about your bad luck with the boxes but it does make renting them more palatable when failures occur.

- The 906 is nice for some things and kind of a pain in others. It's big and runs hot, but the reon video processing is very good. It does a good job with SD (especially from a DVD player), but there's little you can do with the SD from the cable companies. Internet radio, HD radio, and network media streaming are other things that the 906 does really well. As you said, HDMI is the biggest headache in the whole works - some boxes talk just fine, and other boxes just won't. I've never had real problems with any boxes other than this Motorola DVR. Though at some point the content providers are going to start enforcing the copy protection and you'll have to have HDMI in the whole chain or you'll get no video or 480p only.

- Have to agree with you on the Panasonic plasma - outstanding picture and scaling. I have a Pioneer 151FD plasma and I want to have it buried with me when I die. It's a toss-up as to whether the 906 or the Pio 151 does the best with SD. The 906 has more controls, so I usually let it do all the scaling (except with FiOS - I let the stupid DVR do it because of all the handshaking issues and because the FiOS SD video is so crappy to start with, there's not much improvement in going with the 906).

- I have a Pioneer 151FD plasma and I want to have it buried with me when I die.

Heh, heh, heh . . . Hope that's a long way off, but I hear ya!

Even worse, it will no longer handshake with my Onkyo 906 AVR when it switches to 480i, nor will it handshake with the 906 when I turn the 906 off and back on.

If the AVR has the feature known as "HDMI control", aka HDMI-CEC, turn it off.

If the AVR has the feature known as "HDMI control", aka HDMI-CEC, turn it off.

- Thanks!!! That's something that I completely forgot about. The AVR does have this feature - I'll check the status of the setting when I get home from work. Thanks, again.

[QUOTE=MikeyW;20266538] I keep the SD Overide set to STRETCH because any other setting causes an 8 second delay when I switch from an HD channel to an SD channel or vice-versa. [quote]

I may have to try this, too, even though the delay is nowhere near that long. My biggest problem is the HDMI handshake when I first turn it on, but there are ocassionally the same handshake issues when I switch from a HD channel to a SD channel, or vice-versa. I really HATE the stretch, though.

In the bedroom we have instead the tiny PACE HD box and setting the SD overide to stretch is what I had to do in there as my wife was complaining of the 8-second delay. She's never mentioned any objection to the "stretch" so I figure she's better off not hearing about it. I can't bear it.

[QUOTE=MikeyW;20266538] I keep the SD Overide set to STRETCH because any other setting causes an 8 second delay when I switch from an HD channel to an SD channel or vice-versa. [quote]

I may have to try this, too, even though the delay is nowhere near that long. My biggest problem is the HDMI handshake when I first turn it on, but there are ocassionally the same handshake issues when I switch from a HD channel to a SD channel, or vice-versa. I really HATE the stretch, though.

In the bedroom we have instead the tiny PACE HD box and setting the SD overide to stretch is what I had to do in there as my wife was complaining of the 8-second delay. She's never mentioned any objection to the "stretch" so I figure she's better off not hearing about it. I can't bear it.

STRETCH mode doesn't bug me too much, since with FiOS, there are a whole lot of reasons not to watch SD stuff anymore. When we finally got Comedy Central in HD, I stopped watching SD altogether except for Clone Wars and Venture Bros on Cartoon Network. The wife and kids still do, so they complained the most about the 8 seconds. They don't care much about how STRETCH mode distorts the picture. Someday SD will be a thing of the past....

BTW, HDMI Control was off in my 906, so that doesn't appear to be my problem with HDMI handshaking.

[Someday SD will be a thing of the past....
BTW, HDMI Control was off in my 906, so that doesn't appear to be my problem with HDMI handshaking.

I watch very little SD myself.

I'm noticing some strange behavior with the HDMI handshake issue. I have a Denon AVR-591. The tuner quit working so I had to take it in for warranty repair. When I installed a new one to take its place, the handshake issue went away! But then after I renamed inputs, saved preset radio stations, etc, it came back. Today, I got the repaired unit back (two new IC chips) once again the handshake issues have gone away.

This time I will not save any presets or rename any inputs, or do any customizing at all and see if the handshaking issues come back. If they don't, I'll cautiously proceed with one cutomization at a time, checking to see which one brings back the problems.

Sigh! Handshake issues have returned, despite the fact I've done nothing with the receiver other than tune in a FM station. I can't explain why the handshake issues go away when a new receiver is installed. Maybe it's due to random chance only.

For some reason, my problem seems to have fixed itself. Don't know why. It handshakes with my other components OK now (still takes 8 seconds between HD and SD channels if not in STRETCH mode)... But now my set top box in another room can't see the DVR, and I can't watch any DVR recordings with my set top box. I have no idea what's going on with this DVR....

Hey all, if anyone is wanting to upgrade their hard drive to 1TB there is an image available. Works with 1TB drives, so far WD10EARS and I believe also WD10EADS and WD10EVDS. Thread is here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=496586

I know you guys always say any hdmi is good

But for a while i used the hdmi provided by comcast and ondemand was really slow

I bought an amazonbasic hdmi and ondemand is super fast now

And i dont have any handshake issues

When i change the channel from hd to standard it goes right away no black screen

I'd guess that the Comcast cable was just a bad cable. You could always just get another cable from them and see what happens. Charter doesn't charge for cables, so I'm guessing Comcast doesn't either.

I've got a DCT-6412 III. To get a component video output signal do I have to unplug the HDMI cable from the back of this unit?

I've got a DCT-6412 III. To get a component video output signal do I have to unplug the HDMI cable from the back of this unit?

No. They output concurrently.

Hey gang,

I haven't come across anyone posting this same problem, so I thought I'd ask.

I've got the DCT3416.

My "Title" and "Keyword" searches keep missing programs. In this case, I'm searching for the words "MLB" and "TORONTO" (to find just Jays baseball games). The problem is it finds SOME games, but not all of them.

When I look at the program listings of the programs it misses, they are *identical* in structure and text (and even on the same channel!) as the ones it doesn't find.

I'm really frustrated about this. I can't trust my auto-record, since it misses so many legitimate programs. Seems like a useless features if it's buggy like this.

Any thoughts?

Call your provider and have them reset the box.

There is now a step-by-step guide with screenshots on how to upgrade the hard drive of any Motorola DCT/DCH (and probably DCX, though that hasn't been confirmed) DVR cable box to 1 TB.

See this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=20396028&postcount=201) post in the DCT6412 Hard Drive Upgrade? (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=496586&page=7) thread.

Hey gang,

I haven't come across anyone posting this same problem, so I thought I'd ask.

I've got the DCT3416.

My "Title" and "Keyword" searches keep missing programs. In this case, I'm searching for the words "MLB" and "TORONTO" (to find just Jays baseball games). The problem is it finds SOME games, but not all of them.

When I look at the program listings of the programs it misses, they are *identical* in structure and text (and even on the same channel!) as the ones it doesn't find.

I'm really frustrated about this. I can't trust my auto-record, since it misses so many legitimate programs. Seems like a useless features if it's buggy like this.

Any thoughts?

Turns out this problem isn't with my box. It's with my cable provider's channel listing service (I use NOVUS for cable). The dude at tech support tried searching through his console, and wasn't able to properly retrieve the listings either.

Turns out this problem isn't with my box. It's with my cable provider's channel listing service (I use NOVUS for cable). The dude at tech support tried searching through his console, and wasn't able to properly retrieve the listings either.

That makes sense. Thanks for letting us know. Otherwise a head scratcher.

Turns out this problem isn't with my box. It's with my cable provider's channel listing service (I use NOVUS for cable). The dude at tech support tried searching through his console, and wasn't able to properly retrieve the listings either.

Once they're made aware of problems like this, they usually go away with the next (automatic) software or firmware upgrade or guide info upload.

Does anyone know how to setup my Logitech Harmony remote with the "MyDVR" function?

It's not listed as an option in any of my settings and is really the only button I use keeping me from discarding the comcast remote.

I keep trying the "learn IR function" as well and no luck.

I have a 3416 DVR.

It is there but it might be called "List" or somesuch!

For my Harmony One there is a drop down list which has a MyDVR located in the customize buttons area. It's in the additional buttons tab, which are the touch screen buttons.

It used to be there a year ago when I was with comcast because I had it working.

I switched to Verizon then switched back. Now I can't find it. I will have to keep digging for it.

My Onkyo TX-NR5008 receiver has two HDMI out ports and it works perfectly with my blu-ray player (Oppo BDP-93) when I have both of my Sony TV's connected via HDMI Main & HDMI Sub, but switch over to my Cable input on the receiver, and it doesn't work. Continuous handshake after handshake, brief moments of video/audio and then black screen, handshake, etc. Does anyone know if the Motorola DCH6416 might not permit HDMI output if it detects two displays as being hooked up at the end of the chain?

The only way I can get at least the main TV working is to leave the second TV turned off. My second choice, of course, is to connect the second TV via component, but I'd rather see if I can salvage the HDMI route first. I have tried the component route, however, and it does work fine. I've also tried a different HDMI cable, no change. From the symptoms, it seems to me that it's probably not an HDMI cable issue.

Thanks folks.

My Onkyo TX-NR5008 receiver has two HDMI out ports and it works perfectly with my blu-ray player (Oppo BDP-93) when I have both of my Sony TV's connected via HDMI Main & HDMI Sub, but switch over to my Cable input on the receiver, and it doesn't work. Continuous handshake after handshake, brief moments of video/audio and then black screen, handshake, etc. Does anyone know if the Motorola DCH6416 might not permit HDMI output if it detects two displays as being hooked up at the end of the chain?
Motorola only allows 2 devices in the chain, and the TV counts as one. So all you can do is have the HDMI go straight from the STB to the receiver and then straight from the receiver to one TV. It sucks, but it's a known limitation of how Motorola has set up the HDMI protection.

Interesting -- that would also tend to explain why my Google TV box wouldn't work. Really pathetic and unnecessary design.

I could probably just run the cable box via component + optical to my receiver, and handle it that way I suppose. The receiver is perfectly happy deinterlacing component input and then outputting 1080p over HDMI.

Do you think a very short component video run to my receiver, say, on a 3 foot high-quality component cable will yield the same quality as my existing HDMI connection? I'm mainly interested in the quality of the transport from the Motorola to my receiver, that's what my question chiefly pertains to.

Do you think a very short component video run to my receiver, say, on a 3 foot high-quality component cable will yield the same quality as my existing HDMI connection? I'm mainly interested in the quality of the transport from the Motorola to my receiver, that's what my question chiefly pertains to.
Yeah, the quality will be the same. The only concern would be if Motorola or Comcast starts using SOC (Selective Output Control) for stuff like Pay-Per-View...that would disable Component and only allow the signal to use HDMI. I haven't heard of Comcast doing this, but some companies have started using it.

There is now a step-by-step guide with screenshots on how to upgrade the hard drive of any Motorola DCT/DCH (and probably DCX, though that hasn't been confirmed) DVR cable box to 1 TB.

See this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=20396028&postcount=201) post in the DCT6412 Hard Drive Upgrade? (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=496586&page=7) thread.

FOR THE DCX boxes just pull the drive out then install larger drive, it will format by itself. I use Western Digital WD10EVVS .made to run 24/7 or you can use seagate pipeline

FOR THE DCX boxes just pull the drive out then install larger drive, it will format by itself. I use Western Digital WD10EVVS .made to run 24/7 or you can use seagate pipeline

Thanks for the info! I've just now posted that in the DVR hard drive upgrade thread. hopefully that'll save some people time applying an unneeded hard drive image to their 1 TB drive!

Question: Do you know if the DCX cable DVR's are capable of handling drives greater than 1 TB? I'm wondering how it would behave if someone tossed in a 2 TB hard drive (my guess is that it would refuse to even format it, leaving the person with only 1 option: applying the 1 TB hard drive image just like users of DCT and DCH boxes). I'm also guessing that getting it to work with a 3 TB drive would be well out of the question (but one can dream).

1 tb limit

1 tb limit
Thanks! So if someone wanted to use a 1.5 TB hard drive, they'd just have to run through the same steps as DCT and DCH users use to apply the 1.0 TB image to their larger-than 1 TB hard drive...and they'd also have to jumper the drive to switch it from 6 Gb/s to 3 Gb/s mode (if it is a 6 Gb/s model), otherwise the drive won't be recognized.

Using the Motorola DCH6416 with Onkyo RC 280 and all works well with HDMI. However, is there a way to get analog audio out to the receiver at the same time? Trying to get the audio from the music channels to my "all house" sound setup.

I've tried but no luck. I can't seem to get any audio out of the analog out from the cable box, even if I disconnect the HDMI. Any suggestions?

Thanks

There's a problem somewhere. I got audio out on HDMI, optical, and R/L analog, all at the same time, on mine. Now, I get all those at the same time on my DCX 3400. The only audio shutoff I know of is in the service menu. If you select DVI, but use HDMI, you will get no audio on the HDMI. Perhaps there is something in your AVR that needs to be selected, to allow it to take the analog audio.

Thank you. I exchanged it for the 3400 and all is well. Tech said something wrong with the box. I appreciate your trying to help!

Forgive me if this was already covered in this thread somewhere. I looked through the posts for some time but couldnt find it addressed. I have a DCT3416-I with a Yamaha RX-V371. It is connected via HDMI running from the Motorola box to the AVR, and from the AVR to my TV.

I have the Motorola box audio out set to "Pass Through", but it keeps defaulting back to Auto causing only PCM audio to be passed to the AVR instead of Dolby Digital Audio when I'm watching TV. I've been able to replicate the problem. Essentially any time the receiver is turned on before or at the same time as the Motorola box, the box goes back to audio out setting of "Auto" and I have to power down the box, hit menu and update it again in the Additional HDMI settings to get Dolby Digital back again. Leaving the Motorola on all the time doesn't fix this since it appears to be a handshake and timing issue of some sort that happens every time the AVR switches on.

Does anyone know how to prevent this or work around this aside from adding a toslink cable into the mix, assuming that will even cure the problem. I would like to keep everything running via HDMI. I have a Harmony Remote so one idea is to introduce a delay after the Motorola turns on and before the AVR turns on. I was able to duplicate this manually by waiting about 3 seconds between them but not sure if this was just luck. Other option might be to just leave the AVR on all the time, which is not ideal either.

Just wanted to check if anyone else has had this problem and knew of a fix or perhaps if the newer DCX3400 boxes no longer have this issue. A final option is to return my receiver and get a different brand if this is something specific between Yamaha and Motorola. Thanks for any help in advance.

^^^ There should be an option for "HDMI control" on either your receiver or your TV, or both. You need to turn this option off, probably on all devices.

The other workaround is running a toslink or digital audio cable from the cable box to your receiver, and then a HDMI cable from your cable box directly to the TV.

Thanks for your reply. I actually had HDMI control set to off, but just for the heck of it, I turned it back on and that remedied the problem. My Motorola box now retains both the Audio settings and the 4:3 override settings whenever I shut the AVR on or off. Thanks.

Im having a problem with my recordings

Some times it stops/freezes while playing and i can't go forward only backwards , so i end up not finishing what im watching & just delete it

This doesnt happen on every recording just some , but is getting annoying

Anybody else have this problem?

^^^It's rare, but I do get spurts where I'll have problems of that sort for a few days. Try having the provider reset the box.

When it freezes like that, stop playback, switch to a live broadcast for a second, then go back to watching the recording again. It may be necessary to reboot the box to get that to work, if it does work.

I have a Motorola DCX 3400 and am having problems with the color space. I have a Pioneer KRP-500M plasma and have the TV and cable box hooked up to a receiver via HDMI. To get the best picture quality I want to use RGB 16-235 color space. I have set all my devices to use this. I went into the options on the cable box and set it to output RGB but sometimes when I switch sources and come back to the cable box or even turn the TV off and back on then the cable box switches back to YPPB or whatever (not RGB) so my picture is all pink. I don't know why the cable box is switching color spaces automatically. So, what I end up having to do is go into the TV settings and change the color space every time I swap sources such as TV to PS3 etc. I never turn the cable box off so I would think it would hold the setting I have set it to. I do use a Harmony remote but like I said I do not turn the cable box off. Maybe the remote is sending some kind of signal to the box that is resetting something I don't know. Anyone have any help for this? It is really annoying having to change the setting manually every time I want to swap sources.

You probably have "HDMI control" set to "on" on your receiver or TV. Every time you turn the receiver or TV on they do a HDMI handshake and that's likely resetting the color space on your cable box.

I had to set HDMI control to "off" on all my devices to get them to play together nicely.

You probably have "HDMI control" set to "on" on your receiver or TV. Every time you turn the receiver or TV on they do a HDMI handshake and that's likely resetting the color space on your cable box.

I had to set HDMI control to "off" on all my devices to get them to play together nicely.

I checked everything last night and it still rest the color space when I turned everything off and then back on. I might have to try connecting the cable box directly to the TV to see if it stops and if it is the receiver that is causing issues. It is kind of a pain to get back behind the equipment to do this though :(

Did you figure out how to turn off HDMI control on both your receiver and your TV?

Did you figure out how to turn off HDMI control on both your receiver and your TV?

Yes I checked both and still no luck.

Try switching out the cable box.

If that doesn't work, you'll have to try your work-around. Run a HDMI cable from the cable box to the TV, and an optical or digital cable from the cable box to the receiver. If that doesn't work, the only other thing I can think of is the dreaded component video cables instead of HDMI.

Try switching out the cable box.

If that doesn't work, you'll have to try your work-around. Run a HDMI cable from the cable box to the TV, and an optical or digital cable from the cable box to the receiver. If that doesn't work, the only other thing I can think of is the dreaded component video cables instead of HDMI.

Thanks for all the help Herman! The box I have is a new box. My old box did the same thing so I upgraded hoping that it was the cable box and it wasn't. I guess when I get back in town I will have to try the receiver bypass work around. I use a Harmony remote for my system and someone mentioned that changing the order the devices turn on fixed their problem but I tried that and it didn't work. The DVR is never turned off but do you think when I turn everything on that the TV or receiver should be turned on first? I might have to increase the delay between these devices turning on as well because right now they turn on at almost the same time so I don't have to wait for the delay ;)

I have a Motorola DCT6412 w/ Comcast iGuide software. It works well except for a glitch we've been having when a second recording starts when a first recording is already underway.

Often -- but not always -- the second program won't record. It shows up on the DVR as a one-minute recording (although if you play it, nothing plays) with the message that the recording was interrupted.

A minute before the second recording kicks in, I get a dialog box with two choices: a) switch channels to record, or b) cancel recording. If I'm there, I select a), and it records correctly. But the highlighted default is b), so if I'm not there, maybe this is what it selects?

I'm pretty sure we experience this problem even if we make sure the DVR box is turned off when we leave the house. But I can sometimes avoid the problem if I set the channels so the DVR won't have to change channels.

We've seen the failure most often when the second recording starts one minute after the first (ABC's "Castle," for example, which starts at 9:01 Central most weeks). But we've also seen it with two shows scheduled to start recording simultaneously. One program records fine, the other fails.

Is there any workaround for this? Can the default be changed so it changes channels by default?

I have Comcast service in St. Paul, Minn. It's a DCT6412 (Phase II, I think), firmware 16.77, software 78.53 - A28p0-4.1005.r-8

^^^ Call Comcast and get them to reset your cable box.

Herman I ran an HDMI cable directly from the cable box to the TV and it is still resetting the color space on the cable box. I don't know what the deal is but it is very frustrating. My old box (different model) would also change but it would sometimes go a long period of time before resetting the settings. I just get tired of changing my TV settings every time I change inputs :(

^^^Are you sure you have HDMI control, or whatever it might be called, on your TV to "OFF"?

^^^Are you sure you have HDMI control, or whatever it might be called, on your TV to "OFF"?

I will try and find the TV manual to make sure I have it turned off but I looked through every possible menu on the TV and only found one screen dealing with the control which I think is called "KuroLink". I set it to NO for all the options related to this. I will post a pic later on.