The external HDD is not showing up in the diagnostics screen either.

If the drive isn't recognized in diags, that explains why you can't play the recordings.

Refresh me, what type of eSATA drive do you have again? Any possibility that the connector has come loose?

Is the bad CRC count the number in the () on the # Fail Boots under HDD Status?
If so, the internal drive lists 1 (3735928559)

This value should be the # of CRC errors seen during that boot cycle when communicating with the HDD (internal HDD in this case). This value is accurate in the TDC778X build that was just released, but after investigation, it always is wrong in the new TDC779X build. If you convert the number to hex, you'll see it is uninitialized.

lindend

Re posting 495, items 2 and 3

2-

Time bar continues to either freeze or jump around during ff's and fast reverses. The ff and fr picture stuttering is also evident every time there is a jump problem.

3-
I've tried simultaneous recording of SD and HD shows and the jump back (and forward)
is only evident on the HD content.

In other tests not involving simultaneous recordings of the same shows, SD seems to work fine, but the HD playback continues to act up on ff's and fr's.

Recently I've been talking with other 778x and 779x users on our MediaCom system and they are having the same problems. MediaCom tech support is clueless. Their solution to eveything is to have another unneeded service call. But that's just going to waste money and not going to help this situation.

Any hope on the horizon?

Thanks for the help.

Well my assumption is that it may be a while for Pace to release an update to address this since they have just released an update.

That said, it would be a week or so after the fix is released that it would start to roll out to customers.

If the drive isn't recognized in diags, that explains why you can't play the recordings.

Refresh me, what type of eSATA drive do you have again? Any possibility that the connector has come loose?


The connector is fine. I powered everything off and the drive turns off until I plug in the PACE DVR. The first boot after upgrade must have worked because the MyDVR list showed the programs until I rebooted again. But they wouldn't play and the diag contents list showed nothing.

I have two external HDD for the PACE. One is a Vantec enclosure with Seagate 500GB HDD and the other is the Free Agent Pro 500Gb with firmware upgrade. I swiched to the Free Agent to try out the new firmware after you reported less CRC errors and it has been working fine for months. It has always been deteced on power-up (even when Mediacom had SATA disabled, then it wouldn't work though).



This value should be the # of CRC errors seen during that boot cycle when communicating with the HDD (internal HDD in this case). This value is accurate in the TDC778X build that was just released, but after investigation, it always is wrong in the new TDC779X build. If you convert the number to hex, you'll see it is uninitialized.

Will the value change if a CRC error happens? Or is it useless for the 779x model?

The first boot after upgrade must have worked because the MyDVR list showed the programs until I rebooted again. But they wouldn't play and the diag contents list showed nothing.

Not necessarily. Sometimes TVG will show recordings from its database even though they aren't present on the HDD.



I have two external HDD for the PACE.

Can you please try the Vantec and see if its properly detected?


Will the value change if a CRC error happens? Or is it useless for the 779x model?

The value will always be the same (i.e. uninitialized) in this release of the 779 firmware. We've fixed it today based on your report, but unfortunately, you won't be able to use it to determine if your eSATA drive is generating errors.

Note: this is diagnostics info only. It doesn't affect any DVR operations (i.e. play, record or trick operations).

Can you please try the Vantec and see if its properly detected?

The Vantec NST-360SU-BK with Seagate 500gb external HDD detects and works. But I want to watch those 26 shows on the Seagate Free Agent Pro. Can I drive image the Free Agent 500Gb to the Vantec/500Gb and recover the shows?

Why does this new version not allow the drive I have been using for months not to work any longer?



Note: this is diagnostics info only. It doesn't affect any DVR operations (i.e. play, record or trick operations). I assume you put this comment here for others? It is obvious to me.

The CRC count not working on the 779X is disapointing because I wanted to corralate any furture bug reports with CRC counts to make sure external HDD is not the source of the issue. And with Mediacom who know if I will see another update?

Items fixed/updated in 10.60 that I didn't see in the release notes:
1) Sleep mode appears to work on Mediacom systems now :) My sleep count hasn't updated in months and started to update again along with the boxes around the display on pressing power button.
2) The external HDD is put to sleep quicker after entering standby mode :)
3) The contents page shows which HDD the show was recorded to.
4) Sleep mode even appears to work when the guide needs to be populated???? How does the DVR save guide information if the HDDs are sleeping?

Since I went from 9.58 to 10.60 can I expect that my periodic lost recording issue to disappear?

Also will this fix my Mediacom VOD failures that required me to reboot the PACE DVR sometimes? (message on screen would tell me to call Mediacom who would tell me to reboot the DVR).

4) Sleep mode even appears to work when the guide needs to be populated???? How does the DVR save guide information if the HDDs are sleeping?

Since I went from 9.58 to 10.60 can I expect that my periodic lost recording issue to disappear?

Also will this fix my Mediacom VOD failures that required me to reboot the PACE DVR sometimes? (message on screen would tell me to call Mediacom who would tell me to reboot the DVR).

Guide info is stored in RAM for the most part. Thats why you lose all guide info when you unplug the box.

We haven't had any lost recordings during the 2 week test period, but we also didn't have an external drive hooked up either.

I'm just speculating here but the VOD issue could have been related to the cablecard going into an invalid state.

I would be interested in any other issues you experience with this new software build as well.

Why does this new version not allow the drive I have been using for months not to work any longer?

Not sure, this is not expected (and we test eSATA drives extensively before release). We're investigating but I don't have answers right now.


I assume you put this comment here for others? It is obvious to me.

Correct. It may not be obvious to non-programmers.

The CRC count not working on the 779X is disapointing because I wanted to corralate any furture bug reports with CRC counts to make sure external HDD is not the source of the issue.

Sorry, I share your frustration on this one. :(

Items fixed/updated in 10.60 that I didn't see in the release notes:
1) Sleep mode appears to work on Mediacom systems now :) My sleep count hasn't updated in months and started to update again along with the boxes around the display on pressing power button.

There are improvements in this area, but we do not consider the issue resolved in this release. I will add this info to the notes.


3) The contents page shows which HDD the show was recorded to.

Yes, this is new. I will update the release notes with this info.

Since I went from 9.58 to 10.60 can I expect that my periodic lost recording issue to disappear?

There are some additional improvements in this area also.

Also will this fix my Mediacom VOD failures that required me to reboot the PACE DVR sometimes? (message on screen would tell me to call Mediacom who would tell me to reboot the DVR).

Yes, this should be fixed.

I would be interested in any other issues you experience with this new software build as well.

New problem.

Put the box in to standby (with spin down) and when i turned it on, the box started on channel 1, the VOD channel. Trying to press Tuner Swap produces the following error:

UNABLE TO PROCESS REQUEST
A service problem has been detected. Please contact
Customer Service at 800-332-0245. Code NH.

The box has a return arrow on the bottom left corner that is highlighed yellow. Pressing enter doesn't remove the message box. You have to hit exit.

Changing to a different channel works but trying to swapping tuners still produces the above error message.

Dashboard reports all status green

OOB --- --- --- -2.5 75250
IB1 N/A N/A N/A -5.4 651000
IB2 811 YES NO -9.0 735000

Placing unit into standby again cleared the issue.

New problem... Customer Service at 800-332-0245. Code NH.

Couple of questions:

1. Do you know what VOD system your local Mediacomm cable provider uses (i.e. is it CCOR/Arris)?

2. Do you know if guide data for all channels had loaded when the problem occurrred (i.e. did it happen relatively recently after booting)?

NH means invalid content. Basically, the guide is trying to play content from the HDD when none has been recorded (which isn't surprising given that it is a VOD channel). Besides going in/out of standby, you can get out of that situation by forcing the TV Guide to use the other tuner to do a linear recording. Not pretty I know, but that's the only way to get the guide out of this state.

Couple of questions:

1. Do you know what VOD system your local Mediacomm cable provider uses (i.e. is it CCOR/Arris)?


That site is Concurrent VOD.

Couple of questions:

2. Do you know if guide data for all channels had loaded when the problem occurrred (i.e. did it happen relatively recently after booting)?


No, DVR had not rebooted for 12-13 hours (when I hooked up the Vantec SATA drive at lunch.) The guide data was fine. Channel 1 only shows VOD on the Guide listings.

I had purchased a tivo dvr expander for my pace box and it failed(I think). my pace box would not boot up with it attached and after switching pace boxes it still would not boot up.
I am now looking at an Apricorn dvr expander 1tb esata drive. Do you have any knowledge of how they might work?
I did a search for pace and apricorn here and came up with nothing, so I am thinking it hasn't been addressed yet.
Dale

I had purchased a tivo dvr expander for my pace box and it failed(I think). my pace box would not boot up with it attached and after switching pace boxes it still would not boot up.
I am now looking at an Apricorn dvr expander 1tb esata drive. Do you have any knowledge of how they might work?
I did a search for pace and apricorn here and came up with nothing, so I am thinking it hasn't been addressed yet.
Dale

Did you let it try to boot up for like an hour? Maybe it was doing a file system recovery? You could try to format (deleting the partions is enough) the drive on a PC and see if when the DVR sets it up again and it starts working.

I am now looking at an Apricorn dvr expander 1tb esata drive. Do you have any knowledge of how they might work?

Dale

Excellent find! Here's the website:
http://www.apricorn.com/product_detail.php?type=family&id=37

Dale,

I had purchased a tivo dvr expander for my pace box and it failed(I think). my pace box would not boot up with it attached and after switching pace boxes it still would not boot up.

Who is your cable provider and do you know what firmware release you're using?

I have two external HDD for the PACE. One is a Vantec enclosure with Seagate 500GB HDD and the other is the Free Agent Pro 500Gb with firmware upgrade. I swiched to the Free Agent to try out the new firmware after you reported less CRC errors and it has been working fine for months. It has always been deteced on power-up (even when Mediacom had SATA disabled, then it wouldn't work though).

We tried a Free Agent Pro 500Gb on that firmware release and it worked without incident (albiet CRC errors still were present). So this issue isn't a matter of the release not being compatible with that drive.

Did you let it try to boot up for like an hour? Maybe it was doing a file system recovery? You could try to format (deleting the partions is enough) the drive on a PC and see if when the DVR sets it up again and it starts working.

I can't remember if it was an hour but it was a long time on the original pacebox. It did the same thing on the second pace box. while it was connected the pace box would not come on. when I disconnected it the pace box performed flawlessly.
I tried to connect it to my pc but I could not get it to recognize the drive was even connected. computer management did not show it at all.

Dale,



Who is your cable provider and do you know what firmware release you're using?

the company is service electric in birdsboro pa.
I don't know the firmware but can tell you that I had the drive connected and working for about 3-4 months on the original pacebox. There were a few glitches along the way but basically it was performing well.
I had gotten the tivo drive expander at best buy and it was the only one on the shelf. I have not seen them there since, so i wonder sometimes if it was a return. That may or may not have an influence.

I tried to connect it to my pc but I could not get it to recognize the drive was even connected. computer management did not show it at all.

If the box is hanging trying to boot with the eSATA drive connected, it means the firmware is unable to properly mount it. Is this a combo drive or just an eSATA drive? How big is it?

If the box is hanging trying to boot with the eSATA drive connected, it means the firmware is unable to properly mount it. Is this a combo drive or just an eSATA drive? How big is it?

it is a 500 gig esata only drive. Again it worked fine for a few months, then quit. it was after that that I changed boxes. i am reasonably certain that the drive failed given my desktops inability to mount the drive. I used an internal to external cable and hooked it directly to the motherboard and the computer couldn't see it at all.

what I would like to find out is if the Apricorn xpander hard drives will work, or at least if anyone has tried them. they come in 500, 750 and 1 tb sizes, and bigger is better in hard drives. the website says that it is compatible with Scientific america cable boxes. is that good or bad for me.

it means the firmware is unable to properly mount it.

this afternoon I will get the firmware version and post it.

Here are the numbers of my current pacebox
sw version (dena) 10.61
hw version 0x00000004
pace reference
001-045-001-35-2-15-2-1
tvg version 240
seachange version 4_85

this is probably too much information but ....
With this can you tell if the Apricorn xpander stands a chance of working?
I am considering the 750 gig version. I don't want to buy something that won't work if I can possibly avoid it.

With this can you tell if the Apricorn xpander stands a chance of working?

Sorry, since we haven't tested with that drive, I can't cofirm/deny that it will work. What I can say is you have the very latest firmware version, so you're not missing any fixes. Maybe someone else on the board has experience with that drive?

I would be interested in any other issues you experience with this new software build as well.

Bug.

Early full message. Got a full page message about DVR being full and FF/RR service are going to be disabled until I delete some shows.

The DVR page shows the 100% full. (I don't believe last time I got this error the DVR listing page showed 100% full).

I only have 5 shows recorded and 2 are SD shows. They are all on the external HDD.

In the contents list there is a blank show listing for for what I assume is the the channel for the show that failed to record for a 3:39 length of SD.

I delete 1 SD show, that is 1 hour in length, and now the DVR listing screen shows 6% Full.

Then after a reboot the DVR listing screen shows 4% Full (I assume that blank name recording got cleaned up).

Bug.

Early full message. Got a full page message about DVR being full and FF/RR service are going to be disabled until I delete some shows.


This is a known issue currently. TV-Guide has "fixed" it in the last two guide updates, but as you can tell it hasn't been fully addressed yet.

Bill,

Hey Linden,
Is there any chance of a black version of the 778x being released that would integrate with some home theater stacks better and if not - how about being able to buy a replacement faceplate that I could repaint black (yes I know the buttons would still be silver)? The pace really does stick out like a sore thumb in my setup because of the silver color.

Take a look at the press release below, I think you'll be happy with this info. ;)

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080518/20080518005041.html?.v=1

Awesome! So what do you know about Armstrong rolling out these new ones Linden?

Bill

Awesome! So what do you know about Armstrong rolling out these new ones Linden?
Bill

Bill,

I think you know I can't comment publicly or via PM on when a given cable provider will roll out a product. What I will do is create a thread and keep everyone updated on announcements and when firmware releases etc. are available for these new boxes.

How about some pictures of the new models then? ;)

How about some pictures of the new models then? ;)

Let me see what I can do, but it may not happen right away. I promise I won't forgot though.

lindend,

We haven't seen anything for some time so we wanted to ask if there's any update on the ff and fr problems on the 778x? It's driving us nuts when we record and view HD content.

I don't know the in's and out's of how the tricks are executed, but I did have an idea. You've probably already considered it, but what the ...

You indicated that the problem relates, at least in part, to tracking the faulty time code embedded in the incoming cable content. Let's also assume that it's unlikely that the situation will change in the near future with the cable companies HD feeds.

If this is the situation, then maybe there might be another approach to controlling the tricks that hasn't been tried yet.

Does the 778x lay down some form of control track each time it records a show, a track that is independent of the faulty time code? Presuming there is, is there a component in that track that might be used to manage the ff and fr tricks? If so, perhaps this might be a key to formulating a fix that might be downloadable.

Hey, just an off-the-wall thought, and even if it won't work, perhaps it might kick up some other ideas about how to approach the problem. But right now I'm grasping for any possible solution.

Thanks again.

Bill,

How about some pictures of the new models then? ;)

Some pics are in these two EngadgetHD articles:

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/18/pace-unveils-new-mpeg-4-cable-stb/
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/20/up-close-and-personal-with-the-new-pace-hd-stbs/

We haven't seen anything for some time so we wanted to ask if there's any update on the ff and fr problems on the 778x?

The only update I have is we are actively debugging the issue. The moment a meaningful update is available, I will post here since I know this is aggravating a number of you.

Does the 778x lay down some form of control track each time it records a show, a track that is independent of the faulty time code?

This really isn't feasible. The issues lie in the MPEG content so additional metadata isn't going to help (the amount of data we're talking about is immense). Thanks for the suggestion though.

Bill,



Some pics are in these two EngadgetHD articles:

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/18/pace-unveils-new-mpeg-4-cable-stb/
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/20/up-close-and-personal-with-the-new-pace-hd-stbs/


Thanks Linden - the Aspen looks pretty nice - I hope Armstrong implements it - however I'm not so sure I like the idea of you or the cable guy saying "How's your Aspen Bill?" :D

Hi
I just found this on the apricorn website:

"The DVR Xpander drive only works with the Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 8300 series (8300 HD, 8300 MR, and 8300 HD-MR Digital Video Recorders). It works with many companies/8300HD boxes, but not all. It depends primarily on which software is running on your box. Cable boxes that run the SARA software are fully compatible; not all boxes that run the PASSPORT software will be fully compatible. For example all Cox cable subscribers with the 8300HD are fully compatible. To check which software version of SARA software is on your box:
Go into Diagnostic Mode. There are two ways to enter the Diagnostic Mode:
Press and hold the Select button on the front of the unit until the Mail light starts to flash, then press the INFO button.
Press and hold the Pause button on the remote until the Mail light starts to flash (around 10-15 seconds), then press the Page Up (-) button.
If you are running PASSPORT software, you will notice the PASSPORT screen when the box boots. (Remove the power cable, wait 30 seconds, plug the power cable back in and turn on the power switch.)"

I am guessing that this means that it won't work with pace cableboxes. Linden, Is that the software that pace uses? or is it compatible?

To anyone:

Is there anyone reading this thread that is sucessfully using an external sata hard drive with their pace box? if so what drive is it and are you using the 779tx?

Dale

I used a 500gb Cavalry eSata external drive successfully with my old Pace 775 box - and if memory serves me correctly - also with my Pace 778 box (I honestly can't remember for sure if I tried it or not after I swapped out my 775 for a 778 - but I think I did). I discontinued using it because it was too noisy for the way my viewing area is set up.

I've had a request (from BillKen) for discrete codes to enable/disable closed captions (i.e. eliminate the need to go into standby to access Pace User Settings). I would like to find out how many people would find this useful. If so, anyone have suggestions for the hex values you'd like to see used?

Also, if there are other discrete remote codes that you might find useful, please post your suggestions.

Its theoretically possible to swap out the internal drive for a larger drive. However, as documented in the 775 thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=659367), not only would this void the warranty, but there are also some potential file system integrity issues with larger drives (basically, anything larger than 160GB isn't formatted correctly if you use the internal connector).

So to net this (swapped out internal drives) out, this is an untested configuration that may appear to work, but could result in data loss and other oddities.
Any progress on this issue? What version of firmware would I look for to find out if the issue has been resolved?

Much better for you to just offer such a unit through cable providers than to have users tempted to do the indicated steps - and thus, as you say, run into warranty issues.

I do not know why the hardware offered is so behind the times. I do not know anyone who would be satisfied with the amount of recording one can do with the stock 160 GB of storage -- ridiculously small, IMHO.

I'm not sure what you mean by "discrete codes" or "hex values," but will add a vote for a quick way to turn on and off closed captions while viewing.

I've had a request (from BillKen) for discrete codes to enable/disable closed captions (i.e. eliminate the need to go into standby to access Pace User Settings). I would like to find out how many people would find this useful. If so, anyone have suggestions for the hex values you'd like to see used?

Also, if there are other discrete remote codes that you might find useful, please post your suggestions.

Being the lazy American that I am - I'd like discrete codes for darn near every menu option that's only accessible via the standby / panel deal really.

But having a CC on/off discrete would be a fantastic first step. Thanks for considering it Linden.

Being the lazy American that I am - I'd like discrete codes for darn near every menu option that's only accessible via the standby / panel deal really.

I know you'd like a discrete code for everything Bill. :D

However, do you have a top 5 list of User Settings discrete codes you'd like to see added?

I know you'd like a discrete code for everything Bill. :D

However, do you have a top 5 list of User Settings discrete codes you'd like to see added?

Well since there are really only 5 standby/menu settings (I'm assuming you don't want to add in the configuration settings).

1) Close Captions on/off (would be nice to be able to toggle between "Viewer" and "Program" also)
2) TV Capability (1080i or 720p)
3) Auto Pillarbox on/off
4) Front Panel Settings dim/bright
5) TV Aspect Ratio 16:9/4:3

In that order. Or do you mean additional menu choices - like CC options/colors etc?

3) Auto Pillarbox on/off
4) Front Panel Settings dim/bright
5) TV Aspect Ratio 16:9/4:3

Aren't these set it and forget it type of things? Do we really need a discrete code for this?

Any progress on this issue? What version of firmware would I look for to find out if the issue has been resolved?

There have been no firmware updates to address this issue. Our priority has been to address issues on tested/supported configurations first (i.e. like the problem that some users have with trick modes ending up in the wrong spot or the CRC info in diags being incorrect on the latest 779 firmware release).

If/when a fix is available, the release note thread will be updated with the details.

Tried recording something last night by hitting the record during a show and got the system message that it could not process my request and if I continued to get that messgae to contact support. I shut down the box, then pulled the plug. After waiting a minute I put power back to the 778. It started the boot process withthe 4 dashes on the display and after a minute or so the power button went to green (from red) but nothing else. I waited but still nothing. Hitting th epower button did nothing. The box just stopped responding. I'm had this box about 2-3 months and it was new when I got it (versus being recycled). Oh well.... I guess I have to swap it again and lose another batch of recordings. I'm not having a good track record with the Pace boxes.

Aren't these set it and forget it type of things? Do we really need a discrete code for this?
Yes they are Linden - but beyond CC and possibly 720p/1080i - what other discrete settings could be enabled that would really be all that useful? I'm not really all that sure myself.

I would be interested in any other issues you experience with this new software build as well.


Issues with the new software:

1) Every time the box is woke up from standby (squarebox of "-" around display) by pressing power button on the remote, both tuners are set to channel '1' which is the VOD channel. If a scheduled recording wakes up the box this does not happen. If the box happens to be not sleeping when power button is pressed the previous channels are restored. If the box is reboot from diag menu previous channels are restored.

2) VOD refused to work today and had a message box with the providers customer service number to call. Rebooting the box restored VOD. So the VOD issues persist with the lateset software.

3) This is a old issue but still exists on the new software. When the box is removed from standby mode due to a scheduled recording, no sound is output on the HDMI connection until some button on the remote is pressed (user activity?).

3) This is a old issue but still exists on the new software. When the box is removed from standby mode due to a scheduled recording, no sound is output on the HDMI connection until some button on the remote is pressed (user activity?).

This is how TVG is designed. I'm guessing its done so if the box comes out of standby in the middle of the night, it doesn't wake everyone in the house up.

hi there, i have an issue on my hands. I'm trying to get the dc757x to hook up to my westinghouse 32h240s via hdmi, but it won't work. the component cables work, however i cannot get the hdmi to display a signal. help is much appreciated, let me know if i need to provide more info.
Thanks!

hi there, i have an issue on my hands. I'm trying to get the dc757x to hook up to my westinghouse 32h240s via hdmi, but it won't work. the component cables work, however i cannot get the hdmi to display a signal. help is much appreciated, let me know if i need to provide more info.
Thanks!

Please post the details from the HDMI diagnostics page (its under the interface status page (21)) when the Westinghouse is connected via HDMI.

Issues with the new software:

1) Every time the box is woke up from standby (squarebox of "-" around display) by pressing power button on the remote, both tuners are set to channel '1' which is the VOD channel. If a scheduled recording wakes up the box this does not happen. If the box happens to be not sleeping when power button is pressed the previous channels are restored. If the box is reboot from diag menu previous channels are restored.

2) VOD refused to work today and had a message box with the providers customer service number to call. Rebooting the box restored VOD. So the VOD issues persist with the lateset software.


Lindend, Have you been able to reproduce item 1?

I have more information about item 1. If your last channel on tuner 1 has a show that exceeds your current rating limit and needs a Unlock code, then the last channel is maintained after standby resume by remote control and you are presented with the window to enter the code.

Lindend, Have you been able to reproduce item 1?

No, but there is something else that needs to be investigated. The cable headend (DAC) can also control the turn on channel (i.e. 1 in your case). Its it possible that Mediacom in your area have defined channel 1 (VOD) to be the turn on channel rather than the last tuned channel?

No, but there is something else that needs to be investigated. The cable headend (DAC) can also control the turn on channel (i.e. 1 in your case). Its it possible that Mediacom in your area have defined channel 1 (VOD) to be the turn on channel rather than the last tuned channel?

If that was the case, it would seem that there would be an issue with how PACE handles that setting. Rebooting uses last channel, normal standby-resume uses last channel, deep sleep standby-resume uses HE setting?

Seems inconsistant.

Mediacom does not have a turn on channel in that area.

If that was the case, it would seem that there would be an issue with how PACE handles that setting. Rebooting uses last channel, normal standby-resume uses last channel,

The behavior as you describe it would indicate that the DAC does not have a turn on channel and toadtaste has confirmed that.

We're investigating.

Please post the details from the HDMI diagnostics page (its under the interface status page (21)) when the Westinghouse is connected via HDMI.

i'm afraid i don't know what you mean, do you have step by step instructions for me? sorry for the trouble.

edit: I found the instructions for how to access the PACE User Settings, however i do not see an option for "interface status". thanks again

i'm afraid i don't know what you mean, do you have step by step instructions for me? sorry for the trouble.

edit: I found the instructions for how to access the PACE User Settings, however i do not see an option for "interface status". thanks again

Not user settings, but diagnostics. Press "power off" followed by "select" (or "ok"). Then if you see the Dash board you have to press the left arrow. Type "2" "1" on the remote press "select" then you will see HDMI as a selection.

The page is called "HDMI STATUS".

Note that there are more items on the page if you press "page +/-".

Lindend,

Very nice defrag display in the new firmware. I am impressed! I like the history from the previous run being shown and the current status.

On another note, you said that you were still working on the HDD spindown and that this 10.60 wouldn't be a complete fix. My external SATA spins down like clock work with this new version and the unit appears to go to sleep at the same time. On the old 9.58 even when the HDD would spindown the unit didn't wake up with the square box. My "# STANDBY SPINDOWNS" is 1066 now. I would say my issue with spindown must be fixed now.

Not user settings, but diagnostics. Press "power off" followed by "select" (or "ok"). Then if you see the Dash board you have to press the left arrow. Type "2" "1" on the remote press "select" then you will see HDMI as a selection.

The page is called "HDMI STATUS".

Note that there are more item on the page if you press "page +/-".

ok, i found it, but it says "HDMI Device not Connected". it is connected from the cable box to the tv, i have tried both of my tvs hdmi inputs, and two cables (same brand though).

ok, i found it, but it says "HDMI Device not Connected". it is connected from the cable box to the tv, i have tried both of my tvs hdmi inputs, and two cables (same brand though).

I would just ask the obvious, have you tried your "westinghouse 32h240s" HDMI input with another device? DVD, etc.

For me when I am on that screen and unplug the HDMI connection it goes to not connected, then reattaching the HDMI cable and it goes back to a full screen with all the HDMI parameters (even if the HDMI switch I am using is unplug from power. It seems like the PACE caches the HDMI information.)

If the HDMI ports on the tv works, it sounds like you got a bad DVR. Lindend may have other advice.

I would just ask the obvious, have you tried your "westinghouse 32h240s" HDMI input with another device? DVD, etc.

For me when I am on that screen and unplug the HDMI connection it goes to not connected, then reattaching the HDMI cable and it goes back to a full screen with all the HDMI parameters (even if the HDMI switch I am using is unplug from power. It seems like the PACE caches the HDMI information.)

If the HDMI ports on the tv works, it sounds like you got a bad DVR. Lindend may have other advice.

well, i have an upconvert dvd player on the way (which is why i have two hdmi cables)

i'll probably just call mediacom some day and see what happens.

My DVR menus looked different tonight, missing the DVR and VOD options.

When I press myDVR button it pops up a box that says DVR service is unavailable and gives a Mediacom phone number to call (1/2hour on hold before I gave up waiting on Mediacom).

-----------------------------------------------------
Dashboard shows DVR Status as POOR in red color.
Screen 22 DVR STATUS has:
Authorized Yes Enabled No

Drive
0 (system) 332MB 332MB (99%)
0 (media) 5MB 0MB (0%)
1 (media) 493GB 448GB(90%)
1 (gpfs) 4GB 4GB(99%)
0 (reserved) 2GB 2GB(100%)
-----------------------------------------------------
The internal 160GB drive seems to be missing. I have never seen that before.

23 HDD STATUS
TOTAL SIZE : 2GB
Drive number: 1/2

-----------------------------------------------------

UPDATE:
Rebooting the box restored HDD STATUS for Drive 1/2 to 158GB and The DVR funtion is working again.

ok, i found it, but it says "HDMI Device not Connected". it is connected from the cable box to the tv, i have tried both of my tvs hdmi inputs, and two cables (same brand though).

Couple things to check.

1. Do other devices work over HDMI to this display (WhatHappend already recommended this).

2. What HDMI cable are you using and how long is it? Certain displays don't work well with long (> 10M) cables.

Seems inconsistant.

We still have not replicated this as of yet. However, I searched through our bug database and turns out I've seen this problem before (although never in a release that made it to the public). The guide can get into a race condition if the HDD spin up takes too long. We put in a workaround that hides that problem in the EPG. Unfortunately, the fixes that ensure that the drive always spins down seem to have exposed another manifestation of this race condition.

I will keep everyone updated on the investigation as we find out more.

...the internet is a wonderful thing; now if I just had more time.

We just swapped our Motorola 6416 for the Pace TDC779X.

The Pace seems better--here is my update (three days use).

(1) The Pace 779X is much MUCH quieter (fan-wise) than the Motorola 6416

(2) The Pace's eSATA port has apparently been activated--we have ordered a 1TB eSATA drive from newegg--
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822101082
...the drive is on the UPS truck now and should arrive any minute

...now I read that the TDC779X will only recognized 750 GB? True?

(3) We have the Pace hooked up video-wise exactly the same way that the Moto was--(a) component out to the component in on a Sony receiver...the receiver's component outs are connected to an Epson HD 16x9 720p front projector; and (b) S-VHS out to the S-VHS in, on a 32 inch Sony 480i 4x3 CRT TV.

The Pace and the Motorola both treat the Epson projector nicely.

But the Sony 4x3 CRT TV does not like the Pace when the Pace (via S-VHS cable) sends it an HD-proportioned (16x9) signal in that the CRT TV shows the entire width of the image...but of course the images are skinnier than they should be. The Motorola, on the other hand, sent, via S-VHS, a signal that the 4x3 CRT Sony TV simply cropped.

(4) The channel guide, with the Pace, spans the entire width of the Epson-generated 1280 image; the Motorola only sent the Epson a channel guide that, I guess, was 640 wide.

Any and all suggestions are welcome and I will report back as to our eSATA experiment.

(2) The Pace's eSATA port has apparently been activated--we have ordered a 1TB eSATA drive from newegg--
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822101082
...the drive is on the UPS truck now and should arrive any minute

...now I read that the TDC779X will only recognized 750 GB? True?


TRUE (assuming it is the same as the 775 http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13227858#post13227858), it will only use 750GB of your drive with current firmware ).

Worse news is that the combo USB/ESATA chipsets some drives use cause CRC errors and may be unstable with the PACE DVR. Just a warning since your product lists both ports.

After three years of reliable service, the hard drive in my 6412 DVR went south, so my cable co. (Armstrong, Medina, OH) replaced the 6412 with a 778. Unfortunately, I got one with a noisy fan bearing, so I'm going to have to exchange it for one that's quiet. Meanwhile, I have it connected to a switched power strip so I can turn the unit off when not in use as the fan noise is just too annoying

It does seem like the HD picture quality is a little bit better than the 6412, and the remote response is a lot better. One small issue I've noticed so far is that my TV reports the aspect ratio of HD signal as being 4:3 even though they display normally as 16:9.

One small issue I've noticed so far is that my TV reports the aspect ratio of HD signal as being 4:3 even though they display normally as 16:9.

What firmware do you have in the 778? Lindend was this fixed 10.6X? It was an old bug from 9/07. I don't see it listed in the release notes.

Here is a link to the aspect issue: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11616613#post11616613

Search for "aspect" for other related posts.

I have spent the better part of an evening internetting this thread and others...I appreciate the posts and yet I think a bit of organization could be brought to this thread. I aim to contribute some myself (hopefully!).

There are (at least) two user manuals for the TDC779X that I have seen. Only one of these gives specific instructions on how to get into diagnostic mode.

The link is here:

http://www.alamedapt.com/cabletv/techsupport/tdc779x_manual.pdf

...the information is on page 56 of the .pdf file

...posting again later tonight with an update on our eSATA effort.

What firmware do you have in the 778? Lindend was this fixed 10.6X? It was an old bug from 9/07. I don't see it listed in the release notes.


The issue should be fixed in the 10.6x builds. For some reason, I don't see it listed in the release notes though.

What firmware do you have in the 778? Lindend was this fixed 10.6X? It was an old bug from 9/07. I don't see it listed in the release notes.

Here is a link to the aspect issue: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11616613#post11616613

Search for "aspect" for other related posts.
I exchanged the 778 for a quieter one today, and both have 9.02 firmware, so I guess Armstrong is way behind the eight ball on firmware updates. It doesn't affect the way the TV displays video, so no big deal.

We still have not replicated this as of yet. However, I searched through our bug database and turns out I've seen this problem before (although never in a release that made it to the public). The guide can get into a race condition if the HDD spin up takes too long. We put in a workaround that hides that problem in the EPG. Unfortunately, the fixes that ensure that the drive always spins down seem to have exposed another manifestation of this race condition.

I will keep everyone updated on the investigation as we find out more.

I think you are on to something. Today I noticed that my DVR had received a few messages from Mediacom and the external HDD was drawing 8-9 Watts, so I knew it wasn't in standby (spun down). I powered on the PACE and the animation was shown around the display like the drives should be spun down. The difference is that the previous channel was maintained instead of going to channel 1 VOD. So this supports your HDD taking too long to spin up theory. Since the drive was already spun up the DVR maintained the last channel.

This might not be related to the new firmware if you remember my previous FreeAgent Pro HDD didn't work with this FW, so I am using the Vantec with a Seagate drive. Maybe this external HDD takes longer to spin up then the FreeAgent Pro did. Also this 10.60 version goes to spin down mode reliably, so more chances to see the issue.

Is it normal for an incoming message to wake up the external HDD and have the DVR not send it the spin down command again?

Also, we had a power outage here a couple days ago and when the DVR started back up it didn't put the external HDD in spindown mode. The animation was seen on the DVR on the first power up after the outage though. Is this expected?

Couple things to check.

1. Do other devices work over HDMI to this display (WhatHappend already recommended this).

2. What HDMI cable are you using and how long is it? Certain displays don't work well with long (> 10M) cables.


This is strange, My HDMI STATUS says "HDMI DEVICE NOT CONNECTED" but I am viewing that screen via HDMI????

If I unplug the HDMI cable while on that screen and reattach it then the Device info came back.

So maybe when the power outage happend a few days ago the PACE didn't acquire HDMI device info? Cable intertion is detected and then it acquire the HDMI status?

Lindend, Can you shed some light on this? I am suprised that the HDMI port can be working if is says "HDMI DEVICE NOT CONNECTED".

Lindend, Can you shed some light on this? I am suprised that the HDMI port can be working if is says "HDMI DEVICE NOT CONNECTED".

Do you hear audio when you are in the mode where you see "device not connected" or do you just see video?

Does hot plugging the display always resolve the issue?

Is it normal for an incoming message to wake up the external HDD and have the DVR not send it the spin down command again?

If an application does I/O while in standby, the drive will spin up and it could be a while before it spins down again (depending on how frequently the I/O is being done).

Do you hear audio when you are in the mode where you see "device not connected" or do you just see video?

Does hot plugging the display always resolve the issue?
Yes, I heard the audio over HDMI.

There was no issue and I was just in the diag menu to check the uptime before posting about the ext HDD spindown.

Since this is the first time I have saw this I can't give you a pattern.

I can tell you that I switched the HDMI switch to other sources and that had no effect. I watched another HDMI source on the TV for awhile then went back to the PACE and it still had not HDMI deteced. Pulling the HDMI cable at the switch and reinserting the cable restored the diag information.

If an application does I/O while in standby, the drive will spin up and it could be a while before it spins down again (depending on how frequently the I/O is being done).

I did understand that, but I mean is it normal for the animated box to show without the HDD being spun down? They apprear to be independent. What does the animated box indicate (I thought it indicated HDD are spun down and the DVR is waiting for them to spinup)?

Lindend and WhatHappend,

I want both of you to know that there are several of us out here reading your posts...so keep it up.

My issues are more mundane, in that I have had the Pace 779 for only a few days and only yesterday learned how to get into diagnostic.

I have also bought a 1 TB eSATA/USB2 drive from newegg and it now talks to the 779.

Questions (and yes I've read most of this thread):

(1) What are the symptoms of a drive not quite working right because of CRC errors? Sound drop-outs?
(2) Where in the diagnostics do you find evidence of CRC errors?
Page 23 of the diagnostics?
(3) When the Pace is on and the external drive is on and connected (but not recording anything), should it (the external drive) be in a constant state of chatter (i.e. it sounds like it is reading and writing?)?
(4) When the Pace is plugged in but switched off (standby mode?), should the external drive quiet down some?
(5) How does the Pace treat the video signal sent via the S-VHS port?
(6) What other specific things should I look at on the diagnostics page, as well as the dashboard page? I'm willing, I think, to kind of summarize this stuff in one post...but first I need to figure it out myself!

(1) What are the symptoms of a drive not quite working right because of CRC errors? Sound drop-outs? Does it go along with image freezes or choppiness? If so, then I would say that is what Lindend described. You should safely disconnect you HDD and verify DVR operation without the external drive. This is always the prudent thing to do. Please read the group for how to connect/disconnect the eSata HDD.

(2) Where in the diagnostics do you find evidence of CRC errors?
Page 23 of the diagnostics?
No diagnostics for CRC errors works with the 779x yet, see http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13874802#post13874802
(3) When the Pace is on and the external drive is on and connected (but not recording anything), should it (the external drive) be in a constant state of chatter (i.e. it sounds like it is reading and writing?)? Yes, the PACE is always recording both tuners while not in standby mode. Even when turned off, it can do house keeping and run the external HDD.
(4) When the Pace is plugged in but switched off (standby mode?), should the external drive quiet down some? If you have configured the user menu to do HDD spin downs and have the latest FW. Does your drive spin down after 1-2min of turning off the PACE.
(5) How does the Pace treat the video signal sent via the S-VHS port? Can you elaborate?
(6) What other specific things should I look at on the diagnostics page, as well as the dashboard page? I'm willing, I think, to kind of summarize this stuff in one post...but first I need to figure it out myself!Depends what kind of issues you are having. So far you have only posted one issue (sound dropping out). Everything else sounds :D normal.

Wired Error

The DVR was still on the VOD channel 1 after power up. Every time I changed channels the DVR changed the channel but popped up an error box for 15 seconds. I could not pause or do any trick play on the channel. The trick-play bar's show title was stuck as well (did not update, the change channel function must have thrown an exception before it could update the bar's show title.). The tuner swap function didn't work.

DVR play back did work. (Didn't fix anything)
Deleting a recorded show worked. (Didn't fix anything)

VOD worked and fixed the issue. I watch few minutes of VOD and then trick play and tuner swap worked again and the following error box quit showing up with each channel change.

-----------------------------------------------------
Unable to process request
Cannot delete while file is in use. Close file and try
again.. Code CIU.
-----------------------------------------------------

Pretty weird error for a consumer electronics device. ;)
Lindend, have you seen this one before?
I wonder why I seem to have more issues then anyone else? :eek:

-----------------------------------------------------
Unable to process request
Cannot delete while file is in use. Close file and try
again.. Code CIU.
-----------------------------------------------------


I have seen this before on the Motorola DVRs. That was related to the hard drive being full. This doesn't sound like its the same circumstances though.

I turned on the DVR tonight and it had a message indicator on the display before I turned it on. It went to the last channel I tuned and not the VOD channel. But no video or sound was playing. Changed channels and got the channel will be available shortly message box.

The Dash board showed CCardHealth POOR
Cable Card Status showed Connection Not Present and the rest "n/a"
App Code Modules was missing the CCard module and only showed "P274cch_" module. The DVR STATUS shows 1 overflows since Boot. System Uptime 3 days, 16:37:05.

Every remote arrow button press was doubled or tripled in the diag screen.

Can't even watch analog channel or recorded content because it plays for a few seconds the goes blank and silent for a second.

Going to standby doesn't clear the issue.

This is the same behavior had 9.58 had with the CCard lockup. I thought the 10.60 was supposed to restart the CCard module if it failed? Any progress on duplicating the CCard lockup?

whathappend: it looks like you've got your hands full...good luck.

As for our eSATA experiment with the 779, using a 1 TB USB/SATA enclosed drive purchased from newegg last week: so far so good.

The one recording I watched looked OK; no freezes and/or hiccups audio or video-wise. My kids have watched two; they report no problems.

I've put a dozen or so movies on it already, but only watched one.

I guess I'm a bit puzzled that the external drive only formatted to 575 GB or so...I wonder why that is. I wasn't expected exactly 750 GB...or even 1 TB...but I report back on the exact number in a future post.

Here is my problem with the PACE as far as the signal that it sends out via S-VHS: to repeat an old post--

We have an Epson front-projector that gets the Pace's analog hi def video (via component thru an audio receiver). The Pace's behavior here is comparable (but not exactly the same) as/to the Moto 6416 it replaced.

We also have (for SD broadcasts) a 32" Sony CRT SD TV hooked to the Pace via S-VHS.

Whereas the Moto 6416 played nice with the 32" Sony CRT on all channels, the Pace, when tuned to an HD channel, sends, via S-VHS, a signal to the Sony that is NEVER cropped...and the image associated with that signal is therefore not in proper proportion.

Any and all comments are welcome.

I guess I'm a bit puzzled that the external drive only formatted to 575 GB or so...I wonder why that is. I wasn't expected exactly 750 GB...or even 1 TB...but I report back on the exact number in a future post.

There will be hidden partition(s) that consume some space plus the support isn't exactly 750GB but around that region.


Whereas the Moto 6416 played nice with the 32" Sony CRT on all channels, the Pace, when tuned to an HD channel, sends, via S-VHS, a signal to the Sony that is NEVER cropped...and the image associated with that signal is therefore not in proper proportion.

All SD outputs on all Pace HD cable boxes are sent an anamorphic video signal so that if you recorded it on VHS and then played it back, the original aspect ratio is preserved.

This is the same behavior had 9.58 had with the CCard lockup. I thought the 10.60 was supposed to restart the CCard module if it failed? Any progress on duplicating the CCard lockup?

10.60 is more robust when it tries to reset the CableCARD if it gets into a hung state, but the symptoms you posted would reveal that the card was not detected in that boot cycle so it won't likely be reset.

Did the same thing happen after you power cycled the box?
There is now a hidden key sequence to manually reset the CableCARD. If this persists, I'll post the details and we can try that next.

Lindend, have you seen this one before?

Yes, but with a different VOD client. The other problem was caused by invalid audio and video settings associated with the channel confusing TV Guide. We are investigating to see if this problem is related (but given that its a different VOD client, no promises).

I wonder why I seem to have more issues then anyone else? :eek:

You do seem to be hit with more issues than everyone else combined. :(

Don't have an explanation right now. Lets resolve your existing issues and then maybe we need to look at your environmentals (signal strength, temperature etc.) to see what is unique about your config.

Did the same thing happen after you power cycled the box?
The box returned to normal after a reboot from Diag menu (I didn't try power cycling but if the reboot worked power cycle should work.)

There is now a hidden key sequence to manually reset the CableCARD. If this persists, I'll post the details and we can try that next.

Yes, Please post the sequence.

This reminds me of a discrete remote code request. I would like a remote code for reboot. :)

10.60 is more robust when it tries to reset the CableCARD if it gets into a hung state, but the symptoms you posted would reveal that the card was not detected in that boot cycle so it won't likely be reset.


Can you explain "boot cycle"? The box was just in standby and had been working for 3days since the last power cycle.

Does the CCard get rebooted coming out of standby?

You do seem to be hit with more issues than everyone else combined. :(

Don't have an explanation right now. Lets resolve your existing issues and then maybe we need to look at your environmentals (signal strength, temperature etc.) to see what is unique about your config.

Environmentals
My air temp. is controlled between 65-72 degrees.

AC power is surged protected by APC UPS (not on batt. backup due to constant power draw). Voltage 119.5 -120.2 V at 59.9Hz

Inband Signals levels -12.8 to 7.7 (Varies over 700MHz)
-analog 7.7 ch2 -- 0.3 ch72 (That is 7.4db changed over 400MHz)
-digital (Varies 7.7dB change over <200MHz)
-12.8 753 MHz (SNR FAIR)
-10.5 735 MHz (SNR GOOD/FAIR)
- 7.8 633 MHz (SNR FAIR/POOR, Errors FAIR)
- 7.4 627 MHz (SNR FAIR)
- 5.5 573 MHz (SNR FAIR)
- 5.1 567 MHz (SNR GOOD)

I think it is strange that Mediacom appears to run the digital signals at least 3dB lower then the analog signals and the digital signals don't appear to be injected on the line to compensate for the higher loss at high frequencies. The higher channels should be injected at a larger signal levels to compensate for their higher line loss.


OOB Tuner SNR shows GOOD to FAIR Signal -2.6 Freq 75250
Upstream Lvl=56 FAIR

The box returned to normal after a reboot from Diag menu (I didn't try power cycling but if the reboot worked power cycle should work.)

Power cycle == reboot in my terminology. Sorry for the lack of clarity.


Yes, Please post the sequence.

The infamous

Repeat
MyDVR
MyDVR
MyDVR
LIVE

except you do it on the CableCARD page and not the main page.

This reminds me of a discrete remote code request. I would like a remote code for reboot. :)

That type of code would scare me that people would be randomly rebooting their boxes. We'll consider it though.

The box was just in standby and had been working for 3days since the last power cycle.

So the card just suddenly was not detected (i.e. it was working earlier in the three day period)? I got the impression that you booted the box and the card wasn't detected at all in that boot cycle.

Does the CCard get rebooted coming out of standby?

No. It will only be reset in the following conditions:

1. Power cycle/reboot.
2. We detect a hang/stall.
3. Manual reboot via the hidden key sequence in diags.

I will try to explain, again and with additional detail and clarity--what my primary concern is (right now) with the 779X.

We aim to get two video signals (same channel, of course) out of our cable box.

(1) The component video out sends a video signal to our (HD) front projector
(2) The SVHS video out sends a video signal to our old SD Sony

The component video out signal seems fine. Always.
The SVHS video out signal is fine for the SD channels, but never fine with most HD channels.
Here's what happens. The 779 image, when sent to the SD Sony via the SVHS port, when it is an HD channel, the image on the Sony is squashed. It is as if the Sony's pixels (480 of them, right) are being asked to show 720 or 1080 pixels worth of information...and folks are way skinnier than they appear in reality (that's not all bad, eh?).

This behavior was not observed with the exact same set-up, using a Motorola 6416 box. With the Moto, the SVHS signal sent to the Sony SD set was simply cropped on the sides...people and images were their normal proportions...but of course whatever was showing on the left and right sides of the picture...was missed.

Make sense this time?

I will be reporting on our eSATA usage/issues tonight...

So the card just suddenly was not detected (i.e. it was working earlier in the three day period)? I got the impression that you booted the box and the card wasn't detected at all in that boot cycle.

Yes I used the DVR everyday for multiple hours. And yes, if suddenly includes coming out of standby. The lockup had nothing to do with a DVR boot cycle.


No. It will only be reset in the following conditions:

1. Power cycle/reboot.
2. We detect a hang/stall.
3. Manual reboot via the hidden key sequence in diags.
That only leave number 2 because I didn't do 1 or 3 and verifed in the diag menu it had been running for 3days 16hours.

So it appears the 10.60 fix doesn't work?

All SD outputs on all Pace HD cable boxes are sent an anamorphic video signal so that if you recorded it on VHS and then played it back, the original aspect ratio is preserved.

This seems like an issue if Cable Companies are going exclusively to these DVRs for their STB needs. If the customer only had 4:3 TV they will always see squished images on HD channels.

I bet you mean that the SD outputs are anamorphic if the user settings menu "TV ASPECT RATIO" is set to 16x9 instead of 4x3.

If some one is going to connect two different aspect ration TV to the PACE they would have to toggle ASPECT RATIO to avoid squished image on the 4:3 TV? They could use ZOOM to remove the letter box signal? (Why someone would ever chop off part of a movies image I will never figure out.)

So ASPECT RATIO would be a good canidate for discrete code so I could be done during a recording. I could also see the Auto PillarBox being a discrete remote code for the same reason.

Could there just be a discrete remote codes to bring up "User Setting menu" and "Diag menu" without turning off the box? Then setting could be viewed and modified while the box is recording.

The component video out signal seems fine. Always.
The SVHS video out signal is fine for the SD channels, but never fine with most HD channels.

As I stated earlier, this is working as designed. The SD outputs will be sent an anamorphically correct image.

This behavior was not observed with
the exact same set-up, using a Motorola 6416 box.

Our design is different than the MOT box. They will letterbox the SD outputs, but this means you can't preserve the OAR when recording. Since this is an HD box, more customers will be recording on SD outputs than using it for their primary viewing output hence the tradeoff. I'm afraid there isn't workaround for this right now as its how the software is designed.

So it appears the 10.60 fix doesn't work?

We did run dozens of tests on scenarios where the MCard hung previously and the reset recovered to a valid state. My guess is this is a different scenario/hang from the one that we fixed in the labs.

Only way to tell for sure is to try the manual reset in diags the next time you run into the issue.

This seems like an issue if Cable Companies are going exclusively to these DVRs for their STB needs.

This is why we offer the SD DVR Vegas boxes. ;)

I bet you mean that the SD outputs are anamorphic if the user settings menu "TV ASPECT RATIO" is set to 16x9 instead of 4x3.

No, the SD outputs will be anamorphic regardless of the HD output settings.

Could there just be a discrete remote codes to bring up "User Setting menu" and "Diag menu" without turning off the box? Then setting could be viewed and modified while the box is recording.

No, unfortunately, that is a TVG thing. You can't get to Diags or Pace user settings without going to standby (and this is hold over from the original implementation of Motorola boxes and not TVG's issue).

As I stated earlier, this is working as designed. The SD outputs will be sent an anamorphically correct image.

Our design is different than the MOT box. They will letterbox the SD outputs, but this means you can't preserve the OAR when recording. Since this is an HD box, more customers will be recording on SD outputs than using it for their primary viewing output hence the tradeoff. I'm afraid there isn't workaround for this right now as its how the software is designed.

1. What does 'anamorphically correct image' mean, exactly?
2. So the standard yellow video out, as well as the S-VHS out, on the back of the PACE box...well I guess I don't understand your response. The Motorola 6416 was able to play nice with an SD TV, even via the S-VHS out when tuned to an HD channel...in terms of watching the 'live' signal. I never did try to record
that signal onto a VHS tape. Are you telling me that the PACE box is not capable of sending an HD signal, to an SD TV, via S-VHS, that looks 'right', but that if I recorded that signal onto a VHS tape, and then played that tape back...that the recorded images WOULD be in proper perspective?

Everything I know about the term anamorphic is here:
http://gregl.net/videophile/anamorphic.htm
Perhaps I need to know more...

1. What does 'anamorphically correct image' mean, exactly?

In this case, an image which is output with its Original Aspect Ratio (OAR). It will look correct on TV's that understand how to process 16x9 images, but will look odd on 4x3 displays.

Are you telling me that the PACE box is not capable of sending an HD signal, to an SD TV, via S-VHS, that looks 'right',

The hardware is technically capable of outputting either an anamorphically correct image (which it does curently) or to letterbox/pan-n-scan or otherwise crop (alter) the image like the MOT box does. Since SD outputs are considered secondary outputs on our HD products, the software has been designed to generate the anamorphic image. This is a design decision based on how the majority of users use the box.

I'll agree that this isn't advantageous if you're using SD outputs as your primary output. However, given that this is an HD box, this only should affect a tiny fraction of users. OTOH, altering the aspect ratio would negatively affect large numbers of users that want to record on SD outputs.

but that if I recorded that signal onto a VHS tape, and then played that tape back...that the recorded images WOULD be in proper perspective?

Yes, but only if your TV recognized the signal as having a 16x9 aspect ratio (most modern TVs will do this).

Update: we've thrown about 24 hours of HD onto Cavalry 1TB CAXE3701T0...with (knock on wood all over) zero failures, in terms of what we perceive as video 'quality'. When putting the 797X into standby, the Cavalry (which is a dual USB 2/eSATA drive) nicely spins down.

More to come...

I just picked up the Pace tdc778x tahoe to replace a busted Motorola box. I have an HDTV and I connected the box to my TV. While the HD channels come in fine, all of the standard channels are all stretched out and I can't fix this with my TV's aspect ratio settings and I can't edit any settings in the confusing menu of the box. Any help would be appreciated as the SD channels are unwatchable with the images all stretched out.

I just picked up the Pace tdc778x tahoe to replace a busted Motorola box. I have an HDTV and I connected the box to my TV. While the HD channels come in fine, all of the standard channels are all stretched out and I can't fix this with my TV's aspect ratio settings and I can't edit any settings in the confusing menu of the box. Any help would be appreciated as the SD channels are unwatchable with the images all stretched out.

From the PACE User Settings menu (press power off then menu to get to the menu):
Set TV Aspect to 16:9
Set Auto Pillarbox to YES

Thank you much. That fixed it.

My 778 experience is turning into quite a fiasco. I'm on my second 778, which has shown these problems over the past week:

Lost authorization of all encrypted channels several times (had to call cable co. to re-authorize box).
Erroneous DVR full message when only a couple hours of recordings on hard drive (required reboot to fix).
Loss of recorded programs and scheduled recordings.
Random reboots.
Erroneous message indicator when no message present (trivial compared to other problems).

I don't whether any of these problems occur because the box still has 9.02 firmware, but I'm going to have to take the 778 back yet again and exchange it. If that doesn't do it, three strikes and it's out. I requested that my cable company simply replace the bad hard drive in the 6412 I had and return it to me, but they were unwilling or unable to comply. The 6412 worked fine for three years until the hard drive failed.

Update: the box was updated to 10.65 firmware right after I posted this message. I'll see if these problems go away.

Erroneous message indicator when no message present (trivial compared to other problems).


Lindend, I am getting the "Erroneous message indicator" too (I have reported it in the past). I have not been in the diagnotic menu to cause it either (I know you said in the past that could cause the message indictor to show up.)

I, too, reported an erroneous error message a while back on my 778X.

I have one of those My DVR Expanders and am finally catching up on some HD movies I recorded a couple months ago. Several times I've gone to watch them and the DELETE button shows up immediately. Bummer! I was "assuming" it's due to copy restriction by the cable channel that limits how long a show is available, but...?

Oddly, the message indicator light finally went out after I deleted one of those shows.

Lindend, I am getting the "Erroneous message indicator" too (I have reported it in the past). I have not been in the diagnotic menu to cause it either (I know you said in the past that could cause the message indictor to show up.)

Its not diagnostics that can leave the message indicator active. Its Pace User Settings (if I said diags before, sorry for the error).

We have found another cause of the message indicator being left on. If the cable company sends multiple simultaneous messages, even though you delete them, they will remain visible. For those experiencing this problem, have you been getting message notifications from your cable provider?

We have fixed the indicator being left on after visiting Pace User Settings and also the simultaneous message issue and it will be available in the next maintenance release.

Its not diagnostics that can leave the message indicator active. Its Pace User Settings (if I said diags before, sorry for the error).
Here is the post you stated it in. Maybe you want to edit it.

There is a bug in diags where the message indicator can get lit by accident.



We have found another cause of the message indicator being left on. If the cable company sends multiple simultaneous messages, even though you delete them, they will remain visible. For those experiencing this problem, have you been getting message notifications from your cable provider?

I have been receiving a lot of two messages at the same time from my provider (I wish they would quit advertising the new PPV or VOD.) I keep hoping for new HD channel announcements.

Strange behavior of the DVR is that if it is in standby and the external HDD is spun-down, then you insert the HDMI cable the external HDD spins up???

The unit still shows it is in standby and when you press the power button, the spin-up animation displays even though inserting the HDMI cable has already spun-up the HDD. The last channel comes up correctly instead of going to 1 (VOD) like normally happens when the spin-up animations displays.

From searching this thread, I see that the box consumers 30-35 watts in standby depending on drive spin down. Can anyone tell me the maximum power consumption of the box during normal use (ie. recording two programs)? The spec pdf available from the pace site didn't list this.

i am using a dc757x w/ mediacom. When I first installed the unit, I was able to output via firewire (1394) to my macbook pro and record via fire record. just recently, i am no longer able to output to my macbook. in the settings (power -> select) the unit recognizes my macbook pro but states that 1394 is not enabled. any thoughts on how to revert or fix this situation?

if i hook up a vcr to the "cable in" of my dc757x will i be able to output to a computer via firewire?

With the new FW 10.60 every time I go to watch VOD I have to reboot the DVR to make it work. On the old FW version I would have to reboot occasionally but not everyday I wanted to checkout VOD.

Is this VOD issue being worked on? Is the issue with the PACE box or the Mediacom system? This needs to be resolved soon.

Before rebooting the Dashboard shows the IP address in red. Can a special button sequence be added to the IP screen to make the DVR acquire a new one like the new CC reboot sequence?
Clicking the red IP address brings up the following (note values in (bold) are after reboot):
13. Interactive Info
IP ---- (10.12.222.215)
UPM 0x09613f
UPSTREAM ID 0x07d4
DOWNSTREAM ID 0X011D
STATE WAIT_DC_OR_C (RUNNING)
MAC ABOUT CNTR 6
TOTAL PACKETS 306 (2)
ERROR PACKETS 183 (0)
IP INTERFACE STATUS SCP_IF_DOWN (SCP_IF_UP)

SOCKET PORT STATE
00 - 11 UNUSED

in the settings (power -> select) the unit recognizes my macbook pro but states that 1394 is not enabled. any thoughts on how to revert or fix this situation?

Can you please post a screen shot of the 1394 page, or post the values of the fields you see on the page?

With the new FW 10.60 every time I go to watch VOD I have to reboot the DVR to make it work.

Can you describe the DVR failure in more detail. Is it the error dialog you reported earlier or is it that DVR functions don't work or both?

Can you describe the DVR failure in more detail. Is it the error dialog you reported earlier or is it that DVR functions don't work or both?

Sorry, It is just VOD that doesn't work with that error dialog that tells you to call a phone number. It appears that VOD needs a IP address to work? Does it download menus from the provider and send the play request via IP?

Same as I reported here 5/29:

Issues with the new software:
2) VOD refused to work today and had a message box with the providers customer service number to call. Rebooting the box restored VOD. So the VOD issues persist with the lateset software.

Lindend...

Re. the fast forward, jump back/forward problem described in prior posts, here's another observation I hadn't noted before.

Normally we don't record standard 3x4 content on the MediaCom HD channel, but tonight we recorded the local news on HD channel 808.

On viewing, the jump problem occured on this and one other recording of standard 3x4 content, just like it did on the 16x9 content we had noted before.

Previously we had only experienced the problem on HD 16x9 content we had recorded on the HD channel.

Tonight's observation demonstrates that it doesn't seem to make any difference whether the recording is 3x4 or 16x9, as long as it was recorded on the HD channel rather than the corresponding SD channel, in this case channel 8. We recorded the same program on the corresponding SD channel (8) and there was no ff jumping on playback. (FYI - MediaCom is currently supplying both analog and digital signals for the lower channels - 2 through 78 in this market. The Pace 778x is tuning the digital SD feed.)

When the 3x4 content is recorded on the HD channel, it is playing back as 1080i content with pillars on both sides.

MediaCom is still on sw version 10.51 in this market, central Iowa. (MediaCom's also on CableCard 02.65, TVG 240, and Tandberg 3_70.)

Hope this helps define the ff problem a little bit further.

Here's hoping this can be fixed soon.

Thanks.

Can onyone tell me what they think between the 779X, the 778X, and the775
...Also, are any of those 3 models available to use with sattelite
(from what I been reading, the 6412 and the DVR530 HD seem to be little disappointing to most reviews....Is this also correct????)

You can always email me with more info... Wingedmessenger1@Yahoo.com

Third and last "notes"... Does anyone know where Pace's US manufacturing is located.
(like a real addy and ph number)....Thank You

Can onyone tell me what they think between the 779X, the 778X, and the775
...Also, are any of those 3 models available to use with sattelite
(from what I been reading, the 6412 and the DVR530 HD seem to be little disappointing to most reviews....Is this also correct????)
If you are a customer, you don't buy these units. Your cable provider provides them to you.

The units use 3rd party software to perform the DVR functions and are more like a shell for the cable company to down load their buggy software into.

I don't know what you are talking about sattelite. Call Dishnetwork or DirectTV if you want a sattelite DVR.

Lindend,

Armstrong finally upgraded firmware! I believe they moved to 10.65 (I think that's right). The jumping around during trick operations is much improved. In fact, I don't believe I've experienced any in the ~2 weeks since the upgrade. I did however experience some last night and I thought I would pass along the sequence.

I was finishing watching a program on one tuner and had my other tuned to a movie I was going to watch that was begining. The programs overlapped by ~15 min. When it was close to 15 minutes into the moving on the other tuner I was going to watch, I swapped tuners to it. I rewound to the beginning of the buffer and noticed it was past the very beginning. I hit the record button to now record the movie so I wouldn't lose anything else, plus sometimes it seems it will actually have more buffered when record is hit, allowing access to the beginning material. I swapped tuners again and finished my show. I then went away and came back a little while later . I went to the DVR list and started to watch the movie from the beginning. All was well and I was able to fast forward and skip without any issues until I got to the last 50 minutes of the 2.5 hour show. I was fast forwarding and the skipping started, and was thrown to the end of the recording. It seems like when I hit the point where the buffer was rewound to on the tuner is when it began ocurring. I thought I might have caught up to the end of the recording, but it wasn't the case. At this point, the recording was ~30 minutes from the end of the movie in real time, so I had about 45 minutes left total. The skipping never went away for the duration. The skip operation also malfunctioned, although it did work a few times.

Otherwise, the upgrade seems smooth. Increased HDMI volume is nice, the dashboard is nice, and it seems like the picture quality is improved. This might have been Armstrong doing something else, in my head, or maybe some PQ improvements were made in the firmware. It was a big jump from 9.02!

The units use 3rd party software to perform the DVR functions and are more like a shell for the cable company to down load their buggy software into.


The units use 3rd party software to perform the DVR functions and are more like a shell for the cable company to down load Pace's buggy software into.

Fixed that for you.

The units use 3rd party software to perform the DVR functions and are more like a shell for the cable company to down load Pace's buggy software into.

Fixed that for you.

But Lindend is always saying that bug X is in the TVGuide software and that is common between the Motorola and Pace.

Are you saying this is not correct? I thought all DVR functions were handled by the software that TvGuide (Gemstar) and Comcast authored. And Mediacom chooses the the TvGuide (Gemstar) and Comcast system over other systems that they could have choose to run on the hardware.

But Lindend is always saying that bug X is in the TVGuide software and that is common between the Motorola and Pace.


That is true that TV-Guide does control the functionality of said dvrs, but for example, Moto boxes don't have the skipping issue so there is some basic functionality provided in the software that Pace produces.

We'd love to use a different guide, but the patent license fees are absolutely crazy. You know tv-guide patented the grid layout, showing what is on tv "now", as well as displaying the time digitally on a tv set... Those are just some of the more silly patents that would have to be licensed.

I agree there are issues in the TV-Guide software, but the majority of the issues being posted here are related to the Pace software.

If you are a customer, you don't buy these units. Your cable provider provides them to you.


This is only true for U.S. cable customers. In Canada they don't use the lease model for cable boxes.

[FONT=Verdana]I did however experience some last night and I thought I would pass along the sequence.

Was this HD content? If so, what channel was it?

But Lindend is always saying that bug X is in the TVGuide software and that is common between the Motorola and Pace.


Depends on what X is. To draw an analog to computers, our firmware implements an API and the app (i.e. Office etc.) runs on top of the API. So the same app could theoretically run on Windows, Linux or whatever as long as it implemented the Win32 API needed by the app.

The core DVR functionality is implemented in our firmware and exposed by an API set. The EPG provides a user interface to access to DVR building blocks in the firmware. As I mentioned to another AVS user via PM, the firmware is capable of a few second jump back after completing a trick operation, but if the EPG doesn't provide the user interface to access the functionality, the user has no means of getting to it.

Sorry, It is just VOD that doesn't work with that error dialog that tells you to call a phone number.

It should have listed an error code. Do you remember the code?

It appears that VOD needs a IP address to work?

Correct. The VOD app won't launch without it. The IP address is normally obtained several minutes after the box boots.

Does it download menus from the provider and send the play request via IP?

The streaming/trick requests come via IP for all VOD vendors. The menu construction varies depending on the VOD client.

It should have listed an error code. Do you remember the code?

Sorry, I didn't see an error code. I will note it down next time.

I am sure you understood this. The DVR had a IP address and the VOD worked then for some reason it loses the IP address without a reboot (the up-time in the diag screen confirms no reboot happens).

To: WHAT HAPPENED and LINDEND: You are right about the PACE PVR"s here in Canada... You can buy them outright... Which is why I asked about the difference in the three products(778X,779X and775X).... As for the sattillite boxes..same thing..you can buy them outright here in Canada...(that's why I wanted to know about PACE USA) Last Quiestion: does PACE in the US sell any refurbished units??? (BTW: I love your thread here...looks like you two are saving quite a few peoples butts>>>>(LOL)ThankYou

Sorry, I didn't see an error code. I will note it down next time.

By any chance, do you have the diags screen info when the box loses its IP address? In particular, we're interested in the IP INTERFACE STATUS.

By any chance, do you have the diags screen info when the box loses its IP address? In particular, we're interested in the IP INTERFACE STATUS.

IP INTERFACE STATUS: SCP_IF_DOWN

I would think that these would be interesting as well:

IP: ----
STATE: WAIT_DC_OR_C
TOTAL PACKETS: 306
ERROR PACKETS: 183
IP INTERFACE STATUS: SCP_IF_DOWN

I posted this information before, here is the link and quote (Ignore the values in BOLD and you have the pre-reboot status of the "13. Interactive Info" screen):
With the new FW 10.60 every time I go to watch VOD I have to reboot the DVR to make it work. On the old FW version I would have to reboot occasionally but not everyday I wanted to checkout VOD.

Is this VOD issue being worked on? Is the issue with the PACE box or the Mediacom system? This needs to be resolved soon.

Before rebooting the Dashboard shows the IP address in red. Can a special button sequence be added to the IP screen to make the DVR acquire a new one like the new CC reboot sequence?
Clicking the red IP address brings up the following (note values in (bold) are after reboot):
13. Interactive Info
IP ---- (10.12.222.215)
UPM 0x09613f
UPSTREAM ID 0x07d4
DOWNSTREAM ID 0X011D
STATE WAIT_DC_OR_C (RUNNING)
MAC ABOUT CNTR 6
TOTAL PACKETS 306 (2)
ERROR PACKETS 183 (0)
IP INTERFACE STATUS SCP_IF_DOWN (SCP_IF_UP)

SOCKET PORT STATE
00 - 11 UNUSED

I posted this information before

Indeed. I apologize. I saw your post before I asked the question, but I didn't read it carefully enough (I missed the fact that you put both the good and bad values in the table). Sorry.

Indeed. I apologize. I saw your post before I asked the question, but I didn't read it carefully enough (I missed the fact that you put both the good and bad values in the table). Sorry.

No need to apologize. I am happy that PACE is looking at the issue:)

Could I throw out a guess that those erroneous packets are causing the issue (or at least proof of a system type issue)?
Not to say that there shouldn't be some kind of recovery from the errant state though.

Was this HD content? If so, what channel was it?

The skipping program was HD content. I believe it was FXHD, but it may have been TBSHD. The other tuner was on SD, MSNBC.

No need to apologize. I am happy that PACE is looking at the issue:)

We have some follow up questions for the next time this happens:

1. If you stay on the diags page 14 for 5-10 minutes in this state, do the values change? In particular, what are the power levels (pwr)?

2. Can you please capture a screen shot of page 15.

3. If you leave the box for a while, will it ever acquire an IP address on its own? What is the max amount of time you've waited for an IP addres?

4. For diags page 13, do the values in the STATE: field ever change?

In regards to the request for a hidden key sequence to force the box to re-acquire an IP address. The moment the box loses its IP address, it will try to obtain a new one. There really isn't a need for a hidden sequence to activate the search. What is unclear is why it can't re-obtain one.

We have some follow up questions for the next time this happens:

3. If you leave the box for a while, will it ever acquire an IP address on its own? What is the max amount of time you've waited for an IP address?


I can kind of answer this one now. Unfortunately this is the first time I went in to diagnostics to try to capture why VOD didn't work. This was the 5th or 6th time that VOD quit working since the new 10.60 FW. I have waited two full day before and the VOD would not start to work on its own again (if the box was recording a show I didn't want to reboot it.)

As Murphy would have it, the VOD has worked for 3 consecutive days in a row since last reboot (that is a first for FW 10.60). I will collect your information on the next VOD lockup (if it happens to me and not my son).

Is this the level you are interested in (earlier post)?:

OOB Tuner SNR shows GOOD to FAIR Signal -2.6 Freq 75250
Upstream Lvl=56 FAIR

Is this the level you are interested in (earlier post)?:

Could you also please post the details from Diags page 14 (in a working scenario)?

We have some follow up questions for the next time this happens:

1. If you stay on the diags page 14 for 5-10 minutes in this state, do the values change? In particular, what are the power levels (pwr)?

2. Can you please capture a screen shot of page 15.

3. If you leave the box for a while, will it ever acquire an IP address on its own? What is the max amount of time you've waited for an IP addres?

4. For diags page 13, do the values in the STATE: field ever change?

In regards to the request for a hidden key sequence to force the box to re-acquire an IP address. The moment the box loses its IP address, it will try to obtain a new one. There really isn't a need for a hidden sequence to activate the search. What is unclear is why it can't re-obtain one.
Lindend,
You have PM...Too much to post here....

It should have listed an error code. Do you remember the code?

The error code for VOD not working today:

Unable to connect to VOD Server.
Cable Operator Reference 204

My tuner swap is not working today along with VOD, watching live TV, Cable card is not working.

Trying to swap tuners yields:
Unable to process request
A service problem has been detected.
Code ACC

Well VOD failed again tonight.

The message box has no code:

Unable To Process Request

Please Call
Customer Service at
800-332-0245

I captured some diagnostics and didn't see anything wrong. The IP address is fine. No new error in the screen 13 (the same number of error since it booted 65). The cable card is fine. I will PM the diag screens.

You press the VOD and then about 20-30 seconds later the message box above pops-up.

Rebooting the DVR restored VOD operation.

Well VOD failed again tonight.

The message box has no code:

Unable To Process Request

Please Call
Customer Service at
800-332-0245

I captured some diagnostics and didn't see anything wrong. The IP address is fine. No new error in the screen 13 (the same number of error since it booted 65). The cable card is fine. I will PM the diag screens.

You press the VOD and then about 20-30 seconds later the message box above pops-up.

Rebooting the DVR restored VOD operation.

No VOD again to day noon. Same as above, IP address fine, Cablecard fine.
I am not going to reboot yet.

One difference is that diag screen 13. has
SOCKET PORT STATE
00 36371 OPENED

Usually it seems all the Sockets are UNUSED. Is this significant?

UPDATE: I called Mediacom and the customer service Representative says she couldn't communicate with the box. So maybe the IP address is lost but the DVR doesn't know it yet? Does it only show the lost IP address after a certain period of not hearing a ping message?

No VOD again to day noon. Same as above, IP address fine, Cablecard fine.
I am not going to reboot yet.


Lindend,
What can be done at this point. Less then 12 hours of VOD working. Mediacom not being about to talk to the DVR. Is it time to exchange this DVR? Seems weird since before 10.60 this didn't happen. Are PACE and Mediacom working the issue? I think this recent VOD failure is the one that has been happening mostly. The CCard and no IP address VOD failure bring up a VOD error box pretty fast where this failure takes 20-30 seconds to pop up the "Unable to Process Request" box with no error codes.

Is Pace's software responsible for that "Unable to Process Request" box (it was in the Diag I sent you).

Usually it seems all the Sockets are UNUSED. Is this significant?

For this version of TV Guide, this is normal.

UPDATE: I called Mediacom and the customer service Representative says she couldn't communicate with the box.

That communication isn't done over IP but via a proprietary protocol to the headend. Don't have enough info at this point to further narrow down the issue.

We initially are suspicious about your signal (but we don't have enough screen caps yet to prove/disprove the theory). Do you have any splitters in your residence?

Is it time to exchange this DVR?

So far, it wouldn't appear like a hardware issue.

One thing to note about the diags signal level reports. They can be +/- 4 from the level reported in diags. The further away from 0, the greater the potential variance. Thus, while your signal may be shown in green, its possible that its really right on the edge. Do you have any equipment to measure the signal when it reaches your house and then when it reaches the box?

Are PACE and Mediacom working the issue?

I'm afraid I can't comment on this one in the public forum (or via PM). But I will say that your AVS report is the first time I heard of this issue.

We aren't aware of any code change/fix in 10.60 that might cause this.

Is Pace's software responsible for that "Unable to Process Request" box (it was in the Diag I sent you).

Normally, the VOD app shows an error code that gives a hint to what went wrong. I didn't see the code in your screen cap, so I can't tell remotely what went wrong.

For this version of TV Guide, this is normal.



That communication isn't done over IP but via a proprietary protocol to the headend. Don't have enough info at this point to further narrow down the issue.

We initially are suspicious about your signal (but we don't have enough screen caps yet to prove/disprove the theory). Do you have any splitters in your residence?
Yes there are splitters and taps.

----TAP-------------TAP---------Splitter (3way)----Splitter (4way)----PACE DVR
Cable modem Phone Modem

Why would rebooting change a signal level issue? Can you be more specific about the signal level you are worried about. The return path looks to be around 40. Is that high?

Do you have any equipment to measure the signal when it reaches your house and then when it reaches the box?

Not at 75 ohms. The test gear I have access to is for 50 ohms.

Which frequencies are you wanting to look at?

So far, it wouldn't appear like a hardware issue.

One thing to note about the diags signal level reports. They can be +/- 4 from the level reported in diags. The further away from 0, the greater the potential variance. Thus, while your signal may be shown in green, its possible that its really right on the edge. Do you have any equipment to measure the signal when it reaches your house and then when it reaches the box?



If you think that low signal levels are exposing a PACE bug I might believe that.

I removed the splitters (only left taps) and the signal level reported by pace for OOB is 10.4dBmV. This doesn't make the VOD start to work though. If high levels of signal don't restore VOD operation and a reboot does how could it be a signal issue (expect as I stated above)?

The unit has not received a Poll Req since when it stopped working 6 hours ago. What frequency are these sent on (OOB)? The unit then has not returned a Poll ACK for 6 hours.

How often should these polls be? Doesn't this look like the mechanism to receive them is malfunctioning?

This is from diag screen 10. Upstream Modem
Reportback Path StarVue
Status IDLE
Freq 10400
Level 38
IPPV Enabled
Last Poll Req 41 06/30/2008 12:39:36
Last Poll Req 41 06/30/2008 12:39:43

As to what in the new FW version that could have caused this, I would say the same bug that causes the box to start on channel 1 instead of the last channel (race condition with drive spin-up.) If the codes authors are not experienced in writing thread safe code then the entire unit could be riddled with race conditions. The receive thread (one receiving the polls) could be pending in a dead lock.

I removed the splitters (only left taps) and the signal level reported by pace for OOB is 10.4dBmV. This doesn't make the VOD start to work though. If high levels of signal don't restore VOD operation and a reboot does how could it be a signal issue (expect as I stated above)?

I never stated that it would solve the problem (if I confused you on this, I apologize). We just noticed that the diagnostics revealed a potential issue with signal quality--hence the question about splitters. We're just trying to collect info on the problem right now and isolate potential causes.


How often should these polls be? Doesn't this look like the mechanism to receive them is malfunctioning?

I'm looking that info up for you. I'm also trying to get details on what frequencies should be checked.

I would say the same bug that causes the box to start on channel 1 instead of the last channel (race condition with drive spin-up.)

That particular issue is a bug in the EPG and not Pace code. Our code is in fact written to be thread safe from the ground up. As I mentioned before, the EPG isn't HDD spin up/down aware (it has nothing to do with thread safety) and the work around we have for that problem wasn't 100% foolproof.

I can definitively state that the two issues are not related.

That particular issue is a bug in the EPG and not Pace code. Our code is in fact written to be thread safe from the ground up. As I mentioned before, the EPG isn't HDD spin up/down aware (it has nothing to do with thread safety) and the work around we have for that problem wasn't 100% foolproof.

I can definitively state that the two issues are not related.
Thanks for clarifying that. I didn't take what you said before as a statement that there was a bug with the EPG provider.

I have another bit of information. I rebooted tonight to get VOD working again.

From a working condition if you remove the RF connection and try VOD you get the same error box in 30 seconds (no error code). But that error box is followed by another error box that has the 204 error code. If you look in the diag. the IP address is lost in that condition. Re-attaching the RF cable and trying VOD and you get the 204 error code dialog again. Letting the DVR acquire an IP address and VOD works again.

When I removed the RF cable from the non-working condition this afternoon and tried VOD I only got the error box with no error code and didn't get the following box with the 204 code. And the IP address was never lost by trying VOD with a unattached RF cable. So what ever logic in the DVR that clears or determines that it can't communication via IP and clears the address was not functioning. I left the box in the non-working state for 6 hours and it never would do VOD until I rebooted it.

This seems to isolate the issue as a client and not a server issue because the DVR is behaving differently without the RF cable in the working VOD and non-working VOD case.

I hope this behavior gives some clues to the designer of IP subsystem of the PACE DVR.

How often should these polls be? Doesn't this look like the mechanism to receive them is malfunctioning?

Polling frequency is site specific (often its just once a day).

As a test I turned off the "Hard Disk Sleep Mode". VOD has been working for over 6 days. (First time since 10.60 FW)

The 10.60 FW is the first software that has allowed my DVR to sleep the hard drives consistently. My unit has 3048 "# Standby Spindowns" now with the new FW. (The is only 365 days a year and FW 10.60 has been out less then 3 months? That is a lot of spindowns per day.)

It would seem the VOD issue may be related to HDD Spindown just like the starting up on channel 1 issue is.

I am going to re-enabled sleep mode to save power again (I will be on vacation for a week.)

Ok, Mediacom says the box is bad, but I want a second opinion. I have a 779x, and everything works ok except the VOD. It loads fine, pulls all the EPG, and everything is ok until you attempt to watch a program. It then pops up with a grey box stating "In order to start cable service for this device, please contact your cable provider." It then has the CableCard ID, Host ID, and Data, followed by UnitAddress, Card S/N, eCM MAC, and Host MAC. You can see the first couple of frames of the movie in the background, and that's it.

Provider is Mediacom, FW is 10.57. They've hit the box, and I've power-cycled it multiple times (hard and soft) with no change. My secondary DCT (SD-only) works fine with the VOD. All signal stats appear to be good, the line tap was replaced last week, diags show all green. All other functions (DVR, HD channels, etc) work fine.

acidtec. You are correct this box is not bad, but wasn't provisioned correctly. I sent you a PM about getting it resolved for you.

Hi folks
I have the DC757X box here and I have a spare SATA hard drive just sitting in a box. I want to use it for DVR functions, but I get a "DVR SERVICE UNAVAILABLE" error message. Anything I can do to fix this?
Thanks

Hi folks
I have the DC757X box here and I have a spare SATA hard drive just sitting in a box. I want to use it for DVR functions, but I get a "DVR SERVICE UNAVAILABLE" error message. Anything I can do to fix this?
Thanks

Its not clear from your post above whether or not you have the eSATA drive connected. Miami (aka DC757X) requires the eSATA drive to be functional before DVR service is available. Otherwise, you'll see the error above.

Its not clear from your post above whether or not you have the eSATA drive connected. Miami (aka DC757X) requires the eSATA drive to be functional before DVR service is available. Otherwise, you'll see the error above.

I have connected the drive to the box. I used a $3 eSATA to SATA converter cable and an old power supply. Is it possible that mediacom has deleted the SATA drivers from the STB?
Thanks

I have connected the drive to the box. I used a $3 eSATA to SATA converter cable and an old power supply. Is it possible that mediacom has deleted the SATA drivers from the STB?
Thanks

Please go to the SATA page in diagnostics and post the values of the three items on that page. This will tell us if the drive hasn't been authorized for usage.

To get there, select the Interface status (21) page, then SATA.

Also, let me know what shows up on the HDD status page (23).

Hi lindend
On the SATA Status page it says:
SATA ENABLED YES
INTERNAL DRIVE UNKNOWN
EXTERNAL DRIVE UNKNOWN

22 DVR STATUS
AUTHORIZED NO ENABLED NO

23 HDD STATUS
NO HARD DISK(S) FOUND
Thanks!

Hi lindend
On the SATA Status page it says:
SATA ENABLED YES

This means your box is authorized to use an eSATA drive if one is connected.


EXTERNAL DRIVE UNKNOWN.....

23 HDD STATUS
NO HARD DISK(S) FOUND

And this means that your drive wasn't detected. Are you sure you have a good cable? What size HDD are you using?

I am a very satisfied Pace user, thanks to lindend for all the great information he's posted!

Anyway, my uncle just switched from a Motocrapola to a Pace DVR and he's having some PQ issues. There seems to be a stutter in his picture and sound on a couple HD channels. It's almost like frames are dropped every few seconds. Looking in the diagnostic screens I notice the "short term errors" are always well into the double digits on the problem channels. Though the SNR always reads "good". When I view these same channels at my house I have no issues and my error count is always between 0-9. We have the same (778) DVR and are on the same system, Buckeye Cable in Toledo, OH.

He does amplify, then split the incoming line 8 ways. At first I was suspicious, but wouldn't all channels be affected if he had a bad amp or splitter? Today he had a visit from The Cable Guy who told him splitting shouldn't make any difference. The tech also looked at the error counts and didn't seem to think that was any cause for concern. In short, the tech couldn't find anything wrong.

So.......I need some guidance on a few things. What are good readings for signal strength and SNR? How many errors does it take to effect PQ? Has anyone else noticed this stutter/dropped frame issue?

Thanks in advance guys!

Lindend,

I first mentioned our experience with the 778x ff jumping-back problem on HD channel HD and SD content about 90 days ago, see posting 475. (And as was pointed out by another forum member, this wasn't the first time the problem had been noted.)

Looking at forum activity in the intervening months, it seems like much of the visible traffic has revolved around a variety of other other issues. And a majority of those postings seemed to involve enhancing the STB, particularly by adding additional HD space both internally and externally. In the last 2 months, there were virtually no postings addressing the ff problem.

I realize that these postings don't accurately reflect how the efforts of the software team are allocated. But I would also hope that adding enhancements to the STB isn't draining any efforts away from solving the ff problem, a problem which compromises the basic functionality of the 778x.

In this regard, an update on the efforts to solve the problem would be appreciated. Is there any hope for a solution in the near term? (Read - before the new TV season begins and HD DVR use increases dramatically.)

On another issue, has the Pace software version-tracking page been discontinued? I've lost track of it.

Thanks again for your efforts and the commitment of Pace to maintain this open link with those who use it's products.

Regards,

hdjunkie03

All the shows on my external HDD wouldn't play. I looked at Diag menu HDD Status and the Total size of the external (2/2) HDD was 0GB. The Format status was valid.

Looking at the contents diag screen only 2 new shows showed up and both were recorded on the internal HDD. THe MyDVR list still shows the shows on the external HDD but when I select them nothing happens.

Under DVR Status there is no partitions listed for Drive 1

I am going to try to reboot. :( (Reboot restored external HDD size and lost programs.)

I am a very unsatisfied Mediacom/Pace user!

Tonight 6 of Mediacom's HD channels stopped working. I was watching and recording one of the channels that failed. The PACE DVR started to play a 30second clip right before the channel failed in a continuous loop. I thought the PACE DVR lost its brains again so I powered up my SONY DVR and it couldn't view the 6 channels either. The signal strength and SNR were good on the broken channels.

I stopped the recording and looked at the diag menus and the PACE DVR didn't look like it had a clue the channels were not working. The recording had all 0's for the counts at the end and no discontinuities or any indications of any issue.

So it looks like the PACE DVR doesn't validate the contents of the MPEG streams while recording. It also gave me the following error popup "Unable to Process Request" with code AAC.

And this means that your drive wasn't detected. Are you sure you have a good cable? What size HDD are you using?
I'm using a Western Digital WD1600JS 160GB drive and a $3 cable. I think the cable might be the issue as the drive works fine inside my computer.

I realize that these postings don't accurately reflect how the efforts of the software team are allocated. But I would also hope that adding enhancements to the STB isn't draining any efforts away from solving the ff problem, a problem which compromises the basic functionality of the 778x.

This particular issue has very high priority (higher than any enhancement request).

In this regard, an update on the efforts to solve the problem would be appreciated. Is there any hope for a solution in the near term? (Read - before the new TV season begins and HD DVR use increases dramatically.)

Unfortunately, I can't comment on release dates for future maintenance releases. I can say that we've done some beta testing for fixes in this area, but I can't tell you when the fixes will roll out in an official release. If/when a release with fixes is available, the release notes thread will be updated.

On another issue, has the Pace software version-tracking page been discontinued? I've lost track of it.

All the release note threads are alive and well. Just follow the links on the first post in this thread.

He does amplify, then split the incoming line 8 ways. At first I was suspicious, but wouldn't all channels be affected if he had a bad amp or splitter?

Not necessarily. Can you post screen caps (or post the field values) of the diagnostic dashboard?

Was there a new version of Gemstar/TVguide software released? My box didn't have any display when I came home today (only msg indicator). I turned it on and it woke from sleep and the HDMI didn't work. I removed the HDMI cable and re-inserted the cable and HDMI worked again. When the unit came out of sleep it went to the last channel I was viewing not channel (1) like it ussally does. Went to the diag menus and confirmed that the DVR had been rebooted.

Pace sw version still the same 10.60
TVG Version: 240
CONCURRENT Version: 23_95

DCT S/W Ver: 74.64 - 3337

Is this 74.63 -3337 version a new version (I hope) to fix some issues?
Or did my DVR box randomly reboot over-night.

If there is a new guide released it will also change the Pace software version as Pace integrates the guide into their software builds.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173043

Is this enclosure a safe one to buy or are the problems intermittent even in the same models?

Before the forum meltdown, I had previously posted that my 778 with 10.65 firmware displays yellow cablecard health even thought the DVR works fine otherwise with no issues. Some diagnostics info that might be relevant:

Cablecard Status

Connection: Present
Validation State: Unknown (7)
Object Name: MCblCard
Software Version: 2.65 (0x09010007)
Card Ready: Yes
Operating Mode: NPH

Non-Portable Host Status

Host ID: 047-000251-851-1
Pairing Mode: MNI
Brick Mode: No
ER Bit Errors: 0
Transport Errors: 0
IPC Stalls: 0
Open Resources: 0x000080A2
Download in Progress: No

Also, I'm thinking of buying a My DVR Expander since others have reported success using the 778 with that unit. The interface status diagnostic on my unit shows that SATA is enabled. Does that mean that the cable company has definitely NOT disabled SATA. I would call the cable company, but I doubt I would get cogent answer. Some time ago, I called to ask if the 6412 SATA port had been enabled yet, and the CSR didn't have a clue.

Validation State: Unknown (7)

Hmmm...this might (and I stress might) indicate that the CableCARD has not been properly provisioned to your set top. More analysis must be done to determine if something isn't correctly configured.

I'm a little fuzzy on the info you previously provided and the AVS info is now lost. Are you in an area served by MediaCom?

The interface status diagnostic on my unit shows that SATA is enabled. Does that mean that the cable company has definitely NOT disabled SATA.

Correct. eSATA on your unit has not been disabled?

Lindend,

Did you archive anything that was lost from avsforum that pertained to customer issues? Or is all evidence of any cable card lockups lost?

I did want to verify if you did testing with a QAM256 HD signal that had signal level around -12.5dBm and temporary errors around 100,000 to 1,000,000? Watching the box lockup 5 time in 3 days that seemed to be the stimulus.

If the signal level gets too low there probably is nothing to send to the cable card hence no lockup. Try to use a channel simulator to add adjacent channel noise, inter-modulation error, etc.

I am thinking that if USA came on-line lower in level then its adjacent channels, that caused the high error count. Here is my logic. USAHD was broadcast at 603000kHz and was at -12.5dBmV. The channels over 160MHz higher in frequency were -8.5 dBmV.

Nearby channels to USAHD (Look at these two below and compare the-12.5dBmV and the current -2.5dBmV and judge which one would have issues with adjacent channels. Sorry I don't have the exact adjacents but these put you in the ball park.)
QAM256 digital 621000kHz is at -5.2dBmV at SNR 33.2
QAM256 digital 567000kHz is at -1.7dBmV at SNR 35.2

You should be able to setup a test with adjacent channels at the level above and the desired channel at -12.5 in the middle of them. Then vary the power around a little on the adjacent channels and test channel and see if your cablecard locks up.

UPDATE: The Signal level on USA HD is now -2.5dBmV with a SNR of 35.1 and 0 Short Term Errors. My cable card has ran for over 2 days without locking up.

Hmmm...this might (and I stress might) indicate that the CableCARD has not been properly provisioned to your set top. More analysis must be done to determine if something isn't correctly configured.

I'm a little fuzzy on the info you previously provided and the AVS info is now lost. Are you in an area served by MediaCom?
I'm in the Armstrong Medina, OH area. As long as the box works fine, I'm not going to concern myself with this one anamoly.

QAM256 digital 621000kHz is at -5.2dBmV at SNR 33.2
QAM256 digital 567000kHz is at -1.7dBmV at SNR 35.2

You should be able to setup test with adjacent at level above and a channel at -12.5 in the middle of them. The vary the power around a little on the adjacents and test channel and see if your cablecard locks up.

UPDATE: The Signal level on USA HD is now -2.5dBmV with a SNR of 35.1 and 0 Short Term Errors. My cable card has ran for over 2 days without locking up.
These levels are closer to where they should be. You can delve into FCC cable technical standards in Part 76, Paragraph 76.605 at http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/part76.pdf.

Did you archive anything that was lost from avsforum that pertained to customer issues?

I have all of your posts that were lost archived in our bug tracking system. I did lose my responses, but I don't think they were critical.

Two follow up requests:

1. When your CableCARD health was yellow, did you capture the CableCARD diags screen (validation field in particular)?

2. Can you please post the details for the current channel status page (08) when on the USA HD channel.

I have all of your posts that were lost archived in our bug tracking system. I did lose my responses, but I don't think they were critical.

Two follow up requests:

1. When your CableCARD health was yellow, did you capture the CableCARD diags screen (validation field in particular)?

No, that is the one that I said I wished I would have captured. (When one stream appeared to be locked on the cablecard).

2. Can you please post the details for the current channel status page (08) when on the USA HD channel.
No... I am out of town for 9 days.

I'm in the Armstrong Medina, OH area. As long as the box works fine, I'm not going to concern myself with this one anamoly.
This first day when they installed my DVR and didn't provision it in the right order (their first 4 attempts :( ), I didn't get all the channels I pay for and the VOD didn't work.

Is your VOD working? Are you getting every channel that you are subscribed to?

2. Can you please post the details for the current channel status page (08) when on the USA HD channel.

Did you want that status page with the new 10dBmV higher power level or the initial -12dBmV level? I might have that initial one on the digital camera still and when I land could retrieve it.

Lindend,

I have had two of these boxes in my home for about a year from Mediacom in Tallahassee, Florida. I have a couple of problems with my home theater I wish to ask you about. I currently have my box in the home theater room connected to a Onkyo 606 receiver via HDMI. I also have the box connected directly to my Samsung LED-DLP TV via Component and RCA Audio cables for when the receiver is turned off. I have two different issues that are audio related. I have, of course, disconnected the secondary connections to test to to see if these problems have gone away before contacting you.

When the receiver is on and the pace box is sending audio and video to the receiver via HDMI:
My receiver only sees the original audio source as DF 2.0 audio. Which I believe to be analog 2 channel audio. It could be digital 2 channel audio though. Either way, the sound is not optimal through my reciever, which is capable of processing anything I can throw at it and convert it to what ever I want (5.1, 6.1, 7.1, DTS, DD, etc.), but 2 channel limits the receivers ability to do this accurately. Here are my questions for this:
1. Is this normal for HDMI and this box?
2. Can I use the optical or RF connection on the Pace box and get 5.1 sound?

When the reciever is off and my TV is set to accept a signal from the Pace box via component video and RCA audio:

My volume is too low. I have to turn up the TV volume to 80-90% to get adequate volume. I have adjusted the pace units volume to maximum volume.

1. Is there any fix for this or any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

Michael Hicks
-Havana, FL

Lindend,

I have had two of these boxes in my home for about a year from Mediacom in Tallahassee, Florida. I have a couple of problems with my home theater I wish to ask you about. I currently have my box in the home theater room connected to a Onkyo 606 receiver via HDMI. I also have the box connected directly to my Samsung LED-DLP TV via Component and RCA Audio cables for when the receiver is turned off. I have two different issues that are audio related. I have, of course, disconnected the secondary connections to test to to see if these problems have gone away before contacting you.

When the receiver is on and the pace box is sending audio and video to the receiver via HDMI:
My receiver only sees the original audio source as DF 2.0 audio. Which I believe to be analog 2 channel audio. It could be digital 2 channel audio though. Either way, the sound is not optimal through my reciever, which is capable of processing anything I can throw at it and convert it to what ever I want (5.1, 6.1, 7.1, DTS, DD, etc.), but 2 channel limits the receivers ability to do this accurately. Here are my questions for this:
1. Is this normal for HDMI and this box?
2. Can I use the optical or RF connection on the Pace box and get 5.1 sound?

When the reciever is off and my TV is set to accept a signal from the Pace box via component video and RCA audio:

My volume is too low. I have to turn up the TV volume to 80-90% to get adequate volume. I have adjusted the pace units volume to maximum volume.

1. Is there any fix for this or any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

Michael Hicks
-Havana, FL
What software version is on your pace box? The last update 10.6X Fixed this. Review the first post for a link to FW notes. I run HDMI with DD5.1 and it work fine (last 2 months). The optical or coax spdif connectors have always passed DD5.1. The low volume over HDMI was also in the last release (look at the release notes).

Also, it is impossible to convert 2 channel anything to DD or DTS. DD5.1 and DTS are digital compressed sound codecs. But your receiver can convert the 2 channel to Dolby Prologic (I or II) and maybe NEO.

I'm in the Armstrong Medina, OH area. As long as the box works fine, I'm not going to concern myself with this one anamoly.

I also have Armstrong (different community) and my cable card health is and I believe always has been yellow - since I've had the dashboard anyway. The box does seem to be working fine but I did lose my DVR service about a week ago which required them to 'hit' the box, and I noticed that the box reset (dashes across the front) itself last evening around 8:45. It's an time for the cable company to be resetting boxes, but I guess it may have been Armstrong for some reason? I don't' believe any updates were being pushed since all my versions seemed the same.

Does yellow indicate something is misconfigured or more prone to problems or issues?

Does yellow indicate something is misconfigured or more prone to problems or issues?

Potentially. Its normal to have yellow while the CableCARD is validating itself with the host cable box. When in this state, the validation value on the CableCARD page should read 7. If the card is properly provisioned, it will transition to validated and the Dashboard should show green.

If it stays yellow, that is problematic and usually indicates some type of issue with your host/card pairing. The symptoms can range from the inability to record encrypted/high value services to the loss of DVR functionality.

For those interested, the definition of the validation state numbers can be found in page 54 of the CableCARD™ Copy Protection 2.0 Specification:

http://www.cablelabs.com/specifications/OC-SP-CCCP2.0-I08-071113.pdf

What software version is on your pace box? The last update 10.6X Fixed this. Review the first post for a link to FW notes. I run HDMI with DD5.1 and it work fine (last 2 months). The optical or coax spdif connectors have always passed DD5.1. The low volume over HDMI was also in the last release (look at the release notes).

Also, it is impossible to convert 2 channel anything to DD or DTS. DD5.1 and DTS are digital compressed sound codecs. But your receiver can convert the 2 channel to Dolby Prologic (I or II) and maybe NEO.

thanks for your answers. I doubt it matters what version of software I am running because it is up to mediacom to update it. Around here, I would bet that endeavor would be futile.

Also, the problem I have with HDMI is not too low of volume; it is the fact I only have two channel audio being output. The too low of volume is on the RCA audio outs, not HDMI.

You are right about the two channel audio being converted to DD. I should have stated DPLIIX, but you got my point...

Also, the problem I have with HDMI is not too low of volume; it is the fact I only have two channel audio being output. The too low of volume is on the RCA audio outs, not HDMI.




You can work around the lack of 5.1 surround sound with an optical cable if your receiver has that capability. My cable provider has upgraded to the latest version, but I haven't gotten around to rewiring things yet.

I think optical is often called TOS-LINK and you may be able to observe a red glow from the optical port of the PACE box. Pretty cool technology - shining a light through a flexible plastic(?) cable.

Or you can wait till your cable company upgrades.

thanks for your answers. I doubt it matters what version of software I am running because it is up to mediacom to update it. Around here, I would bet that endeavor would be futile.


You should have software version 10.57 if you have the 779x or 10.84 if you have the 775.

Potentially. Its normal to have yellow while the CableCARD is validating itself with the host cable box. When in this state, the validation value on the CableCARD page should read 7.

Every time I have looked, I believe the state on the CableCARD page has been 7.


If it stays yellow, that is problematic and usually indicates some type of issue with your host/card pairing. The symptoms can range from the inability to record encrypted/high value services to the loss of DVR functionality.


Is this something your recommend letting the cable company know, or are they most likely aware of the issue? It seems like several Armstrong customers on this board have this issue occurring. It might be hard to find someone that knows what I'm talking about! Is this some feedback you may be able to get to the correct person?

This first day when they installed my DVR and didn't provision it in the right order (their first 4 attempt :( ), I didn't get all the channels I paid for and the VOD didn't work.

Is your VOD working? Are you getting every channel that you are subscribed to?
With about 300 channels on the system, I haven't tried them all, but AFIK I'm getting all I subscribe to since I haven't run into one that doesn't work. I've only tried VOD a few times, but it does seem to work.

Every time I have looked, I believe the state on the CableCARD page has been 7.
Same here, but it doesn't seem to have any negative impact on operation, at least so far.

Is this something your recommend letting the cable company know, or are they most likely aware of the issue? It seems like several Armstrong customers on this board have this issue occurring. It might be hard to find someone that knows what I'm talking about! Is this some feedback you may be able to get to the correct person?
Let me know if you find out who to talk to about this issue. If I were to call Armstrong about this cablecard validation issue, I would likely get the phone call equivalent of a blank stare based on past experience with technical inquiries.

I connected an external HDD to the 778 SATA port, and it works fine. The box recognizes the drive properly and accesses it normally. With the external HDD connected, however, the 778 powers up out of standby with both tuners tuned to channel 1 (VOD), and a valid channel must be keyed in to get out of the VOD mode. With no external HDD drive connected, the box powers up out of standby with the tuners tuned to the last tuned channels as it should. Add another bug to the list.

I have a 779 connected to my Sony 50" projection via HDMI. On the diagnostics menu under HDMI Status, I get a message that says HDMI device not connected. I am seeing this message over my HDMI connection.

The problem is that I can't get any audio over HDMI to the TV. I can get audio out of the analog and digital out to my receiver. Software version is 10.61.

I have tried power off reset, reset from Mediacom, hot disconnect/reconnect, and reset from the diag menu (pressing Info and Select together). I have tried 3 different 6' HDMI cables. I can get HDMI audio from another device over the same cable. The issue really seems to be no audio from the HDMI out of the 779 box.

Any ideas, or just get Mediacom to come up with a new box?

Thanks, Tim

With the external HDD connected, however, the 778 powers up out of standby with both tuners tuned to channel 1 (VOD)

Whathappened reported this bug earlier on this thread (although much of the discussion may have been lost in the database failure). It is a well known issue in the latest firmware release.

I connected an external HDD to the 778 SATA port, and it works fine. The box recognizes the drive properly and accesses it normally. With the external HDD connected, however, the 778 powers up out of standby with both tuners tuned to channel 1 (VOD), and a valid channel must be keyed in to get out of the VOD mode. With no external HDD drive connected, the box powers up out of standby with the tuners tuned to the last tuned channels as it should. Add another bug to the list.
Techweb,

If your external HDD doesn't have any heat issues, you can disable HDD sleep mode in the user settings menu to fix the startup on channel 1 issue. I have a Vantec enclosure with no internal fan, so I don't like to leave it running all the time.

Lindend,

I've just reconfigured my system and am now using a Niles IR repeater to control the 778x and other components.

I've had some strange behavior with this setup and have taken steps to control possible Halogen light and dimmer interference. But there still seem to be occasional problems such as not being able to control the STB with the remote, frozen screens, locked out remote when recording 2 shows at the same time, etc.

I've bypassed the IR extender for the 778x and the problems still occur. Resetting the box solves the problems for a short period of time, then they return. (I've already replaced the box once and now the new one is having problems.) I don't have any problems with the other components linked to the IR system.

Besides possible interference problems from Halogen lights and dimmers, Niles also cautions about the possibility of emitters overpowering the built-in IR sensors in components. If that happens, they recommend using a wide angle blaster from a greater distance. (A solution that isn't possible in my setup, even if I could determine if I have the problem in the first place.)

As a place to start, has there been any indication that the IR sensor in the 778x is sensitive to the output level of IR emitters such as those from Niles? (The emitters are being operated on low power settings.)

We're on MediaCom with SW 10.51. HDMI feed directly to a Sony SXRD. Optical audio to the receiver.

Thanks.

As a place to start, has there been any indication that the IR sensor in the 778x is sensitive to the output level of IR emitters such as those from Niles? (The emitters are being operated on low power settings.)

I've seen some reports of certain plasma's generating interference and preventing IR reception on the 775. I've never seen these reports with the 778x, but its entirely possible.

We are looking at options for the 775 to work around the interference, but since you're the first report on the 778, can't promise anything at this point.

lindend,

Thanks for the response.

For clarity, this is not a plasma situation. The Sony SXRD is a rear projection set. Sony's version of an LCOS.

Tom

Tom,


For clarity, this is not a plasma situation. The Sony SXRD is a rear projection set. Sony's version of an LCOS.

Understood. Just wanted to let you know that we have had sporadic reports of some devices (plasmas, LCDs etc.) generating interference so its entirely possible that this is what you were encountering. Sorry for confusing you.

WhatHappened,

No... I am out of town for 9 days.

Just a reminder to capture the current channel status for the USA HD stream when you get back.

ER BIT ERRORS 999 (Keeps counting up)

Do you remember the amount of time it took to get from 0 to 999 errors?

Thanks.

WhatHappened,
Just a reminder to capture the current channel status for the USA HD stream when you get back.

Do you remember the amount of time it took to get from 0 to 999 errors?
Thanks.

My DVR has been running for 13days 9hours with out the Cable card locking up or VOD quitting (I was gone most of that time, so it was in standby.)

08 Curr Chan Status
Tuner Selected.....Tuner 2
Tuner Frequency.603000KHz........Chan Number..838
Modulation Mode.QAM 256...........Encrypted......YES
Chan Status.......AUTH...............Connected.....YES
Preview.............NO...................PCR Lock.......YES

....................Curr....Next...................CCI...... ..0x00
Purchasable.....NO.....NO.....................APS.......0x00
Purchased.......NO.....NO.....................RC.........0x0 0
Epoch Number..0x1a..0x1a...................CIT........0x00
Epoch Status..0x80..0x80....................DRM.......0x00
Auth Reason...0x12..0x12....................RS.........0x00

Service Number 1....................Service ID 0x005ade
Parental Control Status............Not available
Mute Status...........................NO

Sorry I don't remember the amount of time.

Can I ask why you want the Current Channel Status information? I would have thought the In Band Status would have been more interesting.

In Band Status ((NOTE: Values in RED are from when the CCard was locking up all the time 8/7/2008, Other values are current))

Data.............YES..TSID.................34368
Carrier Lock...YES..Sym Rate (Kbps)..5361
PCR Lock.......YES..Pre RS BER.........0.00e+10...2.09e-06

SNR..........................................34.6.....GOOD.. .29.7..POOR
Modulation Mode.........................QAM 256
Short Term Errors........................0....1107
Long Term Errors.........................915115...1744045529
Tuned Frequency(kHz).................603000
Signal Level (dBmV).....................-4.4...-14.6
Tuned AGC(0-100%)....................66....100
Avg Data Rate............................5632....5616
Peak Data Rate...........................5704

Can I ask why you want the Current Channel Status information?

I wanted to see if there was any Copy Control Information (CCI) or DRM attached to the USA HD content. Just to confirm, USA HD is channel 838 in your channel lineup?

I wanted to see if there was any Copy Control Information (CCI) or DRM attached to the USA HD content. Just to confirm, USA HD is channel 838 in your channel lineup?

Correct USA HD is 838.

How is the investigation into the CCARD lockup coming?

How is the investigation into the CCARD lockup coming?

We have a couple plans of attack:


We're testing some recovery code when the MCard gets into this state.
Try to replicate with USA HD content

We have a couple plans of attack:


We're testing some recovery code when the MCard gets into this state.
Try to replicate with USA HD content



For item two in your list, are you going to lower the power of the USA HD channel with the adjacent channels (channel above and below) having much higher power? Also since that channel is pretty low on the frequency list for my local system (not in the normal HD channel range), you might have to put QAM256 low def channels adjacent to it (in order to simulate the lockup).

Maybe toadtaste can look up what channels are adjacent frequency wise to USA HD in my area 603MHz (channel 87?)?

Maybe a toadtaste can look up what channels are adjacent frequency wise to USA HD in my area 603MHz (channel 87?)?

for 86 there are channels that haven't been launched yet on there.

88 has displays 220, 231, 232, 240, 250, 251, 254, 255, 351, 353, and 608.

Lindend,

I have another VOD not working case. The diags look fine to me (CC, IP, NPH, Dash Board). I will PM you a link to all the diag screens.

The VOD quit last night when I was in the middle of Navigating the VOD menus. It still doesn't work this afternoon. I will reboot this evening if you don't need any further diag information. I emailed Mediacom last night and asked if there server was ok (no response yet). With it being this late the next day I am guessing it must be fine. Can you please advise if I captured all the important information?

Also (not realated to VOD issue) this afternoon the #standby Spin dows is 6428 and last night before I put it into standby was 6386. To me this looks bizare that the box spins down so much every evening 42 times. Is this normal? You can tell by the 6428 count that my box has done this rate since the new 10.60 FW (before that it really never increased the count or slept).

Lindend,

I have another VOD not working case. The diags look fine to me (CC, IP, NPH, Dash Board). I will PM you a link to all the diag screens.


Lindend,

After rebooting the VOD works fine. So the Mediacom server was working and it was some software state in the PACE that was preventing VOD from working.

I know you said in PM that the diags looked fine, where do we go from here?
Did you notice that port (36371) opened in the diags (13. Interactive Info)? Like I said before when ever a port is open the VOD never works (even though you says it is normal to be open).

I just picked up the Pace tdc778x tahoe to replace a busted Motorola box. I have an HDTV and I connected the box to my TV. While the HD channels come in fine, all of the standard channels are all stretched out and I can't fix this with my TV's aspect ratio settings and I can't edit any settings in the confusing menu of the box. Any help would be appreciated as the SD channels are unwatchable with the images all stretched out.

"From the PACE User Settings menu (press power off then menu to get to the menu):
Set TV Aspect to 16:9
Set Auto Pillarbox to YES"

I have the same problem with the 778 but no Auto Pillarbox in the menu settings. TV Aspect is set to 16:9.
Version 09.65.

From the PACE User Settings menu (press power off then menu to get to the menu):
Set TV Aspect to 16:9
Set Auto Pillarbox to YES


I have the same problem with the 778 but no Auto Pillarbox in the menu settings. TV Aspect is set to 16:9.
Version 09.65.

Did you follow my directions?? Press Power OFF then press MENU (with in 2 seconds) to access the menu??

If so, describe the screen that appears (all the text on the screen).

Ah, you're right.
Thank you. I was doing Power Off and Select.

One of my 778 diagnostic screens shows 2 record / write errors. Are those really bad (like dying hard drive) or are they "less bad"?

Lindend,

Can you comment or answer these outstanding concerns of mine? Thanks.
Lindend,
Also (not realated to VOD issue) this afternoon the #standby Spin dows is 6428 and last night before I put it into standby was 6386. To me this looks bizare that the box spins down so much every evening 42 times. Is this normal? You can tell by the 6428 count that my box has done this rate since the new 10.60 FW (before that it really never increased the count or slept).
Count is no up to 7588. Can you comment on this?

Lindend,
Did you notice that port (36371) opened in the diags (13. Interactive Info)? Like I said before when ever a port is open the VOD never works (even though you says it is normal to be open).

Any comments about that when ever VOD doesn't work that port 36371 is stuck opened. When ever VOD works, all the ports are closed. "Diag menu 13 Interactive info"

I have noticed that the DVR had not been recording 3 of my summer series recordings. I assumed that there were no new episodes. I see that I have been missing a lot of recordings. Investigating the series recordings, they are showing the wrong channels to record from.

Two Discovery channel (43 analog) series recordings are showing Life (29 analog) and TLC (44 analog) is showing FOOD (channel 40 analog).

What could cause the channel number of a series recording to change?

Is there any way to change the channel of a series recording? (I know that I can change the recording to record from any channel. I also know I can delete the series recording and recreate it (but if the show isn't currently on that doesn't work.))

I believe that the post I made on 8/3/08 that got deleted (AVS database crash) was the cause of this issue. After I rebooted my DVR to fix VOD issue about 90% of the channel lineup was incorrect. A reboot later fixed the channel lineup. Does a channel lineup change, even and inadvertent one, cause the channel numbers assigned to series recordings to get changed?

Lindend,

I had the message that ,my DVR service was disabled, call cable company. This happened a month ago and Armstrong reset and all was well.

This time, they reset, the DVR in TV Guide came back, but no programs are listed and it shows 0%. In the diagnostics content listing, all my content is listed. The weird thing is I can go to DVR listings by hitting list DVR, but my main menu doesn't have a DVR button. It also has references to VCR recording times.

Armstrong customer service says the recordings are gone, but this can't be because the diagnostics show they are there and the space is gone. If they are, how is all the space recovered??

They want to send a tech out and i know what they are going to do - swap out my box. That's how I got rid of my Motorola in the 1st place - DVR was out and teh didn't want to deal with it.

Lou

The weird thing is I can go to DVR listings by hitting list DVR, but my main menu doesn't have a DVR button. It also has references to VCR recording times.


I have seen the menu have different items from time to time. A reboot of the box ussally fixes then menus. They appear to be downloaded from your provider. Have you tried a reboot after they got your DVR options enabled again?

VOD is not working again. Same issues as last time.

Port 36371 is left open again.

Interesting that MAC ABORT CNTR = 6. That is the same value as last time. Is there something special that happens when the count == 6?

I will send a PM with the diag screens.

Any progress on the No VOD issue? Is it being worked on?

I have seen the menu have different items from time to time. A reboot of the box ussally fixes then menus. They appear to be downloaded from your provider. Have you tried a reboot after they got your DVR options enabled again?

When the customer service rep was pushing sending out a tech (I'm out of town all next week) I finally convinced them to try and reset the box again. All has been well after the 2nd reboot. They were going to call back in 15 minutes to see if it fixed it. Over 2.5 hours later, no call. They did call back after the 1st reboot. I guess I shouldn't care about them leaving my hanging since it's fixed, but it's sort of crappy. I started to voice some displeasure, so they just try to break off communications...

When the customer service rep was pushing sending out a tech (I'm out of town all next week) I finally convinced them to try and reset the box again. All has been well after the 2nd reboot. They were going to call back in 15 minutes to see if it fixed it. Over 2.5 hours later, no call. They did call back after the 1st reboot. I guess I shouldn't care about them leaving my hanging since it's fixed, but it's sort of crappy. I started to voice some displeasure, so they just try to break off communications...

Did your recordings come back? You don't need CSR to reboot it, you can reboot yourself via the diag menu.

Count is no up to 7588. Can you comment on this?

Its not normal, unless somehow the EPG is constantly spinning the HDD up to update scheduled recordings. We have a back off algorithm in place to spin the HDD down less frequently if the EPG is causing this type of effect, so I don't have an explanation right now.

Any comments about that when ever VOD doesn't work that port 36371 is stuck opened. When ever VOD works, all the ports are closed. "Diag menu 13 Interactive info"

Don't know the answer to the question about port #36371. The VOD client is written by the VOD vendor so I can't just look at the code and see if its an obvious bug. I'll check and get back to you.

BTW, we have replicated an issue where the MCard would get reset due to poor signal quality. I suspect this is the same bug you encountered, except when it happened for us, it didn't end up in a reboot loop so I can't say with 100% confidence it will solve you issue. It should be in the next maintenance release. I'll post the details when publicly available.

Interesting that MAC ABORT CNTR = 6. That is the same value as last time. Is there something special that happens when the count == 6?

In looking through your previous diags posts, MAC ABORT CNTR is always 6. Can you confirm this value isn't six when things are working?

In looking through your previous diags posts, MAC ABORT CNTR is always 6. Can you confirm this value isn't six when things are working?

Yes, it is 6 when VOD is working too (or at least it was last night and it worked). What does that value mean? Why is it at 6?

New bug to report.

Last night my remote actions started to be duplicated while in VOD menus or in the guide. Most noticeable on arrow key presses and page +/-.

Note that channel entry is fine, channel up/down is fine, info key is fine.

For the duplicated actions the first action happens quick then 1 second later 1 or 2 more of the same actions happen again. This makes navigating the Guide or doing searches, selecting a recorded show to watch, selecting a VOD program almost impossible.

Using the keys on the face plate of the DVR work fine. I have tried my Harmony remote and the Mediacom remote pn 1056B01 (designed with UEI) and both behave the same way.

I know when the cable card was locked up in the past there were issues with remote control of the DVR. But this time everything else appears to be functioning fine other then the remote having a mind of its own. And when that remote weirdness happened the remote was working weird in the diag menus too, but this time the remote works fine in the diag menus.

Since the front panel controls work fine and the remote works fine in the diag menus, I am assuming that this has to be a PACE bug and not a TV guide or VOD provider issue.

Sitting over night in standby didn't fix this issue. I will reboot. (Rebooting cleared the issue, as expected).

Is this a known issue?

Yes, it is 6 when VOD is working too (or at least it was last night and it worked). What does that value mean? Why is it at 6?

It just reports a server configuration setting.

We did some checking into the VOD port usage and it is not unexpected for it to be open. Have you ever see it open when VOD was functional?

Is this a known issue?

No. We've never had a bug report on this issue and I've never see it in our internal testing. You are correct in that the symptoms would rule out TVG being at fault.

It just reports a server configuration setting.

We did some checking into the VOD port usage and it is not unexpected for it to be open. Have you ever see it open when VOD was functional?

Never, if the VOD is functional the port is always closed.

Lindend,

Please pass this posting to the appropriate Pace management.

Thank you for your continuing concern and assistance.


-----------


9/19/08

To Whom It May Concern.

This is the 5th. month anniversary of my original posting regarding the 778x's problem with "ff" and "rw" tricks on SD and HD content carried on HD encoded cable channels.

Following my posting, I discovered that this issue was not new, but had been complained about previously by other forum members. It was also discovered that the problem apparently wasn't limited to the 778x, and that it affected subscribers of multiple cable systems. As such, it is impossible to estimate how long Pace has known about the problem, and how many Pace STB users are affected by it.

I would think that 5+ months would be more than adequate to resolve this issue.

However, there has been no apparent progress on resolving this widespread and well-documented problem. There have been a couple of postings regarding beta testing possible solutions, but the problem persists, and there is no end in sight.

Without a solution, Pace continues to deliver defective products to it's customers, the numerous cable systems that use the affected Pace products, and ultimately to the cable companies' subscribers. These are products that Pace knows have been, and continue to be defective when used in the cable enviroment for which they should have been designed.

The issue has been described as being related to problems with the time code transmitted by the cable companies. But even if true, it becomes an excuse which attempts to deflect the responsibility from Pace to the cable operators.

Time code inconsistencies shouldn't have been a surprise to Pace if its testing protocols adequately reflected the real-world environments in which the STB's would be used.

This situation has now transitioned from an annoyance we have been asked to tolerate, to an intolerable, well-documented, widespread defect which affects untold thousands of Pace users. We are being asked to continue to accept the unacceptable, while we continue to pay our cable companies for these flawed products.

Pardon the frankness, but enough is enough. Pace shouldn't permit itself to continue this disrespect of its customers and users.

We need a positive resolution, and we need it sooner than later. To not supply a solution reflects unfavorably on Pace, and is intolerable, if not actionable.

Please advise when we, the numerous Pace 778x and other affected users, will have a solution available, either through a software update or replacement STB's that function as promised.

This is not a time for a simplistic, "We're working on it, but it's hard." or, "It's not our fault." or, "We're still beta testing." After this amount of time, there can be no delays or excuses.

This is time for a prompt and constructive reply which includes acceptance of the responsibility for the problem, an apology to all the users who have been affected by it, and a detailed solution and timetable for resolution of the issue.

On behalf of all those Pace users who have been unfairly asked to continue to put up with this and numerous other problems, while we continue to pay for defective services, thank you for your prompt attention to this issue.

For myself and all the other affected Pace users,

HDjunkie03

Do other digital cable TV boxes have this problem?

While I agree it's a problem, it's not a gigantic problem for me. One minor annoyance I have is when you fall asleep near the end of a long movie and there's no fast way to zip to the end of the movie and reverse. You have to fast forward all the way.

I have a Pace DVR - Model # TDC778X (manufactured March, 2008). How can I find out what size is its hard drive (ie., 80GB, 120GB, 160Gb)? I asked when I picked it up from my cable provider (Buckeye CableSystem) but they didn't know. They said -however- that it could record about 50 hours of Hi-Def TV. Does this sound about right? Thanks.

I have a Pace DVR - Model # TDC778X (manufactured March, 2008). How can I find out what size is its hard drive (ie., 80GB, 120GB, 160Gb)? I asked when I picked it up from my cable provider (Buckeye CableSystem) but they didn't know. They said -however- that it could record about 50 hours of Hi-Def TV. Does this sound about right? Thanks.

It's 160gb.

lindend,

ive read the posts about the pace 779x (Pace CableCARD HD Boxes (TDC779X, TDC778X and DC757X)) box but im having a different problem than whats mentioned.
i originally had the moto 6412 (i think) and it had only a dvi output. now that i have the pace 779x, it only has a hmdi output. actually, ive had this box for just over 1 year and i tried then with a hmdi cable and hdmi/dvi adaptor but to no avail. it would just show the pic for a moment or two then go black. i just thought that it may have something to do with the hdcp or some kind of conversion error between the cable and adaptor at the time. so i returned the cable and adaptor and just went with component.
but now i found a single cable that has hdmi on one end and dvi on the other so i thought this may fix the problem if the problem with the conversion since its now just one cable. cant paste the link since i do not have so many posts but its at monoprice dot com, the PID (Part ID) is 2284.
however, now with this cable, when i plug it in the box locks up. i cant even get to the diag screen if it is plugged in...even when i have the components still in. (or out)
if the box and tv are on and i plug the hdmi/dvi cable in, the screen goes black...while the component are still in.
if the box is off and i plug in the hdmi/dvi cable, the box will not respond to any commands...whether or not i have the components in or out.
whenever i remove the cable, everything is ok but this way i cant get to the hdmi status diag page.
all resolutions are set to yes. ie 480i=yes, etc.
i did read where you have come across some probs with 10ft+ cables but this cable seems awefully good/thick. ive purchased other cable from monoprice and had had excellent results so in my opinion, the cable isnt the problem.
please let me know what measures i can take in order to correct this when you have a few minutes.
also, i couldnt find these values:
1. Brick Mode
2. ER Bit Errors
3. Transport errors
4. IPC Stalls
lastly, i couldnt get the reset that you mentioned in one of the posts...to press and hold info and select keys while at the main diag screen. it just acts as if i was pressing the select key and displays whichever parameter im on.

thanks in advance,
sniperskip

Hi Linden,

Has there been any headway recently on the previously mentioned discrete codes for the Tahoe 778?

I remember there seemed to be some interest in having the ability to switch Closed Captions on/off via a discrete code in our remotes vs. having to press the Power/Menu buttons on the box and then have to navigate through the menus to turn it on and off.

Thanks for any updates.

Bill

On behalf of all those Pace users who have been unfairly asked to continue to put up with this and numerous other problems, while we continue to pay for defective services, thank you for your prompt attention to this issue.

For myself and all the other affected Pace users,

HDjunkie03

Just wanted to second what HDjunkie said. We have had the ff problem for almost a year I believe and we have lately had a problem with the box "blipping" (audio and video cut out for 2-3 seconds, come back on for ~10 seconds, cut off, come back, etc until the box is reset) anytime we're watching or recording something in HD, particularly after about 9pm (although it does happen at other times). This is the second box to do this.

I've had Mediacom out here to look at it and they can't seem to get it straight.

We've pretty much decided to switch to satellite over this box (since our local Mediacom office apparently doesn't carry anything but these Pace boxes). My wife wants to find an open field and go "Office Space" printer crazy on this box. I'm not too far off myself.

when i plug it in the box locks up.

Could you please post the type of DVI display that you are using? My guess based on your symptoms is a software bug in the 779 handling legacy EDID from the DVI monitor.

I remember there seemed to be some interest in having the ability to switch Closed Captions on/off via a discrete code in our remotes vs. having to press the Power/Menu buttons on the box and then have to navigate through the menus to turn it on and off.

As I mentioned via PM, we have not started the implementation of the discrete codes yet since we were waiting for everyone to finalize what codes they wanted supported. Therefore, to draw this process to a close, if you want a discrete code for something, please post by 12PM EST on Sunday, October 4, 2008.

At that point, I'll tabulate all the requests and let you know which ones made the cut.

We tried a Free Agent Pro 500Gb on that firmware release and it worked without incident (albiet CRC errors still were present). So this issue isn't a matter of the release not being compatible with that drive.

I went back a week-ago to experiment some more with the Free Agent Pro. I finally got the drive to work again by taking it to a windows PC and formating it. Then the next time I attached it to the DVR and powered up it formated it and it worked again. So the contents of the drive (which had shows on it, I never had a chance to watch), was causing the PACE DVR to not detect it. It didn't show up in the Diag Drives screen or Diag Dvr screen.

Is there something about the 10.60 FW update that updated the attached drive but if another drive was filled with 9.58 it becomes unusable with 10.60? Maybe the files system was updated in 10.60?

Is the next release of software going to support HDD > 750GB?

This was a test only. I like the way the Vantec enclosure with Seagate HDD works with recording 2 HD shows and watching a 3rd recorded HD show better than the FreeAgent.

So the contents of the drive (which ad shows on it I never had a chance to watch), was causing the PACE DVR to not detect it. It didn't show up in the Diag Drives screen or Diag Dvr screen.

Odd.

Is there something about the 10.60 FW update that updated the attached drive but if another drive was filled with 9.58 it becomes unusable with 10.60? Maybe the files system was updated in 10.60?

There were some changes in that area, but they should have been 100% backwards compatible. We'll retest upgrading from 9.58 to 10.60 with the Seagate and see if we can replicate. Excellent find. Thanks.

Is the next release of software going to support HDD > 750GB?

We've been testing a 1TB+ fix for several weeks now, but there are a lot of backwards compatibility scenarios to test so I can't tell you if/when it will be in an official release. Will keep everyone updated.

I was watching a HD recording with DD5.1 sound and one tuner was recording a HD program and the other tuner was paused on a SD program. The the hour changed and two new recording started on Tuner1 and Tuner2 (both HD), the sound cut out on the recording I was watching. Pressing RR and play restored the audio.

- Setup DVR system with DD5.1 audio over HDMI
- Schedule 2 HD at the top of the hour.
- Record a current HD show Tuner 2 (that ends at the hour),
- Pause SD (don't know if SD is important) show Tuner 1,
- 10 min to the hour
- Start play back of a recorded HD show.
- When the two shows start recording the DD5.1 audio stops.

Could you please post the type of DVI display that you are using? My guess based on your symptoms is a software bug in the 779 handling legacy EDID from the DVI monitor.

Its a Sony KP-57WV700, it was purchased in '02. Still a great tv after being calibrated.

Set tuner 1 on a tunable channel.
Set tuner 2 on a digital channel you are not authorized to receive.
Turn off DVR.
Turn on DVR.
Press tuner swap.

Popup message "Unable to Process Request, To autorhize this feature, please call Customer Service at 800-332-0245. Code NOAU.

Pressing enter on the "return arrow" will not remove message box. User must press exit to remove message box.

Power on/off will not restore 2 tuner operation.
Reboot will restore 2 tuner operation (after long wait for reboot).

Version 10.60 bug with external HDD will restore 2 tuner operation. The bug puts both tuners on channel 1 VOD channel when waking from standby, so the swap feature will work again. (But you have to wait for HDD to go to sleep).

Setting two recordings on two different channels will restore 2 tuner operation. (this is the fastest way to restore 2nd tuner. You can then cancel the recordings to go about regular TV watching.)

Lindend, Is this issue in the bug database yet? What does the NOAU code mean?

There were some changes in that area, but they should have been 100% backwards compatible. We'll retest upgrading from 9.58 to 10.60 with the Seagate and see if we can replicate. Excellent find. Thanks.


Just so you are clear, the exact test would be:
- Have the Seagate connected with 9.58 and shows recorded on it.
- Connect different drive (drive2) and continue to record more shows.
- Upgrade to 10.60 with drive2 attached.
- Record and delete some shows with drive2 on 10.60.
- Try to reattached the Seagate with its shows recorded from 9.58.

I just got a Pace TDC778X and I'm having the problem mentioned in this forum with it jumping back to the starting point when hitting play after fast forwarding/reversing (note - this happens about 1 in 5 times).
I have the option with my cable company of getting a Motorola DCH3416 instead. Does it have the same problem? (I haven't found any info that it does).
If you have a choice between the two - which would you pick?
- Thanks -

I have Pace model TDC778X. In the settings menu for "TV Disply Capability", the 720P setting is not enabled. I have a TV which is 1080P. Is there any advantage to also having it enabled? (note: this would mean that 480i/480p/720p & 1080i all would be enabled).
If I do this, does it mean that a program will be shown in the display format that it's signal is being broadcast (such as NBC-HD=1080i/Fox-HD=720p) without it being converted by the DVR?
- Thanks -

lindend - add another vote to have a discrete code for Closed Captioning (CC). -thx-

I have Pace model TDC778X. In the settings menu for "TV Disply Capability", the 720P setting is not enabled. I have a TV which is 1080P. Is there any advantage to also having it enabled? (note: this would mean that 480i/480p/720p & 1080i all would be enabled).
If I do this, does it mean that a program will be shown in the display format that it's signal is being broadcast (such as NBC-HD=1080i/Fox-HD=720p) without it being converted by the DVR?
- Thanks -

Yes enabling all option means send the broadcast signal unaltered and let your display provide the best conversion algorithm to create the best picture.

The benefit is that sports on FOX and ABC (720p) stations will be smoother on a 1080p or 720p television. For the DVR to fit 720p to 1080i it has to through away half of the frames so the motion is choppier.

The disadvantage is that most TV take longer to sync when the HDMI signal changes from 720p to 1080i on a channel change. So channel change time is slowed but image quality is improved.

I just got a Pace TDC778X and I'm having the problem mentioned in this forum with it jumping back to the starting point when hitting play after fast forwarding/reversing (note - this happens about 1 in 5 times).
I have the option with my cable company of getting a Motorola DCH3416 instead. Does it have the same problem? (I haven't found any info that it does).
If you have a choice between the two - which would you pick?
- Thanks -
That is only a PACE issue. What firmware do you have? After 10.60 came out this doesn't happen very often to me any longer.

How do I find out what firmware version I have?