Firewire & Comcast digital cable boxes - Page 3

I am one of the people affected by this blunder, but I am having a hard time to believe Comcast and Motorola, working together STILL DO NOT HAVE A FIX FOR THIS PROBLEM...

This is against FCC rules that dictates the 1394 functionality. I am really having hard time believing this problem is going on for so long and these two giant companies cannot release a new firmware patch to correct the issue... Just my 2 cents...

To reply to the other forum entry, there is no audio content in the TS file... the image is great though... :-(

How do you know there is no audio?

Ron

I also have a hard time believing that it is taking so long. But what I really feel is anger. Comcast just pushed this firmware on me a few days ago when they knew it had a problem. The issue was reported weeks ago, so why keep distributing it? I see no benefit to this firmware at all. It doesn't seem to improve anything.

Did you try the posted fix?

It's Motorola were talking about. I mean these boxes have been out for years and I'm still waiting for HD Resolution selection fix. There's 720p OR 1080i. Where the hell's my NATIVE selection? I don't want to convert ABC/FOX/ESPN 720 up to 1080i then back to my TV's flat panel resolution.

I'm still waiting for Motorola to fix the eSATA and USB ports so you can attach external disk storage. Time to hire some of those Scientific Atlanta engineers so they have someone in house that actually know what the hell they are doing. I think maybe the moral at Motorola is at an all time low with their failing cellular division.

IEEE 1394 on SA8300 hasnt worked for years. If you want their techs, have at them.

I know for a fact George is a rep at comcast as I contacted comcast directly
and George has done a good job working with us, he does not control Motorola
firmware fixes don't happen over night.

That is correct. The firewire ports on the Scientific Atlanta STB's stopped working on or around August 2006, at least here in Charlotte. And, just to be clear, I don't believe it's a hardware issue. The software (SARA, Passport, and now Navigator) won't support firewire and that's a conscious decision by the cable companies (in my case, TWC). To my knowledge, nobody - but nobody - has ever heard an "official" (on or off the record) explanation for this from the perpetrators of this travesty - our beloved cable and satellite providers. And I've been looking for one here on AVS for years...

So, all you Moto people who were happily dumping HD content to your D-VHS decks up to now, welcome to our miserable little world. Looks like they finally got you, the last holdouts, as well.


LOL! Ah yes, the famed FCC mandate about working IEEE 1394 ports. That, sir, is a joke. Literally. The TWC reps I've spoken to just laughed at me when I brought that up. The FCC is far too busy handing out fines for cussin' and half-second booby shots to be bothered with such trivialities as ensuring cable companies don't deprive their customers of the legal tech they lawfully bought. But if you like wasting your time, feel free to write your Congressman. He'll probably laugh at you too.

There are other avenues of recourse besides your Congressional rep. The FCC has a pretty well documented system of filing complaints. You can do it online, call, mail, fax, or email them.
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm
You'll have to click through to see a phone number, but its easy to find. Broadcast->Unauthorized took me to a page with phone numbers, email, etc.

The mandate is not literally a joke at all. It is literally a rule that the FCC agreed to enforce upon the cable companies. Yes, your cable provider may laugh at you, but it is up to you as a consumer to demand your rights be granted to you. After all, some people at the FCC decided to sit down in 2003 and make these rules in the first place...I don't think they did this as a big joke to laugh at you the consumer.

The document which outlines the cable companies obligations is:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...C-03-225A1.pdf
You can see paragraph 24 on page 12, and paragraph 36 on page 17.

Back to the topic at hand though: there has been no update from Motorolla, Comcast, or George. I suspect that Comcast and/or Motorolla have no intention of fixing this _quickly_ though, because it is such a small percent of the Comcast user-base who even know what Firewire is, that their box has it, and how to use it to record content.

If the FCC received enough complaints citing the FCC 03-225 document from above though, something might happen sooner rather than later. I for one am going to wait a few more weeks to either hear from George or see a fix before I file my complaint about the issue.

I agree 100% with this approach. These is also the BBB (better business bureau) that had served me in the past in 3 different situations. I will wait until OCT 15th for a fix, if this does not happen, I believe we ALL should write to the FCC... We are not many (1394 users), but if ALL of us are united, we may get the FCC investigating the case and demanding a fix.
Thanks.

I admire you guys' can-do spirit, but nobody's been able to make a dent in this travesty so far, and other AVS members have contacted the FCC with no results whatsoever. There are just too few of us. Charlotte's a relatively big city with a healthy number of AVS members, and my TWC division told me that I was the only person who was requesting a working firewire box. So, they said they weren't going to spend the effort making it work for one guy. Then they laughed when I said I was going to write the FCC, etc. It was like a schoolyard dare: go ahead, fool; see how much good that does you.

I'll be rooting for you guys, though. Go get 'em!

+1

October the 15th it is. At least the issue will then be committed to a database of these complaints, and some low level clerk will see it at some point.

Another thing to do is call Comcast and complain. I know this will accomplish nothing, BUT at least then they will put a note in their system on your account showing that you are having a problem. To me, it is more about the principle of letting them know they are in the wrong than it is having this work correctly (because there is the pause/play workaround).

We just recieved the firmware/software updates in Lower Bucks, PA(Philly 'Burbs), and I'm sad to say it has broken the firewire output on my DCT3416 as well.

FW version is 16.53
SW version is 75.59-A25....

It will only capture when watching "live" basically if you haven't touched the rw/ff on the current channel. If you have, it is destroyed. Same results when I just hook the box up to my TV via the TV's 1394 input. Corrupted, pixelated garbage when you are not live. If you are live, it displays fine. Recorded programs are a no go.

This is kind of a big deal to me, I loved to capture stuff off my DVR's hard drive to my PC.

I know I won't be holding my breath for Comcast or Motorola to release a fix Alas I'll email ComcastGeorge my info.

As far as the workaround goes:
I am able to get it to work. I don't have to unplug the cable every time, just start the captured video, pause it, open up CapDVHS, hit record, then play on the DVR and it works. However these files used to play fine in media player using NVIDIA's PureVideo decoder, these files do NOT play using PureVideo/WMP. They do play using VLC player, and Media Player Classic, which both use their own internal filters/decoders.

Tried the pause trick... With Windows Media Player and VLC I have image and no audio... with TeatherTek I get audio and just the first image frame... This tells me audio and image are in the TS file, contrary to my initial thoughts. I have used TS mpeg2repair and it indicated to me no audio was present, but this has been unproven now.

Come on guys. Post a test stream for me. 20 to 30 MBytes. I can probably write a repair utility for this in a few hours.

http://rapidshare.com/

Ron

Dr1394.... I sent you a PM with a sample file with missing audio. I didn't post the link directly on the board because I don't know if that is legally questionable.

Even if you come up empty, thanks for taking the time to look into it.


Ecolive: You might want to post a file for dr1394 as well. I don't know what you did different than me, but I still get no audio with TheaterTek.

Ugh!!! This is so frustrating. I just did another file with CapDVHS using the "workaround" and got no audio in Windows Media Player. The file works perfectly fine though in TheaterTek. This is why I started using VLC. It's at least consistent. Using CapDVHS, I get different results every time using the "workaround" even when I do everything the same.

Dr1394: I'll also PM you the file that works in TheaterTek but not Windows Media Player.

Sorry, my PM became full after your first message. I did get the first file, and I'm afraid there really is no audio at all in that stream. It cannot be repaired.

Looking forward to the second stream.

Ron

I had a chat with Comcast in Oregon today. The rep claimed that the firewire port is only for connecting to a TV, and any other use of that port is a violation of a 'law' which she could or would not quote to me.

She said that Comcast is complying with Federal law which prohibits the recording except on the supplied DVR itself.

If anyone has a 1394 input in their TVs, pls, test it. If the TS stream works for the TV and does not using the stub, may be they are doing this on purpose. I just do not think that it is technically possible to distinguish one from the other. Mitsubish sets has 1394... not sure about other sets or newer ones. Any candidates?
Tks

I think this is bull crap. When I bought my Mitsubishi Diamond 73833 (73" DLP) in July I connected firewire output from my DCT-3416 to firewire input on Mits.

I was getting the video and audio, but I was not getting any on screen menus or guide at all.

I think that Mitsubishi Diamond series are the only TVs that have firewire input.



I can test it with my Mits 73833 via firewie input, but explain, please, what is stub?

I meant using the firewire to feed the PC using the firestb drivers...
I agree with you, there is signal or there is not signal. Menus were never part of the 1394 mandate, therefore never implemented.
I do believe the this is simply a bad firmware that broke the port's function.

Just for some people to chew on: the files that are created will play fine on my desktop PC in VideoLan when recorded with the workaround.

When I use VLC on my laptop, it won't play the audio, unless I tell VLC that it is a 5.1 audio file and then the audio comes through fine.

I really can't stress enough to people that if you are having a lot of trouble, unplug the box and try again.

I can record using the workaround and get files that won't play in VLC (but work in VideoRedo) but if I unplug the box, let it boot up and record it all again, I get files that play in VLC like they had been recorded live.

Could you please tell us exactly which workaround are you using? There is one that calls for the 1394 cable disconection, another for the pause, etc... thanks.

Ok, I decided to test my setup.

Turned on my HTPC, which is connected to DCT-3416 via firewire, and enabled split screen, so I can see HTPC and cable box.

Opened CapDVHS on PC. Went to DVR section on the box and began playing movie that was recorded to hard drive. Then pressed PAUSE.

Hit RECORD on CapDVHS. Hit PLAY on cable box remote.

CapDVHS began recording data. Movie on the box stayed on still frame.

Recorded about 5 minutes of video then copied 111.TS file to my main PC.

Played 111.TS file with Media Player Classic. Played OK with HD video and 5.1 DD audio. Then played file with Nero ShowTime. NO AUDIO.

Loaded 111.TS file into HDTVtoMPEG2, cut five frames at the beginning of the video, and five frames at the end. Created new 222.TS file. 222.TS file played OK in both MPC and ShowTime.
So, the problem is within the first several frames of the file, that causes some media player to play without audio.

Ran 222.TS file through MPEG2Repair and created a new 333.TS file. MPEG2Repair log file reported NO problems. 333.TS file played OK in MPC and ShowTime.

Ran 333.TS file through VideoReDo and created 444.TS file. 444.TS file played OK in both MPC and ShowTime. VideoReDo reported NO problems

Ran 444.TS file through tsMuxer and re-muxed to 555.M2TS file. Put file on flash jump drive. Played without any problem on PS3.

So, recording works for me with “PAUSE” workaround.

Here is HDTVtoMPEG2, in case somebody doesn't have it: http://www.videohelp.com/tools/HDTVtoMPEG2

I'm using the work around I posted in step-by-step, thanks to the advice of another user.

Can you run 111.ts through MPEG2Repair and see if maybe it is changing audio by saving the log? I know that I often times have to clip audio from the beginning of .ts files because my DVD Authoring program doesn't like AC3s that change on the fly (every file beginning has to match).

I am about to go back to Comcast (Nor. Cal.) from dish. Has this issue been fixed yet?
Thanks

Nope !

Hello everyone...

First time poster here. I found this thread through a Google search.

I have a Comcast 3416 with the same issue. I tried the "pause" workaround, but my .ts files still have no audio. I am wondering which hardware drivers for the STB those with success are using... I am going to try to un-install my drivers and then re-install.

I also tried the "pause" workaround where the firewire cable is unplugged. So, I hit play, pause on the STB and then plug in the firewire. As soon as I do that, the STB starts playing automatically. If I hit record in CapDVHS, I get the same result - .ts files sans audio.