SA/Cisco 8*** series DVR's Tips and tricks using Cox's Passport Echo software - Page 6

The problem is that without the "Copy To VCR" function, you can't watch something else while doing the copying. Not a big deal, but was a lot nicer with the option for those who copy to VCR or DVD.

I'm running component out right now, so would I need to unplug those cables, and just do the composite out to my VCR? Then probably change the output resolution to 480i? I'm usually pretty adept at this stuff but this ones stumping me.

Thanks,
Pat

Just a guess. Go into Settings/More Settings/Accessories/Power Manager and go to Hard Drive Power and select "On with Settop". They say that should resolve any issue with the box rebooting randomly.

I don't believe so. AFAIK, the only connections that aren't active together are HDMI and Component. I think this might be because if they left both active, the HDMI would pass the HDCP check and then you might be able to copy things via Component. Just a guess though.

My box is already set to this.

We had an association meeting last night and I brought up to the other owners the topic of Cox Cable users, and asked if anyone else is having set box rebooting problems. Of the 9 attending cable users, 7 have random rebooting since they have re-cabled the complex. This now leads me to believe that the back loop or ground is the culprit. All the users live within the 4 building area of my unit. In this area there are 2 green box feeds to the 4 buildings so either the fault is there or in the main that feeds the 2 area boxes.

Again, after calling Cox about this issue I was told the lines are find. There were no faults showing in their test. My question would be since both green boxes are near the road could vehicles driving by be causing a loose connection to fault thus causing reboots of set boxes that are cabled connected to the green box cabling? Since I use a splitter would not this also cause a fault with the internet connection also on the same cable?

My other question is, cable internet connections are shared, so is it the same with cable tv connections? Would over crowding tv cable lines affect set boxes?

Hello,

in the last week or so my 8340 box is rebooting at night. Then when i look at it in the morning the time is off and i have to reboot again to get any signal out of it. Sometimes only the settings seem to have disappeared ect -- i am thinking the box has bit it...
Bernie

There is no such thing as an 8340. There are several models of 8240. I'll guess 8240HDC.

Did you do this?:

"Go into Settings/More Settings/Accessories/Power Manager and go to Hard Drive Power and select "On with Settop". They say that should resolve any issue with the box rebooting randomly.

Wednesday evening when I turned on tv and cable DVR box I received a set of dialogue with instructions for HDTV with tests and settings, forward, back, click select if screen is correct along with screen size, and other settings. After I was done and until now no more rebooting.

Picture is clearer and all is set to 1080i on all HD channels, but now has other settings supported by the TV. The cable DVR set box now shows all setting supported by the HDTV instead of just the 1080i the tech installer did when installing the DVR set box as the dialogue above tested each setting the TV supported.

It looks like Cox Las Vegas might have found a solution to DVR box random rebooting.

Not related to this but I now also noticed that my internet connection speed is now a lot closer to what I am actually paying for and advertised by Cox.

And your neighbors that were also experiencing problems?

sorry, yeah 8240HDC. But , the rebooting has stopped. I was about to take it in and exchange the box, but it has not random rebooted in a couple of days.....

Bernie

My SA 8240HDC running with SARA was slow and very limited, but at least it was reliable.

THREE times now since it got Passport, it has totally locked up. No remote keys operate (not even the ON/OFF button) and no DVR front panel keys operate (not even the ON/OFF button.) The only cure is to unplug the unit for a minute or so, plug it back in, and go do something while it re-boots. This is quite a hassle as a large, heavy cabinet must be moved to do so.

All of my programmed recordings must be re-programmed when this is done. Two out of the three times, I lost some already recorded programming. If this occurs again, I'll ask Cox for the new DVR and the new, 16:9 IPG. This really sucks.

Passport was just released to Cox employees in Phoenix last week for testing. Cox is also running Emergency Broadcast System Test broadcasts during the daytime. I was told that was also part of the new IPG testing. Hopefully issues will be resolved before it is released.

Why after a hard reboot is it necessary to reprogram recordings, a bug?

Also, regarding the new Cisco 8642HDC and Trio IPG, are you saying it is available or simply hoping a call to retention might get you on the beta test group?

Luckily, I checked my pending recordings list after the re-boot. It was empty, even though I had scheduled four programs for recording about five hours before the lock-up.

AFAIK, the 8642HDC/Trio are not yet available. Yes, I was hoping to pressure Cox to provide me with one. Problem is, I figure Cox doesn't broadcast Trio IPG data yet in this area.

Hello I have been having a few issues lately and was wondering if this new update was going to happen here in Phoenix and really complicate things I'll read more so can find where to post my problems I anm a newbie here as far as posting but not with COX and the ext/int DVR issues
I read last post bryan_Phx? said employees got it so are we next hope it will be done before fall shows start
If anyone knows any more please post Ie:
Will it affect all SA boxes
remove ext HD ?
Days to retain recordings? all ext recordings change deletion dates?
If a guide could be posted by those already thru the change it would be greatly appreciated
I couldn't glean all i needed to as my eyes are fading at this late hour
But I would like to thank all those that have and continue to post
I feel like i belong to something even though it might not be the best Now (COX)
It could be made ever better if we stay on top of this maybe I'm naive but I find if I believe the best about someone/thing I'm not usually disappointed
So lets all be as positive as possible and get thru it with the least abrasions we can! again thanks to all of you!!!!!

One note to make, is that Cox Phoenix uses SDV where Las Vegas and San Diego don't, so the testing and implementation procedures might be somewhat different, perhaps more complicated. Northern Virgina also uses SDV and has not been rolled out yet.

Cox AZ is really being mum on this issue, I posted a question on CoxAZ Facebook and Cox answered the question then later, deleted the question and blocked my profile, WTF!!! Obviously it is a public discussion Cox is not willing to make at this time. Here is what I posted, and their response before they deleted it. Copy of correspondence from my account attached.

Bryan
When is Cox Phoenix going to start converting from SARA to Rovi Passport for DVR/STBs? I had heard it was going to start back in July, Now I hear Cox employes got the new IPG on Monday and will start customers in September. But Cox has made no announcement or attempted to notify subscribers of the upcomming change. WHY?
More Info @ http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0#post18464630

Cox Arizona
Bryan, we are in the process of testing the new guide. All of our customers will be notified in a multitude of ways once a confirmed public launch date has been set. We want to ensure the most seamless, pleasant, non-problematic launch as possible. I'm sure you understand.
August 25 at 9:19pm

Minor step savers:

When choosing a recording to play back, instead of highlighting a recording and pressing "SELECT" to enter playback menu, highlight the recording and press the "PLAY" button. The recording will resume from where you stopped. If you have never viewed any of this recording, it will start at the beginning. No need to navigate the playback menu.

Also, when hitting the "STOP" button by mistake (bringing you to the "ERASE" menu), simply press the "PLAY" button to resume playback. Just disregard the menus.

Domino, Here is how you might get the Cox Trio MR-DVR. I am assuming it is true. Threaten to go to U-verse

(paragraphs added for readability)

Cool. Thanks for the info. I had them ready to agree to let me try the new DVR, but was told that the Trio IPG data was not yet on my node. I sure wish I knew the area that poster was from, as they promised to call me when the IPG was fully available. Since then, I've got my HD up to about 75% capacity, so now is a bad time anyway. I'll call them again next week. Thanks.

[BTW, this week I did notice that Passport tells you when you're recording a program after a live sporting event, and asks you if you want to extend the ending time. Nice.]

thanks for the tips!
Bernie

Does this explain why Cox is taking EAS tests from KNST and KRQQ in Tucson? A long while ago there was a KNST one, but it had audio with it - a Charlie Van Dyke EAS tape.

In Phoenix AZ, our SA 8300HD just had the Passport Echo firmware installed last night, and I'm working through all the new features. This is essentially a "bump", trying to get this thread to show up because I think others will be going through the same process, and people may have tips to share. Or maybe I'm wrong, and there's another thread somewhere that's the correct one...?

Weird behavior on an SA 8300HD with Passport Echo:

(1) Watching same channel (World Series on Fox) on two SA boxes in adjacent rooms (one 8300HD DVR, one 3250HD STB), and I can see both TVs from the room with the DVR. The two sets are displaying the same thing, with just a very short delay, maybe just 1-3 frames, on the DVR, as usual.

(2) On the DVR, bring up the PIP window, then swap to the other tuner (which is recording a program) for a few seconds, then swap right back.

(3) The DVR is now displaying the ball game again, but with a delay of a few seconds, apparently corresponding to the amount of time the second tuner was being displayed.

I can see both sets -- the STB is showing the game, live, the DVR has a delay. Hitting "LIVE" on the DVR's remote does not being it back to live -- there is still a delay.

The only way I can get the DVR to drop the delay is to switch the channel (down/up) quickly. Now the boxes are back in sync.

SATA had some strange behavior, but this is a new one!

But now I'm recording the ball game, and still recording on the other tuner. Now if I use PIP to swap channels, briefly, I get stuck with that delay in the ball game -- no way to get rid of it, because both tuners are recording, so I cannot switch to another channel on the tuner I'm using to watch the game.

My neighbor got the new guide tonight, on an SA8300HD. First impression I am a bit disappointed, although OnDemand is much better and the Search is much better. I will leave a better review for later. I do not like the way the Date, Day and Time is displayed for recorded programs and working the days of the week in the Guide.

One thing I did notice is that only the next few scheduled recordings are listed and only then through this Sunday not even a full seven days. So you will definitely need to either right everything down before the conversion or go back to your recorded list and collect your recordings to reset them up in the "Series Manager".

I rescheduled all their programs both by going through the guide and changing the ones listed from a one-time recording to a "Series Recording", the rest I had to go through the recorded list, write them all down and go into the Guide to reschedule them as "Series Recordings"

It did not take me that long as they only had about 10-14 recordings to change, for me it will take a lot longer. I really hate the way to change dates, why must it be so un-user friendly.

For PHX the Diagnostic Menu is on Channel 1999 on this Model SA8300HD, I did not try the button sequence but believe it to be:

Quote:

To Enter Diagnostic Mode: Simultaneously press and hold the SELECT and EXIT buttons until "DIAGNO" or "DIAG" appears. Release the buttons, then press EXIT and the the box tunes itself to the multi-page Diagnostics channel. After this process the Diagnostic pages can be accessed by directly tuning to that channel using the remote, until the DVR is powered off.

More to come...

Two new cool things about the new guide:

• Guide Info lists the "Episode Name" of the show
• Info lists exact time during playback and live.
• DVR Buffers Two channels at the same time. The down side is when you press "Last" it does not pick up where you left off, it switches to Live. But you can rewind to the point you first tuned to that channel.

Dislike of the new guide:

• Since the DVR is no longer a dedicated channel (800), switching to another channel during playback you cannot hit "Last" and return to where you left off. You need to go back into the "DVR List" and reselect the program and then resume.
• I could not find a slow motion (not that I ever used it), but pressing Play while playing did not put it in slow motion.

More Dislikes:

• I really dislike the way only the Day of the week is displayed in the Recorded List, then after 7 days only the Date is listed and the Day of the week disappears.
• Is it so hard to list Day of the Week then the Date on every recording. (i.e. Mon 10/25)
• When playing back a Recording the Recorded Day and Date does not display upon pressing "INFO" once or twice.

Depress "PAUSE" on the remote, then FF (>>.)

No, but if you press Play twice in rapid succession (I think the manual says within a half-second), that will put it in slow motion. Not as easy as on SARA, but seems OK.

What has the experience been with the conversion with an eSATA Ext HDD with hundreds of saved recordings? Has anyone been in that situation?

It will be interesting to see if my conversion of an 8240HDC goes completely smoothly, on 11/10/10
As I have over 100 recorded shows saved and 57% of 160GB internal + 1TB external HDDs.
I also have dozens of recording placeholders that surely won't be carried over.

Yes. A week or so before the upgrade, I had 156 recordings on my combination of 160GB internal + 1 TB external HDDs, and about 20 series recordings set up. I spent a little time deleting some recordings that I didn't really want to keep, and I deleted some placeholders where I knew there would be no more first-run episodes (like Monk), just to avoid tempting fate.

During or after the upgrade (I turned the TV on rather late in the reboot, before I powered up the DVR, was getting some displays before the power-up) I got the same sort of message that SATA gave when installing the external drive -- it would be available for recordings, how to power it down or whatever.

After the upgrade, I went through my saved recordings and set the ones I cared about to "save until manually erased". I left a few programs in the default setting, partly just to see what happens because I know in San Diego last month I was slightly surprised that the World Cup games our hosts had recorded evaporated after I recorded a few Man Men episodes and maybe some baseball games.

I now have something like 138 saved recordings, and the DVR reports 21% of the space is for recordings saved until manually erased (red bar); 32% is for recordings that will be automatically erased as needed (yellow bar); 47% estimated free space (green bar). I have tried about a half-dozen at random, and they started OK. Haven't watched anything all the way through, but see no reason to suspect a problem with playing back from either HDD. Curious about how many "bookmarks" the DVR will remember, for the "resume playback" prompt when selected from the list -- assume there's no limit.

I also went through the list I had made of scheduled recordings. Originally, the series manager showed I had nothing scheduled. Back in the main list, some of my old definitions didn't appear at all: they had evaporated, like Mad Men, I suppose because it didn't appear anywhere in the guide at the time of the upgrade. I touched up each item as needed, and I now have 13 series recordings set up. One of the new ones I thought I had set up didn't record last night, but it was one where I had changed the recording to start two minutes early, and the way it showed in the guide was confusing. Plus, I had recorded a program during the afternoon, had been watching it, but had it paused at the time the other recording was supposed to start. Two other series that were set to record last night worked, so I'd say that after the upgrade, everything has worked pretty much as expected.

One funny thing -- twice now, the DVR has powered up to channel 1 instead of my last channel tuned. That always throws me a little, because I suspect it may mean there has been a reboot, but so far there haven't been any problems resulting that I can see.

Edit -- I assume if AMC shows reruns of Mad Men at some point, I will be able to slip it back into the mix, since I believe that's what Dave meant in his comment in the other thread -- if a show is in the guide, even if only a rerun, it's possible to select it and set it up for a recording of all new episodes.

I'm confused. My list of scheduled recordings (Guide/"B") displays from today (Thu) through next Wed, as it always did.