Channel Master TV CM 7400 HD DVR - OTA, Clear QAM, Internet Content - Page 43

A Poll of CM-7400 Users Connected to CableTV

If your 7400 is connected to CableTV -- and you're using (or attempting to use) Channel Master's optional Premium Program Guide, please post here to let the rest of us know if yours is working.

Including the 1st unit (defective) and the 2nd unit installed 4 days later, I'm now 2+ weeks without a Guide.

Thanks.

Ben

EDIT -- See Post 1266 below for the solution to this puzzle.

Don't hold your breath.

Over the weekend this (2nd) unit became sluggish on nearly all the menu screens just like the first one had been, which means the first one may not have been any more defective than this one -- but oddly enough, after I got home from work today it had quickened back up to what any reasonable user would expect, on every menu screen including the Guide Screen which had been the worst.

Unlikely I'll be keeping this unit, so the above reposting is more about getting the message out in public for others who might be having similar problems or might be considering a CM-7400 purchase.

If all I needed was an OTA device I'd probably keep it -- but I require CableTV capability and a 2-week guide.

If you can find such a (non-PC) unit that doesn't start start with the letter T let me know. I don't need a guide. I find that using one takes as much time as manual recordings. Probably 90% of my time shifting is on the networks. My basic cable, being only digital 480i, works fine with my Magnavox. No guide though, but I can put pre-name the scheduled recordings. All my scheduling is done with tvguide.com (15 days) or TitanTV.com (14 days). An MS Word document is enough to keep things under control. I like some shows on TNT, USA, and FX. You can't blame my cable company for lack of a PSIP for those channels. You can fight it, or learn to make lemonaide.

I know how to make lemonade.

Problem is, I was promised a Margarita.

I LIKE Margaritas.

I PAID for a Margarita.
I WANNA DAGGUM MARGARITA!

On a side note, The Daytona 500 is finally busy making left turns, on Fox.

Got a call from Joe at CM and we solved my PPG problem. Just when you think you've seen everything...

Even though I've got a WiFi-capable router, I prefer the added security of hardwired connections. So because the green front panel light of the 7400 indicated a network connection, and because I'd successfully done the 81.1 firmware upgrade via hardwire, I naturally 'assumed' the PPG problem HAD to be with the 7400.

But apparently there are factory default security settings within this Westell router which were allowing firmware updates via Cat5 but denying the transfer of PPG data, despite the fact that two computers and a ReplayTV DVR have been happily connecting through it via Cat5 for months.

I haven't found the specific router settings that need changing yet, but the simple temporary solution was to have the 7400 connect via WiFi instead of Cat5.

Badaboom, badabing.

I'll eventually find the settings within the router which allow this to work via hardwire, but for now this will do.

According to Joe at CM, the Premium Guide populates around midnight each night. Looking forward.

Thanks to Joe, Jeff and Mike at CM for their polite help, despite me becoming crankier by the day without the PPG.

And how convenient it is to have a distributor in the USA (Phoenix AZ) to talk directly to about problems.

Looks like I'll be keeping this unit after all.

Outstanding.

And the sun is once again shining at the Ponderosa . . .

Did someone say Ponderosa?

hoss and lil joe are doing alright

Ben, are they specifically mentioned HOW the EPG data retrieving from their host ?

What protocol they use ? What port should be open ?

[You very vividly posting, but for technically inclined ppl, they came with empty hands after reading it ...]

I didn't think to ask that particular question. Joe did say that their Premium Guide comes from Tribune Media Services.


Don't know and don't know. Through WiFi it immediately connected. The way it was confirmed was that prior to switching to WiFi, the VUDU app also wouldn't initiate. I never made the connection that the PPG problem and the VUDU problem were related, but I had no interest in tackling the VUDU problem until the PPG problem was solved.


Not sure I understand this.

As a start, what is the make & model of your modem? Can I assume it's a cable modem? Since wired connections don't normally use security, can you tell the type of WiFi security is used? I have a Westell DSL modem also, but it's not the router/switching type. It's only used on my DSL line for my laptop. When my 7400 set the time, it was through WiFi with WPS-PSK where I supplied a key for the 7400.

Model 7500 DSL modem+router.


Ethernet (Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6, Cat7) surely does use security, via hardware firewalls and port forwarding and masking, etc. It's just not like WiFi security. I use WPA2 for WiFi security, which is considered pretty robust.

I'm knowledgeable about network infrastructure, but have much to learn about the newer hardware setups.

Something I did just learn recently: It's important to remember that when using a 7400 through a 7500, you gotta subtract 100 from all your channel numbers or your recordings will come out an hour & forty minutes too short.

Did somebody say PONDEROSA?

Port 443, it's initiated by the 7400 so nothing needs opened.

Haven't seen it in logs ... What I found is listed in post#1008.

WPA2 & WiFi security doesn't have anything to do with the comment you were responding to. That simply encrypts the radio communication between the router and your wireless device. There would be no need for any similar encryption on your wired network. Hardware firewalls, port forwarding, etc, have to do with the communication between your router and the rest of the internet. Your CAT 5 and wireless connections should be subject to the same firewall restrictions, if any, between your router and the Internet.

So with that said, there would seem to be something unusual with your setup with the information that you have provided. Either your wireless connections have been set differently against the firewall or there is actualy something else, like a bug, when using the wired CAT 5 connection. Normally you would want your wireless connections to have LESS access through the firewall than the wired ones lest one of the neighborhood kids, etc hacks your network.

If the router can be set to log access, not something that should be turned on, and you could catch the CM when it was doing a guide update, it should be pretty easy to find out what it is trying to access and what ports it's using. Or you could use something like wireshark. Someone with a little time on their hands might be able to figure out what is being sent down, and then with some local DNS changes, could redirect the CM to other guide info. (really dependant on if the protocol being used)

I didn't explain myself very well. Thanks for the added information.

I watched the 7400 pull the guide and open the port thru my NAT box. It used destination port 443 and I traced the IP address used back to entone.com.

Speaking of ENTONE:

http://entone.com/assets/File/Data%2...0511NA)(1).pdf

Interesting. Happy leap day.

That's good to know; I don't have the subscription and missed the opportunity to research it.

Dejavu link http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...postcount=1019

You missed a lot in the thread - see posts around# 1000,

I'm getting too old.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1#post21359481

There's just too much to keep up with anymore.

That's nice .. You found that company name long time ago... So, we got a complimnetary discovery - the name of the DVR: Amulet G1.

Thanks for all that. Clearly I've got much to learn about how to best use the newer modems and routers.


Becoming an Old Fart is a double-edged sword, eh?

No matter how much we've already learned there'll always be more, especially about stuff like this.

But maybe that's not such a bad thing after all.

PS -- Joe at CM mentioned there'd likely be another firmware update in the next few weeks.

PPS -- To correct an earlier statement, it looks like 7400's check for PPG updates periodically throughout the day rather than just once around midnight.

I would guess, assuming both networks utilize the same DHCP scope, the 7400 maybe having an issue with mtu/mtu discovery. It may assume a different mtu for .3 vs .11 that may not work over the wan connection.

If there are different DHCP servers for .3 & .11, then I would look there first. (DNS assignment/proxy, etc.)

Off-topic and condescending posts removed.

The Channel Master 7400 was supposed to replace the 7000 Pal, at least according to Channel Masters website.
Well, just got an e-mail from Channel Master. The 7000 Pal is in stock !
I confirmed it on Channel Masters website ... hmmmm ?...

Isn't that interesting!

http://www.channelmaster.com/Digital..._DVR_s/120.htm

In stock at $339. We live in interesting times.