Channel Master TV CM 7400 HD DVR - OTA, Clear QAM, Internet Content - Page 62

I have a channel master cm 7400 for about 4 months now. The problems I have are: I cannot permanently delete several programs.
Another problem is that my channels are now coming in very disturbing and glittery. I did not have this before. The channels come in very clear on my tv thought the tv tuner. I even tried to connect the cable directly to the cm 7400, still glittery. So it must be the cm 7400 itself. Any suggestions?

I don't own a 7400, but for those that do, you might supply a little more info,
such as, are you hooked to cable or are you OTA (Over The Air) with an antenna.
Also, "glittery" is kind of vague. Can you be a little more specific?

I use cable. The picture is static, flickering, digitally distortion, part of the screen are going in oposite direction and the sound is interrupted when this happens

Try to cool down your DVR, perhaps open a cover for that DVR and direct your fan to cooling inside of it.

Are you using HDMI? If so, try a different cable.

Yes I do, but I changed cables and have the same result

Did you try a full system reboot of the 7400 yet?

Quote:
Originally Posted by kesov

I have a channel master cm 7400 for about 4 months now. The problems I have are: I cannot permanently delete several programs.
Another problem is that my channels are now coming in very disturbing and glittery. I did not have this before. The channels come in very clear on my tv thought the tv tuner. I even tried to connect the cable directly to the cm 7400, still glittery. So it must be the cm 7400 itself. Any suggestions?

Did you try a full system reboot of the 7400 yet?

Not yet. I wanted to see if there was another solution so I do not loose all the good recordings i still have.

Since you've already checked the HDMI cable, it sounds like the 7400's tuner isn't getting enough signal to use. Could be:

1. Bad connection between the coax cable and the 7400
2. Bad tuner in the 7400
3. Bad/broken connection within the 7400

Try another coax cable between the wall outlet and the 7400. Make sure the cable's center conductors extend a millimeter or two beyond the screw-on F connector, and make sure the cable is connected tightly at both ends. That will help if the problem is #1.

If that doesn't help, try recording one channel while watching another. If the channel you watch is bad but the recording is good, or vice versa, the problem is probably #2. If both the live channel and the recording are bad, it's probably #3. Keeping the unit cool might help with #2; otherwise, you'll need to have the 7400 serviced. IDK if anyone does that anymore. Good luck

Thanks all for all the suggestions which I had already tried by the way BUT my problem is solved. This is how it came to that. I was ready to reset the device to manufacture's standard. When I tried to switch the cm on it would not come on. I disconnected the power cable, waitted for 20 seconds and switched the unit on. It came back on. Then I looked at the channels, all clear and sharp. Then I tried to permanently delete the deleted programs and yes they all permanently deleted. I am a happy camper.
Thanks again for trying to help me.

Rebooting it will not erase your existing recordings, they will all still be there.



So, in others words, you rebooted it like I suggested and it fixed it. Just like I thought it would.

Since I am at the end of my warranty and because I am running out of room, I am seriously considering going the route of disconnecting the internal drive and using a much larger external SATA drive as has been discussed in this thread. My question is, if I remove the old drive, would I be able to Ghost it to the new drive by hanging both drives off of a PC and save my existing recordings? I mean, the whole purpose of going to a larger drive is to get more room, not to start all over again which I could certainly do with the existing drive.

Before play with copy/expand, you should re-read what I found about file system on STB drive and be ready for bumpy ride. As a clue: you'll need Linux OS [Ubuntu for example, not guarantied] and some experience with EXT2/EXT3 file system.

Ok, since that sounds like it is above my pay grade, what about being able to stick the old drive in the external adapter to watch one of my backlogged recordings and then sticking in the new one to record new stuff? Of course powering down between each HD change. Would that work?

Then yep I did what you said. I thought you meant to manufactures reboot, which would have erased my recordings.
Thanks.

Sure. I would recommend to use TT dock BlacX with eSATA output.

If you leave the original hard drive in place and plug in a BlacX eSATA dock with a second drive, does the 7400 see this as one large drive?

I did test a few different configs - you can read in my old posts here.

That's what I have on order, so I guess I now have a plan. Thanks for the guidance!

As best as I can gather from your post 1007, it seems that the 7400 will use one internal drive or one external eSATA drive, but not both.

That's right. No other options discovered.

One big advantage to removing the internal drive and going with the external SATA setup, is a internal temperature reduction of the CM-7400, as it completely takes out the added heat generating source of having a internal drive. Just that reason alone, is one good reason to go with a external drive setup.

Good point.

I just wish there was a good solution for the CM-7400 and it's slow motion/delayed response times to the to remote control commands. For me, that's probably the one real irritating operational issue that the CM-7400 has, that I really hate. I even called up Channel Master on the phone about it, and they told me it was the first they have heard of such a thing.

Have you upgraded to the latest software? I find the CM-7400 remote almost as snappy as the Sony DHG HDD-250.

Well, I did it! My warranty expired 3 days ago, and I received my parts so I tore into my CM-7400. As another poster said, getting the cover off and the front bezel off was quite a chore and I just ended up forcing both of them off without breaking anything. But once inside, it was pretty easy to disconnect and remove the existing drive and then close it all up again (it went back together far easier than it came apart)--still looks like new. I first hooked up the original drive (after prying off the heat sink) on the external BlacX docking station, turned it on and powered up the unit (in that order) and everything came right up like nothing had happened. Then I powered everything down and put in the new Seagate 2 TB full size drive and powered up again. It went through a factory reset automatically and formatted the drive in less time than I expected. Then I had to scan for channels and set up all of my recordings again. It may be my imagination, but it seems a little snappier with the new drive. And the 305 hours of HD capacity was really nice to see.

So now I can go back and forth between the original drive (to watch my backlog of recorded shows) and the new drive (for recording new stuff), the only trick being to try to watch the backlogged stuff when I am not expecting any new recordings to kick off. I also took the unit off of the laptop cooler which was starting to make some fan noise--I don't think I should need it any longer with the drive removed. So far, so good thanks to the posts on this forum. I appreciate all of the info that you have been willing to share, especially P Smith.

BTW, it would be far easier if you don't need to take out the original drive, to open the cover and lift it up just enough to disconnect the original drive and then leave it in there. That could be done very quickly with very little chance of breaking anything. Then just connect your external drive and you are all set. Remember, power on the drive before you power on the CM-7400.
Edited by pcnetwrx - 1/30/13 at 5:57am

Every time I have it check for newer, it always shows that I have the latest.

These Dish-like remotes are sensitive to background IR, like from a plasma TV. Try moving your 7400 lower in your rack or something. Hope that helps.

Sorry of this has been asked, does Pvrexplorer pro work to offload recordings like on many other of the dish boxes?