ePVision PHD-VRX Owners Thread - Page 7

First the obligatory thanks to all (I received mine last week)!

I don't think this issue has been mentioned: Whenever I go into media player/video the recording stops. The front panel still indicates that it's recording but it stopped as soon as I entered media player/video.

EDIT: This was only a problem with my particular hard drive - see post 185.
Edited by GilesLevy - 6/19/12 at 4:04am

At least the VRX lets you manually select a tuner. That's a feature missing from the other comparable DVRs, I think. I know the TViX doesn't let you do that.

Thanks for all the legwork, Videobruce! I currently have an 8VX (and a retired 205LE.) I use it in my theater for the occasional TV watching. I might upgrade to this for the DVR capability. I just have to run coax from my attic to the basement so that I can connect my OTA antenna.

Subscribed!

Regarding my issue in post #181:

I was using an external iomega hard drive (connected to the DVR) formatted as ext2, but I just tried a USB flash drive and everything works fine!

I think the problem (which I should have thought of) is that the iomega doesn't perform too well unless it is drawing power from two USB ports - I guess the PHD-VRX is only giving it power through one.

Bruce, thanks for responding - I just assumed it was an issue with a new product and didn't think to try a different USB drive.
Edited by GilesLevy - 6/19/12 at 4:14am

c-not-k;
Does the 8VX have the same excessive black video problem this has?[/quote]

Not to my recollection, and neither did the 205. I'll try to watch some TV tonight and look for it.

It is an (older generation) iomega 500gb "eGo" (about 3 5/8" x 5 5/8" x 3/4"). I formatted it as ext2 from my laptop using GParted under Ubuntu (Linux). It was previously formatted as ext3.
I tried with the extra connection (of the Y cable) in USB1, with it in USB2, and without using the extra connection. All had the same behavior - but it's fine with my flash drive.

So far I'm really happy with it and I'm not very concerned about this behavior since it's fine with my USB flash drive.

Do you feel your question was answered?

You should try to find a HDD that works if you can, since flash drives will fail quickly when used with a DVR. Flash memory is designed for fast read operations, but write operations damage it. As such, it's ideal for system drives of computers where program data is constantly being read, but information is rarely written. For storage drives where large volumes of data get written frequently, a standard HDD is more suitable.

This is especially true for DVRs, because a DVR has very low data throughput requirements. Data only gets written to (and read from) a DVR HDD at some ~20 Mbit/s per program, which is a waste of flash memory's speed; however, having that write operation last for an hour or more results in a huge amount of data getting written to the drive, which will consume the lifespan of a flash drive in short order.

Thanks Aleron: I didn't know that about lifespans - I'll make the flash drive a very short term solution.

How does the picture quality compare to doing directly OTA to the TV?

Watched about 30 minutes. Haven't noticed any PQ issues. (But I did go to ePvision's website and download the latest firmware.)
Edited by c-not-k - 6/19/12 at 7:34pm

I have had to rescan twice since setting up this unit. I keep loosing the clear QAM digital cable channels. It also keeps adding channels that have no picture/sound.
Edited by idknyc - 6/20/12 at 1:57am

I've had mine a while - I was one rev out. After flashing I had to rescan channels and tweak video settings.

Currently I'm viewing unencrypted Comcast signals. As soon as I can run a cable I'll try OTA. Still no picture issues with the 8VX.

Too bad they didn't include an internal connector for a hard drive, although your solution is elegant, and wouldn't be visible from the front of my rack.

I'll wait until I get OTA in the theater to decide if I want the PHD-VRX.

It was running 8VX.43.13.23. It is now running 8VX.54.15.07. I'm an IT guy, and try to keep all the equipment I'm responsible for at work current. Why would you suggest not upgrading the 8VX? (I know sometimes with my PCH a new firmware breaks things, but even with that possibility the outcome is generally positive.)

"As of this writing the internal disk formatting function has never worked, even with two different drives on my test unit. Even if it did, I strongly recommend not using it, rather go here and download this free program to format your drive to ext2 (or NTFS if you wish);
http://www.partition-tool.com/easeus-partition-manager/linux-partition-manager.htm
The program works great, it's fairly easy to use and since it allows you to at least see a ext2 formatted drive within Windows (though you still can't access it) it can be used to replace M$'s utilities for any formatting. Unlike ePVisions internal buggy program, this will least give you an idea how far into the operation you are. Actually, Allen has already mentioned using this, apparently he found it before I did. There are only two functions that are not enabled, neither are of any importance here. It's not a trial program.
A more advanced program is here. This allows reading ext2 drives within Windows with additional drivers;
http://www.fs-driver.org/"


(1) Has anyone formatted their HDD using the internal formatting function? If so what were the results? I see from post #2 above that Bruce never did get the function to work. I believe I saw where you, Bruce, have sent back your test unit. Have you gotten a new version and have you had any luck with the formatting function?
(2) It seems that most of the posts are advocating using the ext2 format and I see where Bruce has given us a couple of options for getting the software to do an ext2 format. Has anyone used either of these programs and is there an opinion on preference for these two? Does anyone have another program that they have had success using? Why would I choose one program over the other? I do NOT have a tech. background so if I could hear in laymans terms your opinions that would be great. If I read the post #2 it looks like one program allows read only if the HDD is accessed with Windows while the other may allow writing to the recording if used within Windows, is that correct? I would guess that this would be a function if I wanted to be able to edit my recording? Is that correct? Thanks in advance to all answers.
Tom
Edited by tmn1 - 6/20/12 at 5:04pm

videobruce,
c-not-k is talking about the "8VX" not the "VRX".

That was included in the original post.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1414002/epvision-phd-vrx-owners-thread/150_50#post_22151198

I think his/her point was not all firmware updates breaks things.
Edited by JoeKustra - 6/21/12 at 8:19am

No, not really.

You asked me to comment on whether the 8VX had the same video issues as the PRX. I replied. I think that info is valid in this thread, considering that I may not be the only one who is considering upgrading.

Question: Is TIVO also an over the air tuner? Can I plug in an antenna and get uncompressed OTA local channels like the PHD? If yes, why buy the EPVision over a TIVO?

edit: it looks like there's a subscription.