SA 8300HD DVR (Comcast in Mpls area) - can't get into setup menu

Setup menu? Doesn't your remote have a button labeled "SETUP" in the top left corner? If not, follow the instructions on page 4 of:

http://www.sciatl.com/ExplorerClubGuides/getting_started/4004007.pdf

* DVR OFF, TV ON
* Press GUIDE and INFO on the DVR's FRONT PANEL at the same time.
* Press [triangle] "A" on remote.

etc...

Which is why I posted the above. It looks as though you are not pressing the [yellow triangle] "A" on the remote after you press GUIDE/INFO on the front panel. Are you? If not, you will get what you got - nothing. Follow the instructions exactly.

I live in Richfield, and have the same box. I was frustrated that everywhere I looked on the internet told me the same thing - on the front of the box, hold the Guide/Info buttons while the box is off. This never worked for me. I'm not sure why its different in Minneapolis, but here's how to do it.

Turn the box off, and wait for the clock to come back on. On your REMOTE, press the HD Zoom button to get into the Setup Wizard.

On your REMOTE, press 'A' (the yellow triangle) to start the Wizard, and, assuming you have an HD TV connected via HDMI, press 'A' again to select Easy Setup. This will make the box always output in 1080i format. Alternatively, you can go into the advanced setup and select your TV type (4:3 or 16:9) and output resolutions.

Then, press Power to exit the Wizard and watch TV. Now, while you're at it, turn your box off again, and on the REMOTE press the Guide button to bring up the User Settings menu.

Go to the bottom and select "Restore Defaults". This will eliminate that delay you sometimes get when changing channels, particularly when going from an HD channel to SD channel. Now go up to "4:3 Override", and use the right and left arrow buttons to change. This will select the default viewing option for SD channels. Either of the 480s will display in 4:3 format on your screen (black boxes on the sides), and stretch will obviously stretch the picture to fit your whole screen. You can always manually switch this while your box is on by pressing the HD Zoom button. The 4:3 Override option will also change the orientation of your guide, info bar during shows, and any on screen menus while your box is on. If you select a 480 setting, the guide will appear in 4:3 format in the center of your screen, with black bars to the left and right. Selecting the Stretch setting will stretch the guide to fit your screen. This cannot be changed while the box is on.