Cox Cable 6412 w/ Pioneer Passport Review and Discussion - Page 13

Well, last night's Joan was struck with the zero length bug. And all day today I've had issues with CBS. Not good.

Yaah, I've got networked Replays all over the house for primary recording. I've got the 6412 on the HT for "best viewing" of HD shows as well as a digital music source for the house (the 2nd tuner really helped here as during school the kids can't watch TV, but like music while doing homework, so now it can still get prime time shows while they listen to music) .

When all the bugs are worked out, this will be a great box. For now, it's an "iffy" proposition. Frankly, I'll be calling in on Monday for a refund of this months DVR charges as it missed Joan, all CSI's this week..

I was thinking about why it worked last week but not this week. I don't know if this matters but;

Initially I had the 6412 in a rear rack, always ON. I was told by a Cox rep that the guide will never update if the unit is always ON.

So I programmed my home control system to sense if the TV or Stereo was on, and then power on the 6412. Otherwise the 6412 is always OFF. So all of the shows that it was supposed to have gotten this week were from an OFF state.

Again, this may not mean anything..

I've had a chance to play more... Currently all of my recordings are set for shows on CBS HD (ch702)

I checked "Series Manager", all shows were there and set up as I last left them.

Checked "Scheduled Recordings", most of the shows WERE NOT shown here, only Cold Case, No CSI's, Without a Trace, or Joan.

Checked the "Program Guide" and scrolled thru the time slots, Only Cold Case showed in ready-to-record RED.

Went back to Series Manager and deleted all series but Cold Case.

Went back to the guide and scrolled to CSI Miami, selected it for recording, It Shows "NOT RECORDABLE". I then tune to 702, get the "Not Subscribed" banner, it clears in about 30 seconds. I go back to the guide and can now select CSI Miami to record as a series, now it works.

I leave the box tuned to 702 and set up the other shows without much problem.

Went to "Scheduled Recordings" and all of the series shows are visible in the que to record.

Went to "Program Guide" and all series shows are Hi-Lighted in Ready-to-record RED.

That was a fun.


One other thing I found regarding conflicts with timeslots;

Example, I set up "Without a Trace" as a series with a 1 minute before show starts, pad setting. I then set up "CSI-Las Vegas" which comes on just before "Without a Trace". It let me set this up, but in checking with the "Scheduled Recordings" and in the Guide (looking for Red HiLight) CSI was NOT set to record.

I then deleted the CSI Series, went to the guide, and just tried to "Record this show", it then showed me an error message that it "can't record overlaped shows" which my padding had caused. I deleted the 1 minute pad, correcting the conflict. But when I went back to the guide to select "CSI-Las Vegas" again, it now showed in the guide Hi-Lighted in Black with the Can't-Record Icon.

I knew that the conflict was cleared, so I pulled power on the box. When it came back, the offending Black Hi-Light was gone and I was able to set up the CSI-Las Vegas Series just fine.

I've changed the Power-On Channel settings from "Last Channel" to "702" to see if that does anything.

The box is so close to being really great, just gotta get these few bugs nailed. HELPFULL ERROR MESSAGES to let us know When and Why things won't record would be a big Plus.

I think Ed Rempalski has the right idea. The fastest way to get these problems fixed is to provide a financial incentive to COX by NOT paying the PVR charge each month you have a failed recording. We should all follow his lead.

By the way - anyone familiar with the COX solution for converting Component video output from the 6412 to RGB-HV for those of us needing it (CRT Projector)?

Thanks.

Ed

CRTs don't usually have DVI . You need a transcoder to do it.

Madpoet,

DVI-I connections allow for RGB-HV connections, but I am pretty sure the 6412 has a DVI-D connector. Oh well - I guess some sacrifice is necessary to have the pest possible image on the planet...

I was told by COX that they could "accommodate" RGB connections, but I would like to hear from someone who the have "accommodated" to make sure their solution is adequate....

Thanks

Ed

Well, after all that checking... No "Cold Case" tonight. Zero Length Recording, start and end at 7:59pm

I feel confident in saying that since the dual tuner software went live, I can no longer get scheduled recording of HD programmng (at least ch 702).

I'm sad.

Sounds like a real bad case of the "subscription bug" which in turn causes the 0-minute recordings. Meanwhile my "tiling" issues still continue - surely I can't be the only one left with that issue?

I wouldn't know, I can't record anything!! Guess it's time to leave it alone for a few weeks, till the next update.

My tiling had decreased significantly until this evening, all time shifting resulted in terrible tiling. I did not dare try to record anything. Hey cox guy are you still around?

niesman

My tiling returned yesterday as well.
Has anyone noticed anything funky with the status bar?
Yesterday, I set the Saints/Cardinals game to record at 3:00. I started watching the game at 3:30. The status bar showed from 3:00 to 4:00, with the green area about in the middle. As I continued to watch, skipping commercials along the way, the actual time indicator actually passed up the green section, which was obviously not moving. Soon the actual time indicator moved completely past the 4:00 mark, and eventually off the screen!!
I was going to take a picture, but I couldn't find my wife's camera. I'll try to get a pic tonight if I can get it to duplicate.

I have noticed the same thing but is did not effect recording or playback. Just seamed to be a display problem with the status bar. I did not report it because, IMHO, it is minor compared to the bugs Cox is working on.

Do you have to leave the 6412 on in order for it to record or will it turn itself on when necessary? Also, while waiting to record something, does it output a signal on the component-out even when you are not watching anything?

I ask because I am trying to figure out how it will effect an automatic signal switcher?

Thanks.

Ed

It doesn't need to be on to record. Not sure about the other.

If it's OFF, it will still record. When Off, the component video looks to be OFF, audio is OFF as well.

I haven't noticed it the box actually turns ON to record, or stays OFF and Records internally like Replays do when recording un-attended.

My news:

My tiling (Cox - Rhode Island) is either gone or much improved. Until last night, I haven't been able to record a single HD program while watching another successfully since the dual-tuner upgrade several weeks ago. Last night, the 6412 survived many such paces. So, my hopes are way up.

I have to agree with the number of folks, like Ed Rempalski, who are/were Replay users and feel that 30-second skip is a very big priority.

Another thing Ed Rempalski brought up that I'll second is looking for a discrete on and discrete off command.

Question for edsuski: How does the 6412 know whether you are watching or not? I submit that it can't read your mind; and therefore, will always put out a signal on the component-out when it is on. I also submit that I'm a bit of a wise-ass -- hope you're cool w/ that

It stays off - but, the red Record light comes on, ala the ReplayTV.

--Walburga

PS: Yes, at least the DVI video and audio are off when that happens. Just like the Replay, the 6412 never really turns completely off.

Someone please start a new thread when the tiling issue is 100% fixed. Not being able to time shift HD sucks.

Additionally, do they have plans to put the browse feature in place on the remote (hitting a left or right arrow then up and down). I hate having to pull up the full guide to see what is on the other channels.

On another note, the remote not being UHF sucks. You have to point it right at it for it to work. Can anyone recommend a good multibrand remote that isn't so precise?

Also, yes this is starting to ramble, I am disappointed in the SD PQ to this point. I tried both DVI and component and they both left a lot to be desired.

I've experienced that several times as well.

Also, tiling issue came back again yesterday, even when second tuner was on an analog channel. Anyone else had that happen?

I have only experienced a hole in the guide once or twice, but I leave my box on at all times, and I generally don't advance days. Maybe since I don't advance past the already obtained guide info I have avoided it.

I also had my first zero length recording yesterday on channel 5 (analog). Others believe the zero length recording issue is linked to the subscription bug. There may be a relation, but obviously that wasn't the problem for me last night.

HD Tivo is looking better and better. 6412 is not quite ready for prime time.

Like you, I've had both HD and Analog channels do zero-length records, so it's definitely not (just) a "no subscription" error issue. If it were, Analog channels would never have the issue.

My best guess is that it's related to the guide hole bug (if it's related to anything else at all). IE: It goes to record but the guide doesn't "match" (being empty) the show and it aborts. Or, maybe both issues cause the bug, IE anything that makes the box not match up the show - either unable to tune or verify that the show is scheduled - will cause the box to abort.

Also, while I'm talking about it, I've had a few series just plain old not record, period. Even though they are in the Series manager, nothing get recorded. I'm at work, but something makes me think they won't be in the list of upcoming scheduled recordings either.

Anyone else have this problem?

--Walburga

Had it last night. I also had a situation last night where I explicitly went in and told it to record a show, swapped tuners, came back after the start time and it wasn't set to record anymore. 2nd time I did it it recorded fine.

Yes, this has happened several times to me. My last sample picture with tiling (posted in this thread a few posts ago) happened while recording ABC HD with the other channel tuned to an analog channel. For people having the tiling issue please post details about location, channel etc. as Video Guy has asked - also sample pictures are a big plus.


Wow, that is a big revelation. Since I never record SD with the 6412 (use ReplayTVs instead for those) I have never tried setting up analog recordings so have no history on that. For ReplayTV there is a similar problem (<1 minute recordings) when the signal strength of the source signal is not very strong, so perhaps on analog channels the 6412 suffers from the same problem - i.e. if the analog channel signal strength is not that great the A/D + encoding of the 6412 fails resulting in 0-minute recording. Boosting the signal before any spilts (without boosting noise - i.e. using a quality amp) usually takes care of that problem for ReplayTVs.

It is not quite the same, but you can sort-of browse by hitting info twice. You get the left/right/up/down browsing, but more of the screen is gone than before.

I haven't seen any guide holes in my guide, on the missed (zero-length) shows.

Could Cox give the definitive answer to this question;

Will the guide data continue to update, if the DVR is always ON??

I would much prefer to leave it on in my rack.

Thanks

VideooooGuy, if you are still reading this thread, please refer to my post a couple of pages back with details and snapshots of the "tiling" bug. Looks like this is still a big issue for many/most for HD recordings. So the "headend" fix has not cleared up this problem yet at many/most sites by the looks of it. This link takes you directly to my post with the snapshots and details:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...24#post4442124

Thanks again for taking the time to keep us updated on the status of all the bugs.

sophware,

My question was an attempt to see if the 6412, while off, would send out a sync signal that would cause my auto detecting switcher to switch to the STB, - but I think you already knew that........

Ed

It's also worth noting that the firewire output is "off" when the box is off.

-MP

Another data point. Cox OC, Calif. As I watched it miss CSI Miami in HD (ch702), I then;

Quickly deleted the zero length show and Tuned to the show in progress and pressed select to record.

It immediately stopped showing the program and put up the "not subscribed" screen. It created another zero length file.

Tuned to the show again (by pressing chan up and back down) and then pressed the "record" button. This way it began to record the show.

At least the Cox rep I spoke to today told me that I won't have to pay for this thing until it works.