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Sony DHG-HDD250/500: Official Thread - Page 91

post #2701 of 28406
1/23/06 at 4:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtbell View Post

As I recall from previous postings here (I'm just an OTA guy so I don't have access to that channel), INHD2 does not show up in TVGOS even as an "inactive" channel when you go into the Setup Channel Display menu (or whatever it's called). Someone needs to persuade Gemstar to add listings for INHD2 to their data feed.

Gemstar doesn't seem to want to deal with mere individual users of their system. I suggest that you contact whoever produces or distributes IHND2, and perhaps your cable or satellite provider, and ask them to ask Gemstar about adding listings. I recently worked through South Carolina ETV to get Gemstar to add listings for SCETV's digital subchannels (which are supposed to show up in mid February... I'm keeping my fingers crossed).

Well I think we all need to contact Gemstar and INHD individually it order to get things moving. They are more likely to listen to a group of people than just a single person. We should do this for all the missing channels and subchannels. Otherwise things will likely stay the same.

Has anyone confirmed that INHD2 does show up on some systems? Maybe he was getting it confused with INHD1 or something.
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post #2702 of 28406
1/23/06 at 4:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by scott659 View Post

Hey people in Los Angeles using Comcast and the dct6208. I am trying to add more space to my unit using a USB 200 gig drive. is this possible. If not can I use the Ethernet? if not how can I expand the size of the recording capacity???

Scott

You aren't likely to get an answer to this question in this thread. Try searching for 6208 in the forums...

EDIT: Oops - Bierboy beat me to the punch.
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post #2703 of 28406
1/23/06 at 6:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TWinbrook46636 View Post

Well I think we all need to contact Gemstar and INHD individually it order to get things moving. They are more likely to listen to a group of people than just a single person. We should do this for all the missing channels and subchannels. Otherwise things will likely stay the same.

Has anyone confirmed that INHD2 does show up on some systems? Maybe he was getting it confused with INHD1 or something.

I get both INHD & INHD2 via tv guide data with zip code 12302 using cablecard. You have a choice of two digital channel lineups, select 8865 (all digital channels). The issue I have is that INHD2 is channel 1865 and tv guide is sending it as 1868 and I can't enter a 4 digit channel in the channel editor. But I activated it anyway, to see whats on even thou I have to manually tune to the channel.
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post #2704 of 28406
1/23/06 at 7:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray1938 View Post

My unit has guide data so I assume the problem is with your unit. I suggest you use manual recording for a few days so you can enjoy recorded HDTV. If guide doesn't show by then, you may wish to reset the unit. That option is in the 9012 menu.

I have a question for anyone who ever try to do this.
All my local HD station came in weird numbers may be I don't have cable card inserted. Anyway, I have to do manual recording on all the programs. Now is there a way I can rename the show that I recorded to the actual name instead of unknown ? right now I only have couple show on the list. I will have problem If I have more than 20.
Someone already mentioned something about naming the channel. Let's say my ABC is channel 88-1 and the display is blank instead of ABC. Can I manually enter the letter ?

Thanks
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post #2705 of 28406
1/23/06 at 7:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dkennedy View Post

I get both INHD & INHD2 via tv guide data with zip code 12302 using cablecard. You have a choice of two digital channel lineups, select 8865 (all digital channels). The issue I have is that INHD2 is channel 1865 and tv guide is sending it as 1868 and I can't enter a 4 digit channel in the channel editor. But I activated it anyway, to see whats on even thou I have to manually tune to the channel.

Sometimes when I'm remapping channels it acts flakey and lets me enter 5 digit numbers. I don't know if it actually works as I've only entered number like 00035 when it wouldn't let me just enter 35.
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post #2706 of 28406
1/23/06 at 8:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TWinbrook46636 View Post

Sometimes when I'm remapping channels it acts flakey and lets me enter 5 digit numbers. I don't know if it actually works as I've only entered number like 00035 when it wouldn't let me just enter 35.

I almost posted that too, but I realized that I was entering these numbers in the "position" field (not the "tune channel" field). Does it let you do this in the channel number field also? I thought it was strange when you went in to type these in, and sometimes it would append it to the end of the existing number, and other times it would replace the number that was there already...
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post #2707 of 28406
1/23/06 at 8:48am
That might have been it. I'll double check it tonight.
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post #2708 of 28406
1/23/06 at 9:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by xsn0 View Post

1. I keep mine at auto-hdmi which it will revert to on extended power-out. Auto-hdmi works fine for my hdmi/hdmi run.

2. Yes, you can hide channels via TVGUIDE/SETUP/Change Channel Display/Menu on the Channel you select.

Good luck.

thanks, xsn0, tried your tips this weekend and managed to clean up TVG. but I still can't set HDMI to 720p I guess it must be a limitation of Sony and my setup.
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post #2709 of 28406
1/23/06 at 10:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by NickyCT View Post

I have a question for anyone who ever try to do this.
All my local HD station came in weird numbers may be I don't have cable card inserted. Anyway, I have to do manual recording on all the programs. Now is there a way I can rename the show that I recorded to the actual name instead of unknown ? right now I only have couple show on the list. I will have problem If I have more than 20.
Someone already mentioned something about naming the channel. Let's say my ABC is channel 88-1 and the display is blank instead of ABC. Can I manually enter the letter ?

Thanks

You can't rename an unknown program, but date, time and channel information usually is enough to identify the progam. The recorder doesn't come with a cable card so if you didn't have one installed, you don't have it. If you went thru the setup process correctly, you should have a guide display with correct channel numbers, except for HD. For those channels, you need to manually go through all your received channels to find the HD channel numbers. THen you enter those numbers into the guide using the edit mode. For example, if the guide shows ABC HD on channel 184, you replace that number with 88.1.
If the recorder has the correct time but no guide after three or four days, I suggest you reset the recorder and start over again.
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post #2710 of 28406
1/23/06 at 11:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtbell View Post

What's the numeric IP address of the FAQ site (pvr.hidyman.com)? I've been trying to get to it all week but I can't get past the address lookup stage. There must be a DNS issue on our network that causes problems with newly-created domain names.

You will need to put this in your "hosts" file if the DNS lookup isn't working:

69.218.160.155 pvr.hidyman.com

8^)
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post #2711 of 28406
1/23/06 at 3:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhillyC View Post

This is from the Sony site (referring to the Sony diagnostics screen:

IMPORTANT: If the Out of Band channel status is not LOCKED, or has a SNR value under 16, the signal of the cable feed may not be sufficient.

Philly, where did you see this on SONY's site? as of now, I'm on my third unit trying to get the guide data. and on my host channel my out of Band Channel staus in unlocked. Any idea how to resolve this? i assume this as regarding guide data?
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post #2712 of 28406
1/23/06 at 6:03pm
I did a soft reset and program data showed up, after four days of nothing. Finally!!!

Funny the program data showed up within the hour, no overnight wait. So it must have been already downloaded and available
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post #2713 of 28406
1/23/06 at 6:17pm
I picked up the hdd250 (firmware 1.2.06) from best buy at the clearance price. I set it up with a cable card (Comcast - Denver), and I am using it only for HD recording (locals plus 4 movie channels.... can't watch SD anymore). The TVGOS was setup within 24 hrs (host channel 80... PBS). 2 HD channels missing from the guide: INHD2 and KWGN-DT (HD version of a local)... but I can live with that. Have not seen any 161-X errors (yet).

The one show-stopper issue (one that may force me to return it) I am having is that some scheduled recordings (scheduling a bunch just to test) have failed with the dreaded "Recording not permitted by service provider" message. I have never seen the CCI flags set to anything other than 0x00. I've tried all the work-arounds (make sure tuner is not on the channel to be recorded, etc) I've found in here to no avail... still get random failures (e.g. a scheduled recording of an episode of "Masters of Horror" from Showtime failed but then a second attempt of a scheduled recording of a later airing of the same episode was fine). Before I plunge into the Sony service abyss, anyone know if a later firmware release addresses this issue? Any other Comcast cable card users with the Sony have these issues?
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post #2714 of 28406
1/23/06 at 7:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sfm View Post

I picked up the hdd250 (firmware 1.2.06) from best buy at the clearance price. I set it up with a cable card (Comcast - Denver), and I am using it only for HD recording (locals plus 4 movie channels.... can't watch SD anymore). The TVGOS was setup within 24 hrs (host channel 80... PBS). 2 HD channels missing from the guide: INHD2 and KWGN-DT (HD version of a local)... but I can live with that. Have not seen any 161-X errors (yet).

The one show-stopper issue (one that may force me to return it) I am having is that some scheduled recordings (scheduling a bunch just to test) have failed with the dreaded "Recording not permitted by service provider" message. I have never seen the CCI flags set to anything other than 0x00. I've tried all the work-arounds (make sure tuner is not on the channel to be recorded, etc) I've found in here to no avail... still get random failures (e.g. a scheduled recording of an episode of "Masters of Horror" from Showtime failed but then a second attempt of a scheduled recording of a later airing of the same episode was fine). Before I plunge into the Sony service abyss, anyone know if a later firmware release addresses this issue? Any other Comcast cable card users with the Sony have these issues?

Wow, that really stinks. I wonder if they can block OTA recording.
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post #2715 of 28406
1/23/06 at 7:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dkennedy View Post

Okay, my unit is up and running. I had an issue with the old cablecard, which use to work before the unit went into service, it didn't work. Time Warner tech came and changed out the cablecard (took about 5 minutes).

I have two new issues with the new firmware:

1 - switching channels now produces a longer period of audio and video noise on the screen for about 5 to 7 seconds while the unit tunes in the next channel. I did not have this problem before the upgrade, before the upgrade the sound was muted when switching channels and a brief 1 second display of video noise.

2 - switching channels when using AUTO-HDMI produces a brief 2 second message that states "This program is not available when connected to HDMI or DVI equipped monitor. You may change channel or use the Component or SD Video output.", but this message goes away within 2 seconds and the channel is tuned like nothing happened. This occurs while switching channels and while watching HD channels. I suspect it must have something to do with HDCP handshaking. I did not have this message before the upgrade.

And one old issue:

1 - I can't enter 4 digit channel numbers when using the tv guide channel editor, for example INHD2 is channel 1856 for me, but I'm only allowed to enter 18-56, 1-856, etc...not 1856. The tv guide data has it as channel 1868. And yes, I sent emails to TW to have the problem corrected, the answer I got was they are working on it, but in the meantime that I should get their STB.

Other than the above, the unit is operating as expected. Oh one more thing, they sent me a new manual with the upgraded unit. It is the same as the updated pdf manual online.

5-7 secs delay for channel switching with the new firmware!? mine is 1.2.05 and i thought 3 secs delay is worst enough (only when switching from 1080i to 720p or 480i and vice versa). No upgrade for me.
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post #2716 of 28406
1/23/06 at 7:52pm
Well, I have found a recurring problem/annoyance with my Sony...

I have had numerous instances of the DVR freezing up when I am fast forwarding. It will become unresponsive for about 30-60 seconds and then pick back up.

I had one happen last night and then about 1-2 minutes after it started playing again, it "skipped" ahead by an unknown amount of time. I tried rewinding to see what I missed, and when I did this it skipped back to the beginning of the show.

Some of these situations occurred when i was watching a show that was still recording. I think the skip ahead described above happened to be an empty "blank" space in the program that was created as it was trying to record while it was frozen. (I was only a few minutes behind live tv when the freeze occurred).

Has anyone else run into this behavior?

I am thinking I want to do a "reboot" to see if it helps, but what is the best method for doing this type of simple reboot? Is it just unplugging and then plugging it back in? Or is there an easier way?

Thanks!
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post #2717 of 28406
1/23/06 at 7:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sfm View Post

The one show-stopper issue (one that may force me to return it) I am having is that some scheduled recordings (scheduling a bunch just to test) have failed with the dreaded "Recording not permitted by service provider" message.

This just happened to me so I ran more test recordings today. As reported by others, successive recordings on the same premium channel will fail after the first one records. For example, I had three one hour programs set to record on ESPN-HD Sunday afternoon at 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30. The 1:30 recorded OK, but the next two failed with the "not permitted" message.

Today I tested this on ESPN-HD and HBO-HD and got the same result every time.

I don't recall if amyone resolved this issue previously or at least determined who is at fault --- cableco, CableCARD, or Sony.
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post #2718 of 28406
1/23/06 at 8:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by spiff72 View Post

I have had numerous instances of the DVR freezing up when I am fast forwarding. It will become unresponsive for about 30-60 seconds and then pick back up.

This was happening to me with heavy FF use while zipping through recorded football games. Sometimes the freeze would last for 2-3 minutes and once it was longer requiring a reboot. The solution was to use the Advance function instead.

I do use FF with other programs, but have not seen this behavior for a couple of months. It's possible this was fixed by the necessary reset after our national Guide problem a while back, but I'm not sure.
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post #2719 of 28406
1/23/06 at 11:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by srnile View Post

Wow, that really stinks. I wonder if they can block OTA recording.

Only blockage I encountered was when I tried to burn a DVD of a Showtime movie.

Instead of a cable card, I use my Comcast recorder for HBO and Showtime movies, and never have a problem, so I assume the inablitlity to record premium shows on the Sony is not intentional. I suspect that the only programs you aren't allowed to record are PPV.
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post #2720 of 28406
1/24/06 at 5:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhillyC View Post

This was happening to me with heavy FF use while zipping through recorded football games. Sometimes the freeze would last for 2-3 minutes and once it was longer requiring a reboot. The solution was to use the Advance function instead.

I do use FF with other programs, but have not seen this behavior for a couple of months. It's possible this was fixed by the necessary reset after our national Guide problem a while back, but I'm not sure.

What is the best way to reset it? And can I reset it in a way that won't reset the guide data? Basically I just want to reboot it. Maybe pulling the plug is the best option...
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post #2721 of 28406
1/24/06 at 6:04am
You can press the "Exit" and "TV Guide" button at the same time on the front panel, this will cause a soft "Reboot". You will only lose the time, leave the unit off for a few minutes until the -:- changes back to the current time.
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post #2722 of 28406
1/24/06 at 6:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kenrick View Post

You can press the "Exit" and "TV Guide" button at the same time on the front panel, this will cause a soft "Reboot". You will only lose the time, leave the unit off for a few minutes until the -:- changes back to the current time.

Thanks, kenrick...I will give that a try tonight.
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post #2723 of 28406
1/24/06 at 6:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtbell View Post

What's the numeric IP address of the FAQ site (pvr.hidyman.com)? I've been trying to get to it all week but I can't get past the address lookup stage. There must be a DNS issue on our network that causes problems with newly-created domain names.

I can get to it now. It just took a while for the newly-created address to percolate through the DNS system enough so my server could recognize it.
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post #2724 of 28406
1/24/06 at 7:24am
So far, my DHG-500 has performed well.
Since I have a front projector with a native 1080p resolution, I decided to experiment with the difference between HDMI and component hookup. Surprise - I couldn't tell any difference in color, dynamic range or resolution. And I like the NATIVE option for component that doesn't work for HDMI, so I'm sticking with component.
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post #2725 of 28406
1/24/06 at 8:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by J.Mike Ferrara View Post

So far, my DHG-500 has performed well.
Since I have a front projector with a native 1080p resolution, I decided to experiment with the difference between HDMI and component hookup. Surprise - I couldn't tell any difference in color, dynamic range or resolution. And I like the NATIVE option for component that doesn't work for HDMI, so I'm sticking with component.

is DHG-500/250 1080p capable?
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post #2726 of 28406
1/24/06 at 8:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jzdugolf View Post

is DHG-500/250 1080p capable?

It will not output 1080p, if that is what you are asking. Just 1080i/720p/480p/480i
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post #2727 of 28406
1/24/06 at 9:12am
Two days ago I setup "regular" recording of the Fox show "24" and CBS show "CSI-Miami". On monday 1/23, my DHG-HDD250 recorded "24" successfully. While it was recording, 30 minutes into the show, I started watching the show from the beginning. So, I was behind by about 30 minutes. At 9:00 PM CST, it should have started recording CSI-Miami, while I was watching the recorded "24". It did not. I missed CSI-Miami because of this mixup. After watching "24", I checked the recording schedule and CSI-Miami is nowhere to be found.

Has anyone come across this kind of problem? I am using OTA only. Both CBS and Fox tune well. I am in Kansas City, MO.

Here are some reasons it could have happened, but I don't know what the culprit is

1) I was watching "24" and the DVR somehow stayed on Fox after "24" was finished, so it skipped CBS recording.

2) I set "regularly" as the scheule for "24" and "CSI-Miami". May be it got confused since CSI-Miami is scheduled for more than once this week.

3) I have two channels set to record consecutively (8 - 9, 9-10). I have heard that this does not work well for premium cable channels. But I am having problems with OTA. Also, I think I have setup to record both last week also and I think it worked.

4) Sony software has bugs that it just drops programs without any reason!!

Any ideas!!
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post #2728 of 28406
1/24/06 at 9:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bommai View Post

Two days ago I setup "regular" recording of the Fox show "24" and CBS show "CSI-Miami". On monday 1/23, my DHG-HDD250 recorded "24" successfully. While it was recording, 30 minutes into the show, I started watching the show from the beginning. So, I was behind by about 30 minutes. At 9:00 PM CST, it should have started recording CSI-Miami, while I was watching the recorded "24". It did not. I missed CSI-Miami because of this mixup. After watching "24", I checked the recording schedule and CSI-Miami is nowhere to be found.

Has anyone come across this kind of problem? I am using OTA only. Both CBS and Fox tune well. I am in Kansas City, MO.

Here are some reasons it could have happened, but I don't know what the culprit is

1) I was watching "24" and the DVR somehow stayed on Fox after "24" was finished, so it skipped CBS recording.

2) I set "regularly" as the scheule for "24" and "CSI-Miami". May be it got confused since CSI-Miami is scheduled for more than once this week.

3) I have two channels set to record consecutively (8 - 9, 9-10). I have heard that this does not work well for premium cable channels. But I am having problems with OTA. Also, I think I have setup to record both last week also and I think it worked.

4) Sony software has bugs that it just drops programs without any reason!!

Any ideas!!

my guess is reason 4 :-( i've seen the same problem and have not determined
a pattern yet. last week i changed all my scheduled recordings from "regular" to
"weekly". since the change i haven't lost anything from the schedule. longest
i've gone in the past is a week without losing something from the schedule.
if all goes well for another week or so i'd begin to believe the use of "regular"
has something to do with the problem..

a question for the group. has anyone seen a scheduled recording change to
??/?? for both date and time, due to the next airing of the show not being in
the 8 day listing window, then show the correct day and time once the next
airing is within the window???
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post #2729 of 28406
1/24/06 at 9:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tkodrhc View Post

my guess is reason 4 :-( i've seen the same problem and have not determined
a pattern yet. last week i changed all my scheduled recordings from "regular" to
"weekly". since the change i haven't lost anything from the schedule. longest
i've gone in the past is a week without losing something from the schedule.
if all goes well for another week or so i'd begin to believe the use of "regular"
has something to do with the problem..

I've seen postings on this, too, and changing it from "regular" to "weekly" seems to take care of it. Still appears to be a Sony or TVGOS bug that shouldn't happen.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tkodrhc View Post

a question for the group. has anyone seen a scheduled recording change to ??/?? for both date and time, due to the next airing of the show not being in the 8 day listing window, then show the correct day and time once the next airing is within the window???

Yes.
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post #2730 of 28406
1/24/06 at 10:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bierboy View Post

I've seen postings on this, too, and changing it from "regular" to "weekly" seems to take care of it.

I've lost "weekly" scheduled recordings in the past, so unfortunately I don't think switching from "regular" to "weekly" is a work-around. This problem is very sporadic, I've seen it happen twice in 24 hours and I've also gone a month without seeing it. I just gave up and have been using manual recordings, which isn't ideal, but I've gotten used to it. I'm hoping that we'll hear back from philspice1 and see if the 1.2.13 software has fixed the problem, he's been using that version over a month now.
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