New moto 6412 with HDMI and SATA - Page 2

Yes, because HD can only run on HDMI/DVI or Component.

Understood, but will it be done automatically or does it have to be switched to 480I manually? With my HD D* Tivo I have to manually set the rez output to 480I to view HD content over S-video or composite.

I don't know for sure, but, I think, the RF output is made to be used in addition to another output, whether it be DVI, Component, S-Video, or Composite, so it should be automatically outputting both resolutions. Maybe someone else can chime in to be sure.

It's kinda dumb that, with all the other enhancements, they didn't put a larger hdd in the phase 3 version.

I'm getting a dct-6412 monday from Insight in Columbus and had some questions (I didn't want to start a new thread) and was hoping someone would know the answers who have used the unit. I have an LG DLP with 1 dvi and 2 component inputs. Will the 6412 let me record the higher number digital pack channels (200 and up) off this box and show the hd feed at the same time or will I have to keep my old digial box to pick up those channels to feed my Tivo? As far as the HD dual tuner goes, how does that work? Does the box switch between tuners or do I need to hook up connections to the dvi and component? What if I wanted to do something silly like hook up every available output into the tv's inputs, just how many things can this box show at once? Actually that last question isn't so far fetched becuase if I could hook both my tivo's into it to record the higher number digital channels, I'd probably do it.

I use a 6412 from Mediacom and I can record chans 200 and up and watch an HD feed at the same time by hitting the swap button. It's not as smart as the dual tuner directivos that automatically switches tuners when you're recording something and want to watch another channel.

Not all cable companies get the same exact box. Cox in Omaha Nebraska has the new phase 3 6412 and it doesn't have rf out.

Andrew Wees

Do you know if the RF output displays graphics such as menus, APG etc. when the HD outputs are set to 720P or 1080i? I'd like to have the box feed my HDTV and us the RF to feed SD tv's and have the same functionality on all tv's. I'm not sure how an HD program would be handled on an SDTV, down converted I suppose?

It depends on the cable company whether RF out will be supported. The same for SATA and USB.

Someone try an external hd dammit!

PC Monitor attached to Motorola 6412
I returned my hdtv the other day and since I have gotten rid of my old tv I was left to attach my 21" PC (4 x 3)monitor to my Motorola 6412 DVR box.

My monitor has the following inputs:
- dvi-d
- composite
- s-video

I have hooked the dvr box up to each of these and none of them work properly. Here are the results of each:

1) DVI-D. When I turn the moto dvr box on I do get a picture that is stretched up from widescreen to 4x3 (even Craig Stadler looks thin) but that only lasts about 5 seconds and it goes blank.

2) S-VIDEO. I get a good enough picture but cannot use the on screen TV Guide or On Demand.

3) COMPOSITE. Same as S-VIDEO.

I called the comcast customer support line and got into a bizarre conversation with a rep who kept telling me that she could not understand why the tv guide would not work because she had it connected the same way (via s-video) at home. In fact she "knew how to fix these things before she even came to work for comcast because she had had a dvr for the past year".

She was insisting it was the dvr box that was at fault and had already sent 2 depth charges, or whatever they are, to it. Anyway after me pushing her that it must have something to do with the new monitor, after all nothing else had changed to the setup she says "Well there's a guy who knows a lot about computers here so I'll go and talk to him". He happened to be over the other side of the building so 5 minutes later she was back to tell me that he said I need to go and buy a connector from Radio Shack. Of course she being an old pro was referring to it is "the Shack". When I asked her what kind of connector I should get she said "I cannot remember what the computer expert told me a few minuts ago but they'll know at the Shack". Unreal...

You must be patient with these people however otherwise they get even worse. I asked her what connection out of the DVR I should use and what connection into my monitor I should use. This had her stumped and lumbering back across the building to the computer expert. Closer to 10 minutes later she was back. The walk seemed to overexert her as when she came back she was huffing and puffing like an old steam train. Anyway this time she had a completely different story for me. "Oh it's because you have a PC monitor that you cannot get the TV Guide. TV's have special stuff in them that prevents copyright theft and that's why you cannot ge the TV Guide. We even tried it out on his PC and it would not work - that's why I was so long."

At this point I gave up, thanked her kindly for her time and hung up. It blows my mind that Comcast does not have some kind of script that they run through to diagnose problems or at least a knowledge base to search on. Management is truly pathetic.

Now I know there are some real experts on this forum so can you give me any suggestions as to why I cannot use the guide on a PC monitor, regular Dell LCD with svideo, composite and dvi-d in?

Postscript: Wow I cannot believe I wrote for this long but it really is bugging me as my dvr is recording away and I cannot watch any of the programs.

Use S-Video for now (get a HDTV). It won't work with DVI because your monitor isn't HDCP compliant. You should get the guide, but I don't know how to set it up for S-Video.

Are the phase 3 boxes finally smart enough to switch tuners on their own or do you still have to hit the swap button?

I just got this on saturday. You have to hit the swap button if you are trying to do something that conflicts with recording.

I am looking around for a SATA drive - if I can find a cheap one, I will buy and check out the SATA connection. Is SATA used for anything else except storage?

My cable installer told me that motorola website has a page that shows what ports are active for which cable companies - anyone know anything about this? I would like to verify somehow that the SATA port is active before buying a drive.

Motorola hasn't updated their support site with the new box yet - still showing DVI port and no SATA port.

Have Comcast coming out Thursday afternoon. Told them I needed the box with an HDMI output. Currently have a SATA attached to my 8300HD, so hopefully I'll be able to test and report back Thursday.

Cool, I will wait to hear back before buying a new drive (the plasma, dvd player and universal remote in one week are already crushing me.)

My TV only has a DVI input.

Being this is "Phase III", is the improvement enough to warrant trading in the 6412 I have now (with a DVI output) for this newer one and getting a HDMI to DVI cable?

If you're already using DVI-to-DVI from your existing 6412, then visually you would get zero benefit from going to HDMI-to-DVI. You would be receiving exactly the same digital video data delivered.

And since you're already passing analog L/R audio from 6412 to your HDTV or stereo system (since it only has DVI input, not HDMI input), or digital audio from the 6412 to your surround receiver, you have no need (nor can you) pass digital audio from 6412 to your HDTV.

Bottom line: the new 6412 doesn't offer you anything except the potential for an expansion SATA drive (if anybody ever confirms that this is actually active and functional, rather than just being available for possible future use).

What about having a different firmware? Any benefit to version 12.xx versus 9.19?

No additional features besides the "possible" expansion SATA drive?

The Phase III looks to be hardware ready as a base station for a home media center application. This model would appear to have both the chipset and connectivity to support a base station/client scenario.

Being this is Broadcom's new flagship chipset, you may find the PQ slightly improved over previous models.

My cable company finally swapped out a DCT6208 for the DCT6412 III a few days ago. The box seems to work very well, although I do find the hard drive stepper motor chirp to be a little annoying. At least the platter motor is much quieter than the one in the 6208.

I'm using component until I get an HDMI-DVI adapter. The box has 12.18 firmware, and I'm using the same Moto DRC800 remote they supplied with the 6208. I would be interested if someone reports that SATA and firewire both work.

If I understand you correctly, one would be able to share content from the DVR to another HD box?
If so, would the 6200 be sufficient for this purpose.

Could you go into detail about "base station/client scenario". Is that basically like Dish network dual tuner DVR's that work with 2 tv's and have 2 different remote controls?

Sharing content is both a hardware and software issue. I don't have experience with the 6200 to comment, but I don't recall any posts from users stating that such a feature works on that box.

Even with the Phase III, the hardware is of little use until they enable those features and provide the client boxes to make it all work. From a Comcast standpoint, it just makes sense to put these in the field now so it lessens the installed base, meaning fewer box swaps when they actually decide to roll out media center features. That could be next month or two years from now though.

That have vaugely suggested a Tivo UI in '06 and the Phase III appear to be Tivo capable. That's about all we know at this point.

Is the phase 3 box only in limited circulation or is Motorola releasing it to all cable companies (Cox, Comcast, Adelphia, etc.) to replace the other boxes for future installs?

If you look at the feature set of the Broadcom BCM7038, then consider the SATA, the USB, the ethernet and RF out ports they have installed, there are several possibilities cooking there. It has triple PVR capability and has the capability for 2 HDTV stream with PIP on both. It has copy protection onboard. The 64-bit MIPS processor and the memory interface are pretty stout and better than anything else in the market at this time that I am aware of. Hardware wise, it can support two HDTVs on the one box(including PIP on both) and has connectivity for more beyond that.

The box appears to be loaded for bear. Remains to be seen how quickly they make use of the features.

Keep in mind Motorola is the same hardware company supporting the proposed D* home media center, so part of what you are seeing here is a tit-for-tat hardware battle between cable and DBS. In the end, I see it as all good because the consumer ultimately gets more choices.