Verizon FiOS QIP6416 DVR - Master Topic! - Page 12

When I fill it up to 91%, its already close to 20 hrs.

I concur, when I first got the Motorola box I thought I would record the whole season of Smallville to watch later. 18 episodes later the box was full giving a warning that the 1st episode would be deleted.

Thanks guys for the Help on the size for HD content. I may have to figure out which shows I really want to watch in HD and record the shows I care less about in SD. I too hope they come out with some kind of "Media Hub" or another DVR with bigger Hard Drives. My wife already hates the dvr because she is so used to the Directv Tivo. I have only been able to play with the new box for two nights, but one thing I am not impressed with is the Series recordings if you say record New Only it doesn't work well for shows that are on 20 times in a week. (ie Pinks, Real World, etc.) I am not crazy about the guide either. I am hoping that the fios/tivo rumors are true or at least the new series 3 boxes are affordable and compatible with FIOS.

Shaggy,

I have the same issue with multiple series recordings using Comcast's Moto 6412. This issue is not the STB but the Guide and TV networks. If the "new" flag is not properly set, the DVR will record the show. The DVR software could provide more filter options, but that would only cover the symptom and will not completely solve the problem. I have already stopped recording/watching some shows because of the issues and will start to email the show sponsers (cpoying in the networks) to let them know why I do not watch the show and see there ads anymore.

DeltaBill, You are probably right because a couple of those shows do not show descriptions and so it thinks it is new. The Directv tivo was really good with the guide and the repeat markers although a few times it would show up in the guide as a repeat and in reality the show was new. I hope this improves over time.

I was on the phone with tech support with other problems and mentioned how poor the guide is. He said that is the first time he heard of it. I find the guide is wrong most of the time and when it does have info it is very incomplete. Try an actor/actress search.

I apologize if someone has asked this question before but has anyone else lost all their DVR recordings after losing electrical power for an extended period of time? I live in northern Virginia and have had FIOS for 3 months. Been fairly happy with it. But we've been having a nasty storm season and two recent power outages ended up wiping out all the recorded programs off my DVR. Needless to say, this is really annoying when you are saving several episodes of a show for later viewing.

Anyone else lose their recorded shows after power outages like this?

UPDATE: I just noticed that even though none of my recorded programs show up on the DVR listings, it says my hard drive is 67% full. So, I think there is a good chance that a power outage doesn't necessarily always wipe out all the recorded shows, it just screws up the program listings somehow. Regardless, now I'm in the worst of all worlds: My recorded program listings are missing and inaccessable but the shows are still on the hard drive eating up limited disk capacity!! I've called Verizon for help, but so far no response.

Didn't have a problem like that but I can see how the HD inside the DVR could become corrupt during a power outttage. All your saved video is still on the drive, but due to the HD corruption, the DVR can't get to it. On a PC the data might be recoverable with special software but on a simple DVR that's not possible.

Huh?

DVHS on a Budget

Some/Most D-VHS Recorders will record D-VHS onto a standard "unpunched" S-VHS tape by simply pressing the "D-VHS" button prior to making a D-VHS recording---but it's easy to forget (resulting in a standard S-VHS recording) and it takes much longer for the recorder to recognize that it's a D-VHS recording rather than S-VHS.

The Keoki article described how you can modify the insides of the recorder so that the SVHS/DVHS recognition pin is permanently disabled in the D-VHS position....begging the question on how you make an S-VHS/VHS recordings...

But I've found that it is much easier to simply punch a D-VHS recognition hole into an S-VHS cassette, matching the S-VHS recognition hole on the other side. For this purpose, I use a medium sized needle nosed pliers and simply measure over the right amount from the edge and firmly punch in a hole--the insides of the Fuji "Red Box" S-VHS tapes are already half-way punched so it's easy.

I buy boxes of ST-120 and ST-160 tapes from www.tapewarehouse.com

Since most S-VHS tapes will not work reliably, check the D-VHS threads on which S-VHS tapes will work: such as Fuji Red Box and Maxell Black Box tapes....and many people use "slightly used" tapes...

A D-VHS recorder needs to be fed via an IEEE-1394 Firewire interface from an STB/DVR in order to make SD/HD recordings--but if Verizon hasn't messed up the copy protect bits, the HDCP "5C" copy protect built into D-VHS Recorders should permit you to record nearly anything on FiOS (except perhaps PPV).

Hi all. I wanted to bump this question up, as I didn't see or understand the responses.

I've had my QIP6416 for about 8 months, and really want to archive to DVD. I don't have a stand alone DVD-burner, only PC based.

What is the best way to pull the signal out of the QIP6416 digitally, and into my PC so I can burn some 480i DVDs of HD content?

-Sam

I believe that currently the only thing that can be transferred to PC from the QIPs is local programming. All other channels are 5C encrypted and can only be recorded to a compatible D-VHS recorder.

So, that begs the question as to whether there are any 5C DVD burners out there....?

BTW, I believe another sticky thread on this forum contains a huge amount of information and experiences on this topic. It is, unfortunately, 94 pages long.

Thanks for the tip. Yep, I'm trying to archive HDNet movies material. So, pretty good chance it's a no-go, huh?

I saw that other big thread, but it was too intimidating to dig through

Any other ideas out there?

Hi.

With the Fios DVR box, if I have it hooked up via standard coax cables (the out on the box hooked up to the in on the dvd, and the out on dvd hooked to the in on tv) would this enable me to record standard def stuff.

I am not talking anything special. A standard dvd recorder, pushing play on the dvr and record on the dvd.

This is the set up I have now with the cable company, and I have never had a problem copying anything from HBO, PPV, or any other channel.

This is the one thing that would keep me from getting Fios, as I archive lots of things from TV.

Can this be done with the Fios DVR?

Thanks

There's no reason this shouldn't work, as the DVR doesn't know whether you are viewing or recording the analog output. The only recording problem is in terms of trying to get the *digital* content off of the DVR disk, especially the HD content.

From what I've read, people *have* been successful doing with with D-VHS recorders, which are actually quite reasonable right now in terms of pricing. Yes, I would rather have it recorded to disk or DVD too, but this appears to be a viable option for offloading HD content.

Maybe this has been answered before but I could not find it when I searched.

Can you record HD content (local plus HBO, HDNET et al) from a QIP6416 to a DVD recorder using either component or S-Video 480i outputs from the QIP6416? If so, is the output 16:9 anamorphic or 16:9 letterbox?

Yes, you can.

I don't have my manual with me, but there if you enter SETUP you can specify how 16:9 output should be displayed on a 4:3 screen (I think it is letter box by default). You will also need to set Component to output as 480i or it will just show up as garbage on the other end. I am assuming your DVD recorder needs 480i, right?

From memory, I believe the way to enter setup is:

1. Turn off your DVR
2. Immediately hit the MENU button. This will take you to the SETUP screen.
3. Set display to 4:3, output to letterbox or cropped, and component output to 480i.

But is the output letterboxed on a DVD recorded using the S-Video output of the QIP6416 (with black bars on all four sides) if played on a 16:9 HD TV in Full mode on the TV or do you have to use Zoom mode to fill the screen?

Getting FIOS tv 7/20 in Tampa. Question on dvr function not seen asked on all the prior pages.

1) Coming from direct tv hd tivo. Does fios dvr have the 2 tuner buffer at least 30 minutes long as direct tv hd tivo had?

2) Can you pause buffer and easily switch to 2nd paused buffer, or are you put to live tv, and then have to rewind? Or is this not even possible?

I like to watch 2 things, pausing one, then catching up on the 2nd tuner, then returning to paused 1st tuner.

3) Has verizon mastered this area or does it leave alot to be desired. Thanks, Tim.

As a former DirecTivo user, I too enjoyed the 2 tuner buffer switch. You can't do that with FIOS tv. The closest you can get is to record both channels, and navigate between the recordings.

I don't believe the current fios motorola 6416 dvr allows this. If you pause a show, then change the channel, you lose the pause of the channel you were watching before you switched. If you pause a show, then switch to a show that has already been recorded (not changing the channel), then I think the original show you paused will still be there when you stop watching the recorded show. Then, if you switch back again from the paused channel to the recorded show, it will remember where you were when you stopped watching the recorded show.

Having said all that, I sure hope Verizon adds this capability ... I didn't have directivo before fios, so I haven't been missing that capability, but I will be now!

Pestep, I found out you have to go to the list area and do what you described. If you have 2 recordings going, can you pause a recording, go to the other recording, pause that, and come back to the 1st one where you paused it, or does it start from the beginning of the recording making you fast forward to your original paused point? Thanks, Tim.

If you record over S-Video with letterbox set and then play it on a 16:9 screen in "Normal" mode you will indeed get black bars on all 4 sides (the top and bottom ones are added by the DVR, the left and right ones by your TV). Yes, ZOOM should eliminate this.

Bummer! Looks like I will stick with my DirecTV HD Tivo until Verizon and Motorola fix this and add the 30 minute pause/buffer/switch channels capability.

When you go to the other recording, you have the option of starting where you last left off. So in effect, you can do the same thing you are used to with a DirecTivo, but it requires recording both shows, and a lot more button presses. I suppose one could program a Harmony remote to take care of the key presses.

I understand. The ability to pause one thing, switch to another, and still have it paused there when you come back was great. I also wish that the buffer was retained when you return from watching a VOD program. I think the box has the processing capacity for this, so I'm not sure what the design decision involved here was.

Despite all of this, the major reason for moving to FiOS is: Greatly Enhanced Picture Quality. The HD blows D* away and the SD should make D* ashamed to be running a TV service. I was a D* customer for 10 years, so had the first-hand experience of watching their PQ degrade over time. Sometimes I just can't believe how good the FiOS picture is. Outstanding!

This is, of course, just my opinion. That's what forums are for.

I had this problem after a power loss as well. I rebooted and the shows reappeared and I was able to watch them. Shortly after that problem my box started rebooting on its own. I would get shows cut in 3 parts with 5 minute chunks missing when the box rebooted. Same thing was happened when I tried to watch a show. Called Verizon and they were at my house the next day with a new box. So far I haven't had any trouble with this one.

Ok well this is an experience for sure. At first I was not able to get any picture out of the firewire port of the QIP6416 to my Mits 65869 TV. I had Verizon perform a "deep reset" (their words). This allowed all the analog channels (2-50) and about half of the HD locals to come through but nothing else. Personally I think that their system or the box itself is incorrectly flagging the content.

They are coming out on Saturday (my request - otherwise it would have been today) to replace the box. My "but it worked fine with the Comcast HD-DVR box" comment seemed to light a fire under them for some reason

I have my doubts that this will fix the issue but I will stay on them until it is fixed. Personally I think that their system or the box itself is incorrectly flagging the content since I can't get HD locals which should not be flagged at all.

I will make sure to post the results back here.

Laters,
Jeff

What were the Motorola folks thinking when they put those tiny hard drives in the boxes. I have a pair of QIP 6416's (in the same room I might add). Did they not realize that since the hard drives were too small to record any appreciable amount of HD, that a person would be forced to have two or more boxes in the same room to be able to get any results at all. The DISH receivers did have the edge there with the RF remotes. Here is how I addressed it. This is not a good solution but a weak work-around. First of all, I have a 65" projection TV. I set one of my 6416's on the extreme right side of the top of it. I put the other 6416 in the component cabinet to the left of the TV. If you are real careful, you can operate them independently with the same remote. There is not too much dead space in between them for the remote, if ya know what I mean. However, this is a weak solution. So, the next thing that I tried is buying a remote IFR extender at Circuit City or some such place and putting the sending unit in front of the 6416 on top of the TV and then building a barricade around the front of the 6416 with file folders standing on edge to shield the unit from Infrared coming from the remote control. I then placed the receiving unit of the extender pair around to one-side of me so that I had to point my remote at it, at such an angle that the other 6416 could not pick up the signal from it. Keep in mind that the only time you will have issues (at least to my knowledge) is when both 6416's are physically powered on. I believe you could operate them side-by-side as long as you only had one or the other powered on at a time. That is where the trick is and the need to have the shields around one of them. i.e. you could have one of the boxes recording something that you wanted to record but have it powered off as far as the remote is concerned and the remote would not have any effect on the box. Where you have issues without the shield mechanism is when both boxes are powered on at the same time. That is when it hits the fan. The shield method will fix that however, it is a bit crude. Two things that I asked Verizon before signing up for FIOS is if they had a wireless (RF) remote on the DVR's. YES, they said. I already knew that a 160 GB harddrive was pretty much worthless for recording HD TV. I asked them if they had a way to connect an external hard drive to the boxes. YES they said. I was specifically told by one of the people that I talked who had talked to her "GURU" that USB 2.0 support would allow me to connect an external USB hard drive to the 6416 and that would solve my space problems. Guess what, if I could have done that, I wouldn't have the need for two of them. Hence, my remote problem would have been solved as well. To date, I can find nobody at Verizon who will tell me how to connect a external hard drive. All they tell me is it is not supported. This is beginning to sound like a RANT. So, I am done.