Time Warner Cable Navigator - Page 387

Well, I was at the Rome office a few days ago and the woman behind the counter didn't seem to know anything about Navigator. I asked if they had any new boxes in yet and she said no. Chances are, this will be typical Time Warner - by that I mean, the CSR's will be the last to know.

The Desert cities subdivision of TWC San Diego will start beta testing the Cisco DVR's in a few weeks.

My Samsung boxes now have SW v4.3.5.3.

Is it looking like Desert Cities and San Diego are giving up on the Samsung 3270 units and going back to Cisco boxes?

San Diego just loaded SW v4.3.5.3 and they have plenty of 3270's in stock.

Has anyone deciphered what exactly has changed within Navigator from version to version? Why doesn't TW issue release notes with each "update". I know reports come in with lost or added things discovered by end users, but there should be a revision list issued by TW with each change. Hell, even my iPhone apps have this?!?!?

I've been posting info on ODN updates as I have received them... I can take a look this evening and compile them, but that won't help any for your MDN box.

The other issue is that the same versions do not necessarily behave the same in all systems... for instance, some systems with the same versions we have had here have not had the expanded guide listings that we have had here for several versions. There is also evidence of patches being issued that can effect behavior but do not end up changing version numbers.

Right, but I also plan on picking up an 8640HDC as soon as they are available which would have ODN. That's a good idea about compiling the various versions. However, we would need a thread started just for that so post 1 could be updated as needed. Sifting through hundreds of pages would be a nightmare.

I still stand by my position that this is something Time Warner should be doing on THEIR website!

[quote=BenJF3;18371101However, we would need a thread started just for that so post 1 could be updated as needed.[/quote]Not necessarily--you could always ask a mod (or Jacksonian, who is still around) to edit the top post to place a pointer to a release notes post in it.

That'd be nice, but don't hold your breath. I've never seen that done in the past. I think that very few subs would use or appreciate it.

I know that, but it would be nice to know what is added or taken away. They could at least put a detailed manual up instead of quick reference guides.

What was that corporate address for TWC? Someone put it up a while back. There is safety in numbers and we should start a campaign to corporate to please publish TWC-Navigator update release notes or tentative schedules of new features. The goal in my view is not to do this to "bother them", but as an idea that they could better serve their customers.

Jack

Sometimes I get release notes from my engineering contact but he doesn't make them as a document.

ODN v3.2.0_15 adds a new CableCard, Middleware, RTOS update, some features were taken away, RemoteDVR is added and other misc stuff.

ODN v3.1.3_3 updates the HDC boxes middleware so that it doesn't randomly steal the buffer when it's trying to do a network check. It also reduces the instances of Please wait for non DVR boxes.

Samsung v4.3.5.3 does fix a few intermittent bugs but it also refines the 3270's REW and FF algorithm.

ROTFL... no immediate profit in that, so no go.

Not to mention I seem to have a version (MDN) that NOBODY else has, except for my immediate neighbors... and a slip stream update (no version change) fixed one big bug but it seems my -21 operates pretty much like all -19 versions do.

AND I can clearly recall that even with our old Passport software, there were things I could NOT do that some others COULD do even though everyone had the same software version.

It's plot (X-Files redux)

I got rid of my 8300HDC for another SMT-H3270. I didn't get a manual or a bunch of cables but it's a nice DVR. This 3270 has a sticker on top of it mentions that you press A for VOD. All I got was a paper that tells you how to activate it, a power cord, and a plastic bag. The front of the box did contain a clear plastic cover which I removed.

It came with SW v4.3.5 and ODN v3.2.0_15. In a short amount of time it rebooted and downloaded SW v4.3.5.3.

Now I only use Samsung boxes. 2 3260's and 2 3270's and it's nice to have the 320 GB HDD.

Hey All,

In divisions giving out the Samsungs, do yours have four feet on the bottom? There was an influx of many early Samsung boxes that had only one or two feet on them and the rest were broken off.

What were some of the other bugs with the Samsungs? Our division had them in Milwaukee about six months ago, but I think they may be going with the newer SA/Cisco's. It will be interesting to do performance test evaluations between the Samsungs and the new Cisco's. But again, that varies from division to division. I think right now, they are only doing SA/Cisco 8300-HDC's

I still heed the advice of a TWC tech who we had that was decent years ago. "If your box is working at an above average or better capacity in terms of speed and functionality, keep it, because all units are rented as is. You don't know where the previous box came from, how well it was maintained."

He told us, don't fix what isn't broken.

Jack

One of my 3260's might be missing some feet but I don't seem to care about it. All my other boxes have all 4 feet.

I am still hanging on to an 8300HD box based on the same advice I received a few years ago from a TW tech.

While true, the 8640's that should be deployed here would be brand new. They still don't have any at the local office yet, so any they get shouldn't be prior rentals. I want to compare the two, but as I stated before - I am keeping my 8300HD since it's working perfectly until such a time I see the 8640 offering something the 8300HD doesn't.

Both of my 3090s were brand new and had all feet when I picked them up.

The 3090s have certainly had their quirks, but all of the serious ones had at least a workaround available. I would say that with the current versions of software on mine (ODN 3.2.0_15 + Samsung 4.3.5.3), that virtually all of them have been finally fixed, and the 3090 has been quite stable and reliable for a while now, and 320GB is awfully nice without any eSATA hassles.

The only remaining issue, that's really not a big deal, is that it still refuses to properly boot ODN when the HDMI is connected to my Onkyo 876 AVR (when on only, turning the AVR off allows the box to boot Navigator correctly). Before 4.3.5.x, it refused to boot Navigator at all with the AVR on, ending up in the Samsung native GUI after a couple of minutes of trying to load ODN. Since 4.3.5.x, it will boot into Navigator, but there will be no guide listings at all, but all is fine with the AVR off during boot-up. I say it's not a big deal because, if there are unattended reboots, the AVR is off anyway, and if I do it manually (something I no longer have to do on a regular basis to keep the FOX/CBS recordings working) I can turn off the AVR.

I really wish TWCNYC would get around to pushing your versions of software here. Since they dumped 2.4.9.4 on me a few weeks ago, I've had to hard reboot a frozen 3090 about once/day. Prior to that the box worked fairly well. I'm ready to throw this thing out the window and pick up one of the new Tivos.

Same here... I was all sorts of anxious about getting a 3090, mostly for the ability to install a larger HDD. BUT I managed to create a "habit" of dealing with disk space (record 'em, WATCH 'em) that seems to be working well, AND my seriously ancient HD holding up amazingly well. Not to mention the "glitching" issues I was plagued with sure seem to be exactly what I have always thought (issues from the head end, NOT one's box or external drive) because I seem to (so far) be glitch free for 3-4 weeks (well, 1-2 per 5 hours of viewing is perfect to me from when it was half a dozen per hour).

Pretty much why I kinda stick with my HD (not to mention achieving some level of peace with the tiny HDD)! From what I read, it sure looks like that TiVO won't be up to it's capabilities for a while. it seems they have good hardware but are barely post alpha in software. If you can afford third party, might want to take a serious look at Moxi...

Yeah, I've given both the Moxi and Tivo a good look. The Moxi/Moximate combo looks as if it could work out well for me. I just don't want to lay out the cash. Hopefully, there's a 3090 software update just around the corner.

What capabilities would those be? (Or are you trying to say "TiVo Premiere won't acheive its full capabilities for a while"? That might be true, in that they're slowly converting the UI to HD and introduced the unit with only the "heavy traffic" menus converted. It is, however, already many times faster than the S3 and HD at doing stuff that no other DVR on the market can do, like moving recording to and from computers on your LAN and downloading VOD from Amazon, Blockbuster, etc. They're planning an update in April).

I just exchanged my Scientific Atlanta 8300 HDC with a 8300HD.

Although I can mention that 8300HD, fonts are darker, when you click a button to display a menu it has this nice "fade in, fade out" thing that 8300HDC didn't have.

Also, there is some info in the settings location that 8300HDC doesn't have.

Brighthouse didn't have the new Samsung HD DVR that I think has more space to record programs.

I want to know what's the difference? which one is newer?

8300HD is the older one, also runs the MDN software/middleware/whatever (not ODN). I have a vintage 2003 unit.

It's amazing, I like the 8300HD better than the 8300HDC

I can change channels faster (and I personally need that), has the nice "fade in, fade out" feature when you click for the menu.

The only thing missing from 8300HDC is that when you change a channel manually that is not available in the menu, it doesn't take you to the nearest tune.

That's not a killler thing for me, I can live without that with no issues whatsoever.