Time Warner Cable Navigator - Page 580

ybsane,

Good insight.

2-3 HD in 6 MHz?

Corrected information above for clarity.

Jack

Satch - it's my understanding (ybsane might be able to shed light on this), that even once the bandwidth is reclaimed from the analog switchover Time Warner has no plans to eliminate SDV. I said it was the first thing that should go, but word is they want to use this bandwidth on "other products".

My "Channel Not Available" problem has ceased for now. I just experienced a reboot while watching a recorded show, and checked the channels I was having the problem with after the reboot was done, and they are now all showing. They were all, I believe, SDV channels. I'm not sure if the reboot was responsible, as my non dvr box didn't reboot, and the problem is gone on it too. We don't have "Auto HD" in my area yet, so that isn't an issue. Maybe there's just more free available bandwidth in my node right now. I will keep track of the days I don't have all the channels I'm paying for available to me and will bring it to the attention of TWC for billing purposes. I want to thank everyone who contributed to my education on this subject. I think I now have a little better understanding of how some of this works. Thanks again!

As a rule of thumb, most all HD channels are SDV with the exception of your locals, ESPN and sometimes a few other highly watched sports channels.

They have too much invested already and then there are all those 'pockets' that are getting 'filled' from their suppliers of the equipment. Just like doctors and drug companies. Quantity, not quality.

I had a wierd experience last night. I was bouncing back and forth between the football game and the baseball game by pressing the LAST button. Occasionally, I used PIP. Eventually, when I hit LAST it did nothing, but I realized it had started a recording so I just tuned to the other channel again and continued hopping back and forth. An hour later the DVR suddenly tuned to a different channel. No problem; it had started another recording and I guess the first recording is one those shows that runs over by a minute and the DVR needs both tuners for a moment. So I just switched the TV over to antenna to continue watching the game. A half an hour later, I switched back to DVR to check things out. This is when things got wierd.

The recording list showed that I still had two shows recording. The problem is that the two shows are consecutive programs on the same network. Both tuners were tuned to the same channel and the first program, which was supposed to have ended 30 minutes ago, was still recording. I manually terminated the first recording and let the second recording run its normal course. Both appear to be OK.

In spite of other's complaints, my 8300HDC has been flawlessly handling my recordings even on nights where I'm recording 6 shows in the 3-hour prime-time slots. But, I've never seen anyone report that they've had both tuners tied up recording the same channel.

Heck, I've had 2 tuners tied up recording the same show at the same time before for no reason. The software just gets easily confused. Lately it seems to not always recognize when 3 programs are starting at the same time and shows them all as scheduled to record. The programmers still have a lot to do to clean this navigator mess up.

Tonight Navigator isn't working with Whole Home. My Living Room can't see my bedroom. I guess yet another reboot is in order.

Last night, while watching a recorded show on my Samsung H3272, I went back several times to read the credits and got a delayed reaction to my button pushes. When it caught up, it went to the beginning of the program and played the first second of the recording over and over and could not be induced to play any other part of the recording. I went back to live tv and found that whatever channel I tuned to, it would just repeat the first one second that it saw of the live program and never show anything beyond that. I even used the remote to cycle the box on and off and each time it would come up on the default channel and play the first second it saw. I had to power cycle to box to restore operation.

this is one of those "easily solvable with a reboot" problems...

They happen.....

consider yourself lucky - there are far worse stories...

I've already learned - as soon as something doesn't seem right - reboot when you have a chance - it's only gonna get worse.

Except this is pretty much daily for some of us. It's just unacceptable. I can live with an occasional reboot as it's understandable. However, with Navigator it's at best a weekly reboot.

Lately I have been noticing some new glitches on my 8742 that I had not seen since the 8300 days. Parts of the program guide and recorded list will stay on screen such as the border around the small viewing window. Other areas disappear; for example a program name in the guide when highlighted in red that is scheduled to record.

One of my 8742HDCs now won't display anything other than a frozen image or pink snow over component. I had to steal one of my TV's HDMI inputs last night to watch TV, so, for the moment, my PC is not connected to a monitor. Serves me right for thinking how stable things had seemed recently.

-Ted

PS - Yes, I rebooted, several times. I tried other devices on the component inputs, and they worked fine.

Just got home from work, and now the component input is working again. Sigh.

I also have the shrinking disk space problem. I have the Cisco 8642hdc with navigator software. I keep reading about the"purge" operation. I'd like to try that before resorting to the hdd diags that will clear out everything. Where can I find instructions on performing a purge?


Also, I tried accessing the diags (hold down select until it flashes, then press the down key) . I still can't seem to access the menu. Is there a new key sequence in the latest release of the navigator software?

Thanks!

Check this post from another thread--it tells how to do the purge and enter the diagnostics:
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1219141/cisco-8640hdc-hd-dvr-thread/300#post_22278426

For my 8640HDC, the purge didn't help. I have 15 hours of HD and 2 of SD recorded and it is 67% full. Ridiculous relative to what it held a year ago--easily 3-4x this amount.

My diagnostics have started to report a few write errors, so I may swap the box rather than mess with the HDD diagnostic sweep. Given how many people are having problems with shrinking space, I do find it hard to believe that the write errors are totally responsible here. The issue seems more pervasive and likely related to a software bug...

Thanks!

Sounds like the harddisk is failing.

 

Also sounds like the OS is pretty good at "masking away" bad sections to allow it to keep running (using the good parts). You know ... this never ends well.

While browsing around I noticed a few threads at DSL reports where uses are having the audio issues like I am. Drop outs and such. I wonder if Time Warner will ever fix this or just contiue to switch people to component and avoid the problem?

Yes, I had the same thought about the hard disk showing warning signs. It has just been a few errors at this point over the last month when I check the diagnostics screen (like, low single-digit write errors). Interestingly, these diagnostic counters appear to reset when you cold reboot the box. They don't return right away, but eventually do. Maybe these errors have added up over time without my knowledge, and now I am unaware how to see the cumulative error count if they have been marked bad by the OS. This is why I'm thinking box swap instead...

All that aside, I tend to doubt that this is why so many people are starting to notice reduced recording capacity at nearly the same time. Maybe I'm wrong, and there is a whole batch of these 320GB Blue WD drives that are starting to have trouble now.

Got gome from a quick trip to the mountains to find that one of my 8742 was completely locked up. Nothing recorded on Friday or Saturday. I suspect it is only a matter of time before the wife and I are discussing whether to try Tivo again or see if we can get Dish (now that AMC is back on).

-Ted

I have Tivo and the Walking Dead did not record last night for me because there was no signal on AMC HD, among other HD channels. It might not be limited to just the TWC Box. I'm going to call TW on my break and bitch them out until they put someone on the line that knows what they're talking about.

Why complain to TW and not Tivo? Perhaps you have a TW supplied DVR (not a "Tivo" brand DVR) - so you want to make that clear to TW. If you, in fact, do have a Tivo brand DVR, get set for a bit of "finger pointing" from TW.

Maybe so, but even with a Tivo he could have had an SDV issue with the tuning adapter. That show is popular and depending on where he is, may have encounted it as channel unavailable.

I have a Tivo Brand DVR. I use a Cisco Tuning Adapter. Usually the signal gets timed out when it's stuck on the same channel overnight but when the Tivo starts a new recording it swaps tuners and refreshes the signal. Everytime I complain about an issue I have with the Tivo, which isn't very often, TW always points the finger at Tivo so I'm used to it. I live in suburbs of KC, (newer area), so the signal is not always as strong as it should be. I have to have a tech come out twice a year to fiddle with the line coming in and then it's fine for about 6 mos. Wish Tivo would just implement their own cable service.

I wouldn't think it's bad hard drives. Why would so many start exhibiting similar behavior after software updates? My box was fine until the last few updates.

I get the occasional write error but I always thought it was a signal issue.

Actually, if the show is popular it is more likely to "be available" as an individual SDV channel is shared by all who tuned to it - so the odds of the channel already being tuned to in a node (and thus "available" are higher with popular channels.

Nonetheless, as I said in my post, he is likely to encounter "finger-pointing", and he apparently did. Unfortunately, the real problem is likely independent of the device (Tivo & Tuning Adapter or SA/Cisco DVR).

Oh I agree that TWC will try to pass the blame. Wait until people who buy their own modems as a result of the Internet rate hike (disguised as a "modem fee") is imposed and they call support with problems.