Motorola 34xx &64xx DVR "Official Thread" - Page 53

Thanks for the info. Wow, #10 is bad, but #8 and 12 are the absolute killers. Those are totally unacceptable. How did something with such serious flaws ever get released. It's insane at this age of technology that a VCR is still the only reliable way to go.

I'm sure the DCX boxes will also be full of flaws.

"As close to 100%" is still not 100%, and from looking at the threads around here--while perhaps (TiVo) may be better than Motorola--[they] too still miss recordings.

If ~35 year old technology is more reliable than current technology, and it is, someone somewhere had a major brain aneurysm during the design stage and it obviously is still "bleeding"......collectively.

More people should be infuriated at the crappy unreliable buggy STB's and firmware, shoddy features, etc., then maybe the companies would go back to the ~35-year-old drawing board and build on a proven technology that worked and was reliable 100% of the time. The only "errors" with a VCR, were user errors.

As a (former) potential DVR buyer, I was all hyped up about finally getting one and finally being able to recycle my VCR's. But after reading countless thousands of posts about lost recordings, recordings never beginning, recordings being recorded over, spastic unacceptable features, etc., etc., etc., it's just plain sickening to a state of perpetual disgust.

Manufacturers and/or providers need to get their heads out of their asses, stop resting on their user-allowed "monopolizing complacency", LISTEN to their users, and get something out on the market, THAT WORKS ALL OF THE TIME.

The fact that they do NOT, and users ALLOW it by using these crappy products instead of some national boycott, makes the users as much to blame.

These are yet more devices that were not, and still not ready for prime-time; and as the current situation holds, never will be.

I decided it was pointless to respond (and off-topic).

In the past 18 months, my dual-tuner TivoHD has recorded over 1000 programs. In that time, it has only missed one episode, and that only happened because the network changed its schedule in the ~16 hours since the TiVo last connected to download guide data. The President was responsible for that.

That is far greater reliability than I ever saw with any VCR. Occasionally, I'd be hit with a power surge or power outage during a storm, and my VCR would loose its time, and thereby miss a recording. More than one power outage or power surge per year would make my VCR less reliable than TiVo.

Even I were to connect my VCR/DVDR to a UPS, I would not have the time to schedule and update the VCR/DVDR timers to achieve TiVo-esque reliability for more than a handful of programs per week. DVRs like TiVo keep track of dozens of different series, news, and sports teams. They are largely "maintenance free."

With a DVR, you spend 30 seconds to create a series recording for all new episodes of a show. You spend two minutes to create a recording for all future games with your favorite pro or college team, regardless of date, time, and channel. You spend one minute to create a recording for all new pilots and series premieres, regardless of date, time, and channel. It is "set it and forget it;" once you setup a recording, you're done with it. You don't have to set it again the following year, and you never have to deal with scheduling changes or program length changes. You can watch shows as they record (on a time delay), one day after they record, or six months after they record...in high-definition, skipping commercials.

Well that at least is good to know.



I used a UPS for that. Mine have about a 15 minute built-in back up (caps), so no UPS needed, plus now I have a hole house generator.



But not always done accurately.



I totally agree they are far more convenient, that's why I wanted one, but my point is what good is convenience without total reliability.

I think the best setup would be a DVR along with a VCR for backup to record the same programs for when the DVR screws up. But for that setup, you'd have to have cable (which I do), or one of the new digital VCR's, and you'd be limited to using the VCR for recording only basic cable channels.

I never need to record more than 8 hours a day, and I always watch the recordings the next day. My current one I use the most, I've used for over 15 years and it's been flawless. I've developed such a neuromuscular facilitation with it, that I can program it in about 5-7 seconds without even looking at it.

I'm on Cox, so I think I might at least give one of theirs a try and hope it's more reliable than the Comcast-provided Motorola DVR's due to maybe different firmware.

Bickering removed, infractions issued.

Hi all - major issues w Comcast 2 tuner DVR (Moto DCT6412 III) - I'm on my 3rd box this month; keep getting error codes during playback of recorded programs; or when manipulating live TV. Keep getting error code NS, NPLY, NC, etc. Have had them come out; check cables signals, etc. They replaced a cable from the pedestal to the house. Still driving me insane... any ideas?? Thanks in advance :-)

Sorry for the rather blunt question, but has anyone else had issues with the 6416 box only outputting in 720p? I know for a fact some of these broadcasts are fed in 1080i, but no matter how many times I press the format button on the box or the aspect button on the remote, it stays at 720p. It even stays on that with SD broadcasts.

What "format" button??

The output resolution is set through a service menu (Press power OFF then MENU).

The format button along the bottom, or program EFC Code 00109 to an unused button on the remote.


The crap thing about these boxes is they will only choose one resolution for HD. So you must pick either 720P OR 1080i but not both. I noticed sometimes my format button will get stuck in one mode, where I change it to 1080i, but as soon as I change the channel it goes back to 720p. To get around it, turn the box off, and set the resolution in the setup menu to 1080i.

Power Off, then push menu. Use the arrow keys to navigate.

I've been having a problem with my Comcast 6412 P3 shutting down and rebooting, when I am reverse scanning at 4X, usually when I have backed up 20-30 minutes. This has happened four or five times, so I am sure by now that it is not a coincidence, but a result of the fast reverse.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any other factors involved, that might let me fast reverse w/o shutting down?

Also, probably due to a recent firmware change, the page up button no longer does a 5 min. skip ahead. It's only 30 sec. now. Darn, just when I was beginning to enjoy the 5 min skip!

Actually, the 5min and 30sec skip are now both 1 min.

Maybe where you are, but as of last night, both my "page up" button skip, and my programmed 30 sec. skip are definitely just 30 sec. each. It takes two pushes to move one minute. I'm not certain about the "page down" button, and the "instant replay" button, but neither is more than 30 sec., and I believe the "instant replay" button is more like 10 or 15 sec.

Can you please let us know what version of firmware/software you have on the DVR now & what model DVR? Thanks.

We still have the 5 minute skip on the page +/- buttons around here & hopefully that doesn't change for quite some time as it's a great feature.

I got changed to 30 second skip too.

Hi guys - I have a Comcast DCH6416 and am having a problem with a green vertical line while in 1080i, has anyone found a solution? Is it specific to certain boxes??

If i switch to 720p its not there but I'd like to stay in 1080, also heard of a fix to use component but id prefer to use hdmi

any help would be appreciated

I have a 6412 P3, on Comcast in Ann Arbor Mi. I'll check my firmware and software, and post them tomorrow. Yeah, 5 min. skip was a great feature.

SW 75.59-a25p2-2.S1.r-8

FW 16.53

Does anyone know if there is newer FW/SW that will restore the 5 min. skip?

Odd, that's the same version of those 2 as I have & I still have the 5 minute skips. Did you turn the box off & go to 'code modules' for the firmware info you posted? If so what are the other 2 versions you have? Could be one of those is what's changed.
Mine are:
tvg7559r 75.59
stv0532_ 05.32

Also out of curiosity go to the following setup screen and see what values are there. While box is on press 'menu' two times & to 'setup', then 'cable box setup', then 'configuration'. When in the configuration screen press the 'Fav' button on the remote 6 times. It should say something about 'DVR skips' toward the top right of the screen. Mine says 30/300 and 15/300, basically saying the 30 sec & 5 min forward skips are present & the 15 sec & 5 min reverse skips are there too. What values does yours say?

I'll have to check that when I go home. But, even before losing the 5min. forward, I didn't have the 5min. rev skip. I just learned about the page button skips a few weeks back, and never had 5min. rev then. Perhaps I should try turning off the box, then turning it back on, like I used to do to restore DD to the audio outs.

I got the FW and SW from the cable box configuration screen in the menu, by clicking on "Select to display."

Same here, never had the 5 min back and now I lost the 5 min fwd. I'll check the S/W next time I get a chance. Also whenever I unplug or lose power I lose my Fav. channel list and have to reprogram it.

I think the skip's like the 5min forward/reverse, along with menu layout and mini-icon's are all downloaded via a configurable xml -like file that can be altered by engineering and loaded onto the local system's controller.

I still have 5min skips and I do enjoy using them, so hopefully they will stay.

Fingers crossed on keeping that here too. I think this is one of the best improvements/enhancements they've made to these DVR's in the 4+ years that have been out.

Mine says ~

DVR skip FFWD 1 30sec
FFWD 2 30sec

DVR skip FREV 1 15sec
FREV 2 15sec

My 6412 is having a major issue. It makes a loud click, shuts off, will not respond to any input, then a few seconds later it turns back on, having lost all menu & guide data. It does this both while recording and while not recording. I tried the DVR Authorization and Full Factory Reset as found on Wiki, but have not done the DVR HDD Reset.

Any ideas?

Get a new one, an xx16...

About the only thing else I can think to try is unplugging it for 30sec. or more, plugging it back in, and trying it. You don't have a short somewhere in the power cord > wall socket linkage, do you?

I wonder when the higher capacity DCX cable boxes will be available in the Ann Arbor area? I'm getting sick of managing my DVR programs so closely. The TV viewing season is almost over, but it is such a pain to have so little HD recording capacity. Sigh....

I need to check out this 5 minute skip thing, never knew about it. I think I would still more often use the 30 second skip at it is better suited to bypassing commercials.

I was using Directtv at my brother's house, fast forwarding through commercials, and it did this cool thing. When I got to the show again and hit play, I think it jumps back 15 seconds or so, or to the previous scene maybe.

TiVo was the first with this "autocorrection" feature and others have followed since. Moxi has it too.

On a TiVo, you don't even have to press play. You hit FF three times for 60x speed (one minute per second), and then hit FF a fourth time to play when you see that the commercials are over. The TiVo skips back so you see the last second or two of commercials (depending on your reflexes). There's almost never a need to hit replay.

Sorry, Mike, you're too late. I live in A2, and I don't have the 5 min. skip anymore. The "Page Up" arrow is 30 sec. ahead, and the "Page Down" arrow is 15 sec. back (just like the instant replay button.)

For what it's worth, the machine that I just had installed yesterday has five minute skip back and forward. They didn't leave me a manual, and I can't figure out which exact model number I'm using, but I do have the five-minute skip.

EDIT: It's the DCT6400. Still don't know how big an HDD it has—couldn't find it in the setup menu. I'm a bit surprised by the lack of HDMI. Is anyone currently using the DVI output? I'm wondering if I should get a DVI-to-HDMI cable or just stick with component.