Motorola 34xx &64xx DVR "Official Thread" - Page 67

How is this different from a series recording?

There doesn't have to be an episode in the Guide right now for you to set it.

You can put in Auto-Searches for shows that aren't airing. If it ever airs, the Auto-Search will record it.

I had forgotten that, back in August, I had set an Auto-Search for The Xtacles. It hadn't aired since Dec 2008 (to my knowledge), and the show only ever had two episodes (it never got picked up as a series...just a pair of pilots). I had no real expectation that it would air again, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it on my DVR last month. (and in HD, unlike the original airing!)

That's something that the old search could never have accomplished.

Has anyone connected the DVR's hard drive to a Linux computer, installed IBM' GPFS file-system drivers on Ubuntu and view the partitions on the DVR?

Nope, but I'd love to. If you have a link to the IBM GPFS Linux driver, I'll try it out this weekend.

I have a Motorola DCX3400 and my tv always says that I am getting 720p no matter what. I tried going into the DCX3400 menu to change this but I get a diagnostics page instead of a settings page. Did this get changed, or am I doing something wrong?

Use Power>Menu instead of Power>Ok/Select to get to the settings.

Thanks...worked perfectly

Hi I just got a toshiba 40inch HDTV model 40rv525u. When I plug my cable box in using an hdmi I was told by Toshiba support that the tv MUST be on first then I turn the cable box on, otherwise I get a black screen. This is fine, however my cable box is also a DVR and in order to record shows the box must be on. Therefore, if I turn the tv off while a show is recording and then go to turn it back on, I have to turn the cable box off so I don't get a black screen. However, by turning the cable box off, I am canceling all recordings. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Turning the DVR "off" does *NOT* cancel future recordings!!

The DVR will turn itself "on" to record programs and turn itself "off" when done.

PS. If you try to turn the DVR "off" WHILE you are recording, it will protest.

I have the same TV, and I don't have to do that. Did you check it out to see if what they told you is true?

I always leave my Cable box on. But in the past I have shut it down and it does not affect recordings. Just like avu said. I do get a blank screen every now and then for about 5 seconds or so. I wonder if I turned the cable box off and then turned the Tv on first if it would make a difference. I was thinking it had something to do with reciever.

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Here's something that I have not yet seen covered in this thread.

I have a Mit WS 48413 "HD ready" CRT RPTV (no HD tuner). The Mits has DVI input and will only accept a 1080i connection. It does not accept 720P.

I've connected my Cox Cable Motorola DCH3416 via HDMI to an Onkyo N708 AVR and then used an HDMI to DVI connector to the TV. It works great, OSD for the Onkyo and HD on the Mits.

However, the Moto DVR has this annoying habit of reverting to 720P every so often. Then it's back through settings>more settings>Audio & Video settings on the remote to get it back into 1080i.

Not all the time, about every third day. I even went into the advanced set-up menu on the Moto to force it into 1080i.

Any thoughts?

thanks in advance.

Sounds like a HDMI control issue. Your TV is probably too old to even have HDMI control, and I know the cable box doesn't. But your receiver may have this feature. If it does, then there should be some way to turn it off.

- Mine has finally become useless. I keep the SD Overide set to STRETCH because any other setting causes an 8 second delay when I switch from an HD channel to an SD channel or vice-versa. I hated this, but I learned to live with the STRETCH mode. Then, for some reason, it would randomly switch from STRETCH mode to 480i mode all by itself. So I would have to keep changing it back from time to time. I hated this, but I learned to live with it. Two days ago, it decided to switch to 480i everytime I turn it on in addtion to randomly switching. Even worse, it will no longer handshake with my Onkyo 906 AVR when it switches to 480i, nor will it handshake with the 906 when I turn the 906 off and back on. I just get a black screen and intermitten audio. The only way I can get the DVR to handshake with the AVR is to unplug the DVR and then plug it back in. This is unacceptable. has anyone else noticed this?

OK, when I call Verizon, they say this is a known issue with HDMI handshaking, and the fix is to use the component outs. Of course, I used the component outs when I first got FiOS, but switched to HDMI because I kept getting a distorted image for the first 15 minutes of use. So component out is a non-starter. What's wrong with this DVR? Verizon told me they'd send me another box, but I'm thinking this is due to the latest firmware update, so I doubt it'll get fixed. Any suggestions?

Barring whatever handshake issues you might be experiencing, this sounds like a wonky box to me and less likely a FW issue in my limited experience. Other then losing what you might have stored on the HDD, I don't see what you have to lose by trying a new box.

For a few reasons, I've always used component outs directly to TV without issue. The fact that you had a problem with component outs further makes me question the DVR itself. BTW, are you running the HDMI through your AVR or directly to the TV? Similarly, how did you run the components?

- Thanks for the response. In both instances (component and HDMI), I ran the DVR video out thru the AVR to the TV. You're probabaly right about the box - this will be the second one that I've had to replace in a year. The first just died.

You certainly have a quality AVR and running your system through it is one of the reasons I'm sure you got it in the first place, however, this whole HDMI thing is still kind of young and iffy IMHO, though apparently getting better. I'm finally planning on upgrading to an HDMI AVR in the near future and have been wondering what perils that might entail! Probably gonna stick with component to my Panny plasma (768p) regardless, as that's the only way I can use its PIP function. I have been looking at AVRs that have component out as an option though, just for that reason. What I don't know is if any of these AVR video processors might make 480i source material look any better than the Panny's vp already does with it. Otherwise, I don't see a compelling reason to run the DVR through it.

Sorry to hear about your bad luck with the boxes but it does make renting them more palatable when failures occur.

- The 906 is nice for some things and kind of a pain in others. It's big and runs hot, but the reon video processing is very good. It does a good job with SD (especially from a DVD player), but there's little you can do with the SD from the cable companies. Internet radio, HD radio, and network media streaming are other things that the 906 does really well. As you said, HDMI is the biggest headache in the whole works - some boxes talk just fine, and other boxes just won't. I've never had real problems with any boxes other than this Motorola DVR. Though at some point the content providers are going to start enforcing the copy protection and you'll have to have HDMI in the whole chain or you'll get no video or 480p only.

- Have to agree with you on the Panasonic plasma - outstanding picture and scaling. I have a Pioneer 151FD plasma and I want to have it buried with me when I die. It's a toss-up as to whether the 906 or the Pio 151 does the best with SD. The 906 has more controls, so I usually let it do all the scaling (except with FiOS - I let the stupid DVR do it because of all the handshaking issues and because the FiOS SD video is so crappy to start with, there's not much improvement in going with the 906).

Heh, heh, heh . . . Hope that's a long way off, but I hear ya!

If the AVR has the feature known as "HDMI control", aka HDMI-CEC, turn it off.

- Thanks!!! That's something that I completely forgot about. The AVR does have this feature - I'll check the status of the setting when I get home from work. Thanks, again.

[quote=MikeyW;20266538] I keep the SD Overide set to STRETCH because any other setting causes an 8 second delay when I switch from an HD channel to an SD channel or vice-versa. [quote]

I may have to try this, too, even though the delay is nowhere near that long. My biggest problem is the HDMI handshake when I first turn it on, but there are ocassionally the same handshake issues when I switch from a HD channel to a SD channel, or vice-versa. I really HATE the stretch, though.

In the bedroom we have instead the tiny PACE HD box and setting the SD overide to stretch is what I had to do in there as my wife was complaining of the 8-second delay. She's never mentioned any objection to the "stretch" so I figure she's better off not hearing about it. I can't bear it.

[quote=Herman Trivilino;20273878][quote=MikeyW;20266538] I keep the SD Overide set to STRETCH because any other setting causes an 8 second delay when I switch from an HD channel to an SD channel or vice-versa.
STRETCH mode doesn't bug me too much, since with FiOS, there are a whole lot of reasons not to watch SD stuff anymore. When we finally got Comedy Central in HD, I stopped watching SD altogether except for Clone Wars and Venture Bros on Cartoon Network. The wife and kids still do, so they complained the most about the 8 seconds. They don't care much about how STRETCH mode distorts the picture. Someday SD will be a thing of the past....

BTW, HDMI Control was off in my 906, so that doesn't appear to be my problem with HDMI handshaking.

I watch very little SD myself.

I'm noticing some strange behavior with the HDMI handshake issue. I have a Denon AVR-591. The tuner quit working so I had to take it in for warranty repair. When I installed a new one to take its place, the handshake issue went away! But then after I renamed inputs, saved preset radio stations, etc, it came back. Today, I got the repaired unit back (two new IC chips) once again the handshake issues have gone away.

This time I will not save any presets or rename any inputs, or do any customizing at all and see if the handshaking issues come back. If they don't, I'll cautiously proceed with one cutomization at a time, checking to see which one brings back the problems.

Sigh! Handshake issues have returned, despite the fact I've done nothing with the receiver other than tune in a FM station. I can't explain why the handshake issues go away when a new receiver is installed. Maybe it's due to random chance only.

For some reason, my problem seems to have fixed itself. Don't know why. It handshakes with my other components OK now (still takes 8 seconds between HD and SD channels if not in STRETCH mode)... But now my set top box in another room can't see the DVR, and I can't watch any DVR recordings with my set top box. I have no idea what's going on with this DVR....

Hey all, if anyone is wanting to upgrade their hard drive to 1TB there is an image available. Works with 1TB drives, so far WD10EARS and I believe also WD10EADS and WD10EVDS. Thread is here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=496586