Pace CableCARD HD Boxes (TDC779X, TDC778X and DC757X) - Page 3

Picture nor Audio shows up on the tv through the HDMI inputs, my tv says that it does not detect an input.

I have not been able to get the no input found message again, but when I run the diags I still get the same messages as above with slight variations depending on the channel I am on.

I am not sure how to ask the TV for version information of HDCP or HDMI, I have called Insignia and they offered to send someone out.

Also, I am guessing because my DVD player connected via HDMI works and it doesn't require HDCP, that it is some incompatibility between the HDCP versions or the TV isn't broadcasting its HDCP info .. or the PACE isn't getting the HDCP info.

Not sure what else to do

Ok new information, Mediacom came out and swapped the box and now the HDMI works for the picture, but not the sound .. the Mediacom guy tried a few things but couldnt get the sound to work .. I showed him how to go into the diagnostic screen and here is what the HDMI Diag screen says ...


Device Info
device connected 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
repeater no
hdcp supported no
pref resoltion unknown
supp resolution unknown
audio capable no
sampling rates

a/v status video audio
enabled yes yes
mute no yes

in video format 720p
out video format 720p
audio sample rate
audio format

hdcp status disabled
hdcp scope content activated
hdmi constrain yes
hdcp counter 6

hmm i will check on the cable .. i am at work now .. I do know that I have two HDMI inputs in the back of the Television one is HDMI/DVI (input 1) the other is just HDMI (input 2). I moved the cable between input 1 and input 2 with the same results, also reran the diagnostics with the same results. Also, if you look at the two diagnostics that I have in the post the only thing that changed between them is the PACE box, the first box suggested the TV did support audio, the second box thinks it doesn't support audio.

I did make sure the TV supported 1080i, I just used the PACE menu (power + menu) on the PACE box to set 1080i support to NO, because I wasn't sure if that was causing a problem. With the new PACE box I was able to see the 1080i video but still did not get any audio.

Are there any other diagnostics I can do, I do have the Insignia people comming out next friday to do some diagnostics on the TV, is there a reset on the box I can perform?

On the first Diag I posted I believe I was on an analog Cable channel, but I did allow 720p in both cases.

I will try the reset and then wait for the Insignia guys to come next week to see if they can find something wrong with the TV, this is a little frustrating I thought the purpose of the HDMI interface was to make life less complicated (1 cable) and have the best picture and sound.

But I do appreciate your help with this.

Thanks,

Rich

Hi
Last week my cable box 779 came up with Unsupported cable card. I reset to box and it came back online for awhile then it did it again. I took the box back and had them look at the problem and brought it back home. I then read that others (oldengineer post #37) have the same problem and lindend asked for these values. I have Service Electric Cable TV.

1. Brick Mode - When i first looked after the problem it was NO then changed to YES (cable card)
2. ER Bit Errors - 208
3. Transport errors - 0
4. IPC Stalls - 1 (0x0E)

Went to the Cable Card Status - Not Present and every value was N/A

Return look at the Cable Card Software Version - 2.01 made by Moterola

Andy

Linden,

Is there any way via a Firmware update that the FF and RW speeds can be increased while watching a VOD program - or is this limited by the VOD service itself?

As it stands now - FF'ing through a VOD program is painfully slow as there's only 1 speed - vs. the 5 speeds you have available when FF'ing through a recorded show.

Thanks.

Bill

Thanks Linden - I'll do that. I'm very happy with my 778x vs. the old 775 - even though that means I get to nag you less than when I had the 775.

[quote=oldengineer;11836894]
A quick follow up on this box. It was replaced as defective a few days ago. This box never responded quickly to commands from the remote. I have 2 779 boxes and the other responds quickly to remote commands - eg, pressing the 2 button shows a 2 on the box almost instatnaneously. The response was always slow on the bad box and got progressively slower. At the end of its short life it took more than 5 seconds for the box to respond to a key push.

Dick OKeefe

Ok new information on my problems ... I had the tv people come out and check the tv they couldnt figure it out so since I was under 30 days with the TV they suggested I get a different TV, so I returned the TV and got the Panasonic for $700 more. But I still have the SAME PROBLEM .. so now I have exchanged DVD Players and TV's so IT HAS TO BE THE BOX, also I tried a different more expensive HDMI cable.

So I will post the information again, this is my second PACE box .. it is a model TDC779X, my TV now is a Panasonic TH-50px75u. I have the PACE connected to the Panasonic on HDMI2 (also Tried HDMI1, switched cables, etc). I get a picture but I DO NOT get sound.

Here is the device info
Device Info
device connected 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
repeater no
hdcp supported no
pref resoltion unknown
supp resolution unknown
audio capable no
sampling rates

a/v status video audio
enabled yes yes
mute no yes

in video format 720p
out video format 720p
audio sample rate
audio format

hdcp status disabled
hdcp scope content activated
hdmi constrain yes
hdcp counter 17

I do get sound from my DVD player that is connected via the HDMI cable, so this has to be the PACE box, but this is my second box . have others had this same problem, this is very frustrating. I guess I will ask Mediacom to send me yet another PACE box, this is very very frustrating.

I have a similar TV and similar PACE box... the Panasonic 700u model and the PACE 778.

Perhaps the user messed with the settings on his TV for audio? If that is the case, maybe a TV reset back to defaults is in order.

Mine was a simple case of plugging the HDMI cable in and voila! It worked. (I'm in Anchorage using GCI cable).

My only problems are a) occasional dropped frames maybe caused by the 778 updating guide information? and b) poor implementation of TV Guide series scheduling.

I have two different cables .. one I bought at Target it is 10' dont know the brand.. so again thinking ok since I went cheap that may be the problem, so I got a Monster cable as well 6'. So I have used both cables.. again I have used both cables with the DVD player and they both had picture and sound to both HDMI ports of the panasonic tv, actually they both had sound and picture to the Insignia Tv when used with the DVD player.

The cable company is bringing out a new box, I can't imagine that this is the TV or the cable, I have tried 2 TV's, 2 Cables. This will be my 3rd box, so hopefully I got out of the batch that has had these problems. We will see, what happens today. Or maybe it is Mediacom's configuration that is messing things up

Ok well unfortunately to put closure to this issue, Mediacom came up and replaced the Pace box with the Motorolla and everything is now working. Not sure why that batch of PACE boxes had a problem with compatability, but they did, I wish I would have written down the software version of the box or serial numbers but he took it away. So now everything works.

MediaCom just replaced my Motorola HD DVR box with the Pace 779x. Couple of questions I would like help with.

How big is the hard drive? I can't see to find that info anywhere. Mediacom only claims it holds 60 hours of standard def but the tech I spoke with didn't know the drive size. but we have recorded 2 hours and it already shows 10% full. it would only hold 20 hours if that is correct?

Also, if i buy an external SATA hard drive, should it plug in and play? Mediacom couldn't tell me that either but said they would call me back and let me know.

The Pace box has the same size hard drive as the Motorola ones as far as i know.

Yes the Pace boxes do support an external SATA hard drive being hooked up. You are going to have to reboot the box though for it to see it. Mediacom does currently allow this to be used, and I don't see any change in that ever.

ok, i bought an eSATA hard drive and hooked it up to my Pace 779x. I powered down the STB, hooked up and then powered the new hard drive, and then re-powered the STB. When i powered the STB back up it took a software download and took it literally an hour or two to go though that and a reboot. but everything eventually came up fine. My question is, how can i tell if it found the new hard drive and will use it at this point? When i go to the recorded list it still shows the same percentage full (as before adding external drive) so that makes me think it did not find the new drive? I don't really know any other way to check it? Thanks in advance for the help.

The way to check I know of is that the total DVR usage will go down. You could also check the diagnostics page. When the box is on you press power followed quickly by OK or select. There is a diag selection for Hard drive status there.

i will check the diagnostic page but it sounds like it didn't work because i didn't see the total DVR usage go down. does it sound like i did anything wrong?

I'm relatively happy with the 778. The TV Guide software seems to have been upgraded recently which seemed to fix the oddball scheduling problems I was having. And I haven't noticed the dropping frames problem in quite a while. (GCI - Anchorage, AK)

But I just got a Sony surround system a couple of days ago and the 778 doesn't appear to be outputting Dolby sound like a previous poster reported. This could be operator error, but maybe not. HD-DVD and DVD discs output Dolby Digital 3/2.1 fine.

The TV Guide software allows setting mono, stereo or matrix. I ASSUME I want that set to matrix - whatever that is. I seem to get the same results with stereo.

I'm all connected by HDMI to simplify things and the Sony HT-SF2000 supports audio over HDMI. (BTW, I'm a little underwhelmed by this receiver setup. Took a lot of bass boosting to get it to sound better than TV speakers. Someday maybe I'll get a "real" sound system.)

Here's the HDMI Status page:
Repeater YES
HDCP supported YES
PREF resolution UNKNOWN
SUPP Resolution 480P 720P 1080i
Audio capable YES (PCM)
Sampling rates 32K 44K 48K 88K 96K 172K 192K

A/V Status Video YES Audio YES
Mute Video NO Audio YES

In video status 1080i
Out video format 1080i
Video constrained NONE
Audio sample rate 48 KHz
Audio format AC3

HDCP status DISABLED
HDCP scope CONTENT ACTIVATED
HDMI constrain YES
HDCP counter 0

What should the Audio Capable line show for Dolby output? Has this problem been solved yet?

It sounds like you did the proper steps. There are some bugs with some of the space reporting on the guide though, so you may have it working but the guide just isn't showing the increase in space yet.

Known issue. This has been posted in the other Pace thread. They have identified the issue and are working on a new build now i believe. As for now you are stuck until your provider receives and updates your firmware.