Official AVS Motorola DCX series HD DVR Topic! - Page 42

I wonder if the Series Priority feature operates differently under the new guide? I'm stumped.

so I heard from a Comcast employee that there's a new batch of HD DVR's available in the Philly area today - would this be the DCX3400 that you're all talking about, or could there be another box available?

I'm planning to swing by the service center tonight and exchange my box - I just want to make sure I'm leaving with the latest one.

Can anyone tell me if they charge anything additional for this box? Are there other improvements besides the bigger HDD? Does anyone know if they're planning to improve the guide and user interface anytime soon?

Thanks

I have never read anything indicating that Comcast ever charges more for one HD DVR as compared to another HD DVR.

hello all,

anyone notice if you fast forward during commercials, then hit stop it goes back 5-sceonds? i love this new feature!

Well, actually that depends on your firmware. I've had it for a long time. From what some others here say, it seems some new firmware is backing up too much.

Just received my DCX3400 320GB unit and there is a bug with the Series Priority list.

I start with no series set to be recorded and of course the series priority listing show no listings. So far so good.

Next I add my first series recording for Show A. I go to series priority listing and still no listings!. Despite this the guide shows all future airings of the show marked to be recorded. So it definitely accepted the series recording.

Then I add my second series recording for Show B. I go to series priority listing and now it shows one listing - for Show A.

I add a thrid series for Show C. Now series priority listing shows Show A and Show B.

I can repeat this and the last series priority show added is always missing. Despite that the guide shows that the series will be recorded.

Also what is odd is that the Priority number in the listings starts with 0 instead of 1! So my numbers go 0, 1, 2, 3 etc. At one point the first series priority listing had a priority of -1.

I tried deleting various series recordings but I can never get this to straighten out. I've even deleted all series recordings and started over, but the problem still occurs the same.

Th DCX3400 replaced a DCT3416 which I had for years. I am very familiar with how these boxes are supposed to operate and can assure you this is not operator error...

I am not sure how the box got into this state. I just received the box and this issue started immediately upon me trying to add my first series recording.

A few questions please:

1) Has anyone else seen or heard of this issue?

2) Any ideas on how to straighten it out? I played with it for a few hours, trying things such as adding/deleting series and experimenting with the order but no combination of playing with it was able to resolve it.

3) If it comes down to it I guess I will try entering the code that completely deletes everything on the box, initializes things, and forces a new download of the firmware - just to start completely over. Does anyone have the series of button presses to kick this off, and do you know how long it takes to complete? Does this seem like a decent thing to try before returning the box for another one?

Thanks!

I start with no series set to be recorded and of course the series priority listing show no listings. So far so good.

Next I add my first series recording for Show A. I go to series priority listing and still no listings!. Despite this the guide shows all future airings of the show marked to be recorded. So it definitely accepted the series recording.

This doesn't sound like a problem or bug to me. Since you have only one series set to record it has priority. There is no need to list anything since no series can be in conflict.


I've not had a problem with priorities and series recordings on my DCX.

I thought the very same thing at first. However the logic is flawed. For example, say you had two series recordings - Show A and Show B. Let's follow your logic for a minute. In that case it would list only Show A in series priority. Now what if you wanted series B to have priority? It couldn't because there's no way to set it in the list. Next thought is that it doesn't matter since there is a two turner DVR. Fair enough. But then think about this scenario if there are 3 series recordings - Show A, B and C. Show A and B are in the list. But you want to give Show C priority. You couldn't since its not in the list.

I am certain this is a bug. Or at least in this case, my unit somehow has gotten out of sync. The thing that makes it extremely obvious it is a bug is because my series priority listing start with a priority of 0 instead of 1. And at one point in playing with it the priority was -1! Furthermore when I try this on a 3416 box there is no such problem - if there is only one series recording, it shows up in the series priority list as #1. Add a second series and it shows up as #2. Also at one point I had three listings in the series priority list and the priority numbers were 1, 1, and 2. That's right, two at position #1. Something certainly is amiss.

Clearly this is definitely a bug. It is quite possible that it is specific to my particular box due to some strange set of conditions that triggered it. In which case many may not have or see the issue, but there is some set of conditions that can cause it to occur.

So far I have not been able to figure out how to clear this up despite hours of experimentation. My next step is to try forcing a complete reinitialization of the box. However I can't try that until I finish watching a few programs that I have recorded. I hope to be able to try this reinit within the next couple of days and report back.

What firmware/software do you have on your box?

My firmware on the DCX3400 is 22.35, S/W ver: 78.44-A28p0-2.0908.r-4. Thanks.

I don't know if you saw this or not (or if it sheds any light or not...)

This is from Ken H:

"From a Comcast source:

The need to re setup Favorite Lists, Reminders, scheduled DVR recording, and Parental Controls is related to a Comcast program called Source ID Cleanup. Simply, Source IDs are what the box uses to link channels to guide data and features. Cleaning up Source IDs will allow guide feature such as "Watch in HD" to work. This is where when going to a SD channel if the program is in HD a box in the guide will give you the choice of going to the HD channel. This will only work if the Source IDs of the SD and HD channels are linked. This is not the only feature as others will be launched in the future. This also allows areas that were merged from different systems to use the same Source IDs across the whole footprint. Source ID cleanup has to happen before the new guide is launched, however, the new guide and the features in that guide do not have to launch at the same time. That is why some people have said they have seen these letter and the date has passed yet no new features have shown up in the guide."

Sounds like a bug to me. I've been using a DCX3400/320Gb unit for a few months now and haven't noticed that. Although I set up a bunch of shows when I first got it before I looked at the series priority list & I'm not sure what the last show was that I programmed to know if it's affecting me or not. I'll try to remember to set a new series later today to see if it's listed right away like it should be.

Check this out, four programs scheduled to record at the same time. I cannot do this, yet it keeps happening with this same program. I scheduled both SD and HD versions of the program. The weekend before the scheduled programs they disappear from the schedule and get added to the following week. Comcast says it's the scheduling data supplied by the station.

We need to rise up DCX3400 users and unite. The problems are never going to end unless we keep calling are cable companies until they fix the software or program guide. Motorola points fingers at the cable companies and the cable companies point back at Motorola and nothing gets done. They don't see any problems with the equipment because 95% of their customers don't complain. The rest of us are on these forums and we don't matter. Why should they spend any money on solving the problems when they are hurting so much financially. I know this to be true because they raised my bill again.

I recently got a letter apologizing for their poor service and offering me 2 free on demand movies. I have a stack of these coupons that I've never used. I wrote back and told them that I was tired of them telling me they are sorry. I said if you are really sorry you'd give me a free month or two. I had refused to pay my bill while I was waiting for 21 days to hook up service when I moved. I got a call one day from a suit and told me they were canceling my bill. I got a $360 dollar credit. People you need to call them and maybe they will get tired of giving credit and get the box fixed.

Last night some recorded shows didn't record. I won't give channel numbers like some people do. I don't know what channel 20 in Lubbock TX is. Last night I recorded on TBS HD: Men of a Certain Age and Lopez tonight. In my list they showed up but when I went to play them they were blank. I thought maybe the channel was the problem. Recorded Operation Repo on TRU TV same thing. it's 9:59pm and I pick up the phone to call Time Warner. It's 10:03 and I realize that I'm recording Jay Leno on NBC HD. I press play and the same problem. I get through to a customer service person and I tell my problems and he gives me a $20 credit on my bill. He says he's going to send a technician supervisor out tomorrow between 1p-3p. I told him it's a waste of time. Mine and theirs. No supervisor. Same guy that did the install. He offers me a new box but not a DCX3400. He hasn't seen many of those. He also told me when he was installing a few days prior that TWC keeps refurbishing the STB and they are junk. Two of my STB didn't work at the new location so he replaced them 3 times. I said they worked fine before. The location just changed. He finally brought the originals back in and they all of a sudden started working.

So people of Earth unite and call your cable companies and ask for credit and just maybe someday they will make these things work. If you bought one of these you would've returned it long before now but somehow we keep paying every month for something that gives us lots of aggravation. Call them and tell them that you are not going to take it anymore.

Here, here!!! Agree fully!

Note that here at TWC/LA we have firmware 22.37, which I must say has provided essentially flawless operation for my DCX3400 (except for firewire performance, which is broken). Note that when connecting the DCX to my HDTV directly via HDMI that none of the AVR/HDMI-related issues occur (e.g. dropping out of "native", real problems using Denon receivers vs. almost none using Yamaha receivers, etc.). Also I don't have any particular problem accepting the expected slightly longer delay (or brief blank screen or absence of audio) when changing channels that also correspond to a change my HDTV resolution (since I run "native").

Nevertheless, iGuide issues don't come from Motorola. They come from the 3rd-party author of the iGuide software (which as I understand it is TV Guide, for TWC/LA). Motorola provides basic OS kernel and API, and the software provider builds the Guide and surrounding software (including which options are ON/OFF by default in the basic configuration). That's why FIOS versions of the Motorola equipment look and work differently than the TWC versions which look and work differently than the TWC, Cox, etc. versions.

Motorola can only be blamed for basic hardware/firmware issues (e.g. broken firewire interface). So Motorola is the issuer of 22.31, 22.35, 22.37, etc. and the underlying OS and API set that goes with it.

But other Guide and DVR configuration issues (i.e. programs that make use of the Motorola-provided API set) are truly the responsibility of either your local cableco or the software provider they contracted with to develop for them and/or provide Guide info.

Last night my DCX was at 55% full. I watched a 1 hour HD program, nothing else was recording. Once I deleted that 1 hour HD program, it registered at 56% full.

Just joined this thread to find out about a failure to record a program. Seems like others are getting similar issues. However, this isn't unique to the DCX - I had the same problem with more than one DCT. I posted this in the Comcast thread after my DCX failed to record Heroes on Monday:


From a brief review of recent posts (I haven't searced this thread thoroughly), it appears that there isn't a solution to this problem. FWIW, Comcast didn't have me unplug, or blame the guide. She was pretty stumped, but suggested I set it to record on time, vs. one minute early. We'll see if that makes a difference, but it may be a very long time before I can be sure if it works.

I had a strange recording issue the other day. Turned the TV on (I always leave the DVR on) & the channel I was on had a good show I wanted to record so I hit the record button as usual, the recording message popped up on the screen as usual but the red light didn't come on & the display didn't turn to REC like it normally would/should. I checked the DVR recordings section & sure enough it hadn't started recording anything. I tried pressing the record button & also going through the info & record that way with same result. I figured I'd switch tuners & try that one. Oddly enough the other tuner was on the same channel so I changed to a different channel & went to swap back to other tuner only to find that was now on the same channel I had just changed to. Not sure if one tuner fell asleep or what happened. I just pressed the power button off & back on & it fixed it (didn't need to pull power cord to power cycle). After it powered back on I regained the use of both tuners on individual channels & pressing the record button recorded the show normally. First time that's happened to me in the few months I've had this box now. Obviously most people would probably never encounter this problem as they turn their box off.

for 3 bucks a month,you can get the TIVO software that seems to run well on these boxes.the IGUIDE will never run well on any box.

Guess I'm not most people. I never turn my DVR off, never have. Same thing happened to me as far as starting a recording. I swapped tuners, tuned the second tuner to the program I wanted to record, and it started working once I set the second turner to record. Weird. I hear there is a new release of the IGuide software release in parts of PA (A28) for Comcast. Some really needed new features and supposedly a lot of bug fixes. I'm at A25 right now.

I currently have the DCH3416 DVR. I just found out that our location has the DCX3400 available.

What would I gain if I requested and received a DCX3400?

Thanks in advance, as I did a brief search on here and could not find a comparison.

I have asked Umatter2Charter if we will ever get the Moxi, but have not got back any answer.

Biggest difference is disc size. 160G for the 3416, either 250G or 350G for the DCX. DCX is probably a little faster, and some folks say quality (especially SD) is a little better.

I have this problem every once in a while (once or twice a month). It usually manifests itself to me when I watch sports on both tuners. Skip forward and back don't seem to work either. And I think it's not really swapping tuners. But turning off and then on fixes things.

That's 320GB, not 350GB.

In addition to "fixed resolution" option, DCX also supports "native" resolution (i.e. 720p or 1080i out to HDTV automatically based on program content). DCH only has "fixed" resolution of 720p or 1080i (although you can obviously manually change the output on demand if you want to, to match the program content).

DCH has two firewire ports, both functional and 100% operative, for offloading content either to DVHS VCR (for all content other than PPV) or to PC (subject to 5C-protection). DCX has one firewire port, and unfortunately the interface appears to have been broken by Motorola (i.e. it does NOT work successfully, either for DVHS VCR or for PC). This is quite unfortunate and represents the first time in six years that a Motorola DCT/DCH/DCX-family STB/DVR has not had a working firewire interface.

DCX boxes (i.e. the underlying firmware and/or cableco-provided Guide and control software) seem to be receiving an extraordinary number of complaints (seemingly mostly from Comcast users who are mostly/all at firmware 22.35, whereas TWC users are at least partially at firmware 22.37) about iGuide anomalies. Recordings not firing off as scheduled, multiple recordings scheduled that should not be, "phantom" recordings that do not show up in the list but appear to take lots of disk space, control problems that can only be solved by power-reboot, etc. This is really a surprise, given how long this family of hardware has been available and the number of generations of equipment which have evolved. In contrast, the DCH box is extremely extremely stable, with almost no reported anomalies and mysterious malfunctions.

On ABC, if I 1xRW for more then 5 seconds, it will take me back to the start of the recording. BIG pain in the arse. Also, I never turn off my DVR either. And lately (after getting the new upgrade) when I turn on my TV, I get no picture. I have to change the channel in order for the picture to return.

Currently, I have 2 DCX3425s and 1 DCH3416. The DCX boxes were replacements for DCHs. I have experienced the occassional hiccup on every box I've ever had (including DCTs before the DCHs), but have seen no increase in incidents with the DCXs. The added capabilities (I don't use the firewire) and recording time have been more than worth the exchange to me and I will upgrade the last DCH if I can ever get all the damn recordings watched.

Hi hopefully I am posting this in the right place.

In early morning hours today in NJ Comcast updated a lot of stuff. We have a DCH-3416 DVR and our settings are not working. My hubby knows how to change this area. We put 16:9, 720P, and Stretch. It is not stretching the screen to remove the black around the box which is how we like it to be. Did this happen to anyone else? Anyone have ideas how to deal with this.

I know we will probably have to contact them but it would be nice not to. Because the other day we picked up a new remote and we programmed it with the TV but we could not do this with the DVR. Well long story short the tech had no clue how to do this. Online the hubby found out how to unlock the remote and he successfully programmed the DVR. But when he told her he found this information she said "oh there's information on how to do that?"
LMAO! He should have gotten her pay taken off of our bill.

I am so annoyed with Comcast right now. I am sure that what they added may be a good thing but is it too much to ask for notification when they are going to do big updates like this. We were never sent any messages about any changes.

Well technically you're not in the right thread but the settings are close enough between the DCH & the DCX. If you already have the override set to 'stretch' & the whole screen is not being filled it's most likely one of two things.
1. You're on an HD channel that's not broadcasting in HD (ie, local HD channel during the day). Bars will go away by themselves when channel broadcasts an HD show.
or
2. You're on a non-HD channel & you need to change the 'aspect', 'zoom', 'picture size' or whatever it's called on your TV remote.
Should be an easy fix regardless.

Unfortunately they don't give warning when upgrading box fw/sw as it varies greatly by area, the release dates can change quickly for various reasons & most people are rarely negatively affected.

Thanks for your response : )

On number 1 - The problem is that the shows that are broadcast in HD on that channel the boxes are not going away.

On number 2 - I will have to try the HD Zoom and see.

Sometimes, the boxes reset themselves. Try turning off the dvr, then immediately click on Menu on the remote. That will bring up the settings and you can change it back to 16:9, 720P, and Stretch. However, if you get a DCX, you no longer have to stretch the picture. Selecting native (new to the DCX) will allow the DVR to adjust between HD and SD.