[dc_soccerdude]

I have been fighting my UTV now for several months and this is one last ditch effort before the unit goes the way of Tivo.


From what I can tell both tuners seem to work fine on a live signal but when you time delay or record a program the system starts freezing and pixeling (is that even a word?) the picture during playback.


Sometimes it works great and other times its totally unwatchable (screeen goes black for 2-3 seconds). Its seems to have more problems the more you jumped ahead through commercials or use the FFW and REW functions. It has gotten so bad my wife is ready to go back to the VCR.


I have the unit placed up on miniature jacks to keep air flow going under it and it is not near any other electronic gear. I also installed the powered multiswitch recently and it seems better but continues to have problems.


I am skeptical that its a heat issue since it never does it under live play conditions but at this point any help is greatly appreciated.


Alan

 

[mdowns]

Dude


I had similar problems several months after upgrading to 120g HD. After nothing seemed to help, I went back to the 40g hd to eliminate that as a possible problem. We're on the second week now with none of the previous problems, so I can't help but think there's a connection. Can I say it was a HD problem? No, but maybe someone else has had a similar experience.

 

[cyberbob25]

How full is your hard drive? I know problems like this can occur with a near full capacity hard drive.


Also, have you tried unplugging the unit for a few minutes? This can cure a lot of UTV's evils. And yet another trick is to hit the power button 3 times rapidly. When you do it right, the unit will reset and perform some disk maintenance.


It's a long shot, but give these a try.

 

[dc_soccerdude]

Thanks for the advice. I will give the power button trick a try.


The drive is not full at all (usually has less than 10 hours on it) and in fact to try and correct the problem a few months back I deleted all programs and then unplugged the unit overnight. Worked ok for a while but now its back to its usual.


Will let you know how it goes with the button reset.


mdowns - just an fyi, I have always suspected something with the HD from the beginning but have no way to confirm so have tried to correct the heat issues first.

 

[lgodavid]

Hi,


Re: Deleting Programs.


If you are willing to start from "scratch"... you can try the 2355 2355 UTV code...


This will restore your UTV to a "default" out of the box like state.


You'll need to restore your settings and future recordings... BUT it should resolve most UTV "software" related concerns.

 

[NetworkTV]

I didn't have any major issues in the past, but I'm experiencing this one, as well. It's not every recording for me, but when it happens it's impossible to watch the show. Sometimes it's so bad, the unit resets itself. One quick fix, if I just want to finish a show I'm almost through, is to delete the history. With the fact that the history is tied to the 30 day blackout rule, this probably clears up just enough system resources to eliminate or minimize the problem for a bit. I wish I could stop it from coming back, though. If I get some "can't miss" shows off the drive, I'll probably try the full reset. It's really starting to tick me off, especially with the nearly flawless performance I've had leading up to recent weeks.

 

[watching]

NetworkTV,



what percentage disk space use are you cruising at now?

 

[NetworkTV]

Quote:

Originally posted by watching NetworkTV, what percentage disk space use are you cruising at now?

I usually run at about 50-70% full on the stock hard drive. It doesn't seem to improve or get worse with fewer or more programs recorded.

 

[extremis]

I'm actually experiencing the same thing...


It begins to "pixelate" and the screen actually goes green at times...not sure why it turns green but it renders the recording unwatchable...

 

[NetworkTV]

Quote:

Originally posted by extremis It begins to "pixelate" and the screen actually goes green at times...not sure why it turns green but it renders the recording unwatchable...

That often happens with a non-syncronized (or missing) digital source. That or it will simply dump to black. We often see a green screen through the fiber connections at work when we reboot a video server or a graphics device.

 

[lgodavid]

Hi Extremis,


Have you followed the tips about keeping the UTV cool?


Have you attempted a reboot/reset (via unplug or UTV Code)?


Are you interested in attempting to delete/restore your UTV to an out of the box condition (loosing recordings and settings) to fix potential issues with UTV software? UTV Code 2355 2355


Later,

 

[dc_soccerdude]

Don't know about the others but I have tried everything short of installing cooling fans and replacing the harddrive.


1) Have the unit elevated over 1" using cut 1" PVC pipe for 4 legs.

2) No other electronic equipment even close.

3) Installed a powered multiswitch.

4) Reset using every method possible including 23552355.


The first recording after all this did not start "pixelating" until I used the skip or fast forward buttons but as soon as I did it was major including the dreaded black screens. This is basically how all this started months ago. What good is the unit if you can record but then have to watch as if it was live!!


I honestly believe there is something wrong with the drive or at the very least with the tuners when they have to read from the drive at faster than normal rates. The unit works perfectly in live mode. The unit works pretty good on recordings if you don't use the skip or fast forward. The unit has major problems if you timeshift live TV or try to move ahead on recordings.


Yes I could replace the drive and give it a try or install a cooling fan but you know what, I'm tired of experimenting and I finally found a relatively cheap solution that I know will work and installed it last week. A $99 Tivo with no monthly fee since I am a DirecTV premier customer.


I have delayed this decision and put up with crappy UTV performance for 4-5 months because of all the limitations I read about Tivo in this and the Tivo forums. But now that I have made the switch and been on Tivo for a week I am wondering why I didn't do it earlier.


Does Tivo have its issues? Yes. Is it anywhere near as bad as my past 4 months of UTV? NO WAY. In fact, after being a UTV customer for around 1.5 years and expecting the worst when I switched, I can honestly say that Tivo is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. The 2 biggest shortcomings I see are a god awfully slow DirecTV guide and no caller id. But since I kind of like the Tivo Live Guide better the guide is not really a big issue to me. In addition, there are actually a few areas that I prefer Tivo to UTV which help make up for some of the shortcomings.


I would have stayed with UTV if at all possible but after months of experimenting my wifes patience was running thin. Especially after a few of her favorite shows were bascially unwatchable. After going with Tivo, I don't regret it and actually have come to like it just as well after only 1 week. Perhaps my situation is different because I have not been able to use my UTV as intended for months, but I would say to those having problems don't worry too much about the switch because its not as bad as everyone says.


dc

 

[extremis]

I have my UTV elevated and with nothing else surrounding it...


And I was actually one of those that did the full reboot at the beginning of December and lost my PVR functions for a month!!


I may try and install a fan if this continues to happen...if that doesn't cure my problems, then the UTV may hit the scrap pile...


And for some reason these problems are only intermittent...sometimes it works fine and then at others I get the green or black screen...


I haven't had a problem for the past week now but who knows what tomorrow will bring!

 

[Merlin803]

Just this week my UTV started the brief stuttering. The unit is elevated (as it has been for months) and is not over heating (before I started elevating it - it did get very warm but that is not the case now).


I don't think that this is a tuner problem (at least in my case) because it stutters even on playback of movies that I recorded cleanly months ago and have watched them several times and they did not stutter before this week.



I have not tried using any of the codes to restore my unit to "like new" but it may be time to try....

 

[lgodavid]

Hi Merlin803,


Try a simple reboot code like 12357... It might do the trick and little harm would be done.


Later,

 

[mdowns]

lgodavid,


I've tried resetting with the known codes and the J1103 jumper, but I've had no luck jump starting a dead tuner in one of my UTVs. I have the tops off the tuner cans and a fan blowing air across the two. I've used freeze spray on both the tuner and regulator chips and a multiswitch to take the current load off the regulators. Any ideas on how to kick start this?


Mike

[email protected]

 

[Merlin803]

lgodavid,


Thanks for the advice. I unplugged the unit last night and just plugged it back in. If I find that it is still stuttering I'll give the code a try.