Lockup 5 minutes into recording - reset on its own and went to internal vs. eSata

[tnedator]

HR20-700

Ok, most of this happened when using my slingbox on vacation, so I can't be 100% sure of all the events. To make matters worse, I was using slingbox mobile on my Samsung Blackjack phone.

I was driving home from vacation and decided to listen to a football preview show that I had recorded. I stopped at a gas station, started up the program right as I left. About five minutes into it the sound stopped, so I looked down and the screen was frozen. I tried sending various remote commands to it, and nothing happened. I swited to my coax input on the slingbox to make sure it was ok, and the cable signal was fine. In case it was a buffering or other problem, I just let it go for a while and eventually it started playing again, but then froze again. Again, I tried sending commands and nothing.

I disconnected, worried that my Broncos game wouldn't record cause the box was locked up (now I wish it hadn't recorded after the drubbing the Broncos took).

Anyway, about an hour or so later, next time I stopped, I connected again, and this time it seemed to be working fine, but I pulled up the list with the intention of going to the Todo to make sure my recording was still set. When I pulled up the list, I only had four recordings, it had rebooted and switched to my internal drive.

When I got home, I un plugged the eSata (FA750) and the HR20 and restarted and it came back up on the eSata and I tried playing the same show (actually just hit play on it and it tried to resume at the 5 minute mark) and immediately locked up and wouldn't respond to the remote control. I just did a RBR and it is back up on the eSata.

Now, I don't know if there was just some kind of glitch with that recording. If I have a bad spot on the FA750. If the drive is defective beyond a bad spot.

Any ideas what might have caused this? I have done searches on lockups and I have seen people ask others that posted about lockups whether it was on a recording or live TV, but I could never find any posts that described what happened to my unit today.

[tnedator]

Post was edited to correct:

Ok, I just checked another recording made at 10:00 this morning, and it also locked up (3 minutes in) but after about 2 minutes, it started playing again on its own.

Earlier, I watched the entire Broncos game with no lockups or any other glitches. The following wasn't true, as I forgot the fact that the Broncos game recorded on the internal drive.


In case it is relevant. The major lockup came on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain (645), and the little glitch that fixed itself after 2 minutes came on NFLN 212 (non-HD).

Edit: When I tried to finish watching the NFLE program, it locked again at 8 minutes, and stayed locked for 20 minutes or longer, and eventually return for 30 seconds or so and just locked again.

[tnedator]

Ok, responding to my own thread again. Live TV seems to work fine, although I only watched about 20 minutes of it. However, I just tried to watch a Showtime recording from 9/3 and it locked up 3 minutes in, then after 30 seconds or so, came back and then locked up again. So, this is not just happening on the new recordings, but apparently on all recordings.

So, replace eSata or HR20?

[Earl Bonovich]

If the Internal drive is working... it sounds like it is an issue with the eSATA

[tnedator]

If the Internal drive is working... it sounds like it is an issue with the eSATA

Would your best guess be the eSata drive is bad, or a problem with the eSata port on the HR20?

[TriggerDeems]

I'd strongly suspect a bad eSata connection, ie a bad cable. What one do you have?

[tnedator]

I'd strongly suspect a bad eSata connection, ie a bad cable. What one do you have?

SIIG CB-SA0211-S1

I don't know if I mentioned, but I have had this eSata drive/cable hooked up since 9/4 or so, which means it worked fine for about 30 days, not a single hickup, until today.

[tnedator]

Also, on three shows that I have tested and had lockups, it always locks up at the exact same point in the show. Meaning, when it freezes on a given show, and I eventually reset it, if I go back to the same show and try playing it again, it will freeze on the exact same image. I know two of them were three minutes in (not sure about the first one, the second freeze on that one was five minutes). I assume this is a concidence (the 3 minute mark), because if not that would not be hardware, but a software issue, and I imagine many people would be posting about that.

Also, I just went back to try and play something I had already watched. I attempted to play a Broncos game that I recorded on 10/8 and had watched and now it attempted to resume from a point in the middle of the game (where I had left off rewatching the game a few weeks ago) and it immediately locked up.

So, what is wierd is that recordings that were previously good are also now freezing, so it is unlikely just a bad spot on the disk. Have there been many eSata controllers going bad on HR20's?

[rayxxxle]

Had a wierd problem happen a few weeks ago with my eSATA. It started messing up recordings, and freezing up at various times. I turned the eSATA off, and rebooted to the internal drive, and everything worked. I decided to check the cable, and pulled the HR20 out of my cabinet. One of the screws holding the HR20's eSATA cable adapter to the back of the Hr20 was out, and laying behind the box. The other screw was very loose and the internal connector was hanging inside the box. I had to unplug the eSATA cable, and fish the internal connector around with a small screwdriver to get it aligned with the hole in the rear of the box, and tighten the loose screw, then hold it in place while I got the missing screw started. Then tightened them both, plugged the eSATA cable back in. Restarted the eSATA, let it spin for a few, than started the HR20. No more problems since then.:confused:
Errol

[tnedator]

Had a wierd problem happen a few weeks ago with my eSATA. It started messing up recordings, and freezing up at various times. I turned the eSATA off, and rebooted to the internal drive, and everything worked. I decided to check the cable, and pulled the HR20 out of my cabinet. One of the screws holding the HR20's eSATA cable adapter to the back of the Hr20 was out, and laying behind the box. The other screw was very loose and the internal connector was hanging inside the box. I had to unplug the eSATA cable, and fish the internal connector around with a small screwdriver to get it aligned with the hole in the rear of the box, and tighten the loose screw, then hold it in place while I got the missing screw started. Then tightened them both, plugged the eSATA cable back in. Restarted the eSATA, let it spin for a few, than started the HR20. No more problems since then.:confused:
Errol

Ok, this quote and a post above about the cable made me play around some. First, I checked the screws and both are still in. However, the right one does not tighten up, basically feels stripped (assuming it should eventually snug up). The connector doesn't feel sloppy, however after one of the freezes, I went over and giggled the cable a bit at the back of the machine (not pulling it completely out, just pressing it in and rocking it ever so slightly and the recording started playing again.

I then went to another recording that was freezing and it played right through the spot where it had frozen three times, but then it did freeze a couple minutes further into the program.

So, that would seem to indicate either the cable is bad (I reversed the cable at one point, and that alone didnt't fix it), or possible a bad connector in the HR20???

I am big time confused on what needs to be done. I am thinking maybe I should take the drive and hook it to the PC and run the seagate tools, which I am sure will wipe out my programs, but am thinking I am beyond salvaging them.

If it is the HR20, will they replace over a bad eSata connection/board, which is an unsupported feature at the moment.

I have already RMA'd the drive from Newegg and went ahead and ordered a second Siig cable in case the first is bad. The new drive will be here tomorrow and then I can return the old one for a refund. However, I am not 100% convinced it isn't a problem with the eSata connection on the HR20.

[tnedator]

Anyone successfuflly used the Seagate Dos tools to check the drive either with USB or eSata? I tried hooking it up both ways and couldn't get the software to recognize it. I don't want to use the Windows Seagate tools, in case it turns out to be something like a cable and the drive is actually fine (hence preserving my shows)

[brianct1972]

I am having the same issues. I am waiting on a new cable, but I suspect my eSata port on my HR20 is faulty.....

[tnedator]

I am having the same issues. I am waiting on a new cable, but I suspect my eSata port on my HR20 is faulty.....

I purchased a new eSata cable and drive. I tried to run seatools on the FreeAgent 750, and when I try and run the self tests it says, "test unavailable". FWIW, it did this on both the old and new FreeAgent 750.

I then tried running the SeaTools generic test and the original FA750 failed the short generic test. I then called Seagate and asked why it failed to run the self test and he said that mabye the DVR had corrupted it (this was before I got the second drive), try reformatting and retry. I reformatted in windows, it still failed to run the self test and again failed the short generic test.

When the new drive arrived, as mentioned above SeaTools still wouldn't run the built in self test, but it passed the short generic test, and then to further test it, I ran the long generic test which took several hours, and it passed that.

So, while I am confused on why SeaTools said test unavailable on the drives self tests (short or long), it does appear the drive was bad and that it wasn't a bad cable or eSATA port, unless a bad eSATA port damaged the drive, but I wouldn't think so.

At this point, I hooked up the new FA750 and will see if it runs smooth or problems re-occur.