What Makes SLs not Work

[HolmesCo]

I have this problem fairly often. Happened this morning with Charmed, so will use that to illustrate. I don't understand.

I had a SL setup already for charmed on 75, and it seemed to be working for a couple weeks. This morning Inotice it has in the prioritezer 0 episodes. Its on TNT at least once a day (I have all episodes, keep all setup). So I say ok, will setup a SL again. I do, and actaully had to cancel the current one, as once I pressed on the show, rec series it showed it was still setup, though the prioritzer, and guide showed no episodes to be recorded. So I cancel it, and setup again.

I go thru the guide uinsg +12 hours and none of them have the R)) nor even the R on them. I hit the R and then hit it the 2nd time to do SL, and instead teh R disappears--this is soemthing I have seen many many times.

Bottom line is I had to go thru the guide every day and hit the R once, its the only way I can get it to record the series.

As I say, I have seen this before, fairly often Charmed btw was high on the prioritizer list also. I have seen this with national releases as well as cutting edge ones. I don't get it.

Is this feature just hosed and needs work or is it cockpit error? I appreciate any help. Its quite frustrating that it cannot do a simple thing like a series link and have to wonder if I am missing someting, or the code just isn't solid in this area.

EDIT: Disk space is not a problem. Have a 750GB eSata with 80% avaialable.

[bonscott87]

Note that when you first setup a series link it will take a day or so for the To Do list to populate with all the upcoming episodes that match the series link settings.

I go thru the guide uinsg +12 hours and none of them have the R)) nor even the R on them. I hit the R and then hit it the 2nd time to do SL, and instead teh R disappears--this is soemthing I have seen many many times.


This could be due to not waiting long enough for the ToDo list to populate.

I have seen this from time to time as well and it's due to the guide data by the channel not indentifying the show as an actual series. A more famous recent example was the Planet Earth series. The very first episode wasn't tied to the rest of the shows as a single series. So you had to single record the first episode and set the series link starting on the 2nd episode. Also effected Tivo's I believe.

I really can't help you on any other concerns as I have never had a problem with a series link in over a year of having this HR20.

[HolmesCo]

Note that when you first setup a series link it will take a day or so for the To Do list to populate with all the upcoming episodes that match the series link settings.



This could be due to not waiting long enough for the ToDo list to populate.

I have seen this from time to time as well and it's due to the guide data by the channel not indentifying the show as an actual series. A more famous recent example was the Planet Earth series. The very first episode wasn't tied to the rest of the shows as a single series. So you had to single record the first episode and set the series link starting on the 2nd episode. Also effected Tivo's I believe.

I really can't help you on any other concerns as I have never had a problem with a series link in over a year of having this HR20.

Thanks I forgot that it takes a while to propogate like that. I wonder if thats it. Antoher oddity I notice is some show I know is setup as an SL will not have any R on it, I select it in guide and it says Record as Planned. These are ones that hahve been setup for a long time so not the propogation ting, have you or anyone ever seen this?

[Stuart Sweet]

Sometimes the (R) icon doesn't show up. As far as Series Links, they've been rock solid in the national release software for me... I haven't missed a recording for at least 6 months maybe more. I know that guide data can be incomplete after a reboot, or within a day of setting up the SL. Also sometimes the guide data is just plain wrong. That's not DIRECTV's fault.

[HolmesCo]

Sometimes the (R) icon doesn't show up. As far as Series Links, they've been rock solid in the national release software for me... I haven't missed a recording for at least 6 months maybe more. I know that guide data can be incomplete after a reboot, or within a day of setting up the SL. Also sometimes the guide data is just plain wrong. That's not DIRECTV's fault.

Doesn't it seem a problem though if the guide has no R on it, but yet when you drill down, it says "Record as Planned" Something doesn't seem right. Or how when you hit the R a 2nd time to make it a SL, instead the R disappears.

[bonscott87]

If you want to make sure a series link is setup properly then I do the following (which is pretty much exactly what I always did on the Tivo).

Obviously wait a day or two after you setup the series link.

Then go to the prioritizer (HR20's season pass manager).
Find your series link and select it.
From the menu choose Episodes.
Now you'll see a list of all episodes and which ones it plans to record. Should be easy to tell there what's going on with recording the series link.

[HolmesCo]

If you want to make sure a series link is setup properly then I do the following (which is pretty much exactly what I always did on the Tivo).

Obviously wait a day or two after you setup the series link.

Then go to the prioritizer (HR20's season pass manager).
Find your series link and select it.
From the menu choose Episodes.
Now you'll see a list of all episodes and which ones it plans to record. Should be easy to tell there what's going on with recording the series link.

Thanks, this is what I did with Charmed this morning, when I noticed it wasn't recording it like it usually is when I get up. For whatever reason, it simply stopped being a SL. It was in the priortizer but had No Episodes next to it, even though its on every morning. I have had peculiar problems with the occasional SL for some time now, not sure why. It just seems theres some sort of problem with the logic in the software for it.

My wife has an SL for "The QVC Morning Show" every monring, but when they do something special, like 13th anniversary, or Garden Special etc, even though the guide still shows it as Morning Show, the hr20 simply does not record it. And even if its a week long special like 13th anniversayr, you can try to set THAT up as a SL and it will not respond to it.

Beats me, but somethings not right, software or cockpit.

[HolmesCo]

You were definitely right about the SL having to propogate out, Charmed now has the R))) on all episdoes, and prioritizer showing 28 episodes Chuckle, good thing I have that 750GB! I will have to keep this in mind in the future. Still not sure about some of the other oddities, but maybe the new CE this weekend will help out.

[GordonT]

You were definitely right about the SL having to propogate out, Charmed now has the R))) on all episdoes, and prioritizer showing 28 episodes Chuckle, good thing I have that 750GB! I will have to keep this in mind in the future. Still not sure about some of the other oddities, but maybe the new CE this weekend will help out.

I wasn't sure where to ask this question, and I didn't want to start a new thread. I am relatively new to the HR20, having used the HR10 for quite a while.

Is the Prioritizer screen the closest thing there is to the Season Pass Manager on the HR10? I have read through the FAQ and the Tivo User's Survival Guide but I can't seem to find this stated definitively. I definitely can't find much detail in the HR20 manual. In addition to answering this particular question, can someone refer me to a specific document where the detailed info on Series Link is contained?

[bonscott87]

Is the Prioritizer screen the closest thing there is to the Season Pass Manager on the HR10? I have read through the FAQ and the Tivo User's Survival Guide but I can't seem to find this stated definitively. I definitely can't find much detail in the HR20 manual.

The Prioritizer *is* the season pass manager on an HR20 and is pretty much the same thing. Big difference is you can reorder your series links and it's done instantly vs. on an HR10 where you'll see "please wait" for 3 minutes. ;)

In addition to answering this particular question, can someone refer me to a specific document where the detailed info on Series Link is contained?

Pretty much the same way as on a Tivo. Highlight your series and select it.
Now choose in the left menu "record series" or "record all" (I can't remember the exact name, the first option is "record once"). Then change the settings you want.

Oh, and while you are in there changing the settings of your series link, hit the menu button and you can then set the default series link setting. From then on any new series link you add will have those default settings.

[HolmesCo]

and btw, now that I've reread what I wrote last week, the new CE definitaely did not solve my problems of Cancelled recordings. I wonder how much D* is aware of this as I am seeing a fair amount of people being affected by it here. "Not available" and I forget the other reason it gives quite often. Is this being addressed?