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HR20-700 gone downhill since x235 and into x254

659 Views 7 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  Stuart Sweet
I posted this in the issues thread, but wanted to see if anyone was having similar issues with x254. I've been reading threads where people are having their own various issues, but nothing like this (unless I've missed it in my readings here).

I've had x254 for about 36 hrs now. This is information from new recordings on x254. Like many others, I've had no problems up until x235 and into x254.

7/22
hd local - cbs, big brother 10
1min in: freeze for 20 secs
4min in: FF through commercial, press play, freeze for 1min

7/23
discovery HD - deadliest catch, 9pm
2 min in: freeze for about 30 seconds
3 min in: 2 brief freezes, one after the other

hd local - cbs, big brother 10, 8pm
first few seconds pixellated
1 min in: a long series of audio being dropped - coming in and out
12 min in: 2 second freeze
21 min in: 2 brief audio drops
26 min in: video stutter more audio drops
37 min in: constant video stutter and audio drops. Program becomes unwatchable. Here's a video of this audio/video stutter: http://tinyurl.com/6rvf6l

hd local - fox, so you think you can dance, 8pm
starts off and continues with so much audio dropping and video stuttering that it's not worth watching.

LIVE TV IS COMPLETELY FINE. I'm going to reboot tonight, and see if that makes any difference, but as it stands, it is becoming increasingly difficult to watch recordings. Am I alone here? Maybe signs of a bad box all of a sudden? Is there any additional information anyone wants to know? I realize I may not have enough data - the problems on Discovery HD may be being experienced by many people, but the problems on my locals might be unique to my area (except my friends aren't having issues :( )

My setup and signal strengths are in my signature. If you don't view sigs, here are the current signal strengths on 103c. Keep in mind it's raining right now:

tuner 1
95 96 94 95 93 94 89 95
93 95 91 96 92 96 -- --
97 -- -- -- -- 98

tuner 2
96 96 94 95 93 95 90 95
93 95 92 96 92 96 -- --
97 -- -- -- -- 99

thanks for your time.
romulox
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I agree and have seen a major degradation since 235 and 254 software.

On a stock HR20-700(no external hard drive, no networking), I have been experiencing frequent blank recordings that, when played, show the Keep or Delete screen. And when I tune to the channel, it shows "searching for signal..771" A Red Button Reset(RBR) restores the signal on the second tuner and also deletes the blank recordings from the To Do List

Before 235, I NEVER had a blank recording in 12 months.

Also seeing audio/lip sync issues on many channels

The DVR is now completely unreliable and effectively useless since one never knows if the recording will really be there

Anyone having the same issue should comment in this thread so that D* sees how pervasive this issue is, which I sense is wide spread
I've been posting about this problem for weeks - stuttering problem on OTA and old mpeg2 channels. I had my box replaced thinking that it's hardware problem. Obviously that didn't help. What helped was unplugging the receiver from network. The receiver works much better now (still some problems with slow trickplay) and any other problems are bearable.

Initially, I was under impression that this problem only affected HR21 but your post indicates that the problem is more wide spread.

I have HR21-700 and AM21.
My HR20-700 was working fine with 0235 and seems just as good with 0254 so far.
Thanks for the feedback. Something like this is difficult to troubleshoot because live tv (which I think is "technically" recorded) is fine, so I rule out things like BBCs, dish alignment, cables. The expert may disagree, but to the layman this seems like it's either the software update or the hard drive.

It's just so frustrating that 3 other of my friends, in the same viewing area, have no problems and I feel like a big dope because I can barely participate in the "Did you see <this show> last night?".

I did reboot, but then I left for work, so I don't know what effects that had yet. I think what I'll do is read up on the differences between the 2 options, that I can't think of now, that are under "restart receiver", decided if I want to wait for the next NL in hopes of more "stability", and if it gets too bad, see about getting a new machine. I know this is on the wishlist, but if I could just backup my series links, I could care less if I receive a new box or reload the drive every week!

thanks folks, any other ideas appreciated.

in case you don't view signatures: Simple setup: DVR not networked, no multiswitch, no phone line
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romulox said:
Thanks for the feedback. Something like this is difficult to troubleshoot because live tv (which I think is "technically" recorded) is fine, so I rule out things like BBCs, dish alignment, cables. The expert may disagree, but to the layman this seems like it's either the software update or the hard drive.

It's just so frustrating that 3 other of my friends, in the same viewing area, have no problems and I feel like a big dope because I can barely participate in the "Did you see <this show> last night?".

I did reboot, but then I left for work, so I don't know what effects that had yet. I think what I'll do is read up on the differences between the 2 options, that I can't think of now, that are under "restart receiver", decided if I want to wait for the next NL in hopes of more "stability", and if it gets too bad, see about getting a new machine. I know this is on the wishlist, but if I could just backup my series links, I could care less if I receive a new box or reload the drive every week!

thanks folks, any other ideas appreciated.

in case you don't view signatures: Simple setup: DVR not networked, no multiswitch, no phone line
YOu hit the nail right on the head... since several of your friends aren't having the problem, and a number of other users, like me aren't seeing the same issues, I personally feel that there is something in your setup or connections that may be exacerbating the issue.

Troubleshooting is a pain in the a** but oftentimes the only way to resolve some problems, be they installation or equipment interfering with each other, is to start at one end and work all the way back to the other looking for that one little glitch that's causing the problem.
I will say that there seemed to be transmission problems last night with So You Think You Can Dance.
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