[Slip Jigs]

I think I've been one of the lucky ones who've experienced very few bugs and glitches. Yesterday, one found me that required a reset:

1. Started to watch a recorded program: mpeg 4 local channel. Black screen, timeline was there, able to FF and RW - that kicked in the program .
2. Started another after, same thing - this time the trick play didn't work. Rest fixed it.

My overall impression after the reset, other than allowing me to watch the program, was that other minor issues seems to have resolved (for the time being). Such as:

1. Occasional audio dropouts and picture breakup.
2. Overall responsiveness of the remote/reciever.

Not scentific, but my gut tells me that major issues - such as lockups - stem from how the OS deals with minor issues - either works them out, or they compound.

So maybe a regular reset is in order? I know that's not ideal, but aren't we used to that having used Windows machines for so many years? When things start to slow down or act erratic, then reboot.

 

[mtnagel]

It is an interesting theory. Definitely my Windows machines crash and need restarts occasionally, so that would make me think a DVR would also need an occasional restart.

BUT, how come my Directivos have never needed a restart? I don't know, but it's interesting nonetheless. Maybe the HR20 is much more complicated with HD and MPEG4? Just a thought.

 

[Slip Jigs]

I did think of that within the analogy - and that's a very valid point. It would point to the core of either the hardware or the OS, perhaps.

I would venture tho, that even the D-Tivos were not 100% bug-free - just to a lesser extent. (and then you also have to take into account TiVo altogether even before Dtv integration.

 

[jonaswan2]

The HR20 is definitely more complicated that the HR10, but that's beside the point. If you have ANY other DirecTV-branded receiver (except the R15), you kind of get used to having to reset occasionally.

 

[HolmesCo]

yup, exactly what I stated in a thread on friday. Get up in the morning, if its not recording anything, reboot it. I had the pause--unable to resume problme return after a week of being fine, and rebooted. And thats when the windows pc analogy occured to me as you are stating. Most electronics benefit from a POR and it seems this box needs it maybe 2 times a week or so, to avoid problems. Or at leatst minimimze them. In time they will iron them all out, right?

 

[jonaswan2]

yup, exactly what I stated in a thread on friday. Get up in the morning, if its not recording anything, reboot it. I had the pause--unable to resume problme return after a week of being fine, and rebooted. And thats when the windows pc analogy occured to me as you are stating. Most electronics benefit from a POR and it seems this box needs it maybe 2 times a week or so, to avoid problems. Or at leatst minimimze them. In time they will iron them all out, right?

:lol: That was funny.

 

[Tom Robertson]

The HR20 is definitely more complicated that the HR10, but that's beside the point. If you have ANY other DirecTV-branded receiver (except the R15), you kind of get used to having to reset occasionally.

At the software level, I question that the HR20 is more complex than the HR10. The hardware does all the MPEG2 and MPEG4 decoding, they both use two tuners, both capture guide information, etc. Tivo still has some features that are more complex than the HR20 has, considering the complexity of the "wishlist" one can build.

And I sure hope we don't come to the point where we allow a hardware manufacturer to think regular reboots of washer/dryer/vcr OR DVR is anything but very, very wrong!

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Dave_S]

I would have to reboot my 2 HR10s at least once a month. The one I had connected via HDMI would lose connection once in a while, and there would be some type of guide issue that would need a reboot. So the HDTivos were not perfect, but they were pretty solid.
As an interesting point, we have had 3 HR20s for a month or so now, and have only noticed known bugs on one of them (unwatchable bug, and loss of trick play after pause). Thankfully, it was the one we watch the least, only 2 SL's with a total of three shows recorded (all lost). I reformatted it today, so we will see what happens. The other two are used heavily, ~15-20 SL's each, and constantly watched on a daily basis, one with HDMI and the other is component, and we have not seen a single glitch on either (knock on wood :bang ). Now as far as computers go, my XPSP2 box is rock solid, I never have to reboot for bugcheck issues, and it certainly gets a heck of a lot less updates/patches than my FC6 box.

 

[jkc120]

This is my last remaining complaint about the HR20 - the lockups and/or instability requiring a red button reset.

If they can iron out all the instability issues, this will be a great, great unit. I'm happy with it now, but wish it'd stop locking up on me.

 

[HolmesCo]

:lol: That was funny.

Well I gues we have to kee hoping. :hurah: Just Like, ahem...bill gates finaly straigtened out windows...right? chortle, chukel, choke.