showcase priority over tuners

2116 Views 24 Replies 12 Participants Last post by ThomasM, Jul 18, 2008

dutch

Discussion Starter · Jul 10, 2008

Hello all, sorry if this has already been discussed, tried looking for it but did not find a topic for this.
Several times now, since the start of the showcase recordings of pay per view, I have not been able to access both tuners at the same time. If I am recording one channel I can not view another without stopping the recording. System tests are all good. Tuner 1 and 2 OK, Signal strength 80s and up. It is an r15-500, latest software update was 07/02/08, Reseting the receiver during this will set things right again. Could this be a conflict with the recording of showcases?

1 - 20 of 25 Posts

paulman182

· #2 · Jul 11, 2008

It shouldn't be. Everytime I've noticed a showcase recording, I've been able to stop it by using both tuners.

The Merg

· #3 · Jul 11, 2008

This issue has come up before. Unfortunately the recording of the Showcase PPV does seem to use up a tuner. DirecTV should have it that these pushes only occur in the very early AM when users are most likely not going to be using both tuners.

- Merg

RenHoek

· #4 · Jul 11, 2008

The Merg said:
This issue has come up before. Unfortunately the recording of the Showcase PPV does seem to use up a tuner. DirecTV should have it that these pushes only occur in the very early AM when users are most likely not going to be using both tuners.

- Merg

Yeah, or how about a little courtesy check to see if the DVR is powered off AND not scheduled to record other things in the same timeframe. Seems pretty simple to me...

dazed&confuzed

· #5 · Jul 11, 2008

RenHoek said:
Yeah, or how about a little courtesy check to see if the DVR is powered off AND not scheduled to record other things in the same timeframe. Seems pretty simple to me...

I agree! If DTV is going to push these programs down and not have them stop when both tuners are in use overriding our recordings they should not be charging us a DVR fee. If I am paying a fee for a service, I expect control of the service. The showcases should only download when the DVD is not using both tuners and if the user starts using both tuners the showcase recording should stop. Or they need to enable a setting so the user can choose whether they want these items to download on not.

inquisitive1

· #6 · Jul 11, 2008

dazed&confuzed said:
Or they need to enable a setting so the user can choose whether they want these items to download on not.

Bingo.

Bud33

· #7 · Jul 13, 2008

My thought is since I own my DVR's The pushed Showcase recordings are putting extra stress on the drives and shortening their life.
I don't think I like that, and why should I have the same PPV shows on both of my DVR's???

dutch

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jul 13, 2008

I see we all have some opinions about the content being loaded on our DVR's. I also wish the showcase stuff had an off switch but my question still remains, is it interfering with the use of my receiver? I know it is programmed not to interfere but as with ALL software there can be glitches show up in a number of applications. Has anyone else had trouble using the second tuner with no obvious reason since the recordings began?

The Merg

· #9 · Jul 13, 2008

dutch said:
I see we all have some opinions about the content being loaded on our DVR's. I also wish the showcase stuff had an off switch but my question still remains, is it interfering with the use of my receiver? I know it is programmed not to interfere but as with ALL software there can be glitches show up in a number of applications. Has anyone else had trouble using the second tuner with no obvious reason since the recordings began?

Apparently it is not programmed to not interfere as there have been multiple documented cases of this happening. That is the issue that is bothering a lot of us. If a user is using the receiver and requires the use of the second tuner then the DVR should automatically cease recording the Showcase/PPV and allow use of the second tuner.

It also should never push recordings down during normal daytime hours. I've had multiple days in which I've found the record light on during the middle of morning/afternoon when I know I am not recording anything. Going through the Reset Receiver process shows me that it is recording a Showcase or PPV.

- Merg

dutch

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jul 13, 2008

Merg, thanks for the clarification on the issue.

The Merg

· #11 · Jul 14, 2008

dutch said:
Merg, thanks for the clarification on the issue.

Anytime!

- Merg

ThomasM

· #12 · Jul 16, 2008

inquisitive1 said:
Bingo.

+1

I have IPPV (impulse pay-per-view) DISABLED on my account. (I.E. I cannot purchase ANYTHING with my remote-even though my phone line is connected)

This means there is NO WAY I could "purchase" (rent?) one of these PPV showcase movies. But my poor DVR gets stuck wasting it's time recording them anyway. Stupid software!

ThomasM

· #13 · Jul 16, 2008

The Merg said:
Apparently it is not programmed to not interfere as there have been multiple documented cases of this happening. That is the issue that is bothering a lot of us. If a user is using the receiver and requires the use of the second tuner then the DVR should automatically cease recording the Showcase/PPV and allow use of the second tuner.

It also should never push recordings down during normal daytime hours. I've had multiple days in which I've found the record light on during the middle of morning/afternoon when I know I am not recording anything. Going through the Reset Receiver process shows me that it is recording a Showcase or PPV.

- Merg

Oh, they are going to fix that. New CE releases don't turn the record light on when a showcase PPV is being recorded.

As for interference, I've seen posters state that Series Link recordings were aborted because a tuner was unavailable due to a showcase PPV movie recording.

It will take ordinary users awhile to figure all this out, but when they do watch the fireworks with loads of calls to the poor CSR's....

The showcase PPV downloads should be totally invisible to the DVR user. They should only occur if one tuner is building a live buffer and the other tuner is doing absolutely nothing. These PPV showcase movies amuse me about as much as the thought of someone taking my car out to get lunch while it is in the shop for service. The car should only be driven where I decide to drive it!!

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Doug Brott

· #14 · Jul 16, 2008

ThomasM said:
Oh, they are going to fix that. New CE releases don't turn the record light on when a showcase PPV is being recorded.

The record light is not supposed to come on .. but it does on the R15. This will be corrected

ThomasM said:
As for interference, I've seen posters state that Series Link recordings were aborted because a tuner was unavailable due to a showcase PPV movie recording.

If you are recording something or making use of the receiver, then your activity will take priority over any Showcase activity. The best way to showcases delivered to you is to put your receiver in standby.

K4SMX

· #15 · Jul 16, 2008

ThomasM said:
.....These PPV showcase movies amuse me about as much as the thought of someone taking my car out to get lunch while it is in the shop for service. The car should only be driven where I decide to drive it!!

Excellent analogy. This is really nothing more than yet another instance of the trend toward spamming our DirecTV experience. I'd actually like a "give back" of the HD space reserved for these trips to lunch in my car. It's obviously a lot bigger than I previously thought.

Drew2k

· #16 · Jul 16, 2008

According to DIRECTV*:

Will Showcases programs affect space or schedulings of my recordings?

No, programs in the Showcase tab will NOT impact your available playlist recording space.

Showcase programs are recorded using reserved disk space that is separate from your personal recording area.

Programs that enter your Showcase tab will never orverride a scheduling recording on your DIRECTV Plus DVR. Programs for the Showcases tab will be recorded when your DIRECTV Plus DVR is not in use.

Outside of the bad grammar (schedulings?), the intention is that Showcases never should interfere with a scheduled recording. If the recording of Showcases interrupts either live TV viewing or a scheduled recording, that's a bug that should be reported in the appropriate issues thread ...

*Source: Channel 114 > Customer Support Interactive Tool (wait for it to load) > Answer Center > Programming > DIRECTV Plus DVR > Page 2

ThomasM

· #17 · Jul 17, 2008

Doug Brott said:
If you are recording something or making use of the receiver, then your activity will take priority over any Showcase activity. The best way to showcases delivered to you is to put your receiver in standby.

That's not true. I had a recording scheduled for 10AM and left the R15-300 on and tuned to a different channel so it would create a live buffer I could watch when I turned the TV back on. When I did turn the TV on (at 10:30AM) the DVR was tuned to the channel being recorded and the other tuner had been "comandeered" to record a stupid showcase PPV movie.

When I tried to change the channel, it wanted to know if I wished to abort the show I was recording instead of obeying me and tuning in the live channel I requested on the other tuner. It would not release the tuner being used to record its PPV showcase movie. Who is paying the bill for this DVR? That's who should be able to utilize/control all functions 24/7.

ThomasM

· #18 · Jul 17, 2008

Drew2k said:
If the recording of Showcases interrupts either live TV viewing or a scheduled recording, that's a bug that should be reported in the appropriate issues thread

1. It DOES interfere with my use of the DVR.

2. It HAS been reported in the appropriate issues thread(s).

Others have reported falling asleep while watching live TV or leaving their DVR on only to find the screen saver active when they wake up or turn the TV on. I wonder if when they restore the picture a live buffer exists, or if the tuner they were watching went to record a showcase movie. Hmmm.

ThomasM

· #19 · Jul 17, 2008

Yup, like the title sez, it's been awhile but I decided to mosey over to the DirecTV Technical Help Forums just to see if any subs who haven't discovered DBSTALK.COM were having "showcase" problems....and they sure are!!

Most report that the PPV showcase movies ARE taking up THEIR disk space...but the disk space meter still says there is plenty available. One poster said a PPV Showcase movie DELETED one of HIS recordings! Others are all grumbling because they are getting "disk full-delete something" messages even though as I said the disk space meter says there is still plenty of space. All state this started when the PPV showcase movie downloads started.

Are they all wrong?

I also noted that a number of posters were so irked that they were considering dumping DirecTV because of this. I wonder if the revenue from these PPV showcase movies will exceed that lost by irked customers who cancel?

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K4SMX

· #20 · Jul 17, 2008

At least we should be able to delete Showcase items at will, including mid-recording.

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