[avatar230]

That is what I would be doing, I would be wanting to rip through the header data from a few of these unwatchables. Based on my observations of the partial and unwatchable bug, I think they share a root cause. I wonder if you fix the unwatchable bug if it would fix the partial bug.

I was going to make a longer post out of this, but since they've come up, I wanted to throw my hat in the ring re: the partials. Last night, I was watching the HR20 live at the genesis of what turned out to be a "partial" recording. One tuner was busy recording THE TONIGHT SHOW and I was channel surfing, parked on HBO-HD. At 11:58, a message came up asking if it was OK to change the channel to HDNet Movies to record TRUE CONFESSIONS at midnight. I selected "OK."

Two minutes later when the channel changed, I noticed the record light came on instantly, but the picture cycled through a second or so of black, then an all-grey screen and then locked in on the HDNet Movies feed. Perhaps the "partials" are due to the record mechanism not giving the tuner enough time to communicate with the multiswitch(es) and LNBs to change the channel? This would be right in line with what a lot of sports fans have been reporting about the Center Ice package, wherein if the feed is off at the start of recording or terminates before the end of recording, the recording will be listed as partial. Perhaps the HR20 assumes that if it doesn't have a signal within the first x milliseconds of a recording, it's not receiving the channel at all and the recording gets trashed?

I know this is the way the HR20 deals with recordings on channels you don't receive; for instance if you have an AUTORECORD wishlist setup by an actor's name or keyword, it will attempt to record on every channel possible, regardless of your custom list, and if it receives no signal the recording never appears in the Playlist and the history lists "partial." Thoughts?

 

[Earl Bonovich]

Thoughts?

Pretty good theory...
Good enough, that it deserves it's own thread to discuss it.

 

[jkc120]

Good theory. The only thing that doesn't make sense, though, is that when I tested it last night by unplugging both coax cables and hitting record, it recorded fine!

So there is some difference between no feed and the black/gray screens yours cycled through. Damn if I know what the difference is to the tuner/decoder, but it really doesn't like blank feed. Seems ok with the complete lack of a feed, at least in my testing last night.

 

[avatar230]

Good theory. The only thing that doesn't make sense, though, is that when I tested it last night by unplugging both coax cables and hitting record, it recorded fine!

So there is some difference between no feed and the black/gray screens yours cycled through. Damn if I know what the difference is to the tuner/decoder, but it really doesn't like blank feed. Seems ok with the complete lack of a feed, at least in my testing last night.

Saw your tests -- they were really interesting! My guess re: the above comment would be that the tuner in the HR20 treats no RG6 signal at all (unplugged cable) different than a blocked or dropped signal; HR20 owners should have AT9 dishes. AT9 dish owners should be able to receive (hypothetically) EVERY channel D* broadcasts. Thus, when there's "no signal" while a cable is connected, the DVR is actually either:

a. Not authorized to receive a signal because you don't pay for the channel or
b. Not authorized to receive a signal because there's nothing currently being carried on a channel (like the sports packages)

My guess is that the tuner treats the above scenarios differently than a pulled cable...

Now, if I'm right about this... how the heck do we/D* fix it?!?!

 

[jkc120]

Now, if I'm right about this... how the heck do we/D* fix it?!?!

And how do we provide a repeatable testcase for them to try on their end to have a scenario in which to debug?

If only they made in-line coax interferer modules or something! :lol: