Milwaukee HDTV User Group

HDTV Forums => Milwaukee HDTV Recorders & Players => Topic started by: gb4fan92 on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 03:44:47 PM

Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: gb4fan92 on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 03:44:47 PM
Okay here it is!!  Now that you have your new dvr post all comments, problems, solutions,ect here!
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 04:04:06 PM
Just picked mine up. To answer some of the questions I saw posted.

No, you don't have to turn your old one in first.

It uses the same remote as the SD DVR.

It cost $7.95 regular STB rental fee plus $6.95 DVR fee. (up from $5.00 SD DVR fee)

They had handed out 35 so far today when I picked mine up. She said they had plenty.

I will let you know how it works.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: 4runnergusto on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 04:05:47 PM
Well, then I will repost my question. Can you change the record quality, ie; less compression, less recording time, greater quality. Or do these record bit for bit? Forgive me, I am new to DVRs, this is my first one. Is the total recording time 40 hours as I had previously read? Lastly, is there some sort of menu other than the passport software that is accessable to the user to make changes, or to see available recording time? Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Mark
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 05:24:34 PM
Here is the update. The PQ is fantastic. I have both the old Pioneer box and new SA 8000HD DVR hooked up side by side and the PQ is a little better on the new SA 80000HD DVR.

The only two differences I have found yet are the grey side bars rather than the black bars. Also the menu and menu bar stay at a 4:3 width even on 16:9 HD or stretched 4:3 programming. Not a big deal.

The channel changing is very fast in the low analog channels (2-99), but about the same speed in the digital channels.

Recorded HD and live HD seem to be the exact same PQ.

Answers to 4runnergusto Questions:

No adjustments to recording quality to give you more recording time. It is the same as the SD DVR menu. I would assume that recording SD would give you more recording time than recording HD.

I don't know total record time. There is nothing in the documentation. The lady at the office said 40 hours, but I think she was guessing.

I'm sure there are hidden menus, but I don't know how to get into them.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Acrophet on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 06:02:02 PM
FYI
The DVI out does not work, but on a positive note there is an optical out for audio.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Steve Mackay on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 06:08:05 PM
I've been lurking this forum for almost a year now, figure it's time to post.

Got mine this morning. Was supposed to go straight back to work afterwords, but I got "sidetracked", and went home to make sure it still worked after strapping the thing to the back of my Buell(for those who don't know, it's a Sportbike, powered by a Harley Davidson V-twin). Hey, it's my only form of transportation at the moment, besides my feet. And I ain't walkin' from Waukesha to Mayfair :)

I sure got a few weird looks trying to figure out how to get that thing on the back of my bike. The old SA fit into my saddlebags, and had no idea how much larger the DVR was. It is quite a bit larger! It didn't fit! And I had no bungee chords with me.

Luckily, the security guard came out with some twine to help me tie 'her down(the DVR, not the security guard :D ).

I met someone from the forum there, but I forget his name... It was nice chattin' with ya :)

The picture is fantastic! I'm also gettin' ShowHD, which I'm not subscribed to. Hope that lasts a little longer :)

Now, anyone test out the firewire port yet? I'm going to test mine tonight and report back if it works.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: gb4fan92 on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 06:15:24 PM
I have been playing with the aspect ratio. Since I have a wide screen tv I like the picture to fill the screen when it is SD.  But I prefer to watch the local network channels on the digital channels for better pq and audio.  I have set the SA 8000HD to: tv type: Standard (4:3) picture setting: Squeeze (16:9).  Same settings I had on the Pioneer box. But I have noticed that on the digital channels I do not need to change the picture settings to zoom to stretch the picture as I did with the Pioneer. ( I'd watch HD programs in squeeze mode and SD programs in stretch mode). I'll have to play with this some more to see how well this works.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: yaderhey on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 06:18:44 PM
I've noticed my $100 DVI cable isn't working.  The manual says it's reserved for "future use," whatever that means.

I guess I'll be usinf the YPbPr cables from my DVD player. Can anyone notice a difference in quality w/o the DVI?  It looks about the same to me, but the analog channels appear a little brighter but grainier (though I don't know if that's the connection or the box).

Anyway, it looks cool so far.  I'm recording every Simpsons episode from now till the end of time.

Anyone want a DVI cable for cheap?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Paul S. on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 06:21:04 PM
NO DVI?!? GAH!!

That bites. Hard. Thats my calibrated HD input. :bang: :mad:

WTF
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: yaderhey on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 06:22:43 PM
I've also noticed they've cancelled channels like E! and WGN.  Calling TWC right now.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: 4runnergusto on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 06:29:47 PM
gb4fan92, if you have a widescreen, why are you setting your screen type to standard and squeezing 16:9? Doesnt that give you bars on the side? And then you are squeezing the shows in HD? This seems to be defeating the whole purpose of having widescreen and high def. What you should do (if I am getting you correctly), is set your screen type to widescreen, stretch standard. Then, when you watch local channels in digital that are not in HD, use your TV's stretch mode to stretch the picture from side to side. That is how I do it, and it works great. Sorry if I am telling you the obvious, or if I am just not getting what you are doing.

Cheers,
Mark
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: gb4fan92 on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 07:07:22 PM
Mark
        I know it sounds strange to set it in 4:3 mode but its more for the purpose of dealing with non HD programming. I still get HD programming in full screen with this setting but I don't have the problem of watching non-hd programs with side bars. This is the only setting thats seems to accomplish this. My Tv's stretch mode doesn't work with the digital channels.

*** Just noted by my daughter watching Spongebob. The tv (my widescreen HDTV) in the living room is 3 seconds behind the tv in the kitchen. Both tv's are set to channel 56. I knew that the digital channels were behind in time from the analog channels, but never did I notice the same analog channels being behind. Can anyone else confirm this??
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Steve Mackay on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 07:11:42 PM
in the living room is 3 seconds behind the tv in the kitchen


Yup, almost all DVRs(SA, Tivo, etc...) do this
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: tbarney on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 07:18:52 PM
I picked mine up today, even after the CSR said "sir, they are not available for pickup yet".  I tried to argue with him, but he just kept saying the same thing over and over, "sir, they are not available for pickup yet". so I called right back and someone told me to come right in..

anyways,  
I am having a problem with audio.  :(
I'm using the digital coaxial out and it's very choppy.  I have not tried the optical out yet.  The analog audio out is fine when I listen through my tv speakers, and terrible through the stereo  Anyone else try the digital audio using the coaxial cable yet?  Did I get a bad box?

thanks,
Tom
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 07:22:06 PM
The DVR is not the issue. Digital has a delay compared to analog straight from the cable. Even the analog channels on a digital box are delayed because they are going through the digital box.

We were watching the Super Bowl in two different rooms. The crowed in the living room (analog) got to see Janet Jackson before the crowd in the family room (digital).

I called and asked why the menu bars are in 4:3 now and they said it was on purpose. On the other HD boxes, they stretch them to 16:9 and people complained that it distorted the fonts, so they left this one alone at 4:3. I was actually one of the ones complaining. Now the fonts are much sharper and nicer to read.

I also found out it is an 80GB drive. 40 hours of SD or 20 hours of HD recording time.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: tbarney on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 07:35:09 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by tbarney
I am having a problem with audio.  :(
I'm using the digital coaxial out and it's very choppy.  I have not tried the optical out yet.  The analog audio out is fine when I listen through my tv speakers, and terrible through the stereo  Anyone else try the digital audio using the coaxial cable yet?  Did I get a bad box?
[/B]


I just tried the optical audio and it's choppy too.  My stereo is set to automatically pick the format that is fed to it, it keeps hopping between DD5.1 and Stereo PCM, it sits for a while on DD5.1, the sound cuts in and out, then it jumps to Stereo PCM, sits for a while, then jumps back....  I really don't want to tear this thing out of my home theater setup.....
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: tbarney on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 07:42:58 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by summerfun
I also found out it is an 80GB drive. 40 hours of SD or 20 hours of HD recording time.


My HD DVR has a 160GB drive in it.  This should be good for about 40 hours of HD recording!
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 08:44:38 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by tbarney
My HD DVR has a 160GB drive in it.  This should be good for about 40 hours of HD recording!
How do you know? I am only going by what the rep on the phone told me. Maybe I have more as well.

I am running the coaxial digital audio cable with no issues.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: tbarney on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 08:58:22 PM
If you go to the diagnostic menu it shows 152GB of available space.  My guess is that it is a 160GB drive, and all the software takes up a gig or two, leaving a little over 150 available.   If this screen is telling me accurate info then this is GREAT news!  It was well worth the wait if they gave us the better model of the DVR since some other areas got the lower model with less recording time.

I bet your next question is "How do you get to the diagnostic menu?"  Well, I don't want to share that right now since you may be able to do some damage in there.



Also, I reported the problem with DD5.1 audio earlier.  All is well. I called TWC and they reset the box from their end, now it sounds normal.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: The Law on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 10:29:38 PM
Well, I am *very* pleased.  I did have a minor issue in that my HDPackage was no longer avail, however, a call to Cust Services got things taken care of.  I was on hold for about 10mins and when the rep appeared he was knowledgable, polite and was able to take care of things - WELL DONE TWC!!!

The menu is faster for me than that of my Pioneer - the tech advised it may speed up/slow down depending on if I'm recording HD vs SD and watching SD vs HD, etc.  I'm quite please with that :)

I was please to know that if you set a show to record and turn off the unit - it will still record.

PIP worked fine - though not as good as the mits. built in, but - hey, it's good enough.

PQ Was great - no issues except pixelation for a few moments on one channel while recording another - only noticed it the one time.

Audio - no issues whatsover - i'm using the digital out and I'm very happy that I don't have to change my receiver like I did on the old SA box last year.  Have yet to try the optical out -I'll play with that tomorrow and to a side by side - coax vs. optical.

I did not have to add all the resolution formats like I did on the Pioneer - for that, I had to plug in 480i, 1080i, 480p and, I thinkg 720p in order for all channels to not blue screen.  This one is set only to 1080i and all channels look good.

I have my aspect ratio set to 16:9 Widescreen, 4:3 Stretch.

I tested recorded Star Trek Resurrection on TNT -HD (though I don't think it was actually HD), Fox Sports Net 114 (digital SD) and MLS Soccer - inHD.  Rewinding, pausing, ffwd, etc worked like a champ and functioned as I expected and better than the TWC Video On Demand ffw/rew/pause, etc.   ffwd/rew has 3 or 4 speeds - just keep clicking through the cycle.  Performance and response was quite good - I did not find myself jumping the gun due to lag.

Scheduling is a snap -just pick yer proggie and hit the button - you are prompted to record the series - but I haven't played with that yet.  I'm just stoked to record Holland vs. the Czech's tonight in HD.

Overall, I'm *very* please and am glad TWC waited to iron out the bugs.

ps:....I don't know which was cooler - the red Buell or the security guard's hair! ;) - I'm glad you were able to get that thing home
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Wednesday Aug 11, 2004, 10:49:06 PM
I just got into the service menu, even though "tbarney" would not tell me how, ;)  and I too have 160GB hard drive.

I'm not sure how many hours that translates into. I have been told that it takes 5-9 GB per hour for HD. That would give us approx 20 hours recording time in HD with a 160GB drive. That is what the rep told me on the phone. She was just wrong about the drive size.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: louisd13 on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 07:39:08 AM
Would anyone who already has one of these beautys be able to tell me if the composite video/audio or coax video output is active yet.  I will be running a non-HD TV off of this box as well as my HDTV (which I am doing with my Pioneer box right now) and I definately need the non-hd outputs to be active.  (The wife would be mad if we lost the DVR function upstairs on the non-HDTV)  I suppose I could rent a second SD DVR, but I have 2 boxes now and want to consolidate!  Thanks guys.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 08:12:16 AM
160GB is NOT 40 hours.. HD programming takes up an average of 8GB per hour. That gives your DVRs an average of 20 hours of HD recording space.

I haven't had a chance to hack my HD Tivo yet, but when I do I will post some random samplings of HD show sizes and runtimes. We know WDJT runs less than 19Mbps. I am assuming WISN and WTMJ run at the full 19Mbps.. It will be interesting to see what WITI will run at, what WMVT runs at, especially during SDTV widescreen shows.

Anyway, if you count on 20 hours of recording from your DVRs you should be safe. And ten hours of SD equals about 1 hour of HD. I'll give you a better idea of actual sizes hopefully by sometime this weekend (and assuming TWC doesn't trim down bitrates any further from OTA broadcasts).

For the record my Tivo with its stock 250GB drive only reports 30 hours of recording and my upgraded unit with two 250GB drives only reports 63 hours  of HD (427 hours SD).
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: jamisonweber on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 08:22:15 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by louisd13
Would anyone who already has one of these beautys be able to tell me if the composite video/audio or coax video output is active yet.  

The answer to that is no :bang: , only the component outputs are enabled.

I had to call TWC customer service this morning (the box told me to) and asked about this. The guy I talked to said the he do not know if or when they were planning on activating the additional ports. Boy that was a surprise coming from a TWC customer rep (can you feel the sarcasm here).
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Joel S on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 08:37:31 AM
My initial thoughts on the HD DVR after picking it up last night...

The PQ is about the same for the HD as the Pioneer but actually a little bit better for SD.  I was dissapointed that the S-Video port didn't work for watching SD. I usually like to watch SD on a different input and then use my Mits stretch modes as oppossed to the one stretch mode the box has for the Component input.  However, the SD picture seemed good enough that I'll get used to it.

Flipping channels seemed much quicker that the SD DVR, which is very nice.

I was suprised to see no PQ loss when watching recorded HD.  I am always able to tell when watching a recorded show on the SD DVR.  The picture usually seems more compressed or something, but not the case with the HD one.

The remote will not work with my Mitsubishi TV for some reason.  Does anybody else have a Mitsubishi and were able to program the cable remote to power on/off the TV or change volume???

I also don't like the PIP being framed 4X3 like the guide.  It puts the small picture almost in the middle of the screen or at least not  very far in the corner.  Any fix to this??  It's no different I guess that the score box on MNF.  However, I can now watch 3 shows (games) at one time when using my TV's PIP!!

I also lost my HD tier channels but had every other station under the sun.  This happens everytime I exchange a box.  A quick phone call clears it up.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Steve Mackay on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 08:53:55 AM
I've got a Mits 55" (55809 or something)TV. Works great. Used the 2nd code on the list IIRC.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Joel S on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 08:59:59 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by Steve Mackay
I've got a Mits 55" (55809 or something)TV. Works great. Used the 2nd code on the list IIRC.

I'll try that.  Thanks!  It's probably just user error on my part.

Note:  The jsonline article today (http://www.jsonline.com/enter/tvradio/aug04/250399.asp) says the thing has 20 hours of HD recording capability.  He also states that the waiting list was 1,600.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: louisd13 on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 09:24:30 AM
Ok Since the SD outputs don't seem to be activated on this box yet, does anybody know how I might get a second signal to a non-HDTV from this box?  Why wouldn't these outputs be activated.  Seems like a dumb thing not to have activated, but I suppose they want you to get a second box instead of using just the one box for 2 tv's
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 09:31:24 AM
basically you are SOL. I know I too am disappointed about the lack of SD output. I recommended a couple of people to pick one up for their analog TVs (keep your shirts on, TWC says there are more than enough to go around). I can only assume that recommendations such as mine are EXACTLY why TWC Milwaukee has chosen to disable the SD outputs. Make sure the HD viewers get the boxes first, then work on swapping them out with SD units.

As for any remote programming problems... if you "think" it doesn't work, keep trying.. CE manufacturers have for the most part continued to use the same IR frequencies for over a decade now. Unless your TV is over 15 years old (impossible for an HDTV) the remote is pretty much guaranteed to work with your set.

As an aside, that new $6.95 DVR charge is absolutely ridiculous. $6.95 for nothing. I guess now we know how they plan to make their reported $1200 cost per box back... :confused:
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: gyoung on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 09:36:57 AM
I noticed that the 8000HD Explorer gives you digital sound on all the stations even the analog.  This makes the audio switching much easier.

I have a 4:3 Sony XBR450 that I set the picture type as 4:3 and tell it to zoom 16:9 programming.  I only have to change it when I want to watch true high definition programming.  Is there any way around this?

I am assuming I just have to manually change it when I want to watch HD programming.  Not much of a problem since I now don't have to switch between video inputs any longer.

Thanks,
Title: TWO DIFFERENT MODELS (AT LEAST)
Post by: Drummerboy on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 09:50:28 AM
After talking to a fellow coworker who also picked his up yesterday, I found out they have released at least two versions of the 8000HD.  My box does NOT have the 1394 ports, but his box did!  (although it sounds like the ports aren't enabled).  I wonder if they also release both 80 and 160 gig models, too.
I also noticed while watching NBC last night (Law & Order and Jay Leno) that the signal would "hickup" once in a while which never happened with the old box.  It would pause for a second and then resume.  Is this a signal quality issue (too many splitters between drop and equip)?  I do have one of those bidirection amplifiers because low return db for Road Runner.  Has anyone else seen this "hickup" issue?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 09:50:55 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by borghe
As an aside, that new $6.95 DVR charge is absolutely ridiculous. $6.95 for nothing. I guess now we know how they plan to make their reported $1200 cost per box back... :confused:
As Tivo is $1,000 up front and $12.95 per month, I'm pretty happy with the $6.95.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Gregg Lengling on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 09:51:01 AM
The best work around that one is to get a new 16:9 ratio set......:D
Title: Re: TWO DIFFERENT MODELS (AT LEAST)
Post by: Joel S on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 10:00:22 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by Drummerboy

I also noticed while watching NBC last night (Law & Order and Jay Leno) that the signal would "hickup" once in a while which never happened with the old box.  It would pause for a second and then resume.  Is this a signal quality issue (too many splitters between drop and equip)?  I do have one of those bidirection amplifiers because low return db for Road Runner.  Has anyone else seen this "hickup" issue?

I noticed this as well at times.  Did seem kind of strange and something the SD DVR never did.  My guess is that is has nothing to do with signal quality, but I could be wrong.

I also had an issue with the aspect ratio changing on me.  I would be watching an HD channel and then flip to an SD channel only to have the SD channel be in the 4X3 mode with grey sides.  If i flipped back to a digital channel (311...) it would then fill the screen properly.  Anybody have this problem??  It only did this a couple of times.   Othereise the screen would be filled (per my settings).

I also really wish they would activate the SD ports.  What is the point of having them inactive:confused:
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 10:05:02 AM
All DirecTivos (including the HD unit) have no monthly charge with a Total Choice Platinum subscription, or a $5 monthly charge which covers all units if you carry a lower subscription. Not to mention having access to the Tivo database including comprehensive cast lists (including first and second teir guest stars), directors, and show information such as unique FSIDs, original air dates, and extensive genre catalogging, all of which is used in their search and record functions.

Last time I checked all TWC gave you for $7/month DVR fee was the same guide data that you get for free with a digital box. I didn't mean to turn this into a Tivo vs. non-Tivo debate.. I just truly wondered what justified the $2/month price increase for the HD DVR, just like I wondered what justified the $5/month DVR charge in the other thread. Sounds opportunistic at best.

Anyway, enough of that.

As for the choppy audio, it is more than likely hardware related being that non-DVR users aren't complaining about it. It is also likely related to the digital output being that the recorded data should be bit for bit perfect with the original airing.

With Tivos originally (SD versions) there were compatibility problems with the optical outputs and certain receivers. It would probably be helpful for those of you having problems to mention what kind of receivers you are having these breakups with.

as for the stuttering of the program, I doubt it is a signal issue. It sounds more like a software issue. If it were a signal issue it would be happening on all HD boxes.
Title: HD DVR a No-Go in Kenosha
Post by: gparris on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 10:12:31 AM
Last night I picked up 2 HD DVRs from the kiosk as records showed I have 2 HD and 2 DVRs (for each set).
While the salesperson was very pleasant and helpful, I asked if the optical and digital outputs were both working and the salesperson did not understand what I was talking about, despite my attempts to educate.
Anyway, I come home, go to my easiest-access HT setup and check the sound and picture of the HD box and SD box to make sure all is working properly and it is.
My mistake was disconnecting everything and just installing the single HD DVR box (my reasoning that it would replace the two boxes). :(
I hooked everything up as was before, checking component-video cables, coax  from the wall, exactly as the other two boxes had just been done minutes before and I discovered the following:
1) NO COLOR from the box - just black and white.
2) Herringbone lines on every channel
3) My HD Pkg was cut out

Calling service made me wait half an hour for assistance after I was told their system would reboot my box - all it did was disconnect my service, so I sat there, on  hold, without anything.
Heck, the Black and White picture could have been on at least as a screen saver.:rolleyes:

When an assistant finally came on to help me, they asked me to try the other box I picked up and still no color and bad signal.
Now, I rechecked everything and they tried to "balance" the system, sometimes knocking out my other boxes in the house, to no avail. Once I got my HD package back, the no-color and interference was still there on the HD DVR box display.

Thankfully, after nothing worked, I offered to disconnect my HD DVR box, rehook the lines up to both boxes I just had working TWO HOURS before (yeah, it took that long) and everything worked as it should be as if nothing happened. :D

TWC made every attempt to assist me and I am thankful for that.
However, they were experiencing many problems with the boxes according to my assistant.
Next week they will send someone out to check my entire cable system, although a short time ago they supposedly fixed it with an amplifier, balanced it and everything was fine.
Honest opinion? I think the boxes in Kenosha were NOT ready for release and my home cabling is just fine, otherwise my 4 boxes plus internet would have failed a long time ago or not be fully functional after the HD DVR nightmare.;)

SO the "jury" is out on this one. DO I return the boxes and wait for TWC to fix the Kenosha mess OR wait for the TWC installer to attempt a "FIX" in my cabling, messing up BOTH my HT areas only to find the boxes are not working, here, in Kenosha and someone just isn't communicating? :(

I will keep you all posted...Thanks!:wave:
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 10:21:26 AM
were the boxes hooked up with existing cables? were the cables good?

You get a black and white picture if a component cable has the Y cable connected but not the PrPb cables. It sounds like somthing was wrong with the connectors or cables. Is there only YPrPb on the box or are there also RGBHV/VGA connectors on it? Herringbone also sounds like there were some syncing issues between the three separate cables.

Worst case scenario is you got some bad boxes. Though I would double and triple check the connections first. Also it sounds dumb and I am not condescending you but make sure the TV is turned off while connecting the component cables.

If this is across DVI, try hooking up the component cables instead.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 10:32:35 AM
NEW FEATURE

Have you noticed that the HBO and Showtime On-Demand menus now have a "recently viewed" area? This is not on the regular HD box, only on our new SA 8000HD DVR boxes.

I called and no one at TWC knew anything about this.

There was someone on another board asking if there was a way to turn this off. Maybe in the service menu. As TWC did not even know this was there, they were no help with this question.

Anybody here know anything about this?

The guy on the other board is concerned that his children will see what "adult" movies mommy and daddy watch at night.:eek: :eek: :eek:

"Spank me, Spank me, Big Boy Part II" Could be embarrassing. :D
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: louisd13 on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 10:43:58 AM
No SD Outpust Sucks!!  Again I suppose they want you to have 2 boxes as opposed to 1.  Anywho, I did read somewhere else (Can't remember where)  that the SD outputs didn't work at first, but were activated later on via a firmware update.  Anybody else read about this.  Just trying to cling on to the hope that I may be able to consolidate to 1 box in the near future!
Title: Re: Re: TWO DIFFERENT MODELS (AT LEAST)
Post by: Drummerboy on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 11:25:04 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by Joel S
I would be watching an HD channel and then flip to an SD channel only to have the SD channel be in the 4X3 mode with grey sides.  If i flipped back to a digital channel (311...) it would then fill the screen properly.  Anybody have this problem??
Yes I saw this too.  It doesn't always seem to detect whether the signal is HD or SD properly so once in stretched my HD picture and more often it would put up the grey bars on the SD when switching from channel 4 to 504 and back.
QuoteI also really wish they would activate the SD ports.  What is the point of having them inactive:confused:
I know what you mean.  I had my remote macros to switch from one input to another allowing me to control the SD and HD switching.  Also the Pannys had the nice Justified setting which I wish I could take advantage of.
I guess 8 months isn't long enough for beta testing.:)

BTW, I am not ignorant!:)  (in response to borghe's reponse to my post in the previous 8000 thread)  I had a follow up but the last 800 thread was closed before I could.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 11:39:17 AM
did not mean or intend to call you ignorant.. sorry if you took it that way. :( just that the statement was ignorant (notice the difference).

Anyway, the box is out so regardless of MS' questionable tactics the wait is finally over for you guys. :)
Title: Yes, I DID...
Post by: gparris on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 11:55:20 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by borghe
were the boxes hooked up with existing cables? were the cables good?

You get a black and white picture if a component cable has the Y cable connected but not the PrPb cables. It sounds like somthing was wrong with the connectors or cables. Is there only YPrPb on the box or are there also RGBHV/VGA connectors on it? Herringbone also sounds like there were some syncing issues between the three separate cables.

Worst case scenario is you got some bad boxes. Though I would double and triple check the connections first. Also it sounds dumb and I am not condescending you but make sure the TV is turned off while connecting the component cables.

If this is across DVI, try hooking up the component cables instead.

The cables were new ones from TWC (cable wall connection cable to box), these were checked. As I indicated before, I put my HD box and SD DVR box back the way it was and everything was great as before.  
I use Monster 3 high end products for all connections (I know its overkill, but better than what they give you free), so all component video cables were checked and rechecked.
The HD box worked fine with the component video cables once I re-installed everything back!
I know about component video cabling, my prog scan DVD player worked fine, too (with color). My set does not have DVI ports.

It is my bad luck that BOTH HD DVR BOXES  were bad and I have asked for replacements with the repair man comes to "fix things".

If he comes to the house with SD DVRs, lets say, I won't be happy.:bang:

I am happy for the rest of you with your HD DVRs, at least they seem to work for you.

If I cannot get this issue resolved, I may end up keeping things the way they are with 4 boxes until the whole HD DVR mess is cleaned up. I think two bad boxes is a bad omen.

Maybe they should check the boxes out before they hand them out, first (just an idea).:rolleyes:
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: mrmike on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 02:00:50 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by summerfun
As Tivo is $1,000 up front and $12.95 per month, I'm pretty happy with the $6.95.

Actually, it's $800 (with the $200 credit they're currently offering), and $5/month (or free if you have the uber package of channels).  Just to be accurate.

-MM
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: MDR on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 03:54:07 PM
Finally got back to see how the SA8000 is doing out there.

Iwas getting confused at first, reading the threads and thinking this isn't the same as the box I got.

Mine is one of those without the Firewire. So we do have more than 1 model floating around out there.

I also saw the problem with the unit forgetting the size settings occasionally but haven't really seen a pattern to it.

I've also seen the hiccup with the momentary freeze of the video. I think it's related to the disk buffering and changing channels.
My WINTV PVR shows this same characteristic. TheWINTV also has the time difference between the display on the monitor and the TV. One signal is a direct feed and the other is delayed thru the hard drive.

Over quite satisfied so far. But might as well start beating the dead horse and complain about the anemic IPG for $6.95. Be sure you add a fudge factor to your recording times if there's a chance it's going to run over scheduled times (Packer Games for example).

Let's keep playing and informing the group on all the pros and cons of our new toy! .
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: yaderhey on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 03:58:33 PM
So what do you think they mean about the DVI being reserved for future use?

Seems like using it to connect to a receiver would be a good use of a DVI cable, and the technology was in place with the old converter.

I called TWC about this.  Of course, they had no idea what I was talking about, but said a tech support person would get back to me (no response as of yet).
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: gb4fan92 on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 04:59:48 PM
Well today I got my HD Channels back (INHD & HDNET) but lost all the free pay channels I was getting (HBO, Showtime,ect). I did manage to tape 2 movies last nite. Looks good so far but I haven't watch them both yet.

ADVICE!!  When you first get your DVR record as many pay channel movies as you can. They will be free for one day only!!
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Paul S. on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 07:37:21 PM
I find the lack of DVI very sucky. Is there a componant to DVI cable in existence?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: louisd13 on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 07:58:20 PM
Does anybody know how to switch between SD and HD modes on the 8000HD.  I tried what the manual said (boot up and hit info and guide when time shows on box, but my HD DVR always seems to default to SD instead of HD.
Title: Color Problems
Post by: djenders on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 08:27:54 PM
:bang:

Anyone have problems with color with the 8000 unit? My DVDs look fine as does standard cable plugged directly into my Mitsu. I tried recalibration but everything seems pink, yellows are tan/pink, and it looks like crap!

Could it be the unit? Anyone else have problems? Also why do the analog channels look like such crap!

Dennis
Title: Re: Color Problems
Post by: gb4fan92 on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 08:39:46 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by djenders
:bang:

Anyone have problems with color with the 8000 unit?  Also why do the analog channels look like such crap!

 

I changed my output to 1080i only and my color and analog channels improved dramatically.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: louisd13 on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 09:09:41 PM
My box always defaults to sd outputs when I boot up the box (front says "sd" when it starts up on the front of the box) it tries to output HD for a second (the passport loading screen looks fine for a second, then it switches to sd and the picture goes black and white.  It seems to be trying hd and then it just jumps to sd and I cant get into the screen to change it back to hd.  HELP!!!  anybody have any clues as to why my box defaults to sd?  Of course after an hour with tech support I am just an hour older and have no answers!!   If anybody has ANY suggestions I would be eternally gratefull!
Title: Welcome to HD DVR hell in Kenosha!
Post by: gparris on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 09:32:52 PM
Your bad news in my good news in the fact it JUST ISN'T ME!!!

Sorry, but my box says Sd then goes black and white, just like  yours...I wish TWC would have got the boxes held for the Kenosha area and THEN released them AFTER the bugs came out in our area.

This totally SUCKS!!!:mad:

I will let everyone know what happens if and when they fix it.

Nice that only Kenosha is affected...maybe TWC can figure out what it gave us in HD DVR boxes or if they are doing something different in Kenosha as the rest of the area seems to be doing fine...:(

The button to do the setting do NOT work, either!!!:bang:

TWC: are you just giving us Kenoshans the bad boxes?
Did Kenosha offend you or something?

Stay er, "tuned" (it will be in black and white, though!):(
Title: Re: Welcome to HD DVR hell in Kenosha!
Post by: Snard on Thursday Aug 12, 2004, 11:22:00 PM
(Edit on 8/14: If you are reading this thread in order, and are having this problem, skip down to RS922's post for a solution :)

QuoteOriginally posted by gparris

Nice that only Kenosha is affected...maybe TWC can figure out what it gave us in HD DVR boxes or if they are doing something different in Kenosha as the rest of the area seems to be doing fine...:(

The button to do the setting do NOT work, either!!!:bang:

TWC: are you just giving us Kenoshans the bad boxes?
Did Kenosha offend you or something?

Stay er, "tuned" (it will be in black and white, though!):( [/B]
It's not just Kenosha. I got a box tonight at the Mayfair kiosk, and it's doing the exact same thing that the rest of you are reporting (momentary bootup in HD, then switches to pinkish b&w mode, front panel button sequence doesn't work, etc.)

I also was on the phone with TWC support for about an hour, and verified and re-verified everything (are the cables plugged in right, is the time being displayed on your box, etc.) Several reboots later, with the same results, and they scheduled a visit for NEXT TUESDAY.

Never mind that my wife is royally pissed about possibly missing the Olympic opening ceremonies in HD tomorrow night. (and after I did the big sell job on the extra $8/mo to get the HD DVR). I'm torn between just exchanging this back for a Pioneer box that I know works, vs. swapping for another SA 8000HD (since I don't want to go the entire weekend without HD)

If anyone out there knows of the magic fix for this, please post here, or send a pointer. I can't believe that all of us got defective boxes. Is there something that makes this box incompatible with our TV's? See the Toshiba set model in my signature for more info on my setup.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: 4runnergusto on Friday Aug 13, 2004, 01:21:13 AM
Just so you know, don't be upset when you don't see the opening in HD. I believe all the HD content of the olympics is delayed by 24 hours, and frankly, I have this strange feeling that TWC will just simulcast everying from the analog feed. I do hope I am wrong, but by looking at the digital cable guide, that is how it would appear. Again, I do hope I am wrong...

Cheers,
Mark
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: 4runnergusto on Friday Aug 13, 2004, 01:39:17 AM
I also meant to make a comment regarding SD. I switched my output so that everything is 1080i, and I must say that the analog channels look much better than they did on my old pioneer box. Still grainy, but not nearly as bad. The only real problem I have had is that I was trying out the PIP, had a HD picture on the main, and analog as the PIP, and my TV didn't like it, nor did the DVR. I actually had to reboot the DVR, because it was hiccuping so bad. But it has been fine since. My other problem is that I wish it had 3 or 4 tuners, there is so much stuff on this weekend that I would like to record, I had to make choices. What a problem, eh?

cheers,
Mark
Title: Re: Re: Welcome to HD DVR hell in Kenosha!
Post by: gparris on Friday Aug 13, 2004, 07:05:18 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by Snard
It's not just Kenosha. I got a box tonight at the Mayfair kiosk, and it's doing the exact same thing that the rest of you are reporting (momentary bootup in HD, then switches to pinkish b&w mode, front panel button sequence doesn't work, etc.)

I also was on the phone with TWC support for about an hour, and verified and re-verified everything (are the cables plugged in right, is the time being displayed on your box, etc.) Several reboots later, with the same results, and they scheduled a visit for NEXT TUESDAY.

Never mind that my wife is royally pissed about possibly missing the Olympic opening ceremonies in HD tomorrow night. (and after I did the big sell job on the extra $8/mo to get the HD DVR). I'm torn between just exchanging this back for a Pioneer box that I know works, vs. swapping for another SA 8000HD (since I don't want to go the entire weekend without HD)

If anyone out there knows of the magic fix for this, please post here, or send a pointer. I can't believe that all of us got defective boxes. Is there something that makes this box incompatible with our TV's? See the Toshiba set model in my signature for more info on my setup.

Welcome to wonderful of TWC junk boxes!

One interesting tidbit of comments is that as I was being supported by M.H. of TWC Support we spoke about the delay and all the testing.  
She indicated that they had tested this in Kenosha and it worked.   Yeah, right!
She had never heard of the problem before, but maybe that would explain why the call volume shot through the roof............
Looks like they did minimal testing, or they would have seen this problem.   As I see others around SE Wisconsin having the same problem, it amazes me that they didn't have this occur in the test environment.    

They need to look no further than the fact that the software on the unit was modified by TWC because when you do the  pressing the Guide and Info buttons as described in the manual by Scientific Atlanta, it didn't work any longer.  
 
TWC: When you mess with the firmware/software and you didn't write it in the first place, you are are going to screw things up.:mad:

Snard: They don't know what to do or it would have been fixed already...maybe by Tuesday (like we were supposed to have them by "first quarter"). Get a Pioneer box and be done with it, for now...I am, unless my "fix" actually occurs next week, too!:rolleyes:
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Friday Aug 13, 2004, 07:51:41 AM
in case you guys were wondering how much room some of the local HD programming really takes up, check out this link (http://www.milwaukeehdtv.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3858) on the front page. It'll give you a good idea how much HD you can expect to record from the local HD channels. Sorry, I should have titled the subject a little better, but it was very late last night, err.. I mean this morning.. :p
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Friday Aug 13, 2004, 08:11:00 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by 4runnergusto
Just so you know, don't be upset when you don't see the opening in HD. I believe all the HD content of the olympics is delayed by 24 hours, and frankly, I have this strange feeling that TWC will just simulcast everying from the analog feed. I do hope I am wrong, but by looking at the digital cable guide, that is how it would appear. Again, I do hope I am wrong...

Cheers,
Mark
There is already another forum talking about this, but since you brought it up here, I will answer you here.

NBC is broadcasting the opening ceremonies with a 1 hour delay on HD. they will repeat it on the HD channel all night. The NBC HD programming is going to be a different program than the analog program. They are going to have 8 hours of programming and run it in a loop to have HD Olympics 24 hours a day.

You can go to http://www.nbcolympics.com to see the schedule.

TMJ 4 is going to send that loop out on their HD channel. TWC has it messed up on their menu guide. I have talked to the manager of TMJ 4 and he is working on getting that fixed with TWC.
Title: HD DVR SD/HD Mode
Post by: RS922 on Friday Aug 13, 2004, 08:42:22 AM
As some have noticed, the 8000 HD has both HD and SD modes.  Unfortunately, some boxes went out to customers in SD mode.  To change back to HD mode, while settop powered on, press "channel up" button and hold for moment, then press "volume -" .  After pressing "volume -" release both buttons.
This will toggle the mode back and forth.  

When in SD mode, the Y/V connector on the back becomes a composite video out, allowing the user to record to a VCR or DVD recorder.  The rf out is also active while on this mode.  The box will only work in one mode at a time.

I have lurked on the forum for a while and have learned much from everyone.   I have been testing the HD with TW for a while and look forward to reading the comments and feedback from others.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Friday Aug 13, 2004, 08:48:58 AM
great info!!

guess I can send out a couple people to get one of these to hook up to their analog TVs.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: louisd13 on Friday Aug 13, 2004, 10:05:52 AM
gparris or snard -  Can either of you test this fix out?  I won't be able to try until about 8:00 tonight and am VERY curious (and maybe even a little bit hopeful)  to see if this works.  Maybe it'll save me a trip.  Wouldn't you think that if this does work that they might have given these instructions to the Customer service reps (at least the tech support guys should have known).  Well here's to hoping this works!!
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: swells6 on Friday Aug 13, 2004, 01:30:26 PM
I cannot get regular SD programs to come in clearly off the 8000HD DVR.  The HD ones are fine.

The old HD box used to send an SD signal out the coax to a different video input.  This one seems to be dead.

It says you can program it but doesn't say how.

Any ideas?
Title: 8000 HD
Post by: swells6 on Friday Aug 13, 2004, 01:32:23 PM
I cannot get regular SD programs to come in clearly off the 8000HD DVR.  The HD ones are fine.

The old HD box used to send an SD signal out the coax to a different video input.  This one seems to be dead.

It says you can program it but doesn't say how.

Any ideas?
Title: Re: 8000 HD
Post by: jamisonweber on Friday Aug 13, 2004, 02:04:43 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by swells6

The old HD box used to send an SD signal out the coax to a different video input.  This one seems to be dead.

It says you can program it but doesn't say how.

Any ideas?

TWC has all other A/V out puts disabled.

I sent TWC an email asking when all the video and audio ports on the HD DVR be enabled.

There response was as follows:
The DVI and S Video ports are not yet enabled or supported :bang: . I'm sorry, but we don't yet have a estimated date when they will be.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please contact us.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: louisd13 on Friday Aug 13, 2004, 06:39:05 PM
Houston we have lift-off!!!  Bless you RS922!!  If you do this simple operation it'll switch between sd and hd seamlessly!  and for those of you who want to pipe it to another tv, just hook up to the Coax/RF out on the back and when you aren't using the HDTV just switch to SD mode and the RF cable out is functional.  Not the most high tech solution, but not too shabby.  In cased you missed it thanks again to RS922 this is how to switch  between sd and HD:

while settop powered on, press "channel up" button and hold for moment, then press "volume -" . After pressing "volume -" release both buttons.
This will toggle the mode back and forth.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Snard on Friday Aug 13, 2004, 07:40:57 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by louisd13
gparris or snard -  Can either of you test this fix out?  I won't be able to try until about 8:00 tonight and am VERY curious (and maybe even a little bit hopeful)  to see if this works.  Maybe it'll save me a trip.  Wouldn't you think that if this does work that they might have given these instructions to the Customer service reps (at least the tech support guys should have known).  Well here's to hoping this works!!
Quick confirmation here - it worked for me too. My box is now happily recording the 2002 Winter Olympics! (what the heck, NBC?!? I thought this was 2004!)
Title: Thanks ---- Tomorrow I will try AGAIN
Post by: gparris on Friday Aug 13, 2004, 10:38:23 PM
I will try the first HT setup that is easier to undo-AGAIN.

Right now, I am going to be cautiously optimistic, that's about all.

It was not right for TWC to have these in our hands without proper documentation and the boxes not set up right...not right at all.:mad:

Thanks for the information. I really want to do one HD DVR box per HDTV  set and thats all....

I think what with the NEW service charge of $6.95 PER BOX instead of the original $5 per box for the SD model, it darn better work and work great! :D

I will keep you posted....this issue has to be resolved.:(
Title: Watching and recording the Olympics
Post by: Snard on Saturday Aug 14, 2004, 04:43:13 AM
Okay, last night we were watching & recording the Olympic opening ceremonies with the new box. Throughout the show I was getting occasional pixelation and stuttering. Was this part of the broadcast, or was it the box? It seemed if I "paused" for a bit & then watched with a minute or so delay, that the stuttering was a bit less (big deal not seeing it "live" since the entire show was prerecorded anyway.) It will be interesting to go back and re-watch the show to see if those glitches are in the recording as well.

I am going to put the box through its paces this week; last night when I was setting it up, I went to the program guide, selected the opening ceremonies, hit the Record button, then picked "Record entire series". I hope the guide has been fixed! (I also need to check whether it added the other channels besides NBC). I know the box can't hold all that info for long, but it will be nice to be able to pick & choose the events we want to watch. The only problem with this is that it's going to be recording some program almost all the time, and that may mean more glitches. I will halt the recording while we are watching "live" and see if that helps.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Saturday Aug 14, 2004, 07:41:11 AM
All I can offer is that it wasn't in the OTA broadcast.. played on my Tivo without a problem. It was either TWC's feed or your box.
Title: absolutely brilliant!
Post by: The Law on Saturday Aug 14, 2004, 10:49:00 AM
I am reporting no issues whatsoever. HD, SD all look good -recording is a snap with only the occassional audio dropout (really - just a slight blip).  Someone once posted the joy of watching programming on their own terms - not tied to the network's schedule.  I was a bit skeptical of that (being used to being a slave to their schedules my entire life), however, in the 3 days that I've had this - I feel liberated.

The rewinding, pausing, recording of my beloved soccer games - the fact I don't have to watch reality (non-sports, that is) tv anymore.....

This is well, worth the price of admission.  I also guess I'm one of the lucky one's with no issues, etc.

My one question - has someone figured out how to check to see how much "time" is left to record - i.e. - how to know if it's going to get filled up - or if sthg is going to be deleted.

cheers
Title: Space Left on HD
Post by: RemoreKnight on Saturday Aug 14, 2004, 06:01:00 PM
Found on another forum(works on mine):

Press the + (Select) and EXIT buttons on the front until the unit chimes (about 3-5 seconds). The front panel display will then show "diag" for a few seconds. You can then tune to channel 611 and access all the diagnostic information. The unit will stay in diag mode until you press the power button, etc., AND you can leave the diagnostic mode on and simply move it to the background by changing back to the channel you were on before pressing 611 (Use the LAST button on the remote to toggle back and forth). Useful if you are trying monitor how much space you are freeing up by deletion, or using up during a recording.

Thanks for sharing. If you go to the next to last menu item, DVR AVFS, after pressing 611 in diagnostic mode, it will give you Audio Visual USED and FREE SPACE to better manage your hard drive consumption. This is great stuff! Happy monitoring!

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark%2C8409126
Title: Well, what do you know....
Post by: gparris on Saturday Aug 14, 2004, 07:09:42 PM
After taking time to look at what snard and louisd13 tried, it worked for me.
Actually, the assistant at TWC tried to ask for me to do that almost as if it  was what they had read in our forum to do!

I said I did do that already, that it had worked, but I lost INHD and HDNET channels on the HD-DVR and not the HD box downstairs, which I had not yet changed out, so the box itself has to be "hit" by the cable operator to force the programming to come up.

First thing:  I left the power off on the second one to force it into HD operation as leaving the power on,  it went back to SD mode (black and white) even doing the channel-up-and-hold-then-hit-the-volume-down-and-release thing. So try what works for you.
VERY Different from the upstairs box and VERY confusing.

Second thing:  To change the TV type (aspect ratio of screen), the buttons on the box did not work as the instructions said these would, so even when I tried to do it,  the only message that came up was "push cbl button" and no setup information came up at all.
 So I thought: What?  No cable button, unless they meant power button for the cable box, and that didn't do anything at all.

Confusing and frustrating,again.

SO the solution was to go to the remote control and hit the
"Settings" button and I could select the 16:9 widescreen set with 4:3 stretch,  as well as selecting one of the HD channels to go on with power start, checking, too, for 1080i output.
Then it all seemed to work without using the stretch button for 480i channels, except for the 1080i ones that are 4:3 shows my Mitsubishi sets cannot stretch these for me.

NOTE: She asked me the number on the back of the box (great to write it down first BEFORE you install it in the HT Cabinent, folks!) so she could "hit" the box for programming.
Fortunately, it was the easier HT cabinent upstairs and later, about an hour or so later, I got a call back from a really nice person named Lori asked if it finally came on after she gave me time to setup the second HD-DVR box in the main HT room.

So I have colour, all my channels back and so far, same functionality as before, only with HD channels. I haven't tried PIP much yet, but I got an analogue channel in the window on my HD channel playing, so I guess it works.

NOTE: I had to write down my favourite recordings and input them back into the DVRs, but it wasn't too bad.
Most are in reruns for summer, anyway. Just remember that if you had a SD DVR before you unplug and switch out boxes.

Great service, TWC, your CSRs finally came to my aid.
:)

(Just have our forum re-write your users manual, okay?);)
Title: Reminders for shows?
Post by: brewtownska on Monday Aug 16, 2004, 03:21:57 PM
For those of you who have the TWC SA HD-DVR, anybody notice if we're still able to set up REMINDERS for shows?  On the non-DVR boxes, you can go through the guide and hit select on a show in the future, and it'll ask if you want to set up a reminder.  Say it was Noon, I'd go ahead and look to see what movies/shows were on that evening that I was interested in watching, then set up reminders for them.  Granted, now I could really RECORD all of them, but in many cases I don't want to do that...I just want a reminder to pop-up on the screen at the start time so I can switch over to watch it.  From what I've seen so far, the HD-DVR only allows me to RECORD the show, no reminder.  Am I missing something, or is this just how the new boxes are set up?

Mike
Title: Re: Reminders for shows?
Post by: mhz40 on Monday Aug 16, 2004, 03:44:28 PM
Reminders are gone.  The only thing you can do is set it up to record.
I think the drives are 160gig, with 10 gig unavailable for the OS and probably the 1 hour playback buffer.  This leaves 150 gig for recording, or at least 18.96 hours of storage @19.2 mb/s.  Most content runs at a rate less than 19.2, so an exact number in every case tough to figure...
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Monday Aug 16, 2004, 07:07:22 PM
Is there any way to change the sidebar from "grey" back to "black" like the Pioneer HD box had?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: RS922 on Monday Aug 16, 2004, 08:02:04 PM
Not any way at this time.  I would like to see the vendor add an option in settings to make it black or gray.  Time will tell if this happens.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: cglaser on Monday Aug 16, 2004, 08:17:09 PM
I too, am experiencing very annoyng sound stutters and freezes.  I would say, on average I get 5 - 10 audio stutters/freezes per minute...each lasting about one half second.  If I watch my audio receiver I see it switch from digital to analog during each of these freezes/stutters...it was so bad during the packer game I just forced my receiver to use analog only, and the problem became less severe, but I was still getting audio dropouts

Any idea what may be causing thix?  This never occured with the old TWC box.  I'd hate to have to use analog-onlysound with this thing.  It is not acceptable as is with digital audio.

My receiver is somewhat old, a Yamaha HTR-5250 (built in DTS/5.1/Dolby decoding).
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Monday Aug 16, 2004, 09:34:29 PM
if dropouts are happening on analog only then it is definitely a problem with the box, "possibly" compounded with compatibility issues with your receiver over a digital line.

I don't know if the TWC box records both buffers at the same time.. if it does, try to set the other buffer to an SD digital show, or better yet a digital music choice channel. I know my HD Tivo is strained when recording two streams at once.

Not a perfect solution if it works, but you can at least try, provided you can directly control what is on both buffers. the first step is to try to get the dropouts to go away on analog, then work on getting them gone on digital.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: cglaser on Monday Aug 16, 2004, 10:32:31 PM
It's happening on both...analog and digital audio.  However, it only seems to occur when I'm tuned to a HD channel.  It seems to be less severe on the analog though.  The picture will usually stutter and/or pixilate during these drops outs as well.  I'm going to get some new cables later this week too, as my current ones are a bit old and one is very very long (about 25') so I wonder too if it may be a signal issue.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Paul S. on Tuesday Aug 17, 2004, 05:32:06 AM
TWC called me last night to come get mine. I'm gonna leave it until they activate the DVI, unless anyone can tell me if someone makes a componant to DVI cable.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mike Sura on Tuesday Aug 17, 2004, 06:38:44 AM
ATI makes an adapter. Never used one. $30

http://buy.ati.com/shopati/product.asp?category=AA&part%5Fno=HDTV+DVI%2DI+US&find%5Fcategory=AA&find%5Fdescription=Accessories&find%5Fpart%5Fdesc=&country=USA
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Snard on Tuesday Aug 17, 2004, 08:21:17 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by Mike Sura
ATI makes an adapter. Never used one. $30

http://buy.ati.com/shopati/product.asp?category=AA&part%5Fno=HDTV+DVI%2DI+US&find%5Fcategory=AA&find%5Fdescription=Accessories&find%5Fpart%5Fdesc=&country=USA
That is actually a DVI to component out adaptor, and from what I have heard, it only works with certain ATI video cards.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Tuesday Aug 17, 2004, 10:02:31 AM
ATI's adapter will not work. First, it is DVI-D to component, not DVI-I which the TWC (and all CE ports) are. Second, it is not a generic connector. It works with drivers installed on the computer to massage the signal for output over the component lines (ie 1080i, 720p, 540p, 480p, different frequencies, etc).

Anyway, that adapter WILL NOT work with anything other than ATI cards (and there is even more than one adapter depending on which Radeon you have).

ATI geek for 4 years now.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Paul S. on Tuesday Aug 17, 2004, 03:28:03 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by borghe
ATI's adapter will not work. First, it is DVI-D to component, not DVI-I which the TWC (and all CE ports) are. Second, it is not a generic connector. It works with drivers installed on the computer to massage the signal for output over the component lines (ie 1080i, 720p, 540p, 480p, different frequencies, etc).

Anyway, that adapter WILL NOT work with anything other than ATI cards (and there is even more than one adapter depending on which Radeon you have).

ATI geek for 4 years now.

Son of a! I just can't win. :bang:
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Tuesday Aug 17, 2004, 03:50:54 PM
I actually know how you DVI guys feel.. I was going to let my buddy use my HDMI-DVI convertor only to now find out that his DVI port isn't activated (he has HDMI on his TV)....

I can understand not including firewire, but to only have component active on these boxes??????

hmm....
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: mhz40 on Tuesday Aug 17, 2004, 05:47:51 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by borghe
I actually know how you DVI guys feel.. I was going to let my buddy use my HDMI-DVI convertor only to now find out that his DVI port isn't activated (he has HDMI on his TV)....

I can understand not including firewire, but to only have component active on these boxes??????

hmm....
It shouldn't be a huge surprise...I brought this up on my inital post on the DVR back on March 30th.
I can see if someone calibrated their set to the port, but in general I believe it is a very small price to pay for the DVR functionality.  
IMO, DVI is overrated, especially in it's current state on the Pioneer platform... too many format shifts during IPG browsing etc...
Picture quality wise, I see no difference on my Sammy.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Tuesday Aug 17, 2004, 09:50:17 PM
admittedly I have followed very little on the SA DVR.. for obvious reasons.

as for the samll price to pay, hmm.. I suppose, unless you consider the Tivo has it activated from the get go. and what about s-video and composite video being disabled..

not meaning to sound like a jerk, it just seems like pretty basic stuff that is disabled, and without any seemingly good reason.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Paul S. on Wednesday Aug 18, 2004, 05:20:32 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by borghe

not meaning to sound like a jerk, it just seems like pretty basic stuff that is disabled, and without any seemingly good reason.

To me, it's like buying an '04 Cobra with a 4 banger in it.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mrtanner on Wednesday Aug 18, 2004, 10:09:04 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by borghe
...and what about s-video and composite video being disabled..

not meaning to sound like a jerk, it just seems like pretty basic stuff that is disabled, and without any seemingly good reason.

What is the size of the hard drive in the SD DVR?  If it is smaller than the the 160GB in the HD, TWC may have disabled the standard video outputs to prevent everyone who has an SD set with a DVR from requesting the more expensive HD DVR that costs TWC more money, but not the customer.  

Just a thought.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Snard on Thursday Aug 19, 2004, 04:33:55 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by Mrtanner
What is the size of the hard drive in the SD DVR?  If it is smaller than the the 160GB in the HD, TWC may have disabled the standard video outputs to prevent everyone who has an SD set with a DVR from requesting the more expensive HD DVR that costs TWC more money, but not the customer.  

Just a thought.
That's a mostly valid point - except that some of us already experienced the "can't get out of SD mode" problem... so an enterprising SD owner who wants the extra recording capacity could certainly do this.

Also, there is a couple $ per month difference, as I recall (unless that's just a special going on right now - the SD DVR is $5/mo extra, while the HD is $6.95/mo)

But honestly ... I can't see the big deal with needing composite or S-video out on this box. I traded in my old converter for a HD DVR because I want the better recording & viewing quality. Are people really going to use one of these to drive a low-res device?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Thursday Aug 19, 2004, 09:21:12 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by Mrtanner
What is the size of the hard drive in the SD DVR?  
The SD DVR has an 80GB drive and the HD DVR has a 160GB drive.

The SD DVR will give you 40 hours of SD recording.

The HD DVR will give you 80 hours of SD recording or 20 hours of HD recording.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Friday Aug 20, 2004, 09:58:02 AM
I imagine it was done for those reasons.. I posted that back on one of the first pages.

TWC has known for a while now that many SD customers were picking up HD boxes and running them on their SD TVs. Customers without any HD sets in their house yet HD boxes. I imagine TWC wanted to prevent that from happening while the HD DVR would be in such high demand. In the long run it certainly comes down to money (the more HD boxes that go out the more TWC has to buy). TWC would much rather only see 15K boxes go out than 40K after enterprising individuals get around to it.. That's $30M extra TWC would be out with my numbers.. ($48M total).

Still, it leaves some people out in the cold. And there is NO reason for DVI to be deactivated. None whatsoever. Even if it is tech support related they should have left the box to beta longer before releasing it without DVI. It's like selling a six speed sports car and telling the buyer "You can't use sixth gear. It will be activated later on."
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: mhz40 on Friday Aug 20, 2004, 04:33:35 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by borghe [clip]
And there is NO reason for DVI to be deactivated. None whatsoever. Even if it is tech support related they should have left the box to beta longer before releasing it without DVI. It's like selling a six speed sports car and telling the buyer "You can't use sixth gear. It will be activated later on." [/clip]
Oh p l e a s e.  It's more like selling a sports car without a spare tire.
Very few CE gear even has DVI.  It's over rated. On the set top that does support it, DVI displays flicker every time a channel change produces another video format or the IPG is used.  For DVD, I can see, but it's simply not the connection you want on a device constantly changing video formats.  Newer gear is shipping with DHMI, leaping over DVI.
If I were sitting here telling the group everything is set except the DVI port (wich has absolutely no availability date) activation and delays will push into the middle of next year, you would hunt me down and shoot me.
It's not deactivated... it's not supported in the current firmware.  Don't let it hold you up from enjoying HD-DVR.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Paul S. on Friday Aug 20, 2004, 10:43:18 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by mhz40

It's not deactivated... it's not supported in the current firmware.  Don't let it hold you up from enjoying HD-DVR.

BS. My set is calibrated (HD) to the DVI port. It will hold me up :mad:
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: mhz40 on Saturday Aug 21, 2004, 08:43:05 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by Paul S.
BS. My set is calibrated (HD) to the DVI port. It will hold me up :mad:
Yeah, I saw your earlier post.  That's too bad.  I'd be bummed too.
If I were you (and obviously I'm not!), I would run two set tops for a month (DVR parallel on a component input) just to see the difference it makes and make a decision from those results.  I ran both types of feeds into my Sammy and found DVI to be a pain --- and picture wise, virtually no difference in quality, with the added benefit of a better 'surfing' environment.
I know of no timetable to activate DVI on the DVR's, but that does not mean it's not on the roadmap.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: agrundman on Saturday Aug 21, 2004, 09:47:02 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by cglaser
It's happening on both...analog and digital audio.  However, it only seems to occur when I'm tuned to a HD channel.  It seems to be less severe on the analog though.  The picture will usually stutter and/or pixilate during these drops outs as well.  I'm going to get some new cables later this week too, as my current ones are a bit old and one is very very long (about 25') so I wonder too if it may be a signal issue.

I too am having the audio dropouts.  It is very annoying with the dolby digital output.  The audio dropouts cause you to miss what is being said on a program.  The problem does occur on both the analog and digital outputs.  I ended up just listening to the analog through the TV as the interruption wasn't as severe.

I certainly hope they get a fix for this audio problem.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: mhz40 on Saturday Aug 21, 2004, 10:37:09 AM
This was a chronic problem on the SPD/IF (coax audio out) during my testing, but has gotten a little better with each code revision.  The lab could not duplicate the problem at the time.
Based on my feedback from here and other sources, the problem is now known to be wider spread than just one tester and the hunt for a resolution is on.
I also experience freezing/tiling on HD & SD and lip sync problems on HD sometimes... then the next day (or days) everything is perfect.
Very weird.
New code is expected to be downloaded next week.  It will be done in the early morning hours and should not affect scheduled recordings.  I don't know if the new code addresses the above issues... I hope to get some free time to look into it next week.
Hang in there.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: gb4fan92 on Saturday Aug 21, 2004, 10:43:38 AM
Since I've had my HD-DVR box I have received 3 calls from TWC. The first one was to tell me that the HD-DVR's were in and I could come pick mine up ("Sorry I already picked mine up 2 days ago!"). The next 2 were just follow up calls to see how I liked the box. The first time I didn't have anything to say as I  told her that I'm  still  testing out all the features. The last time I got a call I had a question abour why is my picture keep freezing for a half a second every once in a while.The gal on the phone said the same thing had happened to her but went away after she disconnected the cable from the box and reconnected it making sure the connection was tight. So I gave it a try, first cleaning the end of the cable and then reconnecting it to the box. I went the extra step to tighten it with a wrench. WA LA!! The problem was solved.  :bow: My hats off to this customer service rep for some good basic advice.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Saturday Aug 21, 2004, 12:33:44 PM
I have been getting a lot of picture freeze and pixilation. A lot more than on the old HD box. Each just for a brief second. Not a big deal and does not make we want to return the box. I am in love with the HD DVR, but I sure hope new software updates will fix some of these issues. The tech was out and signal strength is very very good.
Title: Updates....
Post by: gparris on Saturday Aug 21, 2004, 01:45:40 PM
The new code for updates from TWC for the HD DVR:

Does this mean I leave my box on for the updates ???

OR

Turn if off ?

Sure, this may sound like a stupid question, but I want to know for sure.
I usually leave my box on, especially now, since I had so much fun with its initial start-up:bang:

(I can hardly wait for the time I have to reboot it-ouch!):rolleyes:

SO what do I (we) do for updates?

Leave box on (green LED lights up for power) or OFF?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: mhz40 on Saturday Aug 21, 2004, 02:02:41 PM
The state of the set top does not matter (on/off).  The code update is automatic and controlled by TW technicians.  There are different ways code can be updated, but I think the method they will use is the type that waits for the set top to stop recording.  If you happen to be up at 2 or 3 am and you see weird things, like 'flash' or '-- --' on the display, do not unplug it... just leave it alone and wait the 20-30 minutes for the process to complete.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: agrundman on Saturday Aug 21, 2004, 02:09:34 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by mhz40
This was a chronic problem on the SPD/IF (coax audio out) during my testing, but has gotten a little better with each code revision.  The lab could not duplicate the problem at the time.
Based on my feedback from here and other sources, the problem is now known to be wider spread than just one tester and the hunt for a resolution is on.
I also experience freezing/tiling on HD & SD and lip sync problems on HD sometimes... then the next day (or days) everything is perfect.
Very weird.
New code is expected to be downloaded next week.  It will be done in the early morning hours and should not affect scheduled recordings.  I don't know if the new code addresses the above issues... I hope to get some free time to look into it next week.
Hang in there.

Does the problem affect optical audio output?  I currently have coax audio out, but would certainly be willing to go pick up an optical audio cable if the problem goes away.
Title: Thank you!
Post by: gparris on Saturday Aug 21, 2004, 02:26:45 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by mhz40
The state of the set top does not matter (on/off).  The code update is automatic and controlled by TW technicians.  There are different ways code can be updated, but I think the method they will use is the type that waits for the set top to stop recording.  If you happen to be up at 2 or 3 am and you see weird things, like 'flash' or '-- --' on the display, do not unplug it... just leave it alone and wait the 20-30 minutes for the process to complete.

Thanks a lot, mhz40. I didn't want to do the SD to HD push thing again (if it resets with rebooting) unless I have to.

I Hope the updates work well for all of us.

My audio problems are different from before when I had the SD DVR box, though I still use the coax digital audio out since I have them from before when we had no choice but to use them with the older boxes. I use Monster Coaxial Digital cables on both, but I  now have two extra ones, now, that I have only two cable boxes.;)
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: MDR on Wednesday Aug 25, 2004, 05:36:27 PM
just a couple of links about the dvr.

take with a grain of salt, what you see might not be what you have. i found some good information.

Passport Echo:

http://www.pioneerbroadband.com/passportecho/passportechotour.asp (//http://)

ScientificAtlanta
http://www.scientificatlanta.com/customers/Source/4004400.pdf (//http://)

has the software update been done yet? would like to know if it's safe to schedule any overnight recording.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: mhz40 on Wednesday Aug 25, 2004, 05:41:03 PM
Firmware is updated.  You should see a TV Guide logo in the program guide if you set top processed the update.  Channel tuning is also now quicker to respond--better for channel "surfing", along with faster responses to all of the other IR functions (Guide/List etc...).
You never needed to not schedule recordings; like the DVR in functions day-to-day for your TV watching, the update program works around your schedule.

MHz40
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Thursday Aug 26, 2004, 07:58:21 AM
Has anyone noticed an even more grainy picture on the analog channels and tiling/blocking on the digital ones with this HD DVR?  We got it about a week or so ago and have noticed these problems with it. A TW Tech came out and measured the levels at the TV which were (according to the sheet)
02: +13.6;  60: +5;  79: +1.6;  116: -3.4

He said these were "OK" but was going to have their network guys look into it which apparently has not happened or atleast has not improved anything.  Some of the analog channels look worse than an antenna. The tech even brought in his portable 13" TV and could see have grainy it was on it.  Is there something more we can do to improve this terrible picture?

Thanks
Title: You're not alone...
Post by: gparris on Thursday Aug 26, 2004, 12:36:40 PM
Tiling, digital glitches, blocking and a slightly more awful analogue channel picture is what is happening, I did have a tech out already with amp addition and such.

Since we cannot use the S-Video out like the SD DVR on the HD DVR (as I  understand it), the component out does not help with the grainy pictures, only makes it worse. :(

The solution might be to rent another SD DVR box (shouldn't have returned it) and record from that, re-using my cables and still-set amp and TV inputs from a week or so ago and use that for SD channels and  recording, but that seems a little backwards.:eek:

Anyway, you're not alone!

I have more tiling and pixelation than I ever had with my Pioneer 3510HD box.

Paul S: Keep your box!
Figure out another way to record HD.:(
Title: Re: You're not alone...
Post by: Paul S. on Thursday Aug 26, 2004, 03:45:30 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by gparris
Paul S: Keep your box!
Figure out another way to record HD.:(

I figure setting up a video camera infont of the set during HD stuff will suffice.
Title: Sub static Low volumes
Post by: Drummerboy on Thursday Aug 26, 2004, 04:49:53 PM
I am getting a constant static sound coming out of my sub when using the 8000HD.  I am currently using the coax digital to my receiver.  The static sound is always at the same volume regardless of of what the master volume is set on my receiver.  It may be possible that the static is coming out of all the channels but is most noticable from the sub.  The static will occasionally stop while changing channels.
Anyone else getting this?
I am very sure that this did not occur with the 3100HD I used to have.
I have thought about trying the optical output but don't have the ambition to switch cables around.:rolleyes:
Title: No stretch zoom or letterbox
Post by: gb4fan92 on Monday Aug 30, 2004, 08:16:05 AM
Has anyone else noticed that the stretch zoom or letterbox switching isn't working. I first noticed it yesterday. I tried rebooting the DVR but it didn't help. This is only a problem for me when watching the HD digital channels. Anyone have a solution? Could this of happened with the last upgrade??
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: The Law on Monday Aug 30, 2004, 11:40:15 PM
QuoteHas anyone else noticed that the stretch zoom or letterbox switching isn't working.

Not me.  Absolutely no issues whatsover.  My set did reboot after doing a PIP and holding the scroll button down for several minutes to see how fast I could scroll and if I could time the realease to get the channel I wanted...hehe....I nailed it once - it goes quite fast once it gets going.

Other than that....I must be very lucky - since mine works works wonderfully well.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Tuesday Aug 31, 2004, 07:25:33 AM
Besides the tiling and blocking and extreme grainyness on the analog channels I have also heard sound drop outs on the digital channels.  The tech that came out was nice but he said it is basically beyond him and so far have not heard anything back from TW about getting this resolved.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Acrophet on Tuesday Aug 31, 2004, 08:18:06 PM
Is there an ETA on when the DVI output will be working on the SA 8000HD?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Wednesday Sep 01, 2004, 07:31:44 AM
Does the firewire port on it work?  I beleive my Mits RPTV has a firewire port that I could possibly use.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Drummerboy on Wednesday Sep 01, 2004, 11:31:13 AM
You would not want to use the firewire port to connect to a monitor.  The primary purpose is for backing up recordings to another recording device (HD-VCR, computer, etc).  I guess the guide does not work through the firewire anyway for other carriers that have the ports enabled.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: J2K on Wednesday Sep 01, 2004, 12:38:40 PM
I got my HD DVR about 10 days ago.  The analog channels, specifically 4,6,12,18 were noticeably worse than with the Pioneer HD box.  I had a tech come out, he ended up rewiring the house and putting in a signal amp.  This has helped somewhat, but the analog channels still leave room for improvement.  The tech said that the channels aren't as clear due to interference with the OTA frequencies... or some BS like that, and the SA 8000HD suffered more than the Pioneer box.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Joel S on Wednesday Sep 01, 2004, 12:53:02 PM
I think the problem with watching SD on the HD DVR is that watching SD via component cable is crummy compared to S-Vid or just reg cable input.

My TV has PIP so when I watch SD via the cable line input it looks much better than anything I am able to watch with Component cables.  I really wish that we could use the cable out port, s-vid or even DVI on these.

Do any other TWC locations around the country have these active on the HD DVR's??
Title: Aspect Ratio Problem
Post by: gb4fan92 on Wednesday Sep 01, 2004, 01:49:22 PM
When I go to the settings: Aspect Ratio menu and select 16:9 tv and Stretch 4:3 it locks in on sidebar. It doesn't allow stretch or zoom.  Therefore I can't change my Aspect ratio. Is there a way to set this directly from the setbox instead of the menu? I found a manual that says to turn off the setbox, leave tv on, and press guide and info buttons at the same time. But I can't get this to work. Anyone?
Title: Re: Aspect Ratio Problem
Post by: gparris on Wednesday Sep 01, 2004, 02:13:42 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by gb4fan92
When I go to the settings: Aspect Ratio menu and select 16:9 tv and Stretch 4:3 it locks in on sidebar. It doesn't allow stretch or zoom.  Therefore I can't change my Aspect ratio. Is there a way to set this directly from the setbox instead of the menu? I found a manual that says to turn off the setbox, leave tv on, and press guide and info buttons at the same time. But I can't get this to work. Anyone?

Make sure you are not on an HD channel first of all.
Then, use the settings button on your remote control and go to
"other settings" then... make sure that it says 16:9 and stretch 4:3, then push the yellow A triangle on the remote and it works.

In my frustration, I wasn't doing this on a non-HD channel and forgot to hit the A button...try this, see if it works for you.;)
Title: Re: Re: Aspect Ratio Problem
Post by: gb4fan92 on Wednesday Sep 01, 2004, 02:40:14 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by gparris
make sure that it says 16:9 and stretch 4:3, then push the yellow A triangle on the remote and it works.

 

This worked as far as setting it in the menu. It stayed on 16:9, stretched.  However when I turned on a channel (504) it reverted back to sidebar 4:3.  :bang:   I feel like I'm halfway home now.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Wednesday Sep 01, 2004, 02:49:22 PM
You will always have a 4:3 sidebar on HD channels that are showing a 4:3 program. You cannot change that in your STB.

The sidebar is part of the program signal. It is not being generated by the STB or your TV. The sidebars on NON HD channels are being generated by the STB and/or the TV so they can be stretched out of the way.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: gb4fan92 on Wednesday Sep 01, 2004, 03:25:03 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by summerfun
You will always have a 4:3 sidebar on HD channels that are showing a 4:3 program. You cannot change that in your STB.

The sidebar is part of the program signal. It is not being generated by the STB or your TV. The sidebars on NON HD channels are being generated by the STB and/or the TV so they can be stretched out of the way.

Before Sunday I was able to stretch HD channels showing a 4:3 program. I could even do this with the Pioneer box. As it stands now I can stretch all the SD channels and all the non-HD digital channels but as soon as I turn on a HD channel it doesn't allow me to change the setting whether it is HD or not. So this is normal? :confused:
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Wednesday Sep 01, 2004, 04:35:53 PM
Thanks Drummerboy for the info on the firewire port. Too bad as was hoping that might improve the picture.  What about that RCC rule regarding that it has to have a working firewire port that was posted on here?

We already have an amp on ours and the analog channels still are terrible. Tomorrow another tech is comming out so hopefully they will have a solution as this reception sucks...
Title: Sorry...
Post by: gparris on Wednesday Sep 01, 2004, 06:25:21 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by gb4fan92
Before Sunday I was able to stretch HD channels showing a 4:3 program. I could even do this with the Pioneer box. As it stands now I can stretch all the SD channels and all the non-HD digital channels but as soon as I turn on a HD channel it doesn't allow me to change the setting whether it is HD or not. So this is normal? :confused:

I thought that is what you were thinking, then again, that has never worked for me and I think I read you or someone else's post regarding that stretching for the 4:3 HD showings, mostly local HD channels and some HBO/Sho that sometimes that are also.
Recently, as last week, if I remember correctly, we had a so-called upgrade overnite and the first thing I remember about it was that I had to reset my format settings as these defaulted to the 4:3 for SD sidebars and I know on both HD DVRs I had changed it to stretch using the settings button on the remote.
The SA8000HD DVR's setup guide they give you when you pick it up did not address any of the SD to HD boots or the format control...totally useless. The control panel on the box and turning it off and all for setups...never worked for me so that is why I used the remote as a last ditch effort and it worked. :D
I am still glad I have a one-box answer instead of a 2-box one with an HD box and a SD DVR as before...:)

Now, all the they have to do is figure out why the HD recordings and live shows, not recorded, which have digital blocking and pixelating in them,  as I never had that with my HD box.
:confused:
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Thursday Sep 02, 2004, 08:34:13 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by gb4fan92
Before Sunday I was able to stretch HD channels showing a 4:3 program. I could even do this with the Pioneer box. As it stands now I can stretch all the SD channels and all the non-HD digital channels but as soon as I turn on a HD channel it doesn't allow me to change the setting whether it is HD or not. So this is normal? :confused:
Not sure how you were able to do it before. I have never been able to stretch 4:3 probrams on an HD channel.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: gb4fan92 on Thursday Sep 02, 2004, 09:32:08 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by summerfun
Not sure how you were able to do it before. I have never been able to stretch 4:3 probrams on an HD channel.

   As I mentioned on an earlier post even though I have a 16x9 television I would set the screentype to 4:3 stretch 16x9. This is how I set up my Pioneer box. It enables all the HD channels to be zoomed, stretched or letterboxed - regardless of  whether the station was broadcasting HD or not. I thought at the time this was wierd but it was the only way I could get it to work. (I had no idea that you were not suppose to be able to stretch HD channels).
   When I set up the HD-DVR I set it up the same way but noticed that HD looked more normal in the letterbox format. It was still full screen, stretch took away some of the screen, zoom took away a lot more. Again I was able to control all HD channels regardless of it was broadcasting HD or not.
Sunday I first noticed that I no longer was able to do this. It appears to me now that stretching a HD channel was not suppose to be possible but I managed to do it anyways? Let me tell you it was nice to stretch a nonHD program (Survivor comes to mind) Picture quality and sound was better on the digital channels so I never had to watch the analog channel. I would think that this is how most viewers would prefer to watch.
   The change probably came when they did the last upgrade. I'm hoping the next upgrade will bring it back unless someone else has a different way to stretch the HD channels. I can't use my TV to do the stretching because that feature is disabled using component cables.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Thursday Sep 02, 2004, 12:27:17 PM
I think it was a fluke that you got it to work with the old box. I can't see how telling your STB you have a 4:3 TV when you really have a 16:9 TV and then telling the STB to zoom 16:9 would stretch 4:3 on a 16:9 TV. Obviously it does not work today.

You're not meant to stretch 4:3 HD material. The black bars are part of the 16:9 picture being sent by the station. Not created by the STB or TV set.

They use the black bars to fill in 4:3 material so that they are broadcasting a 16:9 signal 24/7. Sometimes they change the colors of the bars during special events like football games.
Title: Would be nice...
Post by: gparris on Thursday Sep 02, 2004, 12:59:27 PM
Would be nice if there was a HD set that did do the stretch for 4:3 HD in component mode for the HD programmes in 4:3, though.

Folks with CRT based sets and Plasmas have the worst problem with burn in, though the fixed pixel displays like you have, summerfun, shouldn't be so much of a concern, or no?:confused:

Does any HD set have the ability to stretch that 4:3 HD material to prevent burn-in?  You'd think manufacturers of the burn in sets would offer that feature if it is possible.:rolleyes:
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Thursday Sep 02, 2004, 01:48:03 PM
There may be some sets that allow stretching of 4:3 HD material. I don't know.

I think the short term answer is adding the moving color bars like so many of the sports are doing now. The other is to stretching the 4:3 before they send it like they do on TNT. Also, don't watch too much 4:3 material.

The long term fix is to only have full 16:9 programs.

I'm not sure how much of a problem black bars are for burn in. I think most burn it comes from fixed colors and images. I think continued use of black bars will create uneven wear rather than burn in.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: gb4fan92 on Thursday Sep 02, 2004, 03:12:22 PM
I called TWC yesterday about this and he decided to send a technician over today. Well he just came over and said I wasn't the only one he'd seen that had been able to stretch HD channels (I wasn't losing my mind).  But he said like a few of you said it is normally not possible to stretch the HD channels. He said the hopefully they will activate more features from the box (DVI, SD output). In the meantime I will have to watch SD channels or watch them letterboxed on digital. Hopefull more of what I watch is just HD! (Actually that is more or less the case)
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Thursday Sep 02, 2004, 04:24:58 PM
I would take letterbox 4:3 HD digital channel over stretch SD analog channel any day of the week for best PQ.
Title: How to make SD channels look better
Post by: dicktwi on Thursday Sep 02, 2004, 07:00:04 PM
When watching SD channels, whether analog or digital, change the output format to 480i (or 480p if you prefer) and you'll see a noticeably higher resolution picture much like the SD DVR.  It's a nuisance switching back and forth from 480i to 1080i, but to me it's worth the much better picture.  Try it.


QuoteOriginally posted by J2K
I got my HD DVR about 10 days ago.  The analog channels, specifically 4,6,12,18 were noticeably worse than with the Pioneer HD box.  I had a tech come out, he ended up rewiring the house and putting in a signal amp.  This has helped somewhat, but the analog channels still leave room for improvement.  The tech said that the channels aren't as clear due to interference with the OTA frequencies... or some BS like that, and the SA 8000HD suffered more than the Pioneer box.
Title: How to make SD channels look better
Post by: Engineer on Friday Sep 03, 2004, 12:01:11 PM
dicktwi makes a good point about the SD channels, I have the SA box set to deliver the signal to my TV in whatever resolution the Time Warner gives it to me.  All of the SD channels come it to the TV as 480i, Fox and ABC are 720p and the other HD are 1080i.  I think it looks the best this way.  I believe this is because my TV is "scaling" the signal better for my screen than the SA cable box can.

I also noted that the analog channels look worse on the SA box compared to the old Pioneer HD box.  They seem much better when I bypass the SA cable box entirely and us the cable feed directly into the TV.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Friday Sep 03, 2004, 04:24:45 PM
Does the cable out F connector out of the box work? I may try that to clear up these analog channels.  

Today we had network performance come out and say they need to replace a section of the hardline (which will take like a month) but even then it will still be pretty grainy. They have tried amp in the house (now one outside in the pedestal as a temp fix to the hardline). tilt attenuators, etc and still the picture looks like crap.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Friday Sep 03, 2004, 10:05:59 PM
You don't need the RF output on the box to work, just put a splitter in your cable before it goes to the box. Run one line to your TV cable input for all the analog channels (2-99) and use your cable box for the rest.

Not the way I would do it, but if you want RF for your analog, that is how it can be done.
Title: Re: How to make SD channels look better
Post by: mhz40 on Saturday Sep 04, 2004, 07:40:32 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by Engineer
dicktwi makes a good point about the SD channels, I have the SA box set to deliver the signal to my TV in whatever resolution the Time Warner gives it to me.
With the delivery of the SA-DVR, we will need to start being more specific on box types...  Since the original SA only put out 1080i, the rest of your comments indicate you have a DVR.   A few in the group (or lurkers) may not know this and wonder how they can get native formats out of their older SA set tops... the answer is you can't.
I too notice more distortion on the DVR's (in general) when viewing analog channels.  IMO, it's due to the mpeg encoder the set top.  Maybe soon there won't be a need for an analog tuner... the clock does keep ticking on the fourm home page!
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Sunday Sep 05, 2004, 07:21:11 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by summerfun
You don't need the RF output on the box to work, just put a splitter in your cable before it goes to the box. Run one line to your TV cable input for all the analog channels (2-99) and use your cable box for the rest.

Not the way I would do it, but if you want RF for your analog, that is how it can be done.

I did that before with the Pioneer box since it didn't have an RF out, that is how I showed them the box added grainyness. Actaully I do have an 8 way that feeds all the outlets with 2 free outputs on it so I could just run a new coax from that to the RPTV screen in the other room.

How would yo do it to get clear(er) analog channels?
Title: Re: Re: How to make SD channels look better
Post by: Bigdog on Sunday Sep 05, 2004, 07:28:49 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by mhz40
With the delivery of the SA-DVR, we will need to start being more specific on box types...  Since the original SA only put out 1080i, the rest of your comments indicate you have a DVR.   A few in the group (or lurkers) may not know this and wonder how they can get native formats out of their older SA set tops... the answer is you can't.
I too notice more distortion on the DVR's (in general) when viewing analog channels.  IMO, it's due to the mpeg encoder the set top.  Maybe soon there won't be a need for an analog tuner... the clock does keep ticking on the fourm home page!

With my HD DVR the analog is TERRIBLE.  We've had TWC out here a few times their "AV" guy came out with a supervisor the other day.  They found some problems with the hardline so called in Network Performance who also confirmed it and has put in an order for it to be replaced. In the meantime the put an amp in the pedestal which they said would help until then. It has done nothing (other than blowing up 3 times since Friday and causing them to come out and replace it) for the picture. We still get crappy analog channels and tiling and blocking and sound distortion (sounds like stuttering) on the digital ones.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Andrew Grall on Tuesday Sep 07, 2004, 12:19:03 PM
Does this unit have a HDMI output?  Or will I need to get a DVI-HDMI cable?  My new JVC HD-61Z85 is due to arrive around 9/20!  :)
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Tuesday Sep 07, 2004, 12:48:35 PM
neither. it has DVI out but isn't turned on. Component is your only option right now..
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Andrew Grall on Tuesday Sep 07, 2004, 01:10:35 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by borghe
neither. it has DVI out but isn't turned on. Component is your only option right now..

That sucks...

Is the HD-DVR worth it at this point?  Or should I just get the HD converter for now?  Does their regular HD converter do DVI or HDMI?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Tuesday Sep 07, 2004, 02:18:41 PM
their regular converter will do DVI. You'll need an HDMI converter.

As for the HD-DVR being worth it, to me being able to record HD at all is worth it.. even less than perfect HD or HD with glitches. That being said I have an HD Tivo and not a TWC DVR so I can't say anything about the problems with the box. I just imagine if I had to make a choice between recording HD with bugs and not recording it at all, I would probably record it with bugs.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: mhz40 on Tuesday Sep 07, 2004, 06:17:36 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by borghe
their regular converter will do DVI. You'll need an HDMI converter.

As for the HD-DVR being worth it, to me being able to record HD at all is worth it.. even less than perfect HD or HD with glitches. That being said I have an HD Tivo and not a TWC DVR so I can't say anything about the problems with the box. I just imagine if I had to make a choice between recording HD with bugs and not recording it at all, I would probably record it with bugs.
FYI-
DVI is enabled only on the Pioneer HD set top.

Cheers...
MHz40
Title: Yeah the bugs...!
Post by: gparris on Tuesday Sep 07, 2004, 07:21:48 PM
Guess I will take it to no HD recording, either...just wish I could get WB18 in HD and record THAT, but that is another thread.
I still get dropouts and digital "tearing", like a rip in the picture on HD sources-only, for now. :(
It may be the signal strength of my cabling, but now I just have an analogue TV in the guest room along with 2 HD DVRs, one in the Master suite, and of course the Media/Family room along with RR for a total of 4 outlets that are used...this is considered normal.
Fewer boxes, so I maybe when I add Digital Phone for the main line, soon, they will rebalance the whole system for me.
Hopefully, when they do that, I won't have to reset the HD DVRs and beg for my HD Pkg back like last time...:confused:
I will be doing a full report on adding this new service and how it affects the HD DVRs when I have it installed...believe me.
A CSR at TWC said they should have waited for the last programming tap on our boxes by waiting for releasing them after the "upgrade" we got. Then all I would have had to do is fight with the HD DVR one less time!:bang:
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mike Sura on Wednesday Sep 08, 2004, 06:22:25 AM
I had the digital phone installed and the line "balanced". It didn't change the quality of the picture at all. Still have audip dropouts, poor analog picture, etc. I did try to set the box to 480i only and turned off the stretch on the TW box so I could use my Toshiba's stretch modes. The Toshiba could not stretch the picture. The only time it can't stretch a picture is when the signal is 1080i. Is the TW box taking the analog signal, converting it to digital and upconverting it? Is this why the picture quality so bad?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Wednesday Sep 08, 2004, 07:17:44 AM
They are still working on getting my picture quality better too. We have all those problems as well; grainyness, audio drop outs, blocking, etc..  They claim the analog channels are spec'd for a 13" black and white tv (this is what a TW tech told me) and will always be grainy on a tv..  How is that digital phone working out?  I would be too afraid to get it with their present quality level. I could just see trying to call 911 and the phone is out...:bang:
Title: Not complete answer
Post by: gparris on Wednesday Sep 08, 2004, 07:49:21 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by Mike Sura
I had the digital phone installed and the line "balanced". It didn't change the quality of the picture at all. Still have audip dropouts, poor analog picture, etc.

What I wanted to know is did they mess up your box settings back to SD and mess with the format preferences OR have you fight to keep your HD pkg like when we first got the boxes?
If you have RR, did they mess with your setup, too?:(
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mike Sura on Wednesday Sep 08, 2004, 08:10:39 AM
I have had no problems with the Digital Phone service other than one phone that does not always get the caller ID. Other phones work OK, so something is different but not sure what. I do have RR. They tell you several times that without power your phones will not work. Because they are switching your phone service, they record your answers that you want this done etc and they also ask if you understand that without power the phone won't work so they can record that also. Then they showed up with a new cable phone modem with built in rechargable battery backup that is good for up to 20hrs. By chance, a squirrel get into a box and we lost all power, phone worked fine while the power was out. The biggest complaint about the install is they delete your RR account and ALL email accounts. They switch all this to a different service or server, not sure exactly. They added a '2' to my RR login with a new password. I call to TW and they rebuilt everything in just a couple of minutes. I don't know who was responsible for taking care of this. Hopefully they learned from this. I had no new problems with the HD DVR box from adding the phone service. All my settings stayed the same etc. Now we won't talk about when I brought the old box back after installing the DVR box.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Sunday Sep 12, 2004, 05:49:24 PM
well, at a buddy's house for part of the game today and hit my first major annoyance with the box.. whenever we would rewind part of the game and then catch up to live, the picture/sound would always pause for a split second and then continue, then pause, etc.. it was almost like the signal was breaking up. changing the channel would get rid of it but we could pretty much make it happen on demand.. rewind and fast fwd a couple times and the picture would stutter.

it was my goddaughter's first birthday and the game was on.. NOT a good first impression for the DVR.. everyone was kind of prodding it with jokes.. unfortunately I knew exactly how my buddy felt having been through this before (old location fox 6).
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Andrew Grall on Sunday Sep 12, 2004, 06:01:08 PM
I asked at the TW kiosk at Mayfair, and the person there told me that the DVI works on the HD-DVR, but it isn't officially supported.

True?  Or BS?
Title: Long (7 seconds) Delay with "switch"
Post by: Mrtanner on Sunday Sep 12, 2004, 07:46:04 PM
The start of the NFL season (it's the most wonderful time of the year) gave me my first reason to try the PIP feature.

The delay was VERY frustrating when switching between games.  It took approximately 7 seconds for the box to switch the PIP to the main screen.  

Is this common to the HD DVR or is this a personal problem?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Monday Sep 13, 2004, 06:46:38 AM
I wish you could make the PIP screen bigger, even on the bigger of the 2 on my 65" WS it was still hard to read the score etc.  Too bad it can't do a split screen on it.
Title: Defrag HD-DVR drives?
Post by: brewtownska on Monday Sep 13, 2004, 10:43:22 AM
Just curious if anyone knows how the SA 8000 HD-DVR works with data on the hard drive.  On the computer side of things, we all know that for a cleaner read/write, defragmenting your hard drive is a good thing to do after a while.  Knowing this box will hold approx 20hrs of HD programming, I'm sure I've recorded enough data to fill that drive 2-3 times over since I picked it up.  Does the machine do any sort of defrag, or does it even NEED to?

The reason I ask is that over the past week or so, I've noticed a lot more audio dropouts on recorded programs (also happens when I'm RECORDING something but watching another program...even when only 1 of those is a HD program).  For instance, I watched Dead Like Me (HD) last night while recording Entourage (the SD version).  Dead Like Me was fine while watching, but when I checked the recorded Entourage, it had tons of dropouts.  Either the box is having a hard-drive pulling all the data off the drive when doing playback, and having dropouts there...or the more logical thing would be the drive is having a hard time writing all the data at a rate it needs to.

Anybody want to throw in their thoughts?  It has been a while since I've had TW out to check my line, although I remember last time he was here, he said I had a good signal level because it was coming straight off the pole to my house (only about a 20 ft length from the box on the telephone pole into my basement).  No signal boosters in my house.  I DO have Roadrunner, so I'd say there's a possibility of that traffic having something to do with it.  But most of the time, my computer has Zonealarm (software firewall) turned on to block internet traffice, so there shouldn't be much traffic happening while these recordings are going on.

One other piece of info on Roadrunner.  I find that the analog NBC (channel 4) gets video noise whenever I'm downloading stuff on Roadrunner.  Do the frequencies overlap or are they close?  Or is this a sign that my signal is a little low?  Main cable comes into the house, 1 split goes to my roadrunner (although right before it hits the cable modem, I split it again to allow a cable connection to my ATI All-in-wonder card).  I know this isn't the best thing, but I notice no slowdown in internet performance.  Then the other split in the basement goes to a 4-way splitter, where I'm sending 3 of them to 3 different TVs.  I suppose maybe there is my problem...too many splits for my own good.

Anyhow, please chime in if you had any advice.

Mike
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Andrew Grall on Monday Sep 13, 2004, 10:50:59 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by Andrew Grall
I asked at the TW kiosk at Mayfair, and the person there told me that the DVI works on the HD-DVR, but it isn't officially supported.

True?  Or BS?

Can anyone absolutely confirm or deny this?  Thanks!  :)
Title: Re: Defrag HD-DVR drives?
Post by: Bigdog on Monday Sep 13, 2004, 11:09:31 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by brewtownska
Just curious if anyone knows how the SA 8000 HD-DVR works with data on the hard drive.  On the computer side of things, we all know that for a cleaner read/write, defragmenting your hard drive is a good thing to do after a while.  Knowing this box will hold approx 20hrs of HD programming, I'm sure I've recorded enough data to fill that drive 2-3 times over since I picked it up.  Does the machine do any sort of defrag, or does it even NEED to?

No signal boosters in my house.  I DO have Roadrunner, so I'd say there's a possibility of that traffic having something to do with it.  But most of the time, my computer has Zonealarm (software firewall) turned on to block internet traffice, so there shouldn't be much traffic happening while these recordings are going on.

Anyhow, please chime in if you had any advice.

Mike

I wondered the samething myself it if does need to be defragged every so often. I know it is 159G Maxtor drive in there and I have like 49GB used so far but not sure how continious that data is on there. As for Roadrunner even running flat out it should not even make a blip on the bandwidth of the over the coax. A DVD is movie is chewing up 2X or more that Roadrunner does maxed out so I don't think that is affecting it. I have dropouts on mine as well. I know the hardline has to be replaced and they are awaiting permits from the town (has to go under a road) but  network performance is also suspecting it may be a bad box and told me to keep an eye on the QAM BER. I had some dropouts yesterday during the game and it error rate was at 0 so ???
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Monday Sep 13, 2004, 11:11:27 AM
andrew - DVI did NOT work when I connected DVI-to-HDMI on my buddy's panasonic.

brewtownska - fragmentation is meaningless on the DVRs (Tivo or TWC). The way these filesystems work (proprietary database filesystems) it is virtually impossible for fragmentation to ever get bad enough that it actually affects A/V performance.

The problems you are having lie with the software... which other people are having as well.
Title: Re: Defrag HD-DVR drives?
Post by: oz on Tuesday Sep 14, 2004, 04:11:48 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by brewtownska
One other piece of info on Roadrunner.  I find that the analog NBC (channel 4) gets video noise whenever I'm downloading stuff on Roadrunner.

The same thing happens on my NBC channel (504), but only when I use my laptop with my wireless connection.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: jimbop99 on Thursday Sep 16, 2004, 08:42:37 AM
Well, I got my cable installed yesterday and I'm not a happy camper. The HD channels look very nice but the analog channels are just terrrible (very grainy). The installer thought there might be a problem in the line outside so he said he would call it in. The SA8000HD is another subject. I tried to record two HD channnels at the same time but the show on ABC kept pixelizing and studdering and tearing, it was awful. The other show on FOX turned out just fine. I'm hoping this gets fixed or I'm going back to D*. Is the SD DVR any better? I would be willing to go to that as long as it was stable, until they work out the bugs with this HD DVR.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Thursday Sep 16, 2004, 09:31:41 AM
If you had problems with ABC and not FOX, then I would guess it was the station and not the box.

Yes, the analog stations look grainy compared to the HD channels. I don't think it would be better with the SD DVR. It is just the nature of analog channels on a digital TV. The bigger the TV, the worse the analog will look.

I have noticed some increase in pixilation in the new HD DVR over the SD DVR, but not enough of a problem to loose the HD recording capabilities.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Thursday Sep 16, 2004, 09:45:35 AM
Get used to the grainy pic on the analog channels, I have had several techs (including a supervisor and a network performance tech) tell me there is nothing they can do about it...

I've also noticed a lot more tiling and blocking with this HD DVR as well including with the audio. Hopefully when TWC installs the new hardline and rebalances out the pedestal (that has a secondary amp in it for the time being) that will improve.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Thursday Sep 16, 2004, 09:46:34 AM
locals don't look any better on the SD DVR. the grainyness is actually MPEG2 compression artifacts. Seen as though the HD and SD DVRs use the same MPEG2 encoder the results are the same.

The problem is two fold. They are using CBR single pass encoders and running them on content that is frankly already shoddy to begin with. Hence why analog channels on the DVR look awful.

The real answer is to get rid of the analog channels. Though it will probably be at least a few years before that happens.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Thursday Sep 16, 2004, 09:51:57 AM
That is why I am tempted to take one of the free outputs on the 8 way splitter and run it to the TV as a seperate input, bypassing the box totally. The TWC tech suggested to use the VCR outputs on the DVR and try that, I don't think that will help much.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Thursday Sep 16, 2004, 04:37:28 PM
Running a seperate line the the tV set may help, but I would not want to deal with he hassle of changing inputs everytime I wanted to watch an analog channel.

Best answer, watch only HD......:bow:

Nothing that great on analog anyway.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Friday Sep 17, 2004, 06:11:59 AM
Unfortunately the wife would tend to disagree, she watches Animal Planet a lot plus TLC, weather channel, court tv, etc. so we still watch a lot of the lower channels.  I agree having to switch inputs on the TV (even if through the menu) is a pain in the rear as well.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Friday Sep 17, 2004, 07:39:01 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by Bigdog
Unfortunately the wife would tend to disagree, she watches Animal Planet a lot plus TLC, weather channel, court tv, etc. so we still watch a lot of the lower channels.  I agree having to switch inputs on the TV (even if through the menu) is a pain in the rear as well.
That's why you get her a second non HD TV. With TWC, you can hook as many analog sets up for free as you want. She can watch her analog channel programs with pretty good PQ, compared to watching them on the HDTV and you get to watch what you want on your HD set. Everybody is happy. Also works great for kids too. :rock:

We have two HD sets and five analog sets. No waiting or arguing, everybody can watch what they like.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Friday Sep 17, 2004, 08:39:04 AM
We have the 1 65" HDTV and then 3 other 27" non HDTVs around the house, so if there really is a disagreement we can watch in seperate rooms but usually we are down in the basement watching the big screen.
Title: Settings forgotten!
Post by: gparris on Friday Sep 17, 2004, 06:47:36 PM
I have had problems with the crazy HD DVR box before, but now a little different one...when I watch and record HD shows, especially when I watch one HD channel and record another, the SD channels come in sidebars because the The HD DVR box forgets the settings.  :(

This has happened every time.!

Then I have to go to a channel that I DON'T want to watch, (like an analogue one)
 so I do the "try channel 10", the CSR at TWC said and "do the following":

1) Hit the "settings" button,
2)Then press the yellow "A" button for "more settings",
3)Then go to "aspect ratio 16:9",
4)Then highlight the "4:3 stretch"
5)Press the yellow "A" button to accept
6)Then hit the "exit" button...

If this doesn't work the first time....(she said)

Try another analogue channel....

Well, last night, channel 10 did not work so channel 1 did....!

Why such a mess with these boxes and screwy software (Pioneer)???

It is like I should have kept my SD DVR box (with its S-Video connection) and just got this one for HD recording/watching-only!

If TWC ever gets different boxes and software, I want to know!:guns:
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: MDR on Friday Sep 17, 2004, 09:31:05 PM
I've seen this problem with the sidebars coming up after watching recorded shows. I tried resetting it going thru the settings set=up but it wouldn't accept the change to stretch the display. I then powered down the 8000HD and then turned it back on and it would then accept resetting to stretch mode. (no reboot, just turn off and then back on)

The last time this happened I didn't even try redoing the setting. I just turned the 8000HD off and back on and the my display was back to normal(no sidebars).  Go figure, probably just one of the many quirks we'll encounter.:bang:
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: The Law on Saturday Sep 18, 2004, 09:46:51 AM
Will the VCR output send hd content out (albeit converted to sd).  If so, would it be 4:3 letterbox?
Title: Programming the Remote Control
Post by: oz on Monday Sep 20, 2004, 09:19:13 AM
Can someone please post the instructions for programming the SA 8000HD DVR remote control for TV and audio functions? The instructions TWC gave me were for a different remote.

Never mind - found it online - AT8400 (http://timewarnerwi.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/timewarnerwi.cfg/php/enduser/fattach_get.php?p_sid=5zSl-Ylh&p_tbl=9&p_id=206&p_created=1074711412)

Also, is there a way to browse through the channel listings (without using the guide) without changing the channel until you see something you want to change to? My dad's non-HD, non-DVR box can do that, but my new SA 8000HD doesn't seem to work the same way.

I guess I wasn't pressing the INFO button twice.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: The Law on Monday Sep 20, 2004, 09:39:52 AM
You can browse using PIP or you can use the info button and scroll through the "mini" guide accross the bottom of the screen.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Monday Sep 20, 2004, 10:31:41 AM
I found an "interesting" problem with the box the other day. I was trying to record a comedy special off HBO On Demand and it wont let you, it says this channels is unrecordable.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: oz on Tuesday Sep 21, 2004, 02:52:29 PM
Some people had some questions earlier about picture formats, stretching, zooming, and the like. I found this on SA's website in their SA Explorer HDTV Setup Wizard document. I didn't get a chance to try it yet, but maybe it will help.
 
How Do I Change the Picture Size?

Press the # key on the remote control to toggle through the picture size options (Normal, Stretch, and Zoom) while in fixed mode, or press the # key to toggle through the picture format options (SD Normal and HD Zoom) while in pass-through mode. Notice as you toggle from one format to another that the scan rate (1080i, 480i, etc.) appears briefly in the bottom right corner of the screen.

Here's the entire PDF document for those interested:
http://www.scientificatlanta.com/explorerclub/getting_started/4003114B.pdf (http://www.scientificatlanta.com/explorerclub/getting_started/4003114B.pdf)
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: gb4fan92 on Tuesday Sep 21, 2004, 03:21:29 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by oz
Some people had some questions earlier about picture formats, stretching, zooming, and the like. I found this on SA's website in their SA Explorer HDTV Setup Wizard document. I didn't get a chance to try it yet, but maybe it will help.
 
 

This appears to be for the 3250HD box. I tried some of the setups and they don't work on the 8000HD.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: tbuiler on Wednesday Sep 22, 2004, 08:14:59 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by gb4fan92
This appears to be for the 3250HD box. I tried some of the setups and they don't work on the 8000HD.

On my 8000HD (picked up yesterday), I found that the # key and the "Video Source" key on the remote will cycle through the Aspect Ratios.  However, I had to be on a HD channel.

I have a 4x3 set, and on a SD channel I cannot toggle the mode.  However on an HD channel I could cycle through Letterbox, Zoom, and Squeeze.

I couldn't change the TV type though.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: gb4fan92 on Saturday Sep 25, 2004, 04:38:46 PM
I have noticed that when I turn on my tv for the first time in the day that if it is on a HD channel that is not broadcasting HD the picture is stretched! However if I tune to another channel that is not broadcasting HD it is no longer stretched. If I turn back to the original channel it too is no longer stretched. Interesting.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Sunday Sep 26, 2004, 07:16:44 AM
I saw something like that too. I turned on 504 last night and it was not in HD when it should have. I changed the channels and came back and it snapped into HD... I think they still have a "few" bugs to work out with these boxes.... Actually even network performance said the samething about them
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: oz on Wednesday Oct 06, 2004, 12:42:38 PM
The hard drive in my SA8000HD makes noise even when the unit is off. Is it doing some type of de-fragmentation or something?

When I first got it, I heard it occasionally, but now I hear it all the time. It just sounds like a hard drive reading/writing like it would in a computer
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: mhz40 on Wednesday Oct 06, 2004, 07:42:48 PM
No defrag, that's jus the way it works right now.  A patch is coming that would spin it down some preset time after the unit is powered off.  I don't expect that until they push out a patch for the intermittent video/audio glitch issue... maybe it will be all rolled up into one update.  We will have to wait & see.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Thursday Oct 07, 2004, 07:10:11 AM
Any idea when that might happen? Will that glitch fix "live" shows as well or just recorded ones?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Thursday Oct 07, 2004, 02:00:23 PM
I had the Pioneer HD box, hooked thru component cables. I switched to the HD DVR box, also hooked thru component cables, the same ones... however now the HD channels are noticeably softer! They don't have that vibrant unbelievably sharp look that they used to! The box is in 1080i only mode, just like the Pioneer box, and I've made sure it's in HD mode (using the CH+ VOL- trick). Why is this?

I also notice tiny little lines going thru the picture when the grey bars are in the picture... and sometimes on certain colors in the picture itself. They're not too noticeable, but they weren't there with the other box.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Thursday Oct 07, 2004, 02:43:27 PM
You might want to check and make sure all your connections are very tight. A loose connection can cause poor PQ.

On a side note, I had both the old Pioneer HD box and the new SA HD DVR box hooked up side by side when it first came out. There was a slight reduction in PQ from the new DVR. I switched the cables and the component inputs on the TV set to make sure they were not the reason, but still had lower PQ on the DVR.

I think the SA DVR box is just not as good as the Pioneer HD box was in reproducing the best PQ. That being said, when you don't watch them side by side, you really don't notice the difference and it is much better to have a DVR than not.

If your PQ is more than just a little less, then you may have a different issue. If it is just a sharpness issue, you can adjust that on you TV set. I believe that each and every input device, DVD, STB, whatever needs to be set up individually. This box may just need a little different setup.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Thursday Oct 07, 2004, 03:32:00 PM
Ok thanks for the reply. Of course if anyone else knows any other reasons for this, feel free to reply!! I did turn the sharpness up more, and that does help a bit. Too bad about the slightly reduced quality. Hopefully when they activate the DVI it'll look better. :(
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: mhz40 on Thursday Oct 07, 2004, 03:59:22 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by Bigdog
Any idea when that might happen? Will that glitch fix "live" shows as well or just recorded ones?
It should fix everything... the two issues are apparently related.  No idea on a release date.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Friday Oct 08, 2004, 07:39:04 AM
Thanks hopefully it will be soon, altho I'm still waiting for them to replace the hardline they said they were going to do last month as well.

Do you know why you can't record a show off "OnDemand" channels?  I tried to record one off HBO OnDemand and it said it was not a recordable channel.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Andrew Grall on Friday Oct 08, 2004, 07:57:33 AM
Is the new update supposed to enable the DVI too?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Friday Oct 08, 2004, 09:04:06 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by Bigdog
Do you know why you can't record a show off "OnDemand" channels?  I tried to record one off HBO OnDemand and it said it was not a recordable channel.
I doubt you will every have that feature. You could not do it with the SD DVR either. I don't think they want you to have recordings of their programs.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Joel S on Friday Oct 08, 2004, 09:07:13 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by summerfun

I think the SA DVR box is just not as good as the Pioneer HD box was in reproducing the best PQ. That being said, when you don't watch them side by side, you really don't notice the difference and it is much better to have a DVR than not.
 

I noticed something a bit odd last night while watching the baswball game on 506.  The Fox Milwaukee WITI - DT bug in the lower right hand corner was partly cut off, as I think it always has been.  However, when I hit the "guide" button and look at the picture display in upper corner I can see the entire FOX 6 bug and more of the overall picture.  When viewing full screen I cannot see the bottom portion that says "WITI-DT" but can see it fully when viewing via the program guide.  What's up with that???

I'm curious, how much of the picture is cut off on the HD DVR (which I have) compared to the Pioneer HD STB?  Maybe you could compare some time and let us know.

I can view a regular analog cable feed side by side next to the HD DVR feed and noticed that the HD DVR picture on all channels when compared to regular analog was stretched a bit vertically and horizontally when compared to the analog feed (watching something like Fox News with a scroll on the bottom shows this obviously).  Basically the regular stretch mode on the DH DVR seems a bit too zoomed.  This may make the DVR picture look less crisp.

Anyone else notice this or think that something is wrong?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Friday Oct 08, 2004, 10:35:41 AM
the fox6 bug is not completely in the image. This is after viewing the actual mpeg on my computer. the bottom part of it is cut off.. it looks very weird. if you have overscan, even more of it will be cut off. again, this is after viewing the actual MPEG sent OTA.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Joel S on Friday Oct 08, 2004, 10:46:35 AM
Well that is somewhat good to know that OTA is the same or similar.  I still find it strange that when viewing the picture via the guide that I can see the whole image and then of course more of the picture overall.  The image just doesn't seem to fill the screen properly.

I also noticed similar issue with analog channels becasue via a cable line feed directly into the TV I was able to view more of the picture.  That's why I think it has a lot to do with the HD DVR output as oppossed to my TV having overscan issues.

Thanks for the feedback.  I'm curious if anyone else takes a close look at this.  I kind of wish I never noticed it becasue now it really bugs me.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Friday Oct 08, 2004, 11:00:09 AM
I have a fixed pixel LCD, so no overscan here and the bug is most defiantly cut off in the bottom corner on my HD DVR. I have not looked at it with my Pioneer HD box, I will make it a point to look next time.

I might guess that it is normal looking in the menu guide because the view window in the guide is not 16:9.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Friday Oct 08, 2004, 12:54:53 PM
I had my box recording CSI last night... a lot of pixelization and momentary audio dropouts on playback (at least every minute or two). I don't know if it was doing that live, I only watched the playback. I don't get that issue with recordings on HBO HD or inHD or HDNet... anyone else have the same issues? I know these boxes are buggy... just curious.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: borghe on Friday Oct 08, 2004, 02:01:16 PM
no problems on CSI OTA.

might have been the box.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Friday Oct 08, 2004, 02:09:20 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by borghe
no problems on CSI OTA.

might have been the box.

Or TWC's signal... trying to figure this out. It's not a big deal but it gets a bit annoying when it's every minute or so.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: shimmer11 on Friday Oct 08, 2004, 02:10:36 PM
I have noticed that when I am recording an HD program, more droupouts are occuring while I am viewing another HD/analog program.  

Andy:bang:
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Friday Oct 08, 2004, 02:16:41 PM
I was watching another show (which means the box was also automatically recording it), that could be the problem. You think they'd give the box enough processor power to handle everything it's SUPPOSED to do.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Friday Oct 08, 2004, 03:43:07 PM
Does anyone know of a way to get the DVR to output in 16:9 format when it's in SD mode? 16:9 allows for a better capture when I'm recording into my computer.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: summerfun on Friday Oct 08, 2004, 04:48:34 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by UnrealityS
Does anyone know of a way to get the DVR to output in 16:9 format when it's in SD mode?
Not sure what you mean by SD mode?

All SD channels can stretch or zoom 4:3 programs into 16:9 by setting it up correctly in the setup menu.

NO HD channels can display 4:3 programs as 16:9.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Friday Oct 08, 2004, 04:59:20 PM
I'm talking about when the DVR is in standard definition mode, by pressing the CH+ VOL- buttons at the same time. When it's in this mode, is there a way to keep the HD channels in 16:9 instead of the DVR letterboxing them?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Tuesday Oct 12, 2004, 09:12:04 PM
One thing I just discovered...

I was mad when I realized I no longer had the ablitity to frame thru a paused recording with the latest update. I'd usually pause it and use FF or REW to frame thru, but with the new update those went right to fast forward or rewind without framing.

I just discovered that you now use the left and right navigation arrows to frame thru video. I don't know if you guys knew this or not, just thought I'd throw it out there.

By the way, any solutions for my last question in this thread?
Title: Bring back reminders
Post by: brewtownska on Tuesday Oct 12, 2004, 10:17:42 PM
I don't know about anyone else, but I used the reminder function a LOT on the SA HD box I had before going to the SA HD-DVR box.  There are plenty of times where I'd just like to be reminded about a show coming up, not necessarily record it.  I don't think it should be too hard for them to program that back in.  Anyone else agree?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Bigdog on Wednesday Oct 13, 2004, 09:10:05 AM
I agree, I like that reminder thing too. There are a lot of times when I want to be reminded of something but not necessarily record it.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: MDR on Wednesday Oct 13, 2004, 01:31:50 PM
Interesting little rant from PC WORLD about hassles of recording HD
http://www.pcworld.com/digitalworld/article/0,aid,117346,pg,1,00.asp
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Paul S. on Thursday Oct 14, 2004, 10:21:06 AM
Any info on DVI yet??
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Thursday Oct 14, 2004, 02:41:22 PM
I've got my DVR hooked thru component and DVI... nothing coming thru the DVI yet. :(
Title: Saving DVR Recordings
Post by: gb4fan92 on Sunday Oct 31, 2004, 09:55:54 AM
Are there any plans to activate the SA8000HD to allow saving DVR recordings to a VCR or a DVD? I was on the 10:00pm news last nite ( they were interviewing voters ) and would like to transfer this to a tape or dvd. For now I will have to set this as "keep" until I can figure out how to tranfer it. Or does anyone know of a way to do this??
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Sunday Oct 31, 2004, 03:11:59 PM
You could simply put the box in SD mode... this activates the S-video port and I THINK it turns the component into a composite port... (or maybe it just activates the composite ports? I haven't looked at the back for awhile, it's kinda IN my entertainment center heh).

On the front of the box, just hold down the CH+ and then while you're doing that, press VOL- quickly and let go. It'll say SD on the display... now just hook it to your VCR, find the recording, and just playback on the DVR and record with the VCR.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: jfrancour on Tuesday Nov 02, 2004, 10:53:22 AM
OK. I just switched to TWC this past weekend, I got a non-DVR HD box and an HD-DVR. When I ordered the service, I asked the guy on the phone about the DVI port and he told me that the DVI port on the HD-DVR box was disabled, I know I also have read on this site that it is disabled, but when the installers were over they told me they didn't think it was. The DVR came straight out of a cardboard SA box but I assume TWC has a deal with SA to set it up to TWC's specs. I haven't tried the DVI port because I don't have a DVI cable and don't want to spend the money on it if I can't use it now. But on the other hand I really want to connect my Xbox to my big screen via component cables. Can anyone confirm whether the DVI port does or doesn't work? Any help is appreciated.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Hophead on Tuesday Nov 02, 2004, 12:23:22 PM
It does not work...I have the box hooked up with component cables and the DVI and I get no signal when I switch to DVI on my TV.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: jfrancour on Tuesday Nov 02, 2004, 12:27:04 PM
OK. Thanks, I appreciate it.
Title: Reception Issues
Post by: Millmann on Wednesday Nov 03, 2004, 02:23:26 PM
I have had the SA 8000 for a couple of months now and have been dealing with a reception problem that I thought was just due to the boxes being up to speed, yet (software-wise), but I talked to some co-workers who aren't having problems like me.

While watching HD channels, I get audio drop-outs and/or pixelation all of the time, sometimes lasting for a minute at a time and sometimes happening several times an hour.:bang:

Currently I split the cable in the basement through an amplifier which sends it to my SA 8000 and my other non-HD sets. One of my coworkers said the amplifier may be causing the problem and another said I probably need better cables. Of the normal cables you get from the store, I have the better of those, but I have heard there is a new cable that is best for HD.

Any suggestions on what is causing my problems? Or is TW?

Any help would be appreciated.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: mhz40 on Wednesday Nov 03, 2004, 02:31:24 PM
Call for a free service call.  You don't have the required tools or test equipment to handle this effectively... and no one here; myself included, can provide decent advise without knowing certain details.
Title: Re: Reception Issues
Post by: oz on Wednesday Nov 03, 2004, 02:51:31 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by Millmann
While watching HD channels, I get audio drop-outs and/or pixelation all of the time, sometimes lasting for a minute at a time and sometimes happening several times an hour.:bang:


Call the TWC service number and let the automated system do a reset of your system. I had similar problems until I did that.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Wednesday Nov 03, 2004, 06:19:43 PM
Could be too many splits, could be the amplifier, could be a bad signal in your area, could be bad in-house cables, box could need a reset.. so many possibilities... like they said, it's best to call TWC.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: zoothorn on Friday Dec 24, 2004, 07:57:35 PM
I've read the last 10 pages of this thread and haven't seen any mention of my problem. Anyone else experience this and how did you resolve it?

I've just had my third occurance of the SA8000 getting totally tangled up in it's shorts. The only way out is to boot it and when it comes back, all the shows on the hard drive are gone.

First two times it showed up when I hit the "List". I message popped up that there may be a problem with the hard drive and offerring me the chance to A Retry or B Restart.

Retrying did nothing, restart did nothing. Calls to the service center resulted in me pulling the plug on it and when they got it back up the shows were all gone.

After the second time the rep on the phone told me to take the box back for a swap. I brought back a new box two weeks ago and it just happened tonight.

No one else running in to something like this? I thought the first box was just bad but if it's going to happen on this one too...
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Friday Dec 24, 2004, 08:21:32 PM
Strange that it would happen again with a different box. Anything near the box?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: mhz40 on Friday Dec 24, 2004, 09:47:02 PM
Just plain bad luck.  The biggest item that fails is the hard drive.  Sounds like you have had a second one going south.  I've been through two HD and two SD DVR's so far.  Three issues were bad drives... the fourth was a bad tuner.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mrtanner on Monday Dec 27, 2004, 10:53:20 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by zoothorn
Anyone else experience this and how did you resolve it?

I've just had my third occurance of the SA8000 getting totally tangled up in it's shorts. The only way out is to boot it and when it comes back, all the shows on the hard drive are gone.

First two times it showed up when I hit the "List". I message popped up that there may be a problem with the hard drive and offerring me the chance to A Retry or B Restart.

Retrying did nothing, restart did nothing. Calls to the service center resulted in me pulling the plug on it and when they got it back up the shows were all gone.  

I get this a couple of time per week.  I have to hard boot (pull the plug) and it comes back fine.  I don't lose the programs I've recorded.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: zoothorn on Tuesday Dec 28, 2004, 08:18:26 AM
Thanks for the info. Glad to hear I'm not the only one (well, not glad for your sake!).

This last time they had me pull the plug then go on hold while they did something and when I plugged it back in everything was back. No lost shows.

The CSR said it was a known problem that they were working with SA on. Hope they come up with something. I still wouldn't give up the DVR though!!
Title: Same thing here
Post by: Wildfyre on Monday Jan 10, 2005, 10:47:32 AM
There is a problem with your Hard drive.

Got first one and it lasted about two weeks working fine.  The first time I got this, they sent someone out and he replaced the box.

The second box worked for exactly 1 day.  Another tech came out and looked at the box - and then he replaced the cable that was going from the wall to the DVR, saying that it was satellite coax, and that is different than cable coax.   He mentioned something interesting though - the problem with your hard drive is a generic error message - it will say that if ANYTHING is wrong with the unit.

The problem was gone for about a week and a half, and now the problem is back again.  I'm taking my box in today and swapping it out.  

I wonder if this problem could be heat related - I notice there doesnt seem to be a fan in the unit for cooling the hard drive.

Mine works the same way - you can unplug it and it will work again for a time - it does not lose the shows.  

Last night it locked up during the Packer game, which is why it's getting swapped today.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Monday Jan 10, 2005, 05:26:24 PM
Really strange... I've had mine for over 3 months and no issues. (Except for the normal audio/video glitches which barely show up anymore thanks to the firmware update) I guess it's just the luck of the draw!
Title: Switching to SD Mode
Post by: Boomalicious on Tuesday Jan 11, 2005, 01:07:57 PM
Earlier, I posted what follows as a new thread by error.  I meant to post it here.  My apologies.

Pushing the CH+ and the VOL- on the SA8000HD (on the box, not the remote) is supposed to switch the box from HD mode to SD mode, based on what I have read.  When I try to do it, all that changes is the channel or the volume, depending on which of the two buttons I hit first.  Can anyone offer any help on changing over to SD mode so that I can copy recorded programs to my Panasonic DVD/HDD recorder?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Tuesday Jan 11, 2005, 01:31:07 PM
I've never had any problems with this. Usually I hit the CH+ button for about a second, and then VOL- very quickly and then let both buttons go. Never fails.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Monday Jan 24, 2005, 09:47:21 AM
I heard in a couple forums that they've started deploying the SA 8300HD  models in some markets... it has cleaner HD output, faster processor, it's always outputting HD & SD (S-video, component, etc always active), 2 non-active firewire ports, 1 non-active SATA port, no word on DVI.

Any ideas when our area will start seeing these?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: tjjws on Tuesday Feb 01, 2005, 08:40:14 PM
Sure hope it's soon.  I'll be swapping my 3rd 8000  :Smash:  due to the hard disk problem.  I get the feeling they're just recycling them instead of giving out new ones.  

I did find out though, that if I don't turn it off, it'll continue running without giving me the error.  I've had it running that way for the last few days as we catch up on watching the stuff we've recorded.

Tim
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Sunday Feb 13, 2005, 04:45:03 PM
Oh man... so I was going to swap my 8000HD for a new one, but they happened to be out, so I took a standard non-DVR HD box. I'm using a DVI connector, and the picture quality is already noticeably better. (Seriously much better.) I'm tempted to just keep this one until they make the new DVR's available.
Title: Where's my movie???
Post by: gb4fan92 on Sunday Feb 13, 2005, 07:04:24 PM
I taped a movie back in mid-December "Pulp Fiction" and I finally got around to watching it this afternoon. However when I start the movie the picture is blank and nothing happens. I try fast fowarding - nothing. It shows that there is 2:20 minutes recorded but I get nothing. I ending up watching another movie that I recorded around the same time. It worked fine. Has anyone run into this before?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Friday Feb 18, 2005, 01:48:06 AM
It looks like A LOT of areas are starting to see the 8300HD boxes available... I can only assume Milwaukee (being TWC's 4th largest area) will start to see them sometime this or next month. Keep your eyes open! (And keep checking with customer service to see when they're getting them in!)
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: JOHN GRY on Friday Feb 18, 2005, 12:11:33 PM
I spoke with customer service yesterday and inquired about availiabity of the 8300, she spoke with someone in the tech support dept. and they told her the closest that the 8300's were released was in Minneapolis. She also added that they we not sure if our area would even get  the 8300's.

John
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Friday Feb 18, 2005, 12:36:04 PM
Quote from: JOHN GRYShe also added that they we not sure if our area would even get  the 8300's.

It's not a question of if, it's a question of when... I dunno what she's smoking.  :drink:
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: LuckySe7ens on Monday Feb 28, 2005, 02:54:02 PM
Quote from: zoothornI've read the last 10 pages of this thread and haven't seen any mention of my problem. Anyone else experience this and how did you resolve it?

I've just had my third occurance of the SA8000 getting totally tangled up in it's shorts. The only way out is to boot it and when it comes back, all the shows on the hard drive are gone.

First two times it showed up when I hit the "List". I message popped up that there may be a problem with the hard drive and offerring me the chance to A Retry or B Restart.

Retrying did nothing, restart did nothing. Calls to the service center resulted in me pulling the plug on it and when they got it back up the shows were all gone.

After the second time the rep on the phone told me to take the box back for a swap. I brought back a new box two weeks ago and it just happened tonight.

No one else running in to something like this? I thought the first box was just bad but if it's going to happen on this one too...


Exact same problem.... Happened on one box, and 2 weeks later, on another.  Unplugging it for 5 minutes temporarily  fixes it, but that's simply an unacceptable solution.  I'm going to pick up my 3rd box tonight, I'll let you know how it goes.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Mark Strube on Monday Feb 28, 2005, 03:46:22 PM
I would simply call & check & wait for when you can get one of the new 8300HD boxes... you'll just keep going thru the 8000HD's and running back and forth from the TWC office.
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: JOHN GRY on Monday Feb 28, 2005, 05:31:53 PM
Just got the 8300 today, I had to go to the Kenosha TWC (Racine, didn't have them yet). Hopefully no more going crazy with the all the drops. Also, maybe just me but the HI Def channels seem better!
 
John
Title: Dumb question
Post by: yaderhey on Tuesday Mar 01, 2005, 11:11:08 AM
I think I know the answer to this, but will I lose all the shows I've recorded when I switch to the new box?  Is there any way to transfer them?

Is it worth making a switch?  My biggest beef with the 8000 is how jumpy the picture can get in HD.  Is that fixed?  Will my $100 DVI cable work?
Title: Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread
Post by: Engineer on Tuesday Mar 01, 2005, 12:55:21 PM
Quote from: LuckySe7ensExact same problem.... Happened on one box, and 2 weeks later, on another.  Unplugging it for 5 minutes temporarily  fixes it, but that's simply an unacceptable solution.  I'm going to pick up my 3rd box tonight, I'll let you know how it goes.

I had this problem as well.  I am fairly certain it was the hard drive going bad as it did not have any problems watching "live" programs.  I replaced my box and haven't had a problem since.

Don't tell TW, but I think I killed the hard drive but not having space around the box.  I put it in a cabinet which was just a little bit larger than the box.  I have now put the new one in location which has a couple of inches of space between it and the shelf above.  As I said I haven't had a problem since I did this.

So make sure your box has plenty of ventilation.
Title: Shows Disappear
Post by: msofan on Tuesday Mar 01, 2005, 05:07:18 PM
I posted this on the  "Technical Issues Thread" but realize it I should have posted it here. I would like to move to the SA8300HD but I need a good way to save the programs on the SA8000HD.

I've had my SA8000HD for a while and I've noticed that shows that were a while back no longer show up under the "LIST." I used the diagnostics to show the remaining room in the hard drive and it said there was plenty of room! Are shows automatically deleted after a certain length of time? Is there any way to retrieve the shows that were "automatically deleted.?" I now indicate "Save until Manually Deleted." Was not aware of that until recently. BTW - what is the best way to save SD to a PC. Are the PCI cards from Hauppague reliable? What about the USB2 options? I don't really need the built-in TV, just a way to get good, clean video and audio output so I can archive shows that I record on the DVR.
Title: I have the same problem
Post by: mm007d on Saturday Mar 19, 2005, 10:36:02 AM
I actually live in New York and have time warner and have the same problem with my digital audio output which i never had with the 3100HD (I also had the problem with the 3250HD).  for me the static is on all channels not just the sub.  i had a "foreman" call where a more senior technician came out and looked at it and he could not figure it out.  did you ever resolve this?


Quote from: DrummerboyI am getting a constant static sound coming out of my sub when using the 8000HD.  I am currently using the coax digital to my receiver.  The static sound is always at the same volume regardless of of what the master volume is set on my receiver.  It may be possible that the static is coming out of all the channels but is most noticable from the sub.  The static will occasionally stop while changing channels.
Anyone else getting this?
I am very sure that this did not occur with the 3100HD I used to have.
I have thought about trying the optical output but don't have the ambition to switch cables around.:rolleyes: