HD PVR source survey

[ZetaVu]

Ok, I've tried this before but I want to try again. The purpose of this survey is to find out who is using what fro their HD PVR and who is having problems. The standards (if possible) are that you are recording from component in and spdif audio, that the output resolution on your stb is locked at 1080i, you have driver 1.052 or later (not a beta) and BTV 4.9.x. If you are having success or failures outside these specs (or say you have success with analog but not spdif) then say so.

Success I measure as being able to record a few shows a day for at least a week without a failure or having to reboot your computer or HD PVR. I have not had to reboot my HD PVR in weeks and boot the computer for other reasons only.

[koan00]

Incesant issues

FiOS
Motorola 7100
inputs: Component/Optical
Work Arounds Implemented : /STB locked to 1080i/IR ports covered/Tops off for cooling

Other: Driver 1.0.5.6 WHQL

[Eric3a]

Based on your criteria, my setup is a fail on DishNetwork as I never got a whole trouble free week with both HDPVRs although I do get long periods when 1 never fails.

Eric

[Zogg]

BTV 4.9.2
1.0.5.3 driver
FiOS
Motorola 6200 STB
Component video/Analog audio
No work arounds

Works great. Only had one lockup and it was self-inflicted. C1 original version.

Previously:

BTV 4.9.2
1.0.5.3 driver
DirecTV
H20 STB
Component video/Analog audio
STB locked to 1080i

Worked very well, lockup every couple of weeks or so.

[Jakesty]

I didn't answer the survey because I don't have the HD-PVR as I've been scared away by the continued chatter about the problems it has. (Not exactly cheap either, but I'm jealous of the picture quality)
I'd actually be curious to know if other PVR platforms that support the HD-PVR have similar problems or better success.

[ZetaVu]

Jakesty - read the mythtv, Media Portal and Sage forums, they're having a lot of the same issues. There's also a lot of chatter on avsforums. Hauppauge of course only supports their software, but they are working with the others.

Eric3a, I should have let people answer more than once, one for each unit, anyone know if there's a way to edit an existing poll?

Would be nice if there was a way to make a multiple choice selection, chose your OS, your STB, your driver, btv version, model HD PVR, locked or unlocked output (and resolution) and audio input. Maybe then we could isolate some patterns of success or failure?

[cat6man]

btv4.9.2
2x hdpvr (v.D2) to 2x fios qip7100 both w/ firewire channel change

working great for a few months
totally screwed up for about a month (then reloaded and reloaded and ...)
before that great for 6+ months

[mayhem70]

My money is on USB channel issues. I could go days without any HD-PVR issues, then it just flakes out. Most of the time, a power cycle would resolve it...sometimes I just do a reboot of the machine.

[kandlg]

BTV 4.9.1
HDPVR 1.0.5.3
Comcast locked at 1080i
Digital audio (no reliability difference between analog and digital for me)
SA HD3250
Added a fan
Power cycle nightly at 4 am using a timer
Recordings rarely fail, maybe once every 3-4 weeks.

Well sorry, but I voted wrong because I didn't read the instructions properly. Since the restart of the HD-PVR is automated and I don't have to mess with it I still consider it successful. I could almost get a week out of it without a failed recording before power cycling. It was between 5-7 days pre-timer.

[cat6man]

Originally Posted by mayhem70

My money is on USB channel issues. I could go days without any HD-PVR issues, then it just flakes out. Most of the time, a power cycle would resolve it...sometimes I just do a reboot of the machine.

i have 2x units and have seen recommendations that they be kept on separate usb hubs

[mits]

For the most part, my system(s) are working good. I have three H20 Directv receivers locked at 1080i and SPDIF audio with one HD-PVR 1212 Rev C2 per receiver, and I'm about to add a fourth set to the system.

I can record multiple shows back to back most of the time. I rated the system as passing, however, it's pretty random at times. Sometimes I can go up to two weeks without problems. Other times, only 3 to 7 days before I have problems. Almost always, the problem shows as multiple shows recording, mostly duplicate active recordings from the software having to restart a recording because it failed to get a signal for 30 seconds, and so attempts to start another. This results in more active recordings listed than there are receivers and capture devices, and results in the software thinking there are no more devices available to tune for live tv or record new shows. At this point, I have to shutdown BTV server, delete started but unsuccessfully recorded shows, and then restart BTV server.

Another symptom I see is that you try to start live tv, and it fails with a message stating that no tuners are available (or something similar), and to rerun the setup wizard. However, I've found that the only thing I need to do to fix this problem, is to power off and back on the HD-PVR boxes. No need to shutdown or restart the server software, just rebooting the Hauppauge HD-PVR boxes brings the whole thing back online and everything works again. In all cases when this happens, the XP OS sees that all three tuners are up and running in the device manager, it just seems as though the Hauppauge tuners are locked up. I'm pretty sure that this condition (Hauppauge Tuner Lockup) is what causes the above problem as well, but shows up as this second condition if you happen to attempt to watch live tv before a recording attempts to start and fails as in the above scenario. I sure wish someone could find out conclusively why this happens. Is it truely a hardware overheating problem due to poor cooling/ventilation, driver problems, or the Beyond TV software. I really want to find out if it's heat related or not, which I could do by opening the C2 boxes up and running a table top fan aiming at the hardware and see if things would run solid for a few weeks, but I'm afraid to open the boxes and void the warranty.

Has anyone been able to add significant cooling to their boxes and seen them run solid, or do you still have random lockups requiring a capture box reboot?

[Zogg]

Originally Posted by cat6man

btv4.9.2
2x hdpvr (v.D2) to 2x fios qip7100 both w/ firewire channel change

working great for a few months
totally screwed up for about a month (then reloaded and reloaded and ...)
before that great for 6+ months

which version driver are you using? just curious since you had a lot of problems.