recording HDTV through firewire from STB now blocked?

[Nate]

I have been recording HDTV through the firewire port on my cable set top box for a long time now. Recently however, it seems that some HD shows aren't being recorded correctly. Many of the files refuse to play in Sage or any other player as if the file is corrupt, even though the file is the right size (~7gb/hr). On one of the files, it played ok and I was watching the commercial right before my show. About halfway through the commercial it froze. Jumping forward in the video would only display black.

Do you think they are blocking some shows from being output correctly through the firewire port? My cable provider is Comcast and I'm in the Seattle area.

[colormatters]

Comcast did something to firewire output when they changed to the new UI.
I had firewire recording working and since the new and unimproved cable box UI, firewire recording stopped working. You can still see video coming out of the firewire port using VLC but Sage is not able to deal with the stream anymore. I can still get DHD via firewire in Sage. I ended up having switch back to analog recording for most of the digital cable that you cannot get via QAM.
I started looking into fiber service for my area but nothing yet.

Here is another thread about the same issue:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...light=firewire

[Nate]

Sage people, can we fix this?? If VLC can play the video, why can it not be played by Sage after being written to a file?

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by colormatters

Comcast did something to firewire output when they changed to the new UI.
I had firewire recording working and since the new and unimproved cable box UI, firewire recording stopped working. You can still see video coming out of the firewire port using VLC but Sage is not able to deal with the stream anymore. I can still get DHD via firewire in Sage. I ended up having switch back to analog recording for most of the digital cable that you cannot get via QAM.
I started looking into fiber service for my area but nothing yet.

Here is another thread about the same issue:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...light=firewire

I'd download a program called MediaInfo

http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en

and try use it to figure out exactly what's going on in the videos. That should give you enough information to file a bug report with Sage.

http://www.sagetv.com/bugs.html

[Nate]

Hi evilpenguin, I just tried using MediaInfo on a file that won't play. The only info it gave was filename and filesize. I assume it can't read anything else about the file.

[evilpenguin]

That's very strange, MediaInfo is usually very reliable. Try recording a very short file, only 5-10 seconds, verify that it will play in VLC, then send that to SageTV's bug people (also, if you could send it to me @ perl2dvd(at)gmail(dot)com i'd like to take a look at it too )

[Nate]

colormatters, how did you get VLC to play video from firewire? If I use Graph Edit to play the graph to generate a file, I get the same results as I do in Sage. Eg, I can watch 104 but not 105.

evilpenguin, I'm seeing the same behavior in Sage as I am in VLC. VLC refuses to play the file as well.

[Nate]

Here is a ~5 second corrupt video file from channel 105...
http://n4te.com/temp/dump.ts
Can anyone figure out what is wrong with the file? I have submitted it to the Sage bug guys.

[evilpenguin]

Ok, I was confused and thought VLC could play it and sage couldn't, but clearly that isn't the case. So, I ran the file though a few tests and it looks like the stream is just encrypted and its going to be impossible to play it, sorry man Is this happening with all of your firewire recorded channels or just a few?

I know comcast just pushed out a firmware upgrade from a pretty stable Microsoft one to a ??? one so this might not be intentional. I'd call them and complain that something is wrong with your firewire output and politely remind them that a working firewire port is mandated by the FCC. They should be able to find out if any intentional modifications were made to the headend equipment recently, i.e. enabling encryption on channels that were previously unencrypted.

Edit: Actually, what area of Seattle are you from? If we're on the same network (I'm in Redmond) I can give them a call and talk to them. I used to work in the cable industry so I know all the right jargon to say to get myself elevated to somone who can give me the info I need

[Nate]

That would be FREAKING AWESOME evilpenguin! I'm in 98199, which is Magnolia, just north of downtown, between downtown and Ballard.

It seems to be happening with most of the firewire channels. I'm at work now, but I know 105, 111, 113 don't work. 104 does work. I can try a bunch more HD channels tonight if you need. Let me know if you need anything else!

Maybe we should move this conversation over to the other thread here:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26763

[NEOSG]

Quick question, are these channels that are now encrypted your local network channels? ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS?

[Nate]

Yes, I believe the ones I have tested so far (mentioned above) are all local channels. Does that have some significance?

Do you guys think I can record a PPV show through firewire? People are coming over to watch the UFC on Saturday in our new home theater. It only has a PC though, so we have three options:

1) Watch it timeshifted through Sage in HD. This may not work, which would force us to watch the HD showing in SD, which looks bad.
2) Watch it timeshifted through Sage in SD. This PPV is $10 cheaper (greedy bastards).
3) I could transplant the cable box to the theater temporarily and watch in HD untimeshifted.

Should I gamble for #1? Has anyone tried to record a PPV since this problem started?

[NEOSG]

If your already know the following, then please excuse me repeating it:-)

By law, they are only required to provide unencrypted locals over firewire. they can encrypt everything else. If they are encrypting locals, then call them up and quote the FCC info. If they fight you, you may even want to call a local tv station that has one of those shows that helps out citizens fighting the man, lol

[Humanzee]

does the FCC mention "Firewire" specifically. I have the same problem as Nate. I don't get NBC HD through frirewire, but it is in clear QAM so I can get it with my hvr 1600.