Firewire recording problems with select channels

[Archerkit]

I'm on Cox in CT, and have Sage working quite well with a Motorola DCH3200. There are certain channels I cannot reliably capture, notably Fox (both SD on channel 006, and HD on channel 704), as well as a few others. Note that the old PVR150/250s in the box record the analog channel 006 without problem.

It's not a Sage problem, although Sage suffers. On the problematic channel, it will record a corrupt mpeg. When scrolling through the recordings and if the next screen is to show the corrupt listing, Sage will grind to a halt, SageTVTranscoder fires and uses all the CPU, and Showanalyzer crashes. I usually have to close Sage and delete the file.

But outside of Sage, VLC won't display any video when tuning to such a channel. The box definitely has tuned it, because a TV attached to the analog out gets the reception.

I can change channels over firewire to a good channel, VLC shows the video; changing back, VLC fails again.

I'm using the 10/15/2008 stb driver package, though the date of the meist*.sys files is 11/11/2003.

So that eliminates Sage or Sagegraphrecorder as the problem areas.

Any ideas of how to troubleshoot? Thanks!

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by Archerkit

I'm on Cox in CT, and have Sage working quite well with a Motorola DCH3200. There are certain channels I cannot reliably capture, notably Fox (both SD on channel 006, and HD on channel 704), as well as a few others. Note that the old PVR150/250s in the box record the analog channel 006 without problem.

It's not a Sage problem, although Sage suffers. On the problematic channel, it will record a corrupt mpeg. When scrolling through the recordings and if the next screen is to show the corrupt listing, Sage will grind to a halt, SageTVTranscoder fires and uses all the CPU, and Showanalyzer crashes. I usually have to close Sage and delete the file.

But outside of Sage, VLC won't display any video when tuning to such a channel. The box definitely has tuned it, because a TV attached to the analog out gets the reception.

I can change channels over firewire to a good channel, VLC shows the video; changing back, VLC fails again.

I'm using the 10/15/2008 stb driver package, though the date of the meist*.sys files is 11/11/2003.

So that eliminates Sage or Sagegraphrecorder as the problem areas.

Any ideas of how to troubleshoot? Thanks!

Are you sure that Fox is not encrypted? I know its one of your locals and all, which shouldn't be, but I can tell you that Mediacom here in the DSM area encrypts CW and one of the local 24/7 weather channels. Both of these channels are available free OTA.

[Archerkit]

I'm not entirely sure. That might make sense, as the pattern seems to be a bit evasive. (once in a while, when I'm trying to get this working, the Fox @ 704 will capture properly). I'm guessing things can be encrypted based on the particular moment, not the channel overall? (meaning, some shows are encrypted, some not)

Is there any way to tell if it's encrypted or not? I can get the HD version of Fox on my TV by just bypassing the box and going directly to the TV. But, I'm guessing that the clear QAM I get over cable is not the same as what's output by the box? Next time a show appears that I know doesn't work with the firewire, I'll try and tune it in directly on the TV w/o the box.

Note that this also happened on channel 017 (PBS) - it would seem kind of evil to encrypt public television!

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by Archerkit

I'm not entirely sure. That might make sense, as the pattern seems to be a bit evasive. (once in a while, when I'm trying to get this working, the Fox @ 704 will capture properly). I'm guessing things can be encrypted based on the particular moment, not the channel overall? (meaning, some shows are encrypted, some not)

Is there any way to tell if it's encrypted or not? I can get the HD version of Fox on my TV by just bypassing the box and going directly to the TV. But, I'm guessing that the clear QAM I get over cable is not the same as what's output by the box? Next time a show appears that I know doesn't work with the firewire, I'll try and tune it in directly on the TV w/o the box.

Note that this also happened on channel 017 (PBS) - it would seem kind of evil to encrypt public television!

Hmmm....That doesn't sound like your issue then. It could be something as "simple" as poor reception. I think your plan of watching it thru your tv, the next time Sage can't record something is the way to go.

[Archerkit]

Could it be a problem with the particular format that's being output by the firewire? Just now I tried Fox again - Family Guy was airing on both the analog (006) and digital (704) stations.

This time I was able to capture 704, but not 006! (and in fact, a number of the lower channels failed to capture)

Note that while this is happening, I can connect a TV to this same box over the analog out, and all channels display fine. Just for kicks I ran the cable line directly to this box (no splitters) and it didn't help.

Could there be something amiss on the firewire end, the graph, etc?

Edit - I guess it's not the graph, since VLC doesn't use the graph to capture.

[Archerkit]

I've been doing a bit more digging, and found out how to get into the diagnostic menu of my cable box. Looking at the problem channels, I see no copy protection (it says COPY FREE) and the SNR is rated as "good".

I'm now at a total loss! So I'm back to thinking it's something with the firewire itself, or the driver for the box. Any other thoughts?

[pratt733]

If it's any consolation, I'm in NY (Long Island) and having the same problem. Are you on Cablevision?

[Archerkit]

I'm on Cox. For what it's worth, some people in my area have been having problems tuning channel 704 (Fox) which is at 801 mhz. They said their AT&T GSM phone is at exactly the same frequency; Cox has acknowledged this and is working on it.

But that doesn't quite explain my problem, since it occurs at other channels and frequencies, and in fact the box itself is tuning the channel without problem.

What kind of box are you using? Are you able to get into the diagnostics to view the signal strength? (on mine I hit the power button on the box and immediately hit the select button, and a menu appears)

[pratt733]

I'm using Scientific Atlanta HD4250s (five of them) hooked up to a Macintosh (as a network encoder).

The problem started last week. Only seems to be locals though.

[pratt733]

More specifically, channels 702 (CBS) and 707 (ABC). The rest of the locals are fine. I've had to install an HDHR just to get those channels back. I have no other choice but to believe they're now encrypted in some fashion.

[Archerkit]

Are you able to access a diagnostics mode? That would tell you if there is indeed copy protection on the particular channel..

[Skaught]

I can report the same issue on Shaw in Canada. Some days my HD program records fine, other days all I get is a corrupt 5GB mpeg file.

It is the same channel, just a different day. Sometimes there are 3 programs in a row, 2:3 record fine.

Certainly not copy protection since it works intermittently. I am a CMTS Engineer for another local ISP and my levels are perfect. This is not a signal issue.

I agree it is likely not a Sage issue per say. But kinda the whole reason I bought Sage, HDDCT, a massive server and my extenders to was to do this.

I have a feeling it might be related to my Graphedit config but it is extremely non-intuitive. And the fact that it works much of the time suggests to me a bug someplace.

It just seems generally unstable.

I am unsure as to why Sage is uninterested in making firewire support an integral part of their product. There are so many users with HD cable that have firewire support.