HD-PVR Stops Responding ~Once/Day

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

What recording level are people using on the HDPVR? I was using Best-H.264 but was annoyed with jumpy remote Placeshifter playback. A couple weeks ago I changed it to Great-H.264 and am pleased with the quality and Placeshifter playback. I think the bitrate was just too much for my system to transcode for Placeshifter and I my recordings are fixed at 720p. Plus, H.264 is supposed to have higher efficiency than MPEG2 so the 5.9GB/hr is probably a little bit of overkill considering that's about the rate used on OTA and QAM broadcasts.

What are your thoughts on the recording bitrate?

I don't want to turn this thread into a Placeshifter thread, but I can't get h.264 files to run in audio/video sync using Placeshifter. Go over to that thread. How do you fix the recordings at 720p?

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by HelenWeathers

I only watch on my HD200s. Best additions to my system I ever made. Never used placeshifter.

Can you let me know your detailed setup regarding decoders and renderers when you get a chance? thanks

[HelenWeathers]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

Can you let me know your detailed setup regarding decoders and renderers when you get a chance? thanks

Whatever is built into the SageTV HD200 extender. I think the decoders are built into the on board chip.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by HelenWeathers

Whatever is built into the SageTV HD200 extender. I think the decoders are built into the on board chip.

ah- right, sorry. I missed that you aren't feeding a monitor from your server. Maybe that's where my problems stem from.

oh, one other thing - there are three small lights on the front of the HD-PVR. Do you know what they represent when either on or off?

cheers

[HelenWeathers]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

.... there are three small lights on the front of the HD-PVR. Do you know what they represent when either on or off?

The light closest to the power button is the power light (blue), the next light is the record light (lit while recording, red) and the third light is a sync light that only comes on for a moment when you first start up the unit (yellow I think)

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

I don't want to turn this thread into a Placeshifter thread, but I can't get h.264 files to run in audio/video sync using Placeshifter. Go over to that thread. How do you fix the recordings at 720p?

Sorry, just quickly, it sounds like the problem you're having is with interlaced 480i or 1080i stuff. I had the same problem. The HDPVR just syncs to whatever you throw at it. You just set your STB to only output 720p.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by HelenWeathers

The light closest to the power button is the power light (blue), the next light is the record light (lit while recording, red) and the third light is a sync light that only comes on for a moment when you first start up the unit (yellow I think)

Ah, ok, I thought the red light was record. So why do you think it's on all the time - is that due to Sage's perpetual in-record state? I would have liked a light that showed when a recording "I" scheduled was active. Or, is that the way it's supposed to be and my unit is broken?

[btrcp2000]

Mine only comes on when it's actually recording something I scheduled

[sic0048]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

Ah, ok, I thought the red light was record. So why do you think it's on all the time - is that due to Sage's perpetual in-record state? I would have liked a light that showed when a recording "I" scheduled was active. Or, is that the way it's supposed to be and my unit is broken?

Originally Posted by btrcp2000

Mine only comes on when it's actually recording something I scheduled

Mine too. If the record light is on all the time (and you really are not recording something), then something is wrong. If you feel confident that you installed the drivers and software correctly, then I would exchange it

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by sic0048

Mine too. If the record light is on all the time (and you really are not recording something), then something is wrong. If you feel confident that you installed the drivers and software correctly, then I would exchange it

Thanks - both my bling lights and red light are on all the time that the SageTV interface is open (not in standby) on my server. If I bring it out of standby to watch "live tv", then all the lights are aglow. If I watch recordings, then all the lights go out again.
Do you folks have monitors connected to your servers, or are you just running, what is it, headless?
Guess it's time to give Hauppauge a call.

[HelenWeathers]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

Thanks - both my bling lights and red light are on all the time that the SageTV interface is open (not in standby) on my server. If I bring it out of standby to watch "live tv", then all the lights are aglow. If I watch recordings, then all the lights go out again.
Guess it's time to give Hauppauge a call.

IIRC the HD PVR does not recover from a PC standby well (if that's what you are talking about when you say standby). You might try a shutdown (power off) and then power up of the PC and HD PVR and see if that changes the behavior of the lights. I don't ever use standby so others will correct me if I'm wrong on this.

[Chriscic]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

What recording level are people using on the HDPVR?

I'm using Best. There's already a little bit of degradation vs. the original at that recording quality (not really noticeable at normal viewing distance on my 52" TV but more noticeable on my 130" projector screen, although decoders may play a role). So going down to great wouldn't work for me.

Haven't played with Placeshifter a lot yet myself.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by HelenWeathers

IIRC the HD PVR does not recover from a PC standby well (if that's what you are talking about when you say standby). You might try a shutdown (power off) and then power up of the PC and HD PVR and see if that changes the behavior of the lights. I don't ever use standby so others will correct me if I'm wrong on this.

Thanks Helen - when I say "standby", I mean Sage, not the PC itself. Since I use the server's video output and a HD200, then if I am not physically in the room and watching that unit, I go to the Sage menu and place it in standy.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by HelenWeathers

IIRC the HD PVR does not recover from a PC standby well (if that's what you are talking about when you say standby). You might try a shutdown (power off) and then power up of the PC and HD PVR and see if that changes the behavior of the lights. I don't ever use standby so others will correct me if I'm wrong on this.

So, here's what I tried . . . without opening Sage or Sage service, I opened up Total Media Expreme and clicked on "record video", and just left video up in the window running live. I did this four different times, and everytime the HD-PVR crashed. So, I guess I can count out Sage as the problem. It's either the Arcsoft software or the HD PVR that's causing the crashes.

[White94Cobra]

I've started power cycling mine first thing in the morning and again when I go to bed. Since I started doing this, it hasn't locked up once (2 weeks). Prior to that, it missed the last 15-30 minutes of about 90% of scheduled recordings.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by White94Cobra

I've started power cycling mine first thing in the morning and again when I go to bed. Since I started doing this, it hasn't locked up once (2 weeks). Prior to that, it missed the last 15-30 minutes of about 90% of scheduled recordings.

Are you running the audio through the RCA inputs or the spdif input?

[Chriscic]

Clearly I have been cursed by even posting in this thread. After months of flawless operation, first my second HD-PVR started locking up infrequently and now the first is locking up all the time.

Absolutely NOTHING has changed with my system setup.

The only thing that has changed even minutely is the physical positioning of the HD-PVRs. I mean, they're in the exact same spot but the top unit has probably been moved a few inches either way as I moved to reset the second unit a few times.

I have no idea. Perplexing and frustrating. I still think hardware and that they're super sensitive to heat... at least that's my only guess.

[White94Cobra]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

Are you running the audio through the RCA inputs or the spdif input?

Analog (RCA). I spoke too soon. It locked up this morning (before I had a chance to do the morning power-cycle though).

[ewelin]

I had tried a couple premptive power cycles earlier this week and I still had lockedups shortly after doing them. For example, yesterday I power cycled the units at 7 as nothing was recording and they hadn't locked up for 22 hours. The recording at 8 locked up twice.

[martin]

Has anyone found a way to reproduce the bug? This is the first step to solving this problem. I haven’t tried all of these myself, but so far, none of the following suggestions have prevented lockups:

1. Do a clean install of the drivers
2. Revert to 1.0.5.301 drivers after using hwclear
3. Keep the HD-PVR cool
4. Don’t use SPDIF for audio, use RCA
5. Don’t use hardware versions earlier than E1
6. Defragment your hard drives
7. Lock component output to 720p
8. Use a NEC PCIe USB card
9. Filter power through a UPS
10. Increase Java memory

There seems to be a lot of speculation and hacking here, but not a lot of methodical testing. Between all of us we should be able to narrow this down. I have noticed with my system, the halt error occurs during playback. If I’m not watching a recording, the error doesn’t happen. I tried to reproduce this by recording with all four of my tuners simultaneously, and watching three recordings at the same time. When I do this, the halt occurs immediately. My two HD-PVRs will not start working again until I plug them into different USB ports.

What other facts do we know?