2 HDPVRs. One needs reboot

[Jackal24]

I have two HDPVRs connected to my system running Win7. About once every 2-3 days, I have to powercycle one of the HDPVR boxes (and then the computer) after I get warnings from sage that it was not able to start recording. It is only one box that has this problem. The box has been replaced by Hauppauge, the power supply has been replaced, and both boxes are running the same firmware (1.7.1.30059). Any ideas?

[darcilicious]

Two things: 1) have you switched the cables and/or set-top box that is connected to the HD-PVR that locks up? My experience is that lock-ups can happen with bad signal output from the set-top box. 2) You may not have to reboot the computer when you power cycle the HD-PVR after a lock-up -- try just stopping and restarting the sagetv service (there's a small java app to do it if you don't want to go into window services to do it: SageTVServiceControl.exe)

[egeller]

I second the advice to check the cable boxes. I had one go bad on me and I thought they never went bad. Swapping cable boxes with the one I had connected to a TV showed that it was Comcast's box that had the issue.

Also I had issues with the optical audio that I solved by going back to component. That issue only affected the sound.

Other than the above, the most frequent complaint seems to be the power supply going bad. I bought an extra d-link router power supply for the likely event that I will need to replace it some day.

[Jackal24]

Originally Posted by darcilicious

Two things: 1) have you switched the cables and/or set-top box that is connected to the HD-PVR that locks up? My experience is that lock-ups can happen with bad signal output from the set-top box.

Already tried all combinations. It's not the cable box.

2) You may not have to reboot the computer when you power cycle the HD-PVR after a lock-up -- try just stopping and restarting the sagetv service (there's a small java app to do it if you don't want to go into window services to do it: SageTVServiceControl.exe)

Any easy way to do this through an hd300?

[Jackal24]

Originally Posted by egeller

Also I had issues with the optical audio that I solved by going back to component. That issue only affected the sound.

I'm using analog sound

Other than the above, the most frequent complaint seems to be the power supply going bad. I bought an extra d-link router power supply for the likely event that I will need to replace it some day.

Already replaced both power supplies with dlink.

[jerryt]

Set up a timer to re-cycle the power to the HDPVR daily at 4am.

Works very well...

[Jackal24]

Originally Posted by jerryt

Set up a timer to re-cycle the power to the HDPVR daily at 4am.

Works very well...

A timer meaning hardware? That sounds like a pretty good idea. Would Sage need to be reset at that time as well? I'm assuming some type of script could take care of that.

[davephan]

I've tried all the possible solutions for the HD-PVR. The reliability is better with a separate USB card and opening the top. I was going to install a fan. I bought the fan, but did not install it yet. I was going to periodically power cycle it too. I think those are all band-aid solutions that don't really fix the problem at all. The problem is the HD-PVR is simply a flaky unreliable design. There may be a few units that are reliable, but my unit has been flaky. I'm guessing that the majority of the HD-PVR units are unreliable.

The solution to fix the HD-PVR that works is to replace it with a Colossus.

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/produc..._colossus.html

After I replaced the HD-PVR with the Colossus, my satellite set top box recording issues are completely gone.

I think you just need to get to the point where you have to admit that the HD-PVR is junk and replace it.

Dave

[MattHelm]

I've added a fan to mine, and haven't touched it since. 2 or 3 months. Server gets reset when I play with it too much. (not because of HDPVR) 1 week to 3 weeks. I posted a part number in another thread.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by davephan

I've tried all the possible solutions for the HD-PVR. The reliability is better with a separate USB card and opening the top. I was going to install a fan. I bought the fan, but did not install it yet. I was going to periodically power cycle it too. I think those are all band-aid solutions that don't really fix the problem at all. The problem is the HD-PVR is simply a flaky unreliable design. There may be a few units that are reliable, but my unit has been flaky. I'm guessing that the majority of the HD-PVR units are unreliable.

The solution to fix the HD-PVR that works is to replace it with a Colossus.

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/produc..._colossus.html

After I replaced the HD-PVR with the Colossus, my satellite set top box recording issues are completely gone.

I think you just need to get to the point where you have to admit that the HD-PVR is junk and replace it.

Dave

My experience is the opposite. I only have problems with my HD-PVRs about 1 recording every 3 months. Colossus recordings get deleted because of AAC audio about twice a week.

[jerryt]

My HDPVR's are rock solid, but they are controled by DVBLogic and then Sage, they also power cycle once a day.

You can power cycle them without doing anything to sage or the computer. The worst that could happen is you miss 10 seconds of a recording at 4AM.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

My experience is the opposite. I only have problems with my HD-PVRs about 1 recording every 3 months. Colossus recordings get deleted because of AAC audio about twice a week.

What is the AAC audio problem on the Colossus?

Dave

[sacrament055]

Originally Posted by jerryt

My HDPVR's are rock solid, but they are controled by DVBLogic and then Sage, they also power cycle once a day.

You can power cycle them without doing anything to sage or the computer. The worst that could happen is you miss 10 seconds of a recording at 4AM.

What are you using to power cycle your HDPVR's? Ethernet enabled power strips? or just a simple timer.

Do you need to press the power button on the front of the HDPVR for it to come back?

I had to reset mine yesterday. Pulled the power and waited a few seconds.. powered it back on and Windows still didn't see it until I pushed the power button on the face then it showed up again.

[Chriscic]

You might try a slightly earlier driver version and see if that helps. Although why you have trouble with one and not the other I know not.

I was pretty much the poster boy for HD-PVR lock-ups in the past, and endured reading about all sorts of silly voodoo-like solves. For the me the right drivers fixed it (I'll see if I can check what version I am using when I get home) and haven't had a lock-up in probably a year... with the same HD-PVRs that used to lock up daily.

Good luck.

[Jackal24]

If you could check, that would be great. Device manager shows the version, but the format is slightly different. I've already ordered a timer off of amazon to do resets too.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by davephan

What is the AAC audio problem on the Colossus?

Dave

Most recordings for me come out with Dolby Digital stereo or 5.1 sound but some get recorded with AAC audio. AAC audio is what you can encode to in an MP4 container.

Most of the time it will read:
"Format: MPEG2-TS[H.264 16:9 1080i@29.97fps, Dolby Digital/384Kbps@kHz 5.1]

Bad recordings look like:
"Format: MPEG2-TS[H.264 16:9 1080i@29.97fps, AAC@48kHz Stereo]"

Those AAC files are unplayable. I documented my Colossus problems with the AAC files here. After tweaking the timings for when a recording actually starts after tuning and restarting service mode nightly I've gotten it alot better. Only about 2 a week now instead of 2 a day bad on my Colossus. I've gone up to 5 months without problems on my HD-PVRs.

I've never upgraded my HD-PVR drivers from 1.5.7.0. They work with my NEC USB card so I've never tried to upgrade them. With the Colossus I've tried several different drivers. When I upgrade my Colossus server again I will use the same MB manufacturer as my HD-PVR server and I'll see if that makes a difference but until then I'm blaming my problem on the Colossus. I had a third HD-PVR on the Colossus server before I swapped it out for the Colossus and it never had a problem with the single HD-PVR even without the NEC USB card. My other HD-PVR server has two and required the NEC USB add on card to become stable.

[jerryt]

Originally Posted by sacrament055

What are you using to power cycle your HDPVR's? Ethernet enabled power strips? or just a simple timer.

Do you need to press the power button on the front of the HDPVR for it to come back?

I had to reset mine yesterday. Pulled the power and waited a few seconds.. powered it back on and Windows still didn't see it until I pushed the power button on the face then it showed up again.

Yes, Ethernet enabled power strip.

"Do you need to press the power button on the front of the HDPVR for it to come back?" No

[sacrament055]

Originally Posted by jerryt

Yes, Ethernet enabled power strip.

"Do you need to press the power button on the front of the HDPVR for it to come back?" No

Which power strip do you have? I'm looking to see if something like that would make sense for my situation.

[jerryt]

Originally Posted by sacrament055

Which power strip do you have? I'm looking to see if something like that would make sense for my situation.

http://www.digital-loggers.com/lpc.html

[Chriscic]

Checked and I'm running 1.5.7.0.