Comcast DVR problems coming to light in Boston?
Last week, Matt indicated that his love-hate
relationship with his Comcast DVR turned to the negative and based on the comments, it
sounds like you're all ready to file for divorce. What are the grounds? The Motorola 6412 is dropping the audio
channel, has been returned by some of you a number of times, or occasionally requires a reboot.The general Comcast DVR story might be taking on the spotlight in Boston as well, since WCVB up in Beantown is looking for folks to go on camera and discuss the issues. Not that we're Comcast-bashing, but it is important for the facts and background to be accurate, so if you and your Comcast DVR are watching TV in separate rooms, you might want to contact WCVB via their contact form. You'll need to be close to Boston, of course. If you're not, we might be able to recommend a good counselor for you and your DVR.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
tommiwan @ Mar 1st 2006 9:45AM
Man I have been complaining about this thing forever. I have the 6412... I've had 3 of them. Finally I learn to live with the problems it has. Just this morning I went to watch something off my DVR from last night and every few seconds the audio drops out and I get tiling on my screen.
I am in Kansas City... Will they ever fix this?
Gordon Werner @ Mar 1st 2006 10:22AM
I like it when for no reason the unit stops responding to the remote control ... so you press a lot of the buttons to get it to do something ... then all of a sudden the unit responds following all the commands (likethey were in a buffer or something)
Sheldon @ Mar 1st 2006 10:45AM
Gordon
I have the same problem constantly. Plus if I power the unit down and go to the menu to change from 720P to 1080i and power the unit back on, The audio drops and I have to unplug the unit to get the audio back. This problem however just started happening and wasnt in the unit when I first got it. The other problem is the HD makes alot of noise so I may have to swap this with another unit from comcast.
Peter @ Mar 1st 2006 12:05PM
I live in Boston and I am on my fourth box. I love my dual tuner HD DVR, especially when my tivo friends cant tape two shows at the same time, but it is getting ridiculous. I dont have audio drop problems and I can live with the fact that every now and again the box is unresponsive for a few seconds but the problem I have had with previous boxes is hard crash where a power cycle is the only solution. I mean how hard is it to make a box that works. I know people who have no problems at all, so of course, me the TV addict has all the problems. It's an annoyance I am learning to live with.
Ghost_MH @ Mar 1st 2006 2:35PM
I'm just north of Boston in Lawrence, and I love it that my DVR has two dead recordings. Play either one of them and I get a black screen that will only go away if I unplug the box. Oh, and I love the fact that trying to delete them also crashes the box...Which can only be fixed by unplugging the thing.
Wayne @ Mar 1st 2006 2:45PM
I have the 6412 phase III box, but I don't have the sound drop-outs or the phantom 1989 recordings. I live in Norwood and have the town's cable service, not Comcast. That could make all the difference.
My firmware is version 12.31. What version do others in the Boston area have?
Noodlez @ Mar 1st 2006 4:26PM
Just wondering how hot are peoples boxes running that are having troubles, as they don't seem to do well with heat.
catbertz @ Mar 1st 2006 4:30PM
Gordon:
I have the same problems with my two SoCal 6412 boxes.
Crashes, remote command overloads mentioned, sound drops and tiling every few minutes.
The programing just sucks so bad. Series recording picks up all the repeats episodes.
Hope this comcast/Tivo thing works out well.
tommiwan @ Mar 1st 2006 5:44PM
I couldn't be specific about how hot mine runs, but it sits on a table by itself, and I went as far as to put it on a cookie cooling rack. It helped my tiling problems on live tv, but I still have problems with my recordings.
AR @ Mar 1st 2006 7:57PM
Re: Heat
I had put my 6412 III under a dresser on the carpet. Bad move. The fan is on the bottom and the reduced clearance from the carpet sent the fan into overdrive and the performance of the box into the $h!ter. I fixed both problems by flipping the box up-side-down (fan side up). Worked like a charm. If anyone from Motorola engineering is reading, PUT FANS ON THE SIDES OF THE BOX when you design the 6412 IV.
lostcomma @ Mar 2nd 2006 8:59AM
I guess i am lucky probably because we have never had tivo's north of the 49th and I have much lower expectations. Plus cable companies here are monopolies so
like the post office, city services excelling at what they do is almost verboden.
adancer @ Mar 22nd 2006 1:01PM
Does anyone else have either of these problems with their Comcast DVR:
1. I set the DVR to record a program and when I come home I start to watch the program from the beginning while it is still recording. The live program ends while I'm still watching it and the DVR just turns itself off. It's like the DVR ignores that I'm still there and that I asked it to play the recording.
2. I set the DVR to record two programs that are on at the exact same but on different channels. When I go to look at the programs the next day, they are both on my Recorded list. I watch the first one with no problem. When I go to watch the second one, the recording starts to show for about a tenth of a second and then immediately stops and asks if I want to delete this recording or not delete it. It's the same message you get when you have finished viewing a recorded program.
The first of these is very repeatable. The second one has happened twice in four tests so far.