DVR Issue: Recorded TV on DVR but not Live TV / Live TV only on all other boxes

[jphaus]

The subject describes the problem I'm having:

Since last night I can watch Recorded TV only on the DVR box (no Live TV), and from all other non-DVR boxes I can watch Live TV but not recordings (says something to the effect of "no recordings available").

I have tried rebooting all boxes multiple times, plus the gateway, all to no avail.  Seems like a DVR issue to me.  What do you guys think?

Tier 1 wanted me to do a disaster recovery but I wasn't willing to lose all of my recordings (which are still there since I can watch them on the DVR).  So they are sending a tech on Thursday to replace my box (which will also get rid of my recordings, but I figured it would buy me time in case you guys know something I don't and I can get it fixed on my own).

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Geek]

Check your network connection (coax or Cat5e) on the DVR.  If the DVR can't access the network to get live TV, and the other STBs can't access the DVR, it sounds to me like the DVR isn't on the network.

[FuzioN_1]

Maybe unplugging the cable (CAT5 or Coax) that connects your DVR to the RG will work. While it is unplugged, reboot your DVR by unplugging the power cord at the back and hold down the power button for 20 seconds before you plug it back in.While it is rebooting, plug the cable (CAT5 or Coax) back in. And also, like SomeJoe said, maybe your dvr is out of your home network. You might want to do a factory reset on your gateway. You will not loose your recordings by doing that instead of doing a disaster recovery on the dvr. When doing a factory reset, you must press and hold down the red reset button on the gateway for more than 10 seconds so that it will reset it's settings to factory default. If it's less than 10 seconds, it will be a normal reboot only so you might want to take note of that. 

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[kaseyi]

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jphaus wrote:
The subject describes the problem I'm having:

Since last night I can watch Recorded TV only on the DVR box (no Live TV), and from all other non-DVR boxes I can watch Live TV but not recordings (says something to the effect of "no recordings available").

I have tried rebooting all boxes multiple times, plus the gateway, all to no avail.  Seems like a DVR issue to me.  What do you guys think?

Tier 1 wanted me to do a disaster recovery but I wasn't willing to lose all of my recordings (which are still there since I can watch them on the DVR).  So they are sending a tech on Thursday to replace my box (which will also get rid of my recordings, but I figured it would buy me time in case you guys know something I don't and I can get it fixed on my own).

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Just wondering...How many other stb's were on when you turned on your DVR?  IF you had 4 other STB's on watching SD or 2 watching HD you have used up all your live streams and you would not be able to watch any live TV on the last box you turned on (which might have been your DVR)

(just trying to eliminate the obvious)

Kasey

Message Edited by kaseyi on 01-28-2009 08:36 AM

[jphaus]

Kasey -- We definitely did not exceed the maximum number of allowed streams at one time.  This happens even with only one box on at a time.  What's funny is that the T1 guy told me that the reason I could not view Recorded TV in other (non-DVR) rooms is because the DVR needs to be powered off in order to use THDVR.  I told him that is contrary to how we have been using it since the day it rolled out.  I can't believe someone who is supposed to be more educated than us on this stuff even said that.

Fuzion -- I will have the wife try unplugging the Cat5 cable, then the power cable, then powering back up as you suggested.  I will report back soon on what happens.  If that doesn't work, I will try factory resetting the gateway when I get home tonight.  I just want to record all my MAC address filtering first. 

Message Edited by jphaus on 01-28-2009 10:55 AM

[jphaus]

She just tried the DVR reset and it didn't help.  I'll try the gateway reset tonight and report back.

Also, just to clarify my problem on the DVR itself, when attempting to watch Live TV, the program description comes up at the bottom, but the video is a black screen.  When flipping through the guide, some channels show up in the PIP preview, and some don't.  On the ones that do, attempting to watch them full screen results in the black screen.  I am using HDMI on the DVR and have been for a full year with no problems.

Message Edited by jphaus on 01-28-2009 11:13 AM

[jphaus]

Just tried the factory reset of the gateway and that didn't work either.  I guess my DVR really is bad (or needs a disaster recovery).  I will wait for the tech tomorrow to go through all of that.  What are my chances of getting an upgraded (bigger) hard drive if he has to replace it?  I'm in St. Louis....

[hpmsrm]

When you performed the reboot of your DVR......how did you initiate it?  One way is holding the power button in for 5 seconds.  Another, which I prefer, is unplugging the power to the DVR for about 30 seconds and then repower it.  The procedure it goes through seems about the same for either of these procedures but, frankly, I've had better luck with the latter method.   Just a thought.

[jphaus]

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hpmsrm wrote:
When you performed the reboot of your DVR......how did you initiate it?  One way is holding the power button in for 5 seconds.  Another, which I prefer, is unplugging the power to the DVR for about 30 seconds and then repower it.  The procedure it goes through seems about the same for either of these procedures but, frankly, I've had better luck with the latter method.   Just a thought.

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I have tried both.

[FuzioN_1]

Don't want to say it but a disaster recovery is next on the list. But since a tech is coming out tomorrow, then it would be best not to touch anything from this moment on til the tech arrives. You may want to call ts again to check your appointment status to make sure that the tech is really coming. On the larger hard drive dvr, I'd say 1%. IMHO

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[jphaus]

Well, I fixed my own problem 2 hours before the tech was supposed to arrive.  It turns out that my Cat 5 cable went bad.  I never suspected this at the beginning because I haven't changed anything around recently, or disturbed the cable or anything like that.  Plus, the green "Link" light on the front of the DVR was always lit so I figured that meant it was communicating with the gateway.  As a last ditch effort, I ran a coax cable to the DVR instead and everything works again (all rooms)!  So I guess I cannot really say whether the Ethernet interface inside the DVR went bad (probably unlikely), or it was just my cable.  It was easier to connect the coax that already went into the basement where the gateway is at than run a new Cat 5 right now, but eventually I'll try a new Cat 5 cable to see. 

Thanks for all of your suggestions and hopefully my experience is helpful to someone else in the future.

[FuzioN_1]

Good Job!

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[lrdiver]

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jphaus wrote:

Well, I fixed my own problem 2 hours before the tech was supposed to arrive.  It turns out that my Cat 5 cable went bad.  I never suspected this at the beginning because I haven't changed anything around recently, or disturbed the cable or anything like that.  Plus, the green "Link" light on the front of the DVR was always lit so I figured that meant it was communicating with the gateway.  As a last ditch effort, I ran a coax cable to the DVR instead and everything works again (all rooms)!  So I guess I cannot really say whether the Ethernet interface inside the DVR went bad (probably unlikely), or it was just my cable.  It was easier to connect the coax that already went into the basement where the gateway is at than run a new Cat 5 right now, but eventually I'll try a new Cat 5 cable to see. 

Thanks for all of your suggestions and hopefully my experience is helpful to someone else in the future.

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Now that it's working, it might be interesting to just plug your old cat5 back in. It could be that connecting to coax just got someting unstuck in the software.