HDPVR No Workithe, Help!!!

[HawgGuy]

I emailed Hauppauge about the suspected heat issue, reporting how it will run considerably longer on its side vs bottom down.

Someone else commented on the looseness of the RGB & RCA audio jacks - I have noticed this as well in my sample. Has anyone else noticed this?

[MeInMaui]

Here's some more info on my issues.

Tonioght I switched to the svideo input on the HD PVR and the picture came right up in the Arcsoft app. I then went over to my HD100 and added the source to SageTV and the video came up fine in the preview window. At this point I exited sage, shut off the HD PVR, and switched over to the component input. As before, I just got a black screen in the Arcsoft app and no signal in SageTV. Also, I still get no lights on the HD PVR after the initial blip at startup even while recording over svideo. After all of the testing the unit was warm, but not hot. I do not believe this to be a heat related issue in my case.

Now that I've done everything I can on my end, Hauppauge is definitely getting a call tomorrow.

Aloha,
Mike

[HawgGuy]

Mike, are your component inputs wobbly?

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by HawgGuy

Mike, are your component inputs wobbly?

Yes, in the sense that they are a two high set of inputs soldered to the circuit board at the base of the box. I noticed if you plug into the lower set of Component connections, ie. the Outputs, then they are noticeably stiffer.

[CanadianEh]

Originally Posted by mikejaner

Yes, in the sense that they are a two high set of inputs soldered to the circuit board at the base of the box. I noticed if you plug into the lower set of Component connections, ie. the Outputs, then they are noticeably stiffer.

Yes, I see the same thing. Luckily, it's not something you'd be plugging in and unplugging constantly. While I love the device, it seems the case itself and the component jacks just were mounted cheaply. Why not screw them to the back of the case to increase sturdiness? Also, does anyone else find it a little strange that there's no branding whatsoever on the device? It looks very generic.

[Fluffdaddy]

Made quickly with no branding to get them out the door and in our hands. I want it NOW!, That's what many here was saying

[DualQuad]

I got the HDPVR (1 of 2 ordered) and installed it last night. Like many, the IR is flaky (sporadically changes channels - I will move to a reliable USBUIRT tonight) and I can only record for a short period of time (30 seconds to a couple minutes). The HDPVR is connected via component and stereo, I have not tried a standard def config.

I have tried both the included driver and "beta" driver, no real change in performance. Looks like I will be contacting Hauppauge as well.

DQ

[foolio]

wow.. looks like a very high percentage of bad devices in this batches. HAve anyone gotten RMAs from Hauppauge yet?

[sleonard]

My issue was escalated to an Hauppauge "engineer" Monday morning and was told that I would get a callback or email by Tuesday. It's now Thursday and I haven't heard hide nor hair from them.

S

[jvl711]

I just emailed support about my issue. I am having the same issue as many of the other people, but I am getting about ~10-15 of recording before the unit locks up. A bit annoying, but I guess it is expected when being an early adopter.

[HawgGuy]

Received this reply from Hauppauge:

We're not sure quite what's going on. We want to get your device in
for testing. I'll have to set you up with an RMA. I'll need your name
address and phone number. I'll then give you an RMA number to send it in
under. We'll have to test it with engineering to see what the issue is.

Who knows. May be a software/firmware fixable problem or may be that the ventilation is inadequate. I'm fairly confident that Hauppauge will sort it out.

[muneebk]

I spoke in great detail to the customer service folks today. I originally had no picture at all until seeing everybody's heat issues where I then decided to power off the unit, put it on its side, and power it up immediately before launching the Arcsoft TMT software. I was able to get video for a few minutes until freezing, and so on and so forth. I saw the same issues everyone else was. I called Hauppauge this morning and wouldnt let the tech give me any canned answers. I finally got him to relay messages over the cube wall to who I think must have been an engineer. I explained that I'm a board/chip designer and any "real" data would really be appreciated after they refused to give me an RMA. The net-net is that there is a memory timing issue that they are investigating that is causing memory corruption and eventual hanging of some part of the unit. This makes perfect sense given that it appears that heat or duration of operation exacerbates the problem. It also makes sense that some systems run longer than others (some have no issue) if this is the problem. One batch of memories or chips can have more timing margin than others. They told me that they are working on a fix in firmware/drivers but their ETA for a fix was 1-2 weeks. Hopefully something will be out sooner. Sorry for the bad news and overly detailed nerdfest of a reply.

[HawgGuy]

Mine's now in a box on its way back to Hauppauge. I think they want my faulty unit as a lab rat to do a forensic analysis.

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by muneebk

I spoke in great detail to the customer service folks today. I originally had no picture at all until seeing everybody's heat issues where I then decided to power off the unit, put it on its side, and power it up immediately before launching the Arcsoft TMT software. I was able to get video for a few minutes until freezing, and so on and so forth. I saw the same issues everyone else was. I called Hauppauge this morning and wouldnt let the tech give me any canned answers. I finally got him to relay messages over the cube wall to who I think must have been an engineer. I explained that I'm a board/chip designer and any "real" data would really be appreciated after they refused to give me an RMA. The net-net is that there is a memory timing issue that they are investigating that is causing memory corruption and eventual hanging of some part of the unit. This makes perfect sense given that it appears that heat or duration of operation exacerbates the problem. It also makes sense that some systems run longer than others (some have no issue) if this is the problem. One batch of memories or chips can have more timing margin than others. They told me that they are working on a fix in firmware/drivers but their ETA for a fix was 1-2 weeks. Hopefully something will be out sooner. Sorry for the bad news and overly detailed nerdfest of a reply.

good info. Thanks for sharing

B

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by muneebk

I spoke in great detail to the customer service folks today. I originally had no picture at all until seeing everybody's heat issues where I then decided to power off the unit, put it on its side, and power it up immediately before launching the Arcsoft TMT software. I was able to get video for a few minutes until freezing, and so on and so forth. I saw the same issues everyone else was. I called Hauppauge this morning and wouldnt let the tech give me any canned answers. I finally got him to relay messages over the cube wall to who I think must have been an engineer. I explained that I'm a board/chip designer and any "real" data would really be appreciated after they refused to give me an RMA. The net-net is that there is a memory timing issue that they are investigating that is causing memory corruption and eventual hanging of some part of the unit. This makes perfect sense given that it appears that heat or duration of operation exacerbates the problem. It also makes sense that some systems run longer than others (some have no issue) if this is the problem. One batch of memories or chips can have more timing margin than others. They told me that they are working on a fix in firmware/drivers but their ETA for a fix was 1-2 weeks. Hopefully something will be out sooner. Sorry for the bad news and overly detailed nerdfest of a reply.

Sounds plausible, but why wouldn't it affect "Standard Def"? I can do those types of recordings all day.
If it's not the memory issue, I think it could be a yield issue on the encoder or memory chips. It could be the batch they got had some "good" chips, which probably run the border of the overheat line, and the rest of the "bad" chips, go just over that line. Either way, I hope they fix it.
I am leaning towards heat still, but I hope your theory is the right one, because they can ship out a firmware update alot faster than fix everybody's heat issues with a heatsink.

[MrD]

Originally Posted by muneebk

I spoke in great detail to the customer service folks today. I originally had no picture at all until seeing everybody's heat issues where I then decided to power off the unit, put it on its side, and power it up immediately before launching the Arcsoft TMT software. I was able to get video for a few minutes until freezing, and so on and so forth. I saw the same issues everyone else was. I called Hauppauge this morning and wouldnt let the tech give me any canned answers. I finally got him to relay messages over the cube wall to who I think must have been an engineer. I explained that I'm a board/chip designer and any "real" data would really be appreciated after they refused to give me an RMA. The net-net is that there is a memory timing issue that they are investigating that is causing memory corruption and eventual hanging of some part of the unit. This makes perfect sense given that it appears that heat or duration of operation exacerbates the problem. It also makes sense that some systems run longer than others (some have no issue) if this is the problem. One batch of memories or chips can have more timing margin than others. They told me that they are working on a fix in firmware/drivers but their ETA for a fix was 1-2 weeks. Hopefully something will be out sooner. Sorry for the bad news and overly detailed nerdfest of a reply.

Hmmmm, this sounds like a classic example of a production assembly substitution from the prototype specs...

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by MrD

Hmmmm, this sounds like a classic example of a production assembly substitution from the prototype specs...

I love it when that happens (an assembly substitution)....I'm also a big fan of when a supplier stops making a particular part but sends you an "alternative" instead without disclosing it isn't the same!

[MeInMaui]

FYI, I just got my RMA number, so back it goes....

[spaceghost]

Hey all,
Another frustrated user. Mine will work anywhere from 10 seconds to 5 minutes. I have to power cycle the HD PVR. I contacted support and answered their default 17 questions. Waiting on another reply.

I tried using just the TME software all last night. Generally, I could watch the preview a LOT longer than trying to record. I watched the preview this morning for over 20 minutes. The longest I've ever been able to record is 5 minutes! But then again, I just previewed about 2 minutes and it hung up.

Trying to use Sage tonight in hopes it was the TME software itself causing issues. I have the same problems in Sage....

[HawgGuy]

A user on the avsforum who had the freezing problem got it to work reliably by opening the case and resting a CPU cooler on the affected/hot chips, apparently with good results.

AVS Link

See post by user replayrob