Anyone using HD PVR SUCCESSFULLY?

[joe123]

I am a SageTV user for many years recording in SD. I just now am starting on the HD recording ban wagon.

I bought the SageTV Theater Extender and the HD PVR.

After reading dozens and dozens of posts with users having all kinds of problems with the HD PVR, I am like to know if Anyone has gotten the HD PVR to work SUCCESSFULLY?

By successfully, I mean where the HD PVR records withOUT ANY LOCKUP, errors, hickups, sound problems, video problems while using SageTV and viewing HD recordings that are LIVE recordings ( watching a recording that is being recorded live by the HD PVR )?

I don't think there is a single person here, but I may be wrong.

[gplasky]

Yepper. Worked fine from the get-go. Installed on WHS, Using USB-UIRT to change channels on the Comcast Motorola 6200 HD cablebox. Optical connection with the latest drivers. I get AC3, great video, no hiccups, lockups, etc. Record probably 30-40 shows, movies, etc. per week. I think there is a thread with a poll with successful users in the forum. Search for it.

Gerry

[davephan]

My HD-PVR is usually stable, recording about 100 shows a week. I am using a Motorola DCX3200 HD cable box controlled by a USB-UIRT. I don't have the IR covered up with black tape on the HD-PVR, maybe I should find the IR device and cover it up - I heard that can increase the stability.

I have failures about every two months or so where the HD-PVR will loose the drivers. I either re-install the drivers or recover to a past image when the system did not have problems. My impression of the HD-PVR is that it is not designed very well and is temperamental. I think using a USB connection for video is a poor method. I would rather use a PCIe connection with an internal card, but it isn't available. I think I will try making the HD-PVR fan modification, maybe that will improve the reliability. For now, I will just keep fixing the HD-PVR driver problem when it happens again. At least it only happens about every two months instead of every day.

Dave

[bsung]

I have 3 HD PVRs. One specific one seems to lock up about once every 2-3 weeks. Turning it off and on seems to fix it. The two others have been fine for many months now.

i7; Win7 64 Ultimate; Fios with Motorola (don't remember model) boxes; 2 HD200s; all the latest drivers

If you need something that's 100% perfect, HD PVR isn't for you. If you can live with 99% in HD, HD PVR can do it.

There are a couple of other quirks you'll have to get used to. One is the channel changing delay. It can be a few seconds. The second quirk is that maybe once every couple of hours or so, you might see a glitch in video/audio which lasts a couple seconds. I think it happens when you don't get a clean enough signal and confuses the HD PVR. It doesn't require a reboot and doesn't mess up the recording but you might miss a couple of words in the show.

[razrsharpe]

Mine is stable. Win2003, 1.5.6.1 drivers, C1 rev, serial channel changing, its in a cooled rack so external IR and heat arent issues for me. Live comskipping and occasional live watching of shows. Very, Very rarely i get a lockup but these are usually after ive been messing with the server so don't know i can blame that on the hdpvr...

EDIT: 5.1 AC3 audio, stb locked at 720p, 5x 750GB in RAID 5 on 3ware 9550 hardware raid controller

[mikejaner]

Mine is rock solid. Windows XP, 1.5.301 driver, USBUIRT, and has been about six months since I have had to reset it.

[Clift]

No problems here.

Windows Vista Ultimate x86, all other hardware as indicated in my sig. HD PVR driver 1.5.6.0, using RCA audio, locked STB @ 1080i

My HD PVR has been stable for almost a whole year, with maybe 2 or 3 lockups IIRC.

[cslatt]

Mine works flawlessly, never had a lockup. Don't even remember what driver version I'm running because I've never had to fuss with it. It never locks up. I often watch it live while it is recording.

[paulbeers]

Periodically I get a "halt in recording" from Sage which causes me to lose about a minute of show (time it takes Sage to automatically reset it). I would say that happens about once every 2-3 weeks or so, but beyond that I would call it stable. I've been using it with analog audio on Windows XP SP2 for over a year and a half. Yes it is technically my "worst" recording device, but by only a small margin!

[Brent]

I use my Hauppauge HD-PVR quite successfully. It's been rock solid for the past many months (not 100% sure how many now but at least 4 or more). I count on it for all of my digital cable recording including many HD channels

Secrets to HD-PVR success:

1. Make sure it's getting plenty of airflow - it's design is flawed in that it gets hot. I keep mine on its side
2. Use SageTV. I've used it with MediaPortal, BeyondTV and even attempted to use it with MediaCenter (hackish) and SageTV has by-far the best "handshake" with the HD-PVR of all of them I've tried
3. Use the latest version of SageTV software & HD-PVR firmware. Those are the most solid
4. Use firewire channel changing if you have that as an option. No more IR blasting = faster channel changes & accurate channel changes

If all else fails & you're getting lockups I'd send it back to Hauppauge.

I used to have to reboot the HD-PVR a few times, but that need went away with the latest Hauppauge firmware update (and SageTV software updates) - honestly the cable box is a weaker link than the HD-PVR

[Chriscic]

I think most people who use it have pretty good results. Just buy from someplace with a decent return policy and go for it.

Note that this is a rational reco. from someone who himself has had (and still has) tons of problems... but the odds are probably in your favor. And there's no other game in town except a cablecard PC.

[Djc208]

Mine worked well right out of the box. The only issues I've had were I knocked the SPDIF connection loose which caused fits with the HDPVR until I figured it out, and maybe once per month the IR blaster stops working and I'll reboot the server to get it back to normal, but it's rare.

I think mine is a C3 rev with the last regular driver set (don't remember the number). Honestly it was harder to map the channels in Sage than it was to set up and install the HD PVR.

[Rico66]

Mine (C2) was unstable at the beginning with tons of lock-ups. The problems were caused by IR interference, and went away once I covered the IR receiver window on the hd pvr (many people call this vodoo, but it was the cause of failure in my case). It's possible that this issue is actually fixed in newer driver releases (but I never bothered to double check)

I still saw a few lock-ups recently, but all were related to source (signal) issues. The audio signal on one channel turns frequently bad (sounds as under water). Once this happens the likelyhood of a lock-up increases. I don't know why this only happens on one channel.

[joe123]

Thank you all for the feedback and encouraging news.

I am going crazy trying to get my HD PVR stable. Mine is locking up 2-5 times per recording. I have not been able to get a single recording done without it locking up.

My previous setup was two WinTV 150 tunners which worked flawlessy for years. I am not expecting the HD PVR to be the same, but I cannot even get a single recording done without a lockup.

I have tried most of the suggestions here with no lock. My setup is:

• SageTV 6.6.2.
• Win XP 32bit, 2GB memory, Intel dou 3.GHz CPUS.
• This is my 2nd brand new HD PVR with same problems ( Rev E1).
• Latest drivers for HD PVR ( 1.5.6.1 )
• SageTV Theater Media extender.
• Using HD PVR IR for channel changing - works just fine.
• Time Warner HD Pionner cable box (STB).
• Using RCA red/white cables for sound hookup from HD PVR to STB.

Have not tried the black tape over the IR on the HP PVR or the older drives - will do that next.

Can someone please tell me where I can get the 1.0.5.301 drivers ? Can't find them with Google.

Thank you all!

[jerryt]

Originally Posted by joe123

Can someone please tell me where I can get the 1.0.5.301 drivers ? Can't find them with Google.

Thank you all! [/COLOR]

http://www.shspvr.com/ftp/download/wintv-hdpvr/

Joe123 check you PM for the orginal CD with the TME version which works with drivers 1.0.5.301

I hope to be like everyone else in this thread someday, until then I will have to hate HD-PVR owner who do not have lock ups...

[joe123]

Thank you Jerry! Will try and report back.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by joe123

I am going crazy trying to get my HD PVR stable. Mine is locking up 2-5 times per recording. I have not been able to get a single recording done without it locking up.

I did not see a USB-UIRT on your list. I found that using the self contained HD-PVR IR blaster seemed to cause instability. I switched to a USB-UIRT, which I already owned, and the stability increased drastically.

Dave

[joe123]

Originally Posted by davephan

I did not see a USB-UIRT on your list. I found that using the self contained HD-PVR IR blaster seemed to cause instability. I switched to a USB-UIRT, which I already owned, and the stability increased drastically.

Dave

Hi Dave.

Yes, I am using the HD PVR IR blaster to change channels on my STB - it's working perfectly (the only thing working correctly ).

I will change to a USB UIRT if that fixes it. In my old setup, my WinTV PVR-150 used it's IR blaster in the PVR-150 to change channels and it worked flawlessly for years, but again, I will change if that is the cause.

Is there a way to remove the HD PVR self contained IR blaster to test to see if that's the cause? I don't care to change channels for test purposes.

[Djc208]

You can uninstall the software but I'm not sure why that would be causing your problems with the recordings.

Have you tried fixing the cable box output? People have had problems with certain resolutions or audio formats. You might try making the cable box output fixed at either 720 or 1080 and see if that helps.

Have you tried watching the cable box output? If you have a weak signal or other signal issues then that could be glitching out the HD PVR.

Otherwise I would take a careful look at what else is running or connected to the system. Disconnect or shut off anything you can and see if that helps.

[B-Figgy]

I'm now running a C2 and a D2 with a Motorola DCH3200 and DC6200 and they don't have any problems. The C2 can lock up when cables are connected to the pass-through ports, however, but I have no possible explanation for why that could be. Firewire channel changing and a USB-UIRT to round out the setup.

Edit: 1.0.5.3 drivers and RCA audio. It still has issues with the optical audio.