Replacing HD-PVR 1212 (with another 1212)

[drvnbysound]

So I've had (2) 1212s running for about a year now and have been pretty happy with them. Trying to save some upfront investment as I got into STV, I bought both of them used. I recently had one of them fail on me; the front power light still works, but it's not read into the Device Manager on the STV machine... or another desktop that I have. I'm assuming that it's gone.

I've read that there are issues with the new HD PVR2 (1512) getting Live TV to play over HD200s (which is what I have; 3 of them actually). Rather than deal with any of those issues, I'm planning to purchase another 1212 as a direct replacement.

Regarding the swap... the software/driver is already installed. Should it just be a matter of stopping the STV service, plugging the new one in, restarting the service, and adding it back in as a new tuner?

[BobPhoenix]

You might try a power brick replacement for your 1212's. That has always fixed any problems I've had with mine.

I have 5 now just got two a week ago from BestBuy on clearance for $109 each to use as backups if any of the original 3 die. Next up is to buy 3-5 new power bricks from Hauppauge for backups also.

[drvnbysound]

Thanks for the response.

Unfortunately, I already tested the HDPVR that isn't working... using different USB cables, as well as the power supply from the 1212 that is currently working.

[Polypro]

I was actually wondering the same thing. Can one just swap out the HDPVR, without removing and re-adding anything in Sage? I know mmc/encoder sets a unique number for each tuner - does it matter?

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by drvnbysound

Thanks for the response.

Unfortunately, I already tested the HDPVR that isn't working... using different USB cables, as well as the power supply from the 1212 that is currently working.

Sounds like yours is really dead then. I would check around you might be able to get another one on clearence like I did.

Originally Posted by Polypro

I was actually wondering the same thing. Can one just swap out the HDPVR, without removing and re-adding anything in Sage? I know mmc/encoder sets a unique number for each tuner - does it matter?

I've done that before and it can work. The caveat is that when you swap them out you may get them in a different order so your channel changes will be to the wrong box (even when using HTTP tuning on DirecTV). So always check to be sure you get your channel changes working after any swap if you have more than one HD-PVR. If the channel changes do not appear to work then swap them around.

[Evil_Attorney]

Originally Posted by drvnbysound

Regarding the swap... the software/driver is already installed. Should it just be a matter of stopping the STV service, plugging the new one in, restarting the service, and adding it back in as a new tuner?

But I think that when you install the driver, it also installs firmware on the 1212 itself, which is why it needs to be connected for the install. You might want to reinstall the driver with the new unit attached. Regarding Sage reordering the units with regard to your tuning mechanism, I seem to remember that it helps if you maintain the same physical USB ports.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

Sounds like yours is really dead then. I would check around you might be able to get another one on clearence like I did.

I've done that before and it can work. The caveat is that when you swap them out you may get them in a different order so your channel changes will be to the wrong box (even when using HTTP tuning on DirecTV). So always check to be sure you get your channel changes working after any swap if you have more than one HD-PVR. If the channel changes do not appear to work then swap them around.

If buying a used HD PVR 1212, and the owner doesn't have access to a cable box with component outputs for testing, would a DVD player achieve the same result?
Looking for a way to test one in a guys garage...

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

If buying a used HD PVR 1212, and the owner doesn't have access to a cable box with component outputs for testing, would a DVD player achieve the same result?
Looking for a way to test one in a guys garage...

Possibly. But a DVD player may have MacroVision protection on the Component output that could make the HD-PVR recordings bad so you might get a false negative (I.E. HD-PVR looks bad but it really isn't). So if you get good recordings from the DVD player then you should be good to go I would think. Also since a DVD player is for SD media not HD it would only work for HD testing if the DVD player also upconverts the output to HD at the same time.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

Possibly. But a DVD player may have MacroVision protection on the Component output that could make the HD-PVR recordings bad so you might get a false negative (I.E. HD-PVR looks bad but it really isn't). So if you get good recordings from the DVD player then you should be good to go I would think. Also since a DVD player is for SD media not HD it would only work for HD testing if the DVD player also upconverts the output to HD at the same time.

good points. also, I guess I need a laptop with PVR software installed and a working USB port to view the PVR's output on?

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

good points. also, I guess I need a laptop with PVR software installed and a working USB port to view the PVR's output on?

Yes. Although once recorded you could use anything that is capable of playing back a TS file - a SmartTV for instance. I would suggest Hauppauge's WinTV for a quick and dirty recorder if you don't want to put a SageTV Server instance on it for example. Not sure if VLC would work or not but that might be another option.