HD-PVR lock-up roll call

[Fallen Kell]

Originally Posted by PADude1

I have one of the first C1 units. From day 1 it ran hot and locked up. After a few months of this, I placed a 120mm fan outside the case blowing on it. That seemed to help a bit, but in September I opened the case up and drilled holes in the lid. Now with the unit sitting horizontal (normal position), I can actually record for a time without any lockups, but I would now like to RMA the unit to get a newer revision, after reading about the various problems here. Will they reject my return because my unit has the air holes drilled in the top? If yes, should I just try to unload that C1 on eBay and buy a newer one?

Thanks!

I think you are screwed due to the holes. Why in the world would you drill holes in a product that is still under warranty completely boggles my mind. If you have overheating issues, you call up/email tech support for something like this...

$200 lesson learned I guess.

[Fallen Kell]

Originally Posted by TorontoSage

There haven't been any updates to this forum in almost a month. I am a newbie an am just about to buy an HTPC (with an Intel i7-920, one of the latest quad core cpu's they've released), 3 HD-PVRs and 5 HD200s as I want to be able to record 2 programs while watching and pausing a third program. My SA8300HD DVR cable box only lets me record 2 programs at once or record 1 and watch 1 and sometimes I want more.

But, after reading all his I am wondering if I am going to have a problem with only running one HD-PVR. An OTA tuner is an option for some channels, but not for specialty HD cable channels. Also, I am in Toronto, Canada, so a QAM tuner is not an option as they are scrambled.

So, any updates to HD-PVR locking issue?

Well, the real issue you are going to run into is without getting 2 more cable boxes, you will not be able to record or watch more than one channel at a time. I don't know of any cable box that has 2 internal tuners and 2 separate component outs which correspond to the 2 individual tuners. While there are DVR boxes that can deal with multiple channels at once, there is no external out which would show each individual feed...

[wayner]

I had my first lockup a week or so ago. I have 2 HD-PVRs one that is 7 months old, another that is 2 months old. I did not have any lockups until this one event and since then everything has been fine. Hopefully this is not the start of a regular occurrence.

[Fluffdaddy]

Now that I covered up the IR sensor on both my HD-PVR's, I have not had a lock-up in a week. Before the "duct-tape" fix I was locking-up 3-4 times a day with the (4,0x8007001f playback error).

[Chriscic]

I was consistently having lockups every one or two days for months. Since I installed the 6.5.11 Sage beta 6 days ago I haven't had one. But, perhaps more importantly, I realized that I had the HD-PVR not sitting half on the counter, and half off. I wonder if having nothing on (half-of) the bottom is the cause of my good fortune.

Then again, it could be coincidence, and tomorrow I'll return to the lock-up brigade.

Now I have it actually hanging off the edge of the counter, almost in mid-air, held from the floor only by cables (the thing is pretty light so don't think that will cause any problems).

[aflat]

I have lockups about once a week. Newer revision E model, 1.0.52 drivers, Vista 32bit, latest version of released code of Sage, using firewire to tune my STB, so there aren't even any IR command floating around.

The bad part is that I can't use the HD200 anymore when it happens. I get a playback error, and the entire thing locks up. I can power it off, but when I power it back on, I can't connect to the Sage server anymore. It doesn't say it can't connect, it just hangs at the "Connecting to Sage server" screen.

It only seems to lockup when I'm watching/recording something on the extender for long periods of time. I used to watch TV, then when I went to bed I would just turn the TV off, but leave the extender on, and I would wake up in the morning to a locked up system about once a week, with a playback error on the screen. I have taken to restarting the Sage service at 2am every morning and I haven't had any lockups since.

I tried the 1.0.54 drivers, and it was much worse, it locked up every day. I haven't tried the Sage beta software yet. out of desperation I tried the duct tape fix, but that makes no sense to me since I'm not using any IR anywhere near that thing.

[GollyJer]

Have lockups slowed down with newer revisions? What revision are people getting who buy new today? Has talk slowed down because people aren't buying these things anymore?

I have given up on my D1, my C2 and C3 are still in rotation but one of them locks up at least every 4-5 days. So close to perfection, but so far.

[gibsonpa]

I bought mine about 2-3 weeks ago from dell. It was rev D2.

Vista found the drivers and installed (1.0.5.301), Sage found.

Was expecting lots of issues...but it has been recording 6-10 hours a day for the last 2-3 weeks with no lockups. Has been rock solid. Quite surprised actually.

I did not even attempt to fiber audio, using RCA jacks. Also taped the ir sensor, plugged into USB on motherboard (no hub).

I was hoping to get the E revision...but after seeing how stable the D2 is, no big deal.

Seems like there are lots of experiences, from great to terrible.

[aflat]

I still have lockups, with the new beta drivers. They aren't any worse, but they aren't better either.

[Chriscic]

I'm still in the "terrible" category, for both my units (both D2s, using only one at a time now via IR blaster).

[wayner]

I am in the luck category - two HD-PVRs, one running for 8 months, one for five months with only 2 lockups ever. I use firewire for channel changes and analog for audio.

[m1k3g]

As I read through this thread I really wonder why in the heck anyone would put up with a product like this??? I tried one earlier this year and it locked up after about 4 hours of use, then continued to do so for the next 3 days. After that it went back in the box and back to where it came from for a full refund.

It seems to me that the only way manufacturers ever really fix things is when it starts affecting their bottom line. Rebooting the stupid thing every day or week or whatever the interval seems like an exercise in futility AND an encouragement for Hauppage to keep rolling out the same lousy products.

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by m1k3g

As I read through this thread I really wonder why in the heck anyone would put up with a product like this???

My guess would be the fact that we have NO OTHER OPTIONS. Hauppauge has ZERO competition in this field. If some company would design a product that works better than the HD-PVR, I think just about every user here would jump ship.

It seems to me that the only way manufacturers ever really fix things is when it starts affecting their bottom line. Rebooting the stupid thing every day or week or whatever the interval seems like an exercise in futility AND an encouragement for Hauppage to keep rolling out the same lousy products.

You're absolutely right, but if we want to be able to capture HD video from premium channels, we don't have any other options.

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by GollyJer

Have lockups slowed down with newer revisions? What revision are people getting who buy new today? Has talk slowed down because people aren't buying these things anymore?

I have given up on my D1, my C2 and C3 are still in rotation but one of them locks up at least every 4-5 days. So close to perfection, but so far.

I don't receive any lockups when using the analog audio on the latest firmware (1.5.6). I tried using the digital audio with the same firmware (1.5.6) and got several lockups a week.

[GollyJer]

Originally Posted by spacecadet

I don't receive any lockups when using the analog audio on the latest firmware (1.5.6). I tried using the digital audio with the same firmware (1.5.6) and got several lockups a week.

Yeah, the whole reason I still record most shows instead of watching on Hulu/TV.com/downloading/etc. is because I get full 5.1 digital sound. At this point the lockups aren't worth it though. I'll go with analog audio and see if the lockups decrease. Maybe Hauppauge will specifically address digital audio in their next driver release.

[vikingisson]

I haven't had mine long enough to say how stable it is but if it didn't do digital audio I would have sent it back already. I have a tiny (22") screen but big sound so I insist on having digital audio. So far it is working.

I'll say this, I hope that being the only practical player in the market isn't slowing down the bug fixes. I turned down a request to build a system for a friend because of the reported issues. I'd never hear the end of it if it wasn't stable. So that's a lost sale for Haup.

[turak]

Didn't have any issues with either of my HD-PVR's until I enabled SPDIF. After switching to optical I would get multiple lockups every day. Didn't take long for me to switch back to analog RCA cables. It's a shame that we're stuck with stereo audio when recording from a HD-PVR.

[cat6man]

i had no problems for 6+ months with 5.1 audio with 2 units, then i started getting lockups all over the place.....................after a couple of weeks and pulling out my hair and rma'ing an old C1, i still had lockups..............then reloaded beta drivers, then reloaded last official release driver, and it has been perfect for the last few weeks

is is possible that something in driver installation goes right/wrong and you need to keep trying until you catch a driver install/reload with the correct phase of the moon?

[davidk21770]

I was having lots of problems. Ran hwclear, reinstalled 1.5.7.0 and haven't had a problem in over a week (was having a lock-up every other day). ir wouldn't work after the reinstall, but I was able to switch to my usbuirt -- with the beta drivers it now works ok as both an ir sender and receiver (before, I couldn't get it to do both and I needed it to tune the cable box). I haven't tried optical audio yet -- just stereo.

Edit: Rev E3

[jerryt]

Zero lock ups with DVBlogic controlling the HDPVR's with 1.5.7 drivers no 5.1 audio and a daily power recycle on the HDPVR boxes.

Love using Windows Media Center for watching live TV from the HDPVR's, channel changing time seems quick.