report your pvr results here

[raysacr]

I have a V2, and using a WD 640GB Green Power HDD inside an Antec MX-1. Works fine. And I must agree with the comments about this being a bad PVR...it freaking blows! I had a Dish PVR625 and that thing was great. What I absolutely HATE most is the rewind/fast forward is only 4X!! I might as well watch the **** commercials, cuz its so slow to FF. And labeling of the recordings also sucks pretty bad. Hopefully there will be software update to fix that.

[enrigonz]

Originally Posted by raysacr

I have a V2, and using a WD 640GB Green Power HDD inside an Antec MX-1. Works fine. And I must agree with the comments about this being a bad PVR...it freaking blows! I had a Dish PVR625 and that thing was great. What I absolutely HATE most is the rewind/fast forward is only 4X!! I might as well watch the **** commercials, cuz its so slow to FF. And labeling of the recordings also sucks pretty bad. Hopefully there will be software update to fix that.

One thing I found out about through just pure coincidence was that the channel up or down button does a "jump ahead" feature similar to that one found on the dish receiver. You skip about a minute or so a a time forward and about 30 seconds backwards. So usually I completely skip commercials by pressing it about 3 times.

[lzolnier]

Originally Posted by raysacr

I have a V2, and using a WD 640GB Green Power HDD inside an Antec MX-1. Works fine. And I must agree with the comments about this being a bad PVR...it freaking blows! I had a Dish PVR625 and that thing was great. What I absolutely HATE most is the rewind/fast forward is only 4X!! I might as well watch the **** commercials, cuz its so slow to FF. And labeling of the recordings also sucks pretty bad. Hopefully there will be software update to fix that.

After pressing the OK button to show the red progress bar, press the volume buttons on your remote to fast forward or rewind much faster. Doing this I can fast forward a two hour recording until the end, in about 30 seconds. You will get through those commercials in 2 or 3 seconds using these buttons.

[jeffultra]

SV HD8000 PVR is fragile with many problems, but works sometimes. Here are the missing features and bugs.

Missing Feature #1
No auto buffer for time shifting. Can't rewind unless you first have it on Pause for some duration to save up video.

Missing Feature #2
Can't watch an old recording at the same time while recording something new.

Missing Feature #3
Can't "Start over" and watch a partially recorded event and time shift it while it's still recording.

Bug #1
Machine freaks out if you have an event set for a channel that is not included in the FAV list you're currently watching. When the event tries to start recording it can't find the channel and locks up. Especially a problem for recurring schedule events, where who knows what FAV list the machine might be on when the event tries to start.

Bug #2
When recording DTV if the signal is lost for more than a second the whole system locks up. Guess it can't recover the data stream or something and corrupts the file. Have to shut down everything and do a USB scan to get the drive back.

In summary the PVR functions are too basic, and very fragile. The FAV bug I mentioned above is the one I encounter the most. Hope that can get fixed. Have it automatically switch to the "All Channel" list when recording or something.

PVR aside, I still think the SV HD8000 is a great machine.

[gijosh28]

I am returning a FreeAgent Go 320GB. It would not work. I tried to format it with the SV8000. After a day of it saying please wait I unplugged it and recycled the power on the SV8000. I formatted the drive for fat32 on a computer and tried again. No luck. Has anyone gotten a self powered 2.5 external drive to work with this?

[arboristman]

i see allot of user error reports in here more so than i see actual stb pvr bug reports.
i think it's important to read the pvr section here:
http://www.abadss.com/forum/324-sv80...tml#post383468

once you read how to use it,
you will see you can quickly set all your recordings before heading out to work or bed.
once recorded,all your files are in folders with name of event.
and you can totally SCREAM through a whole movie both rew or ff by pressing the left/right.as well as the other nice increments.
i don't see much wrong with myself.but iv only used a flash drive.
if i didn't use my pc for recording directly to mpeg,then i for sure would totally be happy with this.
im very surprised to not see from others who like it.

join in here people.this is not just for reporting bugs.
i know there's MANY more of you out there that like this and are happy with this stbs pvr feature than the few (not all,but most) user error reports.

let others know and see if your happy with the pvr too.
thats important because from reading this thread as is,one would think this pvr is trash! thats just crazy of course.
so please people,all you who enjoy it,also chime in here.

[arboristman]

Originally Posted by jeffultra

Missing Feature #1
No auto buffer for time shifting. Can't rewind unless you first have it on Pause for some duration to save up video.

well,how could it?
you can't rewind something that you never told it to start recording in the first place?
it would have to constantly right/overwrite all the time your hdd was plugged in.
wouldn't that be hard on a hdd to constantly seek like this?
i wouldn't want the unit to do this to my hdd all the time.
seems that would generate lots of heat and just wear out your hdd to me.
and all for what? for what would this serve? i really don't understand.
you can hit pause,go grab a beer and hit play when you get back.lol
seems overcomplicated? truly i don't understand the purpose that would serve.
edit!
oh,so that you could rewind something that you wanted to see again,but didn't necessarily think you wanted to record.i gotcha!
hmmm.man,i can't see it being worth the wear and tear on a hdd.id personally turn and leave that off,if where me.
they might be able to have it start doing this when you turn timeshift on.but i mean,you might as well just start recording if there is an event on that you might think you would want to view again.

Originally Posted by jeffultra

Missing Feature #2
Can't watch an old recording at the same time while recording something new.

ok.i just checked.
yes you can.
however you cannot press menu and enter your list that way,or it asks to stop recording.
all you need to do is press the blue button to enter the av file list during recording.then you can find the event to play and resume playback interrupting the current recording.

that's pretty neat.i'l add that feature to guide.
some of you are just not testers.

i just never thought of things,as i don't have use for pvr much myself like you guys are using them.
so i'l keep checking your issues and see if i can find these things.

edit.
instructions for this feature is now added to the menu/features guide.

Originally Posted by jeffultra

Missing Feature #3
Can't "Start over" and watch a partially recorded event and time shift it while it's still recording.

not sure what you mean here.sounds like your asking for something that only a dual tuner could do tho.

sounds like you will be interested in the 360 hd dual tuner when it comes out.

Originally Posted by jeffultra

Bug #1
Machine freaks out if you have an event set for a channel that is not included in the FAV list you're currently watching. When the event tries to start recording it can't find the channel and locks up. Especially a problem for recurring schedule events, where who knows what FAV list the machine might be on when the event tries to start.

ok i just ran a test for this.i went into a favorite and set a recording in the epg. (15 mins ahead the event was due to start.)
i then went into a diff fav group and watched and waited.
channel changed to event and began recording fine.

Originally Posted by raysacr

I have a V2, and using a WD 640GB Green Power HDD inside an Antec MX-1. Works fine. And I must agree with the comments about this being a bad PVR...it freaking blows! I had a Dish PVR625 and that thing was great. What I absolutely HATE most is the rewind/fast forward is only 4X!! I might as well watch the **** commercials, cuz its so slow to FF. And labeling of the recordings also sucks pretty bad. Hopefully there will be software update to fix that.

that's a dual tuner pvr.
you can't compare what a dual tuner pvr can do to a single tuner pvr.
that's like having 2 stbs in one.
you simply can't do what a dual tuner can do.
that's apples to oranges.
and for the other issues.you simply didn't read the features guide to learn how to seek quickly.

Originally Posted by spidermann

I am using LaCie 500G, just plug in and hit record and works- but no REC icon on screen shows up as it says in menu.

yeah,that would be good to have a popup at least when you start recording.you have to verify it by looking down at the LED on the unit.
this would be handy.

Originally Posted by spidermann

I can not view other channels while recordind - there might be 10 channels i can view but they are weird channels i have never seen before. But sometimes i can record a porno and view the rest of the porno channels and sometimes they are all black.

its a single tuner pvr.
so your limited to only viewing the same set of channels located on the tp your recording.
press the ok button or epg to view the list.this will vary depending on what tp you happen to be on.
alternatively,you can also playback a previous recording as above above.
but don't you guys have dvd players too?

Originally Posted by spidermann

Lately i noticed the hard drive making a louder noise then usual, not sure if it is because it is almost full.

it's probably a good idea to defragment a hdd once in awhile.diskeeper is great utility that will scan and defrag external hdds.
this shouldn't hurt anything,just rearrange files.like all hdd's when they get fragmented they slow down in read/write times.and yes make loud noises when really fragmented.

[bilski]

I have a WD 360 gig HDD connected to my SV8k and it works great. No problems. I am running Vista 64 and it doesn't have the FAT32 formatting option, but it does have exFAT that removes some of the restrictions of FAT32 (limited allocations and such). Once formatted with the computer just plug it in and reboot the stb. Then start recording away.

In the back of the manual for the stb it says they are working on an option of having the pvr hd mounted internally. That would be a nice feature. I might look into seeing how much room is in the case and see if it's possible to mount a SATA 3.5" or 2.5" hd in it. That would save some room and I won't have to mount a USB port on the back of the unit.

[Franktabulous]

Originally Posted by arboristman

well,how could it?
you can't rewind something that you never told it to start recording in the first place?
it would have to constantly right/overwrite all the time your hdd was plugged in.
wouldn't that be hard on a hdd to constantly seek like this?
i wouldn't want the unit to do this to my hdd all the time.
seems that would generate lots of heat and just wear out your hdd to me.
and all for what? for what would this serve? i really don't understand.
you can hit pause,go grab a beer and hit play when you get back.lol
seems overcomplicated? truly i don't understand the purpose that would serve.
edit!
oh,so that you could rewind something that you wanted to see again,but didn't necessarily think you wanted to record.i gotcha!
hmmm.man,i can't see it being worth the wear and tear on a hdd.id personally turn and leave that off,if where me.
they might be able to have it start doing this when you turn timeshift on.but i mean,you might as well just start recording if there is an event on that you might think you would want to view again.

This is in reference to a question regarding- being able to rewind a program you hadn't started recording. I subscribe to DN and two of the DVR's I've had from them allow this rewinding of programs you are just simply watching for some time. Having used a CS7000 for some time, I know this machine has the feature as well. If no other machine allowed it, no one would 'care' or even know the option was available... But it seems many DO have it.

I had two hard drives (at my disposal) to choose from when connecting this SV8000. A Western Digital 1000gig (1 terabyte) drive and a 200gig Maxtor 'One Touch'. Typically, I have a 'bigger is better' view on most things, but as has previously been mentioned, 'bigger is not better' on a PVR. 200gig Maxtor 'One Touch' works great.

IMO, the controls for navigating through a pre-recorded program are not 'difficult' so much as they are 'different'... The ability to go +5/-5 minutes with the red & green buttons (I think) is better than the ff/rewind buttons on any PVR/DVR I've used. Has it frozen up on me? yes... Have I had to reboot it from time to time? yes... After stopping a recording, there have been times when the screen goes black when it's supposed to list the content of the 'USB device', but it has not locked up... If you're familiar with the controls, you can push any function buttons and it will respond (it seems the software does not always re-draw the screen of USB content after stopping a program)... scrolling up or down arrow will display your programs once again.

Some of these above mentioned items are viewed as 'an inconvenience' or a manifestation of poor workmanship, poorly written software, etc... In my view, if you 'test' these machines, you must like to tinker. If a person doesn't enjoy tinkering and experimenting with new things, testing FTA may not be a suitable hobby.

-Franktabulous

[opn4bzns]

Installed the Fantom 500 gig GForce drive and have had no problems with it being recognized, recording, playback or other functions.

[Davidmullinsdvm]

Although this thread has been very informative, I have a question that I didn't see a definitive answer yet in this discussion.

Does the SV8000HD PVR have a "season pass" option? That is, can you set it to record "The Office" every time it comes on automatically, or do I have to manually schedule every Thursday night? If it does have season pass, does it have the "new episodes only" or "all episodes" options like Tivo and others have?

[enrigonz]

Originally Posted by Davidmullinsdvm

Although this thread has been very informative, I have a question that I didn't see a definitive answer yet in this discussion.

Does the SV8000HD PVR have a "season pass" option? That is, can you set it to record "The Office" every time it comes on automatically, or do I have to manually schedule every Thursday night? If it does have season pass, does it have the "new episodes only" or "all episodes" options like Tivo and others have?

The SV8000HD is a great receiver, not PVR. It's not even close to what a Tivo is. You can set it to record a show on a certain channel at a certain time, everyday, weekend, weekday, etc. It doesn't recognize the show as for what it really is. Is a lot like a VCR mainly not so much a Tivo, a Tivo is a smart recording device, this thing is just dumb. It is my biggest disappointment with this unit but the picture quality is simply great.

[Davidmullinsdvm]

Thanks, Enrigonz.

Not to beat a dead horse here, but another question about the PVR, if you will.

So, when you do record a show on, say, Thursday night at 9:00, what does the file show up as on your USB? "The Office, February 26" or just a some .avi (or whatever extension) file? Does it automatically group shows with the same name (all CSI's in a folder)?

[enrigonz]

Originally Posted by Davidmullinsdvm

Thanks, Enrigonz.

Not to beat a dead horse here, but another question about the PVR, if you will.

So, when you do record a show on, say, Thursday night at 9:00, what does the file show up as on your USB? "The Office, February 26" or just a some .avi (or whatever extension) file? Does it automatically group shows with the same name (all CSI's in a folder)?

Well, the first show of a particular episode might carry the right name but no date. If you record more than one show of the same episode, say, Dr. Phil, everyday at 5PM, it starts to show as WNBC then WNBC_01 and WNBC_02 and so on, it starts naming the shows after the name of the station, so if its Fox then it will be Fox_01, Fox_02. For whatever the strange reason after the first recording it looses the name of the show. No it doesn't group the shows on their own folder, remember, this is a really dumb unit when it comes to PVR functions.

It's just a really bad PVR, after a while you get used to it and learn to deal with it until hopefully someday Sonicview updates the firmware on this thing and it gets better.

If you have anything close to a Tivo such as Dish Networks DVRs then you will really hate the way this thing works just like I did.

[Starkatcher]

I have 2 SV8000 HD receivers. One works well with My Book Western Digital 750. The other one does not work at all with WD. I talked to one of the guys at SonicView USA. He said I was lucky to get a WD to work with my SV 8000. He said for some reason WD hard drives do not work with the SV receivers. He told me to buy Simpletech. There had been no reported problems with SonicView working with Simpletech.

[fadeout]

I am not sure if the following two would take coder too much time to fix/add, but they always bother me little while enjoying overall pretty solid SV8k and its pvr function.

(1) File listing (blue key) doesn't have a column 'recorded date'. When multiple episodes of the same show have been recorded, changes are some of them will be named by show name and rested of by the TV station name. For example, you could get 'lost.*','lost_1.*' and 'wabc.*', 'wabc_1.*'. In such case, you will be totally lost when you want to to figure out who should be watched before who... (or a 'sort by' function can solve it)

(2) while you are watching a recorded show, a scheduled event kicks off then you will be brought back to that scheduled event. This wasn't like this before a BIN update. Before that, the scheduled record event would start automatically as a background process, which is better.

[bizee]

Seagate 1TB hooked up to HD8000.
Say I already have a movie recorded on extHD. If I record another movie, it appears to overwrite first movie. Function buttons such as lock or move do not seem to work. Possibly/likely I am missing something. I have tried formatting on computer and extHD (using FAT32).

Also my HD8000 recognizes extHD when first connected (after a minute). If I disconnect extHD (using 'remove safely') and try to reconnect, I have to take the power off the extHD, disconnect USB connection, and sometimes have to reboot HD8000. And sometimes HD8000 had gone to black picture and reboot needed.

[cribber]

1 TB hard drive is too large for your SV8000. 500gb is the largest to use.
However 1TB will work with the SV360 series.

[bizee]

Thanx Cribber

Others on forums have said they use 1TB and it works. I know the manual says 320 or something like that. Of course I didn't read it until after I bought extHD.

As a matter of fact, I recorded a movie this morning. I set the timer, came back later in the day and went to check on the USB file list, and as I was going thru the menu it locked up and started rebooting. Then about 5 minutes later the picture came back on to the A/V menu page but it was scrunched up. I went to "remove USB safely" and said no device detected (probably because when it rebooted it did see it after restarting). When I went to exit it asked me if I wanted to save it in HD OSB mode. So I said yes. Now it has been 10 minutes rebooting. I will wait a few more minutes for it come around as I have to go to work. If it doesn 't come back up, I will have to hard boot rec'r.

Once again, thanx for replying.

[cribber]

Don't bother wasting your time with the 1TB hard drive on your sv8000. Get a 500gb
and enjoy. The Maxtor 500gb works smooth as silk.