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[briarrabbitt]

I'm having trouble with the playback of recorded files. I'm using a 320G WD Mybook. It records fine but the playback freezes. I tried formatting it and it still does the same thing. Anyone else having this issue?

[SystemDude]

Originally Posted by briarrabbitt

I'm having trouble with the playback of recorded files. I'm using a 320G WD Mybook. It records fine but the playback freezes. I tried formatting it and it still does the same thing. Anyone else having this issue?

I have experienced a number of freezeups, but up nothing exactly like this -- until today. I was watching a 1-hour program and it froze about 20 mins in. However I did not really think much about it because I know that I was messing with menus and stuff during the recording -- in retrospect, not a particularly bright thing to do. I did not dismount the drive or anything like that, but I was into and out of the main setup menu and others, which could have caused the disruption (allowing for the fact that this is still beta code -- and I hope the SV folks are monitoring these threads!). In this particular case I know the error occurred at the time of recording because the remote was still active and I was able to press "Stop" and dump out normally.

On the other hand, I have made and watched maybe a couple dozen recordings since setting up the machine, so I know it's not a chronic thing. Might have just been brought on by the operator.

[swflscubadiver]

I'm using the 360 elite with a WD MyBook 500 gig drive and its working great ... for the most part.

I have identified a bug in the reciever though and was wondering if anyone else had experienced it.

If I'm watching a previously recorded program, the receiver ignores all set event timers until I stop playback on the program I'm watching. To me that's a major issue.

I would expect the receiver to be smart enough to continue recording from timers while I'm watching something already recorded because my old DN 311 never had an issue doing this and it's not near as new and fancy.

Is there any kind of workaround for this issue?

Thanks!

[SystemDude]

Originally Posted by swflscubadiver

If I'm watching a previously recorded program, the receiver ignores all set event timers until I stop playback on the program I'm watching. To me that's a major issue.

I would expect the receiver to be smart enough to continue recording from timers while I'm watching something already recorded because my old DN 311 never had an issue doing this and it's not near as new and fancy.

Is there any kind of workaround for this issue?

I have now identified several things that don't behave quite "right", and most of them center around the PVR functions. I documented a few of them earlier in this thread. I have had a couple of times when an event timer failed to fire, and the scenario you mention could indeed have been to blame. Thank you for pointing it out.

I considered a couple of the behaviors serious enough to send an email to SV technical support, and received a polite response that the info would be passed along to the engineering team. I would certainly put this glitch in that same category -- perhaps you would like to be the contributor.

At this point I am reminding myself that we are still working with what is essentially a late-beta product, and it is complex enough that some firmware updates should be expected. Hopefully that will be soon. Meanwhile, on the bright side, I figure I have had about 98% success with the box as a whole.

In the meantime, this board and this thread specifically are an excellent venue for getting each of us up to speed on these issues.

[swflscubadiver]

Originally Posted by SystemDude

. I would certainly put this glitch in that same category -- perhaps you would like to be the contributor.

Where have you been sending your correspondence? I'd like to get this to the same person(s).

Thanks!

[swflscubadiver]

The only other nitpick thing I would have is that the menu of recorded items really should show a date. It shows the file name and size but not the date/time of recording. That would help me sort things out (especially for programs I record regularly).

SystemDude, thanks for your thoughts and comments so far. It helps all of us sort through what we are looking at.

[SystemDude]

Originally Posted by swflscubadiver

Where have you been sending your correspondence? I'd like to get this to the same person(s).

I contacted their tech department by emailing to:

techsupport@sonicviewusa.com

(which I got from the website) and communicated with a person named Julie (although I have no way of knowing how many support people there are, of course). The dialog was friendly and useful.

Originally Posted by swflscubadiver

The only other nitpick thing I would have is that the menu of recorded items really should show a date. It shows the file name and size but not the date/time of recording. That would help me sort things out (especially for programs I record regularly).

Yup..... I agree wholeheartedly. I am assuming that they just ran out of width on the filename display and had to make a decision as to what had to be dropped.

And of course they stick the '_000' and '_001' differentiators on those filenames that would otherwise be in danger of duplicating, which helps a bit.

But I have noted one thing that I believe they did in compensation -- it appears that the filenames always appear in reverse chrono order (newest at the top). This becomes apparent if you rename an older file and after the rename it pops to the top of the list.

[BTW -- PADI OW/Nitrox diver here...... ]

[briarrabbitt]

I'd been having freeze ups while watching recorded programs. I set the time shift feature to manual and now there are no issues. Playback is perfect. I don't know if the automatic time shift was causing errors on the recordings or affecting the playback but it has definately stopped since I turned it off.

It just sucks because I can't use the time shift function on automatic.

[SystemDude]

Originally Posted by briarrabbitt

I'd been having freeze ups while watching recorded programs. I set the time shift feature to manual and now there are no issues. Playback is perfect. I don't know if the automatic time shift was causing errors on the recordings or affecting the playback but it has definately stopped since I turned it off.

Good catch! I had also found some unwanted interaction between recording / playback and the time shifter (documented above). If it is truly a timing problem with trying to do two things at once with the drive, then it would also depend on a lot of factors like speed of the drive, how full it is, etc. These things can be really troubling for users and tough for the engineers to diagnose because they occur so randomly. Keeping fingers crossed.

One of my "wishes" that I sent to SV tech support was that I wanted to be able to control to which drive data streams were sent (after all, we should be able to run two or three drives simultaneously!). If this feature can be added, then we can redirect the time shifter to a cheapo memory stick on one port, and all the pvr streaming to a "real" hard drive on another port. Sounds like this would solve a lot of problems (and still leave the front port available for updates!).

[briarrabbitt]

The time shifting on my CS7000 seems to work the best out of all the receivers I've seen so far and it does what you are talking about. It has 1G of internal memory dedicated for the time shifting and recorded programs are sent out through the USB to the HD. But, with internal memory for the time shift it's fixed at 40 min.

That's a great idea. Time shifting goes "here" and recordings go "there". I hope they listen to that suggestion.

[SystemDude]

I bought an 8gB stick for about $30 and it holds about 2-3 hours of time shift, plus one or two movies for hand-carrying to my computer for conversion and recording. Currently I have to temporarily disable the HD to do that, but it's not such a big deal really. Separating the functions would make sense in so many ways.

[big frank]

Originally Posted by SystemDude

Good catch! I had also found some unwanted interaction between recording / playback and the time shifter (documented above). If it is truly a timing problem with trying to do two things at once with the drive, then it would also depend on a lot of factors like speed of the drive, how full it is, etc. These things can be really troubling for users and tough for the engineers to diagnose because they occur so randomly. Keeping fingers crossed.

One of my "wishes" that I sent to SV tech support was that I wanted to be able to control to which drive data streams were sent (after all, we should be able to run two or three drives simultaneously!). If this feature can be added, then we can redirect the time shifter to a cheapo memory stick on one port, and all the pvr streaming to a "real" hard drive on another port. Sounds like this would solve a lot of problems (and still leave the front port available for updates!).

Yes, directing data to various devices would be a great help. Something I have been thinking about since I installed my HD.. Glad you sent them the request.

[briarrabbitt]

I sent an Email to their tech support about the time shift affecting the recordings and this is what they said:

The timeshift problem is a new problem that has just been brought to our attention. We believe it is a software issue, and we will be working on a correction in the next version of the factory firmware.

Thank you for your input.

Julie

FTA Technician
SonicView USA
Email: techsupport@sonicviewusa.com

And they replied QUICKLY! Looks like the same person that SystemDude spoke to.

[big frank]

Originally Posted by briarrabbitt

I sent an Email to their tech support about the time shift affecting the recordings and this is what they said:

The timeshift problem is a new problem that has just been brought to our attention. We believe it is a software issue, and we will be working on a correction in the next version of the factory firmware.

Thank you for your input.

Julie

FTA Technician
SonicView USA
Email: techsupport@sonicviewusa.com

And they replied QUICKLY! Looks like the same person that SystemDude spoke to.

For compairison, Julie sent me back a message in regards to me sending them a message about using the IF In ports. The message I got back from her was basically a canned letter, that didn't have anything to do with the message I had sent. And there is no place to call for tech support. When you call Sonicview, they really don't have any tech support there at all.

On another note... I recorded 3 different movies using my Elite and a 500gig Maxtor HD. Two of the movies froze about 2-4 minutes in, and it looked like it was trying to go fast forward. Had to hit the stop button to get out of it. Never could watch the movies. The other movie recorded fine.

[swflscubadiver]

Originally Posted by swflscubadiver

I'm using the 360 elite with a WD MyBook 500 gig drive and its working great ... for the most part.

I have identified a bug in the reciever though and was wondering if anyone else had experienced it.

If I'm watching a previously recorded program, the receiver ignores all set event timers until I stop playback on the program I'm watching. To me that's a major issue.

I would expect the receiver to be smart enough to continue recording from timers while I'm watching something already recorded because my old DN 311 never had an issue doing this and it's not near as new and fancy.

Is there any kind of workaround for this issue?

Thanks!

Here's the answer I received on this question to SonicView:
--------------------------------------------------------
It sounds like the unit is doing what is supposed to do.

You cannot record and play back at the same time.

The two tuners allow you to watch one program while recording another, record two programs simultaneously, and enjoy picture-in-picture features.

Julie
FTA Technician
SonicView USA
phone 866-205-6571
phone (Canada) 248-240-1704


Email: techsupport@sonicviewusa.com

--------------------------------------------------------

I have asked that they consider adding this capability in future upgrades since most standard PVR's allow for it. If this is something you would like available to you as well, I suggest you contact them with the same suggestion.

[SystemDude]

Originally Posted by swflscubadiver

It sounds like the unit is doing what is supposed to do.

You cannot record and play back at the same time.

The two tuners allow you to watch one program while recording another, record two programs simultaneously, and enjoy picture-in-picture features.

Awwwww, man. Just when I was getting a nice warm fuzzy feeling for the company. If you (or Julie!) go to the website where they have the detailed technical specs for both the Premier and Elite, at

SONICVIEW USA - Product

you will read the following for the Premier:

" - Recording & Playback Simultaneously.... "

and for the Elite you will read the following:

" - Dual Recording & Playback Simultaneously.... "

There is nothing confusing or ambiguous about those statements. They are repeated verbatim in the "Features" section of the manual that came packed with the unit.

It's nice that folks are getting response to technical queries (that's doggoned rare today), but they need to at least get their stories straight. If I had to guess, I would say it means they cannot get that feature to work reliably. If that's true then they need to either fix it or remove the claim from the specs and features. Drat!!

[big frank]

Originally Posted by SystemDude

Awwwww, man. Just when I was getting a nice warm fuzzy feeling for the company. If you (or Julie!) go to the website where they have the detailed technical specs for both the Premier and Elite, at

SONICVIEW USA - Product

you will read the following for the Premier:

" - Recording & Playback Simultaneously.... "

and for the Elite you will read the following:

" - Dual Recording & Playback Simultaneously.... "

There is nothing confusing or ambiguous about those statements. They are repeated verbatim in the "Features" section of the manual that came packed with the unit.

It's nice that folks are getting response to technical queries (that's doggoned rare today), but they need to at least get their stories straight. If I had to guess, I would say it means they cannot get that feature to work reliably. If that's true then they need to either fix it or remove the claim from the specs and features. Drat!!

Hmmm, bugs in their STB, and now bugs in their manuals and website. Where will it end?

[baron1]

i beleive that the time shift and recording is a dual funtion of the box. if you notice that when you timeshift you have access to all channels and all tp's, when you record you have access to only channels on that tp.

so when in timeshift you are watching and recording only program watching when you switch tuner timeshifting switches also because it only records what is put out to tv
when recording a program you can record and watch a program on the same tp or other tuner.

i have not had one issue to date with my external harddrive function yet(wd mybook 320. my timeshift is allways set to manual- then when i start watching a program that i think i would like to use timeshift i push red button to turn on and push again to turn off.

[swflscubadiver]

Originally Posted by SystemDude

Awwwww, man. Just when I was getting a nice warm fuzzy feeling for the company. If you (or Julie!) go to the website where they have the detailed technical specs for both the Premier and Elite, at

SONICVIEW USA - Product

you will read the following for the Premier:

" - Recording & Playback Simultaneously.... "

and for the Elite you will read the following:

" - Dual Recording & Playback Simultaneously.... "

There is nothing confusing or ambiguous about those statements. They are repeated verbatim in the "Features" section of the manual that came packed with the unit.

It's nice that folks are getting response to technical queries (that's doggoned rare today), but they need to at least get their stories straight. If I had to guess, I would say it means they cannot get that feature to work reliably. If that's true then they need to either fix it or remove the claim from the specs and features. Drat!!

Thanks for the heads up on this. I've e-mailed Julie with this information asking for an explaination of the discrepancy.

[big frank]

Originally Posted by baron1

i beleive that the time shift and recording is a dual funtion of the box. if you notice that when you timeshift you have access to all channels and all tp's, when you record you have access to only channels on that tp.

so when in timeshift you are watching and recording only program watching when you switch tuner timeshifting switches also because it only records what is put out to tv
when recording a program you can record and watch a program on the same tp or other tuner.

i have not had one issue to date with my external harddrive function yet(wd mybook 320. my timeshift is allways set to manual- then when i start watching a program that i think i would like to use timeshift i push red button to turn on and push again to turn off.

I also leave timeshift on manual and still have problems with my PVR.