PiP doesn't work with the current firmware. In order to get PiP on a TV, you need two sources, this STB only supplies one.

The PC question was answered in your other post. Please do not cross post.

Hi 57, thank you.

One thing I should have mentioned in my previous post is that some people split the cable signal upstream of the STB and connect the other leg directly to their TV. They can then tune the analogue channels with their TV's NTSC tuner.

On most TVs this will then provide PiP within those limitations, however, some TVs restrict what can be displayed PiP, so this may or may not work for your particular TV.

Well I finally got all my channels working on my hew 6416 STB.I called shaw tech support again and this time the tech knew what to do.Apparently the first tech did not set the AUTO TUNE function.we had to reboot twice but we got all channels working.
One thing threw all this process was a look at signal strenghth which was only18.6 to 19.3 and listed as fair.Is this strong enough or should a service tech come out and crank it up??

ta-kid: I'm a Shaw subscriber in Calgary and I use a 6412-III that's only about 2 months old. At 57's suggestion I recently did a reboot and a check on my SNR. It was around 18 db (Fair) as well. I had a Shaw tech come out and he told me the 'fair' reading is fine. He also measured the signal strength coming into my home and said it was 'very good'. Meanwhile, I continue to have occasional problems watching HD channels. There is momentary picture break-up and audio drops. Since Shaw was just here I'm going to monitor things for a while before calling them again. (Fortunately, the problems are not happening during live sports).

Thanks hawkeye,keep us posted

I'm not sure if this is normal - but I purchased an DCT6412 PVR a month or so ago. Took it home and nothing but problems - huge sync delays between sound and video. Flaky video drop-outs, etc.

So I took it back and waited, thinking another unit may be better and hearing that the DCT6416 was coming soon. Found one at shaw and brought it home - same thing - the video/audio get out of sync multiple times a night. Further, I've had a couple of other issues that I didn't have with the 6412.

I've called shaw a few times and they don't seem to be much help. Reboot the unit and tell me to call back if I have problems.

Is this normal, or have I been unlucky twice?

Is this normal, or have I been unlucky twice?

I'd say a bit of both. I'm in Calgary and have had my 6412-III for about 6 weeks. Most of the time it's been great, but there's been sporadic pixelization (that might be your "flaky video"), audio drop-outs and even occasional picture-freezing. Just today, I had my THIRD visit from a Shaw tech. He was here for two hours replacing all the cable connections coming into the house, put a new splitter outside the house and even ran a new cable from my house to a back-yard utility pole. He said it looked like squirrels had eaten into part of the cable!! If I were you I'd call Shaw and insist on a visit. It might not have anything to do with your STB (6412 or 6416).

By the way, post your location. It helps people give you advice.

Can someone tell me if I need a 4 pin to 4 pin or 6p to 4p or 6p to 6p?

thanx...

I had my 6412 III for about 4 months and I had issues such the hard drive making "chirpping" noises, freezing, previous recordings disappearing, etc. I called Shaw and the csr told me that the machine needs to be replaced. So I went to Shaw to do so but this guy brought out what looks like a refurbished machine without a box. He says that they don't make this model anymore and Shaw is now selling 6416. I asked if I can trade it in for that new version and he said no. Apparently, since the new version has been out only for about 2 weeks, they don't offer any swap options. I even called Shaw and spoke to a supervisor but no luck. This really sucks that I have to be satisfied with a refurbished machine after 4 months when I kept mine spanking new (even with the vinyl screen protector film on for the entire time). Basically, I spent about 700-800 for a used machine.

On the earlier post, someone got their machine traded in for a newer version? What did you say to the CSR to get that happen? Any suggestions people?

ckluvjc I feel your pain.
I am on my 4th 6412 III, all this summer. My first was in the beginning of July. Same issues as you and many others with every one of them.
During the course of this the 6416 came out. A technician (I have seen many!) tells me the 6416 did away with a lot of the known issues.
Soon after I went to Shaws outlet/office and told them they sold me a 6412 a month before, instead of fixing the issues the new model came out thats the "fix". They just told me its the exact same identicle to the 6412 III inside and out, and same firmware/software and all that, except the hard drives larger. Anyhow, like you, they wouldn't swap me to the new one, even when I whined that they sold me "old stock" before setting the 6416s out for sale! and mentioned same price at the time and I should get some discount for an old model.. Hee hee.... I was pushing my luck, but heck, I drove all the way down there:D
I think I ended up with my 4th 6412 soon after that. One of the 6412s was used also. The 4th and latest one a month ago was brand new out of the sealed box, same issues. Just leaving it on 24/7 did away with 90% of the problems....thanks to advice here;)

I also wonder how someone got Shaw to swap up to new model when the old ones are still available.

:D
Shaw just swapped my 6412 III for a new 6416 III. They were here to look at extremely slow extreme-I internet in the evenings (couldn't figure that out!) . It was the same tech who replaced one of my problematic 6412s this summer, asked how it was working now, I said I had 2 others since then! I said I leave it on 24/7 to avoid all the problems. So he said he has a 6416 and went and swapped it for me:D Says the new 6416 did away with a lot of problems Shaw was having and they've done quite a few. Apparently they haven't replaced any 6416s yet!
Something I noticed already, this 6416's been on all day and its so cool to the touch on top, but every one of the four 6412s I had was very hot like a heat lamp inside, every one was. That was my first complaint when I started having problems months ago with brand new 6412s. Even have the same fans and all that too...mmmmmm? Maybe the heat was causing some problems.
I am curious to see how this goes.
I'd gave up complaining to Shaw about the 6412 a month ago and left it on 24/7 instead. Little patience paid off I hope. I am sick of problems:(

I'm posting here because I don't know if my problems are associated with the 6412 STB or Shaw in general. The STB is just 2 months old. Everything was fine at first but increasingly and sporadically over the past several weeks I have experienced pixelization, picture freezing and serious audio dropouts on my HD channels. At 57's suggestion I have done cold reboots and checked the diagnostics (SNR is consistently 'fair'--which Shaw calls 'acceptable'). Often, the problems disappear for a few days only to return. I've had 3 visits from Shaw techs. They all swear it's NOT the STB. They've measured the signal going into the STB (very good), changed the connection where the cable comes into the house and even replaced the outside cable between the house and utility pole in the back. But the problems persist. A new wrinkle last night. I was watching a recorded program and the audio disappeared. I did a rewind, played the same part again and the audio was fine! I've been promised a visit by a "senior Shaw technician" next week. Any theories or questions I can bounce off him would be greatly appreciated.

hawkeye19, these are all known issues with the 6412. I went through exactly what you have, and plenty of others here too. I started to leave mine on 24/7 in August and it helped a lot.
My complaints to Shaw seem to fall on deaf ears though. They eventually did admit it was not my box itself thats broken, but "known issues" with the software thats out of their hands! I was told that so many times.
I had been given four different 6412 Phase IIIs since I started in July! All the same issues. They offered to replace them when I moaned about the problems. I even told them it won't help after the 2nd and 3rd one! But they insisted they will keep replacing them until the problems are fixed.
I gave up on bugging them a month ago once I was confident I was stuck with it and found the solution here (57 and others) to leave it on all the time. Just this week I got lucky, a tech exchanged my 6412 to a 6416 earlier this week. See my post a couple up from this one.

Anyway, I haven't had any issues yet with the 6416 so far.....but I had gotten in the habit of leaving it turned on 24/7 this week too. So who knows what it'll do if I turn it off for the night:eek: I used to have so many problems with the old 6412s after turning them off for the night and turn them on the next day, seem to bring on a slough of issues during the day like you mention. Leaving it on all night and turn the TV off helped 90%.

I have no idea what the 6416 will change, other than a larger hard drive. As far as I know they are identicle, even the software/firmware is all the same versions.
The Shaw tech told me they were changing out quite a few 6412s to 6416s to fix the problems the 6412s were having.

Thanks counchpotatoe! Just an FYI...I have been leaving the STB on 24/7 since shortly after getting it 2 months ago (thanks to the advice on DHC). I'll let you know what happens after my next visit from Shaw.

I've read through most of this thread and searched for this issue. I have started to get partial recordings. Often the progress bar shows the full and correct amount of time when I start playback but at some point it reverts to some lesser amount and I only get 8 minutes or 21 minuntes of a show, for example.

Sometimes the progress bar properly shows the shortened amount but obviously, I still end up with less than the full amount.

I had to break down and download a few torrents to catch up on some partial shows.

I'm going to try powering down and unplugging my 6412 to see if anything improves. I do get the pixelation and audio dropout occasionally, but it is usually minor.

Any comments from anyone?

Thanks.

After switching from Bell with a 5900 PVR to Shaw with a 6412 PVR I have been more or less very happy, with a few exceptions.

First, the program search feature is awkward and not very well laid out. The 5900/9200 on Bell has this feature more or less perfected as you can search for upcoming episodes of any program and it will list them for you in a format that is much more convenient than what the 6412 displays. On the 6412 using the up or down arrows through the alphabet to enter a search title is clumsy and time consuming, and it doesn't store previous searches like the 5900/9200. All in all the search feature on the 5900/9200 is just better.

Second, the responsiveness of the 6412 seems to coincide with the phases of the moon as there are times when the unit rewinds, fast forwards or skips flawlessly, and others when it it just sits there and does nothing for a minute or so as the remote commands queue up only to execute them a minute later all at once. Thankfully my 6412 only misbehaves in this way once in a while, but when it does it is beyond frustrating.

Third, the fast forward/rewind speeds are too slow and need a little tweaking. I wish the speeds would double with every button push, such as 2x then 4x then 8x. Perhaps I am just impatient.

Lastly, I wish they would fix the eight episode recording bug where any series recording that exceeds eight stored episodes automatically deletes the earliest episode in the recorded series to make way for a new recording, regardless of your settings to keep all episodes until you delete and available storage space. I like to keep an entire season of certain shows on the PVR, such as Lost or BSG for future reference until I buy the DVDs. Sadly you can't do this on the 6412.

The 6412 is not all thorns though for when it does work, it does a good job and the dual tuner functionality is extremely handy.

Live with it a little longer and you'll learn to hate it for all the quirks, bugs, and bad design. Ludicrous for a box that cost $700. And there are very few updates/fixes ever issued. Shaw, I-Guide and Motorola should be ashamed.

I've noticed that My Recordings will automatically delete after 4 months. Is there any way to set this time or make it indefinite?

The answer may be in this thread, but damn it's long.. :(

Bronc

I remember reading how to erase the HD on the 6412, but I can't seem to find it again. Also, is there a way to reformat the HD or can we only erase all files from the HD?

Can someone please post how to do this again? Thx..