Not sure if this has been asked or answered before. Would the new guide provide Record retention times. For example, would it allow you to specify time to keep the recording till: 1 day, 7 days, unlimited.

When implemented, there are options wrt retention such as keep all, keep until space needed, keep only last 1,2,3 episodes, etc.

When implemented, there are options wrt retention such as keep all, keep until space needed, keep only last 1,2,3 episodes, etc.

Pretty cool stuff if implemented successfully. :rolleyes:

Current version is 00.A8
Target version 00.00

It used to be Curent 00.A8 Target 00.CC

Ditto.

I've mentioned here before that I and others are still without CC (CC-envy).

I have tried phoning *C but I get the 'we have no way of forcing it' line. I don't want to push it, A8's been okay for us. The last Tech fellow I talked to did not indicate CC was on hold.

Reading through the posts, there seems to be some doubt as to whether CC is mothballed or not.

Anyone know the REAL truth?
Cheers,
Philip

I only know what I was told by a SC rep last week. He said that they had put the distribution on hold because of issues. BUT, he also said there were 125000 units out there which sounds like BS. That puts his 1st statement in doubt.

Since some initial issues; and cleaning out my old recordings; mine has been rock solid and everything is working as promised.

Set to 10 seconds it will only skip back 2-4, so I adjusted it up to compensate. The most frustrating issue with the DVR functions under CC for me is after a FF or RW, when I hit the play button (even if I pause it first) it will start to play 30-40 seconds beyond the point I stop......frustrating.


The skip forward and back times are still out of wack (as in the old version), this is was I found. I like to set the forward to 60 seconds and back to 30 so I can jump forward past commercials and jump back half a step if I go too far.

With it set to 60 F and 30 R while watching live shows it skips forward 60 seconds forward and back 26. When watching recorded shows it jumps forward 65 seconds and back 22 seconds.

I end up setting my times to 55 forward and 38 back to get it to work the way I want since I mostly watch recorded shows.

You can't use the flaky internal timer to measure this you need to watch or record a news show with a real clock.

I turned my TV and 530 on tonight and had to reboot the 530. Everything on the screen was bright pink. Even the graphics produced by the 530. I paniced at first thinking it might be my TV doing that. However after a reboot of the 530 everything was fine. This is the first time I've had to reboot since the new CC code. In all fairness it may have been because of the storm we had the other night, but it does seem odd.

... Everything on the screen was bright pink. ... In all fairness it may have been because of the storm we had the other night, but it does seem odd.

Not unusual during a loss of signal when the video ram buffers get confused after a transport loss.

... You can't use the flaky internal timer to measure this you need to watch or record a news show with a real clock.
Accurate time stamping in MPEG2 is quite dificult due to the very nature of the various frame types.
The additional complexity of HD & SD streams that are Variable Bit Rate doesn't help much either.

Since the time remaining is just an ESTIMATE, I think you should presume ALL time values are only approximations.

You have found a setting that works for you, that's fantastic.
In fact, Starchoice is the ONLY PVR that's lets you define those values.

Be thankfull and go enjoy some T.V.

Wonder if anyone else is experiencing this. While surfing the guide or doing other checks through the various options the unit will suddenly revert back to the channel I am on. This is quite annoying when you are setting up timers and programing in recordings. Each day I set the timers to record shows and half way through it kicks me out to the program that happens to be showing at that time.

Hi everyone,

Just signed up for SC this week and of course found out afterwards about all the problems with the 530.

I originally bought a 505a but then when I saw the CC update was out and supposedly somewhat stable I decided to take advantage of FS's 30 day return policy and see just how bad the 530 is for myself.

Anywhooo....2 problems. The first is that I'm on A8 and not being updated to CC. Is it true that the CC updates have been stopped?

Second, I've noticed that 2 of my HD channels now become extremely pixelated and experience frequent audio dropouts that they're basically unwatchable....CBS West and NBC West I think (289 & 290??).

I don't recall noticing this on the few days I was using the 505a. Is it me, the box, or the install....any thoughts?

Thanks!!!

We are on the CC Code and it does not appear to be any more stable than BC. Last evening I was fas forwarding while watching a recorded show and I could not stop the fast forward. Not only that the machine was frozen into the fast forward mode and nothing on the remote would work. It required a soft boot to get back to normal. This and several other freezes while watching recorded shows leads me to see no change between the old and the new codes. However, to be fair, I would rather put up with these annoyances than not to have the ability to record shows.
Lester

I've been having major problems with my 530. Have had two long power outages in the last month and both times it took over an hour to get the machine running again. (unplugging and front reset attempts) Mine also was cycling the hard drive but would not boot up, but when it finally did after an hour, the CSR's at Starchoice seemed to think that since the machine finally did come back on and as long as it runs that all is fine, but we have alot of power outages here and I'm not so optimistic.

The last time I got it up and running the machine constantly crashed during recordings with CC Code, so they did a factory reset (lost all recordings) It's not crashing as often now, but I'm still rebooting 3 to 4 times a day and some of my recordings have nothing on and when I record it often crashes half way through. It will often crash in the middle of the night during recordings so it is not a function of any channel changing. I'm reluctant to call again till I can actually figure out why it's happening cause I know I'm going to get a runaround again. Have spoken to 6 CSR's in the last month and sounds like they do not want to replace this machine unless it totally quits working. None of them would let me speak to a real technician. I can't help thinking it's because I'm female, and know nothing??!! But I've been following these forums since I received the 530 in May of last year. My warrenty is up on it and I'm really considering moving to Expressvu. Feeling very frustrated.

....but we have alot of power outages here and I'm not so optimistic.

It might be prudent to note that if your Starchoice equipment is damaged due to power outages, they really don't have to replace it for you. As far as warranty is concerned, damage due to power outages is not covered. If you have a lot of power outages, it's in your best interest to protect your investment using a UPS or a good surge protector. Electronics in general don't suffer power outages very well and Starchoices' equipment is no different in that respect.

Have spoken to 6 CSR's in the last month and sounds like they do not want to replace this machine unless it totally quits working. None of them would let me speak to a real technician.

You can speak to a technician at any time by selecting the option on your phone to speak to technical support when you call in. With 530 issues it is wise to speak directly to a TSR anyway. They are probably reluctant to replace the unit because, or especially because, it's very easy to attribute issues with the 530 to firmware problems that replacing the unit can do nothing to fix(although this should be less the case now). Also, it's been discovered that some people who are having issues with the 530 after the CC upgrade have the unit in poorly ventilated areas or stacked on other electronics making heat an issue.

I can't help thinking it's because I'm female, and know nothing??!!

I'd be genuinly appalled if that was the case. The TSR's that I know there say they actually enjoy speaking to people who are honest that they don't know much, because they tend to be the ones who listen and don't answer back!! :)

Feeling very frustrated.

And that is the sad part. Call back and speak to a technical support representative instead of customer support.

Cellarboy,
Thanks for your post,

We do have very good surge protection on all of our equipment with surge protectors built into our electrical panel supplied by our power company and also on each wall recepticle that they are plugged into. We have never had a problem with any equipment and power surges with all of this protection. All lights remain on on all of the receptacles and no power surges have occured.

I don't believe the power outages are the issue, but the fact that the machine is deteriorating. I do speak to technical support when I phone, but was told I should speak to a level two technical support person, by someone on a weekend, so I phoned back on the weekday and the next TSR wouldn't allow it , but instead made me do all the same testing I'd done the day before with no new results. I guess at this point I will wait for the next power outage when I'm pretty sure I won't be able to boot the machine again because it's been getting more and more difficult. I won't keep trying for a full hour this time however. I will need a definite answer on replacement from them. Unfortunately even though we have good surge protection they will probably blame it on that and not replace it so my only alternative at that point will be Expressvu. Right now I'm almost looking forward to Expressvu with constant crashes and incomplete recordings.

To call tech support for the 530 direct, call 1-888-782-7408.
Also, a surge protector does not do the job of a UPS (uninterruptable power supply). A UPS will allow you to power down properly in the event of a black out.

I do speak to technical support when I phone, but was told I should speak to a level two technical support person, by someone on a weekend, so I phoned back on the weekday and the next TSR wouldn't allow it , but instead made me do all the same testing I'd done the day before with no new results.

Well that in itself is a little odd because unless the structure of the call centre has changed recently, there is no level 2 technical support! The CSR's used to be considered 'level 1' and the TSR's 'level 2', but that all went away a couple of years ago so that there were just CSR's and Techs (in Calgary at least). Wouldn't be a bad idea though, to stick some of the senior Techs on a higher 'tier' to stop them getting bogged down with mis-directed billing calls and remote control issues!

Wonder if anyone else is experiencing this. While surfing the guide or doing other checks through the various options the unit will suddenly revert back to the channel I am on. This is quite annoying when you are setting up timers and programing in recordings. Each day I set the timers to record shows and half way through it kicks me out to the program that happens to be showing at that time.

I found this with the old and the new code. When I am watching a music only channel (ie 911) it happens every few minutes. When I am on another channel it happens very rarely. So when I am searching the guide to set up programs to record I need to make sure I am not set to a music channel. Maybe it is happening when the song changes but I have not had time to figure it out. (Actually that is Motorola's job to find out)

We are on the CC Code and it does not appear to be any more stable than BC. Last evening I was fas forwarding while watching a recorded show and I could not stop the fast forward. Not only that the machine was frozen into the fast forward mode and nothing on the remote would work. It required a soft boot to get back to normal.

I wont disagree with you about the stability. However I found a simple power off and power on using the manual switch "sometimes" clears up the problem without going through a soft reboot and waiting to re-acquire the guide information.

Well, after having my interface freeze up several times a day since I got CC (To recap, the show keeps playing, but the bottom bar stays frozen and will then not respond to anything) they are now sending me a replacement 530, as they figure it must be bad hardware. So just waiting for that now.