New Firmware / (HD) IPG for 8642, 4642 Discussions - Read Post 1 and Links There

[sstackho]

I just want to be clear that I'm not missing anything. With the Whole Home PVR set-up, there still is no way to set up a recording from one of the non-PVR receivers?

[TL_Gator]

Originally Posted by yyzlhr

Really?!?!? So I'm the only one who finds the guide to be completely unusable now?

Everything is nice and responsive on my side also

[sammey]

I see the weather app has been modified so you can exit using the green key

[DBoutic617]

I noticed that when you try to record while using the Search app, you no longer have the floating-in-the-upper-left grey box thing happening, the box is now actually centered properly on the screen. Progress!!

[MooBaloo]

Originally Posted by sstackho

I just want to be clear that I'm not missing anything. With the Whole Home PVR set-up, there still is no way to set up a recording from one of the non-PVR receivers?

That is correct. The only way to schedule recordings is to do it on the PVR.

[viper359]

I find the info banner sometimes sticks still. I have to press info a few times to get it to away.

The guide is responsive, except for page scrolling, I still see a slow down on that.

BBBB: If you rent you box, take it in and get a new one. Rogers has been quietly switching over to the 500 gig models. I am willing to bet this is because the smaller sized HDD's are causing problems. For most, it seems to solve alot of the problems.

As for what the scientific atlanta box does and this one doesn't, they are two different products. This box never had TV call display or the ability to control from the internet. I would rather Rogers focus on making the TV aspect of this box work properly before they try to release more stuff, causing more problems.

[BBBB]

"BBBB: If you rent you box, take it in and get a new one. Rogers has been quietly switching over to the 500 gig models. I am willing to bet this is because the smaller sized HDD's are causing problems. For most, it seems to solve alot of the problems."
Hi Viper359: Note I OWN both models. Does not make sense for a company to come up with a new model,flog the heck out it and then tell customers it won't do what the older model did. Still can't tape even 9 hrs of tennis on TSN with empty hard drive on the 8642. But my wife can on her Scientific Atlanta even with a few hours of previously recorded stuff remaining. I never rent equipment since it is still subject to Rogers requirements and generally warranty expires after two years. This is a software problem in my opinion. Poorly thought out,rushed distribution to combat Bell Fibe. Maybe I will call them and see if they will exchange box since they are offering to new customers for free. Now I see why they are calling it Nextbox!
Thanks.

[viper359]

Warranty doesn't apply to renting. If you have an issue, you return it, get a new one. That is one of the only advantages to renting a box over buying. Something goes wrong, not your problem, you return it.

[viper359]

These two "new" boxes have been out for a few years. Only recently did they rename them. Since their release, they have never been able to have call display or the online interactive control feature. It was scheduled to come. Don't confuse the names. Scientific Atlanta is Cisco. Cisco bought them right around the time these boxes came out.

[BBBB]

Believe me Viper I am quite aware of the backgrounds of the boxes. CISCO and ROGERS have dropped the ball. I used to have tow 8300s but the hard drive went after 5 years and so I got the new 8642 after all the Rogers Hype. So I have been waiting a couple of years for them to provide what the 8300 still provides. DUH!! Whether you rent or own should not make any difference in the quality of hardware or the software that supports it. If I own it I still have to go to Rogers for service according to the retailer I bought it from. As I said, before it is a software problem unless they are shipping 8642's with defective drives. In which case the rental and or purchased hardware is still going to have issues. Remember the days when you couldn't buy the box? They are being offered in Future Shop, Best Buy,Audio 2000 etc. now and if you talk (as I have to the installers i.e. Geek Squad) they will tell you its been a nightmare. I have had this 8642 for two years now and had I rented it I guess you could say I am breaking even except for Pain and Suffering (ha!ha!). I am going to call Rogers and see how they respond to your suggestion. But if the software can't read how much space I have properly I could have a trillion gigs and it may not allow me to record 20 hours of HD as advertised and what I am paying for. Oh and by the way one installer I talked to said I would probably get a used or refurb. One customer who was renting by the way had to go back 5 times to Rogers to replace the box.

Thanks for your input and I will keep you posted. ( I have to get back to my PVR now to see how much of the tennis I can actually tape after rebooting system twice) menu showing no recordings and 100% disk space free but still get message that I cannot record the desired manual recording.

[neilpalmer400]

Since my two 8642's and 4642 updated from 3.00.1612 to 3.00.1620 I have noticed the following:

- Yes Zoom is still TOTALLY USELESS ! Worse than that I've noticed that when using the # key to change zoom level while watching on the 4642 (which has a 4:3 TV attached) sometimes although the description of the zoom level displayed on screen changes, the zoom level will NOT change (I have to change to another channel and back again to get it to reset the zoom level).
I've also noticed occasionally (not too often) when playing back a recording it will display the wrong aspect ratio (sometimes an HD 16:9 recording is squashed with black pillarboxes on the sides, and I have to stop playback and restart to get it to display the correct aspect ratio (this also happened on software version level 3.00.1612).

- My 4642 is in the bedroom on an older SD 4:3 TV, and with the new update you can finally read the channel #'s on the left side of the Guide as they shifted the channel #/name to the right within the same column. You can also finally read the # of minutes you are into a recording (below the progress bar) when fast forwarding/rewinding/pausing (which has caused the larger black bar at the bottom of the screen on a 16:9 display that someone else complained about). I agree that is annoying, though it's nice to be able to read the progress info correctly on a 4:3 display. Of course the correct solution woudl have been to tailor the display based on the Appearance (Video) Setting for TV Type, but I suppose that would have been asking for too much. ;-)

- It takes much longer to display the "Stop" pop-up when you press STOP while viewing a recording (or fast forward to the end of a recording). It even goes completely back to the last tuned channel (or the "Tuning conflict" screen if you happen to now have both tuners recording) before displaying the "My Recordings" list in the background and the "Stop" options pop-up.

- Tryng to view a recording made on the same 8642 I still occasionally get the message it couldn't be played because it may have been deleted or resources were not available. The 8642 was not recording anything else at the time. Tried to play it 2 minutes later and it played OK.

- I second the complaints that we STILL have no slow motion/frame advance/frame backspace (does NO ONE at Rogers watch Sports ????), and also can't believe we STILL don't have the Sleep Timer App. and the 15 minute recording "marks" to speed up fast forward/rewind (& the "Skip to End" option for viewing a recording).

- I'm VERY ANNOYED that since I have received the 3.00.1620 update I've seen both my 4642 reboot when it was turned on and I was watching (trying to watch) a program - at 11:55pm. I've also had one of my 8642's reboot right at midnight WHILE IT WAS RECORDING TWO PROGRAMS (though it was turned "off" and I wasn't actually viewing something at the time - still I lost 9 minute chunks of two programs).
IS IT BEYOND THE CAPABILITY OF ROGERS/CISCO TO HAVE THESE THINGS REBOOT BETWEEN 4 and 5 AM (OR WHEN NOT "ON" AND NOT RECORDING) AND NOT IN "PRIME" VIEWING/RECORDING TIME ???????

Things are improving (though this thing is still "buggy"), but do we now have to wait 3 month or more for the still long list of issues to be resolved with another Software Version release?

[bknack]

Hi everyone:

This is a full on rant. Sorry, but I've had it with this machine. This rant doesn't even touch on what fun Rogers is and has always been to deal with. It is confined ONLY to this box.

I have used Satellite TV or DVRs since DirecTV was NOT illegal in Canada and DVRs were called PVRs.

The last set top I used was the Rogers 8300. It worked well but was not fancy.

Now we have the Rogers Next 2.0. Hmm...

It handles multiple boxes so I can roam my home. Unfortunately, I only have one TV. That one's on me.

It looks better than the 8300. Score one for it.

It handles multiple recordings better than the 8300 by having a clear hierarchy. I'll give it another point... oh, hang on it used to record programs properly...

On the other hand:
The UI is a disaster.

Let's be honest: One of the big claims to fame in the latest update (1620) is that when we use the search, we don't end up with a confirmation box up in the top left corner.

You've got to be kidding! The types of problems this thing has are completely bush league. It should never have left early alpha with this UI. Can anyone explain the "thought" behind how the zoom "works"??

After the latest update I noticed that none of the shows I have added (new shows only) have worked. The latest problem happened tonight when I tried to record Dangerous Flights. It was set to record before the update. Now it isn't recording. Well, maybe I'm wrong, thinks I, so I added it in (new shows only). The new show started and the recorder did not record it. I thought maybe I didn't really add it but when I tried to re-add it, the machine tells me it's already added!

So, I looked at all my series (97 of them!) and started deleting them one at a time. Instead of moving down the list from top to bottom, the machine moves through the list in some sort of random fashion.

The sad part is I wasn't surprised.

It looks like programs will only record if they are set to record all (not just new) shows. I'm reminded of my 8300HD -- err except that it worked!

I really don't know what to say. Did the folks who wrote the software ever use a DVR before? They didn't even ensure that it retained the abilities of the old unit (8300HD). If they were trying for something really excellent (a break from the past) I have sobering news for them: My DirectTV unit from the 90s was much better. It's true that it wasn't a PVR (I don't think anyone made one yet), but as for usability etc, it outclasses this mess.

To add insult to injury, Rogers' account rep told me that there's "nothing wrong with it" when I called to complain. They said I had to talk to tech support and the fact that lots of other people on the net had complained about the same things I found was no basis for asserting that the device had any problems.

Seriously, the tech I spoke with sounded actually embarrassed and offered me 2 months off the box rental.

I think we should all get free box rental until the UI works as it should and the DVR actually bothers to record programs as advertised! If you actually bought this thing, I'd take it back and get a "free" rental instead based on the fact that (as reported earlier) it does not record nearly the amount of programming that was advertised.

Well... I feel a little better.

Cheers,
Bruce.

[neilpalmer400]

bknack - as Bill Clinton once said, "I feel your pain".
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I thought I would post a few more issues I've encountered again, AFTER the Software Version upgrade to 3.0.0.1620
These are copied directly from the detailed notes I have kept ever since I first received the RTN update:

- 2012/06/29 watching a program on one 8642 that was recorded on the other (Whole Home PVR). Hit PAUSE for a few seconds while playing, when went to resume it went back to the beginning of the program. Had to sit and fast forward 46 minutes to get back to where I was watching. I have seen this happen many times before if you pause a playback from another home on the Whole Home PVR network, but never after pausing for only about 10 seconds. Seems you need to hit STOP every time you are playing back from another box instead of PAUSE - at least that way you can use the RESUME option when you start playback again (though it certainly takes a lot more steps than just hitting Pause or Play buttons to continue viewing).

- 2012/06/29 found the BASEMENT 8642 was STILL recording The Colbert Report that started over 35 HOURS EARLIER at 03:35 on 2012/06/28. Scheduled as a series on Ch.581-HCTVV 03:35-04:05a. Naturally every program I had scheduled for the same time as another did not record because one of the tuners was busy recording The Colbert Report forever. When I went to play back the still recording show the Progress Bar and time showed it was a 29 minute recording (it even started a minute late at 03:36 instead of 03:35, and it did NOT record the The Daily Show scheduled from 03:05-03:35a). When playing back the recording (fast forwarding) the Progress Bar reached 100% (far right) after 29 minutes, but the program kept playing back, until it hung at 1 hr 34 mins into the program. Hit Stop, selected option to STOP RECORDING, and selected to Confirm Stop Recording. It showed it had stopped, yet the red record light was still on. Powered the 8642 off & on, back into My Recordings, it showed it as recording still. Selected STOP RECORDING again and the REC indicator went away in My Recordings BUT the red record light was still on and it had not actually stopped recording. Had to reboot the 8642 to get it to finally stop recording.
Is this the same mess up with scheduled recordings as with the initial upgrade to the RTN software where you had to manually delete and reschedule all your programs?
Is this going to happen EVERY time they roll out a software update?

- 2012/06/29 while modifying recording schedule By Series to check priorities, after EXIT from B (To Change Priority) the text area of program names was all overlaid with duplicate text, for example:
'3 Tonight Show With Jay Leno' has 'Tonight Show With Jay Leno' overlaid starting over (slightly to the left of) the '3', and shifted a half line lower.


I called Rogers to complain yet again. Ended up speaking with a manager (R****** - probably best I don't reveal names here, Rogers employees are as much victims of this as their customers, except they get paid by Rogers and we're expected to pay Rogers). He said they are very aware of all the issues, that they do monitor the online forums discussing the problems, and they are working hard to address them. My answer to that was they should have worked hard to address the problems BEFORE releasing this mess on their customer base and using them to debug the code for them. I commented on how long it took (several months) for the update from 3.0.0.1612 to 3.0.0.1620 and said I hoped we didn't have to wait as long again for the next attempt to fix some of these problems. I also said that maybe we shouldn't have to pay for any of the equipment UNTIL it is working properly.


PS - ZOOM function still sucks and is totally useless. How long could it take to fix that so it works properly like it did with SARA software?
How long can it take to add a simple Sleep Timer app like we had with the SARA software?

[yyzlhr]

Don't bother complaining to Managers. The managers that you speak to over the phone are people who just supervise call centre employees, they have no knowledge of what's actually coming down the road.

Considering they laid of 675 people in one quarter and internally, NextBox is considered a stopgap solution before the transition to IPTV, don't expect the next update to come anytime soon.

[neilpalmer400]

Yes Toronto to Heathrow, you're probably correct - unfortunately.
.
I think the scheduled recording problem where some never stop (I found my other 8642 recording a program this (Sunday) morning just before noon - that had started almost 41 hours earlier on Friday at 7pm) is the same issue we had when initially updating the the RTN software, you had to delete every scheduled recording and program them all over again. Looks like Rogers caused the same screw up when updating from 3.0.0.1612 to 3.0.0.1620. If I have to reprogram everything when they roll out an update they can credit me back the equivalent in rental costs that I would bill my clients for 2 to 3 hours time every time that happens. Obviously can't trust it to record while on vacation - I'll probably end up with 168 hours of one program that wouldn't stop recording - and that will disappear after forcing it to stop anyway.