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DSR 530 Discussion

81K views 507 replies 109 participants last post by  henryk 
#1 ·
Anyone else notice this?

I recently upgraded my home theatre system including a new audio receiver. Previously, I used the Stereo output on my receiver and audio levels between channels were fine.

I am now using the DVR530's Digital Optical Audio output into my receiver and the volume levels between channels, both HD and SD, are wildly inconsistent. Depending on the channel, I have to raise or lower the volume by 25 or more decibles just so that I can hear it.

This didn't happen with the Stereo output but now happens with the Digital Optical output.
 
#78 ·
Hi Gary,

I have had the skip forward button take me to the beginning of the show lots of times. If you press the SELECT button prior to pressing JUMP FWD, you'll notice that the yellow bar pointer is still at the beginning of the show, even though you could be 15 minutes into the show. This is the root of the problem. The pointer does not always keep up with the show that you are watching. So when you press JUMP FWD, it takes you forward from the pointer - the pointer which never moves - consequently you are sent back to the beginning of the show.

So far, the only way I have been able to correct this is to reboot the machine. It does not seem to fix itself. I'm keeping my fingers crossed as this has not happened to me in 2 weeks. That's a record for me!
 
#81 ·
FrostyTheBeerman said:
Hi guys,

For those of you with the 530, is it possible to export any of the content
that you record to a dvd for the sake of just keeping it ?

I'm pretty sure that HD content is impossible to export to any media, with any type of cables such as component, etc, but what about analog content ?

I run a dvd recorder off mine ... works great. Copy kids movies to dvd and my son watches them all the time. The HD stuff is downconverted and records fine.

Royce
 
#82 ·
htimst said:
Pressing and holding the power button didn't reset the unit. I held it for 10, 15, 20, 60 seconds...no response. I unplugged the satellite plugs from tuner 1 and 2 and then was able to reset it and it's back at it. **shrug** Another bug.


Sounds more like a faulty unit than a bug. Did you unplug the unit? If that fails....call a CSR for a factory reset...and if that fails....ask for a new unit.
 
#83 ·
htimst said:
Pressing and holding the power button didn't reset the unit. I held it for 10, 15, 20, 60 seconds...no response. I unplugged the satellite plugs from tuner 1 and 2 and then was able to reset it and it's back at it. **shrug** Another bug.
This is a bug. I have the same issue. The A8 code simply locks up solid.
Nothing will get it back except pulling the plug.

Sometimes I have to do it twice in a row beacuse if it locks solid and you cold boot it, sometimes it gets stuck in the boot sequence (the blue bars go but nothing else - endlessly) so you cold boot it again.

I got fed up tonight when after a lockup and cold boot I now have a 1/2 full hard drive that I can no longer access.

All the recordings are listed, but when you try to view them it tries to start and then dumps you back to the menu like it can't find them any more.

Julie in tech support told me tonight that this is NORMAL BEHAVIOUR for a 530. I should "just live with it and delete the programs so they don't take up space on the hd".

I am just a little PO'd as I have lost a lot of shows the kids love (try telling a 2 year old that the dora show is no loger there..) also I have lost some PPV I recorded and not had time to watch. BUT, according to Julie that is too bad. There is nothing they can do and will not issue any credits for PPV, or anything else on the 530.

I have been told that a new software should be out around Xmas that will fix all the problems (I have heard that before. I was told A4 was the end of all the bugs, and then A8 was the perfect code according to *C...)
 
#84 ·
terrible recordings

I've searched the forum, but can't find anything on this. I'm wondering if it's a firmware or hardware problem and don't want to sit on the phone only to find out it's another "firmware" thing. My timed recordings are all coming out with "gaps" in sound and/or video (pixilations). Sometimes it's just a few pixils, and sometimes half the screen. The sound may just skip off, or go out for several seconds. It doesn't make a difference what channel is being recorded, but only happens on timed recording or when the record button is pushed. If checking the live recording of the show being watched (pausing, rewinding) there are no issues. It's only the main recording function.
Anyone else see this? Any guesses?
 
#86 ·
Tuner 2 Pixilation

FWW - I had the same problem that you are describing back in July when I first got my 530. I would get pixilation on anything that was recorded to the HD. The Live TV buffer was OK. When I phoned SC they had me swap the lines going to each tuner to see if it was a problem with the signal or line going to tuner 2. After swapping the tuner the problem was still there. At this point the SC person told me that the receiver was defective and that I should return it. I did and my next receiver has been good. If you want to save some time on the phone perhaps you could swap the lines and see if the problem moves to tuner 1, or stays with tuner 2 as mine did. If it stays with tuner 2 the CSR might authorize a new unit for you without having to do anything else.
Hope this helps.
 
#87 ·
jcol said:
FWW - I had the same problem that you are describing back in July when I first got my 530. I would get pixilation on anything that was recorded to the HD. The Live TV buffer was OK. When I phoned SC they had me swap the lines going to each tuner to see if it was a problem with the signal or line going to tuner 2. After swapping the tuner the problem was still there. At this point the SC person told me that the receiver was defective and that I should return it. I did and my next receiver has been good. If you want to save some time on the phone perhaps you could swap the lines and see if the problem moves to tuner 1, or stays with tuner 2 as mine did. If it stays with tuner 2 the CSR might authorize a new unit for you without having to do anything else.
Hope this helps.
Excellent ideas. Thanks. Now I feel stupid. I should have thought of that, but I have a brand new LNB, so I guess I discounted any possible problem with the signal. I will check both ideas out and thanks again.
 
#88 ·
I have a real issue with *C charging me almost $100 a month for a service that I can not use beacuse of their equipment.

----

Of the thousands (5 or so) 530's, I havnt heard of any that are unwatchable either. If it freezes push and hold the power button on the receiver for 10 seconds, this will reboot the machine, like when Mr Gates product craps out, simple reset.

They arent forcing you to pay $100 a month, take basic service of $20 until your issues are fixed if it is really that bad. That would only make sence to me.
 
#89 ·
fww said:
Excellent ideas. Thanks. Now I feel stupid. I should have thought of that, but I have a brand new LNB, so I guess I discounted any possible problem with the signal. I will check both ideas out and thanks again.
Well, no go. Same problems when I switch feeds, though slightly better. Signal strength is close for both lines. Again, no problem with signal on program being watched, only on recording, and interestingly enough, not on very short recordings either.
Looks like a call to *c is in order.
 
#90 ·
The remote control doesn't work until the receiver's been powered on for a few minutes. Then it starts inexplicably working. I don't believe it's a remote/battery problem since I've swapped batteries and the light flashes whenever I hit a button. After I power the receiver on by pressing the button on the unit, after about 10 minutes, the remote just starts working and works flawlessly until I power the unit off again.

I just started getting this problem in the past few days. Anyone see this or have an idea?
 
#91 ·
It's the cost of the machine that gets me, and how people keep comparing a machine which is supposed to be DEDICATED to doing one thing - record off of the TV - to Windows, a true multitasking operating system that can be doing thousands of things simultaneously. For the record, my Windows XP session never gives me a problem. I leave my computer on for months on end and never have any sort of trouble. That's quite amazing when you consider I'm running DVD recording software, playing MP3s, emails, writing documents, browsing the net, burning CDs - all without any glitches at all. This one machine which cost people over $800 craps out sometimes every single day. I paid just a little over $800 for this computer and it is so much more reliable and does so much more when you think about it. Aside from that, how many times have you ever heard of a DVD recorder or VCR behaving like this? Why not I wonder? Could it be due to the fact that there is so much competition out there when it comes to VCRs and DVD Recorders that nobody would be foolish enough to put a faulty one on the market? Now we see a plan that these satellite and cable companies have on their plates. Make a machine that ONLY works on their system, with no chance for any competition to get a piece of the action. It spells one thing - D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R. People are upset about it, and rightly so.

You're really comparing apples and oranges.
 
#92 ·
Vancouver said:
The remote control doesn't work until the receiver's been powered on for a few minutes. Then it starts inexplicably working. I don't believe it's a remote/battery problem since I've swapped batteries and the light flashes whenever I hit a button. After I power the receiver on by pressing the button on the unit, after about 10 minutes, the remote just starts working and works flawlessly until I power the unit off again.

I just started getting this problem in the past few days. Anyone see this or have an idea?
Please ignore this. It was dead batteries. I'm retarded. :eek:
 
#94 ·
fww said:
Well, no go. Same problems when I switch feeds, though slightly better. Signal strength is close for both lines. Again, no problem with signal on program being watched, only on recording, and interestingly enough, not on very short recordings either.
Looks like a call to *c is in order.
For anyone who cares, after a couple of hours with *c, factory resets, etc., they are sending me a new machine.
 
#95 ·
fww, yes, I think most of us care, this is a great forum to give info, and if we don't, then we are not helping others. I find I read many posts, eventhough I don't reply to them, so I guess by not replying, the original poster posting info, doesn't really know how much his info helped others. It's nice knowing how SC works with people in good and bad ways, so thanks from all of us for posting your experience and update.
 
#97 ·
Computers have had many years to evolve. Computers have been more than "tweaked" over the years. Compare it to a car. They say that you should never buy a new model, first year on the market. If there are too many problems with your unit, return it and failing that, sell it. You may have to take a loss but is it really worth the aggravation you are going through? If you don't want the loss, document your problems and present them to SC requesting a refund. If refused, take them to Small Claims. If the problems are as bad as you say they are, you would have no problem in getting your money back. Criticizing SC and the unit will not solve anything.
 
#98 ·
A car has billions of parts. I would sure hope that this DVR doesn't. I will say that my Honda has had no problems since I purchased it in 1998. I would never recommend Motorola for car brake design or anything like that. There'd be a lot less of us in the world if we put our live's in the hands of Motorola given their recent track record with this DVR. I just find it strange that people keep defending the DVR by comparing it to Microsoft Windows or computers. How come nobody is comparing the DVR to a VCR? That would be a much more likely and fair candidate for comparison. The DVR is a machine dedicated to doing a particular job. It's pretty lousy when the machine costs an arm and a leg and it cannot do its job, and it's 2005! It's not like electronics or the hard drive have just been invented.

I can guarantee you if the idea of proprietizing the DVRs was scrapped, we'd have competition and we would also have a choice of various machines with no problems. Just like VCRs were made by 50 different companies - all working pretty good.

When you think about it, the VCR is quite a complicated machine with how it writes in diagonal bands up and down the tape with up to 4 spinning heads. It seems much more complicated than the inner workings of a DVR. Yet Motorola managed to sabotage it, and are taking their sweet sweet time getting it working up to par.

So far as complaining to StarChoice - you may as well pound sand. They come back with the same old promises. "We will have it all fixed up next week when we release our latest firmware." "Oh no, don't return it. We have a new release of the firmware coming out and it's awesome. It's going to fix everything." It's nothing but a load of deciet and misrepresentation. Two weeks ago I called to voice my opinion and was told that a new release of the software was well on its way and we'd get it by the 2nd week of October. Oh well! Looks like it is not going to happen. So we'll wait until Christmas and we can look positively at this and say, "Surely they won't let us down in December with patches that don't work!?!" Go on, kid yourself!
 
#99 ·
sparky_06 said:
I have a real issue with *C charging me almost $100 a month for a service that I can not use beacuse of their equipment.

----

Of the thousands (5 or so) 530's, I havnt heard of any that are unwatchable either. If it freezes push and hold the power button on the receiver for 10 seconds, this will reboot the machine, like when Mr Gates product craps out, simple reset.

They arent forcing you to pay $100 a month, take basic service of $20 until your issues are fixed if it is really that bad. That would only make sence to me.
If I only wanted basic channels why not take the cheap cable locally. If I am going to shell out the cash for a 530, I would suspect most people are like me and want the channel selection to go with it.

As for being unwatchable. It is become that when it freezes or reboots at least once every 2 days. You are in the middle of the wifes desperate house wives epposide and it dies. reset it and now you are back momentarily, but doing it every other day is basically not watchable.

If you had the same problems with your phone service (going down for a while every other day) would you be happy to pay the monthly charge for the service? If your cell phone constanantly, randomly dropped calls when you were talking to people would you be happy to keep paying?
 
#100 ·
starchoice said:
Computers have had many years to evolve. Computers have been more than "tweaked" over the years. Compare it to a car. They say that you should never buy a new model, first year on the market. If there are too many problems with your unit, return it and failing that, sell it. You may have to take a loss but is it really worth the aggravation you are going through? If you don't want the loss, document your problems and present them to SC requesting a refund. If refused, take them to Small Claims. If the problems are as bad as you say they are, you would have no problem in getting your money back. Criticizing SC and the unit will not solve anything.
At this point I have let them know I will be looking at filling a writt in court if they don't solve the problem.
As for criticizing, it is just my oppinion and that is whay forums are for. People need to know what is going on.

There are a few issues here. Yes the 530 is buggy. that is one issue. Bugs need to be fixed. But that is not the biggest issue at hand. Fixing the 530 should be top priority for *C seeing as they seem to be pushing it on all their adds.

The big issue is, *C knows the 530 is buggy and still is pushing it. That I see as a very large ethical issue.

From my perspective:

*C advertises PPV on demand with these boxes. - great but I can't use it. I have stopped ordering PPV movies and had to go back to renting DVD as the box will lock up/reboot/etc in the middle of the movie you paid for. Then you have to pay again to find out the bits you have missed.

They say the 530 ability to pause live tv. Sure the pause works for me. Go pause the tv when the kids are screaming. BUT the replay does not work. Once paused, the time stamps go out of wack and the skip/ff will not work. If you try to use them first the video/audio go out of sync then the video goes black screen and you get audio only. Only way to get out is to stop the live recording and pick up at the live broadcast 10-15 minutes missed. So this feature does not function.

The 530 is a dvr and I can record programs to watch later they say. Recording works fine. But they randomly disapear when the box reboots it self. Every reboot/freeze and it gets worse. more and more programs on the hd are in the menu, but when you try and watch them, they are not accessable.

How can *C stand beind that advertising when you call Tech support over these exact issues and all they can say is it is a known issue that is being worked on.

I know I have only had the system 6 months, but I would think that a fix would be here by now, or a solution to keep customers happy (like a discounted rate on their programming due to the fact that the boxes can't perform as advertised).
 
#101 ·
I agree with you Cory, and I also have an entire page and a half of problems in a Word Document on my PC which I keep updating on almost a daily basis.

As far as a lawsuit goes, I think a bunch of us should get together and file a class action lawsuit. The benefit to doing this is not just to slap *C on the hands. It would serve as a warning to any other company out there who is contemplating screwing their customer around like this. The lawsuit should demand a full refund of our money for the DSR530, as well as an immediate termination of the *C subscription with no penalty to say the least. There should also be a $10,000 sum paid to each and every one of us involved in the lawsuit for the false advertising and misrepresentation of the DSR530.

As far as satellite TV goes, I think both Bell and *C days are limited. They will be lucky if they get another 10 years out of this. The new thing for TV is going to be all Internet related. I saw a review of a new Nortel product on CTV this evening that showed a high definition feed coming off of the internet. It was being displayed on a high def television set. They said that you will be able to record with your computer in high def, as well as search for any show you want and the system will find the show and give you the opportunity to mark it for recording. Talk about cool! This sort of flexibility gives the customer the ability to watch what they want, when they want, in high definition, with lots of other features that are currently not heard of in these DVRs. The future for TV looks positive, but with the stunts that are being pulled by the satellite companies in regards to these faulty DVRs, it does not look like a positive future for them.
 
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