Rogers 8642 HD (Nextbox) PVR Owners Thread: Read post #1 )

[hdwaterloo]

Originally Posted by Gnormal

I am very pleased with my 8642 especially the bookmarks on part played recordings. My only problem is with severe glitches on playback of the CBO HD hockey recordings, Ch 514.
The video freezes for a half second and the audio is muted for maybe a second. This occurs roughly every 2 minutes.
This did not occur with my 8300 so is it my 8642? Anybody.
Thanks.

I also have had severe glitches on playback with the 8642
- live is fine never glitches (even if recording something else)
- pause it 10s and then play and it glitches..every 1-2 minutes
- playback of anything glitches like that (hockey games TSN/CBC seem worse than some others but get it on anything really)

- signal seems 37 S/N 4dbmV
- had Rogers in they said signal was fine
- swapped the box with the store and the new one has the same problems
- 500GB model

Not sure what to do next...maybe its a bad batch of drives or there is a sw fix coming...
buts its painful, since I never watch anything live...but its the only mode that works..

Had a SD box before using it the same way ...no troubles there...

[hdwaterloo]

I'm seeing this as well. (referring to an earlier post about the ffwd going completely to macroblock mess...and audio sometimes completely disappearing...)

Swapped the box ... same issues...

This really is not usable...

[icemankent]

I noticed that TV Call Display was not working.
Tuning to channel 975 just produced a black screen.

After about a week of having Rogers run with the ticket, I called them for a status update yesterday and was (finally) told:
- TV Call Display is not yet working on new 8642 PVR

[Eluder]

I'm surprised they didn't know that in the start, the 8642 was always listed as not supporting TV Call Display (will with a firmware update).

[Fod]

Purchased my 8642 HD about 2 weeks ago (500GB) and after watching about 10-15 recorded episodes since then, also noted the macroblocking issue during FFWD just the other night.

It was on a recorded show (can't recall which), but I was recording another episode of something else at the time. And in watching that episode afterward, it was fine - so the issue would appear to be specific to each recording. That's the first time it's happened - and I know I've watched recorded episodes in the past while recording something else, so not sure if it's related.

Also - I've noticed something else that I'm curious if anyone else has experienced. When starting from the beginning of a recorded episode that hasn't yet completed, I see the status bar as expected - green on the left up to the point where it's live, with red the rest of the way. However, as I start FFWD'ing through commercials to catch up to live, I start to see a red status bar growing on the left - so that the bar is now red/green/red. With each subsequent FFWD, the red portion of the bar on the left continues to grow bigger.

I might expect this if it was just buffering a live show that was more than an hour long that I wasn't actually recording - but why would I see this on a recorded show?

And then when I got to what I thought was the end of the episode (as it wouldn't let me FFWD any further and presented me with the Erase/Start from Beginning options) only to realize later that it had 10 or more minutes of recording time left, that I was able to watch when I went back to see if the red/green/red issue occurred after the show was finished (it didn't).

Have been considering exchanging my box for a new one - but it looks like from others experiences, at least the first issue isn't an isolated one...

[hjohnh]

I purchased an 8642HD (500mb) last week to replace a rented 8300. After hooking it up, 5 or 6 HD channels were completely lost. All I had was intermittent buzzing, and extreme picture noise that would occasionally be replaced by a grey static screen or a uniform colour field. A larger set of SD channels were affected, but much less severely. A rogers tech came by, and checked out the signal. He was able to boost the signal a little bit which brought the missing channels back for the most part, but i would still get occasional picture and audio loss (maybe 5 seconds at a time, and perhaps 5-8 times per hour).

Has anyone else had signal problems with their box? Since these problems never arose with the 8300, I'm assuming that I probably have a faulty unit.

[57]

Perhaps faulty, perhaps simply a difference in the sensitivity of the tuner. See the following FAQ on measuring your signal: Make sure that the RF-coax from the wall to the PVR has a good connection.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17719


And the following post, useful for those new to the forum - FAQs, Search Tips, Optimization, etc:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=57741

[hdwaterloo]

Originally Posted by hdwaterloo

I also have had severe glitches on playback with the 8642
- live is fine never glitches (even if recording something else)
- pause it 10s and then play and it glitches..every 1-2 minutes
- playback of anything glitches like that (hockey games TSN/CBC seem worse than some others but get it on anything really)

- signal seems 37 S/N 4dbmV
- had Rogers in they said signal was fine
- swapped the box with the store and the new one has the same problems
- 500GB model

Not sure what to do next...maybe its a bad batch of drives or there is a sw fix coming...
buts its painful, since I never watch anything live...but its the only mode that works..

Had a SD box before using it the same way ...no troubles there...

Now on my 3rd box, they ordered another one in case the lot I had was bad, same issues...
fine line, anything stored to disk and played back is a mess, depends what you watch a lot, hockey is particularly bad, SD channels are mostly fine, other shows are hit or miss...
so it depends a lot on the rate of transfer required to the disk as to whether it messes up...(HD hockey generally requiring a higher sustained bit rate than other shows. ie HD baseball is generally not bad..)

[hdwaterloo]

Originally Posted by hjohnh

I purchased an 8642HD (500mb) last week to replace a rented 8300. After hooking it up, 5 or 6 HD channels were completely lost. All I had was intermittent buzzing, and extreme picture noise that would occasionally be replaced by a grey static screen or a uniform colour field. A larger set of SD channels were affected, but much less severely. A rogers tech came by, and checked out the signal. He was able to boost the signal a little bit which brought the missing channels back for the most part, but i would still get occasional picture and audio loss (maybe 5 seconds at a time, and perhaps 5-8 times per hour).

Has anyone else had signal problems with their box? Since these problems never arose with the 8300, I'm assuming that I probably have a faulty unit.

I am thinking less that its faulty units (unless all 500GB are bad...)
I am on #3 and they are all they same...perfect live...and signal strength is good, all replay islike you 5s at a time, 8-15 times/hour or more...it messes up...and macroblock mess on FastForeward...

I'm curious
Deepnds what you watch the HD hockey is really bad, but HD baseball is pretty much ok (glitches ...30-40 per hour vs 1-2 per hour)
I think its bad software
wonder if anyone has a 500GB that never glitches on playback
wonder if other drive sizes (160GB) also do it?

I really don't want to switch to Bell, but this is likely to not work for a long time....
replacing it with another unit every 2 weeks is a pain...

[vinnie123]

Sorry for your troubles, I have the 160GB version and have never experienced your issue, or any issues for that matter. I've had it for a couple months now

[mawiffen]

I've had the same type of problems playing back recorded shows - glitches about every 5 to 10 minutes, and occasional macroblocking when fastforwarding. It looks like my QAM level is on the high side (+10), with a signal/noise ratio in the mid-30's.


The other problem I've had is in scheduling recordings. From time to time (at least 3 times that I've noticed) the guide shows a program in red, like it's being recorded, where I've never scheduled it to record. It doesn't appear to actually be recording - at least it doesn't show up in the recorded programs listing before, during or after it records. But if it happens when I'm trying to record another show, it won't let me watch anything else, since it thinks I'm recording two shows at the time. The strangest part is that when I go to the channel and hit the stop button, to stop it recording, all I get is a black screen with the video playing in the top right hand corner.

The life of an early adopter, I guess.

[rdmacl]

I purchased an 8642 box (500GB) two weeks ago as a result of my 8300 freezing on playback as well as frequent pixelization. Much to my disappointment I have begun getting the same problems. I was all set to return it for a replacement until I saw recent posts describing the same problems, namely severe macro-blocking(?) when in FF or FR during second half of recording, as well as frequent pixelization occurences during playback.

All this is frustrating as I, like many others, prefer watching recorded programs. Has anyone notified Rogers about this problem and would it do any good?

[hdwaterloo]

I've contacted them many times(~8), had 2 different service guys come (since the support guys have no idea what to do). Of course they show up and all the signals are fine.

Had one guy mention he had heard of this from others.
They were supposed to get back to me within 48 hours, its now been 4 weeks haven't heard anything, each time I call they seem surpised that I haven't heard back and tell me the case is still open and offer to send yet another service guy out to look at it....sigh

I just want to know of its a software problem and they will have a fix eventually (there are so many issues they have to be sw fixes I would think ...) or if I should switch to another older unit or 160G unit or whatever ....just get silence...

[lonetreejim]

I don't know it it's been mentioned yet but I accidentally pressed the page up key while watching a recorded program and the show jumped to the next 15 minute marker. Pressed it again and it jumper to the next marker, and so on.

Pressing the Page Dn key moved it back to the previous marker.

If only it would jump 30 seconds or a minute!

[Kruginator]

I purchased an 8642 box as an upgrade to my 8300. To date I have been underwhelmed, these are issues I have had:
1) 480i pictures are soft and deinterlacing is weak
2) no sound over HDMI. Interestingly, the 8300had had an "HDMI" audio option, my 8642 only has "Dolby Digital" and "Other", no HDMI
3) FF and RW shows macroblocking
4) HDMI picture is OK, not as great as with the 8300.

After getting Rogers to test my signal and then via automated message tell me that it was OK, I went and swapped the box out yesterday hoping it was the box. Unfortunately the replacement box shows same issues as original box. I do believe that it is the box, so I can only conclude either 1) it is a crappy box or 2) we need software/firmware upgrade.

In any event, I am an unhappy owner of the 8642.