Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums banner

HD PVR hard disk full?

40K views 100 replies 43 participants last post by  frosty vibe 
#1 ·
Anybody else getting this lately? My scheduled recording failed because of this today. I have 0% full since my drive had to be re-formatted because of the last firmware update so there is plenty of room.

Just called the TV support line and they have a message on the IVR to powercycle the box...this is the second time now in the past few days.

Pace Aspen
 
#64 · (Edited by Moderator)
Diskspace Full Problem

I too have been suffering with the "100% full" problem on my DC758D, it's been happening every few days for months, both pre- and post firmware update. Just happened again this morning. Sick of it!!!

My sleep mode has always been set to "NO", so not sure where to go from here.

I had thought maybe I had a bad SATA cable, so I changed that, but it sure didn't fix the problem.

:mad:
 
#66 ·
I'm wondering if built-in power-saving features on some HDD enclosures might be the problem here.
You see — some enclosures have built-in power-saving mechanisms that can't be disabled, no matter what the settings are on your PVR. (I have a Vantec HDD enclosure that does this, so I can't attach it to any of my PVR-type receivers.)
Perhaps this is causing your PVRs to not read the HDD properly and report it to be 100% full.
 
#68 ·
Same here. separate expander from the terminal.
No problem since leaving the terminal 'always on'

As a sidenote, however, we've noticed when taping "Lost Girl" on 1 channel (with no repeats) that we're getting 6 episodes of the same storyline per week. We've already deleted the taping and re-scheduled the show but it still continues... Total opposite of what most people have.

Think Shaw needs to start giving these this show "Titles".
 
#70 ·
We have left Pace 777D on 24/7 for over a week now and have not had the "blue screen of death or BSOD" to use computer slang. However the hard drive is churning all the time and within 3 feet it sounds like a mini thrashing machine. We got our unit about 2 days after Cogeco in Ontario started distributing them so we never had the use of a Motorola box. Scientific Atlanta boxes were used at one time if I remember correctly. Any cable outfit use them in Canada? sailmaker
 
#73 ·
UPDATE:
Leaving power on seems to be one option for a more reliable unit.

Now feedback from Pace/Calgary indicates leaving the Hard Drive Power Down option set to ON (or Yes) seems to be the latest thinking. Shaw will be putting out an update to pace Summits and Aspens early Thursday morning to change this as a default. Should you notice this option set to YES/ON starting tomorrow please do not change it.
 
#83 ·
Well we were made aware at the end of the day today that a Pace patch should be rolled out tomorrow morning which should help/eliminate the 100% full issue from occuring. It's planned for the early morning hours so by the time you get up hopefully things will be more reliable (fingers, toes, eyes all crossed for luck)
 
#74 · (Edited)
Had the same 100% full issue this morning, got mad and unplugged it. When I plugged it back in I think I got the firmware update... I know it takes awhile for the guide and etc. to come back, however is it normal after a firmware update to not be able to access your recordings until it's downloaded all the new guide information and etc.? When I press the green LIST button it says DVR SERVICE UNAVAILABLE.

Oh and just to clarify, I DO NOT use an external hard drive with my PVR, however I used to put it to standby mode each night. Guess I'll leave it on all night now. Blah. Meanwhile Shaw's stock price is up 20 cents this morning.
 
#76 ·
To update the Hard drive power save mode turn the Pace terminal off then press Menu. The will be a Hard Disk Sleep mode option and you would want to set it to Yes. As mentioned there was supposed to be an update this morning to cghange this as the default for all users..however due to some challenges the update did not go through as planned. no eta for when this will be changed. In the mean time leaving the unit powered on 24/7 seems to be the best option currently.
 
#79 ·
What about those of us who need to turn the unit off to enable the pass-thru so our kids can watch non-digital channels (like YTV on channel 22), and then forget to turn it back on again? This happens several times per week.
 
#81 ·
Shaw is just lucky that they have stuck to their no contract business model as that is the only thing keeping me as a shaw customer. It seems to me that Shaw has definitely dropped the ball on their core business which is cable TV. It seems their technology is always lagging behind others, doesn't have the features (ie multiroom PVR access, remote access) and always seems to be buggy. This whole PVR disk full thing is a big thorn in my side as I first experienced it with a non-shaw pvr expander (ie plain jane external esata HDD) and was told by shaw support that was the reason so I put down my $150 for a shaw one and guess what...no better! If they had focused on the core business more they should have been technology leaders not laggers.

One a bright note though they have done a great job with phone and internet.
 
#82 ·
Since the same "disk full" nonsense is happening with PACE boxes here in Ontario with Cogeco the problem would seem to be with PACE and not with Shaw or Cogeco. Leaving the box on 24/7 is a temporary fix (not a solution) at best and not welcome with the noisy hard drive churning away like a small thrashing machine in a bedroom all night. As with any business, the bottom dollar line is the only thing that really matters and so Motorola was dumped in favour of a cheaper box. If not for my wife's wanting to record and save certain episodes this POS would be gone in a flash. :mad:
 
#89 ·
My understanding was the patch rolled out this morning successfully. Now the true test will be if there are any new reports of the 100% full issue occuring again. If you get this occuring please contact Shaw as examples will be needed.
I have not heard any calls yet today about the 100% full and typically we get several an hour in our large call center. The only call I had so far was a tech agent who had a customer with one 30 minute recording on an external drive and it was coming up saying recording space is low. This may be a one off but escalating it up anyway as it may be the tip of a new iceberg or it may be nothing. I can't stress enough to call Shaw for any new issues that occur after this update as it's really the only way to gauge how it went.
 
#87 ·
So what is the "test" to see if all is good and proper now that the update is hopefully on all Pace boxes or is that only with Shaw's units? The acid test would be to turn box off at end of day, each day and if no false popup warning after 10 days then all is well? sailmaker
 
#91 ·
To sleep or not to sleep

Okay, so at first the thinking was that the HDD going to sleep was part of the problem, and then later they're say we should actually set sleep to ON? Huh?

Anyway, with the 20.76 firmware rollout this morning, does the sleep setting matter anymore?

Fingers crossed this update fixes the problem.

Until that's confirmed though, I can confirm that the leave-the-box on workaround did work for me.
 
#93 ·
I've had the PVR on on for the past 2 weeks and no problems at all. I turned PVR off for 2 hours or so today and when I turned it back on, the PVR was full again.

I suppose I am not going to turn it off ever now or until the fix comes through.
 
#101 ·
Update:

I called Shaw about a week ago and they updated my PVR again because somehow my PVR didn't take the update the first time.

So far so good, I've been able to turn the PVR off, with sleep mode on for the night ( or several hours at a time ) and no problems at all.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top