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#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
This thread is for owners of the Rogers 8642 HD PVR to provide us with their feedback on the set top box and discuss its use with other owners.

See the following post for a list of known issues:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=122118&page=49


To discuss the new firmware/IPG, please use the following thread:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=150889


We also have a separate Whole Home PVR thread.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=150244


Please Note:

This thread is NOT for non-owners to ask questions about the 8642. If you would like ask questions then please post in the New 8642 PVR from Rogers discussion thread.

Non-owners posting in this thread will have their posts removed.


Check out the following thread for differences between the 8300HD and 8642HD (this is now mostly obsolete as the new firmware/IPG has become available for the 8642).

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=1121780#post1121780



Edit by 57: Does the PVR not report % space properly? Many people have reported the % space doesn't seem correct (internal and/or external), especially if there is not a lot of space used. Record at least 10 hours of HD and then see the percentages - they should then be fine.
 
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#286 ·
frog2lite: I experienced that same phenomenon (and variations of it) earlier this evening. I ended up doing a full power-off reboot of the 8642 (pull the plug). It takes a while to start up after that but then the screen size is mostly correct.

I wonder... has Rogers been doing a firmware upgrade lately? I've had this 8642 for about a month now and I'm not sure why it should have now suddenly done this.
 
#288 ·
I too, feel that Rogers must have made a firmware update to these boxes (very) lately.

On my setup, pressing the "aspect" button on the remote would not do anything - because of how I configured the box - it would always send 1080i to my tv.

Just 2 days ago I hit the aspect button by accident, and it "did" allow me to cycle through the various zoom modes.

So, YES something has changed - but now I am wondering what "else" was modified - as it is not obvious that anything else is operating any differently.
 
#287 ·
speed channel is the only one I have found that expands to the full horizontal screen, but it is not full height so is stretched,
You are either sending only a 480i signal to the TV, or you've connected to the TV via a non-HD connection like RF-coax, composite video or S-video. If you have any of those connected to the TV from the STB, remove them and use only HDMI or Component video. A reboot as mentioned above may help if you are using the correct connection.

See: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=654656#post654656


See also the following useful post - FAQs, Search Tips, Optimization:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=57741
 
#289 ·
Just 2 days ago I hit the aspect button by accident, and it "did" allow me to cycle through the various zoom modes.
I assume you're talking about the aspect button on the TV remote? The latest firmware seems to communicate with TVs via HDMI and then enables 480i/p for the SD channels depending on the TV, also enabling Auto-DVI or "upconvert". If you revert to 1080i-Fixed, then you may not be able to use the aspect button again (for SD). I assume that the # button on the Rogers remote still stretches? Please be clear about the button you are referring to.
 
#290 ·
My setup is to use "direct".
Yes I was referring to the aspect button on the remote.
So, now even when watching hd content, the aspect button allows me to go through all zoom modes- where previously it did absolutely nothing if you pressed it.
 
#291 ·
My setup is to use "direct".
Direct means nothing to me. I assume you mean passthrough or auto-HDMI.

aspect button on the remote.
"The remote" means nothing to me again since you don't tell me if you mean the TV or PVR remote.

aspect button allows me to go through all zoom modes
All zoom modes on only SD channels or with HD channels too? (some TVs can stretch/zoom SD but not HD) If it's with HD channels, then you should be able to do so also with 1080i-Fixed (again, I assume you're talking about the aspect button on the TV remote, not the PVR remote). The # button on the PVR remote should work all the time, assuming a proper setup/connections.
 
#299 ·
Direct means nothing to me. I assume you mean passthrough or auto-HDMI.

"The remote" means nothing to me again since you don't tell me if you mean the TV or PVR remote.

All zoom modes on only SD channels or with HD channels too? (some TVs can stretch/zoom SD but not HD) If it's with HD channels, then you should be able to do so also with 1080i-Fixed (again, I assume you're talking about the aspect button on the TV remote, not the PVR remote). The # button on the PVR remote should work all the time, assuming a proper setup/connections.
Actually I meant to say my pvr is set to "Fixed" (not direct) - and I have it set such that the only mode set for fixed is 1080i.

I meant the # button on the pvr remote - that it (used) to do nothing to what was displayed on the screen, but now allows me to cycle through the pvr zoom modes, which is actually quite lame, since even when watching an HD signal, it zooms (cuts off) the picture (why would anyone ever want to do that) - so I have to ensure that I make sure I don't hit # by mistake - and if I do, to cycle the modes back to "1080i Normal".

My whole point here was that nothing in my setup changed - yet now this # button on the pvr actually lets me cycle through the zoom modes - which it never did before - which leads me to believe that perhaps a firmware update must be the culprit.
I am connected via an HDMI cable.
 
#293 ·
8642 New problem?

I noticed last night for the first time another annoying problem with the new box.

I was watching a program, not recording it, at almost the end of the show I rewound to catch a line in the closing comments I missed. When the next show started it cut over to the next program. I could not rewind back into the prior show to see hear the comment again.

With my 8300 it seems to keep in que the last 1.5 or 2hrs of programming on that channel if you didn't change the channel. Almost like an auto PVR. The 1.5hr rewind was excessive however being able to review into the last show you were watching was important.

I would hate to think when watching OT in the game, I have miss the final goal and because CBC instantly cuts to programming already in progress that I would not be able to rewind and show my wife.
 
#294 · (Edited)
Strangest thing just happened.

It's 09:59 am, the show I'm watching automatically pauses, and audio is jittering in a repetitive loop (you know that annoying audio noise when you REW/Pause/FF a ROD show).

The box shuts off by itself, and 3 minutes later it powers up again.

I wonder if they just pushed an update to my box.

I just opened the diagnostics, here are my versions after the reboot (Wish I had written them down before):
PTV OS: Explorer8kg5 NGP OS
Flash: DVR1.9.0_8600HD_HR_F.1002
App(s): SARA v 1.92.16.2

Lots of component information on Page 17/34:
Image File: 1.9.0.1002 - 09/01/10
OS: 8.4.25.1 - 07/20/10
SARA: 1.92.16.2 - 09/01/10
MIPS NetProcs: 1.4.0.7 - 07/20/10
MIPS Diagnostic: 1.0.19.1 - 06/22/09
NVM Library 1.0.5.1 - 01/28/09
HAL Driver-p: 2.5.35.120 - 08/31/10
DOCSIS CM Bin: 10.10.52.2 - 08/31/10
PkeyEMB-DVR: 4.0.10.20 - 04/24/09
firebus: 4.11.100708.1 - 10/07/08
Linux: 1.2.25.102 - 12/31/95

Also it shows the capacity of both drives (not sure if that was present before or not)

I wonder why my 8642 has an 8300 flash version?
 
#295 ·
When the next show started it cut over to the next program. I could not rewind back into the prior show to see hear the comment again.
Were you watching the US channel and a Canadian channel came on next as in a simsub situation? Whenever there is a simsub start or end, then there can be issues with the recording since there is a change of channel occurring in the background.

Suggest you watch (or record) the Canadian channel so that there is no background change. This was discussed in a separate thread regarding recordings and simsubs.

I believe the default time limit is 1 hour for "pause live TV". I always recommend that people record any programme of interest since "pause live TV" can often have these sorts of issues.
 
#296 ·
Were you watching the US channel and a Canadian channel came on next as in a simsub situation? Whenever there is a simsub start or end, then there can be issues with the recording since there is a change of channel occurring in the background.
You could be correct. I really don't recall the channel number I was watching. I was watching Kitchen Nightmares, so it is a FOX thing rebroadcast in Canada.

Just not something I have experienced before with my 8300 however not saying it would not happen on that box as well.

Thank you for the heads up on how to address the issue.
 
#297 ·
Cisco 8642 Recording But Not Recording

We've had the Cisco 8642 for a few months. A few times in recent weeks it has done something a little odd when recording a show I've told it to. It happened again tonight with Big Love, both at 9pm (ch. 313?) and at 11pm (ch.314?).

In each case, it comes up with the two-minute warning that it's about to begin recording, then it seems to start (the red recording symbol comes up on the PVR display, shows up in the list view as recording, and <X> minutes), then somewhere before the show ends, something seems to go wrong.

The red symbol on the display goes away. The list view shows the full duration (e.g. 1hr 0m) even though the program's not yet done, and if I attempt to play the recording, it just dumps me at the 'Playback Channel' screen. When the program should finish, the item in the list goes away entirely, as if it never tried to record the show.

Worse, since the result after the fact is a totally missing entry, I'm not sure if this is happening sometimes when I don't notice.

Anyone else seeing these symptoms?
 
#298 ·
This can happen once in a while. Here's a list of things to do/check.

1. Reboot the PVR.
2. Delete and then redo the scheduled recording entry - sometimes there may be a minor name change, or time change, that can adversely affect recordings.
3. If the recording is a simsub, record the Canadian channel (say CTV) and not the US channel (say ABC) so that the simsub doesn't affect the recording.

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


Useful post - FAQs, Search Tips, Optimization, etc:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=57741
 
#300 ·
I don't know why the # button didn't work for you before since it normally works for everyone who's properly set up and properly connected.

There may be some difference in functionality if you have the PVR set to "Auto-HDMI" instead of fixed, or perhaps with Component video cables. For example, with Auto-HDMI it may not provide the stretch mode that's available with "1080i Fixed".

it zooms (cuts off) the picture (why would anyone ever want to do that)
If you have a widescreen picture on a 4:3 upconvert or SD channel, this will zoom in to fill the screen (and also reduce the picture quality at the same time)
 
#301 ·
Yeah - not sure why the # button did not work previously - but it definitely did not do anything - until a little while ago.
I have two 8642's and the # worked on one, but not the other - so I definitely noticed - and wondered - why it did not function on my other tv.
No worries, just an anomaly I noticed - that's all.
 
#303 ·
There are certain to be possible issues with any purchase since there are always a number of bad eggs in a basket, however, the majority of the equipment works just fine.

Although, if I were to purchase, I would purchase the 160 GB version and put in my own 1TB SATA drive for several reasons - larger drive, less money and also because it seems there were more issues with the 500 GB units.
 
#305 ·
8642HD loses saved programs

This is the fourth time in the past few months this has happened to me:

When I go to my saved programs list, all the shows I've saved show up there, but when I go to play any of them, it goes to the "Digital Video Recorder Playback Screen'. It says press list for programs, which returns me to the list and if I select a program it returns me to the DVR playback screen. None of the saved programs will play. I have an external storage device attached as well (purchased from Rogers).
The last time this happened the tech support guy told me to do a hard boot and when it comes back it prompts to format the external device, which I did and of course lost everything that was saved.
This time the tech support dude told me to do a hard boot and to bypass the format. Problem is still there. All the programs are on the list, but none play.
Anyone else had this issue? I have returned the unit for exchange 3 times, and as mentioned, this is the fourth time this happened. It's a pain in the ass to save stuff, only to have it lost.
 
#306 ·
Difficult to say, but it sounds like something might be wrong with the PVR unit itself. When you exchanged the External HDD, did you swap the cables as well or have they remained the same? If they have, that might be the issue. I would see if they will let you swap the PVR box. You will lose your recordings, but I don't think anything is going to prevent that now.

I've had an Iomega DVR Expander for about 4 months now and it works flawlessly. Don't know if the Rogers Extender is prone to this type of thing or not.
 
#307 ·
This sort of issue (DVR screen) is often related to a poor connection between the PVR and the eHDD - a bad SATA cable, or a loose connection at one end or the other. That's if the recordings on the eHDD won't play.

The weird thing is, it should never have asked you to format the drive if it was previously formatted and recorded to. The eHDD should have been "recognized" by the PVR and a screen should have come up saying something like "the eHDD connected works with this PVR".

If the recordings on the iHDD won't play either, then it's a problem with the index (which is stored on the iHDD) and if a couple of reboots doesn't work, then you're probably out of luck.

Problem could be with the PVR, the iHDD, the eHDD, the connection - any number of things.
 
#308 ·
Bug found causing ReBoot while watching on-demand.

Have only had this 8642 for a couple of days but today I found a bug that seems to be causing a re-boot.
The 8642 was a replacement for my 5+ year old 8300 which had a lot of recorded shows on it which were lost.
So I was trying to catch up with some of the lost shows by watching On-Demand.
While in the 300 on-demand channel and watching a program I was also trying to program future shows to be recorded for another night.
While trying to set up a recording from the IPG I tried to record a third show for the same time slot. (Forgot I had a weekly show set up) So I marked the show to be deleted from recordings with the X and then pressed the yellow triangle A button to confirm deleting it.
At this point the on-demand show kept playing however the action to delete the program to be recorded froze.
After about 15 seconds the 8642 rebooted without me touching anything else. What made matters worse is that it was about 50 minutes into the show (from CTV) and when the 8642 came back up and I went to 300 to finish watching the program it had not saved where I was and it started over. With no fast forward on CTV (and other) programs I had to watch it all over.
This bug causing a reboot happened again the following day when I did the same thing.
It only does it while watching an on-demand program, it doesn't do it while watching a regular program...
.
 
#309 ·
My 8642 has rebooted after watching a couple of ROD shows as well..

however I rarely use ROD, but it's always ch 100 that I use.

I also have a bug while watching ROD channels, if I fast forward, rewind or pause, it causes an audio problem with my TV, and it only happens with ROD tv shows, not ROD Movies.
 
#310 ·
on my 3rd PVR since the firmware rollout

Not sure if this helps, after numerous calls and visits all starting with the firmware roll outs from Cisco we lost everything on the 8300 and external drive (lost a drive as well but it may or not have been related) and was told to get the 8642. Hooked in the 8642 and a new WD 1Tb drive in a new nextar case. Went on vacation for two weeks and on return started having issues, ROD channel 100 seemed to be the culprit as it wouldn't load in, then 309 wouldn't load in and we'd lose all channels. Call in, get told we have a weak signal (they seem to say that for every call) they send out a dude who replaces the box, says they are refurbs and prone to fail, once again lose all saved shows. Try to catch up on low def versions of shows we lost on channel 100 again, same issue. This time two dudes (Rogers guys not subcontractors) show up and do a more thorough test on the line and create a fault on the line to chase down where the problem is. After over an hour of replacing cable outside (these guys were very professional) they tell me there is still some RF interference somewhere along the line in the area but things should work, they leave their card and say to call them if there are more issues and they will come back and do some more testing. They ask to follow up either way in a couple of weeks so they know things are good. Rogers gives me a few credits for the lost programs and the hassle. So if you have older lines coming in or some other sort of RF interference inside or outside it could be enough to drop the on demand. (I assume you are not trying to record two shows while watching on demand as that causes it to reboot as well).
While I do enjoy the services Rogers has to offer I have never been a huge fan of the company.
These service guys changed my perception a bit on that.
The main dude explained what they were doing and even took me through the diagnostic screen to show the improvement when done.
I hope they end up working in the area in nicer weather as I think a steak and a beer or two at the end of their shift on me is in order.
So in summary there could be internal or external interference that is causing the ROD to drop and the box to lose the signal.
 
#312 ·
scubaguy62,

I've just read on the rogers community forums, a rogers employee commented, When ROD causes the 8642 to lose channels & require a reboot after viewing ROD channels, the best fix is to have a rogers tech come out. Because ROD/STB uses 2-way communication, if there is any trouble with the line, it could cause the problem symptoms in the STB. Even small things such as a splitter installed backwards, or a splitter that is not designed for 2-way transfer could be the problem.

I know my in-house wiring is fine (Rogers installed everything 1.5 years ago), but there might be something in the neighbourhood they need to change down the line. The houses are 60+ years old around here.

Is your system running fine now after their visit?

I'll try and schedule something this week and get a tech out.
 
#313 ·
picture setting as well

using new 8642 - auto hdmi
with new tv

yesterday for quite a while could only get proper formatting using (stretch) on all
channels otherwise picture was smushed !

using fixed in settings did not seem to do anything-

are you (anyone) recommending fixed over auto HDMI ? previous
tv had component available this does not -
 
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