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Shaw Direct HDPVR 630 Owners Discussion Thread

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#1 ·
This discussion thread is for owners to discuss the new Shaw Direct HDPVR 630 when it becomes available on September 1st.

Please post your thoughts and your feedback on this unit once you have it up and running.


For non-owners, you can ask questions about the unit in our New 630 In Pre Order


Edit by 57: Here's a thread summarizing problems, issues, resolutions, workarounds:

Shaw Direct 630 Official Problems / Issues / Resolutions Thread. Read posts 1, 2 - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums
 
#1,404 ·
Help button + C button on the 630 remote.

That toggles captioning on and off.

I find that if you are watching a recorded program, you may need to hit pause after turning captioning on and then resume play to get the captioning to happen. And I also find on some shows, the captioning is just horrible.

But maybe that's just my machine.
 
#1,406 ·
How to Factory Reset HD630PVR?

While recording Grammy Awards last night, I accessed PVR and tried to play a previous recording. The whole machine froze. Nothing on remote or front panel would function. Only recourse was to pull the power cord. This certainly unfroze the machine, but it also wiped out all recordings on the PVR. Now I can't access any PVR functions, though receiver works normally.

Since all is erased anyway (or so it appears), what is the remote control key sequence to do a Factory Reset. I don't mind if it formats / erases all on hard disk; I just want the PVR to work again. A service rep gave me key sequence in past for this: it involves accessing a hidden menu.

Worst case is I expect the hard disk crashed and may need to be replaced if formatting won't resolve.
 
#1,409 ·
It was about one hour into the show approximately (9:00 pm EST). I was recording then tried to watch the first hour of the show via the PVR. So it was recording to the same file I tried to watch. I also used a rewind command. I think all of this was too much for the machine.
 
#1,411 ·
Factory Reset


This key sequence did do a factory reset. Now I am waiting for the guide to fully download. At this point, the channel mapping is incorrect since it has assigned the Classic mapping instead of the correct Advanced mapping. I'll try a refresh to see if this fixes it.
 
#1,413 ·
Only recourse was to pull the power cord.
Generally a bad idea unless the machine is off and not recording. It's better to do a reset by holding down the front panel power button for 5 seconds. Chances are it will reboot on its own after a few minutes. It's probably better to wait before resetting in case some sort of system repair is taking place.

I think the hard disk is fried.
The hard disk probably just needs to be reformatted. There is a hidden menu for that but I forget what it is. Someone here will know it.
 
#1,414 ·
Generally a bad idea unless the machine is off and not recording. It's better to do a reset by holding down the front panel power button for 5 seconds. Chances are it will reboot on its own after a few minutes. It's probably better to wait before resetting in case some sort of system repair is taking place.
I agree with hindsight. I was afraid of doing either actually since the disk was writing. I figured either could damage the disk, but if I had it to do over, I'd try the front panel reset first.

The hard disk probably just needs to be reformatted. There is a hidden menu for that but I forget what it is. Someone here will know it.
Yes, I agree with this too. Anybody who knows how to reformat the disk, speak up.

It has now gone into a cycle of resetting, failing, resetting...so now the receiver is gone too. I suspect in resetting it needs to write to disk which it can't do right now, so it resets.

Added: I may already have reformatted. When doing the factory reset, I chose to erase rather than preserve the hard disk. That was probably a format.
 
#1,415 ·
first things first when doing a factory reset on a dvr 630 you must erase the chanel map options 4 9 7 7 1 left arrow until diag F then hit info ..
once that is done to ensure full format of hard drive remove both tuner 1 and tuner 2 line in ..options 4 9 8 8 6 and then confirm..depending on what lnb u have either be on 299 for a quad or 252 for the new xku conect both lines in .......then 2 hits need to be sent...on options 4 7 line f once that indicate map status complete all should be good......
 
#1,417 ·
There is no diag F, only diag A with lots of data on screen. As soon as I try left arrowing, box resets. I don't think left arrowing is causing reset; box resets endlessly without any action on my part.

Added: Box has stopped resetting. Map loading. It is the wrong map (Classic) but I will allow it to complete and box stabilize before attempting to change it. Hard Drive Health says Failed: Connect.
 
#1,416 ·
Can't do this procedure now due to endless resetting. Before I can complete any procedure, it resets again.

Added: When last stable before it started resetting, channel map seemed correct (Advanced) and receiver was working correctly. Just PVR was not. Maybe we have progress...resetting seems to have stopped and box has stabilized. I may be able to try your procedure.
 
#1,418 ·
Go to Options-4-7 and scroll down to "S" Hard Drive Health: If it says Failed then your hard drive has crapped out. Call SD and they will go through a long-winded trouble shooting thing and about 45 minutes later they will finally admit the hard drive has failed. Happened to me a few weeks ago. The hard drive was making a funny "buzz-beep" noise when I tried to reboot. Everything would load back up but the PVR functions were no longer there. Try to set a timer and nothing would happen. They finally sent a new refurbished unit.
 
#1,419 ·
Unplugging should not make the drive fail. It may make the disk unusable so that it needs to be reformatted. It's probably just a coincidence if the drive has physically failed.
 
#1,420 ·
No, it shouldn't since it only simulates a power failure that could happen at any moment of the day.

Have now reviewed situation with SD tech support. A new box is en route to me. At least the receiver is working correctly now and no resets. Just have to live without PVR (and WITH commericials!) for 5 to 7 days. Under 1-year manufacturer's warranty: no charge.
 
#1,421 ·
smart recording question

I just got the 630 pvr and I wanted to know about smart recording, i assume if you smart record new episodes, it will only record new episodes, and if you smart record all episodes it records all episodes only 1 time... and you set the pvr history to say 40 days it will not record the same episode more than 1 time within that 40 days... the question i have is if you watch an episode and erase it does it re-record that episode again within the 40 days if aired again, or will it only skip it if it is still on the pvr.... does my question make sense...
 
#1,425 ·
Smart Recording

I just got the 630 pvr and I wanted to know about smart recording...
I will offer my opinion based on my general understanding of this box. Maybe others can give you a definite answer based on specific experience.

Smart recording new episodes only records new episodes one time. It will only record that episode one time since after that it isn't a new episode. Smart recording all episodes records all episodes; every time an episode of the program is aired, it records it one time until the time value set for PVR History passes, and then it would record that episode again if it aired again.

To answer your question, I don't think the box is able to determine what remains on the PVR as a recorded file and use that information to determine what to record. In other words, it doesn't matter if you delete or don't delete something already recorded, that action or lack of action won't affect what gets recorded in future.

The only determining factor for whether to record an episode when set for smart recording of all episodes is how many days have passed since an episode was recorded. If the number of days set in PVR History has passed, then the box will record the episode.
 
#1,422 ·
PVR problem - 630 receiver

For the last two days my 630 receiver has been having some issues recording shows. Shows that I have scheduled are no longer recording. The guide shows them as being set to record. There are no conflicts. When it starts recording one show, it won't let me change the channel. It says "Your request cannot be completed as there are two recordings in progress, etc..." However, there is only one show recording! Then when I go to check what has been recorded from earlier in the day it shows the names of the shows, but no time or date, and a recording duration of anywhere from 48 to 56 HOURS. Of course you can't watch the shows, the only option available is to delete the recording. If I have two shows set to record at the same time, only one of them records. Other shows are being ignored completely. Shows that it says are recording presently have a duration of 0 minutes. If you tell it to stop recording, it keeps recording and won't stop, until a couple of minutes after. This is very frustrating. Is my receiver toast? I don't want to waste my time dealing with SD customer service unless I have to. I have done both a front panel reset and unplugged both the power and the SAT1 and SAT2 connections. Neither have fixed the problem. Anyone know what is causing this or what the fix is? Thanks.
 
#1,427 ·
You can try a factory reset. Options 4-9-8-8-6

You will also need to get a refresh "hit" on your receiver after the factory reset either via Self-Serve page in the website or using automated refresh feature over the phone. This will refresh your receiver with the correct channel map.
 
#1,428 · (Edited by Moderator)
Did the factory reset - problem remained. Phoned customer support and the guy said to do a factory reset. I explained that I did that already and it didn't fix anything. He didn't seem too concerned and told me to do it again anyway and to phone back if it didn't work. Surprise surprise, it didn't work. Phoned back and now have a replacement receiver on the way. I had only had my receiver for 4 months approx. and now it already needs replacing. I can't say that I'm very confident the replacement will last much longer.
 
#1,430 · (Edited)
I'm having the same HDPVR 630 problem as "ddayson" and have had the same problem for the last week or so.

Here's a screenshot.



None of the shows that "look" OK will play, I get a black screen with the status bar at the bottom and it just stays at 0:00.

The shows that show no date or time and a false (and too long) duration only provide a "Delete" option.

They will delete, but this doesn't change the space available on the hard drive.

I've tried front-panel resets, but haven't tried a "factory" reset yet for two reasons. 1) It doesn't seem to fix the problem, and 2) I'd rather not lose these recordings if there is another option.

Before calling SD CS, does anyone have any other ideas?
 
#1,431 ·
Cwspen - That is exactly the same thing that was happening to me. I get home tonight and my receiver is telling me there is a message. It says that my hard drive is full of protected recordings and they need to be deleted before new shows can record. I had a total of 14% of my hard drive used for protected shows. Then when I go in to my PVR list it says my list is empty! So all of my saved shows apparently deleted themselves. What a lousy machine! I have a replacement receiver on the way, so I knew I was going to lose these shows anyway, but I don't like that they deleted themselves.

As for doing a factory reset, there is an option to preserve your saved recordings, but after 2 factory resets I can tell you that it won't fix the problem. Your only option likely is to phone customer support and after they tell you a few pointless suggestions (factory reset) they'll hopefully send you a replacement.

It is bad enough with the whole lack of HD currently available and now with these very expensive receivers not being at all reliable, it really makes me wonder if it is worth staying with Shaw Direct...
 
#1,432 ·
I suspect the problems being experienced by ddayson and cwspen are due to a corrupted hard disc and can only be resolved by a disc reformat done by a full factory reset without preserving recorded shows on hard disc. I got that same error message and it simply indicates that the box cannot access the hard disc for some reason. I also had less than 20% disc full of shows.

I'll bet if you were a computer geek or wanted to suffer the expense of taking the disc to a computer service shop, you could remove the hard disc from the box and maybe use troubleshooting techniques to fix the corruption on the disc without losing the content.

Everyone should treat this disc storage feature like any PC storage: temporary. If you really want to keep something permanently, you need to work out a system of either simultaneously recording to another location in parallel (easier way?) as backup protection, or figure out some way to offload recorded programs (harder way?).
 
#1,433 · (Edited by Moderator)
Let me just clarfiy, I wasn't planning on keeping the recordings permanently. The 14% were shows that I was saving for a later time to watch or re-watch again.

As for factory resetting and not preserving any recordings - customer service was well aware of my problem. I explained it very clearly to them and they said to make sure you preserve your recordings. When I called them back to tell them it didn't work, wouldn't they have then suggested a factory reset without preserving the records before just deciding to send me a replacement unit? They lose money on that.
 
#1,434 ·
You're like me. I only keep programs long enough to watch them one time. I lost a list of shows I hadn't yet had time to watch and it pissed me off. But my doing a factory reset without preserving the files (presumably a disc format) never resolved my problem anyway. The replacement box resolved all trouble and it never cost me anything except the lost shows I hadn't watched.
 
#1,437 ·
I can't believe it. My replacement receiver arrived today. It took over an hour of talking to customer service before they could finally properly activate the stupid thing. So, thinking everything was good, I went ahead and started setting my programs to record. Guess what? This receiver is doing almost the exact same thing as my old one! It won't record a show despite it showing in the guide and the upcoming PVR section as recording. And on the off chance that it does record a show, it won't let me watch it. What are the odds that both receivers are going to do this to me? Is it possible that it could be something else causing this? I'm at a loss and I really do not want to deal with customer service again. And if anyone is wondering, yes, I am sure I didn't hook the old receiver back up by mistake.
 
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