Rogers 8642 HD (Nextbox) PVR Owners Thread: Read post #1 ) - Page 4 - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

Bplayer · 2010-04-25, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobFillmore

A heads-up for anyone getting the 8642 box: unlike the 8300HD, it does not include an analog tuner, so if you live in a condo/apartment tower you will not be able to see the lobby channel (998) using the 8642. Rogers suggested workaround is to split the cable and feed it directly to your TV (assuming your TV has an analog tuner). This is inconvenient... they really should offer the Cisco 8652 box which includes an analog tuner.

The lobby channel (998) has been blank on my TV for many months now so this not a loss in my area.

MooBaloo · 2010-04-25, 11:49 PM

I've noticed that the channels displaying 6 channels at once (SPRTS, NEWS and KIDS) don't work on the 8642.

jnestor · 2010-04-26, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MooBaloo

I've noticed that the channels displaying 6 channels at once (SPRTS, NEWS and KIDS) don't work on the 8642.

I see the same thing on my 8642. The message

"Accessing SPRTS service. One moment, please."

is displayed and then the screen goes blank (and stays that way).

gzero · 2010-04-26, 03:43 PM

^^

It's interesting to watch the "SAM INFORMATION" diagnostic page while tuning into this channel on the 8642. I see a "z_lmc" application appear with an AppId of "Exited" for about a second, before going away. I think the z_* apps first started appearing when QSG was introduced, so maybe it refuses to or can't load on this model box.

I think the 8642 uses a different CPU family (MIPS) than the other boxes (SPARC), which may have something to do with it. ROD works but it looks to me to be an EBIF application so is not CPU specific.

mgl · 2010-04-26, 10:06 PM

Now I know what you mean by audio glitches. Watching the amazing race on ctv was terrible and I have never seen anything like that on my 8300. It was especially bad during commercials. When I fast forwarded, the screen dissolved into a mess of chunky pixels that looked like gibberish and I couldn't make out the image at all. Sometimes the sound dropped out entirely but if I pressed back 8 seconds I'd get the sound properly. Very strange..

icemankent · 2010-04-26, 10:44 PM

That happened to me recently on a recording of Bikini Destinations from HD Net.
Watching the program was fine, but FFW or REW at any point and the picture was not recognizable at all - never seen that before - and it was only that one program (so far) that I have seen the issue.

(You just gotta love being an early adopter !)

MacTVJunkie · 2010-04-27, 04:29 PM

So far I've not experienced any macro blocking with the 8642 either during playback or trickplay.

In fact, I recorded and watched The Amazing Race and playback was fine.

Perhaps you have signal strength issues? Both a weak signal and a signal that is too hot can cause issues.

icemankent · 2010-04-30, 11:09 PM

Does anyone know why those of us with an 8642 have neither the crappy Quickstart Guide, nor the TV Call display functioning ?

Are these boxes too new and Rogers hasn't figured out how to make those two features work yet, or are they waiting for some sort of firmware update to do it ?

BTW, I hated the QSG, but loved the TV Call Display.

stever · 2010-05-03, 09:36 AM

Has anybody noticed that the 8642 starts recording slightly after the actual start time of the program? Did not notice this on the 8300. Not sure how late it is but it is a bit annoying.

whitbyterry · 2010-05-03, 10:10 AM

On the 8300, I notice that the clock will move forward to the time, let's say 9:00 and there is usually a pause of 1 or 2 seconds before the recording kicks in. The same thing seems to happen when the recording stops. I assume this is just because the software needs some time to tell it to stop and start. The software is not waiting to stop or start, it just seems that when a specific time is reached, the software then checks to see if it should perform an action. E.g. it does not check at 8:59:55 to see if it should be stopping or starting a recording. At 9:00 it checks to see if anything should stop or start. How quickly this occurs would depend on the speed of all the internal parts and how efficient the software is written.

stever · 2010-05-03, 10:22 AM

I agree. But the 8300HD seemed to have solved the problem you would think the 8642 could do it as well. You would think it would be a simple line in the code to start recording to compensate for any lag.

57 · 2010-05-03, 01:46 PM

I think the firmware is more sophisticated than you give credit. For example, if the HDD is shut down, it'll spin up a minute or two before the recording is scheduled to start (at least it does on my 8300HD). So there's no reason that the recording shouldn't start on time, provided:

1. That the clock is accurate
2. That the programme starts on time.

You may wish to check with a recording of CP24 which usually has a time display, or with different channels because they may be off by a second or two?

If you have both new and old PVR at your home, you could check if there are differences with a recording of CP24.

JamesK · 2010-05-03, 04:21 PM

I have already verified the Rogers PVR time is accurate. The best thing to compare with is a Linux box synced to an NTP server (Windows doesn't provide the same accuracy) or the clock on a CDMA (Bell or Telus) cell phone. GSM doesn't have the same accuracy.

BTW, it would be nice if a recording could start a few seconds early and end a few seconds late.

vinnie123 · 2010-05-04, 09:50 AM

I got my 8642 this past weekend (upgraded from the 8300HD) and am quite pleased with it so far. As previously mentioned there aren't a whole lot of new features but the overall speed improvements are great.

Does anyone know when Rogers will enable the ethernet capabilities? I assume some sort of firmware/software upgrade will be required seeing as there are no options for this in the settings menu.

My biggest gripe (yet small in the grand scheme of things) is they moved the exit button to the top of the remote!

I was hoping they would implement a 10 second "fast forward" button similar to the 5 second "rewind" button they currently have. This is beneficial to quickly skip through commercials without having to FF. The Bell PVR has this functionality.

Not sure why so many ppl point to the removal of the Rogers quick menu, as they allowed you to remove that feature on the 8300HD. Simply press guide, from the quick menu select self serve, then select guide order.

Bplayer · 2010-05-05, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinnie123

Not sure why so many ppl point to the removal of the Rogers quick menu, as they allowed you to remove that feature on the 8300HD. Simply press guide, from the quick menu select self serve, then select guide order.

Because that feature was only added after all the complaints.

2010-04-27, 04:29 PM	#52
MacTVJunkie Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Waterloo, Rogers Cable, Panasonic 55" Plasma, Insignia 5101HD, Cisco 8642, Kaleidescape Posts: 259	So far I've not experienced any macro blocking with the 8642 either during playback or trickplay. In fact, I recorded and watched The Amazing Race and playback was fine. Perhaps you have signal strength issues? Both a weak signal and a signal that is too hot can cause issues. __________________ My HT equipment: Panasonic 55" Plasma, Insignia 5101HD, Cisco 8642 PVR, Kaleidescape 3U Server & M500 Player

2010-04-30, 11:09 PM	#53
icemankent Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 174	QuickStartGuide and TVCallDisplay Does anyone know why those of us with an 8642 have neither the crappy Quickstart Guide, nor the TV Call display functioning ? Are these boxes too new and Rogers hasn't figured out how to make those two features work yet, or are they waiting for some sort of firmware update to do it ? BTW, I hated the QSG, but loved the TV Call Display.

2010-05-03, 09:36 AM	#54
stever Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Ottawa Posts: 32	late start to recordings Has anybody noticed that the 8642 starts recording slightly after the actual start time of the program? Did not notice this on the 8300. Not sure how late it is but it is a bit annoying.

2010-05-03, 01:46 PM	#57
57 Moderator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Toronto, Rogers, 8300HD, eHDD, Panasonic TCP65S1, Denon AVR4310Ci; 8300HD, eHDD & Sony KDL40W3000 Posts: 50,345	I think the firmware is more sophisticated than you give credit. For example, if the HDD is shut down, it'll spin up a minute or two before the recording is scheduled to start (at least it does on my 8300HD). So there's no reason that the recording shouldn't start on time, provided: 1. That the clock is accurate 2. That the programme starts on time. You may wish to check with a recording of CP24 which usually has a time display, or with different channels because they may be off by a second or two? If you have both new and old PVR at your home, you could check if there are differences with a recording of CP24. __________________ 57's Home Theatre (Latest equipment & photos) 57's Optimization Services (Home Theatre Optimization)

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2010-04-25, 11:49 PM	#47
MooBaloo Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 107	I've noticed that the channels displaying 6 channels at once (SPRTS, NEWS and KIDS) don't work on the 8642.

2010-04-26, 03:43 PM	#49
gzero Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Ottawa Posts: 135	^^ It's interesting to watch the "SAM INFORMATION" diagnostic page while tuning into this channel on the 8642. I see a "z_lmc" application appear with an AppId of "Exited" for about a second, before going away. I think the z_* apps first started appearing when QSG was introduced, so maybe it refuses to or can't load on this model box. I think the 8642 uses a different CPU family (MIPS) than the other boxes (SPARC), which may have something to do with it. ROD works but it looks to me to be an EBIF application so is not CPU specific.

2010-04-26, 10:06 PM	#50
mgl Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 29	Now I know what you mean by audio glitches. Watching the amazing race on ctv was terrible and I have never seen anything like that on my 8300. It was especially bad during commercials. When I fast forwarded, the screen dissolved into a mess of chunky pixels that looked like gibberish and I couldn't make out the image at all. Sometimes the sound dropped out entirely but if I pressed back 8 seconds I'd get the sound properly. Very strange..

2010-04-26, 10:44 PM	#51
icemankent Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 174	That happened to me recently on a recording of Bikini Destinations from HD Net. Watching the program was fine, but FFW or REW at any point and the picture was not recognizable at all - never seen that before - and it was only that one program (so far) that I have seen the issue. (You just gotta love being an early adopter !)

2010-05-03, 10:10 AM	#55
whitbyterry Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Whitby, Ontario (Rogers Cable), LG 42PC3D, 8642HD Posts: 514	On the 8300, I notice that the clock will move forward to the time, let's say 9:00 and there is usually a pause of 1 or 2 seconds before the recording kicks in. The same thing seems to happen when the recording stops. I assume this is just because the software needs some time to tell it to stop and start. The software is not waiting to stop or start, it just seems that when a specific time is reached, the software then checks to see if it should perform an action. E.g. it does not check at 8:59:55 to see if it should be stopping or starting a recording. At 9:00 it checks to see if anything should stop or start. How quickly this occurs would depend on the speed of all the internal parts and how efficient the software is written.

2010-05-03, 10:22 AM	#56
stever Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Ottawa Posts: 32	I agree. But the 8300HD seemed to have solved the problem you would think the 8642 could do it as well. You would think it would be a simple line in the code to start recording to compensate for any lag.

2010-05-03, 04:21 PM	#58
JamesK Veteran Join Date: May 2009 Location: Mississauga Posts: 5,089	I have already verified the Rogers PVR time is accurate. The best thing to compare with is a Linux box synced to an NTP server (Windows doesn't provide the same accuracy) or the clock on a CDMA (Bell or Telus) cell phone. GSM doesn't have the same accuracy. BTW, it would be nice if a recording could start a few seconds early and end a few seconds late.

2010-05-04, 09:50 AM	#59
vinnie123 Rookie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 4	I got my 8642 this past weekend (upgraded from the 8300HD) and am quite pleased with it so far. As previously mentioned there aren't a whole lot of new features but the overall speed improvements are great. Does anyone know when Rogers will enable the ethernet capabilities? I assume some sort of firmware/software upgrade will be required seeing as there are no options for this in the settings menu. My biggest gripe (yet small in the grand scheme of things) is they moved the exit button to the top of the remote! I was hoping they would implement a 10 second "fast forward" button similar to the 5 second "rewind" button they currently have. This is beneficial to quickly skip through commercials without having to FF. The Bell PVR has this functionality. Not sure why so many ppl point to the removal of the Rogers quick menu, as they allowed you to remove that feature on the 8300HD. Simply press guide, from the quick menu select self serve, then select guide order.