Motorola QIP6416-1 Multi-Room DVR Capacity Question
Rev_Ed
Enthusiast - Level 2

I understand that the QIP6416-1 multi-room DVR we currently use has a 160 GB internal drive (http://www.arrisi.com/products/product.asp?id=1062).  According to information in Verizon Forums, 160 GB should provide about 55 to 100 hours of SD recording or 14 to 21 hours of HD recording (http://forums.verizon.com/t5/FiOS-TV-Technical-Assistance/DVR-Capacity/m-p/415085/highlight/true#M33...

I added up the stored content on my 6416 and it has 21 hours, 39 minutes of SD recorded content and 49 minutes of HD recorded content.  The DVR menu says that it is at 66% full.  If the hard drive size is correct, and the 55-100 hrs of SD and/or 14-21 hrs of HD is correct, then my DVR should reflect between 26% and 45% full.  Any ideas?  If the DVR reported percentage is accurate, should I expect that the new Quantum boxes will also have capacities that are much lower than promised?  If the percentage that the DVR menu displays is *not* inaccurate, then is there a simple way to see an accurate percentage?

Thanks to anyone who can offer some insights!  Ed

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Re: Motorola QIP6416-1 Multi-Room DVR Capacity Question
Hubrisnxs
Legend

definetely upgrade to quantum.  It's the best thing to do.

But to answer your question,  The DVR does not have any set rate for the duration of content it can store, as any such value is based entirely on the bitrate of the content being written (which is variable from broadcaster to broadcaster, and show to show).

As such, Verizon marketing might say that the 160GB DVR can hold about 85 hours of SD content is only an estimate, one based on the average bitrate of the SD content being written as 3.3mbps

so basically not all things are created equal, and you can see that visually when you go between certain stations that have low quality SD And some that have pretty high quality SD.   you can see the bit rate styled difference between the two.

One is more mbps than the other.   

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Re: Motorola QIP6416-1 Multi-Room DVR Capacity Question
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

Try rebooting the box. SOmetimes it gets confused and reboot fixes the issue.

I assume you are using status menu command to determine what you have reocrded and how much you have left.

If not, try that and see if it confirms what you think you have.

Re: Motorola QIP6416-1 Multi-Room DVR Capacity Question
Rev_Ed
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thank you for the suggestion.  I tried it and it had helped some - but it did not resolve the issue.  A little research disclosed a further issue behind my unavailable capacity - but it is still unresolved.

I rebooted as suggested in this forum and the status changed from 66% full to 55% full.  In the menu I accessed "DVR" - "Check Capacity" and saw that the DVR thought I had recorded 45 hours, 49 minutes of Normal Video and 48 minutes of HD Video.  The HD status was correct, bu the normal video should have been 21 hours, 39 minutes based on my list under "View Recordings". 

In the process I saw a menu option "DVR" - "Manage Deletions".  I accessed this and saw many recently deleted programs there and deleted them.  I also saw a menu option "DVR" - "Configure and Upgrade" - "History".  I saw the same deleted programs listed in that location and deleted them there also.  I rebooted again.  After the reboot completed, I accessed "DVR" - "Configure and Upgrade" - "Check Capacity" and it dropped only to 54%, and still shows 45 hours, 49 minutes of normal video althought the recordings listed under "Manage Deletions" and "History" were both empty.  I double checked my list of recordings and it totals 21 hours, 39 minutes of normal video.

Thanks for the first suggestion - it helped some.  Do you or any other experts have some additional ideas?

Thanks again!  Ed

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Re: Motorola QIP6416-1 Multi-Room DVR Capacity Question
tns2
Community Leader
Community Leader

Try and get your box replaced. You would must likely get a 7216-2 which was upgraded to 500gb, or if you lucky a 7232.  In both cases you would also be able on that box to get channels that are mpeg-4. 

Note if you subscribe to any package that includes a MPEG-4 channel they should be doing such upgrades automatically.  Some have subscribed briefly and then dropped back to their regular package later just to get upgraded.

Re: Motorola QIP6416-1 Multi-Room DVR Capacity Question
Rev_Ed
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thank you for the suggestion.  For other reasons I decided to move to Quantum TV - extending the pause, rewind, and fast forward features to other TV's, more programs can be simultaneously recorded, and increased capacity (1TB).

I am still curious about the discrepancy since it may be related to how Verizon features are programmed, and not just specific to the DVR equipment.  If I can figure it on my current equipment then I may have a handle on how to manage the new equipment better.

So if anyone has further insights, they are appreciated.

In the meantime, thanks to both experts who offered suggestions so far!

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Re: Motorola QIP6416-1 Multi-Room DVR Capacity Question
Hubrisnxs
Legend

definetely upgrade to quantum.  It's the best thing to do.

But to answer your question,  The DVR does not have any set rate for the duration of content it can store, as any such value is based entirely on the bitrate of the content being written (which is variable from broadcaster to broadcaster, and show to show).

As such, Verizon marketing might say that the 160GB DVR can hold about 85 hours of SD content is only an estimate, one based on the average bitrate of the SD content being written as 3.3mbps

so basically not all things are created equal, and you can see that visually when you go between certain stations that have low quality SD And some that have pretty high quality SD.   you can see the bit rate styled difference between the two.

One is more mbps than the other.   

Re: Motorola QIP6416-1 Multi-Room DVR Capacity Question
Rev_Ed
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thanks to all for your suggestions.  Peace