Re: Very slow channel change - intermittent
PJL
Master - Level 3

@rbperrie wrote:

...With the latency issue you will see the light on the STB acknowlege the command from the remote but nothing happens. With the IR problem you will not see any acknowledgement from the STB.


Actually, I saw the acknowledgement on the STB when it was the Plasma TV interference issue.  The command was apparently ignored by the STB because it was messed up by the Plasma interference (remember, the IR command is a series of digital pulses), but the IR signal itself was seen by the STB.

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Re: Very slow channel change - intermittent
rbperrie1
Enthusiast - Level 2

Apologies, I should have included the YMMV disclaimer with my message.  In my case the STB did not acknowledge the remote command but then again YMMV 🙂

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Re: Very slow channel change - intermittent
ArmchairAllstar

Yes thats correct, I have an LCD.  I definately have the sluggish cable box issue.

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Re: Very slow channel change - intermittent
PJL
Master - Level 3

@ArmchairAllstar wrote:

Yes thats correct, I have an LCD.  I definately have the sluggish cable box issue.


I had it on my LCD TV too until I turned the backlight down some.  The overall problem seemed to get better after the latest IMG upgrade though.

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Re: Very slow channel change - intermittent
Shadowplay
Enthusiast - Level 1

I just had my service installed.  I had the same problem.  My regular STBs work fine but it takes forever and a day to navigate the menu or change the channel.  I just left the DVR on some spanish channel because i was tired of standing there trying to will the thing to change the channel!  

I called Verizon.  They're going to send me a new box.  I explained the issue, that I had gone through the automatic test and tried other remotes.  Nothing worked.  Do you think that will solve the issue?  Sounds like a lot of people are seeing this.  If it's solved somewhere in this thread, can someone point me to the resolution?


Thanks

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Re: Very slow channel change - intermittent
dkent1
Newbie

I've been able to work around the IR interference problem from the TV when first turning on the system by either A) turning on the STB and selecting the channel I want before turning on the TV or B) using the Verizon remote app on my iPhone to change channels, operate the DVR, etc. Since the phone isn't relying on IR, it's not effected by the TV.

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Re: Very slow channel change - intermittent
Shadowplay
Enthusiast - Level 1

I have a new box and I'm still having this issue.  I've got a tech coming out tomorrow.  I've been able to mitigate the issue since I don't use the tv that the DVR is currently hooked up to very much.  Plus I've started using the Ipad App.  This is trying my patience though.  I can't believe how poor quality they built these DVRs!  

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Re: Very slow channel change - intermittant
charliebarrett
Contributor - Level 2

My DVR's major problem now is the DVR menu - Sometimes scrolling through the View Recordings list, it just hangs up, and stays hung for about 30 seconds.

Meanwhile, I've pressed a key 3 or 4 times, thinking maybe it didn't get the remote signal - Then all of a sudden, the 3 or 4 extra keys execute, and before I know it, I've deleted the wrong thing, or played the wrong thing, or whatever.

The problem also occurs while doing a FF or Reverse - I can't make the thing stop no matter how many times I click the Play button - then well past where I intended to go, it finally stops.

I have a long list of quips about this thing that I never had with the DVR that only stored about 10 HD shows. Sometimes I'm not sure which is worse, only having space for 10 shows or the thing freezing. A lot of times, the freezing will even cause glitches in the recorded program.

One other ultra-irritating thing that the older 10-program DVR didn't do:

When I'm watching a DVR recording while a couple of other programs are scheduled to start recording, what I'm watching will stop and the TV will switch to one of the two live channels that just started recording - Grrr - So I'll find the recording I was just watching, and discover that there's no "Resume Play" option, just "Play". So I have to FF to the point I was watching before the scheduled recordings started.

Whoever programed this DVR had no software quality control whatsoever, it seems - Don't even get me started about the DVR scheduling bugs I see.

I think the freezing is because it's scanning through the schedules every so many minutes trying to find any recordings that need to start. Apparently that routine interrupts the user input, which should never happen - It should be running as a background task, and the user input should interrupt it.

BTW that brings up another bug - If you cancel a recording that's about to start in the schedule, it will keep bugging you about starting the same recording you canceled, if you stay in the DVR menu, or try to change channels, especially - Just stupid stuff that the programmer should have caught long before the software even got to beta testing, much less released.

As you may have guessed, I'm a programmer and things like this bug me to no end, because it's the same way at work - People are judged on the speed they get something 90% working, and then us support programmers have to deal with all the customer complaints long after "Speedy" has been promoted for being so speedy.

(rant not over, but I'm tired of typin and you're tired of readin).

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Re: Very slow channel change - intermittent
charliebarrett
Contributor - Level 2

I don't think this has anything to do with Plazma vs LCD TV's - It's strictly faulty multithreading in the DVR software, combined with the DVR's CPU being overloaded at times, especially while it's scanning your schedule trying to figure out if it has a scheduled recording that needs to start.

It DOES seem to have a coorelation with the number of programs you have scheduled to be recorded. It also multiplies the scheduling task almost exponentially if all the schedule entries use the "All Channels" option and/or the "Any Time" option, rather than recording a specific show at a specific time.

My list is rather lengthy, and almost always uses the "Any Time" option. I also have to schedule every show I like TWICE to get around a major schedule option omission... Which is to place all First-Run programs at a higher priority than any Reruns.

Since I want all first-run programs to have priority over recording reruns, I first have a list of about 30 First-Run programs I want it to look out for. Those set the "Save until I delete" flag. Then I repeat the entire schedule list for Reruns.

That way, the first run of a show will not be overridden by a rerun of a show I like more - However, that makes the DVR menus and remote key processing to freeze for a few seconds every time it looks for a recording that needs to be started. If they had put the two processes on separate threads and made the remote input thread always interrupt the schedule scan thread, you would never notice any delay to responding to a remote click. Instead, the schedule scanning routine might start a program a couple of seconds late if it gets interrupted by a lot of user input.

Neither would be a problem, however, if the DVR's processor wasn't overloaded, which apparently it is, so they probably need to put in a dual-core processor or quad-core if they already have a dual core, and possibly more RAM. Same things that slow your home PC down will slow down the DVR's processor.

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Re: Very slow channel change - intermittent
ArmchairAllstar

So now on top of me having to wait 1-2 minutes for my cable box to become responsive they decided it was a good Idea to push upsell ads when the box is first booting!  I keep getting these popup adds to increase my internet speed for only 10 more bucks a month.   You have to click to exit them too but it won't register the **bleep** click.

This is so frusterating!!

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