Contour is very buggy

I have volume drop outs, selective channel lock outs even after replacing the contour 6 box.  I have to unplug the unit that is down and wait 5 minutes for the reboot.  I am another beta tester.

StephanieA said:
Hi Everyone,

The purpose of the Cox TV Support Forum is to allow customers to discuss technical topics related to residential Cox Cable Television services with other customers. I apologize for your experience and I want you to enjoy your service. If the issue continues, please reply back if you have this issue on both TVs, if you get an error message, and what type of cable you have connecting the TV to the cable box. We want to help.

I've had my Contour Record 6 (Cisco 9865)for 15 months.  It has turned out to be an excellent DVR.  I am down to 2 quirks.   In the beginning, there were many quirks.  I was not alone.  You can track them by following the discussion (it's the first thread in the TV FORUM column....."Welcome to Contour....").  

My current 2 quirks:  When i turn on my tv and dvr, the channel i was watching when i turned off the dvr will not appear. Instead i get a box saying something like 'This channel is not available. To report this problem, contact Cox with error #3.1.1 (or something similar)".   I can hit the down arrow on the Channel buttons and that channel appears. If i return to the previously "unavailable" channel, it works fine. 

2nd quirk:  The first 2 seconds of any recorded show are scrambled ( the audio is scrambled and the screen is "tiled").  Then it works perfectly.  

I am willing to accept these 2 quirks in order to get the advantages of the Record 6 DVR.  Don't give up on yours. Keep replacing the box or having technicians come to your home until it is fixed.  They can fix it.

yak: "My current 2 quirks:  When i turn on my tv and dvr, the channel i was watching when i turned off the dvr will not appear. Instead i get a box saying something like 'This channel is not available. To report this problem, contact Cox with error #3.1.1 (or something similar)".   I can hit the down arrow on the Channel buttons and that channel appears. If i return to the previously "unavailable" channel, it works fine."

Should I assume that you have already set your SETTINGS -> CHANNELS -> POWER ON CHANNEL to "LAST CHANNEL" ???

[I have no idea what is causing quirk #2. Are your incoming power levels good?]

Domino,  thanks for the info. I had never checked my Settings for "Last Channel".  It was set to Last Channel.  I changed it to one of the Music Channels to see if that makes a difference.   The message says "Sorry, there is currently no tv signal detected for this channel. Call Cox. Reference 3.1.1.1".   It appears apx 75% of the time when i turn on my DVR and tv.  But not every time.  A reboot does not help.

I have a 3rd quirk:  My "Manual Recording" does not function 1/2 of the time. I fill out all the information to do a manual recording. I press the blue button to set the recording. The screen switches back to the previous screen (which offers the Record or Edit function).  If the recording was successful, i get Edit This Recording as my top choice.  If the recording is not successful, the top choice is Record This Show.   I am confident that i know how to do a manual recording. I have done hundreds.  Rebooting the DVR does not help.

These are tiny problems. Overall, i enjoy my Record 6 and use it a lot. My incoming power levels have been checked by Cox and are strong. 

Domino, thank you from all of us forum members for your help. I read all of your posts.  Perhaps Cox will someday find a way to thank you and the others who give their time and knowledge to help the community. It is appreciated.

StephanieA said:
Hi yak,

The 3.x.x.x errors refer to switch digital channels. You are getting this message because the server didn't receive any activity from your receiver. The only way to keep it from happening would be to set your Power on channel to a non HD local network station or one of our other non switch digital channel. As you have stated before, channeling away and coming back should restore the channel or you might need to power cycle it. If you find that channeling away or power cycling isn't working, we might need to schedule a technician to come out. Thank you for your feedback.

StephanieA,

It sure would be easier for all of us if Cox could somehow denote which channels are SDV channels in a given area. Maybe as part of that area's channel listings. With Passport, I could spot SDV channels on a diagnostic page. With Contour, I cannot. Sure would make problems like the one above easier to troubleshoot.

Well,  changing out the main box did not my resolve my issues. Still dropping volume and dvr freezing, with message that states "Sorry, we have experienced a problem with your whole home DVR network. Call customer service and reference 2.1.2.9 when calling".  So I called Cox again and after multiple reboots,  they scheduled another visit from a technician, my 4th is 3 weeks. This time I got Jeremy Bloom, Cox technician extraordinaire. He ran some tests  and asked me if  I had a satellite filter connected to my coax. I told him we had DirecTV prior to converting to Cox. but I did not know if there was a satellite filter connected to the coax. So Jeremy investigated where my coax enters my unit and there it was.....a satellite filter!  Jeremy removed the satellite filter, reset my boxes and everything seems to be working fine. It is now 2 days later and everything still working great. The only thing not working is the caller ID on the main box. It is working fine on the 2nd tv, so we went to interactive tools to verify that caller ID was checked on the main box. It was, but still not working, so I am open to suggestions.

My primary reason for this post is to give a big shout out to Jeremy Bloom. He was very knowledeable, helpful, polite and it was clear he was not leaving until he fixed our issues.  Thank you, Jeremy, for your perserverance. I now love my Cox Contour!   

P.S. Cox might consider adding checking for satellite filters in their training materials for their technicians.

Nifty. Congrats to you!

This goes toward reinforcing my contention that over 90% of all WHDVR problems are the result of old wiring, splitters, filters, etc.

Hi Okaloosa,

I suggest turning the feature off and back on. Let me know if this helps.