DVR Stops Recording during Prime Time @ 7/8/9:50 PM ± 5 min

Try (as a test) eliminating the battery backup/surge protector. Plug the thing directly into the wall.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Already done. Not the problem.

The problem isn't in my home,

It's signal fluctuations.

One more curious fact.

When this happens, the show is terminated. That's the end of the recording.

It doesn't record blank air to the end of the show as the DVR does when there's a blackout of the modulated signal, but presumably the steady carrier wave is still present (i.e., no static).

Yelsmek said:

The problem isn't in my home,

It's signal fluctuations.

You quite sure? Does it show up in the Diagnostic pages? [page 7]

Thank you for your response, Domino.

Yes, I'm quite sure. I've spent more than 10 hrs looking into this alone and with COX's tier 1 & 2 techs. We've ruled out every possible cause in my home. 

The problem is, COX does not keep the kind of realtime data that's required to diagnose this and their techs don't carry the equipment to do it. Their 1st and 2nd tier answers are always the same, the same answer they gave the tech that came out today: it's the DVR - replace it. He knew that wasn't the cause, so he told them no. Replacing it will only kick the ball down the road a few months until it breaks again, causing them to again tell the tier 1 & 2 techs to replace it anew. Each time I have to call in, go through the same cookbook "solutions", confirm it didn't resolve the problem, wait a few days to a week and then stay at home for a tech to come out within a 2 hr period, go through the same explanation again, reprogram my entire recording list again, and then rinse and repeat 1-2 months down the road.

If you can suggest an alternative that explains all of the facts, feel free to propose it.

The only other alternative is that their DVR's have a lifespan of 1-2 months, but that's clearly not the case. 

Yelsmek said:

Thank you for your response, Domino.

Yes, I'm quite sure. I've spent more than 10 hrs looking into this alone and with COX's tier 1 & 2 techs. We've ruled out every possible cause in my home. 

The problem is, COX does not keep the kind of realtime data that's required to diagnose this and their techs don't carry the equipment to do it. Their 1st and 2nd tier answers are always the same, the same answer they gave the tech that came out today: it's the DVR - replace it. He knew that wasn't the cause, so he told them no. Replacing it will only kick the ball down the road a few months until it breaks again, causing them to again tell the tier 1 & 2 techs to replace it anew. Each time I have to call in, go through the same cookbook "solutions", confirm it didn't resolve the problem, wait a few days to a week and then stay at home for a tech to come out within a 2 hr period, go through the same explanation again, reprogram my entire recording list again, and then rinse and repeat 1-2 months down the road.

If you can suggest an alternative that explains all of the facts, feel free to propose it.

I have no further ideas. You never did tell us what the diagnostic pages say that the incoming signal is doing at the time this malfunction occurs (or at other times, for that matter.) Next time it happens, check the dB and S/N levels in the diagnostics. Maybe that will provide a clue. Also, are you in an isolated area? If not, any neighbors have similar problems?

Aye, there's the rub, Domino.

Because this is a DVR, I only know this has happened after watching 50 minutes of the show... well AFTER it was recorded - and it doesn't happen in a predictable manner. Remember, the yellow end time text indicator doesn't show up until after I've watched the show and hit the premature end.

I therefore can't determine what the dBmV reading was when it happened. Moreover, I can't watch the TV show and the dBmV meter at the same time (assuming the DVR could even give me a high frequency sampling of the signal strength sufficient to measure the event).

Like I said, neither the DVR nor COX nor I have either the infrastructure or the diagnostic capability in place that would allow me to correlate the event with the current signal conditions.

I have asked COX to find out if others on my feed are having the same issues. Most people won't have the electrical engineering background to be able to diagnose this.

Given the time based nature of this, it can't be anything in my entertainment system. The only component that knows what time it is is the DVR. Couple that with it happening mainly in Monday Prime Time and that the amplifier eliminated the same problem at :27±5 min, tells me that this is a network/signal strength issue (though it does happen at other times, but not as consistently).

This isn't an easy problem to solve.

Yelsmek said:

This isn't an easy problem to solve.

Indeed!

I guess I don't fully understand what it is doing. So you feel the cause is a quick signal transient of some sort? If so, can you monitor the video on your TV and see if it's affected? Does the red "REC" light on the front panel go off when this occurs? Can you duplicate this failure by briefly disconnecting/connecting the cable input to your DVR during recording? I sure wish you could observe the signal dB and S/N when this occurs.

I almost wish this was happening to MY DVR. I love a good troubleshooting session.

I have a similar issue although I have not done any research yet nor talked to Cox.  Seems to have started in the past few months.  The recording stops early, end time shows up as yellow text, and always (that I can remember) happens on Channel 1013 (haven't recorded much on 1009 and 1011 lately) at the 7:50 or 8:50 times.  Box is an Explorer 8300 HD.

One other thing I've noticed is that if I start watching the recording before it is done, the time is screwed up.  Instead of starting at 7:00pm, the timeline on the DVR shows the recording starting at 7:10pm which makes me wonder if this is a software glitch.  However, problems seem to show up more often when I already have the box on which would lend weight to Yelsmek's theories about signals.

ArizonaDave,

I live in south east Tucson. Wonder if it's a local thing.

I happened to catch it in the act the other night while watching a show live (through the DVR's live feature)... the same one it was recording.

The live feed froze at X:49 (you know, when the image doesn't update)... and stayed that way for the entire rest of the show. I left the TV on the entire time.

I tuned to channel 1999 a few minutes after it froze (that's the "channel" that overlays diagnostic information about the DVR's tuners - it doesn't interfere with the live feed).

Tuners 1 and 2 as well as FDC were about 6 dBmV (that's about normal from what I've seen).

FDC Corr(ection) was 175/5/816380 (which is higher than I've seen it in the past)

FDC BER (Bir error rate) was 1.1325x10-6 (this seemed lower than usual)

Range Delay: 298 ms

I don't know what the data really tells me because I don't know the normal ranges.

I DO now know that the video on my TV while using a LIVE feed through the DVR froze at the exact same time the recording prematurely ended. It stayed frozen for the rest of the show, which I presume the DVR just didn't record leaving the recording prematurely terminated.

Could be anything from the tuners back to the signal in the cable. BOTH tuners froze at the same time, BTW. 

When I returned to LIVE TV after the hour, everything was working fine.I don't know if it started right at the hour. I don't remember when I went back to live TV.

I wish COX would get their butts in gear and fix this *** thing. Sorry, I'm REALLY tired of missing so many endings. If they don't fi it, I'll have to cancel my DVR and perhaps cable. I can get most of my shows off the internet, thought it's not as satisfying.

It's entirely possible this is the result of a signal issue that may require a technician coming out to troubleshoot further.