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Another missed Film4 recording. |
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#1 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,324
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Another missed Film4 recording.
Quite interesting.
I had set 'Bad news bears' (19:00-21:00) to record and started watching a recording of 'Darwin's Dangerous Idea' at around 8:30. At this time the box was active - i.e. instant on. At ~21:00 a messages flashed onto the screen for a second or two that contained: "less than 30 seconds" and "will not be saved". (It was on and off so quickly that that's all I could catch.) On thing Humax should have done was to provide a log file that recorded all errors and oddities (e.g. A recording that is removed from the schedule but nothing is saved or the start and end times of a recording that is significantly different to what was 'advertised' in the EPG.) edit: It's on again in 5 days time so I'll try again. The last two times it failed to record Film4 films it failed in the same way when the recordings were rescheduled. Odd that this hadn't happened until last week (I've had the box since day 1). |
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Hawkwell, Essex
Posts: 2,186
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Quote:
Quite interesting.
I had set 'Bad news bears' (19:00-21:00) to record and started watching a recording of 'Darwin's Dangerous Idea' at around 8:30. At this time the box was active - i.e. instant on. At ~21:00 a messages flashed onto the screen for a second or two that contained: "less than 30 seconds" and "will not be saved". (It was on and off so quickly that that's all I could catch.) On thing Humax should have done was to provide a log file that recorded all errors and oddities (e.g. A recording that is removed from the schedule but nothing is saved or the start and end times of a recording that is significantly different to what was 'advertised' in the EPG.) edit: It's on again in 5 days time so I'll try again. The last two times it failed to record Film4 films it failed in the same way when the recordings were rescheduled. Odd that this hadn't happened until last week (I've had the box since day 1). I haven't come across that happening, or that message yet, but I do agree about the log file, it would help to clear up many of the unexplained events. I posted a request in in the Feature Requests thread http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...&postcount=380 . Nobody commented, or agreed, so I guess it's not a popular or high priority feature ![]() Rgds. Les. |
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 60
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I had a problem like this for about a week and then I discovered that the cable for LNB2 had become partially detached from the connector that screws into the back of the HDR.
May not be your problem, but worth a check - start recording something and try switching channels to a different network (eg. record ITV and try and watch BBC1) |
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,494
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That sounds like an EPG issue.
Your box had started recording but then received a signal to stop. You always get that message when you cancel a very short recording. Try doing a manual recording and cancel it after a few secs, you'll get the message. I'd say its either the EPG (most likely if others tried and failed) or you accidentally caught something on the remote if handling it that stopped the recording (i've done that once). Kevin's explanation is also possible as a total loss of signal may trigger a stop also. |
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#5 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,324
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Quote:
That sounds like an EPG issue.
Your box had started recording but then received a signal to stop. You always get that message when you cancel a very short recording. Try doing a manual recording and cancel it after a few secs, you'll get the message. I'd say its either the EPG (most likely if others tried and failed) or you accidentally caught something on the remote if handling it that stopped the recording (i've done that once). Kevin's explanation is also possible as a total loss of signal may trigger a stop also. a) There was only one thing being recorded. b) The box was operating at 20:30 when I started to watch a previous recording. (So, presumably it was either recording or waiting for the programme to start. [Could this be the problem? Film4 don't send the start signal until just before the programme ends and thus the Humax simply doesn't bother saving a sub-30 second clip]). c) The message appeared at the time the the recording should finish. d) I frequently record two things at the same time without problems. I'm pretty sure it is some kind of EPG problem because two Film4 films failed about a week ago and when they same films were rescheduled they failed again. Yet I had made plenty of recordings in the interim. edit: Thinking about it more, I'm pretty sure that what I suggest in (b) is the cause. It completely explains the behaviour, including the programme being removed from the schedule and no error message). |
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 100
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Over the past three weeks I have tried to record films on Film4 and Film4+1, broadcast after midnight, all of them failing. No other recordings scheduled for these times, PVR set to power down standby. No other recordings have failed on other channels. This week I tried a daytime one and monitored the results. The "schedule" and "media" showed the recording taking place, including the little "clock" icon when "i" is pressed, although this did not progreess beyond sthe start, and afterwards "media" listed the film but it did not exist on the HDD, except for the last minute of ads. I tried a manual record (ie press record and stop; this for the first time) and this worked (I only recorded 5 mins). I set the PVR to "normal" standby (with the clock lit on the front panel). I then set an overnight record from the guide and this film did record. I will try another film tonight and see what I get.
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,494
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I've just checked mine as I've done 2 recordings in the last 48 hours:
Big Trouble in Little China on Sunday Kung Fu Hustle last night. Both appear to have recoded OK. I haven't watched them but ones listed as 115 minutes and the other 122 minutes, so they look about right. |
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#8 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,324
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I'm trying 'Fantastic Four' tonight as I don't want to watch it so nothing lost if it fails.
I can't believe that all F4 films are missing vital data but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if some are. Every other channel still recording with near perfect reliability. |
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 7
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What do you see when it fails?
I also tried to record Fantastic four and it failed on mine. I came down this morning to find it making a strange clicking noise and the front panel displaying red with the 1080i illuminated?
Does anyone else have this when it fails or is the film simply not there? |
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#10 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,494
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Mine recorded Fantastic Four perfectly so it looks like you might have a box issue.
BTW a clicking noise is often a sign of hard drive failure. I'd be thinking about a warranty return. |
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#11 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,324
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More data now:
When last nights FF (Fantastic Four) started the box was already recording something else. Going to Film4 showed the tuner was available as the film was displaying and the recording indicators for both that and the other recording programme appeared for a few seconds on selecting the channel. The FF indicator just had one segment red. Nothing appeared in the media list. The indicator remained the same throughout the film and no recording was stored. I set the box to record the next film on both F4 and F4 + 1 and this morning both were in the media list at the correct length. Is the fact that hardly anyone is responding to this thread indicative of: a) Film4 is working for (almost) everyone else. b) Hardly anyone one watches Film4 c) People cant' be bothered to post |
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#12 |
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: (Rowridge)
Posts: 163
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Don't know about Film4 as I rarely record anything from it. I do however have problems recording the 'Click' computer programme on the BBC News channel. It fails so often that I now reserve every repeat to ensure that I get at least one recording.
After a failure, my FoxSat continues running, but is inaccessible, so I need to switch it off at the mains and reboot before I can watch any live TV or recordings. I assume this is an EPG problem as: - 'Click' is often transmitted early in the morning, when I would not have a clash with other recordings - the cable connections are OK - I do not leave the recorder in stand-by on a part-time channel. |
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#13 |
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 100
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Last night I recorded Short Cuts on FF and also some random movie on Movies4Men at the same time. Both recorded fine. So maybe it was an EPG failure (perhaps an ITV HD/series link type error).
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#14 |
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Join Date: Feb 2009
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Smilar to #3 I've seen the '30 seconds or less' message due to problems with my signal (see separate post). It has appeared where the Humax has recorded normally but not found a signal to record - in my case due to a faulty signal from LNB2 and LNB1 being used for whatever I'm watching.
Not sure this is the case here but I did find it difficult to track down as was only affecting some channels and of course if you move to the channel you want to record operation appears normal as the healthy signal is avaliable for use. |
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#15 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,324
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Quote:
Smilar to #3 I've seen the '30 seconds or less' message due to problems with my signal (see separate post). It has appeared where the Humax has recorded normally but not found a signal to record - in my case due to a faulty signal from LNB2 and LNB1 being used for whatever I'm watching.
Not sure this is the case here but I did find it difficult to track down as was only affecting some channels and of course if you move to the channel you want to record operation appears normal as the healthy signal is avaliable for use. a) It's failed to record a programme when that was the only thing set to record and the box was'off'. b) It's doing recordings of two things at once quite frequently without problems. c) Only happens on Film4, not always on Film4 but it seems to affect the same Films when they are shown again. d) When something is recording I can access all channels and the recording is fine. I would be extremely surprised if it is not an EPG problem. It's just a pity that hardly anyone else seems to record F4 and could confirm that they are or are not having problems. |
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#16 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Co. Donegal
Posts: 797
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Quote:
Smilar to #3 I've seen the '30 seconds or less' message due to problems with my signal (see separate post). It has appeared where the Humax has recorded normally but not found a signal to record - in my case due to a faulty signal from LNB2 and LNB1 being used for whatever I'm watching.
Not sure this is the case here but I did find it difficult to track down as was only affecting some channels and of course if you move to the channel you want to record operation appears normal as the healthy signal is avaliable for use. Switch the box off. Unscrew the LNB connectors. Inspect them and make sure they are in good condition (i.e secure and no shorts). Reconnect. Switch box back on. Do factory reset (will lose recording schedule but not recordings). Has the problem gone away? |
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#17 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,324
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Quote:
This could be the cause of the OP's problem. Faulty connections to the box do seem to manifest themselves in all sorts of strange ways. At the risk of sounding like a support centre monkey, there's a lot to be said for suggesting the following for obscure problems.
Switch the box off. Unscrew the LNB connectors. Inspect them and make sure they are in good condition (i.e secure and no shorts). Reconnect. Switch box back on. Do factory reset (will lose recording schedule but not recordings). Has the problem gone away? |
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#18 |
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Co. Donegal
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Quote:
I presume you must have been composing your post when I made the post above yours since, as you can see, there is ample evidence that there is not a problem with the connections.
Nevertherless, although what you said makes a connection problem extremely unlikely, it may still be worth trying what I suggested. It's not difficult and who knows? We've seen some very strange things reported that, on the face of them, would have nothing to do with connection problems. Connection problems can be intermittent and it's possible that they leave the box in a strange state where odd things can happen subsequently. The suggestion also includes power cycling the box and doing a factory reset which are straws also worth clutching at. As for recording from Film4, I have done so successfully on three or four occasions. But that's far to few to conclude that there's no problems with Film4. An EPG problem is still possiby the most likely explanation, although it does sound odd that you are getting so many. Perhaps it's time of day related. |
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#19 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 100
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When the problem first appeared for me as I described in my previous psot, I made a manual record for a few minutes. the EPG reservations then worked OK. Almost as if I had forced the box to recognise Film4, sounds silly and maybe no connection to the real problem but... When the films which failed are repeated I will try again to record them so we will see.
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#20 |
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 23
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Quote:
Definitely not a signal problem on mine because:
a) It's failed to record a programme when that was the only thing set to record and the box was'off'. b) It's doing recordings of two things at once quite frequently without problems. c) Only happens on Film4, not always on Film4 but it seems to affect the same Films when they are shown again. d) When something is recording I can access all channels and the recording is fine. I would be extremely surprised if it is not an EPG problem. It's just a pity that hardly anyone else seems to record F4 and could confirm that they are or are not having problems. I agree that c) and d) probably mean its not a signal problem but for sake of others worth pointing that a) alone doesn't rule it out as I had similar problems when the box was in standby. My theory was that the box only looks at LNB1 in standby and doesn't use LNB2 if there is a problem with the LNB1 signal - I may be wrong. Similarly b) doesn't totally rule it out as signal problems might only affect certain channels/combinations as it did in my case. |
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#21 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,324
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Quote:
I agree that c) and d) probably mean its not a signal problem but for sake of others worth pointing that a) alone doesn't rule it out as I had similar problems when the box was in standby. My theory was that the box only looks at LNB1 in standby and doesn't use LNB2 if there is a problem with the LNB1 signal - I may be wrong. Similarly b) doesn't totally rule it out as signal problems might only affect certain channels/combinations as it did in my case.
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#22 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 144
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Quote:
Definitely not a signal problem on mine because:
a) It's failed to record a programme when that was the only thing set to record and the box was'off'. b) It's doing recordings of two things at once quite frequently without problems. c) Only happens on Film4, not always on Film4 but it seems to affect the same Films when they are shown again. d) When something is recording I can access all channels and the recording is fine. I would be extremely surprised if it is not an EPG problem. It's just a pity that hardly anyone else seems to record F4 and could confirm that they are or are not having problems. |
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