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New member Username: Greg_sPost Number: 1 Registered: Jun-05 | When I try and record a television program using the TV Guide On Screen System, I press the DVD button and then select a program to record (just like the product manual says I should). I usually use a blank -R or +R/+RW DVD to record the program directly to. However, the recorder ALWAYS defaults the recording to the hard drive. There is plenty of space on the DVD (I usually record a one hour program in the HSP or SP mode). The only way to change recording the program directly to a DVD is to go into the scheduled programs and manually change the "Destination" to "DVD." Has anyone else encountered this problem with this recorder? Is this normal or is the unit defective? I don't have this problem with timer recordings or dubbings from a camcorder. Thanks for any help! |
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Yeshenow Unregistered guest | I had the same problem with 2 units that I just bought and returned. Emailed Sony and called a couple of times. They act like they never heard of it but advised me to send them in. I would have kept the 2nd one since it's not a big pain really for me but the tuner did not look so good. By the way, where did you buy yours? |
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New member Username: Greg_sPost Number: 2 Registered: Jun-05 | I purchased mine from Tweeter. I just took it in today to have them send it to their repair facility. They have absolutely no clue as to what I am talking about, but they are at least going to check it out for me. I really believe it is some kind of an engineering problem that Sony didn't know about and did not catch before they started shipping these new model units to stores in November 2004. A different Tweeter store I talked to about the problem told me that this was a normal operation and that you would want it to do this so you could decide whether to transfer the recording to a DVD. I'm not buying that story. Besides, Sony's other non-DVD recorders record directly to a DVD, so why can't this expensive unit, even if it has a hard drive. I'll report back what Tweeter finds out about my problem. |
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Yeshenow Unregistered guest | Yes, it's the first step in making a timer recording. In the manual Page 41 Step 1...... Below is a quote from a reviewer who's RDRHX900 works properly: "Making recordings with On Screen was fairly straightforward, and there were a few different ways to go about it. I first pushed either the "HDD" or "DVD" button, depending on where I wanted the show to be recorded. (In fact, I had to choose one or the other at this stage in the process, since it's not possible to change it later on without resetting the recording.) Then I highlighted the show I wanted to save, and pushed "Record." Yes, just one button. It was that simple. If I wanted to change the recording settings, like quality or frequency, I could access that menu under the "Schedule" tab, where all of my upcoming recordings were displayed." |
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Ken Valentine Unregistered guest | Has anyone had a problem getting TV Guide On Screen to populate with data on the RDR-HX900? It says it searched and can't find any data. Thanx |
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PJTraynor Unregistered guest | Ken I am having the same problem with RDRhx900 and Comcast. I had thought you could at least get channel 1-110. What Cableco do you use? |
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New member Username: Greg_sPost Number: 3 Registered: Jun-05 | Got my RDR-HX900 back from Tweeter repair today. It looks like there is no problem (at least not with the recorder) as indicated in my original post on 6/1. This deck always defaults to the hard drive for recording shows using the TV Guide On Screen System. The technician checked with Sony and that is what Sony said. Of course, this differs from what the manual says. The consensus between Sony and the technician was that the manual is wrong and you cannot record directly to a DVD using the TV Guide system. It will always default to the hard drive and if you want to change it to go directly to DVD, you have to go back into the scheduled program(s) and manually change the destination from HDD to DVD. Sony said the recorder works this way because most people want to look at the show off the hard drive first and then decide if they want to transfer it to DVD (not true in my case, but whatever). Also you don't have issues with not having enough space on a DVD to record a new program because you forgot to erase the old programs off the DVD you don't need anymore. I guess Sony is assuming some people are idiots and so they just default the recording to the hard drive so there will be less problems. Oh well, a couple of extra steps won't hurt me, but I think Sony should rewrite their manual so it is clearer on this issue. I don't know if other companies recorders that have hard drives do this same thing or not, but it would be interesting if anyone else out there reading this has some feedback about it. |
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fx Unregistered guest | I am familiar with Pannys, Toshibas and Pioneers, they all do the same as the Sony. It is pretty much the industry standard. xvxvxvx |
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Yeshenow Unregistered guest | Hi Greg. I got another Rdrhx900 and it works like the last one. I think the first units Sony made worked as they were supposed to then something went wrong or they decided to change it. If they had designed it that way (as per the manual) to begin with they would have made the destination option available right there as you setup the recording. You're right, Sony does think we are idiots. Interestingly the last 2 units I had the hard drive and fan was running all the time. This one shuts off when you turn it off. Hum. Maybe TV Guide OSP was having problems last month...or? Did they actually change something for the better? Any way I'm happy with it for the moment, but hoping it was user error that kept it from recording the Tour de France yesterday morning. Ah well, best of luck! |
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Unregistered guest | I have recorded three programs on the hard drive (Sony RDR HX900) one after the other. I have been able to burn the first and third to DVD's but not the one in the middle. We have deleted the first and third and the second will still not burn to DVD. A message comes up saying not able to copy this program. Also my machine will not format DVD - RW discs, only DVD + RW. Any ideas? |
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fx Unregistered guest | If your program is from HBO or Shotime they are now protected to copy once only. This means you can copy it to your HDD or from there to a RAM but not to a DVD. xvxvxvx |
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New member Username: Tenchi211Post Number: 1 Registered: Jul-05 | I have a problem when recording directly to DVDs. The problem is I record the same one hour show every day at the SP speed using the timer in the recorder which is supossed to get me two hours of time per disc. The first hour gets recorded with no problems, but when I go to the second show recorded on the disc, it only records for 44 minutes. Has anyone else had this problem? |
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New member Username: DivoPost Number: 1 Registered: Jul-05 | I have a serious problem with my RDR HX900. About once a month, my entire record schedule will just disappear for no reason. I turn off the TV guide option that makes it appear on power up, but when my schedule disappears the TV guide comes on as well, so it seems to indicate some sort of spontaneous system reset. AC power is clean and uninterrupted. Anyone else run into this? Sony's reps were of no help. |
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Unregistered guest | I have a different problem with my RDR-HX900. I was watching a program on the HDD a week ago. I had a power interruption due to a thunderstorm. When the power came back 4 minutes later, my TV Guide AND my scheduled programs had all disappeared. I have not been able to get the TV GUIDE listings back, in spite of the fact that I did have to choose a channel lineup two days later, and the channel numbers are correct. Called Sony, and they either misunderstood, or don't know what I'm talking about. Anyone have this problem and got it resolved? I'm tearing my hair out. |
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New member Username: DivoPost Number: 2 Registered: Jul-05 | I would try leaving the unit turned off (but plugged in) for several days straight. When my unit is off, I can hear hard drive and fan noise, which seems to indicate the schedule is being updated to the hard drive, but that can't be happening because the TVGOS listings and program schedule are easily wiped. I wish I could return the unit; what's frustrating is the problems with TVGOS don't surface for weeks so it's hard to diagnose or fix. But when it works, it works well. |
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T. Kimbrough Unregistered guest | Well, leaving the unit switched off didn't help. I didn't use it for three days. However, having said that, I found a solution. First, I used setup to change my zip code to a bogus one. Left that for two days. It found no match for the channels (obviously). Then I changed it back to my zip code. A day later I was asked to choose a new lineup, which I did. Yesterday I got my TV GUIDE back. Took me exactly 2 weeks. I'm going to put all the electronics in my TV room on a UPS. I'm not going through this again. |
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WC Unregistered guest | David Neil Lynch a footnote in the rdr-hx900 manual page 8 says will only format Ver 1.1 DVD-RW these were up to 2speed disks. Version 1.2 will not format. Does anyone know of a firmware upgrade? |
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Unregistered guest | I have a Sony RDR-HX900 and have been pleased with the unit's capabilities. I would like to divide a SP recorded program so that I can transfer the recording to DVDs at the same quality. According to the manual, page 70, Dividing a Playlist title, I should be able to do so but the "Divide Title" sub-menu is not an option. Any ideas? |
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moxavian Unregistered guest | Cytojim, you can't divide titles from the HDD. Do some more searching and you'll see lots of people who complain about this. |
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Thesponge Unregistered guest | I hope I do not seem too dim, How do you get the tv listings for the RDR-HX900, we have sky digital and analogue tv. I have seen no information on how to get the information to the machine. Does anybody have any knowledge of a software/firmware upgrade for this machine. I find it has a lot of shortcomings, one , not being able to make daily recordings for the same program, over a period without having to put each entry in. |
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Goshman Unregistered guest | I have been 'taping' the same program daily with only one entry since day one. You just have to change the date setting in the timer entry to say 'daily' or something to that effect. (I am not near the machine to check it for you). It may require some serious downscrolling though (it goes past a number of options for weekly recording, only weekend, only weekdays etc) Note that if you decide to tape the news, which I am doing, you can use the update function (to be found under 'details' where you also find the PDC option) so that it will overwrite the previous recording. This way you only ever have the latest newsbulleting on your harddrive and old news automatically gets overwritten. |
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New member Username: Berkie11Post Number: 2 Registered: Sep-05 | having trouble formatting dvd-rw discs. They are version 1.1 and record at 2X or less speed as the manual states. The recorder tells me the disk is unreadable. Sony says may of got a hold of a bad batch of discs. To go buy another brand and from different store. The originals are Sony, doesn't say much for them, huh? Anyone else having problems formatting these? |
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New member Username: Huskydog137Post Number: 1 Registered: Sep-05 | I want to add my problems with my Sony HX-900. I also loose my TV Guide listing and all scheduled recordings. I just sent my second unit back for replacement. Both units lost guide data every month or so. I have no power problems or cable signal problems to account for this. Please people, if anyone else has a problem like this please add to this board as Sony will not admit to any of this. Thank you all. |
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New member Username: Berkie11Post Number: 3 Registered: Sep-05 | yes, i have lost my guide several times for no reason. have to go through the Easy Set Up to re-establish. Now it seems like I have to run the set up at least two times before I get the guide back. Have a RMA to get the unit fixed because I was also having trouble formatting the -RW disks. Must say that the unit does a good job with the DV and one touch dubbing features, have never had a problem there and I use it often to transfer from the camcorder. |
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Leon Atkinson Unregistered guest | Since picking up an HX-900 in April, it's lost most of it's information about four times. It never seems to be associated with a power failure. The last two times were today and about two weeks ago. It doesn't lose any recorded programs. It doesn't seem to lose the information from "easy set up". It does lose all the TV guide listing and all the programs in the schedule. During the past month or so, when it's working, it's been a lot worse about knowing what's coming up. When I first got the unit, it would have the full 8 days of schedule. Recently it's been mostly blank for the couple of days coming up, except for PBS stations. Perhaps this is an effect of the data feed, not of the unit. I noticed that more ads were coming through in the past few months, too. I'm on Comcast analog cable in the Bay Area. Everything I'm reading makes me think this is a case of a flakey design on Sony's part. Having the schedule be unreliable is worse than nothing at all due to the frustration of having the unit suddenly brain dead. I'm regretting not building a Myth box in the first place. At least with something open source, I can diagnose and fix problems myself. But this unit has "no servicable parts". |
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Unregistered guest | I bought my Sony DVR in May, and it has been absolutely great EXCEPT for its fatal flaw -- and I mean fatal. It loses the TV schedule, and all scheduled recordings. This makes the unit so unreliable that it is unusable. This happens every once in a while, and it is not caused by loss of power. It just happens. When I came home yesterday, the listings were all gone, and the screen told me (this is the first time for this message) it had a "data failure" and I should check my cables. I am, however, getting tv through the unit, so I do not believe that there is a problem with the cables. I can not even set up my channel lineup, because it only tells me "data failure". As of right now, I can not use the unit to record. At all. I wonder if the problem is the data feed, not the unit itself. Either way, this problem absolutely must be fixed! Does anyone know how to get this fixed??? |
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Unregistered guest | Note to previous post by Leon Atkinson in the Bay area. I also lost my data on Oct 4 (the same day that you lost yours) and about two weeks ago. Is it just coincidence that the Bay area and north Mississippi DVRs lost the schedule on the same day, twice? Is there a problem with "the system", with the data itself? I suggest that any time that anyone loses their TV Guide data, post a notice so we can determine if everyone loses it the same day. It could be "the system", meaning the PSIP information from TV Guide, and not the DVR at all. Maybe it is in fact the data that is being sent to the unit. Either way, of course, it doesn't work, but maybe we can determine who to contact. I talked with Sony today, and they are aware of the problem, but say it is not their fault and that there is nothing they can do about it. I suggested that they tell consumers BEFORE they buy the product that the system (meaning the entire system, not just the HX900) is unreliable and that they will need a backup VCR to record things when the DVR misses them. |
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New member Username: Berkie11Post Number: 4 Registered: Sep-05 | For the "data failure" problem. Try unplugging the unit for a couple of minutes and then setting back up with the "Easy Setup" menu. It should clear the message and reset the entire unit. My unit is back at Sony for the same problem along with a disk formatting problem. Without the later problem, I do not believe they would have given me a RMA. |
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Unregistered guest | Does any company make a DVD recorder that will record in surround? |
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New member Username: Berkie11Post Number: 5 Registered: Sep-05 | in the set up for this recorder, at the audio connection you have to specify whether it is dolby digital or D-PCM. If you select dolby the output will be in surround. |
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Unregistered guest | I have two machines. Both are having the same problem regularly losing program listings and scheduled recordings. Acouple of times I had to use the original set up to get back to normal. I am also in the Bay Area using Comcast. Has anyone got a unit back from Sony and does it work any better? The frequency of these failures makes the units little better than trash (expensive trash). |
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New member Username: Berkie11Post Number: 6 Registered: Sep-05 | how else do you retreive the listings without running back through the easy set up? When I loose them and look in the guide setup where the channel line ups are there are none. How do you get them back without running the "Easy Setup"? |
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Unregistered guest | I will post more information in about 10-14 days (they say). I called Sony on Saturday (second call) because I had just spent 5 days with no data whatsoever. In answer to two items, in all cases since I bought the unit in May (about once a month), when I lost data, when I turned the unit on, it was telling me to choose Lineup 1 or Lineup 2. In that case, I did not go back through Setup, but selected the correct lineup. Now, my lineup is not sorted in any order that I can determine, and it is a pain to manually rearrange all of the channels in a meaningful order, especially when you have to do that once a month. Anyway, last week, rather than telling me to choose a Lineup, it had no data. I had no choice but to go through Setup. I tried for 5 or 6 days. I unplugged the unit for several minutes, moved it to a different cable jack. My cable signal itself is very good. I called my cable company -- they said that they knew of no problem with the TV Guide On Screen signal. Well, after relating all of this to Sony, they gave me an RMA #, and I sent it to PA Monday morning. I was already on the verge of buying a new machine and switching to Tivo, because I now wonder if TV Guide On Screen is reliable or not -- I still believe that the Sony machine may not be at fault, but either way, this is so unreliable as to be useless. I have a backup VCR set to record everthing that the DVR records because I know that the DVR will fail, without warning. But so many companies do use the TV Guide On Screen system, surely that system is not THIS unreliable. Do other DVRs suffer from this same problem? I will update when I get my DVR back. |
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Leon Atkinson Unregistered guest | Quick update. Sometime late Tuesday night or early Wednesday, my unit lost all the "scheduled programs". It still remembers listings and lineups. I think we've seen this happen to the unit before. My wife told me she'd noticed her shows were missing and replaced them yesterday. |
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Unregistered guest | Last night I connected my two machines to a UPS unit in the hope that it might help. While I was transfering the plug on one of the machines it lost all scheduled programs and TV guide listings. The other machine kept it's settings. I will post the results as they happen. |
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New member Username: DivoPost Number: 3 Registered: Jul-05 | I posted the HX900 disappearing schedule problem back in July. I'm in the Burbank area, so I doubt it's a Bay area issue. My HX900 would lose all scheduled programs and TVGOS listings about once a month. A few months ago I bought a 2nd HX900 (with a lower serial no.), and I set up both units from scratch. In the fourth week the 1st HX900 lost all scheduled programs and TVGOS listings as expected, but the 2nd unit was unaffected. The 1st unit went back to Sony. A month ago Los Angeles had that big power outage, and I was without power for 4 hours. I was sure the programs and TVGOS would be gone, but I was shocked to see that they were all intact! |
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Unregistered guest | I lost my tv guide data 3 days ago. I can usually start to get it back within a day, but not this time. Anyone have any tips |
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New member Username: Berkie11Post Number: 7 Registered: Sep-05 | run the "set up" again and it should find the TVGOS after 24hrs. |
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New member Username: DivoPost Number: 4 Registered: Jul-05 | I spoke too soon. After over two months of trouble-free operation, I lost all the TVGOS listings and scheduled programs last night. Seems like I always lose my programs on a Tues. the day before "Lost" airs; could it be more than a coincidence? I'm at a lost. Sony's no help and after two units I'm ready to throw this garbage out the window. Anyone have any luck with Sony repairs yet? |
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New member Username: DivoPost Number: 5 Registered: Jul-05 | I seem to recall losing manually scheduled programs as well as TVGOS programs, but I can't be sure so I am going to give manual programming a try (via the Timer button). If the HX900 does indeed lose manually scheduled programs, then this would indicate to me that Sony is solely at fault, not TVGOS. For the amount of money and aggravation this DVR costs, we should at the very least be allowed to contact a competent engineer instead of some minimum wage service reps reading from a script. Anyone have better luck with the HX715? |
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Les A. Unregistered guest | I have lost "manual programming" several times on both my machines at the same time the TV guide listings went away. Since putting both machines on a UPS, one of the machines lost its TV Guide listings and scheduled to record listings. It was however able to change channels manually from the remote, something it previously could not do. Go figure. |
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Unregistered guest | I have had an RDR-HX900 since last November, and starting a couple of months ago, I have lost the schedule three times, with the TV Guide listings disappearing two of those three times, most recently just yesterday. I too live in the SF Bay Area and have Comcast cable. Very, very frustrating. If there were were a TIVO-capable DVD/HDD recorder that had editing capabilities (neither the Humax nor Toshiba seem to), I would switch over right away. Another complaint I've had about the Sony from the beginning is that its fan and hard drive go on and off all night while the unit is "off" in order to acquire the TV Guide listings. In my otherwise extremely quite bedroom, the intermittent noise is so noticable as to seriously disturb my sleep. Much as I have loved Sony products over the years, I'd be afraid to buy another of their DVD recorders. |
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Unregistered guest | Hi, I am now experiencing the situation where the TV Guide selecion is blank and apparently not being downloaded. It worked one week ago (10/16/05). In hunting around, it loooks like Panasonic users are experiencing some of the same issues: http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vDownloads?storeId=15001&lan gId=-1&page=DVDFirmware which in some cases is referencing a firmware update. I called my cable company (Mediacom) to find out if the format has changed - and they basically told me to go read the manual, as they are not delivering any such service to me... Help! |
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vickki Unregistered guest | I have A RDR-HX900 and have recorded 3 programs under one title (they were shown in consecutive order) but I want to burn them to separate discs I can't work out how to break one title into 3 sections to dub |
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fx Unregistered guest | Vickki, Sony provided no "Divide" on this unit so what you want to do cannot be done in the normal manner. You might be able to record the first program to a R/W disc and stop the burn in mid stream but I don't know anyone who has ever tried this. Good luck, xvxvxvx |
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New member Username: Berkie11Post Number: 8 Registered: Sep-05 | Use the A-B Erase function, it is listed where you go to play the selection. First, Set the format of a blank disk where you have to go in and finalize it and it does not occur automatically. Record the entire selection to the disk. Use the A-B erase to elimiate the programs that you don't want. Then finalize the disk. Do it again with two other disks for the other programs |
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fx Unregistered guest | Mike, Using your method might require her to re-encode her data (depending on the length and original recording mode of the original programming) if it is more than a single disc can hold. I'm not saying it won't work but she may have to do realtime dubbing with a resulting loss of quality. xvxvxvx |
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New member Username: Berkie11Post Number: 9 Registered: Sep-05 | fx, Have done it several times. Doesn't recode data. Disk space is not an issue because there is an auto fit function. In addition, now that I look over the manual, the machine is capable and Sony did provide the "Divide Titles" as listed on Page 70 of the manual. Vickki, this would be the easiest, just follow the directions and it will work fine. |
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fx Unregistered guest | Mike, You might have taken the time to read my post before responding. Just because someone else jumps off a bridge and lived it doesn't mean Vickki will live too. In other words read my post again!!! If she recorded her three shows and they were over an hour long at the highest quality mode your method will absolutely, positively require re-encoding, preiod! Got it? As far as dividing a tiltle on the HDD it cannot, repeat one more time just for you, it cannot be done on her unit. Perhaps you are confusing being able to divide a title by adding chapter marks. No other manufacturer calls this function divide, it is called adding chapters, which is all the Sony will do, it will not divide a single title on the HDD into seperate titles. Any more questions? Just one more thing Mike What do you think the auto-fit function does? It re-encodes the data so it will fit on a disk, this results in a loss in quality. It is best you avoid giving out incorrect information even though you were trying to be helpful. xvxvxvx |
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New member Username: Berkie11Post Number: 10 Registered: Sep-05 | a little testy there aren't we now? chill out dude. you are correct that it can not be done from the HDD but can be done from a disk. Since she has it on the HDD, my first suggestion would work fine even if it has to be done on a different recording mode. |
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New member Username: RpearsonStarkville, MS USA Post Number: 1 Registered: Oct-05 | Update on Lost Information/Repairs About 3 weeks ago (my postings are back up the list), I lost all of my TVGOS data, and I tried for a week and could not get ANYTHING to download. I tried everything I could think of. I finally called Sony a second time; the first call resulted in nothing, with the rep basically telling me that it was not the unit, but my cable. But on this call, they gave me an RMA and I send the unit off to PA. I got it back in about 10 days, which seemed pretty good. Overnight, it did download all data, which might make me think that it was not my cable system. I must be honest and say that I do not know where the problem is -- it could be the cable signal, it could be TVGOS itself (I have found no way to contact them), and it could be the Sony DVR. I enclosed a note with my DVR and asked the repair people to email me when they received it, and told them that I would be interested in any technical information they could provide about the unit -- I would like to know what type of device is used to store various information, for instance -- surely your recording schedule is stored on the hard drive, so it's permanent. You would think that a power loss would be irrelevant then. Unfortunately, they did not email nor provide any information about anything. The two things that I see on the page that they sent back with the unit is that they "replaced the EPG board" (don't have the note with me, but I believe that it was EPG), and "updated software". I, of course, hope that this fixes the problem. I could believe that this is a software problem, and if so, they should readily fix it. Don't know if there is a way for them to update software remotely or not. In summary, after repair, my DVR has worked for a whopping 3 days with no problem. I hope that this continues, as I would like to have a reliable recorder. |
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New member Username: DivoPost Number: 6 Registered: Jul-05 | This can't be a coincidence. I lose all my scheduled recording programs and TVGOS once a month on a Tuesday. It happened with a previous unit, and twice now with the newer unit. |
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New member Username: DivoPost Number: 7 Registered: Jul-05 | Lost all TVGOS and scheduled programs again, only 5 days since the last occurence. This time it happened while I was performing an A-B erase function on the HDD; the HX-900 seemed to reset itself, and the TVGOS screen appeared with no data. |
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Bronze Member Username: Berkie11Post Number: 11 Registered: Sep-05 | mine goes about once a month also. Wouldn't be so bad if it came back up right away but sometimes it takes a day or so to reset. On top of that, it looses all the scheduled programs to record. Has anyone dealt with Sony concerning the problem? I see from the posts that they basically deny any problems. I sent mine back in to have a disk drive replaced and also noted the TVGOS problems but was never informed if it had been addressed. Now that I am encountering the same problems I know nothing was done. |
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Unregistered guest | After more than 3 weeks without TVGOS data, I contacted Sony's online help desk. I went through a pretty fundamental checklist in the chat sesion, but figured I was not going to get to end of job, when the tech told me to go download the TV Guide data. As part of that routine I did power the unit off for 15 minutes (pull the plug) and whent through Quick Install - to no avail. Last evening I decided to reset all of the factory variables back to the original values, thinking that something may be corrupted. I again concluded that routine with Quick Install. When I got up this morning, I had a full complement of TVGOS data for the week ahead. This does not address 'why' this problem occurs, but may be part of a resolution path - after having to go for weeks with this dysfunctional Sony DVR HX900. |
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New member Username: RpearsonStarkville, MS USA Post Number: 2 Registered: Oct-05 | As posted earlier, I talked with Sony Tech Support back in October, and was authorized to send my DVR back in because I had reached a point that I could not download anything after a week of resetting and resetting. The unit came back with the notes "replaced EPG board" and "updated software". TVGOS worked perfectly, and I was hopeful, until yesterday. Same old same old. Lost all listing. I had been watching that schedule like a hawk, and I know that on Thursday night it had a complete week's listing on board. I had wondered before if it gradually lost the listings, such as if it went 7 days without being able to download anything, but that is clearly not the case. The only thing I will say is that I had been watching a DVD Thursday night, and had it in DVD mode when I turned it off, which is unusual viewing for me. Hard to imagine that caused the reset. I agree that it surely appears that the system appears to reset itself. The problem is not a gradual loss of data. It is some spontaneous, immediate loss. |
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IaIn Sach Unregistered guest | Hi, we don't have an electronic programme guide here (Belgium) but I do use manual programming - and this machine is OK for same-day recording but regularly loses entries for further ahead. They just disappear. Anyone any suggestions? Incidentally, the solution to the long recording problem (you cannot divide it to fit on a disc) is to duplicate the recording on the HDD then erase different parts in each copy, then transfer the parts you have retained to separate DVDs. Takes a long time but it works, and you can use the copy quality you want. |
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RichardB Unregistered guest | We've got a recording problem with our RDR-HX900. We select programmes for timer recoding using VideoPlus+ and the recorder records about 80% of these without any problem. However, the rest of the time, it will stop recording part-way through the programme, or only record one minute, or simply not record at all. Anyone else come across this problem? |
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New member Username: DivoPost Number: 8 Registered: Jul-05 | Got my second HX900 back from Sony repair 2 weeks ago. According to the repair doc they did a Factory Reset, software update, setup and downloaded TV Guide. Tonight I lost all my scheduled programs (Tuesday night, as usual). |
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Gary McNees Unregistered guest | While reading through this list, I was hoping that you all would have found a solution to this problem. I don't know whether it is a problem with the DVDR or with Comcast. I have both the HX900 and internet service. My internet service goes down every now and again, and requires a reboot of modem and router etc. I am really wondering whether Comcast just shuts down every once in a while, and this causes the problem with the TVGOS? Also, what you wrote I Sach, about the dividing title problem, how does one duplicate the program on the HDD? Unless the same program is broadcast more than once and you record it more than once? |
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pjtraynor Unregistered guest | I had this happen earlier, but only twice, and once was after a power loss. It has not happened recently. Incidentally, I also have Comcast, so it does not appear to be related to Comcast, at least not in the Atlanta Area. BTW does anyone have a way of programming this device through the net? I am sure there is a solution available, although probably expensive. |
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bcallens Unregistered guest | I bought my hx900 about a year ago and have been pretty satisfied with it until -in the middle of playing- he looses the sound for a couple of seconds. This happens every now and then (sometimes 10 times within a minute) and is extremely irritating. I not found anyone reporting the same problem so I am left baffled. Anybody??? |
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Sworl Unregistered guest | Here's an interesting one: I've had my RDR-HX900 since June. I've only had one problem so far, the TV program "Lost" keeps getting dropped from my schedule. Just "Lost", and its happened several times. I'm not nuts. All the other shows are there, fine. I don't get it. I'm on Comcast and use the TVGuide Onscreen. Has anyone heard of such a crazy thing? |
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fx Unregistered guest | Sworl, LOST has been running for 61 minutes, this is a likely problem. Try a manual recording or add a minute to the programmed recording and see if it fixes your problem. Also do you have a recording beginning immediately following LOST? If so the 61 minute thing is certainly your problem. xvxvxvx |
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Sworl Unregistered guest | Yeah, Invasion. But I've recorded them both before. Do you think it depends on the amount of overlap? And I can see it not recording, but it really is completely gone from the list after that. It sure would've helped if the tech on sony chat would have thought of that. He kept wanting me to reset the unit or send it back for repair. And imagine how dumb I felt: ME:> "yeah this one show gets dropped from my schedule. The rest are fine. Just one show is missing, it keeps disappearing." SCS:> "What show is it" ME:> "Lost" He must've thought I was a Jerky Boy. |
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Paul Jenkin Unregistered guest | Hey Guys, slightly different problem here but it is still regarding the Sony RDR HX900. Have any of you managed to crack the hack code? I recently bought a proprietary brand, pre-recorded DVD that was supposedly able to be played in all regions, but my Sony RDR HX900 spat it back at me. I don't usually buy anything that doesn't specifically say it can be played in the UK, so I was really pi*sed about this!! Please drop me a line to paulrjenkin@hotmail.com if you have a fix. Please also bear in mind that I'm not that clued-up with technology, so words of one syllable, please!! Thanks. Paul. |
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sworl Unregistered guest | MISSING SCHEDULE. Lost my record line up yesterday. This is the first time its happened to me, but I see many others have had it happen. Did anyone else loose theirs yesterday? I'm on Comcast in Wash. DC. |
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New member Username: DivoPost Number: 10 Registered: Jul-05 | Well, lost all scheduled programs again tonight. So far this has been my experience: First HX900 unit 4/26/05 lost schedule 6/11/05 lost schedule 7/14/05 lost schedule 7/24/05 lost schedule Bought a second unit, hooked both units up to the same cable system. First unit loses schedule, new unit seems ok at the time so I return the first unit. Second HX900 unit 10/18/05 lost schedule 11/15/05 lost schedule 11/20/05 lost schedule while performing A/B erase Unit sent in for service Second HX900 after service 01/01/06 lost schedule 01/24/06 lost schedule Sony was not interested in exchanging my unit for a later model or refunding my purchase price. Anyone interested in starting a class action suit? |
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lwuser Unregistered guest | Noticed that this was the latest customer review on Amazon: "Don't buy if you have TV Guide on your cable, November 15, 2005 This DVD recorder works well when everything is working correctly. The problem is in the TV Guide area. The TV Guide signal that the recorder recieves from the cable company continues to give a reset signal maybe once a week or so and all of the timed recordings and all of the channel data gets wiped out totally reseting the recorder. This is not the recorder problem but a cable company problem. As I understand it, this is happening all over the country. The recorder has no way of turning off the TV Guide section. I would suggest not getting this recorder until the people who originate the TV Guide gets off their duff and fixes their end of things." Is this a Comcast problem or Sony problem? |
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Bronze Member Username: DivoPost Number: 11 Registered: Jul-05 | I had two HX900s hooked up simultaneously on the same cable (Charter Communications). After nearly 3 weeks one unit reset itself, the other unit did not. If you program a schedule manually, it will still lose your entire record lineup. I wish I knew what caused this problem, but I have a hard time believing Sony has nothing to do with it. I'd be curious to hear if anyone had a similar experience with other TVGOS brands, or the newer Sony DVR. |
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Mark and Lisa Unregistered guest | My wife and I just checked the TVGOS listing at 6pm EST Jan 31, 2006 and they were all gone then we checked our programs and they were all gone as well. Anything previously recorded was still there though. This has happened once before since summer of 2005. We didn't have a power outage or anything else noticable in our cable service (Rogers Cable in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada). We called Sony the first time this happened and they were completely useless. We are seriously disapointed with this device and will not buy anything with TVGOS ever again. Even when TVGOS works it still has issues (missing channels from the lineup, etc.). It cost us $1000 (Canadian dollars) before taxes and I feel like we wasted our money. No offence to anyone but why would anyone buy a second one? |
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Unregistered guest | The TVGOS has never worked with my Comcast Motorola digital cable box. I have to program the DVR manually to record programs and have to leave the cable box on. The set-top controller will change the channel on the cable box when the programmed recording is to begin. Also - why is the fan on this unit always running? - not only do I unhook the Sony so I can watch HD channels (which will not go through the HX-900) but now it is unplugged! |
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New member Username: RpearsonStarkville, MS USA Post Number: 3 Registered: Oct-05 | The Sony RDR HX900 is a truly great product, except for one problem. Unfortunately, that one problem is a fatal design flaw that renders the product unreliable. The HX 900 downloads the TV Guide OnScreen (TVGOS) television listings that orignate from GemStar. Based on message board postings, owners all over the country experience the same thing: every once in a while, the unit loses all of the program listing information, the channel lineup, and -- worst of all -- your scheduled recordings. Now, anything that you have previously recorded is still there on the hard drive, but your entire upcoming schedule is gone. You leave for work in the morning and things look great; you think that you will record some shows while you are gone. When you come home, no program listings, no more recording schedule, and the shows that you thought would record, well, they did not record. It is so unreliable that I have a VCR sitting right there next to the DVR to serve as a backup -- the VCR records everything that the DVR does, because I know, without a doubt, that at some seemingly random point, the DVR will fail to do its job. I have spent hours on the phone and on the internet researching this problem. You have to go through at least three people at Sony before you can even get anyone to admit that they have ever heard of the problem. Some of the customer service people are so clueless that they actually believe that the problem is with your outgoing connection to the television; obviously the problem comes in through the input, not the output. People all over the country have the same problem. And, it is with all brands of DVRs. While Sony does not acknowledge this problem, a friend called Pioneer with the same problem on his DVR and was told that Pioneer customer support is swamped with complaints to the point that it has slowed down their entire customer service system! They claim that their higher-ups are working with Gemstar higher-ups on the solution. Sony does not acknowledge that this problem even exists. I believe that GemStar periodically sends some sort of reset signal down the line. This signal is delivered to you via your PBS station. If your unit is not downloading at the moment that the reset comes across the line, you're ok; but if you are downloading, your DVR resets. Thus the apparent randomness of it all. I finally got a technician at Sony to tell me that he would check to see if anyone was communicating with GemStar about this (GemStar's support number tells you that they communicate only with manufacturers, not consumers). Until the manufacturers and GemStar solve this reset problem, you should not buy any product which relies on TVGOS data. |
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lwuser Unregistered guest | So would it make sense to leave the unit powered on most days of the week, so that it does not download TVGuide data daily, thereby minimizing your chances of receiving the Gemstar reset signal and losing your schedule? Perhaps you could only turn it off over the weekend, for example, to download the next week's TVGuide listings. |
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Unregistered guest | I am on my 4th TVGOS failure/loss, and I am getting better at the recovery. I have been without the schedule for about one week. I tried the usual scenario (pull power plug and re-run the setup program), which did nothing. I then took it to the next level and went to the System Menu and reset all of the factory defaults one at a time. I then re-ran the setup, which prompts you to re-input your zip code, time, etc. I turned the unit off and went to bed. The next morning I powered it up, and got a dialog box prompting me to confirm that "A&E is on Chanel 43...", which I confirmed with one press of the enter key. This led me to believe that during the night, TVGOS had attempted to update the system (good news). I turned it off. After about 30 minutes, I powered it back on and, the TVGOS schedule was BACK! I have used this process to recover twice now - and suspect that the reset of all factory settings is the most effictive and immediate route to take. It's still not clear what is getting corrupted, and I would expect Sony to research that and implement a firmware fix to proactively sense the error condition and "reboot" the routine that enables TVGOS to download. This would be needed to essentially improve the error handling capability of the RDR HX900, knowing that the data strem is prone to errors and interuptions. |
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Unregistered guest | In my scan of problems with the RDR-HX900 I haven't seen my problem. I can record to a +RW disc once, maybe twice, then I get a message, "The disc is dirty", which it isn't. Anyone else have this problem? |
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New member Username: JimatkentPost Number: 1 Registered: Apr-06 | I also have been suffering with my RDR HX900 and TVGOS. Mr. Pearson's post of Feb. 27, 2006 seems to be well informed. Shall we all take a minute to write a post-card to Gemstar: 6922 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028. [ those of us who are more agressive might call (323)817-4600 ] For those concerned about power-outages pg. 102 of the operating instructions: "Specifications" states "power back-up duration: one hour" this might also provide some insight to those of us who are trying to "reboot" by unplugging the unit............ Has anyone come up with any other info lately? |
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Bronze Member Username: DivoPost Number: 12 Registered: Jul-05 | The power back-up feature on my HX900 lasted for almost 4 hours when L.A. had that city-wide blackout last Sept. Update: the last day I lost all of my TVGOS and record schedule listings was Jan 31. Something must have changed at Gemstar because my HX900 has not been resetting itself . Occasionally it will lose a single program in the schedule, which I can live with. |
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New member Username: RpearsonStarkville, MS USA Post Number: 4 Registered: Oct-05 | Similar to David's message, I have not lost my TVGOS listings since January. I hesitate to say that the system has been fixed, because that will probably cause the listings to go away tomorrow, but... Perhaps they have fixed the TVGOS system. I have absolutely no problems with my DVR now and am very, very happy with it. |
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New member Username: JimatkentPost Number: 2 Registered: Apr-06 | I spoke with a Sony technician at the Pittsburgh repair facility. He said that the TVGOS data comes thru on one of the PBS stations in my area but that they have ceased to send that information! He did not know why or when they would resume! @#$%!! I need to try to talk to the PBS station of the TVGOS people?! |
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New member Username: Steve_pOntario Canada Post Number: 1 Registered: Jul-06 | Hopefully someone out there can relate to the problem I've just encountered with my Sony RDR-HX900. I just got back from a trip to Chicago and had manually programmed shows to be taped (once) on both HDD and DVD. Up until now I've never encountered a problem with recording shows (I've had the unit since last Christmas). The TV Guide On Screen does not work because I've got the unit hooked up to a Bell Express Vu satellite which has its own guide. NOT a big concern on my part. HOWEVER before I left, TV programs were scheduled to be recorded (with ample space on both the hard drive and a blank formatted dvd as well). When I returned only the first few programs were recorded (YES, I need to get a life....) and the "Timer Rec" indicator light was still on. When I viewed the timer schedule the remaining shows to be taped were still scheduled to be recorded however NONE of the remaining shows listed were taped after the second day. I spoke with a Sony rep who apparently has never come across this before and advised me to unplug the unit overnight and "reboot" so to speak and attempt to record again. As I was talking to him the "Timer Rec" indicator light literally went out and when I searched the schedule of shows to be taped (from last week), they had disappeared. I've been told there were no storms or power surges, so I'm totally perplexed as to what caused this. Any ideas???? Thanks in advance, Steve |
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Bronze Member Username: DivoPost Number: 13 Registered: Jul-05 | Well, after six good months I lost all my TVGOS listings and record schedule twice in two weeks. |
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New member Username: RpearsonStarkville, MS USA Post Number: 5 Registered: Oct-05 | This is certainly an odd system. I don't know where David is (username Divo), but I am in Mississippi, and I have had pretty much the same experience that he has has. I had 6 good months, with reliable channel listings, and I have noticed throughout this week that nothing was being downloaded. I still have the listing of channels, but no programs. David posted almost the same exact experience on July 25, and here I am posting it on July 28. David, where are you? Is this a nationwide experience, or do you and I happen to live next door to each other? |
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New member Username: Flash214Post Number: 1 Registered: Jul-06 | There is only one solution to the recording schedule loss problem. It involves disabling the TV Guide on the unit. I arrived at this conclusion after reading many comments and solutions at this forum and others. Rodney Pearson's comments found above about the reset signal and the downloading of TV Guide information is correct. Unless something is done on their end, you will be forced to do something on your end. Don't waste your time calling Sony. They will state that they never heard of this problem before even though hundreds have complained about it. It happened to me after owning the unit for only one week. My entire recording schedule (that was mostly set manually without using TV Guide) plus my entire channel lineup arrangement was lost. You will loose the convenience of programing through the TV Guide program instead of manually which is slightly more difficult but you will totally eliminate this problem. You will also eliminate another problem that many have complained about involving the hard drive. It will not run for hours downloading the latest TV Guide information consuming additional electricity, making more noise, and wearing out your hard drive. Besides, the TV Guide on this unit is pretty bad compared to the TV Guide on the internet or the free TV Guide service that I download to my PDA every two weeks. The TV Guide listing on this unit are only accurate and complete for up to two days while the others are good for two weeks. The solution for disabling the TV Guide is to start the set-up for your unit from the beginning but this time enter all zeros (00000) for your zip code. I did this seven months ago and I have not had any problems since. |
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Bronze Member Username: DivoPost Number: 14 Registered: Jul-05 | I'm located in Burbank CA. I've lost manually entered programs in the past, but I haven't tried entering 00000 for the zip code. If I lose my programs again I'll have to try it. |