View Full Version : DVR playback on 6412 suddenly stopped working
puck71
09-24-2005, 08:22 PM
OK I just recently (3 weeks ago or so) swapped out my old Motorola DCT6412 DVR box and got a new one, and got one of the new "phase 3" boxes, which was nice!
Anyway, I didn't have any problems for awhile, but I just started having some problems. The first thing I noticed was that when I was playing back some recorded shows, the fast forward buttons basically didn't work. It would start to fast forward, then it would just freeze. I could hit Play and it would keep playing, but I didn't really have a way to skip commercials. It was annoying, but I could deal with it.
After a couple days of that, I stopped one of the shows I was playing back, then when I tried to go back in and play it again it wouldn't start at all. The show information for the show I was playing back would come up on the screen (like the guide information) and the front of the box would switch to "PLA" but the playback wouldn't actually show up on the screen. It would just stay on whatever channel the box was tuned to previously. I tried a bunch of different recordings and the same thing happened. I tried powering off and back on, and the same thing happened.
Does anyone have any ideas what I can do to fix this? Preferable without losing my recordings.
Thanks!!
oman321
09-26-2005, 10:33 AM
It's been a couple of days, maybe you have resolved by now, but did you try to unplug for a few minutes and then plug back in?
puck71
09-26-2005, 10:41 AM
I did end up doing that. I actually only unplugged for a few seconds, but it did seem to fix the problem. However, now the 3 and 7 buttons on my remote won't work, but I don't know if that's related or not...
Unplug it again, for a longer period. A reboot often cures what's ailing it. Try not to use the STB right after the reboot, let it download all information, etc.
oman321
09-26-2005, 10:48 AM
See the link on post no.1 on this thread to hopefully reprogram your remote buttons.
Just in case, comcast in my area provides me with the silver remote which has the AUX, TV, CABLE, POWER, SETUP buttons at the top and the ALL ON just below those.
http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/showthread.php?t=14677&highlight=6412+skip
puck71
09-26-2005, 11:42 AM
I tried that, which may actually have caused my problems. I don't have Comcast, so using those codes on my remote may have caused some issues. I have CableOne, and they gave me a black universal remote. It sounds like it has most of the same buttons and functions, but I don't know if the code numbers are the same or not.
oman321
09-26-2005, 02:57 PM
If you have a serial or model number, perhaps under the battery cover, you can try doing a google search for it. Ultimately that's how I found the codes for my remote.
Were you able to program the SKIP?
puck71
09-26-2005, 03:11 PM
I tried, but it didn't seem to do anything. It started flashing at me before I could punch in all 4 digits in the "skip" code - it seemed to only accept 3 digit entries at that point. I'll try more when I get home I guess.
oman321
09-26-2005, 04:50 PM
Ya some folks had success with just the 3 digits, mine required for 00 to be added before the code. Give it a shot with the 3 digits and see what happens, if it doesn't work again still try that google search.
puck71
09-26-2005, 05:09 PM
I tried with 3 digits and it worked fine - I was also able to reprogram the 3 and 7 with this link you posted: http://www.hifi-remote.com/cgi-bin2/ueic.cgi?cbl_0476
While trying to use the five digit codes I inadvertantly reprogrammed 3 and 7 since they were the fourth digit in the codes! All is good now!
By the way, this is what my remote looks like, except put "CableOne" where "Brighthouse" is: http://replacementremotes.com/store/productdetailp.cfm?productid=6099&CFID=6780&CFTOKEN=12803862 The nice thing is it has those "A" "B" and "C" buttons, which don't seem to do anything, so I can easily use those for skip and swap!
oman321
09-26-2005, 05:28 PM
Sweeeet!!! Glad it worked for you, I've heard that Comcast is doing away with the skip in a future firmware upgrade, hope this doesn't happen I love my commercial skip, hopefully that wont happen with cableone either.
:wow: That remote is tough on the eyes, maybe it's function over form.
puck71
09-26-2005, 05:34 PM
The remote doesn't look too bad to me...what's yours look like?
puck71
10-05-2005, 10:00 AM
Follow-up to this post:
This seems to happen consistently whenever I use the firewire outputs for anything. I think there may be some kind of bug with the firewire outputs. Unplugging and plugging the box back in seems to be the only way to fix it for now.
oman321
10-05-2005, 10:34 AM
Hey Puck,
Never noticed your post back. Anyhow my remote looks like the one on this ebay auction.
http://cgi.ebay.com/COMCAST-Universal-3-Function-Remote-w-PIP-NEW_W0QQitemZ5815656002QQcategoryZ61323QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Not entirely a piece of beauty but overall a nice design and a good feel when holding. What bothers me about the one you have is the rounded sides towards the top.
Good catch on the firewire issue might be worth swapping out and seeing if its specific to that STB cause I never heard of anybody else having that issue.
puck71
10-05-2005, 12:04 PM
Not entirely a piece of beauty but overall a nice design and a good feel when holding. What bothers me about the one you have is the rounded sides towards the top. Those don't cause a problem at all. I usually don't hold it at the top anyway, and if I do they actually rest pretty nicely in my hand.
Good catch on the firewire issue might be worth swapping out and seeing if its specific to that STB cause I never heard of anybody else having that issue. I don't want to swap it out yet, since other than this issue it's working great...I don't want to get an even worse one! Plus I did see in another thread on another forum where 1 or 2 other people were having similar issues when hooking up firewire to a DVHS recorder. When they unplugged the DVHS unit the problems went away. When I get around it I'm going to send it into Motorola and see if they can confirm an issue.
hi maybe too late but any dvr has it be shut off at nite or while working if left on all the time it heats up and starts to act funny just shut off at nite cable box not just tv and while at work shut off cable box that should help you
puck71
10-08-2005, 01:59 PM
hi maybe too late but any dvr has it be shut off at nite or while working if left on all the time it heats up and starts to act funny just shut off at nite cable box not just tv and while at work shut off cable box that should help you This particular box never "turns off" - even if you power it down to standby mode, the box itself keeps running, so the heat doesn't go down at all (I've learned that from personal experience, and from reading about it). The only thing it really shuts off is the video outputs.
If you really want to keep the heat levels down you need to get the DVR totally out in the open so it's completely ventilated on all sides - and maybe even put a fan by it.
