HD PVR hard drive constantly spinning up

[kanatanewf]

From the comments in this thread am I to assume it is pointless to even bother contacting Rogers about this? I own both of my HD pvrs and have taken to unplugging the one in the bedroom at night because of the constant cycling up and down. I tried leaving it on but the auto-shutdown kicked in. I guess changing that would rectify the shutdown. And yes, it definitely started after Rogers pushed an upgrade a couple of weeks back.

I recall this happening about a year or so ago as well. Problem magically disappeared after a few weeks (after the next upgrade I imagine).

Not pleased to hear that this might shorten the life of the PVRs. Adds more fuel to my spouse's desire to ditch our expensive Rogers cable subscription. Maybe I SHOULD call and rant when time permits.

[FormerMember]

I would still call in and get them to issue a ticket. The more people they actually hear from, the better.

[Lytefall]

I thought getting a ticket number started would do some good too. Hopefully it's doing something behind the scenes because the CSR I talked to (2nd one in 2 days) was still trying to make me exchange PVRs. I refused. They started a ticket and told me I would hear back within 48hrs. It's been more than that now and no phone call.

[D_W]

This issue is also happening to me 

I would keep reporting this to Rogers and call every 2 to 3 days until they fix it, so to keep the pressure on. The more people call to report this will emphasize the need to fix this fast and not let it go on for months like it did last time. For me the update happened at ~4:45 in the morning causing me to miss the ending of a movie ...good timing Rogers thanks 

[FormerMember]

I have called them. My ticket number is C62187902. The problem is, when you speak to someone in level 1 support, they are, for the most part, clueless. Here are a few more ticket numbers you can give them though: C61795473, C61914992, C61801728, C62064926, C61984371, and C62141176. Then there is a master ticket number - PT00063763. Always ask to speak to their supervisor. You might then have at least a 50-50 chance of speaking to someone who knows what they are talking about!

[Lytefall]

Thanks for the info. I think it's time I called back. Tech support was supposed to call me back within 48hrs. It's been 5 days now and haven't heard a word.

[pdqweb]

Here's summary of what I've learned from the forums about the HSUD (Hard drive Spinning Up and Down) problem that begin with the Sep/2012 firmware 1.93.14.1 update on SA8300HD PVRs.

I've called Rogers 4 times and had a tech out ("no idea"). I never received a "ticket" number but used the master ticket number on call #3 which resulted in more than "no idea, never heard of it". CSR told me Rogers is aware of the problem and "working on it". They can't revert to an older firmware on the 8300s but can on the newer models (don't know if it's true).

Other Forum Discussions:

1. New SARA Firmware 1.93.14.1 Discussions (SA8300HD) Summary in Post 1    Sep/2012
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=156392

2. SA Explorer 8300HD Repair? (HSUD)         Sep/2012
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=156740

3. I hear my cable 8300 HD turning on and off by itself during various
    parts of the day!                                   Feb/2012
http://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/forums/forumtopicpage/board-id/PVR_settop_boxes_remotes/message...

4. HD PVR hard drive constantly spinning up    Apr/2010
http://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/forums/forumtopicpage/board-id/PVR_settop_boxes_remotes/thread-...

5. PVR Drive Cycling                                       Sep/2012
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r27522299-PVR-Drive-Cycling#27522815

Posted Ticket Numbers:

Master Ticket PT00063763 from topic 1449981 #239 by skottawa 27 Sep 2012

        Post  -  Ticket  -  Author   -   Date   -   Forum   -   Topic

post 239 C62153824 skottawa    21 Sep 2012  digitalhome 1449981
post 175 C62258443 LeadFoot    24 Sep 2012  digitalhome 1448948
post  74 C61914992 dlesage     16 Sep 2012  digitalhome 156392
post 116 C61801728 geode      19 Sep 2012  original incident # 156392
post 116 C62064926 geode      19 Sep 2012  updated incident # 156392
post 119 C61984371 3.14159R  19 Sep 2012   digitalhome 156392
post 128 C62141176 ANDYA    21 Sep 2012   digitalhome 156392
post 140 C62187902 Hooter    22 Sep 2012   digitalhome 156392
msg   C62187902      IHR        25 Sep 2012    communityforums.rogers
post 146 C62189200 nicolasmane    22 Sep 2012   digitalhome 156392
post 161 Ticket List Parhelion    23 Sep 2012    digitalhome 156392
msg  11  C62187902 IHR           27 Sep 2012   communityforums.rogers C61795473

19:57:41 C61914992 Hooter    27 Sep 2012  dslreports (PVR-Drive-Cycling) listed:
C61801728     "
C62064926     "
C61984371     "
C62141176     "
CRTC ref. no. 592676 (PVR problem) Pritcc 30 Sep 2012 communityforums.rogers

Possible Work Arounds might help:

1. Set a manual recording of channel 744 (uses less space) daily from 1am to 6am that automatically deletes itself after a day. This should prevent PVR from going into "screen saver" mode during the night (1:15am? and 5am?). 
http://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/forums/forumtopicpage/board-id/PVR_settop_boxes_remotes/thread-...

2. A more technical solution is to disconnect the hard drive -- the unit then acts like a basic HD box. No recording/playback but you may save your drive from early failure.

3. A simple solution is to unplug the PVRs when not in use until this is resolved.

GETTING IT RESOLVED:

Everyone should call Rogers at 1-888-764-3771 and the CRTC to report the problems (use the Master Ticket number above).  Post to Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, blogs and websites. Write to your newspaper.  Investigate a class action.  Management will pay attention to a technical problem resulting from bad publicity.

[Gdkitty]

Any time you call in, ask (demand if you have to) for a ticket number.  One should always be available to you, whenever they put in a ticket for a problem.

[FormerMember]

Good post pdqweb. What is really sad is this post from yesterday. 

http://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/forums/forumtopicpage/board-id/PVR_settop_boxes_remotes/message...

To summarize, the poor guy was told by Rogers that he needed a new box. He complied, but of course this did not fix the issues. He called Rogers again and was told to buy a new PVR Extender. He did this with the same results. Next call, he was told to exchange the extender and once again the problems persisted. Next call, he was told that the problem must be a Seagate problem and to contact them. Then they told him he should switch to Nextbox. How can customers be treated this way? And still, not a single post on these forums from Rogers - at least none that I can see.

[Eferrier]

It is sad that we are required to mount a campaign for Rogers to do something. And they wouldn't be doing it (if they ever did anything) to satisfy customers but to avoid bad publicity.