Nextbox 4K PVR...Incomplete/Partial Recordings

[JLG1956]

Hi,

Lately, for some reason, whenever I try to record TV shows using my Nextbox 4K, it only records portions of shows (i.e. records 20 minutes of a one hour show). For example, last Friday I scheduled to record 2 shows at the same time (Dateline and 20/20), but instead of recording the full 2 hours, the PVR only recorded 33 minutes of each show.

I've rebooted the box countless times and the problem still persists. What's strange is that the red "record" light on the PVR shows it's recording, but when I play it back, that's when I see it didn't record the complete show.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this? This is my third (3rd) box which I got last June after the first two crapped out.
Thank you 🙂 

***Edited Labels***

[mebe]

I have digital tv with a Rogers 4k Nextbox PVR box.
I'm going to assume that your box isn't in a place that is causing overheating issues, and that you are not experiencing brief power interruptions.
Nosey questions time (I'm just trying to think "inside" your box):
#1) What happened to the other 2 boxes you had? Did they have the same problem at any time, or is your current problem just a recent one, as you mentioned?
2) Roughly what % of your hardrive is used, or was used on Friday?
3) What channels did you use to record Dateline and 20/20? Were they simsubbed with a Canadian and US channel, or did you record them with later time-shifting from non-simsubbed feeds like NBC Seattle, or CityTv Vancouver.
4) At the time of your two Friday incomplete recordings, how many other things were you recording (I occasionally get a problem with 4 or more simultaneous recordings -although not just incomplete recordings)?
5) Are these reoccurring Series recordings, or one-time recordings? (You might need to delete some series recordings and set them again, although I doubt that would be the source of your problem)?
6) Have you come across any Undefined PVR recordings lately that couldn't be deleted, so you just rebooted your box to delete them?
7) After all of your PVR recordings are finished, or forcefully stopped, do you still see the Red recording light ON?
😎😎 Question Eight) Are your incomplete ‌‌‌‌ recordings missing just the last part of the shows, or do you also notice times when you are missing the beginning or middle parts too? (As a test, you could try starting a recording 5 minutes earlier to avoid potential simultaneous recording issues).
I asked all these questions because you might mention something in your answers, that will hopefully trigger a better response from myself or others.

[57]

@JLG1956 : The only thing I can think of is that you may have a borderline signal at your home.  You can contact Rogers and have them check the signal at your box and in your neighbourhood.  You can also check the signal yourself per the following FAQ and check with your neighbours:

https://www.digitalhome.ca/threads/57-faq-tips-for-sa-cisco-stbs-also-pace.17719/

Don't expect Rogers to do much for you on Legacy Digital Cable as they are migrating everyone to IgniteTV.

One other possibility is that there is a simsub issue.  Make sure you always record the Canadian channel instead of the US one if the programme airs on both.  Usually a simsub problems manifests itself with a totally blank recording, not partial.

[JLG1956]

@mebe

To answer your questions...

(1) Both boxes crapped out for the same reason, and also not seeing other channels, amongst other things.

(2) I never use more than 2-3% max. The highest I've ever gone id about 6%, and, back then, ALL the shows were fully recorded!
(3) Not sure what you mean by all this "non simmsubbed" stuff (I'm 67 years old and not up on all this techie verbiage), but I recorded both of those shows on the Canadian channels, not the US ones.
(4) At the time, I was only recording one other show, so a total of three shows simultaneously. 

(5) I never do "series" recordings. I just scroll the guide, decide what I want to record, program the PVR to record it and that's it.
(6) Do not understand that question.
(7) Yes, as I stated above, the red "recording" light still shows as recording. It is only when I select a show to playback that that is when it only recorded a portion of the show.

(8) The shows only play the first minutes, no skipping or anything. It's like the PVR just gives up.

[mebe]

For the Friday recording issue, since I assume both Dateline and 20/20 episodes were both 2-hour episodes, that's 4 hours of hard drive space needed that the PVR must calculate properly. Normally, if the hard drive isn't going to have the space to record the upcoming simultaneous recordings, you'll get an onscreen message (about 5 minutes before the start time) saying that the recordings can't be recorded due to lack of space, however, if something is changed before those recordings are about to begin (because the user deleted a show, or perhaps the guide start time changed slightly for at least one of the simsubbed channels being recorded), perhaps those hard drive calculations were divided equally amongst the 2 simultaneous-starting shows.
If both episodes were instead 30-minute shows, it's less likely that the PVR math-calculation would have failed (unless the harddrive was perhaps in the red at 95% or higher).
If the harddrive has always been sub 75% full and these problems are still happening (even with fewer than 4 simultaneous shows longer than 90 minutes or so, each being recorded), hopefully the answers to the other questions will trigger a better response from this gang of TV junkies. 📺

[JLG1956]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply...
I always choose the Canadian channel - always!, and that's the thing.
I'm fortunate in that I have a super high-level contact at Rogers (reports directly to the CEO), but, as great as he's been, he can't fix flawed technology.
As far as the signal to my home, it's excellent. 

[mebe]

Wow. Only 6% max of space used. Your box behaves like it has 85% or so in use.
Tell us the next time it happens, but try not to record anything at the same time if possible (start one show 5 minutes, 15 minutes or 30 minutes early. Just to see if it's a harddrive math issue.

[JLG1956]

The reality is that these boxes, with hard drives, are old technology. The hard drive has moving parts which eventually fail.
The only reason why I'm sticking to digital TV is that I'm on a grandfathered  Digital TV plan, I get a gazillion channels which I know I won't get unless I pay Rogers more money for Ignite TV..
Looking into my options right now. Ignite's plan is terrible. Bell Fib TV looks really good.

[mebe]

That makes sense. A neighbour of mine also has a VIP digital package filled with extra channels.
My old-technology PVR box can still run around the block with the youngsters, but at some point it will need a knee replacement to keep up. 🏂🚴🏇

[mebe]

By the way, Question 6 about the Undefined PVR recording issue, often occurs if you are currently recording a show on let's say TSN that you have set to record an extra hour beyond the end, and then as the previous show is already recording, you then try to set a recording (from the guide) for the next show on that same TSN channel. The box can get confused because it's basically already recording the next show, or will eventually be. It's sort of like the problem of trying to record 2 back-to-back shows on the same channel, and then losing a few seconds of the first show's ending, and the first few seconds of the start of the next recorded show.
Perhaps if you set your simultaneous recordings of Dateline and 20/20 to end on time, rather than 5 minutes later (like most of us do to avoid an early broadcaster cutoff), unless that's what you already do, maybe that will stop your PVR from its current harddrive math problems.

[mebe]

I'm still thinking....
Let's assume it's some kind of harddrive issue that you're dealing with, and just in case you have bad sectors or the 6% refers to a smaller than normal 1TB harddrive inside your box (or 931GB available for storage that my PVR has), you can always access your box diagnostic screens to see how much space you have, firmware version for the hdrive you have, etc.
Once you access the diagnostic screens, you'll need to press the Exit button to get rid of it (other than perhaps rebooting the box if your Exit button is dead/broken).
To access it, while your box is on any tv channel, simply press and hold the Exit button for about 2 seconds (you'll notice the blue power light on the box will start to flash red to blue, back and forth), then quickly, but not too quickly (perhaps a half-second or 1 second apart), press the Down arrow twice (that's under the OK or Select button on the remote), and then press the 2 button (if you see the 2 appear on the tv screen, you did something wrong, since it will go to channel 2 (TVO in my area). So just try it again if you did it wrong.
Once the diagnostic screen appears, scroll down (with the same down button) to DVR Information, and you'll automatically see the info (there are 4 screens that you can move through with the Left and Right buttons, but on the first screen my box shows that I have a Toshiba DT01ABA 100V drive. With a firmware version of MU2OA7TO with a capacity of 1953525168 sectors.
Then if I scroll down (using same Down button) on same left side of screen to HDD info, I see Capacity as 931GB. If I then press the Right button to go to page 2 of 3, I see my free space listed as 20680000 (but my drive is 90% full). Then I press the EXIT button on the remote to get rid of the diagnostic screen and back to regular TV viewing.
If you feel like comparing your stats with mine, now you can. If your stats are better than mine, just lie and pretend mine are superior to yours (my PVR has an ego problem). 😏

[JLG1956]

Normally, I set recordings to start and end "on time" .
The weird thing is that it doesn't happen all the time. It's always hit-and-miss, but lately it's been more misses 😞

[RogersCorey]

Greetings @JLG1956!

This could be a faulty box or a signal fault. 

I'd like to run some tests to check for a signal issue.

We'd be happy to take a closer look to see what is going on! Feel free to send a private message to @CommunityHelps so we can assist you further. For more information on how our Private Messaging system works, you can find out more here. 

Regards,

RogersCorey 

[JLG1956]

I'm logged in and not seeing anywhere the icon to compose a PM.

By the way, the signal is fine when I'm watching TV. It's only the recording that's wonky. Also, as I stated, I'm on my 3rd box in less than 18 months. I suspect it's because Rogers no longer provides new boxes - only "refurbished" ones and no one knows how old they are. Like buying a used car with problems,

[57]

Click on @CommunityHelps .  You'll see a link on the right side of the screen to "send a message".  If you're using a tablet or phone, you may need to switch your browser to the desktop version. How to do that will depend on the device but a web search should find it.

[JLG1956]

Private message sent...

[mebe]

I see that my harddrive stats and diagnostics screen post that I posted a few days ago has been found and it replaced my post about what happened to it. Perhaps I posted it in the wrong thread, or did something that delayed its appearance in this thread.
Anyway, at least Im not imagining posts that I never made. 🍻

[mebe]

I checked the bottom of my 4k PVR and the sticker shows a manufacturiñg date of 07/10/2018.
At only 4 years old, my PVR will hopefully last as long as digital TV is offered in my area. 📺🔨

[JLG1956]

Mine shows June 3, 2017.

[mebe]

By the way, I believe it was mentioned by a Resident Expert in another thread, that the Nextbox 3 has trouble with playing back recordings if the box is set at 1080p (mine is set to Auto). Check your menu settings to see what yours is set to.
Whether your problem with recordings is a box or signal issue, you can always try a factory reset from the troubleshooting settings, to see if that helps (as long as you have already watched your recorded programs and don't have any series or regular recordings set). I assume a factory reset might make things worse (I've never done one), but if nothing else works, it could be worth a try.
Intermittent problems are often the hardest ones to fix, so it would be wise to see if you can find a way to consistently reproduce the recording problem. Perhaps try setting 8 recordings at once, or have one recording start first then set 7 more to simultaneously start shortly after. Also try recording 8 things within a few seconds of each other with the guide and record button.
If you can't get your PVR to duplicate the problem, perhaps it is a signal issue or other box component (other than the harddrive) that is failing or overheating. 🌋🔥

[JLG1956]

It's not a signal issue... 

When I watch live TV, the signal is excellent. Once again, the box (Nextbox 4K) craps out when I record programs (see my original post above). I'm no just now testing it again to record 4 programs at once. All set to "record and end on time"
We'll see what happens.