Hauppauge HD PVR on May 1

[zed]

8x HD is well beyond the 40Mbs that the PCH can handle ...

OK, that 'splains it. Thanks...

[wtg]

Well, I have no doubt whatsoever the freezing is due to heat. Several days of messing with drivers resulted in no improvement. Freezing would occur anywhere from 5 seconds to 120 seconds. Some have mentioned tipping their unit on its side to improve performance. I did that and couldn't be sure that was the culprit. Right now my box is sitting in an ice pack and working just fine for over 15 minutes thus far. Anyone else experiencing freeze issues should give this a try and report your findings. In my case frozen lasagna and a bag of frozen string beans fit the bill.

Well, I'm happy to say I've had my first HD recording with the help of a bag of frozen vegatables (italian style blend - my kids won't eat peas). Every HD recording I've tried froze instantly, all 0 byte files except one that was 176KB. With the frozen vegatables I've been recording fine for quite a while now. Only 720p - I'd turned my STB down from 1080i earlier in a vain attempt to see if I could somehow get it to work.

So, I guess I just need a small freezer to put it in.

Ridiculous... I can't believe this is what it takes for it to work.

[philly_phenom]

Well, I'm happy to say I've had my first HD recording with the help of a bag of frozen vegatables (italian style blend - my kids won't eat peas). Every HD recording I've tried froze instantly, all 0 byte files except one that was 176KB. With the frozen vegatables I've been recording fine for quite a while now. Only 720p - I'd turned my STB down from 1080i earlier in a vain attempt to see if I could somehow get it to work.

So, I guess I just need a small freezer to put it in.

Ridiculous... I can't believe this is what it takes for it to work.

Do you have it sitting on top of the vegetables or the other way around?

[wtg]

Do you have it sitting on top of the vegetables or the other way around?

I had the vegetables on the bottom and an re-freezable ice pack on top. Eventually I realized the ice pack was producing some condensing and I feared it would leak into the unit, so I moved it to the bottom and put the vegetables away. It locked up a little while later.

When I found it locked up the ice pack was mostly thawed. So now I don't know whether the lock up is because it wasn't getting cooling on the top, or because the bottom cooling was no longer as good. I need to experiment some more, and I probably will later tonight. Hard to cool from the top without condensation.

I'd really like to open it up but I hate to invalidate my warranty on such a pricey item. Makes me wonder if there's a heat sink in there that someone forgot to use thermal paste with, or maybe no heat sink at all.

[philly_phenom]

I had the vegetables on the bottom and an re-freezable ice pack on top. Eventually I realized the ice pack was producing some condensing and I feared it would leak into the unit, so I moved it to the bottom and put the vegetables away. It locked up a little while later.

When I found it locked up the ice pack was mostly thawed. So now I don't know whether the lock up is because it wasn't getting cooling on the top, or because the bottom cooling was no longer as good. I need to experiment some more, and I probably will later tonight. Hard to cool from the top without condensation.

I'd really like to open it up but I hate to invalidate my warranty on such a pricey item. Makes me wonder if there's a heat sink in there that someone forgot to use thermal paste with, or maybe no heat sink at all.

It would be nice if we could do some case modding w/o voiding the warranty. It would be nice to drill some holes in the top & add a case fan on the bottom.

I was suprised that there was absolutely no venting on the unit when i got it. You'd think after all the delays they had (issues with the case according to Hauppauge), they would have vented the unit.

[philly_phenom]

Has anyone heard back from Hauppauge as to a possible timeframe for a resolution?

[mvallevand]

Has anyone heard back from Hauppauge as to a possible timeframe for a resolution?

This comment might be relevant

http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthread....stcount=93

Martin

[whurlston]

This comment might be relevant

http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthread....stcount=93

Martin

From that post:

2. They are unable to reproduce the issue on units that have been returned.

Makes me wonder, they may be sitting in a climate controlled room when testing and do not have the heat that is generated by some peoples home theater setup.

[zaphod7501]

From that post: Makes me wonder, they may be sitting in a climate controlled room when testing and do not have the heat that is generated by some peoples home theater setup.

They also seem to have bypassed the usual alpha and beta testing, where they put units in the hands of technically oriented power users. I think (but can't be sure) that only software development types got the initial run.

There are enormous variations in HTPC configurations. One obvious difference might be the presence of other tuners on the computer. I would think that most people here have multiple tuners or capture devices. Their (Hauppauge') test systems might be single purpose machines. How many people are going to be using GB-PVR if the HD-PVR was their first capture purchase ? The first tests would be to run it on a "virgin" PC.

Personally, I have never had good luck with sustained high speed file transfers over USB. I always seem to get pauses in the transfers. It doesn't affect copying but it would kill a transfer from the HD-PVR.

Heck, they could even be testing them with the cases open to attach diagnostic cables.

[whurlston]

Heck, they could even be testing them with the cases open to attach diagnostic cables.

Very possible, remember that sub said his did not exhibit the issue but it did not have a case.