Hauppauge DCR-2650 - Day 1 - Moderately Successful

[BrettB]

Yes, that's it. Looking at the tuner status, CCI Protection shows 'unrestricted' for most channels, but those that I can't view with nPVR show 'protected-copyonce'. Bastards! :mad:


But that's the whole point of digital cable and cablecard right? to give them control over my media. I think I might call my new tech friend at comcast, and point out these channels flagged with "copy once". Maybe they should not be. I did read that bringing it to their attention may get it fixed. I thought I read it in this old blog post about CCI but I guess it was somewhere else. Been reading and learning a lot about all this lately.

Roy,

Check out this from one of my posts earlier in this thread:

Also, some info regarding the copy protection flags: When I first got the CableCard activated Tuesday night, all but the clear QAM channels (so things like USA, TNT, MTV, etc.) were marked Copy Once. Hence, I couldn't successfully record and play them with NPVR. However, I did some searching on the Internet and found multiple reports that said that Comcast has a corporate-wide policy that only the premium channels (HBO, Showtime, etc.) are supposed to be marked Copy Once. All other channels are supposed to be flagged Copy Freely. And a few people had reported that they had initially found these non-premium channels flagged Copy Once, but once they reported to someone knowledgeable at Comcast, the flags got fixed and changed to Copy Freely. A couple of people stated that using a Comcast support forum on DSLreports (https://secure.dslreports.com/forum/comcastdirect) to make the report had been successful for them. So I made a report there on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday morning when the technician came and got their systems configured with the correct access info for my CableCard, I tested some of those channels and found that they were now flagged Copy Freely. And a little later in the day, someone from Comcast called me to see if I was still having the protection flag problem. I told him that those channels were now flagged Copy Freely for me. I don't know if the change in flags was just coincidence, was the result of my report Wednesday afternoon, or was the result of my CableCard being fully activated and configured for my package. (FYI, when I was getting the channels flagged as Copy Once, the CableCard was showing that I was subscribed to the channel. And I would think that for any given channel at any given time, the protection flags would be the same for all subscribers, but maybe not?)

If those channels flagged copy-once aren't premium/pay channels, then I'd highly recommend using that link and reporting it. It seems to get directly to someone who has a clue about what's going on. Plus, as I reported, I did get a call from a Comcast rep to fix it the next day.

- Brett

[BrettB]

Alternatively you can also run "hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF get /tuner0/vstatus" to see if it's copy-once/never/freely.

Sub, with the latest patch from you, I now see in my log file

Code:

011-09-07 21:41:49.185    [DEBUG][7]    About to start recording (23802): D:\NPVR Recordings\Rescue Me\Rescue Me_20110907_21002220.ts
2011-09-07 21:41:49.185    [DEBUG][7]    About to start HDHR device. Checking status for information sake... (could tell if it's already in use elsewhere)
2011-09-07 21:41:49.186    [DEBUG][7]    Executing: C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun\hdhomerun_config.exe 20100465 get /tuner1/status
2011-09-07 21:41:49.349    [DEBUG][7]    Status: ch=none lock=none ss=0 snq=0 seq=0 bps=0 pps=0

That's nice. Now, how about adding the "hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF get /tuner0/vstatus" command after the channel has been tuned so the nrecord.log file would show that info, too. I have a feeling it will be extremely helpful in debugging problem reports.

[roy]

Check out this from one of my posts earlier in this thread:

- Brett

I knew I had read it somewhere! :o Thanks, I'll give it a shot.

[sub]

That's nice. Now, how about adding the "hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF get /tuner0/vstatus" command after the channel has been tuned so the nrecord.log file would show that info, too. I have a feeling it will be extremely helpful in debugging problem reports.

The problem is that this information is not known immediately. Its known a few seconds after tuning, but the recording plugin code is no longer executing then.

[BrettB]

The problem is that this information is not known immediately. Its known a few seconds after tuning, but the recording plugin code is no longer executing then.

That's too bad. I think it would be very useful for debugging/troubleshooting for people.

[roy]

If those channels flagged copy-once aren't premium/pay channels, then I'd highly recommend using that link and reporting it. It seems to get directly to someone who has a clue about what's going on. Plus, as I reported, I did get a call from a Comcast rep to fix it the next day.

I posted in that comcast forum (twice) and got no response. It looks like my post is the only one that didn't get a reply?? I also left a message for my comcast tech, with no reply. :mad: Frustrating. One of the channels marked copy once is FX, and I want to get the new "Sunny" in HD tomorrow night.

On the other hand - after one week, the new DCR-2650 is working like a charm. It's done many recordings, and I've only seen one failed, with the 'no data received' error. I have had to reboot the HTPC a couple times due to semi non responsiveness. I can only suspect, but can't fully attribute this to the new USB tuner.

Also, there is a new firmware upgrade available. Maybe do that tonight.

[BrettB]

Also, there is a new firmware upgrade available. Maybe do that tonight.

According to Hauppauge tech support, this firmware is supposed to fix the problem that I was having with "out of memory" errors. I put it in Monday night. So far, it seem to be working fine. And, I haven't gotten any "out of memory" errors.

[roy]

I posted in that comcast forum (twice) and got no response.

I still had no response from that forum. I came across a suggestion to send an email to we_can_help@cable.comcast.com, so yesterday I sent an email with the channels flagged as copy once. Within a couple hours I received a call saying they would look in to it and call me back today. This morning all of the channels are copy freely.

Very nice. I guess you just have to get through to the right people at comcast. Too bad other cable companies don't have this same policy.

[BrettB]

I still had no response from that forum. I came across a suggestion to send an email to we_can_help@cable.comcast.com, so yesterday I sent an email with the channels flagged as copy once. Within a couple hours I received a call saying they would look in to it and call me back today. This morning all of the channels are copy freely.

Very nice. I guess you just have to get through to the right people at comcast. Too bad other cable companies don't have this same policy.

Congrats, Roy! I'm glad that you were able to get the flags changed there.

[donschjr]

How much is Comcast charging you guys for a cablecard? I called last night as I was getting ready to order a 2650 and they told me it was $9.25 a month for a cablecard. I thought the fee was supposed to be minimal like $2, $9.25 on top of the $117 I pay a month is ridiculous, I feel I pay to much now.