only 1 tuner working hdvr2

DPETRO · 09-25-2006, 01:56 PM

I have an hdvr2 receiver that one tuner works fine and the other tuner pixels on most channels. I have confirmed it is in the receiver.(switching cables) Any ideas??
Thanks in advance.

ping · 09-25-2006, 02:02 PM

It happens (and it's almost always an HDRV2, but I don't know if that's statistically significant). It's happened to me and quite a few others around here. My only suggestion is to sell it or use it as a single tuner unit (assuming it's tuner 2 that has failed).

BTW, the "as a single tuner unit" clause is intended to modify both "sell it" and "use it"

DPETRO · 09-25-2006, 02:35 PM

Yea, But I Am Looking For A Fix Not A Replace.

ping · 09-25-2006, 02:58 PM

I don't know what to tell you. I don't believe you can just buy a tuner somewhere (certainly not Radio Shack or anything). Assuming you could, it would take considerable skill to replace it. I don't think there are any shops you can take these to and have them worked on. It's well past any manufacturer's warantee. If you get DirecTV to replace it, they will almost certainly send you an R15. I know it's not the answer you want, but it is what it is.

This is getting to be a somewhat common problem (at least as far as the forum is concerned). It's unfortunate because, while it's nearly trivial to fix a failing hard drive or even a power supply, this particular fault is nearly impossible to fix.

Best thing is watch everything you need to watch (I've got one last movie on my own failing HDVR2 I need to get around to) and then move on. It's not completely without a secondary market, since it could be hacked to be used as a thin client for a good box on a network (doesn't need any tuners for that).

DPETRO · 09-25-2006, 03:08 PM

Wow thats a depressing answer. I will press on. Thanks anyway for your time.

Dkerr24 · 09-25-2006, 03:15 PM

You could always replace the motherboard on the unit .... google for places that sell them... I think weaknees sells the boards.

DPETRO · 09-25-2006, 03:39 PM

So the mother board has the tuners on it? Thats an idea, I got my upgraded hard drive from them.

Idearat · 09-25-2006, 05:59 PM

If you just get a replacement, rather than repair it, you could re-use the bad tuner one as an unsubscribed MRV unit. You don't need ( or want ) an unsubscribed unit to connect to the antenna anyway, since it's only going to let you view what's already recorded on a subscribed DirecTiVo. (This is the thin client use referenced above )

So for about the same amount of $$ as a new motherboard you could get a replacement from ebay and have a unit you can network with it as well.

Doomster · 09-25-2006, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ping

It happens (and it's almost always an HDRV2, but I don't know if that's statistically significant). It's happened to me and quite a few others around here. My only suggestion is to sell it or use it as a single tuner unit (assuming it's tuner 2 that has failed).

Someone else on another thread in this forum said the same thing about HDVR2. As an owner of two HDVR2s, I'd like to know if this happens more than on an SD-DRV40 (I have both HDVR2s and SD-DVR40s). Is this problem a defect limited to HDVR2s? Or is it something that happens to all Series 2 Tivos but happens more frequently on HDVR2s?

ping · 09-26-2006, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doomster

Someone else on another thread in this forum said the same thing about HDVR2. As an owner of two HDVR2s, I'd like to know if this happens more than on an SD-DRV40 (I have both HDVR2s and SD-DVR40s). Is this problem a defect limited to HDVR2s? Or is it something that happens to all Series 2 Tivos but happens more frequently on HDVR2s?

All the info we have is anecdotal, so we can't really draw meaningful conclusions, statistically speaking. Almost every time I see someone complain of a failed tuner, it's an HDVR2. What does that mean, though? Are HDVR2 more susceptible? Are there just more of them than other Series2 units? Am I biased to notice those threads because of my own failed HDVR2? Is it because HDVR2s tend to be older than the other Series2 units? Who knows.

Anecdotally, my HDVR2 had a failed second tuner and my in-laws' HDVR2 had a failed second tuner. My DSR6000 is just fine after nearly six years. My R10 is just fine after however long that's been (I bought it when it first came out).

On the other hand, think about how many HDVR2s there are out there. This issue probably affects a fraction of a percent of them (if it didn't we'd hear a whole lot more about it, I think, especially around here).

DPETRO · 09-26-2006, 09:40 AM

I checked on e-bay and there seems to be alot of used units failry cheap. That might to be the way I will have to go.

rmassey · 09-26-2006, 10:12 AM

I unplugged my S-Video output, switching to composite, and it fixed my failing Tuner2. Give it a try.

DPETRO · 09-26-2006, 01:05 PM

All you did was unplug the s-video?

Doomster · 09-26-2006, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DPETRO

I checked on e-bay and there seems to be alot of used units failry cheap. That might to be the way I will have to go.

Be careful.

Ask questions to the seller BEFORE you buy.

I bought one used that had defective RCA outputs. I tried sending him email about it but he woudln't reply to any of my emails complaining about it. Unfortunately, I had already given him a good feedback BEFORE I installed the Tivo (I bought it and because I was busy, I didn't set it up for 3 weeks after I received).

I bought another one that had a broken remote control. He never mentioned that in his EBay listing (and I didn't ask him about it even though I asked him about a lot of other details).

A third one I bought is the one that seems to be "fragile". Not sure if it's the Tivo or just the HDs I'm using.

Two others I bought were great - no problems encountered with those.

If I were you, I'd contact the seller on EBay, ask questions about if the Tivo works now, if the outputs in the back are working, did he ever open the box (if he didn't, you can be more confident he didn't tinker around and break something), if the remote works, etc.

DPETRO · 09-26-2006, 03:49 PM

great advise, I will be very carful if I get one on e-bay.

mfryd · 09-26-2006, 09:20 PM

I am curious as to what hard drive you have in the HDVR2 with the failing second tuner.

I have two HDVR2s with the failing second tuner problem. Both units had been upgraded with Maxtor DiamondMax 10, 300GB drives. These drives tend to run hot and use lots of power.

I wonder if these drives just put too much stress on the system? I wonder if the problem will go away if I switch to a lower power drive.

I now use Western Digital 320GB hard drives. They use les power, and the HDRV2's run much cooler.

P.S. I have had good luck buying units on eBay. I find DirecTV's policy on acess cards varies with the rep you happen to get on the phone. I activated three units, one rep made me get a new card. One rep allowed me to use the card that was in the unit (even though it had previously been on someone else's account), one rep allowed me to swap in a card from one of my old non-DVR receivers.

DPETRO · 09-27-2006, 07:17 AM

I took out the s-video and that worked!!!!!!

Thank you so much

The picture seems the same to me. All I know is that I have no more pixeling.

I recently got an upgrade hard drive from weaknees but I had the problem before that.

I wonder why it worked?

ping · 09-27-2006, 08:20 AM

Yikes! I was using s-video and it would never have ocurred to me to try it without. It's inactive now so I don't think I could really test this theory at the moment. When I finally get tired of the R15 maybe I'll try it in the bedroom (where I'd use RF channel 3). What an odd "fix".

doconeill · 09-27-2006, 08:45 AM

I've never tried switching to composite either, but my HDVR2 is in temporary use - I may be able to run another cable but its a bit of a pain.

MsPoo · 09-27-2006, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DPETRO

I took out the s-video and that worked!!!!!!

Thank you so much

The picture seems the same to me. All I know is that I have no more pixeling.

I recently got an upgrade hard drive from weaknees but I had the problem before that.

I wonder why it worked?

I have a DVR 616F which started pixeling. I am wondering if I have the S-video card removed my problem will be resolved without buying another unit.
Thanks

rmassey · 09-27-2006, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DPETRO

All you did was unplug the s-video?

Yes, seems to be some short happening while using the S-video. Switched to composite and it works now. This is a secondary TV used by the kids, so quality of S-video is not essential. Dual tuners is essential.

I just happened to stumble on this while trying to diag the bad tuner2 issue. I forget how/why I happened on this, but I did. Gald I could help out.

Finnstang · 09-27-2006, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmassey

Yes, seems to be some short happening while using the S-video. Switched to composite and it works now. This is a secondary TV used by the kids, so quality of S-video is not essential. Dual tuners is essential.

Many TVs have better filters than the DTiVo, so in many cases, the composite picture will be as food or better than the SVideo picture.

rmassey · 09-27-2006, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finnstang

Many TVs have better filters than the DTiVo, so in many cases, the composite picture will be as food or better than the SVideo picture.

Actually, I run the signal thru an Onkyo 898 AVR and it upconverts all composite to S=Video. Looks fine to me.

ping · 09-27-2006, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finnstang

Many TVs have better filters than the DTiVo, so in many cases, the composite picture will be as food or better than the SVideo picture.

Not true. The Y and C are separate in the stream and need to be combined to make a composite signal. They are then separated again in the TV. No matter how good the TV is at doing this, it will never be as good (and certainly can't be better) as if you had kept them separate all along.

What you describe is why laserdiscs look better on newer TVs using composite instead of s-video (since the video signal on a laserdisc is composite).

Of course, the minor distortion caused by using composite is insignificant compared with the problems the original poster was experiencing.

das335 · 12-02-2006, 01:45 PM

I started having intermediate pixelation problems on one tuner of an HDVR2. I remembered reading about unplugging the S-video connection so I gave it a try. It has been working fine for the last two days.

Thanks to RMASSEY for this tip.

rmassey · 12-02-2006, 03:41 PM

glad I could help

lwbecker2 · 12-03-2006, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfryd

I am curious as to what hard drive you have in the HDVR2 with the failing second tuner.

I have two HDVR2s with the failing second tuner problem. Both units had been upgraded with Maxtor DiamondMax 10, 300GB drives. These drives tend to run hot and use lots of power.

I wonder if these drives just put too much stress on the system? I wonder if the problem will go away if I switch to a lower power drive.

I had the problem with just the stock 40 Gig drive. So it developed even without upgraded drives.

lwbecker2 · 12-03-2006, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by das335

I started having intermediate pixelation problems on one tuner of an HDVR2. I remembered reading about unplugging the S-video connection so I gave it a try. It has been working fine for the last two days.

Thanks to RMASSEY for this tip.

I tired that unplug the S-Video trick too, and it didn't fix the problem for me.
Tuner 2 still would drop to no signal at all intermittantly.

blksnake · 01-14-2007, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lwbecker2

I tired that unplug the S-Video trick too, and it didn't fix the problem for me.
Tuner 2 still would drop to no signal at all intermittently.

Switching to the composite output greatly reduced the breakup of the signal for me. It still happens, but far less than before.

back2future · 01-16-2007, 01:46 AM

It makes no sense that pulling the S-video cable would have any impact on the pixelation/macro-blocking. It sounds like the recordings are bad, not just a problem playing them back. And even on live TV, the output is really a playback of the 30 minute buffer. And why does it seem to be predominately the 2nd tuner? Does it also seem like there's a rash of recent failuers?

I'm very interested because my HDVR2 has started doing that over the last month. I thought maybe the hard drive was going, so I replaced the hard drive which didn't fix the problem. And just two days ago I ran guided setup and disable the 2nd tuner, by telliing it I had only one cable in. That seems to avoid the bad recordings.

In my case at least, The problem appears to be that the recordings are bad which indicates it is related to something going wrong BEFORE the signal is recorded. The signal to the output S-video and composite is generated from playing back the recording.

I guess I should be glad it wasn't tuner 1 that failed. Does anyone know where there might be schematics to these units? I'd take a crack at a little poking around if I could find a schematic.