NTL TV Drive Problems

[afraser2k]

I'm getting the reboot thing with a fuzzy picture when it decides to do it so I'm guessing there's some kind of update going on and the box can't handle it. I then need to reset the box/settings before it'll come back on my TV.

[JG3870]

Originally Posted by Rankrotten

The killer for me is the remote control bug. Last night the wife was fast forwarding through the ad-break in Corrie St and the TVDrive would not respond to any commands and she cursed as the entire second half unfolded before her eyes in 16x speed before the box went into spasms and it processed all the queued button pushes at once.

Is this a network return path problem, a liberate software problem, or a flaw in the hardware? Either way it needs worked on now!!

It's a software problem as i get this ocassionally on my TV Drive (on the Telewest network) you will find the clock counter will freeze and none of the buttons respond on the remote and when the clock counter unfreezes the remote become operable again.

It's a bug that does need sorting out

[Nor]

I've been finding a few of my programmes not recording properly. I recorded Salvage Squad and on playing it back, it showed the LAST 10 minutes FIRST, then gave me a minute of corruption, before starting to play the START of the recording.

Also had two movies stop after about 20 minutes, telling me the recording was finished.

The BBC HD stuff is terrible quality also.

[Nedkelly]

Hello ive had my box near a wireless router belkin and i found the box was very slow to respond to the remote moved it to another room and it was more responsive .Had it in the office today and it behaved itself all day hope this info might help someone

[EssDee]

I still have the problem I mentioned earlier in the thread.

EVERY morning I get up to find the TVDrive continually rebooting itself and the only way to stop it is to pull the power cable. This morning after powering back on, the box rebooted about 4 times every couple of minutes (on one occasion it booted back up to the sound dropping in and out). I'm keen to hear if this is familiar to anybody else prior to calling CS.

Cheers

[Nedkelly]

When the box boots up it goes to ch 999 does the picture roll and it becomes unwatchable ? Then change to another ch and go back to 999 is it ok .We had a test box that did this and it kept rebooting we reset the levels to the box and it was fine .This box kept rebooting all day it could be the levels or the box

[EssDee]

Hi Ned

When it goes into its reboot loop, it doesn't even get to the point of showing channel 999. In fact, I don't even think the 'powering on' splash screen with the plug picture appears. I'll check this tomorrow morning. I tend not to bother switching on the TV until I've powered the box off/on.

Sounds like a faulty box?

Thanks for the quick response.

Cheers

[EssDee]

The problem still exists and in fact is worse. It's doing it at various times all day. Anytime I call up I am told 'the systems are down can you call back in a couple of hours'. If that's the case every time I call (over the past four days), then either I am just very unlucky or CS are just not interested in helping. I know where the smart money is.

Is anybody able to help or offer any suggestions.

TIA

Cheers

[zerolight]

I'm chiming in to this thread too. The software is just appaulling. Tivo, 4 years or more ago, had far more impressive features.

1. Why can't NTL download the TV Guide locally to the HDD on the TV Drive so that it is far more responsive. I'm fed up navigating sluggish screens and finding that it's lost the programme information anyway. With a cached database, not only is it more responsive, but you can search by pgm name and get instant results. Heck, Tivo had a month in advance.

2. What's with the Parental Lock. There's no option to remove it. Why?

3. The remote bug is annoying as hell.

Number 1 above, to me, is inexcusable in a PVR. What's the point of having a PVR if the TV Guide is virtually unusable. I could sit down with Tivo and spend a 10 mins setting it up to record every TV show I watch with a season pass. I could even tell it only to record new episodes that had never appeared on UK TV before. With NTL I have to SLOWLY navigate through a weeks TV on every channel to find anything, and 9/10 the guide data is missing anyway. What a let down.

[dranny69]

i have a pace box which is sooo slow, my grandparents have just upgraded to ntl digital from analogue and have been lucky enough to have been given a silver samsung box which is lightning fast .... can anyone tell me that the new tvdrive is faster than the samsung , because if it isnt it will be a massive let down as i am wanting rid of this stoneage pace box

[EssDee]

My TVDrive (on the rare occasion that it's not rebooting itself) is slower than my Pace in channel changing, although appears faster when just browsing across the TV guide.

I would suggest that if you were to get a TVDrive anytime soon you would, as you have suggested, fell massively 'let down'. Some major software improvements are required sooner rather than later, certainly to improve the 'service' being afforded us guinea pigs (at full cost).

[dranny69]

thanks for that advice, in leeds its not out till january so hopefully by then it should be running better

[EssDee]

I hope so. It would be good if it all settled down before crimbo.

Cheers

[zerolight]

Channel changing will always be a little slow, as with tivo, because there'll be a slight delay behind what is displayed and Live TV in order to cope with caching the pgm on the HDD for pause and what not. Certainly that's how Tivo worked and this appears no different in that regard. Your best to use Favs or Mini Guide rather than channel hopping.

[Rankrotten]

I have had a Pace 4000, a Samsung and a TiVo and without a doubt the TVDrive is slower and less responsive than any of them.