1-hour Rewind Buffer On Current Broadcast Stopped Working

STB Model: VMS4100

Rel: APR-8.2.2, Firmware Ver: KA31.00.09.18Alder.dd966f3e

Feature In Question: When tuned to a channel in real-time, the Fios DVR/set top box should be able to rewind the current broadcast up to 1 hour prior to the current time. This is true of the "current" and "last" channels provided they were selected at least 1 hour prior to the current time.

The Problem: When I turn on my Fios set top box, the current channel does not have a 1 hour buffer. In fact, it has no buffer at all. It cannot rewind because there is no buffer. I cannot move forward because the live broadcast is at the current time. After watching for 1 hour, it can be rewound 1 hour. Prior to this problem, when I turned on the Fios set top box, I could immediately rewind up to 1 hour to see content prior to turning on the box.

I have been using Verizon boxes for years. I am not confused about how the buffer works. I have routinely turned on my box and wanted to see something in the current show that occurred before turning on the box. Routinely, I have rewound the current broadcast, up to an hour, to see content that occurred prior to turning on the box. Now the buffer frequently is not there. And, when it's not there, there is literally no buffer at all (cannot rewind). The broadcast is at the current time. It's as if the buffer is cleared each time I turn the box off and does not get populated until the box is turned on. This is inconsistent with how the box has generally worked. This is a recent development that started about one month ago. I thought this would get resolved with an update, but it has not and now is a point of frustration. Any thoughts about how to resolve this issue? How do I ensure that buffer will have content when I turn on the box as it did prior to this issue? Thanks.

Accepted answers

clem21

@tmcrae63
wrote:
Read the link, thanks for the info. In my case, I'm not changing or flipping between channels. I'm usually on one channel, Ch504. If I'm on Ch504 and turn off Fios for the evening, when get up in the morning and turn everything on, it's still on Ch504. The early morning new broadcast is on. For years, I would rewind back to the beginning of the new broadcast so that I could get the top stories that are done at the beginning. Now, when I turn everything on, I may or may not have a buffer. When there is no buffer, I cannot rewind to get the news items that I missed. That, itself, is frustrating. But, what's even more frustrating is that it's not consistent. Sometimes there's a buffer. Sometimes not. I have not found a pattern to this behavior.

If you read the posts, there was a firmware update that stopped the pre-recording on a channel overnight. It was done to reduce unnecessary reads and writes to the HDD in the boxes. If you want the feature returned you'll have to contact Verizon and tell them. This isn't the place to get to them.

All comments

clem21

@tmcrae63
wrote:
STB Model: VMS4100
Rel: APR-8.2.2, Firmware Ver: KA31.00.09.18Alder.dd966f3e
Feature In Question: When tuned to a channel in real-time, the Fios DVR/set top box should be able to rewind the current broadcast up to 1 hour prior to the current time. This is true of the "current" and "last" channels provided they were selected at least 1 hour prior to the current time.

The Problem: When I turn on my Fios set top box, the current channel does not have a 1 hour buffer. In fact, it has no buffer at all. It cannot rewind because there is no buffer. I cannot move forward because the live broadcast is at the current time. After watching for 1 hour, it can be rewound 1 hour. Prior to this problem, when I turned on the Fios set top box, I could immediately rewind up to 1 hour to see content prior to turning on the box.

I have been using Verizon boxes for years. I am not confused about how the buffer works. I have routinely turned on my box and wanted to see something in the current show that occurred before turning on the box. Routinely, I have rewound the current broadcast, up to an hour, to see content that occurred prior to turning on the box. Now the buffer frequently is not there. And, when it's not there, there is literally no buffer at all (cannot rewind). The broadcast is at the current time. It's as if the buffer is cleared each time I turn the box off and does not get populated until the box is turned on. This is inconsistent with how the box has generally worked. This is a recent development that started about one month ago. I thought this would get resolved with an update, but it has not and now is a point of frustration. Any thoughts about how to resolve this issue? How do I ensure that buffer will have content when I turn on the box as it did prior to this issue? Thanks.

Look here:

https://community.verizon.com/t5/Fios-TV/FIOS-can-t-rewind-when-going-back-to-last-channel/td-p/1727318

tmcrae63

Read the link, thanks for the info. In my case, I'm not changing or flipping between channels. I'm usually on one channel, Ch504. If I'm on Ch504 and turn off Fios for the evening, when get up in the morning and turn everything on, it's still on Ch504. The early morning new broadcast is on. For years, I would rewind back to the beginning of the new broadcast so that I could get the top stories that are done at the beginning. Now, when I turn everything on, I may or may not have a buffer. When there is no buffer, I cannot rewind to get the news items that I missed. That, itself, is frustrating. But, what's even more frustrating is that it's not consistent. Sometimes there's a buffer. Sometimes not. I have not found a pattern to this behavior.

clem21

@tmcrae63
wrote:
Read the link, thanks for the info. In my case, I'm not changing or flipping between channels. I'm usually on one channel, Ch504. If I'm on Ch504 and turn off Fios for the evening, when get up in the morning and turn everything on, it's still on Ch504. The early morning new broadcast is on. For years, I would rewind back to the beginning of the new broadcast so that I could get the top stories that are done at the beginning. Now, when I turn everything on, I may or may not have a buffer. When there is no buffer, I cannot rewind to get the news items that I missed. That, itself, is frustrating. But, what's even more frustrating is that it's not consistent. Sometimes there's a buffer. Sometimes not. I have not found a pattern to this behavior.

tmcrae63

Clem21, thanks for the followup. I didn't make the connection that a firmware update was the root cause. I would think the firmware would cause the buffer to be gone, overnight, consistently. The buffer is sometimes there and sometimes not. The firmware may have prerequisites that need to be met before it wipes the buffer and stops "unnecessary reads and writes" and maybe there's something about when I turn it off and how long it's off that affects those prerequisites. Now, I know where I have to go with this, but I don't have any high hopes and I may not bother. They likely did this to preserve their equipment (and hard drives) or to reduce the amount of data being transmitted. The only chance I see is if they are willing to make this an option that users can select. Just don't see that happening.