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There is a bug in the DVR implementation that improperly reports (non)conflicts. This worked correctly with the old set-top box but is a persistent problem with the new one. If I am, say, watching channel A and have programmed the DVR to record channel B for a show from 9-10, then record channel C for a show from 10-11, at about 9:59 I will get a message saying there is a conflict & to choose if I want to continue watching A and cancel either B or C. If I miss the message, recording of C is deleted. Or, if I see the message, I wind up having to terminate B earlier than necessary to ensure C is not cancelled. There is NO conflict in this case - you should stop recording B at 10, and start recording C. This used to work correctly, but now fails all the time since I switched to the new set top box. It appears a programmer has incorrectly coded a "<=" check on recording B, when it should have been just "<". I suspect a similar thing happens if I'm not watching live but have multiple recordings set for the background, where 2 shows end at 10 and 1 or 2 begin at 10 (haven't done a specific test on this, but does seem that some shows I intended to record did not actually do so). Again, note, there is NO conflict in these cases - recording of B ends when C starts, and this always used to work properly. (And yes, I have verified that when this problem occurs it is not because B was slotted to end at, say, 10:01 and not 10). I've had your DVR service for years and it always worked correctly until I was forced to step up to the new set top box. This new behavior is not acceptable and is quite annoying.
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@lurkercat1 wrote:There is a bug in the DVR implementation that improperly reports (non)conflicts. This worked correctly with the old set-top box but is a persistent problem with the new one. If I am, say, watching channel A and have programmed the DVR to record channel B for a show from 9-10, then record channel C for a show from 10-11, at about 9:59 I will get a message saying there is a conflict & to choose if I want to continue watching A and cancel either B or C. If I miss the message, recording of C is deleted. Or, if I see the message, I wind up having to terminate B earlier than necessary to ensure C is not cancelled. There is NO conflict in this case - you should stop recording B at 10, and start recording C. This used to work correctly, but now fails all the time since I switched to the new set top box. It appears a programmer has incorrectly coded a "<=" check on recording B, when it should have been just "<". I suspect a similar thing happens if I'm not watching live but have multiple recordings set for the background, where 2 shows end at 10 and 1 or 2 begin at 10 (haven't done a specific test on this, but does seem that some shows I intended to record did not actually do so). Again, note, there is NO conflict in these cases - recording of B ends when C starts, and this always used to work properly. (And yes, I have verified that when this problem occurs it is not because B was slotted to end at, say, 10:01 and not 10). I've had your DVR service for years and it always worked correctly until I was forced to step up to the new set top box. This new behavior is not acceptable and is quite annoying.
What set top box do you now have? I'll submit this to support as soon as I can tell them which box this is affecting.
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Model VMS4100/Z216/072/1000
Platform ID 833 Phase 1
Seems to have a brand name of Arris....though I'm not sure if that logo indicates brand name.
Box was sent to me in November or December to replace one they said was going into obsolescence, though I did not put it into use until January 5, 2024 since it required a change to my internet service & router to use (grr) and that's when the new internet service was installed.
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Arris would be the manufacturer.
The company acquired Motorola's set top box division before Arris itself was acquired by Commscope.
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@lurkercat1 wrote:Model VMS4100/Z216/072/1000
Platform ID 833 Phase 1
Seems to have a brand name of Arris....though I'm not sure if that logo indicates brand name.
Box was sent to me in November or December to replace one they said was going into obsolescence, though I did not put it into use until January 5, 2024 since it required a change to my internet service & router to use (grr) and that's when the new internet service was installed.
I'll send a link from this to my support contact and see what they come up with. Thanks!
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Model VMS4100/Z216/072/1000
Platform ID 833 Phase 1
Arris
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@lurkercat1 wrote:Model VMS4100/Z216/072/1000
Platform ID 833 Phase 1
Arris
This is the reply from support:
Sounds like they only have Basic DVR package, so only two tuners available to record (instead of 6 or 12). So in 2 tuner use case, with 3 channels active around 9:59-10:00, there are more channels active than tuners available. Channel A presenting live on tuner 1, channel B recording on tuner 2, then channel C needing to re-use tuner 1 to record, but it is currently presenting channel A, and so pops up the conflict message. I think the user is expecting that tuner 2 will switch from recording channel B to channel C - but this is not the design. To prevent the pop up, have to be viewing either channel A or B.
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This is not a valid answer. As I said, I have been using Verizon's DVR service for MANY years. It is ONLY since the new set top box came in that such switches do not work. Yes, I AM expecting Tuner 2 to switch to channel C at 10:00 and that is how it always HAS worked in the past.....because the tuner is no longer needed for channel B at 10:00. This is clearly a programming error in the new set top box. At 10:00 the tuner should stop recording channel B and start recording channel C. This is how the service has ALWAYS worked until recently and how it should continue to work.
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@lurkercat1 wrote:This is not a valid answer. As I said, I have been using Verizon's DVR service for MANY years. It is ONLY since the new set top box came in that such switches do not work. Yes, I AM expecting Tuner 2 to switch to channel C at 10:00 and that is how it always HAS worked in the past.....because the tuner is no longer needed for channel B at 10:00. This is clearly a programming error in the new set top box. At 10:00 the tuner should stop recording channel B and start recording channel C. This is how the service has ALWAYS worked until recently and how it should continue to work.
I'll try support again and see what they come up with this time........
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Thank you. I appreciate your help. I'm wondering if their problem is actually that they are mis-calculating recording time and/or trying to start the recording too soon. Examining my DVR'd shows more closely, I see some shows that I record that are listed as an hour long actually recording for 61 minutes, or for 1 hour and 59 seconds (ie, so they are recording the minute AFTER the program ends OR they are starting the recording 1 minute too soon). Seems inconsistent though. Looking at my recorded shows, I see, for example, one I record each day (clearly listed in "Scheduled Recordings" as being 11am-12 showing up later being recorded at 10:59. am each day. I've got other shows that were scheduled at 9pm, with some showing a start time of 8:59 and others with a start time of 9:00. It is a mess. I've never had these problems before so seems clearly an error introduced recently, and produces results totally inconsistent with typical DVR usage and expectation.
At a minimum, if they absolutely refuse to fix what is clearly an error, then options on scheduling recordings need to change so we have the capability to start recordings late or end recordings early (right now you can only start early or end late) - otherwise users have no other way to correct for the failings in Verizon's implementation.
When I get time, I'm going to test whether the problem also happens with just simple recordings (w/o concurrent viewing). I suspect that is true since I do seem to be missing some programs I thought I'd recorded while away from home, but I have not done a controlled trial of it.

