When is Ceton going to fix the macroblocking issue?

[barnabas1969]

OK, so now I have a new complaint. This just started since I updated the firmware a few days ago. I was on an old firmware from October 2011. I never had this problem before I updated the firmware. It appears that I shot myself in the foot by updating. It now gives me "service unavailable" or "weak TV signal" when I try to change channels. It was running fine on CNN and I changed to MSNBC. It gave me "service unavailable". I switched back to CNN and it gave me "weak TV signal". So, I tried unplugging the tuning adapter, and that didn't work. Then, I tried stopping/starting the ceton tuning service. That didn't work either. I can't reboot right now because I have recordings going on my ClearQAM tuners.

Can I back out to the old firmware? I think I have a copy of it on my C: drive.

Maybe I'll pull the trigger on that sale for the HDHR Prime on Newegg.

EDIT: I waited until the recordings that were in progress finished and rebooted... now the Ceton tuner magically works. I didn't have this problem on the old firmware. I've had it three or four times since I installed the new firmware. The last time it happened, I was able to close Media Center, open it again, and it worked. This time, only a reboot solved the issue. It appears that Ceton is going backward instead of forward.

[WhatHappend]

It now gives me "service unavailable" or "weak TV signal" when I try to change channels.

This is a long standing issue (I have had it since Dec 2010) and some FW rev are worse than others ( I had one FW in early 2011 that didn't have the issue). Use this thread to report and talk about that issue: http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... f=6&t=1729

The good news is that for recordings WMC just rolls to another tuner and that tuner records just fine. The only time I lose a recording is if all tuners are busy.

[btracy]

You can revert firmware (or at least you could back when I did it last). The diagnostic firmware they sent me to capture more information about the macroblocking issue was causing my tuner to crash so I reverted it to the old one.

[barnabas1969]

[deleted] Can I say that here? Pulling the trigger on the HDHR Prime now. Newegg is out of stock. No wonder why. B&H Photo is the next best price.

[barnabas1969]

B&H was closed until 4/15. Tiger Direct was the next best option. Bought it. Bye bye Ceton!

EDIT: I see they already deleted my text above. I can't edit the post anymore.

[newfiend]

I was wondering.. For the sake of discussion on this issue.. ( and I'll be the first to admit I know nothing about SDV)
I live in an area that has not rolled out SDV. I do get the macroblocking issue but it's rare. Here or there on a recording. I would say it happens maybe once a week or two for me. (if that).
Could this have anything to do with the switch to SDV and the use of TA's? I have to deal with neither of these in my area and for the most part the Ceton has worked really well. I do get this issue though, but like I said it's not frequent like some of you are experiencing.
newfiend~

[barnabas1969]

I've read that people with and without SDV have the issue. Also, keep in mind that not all channels use SDV even in areas where SDV is in use. Basically, the cable company is using SDV to try and save bandwidth so they can offer more HD channels. Popular channels that many people in your neighborhood are likely to watch get sent all the time... no SDV. Less popular channels are switched on/off depending on whether or not someone in your area is watching that channel. The problem happens on both SDV and non-SDV channels for me.

Also, I have several other tuners that receive ATSC (over-the-air) and ClearQAM channels. Those tuners are set to highest priority for the channels that I receive as ATSC or ClearQAM, so the Ceton tuner is not involved at all with those channels. Those channels have no problem. If you have a setup similar to mine (separate tuners for ClearQAM channels), you won't see the issue as often, because you probably watch a lot of ClearQAM channels. In my case, almost 2/3 of my TV watching is ClearQAM or ATSC. So, I can go all day without seeing a glitch. But when I watch a channel that involves the Ceton tuner, I see it at least every 10-15 minutes, sometimes much more frequent.

[newfiend]

The only tuners in my machine are the two Cetons.. (one PCIe one USB). It's used for all my TV watching. Thats a real frequent amount of macroblocking..
Just for the sake of testing.. have you tried it in another PCIe slot or another PC? I highly doubt that would make a difference but..??
Just FYI.. I am running nvidia driver beta 290.53
and the latest Firmware 1.1.7.2 on both cetons and haven't seen this happen yet. (Although like I said before it's rare for me and I know others with firmware 1.1.7.2 have reported seeing the problem.)
EDIT: The reason I brought up SDV earlier was I was wondering if the people that have to use TA's and are in a SDV area might be having more issues with Macroblocking than people that are not in a SDV area..? Just curious and if you thought it might make a difference or if it would be totally un-related to the issue?
newfiend~

[barnabas1969]

No, I haven't tried a different slot. Ceton didn't recommend it either, because they know that it's an issue with the tuner, not with the PC. I spoke with Pam Hammer on the phone. She offered to ship me a new card, but I asked her to talk to Eric first and call me back. After she spoke with Eric, she called back and told me that Eric didn't think that a new card would solve my problem... so I doubt that moving it to a different slot would help either.

Besides, all my slots are full. The Ceton is in the first slot, closest to the CPU. My video card is in the next slot. I have other tuners, a USB card, and a serial card in other slots. I put them in a particular order because they fit better in the case this way, and because it puts the tuner and video card directly in front of an intake fan. The USB card could be removed, but it's in a PCI slot, not PCIe... so that wouldn't help either.

[barnabas1969]

In any case, it doesn't matter anymore. I'm abandoning the Ceton tuner. I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Echo... but I'm thinking twice about that now too.

[newfiend]

No, I haven't tried a different slot. Ceton didn't recommend it either, because they know that it's an issue with the tuner, not with the PC. I spoke with Pam Hammer on the phone. She offered to ship me a new card, but I asked her to talk to Eric first and call me back. After she spoke with Eric, she called back and told me that Eric didn't think that a new card would solve my problem... so I doubt that moving it to a different slot would help either.

Besides, all my slots are full. The Ceton is in the first slot, closest to the CPU. My video card is in the next slot. I have other tuners, a USB card, and a serial card in other slots. I put them in a particular order because they fit better in the case this way, and because it puts the tuner and video card directly in front of an intake fan. The USB card could be removed, but it's in a PCI slot, not PCIe... so that wouldn't help either.

Do you have another PC (different chipset) you could try it in.. wonder if there is a compatability problem with the chipset on your MB and the ceton tuner? I'm just throwing out options as I really have no idea. I believe the problem also is with the tuner, but I am actually suprised at how frequently you get it.

[barnabas1969]

My HTPC uses an Intel P55 Express chipset. My desktop PC is AMD-based, but I'm not sure which chipset. I suppose I could try it, in the interest of science. Do you think I could test it on my desktop with the existing VGA monitor, or would I need to connect a TV via HDMI? I'm not even sure if the on-board graphics on that machine supports HDCP.

EDIT: It's the 880G chipset, and the on-board graphics is ATI Radeon HD 4250. If memory serves, this GPU supports HDCP. I don't know much about AMD. I don't generally like AMD, but I went as cheap as possible when I upgraded the desktop from an old Pentium 4. I spent a whopping $225 for a quad-core Phenom II X4 840 3.2GHz CPU, 4GB of RAM, and an MSI motherboard. That's cheap. I had a spare PSU laying around, and already had a BD-ROM drive, a BD-R/W drive, and HDD's for it. I upgraded it for the purpose of ripping/burning/re-encoding. It does that just fine.

[mcewinter]

HD4250 is UVD2. UVD supports HDCP so if logic has a role here then you should be fine with UVD2.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVD2

[makryger]

In case anyone is worried that Ceton has given up on fixing this problem, I've just received reassurances that Ceton is actively working on the issue described in this thread. And if anyone feels like Ceton has focused their efforts on other new products to the detriment of us InfiniTV users, I'd like to remind you that Ceton's upcoming products use the same infiniTV technology... so if the company is trying to make the product as consumer-friendly as possible, you can bet that they are very invested in fixing this bug.

[barnabas1969]

In case anyone is worried that Ceton has given up on fixing this problem, I've just received reassurances that Ceton is actively working on the issue described in this thread. And if anyone feels like Ceton has focused their efforts on other new products to the detriment of us InfiniTV users, I'd like to remind you that Ceton's upcoming products use the same infiniTV technology... so if the company is trying to make the product as consumer-friendly as possible, you can bet that they are very invested in fixing this bug.

It sure would be nice if they posted here themselves instead of relaying through a third party. As for their other products... yes it would affect them... but how many hotels do you think would complain about a little glitch in the picture now and then?

It would be even better if they would get us involved in the testing and diagnosis. The discussion above about chipsets and stuff may or may not be relevant. If they are relevant, then I'm sure Ceton could use a few volunteers to test this stuff. It sure would be interesting if I move the tuner to a different machine and the problem disappears, don't you agree? But it seems that Ceton isn't interested enough to at least post something.

Oh, and let's not forget that their latest "stable" firmware release made my tuner hang every day or so. That's unacceptable.

[Diverge]

The problem definitely isn't related to SDV - I've unplugged my Tuning Adapter and it still occurs. It's not related to the system or chipset either, I've tried on a few different systems. My latest of which is based on the Intel DH61AG motherboard, which is what they used in their prototype Q system.

@makryger, thanks for the update. I don't think people are too worried, they are more frustrated with the lack of information and total avoidance of talking about it. Which is a drastic change of how they approached issues when they first launched InfiniTV4. Most people who buy these things are computer geeks, and we like to know whats going on.

[barnabas1969]

Most people who buy these things are computer geeks, and we like to know whats going on.

I second that! How many of you geeks are like me, and when you buy something, you track it on the shipper's website and you know exactly when it arrives at your door? You want to know, right? Yeah, me too. My new AVR arrives on Friday. I'll meet the UPS driver at the door. I haven't received tracking info for the new HD Home Run Prime yet. Maybe I'll hang on to the Ceton for a while to see if they fix the problem. I would honestly rather have an internal card (less boxes) and four tuners instead of three. But I'm voting with my dollars and moving on due to Ceton's lack of response.

[erkotz]

In case anyone is worried that Ceton has given up on fixing this problem, I've just received reassurances that Ceton is actively working on the issue described in this thread. And if anyone feels like Ceton has focused their efforts on other new products to the detriment of us InfiniTV users, I'd like to remind you that Ceton's upcoming products use the same infiniTV technology... so if the company is trying to make the product as consumer-friendly as possible, you can bet that they are very invested in fixing this bug.

It sure would be nice if they posted here themselves instead of relaying through a third party. As for their other products... yes it would affect them... but how many hotels do you think would complain about a little glitch in the picture now and then?

It would be even better if they would get us involved in the testing and diagnosis. The discussion above about chipsets and stuff may or may not be relevant. If they are relevant, then I'm sure Ceton could use a few volunteers to test this stuff. It sure would be interesting if I move the tuner to a different machine and the problem disappears, don't you agree? But it seems that Ceton isn't interested enough to at least post something.

As makryger mentioned, the Q has an InfiniTV board in it, so we are by no means abandoning the InfiniTV, as that would be quite foolish of us given that we have a new product launching which is based around it. In fact, I spent a substantial portion of this past weekend and today looking into this issue.

Oh, and let's not forget that their latest "stable" firmware release made my tuner hang every day or so. That's unacceptable.

I just checked, and we don't show a support ticket from you regarding any sort of tuner hangs. Are you referring to 1.1.7.2? If so, please open a support ticket so we can investigate.

[barnabas1969]

Eric,

Welcome! I know that the Q has an InfiniTV in it. But if this glitch was on the UCrypt (which I assume would be far more profitable), I doubt that any hotel would even notice it.

I'm just not real happy with the lack of response and the time it's taken to do something about this issue. Apparently, I see it much more frequently than most folks, so it seems like it would have been a smart idea to work with me to resolve the issue. So, can you shed some light on whether this has anything to do with a specific set of circumstances, software, or hardware? Is there any information that customers can collect to help you? Can you share some status updates periodically? Let us know why it's been so long, and what's so difficult about it? Really, we're all techie geeks. We can take it.

I just checked, and we don't show a support ticket from you regarding any sort of tuner hangs. Are you referring to 1.1.7.2? If so, please open a support ticket so we can investigate.

Yes, I'm referring to 1.1.7.2. No, I didn't report it. I'm so frustrated, I can't tell you how much. And honestly, I'm not willing to play with a whole bunch of firmware versions when I can't even reliably change channels, and wait for you to hopefully fix it sometime in the next couple of years. Let's face it... this reboot issue has been going on for a long time too. I wasn't affected by it much if at all, but when I installed the latest "stable" firmware, I couldn't even reliably change channels. I'm sure you understand how frustrating that is. I'm back to 1.0.9.5 now. Channel changing works again. I've been home from work lately, and I'm watching a lot of TV.

[erkotz]

Eric,

Welcome! I know that the Q has an InfiniTV in it. But if this glitch was on the UCrypt (which I assume would be far more profitable), I doubt that any hotel would even notice it.

I'm just not real happy with the lack of response and the time it's taken to do something about this issue. Apparently, I see it much more frequently than most folks, so it seems like it would have been a smart idea to work with me to resolve the issue. So, can you shed some light on whether this has anything to do with a specific set of circumstances, software, or hardware? Is there any information that customers can collect to help you? Can you share some status updates periodically? Let us know why it's been so long, and what's so difficult about it? Really, we're all techie geeks. We can take it.

I apologize that you feel you have been ignored - that was not the intent. Rather, we simply did not have a significant update to share (please do not interpret this as we have not been working on it, as that is not true) so we did not reiterate our earlier messages.
At this point, we have all the data we need from external customers and are investigating it. Unfortunately, I cannot share specifics beyond that at this point in time. As I mentioned, I have spent a significant amount of time in the last few days

I just checked, and we don't show a support ticket from you regarding any sort of tuner hangs. Are you referring to 1.1.7.2? If so, please open a support ticket so we can investigate.

Yes, I'm referring to 1.1.7.2. No, I didn't report it. I'm so frustrated, I can't tell you how much. And honestly, I'm not willing to play with a whole bunch of firmware versions when I can't even reliably change channels, and wait for you to hopefully fix it sometime in the next couple of years. Let's face it... this reboot issue has been going on for a long time too. I wasn't affected by it much if at all, but when I installed the latest "stable" firmware, I couldn't even reliably change channels. I'm sure you understand how frustrating that is. I'm back to 1.0.9.5 now. Channel changing works again. I've been home from work lately, and I'm watching a lot of TV.

We are not aware of ANY customers using InfiniTVs with CableCARDs which are hitting any sort of reboot issue using our latest stable (1.1.7.2) firmware. In fact, the feedback we have received on 1.1.7.2 has been overwhelmingly positive. We are certainly willing to investigate the rebooting issue that you are experiencing on 1.1.7.2, but unless a support ticket is opened and we can collect data, there is nothing we can do, as no one else has reported this problem. If you do open a ticket for it, please PM me the ticket number.