"Cannot change channel while recording..."

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"Cannot change channel while recording..."

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jdlfreetime

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Hi Biggles,

Some of the current pvrs, including Youview's design, don't allow you to delete channels, hence the only way is to unplug aerial lead. I followed your guide/tips many years ago with my Humax 9200/later on 9300, gosh that was many years back.

I just remembered your topic, sorry if I misquoted about unplugging aerial lead. But many other users have added about unplugging aerial on various forums. If only some of the newer pvrs were built like the older boxes with regards retuning/clearing channels. John L

| Sat 11 Jun 2022 18:09:05 #11 |
Biggles

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jdlfreetime - 3 hours ago »
Hi Biggles,
Some of the current pvrs, including Youview's design, don't allow you to delete channels, hence the only way is to unplug aerial lead. I followed your guide/tips many years ago with my Humax 9200/later on 9300, gosh that was many years back.
I just remembered your topic, sorry if I misquoted about unplugging aerial lead. But many other users have added about unplugging aerial on various forums. If only some of the newer pvrs were built like the older boxes with regards retuning/clearing channels. John L

Hi John, my manual tuning instructions were originally formulated for the Humax PVR-8000T so that goes back even more years. My Panasonic PVR doesn't allow you to delete channels but if you start an auto tune channels are deleted before the scan starts so it's just a case of stopping the scan before channels are found then doing a manual tune.

| Sat 11 Jun 2022 21:46:08 #12 |
sh2811

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Hi again.

I have only ever done the 'channel delete' method with any of my boxes prior to a manual re-tune (I never do auto re-tunes). I also never use the 'add channel' options or re-scan, however it is labelled as I like to clear out everything and do it all fresh.

I started with a 9200, added a 9150, had 2 or 3 Panasonic Freeview DVD-recorders, one 1800T, a Fox T2, and a few 2000Ts and have used the same method all the time and don't believe I have had any issues as a result. I possibly tried the 'no aerial lead' method way back with the 9200 but didn't notice any differences. I think the Aura box doesn't let you skip the auto re-tune if you do a reset so you need to delete the channels afterwards if you want to manually tune, though it does ask you which transmitter you want to use after the auto-tune if it finds more than one. I still don't trust that choice so delete the channels and do the manual tune.

I had the same bug a short while ago.
Recording Sky Arts, prog 11, channel 37 (Oxford) - had set it via the guide earlier. I thought this was the only channel recording and the schedule only showed that programme had been set.
Hitting the OK button on live TV showed '1 recording' in the bottom left.
The box was randomly looking at ITV SD, prog 3. I tried switching to 107, BBC News HD... "Cannot change channel while recording or streaming" message appears. BBC News HD is on channel 55 from Oxford so a different mux, whilst ITV SD is on channel 44 so the box should have allowed me to change to 107.

Checked the signal test page... showed Tuner 1 on channel 44 (ITV SD being watched), Tuner 2 recording channel 37 correctly, Tuner 3 recording channel 31!! So 1 live and TWO recordings but only 1 recording set in the schedule. I checked the programme list... 2 recordings active, the correct one on Sky Arts and a programme on DMAX, channel 31. Weirdly the DMAX programme said it started recording at 01:19. I am sure I did not set the DMAX programme either from the guide or live by hitting record while viewing that channel. It wasn't a programme I wanted.
Hitting the STOP button only gave me the option of stopping the 'valid' Sky Arts recording, the DMAX recording was not listed.
I have no idea how the DMAX recording was running!!?

At 02:00 both recordings stopped, the signal test page showed only tuner 1 was running (the live broadcast)... I STILL can't change to 107 BBC News HD or some other channels (the box was still viewing ITV SD and if I went down it jumped to 733 not 2 then 1). I had to pull the power, wait for the box to run through a weird power up, down, up, down, up routine and then all is normal again, I can jump to any channel.

Not sure it is relevant but my setup is one Aura box with a couple of 2000Ts in one room and a Foxsat box in another room. I don't use the bluetooth function of the Aura remote and have them all configured so they are on different remote codes and have never had issues with boxes responding to the wrong remotes.

My signal is fairly good though I am on the edge of the Oxford area (and the edge of Mendip if I wanted to point in that direction, and could pick up the local Cirencester transmitter in theory). Mendip is about 180 degrees opposite Oxford, Cirencester is about 90 degrees from Oxford if you get my meaning. Signal quality is normally 100% without fail though my channel strengths vary. The Aura box and 2000Ts seem to report different strengths for the same channels. My lowest seems to be around 42% on the Aura box and 66% on the 2000Ts for the same channel (CH29)... quality stays at 100%. Some atmospheric issues, normally affecting CH55, the HD BBC New, BBC Four mux, the worst. I think my aerial could do with an upgrade and I do have about 4 metres of single-screened coax from the aerial to my loft which needs replacing, so not an ideal setup but I don't think any of that explains this weird bug.

To me it seems like either a firmware bug or a hardware issue rather than signal. Something is not letting the tuners be accessed occasionally when they should be free and the box is not recognising that they are free. Tonight's glitch could be the same as the other day and previous occasions but I managed to actually see it happening when things were being recorded rather than after the event when the tuners became unresponsive.
My electronics head wonders if there could be a bad solder joint with one of the tuners and the box heats up and breaks the connection or there is a component failing. My software head says bug!

Any thoughts are welcome!

| Sun 12 Jun 2022 3:01:01 #13 |
Luke

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Martin Liddle - 1 day ago »

It depends on the model and, I think, software version. One of the software versions on one of the Humax models auto-retune function would only delete the previous tuning if it found anything on an auto-retune.

Luke that is interesting; I don't suppose you can remember which Humax models this applies to?

I couldn't remember when I posted that, but now ...
It was the PVR-9200T in 2009.
If I recall correctly the PVR-9200T did not start out like that, and it may not have finished like that.

There was a discussion about it on Digital Spy but all I can find is a reference in Digital Spy posted in September 2009 that it had "recently" been discussed. Obviously any posts from hummy.org.uk that may also have helped recall the situation have long gone.

| Sun 12 Jun 2022 10:52:59 #14 |
Biggles

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Luke - 11 hours ago »

Martin Liddle - 1 day ago »

It depends on the model and, I think, software version. One of the software versions on one of the Humax models auto-retune function would only delete the previous tuning if it found anything on an auto-retune.

Luke that is interesting; I don't suppose you can remember which Humax models this applies to?

I couldn't remember when I posted that, but now ...
It was the PVR-9200T in 2009.
If I recall correctly the PVR-9200T did not start out like that, and it may not have finished like that.
There was a discussion about it on Digital Spy but all I can find is a reference in Digital Spy posted in September 2009 that it had "recently" been discussed. Obviously any posts from hummy.org.uk that may also have helped recall the situation have long gone.

That ties in with what I said in my previous post. Having said that the latest software does delete old channels on an auto tune, the channels are deleted before the scan starts. This could make users think that scanning with the aerial removed deleted the old channels but the reality is channels are deleted by the software, aerial in or out.

| Sun 12 Jun 2022 22:04:30 #15 |
EEPhil

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I seem to recall that someone once posted a suggestion that if you wanted to do a manual tune, the easiest way to clear out all saved channels was to start an auto-tune and stop it immediately, saving no channels. That would support the idea that auto-tune clears out the old channels first.

| Mon 13 Jun 2022 10:27:19 #16 |
Biggles

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EEPhil - 1 hour ago »
I seem to recall that someone once posted a suggestion that if you wanted to do a manual tune, the easiest way to clear out all saved channels was to start an auto-tune and stop it immediately, saving no channels. That would support the idea that auto-tune clears out the old channels first.

As I've said in my post #12 above, this is the way I do it on my Panasonic PVR.

| Mon 13 Jun 2022 11:28:38 #17 |
EEPhil

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Biggles - 20 hours ago »

EEPhil - 1 hour ago »
I seem to recall that someone once posted a suggestion that if you wanted to do a manual tune, the easiest way to clear out all saved channels was to start an auto-tune and stop it immediately, saving no channels. That would support the idea that auto-tune clears out the old channels first.

As I've said in my post #12 above, this is the way I do it on my Panasonic PVR.

Oops! Missed that. I don't even know where I first saw this mentioned. But it was about a Humax. It certainly works on my retired 9150T. I've used this method ever since.

| Tue 14 Jun 2022 8:31:50 #18 |
Biggles

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Starting an auto tune to delete channels on various machines has been mentioned a lot over the years but will only work on later software versions (v23 on I think) on the 9xxx machines.

| Tue 14 Jun 2022 11:53:36 #19 |