All black recordings

[steenkh]

For some time now, probably a few months, I have found recordings that are all black. By this I mean that recording has the expected length, but all you see is black with no sound for the full length. It is as if the recording has been made from a source that is not connected.

Not all recordings are like this, but the number seem to be growing. There are more such recordings on some channels than others. I used to make a lot of recordings from BBC Earth, and in the beginning a few recordings were black, and then the number grew, and right now it looks as if all recordings from BBC Earth are black. But other channels are hit too. Now I record every broadcast of the series I want, even if there are two or three of the same episode, and mostly only one episode is recorded black, and the others are OK.

I have once watched a programme on BBC Earth while it was recorded, but when I looked at the recording afterwards, it was black.

[Andy_Hazza]

What is your setup?


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[steenkh]

I have a VU+ Duo4K with 2 FBC DVBC receivers.

[Andy_Hazza]

You have Virgin I’m guessing with an active sub? Tuner configuration setup correctly? Your Softcam (Oscam) running ok?


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[steenkh]

You have Virgin I’m guessing with an active sub? Tuner configuration setup correctly? Your Softcam (Oscam) running ok?
I live in Denmark, and I have cable TV from a company called YouSee. The sub works fine. I guess the tuner configuration is correct, because I can watch every channel I want at all times. I do not know what a Softcam or Oscam is.

Now I realize that one of the FBCs might be defective, but I do not know how to see on what receiver a recording has been made, or if you could force it to avoid that receiver.

[ccs]

Tuners used...…


If you go to timers, highlight a completed timer, and press info, it will tell you which tuner was used.

[steenkh]

I checked one of the done timers with a black recording, and it said Timer A. The timer of most normal recording I have checked also said A, so I guess this idea was a dud. It probably is not a hardware failure after all.

I do not have an Info button on my remote control, but it seems that long-pressing the EPG button does something similar. I got a kind of log that told how the recording changed states ("activating state 2" - "start recording on tuner: A" - "activating state 3" - "stop recording on tuner: A"), exactly the same for the normal recordings.

By the way, the channel with almost exclusively black recordings is BBC Brit. I misremembered when I thought it was BBC Earth, not that I think it matters.

[steenkh]

I have found some recordings from BBC Brit from March, so I thought that perhaps the problem would go away if I restored ViX from March, but a test recording after this was also black. Now I am back with the latest build.

If we suppose that there is a hardware problem with one of the two tuners, could I test this? There are 8 receivers on each, so I am pretty sure that the second FBC has never been used. Can I disable the first one somehow? I guess I need to rescan all the channels if I simply unplug the FBC. Can that be done without losing all of the autotimers and sequencing of the channels in the EPG list?

[Andy_Hazza]

I would provide logs personally and let someone take a look to see what maybe causing your issue.


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[steenkh]

I am away for some days, but I'll generate diagnostic logs when I get back.

[steenkh]

This problem is harder to get a grip on than I thought. Before I started a diagnostic logs, I tried a recording from BBC Brit simply by pressing the red recording button. This recording was normal, not black. Then I changed to another channel, and started a timed recording on BBC Brit on a programme that was already running, and this too was normal. Next I made a timed recording some hours in the future, and this recording was black.

The next step was to start a diagnostic log, reboot, and make a timed recording some hours in the future. However, this recording was normal, so the diagnostic log is worthless.

Since then, all timed recordings on BBC Brit have been black, and I have even had a recording on another channel that was black.

I am at a loss for new ideas.

[Sicilian]

I live in Denmark, and I have cable TV from a company called YouSee. The sub works fine. I guess the tuner configuration is correct, because I can watch every channel I want at all times. I do not know what a Softcam or Oscam is.

Now I realize that one of the FBCs might be defective, but I do not know how to see on what receiver a recording has been made, or if you could force it to avoid that receiver.

Are you using a CI Cam and card from provider? Or card direct in slot?

[Trial]

Hi,
you can check tuner settings online while watching if you use PiP. If PiP is working in all combinations then recordings should be fine.

ciao

[steenkh]

Are you using a CI Cam and card from provider? Or card direct in slot?
There is no CI card. The cable is inserted into the FBC receiver and that is all.

[steenkh]

Hi,
you can check tuner settings online while watching if you use PiP. If PiP is working in all combinations then recordings should be fine.
I am not quite sure what I should do with PiP. I can try activating it and navigate to other channels while PiP is showing BBC Brit?

It seems BBC Brit consistently produces black recordings when a timer for a future programme is used, but my most recent failure was on a channel called TV2 Charlie, where I have lots of good recordings, including some that were made after the black recording.

[bellejt]

do you have cable TV or satelite TV ?

[ccs]

do you have cable TV or satelite TV ?

Details already mentioned earlier.