Hdhomerun prime status?

Channels DVR Server
#1

So I own an hdhomerun prime, my second one. The first had some issues with not powering on often.

So I know they stopped making it and had some surplus for sale on ebay at one point. Tve is great and all, but with the streaming services becoming the same if not more than the price of a cable subscription (and the issues that come up with it on occasion), I have gone back to cable almost exclusively.

The hdhomerun page has the prime as listed as in development.... Does anyone have any inside knowledge on if they will be reviving this product? As I said, tve is ok, but channels works so much better with the hdhomerun.

#2

New hdhomerun prime 6 was cancelled.

They are still making the old model until the parts run out.

#3

Does this mean anything for the future of channels? Some of the streaming services don't make all all channels available via tve.

#4

No. The Prime as it stands is dead. The long-promised 6 tuner Prime is cancelled. There was a small run recently of the original Prime units due to a discovered cache of SoCs that are no longer in production.

Also, due to the recent FCC decision to no longer require cable companies to support CableCards, most cable providers putting DRM on every channel they can now, and SiliconDust still failing to deliver on their promise to offer DRM recording 7 years on, the Prime is basically dead.

(If you want another Prime, message me privately, as I have one I might be willing to sell.)

#5

SiliconDust is still selling the Prime.
Refurbed for $129 https://shop.silicondust.com/shop/product-category/refurbished-hardware/?scrollto=477261
New for $149.99 with coupon code PRIME2020 https://shop.silicondust.com/shop/product-category/hardware/

1 Like
#6

A while back they found enough parts to make another 3,000 "Prime 3" units. You can buy one of those or a reburb unit direct via the links @chDVRuser provided above.

But I bought two on eBay, in very good condition with original packaging, from a guy who was giving up on Windows Media Center after Microsoft announced they were ending support for the program guide.

As for the Prime 6, they encountered parts supply disruptions that forced them to redesign and resubmit for approval more than once, and at this point I doubt we'll ever see it now that CableCARDs are on their way out too. Many observers have declared it cancelled, but I've seen no official announcement and for some reason it's still listed on the Silicon Dust website.

That website needs some work for sure. When you look at the Prime 6 page you should be offered the Prime 3. It's very difficult to find the Prime 3 on their site without hunting around, unless you Google up a direct link.

#7

The Prime is also available at Amazon for $150 ($200 minus instant $50 rebate): https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HKIB6E/

#8

I just gone one off eBay since my market isn't using DRM yet. Since I only care about locals via Cable, and have been told they can't DRM those. It doesn't matter if the rest are DRM'd. Especially with TVE. I just hope SD doesn't brick those of us with HR3 Primes.

#10

How could they possibly do this? The devices function completely offline, and don't need any connection to SiliconDust.

#11

By my understanding they need Internet to register at boot up. My HR3-US wouldn't complete an OTA scan til I connected it to the internet.

#12

In general, HDHomeRun devices "phone home" every 6 hours or so to update their DeviceAuth token, which SiliconDust uses to authorize for guide access, as well as to allow your devices to register with their my.hdhomerun.com website. In practice, you can use a HDHomeRun tuner without it being connected to the internet—even the Prime—which I successfully did for years.

That particular model is different. The HDHR3 and earlier models, except for the Prime, are considered legacy devices. They do not store their channel lineup on the device. Instead, a channel scan must be made from a Windows computer with SiliconDust's software, which then uploads the lineup to SD's servers. Once that initial scan is done, then if the HDHR3 model has internet access, it will emulate a newer tuner that can maintain its own lineup. This is not SD disabling a feature, as these devices never maintained their own channel lists; instead it is SD offering a service for older devices to function as the newer models. (SiliconDust's own software needs this new emulation mode to work with these older devices, as they longer longer support legacy operation in their software.)

However, not all software needs this lineup to maintain a channel list. Tvheadend and MythTV both perform their own channel scans and store the lineups separate from the one provided by the device. I am uncertain if Channels can maintain its own scan/lineup for these legacy devices, but their operation in general is not hindered by not being connected to the internet.

1 Like
#13

Lets hope they don't take down this Legacy option then. I use my HR3-US as well. I do have a HR4K naturally. But I guess the Prime, and 4K are new enough to "hold their own"?

#14

Why would they brick the Primes ... I guess you are assuming that only Channels DVR users are using the Prime to record... I bet there are more HDHomeRun DVR users that use the Prime than channels.... so why would they cut off their nose to spite their face,

#15

Ceton is still selling cable card tuners, including both internal and external (ethernet) 6-tuner devices - http://cetoncorp.com/products/infinitv-6-ethernet/. Like some others, I have a 3-tuner Prime and a 4-tuner PCIe Ceton if anyone is interested in purchasing on the cheap.

1 Like
#16

Any one know if this 6 tuner device works with channels dvr?

#17

I don’t believe so.

#18

Thanks, would have been nice if it did.

#19

Didn't know there were more. Good to know. With Channels DVR. I have access to so many other feeds of the same channel I don't need more than 3 on the cable tv side personally. I can use TVE too. I'm lucky that my cable channels are not DRM also. That seems to be an issue with a lot of cable systems. Wish it wasn't.

#20

I'm digging up this post to hopefully get some opinions.
TiVo Roamio Pro is getting quite flaky, and I'm considering using a Prime with Channels. Xfinity in the KC market, not sure about DRM content. I'm blind, so I need Audio Description, which TVE cannot provide. Any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

#21

I still use a TiVo Roamio for OTA and a TiVo Bolt with cablecard for Xfinity.
I also have a HDHR Prime with cablecard for Xfinity cable.
My only Xfinity DRM channels are the movie channels, like HBO, Cinemax, Starz, etc.
I have a DRM Starz series stuck on my Bolt.
If I wanted to replicate it on my Channels DVR, I would have to record it with Play On cloud.

If Audio Description is available on your TiVo with Xfinity, it should be available using Channels DVR and a HDHR Prime tuner as a source.

If you cannot use a HDHR tuner and cablecard with Channels DVR, unless the developers of Channels DVR have a suggestion, I would stick with the TiVo.
So far, Xfinity has not dropped cablecard support and my TiVo Roamio, TiVo Bolt and HDHR Prime still work.

1 Like