HDHR possibly broken?

Channels DVR Server
#1

Hi everyone,

I'm wondering if my HDHR Quatro might be broken. Honestly, I had hiccups at the beginning where I was experiencing "lost connection" and "tuner not found" errors but when I moved the Apple TV to wireless, found that my wired connection was working at 100 mbps only..., then everything worked pretty well.

Until this last thursday were we had a power failure in the morning. Since, when I'm watching live TV for about 10-15 minutes or if I'm attempting to record a show, it seems that the tuner crashes and quits the network. To recover the tuner, I have to start the HDHR utility or send a the restart command from the windows command prompt.

I tried all kind of things like restarting the router, swapping the network switch but no success.

Any other ideas? BTW, the tuner should be protected against power spikes because it is connected to the UPS

Thank you!

#2

I'm sorry, but this isn't making sense. If your tuner "crashes and quits the network" you wouldn't be able to send it commands.

It sounds to me like what's crashing is your Channels DVR service.

#3

This is what I also thought and the HDHR log is pointing in that direction as well based on this message "20181124-11:38:39 Tuner: tuner3 http stream ended (remote closed)"

However, my understanding, is the Apple TV accessing the tuner directly for Live TV and only checking with DVR for a valid subscription...?

Now both Apple TV and DVR make the tuner to quit responding after 10-15 mins of use. If i'm clicking the IP address of the tuner within the DVR service menu, I'm getting a blank webui. It takes few restart commands to the tuner before the it finally kicks in.

BTW, the computer were Channel DVR service is running from and tuner have fixed ip addresses...

Thanks a lot!

#4

Depends. Do you have "Tuner Sharing" enabled? If so, then the data stream is HDHomeRun -> DVR -> STB

What is this "restart command" of which you speak? And, again: Think about this logically: If the tuner was off the network, how could a command sent over the network bring it back?

When this problem occurs, what happens if you go directly, with a web browser, to My HDHomeRun?

#5

The restart command is hdhomerun_config [DeviceID] set /sys/restart self. But yes, if it was disconnected from the network, then that wouldn't work.

Another idea as to the problem (as it happened to me with similar symptoms): failing power adapter. Replacing the power adapter of your device is one possible solution.

#6

The tuner sharing option is turned off for the moment

OK then, I probably expressed the symptoms incorrectly. Yes, the tuner is still linked to the network but unresponsive. When the tuner is in that state, if I enter the tuner ip address into the web browser, it returns nothing. If I'm restarting the tuner with this command hdhomerun_config [DeviceID] set /sys/restart self, it comes back until it fails again "under load".

Thanks!

#7

Your suggestion makes sense to me because problems started right after a power shutdown. I will investigate that further... :smile:

Right now I'm also trying something else. I had the computer running the Channels DVR service connected to one of router's network port and also the NAS storing the recordings but the tuner is connected to a separate switch connected to that router. I moved the computer network cable from the router to the switch port next to the tuner.

So far so good but too early to call for victory.

Thanks to both you you!

#8

Recommendation: Never use your router, or WiFi router, for a network switch. I've seen more people have more inexplicable problems with their networks who did that. Buy a separate network switch. (Personally, I like NetGear ProSafe series switches.) Plug the switch into the router, and everything else into the switch.

I don't like WiFi routers, either. My network design mantra, repeated often: Routers to route. Switches to switch. Access Points to supply WiFi. And never the terne shall merge.

#9

Sounds like wise advices to me Jim!

So far everything seems to be working perfectly. I also like Netgear stuff and the 16 ports Prosafe Gigabyte switch was the one I was contemplating.

I think other people should learn from this as well, i mean, In order to work as advertised, everything should be square. I would suggest to the admins to add a topic at the top of the forum, basic rules and good practices to follow for trouble free operation.

Again, thanks a lot for the help!

#10

Just to let know the community that I bought the Netgear 16 ports Gigabyte Prosafe switch and not only it fixed the tuner dropouts issue but it made the commercial skips instant. The entire network is much faster too!

Good stuff make your life easier!

Thanks!

3 Likes
#11

Great, cjean! I'm glad that fixed it for you.

The next network improvement you can do that might make things even better is acquire a wireless Access Point. Turn off the WiFi in your WiFi router and use the AP, plugged into your shiny new NetGear switch, instead.

My favourite in APs these days is EnGenius. I'm using an EAP1300 and it's performing wonderfully.

1 Like
#12

Thanks for the suggestion Jim!

However the whole DVR setup is Gigabyte wired and I don't think it can get any better at this point.

The wireless router I have is a Netgear X6 R8000 which I like a lot where I paid big money for it and would break my heart to turn the wifi off... If it fails, I will remember your recommendation though!

Thanks again!