Pixelation and Freezing While Replaying Recorded Arkansas vs Florida Game

Channels DVR Server Troubleshooting
#1

Hello,

I apologize if I am reposting to an old issue, but yesterday the replay of the game was beyond horrible. The replay froze and pixelated throughout the playback. I don't know what the issue is. Now tonight, I am watching the Eagles vs Cowboys game while it's recording along with two movies. The freezing and pixelation isn't as bad as yesterday but it's there. Yesterday, I did not watch any of my recordings while they were made, but I did record programs simultaneously. I don't know how to submit logs yet but if you tell me how, I will do it. I have two HDHomerun Primes, TVE, and a gigabit internet connection. My DVR is running on a Late 2012 i7 Mac mini attached to a 500GB SSD for my recorded programs.

#2

What source is being used for the bad recordings.
The HDHR Primes, or TVE?

Did you try viewing the recordings with something like VLC to see if the recordings are corrupted.

#3

The source for the recordings was one of my HDHomerun Primes. I did not try VLC, but I will try it after my next football recording tonight. I will post my results later tonight.

#4

If the recording plays bad in VLC, post the lines from the DVR log with the Signal and Buffer statistics at the time the recording finished.

Example

2023/11/06 16:30:00.090384 [SNR] Signal statistics for "TV/Rick Steves' Europe/Rick Steves' Europe S12E04 2023-10-22 Rick Steves Europe Art of 2023-11-06-1600.mpg": ss=96%,95%-97% snq=100% seq=99%,0%-100% bps=4314296,0-4475904 pps=369,0-384
2023/11/06 16:30:00.123048 [SNR] Buffer statistics for "TV/Rick Steves' Europe/Rick Steves' Europe S12E04 2023-10-22 Rick Steves Europe Art of 2023-11-06-1600.mpg": buf=0% drop=0%
2023/11/06 16:30:00.135822 [DVR] Finished job 1699315200-154 Rick Steves' Europe
#5

I recorded a NBC show called "The Irrational" and played the resulting mpg file in VLC. The recording pixelated, audio froze, then the after a few seconds, the video played as expected. The lines from the log are below.

2023/11/06 22:01:00.582684 [SNR] Signal statistics for "TV/The Irrational/The Irrational S01E07 The Real Deal 2023-11-06-2100.mpg": ss=100% snq=91%,88%-97% seq=100% bps=11297112,1317504-17393760 pps=959,0-4066 neterr=8%
2023/11/06 22:01:01.305314 [SNR] Buffer statistics for "TV/The Irrational/The Irrational S01E07 The Real Deal 2023-11-06-2100.mpg": buf=0%-8% drop=0%
2023/11/06 22:01:01.539803 [DVR] Finished job 1699326000-5 The Irrational
#6

issues on your network between the DVR and HDHR

#7

Thanks for figuring this out! This is my setup.

HDHR -> ethernet cable -> gigabit switch -> router
2012 Mac mini running Channels DVR -> ethernet cable -> gigabit switch -> router

Do you have any suggestions regarding which component could be causing the issue?

#8

Two things to start with that are (possibly) the easiest: replace the Ethernet cables, and put the tuner and server on the same switch.

The former is probably the easiest, and depending upon how your home is laid out, the latter may give you difficulty.

#9

I took your advice. I upgraded my switch, cables, and network adapter. Now the pixelation has disappeared! Great advice. Thanks.

2 Likes
#10

Awesome! It's so good to hear that little things (like replacing a simple cable) can make a huge quality-of-life difference!