Recordings consistently corrupted. How to troubleshoot?

I have a DS220+ with a 4TB HDD and a double cablecard installation. This is a relatively new setup.

I use Channels DVR exclusively to record NFL games and I’m seeing a significant number of corrupted recordings. They seem to play ok, but seeking and commercial skip seem broken. Skipping forward often gets stuck in the same place again and again.

One game I was able to fix by regenerating time stamps and the index, but on the Sunday night football game, this didn’t fix the problem.

I’m relatively new to this. How do I begin to troubleshoot what could be wrong?

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Check the DVR log under Support > Logs, scroll back to the time when those recordings were happening and see what errors are shown

One source of common issues is if you plugged two ethernet cables into the Synology without special configuration on the switch.

I see no errors and there's only one ethernet cable plugged into the DS220+.

Here are the logs... maybe I'm missing something?

2022/10/03 17:00:12.711213 [DVR] Recording for job 1664841600-8-EP000031283385 from 13244C67 ch1205 into "TV/NFL Football/NFL Football Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers 2022-10-03-1700.mpg" for 3h44m59.998623582s
2022/10/03 17:00:12.711292 [DVR] Starting job 1664841600-8-EP000031283654 NFL Football on ch=[1206 624 174 32]
2022/10/03 17:00:12.711524 [DVR] Waiting 59m47.288485749s until next job 1664845200-9 NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt
2022/10/03 17:00:13.213864 [TNR] Opened connection to 13244C67/1 for ch1206 ESPN2HD
2022/10/03 17:00:13.214469 [DVR] Recording for job 1664841600-8-EP000031283654 from 13244C67 ch1206 into "TV/NFL Football/NFL Football Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers 2022-10-03-1700.mpg" for 3h44m47.288401629s
2022/10/03 17:00:15.553874 [IDX] Generating video index for job 1664841600-8-EP000031283385
2022/10/03 17:00:16.120000 [IDX] Generating video index for job 1664841600-8-EP000031283654
2022/10/03 18:00:00.233399 [DVR] Starting job 1664845200-9 NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt on ch=[1005 105 5]
2022/10/03 18:00:00.287118 [DVR] Waiting 2h14m59.712915641s until next job 1664853300-10 NFL GameDay Final
2022/10/03 18:00:00.860533 [TNR] Opened connection to 13244C67/2 for ch1005 KINGDT
2022/10/03 18:00:00.963885 [DVR] Recording for job 1664845200-9 from 13244C67 ch1005 into "TV/NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt/NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt 2022-10-03-1800.mpg" for 29m59.712850653s
2022/10/03 18:00:02.718314 [IDX] Generating video index for job 1664845200-9
2022/10/03 18:30:00.414305 [TNR] Closed connection to 13244C67/2 for ch1005 KINGDT
2022/10/03 18:30:00.845091 [SNR] Statistics for "TV/NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt/NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt 2022-10-03-1800.mpg": ss=100% snq=84%,81%-86% seq=99%,0%-100% bps=6730912,0-6907872 pps=639,0-658
2022/10/03 18:30:00.845118 [SNR] Buffer statistics for "TV/NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt/NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt 2022-10-03-1800.mpg": buf=0%-2% drop=0%
2022/10/03 18:30:01.001353 [DVR] Finished job 1664845200-9 NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt
2022/10/03 18:30:01.517692 [DVR] Processing file-160: TV/NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt/NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt 2022-10-03-1800.mpg
2022/10/03 18:30:01.670237 [DVR] Waiting 1h44m58.329776439s until next job 1664853300-10 NFL GameDay Final
2022/10/03 18:30:04.433132 [DVR] Running commercial detection on file 160 (TV/NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt/NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt 2022-10-03-1800.mpg)
2022/10/03 18:44:05.247372 [DVR] Commercial detection for NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt 2022-10-03-1800.mpg finished with 10 markers in 14m0.844420004s.
2022/10/03 18:48:20.141755 [DVR] Pruning old recording NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt 2022-09-27-1800.mpg
2022/10/03 20:15:00.363421 [DVR] Starting job 1664853300-10 NFL GameDay Final on ch=[1215 418]
2022/10/03 20:15:00.401615 [DVR] Waiting 21h44m59.598397971s until next job 1664931600-9 NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt
2022/10/03 20:15:00.938175 [TNR] Opened connection to 1324ADA0/0 for ch1215 NFLHD
2022/10/03 20:15:00.973262 [DVR] Recording for job 1664853300-10 from 1324ADA0 ch1215 into "TV/NFL GameDay Final/NFL GameDay Final 2022-10-03-2015.mpg" for 59m59.598350172s
2022/10/03 20:15:02.928735 [IDX] Generating video index for job 1664853300-10
2022/10/03 20:45:00.048560 [TNR] Closed connection to 13244C67/1 for ch1206 ESPN2HD
2022/10/03 20:45:00.048657 [TNR] Closed connection to 13244C67/0 for ch1205 ESPNHD
2022/10/03 20:45:00.605584 [SNR] Statistics for "TV/NFL Football/NFL Football Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers 2022-10-03-1700.mpg": ss=100% snq=78%,74%-81% seq=100% bps=4193849,924960-6274688 pps=405,107-601
2022/10/03 20:45:00.605614 [SNR] Buffer statistics for "TV/NFL Football/NFL Football Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers 2022-10-03-1700.mpg": buf=0%-1% drop=0%
2022/10/03 20:45:00.810750 [SNR] Statistics for "TV/NFL Football/NFL Football Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers 2022-10-03-1700.mpg": ss=100% snq=78%,74%-82% seq=100% bps=4210152,97760-6837184 pps=406,9-652
2022/10/03 20:45:00.810768 [SNR] Buffer statistics for "TV/NFL Football/NFL Football Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers 2022-10-03-1700.mpg": buf=0%-11% drop=0%
2022/10/03 20:45:00.893220 [DVR] Finished job 1664841600-8-EP000031283654 NFL Football
2022/10/03 20:45:00.920913 [DVR] Finished job 1664841600-8-EP000031283385 NFL Football
2022/10/03 20:45:02.151503 [DVR] Processing file-159: TV/NFL Football/NFL Football Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers 2022-10-03-1700.mpg```

Signal quality could be better here, that might be the issue. If that's the case you would see similar problems watching this channel live in the official HDHomeRun app as well.

In the cableCARD menu of both tuners it says that the signal strength is 98% and quality is 100%. However, when I tune to ESPN-HD (where last night's game was recorded) it says this:

Tuner 0 Status

Virtual Channel 623 ESPNHD
Frequency 237.000 MHz
Program Number 1
Authorization subscribed
CCI Protection unrestricted
Modulation Lock qam256
PCR Lock locked
Signal Strength 100% (3.0 dBmV)
Signal Quality 76% (31.8 dB)
Symbol Quality 100%
Streaming Rate 4.295 Mbps
Resource Lock 192.168.86.44

Aside from calling the cable company, what else can I do to improve signal quality?

Just earlier this week, they sent a tech to the house and replaced the line from the street to my house and added a "filter" to support the new plan I have (1.2Gbps internet). I'm not sure if this filter could be causing issues with the TV quality...?

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You said double cablecard, so maybe remove a splitter and wire into one hdhr and measure the signal quality with that setup?

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Yep. Removing the split got me to 100/100 for ESPN HD... I'll investigate further. The split signal went through a powered distribution amplifier. I'm not sure if that was the problem or the coaxial cable feeding the amp.

Tuner 0 Status

Virtual Channel 623 ESPNHD
Frequency 237.000 MHz
Program Number 1
Authorization subscribed
CCI Protection unrestricted
Modulation Lock qam256
PCR Lock locked
Signal Strength 100% (5.5 dBmV)
Signal Quality 100% (36.8 dB)
Symbol Quality 100%
Streaming Rate 4.159 Mbps
Resource Lock 192.168.86.44

Sounds like you don't need an AMP and it's just making things worse.

I used to work for a cable company. Most all of the time amps were not necessary and deployed in the wrong place. You really need to know if you need one in the first place. Let the cable company determine that, do not buy one on Amazon and hook it up yourself (in my day it was radio shack amplifiers). I can't tell you how many I used to pull out of houses and throw in the trash. Problem with amps are that they can introduce noise and overdrive your signal. Also I used to find them behind modems or TV sets. You can't amplify garbage, you will get louder garbage. Also they do not amplify the reverse path and that can cause issues.

In your case it is definitely not needed based on your before and after screenshots. It's likely everything else cable wise on your home will be a bit more stable now...

Slightly off topic but here is my PSA for the day regarding cable troubleshooting if you want to read further.
Example: on the downstream you have - 2dbmv at the ground block (where the cable enters your house) subtract another 3dbmv for cable attenuation. You want every outlet to be "live" in your house and you have 8. Subtract another 10.5dbmv. So that means you are down - 15.5dbmv from the entry point. Add a +15dbmv amp and you are at - 0.5dbmv for each outlet, perfect right?.

The issue is the upstream, let's say your modem is transmitting at 45dbmv if you connect it to the ground block with no splitters. It has to transmit at +60.5dbmv now to overcome the 15.5db of attenuation from the splitters as amps only pass reverse they don't amplify it. Now your modem cuts in and out becuase it has reached its max transmit capability.

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Thanks for the detail. Here's my setup, please let me know what you'd recommend for the best solution.

I have one cable coming into my house from the street.
This cable feeds a small 2-way splitter in a structured wiring cabinet where all ethernet and RG6 terminates. I believe the splitter was installed by Comcast.
One output of the splitter is the Comcast XB8 internet gateway.
The other output is for TV. This runs into a powered signal amplifier installed in the structured wiring cabinet by the homebuilder and feeds every coax tap in the house. However, nothing is connected to any of the coax room taps, since we use Channels and Apple TVs at every TV location.
Two of the outputs of the signal amplifier feed the two HDHR Prime devices, which are mounted in the same structured wiring cabinet.

I can take the cable signal amp and all of the other coax connections out of the equation entirely, but then I need to either replace the splitter with a 3-way splitter, or add a second 2-way splitter downstream of the first.

My first priority is a stable connection to my XB8 internet gateway. But obviously not having corrupted NFL games is also really nice to have.

Can you just unplug the power on the amp?

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Best to replace the 2-way splitter with a 3-way splitter (less signal loss that way).
You could also try installing terminators on each coax outlet if you don't want to disconnect the amp/coax runs. Any unused coax runs should be terminated to reduce noise ingress/signal reflections anyway.

@lights you defintley do not want all cable outlets in your house live. I hate when builders do this. It is the absolute worst way to install. It's usually a cheap amp with a builtin 10way splitter that causes you nothing but issues. I recommend that you go the 3 way splitter route and put the modem on the -3.5db leg and the 2 Hdhr's on the -7db legs. You don't need something crazy expensive like gold plated lol. Any decent quality 1ghz splitter should be fine.
Also make sure you aren't using cable with twist on f connectors etc.

I actually used to carry these on my truck way back in the day (link below) , should be fine. If you ever need more outlets to be live then you could go back to the 2 way splitter and then hang a 4 way off of one leg of the 2 way etc.
Antronix CMC2003H-A 3-Way Horizontal Splitter -3.5dB -7dB 5-1002 MHz High Performance for Coax Cable TV & Internet Amazon.com

Any unused coax runs should just not be connected. It serves no purpose to have them live. Terminators are nice but you are mostly worried about reflections in the upstream which is really low frequency and not going to affect downstream which is where he's having the issue.

That is often worse. You are still going through the circuitry and experiencing the loss of your 8way or greater split without the signal boost. Most of the time I've seen this attenuate it even more.

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Thanks! I've ordered that splitter and will give it a try!

If you need help with anything hit me up. It's been about 19 years since I was a cable tech but rf hasn't changed at all so I'm sure can point you in the right direction if you get stuck.

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Much appreciated.

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