OTHER Schedule a channel to be recorded at a later time using PVR

[Hovik]

Hi all!
I searched the forums and google but cannot come up with an answer. I have a Captiveworks cw800s and a CNX Nano II both of which have a PVR function. I am trying to find out if there is a way to set it up so that it records a show for me on a schedule (lets say Mon-Fri 11pm-12am). I have looked high and low and it seems the only way to record is by just pushing the record button. Any ideas? If these 2 boxes don't do it but you know of one that does or another way to accomplish what I'm doing I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks!

 

[Mr Tony]

check the receiver if there are timers in the menu options. If so I'm sure once you hook up a hard drive to it one of the options would be record (usually its tune, remind, or record)

I think all the receivers I've used that had a PVR function had timers in it

 

[Hovik]

check the receiver if there are timers in the menu options. If so I'm sure once you hook up a hard drive to it one of the options would be record (usually its tune, remind, or record)

I think all the receivers I've used that had a PVR function had timers in it

Hi Iceberg,
I did find a "timer" menu buried in the menu of the Captiveworks CW800S and have formatted an 80G external HD to FAT32 and tested it. I can get it to record by simply pressing the record button. The "timer" function I'm still struggling with. For some reason when I set it up to record for an hour say from 4pm-5pm it records for about 1 minute then saves then starts recording again for another minute then saves, and so on so after an hour I'd have 60 little 1 minute files saved on the drive. Don't know why it's doing that because when I've pressed record and let it go for 10 minutes before stopping it it worked just fine. Anyway I'll keep playing with it and see if I can come up with a solution. Thanks.

 

[Mr Tony]

format it as NTFS (or whatever its called) via a computer.

 

[Mr Tony]

I know the MicroHD does timers fine because when I had mine set up I'd set up a ton of timers to record sporting events

 

[Titanium]

Some receivers require timers to be set in a 24 hour format. I never used the CaptiveWorks DVR function, but on CNX you enter the start time and a DURATION.

I wrote a manual on a receiver based on the same chipset. Here is the Timer page:

 

[Hovik]

format it as NTFS (or whatever its called) via a computer.

The drive was originally formatted to NTFS and neither reciever would recognize it when connected, same thing with exFAT. Once I formatted FAT32 it recognized and worked fine.

Thanks Titanium, I'll try that. I am still struggling with the 1minute files on the CW800s. See attached photo to for an example. I followed your guide for the CNX and set up a time record entry for today so we'll see how that works. Kinda sux that the CNX menu doesn't have the option to do just Monday-Friday like the CW800s but thanks to these 1minute files the CW800s is useless anyway.

 

[Hovik]

Okay so I had setup a time record on the CNX for a show a couple of days back (thanks to Titanium's guide) and again am running into problems. This time when I went a few hours after it was supposed to have recorded the show and checked it, it showed "USB No Ready" (see attached photo). What is strange is that if I simply push the record button during live tv it begins recording no problem and I have recorded over an hour long file using this method and it plays back awesome. It just won't do a scheduled record. Yes, I did try formatting the drive (FAT32) using the menu in the CNX.

Any ideas? I seem to be striking out with both of these receivers....

 

[Titanium]

Is the HDD going to sleep? Some of these older STBs did not wake-up USB HDDs, or if they do signal a wake-up, the drive takes too long to mount.

I would guess that it does not like the USB HDD spinning down. Maybe try a flash drive or set-up the HDD so it will not sleep?

 

[Hovik]

Is the HDD going to sleep? Some of these older STBs did not wake-up USB HDDs, or if they do signal a wake-up, the drive takes too long to mount.

I would guess that it does not like the USB HDD spinning down. Maybe try a flash drive or set-up the HDD so it will not sleep?

I suppose it could be, but I don't think so. I've had those external enclosures that allow the drive to sleep but I don't think this is that kind. Also, don't know if it matters, but the recording works fine with this same drive when I simply press the record button. So not sure if the receiver would expect a quicker wake-up time from a sleeping drive for scheduled records than manual record but I suppose it's possible.

I've been running coax in the attic to a bedroom and just wrapped that up last night so I should have some more time today or tomorrow to mess around with the PVR issue. Borrowed SWMBO's flash drive so I can test that with the time record feature. Will post results.