Occasional corrupt recordings

Post Reply
undecided

Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 12:01 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

Occasional corrupt recordings

#1

Post by undecided » Thu Sep 15, 2016 1:34 am

It happens seldomly but I could be watching a recorded show and 10-20 minutes into it, the playback turns gray with blinking dots (I guess that's how my TV interprets it). Doesn't matter what I do, that recording is forever bad. I remember reading a post somewhere about possibly having a fix for this but I am not sure where it was.

User avatar
Scallica

Posts: 2797
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:09 pm
Location: USA!

HTPC Specs: Show details

#2

Post by Scallica » Thu Sep 15, 2016 3:16 pm

We need more information. What tuner are you using? What firmware?

Can you play the file successfully using Windows Media Player or VLC media player (if the file is not copy-protected)?
HTPC Enthusiast / Forum Moderator - TGB.tv Code of Conduct

83v45magna

Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 4:29 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#3

Post by 83v45magna » Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:17 pm

I used to get corrupt recordings all the time and it was always a mystery. Though they seemed to have no regularity, it often times seemed they came in waves like storms. Then it might get quiet. Then I started having all kinds of different problems from blatant random blue screens to things I can only describe as 'reluctant behavior'. When a few log files began to show power related events, I replaced the power supply since it was around six years old (Antec Neo 500w). The thing was healed. It began to keep it's head down and do it's job again. It was essentially a guess. I have another HTPC and my wife's desktop which both had the exact same power supply around the same age and they both had developed weird problems too. They have both now been replaced and they both run flawlessly again. No more corrupt recordings either. For the time being.

I have since found those Antecs to have used fairly crappy OST capacitors. I considered replacing some but when I can get nice new modular Corsairs for around $20 after rebate, why bother? The point is power supplies age out. And the symptoms can and will usually be all over the map.

This very well may not be your problem, but I put it out there as food for thought anyway.

Oh and by the way, all of those 'corrupt recordings' play fine now. So you might not want to delete them just yet.

undecided

Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 12:01 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#4

Post by undecided » Sun Aug 13, 2017 2:42 am

Scallica wrote:We need more information. What tuner are you using? What firmware?

Can you play the file successfully using Windows Media Player or VLC media player (if the file is not copy-protected)?
Using an HDHomerun prime 3-tuner with cablecard. I would say I get one bad recording every two weeks or so. The recording can break at any time. 5 minutes into it or 5 minutes before the end. This is driving me insane especially on sports recordings where I can't get a replay anywhere else.

undecided

Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 12:01 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#5

Post by undecided » Sun Aug 13, 2017 2:43 am

83v45magna wrote:I used to get corrupt recordings all the time and it was always a mystery. Though they seemed to have no regularity, it often times seemed they came in waves like storms. Then it might get quiet. Then I started having all kinds of different problems from blatant random blue screens to things I can only describe as 'reluctant behavior'. When a few log files began to show power related events, I replaced the power supply since it was around six years old (Antec Neo 500w). The thing was healed. It began to keep it's head down and do it's job again. It was essentially a guess. I have another HTPC and my wife's desktop which both had the exact same power supply around the same age and they both had developed weird problems too. They have both now been replaced and they both run flawlessly again. No more corrupt recordings either. For the time being.

I have since found those Antecs to have used fairly crappy OST capacitors. I considered replacing some but when I can get nice new modular Corsairs for around $20 after rebate, why bother? The point is power supplies age out. And the symptoms can and will usually be all over the map.

This very well may not be your problem, but I put it out there as food for thought anyway.

Oh and by the way, all of those 'corrupt recordings' play fine now. So you might not want to delete them just yet.
I am using a low-power htpc with one of the U series I3 cpus. Doesn't use much juice at all.

Roginator

Posts: 86
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 5:21 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#6

Post by Roginator » Mon Aug 14, 2017 11:36 am

I seem to recall this problem was fixed for me by tightening all the coax connections. Don't ask me how they loosen over time. It's a mystery to me.

SlantNGo

Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2017 1:06 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#7

Post by SlantNGo » Mon Aug 14, 2017 6:20 pm

I have this issue too, and almost all my channels are copy once so it's often not possible to test recordings on other computers or software to check if the recording itself is bad. I noticed the issue getting less frequent after I improved the coax signal. Tests on my hardware revealed no noticeable issues so I think it's some sort of encoding issue when the coax signal is getting flaky.

figsys

Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:17 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#8

Post by figsys » Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:49 pm

Also make sure your hard disk is not fragmented (unless SSD) or perhaps corrupted. Had that happen - files can't even be copied nor defragmented. The error recovery of WMC is actually impressive - I have often been able to skip damaged sectors using fast forward, and at least finish watching something but same file can't be copied using multiple utilities.

undecided

Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 12:01 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#9

Post by undecided » Sat Aug 19, 2017 10:40 pm

I remember seeing a thread about this being because of something in WMC that filled up and needed to be purged. There was a hotfix by Microsoft about it . I cannot find that old thread. Also, another solution was to have the htpc reboot once a day. Not sure I want to do that.

Post Reply