My Digital Life

My Directv HR20-700 Video and Audio Stutter Issues (Update 3)

Back in mid-September Directv released a new version of their software. After the automatic upgrade issues with my recordings started to occur. The video and audio would drop out and essentially stopping the playback from 2 to 5 seconds. This happened so many times that it made the viewing experience of recorded content lousy. I have had no issues with watching live TV, but I seldom do anymore other than for sporting events.

In mid-October Directv released version 0x0368 of their software. This version helped considerably but the problem was still very noticeable.

I have been a Directv customer for 14 years now, but with the onslaught of Verizon FIOS marketing, the fact that I have FIOS for internet and home phone service, I was starting to think hard about switching to their TV service. The two biggest issues I have had with switching are:

1. The Motorola DVR which FIOS provides is substandard and they don't allow you to add an external drive.
2. If you purchase (additional cost) a Tivo DVR which provides the external drive functionality, you are stuck using one way cable cards which eliminates any pay per view or interactive feature.

Yes, FIOS could work for me, but the overall Directv experience is better and their iPhone app is a great little tool. The forums like dbstalk.com have provided very little help other than to the RBR (Red Button Reset) the DVR. This seems to help a little but you have to do it almost daily so that is not a solution. As I was planning my potential move to FIOS, I decided to call Directv customer service to see what they would suggest (I have to say I was pretty skeptical). As I explained my problem, the CS person narrowed the potential issue down to the disk and suggested I run a disk scan and report any errors.

I ran the disk scan (RBR, wait on the "just a few more moments" message, press the front panel down key and record button simultaneously until the scan message comes up). It took 16 hours to scan my 1 Terabyte external hard drive. No errors were found, but the scan clearly resolved some issues.

Last night I started watching recorded programs and although not perfect there are no audio dropouts and the video stutters are blips that do not negatively impact the viewing experience.

Bottom line this clearly a disk related issue associated with the update and probably associated with the external drive functionality which is supposedly unsupported but operational.

Updates:

11/23/09: Good weekend for recorded material with only minor video and audio stutters. It was interesting that the hard drive started making quite a bit of noise again (I wonder what is going on, could it be defragmenting?), but if it makes things watchable I will live with (my DVR and HD are in a cabinet 20 feet away from my LCD panel). I may schedule another scan this week.

11/21/09: I ran another scan Wednesday night and last night watched 3 recorded shows. This seem to help quite a bit, I had 2 minor video/audio stutters on a 30 minute show. I will keep monitoring.

11/19/09: I am sorry to say that the video and audio dropouts/stutters are back when I watched 2 recorded shows last night. I had planned on running another scan and started it around 10PM last night. It is about 60% done this morning. If this does not work, I may purchase a Western Digital My DVR drive to see if that helps (I would need it anyway if I went to a Tivo/FIOS setup).

 

Note: BTW, I am using a special starter edition of Office 2010 (closed beta w NDA) to edit this blog post I created with Office 2007. It is funny to see the file being opened in compatibility mode.

3G Coverage by Population

After the Verizon ad attack against AT&T 3G footprint, I thought it would be interesting to find out what the four major carriers 3G coverage is by population.

1. Verizon Wireless 284 million (source: mocoNews.net)
2. AT&T Wireless 233 million (source: AT&T)
3. T-Mobile USA UMTS/HSPA 200 million by the end of 2009 (source: Business Wire)
4. Sprint EVDO Rev A/0 170 million (source: Sprint)

The Sprint number seems low but it came from their web site, and the reference to 2006 looks like this page has not been updated for a while. I guess that is par for the course for Sprint…

A Major Reason I Love Lenovo ThinkPads

I have been using ThinkPads since the late 90's and have always been very happy with the design, durability and IBM service. I feel I am probably in the minority but I love the trackpoint, it works for me not to have to raise my hands while typing to use the mouse functions.

I have not had to use the depot warranty service for several years now. At the beginning of this year the middle latch of my 2 ½ year old X60 tablet fell out and I lost it. The latch pushes up and down through the LCD panel case so you can lock the panel to the keyboard base in either standard clamshell mode or reverse tablet mode where the LCD is exposed.

The reversible latch (at the top of this picture).

I finally planned some time where I was not going to need my X60 tablet; I was going to be away for the weekend and planned on using my VAIO P. I called Lenovo/IBM (IBM currently provides the service in the US) on Tuesday, they shipped a return box which I received on Wednesday. Thursday evening I took my machine to the local UPS store; IBM received the machine on Friday, repaired and shipped it back on Saturday for delivery on Monday morning. This level of service makes the rather dull but business looking ThinkPad a winner and the fact that Lenovo has so far kept IBM's design philosophy and build quality is what keeps me coming back.

My X60 is 2 ½ years old; it has worked very well with Windows Vista and is working even better with Windows 7. At this point I have no need to move to a newer model for the foreseeable future…

Verizon Has a Point with Their 3G Ads

I have been travelling this weekend and had the opportunity to borrow (not from Verizon) a Verizon Wireless MiFi 2200. The drive south from Washington, DC on I95 shows how far AT&T has to go before they provide the level of 3G coverage Verizon currently has. That said it does not mean that AT&T does not have coverage, they do but at the slower EDGE speed. This is where the Verizon ads are slightly misleading; I think most individuals don't make or understand the distinction between 2G and 3G. AT&T 2G coverage is as good as Verizon's.

I have no issues when I am in Washington, DC with AT&T, I love my iPhone and 3G speeds are good. Although I do have the occasional dropped call, overall the service has been getting better and better. My biggest issue is in my home office, my 3G signal is lousy and I have to manually switch to 2G. After talking to friends who have seen results of carrier network performance tests, they are convinced there are two major issues with the iPhone. First the chip set that Apple uses is just not very good and the AT&T base station configurations do not handle data bursts very well. The base stations are designed to provide high quality real time voice processing; data packets seem to arrive in burst and overload the base stations causing dropped calls. The bottom line is that there is plenty of blame to go around between Apple and AT&T. The iPhone issues are not AT&T's alone as many pundits claim, the problem are shared between Apple and AT&T; that is clear to me when my iPhone does not switch between 3G and 2G in my house. Apple controls the network programming on the iPhone and AT&T controls the network. Both have to work well together to provide a good user experience.

What is great about the MIFI 2200 is that I can use it with my iPhone on Verizon's 3G network even if I am in an AT&T 2G EDGE area.

The Verizon MIFI 2200 unit on my dashboard.

The Verizon MIFI speed test result via a WIFI connection on the iPhone in South Carolina.

A speed test result on AT&T EDGE network in the same Hilton Head Island, South Carolina area.

The bottom line; if you need 3G outside of major metropolitan areas then Verizon is currently the way to go, and for iPhone users a MiFi 2200 may be an excellent option. If you need only occasional 3G access Verizon has a day pass for $15; however you do have to purchase the MiFi at the full price of $269.99 vs. $79.99 with a 2 year commitment with a minimum $39.99 per month plan.

Today's Rant - Microsoft Drops Office Accounting

Actually this has been a weekend rant since I received the email on Friday evening stating that MS was discontinuing Office Accounting. As an independent consultant this is a very easy piece of software to use and the integration with Outlook Business Contact Manager is excellent. I can turn calendar events and tasks into timecard entries making invoicing a breeze. This event really added insult to injury, as I was in the process of converting MS Money to Quicken (another defunct product) this weekend. Earlier this week I had to get rid of MS OneCare as I migrated two of my machines to Windows 7, although on that front MS did provide a replacement Anti-Virus application (Microsoft Security Essentials).

This year seems to be a banner year for cutting consumer and small business applications. I know these were not top selling applications but they provided excellent functionality. At some level it feels like MS is abandoning the consumer and small business application market. This move may drive more independents to Apple and it makes me wonder what's next on the chopping block?

With my interest in smartphone technology, it is interesting that OEM manufacturers and cellular carriers have been hedging their bets with Android against Windows Mobile. With the many missteps made by the Windows Mobile team could they be next on the chopping block? I know Steve Ballmer is touting Windows Mobile 7 but if it is a flop, I think MS will run away from it as fast as possible.

-- Post From My iPhone

Windows 7 in Place Upgrade of My Sony VAIO P

Since I purchase my VAIO P after June 26^th of this year, I was eligible for the free Windows 7 upgrade kit provided by Sony. The upgrade kit finally arrived Thursday. Here are the steps I followed to perform my in place upgrade:

The Sony Windows 7 upgrade kit came with 2 DVD, one containing Microsoft Windows 7 and one with Sony's drivers and applications.

1. I created an image of my system with Acronis True Image Home 2010 to a 120GB WD USB drive. Without OneCare, I think this is the best backup solution out there.
2. I downloaded, installed and ran the current version of the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

 

1. I reviewed the reports and followed the advice given. I hate that Microsoft discontinued OneCare, it was probably one of the most helpful home/small office program they ever put together, but this year has been the year of slashing in Redmond with MS Money, and other consumer apps going by the wayside (Today I just got an email that Office Accounting is being discontinued, maybe MS really wants me to try an iMac…WTF). It is interesting that the VZ Access Manager is listed for reinstall on the VAIO-P upgrade advisor report. I did not have to uninstall it on my X60 Tablet. It probably has something to do with the VAIO P's GOBI chip.

1. Once I completed the un-installs, I reran the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. Since I did not have the base VZ Access Manager Sony edition software to reinstall, I have decided to leave it alone and see what happens.
2. As I mentioned in my X60 upgrade list, it is a good idea to check for the latest BIOS. Sony has not released any new BIOS since the original pre installed one so I should be fine and if I need a new one the extra Sony specific disk should include it.
3. I then started the install process using the Microsoft DVD which came in the upgrade kit. The installation process validates and installs any required prerequisite Sony drivers and applications for the VAIO P. This is a big advantage of using a manufacturer upgrade kit and makes it rather idiot proof, versus downloading Windows 7 directly from Microsoft which recommends checking the manufacturer's web site manually.
4. The Windows 7 upgrade took about 4 hours, I then inserted the Sony VAIO P specific DVD and that took another hour. When I rebooted the system with Windows 7, I did have to reenter all of my network keys and network types (home, office, public) but all the drivers where updated automatically. As with the X60 I did have to uninstall and reinstall the Cisco VPN client version 5.0.04.0300.
5. I then needed to install a new Anti-Virus application. For this machine I decided to use Microsoft Anti Virus engine from the Microsoft Security Essentials web page. It is free to consumers and should provide adequate protection along with Windows Defender and Firewall (both come with Windows 7).
6. Since Microsoft is no longer shipping Photo and Video applications with Windows 7, Sony added it's Picture Motion Browser, which is great if you have Sony cameras since it recognizes them easily. I use it for importing AVCHD videos. For Video editing Sony included Sony VAIO Story; I have not tried it yet.

The VAIO P running Windows 7.

My upgrade experience so far has been excellent; it is faster and uses much less memory. Finally Sling Player works well in full screen mode…One more machine to go; my Dell XPS 720 H2C, thinking of rebuilding with Windows 7 64 bit.

Windows 7 Tip – Love Recently Used Attached to Program on Start Menu

Windows 7 provides easy access to recently used items by attaching the function to the specific application on the Start Menu. Click on the arrow to the right of the application and a list of recently used items will be displayed for you to select.

I can choose the server I want to Remote Desktop to from the Start Menu. Very nice feature.

Lenovo X60 Windows 7 Issues and Application Re-installs (update 10/28/09)

So far Windows 7 has worked very well. I will keep a list of issues over the next week, as well as required application reinstalls/repairs.

Issues/potential resolutions:

1. After several suspend/resumes the running copy of IE8 was unresponsive. I had to use the task manager to restart it.
2. Touch calibration was way off. I had to run the Windows calibration utility (start/search for calibration) and recalibrated both pen and touch. The X60 only responds to simple touch commands but it is great for paging and activating running programs on the task bar.
3. Acrobat 9.2 Standard was not loading, I performed a repair using the Acrobat install routine via control panel/Programs and Features, rebooted the issue seems resolved.
4. The automatic screen rotate and the tablet input panel did not work (first time I tried was today). Once I ran the Lenovo System Update and updated the ThinkPad Tablet Shortcut menu application, along with updating the WACOM pen and touch driver using Windows Update I was all set.

Application Re-Installs:

1. Lenovo System Update. Installed version 4 (Win 7 specific)
2. iTunes, current version from apple.com 9.0.1.8
3. Cisco VPN client version 5.0.04.0300

Windows 7 in Place Upgrade of My Lenovo X60 Tablet (update 2)

I went ahead and plucked down $219.00 to upgrade my Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate Thursday night. Here are the steps I followed to perform my in place upgrade:

1. I created an image of my system with Acronis True Image Home 2010 to my 160Mb WD Passport USB drive. Without OneCare, I think this is the best backup solution out there.
2. I downloaded, installed and ran the current version of the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

 

1. I reviewed the reports and followed the advice given. I hate that Microsoft discontinued OneCare, it was probably one of the most helpful home/small office program they ever put together, but this year has been the year of slashing in Redmond with MS Money, and other consumer apps going by the wayside.

1. Once I completed the un-installs, I reran the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. I was never able to figure out which application the Lenovo Utilities was referring to but I figured it is probably all of the Thinkpad applications which Lenovo has updates for. The total prep time through this step was about an hour.
2. It is a good idea to check for the latest BIOS from Lenovo for the X60 although the Lenovo System Update will also perform a BIOS version check. The current BIOS is dated 01/08/2009. (Thanks RBK).
3. I then proceeded to purchase and download the upgrade from the Microsoft web site. I decided to download the standard 32 bit version instead of the ISO version because I did not want to go through the extra step of burning a CD. The download seemed slow so I left it run overnight Thursday. Friday morning I copied the directory structure found in my user\downloads directory to my server for backup.
4. I then started the in place upgrade process. The process revalidates your system and on this round of checking it told me I should uninstall all of the ThinkPad utilities, as well as the Intel Pro Wireless 3945 ABG drivers. At this point I was ready to move forward and figured I could deal with the issues once the upgrade was completed (not that smart, but today I was feeling lucky...). It took about 3 hours to complete.
5. When I restarted the Lenovo in Windows 7, the first issue I had to deal with was the wireless driver which the in place upgrade system check had highlighted. I uninstalled using the device manager; Windows then detected the hardware and reinstalled the drivers automatically. I was now connected to my network. I did have to reenter all of my network keys and network types (home, office, public). On the network front I also had uninstall and reinstall the Cisco VPN client version 5.0.04.0300. It looks like Microsoft has revamped the network stack, we are back to quick connect times on the VPN (Vista was slow, and before SP2 prone to errors).
6. I then downloaded the new Lenovo System Update 4.0 specifically designed for Windows 7. And ran the update to bring my ThinkPad utilities and drivers up to date.
7. I then needed to install a new Anti-Virus application. From my research, it looks like people really like the AVAST on Windows 7, so I decided to try it. You can also download Microsoft Anti Virus engine from the Microsoft Security Essentials web page (free for home use). Thanks Adamzea for clarifying the release.

My upgrade experience so far has been excellent, but I personally view Windows 7 as Vista SP3. I was already on Vista SP2 so I never thought I would have any real issues upgrading. Windows 7 is definitely much faster and the boot time is even better than XP. Bottom line "I am loving it" and Windows 7 is what the original version of Vista should have been. The subtle UI and task bar changes are also great. I love the merging of the task bar icons with running applications, and the mouse rollover to pick your active window means goodbye to Alt-Tab…

Windows 7 Day is Finally Here

Time for to upgrade my 3 machines from Vista to Windows 7. I have never really had any issues with Vista, and I have come to believe that the problems individuals where having where associated with hardware/driver design. I think Microsoft did a really poor job educating its OEM partners or never brought them into the design cycle to build a coherent hardware and software ecosystem. I own three machines, all running Vista, a Lenovo X60 Tablet, a Dell XPS 720 H2C, and Sony VAIO P. The Lenovo works flawlessly, I only reboot it for updates. The Dell is very inconsistent, I can go for 7 days without a problem, then have multiple lockups in one day. The lockup issues seem to be related to USB devices and Bluetooth. The Sony is more stable than the Dell but I have had two serious driver issues which forced me to rebuild.

I plan on doing in place upgrades on all machines. Dell does not seem to support Windows 7 on the XPS 720, which is probably why this will be the last Dell I ever buy. I spent a lot of money on this machine and for them to stop supporting it barely two years after I purchased it is a crime. It looks like they are supporting the 730, which tells me that the 720 had design issues. That said the Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor seems to think I will be fine. I agree, I don't think it will be worse than the lockups I currently encounter.

I will be buying upgrades from Microsoft for the Lenovo and the Dell, and I am waiting for Sony to deliver my free upgrade kit which has been approved but with no ship date.

My plan for the Lenovo and the Dell is the run the Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, Backup using Acronis True Image Home, and follow the instructions the Upgrade Advisor generates.

I will post my experience on the process.