comcast hd digital box - strange behavior

I have had similar issues with Comcast here in Detroit. The actual problems
are usually found to be within the customer service reps and not on the
phone however.

The first time this occurred, they solved the issue by re-booting my system.
This worked great, except it blew out ALL of my other NON-HD boxes. This
was awesome, since it was Labor Day and I couldn't get a qualified tech out
for 5 days.

The next issues came, and rather than fix it by rebooting, I chose to fix it
by calling Directv. I urge any HD users to take this route. They offer a
great deal on upgrading to HD, and getting the locals in HD is simple (this
may depend on your location) with a good and relatively inexpensive antenna.
"arthur wouk" wrote in message
...
as late as friday night i recorded the svideo output from the comcast
digital box on a vcr for time shifting. worked fine, and i played the
tape saturday night. but when i started the replay, there was no
output from the digital box to the vcr.

after finishing the replay, i started trouble shooting (you change one
thing at a time to see what is going on). after about a half hour of
tests i concluded that the digital box, while still putting out the
component signals, was not putting out either svideo or composite
video signals. the audio was not affected.

these boxes use the m$oft system of fixing things - you reboot (i used
to have to do this a lot in the past when things went wrong with digital
boxes - under the directions of the then at&t/tci support people).

so i rebooted the digital box. you power it off for a minute or so,
and it comes back wiped out except for the permanent stored memory and
the programs. all the channels are there, but none of the guide
materials are there. and, sure enough, the svideo output and the
composite video output were present.

[it takes about an hour or so for the program guide materials to
re-appear.]

has anyone else had this problem? i never had this problem with the
predecessor digital set top box, which didn't decode the hd signals.
--
a wise person once said "what good is a smart bomb if you have a dumb
president?" - aaron mcgruder

to email me, delete blackhole. from my return address

Please explain what DirecTv offers to existing customers for upgrading to
HDTV. If possible, send reply to:
GREG DOT CA AT COMCAST DOT NET
Thanks --Greg--

"Aristotle Wilde" wrote in message
...
I have had similar issues with Comcast here in Detroit. The actual
problems
are usually found to be within the customer service reps and not on the
phone however.

The first time this occurred, they solved the issue by re-booting my
system.
This worked great, except it blew out ALL of my other NON-HD boxes. This
was awesome, since it was Labor Day and I couldn't get a qualified tech
out
for 5 days.

The next issues came, and rather than fix it by rebooting, I chose to fix
it
by calling Directv. I urge any HD users to take this route. They offer a
great deal on upgrading to HD, and getting the locals in HD is simple
(this
may depend on your location) with a good and relatively inexpensive
antenna.
"arthur wouk" wrote in message
...
as late as friday night i recorded the svideo output from the comcast
digital box on a vcr for time shifting. worked fine, and i played the
tape saturday night. but when i started the replay, there was no
output from the digital box to the vcr.

after finishing the replay, i started trouble shooting (you change one
thing at a time to see what is going on). after about a half hour of
tests i concluded that the digital box, while still putting out the
component signals, was not putting out either svideo or composite
video signals. the audio was not affected.

these boxes use the m$oft system of fixing things - you reboot (i used
to have to do this a lot in the past when things went wrong with digital
boxes - under the directions of the then at&t/tci support people).

so i rebooted the digital box. you power it off for a minute or so,
and it comes back wiped out except for the permanent stored memory and
the programs. all the channels are there, but none of the guide
materials are there. and, sure enough, the svideo output and the
composite video output were present.

[it takes about an hour or so for the program guide materials to
re-appear.]

has anyone else had this problem? i never had this problem with the
predecessor digital set top box, which didn't decode the hd signals.
--
a wise person once said "what good is a smart bomb if you have a dumb
president?" - aaron mcgruder

to email me, delete blackhole. from my return address