I got home last night at about 20 after 8 last night to find that my VMC wasn't recording anything, and hadn't since 2am the morning before.  The strangest thing was it still said that the programs that it should have been recording at the time were still labeled as "will record."  I could watch any one show, but i couldn't even force a recording to start.  I rebooted, and the problem persisted.  The system had pulled down and installed an update, so I rolled back to before that update.  Still no way to get a scheduled recording to start, or to force a recording.  I thought maybe it was my last video driver update, so I rolled back to the last ATI driver update (3 days prior).  Nothing. 

I had to do a clean install of VMC Ultimate, (thus losing all my CableCARD recordings, again).  I then updated the system to TVPack (I have 4 CableCARDs, so I have to to get the right OS support for all my Tuners).  The system seems to be as good as it was before it wouldn't record (I still have HD stations that won't view, but will record and play back). 

Has anyone ever had anything like this happen to them?  If so was there a better solution than a complete reinstall from scratch?

I had the exact same issue happen to me 2 days ago.  I tried restoring from my WHS backups to several points in the past, before the problem started and nothing fixed the issue. Every time I ended up in the same situation, all recordings showing "will record".  I ended up restoring to a point just before I installed TV Pack and then re-running the TV Pack setup and it worked. This is functionally the equivalent of a full re-install.  I ended up turning off Windows Update to see if an update had killed it. I hope this isn't a recurring issue. 

As a side note, I also have 3 cablecard tuners and an HDhomerun.  Thankfully, I have most recordings set up to record from the HDhomerun and I copy them off to my WHS so I don't lose too many recordings when an issue comes up, but it's still frustrating and requires hours to get back to a working system. 

Everyone keeps saying to not run TV pack on a production system, but show me someone who has an "extra" cablecard system laying around to test with...

I haven't had this problem yet but if I do it will be the thing that makes me forget about TV Pack. I'm having other issues like recordings not being scheduled, the store update manager crashing daily (which lately is preventing guide updates), and recordings occasionally being cut short due to a temporary failure (for which I can't find any other information on). It's getting quite frustrating. I love all the features the TV Pack adds but it's starting to become a huge headache.

This is a problem that has been deeply discussed in here. Supposedly, M$ is working on a fix to be released through Windows Update. The interim fix is to redo TV Signal setup, but there's no guarantee it will stay fixed for more than a few weeks.

I did a TV signal Setup, and it DID NOT correct the issue.  I tried all the old tricks and it wouldn't work.  I even ran TVSetup and didn't put any of the CableCARDs on the system and only tried the HDHomerun.

I also have an HDHomerun as my 5th and 6th tuner.  (My Time Warner doesn't have NBC or CW in HD)

I've never read anything about a problem quite like this.  I've seen the can't watch but can record, and a few other small problems.

If i were building a system for someone else (as an OEM) I'd have a hard time putting TVPack on that system.  It's one thing when I have to rebuild my own system because something isn't working.  I understand that being on the cutting edge.  It's a whole different thing if a customer of mine was fighting with a problem and lost recordings for it.

I can't even seem to re-run TV Signal setup on my machine to attempt to resolve my issues. Every time I try I get to Activate Digital Cable and click OK and Media Center crashes. It's a shame they couldn't get TV Pack straight before they shipped it out...it adds a lot of features I love.   

 

Axlrod:

I did a TV signal Setup, and it DID NOT correct the issue.  I tried all the old tricks and it wouldn't work.  I even ran TVSetup and didn't put any of the CableCARDs on the system and only tried the HDHomerun.

I also have an HDHomerun as my 5th and 6th tuner.  (My Time Warner doesn't have NBC or CW in HD)

I've never read anything about a problem quite like this.  I've seen the can't watch but can record, and a few other small problems.

Same here.  I wonder if this is due to having more than 2 cablecard tuners.  I've seen other users with cablecards and HDHomerun, so I doubt that is the cause.  If it happens again, I'll rebuild with just SP1 & TV Pack and not apply ANY other windows updates (other than the ones required for TV Pack) to see if it's conflict with another update.

Which version of the HDHomerun software/firmware are you using?

20080727

I had to reinstall after the Rebuild and used the same one.

jhale83:

I can't even seem to re-run TV Signal setup on my machine to attempt to resolve my issues. Every time I try I get to Activate Digital Cable and click OK and Media Center crashes. It's a shame they couldn't get TV Pack straight before they shipped it out...it adds a lot of features I love.   

 

Uhm, they didn't ship it out. You have it because it was distributed by unauthorized methods.

I have this problem, or one very similiar, too.  I nuked recordings.xml thinking it was corrupt.  This seemed to solve the recording issue, however, now my ATI cablecard tuners wont show a picture.  VMC is recording now, just blank screen...and no live tv.

My problem is documented here: http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/296630.aspx

 

CycleWriter:

jhale83:

I can't even seem to re-run TV Signal setup on my machine to attempt to resolve my issues. Every time I try I get to Activate Digital Cable and click OK and Media Center crashes. It's a shame they couldn't get TV Pack straight before they shipped it out...it adds a lot of features I love.   

 

Uhm, they didn't ship it out. You have it because it was distributed by unauthorized methods.

They did "ship it out" to OEM vendors full of bugs. How do you know what method was used by me to obtain TV Pack?

The one thing that all of us who experienced this problem so far have in common is that we all have more than 2 cablecard tuners.

Anyone else have more than 2 cablecard tuners and have TV Pack working for more than a week?

WScottCross:

The one thing that all of us who experienced this problem so far have in common is that we all have more than 2 cablecard tuners.

Anyone else have more than 2 cablecard tuners and have TV Pack working for more than a week?

Had the same problem, shows would not record. They would even have the red dot on them while they were on but, would only say "will record".

I could manualy select a show and select record, and it would show the red dot but, still would only say "will record" and nothing records.

I tried everything trying to avoid the rebuild. After a day of trying to re-run setup and tuner setup, nothing, ended up rebuilding and making sure I had a new backup..

By the way, only 3 analog tuners and a HDhomerun, No cable cards here (not yet at least)

DavidinCT:

By the way, only 3 analog tuners and a HDhomerun, No cable cards here (not yet at least)

OK, good, more info. 

Now I revise my theory: What we seem to all have in common is that we have more than 2 of a given type of tuner, which means that we are all using Vista Ultimate.

WScottCross:

The one thing that all of us who experienced this problem so far have in common is that we all have more than 2 cablecard tuners.

Anyone else have more than 2 cablecard tuners and have TV Pack working for more than a week?

I only have 2 CableCARD tuners but I also have a HDHR and a theater 550 pro analog card.

EDIT: I guess I haven't really had the same exact problem yet though.