While watching live TV, I frequently pause during commercials and then go do other things while I wait for the commercials to end, so that I can then come back and skip past them.  Sometimes, whatever it is I'm doing lasts longer than the commercials, which I don't mind because then I can just skip past the next set of commercials.  This has caused a particular problem.  If I am watching a show on the same channel that has the next show scheduled, and I am behind live tv (i.e., there is a buffer), when the show that is scheduled to record comes on, it catches up to live tv and deletes the buffer.  This has caused countless conclusion-less shows, many of which have been whodunnits.  Is there a resolution to this issue that anyone knows of?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

The only solution I know is to not watch Live TV during the time that scheduled recordings are to begin. In addition to the problem you described, if the scheduled recording is on another channel, MC will needlessly change the channel to it, interrupting Live TV; a couple of threads on that include:

Scheduled recordings causes live tv to change to channel being recorded when recording begins (annoying)

Reproducibly Senseless DVR Behavior

Does a dual tuner resolve this issue?  I have been considering the Hauppauge 2250, but it is a little pricey.  This may be the straw that breaks the camel's back, if it fixes this (very annoying) problem.

Adding tuners doesn't help. Media Center does it to me when I'm watching Live TV, and 3 tuners are available to handle the single recording.

 

Here's a simple solution.  Before you get up to do your chores press "record" in addition to the pause button.  Then when you come back go to recorded TV and play it back from there.  Once done just delete it.  This method is a little more work but it solves the problem.

tims029334

In addition to the problem you described, if the scheduled recording is on another channel, MC will needlessly change the channel to it, interrupting Live TV;

be careful not to generalize - this does not happen with my 2250's.

I tend to watch TV in a similar way, pausing at will to do whatever.  Overtime I have learned to just hit the record button before pausing numerous times as a workaround.

Any show in my usual rotation is set to record regardless, I tend to do this with the news and say something like TMZ (my guilty pleasure).

mcewinter

I tend to watch TV in a similar way, pausing at will to do whatever.  Overtime I have learned to just hit the record button before pausing numerous times as a workaround.

Any show in my usual rotation is set to record regardless, I tend to do this with the news and say something like TMZ (my guilty pleasure).

 

 

Does this interfere with the recording of the show that is on afterwords?

tincansandtwine

mcewinter

Any show in my usual rotation is set to record regardless, I tend to do this with the news and say something like TMZ (my guilty pleasure).

 

 

Does this interfere with the recording of the show that is on afterwords?

No, after you press Record you normal recording options kick in and if MC needs to use the same tuner it will start recording the next show at the exact start time, unless you have specifically set your show to start recording so many minutes before no matter what. I do this as well, and it really isn't much more work because when you are done watching your show you push the Stop button, the press up and choose delete, you're only adding about 5 seconds.

HTPCwatcher

Here's a simple solution.  Before you get up to do your chores press "record" in addition to the pause button.  Then when you come back go to recorded TV and play it back from there.  Once done just delete it.  This method is a little more work but it solves the problem.

It may be important to press Record first, before doing any time-shifting, as the recording will not include the buffer, which is a problem if you decide to treat it as a "real" recording, instead of a MC workaround, and watch it much later. See my message in this thread along with others confirming the behavior of pressing Record while time-shifting, and reporting other weirdness:

Dedicate a tuner to live tv

 

qamfan

tims029334

In addition to the problem you described, if the scheduled recording is on another channel, MC will needlessly change the channel to it, interrupting Live TV;

be careful not to generalize - this does not happen with 2250's.

Hate to disagree, but it happens ALL THE TIME on my 2250. MC doesn't care what multiple tuner card (or multiple tuners) you have, it treats them all with disrespect!

mmatheny

Hate to disagree, but it happens ALL THE TIME on my 2250. MC doesn't care what multiple tuner card (or multiple tuners) you have, it treats them all with disrespect!

 

i've done several installs with 2250's, and not one of them had this problem. i did see the issue with the win7 betas and my avermedia tuners, but never with the 2250's. guess i'm just lucky.

qamfan

mmatheny

Hate to disagree, but it happens ALL THE TIME on my 2250. MC doesn't care what multiple tuner card (or multiple tuners) you have, it treats them all with disrespect!

 

i've done several installs with 2250's, and not one of them had this problem. i did see the issue with the win7 betas and my avermedia tuners, but never with the 2250's. guess i'm just lucky.

Let's make sure we're talking about the same issues:

1. Record 2 shows same channel back to back, no other shows scheduled, not watching live TV, and it WILL NOT use the second tuner for the 2nd show - it jams them together on the same tuner, either putting the beginning of the 2nd show on the end of the 1st show, or the end of the 1st show on the beginning of the 2nd show.

2.  Be watching a live TV show, and a SINGLE scheduled show comes on, and MC changes to the scheduled recording - forget that I'm watching a show!

3. Refuses to honor padding, no matter how many shows are scheduled.

what mmatheny said

 tuner priority is a joke and so is ms' qa department

i cant believe they let this slip through the cracks even with the sucker release of vistas tv pack.

mmatheny

Let's make sure we're talking about the same issues:

1. Record 2 shows same channel back to back, no other shows scheduled, not watching live TV, and it WILL NOT use the second tuner for the 2nd show - it jams them together on the same tuner, either putting the beginning of the 2nd show on the end of the 1st show, or the end of the 1st show on the beginning of the 2nd show.

2.  Be watching a live TV show, and a SINGLE scheduled show comes on, and MC changes to the scheduled recording - forget that I'm watching a show!

3. Refuses to honor padding, no matter how many shows are scheduled.

 

 

What I'm talking about is easier to explain with a hypothetical. When Lost is on, two episodes play consecutively: last weeks with a recap, and then the new one.  I'll be watching the recap, pausing along the way and adding to the buffer so I can get past the commercials.  I'll be halfway through the one episode, when Windows cuts to live tv because the new one was scheduled to be recorded.  When it does this, it also deletes all the buffer that was once there, all on the same channel.  This is very annoying.  Apparently, recording both episodes resolves this issue, at the expense of space.  If I can resolve this with a dual tuner, I think I'm game.  Whether or not it will resolve the issue seems to now be a topic of discussion.