# Safe To Upgrade To 6.3



## boltjames (Dec 21, 2002)

Is it?

I've owned an HR10 for the past two months that's not hooked to a phone line. Was going to to download the update, but read all the nasty in here.

Is it safe?










BJ


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## Todd (Oct 7, 1999)

No, it's not safe.


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## bwaldron (Mar 16, 2003)

boltjames said:


> Is it?
> 
> I've owned an HR10 for the past two months that's not hooked to a phone line. Was going to to download the update, but read all the nasty in here.
> 
> ...


Some people report no issues, but lots of us have problems. So it is not exactly "safe", there is some risk involved. Since we are a subset of HR10 owners, there's no way to determine what the probabilities are.

If you don't watch much OTA and keep your disk pretty empty, your chances for happiness with the upgrade are probably greater.

Me? My phone line is unplugged until I see a 6.3b.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

If you watch/record lots of OTA HDTV channels, especially your local Fox network, then you should wait. Many of us have problems with audio dropouts from those stations.


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## TomF (Apr 13, 2001)

Audio dropouts are not the only reason not to upgrade to 6.3a. My HR10 has spontaneously rebooted itself at least twice since I got 6.3a. After the second reboot I had to redo all of my channels. Once, while recording a program on each tuner, I turned on my TV and found that both channels were showing gray screens. The unit was not responding correctly and I had no choice other than to reboot it. I lost both recordings. I experienced exactly ZERO problems with it for the more than a year that I've owned it prior to 6.3a.

I've had audio dropouts on all of my OTA channels, Fox, CBS and now ABC. My HR20 records the same programs and I haven't had audio dropouts on it (but there's a whole host of other problems on that unit). Because of the way that they implemented folders, I lost the ability to sort by expiration date and it's no longer possible to page down the To Do list while looking at the program descriptions which I do every few days to see what's coming up.

All this for folders which really aren't worth it and faster reordering of your Season Pass (but how often do you do that?)

Knowing what I know now about 6.3a, given the choice again, I absolutely wouldn't do it. :down: :down:


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## divedude (Oct 2, 2006)

I trust sharks, but not this update :down:


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## ssandhoops (Feb 23, 2002)

TomF said:


> Audio dropouts are not the only reason not to upgrade to 6.3a. My HR10 has spontaneously rebooted itself at least twice since I got 6.3a. After the second reboot I had to redo all of my channels. Once, while recording a program on each tuner, I turned on my TV and found that both channels were showing gray screens. The unit was not responding correctly and I had no choice other than to reboot it. I lost both recordings. I experienced exactly ZERO problems with it for the more than a year that I've owned it prior to 6.3a.


For me, the experience has been just the opposite. I was having random reboots, about once a day and sometimes more. At least two times I also turned on my TV to find no picture or a gray screen and no response from the HD TIVO, requiring a reboot to get it working again. I've now had 6.3a for over 3 weeks and have not had a single reboot. So, was the 6.3a software really the fix for me or was it moving the OS to a different boot partition the real fix? If the latter, might that also be the issue in reverse for some folks? I think there's no doubt the audio dropouts are caused by 6.3 but many of the other things being attributed to the upgrade, such as random reboots, might be related to something else.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

ssandhoops said:


> .... So, was the 6.3a software really the fix for me or was it moving the OS to a different boot partition the real fix? If the latter, might that also be the issue in reverse for some folks? I think there's no doubt the audio dropouts are caused by 6.3 but many of the other things being attributed to the upgrade, such as random reboots, might be related to something else.


Yes, the boot partition change from one software version to the updated version is a common cause of reboot issues with all Tivos.


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## gquiring (Dec 13, 2002)

6.3a works great for me. I don't use OTA only D* NY locals. I had many audio dropouts prior to 6.3, after 6.3 I have less. The speed improvement is the best reason to upgrade.


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## bpratt (Nov 20, 2004)

TomF said:


> Audio dropouts are not the only reason not to upgrade to 6.3a. My HR10 has spontaneously rebooted itself at least twice since I got 6.3a. After the second reboot I had to redo all of my channels. Once, while recording a program on each tuner, I turned on my TV and found that both channels were showing gray screens. The unit was not responding correctly and I had no choice other than to reboot it. I lost both recordings. I experienced exactly ZERO problems with it for the more than a year that I've owned it prior to 6.3a.
> 
> I've had audio dropouts on all of my OTA channels, Fox, CBS and now ABC. My HR20 records the same programs and I haven't had audio dropouts on it (but there's a whole host of other problems on that unit). Because of the way that they implemented folders, I lost the ability to sort by expiration date and it's no longer possible to page down the To Do list while looking at the program descriptions which I do every few days to see what's coming up.
> 
> ...


I had some reboots, partial recordings and a few other weird problems after receiving 6.3a. At the suggestion of another thread in this forum, I did a "clear and delete everything". Since then the unit has had no problems other than the occasional 10 second audio dropout problem. Try a clear and delete everything and see if it fixes your other problems too.


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## philmalik (Sep 27, 2006)

Someone has to say it:

NICE movie reference Boltjames. VERY VERY nice reference!!


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## Dignan (Jan 27, 2002)

I finally let one of mine update to 6.3, I've had one freeze on it that needed a reboot. The speed is really nice as are the folders, not experiencing audio dropouts. But I still use the Tivo with the older code as my main unit, it's rock solid (but slower). I don't use OTA.

If I was in a situation where I only had one HR10-250 I think I would still wait.


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## Charlutz (Apr 7, 2005)

I'd wait. I've had partial recordings and audio dropouts since the update. Never had them before. I really enjoy the folders and faster guide, but once we got a partial recording the 'set it and forget it' calmness of knowing our shows would be recorded went away. Now I feel I need to check the shows, plus have my second hr10 and a r10 record shows as backups. Not good. Especially since the hr 10 is on a small screen in the bedroom with no HT sound, and the r10 is on a 27" sd tube. Not being able to watch on the big screen, not to mention having to move the family after we all sit down to watch something, sucks.


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## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

I think it's perfectly safe for everyone to allow the update. Everyone except me, that is. I will be patiently wating here on the other side (3.1 with the phone line disconnected) for your reports.


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## herdfan (Feb 5, 2003)

bwaldron said:


> My phone line is unplugged until I see a 6.3b.


I'm waiting until until there are no problems reported with 6.3b.


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## judson_west (Nov 10, 2001)

*Christian Szell*: Is it safe?
*Babe*: Yes, it's safe, it's very safe, it's so safe you wouldn't believe it.
*Christian Szell*: Is it safe?
*Babe*: No. It's not safe, it's... very dangerous, be careful.

It's as save as you want it to be. It was safe for me.


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## jrock (Aug 27, 2002)

I have 2 HR10-250's and both upgraded and I have had no problems at all. I don't use OTA though so I can't say anything about that but for people that only use the SAT it should be fine unless the HD has something wrong like bad sectors then the upgrade could bring that out a lot faster and boom but that's not the upgrades fault.


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## sjschaff (Nov 13, 2006)

Not safe in the least. Have replaced the unit once and made the mistake of letting it rev up to 6.3a. Same result after a few days - dropouts on Fox and CBS and other OTA, shortened and non-recordings, and reboots on it's own. I watch a great deal of OTA high def out here on the Left coast (S.F. area). I wonder if I removed all OTA from my channel listings whether I'd see any problems at all....who knows. It's a mystery till the software engineers turn on the debug code, and start watching what we are. Hope they're making progress.


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## morgantown (Mar 29, 2005)

Only have one on a smaller HDTV in the kitchen that is on 6.3. It has re-booted a few times and now thinks it has two tuners (although it is set-up as one tuner).

Other than that, this one at least has not had significant issues. We will move it to the new wally world "big" HDTV after Thanksgiving in the main viewing area. Perhaps I'll have gripes once it is in the main viewing area (I certainly hope not!).


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## NYHeel (Oct 7, 2003)

gquiring said:


> 6.3a works great for me. I don't use OTA only D* NY locals. I had many audio dropouts prior to 6.3, after 6.3 I have less. The speed improvement is the best reason to upgrade.


I also use the Directv NY locals and have not experienced the audio dropouts although I still have a lot of audio hiccups. It's irritating but not that big of a deal. I haven't had reboot issues that I'm aware of although every now and then I notice that 30 second skip is gone so maybe it has been rebooting. My main trouble since 6.3a has been either short or unwatchable recordings. It has happened on 2 different occasions. While that may not seem like much it changes the way I record tv. I now make sure I back up everything I record on the HD Tivo by also recording it on my SD Tivo. So in a sense I've lost 2 of my tuners.


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## sluciani (Apr 21, 2003)

I have four HR10's of varying vintages... one from the initial batch way back when, and one installed as recently as a month ago. They've all been upgraded to 6.3a. Aside from the OTA HD audio dropouts, I've thankfully had none of the issues that others are reporting, including spontaneous reboots, shortened recordings or recordings deleted FIFO instead of LIFO.

I'm fortunate that I don't have to rely on OTA. The D* HD feeds of CBS, ABC, NBC and FOX mirror my NY OTA feeds, so I am satisfied to record HD "Lite" until they are able to fix the problem. If you are unable to get the major networks from D*, I'd advise holding off on the upgrade, or rolling back to 3.15f if you're able to.

/steve


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## boltjames (Dec 21, 2002)

Hello friends. It's been a month since my first post, so the question again:

Is it safe (yet)?

TIA

BJ


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## PhysicalPresence (Jun 24, 2006)

No, nothing new has happened in the last month. If you've got 3.15f, definitely stick with it. While it may be a little slow when the drive gets full, at least it doesn't miss recordings, or chop off recordings early like the update has reported doing.

In other words the older version is stable and works just fine.


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## kbohip (Dec 30, 2003)

Nothing has changed. Nothing at all.  I still get the FOX OTA audio dropouts as bad as before along with shortened recordings. This doesn't surprise me though as the software is still 6.3a.


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## tucsonbill (Aug 11, 2004)

boltjames said:


> Hello friends. It's been a month since my first post, so the question again:
> 
> Is it safe (yet)?
> 
> ...


No. (IMHO) OTOH, I don't think you'll have to ask -- when it happens you'll hear -- then you can wait another two or three weeks (just in case).


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## Teutonaddict (May 10, 2005)

Charlutz said:


> I'd wait. I've had partial recordings and audio dropouts since the update. Never had them before. I really enjoy the folders and faster guide, but once we got a partial recording the 'set it and forget it' calmness of knowing our shows would be recorded went away. Now I feel I need to check the shows, plus have my second hr10 and a r10 record shows as backups. Not good. Especially since the hr 10 is on a small screen in the bedroom with no HT sound, and the r10 is on a 27" sd tube. Not being able to watch on the big screen, not to mention having to move the family after we all sit down to watch something, sucks.


I've had the exact same issues, and have resorted to doing backup recordings on a 2nd hr10 in the bedroom. I'm a nine-year D* hi-end subscriber and a TiVo-lifer, and this has me considering the offerings from the cable scum--It's been that frustrating!

I had truncated recordings on a few primetime dramas and key football games, and I'm at my wits' end.


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## sluciani (Apr 21, 2003)

boltjames said:


> Hello friends. It's been a month since my first post, so the question again:
> 
> Is it safe (yet)?


Like I said earlier in this thread, based on my own personal experience as an owner of 4 HR-10's, it's safe... as long as you don't watch a lot OTA HD.

I'm beginning to believe that even if you're not recording an OTA HD channel, just being tuned to one (FOX in particular), may cause the Tivo to behave erratically trying to deal with the dropped audio, and this behavior may have something to do with the reports of reboots and shortened recordings that I've seen. I say this because my 4 units, ranging from over 2 years old to 2 months old, exhibit none of the issues that I see plaguing others. Except for PBS-HD which I occasionally record on 13.1 here in NY, I've switched all my Season's Passes to the D* HD feeds.

Of course, there's always the possibility that the new software will reside in a previously untested partition of your hard drive that may be corrupt and cause problems. In that case, a C&D all (reformat) seems to take care of this issue, in most cases.

/steve


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## boltjames (Dec 21, 2002)

Thanks everyone.

Question: Back in 1997 when I first got D* I kept the basic cable in my house for the other TV's. I'm on a $10 a month plan that gets me around 100 SD channels just for the kids. Well, plugged the cable into my Sony XBR2 with built in HD tuner and I get 8 HD channels locally (including PBS and the new WB). I don't have a cable box of any sort and I guess I don't have a filtered line either.

Are you saying that I can just plug the cable coax into the back of the HR10 and the cable HD programming will show up integrated in the HR10's program guide?

TIA

BJ


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## Smuuth (Sep 21, 2005)

boltjames said:


> Thanks everyone.
> 
> Question: Back in 1997 when I first got D* I kept the basic cable in my house for the other TV's. I'm on a $10 a month plan that gets me around 100 SD channels just for the kids. Well, plugged the cable into my Sony XBR2 with built in HD tuner and I get 8 HD channels locally (including PBS and the new WB). I don't have a cable box of any sort and I guess I don't have a filtered line either.
> 
> ...


No.

What that means is that your Sony XBR2 has a QAM tuner built-in and your cable company is not scrambling the HD locals.

The HR10-250 does not have a QAM tuner.


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## boltjames (Dec 21, 2002)

Well, it's December 14......any new news? Is there a new 6.3b release solid to download or should I continue to sit with the old pre-6.3 firmware?

TIA 

BJ


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## herdfan (Feb 5, 2003)

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=331201


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## boltjames (Dec 21, 2002)

Is it safe?










The answer is *YES*.

After four months of living in fear, I upgraded from 3.1.5f to 6.3 last night and things are perfecto. Forced a call, got the "pending restart", and 30 minutes later I'm set for the DST situation.

My teeth feel fine, too.

BJ


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## Todd (Oct 7, 1999)

I upgraded from 3.1.5f to 6.3c at the beginning of last week. It works pretty well except....it has locked up once last week and required me to pull the plug. Plus, it has rebooted twice this week while I wasn't watching. So there is still work to do....


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## annenoe (Oct 19, 2003)

Into my second week and no problems.


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## dtebbe (Aug 18, 2003)

I have been thru 6.3a, 6.3b, and now 6.3c. IMHO, there were some guide-related database issues that just took time to get filtered out of the system. I had a few random reboots the first few weeks, but after that it has been stable. My unit is running a single 400GB drive, and it's nowhere near full, so that may or may not have anything to do with it. I do watch and record a bunch of OTA HD, and, knock on wood, have very few if any problems.

DT


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

They took the offending guide data out of the stream but it will be back...after they find a fix, supposedly.

The data is something they want to use for the newer receivers and it broke the TiVos...so they took it out until they can find a fix. 6.3c is not that fix from what I gather. But it is pretty stable.


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## Duffycoug (Feb 12, 2007)

Have an HR10 and had NO PROBLEMS until the 6.3c upgrade...no I have audio hiccups, reboots and worst of all....drumroll please.....random canceling of my season pass shows.....should have stayed with 3.1.5f. Also, my SD tivo just received the upgrade and it too is now randomly canceling my season pass shows that were supposed to record......missed F'ing Survivor and Boxing this weekend.....what a shame..DTV better credit my DVR service fee for the month at a bare minimum.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

I've been running 6.3c for a month - zero problems.


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## annenoe (Oct 19, 2003)

annenoe said:


> Into my second week and no problems.


I'm going to retract this. I have had one problem. Twice now since update (and never seen before), I lose picture on the sat channels - all black (and no, the feed is fine on all other receivers and no "searching for signal"). Sat channels are completely blank, OTA is fine. I restart box and they come back. This is now twice in 2 weeks.

However, I have also gained dual tuner ability, which I did *not* have before. Posted another thread on this. I cannot explain it but it started after the update to 6.3c (i went straight from 3.1 to 6.3c). I can now watch one channel live while recording another. This is definitely new behavior on my box and as far as I know, should not be possible since I have *only one* sat feed to my box. Before the update, the box would change channels when the recording started. Now it just starts recording and lets me continue to watch whatever channel I was on.


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