UPC - two recordings at the same time?

Uthur

hi folks.

i used to be able to record two channels at the same time with my UPC box
but at some point it must have stopped working.

when recordings overlap i always get the yellow triangle warning, and even
though i set the box into standby as before it only ever records one of
them.

all ideas or advice appreciated!

Uthur

LOL no takers! am i the only one experiencing this problem?

beazee

Confirm. One recording at the time.
Was parallel recording ever possible?

marcus2000

i think you can pause the program you're watching and record another channel which is kinda like recording two programes at the one time.

(i say that cos i think i did it at the weekend, but i havent actually watched the recording yet, so it may not be there )

Kristopherus

What I find if there is an overlap of recordings, what the box now does is record the first channel & then will record the second at the earliest chance. The bloody soaps are repeated at some stage in the following 24 hrs. The box will automatically record the repeat.

fox_1973

you can record two channels if the set top box is off, as in you are not watching anything and it goes to stand by, i often record two late night films when ive gone to bed, that is the only way you could ever record two channels at the same time

Uthur

fox_1973 wrote: »

you can record two channels if the set top box is off, as in you are not watching anything and it goes to stand by, i often record two late night films when ive gone to bed, that is the only way you could ever record two channels at the same time

this is how things always worked in the past for me, but lately it doesn't record both - even though the box is certainly in standby

fox_1973

Uthur wrote: »

this is how things always worked in the past for me, but lately it doesn't record both - even though the box is certainly in standby

oh thats strange, it still works for me as far as i know, i might try it again later just to check though

Niall06

Same problem here.Used to be able to record two programs at the same time when box was on stand by but not anymore, any ideas?

chinchin

Niall06 wrote: »

Same problem here.Used to be able to record two programs at the same time when box was on stand by but not anymore, any ideas?

Very same problem here, noticed a few weeks ago that it no longer works, right pain, hope they fix it soon.

testarossa40

Glad I'm not alone after all... For the past month+ or so Dual Recording has been very unreliable - usually not working at all... :mad:

On my box, the front panel stopped working ages ago (ie blank channel/program LED display) EXCEPT for the red power LED on the left of the display. I happen to have a lot of series links set with at least some program or other being recorded during the night when I'm in bed and again during the day when I'm at work. What I now find is that when I get up in the morning or when I get home from work the Red power LED is OFF as if the unit has been powered on in my absence but there is no picture from the box until I hit the UPC button on the remote. Alternatively if I press the off button the off LED comes back on. So I reckon now when a recording starts it causes the box to enter a semi on/off state that prevents a 2nd program from being recorded simultaneously.

Can somebody else check if they're getting this behaviour from their boxes as well? If so then UPC have a bug to resolve and I don't have the patience currently to wait another 40 mins on hold to enter into a battle of wills with a UPC script-reading, signal-"boosting", engineer-dispatcher...

Up to now I thought my box had gone faulty and would need to be replaced - something I don't want to do just yet as I've too many recordings I've not had a chance to watch yet... Currently Dual Recording only works for me if I happen to be watching something while recording something else and I get the switch-off warning that a 2nd recording is about to start and so I make sure to power off the box...

Mountjoy Mugger

Has anyone effected rung UPC?

fox_1973

well ive checked and my box recorded two programmes last night while my box was on standby, but maybe as my box is only 2 months old (as they replaced the previous one as it was faulty) that could be the reason but ill defo be keeping an eye on it

stargazer 68

I got the new recordable box a couple of weeks ago and can record 2 programmes at once but I cant watch tv at the time if that makes any sense

fox_1973

Dovies wrote: »

I got the new recordable box a couple of weeks ago and can record 2 programmes at once but I cant watch tv at the time if that makes any sense

yes thats the way it should be, but it seems a lot of people are having trouble with that function now

Mountjoy Mugger

I was browsing through the UPC website for something else and happened on this:

Tip: To ensure you record the all of your two shows, we recommend that you set your recordings 5 minutes before the show starts and 5 minute after the shows end. Also, when you are switching your set-top-box into standby, you should leave it on one of the channels where a recording has been set-up.

fox_1973

I tried setting my recordings to start and end early just as i kept missing endings but the only problem with that is if i had also set to record something else the following hour ie. say id set something for 21.00 to 22.00 and then something else from 22.00 to 23.00, as the first one was now set to end at 22.05, it didnt record the second show ...grrrr, so that was a total waste of time, i dont know why they tell you to do that

200motels

Christ lads I'm glad I'm with Sky, if all of you can go with Sky, there HD box is on a different planet to UPC'S box.

h57xiucj2z946q

Yeah UPC's box is gay.

Gotham Knight

I've had the same problem so I called upc yesterday. They sent a signal boost down the line and the yellow triangles reappeared for overlapping recordings. All seemed fine until I checked again today and the problem is back.

I called again and they promised to send a technician out next Saturday and refund me for the period my recording is not working properly.

On a related note I was furious to find that they moved BBC HD yesterday and my series link to record 'White Heat' recorded some rubbish on RTE2 HD instead, as that channel took over the old BBC slot. Since there isn't much logic to the channel numbers anyway why on earth did they move BBC HD at all. Just put Rubbish2 HD in the vacant slot!!!

If/when Sky get broadband in Ireland I fear a lot of customers will switch from upc. The only good thing I can say is that the guy on the upc helpdesk (Gearóid) was polite and helpful.

PC - Dublin

Sorry if this has been asked before. Is it possible to record 2 programmes at the same time using digital plus ?

pippip

Yes but the box must be in standby.

PC - Dublin

You mean, after I programme in the 2 programmes I power off using the remote control for the recorder?

pippip

Yes, you cant watch anything yourself at the time.

I'm pretty sure if its on, the box will put up a warning it needs to power off and then will turn off automatically unless you cancel one of the recordings.

Freddie59

PC - Dublin wrote: »

You mean, after I programme in the 2 programmes I power off using the remote control for the recorder?

Yes. It will also do it on timer recordings.

Gotham Knight

Update: I've continued chasing upc on this. An engineer called to my house and he said he thought it was due to recent software changes.

And today I got a message on my phone from the upc technical department telling me you CANNOT record two programmes at once with upc right now. They hope to address this in a future software upgrade.

Bit disappointing tbh.

Gotham Knight

upc told me today that you cannot record two programmes at once any more. It certainly hasn't worked for me for some time. They say they hope to address it with a future software upgrade.

If anyone finds they can successfully record two overlapping programmes in full right now I'd be very interested to hear. I find that once the second programme starts the first recording is cut short.

bronn

Thanks, GK. Fair play to you for following up on the problem. It's been doing our nut in with the UPC box deciding to record, or not, as the case might be. Hope they sort it out soon because there are two problems. It can't record two programmes at once and it can't record two consecutive programmes either which is very annoying.

icdg

Merged

Gotham Knight

Good idea to merge these two threads.

Bronn, the box should have no problem recording two consecutive programmes. That works fine for me. It just doesn't add on the extra minutes after the first programme that you may have set as it starts the second recording on time.

I've advised upc that they should remove the advice on their website regarding how to record two programmes at once, since it doesn't work. And I suggested they let their customers know when they fix this issue.

Now I will sit patiently holding my breath...

Redkilkenny

I rang them today and was told that they are aware there is a problem with dual recording and have been for some time - nice of them to tell us:-(

spurious

I thought I was losing my mind there - after being accused of deliberately not recording things.

oisin

Didn't work for me this weekend set it to record Match of the Day followed by MotoGP on BBC consecutively. Box was on BBC and put into standby. Got to see Match of the Day but no MotoGP. Caught up with MotoGP on EuroSport next day. Never had a problem before.

bronn

Gotham Knight wrote: »

Bronn, the box should have no problem recording two consecutive programmes. That works fine for me. It just doesn't add on the extra minutes after the first programme that you may have set as it starts the second recording on time.

Yup, tried it tonight and set the box not to record any extra time at the beginning or end of the programme. It recorded the two consecutive programmes on different channels but clipped the end off the second one because it started fractionally later than advertised. Sigh.

Sort it out UPC. I rang them today to have a bit of a whinge about this issue too. Talk about a huge step backwards. What kind of "software upgrade" was this? Was is not tested or something?

ciaran76

Last week I recorded 2 prog. at once. I set record a film on Film 4 and the other prog was about to begin I hit record and left the box on that channel and went to bed.

Next day I checked to make sure and both were recorded.

bronn

Yeah, it's the only way to do it, Ciaran. If you want to record two things at once, you have to be there to record the second programme and put the box into standby. This is an old feature from UPC when their DVRs first came out and even back then, you could record two consecutive programmes that had a bit of overlapping time.

Apparently with Sky, you don't have to tell the box to record one minute before a programme starts and put five minutes on at the end. Humph.