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 Post subject: nmr: stupid digital cable question
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 3:53 pm 
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Hey all, I just got Comcast digital cable installed over the weekend with the dvr box... trying to gear up for Tour de France with all the prelim cycling coverage. Anyhow, the dvr works great... the picture's great... everything's wonderful... except when I try to hook up my dvd player. The cable goes directly into the tuner/dvr, which then goes to the tv. My tv is tuned into channel "00" which is what I normally tune to in order to view dvd's. I have a video/audio cable coming out of the dvd player into the cable box. I put a dvd in, turn off the cable feature, and I get sound but no picture. What the hell am I doing wrong here?

I've also tried connecting directly from the dvd player to the tv, with no problems whatsoever, but I don't want to have to re-connect cables every time I want to watch a dvd.

Help me, techno gurus. (and don't tell me satellite is cheaper than digital cable and Comcast is an evil empire, because I already know that)

t'anks in advance


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 3:56 pm 
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frostingspoon
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What are the input and output for the dvd labelled on the DVR player? Do you have to set the DVR to output what it's getting from the DVD player instead of Cable? Did you follow the instructions?


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 3:59 pm 
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funny enough, there *were* no instructions with the dvr. I've pulled out my instructions for the dvd player, and it doesn't address the issue of connecting via a digital cable box. I'm looking online too...

the outputs on the dvd player are audio (L & R) and video. The inputs on the dvr are the same. Using the standard cable connectors (with the red, white and yellow).


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 4:03 pm 
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frostingspoon
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I'm not exactly sure how it works, but DVD players are somehow designed to fuck up the signal so that you can't record it onto a VCR. A DVR may be no different - it may have built-in protection to prevent you from DVRing from channel "0". So there might be something on the DVR remote or in the menu that addresses that. Another option (obviously a last resort) is to get a switch from Radio Shack that will let you switch by pressing a button instead of changing cables.

The DVR manufacturer may have a PDF manual on their website.


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 4:05 pm 
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thanks, Aaron.


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 4:05 pm 
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i'm trying to figure this out in my head, but our dvr is built into the dvd player, so the chain goes cable into cable box into dvr to tv. i guess that i have nothing to offer.


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 4:06 pm 
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Hah... Aaron had set up my TiVo for me when he visited two years back.....

What a guy!!!

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 4:40 pm 
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Is the sound you are getting coming thru the tv, or your stereo?

Does it work if the DVR is turned off? You probably want to be able to record stuff while you are watching a movie, and don't want to remember to turn it back on.

Do you have more than one input on your tv? Mine has 3. I think that might fix the prob if you split them up.


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 5:28 pm 
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I'm pretty sure the DVD should work on a AUX input pass-through type dealie-doodle (sorry to get so technical,) which prevents the DVR from copying anything from that signal. It's kind of a hassle to use the DVD player on our system, at least - you have to switch back to TV on the remote, then use the remote button that switches sources on the TV so it's now using the DVD, then switch to DVD (well, really AUX) on the remote to use the DVD. No channel changing is involved, however - from what I gather the DVR takes the signal of the DVD straight through its own path to the cable connecting it and the TV.

Did any of that make sense?

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 5:47 pm 
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I'm probably gonna have to drop the digital and go back to regular cable because I'm a/t in debt and need to pinch pennies. Don't know if I can live without VH1 Classic though. I mean I already gave up Showtime and that wasn't pretty.


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 6:59 pm 
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Thanks everybody for your suggestions... here's the deal:

My RCA tv is old as dirt (bought in 93-94), but I'm too cheap to buy a new one since this one still works well. It only has an input for the cable (or S video) and inputs for audio/video. That's it. Or at least that's all I can remember at the moment... ha.

I found the manual for my dvr online (Motorola DCT6412) and am going to peruse through that tonight.

Chase, I guess my setup is different from yours... our dvr and cable box is all in one unit.

tcj, strangely, your post does make sense. I just didn't realize it'd be such a hassle to watch a fucking dvd now.

Timmy, the sound was coming through the tv. We don't have our tv connected to our stereo.

Spoon, I hear you.... I was watching VH1 classic this weekend and saw an old Peter Murphy video. I was riveted to the screen, of course.

My next challenge is to figure out how to transfer DVR recordings onto VHS, ha ha.


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