Genie DVR: Screensaver, and shows start playing 15 seconds after the beginning

[cornflakes]

Hey guys, ok, starting to find a lot of little annoyances with the Genie DVR and the Genie Clients...

Question #1: Can I turn off the screensaver (with the DirecTV logo)? And I don't get when it comes on. I like to leave the TV on sometimes for the dog, and also to make it look like someone's home. On the Genie Client boxes and the DVR itself, I've turned off the automatic power saving feature (where it turns the box off after 4 hours). But I'm now noticing that the screensaver will come on by itself randomly. Sometimes I can be watching TV, and all of a sudden, the screensaver will come on by itself for no reason. And I'm pretty sure I've pressed a button sometime within the past hour. And no, the screen was not on a still frame, and I was watching an actual TV channel, not a music channel. So a lot of times when I leave the TV on, I come home to a silent TV with the screensaver bouncing around. Why?

Question #2: This is kind of annoying too... When I watch a new show that I haven't seen before that's in my recordings list, I select Play on the menu (not resume), and the show starts from the beginning. Or so it seems. It's actually starting the show about 15 seconds into the recording. A lot of times, this means 15 seconds into the show, and dialogue is already happening, and I have to press instant replay several times to back up to the beginning of the recording. What's also annoying is the instant reply goes back like 2 seconds, so I have to press it multiple times...

Any ideas? Are these just software issues? Is the Genie software relatively new, and that's why we're having these problems? I used to have Dish and I was one of the first to get their VIP 922 DVR, which had a bunch of bugs in it, but they got a lot of them hammered out in a few months, and it actually worked pretty well after that.

 

[andrewj0781]

Answer to Question 1 - NO, the only time I see the screen saver on my Genie is if I pause the tv and walk away for awhile, or if I open a menu and don't exit for while or if you're receiver is searching for signal. So not sure why it comes on at random times. I only watch tv a few hours at the most in a sitting and never seen it come on.

Answer to Question 2 - If you can catch the beginning of the show then the only ideas I had wouldn't apply. I was thinking either the timer wasn't set right or that you started recording when you turned to the channel. So far I haven't experienced this issue with mine.

I know a lot of people are complaining about the replay button not being 6 seconds...http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/307445-Why-replay-button-isn-t-six-seconds

I know there's a few bugs that people report, I'd give Directv a call maybe they'll trouble shoot something for you or even want to replace it for you.

I know this really doesn't answer your questions, I'm new to Genie (only been Directv customer for 2 years so I'm not an expert with how the system run even though I feel i know more then the help desk when you call)

 

[texasbrit]

To question 1 - yes, it's a bug, I see it maybe once or twice a week.
To question 2 - "time zero" is when the guide says the program starts. The DVR actually starts recording a little before that (assuming a tuner is free) and you can "rewind" into the "padding". Unfortunately many programs don't start at the correct time. My local news is a great example. It consistently starts a minute or so early, the local ABC channel starts the news at the end of the previous (national) broadcast instead of having a commercial break, so if you set a recording for 10pm it always starts "late".

 

[cornflakes]

Thanks... Yes I left the tv on for about 6 hours for the dog and came back and no screensaver. So it's all pretty random when that kicks in.

I didn't realize the extra padding that the dvr records. That's pretty nifty, especially since some channels like to start their show right on the dot and with satellite's approximately 7 seconds delay, i often miss the first joke of a comedy.