Scientific Atlantic Explorer 8300 HDC

Demiurge · February 2008

Supplied by Time Warner Cable with the OPPO/Mystro Software.

Does anyone own this gigantic piece of **** Cable Box/HD DVR?

I'm not sure a week goes by where I don't need to unplug the box and let it reboot, which takes like 15 minutes. Lately I have been getting errors that the 'Cable Card' can't be read, which I don't have, at least not as far as I can see.

Tonight I get got home and turn my TV on. I get audio, but I see a message about the cable card again. I proceed to turn off the box, unplug it, and let it reboot. I get this black screen for 2 minutes, then the Oppo/Mystro screen comes up like it's going to load. 5 minutes of that and the box turns off and the screen turns black. There is still an LED message on the box where the time would be that says 'A' (some jacked up bit of font) and then 't'

I'm sitting in a queue waiting to talk to a Time Warner rep. I really want to fly off the handle, but I realize it's just some guy doing his job, so I will ask them not to take it personally when I tell them what a piece of **** this thing is. I got some friends coming over on Sunday and I am going to be pissed if I can't get the game because of this junk cable box Time Warner has been passing out to it's customers. I pay a lot of money to have a service that actually works.

:mad::mad::mad:

I have read some bad experiences on other forums, just wondering if I am the only one here who has had an issue with this box from TWC.

tryrrthg · February 2008

I had it installed a week ago. Didn't work at all since the moment they installed it. three days later a tech came by and said the new boxes are worthless and they have all kinds of problems with them. But TW doesn't seem to care. He gave me the old 8300, which has been relatively error free since I got it Monday. He told me to hang on to it as long as possible.

Serendipity · February 2008

I particularly requested NOT to have any of the Scientific Atlanta boxes because of these issues...

The box they gave me has been fine except for an occasional "Your TV does not support HDCP" message which goes away with a reboot of the box.

okiepolkie · February 2008

I haven't installed any of the "newer" 8300HD boxes, but the older ones seem to be okay for the most part. They do need to be turned off every few days, but I haven't seen any that needed a total reboot every few days. I just wish they would have discrete on and off for better integrated system control.

Demiurge · February 2008

I got mine in August of last year and the installer said this model was "brand new" at the time. I started having issues with the total reboots after about a month. It didn't bother me that much at the time, because other than that, things seemed okay. Then I started having issues switching between HD and Non-HD channels. I thought it was my display at first (thankfully it wasn't) until I started watching SD stuff without the box and it worked fine.

It's just gotten progressively worse. I was told by the TW chat support they couldn't help. :rolleyes: They told me to call the number. It took me 40 minutes to get through. The girl on the phone was nice and she all but said the boxes are ****. I am going to stop by a local retail store for them and get a new box. Right now I have the connection going right to my TV. I am really hoping I don't need to watch the Super Bowl like this.

If anything, I hope any of you guys getting Time Warner Cable make sure to do all you can to avoid these boxes.

I-SIG · February 2008

I thought the Comcast Motorola HD/DVR box was bad....sheesh!

Mine seems to reboot itself occasionally and the whatever MPEG decoder they put in this thing blows **** chunks hardcore and there seems to be some bad sectors in the HD that the player can't get past usually. Mine did totally freeze the video once, but an unplug reboot did the trick, luckily.

Wes

Serendipity · February 2008

I guess I am lucky, as rebooting the box fixes all freeze-up issues for a few weeks to months.

avguytx · February 2008

Scientific Atlanta boxes have had issues since HD was offered thru cable. Looks like they still haven't got their s**t together.

Willow · February 2008

okiepolkie wrote: »

I haven't installed any of the "newer" 8300HD boxes, but the older ones seem to be okay for the most part. They do need to be turned off every few days, but I haven't seen any that needed a total reboot every few days. I just wish they would have discrete on and off for better integrated system control.

Why do they need to be turned off every once in a while ? is it only that model? or does the 3250 need that as well? I never turn off my 3250, I do get home sometimes and find it turned off.

Demiurge · February 2008

Willow wrote: »

Why do they need to be turned off every once in a while ? is it only that model? or does the 3250 need that as well? I never turn off my 3250, I do get home sometimes and find it turned off.

That has happened numerous times as well....but usually I can just hit the power on button on the remote and all is well again.

unc2701 · February 2008

I had trouble w/ the 8000 but have had zero issues w/ the 8300HD. Does it have good ventilation?

Face · February 2008

I have a 8300HD and have had 0 problems with it.

Two complaints though. The reboot time can be LONG. Also, EVERY night between 3-4am, it reboots on it's own. It's probably the service, but it's extremely annoying.

Demiurge · February 2008

unc2701 wrote: »

I had trouble w/ the 8000 but have had zero issues w/ the 8300HD. Does it have good ventilation?

It's not even in an enclosed rack at all, so that's not it.

I went to a Time Warner Store today and swapped units. I plugged this one in and it booted up just fine. The only thing is that I need to call their 800 number to activate it. Called them and it was a 45 minute wait at the time. I'll probably just call them at 2 AM when the lines aren't jammed since they have tech support 24 hours a day.

okiepolkie · February 2008

Willow wrote: »

Why do they need to be turned off every once in a while ? is it only that model? or does the 3250 need that as well? I never turn off my 3250, I do get home sometimes and find it turned off.

I'm not sure why they need to be rebooted, but it does help. Part of it has to do with a resyncing. Comcast does a remote, or programmed, reboot in the middle of the night on some accounts, but they haven't gotten everything on the same page yet.

For custom installations, I have specifically chosen lines that allow the control system to do a discreet power on and discreet power off. This bypasses the need for a "help" button. Most cable boxes with Time Warner, Cox, and Comcast utilize a toggle on and off.

To keep the systems on the same page, there are two options. The first is to change the setting within the cable box to turn on by the "power or channel" command. That way, if the box is on, then my "power on" command won't turn the cable box off, requiring the user to press the "power on" command again. In the "power down" macro, the "power" button for the cable box is sent so it does turn off. This works most of the time, as long as they don't switch to a new cable box. Since the settings have to be made manually, I have to walk the client through the setting procedure over the phone or make a service call.

The other way is to use a power sensing device from the switched outlet on the cable box. I set the outlet to turn on when the cable box turns on, then the adapter sends a command to my control processor so the system knows the status of the cable box. I actually use the sensing for several items, since there are several companies that only offer a toggle command for power.

Scientific Atlantic Explorer 8300 HDC

Comments