Legacy HD DVR cable box intermittently working

We have 2 Motorola DCX3400 DVR boxes. We've had some issues the last couple of days after 10+ years of no issues. We've had the picture freeze, the screen go blank, Following the advice of the first chat online, I unplugged both the TV and DVR, waited, and plugged back in. It would work for awhile, then do the same again. All this was after swapping out HDMI cables. The next day it was doing something similar, and during that chat, I was told to re-pair the remote. So I did that, and again, things seemed to be fine. Today, that issue repeated itself, and then the screen would go blank (DVR on, TV on).

All the while, the cable box would still actually work again. When the screen would go blank, it would allow me to change the channel, and then things would be fine...for a bit. It's been going blank about every 30 minutes, but the channel change is taking care of that issue, but it is annoying to keep doing that.

After being told that unplugging would fix the issue, and that re-pairing the remote would fix the issue. I'm hoping that a Comcast Tech Support might be able to help with some different troubleshooting on this issue. With the box mostly working, I'm not sure if it's the box itself, or if there is some other issue. We have an identical TV and DVR (Motorola DCX3400) that is not having the issue, so any help would be appreciated.

Responses

filhomer

Contributor

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35 Messages

7 months ago

To add in/follow up: I would appreciate someone from Tech Support to respond so that I can use direct messaging.

With that being said, I think we might be resigned to an X1 DVR, as I haven't received an answer as to why these issues started happening. It seems like it was out of nowhere.

(edited)

XfinityDilary

Official Employee

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1.8K Messages

filhomer Thanks for posting on our community forums. I'm sorry to hear about the issues you have been experiencing. It sounds like you've done most of the self-troubleshooting we recommend to start with. I'd like to take a look here to see if we can find a remote solution. Could you please send our team a Direct Message with your name and service address? Our team can take a further look at this issue.

To send a Direct Message:

Click "Sign In" if necessary

• Click the "Direct Messaging chat" icon

• Click the "New message" (pencil and paper) icon

• Type "Xfinity Support" in the "To:" line and select "Xfinity Support" from the drop-down list which appears. The "Xfinity Support" graphic replaces the "To:" line

• Type your message in the text area near the bottom of the window

• Press Enter to send it

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7 months ago

filhomer

Contributor

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35 Messages

@XfinityDilary Thank you. I just sent a direct message.

7 months ago

MNtundraRET

Gold Problem Solver

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5.9K Messages

7 months ago

I am not sure if you will be happy with the X1 DVR. The new DVR will Likely store only on the cloud. You will have less storage space and less control over the DVR.

Good luck with the changeover.

filhomer

Contributor

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35 Messages

@MNtundraRET At this point, we didn't really have much of a choice. Any other legacy boxes we have tried haven't been great, so that's why we've held on to the older ones. Since we've had 2 identical boxes (as my wife and I have different viewing habits), we replaced the one having the issues. So far it's fine. While I'd prefer to local storage and I actually like the legacy DVR setup, I think this setup will be fine. Getting a hold of support, unplugging and plugging back in, etc. wasn't a sustainable solution for the long term.

7 months ago

SammyFL

Contributor

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131 Messages

@filhomer you said the issue started after replacing the HDMI cable on the DCX3400M box? I have the same box since 2010 and it is still working (did replaceme the HDMI cable about 6 years ago with a better quality), and I have an external 2TB drive connected via eSATA cable. Back in March the box had an issue where it no longer would download the program guide, all listings were TBA. I called support, had a tech come out. They called several local people and reported there might be a head-end issue , but I got an X1 box XG1v1 and installed it (still keeping my Motorola). After using the X1 for a few days, I hated it. The menu system is horrible, everything takes multiple steps, and it is harder to read than the menu on the Motorola DCX. By chance I recommend the DCX box days later, and it started working just fine again with downloading the program guide. It has been 2 months and still working, so I'm going to send this X1 box back as it's just costing me $10 extra and don't need it.

But I did get an email today saying that older boxes will no longer shower Caller ID for incoming calls to our Xfinity Voice landline. Only X1 boxes will. So that, plus On Demand is now taken away.

6 months ago

Non-X1 Service

filhomer

Legacy HD DVR cable box intermittently working

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