Is this a design flaw, or am I seriously alone here?

[John3758]

Really hoping to get some feedback here. If it's a bug specific to me, then fine, but if others can reproduce, it seems like a design flaw that should be addressed. 

I have my Arris X1 DVR , and an X1 RNG150 (I know, old boxes) both obtained at the same time around 2012 set to auto power save. I also have an XR11 remote and XR2 remotes. I have gaming consoles hooked up to my TV. The Comcast remote (either of them) is the easiest to grab in most cases when I need to adjust volume or change my TV inputs. However doing any TV functions will send some kind of signal to the DVR and take it out of power save. This efffectively means that my DVR is always turned on, using more power than needed. The DVR read/write heads are also churning away buffering live TV, and my sensitive ears can hear it. (they rest when in power save)

This shouldn't take more than a minute for someone to put their box into power save mode then adjust TV volume/input and see if the box wakes up.

Why does the remote even send something to the box when adjusting tv functions anyway? I feel like this was introduced way back when Comcast also added the feature where the remote auto-pairs to the box, like the remote is sending some pairing command maybe?

[lesmikesell]

Personally I always want the buffer running so I can back up as much as possible.  What I consider a design flaw is that the secondary boxes don't pull the buffer from the DVR if you tune a channel it is showing or recording.

[CCAndrew]

It’s not the answer you seek, but update your equipment. Both boxes are the oldest pieces of equipment. The XG1V4 is virtually silent.
https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/x1-hub-vs-companion-box

[John3758]

Yeah I know they are old.

The DVR is still working fine (aside from some of the clock LEDs being burned out). I'd hate to go swap it for a problem like this just to find out the new box does the exact same thing, which is why I'm asking for someone to spend the whopping 60 seconds testing this out before I go through the trouble. I also don't find any benefit to swapping the box just because there's a newer model. The newer boxes don't provide any new features, and my TV is not 4K. You mentioned the XG1V4 is silent, but so is the box I have now. Only noise I've ever heard is the fan, for about 1 second, when the box first boots up.

The RNG150 is the only X1 box with component output, which I need since that TV's HDMI port is busted. I know I'll be losing channels soon, but so far I haven't lost the ones I actually watch.

[lesmikesell]

I thought your complaint was at least in part about power consumption of the rudely awoken DVR.   The xg1v4 should use considerably less power even when working than older boxes did while sleeping.

https://energy.cablelabs.com/comcast/

(I think the xg1v4s are the Arris AX014A models)

[John3758]

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@lesmikesell wrote:

I thought your complaint was at least in part about power consumption of the rudely awoken DVR.   The xg1v4 should use considerably less power even when working than older boxes did while sleeping.

https://energy.cablelabs.com/comcast/

(I think the xg1v4s are the Arris AX014A models)

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Hah. I actually already have that link. It's quite old so not sure if it's been updated as newer hardware and software are released. But I also don't know the model number of the new 4K boxes so couldn't really get a good comparison. The model number you mention isn't listed, and it even has a UHD-4 tag for 4k boxes, but none of the boxes have that tag on them.

[lesmikesell]

That link has

AX014ANM and

AX014ANC

Another cable company has this:

https://support.shaw.ca/t5/tv-articles/equipment-info-shaw-tv-box-energy-consumption/ta-p/5187#BlueC...

which is almost certainly the same device.

[Rustyben]

swap for the same price xg1v4 (version 4) no clock no hard drive taking energy (solid state). small, quiet, one LED on the front. swap the rng box for an xg2 or if you have an xg2 for an xiD. 

[John3758]

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@Rustyben wrote:

swap for the same price xg1v4 (version 4) no clock no hard drive taking energy (solid state). small, quiet, one LED on the front. swap the rng box for an xg2 or if you have an xg2 for an xiD. 

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No clock? I can already turn that off. Quiet? Mine's already quiet. One LED? If I turn the clock off I only have one LED. Solid state? Not a huge difference. Smaller? Meh. So again I just don't see any value in getting a newer box.

I find it rather annoying that people are so eager to just tell me to swap the old boxes, but noone seems willing to actually do what I'm asking and just try to see if the same thing happens on their own boxes. If people wanted to make a convinsing argument to swap for newer boxes, they'd try it, and report back that the new boxes don't have the problem. Or they do, which just proves it's a design flaw and I don't need new boxes in the first place.