FiOS component cable problems
About a month ago I started having a minor problem while watching television on my Motorola 7216 multi room DVR from Verizon. Since there is an ongoing problem with connecting some Samsung televisions to the Motorola boxes via HDMI, I chose from the beginning to just go with component cables. Using component I could still get HD resolutions with no problems, so it wasn’t a big deal to me.
As I said before, some problems started to occur even with the component cables about a month ago. It didn’t happen very often at all, maybe a few times a day to start. The screen would go black for a split section because the signal to my tv would be lost. The tv would then immediately display the information in the upper left of that screen that a 1080i input was connected. Like I said, it didn’t happen very often, until recently…
Last week it started to get very bad. It would happen very often. Sometimes the signal would be lost and a second or 2 later it would happen again. I am fairly knowledgeable about these types of things in general, and I was confident that I could figure out the problem on my own without wasting my time explaining what was happening to Verizon support.
I thought about it for a day or 2 and I basically narrowed it down to 2 things. The box was either overheating or the component cables they gave me were going bad. The first thing I did was change the output of the box to 720p instead of 1080i. I figured if the cable was going bad, there is a chance it could handle the lower resolutions still. I figured if it didn’t cut out while on 720p, or cut out less, the cables were most likely the problem.
I set the box to output at 720p for almost 2 full days and the signal never dropped. About 10 minutes after changing it back to 1080i the usual happened and it lost the signal for a second. At that point I decided I would just order new component cables because they are very cheap now online. I went with this set from Cables To Go on Amazon. They cost about $9. I have bought other cables from them before, so I figured they would work fine.
They arrived a few days ago and I connected them right away. I watched some things that I had viewed the day before on my DVR that caused signal loss. I was happy to see that the problem seemed to have gone away.
For about 2 days now the signal has not dropped out at all. With the original cables that were given to me by Verizon, the signal would have dropped at least 15 or 20 times by now.
I figured I would post this incase others were having similar issues. It was much easier for me to just buy the cables myself rather than going through to hassle of support. Hopefully the cables turn out to be the only problem.
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Steve works in the IT field, focusing mainly on Networking, Database Management, Web Development and Programming. |
I have ordered cables from that source also. They are great! Also, monoprice.com makes great cables at a great price. I am glad that you figured out the problem. Could you explain what happened when you would hook the TVs up using HDMI? I have DirecTV and I seem to remember people having troubles with HDMI and Samsungs, but my memory is fuzzy.
I think my previous comment went to spam
Yeah, I buy things from monoprice all the time. Since I only needed 1 cable it was better for me to just get it from Amazon, especially since I have Amazon prime and get free 2 day shipping.
The HDMI problem varies depending on the tv model. It’s a handshake issue. Some people have the screen go green, others it goes black. It looks almost the same as the problem I was having with the component cables, but it loses the signal for a longer amount of time. Sometimes an error even pops up.
Interesting! Has there been Acknowledgement and/or a fix from samsung for this? maybe a firmware update? (if thete were, I am sure you would have done it but it seems like a big issue)
It’s a problem with the Motorola boxes, not Samsung. This happens occasionally with other brands of televisions also. Nothing else I have ever connected to my TV has had this issue. Just the cable boxes.
Did you notice any difference in picture quality with better cables?
Yeah Jesse, it was slightly different. The new cables didn’t end up helping though. After about a week the same thing started happening and I contacted Verizon and had the box replaced. I planned on writing a blog post about it but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.
These component cables are easily available on amazon ans E-bay auction site. I think that this is the problem regarding to your cable that’s why you are not able to connect your motorola 7216 to television.
Steve that is what is happening to me now. The only motorola box that it happens to is the HD DVR in my living room. It is also happening with different brands of TVs Samsung and a brand new Vizio. I have tried the cat 2 10GB HDMI Cables with no success. I read in your post you bought some component cables….and they didnt work either. I have had my Box replaced by Verizon…no luck, the tech told me that motorola and tv manufactures are arguiong over whos equipement is at fault. Calling techs right now for a third box now…on hold..did you ever get yours fixed…if so what did you replace?
Hey Jesse..
I got the DVR itself replaced, but not with the same model. I had a 7216 and the replacement they gave me is a 6416-2. I go into more detail about it in this post here http://blog.stevofc.com/2009/08/07/dvr-replacement/