PVR and Hard Disk Recorder problems and solutions for the Philips HDT8520 500GB

Problem: The unit has just frozen up. It keeps freezing and then shutting itself down.

Solution 1: It can be extremely frustrating when this happens. Most of the time, there isn't much you can do other than turn it off and then on again, at the mains if the power button isn't responding.

However, there are a few things you can check to help prevent it in the future. Number one is check how hot it is. Freezing can happen when the unit isn't properly ventilated or is in a hot place. Make sure all the vents are uncovered and there is nothing on top of it.
You might also want to check for system updates.
Finally, you might consider turning the unit off and then on again regularly to reboot it. Freezing often occurs when it has been running for a long time, so once a week or so you could try to reboot it by switching it off and on. If you don't want to do this yourself, you might consider buying a timer switch to do this for you at a time you know you won't be using the machine, e.g. 4AM.
0 out of 0 people found this solution helpful.

Post comments, submit alternative solutions or receive notifications

Problem: Picture keeps stuttering and is blocky and pixellated.

Solution 1: Check for loose cables and check your signal strength.
0 out of 0 people found this solution helpful.

Post comments, submit alternative solutions or receive notifications

Problem: Having set up a recording of a programme, it failed to and upon looking at the guide I can see that it is still there in red as if to record with the cancel record option being offered. In addition though on the RH side there is a symbol of a couple of greyed disks with a swooping red arrow to a red (to record) disk.
What the hell does this signify? It does not appear in the manual nor on any help forum I can find.

Solution 1: Having suffered this problem for a few weeks intermittently, I read one of the other solutions which said there was a maximum number of recordings that the box could store (254). I counted that we had more than that (even though the disk wasn't full), deleted a load and the unit started recording again straight away. Fingers crossed that was the problem, so as long as we can manage the number of recordings hopefully it won't happen again.
1 out of 1 person found this solution helpful.

Post comments, submit alternative solutions or receive notifications

Problem: Recordings keep failing. Sometimes when I record a programme, I get an error message and I lose the recording.

Solution 1: The HDT8520 is limited to 254 recordings. You may have space free, but if you have reached this number of programmes in the library, it won't record any more until you delete some.
1 out of 2 people found this solution helpful. Solution 2: Recordings fail for a number of reasons. If you schedule the recording and it records - but records the wrong thing - the box might be tuned to two different regions. Reset the channels and manually tune them if you suspect this to be the case.
If the unit is on a series record but has missed the programme, check the programme guide to see if future episodes are being recorded. It may have identified the programme as a different series for some reason, so set a series link on any future episodes that are not being recorded.

Other failed recordings can show a problem with the unit. One or two failed recordings do not necessarily mean that your unit has a fault - it could be due to a power cut or your box could have (unluckily!) frozen or crashed prior to the start of the programme.

However, if there are numerous failed recordings and it continues to occur even though you can watch TV OK, it sounds like a problem with the hard disk and this will need to be either repaired or replaced.
0 out of 0 people found this solution helpful.

Post comments, submit alternative solutions or receive notifications

Problem: Moved to new house. Retuned and now tunes to weak signal on C28 rather than stronger
signal on C60 for some programs - eg BBC 1. No means of manual tuning?

Solution 1: Just unplug the aerial from the receiver,select tuning-start tuning when the tuning gets to 50% quickly put the aerial back in the receiver. This will now only tune in the higher transmitted stations (C60) and not the lower ones (C28).Hope this helps Earlybird
0 out of 0 people found this solution helpful.

Post comments, submit alternative solutions or receive notifications

Problem: The menu on the HDD is showing the programmes which I have recorded but it will not respond to the remote control. It gets stuck part way down the list. The normal programmes can be viewed using the remote, it only seems to be on the HDD that it will not work properly.

Solution 1: I had very similar problem. The hard drive had failed. Replace the drive!
0 out of 0 people found this solution helpful.

Post comments, submit alternative solutions or receive notifications

Problem: When I go to guide to record a programme I just get radio programmes available it will not show me television schedules only radio and I can't quit radio. I've never listened to the radio on my TV, I have NO idea how to resolve this, I've tried turning off the TV and box for over an hour but the problem remains the same

Solution 1: In the menu there's an option to show just tv, just radio or all channels, this has happened to me a few times for reasons I don't understand but you just click it back to what you want and all your tv channels will return
0 out of 0 people found this solution helpful.

Post comments, submit alternative solutions or receive notifications

Problem: I have had to do a total reset of my box 3 times now due to programmes not recording,this seemed to have done the trick but now I need to do it again it's asking for parental code, i never set one as I don't have kids, so I'm stuck, can anyone help?

Solution 1: the parental code is usually set to 0000 by default, and should still be that unless you have changed it. I hope that helps.
0 out of 0 people found this solution helpful.

Post comments, submit alternative solutions or receive notifications

Problem: I have recorded a programme and it shows on the list but when I scroll to it, the system freezes and I have to turn off mains to unfreeze it. This happens whether I approach that recording from above or below. I can't delate that recording because it always freezes as I scroll from the recording above or below it.

Any ideas?

If I restore factory settings, do I loose all my recorded programmes?

Solution 1: I have suffered this. It's a corrupted recording. Only solution I found was to format the hard drive as trying to access the corrupt recording freezes the box. You can watch other recordings by going up or down the recordings lust but making sure not to move to the corrupt recording as even scrolling to it will lock the box.
0 out of 0 people found this solution helpful.

Post comments, submit alternative solutions or receive notifications