We’ve had U-Verse for about a month after switching from DirecTV and I have noticed a couple problems:

- DVR will record a program, but will not allow playback (it shows that the entire show recorded, but when we try to play the screen goes black for a few secs and then the “Finished” box comes up like we just watched the entire thing).

- Some channels display zoomed in (notice this mostly on the local channels ABC & NBC). I can tell because part of the TV rating box is cut off – it allso cuts out text in commercials.

- Once in awhile the DVR won’t record what we have programmed it to.

I have already had a DVR replacement and I am still having problems with the first two issues. I am seriously considering switching back to DirecTV because a non-functional DVR is a deal breaker.

Can anyone help?

I’ve done the whole aspect ratio switching (actually spent an hour on the phone with U-Verse support fiddling around with it) and the results are the same. It appears to be a problem with the feed that several of the local channels are providing to AT&T. Why they are doing this is beyond me – but it certainly is annoying.

I’ve seen in another post where resetting the DVR might help the non-playback issue. I’m going to give that a try and see if it works. Otherwise AT&T will be making another trip out to my place to replace the DVR yet again.

I realize that this is a new service and on the whole I like it, but shoddy equipment is a sure fire way to keep people away in droves. At this point I could not recommend it to anyone who currently has DirecTV….cable users might be a different story.

Anyone know if AT&T is planning on getting better hardware to address the multiple issues their early adapters seem to be experiencing?

One day into the trial had the same problem recording 60 minutes. 
Black screen when tried to play back.  Most of my recordings are
series.  Spent an hour setting up my programs once they finished
installation.  Called tech support who told me it has been an issue for
sometime with no known fix.  No estimate as to when it will be
fixed.  Thing that makes me mad is they new the problem was there but
never told me so I could make the call to install or not to install.  Talked
to customer billing to find out de-install options and was told you get to hook
up your cable yourself, your problem not ours. 

I am talking to my neighbors tonight and telling them to hold off
installation.  I don’t mind problem but tell us so we can make the call.

glessexpress said:

We’ve had U-Verse for about a month after switching from DirecTV and I have noticed a couple problems:

- DVR will record a program, but will not allow playback (it shows that the entire show recorded, but when we try to play the screen goes black for a few secs and then the “Finished” box comes up like we just watched the entire thing).

- Some channels display zoomed in (notice this mostly on the local channels ABC & NBC). I can tell because part of the TV rating box is cut off – it allso cuts out text in commercials.

- Once in awhile the DVR won’t record what we have programmed it to.

I have already had a DVR replacement and I am still having problems with the first two issues. I am seriously considering switching back to DirecTV because a non-functional DVR is a deal breaker.

Can anyone help?

I have the same exact problems. I only get a black screen if I record baseball, though. All of my other recordings play back. Does anyone know why? This is also my second dvr.  I’ve had it not record shows a few times also.  Do you also have freezing, pixelation, and horrible HD picture? I do. My HD picture flashes, especially in the background, on all HD channel. I mean, it’s bad enough that it would cause seizures if I was epileptic. It’s horrible.

What would they do if they came out? it took them 4 hours the last time they came out to fix it. I don’t really want to sit here for 4 more hours. Last time, they adjusted the connections, trying HDMI, component and standard cables to improve picture(with Time Warner, I had an unbelievable HD picture via component), hooked up my dvr directly to the box(which helped a little), changed cables and gave me a new box.

I wouldn’t even think about keeping this, if it wasn’t for:

1) The best customer service I’ve ever dealt with

2) Great channel selection

3) better value for the price than anyone

4) on-demand programming is great 

Tonight, I set up baseball to tape. I checked it an hour before gametime and it was on the scheduled recordings list. It did not tape. I’m totally furious. My wife went out and bought me a dvd recorder so I can tape games on dvd rw’s, but we shouldn’t have to buy extra stuff just because the dvr is junk! 

Have you tried the manual time frame?

Yeah, I tried to do a manual recording. It recorded, but was just a black screen. Tomorrow, I'll try a manual recording in two pieces. Maybe that will confuse the recorder so I don't have to keep recording games on my DVD recorder. I also had the same problem as the last post. The games show in the scheduled recordings, but don't record. They just disappear. I have been able to successfully record a couple of channels. WGN HD, Fox HD and Sports Time Ohio have taped games fine. ESPN, ESPN2, Fox sports Pittsburgh and FSN Ohio won't. It also didn't tape a college game I had set up to tape, but I don't remember what channel. That's just ridiculous! I think I'll switch to Directv, but it cost $99 to buy an HD dvr, plus a 2 year commitment! Who wants to do that?

I tried a manual recording in 2 pieces. The first half played back, but the second half was a black screen. At least the same game was on WGN, so I taped it on it instead. It doesn't seem to matter if it's HD or standard def. Some channels have recorded, some don't.