Zero length recordings

[MymsMan]

I have been away for four days and on my return I have discovered a whole bunch of zero length recordings

37414    06/01/2020 23:48:50    aOneOff/Who Wants To Be a Millionaire_____20200105_2231    decrypt     FAILED    00:00:00    Zero-byte recording, cannot process    06/01/2020 23:49:02
39691    08/01/2020 20:11:27    Doctor Who/Doctor Who_20200105_1859    decrypt     FAILED    00:00:00    Zero-byte recording, cannot process    08/01/2020 20:12:02
39816    08/01/2020 23:28:26    The Misadventures of Romesh___/Misadventures of Romesh____20200105_2200    decrypt     FAILED    00:00:00    Zero-byte recording, cannot process    08/01/2020 23:29:03
39846    09/01/2020 00:13:45    Dara O Briain - Voice of Reason/Dara O Briain - Voice of Reason_20200105_2301    decrypt     FAILED    00:00:00    Zero-byte recording, cannot process    09/01/2020 00:14:01

hmt details and activity log appear to show a normal duration recording (apart from size!)

I have 47Gb free space on the drive, other recordings have processed normally,
any suggestions as to what has gone wrong, more evidence to look for and how to prevent any recurrence?

 

[Black Hole]

No lightning strike icon?

 

[MymsMan]

No lightning strike icon?

No - because status is Valid/OK, just normal recording (without thumbnail image) - after attempting to play programme it shows a totally black thumbnail
Humax appears to think it is a normal recording,
there is a full set of files, the ts file is 0 bytes but the nts file and hmt are normal sized

• Doctor Who_20200105_1859.ts (0 bytes)
• Doctor Who_20200105_1859.nts (2.82 MiB)
• Doctor Who_20200105_1859.hmt (2.02 KiB)

 

[prpr]

the ts file is 0 bytes but the nts file and hmt are normal sized

I've had this occasionally. Like most other things, the cure was turning it off and on again (BRS time!).

 

[MymsMan]

I have the Humax on a daily time switch so it has been rebooted several times while I was away so I only lost the recordings on Sunday evening and havent had a failure since it reboted on Monday morning (touch wood)

369    06/01/2020 03:50:41 - System booted (Unknown 4).
368    06/01/2020 00:02:15 - Recorded: Dara O Briain - Voice of Reason/Dara O Briain - Voice of Reason (60 minutes - BBC TWO)
367    05/01/2020 23:37:51 - Recorded: /New: Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?... (66 minutes - ITV +1)
366    05/01/2020 23:01:53 - Recorded: The Misadventures of Romesh___/The Misadventures of Romesh... (61 minutes - BBC TWO)
365    05/01/2020 22:31:38 - Recorded: BBC News/South Today (7 minutes - BBC ONE South)
364    05/01/2020 22:23:38 - Recorded: BBC News/BBC News (22 minutes - BBC ONE South)
363    05/01/2020 20:01:35 - Recorded: Doctor Who/Doctor Who (61 minutes - BBC ONE South)
362    05/01/2020 19:58:53 - Recorded: Dancing on Ice at Christmas/New: Dancing on Ice (118 minutes - ITV)
361    05/01/2020 18:26:33 - Recorded: BBC News/South Today (7 minutes - BBC ONE South)
360    05/01/2020 18:19:01 - Recorded: BBC News/BBC News (13 minutes - BBC ONE South)
359    05/01/2020 16:44:00 - Scheduled New: Tipping Point @ 1578326400
358    05/01/2020 16:43:54 - Scheduled New: The Masked Singer @ 1578254400
357    05/01/2020 16:42:45 - System booted (Scheduled event).
356    05/01/2020 07:56:01 - Recorded: Peppa Pig/Peppa Pig (5 minutes - Channel 5)
355    05/01/2020 07:50:28 - Recorded: Peppa Pig/Peppa Pig (9 minutes - Channel 5)
354    05/01/2020 07:22:42 - System booted (Scheduled event).

It appears that the system woke up 16:42 to record the The Chase Celebrity Special at 17:00 and that recorded OK but for some reason there is no Recorded: entry in activity.log for that programme though there are autotrigger records in auto.log. Subsequent recordings failed even though they do have the normal Recorded entries.

 

[Black Hole]

System flush?

 

[MymsMan]

I had a another couple of zero length recordings yesterday The Pale Horse and BBC news (both channel 1 SD, Rowridge transmitter)

Unlike the previous incident we had successful recordings from BBC 1 before (Dr Who) and afterwards (Local new) and were recording Endeavour on ITV at the sametime while watching recorded Dancing on Ice

Also different from earlier was that hmt was incomplete and nts was also zero length

 

[dandnsmith]

No problem here with Pale Horse (SD, channel 1, Crystal Palace)

 

[MymsMan]

Prompted by @mihaid post I took a look at redring long and it it show the Pale Horse failing after 1 second while Endeavour was successfully recording

1301    [RR] Sun Feb  9 22:32:08 2020: Recording end 56.
1300    [RR] Sun Feb  9 22:32:07 2020: REC icon off.
1299    [RR] Sun Feb  9 22:24:14 2020: REC icon on.
1298    [RR] Sun Feb  9 22:24:14 2020:    Recording 1
1297    [RR] Sun Feb  9 22:24:14 2020: Recording start [RR] Sun Feb  9 22:24:14 2020: Recording start 56:'/mnt/hd2/My Video/BBC News/South Today_20200209_2224.nts'
1296    [RR] Sun Feb  9 22:00:07 2020: Recording end 59.
1295    [RR] Sun Feb  9 22:00:06 2020: REC icon off.
1294    [RR] Sun Feb  9 22:00:06 2020: REC icon on.
1293    [RR] Sun Feb  9 22:00:06 2020:    Recording 1
1292    [RR] Sun Feb  9 22:00:06 2020: Ring going red.
1291    [RR] Sun Feb  9 22:00:06 2020: Recording start 59:'/mnt/hd2/My Video/BBC News/BBC News_20200209_2200.nts'
1290    [RR] Sun Feb  9 22:00:02 2020: Recording end 61.
1289    [RR] Sun Feb  9 22:00:01 2020: REC icon off.
1288    [RR] Sun Feb  9 21:44:04 2020: Play icon on.
1287    [RR] Sun Feb  9 21:38:05 2020: Play icon off.
1286    [RR] Sun Feb  9 21:00:02 2020: Recording end 56.
1285    [RR] Sun Feb  9 21:00:01 2020:    Recording 2
1284    [RR] Sun Feb  9 21:00:01 2020: Recording start 56:'/mnt/hd2/My Video/The Pale Horse/The Pale Horse_20200209_2100.nts'
1283    [RR] Sun Feb  9 20:10:58 2020: Play icon on.
1282    [RR] Sun Feb  9 20:01:42 2020: REC icon on.
1281    [RR] Sun Feb  9 20:01:42 2020: Ring going red.
1280    [RR] Sun Feb  9 20:01:42 2020:    Recording 1
1279    [RR] Sun Feb  9 20:01:42 2020: Recording start 61:'/mnt/hd2/My Video/Endeavour/New_ Endeavour_20200209_2001.nts'

Having just come in from an evening out I have just discovered that every recording today (after Peppa Pig this morning) was zero length but this time, like my first bunch of zero lengths, these all had normal redring entries and showed as normal in the recording list

109    [RR] Fri Feb 14 23:27:55 2020: Recording end 57.
108    [RR] Fri Feb 14 23:27:54 2020: REC icon off.
107    [RR] Fri Feb 14 22:37:43 2020: REC icon on.
106    [RR] Fri Feb 14 22:37:43 2020: Ring going red.
105    [RR] Fri Feb 14 22:37:43 2020:    Recording 1
104    [RR] Fri Feb 14 22:37:43 2020: Recording start 57:'/mnt/hd2/My Video/The Graham Norton Show/The Graham Norton Show_20200214_2237.nts'
103    [RR] Fri Feb 14 22:37:43 2020: Recording end 57.
102    [RR] Fri Feb 14 22:37:42 2020: REC icon off.
101    [RR] Fri Feb 14 22:26:36 2020: REC icon on.
100    [RR] Fri Feb 14 22:26:36 2020: Ring going red.
99    [RR] Fri Feb 14 22:26:36 2020:    Recording 1
98    [RR] Fri Feb 14 22:26:36 2020: Recording start 57:'/mnt/hd2/My Video/BBC News/South Today_20200214_2226.nts'
97    [RR] Fri Feb 14 22:26:36 2020: Recording end 57.
96    [RR] Fri Feb 14 22:26:35 2020: REC icon off.
95    [RR] Fri Feb 14 22:01:48 2020: Recording end 32.
94    [RR] Fri Feb 14 21:59:52 2020:    Recording 2
93    [RR] Fri Feb 14 21:59:52 2020: Recording start 57:'/mnt/hd2/My Video/BBC News/BBC News at Ten_20200214_2159.nts'

Before I hard rebooted the system I noticed the status was showing as playing the original for the mornings Peppa Pig episode that had been dust binned by Detectads so something was incorrectly accessing the deleted recording and interfering with the later recordings.

 

[Black Hole]

so something was incorrectly accessing the deleted recording and interfering with the later recordings.

You have evidence indicating the former but you can only surmise the latter.

 

[MymsMan]

You have evidence indicating the former but you can only surmise the latter.

True, and further investigation is not clarifying the situation
It turns out the recordings I made at 10am wern't actually zero length but truncated after about 7minutes recording, though red ring showed normal length
There are no activity.log entries for them because they are part of my record to NAS experiments

34    [RR] Fri Feb 14 10:59:53 2020: Recording end 32.
33    [RR] Fri Feb 14 10:59:53 2020: REC icon off.
32    [RR] Fri Feb 14 10:59:26 2020: Recording end 26.
31    [RR] Fri Feb 14 10:09:52 2020: Ring going red.
30    [RR] Fri Feb 14 10:09:52 2020: REC icon on.
29    [RR] Fri Feb 14 10:09:52 2020: Ring going blue, full boot.
28    [RR] Fri Feb 14 09:59:50 2020:    Recording 2
27    [RR] Fri Feb 14 09:59:50 2020: Recording start 32:'/mnt/hd2/My Video/[test]/Victoria Derbyshire_20200214_0959.nts'
26    [RR] Fri Feb 14 09:59:36 2020:    Recording 1
25    [RR] Fri Feb 14 09:59:36 2020: Recording start 26:'/mnt/hd2/My Video/[test]/Homes Under the Hammer_20200214_0959.nts'
24    [RR] Fri Feb 14 09:59:36 2020:    Changing to red.
23    [RR] Fri Feb 14 09:59:36 2020:    System is in standby.
22    [RR] Fri Feb 14 09:59:36 2020: REC icon on.
21    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
20    [RR] Fri Feb 14 09:59:36 2020: Persistent log starting, v2.20
19    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
18    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:33:14 2020: Standby ring dim detected.
17    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:33:11 2020:   Changing to dim blue.
16    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:33:11 2020: Ring trying to go amber.
15    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:33:11 2020: Standby ring dim detected.
14    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:33:11 2020: Standby ring dim detected.
13    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:30:06 2020: Recording end 25.
12    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:30:06 2020: REC icon off.
11    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:23:14 2020: Ring going red.
10    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:23:14 2020: REC icon on.
9    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:23:14 2020: Ring going blue, full boot.
8    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:20:08 2020:    Recording 1
7    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:20:08 2020: Recording start 25:'/mnt/hd2/My Video/Peppa Pig/Peppa Pig_20200214_0720.nts'
6    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:20:08 2020:    Changing to red.
5    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:20:08 2020:    System is in standby.
4    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:20:08 2020: REC icon on.
3    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2    [RR] Fri Feb 14 07:20:08 2020: Persistent log starting, v2.20
1    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Having checked the recording lengths with a stopwatch they actually stopped recording at 10:07:06 and 10:07:11 which is quite close to log record
29 [RR] Fri Feb 14 10:09:52 2020: Ring going blue, full boot. which, although I don't recall the exact time, is presumably when I used the remote to switch the machine fully on, but waking the machine from half awake standby is normally very fast and wouldn't normally take nearly three minutes so there may still be something else going on Waking a machine up during recording is very normal with, AFAIK, no other reports of problems as a result.

 

[Trev]

Some peeps are complaining about a similar/same thing on MyHumax and seem to be blaming the 4000/5000T. But if this is the case, then it seems more likely to me that the problem is 'at their end'.

 

[MymsMan]

I think I am suffering from two possibly unrelated problems:

1. Zero length recordings where the Humax thinks the recording is full length and have complete nts &hmt files - affects all recordings until rebooted
2. Zero length recordings which stopped recording immediately starting and have 0 length nts, and incomplete hmt files (also seen be @mihaid ) - only affects some recordings and could be a broadcast glitch.

 

[MymsMan]

And now I have had another type 2 failure,
The Voice, ITV SD stopped recording with no data within a few seconds of starting while QI Xl and other recordings succeeded

241    [RR] Sat Feb 15 20:29:52 2020: Recording end 57.
240    [RR] Sat Feb 15 20:29:52 2020: REC icon off.
239    [RR] Sat Feb 15 20:29:50 2020: Play icon on.
238    [RR] Sat Feb 15 20:28:35 2020: REC icon on.
237    [RR] Sat Feb 15 20:28:34 2020: Ring going red.
236    [RR] Sat Feb 15 20:28:34 2020:    Recording 1
235    [RR] Sat Feb 15 20:28:34 2020: Recording start 57:'/mnt/hd2/My Video/The Voice UK/New_ The Voice UK_20200215_2028.nts'

Hangs I have got used to but missing recording is a new problem for me

 

[Black Hole]

Some peeps are complaining about a similar/same thing on MyHumax and seem to be blaming the 4000/5000T. But if this is the case, then it seems more likely to me that the problem is 'at their end'.

If that were the case, more people would be suffering the symptoms.

 

[EEPhil]

Some peeps are complaining about a similar/same thing on MyHumax and seem to be blaming the 4000/5000T. But if this is the case, then it seems more likely to me that the problem is 'at their end'.

If that were the case, more people would be suffering the symptoms.

Not found this problem myself. But I always use padding.

 

[Black Hole]

Hands up anybody with this problem who doesn't have redring installed?

 

[MymsMan]

But I always use padding.

Padding wouldn't work for me - I have far to many triple and quadruple points in my schedule where two recordings end and other start at the same time to allow for any padding overlap - plus I value not losing the ends of overrunning programmes.

Hands up anybody with this problem who doesn't have redring installed?

I doubt redring is implicated, its sole purpose is to report on the front panel status and control the ring, I don;t think it has changed recently
So far, AFAIK, only @prpr (type 1) and @mihaid (type 2) have indicated experiencing similar problems

 

[EEPhil]

plus I value not losing the ends of overrunning programmes.

(My earlier post was replying to comments about the 4000T/5000T problems.) The reason I use padding is that I value not losing the ends of any programmes. Most of the recordings I make are on minor channels where AR functionality is questionable.

 

[Black Hole]

Padding wouldn't work for me - I have far to many triple and quadruple points in my schedule where two recordings end and other start at the same time to allow for any padding overlap - plus I value not losing the ends of overrunning programmes.

Padding gets jettisoned for adjacent programmes, and the end of a programme takes priority over the beginning of one, but nonetheless padding assumes a programme will start/end at its appointed time.

The reason I use padding is that I value not losing the ends of any programmes. Most of the recordings I make are on minor channels where AR functionality is questionable.

And that's where multimode comes in.