PlayTV

[THENATURALIST84]

Hi,

i bought a new ps3 250gb at xmas with a free playtv.

the playtv worked great up until about two weeks ago. i had used up a lot of harddrive space with shows with about 70gb left.

i went to start playtv up and it just hung at the playtv logo for about 5 minutes. the harddrive light on the console was going crazy.

using the menu too was slowed down. i could take a minute to complete a command. i would select the recorded programs folder and i would have to wait. all the while the harddrive light was going crazy.

trying to watch some of the previously recorded show was basically impossible, shows that had recorded perfectly were now stuttering and pausing.

i read up on various forums and found it to be a common problem.

i eventually had to uninstall the saved recordings in the games menu because it was basically freezing up and sometimes would just get stuck on the logo alltogether. this worked for a little while then after a time it started again with the same slow down problems.

things i can count out as the cause:

antanna- definetly not, i can watch a show and record it with now problems in signal and try and play it back and it stutters.

harddrive- not the harddrive,why would it work again normally when i remove all the recordings, games that save data on the drive have had no dramas and the playtv software began working slow while watching live tv with no buffer enabled, selecting different shows would take forever, it would take a minute to change the channel. a faulty drive is not playing any part in this but some fundamental flaw in the playtv software.

what i believe the cause is:

what ever is the cause is using up the available proccesing power and accessing the hard drive like crazy.

my thought was maybe the software has a built in defragging software to defrag the harddrive. but this would be crazy to have going in the background if it stops the playtv from working normally. my other thought is that it does NOT have a defraging software so after having nearly filling up my drive the recording are saved on the drive all over the place, and when it is trying to play them it is causing the hardrive to be accessed like mad.

it would be crazy for sony not to include some option to defrag the drive because the saved programs will be all over the place especially if u regularly delete shows. an option to defrag when u are not using it.

this still does not make me understand why it is running slow while watching live tv with no buffer on. i was trying to change the channel but the epg would not respond quick enough.

there is a fundemental flaw in the playtv software that pops up after having filled up a lot of the hard drive or when it becomes too defragmented. it was working like a dream when the drive was new.

i was thinking of formatting the drive but im not sure if it defrags the drive. the ps3 really should have a

defrag option. something in the software is accessing the drive and slowing it down but what.

i basically have a useless slow hd setop box with a broken recording function. what is sony going to do to fix this software issue that is definetly not caused by my hardware. its only the playtv having trouble, anything else like games etc that uses the hardware has no issues.

[THENATURALIST84]

Hi,

just an update, i left my playtv running for a couple of hours and finnally the harddrive light has turned off when im watching live tv and when i pause a recorded show.

there is no stuttering at all when watching a recorded show. playtv is running at full speed for the time being.

whatever was accessing the hardrive and using up the proccessing power has stopped for whatever reason. this gives me a idea that there might accuatlly be some sort of defragg program built into the software, but it is interfering with the program and slowing it down too much.

sony must know what this proccess is that pops up every now and then and thats making the hardrive going mad and slowing playtv down to a snails pace.

i expect that playtv will play up again like it has before.

the hardrive light should not light up when watching live or when paused on a recorded show. but that is not what is happening when this hiccup in the software occurs.

hope sony can shed light on this problem and ask their software coders what could be causing this slow down.

[DashBob]

Have you actually called up the Sony Support line : http://community.eu.playstation.com/t5/Technical-Support-Help-Advice/Sony-Customer-Technical-Support...

That is a first (and often very productive) way of getting something fixed or sorted out. Just remember to tell them everything that is actually happening and NOT that you know (or think you know) what the problem is. 

[chridder27]

Hi,

I'd be really interested to know if Sony has a fix for this issue as I'm having exactly the same problem.

I've been through the process of deleting the 'game' data for PlayTV (very annoying losing all my programs and having to re-tune stations etc) and this fixed the problem for a while.

But now it's back again and I'd prefer not to delete and start again this time.

[yeah_its_anda]

I have a problem with it as well...

The sound for programs cuts in and out and sometimes, the sound and picture distort.  When you record stuff, the same problem happens with the recorded version of the show.

You can play games on the PS3 while recording but this sometimes affects the program quality.

All in all, I'm thoroughly unimpressed.  I've gone back to watching TV through the television itself, not the PS and I only intend to use PlayTV if I absolutely must record something.

Not happy SONY!

[gavsta72]

Why would you watch TV through PlayTV ??
Not only does the PS3 "chew up" 180watts per hour, but it gets hot, bothered and becomes a pain

[who8mycake]

Why would you watch TV through PlayTV?

Speaking strictly for myself the only reason I purchased a Sony PS3 was because it combined a gaming console with a top of the line Blu Ray/DVD player, a HD set top box which could record (namely PlayTV) not to mention the ability to access the internet.

Sony's got the right idea with PlayTV, it's a shame the execution is off. Worth the effort though for those of us trying to downsize what's under our plasma/LCD TV's.