TV Recordings freeze partway thru playback.

[gimbal]

Hi, I have Bell Fibe Internet and TV (fibre to the home) with a 4K VIP5662W PVR receiver. Every Sunday I record NFL football games which are about 3 hours in length. I have done this for MANY years with the same equipment with no issues.

Suddenly 2 weeks ago, recordings will freeze during playback, at about the 1 hour, or 1 hour 30 minute mark. I only have about 20% of disk space used (80% free) and I have deleted a whole bunch of recordings trying to solve the issue. Even if I reboot both the modem and TV receiver, and then go back to the saved recording, it will freeze in excatly the same spot. If I try to fast forward, the play/pause position indicator advances but the time of the freeze stays constant (so let's say it advances to to the 2 hour mark, it will still read 1h29m or whatever). 

Is this a failed hard drive in the PVR? Or was there some firmware update that won't allow proper playback of recordings?

[WelshTerrier]

Good Day.

Thank you for reaching out to the Bell Community Forum & letting us know that everything is now copacetic.

I have included this web link in case you should require any further assistance.

Fibe TV: troubleshooting tools, virtual repair tool and support

Take care.

[ljccan]

After 10 months of dealing with many, many versions of support recordings pausing during playback continues. It improved for a short period of time but now it is back and unusable. Tonight I used playback of the Brazil F1 Sprint Qualifying. After 15 min I got a message that the video was buffering. From that point forward it would pause every few seconds of playback. It has been enormously frustrating trying to get this fixed. I have spent countless hours on calls with support staff, I have modified connections to my TV and equipment. Every time it would improve for a short period of time only to have it come back. I would have hoped that 10 months was enough time to fix this issue. I guess Belll support enjoys wasting time talking to me.

[Nicks]

I'm having similar problems. The recordings are pixelated. Almost impossible to see. Usually the video starts off fine and then it starts to pixelate and gets to the point where actually the recording is useless. Not very happy about that and it seems to be a different channels. It's not one particular Channel. I have Netflix and a Britbox and can watch shows with no problem at all. Definitely it's a record problem because it only happens on the recorded shows that I watch. This device was also supplied by Bell.  I think I'll have to check with tech support when I get a chance. 

[BellPatricia]

Hi there @Nicks 

Welcome to the Bell Community.

Which TV receiver do you have? 

To start we recommend that you reboot your affected receiver by unplugging the power cable from the electrical outlet, then wait for ten seconds and reconnect the power cable. The receiver may take up to 2 minutes to reboot.

Let us know if you have any more trouble.

@BellPatricia 

[ExperiencedTechGuyLS]

I have been having the recording freeze issue too---here is what I have observed:

1. I record programs almost every day. I have NEVER have a problem with recordings that happen when I'm not watching them.
2. The only time I've had the problems is when I start watching a program after it is already in the process of recording -- usually it has been a hockey game, where I let it record for 60-90 minutes before I start watching, so that I can skip over the talking heads, etc.
3. The problem never occurs for me when I'm just watching -- it is always when I've grabbed the remote and clicked on the "jump forward N seconds" or "jump backwards N seconds" button.
4. The recording just freezes. I can restart the recording, but it doesn't play anything.  If I try to erase the recording, I will sometimes get a message about a bad format or something.
5. I have a VIP5662W PVR (rebooted multiple times), it is ~80% full, with 1G fibre.
6. My workaround strategy is to record the hockey game on 2 different channels -- if the first one freezes, then I just let the second one finish recording without watching it, and watch it the next day...  

Definitely frustrating. Especially since it worked without any problems for several years -- this problem just started happening 3-4 months ago.

[David 312]

I have Bell Fibe Whole Home PVR and 4K receiver. TV programming was freezing (being "dropped"?) but that has stopped happening. However, TV shows I was recording during that "down time" seem fully recorded, but freeze 3–5 minutes after starting. Is there any way to "repair" the file so I can watch the rest of the recording? It seems there was an interruption that has blocked the rest of the playback. Is there anyway to "skip" the damaged code in order to continue?

[David 312]

Thank you, you've given me some hints about what might have happened. I'll monitor what I simultaneously watch/record to see if that's the possible cause. Your work-around is an excellent suggestion, so I'll try that too. See my similar problem @David312

[Munimula]

I too have been having recording problems.  Some recordings won't even play when I go to watch them.  Other times if the show is being recorded and I try and use the back button it just goes goes to the beginning of the tape or some other arbitrary spot, then I have to get out of the recordings and use the live button to get back to the show. Very frustrating.  This was happening a couple of months ago and I was given a new box. It was OK for a while but now it is starting all over again. I'm using the Bell Fibe home plan 3000 modem with 3 satellites all wireless. My recordings are at 68%.   My wife is so mad she wants to switch to Cogeco.  I talked her out of it, for now.  

[David 312]

I got a new PVR box from Bell, as well, and it's been working "OK" for now, although there are brief glitches in the recordings that I often attribute to the deteriorating conditions at the originating TV channels (due to lack of advertising income). I'm just waiting for this box to flatline, then I guess I'll just send for another one. It's very disruptive, but until Bell comes up with better technology, I feel as if I'm stuck in this Groundhog Day scenario. I've sort of thrown up my hands about it.

[northpost]

I know this is an old post but, I have had recording problems with my VIP5662w PVR since early 2025. I think I have solved my problem and am posting this in the interests of other subscribers that continue to have similar trouble. I tried all of the fixes that have been posted but the problem reoccurred after a short pause. Bell sent me a new VIP5662W but after a few weeks the problem was back. It wasn't a re-furbished unit, (was shiny new in shrink wrap). Tried the same old fixes again to no avail. I was going to do what contributor 'gimbal" suggested and replace the HDD with an SSD. An SSD has no moving parts, generating much less heat than a HHD. So knowing that the PVR runs very warm I decided to investigate the issue of heat affecting the PVR. I positioned the PVR box vertically on it's right side with the vents at the back over-hanging the edge of the TV stand. In this position the heat from the HHD rises up and away from the main board. For about 4 weeks now I have had error free use of my PVR. It didn't cost me anything and was dead easy to try. I will check back in to let you know if it is still working

[David 312]

I'll try positioning the PVR on its side the next time it happens. Thanks for the tip. I think Bell should have fixed this problem, or alerted consumers (somehow?), to avoid all this confusion and discussion. Bell could admit there's a problem, then provide the best solution (e.g., "Try turning the unit on it's right side" or "Forget trying to fix it; get a new PVR"). Sheeeesh.