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  1. The HDMI port on my Motorola DCT6416 stopped working. The video port still works well, but obviously at a much lower resolution. My cable provider (Cogeco) won't activate any units that were used with other companies before, so I'm having a hard time finding another DCT6416 formally used with Cogeco.

    In case I can find a DCT6412, does anyone know if it is possible to replace the 120Gig HDD from the DCT6412 with a 160Gig HDD formatted in a DCT6416? Cogeco's firmware limits the DCT6416 to 160Gig, and the DCT6412 to 120Gig, but I have read that when formatting the HDD in another unit (by another cable provider), it will subsequently work in the Cogeco box with the higher capacity.

    When trying the Component port on the TV, the video was even worse than with the Composite port, possibly because of the length of the cable, so alternatively, anyone know if there is a way to use the Ethernet ports to get HD Video from the DCT6416 to the TV?
    Last edited by tac7; 12th Nov 2014 at 12:40.
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  2. Formerly 'vaporeon800' Brad's Avatar
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    All I can say is that you can't send video out of the ethernet port.
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    Originally Posted by tac7 View Post
    When trying the Component port on the TV, the video was even worse than with the Composite port, possibly because of the length of the cable, so alternatively, anyone know if there is a way to use the Ethernet ports to get HD Video from the DCT6416 to the TV?
    No. Ethernet ports on cable boxes are always disabled, in my experience, and were never intended to be used as a video connection.

    The only HD video connection on a cable box other than HDMI and Component is the IEEE 1394 port, but most of the time it is also deactivated. IEEE 1394 connections were once used with D-VHS recorders and some rather old HDTVs, but recent TVs don't include IEEE 1394 connections. Sometimes a PC's firewire connection can be used to watch or record video from a cable box's IEEE 1394 port, but more often it can't, even when the cable box's IEEE 1394 connection is not disabled. The video output may be copy protected to prevent recording/viewing with a PC.
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  4. Originally Posted by tac7 View Post
    ... possibly because of the length of the cable...
    So, was the HDMI cable just as long? How long is that? Have you tried a short cable (6' or less), just saying that HDMI cables over 25' can be trouble (or cheap 12' cables) and that a connection could stop working.
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  5. I wish it was the cable. I was watching TV via HDMI, and I heard a faint pop, followed by a "no Signal" message on the TV. Of course I tried different HDMI cables (1.4 ARC high quality types), including other inputs on the TV.

    Took the Motorola box apart and checked the traces from the port to the ICs both sides of the circuit board and various nearby components for obvious failures, but no luck. Apparently it's not uncommon for the HDMI chips on these boxes to fail, and a Motorola rep I talked to said that once they are out of warranty, you might as well just toss them.

    As mentioned, I'm having a hard time finding another DCT6416 that my cable provider is willing to activate, so in case a DCT6412 became available, I was thinking of swapping the HDD for a little extra recording space. I formatted another 160Gig HDD without any problems, so that seems to work ok.

    Thanks everyone for the heads up on the ethernet port.
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  6. Sorry, double post.
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  7. Another thing you might consider is to simply swap the firmware chip (probably the EEPROM too) from your dead DVR to one that Cogeco won't activate. As long as they didn't use BGA chips it's fairly easy to do or at least find a shop that will do it.
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