How to limit the number of episodes of a particular show or have the HDHR Servio auto-delete older shows?

[Jcpmojo]

I have the Flex 4K and Servio devices, and I noticed the other day that it stopped recording shows over a week ago. Turns out my Servio was full. So it just stops recording when it's full? That's pretty lame.

There are so many potential solutions for such a simple problem, it boggles my mind that there isn't one already configured in these systems before they reach the consumer.

You could set limits for number of recordings of each show, or provide an option in the recording menu to allow the user to select the number of recordings to keep.

You could program the system, or provide a feature, to auto-delete the oldest saved episodes in order to record new ones.

You could give the user a notification or warning that the system is full. I went a week with no new recordings, until I figured out on my own what the problem was. That's just unsatisfactory for the price we pay for these devices.

Please. Fix this issue. And while you're at it, add some batch-delete features, so we don't have to delete each episode of each show one at a time. That's just comically bad engineering.

[nickk]

We have been discussing auto-delete and bulk delete features in our internal meetings.

Automatically deleting a recording when it reaches a number of days or months old is a plausible feature. For example you might set the news to record with a 1-say auto-delete, or you might set a TV show to expire after 30 days.

Keep at most number of shows is much much harder. The HDHomeRun DVR system supports having multiple network attached storage devices. This solves the biggest problem of DVRs as you can now expand storage by adding more storage devices. The complication is that no one storage device knows how many recordings you have of a series.

There is also the question of if we add a do-not-auto-delete flag that can be added to a recording.

Bulk delete is also being discussed. That is a UI problem we think we have a good approach for.

[JLH64]

I asked this same question back in early summer and was told it was "being discussed". I suggest SD moves on from discussing to action. I purchased the DVR service and will most definitely not be re-purchasing the service at the annual re-subscription time. It's too much work to sit there manually deleting episode by episode. It stops me recording all the shows I want to because I don't have time manually curate dozens of episodes that are piling up on my drive - it's archaic.
Also, the UI needs work. Why can't I default to Favorites and why do I have to click down-down-down-down..... till I run out of channels and can then navigate to the guide?
I think I've been patient waiting some 9 months for improvement, and subscribing to DVR. We need less talk and more action, else I'm not spending another nickel.

[nickk]

why do I have to click down-down-down-down..... till I run out of channels and can then navigate to the guide?

Pressing down past the last channel won't get you to the guide/OSD bar. Up/down is for navigating the channel list (only) - once you hit the last channel pressing down won't do anything.

Press select/enter to bring up the OSD, press right to move to the guide icon, press select.

If you are already in the channel list press left to get back to the OSD bar.

[nickk]

FYI - we will be releasing the auto-expire feature (keep for a period of time) in January.

[The_Jonathan]

Nice, can’t wait for auto expire

[JLH64]

FYI - we will be releasing the auto-expire feature (keep for a period of time) in January.

Hi Nickk,

As we fast approach the end of January, your suggested release month for the auto-expire feature, just wondering if a date is available for this beta? My date to pay for another annual DVR subscription is fast approaching and without this fix, I find the DVR service too much work to keep using. I have to keep going through all my recordings and manually delete them, less than ideal.

Thanks!

[JLH64]

@nickk Please comment - thanks!

[nickk]

The server side work has been done. The UI and record engine work was preempted with other priorities - I will bring it up in our next engineering meeting.

[JLH64]

The server side work has been done. The UI and record engine work was preempted with other priorities - I will bring it up in our next engineering meeting.

Thanks. Not sour grapes, but I'm tired waiting and I canceled my DVR subscription. I already burnt through most of my subscription waiting for the fix and rarely used DVR because of this. It just created a lot of maintenance work for me.
Thanks for trying.

[The_Jonathan]

Any news on the feature ? Is it still planned ?

[dbcollins]

Has there been any progress on this feature (time-based auto delete). It seems like it has been in the works for quite some time, but never pushed across the finish line.
Thanks!

[NedS]

First up will be date-based trimming options. A number limit is going to be a little harder due to how the DVR works with multiple storage instances. Gotta get a little creative for how to handle that on the back end.