HDHR Dual no longer working after latest HDHR software update?

[waylo]

I received some news from Xfinity, when trying to renew my contract, that ANY change to my account will result in the loss of my cable card.

Being a HDHR Prime user for ~15 years, that's really frustrating. But, I do understand times are a changing.

Before the Prime, I used a HDHR Dual. I reconnected the HDHR Dual to check what options I may have, thinking about for cord cutting. It's never had great signal in my current home, but several channels did come in very clearly and reliably. It's connected to a Mohu powered Leaf. I confirmed the same channels I had known about previously were viable.

Then, I decided to run the latest FW update (for the Prime) and HDHR software. The software balked at installing the VB C++ requirement, because my PC already had a newer version installed. I went through with the software update without the VB install.

Suddenly, the HDHR Dual had essentially NO signal from any channel. TV tuning with the HDHR Setup program removed all existing channels.

After a lot of troubleshooting, and rolling back my PC to a pre-software update, it continues to have this issue. I even moved it out towards a window so I could hang the antenna better. Same result.

The HDHR Dual was on the latest FW from several years ago, so it did not get a FW update with my update. Using the HDHR Config software, I can see there is *some* signal, but not enough.

What could have happened?

[signcarver]

What specific software are you trying to use?

For the modern software the dual will have to have a scan run from windows setup that detects the channels to inform SD of the lineup so they can store it in the cloud as the device itself does not maintain any lineup a new scan from such will update (and in your case remove) what channels that lineup has. You may wish to just run the scan using hdhomerun_config (and/or use config_gui to just check the status of each physical channel) before running the scan from setup which updates the cloud based lineup. The dual will also not work with SD's DVR as it doesn't support http streaming.

The most common thing to go out on the dual is the power supply which sometimes manifests the issues only after being on for awhile and particularly may have problems during scans, it may or may not "reset" the good working behavior after unplugging for quite awhile. As I recall, the prime's power supply should work with a dual so you might wish to try that (please double check... the prime should have a higher amp rating but higher amp rating is ok, its the volts, polarity, and connector size you should double check... over the years there have been many two tuner devices that have been referred to as "duals" even some of the more modern rather than legacy ones so I can't say for certain which model you have but most use the 5 volt 2.1mm ID / 5.5mm OD plug, 9-10mm depth, center positive... the rating on the dual supplies should be only 1 or 2 amps while the prime would be rated at 2.5A or higher).

I have in the past made sure the install proceeds without issue by removing the VB libraries and let it install what it wants (then update after) but usually that issue isn't a problem (though over the years I have seen some issues on computers where it was never installed before, thus why I like seeing that "clean" install).

[waylo]

Thanks for chiming in!

For normal viewing/recording, I use SageTV. It's an oldie but goodie. Only the Prime is configured, currently, and that continues to work fine. The Dual has been connected in the past.

For quick troubleshooting for the Dual, I send the video stream to VLC by clicking on the channel listing in HDHR Setup. That's where I discovered the lack of any usable streams right after running the software update.

I did wonder if there was some cloud setting that changed on the Dual after the software update. But I thought the Dual preceded all that, or cloud settings would only be used for the HDHR viewing app. For local app viewing, it shouldn't matter, right? DLNA should still function.

There is a .xml file in Windows /ProgramData that HDHR Setup references for channels found on previous sweeps. After I found this problem and lost the channels with the new sweep, I restored that (before the full Win OS HD rollback), just to get back the channel designations that I had tested right before the upgrade. Still no viable signals, whereas an hour before there were many functioning channels.

Also before the full OS rollback, I did uninstall the latest VB versions on my PC until the HDHR upgrade program's VB was able to install itself. Still, no go.

I agree a hardware failure certainly should be considered, given how old and infrequently used the Dual was. The power adapter did feel somewhat warm when I unplugged. I will check that as my next step.

A Mohu Leaf failure would be an unlikely culprit, right? It's powered, but even unpowered it should continue to work somewhat.

[signcarver]

The antenna shouldn't fail but one of the leaf's I had required the USB power for the amp otherwise no or at least very low signal.

NO DLNA with the dual (or at least directly, as that would require http streaming which it doesn't do, it is possible for an app on a pc to provide such). Sage should work with it if appropriate BDA driver is installed... I know there used to be a problem with the SD setup app installing the appropriate BDA drivers with sage on windows 10/11 (as I recall something about 32 bit vs 64 bit) but I don't know the current status of that. In general apps (other than SD's if a scan was run from setup which only uses the one hosted by SD) don't get any lineup for a dual other than one the app being used generates... some apps can use that xml file that was generated though it may need to be copied to appropriate directory for app and some apps may require modification. The modern devices allow dlna, http streaming, and maintaining their own lineup and would suggest an upgrade over a legacy dual but I can see that you may wish to determine if you can get OTA working first prior to pursuing that. Where I currently live I have found the flex to perform best with the signals... when I had a cabin that required a very large antenna and much amplification, I found my very old dual worked better than the modern devices (though that predates my flex but did include an extend, a connect, and a quatro, and currently I no longer have an old duo to try things).

[waylo]

Thanks again for sharing your wisdom. I am impressed and grateful.

Tried moving the Dual to a different part of the house. Internet connection never established. Looking at the ethernet switch next to the router, found the connection was flickering on and off very slowly, which suggested the connection was inadequate and that your power supply theory was correct!

Swapped in the Prime's power supply into the unit and boom, signal is back!

Time to throw away this 5v fire hazard and get a replacement!

[pshanew]

Time to throw away this 5v fire hazard and get a replacement!

You can find the required power supply specs here:
https://info.hdhomerun.com/info/dual

[waylo]

Perfect. Given how variable each source/batch is on Amazon, I decided to just purchase the Prime adapter sold by SD. Not that much more $, *hopefully* more reliable...