Why is Frontier DVR not recording and not saving your scheduled capturing sessions?
The reason behind this could be many things, but with Frontier, there are many things to attempt and resume the DVRs capturing capabilities.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the correct way to manage the recordings, why the DVR is not recording, and how to solve the issue today!
When your Frontier DVR is not recording, first power cycle the set-top box and verify that the “REC” button on the remote is functional. In addition, you must cancel any scheduled recordings to prevent capturing overlap or other OS conflicts with upcoming sessions.
Let’s start unwrapping the essentials first!
How to View Frontier DVR Recordings?
The Frontier DVR saves the recorded shows on its hard drive, and it’s crucial to know where to find them.
You instantly reveal all recordings on your DVR, press the “Menu” remote button, and go to the “Recorded Programs” section, where you’ll discover all records and saved captures.
Frontier DVR Missing Recordings?
The Frontier DVR automatically deletes old recordings when no HDD space is available to clear room for upcoming scheduled capturing sessions.
This is why your old recordings are missing; sadly, there is no way to recover them, but you can protect the current recordings from deletion.
- Select a recording, and use the “Protect” option to prevent deletion!
Whenever the Frontier DVR is not recording, you may want to check whether all of the captured material is “protected,” which prevents deletion.
In that case, no storage might be left to save the newly captured content, and the machine cannot free space because the content is protected.
Tip: Only protect content you want to keep on the DVR indefinitely!
How to Fix When Frontier DVR Not Recording?
The Frontier DVR may not record due to many possibilities, and the best way to find the origin of the problem is to start excluding them one by one.
So, without further ado, let’s jump right in!
1. Power Cycle Frontier DVR
The first and most straightforward solution is to perform a power circulation on the Frontier DVR to refresh all operational services and capturing capabilities.
Sometimes, the Frontier DVR will not record due to a system bug, which resembles an unresponsiveness to basic commands.
Here’s how to perform a complete power circulation and system refresh:
- First, power off your DVR using your Frontier remote.
- Then, unplug the power adapter from the power outlet.
- Wait for at least 60 seconds with the power unplugged.
- Important: Connect the adapter directly to the power.
- Turn on your DVR, and follow the next step to record.
Tip: We recommend plugging your Frontier DVR into a standalone wall outlet without socket splitters, power dividers, or smart plugs.
2. Start Capturing Correctly
One of the fundamental factors in recording with any DVR is knowing how to begin the capturing session correctly.
The Frontier Whole-Home DVR even allows scheduling a recording for the future, capturing your favorite TV shows and movies even when not at home.
- To record with Frontier DVR, press the “RECORD” button on the remote!
For your DVR to start recording, the selected content must be currently playing, and you will notice that a recording has begun.
You can press “STOP” to stop a recording whenever you want, and the captured feed will be saved to your Frontier DVR hard disk drive (HDD) storage.
How to Record Frontier Live TV Correctly?
If you would like to record a single episode or a series, you must learn how the recording on Frontier DVR works.
So, here’s a guide on how to record live TV and TV shows correctly:
Press the “REC” button on the remote to start recording a currently playing show.
For TV series and TV shows, go to the Menu, enter “TV Listings,” and use the arrow buttons on the remote to select the TV show.
When you find your series, ensure that the TV series are highlighted and…
- Press “REC” once, and a green check should appear.
- Press “REC” again, and you will start recording the series.
- Press “REC” for a third time to stop the show recording.
Tip: Using the Series Manager, you can guarantee that the shows will be recorded when the broadcaster switches times, or there is an incidental outage.
3. Inspect the “Record” Button!
It’s not unlikely that the entire problem comes from the “RECORD” button on the remote control, which could be defective, and the DVR won’t start capturing.
There is no other way to start the capturing session, so the button may not work, or your remote batteries are weak.
We recommend replacing the batteries of the Frontier remote if you have a fresh set at home or proceed ahead with the guide, keeping this in mind.
Tip: Press the “REC” remote button harder, applying more force, to check whether this works!
4. Try to Record a Different Show
Sometimes, due to a broadcast problem, the show you’ve scheduled might not be recorded, and you may not find any captures in the storage.
If the content you’ve scheduled for recording has not aired at this time or has not yet been broadcast, you won’t find the recording in the storage.
This is why we recommend capturing a different TV show, episode or live TV manually by pressing the “REC” remote button while streaming.
If you have to, test on multiple shows to determine whether your DVR is not recording or the currently selected broadcast can’t be captured.
Info: The capturing might not be available due to a temporal outage with the selected program, so to resume your session, you must wait until the issue is resolved.
5. Free Up Some DVR Storage
By default, the Frontier DVR will start deleting the oldest recordings in order to free up space when there is no more storage left for capturing.
In some cases, you may also see “Frontier DVR system is paused,” which might be caused by a lack of available space on your machine.
When the storage is full, this might be why you’re currently unable to begin a recording, so you need to clear some of the old recordings.
Here’s how:
- First, press the “Menu” button on the remote.
- Then, locate, highlight, and select your “DVR.”
- The recordings will now appear in the menu.
- If not, look for a “Recorded Programs” button.
- Hover over a TV recording you wish to delete.
- Select “Remove” and repeat the steps for others.
Note: Some Frontier DVRs cannot manually delete recordings, so if you don’t see an option to remove a selected recording, you don’t need to do so.
6. Cancel “Scheduled Recordings”
Sometimes, your Frontier Communications DVR not recording due to an ongoing capturing session or a conflict from scheduled recordings.
The best way to address such a possibility is to disable all Frontier DVR scheduled recordings and then start capturing content manually.
Here’s how to cancel the scheduled recordings on Frontier DVR:
- Press the “Menu” button to open the settings.
- Then select the “View Schedule” section tab.
- Highlight a scheduled session for cancellation.
- Press the “OK” button and then select “Cancel”.
This will cancel the scheduled capturing session for the selected TV show.
We recommend you disable all scheduled recordings to clear the schedule and attempt the manual recording.
Reminder: To begin recording on Frontier DVR, start streaming a selected program and press the “RECORD” button on the remote control.
7. Reset the Frontier DVR System!
Frontier DVRs cannot be factory reset, and you will not lose any of your settings or recordings.
However, many users claim that a system refresh process helps with system conflicts and bugs, which might sometimes prevent the DVR from recording.
Hold the Power button on your Frontier DVR for 30 seconds and unplug the device from the electrical outlet for 3 minutes.
When you restart the Frontier DVR later, double-check and cancel any scheduled recordings on the device and start streaming a show you wish to record.
Then, press the “REC” button on the remote to begin capturing, wait 5 minutes, and press the “STOP” button to cancel the session.
Reminder: To view the saved recordings on your Frontier DVR, go to the Menu, then enter “Recorded Programs.”
Quick Recap:
Thus, Frontier DVR not recording due to a system bug or because the “REC” button on the remote is not functional due to weak batteries.
Another possibility is a system conflict due to an existing schedule, which might prevent you from capturing manually.
We hope this guide was helpful, and for more Frontier content, follow our blog!
Finn Wheatley holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from UCL, London. He helped small data science consultancy firms, helping large corporations to grow their data capabilities, deploy advanced machine learning-based analytics and troubleshoot tech-related issues. Check out more about him here.