Comcast DVR "CIU" Error

Ahhh. When I figure out an easy answer to an annoying problem, I love to share it. I have one of the newer Comcast Motorola boxes with a DVR. Tonight, it was going along fine, recording the series I've plugged into it. However, one show wouldn't play. I got a black screen on playback and a differing number of minutes shown as length each time I played it, and if I tried to exit, I got the "Delete/Do Not Delete?" prompt. I tried deleting. The box returned something along the lines of, "Cannot delete file while in use. Close file and try again. Error CIU."

I went ahead and restarted the box. Same problem.

The answer? Don't call the techs, they'll likely suggest a new box. Pain in the ass. Just unplug the thing altogether, let it sit for a minute (oh yes, the glorious "power cycle" ACTUALLY WORKS FOR SOMETHING), plug it back in -- you're going to have to wait a few minutes to download the menu and the guide and such, but don't worry, you'll get it -- now, go into the DVR menu and delete the offending program. Works like a charm.

And a good night to all of YOU. :-)