# Possible Missed Timers Solution!



## Jason (Aug 8, 2002)

This question is for those people who have had missed timers as of late. Are those missed timers set as 'Weekly' or 'Mon-Fri' events? If so, delete all of the Weekly and Mon-Fri event timers that you have and add new timers as a 'Once' only timers for all of the shows you record. I had a lot of missed timers and since I changed them to 'Once' only I haven't missed a single one! Give it a shot and let me know if that helps.


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## Bill D (May 11, 2002)

But then we have to set the timers every day correct ??
For now I haven't missed anything that I have really missed (Sopranos, etc)


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

Yes this is a temporary fix. I am told that the M - F fix will be in the next software version L1.04.

I am told that they are still workiing very hard on L 1.04 and that when it does come out there may be a few more suprises in there to make 721 owners smile. 

Hang in there folks!


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## Jason (Aug 8, 2002)

Bill D,

Yes, you would have to set the timers every day. But you can use your guide and scroll up to 10 days ahead and set all the timers at one time. That way you would only have to set timers up every 10 days or so. It may be time consuming but it sure beats missing a lot of timers!


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## jimcx (Sep 12, 2002)

I've got the opposite problem (I think!). It hasn't missed any of the timers I've set (many weekly, a bunch of 'once' when it thinks there's a weekly conflict, and a couple of daily timers). I find extra recordings of shows (and partial shows) that I have not scheduled!! As long as it records what I've got scheduled, it doesn't bother me much...

Jim


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## thomasmaly (Jul 7, 2002)

I must have been born under the right star. I have had 721 since 
mid July. I have not missed a single timer: one time only, weekly,
consecutive events on same channel. Guess I should count my blessings.


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## David_Levin (Apr 22, 2002)

What box are you talking about?

Jason: They Dishplayer has had problems with recurring timers for a long time.

After a show is missed (perhaps because Showtime moved it by 5 minutes) the Dishplayer changes it from Record Weekly to Record Whenever (at the set time). Most annoying, and generally a bad indication. The event must be deleted and recreated to fix it.

This also would sometimes occur due to a guide problem (often a result of discrepancy between to 2 day and 7 day Dishplayer guides).

I personally haven't missed any recurring timers yet - but I watch for the 'record whenever' indication.

But man, why the heck do we have PVRs if we must recreate timers weekly - My VCR works better.

TiVo sure doesn't have this problem - E* should be embarassed.

(Maybe the Dishplayer programmers could hack in the UTV Season Ticket routine - the Dishplayer would become the hot ticket E* PVR).


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## Danbo (Oct 3, 2002)

I've read, albeit too late, a number of posts regarding the 721 that I, for whatever reason, mistakenly purchased just over a month ago. I thought I had researched things well. Obviously I was wrong. Missed timers, unable to set timers, timers ending abruptly, all makes me wonder why I bothered to even switch to DishNetwork in the first place.

It's even less reassuring when, as it's being installed, the installers tell me they "saw" this unit in June, for about 10 minutes, but this was their "first" one to work with. I could put up with the "hours" it seemed for them to install it (which it shouldn't have, as there was a previous DirecTV dish where this one was going, and all cables were already run). But putting up with what I thought was the cutting edge for PVR?

I had gone back and forth on whether or not to spend my money upgrading to an HDTV receiver, and still using a VCR to record shows, or moving to a PVR or Tivo type system and hoping at some point an upgrade would be available for such things to work with HDTV.

Since DirecTV doesn't offer ANY sort of upgrade paths for existing users, I switched to DishNetwork. And since I wanted the ability to record shows, I opted for the 721, hoping at some point an upgrade for such things with HDTV would come. And what do I get? Missed shows. Incomplete recordings. Tech support sitting on the phone, telling me stories of their life, and how someone tested the unit by covering the vent holes on the unit for 48 to 72 hours. That's supposed to be comforting? Okay, the unit doesn't overheat. So? It doesn't record either.

Yes, I'm a bit over the edge. Spending this kind of money on a unit that doesn't deliver, and obviously isn't ready for the public, is a bit ridiculous. I thought I was getting the latest in technology, not the latest in a series of on-going problems with a receiver that doesn't overheat when the vents are covered. Sarcasm intended. Had I read these threads sooner, I'd definitely not have bothered.


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## Guest (Oct 3, 2002)

gEEZ! I just bought into the 721 and 2 501's.

The 1st time we miss a must see show the doo doo is going to HIT THE FAN. I'll bet the fan will bo on high as well. <sigh> After $900 in Dish equipment I should have stuch with DirecTV.


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## bfennema (Jul 21, 2002)

Ever since I stopped setting M-F timers, and instead set 5 timers, one for each day, I havn't had a timer miss yet =) [It's especially useful since I really only wanted M-Th] (this is with the 721)


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## jerryyyyy (Jul 19, 2002)

I will try this approach since to miss my wife's soap is a recipe for divorce. It is a funny bug because it seems channel specific. Also, a definate risk is to try to record two at the same time- often you get neither. Despite these problems, this is still not a bad system. 

BTW, I think the single timer business is wrong, since I know it has missed single timers also. But maybe it is better.


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## Danbo (Oct 3, 2002)

Okay, talked with Tech Support about this. I'm posting their solution, temporary as it is, to see if this is the same solution others have been given or just something they pulled out of thin air. When I mentioned that my monday through friday timers weren't recording every day, especially when a weekend would pass, they indicated it was a known issue and would be, hopefully, resolved in the next patch (no date given). To temporarily resolve this, you're supposed to do the following:

Each night, turn off the unit with the power button on the front of the unit, NOT the remote control.

Has anyone else gotten this work-around? If so, did it really resolve the issue? I also reported an issue where it stopped recording a show partway through, which was also indicated as a known bug.


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## jerryyyyy (Jul 19, 2002)

I have set a bunch of timers for the weekend and will be going away. It will be interesting to see how many actually work on my return. I'll try this manual shutdown before I leave. It does appear to work better, temporarily, with a cold shutdown. All this sounds refereble to the software instability.


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2002)

I couldn't help but laugh when I read this thread. I have been reporting this problem since July. The first 5 times they told me I was crazy that there is no problem. They actually sent out 2 boxes to try fixing the problem, not to mention other ones.

Unfortunately for DN, I would not back down. All they did was waste their money in shipping and further confirm the problem existed.

All was fine, until my wife started recording the new season's shows. The first week we had a problem. She got home, bit my head off and told me to find a resolution "or else". ... well, I don't know what the or else was. But we did get a gratifying resolution.

As it turns out the program that didn't record was the premier of Everwood. I called DN and gave them an earfull. They had my complete history onhand and could verify that I had been calling about this before. The resolution I demanded and wouldn't back down from ... fix the problem by the end of the week or replace my 721 with a Tivo, which I sold to get this unit, and I will be happy with a box that hasn't failed me in 2 years (Tivo).

Well, we came to a agreement. They would credit my account for $200 to get a new Tivo and I could keep my 721 until the problem clears up.

Sounded good to me!

I have actually waited to post this, as I wanted to verify it was applied to my account. It was.

So go get 'em! We paid good money for these "beta" boxes. It is time they antied up.


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