# Yawn...is anyone still paying attention to the r15?



## JimV (Feb 3, 2007)

So it was January 17th when my first R15-500 went crazy (see other posts about my issues) right after an update. Tried to fix it with help from the kind people here but no luck. Calls to DTV indicated that an update was coming in February. No such luck, device just got worse and worse. I dont use it as a DVR at all anymore, just a receiver.

In the meantime I took advantage of getting a free upgrade to an R15 for my other receiver which I then put in place of the existing DVR and moved the busted one into the other room. So the R15-100 has problems but at least I can record and watch shows.

So here we are, mid-April and only a CE for the R15-100 which I dont have issues with and which from the CE forums doesnt seem to have many bug fixes in it. 

So what happened to this february release? Who knows. I've changed my tv habits so that I dont really watch anything that isnt recorded so in that respect the DVR is great, but it needs to work and one of mine does not and the other just has typical bugs.

Just wanted to post this since it seems the R15 board is dying a bit because there seems to be very little resolution to the issues and there's no sense in coming to the board if there are no answers only questions! No salvation here unfortunately. TV addicts are changing to HD and they're the ones who post here anyway so I guess that's part of it.


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## irmolars (Mar 12, 2006)

The only answer I get from Direct, is they think all the problems are solved.
No updates coming at all is what they will tell you. Already fixed and a fine DVR at that.

What a joke the R-15 has made out of Directv.


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## msalvail (Sep 19, 2003)

I sure hope they are paying attention as I got an R-15 last Saturday and another one today. I only subscribe to D* for MLB EI and that basic receiver is a POS so I went ahead and got another R-15 today. Unless they are going to come out with another SD DVR, they are going to have to support this one because not everyone wants the H-20, especially since D* has so few HD channels.


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

Well...one update in seven months! There's a CE release out, but I haven't heard any glowing reviews.

I've lost my faith. The R15 is abandoned! Or at least they've cut resources enough that it's effectively abandoned.


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## irmolars (Mar 12, 2006)

If you think they are going to fix the R-15, guess again.
Below is Directv's answer to my E-mail



"Thanks for writing. I’m very sorry to hear about the problems you have experienced with your DVR. I tried to call you today at around 10:45 AM to assist you, but I was unable to reach you. I have checked your account. It appears that your receiver has the most up to date software version. This version of the software should have resolved any problems with that receiver. Since you are still experiencing problems, it may be something else that is causing the problems.

For fastest assistance right now, please call us back at (800) 531-5000 every day and a specialist will be available to help. If you would rather have someone call you, please respond to this email with a phone number and a good time to reach you. We’ll ask a specialist to contact you in the next 3-4 days.

Thanks again for writing and I thank you very much for your patience and understanding."


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## cavihitts (Mar 11, 2007)

The R15-100 got a software update on April 4th for mountain time zone & April 11th for pacific time zone. The fact that they have done a CE on it shows they haven't forgot about it.


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## Boston Fan (Feb 18, 2006)

qwerty said:


> Well...one update in seven months! There's a CE release out, but I haven't heard any glowing reviews.


We downloaded the CE release for our -100, and it has been fine. What negatives have you heard - I have not seen anything.


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## ISWIZ (Nov 18, 2005)

The R15 has NOT been forgotten 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Due to a recent number of threads opened on the topic:
The not-so cutting edge R15
Has the R15 Been forgotten????
R15???

I want to make sure you ALL know, the R15 is not a forgotten product.
It is still an active part of the DirecTV service. And will be for a while to come. 

The successor to the R15 is not going to be available "tomorrow". It will be some time till it is.

There will be a CE version for the R15: Subscribe to this thread to be notified when it is available

See anyone of those three threads above for more details about what is going on with the R15, and why it has been so "quiet" on the R15 side of the world.

Any questions or comments on this... ask in one of those threads, or send me a 
PM.

................................ So said Earl, of yeah, 30 days ago.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

ISWIZ said:


> ................................ So said Earl, of yeah, 30 days ago.


And so say Earl again today.

The R15 is still an active product, and the software revisions for the model still continue.

The -100 model just received an update (The CE appears to have been pushed nationally, but I haven't confirmed that yet)

The -300 and -500 have versions that are in Alpha testing so they can be released to public.


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## cavihitts (Mar 11, 2007)

Earl Bonovich said:


> The -100 model just received an update (The CE appears to have been pushed nationally, but I haven't confirmed that yet)


I wouldn't say nationally but it was distributed to the above time zones on those dates.


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## JimV (Feb 3, 2007)

So if the 4th for one time zone, the 11th for the next, I woudl imagine they are going to send down an update to my 100 in the next week or so (being on the east coast).

Lets just hope it doesnt break my mostly working 100.


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## cavihitts (Mar 11, 2007)

TBD. They are probably waiting to see feedback or results before the push it to the whole nation. Hopefully soon though. Then, as Earl said, the 300s and 500s can follow.


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

Boston Fan said:


> What negatives have you heard - I have not seen anything.


Exactly my point! We haven't seen any negatives, so I gues that means they haven't made it _worse_. But, if they made any significant improvements don't you think someone would post something in the R15 forum? There's a thread in the CE forum, but like I said, no one is exactly bragging about it.


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## Lantian (Aug 26, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> And so say Earl again today.
> 
> The R15 is still an active product, and the software revisions for the model still continue.
> 
> ...


RIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHTTTTTTTTT!


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## Boston Fan (Feb 18, 2006)

qwerty said:


> Exactly my point! We haven't seen any negatives, so I gues that means they haven't made it _worse_. But, if they made any significant improvements don't you think someone would post something in the R15 forum? There's a thread in the CE forum, but like I said, no one is exactly bragging about it.


If you read my posts there, you will see that my -100 is already very stable. My hope for the release was that it would continue to be so. My -500, while stable overall, responds slower than my -100, so my hope is that a successful run with the CE release for the -100 will quicken the pace for the -500.

What model(s) do you have?


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## Boston Fan (Feb 18, 2006)

Lantian said:


> RIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHTTTTTTTTT!


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## skaeight (Jan 15, 2004)

Besides the 50/100 limits, what issues are people seeing? I've been using mine quite a bit recently and I really am not having any problems with it.


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## White_Horse (Jun 26, 2006)

skaeight said:


> Besides the 50/100 limits, what issues are people seeing? I've been using mine quite a bit recently and I really am not having any problems with it.


Well...this is a new one for me, but just yesterday I pulled up my list of recorded shows. I knew something didn't look right, there were shows missing that were there earlier in the week. I had recorded E-Vets Interns (Animal Planet show) on Monday, two episodes. Had not watched either one yet and they both were gone. Now the funny thing is a few minutes later it started recording E-Vets Interns and had a second one scheduled to record. These two recordings were not in the scheduled list earlier in the day.

And another "bug" while not a recoccuring problem, can be a problem. If a recorded show is still in the live buffer and the box reboots, the recording will be lost. A show that the user thought was done recording should not be lost because the box rebooted.


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

skaeight said:


> Besides the 50/100 limits, what issues are people seeing? I've been using mine quite a bit recently and I really am not having any problems with it.


Well, To mention a few...

Spontaneous reboots
Failing to complete the setup procedure
First Run/Repeats is hit or miss
Channels I get doesn't work
"Lopping" when using slip
Missed recordings
Blank screens/freezing in the middle of recordings
The keep/delete box comming up in the midle of a recording


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## skaeight (Jan 15, 2004)

qwerty said:


> Well, To mention a few...
> 
> Spontaneous reboots
> Failing to complete the setup procedure
> ...


Maybe I have a miracle unit, but I don't see any of that. Yes "Channels I get" doesn't work, but who cares, just make a favorites list. At least on the R15 d* doesn't seem to modify my favorites list like they do on the dtivos. First Run / Repeats was my biggest problem with this box and it actually seems to be working very well now. Not sure what else to tell you.


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## irmolars (Mar 12, 2006)

You are just lucky. 
Better set a trip for Vegas


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

qwerty said:


> Well, To mention a few...
> 
> Spontaneous reboots
> Failing to complete the setup procedure
> ...


Spontaneous reboots and failing to complete the setup procedure... 
Those lead me more to believe that you have a physical issue with your unit

Channels I get doesn't work: Again (As noted in the HR20 forum, and here)... that has nothing to do with the software that is running on the R15's... The proper fix for that requires an update of other systems on the DirecTV system... and those are being addressed.

"Looping" - I have seen the reports, but have never seen it personally... 
But to what extent is happening? Every time you use it?

Blank Screens/Freezing in the middle of recordings... again, that leads me towards you possibly have a hardware issue...

The keep/delete box comming up in the middle... is also a sign that you may not be getting clean records.

If you are experiencing all of those issues... on the same R15...
I would seriously consider having your box replaced, and someone check out your signal wiring between your dish and the location you have the R15


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

skaeight said:


> Maybe I have a miracle unit, but I don't see any of that. Yes "Channels I get" doesn't work, but who cares, just make a favorites list. At least on the R15 d* doesn't seem to modify my favorites list like they do on the dtivos. First Run / Repeats was my biggest problem with this box and it actually seems to be working very well now. Not sure what else to tell you.





irmolars said:


> You are just lucky.
> Better set a trip for Vegas


I'll meet you at the black jack table...as we must be the two luckest people out there...


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## TigersFanJJ (Feb 17, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> I'll meet you at the black jack table...as we must be the two luckest people out there...


I guess I should come along too. :money:


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## rlambert7 (Feb 7, 2006)

skaeight said:


> Maybe I have a miracle unit, but I don't see any of that. Yes "Channels I get" doesn't work, but who cares, just make a favorites list...


Well, that's exactly what I thought, and did, when I first got my R15, but there is actually a reason to care about the Channels I Get not working.

Quite often when I do a search, included in the list are mostly channels I don't get. A prime example is for PBS shows like Nova. My search might have 50 lines in it, but only 5 will be on channels I get. It's even worse if you have an autorecord setup. I have one such, and most of the time it schedules shows to record on channels I don't get. Still, it's not a show stopper, but it's rather annoying.

The last time it did that [sheduled a show for a channel I don't receive], I happened to be doing a search. When I saw the show scheduled for the channel I don't get, right next to it in the list was a channel I DO get, and it didn't schedule that one. So, I just did it myself by pressing the "R"button, and an interesting additional thing happened. The scheduled show for the channel I don't get was automatically deleted.


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> Spontaneous reboots and failing to complete the setup procedure...
> Those lead me more to believe that you have a physical issue with your unit
> 
> Channels I get doesn't work: Again (As noted in the HR20 forum, and here)... that has nothing to do with the software that is running on the R15's... The proper fix for that requires an update of other systems on the DirecTV system... and those are being addressed.
> ...


That was in response to skeight asking what problems people are seeing.

While I haven't had _all_ those problems, I've seen most of them at one time or another. Mine is actually running pretty good this week.

BTW, on the channels I get, it's been "broken" for a year now. What do you feel is a reasonable amount if time to fix it?


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## ajwillys (Jun 14, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> "Looping" - I have seen the reports, but have never seen it personally...
> But to what extent is happening? Every time you use it?


Yes, for me it's either every time or AT LEAST every other time. It's enough that I have learned to make a mental note of what commercial break is currently playing and then make sure it doesn't play again during the same break or I know I'm in a loop. If the R15 was on my main tv, I would be complaining alot more but since it's my bedroom tv, it doesn't get watched much and DVR'ed content is even rarer.


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## unipat (Sep 5, 2006)

*New Feature?*
I got the recent update and I hadn't noticed this happen before. The replay button will go back to the beginning of the program if you hold it down. Time will tell if the spontaneous restart feature is gone.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

unipat said:


> *New Feature?*
> I got the recent update and I hadn't noticed this happen before. The replay button will go back to the beginning of the program if you hold it down. Time will tell if the spontaneous restart feature is gone.


The Feature has been there for some time now.


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## mailiang (Jul 30, 2006)

White_Horse said:


> Well...this is a new one for me, but just yesterday I pulled up my list of recorded shows. I knew something didn't look right, there were shows missing that were there earlier in the week. I had recorded E-Vets Interns (Animal Planet show) on Monday, two episodes. Had not watched either one yet and they both were gone. Now the funny thing is a few minutes later it started recording E-Vets Interns and had a second one scheduled to record. These two recordings were not in the scheduled list earlier in the day.
> 
> And another "bug" while not a recoccuring problem, can be a problem. If a recorded show is still in the live buffer and the box reboots, the recording will be lost. A show that the user thought was done recording should not be lost because the box rebooted.


See my thread on the one touch record series link issue.

Ian


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## BattleScott (Aug 29, 2006)

IMO, there are two factors at work here:

1) The last sw update did seem to reduce the frequency of 'Major Malfunctions' that had the most serious implications such as missed recordings and black screens. This reduced the number or 'Passionate' posts about the shortcomings of the unit.

2) Users that are still having occasional malfunctions (such as myself), like the 'Stuck Channel Syndrome'. 'Save or Delete' anomoly, intermittent loss of trick play fuctionality, etc. have become apathetic to the situation and no longer actively post about these things as there is no real point to it.

Put these two factors together and the result is the appearance that the R15 has been all but perfected, when truthfully, it has just been made 'adequate' for the majority of users.

:goodjob:


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## mailiang (Jul 30, 2006)

BattleScott said:


> IMO, there are two factors at work here:
> 
> 1) The last sw update did seem to reduce the frequency of 'Major Malfunctions' that had the most serious implications such as missed recordings and black screens. This reduced the number or 'Passionate' posts about the shortcomings of the unit.
> 
> ...


I agree. Although it is less problematic since the last update, there are still some bugs in the R15. It is far from being a "state of the art" receiver in terms of reliability.

Ian


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## dlt4 (Oct 4, 2006)

mailiang said:


> I agree. Although it is less problematic since the last update, there are still some bugs in the R15. It is far from being a "state of the art" receiver in terms of reliability.
> 
> Ian


I just talked with D* about replacing my two standard receivers with R15s, but I'm very hesitant just because of the problems that I keep reading about in this forum. My main DVR is a Philips DSR704, but at times I would like to have DVRs in the den and bedroom also, even though I wouldn't be recording a lot on those two.

Will the R15s be more trouble than they're worth?


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## Larry Daughtrey (Feb 14, 2006)

If they are anything like my two are, YES.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

Larry Daughtrey said:


> If they are anything like my two are, YES.


If they are anything like my two, NO


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

While the R15-300 I have wasn't the greatest STB that I've ever had after the latest software upgrade I'd have to rate it near the Motorola DVR STB's that Comcast uses. The 30 second slip is just about useless (tends to keep repeating vs. slipping) and needed to do too many RBRs because of no video/audio but channel guide is OK.


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## irmolars (Mar 12, 2006)

If they are anything like mine and many others are, YES.


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## cavihitts (Mar 11, 2007)

JimV said:


> So if the 4th for one time zone, the 11th for the next, I woudl imagine they are going to send down an update to my 100 in the next week or so (being on the east coast).
> 
> Lets just hope it doesnt break my mostly working 100.


0X1059. Central and Eastern time zones have now received the update for r15-100 only. 4/18/07 12:27AM PT.


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## mailiang (Jul 30, 2006)

> "Owning a R-15 is like owning a real nice dog. You love it, it loves you, but every once in a while it poops on your carpet."


Exactly!

Ian


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## skoprowski (Mar 6, 2006)

cavihitts said:


> 0X1059. Central and Eastern time zones have now received the update for r15-100 only. 4/18/07 12:27AM PT.


I got my 1059 update in Ohio. It addressed my biggest complaint about the R15-100- the fan noise. I can barely hear it now  The interface is much speedier and it has been recording without issue the last few days.  Overall I'm happy now.

Scott


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## cavihitts (Mar 11, 2007)

Hopefully -300 & -500 versions are soon to follow.


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## dmichaels1 (Jan 26, 2006)

Remember ...
Earl has the BEST R15's. Everyone else is imagining their problems ("I haven't seen that problem") or their hardware must bad (must be a LOT of bad hardware out there ... not saying much for DirecTV). I said 6 months ago that the R15 will NEVER be "FIXED" and I stand by that statement to this day, and I use mine extensively. By the time they release anything close to FIXED, the unit will be obsolete. The more it is pushed, the more the problems become apparent in the programming. I hope they buy the next unit from somebody reputable.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

dmichaels1 said:


> Remember ...
> Earl has the BEST R15's. Everyone else is imagining their problems


Naw. My R15 is also working great, so well in fact that I just de-activated my only remaining DirecTivo.

Carl


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## Boston Fan (Feb 18, 2006)

carl6 said:


> Naw. My R15 is also working great, so well in fact that I just de-activated my only remaining DirecTivo.


Same here. We have deactivated two of our D*Tivos in favor of R-15s, and would deactivate the last one if we had another R-15.


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## MLBurks (Dec 16, 2005)

carl6 said:


> Naw. My R15 is also working great, so well in fact that I just de-activated my only remaining DirecTivo.


That has got to be the strongest PRO statement in favor of the R15 that I think I have ever seen! I just had to reformat my R15 for the second time in three months. I miss my Dish 625 DVR. It was much more stable than my R15. But I am NOT in the camp of those who trash the R15 and call it a POS either. My only complaint is the slow responsiveness, weekly reboots that have to be done, no color coding of channels like E* does and the guide is not stored in the memory of the unit. Every reboot I do causes much of the guide to be lost for a day or so.


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## morbid_fun (Jan 16, 2007)

carl6 said:


> Naw. My R15 is also working great, so well in fact that I just de-activated my only remaining DirecTivo.
> 
> Carl


Other than the first month, my R15 has worked near flawlessly as well. I sold my old Tivo on Ebay quite some time ago. I am jonesing for a software update though.


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## mailiang (Jul 30, 2006)

> I hope they buy the next unit from somebody reputable.


You mean like _Sony, Panasonic, JVC_......

Ian :lol:


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## JimV (Feb 3, 2007)

So Ive come back to read up on this thread and I just realized that my R15-100 has been upgraded to this new release x1059.

I doubt that the 500 is upgraded yet, will have to check.

In any case, the R15-100 was working pretty well with only a few annoyances. Over the weekend however it rebooted spontaneously twice.

So I guess the pretty decent reliability is over and its a slow downhill from here to the eventual equivalent functionality (or non-functionality) of the 500 I have.

Maybe I am just being cynical....well the r15-500 I had was working fine until 1/17/2007...


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## skaeight (Jan 15, 2004)

I'm getting an HR20, so that meant that either my R15 or one of my dtivos has to go. Oddly enough I've decided to keep the R15. It's grown on me.


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## mailiang (Jul 30, 2006)

> Maybe I am just being cynical....well the r15-500 I had was working fine until 1/17/2007...


Funny, thats when I started having problems with my series links. :icon_stup (see thread.)

Ian :lol:


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