# Strange Recording Probs with Hopper 3



## xfoneguy (Feb 1, 2006)

I'm at a total loss for where to go with this - I've had the Hopper 3 since it's release. No problems, other than the usual things everyone talks about.
For the past few weeks, all of my recordings are "segmented" - so rather than a continuous hour (or 30 mins, or whatever) I end up with multiple pieces of sometimes less than 1 minute. I've counted as many as 50 recorded "pieces" for a 1 hour program. I can think of nothing that has changed here - as far as electronics, wi-fi, etc. Dish techs have been out twice, replacing EVERYTHING, inside and out, including the Hopper itself. I tried connecting to a UPS last week and for 3 full days, everything worked as it should - perfectly. But this morning, the problem has returned. I've replaced my own A/V cables, tried different HDMI inputs, everything I can think of. I don't know where else to go or what to do. At this point, I'm possibly going to need to cancel my Dish (through no fault of theirs). I've been trialing some of the new streaming TV services, and they work just fine. The H3 has been replaced twice (I'm on my 3rd unit).
I've noticed that the screen goes blank (except for a "Please wait - refresh in progress" message lower right corner). Each time that happens, everything that is recording stops and starts over, leaving me with the "multi-segmented" recordings.

Any ideas at all?
Thanks!


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## pakcyclist (Aug 14, 2009)

I've had this happen to me several times in the past (for no apparent reason). Hasn't happened lately. Guess it's another one of those "bugs," or, whatever . . .


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## dmspen (Dec 1, 2006)

Your Hopper should be replaced. I have had similar issues in the past but not to the the extent you describe. I suppose there are a number of ways this could happen. The Hopper could be locking intermittently to the satellite-this could be a pointing issue and would be easy for a tech to fix, or the Hopper receiver is bad.
It could be a bad hard drive. It could even be a bad cable. When I had similar issues with my H1, the tech people replaced all the coax and I upgraded to an H3. Since then the only time this happens is when there's a network dropout, but even then the recording is broken into 2 or 3 segments. You are paying for DISH to make this work. Do not accept it as it is.


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## xfoneguy (Feb 1, 2006)

dmspen said:


> Your Hopper should be replaced. I have had similar issues in the past but not to the the extent you describe. I suppose there are a number of ways this could happen. The Hopper could be locking intermittently to the satellite-this could be a pointing issue and would be easy for a tech to fix, or the Hopper receiver is bad.
> It could be a bad hard drive. It could even be a bad cable. When I had similar issues with my H1, the tech people replaced all the coax and I upgraded to an H3. Since then the only time this happens is when there's a network dropout, but even then the recording is broken into 2 or 3 segments. You are paying for DISH to make this work. Do not accept it as it is.


This has become a living nightmare of sorts.... the Hopper has been replaced at least twice now. Several techs have been out. They have literally "rebuilt from the ground up" - all new hardware (dish, node, etc) and cabling. Hopper has been replaced 2 or 3 times. I replaced my cables, moved the Hopper to an outlet on a different circuit...... I don't know what else to do, other than cancel my service. Its not the fault of Dish. but I'm spending well over $100 a month for service that isn't really useful. This is so strange. I can't find anyone who has had this experience - at least not to this extent. I've tried several of the "streaming live TV services" available and they all work fine.

h


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

looks to me it has sat signal dropouts on a long way from dish/LNBF to a node to H3 to HDD ...

just in case, any big birds hovering, sitting at your dish ?


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## WRXTC20 (Apr 16, 2018)

I'm having the same problems with a Hopper w Sling and a Joey. Worked fine and dandy for as long as we've had them, then one day, they're both resetting. New timers are doing what you describe. Split recordings. Menus are super slow. Signal has always been good and still shows good. There must've been some sort of software update that jacked it up. I thought maybe it was a way to get me to upgrade to H3, but if you're having the same problems with yours, then I'm waiting.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

try cold reboot (disconnect power cord for a minute)


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## dmspen (Dec 1, 2006)

Another thread popped up with someone describing the same symptoms. Another user said it is cause by PTAT recording and you have set the network show to record. I have turned off PTAT for the time being. We shall see what happens.


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