# HR21-200 / HR21Pro: 0x0206 Issues / Discussion



## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

HR21-200 and HR21Pro: 0x0206
National rollout began 3/11/08.

Release notes:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=122529

Please keep discussion confined to issues only with this receiver.

Please don't post "Got it" or "Didn't Get it" posts, they will be deleted.


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## kentuck1163 (Apr 20, 2006)

I cannot get any audio feedback on the satellite signal test screens


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

kentuck1163 said:


> I cannot get any audio feedback on the satellite signal test screens


Turn off Dolby Digital... this is a long-known issue with all the HR2*
Or optionally use a 2nd audio output option (such as the RCA connections)


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

Since Friday's download, I have missed all recording except for Mondays evening's Star Trek: Enterprise off of HDNet Channel 79. In the history they all say Canceled and the desciption is unavailable (13). Base on another user's comments in the CE thread for HR20-700 it is possible the show was unavailable. However, in the event they were, Mrs. Smiddy reminded me that the last time this occured I had to RBR, so I did that this evening in an attempt to get tomorrow's showing. I'll report more tomorrow.


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## mrpull (Jan 16, 2008)

Caller ID stopped working since upgrading my HR21-200 to 0x206 on Sat 3/8.

The audio has been slow to return after trickplay on live TV on many occasions as well. Audio is over HDMI to Samsung LNT-4671.

Occasionally I've briefly seen "searching for satellite" messages as well. It disappears before I get the whole message.

None of these issues existed before moving to 0x206.


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

mrpull said:


> Caller ID stopped working since upgrading my HR21-200 to 0x206 on Sat 3/8.
> 
> The audio has been slow to return after trickplay on live TV on many occasions as well. Audio is over HDMI to Samsung LNT-4671.
> 
> ...


Don't know about caller ID yet, but having the same problem here with a slow audio return after replay and sometimes even after FF or RW. Also audio breaks up with rapid dropouts occasionally while just watching at normal play speeds. And have back it up slightly by using instant replay or some other to retore audio correctly.

Again, as with mrpull, none of this occurred until the recent update to 0x206.


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## MLBurks (Dec 16, 2005)

The notes on this release say
_
fix for audio glitch when fast forwarding to live_

I see no improvement. Anytime I ff to live TV or ff in a recording (not slip or skip) and then hit play, the video and audio will stutter. Often times the only way to fix is to hit the skip or go back button.


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## Nutiket (Mar 3, 2008)

New install of two HR21-200s, and I noticed a bunch of Audio Stuttering last night. Its not in the recording itself, just in the playback. The replay button seems very buggy compared to my DirecTivos, sometimes it doesn't even go backward. I am having a bunch of trouble with the replay, 30s skip, audio stuttering or just no audio at all.

Also one of my DVRs seems to have crashed. It was just stuck on the screen saver screen when I turned on the TV last night. Wouldn't respond to any commands, had to hit the reset button. I had attempted to do a remote schedule to that DVR over the web yesterday, but I am not sure if that crashed it, or if it was already crashed.


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

smiddy said:


> Since Friday's download, I have missed all recording except for Mondays evening's Star Trek: Enterprise off of HDNet Channel 79. In the history they all say Canceled and the desciption is unavailable (13). Base on another user's comments in the CE thread for HR20-700 it is possible the show was unavailable. However, in the event they were, Mrs. Smiddy reminded me that the last time this occured I had to RBR, so I did that this evening in an attempt to get tomorrow's showing. I'll report more tomorrow.


Update: yesterday's show recorded without issue after the RBR.


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## Gryphon (Mar 9, 2008)

I'm getting some audio dropouts after using RW or 30SLIP. They go away by themselves. 

There seem to be far fewer comments in this thread than the others. Is the HR21-200 rare, or more reliable?


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## JayDog08 (Jan 31, 2008)

Gryphon said:


> I'm getting some audio dropouts after using RW or 30SLIP. They go away by themselves.
> 
> There seem to be far fewer comments in this thread than the others. Is the HR21-200 rare, or more reliable?


I get the same thing, but mine are occurring with instant replay. They don't happen all the time, just sporadically.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Since I've been traveling alot these days for work, I've had the chance to schedule, reocrd, and play back alot of content on my HR21-200 lately, including via Slingbox.

Since the last CE update.....

16 programs recorded as scheduled.....(including 2 that I set for 1 minute early starts)
2 programs started recording about 3 seconds late; 14 on time

All played back fine, with no detected audio or video issues.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> Since I've been traveling alot these days for work, I've had the chance to schedule, reocrd, and play back alot of content on my HR21-200 lately, including via Slingbox.
> 
> Since the last CE update.....
> 
> ...


For the two that missed...

What shows.
What channel..
What time were they to record.

So it can be checked to see if the broadcasts just didn't start at the stated time


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## Toyo (Nov 19, 2007)

I hate to say that I am not having any troubles since the current version was shot down from heaven into my HR 21-200. The positive things I noticed right off the bat was louder audio, sharper pictures. The only negative I have with this reciever is the slow guide. Been like that since I recieved it. My SD DVR upstairs is lightning fast in the guide. Its really annoying after working with that one then doing the guide on the 21-200. 

IMHO, it seems the problem is tied into the hardware. Somebody do a poll of what reciever you have and are you experiencing new problems? I am a computer dumba**, so I cant figure out a poll. LOL

I had a great talk with a high level tech support guy at D* a couple of weeks ago. He was very informative and very honest in what he was saying. He said that 99%of peoples problems are fixed by doing a system reset. The problem is there are many different types of resets...... I was having troubls with the 20-200 in my game room... He had me do a system restart with and without the access card installed. I had tried every other type of reboots, resets, etc before calling him to of no avail. At least he fixed that issue. So maybe some of you guys can try doing that to see if it works. 

Just trying to help!


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## Cobra (Aug 9, 2006)

Toyo, which worked for you, the card in or out?


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## Gryphon (Mar 9, 2008)

Toyo said:


> I hate to say that I am not having any troubles since the current version was shot down from heaven into my HR 21-200. The only negative I have with this reciever is the slow guide. Been like that since I recieved it.


I'm not having that problem, and it may be because I turned off the 'scrolling' feature on the Guide as soon as I got the box set up. Somewhere in here it recommends you do that to improve the speed that the Guide works at.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Earl Bonovich said:


> For the two that missed...
> 
> What shows.
> What channel..
> ...


*1st One* - LIL Channel 46 (MPEG4) - Wed 3/12 David Letterman - 11:35pm start

*2nd One* - Lewis Black - Comedy Channel 249 - Tuesday 3/11 10:00pm start

Both started about 4-6 seconds later than the beginning of the programming.

Thanks Earl.


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## sfpegasus (Feb 27, 2008)

HR21-200 native on, original format

HDN 79 = 1080i and HDNM 78 = 720p ??

This don't look right.......


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## cseutter (Feb 3, 2008)

I'm not sure if this is an issue, or it is supposed to work this way. I was watching the NASCAR hot pass today on channel 797. I recorded about the first hour or so and played it back. I tried switching audio some but there was no audio on any of the other 2 choices. Only the one I had selected during the recording. Does anyone know if it's supposed to record all 3 audio tracks, or just the selected one?


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## MLBurks (Dec 16, 2005)

cseutter said:


> I'm not sure if this is an issue, or it is supposed to work this way. I was watching the NASCAR hot pass today on channel 797. I recorded about the first hour or so and played it back. I tried switching audio some but there was no audio on any of the other 2 choices. Only the one I had selected during the recording. Does anyone know if it's supposed to record all 3 audio tracks, or just the selected one?


They were having some technical issues. I switched over to the SD channel and everything worked as it should. I never switched back to see if it was working again.


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## LSUMBA (Feb 6, 2006)

Nutiket said:


> New install of two HR21-200s, and I noticed a bunch of Audio Stuttering last night. Its not in the recording itself, just in the playback. The replay button seems very buggy compared to my DirecTivos, sometimes it doesn't even go backward. I am having a bunch of trouble with the replay, 30s skip, audio stuttering or just no audio at all.


I am having the exact same issue. I got this box on Saturday morning. It has already downloaded a software update & it currently has version 0x206.


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## mst3k (Feb 3, 2008)

Ok I discovered something that happened to my unit HR21-200 after the last software update. I didn't notice it right away, but the Menu link to "Music Photo's and More" was no longer there. I couldn't access music and pix from my computer and I could before. I did a reboot, but that didn't fix it. Under menu, I went to system setup/network and retested my network connection and that all came back!! Just thought you might want to know!!


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## jumpytoad (Mar 14, 2008)

My HR-21 pro was installed Friday. Over the weekend it locked up several times to where the picture would freeze and then the sound would start dropping out. When it locks up, it will not accept remote commands or RS-232 commands. Has anyone else had this problem?


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## sfpegasus (Feb 27, 2008)

sfpegasus said:


> HR21-200 native on, original format
> 
> HDN 79 = 1080i and HDNM 78 = 720p ??
> 
> This don't look right.......


There are SEVERAL channels showing up in 720p that should be 1080i. I recorded "Tudors" on Shotime last night and it recorded in 720p.

Strangely enough, one Showtime HD channel was in 720p while another was in 1080i broacasting the same program.

Some of the Discovery channels are showing the same symptoms.


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## Cobra (Aug 9, 2006)

the only problem I have had is when I tried to turn it on tonight, the box would not turn on with the remote or using the power button on the box, unplugged it for 10 minutes, plugged it back in and there is power again. Other then that, this box has been working absolutely perfect, no audio issues, picture seems better then my 5 previous hr20s. Cant wait for the am-21 addon to come out. The guide and channel changing is a little slow


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## JACKTRIP (Jan 30, 2008)

I currently have this HD DVR Box is this the worst one as no one is posting about this one. The upgrade has killed my sound, i have black outs, i have "rolls" in the picture i hate DTV!


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## Rexnet (Mar 20, 2008)

mst3k said:


> Ok I discovered something that happened to my unit HR21-200 after the last software update. I didn't notice it right away, but the Menu link to "Music Photo's and More" was no longer there. I couldn't access music and pix from my computer and I could before. I did a reboot, but that didn't fix it. Under menu, I went to system setup/network and retested my network connection and that all came back!! Just thought you might want to know!!


I also have on-demand but I don't see the music or pictures on my pc that is attached to the router with Directv. Is there something I am missing or doing wrong? I have a HR21-700


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

HR21 with AM21: Unit left on local OTA channel 4-1 (Seattle KOMO) and placed into standby about noon. Turned back on at 4:35 pm and unit appeared to be locked up. No response to any trick play buttons, no response to menu button. Tried to change channels and after a long delay (30 seconds or so) it changed channels, at which time all functions started working properly again.

Prior to this - earlier this morning and yesterday evening - very slow response to remote, and in some cases lack of response to remote, especially skip forward button.

This is the second time the unit has not buffered and appeared to be locked up (lack of response to trick play buttons) while left on an OTA channel.

Carl


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## Toyo (Nov 19, 2007)

Guys, Look at the # of negative posts or comments on the other models. Now, who knows what the sales % is, but I am glad my model is not the most talked about reciever in regards to problems.

I have had several HR** model #s and this one is by far the most stable of the bunch. I have not had one glitch since 0x0206. I think we should be very glad we didnt get the 700. BB had all 3 models for me to chose from. For some reason I chose the 200. I am very glad I did. Man, Does that black look good.


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## Cobra (Aug 9, 2006)

Toyo said:


> Guys, Look at the # of negative posts or comments on the other models. Now, who knows what the sales % is, but I am glad my model is not the most talked about reciever in regards to problems.
> 
> I have had several HR** model #s and this one is by far the most stable of the bunch. I have not had one glitch since 0x0206. I think we should be very glad we didnt get the 700. BB had all 3 models for me to chose from. For some reason I chose the 200. I am very glad I did. Man, Does that black look good.


exactly toyo, I have a 200 and other then the slow guide and channel changes, which I can live with, I had 1 lockup where I had to unplug the unit, but the picture quality, play back, no tuner 2 issues or 771 errors. I had 3 hr20-700s and 2 hr20-100s and had nothing but issues, granted I have only had this unit for a week, but I love it, especially the black case, and as long as I dont have any tuner 2 issues or 771 error codes, I will deal with the slow guide. Cant wait for the am21 to become available


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## Rexnet (Mar 20, 2008)

Rexnet said:


> I also have on-demand but I don't see the music or pictures on my pc that is attached to the router with Directv. Is there something I am missing or doing wrong? I have a HR21-700


You can ignore my post. After reading other posts I come to realize that that you need an Intel Viiv processor, media software, and other thinks to be able to view pictures and music on your PC.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Follow up to previous post. HR21-200 with AM21. Unit was in standby, and scheduled to record two OTA channels (Seattle 4-1 and 5-1). Turned unit on and the live channel was 5-1. No trick play available. Press the play button and got the time bar, and it showed a buffer, but could not back up in buffer. There was an R symbol on the time bar for recording.

Second problem. Pressed LIST and only 4-1 was showing as recording. 5-1 was not showing as recording in the List view.

Changed channels to 4-1, and it behaved properly (could back up in recording, etc.). Note: I did back up in the buffer, I did not start the recording playing. This is on a channel that was just changed TO.

Changed channels back to 5-1. It still showed that it was recording in the time bar, but it would still not react to any other trick play button. The List view still did not show this channel as recording, although the time bar still showed the R symbol.

After both recordings finished, only the 4-1 recording was available. 5-1 does not appear to have recorded.

Carl


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## Toyo (Nov 19, 2007)

Rexnet, I wasnt ignoring your post LOL, I just dont know much about the DDOD that much. I have downloaded it all, but have not had the time to play with it.

Cobra...... I noticed one thing last night. I had a couple of NCIS shows recorded a 2 out of 5 only recored 53 minutes? Never had that happen before?

We have SDDVR, in the Master, can't remember the model#. I swear I can go thru the whole guide in a 3rd of the time I can on my HR21-200.


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## say-what (Dec 14, 2006)

Posting this for my parents - they have 1 HR21-200 that is not networked, hdmi and dolby on.

Yesterday the audio breakups on the mpeg-4 locals got so bad, they could not be corrected trying the usual, simple solutions. They had to reboot. So far, so good.


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## donscomp (Dec 25, 2006)

I have DTV coming for a service call tomorrow. But MY auidio problem is this.
Only HD channels.
I thought maybe my SS audio so I turned it off and it still does it through just the LCD speakers.
The audio just breaks up or skips for a sec. But it is almost to the Min. I mean I can almost count when it is going to do it. It seems a bit better today (of corse since DTV is coming out tomorrow)

It isnt much I know but IS annoying.
My 0x206 upgrade went through 3-12-08
signal meters as follows 

110
1-8 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 97
9-16 NA 95 NA 97 NA NA NA NA
17-24 ALL NA
25-32 ALL NA

119
1-8 ALL NA
9-16 ALL NA
17-24 NA NA NA NA NA 95 86 91
25-32 73 96 95 95 51 95 94 96

99 (s)
1-8 0 66 0 65 0 43 NA NA Seems low to me.
All others NA

103 (s)
1-8 0 0 0 0 0 100 NA NA
9-16 NA NA NA NA NA NA 38 100
17-24 82 97 100 100 100 0 43 42
25-32 ALL NA

103 (c)
1-8 82 82 79 77 81 83 79 79
9-16 83 84 79 80 84 85 NA NA
17-24 83 NA NA NA NA 75 NA NA
25-32 ALL NA

These were all on tuner 1 and after 119 it takes a while for the signal meter to fill in.

Very new to HD all but the audio judt doesnt seem right cutting out Juuust for a split second but like I say, almost to the min. ONLY on HD channels.
Rebooted many times.

And I also get the video audio sync problem.

Thanks
Don


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

JACKTRIP said:


> I currently have this HD DVR Box is this the worst one as no one is posting about this one. The upgrade has killed my sound, i have black outs, i have "rolls" in the picture i hate DTV!


Please note that this is a CE update, not a National release version....meaning.....there is risk involved and you may experience problems.

By some chance, have your read the CE Program Rules? There are no guarantees with interim releases....that's why they are "test" versions and should be treated/considered as such.

Only those folks who understand the program's intentions and rules should participate. While it's open to vitually everyone, its not right for everyone, especially if folks expect every test release will be problem-free.

I had similar symptoms since Friday, and today chose to resort back to the last firmware version, which is 0206. You might consider doing the same.


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## EclipseDS (Feb 12, 2008)

Sound stuttering/audio drop outs galore since 0x0206, both on live and recordings. It usually lasts for more than 4 seconds, and always when I do 30Skip. My wife's last recording of Lipstick Jungle was a mess, needless to say, she's not very happy. I had no issues in previous versions, I hope this gets corrected real soon as it's starting to pissed me off. I mostly watch HD, and nothing worse than to see the video go haywire and the audio stutter. Come on DTV, get your collective *sses to work, impress me again.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

Have HR21-200/AM21. Lat night whenever I tuned to 42-1 KEYE-DT after about 15 seconds I got a pop up 771 error while the station continued to come in just fine. I tried tuning to multiple other OTA/ATSC and DBS channels, never saw the message on any other channel, just whenever I turned to 42-1.


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

EclipseDS said:


> Sound stuttering/audio drop outs galore since 0x0206, both on live and recordings. It usually lasts for more than 4 seconds, and always when I do 30Skip. My wife's last recording of Lipstick Jungle was a mess, needless to say, she's not very happy. I had no issues in previous versions, I hope this gets corrected real soon as it's starting to pissed me off. I mostly watch HD, and nothing worse than to see the video go haywire and the audio stutter. Come on DTV, get your collective *sses to work, impress me again.


A lot of the same here since 0x206. I now notice that the audio has severe stuttering spells during live or playback recordings. Sometimes many per day. And I must do an instant replay or 30 second slip (if not live) to get out of them. This is in addition to the irritatingly slow restoration of the audio usually after a RW/FF/IR/30 sec slip I posted earlier. :nono2:


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## SkersR1 (Jul 10, 2007)

HoTat2 said:


> A lot of the same here since 0x206. I now notice that the audio has severe stuttering spells during live or playback recordings. Sometimes many per day. And I must do an instant replay or 30 second slip (if not live) to get out of them. This is in addition to the irritatingly slow restoration of the audio usually after a RW/FF/IR/30 sec slip I posted earlier. :nono2:


Just got the HR21-200 this weekend. Haven't used it a lot, but I am having the same issues. Last night was the first I had noticed it on both local SD and National HD channels.


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## greynolds (Aug 19, 2006)

jumpytoad said:


> My HR-21 pro was installed Friday. Over the weekend it locked up several times to where the picture would freeze and then the sound would start dropping out. When it locks up, it will not accept remote commands or RS-232 commands. Has anyone else had this problem?


Yes, mine has locked up requiring me to pull the power plug a total of 3 times now (and I've only had it for a bit over a week).

The first time, I'm pretty sure I had paused live TV and when I hit Play it froze up.

The 2nd time was last night and was the same thing - paused the Bruins game on NESN HD as I needed a few minutes before I started watching it. It locked up when I hit play.

The 3rd time happened a few minutes ago. I went into the Setup menu to check the software version. It froze up while I was navigating through the menu.

I also noticed that the Access Card option in the menu is grayed out - not sure if that's a problem or not.

There is a recall on the Pro units for a batch of bad capacitors that made their way into a small number of units. What isn't clear is whether these lockup problems are software issues or related to the recall...


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## Toyo (Nov 19, 2007)

God now the Pro is having problems!


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## greynolds (Aug 19, 2006)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> Please note that this is a CE update, not a National release version....meaning.....there is risk involved and you may experience problems.
> 
> By some chance, have your read the CE Program Rules? There are no guarantees with interim releases....that's why they are "test" versions and should be treated/considered as such.
> 
> ...


 Aren't we talking about firmware version 0206 here? This upgrade automatically installed onto my HR21 Pro, so I had no choice in the matter.


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## ceored (Jan 20, 2008)

greynolds said:


> Yes, mine has locked up requiring me to pull the power plug a total of 3 times now (and I've only had it for a bit over a week).
> 
> The first time, I'm pretty sure I had paused live TV and when I hit Play it froze up.
> 
> ...


I've continually had this problem with my HR21-200 for months now. I am getting really fed up with it, it may have to be returned as I have had no success on any software update.


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## knuz (Mar 27, 2008)

two weeks ago i upgraded to the hr21-200 from the r15-300 sd dvr. i thought the r15 was slow to respond but the hr21 is even slower! i also have all the audio problems mentioned here but, what irritates me the most is the horrible audio delay after fast-forwarding and rewinding. i may have to look into the dish hddvr. i've read some great reviews on their new vip 722. not crazy about their hd channel selection but this hr 21 driving me nuts!
any of you know how the units compare?


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## MLBurks (Dec 16, 2005)

knuz said:


> two weeks ago i upgraded to the hr21-200 from the r15-300 sd dvr. i thought the r15 was slow to respond but the hr21 is even slower! i also have all the audio problems mentioned here but, what irritates me the most is the horrible audio delay after fast-forwarding and rewinding. i may have to look into the dish hddvr. i've read some great reviews on their new vip 722. not crazy about their hd channel selection but this hr 21 driving me nuts!
> any of you know how the units compare?


:welcome_s

These software issues only started about 3 weeks ago or so. Before that I had no issues with my HR21. These issues are being worked on and before long they will be resolved. Just be patient. This is not a reason to jump to E* for there DVR's. I have had theirs (722) and they can occasionally have bugs as well.


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## greynolds (Aug 19, 2006)

My HR21 Pro (software version 0x0206) has locked up twice so far today for a total of 5 lockups now in the 2 weeks it's been in use. I wasn't going to be home for the start of the Bruins game, so it set it up to record. I started watching it about 15 minutes after the game had started. While skipping ahead to catch up to the actual start of the game, the DVR locked up. I rebooted it with the red button next to the access card. I finished the 1st period on my HR10-250 Tivo (which I had also setup to record the game as my confidence in the HR21 Pro isn't very high at this point). Then after finishing the 1st period, we skipped over the intermission and switched back to the HR21 Pro so we could watch the rest of the game in HD. At the end of the game, I went in to delete the 2 partial recordings of the game. While navigating the menus, it locked up AGAIN.

Since this is my first experience with these new DVR's it's tough to judge whether the problem is software or hardware, though it would appear that other HR21/HR20 users are experiencing similar problems - the HR21-700: 0x0206 thread appears to have people reporting similar issues. Given the problems I'm having, the HR21 Pro recall certainly has me wondering if I've got a unit that really ought to be replaced.

I'm also still getting lots of audio dropouts on non-HD channels which do not happen on my HDVR2 and HR10-250 boxes, so it's clearly a problem isolated to the new DVR.

I sent a message to Value Electronics, where I bought this DVR, on Wednesday after my 3rd lockup and haven't received any sort of response yet.


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## tek428 (Mar 10, 2008)

I have an HR21-200 with the premier package. I can't really complain about much other than the 30 sec to 1 min. audio dropouts that seem to happen at random.

I noticed a couple of you commenting that you had AM21 units? Where did you get them? I desperately need to be able to use the DVR on some the ABC shows that I can't get due to my waivers getting shot down, and without the AM21 it is currently all but impossible. When Desperate Housewives come back on, the wife is going to be breathing down my neck!


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## Michael D'Angelo (Oct 21, 2006)

tek428 said:


> I have an HR21-200 with the premier package. I can't really complain about much other than the 30 sec to 1 min. audio dropouts that seem to happen at random.
> 
> I noticed a couple of you commenting that you had AM21 units? Where did you get them? I desperately need to be able to use the DVR on some the ABC shows that I can't get due to my waivers getting shot down, and without the AM21 it is currently all but impossible. When Desperate Housewives come back on, the wife is going to be breathing down my neck!


Welcome to DBSTalk

Some of use were picked by DIRECTV to be field tester for the AM21.


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## tek428 (Mar 10, 2008)

That's awesome! I guess it pays to be active in the community then. 

What's the release date on this thing?


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## Michael D'Angelo (Oct 21, 2006)

tek428 said:


> That's awesome! I guess it pays to be active in the community then.
> 
> What's the release date on this thing?


No set date yet. Hopefully soon.


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## audioaf (Mar 28, 2008)

I have a H21 -100 receiver replaced by DirecTv and this receiver do not have a connection for terrestial HD broadcasting. I called DIRECTV and they promised to send a receiver with the extra outdoor input. They did but they send me the sama H21-100 !!
Any idea what model should I request that has both dish and regular TV inputs and HDMI output???


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## Rexnet (Mar 20, 2008)

audioaf said:


> I have a H21 -100 receiver replaced by DirecTv and this receiver do not have a connection for terrestial HD broadcasting. I called DIRECTV and they promised to send a receiver with the extra outdoor input. They did but they send me the sama H21-100 !!
> Any idea what model should I request that has both dish and regular TV inputs and HDMI output???


 Audioaf,
I am not sure exactly what your referring to. Is it the off air antenna? If so DirecTV does not want these receivers out there any more. The last new model that had this capability is the HR20. The HR21s do not have this off air antenna feature. You probably don't want to buy one, but if you did they are available on Ebay. When you got the HR21 was it delivered and installed by a DirecTV service contractor? If so you usually can work with them to get what you want, as they carry a number of different receivers in their truck. Maybe a little tip would work.


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

tek428 said:


> That's awesome! I guess it pays to be active in the community then.
> 
> What's the release date on this thing?


No specific date set, but it was scheduled to have been released sometime after the end of this month in early April. Unfortunately DirecTV has bumped it ("again"  ) another month to sometime in early May. And even now due to pent up demand you had better get your pre-order in now with someone like SolidSignal or Value Electronics if you want it ASAP after first release.


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## tek428 (Mar 10, 2008)

I have began to notice a problem with this receiver and I can re-create it every time now.

I have the receiver networked so I can take advantage of the VOD features. Problem is, if I have a program from the channel list recording at the same time I am downloading a show from the VOD service, the recording fails to record. The downloaded program works as it is supposed to. When I look at what I have recorded, the recorded show appears to be there, it is in the list. Whenever I try to watch it, the screen turns black and I am given the option to either delete it or keep it.

I guess that the reciever thinks that it is recorded, but it isn't really there.

I'm curious to know whether or not anyone else can recreate it. The process is this:

1) Schedule a show to record from the guide.

2) Go to a VOD channel and download a movie or something that will be downloading while the other show is supposed to be recording.

3) When both are finished, try to watch them. The downloaded show will work, the recorded show from the guide will not work.


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## Coffey77 (Nov 12, 2006)

I'm actually not sure which version I'm on as my Test & Info Screen is blank.

The receiver was un-responsive to the remote and it took an RBR to start it back up again.  Since the re-boot, the Screen Saver keeps appearing when stationary on a program. We're on TBSHD right now and it has popped up 4 times. Actually, nothing works within the System Menu. I can move up and down the MENU on the left but nothing appears within the display window.

Note: While the HR21 was rebooting, I was trying to push LIST so I could access the Playlist while it was aquiring Guide data. Not sure that has anything to do with anything but why not let you know.


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## Michael D'Angelo (Oct 21, 2006)

Coffey77 said:


> I'm actually not sure which version I'm on as my Test & Info Screen is blank.
> 
> The receiver was un-responsive to the remote and it took an RBR to start it back up again. Since the re-boot, the Screen Saver keeps appearing when stationary on a program. We're on TBSHD right now and it has popped up 4 times.


You have the CE from March 21/22. I believe it is 0x21d.


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## Rexnet (Mar 20, 2008)

tek428 said:


> I have began to notice a problem with this receiver and I can re-create it every time now.
> 
> I have the receiver networked so I can take advantage of the VOD features. Problem is, if I have a program from the channel list recording at the same time I am downloading a show from the VOD service, the recording fails to record. The downloaded program works as it is supposed to. When I look at what I have recorded, the recorded show appears to be there, it is in the list. Whenever I try to watch it, the screen turns black and I am given the option to either delete it or keep it.
> 
> ...


I have been having the same problem, however, I don't know if it's in conflict with the VOD service or not, but I have been downloading as well. Does your history files indicate that any thing went wrong? I had about three programs that would not play with the same results as you. I did a restart of the receiver (the little red button), and when it was through the three files disappeared from the list. Do you know of away to schedule the downloads? I'll do a closer investigation of the VOD interference.


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## tek428 (Mar 10, 2008)

Rexnet said:


> I have been having the same problem, however, I don't know if it's in conflict with the VOD service or not, but I have been downloading as well. Does your history files indicate that any thing went wrong? I had about three programs that would not play with the same results as you. I did a restart of the receiver (the little red button), and when it was through the three files disappeared from the list. Do you know of away to schedule the downloads? I'll do a closer investigation of the VOD interference.


It never occurred to me to look in the history and see if it said anything. And I don't think that VOD downloads can be scheduled. They begin immediately and finish when... well, when they are finished.


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## Rexnet (Mar 20, 2008)

tek428 said:


> It never occurred to me to look in the history and see if it said anything. And I don't think that VOD downloads can be scheduled. They begin immediately and finish when... well, when they are finished.


One other thing since we are talking about VOD. When I first stated using this feature a couple of weeks ago the download was so slow, and I almost gave up on it. I have a Verizon combination DSL/Router (Westell) and I checked the speed of my downloading and uploading by running infospeed on the URL address line and discovered that my speed for downloading was around 700 kbbs and uploading was around 136 kbbs. I pay Verizon 29.95 a month and should have gotten close to 3 Mbbs for downloading. I called for Verizon service and when the rep came we said that the phone cable from the supplied DSL/Router to the telephone line was bad. He replaced it and now I get 2.829 Mbps for downloading, which makes VOD downloading pretty good.

I use Firefox and all I have to enter is Infospeed, on Internet Explorer enter the following: I could not enter http:// as I have not enter more than 5 posts yet

www2.verizon.net/micro/speedtest/hsi/


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## tek428 (Mar 10, 2008)

Apparently I spoke to soon.

As of last night, the box is freezing (audio and video) for up to two minutes at a time. All live television channels, and all recordings.

Had to RBR then unplug from power last night to get it back up again.


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## rtimcgill (Jan 23, 2008)

greynolds said:


> My HR21 Pro (software version 0x0206) has locked up twice so far today for a total of 5 lockups now in the 2 weeks it's been in use. I wasn't going to be home for the start of the Bruins game, so it set it up to record. I started watching it about 15 minutes after the game had started. While skipping ahead to catch up to the actual start of the game, the DVR locked up. I rebooted it with the red button next to the access card. I finished the 1st period on my HR10-250 Tivo (which I had also setup to record the game as my confidence in the HR21 Pro isn't very high at this point). Then after finishing the 1st period, we skipped over the intermission and switched back to the HR21 Pro so we could watch the rest of the game in HD. At the end of the game, I went in to delete the 2 partial recordings of the game. While navigating the menus, it locked up AGAIN.
> 
> Since this is my first experience with these new DVR's it's tough to judge whether the problem is software or hardware, though it would appear that other HR21/HR20 users are experiencing similar problems - the HR21-700: 0x0206 thread appears to have people reporting similar issues. Given the problems I'm having, the HR21 Pro recall certainly has me wondering if I've got a unit that really ought to be replaced.
> 
> ...


I'm having the freezing problems, too, on an HR-20 receiver. I can't begin to tell you how furious I am. I love DirecTV, but it has me thinking of leaving. I've had four recordings that were never recorded because of this freezing. The only thing that seems to work is to unplug the unit and restart.

The latest had me miss opening day....missing a kid I know making his major league debut starting for a team...AND having a good day.

How does this get fixed? I've done a quick (very quick) search without luck on finding a resolution.


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## noblenoof (Apr 3, 2008)

BMoreRavens said:


> Welcome to DBSTalk
> 
> Some of use were picked by DIRECTV to be field tester for the AM21.


What is the AM21? I have been using the HR21-700 and have had numerous problems with it over the last six months. I am supposed to be receiving the HR21-200 next week, bit it sounds like many customers are having problems with those. What is the AM21 and how can I get it?


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## greynolds (Aug 19, 2006)

noblenoof said:


> What is the AM21? I have been using the HR21-700 and have had numerous problems with it over the last six months. I am supposed to be receiving the HR21-200 next week, bit it sounds like many customers are having problems with those. What is the AM21 and how can I get it?


The AM21 is an add-on box for the HR21 boxes that gives you a pair of OTA HD tuners so you can get your local HD channels with an antenna. Once it's hooked up, you can record from any 2 of the 2 satellite and 2 OTA inputs at a time.

It would be REALLY cool if they added the ability to record from all 4 tuners at the same time - it's possible to do this on a PC but I suspect these boxes don't have enough horsepower to handle doing this.


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## noblenoof (Apr 3, 2008)

You will all love me for this. Here are two numbers that you should keep. The first number will get you directly to Level II Tech Support within 5 minutes and the second will get you to the Office of the President, which is open 24/7. Unfortunately becaused of all the problems I have had with my HR21-700 receiver, I have had to use these numbers quite often. I am on my 3rd receiver and have endured 8 service calls since October. That's right - 8 of them!! One guy told me that the problems were due to my brand new Panasonic HDTV being a lemon and he forced me to have a service call with Panasonic, which was a waste of time. Another guy told me that my brand new Monster HDMI cable was bad, so I switched that out. That was a waste of time. He was the same guy that threw cigarette butts all ovber my yard! What a abunch of yo-yo's. Has anyone used Dish TV? Are they any better? These receivers are made in Mexico and China - probably in sweat shops with cheap labor and cheap parts. I heard that the HR21-200's are made by Samsung. Does anyone know if that is true? I have missed dozens of moves and shows because of the lock-ups, the loss of sound, the tiling, ..... you name it. I think I have reset my current receiver over 20 times! 

1. 1-877-280-4388
2. 1-800-666-4388


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## noblenoof (Apr 3, 2008)

greynolds said:


> The AM21 is an add-on box for the HR21 boxes that gives you a pair of OTA HD tuners so you can get your local HD channels with an antenna. Once it's hooked up, you can record from any 2 of the 2 satellite and 2 OTA inputs at a time.
> 
> It would be REALLY cool if they added the ability to record from all 4 tuners at the same time - it's possible to do this on a PC but I suspect these boxes don't have enough horsepower to handle doing this.


Do you know anything about forcing software downloads using the code 02468? if so, has this been helpful and how do you do it?


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

noblenoof said:


> Do you know anything about forcing software downloads using the code 02468? if so, has this been helpful and how do you do it?


You should not need to do this, but if you are having problems even after doing a regular reset, forcing a software download might be worth trying. Normally, when new software is available your unit will get it automatically. Forcing a download will only get what is in the data stream, and if that is the same as you already hvae, it won't be updated.

To force, start with a reset via the menu (menu, setup, reset, restart receiver). The unit will shut down and come back on. At the very first blue screen, push 02468 on your remote, one button at a time, one time only. Don't push any other buttons. Then wait. Eventually you should see a screen that says "Found new software", and the unit should go through the download, then a reboot. This typically takes 15 to 20 minutes for an HR20 or HR21, faster on SD equipment and on non-DVRs.

You might also want to check the cutting edge forum on this website, and possibly download cutting edge software. But make sure you read all the terms and conditions first.

Carl


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## HarryC (Nov 27, 2007)

jumpytoad said:


> My HR-21 pro was installed Friday. Over the weekend it locked up several times to where the picture would freeze and then the sound would start dropping out. When it locks up, it will not accept remote commands or RS-232 commands. Has anyone else had this problem?


I have had the exact same problem with a year old HR20 since the last firmware upgrade. Happens about twice a week. So far it has not caused me to miss recording any shows since it has only occured while watching in real time. Hitting the reset button has fixed the problem each time.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

This thread is closed as 0x0221 is rolling out nationally.


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