# HR21-700 freezing up



## IndyGT (Nov 23, 2011)

Been having issues with my HR21-700 freezing up while watching live tv and DVR lately. Have been through all the normal diagnostic options and only error I am getting is the AV decoder test fails and gives error code 0XA2. Any idea what this is?


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## JohnDG (Aug 16, 2006)

I've been getting the same thing over the last couple of weeks.

I ran the disk scan utility: no errors.

Jdg


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

:welcome_s IndyGT!

I've seen the AV Decoder test fail even though there is no other issue. I'm not sure that's the issue. I wonder if something else is going on.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

IndyGT said:


> Been having issues with my HR21-700 freezing up while watching live tv and DVR lately. Have been through all the normal diagnostic options and only error I am getting is the AV decoder test fails and gives error code 0XA2. Any idea what this is?


How full is the hard disk drive? Have you tried a reset via the menu?

And welcome to DBSTalk!


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## IndyGT (Nov 23, 2011)

Thanks all for the welcome. Haven't tried resetting the hard disk drive yet. Will try that tonight when I get home.


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## allenn (Nov 19, 2005)

I bet you get a disk error on the reset which is what happened on my HR21-700. I pulled the disk and tested it, but the test were inconclusive. I reformated the HDD and slapped it back into the DVR. No problems so far, but it beats the HR22-100 refurb D* sent. Best of luck to you.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

IndyGT said:


> Thanks all for the welcome. Haven't tried resetting the hard disk drive yet. Will try that tonight when I get home.


Careful which reset you select, or you'll wipe the drive.
"Restart receiver" doesn't, but "reset everything" does.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

IndyGT said:


> Been having issues with my HR21-700 freezing up while watching live tv and DVR lately. Have been through all the normal diagnostic options and only error I am getting is the AV decoder test fails and gives error code 0XA2. Any idea what this is?


The easiest thing for you to do is to put an external drive on the 21. If the freezing stops, you know the internal HDD is shot. If the freezing persists, the 21 is shot.

You'll have to pardon me for assuming you have an external device and a spare HDD handy. I've got a bunch of each and it's a really good, easy method of trouble shooting an HR.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

allenn said:


> I bet you get a disk error on the reset which is what happened on my HR21-700. I pulled the disk and tested it, but the test were inconclusive. I reformated the HDD and slapped it back into the DVR. No problems so far, but it beats the HR22-100 refurb D* sent. Best of luck to you.


How did you reformat the HDD?

Rich


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## IndyGT (Nov 23, 2011)

Do not have any external drives sitting around. What would you recommend to hook up to the HR21? Been looking over some of the other eSata threads and that's a lot of reading


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## allenn (Nov 19, 2005)

rich584 said:


> How did you reformat the HDD? Rich


I formatted the HDD NTFS and ran Win Chkdsk /F. No errors were found. I tried WD and Victoria diagnostic programs in Win 7 and DOS. The results were inconclusive. WD found no errors and Victoria did. No SMART errors on any of the utilities. When I re-installed the drive into the DVR, D* reformatted the HDD to the correct Linux partitions. The HR21-700 has been running normal for over 2 weeks. Internal and external hard drive prices are out of sight at present, and a HDD cost more than the HR21 is worth. If the DVR goes bad, I will put the HR22-100 D* sent back into service.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

IndyGT said:


> Do not have any external drives sitting around. What would you recommend to hook up to the HR21? Been looking over some of the other eSata threads and that's a lot of reading


*This* with a WD HDD. Or an original stock HDD that you know is good.

Rich


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## IndyGT (Nov 23, 2011)

Ended up deciding not to buy and external drive (for now) just to trouble shoot the receiver so I called up DTV and they sent me a HR23 to replace the HR21 and waived the shipping fee. Thanks all for your help in trying to solve this issue


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## GBFAN (Nov 13, 2006)

It was a good call to get the 21-700 replaced. I had one with the same symptoms and eventually the hard drive failed.


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## Norm (Jul 18, 2008)

I am having a similar problem. It seems like it only does it when I record a college football game and it only does it on one of my 3 HR21's.


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## JohnDG (Aug 16, 2006)

Norm said:


> I am having a similar problem. It seems like it only does it when I record a college football game and it only does it on one of my 3 HR21's.


I also replaced mine. Although the disk scan did not show any problems, it became progressively worse, happening more frequently and at shorter intervals..

jdg


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

JohnDG said:


> I also replaced mine. Although the disk scan did not show any problems, it became progressively worse, happening more frequently and at shorter intervals..
> 
> jdg


The 21 series appears to be getting old quicker than its predecessors.

Rich


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## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

Based on original service age, we'll probably start seeing a lot higher failure rate on HR21's, just like we did with the 20's when they hit a certain age. Most will be HDD related, just like with the HR20's. HDD's do have a pretty normalized failure rate with 24/7 use.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

CCarncross said:


> Based on original service age, we'll probably start seeing a lot higher failure rate on HR21's, just like we did with the 20's when they hit a certain age. Most will be HDD related, just like with the HR20's. HDD's do have a pretty normalized failure rate with 24/7 use.


True, but the 20-700s were worth saving by adding either new internal drives or new external drives. The 21s aren't worth saving, I think. Just an opinion.

Rich


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## EV2 (Oct 21, 2008)

Hey, Rich, I have a question on the drives in HR22. My leased HR22 was running from an external Antec/WD 1.5 drive. I was having an occasional freeze up that required a reset. It appeared more and more often and finally I could not watch a complete program, either live or recorded and any attempt to rewind or fast forward would cause a lockup. I suspected a drive failure and shut down and disconnected my external drive and restarted from the original internal drive that had a few old recorded programs. I was amazed to find the same problem. I then used the menu option to reformat the internal and the drive totally failed and would not format providing only a drive error message. Realizing that I would lose all of the material recorded on the 1.5 external with a replacement DVR, I carefully opened the receiver box and switched in a new WD 2 terabyte drive and rebooted. The HR22 formatted the new drive, downloaded updates and operated perfectly. I then shutdown, reattached the external WD 1.5 and all programs and live reception also operated perfectly and remain so after 3 weeks.

My confusion stems from my belief that when an external drive is in place, the internal is irrelevant. But, on this HR22, the failing internal drive caused the external to appear bad. So, when using an external, is there a cache being used on the internal for the DVR functions?


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

EV2 said:


> Hey, Rich, I have a question on the drives in HR22. My leased HR22 was running from an external Antec/WD 1.5 drive. I was having an occasional freeze up that required a reset. It appeared more and more often and finally I could not watch a complete program, either live or recorded and any attempt to rewind or fast forward would cause a lockup. I suspected a drive failure and shut down and disconnected my external drive and restarted from the original internal drive that had a few old recorded programs. I was amazed to find the same problem. I then used the menu option to reformat the internal and the drive totally failed and would not format providing only a drive error message. Realizing that I would lose all of the material recorded on the 1.5 external with a replacement DVR, I carefully opened the receiver box and switched in a new WD 2 terabyte drive and rebooted. The HR22 formatted the new drive, downloaded updates and operated perfectly. I then shutdown, reattached the external WD 1.5 and all programs and live reception also operated perfectly and remain so after 3 weeks.
> 
> My confusion stems from my belief that when an external drive is in place, the internal is irrelevant. But, on this HR22, the failing internal drive caused the external to appear bad. So, when using an external, is there a cache being used on the internal for the DVR functions?


I dunno. This has never happened to me. My first thought as I was reading your post (very easy to read, BTW) was that the 22 itself was shot. You disproved that by putting the 2TB drive in place of the internal drive and having the 22 work correctly. I've had externals on 20-700s that had stock internals that were completely shot, just wouldn't boot up without the external drive connected. On those I got a blue screen with a message that said, in effect, your HDD is shot.

When I first purchased my six owned 20-700s, I used to run some of them without internals. They ran fine, at the time. Then an NR came along and I had to put the internals back in. At the time, I was running three 20-700s without internals installed. Since all three acted the same, I just assumed it was the lack of internal drives and I put three internals in that I knew were good. Everything went back to normal.

Things have obviously changed. Since the eSATA function is not "supported" by D* (thankfully) we get little news about changes to it. From your post, I can only assume that a relatively major change in the eSATA function has been made.

Had the same thing happened to me, I would have been absolutely sure that the HR itself was shot. I would have never tried what you did. Now I have to rethink how problems such as this should be approached.

Thanx for the info. And Kudos for going the extra mile and proving my assumptions wrong.

Rich


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## mx6bfast (Nov 8, 2006)

Last month our living room TV went out so we purchased a new 3D one. Since we had an HR20 in there D* sent us an upgraded HR21-100. So we had 2 HR20's, a 21, and a 24. The 21 locked up 6 times in less than a month so D* sent out a replacement, a HR21-700. We have had it activated for less than 36 hours and this one has already locked up 3 times, twice tonight. I called D* and instead of shipping me out a new HR they are sending out a tech. Video will freeze and a half a second later audio will, and the HR is non-responsive to remote or buttons on the front of the unit. 

I have tried to find a pattern to the lockups and the only similarities are watching a recorded program from another HR. Tonight it locked up watching an ABC program on one receiver, and then after a RBR a CBS on another one. I thought it might have something to do with our MRV or internet but it doesn't, as another HR shows the other HR's in List and TVApps comes up. Our setup is this HR is connected to our wireless dd-wrt bridge, as well as the DECA is connected to it, which the bridge is connected to our wireless network. I check to make sure I can wirelessly access the dd-wrt when there is a freeze and I can. Since this HR is connected to the internet it makes the other 3 internet connected too. 

Any ideas?


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

mx6bfast said:


> Last month our living room TV went out so we purchased a new 3D one. Since we had an HR20 in there D* sent us an upgraded HR21-100. So we had 2 HR20's, a 21, and a 24. The 21 locked up 6 times in less than a month so D* sent out a replacement, a HR21-700. We have had it activated for less than 36 hours and this one has already locked up 3 times, twice tonight. I called D* and instead of shipping me out a new HR they are sending out a tech. Video will freeze and a half a second later audio will, and the HR is non-responsive to remote or buttons on the front of the unit.


Unfortunately, going from a 20-700 (if that's what it was) to a series 2 HR is far from an upgrade except for the 3D feature. The 20-700 is one of the very best DVR offers.



> I have tried to find a pattern to the lockups and the only similarities are watching a recorded program from another HR. Tonight it locked up watching an ABC program on one receiver, and then after a RBR a CBS on another one. I thought it might have something to do with our MRV or internet but it doesn't, as another HR shows the other HR's in List and TVApps comes up. Our setup is this HR is connected to our wireless dd-wrt bridge, as well as the DECA is connected to it, which the bridge is connected to our wireless network. I check to make sure I can wirelessly access the dd-wrt when there is a freeze and I can. Since this HR is connected to the internet it makes the other 3 internet connected too.
> 
> Any ideas?


I would define a "lockup" as something that requires a reboot. I'd define a "freezeup" as something you can fix without a reboot. Looking at your system, I can't help but wonder why you haven't got a complete DECA system. That might be your problem.

It's hardly surprising to get a replacement HR that doesn't work. They just recycle what other folks return after wiping the HDD clean. Sometimes.

Rich


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## mx6bfast (Nov 8, 2006)

Rich said:


> Unfortunately, going from a 20-700 (if that's what it was) to a series 2 HR is far from an upgrade except for the 3D feature. The 20-700 is one of the very best DVR offers.


I've had a single HR20-700 since shortly after they came out, and the only thing I have done is put my own bigger hard drive in there. Still running perfect (knock on wood), albeit slow from the HD-GUI. The only reason I got the "upgraded" one was for 3D. Since my FOX was off D* at the time they also gave me an AM21 since it was a double whammy.



> I would define a "lockup" as something that requires a reboot. I'd define a "freezeup" as something you can fix without a reboot. Looking at your system, I can't help but wonder why you haven't got a complete DECA system. That might be your problem.
> 
> It's hardly surprising to get a replacement HR that doesn't work. They just recycle what other folks return after wiping the HDD clean. Sometimes


This is definitely a lockup. When the HR20 was in the living room, even connected to the new TV for a week or so, absolutely no issues. I have DECA's on the other HR's except the 24. Is there something else that is needed for me that will allow all my DVR's to be able to do VOD, access music/pictures, etc?

I have a tech coming out Tuesday am to see what is going on. The person I spoke to with D* last night didn't want to send out another DVR and have it be a 21.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

mx6bfast said:


> I've had a single HR20-700 since shortly after they came out, and the only thing I have done is put my own bigger hard drive in there. Still running perfect (knock on wood), albeit slow from the HD-GUI. The only reason I got the "upgraded" one was for 3D. Since my FOX was off D* at the time they also gave me an AM21 since it was a double whammy.
> 
> This is definitely a lockup. When the HR20 was in the living room, even connected to the new TV for a week or so, absolutely no issues. I have DECA's on the other HR's except the 24. Is there something else that is needed for me that will allow all my DVR's to be able to do VOD, access music/pictures, etc?
> 
> I have a tech coming out Tuesday am to see what is going on. The person I spoke to with D* last night didn't want to send out another DVR and have it be a 21.


Looking at your system pictures and descriptions (nice house, by the way) I don't see a SWiM. That might be your main problem.

Rich


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## mx6bfast (Nov 8, 2006)

Rich said:


> Looking at your system pictures and descriptions (nice house, by the way) I don't see a SWiM. That might be your main problem.


We have moved out of that house down to FL where I am now. Stop making me miss that house, especially compared to this one we are renting. Guess I need to remove that form my sig.

Tech came today and replaced the 21 with a 24. During the install he went an looked at the swim in the attic and determined it was DECA compatible but not MRV compatible. He plugged in all up and now the new 24 can see all other HD-DVR's.

Now the problem is I don't know how to hook up the DVR to the internet since there isn't a DECA. I asked him if I plug the HR24 back into the dd-wrt router (which I removed to try to isolate earlier issue) will that automatically connect all of the DVR's back to the internet. He said he would find out, but I figure I will find out before he does. Any ideas?

Update: Found I need a cinema connection kit. Looks like I'll get right back on the phone with D*. This "upgrade" has been a pain. Makes me wish my old tv didn't die as I would've been able to skip all this.


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## SteveK2 (Jul 6, 2008)

EV2 said:


> Hey, Rich, I have a question on the drives in HR22. My leased HR22 was running from an external Antec/WD 1.5 drive. I was having an occasional freeze up that required a reset. It appeared more and more often and finally I could not watch a complete program, either live or recorded and any attempt to rewind or fast forward would cause a lockup. I suspected a drive failure and shut down and disconnected my external drive and restarted from the original internal drive that had a few old recorded programs. I was amazed to find the same problem. I then used the menu option to reformat the internal and the drive totally failed and would not format providing only a drive error message. Realizing that I would lose all of the material recorded on the 1.5 external with a replacement DVR, I carefully opened the receiver box and switched in a new WD 2 terabyte drive and rebooted. The HR22 formatted the new drive, downloaded updates and operated perfectly. I then shutdown, reattached the external WD 1.5 and all programs and live reception also operated perfectly and remain so after 3 weeks.
> 
> My confusion stems from my belief that when an external drive is in place, the internal is irrelevant. But, on this HR22, the failing internal drive caused the external to appear bad. So, when using an external, is there a cache being used on the internal for the DVR functions?


Dredging up this old post because the symptoms listed above match what I am seeing on my HR21-100.

I have an esata attached (WD AV expander - 1TB) that's about 80% full. Last week, started seeing some freezes that would clear after anywhere from 5-60 seconds. This morning I disconnected the esata driver and did a cold start on the receiver. It came up fine, downloaded the latest software, but it is freezing on live tv; when re-winding in the playback buffer, it does not freeze in the same place, so the stream from the sat seems fine.

What's the best way to diagnose if the internal HDD is toast (my hope) or if the whole receiver is the culprit? Internal temp is showing @108. BTW this is a leased receiver, so have not opened it up yet. Really reluctant to ask for a replacement due to the recordings on the esata will be lost.

Suggestions or any more-current info on these symptoms?? Thanks in advance.
SteveK


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

SteveK2 said:


> Dredging up this old post because the symptoms listed above match what I am seeing on my HR21-100.
> 
> I have an esata attached (WD AV expander - 1TB) that's about 80% full. Last week, started seeing some freezes that would clear after anywhere from 5-60 seconds. This morning I disconnected the esata driver and did a cold start on the receiver. It came up fine, downloaded the latest software, but it is freezing on live tv; when re-winding in the playback buffer, it does not freeze in the same place, so the stream from the sat seems fine.
> 
> ...


When you rebooted on the internal drive did you get an error message? How about the external drive, did you get an error message?

If you get the same symptoms on both the internal and external HDDs it's probably the HR itself. While it sounds like a bad HDD, unless you've got 2 bad HDDs, I'd think the HR is the culprit.

Rich


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## SteveK2 (Jul 6, 2008)

No messages at all, Rich. 

Based on EV2's post, maybe the internal HDD is the culprit or maybe not. Just to clarify, the cold start I did on the receiver was just unplugging for 30 secs....I do not reset/reformat the internal HDD, but thinking of doing that now. I suspect if the internall HDD throws an error during reformat, I'd have my answer.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

SteveK2 said:


> No messages at all, Rich.


That's not good. One of them should have given an error code.



> Based on EV2's post, maybe the internal HDD is the culprit or maybe not. Just to clarify, the cold start I did on the receiver was just unplugging for 30 secs....I do not reset/reformat the internal HDD, but thinking of doing that now. I suspect if the internall HDD throws an error during reformat, I'd have my answer.


I think his problems were one-of-a-kind. I've never heard of an internal HDD going bad (I have had some) and corrupting an external drive before or after he posted. I ran a 20-700 for a couple years with an internal drive that gave an instant error message, started with a 14 I think, with an external drive on it.

Rich


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