# 211 constantly rebooting



## JeffN9 (Apr 14, 2007)

I have not had any problems with my 211 until today. It worked fine for 10-15 minutes then I noticed that it wouldn't respond to the remote. After a few seconds the receiver went into a reboot cycle. When it came back on it still didn't respond to the remote or the buttons on the front of the receiver. After about 5 minutes it went into another reboot cycle with the same result after it came back on. I tried pulling the power cord for about 5 minutes and then plugged it back in but after it came back on it still had the same problems and rebooted after 5 minutes or so. Right now I'm leaving the power disconnected for a longer period of time to see if that remedies the prob.

Anybody else ever go through this? If so what was the solution? I have an ext. HD hooked up to it, could that be causing the prob? That is unplugged right now also.


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## JeffN9 (Apr 14, 2007)

Apparently everyone was as baffled by this problem as me.

I did some more troubleshooting and believe that it was the OTA station that I was watching that caused the lockup. I decided to unplug the antenna when it was going through one of it's reboots and guess what, problem solved. After it rebooted I was able to change channels. I then reconnected the antenna and everything seems fine now. Needless to say I' m not tuning in the problem channel again anytime soon. 

I remembered having a similar lockup problem with an outboard ATSC tuner several years ago with a new digital local channel. After replacing the tuner and still having the problem I called the station and they admitted that the problem was on their end, (PSIP problem) The channel in question this time is a fairly new sub channel for our local ABC affiliate. 

Anyway I wanted to post this in case anyone else has the same problem.


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## jchaak (Jan 17, 2004)

same here on the 19th and 20th but mysteriously quit today without intervention. Odd


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## JeffN9 (Apr 14, 2007)

I'm still afraid to tune in the channel that it locked up on. For now I have locked it out using channel locks. 

I also have a 622 and that had no problems with this channel.


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## Hunter844 (Apr 26, 2007)

I'm having the same exact problem. It's done it twice today while watching the same OTA ABC channel.

I've always thought Dish did this to roll out new codes out to shake pirates.


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## Hunter844 (Apr 26, 2007)

Just did it again...it's gotta be a dish problem of some sort with this OTA channel.

Hopefully this won't persist.



Dish Receiver in Question: 211k
Channel 22.1 KATV (Little Rock, AR)

Using WD Mybook 750gig


This problem has only happened on this one channel for me. Although I haven't watched any DVR'ed shows in a couple weeks...perhaps that update messed that up. I'll try to watch something tonight.


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## mesalum (Jan 29, 2009)

I have the same problem. That being my VIP211 is rebooting and when it happens the remote is locked out. But my problem starts while watching a DVR'ed show. And it's only been happening since I received the L524 upgrade. I have a Western Digital Mybook 750gb usb drive attached.

I called tech support and he (Casey) said it appears to be heat related. He said to leave the VIP211 unplugged over 15 minutes so the unit can cool down. He said I could try that or he would ship me another VIP211. A new VIP211 is on it's way.

I have two VIP211 and it happens on both of them using the same USB drive. The VIP211 in the living room does have an antenna plugged into the OTA coaxial port. The VIP211 in the bedroom does not have any OTA connected.

What is your software rev?


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## skeets13 (Mar 2, 2009)

Same problem for me. Also WD MyBook HD. I have two 211s. Moved the hard drive to the other one and it froze up at about the same spot in play back. I also only noticed this after the 524 update.


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## mesalum (Jan 29, 2009)

Received my replacement VIP211 today and it too freezes and reboots upon playback of a DVR'ed show.
The replacement VIP211 downloaded the software after installation and it too is L524. Dammit.

Gonna call tech support again and report the problem.

Just called and I have a service appointment tomorrow. Dish is waiving the $29.95 fee.


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## JeffN9 (Apr 14, 2007)

mesalum said:


> Received my replacement VIP211 today and it too freezes and reboots upon playback of a DVR'ed show.
> The replacement VIP211 downloaded the software after installation and it too is L524. Dammit.
> 
> Gonna call tech support again and report the problem.
> ...


I have a feeling that the service tech that comes to your house is not going to have a clue as to what the problem might be. This is not because of incompetence but because software issues like this are probably not communicated to them, at least not very quickly. Most likely this issue is the result of a "bug" that was introduced to the receiver with the 524 software update and the only thing that will remedy it is for Dish to send a fix with a future update.


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## Hunter844 (Apr 26, 2007)

I checked earlier...I'm still running L455


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## JeffN9 (Apr 14, 2007)

Hunter844 said:


> I checked earlier...I'm still running L455


I see that you have a 211K. The software update(at least the number) is different between the 211 and 211K. From what I've been reading though it sounds like owners of both model receivers are having similar problems.


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

I have received a request for more information from E*.


For users that are experiencing a reboot related to OTA channel tuning, please PM me the following information.


Receiver model / R00#
Hardware ID
DMA / Channel # / Call letters
Steps to duplicate


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## Grandude (Oct 21, 2004)

skeets13 said:


> Same problem for me. Also WD MyBook HD. I have two 211s. Moved the hard drive to the other one and it froze up at about the same spot in play back. I also only noticed this after the 524 update.


Same situation for me. Two 211s both failed/rebooted partway into programs recorded earlier, probably before 524 download. 
Starts with some pixilation on 1/3 of screen coming and going for a minute or so and then freeze and reboot.

I recorded a new program on the drive, a Maxtor, and it played through just fine. Looks like I have lost a couple of shows I really wanted to watch. Darn

Independent of what channel the receiver was tuned to so that was not a factor, not OTA as I can't get signal here from OTA locals. Oh, and definitely not heat related as one 211 is in the garage and ave temp there is in the 50s.


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## mesalum (Jan 29, 2009)

Grandude said:


> I recorded a new program on the drive, a Maxtor, and it played through just fine. Looks like I have lost a couple of shows I really wanted to watch. Darn


That is good news. Sorry you lost those shows. That is going to be my next attempt.

The DISH tech. was out and checked everything that he could. He did replace all my connectors. I guess they were not high frequency connectors. A quality assurance person also showed up to check on the technician's work. They both told me that DISH is having some problems with rebroadcast of HD local channels through the satellites. Whatever that means.

Hopefully shows recorded with the new software (L524) will be fine.


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## Grandude (Oct 21, 2004)

mesalum said:


> That is good news. Sorry you lost those shows. That is going to be my next attempt.
> 
> Hopefully shows recorded with the new software (L524) will be fine.


Shucks, I was wrong. Recorded a show after 524 and it failed the same way.
Guess I was just lucky with the one that went all the way without booting.

Mine is still not related to the local OTA problems. I'm now afraid to try recording anything on my 211s until this gets fixed.


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## Hunter844 (Apr 26, 2007)

Tried again today to watch a game on that same OTA channel. Within a minute is froze up and rebooted. I decided to split my cable and go directly to the TV tuner and scratch watching that channel from the Dish tuner. Incidently I don't get any brief loss of video on this tv tuner. I wonder if there is some HDMI handshake problem that has recently been introduced somehow?


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## JeffN9 (Apr 14, 2007)

I haven't had any problems with my three TV tuners or my 622 watching the channel that locked up on the 211. I' m still afraid to watch that channel on the 211 again though until I think the problem has been corrected. Fortunately for me it is not a main channel that I watch much.


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## MRider4 (Mar 15, 2009)

I stumbled onto this forum while doing some online research, trying to figure out just what the heck is suddenly going on with my 211 w/EHD. I seem to be having the same problem as lots of folks: 211 usually fails when I'm watching a recorded OTA program. First a mild pixelation and it stops responding to the remote, then maybe 20 seconds later playback stops, leaving a black screen. A couple seconds later, the 211 shuts down and reboots. I've been out of town for the last couple weeks, and never had this problem before. Has this 524 update happened in the last couple weeks? Any idea if Echostar know about this bug or is planning a fix soon?


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