# Got L116 Last Night - Lost All Programs on HDD Today



## hojni (Feb 6, 2003)

I'm pretty ticked right now. L116 loaded last night and all seemed fine. However, this morning the record light was on when nothing should have been recording. Turned on the TV and saw a message about a hard disk failure - everything reinstalled and all programs lost. I hate dish right now, but signed up for warranty service in case this thing craps out again. 

Let's just hope for everyone else's sake that this was truely a HW problem and not L116. My 721 has been running flawless since I bought it over 1 year ago (except for the obvious bugs that everyone else has experienced).


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## jgui (Dec 6, 2003)

I lost my content to with a hard drive reformat as a result of the latest download. I talked with the advanced technical support hotline but they could not help. Details:

The software downloaded but was stuck at "Download Completed. Please wait..." or something like that. I went out and played in the snow with the kids and when I got in, it was still stuck there. Then I reset with the power button for 5 seconds and all seemed fine. However, when attempting to play a recorded program, the hard drive (or what I think was the hard drive) started making a repeating loud clicking sound and the picture froze. At that point, I new I was screwed. A subsequent reset (I thought I better do something so that the drive wasn't totally trashed) resulted in a hard drive failure message. The machine reinitiailized which caused a drive reformat.

Tech support felt this didn't have anything to do with the download but I didn't buy that. The machine seems to be working for about 12 hours now. I've recorded some, searched the guide, trying the access the hard drive as much as I can.


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

hojni said:


> I hate dish right now, but signed up for warranty service in case this thing craps out again.


SO, did the warranty service get you BACK all your lost shows... :eek2: :sure:


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## hojni (Feb 6, 2003)

dishrich said:


> SO, did the warranty service get you BACK all your lost shows... :eek2: :sure:


No! Add this on top of the drop in PQ that Dish has experienced since 2000 (I remember when Dish PQ used to rival DVD PQ) and, for the first time, I am starting to think about switching to DirectTV.


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

If PQ is what you want then you better stay where you are. There has been many threads on Directv and compression artifacts . They are cramming as many locals as they can on the main satellite at 101 so this wouldn't be the best time to switch. Now next quarter they promise a new satellite Directv7 that will help with the overcrowding of the locals. 

As far as the 721 , my 721 got stuck on the update same as yours. I rebooted mine and it came back and was fine for 30 minutes then it froze and rebooted itself again and now all is well. Get the $1.99 warrenty from Dish and Credit Card Auto Pay and they will rma it for free and give you a replacement for free. Without Credit Card Auto Pay they will charge you the shipping and handeling.


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## hojni (Feb 6, 2003)

Mike D-CO5 said:


> If PQ is what you want then you better stay where you are. There has been many threads on Directv and compression artifacts . They are cramming as many locals as they can on the main satellite at 101 so this wouldn't be the best time to switch. Now next quarter they promise a new satellite Directv7 that will help with the overcrowding of the locals.
> 
> As far as the 721 , my 721 got stuck on the update same as yours. I rebooted mine and it came back and was fine for 30 minutes then it froze and rebooted itself again and now all is well. Get the $1.99 warrenty from Dish and Credit Card Auto Pay and they will rma it for free and give you a replacement for free. Without Credit Card Auto Pay they will charge you the shipping and handeling.


The funny thing is that my 721 seemed to get through the L116 update fine last night. Something happened overnight that seemed to put it in the crapper.

BTW - Thanks for the DirectTV PQ update. Dish's PQ also took a dive when they added all of the locals. Dish PQ is now finally acceptable on most of the national feeds. However, the locals are worse than the on air antennae and cable here in Chicago. It's a shame because that near-DVD PQ they had back in 2000 made all the difference in the world on my 50" Mitsu.


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## Randy_B (Apr 23, 2002)

We lost everything this morning as well. Woke up to find the 721 "clicking", but no green light. Pressed the power off button and the unit powered up and said "system failure". Still clicking. Power off button wouldn't work anymore, nor did pulling the smart card. Still clicking away. Pulled the power cord, waited 10 minutes, plugged it in and it came up saying "system failure, but some channels may still be available". Powered off again, powered on and got the black screen and "system install 2", then "reimaging hard drive". Knew it was all gone then. Called adv tech support, said they were sorry and a replacement unit would go out overnight mon.

Simply saying this SUCKS doesn't capture it. Lost about 60 hrs of recording (season to date for Alias, NYPD Blue and Friends).


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

Mike D-CO5 said:


> If PQ is what you want then you better stay where you are. There has been many threads on Directv and compression artifacts . They are cramming as many locals as they can on the main satellite at 101 so this wouldn't be the best time to switch. Now next quarter they promise a new satellite Directv7 that will help with the overcrowding of the locals.


Since hojni lost EVERYTHING on his wonderful 721, does it REALLY matter how good the picture WAS...   :lol:

Like I said in another thread, BOTH providers look like crap, but at least I have NEVER, EVER lost ANYTHING on 3 D-Tivo's in 2 years, artifacts or NOT...


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

:lol: es we know Tivo is your God. Repeat after me"tivo changed my life". :lol:


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

Mike D-CO5 said:


> :lol: es we know Tivo is your God. Repeat after me"tivo changed my life". :lol:


No, MUCH better to keep a service that DOESN'T work properly & THEN complain about it EVERYTIME the SAME, THING happens... :sure:    
Even YOU say so yourself here:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=21097



Mike D-CO5 said:


> Dishnetwork: home of software bugs and undelivered promises on features


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

I know I did but unlike you I do not like Tivo. I have a stand alone Tivo and I don't use it for anything but over flow for network shows that conflict with my dual tuner 721. I like some of the good things about Tivo but I don't like the tivo interface as well as Dish and their guides and simple menus.

I just get so tired of people always shoving Tivo in my face everytime someone posts a problem with Dish and the software. My object in posting anything about the software of Dish and the problems is for them to recognize them and for the software engineers to Fix them. I would think as a company, Dish would be tired of the negative things said about them and their receivers , software etc. I would hope they would change this in order to run the company more proffessionaly.

Also I posted about the pq of Dish vs Directv because Honji said something about it dropping since 2000 and I knew that in my experience it wasn't necessarially true. Directv on the other hand has dropped as all who read these web boards can attest to . 

But I thank you for pointing out that I don't always like what Dish does and keeping up with what I am sure you will think, is my hypocrisy.


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## ad313tg (Dec 7, 2003)

I got the L116 at 7:00 pm EST (why aren't they doing software upgrades in the middle of the night?). The software was downloaded then got stuck on the screen saying it was installing the software. I waited 45 minutes then hoped on this site to see if others were experiencing the same problem (glad you guys are here!) and sure enough I saw others experiencing the same problems but was horrified at some of the responses saying that they either lost all recorded programs or that their hard drive was trashed. Fortunately one of the responses said that they held the power button and rebooted the system which I tried and sure enough my machine rebooted and I lost none of my christmas programs that I've been recording since Thanksgiving and my system is now at L116. Thanks guys!


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## Bob Haller (Mar 24, 2002)

Glad I am NOT reporting a lost hard drive. Odd this upgrade appered to go to everyone at once. The daylight upgrade might make it easier on the call centers if there are problems.

My only problem and its occured twice is finding a blank screen Powering off with remte helped once, the second time I had to reboot.

So far it appears better than the last software. If it trashes the hard drive I will get my E programmers voodo doll out and burn it in a fire, since pins just arent enough

Seriously I HOPE this download works ok for everyone. 

Thanks to E for atr least making a attempt to get some relief.

BTW I apologize for the naSTY WORDS ABOUT THE PROGRAMMING DEPARTMENT, I was honestly concerned the wait toime for a fix would be much longer


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## Guest (Dec 7, 2003)

Mike D-CO5 said:


> If PQ is what you want then you better stay where you are. There has been many threads on Directv and compression artifacts . They are cramming as many locals as they can on the main satellite at 101 so this wouldn't be the best time to switch. Now next quarter they promise a new satellite Directv7 that will help with the overcrowding of the locals.
> 
> Maybe infamous Northpoint would be excellent in this area. They could provide the locals to both DBS companies via a small antenna that attaches to the dish which receives the signal from its proposed "terrestrial repeaters", and pipes it to the receiver. This would require partnership of Northpoint, D* and E*, and possibly would increase local pkg. cost slightly; (royalty fees). This would free up massive bandwidth on the current sats, returning to "better than DVD" DBS quality to subs. If Northpoint's technology doesn't in fact interfere as many suspect, this would be a major win for DBS IMHO.


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## retiredTech (Oct 27, 2003)

My condolences to those who lost shows and those who seem to have WAY more problems with their 721 then I have.

116 came on my 721 and I didn't even know it until I read it here.

Just checked and yes I have 116 now. I HAVE HAD NO PROBLEMS WHAT SO EVER (knock on wood) since My 721 was replaced for tuner trouble. (and before the tuner went out the old 721 worked great for 10 months) 

ANYWAY, I would suspect those having SO much trouble, have some sort of hardware issue (ie your 721 or your lnbs, wiring ect) Since my 721 has NO real issues with the software.

One other possibility (albeit remote, your 721 was in the middle of download and lost the update before it completed, again this would point to a hardware issue)

I would suggest anyone having repeated failures (not little quirks that you've found) BUT repeated failures(like lost shows), to report these and after documenting them with Dish,
then request a new 721.


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## dbronstein (Oct 21, 2002)

retiredTech said:


> 116 came on my 721 and I didn't even know it until I read it here.


Same with me. I have never had a problem getting a software upgrade, and I would never even know they came if I didn't read it here.

I agree that the problems some people have with the upgrades are probably hardware related, either in the 721 itself or elsewhere.

Dennis


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

Mike D-CO5 said:


> I know I did but unlike you I do not like Tivo. I have a stand alone Tivo and I don't use it for anything but over flow for network shows that conflict with my dual tuner 721. I like some of the good things about Tivo but I don't like the tivo interface as well as Dish and their guides and simple menus.


Uh, OK - but 1 small stupid question - why DO you have a stand alone Tivo to begin with, and paying $13 a month for something you DON'T even really like??? (or did you get a lifetime sub on it)



> I would think as a company, Dish would be tired of the negative things said about them and their receivers , software etc. I would hope they would change this in order to run the company more proffessionaly.


Yea, you would think so wouldn't you - do you think after, say 2-3+ years of these PVR fiascos, it's getting any better??? :lol: :lol: :lol:



> But I thank you for pointing out that I don't always like what Dish does and keeping up with what I am sure you will think, is my hypocrisy.


Well, that thought DID cross my mind...


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## goughl (Jul 18, 2003)

retiredTech said:


> My condolences to those who lost shows and those who seem to have WAY more problems with their 721 then I have.
> 
> 116 came on my 721 and I didn't even know it until I read it here.
> 
> ...


My 721 also took the download with out a hitch, never knew I had it till I read it here, no problems.


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## MAllen (Dec 3, 2002)

Hmm, I lost the hard drive on my 2nd (newer) 721 Friday night too! My orignal 721 (older version??) is working fine. The one that died is only 6 months old, the older one is about 18 months old. This is somewhat fishy, it seems that SEVERAL owners of 721's had a hard drive failure after the update, its looks like a bit MORE than coincidence.


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## Bob Haller (Mar 24, 2002)

Arent there sporadic reports of this after each software upgrade? It just seems errily reminescent of previous events.


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## Mustang100 (Nov 21, 2002)

Bob Haller said:


> Arent there sporadic reports of this after each software upgrade? It just seems errily reminescent of previous events.


My download got stuck the first time but quick reboot and my 721 is back in action. The 115 version made it run the worst it has ever been. So much so that it drove me to watch a lot more DVD. I would have detroyed the receiver in anger if i had to put up with the channel change lockups and such.

Bobby


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