# Problems



## sheridan1952 (Mar 16, 2006)

I just looked at my R15-300 as I was passing by and the Record light was on. I did not have anything set to record, I checked the VOD and ToDo list, I went through all the channels. Nothing was recording. I hit the reset button and it went through the reboot, now it doesn't power up. I tried unplugging it for a minute, no change. I really don't want to do a reformat as I have a lot on the drive.

Anyone see this?

Well, it figures. As I was typing this message, it came up. It's working now.


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

sheridan1952 said:


> I just looked at my R15-300 as I was passing by and the Record light was on. I did not have anything set to record, I checked the VOD and ToDo list, I went through all the channels. Nothing was recording. I hit the reset button and it went through the reboot, now it doesn't power up. I tried unplugging it for a minute, no change. I really don't want to do a reformat as I have a lot on the drive.
> 
> Anyone see this?
> 
> Well, it figures. As I was typing this message, it came up. It's working now.


I've had lock-ups that when I reset it, it goes blank for about five minutes before it boots back up.


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## sheridan1952 (Mar 16, 2006)

That was probably it. I didn't wait for it to complete the bootup. 

Any idea why my Rec light would come on with nothing being recorded?

Speaking of, it's on again right now and I have no idea why. As far as I can see, there is nothing being recorded.

And now it's off again. This is puzzling. Anyone have any ideas on this?


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## NYMase (Jun 15, 2006)

I actually just found this forum because this problem just started happening for me today as well...Randomly, the record light has come on for both my R15-300s...Nothing is recording at the time and nothing is set to record...At the same time, the record light on both go off...They just keep cutting on and off without anything actually being recorded...This only starting happening today...

Anyone have any clues about this or is this happening to more people???


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

I see three possibilities:


DTV has activated MyShowcase.
The hardware is malfunctioning.
Extra-terrestrials will land immanently.


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## NYMase (Jun 15, 2006)

wbmccarty said:


> I see three possibilities:
> 
> 
> DTV has activated MyShowcase.


Now that you mention this, I just noticed in MyVOD that it says 'Showcases' next to MyVOD...Did it used to say 'MyShowcase'??? I seem to remember it saying that...Also, what happens when Directv activates MyShowcase' or 'Showcases'?


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## NYMase (Jun 15, 2006)

Also, the record light just cut on again...


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

It always said "Showcases" not "MyShowcases"


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## morgantown (Nov 16, 2005)

wbmccarty said:


> I see three possibilities:
> 
> 
> DTV has activated MyShowcase.
> ...


That is a tough choice, _really_ tough.

NFLST is just around the corner (just ask Big Ben) so the Showcase stuff needs to function soon enough for the game re-caps. How about option 4, "they" are trying...

You can pick your own they...


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## FLWingNut (Nov 19, 2005)

Had a similar problem on my R-15 500. Record light on, nothing recording. I went to the guide, hit the R button to tell it to record two things, then immediately went to MyVOD and deleted them. Record light went off. We'll see how long it stays that way. Weird.


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## NYMase (Jun 15, 2006)

Just to clarify, this is happening for my R15-300 and also my R15-500...


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## sheridan1952 (Mar 16, 2006)

Mine is also on and off tonight. But something else happened. I was watching a recorded show, I paused it to do something and a few seconds later, it kicked out and went back to live tv!!!

R15-300 with the latest update.


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## sheridan1952 (Mar 16, 2006)

Just how long is it supposed to take to repopulate the guide after the R15 has been reset? I did it 4 hours ago and the guide still has more gaps than information. And my TODO list was chopped, I assume because the shows weren't in the guide anymore.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

You should have the next few hours almost immediately. It could take 24 or more hours to fully repopulate the guide.

Carl


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## Bud33 (Jan 26, 2006)

I am having the same problem with two R-15 500's. One is on and one is off.
Both started to appear to be recording sometime between 8 and 9 PM EDST.
During the time period, the unit I was watching went blank and I got a message that the channel had not been paid for (Or something to that effect). I switched channels and got another program, switched back to the original channel and it was back on.
I do not know that the two things are related but thought it interesting.'
As I am typing this, it is now about 10:30 and both units record light is still on..
The TV I am watching will function Normally. Change channels etc. I can check the VOD list, the guide etc and everything seems to be normal.
I am going to leave everything alone in the hope that they are being reprogrammed.
Time will tell:nono:


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## sschiltz (May 15, 2006)

Both my R15- 500's shows recording tonight also, shows nothing being recorded in the VOD tried to stop it with no luck.
Went to showcases that is still empty.
Release notes would be nice if they started to push info!


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## NYMase (Jun 15, 2006)

I have manually reset and updated both my R15-500 and R15-300 several times and the recording light has not come on for almost 2 hours now...

I read this elsewhere:

Reset the receiver and wait until it says 'Hello your dtv reciever is starting up.' Type in the code 02468 then select and when the almost there screen goes away it will start the download. You might want to try it a few times to make sure it goes in effect.


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## bjflynn04 (Jul 27, 2004)

Tonight I noticed that the Record light was on my R15-500 so I went to the menu to try to restart the receiver that way and It locked up until I hit the exit button then I conflict screen came up. It said You recorder is scheduled to record Upcoming: National Lampoon's Animal House on 483 at 7:59p. The Process you have requested may confict with this recording.


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## jonaswan2 (Oct 29, 2005)

bjflynn04 said:


> Tonight I noticed that the Record light was on my R15-500 so I went to the menu to try to restart the receiver that way and It locked up until I hit the exit button then I conflict screen came up. It said You recorder is scheduled to record Upcoming: National Lampoon's Animal House on 483 at 7:59p. The Process you have requested may confict with this recording.
> 
> View attachment 5800


I think channels 480 thru 489 are channels DirecTV has reserved for other stuff and recievers can not view those channels in the guide. Your reciever was obviously told to record this channel from an outside source. Animal House might be for the Showcases or the Video on Demand service or anything.

We should all not touch our recievers (even if it has the record light on) until the morning and see if that changes anything.


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

According to the TV Guide, _Animal House_ will begin showing Friday on channels 185 and 186, presumably pay-per-view. So, it looks as though DTV is getting ready to kick off the Showcase feature. However, their apparent decision to do so does not rule out the possibilities of hardware failure or alien invasion.


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## Nosey (Mar 12, 2006)

ok, here is a strange one, who wants to take a stab at it...

I get home this evening (2am) from work, left at 2pm, my record light is lit up, can't find anything I really want to watch so I check to see what I am recording, nothing in the todo list...

I check my guide, nothing with a R next to it, I change the guide to all from custom and scroll all the channels, nothing listed...

I start to think how I can see what is being recorded since nothing is showing up...

then I remember by selecting the signal strength in the past it has told me that it has to stop a recording... so I select to view the signal strength....

now remember, by this time it is 230am, it says that by doing this I may inturuppt<???> (can't spell this late/early).... the recording, it says national lampons animal house on chan 483, I'm wondering why I might be recording this, it's been many years since I have seen it, but I wouldn't record it just to watch it, then I notice that it says the recording is set for 759 (remember, it's 230am right now)... so I select to stop it...

I look for chan 483 in the guide to see why I might be recording it, and there is no chan 483 on my guide.....

ok, long winded explaining it, but where did that come from??


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## jonaswan2 (Oct 29, 2005)

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=59329

DirecTV may be activating showcases or their VOD service now. I wouldn't interrupt it.


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## flynlr (Jan 21, 2006)

caught me looking at to do list yesterday at noon I had nothing on the list yet the yellow light was on WTF? now this is on my owned unit.. didnt check the leased one. but I want NOTHING to record unless I tell it too.


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## shaun-ohio (Aug 24, 2002)

yeah mine was doing the same thing, nothing new recorded either


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## laceyd (Mar 6, 2006)

I noticed this last night. I was watching a show from MyVOD, and went to jump over to BBC America, when I got this message;

"Start-Stop Day 1 #21 download is currently being received. Changing the channel will interrupt the download" I was given the option to Yes, Interrupt, or No, don't interrupt.

As I was just watching stuff from MyVOD, I decided to let it continue. Over the next hour, I saw the REC light go on and off for 5 minutes at a time. The number in the title went up to Start-Stop Day 1 #25. 

At that point, I wanted to watch live TV, so I had to interrupt the 'download'. It reverted to CH 483 which it told me I didn't have access to.

More worryingly, when I went to the regular channels, I had no sound! Either live TV or MyVOD. To remedy this I jumped to the ACTIVE channel, then back out and that fixed it. I had nothing in my SHOWCASE or MyVOD tab to indicate that it had downloaded a show, and no updates to the software.

Earlier, I had been playing around with the YES Interactive stuff on Ch 1004, but I don't know if that has any bearing on this.


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## PlanetBill (May 8, 2006)

Not sure if this is related, yesterday evening around 8:00pm (Ohio), my wife said the box quit working. At 8:30, when I got home I found the remote to be non responsive, at least for a couple minutes, then after a channel down push, I got sound back, no picture just sound. This lasted for about 2 minutes. I finger was inches from the reset button when for no aprrearent reason, everything started working again. A little sluggish at first (more than the usual), but working.


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## Bobman (Jan 3, 2006)

That also happens when a recording is set to start but hasnt yet and its within the 5 minute change screen warning message. If you wait up to 5 minutes the program will show in the VOD as being recorded. The recording light comes on but nothing shows as being recorded until the 5 minute warning message passes.


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## Bud33 (Jan 26, 2006)

Just talked to level 2 teck and the fix is to do a Satellite auto detect.
That seemed to turn off the light and did not mess up the VOD list.
No explanation of what went wrong


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## Bud33 (Jan 26, 2006)

Just talked to level 2 teck and the fix is to do a Satellite auto detect.
That seemed to turn off the light and did not mess up the VOD list.
No explanation of what went wrong


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## ApK (Mar 6, 2006)

Our REC light turned on for no reason last night, too. 
Weird. they must have done something up yonder. The box was working ok otherwise. I put in standby for the night and otherwise left it alone, but i forgot to check on it this morning.

Any more info on why this happened? Earl? Anyone? Bueller?

ApK


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

Both of my systems where doing this last night as well...

I have an email in, and will hopefully have some more information before the end of the day...


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

I also had the channel not available message come on right in the middle of the evening news. VERY not okay. Ended up changing channels a couple of times, and got everything back.

And yes, my record light was also on when I wasn't recording.

Hey DirecTV: If you want/need to experiment, do it between 3 and 4 a.m.

Carl


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## cabanaboy1977 (Nov 16, 2005)

laceyd said:


> "Start-Stop Day 1 #21 download is currently being received. Changing the channel will interrupt the download" I was given the option to Yes, Interrupt, or No, don't interrupt.
> 
> As I was just watching stuff from MyVOD, I decided to let it continue. Over the next hour, I saw the REC light go on and off for 5 minutes at a time. The number in the title went up to Start-Stop Day 1 #25.


Possibly they don't send down the whole MYVOD in one burst? Maybe they divide it into parts so that if you cancel out it won't have to download the whole thing again?


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## TheTooleMan (Apr 9, 2006)

laceyd said:


> I noticed this last night. I was watching a show from MyVOD, and went to jump over to BBC America, when I got this message;
> 
> "Start-Stop Day 1 #21 download is currently being received. Changing the channel will interrupt the download" I was given the option to Yes, Interrupt, or No, don't interrupt.
> 
> ...


Same here. The record light was on but nothing was scheduled to record, and then it went out by itself. It came back on a few minutes later. I was not recording anything from my To Do List, so I went into Setup/Info and test and tried to run a system test. That's when I got the message about Start-Stop Day 1 #24. I made it cancel the test and the record light did not come back on.


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## TheTooleMan (Apr 9, 2006)

flynlr said:


> caught me looking at to do list yesterday at noon I had nothing on the list yet the yellow light was on WTF? now this is on my owned unit.. didnt check the leased one. but I want NOTHING to record unless I tell it too.


Yellow light?


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## sheridan1952 (Mar 16, 2006)

I sure would like to know what this is all about. I'm am somewhat relieved to see that I am not the only one, but if this about populating My Showcases with sports or other programming I have no interest in, then D* needs to have a way for us to tell it what we DON'T want and not D/L it.

Which brings up a question, if when the My Showcases is active, will whatever it d/l's take away from our 100 hours of recording time?


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

Bud33 said:


> Just talked to level 2 teck and the fix is to do a Satellite auto detect.
> That seemed to turn off the light and did not mess up the VOD list.
> No explanation of what went wrong


Since several of us are experiencing the mystery light, I think it's likely that it's not a problem but a feature, even if we don't yet understand the feature-ness of it. In that case, the 2nd-level tech who "fixed" the problem by directing you to reset your unit, hasn't fixed anything. Instead, he/she has provided further evidence that DTV's 2nd-level techs are ill-informed concerning the state of the R15, including its software defects and scheduled rollout events. 

P.S. Another poster mentioned that his R15 had tuned a channel in the 480-89 range, accessing a film, _Animal House_, that TV Guide shows will be available Friday on pay-per-view (PPV). I presume that any downloaded Showcase item will not appear until the date on which the associated PPV is available. So, I anticipate that later today, or soon thereafter, some of us will find _Animal House_ in our Showcase folder.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

sheridan1952 said:


> Which brings up a question, if when the My Showcases is active, will whatever it d/l's take away from our 100 hours of recording time?


That I can answer now...

No... Your unit has a 60gb reserved area for the My Showcases/VOD content.
It doesn't effect your 100hours


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## cabanaboy1977 (Nov 16, 2005)

wbmccarty said:


> I presume that any downloaded Showcase item will not appear until the date on which the associated PPV is available. So, I anticipate that later today, or soon thereafter, some of us will find _Animal House_ in our Showcase folder.


That makes sense. It's a behind the scenes that's not so behind the scenes


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## sheridan1952 (Mar 16, 2006)

Thanks, now if we only knew what D* was doing to us.

Yeah I know, that info will come eventually.


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## Nosey (Mar 12, 2006)

that would make sense, but, if I have 2 scheduled recordings at the same time, or recording 1 show while watching another, I wonder if that theory would effect the recordings...


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## walters (Nov 18, 2005)

Obviously the way it should be designed and implemented is that all user-created recordings would take precidence over these pushed recordings. So that means we'll have to wait and see how it works.


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## mikewolf13 (Jan 31, 2006)

carl6 said:


> I also had the channel not available message come on right in the middle of the evening news. VERY not okay. Ended up changing channels a couple of times, and got everything back.
> 
> And yes, my record light was also on when I wasn't recording.
> 
> ...


it's always 3-4 am somewhere..... 

Serioulsy,

What you experiencing is a known issue, D* will be releasing a software upgrade soon to correct this.

I am sorry you are having this issue but, The R15 has gotten significantly better over the last few months.

Try reducing your SL or find/bys, As this casues issues. also try not to re-prioritize series links.

Try unplugging the unit for 4 -5 minutes and re-starting it or a red button reset.:lol:


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

mikewolf13 said:


> What you experiencing is a known issue, D* will be releasing a software upgrade soon to correct this.


Hmm, I seem to be in the dark despite regular reading of messages posted to this forum. Would you please define your use of the term "soon"? In particular, do you have in mind the software development term of art "real soon now"? And, can you share any information that forms the basis of, or otherwise supports, your opinion that such a release will occur soon?


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## CHOMPIS (Apr 19, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> That I can answer now...
> 
> No... Your unit has a 60gb reserved area for the My Showcases/VOD content.
> It doesn't effect your 100hours


 That was a secret :nono:


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## sheridan1952 (Mar 16, 2006)

CHOMPIS said:


> That was a secret :nono:


Oh well, I won't tell anyone.


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## jonaswan2 (Oct 29, 2005)

CHOMPIS said:


> That was a secret :nono:


We, on the boards, have always known this. They just don't tell consumer.


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## Hokie01 (Jun 9, 2006)

Besides, who wants to watch Animal House again, anyway?!


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## gomezma1 (Mar 28, 2006)

Last night i was watching my R-15 when I noticed the LED that indicates that the unit is recording. I checked My To Do List and did not see anything setup? Before going to bed I unplugged the unit. Has this happened to anyone else? When I plugged it back in this morning everything was ok.:lol:


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## mikewolf13 (Jan 31, 2006)

wbmccarty said:


> Hmm, I seem to be in the dark despite regular reading of messages posted to this forum. Would you please define your use of the term "soon"? In particular, do you have in mind the software development term of art "real soon now"? And, can you share any information that forms the basis of, or otherwise supports, your opinion that such a release will occur soon?


 This was somewhat tongue in cheek, as this is one of the standard responses we often see...I apologize for being too dry.


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## morgantown (Nov 16, 2005)

See the "problems" thread...something about testing was one of ther reports that seemed to make sense.

http://dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=59329


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

mikewolf13 said:


> This was somewhat tongue in cheek, as this is one of the standard responses we often see...I apologize for being too dry.


I'm sorry to have missed the humorous intent. Your use of the word _seriously_ fooled me completely. 

It's just that, well.... Should I take other apparently serious expressions of similar opinions seriously? I find it hard to believe that so many others share your sophisticated sense of humor.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

mikewolf13 said:


> it's always 3-4 am somewhere.....
> 
> Serioulsy,
> 
> ...


Thanks for the comments mikewolf13, but I am VERY familiar with the R15. I have had 2 of them since they were first released last November, and am one of the co-authors of the new R15 FAQ document.

As for SL's or find-by's, I'm one of the lightest users around. 2 SL's and no find-by's.

Of my 2 R15's, one has needed a clear and delete reset plus several "regular" resets. The other has only been reset once in response to problems.

I would also disagree with you regarding the temporary loss of channels being a "known problem" with the R15. This has not been reported consistently by anyone, and I have not experienced it in the 7 months I have been using R15's.

Carl


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

carl6 said:


> Of my 2 R15's, one has needed a clear and delete reset plus several "regular" resets. The other has only been reset once in response to problems.


Do you have a hypothesis to account for the difference in reliability between your two units?


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## goodwrench420 (May 23, 2006)

I have three R-15-500's and one 300.I came home last night and one 500 and one 300 had the record light on.I left it alone until tonight to see what would happen and they were still on.The only way to get them to go off was to reset the receiver threw my settings.I got the conflict message also weird. I wonder why it only happened on two of the four receivers.


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

goodwrench420 said:


> I wonder why it only happened on two of the four receivers.


Could the two receivers on which the record lights were lit have been busy recording during a one-hour or longer block of time in which the other two receivers were idle?


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

goodwrench420 said:


> I have three R-15-500's and one 300.I came home last night and one 500 and one 300 had the record light on.I left it alone until tonight to see what would happen and they were still on.The only way to get them to go off was to reset the receiver threw my settings.I got the conflict message also weird. I wonder why it only happened on two of the four receivers.


Another way...

Start a recording on the live buffer tuner (just hit R)
Then change the channel
Then go and cancel the recording via MyVod.

BUT... just let it be.
It is very possible the Record light went off while you where gone, and it is a second instance of it.

Bottom line, for now... if it is not interfearing with any of your scheduled programs, or your ability to watch live TV... leave it be..


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

wbmccarty said:


> Do you have a hypothesis to account for the difference in reliability between your two units?


Yes. The one that has required more resets has series links, and has had a few find-by searches done. The other one less so. Mostly it is used to either watch live, or to record movies from premium channels.

Carl


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

carl6 said:


> Yes. The one that has required more resets has series links, and has had a few find-by searches done. The other one less so. Mostly it is used to either watch live, or to record movies from premium channels.


Thanks, Carl. Your usage is a fairly good "natural experiment" that tends to confirm the negative effects of series links and Finds on R15 reliability.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

And I may have spoken a bit too soon. As luck would have it, the lesser used R15 died this morning. First, it just totally locked up. Did a reset, and then it would work for maybe 30 seconds and reset itself.

Did a short power interruption (30 seconds or so). Did not fix the problem.

Did a clear and delete reset. Did not fix the problem (but did wipe out about 50 hours of movies I had recorded, oh well...)

Did a 30 minute power down, then when I started it back up did a software reload (02468). It appears to have come back to life, but I don't have time right now to watch and see if it remains stable. I'll check it this afternoon. And the software reload gave me the existing 10B8 version.

I rarely put this unit into standby - always left it on. My suspicion is that maybe the hard drive is dying on me.

Carl


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

carl6 said:


> And I may have spoken a bit too soon.


I hope that your personal metaphysical philosophy does not suggest that sharing information about the reliability of the unit jinxed it. I am sorry for your loss and hope that I didn't have a hand in it. :eek2:


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Update - the unit is definately dead. Suspect hard drive. Maybe I will try to find another 160 gig and see if I can copy the pertinent sectors over and get it going again. I also may try cloning the applicable sectors from the drive in my other R15 and see if that will work.

Seven months is definately too short a useful lifespan for a DVR.

Carl


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

carl6 said:


> Seven months is definately too short a useful lifespan for a DVR.
> Carl


I think some would argue that you're ahead of the game with seven _usefull_ months! :sure:


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

qwerty said:


> I think some would argue that you're ahead of the game with seven _usefull_ months! :sure:


No argument there

I moved the R15 to a separate location for testing. Pulled the cover off, and don't have a phone line connected. Also pulled the HD and just looked it over and put it back in (but did remove and reconnect both power and data connectors in doing so), and when I first started it up I only used one tuner input but subsequently added the second one. Put a D11 in it's original place for the time being.

Well, wouldn't you know it, now the R15 wants to work just fine. I'll keep an eye on it for a few days.

A question for others who have opened up their R15-500's: There is a sticker on the motherboard that says "A1" (hand written). I presume a version number. Also, marked on the left side of the chassis is a whole string (12) of small hand written symbols, all but one is a circle with some type of mark inside it. I'm going to guess that perhaps these are quality control checks in the manufacturing process - who knows. Lastly, there are small slash marks on several of the internal connectors - perhaps another QC check. My question is, has anyone else who has been inside their unit seen any of these markings?

Carl


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## Wolffpack (Jul 29, 2003)

carl6 said:


> A question for others who have opened up their R15-500's: There is a sticker on the motherboard that says "A1" (hand written). I presume a version number. Also, marked on the left side of the chassis is a whole string (12) of small hand written symbols, all but one is a circle with some type of mark inside it. I'm going to guess that perhaps these are quality control checks in the manufacturing process - who knows. Lastly, there are small slash marks on several of the internal connectors - perhaps another QC check. My question is, has anyone else who has been inside their unit seen any of these markings?
> 
> Carl


I have two R15-500s both of which have "A2" written on the board. You can see a pic of one in http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=57911. I don't see 12 hand written numbers anywhere. Can you post a pic of this? One unit was manufactured 10/06/05 and the other 12/25/05 (that's what the sticker says). When was yours manufactured? Should be on a sticker on the bottom of the unit.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Well, let's see if this get's the images in.









Manufacture date 07/01/05

Carl


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## jonaswan2 (Oct 29, 2005)

It might be a manufacturers code (A1 and A2). No one knows except the people makers of the motherboards, the people who buy the motherboards, and that's probably it since I doubt DirecTV opens up all of the recievers.


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## goodwrench420 (May 23, 2006)

wbmccarty said:


> Could the two receivers on which the record lights were lit have been busy recording during a one-hour or longer block of time in which the other two receivers were idle?


Nope check that and they were not recording anything and when the tv was first turned on they had a black screen until I turned the channel.


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## goodwrench420 (May 23, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> BUT... just let it be.
> It is very possible the Record light went off while you where gone, and it is a second instance of it.
> 
> Bottom line, for now... if it is not interfearing with any of your scheduled programs, or your ability to watch live TV... leave it be..


Yea could have been.It was about 9 at night and was still on when I got up so I left it alone.No time to mess with it, but when I got home that evening they both were still on so that's when I reset them.I do try to leave things alone before I start messing with stuff.:grin:I try to come here and check things out first. I do want to take this time and say thanks Earl for all your info. I do tend to read allot more than I post and learn allot from you and others on this site so thanks to all for the help and info shared here.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

One more update. During all the testing I've had the cover off, and it has run just fine for hours on end.

Put the cover back on, and bingo - failure after an hour or so.

There is one power regulator on a heat sink that was extremelly hot to the touch, and the hard drive itself was pretty warm, although not too hot to hold my hand on. In the picture I posted above, you can see two regulators mounted to heat sinks next to a yellowish transformer. The very hot one was the one farther from the hard drive.

So at this point in time, I am suspecting a heat related failure of some type, although I have not yet narrowed it down to a specific component or item.

Carl


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## Wolffpack (Jul 29, 2003)

carl6 said:


> Well, let's see if this get's the images in.
> 
> View attachment 5818
> 
> ...


Real interesting. You do have an early version. Maybe even a "beta" :lol:

I know, not funny. Don't suppose you have the protection plan do you? If not consider adding it and waiting 30 days then calling for a replacement.

*EDIT: Can you pull the drive, put it in a PC and boot Linux from a CD? Just to see if the drive works. If not Linux how about the Seagate diag CD or UBCD and see if any of those utilities see the drive.*


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Further update...

Unit ran fine for a couple of more hours with cover off. Put a temp sensor inside (suspended near the bundle of power cables between the power supply and the motherboard - not touching anything), and put the cover back on. In 4 minutes the internal temp went to 96F (a rise of about 10F), and at that time the fan turned on and the unit went into a failure mode. Lost video output. Blue power light went off and amber record light came on. Blue ring stayed the same. (same indications as previous failures in this string of events.)

Took the cover off and let it cool back down. Unit did not recover on it's own. Did a red button reset and it came back up and is working fine again (with the cover off). Attached the temp sensor to the top surface of the hard drive (physically touching) and it is reading 94F and stable.

Sorry wolffpack, don't have a linux boot disk. The drive appears to be working okay at this time. I am recording and buffering when the R15 is operating.

Just held the temp sensor against the hot heatsink, and it settled at around 118F. Still with the cover off. Moved sensor back to it's original suspended position and temp is 84F. Room temp is about 72F.

Carl


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## cabanaboy1977 (Nov 16, 2005)

Carl, wow, I'm sorry your unit is having overheating issues. While reading your posts I was going to ask what you where doing on the R15 before it died, but it now definatly looks like a heat issue so I'm pretty sure that would have nothing to do with it. Did you call D* to get a replacement yet? If you do get a replacement try taking the HD you have in this one and put it into the new one (if you wouldn't mind trying it).


I'm wondering if Wolffpack is right an you got a Beta model. It looks like a kid got a new set of marks and was testing them out on the back and inside of your R15. That is really wierd. I wonder if you did get a QA unit.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

One more update. The cooling fan was not coming on except at the time of DVR failure, then it would come on and stay on. So the unit was allowed to get too hot.

I hard wired the fan to 12 volt power so that it runs continuously. Then I put the cover back on. The unit has been running fine for about 45 minutes now.

So my suspicion now is that whatever circuitry is in there to sense temperature and operate the fan has failed. The fan itself was still good, and enough of the supporting circuitry was good that the fan would turn on and run at the point of failure (so I know power is good to it, and that at least some circuitry that can turn it on/off is working), so probably the temperature sensor itself - whatever that is - or whatever logic that detects that sensor input and operates the fan.

Edited to update: An hour later and it's still going fine. Put the temp sensor back inside and it is reading a steady 82F with the cover on - lower than when the cover was off (expected that to happen as it now has proper air flow).

Carl


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## mikewolf13 (Jan 31, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> Both of my systems where doing this last night as well...
> 
> I have an email in, and will hopefully have some more information before the end of the day...


Anything your source can say about what all this was?

Any word on next update other than "soon"?

Also any chance you can find out what your source knew about all the known issues at time of release?

i am so needy.....


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## TheTooleMan (Apr 9, 2006)

wbmccarty said:


> I hope that your personal metaphysical philosophy does not suggest that sharing information about the reliability of the unit jinxed it. I am sorry for your loss and hope that I didn't have a hand in it. :eek2:


Why would that be a questionable belief? I know full well that my R15 straightened up all its problems the day the D* tech came to the house to see it screw up. Heck, the tech even said his presence was why it was working OK that day!


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## mikewolf13 (Jan 31, 2006)

TheTooleMan said:


> Why would that be a questionable belief? I know full well that my R15 straightened up all its problems the day the D* tech came to the house to see it screw up. Heck, the tech even said his presence was why it was working OK that day!


You should ask him to move in....


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## sheridan1952 (Mar 16, 2006)

mikewolf13 said:


> You should ask him to move in....


Naw, then you would have a real-life scenario of that "Nobody should have to live with cable" commercial.


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

carl6 said:


> Unit ran fine for a couple of more hours with cover off. Put a temp sensor inside (suspended near the bundle of power cables between the power supply and the motherboard - not touching anything), and put the cover back on. In 4 minutes the internal temp went to 96F (a rise of about 10F), and at that time the fan turned on and the unit went into a failure mode.Carl


I have suspected heat was a problem for some time. My stability (and my R15's :lol: ) increase significantly since I moved it out of my entertainment center.

It seems odd that it would be more prone to failure with the cover off. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but it appears to be designed so that air is drawn in through the vent by the HD, accross the power supply, and then exhausted. With the cover off, it seems to me it would just draw air from right above the front of the fan, instead of drawing it through the box accross the hotest components.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

But my problem was the fan was not coming on and drawing the air through the unit to cool it (until I rewired it to run continuously). So with the fan not running, the unit worked better with the cover off. With the fan running, the unit runs cooler with the cover on, as the air flow is as you describe.

Not sure if it is related or not, but this afternoon my 2nd R15 was locked up. Would not turn on either via remote or front panel. Did a power cycle, and it has worked okay since, but I'm now concerned this one may also develop a heat problem.

Possibly both have been running just under the threshold of temperature failure, and with warmer weather are now reaching that threshold. Maybe.

Carl


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## jonaswan2 (Oct 29, 2005)

carl6 said:


> But my problem was the fan was not coming on and drawing the air through the unit to cool it (until I rewired it to run continuously). So with the fan not running, the unit worked better with the cover off. With the fan running, the unit runs cooler with the cover on, as the air flow is as you describe.
> 
> Not sure if it is related or not, but this afternoon my 2nd R15 was locked up. Would not turn on either via remote or front panel. Did a power cycle, and it has worked okay since, but I'm now concerned this one may also develop a heat problem.
> 
> ...


It's may have been overheating, but it shouldn't be a problem. I've had that happen to almost ALL of my DirecTV branded recievers.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

jonaswan2 said:


> It's may have been overheating, but it shouldn't be a problem.


When you can't use a receiver or DVR because it will not turn on, it is a problem.

My first R15 could not be used because of the heat failure issue. From a completely cold state (unplugged overnight for example), it would run for perhaps an hour. After that, the most I could get it to run doing a 30 second power interruption reset was a minute or two. Doing a red button reset, typically the unit would not even successfully restart.

I do not know why DirecTV had the R15 designed so that the cooling fan operated intermittently rather than continuously (two possible reasons include quieter operation, or reduced manufacturing cost). But when it fails so that it does not operate at all, the unit gets too hot inside. That is what happened with my first R15. The fan itself worked, but the unit would not turn it on until it was too hot and in a failure mode. I don't think you are having that problem with any of your DirecTV branded receivers, let alone all of them.

Carl


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## jonaswan2 (Oct 29, 2005)

carl6 said:


> When you can't use a receiver or DVR because it will not turn on, it is a problem.
> 
> My first R15 could not be used because of the heat failure issue. From a completely cold state (unplugged overnight for example), it would run for perhaps an hour. After that, the most I could get it to run doing a 30 second power interruption reset was a minute or two. Doing a red button reset, typically the unit would not even successfully restart.
> 
> ...


I meant in the long run, it may not even be an overheating problem.

And I think something like that (as in anything to do with the box except maybe the size of the HDD) would not be a DirecTV decision, but a manufacturer decision.


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## Clint Lamor (Nov 15, 2005)

Most of the time the fan being variable and turning off has to do with both noise and power savings. I would say it's cheaper at all as they now have to have the temprature sensing gear built in. It determines what the temp is then either runs the fan at lower speeds (if variable) or just flat out turns it on. I honestly think heat may be an issue some are seeing. My R15 is in a very well ventilated area in my cabinet and has no other gear around it. It gets plenty of airflow.



carl6 said:


> When you can't use a receiver or DVR because it will not turn on, it is a problem.
> 
> My first R15 could not be used because of the heat failure issue. From a completely cold state (unplugged overnight for example), it would run for perhaps an hour. After that, the most I could get it to run doing a 30 second power interruption reset was a minute or two. Doing a red button reset, typically the unit would not even successfully restart.
> 
> ...


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

jonaswan2 said:


> And I think something like that (as in anything to do with the box except maybe the size of the HDD) would not be a DirecTV decision, but a manufacturer decision.


These guys don't just go out and build whatever they want to. I'm sure they build to strict design specifications set forth by D*.


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## Clint Lamor (Nov 15, 2005)

jonaswan2 said:


> I meant in the long run, it may not even be an overheating problem.
> 
> And I think something like that (as in anything to do with the box except maybe the size of the HDD) would not be a DirecTV decision, but a manufacturer decision.


They have something called a reference design.


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