# Who's been bitten by the Black Screen Bug?



## ZDawg (Nov 7, 2006)

Who has had the BSB on 0x10B?


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## byron (Nov 15, 2004)

about 5 RBRs due to this bug... including this morning.


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## Adam (Dec 5, 2006)

For the first time since upgrading to 108 or 10B...I found the black screen on one channel that was supposed to be recording. My other tuner was fine. As soon as I stopped the one recording, tuned to another channel, and tuned back to the original one, it was fine. When I tried to play the recording itself from the playlist, I got the "delete now" message... This happened to me quite often in previous versions, but this is the first time on 10B...


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## SFS97 (Sep 12, 2006)

I did, the first morning after 10B. But I think it was because I left it on a OTA channel that is having signal issues. It has not happened since, and I don't leave it on that channel anymore.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

DirecTV is aware of the Black Screen issue.
As you pointed out, a RBR will restore the image.


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## mikhu (Oct 10, 2006)

Just had my second BSB yesterday. This one was different though. On the first one I had no picture and no sound on ANY of the channels including OTA. Yesterday it popped up again. This time no sound or picture on all regular sat channels, OTA channels, or on MPEG2 HD channels. BUT, I had sound and picture on all HD locals that are provided by D*. Figure that one out?


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## ZDawg (Nov 7, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> DirecTV is aware of the Black Screen issue.
> As you pointed out, a RBR will restore the image.


But will it get us more free stuff?!?!?!? SIC

Z


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

ZDawg said:


> But will it get us more free stuff?!?!?!? SIC
> 
> Z


I doubt it.

The recent "How much have you been compensated" thread caught a lot of eyes at DirecTV... so much that they are going to be reviewing their policies on how to compensate, what to compensate, and how much to compensate.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> I doubt it.
> 
> The recent "How much have you been compensated" thread caught a lot of eyes at DirecTV... so much that they are going to be reviewing their policies on how to compensate, what to compensate, and how much to compensate.


:eek2:


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Earl Bonovich said:


> The recent "How much have you been compensated" thread caught a lot of eyes at DirecTV... so much that they are going to be reviewing their policies on how to compensate, what to compensate, and how much to compensate.


That's good. Clearly, there has been abuse by a handful of people.


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## ABQNM (Dec 14, 2006)

Only time it has happened to me with 10b is when I had a foot of snow on my AU9. lol

Other than snow on the dish, no problems with the HR20.


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## bwaldron (Oct 24, 2005)

Earl B"onovich said:


> I doubt it.
> 
> The recent "How much have you been compensated" thread caught a lot of eyes at DirecTV... so much that they are going to be reviewing their policies on how to compensate, what to compensate, and how much to compensate.


Well, that's fine. There are clearly people who abuse the system.

The best way to handle the issue is to fix the problems that are leading people to be "compensated"


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## Spanky_Partain (Dec 7, 2006)

I came in knowing the OTA was not enabled and that fixes were in the queue, but it still gets me that I paid $299 for a box and then I hear people are gettting it for free.

Not sure if I should ask for some compensation. Would that be right?


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## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

Just once. Second day after getting 10b.


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## sjniedz (Feb 11, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> DirecTV is aware of the Black Screen issue.
> As you pointed out, a RBR will restore the image.


I'm sorry, RBR...does that mean re-boot?


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## w84mike (Sep 12, 2006)

Got bitten last night. Attempted to watch the Daily Show by clicking play while in MyPlaylist, but got a black-screen-freeze-up instead. Did a RBR and the same show played perfectly.

Mike


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## Spanky_Partain (Dec 7, 2006)

sjniedz said:


> I'm sorry, RBR...does that mean re-boot?


Red button ReBoot...


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

bwaldron said:


> Well, that's fine. There are clearly people who abuse the system.
> 
> The best way to handle the issue is to fix the problems that are leading people to be "compensated"


No doubt... you can't really treat the symptoms (the compensation), you have to treat the original problem.

But you can certain change the treatment of the symptoms...


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## JonW (Dec 21, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> No doubt... you can't really treat the symptoms (the compensation), you have to treat the original problem.
> 
> But you can certain change the treatment of the symptoms...


Hopefully they throw every early adopter a bone, and not just the ones who've complained. We've lost numerous recordings due to HR20 bugs, but I've never called DirecTv about them, or even posted on the forums about them until now.


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## mgcsooner (Dec 18, 2004)

First time to see this. Had watched until about midight last night, no problems. Always return system to standby each night. This morning when we turned on had the black screed. Thought it might be the HDMI bug, but nothing worked, no response to front panel buttons or remote-----RBR to fix.


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## ZDawg (Nov 7, 2006)

Is this bug more widespread than the unplayable bug? Almost 3/4 of the users on this board, who replied to my poll have had it!

Z


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

ZDawg said:


> Is this bug more widespread than the unplayable bug? Almost 3/4 of the users on this board, who replied to my poll have had it!
> 
> Z


It is difficult to disguish between the unplayable (which appears as a black screen), and this issue.

The IKD (instant Keep or Delete), is a real .. .unplayable issue.
Which is "wide spread" enough, that it is a concern to the system... and one that DirecTV is already testing a fix for.

Aso note... even though it is 3/4 in this poll... you are up to 65 replies.
We have at least 700 users that have an HR20.

Heck... even I replied that I had it happen to me... as it has. And I have one of the golden boxes..


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## ZDawg (Nov 7, 2006)

I'd say ~10% is a good sampling. And it has only been up one day.

Z


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## byron (Nov 15, 2004)

i replied yes, i answered so under the assumption this was geared towards the new "black screen" behavior where you turn on the unit and don't have any audio or video. the GUI is responsive and you can change channels, but audio/video never work. even on recorded programs.


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## mganga (Dec 4, 2006)

black screen after 10B...and have never been compensated a dime.


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## jkbird59 (Dec 22, 2006)

i had at least one lockup a day in the last 6 weeks. after the latest software, 4 in one day. then went into a startup loop.


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## Katodude00 (Nov 3, 2006)

I had BSOD on 108, but none since 10b


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## jaybee (Jun 22, 2006)

Mike Huss said:


> Just had my second BSB yesterday. This one was different though. On the first one I had no picture and no sound on ANY of the channels including OTA. Yesterday it popped up again. This time no sound or picture on all regular sat channels, OTA channels, or on MPEG2 HD channels. BUT, I had sound and picture on all HD locals that are provided by D*. Figure that one out?


I had the exact same issue. Reset it on Tuesday and been fine since.


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## tigerpaw78 (May 28, 2006)

Yes, I have it bad with this last update. Had to red button reset when I got no video or sound anywhere (except I could see the channel description when I changed channels, just no video. I also seem to have increased recorded but can't play or view the recording. I could fast forward through it but got no video.


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## DblD_Indy (Dec 3, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> I doubt it.
> 
> The recent "How much have you been compensated" thread caught a lot of eyes at DirecTV... so much that they are going to be reviewing their policies on how to compensate, what to compensate, and how much to compensate.


I would have to wonder how much attention at D*TV a "Desperately seeking attorney to file class action suit" thread would get? Or would it just disappear from the forum?

There have to be far more HR20's out there than Wii's.


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## Zamps (Sep 17, 2006)

Live tv was working fine. But I could not play anything on MyPlaylist. I just got the black screen of death. All is fine and dandy after a RBR.


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## richlife (Dec 4, 2006)

JonW said:


> Hopefully they throw every early adopter a bone, and not just the ones who've complained. We've lost numerous recordings due to HR20 bugs, but I've never called DirecTv about them, or even posted on the forums about them until now.


To me this is the issue. The squeaky wheel, whether valid or not, is getting rewarded while many who are long term customers and are holding out testing new releases and dealing with what comes without overloading Cust Spt or Retention are just being gouged. It especially hurts to know that now (even before Christmas) the price was dropped $100.


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## DblD_Indy (Dec 3, 2006)

richlife said:


> To me this is the issue. The squeaky wheel, whether valid or not, is getting rewarded while many who are long term customers and are holding out testing new releases and dealing with what comes without overloading Cust Spt or Retention are just being gouged. It especially hurts to know that now (even before Christmas) the price was dropped $100.


Sorry but I have a hard time not respecting every signature that included

GO HEALS! What ever he says goes! unless he hates DLB....then he can get bent! LOL!  My next wife will come with DLB, I can tell you that! :-D

And that is from a Buckeye transplanted in Hoosier land for 40 years thanking every day that god repaied the favor and transplanted two Hoosiers to the Buckeye state.

January, 8th 2007 OSU wins NCAA Football Championship.
April 2, 2007 OSU wins NCAA Mens Basketball Championship Lead by two Indiana Tranplants. I think after this thy might let me back in the state.

Back to business my feelings are this:

When I called D*TV to order a new HD DVR to replace my NON-HD DVR, I did not plan on buying a new piece of furniture for my living room or tech project to test, upgrade and tweek, even though HR20-700 has given me both. Not, that I don't like to test and play with technology, I make my living doing it. I just don't do it with an item that I, 1) need to be able to use on a daily basis and 2) share with my wife and family. On top of all this, now that I have the dual tuners, I have more HD channels locally than over the satellite. Now this make me really feel like my two year commitment is doing more to finance Hughes next two satellites then provide me with an upgraded product.

If we are no more than testers... let face it the box did little when we got it other than provide a picture on the screen. That we had, in this case it was just in HD.

Nothing else was the same and all the extra features, HDMI, external storage via ESATA and even VIIV data access can cost us extra $$$$ to use. So whatever they put out in payment to "make it right" is not enough seeing they were selling us a product upgrade and shiped us a beta unit.

Simple.... Simple!


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## mridan (Nov 15, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> It is difficult to disguish between the unplayable (which appears as a black screen), and this issue.
> 
> The IKD (instant Keep or Delete), is a real .. .unplayable issue.
> Which is "wide spread" enough, that it is a concern to the system... and one that DirecTV is already testing a fix for.
> ...


Mine has also been golden(except for CID),I have had this problem happen everyday since Ox10b download,I'm getting tired of rebooting everyday


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## jaywdetroit (Sep 21, 2006)

mridan said:


> Mine has also been golden(except for CID),I have had this problem happen everyday since Ox10b download,I'm getting tired of rebooting everyday


Your box may have acted golden, but something tells me its not the same "golden" box Earl has.


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## jaywdetroit (Sep 21, 2006)

I've had this black screen bug a couple of times now. 

But I don't think I've had to reboot because of them. (I have had to reboot, but that is when the box freezes.) With the black screen, I noticed it seems to be one Tuner that freezes. The other tuner still works fine. And it seems to happen while a show is recording. Has anyone else experienced this?


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## DishDog (Nov 10, 2006)

Had my first BSB today. I recorded a movie after the movie started running and then moved to another screen. Later on I went back to view the movie after it was finished recording, and got a black screen.

Since I've already read about BSB on the forum, the first thing I tried was pressing the Exit key, then List, then reselected the movie and pressed the FF key.

The screen displayed the movie in FF, and when I pressed the Forward key, the movie ran normally to the end.


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## old44272 (Nov 13, 2006)

I got it the morning after 10B downloaded automatically. I did a RBR and I haven't seen it again, yet.


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## fpd917 (Aug 16, 2006)

Got bit again! Is there any timetable for an update??


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## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

It's happened twice now. Is it only happening for you guys when you turn it off? That's when it's happened to me. Maybe I should just leave it on all night until they figure it out.


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## wtrax (Nov 4, 2006)

It happened to me when I turned on the HR20 to force the 10B (with 108), but hasn't happened since I've gotten 10B


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

mtnagel said:


> It's happened twice now. Is it only happening for you guys when you turn it off? That's when it's happened to me. Maybe I should just leave it on all night until they figure it out.


There are actually a few cases of this happening while people are watching shows. I had this happen one time last Sunday when I left my HR20 tuned to a Sunday Ticket Channel that went off the air (it was an HD channel). I'm pretty certain that is what caused my system to lock up.

Some folks have claimed that only MPEG4 channels were working and that the some of the banner functions were working - however, MPEG2 channels (SD or HD) were all blackk. This bug probably has something to do with the Broadband Decoder Chip (likely some input toggles) and what we see is a black screen but the core functionality may (or may not) still be working. That would explain why sometimes a recording is completed despite the fact that the system is "locked up." The CPU does not require the decoder chip to save the DirecTV signal to disk. It does, however, require the decoder chip to show it on your TV.


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## jimbowen72 (Aug 26, 2006)

Two BSB occurences under 10B. Both times it happened overnight, while the unit was in 'sleep' mode, and no vid/aud when turned on. I did have full menu access/channel banners/remote control functions, and was able to reset via the setup menu. No recordings were scheduled during the time that it was in sleep mode.


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## bsmithFX4 (Dec 7, 2006)

I have had 1 BSD since 10B - the overnight while in sleep mode version.

I had a different lock-up last night while using the unit. I was recording Justice (Series Link) on Fox 11 from LA (MPEG4, over the sat), and watching it about 5 minutes behind real-time. At the end, I had it set to record Trading Spouses (Series Link) on Fox 11 (SD, over the sat, since that show is non-HD) on one tuner at 9pm. The other tuner was set to record the movie Click (Manual Recording) on a Pay-per-View channel (SD also) at 9pm also.

When I got to the end of my Justice recording the system appeared to freeze, but not completely. The last screen of my Justice recording was shown with no audio. I got no message to Keep or Delete. I could go to the List, but neither of the 2 shows that were recording were listed. If I tried to change channels, I got the screen that says 2 shows are recording, but the list only showed the movie Click. I went back to the List and still nothing new to choose from to view. I also could not get it to start showing anything previously recorded.

A RBR solved it, but I ended up missing the first 15 minutes of both shows I was trying to record. Just wondering if it has anything to do with the tuner going from an HD channel to 2 SD channels at the same time. Or if it's Pay-per-View related.


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## S. DiThomas (Oct 8, 2006)

Ok. Woke up this AM and my family room box connected via component is totally dead.

3 RBR's no response except spin HD power USB fan and then nada. Black Screen.

Pulled Power Plug for 10 seconds NADA. Got a blue power light on the Power button but then 10 seconds later all black. No screen activity.

This is of course 4 days post 0x10b.... :nono2: 

Any ideas guys? Do I need a new box? Will I be without D* for Christmas.


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## kenmoo (Oct 3, 2006)

Before 10b I was gone for 12 days. On day 3 the HR20 froze on one station completely pixelated. It was that way when I first turned it on after coming back home and I had missed at least 10 scheduled recordings. After 10b I have had one BSB but at least 10 IKD's with no apparent pattern. Never had this bug before 10b but did have a lot of the other ones. Thanks to all of you posting info so quick on happening bugs. Helps my sanity to know it isn't just me. HR20 seems to be recording OK this morning after my 2nd RBR. I miss the humorous Pink FF bug.


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## aramus8 (Nov 21, 2006)

When I turned on the TV today, the only channels I'm getting on the HR20 are the OTA and MP4 locals. My first thoughts were the solar flare finally took out the satellites. I then checked my signal meters and everything was in the 90's and I realized, oh no, BLACK SCREEN BUG!!! This has caused my wife to already miss at least 10 minutes of a show on Animal Planet!!! Somebody call at least 3 lawyers so I can get my new car, lots of programming credits, 27 new boxes before they are released to the general public, and bundles of money. Oh wait, I just had to get up from the couch and do an RBR, its working. Never mind.


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## Cyrus (Oct 22, 2006)

This has happened to me just once when I had 108 version.

btw, people should avoid doing RBR when the menu button works (as it did in my case). "Menu -> Help & Settings -> Setup -> Reset -> Restart Decoder" reboots the box same as RBR but it's safer, being a soft reboot (as opposed to RBR hard reboot) it's less likely to damage the hard disk.


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## deebeeeff (Oct 10, 2006)

Had my first one today.
This is the first serious problem I have had with the HR20 since I got it in October.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

1st Black Screen bug in at least 2 months today... 

Problems like this are annoying, but I'll tell you what would really annoy me --

being without a resource like this forum, full of helpful people who are ready, willing and able to offer solutions. 

Seriously, without all you folks, not just Earl, I'd be a lot worse off and I bet I'm not the only one. So I'm taking a break from complaining and worrying - which I've done a lot of in the past week since my first HR20 took a long walk off a short pier - and thanking as many of you as I can, for being great friends and resources.


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## redtaco (Dec 24, 2006)

I got the BSB right after the 10b update. When I turned on the HR20 in the morning there was nothing showing except on the local channels (not ota, just the satellite locals). I could access my playlist and see recorded shows but nothing live except for locals. RBR fixed it and it hasn't done it again. This is a one week old replacement DVR for my original from September that suddenly decided it wouldn't show me programs and would not do a reboot. I guess you could say I got some compensation if you consider a free trade. This one seems to like to do repeats in addition to first run programs dispite settings for recordings all set to first run only. Oh well, better than getting none I suppose.


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## carlsbad_bolt_fan (May 18, 2004)

Hoping not to JINX myself (rubs rabbits foot, touches wood, prays to the tech gods and sacrifices a old camcorder to them)...

Had 10B since it went national. No BSB. 

But then again...what is the BSB?


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## deebeeeff (Oct 10, 2006)

Mike Huss said:


> Just had my second BSB yesterday. This one was different though. On the first one I had no picture and no sound on ANY of the channels including OTA. Yesterday it popped up again. This time no sound or picture on all regular sat channels, OTA channels, or on MPEG2 HD channels. BUT, I had sound and picture on all HD locals that are provided by D*. Figure that one out?


Yup, me too. Exactly!


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## mikhu (Oct 10, 2006)

deebeeeff said:


> Yup, me too. Exactly!


Same thing again last night. No SD, HD, or OTA. But we did have MPEG4 locals. This time I actually remember where it was when I turned it off too. I had it on HDNET to show someone how awesome the PQ is on Sunrise Earth. Then we turned it off to eat dinner and went back to the TV later to watch Chiefs/Raiders and we had the BSB. This was at most an hour after we turned it off.


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## richlife (Dec 4, 2006)

DblD_Indy said:


> Sorry but I have a hard time not respecting every signature that included
> 
> GO HEALS! What ever he says goes! unless he hates DLB....then he can get bent! LOL!  My next wife will come with DLB, I can tell you that! :-D
> 
> ...


On subject first: The only time I've seen a "black screen" was two nights ago with 10B, but it didn't match the descriptions I've seen here. I was rapidly surfing through a mix of OTA and satellite local channels when all stopped at a black screen. No reponse to remote -- just black. After about 15 seconds, the 171 message popped up (the OTA channel was actually not receivable -- my antenna is delayed by holiday traffic so I haven't yet deleted these) and I got remote function back. I could repeat it, but the "black screen" was always short-lived.

And now for Indy's comments: DLB :joy: DLB :joy: DLB :joy: DLB :joy:

And though I may need "heal"ing I'm a steadfast HEEL -- GO-O-O HEELS!!!

Jan 8 -- well, maybe, but I like Florida.
Apr 2 -- TOTALLY incomprehensible. The Tarheels will be peaking about then!
GO-O-O HEELS!!!

(and wasn't it nice of Dean Smith to give Bobby Knight a target?)


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## gklainer (Dec 18, 2006)

byron said:


> i replied yes, i answered so under the assumption this was geared towards the new "black screen" behavior where you turn on the unit and don't have any audio or video. the GUI is responsive and you can change channels, but audio/video never work. even on recorded programs.


I experienced the same thing this morning. I put my unit in standby last night around 2:00 AM. I do have an HDMI connection but I could flip between the HD locals with audio and video, however, I couldn't see anything else nor could I play previously recorded programs. I've only had mine for a few weeks and have gone from FA to 10b with one previous lockup on FA. RBR always does the trick. All Beta testers should be thrown a bone of some kind based on date of purchase. If I really want something recorded for sure, right now I make sure I have Direct Tivo recording the same show. :nono2:

Gary


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## petergaryr (Nov 22, 2006)

My first "Christmas present" was the BSB last night. My wife wanted to know why there was no picture/sound. The reboot fixed it, of course, and as an added benefit, a station that had the 771 signal issue suddenly came in clearly.

Blessings sometimes come in unexpected ways.


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## 325xia (Oct 28, 2006)

I have the BSB. It's appeared a few times since the latest update.
Samsung LN-4695D, HR20, HDMI.


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## jheda (Sep 19, 2006)

I am assuming the Grey screen i get it is the same as a BSofD? I got my first one in ox10b this AM attempting to watch today show.

I am not a techie...what is the simple mans explanation why these issues arent apparent when the release lst came out, but appears to be creeping in?


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## waynebtx (Dec 24, 2006)

Not sure this is right place for this but all the problems that i have seen in this form not sure i want the hr20 that is to be installed on 1-4-07 .
Is anyone in the Corpus area haveing these problems.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

jheda said:


> I am assuming the Grey screen i get it is the same as a BSofD? I got my first one in ox10b this AM attempting to watch today show.
> 
> I am not a techie...what is the simple mans explanation why these issues arent apparent when the release lst came out, but appears to be creeping in?


The BSOD (or Black Screen of Death) is slightly different than the BSB (Black Screen Bug). The BSOD would happen on individual recordings. The recorded program would be completely black, but otherwise the system worked correctly. The BSB will either fully or partially lockup the system. Some folks report being able to get to MPEG4 channels (MPEG2 are simply black) and that most of the menus continue to work properly. Others have noticed that nothing works - menus, MPEG2, MPEG4, etc. and the screen is just black.

The BSODs have migrated into what is now called the Unwatchable Bug where the supposedly recorded program cannot be played back. The Unwatchable/BSOD bug is also referred to ask the IKD (Instant Keep or Delete) Bug.


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## jheda (Sep 19, 2006)

brott said:


> The BSOD (or Black Screen of Death) is slightly different than the BSB (Black Screen Bug). The BSOD would happen on individual recordings. The recorded program would be completely black, but otherwise the system worked correctly. The BSB will either fully or partially lockup the system. Some folks report being able to get to MPEG4 channels (MPEG2 are simply black) and that most of the menus continue to work properly. Others have noticed that nothing works - menus, MPEG2, MPEG4, etc. and the screen is just black.
> 
> The BSODs have migrated into what is now called the Unwatchable Bug where the supposedly recorded program cannot be played back. The Unwatchable/BSOD bug is also referred to ask the IKD (Instant Keep or Delete) Bug.


thanks DB.......then i am a victim of the Unwatchable Bug where the supposedly recorded program cannot be played back.


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## THE TRUE ONE (Dec 14, 2006)

I have had it three times. when i get up in the morning no hd or standard sat channels but, local ota and local sat channels were working all three times. did the rbr all three times.


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## SFS97 (Sep 12, 2006)

Mike Huss said:


> Just had my second BSB yesterday. This one was different though. On the first one I had no picture and no sound on ANY of the channels including OTA. Yesterday it popped up again. This time no sound or picture on all regular sat channels, OTA channels, or on MPEG2 HD channels. BUT, I had sound and picture on all HD locals that are provided by D*. Figure that one out?


I had this happen this morning on our HR20. 1st time, Merry Christmas!!


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## rjdude (Mar 9, 2005)

tigerpaw78 said:


> Yes, I have it bad with this last update. Had to red button reset when I got no video or sound anywhere (except I could see the channel description when I changed channels, just no video. I also seem to have increased recorded but can't play or view the recording. I could fast forward through it but got no video.


Same issues recently with my receiver too... you can't watch anything on any of the channels and you can't play the recorded ones either -- all black screens. After resetting the box, everything is fine (at least for a short while). This has happened about for or five times for me and it started happening since right before the latest software update.


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## isdnmatt (Dec 25, 2006)

Happend for the 3rd time this morning. Put the receiver into Standby before going to sleep last night and all black screens this morning. All the menus work but no picture or sound. 

I have had the unit for 3 days and been a DirecTV customer for 10 years. This is so frustrating that I'm seriously considering cancelling my DirecTV service all together especially since I'm not currently in contract. 
3 Dtivos, 1 H10, and this damn HR20.


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## FastEddie (Sep 18, 2006)

I had my frist Black Screen to day and had to RBR. The thing I hate the most is loosing the guide data for a day or so.


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## sharpmibo (Mar 1, 2006)

I have three HR20's and all have experienced bug. Some more than others. Patiently waiting for next release.

Generally occurs overnight after power up. Leaving box on certainly reduces the problem. Sometimes get a black screen when channel surfing. This seems to occur most often when scrolling through OTA sub channels. In my case PBS has a five subs (9.x) and I can many times cause lockup by channel change through these.


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## 430970 (Nov 21, 2005)

I love that what gets DirecTV's attention is the small number of people getting "excessive" credits by repeatedly calling Customer retention. Perhaps if they devoted an equal amount of time to releasing a box that didn't give anyone cause to call retention, this would be less of an issue, no? It's great that DirecTV has at least acknowledged the bugs and continued to release software, but 13 "acknowledgments" in 4 months and still seeing issues like "BSOD" or "BSB" effecting significant numbers of HR20 owners is a pathetic state of of affairs

Unfortunately, with the recent rash of HR10 instability (apparently caused by some combination of the 6.3x software + ???) and the current "who knows what you get" state of the HR20 I would say there are no "good" HD DVRs one can recommend if sticking with DirecTV. 

At this point, as someone said up-thread, if you are having problems (not everyone), you have only two options:

1) Continue to hope that DirecTV fixes things, while you deal with daily or weekly reboots (no matter what HD DVR you own) 

2) Cancel your DirecTV service and go elsewhere. Probably expensive or equally frustrating, but what else can we do?


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## mikewolf13 (Jan 31, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> I doubt it.
> 
> The recent "How much have you been compensated" thread caught a lot of eyes at DirecTV... so much that they are going to be reviewing their policies on how to compensate, what to compensate, and how much to compensate.


I hope they make a very significant donation to DBStalk as this forum seems to bemore responsible for QA testing, design, Customer Service and Retention than DirecTV is.

Maybe if they ready THEIR boards or listened to THEIR phone calls or......never mind..broken record.

Hey DTV if you are reading this and paying attention...*WRITE A BIG CHECK PAYABLE TO DBSTALK.COM!*

.and give me more free stuff.....thank you


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I agree with your sentiment but I think it's better that DBStalk and its moderators remain uncompensated. If this were owned and operated by D* then it would lose credibility.


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## RobertSeattle (Aug 27, 2006)

ZDawg said:


> Who has had the BSB on 0x10B?


Had to reboot to get it working. I've just being an uncompensated alpha (?) or beta tester! /Sarcasm.


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## ZDawg (Nov 7, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> It is difficult to disguish between the unplayable (which appears as a black screen), and this issue.
> 
> The IKD (instant Keep or Delete), is a real .. .unplayable issue.
> Which is "wide spread" enough, that it is a concern to the system... and one that DirecTV is already testing a fix for.
> ...


So, looks like I'm down to 70/30 split from 75/25. Still, that is a lot of people getting this particular issue. I'd like a way to back up to FA. I don't need OTA, and FA was a better release for me at least.

I hope you had a good holiday season, and thanks again for all you do.

Z


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## gcisko (Sep 27, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> I doubt it.
> 
> The recent "How much have you been compensated" thread caught a lot of eyes at DirecTV... so much that they are going to be reviewing their policies on how to compensate, what to compensate, and how much to compensate.


I went and checked the "How much have you been compensated" thread. You have got to be joking! It is totally lame. I expected a whole whack of customers getting stuff for free. It is just one greedy guy! D* would actually be worried about that? Give me a break already. I would expect that they concentrate on the problems with the HR20 instead.

And I also saw your reply where you said D* should just show up and tell the customer "too bad we are canceling your aco**** and taking your HR20 if you don't like it". Of course this is paraphrasing. But that is the essence of your reply. While I agree the OP of the "How much have you been compensated" thread was greedy. I do not think D* would be best served by doing to customers as you suggested. I waited and waited and waited and waited for the functionality that the HR20 gives. When it works it is just plain awesome. But lets be real. 13 different software versions in 14 weeks says quite a bit even though you do not personally have problems apparently.

I intend to stay the course as I really love the HR20 (when it works). But it really bothers me when I see the problems with the box minumized. And then the people that point this out are treated like they are the bad parties in this situation. They paid $299 like everyone else. I certainly did not expect the software to be as embryonic as it seems to be.

So if we get frustrated, we are just supposed to shut up and not say anything and hope it gets fixed???? That is the essence of many of your recent posts.


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## Zamps (Sep 17, 2006)

I got my second dose of BSD yesterday. No video, no audio, no recordings. Again, after a RBR everything seems to work fine. Until the next one. Is there going to be a fix for this soon?


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Zamps said:


> I got my second dose of BSD yesterday. No video, no audio, no recordings. Again, after a RBR everything seems to work fine. Until the next one. Is there going to be a fix for this soon?


It is Christmas time. I'm sure that a lot of folks are taking some much needed time off, including those Software Engineers at DirecTV. I'd say wait till next week or the one after before another update comes down.

I believe that this was a bug that needed to be fixed before it was released. However, I think DirecTV decided that releasing OTA was more important than fixing the occasional lockup. Most people get this some of the time, it seems to be only a very few that get it frequently.


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## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

I'm wondering how many people who voted "no" have now had it?


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## wk2000 (Nov 2, 2006)

Third reset in 10 days- can we please FIX this!


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

mtnagel said:


> I'm wondering how many people who voted "no" have now had it?


I started a new poll for just this reason, and I am asking that the moderators close this thread so discussion can continue there.

Edit: Here's that link:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=74573


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## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

lamontcranston said:


> I started a new poll for just this reason, and I am asking that the moderators close this thread so discussion can continue there.


Good idea. I'd recommend posting a link in this thread. I'm sure I'll find it, but that will make it easier for others.


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## cfactor (Dec 14, 2006)

Bitten twice; once on each receiver. Problem fixed with RBR


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## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

mtnagel said:


> Good idea. I'd recommend posting a link in this thread. I'm sure I'll find it, but that will make it easier for others.


Found it. Here's the link. Please everyone vote again.


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## Dukie (Feb 7, 2006)

Yes...10B Black Screen bit me after 48 hours of installing the new x-mas present.
I noticed "Pinky" last night for the first time moments before entering standby.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Hey, dukey, please vote in the updated poll here.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=74573


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## iacas (Nov 18, 2006)

lamontcranston said:


> Hey, dukey, please vote in the updated poll here.
> 
> http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=74573


I was just bit last night. I also had this under 0xFA.

Here's how it happened:
a) my wife recorded a few lame shows.
b) the next day some of the channels (like HGTV, TLC, etc.) were just black. They tuned in, the guide data was there, there was no "searching for satellites," and signal strength was good - but there simply was no picture or audio.
c) since she couldn't see the tv channels, she tried to play back her previously recorded ones. They IKD'd on her and she chose delete.

She finally told me. I rebooted (via the menu - again, the HR20 was totally responsive, it just wouldn't show a picture or play sound) and all the channels worked again.

This is the same thing that happened before (under 0xFA), except that we didn't lose any other shoes before because I noticed quickly that something was wrong.

It's almost as if the HR20 "forgot" that it could display the channels.


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## DFDureiko (Feb 20, 2006)

gray screen bug?
last night Ghost Whisperer and Close to Home were scheduled. I started watching GW about 20 min into the show. when I tried to pause, it froze, I had to go to list, watch another show, then exit, to get back to live channel. but could not pause or ffw/rew.
only watch live.
then, later, in the list, when you tried to watch either show no recording just "do you want to delete" ? This is my second occurance, had the machine 2.5weeks. DTV says it's an issue with local MPEG4 channels only, and it has only happed to my local HD channels.
would resetting help at all? seeing you have a 50/50 shot at actually recording a local, this would seem a MAJOR bug. should I report every ocurrance to D*V? or would this be pointless.
Dan


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## apfrost (Nov 21, 2006)

I'm trying to refrain from using profanity here, but how is such a major issue like this not a priority to fix? I'm having to reset my reciever every 2-4 days because it has a black screen or locked up. I don't mind the locking up, but when I miss a show because of it then that really ticks me off. 

This is the only real major bug that has affected me since the release of this box.

Do we have any ETA on this fix or could someone escalate the issue?


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## apfrost (Nov 21, 2006)

bump


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## jheda (Sep 19, 2006)

DFDureiko said:


> gray screen bug?
> last night Ghost Whisperer and Close to Home were scheduled. I started watching GW about 20 min into the show. when I tried to pause, it froze, I had to go to list, watch another show, then exit, to get back to live channel. but could not pause or ffw/rew.
> only watch live.
> then, later, in the list, when you tried to watch either show no recording just "do you want to delete" ? This is my second occurance, had the machine 2.5weeks. DTV says it's an issue with local MPEG4 channels only, and it has only happed to my local HD channels.
> ...


 I have had this same grey screen bug happen to me today exactly as you describe, wathcing a recorded show from behind with the same symptoms listed above,,,i will post...............


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