# The rebooting problem on the 722



## jbob72 (Feb 23, 2008)

Hello All

Newb here so please excuse if this is an embarrassingly FAQ but have been looking through the forum and can find no conclusive answer so here goes...

I have had the 722 for several months now with no problems, however for the past few days it has started to occasionally crash and then the fan (or maybe hard drive) comes on full blast and the TV1 green light flashes on and off. 

At first it happened every now and then but now it is almost permanant. Is this the dreaded 622 'reboot' problem? If not any ideas what I could do?
Thanks in advance
JB


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## normang (Nov 14, 2002)

While I am not sure whether is a specific problem, it is not proper bahavior, I would call Dish and get it replaced.


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## Rob Glasser (Feb 22, 2005)

Welcome to DBSTalk jbob72, sorry to hear your having reboot problems with your 722. A couple things you might want to check are 1) heat, is your 722 in an enclosed cabinet and running hot? and 2) You could try a hard reset by pulling the power cord, waiting a a few seconds and then plugging it back in. If your reboots continue definitely call Dish Network to see about a replacement.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

There is also a problem if you create a lot of timer Events using Dish Pass. How many timer events do you have and how many Timers do you have total. Are you using a lot of Dish Passes. This is not normal behavior for sure.. To narrow down the possible cause... need more info as to when it is happening, how often (Times per day), does it happen when you press a key etc. Other things to think about is if it is happening on a certain channel. As Rob said earlier.. Heat is also a possibility 

In my opinion if your box is spontaneously rebooting more than once a every couple of weeks then something is not right. Reboots should not be a common occurance at all, but there are a number of things that can result in it happening.

So.. How many timers do you have and timer events. (This will give an indication of how busy your box is)... Is it on a power conditioner or UPS? Are you using the OTA features?

Well those are some of the other things to look for. Other things to look at.. SysInfo and the counters. Is there any high numbers in the counters?


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## pegazuz (Mar 11, 2008)

Ron Barry said:


> There is also a problem if you create a lot of timer Events using Dish Pass. How many timer events do you have and how many Timers do you have total. Are you using a lot of Dish Passes. This is not normal behavior for sure..
> So.. How many timers do you have and timer events. (This will give an indication of how busy your box is)... Is it on a power conditioner or UPS? Are you using the OTA features?
> 
> Part of my reason to buy the 622 or 722 as an upgrade instead of sticking with old reliable 508 was to be able to records more programs. I don't know how many is too many but my 921 seemed to handle 20 different events on schedule, often two at a time, and never had any reboot problems. Sometimes it would lock up when the HD got filled but I would gladly take another one but Dish says they don't make that model any more. Dish seems to apparently been unable to create a reliable working model despite two attempts and whatever software fixes they have tried. Does Motorola have these problems with their DVR's since our local cable company uses that model?


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Sorry to hear your issues pegazuz.... The post I made regarding timers is an issues when you have a lot of Dish Passes (20+) resulting in over 400 Timer events. The result has been the box becomes sluggish and can reboot. The 622 is very capable of recording 2 and even 3 HD streams at the same time while watching a recorded show..... 

As for reliability, for the 622/722 models are heads and tails over the 921 in reliability department.. I was a 921 user and I have both a 622 and a 722 and based on all the posts I have read on both forums over the years I can say this with confidence. In general the 622/722 is a reliable receiver in the large majority of installations. No.. Don't have reliability numbers.. Just experience based off reading threads in the forum over the last 2 years.. 

Obviously.. you fall outside the majority so the question becomes... Why is that? Be real curious how the other boxes failed? Same symptoms? What is the duration of time that you have been experiencing and replacing these boxes. How many timers and timer events do you have? Do you have more than 10 Dish Passes? 

First thing I would do is disconnect your EHD for a week and see if the issues disappear. Look at your counters and temps.... See anything unusual with them. As Rob said... Is your box in an enclosed cabinet. UPS? Power Conditionar? OTA? 

After reading your post and your other posts, the thing that sticks in my mind is the 3 replacements and if they are showing the same symptoms than I personally would start looking at your external environment and rule that out as a possible cause. Another thing to try is remove your OTA connection and see if that problem goes away. 

All receivers have software issues... Given your replies.. You might be hitting a software issue or the issue could be related to external conditions. Hard to say... In anycase.. More info provided the better in these situations.. 

Can a 722 help.. Well that really depends on the root cause. Since there is a lot of common code between the two. If you are hitting a software defect there is a good chance you might hit the same with a 722. You also may not. Same goes with external influences on the box.


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## bigcarr (Mar 16, 2008)

My 722 rebooted twice the first day I had it, I havent had a problem since. That was 2 weeks ago


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## PacersGuy (Dec 6, 2004)

my 722 has been stricken with the boot bug twice within the past month. it's possible that tv2 was left on when the 3:00 AM reboot was done? would this cause a reboot problem? 

temps don't seem high - average is 118, and 120 being high. from what i could see on the counters, nothing looked like it had high counts. i've done check switches, cleared the matrix, too many power cord resets to count.

really, is leaving tv2 on overnight enough to make the 722 crash and burn?


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## Boo Boo (Mar 25, 2008)

Just got the VIP 722 DVR on Thursday. Worked great until Monday morning, no I can't even get it to turn on. I've tried the restart and even pulled the plug. Then only thing that happens when I plug it in is the fan starts running.

Has anyone found a fix to this or do I just need to call dish network at get a new reciever?


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## Rob Glasser (Feb 22, 2005)

Boo Boo said:


> Just got the VIP 722 DVR on Thursday. Worked great until Monday morning, no I can't even get it to turn on. I've tried the restart and even pulled the plug. Then only thing that happens when I plug it in is the fan starts running.
> 
> Has anyone found a fix to this or do I just need to call dish network at get a new reciever?


I would do 2 things. First, yes call Dish Network, it should not be having problems like this. Second, to try and get it running again keep doing the power reboot. Pull the plug, wait 15 -30 seconds, plug it back in and give it around 10 minutes to see if it comes back online. If it doesn't repeat. If it doesn't come back after 4 or 5 times then it's probably not coming back online. The fan running loudly right after being plugged in is normal. It should go away though after 5 - 10 seconds.


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

PacersGuy said:


> my 722 has been stricken with the boot bug twice within the past month. it's possible that tv2 was left on when the 3:00 AM reboot was done? would this cause a reboot problem?
> 
> temps don't seem high - average is 118, and 120 being high. from what i could see on the counters, nothing looked like it had high counts. i've done check switches, cleared the matrix, too many power cord resets to count.
> 
> really, is leaving tv2 on overnight enough to make the 722 crash and burn?


Leaving a TV on has absolutely no affect on the operation of your receiver.


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## mattfast1 (Mar 26, 2008)

pegazuz said:


> Ron Barry said:
> 
> 
> > There is also a problem if you create a lot of timer Events using Dish Pass. How many timer events do you have and how many Timers do you have total. Are you using a lot of Dish Passes. This is not normal behavior for sure..
> ...


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## PacersGuy (Dec 6, 2004)

mattfast1 said:


> pegazuz said:
> 
> 
> > Too true. If one of your tuners is on at 3am, your receiver should not do the update. However, the Inactivity Standby will usually catch it before then and shut it off - that's the entire purpose of that feature.
> ...


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## IndyTim (Nov 11, 2007)

I've had my 722 since November and have had this same issue probably 5 times, twice in the last 2 weeks. Can't put my finger on its cause, though. Timers are minimal. Have to unplug for a minute or so, then it takes a good 5 minutes for it to come back to life. Same symptoms; fan running and green TV1 green light flashing.


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## rcpilotjae (Jan 10, 2007)

I am on my 4th 622 in 3 months. It did the same thing as you describe, it keeps re-booting for no reason. The re-boot problem got so bad with these units, it is all they would do. As said, I'm on my 4th 622 now and so far (over a month) it's been working flawlessly. I did have a conversation with a gentleman in the 'know' about these units and he told me that there was a months worth of defective DVR's that went through without any quality control. He too was replacing customers units, some on the same day he installed them!! He's pretty sure the defective units have been 'weeded' out and the units going out now are fixed properly. Maybe this is why my 4th unit works as it should.

All I can suggest (as you've tried all the tricks, IE: pulling the plug, changing plug sockets, getting rid of timers, etc, if you had too many, check your ground,etc, etc.) is to keep sending them back until you get one that works properly. I know this can be a PITA, with the shipping back and forth, setting up the new unit(s), etc, but it's really all you can do. Oh and this applies to the 722 also as this unit is just an upgrade of the 622. The only thing the 722 has over the 622 is more hard drive space for more or longer recording time.

Good luck!


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

rcpilotjae said:


> Oh and this applies to the 722 also as this unit is just an upgrade of the 622. The only thing the 722 has over the 622 is more hard drive space for more or longer recording time.
> Good luck!


Actually, there are some internal differences in addition to the larger hard drive. I believe there's a different chipset.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Have you investigated the possibility that something else in or connected to your system might be causing these multiple receiver failures.

The odds of one person getting four different receivers all with the same problem are quite small.

I'd look at dirty power or problems in the lnbs or switches.

Certain types of OTA transmitters have been rumored to cause problems with receivers - just trying to find something that will stick to the wall.


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## toomuchtv (May 17, 2002)

jbob72 said:


> Hello All
> 
> .....I have had the 722 for several months now with no problems, however for the past few days it has started to occasionally crash and then the fan (or maybe hard drive) comes on full blast and the TV1 green light flashes on and off. .....
> 
> JB


Mine is only a few months old and has experienced this problem 3 times. A power cord reboot does not immediately clear things up unless I leave it unplugged for several minutes. I have decided that mine may be overheating.


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## ejyoder2733 (Feb 24, 2008)

I've had my 722 for a week and half and it just did a reboot. It was acting strangely before, like only one tuner would show video, and recorded events would not play. As a 12-year D* subscriber (on the same receiver!), I hope this isn't a sign!


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## Ed McKenna (May 10, 2008)

I have dealt with this problem. After many contacts with customer service as well as having one 722 DVR replaced for the same problem (second set same problem) I finally got resolution by contacting the Better Business Bureau to finally get Dish Network to release me from my contract. As a result I do not have to pay for my cancellation fee (approx $240). In speaking with a dispute resoution employee I was able to get him to admit that they are aware of a software problem with the DVR. Maybe its time for a class action law suit.....any good lawyers out there who are dealing with the same problem????


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

This thread does create worries. Besides wanting black, I waited for the 722 assuming that maybe the problems with the 622 might be fixed with a new hardware configuration.

I had to send the first 722 back in the first week, but my current one has been relatively fine for 9 months. In the last month, it did reboot twice and in the last three months I've frequently had to FF to get a recording to start playing back. If things like this happened on one of my computers, I'd be running disk check utilities and defragging the drive. It would be nice to know what kind of disck maintenance is built into a system this disk intensive.

I'm over my delusions about the 722 being better because it was a newer version. What I read here about the newest box, the 612, gives much pause about overall quality control.

This ViP series is still the best design for a DVR out there and there are plenty of folks still happy, including me. But it's what Dish Network has in the way of a market advantage. Not dealing with hardware quality/maintenance issues, if that's the problem, is a serious screwup.


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

phrelin said:


> In the last month, it did reboot twice and in the last three months I've frequently had to FF to get a recording to start playing back.
> Not dealing with hardware quality/maintenance issues, if that's the problem, is a serious screwup.


Having to start a recording by pressing FF happens to me frequently, especially on ABC recorded programs. Probably just a coincidence.

Your statement about quality/maintenance issues seems to be spot on. Dish seems to stick their head in the sand and ignore a lot of the problems listed on this forum; EHD comes to mind. The ViP series DVR's are nothing more than a computer. If a major computer company had this kind of failure rate, they would be out of business in a heartbeat. The fact that DVR's get replaced the first time a customer calls in, leads me to believe they're aware of serious production problems and choose to live with it. How many have posted here of four or five replacement DVR's? Do you think a major computer company would swap out that many with no questions asked? I think that speaks volumes. I don't go on D* forums so I don't know if they are having the same kinds of problems with their DVR's, but I think that's irrelevant with regards to E*'s hardware/software. 
I have been a customer for 12 years and I'm not planning on leaving any time soon. I, for the most part, haven't had the kind of problems that some have posted. I still have my original 501 and recently upgraded my original 622 to a 722 to get rid of the EHD problem. So far, so good.
:rant:


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## normang (Nov 14, 2002)

The 622 and 722 have a reboot schedule built in, it defaults to 3AM. I've never had mine reboot unexpectedly so far after 4 months of use. So whether there is a batch of receivers with an issue, I would think eventually, you would land one that would not have a problem. 

Sometimes Dish people I think will admit something just to end a conversation they know isn't going anywhere. Specially in trying to resolve an issue, even if there isn't one.


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

normang said:


> Sometimes Dish people I think will admit something just to end a conversation they know isn't going anywhere. Specially in trying to resolve an issue, even if there isn't one.


Remember, CSR's are "trained" to get you off the phone as quickly as possible. It shows up in the metrics as "problem resolved".


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