# Do Not Turn Your 921 Off - Ever



## erikjohn (Feb 27, 2005)

Except when you have to reboot. You can thank me later. Plus it wont constatantly be downloading crap at night.

EJ


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## ClaudeR (Dec 7, 2003)

That "crap" you refer to involves software updates, program guides, etc. Is this an official word, or just another user's opinion? Without any backup, I think you'll have a tough time convincing the members of this forum to blindly join in. Just my opinion...


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

Both my 921's show better results when they are left in standby and do auto-reboots. If the 921 is left on, I suspect that there are several soft/hard reboots performed in hopes of forcing the EPG data to update. :eek2:


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

:welcome_s erikjohn to DBSTalk

Why the recommendation. I still believe the 921 is auto-rebooting nightly if you have it in standby. What do you mean by turn off also. Are you talking about placing the unit in stand by or actually pulling the plug?


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## Oldcoot (Dec 17, 2004)

I agree with erikjohn !
Mine is never turned off and gets a reboot only when I want it to.
When a software download takes place, it doesn't install until I reboot it, it just sits in que.
When I notice that there is a download in que, I will do a manual reboot to install.
I have had some sit there for a week or better until I visit DBSTalk and notice there has been a software push.
I have had very few problems with the 921 and I believe this is along with a good UPS is much of the reason.


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## erikjohn (Feb 27, 2005)

When I say off I mean power switch. The program guide updates while unit is on but no soft ware will boot. Oldcoot sumed up exactlywhat I meant. I too have had very good luck with mine by doing that an have not had any trouble other than the occasional aspect sticking. That is up until the last update which I never would have let install. Now I too am having probs with the guide in fact this moring it is messed up. I guess I will have to do another powercord reboot and then hard reboot. 

811 Mod, Thanks glad to be here, well not really .

EJ


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## ntexasdude (Jan 23, 2005)

I rarely, if ever, turn mine off. Either because I'm too lazy or too forgetful. Mine downloads and installs the software without any interaction from me. There have been several times when I read about an update here and then go home to find it already installed. :shrug:


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## Ken Green (Oct 6, 2005)

I suppose it just depends on the unit. I've had my 921 since Nov, 04. It has been put in stand-by (using remote) every night since I've owned it.
I've never had a timer misfire. I have the occasional aspect ratio issue (usually coming out of OTA HD), and once had a "unknown 77." Once-in-a-while it's slow to respond to remote commands while in the DVR menus. Oh, and that time it was off by 30 seconds. Other than that, it been one of the more trouble-free electronics I own.
I don't use a UPS for the 921, but it is connected to a Monster surge protector.
Personally, if the manufacturer says to put it in stand-by each night, so it can do what it needs to do, that's the way I'm going until they say otherwise...jmo


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## erikjohn (Feb 27, 2005)

ntexasdude said:


> I rarely, if ever, turn mine off. Either because I'm too lazy or too forgetful. Mine downloads and installs the software without any interaction from me. There have been several times when I read about an update here and then go home to find it already installed. :shrug:


Thats cause you have it set to automatically update. Its somewhere in the menu settings.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

If I am not mistaken, the 921 does not have an option to accept or deny software updates. You get them whenever you place the unit in standby or when you reboot your box. There is not a way to prevent this currently except to keep the unit on and disable Auto-inactivity mode.


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## jergenf (Mar 31, 2005)

I rarely turn my 921 off (standby mode) and since have had less problems. The aspect bug is usually once a month but I beleive it;s totally ramdom and not prevoked by power downs, reboots, use of format button or toggling from HD / SD modes. 

One thing for sure, not rebooting protects agianst software installs. The biggest payoff was when L216 was loaded on my machine. If I had let it reboot I would have lost HD locals for a couple of days until dish provided free locals for a month.


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## Ken Green (Oct 6, 2005)

erikjohn said:


> Thats cause you have it set to automatically update. Its somewhere in the menu settings.


I could be wrong about this, but I believe there once was a menu option for selecting whether or not to allow automatic software downloads. I believe the option no longer exists.
I'm certain I remember it from when I first installed the 921, but I have not seen it in any menus recently.
Anyone else know?


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

Ron Barry said:


> If I am not mistaken, the 921 does not have an option to accept or deny software updates.


You are 100% correct. If you do try to keep the current software, the 921 will end up getting rebooted and the download will be updated. I'm wondering if the originator of this post actually has a 921 or really knows anything about one.


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## jergenf (Mar 31, 2005)

The 921 does not have the option of preventing downloads (at least not since Dec 04 because that's when I got mine). There is menu 6-7 which informs whether or not an update has occurred and if so instructs you to power down the unit.

Not known to many is that dishnetwork can force a download and reboot action so even if you are presently using the 921 it can still reboot itself. I've never had this happen but it's possible if the release notes state "*forced* maintainance release" itstead of "*non-forced*". Scary huh, because dish never gives advance warnings until the power lite flashes. I doubt that they would do that in fear of screwing up people's recording in progress and flood of maintainance calls from angry customers.


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## jergenf (Mar 31, 2005)

boylehome said:


> I'm wondering if the originator of this post actually has a 921 or really knows anything about one.


I'm sure anyone who has a 921 knows it, especially if they're posting on this forum.


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## erikjohn (Feb 27, 2005)

boylehome said:


> If you do try to keep the current software, the 921 will end up getting rebooted and the download will be updated. I'm wondering if the originator of this post actually has a 921 or really knows anything about one.


Do not attack when you don't know what your talking about.

If you disable inactivity mode your 921 will not install new software without a manual reboot or maybe a shutdown, can't say cause I never turn mine off and the only time I do is to reboot. I do know once you manually reboot it will install, no matter what. I guess I can't say weather or not if the update has downloaded to the machine when not powering down but I do know that it doesn't install cause I have gone months without installing the new update until I was forced to do a reboot due to a glitch.

Sorry it has been along time since I have ben in the menu, I did mean the disable inactivity mode along with leaving unit on alwayswhich was the whole point of the post. Semantics, but I should have went and checked it out before I posted the response.

EJ


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

erikjohn said:


> Do not attack when you don't know what your talking about.
> 
> Sorry it has been along time since I have ben in the menu, I did mean the disable inactivity mode along with leaving unit on alwayswhich was the whole point of the post. Semantics, but I should have went and checked it out before I posted the response.
> 
> EJ


erikjohn, good advise and I'll take it. Sorry to offend. It is evident that 921's have a personality of their own and what works well for one does just the opposite for the other.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

erikjohn,

I don't think boylehome was attacking, just wondering given your automatic update post. A lot of dish receiver have the ability to disable software updates via the menu so even if there is one available it will not download. Actually the 921 is one of the few without this feature. 

Your post mentioning disabling Auto updates I am sure confused Boylehome, jergenf, and myself. 

As for keeping the 921 on 24x7, that actually goes against what a lot of user have been experience. If I keep my 921 on 24x7 eventually it will start acting oddly and i know I cannot keep my on 24x7 for months at a time. Might just be my use case if different than yours and it is something worth trying ofcourse. 

If some user can keep it on 24x7 without issues for months.. I wonder why others can't. How many shows are you recording a week and how many are you watching? Do you have OTA?


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## erikjohn (Feb 27, 2005)

Yeh it does sound like many 921's act differently. I have had my 921 for well over a year now and it never gets turned off. I do have OTA HD and use it as much as the SAT. I also use the heck out of the DVR, it is always recording stuff, everyday.

Juicing the PS up and down jolts the electronics and is actually on of the toughest things on ALL electronic equipment......except for one other thing, HEAT. Cooling of the unit is imperative. If it is always at normal operating tempature theoretically it will run until it is outdated. IE your 921 needs to be in well ventalated area. If it is shoved inside your cabinet I would not reccommend.

This is one of those discussions that has gone on an on in other forums. There may be not right or wrong answers. I have left every Dish reciever I have ever had on 24-7 and have never had a failure., except for my 6000 that got jolted by a bit of lightning. I have been a subscriber of Dish for 10 years.

EJ


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## SummitAdvantageRetailer (Feb 20, 2005)

I guess it's your call on whether the tradeoff to have it turn on and have less bugs vs. the additional wear & tear on your receiver by leaving it on. Not to mention the heat that can generate and fry your receiver if the receiver is not properly ventilated (i.e. kept in a closed cabinet, for example). 

I, myself, see less problems with daily reboots that happens at 2 AM. However, the days that it doesn't (when I'm watching past 2 AM or there's a timer that records before then), I do see a few more problems like a hanging DVR menu and what not. So your mileage MAY vary.


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## Grauchy (Oct 28, 2004)

I've been using a Lamp Timer set to cut power everynight at 3:30 AM - 4:00 AM.

This has been working the best for me but I still get occasional misfires.


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## erikjohn (Feb 27, 2005)

Grauchy said:


> I've been using a Lamp Timer set to cut power everynight at 3:30 AM - 4:00 AM.
> 
> This has been working the best for me but I still get occasional misfires.


Thats an interesting idea. What causd you to try that?

Seriously I am all for any thing that keeps this machine working properly. This last update has given me some heartburn. I had to do a power cord reboot which include pulling the smart card and the cord to get the menu back up to showing info.

Boyle Just an observation. I read in a previous post you have to do power cord reboots 2-3 times weekly. I did my very first power cord reboot when I started this post due to the new software, never had to do one before that. For what it's worth never needed to before then. I don't know if you are doing yours though just to be safe cause you didn't really say.

I guess maybe if you hold your right arm up and keep your left foot off the ground while doing a power cord reboot with the smart card between your teeth that may help also. I wish they could just get some software that works.

EJ


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

My 921's have been performing the auto-reboots regularly and I think that I only had to do a forced reboot once this week when one unit failed the auto-reboot. Your assumption is correct. I usually do them as to be on the safe side. I have found that if they are not rebooted, they become sluggish. I get more frozen aspect problems, and occasionally, timers fails to fire.


erikjohn said:


> Boyle Just an observation. I read in a previous post you have to do power cord reboots 2-3 times weekly. I did my very first power cord reboot when I started this post due to the new software, never had to do one before that. For what it's worth never needed to before then. I don't know if you are doing yours though just to be safe cause you didn't really say.





erikjohn said:


> I guess maybe if you hold your right arm up and keep your left foot off the ground while doing a power cord reboot with the smart card between your teeth that may help also. I wish they could just get some software that works.
> 
> EJ


Ok, I just performed your described procedure as and it worked. I had a little trouble with the balance. Just for icing on the cake, I did a hands clap and yelled presto. :grin:


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