# L180 is now downloading



## Kagato (Jul 1, 2002)

Talked with advanced tech support today. According to them there will be a firmware update tonight. Anyone know what's in this release? Other than my component video fix? Well, maybe they'll remove the DVHS menu...


Update: Downloading NOW


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## strabismo (Feb 1, 2004)

Mine is going right now!


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## Bogney (Jul 11, 2003)

My 921 is also downloading something now.


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## smr (Feb 15, 2004)

Anyone know what today's 45 minute software upgrade accomplish? I did not realize that a flashing green power light means the unit is downloading. I thought my set was going wacky because I could not get the light to stop flashing. I hope I did not screw up the download. Will it reload the software if it detects an unsuccessful download?


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## deweybrunner (Feb 8, 2004)

7:30 est. checked software update. Unit in process of a download. Do not know what. Any of you have an idea? 180 would be a miracle!


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## David_Levin (Apr 22, 2002)

Where is (was) that DVHS menu. I could never find it.....
(Anyone save a screenshot of it?)


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

Mine started at 17:30MDT. 10 minutes in, I've got 9 of 30.

I'll bet a donut the ONLY change is to remove Menu-4-5: "DVHS Setup", and that'll delay the release of the real fixes by days to weeks. If so, I'll say it in advance: [email protected][email protected]$!!!


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## metallicafreak (Jan 20, 2004)

I just saw mine blinking and it just restarted. Can't lookat it until after the kid is in bed (~45 minutes)
FREAK!


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

son of a b*tch...

Friday night as well, when I can't get the official fix list from them until Monday...

The good news is that you shouldn't have (m)any more random reboots. The bad news is that you may very well run into some more problems with the OTA side...More later...


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## jsanders (Jan 21, 2004)

Has anyone checked the version number yet?? Is it L180?


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## beasst37799 (Mar 8, 2004)

mark are u saying this thing could very well fix one problem but cause more ????


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Placeholder for official fix list when I get it.

All other threads will be merged into this one.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. That's why it wasn't sent last week when it was scheduled to, and why it shouldn't have been sent today.

Merging into the official L180 thread.


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## beasst37799 (Mar 8, 2004)

well maybe they fixed them oh wait this is dish ... reminds me of all those drug comercials they advertise its cure one thing but could cause so many other problems worse then the disease    :nono:


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## metallicafreak (Jan 20, 2004)

that doesn't sound good. well, I don't use ota so hope I don't see any problems


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

I don't yet have the list to give to you about what this fixes. Here's an unofficial list from me:

Most (or possibly all) of the reboot issues have been fixed. I haven't had a random reboot in more than 3 weeks.

Some (but not all) of the timer related issues have been fixed.

Some (but not all) of the OTA channel issues have been fixed.

L180 is meant to primarily be a stability fix release. There are no new features (that I know of). Eldon focused on getting this box more stable this time around, and they at least partially succeeded with it.

You should also reboot your receiver after the software is installed, preferably by pulling the power plug to do a complete reboot. Then, if you use OTA, you should delete your current list and rescan. That procedure will avoid one potential problem.


Some (but not all) of the video preview windows issues have been fixed.


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## beasst37799 (Mar 8, 2004)

is this the update we were waitng for the re relase of the now nuttered 921 or the 922 or whatever it is now


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## jsanders (Jan 21, 2004)

Mark Lamutt said:


> You should also reboot your receiver after the software is installed, preferably by pulling the power plug to do a complete reboot. Then, if you use OTA, you should delete your current list and rescan. That procedure will avoid one potential problem.


I just want to be absolutely clear on this when I go home. Should I delete all of the current channel listings before or after the reboot?? It sounds like you mean after, but I just want to make sure.... 

I wonder how many death reports we will get this time.....


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

I don't believe that this release has anything to do with the picture quality issues, but I don't know that for sure. If it does, that issue never showed up on any of the test lists that I've seen.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

jsanders said:


> I just want to be absolutely clear on this when I go home. Should I delete all of the current channel listings before or after the reboot?? It sounds like you mean after, but I just want to make sure....
> 
> I wonder how many death reports we will get this time.....


It won't matter. Just as long as you rescan them after the software has installed, and after you have rebooted.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Minor aspect ratio improvements, but not yet fixed. That's slated for the next release (at least that was what I was told last week).


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## beasst37799 (Mar 8, 2004)

and when is the next release supposed to be?


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## BarryO (Dec 16, 2003)

smr said:


> I hope I did not screw up the download. Will it reload the software if it detects an unsuccessful download?


Maybe not. A corrupted download is what made my first one DOA, and required its replacement.

It's been raining here today; I'm almost afraid to go home and check to see if the upgrade was OK this time. :eek2:


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

It should reload these days if the first attempt is unsuccessful.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

BTW, in the version that I have, the grayed out DVHS option is still in the menu...


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

beasst37799 said:


> and when is the next release supposed to be?


Next month most likely. April originally had 2 releases scheduled, but we ran into some problems getting to L180.


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## David_Levin (Apr 22, 2002)

Yep, it's 180. Wow a week before we expected. Thanks for the info Mark. Please let us know about any bugs your already aware of (it can't be a problem to discuss them now).

I already noticed getting blank screens on ABC and Fox Denver which came back after I individually deleted and rescanned. I'll go delete, reboot, and recreate the entire list now. Will find out in a minute if I'm going to lose timers when the channels are deleted.

Just also noticed Fox Denver is now remapping to 31-1 (instead of RAW channel 32) so maybe that was the problem there.


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## Jerry G (Jul 12, 2003)

Well, KCET, PBS in Los Angeles, is still not recordable. So Dish took away Firewire and won't even let me record our local PBS. At this point, I don't even care. After the Superdish fiasco, and now the Firewire disaster, Dish is not the company I want to do business with. I'm waiting for DirecTV to add more HD channels or VOOM to get a PVR. Voom won't have a PVR until the end of the year. If DirecTV can get a few more HD channels up, I'll trash (literally--and have I got a plan in mind) my 921 and 811's and get an HDTivo and some other HD STBs. I'll be happy to spend more money if it means getting far away from Dish.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

David, if you tune to 31-1 when they aren't broadcasting, you will lose 4, 6, and 9 everytime. That was one of the problems that is still outstanding - in fact ran into it and reported it just this morning.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Jerry - I said in the other thread that I didn't think that particular OTA issue had been fixed yet. Looks like that is the case. I'll know when they are getting close because I will be providing them another beta tester who is already chosen to do the testing of it.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Oh, and please - all new (and repeated) bug reports, please use the thread title: *BUG REPORT L180: Description* so I can keep track of things around here.


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## Florindi (Feb 17, 2004)

Hi All,
I just received by replacement 921 and cannot get it to come up. Has this anything to do with the L180 download? Did I corrupt my new unit? I was on the phone with a CSR for a hour and couldn't get it to boot. Please can anyone help?

Thanks,
Anthony


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

Mark, this release surprised me as well. I got a note at 5:07pm from Engeneering alerting me that L1.80 was going to going to spool tonight.

I am really surprised they released it this late and on a Friday none the less.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

Jerry G said:


> If DirecTV can get a few more HD channels up, I'll trash (literally--and have I got a plan in mind) my 921 ...


Please don't trash it - send it on to someone (I've got a few people in mind  ) that might reverse engineer it and fix it.  Wouldn't THAT embar-ass the hell out of Dish! :eek2:


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Anthony - please describe in detail what's happening with your 921.


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## jsanders (Jan 21, 2004)

And, please describe how you connected your 921, the switches, etc..


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Oh, that's right - no more blue light special with L180 either.


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## MattG (Dec 31, 2003)

Looks like they removed the 'feature' where hitting power turned off the tv AND the 921. 
They're taunting me by leaving the greyed-out DVHS setup menu item in there.


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## Florindi (Feb 17, 2004)

It finally came up. Thanks anyways. It took me forever to get the menu screen to come up. i was then able to get the check switch working.


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## Mike Richardson (Jun 12, 2003)

Jerry G said:


> I'll trash (literally--and have I got a plan in mind) my 921 and 811's.


That's stupid and childish, sorry, there's no other way to put it.


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## Jerry G (Jul 12, 2003)

Mike Richardson said:


> That's stupid and childish, sorry, there's no other way to put it.


Perhaps, but it seems like something has to be done to pound some common sense and intelligence into the people who run Dish and make the decisions. Just look at what Dish has done. Boast for a very long time about 50 HD channel capacity. Then someone isn't able to determine that the 105 bird can't see the entire country and there goes more HD channels. And then we get Charlie stating that there are no additional HD channels worthy of being carried by Dish. Quite a turn around. And then there's the 921, in development for years, being released way too soon, having the promise of Firewire unfilled because of what sounds like engineering mistakes. And tonight's update still not fixing a basic stretch error and not allowing me to record my local PBS. I won't go into the deceptions, lack of honesty and straightforwardness displayed by Dish. Enough is enough. Dish needs to wake up these problems, but they seem to refuse to do it.

I'll bid my time until it becomes clear which provider I should turn to. Then perhaps I'll do what I'm thinking of doing. Or by then, I just may decide it's not worth it, Dish is a lost cause, and just move on.


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## the_tx_dude (Jan 26, 2004)

One of the ways I was working around not having guide info for OTA was putting my sat locals in favorite list next to local OTA. Now it doesn't look like this is possible. Going to reboot and try again.


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## pbrown (May 23, 2002)

Does this mean I can finally buy one of these things? My wife is going to make me spend the money on a new fence soon if I don't get it spent on the 921 soon!


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

921s should be available again from most retailers by the end of the month, according to Charlie in the chat earlier this week. I'd say certainly by mid-May.


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## Jim Parker (Aug 12, 2003)

Well, I have had my first reboot with L180.  I was not aware that new software was downloading, so I did not reboot the 921 when I got home. The box has been on all day. About 6:10 Alaska time, the gray screen with the X showed up. I was in the EPG, scrolling up when it rebooted. The 921 rebooted and came back up. I have not seen the green light flashing, so it may have downloaded before I got home. I just checked and the software is L180. 

This reboot may have been required by the new software to finish installing, at least I hope so. Anybody else have their 921 reboot after installing L180?


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## JM Anthony (Nov 16, 2003)

pbrown said:


> Does this mean I can finally buy one of these things? My wife is going to make me spend the money on a new fence soon if I don't get it spent on the 921 soon!


You could get one a LOT sooner if you were a Husky! Cougs have a tough time learning how to use on/off switches let alone remote controls with more than a couple of buttons. Besides, the only thing you guys watch is Sesame Street anyway.

U Dub, Class of '70


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## pbrown (May 23, 2002)

JM Anthony said:


> You could get one a LOT sooner if you were a Husky! Cougs have a tough time learning how to use on/off switches let alone remote controls with more than a couple of buttons. Besides, the only thing you guys watch is Sesame Street anyway.
> 
> U Dub, Class of '70


Very cute, John. I won't hijack this thread any more, except to say that I'm impressed that you've even figured out how to find this website. I heard they got some computers over on Montlake a few years ago, good for them! Now, if you can hook me up with a 921 over here, I might even buy you a beer, even though you're a husky. Go Cougs!


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## gsalem (Feb 4, 2004)

>>> Anybody else have their 921 reboot after installing L180?

Mine rebooted twice in about as many hours as watching. And that was 
just Satuday.

1st time, it froze when doing a seach. 

2nd time, it just X-death-rebooted when simply watching HGTV. I guess my
box didn't like the stone garden that was put in Miss O'Maley's front yard.

 


One random reboot on Sunday. (Very little TV watching that day). 

Anyone else getting served divorce papers over buying this junk?

:bang


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## jsanders (Jan 21, 2004)

gsalem said:


> >>>
> Mine rebooted twice in about as many hours as watching. And that was
> just Satuday.
> 
> Anyone else getting served divorce papers over buying this junk?


Did you reboot the machine specifically by pulling the power plug as Mark suggested??

I've heard so many comments on the fickle nature of wives. You guys are starting to make me wonder if marriage is worth it! Sounds like your wives give you a really hard time!


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## gsalem (Feb 4, 2004)

>>> Did you reboot the machine specifically by pulling the power plug as Mark suggested??

Yes. I power it down periodically. Especially after downloads. (the only way to get
back OTA channels!) 



>>> I've heard so many comments on the fickle nature of wives. You guys are starting to make me wonder if marriage is worth it! Sounds like your wives give you a really hard time! 

It's a husband! People here are tech-no-geeks. We love HD, DVR, A/V equipment. 
A lot of us have partners who "just wanna watch the TV!" It's hard to explain why
we bought $1K equipment that puts us through the X-screen-of-death and 4 minute reboots.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

gsalem said:


> >>> Anybody else have their 921 reboot after installing L180?
> 
> Mine rebooted twice in about as many hours as watching. And that was
> just Satuday.
> ...


Yes, I was just watching a Satellite station when it randomly rebooted for no apparent reason. It does not seem like the latest software corrected the rebooting problem. Yes, I did unplug the unit to do a reboot after the latest software download.

DishDVR 921
Boot Version: 120B
Flash Version: F051
SW Version: L180HECD-N


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## thevoice (Sep 24, 2002)

I have not had any random reboots since L180, I was getting 1 - 2 a day with the previous software... Good job guys!


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## David_Levin (Apr 22, 2002)

Well, now that the "blue light" isn't triggered by a reboot, it will not be as obvious if this occurs.

Obviously, there are still some reboots occuring.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

David_Levin said:


> Well, now that the "blue light" isn't triggered by a reboot, it will not be as obvious if this occurs.
> 
> Obviously, there are still some reboots occuring.


We can probably still use the PIP window position to detect reboots.

Move the PIP window away from bottom-right. If it moves back, the box rebooted. If it doesn't, it didn't.

I just tested this using a power-button reboot.


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## gsalem (Feb 4, 2004)

Woke up yesterday to turn the 921 on. I got the Dish/HDTV BIOS logo, then I 
I got the Dish/HDTV BIOS logo, then I got the Dish/HDTV BIOS logo.

Unplugging it fixed the problem.

I wonder how long it was in that loop.

In my mind, the 180 solves few of my biggest issues and is less stable.
No progress in my opinion.


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