# Sluggish HD-DVR's



## Manctech (Jul 5, 2010)

You can clear the Flash Memory to try and speed up sluggish HD-DVR's.
To do so, follow these steps.

Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere. But I just learned about it today. And I've been doing this a year and a half.

For Sluggish or slow responding HDDVR's



> Have the customer perform a red button reset. When the reboot is complete ask the customer if the box is slow?
> Have them select Active button and check the weather for their zip code. If the box is slow after exiting the Active channel, perform the following steps to clear the cache.
> Here are the steps to clear flash:
> 1. Go to channel 1.
> ...


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Manctech said:


> You can clear the Flash Memory to try and speed up sluggish HD-DVR's.
> To do so, follow these steps.
> 
> Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere. But I just learned about it today. And I've been doing this a year and a half.
> ...


What exactly is stored in flash memory (other than stuff for Active)? I know most everything is on the hard drive. I've never heard this one either. Honestly it sounds like the self destruct sequence for the Enterprise.


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## Manctech (Jul 5, 2010)

could not tell you. We just got this tip via email and I have yet to try it out. Felt I would pass it a long. I will update the next time I get a chance to test it!


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## Joe C (Mar 3, 2005)

Does the box ave to be connected to the internet for this to work ? One of my 22-100's is not connected to the internet because when it is the box slows down tremendously. I noticed in the directions channel 1 and weather are steps that need to be followed. I'm at work now but I'm going to try this tonight when I get home anyway.


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## richlife (Dec 4, 2006)

Manctech said:


> could not tell you. We just got this tip via email and I have yet to try it out. Felt I would pass it a long. I will update the next time I get a chance to test it!


My HD-DVRs have definitely gotten sluggish. Please try this on your own HD-DVR and THEN report back to us. Preferably with pictures.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

dpeters11 said:


> What exactly is stored in flash memory (other than stuff for Active)? I know most everything is on the hard drive. I've never heard this one either. Honestly it sounds like the self destruct sequence for the Enterprise.


The Operating System is on the Flash Drive for one thing. I don't think there's much on the actual HDD except for programming. I tried that tip, even tho I don't have any slow HRs and it did nothing. But I got a kick out of doing it!

Rich


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## AccidenT (Jun 9, 2007)

rich584 said:


> The Operating System is on the Flash Drive for one thing. I don't think there's much on the actual HDD except for programming. I tried that tip, even tho I don't have any slow HRs and it did nothing. But I got a kick out of doing it!
> 
> Rich


When you say it "did nothing" do you mean you didn't get the message about the NVRAM being cleared? Or that you got the message but didn't notice a change in the speed?


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## damondlt (Feb 27, 2006)

I did it , and no change.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

AccidenT said:


> When you say it "did nothing" do you mean you didn't get the message about the NVRAM being cleared? Or that you got the message but didn't notice a change in the speed?


I got the message on each HR I tried it with, but I don't have slow, sluggish HRs to begin with and didn't see any difference after doing it. But I had a good time trying it. 

Rich


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## Joe C (Mar 3, 2005)

I did it on both 22-100's that I have. I did get the NVRAM cleared message on the screen and did the RBR. They both seem a little faster for limited use funtions like changing the channel one time, but for scrolling through the one line guide they still lock up after several consecutive key presses then several channels' worth of programing info quickly change on the screen. Overall I still hate the HR.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Manctech said:


> You can clear the Flash Memory to try and speed up sluggish HD-DVR's.
> To do so, follow these steps.
> 
> Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere. But I just learned about it today. And I've been doing this a year and a half.
> ...


This is exactly why I don't use the Active Button!!!

Also, I don't use Double Play because it Slows up the DVR and causes alot of problems because the CPU isn't Fast enough to handle the Overloaded Capacity of Tasks being thrown at it.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Joe C said:


> I did it on both 22-100's that I have. I did get the NVRAM cleared message on the screen and did the RBR. They both seem a little faster for limited use funtions like changing the channel one time, but for scrolling through the one line guide they still lock up after several consecutive key presses then several channels' worth of programing info quickly change on the screen. Overall I still hate the HR.


You should join the *Mike Greer* HR22-100 fan club. :lol:

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

richierich said:


> This is exactly why I don't use the Active Button!!!
> 
> Also, I don't use Double Play because it Slows up the DVR and causes alot of problems because the CPU isn't Fast enough to handle the Overloaded Capacity of Tasks being thrown at it.


Be wonderful if they'd give up on that Active nonsense and change that button to a ToDo List button.

Rich


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## richlife (Dec 4, 2006)

rich584 said:


> Be wonderful if they'd give up on that Active nonsense and change that button to a ToDo List button.
> 
> Rich


+1


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

richlife said:


> +1


Thanx, I thought there would be a deluge of posts telling us how useful the Active function was. I do have a high opinion of the intelligence of the members of this forum and don't know how I'd deal with people telling us of the wonders of that useless function.

Rich


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

richierich said:


> This is exactly why I don't use the Active Button!!!
> 
> Also, I don't use Double Play because it Slows up the DVR and causes alot of problems because the CPU isn't Fast enough to handle the Overloaded Capacity of Tasks being thrown at it.


I use DP daily with no slow down or anything.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

"sigma1914" said:


> I use DP daily with no slow down or anything.


Which version do you have? My HR24/200 always seems to be slow. And not just when I'm using Double Play, but it seems worse with dp.


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

CoolGui said:


> Which version do you have? My HR24/200 always seems to be slow. And not just when I'm using Double Play, but it seems worse with dp.


HR24-100.


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

my two HR24-200s are lighting fast compared to my 3.5 year old HR20-700.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

tkrandall said:


> my two HR24-200s are lighting fast compared to my 3.5 year old HR20-700.


I use a 24-500 and a 200 and seven 20-700s and I do see a slight difference in speed, but not enough for me to worry about. I don't even notice it most of the time.

Rich


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

Sometimes the HR20-700 can be sluggish, other times not at all. I few weeks ago I did the red red blue blue yellow green thing and it has been overall better. Whether that is related or not I don't know. I also now have a SWM setup with MRV as of a few weeks ago, so that aspect in my setup has also changed.

I meant to ask earlier - what info (and what is the related functionality) is stored in the NVRAM?


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

richierich said:


> This is exactly why I don't use the Active Button!!!...


Sounds like unnecessary superstitious behavior. I use the Active button every day to check the weather, and it has never ever been problematic. Programs play just fine immediately after.

I also don't think DTV is dumb enough to shoot itself in the foot by adding features that break reliability or performance. Well, sure, they may ship things a bit too early and fine tune them after the fact, but that's the world everybody lives in now.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

rich584 said:


> Thanx, I thought there would be a deluge of posts telling us how useful the Active function was. I do have a high opinion of the intelligence of the members of this forum and don't know how I'd deal with people telling us of the wonders of that useless function.
> 
> Rich


+1. USELESS and Slow To Load!!!


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## Mike Greer (Jan 20, 2004)

TomCat said:


> Sounds like unnecessary superstitious behavior. I use the Active button every day to check the weather, and it has never ever been problematic. Programs play just fine immediately after.
> 
> *I also don't think DTV is dumb enough to shoot itself in the foot by adding features that break reliability or performance.* Well, sure, they may ship things a bit too early and fine tune them after the fact, but that's the world everybody lives in now.


Seriously? Seems like with every 'update' comes the 'stepdown' in performance.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

TomCat said:


> I also don't think DTV is dumb enough to shoot itself in the foot by adding features that break reliability or performance. Well, sure, they may ship things a bit too early and fine tune them after the fact, but that's the world everybody lives in now.


I have seen several NRs come out that caused me and others problems when we had none before the NR Download.

I have seen Directv take away the Selectable UPL when we had it and it worked Great.

I don't have alot of faith that Directv does everything in a sensible and Smart way.

They also took away our "Yellow Button" for the ToDo List and replaced it with another useless function.

Several people have said that The Active Button and DP slow down the Processor but maybe they have tweaked it since then and it is working better so I may try it again.


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## Joe C (Mar 3, 2005)

tkrandall said:


> - what info (and what is the related functionality) is stored in the NVRAM?


Does anyone know the answer to this ? I have cleared the memory on both my boxes(on the date I posted above) and they are back to being unresponsive again.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

TomCat said:


> Sounds like unnecessary superstitious behavior. I use the Active button every day to check the weather, and it has never ever been problematic. Programs play just fine immediately after.


I never use the Active feature for anything. For weather, the Weather Bug gives much more comprehensive info.



> I also don't think DTV is dumb enough to shoot itself in the foot by adding features that break reliability or performance. Well, sure, they may ship things a bit too early and fine tune them after the fact, but that's the world everybody lives in now.


Oh, I think they're capable of screwing things up royally. They don't seem to care about the consequences of their actions very much. Just my opinion.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Joe C said:


> Does anyone know the answer to this ? I have cleared the memory on both my boxes(on the date I posted above) and they are back to being unresponsive again.


I don't have slow HRs, but I did try it and didn't see any difference at all. Enjoyed doing it, tho. 

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Joe C said:


> Does anyone know the answer to this ? I have cleared the memory on both my boxes(on the date I posted above) and they are back to being unresponsive again.


Joe, here's a question for you: Why aren't my HRs exhibiting slowness issues? I don't understand why so many others report the same issues as you do and I don't see them. I do have issues with MRV when I use the HRs in the All mode, but aside from that, they all seem to be working as fast as they ever were.

Rich


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

You may have a Marginal Power Supply unit which fails to provide the Optimal Amount of Current to the Hard Drive and Processor and needs to be replaced.

Weaknees.com does this kind of replacement.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

richierich said:


> You may have a Marginal Power Supply unit which fails to provide the Optimal Amount of Current to the Hard Drive and Processor and needs to be replaced.
> 
> Weaknees.com does this kind of replacement.


Is there some kind of test for that? I've looked at various power supplies and they don't look too hard to replace. Hard to say for sure without doing it, tho.

Rich


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

It is quite easy from what I have heard from those who have done it and just requires a little soldering. The unit only doesn't cost that much so you can save alot of money doing it yourself and you save your recordings it it is indeed not your hard drive going south.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

richierich said:


> It is quite easy from what I have heard from those who have done it and just requires a little soldering. The unit only costs about $1.50 so you can save alot of money doing it yourself and you save your recordings it it is indeed not your hard drive going south.


But how do you tell if it's the power supply that's causing the problem? It makes sense to me because I don't have any slowness issues, but before I go thru something like that, I'd like to know for sure if I'm doing the correct thing.

Rich


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Here is a Link to a Post about the Power Supply unit and look at all of the posts by HAYREASS as he is the one who knows how to test it for sub-marginal amperage output.

http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41440

Here is one of his Posts about adjusting the trimpot to increase voltage or amperage.

"Well, what do you know, I tried on another system today, and the trimpot is working on it.
A buddy sent me a system I fixed for him a year or so ago to fix a bad drive.
When I opened it up, I saw it had the mod done to it. 
Since I wanted to pull the PS in order to test the other 2 I am selling, I figured I'd experiment.
I cut the wire, and booted it up. It booted fine, I figured it wasn't a bad system. But, 20 minutes later, it went into reboot. So, I tweaked the pot 1/4 turn, bringing me up to 3.32v at the mobo side of the parlex cable.
No more reboot.
I put in the PS I wanted to test, and bam, reboot loop.
Tweaked it 1/4 turn, no more loop.
Looks like in some instances, the trimpot is the way to go.
I'll definitely try it 1st, since it involves no soldering, but any S1's I'll see from now on are friends, and I've done the jumper fix to all/most of them already."

Rich, I think you will really enjoy reading this Thread and these Posts as they tell you how a Failing Power Supply unit can cause the DVR to Reboot repeatedly when it loses sufficient power and can lock up on your Reboot Screen, etc.


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## Joe C (Mar 3, 2005)

rich584 said:


> Joe, here's a question for you: Why aren't my HRs exhibiting slowness issues? I don't understand why so many others report the same issues as you do and I don't see them. I do have issues with MRV when I use the HRs in the All mode, but aside from that, they all seem to be working as fast as they ever were.
> 
> Rich


I wish I knew why mine were so slow. I don't have MRV so I can't comment there. One one of my boxes I have closed captioning enabled and that box is the one I do most of my complaining about, it gets very unrespnsive. I have run every single test during the bootup process and it passes all tests even the advanced hard disk tests. I don't have a phone line or ethernet connected and I don't have SWM. I don't have an external drive hooked up, never did. I'm running out of things to try.


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## Mike Greer (Jan 20, 2004)

Joe C said:


> I wish I knew why mine were so slow. I don't have MRV so I can't comment there. One one of my boxes I have closed captioning enabled and that box is the one I do most of my complaining about, it gets very unrespnsive. I have run every single test during the bootup process and it passes all tests even the advanced hard disk tests. I don't have a phone line or ethernet connected and I don't have SWM. I don't have an external drive hooked up, never did. I'm running out of things to try.


I had 3 HR22s and for nearly two years they were nothing but painful to use. People here suggested things like replace the batteries in the remote, push the buttons slower etc... The truth is the only answer that worked for me was to pay $200 each for HR24s (HR24-500 where the only ones available then). One of the my HR22s died (thank god) and the other two I force the kids to use.

I just got tired of the promises of new firmware fixing them and gave up. Paid way too much but at least I don't have deal with them!


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## Podkayne (Nov 1, 2007)

My HR20-100 is quite a bit slower of late. I've done the reboot and reset procedures and it helps for a while, but after a few days it's bogged down again. I would pay money for a box that was as fast as my old Tivo.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Podkayne said:


> I would pay money for a box that was as fast as my old Tivo.


Then buy an HR24 thru Ebay or wherever and be done with it.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

richierich said:


> Here is a Link to a Post about the Power Supply unit and look at all of the posts by HAYREASS as he is the one who knows how to test it for sub-marginal amperage output.
> 
> http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41440
> 
> ...


I'll read it tomorrow, thanx. Be good to know in advance what to do. Altho, I gotta admit, I wouldn't mind if a couple of my HRs went south. Got too many. Bought all those HRs and haven't used one for a replacement. My luck.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Joe C said:


> I wish I knew why mine were so slow. I don't have MRV so I can't comment there. One one of my boxes I have closed captioning enabled and that box is the one I do most of my complaining about, it gets very unrespnsive. I have run every single test during the bootup process and it passes all tests even the advanced hard disk tests. I don't have a phone line or ethernet connected and I don't have SWM. I don't have an external drive hooked up, never did. I'm running out of things to try.


Joe, I read so many posts a day that I can't remember who's got what. Can you refresh my memory and tell me what models of HRs you have? HR2x-xxx would do the trick. I can tell you that I'm not a proponent of blaming HDDs for everything that happens. I think a failed HDD is a rarity. I've had only two in four years that I can truly say went bad. Compare that to constantly having HDDs fail in TiVos.

Rich


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## Mike Greer (Jan 20, 2004)

Rich - the poor guy has HR22-100s!


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Mike Greer said:


> Rich - the poor guy has HR22-100s!


Well, that explains his problem. We know how to solve it now. I'd be on CL or eBay buying 20-700s to replace the 22s.

Joe, I get reports from eBay the minute a 20-700 goes up for sale. If you want, I can find you a couple or more owned units. Might cost you a few hundred dollars depending on how many you want. Let me know and I'll start sending you links to them. You also might want to check your local Craigslist and see if you can find a couple that are from Multiple Dwelling Unit folks. They're usually well kept and you can usually try them out before you buy them.

Rich


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Thought I'd bump this thread.

Both my HR24 & receivers have been getting sluggish lately.
With my HR24 sending a report seems to have helped this and then I did the NVRAM clear, but not much changed.
I had the same sluggishness on a non recorder and did the NVRAM clear on it.
"WOW" did it clear out the trash.
The guide pops, as does the playlist, and starting MRV is faster too.

I won't call this a "cure all", but I'll be doing this when the remote response starts bogging down.

FWIW: I don't use active channels or doubleplay [ever].

"I think" the banner ads are also slowing things down too from some testing I did this morning on the HR24 after "flushing" everything out. Guide comes up faster if there are no banner ads and slower from a channel that then has banner ads when the guide comes up. This is much like the active channels or those with scoreguide active.


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## SFNSXguy (Apr 17, 2006)

Never mind, answered my own question.


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