# Will DVR Work with Suspended Account



## JayDog08 (Jan 31, 2008)

I'm in the process of having a house built and will be moving into temporary housing for a few months. My plan is to suspend my DTV service. Does anyone know if I will still be able to watch what is already recorded on the DVR during this period?

Thanks in advance.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

I don't believe you will be able to, no.


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## newsposter (Nov 13, 2003)

if you have a good ole HDtivo you can


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

I have an old RCA DVR80 that I do this with. I have to click through a lot of screens telling me I have no sat signal, but eventually I get to the List and can watch what was previously recorded.

Disconnect your current unit from the Sat and give it a try.


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## MONSTERMAN (Aug 18, 2007)

Not sure about the newer HR22, 23, 24's, but on my HR21-700 if I unplug everything first before I have DIRECTV put me on suspension, I am able to watch everything on my DVR list indefinitely.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

MONSTERMAN said:


> Not sure about the newer HR22, 23, 24's, but on my HR21-700 if I unplug everything first before I have DIRECTV put me on suspension, I am able to watch everything on my DVR list indefinitely.


Correct. As long as you disconnect the receiver from the satellite prior to having the service suspended you will be able to watch your recordings. However, it won't be indefinitely, it will prevent you at some point from accessing the recordings if it hasn't gotten authorization from the satellite, the question is how long though. Some people have gone weeks and months.

- Merg


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## NR4P (Jan 16, 2007)

MONSTERMAN said:


> Not sure about the newer HR22, 23, 24's, but on my HR21-700 if I unplug everything first before I have DIRECTV put me on suspension, I am able to watch everything on my DVR list indefinitely.


And in addition to what Merg wrote,
That will work for sometime only until you unplug the receiver to move it. Or a power failure.
The original requester is moving so the receiver will be powered down.

Upon power up the receivers must find a sat signal with authorization.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

NR4P said:


> And in addition to what Merg wrote,
> That will work for sometime only until you unplug the receiver to move it. Or a power failure.
> The original requester is moving so the receiver will be powered down.
> 
> Upon power up the receivers must find a sat signal with authorization.


Not true. When on the Searching for Satellite screen, you can hit Exit as that sometimes works. If it doesn't, you wait until the it times out. At that point, you can hit List and see your recordings.

- Merg


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## NR4P (Jan 16, 2007)

The Merg said:


> Not true. When on the Searching for Satellite screen, you can hit Exit as that sometimes works. If it doesn't, you wait until the it times out. At that point, you can hit List and see your recordings.
> 
> - Merg


I was hoping you were right and I was wrong. In case my LNB/Dish moves during/after a hurricane as I've tried it in the past and it didn't work.

So I just unplugged my HR21 and disconnected the antenna. Let it completely boot up. Hit List and Exit repeatedly nothing happened during the Step 1 and Step 2 and after it tried to acquire the guide.

Then found if I hit Menu, I had a Playlist to see. Hit Playlist and got excited, as I saw all my content. But when I tried to play anything, I got an error 750 that my service was not authorized.

Too bad, would have been nice.


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## CliffV (Jan 24, 2006)

I am currently watching shows from my playlist on an HR23 even though it isn't connected to a dish. I have to hit LIST to get to the playlist. If I hit MENU, the only options are ones to configure the DISH.

This has been working for 2 days. Once we've watched all the shows on the HR23, we're going to move it to a different room.


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## Directvlover (Aug 27, 2007)

The key is to unplug the sat before suspending. I was able to watch shows 3 weeks after unplugging.


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## Dark Horse (Jun 4, 2010)

Crap. I wish I'd seen this post a week ago, before I suspended my account. Now I can't watch any of the recorded shows on my DVR.

However, my DVR is still recording. Is it just recording a black image saying there's no service, or is it actually recording shows? Should i just unplug the DVR to save a few pennies on electricity, or will I unsuspend in a few months to find a bunch of shows I really wanted to watch?

And sorry to drag up an old thread again, but I figured this gave better context than just starting a new thread.


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## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

I recall somebody recently posting that they had deactivated a DVR but left it connected to their satellite feed and later, when that DVR was reactivated, the new recordings were now viewable. Not sure if it works the same way for an account suspension, though.


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## gomezma1 (Mar 28, 2006)

I had my DVR service cancelled once and was able to watch what I had recorded previously when I reactivated it again.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

"litzdog911" said:


> I recall somebody recently posting that they had deactivated a DVR but left it connected to their satellite feed and later, when that DVR was reactivated, the new recordings were now viewable. Not sure if it works the same way for an account suspension, though.


Interesting. I can see this being useful, like recording stuff on a premium that may not air during a free preview, and holding it on the drive until the preview authorization appears.


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## RCinFLA (Oct 4, 2006)

I believe the program is stored on disk as un-decrypted channel so you need the current keys to decrypt. 

Perhaps if you avoid the private unit ID deactivation from data transmission you can keep the current keys alive until they time out.

The deactivation message can probably also come in via internet if you have it connected to unit so disconnect it along with sat antenna line.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

CliffV said:


> I am currently watching shows from my playlist on an HR23 even though it isn't connected to a dish.


The difference here is that your DVR probably hasn't had its power chopped.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

RCinFLA said:


> I believe *the program is stored on disk as un-decrypted channel so you need the current keys to decrypt*.
> 
> Perhaps if you *avoid the private unit ID deactivation from data transmission* you can keep the current keys alive until they time out.
> 
> The deactivation message can probably also come in via internet if you have it connected to unit so disconnect it along with sat antenna line.


What did you try to say ?
"un-decrypted' ? Isn't it has definition "encrypted" ?
A key and a permission to use the key - isn't there any difference ?
What key ? DVR could use own key do encrypt recordings (actually it is as we knew you can't play those on different DVR).
Your guesses pretty wild to consume, he he.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

P Smith said:


> What did you try to say ?


Now you know how it feels to try to read your ramblings.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

harsh said:


> Now you know how it feels to try to read your ramblings.


I'm still learning my 4th language  ...


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## A_Bear (Jun 16, 2011)

As long as you have the receiver unplugged from the dish at the time the signal is sent to either cancel service or suspend service, then your dvr should function and play all of the recordings on your list

Once reconnected to the Directv dish, you will then be locked out of your list untill you get your services turned back on


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## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

As long the DVR's AC power remains uninterrupted you can view the old recordings. But once the DVR reboots without an active satellite connection and subscription you're hosed.


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## Relativity (May 28, 2011)

litzdog911 said:


> As long the DVR's AC power remains uninterrupted you can view the old recordings. But once the DVR reboots without an active satellite connection and subscription you're hosed.


you sure about that? the subscription expiry date is stored on the access card, not in the receiver. I would guess one way to test would be to unplug the satellite connection and see if you can still play recorded shows. I would expect you need a active subscription, but not a satellite connection to view shows.

the expiry date on the card varies, that is why some people say this works for weeks and other for days. It just depends at what point your access card was updated with a new expiry date.


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## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

Relativity said:


> you sure about that? the subscription expiry date is stored on the access card, not in the receiver. I would guess one way to test would be to unplug the satellite connection and see if you can still play recorded shows. I would expect you need a active subscription, but not a satellite connection to view shows.
> 
> the expiry date on the card varies, that is why some people say this works for weeks and other for days. It just depends at what point your access card was updated with a new expiry date.


In my experience and other posts here, it's more like a few days at best. At any rate, eventually it will stop working.


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## Relativity (May 28, 2011)

litzdog911 said:


> In my experience and other posts here, it's more like a few days at best. At any rate, eventually it will stop working.


yes, eventually it will display a call x722 message after the date on the access card has passed.


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## poppagene (Jul 20, 2007)

My most recent experience was that I had suspended my service from early February 2011 through the end of May. I disconnected the HR20, HR21, and HR22 prior to suspension and was able to watch recorded shows the whole time. Each of the HDDVRs had the power out and rebooted several times. In each case I was able to go into the menu and select my already recorded shows for playback. However, the software update that hit all my machines after reactivating service hosed the HR22.


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