# MRV/Whole Home issues?



## devaska1

I have had MRV for a few weeks now and ever since week one it has worked sporadically. I have an HR24-100 in my living room and an H24 in the kids room. When I try to play recordings on the H24 it periodically gives me the error that it's "unable to play no data packets audio/video received." I don't have VOD as DTV has not come to hook up internet yet, but from what i've read this should not matter as the two receivers have built in DECA's.
Both show coax connected on the info screen and the H24 has an ip address and network status is showing connected. All of my scheduled programs are showing up in the playlist, but they don't always play on the H24, only some programs give me the "data packets" error. For example today I was trying to play any of the several Spongebob episodes i have recorded all gave me the error, but at the same time Holmes on Homes would play. I am not sure what the problem is any help is appreciated.


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## veryoldschool

This is a bit strange. Maybe there are some loose connections in the coax.
Since you have the 24s, you can run a test to see what the bit-rate is between them.
On the front panel press guide & > buttons at the same time and [when you get the timing right] you'll see a blue menu with coax network. Select this and it will test the loss between the receivers and any other DECAs. The there is another test [the middle option to the left] where it will run the bit-rate test.
Posting what's on both screens here might help us to know what's going on.


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## devaska1

Here are pictures of the MRV test and info screens.


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## veryoldschool

Those are a bit hard to see, but from what I can, the DECA network is fine.


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## devaska1

veryoldschool said:


> Those are a bit hard to see, but from what I can, the DECA network is fine.


Yeah, sorry bout the picture quality and I did not get them oriented correctly, but from everything i have read my network is set up correctly. I have no clue as to why I am getting the data packets error. When my MRV does work, I have no issues with playback, 30skip or anything like that. Both receivers are responsive and working fine as far as I can tell.


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## veryoldschool

devaska1 said:


> Yeah, sorry bout the picture quality and I did not get them oriented correctly, but from everything i have read my network is set up correctly. I have no clue as to why I am getting the data packets error. When my MRV does work, I have no issues with playback, 30skip or anything like that. Both receivers are responsive and working fine as far as I can tell.


I see you have the HR24-100, and I the HR24-500. "Maybe" because the -500 has been out a bit longer that the firmware is tuned a bit better for it and so the -100 may catch up with the next update. Kind of a crappy answer, but I think it has merit.

You can also try the menu reset on each and see if that helps.


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## devaska1

veryoldschool said:


> I see you have the HR24-100, and I the HR24-500. "Maybe" because the -500 has been out a bit longer that the firmware is tuned a bit better for it and so the -100 may catch up with the next update. Kind of a crappy answer, but I think it has merit.
> 
> You can also try the menu reset on each and see if that helps.


I did do a reset on the H24 and all programs in the list would play, but then later in the day I noticed that they were not all playing again. I hope I don't have to do a reset every time I want to make use of MRV. arggggg


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## veryoldschool

devaska1 said:


> I did do a reset on the H24 and all programs in the list would play, but then later in the day I noticed that they were not all playing again. I hope I don't have to do a reset every time I want to make use of MRV. arggggg


Try doing it to the HR24 too and see. I don't think you'd need to do this every time, but its software simply isn't as refined yet, but is coming.
The 24s are enough different than the others that they do have some new bugs in them that is being sorted out.


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## azarby

devaska1 said:


> I have had MRV for a few weeks now and ever since week one it has worked sporadically. I have an HR24-100 in my living room and an H24 in the kids room. When I try to play recordings on the H24 it periodically gives me the error that it's "unable to play no data packets audio/video received." I don't have VOD as DTV has not come to hook up internet yet, but from what i've read this should not matter as the two receivers have built in DECA's.
> Both show coax connected on the info screen and the H24 has an ip address and network status is showing connected. All of my scheduled programs are showing up in the playlist, but they don't always play on the H24, only some programs give me the "data packets" error. For example today I was trying to play any of the several Spongebob episodes i have recorded all gave me the error, but at the same time Holmes on Homes would play. I am not sure what the problem is any help is appreciated.


When you get this message, can you play back the recording in native mode on the HR24 it was recorded on? When ever I received that type of message, It almost always pointed to a bad recording on the HR2x.


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## devaska1

azarby said:


> When you get this message, can you play back the recording in native mode on the HR24 it was recorded on? When ever I received that type of message, It almost always pointed to a bad recording on the HR2x.


I think you may be correct, the recordings that are not playing on my H24 are probably some that I have canceled due to scheduling conflicts or maybe recordings that I canceled after they had already started recording. I'll verify your suggestion with my guess, and report back. Thanks


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## devaska1

Originally Posted by azarby View Post
When you get this message, can you play back the recording in native mode on the HR24 it was recorded on? When ever I received that type of message, It almost always pointed to a bad recording on the HR2x.



devaska1 said:


> I think you may be correct, the recordings that are not playing on my H24 are probably some that I have canceled due to scheduling conflicts or maybe recordings that I canceled after they had already started recording. I'll verify your suggestion with my guess, and report back. Thanks


On second thought i've checked and it has nothing to do with the quality of my recordings or the fact that I canceled some of my recordings that conflicted with live TV or other recordings. It seems that the only channels that I get the " Data Packets audio/video" error are SD channels. For instance Boomerang, NikW, and some other SD channels that I have scheduled recordings on. All of the HD recordings work all the time, any thoughts on this........


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## balboadave

devaska1 said:


> I have had MRV for a few weeks now and ever since week one it has worked sporadically. I have an HR24-100 in my living room and an H24 in the kids room. When I try to play recordings on the H24 it periodically gives me the error that it's "unable to play no data packets audio/video received." I don't have VOD as DTV has not come to hook up internet yet, but from what i've read this should not matter as the two receivers have built in DECA's.
> Both show coax connected on the info screen and the H24 has an ip address and network status is showing connected. All of my scheduled programs are showing up in the playlist, but they don't always play on the H24, only some programs give me the "data packets" error. For example today I was trying to play any of the several Spongebob episodes i have recorded all gave me the error, but at the same time Holmes on Homes would play. I am not sure what the problem is any help is appreciated.


I don't have an answer, but at least you're not alone. Just starting last week, I've been getting the same errors with two HR-24s on maybe three different episodes. They play locally, but won't play remotely, failing with the same "no data packet" error. A reboot made no difference. I even had 4 episodes of one show, recorded within a week of each other on the same channel, and just two of them wouldn't play remotely. There may have been one time when this first started, I wasn't paying attention yet, where one episode wouldn't play at first, but did play on the second or third attempt. 99.9% of remote recordings have played fine, it's just recently this has started to happen.


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## balboadave

devaska1 said:


> Originally Posted by azarby View Post
> When you get this message, can you play back the recording in native mode on the HR24 it was recorded on? When ever I received that type of message, It almost always pointed to a bad recording on the HR2x.
> 
> On second thought i've checked and it has nothing to do with the quality of my recordings or the fact that I canceled some of my recordings that conflicted with live TV or other recordings. It seems that the only channels that I get the " Data Packets audio/video" error are SD channels. For instance Boomerang, NikW, and some other SD channels that I have scheduled recordings on. All of the HD recordings work all the time, any thoughts on this........


Some of the episodes that failed for me were HD, so I can't corroborate this.


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## devaska1

balboadave said:


> Some of the episodes that failed for me were HD, so I can't corroborate this.


Were you getting the same error message that I am? And what's your setup? Thanks


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## balboadave

devaska1 said:


> Were you getting the same error message that I am? And what's your setup? Thanks


Exact same error message. I have 2 HR24s, Whole Home, and DECA connected to my server and the internet.


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## devaska1

balboadave said:


> Exact same error message. I have 2 HR24s, Whole Home, and DECA connected to my server and the internet.


Today all of the programs SD and HD, in my list are playing on the H24. So, this is an intermittent issue but, it's frustrating nonetheless.


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## cmalberto

This is also a symptom of my ongoing issues. What I have figured out is that my list is NOT updating. When i try to play a recording of a series, I am finding an older, already replaced show is being displayed. When I attempt to play I get the error as this show isn't really available. 

Figured out how to, still annoying, work around without restarting the receiver. After pressing the list button, press the yellow options button then change the playlist order to anything other than what is already set. It's a PIA but it works. 

--Mickey


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## DrummerBoy523

this is happening to me as well. I have an HR21-200, HR24-100, and an H24-100. We are also losing the UPL (unified play list) regularly. FYI, our network is fine or so it says! We have to reboot at least 2 or 3 times a week - very, very frustrating - especially for something I'm paying $3/month extra for.


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## devaska1

Well at least if there is no solution yet, I now know that i'm not imagining things. I hope someone has some insight into this issue. If I recall from all of the posts here so far it seems as though all of the programs where this is an issue are being served from an HR24-100 dvr. If that's the case then maybe veryoldschool is correct and this is just a problem that's unique to the HR24 because its a new machine......


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## devaska1

Here's more proof that this is an issue! Others with the same problems on the DTV forums....
http://directv.outstart.com/pe/acti...PostID=10729600&channelID=1&portalPageId=1002


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## balboadave

devaska1 said:


> Well at least if there is no solution yet, I now know that i'm not imagining things. I hope someone has some insight into this issue. If I recall from all of the posts here so far it seems as though all of the programs where this is an issue are being served from an HR24-100 dvr. If that's the case then maybe veryoldschool is correct and this is just a problem that's unique to the HR24 because its a new machine......


I need to make an update. With just some of the recordings that didn't play remotely, it turns out they did not record correctly. All of the info and program description is correct, but the playback is blank on the machine that recorded them. So in their case, there weren't any packets to send, which makes the error message on the remote playback correct. Now why they didn't record, and why there is no error message indicating that, becomes another issue.


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## hasan

balboadave said:


> I need to make an update. With just some of the recordings that didn't play remotely, it turns out they did not record correctly. All of the info and program description is correct, but the playback is blank on the machine that recorded them. So in their case, there weren't any packets to send, which makes the error message on the remote playback correct. Now why they didn't record, and why there is no error message indicating that, becomes another issue.


Did you look in your history file to see whether they show a reason for the bad recording. Sometimes there will be a message with the bad recording listed, and sometimes there is nothing there at all.


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## azarby

balboadave said:


> I need to make an update. With just some of the recordings that didn't play remotely, it turns out they did not record correctly. All of the info and program description is correct, but the playback is blank on the machine that recorded them. So in their case, there weren't any packets to send, which makes the error message on the remote playback correct. Now why they didn't record, and why there is no error message indicating that, becomes another issue.


This is the same problem I was having over amonth ago. It was reported to DTV and I think they are working on a solution.


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## cmalberto

"devaska1" said:


> Well at least if there is no solution yet, I now know that i'm not imagining things. I hope someone has some insight into this issue. If I recall from all of the posts here so far it seems as though all of the programs where this is an issue are being served from an HR24-100 dvr. If that's the case then maybe veryoldschool is correct and this is just a problem that's unique to the HR24 because its a new machine......


My setup that I didn't mention was a HR20-100 to 2 H24s


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## balboadave

hasan said:


> Did you look in your history file to see whether they show a reason for the bad recording. Sometimes there will be a message with the bad recording listed, and sometimes there is nothing there at all.


Yes I did. It said Recorded. Now it says Deleted.


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## balboadave

azarby said:


> This is the same problem I was having over amonth ago. It was reported to DTV and I think they are working on a solution.


Thanks for the info.


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## rweiss21

Any updates on this issue? I'm a new SUB with an HR24 and H24, having the same issue. It appears that my recorded HD content will play remotely but my SD content will not. All content plays back normally on the local DVR.


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## devaska1

Bueller anybody Bueller anybody? Any answers on this yet I'm still having the same issues and no answer. MRV just seems to work as it pleases which is becoming a huge PIA...... DTV sending a tech on Thursday this week to hopefully sort something out. This is lammmmeeeee....


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## DrummerBoy523

My issue was resolved by setting up static IPs on my router OUTSIDE of the DHCP pool boundary. What was happening was that my DHCP leases were expiring and causing the boxes to lose connection with one-another.

How are your boxes configured on your network?


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## wilbur_the_goose

DrummerBoy,
Could you explain how you set up static IPs?


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## devaska1

"DrummerBoy523" said:


> My issue was resolved by setting up static IPs on my router OUTSIDE of the DHCP pool boundary. What was happening was that my DHCP leases were expiring and causing the boxes to lose connection with one-another.
> 
> How are your boxes configured on your network?


I have it set on automatic I believe! How do I go about setting up static IPs on my router OUTSiDE of the DHcP boundary, I'm using an Airport express extreme. Your answer is better than anyone else has been able to give me so far! I have a tech coming tomorrow and I don't want them to swap out any of my boxes.(2 H24s and my HR24-100) I have a feeling that they are just gonna tell me the Deca is bad in one of them.
I am sure that's not the case though. Your help is appreciated.


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## dennisj00

Check your router for the DHCP range. . . typically on a Linksys it's .100 to .150.

Note the current settings on your DVR. Let's say they're

IP 192.168.1.114
Mask 255.255.255.0
Gateway 192.168.1.1

DNS 192.168.1.1 (or some other outside address)

Pick a range that doesn't have any IPs used . . . you can ping these from a PC (assuming you're connected to the network). Let's say 192.168.1.90
Go into Network / Advanced Setup

and change the 114 (last group) to 90.

pick Connect Now and the test should be fine.

One more thing. . . WRITE it down!

I keep a notepad of ALL devices on my network with IPs, and particularly any Default IPs / Usernames / Passwords so I don't have to look this stuff up 6 months from now.


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## DrummerBoy523

wilbur_the_goose said:


> DrummerBoy,
> Could you explain how you set up static IPs?





devaska1 said:


> I have it set on automatic I believe! How do I go about setting up static IPs on my router OUTSiDE of the DHcP boundary, I'm using an Airport express extreme. Your answer is better than anyone else has been able to give me so far! I have a tech coming tomorrow and I don't want them to swap out any of my boxes.(2 H24s and my HR24-100) I have a feeling that they are just gonna tell me the Deca is bad in one of them.
> I am sure that's not the case though. Your help is appreciated.


Look in your router setup to see the IP range for DHCP. As you can see, mine is setup to go from IPs 192.168.1.3 to 100. The number you should be concerned with is the LAST number.

Then, go to your DTV boxes in the Network Advanced Setup - you will be changing the IP address. Chose an IP address where the last number is greater than your highest number from your DHCP settings in your router. In my example, my highest number is 100, so I set my boxes up with IPs where the last numbers are greater than 100. For example, in my case I could use 150, 151, 152, etc. The IP would be 192.168.1.150, etc.

Connect Now and you should be set.

Hope that helps.


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## wilbur_the_goose

Thanks


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## markrubi

I am getting this error. It is only happening to recordings on a particular channel. Some times they will play after retrying. Resume will sometimes get it to play and others selecting start over. I have run system test all pass and have even rebooted the DVR's. Also reconnected the DECA's. I find it odd it is only failing on CBS shows.

Edit: I have 1 HR-24 and 2 HR-20's. The shows which are not playing are located on the HR-24. They will not play on either of the other DVR's.


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## DrummerBoy523

markrubi said:


> I am getting this error. It is only happening to recordings on a particular channel. Some times they will play after retrying. Resume will sometimes get it to play and others selecting start over. I have run system test all pass and have even rebooted the DVR's. Also reconnected the DECA's. I find it odd it is only failing on CBS shows.
> 
> Edit: I have 1 HR-24 and 2 HR-20's. The shows which are not playing are located on the HR-24. They will not play on either of the other DVR's.


Need much more information about your setup.

Do you have a router, if so, what kind. 
What are the IP settings on each DTV box? 
How many wired and wireless devices are attached to your network. 
Could your router be limiting the number of devices (causing your DTV devices to disconnect)?


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## markrubi

DrummerBoy523 said:


> Need much more information about your setup.
> 
> Do you have a router, if so, what kind.
> What are the IP settings on each DTV box?
> How many wired and wireless devices are attached to your network.
> Could your router be limiting the number of devices (causing your DTV devices to disconnect)?


No router attached.

1. 169.254.8.19 (hr20)
2. 169.254.4.204 (hr24)
3. 168.254.8.217 (hr20)

I have 3 DVR's attached via DECA's.

I don't think it's an IP issue since I can watch any other recordings except for those on my local CBS channel. The recordings play locally on the DVR (HR24) just fine. I just hit resume on a problem recording and it played. I tried another untouched recording and it failed.


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## harsh

DrummerBoy523 said:


> My issue was resolved by setting up static IPs on my router OUTSIDE of the DHCP pool boundary. What was happening was that my DHCP leases were expiring and causing the boxes to lose connection with one-another.


An overwhelmingly large percentage of the routers in the market will re-assign the same IP address as the previous lease (by MAC address). Unless you've set the lease length very short or somehow configured the router to offer random addresses, this shouldn't be a problem.


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## Barry in Conyers

harsh said:


> An overwhelmingly large percentage of the routers in the market will re-assign the same IP address as the previous lease (by MAC address). Unless you've set the lease length very short or somehow configured the router to offer random addresses, this shouldn't be a problem.


Absolutely true.

It is also true that the vast majority of people have no idea how a network or router works. DHCP was made part of the Ethernet standard (IEEE 802.3) in 1997 for good reasons.

The truth is that DHCP works just fine for MRV / D*oD / TVApps if the installation and configuration are correct.

EDIT: Fixed / static / reserved IP addresses will work, but they are not necessary.


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## E91

DrummerBoy523 said:


> Look in your router setup to see the IP range for DHCP. As you can see, mine is setup to go from IPs 192.168.1.3 to 100. The number you should be concerned with is the LAST number.
> 
> Then, go to your DTV boxes in the Network Advanced Setup - you will be changing the IP address. Chose an IP address where the last number is greater than your highest number from your DHCP settings in your router. In my example, my highest number is 100, so I set my boxes up with IPs where the last numbers are greater than 100. For example, in my case I could use 150, 151, 152, etc. The IP would be 192.168.1.150, etc.
> 
> Connect Now and you should be set.
> 
> Hope that helps.


I did this fix a few days ago - it had a huge impact on stabilizing the system. All my problems disappeared immediately.


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## DrummerBoy523

markrubi said:


> No router attached.
> 
> 1. 169.254.8.19 (hr20)
> 2. 169.254.4.204 (hr24)
> 3. 168.254.8.217 (hr20)
> 
> I have 3 DVR's attached via DECA's.
> 
> I don't think it's an IP issue since I can watch any other recordings except for those on my local CBS channel. The recordings play locally on the DVR (HR24) just fine. I just hit resume on a problem recording and it played. I tried another untouched recording and it failed.


The IPs look a bit weird. I would recommend you re-run the Network setup on each box. FYI, the HR24 should NOT have a DECA attached (its DECA is internal). If you have a DECA attached to that box, then you need to remove it.


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## DrummerBoy523

harsh said:


> An overwhelmingly large percentage of the routers in the market will re-assign the same IP address as the previous lease (by MAC address). Unless you've set the lease length very short or somehow configured the router to offer random addresses, this shouldn't be a problem.


shouldn't be a problem, but it was. FYI, I had no way to set the lease length on my particular router.


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## mpinales

I have the same equipment and the same issue. Directv says they are working on it....


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## turls

Been having this issue since the beginning both on ethernet and now on DECA. Never knew about the diagnostic tests. So what does it mean if my "dropped session" count is > zero? In my case 9. Usually MRV works fine, but it should be almost bulletproof, IMO.


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## turls

Bump? Surely somebody here knows what my results mean. . .


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## veryoldschool

turls said:


> Been having this issue since the beginning both on ethernet and now on DECA. Never knew about the diagnostic tests. * So what does it mean if my "dropped session" count is > zero? In my case 9*. Usually MRV works fine, but it should be almost bulletproof, IMO.


These come from disconnecting receivers with DECA.
If you haven't been moving things around, then you've got some bad connections with the coax.


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