# HR34 and (2) H25's instead of (2) C31's??



## ebox4greg (Dec 3, 2012)

Well, a new problem seems to persist after this new software download the other day. When watching a recorded movie

whether it be an on-demand movie, or one recorded from a regular channel, this is on the C31 clients only, the movie will

pause about every 1.5-2 minutes......the only thing you can do to continue is to press FAST FORWARD for a sec, then hit play

again. Of course, you lose a few seconds doing that, and if you're really into the movie and trying to listen to conversation, its

useless doing that.. You can also STOP the playback, but that takes you back to the main menu, so there you can either keep it

stopped of RESUME...of course, it it RESUMES to the point after you fast forwarded it after the freeze.



I talked to a friend I seen at work today who is an installer. Of course, he's heard of all the quirks of the C31's as all of you have.



He suggested calling DirecTV, and complaining, and asking for H25's as replacements.



(1) These are TRUE HD receivers correct?

(2) What will I lose going from clients to HD receivers?

(3) The H25's are compatible with my current GENIE and SWIM system, correct? (I assume since my friend said I could change to the H25).

(4) Anything that would need to be changed in the ethernet setup? (Ethernet directly to H34) In other words would the H25's still have

access to the internet thru the coax networking? Or would I need a CCK?



Has anyone of you installers had a scenerio where C31's have been replaced with H25's? 



I assume, if this happened, the same $6 extra for the 2 receivers would still apply.



My friend said that DirecTV *SHOULD* replace the C31's with H25's AT NO CHARGE.



(5) If this was approved, would they just ship me the receivers, and I activate them online, and my setup be back up and running?

In other words, nothing a tech would have to change, etc, since the WHOLE HOME already works with the clients.



Very frustrating to my mother. She doesn't know how to reset, reboot, and troubleshoot.



So, can a move from C31's to H25's happen?



thanks!

Greg


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

> When watching a recorded movie
> 
> whether it be an on-demand movie, or one recorded from a regular channel, this is on the C31 clients only, the movie will
> 
> pause about every 1.5-2 minutes......


What version of firmware do they have?
This was a problem with a test version, but it wasn't to be released and has since been fixed.

It's one hell of a nuisance to press replay every min or so, but it works better than what you've been doing.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

For me the H25s' plus is they are a stand alone tuner. The main drawback that bothers some but not me is you don't have trick play or a buffer; you've got to hit Record if you want to even pause it. 

They should nicely swap out where your C-31s are. Dunno what costs might be involved.


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## ebox4greg (Dec 3, 2012)

The clients downloaded new software when the tech installed them. Not sure where to find the firmware on the C31. Can't see it by holding INFO like on the HR34.

Anyway to FORCE DOWNLOAD software on a client?

the normal 02468 sequence doesn't work like it does on the HR34.



veryoldschool said:


> What version of firmware do they have?
> This was a problem with a test version, but it wasn't to be released and has since been fixed.
> 
> It's one hell of a nuisance to press replay every min or so, but it works better than what you've been doing.


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## ebox4greg (Dec 3, 2012)

I am hoping in light of all the problems, they would just replace the C31's for H25's......

On start a new order, it shows them for $99. Definately not willing to pay that to fix the screwed up C31's. the c31's were free with the genie...

The other solution is to get rid of the C31's all together and save $12 a month! LOL



Laxguy said:


> For me the H25s' plus is they are a stand alone tuner. The main drawback that bothers some but not me is you don't have trick play or a buffer; you've got to hit Record if you want to even pause it.
> 
> They should nicely swap out where your C-31s are. Dunno what costs might be involved.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

ebox4greg said:


> The clients downloaded new software when the tech installed them. Not sure where to find the firmware on the C31. Can't see it by holding INFO like on the HR34.
> 
> Anyway to FORCE DOWNLOAD software on a client?
> 
> the normal 02468 sequence doesn't work like it does on the HR34.


You should see the version on the system info screen.

No there isn't a way to force a download from our end, but if you have the wrong firmware, it would be worth calling to get DirecTV to push the right version.

Actually thinking back on this a bit more, it was the *firmware in the HR34* that was the cause, so this is something you can force a change of.


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## ebox4greg (Dec 3, 2012)

C31/700

Completion Code : 3992

that's all the diag info I see. Its not as much as the HR34 gives.



veryoldschool said:


> You should see the version on the system info screen.
> 
> No there isn't a way to force a download from our end, but if you have the wrong firmware, it would be worth calling to get DirecTV to push the right version.
> 
> Actually thinking back on this a bit more, it was the *firmware in the HR34* that was the cause, so this is something you can force a change of.


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## ebox4greg (Dec 3, 2012)

Well, the HR34 just did an update 2 days ago. 0x05D4



veryoldschool said:


> You should see the version on the system info screen.
> 
> No there isn't a way to force a download from our end, but if you have the wrong firmware, it would be worth calling to get DirecTV to push the right version.
> 
> Actually thinking back on this a bit more, it was the *firmware in the HR34* that was the cause, so this is something you can force a change of.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

ebox4greg said:


> Well, the HR34 just did an update 2 days ago. 0x05D4


Seems strange then that you'd still have this problem.

My C31 has 0x070A, which I thought went national.


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## ebox4greg (Dec 3, 2012)

Ok, just rebooted the C31 in diag mode. I do have 0x070A.

I was referring to the HR34 having the other firmware.



veryoldschool said:


> Seems strange then that you'd still have this problem.
> 
> My C31 has 0x070A, which I thought went national.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

ebox4greg said:


> Ok, just rebooted the C31 in diag mode. I do have 0x070A.
> I was referring to the HR34 having the other firmware.


Then I'm surprised you have pausing every min or two with recordings. :shrug:


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## ebox4greg (Dec 3, 2012)

Well, right now, the HR34 is off, one C31 is off, and the C31 in the bedroom is ON, and I'm watching DECK THE HALLS.... Hasn't paused in the first 30 mins.

Would the HR34 recording a movie, and BOTH C31's watching movies at the same time cause freezing? In other words, can recording and streaming happen at the same time?

Seemed at one point, this happened after I played PANDORA, then played a movie afterwards.



veryoldschool said:


> Then I'm surprised you have pausing every min or two with recordings. :shrug:


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

ebox4greg said:


> Well, right now, the HR34 is off, one C31 is off, and the C31 in the bedroom is ON, and I'm watching DECK THE HALLS.... Hasn't paused in the first 30 mins.
> 
> Would the HR34 recording a movie, and BOTH C31's watching movies at the same time cause freezing? In other words, can recording and streaming happen at the same time?
> 
> Seemed at one point, this happened after I played PANDORA, then played a movie afterwards.


The network bandwidth should be enough that this isn't a problem. Running the system test on the HR34 should show if there is a network problem.
Disregard dropped session count errors as this happens each time you turn off a C31.


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## ebox4greg (Dec 3, 2012)

I even did a RESET EVERYTHING, and set everything back up from scratch.

Here's the analysis.

Internet is working back fully. Pandora and Youtube and Apps work on every tv. HR34 and 2 C31's.

Playlist: One on-demand movie, and 1 show recorded off ABC. Both play fine on the HR34.

Went to the FIRST bedroom. Played the on-demand movie. worked fine.

Went to SECOND bedroom, played the ABC show. Froze up within 2 minutes on the second C31. FIRST C31 still playing the on-demand movie.

Stopped both movie playback.

Played the ABC show first on the FIRST C31. Played fine!!!!

Went back to the FIRST C31, and played the ABC movie, worked fine, froze up after about 2.5 minutes.

on the SECOND C31, played the on-deand movie, worked fine for 1-2 mins, froze up.

RESET HR34 and both C31's.

Started the ABC show on the HR34 and let it play.

Started the on-demand movie in ROOM 2 first. Worked fine. Both the HR34, and the Second C31 played for beyond 30 mins. (OK, I am convinced at this point you can play (1) movie on the HR34, and (1) movie on the C31 (which Directv calls a remote connection for some reason).

Started the on-demand movie in the FIRST room, locked up after 2 mins.

So, BOTH C31's can play movies for more than 30 minutes, so no network issues there. BUT.... When you stream movies on BOTH C31's at the same time, the SECOND one to be started ALWAYS freezes up so far... Always playing different movies.

On the Directv WHOLEHOME page, advertising the GENIE, it says "LIMIT ONE REMOTE VIEWING PER HD DVR AT THE SAME TIME".

That seems to me to be saying.... You can only watch a recorded movie on ONE C31 at a time.....

If that is true, that holds true to my experiment. HR34 and 1 C31 can be watching a movie at once. Hence the C31 is

a "remote connection".... When a SECOND C31 tries to view a movie, it freezes..........the HR34 and the first C31 continue, unaffected".

If this is the case, and the way the thing works, I can work around that. One of the C31's only watches TV most of the time, and rarely watches movies. 

So, I'll keep tabs on how the C31's act over the next week, and post and update.

Thanks!!


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

The Genie supports three remote viewing at the same time.
The HR2x are the DVRs that only support one.

Since I don't have 2 C31s, I have my Genie playing a recording, two DVRs playing the same recording, and started playing the same on my C31.
It's been going on for 20 mins without problems.

You may want to look at your router's settings and see if you can turn off UPnP, or remove the router connection and reboot all the receivers and try your C31s again.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

It wouldn't hurt to give the Genie a fixed IP. My understanding is the clients can't be set with specific IPs.


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## ebox4greg (Dec 3, 2012)

Actually the GENIE gets the same internal IP address everytime it reboots because it is in the DHCP reservation list in the router.

As for the clients, I think the GENIE hands out ip's to the clients.



Laxguy said:


> It wouldn't hurt to give the Genie a fixed IP. My understanding is the clients can't be set with specific IPs.


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## FlyingDiver (Dec 4, 2002)

ebox4greg said:


> As for the clients, I think the GENIE hands out ip's to the clients.


It better not be. Only the router should be assigning IP addresses. Well, the DHCP server to be exact, but that's almost always in the router for home networks. The Genie has no way to know what IP addresses are available to be assigned.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

"FlyingDiver" said:


> It better not be. Only the router should be assigning IP addresses. Well, the DHCP server to be exact, but that's almost always in the router for home networks. The Genie has no way to know what IP addresses are available to be assigned.


The Genie hands out IP addresses via a private IP network that is between be Genie and the clients. This does not interfere with your home network setup. The IP addresses that the Genie hands out are in the range of 169.254.x.x, which is APIPA that would be used if the home network DHCP server wasn't working.

- Merg


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## FlyingDiver (Dec 4, 2002)

The Merg said:


> The Genie hands out IP addresses via a private IP network that is between be Genie and the clients. This does not interfere with your home network setup. The IP addresses that the Genie hands out are in the range of 169.254.x.x, which is APIPA that would be used if the home network DHCP server wasn't working.


So C31 clients never access the public internet? They don't do VOD or anything like that directly? I guess the Genie does all that for them.

It's my understanding that APIPA addresses are self-assigned, with an ARP query to make sure no other device is already using that address. Are you sure the Genie is actually assigning addresses in that range? Seems like that could break easily if for some reason other devices on the network are also self-assigning.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

FlyingDiver said:


> Are you sure the Genie is actually assigning addresses in that range?


The Genie shows these on the info screen, and the C31 shows what it uses.


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## FlyingDiver (Dec 4, 2002)

veryoldschool said:


> The Genie shows these on the info screen, and the C31 shows what it uses.


I'm sure the Genie knows the addresses of the clients, it would get those when the clients connect. And the C31s would know their own addresses, of course. I'm just skeptical that the Genie is actually *assigning* those addresses to the clients. AFAIK, that would be a violation of the spec for that protocol, and too likely to break.

I don't have any C31s, or I would test this myself.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

FlyingDiver said:


> I'm sure the Genie knows the addresses of the clients, it would get those when the clients connect. And the C31s would know their own addresses, of course. I'm just skeptical that the Genie is actually *assigning* those addresses to the clients. AFAIK, that would be a violation of the spec for that protocol, and too likely to break.
> 
> I don't have any C31s, or I would test this myself.


I doubt they are assigning them, but they are using them, which was Merg's point.


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## FlyingDiver (Dec 4, 2002)

veryoldschool said:


> I doubt they are assigning them, but they are using them, which was Merg's point.


Well, no, Merg specifically said the Genie was assigning the addresses.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

FlyingDiver said:


> Well, no, Merg specifically said the Genie was assigning the addresses.


First you went after the OP, and then Merg.
"The point" is the Genie & clients use the 169.xxx IPs and the OP might want to remove the router connection and see how the C31s work.
If the problem goes away, then it's router related.
If the problem doesn't, then it's DirecTV's problem.

There really is no point going into who mistook where the 169.xxx comes from.


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## FlyingDiver (Dec 4, 2002)

veryoldschool said:


> First you went after the OP, and then Merg.
> "The point" is the Genie & clients use the 169.xxx IPs and the OP might want to remove the router connection and see how the C31s work.
> If the problem goes away, then it's router related.
> If the problem doesn't, then it's DirecTV's problem.
> ...


So correcting misinformation or asking for clarification is "going after" someone? Or is that only if you're not one of the old timers around here?


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

FlyingDiver said:


> So correcting misinformation or asking for clarification is "going after" someone? Or is that only if you're not one of the old timers around here?


Instead of deleting your post, I'll wish you a Merry Christmas.


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## FlyingDiver (Dec 4, 2002)

Merry Christmas to you too, and to everyone at DBSTalk.com.


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## ebox4greg (Dec 3, 2012)

Discussion is getting out of hand. Requesting thread lock.


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## ebox4greg (Dec 3, 2012)

Discussion is getting out of hand. Requesting thread lock.


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## FlyingDiver (Dec 4, 2002)

ebox4greg said:


> if you don't have C31's or the original subject isn't happening to you, what does it matter?


Sheesh. I guess it doesn't matter if the actual operation of the networking protocol doesn't really matter. I still contend that if the Genie is actually assigning those address then it's wrong to do so. But hey, if you don't care then I don't either.


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## Scott Kocourek (Jun 13, 2009)

Thread closed at OP request.


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