# No video output, things are slow.



## Sundance (Mar 6, 2004)

I'm new here so I don't want to post this as a bug cause I'm not sure if it is.

My 921 is doing some strange things. It started about a week ago.  

When I go to DVR ofter it seems to be very slow. If I scroll recorded events (this happends with other menu's like themes as well) it will scroll a few listings and then stop for a sec or two (it appears to be waiting or reading the info. for this listing) If I select an item it will take up to 5 sec. for the screen to rebuild, you know like on a computer when you are low on video memory and the screen will rebuild an item at a time, first the tool bar then the buttons and so on. Sometimes it is so slow that the blinking colon between the hour and min. in the time will blink every 3 to 5 sec. not every sec.

Then sometimes I will be watching something on the DVR and decide to watch a live program. I will pull up the guide and select the show and it will show the title bar of the show but no program will ever display, just a black screen. I have to turn off and back on the 921 to get the program.

Then tonight I watched Enterprise but turned it on to late to get the beginning. I started the recording 3/4 of the way into the program. looking back a short time later it had stopped recording. I did a search to find a later broadcast of Enterprise to record, found one and set it to record and turned off the 921. I come back an hour or so later and the red record light is on. I turn on the unit and I get nothing, just a black screen and no audio, also when I get nothing like this there is no HD or SD light. The power light comes on. 

Any ideas, anyone else have problems like this? I know one of the remedies for a slow system is to power it down, unplug it wait 30 sec. and plug it back in. But for havens sake I have been doing this for 6 years, when in the heck is Dish going to get a receiver out that will work with out this stupid trick.

If any of this is known is it in the next fix?

Thanks,


Sundance


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

Well, have you rebooted it? Does it help?

There's lots of probems with the 921, and a big issue is memory leaks - that's why the box has an auto-reboot routine if it's in stand-by overnight.


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## Sundance (Mar 6, 2004)

I didn't reboot it as it was recording and I was "hoping" it was in fact recording what I asked ti to record. But this problem has been an issue for at least a week, shouldn't the auto-reboot have fixed it the first night it showed up? Also how do you force it to boot?

Thanks


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

There's 2 basic reboots - 'soft' which is holding the front panel power button for a 10 count, and 'hard' which is pulling power for at least 30 seconds (some people say 2+ minutes, but I've not had any trouble).

You can tell if the box has rebooted by using the PiP Position. It always starts in the lower-right corner after a boot. So, if you move it elsewhere after booting, you can tell if the box has rebooted while you weren't there.


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## jsa_usenet (Oct 7, 2003)

Ok, I'm having similar...though not sure if exactly the same... problems.

The 921, about two weeks ago, began to slow WAY down. For example, I hit guide, and it takes five to ten seconds to put the guide up. Some keypresses are instant, others take a second to respond. Tried it on the front panel, same thing.

Reboots SORT of help... but not for very long. I can't be 100% sure they help much at all.

Any thoughts on what could be causing this? I have scanned bugs and haven't seen this one.

-j



SimpleSimon said:


> There's 2 basic reboots - 'soft' which is holding the front panel power button for a 10 count, and 'hard' which is pulling power for at least 30 seconds (some people say 2+ minutes, but I've not had any trouble).
> 
> You can tell if the box has rebooted by using the PiP Position. It always starts in the lower-right corner after a boot. So, if you move it elsewhere after booting, you can tell if the box has rebooted while you weren't there.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

I think that memory leaks is a good theory. I've experienced these problems for some time now. It doesn't seem that any of the software updates have improved this issue. The only way I've been able to get things back to speed are reboots. Having been a user of Windows 98 some years back, memory leaks were common. The 921 has the same type of slow down as did this operation system.


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## scpanel (Jun 13, 2004)

This is interesting becaust this just started w/mine yesterday. I have tried all the various restartd but it is still very slow. What did the rest of you find, or are you living w/it?


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

scpanel said:


> This is interesting becaust this just started w/mine yesterday. I have tried all the various restartd but it is still very slow. What did the rest of you find, or are you living w/it?


Sometimes when doing the power cord reboot and I don't leave the 921 unplugged for over 30 seconds, the problem or problems sometimes remain. What SimpleSimon mentions about memory leaks is related to the software and how it reacts with the processor in the 921. On one occasion recently, I had to unhook everything from the 921. I let it set for several minutes. it functioned properly. In the past two weeks, I would say that I have done at least seven power cord reboots. The automatic reboot that occurs early in the AM hours sometimes seems to have no effect. Once time I called the dish tech people who said that a poor ground in the outlet where the power cord is plugged can cause software corruption. My grounding seems solid at the outlet and perhaps there is a poor ground in the 921 unit. Several 921 owners post that they have no problems with their 921 and don't have to reboot. My Christmas wish is that my 921 will function properly all the time. I'm trying to live with it.


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## bbomar (Oct 18, 2004)

The 921 software can get really confused. I'm not sure if it is memory
leaks or what. Last Friday I was recording Medical Investigation OTA
when I got home and the 921 would not tune in but one or two satellite channels. I was getting signal lost errors and smart card not authorized
errors. Some channels were not even showing up in the channel list, and
others were out of their normal order. My wife had seen the unit
frozen up when she turned it on that morning and I should have rebooted
then. Anyway, after my recording finished I did a power cord reset and
all was well, and the recording was ok also. Every Saturday morning,
as part of my usual routine of chores, I try to remember to unplug the 921 and leave the plug out for an hour or so while I do other things. My wife 
is at work and it is a convenient time. Then I plug it in and leave it alone
to reboot in peace while I do other things. Usually that keeps the unit
trouble free. However, over Thanksgiving weekend that did not get done.
I have similar problems with my PC at work which I generally leave on 24/7.
Every so often it gets slow and exhibits other strange problems and I need
to reboot it. I'm afraid software complexity has exceeded our ability to
fully understand everything that can happen to it.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

"I'm afraid software complexity has exceeded our ability to fully understand everything that can happen to it."

Actually, that happened with mainframes in the late 1970's. There's nothing new under the sun.


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## scpanel (Jun 13, 2004)

Well, I think I am going to wait until the new versionI suppose its now 211, to see if it makes a difference. Otherwise if it continues I will be looking for a replacement


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## FrequentFlyer (Sep 22, 2004)

Sundance said:


> When I go to DVR ofter it seems to be very slow. If I scroll recorded events (this happends with other menu's like themes as well) it will scroll a few listings and then stop for a sec or two (it appears to be waiting or reading the info. for this listing) If I select an item it will take up to 5 sec. for the screen to rebuild, you know like on a computer when you are low on video memory and the screen will rebuild an item at a time, first the tool bar then the buttons and so on. Sometimes it is so slow that the blinking colon between the hour and min. in the time will blink every 3 to 5 sec. not every sec.
> 
> Then sometimes I will be watching something on the DVR and decide to watch a live program. I will pull up the guide and select the show and it will show the title bar of the show but no program will ever display, just a black screen. I have to turn off and back on the 921 to get the program.


Sundance, I have this EXACT problem and it has been a cause of massive frustration for months. What is odd is that I have TWO 921s and only one has the problem. I switched the two 921s and the problem followed the LOCATION of the 921, not the actual unit. Naturally I then assumed the cable run was bad so I had my installer come pull a brand new RG6 cable from the DPP44 to the box. It made no difference!

What kind of multiswitch are you using? I would love to get to the bottom of this problem. If it's not hardware, then it has to be some configuration of the box that we have triggered. I don't think it's a defective unit based on my swapping of the units as noted above.

I am now running L211 and the problem still exists.


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## boatdrink (Aug 20, 2004)

I also developed the same problem a few day ago, I thought that it was due to the 211 download. I have also been losing channel lock intermitently. I have tried both hard and soft reboots, sometimes one or the other works. Last night I had to do a soft reboot (hold button) and nothing happened, then I did a hard reboot (unplug) and it seemed to fix it for now. Everything worked fine on this unit up till when 211 came out


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## FrequentFlyer (Sep 22, 2004)

boatdrink said:


> Everything worked fine on this unit up till when 211 came out


boatdrink, for what it's worth, I have had this problem since before 211. The guide data shows, and I can even change channels but no picture appears, and I'm not sure the switch knows I have changed the channel. The solution has been to hard reset the receiver, the multiswitch, or both.

This one location is my longest run, and though I believe it is well under the 200 ft limit I have seen, I think I might try an amplifier. When the installer was here we tried the amp at the receiver briefly but there was no real change in the signal levels (which appear fine).

I'm wondering if the DPP44 might be defective or have its own set of problems.


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## FrequentFlyer (Sep 22, 2004)

Here is another small bit of info that may be relevant and may be worthwhile for others to try when they get in this situation: if I check signal levels, there is no satellite lock. If I do a check-switch, the check will fail. At least in my case, the receiver seems to have lost its ability to communicate with the switch. That's why I think it may be just as much the switch's fault as the receiver's. Of course resetting the switch and the receiver will almost always solve the problem, but that's a long process. Also if this situation happens while I am away, programs do not get recorded.

I do believe that changing channels is the trigger that causes this problem. If I stay on the same channel forever, there is no problem.


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## FrequentFlyer (Sep 22, 2004)

Here is another hypothesis: when this happens, go over to dish pointing and check the signal levels on each tuner. I found today that when the black screen occurred I could only get signal on one of the two tuners.


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