# NEW Software 501/508 (v1.69) released



## manicd

New software for the 501/508 released today (30 Jan 2003).

I can see no real difference in it from 1.68. I have to assume it is a bug fix. 

I must ---really--- be important to Dish. I got it on the day it was released!


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## DarrellP

Hey, Manic, are you blind? Look at this thread that is stuck to the top of the page.


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## manicd

> _Originally posted by DarrellP _
> *Hey, Manic, are you blind? Look at this thread that is stuck to the top of the page. *


I am not blind. That was version 1.68 that was released on 9 Jan 2003.

This is version 1.69 released today 30 Jan 2003.

You can verify this at dish Network.

http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/support/technical/software_versions/index.asp


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## Filip1

DarrellP
ManicD is not blind. One of my 501's is on 169 rite now. I don't know when it was downloaded but must of been this afternoon. I don't see any obvious difference either.


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## DarrellP

Sorry guys, I am the one that's blind. I did not notice you posted 169, my bad!  Beat me with a microprocessor, sorry. I'll bet it's bug fixes, mine has acted screwey as hell since 168.


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## Steve Mehs

God no! My 508 has been flawless with 168 as it was with 166, but 167 screwed it up. Hopefully 169 won't sxcrew things up for me.


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## RBenson

Hi guys, I just subscribed to my local channels and received P169 today. My 501 has locked up twice since doing this. I will lose all video and sound on most channels and can't turn the receiver off. Pressed the power button for several seconds the first time and pulled the card the second time. This returned the machine to working order for a while. Two lockups within 2 hours is not promising. I don't know if the upgrade or the new channels are causing this. Hopefully this will correct itself eventually.

REB


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## Steve Mehs

Welcome to DBSTalk RB :wave:

Sorry to hear about that  I just set my 508 to ask for permission before downloading.


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## Mark Lamutt

My 501 is now on P169 and my 508 is still at P168. I haven't had any problems with my 501 yet tonight with the new software.


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## Mark Holtz

At this time, the current versions is P168 and P169. I'm still at P168. It sounds like a bug fix though.


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## Randy_B

Is there a significant bug in 168? I have seen some posts about intermittent caller-id issue and the long title auto fill-in search bug (backspace key doesn't work). Is there something serious?


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## davhol

I found and reported to Dish CSRs (who filed an uncommon trend report) that when pausing and then pressing the "back" button, it can sometimes "fall out of 1/4 reverse mode" back into pause mode. A variant of this behavior is that a subsequent "back" button can either cause it to behave properly and remain in 1/4 reverse mode or it can fall back into pause mode (and sometimes continually fall back into pause mode each time the back button is pressed). Pressing the pause (or View or Cancel) button and then the pause/back sequence can either work or not work. My guess is that 169 is a bug fix for slow/stop motion. I guess I'll see when my 501 takes the download.


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## Filip1

I think it has to do with missed timers and a problem with see thru menus. I have seen both of these bugs since 168.


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## DarrellP

> _Originally posted by Steve Mehs _
> *God no! My 508 has been flawless with 168 as it was with 166, but 167 screwed it up. Hopefully 169 won't sxcrew things up for me. *


That's pretty funny Steve, because mine is just the opposite of what you have experienced. 167 was the best rev for my box, it was rock solid. Since 168 it has locked up several times, given me the "Smartcard not properly inserted" and has just not behaved well at all. It is especially flakey while changing menus, it seems like it forgets where it was or runs out of memory or something and just spazzes out. :shrug:


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## Tony S

I got the new software on Thursday (I have a 501). So far I have not seen any differences at all in the new software. (No problems either).

Wouldn't it be nice if E* posted a software revision history on their web site?


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## RBenson

Greetings! Since my 1st post about several lock-ups, I haven't encountered any more. Must have just been a fluke.


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## Unthinkable

> _Originally posted by Filip1 _
> *I think it has to do with missed timers and a problem with see thru menus. I have seen both of these bugs since 168. *


I still see the see-thru menu bug sometimes when I hit the PVR button with P169 and also still have issues with the instant weather locking up to the point of a reboot being the only option out of there. Last night, I sat there and laughed out loud at how instantaneous it was showing me nothing more then the now loading screen until finally I said enough is enough. I could have had 3 birthdays waiting for that app to load successfully.


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## Scott Greczkowski

For some reason Dish Network PVR's do not operate their best on the first day after getting a software update. But after that they run for the most part great. 

We would like to start providing information to our members about the 501/508 like we currently do with the 721. 

Hopefully soon we can start offering support on the 501/508 for everyone.


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## DarrellP

> _Originally posted by Scott Greczkowski _
> *For some reason Dish Network PVR's do not operate their best on the first day after getting a software update. But after that they run for the most part great.  *


Well, Scott, it's been a couple of weeks now with several reboots, power-off, smartcard yanks, etc and my machine is still burping.

For the first time EVER this weekend, my machine failed to fire 2 timers. Luckily I was sitting there when this happened so I was able to get them going.

The thing that really torques me is when I tried to set a timer I got a conflict. After deleting the new timer that I was trying to create on the conflict screen, it started to record.

I am also having the issue where the PVR screen has a hard time going away when going back to watching the video and my machine has told me several times that the smartcard is not inserted properly. I will be watching TV and all of a sudden this screen pops up. I go over, tap the card and the message goes away. :shrug:

Once in awhile I still get kicked out of the EPG when trying to set a timer. Invariably it is when I am 5 days out, 30 channels away from the current channel and 12 hours off so it's a real pain to get back to where I was.


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## Unthinkable

I've experienced all those bugs listed above save for the smartcard is not inserted properly one. Instant Weather can lock up on a whim and is painfully slow and retrieving local movie showtimes can prove to be a lesson in futility as well when you watch the perpetual "now loading" four circles fill in over and over again to no avail. Easier to just hop on the web and check it here as others have said in other threads.


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## manicd

Well, finally got 1.69 on my second 501. Only 5 days after getting it on the first unit.


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## Chris Blount

I also just got the upgrade.


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## Filip1

I received 169 on all 4 of my 50x's this afternoon. That included my replacement 501 that I received yesterday. Gotta love the extended warranty!


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## Steve Mehs

I also received the upgrade today


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## Mark Holtz

I've checked and got P169 on my 501.


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## Randy_B

We've got 169 as well. Now if we could just figure out it did (does)?


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## Allamand

I also received the update.

Seems to be alot of little things. If I remember correctly, the "Customer Support" from the main menu works. When I go to the "Timers" page and selected something, then right arrowed it would go to "Delete" now it goes to Cancel(No more wrongly deleted timers)

I'm not sure, but before, when watching a show, if one hit the "Stop" button to go to "live", could you still rew back?

-steve


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## P Smith

> _Originally posted by Randy_B _
> *We've got 169 as well. Now if we could just figure out it did (does)? *


Only EIT bug fix, nothing else. It was report there :

- just added error handling for wrong EIT with the message for log: "ERROR: db_put_pf_eit_section() invalid EIT DESC!!!"


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## DarrellP

> _Originally posted by Allamand _
> *I also received the update.
> I'm not sure, but before, when watching a show, if one hit the "Stop" button to go to "live", could you still rew back?
> -steve *


Not if you were recording. Pressing stop will kill the recording. This has been one of my biggest gripes with the 501, I really think they should have a warning when Stop is pressed while watching a recording in progress and it's delayed. They can do it with the Live buffer, why not a recording? What's the difference?:shrug:


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## MrPete

I just received P169 and for the first time in months, I had problems. I was recording '24' and tried to watch it from the beginning (ie. Start Over). The playback was erratic.. grrr. 
I then hit 'VIEW' and playback seemed normal.. I then tried to watch some other recorded event and received the same erratic stuttering playback, so I went back to live mode. However, the audio and video was not out of sync.

I then waited for a commercial, stopped the current recording and did a soft reset via the front panel. That seemed to fix it so I had it resume recording '24'. I checked the timer list and verified that it was going to record NYPD Blue and The Shield after '24' and then left to go work out. 

Upon returning a couple of hours later, the screen was frozen with the record light on. ARGG.... Even worse, it was a picture of Bush!!!  

When I tried to change channels, the banner on top showed that '24' was playing and that there was '21:37' time left... 

Eventually I was able to reset the box and found that '24' did finish recording but the NYPD Blue and The Shield timers did not fire. :O

This pissed me off and to add insult to injury, DISH had recently removed my west coast feeds because ABC revoked my waiver and I did not get a second chance to record.


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## DarrellP

Funny, I had the same issues with 24. It looked fine Live but on Playback it was very choppy and stuttering. Resetting had no effect on it, I had to suffer through it. I had a total of 3 recordings do this. I did not have 169 when this happened.

My machine has been a real piece of sh*t shince 168. It almost hangs up everytime I Cancel out of the PVR screen, it takes several seconds to clear the screen and go back Live.


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## samo

> Once in awhile I still get kicked out of the EPG when trying to set a timer. Invariably it is when I am 5 days out, 30 channels away from the current channel and 12 hours off so it's a real pain to get back to where I was.


To minimize the pain... If you use record button instead of select you'll never get kicked back to live. But if get kicked back to live and you are 30 channels and 5 days +12 hours away - enter channel you want to record and then push 30 sec forward skip 5 times, then enter 12 and push browse. Takes about 15 sec vs forever if you use directional moves.


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## DarrellP

169 is really starting to pi** me off! Last night I has another timer refuse to fire (Inspector Gadget), yet it showed the clock icon on the EPG. When I noticed the red record light was not on, I switched to the 501 (from my 6000) and had a black screen. 

I pressed the Guide button, the guide came up and about 3 seconds later the video popped up in the window. At that point, I could not Cancel or do anything, it was totally froze so I did a manual reset, powered off, pulled the damn unsmartcard again and fired it back up.

It appears to be ok now. I went in and deleted all timers and recreated them , since this is what fixed my "upgrade" from 167 to 168. 

Samo, I know how to do your trick listed above, the point is, the stupid machine should not kick me out of the Guide in the first place.


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## Steve Mehs

169 has been pretty good for me. On a positive note, last night there was no 'blinky' for Dragnet for me. it was approaching 10 and I didn't even realize it, then my 508 switched automatically to ABC. No blinky clock at all, probably just a 'bug' though. But I was dissapointed to find that my timer didn't automatically adjust for the 90 minute CSI this Thurs. Darrell, yours did, right?


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## DarrellP

Yes, Steve, my timer adjusted for the 90 minute CSI. It's too strange how all these machines have different symptoms with different software revs.


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## Steve Mehs

Yeah really! Under 167 your machine was flawless, and mine would lock up, not fire timers and so on. Now with 168 and 169, it's just the opposite. Some machines have OpenTV freezes a lot some rarely. Makes me wonder what the heck is going on with all this.


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## Turbohawk

Anyone yet know exactly what 1.69 changed?


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## P Smith

It was explain in post #28 here.


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## fammeyer

> _Originally posted by P Smith _
> *It was explain in post #28 here. *


Where can I find the posting on Dishnet's site showing what 1.69 did?

Post #28 sounds like jibberish to me. Must be some misspellings or something.:shrug:


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## P Smith

In that case you don't need any explanation - take it as-is, i.e. a bug fixed.


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## Guest

Roger that Wilco. Still jibberish. ;-)


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## Jupiter

Since my 508 upgraded to 1.69 my channel tune in times have gone from 1-2 seconds to 6-8 seconds. What gives? Has anyone else had this problem? Is there anything I can do? Help!

Another strange thing has also happened, probably not related but it happened at the same time as the1.69 upgrade. The range of the remote has greatly been reduced even though I just replaced the batteries. Is there anything I can do to increase the range? I used to be able to operate the PVR from my kitchen, which is only about 30 feet away from the unit. My older 4000 unit's remote has never had any problems anywhere inside the house, no matter if I was in the basement or anywhere else for that matter. Help!


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## Turbohawk

> _Originally posted by Jupiter _
> *Since my 508 upgraded to 1.69 my channel tune in times have gone from 1-2 seconds to 6-8 seconds. What gives? Has anyone else had this problem? Is there anything I can do? Help!
> 
> Another strange thing has also happened, probably not related but it happened at the same time as the1.69 upgrade. The range of the remote has greatly been reduced even though I just replaced the batteries. Is there anything I can do to increase the range? I used to be able to operate the PVR from my kitchen, which is only about 30 feet away from the unit. My older 4000 unit's remote has never had any problems anywhere inside the house, no matter if I was in the basement or anywhere else for that matter. Help! *


Funny about the range...I noticed this very same thing the other day. My kitchen is about 30 feet from the reciever, in plain view, but it didn't seem to reach right away like it used to. I haven't changed the batteries since they are only a month old.

As for the time to change channels, I haven't noticed that much of a change. All I know that this 508 runs much faster than my POS DP did. Damn Microsoft to hell.


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## Unthinkable

> _Originally posted by Jupiter _
> *Since my 508 upgraded to 1.69 my channel tune in times have gone from 1-2 seconds to 6-8 seconds. What gives? Has anyone else had this problem? Is there anything I can do? Help!
> 
> Another strange thing has also happened, probably not related but it happened at the same time as the1.69 upgrade. The range of the remote has greatly been reduced even though I just replaced the batteries. Is there anything I can do to increase the range? I used to be able to operate the PVR from my kitchen, which is only about 30 feet away from the unit. My older 4000 unit's remote has never had any problems anywhere inside the house, no matter if I was in the basement or anywhere else for that matter. Help! *


You aren't alone. Both of my 501's are exhibiting the exact same weaknesses you noted above to the T.


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## renardg

> _Originally posted by Jupiter _
> *Since my 508 upgraded to 1.69 my channel tune in times have gone from 1-2 seconds to 6-8 seconds. What gives? Has anyone else had this problem? Is there anything I can do? Help!*


Mine has been doing this for months, and sometimes it won't even tune the channel, just sits there with a black screen, won't turn off, completely locked up. Use the power on reset and it starts working, but still extremely slow channel changes.

This happened after my daughter knocked it off the TV and it fell about 1.5 feet to the carpeted ground. Coincidence? I don't know, but I bought their extended warranty coverage and I am about to use it if I don't get my normal channel change times back.


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## Turbohawk

My channel change times are about 2 seconds and it seems that the remote range is back to normal.

Could it be coincidental? Sunspots? Who knows.


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