# Receiver shuts down by "reboot by STB"



## aa4wp (Apr 17, 2009)

This problem has plagued us for over a year, ever since we subscribed to HD programming. The problem is observed mostly with our 722 DVR, although it has occurred with our 211k (with DVR modification) on about a 1:10 ratio.

Usually while we are watching between 5:00 and 8:00 PM the set will shut down, and restart. The exact times are not the same. The set is programmed to UPDATE at 6:00 AM daily, and the inactivity is set for 4 hrs (enabled). 

The problem is that the set does not respond to the remote command, followed by the picture freezing (from 10 seconds to 6 minutes), followed by total blanking of the picture, followed the whirring sound from the STB, followed by the usual screen alerts (search for signal, progress (1,2,3,4 all very quickly) and then return to picture (no download of software or of program guide) and we have lost a bunch of viewing which is lost forever.

The statement given by looking at the schedule (past activities) is the time and the remark : "Event stopped by STB reboot", followed by the time of the start of recording, time of stop of recording. So far today we have had two stoppages, one at 5:23PM, and one at 5:35PM, with program information lost by the gaps. Even as I type, at 6:03, the screen is frozen, and now at 6:07, we again have the program, all appears norma.

Event stopped by STB reboot; I didn't know what that meant until a knowledgeable Tech at Dish told me. "Set Top Box" I just love it when they talk high-tec. 

I cannot believe that they don't have other customers who have this same problem. Please comment if you have this same experience.

We have had at least 7 replacements of this 722 receiver, all "remanufactured" sets. We are surely keeping UPS in business. The last time I brought the Dish box to UPS, the fellow there said: "We get about 2 or 3 of these Dish Packages to return each day at this store." I asked, are you sure it was Dish? and he said "going to Spartansburg, SC". He gave me a receipt and said to hold on to it, because they "lose" some of these packages at the warehouse, after delivery.

From a technical viewpoint (of which I am limited) I believe that the hardware probably is not clocking as fast as the engineers who designed the STBs had hoped they would be.

'nuff said.


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

aa4wp said:


> We are surely keeping UPS in business.


Speaking of UPS, are you presently using a UPS device on your receivers?


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## bnborg (Jun 3, 2005)

I have seen this, but recently it has been rare.

Just my opinion, but I think this gets worse when the DVR is overheating. Put a laptop cooling pad under the DVR, like I did.


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## Hardin Thicke (Jun 18, 2008)

I'm getting this too at about the same times you observed. It's at least once a week, and I would check the event log if I knew where it was. I just had one Monday about 5:23PM. The picture freezes for several minutes unless you depress the power button until the screen goes black. This is followed by what sounds like a fan or disk drive noise for 30 seconds, followed then by satellite re-accquisition. Receiver is on UPS.


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## eclipsetrb (Jan 19, 2005)

Sounds like a heat problem my 612 does it like one a month, usually if i am doing a split screen and watching two hd feeds. Clean the area around the intake for the fan, the area around the unit and put it in a place where it can breath as good as possible. I know sometimes our wives dont agree with our locations but it is what it is...


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Get you a small usb or A/C powered fan to pull hot air out of the left side of the receiver.

Laptop pads are semi-effective since the motherboard covers nearly the entire bottom of the caseand the heat is on top of the MB..


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

aa4wp said:


> This problem has plagued us for over a year, ever since we subscribed to HD programming. The problem is observed mostly with our 722 DVR, although it has occurred with our 211k (with DVR modification) on about a 1:10 ratio.
> 
> Usually while we are watching between 5:00 and 8:00 PM the set will shut down, and restart. The exact times are not the same. The set is programmed to UPDATE at 6:00 AM daily, and the inactivity is set for 4 hrs (enabled).
> 
> ...


My 622 has been doing the exact same thing for two or three days now. Most of the time it has been in the middle of a recording session but it has always continued the recording once the re-boot was finished.

I didn't notice this problem before L6.29, but I've had that software for more than a week now ... so it may be a "sleeper" bug that waited for just the right keystrokes to emerge.

Your guess is as good as mine.


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## Hardin Thicke (Jun 18, 2008)

FWIW, my receiver sits out in the open, on a glass shelf near the floor. It also get frequently vacuumed to remove any dust buildup. I'd venture a guess and say that in my case, if it's overheating, it isn't from any fault of my own. I've had reboots at other times of the day, but it most always happens between 5:20 and 5:25 PM


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## Hardin Thicke (Jun 18, 2008)

Rebooted again today, precisely at 5:23 PM local time. Diagnostics reports an average HDD temperature of 131F.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

My 722k sits on top of a 5 ft high cabinet on the left end with a PS3 in top of it and a HomeTheaterCooling.com fan pulling air out of the left side.

My High temp is 120, ambient room temp is 78 degrees.

I have to reboot maybe every two months or so irratically.


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## bnborg (Jun 3, 2005)

The high temp on my 722 is 131, but that is from before I put the laptop pad under it.

I haven't seen it hang or reboot spontaneously in weeks now. Although it can get very slow to respond when we are recording on all three tuners and watching two different recorded at the same time.


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## nicedeboy26 (Jul 27, 2007)

I've noticed this exact problem from 2 out of 3 of my boxes: My owned 722 and a leased 612. 

612 will reset itself around 5pm while the 722 does it on occasion during the day. 

I have my other leased 612 unplugged until needed because out of the 3 boxes in three adjoining rooms, they will heat up the house pretty quickly in the summer as well as Verizon Fios’s Internet and TV equipment. Even though people here claim it should not, I personally witnessed it. 

722 sounds like a hair dryer most of the time. My home’s AC is set at 78/79 degrees in the summer and 68 degrees in the winter. 

Could this be an over heating issue?


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Hardin Thicke said:


> Rebooted again today, precisely at 5:23 PM local time. Diagnostics reports an average HDD temperature of 131F.


That's way too high for an average. It shouldn't be much over 120.

Those of us who have both a 622/722 and a 612/722k know that beginning with the 612, the Echostar folks put the bottom of the box on "legs" to get some airflow underneath it. For the most part, that takes care of my 612.

Some get the temperature down by simply putting something under the four corners to raise a 622/722 up getting airflow under it. Many quite successfully use one of the fan systems referred to here.

I have a laptop cooler under mine that I turn on when my 722 gets extended use or when the ambient air temperature is high (over 80) when it is being used. Sometimes I forget.

My 722 gets a lot of use and is just now two year old. I've been getting the black screen reboot thing occasionally the past month-and-a-half, always when I'm pushing buttons. I think the HDD is dying, but I'm trying to wait until either they get the EHD system working properly on the 922 or they start selling the Sling add-on for the 722k. My 722 may not make it because those two things are slated for "soon."


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## bear paws (Jan 11, 2006)

I have (2) 722Ks that reboot every day at 5:18 and the the rest of the day randomly a few more times.. Dish tech says its a "known " and "engineers" are "working" on the software problem. Close to a year now??



> The problem is that the set does not respond to the remote command, followed by the picture freezing (from 10 seconds to 6 minutes), followed by total blanking of the picture, followed the whirring sound from the STB, followed by the usual screen alerts (search for signal, progress (1,2,3,4 all very quickly) and then return to picture (no download of software or of program guide) and we have lost a bunch of viewing which is lost forever.


Exactly..


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## Steeloc15 (Oct 2, 2009)

does having an OTA module in the 722k make it run hotter?


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

More electronics in the same space can't help but raise the temp.


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## bear paws (Jan 11, 2006)

Steeloc15 said:


> does having an OTA module in the 722k make it run hotter?


 One of mine has OTA and the other does not. Both are well exposed to ventilation.. The fact that they both reboot at almost identical times like clock work, even moments after turning on or 5 hours after running, tells me its a software.


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## Hardin Thicke (Jun 18, 2008)

Once again at 5:23PM today.


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