# L215 Add DTV errors



## paulcdavis (Jan 22, 2004)

After removing the OTA stations and a power cord re-boot the following has happened:

1. KMAX - PSIP 31-1 channel 21 gets locked and acquired in the Add DTV screen and then after saving appears in the Local channels list as 31-1 KMAX-1(D), but does not appear at all in the guide and cannot be added to a favorites list.

2. KXTV PSIP 10-1 and 10-2 channel 61 gets locked and acquired in Add DTV, but then appears in the local channel list as 10-0 KXTV-TV (A) , 10-1 KXTV DT (D), and 61-1 rf61 (D), and in the guide as 061-01 rf61 (tunes in 10-1) and 010 KXTV (tunes in snow).

3. KCRA PSIP 3-1 and 3-2 channel 35 gets locked and acquired in Add DTV, but then appears in local channel list as 3-1 KCRA DT (D) and 35-3 rf35 (D), and in the guide as 035-03 rf35 (tunes in 003-01) and 003-02 KCRA (tunes in ok)

4. KTXL PSIP 40-1 and 40-2 channel 55 gets locked and acquired in Add DTV,
but then appears in local channel list as 40-0 KTXL-TV (A), 40-1 KTXL DT (D)and 55-1 rf55 (D) and in the guide as 055-01 rf55 (tunes in 40-1) and 040 KTXL (tunes in analog 40 with snow)

5. KOVR PSIP 13-1 and 13-2 channel 25 gets locked and acquired in Add DTV, but appears in local channel list as 13-1 KOVR HD (D) and 13-2 KOVR SD (D) and in the guide as 013-01 KOVR (tunes in ok). 13-2 does not show up in the guide even though it is in the local channel list.

I've tried several power cord re-boots, removing all channels , scan DTV, Add DTV, and reset to defaults (which then does a soft reboot), as well as both settings of "enable off-air locals" all to no avail. Deleting the incorrect analog stations 10-0 and 40-0 removes them from the guide but has no other effect.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how to get the OTAs to scan in properly and appear in the program guide?


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## langlin (Apr 8, 2005)

Paul, what you have done was correct and should have added the OTA's, it looks like you have joined many of us who have lost our OTA guide data but your actual details are different from any I have heard of.


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## paulcdavis (Jan 22, 2004)

langlin said:


> Paul, what you have done was correct and should have added the OTA's, it looks like you have joined many of us who have lost our OTA guide data but your actual details are different from any I have heard of.


What really bugs me is that these stations scanned in correctly under previous software versions and the channel numbers displayed correctly in the guide (although with no EPG data before L215). If the channel number will not display in the guide you cannot even set a manual timer.


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## bbomar (Oct 18, 2004)

paulcdavis said:


> What really bugs me is that these stations scanned in correctly under previous software versions and the channel numbers displayed correctly in the guide (although with no EPG data before L215). If the channel number will not display in the guide you cannot even set a manual timer.


You have done everything I would have done. Deleting all OTA channels,
analog and digital, resetting factory defaults, and then a power-cord
reboot might be one last thing to try. I seem to have read that a
factory default reboot might need to be followed by a power-cord
reboot (or maybe the reverse - deleting all OTA channels, power-cord
reboot, factory reboot) to totally clear the data base. I have done some 
OTA scan-DTV cycles since L2.15 but never cleared the database first. I
was just adding some new out-of-DMA channels. If this is an L2.15 bug,
has anyone else in SF run into it?


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## paulcdavis (Jan 22, 2004)

bbomar said:


> You have done everything I would have done. Deleting all OTA channels,
> analog and digital, resetting factory defaults, and then a power-cord
> reboot might be one last thing to try. I seem to have read that a
> factory default reboot might need to be followed by a power-cord
> ...


What is even more strange is that now in the guide display for channel 055-01 rf55 is showing correct EPG data for the Fox 40 station. How can the 921 match up the guide data when it fails to scan and display a channel correctly?

Tomorrow I may try the delete, reset to defaults, power cord re-boot and ten scan or add DTV again.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

paulcdavis said:


> What is even more strange is that now in the guide display for channel 055-01 rf55 is showing correct EPG data for the Fox 40 station. How can the 921 match up the guide data when it fails to scan and display a channel correctly?
> 
> Tomorrow I may try the delete, reset to defaults, power cord re-boot and ten scan or add DTV again.


What bbomar describes for a procedure is good. Yes, delete all OTA channels then do the factory default. Once the unit begans working fully, do a check switch and then add the OTA channels back. If that didn't work:

Do power cord reboot. If it still doesn't work right (like showing the rf55 channel (it may be a PSIP problem with the station?) then:

Delete the OTA Channels, disconnect/unplug everything from the 921 for three minutes, plus depress the power button for 20 seconds. Reconnect everything and plug it back in.

After it restarts, scan for your OTA channels, they should map correctly. 
Sometimes the 921's just wants to hang on to old garbage.

After L215 one of my 921's lost an OTA for digital 34 (07-01/07-02). All I got was a black screen. I tried to delete and Re add/scan and I got the rf34-03/rf34-04 plus the correct channel mapped numbers. I tired tuning in the rf34-04 channel. That was a mistake. It left the 921 functionless and blacked out. The later procedure got the 921 back to normal for me and it has been working well since.


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## bbomar (Oct 18, 2004)

boylehome said:


> After L215 one of my 921's lost an OTA for digital 34 (07-01/07-02). All I got was a black screen. I tried to delete and Re add/scan and I got the rf34-03/rf34-04 plus the correct channel mapped numbers. I tired tuning in the rf34-04 channel. That was a mistake. It left the 921 functionless and blacked out. The later procedure got the 921 back to normal for me and it has been working well since.


I always get some rfxx channels when I scan for OTA digital channels.
I delete them before I save the channels.


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## Big D (Aug 19, 2002)

paulcdavis said:


> 5. KOVR PSIP 13-1 and 13-2 channel 25 gets locked and acquired in Add DTV, but appears in local channel list as 13-1 KOVR HD (D) and 13-2 KOVR SD (D) and in the guide as 013-01 KOVR (tunes in ok). 13-2 does not show up in the guide even though it is in the local channel list.


My Sacramento channels are all working perfectly with the exception that KOVR 13-01 does not display the EPG guide info as the other channels do. Do you receive any guide info for 13-01?


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## paulcdavis (Jan 22, 2004)

Big D said:


> My Sacramento channels are all working perfectly with the exception that KOVR 13-01 does not display the EPG guide info as the other channels do. Do you receive any guide info for 13-01?


No, I have no guide info for 13-01. Before I deleted and re-added the OTA channels I had guide data for 13-02. I now have no guide data for OTAs.


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## Big D (Aug 19, 2002)

That's weird, my guide data for 3-01, 10-01, 31-01, 40-01 and 58-01 work just great, they showed up with L215. And by the way, Sacramento is an adjacent DMA for me, I subscribe to the SF Bay Area locals.


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## paulcdavis (Jan 22, 2004)

boylehome said:


> What bbomar describes for a procedure is good. Yes, delete all OTA channels then do the factory default. Once the unit begans working fully, do a check switch and then add the OTA channels back. If that didn't work:
> 
> Do power cord reboot. If it still doesn't work right (like showing the rf55 channel (it may be a PSIP problem with the station?) then:
> 
> ...


I deleted the ota channels, reset to defaults (which then re-boots), power cord re-boot (off for 20 minutes), then smart card reboot. The Add DTV scan was the same as my original post with bringing in 6-0, 10-0 and 40-0 analog channels. 10-1 and 40-1 are not in the guide. When I delete 10-0 and 10-1 and then re add I get 61-01 rf61 in the guide. This time I have 55-1 rf55(D) in the local channel list, but it is now not in the guide.

I don't think it is a station PSIP problem since none of the 7 OTA stations scan in and appear in the guide as they should.

I guess I will try your last suggestion. Did you disconnect the sat and antenna feeds before or after pulling the power cord? Did you have the unit do a power cord and then power button re-boot with cables disconnected?


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## Big D (Aug 19, 2002)

I never scan, just add your known good stations by their digital assignment numbers one at a time. Delete the SD channels if you don't use them like me.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

paulcdavis said:


> I guess I will try your last suggestion. Did you disconnect the sat and antenna feeds before or after pulling the power cord? Did you have the unit do a power cord and then power button re-boot with cables disconnected?


Delete all your OTA channels, power button to standby, disconnect (1) power, (2) cables and (3) phone line. With the unit totally disconnected from everything, depress the power button 20 seconds. Hook it all back up after at least 3 minutes have lapsed. Let it go through it's boot process for at least 10 minutes. Re Add/Scan the DIGITAL OTA's (hold off on the analog channels). If that works then add your analogs if you need them. I hope this will work for you. If it doesn't, it sounds like you will need advanced Tech Support to aid/file a problem report. Your receiver's tuner may be defective.

I also noted that you did not indicate that you did a check switch after it rebooted from the factory default procedure. The smart card removal wasn't necessary.


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## paulcdavis (Jan 22, 2004)

boylehome said:


> Delete all your OTA channels, power button to standby, disconnect (1) power, (2) cables and (3) phone line. With the unit totally disconnected from everything, depress the power button 20 seconds. Hook it all back up after at least 3 minutes have lapsed. Let it go through it's boot process for at least 10 minutes. Re Add/Scan the DIGITAL OTA's (hold off on the analog channels). If that works then add your analogs if you need them. I hope this will work for you. If it doesn't, it sounds like you will need advanced Tech Support to aid/file a problem report. Your receiver's tuner may be defective.
> 
> I also noted that you did not indicate that you did a check switch after it rebooted from the factory default procedure. The smart card removal wasn't necessary.


I deleted OTA's, unit to standby, disconnected power, then cables. I did not disconnect phone line or press the power button while the unit was unplugged. I did a power cord re-boot with cables not attached followed by a front panel re-boot, then power cord off, cables on, wait 5 minutes, power cord on re-boot followed by check switch followed by power button reboot. OTA's still add in incorrectly as in post, except now rf61 appears in channel list but not in guide.

I will try one more time pressing the power button for 20 seconds after the power cord is removed.


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## paulcdavis (Jan 22, 2004)

paulcdavis said:


> I deleted OTA's, unit to standby, disconnected power, then cables. I did not disconnect phone line or press the power button while the unit was unplugged. I did a power cord re-boot with cables not attached followed by a front panel re-boot, then power cord off, cables on, wait 5 minutes, power cord on re-boot followed by check switch followed by power button reboot. OTA's still add in incorrectly as in post, except now rf61 appears in channel list but not in guide.
> 
> I will try one more time pressing the power button for 20 seconds after the power cord is removed.


Sadly, pressing the power button for 20 seconds after power cord removed, then waiting 20 minutes before reconnecting had no effect. No OTA channels scan or add in correctly or display correctly in the guide.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

paulcdavis said:


> I did not disconnect phone line or press the power button while the unit was unplugged.


The idea of disconnecting all wires/cords etc. it that they carry a current. You want to drain the unit of any exitsting power. The phone line has voltage. I have a feeling that it doesn't matter in your case in that you have made several failed attempts.


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## paulcdavis (Jan 22, 2004)

boylehome said:


> The idea of disconnecting all wires/cords etc. it that they carry a current. You want to drain the unit of any exitsting power. The phone line has voltage. I have a feeling that it doesn't matter in your case in that you have made several failed attempts.


Thanks for your help, I think that now I'll try to get a replacement unit since I must have a bad tuner module or corrupted sw or disk file.


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## paulcdavis (Jan 22, 2004)

The errors I see when adding an OTA channel probably provide a clue as to how the 921 does guide data for the OTA stations.

The -0 (A) stations that appear in the local channels list are probably meant to be hidden parts of the OTA database that allows the 921 to associate a digital channel to a corresponding analog channel for which the 921 can map guide data. I would guess that when adding DTV, the 921 creates a hidden XX-0 (A) entry containing PSIP number and call letters for later use by the EPG.

Unfortunately my 921 is so confused that it thinks that they are real stations which screws up the local channel list and also the guide.


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## paulcdavis (Jan 22, 2004)

paulcdavis said:


> Thanks for your help, I think that now I'll try to get a replacement unit since I must have a bad tuner module or corrupted sw or disk file.


Dish would not replace the unit since they will only replace units if they can diagnose a hardware failure. If the software gets corrupted, you have to wait for the next download.

After giving up on OTA for about a week, I tried again this week and found the following:

1. When Add DTV caused the local channel list to contain rfXX channels that did not appear in the guide, a power button (soft) re-boot caused all the channels in the local channel list to appear in the all channel guide.

2. Adding the channels that were in the local channel list as rfXX again caused the PSIP channel to appear in the local channel list, and then a soft re-boot put them into the program guide.

I also have guide information displayed for the rfXX stations and the same information for the corresponding PSIP channel. So, I'm sort of back to where I was before I deleted the OTAs and re-added them, though I'm not quite sure why. I can view and set timers from the guide for both the rfXX channel as well as the PSIP channel.

If anyone has OTA channels in the local channel list, but not in the guide, delete the -0 (A) channels, save the rest, and do a soft (power button) re-boot.


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## Jason Kragt (Dec 20, 2002)

paulcdavis said:


> Dish would not replace the unit since they will only replace units if they can diagnose a hardware failure. If the software gets corrupted, you have to wait for the next download.


Will they give you a refund for time time without service between now and the next download for the programming that you cannot receive?


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## paulcdavis (Jan 22, 2004)

Jason Kragt said:


> Will they give you a refund for time time without service between now and the next download for the programming that you cannot receive?


Good question. In my case they did not offer any refund, but since there is no monthly charge to receive OTA broadcasts (which I lost), except perhaps part of the monthly DVR fee, I doubt there would be any refund.

If a software corruption prevented viewing or recording of subsribed channels (i.e. all HD channels), then maybe the story would be different. I think the people who lost the ability to do any recording due to ZSRs should have been compensated.


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