# Suspended service - recordings available?



## dcandmc (Sep 24, 2008)

It's a simple enough question, I hope. If DirecTV service is suspended, are DVR recordings available to watch? I have four HD DVRs (HR20 through HR24), all networked with CAT 6 ethernet, if it makes any difference.


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

No.


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## dcandmc (Sep 24, 2008)

With a very simple answer. Thanks for the quick reply.


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## longrider (Apr 21, 2007)

The simple answer is no. You can trick the system for a limited amount of time by disconnecting the receivers from the dish before you suspend service, this can work anywhere from a day up to a month before they shut down without a reauthorization. Also, if you lose power they will not come back up without reauthorization.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

longrider said:


> The simple answer is no. You can trick the system for a limited amount of time by disconnecting the receivers from the dish before you suspend service, this can work anywhere from a day up to a month before they shut down without a reauthorization. Also, if you lose power they will not come back up without reauthorization.


I recently checked a 20-700 that's been deactivated for quite a while, at least a couple years, just to see if I could still play the content. Didn't work. It did boot up, but when I tried to play something I got that reauthorization (or some other message, don't remember) thing and gave up on the idea that the content could be played forever.

Rich


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## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

I suspended my service three weeks ago. My genie still allows me to watch prerecorded content. I unplugged the dish before suspending service and have not rebooted. My receiver does not talk to the genie. 

I assume it will go out eventually but until then I have some movies I can watch on it.


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## lokar (Oct 8, 2006)

Mine worked for at least three weeks after I suspended service at the end of January, haven't bothered to check it lately.


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## dcandmc (Sep 24, 2008)

Thanks for the additional feedback, guys. I will make sure that I disconnect from the dish before making the call.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

Your results may vary from receiver to receiver. Please post back any feedback down the road. 

Good luck!


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## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

Must checked mine. Still working.


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## dcandmc (Sep 24, 2008)

Update:
I suspended service last night. Before making the call, I disconnected the wires from the dish at the multiswitch. I have four HD DVRs, three of which were still networked with CAT-6 (the fourth was disconnected from the network so that a TiVo Mini could use the connection). Three of the DVRs were still also connected to a phone line. Today, all four DVRs rebooted. Recordings are still available on all four, but whole-home service does not work, even though the menu says that it is authorized. I think that whatever caused the DVRs to reboot and lose whole-home functionality was caused by the loss of satellite signal, because it happened to the DVR that had been disconnected from the network, and there were no phone calls made by the DVRs. I was hoping to be able to watch recordings via whole-home, but as of now I can still watch locally on each DVR.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

dcandmc said:


> Update:
> I suspended service last night. Before making the call, I disconnected the wires from the dish at the multiswitch. I have four HD DVRs, three of which were still networked with CAT-6 (the fourth was disconnected from the network so that a TiVo Mini could use the connection). Three of the DVRs were still also connected to a phone line. Today, all four DVRs rebooted. Recordings are still available on all four, but whole-home service does not work, even though the menu says that it is authorized. I think that whatever caused the DVRs to reboot and lose whole-home functionality was caused by the loss of satellite signal, because it happened to the DVR that had been disconnected from the network, and there were no phone calls made by the DVRs. I was hoping to be able to watch recordings via whole-home, but as of now I can still watch locally on each DVR.


The reboot was due to loss of guide data. IIRC, after 12 hours of missing guide data, the receiver will auto reboot to try to acquire it during the boot up process.


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## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

peds48 said:


> The reboot was due to loss of guide data. IIRC, after 12 hours of missing guide data, the receiver will auto reboot to try to acquire it during the boot up process.


My Genie never rebooted. It's been a month now.


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## forecheck (Jun 13, 2002)

I suspended service in mid January because of a remodel. I only have a HR24 still hooked up, but it still will let me watch recorded programs. I disconnected the satellite and network cables before I called. The box has been unplugged multiple times, and when it powers up the date reverts back to late December. Right now it thinks the date is 1/2, so maybe that is why it is still working?


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## lokar (Oct 8, 2006)

forecheck said:


> I suspended service in mid January because of a remodel. I only have a HR24 still hooked up, but it still will let me watch recorded programs. I disconnected the satellite and network cables before I called. The box has been unplugged multiple times, and when it powers up the date reverts back to late December. Right now it thinks the date is 1/2, so maybe that is why it is still working?


Could be, I noticed on my suspended receiver it did something similar and the date/time became way off.


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## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

lokar said:


> Could be, I noticed on my suspended receiver it did something similar and the date/time became way off.


Hmm. I checked that. Date says Monday, January 31. Wonder what year. The 31st was a Saturday this year.


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## dcandmc (Sep 24, 2008)

longrider said:


> The simple answer is no. You can trick the system for a limited amount of time by disconnecting the receivers from the dish before you suspend service, this can work anywhere from a day up to a month before they shut down without a reauthorization. Also, if you lose power they will not come back up without reauthorization.


Update: After six days I'm still able to watch recordings on all four DVRs, although only locally (Whole Home no longer works). Also, as others have reported, losing power DOES NOT result in loss of ability to watch recordings. I have moved two of the DVRs, cycling power in the process, and they both still play recorded content.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

dcandmc said:


> Update: After six days I'm still able to watch recordings on all four DVRs,


Awesome. If you don't mind keep updating the thread as time goes by and see if there are any changes.


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## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

I cannot contribute any longer. Today I reactivated my service. Recordings lasted the whole time. 

More interesting is that when I reattached the dish, I got live programming. So, my box was never told to shut down. During the account re activation, it shut off then on and I had to reauthorize to get dvr functionality.


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## dcandmc (Sep 24, 2008)

tonyd79 said:


> More interesting is that when I reattached the dish, I got live programming. So, my box was never told to shut down. During the account re activation, it shut off then on and I had to reauthorize to get dvr functionality.


Maybe it was _told_ to shut down, but it wasn't listening!


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## Sgtsbabygirl1 (Dec 15, 2014)

dcandmc said:


> Maybe it was _told_ to shut down, but it wasn't listening!


I just got this image of a teenager stomping his foot " I Don't wanna SHUT DOWN!!" :rotfl:


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

tonyd79 said:


> So, my box was never told to shut down.


since you had disconnected the satellite before you suspended your service, the "shut down" signal never reached your equipment.


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## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

trh said:


> since you had disconnected the satellite before you suspended your service, the "shut down" signal never reached your equipment.


I assume so.


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

Did that with an old XM SkyFi2. Disconnected it before buying a new car that had XM 'free' for one year. After the free period ended, hooked back up the SkyFi2. Worked for a very long time before it finally got a de-authorization signal.


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## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

trh said:


> Did that with an old XM SkyFi2. Disconnected it before buying a new car that had XM 'free' for one year. After the free period ended, hooked back up the SkyFi2. Worked for a very long time before it finally got a de-authorization signal.


XM is notorious for not turning equipment off. I have a friend who told them to disconnect his car XM years ago. It still works.


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## dcandmc (Sep 24, 2008)

Update:
Twenty days after suspending service, after first disconnecting my receivers from the dish, I still have access to recorded content on all four HD DVRs. I cancelled service a week ago, and received a single recovery kit today for the HR-24. The CSR on my cancellation call said that DirecTV would be recovering all of my DVR equipment, which also includes an HR-20, HR-22 and HR-23, but I only received the one kit with specific instructions by RID to return the HR-24 500. After doing a clear and delete all on the 24, I hooked it back up to the dish and was able to receive programming, just as tonyd79 mentions above. Now it's in its recovery kit, on the way back to DirecTV.


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## dcandmc (Sep 24, 2008)

Another update:
The three HD DVRs that were not recovered after cancelling service can still play recorded content. It's been almost three months now since I originally suspended service, prior to cancelling.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

dcandmc said:


> The three HD DVRs that were not recovered after cancelling service can still play recorded content. It's been almost three months now since I originally suspended service, prior to cancelling.


The data points are much appreciated.


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## b52pooh (Mar 10, 2011)

dcandmc ... Do you still have the access cards in those receivers?


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## dcandmc (Sep 24, 2008)

b52pooh said:


> dcandmc ... Do you still have the access cards in those receivers?


Yes, I do. As a reminder, they were all disconnected from the dish before the call to suspend service was made, and they have remained disconnected since.


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## spedinfargo (Oct 6, 2005)

I'm suspending service today after disconnecting network cord and coax from my Genie. I'll be resuming in November when NBA starts so I'll keep this thread updated over the next couple months to see if I still have recordings...

The daughter will be very happy if I can keep the Star Wars Rebels episodes available in our downtime...


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

spedinfargo said:


> I'm suspending service today after disconnecting network cord and coax from my Genie. I'll be resuming in November when NBA starts so I'll keep this thread updated over the next couple months to see if I still have recordings...
> 
> The daughter will be very happy if I can keep the Star Wars Rebels episodes available in our downtime...


I think they will have you send the Genie back to them when it is deactivated.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

jimmie57 said:


> I think they will have you send the Genie back to them when it is deactivated.


not if you suspend the account instead of cancelling.

Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

peds48 said:


> not if you suspend the account instead of cancelling.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk


That is different. I forgot that you could suspend the Whole Account. I was thinking of just a receiver.
Thanks


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

jimmie57 said:


> That is different. I forgot that you could suspend the Whole Account. I was thinking of just a receiver.
> Thanks


right on! Although some have said that you can vacation hold just one receiver, I am no sure of that tho.

Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk


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## dcandmc (Sep 24, 2008)

Another update:
The three HD DVRs that were not recovered after cancelling service can still play recorded content. It's been four and-a-half months now since I originally suspended service, prior to cancelling.


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## spedinfargo (Oct 6, 2005)

spedinfargo said:


> I'm suspending service today after disconnecting network cord and coax from my Genie. I'll be resuming in November when NBA starts so I'll keep this thread updated over the next couple months to see if I still have recordings...
> 
> The daughter will be very happy if I can keep the Star Wars Rebels episodes available in our downtime...


Just re-activated service tonight after being on hold since late July. I unplugged the co-ax and network card from my main Genie before suspending and I had access to the recorded content for the entire three months. Obviously not on the Genie mini since it had no way to communicate with the main Genie. Came in handy a few times over the three months (Rebels mainly).


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Good info, thanks for the update.


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## dcandmc (Sep 24, 2008)

longrider said:


> The simple answer is no. You can trick the system for a limited amount of time by disconnecting the receivers from the dish before you suspend service, this can work anywhere from a day up to a month before they shut down without a reauthorization. Also, if you lose power they will not come back up without reauthorization.


Well, it's been seven months and I'm still able to watch recorded content. No reauthorizations, power has gone out multiple times, but the old shows are still there and available to watch.


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## hbkbiggestfan (May 25, 2007)

longrider said:


> The simple answer is no. You can trick the system for a limited amount of time by disconnecting the receivers from the dish before you suspend service, this can work anywhere from a day up to a month before they shut down without a reauthorization. Also, if you lose power they will not come back up without reauthorization.





dcandmc said:


> Well, it's been seven months and I'm still able to watch recorded content. No reauthorizations, power has gone out multiple times, but the old shows are still there and available to watch.


Yup. I have an HR22 that has been deactivated for at least 3 years and the recordings still can be accessed and played back to this day. I made sure to disconnect it from the coax before deactivating...


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

hbkbiggestfan said:


> Yup. I have an HR22 that has been deactivated for at least 3 years and the recordings still can be accessed and played back to this day. I made sure to disconnect it from the coax before deactivating...


although this does not say much if software have changed recently to allow for shorter periods before it times out.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

hbkbiggestfan said:


> Yup. I have an HR22 that has been deactivated for at least 3 years and the recordings still can be accessed and played back to this day. I made sure to disconnect it from the coax before deactivating...


I recently tried to access the content on an HR20-700 that had been deactivated well over a year. Got nothing.

Rich


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## hbkbiggestfan (May 25, 2007)

Rich said:


> I recently tried to access the content on an HR20-700 that had been deactivated well over a year. Got nothing.
> 
> Rich


Hmm. I guess this one is a YMMV type of deal then.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Or perhaps it has to do with what software version the receiver was deactivated with. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

hbkbiggestfan said:


> Hmm. I guess this one is a YMMV type of deal then.


Yup, I usually take an HR with me when we go on vacation, but that's only for a week or two. Never had a problem doing that.

Rich


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## dcandmc (Sep 24, 2008)

Update:
Service was suspended on March 30, 2015, after the DVRs were disconnected from the satellite input. Two DVRs remain connected to a TV, and they are still able to play back recorded content, 15 months after service was suspended.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

dcandmc said:


> Update:
> Service was suspended on March 30, 2015, after the DVRs were disconnected from the satellite input. Two DVRs remain connected to a TV, and they are still able to play back recorded content, 15 months after service was suspended.


I'm not surprised but YMMV.

Rich


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