# What just happened to me?! (811 lost subscription temporarily)



## jerbroni

OK, I'm sitting here on the computer, watching some TV (off my old school 4700 receiver) and my wife comes running in. 'WTF - my Laguna Beach just stopped and now the TV is showing some error.' I go in there, the error on my 811 reads 'Your Smart Cart is not authorized to view this program.' I say, no problem, something is messed up at Dish Network. I call the 800 number, navigate the menus for support, get a guy who says 'it's your lucky day, it sounds like you have a hardware problem, and for a limited time we're going to upgrade you for free.' I say that I'm not interested in getting on a lease program since I own the 811 outright. He says 'so what are you going to do now that your receiver is broken?' I reply that I'm going to buy another one on Ebay. He pushes again, I say I'm not interested. He tells me something along the lines of 'we just did this to get you to call in to give you some new hardware.' WTF. Does Dish really disable my Smart Card just to get me to call in and push a lease upgrade on me?! 

Now, here's the really fishy thing:

- I was online (logged in, after paying my bill) this weekend looking at the Dishn it up promo. I want a DVR upgrade, but don't want to lease, so I check the site/promos regularly.

- 2 days later I get an email pushing the Dishn it up deal. See above.

- 2 days later I get this error and have to call to get my service turned back on for the 811 (the 4700 that's not plugged in to the phone line was not interrupted)

Am I a conspiracy nut or is this overly aggressive marketing?!!!

Thanks for reading.


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## Stewart Vernon

I have started having this problem on my 6000 receiver lately, but it is semi-predictable.

If I'm watching OTA for a long period (say several hours on Sunday when I'm watching football)... then the first time I try to tune to a satellite channel I get that same "your smartcard is not authorized" error... and it says to wait or call.

If I wait a couple of minutes and ignore the blinking message... then my receiver starts acting correctly.

Was your wife watching an OTA channel for a while and then switching to a satellite channel when the error happened? Just curious since it sounds very much like the problem I've seen myself the last couple of weeks now.


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## jerbroni

You're exactly right, I know she had been watching OTA for a couple of hours at least because I saw that Fatty Emo Losers show on NBC playing when I walked by earlier. Very interesting, I've never seen this before and we watch OTA all the time, and the programming came back on as I was talking to the guy from Dish.


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## Stewart Vernon

I first noticed this a couple of weeks ago while watching Sunday Night Football on NBC OTA. I watched the whole game + the pre-game recap show... so I had it on my OTA for over 4 hours... I switched to Cartoon Network to watch the Adult Swim lineup after 11pm and got the "you are not authorized" message.

I flipped around and kept getting it... and eventually it came back working fine. It then happened again the following Sunday, same deal... but this time I just left it sitting on the satellite channel I had selected without flipping around and it came back without me doing anything at all.

I think I've had it happen 3 times now, roughly a week apart and always when I had been watching OTA several hours. I had become used to the guide data in the EPG being "lost" while watching OTA as that had been a glitch since day one... but this is a new bug and there has not been any software updates to the 6000 since late 2005... so it isn't a new receiver software glitch.

Something different must be happening on the Dish side of things, especially since you have a completely different receiver with the 811. I would call Dish Tech support but I'm not sure I could describe it enough that it would make sense to them and it does seem to resolve itself after being left on a satellite channel for a couple of minutes.

Maybe someone from Dish will see this thread and know what we are talking about. It definately is a new problem that just started in the last few weeks... then again, outside of football season I don't think I watch 3-4 hour consecutive blocks of OTA without switching to satellite. I do watch OTA, but usually just 1-2 hours then switching to watch something else... so this particular glitch would only show up for me right now during the sports season watching a lot more OTA, particularly Sunday where from noon until 11pm I am either on CBS, FOX, or NBC all day long.


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## James Long

Moved to the 811 support forum where it's more likely to get proper notice.
Glad to know it's fixable.


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## khearrean

HDMe said:


> I first noticed this a couple of weeks ago while watching Sunday Night Football on NBC OTA. I watched the whole game + the pre-game recap show... so I had it on my OTA for over 4 hours... I switched to Cartoon Network to watch the Adult Swim lineup after 11pm and got the "you are not authorized" message.
> 
> I flipped around and kept getting it... and eventually it came back working fine. It then happened again the following Sunday, same deal... but this time I just left it sitting on the satellite channel I had selected without flipping around and it came back without me doing anything at all.
> 
> I think I've had it happen 3 times now, roughly a week apart and always when I had been watching OTA several hours. I had become used to the guide data in the EPG being "lost" while watching OTA as that had been a glitch since day one... but this is a new bug and there has not been any software updates to the 6000 since late 2005... so it isn't a new receiver software glitch.
> 
> Something different must be happening on the Dish side of things, especially since you have a completely different receiver with the 811. I would call Dish Tech support but I'm not sure I could describe it enough that it would make sense to them and it does seem to resolve itself after being left on a satellite channel for a couple of minutes.
> 
> Maybe someone from Dish will see this thread and know what we are talking about. It definately is a new problem that just started in the last few weeks... then again, outside of football season I don't think I watch 3-4 hour consecutive blocks of OTA without switching to satellite. I do watch OTA, but usually just 1-2 hours then switching to watch something else... so this particular glitch would only show up for me right now during the sports season watching a lot more OTA, particularly Sunday where from noon until 11pm I am either on CBS, FOX, or NBC all day long.


This is not a new problem! I'm amazed that noone in this thread has seen the posts on this. For example, read the thread here entitled "8.11-3.80 software release notes & discussion." This has been happening to me (& others) for several months. Believe me, Dish is very much aware & there appears to be no fix at the present time. I've had field techs out on multiple occassions, each one saying they knew the fix, did their thing, but low & behold a few days later, the issue was back! I've had my 811 replaced, DP-21 switch replaced, all coax replaced & a total new grounding system installed. Repeated calls to advanced tech does no good as they do not know the fix! Until (or if) there is a definate & permanent fix, your only option is to either hard or soft re-boot your receiver. I know it's a pain in the but, but I'm living with it everyday & I've been with Dish for 10 years but for some reason, I just can't leave. (And BTW, this does only occur when switching from an OTA local to SAT & usually after you've been viewing the local for awhile)....Good luck...
P.S. BTW, The tech 'jerbroni' said he spoke to at Dish should be fired (on the spot) for giving him the BS he did about this issue! 
I forgot to mention above that the other 'work-around' for this is to just let the "error 005" message continue flashing on & off for several minutes. Eventually (between 3 & 6 minutes), the error message will go away & your SAT signal will authorize & come on.

Ken


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## Jason Nipp

Can someone take a screen shot of the actual error message? 

I wonder if it's the same issue Khearrean is having in the P3.80 thread?

Is there anything happening just prior to this occurring, did you do anything just prior to this happening? Was there any recent changes in your config? etc... Or is it just happening out of the blue? Is this happening after you tune to a certain channel for a given period of time, etc...

It is most helpful if we can figure out what the trigger to this is.


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## jerbroni

OK, lots of activity since my initial quick-reply this morning. 

I'm hardly ever on this forum and haven't had problems (outside the recurrent guide data issue) so I haven't really needed to hang around here reading about the rest of your issues! 

Jason, I'm afraid I didn't see the events leading up to the error (I stay far away from Laguna Beach). I wish I would have gotten the error photographed, I knew you would ask for it and I told my wife DOH after it started working. No recent changes to my config - everything is working well so I haven't needed to do any tweaking. She had been watching the OTA NBC feed for about 3 hours. This is the first time we've seen the error so I can't say it's linked to one particular OTA channel. The error code was something like 0005, I believe and the syntax read "Your SmartCard is not authorized to view this program" - it may have said something after that. I'll be on the lookout and will add to this post if/when I see it again. It should be relatively easy to duplicate.


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## Jason Nipp

khearrean said:


> This is not a new problem! I'm amazed that noone in this thread has seen the posts on this.


You beat me to the submit button Ken.


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## Stewart Vernon

I did not know this was an old problem... I replied since it sounded exactly like what my 6000 was doing. I thought my info might be helpful since my 6000 just started doing this in the last couplf of weeks or so and I've had that receiver for years... and the last software upgrade to the 6000 was in 2005.

I suppose it could be a new software glitch introduced to 811 recently, but since my 6000 just started doing it recently with no software upgrade, it lends me to think it isn't "just" software.


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## khearrean

HDMe said:


> I did not know this was an old problem... I replied since it sounded exactly like what my 6000 was doing. I thought my info might be helpful since my 6000 just started doing this in the last couplf of weeks or so and I've had that receiver for years... and the last software upgrade to the 6000 was in 2005.
> 
> I suppose it could be a new software glitch introduced to 811 recently, but since my 6000 just started doing it recently with no software upgrade, it lends me to think it isn't "just" software.


Sorry, I missed the part of your earlier post where you indicated this happened with your '6000' receiver. This is the first time I've ever heard anyone mention this error taking place using any receiver other than the 811. So what someone told me a couple of weeks ago about this possibly happening even if I tried a different receiver was correct! Is it possible this could be a more serious problem than first thought and perhaps even un-fixable when trying to seamlessly integrate OTA locals with SAT viewing?

Ken


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## Stewart Vernon

khearrean said:


> Sorry, I missed the part of your earlier post where you indicated this happened with your '6000' receiver. This is the first time I've ever heard anyone mention this error taking place using any receiver other than the 811. So what someone told me a couple of weeks ago about this possibly happening even if I tried a different receiver was correct! Is it possible this could be a more serious problem than first thought and perhaps even un-fixable when trying to seamlessly integrate OTA locals with SAT viewing?
> 
> Ken


I do not remember this happening in the past with my 6000. My EPG always gets corrupted or at least loses guide data when I watch OTA for more than an hour. I learned the hard way years ago that pressing the "Guide" button on the remote after watching OTA for a while could result in a reboot and the "Acquiring Satellite" error... so I learned to stop doing that 

I always tune to a satellite channel first before pressing the "Guide" button. That way no reboot, but still have to wait for the EPG to refresh and get new info... sometimes takes 10-15 minutes with my 6000.

But the "you are not authorized" message is new to the last couple of months for me... and the only thing different from years past is that I am watching OTA longer than I used to now that NBC has the Sunday night game instead of ESPN... so maybe my 6000 would always have done this after 6+ hours on OTA? I dunno... it seems like a recent problem, but maybe it was always there and I just never encountered it before.

My normal OTA watching is 2-3 hours a night during primetime OR latenight talk shows... but now on Sunday I am OTA for a good 11 hours or so and maybe that is what is doing the trick so I'm seeing the problem now.


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## jerbroni

I was able to easily duplicate the error this afternoon. When my wife came home for lunch, I had her change to the same channel that she had problem with last night, which is 25-01. I just changed the channel to 137 and got the attached error screen - remembered to grab the camera this time. The elapsed time was approximately 6 hours.










After about 5 minutes, the unit reset automatically and went through the acquiring signal process. After that the error came back up for another 3-5 minutes before finally displaying programming on 137. Weird.


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## mruk69

Don't you think its unusual that it it is happening on old HD (non mpeg4) receivers only.

Maybe, this is a way for them to force you into getting one of the new VIP's.

My advice if the above is true, if you don't need the channels that are available only on the vip's stick with what you have. I have read that this happens when satellite providers change their encryption(or something like that). 

I would not put up with it, tell them to fix it and that you shouldn't have to "Dish it up". You are holding on to your end of the bargain and they should do the same.

Good luck,


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## James Long

mruk69 said:


> Don't you think its unusual that it it is happening on old HD (non mpeg4) receivers only.


I don't find it unusual that newer receivers would be able to work without this problem. Perhaps they found a better way of staying linked to the satellite and a local station at the same time that isn't possible on old hardware.


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## jerbroni

The thing is, this was never a problem until recently. We watch a ton of OTA programming and have lived with the 'No Guide Info' bug after staying tuned to OTA for a long period of time, but the 10-15 minute time period without satellite programming related to this new bug is moderately annoying.


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## vabelll52

My 811 too has had major problems since the 3.81. Error 005, 332, freezes, black screens, no info. Tired of all the rebooting. My second call to tech today proved productive. I was given 1 month plus 2 weeks credit. Make the all and insist on compensation.


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## vabelll52

sorry that is make the call


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## khearrean

James Long said:


> I don't find it unusual that newer receivers would be able to work without this problem. Perhaps they found a better way of staying linked to the satellite and a local station at the same time that isn't possible on old hardware.


Is it possible this is only happening on our MPEG-2 receivers? I thought I had seen a post somewhere in one of the other topics (211, 622) about this "smart card error 005" occuring as well.
I do know both the "No Info" bug and the "smart card error" are happening for me multiple times each & every day now. I'm still on 3.81, BTW.

Ken


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## Stewart Vernon

I dunno... but it cannot be software update related... Even though the 811 has taken an update recently... the 6000 that I have has not taken new software in about a year... and I have the same problem just starting in the last month or so...

If it is software related, then it was a problem that they put into it almost a year ago timed to start now... I don't believe they are that good to create a conspiracy


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## jerbroni

I have just gotten 3.82 in the last day or so and the problem actually seems worse. I just switched back to satellite programming after only an hour or so of OTA and the 005 problem is back. On 3.81 it took at least 3 hours before the problem occurred. Interesting.


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## khearrean

jerbroni said:


> I have just gotten 3.82 in the last day or so and the problem actually seems worse. I just switched back to satellite programming after only an hour or so of OTA and the 005 problem is back. On 3.81 it took at least 3 hours before the problem occurred. Interesting.


Maybe it would be a good idea to post this under the 3.82 thread so Jason can see and perhaps pass it on to the appropriate parties.

Ken


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## jerbroni

done


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## Jason Nipp

Done too


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## Donp

I have an 811 and the "Smart Card" problem began occurring after watching OTA for several hours about the middle of October. It's annoying but I know I can reset the reciever and reconnect to the satellite in a few minutes. Since there doesn't seem to be a cure. I'll just live with it since I own my 811.


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## DougRuss

> Since there doesn't seem to be a cure. I'll just live with it since I own my 811


Me too.......but hate to say this,Comcast is starting to look better to me.

I'm really tired of all these games that DishNetwork has with their Receivers !

And switching (Upgrading) to a 211 or 622.........I don't think so........just more Bugs !:nono2:


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## Donp

There is no alternative for me here other than D* and I don't think I'll do that. For the most part the 811 I have doesn't burp on much else.


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