# Lost OTA & They Won't Come Back



## eric0116 (Jul 19, 2004)

A lurker in need of help. I turned on my 921 today and had the aspect ratio stuck in letterbox, never had that one happen, so I did the reboot thing. Now all of my OTA digital and analog channels are missing. I did the scan on both ATV and DTV, it found the channels during the count it does during the scan, but when the scan is done and its time to save those channels, nothing is displayed. 

I'm also getting garbled text in the guide above the date on the grid where your channel list name would be (all subs, etc). I double checked my antenna reception for analog locals and its fine to my VCR, like it has been for years. 

Help! I've never had problems with OTA until now. I've rebooted twice and scanned twice, same result, it doesn't have any channels to save, but during the scan the number of found channels is accurate. 

Other info: Display set to 1080i 16x9, as it should be. Boot ver 140B. Flash ver F052. SW ver L273HECD-N. Colorado Springs market. Functionality is fine otherwise.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

-Eric


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## Cyclone (Jul 1, 2002)

I sometimes get in a situation where the existing channnels will not tune it. I have to remove and re-add them to restore them. It sounds like your tuner might be fried and a replacement may be your only recourse.


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## JPC (Feb 8, 2005)

If his tuner is fried then how did the channels lock during the scan?


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## eric0116 (Jul 19, 2004)

Thanks for the suggestion. That would be strange since they do lock during the scan to an accurate number.

For the heck of it, I tried to add a channel manually, no dice.

Another thing I noticed. All my favorties channel listings are gone. When I cycle through using the Guide button, I get no channels in the guide grid. Still getting that garbled text as well. All this seems more software related.


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## eric0116 (Jul 19, 2004)

OK. Now I just tried to do a search, and once I hit the search button, the screen went black and I couldn't get it back. I had sound though. 

Maybe this is my punishment for avoiding many of the 921 issues. Everyone gets a turn. I'm rebooting again now.


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## eric0116 (Jul 19, 2004)

Same, same, same, same, same. Nothing but blank space where channels should be. The best part, I just noticed all my recordings are gone. Any suggestions? Is this fixable? Is there a Jenny code for this thing? I own it, so I'm stuck until the new receiver series is out in April.

-Eric


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## eric0116 (Jul 19, 2004)

OK. I have sunk from having a smallish problem to a huge one. I now have nothing. 

I skipped back and then forward watching ESPN HD, the picture froze. I turned it off (soft power) and got a scambled version of the frozen frame. Rebooted, got the flashing green power light. Hard reboot again, gives me "aquiring satellite information" then a black screen. Move my heavy speakers so I could cold cycle the power, booted up and it was looking good, but now no picture. Its not even responding to remote commands anymore. I have to physically hit the power button.

So my next question is, since this unit is more than a year old, should I even bother calling Dish for tech support? Can I even get a replacement unit? On top of all that, is there anything else I can try? 

Help.
-Eric


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## eric0116 (Jul 19, 2004)

OK. So I have come to the realization, after some searching through the forums, that my 921 is toast. I called Dish and they will be sending out a replacement, so that answers that question. I have to say, this time around, getting what I needed from Dish was very easy. Tech support took my word on the troubleshooting steps I had taken and signed me up for a replacement right away. I must say I was afraid of going through the power up, power down, unplug, we'll call you back in 3 days scenario. It was nothing like that. Dish's customer service was right on.

-Eric


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## ClaudeR (Dec 7, 2003)

How much for the replacement? I assume that it is beyond the one year warranty. I'm on month 13, and am awaiting my "turn".


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## eric0116 (Jul 19, 2004)

Well, I was given two options. Normal replacement costs $19.99. He signed me up for the warranty coverage for $5.99 per month, of which I can cancel at any time, like next week. So, he signed me up for the cheaper option. Like I said, I got a good tech support guy.

- Eric


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

Had similar problem last week describbed in detail elsewhere but a long power cord reboot fixed it. Then had to rescan and check off the rescanned list and save and they were back. This was just one of several problems corrected. I still lost my favorites lists but that seems to be the only permanent damage during this SNAFU with the 921.


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## David_Levin (Apr 22, 2002)

When things get really ugly, sometimes a "factory reset" helps too.


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