# How often do these DVRs die?



## neilo (Aug 7, 2006)

This morning I saw that the green light was on our 522 DVR/receiver and attempted to turn it off with the remote. There was no response. There was also no signal coming in to either of our TVs that it is connected to. I turned off the power and let it reboot, saw the "picture" go to black on the TV and then just a background blue when it started up again. I tried unplugging it for a while and got the same result after plugging it back in. I called customer service and tried the same things with them over the phone and they are going to be sending a replacement DVR via UPS. We've had this DVR for six months or less, so I was quite surprised to see it die like this. We have the Dish Home Protection for 18 months, which I guess helps out with the replacement. So, what is nominal lifetime on these? Is this just bad luck with this one unit? It makes it seem that after the 18 months, if I still plan to be with Dish Network, I should continue with the Dish Home Protection. Right or wrong? 

Luckily I don't think there is much that I'm missing while waiting for the new DVR/receiver, though the DVR had loads of stuff on it that I'll never get to watch now.

Neil


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## robert koerner (Aug 20, 2005)

Did you try going into menu and seeing if it would play back what you have recorded?


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## jarvantgroup (Mar 24, 2006)

neilo said:


> This morning I saw that the green light was on our 522 DVR/receiver and attempted to turn it off with the remote. There was no response. There was also no signal coming in to either of our TVs that it is connected to. I turned off the power and let it reboot, saw the "picture" go to black on the TV and then just a background blue when it started up again. I tried unplugging it for a while and got the same result after plugging it back in. I called customer service and tried the same things with them over the phone and they are going to be sending a replacement DVR via UPS. We've had this DVR for six months or less, so I was quite surprised to see it die like this. We have the Dish Home Protection for 18 months, which I guess helps out with the replacement. So, what is nominal lifetime on these? Is this just bad luck with this one unit? It makes it seem that after the 18 months, if I still plan to be with Dish Network, I should continue with the Dish Home Protection. Right or wrong?
> 
> Luckily I don't think there is much that I'm missing while waiting for the new DVR/receiver, though the DVR had loads of stuff on it that I'll never get to watch now.
> 
> Neil


Did you try connecting the rcvr to your TV via different media cables? RCA, S-Video? Also, I quite sure you've checked to make sure the TV's are set to the correct inputs. :box:


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## neilo (Aug 7, 2006)

robert koerner said:


> Did you try going into menu and seeing if it would play back what you have recorded?


Nothing appeared - not even the menu. I've left it unplugged all day and I'm hoping it will be "reborn" when I plug it back in tonight.

As far as the cables, the other TV in another room doesn't get anything either. So, it can't be any connections to the main TV. Nothing has changed since it was working last night.

Neil


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## pcasher (Feb 28, 2005)

We had ours since 10/2004, it was replaced once in 08/2006. The harddrive failed but we were still able to watch live TV. I do have it on a UPS and am keeping the protection plan.


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## neilo (Aug 7, 2006)

As promised, the replacement DVR (another 522) arrived via UPS Second Day air yesterday. We rearranged our current components and pulled out the dead DVR. We then hooked up the replacement DVR and it started downloading information. It took quite a while for it to get the needed information. It was then connected to the dish, but didn't get the local channels and might not have had all our other channels. I next needed to call up the customer service to get the receivers registered. I did this and they said it would take about 20 minutes more to remove the old DVR receivers and get the new ones into their system. I did get the local channels within that time and was back in business. All told I think it took about an hour. I'm glad it all worked so smoothly. 

As mentioned in another thread the occasional audio pops are still there, but I presume that some future software update will fix those.

Neil


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

neilo said:


> How often do these DVRs die?


Just once. !Devil_lol


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## DoyleS (Oct 21, 2002)

I have a purchased 508 that looks like it has some serious issues. It has the acquiring Satellite screen quite often and goes through the tests. When it finishes I have guide info but it locks up when I try to record. If it does record, then I can't playback the recording. It shows on the menu but when you select it nothing happens and then the recording disappears from the menu. I do not have the Home Protection Plan. Can I now sign up for Home Protection and if so do I have to wait some time period before trying to get Dish to repair or replace the receiver?

..Doyle


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