# MRV/Whole Home DVR playlist unavailable



## tomlisa555 (Jun 8, 2010)

Please forgive me, as I am not an installer, or tech savvy to say the least.

Here is the history: 
I am a new DirecTV customer (just switched from Dish after 6+ years). We signed up for Whole Home DVR service and have an HR24 and H24, along with a standard receiver. The came on Saturday to install our system. He installed a Slimline Dish and all three receivers using our coax that Dish Network used. We noticed after he left that the VOD and Whole Home DVR were not working. After hours of tech support, they were at a loss and said a tech would come out. Our technicial came back out Sunday with a part that he promised would fix it (didn't fix it and he took it with him). He said he'd be back with a different part 8am Monday. At 1pm Monday he showed up with a DECA and something labeled SWM ODU Only ( i think it is a power inserter). He said we needed another line of coax from the satellite to the inserter (what he called a SWM but does not look like anything I have found on here). He got a drill and almost started drilling through the front wall of my living room to the outside!! I stopped him and made my husband come home from work. Technician told him that we have to drill to get it no matter what, but that it would fix everything. We supposedly had to have another line to fix the DVR issue. Needless to say, we have several holes from our living room to a spare bedroom, and we still don't have the issue fixed. When the tech left. he said he would be back with new receivers and that would have to fix it. he came back today with a H21 (which I am thinking is a downgrade in equipment, right?) I made him put our receiver back and demanded that a manager contact me and fix this or take all equipment out of the house. (Enter Dip**** #2 and #3). They said the HR24 and H24 are crappy equipment and are not compatible. They said it must be our router. They wanted to remove all firewalls from our router and modem. They tried all kinds of BS, nothing fixed anything. We are able to access our computer from the H24 but not the VOD or the DVR playlist. Tech was recording shows from H24 that showed up on the HR24, but still wasn't able to access playlist or VOD. 

Oh, and I have not located a SWM splitter on the outside of my house and what is behind my TV is only a DECA and what looks to be a power inserter. Is the issue that there isn't a SWM splitter?

Any suggestions on how to handle this situation would be GREATLY appreciated. I will again be the one to deal with the technicians tomorrow. My husband wants to go back to Dish Network since a dual tuner is essentially what we need, but its more expensive and DirecTV has VOD and media share.... Oh, what to do......

Thank you in advance!


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

Couple things...
VOD takes 24 hours to load. You can't do VOD on the non DVR - it needs a hard drive to download to. Make sure no network plugs are connected to the HR24 or H24. There should be 3 lines to your home...1 to the HR24, 1 to the H24, & 1 to a DECA box. The DECA box needs a power supply and the DECA connects to your router...that's it.


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

If the DECA adapter that connectes to your router is near one of your receivers, the line to that receiver is generally split for use with both that receiver and the DECA adapter connected to your router.

Also, there should be no ethernet cables connected to the receivers, just to the DECA adapter. There should be 2 power inserters, one for the SWM and one for the DECA adapter. They may be the same, but may not be. There is no reason to run another line form the dish inside your house, as with SWM, you can split lines as needed. Make sure every splitter used has a green label on it.

One last thing, make sure the DECA adapter on the router has all three green lights lit solid. Also make sure that sharing is enabled on the HR24.


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

I'd make them run new coax, not use Dish's old ones. Clean, new runs are better.


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

sigma1914 said:


> I'd make them run new coax, not use Dish's old ones. Clean, new runs are better.


Maybe better, but not always practical. There's no way I would let DIRECTV run all new lines in my house. I am using the lines pre-run in my house when it was built. Luckily there are all home runs, and work great.


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## tomlisa555 (Jun 8, 2010)

Yeah, it isn't feasable though. Our lines were put in when our house was being built before the drywall was put up and we are on a slab foundation with brand new blown in insulation in our attic (15 extra inches I think). 

The DECA is the only thing connected to the router and it has its own coax and power supply. Then there is the black box, that plugs into the wall and is labeled SWM ODU Only on the top, and is labeled Power Inserter Model# PI21R1-03 on the bottom. This has the coax that was pulled from the spare bedroom since we weren't putting satellite in there, and the installer said we HAD to do it. That coax goes into the port labeled Power to SWM and another piece of coax goes from the port labeled Out to IRD to our HR24.

Does this make sense? I hope someone has some ideas since DirecTV is throwing their hands in the air. I was told my DirecTV installer and customer service that VOD once in our playlist could be shared with the other HD receiver.


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## jpitlick (Apr 19, 2007)

How many cables are coming from your dish? There should only be one. That line should run to a splitter (possibly through a ground block first) which distributes to each receiver/DVR. One port on that splitter is power passing and must be connected to the power inserter. Your DECA that connects to your router needs its own power inserter which may or may not be the same model as the SWM power inserter.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

My advice would be, when the tech is there, log in to this site and ask questions. Also get him to call his supervisor with you in the room if he's stuck.


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## tomlisa555 (Jun 8, 2010)

Thank you for your replies. The technician came this morning with a new HR24 and new H24 to swap with me, and that, along with resetting them several times somehow got everything working... for about an hour. Then it was back to being able to record from h24 but not being able to access the playlist at all. Spoke to tech and his supervisor. They sent a guy who they referred to as their regional trainer. He put a splitter on one of the two coax cables behind the HR24 so now here is how it is connected:

One coax goes from satellite to splitter, then connects to deca and swm power inserter (deca has seperate power inserter)

Other coax goes from satellite to the receiver.

The only ethernet cable is connected from router to the deca. 

The trainer got it up and running. I could finally see and manage the recordings on the H24. I had several things recording and playing, etc.
After he left, I attempted to delete a recording from H24 (deletion is set to allowed on all tvs) and the receiver froze up. Once it unfroze, the playlist wasn't available again and the HR24 is not showing up under the MultiRoom View menu anymore. I called the trainer and told him the issue. he said he put the deca and power inserter on a splitter because we have a 4 way splitter on the outside of the house and thought things were not getting the right signal, and thought it was why it was working when he left. 

He is at a loss. We are able to access VOD on the HR24 and media share on both computers, so the internet is working and connected, but the receivers are not communicating anymore. DirecTV customer advocacy team has said that they will cancel our service with no penalty. We are sitting on the offer until we can find out what the trainer's manager can do for us. On to Day 6 of install...

I will try my best to get online and post while the techs are here. I have an infant and am pregnant so my#1 goal has been not to get sick and to keep my baby quiet while they are here! lol Sad but true...


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## tomlisa555 (Jun 8, 2010)

Update: 

After 8 service calls and several new receivers, new lines run from splitter to each receiver, we are having issues again. We had perfect service for two days, then one morning, we turned on the H24 and the playlist was blank again. It shows that MRV is authorized and it is showing the HR24 is connected. We reset the receivers and now "please wait" is showing on the receiver and we are unable to access the playlist. Only after installing a new receiver does the playlist show up and only for a day it seems. Once we turn the unit back on in the morning, it isn't communicating with the DVR. 

Is there possibly a setting that is incorrect and is causing the units to stop communicating? I am able to access Mediashare on both rcvrs. The techs have said that I am getting "banging" signal from the dish (their words) and that our internet speed is more than enough. What could we (and the 7 techs that have been to my home) be missing?


Thank you in advance for your help!


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Are you using static IP addresses or have you set them as auto and using the DHCP IPs from your router?
There are some DECA networking tests you can run from the 24s, but this seems more like a basic network problem [from others with a similar problem]
It might be worth looking at the info screen on each receiver and see what it shows under the network status, and then compare them to see that they all match.


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## tomlisa555 (Jun 8, 2010)

The receivers are set to auto configure and the DVR is showing its ip address as 192.168.2.7 and our hd rcvr is showing as 192.168.2.6

So are you saying that they should have the same IP address? If so, can you please explain how to I would set that up? 

Thank you for your quick reply!


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## Dradran (Apr 21, 2010)

tomlisa555 said:


> The receivers are set to auto configure and the DVR is showing its ip address as 192.168.2.7 and our hd rcvr is showing as 192.168.2.6
> 
> So are you saying that they should have the same IP address? If so, can you please explain how to I would set that up?
> 
> Thank you for your quick reply!


I believe what VOS is saying is the router is probably set to DHCP, normally the default, which assigns IP addresses automatically based on the pool of addresses you have setup on your router. If you reboot your router or DVR it is possible for it to acquire a new ip address. Whether this is your problem or not, I have no idea. I am getting it installed today.

It is possible through the router configuration to reserve an IP address based of the devices MAC address so whenever that device connects to the network it will always have the same ip address.

However, I can assure you that the DVR and the HD Rcvr have to have different IP addresses. Think of it this way, the mailman wouldn't know where to deliver the mail if there were 2 houses on the same street with the same address.

HTH


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

tomlisa555 said:


> The receivers are set to auto configure and the DVR is showing its ip address as 192.168.2.7 and our hd rcvr is showing as 192.168.2.6
> 
> So are you saying that they should have the same IP address? If so, can you please explain how to I would set that up?
> 
> Thank you for your quick reply!





Dradran said:


> I believe what VOS is saying is the router is probably set to DHCP, normally the default, which assigns IP addresses automatically based on the pool of addresses you have setup on your router. If you reboot your router or DVR it is possible for it to acquire a new ip address. Whether this is your problem or not, I have no idea. I am getting it installed today.
> 
> It is possible through the router configuration to reserve an IP address based of the devices MAC address so whenever that device connects to the network it will always have the same ip address.
> 
> ...


"Yeah" this was where I was going.
Some had problems with static IPs, but it looks like you're not using them and the router is doing the job.
Since my DECA setup seems to be updating my playlists, I'm a bit at a loss.
"Maybe" rebooting all the receivers, one at a time will help. If not then at least this could be a good baseline to see how long before your have the problem again and which is the first [or only] one to have it.


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## tomlisa555 (Jun 8, 2010)

Ok, so I went through my router and assigned IP addresses to each rcvr and rebooted everything. Still same problem. When you hit list, the playlist is grayed out and blank, and a message saying please way comes up in the lower right hand corner, and now I cannot even change the channel or bring up the menu. (I could before and the please wait message would stay in the corner)

I have been searching many different forums, and yes, I do seem to be the only one with this issue so far. It is so annoying. I really want to keep the service, as it is so much better than dish, but I have the customer advocacy team calling wanting to send more people out or cancel, at my decision. We have missed so much work and the techs normally stay here for anywhere between 5 and 10 hours at a time and then it stops working again.
Sorry for rambling. I just wish this would work! Any ideas or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. i will try anything!


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## tomlisa555 (Jun 8, 2010)

ok after re-reading the last post... i must have misunderstood what you meant. 

Rebooting or resetting does not fix the problem. Only after a tech replaces one of the receivers (either the dvr or hd rcvr) does the playlist show up on the hd rcvr. I do not understand why it only works after that change, but it starts to mess up the next morning. So... somehow overnight while the units are off, they drop communication, even though it shows multiroom is set up and internet is connected. Again, any suggestions?


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

tomlisa555 said:


> Again, any suggestions?


OK let's look at the DECA network.
Go to either 24 and on the front panel, press the guide & > buttons at the same time. This can be a bit tricky to get to work so keep at it until you see a blue screen and have:
phone
Coax network
Done

Pick coax network and then you will see a list. Copy this in a post.
There is a second test that lists a matrix of bit-rates. Post this too.

With these we can see how good or bad your DECA network is.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

veryoldschool said:


> OK let's look at the DECA network.
> Go to either 24 and on the front panel, press the guide & > buttons at the same time. This can be a bit tricky to get to work so keep at it until you see a blue screen and have:
> phone
> Coax network
> ...


*tomlisa555* -- by following VOS' directions...your results of the first list (left side of the grid below) and the second list (right side of the grid below) should look at least something like this...



0 NODE -
*33*
--- 248 252 249 252 252
1 NODE - N/A -- 250 245 253 250 249 (
*HR24*
) 
2 NODE -
*32*
--- 247 253 235 251 250
3 NODE -
*29*
--- 247 253 252 246 249 (
*H24*
) 
4 NODE -
*32*
--- 245 248 249 246 242
Dropped Session Count is *0*


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## tomlisa555 (Jun 8, 2010)

Cool, I hope this info can get some results...

INFO SCREEN
Node Ids Friendly Names MAC Addresses Phy Levels 
0 (blank) 0003783769bc n/a
1 Living Room 0003783177b2 39
2 node-000858f8a735 000858f8a735 39

dropped session count is 0


PHY RATE MESH SCREEN
Nds 0 1 2 
0 240 240 243
1 240 240 239
2 243 243 243


Thanks! please let me know if there is anything else I can do to get more infor for you.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

tomlisa555 said:


> Cool, I hope this info can get some results...
> 
> INFO SCREEN
> Node Ids Friendly Names MAC Addresses Phy Levels
> ...


"yeah", it doesn't look like this a DECA networking problem. Both the losses and the bit-rates are good.
It has to be some type of networking problem, but I'll need to have others offer ideas, as it isn't my strongest suit and "mine works", so I don't have anymore tricks up [or not] my sleeve.
Changing receivers seems to only gets by for a day or less.
Maybe resetting the network defaults might do something, but :shrug:


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## tomlisa555 (Jun 8, 2010)

Thanks for your help. Resetting network defaults doesn't fix anything. I guess we will wait and hope some one with networking tips reads this thread. 

Thanks a lot though. If they make anymore changes to my system, I will update.


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## tomlisa555 (Jun 8, 2010)

Another update:

Tech switched out our h24 in our bedroom for an hr24 and it worked perfectly yesterday, but this morning, the playlist was blank. We could set shows to record, but they would onlly show up on the living room rcvr. We could access and record VOD, but only were able to watch while still downloading in the queue. Once it was in the playlist, it was only accessible in the living room. We have reset the factory defaults, reset the receivers, and still nothing. We have removed the deca from the router and reset the receivers again and it is working! We have not hooked the deca back up yet. 

We are assuming this is a network/router issue. I am able to log into my router to see its setting and make changes, but all of that is way over my head. I am hoping that someone reads this that has experience with networking. 

Any suggestions?


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

I'd try a day or 2 with no router connection. Just HR24s on their own DECA.


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## tomlisa555 (Jun 8, 2010)

And then what? What if it keeps working? What would be the next step?


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

tomlisa555 said:


> And then what? What if it keeps working? What would be the next step?


Like VOS said...your Hx24 setup and coax test numbers seem fine.

There could still be things in your router setup that come into play....including how your port forwarding is or isn't set up, if you have uPnP enabled, etc.

That diagnosis process likely deserves its own thread. YOu may also want to do a search using your router brand model (such as Linksys 123), and see if you can find a similar setup issue that might provide some answers.

In terms of determining a specific issue on your specific router...that will take more work and detailed data about your setup.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

One other thought...a good place to "start" is to verify that your router is operating with its latest firmware version - you can download that from the manufacturer site.

Some makers of routers update annually, some quarterly, and some sporatically. It's typically a good idea to check with some regularity, and be as up to date as possible. That sometimes helps in resolving connectivity issues that may be a result of the router firmware itself (or configuration settings).


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## sx2700 (Jun 20, 2010)

I am having the same problem as the OP. My setup is 1 HR22 with ethernet cable from box to wireless router. 3 H24's with linksys wireless bridge. It had been working fine for over 2 weeks when it was activated and now it hasn't been working right since friday evening. I have reset all receivers many times and sometimes that will allow it to work for a few hours then the playlist will lock up. But it shows everything else as being networked. I am able to record from the H24's but it won't allow me to access the playlist from the main HR22.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

tomlisa555 said:


> [...] We have removed the deca from the router and reset the receivers again and it is working! We have not hooked the deca back up yet.
> 
> *We are assuming this is a network/router issue.* I am able to log into my router to see its setting and make changes, but all of that is way over my head. I am hoping that someone reads this that has experience with networking.
> 
> Any suggestions?


It's easy to make that assumption, but it could just be a coincidence that the second reset of the receivers did the trick.

Since you're not connected to the router, your boxes can't see it's DHCP server, so you are now probably using "self-assigned" IP addresses on the HR2x's (16x.x.x.x). You can confirm this by going to setup, info and test, more info and scrolling down to find the box's IP address. If so, when you reconnect to the router, you're going to have to "connect again" in network setup (or reboot the boxes again) to put them back on your 192.168.2.x subnet, otherwise VOD won't work. After you do that, give the boxes a few minutes to "discover" each other on the network, since the IP addresses have changed.


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## barryb (Aug 27, 2007)

sx2700 said:


> I am having the same problem as the OP. My setup is 1 HR22 with ethernet cable from *box* to wireless router.


Can you define this a bit better please? "Box" as in DECA?

There should be one DECA on the back of your HR22, and another DECA near your router with an ethernet cable hooking each one up.

EDIT: _unless of course you are not using SWiM/DECA_


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## sx2700 (Jun 20, 2010)

"box" meaning the receiver. The ethernet cable is direct from the receiver to the router. I don't have a DECA setup.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

sx2700 said:


> "box" meaning the receiver. The ethernet cable is direct from the receiver to the router. I don't have a DECA setup.


Since you don't have the DECA networking, this would seem to be a router/switch configuration problem.
It might be the same problem as the OP and be something like uPnP not being enabled in the router.


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## tomlisa555 (Jun 8, 2010)

My router is a Zyxel P-660HW-D1 v.2 (which is my modem and router supplied by my DSL company, CenturyLink). uPnP is enabled. As for how my port forwarding is set up, I could really use some guidance on that, as I don't know what to look at or change, if necessary. There is a port forwarding tab under Network Address translation (NAT) and SUA only is checked, but everything is blank. There are no addresses on this page. I do not know what any of those things mean or do though.... Anyhow, the firmware that I have is dated 3/2009 and the only versions I have found online are older if not the same version.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

tomlisa555 said:


> My router is a Zyxel P-660HW-D1 v.2 (which is my modem and router supplied by my DSL company, CenturyLink). uPnP is enabled. As for how my port forwarding is set up, I could really use some guidance on that, as I don't know what to look at or change, if necessary. There is a port forwarding tab under Network Address translation (NAT) and SUA only is checked, but everything is blank. There are no addresses on this page. I do not know what any of those things mean or do though.... Anyhow, the firmware that I have is dated 3/2009 and the only versions I have found online are older if not the same version.


For this you shouldn't need any port forwarding. This is more for going outside your home network.

For anyone wanting to help with this, here's the user's guide: 
ftp://ftp.zyxel.com/P-660HW-D1/user_guide/P-660HW-D1_3.40_Ed1.pdf

I think I've asked this before, but don't know if you have... Have you reset the router at least once?
Normally this is done by removing the power cord for a few mins.

Another thing to look at is if that firmware date is correct. By this I mean what is the actual version of the firmware [not the date].
Online is:
Model : P-660HW-D1 v2
*Version : 3.40(ATA.0)C0*
Language : English
OS : N/A
Release Date : 04-26-2007
Size : 1 MB
Is yours really newer than this?


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

veryoldschool said:


> For this you shouldn't need any port forwarding. This is more for going outside your home network [...]


Correct. Same for UPnP. Those are services intended to expose LAN ports to the public internet that are normally protected by the router's firewall.

Like I said above, I wouldn't be surprised if the second reboot already solved the problem, and the OP's router just needs to be hooked-up again now. He may have to do a "network", "connect again" afterwards, tho, if he's now using self assigned IP's (16x.x.x.x) as a result of having rebooted without a DHCP server.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Steve said:


> Correct. Same for UPnP. Those are services intended to expose LAN ports to the public internet that are normally protected by the router's firewall.
> 
> Like I said above, I wouldn't be surprised if the second reboot already solved the problem, and the OP's router just needs to be hooked-up again now. He may have to do a "network", "connect again" afterwards, tho, if he's now using self assigned IP's (16x.x.x.x) as a result of having rebooted without a DHCP server.


I'm sure "she" will look into this.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

veryoldschool said:


> I'm sure "she" will look into this.


D'oh! :lol: My apologies. Thought it was Tom.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

*@tomlisa555:*

One thing that you can try to is to set the lease time for your IP addresses to be indefinite (or at least as long as the router will allow). The default lease time for an IP address being assigned via DHCP is usually 24 hours. What might be happening in your case is that the lease is expiring and for some reason not renewing. When it doesn't renew, the receiver will usually revert to Limited Network Connectivity (basically it gets one of the APIPA addresses - 169.254.xxx.xxx). This will make it so that it is not seen by other receivers and it cannot see the other receivers. By making it indefinite, you won't have to worry about that.

- Merg


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

"For the record", this turned out to be a defective DECA used to bridge to the router.


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