# Neverending issues with my Hopper and Joeys :(



## cohall (Dec 1, 2004)

Coming here to vent a bit, and also see if any of you experts have any advice for what, if anything, I can do to remedy my frustrations with Dish. Below is a list of ongoing problems that I have with my Hopper (original version) and Joeys (original version). If any of you can provide resolutions to any of the below issues, it would be very much appreciated. If not, it may be time to move along...though I don't know where I would go...

-Hopper and Joey menus are extremely laggy and painfully slow, as is channel switching. Several seconds for my guide to populate, for it to register a page up/down command, and when I select a channel, it takes a very long time for the guide to go away and the selected channel to be tuned. Upwards of 4-5 seconds
-Joey's constantly need to be reset after they go into standby mode. No remote button presses will wake them, no matter what (and no, it's not a remote or battery issue)
-Joey sometimes will come on from standby, but doesn't actually send out a signal to the TV. Power cycle required on the Joey to get a signal (maybe an HDMI handshake issue?)
-Hopper is in master bedroom because that TV doesn't have HDMI inputs (and my joey's only have HDMI outputs), and is quite loud. The clickity clack of the Hard Drive is very noticable and annoying from bed. Additionally, every other night or so, it resets itself at about 1AM and makes a very loud whooshing sound when it does so. Kind of like it's ramps up the fans inside it to full speed for a few seconds. It's enough to wake me everytime it happens
-I have a dish sling attached to the Hopper. I'm only able to get it to work remotely about 7% of the time
-Guide doesn't recognize page up command, unless I first press channel down command
-Does it's nightly reset even when I tell it not to when it pops up the warning when I'm still watching TV
-Joeys occasionally put up a message that they are not connected to a hopper...reset required to fix

And I could go on. I haven't followed these forums, so I don't know if I just have a crappy unit(s), or if these are all things others have and I'm just being too sensitive.

Any ideas on potential fixes? Does the Hopper 2 and Super joey fix any of the above issues?

OK, that's long enough. Thanks in advance for your help. I really do appreciate it.

C


----------



## Marlin Guy (Apr 8, 2009)

I have the same equipment and experience none of those issues.
My guess would be a failing hard drive. Have you contacted Dish CS about it?


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

I'd be looking into the quality of the cabling. A bad MoCA network can ruin your whole day.

If I had that problem in my house, I'd try temporarily wiring everything Ethernet to confirm or eliminate network issues as the culprit.


----------



## cohall (Dec 1, 2004)

Thanks for the input, guys. I do appreciate it. I know the 'quality' of the physical cabling is ok, as my house is relatively new, and I had no issues with my old 722. But I guess it could certainly be the way the connections were made during the install.

Looks like I should give Dish a shout and see what they say. Problem is that several of the above issues are completely random and would be near impossible to replicate, some only happen at 1:30AM, etc. Hopefully they'll just believe me...


----------



## PokerJoker (Apr 12, 2008)

The reset in the middle of the night, with the wooshing fan - that's normal, heck my old 622 does it too. It's part of the nightly reboot that all dish DVRs do. The problem with the Hopper is that they removed the choice as to when it happens.

You must be a bit of a light sleeper. (No criticism intended.) Personally, my bedroom has at least 15 hard drives in it in various devices and I don't even notice. Of course, I've also been known to fall asleep with the lights on and the stereo going. (No, I'm not married LOL)

Keith


----------



## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Sounds a bit like the kind of problems that could come from being in too hot of a room without adequate ventilation. Is there good room around the space where the Hopper sits to allow it to ventilate properly? These things generate a lot of heat, and if they can't cool themselves you will have all manner of problems. Even if the Joeys are fine, they are dependent on the Hopper so an overheating Hopper means Joey problems too.

As to the "cabling is ok because my 722 was fine"... that may or may not be enough info. Even a "new" home may not have RG6 ran in it... and that's what the Hopper needs. Joeys run fine on just about anything... but you need RG6 from the dish to the node/switches and to the Hopper. You might be fine in that regard, but it's entirely possible to have a wiring configuration that would have supported a 722 without problems but will fail intermittently on a Hopper installation.

It does sound a little more like a potential overheating problem to me, though... especially if you are hearing a lot of noise... more noise tends to mean faster fans, which means it is trying as hard as it can to cool.


----------



## TheGrove (Jan 10, 2007)

If I remember correctly my original hopper (hopper v1) had a big woosh in the middle of the night. When I upgraded to a Hopper w/ Sling I don't hear this woosh anymore.


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

There is a difference in the "last mile" cabling on the Hopper as it must handle 2-1/2 bands of content instead of the two bands that the Duo receivers use.

I participated in another thread recently where the poster assured that the cable was brand new and it turned out that it was defective so it isn't always reasonable to summarily dismiss that the cable could be marginal or undamaged in the transition.


----------



## david_jr (Dec 10, 2006)

I have 2 HWS and 3 Joeys. My HWS are very fast and I experience no lag. The Joeys got a lot slower a couple of software "upgrades" ago. But not 4 to 5 seconds slow. Your issues to me do not sound equipment related. Info you left out is how long have you had the system in place and when did you start experiencing these issues?


----------



## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Sounds like the OP has a H2K which I find to be a bit laggy in changing screens, bringing up programs. etc.

Compared to my H w/sling the H2K is a dawg, but it's the one the Mrs. uses and she doesn't complain (letting sleeping dogs lie).

OP should try to upgrade to Hopper w/sling.


----------



## hdcl (Sep 18, 2007)

I have the "no power on" and "no signal after resuming from standby" on both my Joeys (2 Hopper - 3 Joey system, 1 Joey not really used). I had dish send me a replacement Joey because I thought 1 of the units was defective (would not come out of standby). I swapped the units around but am having the same issues with the swapped HW. The Joey in my family room would not power on after a few days and needs a power reset. Just resetting via the power button does nothing. The Joey in my kitchen will power on but not provide a signal to the TV until I power reset it. Pressing and holding the power button does nothing. 

I changed the location of the family room joey to give it more ventilation and changed the RG6 cable going into the wall outlet. So far over the last 3 days it is working better but I still have to wait and see.

The Kitchen Joey still has the no signal issue once every few weeks. Also, while viewing DVR programing on the Hopper it is NOT synced to, it will blank out and then go back to live TC. 

The MOCA signal to all of the equipment shows full strength.


----------



## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

If you're having this with multiple Joeys and after swapping them around... it sounds like either an overheating scenario, which maybe you have helped with the family room... or possibly power issues. Some devices are more sensitive to power issues than others... and I've lost count the number of times a problem has tracked to faulty wiring in the home.


----------



## david_jr (Dec 10, 2006)

Check your wall plates to make sure they are 3 GHz.


----------



## hdcl (Sep 18, 2007)

hdcl said:


> I have the "no power on" and "no signal after resuming from standby" on both my Joeys (2 Hopper - 3 Joey system, 1 Joey not really used). I had dish send me a replacement Joey because I thought 1 of the units was defective (would not come out of standby). I swapped the units around but am having the same issues with the swapped HW. The Joey in my family room would not power on after a few days and needs a power reset. Just resetting via the power button does nothing. The Joey in my kitchen will power on but not provide a signal to the TV until I power reset it. Pressing and holding the power button does nothing.
> 
> I changed the location of the family room joey to give it more ventilation and changed the RG6 cable going into the wall outlet. So far over the last 3 days it is working better but I still have to wait and see.
> 
> ...


I have resolved almost all of the issues by replacing the cabling from the Hopper / Joey to the wall outlets. They do not respond well to stress / bending near the connectors. This has resolved the Joey's not powering on and some signal flakiness with satellite signals on one of the Hoppers. The Kitchen Joey no signal issue seems to be an HDMI handshake issue. Unplugging and replugging the HDMI connector restores signal to the TV.


----------



## david_jr (Dec 10, 2006)

Have you tried a new HDMI cable to see if it just doesn't like the one you're using?


----------



## randob (Jul 15, 2012)

cohall said:


> -Hopper and Joey menus are extremely laggy and painfully slow, as is channel switching. Several seconds for my guide to populate, for it to register a page up/down command, and when I select a channel, it takes a very long time for the guide to go away and the selected channel to be tuned. Upwards of 4-5 seconds
> -I have a dish sling attached to the Hopper. I'm only able to get it to work remotely about 7% of the time
> -Guide doesn't recognize page up command, unless I first press channel down command


I've noticed as software gets older, it gets bloated, and the only way to keep up with the bloat is to get new hardware. It seems that Dish doesn't mind decreasing the performance of the Hopper 1, which I have.

One annoying bug that seems to have been introduced recently is that sometimes the keys on my Joeys get doubled unless I'm careful to hit and release the key (remote or front panel) quickly.

Often when I'm away on vacation the Hopper loses connectivity to the Internet, thereby rendering Dish Anywhere useless until I get home and fiddle with Hopper and my Ethernet bridge. Dish should have a way to reboot the Hopper via satellite. I'm not sure if this is a problem with Hopper or my Ethernet bridge.

My biggest beefs with Dish Anywhere and Sling Adapter concern resuming (no options to resume from where Hopper or Joey left off) and it throwing you to live TV when you're trying to watch a DVR recording. Don't even try to resume something that's still recording--you'll just get frustrated with the number of problems you see.

I also see the guide bug; does this work for anyone?

I started using a Twitter hashtag #DishBugOfTheDay for my gripes. I'm not sure if it will get me any satisfaction. Feel free to join in! So far the Dish social media folks have told me they report the problems but have no way to get any status updates on them.

Would a Hopper with Sling be the answer to my troubles? How much does it cost to upgrade?


----------



## cohall (Dec 1, 2004)

I wanted to come back and provide an update.

I reached ot to a DIRT team member here, and had a dish tech come out yesterday. I explained all of my issues, and he let me know that he's never heard of most of them before. Specifically, and the most annoying, is the refusal for the Joeys to come out of standby or respond to any remote buttons or buttons on the front of the unit. This happens several times a week, and requires either two forced resets or unplugging and then replugging in the unit.

The tech was one of the good ones for sure, and spent a lot of time at my house trying to diagnose issues. He double-checked all of my cabling, Moca strength, settings, software, verified plenty of ventilation, everything he could think of. While the units were not having the refusal to come out of standby issue while he was there, they were exhibiting the issue where the guide is unresponsive until I press channel down on the remote. Not a huge issue, but at least enough to let him know that it wasn't all in my head. He said that since it's happening to both Joey's, it's not a cable or electrical issue, and is most likely related somehow to the hopper.

So, after spending an hour plus trying everything possible to diagnose, the best outcome was just to replace all of the hardware. So, 1 new Hopper 2K, 2 new joeys. 

I woke up this morning, and the refusal to come out of standby was still happening on both Joeys  So frustrating. At this point, I just don't know what to do. 

There is a new hopper coming in January-ish of 2016, so I'll probably just deal with it until then, and then try to upgrade to see if that resolves it. 

If you guys have any more ideas, I'm cetainly open to them.

Thanks,


----------



## randob (Jul 15, 2012)

Cohall, did you upgrade to Hopper 2K, or did you have one already? I'm afraid if I upgrade, I'll start having the Joey standby problem too.

The guide problem seems like a software problem. Dish has a lot of bugs in the Hopper/Joey and Dish Anywhere software. I wish they would put more priority on fixing them, but all they seem to want to do is add features when the current ones haven't been debugged.


----------



## patmurphey (Dec 21, 2006)

Has the node ever been replaced? That's the one unit that's common to the Hopper and both Joeys. My 2 Hoppers and 2 Joeys have been trouble free since the original introduction.


----------



## david_jr (Dec 10, 2006)

H2K is not an upgrade. Upgrade would be HWS.


----------



## randob (Jul 15, 2012)

D'oh! Thanks for setting me straight, Godfather.

Just went to my Timers list, and the progress indicator stays flashing on the screen, though the screen seems to work OK otherwise.


----------



## cohall (Dec 1, 2004)

patmurphey said:


> Has the node ever been replaced? That's the one unit that's common to the Hopper and both Joeys. My 2 Hoppers and 2 Joeys have been trouble free since the original introduction.


I ordered and installed a new node last night. I'll let you know if it resolves the issues. Thanks for the suggestion.


----------

