# Black Screen and Screech Details



## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

This thread is to address the serious flaw introduced in 4.01 and still in 4.03 that causes the random black screen and sometimes a screech with it. Please answer the poll and write down the specifics of when it happens on your system.


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

I have:
4.03
DP34 on Dish1000
It seems like they are random, but maybe more happen when I am watching one thing and recording another at the same time or in POP mode--which would make sense since that was introduced in 4.01. It happened about 4 times the first day with 4.03, and once yesterday. NEVER happened prior to 4.03. Is accompanied by a screech about half the time.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

I Voted No black screens. Does not mean I have never had one with my 2 622s, but does mean that I have not had one with L4.01 or L4.03.


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## tomcrown1 (Jan 16, 2006)

I get the black screen twice yestraday---checked the counter and it shows that my HDD stoped twice


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

So far only one. And this time without the screech, more like white noise this time. I was getting 2 to 4 or these a day with 401 so maybe the fixed some conditions that did this (the release notes mention something about reset problems an some 61.5 configs).


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## wamjdavis (Jun 20, 2004)

Black screen only with 4.03 ... which is not in your poll question as an answer


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## joebird (Sep 15, 2003)

tomcrown1 said:


> I get the black screen twice yestraday---checked the counter and it shows that my HDD stoped twice


Counter?


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

My lost locks counter keeps adding up as well. Never had any of these with 3.6x.


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## wje (Mar 8, 2006)

I've never had a BSD with any version, including 4.01 and 4.03. The 'lost locks' problem seems to have been introduced with 4.01; I went from typically 0 with 3.66 to 20-30 with 4.01. This seems to have been improved considerably with 4.03. I'm reasonably sure the lock count refers to signal lock from the satellite.

I haven't seen any HDD stops. Perhaps that's the condition that's causing the BSD? Of course, it could be that whatever is causing BSD causes the HDD to be stopped.


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

wje said:


> I've never had a BSD with any version, including 4.01 and 4.03. The 'lost locks' problem seems to have been introduced with 4.01; I went from typically 0 with 3.66 to 20-30 with 4.01. This seems to have been improved considerably with 4.03. I'm reasonably sure the lock count refers to signal lock from the satellite.
> 
> I haven't seen any HDD stops. Perhaps that's the condition that's causing the BSD? Of course, it could be that whatever is causing BSD causes the HDD to be stopped.


Perhaps for some. But my machine never showed HDD problems in the counters.


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## bobn23 (Nov 10, 2003)

I purchased one 622 as soon as they became available last year. It had always had screaching and random restarts, but I noticed that they improved over time to the point that they almost never occurred during software version 3.85. As soon as 4.01 came they started up again with a vengence and may be worse under 4.03. Last night while watching a basball game I had at least three restarts. I have noticed that it is very infrequent to record any program now without a restart. I called Dish yesterday and they are replacing the unit. 

Interestingly, I had purchased another 622 a couple months ago and when 4.01 downloaded it coincided with a hard disk failure in that unit and that was replaced in that last couple weeks. I have noticed no restarts in that replacement unit and I have high hopes that the replacement for my older unit will be as solid.

-Bob


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## coldmiser (Mar 10, 2007)

I noticed yesterday that I was getting random black screens.


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## RASCAL01 (Aug 2, 2006)

:lol: I had back screens today...but my cat was sitting on my HDMI switch box remote


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

3 more black screens at annoying times tonight.


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## whatchel1 (Jan 11, 2006)

I've had the black screen/screech only during the time I had 401. I have had none since 403 came in my life. I checked HDD stops it shows 0. If that were causing the problem would it show for the 2 I had during 401 or was it reset when 403 arrived?


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Ok guys.. I see posts from people experiencing this but not a lot of details in terms of configuration.. Based on the polls this seems to not be a common occurance that everyone is seeing but seems to be localized situation at this point. I don't have 61.5 so I curious if the people seeing this all have 61.5? 

Ok.. when reporting these type of problems more details the better... The OP said lets get a thread going to capture the info, but at this point I am not seeing a lot of info just people indicating they are seeing them. I for one have not seen one on either of my boxes. Oh.. and I also see the lost lock count above 0. 

Typical stuff

Mode: Single or Dual
What type of audio are you using? 
What is your Dolby settings for your 622 at?
What is your Dish installation like? 
Is your 622 on a power conditionar or UPS?
Is everyone only seeing this with Side by Side PIP? 
Do you have OTA?
How many times a day are you seeing this? 
Channel changing/Pip Swap fix it? 
Have you done a power cord reset? 
Have you done anything in terms of keeping yoru 622 cool? 
Have you done anything like a factory reset? Cleared your switch matrix etc?
622 revision number?
Differences in counters in the diagnostic screen.

And anything else you think would be helpful based on your experiences...

tnsprin has two 622.. Seems to of had some occurrences with L4.01. They have been reduced on L4.03. Did you have these occurrence on both your 622s?

I know these the question may sound redundant or seem like a waste, however, they may show a pattern? they provide a clue to E* etc. Just saying you are getting them is interesting, but to E* engineers provides not value except perhaps makes them scratch there head.


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

I have the 61.5 sat in my switch check matrix using a dish 1000.2 sat dish. My lost locks go up every day in the 20's , 30's 40's daily. But I never have had any black screen or screeching screaming audio. The closest thing I get to audio problems, is when a timer kicks in on the other tuner my sound will elevate loudly on the tuner I am watching. 

I have also cleared the matrix on both dvrs and replaced the sat cables , diplexors, and seperators on both to get my tuner back that I lost on both of my 622s. Other than the lost locks and the audio flucuations due to timers kicking in on the other tuners , the software is working for me.


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

Ron Barry said:


> Ok guys.. I see posts from people experiencing this but not a lot of details in terms of configuration.. ...


Note that I have not seen any black screens on my E vip622, but it does get somewhat less use. On a seperate issue both have seen complete lose of OTA channels under l401/l403.

Mode: Single
Usually use RCA audio through the TV's rather than activating my Stereos. In each case the stereo's are connected with optical.
The set having black screens has dolby/PCm (the other has pcm only)
Dish 500 with twin and dish 300 (61.5)with dual connected to a DPP 44.
On a UPS.
Never seen this while using pip. In fact don't normally use pip. 
OTA is run seperately from a roof antenna. I have had failures both when using OTA and when not using it. With l403 the failure occurred while watching a previously recorded satellite program.
Was seeing this 3 to 4 times a day. With l403 have only seen it once in 5 days.
No remote controls work so could not swap, etc
I have done several power cord resets.
Have some added space below and nothing above. It is in regular room ari, but did nothing else for cooling.
Did try a NVM(ram) reset while on 401. Seemed to help for two days but then had several failures in a row on the next days.
Full number below.
Only counter change was AC/Pwr/hw wd. I am not sure if it always went up, or only when I pulled power.


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## SMosher (Jan 16, 2006)

Are you kidding me?! Such a small amount of 622 owners with this issue?



1) Single or dual mode?
Single Mode
2) When it happened, what channel and what type of audio where you watching. Was it DD 5.1, PCM, DD 2.0 etc. 
OTA, SD and HD channels. The unit is set for Dolby & PCM 
3) Type of audio conneciton. 
HDMI
4) 622 revision number.
L 4.03
5) Did it just happen on its own or was it a result of a an remote action? 
All on its own.
6) How many times have you experienced this.
Sometimes 2 to 3 times a day. Somtimes not for a week or so.
7) Was it Delayed, Live, or recorded content.
It was live 
8) Where you able to get it to stop making the screech? if so, what did you do? PIP swap, jump back, channel change etc.
Hit ANY button on the remotes and it rebooted.
9) If recorded material, does replying the same scene cause it to happen again
N/A
__________________

Complete matrix switch reset.
Sat locations CURRENT 61.5,110,119,129.
DPP44 Switch.

Also to add.

Replaced DPP44 switch with alt DPP44.
Ran power cord directly to wall bypassing surge device.

Today I will disconnect sat location 61.5 from the system and give it a shot.


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## SMosher (Jan 16, 2006)

joebird said:


> Counter?


Counters.

Main Menu
Press 6 System Setup
Press 3 Diagnostics
Select Counters


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## whatchel1 (Jan 11, 2006)

I spoke too soon. I had the BSOD this morning. 622 froze 1 show in a certain spot on playback and I tried to get past the spot w/30 sec F didn't work. It returned to start then when it got to same spot froze 2nd time would forward. Restart then was able to get thru it on 3rd time by FF thru the spot. Then on the next show froze went to BSOD & froze. I had to reboot then it worked fine again. Both of these events we playback of DVR'd material. To bad I can't vote again.


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

Mode: Single
What type of audio are you using? Optical
What is your Dolby settings for your 622 at? Both
What is your Dish installation like? Dish1000 DP34
Is your 622 on a power conditionar or UPS? Power strip
Is everyone only seeing this with Side by Side PIP? No, its happened in all different situations.
Do you have OTA? Yes
How many times a day are you seeing this? 4-5
Channel changing/Pip Swap fix it? Nope
Have you done a power cord reset? Yes
Have you done anything in terms of keeping yoru 622 cool? Yes AVG temp is 98
Have you done anything like a factory reset? Cleared your switch matrix etc?
622 revision number? Not since 4.01
Differences in counters in the diagnostic screen. Lots of lost locks 40 or so.

NONE OF THIS HAPPENED PRIOR TO 4.01.


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## SMosher (Jan 16, 2006)

SMosher said:


> Are you kidding me?! Such a small amount of 622 owners with this issue?
> 
> 1) Single or dual mode?
> Single Mode
> ...


OK! Unplugged 61.5, of course eveything was fine. Watching NHLHD .. black screen screeeeech pop reboot. What am I paying for again?


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## Bradtothebone (Aug 11, 2003)

I waited until today to post because I hadn't seen any BSOD's with 4.03 as of Thursday night - thought I'd give it the weekend.

Friday night the grandkids were over, and they were watching NICKW. The weather was bad (heavy overcast and moderate rain). BOOM! Three screaming BSOD's within 2 hours. Switched over to the 311 (through an RF modulator) and everything was fine the rest of the night.

On Saturday (mostly sunny), I did a power cord reboot and a checkswitch. It then went through an agonizingly-long "aquisition of satellite signal" (O15 Screen). This took probably 10 minutes, and the screen would go to 3 of 5, then back to 1 of 5, then up to 4 of 5, and back to 1 of 5, changing satellites and transponders seemingly randomly. When it was finally done, it reloaded program info.

Since this, I haven't had any more SBSOD's. I'm not at ALL confident that it's fixed, however.

Here's my info:
622 in Dual Mode ("C" batch)
Feeding two tv's from TV1 (one component, one HDMI)
TV on component has audio through AV receiver (optical DD/PCM)
Dish 1000 through DP34
110, 119, 129
OTA through attic antenna (very stable)
Lost locks as of Saturday PM: 8:10
Average HDD temp: 122F
Max HDD temp: 134F

The reboots happened about once a night (on average) with L4.01. Under L4.01, they were usually, but not always, "quiet" BSOD's. Under 4.03, they have all been SBSOD's.

They have occurred under all sorts of viewing conditions: Watching HD, watching SD, watching recordings, watching recordings while other recordings are in progress, watching OTA........no correlation that I can see. Maybe weather (lost lock), as reported above.

My wife's been pretty patient so far, as we've never lost more than 5 min (+/-) of a show yet, but if she doesn't crack soon, I probably will!  

Brad


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## Hall (Mar 4, 2004)

I see (1) post indicating what hardware rev their box is....


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

By hardware rev, I mean the revision Letter that is on the sticker located usually on the backside of the receiver. Ever time I indicate that people get that one confused with software revision. Also, Is anyone that is seeing these issues frequently have a lot of timers and counters? Above the 300 mark? Just looking for some commonality.

Good post Brad.. Some excellent details there... Hmmm I don't recall my acquiring signal screen to bounce around like yours. Mine usually goes 1 through 5 and that is it.


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

Ron Barry said:


> By hardware rev, I mean the revision Letter that is on the sticker located usually on the backside of the receiver. Ever time I indicate that people get that one confused with software revision. Also, Is anyone that is seeing these issues frequently have a lot of timers and counters? Above the 300 mark? Just looking for some commonality.
> 
> Good post Brad.. Some excellent details there... Hmmm I don't recall my acquiring signal screen to bounce around like yours. Mine usually goes 1 through 5 and that is it.


It seems purely random, but maybe happens more often when a timer is recording and I am watching another channel, but has happened with this isn't the case as well. Haven't checked my unit version. I got it last April though.

Update: I have revision "C" I believe. But it also says "Made in Mexico" so that pretty much explains the problems. ;-)


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## Bradtothebone (Aug 11, 2003)

Ron Barry said:


> Good post Brad.. Some excellent details there... Hmmm I don't recall my acquiring signal screen to bounce around like yours. Mine usually goes 1 through 5 and that is it.


I've seen this in bad weather, as it's trying to find _anything_ to lock on, but never on a nice day.

Brad


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## Hall (Mar 4, 2004)

Ron Barry said:


> By hardware rev, I mean the revision Letter that is on the sticker located usually on the backside of the receiver.


 That's the one I'm referring to as well. Takes a bit more work to figure it out....


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## Hall (Mar 4, 2004)

ebaltz said:


> But it also says "Made in Mexico" so that pretty much explains the problems.


 I suspect it's *assembled* in Mexico and the components are typical Japanese, Taiwanese, Chinese, US, etc, etc. I'll go out on a limb and suggest that the assemblers aren't to blame for the problems people are seeing.

The problem is when Broadcom or some chipset or semiconductor manufacturer replaces their component xyz123 rev b2 with xyz123 rev c1 that a problem crops up. The parts are supposed to be interchangeable and backwards/forwards-compatible, but are they ??


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

I decided to wait about a week after 4.03 before I voted on this poll. I had one BSOD during 4.01 but have not had any with 4.03. I didn't have any prior to 4.01 as well.


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## rndthm (Sep 16, 2003)

Every since 4.01 I have been seeing random blackouts from my 622 lasting about 5-6 seconds using the component output. I also have the hdmi output going to a different tv and it does not do it on the hdmi out. Has anybody else experienced this??? btw my current software version is 4.03 and it just did it a couple of hours ago.


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## bobn23 (Nov 10, 2003)

Mode: Single 
What type of audio are you using? DD/PMC Line mode
What is your Dolby settings for your 622 at?
What is your Dish installation like? Dish pro DPP44 
Is your 622 on a power conditionar or UPS? no
Is everyone only seeing this with Side by Side PIP? never use it
Do you have OTA? no
How many times a day are you seeing this? was a dozen last week, now maybe 1 
Channel changing/Pip Swap fix it? no 
Have you done a power cord reset? many times
Have you done anything in terms of keeping yoru 622 cool? not this one
Have you done anything like a factory reset? Cleared your switch matrix etc? yes
622 revision number? 4.03
Differences in counters in the diagnostic screen. mininwatchdogs: 1
temp high131 low109 av:116
may have been more susceptible to problems when recording, but happened when not recording also

I should have a replacement coming this week, but I seemed to have resolved the major issue I was dealing with that prompted my calling for the replacement. It was resetting a dozen times a day right after 4.01 and continuing with 4.03.

I am not sure how it happened, but the other day I noticed that suddenly the 622 was recording many programs that I had not programmed. It is possible, though highly unlikely, that I slept on the remote and caused all these shows to be programmed. I tend to think that at the time four or five days ago with it restarting constantly that the 622 added these additional recordings. It started recording all fox news and the O'Reilly Factor and NHL hockey and something on National Geographic, none of which I watch. When I notived what was happening, it had recorded hours of these programs, often resetting several times per hour. I went through and erased all these shows, freeing much hard drive space and now the 622 is back to normal. I have only had one reset that I have witnessed in the last couple days, while last week I was having numerous resets in one evening. I have always allowed new shows to erase old shows and I think that for some reason my unit does not like having very little hard drive space with 4.01 and 4.03. With over 30 hours available in SD, 4 hrs. in HD it is fine. Part of me is sorry to loose this unit now.

-Bob


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## johnrboren (Oct 31, 2004)

johnrboren said:


> Two weeks ago, L401 was installed on my system. After that, it would constantly hang and go to a black screen. It would eventually reboot itself or sometimes had to manually reboot it. This went on for two weeks - chopping shows into several parts. L403 was installed two days ago and things are better, but instead of 20 reboots a day, its only happening now about 2-3 times a day. (I watch TV when I'm working).
> 
> Now, I am using the second output on the Tv to output to my computer using Coax. I have it set where the main TV can watch its own and I watch on the computer on the separate tuner.
> 
> ...


Update on this - I continue to have the same problems. Called Dish again tonight. Told the tech that there have been numerous reports submitted to Dish, but he said he didn't see anything in the system related to this problem. So, either they are hiding something or perhaps people here aren't talking to Dish? 

They are sending me a replacement of the Vip622. I will get it next week and will let you know how its going.

Frustrating to say the least. I went through a similar bug issues with when I had the DVR 922 which I was glad to get off of. Now, I'm going through this all again. If this doesn't fix it, off to DirectTV I go. I have had it with going through these software bug updates. Hopefully DirectTV has their act together, but something tells me that they might have similar problems.

John


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

johnrboren said:


> Update on this - I continue to have the same problems. Called Dish again tonight. Told the tech that there have been numerous reports submitted to Dish, but he said he didn't see anything in the system related to this problem. So, either they are hiding something or perhaps people here aren't talking to Dish?
> 
> They are sending me a replacement of the Vip622. I will get it next week and will let you know how its going.
> 
> ...


I sent an email to [email protected] and then replied by saying they would send the BSOD information to the engineers. So they know about it, so either the person you spoke to, doesn't know what they are talking about or they have been told to lie, can't see how either sheds too good of light on E*


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

Since 4.01, roughly 30% of users voting are reporting BSODs. That seems to be a significant number that Dish can't/shouldn't ignore. Its not just a little bug. Its a MAJOR bug. How would you feel about a computer that locked up and rebooted 5 times a day right in the middle of your work? (For some it was called Windows 95 .


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Ok... Reality check time... First off lets stick to the focusing on experience and away from conspiracy theories and commentary towards Dish's policies.

We are but a small sample in terms of polling and people are going to be more likely to vote having experienced it versus not. Polls here are but a thumb in the wind and may or may not reflect experiences of all 622 uses in the field. From the opoll we have 7 out of 10, but there is no frequency tied to the number so jumping from 7 to 10 have experienced it to 5 times a day is jumping ahead a bit in my opinion and may be the experience of some users but I have not seen any evidence to indicate everyone is experiencing this frequency.

It was stated before that numerous people were loosing OTAs also. Well yes some people were, but given the number of 2 polls done here, the percentage I would not classify as numerous. Does not make the issue less painful for those experiencing it, not one bit,  but my point is that I think it is more constructive to focus on the issues and try to avoid trying to classify things as MAJOR in terms of exposure from these polls.. the fact is.. I think without more wide spread data, the defect exposure of what some users are here cannot be determined in my opinion.

As for does Dish know... Well given the fact that E* wonders around these forums I am pretty sure the E* Engineering team is aware that people are experiencing this issues. Remember a lot of users here were part of the orginally rollout so I am sure they are watching the threads for trends and that is why I suggested creating threads for this issues and the OTA one that people are experiencing. If anyone has been around here for a while, Information through CSR and support at times has been wrong or not up to date. Remember they are servicing 13 million customers and I am sure the way issues are reported could be or not be well written to the point that two CSRs being told the same thing will be able to determine they are talking about the same thing. Reminds me of the game where you tell a story, story is told to the next person and so on. Of course when it get back to you it sounds nothing like what you said to begin with. 

I will tell you now, the nature of this issue from the posts seems random. Random type issues in the field are very hard to troubleshoot and I have yet to see a smoking gun from the reports. I urge people that are experiencing these to keep them coming and keep the details up. What will help root cause this issues is posts with as much details as one can provide. 

One thing that comes to mind, I think I read a few people having replacement 622s coming. Please report back if the replacements result in the issues going away. Definitely would be useful information to know.....

Just in case I was not clear.. I do consider this issues critical in nature and has a high customer pain index for people experiencing it. In terms of customer exposure, not sure. In terms of frequency for users, not sure. 

As for E* ignoring, based on my experience engineers do not ignore these type of issues, however, you can't fix what you cant reproduce or root cause.. This is where field information comes into play and hopefully something we post here provide the clue for someone on the E* side to root cause and fix the issue.


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## Hall (Mar 4, 2004)

Ron Barry said:


> It was stated before that numerous people were loosing OTAs also. Well yes some people were, but given the number of 2 polls done here, the percentage I would not classify as numerous.


 The number of people affected clearly doesn't matter. Dish has a test release out right now that's primarily focused on OTA-related issues. Just because *you* aren't seeing them, don't discount those who are. You may not see it this way, but you come across as trying to downplay any "problems" and push them off as user-error, rebooting will fix it, etc.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Figured my post would be mis-interpreted.... well first let me answer the "Downplay problems comment" Obviously you did not understand the point of my post... I am definitely not one to discount people's issues and I suggest you re-read my post. I clearly state that I consider this issue critical for the people experiencing it, however, extrapolating information here from posts and the polls to determine customer exposure I think is not accurate. If you look at the poll respondents (around 70) that is about 1/3 less than the people that vote in the Hows your 622 poll. See below for my quote...



> Does not make the issue less painful for those experiencing it, not one bit, but my point is that I think it is more constructive to focus on the issues and try to avoid trying to classify things as MAJOR in terms of exposure from these polls.. the fact is.. I think without more wide spread data, the defect exposure of what some users are here cannot be determined in my opinion.


I would appreciate not taking my statements out of context when quoting. You left out the line below that followed the line you quoted and does not support your take on my position. The point to the line you quoted was until a poll was created the OTA issues was being talked about in the bug thread as numerous people loosing their OTA and not being able to get them back.. It was not until a poll thread was created that numerous meant 2 reported in the L4.01. I am not discounting either of these issues. Both have High customer pain and I am well aware that Dish is looking at the OTA issue with a test version. There is a difference between these two defects. The OTA issue is not random.. BSODs appear to be based on current feedback.

As for the BSOD and screech issue is.. well like I said in my previous post.. This issues is much harder of a defect to track down because its random nature.. That is why I have emphasized the more detail information the better. That is the whole purpose of my post..



> Just in case I was not clear.. I do consider this issues critical in nature and has a high customer pain index for people experiencing it. In terms of customer exposure, not sure. In terms of frequency for users, not sure.


As for telling me how I see it... Well you got that wrong too... You have your right to your opinion... but I personally don't see my self as pushing issues off as user-error. As to rebooting.. Well for a lot of issues that does resolve the issue for the person at that time and that is one of the main points of the forum.. Getting someone back to using their 622 as fast as possible.

Well we are starting to wonder into the weeds again.... Like I said in my previous posts.. Lets keep focused on the issue and the details of people that are experiencing this issue.. Best shot we have at helping resolve it. If you would like to discuss my defect philosophy, feel free to PM me and I will be happy to expand on my opinions but we have wondered off topic here and lets get back to the issue that I personally consider has high customer impact.


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## tomcrown1 (Jan 16, 2006)

Did anyone expierence this after I got the BSOD and the S C H R E E E E C C H mY HARD DRIEVE DIED!!! It came up with error code 311 and a message to call Dish which I did. to my surprise Dish is sending out a new VIP 622 at N/C even thou I am out of warranty. It seems that Dish is aware of this problem and I was told that it does have to do with defective hard drives. the service I got from Dish was outstanding.


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## Grandude (Oct 21, 2004)

tomcrown1 said:


> Did anyone expierence this after I got the BSOD and the S C H R E E E E C C H mY HARD DRIEVE DIED!!! It came up with error code 311 and a message to call Dish which I did. to my surprise Dish is sending out a new VIP 622 at N/C even thou I am out of warranty. It seems that Dish is aware of this problem and I was told that it does have to do with defective hard drives. the service I got from Dish was outstanding.


Did you try booting your 622 to see if it recovered? The reason I ask is because I had that error message this week, but without a black screen Screech. A soft reboot and all seems to be well again. I did check the tech site and there it said to do a reboot to see if it clears the problem.
So far so good. No new problems. I have had a few black screens but not lately and never with the screech.
I have my fingers crossed that the 311 message was a false alarm but am busy viewing the recorded programs just in case.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Grandude... THere was a issued of a false Hard drive error that was pree L403/L4.01. Did you get this error with L4.01/L4.03 or was it 3.66?


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## tomcrown1 (Jan 16, 2006)

Grandude said:


> Did you try booting your 622 to see if it recovered? The reason I ask is because I had that error message this week, but without a black screen Screech. A soft reboot and all seems to be well again. I did check the tech site and there it said to do a reboot to see if it clears the problem.
> So far so good. No new problems. I have had a few black screens but not lately and never with the screech.
> I have my fingers crossed that the 311 message was a false alarm but am busy viewing the recorded programs just in case.


Yes I tried a soft reboot and a hard reboot nothing cured the bad hard drive error. Once i click oky i can get all the dish channels. the hard drive is real loud so when iam not watching the TV i unplug the unit as the WHEEEEE sound drives me nuts.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Lets make sure we are talking about the same thing Tom.. The screech discussed in this thread is coming from the speakers. It is loud noise originating from the speakers.. Sounds like you might have a different issue here. Sounds like your noise was form the drive and that you drive went south on you.


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## tomcrown1 (Jan 16, 2006)

Ron Barry said:


> Lets make sure we are talking about the same thing Tom.. The screech discussed in this thread is coming from the speakers. It is loud noise originating from the speakers.. Sounds like you might have a different issue here. Sounds like your noise was form the drive and that you drive went south on you.


Ron before my Hard Drive died I got the SCREECH from my TV speakers along with the BSOD. after the L403 update I was getting the BSOD and the SCRRECH at least once a day for six days in a row and then last Wednesday whamo I got the BSOD and the SCREECH. I did a soft reset and thats when the message 311 came up. I then did a hard resett and the message still showed up along with the loud WIRR sound from my Hard Drive. One nice thing in the last two days i have not gotten the BSOD.

I again like to thank Dish for the quick response and not charging me for a new VIP622.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Thanks Tom... Just wanted to make sure we were talking about the same thing. Read lot of posts and get confused at times and when I read your post it sounded like we might be talking about two different things. Thanks for the clarification.


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

Dish replied to my email about this with:

Engineering is aware of the issue and working very hard to get it fixed. Although, there is not a specific time frame that could be given, they did inform me it will be soon.


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

Additional information. I am recieving "LNB drift" messages for 129 when looking at the system info. Perhaps this is related to the BSODs.


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## Leprechuan (Apr 18, 2007)

What is BSOD?


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

Leprechuan said:


> What is BSOD?


Black Screen Of Death.

Go BRAVES!


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

I received the lnb drift message when I ran a system info check too on all of my 622s. The answer was to run a check switch without the cables connected to clear the matrix. I then reconnected and ran the check switch again. IT cleared up all the lnb drift issues, the second tuner not working properly and the run check switch messages .


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## Grandude (Oct 21, 2004)

Ron Barry said:


> Grandude... THere was a issued of a false Hard drive error that was pre L403/L4.01. Did you get this error with L4.01/L4.03 or was it 3.66?


Ron, It was with L403. I was/am hoping this is a false error but in checking the numbers, I may really have a problem with the hard drive as the HDD SMART status is now 255 and I believe it should be 0. The HDD START status is 0x0000 but the HDD START FAIL count is 1 which is probably what triggered the 311 error screen. I would guess that if this occurs again and the count goes up I may have to have my 622 replaced.
Oh, HDD average temp is 122F but I never hear the fan kick into high speed.


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

We might be on to something. Please report the following:

*HDD SMART Status (In the counters):
Hardware Revision letter (on back of maching:
Do you have LNB Drift:
*

My answers are:

255
C
Yes (like -6.25 or something on 129.


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

Mike D-CO5 said:


> I received the lnb drift message when I ran a system info check too on all of my 622s. The answer was to run a check switch without the cables connected to clear the matrix. I then reconnected and ran the check switch again. IT cleared up all the lnb drift issues, the second tuner not working properly and the run check switch messages .


I tried this it didn't do anything. Same LNB Drift message.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

ebaltz said:


> We might be on to something. Please report the following:
> 
> *HDD SMART Status (In the counters):
> Hardware Revision letter (on back of maching:
> ...


Just as a data point.... My wife as indicated some audio issues. She did say she got a BSOD twice on one day but does not have the details and feels that it corrected by itself given time.

Number are for this TV

255
C
Yes I have drive on 148 LNB. I think is was -5

My other 622
0
B (I believe)
Same drift message

I will have to check my other box, but that one also is not showing the BSOD behavior


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

ebaltz said:


> We might be on to something. Please report the following:
> 
> *HDD SMART Status (In the counters):
> Hardware Revision letter (on back of maching:
> ...


HDD smart status zeros
C
No lnb drift (using 61.5)


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

Well the common thread so far seems to be the hardware iteration "C".


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

ebaltz said:


> Well the common thread so far seems to be the hardware iteration "C".


I also see one b posted. Still it could be only those models. I'd post a poll asking which model numbers have seen, but don't want to start a new thread. We already have quite a few on this.


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## Bradtothebone (Aug 11, 2003)

Just to confuse matters a bit:

Since I did a power cord reboot and check switch on April 14, I have not had ONE single BSOD. I did have some wierd OTA stuff going on for awhile, but that seems to have cleared itself up, also.

I know this doesn't work for everyone (and I may just be having a lucky streak), but, for now, I'm feeling pretty good. My wife asks me almost every day about when we'll get external archiving, however!

Fingers X'd, everyone!

Going from memory, but I believe HDD Smart Status = 255
Version "C"
No LNB Drift indicated

Will check the above again tonight, as I haven't looked at any of this since the BSOD's stopped.
_edit: The above info is correct._

Brad


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Yeah.. My upstairs one has had two BSODs since L4.01 based on my wifes feedback but since I was not around I don't have any details on it. Mine is also showing 255, but my box is performing pretty reliable from what I can tell. I definitely would not classify spontaneous reboots/BSOD as being excessive with my box. My downstairs box shows 0 and I have not had any BSODs on L4.01/03 with that unit. the 255 code may be a clue but also could be a red harring.


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

I need to change my vote. I originally voted that I had never had a black screen. While that was not completely true, I had not had one in a very long time until tonight.

I was watching a recorded program on TV1 and my wife was watching a live sat channel on TV2. Neither of us were doing anything but watching when it all went black. After the front panel reboot, TV1 came back with video but no audio while TV2 was fine. I'll have to reboot it later to try and get audio back on TV1.


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## BillJ (May 5, 2005)

I had a BSOD the first day with 4.01 but had not had one with 4.03 until yesterday. Knock on wood, I have not had any mini-watchdogs with 4.03. I was having them about every 30 minutes whenever the 622 was in standby with 4.01.


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

Got my first BSOD with L404 this morning. The sound was less a screech than a loud noise this time.


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## SMosher (Jan 16, 2006)

tnsprin said:


> Got my first BSOD with L404 this morning. The sound was less a screech than a loud noise this time.


That sure sucks. Seems the 4.04 rev is for the OTA madness. 
At least we can see the screech/reboot hasnt gone away.


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## slikkrock (Feb 15, 2006)

I know this has been covered ad nausea throughout this forum without resolution, but any guidance and or suggestions about what to do with BSOD occurrences would be greatly appreciated. 

I am going to have a rather large contingent of people over to watch the De La Hoya/Mayweather fight on Saturday, and needless to say, a BSOD during the fight would NOT be good!

I average at least 1 BSOD a night with the L4.03 release at random, unspecific times; either watching a recording, watching pic/pic, dual mode, single mode, live tv, it doesn’t matter.

Any thoughts or suggestions to ensure at least 3 hours of uninterrupted wonderful HD viewing would be appreciated!

Possibly a power cord disconnect for several hours, followed by the check switch etc…a separate wall outlet, a dedicated fan keeping her cool, whispers of sweet sentiments to the back panel?? 

What does she need?! Please help!


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

What version is your box and what is your SMART status code?

I am theorizing that there are problems either with the hard drive that when it hits a spot on the drive it BSODs. So it appears to be random. 

Either that or there is something wrong with "C" revision boxes, which 4.0x revealed. I still would like to be rolled back to 3.6x, but I know that won't happen.


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## tomcrown1 (Jan 16, 2006)

ebaltz said:


> What version is your box and what is your SMART status code?
> 
> I am theorizing that there are problems either with the hard drive that when it hits a spot on the drive it BSODs. So it appears to be random.
> 
> Either that or there is something wrong with "C" revision boxes, which 4.0x revealed. I still would like to be rolled back to 3.6x, but I know that won't happen.


You may be on to something as my hard-drive died after getting the BSOD for several days in a row. The Dish tech seemed not to be surprised and sent out a new VIP622.

So far after two weeks with the new box no BSOD ever and I do have the L403.


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

tomcrown1 said:


> You may be on to something as my hard-drive died after getting the BSOD for several days in a row. The Dish tech seemed not to be surprised and sent out a new VIP622.
> 
> So far after two weeks with the new box no BSOD ever and I do have the L403.


My box has never shown any SMART codes (still zeroes). I don't think that's it. Error recovery on disks is better than that these days. Certain series of boxes like the c series could be possibly the case when some, as yet unknown, condition hits.


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