# Problem with 222



## stumpie1 (Jul 8, 2007)

Here are the bugs we are experiencing with our VIP222 . We had Dish installed two weeks ago and have two receivers ,, Vip 622 & 222 .. The 622 has worked flawlessly. The 222 is another story .

#1 problem. Every morning the power light is on on the front of the unit ,, but when we turn on the TV the dish logo is on the screen saying " press select to continue" .. It doesn't matter if we turn the 222 off (light goes off on front of unit) before we go to bed or leave it on all night (which we like to leave channel 928 playing when we are not watching TV through the surround sound system) I have also disabled the inactivate timer . No mater what we do every morning the light indicates the unit is ON but its NOT ... 

#2 problem. In the menu screen there are a lot of "Help" screens available . If I select any of the help screens the 222 will lock up and we have to re-boot the unit .

#3 problem. Three of four times we have been watching TV and the color will start fading in and out on the program we are watching. When it starts doing that we have to unplug the unit and plug it back in .. I called Dish in this problem and after going through a bunch of trouble shooting they are sending us a new VIP222 . 

We should have a new unit Wednesday .. After I live with it a few days I will let everyone know if the problems are fixed ..


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

stumpie1 said:


> #1 problem. Every morning the power light is on on the front of the unit ,, but when we turn on the TV the dish logo is on the screen saying " press select to continue" .. It doesn't matter if we turn the 222 off (light goes off on front of unit) before we go to bed or leave it on all night (which we like to leave channel 928 playing when we are not watching TV through the surround sound system) I have also disabled the inactivate timer . No mater what we do every morning the light indicates the unit is ON but its NOT ...


 This is what happens with inactivity standby. If you leave it on over night it will still auto standby to take the nightly scheduled update. By default auto update is 3am. I do NOT recommend disabling auto update unless you like to have out of date guide data. Remember the ViP222 only has a ~44hr guide and it does need to update with greater frequency that your ViP622 DVR.



stumpie1 said:


> #2 problem. In the menu screen there are a lot of "Help" screens available . If I select any of the help screens the 222 will lock up and we have to re-boot the unit .


Not all of them are populated yet, still maturing in this regard. Can you give name or two of the help menus that lock you up so I can try and reproduce your issue?



stumpie1 said:


> #3 problem. Three of four times we have been watching TV and the color will start fading in and out on the program we are watching. When it starts doing that we have to unplug the unit and plug it back in .. I called Dish in this problem and after going through a bunch of trouble shooting they are sending us a new VIP222 .


 Good call... I haven't seen anything even close to this. Was this on HDMI or YPrPb? More info please...

Jason


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## stumpie1 (Jul 8, 2007)

I noticed the guide only went out 44hr's .. I have not disabled the auto updates .

Help menus that lock up the system ..
1. System setup , installation , point dish , help .. 
2. System setup , HDTV setup , help .. 
Some of the help menus work ok ,, But these two will lock the system .

Right now we are using the S-video out to TV 1 ,, and we have the coaxial cable out to TV 1 .. That will change to HDMI or YPrPb soon as we are looking for a HDTV .. When we were doing the trouble shooting the tech had me use TV 2 out to TV 1(using coaxial) and the color was still dropping in and out . 

Also FYI ,, The last two days the 222 has lost the satellite signal . Yesterday we were watching a movie on Stars and the signal was lost .. No storms at all ... Then today when I got home ( 7pm) The wife was in bed watching TV on the 622 ,, I went into the living room (where the 222 is) and noticed there was no music playing ( we keep channel 928 or 6073 on all the time when we are not watching TV through the surround sound system ).. I turned on the TV and the 222 was trying to find a satellite signal again. 

I hope I answered all your questions .. Thanks ,, Tom


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

stumpie1 said:


> I noticed the guide only went out 44hr's .. I have not disabled the auto updates .
> 
> Help menus that lock up the system ..
> 1. System setup , installation , point dish , help ..
> ...


I'm really interested in your problem, and so are a few friends of mine, so please bear with me and I would like to ask some more questions.

You said you have S-Video and the TV1 Coax connected to your TV. Is one going to a VCR/DVDR or do both those connections go to the TV?

Why did you connect both? Curious?

When the color fades in and out, is that via S-Video input or via the Coax tuner input of your TV?

Now, this one is important. If the problem is on the coax, go into Menu, 6,1, and modulator setup. What is toggled on under TV1? Is the modulator off with the second box checked off to CH3 or CH4? Or is the TV1 Modulator on, and if so is it set to cable or Air? Which channel do you have assigned? Also, if TV1 modulator is toggled on.... Which mode (Cable or Air) and channel is being used for TV2?

Thanks,
Jason


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## stumpie1 (Jul 8, 2007)

Jason Nipp said:


> You said you have S-Video and the TV1 Coax connected to your TV. Is one going to a VCR/DVDR or do both those connections go to the TV?


S-Video out of VIP222 to Anthem AVM2 surround sound processor ,, Then to TV .
The coax goes straight to TV antenna one input



Jason Nipp said:


> Why did you connect both? Curious?


We can use the coax to watch TV and not have to turn on the Surround system and amp's .. This does not happen very often since we leave everything on 90 % of the time . Right now the TV is off but channel 928 is playing as ambient music .



Jason Nipp said:


> When the color fades in and out, is that via S-Video input or via the Coax tuner input of your TV?


Both . At 1st I thought it was the TV going out (50 inch Mitsubishi big screen 6 years old). I put in a dvd and the TV was fine (also uses S-Video) . To get it to stop we had to unplug the 222 and plug it back in . I just turned on the TV to see if it was doing it and it's not ... Looks fine right now .



Jason Nipp said:


> Now, this one is important. If the problem is on the coax, go into Menu, 6,1, and modulator setup. What is toggled on under TV1? Is the modulator off with the second box checked off to CH3 or CH4? Or is the TV1 Modulator on, and if so is it set to cable or Air? Which channel do you have assigned? Also, if TV1 modulator is toggled on.... Which mode (Cable or Air) and channel is being used for TV?


TV 1 out is set to off ,, RF channel is 3
TV 2 out is set to cable ,, channel 73

I hope I answered all the questions and glad to help .

Thanks , Tom


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

Well, perhaps it's not the display, but it still could be? Maybe... Disconnect the DVD player, then connect the 222 to the same S-Video connection that the DVD player was on. Disconnect the Coax for this test. 

Did anything improve or change? Or did the problem follow the 222?


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## stumpie1 (Jul 8, 2007)

The 222 worked ok yesterday so I couldn't perform the S-video test .


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## stumpie1 (Jul 8, 2007)

Update ,, I received the replacement 222 yesterday. I installed it late last night and had it activated. I played with it for 10 minuets and thought everything was fine so I tuned it to 928 and went to bed.. The wife got up at her usual time to go to work which is 2:30 am. She said she had to hit the select button to turn it on. When she did that the 222 was searching for a satellite signal. She waited for awhile but it kept searching. So she turned the TV off and went into the kitchen to watch TV before shower and work ( kitchen TV works from vip622 )... Ok ,, Now I get up and notice no music in the family room.. I turned on the TV and hit the select button and the music came on ..I had turned off the inactivate timer before I went to bed last night so I didn't know what to think . I looked at a few channels to see if the color was ok and it was.. I turned off the TV and left the music on again .. Later when my wife got home she told me what had happened when she got up. So I went in and started flipping through a few channels and all of a sudden the 222 lost its signal !! I did a "check switch" test and an error come up. Now all of a sudden it can't find a satellite ! grrrrrrr ... I called dish and he had me install a different "separator" on the back of the 222 ( it come with the new 222 ) ... Plugged the 222 back in and run the "check switch" test again .. Now satellite 2 input cant find any satellite . So he has me reverse the satellite 1 & 2 inputs from the separator to the 222.. Plug it back in and run the test again ,, Same thing ,, satellite 2 input cant find any satellite.. He had me try a few other test ,, One was to unplug the 622 & 222 wait 2 minuets then plug the 222 back in 1st. Nothing worked .. So now dish is sending me another VIP222 overnight . I had him re-activate the 1st 222 till the 3rd one gets here .. 
And yes ,, The color is still fading in and out . The little time I got to watch TV on the 2nd 222 the color was fine. And as for the 622 ,, It still is working flawlessly ... I will let you know what happens when I get the 3rd 222 ....


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## jarvantgroup (Mar 24, 2006)

Are you able to relocate the 222 to where the 622 is? Does the problem follow the rcvr? It's hard to believe that you got a bad replacement that is doing the same thing as the first one. I've had it happen once in the last 7 years. :icon_cool


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

stumpie1 said:


> Update ,, I received the replacement 222 yesterday. I installed it late last night and had it activated. I played with it for 10 minuets and thought everything was fine so I tuned it to 928 and went to bed.. The wife got up at her usual time to go to work which is 2:30 am. She said she had to hit the select button to turn it on.


Again, the receiver powers down during it's nightly update.


stumpie1 said:


> And yes ,, The color is still fading in and out . The little time I got to watch TV on the 2nd 222 the color was fine. And as for the 622 ,, It still is working flawlessly ... I will let you know what happens when I get the 3rd 222 ....


So, did you swap the input to try the one your DVD player is on? I agree with Jarvant, two bad boxes in a row is not something I have seen happen very often.


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## stumpie1 (Jul 8, 2007)

Jason ,,, Each 222 had different issues . 1st kept loosing its color and the video would freeze for a split second every now and then. No sound problems ( forgot to report the freezing in earlier reports )... 2nd couldn't find the satellite . I put the 1st one back in and it found the satellite right away and has been playing all day . The 3rd one is here ..I'm getting ready to hook it up now.. I will let you know what happens ... 
Jarvant,,,, if this one fails I will do the relocate.. thanks .. 
Thanks again for all your comments and help ,, It is appreciated ...


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## chrisrcarlson (Jul 13, 2007)

stumpie1 said:


> Here are the bugs we are experiencing with our VIP222 . We had Dish installed two weeks ago and have two receivers ,, Vip 622 & 222 .. The 622 has worked flawlessly. The 222 is another story .
> 
> #1 problem. Every morning the power light is on on the front of the unit ,, but when we turn on the TV the dish logo is on the screen saying " press select to continue" .. It doesn't matter if we turn the 222 off (light goes off on front of unit) before we go to bed or leave it on all night (which we like to leave channel 928 playing when we are not watching TV through the surround sound system) I have also disabled the inactivate timer . No mater what we do every morning the light indicates the unit is ON but its NOT ...


I have yet to find a way to disable the standby mode screen saver. I have my Dish 222 connected to my Replay TV. The desire being to to record shows to it and have the channels changed via IR blaster. This doesn't work when the Dish unit is in the standby mode. Any ideas on how to solve this problem?


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## BNUMM (Dec 24, 2006)

I have seen two bad boxes in a row. Once was when one of my 501s went bad and recently I went on a service call for a 625. On the 625 it was not the same exact problem.


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

chrisrcarlson said:


> I have yet to find a way to disable the standby mode screen saver. I have my Dish 222 connected to my Replay TV. The desire being to to record shows to it and have the channels changed via IR blaster. This doesn't work when the Dish unit is in the standby mode. Any ideas on how to solve this problem?


James has a work around that usually works. http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=1005421&postcount=12

You could disable the scheduled updates, but that is a bad idea as this is what updates your EPG. James work around should help you out.


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## stumpie1 (Jul 8, 2007)

Update on 3rd 222 .. 
Still having problems . We can't watch any HD channels without the screen freezing for a split second every so often . This can happen 1 or more times a minute . We were trying to watch a show on 9435 but gave up . I did go check out TV #2 hooked up to the 222 and the same thing was happening .. Then I went into the bedroom and watched TV on the VIP622 ,, I Watched three or four hd channels (including ch 9435) for almost an hour and had no problems ..


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## stumpie1 (Jul 8, 2007)

Another update .

It's been a few days since I installed this 222 . So far it has been working great except on channel 9435 Satrz HD . On this channel the picture freezes then catches up . It happens a lot but doesn't affect the sound. I called Dish and the tech thought the satellite signal was to low on 129 . She had me try different transponders and the signal was always around 85 to 90 . It was raining that day . Right now on satellite 129 transponder 30 the signal is 91 ,, partly cloudy outside . Is this a low signal ???

Question ,, When the tech comes Sunday what signal strength should I expect ? Our receivers get satellites 119 - 110 - 129 . We live in east central Indiana . 

Jarvantgroup , I did relocate the 222 to where the 622 is and the problem did follow. 

This footnote is for some background,,,, and I hope it helps A few people understand why im so frustrated with a vip 222 . 
#1 . I work in an electronic store . I sale HD TV's . I also sale Dish ..
#2. This house was built in 2002 . Before the drywall was put up I installed all the RG-6 quad shield cable . All runs go from A to B with no splitters in-between . The only splitters in the system now is what dish put in .
#3. When we moved in this house we had DirecTV transferred from the old house . For five years we NEVER had one problem with the DirecTV receiver's . We left DirecTV March of this year and went to Cable . Why ? Because cable would let us have a DVR with no phone line and no extra $5 charge. The cable DVR NEVER had one problem . And we had two of them,,one in the bedroom and one in the living room .... Three weeks ago we left cable and went with Dish . Why ? The wife and I missed satellite TV . Better picture , Better channel selection , and I sale dish ... 

Three 222's with three different problems .. If its not the 222's ,, Then what could it be ??

Thanks for listening .. I hope someone can answer my question above ..

Thanks ...


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## yoyo1010 (Jul 19, 2007)

Mine does it an S-Video, composite (single video cable) and rf. The color flashes like crazy and really goes nuts when red comes on the screen. Since I have a 4:3 HDTV (SONY), we use the standard def output to fill up the screen if it's not a high def channel. The picture also looks real soft. It hasn't been doing it with the component (HD) output, and I"m not using the HDMI. TV only had DVI and I have an up convert DVD on it. Does it on TV2 also. Oh yea, if you use the TV2 remote, it is very, very, very slow. Actually takes about 15 seconds to change the channel. Dish said they would come out and replace it...........

Tech came and brought out the second vip222 last night. Having the same color problems with this one. It started about two hours after he left (appt was 12-5, he didn't show until 8:30 pm).

I started fooling around and noticed that, in the installation menu, dual mode, if I switch it from dual mode output to single mode the color problem goes away for about 30 minutes, then comes back. Switch it back the other way and it will clear up again for 30 minutes. (If the tuner is set for single mode [front panel], the output can be changed so that there is no signal coming out for TV2 [on screen menu].)

This only happens on the SD output (S-Video, Composite or RF) for TV1. The Component (HD) output seems un-affected. I thought the chances of getting two bad receivers were slim, but I"m thinking maybe I do based on what I'm reading above. Or, maybe there is an inherent flaw on them and not noticed very much since most people don't use the SD output on these.

My wife is about to skin me over this. She hates all this tech stuff anyway. Watching the colors constantly flash and chance colors makes her sick to her stomach.


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## stumpie1 (Jul 8, 2007)

Hey yoyo1010 ,,

I know *exactly* what your going through . My 1st 222 did the same thing ! Hang in there ,, I'm on my 3rd 222 and the color is fine on this one .. We are just having a little problem with a few of the HD channels as described above . I did switch from single to dual mode a few times and the color is still ok on this one ... Please keep me posted ...
Sounds like you better bring home a card & dozen roses for the wife ..... Maybe that will take her mind off the tech stuff for awhile ...


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## yoyo1010 (Jul 19, 2007)

stumpie1 said:


> Hey yoyo1010 ,,
> 
> I know *exactly* what your going through . My 1st 222 did the same thing ! Hang in there ,, I'm on my 3rd 222 and the color is fine on this one .. We are just having a little problem with a few of the HD channels as described above . I did switch from single to dual mode a few times and the color is still ok on this one ... Please keep me posted ...
> Sounds like you better bring home a card & dozen roses for the wife ..... Maybe that will take her mind off the tech stuff for awhile ...


Thanks man. I'll do that. Might ago buy her a new car tonight. I'll keep you posted.


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

Stumpie1 and yoyo1010,

At this time, engineering has asked me to collect your contact info.

PM this info, do not post it publically.

Thanks,
Jason


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## yoyo1010 (Jul 19, 2007)

yoyo1010 said:


> Thanks man. I'll do that. Might ago buy her a new car tonight. I'll keep you posted.


Well, I appeased the god's last night and got my wife a car. Still having the problems with the color on the 222.


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

yoyo1010 said:


> Well, I appeased the god's last night and got my wife a car. Still having the problems with the color on the 222.


yoyo1010, were you contacted and taken care of? Don't post names, but just wondering if you have seen any help?

Also I believe Stumpie1 may have been waiting to see if I was trustworthy having your contact info.


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## yoyo1010 (Jul 19, 2007)

Update:

Dish Engineering sent me a third receiver, which is doing the exact same thing. I hooked up a 322 to the exact same input, using the same cables, and had zero problems.

I have relayed this information to dish, have not received a response yet. 

I can understand that the immediate response would be "it has to be a problem with your TV or your cables or something else, but not three receivers". If that were the case, then why can I hook up a 322 to the same set up *(sd connections) and get no problems? Also, the vip211 I had gave me zero problems.

I don't know what dish plans to do at this point, if anything.


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## stumpie1 (Jul 8, 2007)

Thanks for the update yoyo1010 ... I was getting pissed that nobody would believe me either..

Here is my update... .. I was told by dish that if my 3rd 222 was bad that dish would send me a 622 @ no charge ..So I called Dish 7- 24-07 .. The Lady WOULDN'T" send me a 622 .. She said we would never tell you that ( calls me a liar )... What she did do is schedule a tech to come and see what the problem was ... I said ok .... The Tech came Sunday 7-29-2007 ... I put on a HD channel and he saw the picture freeze time after time ... He checked everything and found NO PROBLEMS at all and didn't know what to do ... The tech got on the phone and talked to a tech at dish ...They had no idea's how to fix it..... then he called his boss ... He said they wanted to send out a *senior tech *next sun 8-5-07 ... I said ok ... I stayed home all day that day and NO ONE showed up ... DA#N!!!!! SO last sun ( 8-12-07 ) I sent a long email explaining everything that has happened to [email protected] ... I got a call from them yesterday .... I couldn't pick up the phone cause I was at work .. I called them back @ 6pm last night and left a message .... So hopefully I will here something today .....

*Doesn't dish record the conversations when a customer calls in ???? I WAS told I would be sent a 622 @ no charge .. *

I have not raised my voice or used bad language so far .. I work for the public and I know what its like to get yelled at ... But I'm running out of patient's..


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

yoyo1010 said:


> Update:
> 
> Dish Engineering sent me a third receiver, which is doing the exact same thing. I hooked up a 322 to the exact same input, using the same cables, and had zero problems.
> 
> ...


I think the important thing to state here is that the 222 Engineering Team has your old receiver in their possession and are analyzing it. I am sure this will assist the developers in finding a root cause and a possible resolution fast.


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## yoyo1010 (Jul 19, 2007)

Oh yea. They have been very helpful. 

I know that this sort of thing takes time. When you have hundreds of customers with the receiver having no issues, then you have a couple that do, it's not as easy to fix as if everyone had the same problem.

In addition there probibly aren't a lot of the 222's out there yet. I've also made them aware of my entire set up in case there is some weird compatability issue.

Oh yea.......... and I did buy the wife that new car so I have some time in the bank now.


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