# Problems with VOD



## IMFletcher2 (Jul 6, 2010)

Hi all. First-time, poster, so go easy on me. Thanks.

My setup - I've had D* since June 30. I have 2 HR24-500's ("Living Room" and "Office") and an H24-100 ("Bedroom"). I have the SWM-8 port hub, and a DECA unit connected in the basement to a Linksys router. 

A couple of days ago, we downloaded a movie on the "Living Room" unit via Showtime VOD. We attempted playback on Friday night, and it played for less than a minute, and just vanished. When we hit "List" on the remote, it appeared that all DVR'd shows were gone. The list was empty.

I went downstairs and powered up both DVR's - the lists were still there. However, the only machine that was acting properly was the Living Room DVR with the VOD movie on it. We reset the bedroom box, and hit "List" and ended up in an endless loop of it trying to rebuild the playlist. In the background, I could now see the titles, but there was no way to access them. I could not play, or resume, or even scroll down the list. Same thing with the Office DVR. 

I took Merg's advice from another thread. I reset all 3 boxes, and unplugged them, plus the SWM, plus the DECA, plus my Linksys switch. I plugged them in one by one - first the Linksys, then the DECA, then the SWM, then all three boxes. 

This continued for hours. I called D* customer service, and they had no clue. They set up an installer to come out, but not until August 8. So I figured since the VOD started it all, I would delete the movie and see what happened.

Sure enough, once it was gone, and all three boxes were reset again, everything went back to working. 

To see if it was an issue, I did another VOD movie on the Office DVR, and sure enough, the Bedroom and Living Room playlists both wigged out and were not functional.

So my question is, shouldn't the VOD work seemlessly with the whole-home DVR? Any thoughts or suggestions from anyone? 

Sorry for the long post!


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## armchair (Jul 27, 2009)

Just some basic questions to get started:

Can you tune to broadcast Showtime premium programming? (had to ask but you may have the free short term programming)

Are there ANY ETHERNET cables plugged into your Directv equipment? Any previous ETHERNET connections made for any reason? Correct answers w/b No and Never (or at least not since I last ran satellite setup on that box).

Are the un-used coax connectors of the SWiM splitter terminated or open? (s/b terminated)


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## armchair (Jul 27, 2009)

:welcome_s


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## NR4P (Jan 16, 2007)

IMFletcher2 said:


> Hi all. First-time, poster, so go easy on me. Thanks.
> 
> My setup - I've had D* since June 30. I have 2 HR24-500's ("Living Room" and "Office") and an H24-100 ("Bedroom"). I have the SWM-8 port hub, and a DECA unit connected in the basement to a Linksys router.


Let's start here.
New Directv user since June 30 but you state a SWM8 is installed.
Generally speaking, new installs use a 3LNB SWM, not a SWM8.

Typically new install is SWM LNB ---> Green Label 4 port splitter---> distribution to set top boxes and connection to Router and Power Inserters.

Did Directv install this or did you install yourself? 
The more you can provide on your setup will help.


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## IMFletcher2 (Jul 6, 2010)

Hi again,

Thanks for the warm welcome so far. Let me clarify and answer the questions that you've asked me thus far...

Armchair... I am currently subscribing to the whole Showtime package, so it's not just a preview. I also tried to do a VOD movie originally from TMC On Demand as well. 

I do not have any ethernet cables plugged in to any of the three boxes. When the installers first did so, they tried connecting via ethernet and were unaware of the DECA set-up. Mine was the first or second house they did the whole-home DVR setup with, so I was a guinea pig of sorts. We got that figured out on day 2 or so, and any ethernet cables were unplugged from the HR24's. 

The unused coax connectors on the SWM splitter have small black caps on them with nothing attached. 

NR4)... Also to clarify, the dish itself is a Slimline-3S (SWM) according to the System Info page on the HR24. 

The splitter is an 8-port splitter. Currently, ports 5-8 are not being used. Port 1 has is connected to the power supply. Ports 2 and 3 are connected to the Office and the Bedroom, and Port 4 is connected to the DECA adapter.

Prior to the VOD issue, all the multi-room viewing has been working more or less as it should be, with only occassional hiccups. 

This was installed by a professional installer, not by me. They are installers from an electronics retailer that sells DirecTV systems. They've installed D* for years, but the whole-home set-up was new to them on June 30. Believe it or not, they were unaware of the DECA requirement due to bad info they were given by their D* rep.


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## NR4P (Jan 16, 2007)

Good description, that helps.

Take a look at the Directv 8 port splitter.
First, does it say something to the effect of Directv splitter, 2-2150Mhz and is all that printed on a green label?

The black caps, do they have a silver tip on them. A rounded/pointed tip? 
What these need to be are terminators. Or can you unscrew one, and see if its just a cover or have a center pin/wire that goes into the splitter?


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## IMFletcher2 (Jul 6, 2010)

Hi NR4P, thanks for your help. Sorry my descriptions are lacking.

The splitter is a D* green-labelled splitter. It has what I believe to be a part number, which is MSPLIT8R0-01, and underneath it says 2-2150MHz.

I was incorrect about the "black cap" description. Each port has a black 'end' of sorts. 

The unused ports have a small silver cap on them with a round and pointed round tip. I had one I unscrewed when the DECA adapter was put in, and they do indeed have a center pin/wire that goes into the splitter.


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## NR4P (Jan 16, 2007)

Your second post about the ethernet being plugged in originally, might be worth looking at. A number of folks who has this mistake have had headaches and just unplugging it and rebooting doesn't always solve the problem. Ethernet should not be plugged in to an H-24 series box

Try this.
On each box, go to Menu/Parental & Setup/Sys Setup/
A shortcut to this is press INFO, release, press and hold INFO.

Go to Sat and Antenna/Repeat Sat Setup

Repeat your sat connection setup. You shouldn't have to change anything. Assuming it was correct in the first place.

You have SM3LNB dish
Your DVR has 2 tuners
Your reg HD box has 1 tuner.
Step through the menus on both set top boxes to do this.

After both return to normal programming, give them about 10 minutes to reset to the whole network and lets see what happens.


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## IMFletcher2 (Jul 6, 2010)

Okay, I have repeated the satellite set-up on all three set-top boxes. All three have restarted and appear to all be functioning correctly.

The non-DVR HR24-100 box, when I first repeated the satellite set-up, did not show the DVR program list correctly. The list shown on-screen did not include two programs that were recorded this morning (as if it were a list from last night), and I could not press "Play" or move up and down the list. I reset that box via the onscreen menu (as opposed to pressing the red button), and when it booted again, the DVR list was all there, up to date, and I could navigate the list and play a new title. 

So, it appears right now that everything is in working order. However, it was all in working order last night when I deleted the VOD programs I had downloaded. 

NR4P, would your next suggestion be to download a VOD show and see what the effect is on everything?

I appreciate all your help!


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## NR4P (Jan 16, 2007)

The last steps were done to remove any question if the set top boxes though you had an ethernet connection directly to them. 

Before downloading a movie, first to back to the Main setup screen and in the lower right corner, is a Run System Test selection. Run it.

You should have no errors. If no phone line is connected, then a phone line error is OK but nothing else.


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## IMFletcher2 (Jul 6, 2010)

Okay, I ran the test on all three boxes. On the two with phone lines attached, there were no errors. On the third with no phone line, was just the error of "Cannot detect a dial tone." No other errors, so things look good.

Would your next suggestion be to download something via VOD and see what effect that has on things?


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## NR4P (Jan 16, 2007)

IMFletcher2 said:


> Okay, I ran the test on all three boxes. On the two with phone lines attached, there were no errors. On the third with no phone line, was just the error of "Cannot detect a dial tone." No other errors, so things look good.
> 
> Would your next suggestion be to download something via VOD and see what effect that has on things?


Sure give it a try.
If it fails to d/l properly it could be a bad connection between the Router and DECA unit or DECA unit and 8port splitter.

Something also to try, on the HR's, record something from the channel guide. Anything from any Sat channel.

Then verify that a) you can play it on the same DVR from beginning to end successfully (use FF if you want) and b) that another set to box can also play it without any problems. This verifies your Whole Home DVR network.

Between these two things, it will either point to a good/bad network within the home and/or the condition of your internet connection.


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## IMFletcher2 (Jul 6, 2010)

Thanks again. Just to clarify on my original problem. The movie downloaded properly. It could be played on the set-top that it downloaded to. It just made both other lists go wonky.

Also, I'm a heavy DVR user - so I have maybe 25 hours of stuff on each one, and have been recording and playing back shows daily since my install on 6/30. Most often, there are no issues. I can start and stop in one room, and another, and in the room with the H24-100. 

At any rate, since I have done all the resets and rebooting the machines and setting up the satellite again on all machines, I picked a show at random from the guide on each DVR and am recording it. I will start each on the machine and run it from start to finish as you suggested. I will also try each on both other set-tops.

I'm also downloading a shorter program on VOD, and thus far it appears to be working. I've watched a couple of minutes of it on each HR24 thus far. I will let the download finish and try it on the H24, where all the trouble began.


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## IMFletcher2 (Jul 6, 2010)

NR4P, I took all the advice and things were looking solid. The two new shows recorded randomly this afternoon all played, from start to finish, on all three set-top boxes.

So I downloaded something via VOD from The 101 On Demand channel, a 30-minute HD show. It recorded fine, and could be played/paused/stopped from all three boxes and all playlists were fine.

So I went back to Showtime on Demand tried a movie, and everything crapped out again just like on Friday. On the HR24 that it downloaded to, it worked like a charm. On the other HR24, the playlist showed but I could not do anything with it (browse up and down, play, etc.). On the H24, the playlist was empty. 

I think the solution is to give up on Showtime On Demand, unless anyone has a better idea.


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## armchair (Jul 27, 2009)

Before you give up on showtime try refreshing your services. Sign-in and execute this shortcut: https://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/mydirectv/mysystem/mySystemResendAuthorization.jsp


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## IMFletcher2 (Jul 6, 2010)

Thanks. I will try that. I appreciate it!

Has anyone else seen or heard of these issues? Maybe I stumbled onto a bug. LOL


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## NR4P (Jan 16, 2007)

How strange, only Showtime on demand does not work.

Can't say I've read that anywhere. In fact, I tried a short item from Showtime and it worked for me.


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## IMFletcher2 (Jul 6, 2010)

I haven't tried another one. I have done all the resets numerous times, and then reset things from the D* end like the previous poster suggested. Everything seems to be working, and I am not sure it's worth the time or effort to download another Showtime movie just to see what happens, knowing if it bogs things down I have to start all over with the reboots.


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