# Watch recordings before sending DVR back?



## grecorj (Jan 20, 2008)

We're upgrading 1 DVR to a Genie this week (yeh!). 

Before I send the old DVR back to Directv can I still use it to watch what was already recorded? In other words, have old DVR hooked to TV but not to satellite and watch recordings?


----------



## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

You have some time, but do not power it off. If you power it off, when you power it back on it won't work without a sat signal.


----------



## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

Also, if you are deactivating that DVR, disconnect it from the satellite before you deactivate it. You want to avoid having the deactivate signal being sent to the DVR. You also have the option of just keeping the receiver active on your account until you finish watching your recordings.

- Merg


----------



## netraa (Mar 28, 2007)

Keep in mind if your having a technician install the genie, he's not supposed to leave without the other DVR.


----------



## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

If it is really important to be able to watch those recordings, keep that DVR active on your account until you are done watching them.

If you disconnect it from the dish before deactivating it, and are allowed to keep it by the installer, you may be able to watch recordings for a while. But eventually that ability will go away, and "eventually" could be anywhere from a few hours to a couple of weeks based on reports from many different users in these forums.


----------



## grecorj (Jan 20, 2008)

Genie is being shipped to me. 

My problem is that if I keep the DVR that I'm swapping out active and attached to sat signal I will be over 8 tuner limit. (I have another DVR I am keeping and a regular receiver). Which box would lose 1 tuner in that battle?


----------



## chevyguy559 (Sep 19, 2008)

grecorj said:


> Genie is being shipped to me.
> 
> My problem is that if I keep the DVR that I'm swapping out active and attached to sat signal I will be over 8 tuner limit. (I have another DVR I am keeping and a regular receiver). Which box would lose 1 tuner in that battle?


You can go into the satellite settings on the DVR you want to watch the recordings off of and change it to a single tuner DVR and you'll be fine


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

hilmar2k said:


> You have some time, but do not power it off. If you power it off, when you power it back on it won't work without a sat signal.


Not sure about what happens when you deactivate an HR, but I take an HR with me when I go on vacation (also bring a 1080p TV with me) and the HR has no power to it while I'm on the road. Always works as far as playing content when I get to the vacation spot. Naturally, I get the 771s, but I just hit the Playlist button and all the content is there to watch.

Rich


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

netraa said:


> Keep in mind if your having a technician install the genie, he's not supposed to leave without the other DVR.


Unless your old HR is a 20 series.

Rich


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

carl6 said:


> If it is really important to be able to watch those recordings, keep that DVR active on your account until you are done watching them.
> 
> If you disconnect it from the dish before deactivating it, and are allowed to keep it by the installer, you may be able to watch recordings for a while. But eventually that ability will go away, and "eventually" could be anywhere from a few hours to a couple of weeks based on reports from many different users in these forums.


Carl, I really don't know how long you can play the content, but I get a week out of them at the beach. Every time.

Rich


----------



## grecorj (Jan 20, 2008)

chevyguy559;3174543 said:


> You can go into the satellite settings on the DVR you want to watch the recordings off of and change it to a single tuner DVR and you'll be fine


So repeat satellite setup?


----------



## grecorj (Jan 20, 2008)

Rich;3174590 said:


> Not sure about what happens when you deactivate an HR, but I take an HR with me when I go on vacation (also bring a 1080p TV with me) and the HR has no power to it while I'm on the road. Always works as far as playing content when I get to the vacation spot. Naturally, I get the 771s, but I just hit the Playlist button and all the content is there to watch.
> 
> Rich


Thanks Rich; this is the way it always worked with TiVo units but wasn't sure about the HR24 units.


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

grecorj said:


> Thanks Rich; this is the way it always worked with TiVo units but wasn't sure about the HR24 units.


Just remember, I haven't tried them for more than a week. A week I'm sure of, anything past that, I dunno.

Rich


----------



## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

The suggestion of reconfiguring it for 1 tuner and keeping it active while you watch the recordings on it is probably the best approach. When you are done with it, call and deactivate it. Then they will send you out a recover box to return it.


----------



## rcork (Jul 17, 2007)

Rich said:


> Unless your old HR is a 20 series.
> 
> Rich


I'm having a Genie installed tomorrow and i was told by the CSR that if i keep the old DVR's active on the account, i can keep them and watch the recorded shows and the installer wouldn't take them with him.


----------



## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

rcork;3174687 said:


> I'm having a Genie installed tomorrow and i was told by the CSR that if i keep the old DVR's active on the account, i can keep them and watch the recorded shows and the installer wouldn't take them with him.


Exactly. And if with the Genie you will be over 8 tuners, you will be upgraded to a SWM16.

- Merg


----------



## studechip (Apr 16, 2012)

I'm having a Genie installed tomorrow and i was told by the CSR that if i keep the old DVR's active on the account, i can keep them and watch the recorded shows and the installer wouldn't take them with him.

Exactly. And if with the Genie you will be over 8 tuners, you will be upgraded to a SWM16.

Just make sure the installer knows before hand. If the swm16 isn't on the work order, he may not have an extra one on the truck.


----------



## rcork (Jul 17, 2007)

Installer showed up this morning and his work order had to swap and replace the existing DVRs so he had to call DTV and have the work order updated to say Install New. I had already moved all the old DVRs to a central location and connected to my network via Ethernet but not coax so I was still under the 8 tuner limit (no need to install a swm16). He hooked up the new HR34 and two C31s and everything is working as expected. I can still stream the recordings for the old DVRs to any of the new clients.


----------



## west99999 (May 12, 2007)

rcork said:


> I'm having a Genie installed tomorrow and i was told by the CSR that if i keep the old DVR's active on the account, i can keep them and watch the recorded shows and the installer wouldn't take them with him.


If a tech swaps a box they are supposed to get the old box in all cases it doesnt matter if it is an HR20 or an old Sony Sat-B1.


----------



## rcork (Jul 17, 2007)

west99999;3175231 said:


> If a tech swaps a box they are supposed to get the old box in all cases it doesnt matter if it is an HR20 or an old Sony Sat-B1.


Well he didn't. He just had to call DTV to have the work order updated to reflect the fact I was keeping the old boxes and that I understood I would be charged $6 for each of the DVRs until I deactivated them.


----------



## west99999 (May 12, 2007)

rcork said:


> Well he didn't. He just had to call DTV to have the work order updated to reflect the fact I was keeping the old boxes and that I understood I would be charged $6 for each of the DVRs until I deactivated them.


In your case he did not swap a box he set the new one up as a new outlet. On a swap/replace work order the line item on the order will have the tech pick the access card that is being deactivated (some lines already have the access card picked) and that access card and receiver is expected to be brought back to the warehouse by the tech.


----------



## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Rich said:


> Carl, I really don't know how long you can play the content, but I get a week out of them at the beach. Every time.
> Rich


Rich I am going to take one of my HR24-500s with me to Hilton Head Island this summer to see how it works because if it does that will be Fantastic to watch my Recordings while on vacation especially if it rains and I can't be outside at the pool or the beach. :hurah:


----------



## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

west99999 said:


> If a tech swaps a box they are supposed to get the old box in all cases it doesnt matter if it is an HR20 or an old Sony Sat-B1.


Well, I have 2 of them in my attic that Directv said they did not want back because they were Legacy DVRs and could no longer to sent back out to other customers.


----------



## west99999 (May 12, 2007)

Were these replaced by a tech or mailed to you? If the latter then yes they do not recover them because the cost of mailing back is not worth it. If a tech swapped them then he/she did not do their job properly as they were supposed to recover them from you. The box is recycled and the access cards are scanned for any PPV purchases that were not billed and recycled as well. (some of those cards end up being redeployed).


----------



## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

They were mailed to me as Replacement DVRs but I kept them just in case that info was wrong and down the road Directv decided they wanted them back or were going to bill me for them. :nono2:


----------



## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

hilmar2k said:


> You have some time, but do not power it off. If you power it off, when you power it back on it won't work without a sat signal.


At first it won't work, because it is busy trying to find a sat signal. Press "Exit" and it lets you access the play list and play recordings.

I got 4 days out of a failing HR20; might have got more but finished watching.


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Richierich said:


> Rich I am going to take one of my HR24-500s with me to Hilton Head Island this summer to see how it works because if it does that will be Fantastic to watch my Recordings while on vacation especially if it rains and I can't be outside at the pool or the beach. :hurah:


Unless something changes, it will work for at least a week. They do have HD TVs where you're staying, right? I've had to bring a 42" set with me the last two years.

Rich


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Richierich said:


> Well, I have 2 of them in my attic that Directv said they did not want back because they were Legacy DVRs and could no longer to sent back out to other customers.


Yup, I've got a bunch of them, too. Even have a 21-200 that's supposed to be returned. Been months, still waiting for a recovery kit.

Rich


----------



## grecorj (Jan 20, 2008)

carl6 said:


> The suggestion of reconfiguring it for 1 tuner and keeping it active while you watch the recordings on it is probably the best approach. When you are done with it, call and deactivate it. Then they will send you out a recover box to return it.


I think this is what I'm going to do. But I think I'll actually keep the DVR as a 1 tuner DVR and just return my plain old vanilla H24 receiver. Don't know why I didn't think of this before. This way I'll be maxed out at 8 tuners (Genie, HR24 and HR24 w/1 tuner enabled). Duh, don't know why I didn't think of this before! Eventually will get a client for Genie to install in yet-to-be-finished basement.

Thx.


----------



## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Rich said:


> Unless something changes, it will work for at least a week. They do have HD TVs where you're staying, right? I've had to bring a 42" set with me the last two years.
> Rich


Yes, they just Upgraded their TV to the latest and greatest Flat Screen HDTVs and all I have to do is bring my HR24-500 plus my HDMI Cable and I should be Good To Go!!!


----------



## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Rich said:


> Yup, I've got a bunch of them, too. Even have a 21-200 that's supposed to be returned. Been months, still waiting for a recovery kit.
> 
> Rich


I had to call three times before I got a Recovery Kit for one of my DVRs that had to be returned.


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Richierich said:


> Yes, they just Upgraded their TV to the latest and greatest Flat Screen HDTVs and all I have to do is bring my HR24-500 plus my HDMI Cable and I should be Good To Go!!!


The condo we stayed at last year told us the same thing about the TVs. Yeah, they upgraded to flat screens in the living rooms, but nowhere else. 3 bedroom, luxury condo on the beach and 3 out of 4 TV sets SD. And, unbelievably bad Wi-Fi. Last time for that place!!!

Rich


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Richierich said:


> I had to call three times before I got a Recovery Kit for one of my DVRs that had to be returned.


I'm not gonna call them. I'll wait until it shows up on my bill and then call Retention and see what happens.

Rich


----------



## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Rich said:


> The condo we stayed at last year told us the same thing about the TVs. Yeah, they upgraded to flat screens in the living rooms, but nowhere else. 3 bedroom, luxury condo on the beach and 3 out of 4 TV sets SD. And, unbelievably bad Wi-Fi. Last time for that place!!!
> Rich


Marriott put all Flat Screen HDTVs in the Living Room and the Bedroom and Upgraded their WiFi so now it is pretty decent as we Owners had *****ed about having 150 kbps speed so I will be Good To Go!!!

I have 2 Ocean Front 2 Bedroom Villas and it is really Nice especially now with the Upgrades (they Upgraded our Furniture, Curtains and Window Treatment so it looks better now than when we first bought the 2 weeks.


----------



## grecorj (Jan 20, 2008)

Regarding re-doing satellite setup....will I have to choose everything from scratch, or will it remember most settings as I go thru setup...in other words, how bad can I screw this up if all I'm trying to do is go from 2-->1 tuner on my HR24?


----------



## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

I'm not certain, but I think all the current settings will come as the default option as you go back through. You should just be able to keep those. Worst case you would need to know if you have a 3 or 5 LNB dish, SWM or multiswitch. After that there are not too many options you could mess up.


----------



## grecorj (Jan 20, 2008)

carl6 said:


> I'm not certain, but I think all the current settings will come as the default option as you go back through. You should just be able to keep those. Worst case you would need to know if you have a 3 or 5 LNB dish, SWM or multiswitch. After that there are not too many options you could mess up.


Thanks!


----------



## grecorj (Jan 20, 2008)

yup, dual vs single tuner was choice on first page. finishing up setup now...continue...continue...haha. I probably should have hit exit before it started downloading program guide data ... but wasn't sure of the effect. That's fine.

Genie install up next! Then I will have octo-tuners, haha.


----------



## grecorj (Jan 20, 2008)

Done at last. 

At first Genie was stuck in "validating installation" screen. Called customer service. Reboot and software updated and receiver activated. I had rep deactivate the H24 on my account. However after I got off the phone I noticed one of my HR24's still on my account was giving me a "receiver identification" error message. 10 more minutes on phone with DirecTV and all good -- yes, first rep had somehow deactivated 2 of my receivers instead of 1!

All working now, 8 tuners in full force!


----------

