# My 622 has gone berserk



## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

Bummer. I no longer think this is related to L616 which I just received a few days ago. My ViP622 which has performed flawlessly (or at least as well as can be expected) for many months has gone berserk.

Last night it rebooted itself spontaneously while we were watching a program. This morning it did it several times and has progressed to the point where now it often does this so frequently that it never makes it though the "searching for satellite signal" screen. In really extreme cases it reboots again before it even _produces_ the sat signal screen.

I have to wait 3 to 5 days for a replacement. This is unfortunate but understandable. More unfortunate is the fact that I had not yet transferred the inauguration to the EHD. It will be lost along with the dozens of timers which I will have to manually reprogram onto the new one. In the meantime those recordings will have to be made on my 612 - but since it has only one tuner some will be missed.

In the future I will transfer everything that means anything to me onto the EHD immediately after acquiring it. I suppose even this is no guarantee against the DVR going berserk in some way that trashes the EHD.

Wouldn't it be nice if the timers could be saved and restored to/from the EHD? On second thought, the entire configuration could be saved/restored making receiver replacement a snap.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

The 612 has 2 tuners...

Also, the new series of Dish receivers with "k" suffixes (211k, 222k, 722k) all come with new v.21 remotes that allow your timers to be stored in the remote and transferred to a new receiver.


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## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

IIP said:


> The 612 has 2 tuners...
> 
> Also, the new series of Dish receivers with "k" suffixes (211k, 222k, 722k) all come with new v.21 remotes that allow your timers to be stored in the remote and transferred to a new receiver.


That is a cool feature. Where does this info originate?


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## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

JimD said:


> In the meantime those recordings will have to be made on my 612 - but since it has only one tuner some will be missed.


I'm surprised no one took me to task over this. The 612 has 2 tuners, so no simultaneous programs will be missed.

I play so little with the 612 I have forgotten its capabilities.


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

I'm surprised you missed post #2 which you full-quoted in post #3. 

Info on the 21.0 remote I think first came from Team Summit last May.
See http://www.dishuser.org/2wayremote.php


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## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

BobaBird said:


> I'm surprised you missed post #2 which you full-quoted in post #3.
> 
> Info on the 21.0 remote I think first came from Team Summit last May.
> See http://www.dishuser.org/2wayremote.php


:lol::lol::lol:

It seems today is just not my day. I totally missed that, in both his post and my quote.

Oh, and thanks for the link. Very nice information to have.


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## n0qcu (Mar 23, 2002)

Leave your 622 unplugged over night. A lot of times it will then work for a while when plugged back in and you may be able to transfer to your external drive.


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## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

n0qcu said:


> Leave your 622 unplugged over night. A lot of times it will then work for a while when plugged back in and you may be able to transfer to your external drive.


Thanks. It got so bad this afternoon that I thought it was never coming back. I unplugged it for a while and now it is back on and working for about 30 minutes.

I am too chicken to try to save the inauguration to that drive - I don not want to trash it. I have a 500GB laying around here somewhere. I will hook that up and try to copy that and the few series programs my son has not yet had time to come over and watch.


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Sure sounds like a power issue. Maybe a loose power cord, or dirty power at the outlet?


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Disconnect all receivers from your dish and and umplug them for 5-10 minutes. Reboot them unconnected and run check switch. This will reset the switch matrix in each receiver.

Reconnect everything and run check switch on all receivers.

See if this helps.


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## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

HDG said:


> Sure sounds like a power issue. Maybe a loose power cord, or dirty power at the outlet?


Thanks, but I don't believe so. There is a UPS supporting the TV, AVR receiver, Home Theater computer, Television and Dish receiver. It reports no problems at all - and the other devices are all happy. I have tested this entire system on several occasions by removing the power feed from the UPS, and all runs fine for several minutes (10?) before the UPS begins to warn about battery depletion.

There can be no power disturbances getting through that would not also affect the computer or at least cause the AVR to mute briefly (its speaker protection circuit is the most sensitive thing in this whole arrangement).

Finally, I removed the power cord of the 622 and fed it directly from a wall outlet and it failed repeatedly thereafter also.


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## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

Jim5506 said:


> Disconnect all receivers from your dish and and umplug them for 5-10 minutes. Reboot them unconnected and run check switch. This will reset the switch matrix in each receiver.
> 
> Reconnect everything and run check switch on all receivers.
> 
> See if this helps.


Hmmm, I'm not sure how this ties into the receiver crashing... Have you any reason to suspect that switch matrix problems can cause random reboots? How would you come to this conclusion?

For what its worth, I have had no failures since I "mechanically shocked" the receiver earlier today. It had been sitting out on the hardwood floor in front of the other components as a test to make sure that heat was not an issue. I had no reason to suspect that it was, the TV stand is open on all sides and the fan on the 622 never sped up except when crashing last night and today - and it has been working in that location for many months. Several of today's failures occurred while the receiver was sitting out on its own this way, so the environment does not seem to be causal.

The last thing I did to it today was to disconnect power, wait a few moments for the HD to stop spinning and then pick up and tilt the chassis around - listening for any loose parts or maybe something foreign got in there somehow. I also tapped on the side of the chassis once or twice while doing so. I noted nothing unusual, heard no loose parts or wayward screws. It was unplugged for about 5 minutes or so during this process, where before it was only ever unplugged for 30 seconds or so at the most.

It has since been running for almost 3 hours without failure! I connected a 500 Gig EHD I had lying around on the workbench and formatted it (during which process a restart of the receiver occurs and looks for all the world like the failure itself). The format completed, the receiver restarted and all was well. I then recovered all of the recordings to the EHD. during that process I have done many channel changes, used DVR functions etc with no problems during this 3 hours.

Maybe the mechanical shock moved something - or maybe having it powered off for an extended period did something that shorter power cycles did not.

All of this of course means nothing - it will still be replaced this week - but at least I managed to get those recordings off there.


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## n0qcu (Mar 23, 2002)

HDG said:


> Sure sounds like a power issue. Maybe a loose power cord, or dirty power at the outlet?


I believe it's more like E* is using a very poor power supply. One of my 722's was doing the same constant rebooting until I replaced the power supply with one I took out of an old 942, it's been working good ever since.


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

n0qcu said:


> I believe it's more like E* is using a very poor power supply. One of my 722's was doing the same constant rebooting until I replaced the power supply with one I took out of an old 942, it's been working good ever since.


Just thought I'd mention it as a possibility. I know my 622 is very sensitive to power fluctuations. I've seen it go into a re-boot cycle after a power hit that the rest of the house took in stride.

I give my ViP's power supply a lot of credit. It's survived more power outages and transients than I care to count. Besides, why would E* build an award-winning reciever and then straddle it with a cheap power supply?


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## Kolhell (Jan 21, 2009)

HDG said:


> Besides, why would E* build an award-winning reciever and then straddle it with a cheap power supply?


lawl.

i dont know anything about the power supplies in these boxes, but i wouldnt put it past any company to cut corners in the interest of saving money.


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Kolhell said:


> lawl.
> 
> i dont know anything about the power supplies in these boxes, but i wouldnt put it past any company to cut corners in the interest of saving money.


I suppose. :nono:


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## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

I received the replacement receiver from Dish Network today. I am surprised to find that it is a black 722 (to replace my silver 622). This is a win/win for me since all my other HT equipment is black, and the 722 has a larger HD.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Cool Jim.. Lets us know if the box swap as restored stability to your installation in a week or so. Also good to close the loop.


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## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

Here is an update.

On Friday morning, the 722-for-622 swap went without a hitch initially. I got to the part where the 722 was downloading "vital program information" from the satellite (I presume this is microcode it is downloading). The message number on this screen is 061.

It completed downloading this data and restarted (rebooted). It did not come back up normally. Instead it came up in a rather low-resolution screen with the same "Warning 061" message number, but now with the additional text "boot recovery". This screen does not have the glitzy look of the other "normal" screens, looking rather like DOS compared to Windows. The text is very rough-outlined and the progress bar is composed of individual little blue boxes that turn red as it progresses through the load.

A search for boot recovery led me here and here.

The 722 never completed the load on this "boot recovery" screen. It got a bit more than halfway through the progress bar, crashed and rebooted. It repeated this two more times. By then I'd had enough and I removed power.

When I put the cord back into the outlet the receiver booted and went to the "your receiver is not authorized" screen. I called dish and the "robot voice" - you know, the one that tries to make you feel like you're talking to someone who cares - accepted my receiver and smart card IDs and soon I was setting things up in the menus.

The info screen says the receiver is running L616, so apparently the code load worked. 

My wife was able to use the receiver all day Friday with no issues at all. That evening I was able to take the secondary USB device I had been using with the ailing 622 and transfer everything back onto the 722, then reconnect the primary USB device and transfer them onto there.

So far, thanks to external storage, I have not lost any recorded programs.

After all this, I awoke this morning and was greeted downstairs by the loud roar of the 722 cooling fan. Uh oh...

It was sitting at the same low-resolution "boot recovery" screen, only it was not progressing. It must have been this way since the nightly code download opportunity. It is already running L616, so I fail to understand why it would want to load code in the night - maybe it just crashed while it was sitting there doing nothing.

So I power cycled it again. It is back to normal once more - and it did not miss any of the recordings when the timers fired last night. Everything I expected is there.

So, clearly this thing is "duff" as they say across the pond. I will have to send it back and get another one. I am going to wait and see what it does tonight. I have not sent the 622 back yet - and it continued to work flawlessly after being mechanically shocked. I almost wish I could just send the 722 back and keep the 622 now. 

Any words of advice at this point?


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

JimD said:


> Here is an update.
> 
> On Friday morning, the 722-for-622 swap went without a hitch initially. I got to the part where the 722 was downloading "vital program information" from the satellite (I presume this is microcode it is downloading). The message number on this screen is 061.
> 
> ...


You probably got a "refurbished" replacement. Whoever had it before you probably had the same problem you're experiencing. Dish doesn't do a very good job of checking units before sending them back out in the field. IMO.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Sometimes you do get a DOA... I would try and get your shows back on your EHD and get them to send you out another one to swap out. What you are describing does not sound good.


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## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

Ron Barry said:


> Sometimes you do get a DOA... I would try and get your shows back on your EHD and get them to send you out another one to swap out. What you are describing does not sound good.


I called yesterday, they sent a report to engineering. I called again today (since I have to power cycle it every morning) and they said they have to wait until engineering responds to the report - which may take as much as 2 business days.

So apparently I will have to power cycle this receiver every day until they eventually get around to agreeing with me that it is defective. It is terribly annnoying for me having been a technical support representative on computers/raid arrays/tape subsystems/networks for the last 29 years to have to wait until the "trained monkeys" finish their script before any action is taken. Isn't there some key word I can use that will cause them to understand the situation?

When I called today, the person at the other end of the phone actually had me check and report to her the sat signal strengths.  Like I haven't done that along with "check switch" a sufficient number of times yet. It does no good to explain to them that this receiver works perfectly no matter what I ask it to do - until the nightly window at 3 AM when it does something special which results in the looping on the "boot recovery" screen. Sure - send out a tech. What's he going to do - sit here until 3 AM to catch it in the act? Do I have to leave it in the failed mode until he gets here? :nono:


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

You have to know the CSRs need to deal with the dumbest people in the world (customers). When someone knows what they are doing it is unusual to the CSR and they are not easily convinced that is the case. You just have to play by their script unless you get someone that really understands the receivers and people well enough to determine you might actually be someone that knows something. Usually all you can do is play their game until they come around to your way of thinking.


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## kktk (Jul 6, 2007)

For those who are having issues with the 622---dont bother.
They are just too flakey.

I had my first one that worked flawlessly---and then I had to replace it because of a failed HDMI port.

Then the nightmare started---I replaced 4---yes that's right 4 of them in 2 1/2 months. They would constantly keep rebooting.

Upon fighting with dish for hours----they gave me all sorts of crap....finally they sent a tech out who didnt even bother running any test---just put the 722 in.

Apparently, the 622 does this all over---just the techs would never admit it.
Save yourself the hassle---get the 722 instead.


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

kktk said:


> For those who are having issues with the 622---dont bother.
> They are just too flakey.
> 
> I had my first one that worked flawlessly---and then I had to replace it because of a failed HDMI port.
> ...


I must be one of the lucky ones.


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## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

HDG said:


> I must be one of the lucky ones.


I must be both lucky and unlucky. :lol:

My 622 worked for a long time (more than a year?) and then when it failed, the *722* replacement has been nothing but trouble.

Another update -

I spoke with Jason (or was it Justin?) the CSR to ask what the response from engineering was. There is as yet no response! WTF?!?!

So, we agreed to have a service rep come out on Friday morning to check it out. I reminded him that unless the guy shows up first thing he won't see the issue because I power cycle the receiver and then it's OK all day. I asked him to prime the guy to replace this 722 - cause that's what is going to be the diagnosis. I don't want him to come out here empty handed since he can't fix this problem.

Then he said something that struck me - why the hell didn't I think of this?

He had me change the update time to 3 PM instead of 3 AM. I turned off the receiver and watched all those "tips" screens for 5 minutes, and a little after 3 PM - poof! The screen went black, the receiver fan went full tilt and a few seconds later I was greeted by the dreaded "boot recovery" screen.

So the behavior is easily replicable in the shop - just set the update timer to the next hour and enjoy the show.

When in the failure mode, I tried to use the front panel button reset to no avail. The receiver is not sufficiently conscious during this activity to see any button presses.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

JimD... Unless I am reading this wrong. The update does a reboot and that is what you are seeing. If you changed your time to 3pm, you will see a reboot. Is that the only issue you are seeing with the 722. If it is, then your 722 is fine. This is called a nightly reboot.


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## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

Ron Barry said:


> JimD... Unless I am reading this wrong. The update does a reboot and that is what you are seeing. If you changed your time to 3pm, you will see a reboot. Is that the only issue you are seeing with the 722. If it is, then your 722 is fine. This is called a nightly reboot.


:nono2: If only.

What happens is that it tries to do the reboot every night (or when the time you've set is matched) but this boot results in the "Warning 061 Boot Recovery" screen. This is a screen I've never seen before, but I posted links to others who've seen it above.

As I said previously, during the first install of this replacement 722 all went well until it finished downloading code on the "normal" warning 061 screen and rebooted. It never awoke from that reboot, ending up instead on this "boot recovery" 061 screen. It loops forever with the little blue squares turning red to indicate progress of whatever it is downloading, but it never makes it all the way - it crashes about halfway through the load and starts over. The only way out is to power cycle, the front panel buttons are dead hardware in this part of the code.

Now if it actually DID download something during install last Friday, and what it downloaded was L616 as is shown in the info screen, then why on earth does it need to do a "boot recovery" and download firmware again after the nightly restart? And why can't it complete this nightly restart/boot recovery? And why does a power cycle make it think it no longer needs to recover - the power cycle boot works just fine! After a power cycle it will work all day until the nightly boot - and hello "boot recovery" loop.

I just thought of something. If the case is that a "soft boot" triggers the problem but a "hard boot" does not, maybe I can just press the front panel button for 5 seconds and trigger the failure that way. This would be real handy on Friday morning when the Dish guy gets here.

I am off to try this...


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## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

Bingo!

Front panel reboot triggers the "warning 061 Boot Recovery" screen.
Power cycle reboot does not.

Now I have something I can show the Dish tech when he gets here.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Sorry about that JimD.. I thought it was more than that but when I read it did not sound like that. Thanks for clarifying what I should re-read.


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## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

Ron Barry said:


> Sorry about that JimD.. I thought it was more than that but when I read it did not sound like that. Thanks for clarifying what I should re-read.


No problem at all.

I am very happy to have an actual cause/effect to show the Dish guy tomorrow. It is weird that he has to come out, but the CSR on the phone explained that if they send me another replacement it will be a 622. If the guy comes out to fix this 722 he will replace it with a 722. How weird is that?

I don't really need the extra capacity, I just want the black color. :lol::lol:


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## JimD (Apr 8, 2005)

Two guys from Dish arrived today at noon. They walked in and asked what the problem was. I pushed the power button on the front panel and held it in for a few seconds and the receiver awoke into the "boot recovery" screen. The guy said "we have units on the truck - I'll go get one.

No nonsense, just action. Ya gotta love that. He seemed to know what he was doing, unlike the last tech who came out here.

So later I went to my computer to enter the MAC address of the new receiver into my router's filter (I keep my network tightly secured). I edited the old MAC address and when I hit the "save" button on the web page of my DIR-655 router, the hourglass pointer never disappeared. A few moments later all connectivity on my LAN went away. I spent a couple of hours trying to recover to no avail. My router was dead! I had to go get another one.

Revenge of the 722s!

The new receiver seems fine (it is brand new - not a refurb).


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