# Major R15-300 Issue



## directvfreak (Feb 1, 2006)

I have and R15-300 with the current national release of software. Tonight I setup Dateline NBC to record. It was a two hour special from 7-9. I got home around 8:00 and went into list and pressed play and it started. It was still recording the live feed and I was FF through the commercials. At about 8:45 for an unknown reason(I wasn't pressing any buttons) the recorder just died. It restated and loaded up and as soon as it could get like TV, it continued to record the last 10 minutes of the show. However, the first 1:45 minutes were gone. I now have the last 10 minutes of the show. What happened. Does it delete the show if it dies. I was so pissed I punched the box 5 or 6 times but it still works. DirecTV better get their act together fast! My TiVo never deleted an incomplete recording.


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## personman (Apr 24, 2007)

directvfreak said:


> I was so pissed I punched the box 5 or 6 times but it still works.


Did you punch it before this happened as well?


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

directvfreak said:


> I have and R15-300 with the current national release of software. Tonight I setup Dateline NBC to record. It was a two hour special from 7-9. I got home around 8:00 and went into list and pressed play and it started. It was still recording the live feed and I was FF through the commercials. At about 8:45 for an unknown reason(I wasn't pressing any buttons) the recorder just died. It restated and loaded up and as soon as it could get like TV, it continued to record the last 10 minutes of the show. However, the first 1:45 minutes were gone. I now have the last 10 minutes of the show. What happened. Does it delete the show if it dies. I was so pissed I punched the box 5 or 6 times but it still works. DirecTV better get their act together fast! My TiVo never deleted an incomplete recording.


CircuitCity is selling DirecTivos.


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## Upstream (Jul 4, 2006)

directvfreak said:


> I have and R15-300 with the current national release of software. Tonight I setup Dateline NBC to record. It was a two hour special from 7-9. I got home around 8:00 and went into list and pressed play and it started. It was still recording the live feed and I was FF through the commercials. At about 8:45 for an unknown reason(I wasn't pressing any buttons) the recorder just died. It restated and loaded up and as soon as it could get like TV, it continued to record the last 10 minutes of the show. However, the first 1:45 minutes were gone. I now have the last 10 minutes of the show. What happened. Does it delete the show if it dies. I was so pissed I punched the box 5 or 6 times but it still works. DirecTV better get their act together fast! My TiVo never deleted an incomplete recording.


When the R15 records a show on the channel you are tuned to, it saves the show in the buffer. It then copies the show from the buffer to a permanent recording when it closes out the buffer (either because you switch channels, or it is 90 minutes later).

But if the power goes out, or something happens which prevents it from saving the show before the buffer is cleared, then you lose the show when the buffer gets cleared.


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## jal (Mar 3, 2005)

Jhon69 said:


> CircuitCity is selling DirecTivos.


I agree. Just go get one. On Sunday, on their website, they were advertised for $78. I couldn't stand the R15, so I did just that. I am so pleased I did. Directv made a big mistake in going with the R15. I've had no problems at all with the Directivo, and in fact, have really enjoyed using it.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

jal said:


> I agree. Just go get one. On Sunday, on their website, they were advertised for $78. I couldn't stand the R15, so I did just that. I am so pleased I did. Directv made a big mistake in going with the R15. I've had no problems at all with the Directivo, and in fact, have really enjoyed using it.


It's a bandaid for those that want it.


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## jal (Mar 3, 2005)

For many of us, its not a "band aid." It's a recorder that works very well, has all of the features we want, and performs flawlessly. Indeed, it has one feature that is far and above the same feature on the R15--it reliably records. 

I haven't seen posts of folks wanting to toss a Directivo out the window. Indeed, it's just the opposite.


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## Marty Gay (Jul 20, 2007)

jal said:


> I agree. Just go get one. On Sunday, on their website, they were advertised for $78. I couldn't stand the R15, so I did just that. I am so pleased I did. Directv made a big mistake in going with the R15. I've had no problems at all with the Directivo, and in fact, have really enjoyed using it.


What price did DirectTV charge with the TIVO unit? I was told by Customer Service that they would NOT support the TiVo.


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## directvfreak (Feb 1, 2006)

personman said:


> Did you punch it before this happened as well?


No... I have liked the R15 until this happened. It has always worked and I guess this had never happened before so I didn't know it. It still works fine, i guess i didn't punch it, i just slapped the top 5 or six times and made a loud racket with it. It does have a nice tone.


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## subeluvr (Jan 14, 2007)

Upstream said:


> But if the power goes out, or something happens which prevents it from saving the show before the buffer is cleared, then you lose the show when the buffer gets cleared.


And that's where putting an R15 on a small, inexpensive computer UPS *REALLY* makes sense.

A small UPS, like a 350va APC, won't run an R15 for a half hour BUT, when those annoying little power brown-outs or drops occur that force an R15 to reboot and lose what ever is in the buffer... you won't. That R15 will continue right along.

If you change channels then you flush the buffer and that's on you or if you have an extended power outage then that is another story entirely.


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## directvfreak (Feb 1, 2006)

The power didn't go out is the ting. My other R15 and My HR20 and all other devices continued to run. A UPS would have done no good. It just died.


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## raott (Nov 23, 2005)

directvfreak said:


> The power didn't go out is the ting. My other R15 and My HR20 and all other devices continued to run. A UPS would have done no good. It just died.


There have been a number of people (myself included) who have had issues with spontaneous reboots with the R15. My R15 was well ventilated (no different than my R10), was hooked up to the same power supply as the R10, yet the R15 had issues with spontaneous reboots a couple of times a month.

My only suggestion is ask D* for a new R15 or get an R10.


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## bto4wd (Apr 17, 2007)

Jhon69 said:


> It's a bandaid for those that want it.


Bandaids do stop the bleeding!!!


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## bto4wd (Apr 17, 2007)

Marty Gay said:


> What price did DirectTV charge with the TIVO unit? I was told by Customer Service that they would NOT support the TiVo.


D* will continue supporting Tivos until at least Feb 2010. Or they have a contract with Tivo to do so.


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## subeluvr (Jan 14, 2007)

Jhon69 said:


> CircuitCity is selling DirecTivos.


If I read the Circuit City web site correctly ... http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sams.../sem/rpsm/oid/89307/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

The DirecTivo is leased.


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## Mountain_Goat (Sep 22, 2006)

directvfreak said:


> I have and R15-300 with the current national release of software. Tonight I setup Dateline NBC to record. It was a two hour special from 7-9. I got home around 8:00 and went into list and pressed play and it started. It was still recording the live feed and I was FF through the commercials. At about 8:45 for an unknown reason(I wasn't pressing any buttons) the recorder just died. It restated and loaded up and as soon as it could get like TV, it continued to record the last 10 minutes of the show. However, the first 1:45 minutes were gone. I now have the last 10 minutes of the show. What happened. Does it delete the show if it dies. I was so pissed I punched the box 5 or 6 times but it still works. DirecTV better get their act together fast! My TiVo never deleted an incomplete recording.


I have been there over and over with my R15 300. After formatting the darn thing I have no idea how many times. I finally called DirectTV and had them send a new box. I got my R15 500 within a day or two. They charged me a $20 fee to cover shipping. So far I have had no issues with the new box. It's running like a champ. But then the other one did for the first few month too. Time will tell.


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

I've been through 3-4 replacement boxes and still experience unacceptably poor reliability. I've got no thermal or power issues. 

My conclusion is that the software is buggy as all get-out but that many users either don't notice the faults, ignore them, or use their unit(s) in ways that don't trigger the faults. Also, many users having such problems no longer bother to post here. 

FWIW, I hope that my experience is not relevant to yours. 

Cheers,


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## dhines (Aug 16, 2006)

wbmccarty said:


> I've been through 3-4 replacement boxes and still experience unacceptably poor reliability. I've got no thermal or power issues.
> 
> My conclusion is that the software is buggy as all get-out but that many users either don't notice the faults, ignore them, or use their unit(s) in ways that don't trigger the faults. Also, many users having such problems no longer bother to post here.
> 
> ...


i have 4 or 5 of the r15 boxes and i can say that i do not have any complaints. specifically what is failing with your boxes?


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

Mountain_Goat said:


> I have been there over and over with my R15 300. After formatting the darn thing I have no idea how many times. I finally called DirectTV and had them send a new box. I got my R15 500 within a day or two. They charged me a $20 fee to cover shipping. So far I have had no issues with the new box. It's running like a champ. But then the other one did for the first few month too. Time will tell.


Suggest when you first get another R15 to reformat it.Also when you have the protection plan shipping is Free.

My R15-500 has been working well running 10FA.But I don't try to use it for a permanent storage device,when I watch it,delete it.I can't even imagine trying to use a DVR without a picture in the guide or a 90 minute live buffer.I have never had a Tivo but to have one I would have to pay for it,while I got my R15 for Free with the dvr4u2 code at directv.com.


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

dhines said:


> i have 4 or 5 of the r15 boxes and i can say that i do not have any complaints. specifically what is failing with your boxes?


To enumerate my various problems here would be to hijack the thread. But, I've previously posted about the most serious problems. I ceased doing so several months ago when it became clear that corrective action was not to be soon forthcoming.

If I were to pick one problem to share as demonstration of the grounds of my dissatisfaction, I'd choose the tendency of the unit to lock up every week or two. This seems to occur only during periods of heavy interactive use. If I leave the box alone, it runs for a longer time before failing--maybe a month or more.

Notwithstanding my negative experience, I concur in suggestions to perform full reformat/resets and such. For me, they had only temporary benefit, if any. However, I don't recall that such operations have harmed many users. So, it seems prudent to perform them and to be diligent in avoiding site issues, such as poor signal quality, thermal venting, or power conditioning.

My unit has only a single tuner feed. I think that's one reason--perhaps the primary reason--why I see bugs that some others don't. But, I don't feel lonely any place but here. Check out the user ratings of the R-15 on Amazon.com.....

Cheers,


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## desslock (Jun 19, 2007)

jal said:


> I agree. Just go get one. On Sunday, on their website, they were advertised for $78. I couldn't stand the R15, so I did just that. I am so pleased I did. Directv made a big mistake in going with the R15. I've had no problems at all with the Directivo, and in fact, have really enjoyed using it.


Pay $78 for the box and spend $159.00 at weaknees.com for a hard drive and you'll have a 235 hour Tivo box. I too was taken in by the alleged "upgrade" to an R15-500 and got so perterbed that I had upgraded my Samsung TiVo and had it back on line 49 days after the R15 was installed.

I put the R15 in the bedroom and it continues to be an unreliable recording device. In fact, the latest thing is that ANYTHING I try to set a series link for states there are no episodes in the guide. The Guide shows them, but the recorder doesn't. If I try to set the recording in the guide I get the R))), which then goes away all by itself.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

desslock said:


> Pay $78 for the box and spend $159.00 at weaknees.com for a hard drive and you'll have a 235 hour Tivo box. I too was taken in by the alleged "upgrade" to an R15-500 and got so perterbed that I had upgraded my Samsung TiVo and had it back on line 49 days after the R15 was installed.
> 
> I put the R15 in the bedroom and it continues to be an unreliable recording device. In fact, the latest thing is that ANYTHING I try to set a series link for states there are no episodes in the guide. The Guide shows them, but the recorder doesn't. If I try to set the recording in the guide I get the R))), which then goes away all by itself.


Good Deal!.I know your saving DirecTV money and we appreciate it.


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## desslock (Jun 19, 2007)

Jhon69 said:


> Good Deal!.I know your saving DirecTV money and we appreciate it.


I really don't give a rat's (*) about saving DirecTV money. All I care about is recording my shows. Unfortunately, the R15 is woefully incapable of performing this function.

There seem to be so many people concerned with whether the Caller ID works, or if the Active channel retains the zip code or what color the screens are. All of that falls by the wayside when you consider that the damn thing can't figure out what shows to record, if any.

It's odd that the R15 can't seem to find any episodes in the guide for ~70% of my series links. I can find them in the R15, but the R15 can't find them in the R15. And when it DOES find them, it can't figure out if they are First Runs or Repeats. Strange that the TiVo doesn't have this problem. They use the same guide data after all, don't they?


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## rowpunk (Jul 10, 2006)

directvfreak said:


> I have and R15-300 with the current national release of software. Tonight I setup Dateline NBC to record. It was a two hour special from 7-9. I got home around 8:00 and went into list and pressed play and it started. It was still recording the live feed and I was FF through the commercials. At about 8:45 for an unknown reason(I wasn't pressing any buttons) the recorder just died. It restated and loaded up and as soon as it could get like TV, it continued to record the last 10 minutes of the show. However, the first 1:45 minutes were gone. I now have the last 10 minutes of the show. What happened. Does it delete the show if it dies. I was so pissed I punched the box 5 or 6 times but it still works. DirecTV better get their act together fast! My TiVo never deleted an incomplete recording.


Mine did the same thing to a couple episodes of Heroes, and Dancing With The Stars (which had the wife punching the dog). DTV owes me about 5 bucks to reimburse my iTunes purchases  The final straw was when the box just started rebooting over and over again, and DTV's advice was to wipe the hard drive. Which I ultimately did. Then unplugged it.

We've switched back to an R10-Tivo, and are happy again.


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## Marty Gay (Jul 20, 2007)

rowpunk said:


> Mine did the same thing to a couple episodes of Heroes, and Dancing With The Stars (which had the wife punching the dog). DTV owes me about 5 bucks to reimburse my iTunes purchases  The final straw was when the box just started rebooting over and over again, and DTV's advice was to wipe the hard drive. Which I ultimately did. Then unplugged it.
> 
> We've switched back to an R10-Tivo, and are happy again.


What is an R10-Tivo? I had to switch from Tivo Series 1 when the fan quit functioning. I was told that I could not upgrade to a series 2 tivo because it was not supported by Directv. Can you explain what you did?


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## bto4wd (Apr 17, 2007)

Marty Gay said:


> What is an R10-Tivo? I had to switch from Tivo Series 1 when the fan quit functioning. I was told that I could not upgrade to a series 2 tivo because it was not supported by Directv. Can you explain what you did?


You were told wrong....kinda. You cannot get DTivo units from D*. So with D* you could not upgrade to a Series 2. But if you can find an old Series 2 or the R10 (Series 2.5) they are totally supported by D* and will be until at least 2010.


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