# Does the DVR have to remain on all the time?



## CuriousMark (May 21, 2008)

Is this normal operation?

The HR24-200 DVR is in the Living room and the H24 is in the family room. I notice that once in a while when I bring up the list and then select a show on the HR24 to watch it times out saying there are no packets coming (sorry for not listing the exact error message). I can get up and walk to the living room, press the power on logo on the HR24 face plate and when I get back to the family room I am able to play the show just fine.

This has happened repeatedly, but I am sure there are other times when the HR24 was off that I was able to play content from it on the H24 just fine. 

I wonder if the recording state of the HR24 makes a difference here, but haven't checked to see if that was case yet.

So is this normal operation, a known bug that will get fixed in time, or a bad unit that needs replacing and a call to DTV is in order?


----------



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Sounds like you should read through this thread:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=185713


----------



## CuriousMark (May 21, 2008)

Thanks, I will check into this possibility and post back.


----------



## mrfatboy (Jan 21, 2007)

I have probably gotten that error 2-3 times over last year. I just try again and it works. I never had to reboot any of my components. I was on a 100Mb backbone with lots of other network traffic going on at the same time which I'm guessing is the problem. I just upgraded to a gigabit backbone.


Btw. The last 4 months I leave the power always on on my dvr's. It makes no difference in power consumption and makes the universe remote work nicer due to less macros being used.


----------



## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

Just as an FYI, the power button on the DVR is a little bit of a lie. You are actualy just putting the DVR into stand-by mode which turns off the outputs from the DVR, however, the DVR is actually still on.

- Merg


----------



## CuriousMark (May 21, 2008)

mrfatboy said:


> I have probably gotten that error 2-3 times over last year. I just try again and it works. I never had to reboot any of my components.


One time I tried twice and it didn't work so I walked to the other room and tapped the faceplate to turn on the DVR, walked back and it worked. Another time I tried two or three times before walking to the other room. Yesterday, I had a long delay but just before I exptected it to time out, it found video and worked fine. In all cases the list comes up fine and has recent new recordings listed.



The Merg said:


> Just as an FYI, the power button on the DVR is a little bit of a lie. You are actualy just putting the DVR into stand-by mode which turns off the outputs from the DVR, however, the DVR is actually still on.


That makes perfect sense. Still there may be some difference in the way it handles networking requests (or DHCP perhaps) when in standby as compared to when it is on.

I haven't been able to reproduce the behavior even once in the last week, except the one instance of slow response mentioned above. (slow equals 8 to 12 seconds as compared to the normal 2 to 4. It is a difference worth noting for troubleshooting purposes, not a complaint)


----------



## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

CuriousMark said:


> That makes perfect sense. Still there may be some difference in the way it handles networking requests (or DHCP perhaps) when in standby as compared to when it is on.
> 
> I haven't been able to reproduce the behavior even once in the last week, except the one instance of slow response mentioned above. (slow equals 8 to 12 seconds as compared to the normal 2 to 4. It is a difference worth noting for troubleshooting purposes, not a complaint)


This wouldn't be an issue with DHCP, but whether something is going on with the network connection itself on the receiver. However, I keep my R22 in stand-by whenever it is not being used and routinely watch shows recorded on it via my HR24.

I have, however, had the slow response issue creep up before where it has taken 8-10 seconds for a recording playback via MRV to start up.

- Merg


----------



## Matman (Mar 24, 2008)

I always "power down" my DVR at nite when I go up to bed, old habits I guess even though I know its not really off. I've had one or two times where it did take a couple seconds more to spool up something when I wanted to play it, or last nite I was trying to schedule a recording on the non DVR box and it did take a few seconds longer, but both times its always worked. I've only had MRV for about a week, I snagged it as part of my moving package, and so far have been pretty impressed. Espicially since the main appeal at first was the one cable per box perk, which let me use the existing wiring in the house. But the MRV part has proven to be a nice little perk!


----------



## CuriousMark (May 21, 2008)

I have been experimenting very slowly here. I changed my wireless router DHCP server settings from a 2 week lease to "forever" (yes, that is how it is listed) and am now seeing the behavior you do, slightly slow sometimes but no time outs so far. I will give it another week and then set it back to a 2 week lease and try that for a few weeks. If the problem recurs I will check the logs to see what I can learn.

So my short answer is that there should not be a need to keep the DVR "on" as tweaking IP settings (going static) or playing with the DHCP server seems to be a better workaround.


----------



## williammck (Jul 2, 2010)

The Merg said:


> Just as an FYI, the power button on the DVR is a little bit of a lie. You are actualy just putting the DVR into stand-by mode which turns off the outputs from the DVR, however, the DVR is actually still on.
> 
> - Merg


The DirecTivos don't have a "power" button. It's "standby" on the DirecTivos !!!


----------



## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Also, putting the Directv DVR into Standby Mode Turns Off the Lights (which can be annoying) and Disables the Outputs and helps when you have an NR Download by Optimizing how the CPU handles all of it's task.


----------



## CuriousMark (May 21, 2008)

richierich said:


> NR Download


What's that?


----------



## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

CuriousMark said:


> What's that?


It is an Acronym for the National Release of Directv Software.


----------



## CuriousMark (May 21, 2008)

Thanks, I am learning.


----------



## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

CuriousMark said:


> Thanks, I am learning.


Nothing Wrong With That As We Have All Had To Learn The Path To Enlightement!!!

I Help You and you Help Others!!!


----------

