# R15 is bad! Major disaster - problems.



## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

I gotta say the R15 is a disaster. It's extremely slow etc. Here's a list of issues I have. I just want to post this and see what kind of response it gets. I also need to know if DirecTV HD is any better. The DVR that is. 

R15 is slow. Using the UI is extremely slow and unresponsive. Tivo is faaaaast compared.

R15 deletes the first 60 minutes or more of the live record buffer that is supposed to be 90 minutes. It's a huge bug I think. I watch Nik 1 and 2 nightly for Fresh Prince. I rewind 90 minutes. At the end of the first block it says live record has paused and do I want to delete or keep. No matter what you say it deletes all that 90 minute buffer except the last 5 minutes or so of what is live/current. It just happened to me again. I rewound it and watched the rest of the first block. At the end of the block it said live pause has recorded the fresh prince for me and do i want to keep or delete. I said delete. I have no more 90 minute buffer that I should have. This is utterly maddening i want to kill someone i'm so effing poed at DirecTV. I just mean that as to show how poed I am is all. It should not even ask you/pause it. It should just let you fast forward without saying anything has been paused or recorded when you did not do this. Just like tivo does and the R15 does on movies that are more then 90 minutes long. This ticks me off so much I am close to getting rid of DirecTV. I want to be able to rewind those 90 minutes and fast forward without it deleting it all. 

It records stuff I never told it to. Not the showcases, but movies etc. The other night I saw Silent Hill horror movie was being recorded and I NEVER told it to record it. I HATE horror. This set me off in a full rage as I am now too even. It's done this on many other shows and movies etc too and I never told it to. No one else uses the DVR except me. It also sets up season passes for stuff I never tell it to record the series of. It had 3 r's in all the fresh prince shows as it was recording the show everytime It is on tv. I NEVER told it to do this. Pisses me off like nothing else does i'm in a full rage as mad as I can get I am.

You can't play back to back from the recorded list. Sometimes I do record fresh prince around 10 episodes or so or any tv show for that matter.. I want it to just play 3 shows in a row without asking me to delete or stop or whatever. I'm so sick of it asking me to delete and then being slow as hell it takes forever to bring up the list again for me to select the next program to watch. I know Tivo is the same, but I hate this when there's several shows I want to see without having to hit buttons in between them all.

There's a bunch of other problems too that I'm not remembering right now. This is just the biggest ones.


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## Upstream (Jul 4, 2006)

Buggs --

You may have a defective box.

Regarding the buffer: if you pause something, and are away for more than 90 minutes, it saves the current program (not the full 90 minutes) and when you resume it tells you that live-pause saved the program and asks if you want to delete it. If you are getting this message without having paused for more than 90 minutes, then you have some sort of defect. Try resetting the machine, and if that doesn't work, you may need to replace it.

Regarding recording stuff you didn't tell it to: the R15 struggles with first run and repeats, but I have never heard about it just randomly recording programs. Go to the prioritizer and clear and reset your season links. You may also need to reset or replace your receiver.


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

This is all firmware problems. It's not related to the hardware. So that's why I say firmware because hardware can't cause these issues.
I don't have any problems with season passes. Not yet. I do have problems with it recording stuff I don't tell it to. I never pause the DVR for 90 minutes. I noticed something today. It did not have the problem a couple times I rewound 90 minutes while watching/rewinding fresh prince this last few hrs. I think that's weird. 99.9% of the time if I rewind it then it tells me at the end of the first block that live pause has recorded and bla bla. Today 2 times it didn't do that yet I was the full; 90 minutes rewound.

This unit is a refurb though that's for sure. 

I'm not going to reset my box when there's stuff on it to watch and there's a lot, 3% free space.

They did offer me a free uyear of HDTV if I wanted to do that. I told them I was so pissed I was going to drop DirecTV like a bad habbit because they took away my choice for Tivo and this R15 is so crappy. I got to talk to them about what they can do to keep me as a customer. I said I wanted them to buy me a Tivo from weaknees with the same capacity or give me a lot of money off per month to make up for the amount I have to spend on the tivo myself. Then I said you can upgrade me to HDTV for way cheap if you won't do anything about the Tivo stuff. So they said they would give me 2 HDTV DVR $199 each, free HDTV receiver, free upgrade to HDTV, one year free of HDTV service as well and then $9.99 per month after that one year. 

Is that a good deal?


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## Upstream (Jul 4, 2006)

If you're just pissed that it isn't Tivo, upgrading to an HD DVR won't solve your problems, because they aren't Tivo either. 


If you are having real problems with the box randomly recording and failing to hold the buffer, then a red-button-reset may help your problems and also won't erase your existing recordings. Also, deleting and resetting you series links won't erase your recordings. Also, if you have a refurbished box, some search-autorecords may have been set and not cleared before you got the box. Check and clear any autorecords, and that may resolve the random recording issue.


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

buggs1a said:


> This is all firmware problems. It's not related to the hardware. So that's why I say firmware because hardware can't cause these issues.
> I don't have any problems with season passes. Not yet. I do have problems with it recording stuff I don't tell it to. I never pause the DVR for 90 minutes. I noticed something today. It did not have the problem a couple times I rewound 90 minutes while watching/rewinding fresh prince this last few hrs. I think that's weird. 99.9% of the time if I rewind it then it tells me at the end of the first block that live pause has recorded and bla bla. Today 2 times it didn't do that yet I was the full; 90 minutes rewound.
> 
> This unit is a refurb though that's for sure.
> ...


I'm not positive, but I think $199 is the going rate for the DVR's. So, it looks like they're offering you about $120 worth of programming (which costs them nothing). And, you'll get a new 2 year commitment. And, you'll be required to keep the HD programming after that first year or return the DVR's & receiver. And, of course it's worthless if you dont have a HD TV. It seems like a great deal - for D*!


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

i forgot to say one thing that ticks me off is how tivo has one button push to go to beginning or end of program and with r15 you have to sit there and wait for it to rewind and fast forward. i freaking hate this r15.


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

i dont know how to do any of that upstream.
yes dtv offered me the 1 year of HDTV free. So $120 is ok, but didn't know about the real cost for the dvrs.

i just hit rewind on fresh prince and it went back to th8e beginning of however long the buffer was and as soon as it got to th8e beginning it popped up the live pause h8as recorded do you want to keep or delete message. that is th8e first time it ever has dfone that in that way.


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## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

buggs1a said:


> i forgot to say one thing that ticks me off is how tivo has one button push to go to beginning or end of program and with r15 you have to sit there and wait for it to rewind and fast forward. i freaking hate this r15.


To jump to the beginning or end of a program with the R15:

Hold down the 30-sec-forward button to go to the end, or the 6-sec-rewind button to go to the beginning. Just hold it down and you'll get where you want to go.

I don't have the issues you're having - I really think there's something wrong with your system. The only DVR I ever had that has recorded things I didn't ask were my DTiVo units, and that's because I had TiVo Suggestions turned on.

Also - if your R15 is extremely slow, that makes me think the hard disk is having some issues. The R15 is -- by far -- the fastest DVR I've ever used. Way, way, WAY faster than my old DTiVo units! Guide performance, menu performance, recording performance - all much much MUCH faster.

I seriously believe there's something wrong with your R15. Sorry to hear you're having problems, but they're really a whole lot better than that. I think you've got a bum unit!


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## Upstream (Jul 4, 2006)

buggs1a said:


> i dont know how to do any of that upstream.


I'm not in front of my unit now, but here is the general way to get to those functions. Maybe someone who is front of their unit can give you step-by-step instructions.

Red button reset: Open the access card door on the front-right-bottom of the box and press the red reset button.

Reset Series Links: Press "list" on your remote and when your program list comes up, press the yellow button to get to the To Do list. Move over to Prioritizer to bring up your list of series links. You can then select and delete them. Then you can reset them by selecting the programs from the guide.

Reset Autorecords: Press "menu" button on your remote, and then select Search. I believe there is an option to clear all searches.

Skip to end of program: Press and hold the 30-sec Slip button on your remote.

Skip to beginning of program: Press and hold the 6-sec reverse button on your remote.


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

I am on the phone with DTV now and they say they won't send me a replacement unit unless I do an entire erase/reset delete everything. I am not going to do that because I have too much too loose. So the rep has me on hold to talk to her supervisor. I told her if DTV doesn't send me a replacement I'm shutting them off right this second and go somewhere else. I've been a sub since 8 plus years. I have the protection plan with them as well and the unit they sent me is already a refurb.

So what in the heck is their beef that they risk loosing a customer as loyal as I am? I don't get it.

Ok, the skip to beginning and end of program, thanks sooooo much guys. Is there a way to do it 15 minutes at a time like Tivo? Also is this info in the remote manual? The skip to end and beginning? lol.


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

buggs1a said:


> I am on the phone with DTV now and they say they won't send me a replacement unit unless I do an entire erase/reset delete everything. I am not going to do that because I have too much too loose.


Well, if they replace it you'll lose all your recordings anyway. That's probably why they refuse to do it until you try the reformat.


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## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

buggs1a said:


> I am on the phone with DTV now and they say they won't send me a replacement unit unless I do an entire erase/reset delete everything. I am not going to do that because I have too much too loose. So the rep has me on hold to talk to her supervisor. I told her if DTV doesn't send me a replacement I'm shutting them off right this second and go somewhere else. I've been a sub since 8 plus years. I have the protection plan with them as well and the unit they sent me is already a refurb.
> 
> So what in the heck is their beef that they risk loosing a customer as loyal as I am? I don't get it.
> 
> Ok, the skip to beginning and end of program, thanks sooooo much guys. Is there a way to do it 15 minutes at a time like Tivo? Also is this info in the remote manual? The skip to end and beginning? lol.


Yes, skip-to-tick is also available. Hold down FF or REW and it jumps to the next 15-minute mark.

Frankly - if you're asking for a replacement, you'll lose your recordings anyway when you send your current box back. So why not try the erase method first?

p.s. No, it's not in the manual. Lots of the good features added to the R15 over time have come as a *direct* result of participation here at DBSTalk! So, you can say "thanks" to all the members here for getting this stuff added after the R15 shipped!


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

I can watch my shows before I send it back of course.


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## Upstream (Jul 4, 2006)

So watch your shows and then do an erase/reformat.


I'm not a big fan of DirecTV's customer service; I think it can stand a lot of improvement. But you've got to cooperate a little. If you are looking for a new unit, which means you'll lose all your recordings anyway, then what is the harm of trying a reset/reformat to see if it solves your problems?

We've given you some options which will allow you to keep your recordings. I suggest you try those first. If they don't work, watch your recordings and then reset all. Then if that doesn't work, replace the unit.

If you don't like the R15 because it isn't Tivo, fine. Then get a Tivo or find a cable provider who will supply a Tivo. 

If you don't like the R15 because you have problems (which sound like they are unique to your machine, and therefore the result of a harddrive or memory glitch), then either decide you are too fed up and find another cable company, or reasonably cooperate with those trying to help you.

But, good lord, you sound like the guy who demands a free trip to Paris because the airline ran out of peanuts.


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## braven (Apr 9, 2007)

Upstream said:


> So watch your shows and then do an erase/reformat.
> 
> I'm not a big fan of DirecTV's customer service; I think it can stand a lot of improvement. But you've got to cooperate a little. If you are looking for a new unit, which means you'll lose all your recordings anyway, then what is the harm of trying a reset/reformat to see if it solves your problems?
> 
> ...


Amen.


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## subeluvr (Jan 14, 2007)

Upstream said:


> But, good lord, you sound like the guy who demands a free trip to Paris because the airline ran out of peanuts.


We're out of peanuts?


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## Upstream (Jul 4, 2006)

Don't worry, we have plenty of other nuts around here.


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## MONSTERMAN (Aug 18, 2007)

Upstream said:


> So watch your shows and then do an erase/reformat.
> 
> I'm not a big fan of DirecTV's customer service; I think it can stand a lot of improvement. But you've got to cooperate a little. If you are looking for a new unit, which means you'll lose all your recordings anyway, then what is the harm of trying a reset/reformat to see if it solves your problems?
> 
> ...


DITTO!!! Just watch all your recordings then perform a REFORMAT (search recent threads here), you will run into problems with the HR21 as well.

No DVR is perfect, they all have bugs. My TIVO used to act up as well especially after upgrades.

If you wait, soon TIVO will be back with DIRECTV...

:eek2:


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

Your problem with the buffer sounds like one ThomasM identified in the CE forums not to long ago. The feature that will record something (in case you forgot you paused it) will dump the buffer if you opt not to save it when prompted.

The problem with it setting up SL's might be that your pressing the rec button twice on a show in the guide? You sound like you're fairly new to the R15, so, if you're not aware of it, pressing rec once will record the show one time. Pressing it twice will set up a SL. It has been reported to just record things on it's own, though.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

Upstream said:


> But, good lord, you sound like the guy who demands a free trip to Paris because the airline ran out of peanuts.


Nah. "buggs1a" is a TiVo person. Nothing but a TiVo will satisfy him. The R15 could do EVERYTHING it was designed to do perfectly, but it still would not be a TiVo. And thus, he would not be happy with it.

I almost didn't take DirecTV up on their offer of a free DVR after reading all the awful R15 reviews from the TiVo people....but I did it anyway. And even though it's still got a ways to go, I really LOVE the thing....and skipping over commercials!

(HINT: I've never had a TiVo or ANY DVR before. I'm an old-school VCR person)


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

MONSTERMAN said:


> If you wait, soon TIVO will be back with DIRECTV...


I wouldn't hold my breath.

Carl


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## red.bean.head (Feb 1, 2007)

carl6 said:


> I wouldn't hold my breath.
> 
> Carl


Yeah, what he said...


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

As I said I do not pause for 90 mijnutes nor even close.
Thom, it is your opinion you don't think I'd be happy with anything, but Tivo. 

People, don't judge me nor put me down. You have no right!

To the guy who says his R15 is faster then Tivo, fine, that's your unit. Sometimes my Tivo would be slow, but not often. Overall I hear R15 is a lot slower then Tivo from several different people, even those who I talked to yesterday at DTV.

There are a couple things I really enjoy from the R15.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

buggs1a said:


> As I said I do not pause for 90 mijnutes nor even close.
> Thom, it is your opinion you don't think I'd be happy with anything, but Tivo.
> 
> People, don't judge me nor put me down. You have no right!
> ...


Well, if you do not want to be judged, don't post a new thread in a DirecTV R15 Question & Answer forum titled "R15 is BAD. Major disaster". Talk about making a judgement!! :nono2:


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## jfeco (Nov 7, 2007)

I find it funny:lol: the amount of people who are willing to defend the R15. Must have a lot of people in this forum working for DirectV.

I have now had my R15 for about 3 months and its true it takes time to get use to, but there are very big bugs in the unit that DirectV *NEEDS* to fix. 
I never had a Tivo but used one at a friends house last week and found the user interface much better that the R15. I understand DirectV has developed the R15 on its own and it has bugs but I and the rest of us didn't sign up for service to clean up DirectV's bugs. We signed up to WATCH TV and pay extra for the DVR. So if some of us complain about the R15 then so be it.


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## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

I think as a rule you will find most people are quite pleased with it. I DID have many problems early on, but most have been fixed. There are three in my immediate family that work fine. Mine is two years old and I prefer it over my last Tivo.


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

I like the R15 ok, except the problems it has really tick me off.


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## CJTE (Sep 18, 2007)

Aside of some trick play issues, I like my R15... and my HR20. Both record and play back somewhat seamlessly. I have rid myself of 2 HR10-250's, leaving myself one, and that one works alright. It frustrates me sometimes buuut.... Whatever.
Oh, and anyone who complains about how slow an HR2X is should reboot a Tivo. People drive to Starbucks and get a coffee waiting for the HR2X. I go to Applebee's and have a 3 course meal waiting for the HR10-250.


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## anopro (Sep 13, 2006)

Have to say the R15 quality overall is questionable had to call direct TV yesterday and have a replacement sent out 4th time in less than two years and now it's costing me $23.00 each time. They start out alright “slow menu, glitchy playback” then random reboots, then complete checking disk/your receiver is having problems starting up please unplug and try again. 4times I have had this happen my hr 20 has been good, my old Ultimate TV box ran for 5 years flawlessly until 1 tuner died.

I think it’s time for direct TV to come up with a new low cost SD DVR box not developed by NDS those guys have their head up there arse.


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## Upstream (Jul 4, 2006)

Actually I think DirecTV would be better off using the same box for SD and HD. It would simplify development and support. (Although at this point, it seems that they've severely limited development for the R15 anyway.)


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

Upstream said:


> Actually I think DirecTV would be better off using the same box for SD and HD. It would simplify development and support. (Although at this point, it seems that they've severely limited development for the R15 anyway.)


The only problem with that is it would amplify the costs per unit for the subscriber.I would like to see DirecTV take over the R15 from NDS,then add all the best features from Tivo,Replay and NDS.Then put it all in the R15,what a DVR that would be.


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## Upstream (Jul 4, 2006)

Jhon -- I don't know if it would amplify costs. You'd really need to closely examine DirecTVs development and manufacturing costs. My experience in other industries is that the would reduce costs by going to a single unit (or by going to two units which are identical except for easily changed components, like small or large hard drive).

Certainly DirecTV's current method of having 3 different versions of the R15, each with different software, can't be efficient.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

Upstream said:


> Jhon -- I don't know if it would amplify costs. You'd really need to closely examine DirecTVs development and manufacturing costs. My experience in other industries is that the would reduce costs by going to a single unit (or by going to two units which are identical except for easily changed components, like small or large hard drive).
> 
> Certainly DirecTV's current method of having 3 different versions of the R15, each with different software, can't be efficient.


When you already have all those SD units out in the field that you would want to reuse to reduce costs,then a change doesn't make any cents.But if you were just starting a program then yes.

Think the idea of having different maufacturers of the product helps to maintain a price per unit check,plus if one company wants to quit or goes under there are others to take it's place.


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## Upstream (Jul 4, 2006)

Jhon -- good point regarding the invested costs of the units in the field.

Regarding the explanation of multiple manufacturers, that would make sense if all the units had the same specs and same software. But each version of the R15 is different (they are even different sizes) and each requires separate software development, debugging, and support.


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## fourtoes (Jan 12, 2008)

anopro said:


> my old Ultimate TV box ran for 5 years flawlessly until 1 tuner died.


Ahhh, the easy-breezy memories of my Ultimate TV (SAT-W60).... Six years of pure DVR bliss.

Who would have known that the first DVR would have been the best DVR, and that no DVR released since (by anybody) has come even close to wonder of Ultimate TV - even 7 years later. MS and DirecTV blew it by not continuing this platform.

My marriage with Ultimate TV also ended after six years because of a blown tuner.

I am tolerating my HR21-700 okay. As for the R15, I know that some night I will end up taking it out back and working it over with a sledge hammer. I may try to get another used Ultimate TV, but they have been out of production so long that many are bound to have tuner problems.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

Upstream said:


> Jhon -- good point regarding the invested costs of the units in the field.
> 
> Regarding the explanation of multiple manufacturers, that would make sense if all the units had the same specs and same software. But each version of the R15 is different (they are even different sizes) and each requires separate software development, debugging, and support.


That again relates to different manufacturers.It what each one thinks the R15 should be and how it should work therefore requiring different software,debugging and support and also different case sizes.I just don't think these companies are into sharing notes and how their boxes work with each other,but DirecTV and NDS yes.I know it doesn't make sense when you think about it.


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

I got a refurb R15 100 yesterday. It's weird. Going through setup twice it said both tuners ok. Then a couple screens later it said I only had 1. Did reset everything and same thing. However after updating to newest firmware the problem went away.

Also caller id was not working on the R15. It said I had to call my phone company for it. It worked fine in the other R15. I noticed a call from Dec 23 in the log too. So they obviously did not erase anything wh8en refurbing it. DTV told me how to erase by hitting th8e reset button and then holding record and the down arrow on remote/receiver to erase. I did and it got rid of the caller id log. So cool.

Righ8t now it seems ok. Now I start to watch the other unit shows to get rid of th8em and then send it back.

What's the diff between all the R15 models anyhow?


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

buggs1a said:


> What's the diff between all the R15 models anyhow?


Size. I think the 300 is slightly smaller than the 100 and 500.
They're supposed to be functionally identical, but they do have different firmware versions.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

buggs1a said:


> What's the diff between all the R15 models anyhow?


Who makes them.

Your 100 is made by RCA (Thompson Consumer Products).

My 300's are made by Philips/Magnavox.

The 500's are made by Dynex. (I think)

DirecTV sent out the specs as to what the R15 had to have hardware-wise, and then the different manufacturers came up with their versions. From the user's standpoint there should be no difference, but of course there are.

All of the current "DirecTV branded" equipment has a model number followed by a "manufacturer code". Kind of like when you go to Wal-Mart and pick up something labeled "Great Value". There is no such company but it's made by one of Wal-Mart's suppliers under contract to only put Wal-Mart's brand name on the product.


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## subeluvr (Jan 14, 2007)

ThomasM said:


> Who makes them.
> 
> Your 100 is made by RCA (Thompson Consumer Products).


That would be *Thomson*



ThomasM said:


> The 500's are made by Dynex. (I think)


That would be *Humax*


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## anopro (Sep 13, 2006)

Who would have known that the first DVR would have been the best DVR, and that no DVR released since (by anybody) has come even close to wonder of Ultimate TV - even 7 years later. MS and DirecTV blew it by not continuing this platform.

Amen to that brother!


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

anopro said:


> Who would have known that the first DVR would have been the best DVR, and that no DVR released since (by anybody) has come even close to wonder of Ultimate TV - even 7 years later. MS and DirecTV blew it by not continuing this platform.
> 
> Amen to that brother!


Was the Ultimate TV dual tuner?


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## cwerdna (Jan 2, 2006)

Jhon69 said:


> Was the Ultimate TV dual tuner?


Yes, it was. In fact, it came w/both tuners enabled before TiVo released their update to enable the 2nd tuner on DirecTiVOs.


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

Here's the latest.

The newer R15-100 is working fine so far except I haven't tried the buffer and 90 minutes deleting it all part. I think I did this morning and it worked, but I'm not sure how much buffer was there.

The other R15 sucks still even after a total erase using the down arrow and rec button on the dvr itself. The UI is slow. The 100 is twice as fast it seems.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

buggs1a said:


> Here's the latest.
> 
> The newer R15-100 is working fine so far except I haven't tried the buffer and 90 minutes deleting it all part. I think I did this morning and it worked, but I'm not sure how much buffer was there.
> 
> The other R15 sucks still even after a total erase using the down arrow and rec button on the dvr itself. The UI is slow. The 100 is twice as fast it seems.


Good deal on the newer one.Looks like you will have to send the other one back too for replacement.Good Luck!.


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## anopro (Sep 13, 2006)

Jhon69 said:


> Was the Ultimate TV dual tuner?


Dual tuner, caller ID that worked all the time, perfect playback/trick plays,one touch record and a fast and easy UI can you tell I still miss it!


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

I've already got my replacement.
Regarding my 90 minute buffer issue. This new one still does it so It's a feature, not a bug maybe. On any channel with many program blocks it will delete all the 90 minutes if you rewind to the beginning of that time frame and then get to the end of that block/show. 

I put my DVR everynight on Nik 1 and 2 so I can watch Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I leave it going, no pause ever. After so long I'll rewind to the beginning of that 90 minutes and as soon as that show is done then the DVR tells me live pause has recorded and do I want to keep or not. No matter what I choose that 90 minutes is gone. I'll say yes keep and then it keeps up to live tv and saves it to my list. If I say no then it deletes all of that and I only have live tv with no past. So either way it looses the past 90 minutes.

Ok, each block of time is a 30 minute episode. We know this. I'll have the DVR on the channel for all night long basically. Whenever I decide to rewind it the beginning will be where ever it is in that show. If there's 25 minutes left, 5 minutes etc fine. Then it has the next 30 minute episode and one after up to 90 minutes of course. So, once it gets to the end of the first one it stops and deletes it all after the live pause message window comes up. It Should keep playing and not ask you this and let you fast forward as well and not ask you this once it gets to the end of that first block/episode. That's how Tivo does it, but then it's only 30 minutes and does not tell you to save or anything even though it may have had only 5 minutes left in the first episode and then 25 minutes into the next one. Tivo just lets you fast forward, play etc. The R15 does what I've said it does.

So who can I file a complaint to and how can I try to get them to change this behavior?


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

subeluvr said:


> That would be *Thomson*
> 
> That would be *Humax*


Hey, at least I got M-A-G-N-A-V-O-X right. (I looked at my TV)


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

cwerdna said:


> Yes, it was. In fact, it came w/both tuners enabled before TiVo released their update to enable the 2nd tuner on DirecTiVOs.


And it was the very first DirecTV product to make full use of the 2-week advanced program guide!! All the other receivers stored either 3 1/2 or 7 days of data but ULTIMATE TV stored the full 14 days.


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## Supramom2000 (Jun 21, 2007)

I have never bashed my R-15's before, but now I declare WAR!! Neither of my R15-300s recorded the new episode of NCIS last night.  

Both of them have NCIS set as a series link, new epsiodes to be recorded. One is on the current CE, the other is on the national release.

I know that we should check the "To Do List" daily, but really - we should not have to do that!!


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

Supramom2000 said:


> I have never bashed my R-15's before, but now I declare WAR!! Neither of my R15-300s recorded the new episode of NCIS last night.
> 
> Both of them have NCIS set as a series link, new epsiodes to be recorded. One is on the current CE, the other is on the national release.
> 
> I know that we should check the "To Do List" daily, but really - we should not have to do that!!


If it makes you feel any worse, after reading your post I checked my PLAYLIST and BOTH of my R15-300's recorded NCIS!! And one has it set up as a series link and the other is the one I set each show manually.

Here's something that may help you in the future... It really works for me!!


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## Supramom2000 (Jun 21, 2007)

ThomasM said:


> If it makes you feel any worse, after reading your post I checked my PLAYLIST and BOTH of my R15-300's recorded NCIS!! And one has it set up as a series link and the other is the one I set each show manually.
> 
> Here's something that may help you in the future... It really works for me!!


Okay, rub it in!! That spreadsheet definitely would help. But now I see why so many others say if the DVR does not do its primary function - record, what good is it? Should we really have to take the time to fill out a check list to ensure our programs are recording?


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

Supramom2000 said:


> Okay, rub it in!! That spreadsheet definitely would help. But now I see why so many others say if the DVR does not do its primary function - record, what good is it? Should we really have to take the time to fill out a check list to ensure our programs are recording?


I actually created the sheet to print out-I don't update it online. And I did it to see exactly what the R15 was up to which is annoying folks who don't have the time (or patience) to analyze it's misbehaving behavior. Why? So I can let the software folks know exactly what's going wrong via the CE program so they can FIX IT.

So far, I've discovered that the GUIDE and EPISODES listings seem to catch every instance of matching shows, but for some reason they don't always end up in the TO DO list or worse, they appear there and then DISAPPEAR before the airdate!!

Two episodes of Law & Order that were in my playlist suddenly disappeared!! And they weren't series links either. But, of course, they were still listed in the GUIDE with the "R" symbol fooling SOME folks into thinking that they were going to be recorded. The way to restore them is to highlight them in the guide, press INFO and then set them to record AGAIN. It KNOWS it goofed up and will let you schedule the show again.....and then it reappears in the TO DO list!

This seems (at least to me) to be such a simple software glitch that a fix has to be coming fairly soon. And then folks will really start to like this product since this seems to be the big remaining problem that needs fixing.


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

Seems no one has read my latest update.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

buggs1a said:


> I've already got my replacement.
> Regarding my 90 minute buffer issue. This new one still does it so It's a feature, not a bug maybe. On any channel with many program blocks it will delete all the 90 minutes if you rewind to the beginning of that time frame and then get to the end of that block/show.
> 
> I put my DVR everynight on Nik 1 and 2 so I can watch Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I leave it going, no pause ever. After so long I'll rewind to the beginning of that 90 minutes and as soon as that show is done then the DVR tells me live pause has recorded and do I want to keep or not. No matter what I choose that 90 minutes is gone. I'll say yes keep and then it keeps up to live tv and saves it to my list. If I say no then it deletes all of that and I only have live tv with no past. So either way it looses the past 90 minutes.
> ...


Contact DirecTV Tech Support.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

buggs1a said:


> Seems no one has read my latest update.


I did.


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

they only can say I'll send this in as a feature request. because that's what it is, a feature.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

buggs1a said:


> they only can say I'll send this in as a feature request. because that's what it is, a feature.


There's your answer.


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

Yeah, I agree. Except just that I don't think companies care about their customers and won't change this. I guess because I've never gotten anything changed from my suggestions with any company.  So I'm nervous etc since this is an extremely important thing for me.


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

There's a lot of ways the R15 is better then the HR21. Speed amonth some other stuff. I hope the HR21 will be made 5 times or 20 times faster it's so incredibly slow in the UI. Other stuff too that just suck.


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## irmolars (Mar 12, 2006)

anopro said:


> Dual tuner, caller ID that worked all the time, perfect playback/trick plays,one touch record and a fast and easy UI can you tell I still miss it!


Miss mine also.

6yrs, Flawless. Still works to this day.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

buggs1a said:


> Yeah, I agree. Except just that I don't think companies care about their customers and won't change this. I guess because I've never gotten anything changed from my suggestions with any company.  So I'm nervous etc since this is an extremely important thing for me.


Ever hear of the CE (Cutting Edge) program? You are wrong about DirecTV caring about their customers because they support this program which is hosted on this messaging system. Concerned customers willing to take a chance on new software and offer feedback participate. And *many of my feedback suggestions have actually been implemented on the R15!*

In order to participate, you need to register on this system and then join in the Cutting Edge forums for more information. Be advised, however, that complaining for the sake of complaining or out of frustration is frowned upon and doesn't get anything corrected.


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## jfeco (Nov 7, 2007)

I agree the R15 seems to get the less amount of updates. All the new feature are reserved for the HR-20 / HR-21. What DirectV only cares if you pay for HD service.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

jfeco said:


> I agree the R15 seems to get the less amount of updates. All the new feature are reserved for the HR-20 / HR-21. What DirectV only cares if you pay for HD service.


Or the HD boxes have a lot more problems/issues that need to be fixed?? 

Don't kid yourself, almost ALL of those folks with DirecTV HD boxes also have an R15 or a D11 or some other standard definition box on their account feeding an old TV in the bedroom, kitchen, den, etc. And there are MILLIONS and MILLIONS of DirecTV customers with NO HD boxes at all (like ME). In fact, most all of the DirecTV dishes I see in my corner of the world (SE Wisconsin) are the old round 18" models that only support the 101 satellite which is ALL standard-definition.


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## jfeco (Nov 7, 2007)

ThomasM said:


> Or the HD boxes have a lot more problems/issues that need to be fixed??
> 
> Don't kid yourself, almost ALL of those folks with DirecTV HD boxes also have an R15 or a D11 or some other standard definition box on their account feeding an old TV in the bedroom, kitchen, den, etc. And there are MILLIONS and MILLIONS of DirecTV customers with NO HD boxes at all (like ME). In fact, most all of the DirecTV dishes I see in my corner of the world (SE Wisconsin) are the old round 18" models that only support the 101 satellite which is ALL standard-definition.


Hey Thomas,

Why if you look at the CE thread and compare all the CE to one another the HD boxes have more features not updates or fixes but features?


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

jfeco said:


> Hey Thomas,
> 
> Why if you look at the CE thread and compare all the CE to one another the HD boxes have more features not updates or fixes but features?


HD boxes have more both.It's just the nature of the beast per say.Prime example is to download the Owner's Manual for an HDTV it is definitely NOT consumer friendly.


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## dodge boy (Mar 31, 2006)

My R15s work great, both of them...... I have a Tivo in the closet as a spare, or I put it in the garage for the spring/summer/fall.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

jfeco said:


> Hey Thomas,
> 
> Why if you look at the CE thread and compare all the CE to one another the HD boxes have more features not updates or fixes but features?


The software/hardware spec that comprises the DirecTV HD boxes was created in-house by the DirecTV engineers. The R15 software/hardware spec was "outsourced" to a company called NDS which also created the original access cards for DirecTV. All the bootlegging of DirecTV's signal caused them to become extremely irked at NDS, so they sued them and started making access cards themselves. Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch bought a controlling interest in DirecTV and guess what OTHER company he also was a major part of? Yep, NDS. The lawsuits were dropped and NDS was assigned to create a new DVR so that DirecTV didn't have to pay TiVo anymore for the use of their DVR. After all the groaning and moaning about the R15, when it came time to design new HDTV boxes, DirecTV decided to create the hardware spec and the software in-house.

So, since there are completely different teams of software/hardware engineers for the R15 platform and the HD platform, that is why the feature compliment is often different between them.


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## jfeco (Nov 7, 2007)

ThomasM said:


> The software/hardware spec that comprises the DirecTV HD boxes was created in-house by the DirecTV engineers. The R15 software/hardware spec was "outsourced" to a company called NDS which also created the original access cards for DirecTV. All the bootlegging of DirecTV's signal caused them to become extremely irked at NDS, so they sued them and started making access cards themselves. Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch bought a controlling interest in DirecTV and guess what OTHER company he also was a major part of? Yep, NDS. The lawsuits were dropped and NDS was assigned to create a new DVR so that DirecTV didn't have to pay TiVo anymore for the use of their DVR. After all the groaning and moaning about the R15, when it came time to design new HDTV boxes, DirecTV decided to create the hardware spec and the software in-house.
> 
> So, since there are completely different teams of software/hardware engineers for the R15 platform and the HD platform, that is why the feature compliment is often different between them.


That is the best explanation of the directV R15 problem I have heard. That is why the r15 is so messed up I guess.


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## red.bean.head (Feb 1, 2007)

anopro said:


> Dual tuner, caller ID that worked all the time, perfect playback/trick plays,one touch record and a fast and easy UI can you tell I still miss it!


I have one collecting dust. Works great, interested? PM me...


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

Except UTV doesn't have any new features for years and is only for SD plus it's not even being updated. It's totally dead, 

Anyhow how bout getting back to my original post?


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

buggs1a said:


> Except UTV doesn't have any new features for years and is only for SD plus it's not even being updated. It's totally dead,
> 
> Anyhow how bout getting back to my original post?


Your original post?

Excerpt from original post----------------------------------------------------------------

I gotta say the R15 is a disaster. It's extremely slow etc. Here's a list of issues I have. I just want to post this and see what kind of response it gets. I also need to know if DirecTV HD is any better. The DVR that is.

End of excerpt---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yup, the R15 is junk. Toss it out the window. Go back to TiVo. <yawn>

DirecTV HD is junk too. Go back to cable. Or over-the-air TV. <yawn yawn>


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

Anyhow back to the topic of the R15 and what this thread is about.
/me ignores above post as it's uncalled for and rude.


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