# Dish Hopper/Joey Home Media



## Namco51 (Nov 26, 2012)

Hello all, I'm new here. 

I've been a DirecTV customer with multiple SD-DVR40 TiVo boxes and had been happy for around 8 years. But the recent fiasco with missing locals requiring me to upgrade to 6.4a, a version with MRV code removed has forced me to look elsewhere. The APG data glitch that caused all my TiVos to reboot dozens of times per day was the last straw.

I'm moving to Dish, hoping to get 2 Hoppers and 1 Joey setup since I need at least 4 open tuners for recording non-network shows. Threads dated as late as May indicate that the Hoppers can't talk to each other, but I found some threads around October explaining that it does work now. Can someone point me to a press release, announcement, or Youtube video confirming this news?

Also, I got a big kick out of being able to watch shows from my PC (running Tivoserver), on my TiVo on version 6.1 (broken in 6.4a) and am excited to try out Dish Hopper's Home Media app. How well do videos, such as those on a DLNA enabled device on the network, play on the Hopper/Joey? Pretty smooth? Glitchy? Hard to get the system to see videos?

I'm guessing MKVs or MP4s in h.264 with AAC audio is the acceptable format?

Thanks in advance!


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## Michael P (Oct 27, 2004)

Welcome to the forums. Not being a Tivo user myself could you explain what this means:


> But the recent fiasco with missing locals requiring me to upgrade to 6.4a, a version with MRV code removed has forced me to look elsewhere.


I've used several different Dish DVR's since the introduction of their first HD DVR in 2004. Dish DVR's have always recorded the digital stream just as it comes off the satellite, so any codes that Tivo used is moot to a Dish DVR since no analog/digital conversion in order to record is taking place.


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## Namco51 (Nov 26, 2012)

Michael P said:


> Welcome to the forums. Not being a Tivo user myself could you explain what this means:
> 
> I've used several different Dish DVR's since the introduction of their first HD DVR in 2004. Dish DVR's have always recorded the digital stream just as it comes off the satellite, so any codes that Tivo used is moot to a Dish DVR since no analog/digital conversion in order to record is taking place.


Sorry, the code I referred to was the source code in the tivo software that allows for multi-room viewing in non-directv tivos. In version 6.1 of the DirectTivos software a "Superpatch" could be applied to the running tivoapp that turned these MRV features on, however 6.4a was missing that programming. Randomly 6.1 users on old DirecTivos started losing their local channels because of incompatible program guide data so we had to upgrade to get local channels back. Once on 6.4a I applied the updated superpatch and could see my tivoserver, but not the other tivos, and when you tried to access the tivoserver you got squat. It was a real bummer, man.


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## Namco51 (Nov 26, 2012)

By the way, what's a "code" in the Dish vernacular?


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## Michael P (Oct 27, 2004)

Namco51 said:


> By the way, what's a "code" in the Dish vernacular?


Firmware. Dish constantly updates the firmware, which is meant to add or improve features.

It appears that the Hopper and Joey combination is what you are looking for. You can have more than one Hopper, since only the Hoppers have the actual tuners. The Joeys are like "dumb terminals" that access the Hoppers. If you need 4 tuners at any given time you would need 2 Hoppers, as each Hopper has 3 tuners. There is an optional feature where one Hopper tuner can simultaneously record up to 4 local network stations during prime time (Prime Time Anytime or "PTAT"). When PTAT recording is in effect you still have 2 tuners available for other uses as well as the ability to watch the PTAT recordings as they are recorded. PTAT only ties up one tuner, as all local stations are on the same satellite transponder. You as the customer have the option to turn this feature on if you so wish, it's not forced upon you. After all the evenings PTAT recordings have been made they stay on the DVR for up to 8 days. Many of these programs can have the "auto hop" feature enabled so that the DVR can automatically skip the commercials on playback.

BTW I believe with multiple Hoppers you can access both Hoppers as part of a whole house network.


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## Omahabrownie (Jun 12, 2012)

Yes it will only play mkv or mp4 formats no avi and it seems to lose the fast forward function.


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## thomasjk (Jan 10, 2006)

Hopper also has an OTA tuner module now available. So you can have 4 tuners with 1 Hopper.


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## TheGrove (Jan 10, 2007)

Namco51 said:


> I'm moving to Dish, hoping to get 2 Hoppers and 1 Joey setup since I need at least 4 open tuners for recording non-network shows. Threads dated as late as May indicate that the Hoppers can't talk to each other, but I found some threads around October explaining that it does work now. Can someone point me to a press release, announcement, or Youtube video confirming this news?


I don't know of any press release or announcement about this. However, this is the setup I just had installed before Thanksgiving and it works like a champ. Yes the 2 Hoppers can see each other and you can watch shows recorded on Hopper A on Hopper B and vis-a-versa. Unlike my old TiVo units you don't transfer the show you simply select the other hopper when viewing recorded shows and select the show to watch. The Hopper streams the show over whatever media is used to connect the 2. In my case this is my home Ethernet network but it should also work if you are using coax.

I have not played with the Joey as it is in my sisters bedroom but a Joey only connects to 1 hopper at a time. I don't know if the Joey can pull video from the other Hopper to view. However, it is not very hard to have the Joey switch which Hopper it is connected to so worse case you could do this to watch video from the different Hoppers.

The only other thing that is not shared between Hoppers is any External Hard Drive (EHD) connected to a Hopper. You can view programming saved to the EHD on the Hopper it is connected to but not from the other Hopper. For the other Hopper to view the programming the programming would have to be transferred back to the internal HD of the Hopper. Or you could disconnect and move the EHD to the other Hopper and then view it directly.

On a side note about the EHD, if you have older equipment like I did (722 and 622) if you transfer your recordings to an EHD from the old equipment once the Hopper is installed and fully activated you can connect the EHD to your Hopper and it will see the programming from your old equipment - very nice to make sure everything gets transferred and nothing gets lost.


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## Namco51 (Nov 26, 2012)

Been on the phone with Dish for awhile now. They're not letting me order 2 hoppers and 1 joey, instead telling me that their system won't do it and that I have to order 1 hopper and 2 joeys and request an upgrade within 30 days. 

Is this how it works? Should I complete the order or try again later?


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## Namco51 (Nov 26, 2012)

After a few calls, almost 3 hours on the phone and initial scary quotes totaling $1400 and $600, I've finally got my order in at a good price. I'm all set for a Saturday install. 

Got some very informative PMs that helped me to place my order. Thanks for those, you know who you are!!!


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## garys (Nov 4, 2005)

Namco51 said:


> Been on the phone with Dish for awhile now. They're not letting me order 2 hoppers and 1 joey, instead telling me that their system won't do it and that I have to order 1 hopper and 2 joeys and request an upgrade within 30 days.
> 
> Is this how it works? Should I complete the order or try again later?


Csr's can put in the order for 2 Hoppers/2 Joeys, not sure why they can't do 2/1. Work around is to take the 2/2 install and refuse one Joey with installer or send back the 2nd Joey after a couple of days.


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