# 942 Noise



## mmpotash (Nov 12, 2005)

Everything is now set up properly for my 942, thanks to other forum members ideas. But I'm not sure about the sound this receiver makes when it is not being used. When both TV1 and TV2 are off, and the 942 has no lights on but is still plugged in, it makes the same noise as when it is on. The unit stays slightly warm, and has a humming noise which sounds like a fan, plus clicking noise from the hard drive. While the noise is not loud, it seems strange to me it should make any noise at all when it is turned off.
Is this normal?


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## voripteth (Oct 25, 2005)

I think that you can't turn the DVR 'off' but rather put it in 'standby' mode. This is so it can wake up and record things even though it is 'off'.


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## lakebum431 (Jun 30, 2005)

Yeah, it is normal. All DVRs that I know of do this (TiVo, DISH etc.)


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## Mike Johnson (Jan 16, 2005)

Correct. The unit cannot be turned off. It goes into standby mode where it will continue to record programs, download the program guide or new software and run maintenance and clean up tasks on the hard disk.


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## jackj (Dec 5, 2005)

Since it will still record eventhough you turn in "off", is this preferable for any reason? Will it help lengthen the life of the hard drive?


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## normang (Nov 14, 2002)

jackj said:


> Since it will still record eventhough you turn in "off", is this preferable for any reason? Will it help lengthen the life of the hard drive?


When its in standby the disk will spin down until some activity requires it to run, such as a guide update, or to record a scheduled program. I think it will eventually go into standby on its own after several hours of inactivity. Where inactivity is probably measured as no channel changes, or detection of remote commands.


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## Bichon (Jun 5, 2003)

I've not observed mine spin down. Right now, at 7:57AM I can hear mine seeking, and it has been in standby (with no scheduled recordings) since the 3AM reboot.


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## normang (Nov 14, 2002)

Is it really the Hard disk, or is it some cooling fan that cycles?


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## Jeff McClellan (Apr 22, 2002)

The hard drive makes more of a light grinding noise, the fan is more of a hum. I can tell the difference on mine. I never question or worry, as long as the unit works.


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## Bichon (Jun 5, 2003)

It's definitely the hard drive. The seek noises are very distinctive.

I'm not overly concerned about the hard drive spinning continuously. At work we've got thousands of PCs, and haven't seen any dramatic difference in longevity between the hard drives in machines that are powered up and spinning 24/7 versus those that only powered on a few hours a day during business hours.


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## LtMunst (Aug 24, 2005)

I always assumed that standby is when the hardrive did all of the "housekeeping" functions like scandisk, defrag etc.


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## Neil Derryberry (Mar 23, 2002)

The box is linux-based... it should only do that if needed on a restart after loss of power.


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## mmpotash (Nov 12, 2005)

I think it needs to be off to download the Guide info.


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## azphi (Apr 1, 2004)

mmpotash said:


> Everything is now set up properly for my 942, thanks to other forum members ideas. But I'm not sure about the sound this receiver makes when it is not being used. When both TV1 and TV2 are off, and the 942 has no lights on but is still plugged in, it makes the same noise as when it is on. The unit stays slightly warm, and has a humming noise which sounds like a fan, plus clicking noise from the hard drive. While the noise is not loud, it seems strange to me it should make any noise at all when it is turned off.
> Is this normal?


I thought I would ask if you are using a diplexor? The reason I ask is because I had some problems not using the correct one. When I had the wrong diplexor on my 942 it was making some excessive noise. I installed the correct mghz (I think 950-2100 mghz) or something like that, and the excessive noise went right away.

LouPenya


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