# H21/H23 0x42EB/42EE: Issues/Discussion



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

*H21-100 • H21-200 0x42EB
H23-600 0x42EE*
H21 National release started 6/1/09.
H23 National release started 7/29/09.

Release notes: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=159313

_We ask that you keep polite and focused within this thread, and post as much detail as possible. Being part of the DBSTalk community means working together to help each other document issues and come up with solutions. While everyone gets upset from time to time, this is not the appropriate place for vents or rants. All off-topic posts and discussion will be deleted._


----------



## jmh87 (Apr 19, 2009)

I have a question on the different firmware numbers. For example, I have the h21-100 receiver. It has the 0x4084 firmware currently. Will that update to the 0x42eb eventually? The reason I ask is it looks like they have added some new features. Thanks for any help, jmh87


----------



## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

It will update when the Firmware is stable enough to roll out Nationally.


----------



## njblackberry (Dec 29, 2007)

Or when DirecTV decides to roll it out.


----------



## jmh87 (Apr 19, 2009)

The sticky in the first thread listed the roll-out as 6/1/09. That was why I wasn't sure if everyone should have it or not. Thanks, joe


----------



## dschumacher (Jun 13, 2009)

Doug,

Given that your included link indicates a "staggered" release, and the 0-2-4-6-8 forced download doesn't result in this new version being downloaded (as of yesterday), do you have any information on when it might be available to those of us on the East Coast?

I really want the AM-21 capability for my H23-600.

Regards, Dan


----------



## JonSamuels (Jun 26, 2007)

It is a staggered rollout, which means that it will be distributed over a period of several days...possibly even weeks. You probably won't get it right away, but you will get it eventually.


----------



## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I expect this to be a very slow rollout. I could imagine it taking weeks or even into months. It's a very comprehensive upgrade.


----------



## jmh87 (Apr 19, 2009)

All, thanks for the helpful information.


----------



## NaperDan (Jun 9, 2009)

Stuart Sweet said:


> I expect this to be a very slow rollout. I could imagine it taking weeks or even into months. It's a very comprehensive upgrade.


I tried it last night here in Naperville, to no avail.


----------



## rob316 (Jun 29, 2008)

I just got the H21-200 today from BB. I installed and activated the box. I wonder why the new update did not download during the intial setup?


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

That's usually the first thing the receiver does out of the box. Did it download some other version?


----------



## MIAMI1683 (Jul 11, 2007)

harsh said:


> That's usually the first thing the receiver does out of the box. Did it download some other version?


 Not really. Since D* has changed the way the new Nr's are rolled out a little. It wasn't in the stream for it. From what I have read. The new firmware will only be available at night...


----------



## rob316 (Jun 29, 2008)

harsh said:


> That's usually the first thing the receiver does out of the box. Did it download some other version?


No it did not and when I checked firmware version it said original version. I hope this update hits my box soon, I would like to use the networking capabilities.


----------



## reubenray (Jun 27, 2002)

For the past week my new H23 resets (or something) during the day. This is in the B/R and is watched only at night. It is not turned on again until the next night. When it is turned on it is on a D*channel showing how to operate the receiver and use the guide. I change channels and it works like it is supposed to again. But the next day it does it all again.

Any idea what is happening?


----------



## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

reubenray, that's probably not due to this update. It sounds more like a problem that could be loose cables or a bad receiver. 

rob316, this version is going to be available slowly across the country and will be pushed out during the evening hours. There's no need to take any action to get it.


----------



## The Fuzz 53 (Jun 27, 2007)

Anybody know if the new NR update has gone out in the New Jersey area yet? I'm still running some CE software because it fixed the serious sound issues I had, but it causes the box to display the searching for signal message and forces me to RBR every so often. I'm hoping the new NR software will have resolve this problem and keep my sound issues away.


----------



## kq6ea (Jan 13, 2006)

My H21 updated this morning (24 June) at 0236. It added networking, but since it's not a DVR, I don't see what good it does to network it.
Jim


----------



## JonSamuels (Jun 26, 2007)

kq6ea said:


> My H21 updated this morning (24 June) at 0236. It added networking, but since it's not a DVR, I don't see what good it does to network it.
> Jim


You can use it for MediaShare.


----------



## rob316 (Jun 29, 2008)

The Fuzz 53 said:


> Anybody know if the new NR update has gone out in the New Jersey area yet? I'm still running some CE software because it fixed the serious sound issues I had, but it causes the box to display the searching for signal message and forces me to RBR every so often. I'm hoping the new NR software will have resolve this problem and keep my sound issues away.


I am in Central NJ myself and still have not received the update. I wish they would hurry it up, I would like to get the ethernet port active.


----------



## eyeloot (Jun 25, 2009)

Has anyone else seen the problem referenced in thread 160364 or know a fix for usb/serial issues in this release?


I would post the URL but I am too new and the system won't allow it.


----------



## CATCRAW (Mar 27, 2008)

I am in Oregon and got the new release this morning. Everything seems to work well. Nice to have the QuickTune feature.


----------



## wxguy (Feb 17, 2008)

I suspect I must have gotten it yesterday evening. My H21-200 is now a brick. Nothing will bring it back to life.


----------



## chop (Jun 28, 2009)

my H21 updated 6/24 here in cali...and its SLOW. prior to the update flipping pages in the guide were speedy, but now i literally wait 5 sec per page flip in the guide before it flips. ive tried a hard reset (leaving it unplugged for about 30min), tried the red button reset...nada


----------



## moob (Nov 20, 2008)

chop said:


> my H21 updated 6/24 here in cali...and its SLOW. prior to the update flipping pages in the guide were speedy, but now i literally wait 5 sec per page flip in the guide before it flips. ive tried a hard reset (leaving it unplugged for about 30min), tried the red button reset...nada


Ah, it's not just me.

Doesn't give me much hope for the hard reset though. Have you contacted D*? There's no way in hell I could live with it the way it is now...it's made tv watching a chore.


----------



## chop (Jun 28, 2009)

nope. no time to contact directv, but it really is a pain to watch tv now, almost as if im spending more time flipping through the guide than i do watching actual tv. ok thats an exageration...but its taking forever!


----------



## rob316 (Jun 29, 2008)

I finally got the update last night at 3:30 am in the morning. Finally networking is enabled and they added Orginal Format option under HDTV. I did not notice any reduction in speed when it comes to channel changing or Guide viewing.


----------



## MrD1234 (Sep 1, 2007)

did they purposefully break the usb channel tuning?!?


----------



## satz (Oct 23, 2007)

After the upgrade eight receivers stopped talking via the RS-232/USB ports. In particular the SendUserCommand stopped working altogether. This is impacting more then just me per the thread at http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=160364. I have tried contacting the custom installer folks with the only feedback being to test the serial control tool. The site that is affected is a commercial bar and is dead in water.

We will be forced to recode using IR or go to another receiver (currently H21). Any feedback appreciated.


----------



## SPACEMAKER (Dec 11, 2007)

My H23-600 is still running 0x4086 updated on January 6th.

Is this right? Should I be forcing a download at this point?


----------



## texasbrit (Aug 9, 2006)

SPACEMAKER said:


> My H23-600 is still running 0x4086 updated on January 6th.
> 
> Is this right? Should I be forcing a download at this point?


The rollout just hasn't got to your receiver yet, a complete rollout can take several weeks. And a download will not help, if your receiver is not designated to get the new software yet it won't. As of this morning, the firmware version in the regular download stream was still 0x4086.


----------



## The Fuzz 53 (Jun 27, 2007)

SPACEMAKER said:


> My H23-600 is still running 0x4086 updated on January 6th.
> 
> Is this right? Should I be forcing a download at this point?


I tried that yesterday, as rob316 said he was also in the central NJ area and he received the update, I figured I could force download it but it reverted back to 4086. Does having CE software running on the receiver stop it from updating by any chance? I was running CE software that was downloaded on 3/22 and it was working great.


----------



## SPACEMAKER (Dec 11, 2007)

To be honest I don't really care all that muchIf I get new updates. The H23 is for my bedroom set. I just with they'd fix the annoying tendency to stretch SD programming until I hit exit and for that note about getting the most out of HD. But if this were my main reciever I'd be less than thrilled by it's performance.


----------



## satz (Oct 23, 2007)

The timing characteristics of how the serial data is processed changed in the 0x42EB release. Timing was more tolerant in the prior release but was tightened up for this release such that errors would be returned if data didn't arrive in time. See the thread http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=160364 for more details. I consider this problem resolved, at least in my situation. Thanks!


----------



## BDP (Jan 29, 2009)

I keep trying to force the DL and still nothing here in Central PA. Really been waiting for it, too. Still getting 4084 when I force. Talk about a slow rollout!


----------



## The Fuzz 53 (Jun 27, 2007)

Ugh, my annoying audio drops are back from reverting back to 4086. For the love of God, please give me this update already.

Hey rob316, where in Central NJ are you? I'm in Manville (Somerset County). Are you close enough that I should be getting this update already?


----------



## Space Guy (Jul 9, 2009)

I am also having problems with my H1-200 after the update.. My guide is so slow that you could take a shower, and when you come back, it might be there.... Also, when you change channels, there is a 3-4 second blank screen, and I do not see the resolution lights change on the front. Before the upgrade, I had NO problems. Directv techs are no help.... I wish there was a way to go back to the old version.... I think that it is time to either go to a different provider, or at least go back to my D11... Even though it was not HD, at least it always worked....

Space Guy

Hitachi 51S75
D10
D11
H21-200

Customer since 04/09 (Might change!)


----------



## mekump (Oct 31, 2006)

Hello,

I understand the fw update adds some new features such as media share and triple tap. Exactly what are these features? Where can find more info on them?

Thank you,
Mike


----------



## rob316 (Jun 29, 2008)

I am in Carteret NJ, next to Woodbridge.


----------



## The Fuzz 53 (Jun 27, 2007)

rob316 said:


> I am in Carteret NJ, next to Woodbridge.


Yeah, so you would think that I could get the update by now too then.


----------



## lugnutathome (Apr 13, 2009)

I've 4 HR20-700s, 2 H21-200s, 1 H21-100 all on a hardwired 10/100 LAN in my home. I've a "rogue" H20-600 too. but that's not important.

I've been using the MRV available on the H21 units on 0x42EB and am VERY pleased but the dropouts (video and audio) are enough to be annoying at times. Occasionally one loses a crucial piece of dialog or image consistency. Image may freeze momentarily, pixelize, lurch, speed up, and on occasion not match the audio track for awhile. (when played through optical out to receiver (an occasional issue not constant that corrects itself quickly))

The fast forward/back stuff is odd. Seems like it freezes on start and finally responds after a buffer is filled. Upon stop it does not seem to rewind back a bit either. More like it starts at the end of the buffer past the the high speed visual image.

I'd suspected the network handshaking traffic in addition to the programming stream might be the cause but it's on a regular interval basis that I can detect and not related to the programming stream itself (that can be determined) as a short rewind/replay shows the prior effected area with no recurring issue.

It's still possible one of the 4 computers on my LAN, the 2 PS3s, network printer, or the location free TV unit which also enables internet connection could be adding enough chaff but really these shouldn't effect the bandwidth enough to effect the programming stream

All that said it's REALLY cool.

I've tested playing one program via MRV from one DVR and playing another stored program on that same DVR (my workout room and master BR are such that I can see and hear both at once). Both operated independently with seemingly no effect on the other.

I've viewed remotely recorded programming while the recorder is in process. Haven't tried what its limits might be if both onboard tuners are recording with regards to MRV and local viewing YET.

Minor issues GREAT functionality. Be glad when the DVR client comes down the beam.

Don "on the conservative edge" Bolton


----------



## Spring Rubber (Dec 9, 2006)

Just got the update this morning; one annoying thing that I noticed it that resolution changes between channels has gotten a lot rougher; after the update, changing resolution causes a big green flash with the Info bar jumping in the middle of the screen and highly magnified for about a second while the resolution switches. I guess it's not a huge problem, but resolution switching was much cleaner with the previous software.

On a positive note, I think they corrected the issue where the picture would automatically stretch out on 4:3 channels that used interactive features like The Weather Channel's Local on the 8s feature. I noticed the interactive app seems to run fine now using whatever picture format you normally use.

Cosmetically, it's nice to see a refresh of the channel icons to keep things up to date, but I think the attempt to add texture to the red/green/yellow/blue remote control button icons on-screen looks a little low-res. The flat look used before looks cleaner. Again, that's just a cosmetic thing and not really all that important. 

EDIT: I think there also seems to be a caching issue with the show info bar. If I keep the receiver on the same channel for multiple programs and never use the info bar during this time, when I go to change the channel, the info bar will display the title and running time of the program that was on the last time I used the info bar instead of the current program. I wonder if a reset will fix this...


----------



## concorde1 (May 26, 2007)

got the update this morning...no issues


----------



## Chip Moody (Aug 1, 2007)

So seeing a slow-moving guide earlier this evening prompted me to check if my H21 firmware had been updated. I found it had night before last.

Later on, I went to use one of my PCs that I hadn't looked at in a few days, and there was an icon in the taskbar saying "Windows Media Player sees and unknown device at MAC address xx xx xx xx xx xx!"

It didn't occur to me that the update would have enabled the Ethernet port, and honestly I had forgotten that I had left a cable connected between the box and my ethernet switch. So it actually took a little poking around before I smacked myself in the head upon finding that MAC address belonged to the H21!

Now to go find out what good (if any) having "Network Support" and "Media Share" do for me. 

- Chip


----------



## texasbrit (Aug 9, 2006)

Someone on the DirecTV forum where I am a tech guide reported that his autotunes were all starting one minute early. I don't use autotune but as a test I set up three autotunes on my H21 and all of them started at least 30 seconds early. It is almost as if the receiver is using the autopadding used by the DVR.


----------



## toricred (Feb 12, 2004)

Any chance the network support would allow channel changing over the network rather than via a serial port?


----------



## lugnutathome (Apr 13, 2009)

Since the upgrade I've noticed the slowness somewhat but compared to the earlier days (H10 and D 10 receivers) it's really not that bad.

I've enabled the CE features available in the NR firmware on all my HR20s and H21s but I wonder if some of the overhead for these features is being used even when not so enabled....

Could the slowness be because the network connectivity (even if not connected to a network) is being tapped for all manner of lookups? Once I put the receivers and DVRs on my LAN the network chatter even when things should be idle is pretty frequent.

When one performs functions of the receiver might it be polling the LAN, listening for and responding to connections, threshold timeouts, etc? Perhaps even when that function (eg program guide OOPS with VOD even that does poll the net (perhaps same codebase for guide on std H receiver as on the HR)) shouldn't really touch the network?

And since it's been LAN enabled might it be getting it's time from an NTP server off the net and not the "bird"? (hence the autotune issue). Perhaps the same source as the bird but without the uplink/downlink delay?

Don "just some random thoughts 'POOMA'" Bolton

* Pulled Out Of My A__ *



texasbrit said:


> Someone on the DirecTV forum where I am a tech guide reported that his autotunes were all starting one minute early. I don't use autotune but as a test I set up three autotunes on my H21 and all of them started at least 30 seconds early. It is almost as if the receiver is using the autopadding used by the DVR.


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

toricred said:


> Any chance the network support would allow channel changing over the network rather than via a serial port?


A telnet-like session should be possible if the programmers thought it was worth the effort.


----------



## toricred (Feb 12, 2004)

From my limited testing it looks like using the ethernet disables the USB. While I did have the ethernet connected I tried telnet and it didn't connect. You probably need to use a different port for it if it is available.


----------



## SPACEMAKER (Dec 11, 2007)

My H23-600 has yet to be updated. The last update occurred on January 6th. Is that right? Is there a potential issue?


----------



## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

SPACEMAKER said:


> My H23-600 has yet to be updated. The last update occurred on January 6th. Is that right? Is there a potential issue?


There was an update about 60 days ago...so I would expect we might see an update to the whole H2x family some time in the near term - maybe August 1 or thereabouts.


----------



## SPACEMAKER (Dec 11, 2007)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> There was an update about 60 days ago...so I would expect we might see an update to the whole H2x family some time in the near term - maybe August 1 or thereabouts.


I wonder why I didn't get the update. It would be nice if the roughness of my current software update were to be polished. Flashing that green screen is always a bit unsettling.


----------



## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

SPACEMAKER said:


> I wonder why I didn't get the update. It would be nice if the roughness of my current software update were to be polished. Flashing that green screen is always a bit unsettling.


Actually...in checking...the H23 was more like 90 days ago.

Anyway....I have reason to believe you will be happier within the next 1-2 weeks.


----------



## SPACEMAKER (Dec 11, 2007)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> Actually...in checking...the H23 was more like 90 days ago.
> 
> Anyway....I have reason to believe you will be happier within the next 1-2 weeks.


Cool. I don't use the H23 often but it will be nice to have it function a little better.


----------



## dschumacher (Jun 13, 2009)

hdtvfan,

According to the release history, 4086 is the current national release for the H23-600, and it started going out in early January. That is also the version that is shown as active on Doug's firmware watcher site. Are you aware of something newer?

Hopefully, your hypothesis about a new national release possibly being availabe in the next few weeks turns out to be correct. I really want the AM-21 capability.

Regards, Dan


----------



## SPACEMAKER (Dec 11, 2007)

Finally got it. No more green flashes and/or autostretch. 

Now what am I going to whine about?


----------



## toricred (Feb 12, 2004)

Every other day the serial control on my 4 h21's stops working since this upgrade. Unplugging the unit and then plugging it back in fixes it every time. I'd really rather avoid this. Any suggestions on how I can stop needing this?


----------



## Steveknj (Nov 14, 2006)

Just got an H21-100 and bought an HD TV to go with it...

I plugged in the HDMI cable and I get no picture or sound....I plug in the components and I get a picture, but when i put in the toslink cable, no sound. I plugged in my laptop to the HDMI on the TV to make sure that works, and it does.

So my question is, is there anything on the H21 that I need to do to activate these ports?


----------



## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Make sure the H21 resolutions are set to 1080i/720p but not to 480i. Try native on and off (should work both ways, but try). Also, make sure your TV is set properly if it has resolution options.


----------



## Steveknj (Nov 14, 2006)

carl6 said:


> Make sure the H21 resolutions are set to 1080i/720p but not to 480i. Try native on and off (should work both ways, but try). Also, make sure your TV is set properly if it has resolution options.


Tried all that, still no go. Ignore my comment about the Toslink. I realized that the toslink on the TV was only out.


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

All video outputs are on all the time (unless you're having trouble with HDCP).

The absence of audio as well suggests a bad HDMI port on the H21.


----------

