# Error message 692



## Ronald K (Jan 11, 2004)

What is going on now?

I have had a weekly timer for recording Everyone Loves Raymond. Now an error message popped up on the screen "The program for this timer event is blacked out, not available or the channel is no longer authorized."

What did they screw up this time?

It just keeps getting worse.


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## M492A (Nov 18, 2004)

Good question. I reported this problem in the Bugs forum and interestingly I haven't seen it since. It started with L211.


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## cpufixer1 (Jun 10, 2003)

I'm stilling getting them. Only seems to happen while setting a timer to record CSB-HD.


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## Jason Kragt (Dec 20, 2002)

I had one when attempting to record TBS once. I have not had it since.


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## Skates (Apr 15, 2004)

I believe there is some correlation between this error and problems with the guide.

Today, my 921 froze. I did a power-button reboot. It came back ok, but was missing some of the guide info. When one of my timers went to fire, I got the "692" error. The program was "CSI:NY on CBSHD. However, when I checked the guide, it said "no info available".

Interestingly, a lot of people reported this error when L211 first downloaded. Many people didn't get a complete guide that day either.

There could be a connection. If you get the error again, check to see if the guide info for your program is there. If not, maybe that's at least a clue.


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## Ronald K (Jan 11, 2004)

The guide info was there.

In fact I went to the guide to set up a record event for, I think it is called "2 1/2 Men", which follows Raymond - and when the trigger fired for it I got the same message.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

Ronald K said:


> What is going on now?
> 
> I have had a weekly timer for recording Everyone Loves Raymond. Now an error message popped up on the screen "The program for this timer event is blacked out, not available or the channel is no longer authorized."
> 
> ...


I might have an answer to this. Yesterday an installer from E* gave me two two way splitters so I could get satellite 148 to both of my 921. I have legacy equipment, a 500 quad dish (110/119) and a 300 dual dish (148). The installer said that this would give me 148 on both 921's. He was right pretty much. I did check switches and yes all three satellites appeared.

Here is the problem: I got just what you got. What happened was, the 300 dual dish is just that, dual. There are four tuners and only two can get 148 at once. Actually what I found was that if I had a 148 channel on one 921, there was no signal for 148 on the other 921 and visa versa. If I would have erected another 300 dual dish aimed at 148, gotten rid of the 2 way splitters, I would have the problem you described. I now having DishPro with the proper splitter to get all of 110/119/148.

You may have the same problem if you have more than one satellite receiver installed. You may wish to post your satellite receiver/dish configuration and then we will know if you suffer from a switching problem. I hope that this helps.

John


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## lenny (Jun 20, 2004)

boylehome said:


> I might have an answer to this. Yesterday an installer from E* gave me two two way splitters so I could get satellite 148 to both of my 921. I have legacy equipment, a 500 quad dish (110/119) and a 300 dual dish (148). The installer said that this would give me 148 on both 921's. He was right pretty much. I did check switches and yes all three satellites appeared.
> [...]
> You may have the same problem if you have more than one satellite receiver installed. You may wish to post your satellite receiver/dish configuration and then we will know if you suffer from a switching problem. I hope that this helps.
> 
> John


I also have legacy equipment. I have 2 SW64's with splitters for each of the 6 coaxes coming from the 119/110/62.5 sats that I connect to. But, when you split the signal I thought you had to put a feed thru load on the B port of the LNB's. This allows only one switch to talk to the lnb but allows the signal thru to the switch that can't communicate to the lnb. But, in your case your switches are probably part of the lnb so I don't know how it works if your splitting the signal after the switch instead of before. My setup is at:
http://www.dishnetwork.com/downloads/pdf/technology/installation/install-5.pdf

This setup works fine. All 6 of my receivers (including the dual tuner 921) can watch anything at any time.

But, as you state, depending on your hardware feeding your receiver it may cause apparent loss of signal to a specific receiver/tuner.

I have not exhibited the problem that is mentioned in this thread. But, I'm not allowed to get cbs-hd in my area and it seems that is being mentioned alot in this thread. I record my cbs in hd using the OTA.

Lenny


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

boylehome said:


> I might have an answer to this. Yesterday an installer from E* gave me two two way splitters so I could get satellite 148 to both of my 921. I have legacy equipment, a 500 quad dish (110/119) and a 300 dual dish (148). The installer said that this would give me 148 on both 921's. He was right pretty much. I did check switches and yes all three satellites appeared.
> 
> Here is the problem: I got just what you got. What happened was, the 300 dual dish is just that, dual. There are four tuners and only two can get 148 at once. Actually what I found was that if I had a 148 channel on one 921, there was no signal for 148 on the other 921 and visa versa. If I would have erected another 300 dual dish aimed at 148, gotten rid of the 2 way splitters, I would have the problem you described. I now having DishPro with the proper splitter to get all of 110/119/148.
> 
> ...


 Splitters make no sense for your setup. I suspect you were given SW21 switches.

A Legacy Dual LNBF (2 outputs) can drive both SW-21s just fine (use Port #2). the Legacy Quad ca drive SW-21 Port #1. The 921 will see 148 on both tuners without issue - provided all the hardware, cables, etc. is OK.

P.S. My setup is Legacy, Twin plus Dual using SW-21s. No issues, even with the crappy old cable & ends I'm using.

Funny how I haven't bothered to bring my own setup up to snuff.  I guess it's because I'm lazy, and I know if something breaks I can fix it myself in a couple of minutes. The parts are on the truck.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

Hi SimpleSimon -

No, I had two sw-21 switches in use for the one 921. I had two extra sw-21 switches leftover from upgrading to a better switch for my other legacy satellite system. The installer provided the 2 way splitters. Maybe the configuration he used is the problem.



SimpleSimon said:


> Splitters make no sense for your setup. I suspect you were given SW21 switches.


Just so I may understand, "A Legacy Dual LNBF (2 outputs) can drive both SW-21s just fine (use Port #2)" is this relating to one or two 921's? And, rather than using the 2-way splitters like the installer recommended, should I actually have used two more sw-21 switches? (This would total six sw-21 switches.  )



SimpleSimon said:


> A Legacy Dual LNBF (2 outputs) can drive both SW-21s just fine (use Port #2). the Legacy Quad ca drive SW-21 Port #1. The 921 will see 148 on both tuners without issue - provided all the hardware, cables, etc. is OK.
> 
> P.S. My setup is Legacy, Twin plus Dual using SW-21s. No issues, even with the crappy old cable & ends I'm using.
> 
> Funny how I haven't bothered to bring my own setup up to snuff.  I guess it's because I'm lazy, and I know if something breaks I can fix it myself in a couple of minutes. The parts are on the truck.


In the configuration process the installer has the two leads from the dish 300 to the 2, 2-way splitters, then out to the four sw-21's, and the dish 500 leads to the four sw-21 switches. All dish 300 to sw-21 port#2 and all dish 500 to Port#1.

I don't know if I made any sense. Thanks for helping.

John


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## n0qcu (Mar 23, 2002)

Instead of the "spliters" what you need is a 2(3) to 4 MULTISWITCH. You installer should have known that.


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## lenny (Jun 20, 2004)

n0qcu said:


> Instead of the "spliters" what you need is a 2(3) to 4 MULTISWITCH. You installer should have known that.


Sadly don't ever assume that. I rarely have installers over my house installing things since I typically do the installation myself. But, the very few times I have had installers (because it's totally free  ) they typically don't know alot. Normally there's a tech person back in the office that gives the installers the necessary equipment and instructions to set things up.
Installers know the basic simple setup but not the more advanced setups.

They typically don't pay installers well so it's a very transient position. But, maybe because in my area it's a big company handling the installs instead of multiple little companys.

Lenny


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## TBarclay (Mar 24, 2002)

I got the 692 error for the first time myself over the weekend. Three different timers for SD recordings gave me the message. On one show, I pushed "Record" to record the program manually and then could not get the recorder to stop! I went to the PVR menu, selected the still recording program and tried to stop it there -- wouldn't work. Finally had to unplug the unit. Don't know if that'll fix the timer recording problem.


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## n0qcu (Mar 23, 2002)

Got this error tonight (second time since L211) CBS-HD east. Also my OTA recording scheduled for the same time didn't start either.


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## skassan (Jan 10, 2004)

Just got this error for two events in a row. Nothing was going on that hasn't been going on for the last several months. I have timers set to record the eveining news on 8052 (local CBS over sat) at 5:00 and 8051 (local NBC over sat) at 5:30. I was watching OTA 042-01 (CBS) in 480p/Stretch. Instead of seeing Mr. Blinkie, the error message appeared. I just ignored it and the recording never started. Then I switched to 9424 (ESPNHD) between 5:00 and 5:30. Still 480p/Stretch. Again, the error message instead of Mr. Blinkie. I thought I noticed that it said Satellite: Unknown in the error message. I checked the guide, and the station was there, and I was able to tune to it.

Follow-up:
I decided to manually to to 8051 and see if it would record. I pressed record, and got the error message. However, the red light came on. It appears to be recording. But when it came time for the recording to stop at the end of the show, it's still recording. Now I can't stop it, even from the DVR menu. Looks like it's time for ANOTHER reboot. I don't know yet whether the show actually recorded or not. I'll follow up again after the reboot.

Follow-up II:
The recording did indeed record. After rebooting, there was a full 41 minutes of recording. I'll experiment some more after the important football games are over. Perhaps recording from the low number channels instead of 80xx will make a difference.


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## DVDDave (Jan 10, 2004)

Ronald K said:


> What is going on now?
> 
> I have had a weekly timer for recording Everyone Loves Raymond. Now an error message popped up on the screen "The program for this timer event is blacked out, not available or the channel is no longer authorized."
> 
> ...


Getting back to the original question in this thread, I think I just got the answer from Dish Advanced Tech Support! The "blackout" message has to do with whether or not you are authorized by the program provider to view the material. (This is different from Dish subscription info.) Blackout info is downloaded to the receiver only when it is in standby mode. Therefore, if the receiver is not put in standby periodically, it thinks you are not authorized for the channel and this error is triggered.

I don't know exactly how often you need to do this, but the support person said to put the receiver in standby at least for an hour or two each night. Also, I don't understand why I can still view the channel but not record it; this may be another software error in the tuner.

I haven't confirmed the fix yet. It will take a week or two of not getting the error to give me confidence that it addresses the problem. However, it seems to make sense and addresses the symptoms I've been seeing.

--Dave


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## HailScroob (Aug 3, 2004)

Sounds like another load of crap from the Dish Helpless Desk. All 3 sat timers I had set to go off last night generated a 692 error about 10 minutes before they were supposed to fire, which then cancelled them.

What makes it worse is that I was in Best Buy yesterday and walked past a huge pile of HD Tivos. I broke into a cold sweat and had the Discover card halfway out of my pocket before the significant other drug me out of the store...

Now, the three timers that failed weren't for MY shows, so I could have had the last laugh... but there's just nothing funny about this mess anymore.


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## zer0cool (Nov 24, 2004)

Got hit with this error last night, causing my recording of the first episode of Deadwood to not fire. Didn't notice until it was too late. Fortunately I was able to get the second ep recorded. Then when I got up this morning,I noticed all the channel banners still had last nights show info displayed with 0:00 time left for everything.


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## SteveRS (Feb 8, 2004)

Error 692 hit me last night when trying to set a timer record. When I hit manual record when the program started it did record the program.

However when I went into DVR Record Event menu and hit stop record the 921 would not stop recording.
Had to reboot to stop record.

OK, now Error 692 is back again today and had to reboot again.
This must be reboot number 50 or 60 since I bought my first 921 in January 04.

Now it is snowing so thick here in Las Vegas that the signal is lost. Unbelievable. 
I think it is time to shut down the 921 and go play in the snow!


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## justintu (Jan 10, 2005)

I've been having this problem for three days now with my 921.
All of my timer events failed to record and this error would pop up on the screen:

"Error 692
The program for this timer event is blacked out, not available, or the channel is no longer authorized.

Channel: 33
Satellite: Unknown"

Today I finally started to look into the problem. I noticed that even though this message was displayed, I could still tune to that channel and the guide data displayed properly. I also noticed a lock icon on the channel--actually all channels.
I had locked out the "Pay-Per-View" and "Hide Adult" I didn't have any Rating Locks or Channel Locks enabled. I unchecked "Enable All Locks" and the lock icon no longer appeared in the guide. After disabling the "Locks," timer events successfully fire off.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

Well, I've been hit with this problem several times in the last 2 days. Just did a soft reboot, and it seems OK now.

Just for the record, no locks, all affected events are SD Satellite, no hardware configuration changes, smartcard untouched for months, no programming changes, no nothing. This is simply NOT anything to do with anything at this end.

They've just managed to screw something else up.


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## SteveRS (Feb 8, 2004)

I agree with simple simon.
Simply another E foul-up.


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## Ronald K (Jan 11, 2004)

It just keeps getting worse.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Ronald - email me your contact information, along with your receiver CAID, smartcard ID, boot and flash versions, a description of what you're going through here, and if you've called and talked to tech support, what they had you do. I'm going to send this to the 921 support team, because this isn't affecting everyone.


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## albireo (Jul 28, 2004)

Interesting! I've NEVER had this problem before last week. My 921 has been oddly stable since the last update; I was hoping I was on the mend with this machine. Now for some reason, I'm getting this "Error 692
The program for this timer event is blacked out, not available, or the channel is no longer authorized" at least twice a day on my SD channels. I can think of nothing I've done different at all that might be connected to this oddity!

I hope there is a solution, it's the one problem I've had that I don't think I can live with!

Joe


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## DVDDave (Jan 10, 2004)

DVDDave said:


> Getting back to the original question in this thread, I think I just got the answer from Dish Advanced Tech Support! The "blackout" message has to do with whether or not you are authorized by the program provider to view the material. (This is different from Dish subscription info.) Blackout info is downloaded to the receiver only when it is in standby mode. Therefore, if the receiver is not put in standby periodically, it thinks you are not authorized for the channel and this error is triggered.
> 
> I don't know exactly how often you need to do this, but the support person said to put the receiver in standby at least for an hour or two each night. Also, I don't understand why I can still view the channel but not record it; this may be another software error in the tuner.
> 
> ...


A week ago, I reported in the quoted message that I was told by a Dish CSR that putting the 921 in standby once in a while would solve this problem. I've been doing this every night or two for a week and have not had the problem since. Not conclusive, but worth a try I think.

--Dave


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## TBarclay (Mar 24, 2002)

It's been over 3 weeks but the error returned today. I had 4 weekday timers I set for when I'm at work and none of them worked. (All for SD material). Tried to record something when I got home and got the old "Error 692". It wouldn't even let me record manually. I will admit I never put the unit in "standby." Seems like another "freaky" by-product of a $1,000 "toy!"


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## Mike Russell (Feb 6, 2003)

I have also got this error 2or3 times lately. Missed recording American Dream Derby last night on Game channel because of this.


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## HailScroob (Aug 3, 2004)

DVDDave said:


> A week ago, I reported in the quoted message that I was told by a Dish CSR that putting the 921 in standby once in a while would solve this problem. I've been doing this every night or two for a week and have not had the problem since. Not conclusive, but worth a try I think.
> 
> --Dave


My 921 is in standby anytime my TV is not on (I turn 'em on together and I turn 'em off together), and yet I've been hit by the 692 "feature" more than once. It takes a power button reboot to clear the problem and, twice now, when the box comes back up there is typically only 2 hours of guide data shown - the rest takes a few hours to come back.

I'll just keep saying it: I loved my 921 before L211, it did everything I asked it to do with very few issues - now it's unreliable junk. I actually set the *VCR (!!) * last Wednesday night to record "Lost" because I don't trust my $1,000 "flagship Dish receiver" to perform that simple task.

Good thing I did too&#8230; "Lost" was my most recent 692.

Useless.


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## LASooner (Jan 24, 2005)

> On one show, I pushed "Record" to record the program manually and then could not get the recorder to stop!


I got this during the superbowl, recording in SD, I just pressed record, got the message and it just kept recording. I thought it would stop when the program was over but it kept recording past it. I got it to stop by rebooting by holding the power button for 30 secs.

Haven't had it since, no problem with timers firing.

:nono2:


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