# Is This Scary or What !



## Oldcoot (Dec 17, 2004)

My 921 has been running for 3 weeks (24/7) with no bugs showing up and no glitches of any kind. This includes the recording and playback of 14 programs.
Has operated perfectly !! Has not had a reboot !!


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## fox200 (Mar 21, 2004)

Oldcoot said:


> My 921 has been running for 3 weeks (24/7) with no bugs showing up and no glitches of any kind. This includes the recording and playback of 14 programs.
> Has operated perfectly !! Has not had a reboot !!


 The 921 software reboots the unit every nite on it's own.

fox


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## tunagimp (Jul 7, 2004)

I think you may be on to something. I've noticed that my "washed-out" S/D bug, (which is now an Official E* Certified Anomaly--Cause, you ask? They "don't know.") doesn't happen if I leave the thing on 24/7. 

But then, by now, I think we're all grasping at straws.


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## Oldcoot (Dec 17, 2004)

fox200 said:


> The 921 software reboots the unit every nite on it's own.
> 
> fox


FOX
The unit only reboots itself if it's turned off (IE. standby).
Mine is on 24/7 and thus, does not reboot.


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## Slordak (Dec 17, 2003)

I don't know how people can continue to report that they don't see any bugs. I can only guess that a lot of users don't use that many of the 921 features, or don't notice when something doesn't work correctly.

Let's do a quick re-cap of how L211 is doing:

1) Video Issues - Improper image / bad color / lines running through image when viewing PIP in guide. Washed out, "overly bright" images for some folks; jittery video for others.

2) OTA Viewing - OTA reception is still flakey for some, even with good signal, although this is certainly improved. Zero second recordings are much less of a problem, but again, still do occur for some folks.

3) PVR/DVR Timers - Some attempts have been made to sort things out here, but still bizarre timer behavior in some timer conflict cases. Problems with the "pads" on channels adjusting themselves, being ignored, or with back-to-back recordings on the same channel having pad issues.

4) Remote Issues - The 921 sometimes stops listening to the remote, or just certain buttons on the remote. Basically, ceasing to respond to user commands. For example, the 921 can get locked into stretch mode and then no amount of pressing the button on the remote will take it back out of stretch mode.

5) Missing Features - Still don't have any of the features people want. No firewire, no USB. No DVD recorder or hard disk upgrade. No name based recording. No resolution passthrough. No simultaneous output on SD and HD outputs. OTA guide data? Sure, if you pay for the locals.


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## devermore (Jan 21, 2005)

I've had some of the remote issues you speak of, but found simple solutions for that. Never experienced your other points, although I feel for those that do.

_5) Missing Features - Still don't have any of the features people want. No firewire, no USB. No DVD recorder or hard disk upgrade. No name based recording. No resolution passthrough. No simultaneous output on SD and HD outputs. OTA guide data? Sure, if you pay for the locals._

Now this does not sound like a reasonable complaint. This is rather like buying a pair of scissors and expecting them to be able to also give you a nice clean shave, sharpen pencils and clean your gutters as well. You might be disappointed to see a firewire or usb port that does not function, but the technical specifications were quite clear on what the 921 does support. Also keep in mind that according to what some people have posted, many 921 owners do not even have these ports on their boxes.

Especially the complaint about the off the air channel guide. How exactly is the receiver supposed to know what's on non-Dish channels exactly? If your receiver can't get that info from satellite, it stands to reason it's just not going to be able to just magically get information from nothingness.

But perhaps I lack some knowledge here. Do locally broadcast HD channels also include the equivalent of Guide information? While I strongly doubt it, I'd be interested to find out, and if so, what equipment is capable of decoding it...

I know the machine has had bugs, and some remain. However, I think it's important to retain some perspective and not -- and please forgive my candor -- simply make up reasons to vent and bash the machine.


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## kmcnamara (Jan 30, 2004)

devermore said:


> Now this does not sound like a reasonable complaint. This is rather like buying a pair of scissors and expecting them to be able to also give you a nice clean shave, sharpen pencils and clean your gutters as well.


You might want to browse some of the older threads before making this kind of statement. You're new around here so I'll cut you some slack. But this unit does not do everything it was advertised to do when it was released. That's not the same thing as expecting it to do things it was never advertised to do.

I'm guessing that you haven't had your 921 for all that long. Many of us have had our for over a year now and have had to deal with a lot more than you're having to deal with now.


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## Flasshe (Aug 17, 2004)

Oldcoot said:


> My 921 has been running for 3 weeks (24/7) with no bugs showing up and no glitches of any kind. This includes the recording and playback of 14 programs.
> Has operated perfectly !! Has not had a reboot !!


Oldcoot, you may be onto something. I usually turn my 921 off when I'm not using it (including at night), but after reading this I decided to see what happens if I leave it on all the time. It's been on since Sat afternoon and I had my first glitch-free Sunday night in over a month. No ZSR for "Huff", for once. We'll see what happens the rest of the week - sounds like I record a lot more programs than you do.


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## bnam (Nov 25, 2004)

I'm almost a month into my 921 and I've only had to do 2 reboots. And, though there seems to be a distortion problem on HD satellite channels, it's small enough to not be visible most of the time. This is much better than i was expecting. I was an early adopter on the 6000 and had a lot of problems on the early revs.

Reading what some users are expereiencing, I was wondering if some of the problems could be attributed to something similar to a "corrupt windows registry" on a windows PC?

Also, could enabling the USB port be as simple as loading the drivers for it?
Or, if a keyboard is attached at boot up will commands similar to the function commands halt the boot and bring up the BIOS on screen and then let you adjust some of the parameters including turning on the ports?

Just thinking out aloud.

Byas


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

devermore said:


> Especially the complaint about the off the air channel guide. How exactly is the receiver supposed to know what's on non-Dish channels exactly?


Dish has your service address on record and also has the NTSC schedule for at least 153 TV markets. That is the information they use to fill in the guide for those who pay for their locals but not those who pay only the DVR fee.


> Do locally broadcast HD channels also include the equivalent of Guide information? While I strongly doubt it, I'd be interested to find out, and if so, what equipment is capable of decoding it...


Depends on the station. Some are quite precise (Tonight Show ends at 11:37 as opposed to the published 11:35) while others just split the day into large blocks like the Dish CD channels or ch 101. I assume this is the main reason PSIP isn't fully utilized. I've seen it on a Motorola HDT101 STB.


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## Slordak (Dec 17, 2003)

As far as paying for the OTA guide information... Other receivers, such as the 811, do not require one to subscribe to local channels in order to receive the OTA guide information. The 921, in contrast, requires one to pay an extra $5/month as a DVR fee, and then one must also subscribe to local channels in order to receive this information via satellite. So you pay more, but you get less; not good.

Anyhow, the 921 still has plenty of minor bugs that you may or may not have seen; there are almost too many to list. For example, sometimes when you tune an OTA channel, the channel banner doesn't show the program title / information, even though that information is in the guide. Real minor, but incorrect behavior nonetheless.


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## Neil Derryberry (Mar 23, 2002)

Slordak said:


> I don't know how people can continue to report that they don't see any bugs. I can only guess that a lot of users don't use that many of the 921 features, or don't notice when something doesn't work correctly.
> 
> Let's do a quick re-cap of how L211 is doing:
> 
> ...


1 - No problem
2 - No problem
3 - No problem
4 - No problem
5 - Not bugs.

I've only had the unit for a week, but I know how to use these things... nothing to report so far.


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## Neil Derryberry (Mar 23, 2002)

bnam said:


> I'm almost a month into my 921 and I've only had to do 2 reboots. And, though there seems to be a distortion problem on HD satellite channels, it's small enough to not be visible most of the time. This is much better than i was expecting. I was an early adopter on the 6000 and had a lot of problems on the early revs.
> 
> Reading what some users are expereiencing, I was wondering if some of the problems could be attributed to something similar to a "corrupt windows registry" on a windows PC?
> 
> ...


I'm sure it has been mentioned elsewhere, but the newer 921's don't even have the firewire ports installed... gray sticker over where they would have been to cover the chassis screen printing, and ports were never soldered to the board.


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## Slordak (Dec 17, 2003)

Neil Derryberry said:


> 1 - No problem
> 2 - No problem
> 3 - No problem
> 4 - No problem
> ...


You don't see any sort of problems with the unit whatsoever, huh? You don't even see the guide video coloration issues that everyone else is seeing? Are you using an HDTV? I don't mean to be rude or sound too much like a pessimist, but there are problems, and we shouldn't just be pretending that everything's perfect.

Try this test case for a quick example:
A) Make sure your receiver is running in an HD resolution, e.g. 1080i.
B) Tune to a true HD channel, e.g. Discovery HD.
C) Press the "Guide" button.
D) Observe the image displayed in the corner of the guide.
-> Is the aspect ratio of the image correct (16x9)?
-> Is the color of the image correct?
-> Does the image have any vertical lines or streaks running through it?


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## Neil Derryberry (Mar 23, 2002)

Slordak said:


> You don't see any sort of problems with the unit whatsoever, huh? You don't even see the guide video coloration issues that everyone else is seeing? Are you using an HDTV? I don't mean to be rude or sound too much like a pessimist, but there are problems, and we shouldn't just be pretending that everything's perfect.
> 
> Try this test case for a quick example:
> A) Make sure your receiver is running in an HD resolution, e.g. 1080i.
> ...


I believe the answer is yes to all of those qusetions... and yes, I have a HDTV... DVI out on 921 to hdmi in on the set.


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