# Next release for 921?



## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

Any ideas on when the next release is coming for the 921. L270 has not been a good thing. Any hope of bugs actually getting addressed?


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## clapple (Feb 11, 2003)

With all the audio drop outs, in needs new software!


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

clapple said:


> With all the audio drop outs, in needs new software!


I am in NY. I ran some test this week (both with 921 recording both the dish and ota feed and another HDTV receiver) for wcbs_dt. Lots of audio drops on some programs this week on all the receivers. However all the programs on Thursday and Today appeared with no drops. Perhaps the problem was with WCBS-dt and has now been fixed.


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

I have never had any audio drops with any of my receivers.


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## bushcasa (Jul 23, 2004)

I have...daily. Not too big of a deal, but annoying nonetheless.

Jason Bush
PVR 921


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

Still no word on any new updates to this dog. I think we are close to the end of them even trying.


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## Allen Noland (Apr 23, 2002)

There is a release in testing. I am not sure when it will be made public.


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

Had a single SD recording for Smallville on ABC Family burp on my 921 last night. Tried to go to the beginning to watch it about half way through the recording and the remote control signals were met with an unresponsive lag of several minutes. It finally woke up and went to a blank screen. No recording. Then a pink screen with a bunch of weird characters on the screen.

Rebooted the machine by unplugging it. It came back up but the recording was totally gone. Grrrr..

Watched the last 15 minutes of the episode live. 

C'mon guys, you've had two years to make the thing stable. Every new update brings 5 new bugs for every one it fixes. Either fix the things or swap them out for new receivers (or hurry up with the mpeg4 receivers if that is what is keeping you from a full recall).


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

BobMurdoch said:


> Then a pink screen with a bunch of weird characters on the screen


Did the wierd characters look anything like what this picture shows? If so your 921 is on the road to replacement.


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

Nope, not like that, although through the pink haze it was tough to make them out.

I guess I better start working on the recording backlog before they go poof again....


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

BobMurdoch said:


> Nope, not like that, although through the pink haze it was tough to make them out.
> 
> I guess I better start working on the recording backlog before they go poof again....


I had some strange activity on my HEED model this morning. I had recorded According to Jim from my ABC OTA and all seemed good. When I began watching it I needed to pause and I saw that the counter read 555.21 minutes. I resumed watching and when it came commercial time, I did about three skips at which time the picture froze and the the remote became unresponsive. About one minute later, I was getting ready to do a power cord re-boot but it actually went to a black screen and the 921 indicator lights went off and the 921 automatically rebooted. 



Once it finished rebooting, I checked the DVR recorded events and saw that all was alright, so I went back to According to Jim, which did not have the resume available. Rather than use the skip, I just FF to where I left off and I noticed that the timer numbers went to normal at 22 minutes left. 



So what does a 921 doctor have to say about this?


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## ntexasdude (Jan 23, 2005)

boylehome said:


> .........So what does a 921 doctor have to say about this?


Well, it is getting close to Halloween. It must be the restless evil spirits starting to roam around. That's as good an answer as you're going to get from Dish.


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## Grandude (Oct 21, 2004)

boylehome said:


> I was getting ready to do a power cord re-boot but it actually went to a black screen and the 921 indicator lights went off and the 921 automatically rebooted.


I had a very similar thing happen two nights ago. Was recording two shows and watching a third. Using the skip function through a profit break, it froze and I waited a few minutes as I hoped it would recover on its own, but then it did a reboot on its own.

After the reboot, the two programs I was recording started recording again and I went back to viewing the recorded program I had been watching. Like you, I used the fast forward rather than the skip to get back to where I was. (I'm now nervous of the skip function!)

At the end of the evening I checked the two shows that I was recording and they both were there but broken up, of course, into two recording segments. I plan on trying to watch them when nothing else important is going on.

BTW, this is with the new/reworked 921 that I just got last week.

I sure wish the Comcast Motorola DVR had a larger hard drive.


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## slapshot (Mar 18, 2004)

I had exactly the same thing happen last night..... My wife WAS NOT pleased...


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## Hoxxx (Jun 19, 2004)

boylehome said:


> Did the wierd characters look anything like what this picture shows? If so your 921 is on the road to replacement.


I have those symbols on my program guide a lot. mostly on the top right side of it.
also I have a lot of video breakup watching recorded HD


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

Hoxxx said:


> I have those symbols on my program guide a lot. mostly on the top right side of it.
> also I have a lot of video breakup watching recorded HD


Next time you see these symbols, check to see what favorites list you are in and then go to MENU> 4 Preferences> 1 Favorites and see if the same symbols are showing. If they are, you should be getting in touch with E* to let them become involved because it is just a matter of time.



John


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## SummitAdvantageRetailer (Feb 20, 2005)

Bump. How's the current beta? Is the trick play reverted to pre-P270? What about the timers firing a day early? What about the remote response freezes in the DVR menu? Please fix these ASAP!


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

SummitAdvantageRetailer said:


> Bump. How's the current beta? Is the trick play reverted to pre-P270? What about the timers firing a day early? What about the remote response freezes in the DVR menu? Please fix these ASAP!


I'm hoping that the BIG SOFTWARE FIX that was mentioned to come several months back is about ready for release. Looking back at relevant threads, the 921 was supposed to get some major fixes that allegedly were being corrected prior to the software version that dealt with the EPG disaster. Posts show that the recent software versions, seem more problematic than not in my opinion, and these updates were not a part of the real solution. There has been a considerable amount of time to work out these bugs so I think that we should expect the BIG SOFTWARE FIX soon, hopefully before we abandon the 921 for the MPEG-4 models. 

It would be nice to have some idea what the status is for the 921 software update. It seems that those who were or are involved with monitoring 921 Bug Report Forum are not paying much attention to it as I see posts that don't follow the required posting process.


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## Allen Noland (Apr 23, 2002)

L272 should start spooling any time. I don't think there are any "Big fixes" in this release.


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## Jason Kragt (Dec 20, 2002)

Allen Noland said:


> L272 should start spooling any time. I don't think there are any "Big fixes" in this release.


We are due for a new set of bugs.


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## SummitAdvantageRetailer (Feb 20, 2005)

Allen Noland said:


> L272 should start spooling any time. I don't think there are any "Big fixes" in this release.


So this is the traditional DST fix release and that's it? I hope not!


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

Allen Noland said:


> L272 should start spooling any time. I don't think there are any "Big fixes" in this release.


Good news. Hopefully there are GOOD, "little fixes". If they just fix what they messed up in the past few releases will make me  .


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## Rodney (Aug 22, 2003)

Allen Noland said:


> L272 should start spooling any time. I don't think there are any "Big fixes" in this release.


Well..........................

Update please.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

anytime between now and the future... 

I always love the precise answers on this forum. Fact is the 921 is now a "mature product" Unfortunately the 921 just has a low IQ and will never be better than what it is. For a year now I have realized this and firmly believe that since all software updates for a year now have been responsible for breaking stuff that worked while adding only one feature that works sporadically- OTA guides. IT is unrealistic to hope for anything different. The best way to run a 921 is not be too aggressive with multiple timers. I have few problems with mine by doing no more than 4-5 timers a week. 

I may decide to upgrade to an MP4 DVR but only after it proves to work by user reports from here. Otherwise, I will just stick to DirecTV. 
I really don't care to see another upgrade on the 921. My wish for E* is to just let the 921 retire (same for the 942) as is and put better efforts and resources and budget into the next MP4 generation DVRs. Release it when it is ready, and don't rely on amateur beta teams to say it's ready. The current beta team concept at E* has proved to be inadequate to test OTA defects. MY guess is the program has just too few testers in not enough cities. The Sat. channels seem to do fine because the alpha test team at E* could handle it.


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## Allen Noland (Apr 23, 2002)

Update is here. Closing thread.


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