# 921 L276 Release Discussion.



## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

That's all I know so far, except as usual it was real flaky after the reboot.

Took a hard (pull power) reboot to settle it down.


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## tthomps (Jul 17, 2004)

My 921 took the update this morning without a hitch and works just fine. The program guide is only one hour long. After updates it may fill in during the day or after the nightly reboot.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

Every update affects my EPG. I have the, "NO INFO." for all except the current event. If I hit the PIP I get the 861 screen that reads, "PIP no available due to a guide update. This update takes less than 7 minutes. Please try again later." Well I've tried many times later and it keeps popping up. I did the power cord reset and it didn't help.


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## Zarom (Jun 4, 2005)

I've had the no info problem beyond the current one or two programs since the L276 program downloaded. I've tried the usual, power button, power cord, and smart card reboots, and nothing has helped. In the past, when this problem has occurred (except for version L273), the EPG was restored within ten minutes after rebooting. This time, it doesn't help.

Hope it's just my 921, not the new 276 download. I talked with Dish Technical support about the very noisy operation yesterday, but they said if it's not squealing or severely clicking, it's normal. 

Maybe it's just a coincidence that the EPG guide problem came back the day before the 921/942 upgrade program starts.

DVR921: - Jan 12, 2005
Boot 150B
Flash F054
SW L276HEED-N


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## SummitAdvantageRetailer (Feb 20, 2005)

I guess it's the usual semi-annual DST work-around.


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## David_Levin (Apr 22, 2002)

Wow, this has to be the fastest they've ever whipped out 921 software updates....


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## Zarom (Jun 4, 2005)

I get a blank screen in PIP and the weird multicolored rectangle appears top left on the TV. Turning off the TV, or the 921 does nothing. It requires a reboot. Haven't seen that in quite a while. Used to be a common occurence on the 921.



boylehome said:


> Every update affects my EPG. I have the, "NO INFO." for all except the current event. If I hit the PIP I get the 861 screen that reads, "PIP no available due to a guide update. This update takes less than 7 minutes. Please try again later." Well I've tried many times later and it keeps popping up. I did the power cord reset and it didn't help.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

SummitAdvantageRetailer said:


> I guess it's the usual semi-annual DST work-around.


I thought that was what L275 was for.


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## mwgiii (Jul 19, 2002)

:lol: :lol: :lol: 

This is just a giant conspiracy by Dish to crash our 921s so we call tomorrow for the 622 upgrade.


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## SummitAdvantageRetailer (Feb 20, 2005)

harsh said:


> I thought that was what L275 was for.


Nah, if you read the L275 release notes, they mentioned E10 support. I don't know why they couldn't put in both E10 support and DST update but traditionally DISH likes to roll out a DST update just a few days before DST happens on Sundays.


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## Michael P (Oct 27, 2004)

mwgiii said:


> :lol: :lol: :lol:
> 
> This is just a giant conspiracy by Dish to crash our 921s so we call tomorrow for the 622 upgrade.


You may be right!

This morning I saw that my 921 was on (I never leave it on) and in safe mode.

When I turned my TV on I was greeted by the light blue screen "your hard drive has failed..."

While I finally got my 921 running, I lost EVERYTHING  :burning:
I lost all my recordings, preferences, and OTA scans.

I called tech support twice. The first time I could not get a signal, so they wanted me to call back later (it was raining lightly). What brought the 921 back to life was rescanning OTA locals. Then I checked for life on any transponder (I can usually count on 110 tr. 10 which is the spotbeam where my locals reside).

L276 was the kiss of death. I'm ready to call it quits with E* DVR's.

Does anybody know if there is shuch a thing as a stand-alone DVR with DVD burner and no monthly fee?


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Michael P said:


> Does anybody know if there is shuch a thing as a stand-alone DVR with DVD burner and no monthly fee?


Not that will record digitally off of satellite. There are computer based DVR solutions that may work for SD programming but I don't know if any support a Dish program guide.

Note that there have been increasing reports lately about DRM interfering with DVD burners (even when they shouldn't have been). I would imagine that this is just a sign of things to come.


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## socceteer (Apr 22, 2005)

I know that tivo has an HD DVR which will work in conjunction with your HD box. Tivo also offers a SD box that will DVR and copy to DVD all in one box. Not sure if that have that combination for HD yet


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## Zarom (Jun 4, 2005)

It stayed at 1-2 programs in the guide until about 4:00pm, when the entire 9 day guide popped into view. Interesting...



Zarom said:


> I've had the no info problem beyond the current one or two programs since the L276 program downloaded. I've tried the usual, power button, power cord, and smart card reboots, and nothing has helped. In the past, when this problem has occurred (except for version L273), the EPG was restored within ten minutes after rebooting. This time, it doesn't help.
> 
> Hope it's just my 921, not the new 276 download. I talked with Dish Technical support about the very noisy operation yesterday, but they said if it's not squealing or severely clicking, it's normal.
> 
> ...


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## debpasc (Oct 20, 2005)

Had the EPG "no info", too, right after the download -- pulled plug for 5 minutes brought it back. My DVR list and timers are all in tact, my aspect button works, my HD is still at 1080i. All is right with the world. I can't switch between HD and SD, everything is running on HD all the time but that was a problem before either of the last downloads. I have a good picture and the DVR is working like it's supposed to so I haven't tried to solve this issue.

By the way, I had a number for the Advanced Tech for 921s given to me many months ago. I called it a couple of weeks ago and got a message the next day that that number no longer provides 921 support and all 921 problems should be refered to the regular tech support number. As expected, the beginning of the end for 921 support.


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## SummitAdvantageRetailer (Feb 20, 2005)

debpasc said:


> Had the EPG "no info", too, right after the download -- pulled plug for 5 minutes brought it back. My DVR list and timers are all in tact, my aspect button works, my HD is still at 1080i. All is right with the world. I can't switch between HD and SD, everything is running on HD all the time but that was a problem before either of the last downloads. I have a good picture and the DVR is working like it's supposed to so I haven't tried to solve this issue.
> 
> By the way, I had a number for the Advanced Tech for 921s given to me many months ago. I called it a couple of weeks ago and got a message the next day that that number no longer provides 921 support and all 921 problems should be refered to the regular tech support number. As expected, the beginning of the end for 921 support.


Aww, man, they're really going to drop support of the 921's as people swap their receivers for the 622's. I'm planning to keep the 921 as long as I can until we have many more new HD channels coming but if the software won't be as updated as frequently as it is now (which is a joke at 1 update every 2-3 months before the E10 and this non-sense fix came out), I might just drop our personal DISH account.  If they got the 921 relatively bug-free and dropped dedicated support, then sure, it should work fine like the 721, but it hasn't gotten there. This is a shame, really. And I'm a pro-DISH guy most of the time, too.


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## SummitAdvantageRetailer (Feb 20, 2005)

harsh said:


> I thought that was what L275 was for.


Yeah, Scott at the other forum said that 276 was for a fix for the new software download pop-up disabling video on Tuner 2, which nobody I've seen report on here by the way.


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

Can't wait to get back home ande see what L276 has done. L275 just about killed one of my 921's and wiped the hard drive. Hope it doesn't happen again this time.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

socceteer said:


> I know that tivo has an HD DVR which will work in conjunction with your HD box.


TiVo (or their hardware partners) currently don't offer a standalone HD DVR. The one that they've been dragging around to trade shows (Series 3) isn't designed to record HD satellite content.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

My 921 experienced a missed timer for the first time in months. It was for trading spouses on OTA. It has worked fine the past couple of weeks. Now lets see how the other timers work.


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## Allen Noland (Apr 23, 2002)

Here are the Release Notes.

921 L276: Fix for the download available pop-up 872 interrupting viewing on Tuner 2.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

I would expect that they just get rid of that worthless message.

There's no point in it.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

Don't have the time to decipher these weekly updates anymore but I do now see a popup that tells me to hit a button to let the receiver know I haven't fallen asleep or it will explode yada yada... 

Anyway it's something like that. I see this popup after watching a moviefor about 90 minutes or so. This started with L275 and I now have 276 and it still shows up.


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## Rotryrkt (Dec 11, 2004)

Well, they really screwed my 921 up again. About half the time when I hit the guide button the wrong time (a few minutes to an hour in the past) is displayed as the current time. I have timers firing wrong all over the place for the first time in a year or more. After I exit the guide and go back in it usually displays the correct time, but not always. I guess I should be used to this flaky behavior by now, but it's really frustrating after over 2 years of this. This crap is really getting old, especially when I look at how much I pay these people every month for service that doesn't work half the time.


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## brettbolt (Feb 22, 2006)

Michael P said:


> Does anybody know if there is such a thing as a stand-alone DVR with DVD burner and no monthly fee?


Before I activated my 921 it had basic DVR functionality for the OTA locals. It would let me receive and record HD OTA locals, but without any guide data.


Michael P said:


> L276 was the kiss of death. I'm ready to call it quits with E* DVR's.


De-activating my 921 is very tempting for me too. I mostly just watch the local channels, which I can receive very well with my OTA antenna. I have a NetFlix account for DVD movies. That's probably the way to go. The total monthly cost (aftering dropping E*) would only be $14.99 for 2 movies at a time, OTA locals, and the NASA channel (always free). But I can't count on always having a functional 921, since the software "updates" frequently break features that worked before.


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## Michael P (Oct 27, 2004)

brettbolt said:


> Before I activated my 921 it had basic DVR functionality for the OTA locals. It would let me receive and record HD OTA locals, but without any guide data.
> 
> De-activating my 921 is very tempting for me too. I mostly just watch the local channels, which I can receive very well with my OTA antenna. I have a NetFlix account for DVD movies. That's probably the way to go. The total monthly cost (aftering dropping E*) would only be $14.99 for 2 movies at a time, OTA locals, and the NASA channel (always free). But I can't count on always having a functional 921, since the software "updates" frequently break features that worked before.


It has been reported that other (newer) E* DVR's will not work without a subscription. OTA reception on a 811 reportedly goes out if yu lose the satellite signal. Not so with the 921 , and a good thing too because my dish frequently gets knocked out of alignmnet by high winds.


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## welchwarlock (Jan 5, 2005)

275 was working find for me, now with 276 it often becomes non-responsive to the remote, requiring a reboot. I never did nightly reboots, but now it seems like a requirement.

WW


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## IowaStateFan (Jan 11, 2006)

welchwarlock said:


> 275 was working find for me, now with 276 it often becomes non-responsive to the remote, requiring a reboot. I never did nightly reboots, but now it seems like a requirement.
> 
> WW


I had the same problem. Last night I switched from HD to SD mode so I could watch in the bedroom and the remote froze. Had to do a front panel reboot.


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## Jim Parker (Aug 12, 2003)

I've had half a dozen "not authorized to view..." messages since 276. It's been a long time since I had seen one of those until this version.

The 921 has also quit responding to the remote much more often that it used to.


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## Rovingbar (Jan 25, 2005)

My 921 keeps getting 'stuck' while deleting programs. It happens most often if I'm recording while I delete an HD recording. Anyway, I've found that often it will come back if I press the DVR button. But this dosn't help if it freezes during playback. Then I have to press skip foreward and wait, or risk a forced reboot.


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## skassan (Jan 10, 2004)

Jim Parker said:


> I've had half a dozen "not authorized to view..." messages since 276. It's been a long time since I had seen one of those until this version.
> 
> The 921 has also quit responding to the remote much more often that it used to.


I was having the same problem. I too, attributed it to 276, since I wasn't seeing it previously. But just in case, I decided to remove the smart card and clean the contacts with an eraser. Haven't seen the message since. It's worth a try.


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## brettbolt (Feb 22, 2006)

Rovingbar said:


> My 921 keeps getting 'stuck' while deleting programs. It happens most often if I'm recording while I delete an HD recording. Anyway, I've found that often it will come back if I press the DVR button. But this dosn't help if it freezes during playback. Then I have to press skip foreward and wait, or risk a forced reboot.


I've seen the same thing on mine. I didn't have this problem before L2.76.

I found a different way to get out of it -- press the 'Menu' button then use the arrow keys to select the program guide. Then I cancel the guide and the 'Deleting..." message box goes away.

My 501 would delete without the 'Deleting' message and I liked that much better.


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## debpasc (Oct 20, 2005)

Count me in with the remote problems since 276. Mine started on April 12. Front panel and plug pull reboots fix it for awhile. It's definitely the receiver and not the remote -- the remote has no trouble with powering TV on and off, but won't work the receiver at all. I'll give Tech a call -- probably can't help me fix it but at least gets the problem reported so they can send another "fix one thing break another" download!


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## penguin44 (Oct 29, 2005)

I don't know if this is 276 related or it occured earlier and didn't notice. I noticed the card rev. number went from 306 to 307.


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## debpasc (Oct 20, 2005)

My remote problem continues. Talked to Tech yesterday. The first one wanted to send me a new remote but they already did that -- an IR-- that I never could make work. I finally convinced her it wasn't the remote but the receiver. She sent me to advanced tech support -- he agreed it was a software problem. His list of problems reported only shows one other but if the first tech is just sending new remotes to everyone that calls that would affect his problem list. I know from reading this board that I am not the only one with the problem. While talking to the tech my remote came back for a few minutes and we changed the address. It worked for a little while after that but now it's totally gone, can't even change the address back, and soft and hard reboots don't bring it back. So, it's off to 622 land for me. My install date is May 16 (backordered boxes currently have them 30 days out between order and install). I'm not sure how I will manage not having a remote for 30 days.


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## debpasc (Oct 20, 2005)

Here is the end of my remote control saga. It's not the remote and it's not L276 -- it's a broken box. The crystal in the receiver was apparently going bad and that's why a reboot brought the remote back for awhile. Now the crystal is shot and there is no fix. A replacement 921 is on its way for me to use until my May 16 install of the 622. The tech advised that if there is a refurb 921 on hand the day they need to ship a replacement, that's what you get. If there is not, they ship a 942. So that explains why different receivers are going out as replacements. Trying to watch TV and DVR without a remote by using the front panel buttons is a real nightmare!


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## Steve_53 (Jul 6, 2005)

I've also been experiencing some strange remote problems on my 921, all of which started with L276. I was initially convinced it was either the 921 or L276, because function would return after a power cord reboot. Tech support got me to try a remote from my 501 and it worked (while the 921 remote would not) so they sent me a new remote. The new remote worked initally, but then stopped working. If I manually powered up the 921, the remote could change channels but not all of the DVR and guide functions worked. Another reboot (after hitting the new "small" stuck aspect ratio problem), and everything seemed to be working. My wife tried to watch a live OTA show about an hour later, and the 921 wouldn't change channels. Another reboot, back in business. I'm not going to bother asking for a replacement 921 at this point, we've got about 10 hours of programs on the hard drive to watch and my "upgrade" 622 is scheduled for May 2, but I'm sure getting frustrated with the current state of my 921. In addition to the remote issues, I got my first 'black picture" playback of a recorded OTA HD show last night, stop, start over, still no picture, jump ahead, suddenly a picture, and then I could rewind an see the whole show, well, almost the whole show, the aspect ratio was stuck in 4x3 again. It may be a random coincidence that the remote failed at the same time L276 downloaded, but I had 0 problems with L275 and now I'm rebooting 4 or 5 times a night.


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