# DVR deactivation



## sylvedore (Sep 10, 2012)

Hi,
My DirecTv service was supposed to be turned off tonight at midnight but somehow the rep got the day wrong and they did it one day early. So, this morning, as a surprise to me, I had no DirecTv service and my SD DVR was no longer active, wouldn't access the "list", etc. The problem is that I had some items stored on the DVR when I myself was actually on TV that I intended to transfer to a DVD recorder. I called DirecTv and was willing to reactive my service but the rep told me that the DVR's memory had been wiped when they turned off the service this morning. I'm trying to find out if this is really the case and/or normal, or if maybe the rep is misinformed. The rep apparently ran some sort of diagnostic or check on the receiver which told her that the memory was wiped. Any info would be greatly appreciated - thanks! Johnathon


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

Your recordings are still there and will be fine if you activate your service again.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Shades228 said:


> Your recordings are still there and will be fine if you activate your service again.


Yep, and once you reactivate, before you deactivate again disconnect the coax from the dish. That way the DVR won't actually get the deactivate command and you will (for a period of time) still be able to access the recordings. Eventually the DVR will miss a "keep alive" signal and will deactivate, but the time for that to happen varies widely (from a few hours to months based on various posts to these forums).


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

carl6 said:


> Eventually the DVR will miss a "keep alive" signal and will deactivate, but the time for that to happen varies widely (from a few hours to months based on various posts to these forums).


But you must not forget to return the DVR in a relatively short amount of time if it is leased (as most are) and DIRECTV wants it back.


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## sylvedore (Sep 10, 2012)

Thanks everyone! I did call DirecTv back and got the box reactivated and was able to move the recordings in question. Not sure why the first rep told me the story of how the recordings were deleted and such. I can only imagine she was trying to get me off the phone as quickly as possible, but still a bit strange.


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## wahooq (Oct 19, 2011)

WEll the sad part is that that person probably believes that to be true!


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## tdfxman (Nov 14, 2012)

New to this site but we are thinking of moving from DTV to Dish.

We have an s4080r that has been awesome for 5+ years straight. we have stuff that is over 4 years old on it.

When we cancel, if we cancel DTV, am I seeing that I should unplug it to give me some time to still view shows on it via list?

And then after a matter of some time, that box will no longer be able to be viewed. Interesting.

I would think that is my box I have had for years so I should be able to watch what is on it etc.


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## samrs (May 30, 2004)

Pull out your access card and read the back


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## tdfxman (Nov 14, 2012)

I will do that. Thanks.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

You can probably get a lot of good information on that particular model at www.tivocommunity.com

I would expect that yes, if you disconnect the coax before deactivating your account, you should be able to view previously recorded shows after that. With that particular model, I don't know if you would eventually have it stop working or not, that's where you can probably get more information at tivocommunity.

If you do decide to stay with DirecTV, I would suggest you look into one of the current production units, either the HR24 or the newest Genie (HR34).


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## crkeehn (Apr 23, 2002)

tdfxman said:


> New to this site but we are thinking of moving from DTV to Dish.
> 
> We have an s4080r that has been awesome for 5+ years straight. we have stuff that is over 4 years old on it.
> 
> ...


You don't have to worry about retrieving shows with the SD DirecTivos. They are not tied to the satellite signal. When you boot the player, it will try and obtain a satellite signal. Just bypass that and select your list of recordings. You can play them back without difficulty.

Carl


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## brett6 (Jan 29, 2013)

I recently upgraded to the swim connection, and in doing so, I had to swap out an r-15 for an r-16. I still have the r-15 and would like to access the saved programs on there.

Directv tried to activate the box for me (so that it would boot up), but we discovered the r-15 cannot recognize an activation signal through a swim connection.

The last post on this thread gave me the idea of bypassing the "receiving satellite info..." screen, but I don't know how to do this! Is this possible?


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

brett6 said:


> I recently upgraded to the swim connection, and in doing so, I had to swap out an r-15 for an r-16. I still have the r-15 and would like to access the saved programs on there.
> 
> Directv tried to activate the box for me (so that it would boot up), but we discovered the r-15 cannot recognize an activation signal through a swim connection.
> 
> The last post on this thread gave me the idea of bypassing the "receiving satellite info..." screen, but I don't know how to do this! Is this possible?


If the receiver is disconnected from satellite, it should eventually time out on the trying to receive the satellite signal. The issue will be is if the box received the deactivate signal. If so, you will not be able to access your recordings on the receiver.

- Merg


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Short term you can try pressing either EXIT or MENU during start-up to see if you can get past that step and get to your recordings. However, as The Merg points out, eventually it won't work at all.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

In the past, simultaneously pressing the ACTIVE and UP ARROW keys on the front panel used to take the R15 directly to the setup/test menu.

I'm not sure if this is still in the software but give it a try and see.


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