# Whole home dvr recordings not showing on all tvs??



## Accordlayingkit (Feb 28, 2011)

Currently have a whole home setup and never really have issues till now....the wife is complaining saying she's setting shows to record but there not showing on some of my dvr's even though I have each of my 6 boxes to share playlist throughout the whole house. Any ideas?


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## Accordlayingkit (Feb 28, 2011)

Anyone?


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## fornold (Sep 4, 2006)

Based on what I've seen, I would guess that all your hddvrs are not on the same firmware version. 

When mine started getting 5cd, the playlist was messed up on the ones still on 59e. Even though it was just sorted wrong. 

Last night one unit received 5cf and it can't see the others and they can't see it. 

This is getting really tiresome considering in took a month to get them all updated last time. Kind of defeats the purpose of spending the money for MRV


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

First, have you verified the shows on one DVR can't be seen on the other DVRs? Second, check under settings to ensure that DVR Share Playlist is still turned on. And if those don't correct the problem, I would try a reset on the DVR that shows aren't showing up on the other boxes.


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## fornold (Sep 4, 2006)

I have done that numerous times both with the 5cd rollout and now with the unit with 5cf. 

Something is definitely messed up in the firmware.


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

I'm running multiple versions (59e and 5cd) and haven't had any such problems.


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## allenn (Nov 19, 2005)

Accordlayingkit said:


> Anyone?


I'll take a stab at it. Check the Whole Home Status on each box. It should show all the boxes on MRV except the one you are checking from. Note any box which is not shown on the WH status. Do a [red] button reset for each box which you noted was missing.

If the reset does not work, please provide more details of you MRV setup: Antenna Model; SWiM Setup; DVR Models; DECA connections; and internet modem / routers /switches etc. Best wishes!


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

allenn said:


> I'll take a stab at it. Check the Whole Home Status on each box. It should show all the boxes on MRV except the one you are checking from. Note any box which is not shown on the WH status. *Do a [red] button reset* for each box which you noted was missing.
> 
> If the reset does not work, please provide more details of you MRV setup: Antenna Model; SWiM Setup; DVR Models; DECA connections; and internet modem / routers /switches etc. Best wishes!


If you do a reset, you should do a menu reset and not a RBR (red button reset). Performing a menu reset allows the receiver to perform housekeeping functions and to shut down the receiver gracefully. The RBR does not allow for that.

@OP:

With regard to shows not showing up... Is there a particular DVR that shows from are not displaying on other DVRs? With that DVR, are shows from the other DVRs not shown on it? A little more info on your setup would help: receiver models, DECA, etc, as specified by allenn above.

If it appears that a particular DVR is not sharing its shows and other DVR shows are not showing on that DVR, it could just be that it has a bad IP address. Look in the System Setup for each of your receivers and make sure that none have an IP address that starts 169.254.x.x. (This assumes that your receivers are connected back to your router and get their IP address from the router).

- Merg


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## allenn (Nov 19, 2005)

The Merg said:


> If you do a reset, you should do a menu reset and not a RBR (red button reset). Performing a menu reset allows the receiver to perform housekeeping functions and to shut down the receiver gracefully. The RBR does not allow for that. - Merg


 I took a stab at the OP's issue based my experience with a similar problem. In my case, I called D* Tech Support. The D* Tech had me to check the IP address in Advance Network Setup. The Tech said the HR24's default MRV IP was 169.254.x.x. In my case, the IP was the correct one assigned via my router's DHCP. Next we checked the MRV status of both DVRs which were correct for both DVRs. Lastly, the Tech specifically directed me to do a RBR and not a menu reset for my problem. This corrected the issue.

I appreciate your knowledge in this matter, and I am sure your suggestion is valid. I have seen countless threads on the reset procedure for D*'s DVRs. I do not claim to be an expert, but I can follow instructions which in this case came from D*'s Tech. Best wishes!


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## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

D* techs are wrong in this case. If the receiver is responding to remote commands, ALWAYS do a menu restart instead of a RBR. If you really want to completely power cycle the unit, you do the menu restart, then pull the cord when all the lights go out at the beginning of the reboot cycle.

In order of preference:

1. Menu restart
2. RBR
3. WHen all else fails, Pull the power cord


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## joed32 (Jul 27, 2006)

I know that you guys are right about a menu reset being better that a RBR, I just don't know how important that is. I have 2 of the 1st HR20s made and out of habit have always used RBRs on them and they're still doing fine.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

"joed32" said:


> I know that you guys are right about a menu reset being better that a RBR, I just don't know how important that is. I have 2 of the 1st HR20s made and out of habit have always used RBRs on them and they're still doing fine.


Just think of a Windows machine. You either use Shut Down from the menu or you can just turn it off. Which is better or the machine? If you just keep using the power button, you will probably have issues sooner rather than later. Is it a guarantee? Probably not, but why take the chance.

- Merg


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

joed32 said:


> I know that you guys are right about a menu reset being better that a RBR, I just don't know how important that is.


Since it's writing to the hard drive, as Merg mentioned, it would be like a PC and may cause a bad file on the drive.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

joed32 said:


> I know that you guys are right about a menu reset being better that a RBR, I just don't know how important that is.


Which is better?

A) Pulling your car into a parking spot, stopping the car, putting the transmission in park and then shutting off the car.

B) Just turning off the car as you drive down the road.


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## wahooq (Oct 19, 2011)

> Which is better?
> 
> A) Pulling your car into a parking spot, stopping the car, putting the transmission in park and then shutting off the car.
> 
> B) Just turning off the car as you drive down the road.


depends on if the cops are chasing you or not


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## allenn (Nov 19, 2005)

veryoldschool said:


> Since it's writing to the hard drive, as Merg mentioned, it would be like a PC and may cause a bad file on the drive.


If the DVR does not have a HDD buffer to flush and the Linux OS is fully contained in CMOS memory, then RBR or pulling the plug will not hurt anything. This is also the case for Windows as it relates to a HDD. If the drive is setup for buffered writes, then you will loose content if you do not use a Start Menu Shutdown. But if you set the drive for quick disconnect, no buffer, then nothing is lost. I have always advised my clients to use the no buffer option for memory cards, USB and eSATA HDDs. I do not know how D* has engineered their DVRs, but their Tech's have always said RBR or pull the plug. I cannot see why it hurts anything to do a Menu reset when possible. When there is an MRV problem, it might be D* does not want the data written back to disk. I really don't know? Best wishes.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

allenn said:


> If the DVR does not have a HDD buffer.


Let me stop you right here. They are always buffering.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

"veryoldschool" said:


> Let me stop you right here. They are always buffering.


I think he's talking about a different buffer. Not buffering programs, but buffering data before it's written to the drive. Unless that's what you're referring to.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

dpeters11 said:


> I think he's talking about a different buffer. Not buffering programs, but buffering data before it's written to the drive. Unless that's what you're referring to.


:shrug:
It's always writing to the drive, so....


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## allenn (Nov 19, 2005)

dpeters11 said:


> I think he's talking about a different buffer. Not buffering programs, but buffering data before it's written to the drive. Unless that's what you're referring to.


Yes, buffering or caching data. Data is written to memory and then physically written to the HDD when the cache is full. This speeds the processing of data. Windows and Linux have the option to cache HDD data. I suggest to all my Windows and Linux clients to turn off caching for memory cards, USB storage devices, and eSATA HDDs. This insures the external device data is not lost when the plug is pulled.

I do not pretend to know if D*'s HDDs are cached or where the OS is stored. No argument here from me about resets. I do what the D* Techs suggest. If following the tech's instructions kills my DVR, so be it. D* will replace the failed equipment. It's that simple. Best wishes and thanks for the very helpful information.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

I don't think it's as critical. The OS isn't on the hard drive. The guide is, but not a concern if something isn't written, it will just redownload. You'd loose data of a current recording anyway, and anything that just finished wold already be committed. You can play back a partial recording so even if a few seconds isn't there, usually not anything you need anyway.


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## joed32 (Jul 27, 2006)

I'm not saying that you guts are wrong, on the contrary, I know you are right. Just saying that I have 2 units that have been getting RBR'd since 2006 with no ill effects.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

"allenn" said:


> I do what the D* Techs suggest. If following the tech's instructions kills my DVR, so be it. D* will replace the failed equipment. It's that simple. Best wishes and thanks for the very helpful information.


That's the problem. You can't always listen to the techs unfortunately. And why would you do something that might kill your DVR? Then you'd lose you recordings.

- Merg


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

joed32 said:


> I'm not saying that you guts are wrong, on the contrary, I know you are right. Just saying that I have 2 units that have been getting RBR'd since 2006 with no ill effects.





The Merg said:


> That's the problem. You can't always listen to the techs unfortunately. And why would you do something that might kill your DVR? Then you'd lose you recordings.
> 
> - Merg


For those that are wondering, some time back the engineers at DirecTV recommended restarting through the menu over using the red button, for the DVRs.
God knows what a tech does, but if you can get into the menu, it's better to do that and when you can't, you have no other option but to use the RBR.
My HR20s lasted well over 5 years doing this and were only "retired" because of the 24s, but weren't defective at the time.


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## allenn (Nov 19, 2005)

veryoldschool said:


> ...... but if you can get into the menu, it's better to do that and when you can't, you have no other option but to use the RBR..........


I fully agree unless directed to do otherwise. In my case to restore MRV on both DVRs, I do not know if the tech was avoiding someother known problem by directing me to do a RBR instead of a Menu Reset. That said, have a great day! Over and out.


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