# Hopper Freezing



## hd_newbie (Apr 7, 2012)

I am experiencing a minor but annoying problem with my Hopper. My Hopper intermittently gets into the Stand By mode and freezes. At that point it does not respond to any remote commands. I tried shutting down from the power button but even that is irresponsive. It gets back to normal when I plug from power and then plug it back.

I called Technical Support and they told it was a defective unit and they would send me a replacement. Did anyone else have a similar problem.

I have a Logitech Revue connected to my Hopper. I know that Hopper does not officially support Revue. Can Revue be causing this issue?


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

If you suggest it's Revue, then remove it and observe h2k behavior next few days.


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

My Hopper was frozen when I returned from vacation yesterday. It seems to have recorded timers though.


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## olguy (Jan 9, 2006)

Dish is sending me another Hopper for the freezing problem.


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## bigdog9586 (Jan 17, 2008)

I think it's the latest software. Both of mine has frozen for no reason. Though only once each but never before current update.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Did you try cold reboot after update ? Not reset [RBR].


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## olguy (Jan 9, 2006)

Mine was freezing on the previous update. It continued to freeze with the current update. And shades of the 922 the replacement I activated last night froze today. Power cord reset is all they would respond to. A tech will be here Tuesday.


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## hd_newbie (Apr 7, 2012)

So then it sounds like a known issue. I just received a new hopper after I called Support. However, I prefer not to do the replacement if the problem is not related to the DVR.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

I did install (see main long thread here) small fan with bigger heat-sink onto CPU and have no freezes anymore. Disclaimer - it's owned DVR.


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## hd_newbie (Apr 7, 2012)

I placed my revue and Sling on top of Hopper since they are both low profile. Is that a bad idea?


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

hd_newbie said:


> I placed my revue and Sling on top of Hopper since they are both low profile. Is that a bad idea?


I wouldn't - the h2k is hot and your gadgets will be 'cooking' too.


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## tommiet (Dec 29, 2005)

Both my Hoppers are also freezing and DISH told me they know about the problem, but that was 5 weeks ago and still no fix.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

You need to fix [cool the boxes] by yourself - they can't do that remotely.


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## hd_newbie (Apr 7, 2012)

I have not had this problem since.


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## tommiet (Dec 29, 2005)

Both my Hoppers have had the freeze issue for almost 2 months. After 3 Hoppers and multiple service calls, DISH has agreed to cancel my 2 year commitment. After 9 years, I may jump ship. When the Hopper works, its great and I know its new and to expect issues, but when DISH throws in the towel, you know its over. They did not even offer to replace the Hoppers for the 4th time.

I do believe DISH expects customers to tolerate issues as the Hopper is new. Would you tolerate this if the new product was a computer, smart phone or car?

I do like my DISH Hopper, but with the frequent issues and DISH attitude (take it or leave it,) maybe its time just to jump to cable and buy my own DVR. Yes... Motorola and others (Tivo,) sell DVR's that my cable company supports. Add a cable card to the Tivo DRV and I have a 4 channel whole house DVR. No need to multiple boxes.

I'm not trashing DISH... Just have high expectations for my $150.00 a month.


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## patmurphey (Dec 21, 2006)

There is something else going on in your setup. Hoppers work just fine for most of us, after 3 of them, it's not likely that the Hopper is the problem. Too bad the service techs sent to you can't figure it out.


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## tommiet (Dec 29, 2005)

DISH admits to the freeze issue as it happened after a software update. With both doing the same thing, I don't think its a wiring issue.


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## patmurphey (Dec 21, 2006)

Doesn't happen to most of us, so something else is going on.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

patmurphey said:


> Doesn't happen *to most of us*, so something else is going on.


If I would be a mind reader as garys, I would believe that part means "my family", perhaps a few persons.


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## patmurphey (Dec 21, 2006)

You are suggesting that this problem is widespread? I don't think so. That's why I asked Ray to clarify in the other thread.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Pat,
1st - no one official representative will disclose such numbers/%% in public. And you knew that !
2nd - I did ask you: what number of devices you representing by using words "*to most of us*" ?


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## patmurphey (Dec 21, 2006)

"us" - Hopper customers - looking at the small numbers of this complaint on this and other boards, I express my opinion in terms of "most".


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

If you are not aware, 
there are roughly 1,000 posters on these forums who are members and posting relevant info. 
From 14 millions of customers who don't participate in Internet discussions.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

P Smith said:


> If you are not aware,
> there are roughly 1,000 posters on these forums who are members and posting relevant info.
> From 14 millions of customers who don't participate in Internet discussions.


I grant you this is a small sampling of customers... but are you meaning to imply that most Hopper customers are experiencing these problems even if there's no way you could possibly know about it since they don't post online about it?

I wouldn't make that leap.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Stewart Vernon said:


> I grant you this is a small sampling of customers... *but are you meaning to imply that most Hopper customers are experiencing these problems even if there's no way you could possibly know about it since they don't post online about it?*
> 
> I wouldn't make that leap.


Well, you try to skew it ... I see.

My meaning is - since we don't have statistically representative number of dish users here and there (nor hiding statistics by the company, yeah it's TOP SECRET) , we shouldn't use words: "most of us".


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Why is it a couple of complaints on a forum are interpolated as if half of the customers with the equipment are seeing the failure? And we are to assume that the people pushing that theory are right even though they offer absolutely no proof that any problem is more widespread than the few reports?

How about we accept the reports at face value? Note that a few people are complaining - perhaps try to see if there is any obvious reason why their equipment is performing different than customers who are seeing no problems at all.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

If we will look into root of the issue, we will find: the DVR [H] and remote client [J] designed and built with relatively high working temperature inside of the boxes: 60+ degree Celsius.
What is lead by any physical analysis to freezes and hanging and other adverse effects.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

P Smith said:


> If we will look into root of the issue, we will find: the DVR [H] and remote client [J] designed and built with relatively high working temperature inside of the boxes: 60+ degree Celsius.
> What is lead by any physical analysis to freezes and hanging and other adverse effects.


An interesting theory ... but what is the threshhold? At what temperature does the Hopper cease to work? Can there be no other cause?

DISH isn't going to be able to download a new fan into the Hopper as part of S222 (or a future release) ... so perhaps instead of always coming back to the same unproven answer why not look for differences between working systems and systems with problems?


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

P Smith said:


> If we will look into root of the issue, we will find: the DVR [H] and remote client [J] designed and built with relatively high working temperature inside of the boxes: 60+ degree Celsius.
> What is lead by any physical analysis to freezes and hanging and other adverse effects.


Unless you have absolute proof and a larger sampling of customers to associate temperatures and specific failures... all we are doing is talking in circles and not actually helping people with problems.

As James noted... even with our small sample size at DBSTalk we are seeing only a handful of these kinds of complaints... and while there is the possibility of overheating, most of the time people who have had overheating issues with Dish receivers have turned out to be people who installed their receivers in areas with poor ventilation... and not design-issues that cause regular overheating for most customers.

There's just no history I can see to support that as a notion... so talking in circles about it clouds whatever the actual problem is, and doesn't allow others to actually discuss other potential solutions.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

To diverge a bit...

One thing we have seen come up from time to time... are power issues. Some customers have had faulty UPS or power strips, or even faulty home wiring that led to issues. If at all possible, plug into the wall instead of a power strip and see if that makes a difference. Consider a powerline conditioner as well... and if possible, try another outlet to see if there are any improvements.

I know wiring (coax) can also introduce interesting issues, especially if you are dealing with switches and now those single/dual nodes... a substandard cable might cause unexpected issues if a signal loss happens at a time when the receiver isn't in a position to recover properly. That's admittedly something to address in firmware, but also something that could be eliminated by replacing cables.

Last, but not least... The 922 had a problem months ago where it would lockup or reboot with ethernet connected. I'm not sure what the problem was or what the fix implemented... but the temporary workaround was disconnecting internet. Apparently something in that particular firmware didn't like the internet.

Some of these are easier to isolate/replace/test than others for a consumer... but all are easier to address than overheating that may or may not be happening.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Do you know what is a difference between us ?

I'm a practicing eng, I'm do analysis, measures, fixing devices like DVR on component level (and SW where is it possible). You are just posters here. Talking heads. Actually typists. 

I did measures and implement one part for fix the poor design - installed onto CPU four times bigger heat-sink with own fan. No more freezes, regardless of FW version, what does show it's a correct option. Next step will be add bias current to main fan - to create 'floor' airflow, because the sat tuner's chips produce too much heat which poorly dissipating by PCB, adding to that it create thermal stress on electrolytic capacitors used in secondary voltage rails.

Perhaps, all my attempts to get into the root of a problem looks too comprehensive for you ? You just feeling uneasy in unknown to you electronics' design and functioning ...
And try to find solid ground in something more familiar ? 

Unfortunately, a method by kicking tires will not fix the engine.
Regardless now many Mods will do that.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

P, you're still showing your bias. You have diagnosed the problem and refuse to see that it could be any other cause. You have also not proven that your guess (however educated) is correct.

So many fixes have come for the Hopper since it was introduced earlier this year. None have come from DISH "downloading" a new fan into the machine. The real experts in this matter, DISH's engineers, are not following your opinion.

Perhaps those who have improperly installed their devices need to compensate for their error by adding additional ventilation. There are plenty of people with normal installs, even warm equipment (temperatures posted in appropriate thread) that are not seeing the issues.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

P Smith said:


> Do you know what is a difference between us ?


I don't post in absolutes? 



P Smith said:


> I'm a practicing eng, I'm do analysis, measures, fixing devices like DVR on component level (and SW where is it possible). You are just posters here. Talking heads. Actually typists.


All I will say about that is... that's a poor attitude to have. There is a hint of "you should be lucky I stoop to talk to such as you" in a response like that... and that sentiment doesn't help anyone.



P Smith said:


> I did measures and implement one part for fix the poor design - installed onto CPU four times bigger heat-sink with own fan. No more freezes, regardless of FW version, what does show it's a correct option. Next step will be add bias current to main fan - to create 'floor' airflow, because the sat tuner's chips produce too much heat which poorly dissipating by PCB, adding to that it create thermal stress on electrolytic capacitors used in secondary voltage rails.


I don't believe anyone has asserted that the Dish/Echostar receivers are of perfect design for function or thermodynamics. In fact, most technology could stand to benefit from some better design.

I used to work for a company that was constantly looking to improve its internal cooling for servers as well as options for cooling the cabinet in which those servers were installed.

It will constantly be the tail that the dog chases, probably until the end of time, in advancing technology.

But that isn't the point, and I think you know it despite your assertions.



P Smith said:


> Perhaps, all my attempts to get into the root of a problem looks too comprehensive for you ? You just feeling uneasy in unknown to you electronics' design and functioning ...
> And try to find solid ground in something more familiar ?


You may or may not have found a "solution" for one specific set of hardware in your hands in a given situation. Despite your assertions far more people appear to be having little to no problems with their Hopper.

I can't speak to the Hopper... but as I mentioned recently, I have my 922 in a home with no central air... in NC... in the summer... and I'm not experiencing any overheating issues even on days when the internal house temperature has risen above 90 degrees this summer!

I'm quite miserable... but my receiver hasn't exhibited any problems.

IF, as you suggest, there is a general problem with Dish technology and poor cooling design... then how would you explain my lack of failures in a very much less than ideal installation?



P Smith said:


> Unfortunately, a method by kicking tires will not fix the engine.
> Regardless now many Mods will do that.


Perhaps... but changing out the engine is a very inefficient way to fix a problem too!


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

To get back to the original poster... and freezing in standby.

When "frozen" in standby... is the screen saver bouncing around the screen? It moves slowly, so you have to watch for a minute to be sure.

IF the screen saver is moving, then the receiver is not really frozen in the same way as if the screen saver is stationary.

My 922 used to have days when it wouldn't respond to the remote. It wouldn't wake up... but it would record scheduled events so I knew it wasn't really frozen.

It hasn't done that in months, but when that happened I did have to reset it... and I never found a pattern to why it would stop responding to the remote.


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## 3HaloODST (Aug 9, 2010)

Well I'm no expert but I do build/repair computers for a living and I know all about cooling components and the likes. Judging from the pictures of the H/J's internals the heat management is far from ideal. For one thing the single fan on the H exhausts warm air out of the side rather than pulling cool air into the other side. The power supply has very little airflow around it being on the complete opposite side from the small fan that barely turns. 

There is a science to the airflow inside the machine and having more fans wouldn't make the machine any louder if properly implemented. I tend to agree with P Smith in that the machines were designed with bean counting in mind rather than ideal airflow. Perhaps Dish feels that the issues caused by the overheating are not quite enough to justify spending more money to add more fans and implement more ideal cooling. 

For example P Smith took a screenshot of the J inside with a fan header that has no connector as it was probably initially thought of by the hardware engineers and then the bean counters later on decided that the fan costs too much. It seems they feel it is cheaper counting on the customer to have nothing less than perfect in terms of ambient temperature and ventilation. For those that don't have that it seems Dish feels it is cheaper to replace/refurbish than to just put fans in all of the machines.

I have indeed seen issues with computer components that stemmed from inadequate cooling, whether it be inadequate heatsink size or airflow issues. For example, some of NVIDIA's graphics cards, particularly the low-budget cards, have heatsinks that just barely cool well enough, and I have seen driver updates that have made the chips run hotter than they used to.

Typically chips tend to run hotter under heavier load (duh) so software can make changes to the stability by reducing the constant load on whatever chip you are working with. Heatsinks can absorb heat for a certain period until the heatsink is saturated and bottlenecked by the ability (or lack thereof) of the heatsink to dissipate the waste heat into the surrounding ambient air. The bottleneck can be caused either by too small of a heatsink, poorly designed heatsink (not enough fins, therefore not enough surface area for heat transfer) or lack of (or insufficient) active cooling (fans.)

Anyway long story short is the software can modify the load on the chip, to make for short bursts of load time, therefore the chip does not reach the boiling point as it is given time to cool off for a second. That is generally why resetting the receiver can make heat-related issues (process stuck using too many resources, etc. ) go away as it is given time to cool off to a more acceptable temperature for the chip.

All that being said I am certainly no expert on the temperature tolerances for all the parts in the H/J so I do not know for a fact that a lot of issues are heat related but I do know that H/J are designed with the least amount of cooling hardware possible, which I do believe makes them more susceptible to heat-related issues, particularly with high ambient temps and/or lack of ventilation.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Stewart,
your phrase "_that's a poor attitude to have_" is the key of local discussion: I'm doing - you are talking (with the attitude). 

Ask you contacts in Eng Dept about validity of my conclusion and ask them why the fan disappear from J ?

James,
_"None have come from DISH "downloading" a new fan into the machine."_ prove nothing; they are busy with other bugs and don't need to exaggerate by the outrageous "solution" - the fan controlling by FW and could be used different way. I know the method of smacking an opponent, no need to demonstrate it here.
I'm just don't have access to the FW source, so my way to fix the mode thru HW type of modification, as I told I would make small change in HW control and the fan will rotate at some speed all the time and will have a room by FW manipulation.

3HaloODST,
I have my own suggestion about missing fan in J. 
Perhaps the fan was in small factor (there is no space for 'normal' like in H2k), that type is manufacturing not by many companies, then after short tests they (did commodity manager pitch to eng dept?) decide not install it at all.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

How is any of the "take apart your Hopper and add your own heat sinks" of any help to the person who started this thread?

That's rhetorical... because it isn't of any help to him.

I've offered some other things to check, in other posts, in hopes that he is still reading and might find another solution to his problem that doesn't involve him having to re-engineer his receivers.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Then the manufacturer and SW engs should make some steps to help customers.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Here is more problem with same symptom: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=207404


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Why did you post a link to this thread in this thread?


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

It's Overheating - same reason for freezing, hanging and malfunctioning of internal drive.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Spoiler



Stewart,

I must ask you as a poster here - what is your personal motivation of such actively participating in the thread ?

- You don't have Hopper/Joye;
- you don't have specific technical knowledge to discuss technical aspects of the DVR's design and functioning;
- you didn't made airflow analysis of the DVR
- you didn't measure temperatures inside of it
- you didn't reviewed system logs of the box
- you done nothing to evaluate its work, issues, bugs
- you didn't try to make it work better.

So, count all above, do you try to divert my finding to something fictional in favor of these designers' bugs and keep the status quo ?



Actually, more important question - *where is DIRT response ?*


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

P Smith said:


> Then the manufacturer and SW engs should make some steps to help customers.


Don't worry about it. They are on the job.



P Smith said:


> Actually, more important question - *where is DIRT response ?*


They are not required to respond. No poster on the forum is required to respond.


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## tommiet (Dec 29, 2005)

James Long said:


> Why is it a couple of complaints on a forum are interpolated as if half of the customers with the equipment are seeing the failure? And we are to assume that the people pushing that theory are right even though they offer absolutely no proof that any problem is more widespread than the few reports?
> 
> How about we accept the reports at face value? Note that a few people are complaining - perhaps try to see if there is any obvious reason why their equipment is performing different than customers who are seeing no problems at all.


DISH told me back in Early July that a software update *MAY* have cause this issue and they are looking into it. As they still have not found a fix, they also removed me from my 2 year commitment AND offered to move me back to my 722/612 setup that I had prior to my Hopper upgrade. Both my Hoppers had no freezing issues until late June/early July. As I have 2 and both are in different rooms, I do feel it's a firmware issue. Could be wrong&#8230;..

I also did get a call from customer retention and was told that replacing the Hopper would not help as its a known problem.

Willing to try external cooling if needed.. Current hard drive AVG temp 114 on Hopper 1 and 111 on Hopper 2.

The Hopper is great when it works!


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

tommiet said:


> DISH told me back in Early July that a software update *MAY* have cause this issue and they are looking into it. As they still have not found a fix, they also removed me from my 2 year commitment AND offered to move me back to my 722/612 setup that I had prior to my Hopper upgrade. Both my Hoppers had no freezing issues until late June/early July. As I have 2 and both are in different rooms, I do feel it's a firmware issue. Could be wrong&#8230;..
> 
> I also did get a call from customer retention and was told that replacing the Hopper would not help as its a known problem.
> 
> ...


I would recommend run it without top cover (if you can - no pets reaching it or kids) for a few weeks to see if natural convection would help. 
If not I would add small quiet USB fan to cool the CPU.

As to reporting temp: I did use them before, but after reading system logs last week, I wouldn't trust the numbers - I don't know where the point of measure.
System logs has records of constant raising temperature of HDD - from beginning of using the DVR: 26 C [79 F] to last months at 50...52 C [126 F] what become out of normal for the drive.


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## 3HaloODST (Aug 9, 2010)

Anything below 60C is fine for an HDD. Do the logs ever report the HDD going over 60?


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

3HaloODST said:


> Anything below 60C is fine for an HDD. Do the logs ever report the HDD going over 60?


Nope (you are too optimistic  ). 50 C is the maximum.

I didn't see your log to answer  ...


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

P Smith said:


> Nope (you are too optimistic  ). 50 C is the maximum.


Are you saying 50 C is the maximum for a hard drive? I've had temperatures in the 130's (F) on a regular basis with no problems.

BTW: My Hopper is currently sitting on a wood shelf with about 1" clearance on each side of the unit ... and another receiver sitting on top.
Cover on - no special cooling.

My only complaint about the temperature is that DISH put the "Tests" menu option under "Network Setup" instead of "Diagnostics".


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## 3HaloODST (Aug 9, 2010)

WD and Seagate report 60C as the max for most of their HDDs. Depending on the exact model of the Hopper HDD, could be slightly different. Generally it's at around 55-60. That being said, none of the machines that I build/repair have HDDs running above 45 or so. No way I'd let the HDDs run at 55-60 24/7. Are the logs showing differently than the reported temp in the counters? Mine shows a max temp of 123F but the average is 116 and the low is 114. These temps are about the same on all three Hoppers. 116 = ~47C which is a little warm but research by Google has confirmed that running too _cool_ is actually worse for the HDD life span than running too warm.

It made me wonder about my HDDs in my gaming rig that only run at 26C but according to Google research 26 is not too cool. It makes sense that they would fail quicker from being too cool because the bearing oil is too thick and not lubricating properly.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

60 C would be max operating temp, ie it's the edge, that's why I mention the 50C as safe operational max.
If you want push your luck , you could try run HDD hotter, higher then 50 C ... but don't complain when DVR will freeze, hangup or just doesn't work as normal functioning DVR.
Also, what I mentioned many times - the CPU's temp is in dangerous area would lead to same issues.

Added: "_running too coo_l" - ? want numbers ... 36 F ? Unreal (for sure) expect "too cool" inside of the DVR.


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## tommiet (Dec 29, 2005)

P Smith said:


> I would recommend run it without top cover (if you can - no pets reaching it or kids) for a few weeks to see if natural convection would help.
> If not I would add small quiet USB fan to cool the CPU.
> 
> As to reporting temp: I did use them before, but after reading system logs last week, I wouldn't trust the numbers - I don't know where the point of measure.
> System logs has records of constant raising temperature of HDD - from beginning of using the DVR: 26 C [79 F] to last months at 50...52 C [126 F] what become out of normal for the drive.


Are you recommending that I take the cover off and add a fan to the CPU? Not a problem for me, but wondering about the space... I could use a video card fan (small.) I can take the cover off and try it, but after looking at others temps, mine seem normal. Willing to try anything....

Thanks for the help.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

tommiet said:


> Are you recommending that I take the cover off and add a fan to the CPU? Not a problem for me, but wondering about the space... I could use a video card fan (small.) I can take the cover off and try it, but after looking at others temps, mine seem normal. Willing to try anything....
> 
> Thanks for the help.


Exactly. For start - run it without any fan.
BTW, check if the mentioned fan from a video card is 5VDC, then you could add easy a USB cable to power it from same H2k.


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## tommiet (Dec 29, 2005)

P Smith said:


> Exactly. For start - run it without any fan.
> BTW, check if the mentioned fan from a video card is 5VDC, then you could add easy a USB cable to power it from same H2k.


Will try running without the cover on first... ALSO.... The last time it froze, I was watching TV and the fans came on WIDE OPEN and stayed that way, until I restarted it.

Normally, I catch it hung @ the screen saver. As my Hopper still records while froze, I'm not sold its a heat issue yet. The only thing thats hung is the video output.....


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

tommiet said:


> Will try running without the cover on first... ALSO.... The last time it frooze, I was watching TV and the fans when on HIGH and stayed that way, until I restarted it.
> 
> Nomrally, I catch *it hung @ the screen saver.*...


That case would eliminate HDD overheating - most likely it's CPU reached high temp; I wouldn't discard secondary voltage regulators.

I didn't invent a wheel and added small fan on top of new CPU's heatsink. It was killing one bird [a temp] by two stones [bigger heatsink and a dedicated fan] .

Oh, I just recall (to answer to all naysayers) - when I did troubleshooting of such freezes/hungs I did a couple boots without a heatsink (for short time and holding my finger on top of the BCM7340 chip) the DVR did hang same way as observed before.


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## hd_newbie (Apr 7, 2012)

"Stewart Vernon" said:


> To get back to the original poster... and freezing in standby.
> 
> When "frozen" in standby... is the screen saver bouncing around the screen? It moves slowly, so you have to watch for a minute to be sure.
> 
> ...


No. It was completely dead. But whatever is the problem, now gone. I called support and they sent me a new hopper, but I chose not to use it. My best guess is that it was a software issue and one of the update fixed it.


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## rtstephn (Feb 11, 2006)

Just to add my two cents, my H was freezing repeatedly, and blockbuster and OnDemand both would just return to live TV, and would never launch. My H was running very hot, so hot I could not comfortably place my fingers under the right side of the box. Very very hot to touch.

I raised the H up on my son's Lego blocks about 2 1/2 inches, and no more freezing and no more issues with BlockBuster or OnDemand. It's been three weeks of no freezing, whereas before it would freeze about once every other day. The H is sitting on top of my cabinet, nothing on top or either side. I've been with Dish for about 6 weeks now from Dtv, and I love, other than the freezing of the H.


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