# DATA COLLECTION: The "Top 10" List of Bugs still needing to be fixed



## Mark Lamutt

I received a note this morning asking me to collect what your top 10 or so bugs that still need to be fixed are. Eldon has their own top 10 list, and want to make sure their list matches the bugs that are most troublesome for the online community. 

Here's your chance to directly impact what gets fixed in the NEXT software release. So, I'm asking you to post in this thread what your wishlist of fixes is.

To start it out:

1. ZSRs
2. "Don't screw with a ZSR otherwise your hard drive will be deleted"

Adding to my list:

3. Skip forward and skip back durations on 720p broadcasts - make them 30 seconds and 10 seconds, rather than the current 15 seconds and 5 seconds.
4. CC on 720p


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## leemathre

My top two would be to fix the problem with the unit freezing after deleting a recorded program after watching it and to fix the preview window in the dvr menu showing only the top right hand corner of the screen after deleting a recorded program. I don't use OTA so those issues are not on my list.


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## FrankD1

Big agree on your first two!

Also, fix CC on 720p.


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## mwgiii

1) When program is paused, program jumps ahead (from paused point) when slow motion or frame-by-frame buttons are pressed.

2) Be able to switch tuners when a timer fires and your primary tuner is tuned to an OTA-HD station without having to do Allen Noland's workaround.

3) Spin down hard drive and turn off fan (like the 5XX series), so I can have a 921 in the bedroom.

Feature Wish List
1) Full local guide data
2) NBR


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## GravelChan

CC on 720P programming.

Occasionally the screen goes black when exiting "Info" screen, requiring power button "Off" then back "On" to recover.

I have not seen anyone comment on this before but the closed captioning on the SD outputs is not sharp and clear. I also turn on the closed captioning on the TV itself, this overwrites the 921 captioning with sharp/clear letters. The captioning on the HD output is ok.


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## HailScroob

Banish the random (and false) "Error 692" messages.
www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=36603

Correct the 3-4 second audio dropouts. 
www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=38286

Restore the ability of every 921 to reboot itself from standby mode each night.
www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=38839

I'll also second the motion to "fix the preview window in the DVR menu showing only the top right hand corner of the screen after deleting a recorded program."


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## n0qcu

My top bugs I'd like fixed.
#1. (vertically) Stretched display that requires reboot to get out of. 
#2. Freezes in DVR screens. Usually requires reboot before you can start/stop or erase recording.
#3. Needing to run a switch check after every reboot so all 4 satellites can be received.

I forgot one. 


indyras said:


> Sometimes screen goes translucent-black after hitting the "Info" button, requiring a power cycle to restore the picture.


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## DVDDave

In addition to your first two,

1. Show proper guide info for subchannels, even if this involves explicitly telling the 921 which LIL channels to use for mapping.
2. Fix the jerky frame-jumping motion when skipping forward and back.
3. Fix the "blacked out" problem that causes skipped recordings unless the unit is reset regularly.
4. Get the macro working that directly chooses HD or SD. (I'm not sure if 212 fixed this.)
5. Go right to the timer list when the Timer button is pressed instead of that useless intermediate screen.


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## GravelChan

DVDDave said:


> In addition to your first two,
> 
> 1. Show proper guide info for subchannels, even if this involves explicitly telling the 921 which LIL channels to use for mapping.
> 
> Yes, yes..... Those of us who watch translator stations get no guide info on local stations as our OTA stations are different channel numbers than the LIL we get from dish. Being able to specify which LIL station to map to would fix this.


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## JPC

n0qcu said:


> My top bugs I'd like fixed.
> #1. (vertically) Stretched display that requires reboot to get out of.


I experienced this "stretch lock" this morning for the first time, but it was never an issue for me with L211. A soft boot did fix it, but it needs to be addressed. The on screen title bar showed "normal" even though the picture was stretched, and the format controls were not functioning. If this continues to be a problem it's going to force us to watch distorted images, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who would prefer a choice between a lifelike rendering of the human head vs. the compressed "Yoda" version. This issue deserves to make the TOP 10.


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## Jim Parker

1. Fix the short audio drop out problem.
2. Fix the video problems with the preview window when the guide is on the screen. (HD mode)
3. Fix the stretch mode. What I would like to see is one user defined stretch mode that I could set. This would let me adjust the aspect ratio so my TV would display shows that are broadcasted in "Widescreen" correctly. Put in a check box to turn it off completely, so that people who did not want to have to toggle thru this option with the * button would not have to.
4. Put in a screen saver mode.
5. Make the transport controls transparent.
6. Coordinate the frame advance and slow play to pick up at the same frame, instead of skipping frames.
7. Fix the bug that causes the "no tuner available, stop recording" message when deleting a recorded program and 2 programs are being recorded.
8. Fix the poor contrast on the SD outputs.


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## lapplegate

1. red "record dot" for OTA-HD to be in the OTA HD listing not in the "link".
2. Request: NBR
3. PIP in HD channels.
4. only the corner guide after stopping or earasing DVR event.
5. Quicker response to the remote. (sometimes take 2 or 3 button pushes for some functions)


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## Slordak

Are we just asking about bugs, or also feature enhancements / re-work? A lot of the stuff up above that people are asking for are really enhancements (i.e. who really considers lack of screensaver to be a "Top 10" bug?).

The top enhancement for me is resolution passthrough. Ideally, this would be implemented as being able to specify for each source signal resolution (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i), what output resolution it gets sent out as via the HD outputs. If the two match (720p in is sent as 720p out), the 921 should leave the signal completely unmolested. This optimizes picture quality on fixed pixel displays and avoids "double conversions" which add image artifacts.

Top bug fixes:

1) Fix issues with random audio drop-outs. It would also help if the 921 could continue to broadcast the same signal type (PCM or DD) when a *real* drop-out is experienced, since part of the issue people are experiencing in some cases is because their A/V receiver is switching out of Dolby Digital mode and back into Dolby Digital mode, which interrupts the audio output.

2) Fix issues with PPV reporting. This includes two issues: 2a) Not correctly marking the most recent item which is called-in as "Reported", and 2b) Refusing to dial-out while claiming "No Dialout Pending", even when there are actual program charges still stored on the receiver.

3) Fix guide font / layout corruption issue. Who knows if this is still present in L212 or not, but if it is, everytime this happens, the receiver is screwed up until the next time a software version is released (at which point in time that unit is then fixed).


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## Cyclone

Complete the OTA EPG work.

We all know that this is going to have to be done for the 942 and any future Dish HD OTA receiver. So get finish it up here first. 

1. I do not get EPG info from a neighboring DMA which I am Grade A reception wise.
2. Sub Channels have no guide data
3. HD PBS channels do not have Guide data.


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## jsanders

I agree with your first two.

1. ZSRs
2. "Don't screw with a ZSR otherwise your hard drive will be deleted"

I would also like to see.....

3. OTA guide data not tied to local subscription.
4. OTA guide data sub channel information.
5. OTA guide data works with those who subscribe to distant locals.
6. OTA guide data uses the same data infrastructure that the 811 uses.
7. OTA guide data uses the same algorithms to use infrastructre in (6) that the 811 uses.
8. OTA guide data red dot problem gets fixed, allowing me to see in the guide data what OTA programs are scheduled to record.
9. OTA guide data message, "no information available" for some guide data (we know it will happen with no fault from Dish), in this case allow 1 hour time slots to make scheduling a recording easier.
10. OTA guide data for PBS (KQED) was lost with L212, please return it for L213.

Hmmmm. Looks like there is a pattern here somewhere... !pu****!


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## TonyB

Mark,
How many of the bugs listed here are fixed (attempted at least) in 213??? Is that something that you can say? Perhaps have 2 lists, one for 213 expected fixes and one for futures (If 213 comes in March - and based on history thats a long shot, is 214 expected in June or July?)


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## bbomar

1. ZSRs (only had one but don't want any more)
2. "Don't screw with a ZSR otherwise your hard drive will be deleted"
3. CC on 720p (not because I need it but because it should be fixed)
4. When you set up a timer from the digital channel guide, the red 
dot in the guide may or may not display correctly on the channel that 
you selected to record from (for OTA with LIL downmap it never does).
5. Total freeze-up when skipping forward or when fast forwarding near 
the end of a DVR recording.
6. Eliminate "No tuner available, stop recording" message when deleting a
recorded program and 2 programs are being recorded. Have it switch 
to either of the recording programs after the deletion, if necessary.
7. If a timer fires, and to accomplish the recording the channel must be
changed (because another recording is in process), automatically change
channel rather than asking permission (which I may not be around to
give).
8. Fix the stretch lock and non-responsive SD/HD button if that has not
been totally fixed in L212 (too soon into L212 for me to know for
certain).

Wish list:

9.) Guide data from PSIP or the option of selecting guide data from the
Dish data stream based on station call letters, independent of a
LIL subscription, for those with OTA stations from multiple DMAs.


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## Mark Lamutt

TonyB said:


> Mark,
> How many of the bugs listed here are fixed (attempted at least) in 213??? Is that something that you can say? Perhaps have 2 lists, one for 213 expected fixes and one for futures (If 213 comes in March - and based on history thats a long shot, is 214 expected in June or July?)


I am keeping 2 lists, Tony. As for how many of these are fixed, first, I haven't nearly enough time to test the new version that I have - it just installed at about 9:00pm last night. Second, even if I had had time to test all of these, I can't give you specific answers about most of it.

Keep them coming, folks. This is an excellent thread so far!


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## indyras

Since many of the posters to this thread have been including feature requests as well as bug fixes, I will also include my them on my "wish list".

Bug fixes:
1. Sometimes screen goes translucent-black after hitting the "Info" button, requiring a power cycle to restore the picture.
2. Red dot does not appear on guide for upcoming OTA recordings.
3. Pressing the "Info" button on an OTA program in the guide brings up the "No Information Available" screen, even though there is partial program information shown in the upper-left portion of the screen.
4. HD/SD button macro to force HD or SD output no longer functions.

Feature requests:
1. Spin down hard drive and turn off fans when 921 is in standby mode.
2. Discrete IR codes for selection of aspect ratio and screen format for those of us with programmable home theater remotes.
3. Expand the function library of the IR blaster to control additional components (like it currently does for VCRs). My specific request would be the addition of codes to control an antenna rotator box, so that when I change OTA channels, the antenna would automatically rotate to face the corresponding OTA transmitter.


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## lujan

mwgiii said:


> 1) When program is paused, program jumps ahead (from paused point) when slow motion or frame-by-frame buttons are pressed.
> 
> 2) Be able to switch tuners when a timer fires and your primary tuner is tuned to an OTA-HD station without having to do Allen Noland's workaround.
> 
> 3) Spin down hard drive and turn off fan (like the 5XX series), so I can have a 921 in the bedroom.
> 
> Feature Wish List
> 1) Full local guide data
> 2) NBR


I guess you didn't watch the last Tech Chat. The 921 will never spin down the hard drive because it is Linux based. I specifically asked this question and they responded on the air that it will never happen.


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## davpel

1. Implement screen saver!

2. Fix bug which changes your default HD resolution from 1080 back to 480 if the 921 is powered off in SD mode (don't think this was fixed in yesterday's update).


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## lujan

1. Resolution passthrough
2. Skip forward and skip back durations on 720p broadcasts - make them 30 seconds and 
10 seconds, rather than the current 15 seconds and 5 seconds
3. Red dot does not appear on guide for upcoming OTA recordings
4. When program is paused, program jumps ahead (from paused point) when slow motion or frame-by-frame buttons are pressed
5. Fix the jerky frame-jumping motion when skipping forward and back
6. Total freeze-up when skipping forward or when fast forwarding near the end of a DVR recording
7. PIP in HD channels
8. Fix bug which changes your default HD resolution from 720 or 1080 back to 480 if the 921 is powered off in SD mode

I don't get ZSRs so I didn't include it. If I got them I certainly would include it. I didn't include OTA guide data because I get it because I pay for locals. Numbers 4 and 5 are pretty similar. Number 7 is a wish list because I think it's a hardware limitation because even my TV will not do PIP when a HD channel is in the picture (no pun intended).


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## Bogney

Downconvert of Dolby Digital to PCM digital audio still not working.


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## paulrus

Bug Fixes:

1. Stretch lock
2. Parental controls enabled cause 692 errors - not good when you have kids.
3. ZSR's
4. Red or blue stripes in the scaled down window when viewing the guide.

Upgrades:

1. Name based recording
2. Name based recording
3. Name based recording
4. Local OTA guide without having to PAY D* 

Did I mention name based recording? Right now I own a $500-1000 VCR, not DVR. NBR is what makes it useful. As a former Tivo owner, I can say the lack of NBR is the most disappointing thing about the 921.

Paul

P.S. NBR please!!!


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## bbomar

I forgot about this one. Add it to my list also.

10. Pressing the "Info" button on an OTA program in the guide brings up the "No Information Available" screen, even though there is partial program information shown in the upper-left portion of the screen.


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## boylehome

Adding to Mark L's list:
0. Figure out and eliminate the causes for ZSR's and armor plate the hard drive so all the other events won't be erased because of a ZSR.
1. Make the red dots  show on the OTA EGP for timer events.
2. Keep DVR RECORD EVENT data so it only shows the title for the main program being recorded.
3. Have 921 to perform where it sees the tuners individually respective to the auto-padding changes.
4. Have the EPG designed so it will use the terrestrial data first then Dish data next.
5. Add a feature so the time remaining will show in the flash information screen.
6. Repair the Local Channels, ADD DTV so when you finished adding, it doesn't cause the 921 to crash minutes to hours later.
7. Add a feature to Timer Management in the TIMER EDIT or TIMER DATE SET mode so the title of the program can be created or modified.
8. Add a FIX DISK function  to the DIAGNOSTIC TESTS so rather than just check the Hard Drive, it will actually repair problems.
9. Allow for adding a bigger capacity hard drive and/or additional hard drive.


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## sleepy hollow

1. ZSRs
2. Audio dropouts with video pixellation (every recorded/delayed program)
3. Proper handling of conflicts and tuner resources so I don't have to figure it all out on the fly and so I don't end up in no-man's land like channel 77, I think it is, or channel 0, or the big "freeze" followed by reboot.


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## Michael P

Fix the EPG when a "no lock" situation on OTA causes the EPG to freeze-up and/or associate different channels (i.e. selecting one channel in the EPG gives you a different channel labeled as if it were the selected channel. 
See: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=38894

BTW: this happend to me aagain last night as I was checking out 2.12


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## rstaples

1. Eliminate "No tuner available, stop recording" message when deleting a
recorded program and 2 programs are being recorded then locks up requiring a reboot before you can start/stop or erase recording

2. Eliminate total freeze-up when skipping forward or when fast forwarding near the end of a DVR recording.

3. Correct the 3-4 second audio dropouts usually followed by short video
Corruption. Extremely annoying, especially when showing off Dish HD quality to friends!!!!

4. Red dot does not appear on guide for upcoming OTA recordings

5. Show proper guide info for sub channels

6. Skip forward and skip back durations on HD broadcasts - make them 30 seconds and 10 seconds, rather than the current 15 seconds and 5 seconds

7. CC on HD

8. ZSRs

9. Pressing the "Info" button on an OTA program in the guide brings up the "No Information Available"

10. Request: NAME BASED RECORDING!!!


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## Tomos

SD/HD Format button would be one for me, but I'm unsure if it is supposed to work on HD and SD channels or not. It doesn't always work for HD channels either for that matter.


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## BobMurdoch

My top 5........

1. Kill ZSR Bug
2. Make it more stable when two timers are active (remote control response becomes sluggish (I've had 12 second delays sometimes)
3. Go back to the old method of deleting programs when you are done watching them and two timers are active..... Instead of forcing the user to stop recording one of the active recordings and go to the channel that was being watched BEFORE you started watching the recording.... force the user to choose which of the two active channels being recorded will be viewed after the show is deleted.
4. Fix the Midnight bug, where the clock icon pulls up a reminder with the wrong name (It shows what program is on at 11:58 instead of what show is on at Midnight) -- The program label winds up being OK, but it it is still annoying to have to go and check what is on at Midnight and then manualy adjust the timer (to exclude repeats or preempted shows).
5. Figure what is causing the timers to go out of action order and stop them from doing so. I get wrong program labels and a few missed timers when my timers get scrambled. The ZSR is more likely to pop up then as well (or it could be a coincedence)


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## SimpleSimon

Eliminate "No tuner available, stop recording" message when deleting a recorded program and 2 programs are being recorded.

Eliminate the 3-at-the-same-time scheduled event bug (may already be done).

Stop the Title banner of the current show from appearing when a timer fires (this just started happening in L211).

My next 7 are any of the ones I've posted over the last year that haven't been fixed - there's at least that many. Most are marked with a L146 tag.


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## TVBob

Mark Lamutt said:


> I received a note this morning asking me to collect what your top 10 or so bugs that still need to be fixed are.


Sounds like we need a "master poll" of all the reported bugs, just so that we can vote for our top 10!

I agree with Mark's list, and I would add:


Paused contents of live buffer lost far too easily How come no one else mentioned this?!
Frame-by-frame stepping doesn't work correctly if you ever skip back
Blank banner when using RECALL button to swap between OTA digitals
Zoom mode zooms about 5% too much, cropping letterboxed content 
Banner no longer displays "Time Left" for digital OTA recordings
System locks up after pressing Stop, Skip Back, Resume 
 "Cancel" doesn't work as expected after "Over" appears
Timer Icon Popup can still display even after you have disabled it (Still in L212; I'm puzzled that hardly anyone else seems to see this, according to the poll.)
Cannot delete individual entries from Search History 
Backspace key (*) doesn't work 

(Some of the above may already be fixed in L212, I haven't had time to check).

My top feature requests would be:

What all Dish DVRs need to aspire to be -- an open letter to Dish Engineering (Includes Name Based Recording, Season Pass, better search, and other TiVo-like features).
Timer pad always defaulting to 1 and 3 This one really bugs me, because I'm constantly changing both of these back to 0!
480i output on component video, for DVD recorders
Native Resolution Pass-through
ReplayTV-style Show Navigation / Hot Keys 
OpenTV / Dish Home / Channel 100
PSIP map-down channel is not shown in the ADD DTV menu
Local Channels menu orders by subchannnels instead of main channel

Now, why can't Eldon give _you_ (Mark) a list of their top 20 or 30 bugs, then _we_ could all vote on that, to help them set priorities?

Another poll could be used for new features they are thinking about. Only they can tell us what's "doable". We'd be happy to help them set priorities.


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## John Corn

1. Fix the Stretch mode display, my HD channels look terrible, the receiver won't let me out of this mode, even with a reboot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
2. Audio dropouts with video pixellation needs fixed


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## IamtheEggman

1. Audio/ Video drop outs on recorded programs

2 Why is it when I want to do a timer program the list of channels starts at 101 and I have to scroll all the way thru every channel to get to my OTA channels. Is there some workaround?? Why can't the back arrow work in this case.


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## lapplegate

1. Fix the OTA Digital Guide "no information availible" that was produced with 212. 
Guide data was fine before 212, now I can,t get any data on 2 xx-01 OTA channels.

If Dish is going to require the cost of locals to get OTA guide data, then they should be providing data, not taking it away.


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## JackS

I have only a few things bothering me I would like fixed:

1. Momentary audio outages
2. Lack of Info on local channels, even if it is available on the guide and the DVR list
3. Return to 30 second skip ahead, I am wearing out the remote button.


921 DVR since January 2004
Boot 120B
Flash F051
SW L212HECD-N


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## Mark Lamutt

Great stuff, and even a couple thrown in there that I had forgotton about.


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## tom921

Never change a user specified setting! The biggest violation of this principle is that the nightly reboot is still changing the HD display setting to 480p if the 921 was left in SD outpout mode when it was turned off. That means that I have to change it back to what I want everytime we forget to switch to HD output before turning off the unit. At least 212 seems to have fixed the side effects of this problem, such as the page up/down buttons not working after leaving it in SD output mode.


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## Mike D-CO5

I know a way to fix all the bugs on the list; Trade it in on the newest mpeg4 receiver this fall when they start more hd channels. Dish needs to swap out ALL of the 921 receivers for the newest hd dvr for mpeg4 with name based recording . Then we could all go on with our lives and discuss the newest bugs on the new receiver. 

The 921 should be put to death and become history.


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## BobMurdoch

It will be at least January 2006 before they are ready for MPEG4 with new HD PVRs. By then I will have had two years with my 921 (I got one of the early ones). Even with the bugs, it has been worth to finally have HD content without losing the PVR functionality of the 6000/811 .


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## pwherr

My new worst problem is the error 692 when the timer is about to go to record and the the show don't record.I thought there would be a few problems when they first came out but not fix one thing screw up 5 more.I payed a 1000 dollars for mine and the 100 plus per month for programing. I should not have to be a tester for this reciever.They should be taking some money off the bill every month or get this thing fixed. :soapbox:


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## Bradtothebone

The only bug that really "bugs" me is the audio dropout problem, which is getting worse all the time. Mark, are we sure that this is a software/firmware issue?

On the "feature request" side, if we can't have OTA guide data without a locals sub, I would really LOVE to be able to name my manual timer recordings. This would be especially useful with weekly timers, where sometimes looking through the list you have NO IDEA what each item is. Probably 90% of what we record is OTA, so this would really make us feel better about E*.

Brad


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## markcollins

1. OTA guide not tied to having to subscribe to locals.
2. Single function action to switch from HD settings to Sd settings for viewing.
3. Shut down of Harddrive when not in use.


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## Michael P

markcollins said:


> 1. OTA guide not tied to having to subscribe to locals.
> 2. Single function action to switch from HD settings to Sd settings for viewing.
> 3. Shut down of Harddrive when not in use.


1. I agree, this is my #1 gripe too, especially when the 811 gets the OTA data for free.

2. I don't have an HD display yet so this hasn't affected me yet

3. This will never happen - thanks to how Linux operates. Now if we want to go back to a Microsoft operating system.... :nono2: :nono:


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## boylehome

BobMurdoch said:


> It will be at least January 2006 before they are ready for MPEG4 with new HD PVRs.


Hopefully by then I'll be ready to upgrade to a new receiver!


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## boylehome

Bradtothebone said:


> The only bug that really "bugs" me is the audio dropout problem, which is getting worse all the time.


Bradtothebone, I think that I may experience the same drop-out that you describe but I'm not positively sure. I seem to suffer from two different kinds.

1. On OTA channel KRCR ABC, about every 10 seconds the audio ceases for less then a second then returns. I think that this is an audio problem with the station when it is up-converting it's SD signal into the HD channel.

2. On every HD channel broadcasting Dolby 5.1, on my monitor's stereo speaker system, the subjects voice drops to a very low level and different times. but the rest of the channels sounds blast away. For the Dolby 5.1, I have to turn my volume from 05, to at least 20 to 25 to get the same voice quality. I think that somehome the Dolby 5.1 is phasing the voice audio out.
If I use my stereo system with Dolby, this is a non issue.

Can you please describe the drop out problem for me?

Thanks,

John


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## BobaBird

IamtheEggman said:


> 2. Why is it when I want to do a timer program the list of channels starts at 101 and I have to scroll all the way thru every channel to get to my OTA channels. Is there some workaround?? Why can't the back arrow work in this case.


You don't have to scroll. When you move to the channel list, just key in the channel number. For local OTA, key in 00901 and make sure it actually landed on 009-01 before you move on to set the time. There is a feaure request thread for circular navigation - you should be allowed to press up from the top to move to the bottom.

This reminds me of another bug (incomplete design):
Long station names such as PBS-You don't fit in the create timer channel list or on the program banner. When you edit a channel name you are allowed 7 characters but the rest of the system wasn't modified to properly display them.


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## Flasshe

Here's my list. I had to go to 12 on this one.

1. ZSRs
2. "Don't screw with a ZSR otherwise your hard drive will be deleted"
3. 3-4 second audio/video dropouts.
4. Stuck in stretch mode/ Format and HD/SD remote buttons stop working.
5. Total freeze-up when skipping forward or when fast forwarding near the end of a DVR recording.
6. Skip forward and skip back durations on 720p broadcasts - make them 30 seconds and 10 seconds, rather than the current 15 seconds and 5 seconds. Note: I am positive this happens to me with programs other than 720p as well, including some SD material.
7. Fix the bug that causes the "no tuner available, stop recording" message when deleting a recorded program and 2 programs are being recorded. 
8. Add screen saver (when paused or on a menu for more than 10 minutes or so).
9. Default to "Resume" instead of "Start Over" on recorded program menu when "Resume" is not grayed out.
10. Red "record dot" for OTA-HD to be in the OTA HD listing not in the "link". 
11. Go right to the timer list when the Timer button is pressed instead of that useless intermediate screen. 
12. Get the macro working that directly chooses HD or SD. 

Some might say that 8, 9, and 11 are feature requests. I say they are bugs. Screen Savers (8) are standard these days in the Home Theater world where burn-in is a constant worry. The Resume button thing (9) is just User Interface Design 101. Having it default to Start Over when you've already started playing the program is just insane. It should only go back to that after you've viewed the whole program. The Timer button (11) is also just logical user interface design. That confused the heck out of me when I first got my 921. There's no reason to even have the timers on the same screen as the recorded programs, especially since it doesn't sort them. Obviously these developers never have to use the UI they designed, or put it through any sort of third party usability testing.

Thanks, Mark!


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## chuckbernard

#1: 

Allow me to record OTA programs when I don't get guide data information. Either let ME decide which channel maps to which (e.g., a matrix where I can point 8223 -> 2-1 and 8221 -> 8-1) Then, my ota guide information from dish will match my out of town HD OTA channels which I receive! And I won't get the Fox guide data on my NBC channel! People would be thrilled with this kind of power! And, you would have a usable workaround for ALL 921 users!

If not possible, simply break the OTA guide info down to 1 hour chunks and allow me to just go to next Tuesday and select the chunks between 8:00-9:00 to record a program!!! Got to be easy to do this. I would be thrilled with even this!

#2: Blacked out program when program isn't blacked out! My timer doesn't fire sometimes even if I can see the program right behind the error screen!

#3: Gray bars don't reach the picture! Why do I have to destroy my TV with these black zones between the bars and the picture???? Maybe allow us to size/center the picture????

#4: ZSRs. 'nuff said!

#5: Allow me to switch to a satalite channel when I manually start a recording of an OTA HD station! Heck, I'm only using one tuner to record and the two others aren't being used!

#6: Locked format "*" key. Aspect ratio still locks sometimes!

Enhancement:

Not a bug but painful: Native passthrough of resolution. I hate switching between 1080i and 720p manually when I want to watch ESPN or MNF on ABC. Heck, even my 5 year old Directv receiver allowed this!

Summary:

Just make the basic stuff work before adding features. I want to be able to rely on it recording when I set it to record AND be able to select my OTA channels to record even when there is no guide. It feels so shameful when I have to use my VCR downstairs as a backup because my $1000 receiver sometimes fails to record a program that I don't want to miss. All the rest is just cream!


----------



## garyhesq

Slordak said:


> A lot of the stuff up above that people are asking for are really enhancements (i.e. who really considers lack of screensaver to be a "Top 10" bug?).


*I DO!!!!!!* Ever spent 1500 bucks replacing CRT's? I have...


----------



## garyhesq

1. Some type of screen saver or auto menu close after a period of time.

2. Default to "Resume" instead of "Start Over" on recorded program menu when "Resume" is not grayed out.

3. Make the red dots show on the OTA EGP for timer events.

4. Fix bug which changes your default HD resolution from 1080 back to 480P.

5. HD/SD button macro to force HD or SD output.

I know I can come up with more but I have not had much of a chance to play since 212 came out. Can you tell I want a screensaver?


----------



## Skates

I had a lot of problems with 212 at first - and most have already been noted here - but after another power plug reboot the unit has settled down.

I consider myself one of the lucky ones because most of my bugs have been fixed, but the main couple that still "bug" me are:

1. When in the DVR menu, when I delete a program, the preview window shows only the upper right corner of the picture instead of the entire picture. I'm aware this also has been noted by others, but it seems amazing to me that this wouldn't have been fixed by now.

2. I'd like the red dots to be on the OTA channels when they are OTA timers. Mine are inconsistent. Example - my timer for "House" on Tuesdays shows correctly as a red dot on 11.1, but most of my OTA timers show a red dot on the DBS channel.

All in all, I don't have much to complain about...


----------



## Ron Barry

Here is my list.. I will return to update it shortly

1) Red Dots are wrong when programing an OTA timer. 

2) Unit should not required a reboot ever night. If so an auto standby should be implemented. 

3) Fan should operation needs to be smarter.

4) No more ZSR. 


I know I have more.... I will have to think about this and update my entry.


----------



## gboot

My top items would be;
1. OTA guide not tied to having to subscribe to locals. This a bug not an enhancement.
2. Ability to store different monitor settings for SD and HD mode.
3. Correct OTA Guide data for subchannels


----------



## Bob Trapp

Audio drop-outs.

STOP button. Make it work properly.


----------



## Lawood

1. Missing first digit on local calls.
2. Caller id on local calls only showing up about 50% of the time. Or less.


----------



## M492A

Eliminate the audio drop out / video pixelation problem.
Fix the bug that causes the "No tuner available, stop recording?" message when deleting a recorded program and two recording events are active. Have it switch to one of the recording programs after the deletion, if necessary.
Automatically change the channel rather than asking permission when a timer fires and a channel change is necessary.
Provide a way to clear all DVR graphics (status bars & buttons) from the screen and leave them cleared (they reappear after a few seconds) during a pause. Sometimes you pause to see something only to have it covered up by the graphics. 
Add a screen saver.
Provide the OTA guide without having to subscribe to locals.
Name-based recording.


----------



## pweezil

> Provide a way to clear all DVR graphics (status bars & buttons) from the screen and leave them cleared (they reappear after a few seconds) during a pause. Sometimes you pause to see something only to have it covered up by the graphics.


M492A,
If you hit SKIP FWD once while it's paused, it will jump ahead a frame and clear all the graphics.


----------



## M492A

Oh yeah - and ditto on chuckbernard's first and third items...

#1: 

Allow me to record OTA programs when I don't get guide data information. Either let ME decide which channel maps to which (e.g., a matrix where I can point 8223 -> 2-1 and 8221 -> 8-1) Then, my ota guide information from dish will match my out of town HD OTA channels which I receive! And I won't get the Fox guide data on my NBC channel! People would be thrilled with this kind of power! And, you would have a usable workaround for ALL 921 users!

If not possible, simply break the OTA guide info down to 1 hour chunks and allow me to just go to next Tuesday and select the chunks between 8:00-9:00 to record a program!!! Got to be easy to do this. I would be thrilled with even this!

#3: Gray bars don't reach the picture! Why do I have to destroy my TV with these black zones between the bars and the picture???? Maybe allow us to size/center the picture????


----------



## M492A

pweezil said:


> M492A,
> If you hit SKIP FWD once while it's paused, it will jump ahead a frame and clear all the graphics.


pweezil,

Agreed, but for me a play/pause button icon reappears in the upper right corner of the screen after about 10 seconds.


----------



## pweezil

Mike, I see what you mean. I guess I never left it paused for that long after hitting SKIP FWD. Sorry. :blush:


----------



## Rob Glasser

Forgot to add: 
0. Fix the CallerID issue. Works great on my 721, works about 5% of the time on my 921. Tested with the exact same phone jack and line so something has to be different with the software/hardware on the 921. 

1. Fix the small amount of black space between the gray bars and the 4:3 picture when in Gray Bars mode. Current implementation pretty much defeats the purpose of gray bars

2. Fix the Red Dot issue in the guide for OTA-HD recordings

3. Fix it so if you select the channel and time of a manual timer in the guide it brings up the timer instead of asking you if you want to record what you already have selected to record. i.e. how it works on the 721. 

4. Add a Screensaver!!!!

5. Fix the preview window in the DVR screen so when you delete a recording while on an HD channel it doesn't change the picture to take up the entire background.

6. Improved HD OTA reception/retension. I seem to not be able to lock in stations on the 921 that was when I had an LG 3510A OTA Receiver/DVD Player.

7. Quieter Fan/HD would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath

8. Name Based Recording, again would be nice but I'm not holding my breath

9. Ability to rename OTA Digital stations

10. Ability to pull in OTA guide info for stations directly from the signal. Especially on secondary stations.

11. A smarter stretch mode for 4:3 content, like Pioneer's Cinema mode, which is a combination of stretch and zoom to both minimze distortion and loss of video content.

12. Here is another one I found last night. I created a one time timer for an OTA-HD show. realized I wanted it to be weekly, went in deleted it, and then tried to re-create it weekly and the 'create' button does nothing. Tried another one time recording of it, no luck. Soft reset and I was able to setup the recording. Really annoying.


----------



## Bradtothebone

boylehome said:


> Bradtothebone, I think that I may experience the same drop-out that you describe but I'm not positively sure. I seem to suffer from two different kinds.
> 
> 1. On OTA channel KRCR ABC, about every 10 seconds the audio ceases for less then a second then returns. I think that this is an audio problem with the station when it is up-converting it's SD signal into the HD channel.
> 
> 2. On every HD channel broadcasting Dolby 5.1, on my monitor's stereo speaker system, the subjects voice drops to a very low level and different times. but the rest of the channels sounds blast away. For the Dolby 5.1, I have to turn my volume from 05, to at least 20 to 25 to get the same voice quality. I think that somehome the Dolby 5.1 is phasing the voice audio out.
> If I use my stereo system with Dolby, this is a non issue.
> 
> Can you please describe the drop out problem for me?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> John


First, I've never noticed the dropouts on anything but OTA recordings, but like I said before, 90% of what we record is OTA.

What we've been seeing (hearing, mostly) are multiple short audio dropouts (total silence) ranging in duration from less than a second to many seconds (15?). Sometimes on the longer ones, if you hit "pause" and then "pause" again to restart, the audio will come back.

The dropouts are sometimes, but not always, accompanied by video pixelization when the audio returns (usually not).

The dropouts seem to occur much more frequently at the beginning of recordings, and then you see fewer and fewer as time goes on.

I can't say for certain, but it SEEMS like I've only seen this problem on DD5.1 programs.

Hope this helps.

Brad


----------



## boylehome

Bradtothebone said:


> First, I've never noticed the dropouts on anything but OTA recordings, but like I said before, 90% of what we record is OTA.
> 
> I can't say for certain, but it SEEMS like I've only seen this problem on DD5.1 programs.
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> Brad


My Monitor caused the audio problems for the Dolby 5.1. Some how, I put it into virtual Dolby and it just phased out the 5.1 audio occasionally. I turned the virtual Dolby off and now what I listed as "2" is no longer a problem. I think that #1


> 1. On OTA channel KRCR ABC, about every 10 seconds the audio ceases for less then a second then returns. I think that this is an audio problem with the station when it is up-converting it's SD signal into the HD channel.


 is KRCR's problem.

Thanks for the response,

John


----------



## zplyonz

I have eliminated all the "Nice-to haves" and minor annoyances from my list. Here's my top ten:

1. Audio dropouts with video pixellation 
2. Audio dropouts with video pixellation 
3. Audio dropouts with video pixellation 
4. Audio dropouts with video pixellation 
5. Audio dropouts with video pixellation 
etc


----------



## MooseTyln

Add useful error messages when trying to tune Digital OTA. It would be very helpful to have a hint as to why the signal that is locked and holding steady is not suitable for the 'and acquired' status so I can save it.

It is hard to go to a local station engineer with "It doesn't work".


----------



## mfrodsha

chuckbernard said:


> #1:
> 
> Allow me to record OTA programs when I don't get guide data information. Either let ME decide which channel maps to which (e.g., a matrix where I can point 8223 -> 2-1 and 8221 -> 8-1) Then, my ota guide information from dish will match my out of town HD OTA channels which I receive! And I won't get the Fox guide data on my NBC channel! People would be thrilled with this kind of power! And, you would have a usable workaround for ALL 921 users!


I HIGHLY agree with this. OTA data is my number one gripe. If we can't have data on sub-channels, break it into 1 hours blocks. AGREED.


----------



## boylehome

mfrodsha said:


> I HIGHLY agree with this. OTA data is my number one gripe. If we can't have data on sub-channels, break it into 1 hours blocks. AGREED.


I'm not a programmer, but I don't think that it would take that much work to make one hour blocks for the blank EPG channel rows.


----------



## Stingray

Lack of OTA data is my number one gripe. If we can't have data on sub-channels, break it into 1 hours blocks.


----------



## jsanders

All they have to do is put in fake data, "programming slot", that happens to be in one hour increments. Then they just use the existing code to set the timers. They don't have to do much any programming.


----------



## erh1117

*ZSR, ZSR, ZSR*

Alternative --- full money back refund


----------



## SimpleSimon

zplyonz said:


> I have eliminated all the "Nice-to haves" and minor annoyances from my list. Here's my top ten:
> 
> 1. Audio dropouts with video pixellation
> 2. Audio dropouts with video pixellation
> 3. Audio dropouts with video pixellation
> 4. Audio dropouts with video pixellation
> 5. Audio dropouts with video pixellation
> etc


 Unh. The typical cause of this is weak signal strength and/or bad LNB/switch.

Please ignore me if you've already checked, double-checked, and cross-checked your outdoor gear.


----------



## IamtheEggman

SimpleSimon said:


> Unh. The typical cause of this is weak signal strength and/or bad LNB/switch.
> 
> Please ignore me if you've already checked, double-checked, and cross-checked your outdoor gear.


The only time I have audio dropout is when viewing recorded programming and it happens just about everytime.


----------



## Avillant

Fix the Red dots. 
Show subchannel guide data correctly. Show ALL OTA stations I receive, not just the ones in my locals. Using the local info as a stop gap was fine, but MORE should be done!
Please, please, please change the recording time pads to both zero instead of 1 and 3, so I don't have to change them to zero myself everytime.
Make the unit more stable!!

Other than the above problems, I am REALLY happy with my 921. It has given me many hours of enjoyment and perhaps I am lucky, but I have never experienced most of the problems that get reported on this site. I'm NOT saying they don't happen, but guess I am just lucky.
Tony


----------



## tnsprin

Mark Lamutt said:


> I received a note this morning asking me to collect what your top 10 or so bugs that still need to be fixed are. Eldon has their own top 10 list, and want to make sure their list matches the bugs that are most troublesome for the online community.
> 
> Here's your chance to directly impact what gets fixed in the NEXT software release. So, I'm asking you to post in this thread what your wishlist of fixes is.


Bugs
1. Aspect ration key stops working and SD stuck in stretch mode. Other remote functions eventually also stop working as well.
2. CC not working on 720P
3. ZSRs and its related bugs.
4. No tuner available message, which recording do you want to stop, when erasing a previous recorded program. Who wants to stop any recording?
5. Search does not find OTA channels.

Desired new features
1. Shut down fans and drive when not needed.
2. Independent output mode (720 to 1080i, 480i/p to 480p, 1080i to 1080i for me)
3. Subchannel guide info.
4. MPEG4 upgrade option (I can wish can't I)
5. Archive to other media (Bring back firewire option!)
6. NBR


----------



## fkasten

New bugs since 212:

1) no guide data for OTA WAVE (NBC - Louisville) 3.1 
2) last night 921 stuck in stretch mode (which I never use) on non-HD satellite channels
3) periodic audio dropouts


----------



## sgt940

Bugs
1. occasional problems with OTA locking above 90 signal strength
2. Loses postions in recording when using skip shows delayed time of 1200 minutes have to reboot to fix.

New Features
1. New blaster codes to fire DVD recorders (Panasonic) or ability of unit to learn record code from the DVD recorder remote (than never need to add new codes).
2.NBR (suprised after all of the noise this is'nt first on everyone's list)


----------



## Mike123abc

SimpleSimon said:


> Unh. The typical cause of this is weak signal strength and/or bad LNB/switch.
> 
> Please ignore me if you've already checked, double-checked, and cross-checked your outdoor gear.


The dropout/pixelization has to be a bug in the 921 recording. I have watched shows on the 921 live (while it was recording) with no dropouts, but when you go back and rewatch the recording they are in there. I have tried to find a pattern as to when they happen, but there does not appear to be one (i.e. does it happen when a timer fires, user changes channels on the other tuner, trick plays on a prerecorded show during the recording, etc).


----------



## garyhesq

I thought of a few more. One was another's suggestion that bothers me. Yes it concerns burn in. :grin: 

1. Fix the small amount of black space between the gray bars and the 4:3 picture when in Gray Bars mode.

2. Ability to hit a combination of specific buttons on the remote to force a reboot. I'm tired of having to get my lazy butt off the couch to reboot this thing.


----------



## Jon Spackman

mark i know you can't say flat out, but in your beta are things looking good for this?  

"5. Fix the preview window in the DVR screen so when you delete a recording while on an HD channel it doesn't change the picture to take up the entire background." and just the whole dvr screen preview window showing the corner of the show instead of the a small window with the entire show?

Are we getting anywhere with this one? Thanks Jon


----------



## Mark Lamutt

Sorry Jon...all I'll say right now (other than the red dot fix that I mentioned in another thread) is that some of the items mentioned have been fixed. Others haven't been yet. The list that I'm compiling to send will not include the items that have been fixed.


----------



## SimpleSimon

Yeah - there's so many reports of this - and not just on the 921 - that I'm starting to think that our assumption that we're always watching "from the HDD" is incorrect - or at least not taking into account the HDD's buffer.

Theory: HDD write followed by immediate read means the data is still in the buffer - no problem. Watching recorded show later means little to no read buffer (depending on file fragmentation).

As others have speculated, this might be dependent on how full the HDD is. Me, I get 1-3 an hour and have a 90% full HDD.

We might want to explore this theory in a different thread - it's OT here.


----------



## Jim Parker

SS:
FYI, there is a thread going on this.
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=38286


----------



## srrobinson2

Bug Fixes:
1) Fix Skip forward and skip back durations on 720p broadcasts - make them 30 seconds and 10 seconds
2) Correct audio dropout problems
3) Red dot does not appear for future OTA recordings
4) Stop title banner from automatically appearing when events fire

Feature Requests:
1) Name Based Recording 
2) In the preferences area, allow me to permanently set the start and stop times instead of defaulting to 1 min and 3 min always
3) Turn my firewire port on or at least make an expansion card so that we can archive the content


----------



## boylehome

When you manually record a program that is in progress. A screen appears, "Record Remainder of This Event:" blah blah blah. If you hit OK the program may stop at the end of the event but not always. If it continues it goes forever and it can't be manually stopped. So what are the current options? Re-boot. Then the program gets erased from the hard drive. If by chance you select, "options" the last entry, "Record entire event" is grayed and can't be selected. Get this fixed. It is a pain the the [email protected]^.


----------



## DonLandis

1. Fix the memory leaKs or whatever causes the 921 to slow down and reboot itself, or the need for the 921 to do a nitely reboot to prevent the OS slow down and spontaneous reboot.

2. Fix the caller ID so that the few people still having this problem don't have to keep complaining about it.

3. Fix all the current reported OTA guide bugs people who have paid the monthly fee for this feature are now reporting. I don't need to cut and paste them here do I?

4. ZSR bugs. 

5. CC on 720p

Note- I don't necessarily have all these but I would like to see the 921 get past them so we can concentrate on features.


The rest are desired feature requests-

1. OTA recording- I like the idea of the guide being divided into half hour blocks so we can just select a couple for recording. Adjacent blocks selected would be combined to a single recording. Add a feature that allows us to rename the program intended to be recorded so any with no info could be listed in the recordings with a real name we would add and recognize later.

2. Allow PSIP guide date to have priority over E* service guide data if the OTA station is sending it. If locals are not sending it then allow the user option to select E* service guide data in the preferences. BTW- this method would resolve most if not all of the requested bug fixes and subchannel gude requests. It would put the responsibility of proper guide data on each local station, not on E* 's service. For example, our local PBS with 4 subchannels would have proper guide data but as it stands now, if I pay E* the locals NTSC channels service- I would still get no guide data for PBS. The downside to this would be how far into the future the date would list but that would be for you to take up with your station. Just let them know you want the PSIP to carry the full published guide they provide to the service anyway. Technically, this is not a problem as one of our stations (CBS affiliate and FOX sister station is doing it now)

3. Fix the software so that the maximum record time is not fixed in the software but it allowed to adjust to the size of the hard drive capacity (partition size) in place. This feature requests speaks to the latest 3rd party developement that permits the user to replace his hard drive with another. Currently the only option is a 250G drive as larger drives tested have shown to be limited to 250G format. This change would allow users to swap their hard drive with a 400G or higher drive for increased recording capacity or swap drives for archiving. (Note- I recognize this is not a supported procedure now but the competition has allowed this and supports it since the data on the hard drive is secure it does not breach any system security. The 921 drives' recordings will only play back in the same 921 and cannot be swapped or transported from 921 to other 921. This is just a way for a single 921 to have user expanded capacity as desired. It can be done now but only with 250G drives.) Please do not ask me how this is done with 250G as it is well documented elsewhere.

4. Name based recording.

Now for some wish list items I don't feel will be done because it has been stated, E* just has other ways and/or just won't do it. Still on my list!

1. Offer second OTA tuner card with software upgrade.
2. activate 1394 (5C) Hard drive recording output as originally planned for DVHS VCR.
3. MPEG4 card when this becomes needed rather than force us to upgrade to another receiver.
4. Offer an expansion blue ray drive for the spare drive bay.
5. Support user swappable hard drives similar to the way we have them available now for computers or HDTIVO. ie support 3rd party products for this.


Finally- all is meaningless unless E* get's more HDTV offerings. Reminder- It's all about programming, not the hardware. I don't care what YOU find compelling Charlie. Your compelling bingo channel and Portugese language channels are just not at the top of my compelled to watch programming! Starz HD, Cinemax HD, TMCHD, Playboy HD and many like this are. (Hint- look to VOOM HD offerings for clues)


----------



## SimpleSimon

Don: Your choice of HD channels is nice, but there ARE still a LOT of E* CUSTOMERS that have NO chance of EVER getting HD OTA.

Said customers are starting to defect. Sure there's "only" a couple of million of us, but HD penetration in rural areas (no OTA) is much likely higher than in those little rabbit hutches that city people live in.  After all, what else is there to do here besides watch TV?

I get 1-2 calls a week from E* customers asking whether we carry the HD-TiVo. We don't, but the guy down the street does, and he's got a bunch of used Dish500's in his junk pile now.

GET THE CLUE CHARLIE!


----------



## DonLandis

Simon- My solution for the rural viewer looking for the networks is very simple- Open up the 5 networks to national feeds and dump this whole DMA business. It's an idea that we really grew out of in the 90's with the onset of dbs. The FCC rules and the NAB need to get into the 21st century with broadcast regs! 
Plus- My list is not inclusive, that's why I exampled the selection offered on Voom. Nothing would make me happier to see that collection of channels get offered to D* or even E* if Voom shuts down. Meanwhile- this, I believe is quite OT for the 921 wish list of bug fixes first, features second. All Mark wanted was a priority list for bug fixes and many offered items that were not bug fixes rather wishlists. My real point is to remind eneryone that fixing all these bugs is nice but unless E* begins to match the competition on HDTV offerings, there is no point and everyone may as well switch to SDTV only or move to the competition, which BTW, E* is ranking #4 for HDTV. You want to debate that? Let's start another thread in the other forum, not here.


----------



## SimpleSimon

No debate - we're on the same page that's for sure. Kill the NAB & Nielsen.


----------



## 4HiMarks

I second everything everyone's asked for, and present one more feature request I haven't seen. I bet E* might even be able to get the content providers to chip in some funding to make it happen. That is make it easier to add a channel to a favorites list. The way it happens now is:
1) find the channel you want to add and make a note of the channel number.
2) go into the menu and navigate to "modify favorites" 
3) scroll through many, many screens to get to the chosen channel.
4) check it
5) exit out clicking several done buttons along the way
6) shut down the receiver and restart (sometimes even doing a power cord reboot) to get it to show up. 

There should be a way to just "bookmark" it like in a web browser. I'd be satisfied with adding a "add current channel to checked favorites list" function to the options under menu --> 4 --> 1.

-Chris


----------



## SimpleSimon

Step #5 is moot - just hit "View".

Step #6 is a bug.


----------



## erh1117

Actually, it is less complicated. All I do is:

1) find the channel you want to add and make a note of the channel number.
2) go into the menu and navigate to "modify favorites" 
3) *enter channel number * _instead of scrolling through many, many screens to get to the chosen channel.
4) check it
5) exit out_


----------



## DonLandis

Mike123abc-

Saw your bug post on "3 tuners active" and wanted to comment-
You may be aware of this but your observation of being able to view a 3rd OTA tuner live while recording two other sat tuners seems like it would be possible because of tuner population in the 921. The problem is that the chip set in the 921 is said to only allow two different signals to pass at anyone time. This is a hardware limitation of all the DVR's that use this chipset. I can't recall the chip set number right now but at one time I did have the specs here and what I just stated was listed as the capability of the device. FYI- the HDTIVO has the same chip and it also is limited to the above maximum even though the HDTIVO does have 4 tuners. How you saw this, I don't know but you seem to be the only one. Have you been able to reproduce this with regularity? 
I'm trying to figure a way you could have observed this phenomena but all I can come up with is that a bug does exist in that your recording of one of those recording tuners but it switched as well. Meaning you were only switching one of the tuners that was recording. But this would be recorded to that program and you would have been able to see the channel switch in the recording playback later. 
Anyway, Hope you see this and do some followup to your bug report. I understand you are the only one besides Mark who may post to your report poll thread over there.


----------



## paulrus

I wanted to add to my bug list:

1. When you pick a program you've recorded to watch, it should actually play that program instead of something else. This has happened 3-4 times so far for me - I stop watching one program, navigate to another and select it - the program I was finished watching then starts over instead of playing the program I selected.

2. Have I mentioned NBR lately?

3. Audio glitch with video pixelizing.

Mr. Subliminal says "Thanks for (NBR) taking the (NBR) time to (NBR) collect this (NBR) bug report (NBR) data."

Paul


----------



## alexbgr

I agree aboout the red dots not appearing for programs to be recorded and the audio dropouts.

What drives me nuts is the "pause" and "forward" / "reverse" grapics always covering up the bottom of the screen. I can't easily scan back to review school closings, sports scores, weather alerts and news.


----------



## conner65

I have never seen this posted and it certainly isn't a top ten problem but the search feature is really slow. Searching on my 721 only takes a couple of seconds. The 921 takes about a minute.


----------



## markcollins

1Audio glitch with pixelization.This seems to occurring more and more frequently.


----------



## KKlare

(1) Fix erase of all recordings, which happened twice to me!
(2) Fix the Zero-Second Recordings (ZSR). I have had lots of them. Usually if the 911 has one, all subsequent recordings are lost until a reboot.
(3) Fix the dark overlay and freezing of buttons, usually on a quick second punch of Info. Requires power off, often when I have buffer yet to see.
(4) Fix closed captions (CC) on 720p broadcasts.
(5) Fix OTA guide to display all subchannels. Include the PBS national guide.
(6) Fix occasional jitters. Yes L212 did not completely fix it.
(7) Fix the exit of recording to 2 others so you can select one. It helped once because on was a ZSR and I could then delete stop that "Rec" channel.
(8) Fix full Info on OTA guide when we can see first part in upper left.
(9) Fix Sat and OTA video and audio glitches.
(10) Fix CBS 4 second or more delay of CC, which is not there on 811.
(11) Fix the slow search. Fix backspace (*) in search item using remote not keyboard.
(12) Fix CC fonts (cursive is not, small is not, solid is not). Pick a font more like 811 small proportional--compact and smooth--even the Guide font.
(13) Fix the front panel reboot going into a loop, NEW.
(14) Fix the red dot. With All Chan displayed, set an OTA and the do was in LIL. Programs not matching the length of the guide times do not show--I use 50 min on some HDNET shows. 
(15) Fix the front red light to correspond to the DVR list. It records without the red light.
...
-Ken

BTW, Power cord reboot seems more effective than holding front button, which has failed to stop the ZSRs.


----------



## boylehome

markcollins said:


> 1Audio glitch with pixelization.This seems to occurring more and more frequently.


Ususally this is a symptom of poor/weak reception. Are you specifically referring to OTA or are you including Satellite reception? If you antenna's are aimed properly, your antenna equipment is in proper working order, and all cables and connections are good, then what your describing may result from software/tuner malfunction. Having suffered this problem, I contacted Advanced Tech. and actually spoke to a person on the 921 team. I was instructed to do a series of things which started with a factory reset, reboot, etc. What I found, is if I was having what you have described, then I'm also getting ZSR's. For whatever reason, the problem with audio glitch with pixelation occurs more often with my HEED 921.


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## Jim Parker

I have had the audio dropouts for the entire time (15 months) that I have had my HECD box. They happen on the average of 1 or 2 per hour, but last night while watching 24, it was every 5 to 10 minutes. I have never had a ZSR. My 501 and 510 do not do it. I have no OTA, all channels are thru the satellite. It does it on both the local and national channels and both SD and HD channels.

To me, this is the most distracting bug in the 921. None of the other bugs are so "right in your face" like having the sound drop out for 1 to 4 seconds and the picture show pixalization. OK, it would be worse to have your entire disk erased, but I have never lost any recordings, so that does not apply to me.


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## Forceten

We also get the audio drop outs. They aren't in the regular viewing but they show up in the recordings. That 2-3 sec audio drop out is really annoying!

The only other top thing I would like seen taken care of is the ZSR. Too many of my recordings are showing the wrong title!


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## Rodney

SD PROGRAMS STUCK IN STRETCH MODE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In L211 this was an annoyance. In L212 it is a pain in the a**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After working with compentent programmers for nearly 20 years, I am amazed at the difficulty Eldon is experiencing writing code for the 921. Let us not forget that Eldon has had OVER A YEAR to produce stable code. God help us if these programmers were employed to write code for medical research or our nations air traffic control system.


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## Mark Lamutt

Has anyone been able to determine what the trigger is for the stretch bug? Neither have I...


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## sampatterson

1. ZSR - eliminate them
2. Forwarding/playing to end of HD recorded material sometimes causes an "77 Unknown banner to come up and then locks up the machine requiring a reboot.
3. Slowness of navigation on the DVR listing of recorded events. Sometimes you click Restart and it waits for 2 or 3 minutes before it will start playing the recorded content.
4. Guide corruption which causes timer events to not start
5. "Smart Card not Authorized" errors on channels coming up and then they cause content to not be recorded (or ZSRs to happen).
6. Fix OTA guide data
7. Fix update process - updates never install and you have to manually reboot and hope that the updates install. If they don't install correctly you get the wonderful "font changes in the guide, no red dots recording, etc"
8. Fix audio dropouts and video dropouts that seem to have been introduced in 212.


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## dishbacker

Mark Lamutt said:


> Has anyone been able to determine what the trigger is for the stretch bug? Neither have I...


Mark, the only time I see this bug is after some extended viewing of an HD channel... and usually its an OTA-HD channel (not sure which one though). But I don't know any specific data on it.

Edit: And I've only had it happen to me twice with L211 and once with L212.


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## edietz

My top bug-fix requests are:

1. The HD/SD in combination with PG UP/PG DN is supposed to switch discretely into HD and SD respectively. It doesn't in the 212 version.

2. The stretch mode occurs when switching to HD until I invoke the guide and cancel out of it.

Boot Vers: 150B
Flash Vers. F053
SW: L212HEED-N


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## William_K_F

How about fix requirement for locals subscribed before those of us getting grandfathered distant nets lose our locals to maintain our grandfathered status.


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## tnsprin

Mark Lamutt said:


> Has anyone been able to determine what the trigger is for the stretch bug? Neither have I...


I haven't and have had 4 different scenarios kick it in for the 4 cases I've had since l212.

1) was working fine as 1080i for an SD program. Decided to switch to 480p because I've noticed better picture in such cases. Ended up stretched in 480p and even when switching back to 1080i. Rebooted.

2) Watching a HD recorded program and recording 2 HD programs. At the end of the program tried to erase and got the "no tuner available which recording do you want to stop. Said No and then selected a previous recorded SD program. It was stretched and everything SD remained stretch until reboot.

3)Turned on for first time of the day (should have rebooted automatically overnight) and was stretched right from the start.

4) SD channels were working normally. First got a problem when most of my OTA guide was missing. Also when I went to 8000 the channels that are also national channels (I'm in NY area) were missing. Other channels in NY where there in 8100 and OTA. The channels did show up in 200's. When I tried them however they were now stretched.

Is there a pattern there? I don't recognize it. For what its worth all were against my HECD 921. But it is also the one I use most. The other being in a bedroom and I only use it for programs that I plan to watch late.


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## lujan

lujan said:


> 1. Resolution passthrough
> 2. Skip forward and skip back durations on 720p broadcasts - make them 30 seconds and
> 10 seconds, rather than the current 15 seconds and 5 seconds
> 3. Red dot does not appear on guide for upcoming OTA recordings
> 4. When program is paused, program jumps ahead (from paused point) when slow motion or frame-by-frame buttons are pressed
> 5. Fix the jerky frame-jumping motion when skipping forward and back
> 6. Total freeze-up when skipping forward or when fast forwarding near the end of a DVR recording
> 7. PIP in HD channels
> 8. Fix bug which changes your default HD resolution from 720 or 1080 back to 480 if the 921 is powered off in SD mode
> 
> I don't get ZSRs so I didn't include it. If I got them I certainly would include it. I didn't include OTA guide data because I get it because I pay for locals. Numbers 4 and 5 are pretty similar. Number 7 is a wish list because I think it's a hardware limitation because even my TV will not do PIP when a HD channel is in the picture (no pun intended).


I just noticed that the skip forward 30 seconds and skip backwards 10 seconds is not working in SD mode under the new software (L212). Has anyone else noticed this? It used to work in SD mode but not in HD mode where it is 15 seconds and 5 seconds for forwards and backwards respectfully. Now it is the same on both modes.


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## Jon Spackman

your right i noticed that last night. Same small jump when viewing hd or sd dvr event.

Jon


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## Flasshe

The small jump on skip forward/backward bug is a known issue - several people including myself have mentioned it in this very thread as one of the "top 10s". It's very intermittant for me, happens on some channels/recordings but not others. Pretty much always happens on OTA 720p recorded material.


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## Curmudgeon

Cyclone said:


> Complete the OTA EPG work.
> 
> We all know that this is going to have to be done for the 942 and any future Dish HD OTA receiver. So get finish it up here first.
> 
> 1. I do not get EPG info from a neighboring DMA which I am Grade A reception wise.
> 2. Sub Channels have no guide data
> 3. HD PBS channels do not have Guide data.


While I agree with all 3, I don't think any of them are solvable by Eldon software hounds. They are Dish/Tribune/PBS issues.


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## jsanders

Curmudgeon said:


> While I agree with all 3, I don't think any of them are solvable by Eldon software hounds. They are Dish/Tribune/PBS issues.


They are all fixable by the Eldon folks. The 811 has got all three of those issues resolved, free of charge!!!! The infrastructure is there, unique sub-channel guide data is there (for the 811), we had PBS guide data before L212. Alll the 921 has to do is tap into the *existing* infrastructure.

They BETTER fix it all of those issues! :box:


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## Mark Lamutt

For what it's worth, they're working on all three, but you'll never see guide data without subbing to the locals package on the 921.


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## jsanders

Mark Lamutt said:


> For what it's worth, they're working on all three, but you'll never see guide data without subbing to the locals package on the 921.


I guess I am going to have to keep calling dish once a month to get that charge removed then! They have to understand that if they try to cheat their customers like this, they will loose business in the end! If they "insist" in charging for OTA guide data, why not make it a separate fee?


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## joebird

1. Error 692 (no authorization) problem
2. Audio dropouts
3. Correct trick-play operation (don't jump ahead at beginning of slow-mo)
4. Red dot in the guide for correct OTA channel
5. 'No information available' displayed for info in browse mode for OTA channels


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## tecman

Recent stretch mode experience:
Watching CBSHD (Los Angeles, 148) with 921 setup at 1080i/16:9 but broadcast at 4:3 (everything ok).

Switched to SD (local FOX, 121) locked in stretch mode. SD/HD and Aspect buttons locked. Timer was set to record (local NBC, 121) but had not fired before switching.

Temporary fix by going to setup and changing to 4:3.

I do not have OTA in my area.


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## paulrus

Ok this is a new one for me, but it's very annoying:

1. Wrong program labels. Right now approximately 10-15% of my recordings have the wrong name assigned - so when my kids want to watch Spongebob, I select it and Dora plays. My wife wants to watch Clean Sweep but when she selects it, she gets What Not To Wear. Very annoying!!

2. NBR - PLEASE!!!! (to paraphrase Homer Simpson) Timer based recording is the suckiest bunch of suck that ever did suck. I can't tell you how many wrong programs the 921 has recorded because they changed the time that the show is on. Or, there's a special extra-long season finale, and I miss the last 30 minutes because the 921 only records based on time. Extremely annoying!! I shouldn't have to babysit the 921 to make sure it records what I want - that defeats the purpose for paying for such an expensive piece of equipment.

3. The 921 seems to be forgetting weekly events. I had scheduled Smallville on HDNet, but after 2-3 weeks of recording, it just stopped and hasn't recorded it since.

Paul


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## pwherr

Mark Lamutt said:


> For what it's worth, they're working on all three, but you'll never see guide data without subbing to the locals package on the 921.


I sub to locals but since 212 KXRM on ota has been no info av.It had it before but not since.I can't time record because no info.


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## kspeters

jsanders said:


> I guess I am going to have to keep calling dish once a month to get that charge removed then! They have to understand that if they try to cheat their customers like this, they will loose business in the end! If they "insist" in charging for OTA guide data, why not make it a separate fee?


So which fee are they removing? The locals charge? Do you still get the locals channels then? I have the same feeling as I don't need the dish locals but want the guide data which right now is only filling in two channels.


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## Michael P

Mark Lamutt said:


> For what it's worth, they're working on all three, but you'll never see guide data without subbing to the locals package on the 921.


I ask again, Why? If they can give it to 811 owners for free why not to us 921 owners who already PAY EXTRA for the DVR service?

If they insist on nickle and diming us then they need to make the OTA guide FLAWLESS: Get the correct PBS data - get all the subchannel data - get all the Out-of-market stations data.

Dish ought to give us a rebate for the greif of putting up with the current OTA guide situation.


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## jsanders

Dish doesn't care about our grief. If they did, they would have done somethng about it. I'm sure the executives who decided to charge us for this figured that the masses would grumble a bit, but then they would just pay in the end anyway. Why do they know that? Cuz that is exactly what we did when they dropped firewire! It is what we do every time they release another bowl of dog vomit for a software release. It is what we do when they decided to require us to upgrade to the 942 if we want NBR. It is what they did when they decided to charge us for a hack they called the OTA EPG! They already know what we will do. I'm sure they also live in gated communities so they sleep well at night.

Don't think they care about you when they have you signed up for autopay!


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## masman

1. Need to reset display mode after reboot. I force a couple of power reboots a week (using a 24/7 server employing X10 technology) to avoid a number of problems with the 921. But, no matter what mode I put the 921 in (HD or SD) before the X10 command to kill the power, it always comes back up in SD and I lose my HD display settings. I have not tried putting the receiver in standby before "pulling the plug." Perhaps this would help.

2. 2-3 second audio drop mentioned elsewhere.

3. Stability of functions. I really don't care that as much about what enhancements, etc. are put into place as long as they are stable and work correctly each and every time. I really find it frustrating to deal with lockups that seemingly occur at random intervals for no reason. For example, today the page up/page down keys quit working and I was forced to do a full power boot to recover this menu functionality. A common lockup is refusal of the 921 to change modes from HD to SD or vice versa. This also requires a full power boot to recover. If I using the receiver heavily in terms of function changes...I can count on a lockup or some other mysterious problem. If I didn't know better, I might believe that the 921 programmers were refugees from the early Windows days. Count on crashes. Linux can be a stable platform. I used it before it became popular and found it to be very stable...so why aren't the 921s applications stable?

Mark A.
921 
61.5/110/119 through Dish 6/4 switch
OAT from standard antennas


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## langlin

I have not had a ZSR so my top bugs would be:

1. Fix the guide so that we at least have guide for the primary channel for all digital OTA's, but for the long haul the proper fix is to use the guide data stream broadcasts by the OTA's, then we would have all of their guide signal streams. Some stations send out four signals at times then drop to two at other times, the 921 needs to follow what the OTA's do. I can understand Dish wanting to charge for the guide but it should be a complete, functioning guide.

2. The SD stretch problem, every time it has happened to me, it has been after switching from an HD channel to a SD channel, Happens about once a week.


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## faheetah

1. ZSRs

2. When recording simultaniously, one timer is either interrupted or is eliminated.

3. When recording & viewing live TV, receiver freezes. Reboot erases recording.

4. Format button inoperation.

5. Pause/skip forward frame jump.

6. 30 second delay switching between audio & TV channels

7. Skip forward no longer works when paused.

8. Full screen behind DVR page instead of in the window in the top corner

9. Records whatever is in the time slot, whether your show is there or not.

10. No channel 100

11. Smart card error message appears when it hasn't been touched

12. Inability of E* to hire people who can help you fix this piece of junk over the phone


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## socceteer

Please Fix The Local Channel Lineup 
Please Fix The Pip For Hd


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## boylehome

socceteer said:


> Please Fix The Pip For Hd


This can't happen for the 921 as the 921 chips are limited (unlike the chips used in the 942).


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## REK108

1. Slow motion jumps ahead 1 1/2 seconds when engaged. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
2. Can not erase individual items on the search history list. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
3. When finished searching for an item from the history list, hitting the cancel button does not take you back to where you were on the history list. It may take as many as a dozen button pushes to take you back to where you were on the history list. Every Sunday I go through my search history list and set timers for that week. It takes me 20 to 30 minutes to search for 15 or so search words. Most of that time is drilling back down through the history list to get to where I left off. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Wouldn't it be logical when you press cancel that it take you back to where you were in the history list?
4. Frequent loss of audio for a few seconds at a time, gaps.
5. Timers messed up at change of time at daylight savings time in spring and fall.
6. Not really a bug, but an intermediate 30X fast forward between 15X and 60X would be welcome.

Unlike most others, I'm not very concerned about OTA bugs since I watch an OTA program about once a month.

If any of the above would be fixed, I would be a happy man.


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## socceteer

My top 4 are 

1) Over the Air Local channel lineup
2) Remote control Freeze
3) Fix the HD Pip
4) Simplify the over the air Local channel setup, I am not sure what the Local channel option under the "Point Satellite" menu is supposed to do.


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## Mark Lamutt

#1 - not sure what you mean...are you talking about lack of guide data for some channels?

#3 - cannot be fixed with the 921, as it's not a software issue.


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## KKlare

Everything I said March 8th, 2005, 12:08 PM plus the history list erase and reposition afterwards still apply.
-Ken


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## cebbigh

1. Stretch lock. (seems to be more often recently)
2. Can't delete one recording if I am recording a seperate program. 
3. Sometimes cannot record two sat programs at the same time.
4. Sometimes cannot record one OTA program at the same time as one sat program. 
5. Listed time available for recording never seems to be accurate.
6. Long wait times to delete anything.
7. Program guide info for OTA channels other than -01.
8. Default early start/late end on recordings. It messes up other recordings on consecutive 
timer recordings sometimes because the receiver gets confused and doesn't allow second recording.
9. I wish somehow the 921 would perform generally like my 510 series receiver. (My wife won't even touch the 921 remote because of past frustrations with it. If I go to a 942 the 921 will either get mothballed or sold and the 510 will remain connected and that is really a shame.)
10. Not really a bug ... but I do wish Dish were less secretive about stating what they are doing in terms of fixes and things they are working on and planning. I've been with them for over 5 years. If I just had a clear picture on when they are planning on cutting to mpeg4 or what they are working on to address the 921 issues I could steady myself to just sit it out. 
10.


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## DaveSwartz

I've searched but never found any complaints for audio level balance between HD and non-HD programming. Whenever I switch from OTA HD or SD or Dish HD to Dish SD programming, I must reduce the volume level by 6db to keep a similar audio level. I'm using the optical audio output which is set for "DD or PCM". With my setup it seems that the audio levels for HD (or OTA SD that is up-converted) are processed 6 db lower than Satellite SD or OTA 480p.


Dish 921
L213-DEED-N


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## tnsprin

DaveSwartz said:


> I've searched but never found any complaints for audio level balance between HD and non-HD programming. Whenever I switch from OTA HD or SD or Dish HD to Dish SD programming, I must reduce the volume level by 6db to keep a similar audio level. I'm using the optical audio output which is set for "DD or PCM". With my setup it seems that the audio levels for HD (or OTA SD that is up-converted) are processed 6 db lower than Satellite SD or OTA 480p.
> 
> Dish 921
> L213-DEED-N


6db is of the difference that is suppose to be used for dolby digital to allow for greater frequency response and accuracy. So this sounds normal


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## DaveSwartz

tnsprin said:


> 6db is of the difference that is suppose to be used for dolby digital to allow for greater frequency response and accuracy. So this sounds normal


I see the 6db difference independent of whether the sound is DD or not. If the video is 480 line (as it will be with SD Dish content), the sound level is high. If the video is HD (with or without DD) the audio will be low. It is a pain to have to constantly readjust the audio. I have not seen a difference in audio level between a DD SD show (like HBO) and a non-DD SD show.


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## tnsprin

DaveSwartz said:


> I see the 6db difference independent of whether the sound is DD or not. If the video is 480 line (as it will be with SD Dish content), the sound level is high. If the video is HD (with or without DD) the audio will be low. It is a pain to have to constantly readjust the audio. I have not seen a difference in audio level between a DD SD show (like HBO) and a non-DD SD show.


All HD broadcasts are dolby digital. Of course some dolby digital is simple stereo or even (shutter) mono.


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## SciFer

I, like many others, would to be able use the DVR features, which require the guide, without paying for local channels just so I can record my HD OTA programing. I believe they can do it but won't because this mean a substantial loss in revenue.


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## evyst

The only major recurring problem I have with my unit is that if I am watching a recorded OTA program and am using the skip or FF feature it will occasionally jump back to the beginning of the recording. This can be very annoying if you,ve already watched 3/4th of the recording! Also, put my vote for the OTA epg info! It's BS that it's not included in the DVR fee.


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## KKlare

evyst said:


> The only major recurring problem I have with my unit is that if I am watching a recorded OTA program and am using the skip or FF feature it will occasionally jump back to the beginning of the recording. This can be very annoying if you,ve already watched 3/4th of the recording!


I think this occurs when the time left banner (as in FF or Rewind) displays unreal numbers like 1400 minutes. When you get past that part of the recording it will work normally. But Skip Back may still be bad in locking on some frame.
-Ken


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## ksauce

1. Fix no picture in 720p & scrambled picture in 1080i mode with Toshiba 65H80 (and other models according to Dish Tech Support)

2. Big agree on spinning down hard drive and standy by for fan.


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## Tomos

Audio dropouts are really getting unbearable and an average is about 10 or so per hour. :nono2:


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## RocketNJ

1. Lockup when switching to HD OTA chan currently not broadcasting any HD content.
2. Remote sluggish/lockup
3. skip forward/skip back bug
4. Colors messed up on boot with DVI out, need to go into menu and toggle back and forth between 480p, 720p, and 1080i several times.
5. audio dropouts on HD playback.

As others stated, I wish Dish were more forthcoming with scheduling/plans to fix these bugs. No information leads to false rumors.


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## Mark Lamutt

With the spooling of L215, I'm closing this thread down. We'll start up a new one for the new software.


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