# HR20-700: 0x1FE Issues / Discussion



## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

HR20-700: 0x1FE
Staggered rollout began 2/12/08.

Release notes for this version: 
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=119540

Please keep discussion confined to issues only with this receiver.

Please don't post "Got it" or "Didn't Get it" posts, they will be deleted.


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## Sirshagg (Dec 30, 2006)

> *Improved*
> 
> First press of Format Button - Display current resolution
> Misc. Improvements
> ...


What the heck does any of this really mean??? Why not just say "lots of stability and performance improvements"


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## mikeny (Aug 21, 2006)

I noticed some green blotches and pixelation after using slo-mo. When I changed the channel, I didn't observe any of that.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Sirshagg said:


> What the heck does any of this really mean??? Why not just say "lots of stability and performance improvements"


Because some people want more detail. Some, in fact want more detail even than that.


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## Sirshagg (Dec 30, 2006)

Stuart Sweet said:


> Because some people want more detail. Some, in fact want more detail even than that.


I guess I fall into the category wanting more detail becasue the detail provided doesn't really tell me anything other than they touched code having to do with certain areas. Lets just say there are 10 known bugs/flaws/whatever in an area and they say they worked on the area this doesn't help me know what known bug/etc (if any) they addressed. So in the end that little bit on extra info does me no good. Oh well, at least they are dilligently working away at it.


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

So, it seems the "big ticket item" here is "Original Format".

I've kept up somewhat with the "As Broadcast" saga, so I have a general idea, but can someone please fill me in specifically on what "Original Format" will do vis-a-vis the current implementation of "Native"? 

And, relatedly, where will the "Original Format" option be? Will it be an alternative to "Native" (i.e. changing Native lets you choose, On, Off, Original Format), or will it run "next to" Native such that to have "pure" original format you need to have Native switched "on" and Original Format switched "on"? If so, what are the consequences of having Native switched "off" and Original Format switched "on"?

I think maybe just a detailed explanation of what Original Format does -- particularly as opposed to what Native does -- will answer a lot of these questions.

Thanks in advance!

--Mav


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## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

Maverickster said:


> So, it seems the "big ticket item" here is "Original Format".
> 
> I've kept up somewhat with the "As Broadcast" saga, so I have a general idea, but can someone please fill me in specifically on what "Original Format" will do vis-a-vis the current implementation of "Native"?
> 
> ...


I could use this explanation, also!


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## Sirshagg (Dec 30, 2006)

Maverickster said:


> So, it seems the "big ticket item" here is "Original Format".


Up to 10 episodes for Series Links was a big one for me. I was able to change many of my keep all's to keep 10 (5 wasn't quite enough for me but 10 will do)


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## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

Will this NR replace the 0x1fe CE version if that's what I have on my units?


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

Sirshagg said:


> Up to 10 episodes for Series Links was a big one for me. I was able to change many of my keep all's to keep 10 (5 wasn't quite enough for me but 10 will do)


True, that's also going to be very nice. Now I wish there were a way to "batch process" my Prioritizer list to switch them all to "Keep 10" without having to go through all 48 individually....

--Mav


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## psweig (Feb 4, 2006)

I posted this in the "cutting edge" forum The inaccurate channel banner has been fixed. It now displays the channel you have just input, rather than the channel you have left.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

davemayo said:


> Will this NR replace the 0x1fe CE version if that's what I have on my units?


It is the same version, it will not download twice.


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## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

Stuart Sweet said:


> It is the same version, it will not download twice.


Ok, didn't know if there were any tweaks to the CE version that were not significant enough to warrant a new version number.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

davemayo said:


> Ok, didn't know if there were any tweaks to the CE version that were not significant enough to warrant a new version number.


Even if they fix a mis-spelling on a page, it will get a new version number


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## Jeff Richardson (Sep 18, 2006)

What does this mean: "Trickplay options when 'Delete' OSD is visibile at the end of the recording"


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## lansbury (Jun 29, 2007)

Maverickster said:


> So, it seems the "big ticket item" here is "Original Format".
> 
> I've kept up somewhat with the "As Broadcast" saga, so I have a general idea, but can someone please fill me in specifically on what "Original Format" will do vis-a-vis the current implementation of "Native"?
> 
> ...


Yes I would like an explanation too. I received the upgrade but I cannot find this option in the menus. Indeed the native on or off is still the same and just that.


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

lansbury said:


> Yes I would like an explanation too. I received the upgrade but I cannot find this option in the menus. Indeed the native on or off is still the same and just that.


Try cycling through the "Formats". Based on my extremely limited understanding of what it does (which is why I'm asking for a detailed explanation), that might also be a logical place for them to have put it.

Please let us know if you find it there.

Thanks.

--Mav


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## Sirshagg (Dec 30, 2006)

Jeff Richardson said:


> What does this mean: "Trickplay options when 'Delete' OSD is visibile at the end of the recording"


At the end of a recording when you are being prompted to delete a recording or keep it you can use the rewind burron, etc. There is nothing to indicate that you can but if you just try it it will work.


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## lansbury (Jun 29, 2007)

Maverickster said:


> Try cycling through the "Formats". Based on my extremely limited understanding of what it does (which is why I'm asking for a detailed explanation), that might also be a logical place for them to have put it.
> 
> Please let us know if you find it there.
> 
> ...


Good call, found it there.


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

lansbury said:


> Good call, found it there.


So, I guess you might be able to answer this question: Can you turn Native Off if you have "original format" selected?

I'm still hoping for a detailed explanation of exactly what this does (particularly as compared to how Native operated), but it would seem like Native should be stuck to "on" if "original format" is selected.

--Mav


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## Jlg (Sep 11, 2006)

> Guide performance improvements


I find the guide to be significantly slower. A channel down (page down) now takes 2 to 3 seconds. This is just unacceptable. Any way to go back to the previous release?


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## Burt (Jul 14, 2005)

Successful down load last night. 

It is now impossible to implement a one-button macro (sequence) on any Harmony remote for a "To Do List." Two releases ago, it took a two keystroke sequence. In the release previous to this one, it took five keystrokes if you didn't have VOD implemented. Now, it takes six keystrokes whether or not VOD is implemented.

Harmony remotes have an upper limit of five keystrokes in a macro.

What has been functional for many months has intentionally been rendered non-functional. I am not pleased.

Burt


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

Jlg said:


> I find the guide to be significantly slower. A channel down (page down) now takes 2 to 3 seconds. This is just unacceptable. Any way to go back to the previous release?


No there is not.
It is possible your unit is still building it's indexes after the restart of the system.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

Burt said:


> many months has intentionally been rendered non-functional. I am not pleased.


While it was "intentional" to change the menu structure...
It wasn't "intentional" to screw with Harmony owners.

IIRC, people have found a way to get it to work with a double macro or something like that


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## yogi (Feb 8, 2006)

Won't download thru SWM-8, Sits at 0%. 
Had to hookup straight to the dish to finish download. 
Anyone else have the same problem?


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

yogi said:


> Won't download thru SWM-8, Sits at 0%.
> Had to hookup straight to the dish to finish download.
> Anyone else have the same problem?


Did you force the download?
Was it automatically pushed to you?

Where did you get yoru SWM-8?
What firmware versions are you runing on your SWM-8? (Check your INFO Page)

Describe your setup between your HR20-700 and your SWM-8 (splitters, where is the power supply) ect...

As there should be no issues downloading while connecting via SWM... On the HR2* series


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

Burt said:


> Successful down load last night.
> 
> It is now impossible to implement a one-button macro (sequence) on any Harmony remote for a "To Do List." Two releases ago, it took a two keystroke sequence. In the release previous to this one, it took five keystrokes if you didn't have VOD implemented. Now, it takes six keystrokes whether or not VOD is implemented.
> 
> ...


Six keystrokes without VOD enabled? Does that mean seven if it is? What is the additional keystroke (presumably a directiondown) and what is the additional menu item that causes this?

So are you telling me that I'm gonna have to go back and reprogram all of my sequence shortcuts that go through the menu again and that I can't even get to Manage Recordings now in fewer than six keystrokes (if VOD is enabled)? I just did that 2 weeks ago. WTF?

--Mav


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## Burt (Jul 14, 2005)

Earl Bonovich said:


> While it was "intentional" to change the menu structure...
> It wasn't "intentional" to screw with Harmony owners.
> 
> IIRC, people have found a way to get it to work with a double macro or something like that


Earl,

This would be great. Any chance you could supply a link or a lead?

Thanks,

Burt


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## gcisko (Sep 27, 2006)

Stuart Sweet said:


> Because some people want more detail. Some, in fact want more detail even than that.


But the list as provided has no detail at all, which is what sirshagg pointed out. Simply stating "stability improvements" could be anything or nothing.


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## gcisko (Sep 27, 2006)

Jeff Richardson said:


> What does this mean: "Trickplay options when 'Delete' OSD is visibile at the end of the recording"


When you are done watching something and have the option to delete or not, you also can do trick play to back up. That did not happen previously. You were stuck with delete or not.


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## gcisko (Sep 27, 2006)

Burt said:


> Successful down load last night.
> 
> It is now impossible to implement a one-button macro (sequence) on any Harmony remote for a "To Do List." Two releases ago, it took a two keystroke sequence. In the release previous to this one, it took five keystrokes if you didn't have VOD implemented. Now, it takes six keystrokes whether or not VOD is implemented.
> 
> ...


But when I tried last night, (I Have the CE) my macro still worked. My macro goes to the screen that you can select TODO or prioritize (which I see they moved up). So the basic macro of "Menu, down down down select" still worked for me. Am I missing something? I always had to hit select again to go to TODO. I have VOD enabled and it worked even when I had media sharing enabled.


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## Burt (Jul 14, 2005)

Maverickster said:


> Six keystrokes without VOD enabled? Does that mean seven if it is? What is the additional keystroke (presumably a directiondown) and what is the additional menu item that causes this?
> 
> So are you telling me that I'm gonna have to go back and reprogram all of my sequence shortcuts that go through the menu again and that I can't even get to Manage Recordings now in fewer than six keystrokes (if VOD is enabled)? I just did that 2 weeks ago. WTF?
> 
> --Mav


They stuck an additional item in as the second item in the menu ("On Demand"). This makes the sequence:

1. Menu
2. Direction down
3. Direction down
4. Direction down
5. Select
6. Select.

<sigh>

Do you know of any way to disable VOD? If possible, it might make the menu item go away.

Burt


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## gcisko (Sep 27, 2006)

Burt said:


> They stuck an additional item in as the second item in the menu ("On Demand"). This makes the sequence:
> 
> 1. Menu
> 2. Direction down
> ...


So the first select goes to the screen (manage recordings) where you can hit select again to get to TODO correct?


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

gcisko said:


> So the first select goes to the screen where you can hit select again to get to TODO correct?


O.K., so for those of us who ALREADY had "On Demand" in the list, there's no change.

To get to Manage Recordings, its still:

Menu
DirectionDown
DirectionDown
DirectionDown
Select

To get to ToDo, it's still:

Menu
DirectionDown
DirectionDown
DirectionDown
Select
Select

If so, then this "glitch" (and I don't mean that in a negative way, Earl) is not "new" to this sofware update. It was there before.

Thank goodness. I was going to be really irritated if I had to reprogram my Harmony AGAIN a mere 2 weeks later....

--Mav


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

Burt said:


> Earl,
> 
> This would be great. Any chance you could supply a link or a lead?
> 
> ...


This is way OT, but search around in the general forum. It's basically "teaching" the remote two or more separate commands as a custom single command by having it "learn" (in RAW mode) multiple button presses back to back in a single command. That way, you can add that custom command to a sequence and effectively get over 5. I've had quite mixed results doing this, so I've just abandoned it, but others have had some success.

--Mav


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## gcisko (Sep 27, 2006)

Maverickster said:


> Thank goodness. I was going to be really irritated if I had to reprogram my Harmony AGAIN a mere 2 weeks later....


Thanks a bunch for clearing that up. I see this as a non issue for me, as the one button press I really wanted was for "Manage Recordings". And that is what the 5 button press macro i have in my harmony still gives. Whew...


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## Burt (Jul 14, 2005)

gcisko said:


> But when I tried last night, (I Have the CE) my macro still worked. My macro goes to the screen that you can select TODO or prioritize (which I see they moved up). So the basic macro of "Menu, down down down select" still worked for me. Am I missing something? I always had to hit select again to go to TODO. I have VOD enabled and it worked even when I had media sharing enabled.


That was my macro, too. Before the current release, it would take you directly to the "To Do List" without the need of the extra "Select" keystroke at the end.


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## yogi (Feb 8, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> Did you force the download?* No*
> Was it automatically pushed to you? *Yes*
> 
> Where did you get yoru SWM-8? Ordered
> ...


* Had two H20 on the MFH-2 not getting download. put it on the MFH-1 it work.*


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## gcisko (Sep 27, 2006)

Burt said:


> That was my macro, too. Before the current release, it would take you directly to the "To Do List" without the need of the extra "Select" keystroke at the end.


Oh... Well in that case I suggest doing the extra keystroke. You may find that ending in MANAGE RECORDINGS is better after all...


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

Burt said:


> Earl,
> 
> This would be great. Any chance you could supply a link or a lead?
> 
> ...


Try this:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=1312243&postcount=260


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## EMoMoney (Dec 19, 2005)

What video is support for media share?


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

yogi said:


> * Had two H20 on the MFH-2 not getting download. put it on the MFH-1 it work.*


H20 is very different then HR20

There are H20's and specific builds of SWM equipment, that will not work properly... thoses H20's need to be updated to HR21's, or the SWM modules in that MFH-2 need to be certified to be on the latest firmware.


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## Burt (Jul 14, 2005)

Earl Bonovich said:


> Try this:
> http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=1312243&postcount=260


Thanks, Earl.

I'll play with this. If I have any luck, I'll report back here.

Burt


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## gcisko (Sep 27, 2006)

EMoMoney said:


> What video is support for media share?


MPEG2 according to the new consolidated Media Sharing document out.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=114861


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## rjf (Mar 9, 2007)

Sirshagg said:


> I guess I fall into the category wanting more detail becasue the detail provided doesn't really tell me anything other than they touched code having to do with certain areas. Lets just say there are 10 known bugs/flaws/whatever in an area and they say they worked on the area this doesn't help me know what known bug/etc (if any) they addressed. So in the end that little bit on extra info does me no good. Oh well, at least they are dilligently working away at it.


+1


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## SFNSXguy (Apr 17, 2006)

Stuart Sweet said:


> HR20-700: 0x1FE
> Staggered rollout began 2/12/08.
> 
> Release notes for this version:
> ...


Once again D* releases un-veted software....

My perfect-for-months HR20-700 (only one coax attached) now "searching for signal on satellite in 2".....

This was an ongoing problem with many recent CE releases that was duly reported and, it seems, ignored.

0x1FE was pushed to me at 2:45AM.

Several restarts have not helped.

Come on D*..... get it together.


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## mightythor88 (Sep 22, 2007)

when i play a show off my list it starts off without sound - looks like FE was downloaded last night at 2:48am. 

any one else having this issue?


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## lansbury (Jun 29, 2007)

Maverickster said:


> So, I guess you might be able to answer this question: Can you turn Native Off if you have "original format" selected?
> 
> I'm still hoping for a detailed explanation of exactly what this does (particularly as compared to how Native operated), but it would seem like Native should be stuck to "on" if "original format" is selected.
> 
> --Mav


You can both on or off options seem to be the same.

All original format seems to do is control the shape of the screen. IE show program in 4:3 or 16:9 if transmitted that way.


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## mgavs (Jun 17, 2007)

Maverickster said:


> So, it seems the "big ticket item" here is "Original Format".
> 
> I've kept up somewhat with the "As Broadcast" saga, so I have a general idea, but can someone please fill me in specifically on what "Original Format" will do vis-a-vis the current implementation of "Native"?
> 
> ...


This is broken for 4x3. See http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=1448886&highlight=4x3#post1448886

It is supposed to make the HR20 keep the original resolution and aspect ratio and send it out the HDMI. This eliminates any processing when your TV does a better job then the HR20.


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## mgavs (Jun 17, 2007)

paulman182 said:


> I could use this explanation, also!


It's all here:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=108160

Basically, it is supposed to be what goes in is what comes out. It's implemented strange since it should imply NATIVE ON and that is where I would have put it. It is confusing since it the option is lumped in with CROP, STRETCH, etc. It should have been NATIVE ON/OFF or ORIGINAL FORMAT. The bottom line is the with original format the HR20 is supposed to do nothing to the signal except send it through as it was sent from the station. The problem was that even with NATIVE ON the HR20 changed things (see my letter), "original format" was supposed to fix that but broke 4x3. The intent is that you would use it if your TV did a better job processing than the HR20, if not then don't use it.


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## harlee (Mar 29, 2007)

Caller ID (CID) seems to have stopped working.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Can you avoid getting the download by unplugging your telephone line?

I order all my PPV via the Internet.


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

Earl Bonovich said:


> While it was "intentional" to change the menu structure...
> It wasn't "intentional" to screw with Harmony owners.
> 
> IIRC, people have found a way to get it to work with a double macro or something like that


Earl--

Most of the time I like the changes. This one is universally hated. Why is it impossible to get them to reconsider a change no one likes? Sure, the new menu might be a good idea, but at the cost of a sequence that many people use daily it isn't. And then they drive pigheadedly forward with it, breaking more stuff. It really boggles the mind. Seems like the development management refuses to accept that they can be in error sometimes.

When you start talking about ways to work around new features, an alarm ought to be going off. I know that you don't work there, but it must be tiring to keep defending someone's poor choice.


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## tr00per (Sep 16, 2007)

My HR20-700 after 5 min "searching for signal on satellite in 2" is now sitting in "Acquiring guide data". Rebooted twice - soft and RBR. Will call D* support.


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## Burt (Jul 14, 2005)

kcmurphy88 said:


> Earl--
> 
> Most of the time I like the changes. This one is universally hated. Why is it impossible to get them to reconsider a change no one likes? Sure, the new menu might be a good idea, but at the cost of a sequence that many people use daily it isn't. And then they drive pigheadedly forward with it, breaking more stuff. It really boggles the mind. Seems like the development management refuses to accept that they can be in error sometimes.
> 
> When you start talking about ways to work around new features, an alarm ought to be going off. I know that you don't work there, but it must be tiring to keep defending someone's poor choice.


Wish I'd said that. Amen!


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

I seem to have the new HR20 & HR21 releases. Looked at the "Original format" thing -- it's a new option on the HDTV Setup tab's reformatting options (pillarbox/stretch, etc). Since it only works in SD (the HR20 does not refomat HD), and most all SD is 4x3, it functions as a "stretch", allowing your TV to do the reformatting. Some TVs can automatically detect 4x3 SD and add pillar bars. 

Since I prefer to leave my TV in 16x9 mode, and pillarbox 4x3 SD in the HR20, this isn't too useful for me. In fact, I'm not real sure what the difference between "original" and "stretch" is. PErhaps there are some rare transmitted formats where it behaves differently.

So, hum, thanks for trying, but ...

Now, if there was some way to detect un-pillared HD 4x3 (aka stretch mode) and pillarbox it automatically, I'd be very interested. But I'm fairly sure the HR20's hardware doesn't support reformatting in HD modes. A needed addition to the next chipset. The HR10 could do this....


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

Bug fixed: The "recent search by channel ID" bug is fixed. It now saves the channel name instead of the call letters, which is good because it searches against channel name, not call letters.


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## MartyS (Dec 29, 2006)

richierich said:


> Can you avoid getting the download by unplugging your telephone line?
> 
> I order all my PPV via the Internet.


Nope... it's pushed via the sat.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

I understand that the software was downloaded to an inactive partition and was only activated via a phone call from D*. Has this changed?


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

O.K., so now I *think* I understand. 

Please correct me if the following sentence is incorrect. "Original" has nothing to do with the original resolution of the broadcast; "Original" is simply an aspect ratio choice that sends out the signal in the aspect ratio of the broadcast received; "Original" does for Aspect Ratio what its resolution counterpart -- "Native On w/ All Resoutions Selected" -- does for resolution; so "pure" passthrough for BOTH aspect ratio and resolution requires "Original Format" and "Native On w/ All Resolutions Selected".

Assuming that to be correct (and, again, please correct me if it isn't), then what is the functional difference between these two setups:

Format: Original
Native: On
Resolutions: All Selected

Format: Stretch
Native: On
Resolutions: All Selected

My TV (Panasonic 58PZ700U) treats both the same -- it pillarboxes 4:3 480i and it does nothing with 720p/1080i.

So, in that scenario, what is the advantage/disadvantage of choosing Original over Stretch?

Thanks in advance.

--Mav


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## hookemfins (Jul 3, 2007)

Another problem that should up after this latest CE is a blank recording. I went to record Deal or No Deal on Ch 6 in Miami and I got nothing but a gray screen. I noticed the problem first when at 10:59 I went to switch to the news.


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## gblues (Dec 8, 2005)

richierich said:


> I had heard that the software was downloaded to an inactive partition and was only activated via a phone call from D*. Has this changed?


This is/was true of the TiVo DVRs; The HR20 is not TiVo and the s/w upgrade goes into flash memory. I don't believe the HR20 software is stored on the HD at all.

BTW, for those of you with 1 SAT-IN cable, try connecting an empty BBC module to SAT-IN 2 and resetting again. It's worked for a few people.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

kcmurphy88 said:


> Earl--
> 
> Most of the time I like the changes. This one is universally hated. Why is it impossible to get them to reconsider a change no one likes? Sure, the new menu might be a good idea, but at the cost of a sequence that many people use daily it isn't. And then they drive pigheadedly forward with it, breaking more stuff. It really boggles the mind. Seems like the development management refuses to accept that they can be in error sometimes.
> 
> When you start talking about ways to work around new features, an alarm ought to be going off. I know that you don't work there, but it must be tiring to keep defending someone's poor choice.


For one... it is by far not universally hated... please see the dozens of other threads on the topic, and the polls, ect... it is not universally anything.

As for it being "impossible" nothing is impossible, this one is just VERY unlikely.. .as they selected the YELLOW button to be the access for the pop-up context driven menu.

And this was not a "Development" issue... the new GUI layout was implemented by the developers, not designed by the developers.

I am not defending their choice... I am just stating the facts of what was done and why was it done. I personally could care less about it, as I now extremely used to it not being there (as it has been more then 2 months since it was first introduced), and accessed via the main menu...


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

richierich said:


> I had heard that the software was downloaded to an inactive partition and was only activated via a phone call from D*. Has this changed?


The only way to avoid the download, is to unplug (and keep it unplugged) your HR2* unit


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## jfm (Nov 29, 2006)

I had the 771 Searching for Signal on Satellite message coming out of Standby following 0x01fe download. It went away when I changed channels. I do not know what channel was selected when it came out of Standby. I'm also not sure if this was the first time out of Standby following the 0x01fe download but I think it was (at the time I didn'/t realize the download had occurred). I verified both receivers are working fine following the channel change.


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

Earl, is this correct?



> "Original" has nothing to do with the original resolution of the broadcast; "Original" is simply an aspect ratio choice that sends out the signal in the aspect ratio of the broadcast received; "Original" does for Aspect Ratio what its resolution counterpart -- "Native On w/ All Resoutions Selected" -- does for resolution; so "pure" passthrough for BOTH aspect ratio and resolution requires "Original Format" and "Native On w/ All Resolutions Selected".


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Earl Bonovich said:


> The only way to avoid the download, is to unplug (and keep it unplugged) your HR2* unit


EARL, if I unplug my unit and AVOID the DOWNLOAD can I then plug it back in a couple of days and operate on the current software or will it automatically detect that it doesn't have the latest software and then download it to my HR21-700?


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

Bug? Background - I have a Samsung DLP and only have 720p and 1080i resolutions selected on the HR20-700. I have had native on and I was playing with the new Screen Format - Pillar box vs Original format. I then turned native off to check something and the picture went black. I panicked for a minute but then noticed that the HR20 had switched to 480p despite not being enabled. And although the TV supports it, I had no display. Manually cycling to 720P got the picture back. I could not duplicate it.



Maverickster said:


> .... then what is the functional difference between these two setups:
> 
> Format: Original
> Native: On
> ...


I would like to know too as they seem to do the same thing for me too.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

richierich said:


> EARL, if I unplug my unit and AVOID the DOWNLOAD can I then plug it back in a couple of days and operate on the current software or will it automatically detect that it doesn't have the latest software and then download it to my HR21-700?


No, you have to keep it unplugged.... The update stays in the datastream, until the next software update is put in there.

AKA... there is no way to avoid the update, short of stopping to use your HR20


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

If I Select Native On and Deselect 480I & 480P, will it passthru 720P & 1080I without any conversion and then upconvert 480I & 480P to either 720P or 1080I and how will it know which one to upconvert to (720P or 1080I)?


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

Maverickster said:


> Earl, is this correct?
> 
> 
> > "Original" has nothing to do with the original resolution of the broadcast; "Original" is simply an aspect ratio choice that sends out the signal in the aspect ratio of the broadcast received; "Original" does for Aspect Ratio what its resolution counterpart -- "Native On w/ All Resoutions Selected" -- does for resolution; so "pure" passthrough for BOTH aspect ratio and resolution requires "Original Format" and "Native On w/ All Resolutions Selected".


Yes, that is correct.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

richierich said:


> If I Select Native On and Deselect 480I & 480P, will it passthru 720P & 1080I without any conversion and then upconvert 480I & 480P to either 720P or 1080I and how will it know which one to upconvert to (720P or 1080I)?


That is correct.

However, I don't know which format it selects for 480I/P


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Earl Bonovich said:


> However, I don't know which format it selects for 480I/P


I don't know how it would decide either?


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

Earl Bonovich said:


> Maverickster said:
> 
> 
> > Earl, is this correct?
> ...


Thanks Earl. Can you tell me then what the functional difference is between these two setups:

Format: Original
Native: On
Resolutions: All Selected

Format: Stretch
Native: On
Resolutions: All Selected

My TV (Panasonic 58PZ700U) treats both the same -- it pillarboxes 4:3 480i and it does nothing with 720p/1080i.

So, in that scenario, what is the advantage/disadvantage of choosing Original over Stretch?

Thanks!


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

Your TV then is set to STRETCH a 4:3 image.
Look at your settings on your TV, to see what it does with an non 16:9 image.

I my TV, I have to select either STRETCH, PILLAR, or CROP... 

With ORIGINAL.. .the HR2* doesn't do the stretching, the component in your TV (or other video processor) does... .and for those with higher end equipment, that could end up with a better "strecthed" image.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

If 4:3 source material is passed thru without adding Pillar bars then the TV can stretch it or add bars or expand it and crop it.

If the HRXX add bars then the TV gets a 16:9 image and can't do anything with it as it already fills the screen. ESPN does this alot, they deinterlace 480I to 480P, then upscale it to 720P, then they add pillar bars on the side and transmit it as 720P source material to you.


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## Lije Baley (Dec 7, 2003)

I have a 20-100 and a 20-700. No problems for the latter. The 20-100 now cannot see sats 99 and 103. It's lost all MPEG-4 signals! Direct wants me to return the receiver with a $20 shipping charge. 

Any idea what is really wrong? I think it's related to the new software, but cannot say for sure. I was getting the MPEG-4 signals yesterday after the download, so maybe not.


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

Earl Bonovich said:


> Your TV then is set to STRETCH a 4:3 image.
> Look at your settings on your TV, to see what it does with an non 16:9 image.
> 
> I my TV, I have to select either STRETCH, PILLAR, or CROP...
> ...


No, it's not; it's set to pillarbox 4:3 content. So, for 4:3 480i content here's what happens:

HR20 set to STRETCH: TV puts it in 4:3 appropriately.

HR20 set to PILLARBOX: TV pillarboxes the already pillarboxed image (result is squished picture).

HR20 set to CROP: TV puts the zoomed/cropped image received from the HR20 in 4:3 resulting in a fairly odd looking image.

So my question is what is the functional difference between setting the HR20 to STRETCH and setting it to ORIGINAL when my TV already takes 4:3 480i content and puts it in 4:3? Is there an advantage to one over the other?

Thanks.

--Mav


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## LI-SVT (May 18, 2006)

When applying filters to the guide it will reset and you can never get to the end of the list. Steps to recreate:

>Press <guide>.
>Press the yellow button. Select show types and specials.
>When the results list is displayed start surfing. Before you can get to the end of the list it re-executes and you are bumped back to the beginning.


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## Bike Effects (Sep 30, 2006)

I was please to get up yesterday morning with the new NR as I had some serious stability problems. By evening I had several recordings to view and when I tried to play them all I got were blank black screens. I tried FF and PLAY and there were no indications. I tried all of my new recordings and none of them worked. I retreated to my PC to log on here to see if others were having the problem. While I was reading posts, my wife informed me that the recordings were now working OK.

Stability seems perfect so far, but I am at a loss about the recordings in the beginning.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

richierich said:


> If 4:3 source material is passed thru without adding Pillar bars then the TV can stretch it or add bars or expand it and crop it.


Ok, I think this is starting to make sense. On my Sammy DLP, I can choose wide or 4:3. As far as I can tell, it will not auto detect the signal. Thus if I send it a standard 4:3 signal (when it's set to wide), it will stretch it unless I choose 4:3 from the TV menu.

Now, the new setting as I see it, removes the pillar bars from 4:3 material that the HR20 added and lets the TV handle it (if it can).

So in my case, since I have to manually switch the TV from wide to 4:3, using the HR20 Original format is basically the same thing as the HR20 Stretch mode. The only difference is the TV is stretching it and not the HR20

So the bottom line (for me) is to leave it as Pillar Box as I hate any form of stretch and it's too much hassle to manually switch it on the TV.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

I would play around with the settings on your HRXX and your settings on your TV to see what happens to be for sure.


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

Earl Bonovich said:


> For one... it is by far not universally hated... please see the dozens of other threads on the topic, and the polls, ect... it is not universally anything.
> 
> As for it being "impossible" nothing is impossible, this one is just VERY unlikely.. .as they selected the YELLOW button to be the access for the pop-up context driven menu.
> 
> ...


And many of us think about it every time we have to pound through menus. Especially these days when series links are so unpredictable due to the strike.

Whatever the choice of using the yellow button, there is still no reason that they have to make it MORE unwieldy every time. Put the link to pending recordings second in the new menu, right after closed-caption. That would solve a lot of the grief.

No, not everyone uses this. I bet not everyone uses recordings at all, and some people only watch C-Span. But the number of unhappy people is larger than they ought to be comfortable with. One of the main benefits of having such an involved user base like the Cutting Edge group is as an informed focus group (not an oxymoron in this case), and to ignore them when they complain loudly about something seems unwise.

By the way, I don't understand the green button cycles audio thing. On both my boxes all it does is cycle through setup tabs, as before. Feel free to change that to something useful, though, unless someone can make a case for frequent use of setup tab changes.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

richierich said:


> I would play around with the settings on your HRXX and your settings on your TV to see what happens to be for sure.


Well, I just did and it does indeed behave as mentioned above. When I tested the difference between the TV and the HR20 doing the stretch, I noticed no significant difference between the quality - they both look equally disgusting.


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

Earl Bonovich said:


> Your TV then is set to STRETCH a 4:3 image.
> Look at your settings on your TV, to see what it does with an non 16:9 image.
> 
> I my TV, I have to select either STRETCH, PILLAR, or CROP...
> ...


So, if I have the straight:

HR2x "stretch" actually takes the 4x3 480i image and processes it to form an output 852x480i 16x9 image with the contents stretched by DSP action, much the same way "pillar" adds black bars and outputs 852x480i.

In "original" mode a normal NTSC 4x3 frame is output, with only the 4x3 signal present.

Most (all?) TVs present these signals essentially the same way when the TV is in "full screen" mode, processing the latter to look like the former (stretched across 16x9). To the user it looks pretty much the same result.

Similarly if the TV is set to add pillars, the TV recompresses the expanded "stretch" input, adding pillars, but simply adds pillars to the "original" mode image.

So the differences would be:

1) If the TV can detect a 480i 4x3 input field and automatically switch to pillar mode even if it is normally in 16x9. In this case one would want the HR20 to do no processing.

2) The TV cannot detect this, but it's DSP is MUCH better and the user simply prefers the HR2x do nothing.

In those cases "original" mode is preferred, otherwise it all looks the same as "stretch" to most people.

Lastly, this has no meaning for HD signals (480p and up), as the HR2x never adjusts them.


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

I had to RBR to get Music, Photos, & More to reappear, it appears after the DHCP lease is up it went away...(1 Viiv PC & WMP 11, 2 WMP 11).


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

kcmurphy88 said:


> So, if I have the straight:
> 
> HR2x "stretch" actually takes the 4x3 480i image and processes it to form an output 852x480i 16x9 image with the contents stretched by DSP action, much the same way "pillar" adds black bars and outputs 852x480i.
> 
> ...


Thank you, thank you, thank you. Usually questions like that are answered in relatively short order. I was beginning to wonder why the question was seemingly being dodged for over a day. Thanks for providing the answer!!

--Mav


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## gcisko (Sep 27, 2006)

smiddy said:


> I had to RBR to get Music, Photos, & More to reappear, it appears after the DHCP lease is up it went away...(1 Viiv PC & WMP 11, 2 WMP 11).


Sounds like a great reason to set it up with static as reccomended many times. Also is your connection wired or wireless? If it is wireless, you can cycle the power on the game adapter to get "Music, Photos, & More" to reappear.


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## paco1986 (Mar 26, 2007)

Bike Effects said:


> By evening I had several recordings to view and when I tried to play them all I got were blank black screens. I tried FF and PLAY and there were no indications. I tried all of my new recordings and none of them worked.


Same thing happened to me last night. With this new NR, I tried to watch a couple of recordings from earlier in the day. Nothing but black screens. PLAY, REW, FF did not work at all. I was able to exit the recording, but now I had black screens on some channels. I ended up deleting the recordings. Then, I did a menu reset and that seems to have fixed the problem. Everything is working properly, for now at least.


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## gcisko (Sep 27, 2006)

paco1986 said:


> Same thing happened to me last night. With this new NR, I tried to watch a couple of recordings from earlier in the day. Nothing but black screens. PLAY, REW, FF did not work at all. I was able to exit the recording, but now I had black screens on some channels. I ended up deleting the recordings. Then, I did a menu reset and that seems to have fixed the problem. Everything is working properly, for now at least.


How do you know if it fixed the problem since you had already deleted the recordings giving the black screen before you did a RBR? Just curious.


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## paco1986 (Mar 26, 2007)

gcisko said:


> How do you know if it fixed the problem since you had already deleted the recordings giving the black screen before you did a RBR? Just curious.


Let me add that before I did the RBR, I also tried to record a couple other programs and had the same problem (could not play the recording, just a black screen, PLAY REW FF not working at all).

So after the RBR, I was able again to record programs and view them (plus PLAY REW FF are working properly again). That is why I say it fixed the problem.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

*Issue: * Sever weather in the northeast and lost sat input on the background tuner, but the foreground tuner was fine. Could not clear the "Searching for satellite..." message when watching Live TV or when watching a recording from the Playlist.

*Suggestion:* Add an "OK" option to the "Searching for satellite..." message, so users can choose OK to clear the message and enjoy the tuner still operating or enjoy playback from the playlist without a nuisance reminder on-screen for the length of the rain-fade.


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## mgavs (Jun 17, 2007)

Maverickster said:


> So my question is what is the functional difference between setting the HR20 to STRETCH and setting it to ORIGINAL when my TV already takes 4:3 480i content and puts it in 4:3? Is there an advantage to one over the other?
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> --Mav


This has come up so many times and the answer is simple: The HR20 is not so good job at stretch because it is mostly linear, so people _look_ stretched. On some TVs and for instance my video processor, the stretch has some algoithm that is so good you _don't notice_ the picture is stretched. In my case the difference is drastic and immediately seen. The Pioneers are great at this and some Sonys do very well. As I stated many times, if your TV does a better job then let the HR20 set the original format/aspect to the TV. If your TV does a worse job (for instance most Samsungs) then let the HR20 do it. If there is no noticeable difference then it does not matter much.

PS: In case you have a Samsung, I love these TVs for the value and picture, but I tried and took some back due to the poor stretch modes (IMHO). My 5 year old Panasonic was also great at stretch and when I tried to replace it with a Samsung we couldn't live with its stretch. We went with Pioneers.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

mgavs said:


> On some TVs and for instance my video processor, the stretch has some algoithm that is so good you _don't notice_ the picture is stretched.


Sorry, but there is *no* stretch version that can't be immediately noticed by anyone who cares even a bit about picture quality. There are two basic variations. The 'stretch everything' so people look short and fat, and the 'lets just stretch the ends and hope no one will notice' which IMO is even worse because anything near the edge of the screen is stretched even more, so when someones head is there, it grows lumps like it's being pulled into another dimension. The bottom line is you can not make a 4:3 picture fill a wide screen with any stretch mode that is not noticeable regardless of any algoithm.

What I really don't get is why anyone with a non-burn in type of display would even use a stretch mode. Why are people so obsessed with filling the screen vs seeing the picture undistorted?  Sort of defeats the purpose of wanting a HD TV IMO. 'Oh, I want beautiful HD, but I'll butcher SD content'


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## psweig (Feb 4, 2006)

poppo said:


> Sorry, but there is *no* stretch version that can't be immediately noticed by anyone who cares even a bit about picture quality. There are two basic variations. The 'stretch everything' so people look short and fat, and the 'lets just stretch the ends and hope no one will notice' which IMO is even worse because anything near the edge of the screen is stretched even more, so when someones head is there, it grows lumps like it's being pulled into another dimension. The bottom line is you can not make a 4:3 picture fill a wide screen with any stretch mode that is not noticeable regardless of any algoithm.
> 
> What I really don't get is why anyone with a non-burn in type of display would even use a stretch mode. Why are people so obsessed with filling the screen vs seeing the picture undistorted?  Sort of defeats the purpose of wanting a HD TV IMO. 'Oh, I want beautiful HD, but I'll butcher SD content'


Try to see it from another person's point of view. I can easily not notice the ends being stretched as with most video the action takes place in the center. If you are looking for lumps you will find them. When it's a linear stretch it's in your face all the time.


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## Expressofool (Oct 13, 2006)

We had MAJOR problem with download 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our download which occurred last night on our HR20/700 caused our entire programing to be wiped clean! 

My husband is a HUGE sports fan (PACKER, Wisconsin Badger, and Detriot Red Wings) and I had a bunch of games to off-load so he can watch them during off-season. The upgrade wiped off everything, similar to a hard drive format. 

One guy in the DirecTV forum said it was because we had a corrupt sector on the hard drive which required it to wipe all existing and future programs and priority list clean. 

I find this hardware measure hard to believe and if this is the case, why doesn't DirecTV state this caution somewhere so that if we want to off-load some important programs, we can do so in a timely manner.

I am very upset over this and yes, yes, I should have timely off-loaded all those football games....back-up etc. Know all that...but I have had my TIVO for over 10 years and I never had such a drastic clean-up. When the HD was going bad, I heard clicking and the pixelation went fuzzy. I would like to write the President on this is I have sufficient reason, so that is why I am asking the experts here!


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

psweig said:


> Try to see it from another person's point of view.


There are really only two points of view. Those that care about video quality, and those that don't. Anyone who uses stretch modes falls into the latter.  As for trying to see it from the other POV, I would rather gouge my eyes out than watch stretch-o-vision.


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

mgavs said:


> This has come up so many times and the answer is simple: The HR20 is not so good job at stretch because it is mostly linear, so people _look_ stretched. On some TVs and for instance my video processor, the stretch has some algoithm that is so good you _don't notice_ the picture is stretched. In my case the difference is drastic and immediately seen. The Pioneers are great at this and some Sonys do very well. As I stated many times, if your TV does a better job then let the HR20 set the original format/aspect to the TV. If your TV does a worse job (for instance most Samsungs) then let the HR20 do it. If there is no noticeable difference then it does not matter much.
> 
> PS: In case you have a Samsung, I love these TVs for the value and picture, but I tried and took some back due to the poor stretch modes (IMHO). My 5 year old Panasonic was also great at stretch and when I tried to replace it with a Samsung we couldn't live with its stretch. We went with Pioneers.


It's possible it came up previously in a CE discussion, but last I checked, this was the first time it showed up in a non-CE release, so it's a bit much to say that it has come up "so many times".

While I understand what you're saying (you prefer the non-linear version of stretch offered by your TV -- referred to on Panasonics as "Just" -- to the more linear version offered by the HR20), it's not really answering my question. The question is, if I prefer to watch 480i SD content in its 4:3 OAR, and I was able to previously accomplish this by having the HR20 set to stretch and then the TV (a Panasonic 58PZ700U) put it into its correct 4:3 aspect ratio (which it did automatically when it saw the signal was 480i), what does "Original" get me? What is the advantage of Original over Stretch in this application (where the TV is putting 480i content into the appropriate 4:3 aspect ratio)?

--Mav


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

poppo said:


> There are really only two points of view. Those that care about video quality, and those that don't. Anyone who uses stretch modes falls into the latter.  As for trying to see it from the other POV, I would rather gouge my eyes out than watch stretch-o-vision.


+1


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## buggs1a (Oct 27, 2007)

When in the hell are they goping to fix the ****ing freezing problems? I'm fed up and want them to fix the damn problems with the HR21-700 freezing constantly. No buttons work on DVR or remote yet picture and sound work. I'm sick of this.

I had the CE build from Feb 1 and no problems, why then was I downgraded!


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

Maverickster said:


> The question is, if I prefer to watch 480i SD content in its 4:3 OAR, and I was able to previously accomplish this by having the HR20 set to stretch and then the TV (a Panasonic 58PZ700U) put it into its correct 4:3 aspect ratio (which it did automatically when it saw the signal was 480i), what does "Original" get me? What is the advantage of Original over Stretch in this application (where the TV is putting 480i content into the appropriate 4:3 aspect ratio)?


As already mentioned, the net result is the same thing. It's just a matter of which unit does a better job of stretching. However, in your example, you say that you have the HR20 set to stretch and then the TV squeezes it back. To me, that is counter productive because you are letting the HR20 'degrade' the signal by first stretching it, which has to introduce 'distortion'. Then your TV squeezes it back which means it has to toss out data (i.e. introduce more distortion). Now if you use Original, and your TV can auto detect it and leave it as 4:3, then you will be getting a 'perfect' picture as no conversions have taken place.


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## jimed1 (Jan 12, 2008)

I posted this in another thead but will post here also. After the update on my HR20-100 today (still waiting for my HR21-700 update), I now have my DVR set to only output 720p or 1080i (I also had it this way before the update). I have "Native" ON, and "Pillar Box" selected. If it is a true 16:9 image it is displayed that way otherwise, all 4:3 SD content is upscaled to 720p and sent to my TV with pillar boxes. Since my TV is getting either 720p or 1080i it doesn't try to add pillar boxes like it does for 480i SD content. I can't tell the difference between the DVR scaler and the one in my TV (SONY KDS-R50XBR1, SXRD) so this works great for me.
If I use "Original Format" the DVR stretches the picture like others here have stated, and I don't see any difference between "Stretch" and "Original Format"


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

poppo said:


> As already mentioned, the net result is the same thing. It's just a matter of which unit does a better job of stretching. However, in your example, you say that you have the HR20 set to stretch and then the TV squeezes it back. To me, that is counter productive because you are letting the HR20 'degrade' the signal by first stretching it, which has to introduce 'distortion'. Then your TV squeezes it back which means it has to toss out data (i.e. introduce more distortion). Now if you use Original, and your TV can auto detect it and leave it as 4:3, then you will be getting a 'perfect' picture as no conversions have taken place.


Well, as best you can get from DirecTV's SD Lite(tm).


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## mcl (Aug 17, 2006)

What's the purpose of:

"Clock round-up"?


What is it intended to fix, and what does it affect? Just the recording start time? Won't it also impact recording end time? Guide display? How much is the round up, and when it is triggered?


Since we've had to jigger the beginning and end times of recordings to accommodate clock issues so far, it's important to know these things so we can adjust the jiggering accordingly.


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## pdvale (Dec 5, 2005)

The only noticable issue I have had was recorded programs were starting at the end of the recording and the end timing was way off. So for a 1hr 30 min recording the cursor would go to the end of the recording and show an end time of 5hrs+. Each recording I tried to watch had the same problem. I was downloading a VOD program at the time and the only way I could watch any program was to put the unit in standby and then by turning it on I could watch live tv. Trying to watch a recorded program had the same issue until I reset the box. Then I could watch recordings as normal...


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

mcl said:


> What's the purpose of:
> 
> "Clock round-up"?
> 
> ...


The guess of several CE testers is that this affects the start times of recordings, because after the change was made, more recordings seemed to start "on time", with the opening frames of the program being recorded, versus before the change, the opening frames of the program were usually not recorded if padding wasn't used.


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## Big_Al (Oct 28, 2007)

Think about all the thousands of HR20/21 users who are not part of these forums and possibly not real tech savvy, that get the software updates and have their menus and remote buttons changed without any explanation. It must be truly frustrating for them. We are lucky to have these forums with their full information.


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## cover (Feb 11, 2007)

Expressofool said:


> We had MAJOR problem with download
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> ...


I am sorry for your loss. Several weeks ago, one of my HR20 boxes also deleted everything - from all appearances, it essentially wiped the hard drive. When it happened to me, it was not part of an upgrade, but the HR20 had rebooted. So, its possible that it is just a coincidence that this happened to you as part of the upgrade process.

My drive tested good when connected to a PC and has been working fine ever since. Its hard to absolutely prove that there is not an issue with the drive, but I don't buy it. Once a hard drive starts going bad, it usually gets worse - not better.

As you mentioned, when a drive in a TiVo box drive started going bad it often did not have this kind of catastrophic wiping process and, as far as I know, never just came back up and started working again as was the case in my incident. The likelihood of a bad sector popping up in some critical area on the disk is small - it is much more likely that an isolated disk problem like a bad sector would affect only one recording.

Anyhow, to sum up, I would bet there is really nothing wrong with your disk. There was, from all available evidence, nothing wrong with mine.

Like you, I never experienced this kind of problem with TiVo. I did lose a couple of TiVo drives over time - hard drives don't last forever. But, those were clearly cases of the hard drive failing. And, in each case, the TiVo handled the hard drive failing much more gracefully than this.

I think there is a software problem with the HR20 that rarely, but sometimes, causes it to wipe the drive for no apparent reason.


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## jimed1 (Jan 12, 2008)

Big_Al said:


> Think about all the thousands of HR20/21 users who are not part of these forums and possibly not real tech savvy, that get the software updates and have their menus and remote buttons changed without any explanation. It must be truly frustrating for them. We are lucky to have these forums with their full information.


I agree with this totally. I am all for updating the the software to improve performance, but when you get updated and menus are different and button functions are different, thats a whole other ballgame.


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## MeSue (Oct 7, 2007)

LI-SVT said:


> When applying filters to the guide it will reset and you can never get to the end of the list. Steps to recreate:
> 
> >Press <guide>.
> >Press the yellow button. Select show types and specials.
> >When the results list is displayed start surfing. Before you can get to the end of the list it re-executes and you are bumped back to the beginning.


Mine has always been this way (HR20-100) even before this week's update. Any search with a long list of results will refresh after some amount of time and you get dumped back to the top of the search. Darn frustrating!


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## sorapp (Jul 13, 2007)

I have had the new release on my HR20-700 for about 2 weeks now. Generally it seems to be OK. I do have 2 issues that are annoying and are new to this release. First is that after turning it on (from stand-by) it will not respond to any of the remote buttons for about 20-30 seconds. After that it works as expected, until the next time I put it on stand-by and then back on. Second I am getting audio sync issues which I did not have previously. Anyone else seeing these?


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## sytyguy (Dec 7, 2006)

sorapp said:


> Second I am getting audio sync issues which I did not have previously. Anyone else seeing these?


I had lip-sync problems on my HR20-100, and a RBR resolved it.


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## pjo1966 (Nov 20, 2005)

sytyguy said:


> I had lip-sync problems on my HR20-100, and a RBR resolved it.


Next time, try stopping the show and exiting out of the Playlist. Change the channel and go back to playing the show. That usually does it for me and is a lot quicker than doing a RBR.


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## m4p (Apr 12, 2007)

Sirshagg said:


> At the end of a recording when you are being prompted to delete a recording or keep it you can use the rewind burron, etc. There is nothing to indicate that you can but if you just try it it will work.


I noticed today while watching a recording, when it came to the end, the usual Keep or Delete never came up.


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## msmith (Apr 23, 2002)

Last night, came home from work and took one HR20 out of standby. It should have tuned to 202 CNNHD (that's what it was on before I put it in standby). I got 771 Searching for Signal Tuner 1. Menu restart fixed it.

This is the 2nd time this has happened since I installed 01FE.


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## Bajanjack (Oct 22, 2006)

Quote:
Originally Posted by sytyguy 
I had lip-sync problems on my HR20-100, and a RBR resolved it.



pjo1966 said:


> Next time, try stopping the show and exiting out of the Playlist. Change the channel and go back to playing the show. That usually does it for me and is a lot quicker than doing a RBR.


The quickest resolution for me has been to press "pause" for a couple of seconds.........


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## Jlg (Sep 11, 2006)

Two days later and the guide ch. up/ch. dn (page up,page down) are still excruciatingly slow. Minimum of just over a second up to 4 seconds. average just under 2 seconds. It may not sound like much, but I just can't handle the delay. And even though I know I want to be 3 screens down, it won't buffer the key presses. Is everyone having this problem, or just me? I stepped through the full guide, 15 pages for me, several times. The best I could do was 27 seconds. 1.8 seconds/page. ugh!


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

*Issue:* Frozen image on live TV but audio was playing.

*Description:* Left tuner on 244-SciFi HD last night. Turned on TV this afternoon to see a frozen image but I could hear audio. Pressed INFO and no response. Hit PLAY and INSTANT REPLAY and had delayed response before progress bar finally appeared, at which time video synced up with audio and normal playback of the live buffer returned. (Note: Buffer was caught up to live - it wasn't behind until I hit the INSTANT REPLAY button.)

*Setup:* This HR20 is connected via two BBCs to a WB68 mutiswitch.


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## raoul5788 (May 14, 2006)

I received the update early this morning here in CT. I am still getting the hanging banner when changing channels. It doesn't stay as long, but it's still there.


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## sytyguy (Dec 7, 2006)

Bajanjack said:


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by sytyguy
> I had lip-sync problems on my HR20-100, and a RBR resolved it.
> 
> The quickest resolution for me has been to press "pause" for a couple of seconds.........


I'll keep that in mind, thanks. However, I also had "searching for satelite" message, and RBR resolved that also.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

raoul5788 said:


> I received the update early this morning here in CT. I am still getting the hanging banner when changing channels. It doesn't stay as long, but it's still there.


How long does it hang? I'm running mine in native mode, so channel changes take an extra second or so. When I hit the channel up or down and no banner is showing, the current channel banner comes up, the picture goes black as it's changing and probably half way through the blank screen, the new channel banner comes up. I don't find that to be objectionable.


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## Supervolcano (Jan 23, 2007)

I downloaded 0x1FE on my HR20-700 as a CE last weekend, but that shouldn't matter.

I recorded "Pulp Fiction" in mpeg2hd last year on 543 SHOH - 2/10/2007.
I figured I'd rerecord it in mpeg4hd this week on 540 SHOW-HD to save space.

Flaw #1:
So I went to list, found old recording, selected "Showings", and it returned no result (other than the old 2/10/2007 saved showing of course), when a normal title search for "Pulp Fiction" returns 9 results (including one on that same channel 543 SHOH, so don't blame the flaw on there not being a showing on the same channel).

Flaw #2:
When I pulled up the "Showings" for that same "Pulp Fiction" movie, and it has the yellow highlight on just that old 2/10/2007 saved showing, the info bar at the top says "Upcoming: The L Word" and the program description says ""Lights! Camera! Action!" Drama. (2008) Lennifer Beals, Laurel Hollomon, Mia Kirshner. The production of "Lez Girls" begins. High-Def, (AC, GL)." .... I'm watching nascar on SpeedHD in upper right corner .... I'm looking at showing options for "Pulp Fiction" .... How did "The L Word" get involved?

Flaw #2 is repeatable for most of my recordings:
"JFK" shows "Upcoming: The Hills Have Eyes"
"Supervolcano" shows "Upcoming: Profiles of Nature"
"The Departed" shows "Upcoming: Jawbreaker"
"Blow" shows "Upcoming: Pal Joey"
"Lucky Number Slevin" shows "Upcoming: Down in the Delta"
"Smokin' Aces" shows "Upcoming: Jawbreaker"
"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" shows "Upcoming: The Hills Have Eyes"

"Deja Vu" shows "Upcoming: Deja Vu" (and returned several showings of Deva Vu ... Wow, it got one of them right!! ... NOT!!! Read further down before assuming things, lol)
"Fight Club" shows "Upcoming: The Hills Have Eyes" (but returns 7 showings of Fight Club)
"Ghost Rider" shows "Upcoming: Deja Vu" (but returns 16 showings of Ghost Rider)
"Big Nothing" shows "Upcoming: Out on a Limb" (but returns 6 showings of Big Nothing"
"Lawrence of Arabia" shows "Upcoming: Pal Joey" (but returns 4 showings of Lawrence of Arabia)

Midway through checking all those, I go back to "Deja Vu" again.
"Deja Vu" shows "Upcoming: The Hills Have Eyes" (but returned several showings of Deva Vu)

After checking all those, I go back to "Deja Vu" again.
"Deja Vu" shows "Upcoming: Catch and Release" (with no showings in the list aside from the old recording).

Several times during that, I went back to "Pulp Fiction" and EVERY TIME it brings back "Upcoming: The L Word" ... and NEVER brings back any of the 9 showings that are truely coming up in the next two weeks.

A recording of "Heart" (in concert on T101) from 1/17/2008 is the only one that actually says "Regular Programming" on the top line and nothing in the program description area when I select "episodes" from that recording's options.

And don't think that the "episodes" function doesn't have the same flaw that "showings" has:
Because when I goto my recording of "Supervolcano" (which by the way was a MOVIE on discovery, not a series, don't know why it has a series option but it does, lol) ... it shows "Upcoming: The Emperor of the Steppes".

And just to add one more tidbit of info to this, for all of the "Upcoming: Blah Blah Blah" titles I listed .... NONE of those have EVER been recorded (or watched even) on this HR20-700 aside from "Deja Vu" .... which means it's pulling all this data from somewhere in the guide, not the history.

Very very screwy.

*EDITED TO ADD:*

If it matters, which it might, I add 5 minutes of padding to every single recording's start/stop time.

And I created a dedicated thread for this issue:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=119856


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## reber1b (Jun 14, 2007)

hookemfins said:


> Another problem that should up after this latest CE is a blank recording. I went to record Deal or No Deal on Ch 6 in Miami and I got nothing but a gray screen. I noticed the problem first when at 10:59 I went to switch to the news.


I experienced this problem on two different recordings a couple of nights ago. I didn't feel like messing with it, so I switched to the other HR20 and watched a one hour recording. After that, I switched back to the first HR20 and found that both problem recordings were then normal -- video as well as audio.


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## d0ug (Mar 22, 2006)

Is anyone else having stuttering in their audio? 

I had a CE installed previously, I forget exactly which version. It was about 2 versions back. I was unable to download any for the last couple weeks.

I just had 1FE forced downloaded onto my box this morning. Ever since I am noticing all kinds of audio stuttering. Sort of like a loss of signal, but my signal levels are fine, and the sky is clear, not a cloud to be seen. I am not noticing any video freezing or pixelation, it’s just the audio.

I have a 1TB Hitachi drive on my DVR in a basic enclosure.


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## scottrof (Nov 13, 2006)

I have SF Bay area locals. I've only had this hr21-700 for a few weeks, but have had the hr20-700 for a year and a 1/2.

Since the latest update on the hr21-700 i have experienced a lot of lip-syncing issues. Tried all the tricks of stopping, starting, rewinding, fastforwarding, restarting. Finally it eventually got in sync.

Also, I've had two 'black screen' recordings. First was on monday, Terminator, second was tuesday night David Letterman.


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## azarby (Dec 15, 2006)

I had the 0x1fe from the last CE. When my wife came home from work today, for some reason, the HR20-700 was on the active game channel. We never use this feature. Somehow the HR20 tuned to this channel by itself sometime between 8:00AM and 1:30 PM today. I've seen this before occasionally with a reboot. This tells me that particular HR rebooted when no one was home.
Bob


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## Randomize (Feb 15, 2008)

I'll add another vote that it was a bad design to remove the 'to do' button from the recordings list. 

- put it back the way it was
- put it on the yellow popup menu as the first item (yellow then select to get there)
- use one of the other three buttons (i know they have functions, never use them on this screen)
- add it to the top of the context menu (so you hit menu and select to get there)


Saved recordings and scheduled recordings are two tightly related functions and it should be easy to get from one to the other in a quality UI design.


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## pjo1966 (Nov 20, 2005)

Randomize said:


> I'll add another vote that it was a bad design to remove the 'to do' button from the recordings list.
> 
> - put it back the way it was
> - put it on the yellow popup menu as the first item (yellow then select to get there)
> ...


I agree completely. It's not very ergonomic the way they have it now.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Not sure if this is a problem or not but my HR20 is recording both showings of the same episodes of a show. It never used to do this.

Otherwise I haven't had any other issues.


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## xyzzy42 (Jan 27, 2007)

Blank recording of Lost which disappeared on reboot. History says recorded, this showing is over.

Unit hung for about 30 seconds at the end of Survivor. This is probably what caused the blank recording. (First recording from 8pm to 9pm, seconf recording starting at 9pm).

Separately, fast-forwarding to the end of a program is failing to bring up the keep or delete dialog until I step the fast-forwarding back to play.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

*Issue:* Trailing padding indicator is not visible in the Progress Bar for recorded programs.

*Description:* Before this release, when a program was padded the progress bar was thinner in height for the portion of the program that was padded, but as of this release, there is no difference in the height of the progress bar for a program padded to record longer. The progress bar is still thinner when a program is padded to start early, it's just the trailing padding that is not represented in the height of the progress bar.


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## azarby (Dec 15, 2006)

Big_Al said:


> Think about all the thousands of HR20/21 users who are not part of these forums and possibly not real tech savvy, that get the software updates and have their menus and remote buttons changed without any explanation. It must be truly frustrating for them. We are lucky to have these forums with their full information.


My wife is very adverse to change, but she adaped to the new style in less than a day. She likes it a lot better than the previous versions.

Bob


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

Big_Al said:


> Think about all the thousands of HR20/21 users who are not part of these forums and possibly not real tech savvy, that get the software updates and have their menus and remote buttons changed without any explanation. It must be truly frustrating for them. We are lucky to have these forums with their full information.


You mean the same ones that got a "we updated the system" message the first time they pressed LIST afterwards?

And the notes in the YELLOW popup dialogs...

And the fact that most of the functions are now in the MENU...

I have a pretty good feeling that most people capable of using a DVR... are not "truly frustrated"... sure there are some that probably threw their hands up in the air...

But based on just the feedback here, other forums, and from conversations I have had with DirecTV..... this transistion has gone pretty darn smoothly.


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## y_not (Mar 10, 2007)

Randomize said:


> I'll add another vote that it was a bad design to remove the 'to do' button from the recordings list.
> 
> - put it back the way it was
> - put it on the yellow popup menu as the first item (yellow then select to get there)
> ...


Count me in, WAY, WAY, WAY, WAY *5 more way's* to many steps.
I use it a lot!

#1 To see what's coming up, in-case of, well whatever. Pull the unit to dust it out, re-do the wiring, who knows what other tinker thing I might be doing. Even, just to see out of sheer anticipation when the next episode of *FilInBlank* is coming up!
#2 To manage the recordings, get rid of marathon runs I don't want of a show that has to be set to "All Episodes" either because the guide data is retarded, or I'm just paranoid. Take Stargate's for ex. They have published shows incorrectly in the past. 
#3 Others, but to many to list & I think #1 & #2 are good enough reasons. #1 mostly being smarty!


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## y_not (Mar 10, 2007)

From the last CE Dld.

Media Share Issues
- Occasional "Unable to Access Media" errors. Happens when hitting back. Also happens when trying to play something for the 1st time.
- Playing MP3's - Initial play of a dir. & track skipping results in tracks that don't play. They act like they are, the progress bar moves & the time counter goes but no sound.
- Playing MP3's - The "Play All" function seems to randomize instead of playing sequential.
- Once you play a video at a certain res. it won't play at other resolutions. Not every video does this, only some.
- Can't Time Shift videos, music, etc..
- Video Playback, leaving on pause anywhere from several seconds on up results in the video exiting back to the media share menu.
- Playing media video while rec. live SD show, live show was paused in the background. Stopped media share video & paused show had resumed playback on it's own. Couldn't stop, pause or trickplay. Had to change the channel to get it to snap out of it.
- Videos that had no problem's playing on previous releases, and played perfectly smooth. Now stutter at start.
Note: Nothing has changed on the PC, nothing in TVersity.
- Back takes you all the way to the root 'Media Share' menu.
- During video playback, if a previously scheduled recording auto starts in the background, it exits the 'Media Share' playback & jumps to the 'Live Buffer' of the channel being recorded.

Normal TV (Or So I thought ;-)
- Format options still do nothing in HD resolutions.
- In 'SD' "As Broadcast" still stretches 4:3 content to be full screen. Same behavior as "stretch" format mode.
- Got a "call Cust. Svc. Error 721" when I powered up the DVR & manually changed the channel to Food Network SD. Changed off then back on & problem went away.
- Added new "To-Do's" for my shows that are recording on the '8x' MPG2 HD channels, to switch them over to the new '3xx' MPG4 HD channels. Shows that had upcoming episodes set to record in the "To-Do List" for the old channels, didn't show the up-coming episodes as set to record, or only showed one in the new "To-Do" item created for the new channels. This has been an ongoing issue.
- Impossible to tell what channel a "To-Do" item is going to record on in the "To-Do List" if there's no scheduled episodes.
- Still getting audio drop-out's when skipping to the end of live TV.
- When skipping to the end of live TV, it now stutters the picture as well.


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## raoul5788 (May 14, 2006)

poppo said:


> How long does it hang? I'm running mine in native mode, so channel changes take an extra second or so. When I hit the channel up or down and no banner is showing, the current channel banner comes up, the picture goes black as it's changing and probably half way through the blank screen, the new channel banner comes up. I don't find that to be objectionable.


Maybe for a second or two, but it used to be a few seconds.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

raoul5788 said:


> Maybe for a second or two, but it used to be a few seconds.


Is it hanging after the channel actually changes and the new channel is displayed or does it behave like I mentioned above? If it's acting like I posted, I'm not sure if it's actually a problem. I suppose the question is - when you press the channel up/down, should it first display the current channel at all, or just the channel you are switching to?


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## Steve Robertson (Jun 7, 2005)

I notice on 1 of my boxes that when I turn on the tv I get the screen saver and have to hit info to get rid of it I am going to try a reboot and see if that takes care ofit.


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## mgcsooner (Dec 18, 2004)

My unit turned on normally yesterday, but after that would not respond to any front panel or remote command. Removed plug for 30 seconds, rebooted ok.


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## Randomize (Feb 15, 2008)

One more option to fix the ToDo issue:

- add a tab on the recordings screen to easily switch between "to do" and "recordings" (or just replace the advertising tab that is there that I never look at)


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## philster20032003 (Jul 21, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> You mean the same ones that got a "we updated the system" message the first time they pressed LIST afterwards?
> 
> And the notes in the YELLOW popup dialogs...
> 
> ...


Earl I've always valued your comments and opinions and still do but I don't agree with your comments here and thats OK we can agree to disagree. But I consider myself to be one of those people you refer to as capable of using a DVR, heck I'm a EE so I'm dangerous at times lol but I'm still frustrated with DirecTV and these updates. It is not inherently easy to comprehend and navigate the updates, I'm of the ilk of the KISS principle, Keep It Simple Stupid. These past updates don't follow that principle in my opinion but its just my opinion.

I've figured everything out, and some of the changes are nice and others don't make sense to me as previously mentioned by several posting members here. I will give DirecTV credit for trying, hopefully they get closer to hitting the proverbial home run.

Oh and before I forget let me add there are a bunch of us engineering kind of guys here at work that are DTV customers that ARE Frustrated.

OK off the soap box but had to chime in.

And regardless of my above comments, I still really value your support and help and thoughts here Earl, you are an incredibly selfless and giving human being, thanks pal.


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## narrod (Jul 26, 2007)

New features are great but I would prefer software that is stable and gets the basics right. I get almost constant picture freezes (dialogue continues) that I never got before this release. Reminds me of the Microsoft days when there were no bugs but simply undocumented features. I don't need the DVR to do anymore than it does now. I just want it to work right every time. I know, too much to expect.


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## sbelmont (Aug 5, 2007)

theratpatrol said:


> Not sure if this is a problem or not but my HR20 is recording both showings of the same episodes of a show. It never used to do this.
> 
> Otherwise I haven't had any other issues.


I'm seeing this same issue now. Shows that have multiple showings on either TLC or Discovery are getting duplicate recordings.


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## Steve Robertson (Jun 7, 2005)

narrod said:


> New features are great but I would prefer software that is stable and gets the basics right. I get almost constant picture freezes (dialogue continues) that I never got before this release. Reminds me of the Microsoft days when there were no bugs but simply undocumented features. I don't need the DVR to do anymore than it does now. I just want it to work right every time. I know, too much to expect.


Amen to that. I have to agree all I care about is that the thing records what I want and plays what I want all these software updates are getting to be to much IMHO. Just give me a box that is stable.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

philster20032003 said:


> It is not inherently easy to comprehend and navigate the updates, I'm of the ilk of the KISS principle, Keep It Simple Stupid. These past updates don't follow that principle in my opinion but its just my opinion.


I disagree. While it might be nice to have some shortcuts (i.e. the yellow to do button), I find the menu structure much more intuitive than before. I have 30+ years in the electronics and computer industry and have a pretty good grasp on what is intuitive and what isn't. The previous menus had unrelated stuff strewn about.

Probably the only change I would make (other than shortcuts) is putting the Customer Care & Help as the last menu choice, since logically that it the least used function and those who use computers always find help as the last item.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

poppo said:


> I disagree. While it might be nice to have some shortcuts (i.e. the yellow to do button), I find the menu structure much more intuitive than before. I have 30+ years in the electronics and computer industry and have a pretty good grasp on what is intuitive and what isn't. The previous menus had unrelated stuff strewn about.


I have similar 20+ years in this area, and would overall agree with your observations. That said, what is considered "intuitive" tends to be in the eyes of the beholder.

When working with any User Interface, end users tend to either adopt things quickly or they don't. With the last menu structure (which I personally am not a big fan of myself***), it appears that most users are quite pleased.

In any case, some folks will always be less than pleased, some more than pleased, and the majority pleased. If theat's the end result....your're home. 

** I am of the opinion that there is too way much computer orientation to the menu structure, and not enough graphical orientation, but that's just me. Things seem to be evolving in the right direction...but the old Tivo stuff is too far in that opposite direction.*


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

narrod said:


> New features are great but I would prefer software that is stable and gets the basics right. I get almost constant picture freezes (dialogue continues) that I never got before this release.


I have to wonder just why some people have problems and others don't (neither of my units have had any problems). I recall back in the old Tivo days prior to v2.1, many people were experiencing stutters and others were not. I had it on both of my units. Back then, Tivo was actually talking to us, and claimed they could not duplicate the problem. They even had me send them one of my units to check. Oddly, it was DOA when they got it (so they claimed) The replacement they sent me had the same problem. Many on the forums said it was a hardware issue. I wasn't buying that and suspected that it was some particular settings I had (i.e. number of channels selected or something like that). Anyway, v2.1 came out and poof the problems disappeared.

The bottom line is I do believe there could be a software issue, but I think people that are having these problems need to report their exact setup so that someone might be able to determine if there is a common element. This is assuming DirecTV doesn't already know what the issue is (as I suspected Tivo really did but just denied it).


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## raoul5788 (May 14, 2006)

poppo said:


> Is it hanging after the channel actually changes and the new channel is displayed or does it behave like I mentioned above? If it's acting like I posted, I'm not sure if it's actually a problem. I suppose the question is - when you press the channel up/down, should it first display the current channel at all, or just the channel you are switching to?


I have native set to off. When I change channels, it shows the first channel for a second or two, then the one that I am going to, even after it has gone to the new channel.


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## fullcourt81 (Sep 8, 2005)

With the new software release, when I push the FF button once, the video is jerky, not smooth like it used to be. I use this to watch a sporting event a little faster, or just to silence the announcers for a short time, and still follow the game.
But now it is jerky, like when you push the button two or three times.

I thought I had seen somebody else post this issue, but now I can't find the post.


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## SSTVGuy (Feb 15, 2008)

I have 13 HR20-700's with 0x1fe installed. Everyday at 1pm the screen saver comes on all of them except FNC and local channels. These receivers stay on one channel all the time (In house RF system).
This just started with 0x1fe on Wed.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

raoul5788 said:


> When I change channels, it shows the first channel for a second or two,* then the one that I am going to, even after it has gone to the new channel.*


 Isn't that what it's supposed to do?


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## FriscoJoe (Mar 22, 2007)

msmith said:


> Last night, came home from work and took one HR20 out of standby. It should have tuned to 202 CNNHD (that's what it was on before I put it in standby). I got 771 Searching for Signal Tuner 1. Menu restart fixed it.


Had this same issue last night (first time I turned on box after receiving 0x1FE). Only local channels were working (MPEG4). All non-locals I tried gave me the "Searching for Satellite" message. Menu reset fixed...for now.


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## raoul5788 (May 14, 2006)

poppo said:


> Isn't that what it's supposed to do?


No. When I change the channel, it shows the old banner on the new channel for a second or two, then it shows the new channel's banner. I guess I didn't explain it very well. Sorry for any confusion.


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## deltafowler (Aug 28, 2007)

I think the best way to show displeasure with DirecTV's force-feeding us buggy software is to start hitting them with the phone calls on each and every issue that has come with the update.

Some of the last few CE's leading up to this National Release have been some of the worst I've seen.
There have been numerous problems with guide speeds, audio break-ups, and so on reported with each and every stage of the CE's.

Instead of fixing them, they've rolled them up and shoved them down everyone's throats.

My only salavation from the CE's has been to reload the last National Release.

Thanks, DirecTV, for screwing that up!  

I will be calling CS each and every time I hit the end of the buffer and my audio breaks up.
I will call them each and every time my guide responds too slowly.
I know there are work-arounds, but I don't think I should have to be using work-arounds. I just want something that WORKS.


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## Sirshagg (Dec 30, 2006)

deltafowler said:


> I will be calling CS each and every time I hit the end of the buffer and my audio breaks up.
> I will call them each and every time my guide responds too slowly.
> I know there are work-arounds, but I don't think I should have to be using work-arounds. I just want something that WORKS.


Let us know how that works out for ya. :lol:


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## cage22 (Jan 14, 2007)

Just curious, it's been over a year that my HR20-700 (now with 0x1FE) drops the audio every few seconds for about a second or two on some stations/some shows. The problem occurs definitely during prime time HD shows if using optical or HDMI. I've got a long standing e-mail that I keep forwarding back and forth to D*. If I go into the D* menu and turn off Dolby Digital, playback of the same show has no problem with the sound. Unfortunately Dolby ProLogic doesn't sound near as good as DD. Rewind and pause and changing channels doesn't help. 

Anyone else have any suggestions or having this problem?


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## philster20032003 (Jul 21, 2006)

poppo said:


> I disagree. While it might be nice to have some shortcuts (i.e. the yellow to do button), I find the menu structure much more intuitive than before. I have 30+ years in the electronics and computer industry and have a pretty good grasp on what is intuitive and what isn't. The previous menus had unrelated stuff strewn about.
> 
> Probably the only change I would make (other than shortcuts) is putting the Customer Care & Help as the last menu choice, since logically that it the least used function and those who use computers always find help as the last item.


Thats cool we can agree to disagree. Thats whats nice about freedom of choice.

I too have breeched the 30+ year barrier in the electronics industry and I've found we all have different levels of comprehension, I guess I'll have to classify myself as the "dumb a$$ can't figure it out user" kind of guy. Its the DTV UI (User Interface -I know you know that lol) that is just not logically or functionally presented for my tastes.

Its all good though as I'm glad you are comfortable and satisifeid with it.

Take care


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

y_not said:


> From the last CE Dld.
> 
> Normal TV (Or So I thought ;-)
> - In 'SD' "As Broadcast" still stretches 4:3 content to be full screen. Same behavior as "stretch" format mode.


Obviously you missed the 3 pages on this, in this topic above.

Short answer:

It may appear that way, but it isn't so. Format = stretch outputs a DSP-stretched 16x9 signal, which your TV presents as it would any other 16x9 signal. Format = normal outputs a 4x3 signal which most TVs (set to 16x9 mode) expand to 16x9.

Hoever, some TVs an be set to add pillarbars to the latter signal, and other folks just want to use a squeeze mode and avoid recompressing an HR20-stretched signal. In both those cases "original" is preferred.


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

narrod said:


> New features are great but I would prefer software that is stable and gets the basics right. I get almost constant picture freezes (dialogue continues) that I never got before this release. Reminds me of the Microsoft days when there were no bugs but simply undocumented features. I don't need the DVR to do anymore than it does now. I just want it to work right every time. I know, too much to expect.


Pity the poor HR21 owners who just got about 6 months of updates overnight.


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

cage22 said:


> Just curious, it's been over a year that my HR20-700 (now with 0x1FE) drops the audio every few seconds for about a second or two on some stations/some shows. The problem occurs definitely during prime time HD shows if using optical or HDMI. I've got a long standing e-mail that I keep forwarding back and forth to D*. If I go into the D* menu and turn off Dolby Digital, playback of the same show has no problem with the sound. Unfortunately Dolby ProLogic doesn't sound near as good as DD. Rewind and pause and changing channels doesn't help.
> 
> Anyone else have any suggestions or having this problem?


Dolby Digital is a digital packet format and involves two devices that have to maintain synchronization. It would be VERY helpful if you mentioned what the other end was.


----------



## dapper_dan (Jan 11, 2007)

I'm having lots of problems with the new release:

1- None of my locals would show up (in HD). I had to reset it. 

2- Many lost recordings (both SD and HD) that are showing up as black. I can't rewind/stop/forward them. 

3- I'm getting several channels that just show 771 (TLC HD, SMITH HD). Some of them will work if you change the channel then change it back. 

Everything was working before the software upgrade. Is there any way to undo the recent software? I just want basic tv functionality and DVR!!!

Of worthwhile note, I only have one cable running to my HR-20. So my second tuner doesn't get a signal.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

You may have to go back thru System Setup and tell it again that you only have one cable attached. I read another person's post where he had that same problem and had to redo his setup.


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## deltafowler (Aug 28, 2007)

dapper_dan said:


> Is there any way to undo the recent software? I just want basic tv functionality and DVR!!!


Click here :lol:


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## cookpr (Aug 24, 2006)

What another crap update....all MPEG4 is periodically in and out...jsut like when the HR20 was first launched....how they can take 50 steps backwards with this update is beyond me.

I was already to forgive after the initial fits 16 months...now, back to square one with MPEG4 outages popping up randomly.


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## cage22 (Jan 14, 2007)

kcmurphy88 said:


> Dolby Digital is a digital packet format and involves two devices that have to maintain synchronization. It would be VERY helpful if you mentioned what the other end was.


I've tried it with other brands of amplifiers, but my normal is an Onkyo TX-DS989 v2. I also tried going out of the HR20-700 via HDMI straight into the TV (turning the amplifier off and turning on the TV speakers). The problem stayed the same. TV is a Panasonic TH-50PX60U.


----------



## cage22 (Jan 14, 2007)

cookpr said:


> What another crap update....all MPEG4 is periodically in and out...jsut like when the HR20 was first launched....how they can take 50 steps backwards with this update is beyond me.
> 
> I was already to forgive after the initial fits 16 months...now, back to square one with MPEG4 outages popping up randomly.


Outages - Are you referring to audio or video, or both?


----------



## cookpr (Aug 24, 2006)

Both...all my MPEG4 will periodically pixelate and go out...typically, it coems back in a few minutes or if I change channels.

This was a problem with some of the earlier updates, however, had been fine for over a year...not with this update, its back (and no, its not an alignment issue or soemthing else - I have dealt with this one long enough to know it is some odd quirk in the software)


----------



## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Can you reload the software or download a new version??? Maybe it is corrupted???


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## GEShook (Jan 16, 2008)

paco1986 said:


> Same thing happened to me last night. With this new NR, I tried to watch a couple of recordings from earlier in the day. Nothing but black screens. PLAY, REW, FF did not work at all. I was able to exit the recording, but now I had black screens on some channels. I ended up deleting the recordings. Then, I did a menu reset and that seems to have fixed the problem. Everything is working properly, for now at least.


I have also encountered this issue 2 times now for this release on my HR21-700. The recordings do indicate the proper record times; however, I have scrolled through the entire recording, and all is black. If the unit is reset, then the affected recordings are automatically deleted following the reboot.


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## Kansas Zephyr (Jun 30, 2007)

I was automatically upgraded to 0x1FE night before last on all 3 HR20s.

I don't lose OTA. But, it gets scrambled. This happens EVERY time there is a software update, a via remote reset, a red button reset, or a power failure.

Some stations I had selected get "unchecked" and others then were not selected become "checked".

I'm in the Wichita/Hutchinson, KS market. The issue is that there are two channel 3s and 8s. This is where the failure occurs. All of the double-digit channels are unaffected.

It's NOT a simply matter of unchecking, and rechecking, the unwanted/desired channels and sub-channels under "edit stations". It does not work. Once you get to the signal meters, there is no signal indicated on the proper channels.

I'm forced to back to "initial setup" to successfully repair the OTA.

This isn't a major bug. But, it is a major hassle, considering that I DVR HD via local OTA. If I miss an update, or there was a power failure, I'll miss series recording anything on NBC or PBS, until I discover the problem.

Please fix this bug, before it bites again!

Thanks.


----------



## bonscott87 (Jan 21, 2003)

Guide is still slow. Also slow responses when scrolling pretty much anything in the interface (To Do list for example). Been this way since the last CE cycle.


----------



## dapper_dan (Jan 11, 2007)

richierich said:


> You may have to go back thru System Setup and tell it again that you only have one cable attached. I read another person's post where he had that same problem and had to redo his setup.


Where is that? I haven't seen an option for that.


----------



## Mr. Wednesday (Jan 10, 2008)

I've noticed that I have periodic audio hiccups (drops out for a half a second give or take) if I pause or back up in live TV, and then return to "now", either by holding down the skip/slip button or by fast forwarding. This goes away if I use the six second jump backwards. I was also seeing this with the 0x1EA release. I don't remember if I saw it before that.


----------



## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

"Video over media share improvements"

Any details on what this means ?


----------



## Redlinetire (Jul 24, 2007)

*ISSUE*: Can't get back to live TV after using instant replay

*DESCRIPTION*: Watching live TV, use the instant replay button once, twice or three times. Then press Advance or FF button, nothing happens and get error noise. If you use it four or more times, then the advance/FF to live will work.

HR20-700


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

1. When coming out of pause and occasionally from trick plays the CC is all scrambled up. A quick skip back fixes it. This happens with live and recorded shows. It doesn't happen all the time but more often than not.

2. When scrolling down or up the guide there is tearing. I know this was an issue a while back but I thought it was fixed.

Both of these issues were eveident in the previous NR release and is present in this recent one.


----------



## mortimer (Nov 6, 2007)

I've reported this in a couple of CE threads but it doesn't appear to be fixed yet:

Wichita/Hutchinson OTA channel map gets scrambled after a reboot, requiring a reset and setup of the OTA config again. The problem is with the 3-1 KSNW channel. After a reboot, this channel still appears but gets no signal. After a reset and setup of OTA, the channel begins working again.

This has been reported by at least two other people in this thread:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=117126


----------



## mightythor88 (Sep 22, 2007)

I had major OTA issues on a channel that used to come in without any issues during the 500 today - it was a strange thing to start occuring so I dont know if it is part of the most recent upgrade or not. I will echo many of the sentiments my hr20 was finally performing like a champ until this recent "upgrade". I think they need to roll back to the last NR and fix the bugs on 1FE. I was reading the complaints during the CE process so I was shocked they forced this as a NR.

Luckily I still have my HDtivo as my main recording source so I was able to see the race.


----------



## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

cage22 said:


> I've tried it with other brands of amplifiers, but my normal is an Onkyo TX-DS989 v2. I also tried going out of the HR20-700 via HDMI straight into the TV (turning the amplifier off and turning on the TV speakers). The problem stayed the same. TV is a Panasonic TH-50PX60U.


In that case, if this has been going on a year with all these different devices, then there's a hardware problem with your HR20, and you should get it exchanged. I take it that the CSRs gave you the "it will be fixed in the next update" lie?


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

cookpr said:


> Both...all my MPEG4 will periodically pixelate and go out...typically, it coems back in a few minutes or if I change channels.
> 
> This was a problem with some of the earlier updates, however, had been fine for over a year...not with this update, its back (and no, its not an alignment issue or soemthing else - I have dealt with this one long enough to know it is some odd quirk in the software)


Perhaps, but it is an odd quirk that affects few other people. Consider the possibility that it there is some marginal hardware in your setup that even a small change in setup and calibration numbers will greatly affect. These numbers often get slight tweaks.

For example, if some tuning parameter for a MPEG4 satellite changed, and your LNB for that sat was marginal, you might see it goe from just-woring to just-not-working. It's digital so there's not a lot of "middle ground."


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## Supervolcano (Jan 23, 2007)

I use TVersity for media server, but I doubt that matters.

All titles for FOLDERS AND FILES throughout media sharing's videos, music, and photos submenus need to have wordwrap enabled on the top bar when a folder or file is highlighted so the user can read the full folder or file name.

Currently you trunicate all titles to only use the top line of the 4 possible lines and add 3 dots to the end, even if there are spaces that would allow wordwrap to function.

If there's no spaces (as a lot of file names won't have), then you need to break up the name across multiple lines by using a "max characters" variable for the line.

If you need to change the font for that one menu so all characters are same size, to better accomidate the max characters, please do so. Functionality is what's most important on this one, not the looks of it.

Unfortunately this is not a request.
This is mandatory since we have no scrollbar to work with.
Of my 10 bugs listed in this thread, this is the ONLY one I'm asking for any priority on.

Most long videos for example are going to broken up as part 1, part 2, part 3, which makes the current method useless since the last character becomes the most important character.

This becomes an even bigger problem since non-viiv people don't have the priviledge of using trickplay, hence we need to use multiple files to break up our 2 hour movies in case of dropouts because of connection, transcoding time, buffer, unable to access media, yada yada.

Please try to raise the priority level of this particular bug.
Shouldn't be TOO tough to fix.
Thank you.
:grin:


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

Supervolcano said:


> I use TVersity for media server, but I doubt that matters.
> 
> All titles for FOLDERS AND FILES throughout media sharing's videos, music, and photos submenus need to have wordwrap enabled on the top bar when a folder or file is highlighted so the user can read the full folder or file name.
> 
> ...


As I understand it, trickplay doesn't work with TVersity because the author doesn't want to make it work. He wants the HR20 to buffer the whole thing and do the rewind/FF, rather than having his software have to process the commands. THis will happen on the 12th of Never, so don't hold your breath. It's TVersity's problem.


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## Supervolcano (Jan 23, 2007)

kcmurphy88 said:


> As I understand it, trickplay doesn't work with TVersity because the author doesn't want to make it work. He wants the HR20 to buffer the whole thing and do the rewind/FF, rather than having his software have to process the commands. THis will happen on the 12th of Never, so don't hold your breath. It's TVersity's problem.


Read my bug report closer.

My complaint is mediashare file/folder names being trunicated on one line with 3 dots on the end, instead of using wordwrap and splitting up long files names to be shown over several lines at the top of the playlist menu.

P.S. - No offense, but unless your a directv programmer, or a mod here, the issues thread is supposed to be limited to bug reporting, not questions, answering, and debugging other people's problems.

I mean that in a nice way.
It's been this way since the CE program began December 2006.
Just that a lot of people don't like to play by that rule.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Supervolcano said:


> Read my bug report closer.
> 
> My complaint is mediashare file/folder names being trunicated on one line with 3 dots on the end, instead of using wordwrap and splitting up long files names to be shown over several lines at the top of the playlist menu.
> 
> ...


The word "Discussion" is also in the title of this thread so the way I read it this thread is just not about issues as was in the past.


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## Supervolcano (Jan 23, 2007)

BubblePuppy said:
 

> The word "Discussion" is also in the title of this thread so the way I read it this thread is just not about issues as was in the past.


Crap!!!
I'm sorry kcmurphy88!!!
Please forgive me!!!

I posted bug in the wrong thread.
Meant to post in CE issues thread.

Although my bug DID still affect 0x1FE so i'll leave it here.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Supervolcano said:


> Crap!!!
> I'm sorry kcmurphy88!!!
> Please forgive me!!!
> 
> ...


SV, your bugs are always welcome here.


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

Supervolcano said:


> Read my bug report closer.
> 
> My complaint is mediashare file/folder names being trunicated on one line with 3 dots on the end, instead of using wordwrap and splitting up long files names to be shown over several lines at the top of the playlist menu.
> 
> ...


Was going to post a defense, but saw your other post. No problem.


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## FriscoJoe (Mar 22, 2007)

FriscoJoe said:


> Had this same issue last night (first time I turned on box after receiving 0x1FE). Only local channels were working (MPEG4). All non-locals I tried gave me the "Searching for Satellite" message. Menu reset fixed...for now.


Upon further review...this has happened every day since I received the update last week. Tuner 1 basically dies...Menu reset fixes it. First real issue I've had with this box in about 6 months now...

Strange thing is...same thing happened last night with my HR10 (sat tuner 2 stopped working until a menu reset).


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

Redlinetire said:


> *ISSUE*: Can't get back to live TV after using instant replay
> 
> *DESCRIPTION*: Watching live TV, use the instant replay button once, twice or three times. Then press Advance or FF button, nothing happens and get error noise. If you use it four or more times, then the advance/FF to live will work.
> 
> HR20-700


+1. HR20-700.


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## TomA (Sep 18, 2007)

For the most part, 0x1FE has been pretty stable for me. The only thing I notice is the OTA signals don't appear to be as strong as they were before, but not sure the SW is responsible for that.


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## houskamp (Sep 14, 2006)

Had to back out of 202 on saturday.. so I'm back on o1fe...
Had 2 recordings (off OTA 17-1) simpsons and family guy that went straight to the end and stuck (no keep/delete).. RBRed and they're gone  1st recordings I've ever lost..


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

BubblePuppy said:


> 1. When coming out of pause and occasionally from trick plays the CC is all scrambled up. A quick skip back fixes it. This happens with live and recorded shows. It doesn't happen all the time but more often than not.
> 
> 2. When paging down or up the guide there is tearing. I know this was an issue a while back but I thought it was fixed.
> 
> Both of these issues were eveident in the previous NR release and is present in this recent one.


I fixed no.2 by turning animation off. But I still think the guide shouldn't be tearing when scrolling.


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## MIKE0616 (Dec 13, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> *Issue:* Frozen image on live TV but audio was playing.
> 
> *Description:* Left tuner on 244-SciFi HD last night. Turned on TV this afternoon to see a frozen image but I could hear audio. Pressed INFO and no response. Hit PLAY and INSTANT REPLAY and had delayed response before progress bar finally appeared, at which time video synced up with audio and normal playback of the live buffer returned. (Note: Buffer was caught up to live - it wasn't behind until I hit the INSTANT REPLAY button.)
> 
> *Setup:* This HR20 is connected via two BBCs to a WB68 mutiswitch.


Same here on HR20-700s with no multi-switch in use. Its very bizzare and getting the program back to live (audio AND video) really can be a challenge.



Redlinetire said:


> *ISSUE*: Can't get back to live TV after using instant replay
> 
> *DESCRIPTION*: Watching live TV, use the instant replay button once, twice or three times. Then press Advance or FF button, nothing happens and get error noise. If you use it four or more times, then the advance/FF to live will work.
> 
> HR20-700


Same here and it is VERY reproducible in any show that you put on pause for a few secs or back up 6 or 12 seconds and then ATTEMPT to get back to live. The only way I have seen to do it is to pause for a while and then press the 30 jump and hope for the best. 

The prioritizer also misses episodes of shows and sometimes loses some of the programs I have set up SLs for. Menu reset usually cures that portion, but then, you have to notice that the show is skipped, so this is really frustrating.


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## markrubi (Oct 12, 2006)

My dad's better than your dad. 
0x1fe on the box.

History shows (This episode was not recorded because the program was no longer available. 13/3/My dad is better than your dad expected cid: 1 1 FB575 found cid 1 1 FBF575 3 expected PO ID: 4431742 found PO ID 4451128) I was on the channel for a few minutes and it was recording I then went to watch another recorded show. Came back to start watching my dads better than yours and it was not listed on my playlist.


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## KDelande (Aug 20, 2007)

I had a problem again last night that I've had on multiple CEs leading up to the 0x01FE NR. 

Details:

Recording Prison Break OTA from 41-1
Recording Dance War OTA from 11-1

While watching the playback from either of these shows WHILE still recording both, I get freezes of video and audio. I have to go back to the menu and restart the viewing, FFing to the point at which it froze which is seemingly random and not in the same places viewing to viewing.

As a test to see if I could pin this down, I caught Dance War up to real time and switched the recording to 11 over satellite instead of 11-1 OTA. 

No more freezing occurred.

Normally, I don't have any freeze issues but this has been the only window when I seem to, the only window when I have two simultaneous OTA recordings and I'm trying to watch one or both of them while recording. 

I can't say for certain of it truly is a problem with simultaneous recording of OTA shows while also playing back a recording, but it seems to me to come from that situation.

KD


----------



## byron (Nov 15, 2004)

came home this evening and the HR20 downstairs was locked up solid. had to do a RBR. This is the second time this has happened in the past 4-5 days on this release.


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## hoopsbwc34 (Aug 13, 2002)

Ugh... first time I've had this problem ever. 

My HR20 was locked (no remote or front of box button responses) but live video showing. Had to do a RBR to get it back. Missed a recording while it was frozen, and nothing showed up in the history for the missed recording.

Thank goodness for the backup Tivo on the other TV...grrrrrrr


----------



## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

That is why I didn't get rid of my HR10-250s.


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## PlanetBill (May 8, 2006)

Getting audio dropouts after catching up to live from within the buffer. I thought this issue was gone?


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## Steve Robertson (Jun 7, 2005)

PlanetBill said:


> Getting audio dropouts after catching up to live from within the buffer. I thought this issue was gone?


Welcome to my world I have had these for 5 months now but it does seem a little better after this update not sure if this update had anything to do with it or not.

I talked to D* support last weekend and supposedly they are working on a fix but no timetable.


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## Scott J (Feb 14, 2007)

Overall, the only issue that I have noticed with this release is audio dropouts after catching up to live from within the buffer. At least a simple rewind or replay resolves the issue. However, I have not experienced this problem before.


----------



## MIKE0616 (Dec 13, 2006)

Scott J said:


> Overall, the only issue that I have noticed with this release is audio dropouts after catching up to live from within the buffer. At least a simple rewind or replay resolves the issue. However, I have not experienced this problem before.


Am having a similar experience with the "live buffer", however, when I FF to get to live or use 30skip to advance, I get the audio and the video is frozen solid. This is not a rare or random happening, it happens every single time.

This was introduced in previous "update", but is still with me in the latest NR.

Hardware: HR20-700s


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## BJM (Dec 9, 2006)

I've had to reset several times in the last week, but I also had an issue of having HD locals out, recording those channels, and having those (blank) recordings lock the box.


----------



## bonscott87 (Jan 21, 2003)

Last night turned the TV on and the video was frozen but the audio was still going. Was able to change the channel and it went back to normal (took over 10 seconds for the channel change though, thought I was going to have to RBR).

Menu's are still sluggish.


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## mgavs (Jun 17, 2007)

Scott J said:


> Overall, the only issue that I have noticed with this release is audio dropouts after catching up to live from within the buffer. At least a simple rewind or replay resolves the issue. However, I have not experienced this problem before.


I have this too, but I have only noticed it on 1 of the HR20-100s. It occurs every morning while recording CNN which is manually set to 2.5 hours. During recording I move (watch) through it quickly. When it catches up to live the audio goes on and off about once a second. This unit is connected to a Yamaha YSP-4000 sound projector via digital coax.

It may be that both units have the problem but I just didn't notice it. The other one it connected via coax to a Krell HTS 7.1 but I have not tested the problem there nor have I had it.


----------



## MartyS (Dec 29, 2006)

I had an interesting one on my HR20-700 under 0x1fe...

I have a series link for Boston Legal, First Run only. Tuesday night the SL kicked in and was recording.

Last night when I went to watch it, Boston Legal was listed twice (and was recorded on both tuners). Never had that happen before.

Yes, I deleted one of the showings this morning, and the second played just fine, so somehow it got recorded on both tuners.


----------



## SSTVGuy (Feb 15, 2008)

Well it's almost 1pm Central time. Time for all 13 of my HR20-700's to go into the screen saver mode. Happens everyday since 0x1fe.
Anybody have this problem?


----------



## SSTVGuy (Feb 15, 2008)

Right on time. Push any button on front of the receiver and video comes back.
Also noticed that the two receivers set for OTA didn't go into screen saver mode.


----------



## ldspears (Oct 10, 2007)

I've had my HR20-700 for six months and the new software update update 0x1Fe is going in the wrong direction. It's full of bugs. I must speak out on this one.

My Issues with 0x1Fe:
Moving around in the menus is very slow
The DVR hangs up in the menu but frees up in a couple of minutes
When I select play on a recorded program it takes to long to start
The sound is way out of sink with the lips on most all of the HD channels
The "To Do" is hidden now and should be moved back to the yellow button

Come on DirecTV get your act together. Do you even test the software before you release?


----------



## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

ldspears said:


> I've had my HR20-700 for six months and the new software update update 0x1Fe is going in the wrong direction. It's full of bugs. I must speak out on this one.
> 
> My Issues with 0x1Fe:
> Moving around in the menus is very slow
> ...


Yes, they do test the software before it released.
You can see most of the testing results in the CE forum.

"To Do" is where it always has been... inside the manage/recording menus.
You just don't have your short-cut anymore.... it is right there under MENU->Manage Recordings.

Have you tried a simple restart of the system to see if it clears up your other listed issues.

And define "long time to start"... 1s.. 5s.. 15 minutes..
Do you have Native mode enabled?


----------



## markrubi (Oct 12, 2006)

MartyS said:


> I had an interesting one on my HR20-700 under 0x1fe...
> 
> I have a series link for Boston Legal, First Run only. Tuesday night the SL kicked in and was recording.
> 
> ...


This migth explain why I had 4 episodes of how'd they do it recorded. THe same episode recorded on both tuners during both showing one evening. I had the SL to recorded 1st runs only also.


----------



## n-spring (Mar 6, 2007)

I am still experiencing random blank recordings. It seems to be happening only when recording from the local Fox HD feed (not OTA). This bug really infuriates me since I view it as a regression.

(Ignore signature; I haven't updated it yet)


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## xyzzy42 (Jan 27, 2007)

Another blank recording today for me. UEFA Cup match at 11am ET on 615. Recorded fine on another receiver.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Today I came home from work and found tuner 1 not working, no signal at all. Did a RBR and it seems to be working fine now. Any ideas as to what causes this, and anyone else have this issue?

Thanks


----------



## Spit (Dec 7, 2006)

theratpatrol said:


> Today I came home from work and found tuner 1 not working, no signal at all. Did a RBR and it seems to be working fine now. Any ideas as to what causes this, and anyone else have this issue?
> 
> Thanks


May have a similar problem. I was getting nothing but gray screen on every other channel I selected. I believe it is a tuner problem because I had heard that the HR20 goes from tuner 1-2-1-2 etc. for every new channel selection. The RBR seemed to restore it back to working order.


----------



## Scott J (Feb 14, 2007)

I'm experiencing occassional audio stuttering that is not resolved with a rewind. I've never experinced this issue before this software update.


----------



## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

theratpatrol said:


> Today I came home from work and found tuner 1 not working, no signal at all. Did a RBR and it seems to be working fine now. Any ideas as to what causes this, and anyone else have this issue?
> 
> Thanks





Spit said:


> May have a similar problem. I was getting nothing but gray screen on every other channel I selected. I believe it is a tuner problem because I had heard that the HR20 goes from tuner 1-2-1-2 etc. for every new channel selection. The RBR seemed to restore it back to working order.


So it sounds more like a software issue rather then a hardware issue. To clarify I was getting the "searching for satellite signal 771...." I've been going in every so often to check my signal meters to make sure things are still working.


----------



## BrandonH (Aug 16, 2006)

This software release has been horrible for me. So far this week I have had blank recordings for the following shows:
Jericho
Big Brother
Survivor
Lost

When I tried to play these I would just get a blank screen or a screen with whatever happened to be playing at the time. I tried rebooting and when the receiver came back up, all of the recordings that wouldn't play were no longer there. All of these recordings were recorded on OTA HD channels. I just got a new HR20-700 for the bedroom that was installed two days ago, already that one has had the same problem and I have blank recordings for Lost and Survivor on that DVR. I hope that there is a CE release tonight that does not have these problems. Right now I'm looking at probably a less than 50% success rate on my recordings for this week. Also last night, after tuning to CNNHD, the channel would freeze after 20 seconds or so. If I tuned to another channel and tuned back again it would work for another 20 seconds or so. That was the only channel I saw do that. This is not good, and I never had any major problems until this release. This was version was just not ready for public release.


----------



## grizbear (Aug 9, 2007)

SSTVGuy said:


> Well it's almost 1pm Central time. Time for all 13 of my HR20-700's to go into the screen saver mode. Happens everyday since 0x1fe.
> Anybody have this problem?


YEP!

see http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=120196


----------



## TAnsley (Sep 21, 2006)

KDelande said:


> I had a problem again last night that I've had on multiple CEs leading up to the 0x01FE NR.
> 
> Details:
> 
> ...


Since this update, I have had constant freezing during playback of various shows. Not necessarily a show that is currently being recorded. I have not been able to nail this down, but it does not happen to all the recordings. It does seem to be in recordings that were already recorded before the current release was downloaded (American Idol, Las Vegas, etc.).

After the freeze, I go back to the playback menu and select "resume", it basically starts over and I have to trick play my way back to my last spot. I usually FF over the area where it froze the last time.

Another issue I have seen (well actually heard  ) is my sound getting really screwed up. The other night, I was watching a recorded episode of Las Vegas and all of a sudden I only go sound out of the back speakers. I had to reset my receiver to get sound back to normal. This has never happened to me before. Also at various times, getting varying levels of sound out of different channels.

Now, this could be my amp going bad, but seems kind of coincidental that I am having problems and a f/w change happened last week.

Also, last night, while watching Las Vegas recording, the player went into screen saver mode!


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## wildbill129 (Dec 22, 2006)

AustinA6 said:


> Since this update, I have had constant freezing during playback of various shows. Not necessarily a show that is currently being recorded. I have not been able to nail this down, but it does not happen to all the recordings. It does seem to be in recordings that were already recorded before the current release was downloaded (American Idol, Las Vegas, etc.).
> 
> After the freeze, I go back to the playback menu and select "resume", it basically starts over and I have to trick play my way back to my last spot. I usually FF over the area where it froze the last time


Ditto, this latest update has turned my once flawless HR20-700 into a boat anchor. Recordings don't work all the time. Frozen video while the audio keeps running. Unable to view recordings without freez-ups.......two reboots now just to get it up and running again. After reboot one, it froze on the set-up screen and I had to push the "Emergency" reset button.......


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## jba115 (Oct 6, 2006)

wildbill129 said:


> Ditto, this latest update has turned my once flawless HR20-700 into a boat anchor. Recordings don't work all the time. Frozen video while the audio keeps running. Unable to view recordings without freez-ups.......two reboots now just to get it up and running again. After reboot one, it froze on the set-up screen and I had to push the "Emergency" reset button.......


Likewise. Last weekend, just after d/l, my flawless since day one (Sept 06) HR20-700 became useless. Couldn't watch any recordings, some of which had previously been watchable. Every use of trickplay -- either for recorded or live - resulted in freezes, ranging from 2 secs to 1 hour. RBR's and unplugging unit resulted in restart getting stuck at "Step 2" Checking satellite settings.

Fortunately, protection plan got it replaced with HR20-100. Lost several important (as important as TV shows get) programs. I had been an ardent CE'er, but this experience will keep me away for a while.


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## Ed Campbell (Feb 17, 2006)

0x1fe national release

At first, I thought my Harmony 880 was acting up. I'd press the appropriate button to start my TV watching > HR20 on > TV on > sound system on > and couldn't get the HR20 to respond though the lights came on and picture and sound made it through to the components.

No list, no info, no nada.

But, then, trying the factory remote > same thing. So, it isn't the Harmony.

After a couple of reboots > and each time it would start up fine after running through the whole startup roadshow > I figured, well, maybe the IR receiver is failing on the unit. If I would walk over to the HR20 and press a couple of buttons on the unit, I could get those to respond > and then the remotes would work, too.

Having a seriously deranged mind capable of the most useless reverse engineering, I decided to try just waiting for the usual amount of time I used up with these various startup "tricks": 30-60 seconds.

Voila! That seems to work.

In fact - the last time I tried - I counted to 30 and tried the menu button on my Harmony > then, the info button > and a couple seconds later, they both flashed through sequence quickly onscreen.

I'll see how this works, tomorrow morning. If it doesn't - well, I invoke my service plan and get my $6 worth [or whatever it is]. Still a silly and inefficient workaround. But, I eventually get to watch what I've recorded and/or want to watch.


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## UenI (Sep 28, 2006)

BrandonH said:


> This software release has been horrible for me. So far this week I have had blank recordings for the following shows:
> Jericho
> Big Brother
> Survivor
> ...


I rarely complain about problems, since DTV has been trying to improve the many issues by doing frequent software updates. But this one has been the most problematic for me so far. I, too, have experienced numerous blank screen recordings, horrible audio drop outs (the Oscars were unwatchable last night - I had to resort to my cable TV setup), and frequent pixelatiion on the HD channels. I continually experience the '771 Searching for Signal on input 2' problem (I only have one tuner connected), and the bug with the channel banner showing the previous channel vs. the current channel I switched to is extremly annoying. This update is surpisingly poor considering how many patches DTV has done to date.


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## funhouse69 (Mar 26, 2007)

I simultaneously lost my HD Local Channels on both my HR20-100 and HR20-700 about 10 minutes ago. They both froze at pretty much the same moment. If I change to any other channels like local or National SD or National HD I don't have any problems. I'm not getting any error messages either. 

I checked my signals and they are all excellent. I've rebooted both boxes and all I get is a gray screen on the HD local channels. 

Any thoughts?


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## funhouse69 (Mar 26, 2007)

I thought I would post an update on this... I contacted D* and they told me after jumping through all the hoops that they just got a notification that they are having an issue that they are aware of and are working on. He couldn't give me any other details other than this is affecting the Boston Market HD's.


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## Boston_Chad (Feb 25, 2008)

funhouse69 said:


> I thought I would post an update on this... I contacted D* and they told me after jumping through all the hoops that they just got a notification that they are having an issue that they are aware of and are working on. He couldn't give me any other details other than this is affecting the Boston Market HD's.


:lol: 
So I had the same issue but instead of owning up to the issue they tried to convince me I should order the protection plan and pay $19.95 for a service call and $5.95 a month thereafter. Being a >10 year customer I was...annoyed  to put it mildly. When I asked to be connected to the customer retention group the tech swore that no such group existed. Funny since I've talked to them so many times. Once I got to talk to someone in the "group that does not exist" I demanded a free service call which they gave me.

Now thanks to you folks I know that this is system/network problem and not an equipment problem (as it appeared to be).

I guess the question now is whether to cancel the service call and wait for the problem to be fixed or let a tech come out here for a useless service call and make D eat the cost.


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## rlhammon (Nov 11, 2007)

Well... I've been a customer for many years (5 or so) and have never once complained about the service, equipment, or anything related to DirecTV. I've always thought they treated me well, and taken care of problems.

This latest software update has caused nothing but problems for my otherwise flawlessly working HR20-700.

I'm getting the video freeze issue, audio out of sync, and blank recordings now which I had never seen, on any DVR, SD or HD of any brand since I started getting service.

I'm to the point now where the TV is unwatchable.. and unlike some others.. I don't have 5 TV"s to watch... so simply moving somewhere else doesn't work.

I know posting here doesn't fix anything, but I'm hoping one more post to the pile will get DirecTV to move a little quicker in fixing the issues. I'd much rather go back a software version... I didn't have any reason to complain prior to this.


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## BrandonH (Aug 16, 2006)

To those having problems with blank recordings, Saturday night's CE release seems to have fixed my problem with blank recordings that I started having with the 0x1FE software. Hopefully there will be another CE this weekend that you guys can download if they don't push out a fixed national release before then.


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## Xsabresx (Oct 8, 2007)

I get the lovely blank recordings.

It was really nice since I recorded last night's hockey game, the first day after the trade deadline, wanting to see our new player only to have nothing. First game I have missed in the 7 years I have had DTV. Had the same thing happen two weeks ago with Lost.

The next update can't come fast enough.


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## Xsabresx (Oct 8, 2007)

rlhammon said:


> Well... I've been a customer for many years (5 or so) and have never once complained about the service, equipment, or anything related to DirecTV. I've always thought they treated me well, and taken care of problems.
> 
> This latest software update has caused nothing but problems for my otherwise flawlessly working HR20-700.
> 
> ...


QFT everything you said, has been my experience. Everything flawless in my 7 years until this most recent update.


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## gatorbait2 (Sep 3, 2007)

Blank recordings last night on Survivor and American Idol.

Miss my TiVo!


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

^ I wonder if your problem could be similar to the tuner 1 problems posted earlier here? If it tries recording off of tuner 1 and tuner 1 isn't working, you'll make blank recordings.



theratpatrol said:


> Today I came home from work and found tuner 1 not working, no signal at all. Did a RBR and it seems to be working fine now. Any ideas as to what causes this, and anyone else have this issue?
> 
> Thanks





Spit said:


> May have a similar problem. I was getting nothing but gray screen on every other channel I selected. I believe it is a tuner problem because I had heard that the HR20 goes from tuner 1-2-1-2 etc. for every new channel selection. The RBR seemed to restore it back to working order.


I, too, have had this problem recently. As with these guys, a reboot, in my case a menu reboot, restored tuner 1. But after this happened twice yesterday, and I swapped cables and BBCs to make sure it was the HR20 that was at fault, I did a forced download of the software again. I didn't trust my copy. Beyond this problem, my initial blue screens during reboots looked funky, duplicated twice on my TV, scrunched sideways with a big black bar between them. Definitely wrong.

So far, so good with my HR20-700 since I re-installed the software. I'll post here if that changes.


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## gatorbait2 (Sep 3, 2007)

I have tried the reboot trick to get Tuner 1 to work again. 

This "work around" only seems to work for a few hours though. I can't be home to reboot my DVR every few hours to be sure that it is ready to go when my shows begin.


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## srt (Aug 29, 2007)

Something's happened that has improved the behavior of our 1-700.
The lag in using the guide disappears within 20 to 30 seconds of firing the unit up and a direct push of a numerical combination to change channels takes only 30 seconds to function properly. It seems like a boot up sequence delay or perhaps it takes some time to load the guide and channel data for this area (far nor-cal but LA feed networks due to no ota here). My previous rewind playback problem has not reappeared and finally, I was able to get rid of my harmony customization of power-up procedure of "format, format" to get pillar box turned on and power off procedure of "format"' to cycle it back.
One of two things happened, late last week on over the weekend upon power-up I caught a 0.25 second blip of a d* light blue screen with a message on it, but it quickly disappered before I could read it. Perhaps the promised "patch"? Also on monday this week d* service guy reaimed the dish that was suffering from 40's to 60's on the 103c.
I don't know what caused this improvement, but behivour and viewing tv is much improved than just after roll-out.
sr


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## Golfman (Dec 21, 2007)

I got the 0x1FE download on 2/14 and am just now starting to get blank recordings. I hope they fix this quick since it's a real bummer.


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## Golfman (Dec 21, 2007)

Sirshagg said:


> At the end of a recording when you are being prompted to delete a recording or keep it you can use the rewind burron, etc. There is nothing to indicate that you can but if you just try it it will work.


This is a nifty addition. I used to have to go back to the beginning of the recording and fast forward until I got to what I wanted to watch again, Now you can just back up from the prompt.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

HR20-700, 01fe. Unit was in standby, tuned to and recording (series link) Seattle KOMO4 (mpeg4). Tried to play recording and got black screen and progress bar would not advance. Tried to back up in buffer and picture froze and would neither back up nor start again. Changed channels and regained picture and sound. Never checked recording again as I had to take off for the evening.

Carl


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## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

I have been having many problems since the latest patch Directv shoved down my throat also. I recorded LOST like always but this time it come out all black and locked up my HR20-700 unit.

I hate this new patch


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

HR20-700, 01fe, additional problems.

Have a recurring manual recording set up on the weather channel starting at 1:17 pm and lasting for 15 minutes every day (weekly weather forcast). Starting on 2/26 it created a new group of recordings saying it was a manual recording at 12:17 pm (rather than 1:17), however the individual recordings inside the folder still said 1:17 pm.

This unit has also started showing very slow response to trick play commands.

Did a menu reset. Also deleted the manual recording and re-established it, and deleted both folders of shows (the 1:17 folder and the 12:17 folder).

Carl


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## SG24 (Jul 13, 2006)

I posted this elsewhere but was suggested I repost it here, so here it is!


My indoor little OTA is showing anywhere from 78-90% for channel 40-1 (ABC) and I get nothing but black screen with the 771 message searching for signal.

22-1 (NBC) with 36% comes in and breaks up around 20% but the TV still shows the scattered picture.

OTA is the only way I get ABC HD - so this is REALLY pissing me off. I've reset the Antenna set up and reset the box with no avail.

Ugggghhhhh....


Edit: I have the one on the roof that DTV gave us but that one is hit or miss. Works better when I have that one hooked up straight to my TV and the indoor one hooked up through the box. Difference in tuners I guess? Right now ABC HD is actually come in via my TV/outdoor antenna, which is both highly rare and stunning (especially cuz it's picking it up at 55-4 instead of 40-1)....


^This edit is still valid.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

Turned TV on today. Channel was on HDNM 78 and I had no audio. Changed channel and back again and audio was back. I'm using optical and DD direct to audio amp. First time this has happened.


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## sbelmont (Aug 5, 2007)

Had been using the HR20-100 today. Finally turned on the HR20-700. First off the OTA channel it was on had no audio. Hit the replay button and that was fixed. Then I changed to a satellite channel that was being recorded. Got the 771 message. Changed to another channel and no message on the other tuner. Only way to fix it was to cancel the recording so I could change to another channel and back. A check of the satellite signals on both tuners showed no problems.

Both the audio and searching for signal errors have been numerous since this update.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

I mentioned upthread that I had similar problems to those mentioned here until I did a forced re-download of the software (upon rebooting, press 0 2 4 6 8 slowly as soon as you get a blue screen). That was three days ago. I haven't had a problem since.


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## dyker (Feb 27, 2008)

Blank recording of Discovery channel show 10PM EST Friday night... something about a ship... don't remember the name since I didn't end up watching it cuz it was blank.

The red light was on. Started watching 10:30PM, we went to start watching that show and it was blank. I skipped forward once and it went to live and the show started playing. Couldn't skip backwards in the show. Did a RBR and shows my friend how long it takes to boot instead.


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## narrod (Jul 26, 2007)

Anyone know if DirecTv is actively working on an update? My 700s were pretty stable since being installed in August. Thie software release is a dog. I've experienced, on both machines, every complaint mentioned here.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Yes, they are working on stability issues and I can't wait to download the next one hopefully this Friday night!!!


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## gatorbait2 (Sep 3, 2007)

Downloaded the CE version on Friday night.

Saturday everything worked.

Sunday night went back to searching for Satellite message.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Just a reminder - this thread is for *National Release* software issues and discussion... not to be confused with *Cutting Edge* software releases, which are discussed in the CE forum. CE software has generally been released each weekend for the past several months, but there is no time frame for delivery of the next National Release software version.


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## cliffbig (Aug 31, 2007)

Ever since software 0x1FE was downloaded, I have had major problems with 771 Searching for Signal on Sat 2 errors. Problem is, this is in an older finished basement, and there is only one line going in, not 2. (Running a second line would be a major problem due to the below-ground nature, finished ceilings, etc.)

Apparently the unit keeps thinking that there are two lines going to it, when there aren't. There is a BNC on the second line, because someone had suggested that might help; however, I've done multiple resets (some with a BNC on line 2, some without) and the problem is still there. When I went to system info and test, it shows Sat 1 as OK with 97% strength, and Sat 2 as OK with 0% strength...

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to fix this? Right now, I can't program the unit to record anything other than the channel it's on, because one its tries to automatically change, it goes to sat 2 and I'm screwed.

I called DirecTv and they tell me that this is the first they've ever heard of any problems at all with 0x1FE, but I find that hard to believe since I'm seeing a history of other posts about problems with this software.

I tried forcing a re-download of the software, and it didn't benefit. I tried doing a reset, no help. I tried redoing the setup, but it still thinks there are two tuners connected.

Help!


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## Scoot3r (May 1, 2007)

No blank recordings for me, but thought I'd post a few issues I've found with the release:

(1) I had a manual recording set for 11 pm, and I now have a new group created that says 10 pm even though it's 11 pm (I saw others posted a similar issue).

(2) The HD version of 6 ABC in Philadelphia has had lots of pixelation appearing since the release... especially around people's faces or where there's a lot of motion on the screen. My signal strengths are generally in the 90's. This station has always had an occasional break up for me (few times a day for a second or two), but since the release it seems to have gotten much much worse... There is a thread where two others posted about the same problem. Not sure if it's directly tied to the release or not, but it seems like that's when the problem started. I hope it's something they can address.

(This is the other thread: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=121446)


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## bluedogok (Sep 9, 2006)

rlhammon said:


> This latest software update has caused nothing but problems for my otherwise flawlessly working HR20-700.
> 
> I'm getting the video freeze issue, audio out of sync, and blank recordings now which I had never seen, on any DVR, SD or HD of any brand since I started getting service.


We have had the same video freezing and audio dropout problems ever since the update. I had no problems with my HR-20 since I got it 18 months ago, it has maybe been rebooted 5 times before this update, I have done it more than that since the update as it has completely locked as well. They need to fix it or go back to the previous release quickly.


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## dyker (Feb 27, 2008)

Anyone else have the remote (IR) lose connection to the unit? This happened to me twice last night. Each time was after getting a phone caller ID on the screen. First time I went about 3" from the unit and mashed a remote button and it picked it back up. Second time it wouldn't receive the command from the remote at all until I pressed a button on the front of the HR21 and just like that the remote started working again. Fresh batteries, etc. Had a prior time last week when I had to RBR due to remote not working but that time the front buttons wouldn't respond either (the unit was still recording though).

I just searched this thread and found these similar posts too so I guess it is a known issue (perhaps no known fix yet):
Post 100, 111, 139, 197, 209, 223, 255, 265


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## sp1dey (Jun 20, 2006)

Carl Spock said:


> I mentioned upthread that I had similar problems to those mentioned here until I did a forced re-download of the software (upon rebooting, press 0 2 4 6 8 slowly as soon as you get a blue screen). That was three days ago. I haven't had a problem since.


BTW, just an update... this fixed my 771 OTA issues with on my HR20. Thanks!


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## MIKE0616 (Dec 13, 2006)

dyker said:


> Anyone else have the remote (IR) lose connection to the unit? This happened to me twice last night. Each time was after getting a phone caller ID on the screen. First time I went about 3" from the unit and mashed a remote button and it picked it back up. Second time it wouldn't receive the command from the remote at all until I pressed a button on the front of the HR21 and just like that the remote started working again. Fresh batteries, etc. Had a prior time last week when I had to RBR due to remote not working but that time the front buttons wouldn't respond either (the unit was still recording though).
> 
> I just searched this thread and found these similar too so I guess it is a known issue (perhaps no known fix yet):
> http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=1462631&highlight=remote#post1462631
> ...


Sheesh, wish I had known about this "feature"! I replaced the batteries in the remotes a few times thinking they were bad when the remotes stopped working with the units. This is just a weird "feature."


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

sp1dey said:


> Carl Spock said:
> 
> 
> > I mentioned upthread that I had similar problems to those mentioned here until I did a forced re-download of the software (upon rebooting, press 0 2 4 6 8 slowly as soon as you get a blue screen). That was three days ago. I haven't had a problem since.
> ...


You're welcome. I am now 6 days on and no more 771 or blank screen problems. I'm back to being happy.


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## narrod (Jul 26, 2007)

Carl Spock said:


> You're welcome. I am now 6 days on and no more 771 or blank screen problems. I'm back to being happy.


I did a new download last night and it lasted until this morning and the machine locked. Rebooting now. The code writers responsible for this latest release should be fired.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

I never said you would be happy. 

Clearly this software release has not been DirecTV's most bright and shining moment.


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## sbelmont (Aug 5, 2007)

Turned it onand saw the screen saver. Pressed a key and saw the searching for signal. On an OTA channel with 100% signal... same issue now almost every day.


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## techdimwit (Sep 23, 2007)

I have an HR20-700 and I want the old software back. This new download is causing blank recordings which freeze everything up. Things flash and blink and the dratted thing won't even let me delete the blank programming and the remote doesn't work. We have to reboot to get anything to work. Add to that continual 771 messages on channels so numerous it's impossible to track what's going on. Reboot. Reboot. Reboot.

What I want to know is this. Is Direct TV going to do anything about it because it's trying my patience.


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## idoco (Jul 14, 2007)

This update and the prior update have some serious stability issues. The last update was "bricking" the unit every few days. With this update I thought the issue had been resolved. 

For the first two weeks of this update things were fine. But now the unit becomes completely non-responsive every other day. Only unplugging it will cause a reboot.


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## atfree (Feb 1, 2007)

Anyone else experienced this? Since the update, I've noticed the Caller ID function doesn't work anymore. I did the system test and now it says the phone line isn't working or connected. The phone line is on a splitter with actual phone. Phone works fine, line connecting HR-20 doesn't. I've replaced phone line to HR-20 and splitter. When I switch the actual phone to the other cord, it works fine. So, it appears to be a problem with HR-20. HELP!


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## sytyguy (Dec 7, 2006)

Caller ID works fine on all three of mine, sorry I cannot help.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Have you reset your receiver???

Have you checked the settings to make sure that it is still enabled???


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## bpdp379 (Mar 2, 2007)

I am having two to three complete lockups a day now. Audio will play as normal but no video is output and there is no response to the remote or front panel. This all started about two weeks ago. Software? Or something else?


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

Had the screen saver turn on for no reason while watching live TV (269 History HD). A minute later a scheduled recording started (79 HDN) on the other tuner. First time this has happened while I was actually watching TV. However I have turned the TV on a few times to find the screen saver on.


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## dyker (Feb 27, 2008)

I was curious to just do a compilation of this thread and summarize how many posts talk about different issues with this version of the software. Since this is titled a *Issues / Discussion* thread thought others might find it helpful to see how my tabulation went. Keep in mind this is unscientific. Many might have just scanned this thread to see if others had their problem and not posted... others might have just posted, did a RBR, and their problem went away.

Note: I Ignored and did not tabulate complaints about interface changes such as to-do list or general complaints about stability. I also ignored some "local programming" issues. I probably ignored some other things too. Don't expect or assume perfection below

That being said, here is the tabulation which is as of the date of this post. I sorted by the # of times the issue arose. This post is not meant as a "poke" at D* but as something that will hopefully help others wondering if their machine "is going bad" due to a blank recording or remote not responding.... without needing to read the entire thread (like I did).

*Blank/Black/Empty/Gray Recording
*Post #: 61, 80, 89, 123, 130, 152, 161, 169, 203, 212, 213, 215, 218, 224, 225, 227, 228, 231, 236, 238, 239, 245, 260

*Audio Dropouts / Stuttering Audio
*Post #: 124, 135, 154, 156, 173, 195, 199, 200, 201, 202, 205, 216, 220, 224, 252

*Searching for Signal on satellite in 2 (or 1)
*Post #: 46, 54, 115, 65, 120, 188, 214, 217, 224, 250, 259

*Frozen image on live TV but audio was playing.
*Post #: 118, 142, 144, 193, 204, 221, 228, 231, 252, 265

*Unit does not respond to Remote Control but Picture and Sound Still work
*Post #: 100, 111, 130, 108, 209, 223, 253, 255, 265

*Guide or Menus Slower
*Post #: 21, 117, 154, 161, 176, 204, 209, 240

*Lip Sync
*Post #: 111, 116, 113, 209, 228, 231

*Screen Saver on at 1AM or for no reason
*Post #: 138, 207, 219, 220, 259, 266

*Hanging Banner when Changing Channels
*Post #: 119, 148, 224

*Can't get back to live TV after using instant replay
*Post #: 175, 189, 193

*Unit now Records two showings of same episode
*Post #: 129, 143, 206

*Caller ID Issues
*Post #: 51, 262

*Keep or Delete dialog Fails
*Post #: 130, 191

*pixelation, green blotches, display
*Post #: 3, 224

*Using guide filters causes the list to be unstable
*Post #: 79

*Could not clear the "Searching for satellite..." message
*Post #: 92

*Download of new software reformatted my drive
*Post #: 96

*recorded programs were starting at the end of the recording and the end timing was way off
*Post #: 105

*Incorrect Show name when Padding
*Post #: 112

*Trailing padding indicator is not visible in the Progress Bar for recorded programs.
*Post #: 131

*Jerky FF
*Post #: 149

*Mpeg4 Outages
*Post #: 164

*Closed Captioning
*Post #: 176

*Media share
*Post #: 181


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## TAnsley (Sep 21, 2006)

Dyker,

Don't see mention of the issues that I have seen and have reported:

Recorded shows stop at random points. Attempts to go back to play menu, then "resume", causes show to start from beginning. I have seen this on at least 10-12 different recordings.

Power on the DVR from remote, TV turns on, but HR20 does not. Second press of power button turns on HR20.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

dyker said:


> *Screen Saver on at 1AM or for no reason
> *Post #: 138, 207, 219, 220, 259, 266


I had this happen again today, same thing as I posted in #266. However, I will add that both times it was right as another program was starting to record. And both times were at 1:00PM. Not sure if the times (1AM and/or 1PM) have anything to do with it or if it's related to a recording starting. As I mentioned, I have had the screen saver on when I turned on the TV, but am not sure what time it has happened.


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

HR20-700 supposedly recorded Star Trek: Enterprise at 1PM ET off HDNet. Would not play the show...screen just went black.
Trying to do anything with the remote after this led to very, very slow response as if the processor was bogged down.
Restarting the machine caused the Star Trek recording to disappear.


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## l123 (Sep 18, 2007)

Screen Saver issue.
While watching a movie for about 1 1/4 hr the screen saver came on at 3 EST.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

Screen saver issue again. This is now repeatable. Every time 79 HDN starts a recording at 1:00PM (Smallville set to record 'both' and all episodes), regardless of the station the other tuner is on, the screen saver comes on.


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## islesfan (Oct 18, 2006)

Saturday morning, HR20 was dead. No power, no menus, ect. It was "running" insofar as I would hear the drive spinning and the network light was on in the back, but no response. RBR did not work. Had to pull plug and re-boot that way. After that, it worked fine.

Probably a fluke, but I figured I should report it...


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## TerpEE93 (Jan 3, 2006)

I just picked up my HR20-700 this weekend. I downloaded 0x1FE shortly after I powered it on. I see however that even though the Audio settings are set for Dolby = Yes, all shows seem to play in 48kHz PCM. Previously, I had my HR10-250 connected through the same hardware, via the same HDMI cable. My HR10-250 played PCM, Dolby 2.0, and Dolby 5.1 fine all the time.

Is this a known issue where I should have RTFA before? Something new with 0x1FE?


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## grins (Nov 17, 2005)

Dyker, are you updating your summary post?

I have empty gray recordings, and searching for signal.

I also have an issue you didn't tabulate though it was in post 251 as well as this post. I have a repeating manual recording to get the local news every day at 10pm, and they record just fine, but the folder in the playlist is labeled "every day at 9pm" even though all the recordings start at 10pm.

I write software myself, so I have sympathy for DirecTV, but a DVR that doesn't record shows is unacceptable.


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## lkatzeff (Dec 10, 2006)

This is the worst release ever. I get audio stutter and drop outs on various channels. The most regular drop outs occur on Discovery Channel 76 for me. In addition, if I use an optical out instead of HDMI I get no audio unless I change a channel.
this happens on my HR20 and HR21.
Directv, please go back to the previous version or fix this one ASAP.


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## dyker (Feb 27, 2008)

grins said:


> Dyker, are you updating your summary post?


I didn't get much feedback on the summary so didn't bother updating the summary... As I don't work for DirecTV I just wanted to get out there what the main themes of the issues thread was... I got the impression from some of the Mods that a summary thread really has no benefit to DirecTV. I also didn't want to somehow dissuade people from posting by creating a new summary. I almost didn't create a summary because I was afraid by doing so people might look at it and see... their problem posted... and not bother posting.

It would be nice to have the second post of the thread available to create a summary/scorecard... help people see they aren't alone and maybe realize they have a software problem and not hardware problem. I almost posted in the new firmware threads "placeholder for summary" and thought better as I don't want to be a bother to the mods. Personally though I think it would be helpful.



grins said:


> I write software myself, so I have sympathy for DirecTV, but a DVR that doesn't record shows is unacceptable.


I hear you loud and clear there. I never missed a recording on my Replay or Sage system in 5 years... well, except when the DirectTV receiver it was connected to was froze up and needed a reboot maybe once every 5 months. I'm a PM for major IT organization (you would have heard of it) and this is just unacceptable. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying writing DVR software is a walk in the park. What I'm saying is they are paid good money to do it better and should be exceeding my expectations, and the quality of the release is far below my expectations. They got us though... locked for 2 years. The new release (other thread for the hr21-700) multiple posts already about having been on that release through the CE and how bad some of the sound issues are for them on that release. *That being said however, I do appreciate having a new release just to address stability issues and not new features.*


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## TAnsley (Sep 21, 2006)

I continue to have freezes on various recordings. System does NOT lock up, but the playback freezes forcing me to go back to the "playback menu". The "resume" option starts back at the beginning of the recording. 

At first, I thought maybe my hard drive was going bad, but I just installed a new 1TB Cavalry and of the 4 recordings I have made on it so far, 3 of them have had this problem. Very frustrating. I have had no complaints with the HR20 in over a year...until this SW release!

When is the next release due for NR? I can't wait until it gets pushed.


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## bgibbs7 (Mar 13, 2008)

AustinA6 said:


> I continue to have freezes on various recordings. System does NOT lock up, but the playback freezes forcing me to go back to the "playback menu". The "resume" option starts back at the beginning of the recording.
> 
> At first, I thought maybe my hard drive was going bad, but I just installed a new 1TB Cavalry and of the 4 recordings I have made on it so far, 3 of them have had this problem. Very frustrating. I have had no complaints with the HR20 in over a year...until this SW release!
> 
> When is the next release due for NR? I can't wait until it gets pushed.


Same problems here...my hr20 DID work great prior to the SW. Frustrating and a waste of time (something my DVR was supposed to save me).

Tech support suggested that I reformat my drive (goodbye recordings). I'll see if this helps...any news on a new release? The first tech support person wanted $80 to come look at it, but I am confident it is a SW problem.
Ben


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## katesguy (Jan 12, 2007)

This release sucks!!! Green bloches, audio buzzes and dropouts, Pixillations on every channel. It was better 6 months ago. 8 months and my two years are up and I can freely go where no one dares to go-- another provider. My wife calls the HR20 a POS  (piece of S**t) I quit doing CE's so I could call D* and *****. CE's are a great idea but the damn thing should have worked right out of the box(s) Im on my third one now. By doing CE's D* has just quieted 900 early adopters by not letting them call CSRs. It gives a false picture of the frustration of paying $300 for a box that is now free and doesnt work as advertized.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Have you considered that maybe the problem isn't the box but the connections or the dish??? Someone else had bad barrel connectors and changed them out and everything is fine!!!


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## narrod (Jul 26, 2007)

Anyone know when OX1FE will be updated? My three HR20s are the most unreliable they have ever been.


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## jcormack (Jan 19, 2007)

While some of my issues recently are probably not software related (but still D* related) this version of software has not been as reliable for me as the previous release.

Two issues, a "Lost" Lost due to a Searching for Authorization, and having to have have D* do a card reset for a "721" on all my Local HD, were probably related to D* moving channels around. 

Another odd recording of Lost happened this Thursday...I recorded the 8 pm show (while also recording Smallville) to pick-up the one it missed last week (which it recorded & played back OK this time) and I recorded the 9 pm "new" showing. When I tried to watch the 9 pm show all I got was a "Grey" screen (not black) - I tried fast forwarding, etc...all In got was gray....I then stopped & tried "Resume" about 3 seconds in the picture suddenly appeared & I was able to "rewind" to the beginning & watch the showing. 

Addtionally, this release has been slow in the menus, several "freezes" while in the menu, and sometimes sluggish response to the remote.


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## sytyguy (Dec 7, 2006)

While playing a recording, all of a sudden a white screen appeared, and remote/panel would not respond, RBR fixed this. This was a first for me. After RBR I received "Searching for Satellite", and this was fixed by going to another channel.


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## TAnsley (Sep 21, 2006)

bgibbs7 said:


> Same problems here...my hr20 DID work great prior to the SW. Frustrating and a waste of time (something my DVR was supposed to save me).
> 
> Tech support suggested that I reformat my drive (goodbye recordings). I'll see if this helps...any news on a new release? The first tech support person wanted $80 to come look at it, but I am confident it is a SW problem.
> Ben


Since I just added a new external drive, it still happens...so formating will not fix.


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## mridan (Nov 15, 2006)

OTA channel WPWR channel 50 Chicago,always has searching for signal message before channel tunes in.When I check signal strength for OTA in HR20 ,it's always at 100%.


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## mweathers (Sep 4, 2007)

Didn't know if I should post this here or on the general board. I'm not certain if it's a problem with this software or maybe something else. Like a lot of people I have a problem with Searching for Signal messages about once a week. Tuner 1 goes to no signal for some reason. This didn't happen until the new release. Since then I check the signal strengths every morning to make sure I still have 2 active tuners. This past Saturday I noticed I didn't have tuner 1 again and like I always do, I did a reboot. I did this by pressing the red button to reset. But before I did the reboot I deleated an entire folder of my recordings. I had about 8 hours of HD content of a particular series that I decided I would never watch. After that, I did the reboot. When the HR20-700 came back up, I went to the Priorities to delete the series link for above mentioned series. ALL of my links were gone. Obviously, my To Do List was empty as well. I still had my other recordings, thankfully. So I am in the process of setting up Series Links again. Has this happened to anyone else. Also, I have done an experiment with the 2 B-bands on the back of the HR20-700, switch the one in tuner 1 with the one in tuner 2. The Searching for Signal message is still for tuner 1. So, maybe I have a bad cable or connector coming in on that side. I am using the multi switch that was supplied by Direct TV when my upgrade was done in August of 2007. Has anyone isolated this problem to the current software? I never lost tuner 1 signal until that time.


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## CenturyBreak (Feb 28, 2007)

Odd... this started happening to my beast too last week! 

I haven't seen this behaviour since early releases back in Autumn '06. Needless to say, it was disappointing to have to RBR for the first time in a looooooooooooong time. 



idoco said:


> This update and the prior update have some serious stability issues. The last update was "bricking" the unit every few days. With this update I thought the issue had been resolved.
> 
> For the first two weeks of this update things were fine. But now the unit becomes completely non-responsive every other day. Only unplugging it will cause a reboot.


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## mic (Feb 28, 2007)

I have Top Model set to series recording. Last night it was canceled due to another show being recorded (per the history). There was no other show recorded (I did have one recording in the previous half hour on a different channel). Also, Top Model is #2 in the Priority List and the #1 show on the Priority List was not showing last night. No one was home, so no one canceled it. This is the 2nd or 3rd time since this software (0x1FE) was installed that this has happened (show set to record didn't for no legitimate reason). I have had this HR20-700 since the original release and have never had recordings canceled in any of the previous software releases (except for legitimate conflicts). In addition, my remore (in RF mode) is flaky (sometimes not responding, sometimes getting double clicks), audio dropouts are common, have had green pixelation, and terrible audio sync. But spontaneously canceled recordings are my biggest gripe. Do you notice I am a wee bit disappointed in this release?


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## narrod (Jul 26, 2007)

The searching for signal problem continues. I have learned that if I switch from a satellite channel to an OTA signal and then back to the satellite channel the problem clears. I continue to believe this is not a hardware problem. Earl, any word on a fix?


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## trex021 (Aug 16, 2007)

My HR20-700 has locked up solid three times in last last two weeks. That is; no button on the remote or the receiver face would turn it on. The red reset button worked... well kind of...the last time (yesterday) I pressed it several times and it was still locked. Finally after pressing and holding it for a while it rebooted. I've not had any significant issues with this receiver since I got it in October. I hope this has to do with the firmware and will be fixed.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Normally in a situation like yours it would be better to do a Cold Reboot by unplugging the DVR for 30 seconds and then plugging it back in.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

Not sure if this has been reported or not. I had started to set up a SL for Canterbury's Law a few weeks ago and there was a conflict with two other shows so I canceled out before setting it up and set it up on my other HR20. Now the odd thing is even though I never actually finished creating the SL and no episodes appear in the To Do list, the History continues to show 'canceled' (by user) for every episode that has been on so far. So it seems like somewhere in the bowels of the software, it thinks this SL actually exists or existed.

And still having the screen saver issue on one unit. When the screen saver is on when I turn on the TV, after I press play to get rid of it, I notice that the buffer is empty. So I don't know if the channel is changing or there is another reason for the buffer to be empty.

Also I have noticed a bit more pixelation on OTA channels on one unit. However, that unit has a very short run to the antenna and shows 100% on the signal strength where the other unit (about 60' farther away) shows about 92%. So I wonder if too strong of a signal can be overloading the tuner and causing some issues. I may try putting an attenuator in that line and see if it helps.


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## sorapp (Jul 13, 2007)

lkatzeff said:


> This is the worst release ever. I get audio stutter and drop outs on various channels. The most regular drop outs occur on Discovery Channel 76 for me. In addition, if I use an optical out instead of HDMI I get no audio unless I change a channel.
> this happens on my HR20 and HR21.
> Directv, please go back to the previous version or fix this one ASAP.


I have the same problem on my HR20-700. The no audio is always resolved by changing to a different channel and then back. I've noticed that this only happens when I first turn it on. I also discovered that the drop-outs on 76, and 79 for me, can be corrected by going to the signal strength test, test any satallite and then return. The drop-outs disappear every time. Obviously this is annoying but better than the useless help you get from tech support. This is definitely the worst release since I have had my receiver.


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## Lottamoxie (Feb 22, 2008)

I just woke up to the 771 "Searching for signal" message. I've done a RBR 3 times now and nothing is working. Everything was working perfectly as of midnight last night when I turned in for the night.

This is so frustrating.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

What were the weather conditions like last night and this morning???


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## Toyo (Nov 19, 2007)

One of my D* recievers is a HR20-100. I used to have it in the Family room. I purchased a new HR21-200 about 3 weeks ago. The 20-100 has been sitting, unplugged since that time. I finally got the time to switch it out with the one in our Master last night. It is a SD DVR, cant remember the model#. Its pretty new though. Anyway, As soon as it started up it started this searching for signal crap on 771. It has the latest software in it, I guess I must have just pulled it out after the last release. But I never had this problem when the unit was downstairs. It cant be the wiring to the Master because the other dual tuner DVR works just fine. Its gotta be the HR20-100? 
Questions.... This is installed on a SD TV for the time being. I cant seem to find where to either turn off all HD channels or do I have to do them individualy in the Custom Guide? 
Thanks guys. I just basically wanted to explain that my unit started doing the searching for signal thing on its own, just sitting, unplugged for 2 weeks?????


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## stiffi (Jul 13, 2006)

For the past 2 weeks, my Sat version of the local Fox Affiliate has caused terrible problems during American Idol. It is ONLY during American Idol, on WBFF/Baltimore, while playing back the recording.

Here's what happens. 

The audio and video is out of sync by almost 10 seconds. Then every 5 seconds or so, the stream skips, almost like it's trying to catch up, but it is still behind. Then, it there is a skip, and it does catch up. I get about 30 minutes of good playback, then it goes back to being behind again. Another 30 minutes of good playback follows. 

Any ideas?


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## frogg (Nov 18, 2005)

I am getting fed-up with video freezes while the audio continues for a few seconds, then a black screen, then power button light goes out, the only way to restore it to unplug and leave it unplugged for several minutes. Then the reboot takes eons. Maddeningly slow channel changes, with banner way behind or sometimes no banner at all. We need a way to go back to previous software versions that allowed mostly trouble-free viewing before 1fe. The new menus and GUI weren't needed as far as I am concerned. I know some will disagree, but even though I ceased the CE updates for reasons just such as these, it now seems that DirecTV is making us all participate in CE releases whether we want to or not. (Rant) (Sorry, this should have been posted to Hr20-100 thread)


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## TAnsley (Sep 21, 2006)

Lottamoxie said:


> I just woke up to the 771 "Searching for signal" message. I've done a RBR 3 times now and nothing is working. Everything was working perfectly as of midnight last night when I turned in for the night.
> 
> This is so frustrating.


The same thing happened to me on Wednesday. Had to RBR. My other HR20 did not experience this problem.

RBR fixed the issue.


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## pjo1966 (Nov 20, 2005)

I had the 771 error last night and I did a reset through the GUI, I got the same message this morning and am doing it again. Would doing a RBR be any different?


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## sbelmont (Aug 5, 2007)

Every day it's either the 771 or no audio or both when I turn the unit on. Just waiting for this to be fixed...


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Ltdog079 said:


> Whatever happened to the search by date and time function on the hr-20?


Its still there.

Press GUIDE
Then the Yellow button
Then scroll down to "Jump to date & time"
Press SELECT


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## mjs31 (Sep 22, 2006)

Been out of town for a while and just got back in. This may have been posted already, but I went to watch a recording of the biggest loser couples and the video just stops/pauses all throughout. When I advance forward several times and then rewind back to that same approx area it still stops, but on a different scene that I could not get to before. I have never seen this issue before and not sure why it would be doing this especially since it is happening at different spots.

Dallas area if it is a local issue.

UPDATE: Just checked the exact same recording on my HR21-700 in another room and no freeze ups on it.

Also...I forgot to note that the audio continues to work even when the image freezes

Update #2: Had to do a red button rest, but the video appears to be working again. To note...this is the first RBR I have had to do in an extremely long time.


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## skayhart (Mar 29, 2008)

I'm not sure if i'm posting correctly or not, but here goes anyways... I am currently on my third HD DVR in the last 12 months. In Nov. 2006, I purchased a new HDTV and at the same time went from my TIVO( which i loved and never had any troubles with) to the Direct TV HD DVR. I think my first box was a HR21-700 and the latest(which I've only had for a month) is a HR 20-100. I have been extremely disappointed with these machines. The latest trick with my current box is that when i'm watching a recorded program it will freeze. The only way to unfreeze it is to start the program over again. After doing this four or five times during a one hour show, it will only display a black screen w/ no pic. or sound when i try to play back a show. The only solution then is to hit the dreaded red reset button. What a lovely way to unwind with my wife after a hard day at work....I have spoken w/ customer service many times and have not been very impressed with their help. Wednesday night I spoke with a "supervisor." He told me that he had the same issues with his personal box and after he reformatted the hard drive, it has been fine. If i go through w/ a reformat, it will be the third time that i have had to do this with a receiver. 
To say that i'm upset would be a major understatement. The only reason that i have not switched to DISH is that DirectTV has better programming and i like my sports. I asked the customer service guy why i should have to pay anything for such an unstable, unreliable piece of machinery. He was kind enough to refund me for 2 months worth of DVR service.. Gee thanks for the 12 bucks. 
3 weeks ago, they sent out 2 techs to look at my installation and they could find nothing wrong. The only thing they did was to force a software download which did seem to help for a couple of days.
I'm not sure if anyone has any help to offer, but i'd sure appreciate any thoughts.

Thanks :nono2: :nono2:


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## K4SMX (May 19, 2007)

skayhart said:


> .....I'm not sure if anyone has any help to offer, but i'd sure appreciate any thoughts.
> 
> Thanks :nono2: :nono2:


Three bad HD DVR's in a row. Not a great experience, although your current problems don't appear to be related to the 0x1fe firmware.

I believe you're entitled to a little more care at this point than regular CS, because your case is unusual. I'd put that whole sorry story in an e-mail to DirecTV and see if it isn't assigned to Case Management, who can get you a brand new HR21 instead of a succession of iffy refurb's. The right people _can_ get things done.....

Welcome to DBSTalk.com!


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## Toyo (Nov 19, 2007)

SkayHart is not having anything " unusual" than we are. He just happens to be calling and trying to get his problems corrected with D*. Most of the people on here simply do the *****ing here. I wonder what the % of people here actually call and be persistant like he is. I posted a couple of weeks ago that more people here should call them and make them fix the problem, or at the least they will be aware of the problems that thier customers are having. I got alot of crap for that post. 

When I started having my problems months ago I called. Not only did they fix it, but they offered me a year of HD and DVR service credit for a year. 

My point is that more people need to call and be persistant. We have to give them some motivation if they wont do it themselves.


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## Cappyxavs (Feb 28, 2008)

hello,
I am in a transition period to either stay with E or switch up to D. honestly i would be getting 3 hr20 or 21 units and want to know if they are the nightmare other sites claim they are? 

was any one here a E subscriber that went to D and if so do you like it better or regreat it?

thanks for any help...


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

Audio Sync issues. I record Star Trek: Enterprise from HDNet at 1PM (ET) weekdays and almost all of the recordings develop delayed audio as the show plays back. The delay isn't present if you watch the program live and sometimes hitting pause will bring the sound back into sync


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## pjo1966 (Nov 20, 2005)

I turned on the TV and had a black screen, no 771 error. I did a GUI reboot and had a 771 error when it came back. I did a RBR and it worked.

I'm almost afraid to call DirecTV about this. I don't want them to replace it with an HR21. I won't be able to use the same eSATA drive with an HR21.


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## tivoreno (Jul 26, 2006)

Ever since this release came out my recordings of BSG have been hosed with video freezes. SCIFIHD is unwatchable just about all the time. No one better be around me when I miss the season opener. Menu reset was no help, RBR was no help. Similar issues with the LA MPEG4s, BRAVOHD, NGCHD, DSCHD, CMTHD, MHD, VSGFHD, USAHD. Did not have this problem with the last release.


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## sytyguy (Dec 7, 2006)

Cappyxavs said:


> hello,
> I am in a transition period to either stay with E or switch up to D. honestly i would be getting 3 hr20 or 21 units and want to know if they are the nightmare other sites claim they are?
> 
> was any one here a E subscriber that went to D and if so do you like it better or regreat it?
> ...


Cnet.com recently had a review of both D and E, and E won out big time. Sorry, but one will have to search on cnet to find the results, for I no longer have them.


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## Cappyxavs (Feb 28, 2008)

sytyguy said:


> Cnet.com recently had a review of both D and E, and E won out big time. Sorry, but one will have to search on cnet to find the results, for I no longer have them.


i did see those reviews and they seem to reflect the same reviews as amazon as well. i've read through some posts here and they seem to reflect the same issues as the review reflects. a member on another thread wrote he forked over 340 bucks just to switch back to E.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

sytyguy said:


> Cnet.com recently had a review of both D and E, and E won out big time. Sorry, but one will have to search on cnet to find the results, for I no longer have them.


Doing a quick Google search, the only comparisons I find that show a Dish preference are at least a couple of years old. Any current comparisons either favor DirecTV or consider the two very comparable.

Carl


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## sytyguy (Dec 7, 2006)

Here's the link, although I didn't realize at the time it was a bit old. But the point is out of 319 user reviews for the HR20, their rating came in at an abysmal 4.5 out of 10, whereas Tivo came in at 6.4 and Dish at 7.4.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4321-6474_7-6546224.html?tag=feat.8


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## TAnsley (Sep 21, 2006)

K4SMX said:


> ...although your current problems don't appear to be related to the 0x1fe firmware...


I would tend to disagree with this statement as I have already posted several times about this same issue. Since I have had it happen on the internal HD AND on an External HD, formatting the HD is obviously NOT the resolution. Since it started only after the latest FW release, after having been a stable platform for over 6-8 months prior to this latest release, I would say that points to the release as the culprit.

Of course, I have a second HR20, that does not exhibit this behavior at all, but then again, it is not configured the same way. (it does not have OTA, it is only configured with a single Sat tuner active, has no Series Links, etc.)


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

9PM Monday March 31, 2008 recording of Star Trek: Enterprise on HDNet was first canceled with an unexpected error (13) and the right after that canceled with an unexpected error (19). The episode did not record.

The episode DID record on another HR20 running 0x220 (CE software).


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

The Tuner 1 dead bug came back for me last night. I did a reboot and restored Tuner 1 but at that time I noticed that my first reboot screen was back to being very funky. There were two large vertical bars in the center of the screen, one black, one red, with identical squashed blue screens on either sides of them. The "please wait" info was on those blue screens. I tried a second reboot and saw this same bad reboot screen(s).

I got this same distorted picture once before, when I had my first problem with Tuner 1 going dead. I did another forced download of the software this morning and everything seems back to normal. The reboot screen looks correct and I have Tuner 1. This is now the third time I've downloaded 0x1FE. 

This version of the software is definitely quite finicky.


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## K4SMX (May 19, 2007)

AustinA6 said:


> I would tend to disagree with this statement as I have already posted several times about this same issue. Since I have had it happen on the internal HD AND on an External HD, formatting the HD is obviously NOT the resolution. Since it started only after the latest FW release, after having been a stable platform for over 6-8 months prior to this latest release, I would say that points to the release as the culprit.
> 
> Of course, I have a second HR20, that does not exhibit this behavior at all, but then again, it is not configured the same way. (it does not have OTA, it is only configured with a single Sat tuner active, has no Series Links, etc.)


You _should_ tend to disagree.  I'm not sure why I said that, but it wasn't really relevant to the point I was making. (I think I confused *skayhart* with a previous poster I had read who was running CE, not 0x1fe, software.) Thanks for the post.

You're right that it is a curious fact that there are pockets of anomalies in the way some otherwise apparently identical receivers run the same software. There are probably hardware revisions about which we are uninformed as well as a variety of LNB models/revisions, not to mention user configuration vagaries, which may be responsible for these situations wherein a few people have one serious problem, a few people have another, and the rest have the same minor problems or no problems with a specific software version.

In any event, *skayhart*, having been unlucky enough to be in possession of a leased receiver with one of these odd problems, needs a _new_ receiver. At this stage in his DirecTV "user experience," he should not be asked to test drive yet another refurb, which may have its own, everyday-type problems some of us have been unfortunate enough to come to know and love, e.g., won't turn on, won't boot, etc. At least he should then be able to graduate to the level of having his problems being the less severe annoyances while we all await a better NR. And before anyone says it, yes, I know there are defective new ones in the production stream as well.


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## romulox (Jun 22, 2007)

same issue as indiana627, http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=1497624&postcount=138

using 0x1fe, I've got old programs from past days in the To Do List

I've attached an image that was taken a couple days ago. As you can see, the first 3 programs set to record have a date of 3/26, then it turns to current date with Dancing w/ Stars. Even the double MythBusters is odd!

A reboot cleaned up this issue

An image of the issue is here: http://www.dbstalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=13042&d=1207003643

The original thread is here: 
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=124475


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## DeanS (Aug 23, 2006)

I was watching a movie on the Sundance Channel last night when the picture froze but the audio kept on playing. American Idol was being recorded at the same time (OTA-Fox-LA). I could change channels only after a long wait and all menus became very sluggish. Had to perform a RBR near the top of the hour. After the RBR, the AI recording was still intact but froze in two places on playback. Deleted the recording after watching what I could. 

I have a laptop cooling pad on top of the DVR, but I sometimes turn it off when watching a program, and I forgot to turn it back on yesterday. Regardless, the internal temp of the DVR was 118 degrees when I encountered the picture freeze. With the cooling fan on, it is normally running at 105-109 degrees. I believe (but can't be sure) that the problems last night are related to heat issues. 

This was the one and only time I have had a problem with this box, and it occured when the cooling fan was left off. I remember the installer telling me these units were very susceptible to heat issues, particularly when placed in a cabinet. Hopefully, the RBR and keeping the cooling fan on will prevent future issues. This is my second HR-20.


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## jahgreen (Dec 15, 2006)

DeanS said:


> I was watching a movie on the Sundance Channel last night when the picture froze but the audio kept on playing. American Idol was being recorded at the same time (OTA-Fox-LA). I could change channels only after a long wait and all menus became very sluggish. Had to perform a RBR near the top of the hour. After the RBR, the AI recording was still intact but froze in two places on playback. Deleted the recording after watching what I could.


I had a very similar experience at almost the exact same time. At about 8:30pm we started watching AI, which was recording. About 15 minutes in, or at 8:45pm, the picture froze and we got an error message stating that our account was not authorized for DVR service. I tried to tune to other channels and could not. The yellow light was still on and I thought maybe it was still recording AI. I waited until 9pm and tried to do a menu restart, but the box wouldn't recognize the "dash," either from the remote or from the front panel of the box. So I did a RBR.

After the RBR, AI was available on my list of recordings, but at exactly 30 minutes the recording stopped and I got the save or delete dialog. Other recordings appear to be OK.


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## tivoreno (Jul 26, 2006)

tivoreno said:


> Ever since this release came out my recordings of BSG have been hosed with video freezes. SCIFIHD is unwatchable just about all the time. No one better be around me when I miss the season opener. Menu reset was no help, RBR was no help. Similar issues with the LA MPEG4s, BRAVOHD, NGCHD, DSCHD, CMTHD, MHD, VSGFHD, USAHD. Did not have this problem with the last release.


I officially withdraw this comment. Although the issues were real, it is now clear it was not related to the software version. Today D* showed up to repair and realign my dish. It seems the original installer never installed the stabalizing brackets and a couple 50 mph windstorms nearly ripped the thing off the roof. They tried to charge me $80 for the service call, so we ended up discussing it in retension. The kind rep there added the protection plan to my account at no charge, covering the service call. Signal is quite nice now.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

My HR20-700 is quickly going downhill. Now I am getting many of the common complaints - recording black screens, picture freezing while the audio continues, no picture at all on many channels when watching live TV. It isn't the bad Tuner 1 problem I've had before as both tuners read more than adequate signal strength, but something else. And I'm back to a bifurcated start up screen, although this time with just black bars down the middle.

This awful software needs to be retired soon. As opposed to some of you, I have only one TV and one DVR in my house. With this unit on the fritz, I have no TV at all.

I'm in the middle of a reboot right now. I sure hope it comes back.


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## K4SMX (May 19, 2007)

Carl, if you've ever considered adding an eSATA external drive, now would be the time, since it would isolate whether the "something else" you're having might be related to a failing hard drive.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Anyone else still having the start late bug? I'm getting shows starting about a minute late.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

K4SMX said:


> Carl, if you've ever considered adding an eSATA external drive, now would be the time, since it would isolate whether the "something else" you're having might be related to a failing hard drive.


Good idea, K4SMX. I also don't have that much critical on my hard drive right now. I could easily watch what I want to see over the next week and say goodbye to it.

I'm also seriously thinking about joining the CE program. I see there is a release this weekend. I've stayed away because I value reliability over features, but right now, I may well get greater reliability through the CE software.


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## MIKE0616 (Dec 13, 2006)

Carl Spock said:


> Good idea, K4SMX. I also don't have that much critical on my hard drive right now. I could easily watch what I want to see over the next week and say goodbye to it.
> 
> I'm also seriously thinking about joining the CE program. I see there is a release this weekend. I've stayed away because I value reliability over features, but right now, I may well get greater reliability through the CE software.


You can't ask for any more unreliable software than this untested crap they sent out as a NR, so what have we got to lose? Not a lot, from my perspective, so looks like I may as well get the CE this weekend as well, it cannot be any worse than this flea-bitten crap I now have.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

Not exactly the languange I would have used   but I may well buy into the sentiment.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

MIKE0616 said:


> You can't ask for any more unreliable software than this untested crap they sent out as a NR, so what have we got to lose? Not a lot, from my perspective, so looks like I may as well get the CE this weekend as well, it cannot be any worse than this flea-bitten crap I now have.


While I certainly can understand some people's frustration when things don't work right, I always wonder why some (most) people have no problems and others have nothing but problems. Other than a few minor things like the screen saver coming on when it shouldn't, I have never missed a recording or had any other problems on either of my units. The 'no DVR service' thing discussd in the other thread seems to be a DirecTV issue, so I won't include it as a DVR problem. So to claim it's 'untested crap' is IMO a bit extreme. I compare it to when many people bash MS and their OS. I've been running a couple of XP machines 24/7 for several years and have never even rebooted them and they are as stable as the day I turned them on. IMO most problems with people who call MS OS crap is not due to the OS, but the buggy software/drivers they download and slap on it. So my point is, I wonder if those who are having chronic problems (i.e. 4 replacement units over a few months) have some other problem unrelated to the DVR, like overheating due to unit location, 'dirty' power, bad dish alignment, etc.


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## K4SMX (May 19, 2007)

Carl Spock said:


> Good idea, K4SMX. I also don't have that much critical on my hard drive right now. I could easily watch what I want to see over the next week and say goodbye to it.
> 
> I'm also seriously thinking about joining the CE program. I see there is a release this weekend. I've stayed away because I value reliability over features, but right now, I may well get greater reliability through the CE software.


Even though you can probably find a good deal right now on a FreeAgent Pro and I use one with the HR20-700, for long-term satisfaction and a few dollars more I'd recommend you build your own. (It takes about 15 minutes.)

One of the Seagate Barracuda ES drives in an Antec MX-1 enclosure (which includes an eSATA cable) is a highly reliable eSATA solution. The FreeAgent Pro's have a software interface and drive idling feature that is undesirable for HR use and actually doesn't work properly with the HR21's, which you may wind up with one day in the future.....


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## stiffi (Jul 13, 2006)

Whenever my available space (according to the HR20 menu) gets below 40%, my DVR starts to have problems. I get video and audio stutter, green screens, and lack of responsiveness.

As soon as I delete some shows, things go back to normal. 

Is this 40% some magic number? Is anybody else experiencing this? 

Other than this problem, I'm really happy with the unit, but it's kind of annoying to only be able to use about 1/2 the available disk space.

thanks for your help.


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## jfm (Nov 29, 2006)

jahgreen said:


> I had a very similar experience at almost the exact same time. At about 8:30pm we started watching AI, which was recording. About 15 minutes in, or at 8:45pm, the picture froze and we got an error message stating that our account was not authorized for DVR service. I tried to tune to other channels and could not. The yellow light was still on and I thought maybe it was still recording AI. I waited until 9pm and tried to do a menu restart, but the box wouldn't recognize the "dash," either from the remote or from the front panel of the box. So I did a RBR.
> 
> After the RBR, AI was available on my list of recordings, but at exactly 30 minutes the recording stopped and I got the save or delete dialog. Other recordings appear to be OK.


I was out of town when this occurred but it appears to be same problem. When I got home on 4/3, I had message stating that our account was not authorized for DVR service. I tried to tune to other channels and to List and could not. I tried to do a menu restart, but the box wouldn't recognize the "dash," either from the remote or from the front panel of the box. So I did a RBR.

After the RBR, AI was available on my list of recordings and the whole hour played correctly. The next recording, Dancing With The Stars was on list but got IDK when I tried to play it back. None of the other scheduled recordings recorded (DVR was hung). Since RBR, seems to be working fine.


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## bhanks (Jun 8, 2006)

poppo said:


> While I certainly can understand some people's frustration when things don't work right, I always wonder why some (most) people have no problems and others have nothing but problems. Other than a few minor things like the screen saver coming on when it shouldn't, I have never missed a recording or had any other problems on either of my units. The 'no DVR service' thing discussd in the other thread seems to be a DirecTV issue, so I won't include it as a DVR problem. So to claim it's 'untested crap' is IMO a bit extreme. I compare it to when many people bash MS and their OS. I've been running a couple of XP machines 24/7 for several years and have never even rebooted them and they are as stable as the day I turned them on. IMO most problems with people who call MS OS crap is not due to the OS, but the buggy software/drivers they download and slap on it. So my point is, I wonder if those who are having chronic problems (i.e. 4 replacement units over a few months) have some other problem unrelated to the DVR, like overheating due to unit location, 'dirty' power, bad dish alignment, etc.


I got my HR20-700 installed in early January 08 and was amazed at how well
it worked and thanked my lucky stars that I was not having all the problems
I kept reading about here.

Well, since the 0x1FE update I received at 0327 a.m. on Feb. 13, I now experience many of the problems discussed here. So, I am sure the problems I am having are caused by the update and not the DVR. 
So, why doesn't D* fix it?


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

^ They are. Read the posts involving what will be the next NR software in the Cutting Edge forum. You'll see they are working on the fix.

We'd like to think it's just a matter of changing a line of code or two to fix 0x1FE. I don't think it is. My guess, and it's purely a guess, is that the major addition to 0x1FE, a single live buffer, is causing our problems. It is a big change in the software and it is taking time to debug.

I'm as frustrated with 0x1FE as you are, bhanks. Read my posts just up thread of yours. But to rush out a replacement that could possibly make matters worse isn't the answer, either. My guess is DirecTV released 0x1FE too quickly. They may be gun shy about rushing out a replacement before they know it will absolutely solve the problem. I am certainly in no position to know. But that they are working on the problem, of that I'm sure. CE posts tell me that.

For what it's worth, I have decided this afternoon to join the CE program. I am continuing to have bugs with my system today. Although in signing up for CE, you agree to take what you get and not ***** about any bugs you end up with, I doubt they can be more or worse than what I'm dealing with now.


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## clueless (Dec 6, 2004)

I have had my HR20-700 for over a year and it has been rock solid. Other than the first month when I had a couple of lockups I don't think it has missed a recording.

Until last night.

I noticed when I got home this afternoon the yellow record light was on. Black screen. Had to do an RBR.

After RBR I checked and CSI recorded but it was over 19 hours long!!!! I FFed thru it and when it got to about 28 minutes it started over. FFed up to 27 minutes and hit play and it went to about 28 minutes and the video froze but the audio kept going. Let it play for about for about 5 minutes (video still frozen). Finally stopped it and just deleted CSI. Also 2 programs scheduled after CSI did not record. 

It was sluggish until I deleted CSI (had 15% of disk free before deletion). After I deleted CSI things have seemed normal....


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

My mother called me today - her HR20-700 running this release was reporting "DVR Service Not Active". I walked her through a reboot, and "service" was restored.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

Thank God my mother is dead. If my Mom's DVR stopped working, DirecTV would have to address this issue NOW!


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## UTVLamented (Oct 18, 2006)

clueless said:


> I have had my HR20-700 for over a year and it has been rock solid. Other than the first month when I had a couple of lockups I don't think it has missed a recording.
> 
> Until last night.
> 
> ...


I had the same thing happen to me except.... when I noticed it I had 0% space left and most of my playlist had been blown away!  I lost over 30 TCM movies along with some other important (to me) recordings. There should be some kind of failsafe mechanism to prevent this runaway recording from happening or deleting programs.


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## Cappyxavs (Feb 28, 2008)

hello,

can some one tell me how many coaxial sat inputs are required for the hr 20/21 units? 

ie can it function with one line or does it require 2 seperate lines?

thanks for any help.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Cappyxavs said:


> hello,
> 
> can some one tell me how many coaxial sat inputs are required for the hr 20/21 units?
> 
> ...


It will function with one line but that of course restricts it to single-tuner recording instead of dual-tuner recording. If using only one line, the satellite setup process should detect this.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Cappyxavs said:


> hello,
> 
> can some one tell me how many coaxial sat inputs are required for the hr 20/21 units?
> 
> ...


It will work fine with 1 line, but you will, of course, lose the ability to watch one channel while simultaneously recording another (or record 2 different channels at the same time).

Other than that, you should be in good shape.


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## Cappyxavs (Feb 28, 2008)

Thanks all,
if using two lines does that allow me to watch/record two HD programs at one time or is it one HD one SD?


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## Michael D'Angelo (Oct 21, 2006)

Cappyxavs said:


> Thanks all,
> if using two lines does that allow me to watch/record two HD programs at one time or is it one HD one SD?


You can record two HD programs at one time or two SD or one of each.


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## Cappyxavs (Feb 28, 2008)

great every one thanks for the help. i'm setting up for the tech tommorrow as we speak


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## Scrib (Nov 22, 2006)

Having all sorts of 771 errors on both my HR20-700 and 100. Really annoying.

Lots of RBR's... Fixes things for a few days. And the 771 errors don't have a channel pattern. Happens on HD, non-HD, etc.


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## sbelmont (Aug 5, 2007)

Had a 771 error on my HR20-700 when I switched to the Hot Pass network HD channel 799. Tried switching channels, 798 another HP channel was coming in fine, and that didn't fix it. Switched boxes and 799 was coming in fine on my HR20-100. Did a menu reset on the HR20-700 and that fixed the problem.


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## patsrule316 (Sep 28, 2006)

I had something really weird happen on my HR20-700 last Thursday night/ Friday.

I went to turn on the HR20 on Friday around 5:00 in the afternoon. The yellow recording light was on, but that was it. The unit was totally unresponsive, but I could hear the unit and my esata running. I had to pull the plug. When the unit powered up, there was no more recording light, but everything seemed to be working fine. I couldn't figure out what was recording, because nothing was scheduled to record that day, and nothing was in the list from that day. I did notice that my available space was around 40% when I expected it to be around 65%. I finally figured out what had happened when I went to watch Are You Smarter than a 5th grader from the night before. The DVR said it was 22 and 1/2 hours long!!! It never stopped recording all night and the next day. Thank God for the esata drive and that I checked the next day or it would have recorded over all my programs. Whatever happened, also messed up the recording of AYSTA5G at the 90 minute mark (it was a 2 hour episode). I could play or fast forward after 90 minutes.

First time I saw anything like that.


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## cody21 (Sep 26, 2007)

This is bazaar. We;ve had the HR20-700 for 6 months, and really, it has been pretty flawless (except the lip sync stuff as noted by many).

A week ago, we started getting this strange issue: When watching live TV or a recorded episode of something, the program just PAUSES mid-stream ... we haven't pressed the remote or anything. We wait 10-20 secs and it un-Pauses. Will play for a few minutes and do the same thing over again. We've tried pressing PAUSE/PLAY, etc - but is seems to "buffer" our action until the unit finished whatever the heck it was doing ... then responds to the button we had pushed.. very bazaar.... and very annoying. Our feeling is that the DVR/Buffer is "busy" doing something ... what, we don't know. (we're NOT recording anything at the time - just watching REAL time or something we recorded earlier.)

We've "pressed the red button" several times now in an attempt to RESET everything.

We received update (0x1fe) back on 2/12/2008 - so we've had the national release for nearly 5 weeks without any problems until last week. 

Anyone ever see this behavior? Possible bad DISK blocks???? (Can we re-format it???)


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## cody21 (Sep 26, 2007)

mjs31 said:


> ....... the video just stops/pauses all throughout. When I advance forward several times and then rewind back to that same approx area it still stops, but on a different scene that I could not get to before. I have never seen this issue before and not sure why it would be doing this especially since it is happening at different spots.,,....


+1 ... exactly what we started seeing about a week ago !! :nono2:


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## Old Tv Watcher (Dec 23, 2007)

cody21 said:


> +1 ... exactly what we started seeing about a week ago !! :nono2:


Me too!


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## cody21 (Sep 26, 2007)

Old Tv Watcher said:


> Me too!


Glad to hear that we're not the only ones seeing this issue. Someone suggested that our hard drive was failing ... now THAT would be the worst case scenario. I hope this is just (??) a firmware issue recently introduced -- and soon to be fixed!


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## dem (Apr 6, 2008)

I'm an HR20-700 newbie, and it's rebooted 5 times in the first week I've had it (a refurb unit). Twice I was watching a program when it just crashed, and the other times it was in standby.

Is this par for the course with this software release? Should I just wait it out until the next release?

Or is this some kind of special feature to make former HR10-250 owners feel like they never left?


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## JDizzle77 (Sep 20, 2007)

jahgreen said:


> I had a very similar experience at almost the exact same time. At about 8:30pm we started watching AI, which was recording. About 15 minutes in, or at 8:45pm, the picture froze and we got an error message stating that our account was not authorized for DVR service. I tried to tune to other channels and could not. The yellow light was still on and I thought maybe it was still recording AI. I waited until 9pm and tried to do a menu restart, but the box wouldn't recognize the "dash," either from the remote or from the front panel of the box. So I did a RBR.
> 
> After the RBR, AI was available on my list of recordings, but at exactly 30 minutes the recording stopped and I got the save or delete dialog. Other recordings appear to be OK.


wow...i had the exact same failure at the same time. wonder what D* did to cause this?

I was watching one of my recordings of Lord of the Rings last night while recording Return of the King and the play back froze. I tried to restart the playback and I couldn't. Black screen. I tried another recording on my list and nothing. When I played any recorded show it took me to a black screen and the blue light was acting like it was paused.

Anyways, seems like errors have happened to me when I'm recording something while watching live or playback. Seems to be a firmware issue because my box has been rock solid for almost a year. I've loved it so far.


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## hekhl00 (Feb 1, 2008)

Can someone enlighten me on what changed since the last release?

Everything has been fine with my HR20-700 until the last week or so. Now I'm getting random audio dropouts, a little pixelation here and there and an odd issue with the 8 second rewind and 30 second skip/fast forward. If I do the 8 second rewind, then hit the 30 second skip OR fast forward, it does nothing other than make the "ding" noise. Even though I can plainly see in the timeline that I'm not caught up to live TV. But, if I hit he rewind button, then 30 second or fast forward it will go all the way to the end. 

:nono2:


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## cody21 (Sep 26, 2007)

another thing worth noting that we're seeing is the 30 sec. skip : It USED to be Soooooo fast. I would just click it 4-6 times to jump past commercials. It is now soo darn slow to react -- like the device is just "busy" doing something. (and nothing is recording when I do this.)

Anyone else seeing this?

As a side question, does a FULL RESET actually REFORMAT the drive???? I'm almost thinking of trying that, of course losing all of my setting and recordings, etc.


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## Scott J (Feb 14, 2007)

Anyone know when we will get a software upgrade?


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Was just watching a recorded show when the picture frooze and the message popped up, "you are not subscribed to DVR service." A RBR fixed the problem.


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## cody21 (Sep 26, 2007)

Scott J said:


> Anyone know when we will get a software upgrade?


Not soon enough IMO .... I am sooo tired of RESET.


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## hekhl00 (Feb 1, 2008)

Was anyone else seeing pixels during ESPN's coverage of The Masters today along with audio dropouts?


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## Cappyxavs (Feb 28, 2008)

this is something i have to ask...

why with D are there so many audio drop outs? while E has no issues with this.


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## MIKE0616 (Dec 13, 2006)

Cappyxavs said:


> this is something i have to ask...
> 
> why with D are there so many audio drop outs? while E has no issues with this.


It has to be this "new and improved" software. On the prior release, I didn't have most of the problems they inflicted on me with this untested (or tested by baboons) POS. Simple testing of things such as the buffering would have found the problems, they are not obscure, hidden features that are not used all that much by common users.


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

Done. HR20-700; 49009; 0x1FE; Slimline:

97
89
95
97
98
96
92
N/A
N/A

--Mav


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## Cappyxavs (Feb 28, 2008)

MIKE0616 said:


> It has to be this "new and improved" software. On the prior release, I didn't have most of the problems they inflicted on me with this untested (or tested by baboons) POS. Simple testing of things such as the buffering would have found the problems, they are not obscure, hidden features that are not used all that much by common users.


at least if it is software it is repairable

i switched from E and have been enjoying sci-fi HD. my only complaints so far 
>two defective hr 20 units
>a defective instal idiot who put the dish at the middle of my house on the roof when there was a clear shot from the rear roof and now i have to pay to have it moved..


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## Cappyxavs (Feb 28, 2008)

>i have two different types of hr20 units. my hr20 and 21 are solid cassing on the top while my 3rd hr20 is vented on the top. is there any difference between these units? 
>any particular one better?


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## nth78 (Jan 16, 2007)

hekhl00 said:


> Was anyone else seeing pixels during ESPN's coverage of The Masters today along with audio dropouts?


I always get pixels and audio drops on ESPN HD


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## cfairchi (Aug 27, 2007)

For the past couple of weeks I have had tons of problems. Every day I need to do a rbr on the box. It works for about a day or less then gets screwey again. The main problem is the pause and rewind stops working on the live buffer. I also have had several recordings either not record or show that they recorded for 25+ hours yet less than 10-20 minutes into the recording it freezes and prompts me to delete. Often when turning on the tv the screen is frozen. The first time the problem came up the recod light was on but the box was unresponsive with only a black screen. After rebooting, ALL of my recordings were totally gone!!! Ever since it has been nothing but problems. Is this just crappy software? My info says that 0x1fe was installed 2/14, but I didn't really notice any problems until a couple weeks ago.


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## JS29 (Feb 13, 2008)

Quick description of my current problem.

I have an HR20 700, with what looks to have Ox1fe as the last update on Thur 2/14. It appears to not have any upgrades scheduled.

My problem is that on Monday all was working just fine, no problems. Then yesterday I find that I have lost most of my HD channels including locals. About the only HD channel I have is ESPN. Our weather since Monday morning have been gorgeous, no rain, no wind, and the dish wasn't bumped or moved. Basically NOTHING was touched or changed to account for this sudden failure.

I performed the following with no resolution to the problem:

Reset using remote
Reset using button on front
Unplugged and restart
Unplugged, disconnected inputs, sat overnight, then powered up

I don't have the numbers for signal strengths, or transponders on me because I am not home. BTW, all the SD channels on that receiver and the second SD receiver are working just fine.

Can anybody offer some advice on what I can do before I make that dreaded call to technical support? Thanks.
George


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Probably have a bad LNB which is not delivering to you the HD feeds from that HD satellite. 

Go into the menu and check all the transponders and write them down and report back which ones you receive in the 80s or 90s etc. and the ones you have at ZERO or a low threshold.


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## JS29 (Feb 13, 2008)

richierich said:


> Probably have a bad LNB which is not delivering to you the HD feeds from that HD satellite.
> 
> Go into the menu and check all the transponders and write them down and report back which ones you receive in the 80s or 90s etc. and the ones you have at ZERO or a low threshold.


It was a lost signal. I have NO idea how it happened, but somehow the dish moved. It is 20' in the air, and we had gorgeous weather. Anyways, on a hunch I went up and adjusted it down just a hair, and voila' all my HD came up.

Thanks for your help!

Geo


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## mprinkey (Mar 27, 2008)

I got a blank recording of Battlestar Galactica on SciFi HD on Friday night. I've been also having regular problems with premature ending of recordings of Deep Space Nine and Voyager on SpikeHD. All transponders are in the 94-96 range.


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## bluedogok (Sep 9, 2006)

Mine has been acting up more lately, the freezing and audio dropouts. My wife is to the point of not even bothering to watch anything in here and just using the old DirecTivo-SD which doesn't make her very happy especially with what we spend monthly for the service. I tried watching a recorded show and it was freezing, so I rebooted which seemed to have cleared up problems the past few times. I have rebooted it more in the past week than I did the previous 1.5 years before this latest release. I started the show right after the reboot, it spontaneously rebooted itself right now. After 1.5 years of solid service from this unit, this is getting ridiculous. I wish that I could force it back to the previous release.

I am wanting to add a second HDTV and DVR but this isn't helping me at all since the unit has been rendered virtually useless.

Transponder readings: 97 - 80 - 92 - 97 - 100 -88 - 88


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

I would force another SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD to ensure that the last one wasn't corrupted during the download process. It sure can't hurt to do it and it helped mine.


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## MIKE0616 (Dec 13, 2006)

Yet another "feature" in this excellent, well-tested release:

Had an episode set to record. Came home and unit was NOT recording and was apparently not on that channel when I turned TV & DVR on. Looked at history and said something like "unknown error - canceled." I then flipped to that station and pressed the one-step record button to at least record rest of episode. The next day I checked and the entire show was there, even though it was not on the list of shows recorded or recorded and the history said it had been canceled and had not pressed button until 15 minutes in or so. 

I went back to look at the "history" and it seems to be really worthless as the canceled due to errors are meaningless "unknown" errors, wonder if the code jockeys wherever they are know of any errors?


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