# Why the screensaver when tv is not on ?



## jhillestad (Jan 13, 2007)

Ever since the new firmware I have noticed that when I have my tv off but the sat tuner ON it will be at the screensaver when the tv is turned on... 

It does this on the HR21 and the HR20 ever since the newest firmware was introduced..

Its very annoying.... is the receiver sensing the hdmi port going off and thus going into this mode ? I never turn my receivers off just the tv's.

I do not see any setting to turn this ' feature ' off.

Anyone else notice this ?


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## maseace (Aug 31, 2007)

I don't think the receiver can tell if your TV is on or off, it's only an output. Most people want a screen saver in case their TV is left on.


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## Steve Robertson (Jun 7, 2005)

I agree this is annoying I haveit happen on 1 of my HR20 700's but not the other.


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## cmtar (Nov 16, 2005)

I dont want to start anything but just curious, how can this be annoying?


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## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

There is handshaking on HDMI. It is very possible that the receiver "knows" if the TV is on.

As to why it goes to screensaver, I have no clue.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

If the TV is off... how do you know that the screensaver is on?

And if it is on... what is the big deal?


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

When you turn off the HR21 and HR20, are you at live TV or are you in the Playlist or on an interactive channel?


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## ccr1958 (Aug 29, 2007)

i had it happen this morn too....i very rarely turn the hr20-100 off in the
office & this morn when i turned on the TV the screensaver was on...
after pressing a button on the remote had the 771 error that stayed on
screen after changing thru a few chs....reset fixed the prob....
never had this happen until this NR....can't say it is annoying but
i don't like it....

posted this in the issue thread too....


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## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

paulman182 said:


> There is handshaking on HDMI. It is very possible that the receiver "knows" if the TV is on.
> 
> As to why it goes to screensaver, I have no clue.


Correct, HDMI is a "smart" digital interface and thus the device on either end can tell the current link status along with other info besides just a picture/audio signal.

For example, HDCP is protection method that needs to "handshake" with both devices before it lets the output device output the Audio/Video.


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## Steve Robertson (Jun 7, 2005)

Earl Bonovich said:


> If the TV is off... how do you know that the screensaver is on?
> 
> And if it is on... what is the big deal?


You see the screen saver when you turn the TV on and have to hit a button to get rid of it. This is only happening on 1 box for me. I actually was talking to D* support on Saturday about audio dropouts and mentioned this and he had no idea why it was happening.


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## goober22 (Sep 8, 2004)

Grentz said:


> Correct, HDMI is a "smart" digital interface and thus the device on either end can tell the current link status along with other info besides just a picture/audio signal.
> 
> For example, HDCP is protection method that needs to "handshake" with both devices before it lets the output device output the Audio/Video.


But what about component? Or is this an issue with HDMI only?


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## Steve Robertson (Jun 7, 2005)

The one that I have hooked up to HDMI does not have the screen saver


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## cmtar (Nov 16, 2005)

Steve Robertson said:


> when you turn the TV on and have to hit a button to get rid of it.


How dare they make you have to hit a button!!!!! 

Dont you have to fit a button to go to the guide or something anyway or when you turn on the tv is it automatically always on what your wanting to watch. Either way sooner or later you gotta hit that button...


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## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

cmtar said:


> How dare they make you have to hit a button!!!!!
> 
> Dont you have to fit a button to go to the guide or something anyway or when you turn on the tv is it automatically always on what your wanting to watch. Either way sooner or later you gotta hit that button...


If I have to push one more button I won't have enough energy left to go mow the lawn


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## Steve Robertson (Jun 7, 2005)

cmtar said:


> How dare they make you have to hit a button!!!!!
> 
> Dont you have to fit a button to go to the guide or something anyway or when you turn on the tv is it automatically always on what your wanting to watch. Either way sooner or later you gotta hit that button...


No on this tv it usually is on 1 station and that is it so yes it it is a pain in the ass to have to hit a button when a picture should just pop on.


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## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

goober22 said:


> But what about component? Or is this an issue with HDMI only?


HDMI/DVI only. HDMI and DVI are digital interfaces and Component is analog. All are HD, but only HDMI and DVI are digital and thus do the "handshaking" and security stuff.

That is why Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players a lot of the time cannot output full 1080p or 720p/1080i on component...because it is not secured. (all though not all movies and players are using this yet necessarily, so sometimes you can output HD on component)


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## mikek (May 18, 2007)

This might be the lamest complaint I have seen. The screen saver is on while the TV is off? HUH? 

When you turn on the tv you have to hit a button to get rid of it? 

OK. You almost had me. I now realize this is a joke. I'm am sure you are laughing your butt off.

-mk


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## bwaldron (Oct 24, 2005)

In my opinion it is far from the lamest complaint I have seen. While it may not be a major issue, it's quite valid to point out a small annoyance. These small niggling things can add up to a less than completely satisfying experience with the DVR.



mikek said:


> This might be the lamest complaint I have seen. The screen saver is on while the TV is off? HUH?
> 
> When you turn on the tv you have to hit a button to get rid of it?
> 
> ...


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## Steve Robertson (Jun 7, 2005)

bwaldron said:


> In my opinion it is far from the lamest complaint I have seen. While it may not be a major issue, it's quite valid to point out a small annoyance. These small niggling things can add up to a less than completely satisfying experience with the DVR.


Agreed to those of you that don't have this issue good for you but for the rest of us it is just another little thing we have to deal with along with audio dropouts and synch issues.


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## jhillestad (Jan 13, 2007)

After looking at this more... I noticed the screensaver comes ON eveb if the TV is ON as well. It seems to take hours.... so it must be started by no activity on the remote.

As for why this is annoying :

Its VERY annoying to turn on the tv and start to walk away to hear the news, etc... just to discover the receiver is brain dead and must be kick started. I really do not care to see a directv logo rolling around my tv thank you very much...

I left my other tv on during the Daytona 500 hundred on the hotpass channel so I could hear the driver traffic while my bigger tv had the fox race on... 

So there are reasons why people want to have another tv on without the damn screensaver..... so I seriously do not think its a " lame " complaint. I want it OFF is that so hard for DTV to handle ?!? man, there are sooo many dtv employees that troll this forum just waiting to attack any complaint put on here...


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## Redlinetire (Jul 24, 2007)

I'm running component and have noticed the screen saver after leaving the box on but the TV off.

I agree with JHILLESTAD, it must be remote related...


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## cartrivision (Jul 25, 2007)

If you use the ON button (not the PWR button) on the DirecTV remote to turn the TV on, that will take the DVR out of screensaver mode when the TV comes on.


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## cartrivision (Jul 25, 2007)

jhillestad said:


> After looking at this more... I noticed the screensaver comes ON eveb if the TV is ON as well. It seems to take hours.... so it must be started by no activity on the remote.
> 
> As for why this is annoying :
> 
> ...


I've never seen a screensaver unless video was paused... maybe it's something new, but I agree there should NEVER be a screensaver put up over active video regardless of any amount of inactivity.


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## jhillestad (Jan 13, 2007)

cartrivision said:


> If you use the ON button (not the PWR button) on the DirecTV remote to turn the TV on, that will take the DVR out of screensaver mode when the TV comes on.


Cart , leave your tv on and it will eventually go to a screensaver....

It takes a few hours of not touching the remote.

This problem started after the latest update...


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## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

This is slightly off topic, but last evening on one of my -700's, the screen saver kept coming on every five minutes during live TV. A soft reset cured it, but I had not seen it before.


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## bluemoon737 (Feb 21, 2007)

I think this has been mentioned in another thread related to the latest rounds of CE and NR. That poster mentioned having the TV lose signal on tuner 2 even though they have nothing connected to tuner two (operating in single tuner mode). That is my set up on one of my HR20-700's and just a few moments ago, I went outside for a few minutes with the receiver and TV on and came back to the screen saver (didn't pause the live feed) and hitting the play button restored it but with nothing in the buffer (couldn't rewind to replay what I missed). I do think there is some sort of bug in this round. BTW, this is with the latest CE downloaded on Friday and watching live TV (HDNM).


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

As long as there are the criminally self-righteous that make it their mission to not follow the manufacturer's recommendations (refusing to off the receiver for example), the manufacturers will need to use things like screen savers in an attempt to prevent the customers from damaging their equipment.


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## BBBoT (Jan 7, 2008)

I still can't figure out why there is no option to just completely disable the screen saver.
My other HD devices that have a screen saver (PS3, 360 and Oppo upconverting DVD player) all have a configurable screen saver that can be completely turned off.


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## bluemoon737 (Feb 21, 2007)

harsh said:


> As long as there are the criminally self-righteous that make it their mission to not follow the manufacturer's recommendations (refusing to off the receiver for example), the manufacturers will need to use things like screen savers in an attempt to prevent the customers from damaging their equipment.


Hmmm...maybe they made the HR20 an intelligent device with the latest round of software and it knew I left the room...hence the screen saver during live TV. :lol:


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## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

BBBoT said:


> I still can't figure out why there is no option to just completely disable the screen saver.
> My other HD devices that have a screen saver (PS3, 360 and Oppo upconverting DVD player) all have a configurable screen saver that can be completely turned off.


I think the screen saver is a good device to have to protect sets that could incur screen damage, but I find if my TV is to be left idol for much longer than the five minutes it takes to activate, I turn off my set. Pretty expensive device to use just to watch a blue logo bounce around the screen.


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## Steve Robertson (Jun 7, 2005)

harsh said:


> As long as there are the criminally self-righteous that make it their mission to not follow the manufacturer's recommendations (refusing to off the receiver for example), the manufacturers will need to use things like screen savers in an attempt to prevent the customers from damaging their equipment.


I have no problem with that but I do have a problem when the tv is off and when I turn it back on there is the saver.


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## grizbear (Aug 9, 2007)

Well, there is a problem with the screensaver. I may have an unusual situation in that I have 2 HR20-100 each connected via a single cable. -Have been waiting for the very elusive SWM due to 120 ft of buried cable! Lack of availability has become a touchy subject with me! Anyway I only use 1 SAT tuner in each.

Up until the 0X1FE release, and the screensaver showing up, I was able to record simultaneously to my Panasonic DVR as well as the HR-20. I tried this last night with a 1 AM show. The recording was fine on my HR20, but I got an hour of screensaver on my DVR. Not amused!

Both HR20's have BBC's connected to the 2nd SAT port and have been "all power off" rebooted. The screen saver remains coming up when TV via HDMI is been off for a while.

So it appears that I can no longer due simultaneous recording due to this "new screensaver feature" and got me wondering if you can do simultaneous recording when both HR20 tuners are active. [only when tuned to the "recording" channel?]


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

I'll have to pay more attention to this. I know that I leave my systems on overnight and I haven't turned the TV on in the morning to find the screensaver running.


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## mikek (May 18, 2007)

OK. It is not a lame a problem as I thought if the problem is a screensaver coming on while the show is not paused.

That should not happen. 

-mk


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## sdicomp (Sep 12, 2006)

Steve Robertson said:


> The one that I have hooked up to HDMI does not have the screen saver


My HR20 into my Sammy DLP(via HDMI) does have the screen saver. Since the DLP will not burn in, I don't need it, but don't want it taken away!!! I still have some CRTs!!!


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## ccr1958 (Aug 29, 2007)

sdicomp said:


> My HR20 into my Sammy DLP(via HDMI) does have the screen saver. Since the DLP will not burn in, I don't need it, but don't want it taken away!!! I still have some CRTs!!!


yes it would be nice to have an on-off & activate after x amount of
minutes option as the ps3 does


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## PoitNarf (Aug 19, 2006)

Workaround until it's fixed: Turn your receiver off when you turn your TV off


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## Steve Robertson (Jun 7, 2005)

sdicomp said:


> My HR20 into my Sammy DLP(via HDMI) does have the screen saver. Since the DLP will not burn in, I don't need it, but don't want it taken away!!! I still have some CRTs!!!


I still have a CRT as well and is where this thing pops up when the TV is off overnight or during the day. My other tv is a DLP and agree with you on burn in.


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## MountainMan10 (Jan 31, 2008)

I often set my PC to record video and then turn off the TV. Today I set it to record 6 hours of NFL Replay. I hope it did turn to recording several hours of screen saver.
The only time I have seen the screen saver is if I walk away with the playback or live tv paused, or if I am viewing an XM channel. Those are the only times I want it to come on.

This is definitely not a lame complaint. For those of us saving video to a PC or burning DVDs this could be a major issue.
Even if the DVR determined the TV on the HDMI was off what does that matter? What if you have a second TV or a PC on the component or composite output?


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## bwaldron (Oct 24, 2005)

Doug Brott said:


> I'll have to pay more attention to this. I know that I leave my systems on overnight and I haven't turned the TV on in the morning to find the screensaver running.


I haven't seen it recently, but definitely saw (and reported) the issue a few CE's back -- an HR20 that was "left alone" on a single (video, not XM) channel would go to screensaver after a few hours.


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## bwaldron (Oct 24, 2005)

PoitNarf said:


> Workaround until it's fixed: Turn your receiver off when you turn your TV off


Actually, when I was having the problem, it happened when coming out of standby as well.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

bwaldron said:


> I haven't seen it recently, but definitely saw (and reported) the issue a few CE's back -- an HR20 that was "left alone" on a single (video, not XM) channel would go to screensaver after a few hours.


Not disputing it, but I leave my main systems "on" all of the time and it's not something I notice. The screen saver does come on when I have paused a show after about 5-10 minutes, but that's normal.

Very occasionally (but not recently) I've seen the screen saver kick in while watching a show. That, I believe, was because the second tuner was on a music channel but I believe that particular issue was already squashed.


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## MountainMan10 (Jan 31, 2008)

All my recordings are good. It looks like the screen saver doesn't come on if you are playing a recorded show.
I have an HR21. Is this just an HR20 issue?


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## bwaldron (Oct 24, 2005)

Doug Brott said:


> Not disputing it, but I leave my main systems "on" all of the time and it's not something I notice. The screen saver does come on when I have paused a show after about 5-10 minutes, but that's normal.


I don't have the problem either -- with the current software. And only one of two HR20's displayed the symptom when I was experiencing it. So who knows -- perhaps Pinky or some other gremlin was in there causing a ruckus.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

bwaldron said:


> I don't have the problem either -- with the current software. And only one of two HR20's displayed the symptom when I was experiencing it. So who knows -- perhaps Pinky or some other gremlin was in there causing a ruckus.


Perhaps .. and BTW .. Pinky: may she rest in peace .. :grin:


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

You know what this means??



One more button press to get to the todo list. The horror.




PS. I leave both of my HR21's on all the time. Both hooked up with HDMI and I've not seen this issue.


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## Jim1234 (Sep 2, 2007)

I have noticed this with my HR-21 (not running CE) that is connected via s-video to a vintage CRT TV in the bedroom. Every night for the past week when going to bed it is in screensaver mode . My HR20-700 and HR20-100 do not seem to do this.


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## jhillestad (Jan 13, 2007)

spartanstew said:


> You know what this means??
> 
> One more button press to get to the todo list. The horror.
> 
> PS. I leave both of my HR21's on all the time. Both hooked up with HDMI and I've not seen this issue.


Just because you haven't seen the issue does NOT mean its not there!

ITS THERE !

Not everyone uses their systems the way you do...

I leave my top set on cnbcHD all the time and I do not like the screensaver popping up just because I have not touched the remote! I find it very annoying to have to kick it back sorry to hear you think this is no big deal but it is.


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## l123 (Sep 18, 2007)

harsh said:


> As long as there are the criminally self-righteous that make it their mission to not follow the manufacturer's recommendations (refusing to off the receiver for example), the manufacturers will need to use things like screen savers in an attempt to prevent the customers from damaging their equipment.


In case you missed it. Those "criminally self-righteous that" actually ignore "the manufacturer's recommendations (refusing to off the receiver...)" are smarter than you are.
The receiver is NEVER EVER off unless you remove the plug from the wall.
The HR20-700 receiver uses 45W when on, and uses 45W when fully off with all the LEDs off.
Go it ?
And to the rest of jokers - there are actually many scenarios when the screen saver instead of actual program is not desired. Use your imaginations and stop being so self-righteous!


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

jhillestad said:


> Just because you haven't seen the issue does NOT mean its not there!
> 
> ITS THERE !
> 
> Not everyone uses their systems the way you do...


Relax scooter. Never said the issue wasn't there. Was reporting my experience (isn't that what we're supposed to do??). I also never remember saying that everyone uses their system the same way I do.

You might want to avoid drinking and posting.


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## jhillestad (Jan 13, 2007)

spartanstew said:


> Relax scooter. Never said the issue wasn't there. Was reporting my experience (isn't that what we're supposed to do??). I also never remember saying that everyone uses their system the same way I do.
> 
> You might want to avoid drinking and posting.


Your SARCASM was and is not appreciated - the horror.


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## MountainMan10 (Jan 31, 2008)

What we need are clues as to what jhillestad is doing different that is causing the screen saver. It is pretty obvious that it is a software bug. Bugs like this usually show up after an unanticipated sequence of user actions.


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## jhillestad (Jan 13, 2007)

MountainMan10 said:


> What we need are clues as to what jhillestad is doing different that is causing the screen saver. It is pretty obvious that it is a software bug. Bugs like this usually show up after an unanticipated sequence of user actions.


The only thing I am doing is not touching the remote. On the HR20-700 I left my tv on the same channel running live programming on CNNHD after 3 or 4 hours the screensaver was running.

This would explain why just turning off your set will still get you a screensaver when you turn the set back on the next day... the remote seems to be key.. if you do not interact with the receiver for hours it will default into screensaver. At first I thought it was only on an off tv until I left one running. This is happening only on 2 units my third one does not exhibit this behavior. 1 HR21 and 1 HR20 do it while 1 HR20 does not - they are all dvr's so maybe its a setting somewhere but its really annoying.


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## MountainMan10 (Jan 31, 2008)

I just got home and turned on my tv and the screen saver was running. I know why it was running in this case. When I pressed a button on the remote I got the screen saying that the ratings limit was exceeded. If you have parental controls and a program that exceeds limits comes on the screen saver will display. It probably doesn't clear automatically when an allowed program comes on later. Perhaps this could explain why some are seeing it and some are not.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

jhillestad said:


> Your SARCASM was and is not appreciated - the horror.


FYI, it was a joke regarding all the complaints about todo list that always pop up. It had nothing to do with your issue. Don't attack things you don't understand. Just ask for clarification.


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## lancehart (Feb 21, 2008)

Another victim here... almost every time I turn on my TV since the update I've got a screen saver on the screen to deal with and I don't think I've ever seen a screen saver ever before this.

I've got the HD21 HD DVR with only one tuner active right now, connected to my Pioneer Plasma via an HDMI cable, so I'm guessing that it knows when I turn off the set and after a certain ammount of time turns on the screen saver. 

It's not hurting anything, but I find it annoying and kind of disturbing since I don't think I ever saw the screen saver before this past week after the update. (Not too happy about the update either... not that it's bad, but for some reason it caused the HD21 to record all gray screens instead of the shows I wanted to record that night. It wouldn't record anything properly until I powered it down and rebooted it. 

And if it's worth mentioning, I don't power down the HD21... the installer said not to bother since it was always on anyway and served no purpose. For what it's worth, I also use a Logitech Harmony remote to control everything.


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## kymikes (Jan 16, 2008)

I was wondering why I hadn't seen this until the last post but I also use the Harmony remote and it's default setup "turned off" the receiver as a part of the function defined for the "off" function (I have the ring turned off so I didn't initially think about the receiver being turned off during "off"). Apparently "lancehart" defined his Harmony setup so that the "off" function doesn't turn the receiver off.

Logitech "got it right" in it's default setup (for me) in that it turned the receiver off and back on in my mode of using it. I set the channel to the news channel that I want it on when I "turn it on" first thing in the morning (only semi-conscious) before I turn off in the evening. Interesting??


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## jhillestad (Jan 13, 2007)

spartanstew said:


> FYI, it was a joke regarding all the complaints about todo list that always pop up. It had nothing to do with your issue. Don't attack things you don't understand. Just ask for clarification.


Need clarification :

When you said pressing one more button oh the horror ... where you being sarcastic at the rest of us who are having this issue or was that your attempt at bad humor ?

What part of that statement do I not understand ? You are mocking the rest of us , I clearly get it.


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## ctaranto (Feb 7, 2008)

I'm a new D* customer (install last week) and love the service thus far.

I noticed the screen saver the morning after the install. I don't turn the sat receiver "off" at night. When I turned the TV on (connected via component), the screen saver was bouncing around. Any key press on the remote would wake it up.

This would be quite annoying if I was recording a show onto DVD from the HR21-700. If it was scheduled to record at 3am, I would get a bouncing logo instead of the program.

I can only hope a software upgrade will allow us to turn off this "feature".

I do understand the need to "screen save" paused shows (my old Comcast HD DVR box did the same, though it was configurable, and could be turned off). Screen saving live broadcasts, IMO, is not a desired feature, unless it can be turned off.

Thinking back, when I had E* years ago, it also screen saved live broadcasts. But that was before DVD recorders were affordable, so it didn't affect what I do.

-Craig


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## MountainMan10 (Jan 31, 2008)

As far as I have noticed the screen saver does not come on if you are playing back recorded shows. So it probably will not come up while you are saving to a DVD recorder, or to a computer. A couple days ago I saved 6 hours to my computer w/o getting a screen saver. I did a group play and saved 4 shows. If you are saving live to a DVD it may be an issue.


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## ceored (Jan 20, 2008)

jhillestad said:


> Need clarification :
> 
> When you said pressing one more button oh the horror ... where you being sarcastic at the rest of us who are having this issue or was that your attempt at bad humor ?
> 
> What part of that statement do I not understand ? You are mocking the rest of us , I clearly get it.


He was commenting on a common complaint on the site about the recent removal of a short cut to the TO DO list. Many members complain about it because they went from one key press to 5 presses. He is, in my opinion, making a good, albeit, semi-inside joke.

Anyway you seem very uptight, you should relax. People are here to help, I have rarely ever read posts that attacked people in this forum, even in the DLB threads.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

jhillestad said:


> Need clarification :
> 
> When you said pressing one more button oh the horror ... where you being sarcastic at the rest of us who are having this issue


No. As I stated above.



jhillestad said:


> What part of that statement do I not understand ?


All of it.



jhillestad said:


> You are mocking the rest of us , I clearly get it.


No, you clearly don't get it.



ceored said:


> He was commenting on a common complaint on the site about the recent removal of a short cut to the TO DO list. Many members complain about it because they went from one key press to 5 presses. He is, in my opinion, making a good, albeit, semi-inside joke.
> 
> Anyway you seem very uptight, you should relax. People are here to help, I have rarely ever read posts that attacked people in this forum, even in the DLB threads.


Exactly.


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## IneedCCs (Nov 18, 2006)

Several posters here have stated, "what's the big deal?"

If it were only a matter of having to press a button, I would agree it's no big deal. But, in my case, it's been more than just a matter of pressing a button.

I've turned my HR20s (I have two) on several times to be greeted by the screen saver, requiring me to press a button to have the channel come up. I agree that pressing a button is no biggie, nor is the fact, in and of itself, that I'm greeted by a screen saver a big deal.

BUT... when I do hit that button to bring the channel up (usually CNNHD, to which I generally tune when I shut down for the night so that I'll have 1 1/2 hours of CNN cached when I tune in in the morning), the cached 1 1/2 hours are gone, I'm starting from scratch/live TV from the point at which the channel comes up. That sucks. I mean, I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it, but it sucks. If there's a major story being reported, I often rewind a bit to get to the start of the coverage of the story. With the circumstances I just described, I can't do that. And that's more than the "issue" of just pushing a button.


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## chris0 (Jun 25, 2007)

Earl Bonovich said:


> If the TV is off... how do you know that the screensaver is on?


The same way we know the refrigerator light goes out when we close the door. 

I'm with those who find it a bit annoying. Not a big deal, but annoying. My HR20-700 in the bedroom is now always on the screen saver when I turn on the TV there at night. It's hooked up straight to my TV with HDMI>DVI. I don't think I've seen it yet on the TV in the living room. There's an HR20-700 there, too, but it goes through my receiver to my plasma all via HDMI, and I use a Harmony to turn everything but the HR20 on. (The HR20 is left "on" all the time.)


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## jhillestad (Jan 13, 2007)

ceored said:


> He was commenting on a common complaint on the site about the recent removal of a short cut to the TO DO list. Many members complain about it because they went from one key press to 5 presses. He is, in my opinion, making a good, albeit, semi-inside joke.
> 
> Anyway you seem very uptight, you should relax. People are here to help, I have rarely ever read posts that attacked people in this forum, even in the DLB threads.


You should read the nfl sunday ticket threads....


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## grizbear (Aug 9, 2007)

As I noted in post 32, the screen saver bug is preventing me from making late night recordings to my DVD Recorder. Here are my circumstances [am I missing something?]:

2 Hr 20-100's connected via 1 line only; both lines have BBC's connected.

Both are connected via HDMI to TVs, Svideo to DVD recorders.

Both will record a late night program but output screensaver to DVD Recorder. [a pain ...]

I haven't timed this exactly, but if TVs are left on to a single channel, and I do not touch remote, both HR-20's will go to screensaver in about 4 hours as well as drop the 90-minute buffer. [another pain...]

Neither HR20 has any limit on ratings, so no hang up there.

Both have been rebooted from a full power off [unplugged for 15 min]

Receivers are left on. [As expected receiver will make recordings in standby, but won't output to DVD Recorder]

Since this happened with the arrival of 0X1FE release and not to be found in the release notes, something is amiss. Either fix it or at least give the ability to have user control for screen saver.


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## SFNSXguy (Apr 17, 2006)

My HR20-700 with only one tuner connected is getting the screensaver whenever the TV is turned off (connected via HDMI).

My guess is there's an HDMI link here.... However, the screensaver bug is NOT preventing recordings in the middle of the night when the TV is off. (I don't turn off the HR20.)

But every morning when I turn the TV on, the screensaver is running. This morning, I turned the TV off for an hour, when I turned it back on the screensaver was running.

?????????


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## MountainMan10 (Jan 31, 2008)

Maybe it will be fixed tonight.

My receiver is recording frequently. I doubt there are many 4 hour periods that go by without it changing the channel to record something. I wonder if that keeps the screen saver from coming up?

Have you tried setting the DVR to record the show? I know you are saving to DVD so it should not be necessary. Perhaps if the DVR was recording it wouldn't go to screen saver. You could delete it in the morning, or set to keep no more than 1.

The last two posts both say only 1 tuner connected. Is anyone seeing this who has both tuners connected?


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## Steve Robertson (Jun 7, 2005)

Mine has only 1 tunner activated but is not hooked up by HDMI but with component


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## grizbear (Aug 9, 2007)

SFNSXguy said:


> My guess is there's an HDMI link here.... However, the screensaver bug is NOT preventing recordings in the middle of the night when the TV is off. (I don't turn off the HR20.)


HDMI Link is part of it-it is the only link to your receiver that can tell the receiver when the TV is unpowered.



MountainMan10 said:


> Maybe it will be fixed tonight.


Is something happening tonight? A miracle? Perhaps the spy satellite falling on my dish? If is just goes away for no reason, I hate things like that!



MountainMan10 said:


> Have you tried setting the DVR to record the show? I know you are saving to DVD so it should not be necessary. Perhaps if the DVR was recording it wouldn't go to screen saver. You could delete it in the morning, or set to keep no more than 1.
> 
> The last two posts both say only 1 tuner connected. Is anyone seeing this who has both tuners connected?


Yes, program is set to record to the HR20 and the DVD recorder at the same time. Both are set to record say from 2-3AM. HR20 records program, DVD recorder records 1 Hour of screensaver. So screen saver is being output through the video outputs]

I, too wonder about the 1 tuner setup. Saw something similar in an old CE post, but problem was solved by making sure both tuner inputs had BBC's. Mine do and have had several power off reboots.

Thanks for the input; perhaps we will get a pattern here.


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## chris0 (Jun 25, 2007)

MountainMan10 said:


> Perhaps if the DVR was recording it wouldn't go to screen saver. You could delete it in the morning, or set to keep no more than 1.


Last night when I went to bed and turned on the TV there the HR20 was recording Letterman and the screen saver was running.


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## IneedCCs (Nov 18, 2006)

MountainMan10 said:


> The last two posts both say only 1 tuner connected. Is anyone seeing this who has both tuners connected?


Yes, I have two lines coming into one of my HR20s, both tuners are connected, and I'm having this problem (see post #63, above).


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## MountainMan10 (Jan 31, 2008)

I am sorry. By the fixed tonight I was thinking this was on the CE forum, and that there might be a beta release tonight that addresses it.


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## grizbear (Aug 9, 2007)

Steve Robertson said:


> Mine has only 1 tunner activated but is not hooked up by HDMI but with component


?? So you do not have this screensaver "feature" ??



MountainMan10 said:


> I am sorry. By the fixed tonight I was thinking this was on the CE forum, and that there might be a beta release tonight that addresses it.


No problem! Would be nice if this does get noticed and worked on. Hard to get a finger on this. I'm guessing that about 4 hours after you turn off your HDMI connected TV; the screensaver kicks in and dumps the 90-minute buffer, while still allowing recording to the hard drive. Kind of hard to measure. If this a "feature", the customer should be allowed to setup how and when the screensaver works!


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## jhillestad (Jan 13, 2007)

Interesting about the mention of single tuner .

Both my HR20 and HR21 have a single tuner setup while one of my HR20's has a two tuner setup... guess what the two tuner hr-20 does NOT have the screen saver problem.

This problem might be related to single tuner setups only. this would explain why some people are not seeing this problem.

Maybe the new firmware sees the dead second tuner as a pause or timeout and activates the screensaver. It sure would explain a lot...

Is there any two tuner users out there that are seeing the screen saver on when they leave their receiver running without touching the remote ?


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## MountainMan10 (Jan 31, 2008)

See #72. It looks like the 2 tuners is not the solution.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

Not limited to single tuner setups as many posts have already stated.

My Hr20-700 did this, before it died, and the replacement HR20-100 does it as well. 

BOTH tuners connected. I think remote inactivity is the key. Almost every day when I get home from work it's in screen saver mode. Also every morning it's in screen saver mode.

A previous poster mentioned leaving his tuner on CNNHD so he would have 1 1/2 buffered when he woke up. This is the best reason I have heard to remove or offer an option to enable or disable this feature.

I'm just glad I'm not the only one experiencing this "issue".

And... what's wrong with drinking and posting?


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## STEVED21 (Feb 6, 2006)

On my HR-21 the screen saver is on and the buffer is gone overnight.


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## jcwroton (May 25, 2007)

I've posted in the issues thread as well. The screensaver seems to be related to the frequent lock-ups of my HR20-100. When I first got this box in Oct '07, it seemed to work OK. A couple of weeks after getting it, I downloaded one of the CE's. My box started having frequent lockups - I would turn the TV on and there would just be a grey screen with the box unresponsive to any remote or front panel buttons. A December CE seemed to finally fix it, but a late January CE brought the problem back and I have had it ever since that last CE went national. Certain channels do seem to cause the screensaver lockup more often than other channels. I can leave it on my local channels generally without a problem. But almost any other channel seems to cause the box to lock up when it goes into screensaver mode. Sometimes the screensaver is frozen, sometimes the video and audio is frozen, and sometimes there is just a grey screen. Only a RBR will fix it, and then only until the screensaver kicks on again.

I hope D* is aware of the problems the screensaver seems to be causing. I would like an option to be able disable the screensaver. I think it might save me and many others from having so many problems.


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## underlord2 (Dec 1, 2006)

I'm having the same problem; seems like when I turn on my tv and my onkyo reciever, the screen-saver is on.


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## grizbear (Aug 9, 2007)

Today, less than 2 hours after I had made a channel change to 258 [FMC], the screensaver came on and the buffer had been dumped. Previously I had speculated this happened sometime after 4 hours of non-attention with the TV off. So you can't be sure when it will happen.

Also if you do a search in the CE Forum, there are numerous reports of screensaver malfunction and buffer loss during the Jan-Feb period.


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## kude (Dec 28, 2007)

I have a single tuner, component connection HR20-700 with the latest update. The sreen saver is apparent when I turn things on in the morning. In addition it will come on during the day. several times, on varoius channels and during movies.

I don't recall ever seeing the screensaver much, if ever, before this last update. This seems to happen randomly. I wonder if some interference in reception kicks this off. I could see if it just randomly comes on, it could interrupt or possibly prevent a recording.

It may be a minor issue, but it shouldn't happen at all.


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## Spit (Dec 7, 2006)

Perhaps "kude" is onto something here. In normal operation on my HR20-700 (with both tuners hooked up), the screensaver typically comes on after an interruption of some sort -- usually screen freeze or searching for sat. It seems like many of those posting on this screensaver problem have one tuner hookups which the receiver might be interpreting as a type of interruption since the software may be monitoring both tuners. Those getting the screensaver with two tuner hookups may be experiencing some other sort of interruption. 

Just a theory -- I'm certainly no expert here. I have not been experiencing this screensaver problem with my HR20 even though I record to a DVD recorder (via composite output) overnight a lot of times. When I turn on the TV the next morning, I am not seeing the screensaver. However, I will start checking the recordings and let you know if this changes.


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## GregE (Jun 10, 2007)

I just swapped out my HR10 for the HR20 and I'm having the screen saver issue. It is a real issue for me as I use the TV as my "alarm clock" in the morning, and it's no help if the silent screen saver comes on with no buffer. Good thing I was already awake.


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## Throckmorton (Dec 7, 2007)

I saw this for the first time last night, on my HR-20.

I leave my HR-21 and HR-20 on all the time.

Last night, after watching a recording on the 21, a changed source (on my AVR) to the 20 to watch something that was on it. It was in screen saver mode. I hit [Select] to wake it up and it did, but it took a few seconds.

Like it was "spinning up"...

My HR-21 has never done this and I never noticed it on the HR-20 before.

My AVR is set to Tuner during the day when no one is home so neither DVR is "selected". When I select the HR-21, it is always just there.


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## SFNSXguy (Apr 17, 2006)

Like throckmorton, I speculate that the screen saver comes on when the hard drive spins down for some reason. Obviously the software (I use that term loosely) can't reliably detect when a show is not being watched and puts the hard drive "to sleep".


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## grizbear (Aug 9, 2007)

SFNSXguy said:


> Like throckmorton, I speculate that the screen saver comes on when the hard drive spins down for some reason. Obviously the software (I use that term loosely) can't reliably detect when a show is not being watched and puts the hard drive "to sleep".


I'd say so, too. Seems to be in a couple of hours of receiver in-activity. [no remote button pushing]. Also if you are using a HDMI connection, and turn off TV, screensaver comes on in a couple of hours. In this case HR-20 will "wake up" for a scheduled recording, but will only send screensaver video to video outputs. I have tried turning the tuner "off" for these late night recordings, and then the HR-20 still records, but in this case not even the screensaver is output, and I get a blank recording on my DVD recorder.

I have been making late night recordings directly to my DVD recorder hard drive for years with various DTV receivers. Since this last software update, I can no longer do this and must be around to "supervise" HR-20 video transfers to my DVD hard drive. This is a real pain! As is leaving TV on during the day and discovering that it has gone into screensaver mode and 90 minute buffer is gone!



SFNSXguy said:


> ...Obviously the software (I use that term loosely) can't reliably detect when a show is not being watched and puts the hard drive "to sleep".


Maybe this is indeed what the software is trying to detect. I rather manage my own TV/Screensaver than have it imposed by Directv.

Glad to see folks are still posting about this; it is a problem that needs to be fixed!


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## imposterxyz (Oct 3, 2007)

My TV has a DVI input only, so I have an HDMI/DVI conversion cable to display my HR20. This morning, I discovered the dreaded screensaver running, so the feature is not restricted to HDMI only connections. Has anyone experienced it with component inputs?

I can see a certain logic to the screensaver running if the display is off, but the fact that it also stops buffering is completely inexplicable. When it stops buffering, it is essentially turning itself completely off. The buffer loses most if not all of its value if its purged due to inactivity.


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## SFNSXguy (Apr 17, 2006)

I keep the TV running in the background while I work.... this morning, and yesterday morning (waited to report to see if it repeated) at the end of The Today Show (KNTV Ch 11 MPEG 4) the screensaver kicked on as soon as the show ended (was not recording it).

Screensaver is on each morning when I turn the TV on.


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## Lije Baley (Dec 7, 2003)

Bug hasn't hit me yet (I think). I record movies and overnight will record them from the DVR to a DVD recorder. Has anyone confirmed whether playback of long recordings (Lawrence of Arabia, for example) causes the screensaver to come up?


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## MountainMan10 (Jan 31, 2008)

I recorded 6 hours of NFL replay w/o touching the remote and did not get the screen saver. But that was 4 shows in a play group, not exactly the same thing.


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## GregE (Jun 10, 2007)

I thought I found a workaround by having it record when I wanted to have my turn on and wake me, but last night was recording a show, turned the TV on and it was on screensaver mode. This is extremely annoying and should not be happening.


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## NFLnut (Sep 29, 2006)

spartanstew said:


> You know what this means??
> 
> One more button press to get to the todo list. The horror.


No.

Try, like, seven.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

In effect, we now have zero live buffers. :eek2:


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## speedcouch (Jun 23, 2004)

I've had this since the last update on both my HR20s. One running HDMI on the TV and the 2nd one on a component video on the old TV.

What bugs the hell out of me (besides the extra button pushing to remove the screen saver) is the fact I come home from work and used to be able to pick up a movie on HBO or something that was in the buffer. Now, no buffer.  

Like others, my new TV is a DLP and I don't need someone to prevent me from burning the screen. Been there, done that with the old one already.  

Cheryl


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## kragswei13 (Nov 1, 2006)

My problem with the screensaver is that it messes up the macros on my universal remote. I've got a set of favorite channel macros programmed in. If I'm on a music channel and the screensaver has kicked in, the first part of my macro ends up taking it out of screensaver so it misses the first digit of the channel #. Likewise, if the screensaver is on, my "turn the whole system off" macro doesn't work - the HR-20 gets left on.

When I have on a music channel, I don't want the screensaver to kick in because I want to be able to see the song info. As it is, I need to find the remote rather than just be able to see it as I walk by.

All I want is a simple option to disable the screensaver. My TV doesn't need it and neither do I.


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## MountainMan10 (Jan 31, 2008)

My R15-100 has always gone to screen saver after a few minutes, not hours, when on music channels. This is not something new with the Jan/Feb 08 releases.

I agree with kragswei13. It is a stupid feature. Why display the song info if after 2 songs it is going to be replaced with a screen saver?


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

Is there a specific thread on this site where these kinds of problems can be reported so they get back to directv? This is fracking annoying! :nono:


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## bwaldron (Oct 24, 2005)

MountainMan10 said:


> It is a stupid feature. Why display the song info if after 2 songs it is going to be replaced with a screen saver?


So people won't complain about image retention on HDTVs that are susceptible to it.

I do wish that screen-saver delay time (including never) was a user-selectable option.


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## kd4ao (Jun 12, 2004)

The screen saver does mess up the action of programmed remote macros so that makes it a legitimate gripe for some. What I don't understand is, why they (D*) would use DVR memory for code that has no purpose. A screen saver provided to a TV that is off has no purpose, so what other motive is hidden in this process? I wouldn't even care about it if they would fix the Dolby Digital problem. Only way to insure Dolby Digital on the Bose each time I turn it on is to leave the DVR on. That problem is discussed in another thread but mostly no one understands and their is never a decent explanation or fix.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

I have not yet encountered the screen saver problem.
Of course I turn the receiver off when I'm finished viewing TV.
Yes, I know the receiver isn't really off, but at least the blue lights go out!


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## philconners (Nov 24, 2006)

I had this on one DVR for a few weeks, now happening on both. Both hooked up via HDMI, needless to say it never happened before this software release.


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## l123 (Sep 18, 2007)

While watching a movie for 1-1/4 hr the screen saver came on at 3 AM EST.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

kd4ao said:


> snip... so what other motive is hidden in this process? snip


Save the hard drive? I had two DVRs go down due to hard drive failure. Do they think they are prolonging the life of the hard drive buy spinning it down? Perhaps they should buy decent quality hard drives. MY HR10-250 ran for years with no hard drive problems, dual buffer no less.

This bugs the heck out of me!


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## SSTVGuy (Feb 15, 2008)

I have 13 hr20-700's used in our in house RF system. Each stay on the same channel all the time, ie CNN FNC MSNBC. Two receivers are on local channels.
Every day at 1:00pm they all go to the screen saver except the two on the local channels. I have to hit any button on the front to get it back. I hit the button, the blue ring goes around once and the picture comes back.

What happens every day at 1:00pm central time?


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## Surveyor40 (Jan 5, 2006)

Note to D*, give us the ability to turn off or prolong the duration before the screensaver turns on. I have a SA tivo, PC capture device, and an RF modulator hooked up to both my HR20-700 and HR21pro. Having the screensaver pop up has caused me to lose recordings. Takes " 2 " presses to have either units respond to remote commands, since the first remote press is necessary to deactivate the screensaver. So if my SA tivo sends 9, -, 1 for channel 9-1, the D* DVR only responds to -, 1. Before anyone begins asking why I use an SA Tivo with a D* DVR, it is Tivo-To-Go with iPod automatic conversion. A feature which I hope the upcoming D* PC USB dual tuner will have.


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## ccr1958 (Aug 29, 2007)

i had this happen again today with the office HR20-100....i changed from HDMI to component a while back & it had not went into screen saver & thought the HDMI might have been the issue.....granted this dvr gets used a lot less than the
other 2 but i still don't like it....let me control this feature via the menu, please...


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

This "bug/feature" is enough to drive me to Dish.


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## jhillestad (Jan 13, 2007)

I was hoping the latest firmware release the other day would have fixed this problem but its still there.

Its VERY Annoying!

DTV - FIX THIS NOW!


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## Rabushka (Dec 21, 2007)

I leave my two HR20s on all the time and when I turn on the TV for the evenings viewing, the scren saver appears on both. For the last 4 days however, the screensaver is gone on both receivers regardless of the last channel viewed. I wonder if D* has disabled the screensaver. Anyone else have this experience?


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## jhillestad (Jan 13, 2007)

I have noticed now 2 times that my screensver has not come on... maybe its fixed after all !!!! Lets hope !


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## grizbear (Aug 9, 2007)

The last day or so, I noticed that I did not get the screensaver when I turned on TV connected to either of my HR-20-100's. In fact I was able to simultaneously record to the HR20 and My DVD recorder at 2AM last night without getting the screensaver on my DVD recording. First time in a month!

Things that fix themselves bother me. It has to be some sort of software thing, and now people are reporting that is "Fixed" and for at least a day, it has gone away on my HR20's. Coincidence?

There has been no official DTV software download, still at 0X1FE. Can DTV make "tweaks" without official downloads that do not require rebooting? Is the screensaver bug [which also wiped out the 90 minute buffer] still lurking somewhere in my HR20's?

Time will tell...

Very Strange! :nono:


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## Bill Broderick (Aug 25, 2006)

My screensaver wasn't on last night when I turned my TV on. This is the first time that I remember that being the case.


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## vikecowboy (Jul 30, 2007)

Wife would like to disable screen saver while listening to XM music channels. She likes to look every now and then to see who the artist is but has to find the remote for the screen saver is running.

HR-21


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## jrosen1040 (Jun 19, 2007)

vikecowboy said:


> Wife would like to disable screen saver while listening to XM music channels. She likes to look every now and then to see who the artist is but has to find the remote for the screen saver is running.
> 
> HR-21


I agree with your wife. I would prefer no screen saver on the music channels.


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## Throckmorton (Dec 7, 2007)

Yeah, me too for the XM


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## grizbear (Aug 9, 2007)

grizbear said:


> The last day or so, I noticed that I did not get the screensaver when I turned on TV connected to either of my HR-20-100's. In fact I was able to simultaneously record to the HR20 and My DVD recorder at 2AM last night without getting the screensaver on my DVD recording. First time in a month!
> 
> Things that fix themselves bother me. It has to be some sort of software thing, and now people are reporting that is "Fixed" and for at least a day, it has gone away on my HR20's. Coincidence?
> 
> ...


Well, sceensaver is back when I turned on TV's this AM. No holistic fix!


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## bangdemdrums (Jun 10, 2007)

grizbear said:


> Well, sceensaver is back when I turned on TV's this AM. No holistic fix!


The tuner was tuned to Fox News Channel for about 1-1/2 hours when the Screen saver came on, for no reason.

This happened on my HR20-100. It has never happened on my HR20-700 in another room.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

grizbear said:


> Well, sceensaver is back when I turned on TV's this AM. No holistic fix!


Oh NO!

I haven't seen the screen saver for five or six days now. I was hoping there was a software update to explain why it stopped messing with me/us. 

I've never seen the screen saver bug on my theater DVR, only on the Den DVR, which was occurring daily. Both DVRs are the same model.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

Woke up this morning, turned on the TV and the screensaver was running! :nono: I've been free of the screensaver bug for a couple of weeks but now it's back. If Directv can't take the time to trouble shoot this bug, can't they at least add a screensaver off option (not that that would fix the bug, I guess).


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## speedcouch (Jun 23, 2004)

I've had the screensaver problem on both my HR20 since the last software upgrade. It's damn annoying as I like to come home from work and sometimes back-up in the buffer and watch a movie or something that happens to be on the channel I left the box on. But more annoying is the fact, that several programs I've set to record are empty because the screensaver was on. I mostly notice this on programming I set up from the on-line scheduler, but it has happened on movies I tried to record overnight. Is anyone at DirecTV addressing this bug at all? 

Even my husband is complaining about not being able to turn off the screensaver and he usually never cares about this stuff so you know it is bad! :eek2: 

Cheryl


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## jhillestad (Jan 13, 2007)

I noticed the screensaver turned on at 3am... others have noted that as well ... it may be a time bug ....

Why wont they fix this already !

If my dtv box spit out $20 bills by accident / bug they would fix it right away and super pronto. Well FIX THIS as if it were the same problem dtv ! I cant STAND IT ANYMORE !!!!


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## marksman (Dec 23, 2006)

Steve Robertson said:


> You see the screen saver when you turn the TV on and have to hit a button to get rid of it. This is only happening on 1 box for me. I actually was talking to D* support on Saturday about audio dropouts and mentioned this and he had no idea why it was happening.


How do you know it is not off when the tv is off and then re-enabled as the last current state of the device when the tv is turned on.

I think that was Earl's point. You have no way of actually knowing if it was on or not when the tv was off.

And yeah this is a pretty lame complaint sorry, got to call a spade a spade. How often does this show itself as a problem?

Why not just get in the habit of turning the device off when you turn the tv off (one button does both), and you will not have this problem, I promise.


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## grizbear (Aug 9, 2007)

marksman said:


> How do you know it is not off when the tv is off and then re-enabled as the last current state of the device when the tv is turned on.
> 
> I think that was Earl's point. You have no way of actually knowing if it was on or not when the tv was off.


Ah so wrong you are! Did you read the problems caused listed in this thread, before shooting off?

I know the screensaver is on when the TV is off, because I have recorded it on my DVD recorder hard drive. This happens when I try to record a late night-say 2AM- program. It records fine to the HR20, but outputs screensaver to the DVD recorder. Before last national release, it always recorded to same as the HR20.

Also when turning on TV in Morning, screensaver is there, and there is NO buffer of current channel

And also if TV is on for several hours unattended, screensaver will popup and buffer of current channel is gone. This is real irritation for some users.



marksman said:


> And yeah this is a pretty lame complaint sorry, got to call a spade a spade. How often does this show itself as a problem? .


Daily. No the complaint is real and quite bothersome to those that have it happen. The lameness I will leave to you.



marksman said:


> Why not just get in the habit of turning the device off when you turn the tv off (one button does both), and you will not have this problem, I promise.


Turning off the HR20 as well as the TV makes no difference, Been there, done that. The turning off the HR20 simply turns off the lights and video outputs, otherwise, it is still very much alive and can do its screensaver bug.

So much for your promise, marksman, I'd say your 100% off target on this one.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

I'm on the phone with Directv as of this writing. I'm getting the typical "you need to do this or you need to do that", then I get "it's supposed to do that". Then I get "you need to turn off the receiver as well as the tv". UGH! I don't really blame the CSR, they can only do so much.

I encourage everyone with this bug to call Directv and report it, otherwise we may never get a fix. The CSR did a search in their system and did not find any other complaints, so please pick up the phone and call 1-800-directv (1-800-347-3288).

She had me do the red button reboot, which I'm doing right now. I have a feeling this will not work. I'm sure others have already tried this to no avail. but this way I can at least say I've done it. 

By the way. the same model receiver in my theater has never exhibited this problem (knocks on wood) and it is used way less than my den DVR which is the "problem child".


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## Spit (Dec 7, 2006)

Although I am certainly no expert, I have a theory on what might be causing this problem with the screen saver kicking in. I offer this in hope that it might lead you to a solution.

In normal operation, one reason the screensaver kicks in when there is a prolonged interruption in receiving a signal from the sat dish. I learned this the hard way when D* first started transmitting HD via MPEG4. On one HR20 tuner or the other, I was getting frequent "Searching for Satellite" messages -- if left on, the screensaver then kicked in after a certain amount of time (probably about 10 minutes). Although I thought there was a problem with the receiver or the software, it turned out to be an outside cable connector that was letting in moisture. A simple replacement of this 20 cent cable connector solved the problem completely -- no more "Searching" messages and no more screensavers.

The leads me to believe that the problem that some (or all) of you are experiencing might be a hardware or cabling problem occuring somewhere between your dish and your receiver. If the signal is being interrupted because of something like moisture seeping in, a faulty switch, or some other external problem, screensaver might be kicking in after a few minutes. I learned from both D* upper eschelon tech support and a rather knowledgable D* subcontractor, that the MPEG4 system is more sensitive to disruptions (at least after the last two or three software updates) than was the prior MPEG2. Small signal disruptions tolerated by MPEG2 are not tolerated by MPEG4. This might why the screensaver problem has only been report relatively recently.

If this is the cause, this could be why many of the posts report the screensaver bug at night when the colder outside air causes condensation. The problem has also be reported by many subs who only use one of the two tuners on the HR20/21. The receivers seem to frequently switch from one tuner to the other. If it switches to a tuner that is not connected, it might perceive it as a loss of signal with the resulting sceensaver after a few minutes.

Perhaps you can kick holes in this theory, but I hope it might lead to a solution for some of you.


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## Throckmorton (Dec 7, 2007)

That's a good suggestion.

I see the screen saver problem on my HR-20. But I never get a "Searching for Signal" message.


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

Part of it is HDMI interface. Whenever I use HDMI and turn it off, but still use Component Video/Optical Audio I get the screen saver coming up at or about 10 minutes. If I hit a button after going to just component video/optical audio then the screen saver never comes up. So I would say there are multiple triggers for the screen saver.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

It's not just a night time issue for me. The screen saver can be on when I turn the tv on in the morning and it can be on when I get home from work (mid afternoon). And frequently at both times. I have two HR20-100's and each is connected via HDMI. One exhibits the problem and the other does not. 

I checked the cabling and some connections were slightly loose, but not much. As many of you may know, the F connectors don't screw on very far. I have not checked the connections on the dish. Either I'll get up and check them or I'll just swap the connections at my distribution hub and see if the problem moves to the other receiver. I'll give it a day or two before swapping the dish cables in case the loose connections at the back of the receiver turn out to be the problem (keeping fingers crossed).

I had the problem for 4 or 5 weeks, it seemed to go away for a few weeks and now it is back.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

Another thought, could the little black boxes hanging off the back of the receiver be responsible as well?


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

Cables tightened, but screen saver was on again this morning. :nono2:


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

Now my theater DVR is exhibiting the same problem. I am sick of this, do you here me Directv? WTF??? Apparently the only cure is Dish or cable. Am I pissed? Yes.


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## GBFAN (Nov 13, 2006)

I experienced this phenomenon for the first time a couple days ago on my HR21. We usually set the sleep timer on the TV to turn off after the 10:00 news. We went to bed early the other night and had the FOOD Network on when we fell asleep. In the morning the screen saver was on. I hit the number 7 to go to channel 7 for the morning news but it only turned off the screen saver. It didn't change the channel. It never goes to screen saver when it is left on Channel 7.


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## kude (Dec 28, 2007)

I have the screen saver continue to turn itself on for no apparent reason. I've sat there and watch episodes of pixelation due to storms moving through without the screen saver kicking on. It does appear to just randomly start itself at any time of the day.

As far as I am concerned the screen saver feature is unwanted, annoying and stupid. Directv, please turn off the screensaver feature.


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## Throckmorton (Dec 7, 2007)

kude said:


> As far as I am concerned the screen saver feature is unwanted, annoying and stupid. Directv, please turn off the screensaver feature.


Or _at least_ give us the option.


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## marksman (Dec 23, 2006)

nowandthen said:


> Now my theater DVR is exhibiting the same problem. I am sick of this, do you here me Directv? WTF??? Apparently the only cure is Dish or cable. Am I pissed? Yes.


Turn you receiver off when you go to sleep.

Problem solved. I already told you this once.


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

Grentz said:


> Correct, HDMI is a "smart" digital interface and thus the device on either end can tell the current link status along with other info besides just a picture/audio signal.
> 
> For example, HDCP is protection method that needs to "handshake" with both devices before it lets the output device output the Audio/Video.


All of which in this case means probably nothing relevant. Link status is one thing. Getting that to fire or not fire the screensaver is quite another thing indeed.

There is a HDMI transmit chip and an HDMI receive chip. Any intelligence regarding the link status is limited to those components. They do their job blissfully unaware of OS issues. HDCP is simply a "border control guard" in that it either allows video to pass or not pass based on what flags it sees and its instructions. The screensaver is simply fired on timeout by the OS regarding which PB mode it finds itself in. There is no provision for the OS to talk to the HDMI link to verify link status and use that to fire or not fire the screensaver, probably because there is no necessity to.

I'm not saying you _couldn't_ use HDMI statusing to modify screensaver behavior, I'm just saying they probably don't have any pressing need to do so. IMO, there is not even a pressing need for a screensaver--I just wish they'd remove it altogether, or at least allow user input to lengthen the timeout. Modern displays don't need screensavers, and having the DTV logo flitting around like a demented Pong machine is annoying, at best. Kill it now!


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## kude (Dec 28, 2007)

marksman said:


> Turn you receiver off when you go to sleep.
> 
> Problem solved. I already told you this once.


Marksman,

A really clueless comment by you. You must not read the posts regarding this problem with comprehension.

The screen saver can kick in while viewing a program.

Please tell me how shutting the unit off before going to bed solves this issue.

Please refrain from commenting as it's not helpful at all.


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## grizbear (Aug 9, 2007)

kude said:


> Marksman,
> 
> A really clueless comment by you. You must not read the posts regarding this problem with comprehension.
> 
> ...


Thanks Kude, This guy doesn't have the problem, doesn't read the tread and doesn't have a clue&#8230;



TomCat said:


> &#8230; and having the DTV logo flitting around like a demented Pong machine is annoying, at best. Kill it now!


"demented Pong machine" Great Observation and so true; Love it!


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## Steve Robertson (Jun 7, 2005)

nowandthen said:


> Now my theater DVR is exhibiting the same problem. I am sick of this, do you here me Directv? WTF??? Apparently the only cure is Dish or cable. Am I pissed? Yes.


Same here I just noticed this for the 1st time on this tv this morning. My other tv has had this for a while now.

D* is realy getting annoying.


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## bryancpa (Jul 13, 2007)

I just upgraded last weekend from HR10 to HR21-100. Last night the screensaver kept popping up every 5 minutes while watching buffered Live TV. I just kept hitting the play Play button and the picture would instantly come right back. I was even fast forwarding during commercials so there certainly wasn't inactivity on the remote. After I finished the show I changed channels and the screensaver stopped popping up. I'll try a restart to see if that helps. My HR21-100 is connected via HDMI through an AVR.


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## jcwroton (May 25, 2007)

This is my first post to this thread, but I've reported screen saver problems in other threads. For me, I've had a problem since I first got my HR20-100 back in October 2007. I leave the unit on all the time and just turn off my TV when I stop watching TV. At some point, the screensaver will come on (or try to come on). When it fails to come on properly, it locks up my HR20-100 so that there is only a gray screen when I turn on my TV or there is audio and video, but the unit is unreponsive to any remote or front panel commands. I have to do a RBR to get the unit functional again. Although this screensaver lock up issue can happen on any channel, it seems to happen more frequently on the MPEG4 channels. It has been very frustrating to have to RBR this unit every morning before I leave for work and every evening when I come home to make sure it isn't locked up and doesn't miss recording a show.

I would really like there to be a way to turn the screensaver off. I don't want or need it. As others have mentioned, it is annoying when the XM channels are tuned for it to come on. I can see how it could be useful for some, that is why there should be an on/off option.

I also need to try turning "off" the HR20-100 when I stop watching. As I have a Harmony remote, I just need to take the time to adjust the programming to make this happen to see if it will help with my lockup issues.

At some point, I will probably get D* to exchange this unit for a different one to see if that will cure the problem, but I need to watch all of the shows that are recorded on it first!  

Although I am sorry to hear others have screensaver problems, I am glad to know it is not just me! It is weird that some people have no issues at all with the screensaver. I wish I/we could figure out why some people do and some don't.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

bryancpa said:


> I just upgraded last weekend from HR10 to HR21-100. Last night the screensaver kept popping up every 5 minutes while watching buffered Live TV. I just kept hitting the play Play button and the picture would instantly come right back. I was even fast forwarding during commercials so there certainly wasn't inactivity on the remote. After I finished the show I changed channels and the screensaver stopped popping up. I'll try a restart to see if that helps. My HR21-100 is connected via HDMI through an AVR.


And I thought I had something to complain about! :eek2: I'd call and get that unit replaced, that's rediculus!


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

jcwroton said:


> This is my first post to this thread, but I've reported screen saver problems in other threads. For me, I've had a problem since I first got my HR20-100 back in October 2007. I leave the unit on all the time and just turn off my TV when I stop watching TV. At some point, the screensaver will come on (or try to come on). When it fails to come on properly, it locks up my HR20-100 so that there is only a gray screen when I turn on my TV or there is audio and video, but the unit is unreponsive to any remote or front panel commands. I have to do a RBR to get the unit functional again. Although this screensaver lock up issue can happen on any channel, it seems to happen more frequently on the MPEG4 channels. It has been very frustrating to have to RBR this unit every morning before I leave for work and every evening when I come home to make sure it isn't locked up and doesn't miss recording a show.
> 
> I would really like there to be a way to turn the screensaver off. I don't want or need it. As others have mentioned, it is annoying when the XM channels are tuned for it to come on. I can see how it could be useful for some, that is why there should be an on/off option.
> 
> ...


I think you need a new unit as well! :eek2:


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## flmike73 (Dec 14, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> If the TV is off... how do you know that the screensaver is on?
> 
> And if it is on... what is the big deal?


I've read all the posts and I'll give you my insight as to why this is a problem...

I have a HR21-200 with HDMI to the television and optical to the stereo receiver. At night I turn to one of the music channels and turn off the TV, but I leave the stereo on for the sound. When the screensaver comes on, all audio is cut off. This leaves the room very quiet which usually wakes me up.

So, while this may seem trivial to one person, it could be seen as a nuisance to another. Let's just hope they find a way around it.

BTW Earl, this post is in no way directed to you... I just happened to click the "reply with quote" button on your post.


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## CraigT1 (Feb 18, 2008)

I'm trying to decide between D* and E* right now and this could be a major issue since I like to listen to music channels at night. Is it possible to record the music channels as a workaround or is this only an issue when using HDMI? Thanks. Craig.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

The problem for me is with macros in a programmable remote. It takes an extra key press to snap it out of screen saver mode. Screen saver is not always on so it's hit or miss.

Also, When I turn on my tv and see something interesting there is no buffer if the screen saver is on.  So no ability to rewind.

Screen saver may be on when I turn the TV on in the morning and it may be on when I turn the tv on in the afternoon. Again, hit or miss.

I'm also thinking about switching to E* or back to cable eek2: :eek2: :eek2: ) with a tivo series 3 HD.


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## Zaney (Dec 24, 2006)

Sorry I checked everywhere for this answer but couldn't find it:

How do I manually turn the screensaver ON?

Sometimes when the DVR is recording two channels at once (and this makes it impossible to change channels) I don't want to watch what is being recorded, and I don't have any recorded shows to watch, and I don't want to turn my tv on and off all the time. Any ideas to manually turn on the screen saver anytime?


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## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

Zaney said:


> Sorry I checked everywhere for this answer but couldn't find it:
> 
> How do I manually turn the screensaver ON?
> 
> Sometimes when the DVR is recording two channels at once (and this makes it impossible to change channels) I don't want to watch what is being recorded, and I don't have any recorded shows to watch, and I don't want to turn my tv on and off all the time. Any ideas to manually turn on the screen saver anytime?


You cannot manually turn on the screensaver

Mike


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## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

CraigT1 said:


> I'm trying to decide between D* and E* right now and this could be a major issue since I like to listen to music channels at night. Is it possible to record the music channels as a workaround or is this only an issue when using HDMI? Thanks. Craig.


The screensaver always comes on while on the XM channels. You would want it to.

However, I've never had the audio cut out when the screensaver comes on. My daughter listens to the XM channels all the time.

It shouldn't be a problem HDMI or not.

Mike


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## CraigT1 (Feb 18, 2008)

Thanks- glad to hear it since the installers are coming tomorrow. I took a gamble and tried to be optimistic. 

Craig


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## grizbear (Aug 9, 2007)

MicroBeta said:


> The screensaver always comes on while on the XM channels. You would want it to.
> 
> Mike


Say What! I don't want it on. Nothing but an ugly "demented Pong machine" as KUDE aptly named it. After paying over $100/ mo, I don't need to be reminded that I have a DTV HDDVR... how about music titles?


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## joe10305 (Feb 20, 2008)

I was able to recreate the screen saver issue noted on this post. My receivers ((2)-HR21-700) have the latest software update. There was no screen saver issue prior to the 2/2008 upgrade. The receiver will definitely go into screen saver mode while tuned to any active video (Not XM) after approximately 5 hours. Pressing a button on the remote (guide, channel up/down, etc) will disable the screen saver. Leaving the TV on or off made no difference. HDMI or Component connection made no difference.

I also noticed that a few times (maybe 1 out of 10) I will have the screen saver issue and have audio with the screen saver. I see the pong-like D* logo and can hear the audio from the channel I'm tuned to.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

joe10305 said:


> I was able to recreate the screen saver issue noted on this post. My receivers ((2)-HR21-700) have the latest software update. There was no screen saver issue prior to the 2/2008 upgrade. The receiver will definitely go into screen saver mode while tuned to any active video (Not XM) after approximately 5 hours. Pressing a button on the remote (guide, channel up/down, etc) will disable the screen saver. Leaving the TV on or off made no difference. HDMI or Component connection made no difference.
> 
> I also noticed that a few times (maybe 1 out of 10) I will have the screen saver issue and have audio with the screen saver. I see the pong-like D* logo and can hear the audio from the channel I'm tuned to.


Joe, I can't reliably reproduce it like you can. Some days it's on when I get up in the morning, other days it's not. Some days it's on when I get home from work, other days it's not. In both cases it's over 5 hours. On my theater DVR which isn't used every day I have seen the screen saver bug only once.

I agree with you, it's a recent problem that may have come into being with the last software "upgrade".


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## joe10305 (Feb 20, 2008)

MicroBeta said:


> The screensaver always comes on while on the XM channels. You would want it to.


Are you sure you would that??? Are you referring to the D* LOGO screen saver?? Because when that comes on there is no audio, so I don't see the benefit of a screen saver that cuts out the audio while listening to XM stations.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

joe10305 said:


> Are you sure you would that??? Are you referring to the D* LOGO screen saver?? Because when that comes on there is no audio, so I don't see the benefit of a screen saver that cuts out the audio while listening to XM stations.


I, and I assume many others, turn the TV set off and the stereo set on when I'm listening to XM channels. I have no idea whether the screen saver comes on, but the music certainly continues.


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## jimed1 (Jan 12, 2008)

I just had my HR20-100 go to screen saver while watching a time shifted program. It was about 20 minutes behind live. When it did this I was getting the 771 error for the off air antenna, which was totally bogus because I obviously had an off air signal because I was watching off air at the time. So, I guess the DVR thought I wasn't getting a signal and turned on the screen saver. I have not received the lasted software update yet....


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

Just got off the phone with technical support (regarding the lock up issue). He said they know about it and are working on it as fast as they can.

He looked for reports on the screen saver bug, but didn't find any  . I reported it a few weeks ago and I know others have called in as well. He opened an "escalation" report. He spent several minutes filling out the form. He titled it "*Screen saver pops up of it's own accord*". So maybe, just maybe when others call in, you'll have a chance of finding a report and then you can add your name to the list. Maybe we can get this fixed.


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## Getteau (Dec 20, 2007)

I've seen this issue a couple of times on my HR21-700 and my HR21-100. The 700 is connected via HDMI and the 100 is over component. Not really a big deal because hitting a button on the remote clears it. However, it's odd that it pops up out of the middle nowhere.


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## JAYPB (May 8, 2002)

Getteau said:


> I've seen this issue a couple of times on my HR21-700 and my HR21-100. The 700 is connected via HDMI and the 100 is over component. Not really a big deal because hitting a button on the remote clears it. However, it's odd that it pops up out of the middle nowhere.


Yes, hitting a button clears it, but for me (and as others have said), you lose the buffer for that channel when you are able to get the screensaver to "go away".

:nono:


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

Funny that this thread is active again. I was just getting ready to bump it.

Today the screen saver was on but I could hear the audio. It kind of struck me, now I'm trying to remember I've ever seen it where the screen saver is on and yet the audio is still coming through. I don't recall it doing that. I believe it's always been silent when the screen saver was on.


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## newsposter (Nov 13, 2003)

totally 'stock' hr20 here. My wife told me that for about the past month she turns to the Hr20 and the SS is on. My setup is 2 HDtivos and hr20 stacked feeding hdmi into a 3 way switcher then 1 hdmi to my hitachi rptv. 

so is it that the input to the switcher for the hr20 isnt on that hr20 kicks into SS mode? 

we never turn any of the dvrs off.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

newsposter said:


> totally 'stock' hr20 here. My wife told me that for about the past month she turns to the Hr20 and the SS is on. My setup is 2 HDtivos and hr20 stacked feeding hdmi into a 3 way switcher then 1 hdmi to my hitachi rptv.
> 
> so is it that the input to the switcher for the hr20 isnt on that hr20 kicks into SS mode?
> 
> we never turn any of the dvrs off.


I don't think that has anything to do with it. Some days mine is on when I turn the TV on and some days it is not.  On two occasions in the last week, the screen saver has been on but I still had audio. When I had audio I also had the buffer, if the screen saver was on and no audio, I had no buffer. It's totally random for me. I never turn my DVRs off either, but off is not really off, if you know what I mean.


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## newsposter (Nov 13, 2003)

oh yea, my wife said she heard audio too...if that matters


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

I know this problem can occur without HDMI, I've seen this on component only receivers as well. 

Todate it has only happened on HR21s for me with one exception. When my OTA line was disconnected from an HR20 and it automatically tuned to record an OTA channel, it also did this once, perhaps twice. To me, I consider the OTA situation a completely different case nor an error in the programming. 

And to thems that have not experienced this, one important annoyance is the buffer disappearing as well. When we move from room to room during the daily chores, to move into a room that doesn't have our news channel on and buffered is very annoying. Sometimes we have to backtrack to other rooms to catch up with the breaking news whilst the HR21 starts to rebuild the buffer. (Because we have lost the ability to backtrack the buffer to hear what was missed.)

Cheers,
Tom


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## CTJon (Feb 5, 2007)

Why do folks not turn off the DVR - it still records what is scheduled? Am I missing something here? If I'm not watching and the TV is off why not turn off the DVR? In my setup the DVR is fully powered up before the TV is really watchable. I know of nothing that I lose because the DVR is off.


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## whitepelican (May 9, 2007)

CTJon said:


> Why do folks not turn off the DVR - it still records what is scheduled? Am I missing something here? If I'm not watching and the TV is off why not turn off the DVR? In my setup the DVR is fully powered up before the TV is really watchable. I know of nothing that I lose because the DVR is off.


Turn your question around and ask it to yourself. "Why would anyone turn off the DVR?" It's still recording, the hard drive is still spinning, it's got to be drawing pretty much the same amount of power. So what is gained by turning it "off"?


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

CTJon said:


> Why do folks not turn off the DVR - it still records what is scheduled? Am I missing something here? If I'm not watching and the TV is off why not turn off the DVR? In my setup the DVR is fully powered up before the TV is really watchable. I know of nothing that I lose because the DVR is off.


In our house, TV and DVR are on a good part of the day as we move about. The screen saver will appear even if both are on. So turning off equipment is not the issue for us.

Cheers,
Tom


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## CTJon (Feb 5, 2007)

whitepelican said:


> Turn your question around and ask it to yourself. "Why would anyone turn off the DVR?" It's still recording, the hard drive is still spinning, it's got to be drawing pretty much the same amount of power. So what is gained by turning it "off"?


I guess I just use the one button to turn both off and on and I don't worry about it. My thoughts were if there is a bug (or whatever) that causes the screen saver to come on when the DVR is on - why not just turn it off. I'm sure there are setups where the DVR can sense the tv on and where it can't. I was more curious if there was something that only happens (good) when the dvr is on. I wasn't trying to say people are wrong leaving it on.

You mean the blue lights don't use more power than the disk and all the other circuits?:hurah:


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## kude (Dec 28, 2007)

6-25-2008
Die screensaver, Die, Die, Die...

You know, I can understand why the screensaver was put in there, to lengthen the life of the equipment, maybe. I don't mind it activating overnight when no one is viewing. But for it to come on while you're watching a program several times a day, that's totally unacceptable.

Blank the equipment, really. What good is it if it blanks people off.

I've been a Directv customer since 1995 and have never had a complaint until now. The screensaver sucks. It sucks. It sucks.

How hard is it to take it out? For the love of god take it out.

For those that shut off their receivers overnight, why do you need a screensaver at all? It looks like the SS was designed for people like me who don't shut off their receivers. But for it to pop on during viewing is a product defect.

I guess the only way to solve this is call in for a replacement unit. If the SS shows up again, call up for another replacement unit, and keep doing it until it's removed.

Do I have to say the worn out expression, I'm sick and tired of the screensaver. Yes.

I was hoping it would corrected at the last software release, but no. 

You know I have cable available, maybe it's time for a change. As long as the receivers for cable don't have a screensaver it might be worth it.


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

I have noticed a couple of times since 0x235 that the Screen saver was on in the AM when I turned on the TV to watch the news. This has never happened before and hte machine was on a live TV from the night before.

All-in-all, I think the SS is a good thing, but there is never any reason for it to come on except if there is a paused show. Any menus always exit out to live TV. DirecTV should be able to fix this really easily.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

I have had the screen saver on when I turn the tv on this past Monday and this morning. When this happens I don't have a buffer of the present channel. The buffer will start when I press play to get rid of the SS. This started with this latest CE. The HR20-700 was not in standby. And I make sure the HR20 is not paused but on live tv when I turn the tv off.

However with the tv on and I hit pause on the HR20 and it goes into screen saver mode the buffer is retained. Go figure.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

kude said:


> 6-25-2008
> Die screensaver, Die, Die, Die...
> 
> You know, I can understand why the screensaver was put in there, to lengthen the life of the equipment, maybe. I don't mind it activating overnight when no one is viewing. But for it to come on while you're watching a program several times a day, that's totally unacceptable.
> ...


I suppose you can try another receiver but I don't know if that will help. I haven't been able to figure out why it comes on but on my den HR20 which gets used daily, is comes on a lot, although never while I am watching it (knock on wood). The theater HR20 gets less use and it does not come on that often, but it is on occasionally when I fire up the theater. It is very annoying. :nono2:

It would be nice if they offered an option to disable the screen saver. I am not worried about burn in on my LCD tvs or my DLP projector.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Has a relationship between the screen blanker insanity and self-righteous leaving on of the DVR been entirely ruled out?


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## Throckmorton (Dec 7, 2007)

harsh said:


> Has a relationship between the screen blanker insanity and self-righteous leaving on of the DVR been entirely ruled out?


It's unlikely the screen saver would come on when the DVR is _turned off_, don't you think?


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

harsh said:


> Has a relationship between the screen blanker insanity and *self-righteous* leaving on of the DVR been entirely ruled out?


What the heck does that comment mean?


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Throckmorton said:


> It's unlikely the screen saver would come on when the DVR is _turned off_, don't you think?


You might think, but I was wondering if anyone would be willing to turn their DVR off to find out. Those who choose to leave them on all the time seem to be pretty committed to doing things the hard way.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Lee L said:


> What the heck does that comment mean?


Conventional wisdom suggests that you should "turn off" the DVR when not in use, but many stricken by the screen blanker problem openly and vigorously refuse to do so.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

harsh said:


> You might think, but I was wondering if anyone would be willing to turn their DVR off to find out. Those who choose to leave them on all the time seem to be pretty committed to doing things the hard way.


Turn off as in Unplugged or Standby?

I leave mine on and I had the screensaver buffer killer just twice and it happened two days apart this week.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

BubblePuppy said:


> Turn off as in Unplugged or Standby?
> 
> I leave mine on and I had the screensaver buffer killer just twice and it happened two days apart this week.


Turned off as in standby.


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

Whose conventional wisom is that? 

Turning the DVR "off" does nothing at all except stop video output. Every moving part continues to run. The OS does not shut down in any way.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

harsh said:


> Conventional wisdom suggests that you should "turn off" the DVR when not in use, but many stricken by the screen blanker problem openly and vigorously refuse to do so.





Lee L said:


> Whose conventional wisom is that?
> 
> Turning the DVR "off" does nothing at all except stop video output. Every moving part continues to run. The OS does not shut down in any way.


About the only thing turning the unit off does is to turn off the lights and video (*which may explain whether the screen saver is activated or not*).. Everything else is operating.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

maseace said:


> I don't think the receiver can tell if your TV is on or off, it's only an output. Most people want a screen saver in case their TV is left on.


shouldn't the screen saver only come on if there is a static image on the screen? The IRD doesn't know when the IRD is on, only where is input via remote or front panel buttons.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

harsh said:


> Has a relationship between the screen blanker insanity and self-righteous leaving on of the DVR been entirely ruled out?


Self-righteous? 

The DVR is not really off. Only the outputs and the lights on the front panel. I don't generally turn mine off since I watch the DVR from other rooms.

The screen saver bug was not a problem for me until February of this year, So something has changed.

I will take your challenge and "turn it off", We'll see.

Others have reported the screen saver coming on *while watching TV*. 'Splain that one Lucy!

Harsh, have you read all of this thread? There are numerous issues regarding the screen saver bug. Some people report blank recordings.

I just remembered, I have an RF modulator hooked up to the DVR. When I "turn off" the DVR and TV together I hear a brief screeching sound. I am thinking this is from the modulator as it looses the signal from the DVR. I am reluctant to turn off the DVR for fear of damaging the modulator. If someone else wants to give it a try please do and let us know.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

nowandthen said:


> The DVR is not really off. Only the outputs and the lights on the front panel.


Many have reported that certain elements of the receiver seem to work better when it is in standby mode. Maybe the screen blanker thing will too.


> The screen saver bug was not a problem for me until February of this year, So something has changed.


Many things have changed since February; some of them for the worse.


> I will take your challenge and "turn it off", We'll see.


Nothing ventured, nothing gained.


> Others have reported the screen saver coming on *while watching TV*. 'Splain that one Lucy!


I've seen dozens of these reports. Many of those who report it note that they don't turn their receivers off. Perhaps there is a correlation.


> Harsh, have you read all of this thread? There are numerous issues regarding the screen saver bug. Some people report blank recordings.


The blank/black/grey recording issue is the regression of legend. It seems to have gone from bad early on to not and issue to much worse. I'm not convinced that the problems are related as some report watching live while blank recordings are made and others report these wasted recordings when the receiver is in standby.

I have no idea whether putting the receiver in standby will mitigate the problem, it just seemed to me after hearing all of the stories that leaving the receiver on was a common thread. DIRECTV seems in denial of the problem or at least they don't seem to have shown much interest in applying any of the many possible fixes suggested here and elsewhere.

For all of the reasoning and theorizing done to date, the problem still exists and the extraordinary (yet seemingly unthinkable) measure of putting the receiver in standby seems a simple test.


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

harsh said:


> Many have reported that certain elements of the receiver seem to work better when it is in standby mode.


Please point to one or 2 posts where people indicate that placing the DVR into standby fixed a problem.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

Lee L said:


> Please point to one or 2 posts where people indicate that placing the DVR into standby fixed a problem.


I always put the DVR in standby when finished watching a program. I have never yet seen the screen saver bug.

Is there a correlation there? I don't really know.


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

billsharpe said:


> I always put the DVR in standby when finished watching a program. I have never yet seen the screen saver bug.
> 
> Is there a correlation there? I don't really know.


Sorry. I never turn my machine off and it has never burst into flames. However, a negative result does not mean they are related.

I would love to see posts or better yet a thread where "people" have reported that they had a problem and that turning the machine "off" fixed it.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

kude said:


> 6-25-2008
> Die screensaver, Die, Die, Die...
> 
> You know, I can understand why the screensaver was put in there, to lengthen the life of the equipment, maybe. I don't mind it activating overnight when no one is viewing. But for it to come on while you're watching a program several times a day, that's totally unacceptable.
> ...


I post this example for those that don't think the screen saver is a problem. Turning it off isn't an option if what you are doing is watching TV and then it comes on.

As previously stated. The screen saver should only come on when a program is paused or on XM channels.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Lee L said:


> Please point to one or 2 posts where people indicate that placing the DVR into standby fixed a problem.


I would, but as I've lamented, I can't find anyone having the problem that is willing to stick their neck out and try the unthinkable: putting the receiver in standby. nowandthen said he was going to try it, but during the same post, he talked himself out of it.

The only regular comment regarding the benefits of turning off the receiver is that the guide seemed to populate much faster after a reboot when the receiver is in standby.


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## dcowboy7 (May 23, 2008)

why does it come on for xm....if i want to burn my tv ill burn my tv.


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

harsh said:


> I would, but as I've lamented, I can't find anyone having the problem that is willing to stick their neck out and try the unthinkable: putting the receiver in standby. nowandthen said he was going to try it, but during the same post, he talked himself out of it.
> 
> The only regular comment regarding the benefits of turning off the receiver is that the guide seemed to populate much faster after a reboot when the receiver is in standby.


No, I am asking for you to point out some specific posts where as you put it "Many have reported that certain elements of the receiver seem to work better when it is in standby mode."

If there are no posts for evidence, please refrain from coming in and telling people that a problem they are reporting is not real and/or caused by soemthing that they are doing wrong.

Even then, just because there is some report of guide data being quicker, I do not see a screensaver being related.

Sorry to be harsh, but I am so tired of people who act like there are no issues just because they do not have that certain problem themselves. If you are not having them, great for you, but stop telling others that they do not have them, just because you don't.


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## man_rob (Feb 21, 2007)

Whenever I am not watching TV, the DVR is put into standby, and the home theater system is turned off. It's all programmed into my Harmony. One button turns everything off, and on.

I've never had the screen saver pop up while watching TV. In fact, my HR20 has been amazingly stable, and dependable. Never a blank, or missed recording, never a late start. 

I'm not sure why some are so fixated on leaving the DVR on all the time, even when they are not really using it.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Lee L said:


> If there are no posts for evidence, please refrain from coming in and telling people that a problem they are reporting is not real and/or caused by soemthing that they are doing wrong.


I'm the last person that would be considered a D* apologist*. I've never discounted reports of the various problems that have plagued the HR2x since the beginning. I've shared a number of pet theories about problems with large stacks, priority issues and other programming malfeasance that have impacts from slow guide performance to the timers falling behind.

I thought I made it pretty clear that I'd like to investigate the possibility, however difficult to believe, that these problems may be mitigated by going to standby mode when not in use.

* apologist: someone who denies that there are any fundamental problems, TiVo is inherently inferior and that DIRECTV is the greatest thing to happen to TV since coaxial cable.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

man_rob said:


> I've never had the screen saver pop up while watching TV. In fact, my HR20 has been amazingly stable, and dependable. Never a blank, or missed recording, never a late start.


My hope is that someone who is suffering from these problems with find a solution in going to standby when appropriate. Again, nothing ventured, nothing gained.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

Lee L said:


> Sorry to be harsh, but I am so tired of people who act like there are no issues just because they do not have that certain problem themselves. If you are not having them, great for you, but stop telling others that they do not have them, just because you don't.


As I said previously, I have not encountered the screen saver problem. Perhaps my machine doesn't have the problem at all. Perhaps my machine doesn't have the problem because I always put the receiver in stand-by mode when done watching. There's a button on the remote that turns off both the TV and the receiver. I use it. 

I certainly am not trying to tell anyone that they don't have the problem. And I don't see any point in leaving my receiver on just to see whether or not the screen saver bug occurs.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

Perhaps some of you that "turn off" your DVR are having screen saver problems and just don't know it. Let me explain. You "turn off" your DVR. Next day you turn it on. If the screen saver was running the act of turning on the DVR could be turning off the screen saver. You need to look at the buffer. Is there a full 90 minute buffer or is there no buffer? If no buffer then you are experiencing the screen saver bug, you just don't know it. It would be interesting to hear if anyone has experienced this.


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

If an HR2x goes into screensaver mode any time other than when the playback has been paused, it's a bug. Doesn't matter whether the DVR has been "on" or "off", or rather in standby or not in standby. It's still an unwanted behavior. I fail to understand why those hung up on turning their DVRs "off" feel that those of us who leave them "on" should be subjected to an unwanted behavior just because we leave them "on".

My personal opinion is that there are reasons both ways whether to put a HR2x into standby or not. In my family room, I have 3 DVRs; an HR10, an HR20, and an HR21. They are never put into standby. Everything is controlled by a Harmony remote, so when I want to watch TV, I can choose a DVR activity for any of the three DVRs, and the TV and A/V receiver will come on with the correct inputs selected. I can also switch between any of the DVRs and I don't have to wait for them to come out of standby. Why would I ever want to do that? Because, without DLBs, I can switch between two games quickly, or two news programs, or whatever. It doesn't matter, I leave them "on" for convenience. Clicking the "Off" button on my Harmony remote turns off anything that's on, but doesn't put any of the DVRs into standby mode.

In the bedroom however, the HR20 gets put into standby any time the TV is turned off because I don't want to see any of those annoying blue lights in a darkened room. I also don't have any other sources to switch between, so I'm either watching TV or I'm not. The Harmony remote in this room takes care of everything nicely, incuding the DVR, the TV, and the A/V receiver.

I have experienced this bug. The HR21 is the primary DVR and records mostly day-to-day programs. The HR20 is the secondary DVR and is the backup to the HR21. I also have a 750GB eSATA drive attached, so it's primary use is to record movies. I see the bug mostly on the HR20 after switching to it when it hasn't been watched in awhile. Every time this happens, I think that I must have paused some program that I was watching and never came back to it. And I have found that the buffer has been flushed when I hit a button to bring it out of the unnecessary screen saver mode. Definitely an unwanted behavior.

Discussion of whether this bug will "go away" if the DVR is put into standby is ridiculous. When you take the DVR out of standby, you are "waking up" the DVR, so even if it had gone into screen saver mode internally, this would take it out of screen saver mode when it restored video output.

Bottom line, if the DVR goes into screen saver mode other than when paused, it's a bug, and it should be fixed. All other discussions are irrelevant.


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## Throckmorton (Dec 7, 2007)

TomF said:


> Bottom line, if the DVR goes into screen saver mode other than when paused, it's a bug, and it should be fixed. All other discussions are irrelevant.


Hear! Hear!

And if they can't fix it, _at least_ give us the option to disable it.

I hate having to wake the screen up to get the info on songs on the music channels. Half the time, by the time I realize I want the track info and wake it up, the song is over and the info is gone.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

TomF said:


> Bottom line, if the DVR goes into screen saver mode other than when paused, it's a bug, and it should be fixed. All other discussions are irrelevant.


Until DIRECTV fixes this long-standing problem, discussions of workarounds would seem entirely relevant. It is ultimately possible that such discussion may lead to a solution if DIRECTV has enough interest in fixing the problem.


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## man_rob (Feb 21, 2007)

TomF said:


> If an HR2x goes into screensaver mode any time other than when the playback has been paused, it's a bug. Doesn't matter whether the DVR has been "on" or "off", or rather in standby or not in standby. It's still an unwanted behavior. I fail to understand why those hung up on turning their DVRs "off" feel that those of us who leave them "on" should be subjected to an unwanted behavior just because we leave them "on".
> 
> My personal opinion is that there are reasons both ways whether to put a HR2x into standby or not. In my family room, I have 3 DVRs; an HR10, an HR20, and an HR21. They are never put into standby. Everything is controlled by a Harmony remote, so when I want to watch TV, I can choose a DVR activity for any of the three DVRs, and the TV and A/V receiver will come on with the correct inputs selected. I can also switch between any of the DVRs and I don't have to wait for them to come out of standby. Why would I ever want to do that? Because, without DLBs, I can switch between two games quickly, or two news programs, or whatever. It doesn't matter, I leave them "on" for convenience. Clicking the "Off" button on my Harmony remote turns off anything that's on, but doesn't put any of the DVRs into standby mode.
> 
> ...


You have to admit that your use of your DVRs is outside the norm, way outside. I'm not arguing against people having the option of disabling the screen saver, but to use the DVRs in a way that they were not intended, and then to complain they are not working exactly the way you want doesn't seem reasonable.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

I just confirmed that "turning off" the DVR does not fix the screen saver bug. 

1. I turned the DVR "off" last night. 

2. This morning I first turned on my TV to confirm my DVR was indeed "off" (the DVR is in another room). The DVR was "off". 

3. I turned the DVR "on". Picture came up, no screen saver. 

4. Checked the buffer. NO BUFFER! 

This confirms that even though the DVR was "off" it still went into screen saver mode. Those of you that claim you do not have the screen saver bug may have it and you don't know it. Check your buffer when you turn it on. If you always have a buffer then you are not experiencing the screen saver bug. BUT, if you don't have a buffer then you have the screen saver bug.

I hope this will finally put to rest the argument that those of us that leave the DVR "on" are operating the device "outside the norm".

I was hoping that turning "off" the DVR would fix the bug but it does not.


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## man_rob (Feb 21, 2007)

nowandthen said:


> I just confirmed that "turning off" the DVR does not fix the screen saver bug.
> 
> 1. I turned the DVR "off" last night.
> 
> ...


I don't think that confirms anything. Try this. Turn off the DVR. Then immediately turn it back on. Is the buffer still there? I don't think it buffers when it is off. There's no video output for a screen saver.

Leaving the DVR on at all times is operating outside the norm. Why do you think it has a power button?


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## BBBoT (Jan 7, 2008)

man_rob said:


> I don't think that confirms anything. Try this. Turn off the DVR. Then immediately turn it back on. Is the buffer still there? I don't think it buffers when it is off. There's no video output for a screen saver.
> 
> Leaving the DVR on at all times is operating outside the norm. Why do you think it has a power button?


I beg to differ, one of the points of a DVR is to always have a buffer going so you can walk in, see the end of something you would have liked to have watched, and then record it or rewind and watch it.
Also anyone who has more than one DVR hooked up to a switch will want to be able to switch back and forth between them.
There's no reason NOT to have the screen saver configurable, as long as the default is on. they could even flash a warning when you turn it off to alert you to the possibility of burn-in and image retention.


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

man_rob said:


> ... but to use the DVRs in a way that they were not intended, and then to complain they are not working exactly the way you want doesn't seem reasonable.


Huh? Please tell me how I'm using my "DVRs in a way that they were not intended"? It's also not that it's not working exactly the way *I* want, it's whether it's working the way it's supposed to. Having it go into screen saver mode without pausing is not the way it's supposed to work. If you know anything about the purpose of having a screen saver, it's to prevent burn-in of a static image on your screen. If the image isn't static, why would the screen saver mode kick in? Your logic is what doesn't seem reasonable.


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

man_rob said:


> Leaving the DVR on at all times is operating outside the norm. Why do you think it has a power button?


I think that you need to change your statement to "_*I think*_ that leaving the DVR on at all times is operating outside the norm" since you have no way of determining how many people put their DVR in standby mode or what the "norm" is. Incidentally, if you read the manual, there is no mention of turning the DVR off when you are not watching it. It only explains that the power buttons turn the DVR on and off and offer no suggestion as to how it is supposed to be used.

It has a power button because some people (like you) can't get past the idea that a DVR is ALWAYS ON! The only thing that the power button does is turn off the video output. According to Earl, he stated that it also tells the DVR that you are done watching it so that it can go into housekeeping mode if necessary, which it will do in a few hours of no apparent activity anyway. You gain _nothing _by turning it "off". Putting a power button on their DVRs saves DirecTV lots of call from people asking how they turn it "off".


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## clyde sauls (Nov 16, 2007)

I have dishnetwork vip-622 and it does the same. It is annoying because I have a tivo and can transfer my program to my ipod touch, and it will record the screensaver . You have to program the vip to change the channel to the time you want to record. Then program the tivo. Two steps that wouldnt be necessary if you could disable the screensaver .


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## man_rob (Feb 21, 2007)

BBBoT said:


> I beg to differ, one of the points of a DVR is to always have a buffer going so you can walk in, see the end of something you would have liked to have watched, and then record it or rewind and watch it.
> Also anyone who has more than one DVR hooked up to a switch will want to be able to switch back and forth between them.
> There's no reason NOT to have the screen saver configurable, as long as the default is on. they could even flash a warning when you turn it off to alert you to the possibility of burn-in and image retention.


I don't see that being one of the points. If that were true, there would not be a power button. Or, why not buffer every channel, just in case you change channels at the end of a show, and want to catch the beginning?

Only a very small minority of people have more than one DVR connected to a single set. That is not normal usage, and the DVRs are not designed for that purpose. People can do what they want with their DVRs, but to expect the units to compensate for every possible scenario is a bit ridiculous.


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## man_rob (Feb 21, 2007)

TomF said:


> I think that you need to change your statement to "_*I think*_ that leaving the DVR on at all times is operating outside the norm" since you have no way of determining how many people put their DVR in standby mode or what the "norm" is. Incidentally, if you read the manual, there is no mention of turning the DVR off when you are not watching it. It only explains that the power buttons turn the DVR on and off and offer no suggestion as to how it is supposed to be used.
> 
> It has a power button because some people (like you) can't get past the idea that a DVR is ALWAYS ON! The only thing that the power button does is turn of the video output. According to Earl, he stated that it also tells the DVR that you are done watching it so that it can go into housekeeping mode if necessary, which it will do in a few hours of no apparent activity anyway. You gain _nothing _by turning it "off". Putting a power button on their DVRs saves DirecTV lots of call from people asking how they turn it "off".


Read your TV manual. It explains the power button too, but does it say turn off TV when you are not watching it? Some things are common sense.

Does your DVR manual say leave it on all the time?


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## markbox (Apr 12, 2008)

FWIW, The static logo some channels display in the corner of the 
screen can burn in. A family member left their TV on 24/7 tuned
to one of the news channels and that logo ended up visible 
when viewing other channels. This was some time ago so perhaps
display makers and/or broadcasters have made a change to 
prevent this from happening.


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

I'm not sure I'd classify "more than a single DVR to a single set" as "not normal usage." It certainly is very acceptable and reasonable usage. 

The power on/off issue is a red-herring in some aspects. I have DVRs that incorrectly display the screen saver shortly after coming out of standby, and others that don't ever incorrectly display the screen saver regardless of how often they go into standby.

That said, there very well could be multiple causes; some of which are standby mode sensitive. 

And, man-rob, remember the "power" button is merely standby. The DVR never powers off except with the power to the unit is removed by pulling the cord or power outage.

Cheers,
Tom


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

markbox said:


> FWIW, The static logo some channels display in the corner of the
> screen can burn in. A family member left their TV on 24/7 tuned
> to one of the news channels and that logo ended up visible
> when viewing other channels. This was some time ago so perhaps
> ...


I don't think so. How is an electronic device supposed to determine whether you left your TV on or whether you're watching a 12-hour Monk marathon?


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

markbox might be referring to both the changes by display manufacturers that have reduced the likelihood of burnin (several techniques, depending upon the display type) and broadcasters might have adjusted their logos to lessen the burnin as well. (Like more annoying logos that move, less bright logos, etc.)

Cheers,
Tom


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## man_rob (Feb 21, 2007)

Tom Robertson said:


> I'm not sure I'd classify "more than a single DVR to a single set" as "not normal usage." It certainly is very acceptable and reasonable usage.
> 
> The power on/off issue is a red-herring in some aspects. I have DVRs that incorrectly display the screen saver shortly after coming out of standby, and others that don't ever incorrectly display the screen saver regardless of how often they go into standby.
> 
> ...


Really, how many people actually have more than one DVR connected to a single set. It's probably less than 1% of DVR users. Just because that minority has multiple DVRs on one set, it doesn't mean that is the intended usage.

Yes, I realize that standby isn't off, but the manual makes a point of saying that the DVR will record while in standby. My DVR records everything I ask of it, without blank or gray recordings, and I never get a screen saver while watching TV.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

TomF said:


> Having it go into screen saver mode without pausing is not the way it's supposed to work.


Maybe that _is_ how it is supposed to work.

It is entirely possible that the receiver is designed to go to screen saver after a period of apparent user inactivity whether paused or live. It is also entirely possible that it was designed to function as you describe.


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

man_rob said:


> Really, how many people actually have more than one DVR connected to a single set. It's probably less than 1% of DVR users. Just because that minority has multiple DVRs on one set, it doesn't mean that is the intended usage.


What difference does it make if you have 3 DVRs connected to your TV or a VCR, DVR, and a DVD player? Or occasionally plugging in your camera or camcorder? They're all just video sources! So what, exactly, is the "intended usage" you speak of? Please enlighten me, since I'm apparently unable to understand what the "intended usage" of a DVR is or possibly any other video source. Please be detailed, but don't use any big words as I may not understand what they mean.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Here's an example of why I suggested that someone try going to standby from the Vista SP1 patch that comes out next Tuesday:


Microsoft Help and Support said:


> • This update improves the reliability of Windows Vista SP1-based computers that experience issues in which large applications cannot run after the computer is turned on for extended periods of time. For example, when you try to start Excel 2007 after the computer is turned on for extended periods of time, a user may receive an error message that resembles the following:
> EXCEL.EXE is not a valid Win32 application


While the HR2x DVRs don't run Vista, they may be subject to similar, apparently patchable, glitches.


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

man_rob said:


> Really, how many people actually have more than one DVR connected to a single set. It's probably less than 1% of DVR users. Just because that minority has multiple DVRs on one set, it doesn't mean that is the intended usage.
> 
> Yes, I realize that standby isn't off, but the manual makes a point of saying that the DVR will record while in standby. My DVR records everything I ask of it, without blank or gray recordings, and I never get a screen saver while watching TV.


You're picking on the red-herring, missing the caviar. 

Standby vs. not standby usage has not made an apparent difference in the incorrect screen saver display.

So discussion of "should it be put into standby" and "how many DVRs should be on a TV" really are off topic for this discussion.



harsh said:


> Maybe that _is_ how it is supposed to work.
> 
> It is entirely possible that the receiver is designed to go to screen saver after a period of apparent user inactivity whether paused or live. It is also entirely possible that it was designed to function as you describe.


Yeah, right... Sorry, don't buy that one. That would definitely show up as a user configurable option if so. (And wouldn't explain why I had to wakeup the DVR every five minutes yesterday while watching a streamed movie.) 

This is a defect, appearing on some receivers some of the time and not on others. DIRECTV is aware of it.

Cheers,
Tom


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Tom Robertson said:


> This is a defect, appearing on some receivers some of the time and not on others. DIRECTV is aware of it.


If you read back, almost all models have experienced the problem. This suggests to me that it may have something to do with how the receiver is used/treated with respect to its design parameters as opposed to a random hardware problem.

Many of the current issues could be attributed to stack under/overflows, lack of bounds checking and other fundamentals of sloppy software design.

Apparently DIRECTV being aware of something doesn't translate to a timely fix or workaround. My recollection is that the screen saver bug is almost as old as the feature itself. Dozens of new features (and their attending glitches) are being added every month. How about stepping back, throwing up the tent and doing a full-scale fumigation?


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## Throckmorton (Dec 7, 2007)

man_rob said:


> Leaving the DVR on at all times is operating outside the norm.


You do realize, don't you, that is simply your opinion? You state it as if it were fact when it isn't. Just because it is something that seems to matter to you doesn't make it a problem.

For may people here, leaving the DVR on all the time _is_ the operating norm.



man_rob said:


> Why do you think it has a power button?


So people who chose to use it can.

I have both an HR-21 and HR-20. The 20 has the screen saver bug but the 21 doesn't. I leave them both on all the time. By your logic, it's my HR-21 that has a problem since it _doesn't_ go into screen saver. And that's just silly.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

man_rob said:


> Read your TV manual. It explains the power button too, but does it say turn off TV when you are not watching it? Some things are common sense.
> 
> Does your DVR manual say leave it on all the time?


Where does it say I MUST turn it off?


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

man_rob said:


> I don't think that confirms anything. Try this. Turn off the DVR. Then immediately turn it back on. Is the buffer still there? I don't think it buffers when it is off. There's no video output for a screen saver.
> 
> Leaving the DVR on at all times is operating outside the norm. Why do you think it has a power button?


man_rob, did YOU try it before posting? I have confirmed that the buffer is present even though I "turn off" the DVR (when it is operating correctly). I made darn sure of that on more than one occasion before I posted. As has been stated over and over in this thread, the DVR is not really off, it only kills the outputs and the front panel lights. I have taken Harshes' challenge and have found that the DVR being "off" does not fix the screen saver bug.

This is a bug that started (for me) around February 2008. IF you don't have the problem or don't care that you don't have the buffer when you turn your DVR "on", why not just move on?


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

So, you people who think having more than one DVR hooked to one TV, better start campaigning for more than 50 Series Links then. Several posters have commented that having more than one box is the only way they are able to deal with that limit.


As far as turining it "off" if they really wanted me to turn the box off, they would have put a power button on the front. Instead they put a button that says Standby. If putting into this mode was so important, why does the remote and front panel not agree on the name of this function and why does the manual not say "important: place your DVR in Standby mode when not watching TV."

I know it is so hard for people to assume that other might not use a machine like they do, but it happens every day. I ask that you open your minds to this possiblity and not assume that what you are doing is exactly what the makers of the device wanted when you have no evidence at all of this.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

Lee L said:


> As far as turining it "off" if they really wanted me to turn the box off, they would have put a power button on the front. Instead they put a button that says Standby.


My receiver and my remote have buttons labeled POWER, not STANDBY. I know that the unit isn't really off unless you pull the plug, but I prefer not having the blue lights shining when I am not watching TV. I have absolutely no problem with those who leave the unit ON all the time. It's a free country -- well, mostly...


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Lee L said:


> If putting into this mode was so important, why does the remote and front panel not agree on the name of this function and why does the manual not say "important: place your DVR in Standby mode when not watching TV."


The manual doesn't speak to a lot of things. Some of the things that it does address are incomplete or, in some cases, incorrect. Other items that the manual does address are routinely dismissed as unnecessary or unattractive (receiver placement is a popular one here).

I don't think you'll find any mention of the 50 series recording limitation in the manual, but challenge this limit and you'll pay a price.

If something isn't working for you, it is often useful to depart from your regular routine to see if you can't find a workaround for it. The screen saver issue has been around since late 2006 so stamping your feet and holding your breath probably isn't going to work.


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## timf (Apr 21, 2002)

I just noticed this thread for the first time today, but I've been having this problem about as long as this thread has existed. In fact, I first noticed it because I would always turn my HR20-700 "off" at night, and when I turned it back on I would no longer have a buffer. After a while I tried just leaving it on started noticing the screen saver being on when I turned on the TV and not having a buffer when the screen saver went away.

My current receiver is a factory refurb replacement for my old receiver that couldn't get MPEG4 signals on one of the tuners. However, this receiver has only had one functional tuner since last fall and I haven't felt like going through the hassle again of getting another replacement, so I just live with it as a single tuner receiver. It still has 2 lines connected and it set up in dual tuner mode, but it performs like it's set up for a single tuner. I don't know whether this could be attributing to the screen saver problem, but it might.

I've gotten used to it at this point but I still miss the ability to watch my buffer when I get home from work in the evening. I'm quite disappointed that in nearly 6 months there hasn't been word of any progress being made on this issue.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

timf said:


> I just noticed this thread for the first time today, but I've been having this problem about as long as this thread has existed. In fact, I first noticed it because I would always turn my HR20-700 "off" at night, and when I turned it back on I would no longer have a buffer. After a while I tried just leaving it on started noticing the screen saver being on when I turned on the TV and not having a buffer when the screen saver went away.
> 
> My current receiver is a factory refurb replacement for my old receiver that couldn't get MPEG4 signals on one of the tuners. However, this receiver has only had one functional tuner since last fall and I haven't felt like going through the hassle again of getting another replacement, so I just live with it as a single tuner receiver. It still has 2 lines connected and it set up in dual tuner mode, but it performs like it's set up for a single tuner. I don't know whether this could be attributing to the screen saver problem, but it might.
> 
> I've gotten used to it at this point but I still miss the ability to watch my buffer when I get home from work in the evening. I'm quite disappointed that in nearly 6 months there hasn't been word of any progress being made on this issue.


Tim,
Your post is the first I have seen about only using one tuner. I doubt that has anything to do with it, since both of my DVRs have the bug and both are working just fine in two tuner mode.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

People! For crying out loud, the bug is relatively new. Most accounts have it showing up around February 2008. Claiming we are not using it correctly is a worthless argument. As I posted a couple of days ago. I'll post again.

Repost:

I just confirmed that "turning off" the DVR does not fix the screen saver bug.

1. I turned the DVR "off" last night.

2. This morning I first turned on my TV to confirm my DVR was indeed "off" (the DVR is in another room). The DVR was "off".

3. I turned the DVR "on". Picture came up, no screen saver.

4. Checked the buffer. NO BUFFER!

This confirms that even though the DVR was "off" it still went into screen saver mode. Those of you that claim you do not have the screen saver bug may have it and you don't know it. Check your buffer when you turn it on. If you always have a buffer then you are not experiencing the screen saver bug. BUT, if you don't have a buffer then you have the screen saver bug.

I hope this will finally put to rest the argument that those of us that leave the DVR "on" are operating the device "outside the norm". 

end repost


How does this not prove that "turning off" the DVR does not fix the problem.  

Try to comprehend what I just stated before posting any more gibberish about turning it "off".


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

man_rob said:


> I don't think that confirms anything. Try this. Turn off the DVR. Then immediately turn it back on. Is the buffer still there? I don't think it buffers when it is off. There's no video output for a screen saver.
> 
> Leaving the DVR on at all times is operating outside the norm. Why do you think it has a power button?


Huh? Doesn't prove it? It most certainly does. 98% of the time when the screen saver comes on of it's own accord it stops buffering. (About 2% of the time the screen saver is on but I still have audio, and it is still buffering). Turning on the DVR will wake it up but if you have no buffer then you know it was in screen saver mode. I don't know how to be any clearer than that. If you don't have the bug then please stop commenting because you obviously don't understand the issue.


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## royhull (May 26, 2007)

My first post in this forum,

Been a D* customer since they bought ON TV in LA.

First noticed problem when HR20 wouldn't turn on in AM. Eventually found that sending a digit in remotes macro prior turn on command would fix. HR20 must go into screen saver even if in standby. Now unit goes into screen saver at 10:58 Pacific every day and randomly at other times and takes a button push on remote to recover.

In reading other posts there may be a problem with having only one input connected (I only have one) but posts I read there didn't seem to be a pattern. I would guess a lot of people only use one RG6/59 cable. I like others didn't have the problem until the (Feb 08?) software upgrade. I have done all the resets and forced the 235 software reload. Looks like there might be a later software version (250?) but I don't know how to get 
access to try it.

Roy

Update I normally watch Fox News and today at 10:50 I pushed the play button and for the first time in months it didn't go into screen saver at 10:58.


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

I haven' had the screen saver problem for many many months but know it has returned. Tonight while watching live tv the screen saver came on.


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## MountainMan10 (Jan 31, 2008)

I had the screen saver when I turned on my HR21-700 this morning.


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## JAYPB (May 8, 2002)

Noticed it 3 times last night on one of my HR21's.

Didn't feel like checking the others.

Feel the joy.....

Having said that, this particular receiver also seems to be "stuck" in a pattern whereby when I choose a show to watch in the list, the show/video will appear in the upper right hand corner and WILL NOT go to the full screen video unless I hit "exit" on the remote to remove the list.

I'm sure if I reset the receiver it will "fix" itself....but I haven't had a chance to hit the button/use the menu to reset it.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

MountainMan10 said:


> I had the screen saver when I turned on my HR21-700 this morning.


All the talk about how DIRECTV is continually improving the HR2x series but they don't mention that all the biggest problems will eventually return at some point.


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

harsh said:


> All the talk about how DIRECTV is continually improving the HR2x series but they don't mention that all the biggest problems will eventually return at some point.


Screensaver..."all the biggest problems"? We should be so lucky.

...and if you had the HR20-700 when it first came out over two years ago, you'd know a "big" problem from a minor annoyance.


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## BK89 (Sep 18, 2007)

Had it pop up on one of mine last night as well. I thought they had this fixed, what gives?


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## newsposter (Nov 13, 2003)

Just turned my tv on and found the SSaver on. First time i remember this happening. Is there new software or did i just get 'lucky' 

also past few weeks have had pic freeze after 30 skip but thats for another thread


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

hasan said:


> Screensaver..."all the biggest problems"? We should be so lucky.
> 
> ...and if you had the HR20-700 when it first came out over two years ago, you'd know a "*big" problem from a minor annoyance*.


Ah yes, the good old days. We've come along ways, baby.


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## pomeroyjohn (Jul 28, 2009)

bwaldron said:


> In my opinion it is far from the lamest complaint I have seen. While it may not be a major issue, it's quite valid to point out a small annoyance. These small niggling things can add up to a less than completely satisfying experience with the DVR.


Exactly. We just "upgraded" our older receiver to a VIP211K. It has a Tivo recorder hooked up to it. No matter what setting the Inactivity Standby setting is on (disabled or enabled) the 211K turns off the receiver signal and starts the screen saver after 8 hours of no remote use. So if you watch a show that ends at 11 p.m. and want to record a show that starts at 10 a.m. while you're at work, unless you remember to hit the select button in between sometime, all you get on the Tivo recording is the Blankety-blank screen saver.

The dish phone tech had no idea what to do. short of turning the tv on, pushing the select button to disable the Inactivity screen and then go to work.

Now theoretically when the Tivo blinks its light at the Dish211 sensor to change the channel to do the Tivo recording, it SHOULD wake up the 211 and turn off the inactivity screen saver. Cuz the 211 doesn't know if I pushed the remote button or Tivo pretended to, does it? Does It? Anyway, that doesn't work.

It's a pain in the behind.
John


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