# 721 - missed recording and lockup/reboots



## RocketNJ (Jul 29, 2003)

My 721 started acting weird the last couple of days. Friday it came up with a black screen which blocked out most of the picture. It then did a reboot and took 26 minutes to come back on to a picture.

Tonight it missed a timer on channel 2 from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m.. It started recording a show at 8:59 on another channel. I tried switching to channel 2 at 9:01 and was asked if I wanted to stop the recording on the other channel and switch to live. It's as if the second tuner wasn't even recognized by the receiver.

Another black box popped up followed by another reset. This one took 34 minutes to recover.

Any ideas? The 721 has been very stable for the longest time.


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## BNUMM (Dec 24, 2006)

RocketNJ said:


> My 721 started acting weird the last couple of days. Friday it came up with a black screen which blocked out most of the picture. It then did a reboot and took 26 minutes to come back on to a picture.
> 
> Tonight it missed a timer on channel 2 from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m.. It started recording a show at 8:59 on another channel. I tried switching to channel 2 at 9:01 and was asked if I wanted to stop the recording on the other channel and switch to live. It's as if the second tuner wasn't even recognized by the receiver.
> 
> ...


I have noticed that my 721 takes about 20 minutes or more to reset it when it locks up. I haven't noticed lockups when recording but I have noticed them when trying to access the new interactive weather.


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## kwd57 (Jul 31, 2002)

RocketNJ said:


> My 721 started acting weird the last couple of days. Friday it came up with a black screen which blocked out most of the picture. It then did a reboot and took 26 minutes to come back on to a picture.
> 
> Tonight it missed a timer on channel 2 from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m.. It started recording a show at 8:59 on another channel. I tried switching to channel 2 at 9:01 and was asked if I wanted to stop the recording on the other channel and switch to live. It's as if the second tuner wasn't even recognized by the receiver.
> 
> ...


That sounds alot like the problems I have been having lately too. I have also been having a problem when I hit some of the buttons on the remote, it will shut the 721 off. I have called dish about the problem, but claim they have never heard of this before and want to send me another one, but I now think I am on my 7th 721 and I don't think any of them had a problem other than their software, since all the replacements had the same issues as the one they were replacing.


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## DishSubLA (Apr 9, 2006)

I've experienced all the same problems, but have found that I have to resort to a cold reboot (disconnect from the electrical outlet, then reconnect) to get it to re-boot without waiting who knows how long (you guys said 30 minuets! No way I could ever wait that long). Although I am on only my 3rd 721, I am really getting tired of cold rebooting--and all the other recent problems. When I have had my fill, it will be returned, but, they don't know it yet, Dish WILL give this AEP sub a 625 as a replacement (if I have [email protected] to do it). This is the last 721 I will deal with.


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## blackcloud (Nov 16, 2002)

on 1 st one i unplug once a month have not have any problem like any one had before ,but this last software must have bugs it take 20 or more min. to reboot sometime 3 or more times to get to come back on. must be the software.


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## skremesec (Feb 8, 2007)

blackcloud said:


> on 1 st one i unplug once a month have not have any problem like any one had before ,but this last software must have bugs it take 20 or more min. to reboot sometime 3 or more times to get to come back on. must be the software.


I've had a 721 (the exact same unit) since 2000 with little problems other than slow boot times and the some what too frequent reboot. Today, however, my 721 won't boot up. I get to first scree (validating hard drive, etc) and then to the Start Receiver gui screen but then it just reboots. The HD is spinning and apparently passes the validation phase (from the first boot screen).

I'm wondering if this is a SW problem - either from bad code that was downloaded last night, an incomplete update or a slightly corrupted HD.

Has anyone else experienced problems like this? Is there anyway to reset the unit back to factory defaults or debug this further?

This really sucks as I was getting ready to upgrade to an HD DVR once the new 622-1 comes out. I really don't want to have to pay $ to fix this one. 

Please help.

Thanks,
Steve


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## blackcloud (Nov 16, 2002)

if it was not doing it before the software upgrade i would say yes (dish would say 
noway) thats what mine will do now. i just walk away from it after about 20 or30
min. then its back on. have not called dish about problem yet hoping they will fix software with upgrade.


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## blackcloud (Nov 16, 2002)

owned a 7200 also with little problems also unplug it once a month. it a computer
with bills os in it. 721 might have linx in it i think less problems. i have always unplug all my boxes from day one setpember 1996


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## DishSubLA (Apr 9, 2006)

Oh, dear friends, the 721 is OLD. Charlie should be kind to us all who paid retail for this box (721 was never offered as an upgrade) and replace all subs' future dead 721's with 625's. Seems fair for our $500 investment in Dish Network.


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## finniganps (Jan 23, 2004)

I LOVE my 721, in spite of the problems. 508 has had virtually no problems, but I strongly prefer teh 721.


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## rcwilcox (Jan 20, 2003)

Mine missed recordings for firdt time in a long time. reboot got it going again but it recorded stuff that was never set to record


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## neljtorres (Jul 15, 2004)

rcwilcox said:


> Mine missed recordings for firdt time in a long time. reboot got it going again but it recorded stuff that was never set to record


Hey guys mine was acting weid a couple of months ago and I did this what ThomasTrain post in here a couple of months ago:

There is a little trick for these 721 receivers that "might" work for you and it basically forces the unit to reinitialize the hard drive.

1) Unplug power from the unit and remove the cover
2) Unplug the hard drive ide cable from the main board (Do not remove the hard drive as this will break that little 'hard drive warraty' sticker, only unplug the IDE cable from the main board connector.
3) Plug the unit back in a wait for the failure message about the hard drive
4) Unplug power from the unit again and plug the hard drive IDE cable back in and replace the cover.
5) Finally, plug power back in a let it run for about 30 to 45 minutes.

This will force the unit to completely wipe the PVR partitions on the hard drive and rebuild and reformat them.

WARNING: this procedue will ERASE all recordings and timers. One of my units did this to me and it resolved my problems with it.

The nice thing is that this doesn't void you warranty since we are simply using the recovery features that are build into the unit.


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## fparkin (May 30, 2005)

I give that a try my acts weird i have to use my 501 to record cant depend on 721


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## MattN03 (Jan 9, 2007)

I have also been having trouble with a 721. It'll work for a while after a cold reboot, but within a week or two it's giving me "aquiring Signal 1 or aquiring Signal 2. What is a good replacement dual tuner? I don't really need an HD unit unless you can use it to get some free HDTV like NBC, ABC, etc. Will a newer dual tuner cost you the DVR fees x 2 since it's a dual tuner?


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## 34Ford (Jul 3, 2004)

Yep, same things happening here the last couple of months. Its got to be a pitiful software upgrade.


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