# Incomplete screen



## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

My R15 has learned a new, and annoying, trick since the 10B8 upgrade. When I zoom in on a List view entry and subsequently try to return to List view, I sometimes get a screen that's blank except for a live video box. When that occurs, none of the navigation buttons works. Pressing List doesn't work. But, fortunately, the box isn't entirely locked up. Pressing Menu and then Guide restores the R15 to a usable state. In some cases, the R15 has meanwhile deleted the program selected via List view. 

Come to think of it, my R15 has learned a second, equally annoying, trick. Somehow, the Record button becomes inoperative in Guide view. I can see the R15's light blink, indicating that the remote has sent it a message. But, the R15 doesn't respond. I have to use Select to enter the detailed screen describing the program of interest and then click Record to set up recording.

It's very frustrating, because the recent release seems to have made my R15's reliability worse than before. So, for those who don't yet have the latest release, be careful what you wish for! :nono:

Cheers,


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

The behavior you have reported is extrememly odd.

Have you tried to do a restart?


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

In the past, I've _had_ to do a restart several times a week. I hate to do so, since doing a restart causes loss of guide data. If I'm not forced to do a restart in the next several days, I'll do one voluntarily and report any further instances of these new problems. It did require several days after the update for me to notice them. So, I anticipate the possibility of having some company on this thread real soon now.


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## cabanaboy1977 (Nov 16, 2005)

The black screen with only the live picture isn't new. Many people have had that happen and usally a reset fixes the issues. The issue with the Show being deleted when you select it or not being able to use the record button not common but I think I remember at least one person having those issues (don't think it was the same person with both issues). I think your best bet is to do what Earl suggested and reset the system. Yes you'll lose the guide data but I'm 99% sure that it will work ok. I'm not to say it won't happen again, but you should be running ok for a while.


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## Bobman (Jan 3, 2006)

[email protected] said:


> I sometimes get a screen that's blank except for a live video box.


This has happened with the R-15 since the beginning and I guess its not fixed in the latest release either.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Hmmm. I've had the blank screen OF live video (i.e., no video), but everything else has worked. I've had that happen 3 times total. And it has been reported to have happened on at least one other NON R15 unit, so it may not be specific or unique to the R15.

But I've never had a blank screen of everything else, with only live video working. That would be an entirely different problem than people have reported before.

Carl


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

Several posters have suggested a restart. A restart _might_ reduce the incidence of this problem. But, clicking Menu->Guide escapes the blank screen and restores normal operation. It simply isn't worth doing a reset to escape, or reduce the incidence of, this problem. Perhaps this two-step remedy will help others trapped in blank screen or almost-blank screen situations.


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## cabanaboy1977 (Nov 16, 2005)

carl6 said:


> But I've never had a blank screen of everything else, with only live video working. That would be an entirely different problem than people have reported before.


I've had this happen before. The weird thing is that I can usally hit exit but I won't be able to change the channel and have to reset because nothing works.


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

Phooey! I just lost another recorded program. Maybe it _is_ time to reset. This is beginning to remind me of Windows 95....


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## pentium101 (Nov 19, 2005)

It sounds like the only options that are available are either:

1. Reboot
2. Receive a refurbed unit

I guess that DTV is hoping that one of these solutions will be able to keep the customer quiet for a while.


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## CHOMPIS (Apr 19, 2006)

How full is your HDD? Just a hunch but I see strange behavior that no one else has seen. My HDD is at 98% used or 2% availability as noted in MyVOD. I wonder if this can be a contributing factor?


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

pentium101 said:


> It sounds like the only options that are available are either:
> 
> 1. Reboot
> 2. Receive a refurbed unit
> ...


Since the symptom began with the update, I assume that the problem is software-related. A reboot may or may not fix the problem. But, I have no reason to believe that there's a hardware problem of the sort that could be remedied by swapping units. For now, I'll spare DTV the cost and burden of a swap. However, at some point not far in the future, I'm apt to lose patience with a box that doesn't reliably perform it's basic, specified functions. In that limited sense, under your analysis, I suppose that DTV is right. :eek2:


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

CHOMPIS said:


> How full is your HDD?


It's currently slightly more than 50% full. The ToDo list contains about 65 items. And, I have about 25 SLs.

P.S. Oops: The reboot caused the loss of my entire ToDo list. Series links still seem to exist, so I can hope that they eventually repopulate the ToDo list. But, scheduled movies and programs are gone, gone, gone.

P.P.S. Another apparently new bug. Entering the detail screen for an SL provides a Delete/Don't Delete button. Pressing Don't Delete has no effect. It's necessary to press Exit to escape the screen. Is there any way to go back to the older release? :eek2:


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## Wolffpack (Jul 29, 2003)

[email protected] said:


> It's currently slightly more than 50% full. The ToDo list contains about 65 items. And, I have about 25 SLs.
> 
> P.S. Oops: The reboot caused the loss of my entire ToDo list. Series links still seem to exist, so I can hope that they eventually repopulate the ToDo list. But, scheduled movies and programs are gone, gone, gone.
> 
> P.P.S. Another apparently new bug. Entering the detail screen for an SL provides a Delete/Don't Delete button. Pressing Don't Delete has no effect. It's necessary to press Exit to escape the screen. Is there any way to go back to the older release? :eek2:


Guide data is lost during a reset. Without guide data the SLs don't "want" to be there and the TDL will be empty. Give it a few hours then check back. All should be well.


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

Wolffpack said:


> Guide data is lost during a reset. Without guide data the SLs don't "want" to be there and the TDL will be empty. Give it a few hours then check back. All should be well.


Yes. that makes sense. And, that's the way it's worked previously when I've rebooted. But, I have little confidence that it continues to work that way, given the several _new _problems the update has brought me.

Moreover, previous reboots _haven't_ lost non-SL ToDos, which _are_ gone this time. So, I now believe only that which I see. 

Anyone recall how long it takes to rebuild guide data if the R15 is in standby? I think it's less than overnight, but can't recall a more precise time frame. I suppose that your comment about repopulating SLs into the ToDo list suggests that a few hours may be adequate.


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## Wolffpack (Jul 29, 2003)

[email protected] said:


> Yes. that makes sense. And, that's the way it's worked previously when I've rebooted. But, I have little confidence that it continues to work that way, given the several _new _problems the update has brought me.
> 
> Moreover, previous reboots _haven't_ lost non-SL ToDos, which _are_ gone this time. So, I now believe only that which I see.


That's not good. Was it a manual record with channel & time or a "press REC" on the guide? What show, time, date? Maybe if it's a day or two out the guide needs to catch up.



[email protected] said:


> Anyone recall how long it takes to rebuild guide data if the R15 is in standby? I think it's less than overnight, but can't recall a more precise time frame. I suppose that your comment about repopulating SLs into the ToDo list suggests that a few hours may be adequate.


I've reset mine ALOT.  I'd say it's running about 24-36 hours to get the complete guide.


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

Wolffpack said:


> That's not good. Was it a manual record with channel & time or a "press REC" on the guide? What show, time, date? Maybe if it's a day or two out the guide needs to catch up.


The programs, of which there were probably a dozen or more, had been specified via the Record button or equivalent means, rather than manual record. I've never lost these before.

It's upsetting because I won't likely find all of them again. Many were alternate showings of programs that had conflicted with another choice.



Wolffpack said:


> I've reset mine ALOT.  I'd say it's running about 24-36 hours to get the complete guide.


Yes, I was resetting two or even three times a week. The box seemed to lock up only when I traversed the menus a lot. The problem seems to be related to the UI rather than to basic functionality.

I always seemed to get fully guide data overnight. But, it's possible that I never paged far enough into the future to properly assess completeness. In the current case, it's been a few hours and I'm still missing some guide data even a few hours into the future.


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## Wolffpack (Jul 29, 2003)

So you're on 10B8 and with a reset you lost one time recordings from your TDL. Do you know if this was all of them, kinda sounds like it. I'll try come tests on my end.


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

Wolffpack said:


> So you're on 10B8 and with a reset you lost one time recordings from your TDL. Do you know if this was all of them, kinda sounds like it. I'll try come tests on my end.


Yup, I lost every last one of 'em. I stated back up with a TDL of 0 items. And I thought the FCC was overdoing the censorship bit. :eek2:


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

Worse yet.... I checked to see how my recording was going for the evening. The R15 was merrily recording both a program and a series. Thing is, I have--and have always had--only one coax feed and so only one tuner is actually operational. Sure enough, the program was being recorded on the non-existent feed, rather than the series that I didn't much care about. :eek2:

I ran a system test and the second tuner failed, just as it should. Perhaps all will be well now that I've run the system test. 

Apparent Moral: If you have only one cable feed, run a system test after a reboot. The reboot doesn't seem to check for the presence of one versus two cable feeds, though it obviously should.

This had not been an issue for me previous to the upgrade. At that time, I wasn't very happy with the R15. Now, I'm *downright upset* by it.  Recording a specified program is basic functionality, not whiz-bang featureness that might reasonably be expected to be a bit hinky. I feel cheated.  I can hardly wait for the next upgrade....


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## cabanaboy1977 (Nov 16, 2005)

wbmccarty said:


> P.P.S. Another apparently new bug. Entering the detail screen for an SL provides a Delete/Don't Delete button. Pressing Don't Delete has no effect. It's necessary to press Exit to escape the screen. Is there any way to go back to the older release? :eek2:


It's not new. It happens to me all the time. I've had it stay there when i've selected either delete and don't delete. Don't happen all the time, just most of it.


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## Wolffpack (Jul 29, 2003)

I haven't checked my R15 in a few days and when I just "powered it on" it was REAL slow. About two minutes to turn on. and 5 second lags between remote key presses. It also hasn't recorded anything since 3:00 am on 05/01. I'll post more in the appropriate thread.


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

After an all-night rest, the guide information is still somewhat incomplete. Apparently, as one poster suggested, it takes more than 10-12 hours to fully rebuild the guide.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

wbmccarty said:


> After an all-night rest, the guide information is still somewhat incomplete. Apparently, as one poster suggested, it takes more than 10-12 hours to fully rebuild the guide.


It does... it takes about 24 hours to get the full 14 days worth of information.

However it does appear then when the unit is in standby mode, it does work faster.


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## wbmccarty (Apr 28, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> It does... it takes about 24 hours to get the full 14 days worth of information.


With two or more lockups per week in the past, I've probably never seen a fully populated guide.


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