# ViP612 L6.02 Software Experiences/Bugs Discussion



## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

L6.02 is now in the wild. Please use this thread for documenting your experiences and/or bugs found.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Ron Barry said:


> L6.02 is now in the wild. Please use this thread for documenting your experiences and/or bugs found.


 Thanks for the sticky Ron. I'll repost here also as I want everyone to know that Dish has been listening to requests.

L6.02 for the ViP612 may or may not have fixed anything, but I discovered this morning it has added an External Hard Drive folders function - essentially the same as we have in the internal drive, and the folders on the internal drive show up when you go to move content to the external drive. The text labels for the folders have been changed to a dark colored typeface.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Look like there is also the My Media name change. Thanks for the reposts. I was going to move your post over here but would have to do some tricks to avoid earlier posts appearing before the intro posts.


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## Sandman (Sep 23, 2002)

Just checked the folder function, nice, when I moved the EHD to my 722 the folders disappeared and the programs are listed individually, just as before, guess the 722 software needs to catch up


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Sandman said:


> Just checked the folder function, nice, when I moved the EHD to my 722 the folders disappeared and the programs are listed individually, just as before, guess the 722 software needs to catch up


Thanks for answering one of my worries - moving my drive back to the 722.


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## Test_subj (Mar 6, 2007)

dunno if this was added in a previous release, but i recently noticed i could register to schedule shows via the web. (it's in the broadband setup menu)

found it when i was resetting the dhcp to get the damn nag window to go away.


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

This feature is not yet available. It is a future new feature.


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## tsanders3 (Sep 14, 2008)

I am not seeing any 1080p VOD on 501. I am not sure if this was after the 6.02.


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## slick1ru2 (May 31, 2008)

I have L602 and under Broadband, Web Activation is missing. Its on my 622. I have it connected to broadband. Is it on anyone else's?


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## craigminah (Oct 13, 2008)

I have the VIP612 and am a new Dish customer. The video and audio drop out for a second or two every 20-30 minutes on HD shows (live and/or recorded). Talked to Dish and they know nothing about it and had me restart the DVR. Just saw the problems return so I'll call them back.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

craigminah said:


> I have the VIP612 and am a new Dish customer. The video and audio drop out for a second or two every 20-30 minutes on HD shows (live and/or recorded). Talked to Dish and they know nothing about it and had me restart the DVR. Just saw the problems return so I'll call them back.


:welcome_s

In what part of California are you located and in what channels/shows are you seeing the problem? Does the video go black or does it freeze momentarily?


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## craigminah (Oct 13, 2008)

phrelin said:


> :welcome_s
> 
> In what part of California are you located and in what channels/shows are you seeing the problem? Does the video go black or does it freeze momentarily?


I'm on Vandenberg AFB which is central California. The video/audio freeze momentarily but this is on most channels (never on CNN or ESPN, for example).


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

What channels are you seeing this on? Is it content specific? I am in SoCal and Phrelin is northen CA. There are some issues with audio in North CA and it is documented in a Audio sticky thread. SoCal does not appear to have the issues Northen CA is having. Would be good to report back some specific channels you are seeing this on.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

craigminah said:


> I'm on Vandenberg AFB which is central California. The video/audio freeze momentarily but this is on most channels (never on CNN or ESPN, for example).


I'm seeing this problem on my 612 also. At this point, it's mostly just annoying, but sometimes it occurs in a program at just the wrong moment. And I'm seeing it on shows on cable channels as well as locals. I assume you don't have HD locals there, is that right? Is this occurring on SD channels?

I haven't reported the problem to the Dish folks because of my involvement with the audio dropout problem Ron mentioned. If you call Tech Support back and they send you a replacement 612, I'd be curious to see if that changes your experience.


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## Sunnyatthebeach (Feb 26, 2008)

craigminah said:


> I'm on Vandenberg AFB which is central California. The video/audio freeze momentarily but this is on most channels (never on CNN or ESPN, for example).


Perhaps this occurs whenever one of those military aircraft flies across the signal path between the satellite and your dish.


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## BR7 (Oct 14, 2008)

craigminah said:


> I have the VIP612 and am a new Dish customer. The video and audio drop out for a second or two every 20-30 minutes on HD shows (live and/or recorded). Talked to Dish and they know nothing about it and had me restart the DVR. Just saw the problems return so I'll call them back.


I am getting the same problem with the 612.I dont not get any local HD channels yet

I get audio and picture skips on Non-recorded

ESPN HD
TBS HD

If I notice any more channels doing this I will post

It seems no matter what channel I record on I get picture and audio skips with DVR.


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## timhk (Sep 26, 2007)

Same audio and video freeze/skip problems here in Eastern NC as well a few others. I am on my second 612 now. They are sending a tech out tomorrow. Its a waist of their time, as the unit will need replacing yet again. If I don't get a good unit this time I'm just going to purchase another 722. I have two 722 and the only issues have been a HDMI problem. 

Other problems.

I have noticed that my OTA tuner doesn't work as good as on the 612. There is up to 10% difference in signals on the same channels. Some stations will not even tune on the 612 while they tune fine on the 722s. Not an antenna related issues as I have swapped the units around. 

Signal loss screen(015) hit the guide button and channel returns.

Signal loss screen(015), keeps going through transponders(not steps) requires reset. Could access DVR and watch programs that it was recording when it supposedly had no signal

Skip back freezes for about 30 seconds


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## feetwet (Sep 9, 2006)

I've got a 612 as I switched from DTV about a month ago. Lots of problems with TBS HD freezing and losing the signal during the MLB playoffs. Also noticed other HD channels freezing momentarily. Is this a common issue with the 612 box?? Should I nag Dish for a better receiver model?

Noticed my non-dvr HD box shows some milder pixelation on TBS HD.. but not as bad as the 612.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

feetwet said:


> I've got a 612 as I switched from DTV about a month ago. Lots of problems with TBS HD freezing and losing the signal during the MLB playoffs. Also noticed other HD channels freezing momentarily. Is this a common issue with the 612 box?? Should I nag Dish for a better receiver model?
> 
> Noticed my non-dvr HD box shows some milder pixelation on TBS HD.. but not as bad as the 612.


Well the HD freezing and frame jumping was worse tonight than it has ever been. So I'm going to complain to Dish Tech tomorrow. I just hate to start dealing with another problem.


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## reddice (Feb 18, 2003)

timhk said:


> I have noticed that my OTA tuner doesn't work as good as on the 612. There is up to 10% difference in signals on the same channels. Some stations will not even tune on the 612 while they tune fine on the 722s. Not an antenna related issues as I have swapped the units around.
> 
> Signal loss screen(015) hit the guide button and channel returns.
> 
> ...


That is why I don't have my OTA antenna hooked up to my 612 anymore. It causes too much instability. I have the OTA antenna hooked up to my TV. I would never record anything OTA because the reception where I live is terrible. Digital is hard and terrible to pick up reliable unlike analog. Talk about progress.


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## Rotryrkt (Dec 11, 2004)

I am still experiencing problems with freeze ups and spontaneous reboots (at least 6 within 3 hours watching Big Ten Net HD). Yesterday, I did some diagnosis and found that the HDMI diagnosis was reporting Raw EDID Blocks 2 thru 7 (Checksum FAILED!). I then disconnected the HDMI and hooked up component cables. This helped, but I have experienced at least three lockups since then. My 622 has not experienced any of this and all is fine with it (no checksum failures). My hope is that this will be corrected soon, but my patience is wearing thin. C'mon Dish fix this soon!!!!

Anyone else experiencing these problems?


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## craigminah (Oct 13, 2008)

I see the problem (freezing for 1-3 seconds) on all channels. My base has no military aircraft...we launch rockets and missiles. Dish uses circularly polarized signals and most comm here is linearly polarized so local interference isn't a concern. The launch of CIEL 2 may help but I'm going to keep pressuring Dish just so they know my problem's not fixed (they've sent three teams out and nobody want to do anything since it's an intermittent issue). I did have them replace the 129W LNB to no avail.


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## ericsdad (Sep 2, 2007)

I don't know if this is a problem with the L6.02 software, or just a problem with our VIP612s. 
We have 2 612s and neither one can hold a signal from the local OTA NBC channel. When you tune to that channel it starts off in the high 80s and immediately starts losing signal strength until you lose the signal. If you wait about 30 seconds it will come back for a few seconds, then lose the signal again.
It has to be something wrong with the 612s. Our VIP622 never loses the signal to that channel. We also have a Sony HD DVR, and the OTA tuners in our 3 HD TVs, and none of them lose the signal either.


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## alacazam (Oct 8, 2004)

I have (2) 612's and BOTH have frequent freeze ups when I fast forward or rewind a recorded program. Usually after about 30 seconds both units will resume play BUT once in a while I have to do a reboot of the unit to get it back working. This has went on since last July. I've talked to my installer a couple of times and he said Dish knows about this problem and is working on software to correct this problem.
I find this strange since I've seen NO discussion here with anyone having this specific issue. I would THINK that if this really was a well known problem to Dish and they were REALLY working on a solution it would have been talked about here.


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## ontwowheels (Nov 7, 2008)

Rotryrkt said:


> I am still experiencing problems with freeze ups and spontaneous reboots (at least 6 within 3 hours watching Big Ten Net HD). Yesterday, I did some diagnosis and found that the HDMI diagnosis was reporting Raw EDID Blocks 2 thru 7 (Checksum FAILED!). I then disconnected the HDMI and hooked up component cables. This helped, but I have experienced at least three lockups since then. My 622 has not experienced any of this and all is fine with it (no checksum failures). My hope is that this will be corrected soon, but my patience is wearing thin. C'mon Dish fix this soon!!!!
> 
> Anyone else experiencing these problems?


New customer and eastern arc user here. My 612 has locked up at least once a day since I had service installed four days ago. Last night's reset was a little different, picture was black on all channels but I still had sound and menus. Resetting the unit fixed it. I have an installer coming out tomorrow.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

To provide a counter point, My 612 has not locked up in a very long time. Wonder if this is Eastern Arc issue.


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## alacazam (Oct 8, 2004)

Ron Barry said:


> To provide a counter point, My 612 has not locked up in a very long time. Wonder if this is Eastern Arc issue.


This is NOT an Eastern Arc issue because I'm not in the Eastern Arc. I feel it's a receiver specific issue which Dish needs to address with software updates.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Just trying to find some commonality between the experiences since I am not seeing the issues. 

I went back and read your previous report alacazam. I will try and see if I can get my 612 to lock up using the FF and RWD buttons. Can you reproduce this at will? As for the other other two reporting lockups. Are the lock ups occurring when you interact with the receiver or are you also seeing lockups when you just sit there watching TV?


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## Rotryrkt (Dec 11, 2004)

Ron Barry said:


> Just trying to find some commonality between the experiences since I am not seeing the issues.
> 
> I went back and read your previous report alacazam. I will try and see if I can get my 612 to lock up using the FF and RWD buttons. Can you reproduce this at will? As for the other other two reporting lockups. Are the lock ups occurring when you interact with the receiver or are you also seeing lockups when you just sit there watching TV?


I believe mine to be an HDMI compatibility issue. Since I disconnected it and am running on component output I have only seen one lockup. When it does lockup, I am usually using the skip buttons or FF or RWD. Once in a while it will lock while just watching TV. Once again, since disconnecting the HDMI, it has been much more stable. Thanks Ron for the reply.


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## alacazam (Oct 8, 2004)

Ron Barry said:


> Just trying to find some commonality between the experiences since I am not seeing the issues.
> 
> I went back and read your previous report alacazam. I will try and see if I can get my 612 to lock up using the FF and RWD buttons. Can you reproduce this at will? As for the other other two reporting lockups. Are the lock ups occurring when you interact with the receiver or are you also seeing lockups when you just sit there watching TV?


I can't get either of my 612's to do this at will. Whenever they decide to freeze up they just freeze up!! Just read several posts here under a different thread of people having this same problem. I just wonder if Dish is aware of the problem and if they are I hope they are working on a fix if it's possible. I'm not going to wait much longer for a software update I'm going to call and ask for replacement receivers. This has gone on long enough for me.


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## ontwowheels (Nov 7, 2008)

ontwowheels said:


> New customer and eastern arc user here. My 612 has locked up at least once a day since I had service installed four days ago. Last night's reset was a little different, picture was black on all channels but I still had sound and menus. Resetting the unit fixed it. I have an installer coming out tomorrow.


I did an online chat last night with tech support and called off the service call for today. I moved the 612 outside of the entertainemnt cabinet it was in, where it was getting very hot due to no air flow. Since the unit has been outside I haven't had any lock ups, but it has only been one day. If I go lock up free I'll know it's a heat issue.


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## astraelraen (Nov 20, 2008)

ericsdad said:


> I don't know if this is a problem with the L6.02 software, or just a problem with our VIP612s.
> We have 2 612s and neither one can hold a signal from the local OTA NBC channel. When you tune to that channel it starts off in the high 80s and immediately starts losing signal strength until you lose the signal. If you wait about 30 seconds it will come back for a few seconds, then lose the signal again.
> It has to be something wrong with the 612s. Our VIP622 never loses the signal to that channel. We also have a Sony HD DVR, and the OTA tuners in our 3 HD TVs, and none of them lose the signal either.


Mine actually has this exact same problem with the NBC OTA station. Did you find a solution? It will get every other OTA station fine.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

I had the lockup occur at a different point. I moved some programs to an EHD. Then when it came back to normal TV viewing the video froze while the audio continued and all control locked up. A soft reboot fixed it.

Just for the record, I use component/toslink connections through my A/V receiver.


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## ericsdad (Sep 2, 2007)

astraelraen said:


> Mine actually has this exact same problem with the NBC OTA station. Did you find a solution? It will get every other OTA station fine.


 Our 612's are still doing it. Everything we watch is either recorded or time delayed so we have to always watch NBC on the 622, or record it on the Sony DVR.


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## damondlt (Feb 27, 2006)

My 612 will not let me Dial customer service to change prgramming through my receiver. Not a big deal ,but be nice to see why.


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## damondlt (Feb 27, 2006)

By the way I have Eithernet and phone line hooked up to it.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

damondlt said:


> My 612 will not let me Dial customer service to change prgramming through my receiver.


That's a feature that apparently still requires a phone line. Are you sure your ViP612 can connect through the phone line?


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## damondlt (Feb 27, 2006)

harsh said:


> That's a feature that apparently still requires a phone line. Are you sure your ViP612 can connect through the phone line?


Yes it always seem to pass the phone test, and my 622 always connects, But the 612 never will.


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## Kent Slimm (Aug 22, 2008)

One more frustrated 612 user here. I wrote some months ago about freeze-ups during which the screen image would turn purplish-pink. That color anomaly doesn't happen anymore, but I'm still getting freezes on a regular basis when I fast-forward or rewind a taped program. I wish I knew whether this was due to a defect in the unit (if so, then mine is obviously not the only one -- and a replacement may well fail to solve the problem) or in the software (haven't we had a couple of updates since the issue was first reported?). Very frustrating to have it go on so long.


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## ericboutin (Nov 11, 2007)

I had a very similar problem with my OTA antenna (in the attic) that I initially hooked up to my 612. I would put it on our strongest station which is coming in at 100% on our 622. On the 612 it would drop down down down to 0%. Well I was using the little 3 ft coax cable that came in the 612 box (the one that says use only for connection from the box to the tv)...just for s&g's I hooked up another cable I had lying around (not a dish cable) to see if that discalimer was absolutely necessary.....well surprise at least for me I have no more issues with my OTA signal on my 612. The signal is a little lower than the 622 but I attribute that to the longer run maybe. Anyway that's what worked for me on the signal issue.

On re-read I will clarify....the run from the attic antenna to the 612 is run in the wall to a switch plate; so the 3' coax cable I was using went from the wall plate to the back of the 612 receiver.


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## jpk (Nov 5, 2008)

"I have (2) 612's and BOTH have frequent freeze ups when I fast forward or rewind a recorded program . . . I find this strange since I've seen NO discussion here with anyone having this specific issue"

I am having this specific issue.

Dish support blames my wires or dish itself. How that could possibly affect playback of a recorded program I fail to understand. Dish support denies this is a known problem with the box.


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## alacazam (Oct 8, 2004)

jpk said:


> "I have (2) 612's and BOTH have frequent freeze ups when I fast forward or rewind a recorded program . . . I find this strange since I've seen NO discussion here with anyone having this specific issue"
> 
> I am having this specific issue.
> 
> Dish support blames my wires or dish itself. How that could possibly affect playback of a recorded program I fail to understand. Dish support denies this is a known problem with the box.


If you will look at all the posts in this specific thread you will see I have ( and still have ) the SAME exact problem you are describing here. Dish has done nothing to resolve this problem with the exception of make excuses. 12/29/2008.


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## thenamesash (Sep 17, 2007)

I have a 211, 222 and 612 and have had Dish since Sept. I have NEVER had to do a reboot on the 211 or 222. The 612 is another story. At least once per week and sometimes 2-3x/day, it will just freeze. Sometimes I will see a still picture with the audio still working correctly. Other times it will just go blank. Doing a reboot (holding power button for 3 seconds) fixes the problem. I keep hearing/reading here about "Dish is working on a software fix" for this, but don't really believe it. What are my options to get rid of this tuner and get a 712 or whatever the equivalent newer single tuner DVR is? Thanks!


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Their is no 712. The 612 is the newest single HD tuner. Anyone been able to reproduce this at will. This I am sure would be helpful in tracking the issue down. I have tried myself but have not been able to.


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## djlong (Jul 8, 2002)

The 612 is a DUAL HD tuner. I think you might have meant single-tv box.

However, I had a couple of "pic freezes, audio continues" incident when I first got my pair of 612s in late December. Nowadays it's just the occasional video/audio stutter.


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## langlin (Apr 8, 2005)

My 612 has worked flawlessly for over a year now and just to be correct, I feed multiple tv's with my 612, the correct terminology would be 3 program streams in and one program stream out. there are several outputs available and the component and composit can have different aspect ratios to feed two or more tv's.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Thanks for the correction. Yes I mean Single TV HD DVR. Sorry for the confusion.


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## Billgolfer20 (Aug 20, 2008)

NOTE: This was originally posted in the general "VIP 612/622/722 DVR Support Forum". I should have posted it in this L6.02 Problems/Bugs Forum. Note that my problems are identical to those of many others who have posted on this L6.02 Forum.

Here are my problems: I have two VIP 612's.
1. Both will lockup for 30-60 seconds when trying to pause/rewind. This is very repeatable. This happens every time I begin to use the Pause/Rewind feature while watching a program - but only once for that program - then no more lockups until I go to another program and then use Pause/Rewind. 
2. One of the VIP 612's (the one feeding my HDTV set) is hooked up to my OTA antenna. The 612 will loose OTA signal occasionally. No problem if I hook OTA directly to HDTV set - but then cannot record in HD. (As of now, local FOX, ABC, NBC, and CBS will broadcast sporting events in HD OTA. However, the Local Channel option under DISH does not bring in HD signal; only SD.)
3. When recording (HD movie channels or sports) will loose audio/picture for split second. This shows up as a very quick signal break on playback. The signal loss is not long enough to ruin the movie but it does drop about 1 second, and is very distracting.

How can I get DISH to replace these? DISH definitely seems to have abandoned the VIP612/L6.02 users. From the postings on this Forum, it seems that the VIP 622 (or the 722) is better? Who do I contact? The DISH telephone tech support people do not want to help me. I have sent emails to [email protected] and gotten no reply.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

ceo email would have been my recommendation. I do have a couple of comments/questions on your problems. 

Problem #1: 
By very repeatable do you mean you can repeat the issue on command. If this is the case right down the exact steps you do and post them. This way others can try and reproduce it (Including myself). Or do you mean by repeatable that you have had this happen on a number of occasions. What do you mean by lockup? does it require a software reboot to get things back or does the 612 recover itself? This definitely sounds like a bug so what we should be doing ("Sorry if I missed this one earlier") is if we have a definite reproducible set of steps lets get them documented here and see if more people can reproduce it. That should highlight the issue and hopefully someone in Dish will see it and react to it. Lockups that require soft reboots are never a good thing.

Problem #2
In regards to your OTA issue, is the test you preform with the TV and the 612 using the same cable? If so, What I would suggest is teeing off the cable and putting the OTA both into your TV and your 612. Then when you see the break up you can toggle to the other and see if you are getting it the same time. Also, not all OTA tuners are created equal.. In fact they differ a lot from what I have read. Just because it works in one does not necessarily guarantee it will work in another. OTA is definitely and art and in the past there have been a number of posts that seem to indicate Dish OTA tuners are more susceptible to multipathing. Another thing I would suggest you look at is your signal strength of your OTA. If it is in the 60s I would see if you can get it higher because that is about the point where I have experienced seeing dropouts on my 722. In otherwords. Some playing with your antenna/configuration might improve this issue. 

#3: This issue might be related to what people have been posting regarding audio issues in some DMAs. The fact you mention HD movies makes me think what you are seeing is a bit different and hard to track down. Is what you are seeing appear to be channel based or content based. Would be good to get more details on what channels and programs you are seeing this on. How often are you seeing etc. That way there is some Data behind your experiences and something to work with. I personally don't get this on my 612. 


Now to the bigger point you made. Dish abandoning the 612. This is not the case by any means in my opinion. The Vip-612 is Dishes only signal room HD DVR and was the first to Roll out EHD group folders and to me there is no evidence of them abandoning the 612 users. 

My suggestion would be to detail issue #1 here and try and troubleshoot #2 and #3 from an external aspect first. Most likely your quickest way to getting an acceptable environment for TV viewing.


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## reddice (Feb 18, 2003)

The only real annoying problem I have with the 612 is that if I am watching HD content delayed or recorded sometimes it would skip a few frames and I usually miss what they are saying. If I roll it back it does it in the same spot everytime. It does not do it at all with SD content.


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## alfbinet (May 19, 2002)

Since I have had the 612 it has short freezes, both video and audio. I haven't been on this forum for awhile. I thought it might be tree obstruction or such. The freeze happens during live mode and can capture it during DVR recording. Something is not right. My problem is that I actually had to buy the unit since I have been a dish subscriber since 1999.


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## et121212 (Feb 9, 2009)

My first experience with satellite dishes began last December (I have used OTA and cable for HD receptions for a few years now). I got a Vip612 and a vip211k. Not a single problem with vip211k but cannot say the same for the 612. 

I noticed that the recorded programs (I only record HD local channels) have occasionally glitches and I could never be sure if it is a signal problem or DVR / software / Hard Disk problem. I do always feel that the live TV seems to have less reception problems. But I never looked into it as the problem is minor. I just hooked up OTA (because of the problem below) to the box and noticed that the DVR recording of the OTA channels are near perfect. So this leads me to think something is wrong with the local channel reception. 

Things have gone downhill since this past Thursday (2/5) (did we get a recent firmware update)? We began to have serious problems with local HD channels (all other channels are fine) -- the pictures would freeze or tear every few seconds and it is unwatchable. (Local SD channels are fine; VIP211k is fine with both HD and SD). 

We called support and they sent a tech out. The tech told us that is recent (but known) problem with the firmware and both VIP612 and VIP622 have troubles with local channels (maybe it is just for metro Atlanta?). The only solutions - wait till Dish fixed the glitch or upgrade to VIP722. 

My questions are 

(a) Has anyone heard of or suffered through the same problem (local HD channels freeze/tear) for VIP612/622?

(b) Has anyone known about any DVR problem with the VIP612? Or maybe I have a bad box?

Now it is get even worse, the box has gone through 2 re-boots today (while vip212k is just fine). So I am thinking that my vip612 is simply bad. I am considering upgrading to 722

(c) Is 722 worth the (75) one-time upgrade charges? Would it alleviate my local channel problem or re-boot problem?

(d) I also have another question on local channels I cancelled the local channels and found it to be a major mistake (DVR is practically useless as I lost the EPG for OTA channels). I also noticed that I lost Tennis channel (400) after the cancellation. Did I go crazy or tennis channel is part of the local lineup?

(e) While I am at this, can someone confirm that I will not be able to set the box to 1080p (I have Sony XBR) no matter which box (612/622/722) or connection (Component or HDMI) I use?

Any help will be appreciated. 

To recap: Vip612 had minor problems in the past but has gone much worse recently and I am thinking about upgrading to vip722. Could it help or should I forget about the upgrade? Another solution would be downgrading to 211k and buying another DVR.


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## PTN (Mar 6, 2008)

I was considering upgrading to the 612 but it sounds buggy.To expand on upgrading from more knowledgeable folks. My question is this we have a 722 hooked to a HDTV and a regular TV and a 211 hooked to one HDTV can I upgrade the 211 to a 722 even if it will be hooked up to just the one tv? Seems like I read somewhere Dish wants these dual tuners hooked up to two tv's.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

et121212 said:


> My first experience with satellite dishes began last December (I have used OTA and cable for HD receptions for a few years now). I got a Vip612 and a vip211k. Not a single problem with vip211k but cannot say the same for the 612.
> 
> I noticed that the recorded programs (I only record HD local channels) have occasionally glitches and I could never be sure if it is a signal problem or DVR / software / Hard Disk problem. I do always feel that the live TV seems to have less reception problems. But I never looked into it as the problem is minor. I just hooked up OTA (because of the problem below) to the box and noticed that the DVR recording of the OTA channels are near perfect. So this leads me to think something is wrong with the local channel reception.
> 
> ...


:welcome_s

Before addressing any of your questions, a couple of things. The 612 does not use the same firmware/software as the 622/722 series. The 612 has been on L6.02 for awhile. The Dish/Echostar folks have been messing with problems on the 622/722 series since last June and still have glitches. My guess is they won't update the 612 until they find a cure for the streaming code problems on the 622/722's. Also, in addressing the questions, I am assuming that you have done a hard reboot (uplug, wait 10 seconds, plug it back in and let it do its thing).



> My questions are
> 
> (a) Has anyone heard of or suffered through the same problem (local HD channels freeze/tear) for VIP612/622?


I frequently have problems with my locals on my 612, particularly if I try to simultaneously record two HD signals and watch one recording skipping commercials.



> (b) Has anyone known about any DVR problem with the VIP612? Or maybe I have a bad box?
> 
> Now it is get even worse, the box has gone through 2 re-boots today (while vip212k is just fine). So I am thinking that my vip612 is simply bad. I am considering upgrading to 722


You may have a bad box. It wouldn't hurt to ask for a replacement.



> (c) Is 722 worth the (75) one-time upgrade charges? Would it alleviate my local channel problem or re-boot problem?


Probably, but a 612 replacement might also.



> (d) I also have another question on local channels I cancelled the local channels and found it to be a major mistake (DVR is practically useless as I lost the EPG for OTA channels). I also noticed that I lost Tennis channel (400) after the cancellation. Did I go crazy or tennis channel is part of the local lineup?


No, the Tennis Channel is not local.



> (e) While I am at this, can someone confirm that I will not be able to set the box to 1080p (I have Sony XBR) no matter which box (612/622/722) or connection (Component or HDMI) I use?


 Don't know about this.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

1080p question.... I can confirm this. 1080p support is done on a per program basis and at this moment only a couple of movies are provided that is 1080p at a time. Since 1080p appears to be source related, I have my doubts that we will see boxes that can output all content to 1080p in the near future. Even if we could, a lot more things would have to happen to actually get a big benefit from such a feature.


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## et121212 (Feb 9, 2009)

Yes sir. Reboot is part of the life for the folks who tinkle with pc's (as a hobby for me). I then found my rear pojection tv (a mistake) requires a lot of reboot, then my modems ... now the dish receiver...I call these Bill Gates diseases. 

The funny thing is my box worked perfectly in the first 2 months (other than a occasional glitch in DVR recording of the local HD channels). Then the hell broke loose. Either there is some software update on 2/5 or my box has gone bad. It has seen slight improvement in the past 2 days. Cross my fingers. 

BTW 

(a) what are "streaming code problems"?
(b) my system info reports "drifting lnb" problem and says we lose signals from time to time (even though we do not observe that). Is this a casue for concern or a case of false reporting?


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

You're not supposed to tinkle with your computer.

You can tinker with it, but you should never urinate on or around it.


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## et121212 (Feb 9, 2009)

harsh said:


> You're not supposed to tinkle with your computer.
> 
> You can tinker with it, but you should never urinate on or around it.


Hehe:blush:

Although I really had the urge to tinkle on the junks when things got frustrating (e.g., my wife's cell phone would reboot upon any attempt to connect with yahoo mail server). Sorry ... way off topic. Back to my question:

Does anyone knowshow to handle "drifting LNB" problem? Is a call to tech support warranted if one gets this message upon system check?


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

et121212 said:


> Does anyone knowshow to handle "drifting LNB" problem? Is a call to tech support warranted if one gets this message upon system check?


Yes.

Sorry. Don't know why no one answered this one before now. I've been mostly away from my computer for several days.


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

I have heard the LNB Drift has to be 8 (either + or -) before they will replace the LNBs. I've had -5 for about a year now with no problems.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

ChuckA said:


> I have heard the LNB Drift has to be 8 (either + or -) before they will replace the LNBs. I've had -5 for about a year now with no problems.


I report everything like this to Tech Support to get the info on my account. I admit I'm paranoid, but it doesn't mean they aren't out to get me if I don't get them first.


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## et121212 (Feb 9, 2009)

ChuckA said:


> I have heard the LNB Drift has to be 8 (either + or -) before they will replace the LNBs. I've had -5 for about a year now with no problems.


I did a serach but could not figure out how to find the drift value (8, 5 ...)? In this example below, does it mean the drift is -7? If not, where do I finf it. What does this number mean anyway?

LNB Drift Detected: 0x0d, 0xa1, 61.5 (e -7)

TIA


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

Yes, that's a -7 drift.


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## Billgolfer20 (Aug 20, 2008)

Ron Barry said:


> ceo email would have been my recommendation. I do have a couple of comments/questions on your problems.
> 
> Problem #1:
> By very repeatable do you mean you can repeat the issue on command. If this is the case right down the exact steps you do and post them. This way others can try and reproduce it (Including myself). Or do you mean by repeatable that you have had this happen on a number of occasions. What do you mean by lockup? does it require a software reboot to get things back or does the 612 recover itself? This definitely sounds like a bug so what we should be doing ("Sorry if I missed this one earlier") is if we have a definite reproducible set of steps lets get them documented here and see if more people can reproduce it. That should highlight the issue and hopefully someone in Dish will see it and react to it. Lockups that require soft reboots are never a good thing.
> ...


I have sent an email to the DISH CEO and gotten no reply. What to do next??
Here are my replies to your suggestions:
1. The "freeze" problem ALWAYS occurs whenever I have just turned on the system and then, after about 5 minutes or more of viewing, I hit "pause" and then try to "play" (in order to resume). The system (on both of my 612's) hangs up - displays a "freeze" frame - for anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds. Then it resumes and goes as it should. In PC terms, it seems to be experiencing a HD drive seek lockup or some other memory search related problem.
2. The OTA Tuner part of the 612 is definitely not as good as the OTA tuner built into my HDTV set (a SONY). I have tried hooking the antenna up to both. The 612 looses signal when the SONY does not. The signal strength for the 612 is usually in the 82 - 85 range but then just "blips" down to zero for a second or two seemingly at random. VERY ANNOYING when trying to record an OTA HD sporting event.
3. The 612 looses audio and video for a second or so at random when recording an HDTV movie from ether HDNET Movie channel or from MGM HD Movie channel. Since I am not actually watching at the time of recording, I don't know what message (if any) shows up on the TV screen. However, when watching the movie, there are noticeable "skips" in the playback. These are somewhat like what happens when trying to play back a damaged HDTV disc.
I really don't want to go through the hassle of dealing with DISH Techies again. I want to get an HD-DVR that works. I'm willing to pay. What should I do? Is DIRECT TV any better? Is TIME-WARNER Cable any better? I WANT SOMETHING THAT WORKS.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Billgolfer20 said:


> I have sent an email to the DISH CEO and gotten no reply. What to do next??
> Here are my replies to your suggestions:
> 1. The "freeze" problem ALWAYS occurs whenever I have just turned on the system and then, after about 5 minutes or more of viewing, I hit "pause" and then try to "play" (in order to resume). The system (on both of my 612's) hangs up - displays a "freeze" frame - for anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds. Then it resumes and goes as it should. In PC terms, it seems to be experiencing a HD drive seek lockup or some other memory search related problem.
> 2. The OTA Tuner part of the 612 is definitely not as good as the OTA tuner built into my HDTV set (a SONY). I have tried hooking the antenna up to both. The 612 looses signal when the SONY does not. The signal strength for the 612 is usually in the 82 - 85 range but then just "blips" down to zero for a second or two seemingly at random. VERY ANNOYING when trying to record an OTA HD sporting event.
> ...


I hate to say this, but compared to my 722, my 612 is not nearly as clean when recording from the HDNET Movie channel or any other HD channel. I use my 612 primarily to record stuff I really don't care about and SD content. If I were in your position to record OTA I'd replace my primary 612 with a 722k which would give you an additional OTA tuner. For me money would not be an issue either, but I'd push really hard not to pay more than a reasonable amount which might require another attempt at [email protected]


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## et121212 (Feb 9, 2009)

Billgolfer20 said:


> I have sent an email to the DISH CEO and gotten no reply. What to do next??
> Here are my replies to your suggestions:
> 1. The "freeze" problem ALWAYS occurs whenever I have just turned on the system and then, after about 5 minutes or more of viewing, I hit "pause" and then try to "play" (in order to resume). The system (on both of my 612's) hangs up - displays a "freeze" frame - for anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds. Then it resumes and goes as it should. In PC terms, it seems to be experiencing a HD drive seek lockup or some other memory search related problem.
> 2. The OTA Tuner part of the 612 is definitely not as good as the OTA tuner built into my HDTV set (a SONY). I have tried hooking the antenna up to both. The 612 looses signal when the SONY does not. The signal strength for the 612 is usually in the 82 - 85 range but then just "blips" down to zero for a second or two seemingly at random. VERY ANNOYING when trying to record an OTA HD sporting event.
> ...


I share your problems #2 and #3 (on local HD channels for me as I don't record anything else for vaious reasons). Luckily, I do not have (at least not repeatedly) your problem #1.

To me, it is a quality control problem --- we are all beta testers ever since MicroSoft began dominating the PC world. Every MicroSoft fan that worked with me eventually bought into my view (it may take a long time but a light bulb would turn on after a long ordeal). I also believe (although I cannot substantiate this claim, yet) that #2 is a choice by Dish to force everyone to pay an extra $5 for the local channels.


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## Rotryrkt (Dec 11, 2004)

I finally got tired of waiting for Dish to fix all these various problems with the 612. I called the customer retention specialists and demanded that my 612 be replaced with a 722. It cost me a fresh 2yr commitment, but I am not sorry I did it. The 722 has run 3 days now without a single hiccup. It is a dream machine compared to the 612. I own the 612, which caused some problems as it was replaced with a leased receiver. I am going to hang on to it for a while to see if a future SW update cures it's problems, then possibly put it in a bedroom for a backup. The 612 reminds me of the old 921 days when all us early adopters were used as beta testers. I thought we had moved beyond that!


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## pmsmith66 (Feb 13, 2003)

Billgolfer20 said:


> I have sent an email to the DISH CEO and gotten no reply. What to do next??
> Here are my replies to your suggestions:
> 1. The "freeze" problem ALWAYS occurs whenever I have just turned on the system and then, after about 5 minutes or more of viewing, I hit "pause" and then try to "play" (in order to resume). The system (on both of my 612's) hangs up - displays a "freeze" frame - for anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds. Then it resumes and goes as it should. In PC terms, it seems to be experiencing a HD drive seek lockup or some other memory search related problem.
> 2. The OTA Tuner part of the 612 is definitely not as good as the OTA tuner built into my HDTV set (a SONY). I have tried hooking the antenna up to both. The 612 looses signal when the SONY does not. The signal strength for the 612 is usually in the 82 - 85 range but then just "blips" down to zero for a second or two seemingly at random. VERY ANNOYING when trying to record an OTA HD sporting event.
> ...


I can jump into the mix and confirm that I have two relatively new 612's in my home (in addition to two 622's) and my 612's suffer from your EXACT issues.

Compared to my 622's, the 612's are unreliable and very frustrating. I'm going to see what I can do about getting them swapped-out for 722's. I'm doubtful as they already made an exception for me on the number of leased tuners on my account. However, these things are junk and should be replaced with a working product.


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## garne2t (Mar 25, 2009)

My 612 is also having all these problems and more. Although some subtle differences:

1. I get lockups almost every time I sit to watch TV on pause/rewind. But I can't duplicate it at will. Seems to happen primarily shortly after I start watching TV.

2. OTA tuner in 612 is a bit less reliable than the one in my TV. Big difference is when signal loss happens on the OTA signal in my TV's HD tuner, picture pixelates but then continues. On DVR, message comes up and show stops broadcasting completely. Not conducive to recording shows if I was willing to put up with periodic signal loss.

3. I frequently lose audio/video for a second or so. Again, not reproducible. Happens on recorded show. Not sure if HD/SD recording makes a difference. Strange thing is sometimes when I skip back 10 seconds, the recording plays properly the next time. Other times, the same skip happens.

4. I also have problems with pause and slow motion. Usually when I pause a recording and then want to watch (a sports play) in slow motion, the program skips and slow motion will start at a different point in the show. It can be forward or backward.

5. Skip back will too frequently not skip back 10 seconds. It sometimes skips back minutes.

Watching live TV doesn't tend to have these problems. I wonder if my disk has bad sectors. Is there a way to reformat the disk? Note I've tried hard reboot by unplugging.



Billgolfer20 said:


> NOTE: This was originally posted in the general "VIP 612/622/722 DVR Support Forum". I should have posted it in this L6.02 Problems/Bugs Forum. Note that my problems are identical to those of many others who have posted on this L6.02 Forum.
> 
> Here are my problems: I have two VIP 612's.
> 1. Both will lockup for 30-60 seconds when trying to pause/rewind. This is very repeatable. This happens every time I begin to use the Pause/Rewind feature while watching a program - but only once for that program - then no more lockups until I go to another program and then use Pause/Rewind.
> ...


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## garne2t (Mar 25, 2009)

I noticed reading through this thread that some don't have the problems that many of the rest of us have. I also noticed there was discussion about problems attributed to HDMI connection or OTA antenna connection.

My question is, for those who have NO problems with their 612, are any using an HDMI connection? How about an OTA (over the air) antenna connection?


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