# 721 Repair Strategy



## tyleit (May 26, 2004)

After 3yrs. of mostly flawless service my 721 has begun misbehaving. Accessing DVR functions crash the system. Changing channels sometimes crashes the system. The system has rebooted itself on its own numerous times as well as my 30 second plug pull and card pull reboot to no avail. Also set to factory default tries.

I like the unit when it works. Before I call Dish what would be the most cost effective stategy to get this unit repaired or replaced?
Would Dish offer a remanufactued unit and at what cost? What warranty?
Would purchasing the ($6mo?) warranty before requesting technical assistance work and be the way to go?

Thanks=

LJ


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## finniganps (Jan 23, 2004)

In the past Dish did allow you to ad the warranty plan at any time. So you could ad the plan and then call with a problem and they'd replace the unit. I don't know the current policy. I still keep the old $2/month plan that is no longer available. Someone else may know the current rules.


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## Bowlin (Dec 8, 2003)

Digital Home Protection Plan

Costs, I think, $5.99 a month and is a full service contract on all things Dish that are part of your installation. Add at any time. Seems like a good deal.

Add the DHPP, wait a month just to be safe, then call them and tell them your 721 is misbehaving. They'll likely just send you a new one and ask you to return the old one, all at no additional charge, including shipping IIRC.

I have an old, old, legacy receiver I hadn't used (or had active) in years. Wanted to start using it again, but the smart card was obsolete. I could have purchased a replacement smart card for around $50 with shipping and all, but they even suggested I just sign up for the DHPP instead. I did. They sent me the new card. Now the old receiver is happy and working again.

...but you did try a full cold-start reboot, didn't you?


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## ThomasTrain (Aug 9, 2005)

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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## Doug E (Jul 6, 2002)

I just had my 721 replaced due to the hard drive failure. I have had the insurance for at least six years, so am still paying just the $1.99 per month fee. DISH swapped out the failed unit with a refurb unit that is working just fine so far (about 45 days). They did charge me a $14.95 shipping charge, which I don't think is correct. According to the current copy on the website, there is NO shipping charge.

Anyone know this for certain?

And thanks for the tip on reviving the hard drive....I plan to try it on another 721 unit that is on the shelf until I remodel, but it was acting up constantly before I took it out of service.


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## manicd (Jan 30, 2003)

Doug E said:


> They did charge me a $14.95 shipping charge, which I don't think is correct. According to the current copy on the website, there is NO shipping charge.
> 
> Anyone know this for certain?


There is a shipping charge on the old 1.99 month plan. There is no charge for shipping on the new 5.99 month plan.

When I have to replace units, they have tried to get me to upgrade to the 5.99 a month plan to avoid shipping. But I like the 1.99 plan for I haven't needed to replace a unit that often. Last being almost 2 years ago.


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## DishSubLA (Apr 9, 2006)

The first 721 I bought lasted almost 3 years, but was never "flawless". Perhaps adequatly, but the 721 has always been a freaky box. 4 months ago, it finally suffered an HDD crash--simlar symptoms to your box. I have DHHP, it was replaced at absolutely no cost. But, of course, the replacement 721 had a 2nd tuner failure within 2 months. So, that was replaced at no cost. I am now on my 3rd 721. So far it has been behaving wierd on occasion, but not worse than my original 721. In summary: This is the 721 we're talking about, so don't hold your breath that the replacement will give you another 3 years of enjoyment. I would prefer Dish replace my 721 with a 625 that is far more reliable and has more advanced timer technoloty, but Dish won't go for that. I do like the 721, but from my own experience and the numerous posts on board like these, you better transfer you DVR recordings right away because when your replacement goes nighty night, your gonna lose a second bathc of your beloved shows.


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## Bowlin (Dec 8, 2003)

DishSubLA said:


> <Snip>
> I do like the 721, but from my own experience and the numerous posts on board like these, you better transfer you DVR recordings right away because when your replacement goes nighty night, your gonna lose a second bathc of your beloved shows.


Probably an old, worn out question, but here goes anyway: When you say "transfer" the recordings, is there now some way to capture them digitally, or do you mean merely to spool them off in the analog domain, like to a VCR?


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

"Spool them off in the analog domain."


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## tyleit (May 26, 2004)

Just a follow-up to my original post. The remedy as posted above by Thomas Train was applied and the unit returned to its normal useful function. I did lose the saved programs. Thank you and KUDOS to Thomas.

LJ


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## jerryyyyy (Jul 19, 2002)

Thought I would just say hello as my 721 is working fine after what must now be 3 years.... had one of the first. I am glad to see a lot of people are still using it. I have the $2 plan and will never drop it, since after writing this nice nore about the 721, I am sure I will wake up to a dead box tomorrow......


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## Nivek62 (Mar 11, 2004)

DishSubLA said:


> I do like the 721, but from my own experience and the numerous posts on board like these, you better transfer you DVR recordings right away because when your replacement goes nighty night, your gonna lose a second bathc of your beloved shows.


When you write about transfering 721 DVR recordings, do you mean copying off programs to videotape or DVD? Or to another HDD?


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## neljtorres (Jul 15, 2004)

ThomasTrain said:


> 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.
> ...


 Thanks Thomas my unit has the same problem and I am doing your procedure now! And I am glad to tell you that it is WORKINGGGGGGGGG real great Thank You!


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## Bill Mullin (Jul 24, 2002)

manicd said:


> There is a shipping charge on the old 1.99 month plan. There is no charge for shipping on the new 5.99 month plan.


Last time I checked, there was no shipping charge on the $1.99 plan IF you had your monthly fees automatically deducted from your bank account. Have they changed this?


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