# Black Screen Bug 2007



## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

In response to a post on the previous "black screen bug" thread implying that people who had answered "no" might want to change their answers, let's start another thread for 2007 (starting a little early). This is my first attempt at a poll, let's see if I can do it.


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## deebeeeff (Oct 10, 2006)

Yeah, I am one of those. Had it right after I voted 'No" the first time. Only had it once, so I am happy about that.


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## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

It will be interesting to see how the results change. The previous is 71% yes right now.

It's happened to me twice after coming out of standby. And I think it happened last night while watching, but I'm not sure if it was the BSB.


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## MrBill64 (Aug 3, 2006)

Got mine this morning. RBR and now I am back up and running. I have had the HR20 for a little over 5 weeks with 5 RBR's now needed to solve various lock-ups/freezes/black screens. When this box works it's great, but.....

Bill


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## gcisko (Sep 27, 2006)

MrBill64 said:


> Got mine this morning. RBR and now I am back up and running. I have had the HR20 for a little over 5 weeks with 5 RBR's now needed to solve various lock-ups/freezes/black screens. When this box works it's great, but.....
> 
> Bill


I Predict everyone will eventually get it.


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## devellis (Oct 18, 2006)

I forced 10b at about 9:45 on 12/19. All seemed fine, with OTA working properly and everything else doing likewise. I headed out of town the next morning. When I returned from that out-of-town trip, I was greeted with a black screen that only yielded to an RBR. That did the trick. This is one of the few times I've absolutely had to do an RBR to restore functionality. I'm hoping that it's a one-time fluke or that a remedy is on its way. Is this typically something that happens once since getting 10b or are people running into it repeatedly?


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## brewer4 (Aug 19, 2006)

My HR20 was rock solid and I had a hard time understanding all the negativity and issues. I got 10b so I could activate OTA and its been a mess. It locks up several times a day, keeps recording for hours beyond its duration until it locks up, and requires constant reboots. I really wanted OTA but I think I was happier without and a more stable DVR. I use my HR10 for OTA and will continue until the issues are resolved.


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## bwaldron (Oct 24, 2005)

brewer4 said:


> My HR20 was rock solid and I had a hard time understanding all the negativity and issues. I got 10b so I could activate OTA and its been a mess. It locks up several times a day, keeps recording for hours beyond its duration until it locks up, and requires constant reboots. I really wanted OTA but I think I was happier without and a more stable DVR. I use my HR10 for OTA and will continue until the issues are resolved.


If I didn't also have an HR10 to use as my main DVR, I would be much unhappier w/ my HR20. Haven't personally had an increase in problems with the 10b software, but it still has occasional issues w/ black screen bug, unwatchable recordings, and not being able to record from the sports subscriptions. Not to mention that I'm a major user of dual buffers on busy sports days.


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## Dukie (Feb 7, 2006)

Yes...10B Black Screen bit me after 48 hours of installing the new x-mas present.
I noticed "Pinky" last night for the first time moments before entering standby


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

205 views, 45 votes... 

Hey out there, please vote in this poll. Someone could say, "hey, those 160 people who viewed but didn't vote are implicitly voting No, so it's 35 yes to 170 no. Why bother fixing the problem?"

We know that these forums are monitored. Let's show them in a constructive way that this problem is very widespread. 

Pardon me, I hope I don't trip climbing down from my soapbox.


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## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

lamontcranston said:


> 205 views, 45 votes...
> 
> Hey out there, please vote in this poll. Someone could say, "hey, those 160 people who viewed but didn't vote are implicitly voting No, so it's 35 yes to 170 no. Why bother fixing the problem?"
> 
> ...


Well I assume it gets recorded as "viewed" even when the same person goes back in multiple times. I know that I've already viewed it a handful of times since there has been several replies after I replied.


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## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

Got it today for the first time.

It did notice that last night the hdd seemed to be more active than usual. (It is in the MBR) Today when I tried to turn it on, nothing but a black screen. All menus showed but no programming.

So I did a RBR. This got me back programming, but I am missing several HD channels such as ESPN. I have it on my HR10's, so this is an HR20 issue. The channels are not even in the guide.

A second RBR did return all my channels. And the drive is chirping a way like crazy.

Last night before I went to bed, I hit record to record a program that I was viewing. That program did play after the 1st RBR.


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## Devius (in HD) (Aug 9, 2006)

Yes, got it this morning. This is the third time it has happened to me. Seems to happen when i take it out of standby mode. Does anyone know if this happens if you just leave the box on all the time?


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I've started leaving mine on all the time in the hope that it's less prevalent.


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## tfederov (Nov 18, 2005)

lamontcranston said:


> I've started leaving mine on all the time in the hope that it's less prevalent.


It has been for me. I only experience the black screen of death when I've tried going out of standby.


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## iacas (Nov 18, 2006)

I just had it:

http://dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=769963#post769963

I was just bit last night. I also had this under 0xFA.

Here's how it happened:
a) my wife recorded a few lame shows.
b) the next day some of the channels (like HGTV, TLC, etc.) were just black. They tuned in, the guide data was there, there was no "searching for satellites," and signal strength was good - but there simply was no picture or audio.
c) since she couldn't see the tv channels, she tried to play back her previously recorded ones. They IKD'd on her and she chose delete.

She finally told me. I rebooted (via the menu - again, the HR20 was totally responsive, it just wouldn't show a picture or play sound) and all the channels worked again.

This is the same thing that happened before (under 0xFA), except that we didn't lose any other shoes before because I noticed quickly that something was wrong.

It's almost as if the HR20 "forgot" that it could display the channels.


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## FKandt (Oct 18, 2006)

Yep. Came back from a Christmas trip. HR20 had been in standby for a week. Fired it up and my first BSD greeted me. RBR corrected it (Phew).

Gonna' leave it on 24/7 and see if it happens again. Earl verified in another thread that DirecTV is aware of it so I assume it's being worked on.....


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## bigwad (Oct 19, 2006)

2nd time in 2 days now, reset and all's well!


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## deebeeeff (Oct 10, 2006)

MrBill64 said:


> Got mine this morning. RBR and now I am back up and running. I have had the HR20 for a little over 5 weeks with 5 RBR's now needed to solve various lock-ups/freezes/black screens. When this box works it's great, but.....
> 
> Bill


Not too bad. I have had mine since October 7th and have only done three RBRs and one of them was my fault. And only one BSB so far.


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## old44272 (Nov 13, 2006)

I've had a couple in the last week and a half.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

got another one today. Makes number two. This time, the MPEG-4 channels were working as was the menu. The first time around, it was 100% locked up.


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## loudog2 (Jun 22, 2006)

My unit has been pretty solid til 10b. I had only a couple freeze ups before. Now after 10b I get the black screen 3 out of 5 times out of standby. One time the unit would not even turn on until I RBRed it. I called D** they know about it. Said it is happening to a few people. Tech 2 told me to reset everything through the menu. This would erase everything. They said the download might have a few bugs or didn't get downloaded properly. So I did the total reset, so far so good. I'll keep my fingers crossed.


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## ZDawg (Nov 7, 2006)

Had one last night... Watching the end of the UH/USC game, nothing recording and the screen goes black. Changed channels a couple of times, nothing! RBR all is good. That's the first time it has just frozen up in normal watching mode.

Z


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

loudog2 said:


> Tech 2 told me to reset everything through the menu. This would erase everything. They said the download might have a few bugs or didn't get downloaded properly. So I did the total reset, so far so good. I'll keep my fingers crossed.


IMHO, this is overkill. This is a software bug that I'm sure will be corrected after the new year. It seems that the Red Button Reset (or simple restart from the menu, not reset) solves the immediate problem. Some people experience this problem with more frequency than others. I've experienced this problem a total of 2 times since I received 0x10b. There are a few folks that experience this on a somewhat daily basis.

From my observations, the following things exacerbate the problem:

- Leaving the unit in standby overnight

- Leaving the unit tuned to a Sunday Ticket Channel long after it is removed from the guide

- Leaving the unit tuned to certain OTA channels overnight

There are other cases in which this situation appears to occur while you are simply changing channels. This appearance may be due to the fact that you are watching MPEG4 channels and at the point you change to an MPEG2 channel (either HD or SD), then the MPEG2 channels are black while the MPEG4 channels work fine.

I almost always leave the units on (not in standby) and also almost always leave them tuned to an MPEG4 channel overnight. I've had 2 BSBs hit.

Again, I suspect that this problem will be fixed soon, but I would suggest to everyone that is experiencing this problem with some degree of frequency to be a little proactive and try to find a scenario that keeps your system running overnight. Not the best situation, but its all we have.


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## lwilli201 (Dec 22, 2006)

This morning I could get only the 1080i local channels. All menus were working fine. You do not have to do the RBR. Just run sat setup.


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## xarxa (Nov 27, 2006)

I just got my HR20 on Wednesday and have had no problems until this morning. I woke up this morning and turned it on from standby to find the black screen. I had left the HR20 on ESPNHD and the menus worked but there was only a black screen. I couldn't get any other channels to work except my MPEG4 HD locals.

I just did a restart of the receiver and everything seems to be working. What an annoying bug...


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## S. DiThomas (Oct 8, 2006)

brott said:


> It seems that the Red Button Reset (or simple restart from the menu, not reset) solves the immediate problem. Some people experience this problem with more frequency than others. I've experienced this problem a total of 2 times since I received 0x10b. There are a few folks that experience this on a somewhat daily basis.
> 
> Again, I suspect that this problem will be fixed soon, but I would suggest to everyone that is experiencing this problem with some degree of frequency to be a little proactive and try to find a scenario that keeps your system running overnight. Not the best situation, but its all we have.


Brott:

My issue is the standby return to black screen when re-awaken unit next morning. It is NOT tuned to an OTA station, I don't have any Football or sports packages, I am NOT using HDMI, and I AM leaving the unit in STANDBY after watching a channel like HGTV or a recordeded show from the HD. In fact the LAST thing I watched last night before this lock up was a My Playlist Discovery HD show on cruising on an icebreaker to Antartica. Then I shut the box down (it was tuned to Channel 229 I think) and went to bed. The box had 12 hours to sleep and now won't give me any picture today.

D* needs this bug fixed now. It is a total usability bug that just leaving it on may not solve. That - no offense to you itended - is an absolutely assinine fix that only a genius at D* would suggest and force on us (80% of those 95 responding to the current poll it seems).

It seems to me that the bug fixes fix little issues (like some HDMI issues for some users) and make bigger issues (EVERY TIME) for the masses of users.

I am beginning to agree that this box is NOT ready for the general consumer market and D* rolled it out way too early before the OTA/VIIV/Recording/HDMI and stability issues were even tested. I have no HDMI issues, good power protection, a component stable HDTV and no VIIV, no sports package, no MPEG4, HD locals, NO OTA (not connected right now), and no other damn issues that make this box go into fits. D* Still cant get it to work right with basic on/off/standy operations.

I don't have much experience with other boxes but my Original DTivo and some cable boxes when DVR's first arrived but they had none of these PRIMARY FAILURE issues. As another said this box IS a POS if I have to UNPLUG and let it sit to re-boot every 4 days or so. DTV needs to scrap it and return to the drawing board if their updates create such major bugs in the basic operation of the box.

That or bring back 0x108 - at least that worked without lockups. What the heck did they change between 0x108 and 0x10b - It can't be that difficult for a programer to figure it out and undo the "magic" code.


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

S. DiThomas said:


> Brott:
> D* needs this bug fixed now. It is a total usability bug that just leaving it on may not solve. That - no offense to you itended - is an absolutely assinine fix that only a genius at D* would suggest and force on us (80% of those 95 responding to the current poll it seems).
> 
> It seems to me that the bug fixes fix little issues (like some HDMI issues for some users) and make bigger issues (EVERY TIME) for the masses of users.
> ...


S. Dithomas,

I'm sorry anyone has to experience the dark side some of us experienced early on. I sure know many of the frustrations you've described and have wondered similar thoughts.

If I may explain, without out excusing D* at all, embedded device programming is typically the most difficult programming. The programmer does not have access to many of the tools she/he would use in writing, testing, debugging an application. Sure, the UI can be tested in simulation environments, but the hardware interactions can be very timing dependant, and timing is everything. So all the programmers working on a project such as this need to be good programmers to start with. And all the testing teams need to be top notch, as well.

I do not know if D* is using top notch talent whom they checked out during the hiring process or not. Even so, D* can not be excused just because its an embedded device--my VCR, when I had one, contained embedded programming with an even harder environment to code, test, debug (granted, smaller code base). And never locked up.

Now, when problems of the types we've seen occur, it takes a great programmer/architect/troubleshooter to stop the presses and find the commonalities of the defects. Is it a bad coding technique replicated throughout the code base? It is poor architecture of the code base? Is is one small defect in a hardware driver or the OS that tosses timing out the window? Or one data structure misalignment between two sections of code that corrupt the whole database and/or the running programs? And this analysis can take lots of time in a large codebase, especially with intermittent defects.

I loved hardware device driver work, cuz of the challenges therein. But not all progammers are really geared, trained, or frankly talented enough in special ways for that type of programming. I do not mean to sound disparaging about various groups of programmers and their skills. Good programmers who aren't talented enough in embedded programming area are usually very talented in other vitally important areas that I am not, such as UI, application features, or sheer speed, etc. It all balances out! Some people like pepperoni others like cheese. 

Have I said, this doesn't excuse D*?  Most companies tend to find out the hard way that different types of programming take very different types of project management, programming, QA, product specification, etc.

Happy New Year,
Tom


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## S. DiThomas (Oct 8, 2006)

tibber:

Well put. Unfortunately bad programing is the fastest way to loose customers. I don't expect such complications with D* boxes. They are not computers (at least not really computers but they seem to be verging on same at this rate). My PS3 and three other Intel-based WinXP computers are more reliable and interact with thousands and thousands (expecially in the case of the computer) of programs and variables every day that the D* box will never see.

If it is an issue of talent then D* needs more of it. Many years ago I spend several hundred $$$ on an ATI All in Wonder Video card. After strugling with their poor driver support and literally never having a working TV tuner in a $500 video card I gave up. Their programers cost them a $500/year video card buyer.

I have never gone back and never will purchase another ATI card. I've been with Nvidia - who apparently can hire talent to write drivers for the real world - and have had (knock wood) no issues since.

Maybe D* should have done what Microsoft did with Vista - realize it was not ready for primetime (RC1 was certainly not) and delay it for consumers until it really is tested and proven.

*There is TV, better TV, and sometimes*, DirecTV*

*Warning: DirecTV will sometimes work. Programing is not guaranteed to work in 100% of the locations in the US 100% of the time. Components leased to the consumers are also not guaranteed to work 100% of the time for 100% of their intended applications. There are just way to many TV's with composite, SVHS, component, DVI and HDMI connections for us to test. Those silly guys at the HDMI standards institute also keep changing it on us - 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 we just can't keep up (thank goodness we don't do Deepcolor or DTS-HD Master in the box since 1.3 has our head spinning still). If you have an HR20 we apoligize in advance. Previewing, consumption or use of the HR20 by non-religious DirecTV subscribers is contraindicated. Consult with your shaman/clergyman/deity before attempting to start an HR20 beta testing program. :gott:


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## loudog2 (Jun 22, 2006)

brott said:


> IMHO, this is overkill. This is a software bug that I'm sure will be corrected after the new year. It seems that the Red Button Reset (or simple restart from the menu, not reset) solves the immediate problem. Some people experience this problem with more frequency than others. I've experienced this problem a total of 2 times since I received 0x10b. There are a few folks that experience this on a somewhat daily basis..


I myself don't have OTA or the NFL sunday ticket. But if this is overkill, then so be it. It's been a couple of days now and no black screen. So if overkill worked ,then good. All I lost was a couple of recorded shows. I don't know how you think that this was overkill.


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## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

loudog2 said:


> I myself don't have OTA or the NFL sunday ticket. But if this is overkill, then so be it. It's been a couple of days now and no black screen. So if overkill worked ,then good. All I lost was a couple of recorded shows. I don't know how you think that this was overkill.


Well, for some people it's a big deal. Just like formating a computer is easier for others than some.

For example, I have 42 items in my prioritizer that I would have to reenter and I only have 26% left, so I obviously have lots of recordings that would be lost.


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## lwilli201 (Dec 22, 2006)

S. DiThomas said:


> Brott:
> I am beginning to agree that this box is NOT ready for the general consumer market and D* rolled it out way too early before the OTA/VIIV/Recording/HDMI and stability issues were even tested. I have no HDMI issues, good power protection, a component stable HDTV and no VIIV, no sports package, no MPEG4, HD locals, NO OTA (not connected right now), and no other damn issues that make this box go into fits. D* Still cant get it to work right with basic on/off/standy operations.


I can remember the volumes of post asking what is taking so long to get the HR20 out. D* MAY have released it to early because of the pressure. We early adopters need to consider ourselve as Beta testers. We can be part of the solution. Document you problems, then go to D* website and send them an e-mail documenting the problems. These will get to the techs. What you tell the CSRs probably goes nowhere.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

S. DiThomas said:


> Brott:
> 
> My issue is the standby return to black screen when re-awaken unit next morning. It is NOT tuned to an OTA station, I don't have any Football or sports packages, I am NOT using HDMI, and I AM leaving the unit in STANDBY after watching a channel like HGTV or a recordeded show from the HD. In fact the LAST thing I watched last night before this lock up was a My Playlist Discovery HD show on cruising on an icebreaker to Antartica. Then I shut the box down (it was tuned to Channel 229 I think) and went to bed. The box had 12 hours to sleep and now won't give me any picture today.
> 
> ...


Sorry to hear about your troubles. If my suggestion doesn't work for you then it doesn't work. It was just a suggestion and I doubt it will solve every problem anyway. Based on your comments from another thread you started, your problems may be hardware related anyway. The problems may be coincidental to 0x10B. Again sorry you are having trouble and sorry I couldn't be more help - I don't work for DirecTV or even know anyone that does work for DirecTV. I'm just a person on the forum just like you.


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## lwilli201 (Dec 22, 2006)

Over in the "Dead HR20-700 question" Thread dead HR20s have been brought back to life by pressing and holding the power button on the receiver. Normal operation resumed without going thru the setup. Nothing lost. I am going to try it the next time the black screen bug happens. If this works for anyone else, please let us know.


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## rcpilot82 (Oct 13, 2006)

First time with the "Black Screen" bug. Had to perform a reset to get back to "normal" operations. Hadn't had any real problems before this.


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## nhlfan79 (Aug 31, 2006)

First two lockups ever after receiving this update. First, I was able to navigate but could only view the MPEG4 locals and nothing else. Second one was completely unresponsive. RBR fixed it both times. Both seem triggered by being left in standby.


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## marksman (Dec 23, 2006)

brott said:


> I almost always leave the units on (not in standby) and also almost always leave them tuned to an MPEG4 channel overnight. I've had 2 BSBs hit.


Out of curiosity is there any known correlation between having the 5-LNB dish and the 3-LNB dish. Obviously most people will have the 5-LNB dish, but I am just curious as I have installed the box and am waiting on the dish install. So are people who have used it with the 3-LNB dish seeing or seen the black screen problems?


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## S. DiThomas (Oct 8, 2006)

brott said:


> Sorry to hear about your troubles. If my suggestion doesn't work for you then it doesn't work. It was just a suggestion and I doubt it will solve every problem anyway. Based on your comments from another thread you started, your problems may be hardware related anyway. The problems may be coincidental to 0x10B. Again sorry you are having trouble and sorry I couldn't be more help - I don't work for DirecTV or even know anyone that does work for DirecTV. I'm just a person on the forum just like you.


brott:

No offense intended. I really think the update to 0x10b is killing it. It is really really pissing me off how unreliable this box has become since 0x10b and can't wait till it starts screwing up my regular recordings when the shows come back from holiday.

I haven't had any problems with the upstairs box via HDMI - but even given this inconsistency and possibly given the upstairs box does not have any guide data or OTA active/set-up - do we really think it's a hardware issue?

I think its the software and the OTA set up that is killing it. I wonder if the Guide data is corrupting something or other.

Maybe I need to have D* replace the box. A black one would be really nice. But for now the box is NOT ready for primetime - at least not with OTA and this 0x10b update.

Earl

Can you chime in from your sources- are the boys and girls at D* working on a new year's present or are we going to see updates far and few inbetween now? Do they even note that there are substantially more BSOD's now?


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## Warbird2 (Dec 29, 2006)

I think I have it... not sure. After a few hours of watching, when trying to change channels, I get the "Searching for Signal" message, or sometimes a black screen, or sometimes a gray screen. Maybe I have the trifecta! D* is coming out Tuesday... we'll see.


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## Scoonie1973 (Nov 1, 2006)

Woke up this morning and all my channels are black except Fox and CBS. I never had a problem before until I installed a OTA antenna 3 days ago. Doing the RBR on it and hope its fixed........permanently, I hope!


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## bwaldron (Oct 24, 2005)

marksman said:


> So are people who have used it with the 3-LNB dish seeing or seen the black screen problems?


Yes, unfortunately.


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## Zamps (Sep 17, 2006)

I setup my antenna channel last night and turned off the tv. This morning I had my third BSD. They better come up with a fix for this soon. Besides this problem I've been trouble free with the HR20.


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## hmss007 (Aug 12, 2006)

I have also been bitten by the return from stand-by bug on both of my HR20s in the last week; I am able to tune in my local MPEG4 channels and the menus work great, but all the other channels are black.

One HR20 has OTA antenna enabled and the other does not, so I don't think its tied to this feature.

Simply restarting from the menu fixes the problem.

E


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## S. DiThomas (Oct 8, 2006)

hmss007 said:


> I have also been bitten by the return from stand-by bug on both of my HR20s in the last week; I am able to tune in my local MPEG4 channels and the menus work great, but all the other channels are black.
> 
> One HR20 has OTA antenna enabled and the other does not, so I don't think its tied to this feature.
> 
> ...


So maybe its a MPEG2 bug - for those of us that don't have any MPEG4 - so how come it does not affect my MPEG 2 only unit upstairs with no MPEG4 and HDMI and no OTA channels in the guide?

"Restarting from the menu"? Does that mean RBR with menu displayed or chose a menu option for restart?

Thanks


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

So far 80% yes on this poll... I'm posting this to put it back on page 1 again...


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Back to the page 1 with thee!


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## byron (Nov 15, 2004)

just got home from work and the BSB bit me again. seems like its hitting me about once a week. HR20 was on EPSN-HD when i turned it off this morning.


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

I want a new option: Not yet (with this release...)

I'm very sad to say that I don't trust my HR20 yet, even tho I haven't had BSB since x10B....

Worried in SLC,
Tom


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## hayseed99 (Dec 14, 2006)

OK, I've been lurking since D* CS was not able to answer a question about the HR20 I recieved as a replacement in November and I found DBSTalk after a search. This forum has been VERY beneficial. I upgraded to 10B when the download window opened the first time. Shortly after I had a couple of black screens when bringing my HR20 out of standby mode in the morning. I have since made sure to change the channel to a reliable SD channel (I use 280) every night before switching the machine to standby and I have not had a black screen or had to do a RBR for a couple of weeks, including leaving it off for almost a week when I was on vacation. I have it hooked to my Sony 60" Grand Wega via HDMI and that seems to work well also.

Rick


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## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

Interesting theory hayseed (about a "reliable" channel). Do you think the HD locals are the issues? That would be my first thought, but I'd say I probably leave mine on one of the HD locals at least most nights and have only been hit with this twice so I'm not sure.


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## FlyBono24 (Jan 3, 2007)

I've had it 4 days in a row now. When I wake up and turn on my TV, it's just black and I have to reset.


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## ez2logon (Oct 24, 2006)

I was able to recover from the black screen without a RBR. The box went black when I selected the Speed channel from sports mix. I pulled up the menu and for kicks took a look at signal strength. For some reason, the HR20 sees signal on tuner 2 even tho there is no antenna connected---similar to the "searching for satellite" bug. I clicked on "done" and the Speed channel popped up in the PIG. Working okay at the moment, and I didn't loose my guide info with a reset.


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## bidger (Nov 19, 2005)

I had it today, but after I did the RBR, both recordings done today were playable.


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## hayseed99 (Dec 14, 2006)

mtnagel said:


> Interesting theory hayseed (about a "reliable" channel). Do you think the HD locals are the issues? That would be my first thought, but I'd say I probably leave mine on one of the HD locals at least most nights and have only been hit with this twice so I'm not sure.


I'm pretty sure my local HD channels are not as reliable as D*'s HD channels, and once in a while I experience pixelating and dropouts on the HD channels where it almost never happens on a SD channel. It might just be a coincidence, but so far it seems to work for me.

Rick


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

HD channels do not have the 60+ years of experience that analogue channels do. The equipment, the processes, the methodologies, everything about analogue is pretty well baked in by anything larger than a one man TV station.

HD on the other hand is still learning how to synchronize the sound with the picture again (I do remember in the 60's color stations having that problem...), keeping that signal as it routes through the whole system, in and out of switchers (which are brand new too), overlay machines, FX stuff, etc. And don't forget DD 5.1. What a mess they have.

So, yeah, local HD in any form will be beautiful, but still have 1960's like goofs, burps, and hiccups. I've watched it in OTA for 5 years now in three markets, MPEG4 on D*, and DNS HD also D* delivered. LA MPEG2 DNS and SFO OTA seemed fairly stable. SLC has done a great job in the past year learning and getting better. And the network feeds to the locals have steadily improved. But the burps are still there.

And poor Directv has to receive all this and present it to us--and not get blamed for stuff they don't control. 

So remember, when watching HD, everyone is still learning. Big 4 networks, Cable networks, D*, and equipment makers. 

And enjoy the great pix,
Tom


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## cookpr (Aug 24, 2006)

Get it all the time now....usually MPEG 4 channels and the guides work, all MPEG 2 is blacked out...

FU DirecTV, FU!!!!

How long can this crap keep coming....was stable for 2 months until these drillrod programmers throw out another donut like this...

UN FREAKING BELIEVABLE....I now know why NewsCorp gladly sold of these sons of *****es...

They have had since AUGUST, and STILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL problems....


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Update from a previous post of mine:

I started leaving the HR20 "on" all the time on 12/28 (no standby). Since then, I haven't had a BSB. However, on 1/1 I started getting 1-2 seconds of black on the screen before a recorded item would work. Yesterday 1/2 I had two IKD bugs in a row while trying to play something that was also recording. I reset the box for good measure and I suspect it will be fine, though those recordings were toast. 

So, in my experience leaving it on may be more toxic, since at least with the unit in standby I got recordings. I'm going to leave it on and reset it manually on Monday night "just because", and I hope to see some new firmware coming down the pike in the next couple weeks.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

cookpr said:


> Get it all the time now....usually MPEG 4 channels and the guides work, all MPEG 2 is blacked out...
> 
> FU DirecTV, FU!!!!
> 
> ...


Might I recommend renting the movie "Anger Management". 

The box actually came out nationally in Sept., and continues to be updated with both fixes and enhancements. Rest assured, like a kidney stone, this too shall pass.


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## cookpr (Aug 24, 2006)

Thats like the rich preaching to the poor.......when you box works, its great....its very frustrating when their cycle of updates takes you on a roller coaster.

First updates mada it bad, then they got better, finally being stable from mid-Nov to late Dec with no resets...now with this latest update, its back to this red button party.

Not only should have the box been at least 80% stable on launch, we still arent there 4 months later!!! 

Gotta love the D* apologists...its not like I am the only one of this thread w/ these problems.

Oh wait, as you guys suggest, I better just tighten my cables....

Or maybe you are one of these Arby's workers masquerading as a D* programmer


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

cookpr said:


> Thats like the rich preaching to the poor.......when you box works, its great....its very frustrating when their cycle of updates takes you on a roller coaster.


Not everyone, in fact, not most people have gone on the rollcoaster. Some of us have been smooth sailing since day one. That's well documented here in posts as well.

That said, no one is denying that some folks have been having their headaches with problems, and are not surprisingly frustrated. Rest assured D*TV is working on resolving the issues - they gain nothing by having you be unable to enjoy your HR20. We all hope the best for everyone to get their HR20's on the same steady level as the rest of us as soon as possible. With rumors of another update coming as early as next week, hopefully, your woes will diminsh or disappear altogether.


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## chazzz (Jan 3, 2007)

My defective H10-250 was replaced with an HR20. I put it into service on 12/26. I've had 2 BSOD's that caused me to miss recordings. I was going to call today until I found this forum and thread. I will sit tight for a couple weeks hoping for an update soon.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

I've started a survey to see if we can all narrow the source of this problem to one form of connectivity:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=74976


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

I've not yet voted in this survey, I wanted to give 0x10b a chance to prove itself one way or another.

Does a full screen locked picture of a dark ceylon against a dark background count as a BSB? It sure required a RBR (holding power button did not work, alas.)

Cheers,
Tom


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## btmoore (Aug 28, 2006)

tibber said:


> I've not yet voted in this survey, I wanted to give 0x10b a chance to prove itself one way or another.
> 
> Does a full screen locked picture of a dark ceylon against a dark background count as a BSB? It sure required a RBR (holding power button did not work, alas.)
> 
> ...


I have seen it lockup 3 ways with the black death. Total black screen. First is when you turn your tv on and the HR20 is black screen locked up. Second is in a transition where you change channel or leave the menus to go back to video, for example, it may go black and lockup. The third is where it locks up on a menu screen where the PIL box will go black. This is different from the lock up bug where the video either full screen or in the PIL continue to work but you are unable to control the HR20 from the remote or front panel.


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## gpg (Aug 19, 2006)

Got the black screen this morning, and couldn't get any channels to work. RBR fixed it.


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## eweiner1 (Dec 17, 2006)

I complained so much about the box being bad that DTV is sending out a replacement... and when that box malfunctions.... well the cycle will then go into an endless loop.... of replacement boxes until DTV get's this sh*t right!!!


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## chrisfowler99 (Aug 23, 2006)

Just got the black screen problem.

HDMI to a receiver, then HDMI to DVI to the TV.

New receiver as of 12/30. Always on, never in standby mode.

We could play stuff from the list, but several things recorded with a black screen only. One with a play time of -3:-59.

I could use the guide and the info on the screens. Changing the channels would change the number in the info bar, but not the information (title, show description).

Going to standby and back did nothing. Hard reboot (pulled the power) now.

back and working now.


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## byron (Nov 15, 2004)

another one when i got home from work this evening.... two days in a row. w00t.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Decided to go back to putting it in standby after the second RBR in 24 hours. At least when it was going into standby I didn't miss any recordings. 

I've been an enthusiastic supporter of the HR20 in general, but the feeling over here is that the BSB's are getting old, and we're really hoping that the next firmware update increases stability rather than adds new features. 

At the moment, this poll shows 200 people have individually responded saying they have experienced the BSB. I don't know how many registered, active members of this forum but I've never seen the number of people viewing over about 400. Even if we hypothesize that there are 600 members of this forum, that would mean 33% of members are experiencing the BSB, and that's still significant. 

I know that folks out there in D*land are paying attention and working hard... let's all wish them luck in getting this one locked up.


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## btalbott (Oct 15, 2006)

byron said:


> another one when i got home from work this evening.... two days in a row. w00t.


I have had this happen for the last 4 days. I'm not using HDMI. I've also noticed that sometimes when I record a HD local channel (MPEG2) along with a D* channel, one of them is at the black screen. I can see the show in the list, but when I go to play it, nothing but black. RBR brings it back up, but the RBR isn't a viable solution, since when it comes back up, the show that was at the black screen is now gone (erased).

I'm hoping the next release fixes at least this black screen problem.


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## Ken Massingale (Nov 30, 2006)

First black screen this morning, did a reset button. We've had the unit since mid Nov.
ken


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## cuibap (Sep 14, 2006)

Just did the RBR again this morning. Couldn't turn it on with remote or power button on the box. Deleted one on my shows. This is the second time this week. I think 10b is worse than the previous version as far as RBR goes...


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

cuibap said:


> Just did the RBR again this morning. Couldn't turn it on with remote or power button on the box. Deleted one on my shows. This is the second time this week. I think 10b is worse than the previous version as far as RBR goes...


I'd say there are few who would disagree with you. At any rate there has been an upsurge in this sort of issue in the last few weeks for whatever reason.

Some of the folks over at tivocommunity who are having their own problems with missed recordings (see, the grass isn't always greener) are thinking it might be a "y2k7" issue, where recent changes to guide data are having problems with the fallover from year to year. Since we know that you can't tune a channel that has no guide data (from our OTA postings), the BSB could possibly be the fault of the system falsely thinking that guide data is missing for a particular channel.

That's just one of the voodoo-based theories I've got right now.

It's possible that this would have happened even without version 0x10b, is all I'm saying.


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## La Push Commercial Codman (Jan 5, 2007)

I like my DirecTV receiver. The problems I hear from many is the upgrade and then a black screen. Do this. ON HR20-700 HD DVR VIDEO ON DEMAND, do this 1# RECORD YOU NEWS IN HD at 11:00 p.m. ON TWO HD CHANNELS hd channel 4-1 and hd channel 7-1, or local hd news channels example. AND THEN RECORD IN STANDARD DEFINITIONS channel 321 wht @3 A.m. and same time on channel 360 [email protected] A.m.. I did it a couple of times.

2# When you move you DirecTV hr20-700, reboot the system, push red button next to the smart card. and once your done, then you will have to do a reboot on the local hd. Do initial setup and enter a zip. You will lose ext 771. I know your feeling to the problems. 

I hope I was helpful to you. Happy New Years..

Importantly, plug that phone line in, may help.

DISH NETWORK FOR MY R.V..
DIRECTV FOR MY HOME-NFL SUNDAY TICKET HR20-700 HD DVR..
XM SATELLITE RADIO AUGUST 20,2003
SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO SEPTEMBER 1ST, 2004
DVD RECORDER


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## cuibap (Sep 14, 2006)

La Push Commercial Codman said:


> I like my DirecTV receiver. The problems I hear from many is the upgrade and then a black screen. Do this. ON HR20-700 HD DVR VIDEO ON DEMAND, do this 1# RECORD YOU NEWS IN HD at 11:00 p.m. ON TWO HD CHANNELS hd channel 4-1 and hd channel 7-1, or local hd news channels example. AND THEN RECORD IN STANDARD DEFINITIONS channel 321 wht @3 A.m. and same time on channel 360 [email protected] A.m.. I did it a couple of times.
> 
> 2# When you move you DirecTV hr20-700, reboot the system, push red button next to the smart card. and once your done, then you will have to do a reboot on the local hd. Do initial setup and enter a zip. You will lose ext 771. I know your feeling to the problems.
> 
> ...


This is stupid. Nonsense


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## ocomik (Sep 12, 2006)

It only appears to have showed up after the last update on 12/20.

Haven't researched it completely but the symptoms are - local HD channels come in fine; although, other channels (HD in the 70's and SD's) just show a blank screen. Remote control functionality is unaffected.

Performing a reset from the menu corrects the problem.

oCoMiK


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## Justinto (Jul 15, 2006)

I am on my 4th receiver and have had D* authorize all new cable and the new slimline dish. Last Thursday the 28th of December, they came by and installed the new dish and a new receiver. Since then (7 days), the only problem I have had was the black screen on the MPEG 2 channels but there were pictures on the local MPEG 4 channels. This ocurred twice; once last Saturday and once last night. 

Of course, this is an improvement from the previous problems, but at least, we were able to eliminate the cabling and the dish as problems. So, the problem has to be in the receiver and its software. I cannot wait until this (and the other problems posted on this site) are fixed. 

When do you think the next update will be available with a fix?


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## btmoore (Aug 28, 2006)

Justinto said:


> I am on my 4th receiver ...
> When do you think the next update will be available with a fix?


The prior 13 releases starting from Aug 06 have not fix the Black Screen of Death or the Unwatchable Bug, and 0xFA may of introduced the Black Screen Bug, so if you were going to bet, where would you place your money.


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## FastEddie (Sep 18, 2006)

I don't shut dowm my HR20 anymore so I wonder if that has any effect? I do get lockups when watching a paused live show and the unit goes to recored something OTA.


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## La Push Commercial Codman (Jan 5, 2007)

O.K. guys I, did have the black screen, hr20-700 had black screen. I left unit plugged in and reboot the system. I believe it was the drop of some dvr programs and setting up some recording caused DirecTV unit not work right. The down load is included too. My software upgrade is 0x10b, for hd locals. 
DirecTv is working fine now. Dish Network is working fine too, XM AND SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO IS WORKING FINE..


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## Everyperson (Nov 26, 2006)

Got it today. Rebooted.


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## bjterp00 (Jan 7, 2007)

I had the BSB this morning.

Yesterday, I could not get my local HDs (chs 3, 6, 10, 29, 57 in the Philly area) -- black screen and 771 message. Note: this is my second HR20 - the first one had all sorts of problems.

Waited on hold last night for 25 mins before Chiefs / Colts playoff game on NBC. Local HDs started working just before tech came on line.

All worked well the rest of the night. Turned off the TV and HR20 at about 1 am. Turned them on at about 10:30 am this morning, and got all black screens except on my local HDs.

RBR fixed the problem, and all now seems okay.

This HR20 is driving me crazy.


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## byron (Nov 15, 2004)

another BSB this morning.... i'm seeing it about every 2-3 days if not more often. this is driving me nuts. why can't we get a fix that resolves this!


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## djfrankie (Jan 7, 2004)

I had my first BSB  , Sunday Morning (just guide no picture (any channels).
Thanks to this forum, I knew what to do.

Did a RED Button Reset, fixed it (for now).

Frank


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## La Push Commercial Codman (Jan 5, 2007)

No black screen for over a week, sound like buggy problems have buggy settledown. I Reboot the system, when I used my BE-BE GUN.. WORKS GREAT IN HOME..


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