# Hard Drive Clunking/Clicking, Crash, Self Repair?



## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

Two days ago, while my HECD 921 (in service 1 yr. 2 weeks) was sitting idle as was the other 921, my wife and I heard a clunking/clicking sound coming from the entertainment center. I found the source of the sound which was coming from inside my HECD 921. This was a loud and annoying sound. I tuned my monitor to the 921 and found that the remote and front panel buttons were inoperative. I did have live audio/video. The green and blue panel lights were on and solid. This clunking/clicking reminds me of when a Hard Drive is powered off and is, "Parking." (This is excessive parking!)

I held the power button for about 10 seconds and the 921 did react and the lights went out and a few moments later, the medallion appeared on the screen but the sound of clunking/clicking continues for about two to three times a second. The medallion disappeared and all that remained was a black screen/no audio. Many minutes later, I pulled the power plug for 30 seconds. The medallion returned as did the black screen with no video. Continual clunking/clicking. 20 minutes later I did the power cord again and got the same results. I figured that the HD was bad and the receiver was dead as no front panel lights would illuminate.

About two hours later, I phoned Dish and talked to Advanced Tech. Support. They had me perform the same procedures as previously described. Nada, just the clunking/clicking sound. They had me pull the smart card so to verify the receiver information in their data base. When I returned the smart card, I got the medallion with the same nothing else other than the darn noise.

While talking to Tech. (about 15 minutes passed) they gathered information stating that they would put a report into engineering and that engineering would get back with me within 24 hours. Before concluding the call, the 921 front panel lights all come on, all four of them. The lights began to blink from top to bottom or visa versa, for about fifteen minutes. After fifteen minutes or so the blinking stopped and the medallion appeared. The 921 booted with audio/video on channel 101.

The clunking/clicking continued but much less frequently. I found that everything  except for my timers and two previously recorded DVR events (Usually HDD Failure corrupts all data) , were gone. I did a check switch and saw that it had one column for satellite 119 but with an X below it. The check switch process returned the correct matrix for the DPP44 and four satellites.

I thought that things were improving. Two hours later the 921 crashed the same as previously described. Within one hour the lights began flashing, etc. and the 921 booted as stated previously.

The next morning the 921 did its third crash, blah blah blah, it rebuilt. I got a call from engineering. They did a lot of Q&A. They had me perform some procedures and then a reboot, etc. They requested that I call if any problems arise.

Around noon, after following their advice to record 2 DVR events and watch one DVR event (request to try and break it-stuff) boom, the 921 crashed again and it again repaired itself after about an hour. I again called engineering and they called back but this time they had me perform a NVM reset instructing me to call if I have any continued problems.

This morning, I found the 921 clunking/clicking at startup for about 2 minutes then it got quite and is still quite a few hours later.

What I learned. The 921 has the ability to re-install the operating system and can rebuild. It is unknown if the hard drive is faulty or if something controlling the hard drive is faulty. It is working better since the NVM reset. If the problem persists, the 921 will get replaced.

I am making this a poll for those who have experienced similar or same circumstances.


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## Jim Parker (Aug 12, 2003)

Sounds like your drive is about to fail. Mine failed 2 weeks ago. It took several days from when it started to ultimate failure.

I had it (edit: the 921)replaced. I was very please with the service that I got from Dish.


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## jergenf (Mar 31, 2005)

A 250GB drive is about $90 now if you're not under warranty. When it builds Linux did you loose all your saved programs and timers?
Also how do you do a Non-Volital Ram Memory reset?


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

All my timers and two DVR events remained. Everything else was gone.


jergenf said:


> When it builds Linux did you loose all your saved programs and timers?


This should be answered by experts as I am of the understanding that there are some risks in doing it. Also when it is performed, information needed by the Techs is erased.


jergenf said:


> Also how do you do a Non-Volital Ram Memory reset?


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## bbomar (Oct 18, 2004)

jergenf said:


> Also how do you do a Non-Volital Ram Memory reset


I think it is done with a certain sequence of keystrokes (three or four) while on the diagnostic screen. I don't know what that sequence is. Since it rewrites memory that has a finite number (although probably a pretty big number) of write cycles, and since it apparently erases information that might be useful in diagnosing a fault, it is probably used only as a last resort.


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## Michael P (Oct 27, 2004)

The same thing happened to me twice during the breif time I had 215. After the second time, my 921 was fine (that is, until 216 reared it's uguly head).

Here is a thread I started when this happened to me: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=43707


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

This morning the 921 was stuck in the "015 acquiring data from satellite" screen. About 20 minutes later I did a power button re-boot and this time it cycled 5 times through the medallion screen and it began working. I watched a recorded DVR event, then deleted. When it was deleting the clunking began. Did a power cord re-boot. Four hours later the 921 had a shrunk stuck aspect ratio, the picture was in the upper left corner. A power button re-boot performed with clunking. Once running, I found all the OTA's, DVR Events, Favorites and Timers gone. The EPG columns and rows were blank with corrupted data above the date and time. I found corrupted favorite listings in the favorites menu. 

I called E* and the 921 team contacted me and had me disconnect the satellite cables and do a reset, then reconnect them and do a check switch. Didn't help stuck with the corruption. They are sending a replacement unit.

I've attached three photos showing the problem.


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## Michael P (Oct 27, 2004)

Just curious, was this the "HECD" or the "HEED" unit that crashed?

Comment on thumbnail #3: "Please select to discard your 921 and exit"


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

Michael P said:


> Just curious, was this the "HECD" or the "HEED" unit that crashed?
> 
> Comment on thumbnail #3: "Please select to discard your 921 and exit"


HECD (as stated in first post above)


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

I received my replacement 921 today before noon (less than 24 hours)! So far so Good. This is what I call excellent/super fast service. Thank you E*!!!


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## lionsrule (Nov 25, 2003)

I too just had a hard drive go bad in my 921 receiver. I received authorization from dish yesterday for a replacement which I should have tomorrow (wednesday). I don't know about anyone else, but my wife and I both feel that we are entitled to a complete refund for the $5/mo going back to when we got our 921 last xmas. We lost over 125 hours of programming on our 921 which means we effectively did not have DVR service. I have an email in to the executive office but I haven't heard anything back in 2 days. I will look back on this as a factor if I decide to jump ship to direct when the mpeg4 HDDVR's come out.


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## lionsrule (Nov 25, 2003)

....just got off the phone with someone in the exec. office. I was credited the $5/mo fee I requested and will be credited with a 6 day lack of service once I activate the replacement 921....very happy with dish right now. Thank you!!


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

lionsrule said:


> ....just got off the phone with someone in the exec. office. I was credited the $5/mo fee I requested and will be credited with a 6 day lack of service once I activate the replacement 921....very happy with dish right now. Thank you!!


I'm very impressed lionsrule. Getting past the first level CSR generally produces good results. I have some horror stories but E* put every one of them to rest.


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## Michael P (Oct 27, 2004)

For the third time (first time since 218) my 921 did a crash and resurrection.

I did not lose any recorded programs. I did have to re-scan the OTA's and reset my preferences.

My 921 was replaced back in March, so all this is happening to the replacement unit.

I'm about ready to give up on the 921, has anybody had success in getting a different model (either a 942 or 811) as a replacement? I really DON'T want a 942, as I am using the 921 on one set only via S-Video (the 942 has no S-Video :nono2:  ), I would love to try an 811 since the OTA guide data works without paying the "Pig".


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## KKlare (Sep 24, 2004)

(post # 7) Boylehome: Four hours later the 921 had a shrunk stuck aspect ratio, the picture was in the upper left corner. 

I have been getting the upper left corner after a night of SD mode. I was copying to DVD+RW disk some of the recorded program. I start it late at night and walk away. I am unable to get it back to HD without a reboot most times. When I do, it is stuck in the upper left and changing the resolution back and forth does not help unless I want 480.
Reboot, repeat...
-Ken


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

KKlare said:


> (post # 7) Boylehome: Four hours later the 921 had a shrunk stuck aspect ratio, the picture was in the upper left corner.
> -Ken


Try disconnecting all wiring to the 921. This includes the phone line. Leave everything unplugged for about five minutes then hook it all back up. The idea is to completely drain any power that my reside in capacitors. This may help get the junk out.


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## PanamaMike (Mar 31, 2004)

Does anyone know what is the cause of this clunking problem?

I noted that when I reset the 921 the clunking went away but came back.
Also when I did the second reset, the clunking made itself heard as soon
as I deleted some HD programs I had recorded. Sounds like a hard disk 
issue. I've had the 921 for a little more than a year, will Dish help me out?

Regards,

Mike


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

PanamaMike said:


> Does anyone know what is the cause of this clunking problem?
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Mike


The head arms are abnormally reacting. This is generally caused from software/data corruption on the disk platters and their inability to properly read/write to them. To me this clunking sound is like when the head parks when the hard drive is powered down. Head/platter contact may cause damage to the platters making it so data can not be properly written or read. Other causes that make the hard drive clunk also result from internal power problems or just faulty electronics.


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## jergenf (Mar 31, 2005)

Last week my hard drive failed and never recovered. Took 5 days to get replaement. What hurt me was loosing some precious programs that are no longer available.


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## REK108 (May 23, 2004)

I've had a DVD burner for almost two years now. I transfer to DVD any program I want to archive. I rarely have more than a few hours in recordings on DVR. I have little worries about lost programs if my hard drive crashes. I'm sure that DVD recorders are becoming more and more common. I can only record in standard definition on my DVD recorder and seem satisfied. Will probably make the jump to a high definition DVD recorder once the technology matures and I find a need.


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## jergenf (Mar 31, 2005)

Just bought a DVD recorder last month but my hard drive crashed before I was able to transfer my most important programs over.


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## AVJohnnie (Jul 27, 2004)

REK108 said:


> I've had a DVD burner for almost two years now. I transfer to DVD any program I want to archive. I rarely have more than a few hours in recordings on DVR. I have little worries about lost programs if my hard drive crashes.


Ditto&#8230;Always archive the important stuff - a lesson learned after receiver #3 went to its infernal rest&#8230; To its credit #4 has been a very good boy, except for the occasional bout of indigestion:barf: from improperly "cooked" Eldon-fare. :lol:


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