# Slow HR20-700...all of a sudden?



## claymanhb (Mar 28, 2007)

So all of a sudden my menus on my HR20 are slooooowww. I changed out the HDD with a 1.5TB and it just passed below 58% free. Could the new HDD have something to do with this? When it was empty it was fast.


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## breevesdc (Aug 14, 2007)

I'm not sure if it's your hard drive. I have noticed the same thing on my HR20-700. It seemed to start in the last few days. One thing I've noticed in particular is that the Repeat button (skip back 7 seconds) doesn't work unless you press the Play button first. Then it will work a few times. And then it stops working again. This was happening with live TV. But I've noticed that many other functions seem irritatingly slow now.

I am running an external hard drive (1TB Western Digital MyDVR) and ironically I have been deleting shows and have seen my free space jump from 20% free to 52% free in the past few weeks. And my performance at 20% (while not great) was better than what I'm seeing now.

Brian


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## Teacherman (Oct 20, 2006)

Same thing here, my HR20/700 has been real slow and I am getting an annoying "searching for signal on Sat 2" message every time I change channels. I often have to start recording on one channel and switch to the channel I want. I have checked the connections and done multiple resets and no change.


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## dminches (Oct 1, 2006)

I have found that restarting the box will often help fix new slowness.


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## finaldiet (Jun 13, 2006)

My HR20 is also starting to give me problems with slow guide and changing between channels. I have external hard-drive but it has plenty of space. My other HR20 took a dump and I got a HR24-100 as replacement.


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## oakwcj (Sep 28, 2006)

I started seeing the same thing a few days ago. My HR20 is almost four years old and a reset has always fixed sluggishness issues in the past. I did two resets yesterday and have had only minimal improvement.


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## islesfan (Oct 18, 2006)

Same for me. No external drive on mine. Very slow in menus and channel changes. Reset didn't help.


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## Ed Campbell (Feb 17, 2006)

Ditto


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## matt (Jan 12, 2010)

I saw a thread like this the other day and it contained this link:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=2383502#post2383502


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Same. Looks like D* wants us all to upgrade to the HR24.


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## matt (Jan 12, 2010)

TheRatPatrol said:


> Same. Looks like D* wants us all to upgrade to the HR24.





DIRECTV BIG WIGS said:


> Allright guys, you see all those posts on DBS talk? "I'm happy with my HR20, I don't need an HR24" "HR20-700 is fast enough for me". LET'S TAKE THEM DOWN GUYS


heh heh heh :lol: :grin:


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## claymanhb (Mar 28, 2007)

Well, I'm glad it's not just me. My HR24 is fast as ever. I noticed when doing searches that it takes 15-20s to respond between button presses.


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

claymanhb said:


> Well, I'm glad it's not just me. My HR24 is fast as ever. I noticed when doing searches that it takes 15-20s to respond between button presses.


I've had the problem surface off and on with various firmware releases. I'm in the CE program and for the last week the HR20-700 has been quite snappy. Perhaps as new releases come out, the problem will be ameliorated (not ultimately fixed, as I see an underlying problem with lack of processor horsepower on the older DVRs).

I will say this much: if how my 20-700 is working now, is how it worked until it eventually died, I'd be a very happy camper.

N.B.

HR20-700 on internal drive, with anywhere between 64% and 90% free). I keep the drive cleaned better since my eSATA bit the dust about a month or so ago.


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## dlt4 (Oct 4, 2006)

I'm glad to find out I'm not the only one with a slow HR20-700. I don't recall it being coincident with the last update though.

Sometimes it's just ridiculous how slow it is to respond when I'm working through the menus, FF or RW, 30s skip, whatever. Yesterday one of the locals had video but no audio, but was OK on my SD receivers. Weird!

I haven't tried a reset as somebody suggested, so I'll give that a shot.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

My HR20-700 has slowed down significantly in the last month or so. A reset didn't help. No external drive, about 65% free space on HDD. Slow to put up menus, mainly, and to return to a live screen after hitting Exit.

My reburb HR21-100 seems fast in comparison.


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## Pakratt (Sep 17, 2006)

Have 2 HR20700's and both are very slow ie menu changes, fast forwards, return to menu. Basically, the same as other postings. I do not have external HD's. Since both are slow, it seems to me that the units are not to fault. Resets did not help the problem either..


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

Pakratt said:


> Have 2 HR20700's and both are very slow ie menu changes, fast forwards, return to menu. Basically, the same as other postings. I do not have external HD's. Since both are slow, it seems to me that the units are not to fault. Resets did not help the problem either..


They are constantly tinkering with the firmware, trying to minimize or eliminate this problem. I have the problem off and on, even with updated firmware. Most of the time things are pretty good for a while, sometimes downright snappy, and then there is a significant slowdown.

The underlying problem is that the older DVRs appear to be under-powered from a processor point of view. The brand new HR24s are much less vulnerable to the problem, but they haven't been out long enough for us to get a feel for them yet. (They may slow down some too, we just can't tell yet)

So, at this point, those of us (me included) with older DVRs are going to see these speed variations, unless they find a magic bullet, which appears elusive.

Keep reporting, especially if you notice specific time-lines or activities that may be associated with these slow downs.


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

hasan said:


> They are constantly tinkering with the firmware...


They may be, but they likely have not done anything to the _existing _firmware in customer units since the last up rev, unless they are changing things in stealth mode. Something else must have changed.

I blame those annoying ads in the EPG!


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## billgrayny (Jan 20, 2007)

My HR20-700 is also slow. I am running CE software and was away on vacation for 2 weeks. Just sat down in front of the 700 tonight and was immediately struck with the slow response going into and out of the guide. 

This receiver is usually much faster. Guess I will download the new CE tonight and see what performance that brings...


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## SFNSXguy (Apr 17, 2006)

Ditto to all the above -- but just one of two HR-20-700s. S-L-O-W... the one that's slow has no external HD and is running 0x3df. Restart helped a bit.


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## billgrayny (Jan 20, 2007)

After less than a day with CE 0405, the HR20-700 is fast again.

So time will tell...


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## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

I have two HR20-700's, one with an internal 1.5 TB drive, and I have seen no change in speed at all. Periodically they may slow for a short time(under an hour) but come back to speed without any action on my part. THey have both been this ways for many, many months, I figured they were busy with some housekeeping or something.


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## dc_soccerdude (Dec 26, 2006)

I have 2 slow HR20-700's as well. Has been going on now for a few weeks and just recently one began dropping out audio/video on trickplay only (just posted that problem in another 20-700 thread). 

One has internal and the other 1.5T external e-Sata. As most have indicated they have slowed down and then improved again over the years as new releases have come out. This time they are so bad both my wife and daughter are complaining which means its right up there with the worst slow down ever.

Ok so we all know it happens and doing an RBR or cleaning up the drive may help but we usually just have to wait for the next release. That said I want to throw out something that may or may not be new but I just did it out of curiosity and it seems to have helped both the trickplay and slow down.

That is I rebooted my IP router & switch at the same time. I use a hardwired Ethernet network for MRV and I sometimes have to reboot the systems including the router/swtich (1-2 times a month) if they can't see each other. I just did it and now it works during trick play and the guide comes up as fast as it ever has (which for the 20-700 is pretty quick but of course nothing stellar).

All things being considered with the older processors that previously just had to worry about satellite decoding and DVR duties but now with MRV and On Demand have to monitor the IP network is it possible that some type of IP link degradation or flooding is dragging down the processor as we all know it can do on our laptops and computers?

Grabbing at straws but hey I'm working now and an RBR yesterday didn't help at all...... Guess I will see how long it lasts


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## billgrayny (Jan 20, 2007)

billgrayny said:


> After less than a day with CE 0405, the HR20-700 is fast again.
> 
> So time will tell...


Well, the HR20-700 is back to very slow performance. It is taking 7-8 seconds to bring up the guide and almost as long to exit to the channel screen.

Also I notice (and this may be the CE software) that frequently when I bring up the guide, the normal channel stays in the background and the PIG is blank.


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

I have a 20-100 and a 20-700. Neither is peppy, but neither has ever been, and neither is even close to as slow as described here. I've seen no change.

Compared to DISH DVRs, all HR's are slow, even the '24. The DISH DVRs are like driving a Ferrari. But a Ferrari that won't go where you point it, as they are also notorious for not recording what you want and deleting entire HDDs at the drop of a hat. I'd rather have the slow-but-sure HR's, thankyouverymuch.

Those that have slowness, are you also networked? Pull the ethernet cable out and see if the speed increases (you may have to RBR to see the difference).


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## Groundhog45 (Nov 10, 2005)

I've noticed that one of my HR20-700s has been slower for several weeks. By contrast, the HR20-100 hasn't changed much and is still pretty quick. I hope the -700s will get better soon.


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## kokishin (Sep 30, 2006)

Pakratt said:


> Have 2 HR20700's and both are very slow ie menu changes, fast forwards, return to menu. Basically, the same as other postings. I do not have external HD's. Since both are slow, it seems to me that the units are not to fault. Resets did not help the problem either..


Ditto!


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## ctwilliams (Aug 25, 2006)

I just dropped by to see if others were having this issue with their hr20-700s and found this thread. It has been going on about two weeks or so. The channel changes have become VERY slow. 

Had to have been a firmware change?

CT


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## ardent (Aug 21, 2007)

My HD DVR (HR20-700) receiver has been increasingly slow over the past 2 weeks, then today it became nearly unwatchable. I reset it, same problem. Reset it again 0 2 4 8 to redownload the firmware, same problem still.

This is not an exaggeration, while reading through the threads my directv went into screensaver mode:
- Multi-Room disabled
- Nothing recording
- Screensaver is not a smooth float around like normal, meaning its having problems displaying that bouncing directv logo properly

The menus take quite a while, fastforward/rewind take a while, and watching tv shows causes tons of audio lag, but if you pause, rewind, play, you *might* be able to hear the audio a second time around.... so its not the signal.


Should I call DirecTV and request a new unit? I have the protection plan.

Thanks..


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## jgrade (Oct 1, 2006)

I don't use my HR20-700 too often since it is in the basement where my kids play, but I have noticed that MRV from that machine is terrible. Over the past week, watching programs recorded on the HR20 take forever to start, fast forward and resume. I have also noticed that programs are not playing with the correct audio stream; no longer getting DD 5.1 info.


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## dd5087 (Jul 25, 2007)

I don't think this is just associated with the HR20-700. I have an HR20-100 and my son has an HR21-100 and both of ours is very slow when in the Guide. It has been this way for a number of weeks. I have tried the reset but it does nothing to improve it.


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## PlanetBill (May 8, 2006)

family has been complaining about ours too.


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## kingram52 (Jul 1, 2007)

My HR20-100 has been slow for several weeks now.


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## Kevin L (Nov 16, 2005)

All three of my HR20-100s are very slow. Started in the last couple of weeks.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Yeah mine got slow last night again.


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## carsonius (Jan 1, 2008)

Include me too. Slow channel changes, menus and, I'll sometimes get video but no audio. I pause the live stream, or recording, for a couple of seconds and the audio returns.

I must say I love this site for the quick "pulse of the brethren" to see if it's only me having a particular problem. 

I thought it might be just me since I recently added a gigabit switch, a WD TV Live HD, and another TV on a Monoprice HDMI splitter and thought it could have been any of those that were causing the problem. Not that any of this could be contributing to it...


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## rebkell (Sep 9, 2006)

HR20-100 doing the same, slow and sluggish. Normally mine is this way if it's been sitting most of the day and no one has been around. If I start pushing buttons and using the box, it seems to start working a lot quicker.

Had a new problem today, came in and sat down and it was on FX-HD and the whole video was jittery. I changed channels and got the Searching for sat signal on all the HD channels, even FX-HD when I tried to change back. Checked the signals and they all seemed fine upper 80's to 90's, certainly not low enough that I would be losing signals. Finally gave it the RBR and now everything seems to be working ok.

My sluggishness seems to be more related to idle time(if I'm not interacting with the remote for a while, it's like it starts some kind of processor heavy background task and is occupying the box. Reminds me of Netscape or some PC program that is open and has to swap out memory before it starts responding normally.

Also just noticed that my favorites list was missing all the newer HD channels I added to it, the new Showtimes, Starz, HBO, TMC, Lifetime HD, the Hallmark HD and WGN HD the ones that got added first were still there, but the latest additions had disappeared from my favorites list.


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## slapshot1959 (Jan 24, 2006)

same here.


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## mgroups (Apr 28, 2007)

kingram52 said:


> My HR20-100 has been slow for several weeks now.


Likewise, for at least a couple of weeks. Much worse tonight, which is why I looked for this thread. Resetting doesn't help.


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## budd1e_lee (Oct 11, 2007)

HR20-700. Slower than slow. Anything recorded is unwatchable, due to audio dropouts and video stutter. None of which is present during live watching.


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## underlord2 (Dec 1, 2006)

Having the same problems with my HR20-700. Wish I could get a HR24 unit for a low price/cheap. Been living with this since for quite a while.

Had the unit since it was first introduced.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

I meant to post this last night.......but did anyone elses HR2x reset yesterday? I got home from work last night and the blue ring lights were on, indicating a restart. I thought it was new software, but it wasn't.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

My HR20-700 is also slower than slow. Even worse the past month or so. Changing a channel or pulling up the List or Guide is taking 4 or 5 secs. Something is wrong.


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## wilbur_the_goose (Aug 16, 2006)

I have 2 HR20-700s. Both have a LOT of space left. Both have become extremely slow in the last couple of weeks. It's the worst I've ever seen. Restarting doesn't help.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

I wonder if D* knows of this issue with the HR20-700s in the past month or so. Hardware or software or both issue? Mine is on the latest national release.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

wilbur_the_goose said:


> I have 2 HR20-700s. Both have a LOT of space left. Both have become extremely slow in the last couple of weeks. It's the worst I've ever seen. Restarting doesn't help.





n3ntj said:


> I wonder if D* knows of this issue with the HR20-700s in the past month or so. Hardware or software or both issue? Mine is on the latest national release.


If it's an "original" HR20, those boxes are going on 3+ years old now. Could be a sign the drive is failing. If you have the protection plan and say you must have an OTA capable unit, chances are you'll get a nice refurb HR20 with a newer drive, maybe even a 500GB.

I've still got one of my original early '07 HR20's in service and I'm not seeing the slowdown you guys are. I download the latest CE each week, however, so the box is rebooted at least once a week, and often gets a weekly GUIDE data refresh as well. I'm still using the original 320GB drive, tho, so I'm sure it's only a matter of time before that drive fails.


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## rebkell (Sep 9, 2006)

Just noticed that some of my favorites disappeared from the list again. Once again it's the newer HD premiums that disappeared, the new HBO's, TMC, some of the Showtimes, but not all the newest ones. 

I have no idea what is causing it or when it is actually happening, I don't normally check the premiums during the week, but on the weekends I usually browse the listings to see if there's anything I"m interested in.


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## NaperDan (Jun 9, 2009)

TheRatPatrol said:


> I meant to post this last night.......but did anyone elses HR2x reset yesterday? I got home from work last night and the blue ring lights were on, indicating a restart. I thought it was new software, but it wasn't.


This usually means your HDD stopped recording...


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## DavidsonDuke (Sep 5, 2007)

We're having similar issues, with two additional problems: playback sometimes freezes totally and sometimes the audio works but the video freezes. We can un-freeze it by changing channel or by a system re-set. 

It is an HR20-100 and worked fine since we got it.


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## JMII (Jan 19, 2008)

Add me to the list!

My HR20-700 is a complete dog these days. Call up the guide and attempting to scroll thru the channels is downright painful. Box got the latest update and rebooted, still horribly slow


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

Something weird happened last night with my HR20-700. I turned the unit off, but the blue ring LEDs stayed on. The other blue LEDs went off. It was like that this morning still. Any idea why just the blue ring LEDs would stay on when the unit is off and the other blue LEDs go off??

I had to do a RBR to reset the thing.

My HR20-700 is still slower than slow. Has anyone called D* to report this?


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

n3ntj said:


> Something weird happened last night with my HR20-700. I turned the unit off, but the blue ring LEDs stayed on. The other blue LEDs went off. It was like that this morning still. Any idea why just the blue ring LEDs would stay on when the unit is off and the other blue LEDs go off??
> 
> I had to do a RBR to reset the thing.
> 
> My HR20-700 is still slower than slow. Has anyone called D* to report this?


Periodically, my HR20-700 will get very sluggish. Then, for no apparent reason, it speeds back up. I'm in the fast mode right now. It has been clear to me for some time that there are certain background tasks that will take over the processor (bog it down), and until they are completed, the unit will be slow, slow and slower.

Given all of the activities required by these boxes, the older ones (anything but an HR24) are vulnerable to periodic slow downs. Because they come and go, various reports come in saying, "Mine works fine", "HR20-700 is SLOW", "these POS boxes", "the HR20-700 is the snappiest of the non-HR24 boxes", etc.

I think we just have to accept that the non-24 boxes are going to periodically speed up and slow down, most of which is hardware related (asking it to do too much, stealing too many processor cycles), and some of which can be corrected a bit by firmware updates.

I have seen this cycle of speed repeat itself over and over again with both an HR20-700 and HR21-200. I have not seen it with the HR20-100 (but I bet it does it too), because that unit is under the purview of the wife, who will mostly only say something if a recording is missed.

I"m not sure calling D* will accomplish anything at this point. (other than repeatedly clue them in to a lot of people have slow downs). It is a complete mystery to everyone as to what they might do with this information, if it ever gets to anyone that counts.

I think there is a better chance (but still not a good one), that posting in these threads will get the info to someone better equipped to respond than the CSR that answers the phone. I still don't think much will come of it. I don't think the problem can be solved with existing hardware. I think the people that count at D* know this and there isn't anything they can realistically do about it. They are not going to bail on all the older hardware...it would cost a fortune. They are not going to cut back on features. They may code a bit more efficiently here and there, but basically, they are stuck, by all appearances.

In a way, I wish people would stop posting about these slow downs, as it is so futile. I hate to see people get frustrated and given one false hope after another, one wild theory after another, and end up right where they started.

(now, I don't really mean stop posting...I was just making the point that when this topic comes up (and it does, over and over and over and over and over again), the discussions chase their tales and accomplish nothing, leaving everyone half-bummed-out.)

Sooner or later, people may come to the understanding that this is a hardware limitation and is likely to come and go unless D* finds a magic bullet , which I'll admit, I have absolutely no hope for. It just isn't going to happen.

My HR20-700 is faster more often than it is very sluggish. I can live with it. (I have to, now don't I, at least if I don't want to buy an HR24?)...and of course, while the 24s are fast, they have all the predictable start up bugs that any new model is likely to go through.


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## Folin (Jun 19, 2007)

Agreed, hasan. Also see sporadic speed (decent to slow crawl) out of my HR20/21's with no real apprarent reason for the temporary increase in speed.

Primarily this seen on my main DVR which uses an external HD...the other is stock and is pretty consistent on speed (as well as lightly used vs. the main room).

I always think the slowing may be due to too much programming/maxing out HD space so I start deleting the wife and kids stuff....and I only keep mine at around 50% remaining. But doing that really doesn't show any immediate quickening.


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## wilbur_the_goose (Aug 16, 2006)

We need a Task Manager for the HR's


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## yobear (Aug 25, 2007)

Well, my two slow HR20-100s finally forced me to call directv and complain... Turns out I didn't need to complain, just explain, there sending me out two new replacement units at zero cost. This was going to be the first time I complained in more than 10 years... pretty good run, and great customer service from DTV.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

yobear said:


> Well, my two slow HR20-100s finally forced me to call directv and complain... Turns out I didn't need to complain, just explain, there sending me out two new replacement units at zero cost. This was going to be the first time I complained in more than 10 years... pretty good run, and great customer service from DTV.


Any idea what units (HR22, HR24, etc.) they are replacing the HR20-100s with? I am about ready to complain as well as my HR20-700 has been very slow for a while. I reboot to no avail.


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## cohbraz (Nov 19, 2006)

I called and complained last week. The lady I spoke with was determined to send out a tech to try to align my dish, even though I calmly explained that I had good signal strength on all satellites and was not experiencing signal drop out. I finally just thanked her and ended the call.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

I called D* to tell them that my HR20-700 has been having very slow channel changes and menu pullups the past 2 months (3~5 secs). I also told them that the audio drops out when I rewind live TV or watch some prerecorded shows. The CSR told me it would be $149 to replace my 4 year old HR20-700. The CSR told me D* will not swap out old faulty leased units for new units for free (or even the cost of shipping). I ended the call.


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## Jimmmmbo! (May 30, 2007)

I wonder if having a network connected/disconnected to the DVR makes any difference?


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Jimmmmbo! said:


> I wonder if having a network connected/disconnected to the DVR makes any difference?


Possible, I guess, but it really shouldn't matter if the box is not engaged in any MRV activity at the time. Otherwise, the network should just be sitting there quietly.

As *hasan * and others have mentioned, the first couple of days after a new s/w download slow down the box, because it takes 24-36 hours to download and unpack all the new GUIDE data, show/actor "thumbnails" and to re-index all the "Smart Search" data.


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## underlord2 (Dec 1, 2006)

My HR20-700 has weird volume changes, the center speaker on my Onkyo TX-SR608 would go out and the left/right speakers would go in and out of volume while listening to non DD stuff on a optical connection

Thought it was rain; came back tonight and it happened AGAIN as it worked fine earlier.

A reset resolves this usually, though. Annoying as crap, though.

This person had a similar problem, but I guess he decided to not to rectify it online.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=167744&highlight=optical+audio


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## DogLover (Mar 19, 2007)

underlord2 said:


> My HR20-700 has weird volume changes, the center speaker on my Onkyo TX-SR608 would go out and the left/right speakers would go in and out of volume while listening to non DD stuff on a optical connection
> 
> Thought it was rain; came back tonight and it happened AGAIN as it worked fine earlier.
> 
> ...


If it is non-DD stuff, wouldn't that be limited to 2 channel audio? If so, I assume that it is your Onkyo that is determining what audio to send to center left and right. Or am I missing something?


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## underlord2 (Dec 1, 2006)

DogLover said:


> If it is non-DD stuff, wouldn't that be limited to 2 channel audio? If so, I assume that it is your Onkyo that is determining what audio to send to center left and right. Or am I missing something?


It was a loose speaker wire on the back of my receiver.

Silly me.


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## sunking (Feb 17, 2004)

If it weren't for the fact that directv is the only decent way for me to get the Yanks I'd drop them in a second. This thing has suddenly become almost unusable at times and those times seem to be increasing to about half the time. Fresh batteries, reboots, cleaning to under 50% full, same difference. Changing to a certain channel is frustrating as I'll have up to a 30s delay in the numbers being pressed resulting in my hitting them again so numbers being repeated, or double play sending me back to where I started.

This thing has by far become perhaps the piece of electronics I've ever used. And what will there solution be? Give them $150 and lock me into another 2 year. No thanks.


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## kfcrosby (Dec 17, 2006)

Noticed my HR20-700 having very sluggish channel and menu changes the past 3 weeks or so, and now Friday night I was watching a show did a rewind on the live show and the picture and audio began droping out. I was recoring the show at the time, so I dumpped off to another channel and went back and watched the recorded show the next night with no issues.

The External drive appears to be MUCH more active lately almost a steady flickering.


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## Wilhite (May 5, 2004)

My box was extremely slow last night - to the point that I was waiting 15-20 seconds for remote button presses to be registered at the box. Channel changes by entering the channel number would fail every time. 

Once I started watching a program though, the pause, skip, rewind, etc. buttons functioned normally. 

New external 2TB drive that is 82% free so I'm 99.999% sure that it's not a drive issue.


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## yobear (Aug 25, 2007)

n3ntj said:


> Any idea what units (HR22, HR24, etc.) they are replacing the HR20-100s with? I am about ready to complain as well as my HR20-700 has been very slow for a while. I reboot to no avail.


Ended up getting two new (as far as I can tell) HR24s... Both work like a champ.


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

yobear said:


> Ended up getting two new (as far as I can tell) HR24s... Both work like a champ.


For what it's worth, the Case Management people told me that replacements are almost always refurbs taht are comparable in features with what they are replacing. I had an HR21-200 replaced and was sent a refurb HR21-100. It was in very good shape and seems to work just fine. Quite a long time ago, I had an HR20-700 replaced (it has internal OTA), and I was sent another HR20-700 (refurb) and it has worked perfectly for a couple years.

Unless you are having an H24 series unit replaced, (by D*), I wouldn't get my hopes up ....at all. You most likely will receive a refurb HR21, 22, or 23.


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## Renard (Jun 21, 2007)

Well the question to ask is" Why suddenly people have sluggish HR20-700?"
I don't think it's HD related, as a lot of people complain about it. Me included.
I can hear that the HD sometimes works as hell, then sometimes is really quiet.
Could it be something in the guide that the HR20-700 doesn't like. Also why suddenly I have a lot of "To be annouced" in the guide on the HD channels?
Something must have changed in the way Directv is sending guide info, or whatever.
But i have noticed the problem as well.


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## Janice805 (Nov 27, 2005)

Something has happened recently in my opinion. Two days ago my bedroom HR20-700 became soooooooooooooo slow I couldn't stand it and pulled the plug. Yesterday my new HR24-500 started the same thing. Response time was 15-30 secs (which is like an eternity). Reset it today and so far so good. BUT, what the heck ???????????


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

n3ntj said:


> I called D* to tell them that my HR20-700 has been having very slow channel changes and menu pullups the past 2 months (3~5 secs). I also told them that the audio drops out when I rewind live TV or watch some prerecorded shows. The CSR told me it would be $149 to replace my 4 year old HR20-700. The CSR told me D* will not swap out old faulty leased units for new units for free (or even the cost of shipping). I ended the call.


I called D* back on Friday and got them to send me a replacement IRD. I requested the HR23 or HR24, but I know they can't guarantee what I'll be sent. I hope I don't get another sluggish HR20-700...

Should arrive tomorrow.


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## kfcrosby (Dec 17, 2006)

Tried to use Play-on last night on my HR20-700, so slow it was completely unusable, 55-90 seconds to do anything.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

Got the replacement unit and it's another HR20-700 and it says "refurb" on it. Will hook it up shortly to see how it works.


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## bullitt (Apr 27, 2002)

Same thing, been slow for a few months. HR 20-700 No external HD.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Mine was slow, but it sped up again. Been ok for the past few weeks.


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## onthecake (Dec 11, 2006)

Renard said:


> Well the question to ask is" Why suddenly people have sluggish HR20-700?"
> I don't think it's HD related, as a lot of people complain about it. Me included.
> I can hear that the HD sometimes works as hell, then sometimes is really quiet.
> Could it be something in the guide that the HR20-700 doesn't like. Also why suddenly I have a lot of "To be annouced" in the guide on the HD channels?
> ...


I would say I have seen these exact same symptoms with my HR20-700. It seems to have started around March/April but has gotten progressively worse since then. I have had this receiver since 2006 and it was always quick but now will randomly go into slow mode where it wont respond to any remote commands for 15-20 seconds at a time.

I have been out of contract for almost 2 years and I am now at the point where its either going to be a new HR24 or I am moving to another service. I really like DTV but this slowness along with lack of any new HD feeds that I care about has left me wondering what DTV is providing me for $102 a month.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

My 700 wouldn't turn on this morning, had to do a RBR. Anyone else?


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

TheRatPatrol said:


> My 700 wouldn't turn on this morning, had to do a RBR. Anyone else?


Mine are OK.

Rich


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## jefirdjr (Feb 20, 2006)

Since I got the latest (040C) national release, both of my HR20-700's are acting the same way.
They take 4-5 seconds ofter pressing the guide or list button before the guide or playlist appears. After pressing the exit button, the screen is blank (except for the PIG) for another 4-5 seconds before picture returns. Navigation and options within the guide or playlist is also slower than normal.

One weird thing that I have never seen before now is that "sometimes" after pressing the guide button, the guide comes up "semi transparent", without the PIG (with blank frame), and full screen picture behind transparent guide.
Pressing exit, and bringing up guide again (with slowness) restores normal looking guide.

I don't see stuttering audio as some have reported, but on several occasions, I have had NO audio! A channel up or down, and back fixes it.

I have always seen as others have reported, times that the HR20-700's have had slow response times. But they had been fast most of the time.
Now they are very slow most of the time, with rare fast response times.
This is getting very aggravating!


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## Wilhite (May 5, 2004)

jefirdjr said:


> Since I got the latest (040C) national release, both of my HR20-700's are acting the same way.
> They take 4-5 seconds ofter pressing the guide or list button before the guide or playlist appears. After pressing the exit button, the screen is blank (except for the PIG) for another 4-5 seconds before picture returns. Navigation and options within the guide or playlist is also slower than normal.


I"m seeing this pretty much all the time now except that my "4-5 seconds" was more in the "15-20 second" range. I was seriously thinking at one point that the machine had locked up and the only thing to do was a RBR. I had gotten up to walk over to it when it finally responded. It became so frustrating last night that the last thing that I did after the football game was over was restart the unit. I hope that has helped out some, but don't really count on it.

Thing is - playback seems to be pretty close to normal. No major delays in rewinding or fast forwarding or coming out of pauses, etc. It's just the navigation within the UI that appear to be bad.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Ok mine is slow again too. My 24 is fast though. Maybe I'll get another 24 and get rid of the 20.


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## kfcrosby (Dec 17, 2006)

jefirdjr said:


> Since I got the latest (040C) national release, both of my HR20-700's are acting the same way.
> They take 4-5 seconds ofter pressing the guide or list button before the guide or playlist appears. After pressing the exit button, the screen is blank (except for the PIG) for another 4-5 seconds before picture returns. Navigation and options within the guide or playlist is also slower than normal.


Mine was worse last night and exhibiting the same symptoms you mention.



jefirdjr said:


> I don't see stuttering audio as some have reported, but on several occasions, I have had NO audio! A channel up or down, and back fixes it.


+1 here too. I have had this sporadically happen a very few times in the past, but recently it is getting to be a major problem.


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## bnwrx (Dec 29, 2007)

jefirdjr said:


> Since I got the latest (040C) national release, both of my HR20-700's are acting the same way.
> They take 4-5 seconds ofter pressing the guide or list button before the guide or playlist appears. After pressing the exit button, the screen is blank (except for the PIG) for another 4-5 seconds before picture returns. Navigation and options within the guide or playlist is also slower than normal.
> 
> One weird thing that I have never seen before now is that "sometimes" after pressing the guide button, the guide comes up "semi transparent", without the PIG (with blank frame), and full screen picture behind transparent guide.
> Pressing exit, and bringing up guide again (with slowness) restores normal looking guide. ......


I have similar symptoms. But here is my unusual twist. One day this week, all these problems disappeared temporarily. My guide was very quick to load,exit was fast and all functions really were speedy. It seems that after I went to "TVApps" once, things went back to being very slow and are still very slow. Maybe it is just coincidence, don't know. It is frustrating when the DVR is this slow though!! :nono2:


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## Zamps (Sep 17, 2006)

Mine has been pretty slow the past couple of weeks also. I'm getting really tired on this and will probably call DTV and hopefully get a newer box.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

UGH mines deathly slow. Any ideas whats going on?


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## bnwrx (Dec 29, 2007)

I tried this and it does seem to help:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=184693


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

bnwrx said:


> I tried this and it does seem to help:
> http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=184693


I did that, and this, along with two resets. Seems to be ok for now, we will see after 36 hours.


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## jefirdjr (Feb 20, 2006)

I don't know what happened, but on Saturday 10/2 when I turned on the TV about 10 am (both HR20-700's always on) to start watching football, both receivers were fast, with no delays on ANY functions.
I did NOT do any recent reboots, or make any changes, but both receivers have stayed fast through the week-end, and are still fine today (10/5).
I now have no doubt that the problem is NOT hardware related! I am now suspicious that there is something is the guide data that is randomly making this problem come and go.
Anyone else see an improvement over the week-end?


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## bnwrx (Dec 29, 2007)

jefirdjr said:


> I don't know what happened, but on Saturday 10/2 when I turned on the TV about 10 am (both HR20-700's always on) to start watching football, both receivers were fast, with no delays on ANY functions.
> I did NOT do any recent reboots, or make any changes, but both receivers have stayed fast through the week-end, and are still fine today (10/5).
> I now have no doubt that the problem is NOT hardware related! I am now suspicious that there is something is the guide data that is randomly making this problem come and go.
> Anyone else see an improvement over the week-end?


Mine seemed quick also, but then yesterday I used "TVapps" and then it went back to being slow again. So I rebooted and it seems ok again now??
This is really annoying, my HR20 was always pretty steady until the new release a month ago.


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## jefirdjr (Feb 20, 2006)

I just tried my TV Apps, and see no change in response.....Still fast!


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## Wilhite (May 5, 2004)

I did a little bit of additional testing last night to see what I could find. 

Playback was normal as was any fast forwarding, skipping, pausing, unpausing during the playback.

Navigation of the guide was pretty much normal as well. I was able to page through the channels and move from one time period to the other without delays.

Browsing through my playlist was where I saw the worst of the slowdowns. Paging down, moving from program to program, opening folders - all of these functions were taking on the order of (multiple) seconds to complete. Keypresses were taking 5-10 seconds to register. Once I was able to navigate to a program and start the playback, all seemed to work ok.

I'm wondering if all the additions like "Shows you may like" and parental info might be overloading whatever cache is there for the playlist and that's what is causing the problems.


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## SFNSXguy (Apr 17, 2006)

There's no rhyme or reason to this slowdown... one minute all is well, the next it's s-l-o-w. Cannot find any reason for this (two HR20-70 - one with esata -- both act the same).
DTV knows the answer, and they're not talking 'cause it ain't no biggie (to them).


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

SFNSXguy said:


> There's no rhyme or reason to this slowdown... one minute all is well, the next it's s-l-o-w. Cannot find any reason for this (two HR20-70 - one with esata -- both act the same).
> DTV knows the answer, and they're not talking 'cause it ain't no biggie (to them).


I believe this has happened before. NRs usually fix the problems. Sometimes they cause them. The 700s couldn't have had so many slowdowns all at the same time period. Not without "outside help". I can't believe it's a hardware issue. Need an NR.

Don't understand why mine haven't slowed down.

Rich


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

SFNSXguy said:


> There's no rhyme or reason to this slowdown... one minute all is well, the next it's s-l-o-w. Cannot find any reason for this (two HR20-70 - one with esata -- both act the same).
> DTV knows the answer, and they're not talking 'cause it ain't no biggie (to them).


It's just as likely that they don't know the answer, or that it can't be fixed, even if they do. It may be a big deal to them, but not fixable with current hardware. Or....do you have inside info that they know the answer?

It pays to be careful when one considers mere conjecture, as fact.

I think there is a reason, but that's nothing but conjecture too.

I have a hunch if we were able to monitor processor threads and the amount of cpu time consumed by each thread, we would identify the culprits pretty quickly. The real catch is that there may be near nothing that can be done about it on the older hardware (non 24 series).

Whether D* has such tools or has made use of them is open to question.

BTW, I see the periodic slow down/speed up behavior, just like nearly everyone else. It's been going on for a very long time.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Wilhite said:


> I did a little bit of additional testing last night to see what I could find.
> 
> Playback was normal as was any fast forwarding, skipping, pausing, unpausing during the playback.
> 
> ...


More likely is an issue with the last NR. They get most of them right, wait for the next NR and hope...

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

hasan said:


> The real catch is that there may be near nothing that can be done about it on the older hardware (non 24 series).


Agreed, but wouldn't that be addressed as quickly as possible? In a new NR? 
We have had 0x40c since the end of August. That's almost six weeks and I'd think we'd see a new NR soon. They've done this before and really screwed up certain models to some extent.

I've tried to duplicate the issues on several of my 700s and I just don't see any.

All of my 700s have large internals or externals. Could the problem be with the stock HDDs?

Rich


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

I've had 3 HR20-700s (2 were replacements) in the past few weeks and each is quite slow and each has audio dropouts when I rewind live TV. I would suspect its a software issue as it happens on all 3 units. All 3 use their stock HDDs.


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

rich584 said:


> Agreed, but wouldn't that be addressed as quickly as possible? In a new NR?
> We have had 0x40c since the end of August. That's almost six weeks and I'd think we'd see a new NR soon. They've done this before and really screwed up certain models to some extent.
> 
> I've tried to duplicate the issues on several of my 700s and I just don't see any.
> ...


I'll be keeping a close eye on my HR20-700 with the new 2 TB eSATA, to see if it goes through the periodic slow down/speed up cycles as before. I expect it will.

p.s., I dearly love that drive/dock combo. It's everything I can do not to order a 2nd setup for the HR21-100.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Also, you want to realize that these units have a very inexpensive Power Supply Unit in them that starts bulging out due to heat and age and then does not deliver enough voltage to adequately power the hard drive resulting in a degradation in performance of the hard drive retrieving data and slowing down the whole process along with slowing down the CPU.

This can also cause the DVR to Reboot because it knows it is in a perilous state and is trying to recover the only way it knows by rebooting.

Just A Thought as these Power Supply Units and their Capacitors start to Fail after about 4 to 5 years which mimics a Hard Drive Failure.


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## markrubi (Oct 12, 2006)

oakwcj said:


> I started seeing the same thing a few days ago. My HR20 is almost four years old and a reset has always fixed sluggishness issues in the past. I did two resets yesterday and have had only minimal improvement.


My oldest HR20 is super slow and has been. Constant HD thrashing and loud too. I am just waiting for it grind to a halt.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

markrubi said:


> My oldest HR20 is super slow and has been. Constant HD thrashing and loud too. I am just waiting for it grind to a halt.


It is either a Failing Or Marginal Power Supply Unit not supplying enough voltage to the Hard Drive or it is Indeed a Hard Drive that is Failing and on it's way to Death!!!


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## bnwrx (Dec 29, 2007)

bnwrx said:


> Mine seemed quick also, but then yesterday I used "TVapps" and then it went back to being slow again. So I rebooted and it seems ok again now??
> This is really annoying, my HR20 was always pretty steady until the new release a month ago.


Again today I accessed TVapps and my guide,playlist and exit functions ALL slowed down. Things were really quick prior to this. I did a reboot and its back to being quic again. For my HR20, something seems to slow it down after using TVapps.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

hasan said:


> I'll be keeping a close eye on my HR20-700 with the new 2 TB eSATA, to see if it goes through the periodic slow down/speed up cycles as before. I expect it will.
> 
> p.s., I dearly love that drive/dock combo. It's everything I can do not to order a 2nd setup for the HR21-100.


Last night I went to bed and started watching the Yankees game. Noticed the Playlist was acting funny and was not as responsive to remote commands as it should have been.

My first thought was "Why did I open my big mouth and say all my 700s were working properly. I knew this would happen." Convinced I had jinxed myself, I looked at the 20-700 and the power light was out. Then it dawned on me that I was watching my 24-200.

OK. Went thru what had happened that day, because the 200 was working the previous day and was quick and snappy as usual. Aha! There was an NR. And I forgot to reset the internal and HR on each of my two 24s. Got up and did a proper reset and the 200 went back to normal.

Earlier in the evening, my 24-500 went berserk again and I just shut it off and watched TV on another HR. This morning I did a proper reset of the external and the 500 and it is working properly again.

What can we deduce from this? One major thing: The 24s have to be reset along with their attendant externals after an NR. They are, obviously, not as capable of recovering from an NR with an external hooked up to them as the 20-700s are.

Another major thing: The 200 mimicked the issues that the posters on this thread have described the 20-700s doing. That tells me that the slowdown and other issues of some of the 20-700s are probably a combination of hardware and software. That can be cured by an new NR for the 20-700s which usually get the NRs last.

To put it shortly, don't give up on the 20-700s.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

richierich said:


> Also, you want to realize that these units have a very inexpensive Power Supply Unit in them that starts bulging out due to heat and age and then does not deliver enough voltage to adequately power the hard drive resulting in a degradation in performance of the hard drive retrieving data and slowing down the whole process along with slowing down the CPU.
> 
> This can also cause the DVR to Reboot because it knows it is in a perilous state and is trying to recover the only way it knows by rebooting.
> 
> Just A Thought as these Power Supply Units and their Capacitors start to Fail after about 4 to 5 years which mimics a Hard Drive Failure.


Good point. For $35 what can you expect? One of my Seagate Xtremes just went south after over a year of performing very well. Kept locking up, just as a bad HDD would. Tore it apart and took the HDD out and put it in an MX-1 that I had sitting on a shelf and it's working again. Must have been the power supply. Easy to troubleshoot with the docking stations, just swap the HDD to a newer docking station and see what happens. Cheap to replace and easy to hook up.

I would, of course, prefer to put the larger HDDs in place of the internal drives, but six of my HRs are leased and they have externals on them. The 24-200 that I own would require a modification of the sled that holds the HDD and I don't feel like doing that. I'll wait until Seagate comes out with a 1.5 or 2TB Pipeline HDD that will fit into the sled properly.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

bnwrx said:


> Again today I accessed TVapps and my guide,playlist and exit functions ALL slowed down. Things were really quick prior to this. I did a reboot and its back to being quic again. For my HR20, something seems to slow it down after using TVapps.


Kinda makes you wonder if anyone who was involved in the first 20-700s ever envisioned the many other things they would be asked to do. Apps, MRV, DLBs, etc. have to put an extra load on them.

I still don't see any of the issues being posted on this thread on any of my eight 20-700s.

Rich


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## bnwrx (Dec 29, 2007)

rich584 said:


> Kinda makes you wonder if anyone who was involved in the first 20-700s ever envisioned the many other things they would be asked to do. Apps, MRV, DLBs, etc. have to put an extra load on them.
> 
> I still don't see any of the issues being posted on this thread on any of my eight 20-700s.
> 
> Rich


Good point...
Can I trade my 20 for just one of yours....:lol:


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

bnwrx said:


> Good point...
> Can I trade my 20 for just one of yours....:lol:


I'm sure that would benefit you, but not me. I don't see this as a "system" problem. I have no idea why other 20-700s are showing all these issues, but I'm also not sure if it's a widespread problem.

When someone starts a thread like this one, most of the folks who reply are those having the same problems. So we don't really get any idea how widespread the problem is. This a weakness on all forums. Anyone reading this thread would, naturally, think every 20-700 has these problems. I don't really like to keep saying that I don't see the slowness issues, but somebody has to post that they are not having problems so that everyone gets an idea of how widespread the problem actually is. I've tried every one of my 8 20-700s and they all respond normally.

Again, I ask the question: Is the problem mostly with stock drives? All my 20-700s have large HDDs internally or externally. Is that the difference?

Rich


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## bnwrx (Dec 29, 2007)

Mine is a stock drive. Another question on this, do these HR use any RAM or are they strictly HDD?


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## bwaldron (Oct 24, 2005)

rich584 said:


> Kinda makes you wonder if anyone who was involved in the first 20-700s ever envisioned the many other things they would be asked to do. Apps, MRV, DLBs, etc. have to put an extra load on them


True, true. But I've found that the HR20-700's generally perform better than all models other then the new HR24's, even though they're being asked to do much more these days.

Our two here, though, are seeing periods of sludgy performance with the latest software release; the sluggishness comes and goes.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

bnwrx said:


> Mine is a stock drive. Another question on this, do these HR use any RAM or are they strictly HDD?


There are memory chips in the 20-700s, but they are in there so well that I doubt that you could change them out for more memory.

So your problem is with a 20-700 with a stock drive. Interesting. Anyone else?

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

bwaldron said:


> True, true. But I've found that the HR20-700's generally perform better than all models other then the new HR24's, even though they're being asked to do much more these days.
> 
> Our two here, though, are seeing periods of sludgy performance with the latest software release; the sluggishness comes and goes.


Stock drives? My 20-700s all perform damn near as well as my two 24s. Still the best HRs that D* has introduced. My opinion of the 24s is not formed yet. I'm trying to save the 24-500 and the 200 seems to be a very good unit. I want to wait for a few NRs before my opinion is fully formed.

I think you'll see that sluggishness go away after an NR or two. This has happened before and D* has always fixed the problem. Gotta have patience. 

Rich


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## Wilhite (May 5, 2004)

rich584 said:


> Again, I ask the question: Is the problem mostly with stock drives? All my 20-700s have large HDDs internally or externally. Is that the difference?
> 
> Rich


2TB Western Digital EVDS in an external Antec enclosure here. It has 79% free space on it and has only been in operation for about 6 weeks (end of August).


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

I just tried using the Playlist with a 20-700 with a Seagate 1.5TB internal drive. After about ten clicks of the Chan--Page button, the Playlist paused and seemed to catch up after a couple seconds. That Playlist was the Unified Playlist (that what you call it?) for twelve HRs. Certainly not as fast as I expected, but tolerable.

Then, I switched to the Local Playlist. Went down a lot quicker.

I rebooted the 20-700 above the first one. This one has a 1.5TB Seagate in a docking station. Same results.

The Playlist is the only place I see something that's not right. Could the MRV have something to do with it?

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Wilhite said:


> 2TB Western Digital EVDS in an external Antec enclosure here. It has 79% free space on it and has only been in operation for about 6 weeks (end of August).


Yeah, I'm seeing the Playlist issue now. Mine seem to deal with the Local Playlist a lot better than the MRV Playlist. Well there goes another idea.

Back to "wait for another NR". 

Rich


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

rich584 said:


> Stock drives? My 20-700s all perform damn near as well as my two 24s. Still the best HRs that D* has introduced. My opinion of the 24s is not formed yet. I'm trying to save the 24-500 and the 200 seems to be a very good unit. I want to wait for a few NRs before my opinion is fully formed.
> 
> I think you'll see that sluggishness go away after an NR or two. This has happened before and D* has *always* fixed the problem. Gotta have patience.
> 
> Rich


I appreciate your confidence in the HR20-700's but I can't agree with the always part. My HR20-700 continues to have intermittent slowdown problems, although the remote keystroke fix mentioned in another thread has helped recently.


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## kfcrosby (Dec 17, 2006)

rich584 said:


> I think you'll see that sluggishness go away after an NR or two. This has happened before and D* has always fixed the problem. Gotta have patience.
> 
> Rich


Patience is NOT in my wife's vocabulary .... :nono:


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## rick52768 (Oct 11, 2008)

My HR is nutty slow but as everyone states only on my playlist. How slow is nutty, 24 seconds to delete a hour and 35 minute movie. Going to try resetting and back to internal drive, but only D* fix will likely help. Maybe my hard drive power supply is going down. Not the first as one of my PC external drives would no longer work, but removed from the case and installed as an internal and all is fine. What about defrag?


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

bnwrx said:


> Again today I accessed TVapps and my guide,playlist and exit functions ALL slowed down. Things were really quick prior to this. I did a reboot and its back to being quic again. For my HR20, something seems to slow it down after using TVapps.


I think you might be on to something there. I just went into TV Apps and now my 20-700 is slow. I'll have to reboot later after its done recording.


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## bwaldron (Oct 24, 2005)

Yep, stock drives currently...and I'm sure that it is a software issue. These two "elderly" DVRs have always performed very well, and there are no indications of any hardware issues.



rich584 said:


> Stock drives? My 20-700s all perform damn near as well as my two 24s. Still the best HRs that D* has introduced. My opinion of the 24s is not formed yet. I'm trying to save the 24-500 and the 200 seems to be a very good unit. I want to wait for a few NRs before my opinion is fully formed.
> 
> I think you'll see that sluggishness go away after an NR or two. This has happened before and D* has always fixed the problem. Gotta have patience.
> 
> Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

billsharpe said:


> I appreciate your confidence in the HR20-700's but I can't agree with the always part. My HR20-700 continues to have intermittent slowdown problems, although the remote keystroke fix mentioned in another thread has helped recently.


If the problem was with the 21 series, I'd agree with you. But the 20-700s have always performed very well (at least after about a year of problems) and I think they can be returned to their normal performance. I sure hope they can... 

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

kfcrosby said:


> Patience is NOT in my wife's vocabulary .... :nono:


I hear that. Mine's the same way. 

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

rick52768 said:


> My HR is nutty slow but as everyone states only on my playlist. How slow is nutty, 24 seconds to delete a hour and 35 minute movie. Going to try resetting and back to internal drive, but only D* fix will likely help. Maybe my hard drive power supply is going down. Not the first as one of my PC external drives would no longer work, but removed from the case and installed as an internal and all is fine. What about defrag?


You'll lose all your recordings, but I'm sure you realize that. Shouldn't take that long to delete a movie. I dunno. I just hope D* recognizes these issues and takes care of them.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

TheRatPatrol said:


> I think you might be on to something there. I just went into TV Apps and now my 20-700 is slow. I'll have to reboot later after its done recording.


Yet another wonderful new feature that I never use.

I did find out something interesting last night. Had the Yankees game on and I tried to scroll down the Playlist and after about ten clicks down, it started to slow down and continued to play catch up with the clicks. This happened using a 24-200! I'm beginning to think this is normal for me with a 12 HR Playlist. On any HR. I'll try the 24-500 today and see if the same thing happens.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

bwaldron said:


> Yep, stock drives currently...and I'm sure that it is a software issue. These two "elderly" DVRs have always performed very well, and there are no indications of any hardware issues.


If you only saw it on one 20-700s using a stock drive I'd think the HDD was going. They are four years old. But with both 20-700s doing the same thing, it's gotta be the SW. I think. I can't believe that D* is deliberately killing off the 20-700s.

Rich


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

It is Definitely a Software Issue and that is why I don't use TV Apps or DLB (Double Play) because the CPU can't handle the task work and it needs to be tweaked perhaps by giving it a higher status in the CPU Chain so it gets more Priority by the Task Manager.

That is why I Never seem to have the Sluggishness others report because I don't use these Applications because the older CPUs can't handle them adequately until they fine tune the APP!!!

Just My Thoughts and Opinion!!!


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## dsm (Jul 11, 2004)

I really think there is a software problem. Both my hr20's and a hr23 are showing serious lags at times.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

richierich said:


> It is Definitely a Software Issue and that is why I don't use TV Apps or DLB (Double Play) because the CPU can't handle the task work and it needs to be tweaked perhaps by giving it a higher status in the CPU Chain so it gets more Priority by the Task Manager.
> 
> That is why I Never seem to have the Sluggishness others report because I don't use these Applications because the older CPUs can't handle them adequately until they fine tune the APP!!!
> 
> Just My Thoughts and Opinion!!!


I agree, I don't use DLBs or APPs and I don't see the sluggishness of the 20-700s. Too much stuff going on for the HRs to keep up with, it would seem.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

dsm said:


> I really think there is a software problem. Both my hr20's and a hr23 are showing serious lags at times.


Two different beasts you're talking about. The reports of sluggishness of the 20-700s worries me, the sluggishness of a 23 would seem to be expected. They just aren't as fast as the 20-700s.

Rich


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## droopdog7 (Oct 8, 2010)

I have been having problems with my HR20 that I hadn't had before. Basically, the picture keeps going out and most of the time, it happens when I first turn it on. The dish signal is good so I am at a loss for what it could be. I am running the stock HD and have had it for about three years.


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## dsm (Jul 11, 2004)

rich584 said:


> Two different beasts you're talking about. The reports of sluggishness of the 20-700s worries me, the sluggishness of a 23 would seem to be expected. They just aren't as fast as the 20-700s.
> 
> Rich


You may be right, I haven't had the HR23 long. I forgot to mention one of my HR20's uses esata and one does not, but they are both seeing this issue. For me, it's two things. 1) Guide slowness where for a while I see 4-8 seconds between click-response, and 2) Lagging video and audio during playback that may be associated with exitting the guide or list. For the playback slowness I've found that stopping and then restarting the playback clears it up.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

dsm said:


> You may be right, I haven't had the HR23 long. I forgot to mention one of my HR20's uses esata and one does not, but they are both seeing this issue. For me, it's two things. 1) Guide slowness where for a while I see 4-8 seconds between click-response,


Slowness is common in the 21 series (the 23 is included in that category) when using the guide and the playlist. The 21-700 my wife uses is OK, but not nearly as snappy as the 20-700s. Are you using MRV?



> Lagging video and audio during playback that may be associated with exitting the guide or list. For the playback slowness I've found that stopping and then restarting the playback clears it up.


That's not normal for any of the HRs. I haven't seen any issues with playback.

Rich


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## rick52768 (Oct 11, 2008)

I was able to cut my playlist response time down to a 1/4 of what it was after hooking my DVR up to the internet and setting it for CinemaPlus. Now after testing it out by downloading some free movies and shows the receiver locked up. Could not get any video or sound, but could change channels or I guess I was. Did a receiver reset through the system setup menu and it came back up even thought the slow playlist is back and there is still a couple of pending download movies. 

Now I have another issue that has to do with those "free" movies. I was signed into my account of online and chose only free stuff, but on my Playlist there is a dollar sign beside a couple of them? So which do I believe?


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

rick52768 said:


> I was able to cut my playlist response time down to a 1/4 of what it was after hooking my DVR up to the internet and setting it for CinemaPlus. Now after testing it out by downloading some free movies and shows the receiver locked up. Could not get any video or sound, but could change channels or I guess I was. Did a receiver reset through the system setup menu and it came back up even thought the slow playlist is back and there is still a couple of pending download movies.
> 
> Now I have another issue that has to do with those "free" movies. I was signed into my account of online and chose only free stuff, but on my Playlist there is a dollar sign beside a couple of them? So which do I believe?


I'd believe the dollar signs.

Rich


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## trdrjeff (Dec 3, 2007)

My HR20 is almost to the unusable state the pauses are taking so long. My personal guess is that they've stuffed one too many bells or whistles into the guide data. Trying to page through the guide it seems the pauses are caused when the guide waits and waits to populate the show description and the show logo images.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

trdrjeff said:


> My HR20 is almost to the unusable state the pauses are taking so long. My personal guess is that they've stuffed one too many bells or whistles into the guide data. Trying to page through the guide it seems the pauses are caused when the guide waits and waits to populate the show description and the show logo images.


The 20-100s were never the best of the HRs. You might try replacing it. The 20-700s were the first HRs and I think they are still the best. I do like the two 24s I have, but I'll wait awhile till I say they are better than the 20-700s. I really hope I can say that one day.

Try the replacement route. See if you can get a truck to roll to your home.

Rich


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## trdrjeff (Dec 3, 2007)

I've never really thought about my HR20-100 being slow until just in the last couple mos. So after I posted that I got to thinking maybe it was a guide data issue and went home and rebooted the machine twice in short order. Seems to have fixed the issue


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## Bizarroterl (Oct 20, 2006)

Our HR20s now make our DirecTivo seem fast. :grin:


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Bizarroterl said:


> Our HR20s now make our DirecTivo seem fast. :grin:


Well, there is a Silver Lining In Every Cloud. :lol:


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## gator5000e (Aug 29, 2006)

trdrjeff said:


> I've never really thought about my HR20-100 being slow until just in the last couple mos. So after I posted that I got to thinking maybe it was a guide data issue and went home and rebooted the machine twice in short order. Seems to have fixed the issue


I've rebooted at least 3-4 times and nothing helps. Major delay in even seeing a graphic come on the screen after pressing a button on the remote. My old Samsung SIR -160 (I use for the PIP) flies in comparison. Hopefully they can tweak the software for us to bring some speed back.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

You may have a Power Supply Unit going bad or acting marginally. They usually only lasts about 5 years depending upon heat aging.


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## rick52768 (Oct 11, 2008)

Just checking, but I have seen no improvements when it comes to the slow response of the DVR related to the playlist. Anybody having better luck? I almost do not like using the DVR as it is so darn slow.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

rick52768 said:


> Just checking, but I have seen no improvements when it comes to the slow response of the DVR related to the playlist. Anybody having better luck? I almost do not like using the DVR as it is so darn slow.


Are you using MRV?

Rich


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## rick52768 (Oct 11, 2008)

I do have my HR21 networked to be able to download movies (free as I am cheap). Just downloaded directv2pc last night, but the slowness issue was there well before I networked the dvr. Did get a little faster when I hooked it to the router but very quickly turned into a turtle again. I was thinking about hooking a desktop power supply to the external hard drive to make sure it was not a problem with the external enclosure. Why did you ask if I was using MRV?


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

rick52768 said:


> I do have my HR21 networked to be able to download movies (free as I am cheap). Just downloaded directv2pc last night, but the slowness issue was there well before I networked the dvr. Did get a little faster when I hooked it to the router but very quickly turned into a turtle again. I was thinking about hooking a desktop power supply to the external hard drive to make sure it was not a problem with the external enclosure. Why did you ask if I was using MRV?


Lots of reports about networked HRs slowing down awhile ago. Doesn't seem to be as prevalent now, but I'd still consider that.

Why did I ask you about the MRV? Gotta go back and see why. Don't remember...got it, you mentioned the Playlist. I've got kind of a unique setup. Right now I have 11 HRs on MRV, and the Playlist is very slow when I'm using the All mode. Nothing even happens for a while, then the HR I'm using wakes up and catches up. I've gotta keep an eye on the power light and make sure it blinks with each remote command or the thing adds all the clicks at once. When I go to the Local mode, this doesn't happen.

Rich


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

rich584 said:


> Nothing even happens for a while, then the HR I'm using wakes up and catches up. I've gotta keep an eye on the power light and make sure it blinks with each remote command or the thing adds all the clicks at once. When I go to the Local mode, this doesn't happen.
> Rich


That is happening because the CPU (Processor) is too Slow to handle all of the Requests being thrown at it so it Queues up the Tasks that it can't get to so when you see the Light Blink it is telling you it accepted the Command or Request and has Queued it up but can't react to it until it finishes a labor intensive Task such as Building Your UPL (Unified Playlist).


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

richierich said:


> That is happening because the CPU (Processor) is too Slow to handle all of the Requests being thrown at it so it Queues up the Tasks that it can't get to so when you see the Light Blink it is telling you it accepted the Command or Request and has Queued it up but can't react to it until it finishes a labor intensive Task such as Building Your UPL (Unified Playlist).


There are many times when the system is so bogged down that it doesn't even ack the command request (no light blink). At these times (and I've observed them many times on my HR20-700), the system is really compromised, channel entry is impossible, no remote response, etc. Then things get "freed up" and some of the stacked commands get executed in order, and the unack'd commands, are, of course, ignored.

The problem comes and goes, and has for a long time. It's a horsepower problem, to be sure. The alarming part of this is that the HR24's are starting to show some of the same problems. (which, to my mind, was perfectly predictable)


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

hasan said:


> It's a horsepower problem, to be sure. The alarming part of this is that the HR24's are starting to show some of the same problems. (which, to my mind, was perfectly predictable)


The reason that the HR24s start to Slow down is the Buildup of Tasks such as the UPL, sorting the Guide, Processing Requests for Series Links, etc. As these tasks increase it severely impacts the CPU which can handle alot more because it is Faster and has more RAM. That is why deleting recordings helps along with rebooting and freeing up temporary storage.


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

richierich said:


> The reason that the HR24s start to Slow down is the Buildup of Tasks such as the UPL, sorting the Guide, Processing Requests for Series Links, etc. As these tasks increase it severely impacts the CPU which can handle alot more because it is Faster and has more RAM. That is why deleting recordings helps along with rebooting and freeing up temporary storage.


I like (and subscribe to) that theory.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

richierich said:


> That is happening because the CPU (Processor) is too Slow to handle all of the Requests being thrown at it so it Queues up the Tasks that it can't get to so when you see the Light Blink it is telling you it accepted the Command or Request and has Queued it up but can't react to it until it finishes a labor intensive Task such as Building Your UPL (Unified Playlist).


Yup, agree I do!!!

Rich


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