# When will L212 (or whatever it's called) get here?



## Mark Lamutt

I'm starting this up again because we got a new beta last week that apparently fixes a number of the current L211 problems. For example, I didn't see anything jitter all weekend, and I watched a lot of programming in all formats. I'm not going to comment on any of the other issues, but I wanted you all to know that everyone is aware of the current bugs and that they are being worked on.


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## xsailor

Thanks Mark .. hopefully this will resolve at least some of the issues.


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## boylehome

Thanks for the information. I hope that the fixes work this time.


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## lionsrule

*completely off-topic comment deleted by Mark.*


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## grassvalley

*completely off topic reply to off topic comment deleted by Mark*


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## mraub

Can you tell whether the new beta contains a new video driver? I'd like my 50" set to be a 50" again rather than a 46". Maybe the video driver ought to be separate from the rest of the software so a user can select the one that works best with his display device. All the prior versions worked better for me than the current one.

MIKE


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## leemathre

I would also like to know if this version is using the new video driver. It seems that many of the current problems are related to video dirver.


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## Tomos

"Can you tell whether the new beta contains a new video driver? I'd like my 50" set to be a 50" again rather than a 46". Maybe the video driver ought to be separate from the rest of the software so a user can select the one that works best with his display device. All the prior versions worked better for me than the current one.

MIKE "

I had this problam as well on a 42" screen but I finally figured out that I could adjust my vertical and horizontal size and also screen position through my set while the menu on the reciever was up.
Duno if this would help since you have probably done dat.


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## Mark Lamutt

Yes, it has a new video driver, and so far the driver looks like it works pretty well.


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## dishbacker

Mark, how about 'Native' output type mode?


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## Mark Lamutt

Nope. No new features this time around (that I know of anyways).


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## Eagles

Mark,
Can you comment on a Closed Captioning/720P fix?


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## markcollins

Mark L.-I have two 921 receivers,my first I purchased last Jan. and the second in Sept of '04.Both new in box.My question is: was there to your knowledge a major hardware change or something to later 921s.I've noticed since SW 211 that my earliest 921 has all the problems.Jitter video,unresponsive remote,locks up sometimes and won't respond,unable to change format etc.(reboot of course to bring it back to life).My newer one doesn't seem as possessed as my original.hardly have a problem if any with it.It is only used about 2/3 as much,but still I would think some problems would have occurred.also are we ever going to get the overstretch fixed on this thing,or is that a dead issue with Eldon?


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## Mark Lamutt

Eagles - I am ALL OVER THEM (capitalized to indicate the extent that I have been riding them about this) to get this fixed before the next release. I know how important it is to you, and to the other hearing impaired users. Therefore, it's very important to me as well. But, it's currently not fixed in the beta that I have.

MarkC - I've been told over and again that there wasn't a major hardware change between earlier and later units, but it makes me wonder very much as well...


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## jsanders

I really hate to ask about the guide data issues. If you feel impelled to mention anything about it, we would love to hear it Mark. If not, please just disregard this post..... :bang


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## Mark Lamutt

I don't have anything to say about the guide data issues at this point. Not that I can't say anything, just that I literally have no information to pass on about it.


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## Michael P

I hope that they are as painfully aware of the OTA guide issue as we are in bringing it up :barf: 

If they could at least address the date and time issue (if you don't sub to LIL's OTA is stuck on 12/31/2029 8:00 PM). I believe this bug has caused excessive length recordings for some posters, wiping out unprotected programs as the recorder goes on and on.


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## Mark Lamutt

Michael, please post that as a bug report in the bug reports forum. I haven't heard of that one.


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## lionsrule

hopefully this is more "on topic" for you.....


Any fix to report for ZSR's??

Specifically for dishnet's HD offerings??


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## Eagles

Mark Lamutt said:


> Eagles - I am ALL OVER THEM (capitalized to indicate the extent that I have been riding them about this) to get this fixed before the next release. I know how important it is to you, and to the other hearing impaired users. Therefore, it's very important to me as well. But, it's currently not fixed in the beta that I have.


Mark, thanks so much for your help. I'm really hoping to. Would it be fair to say that the final released version will be different from the beta your running now? Is it normal for them to run a series of beta versions with added fixes or features prior to the final release to the public? I guess I'm just looking for a shread of hope.


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## Michael P

This is the post I was referring to: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=37776

He got a 12.5 hour recording off an OTA station. I speculated that the 921 does not know when "time is up" on OTA stations if you don't sub to the LIL's (unless you manually enter the stop time - or better yet stop it in real time).

Even though the "browse banner" shows the correct time, "Local Program" (the only name an OTA program gets w/o LIL's) is stuck at 8:00 PM 12/31/2029 when you try to look ahead to the next program (right button) shows the current "local program" at 8:00 PM with the following "Local program" also at 8:00 PM on 12/31 (I found out that the year was 2029 when I tried to set up a timer).

I'll do a bug report, but all I know of the top of my head is the software version. I'll have to go home to get the rest of the receiver data.


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## boylehome

markcollins said:


> I have two 921 receivers,my first I purchased last Jan. and the second in Sept of '04.Both new in box.My question is: was there to your knowledge a major hardware change or something to later 921s.I've noticed since SW 211 that my earliest 921 has all the problems.


Strange markcollins? I have an HECD purchased July 2004 and an HEED purchased November 2004, both new. I have worst problems with the HEED respective to the release of L2.11 (ZSR's and Lost recored DVR events.) Before L2.11, my HECD was a [email protected]


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## markcollins

I'm beginning to suspect there is something different about later 921s.Maybe this explains some of the later owners on this forum not experiencing the problems earlier owners have???My older 921 the last two days is going into lockup meltdown everyday and my later is running fine.


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## Ron Barry

My 921 is only about a month old. At least that is when I got it. I am experiencing the jitters and I am also having to reboot the box rather frequently (About once every couple of days).


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## markcollins

Just an update .My older 921 is the hecd software and newer the heed.The heed software seems stabler with my situation.What is the difference in hecd and heed.Aren't the 921s suppose to all be running same software?


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## FrankD1

Mark- Since you previously came up with a procedure to reliably produce a ZSR, does this beta seem to fix it?


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## LASooner

markcollins said:


> I'm beginning to suspect there is something different about later 921s.Maybe this explains some of the later owners on this forum not experiencing the problems earlier owners have???My older 921 the last two days is going into lockup meltdown everyday and my later is running fine.


I have a version L211HEED and haven't had half the problems that I saw posted on here. It's had a few glitches with the aspect button (*) not working after a while, but no ZSRs, I've had it for about a month.


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## Mark Lamutt

Eagles said:


> Mark, thanks so much for your help. I'm really hoping to. Would it be fair to say that the final released version will be different from the beta your running now? Is it normal for them to run a series of beta versions with added fixes or features prior to the final release to the public? I guess I'm just looking for a shread of hope.


There's no doubt that there will be several beta versions before this is released. I will let you know as soon as I see a version that fixes it.


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## Mark Lamutt

I can't say much about the ZSR stuff yet. We're going back and forth on a number of issues surrounding this. I know now that some of the speculation surrounding this in the data collection thread was correct - there are deeper root causes to to this problem than just the order that timers fire on whatever channels.


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## Mark Lamutt

Another update this morning here. Last night I finished testing EVERY L211 bug that has been posted in the bug reports forum on the new beta, and sent the results in as a very long bug report through the official channels. The good news is about half of them have been fixed in this beta. The not so good news is that about half of them haven't been fixed yet.


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## Ron Barry

Mark Lamutt said:


> Another update this morning here. Last night I finished testing EVERY L211 bug that has been posted in the bug reports forum on the new beta, and sent the results in as a very long bug report through the official channels. The good news is about half of them have been fixed in this beta. The not so good news is that about half of them haven't been fixed yet.


Keep up the good work Mark.. I hope L2xx will improve things the stability of the box.


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## slimoli

My 921 is 3 weeks old, software is the HEED and I am experience the jitters and loss of guide data. Missed some recordings also due to the famous ERROR 962 many people already reported. I don't think the new receivers are any different from previous ones.

Sergio


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## SimpleSimon

Mark Lamutt said:


> Another update this morning here. Last night I finished testing EVERY L211 bug that has been posted in the bug reports forum on the new beta, and sent the results in as a very long bug report through the official channels. The good news is about half of them have been fixed in this beta. The not so good news is that about half of them haven't been fixed yet.


Like this one? :nono:


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## Mark Lamutt

Simon - yes.


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## invaliduser88

Kind of funny that one of the items select was "Engineering the Impossible". You think the 921 programmers are taking it a too literally?

:lol:


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## SimpleSimon

invaliduser88 said:


> Kind of funny that one of the items select was "Engineering the Impossible". You think the 921 programmers are taking it a too literally?
> 
> :lol:


 :lol: :rolling:

I hadn't even noticed that!

P.S. Mark: My fault for miswording my question, but "yes" didn't quite cover it. 

Is the 3-event bug (maybe) fixed, or definitely not (yet) fixed?


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## tahoerob

what about the loss of caller ID tha t requires reboot???????


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## Mark Lamutt

Simon - Yes, the 3 timers set at once condition is one of the bugs that I tested under the beta. That's as specific as I'm willing to get at this point. 

As for loss of callerid, unfortunately I've never lost it. So, I'm not the best one to test for that.


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## lenny

Mark Lamutt said:


> Another update this morning here. Last night I finished testing EVERY L211 bug that has been posted in the bug reports forum on the new beta, and sent ....


Mark,
I hope this isn't off topic. But, so we can get an appreciation of how much you actually do (which I feel is ALOT), how long do you feel it took to test EVERY L211 bug. It just seems like so many bugs it must have taken you many many hours.

Thank you for your efforts, and I know it's ALOT,
Lenny

PS Thanks to all the other beta testers that take the time to try all the bugs and then generate a report back to dishnet.


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## ebaltz

Is there a sense that all of these things will be addressed in the next release, or will it be a release to just fix some of the major things, stabilize stuff etc...so it can at least be something?


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## Mark Lamutt

Lenny - usually I spend 15-20 hours a week actively testing, and then another 10 hours a week or so just watching television with the 921. It took me 3 weeknights to get through all of the reported L211 bugs.

I don't think that all of them will get fixed before the next version, but I do think a good number of them will.


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## markcollins

Mark-- how about overstretch with SD in stretch mode?


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## Michael P

Mark Lamutt said:


> Michael, please post that as a bug report in the bug reports forum. I haven't heard of that one.


Mark,
Sorry I took so long, but I finally posted this to the bug report.


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## Mark Lamutt

markcollins said:


> Mark-- how about overstretch with SD in stretch mode?


Mark,

I don't know for sure, but my guess is that this is pretty far down the priority list. So, maybe...maybe not.


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## conner65

Mark, 

Why can't they a least fix most of the major problems (ZSR, Jitters) more quickly instead of making us wait more than a month for a software update that will have a lot of minor fixes along with the major fixes? This 211 update has been worse than the 188 from a stability standpoint. I am pretty sure in the past they have downloaded updates more frequently.


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## Eagles

conner65 said:


> Mark,
> 
> Why can't they a least fix most of the major problems (ZSR, Jitters) more quickly instead of making us wait more than a month for a software update that will have a lot of minor fixes along with the major fixes?


By Monday you can change that to "More than 2 months"


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## Mark Lamutt

I know...believe me, I know...


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## Eagles

Mark Lamutt said:


> I know...believe me, I know...


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## conner65

Any hope for an update in the next few days?


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## paulrus

I'm still new here, so sorry if these have been answered.

Is this next release going to be only a bug fix or are there new features included.
If there are new features, will we see name based recording?
Has the "this program has been blacked out" error been fixed?

I think it's great that Dish lets you post answers to the forum. Even though the problems are frustrating, it's nice to hear that things are being addressed.

Paul


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## Mark Lamutt

conner65 - definitely hope for an update, but not in the next few days.

paulrus - next release as far as I know will primarily address bugs. No name based recording. We're working very hard on the blackout error - that's one of the top priorities...I just wish I could make my 921 do it...


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## paulrus

Thanks for the quick reply! I'm really impressed that Dish lets you post this info. I was on the original DirecTivo beta team when they went to dual tuners and I had to sign all sorts of NDAs and wasn't allowed to say anything to anyone.

Hopefully in L213 we'll see NBR!

Paul


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## Mark Lamutt

I don't usually say anything specific about what we're doing (other than what's already public knowledge - like the No NBR thing). I am under an NDA, but have been given permission to talk about certain things concerning the 921.


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## kstevens

Mark Lamutt said:


> conner65 - definitely hope for an update, but not in the next few days.
> 
> paulrus - next release as far as I know will primarily address bugs. No name based recording. We're working very hard on the blackout error - that's one of the top priorities...I just wish I could make my 921 do it...


Has the NBR issue been resolved or is E* still sticking to no NBR for the 921?

Thanks,

Ken


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## Mark Lamutt

I haven't heard E* say anything new (officially or unofficially) about NBR for the 921.


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## markcollins

is the format freezing up issue being addressed


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## Mark Lamutt

Definitely, Mark.


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## welchwarlock

Mark,

You started this thread 3 weeks ago.... Are you any closer to being able to answer the question "When will L212 (or whatever it's called) get here?"

Regards,

Robert Cook


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## Mark Lamutt

Am I closer? Yes. Can I be more specific yet? Nope. You'll hear it from me here just as soon as I can be.


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## grassvalley

I'd rather not know when its coming. This way no one (including myself) gets mad if it doesn't spool on that date. Remember what happend last time? As long as I know Charlie hasn't given up on it, thats all I care about. Besides, the longer its tested, the less bugs we will get.


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## BobMurdoch

grassvalley said:


> As long as I know Charlie hasn't given up on it, thats all I care about. Besides, the longer its tested, the less bugs we will get.


Yeah, hello. For whatever reason Eldon seems incapable of stabilizing this box. It's just as bad as the original Dishplayer fiasco ever was. EVENTUALLY, they got that box fairly stable, but it took until a year after they discontinued it for it to occur.

I've got one of the originals (mine was delivered 1/2004 with the firewire jacks in the back), and mine has ben fairly stable with only a few 0 sec. recordings (I record the King of Queens on CBS HD and Smallville on HD Net... these seem to be the usual targets... I have a west coast timer to protect the CBS show and I record two copies of Smallville to be safe - this system has kept me from missing anything else so far). Every now and then the timer list goes out of action order and then I get the wrong titles and ploit descriptions on shows, but they are still watchable. It's been at least 6 months since I've seen a grey screen of death, so that's something. Then again, I don't get any OTA channels so I'm avoiding those headaches right now.......


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## SimpleSimon

Mark: Can you say if any attention is being given to the HORRIBLE event deletion code that was added in L211?


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## srrobinson2

kstevens said:


> Has the NBR issue been resolved or is E* still sticking to no NBR for the 921?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Ken


If they are still producing updates, then why won't they add NBR? It's not like it's a hardware change, just add the functionality to the software! This might actually make up for the FIREWIRE bait and switch.


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## Mark Lamutt

Simon - are you referring to the random deletion of all events when trying to view a recording from a bad OTA station, or something else?

srrobinson2 - updates are still coming, and that's a question to try to ask the tech forum guys on Monday night.


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## BobMurdoch

Maybe he is referring to the fact that it will not allow you to delete a prerecorded show while two other timers are active. 

If you try to delete a prerecorded show you have just watched, and two other timers are active, it wants you to stop one of your active timers so that it can switch you BACK to a channel you were watching before the timers fired. The old way was better where it made you choose one of your two active timers to view after it deleted the prerecorded show. Right now the only way to delete the old program is to click "VIEW" on one of the active timers and then scroll down and delete the show after pulling up the PVR menu again.

Incidentally, the only major crashes I've endured have been on Sundays when I have two 9pm timers active, a 10pm timer ready to fire, and tried watching a prerecorded show. The menu response gets sluggish and I triggered a 0 sec. recording this way once.


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## Jim Parker

BobMurdoch said:


> Maybe he is referring to the fact that it will not allow you to delete a prerecorded show while two other timers are active.


My 921 actually allowed me to do this last night. I had two recorders going and was watching a recorded program. I spaced out about the problem and just hit the erase button after ending the playback. IT ERASED THE PROGRAM WITHOUT THE ERROR MESSAGE!!!!!!! :eek2: The DVR screen came up and there were 2 progams recording. This is the first time that V211 has done this. Don't know why it did it this time but not any other time.


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## jsanders

I can delete the program while two timers are recording about 50% of the time. When I can't delete it, I just start playing another pre-recorded show, and then go to the DVR menu to delete it. It usually switches back to the pre-recorded show.


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## ebaltz

Mark, in your opinion, what is holding up the next release?


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## jsanders

My guess is that software bugs are holding up the release.


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## Mark Lamutt

I don't have enough information to tell you specifically what's holding up the release, so I'll have to fall back on jsanders answer.


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## BobMurdoch

jsanders said:


> My guess is that software bugs are holding up the release.


Ohmigod,.... I won't touch THAT statement with a ten foot pole.....


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## jsanders

BobMurdoch said:


> Ohmigod,.... I won't touch THAT statement with a ten foot pole.....


 !rolling


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## boylehome

jsanders said:


> My guess is that software bugs are holding up the release.


Their names are: Mighty Mite, Atom Ant, Eerie Earwig, and Grabby Grasshopper. As long as these creatures have been holding up the software, their arms, legs, or whatever you call-em are getten purdy darn tired. :grin:


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## Tomos

So in your words software bugs are holding up software bugs from being released to eliminate software bugs?


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## jmurphy644

ebaltz said:


> Mark, in your opinion, what is holding up the next release?


Actually, it's all held up by a pointy haired boss (with a Brittish accent)


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## DonLandis

_"Actually, it's all held up by a pointy haired boss (with a Brittish accent) "_

Hair with a point????

Is that the same as incompetant, stubborn, stupid, little Napoleon in charge of his little world, with no concern for the customers? Yes I said it not you.


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## awp

Mark Lamutt said:


> I'm starting this up again because we got a new beta last week that apparently fixes a number of the current L211 problems. For example, I didn't see anything jitter all weekend, and I watched a lot of programming in all formats. I'm not going to comment on any of the other issues, but I wanted you all to know that everyone is aware of the current bugs and that they are being worked on.


Obviously, fixes are good, however is there any plan to do any more feature releases on the 921? Like NBR?

- Andy


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## BobMurdoch

Tomos said:


> So in your words software bugs are holding up software bugs from being released to eliminate software bugs?


Ah, the circle of strife. (cue The Lion King music)


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## invaliduser88

BobMurdoch said:


> Ah, the circle of strife. (cue The Lion King music)


I kinda akin it to the Lilo and Stitch trailer that spoofed the Lion King.


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## BobMurdoch

Hmm. Could be.....

That's what I should do.... Put a Stitch sticker on the front of my 921, tht would explain alot, as the little bugger likes to wreak havoc........


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## lujan

Please don't leave meaningless postings on this forum. Some of us don't have the time to read all the postings especially if half of them are meaningless.

Thanks


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## Michael P

:backtotop 
The bug that has been plauging my 921 lately is the one where you tune to an OTA station and the 921 can't lock. You try a different channel and the 921 jumps back to the first station. The 921 does not want to give up trying to lock onto the first channel. Sometimes when this happens the EPG gets so confused that when you do see a program, the browse banner displays the wrong channel (the banner displays the channel name & number that it could not lock to but the picture is of an another channel).

Mark, has this bug been officially recognized and if so was it addressed in the beta?


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## boylehome

lujan said:


> Please don't leave meaningless postings on this forum. Some of us don't have the time to read all the postings especially if half of them are meaningless.
> 
> Thanks


Sorry lujan, didn't mean to upset you but it just bugs me that the bugs are holding up the bugs and now we got pointy hair dudes doing stuff.


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## invaliduser88

I was just suggesting that after the release of the new version, we'll start this process all over with the new version.

Maybe we should start a "How the next sw release for the 921 gives my life meaning" thread? :lol:


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## boylehome

invaliduser88 said:


> I was just suggesting that after the release of the new version, we'll start this process all over with the new version.
> 
> Maybe we should start a "How the next sw release for the 921 gives my life meaning" thread? :lol:


Yes, each release has its own implications. New adventures or misadventures?


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## Mark Lamutt

Michael P said:


> :backtotop
> The bug that has been plauging my 921 lately is the one where you tune to an OTA station and the 921 can't lock. You try a different channel and the 921 jumps back to the first station. The 921 does not want to give up trying to lock onto the first channel. Sometimes when this happens the EPG gets so confused that when you do see a program, the browse banner displays the wrong channel (the banner displays the channel name & number that it could not lock to but the picture is of an another channel).
> 
> Mark, has this bug been officially recognized and if so was it addressed in the beta?


Michael - I've never seen this one, and have no idea if it's been reported through beta channels.


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## ClaudeR

Michael P - I have noticed the box going catatonic when I try to tune OTA with a bad mutipath - I have a Yagi pointed in the opposite direction as the "bad" station. I haven't tried it much, and just use the Dish local for the offending channel. But I definitely notice the misgivings of the OTA.


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## Slordak

Must... get... new... software. At least to alleviate my "font and layout corruption" issue which can apparently only be cured by taking a software update! If Dish managed to fix about half the bugs, why can't we get new software out sometime soon, rather than waiting to try and fix everything at once?


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## Michael P

Mark Lamutt said:


> Michael - I've never seen this one, and have no idea if it's been reported through beta channels.


Do you want this one posted in the bug report?

A little background on how I may have brought on this bug: Initially I used an omnidirectional antenna perched way up high atop two masts (20' above my roof). I get the closest stations o.k., but anything beyond the 4 mile radius gives me 0 signal. In my situation the transmitters are either 1 - 4 miles from here or 20+ miles from here (the "rim shot" stations). I bought a Silver Sensor to try and get the rim shots, I found out that I have to pearch the "SS" in a south looking window, above the screen, in order to get these stations. It's takes some doing to find the "sweet spot" where these stations come in. In my attempts to find the sweet spot, there have been several failed attempts. It's these failed attempts that have caused this bug to appear. At it's worst, the bug causes the wrong station to appear (the banner says it's one station but actually is a totally different station) sometimes I get an analog station whith a digital station in the banner or visa-versa. The EPG gets screwed up as well, selecting one digital station may will give a different station. I do a front panel reboot when this happens.

Last night for the first time a similar bug appeared on a satellite delivered channel. On FOX Sports Net Ohio the EPG and browse banner did not match, the banner said "Paid Programming", while the EPG had "NBA Basketball" (the EPG was correct, the banner incorrect). The channel name and number was correct, only the program name and descriptions were different (yes I was able to see two different descriptions depending on where I looked) This problem cleared up after a few minutes without having to reboot.

I'm wondering if what I'm doing in trying to receive these weaker stations is somehow causing the banner/EPG to become corrupted?


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## Mark Lamutt

Michael, please do and be as detailed and specific in your report as you can. I'll connect a signal attenuator in my line and see if I can replicate it by forcing the loss of an OTA signal on my side.


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## Stingray

_A little background on how I may have brought on this bug: Initially I used an omnidirectional antenna perched way up high atop two masts (20' above my roof). I get the closest stations o.k., but anything beyond the 4 mile radius gives me 0 signal. In my situation the transmitters are either 1 - 4 miles from here or 20+ miles from here (the "rim shot" stations)._ Michael P -

20+ miles from the transmitters (depending on terain) should not be a problem. Are you getting signal meter readings above 70? Does the 921 lock in those channels when scanned or added in?

I am in a rural area between Detroit, Lansing and Flint and get all the Digital OTA's from all three which are 25- 45 miles away from me in different directions with a big old VHF/UHF antenna and rotor on the roof with a pre amp.

Best of luck, Stingray


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## ebaltz

Stingray, move this subject over to the bug reports, you are off topic.


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## Michael P

Stingray, I use an omni because I live in the antenna farm. Every station comes from a different direction. The omni gives me 100+ signal strength on all the nearby stations (4 miles or less) but gives me 0 on the stations 25 miles away (terrain obstructions). The Silver Sensor helped for the 25 mile stations, but I have to move it to a different location and direction for every station. It's while moving the SS that I get the bug I reported.


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## SimpleSimon

Mark: the event deletion issue I was referring to is the one explaied by others in posts 65-67 or so. They totally blew that one.

The REALLY strange thing about it is that even though it is NOT deleting the event, it "pauses" the same amount of time as if it WAS deleting it.

I've also noticed that the "pick one recording to stop" dialog box will sometimes appear under the "deleting" box. When it's NOT going to delete, it's on top. Really, really, flaky code. I've reverse engineered a few  things before, but this one is WAY out there.


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## BobMurdoch

We're all familiar with the phrase three steps forward two steps back (especiallt all you early 90's Springsteen fans), but this is the first time I've seen 1 step forward, five steps back. They had things THIS close a few releases ago, but have slammed the ship into reverse the last few updates.

The GOOD news is that they just about killed the Grey Screen of Death. The BAD news they introduced flaky deletions when two timers are active, jittery video, Zero Second Recordings, Timers that won't sort into action order (and therefore screw up your labels and info descriptions in the process), restrictions of only 30 minutes on padded timers, an inability to have a flashing timer icon tell you the correct show timer about to fire when it starts at Midnight, and.... well I'm sure there are several others you all want to add to the list.

Once again, it's frustrating, becasue when this works it is awe inspiring. 

The funny thing is... I just got a Treo 650 Smartphone last week. Cutting Edge, groundbreaking usability, and weird bugs that pop at the weirdest times. Email, webbrowsing, phone calls, games and programs I can load, bluetooth, plus hot synching of my contacts, schedule, and email. I especially love the hands free wireless ear thingie that lets me talk without a cord in the car. What I DON'T like is the fact that it will lock up the phone at weird times, freeze the screen, and delete any scanned bluetooth devices after a soft or hard reboot. Then I have to load it again. Jeez, sound like any OTHER product near and dear to our hearts?


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## passing_ships

It would be great to get a release schedule right about now. Airline personnel have learned that keeping passengers informed about the progress of a delayed flight reduces impatience and improves PR.


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## BobMurdoch

Amen. The worst is when the "fix" shows up without warning and then bizarre things happen until it is rebooted. At least give us a CHANCE of saving our programs.

It also tends to make us less anxious than the current method which basically has us blindfolded and tells us that the next download is coming SOON (as we twitch at every rumor wondering if it will be coming this week or not)


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## invaliduser88

passing_ships said:


> It would be great to get a release schedule right about now. Airline personnel have learned that keeping passengers informed about the progress of a delayed flight reduces impatience and improves PR.


:eek2: What! Dish do something for EXISTING customers? That's funny! :lol:


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## Bradtothebone

Well, according to the Tech Chat last night, I guess the "official" answer to the question at the top of this thread is "Early to late March." How about that ball-of-fire Eldon engineer they had on? If he's representative of the team, we're in deeeeeep trouble here, guys!

Brad


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## ebaltz

Of 2005 or? Do we sound skeptical?


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## conner65

Bradtothebone said:


> Well, according to the Tech Chat last night, I guess the "official" answer to the question at the top of this thread is "Early to late March." How about that ball-of-fire Eldon engineer they had on? If he's representative of the team, we're in deeeeeep trouble here, guys!
> 
> Brad


I agree the Eldon engineer on the tech chat didn't exactly inspire confidence. Wasn't it intresting how uncomfortable the tech guys lokked answering the 921 questions. Also, did ya'll notice the caller that got cut off when he started asking more than one question on the 921?


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## DonLandis

Bob- The GSOD may be "just about" dead but not dead yet. I just had one last week when I attempted to do a simple recording, the first one since mid December. May I assume that the best way to prevent any 921 failure is to simple not use the 921? That has worked for me. 

Considering the last update we had on the 921 that accomplished anything at all was L188. During the period of time from Sep 9 2004 to Dec 7 2004 my 921 worked at it's best. No, there was no OTA guides but I don't have them today anyway because I won't pay additional for that feature on a receiver that doesn't work anyway. 
So my point is that on March 7th, it will be 6 (SIX) months since the people at Eldon have done anything constructive for the 921. I count the L211 release as DESTRUCTIVE. Echostar needs to just take back the 921 program and get it working in Atlanta. They need to dump the current beta program, including this illusion that this forum is a part of the program to fix the 921. E* needs to assign a task force of their top software engineers and do a fix to the L211 that works. They need to do their own in house testing with professionals. Using a structured test procedure that is inclusive of all conditions known to cause failure, build a new software that works. The release should be done with specific instructions to 921 owners on what to do (as in reboot with power plug etc.) and a warning as to when the release will be executed. The notice should include a list of known fixes and remaining issues. The notice should also state an e-mail address to report any problems back directly to the development group in Atlanta in a form filled out by the person, 921 owner, reporting.


In summary, I know what will fix the 921 blues for me. Just stop using it and use the HDTIVO which works and has many more features that work flawlessly as well. Sorry but that is just simply the truth.


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## deweybrunner

I guess i'm one of those who were lucky to get a great 921. Mine works flawlessly; no problems recording or reception of ota or satellite. The only regret is i paid 1000 dollars back in Jan, and now you can get one for half that.


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## Mark Lamutt

DonLandis said:


> including this illusion that this forum is a part of the program to fix the 921.


Wow...that actually hurts a little bit here, even through my highly thickened skin. I hope that the people that I've been able to help out over the past year would disagree...otherwise I really am just wasting my time here.

That's all for now. Shutting down.


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