# Bug Report: Screen Freeze Then Reboot



## Mark_AR (Dec 25, 2003)

While watching DISC-HD tonight, the screen and audio froze.

Then the screen filled with uniformly spaced zig-zag lines with a black X in the middle.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
/\/\/\/\*X*/\/\/\/\/
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Then after 15 or 20 seconds the screen blanked and the unit rebooted. It took nearly 5 minutes for the picture to come back on.

Most recent activity before freeze: Browsing the channel guide. Didn't see anything good. Pressed cancel on remote. About 1 minute later is when screen froze.

Boot V: 120B
Flash V: F051
SW V: L142

921 is fed directly from Dish 500 Quad LNB. No switch.

No timers set.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

That's the standard linux equivalent to the windows BSOD (blue screen of death). When you see it, the 921 is on its way to rebooting, and the reboot takes between 4 and 5 minutes as you've seen.

First, please post your software, boot, and flash versions, along with what your satellite/switch setup is. Then, what were you doing with the receiver - turn it on, tune to Disc-HD and watch then reboot, or were you using the DVR commands, watching delayed, using aspect ratio controls, anything? Please be as detailed as possible.


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## MattG (Dec 31, 2003)

I have also seen the GSOD (grey screen of death) several times but I haven't been able to come up with a sequence of steps to reproduce it. Every time though I was jumping in and out of the guide. I'm using a dp34 switch with a dish 500 and a dish 300 at 61.5. If there are any dish network engineers reading this I'll GLADLY offer my services as a beta tester since I'm seeing the OTA bug as well as the scaling/stretching problems in 4x3 mode 


Matt

SW Version L142HECD-N
Boot Version 120B
Flash Version F051


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## peterd (Dec 17, 2003)

Mark Lamutt said:


> That's the standard linux equivalent to the windows BSOD (blue screen of death).


Just to be truly accurate (and not give Linux a bad name), that screen is the _*Dish 921*_ equivalent to the windows BSOD.

What you're seeing is a standard Linux "X windows" screen. Think of this as a Windows desktop before any customization (no icons, no background, etc.).

Normally, the 921's GUI (Graphical User Interface) is what we see displayed. If that program crashes, Linux can still run (unlike a Windows BSOD). However, the 921 developers have chosen to _require_ Linux to reboot when this happens. (As a Linux developer, I would usually not do this, but would instead configure an automatic restart of the failed program. I can understand, though, where this might be the more conservative choice in a consumer electronics product.)


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Ah, thanks for the clarification. Wasn't trying to pass on bad information.


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## peterd (Dec 17, 2003)

Mark Lamutt said:


> Ah, thanks for the clarification. Wasn't trying to pass on bad information.


Never thought so for an instant! Curiosity is a common bond among forum members (we're all here to learn), so whenever I have some insight to share... By the same token, I'm always learning new things myself!


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## alipka (Dec 11, 2003)

Please see my report on aspect ratio failure+ PIP = crash for another example of the gray screen of x death. This one appears to be more reproducible than yours.


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