# ASK DBSTalk: Working on a fix for rebooting?



## deweybrunner (Feb 8, 2004)

seems as though most 921 users are experiencing shutdown, blue screen with a black x then shuts off and begins to reboot. does this with me daily with no consistancy. changed from one satellite station to another last night lost nascar race for several minuites. is dish doing something about fixing this major problem? cannot enjoy watching for fear of shutdown!


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Of course they are, but please keep in mind that what you call a major problem is really many different problems that cause random reboots, and they are the most difficult ones to track down because #1) they are almost impossible to replicate and #2) bug reports either aren't or can't be specific enough to give the developers an idea where to even look for the problem. 

Dish currently has an extensive list of bug reports from here, as well as from the beta team. Many of those reports have to do with the 921 crashing and rebooting itself, including several related to channel changing. So, I know for a fact that they are working on it.


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## wcswett (Jan 7, 2003)

Mark Lamutt said:


> Of course they are, but please keep in mind that what you call a major problem is really many different problems that cause random reboots, and they are the most difficult ones to track down because #1) they are almost impossible to replicate and #2) bug reports either aren't or can't be specific enough to give the developers an idea where to even look for the problem.
> 
> Dish currently has an extensive list of bug reports from here, as well as from the beta team. Many of those reports have to do with the 921 crashing and rebooting itself, including several related to channel changing. So, I know for a fact that they are working on it.


I just experienced my first random reboot with my 921. It was tuned to The Weather Channel (214) and I wasn't in the room but could hear it. The sound stopped and I went in to see what was wrong. The "X" screen was up, followed shortly by the DISH disc. In this case at least, there were absolutely no viewer-induced activities going on at the time of reboot. It was just tuned to a satellite SD channel with no one in the room.

--- WCS


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Yeah, I get that from time to time as well - 921 on, but no activity going on at all except channel viewing. And then, boom - reboot.


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## Kagato (Jul 1, 2002)

Sounds like the 921 has a lot of the "quirks" the 721 has. I see the random reboots about once every three weeks on the 721 platform.


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## bytre (Sep 10, 2003)

Nothing is random, we just don't know the sequence that causes the failure.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

That's very true. The real question is do the developers know the various sequences leading to reboots. And from my conversations with them yesterday, I believe the answer to that question is yes. We'll see next week.


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

This has to be the most unstable distro of Linux I have ever seen. What kernel are they using, 0.4?

-Chris


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## Mike123abc (Jul 19, 2002)

4HiMarks said:


> This has to be the most unstable distro of Linux I have ever seen. What kernel are they using, 0.4?
> 
> -Chris


Even the most rock solid OS falls prey to hardware devices causing problems. I would suspect that driver software bugs are causing a lot of problems with the hardware.


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## jsanders (Jan 21, 2004)

4HiMarks said:


> This has to be the most unstable distro of Linux I have ever seen. What kernel are they using, 0.4?
> 
> -Chris


Bugs occur with both the application and the operating system. It is unreasonable to think that an operating system will prevent application developers from making mistakes that will crash the system, even with things like protected memory.

It seems short sighted to blame the 921's problems on Linux.

The 721 uses the same Linux, why doesn't it crash like the 921?? What changed between the 721 and the 921, the application, or the kernel??


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## Interprises (Feb 12, 2004)

Hi, Mark -- I purchased a 921 about 2 weeks ago, and this unit has the "vertical blue line" problem, as well as the random reboots, associated with channel changing. Would you recommend I return the unit to the retailer for a new unit, or should I return the unit to Dish Network? My biggest problem with the latter, is that my schedule is such that I cannot get to a FedEx pickup/dropoff location during their business hours.

Any help is greatly appreciated.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Most Fedex drop locations are open until 7:00pm (or at least they are in the Denver area). Contact the repair folks at Dish at the email address listed at the top of the forum, explain your situation and see what they say.


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## Interprises (Feb 12, 2004)

With my schedule even 7PM isn't much help, but thanks for the suggestion, Mark. I'll work something out. Good to hear a possible fix for the rebooting is in the works for the 20th. I take it the "blue line" problem requires bench time?


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Yes, they have to open it up to fix the problem. I suspect there's some soldering involved.


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