HR21-700 0x18F Issues / Discussion

[Doug Brott]

HR21-700 0x18F
National Release: 11/30/2007

Release Notes: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=111076

[somguy]

Still acts randomly sluggish. You may press a button and then it responds like 10 seconds later. Chnaging a channel when it acts like this can take 2-3 minutes to switch the channel; then suddenly the problem will magically go away by itself without needing a RBR.

[wrz0170]

New feature(s)
Network connection used for Interactive and PPV communication

This wouldn't be for DOD would it? :) If not what does the interactive part mean?

[Doug Brott]

New feature(s)
Network connection used for Interactive and PPV communication

This wouldn't be for DOD would it? :) If not what does the interactive part mean?

This is not DIRECTV on Demand. This feature basically utilizes the network connection for communicating back to DIRECTV instead of the phone line .. I'm surprised it took this long to get DIRECTV into this mode.

[bobnielsen]

I lost Music & Pictures and a reset didn't restore it. Running a test says connected to the network but not the internet (it has been solid up to now). Oh, well, there's a CE tonight.

[LameLefty]

Watching "Deal or No Deal" on WSMV channel 4, Nashville MPEG4 HD local and tried to use 6 second skip back to see the promo for the next episode. I had been in the Guide as the promo was running, so I exited out of the Guide and hit the 6 Sec Back button and the screen froze with the info bar visible at the top but completely unresponsive. It's been over three minutes now so I am about to RBR.

I hope 0x190 is better than the 0x18e/f versions have been. :(

[Phil T]

Recording "My Night at the Grammys" KCNC-CBS-HD. Decided to stop and erase the recording. Pushed the record button twice which brought up the dialog box. Selected stop recording and delete. Recording does not stop or delete. Tried a second time, same results.

[Marcus S]

Stargate Atlantis scheduled to record at the same time BBC America News scheduled to record while watching Polar Express, so I let it timeout and the DVR took me to Atlantis but received blank picture no audio. Tried to select another channel and the conflict dialog appeared so I canceled BBC America, resuming Polar Express and clicked previous channel to go back to Atlantis, received picture with audio. Rewind, the DVR did not miss a minute of Atlantis from the beginning, but what's up with the blank screen? Never happened before.

[lsbrodsky]

Has anyone tried HD PPV since this update came in? Did it fix the problem?

[F1 Fan]

Has anyone tried HD PPV since this update came in? Did it fix the problem?

I will tell you tonight (or tomorrow) as I am ordering one later.

[looter]

Has anyone tried HD PPV since this update came in? Did it fix the problem?

New to the HR21. What is the HD PPV problem? Is it were you don't get the option to buy HD PPV and it instead records the 1st 5 minutes of the free preview then nothing?

[Cable_X]

has anyone notice if their HR21-700 with 18F locking up? i noticed this while trying to scroll through the guide (maybe too quickly). the remote just quits responding to everything, but audio. i have had to unplug the unit's power cord and plug it back in for it to respond.

[lsbrodsky]

Looter, yes that is the problem I assume they are fixing. It is the problem I have had and have not heard of any other. Generally unable to order HD PPV to record from the remote.

[Bill Broderick]

It appears that they have fixed the "resume" problem. Now, rather than starting at the beginning when attempting to resume a recorded program, it picks up where it left off, as it should. So, we no longer have to set a bookmark in order to return to the place where we left off.

[mbhelfman]

TwonkyMedia won't work with the HR21, doesn't play audio, photos work though.

I had this working on the HR20 and just upgraded to an HR21(wanted a black one).

[hdtvfan0001]

It seems with 18F, channel changing is sporadic in speed.

Last night tried a number of programs in the 200-300 range, with channel changes between as well - some were very fast, some very slow. There doesn'ts seem to be any pattern or particular channel on which this happens.

[dparisoe]

I keep having problems with the unit freezing, most of this time it happens during the 30 second slip. It is almost as if it goes into slow motion. This has happened with 0x18b and now it seems to happen worse with 0x18f. Does anyone have a solution or anyone having the same issue.

[dleit]

I keep having problems with the unit freezing, most of this time it happens during the 30 second slip. It is almost as if it goes into slow motion. This has happened with 0x18b and now it seems to happen worse with 0x18f. Does anyone have a solution or anyone having the same issue.

Hi, I'm new here.

My HR21 has frozen 2 times since the update. I did not notice any pattern as to what caused it, but I'm pretty sure the 30 second skip was not involved.

The only thing I want fixed is the stupid Channels I get list to be what I actually pay for.

Thanks for making me feel welcome.

[Blitz68]

Here is a problem.

When my unit had 18a on it whenever I would jump back on the live buffer to rewatch something the audio would keep going on and off until I changed the channel and came back again.

With 18b this problem was fixed, with 18f it is back again.

[pjo1966]

I just got this DVR on Saturday. When I went to power it up for the first time it got hung up and never reached the screen that says it's downloading info. I had to unplug it and start again. It did the same thing when i unplugged it to install the eSATA drive. I don't know whether or not this is related to the software.

[sbl]

The only problem I have seen so far with 18F is that it, once again, wiped out my network connection and I had to "reset to default" so that it would work again.

[pjo1966]

I just had another problem with my new HR21. It wouldn't respond to any of the play/pause/ff etc functions. I could go up and down the channels and view the list, but none of the other functions worked. I have this DVR set to the default position on the remote and the HR20 is controlled using AV1. That worked fine. A red button reset erased my recordings and Series Links. I don't know if it's back on the internal drive or not. The play functions work now.

[Cable_X]

Tried using Nero Scout (version 7 and 8) to view networked PC's content. It locked the HR21 up and I had to unplug it to reset it. Even the buttons on the box were unresponsive. I hadn't tried it on previous firmware, so I don't know if it's a 18f problem or not.

[docspencer]

I'm new here and have had a HR21 700S for less than a week. We are reasonably intelligent people and simply cannot figure out how to set CIR to ONLY the channels we really receive. We've read the manual; looked at the settings menu and....nothing.

On a related note, it seems our manual doesn't match the receiver we have - the manual talks about auto tune and the screen doesn't have that option - only record. Odd. Has anyone else had this problem?

[Cable_X]

I'm new here and have had a HR21 700S for less than a week. We are reasonably intelligent people and simply cannot figure out how to set CIR to ONLY the channels we really receive. We've read the manual; looked at the settings menu and....nothing.

On a related note, it seems our manual doesn't match the receiver we have - the manual talks about auto tune and the screen doesn't have that option - only record. Odd. Has anyone else had this problem?

The only option I know about is the creation of a "favorite channel" list. I believe it allows you to set up two favorite lists. I started with the channels I can get and deleted those that either I didn't want or that said I didn't subscribe to.

[kschoon1]

Watching MNF my HR21 froze up last night right at the end of the game. I went to rewind to show my wife the final catch and the video completely froze up. The audio was still playing but the video froze. I had to unplug the unit and plug it back in to get it to work again, of course rebooting in the process and since I wasn't recording the gaem losing everything. Anyone else have this problem since the update?

[houskamp]

I'm new here and have had a HR21 700S for less than a week. We are reasonably intelligent people and simply cannot figure out how to set CIR to ONLY the channels we really receive. We've read the manual; looked at the settings menu and....nothing.

On a related note, it seems our manual doesn't match the receiver we have - the manual talks about auto tune and the screen doesn't have that option - only record. Odd. Has anyone else had this problem?
manual has been rewritten dozens of times.. hardly applies.. And yes CIR doesn't work on the HR series (and several other recievers).. they are working hard on it tho..
best bet is to setup a favorites list.... I have one named Real...

[cashoe]

0x18f locked up on me today, pressed pause while watching a program about 4 minutes back in the live buffer. Pressed the pause button and video paused, but audio kept playing for several seconds, then the unit locked up. RBR seems to have fixed the problem.

[looter]

HR21 becomes unresponsive to remote. Especially to the INFO button while viewing NFLST. I believe it is a conflict with Player Tracker. Generally, changing channels and returning to the original channel restore the INFO function.

Also, the HR21 became unresponsive to ALL remote commands. I had to press the buttons on the front panel of the HR21 to revive it.

[pjo1966]

HR21 becomes unresponsive to remote. Especially to the INFO button while viewing NFLST. I believe it is a conflict with Player Tracker. Generally, changing channels and returning to the original channel restore the INFO function.

Also, the HR21 became unresponsive to ALL remote commands. I had to press the buttons on the front panel of the HR21 to revive it.

Just curious, are you running off the internal drive or an eSATA?

[shocky]

Today I paused live TV and pressed list.

In the PIP on the List menu it turned to fuzz and the unit froze. Wouldn't respond to keys or remote. RBR nothing.. Waited about 5 minutes never unfroze.

Had to pull the power cord..

[Marcus S]

The outstanding issue I have is that if I have a scheduled a HD network recording on a local but a conflict arises in the priortizer, the DVR will not pick up the same first run on the west coast network feed at a later time. This last upgrade did one good thing, it finally dropped the east coast HD nets in the EPG when viewing "What I Get". What still shows is all other HD channels including premium HBO, Showtime, etc, all Sports subscription channels, all International Channels. "Channels I do not get". Hope for remove duplicate SD/HD channels and DoD coming soon.

Also, still not working record first run on say NBC local, record first run on NBC West, keep two. You get four, two locals, two west. Select show recording, only shows keep two in the folder. Why do I have four again? These are duplicates, recorded by Title which is supposedly more generic than recording by channel, Rec - Rec.

Since I have two HR21's I conducted a test, one accepting upgrades and one I decline. Each and everytime I perform a full reset delete everything command, the DVR comes back without any issue, only the one down to 7% free / keep recordings has issue. D* should just rebuild the schedule automatically after each EPS, make it standard, and prompt a compress as an option after reboot boot.

If the HR21 piles up with recordings and you nickel and dime the deletes during recordings, it seems to get stuck on the 4% range, then locks up. So, don't delete during active recordings or expect to receive a dialog that states "Please Wait". Humm. An Hour or more to complete? That's informative, but it is compressing the hard drive.

[Jeones]

RBR?

I have had one lockup. We were watching a recorded program and went to Search. The Search screen came up and we got to the select screen where you select the letters and it froze. We had to unplug it and plug it back in.

It was also recording at the time. We were unable to watch was was being recorded even though it was in the List. We just deleted it.

[Agent Orange]

I've had a new H21 up and running since the first of October. A few days ago, I encountered a audio/video sync difficulities. It appears that the my audio is ahead of the video by 3 or 4 words. Very annoying. A call to DTV resulted in a "you must be crazy" type of response because "this was the first time we've heard that one". Anyway, being "crazy", I unpluged the H21 for about a minute or so and it did it's reboot routine. Lo and behold - the sync problem went away, or at least it appeared to go away. After turnin the TV and H21 off for the night, the next day the sync problem was back. The unplug-reboot routine does fix the problem. Sounds like a firmware bug to me. Any suggestions? :

[bobnielsen]

My HR21-700 didn't respond when I tried to turn it on this afternoon. The LEDs on the network ports were lit but that was all. I removed power for 30 seconds and when I plugged it back in the power light came on for a second and went back out. I waited and nothing happened. I tried it a couple more times with the same result. I figured I'd give it one more chance and the circle of lights started to spin. It appears to be fine now, but I was getting worried.

[shocky]

Definite stability problems with this national release.

[loungeofmusic]

Freezes all the time. Right now I'm rebooting (after a 30 second power off) for the third time today. I can hear the hard drive spinning like it's stuck in a loop. I've also waited for 15 or 20 minutes to see if it clears on it's own. No such luck though!
Tried the 190 software but the problem remained. So I went back to 18F and it's still the same!!! Love the box, connects well into my system, power on with HDMI, picture quality's amazing now if I could only watch it for a day without a reboot:lol:

[GBFAN]

The unit will not stay on Stretch, it always resets itself to Pillar Box.

Got a gray screen on HD Locals last night and did a menu reset to get them back. SD channels were working.

[redwoode]

My HR21 on esata and no freezes or reboots since F release so far...knock on wood...

[wbcollegekid]

When watching non-HD channels the audio gets converted down to PCM, even though dolby digital is selected in the audio section. This causes the sound to be muffled. Is anyone else experiencing this problem on non-HD channels?

[looter]

Just curious, are you running off the internal drive or an eSATA?

I'm using the internal hard drive.

Also, have had multiple instances were pressing pause only pauses VIDEO, while AUDIO continues. I did a reset once and my girlfriend said she just turn the HR21 off then back on and it started working again.

0x18F = Not so stable.

Come on DIRECTV get this thing working consistently.

1. Get PPV working.
2. Get search working and usable.
3. Remove channels I don't want from the guide and scheduler.
4. Fix Prioritizer so I can actually edit Series Links even if no episodes are scheduled.

Perhaps
5. DLB!!!! (okay pipe dream)
6. OTA??????????????????? After all I was told I would be getting an HR20 by multiple DIRECTV employees. There will be a solution blah, blah, blah. Vaporware anyone?

I am not using CE here!

P.S. Why is it you can't actually schedule anything from Scheduler?

[loungeofmusic]

Just got a replacement receiver from D* (other one kept locking up).
Since the 18f software I have lost HDMI control. As soon as I unplug the HDMI cable from the HR21, then the rest of my system gets HDMI control. Plugged in, doesn't work.
Must be a software glitch in 18f. Anyone else having this problem?

[Marcus S]

Next bug, record any program as First Run and the one you click on in the EPG or by search title records as First Run from say 2003 and future episodes show no first run coming. Makes me delete the so called 2003 run in the to do list when the DVR should not have scheduled the one time recording to begin with. If you delete the bogus recording coming up because it is not First Run, it deletes the entry from the priortizer. Clever.

[Cable_X]

Just got a replacement receiver from D* (other one kept locking up).
Since the 18f software I have lost HDMI control. As soon as I unplug the HDMI cable from the HR21, then the rest of my system gets HDMI control. Plugged in, doesn't work.
Must be a software glitch in 18f. Anyone else having this problem?

I have had some HDMI issues with my HR21-700 and my Samsung DLP 5089s. The box seems to lock up (more than usual with 18f). Instead of resetting the box as I normally do, yesterday I got the TV's remote and repicked the HDMI connection for the box as the source (TV input on remote). It reconnected and all was well until it "locked" again. Been using the TV's remote to reconnect ever since. Long story short with my TV - there are HDMI issues between the HR21 and Samsung DLP's. I spoke to techs. at Samsung and they suggested I get a HR20 as they have multiple reports of the HDMI issues with the HR21.

[bpdunsta]

I just "upgraded" from the HR20 to the HR21. I noticed a few differences and just wanted to make sure it wasn't just me missing something, but that these options really are "missing" on the HR21.

(1) on Main Menu, no "My Playlist"
(2) on Main Menu, no "On Demand"
(3) in Help & Settings --> Display --> Preferences, no option for "Guide HD Channels"
(4) in List --> To-Do, no option to set "Rec. Defaults"


#1 and #3 aren't big deals to me. Since #3 is fairly new on the HR20, I had already been handling this via Favorites.

While I haven't really used #2 on my HR20, it seems odd that this feature is missing from the HR21. Is it really missing? Or am I just not able to find the setting somewhere?

#4 isn't a huge deal either now that I went in reset my season passes (or whatever they're called in the non-Tivo world), but this also seems like a feature that should be there.


Note: I have my HR21 hooked up to a working phone line that tests OK and the networking funtionality is setup and tests OK.

[Cable_X]

I just "upgraded" from the HR20 to the HR21. I noticed a few differences and just wanted to make sure it wasn't just me missing something, but that these options really are "missing" on the HR21.

(1) on Main Menu, no "My Playlist"
(2) on Main Menu, no "On Demand"
(3) in Help & Settings --> Display --> Preferences, no option for "Guide HD Channels"
(4) in List --> To-Do, no option to set "Rec. Defaults"


#1 and #3 aren't big deals to me. Since #3 is fairly new on the HR20, I had already been handling this via Favorites.

While I haven't really used #2 on my HR20, it seems odd that this feature is missing from the HR21. Is it really missing? Or am I just not able to find the setting somewhere?

#4 isn't a huge deal either now that I went in reset my season passes (or whatever they're called in the non-Tivo world), but this also seems like a feature that should be there.


Note: I have my HR21 hooked up to a working phone line that tests OK and the networking funtionality is setup and tests OK.

As far as I know, ON DEMAND is not ready for the HR21-700 yet. I think it's still being BETA'd.

[GAM]

The recording defaults is in the HR21 but is harder to find. I think once you have a recording setup select it in the To Do List and then press menu and the record default choice will be in there.

[bpdunsta]

The recording defaults is in the HR21 but is harder to find. I think once you have a recording setup select it in the To Do List and then press menu and the record default choice will be in there.


I can definitely alter the defaults when setting up/editing a series recording...but I can't find any place to define the defaults (i.e. First Run Only, # of episodes to keep, etc.). Not a huge deal, but, it was nice with the HR20 to be able to define the defaults once, then just use record-record in the Guide to setup a season pass without having to do any editing.

[looter]

I can definitely alter the defaults when setting up/editing a series recording...but I can't find any place to define the defaults (i.e. First Run Only, # of episodes to keep, etc.). Not a huge deal, but, it was nice with the HR20 to be able to define the defaults once, then just use record-record in the Guide to setup a season pass without having to do any editing.

I don't think there is a 'save as default' or similar function for setting up Series Links. But I wish there was.

If there is, I'd love to know about it.

[GAM]

I can definitely alter the defaults when setting up/editing a series recording...but I can't find any place to define the defaults (i.e. First Run Only, # of episodes to keep, etc.). Not a huge deal, but, it was nice with the HR20 to be able to define the defaults once, then just use record-record in the Guide to setup a season pass without having to do any editing.


It is in there. I changed my defaults for all recordings that get setup. From the Tips and tricks sheet: Press LIST , ● YELLOW button, & Select any show. Click Rec. Once, Press MENU , & then click Record Defaults.

[looter]

It is in there. I changed my defaults for all recordings that get setup. You need to go into a recording in the To Do List after it has been initially setup and press the menu key which will pop up menu choices one of which will be Rec. Defaults.

Ok, great. I will give that a try.

Do you know of any way to edit an SL with no episodes scheduled to be recorded?

[GAM]

Ok, great. I will give that a try.

Do you know of any way to edit an SL with no episodes scheduled to be recorded?

I edited the info for record defaults because I forgot one step (See above post).

I'm not sure if you can edit a SL without a scheduled epsiode yet. I think that is something be worked on.

[bpdunsta]

It is in there. I changed my defaults for all recordings that get setup. From the Tips and tricks sheet: Press LIST , ● YELLOW button, & Select any show. Click Rec. Once, Press MENU , & then click Record Defaults.

That worked! It's definitely "buried"....just expected it to work the same as the HR20.

Thanks for the info!

[GAM]

That worked! It's definitely "buried"....just expected it to work the same as the HR20.

Thanks for the info!

It will work the same as the HR20 eventually as the HR21 "catches up" through software updates.

[grantyn]

Resume starts my HR21 from the beginning of the recording under 18f

[jpenneck]

Both of my HR21-700 now occasionally freeze when rewinding a live show. I haven't noticed it in a pre-recorded show yet and this evening one of the boxes froze and then rebooted itself.

For the most part this boxes have been trouble free up to this point so I can only assume it was the latest update (0x18F).

Anyone else experiencing this ?

[jhoward]

Both of my HR21-700 now occasionally freeze when rewinding a live show. I haven't noticed it in a pre-recorded show yet and this evening one of the boxes froze and then rebooted itself.

For the most part this boxes have been trouble free up to this point so I can only assume it was the latest update (0x18F).

Anyone else experiencing this ?

I am. Like several others have reported, when pausing, rewinding, or fast forwarding, the audio keeps going while video freezes. The box won’t respond to input from remote or front panel. I’ve only seen it on live TV. It happened a couple times when I first got the box 3-4 weeks ago, with the old software version. Now with 0x18F, it’s been happening at least once a day for the past week. Have to RBR to fix it.

Called D*, their diagnosis was “weak signal” and said to check my connections, which I am gonna do later, but I’m not hopeful about that fix. If that doesn’t fix it, they said they’d send a tech. I’ll report back with the result.

Haven’t seen the box reset itself, though.

I have also seen pixelization, but only on one show last week. Very rare.

Also have seen bad lip synch on CNNHD a lot, esp Anderson Cooper 360.

Box also will not stay in 1080 stretch, keeps resetting to 1080 pillar box.

It also will not serve me pop-tarts on demand.

But one thing at a time.

[ColdCase]

I've had an HR21 for awhile that seemed to work fine prior to the 0x18f update on 11/30. Now I am seeing a couple things reported here.

On two occasions, when I've turned the unit on and attempted to rewind through the live buffer, the unit locked up. The video froze but the audio played for 30 seconds or so before it quit. After waiting 5-10 minutes, pressing the reset button returned the unit to operation. On both occasions the show was also being recorded. On the second occasion. The show was recorded until the freeze up (about 30 minutes), however the time line showed a short break about two minutes after the recording started. When I play this show, it plays till the break, stops and asks me if I want to delete the show... as if it finishes the whole show. I tried fast forwarding and skipping but have not been able to figure out how to view the video after the break.

On occasion when the show is at the end, the unit forgets to display the delete/save prompt, giving the appearance of a frozen unit.

The unit forgot to record the show Cold Case last week, no reason given, just seemed to forget all about it.

The unit will sometimes hang up a few seconds on a fast forward or rewind, then continue.

On occasion the unit will refuse any remote input for several seconds.

I've always noticed lip sync problems on certain shows.

I had one 771 where signal level dropped significantly on both tuners for a couple minutes.

By the way, the H20 has been flawless for over a year now.

[jhoward]

Update: Checking connections didn't solve the freezing problem, no surprise. My signal strengths all looked fine before and after.

New wrinkle today - it stuck on rewind, wouldn't respond, needed to RBR.

Also got the error ColdCase mentioned - it wouldn't give the delete/don't delete prompt at the end of the show.

Box seems to be deteriorating daily. Have a call in to D* for tech or box replacement - their computers are down, said to call back in a couple hours.

[Maruuk]

My HR21 exhibits loss of audio for around 10 seconds about 50% of the time when I start up a recorded program. I haven't noticed anyone else with this problem.

[rklatzkin]

It appears that they have fixed the "resume" problem. Now, rather than starting at the beginning when attempting to resume a recorded program, it picks up where it left off, as it should. So, we no longer have to set a bookmark in order to return to the place where we left off.

My "resume" does not work. Every time I switch out of a recorded program, the resume starts at the beginning.

I spoke with Directv. They sent me a replacement box, even though it seemed obvous to not be my box. The new box had the same problem. I spoke with another techy, and they now recognize this as a problem for the HR21. She said that at some point they have have enough reports to recognize in an internal bulletin.

They are working on the problem. She presented the bookmark solution, but this doesn't work very well.

[JohnDG]

New HR21: UPS, Signal levels good, 48* channels check out.

Tried to record Criminal Minds (KPIX): got an hour of grey/white screen. Able to play/ff thru recording, but nothing there. RBR do not retrieve the recording. HDTV space was used (2% released when recording was deleted).

No other problems, other than some breakups on Boston Legal. Have recorded other shows from KPIX successfully.

Additional note: resume into currently recording shows does not work; resume into shows that have completed recording does work.

jdg

[Maruuk]

Now I get no audio upon return to PLAY after FF, then it runs the :10 of audio I lost in a Mickey Mouse jumble (like a sped-up tape) all together. I get various freezes and other glitches as well. The HR21 is clearly a cheap toy foisted on us by DTV making us all their beta-testers for a half-designed, decontented ill-conceived product. This is going back to the Chinese political prisoner elves who built it.

[rklatzkin]

Now I get no audio upon return to PLAY after FF, then it runs the :10 of audio I lost in a Mickey Mouse jumble (like a sped-up tape) all together. I get various freezes and other glitches as well. The HR21 is clearly a cheap toy foisted on us by DTV making us all their beta-testers for a half-designed, decontented ill-conceived product. This is going back to the Chinese political prisoner elves who built it.

Agreed. Lots of problems.

Any time I pause, the sound get out of sync. Takes forever to come back.
Slow motion is a joke.
Resume doesn't work on live recordings, which is a joke.
when a game ended early that was recording, it didn't continue to buffer on that tuner. Thus, the end of the game was lost. Maybe if I didn't have tivo, I wouldn't make this mistake.

Technically its 2 tuners, but really only for recording. Lack of dual buffers is a joke. I understand its a patent thing, but they need to take care of it.
Why have all of these channels and no way to effectively use them?
Why take such a large step back from the tivo hd?
They seem to be at war with Tivo, why customers suffer.

I loved Directv and Tivo HD. I am really mad they tricked me into a 2 year contract wth the upgrade of the box & dish. If I had any idea it was this bad, I would have never done it.

Anyone have creative work arounds.

[Maruuk]

I was perfectly happy to follow Tivo into HD forever. Tivo was a magical land where everything was intuitive, supremely functional, and worry-free.

But Rupert Murdoch was going to ship us all 20 million free HD DVRs. Instead he shipped us decontented dysfunctional HR21s for $300 lease rights. He calls DTV the "Turd Bird". Which is what everything he touches turns to.

[rklatzkin]

Well, i hate the dvr, but I'm now in the basement using it.
Why? The NFL Network in HD.

I live in ACC land, but the Big 10 Network in HD is really good.
Every conference should have this.

The only reason to ever have Dtv is for sports. I nearly had a mutiny with the family when I got rid of comcast. Then, they discovered tivo. If they ever had to use this HR21, the demands for bringing back comcast will start.

On top of the functions that don't work, there are tons of design flaws.
Some:
- Look up what's on in the guide. The guide isn't wide enough to display enough of the show title for you tell what's on.
- slow motion. Takes about 10 seconds to get started and it really should have a key of its own.
- duall buffers. I understand there is an issue w/patents, but why can't it be buffering both at the same time.
- when you've paused, you can't get rid of the directv status bars. they are stuck on the screen and are in the way.

Enough whining. There are some things I really like. I'm going to list.

[BobCA]

I upgraded from my DirecTV Tivo to the HR21 last week. I love Tivo but wanted all the new HD channels. Although (IMO) the DirecTV DVR software is NOT as good as TIVO, it's still better then I was expecting.

Suggestions:

1. The Guide. The TIVO guide was one of the best features about Tivo. You could scan hours of programs quickly with the channels listed on the left and the programs displaying on the right (vertically) as you click down the channel list. The HR21 guide is a disappointment. Just th same old, run of the mill guide.

2. As many have already mentioned, a dual buffer would be nice. I used it all the time with TIVO.

3. The search feature includes PPV channels and lists the same movie over and over and over again. I did a search with over 112 results. About 2/3s were the same PPV movie listed at all the different times it played. Very annoying.

Problems:

1. I have noticed sound sync issues on USA-HD and CNN-HD. When I turned to CNN (SD), the sound and video were sync'ed just fine. From what I've been reading, this issue is not just with the HR21?

2. The HR21 is sometimes slow to react to the remote and channel surfing is slower with this receiver.

3. When I checked my signal strength, I got a message saying that doing so would interupt my recording. Normally I would understand that, but the recording didn't start until 7:30pm and it was only 7:10pm. Although I had 20 minutes before the recording began, I still had to reprogram the show to record.

4. I was told by the DirecTV rep when I ordered the upgrade that DirecTV on Demand would be available on the HR21 by 12/1. Needless to say, I don't have it yet.

5. I agree with the previous poster, it's not a big deal but the status bar should disappear from the screen after 4 or 5 seconds when pause is used.

[pjo1966]

1. The Guide. The TIVO guide was one of the best features about Tivo. You could scan hours of programs quickly with the channels listed on the left and the programs displaying on the right (vertically) as you click down the channel list. The HR21 guide is a disappointment. Just th same old, run of the mill guide.

I'm not sure if you already know this, but when you're in the guide, if you move to the left so the channel name is highlighted you can then hit INFO to see hours worth of programming for that channel. It's not quite the same, but it helps.

[BobCA]

I'm not sure if you already know this, but when you're in the guide, if you move to the left so the channel name is highlighted you can then hit INFO to see hours worth of programming for that channel. It's not quite the same, but it helps.

I did not know that. THANKS Pjo1966. Your right, it's not quite the Tivo guide, but it's much better then using the regular guide. I appreciate the tip.

[Doug Brott]

4. I was told by the DirecTV rep when I ordered the upgrade that DirecTV on Demand would be available on the HR21 by 12/1. Needless to say, I don't have it yet.

I don't think a release date has been announced yet.

[DrummerBoy523]

I don't think a release date has been announced yet.

DOD is showing up on my bill today. I have no idea how this is supposed to work...

[buckweet1980]

Has anyone noticed the guide being slower and changing channels between non-HD and HD channels take longer since the software upgrade?

[looter]

Has anyone noticed the guide being slower and changing channels between non-HD and HD channels take longer since the software upgrade?

I don't know if is it SLOWER but it is SLOW. Why do I get 'please wait' when I hit more info? I thought one of the BIG deals about this thing was how much faster it is supposed to be than the HR10-250.

Why does the sorted/filtered guide take over 5 MINUTES?

[looter]

Let me add to the issues I'm seeing with 0x18F

Last Sunday 12/9/07, the HR21 started recording 60 Minutes on BOTH tuners at 7:25PM. My playlist ended up with TWO identical versions, both 35 minutes of 60 Minutes from KCBS, local HD CBS affiliate.

Today, tried to turn on the HR21. It was locked up and had to RBR, which takes about 7-10 minutes to go through all the startup screens.

I can say I definitely do not have to restart my HR10-250 regularly. I honestly can't remember the last time I restarted it other than to force a software upgrade activation after a 'Pending restart'.

[GBFAN]

Another new issue for me.

Weekend ABC7NEWS I have scheduled to record at 10 PM. The Saturday 10 PM news was just a gray screen. You could FF but it would just jump random times but it was always a gray screen. It eventually showed that I FF 7:16 as in 7 hours and 16 minutes for a 35 minute recording. I could never get it to give me keep or delete. I also checked the previous weeks recording for Sunday night that we didn't watch and it was also gray.

[lucky13]

On top of the functions that don't work, there are tons of design flaws.
Some:

- when you've paused, you can't get rid of the directv status bars. they are stuck on the screen and are in the way.



Try pressing EXIT. That should kill the progress bar and keep you paused.

[bullshark]

Randomly sluggish
Sometimes "goes away" for 20 -30 seconds
Locked up twice - RBR required
Recorded Boston Legal full hour - immediately displays "Delete now" when played; no content accessible
Does not resume recordings in progress correctly
Does not resume single live buffer correctly
Live buffer sometimes shows a/v synchronization problems; partially fixable by pausing and backing a frame or two
Resumption of live play in live buffer sometimes has audio stutter with repeating 1-2 second losses of audio
Press'nHold "video back" (move to tic) reverts to live (right)end of buffer if it crosses the start (left)end of the live buffer
I've had several access card issues-authorized channels appearing disabled
Got a one hour recording of black screen "Searching for authorization" - MGMHD


#9 is erratic; sometimes it won't visit leftmost 2-3 tics jumping instead to 2-3 tics before the right (live) end, and sometimes ok for a bit.

On the good side, I haven't gotten any white-screen recordings since the update to 0x18f.

[lucky13]

I've had several access card issues-authorized channels appearing disabled
Got a one hour recording of black screen "Searching for authorization" - MGMHD


Several HD stations without SD counterparts, including MGM, have been pushed to an HD Extra Pack at an additional $4.99 month, as of 12/16.

Numerous threads about on this site about the fairness/suddenness/wisdom/
chutzpah of this move.

[JohnDG]

HR21; Good signal lock on all sats.

Set to record two Monday night HDTV FOX one-hour network shows back to back (Series Links):

First show: recorded and played for 44 minutes, then "Delete/Keep" message. Unable to progress further using any method.

Second show: started where the first show left off for a couple of seconds, then went to an immediate "Delete/Keep" message. Unable to progress or play the second show in any way or form.

So far the HR21 has been able to successfully record a little more than 90% of the shows scheduled. Guess I'll have to keep recording duplicate copies on my SD recorder for the foreseeable future.

jdg

[GBFAN]

Another new issue for me.

Weekend ABC7NEWS I have scheduled to record at 10 PM. The Saturday 10 PM news was just a gray screen. You could FF but it would just jump random times but it was always a gray screen. It eventually showed that I FF 7:16 as in 7 hours and 16 minutes for a 35 minute recording. I could never get it to give me keep or delete. I also checked the previous weeks recording for Sunday night that we didn't watch and it was also gray.


Same issue occurred again last night. The HD Channel was gray again. The SD channel was working. The DVR was left on this particular channel all day. It worked fine in the morning before my wife went to work. The unit was turned off when she left.

[captainjrl]

I had my freeze yesterday when trying to get inside of a folder inside the recordings list. Had to reboot to get it back. Could have something to do with my eSata drive being 98% full