Tech Forum - February 10th

[Mark Holtz]

Hopefully, an admin will make this a sticky...

According to Dish Network (http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/support/charlie_chat/index.asp), the Tech Forum is on Monday, February 10th at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT.

REMEMBER! NO QUESTIONS ABOUT CHANNEL REQUESTS OR PROGRAMMING!

[shilton]

My questions for the teckies are 2 fold...1st...My 301 has a PPV on it from October that Dish is yet to pull and bill me for. We have heard rumors that Dish's phone lines are swamped. What is being done to address concerns from customers like me who have PPV events that we aren't being billed for due to the receiver's inability to connect to Dish...and before you jump to conclusions...YES I AM PLUGGED INTO A WORKING PHONE LINE.

(2)...For about the past month, my 501's fan keeps running once the unit has been powered off and it keeps running unless a reboot is done. I believe this is a software issue since it didn't happen until I received a software upgrade. Is Dish aware of this problem and what is being done to address it???

That's it

[Marcus S]

Shilton, there is a bug in all open TV receiver firmware currently, where if you have not gone to diagnostics and selected dialout, the receiver will forever keep trying to dial into E* every few hours. If you have the patience, try this option even though it may take up to one hour to succesfully connect because you will see status, and your PPV purchases will go away within a few days.

I have tried to convence E* ATS of this because it is very repeatable on a newly activated receiver, but they do not seem interested.

[sampatterson]

The usual standby questions (although not technical): OpenTV for 721, when? 921, when please please?

[shilton]

Originally posted by Marcus S
Shilton, there is a bug in all open TV receiver firmware currently, where if you have not gone to diagnostics and selected dialout, the receiver will forever keep trying to dial into E* every few hours. If you have the patience, try this option even though it may take up to one hour to succesfully connect because you will see status, and your PPV purchases will go away within a few days.

I have tried to convence E* ATS of this because it is very repeatable on a newly activated receiver, but they do not seem interested.
Marcus, Thanks for the tip...and by the way, I am pleasantly surprised, to be reading a kind response from you. I guess I misjudged you, as it seems you are not "all negative"...but I will say that your intent on some of the other threads may not have come off the way you meant for it to. I apologize for "side-slamming" you for your earlier posts on the other threads! Hope you can forgive me. But let me ask you....what happens if I try this and it says "no dial out pending???" I am pretty sure I tried this one before and that was the message I got. Any ideas here. Again...keep in mind my phone line tests ok and it IS plugged in. Dish gave me some silly idea about turn the receiver off then turn it back on right away and leave it sit for about 20 minutes and it will clear the PPV and it didn't. Guess they don't want their $$$ bad enough.

[Steve Mehs]

Here's somethings I've been wondering-

Will there ever be name based recordings on DishPVRs?
Limiting search & themes to only channels you sub to?
Being able to switch channels in the 1/4 screen EPG?
Any info on the 211, 322 or 522?

[johnsmith22]

Could the extended guide be put on 119 or at least on one of the transponders at 110 that is received at a decent level in the USVI and Puerto Rico, or failing that could the 501/8 software be modified to default to the standard guide if the extended guide is not available for any reason.

[Scott Greczkowski]

I always look forward to the Tech Chats, I like when they are Tech and not hour long ads. :)

I am very hopeful that by the tech chat I will have some 721 news and pictures to share with everyone. :) Keep your fingers crossed everyone.

[BobMurdoch]

1. Where is the 721 keyboard?
2. Will you PLEASE allow us users who already pay for broadband elsewhere to bring our own internet access for use with the 721 (even if you put a small fee for BYOInternetAccess)
3. What is a REALISTIC ship date for the 921. Any words on cost?
4. When are you going to fix the delayed audio bug when jumping backwards and forwards with recordings (skipping commercials etc.)
5. When are we getting Interactive Weather and Dish Home for the 721
6. What new features do you have planned for the 721 in coming releases, if any.

[BobMurdoch]

Oh, and can you fix the search function so it doesn't limit us to 600 results. That sounds like a lot but with all the PPV movies and movies on international channels, I can only search for movies around 9 hours ahead as they waste 25% of the results on movies that already started hours ago. Either that or allow us to use filters to weed out movies we don't want on the list (ie, PPVs, foreign language, etc.)

[jquaglino]

When will be able to receive PSIP information in the guide from our local digital stations who are broadcasting the info?

[DarrellP]

Once again, my quarterly request for the 6000 to be able to read the PSIP Guide Data so we can know what the Frill we are watching.

Make the 6000 so it does not lose it's brains after sitting on an OTA channel for awhile.

Get rid of the progress bar when fast forwarding a recording on the PVR's, or at least move it lower AND make it translucent AND put a time-based counter in.

Option to disable Mr. Blinkey on PVR's.

Add a Sleep function to the PVR's and an option to power off after playing a recording.

[FTA Michael]

All we really need is more Kim Cattrall!

[Uncle Peter]

Maybe those of us that have those Buggy Dishplayers should call and ask for our Money back. What a Joke those things were. Do they even make them anymore???

[Marcus S]

Originally posted by shilton

Marcus, Thanks for the tip...and by the way, I am pleasantly surprised, to be reading a kind response from you. I guess I misjudged you, as it seems you are not "all negative"...but I will say that your intent on some of the other threads may not have come off the way you meant for it to. I apologize for "side-slamming" you for your earlier posts on the other threads! Hope you can forgive me. But let me ask you....what happens if I try this and it says "no dial out pending???" I am pretty sure I tried this one before and that was the message I got. Any ideas here. Again...keep in mind my phone line tests ok and it IS plugged in. Dish gave me some silly idea about turn the receiver off then turn it back on right away and leave it sit for about 20 minutes and it will clear the PPV and it didn't. Guess they don't want their $$$ bad enough.

It means that the receiver believes the SIM firmware and programming is current. So your receiver should be dialing out to upload purchases. What happens when you run the phone line diagnostic? The turning off the receiver option is now a reboot when you pull the smart card out and wait for the system info screen to appear and then re-insert it. The receiver will re-boot and display "acquiring satellite". It does take 90 days for the purchases to clear from the date of purchase, so if you purchased in Nov, they should clear any day. If not the pull power plug idea may be required. After test phone connection diags and if unable to detect a phone line, that is not good.

On the other, I have been a E* since 97' and an old geezer on dbsforums. I am still concerned about the issue because as I thought, most did not tally all package increases that have occured this last year and those that sub to the 100/150 are not laughing at the latest increase while 50/everything subs where given a waiver.

[Bill D]

721 features, like internet and 3 timer conflict screen. Fix any 721 bugs. Maybe even tell us about know bugs maybe a nice fullscreen graphic..

[BobaBird]

The show again does not appear in the DISHPlayer listings. DP owners will have to create a manual timer or, if it still doesn't appear after the Monday download, turn DP off, enter 7225000, turn DP on, press Home, wait for 44-hour guide to load, go to guide.

Speaking of the DP, we're still losing sound after using the skip buttons, also seeing HTML or similar on several screens.

Will the DP still be getting the Dish EEPG?

Thank you for P168 on the 501/508. The new slow-motion and frame-advance, as well as the improvements to Search and the Timers screen, seem to be very well implemented. I was disappointed that, despite all the work in these areas, a couple of annoyances are still with us: we can't scroll the timer list and can't delete a single entry from search history.

What does P169 do for us? Any new/changed features? What bugs were fixed?

Are there still any plans to use the 501's expansion port?

Last month Charlie gave an unsatisfactory answer to a question about 4 satellite reception. There may not be a lot, but there are people for whom this is a legitimate need. Please show solutions for both legacy and DishPro switches.

[larrydj]

Another 721 bug question: It doesn't receive channel RFI, at 660. When will this be fixed?

[rych]

Dishplayer issues: video blinkouts, loss of sound in skip forward/backward on locals, HTML on various screens, rebooting and downloading channel map after 2 AM download; 2 AM download during standard time in Pacific time zone.
-Rych

[Cyclone]

Ask again about the Dish 6000 and the PSIP in the Local Digital Guide. This item is sorely missed.

Cyclone

[Bill R]

Originally posted by larrydj
Another 721 bug question: It doesn't receive channel RFI, at 660. When will this be fixed?
The 721 doesn't receive any audio only channels from the 61.5 satellite (ask any of us Sky Angel subscribers). This is fixed in the L1.10 software release which is currently in Alpha (or Beta) testing.

[Ken_F]

Of course I want to see a status update on the 921...

[dinkster]

Several questions for the tech chat.

Status of 921.
PSIP for local digital channels on 6000.
Fix status for "Acquiring Satellite" bug for OTA digital.

Thanks.

[Tomsoundman]

What about the HD receiver and monitor that Dish was going to produce and/or sell? I know you guys with problems with Dish Network equipment hate that idea but it would be interesting to hear about it. Or would that be for a Charlie Chat?

[Rayser]

Is there any chance of offering cascadable SW21's? Looking for an inexpensive way to see the side sats.

[Mike Gavasheli]

Originally posted by BobMurdoch
Oh, and can you fix the search function so it doesn't limit us to 600 results. That sounds like a lot but with all the PPV movies and movies on international channels, I can only search for movies around 9 hours ahead as they waste 25% of the results on movies that already started hours ago. Either that or allow us to use filters to weed out movies we don't want on the list (ie, PPVs, foreign language, etc.)

Would be nice to be able search only channels from current custom list. It will add so much flexibility to the search function.

Mike

[Jacob S]

I know that there are dishpro sw-21 switches that they were going to come out with, but am not sure if they did bring those out to market or not. I do not know if they would be capable of doing what you was wanting to do. If you have a twin lnbf where the switches are all built into two lnbf's for 110 and 119 slots on a dish 500 then you can cascade a sw-21 switch off of that.

[JayeDVXIII]

so what number do we call to talk to these guys? they don't list a number on their site?

Is this a "live" call-in type show? or do you tell someone your question and they answer it if they get to it?

[Scott Greczkowski]

The Dishpro SW-21 does NOT work with the 721 at the moment, I saw a Tech Update the other day on it, from the way the Tech Update was worded it looks like L1.10 will have the fix needed for this switch.

[tmyd]

Is there any chance of getting this feature in any upcoming version of the 721 software:

the ability to build a playlist -- for archiving to another format or to simply watch a "marathon" of your favorite episodes?


Thanks,
Tim

[MAllen]

Tech Chat Question. I Love my 721 in the LR, and I want to replace my 5000 in the Master BR. I do not want the NOISE (or cost) of the 721 in the BR. I have heard of the 522 and this sounds perfect, any Idea when the 522 might be released??

[jrbdmb]

There are three enhancements (first two related somewhat) I'd like to see for the 501 / 508 if possible:

1. You can go backwards up to one hour to start a recording - but when you stop a recording it is always stops at the current time. I'd like to be able to stop a recording in the past as well. (I.e. go back 45 minutes, start to record a program I want to save, move ahead 30 minutes, stop the recording there without having to save 15 minutes of the next program I don't want.)

2. Allow limited editing of a saved program - trim time off the beginning or end of a saved program. (I.e. when I record a PPV basketball game, it records for 3 hours, when the game may end in a little over two hours - let me edit out the 60 minutes at the end I don't need.)

3. A search for a show on a local station now gets 3 hits (8xxx, 7xx, and OTA channel number) - please figure out a way to prevent this duplication.

BTW ... I also agree with above statements that
- New version of 501/508 SW with slo-mo is great!
- Please add an option to search on a favorite channels list
(or at least on subbed channels only)

[IndyMichael]

Do you guys chat during this show and the Charlie chats? I have the link to the chat, so I will join in if you do.

[Mark Lamutt]

Yup - that's exactly what we do! :)

[IndyMichael]

OK, I'll talk to you guys then, I'm Michael in the chat.

[Darkman]

hehe - Yup Chat, and occasionally end up missing the Real Chat, or watch it not as attentively as we would if we weren't chatting in our chat :(

[Darkman]

What did they say about the Guide compression at Tech Chat?
I kinda missed it...
Something about Next Week i think (or something)?
And was that only for 501/508s or for all the IRDs, including 3900 and 4000?

[Jacob S]

Not much chat after that chat on this topic. There is usually more chat than this, I am guessing there is not much to talk about.

[Marcus S]

The 6000 to be discontinued, to lazy to upgrade to OpenTV even though it has as much Motorola Memory as the 508. E* Marketing playing another dangerious game that existing and potential HD subs are waiting in the isle for the 921 @ $900! E* lost a ton of subs during the 5000 discontinue, 6000 9 mo's late! And then, not everyone wants a PVR. I have a Panasonic DVD Ram w/hard drive. Burned DVD's travel, a 508/721/921 does not.

[Steve Mehs]

Click Here (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12298) for the Tech Chat Summary courtesy of BobaBird.

[JayeDVXIII]

never mind, I called in but they only talked to two people over the phone; I was quite annoyed with that..I sat on hold for 30 minutes

[JayeDVXIII]

I was trying to ask if the new "customer support" feature on DISH home would be "lockable"

as it appears that all of my recievers in my home can see my bill and personal account information; I DO NOT like this.

[Scott Greczkowski]

I believe you can Lock out Channel 100 from those receivers you dont want it running on. (I could be wrong though)