Couple of "Newbie" Questions

[Eben]

Been a DirecTV customer since 1998, but just got my first HR21-100. And I experienced my first lockup. I used the Red Button Reboot to "unlock" the receiver. Would pulling the power cord have been better (I couldn't go into the menus and reset the receiver that way because there was no response to button presses on the unit or from the remote)?
Also, when setting up the receiver for the first time, it went into a transponder signal strength screen, which scrolled through several sats -- from memory, I think they were 101, 110, and 119; there was also a test for 103a but no meter, just a pass-fail result. Isn't there a sat at 99? Should I be worried that 99 was absent from that test?
TIA

[Michael D'Angelo]

When/if you need to reset you want to do a menu restart first if possible. Then RBR (red button reset) like you did when you can not do it from the menu and last would be pull the power cord.

As for the SAT's. You should see SAT's 101, 110, 119, 103c, 103s, and 99s. When D11 is turned on you will see SAT 99c too.

You should have strong signals from SAT's 101, 110, 119, 103c, and 99s (99s is the SAT used for your HD locals). 103s is only a spot beam SAT and it is used for Baltimore HD locals so you may pick up low signals from it.

[Eben]

Thanks for the reboot order; I knew that the menu restart is best, but I couldn't remember whether RBR and pulling the plug were equivalent or not.
As for the SAT testing, when I cycled through the SATs 99 wasn't an option. I guess I'll check again (I'm not missing any channels I should receive). Since the receiver has already been setup, how do I get to the SAT test section?

[Michael D'Angelo]

Thanks for the reboot order; I knew that the menu restart is best, but I couldn't remember whether RBR and pulling the plug were equivalent or not.
As for the SAT testing, when I cycled through the SATs 99 wasn't an option. I guess I'll check again (I'm not missing any channels I should receive). Since the receiver has already been setup, how do I get to the SAT test section?

Press Menu-->Parental, Fav's & Setup-->System Setup-->Sat & Ant-->View Signal Strength.

[curt8403]

Been a DirecTV customer since 1998, but just got my first HR21-100. And I experienced my first lockup. I used the Red Button Reboot to "unlock" the receiver. Would pulling the power cord have been better (I couldn't go into the menus and reset the receiver that way because there was no response to button presses on the unit or from the remote)?
Also, when setting up the receiver for the first time, it went into a transponder signal strength screen, which scrolled through several sats -- from memory, I think they were 101, 110, and 119; there was also a test for 103a but no meter, just a pass-fail result. Isn't there a sat at 99? Should I be worried that 99 was absent from that test?
TIA


there is a hard drive in the HR21 so a red button reset is always better if possible,
do not worry about the sat tests.

oh :welcome: :welcome_s

[Eben]

Thank you!

[veryoldschool]

there is a hard drive in the HR21 so a red button reset is always better if possible,
do not worry about the sat tests.

oh :welcome: :welcome_s
1 menu reset
2 RBR
3 Pull power cord for 10 min.
[in order of "best"]

[Eben]

1 menu reset
2 RBR
3 Pull power cord for 10 min.
[in order of "best"]

Got it, thanks.

[TMullenJr]

If you still can't see 99, verify that the 5LNB dish was selected in the dish setup screen. It is in the same area as the signal strength menu.

[Eben]

I checked View Signal Strength last night and 99 was there. Guess I just missed it during initial setup.
Thanks again to all for your help.

[dryfly]

1 menu reset
2 RBR
3 Pull power cord for 10 min.
[in order of "best"]

What is a "menu reset", how do you do it, and why is it better than a cold boot i.e. pulling the plug?

thanks

[JeffBowser]

Because there is a hard drive inside the unit, and it runs an OS. Same concept as why you always try to shut down your PC, rather than just yank the plug on it.

[FHSPSU67]

What is a "menu reset", how do you do it, and why is it better than a cold boot i.e. pulling the plug?

thanks
Menu Reset:
Menu>Parental, Favs and Setup>System SetUp>Reset>Restart Receiver>Dash(-)

It's better because the STB is not powered down - No disk spindown and no loss of power to the other electronic components.

[veryoldschool]

Because there is a hard drive inside the unit, and it runs an OS. Same concept as why you always try to shut down your PC, rather than just yank the plug on it.
"A" for effort, "B" for accuracy. :lol:

The OS lives on a chip, while the drive is ALWAYS recording. :)


dryfly,
As others have pointed out, it's better to tell the DVR that you want to reset/restart it, so it can "do the house keeping" and not shock the drive.

[JeffBowser]

Well, by "it", I meant the HR20

[Stuart Sweet]

To clarify, a menu reset does an orderly shutdown, including sending a report to DIRECTV over your network connection if applicable, stopping all device drivers and processes, which makes the process of restarting easier. It's preferable to using the red button whenever possible.

[veryoldschool]

Well, by "it", I meant the HR20
Then you only get a B+ for clarity.