HR20-100 Stuck at Step 1 of 2.....

[DougC]

I've seen a couple of threads out there on this same topic, but nothing that states what the ulitmate resolution is/was.

I know that there was supposedly some issues with Networking units. I've disconnected the Network cable and rebooted (RBR and Pull The Plug) several times with no luck. I've installed my other receiver (HR21-700) and it works in the location and the bedroom location just fine. I've swapped the BBCs, tried no-BBCs, no Sat inputs connected at all.

I'm reluctant to replace the receiver but that seems like the problem?

[tcusta00]

How long do you give it before RBR'ing or pulling the plug?

[soloredd]

This happened on my HR21 yesterday. Nothing I did would remedy the problem so D* is coming out tomorrow with a replacement. This is becoming far too common of a problem I think. It pays to have the protection plan with D*, in my opinion.

[DougC]

How long do you give it before RBR'ing or pulling the plug?

The longest time was Friday Night untill Saturday afternoon, so I'd say about 12 hours or so tha it sat on the 'Step 1' page. Generally I give it about 5 minutes (maybe 10) which is much longer than my HR21 or HR10-250 take to boot up.

I have also left it unplugged completely overnight and tried re-connecting it.

Both to no avail.

[tcusta00]

The longest time was Friday Night untill Saturday afternoon, so I'd say about 12 hours or so tha it sat on the 'Step 1' page. Generally I give it about 5 minutes (maybe 10) which is much longer than my HR21 or HR10-250 take to boot up.

I have also left it unplugged completely overnight and tried re-connecting it.

Both to no avail.

You only waited 12 hours? Sheesh, you're an impatient one, aren't you? :D

Kidding... I'd definitely be calling for a replacement.

[Greg Alsobrook]

It sounds like some of the system files may have become corrupt... Two things you could try...

1. Try redownloading the software again. Plug in the unit... and as soon as the blue lights come back on... Press "0-2-4-6-8" on the remote control... After a few seconds, you should see the software download screen... If you don't see it by 'Step 1 of 2', hit the red button again and try again...

2. If that doesn't work... You could try formatting the hard drive... You will lose all of your settings and recordings... but if the unit won't even boot, those aren't of much use anyway... ;) ... you can do this by pressing and holding the down arrow and the record button at the same time on the front panel... when the record light changes to red you can let go of the buttons....

Hope this helps!

[DougC]

You only waited 12 hours? Sheesh, you're an impatient one, aren't you? :D

Kidding... I'd definitely be calling for a replacement.

Yeah, It happened sometime Friday evening. We've had some stroms blow through that night so I figured it just 'browned out' during the storm. When it didn't recover the first time or two, I decided to leave it overnight. Then I had a golf outing all day before getting home at 4ish.

It's definitely had enough time. I'm just worried that the unit isn't under any warranty and I MUST have a HR20 or a HR21 with the AM21 to get local HD. I'm concerned that the CSR is gonna want to charge me for both devices or send me an HR21 without a AM21.

[DougC]

It sounds like some of the system files may have become corrupt... Two things you could try...

1. Try redownloading the software again. Plug in the unit... and as soon as the blue lights come back on... Press "0-2-4-6-8" on the remote control... After a few seconds, you should see the software download screen... If you don't see it by 'Step 1 of 2', hit the red button again and try again...

2. If that doesn't work... You could try formatting the hard drive... You will lose all of your settings and recordings... but if the unit won't even boot, those aren't of much use anyway... ;) ... you can do this by pressing and holding the down arrow and the record button at the same time on the front panel... when the record light changes to red you can let go of the buttons....

Hope this helps!

I tried the 02468 deal. I've used that in the past for CE downloads or when forcing the NR into my units. It didn't seem to respond this time around. But I only tried once.

I also tried reformatting, but the 'Red' light never came on. Is there a certain precise moment you have to hold the two buttons? Can you do that whenever? At this point I'm not worried about my recordings, only had a couple Law and Orders for the wife - probably were repeats anyway. More concerned about the Series Links and other settings that I'll have to re-do. Inevitably I will forget one or two or ten.

[Greg Alsobrook]

I tried the 02468 deal. I've used that in the past for CE downloads or when forcing the NR into my units. It didn't seem to respond this time around. But I only tried once.

I also tried reformatting, but the 'Red' light never came on. Is there a certain precise moment you have to hold the two buttons? Can you do that whenever? At this point I'm not worried about my recordings, only had a couple Law and Orders for the wife - probably were repeats anyway. More concerned about the Series Links and other settings that I'll have to re-do. Inevitably I will forget one or two or ten.

As for the 02468... It can take a couple tries if you're not used to it... just start pressing as soon as the blue lights come on...

And for the reformat... I believe you could just start holding those right after you plug the unit in... but I'm not positive... I've only done that one time ever... Maybe someone else could chime in on that... (and just in case you missed it in my other post... make sure you're doing this on the unit itself, not on the remote :) )

[tcusta00]

Yeah, It happened sometime Friday evening. We've had some stroms blow through that night so I figured it just 'browned out' during the storm. When it didn't recover the first time or two, I decided to leave it overnight. Then I had a golf outing all day before getting home at 4ish.

It's definitely had enough time. I'm just worried that the unit isn't under any warranty and I MUST have a HR20 or a HR21 with the AM21 to get local HD. I'm concerned that the CSR is gonna want to charge me for both devices or send me an HR21 without a AM21.

I wouldn't worry too much about the warranty thing - the 90 days printed in the user guide is not usually followed. What they do is make you pay for shipping (~$20 IIRC) or sign up for the protection plan and agree to stay in it for a year.

As far as HR20/21 - if you do end up with an HR21 you can usually call back and wriggle an AM21 out of them if you are an OTA user. Sure, it's a risk that you may have to pay for it, but $50 is a worst case scenario.

[Greg Alsobrook]

tcusta is correct... if you're having to replace an HR20 with an HR21... and you make a stink about the OTA... they will most likely provide you with an AM21...

[DougC]

I'll try and do the reformat and software download again tonight. If that doesn't do the trick, I'm gonna bite the bullet and call CSR and get a new box(es) sent out. I'll just die if I gotta keep watching SD television on this HR21. The Sony has its own HD tuner, but I can't record then.

Anyone know if the tuning capability of the AM21 is any 'better' than that of the 'HR20'? Probably other threads on this elsewhere. Just trying to look for a silver lining if I have to go the AM21 route.

[Greg Alsobrook]

I'll try and do the reformat and software download again tonight. If that doesn't do the trick, I'm gonna bite the bullet and call CSR and get a new box(es) sent out. I'll just die if I gotta keep watching SD television on this HR21. The Sony has its own HD tuner, but I can't record then.

Anyone know if the tuning capability of the AM21 is any 'better' than that of the 'HR20'? Probably other threads on this elsewhere. Just trying to look for a silver lining if I have to go the AM21 route.

Many will agree that the AM21 has better tuners and will handle multipath better than the HR20's built in tuners... Here is the discussion thread on the AM21 if you wanna scan a few pages... http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=123013

[DougC]

Many will agree that the AM21 has better tuners and will handle multipath better than the HR20's built in tuners... Here is the discussion thread on the AM21 if you wanna scan a few pages... http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=123013

Thaks AirRocker, I'll check out the link.

Tried the 02468 download software thing again multiple times with no success. I then tried to formatt doing the Down Arrow and Record button trick. Again with no success.

So 1-800-Directv and got a new reciever on order. Problem is that they gave me the typical story that 'they have no idea what the wharehouse will ship out'. They just place orders and it would take an absolute miracle to try and specially request a particular model that I need. I find that very difficult to believe. If so, DirecTV has a strange/poor business model setup.

If they indeed send me an HR21 and I have to call back and pay another $19.99 for another shipment that will take another 2 days, I'll be pretty frustrated. In actuality, she said 'it would likely be an HR23(????) since they were continuing to have so many issues with the 21s'. Just reporting what she said. Not familiar with the HR23, so I'll have to look into it.

Does anyone know of a way to 'influence' what is ordered by the CSRs or a number I can call to change it? I thought that the one time that Customer Retention helped me that they could order a specific model? But that was a refurb unit when I was having EXTENSIVE problems DirecTV.

Anyway, crossing my fingers but expecting the worst............

[tcusta00]

Wow, there's that HR23 again... apparently there's either a bad rumor going around the CS floor or there's actually an HR23 releasing soon.

There is a department that can specify what receiver you get but you won't get routed to them unless you have serious repeat issues and specifically need a non-refurb sent... or at least that's how I got there.

[DougC]

Wow, there's that HR23 again... apparently there's either a bad rumor going around the CS floor or there's actually an HR23 releasing soon.

There is a department that can specify what receiver you get but you won't get routed to them unless you have serious repeat issues and specifically need a non-refurb sent... or at least that's how I got there.

I wasn't aware of the HR23 'rumour' status and don't mean to 'start another misleading thread'. I was suprised when she referenced it to be honest. To be honest, I can't believe I didn't ask the question 'what is the HR23?'. I was just frustrated that I couldn't specifically request a HR21 w/ AM21 combo. I even asked, "I f I were a brand new customer requesting a new HD account with locals, how would I get an AM21?". CSR said I would have to purchase locally through a dealer/distributor. Arghhhhhhhhhhhh

[mjones73]

Someone just mentioned a CSR talking about an HR23-100 in a recent thread, either they are sneaking a receiver out or the CSR's don't know what they are talking about. It has been confirmed there is a new H23 out in limited release, it's identical to the H21 minus the need for external BBC boxes. I'm curious what you end up receiving, keep us posted. :)

[mikefeuer]

Got in this afternoon to find my HR20-700 stuck on Step one. This a 19 month old unit, prior to today flawless. I did a RBR and appeared stuck again, did a RBR and software force and it came back. In the booting process however, without me forcing a reformat, the red light was on and when the unit did in fact come back I had lost everything, but it was back. After leaving it idle for several minutes an attempt to change channels found it unresponsive and now I'm sitting unplugged for a while and not feeling too optimistic about how round two will go, or is it three. . .

[tcusta00]

I wasn't aware of the HR23 'rumour' status and don't mean to 'start another misleading thread'. I was suprised when she referenced it to be honest. To be honest, I can't believe I didn't ask the question 'what is the HR23?'. I was just frustrated that I couldn't specifically request a HR21 w/ AM21 combo. I even asked, "I f I were a brand new customer requesting a new HD account with locals, how would I get an AM21?". CSR said I would have to purchase locally through a dealer/distributor. Arghhhhhhhhhhhh

I didn't mean to infer that you were perpetuating rumors at all, sorry if it came across that way. You were just repeating what you were told by a CSR.

AM21s are available through DirecTV so I don't know why a CSR told you that either.

[2dogz]

I'll try and do the reformat and software download again tonight. If that doesn't do the trick, I'm gonna bite the bullet and call CSR and get a new box(es) sent out. I'll just die if I gotta keep watching SD television on this HR21. The Sony has its own HD tuner, but I can't record then.

Anyone know if the tuning capability of the AM21 is any 'better' than that of the 'HR20'? Probably other threads on this elsewhere. Just trying to look for a silver lining if I have to go the AM21 route.

Your objective, should you call, is to have the CSR send you a replacement box directly, and not dispatch a truckroll as the tech will probably only have HR-21s. I went through this about three weeks ago, needing a HR-20 replacement with OTA because tuners failed (721 errors). The CSR need convincing/justification to send the box. What I did is have my old HR-10 box, which the HR-20 replaced, beneath the the HR-20 and was using it as a backup after the HR-20 failed. After an hour of connecting/disconnecting/reconnecting the two boxes it demonstrated that the wiring/multiswitch/LNB were not at fault and that it had to be the HR-20.
I told the CSR to make sure they sent an HR-20 as I needed OTA. He understood, made the order, and two days later I got a remanufactured HR-20-700. It working just fine so far.

SO, just make sure the CSR orders you a replacement HR-20. They've got 'em in the warehouse.

[mikefeuer]

SO, just make sure the CSR orders you a replacement HR-20. They've got 'em in the warehouse.

After spending a few hours and although getting 'back' I still was getting lockups. I am getting a replacement via FedEx and the nice lady assured me I was getting an HR20

[DougC]

I didn't mean to infer that you were perpetuating rumors at all, sorry if it came across that way. You were just repeating what you were told by a CSR.

AM21s are available through DirecTV so I don't know why a CSR told you that either.

No problem Tcusta00, when I first read your post I assumed I was about to start another thread about a topic that had a number of other threads about this mystery reciever that didn't exist. I didn't search the forums and was worried that the mystery HR23 was covered elswhere that I hadn't reviewed yet.

Anyway, whatever box they are sending is already on its way and I'll deal with it then. Hope its a HR20 but if its a HR21, I'll just 'beg and plead' for an AM21. After 10 years with D* and the packages I subscribe to, they tend to take care of me relatively well.

Wierd thing was that the CSR never mentioned sending the HR20 back that I have failed? Don't they want to refurb this unit if possible? Will they send instructions to return this unit?

[tcusta00]

No problem Tcusta00, when I first read your post I assumed I was about to start another thread about a topic that had a number of other threads about this mystery reciever that didn't exist. I didn't search the forums and was worried that the mystery HR23 was covered elswhere that I hadn't reviewed yet.

Anyway, whatever box they are sending is already on its way and I'll deal with it then. Hope its a HR20 but if its a HR21, I'll just 'beg and plead' for an AM21. After 10 years with D* and the packages I subscribe to, they tend to take care of me relatively well.

Wierd thing was that the CSR never mentioned sending the HR20 back that I have failed? Don't they want to refurb this unit if possible? Will they send instructions to return this unit?

Maybe. If the CSR put in a recovery note on your account they will want it back. BUT that does not mean that they will automatically send a recovery kit. This happened to me and I ended up with a $470 charge on my account. I called and asked what happened to the recovery kit and they said it was never sent so they promptly sent one and didn't remove the charge until it was received back. Go figure.

If you're on autopay I would call immediately for a recovery kit otherwise you'll end up with a nice big charge on your credit card. If not you can always wait to see what happens, but then there wouldn't be much point in keeping a buggy receiver. Up to you, but that's the deal.

[evan_s]

Normally what will happen is the replacement receiver you receive will have a return shipping label in the box with it and you will just box up your old receiver in that box and stick the label on it and ship it back. If you don't get a return shipper definitely hold on to the receiver in case they change their mind and want it back. Not returning a leased receiver is a couple hundred dollar charge. How ever since you've been a subscriber for a while it's possible they have the receiver listed as owned and in that case they don't ask for it back when replacing it.

[DougC]

Okay so the new receiver showed up today. To no surprise it is an HR21-700. Not an HR23 like the CSR indicated. So as I was worried now I have no local OTA capability for my HD. I called up DirecTV and spoke with Customer Retention (i.e. said Cancel Service to the automated prompt) because I didn't want to mess around. A very helpful rep named Joe took care of it. He stated right away that he can send an AM21 with all the required bits and pieces at no cost to me. No shipping costs and credited $50 to offset the $50 charge for the AM21.

I also asked about the return of the HR20. He stated that I did have to return it as was noted in the account records. I said there was no paperwork or prepaid shipping label. He said it was/should be in the box somewhere. I couldn't find it in the box, so he was about to send me a new box with a new label. At that moment I check the 'Packing Slip' on the outside of the box and low and behold there was the return label and instructions. One call to FedEx and they will pic it up tommorow.

The new HR21 is activated and working. All in all it wasn't all that painful, just a nuisance and a couple more days without HD locals. Oh well its just TV. Now I'm looking forward to an AM21 that I hopefully won't need for long (if they launch Charleston LIL HD anytime soon!).

Thanks everyone for the help and comments.

[tcusta00]

Cool, Doug... nice to hear it all worked out for you. Enjoy!