PDA

View Full Version : 721 gone haywire


dbronstein
03-16-03, 03:29 PM
I am having my first major problems with my 721. It started Thursday when the screen just went black and had a message saying something like "trying to acquire satellite signal on tuner 1" or something like that - it was a black screen with white writing. A reboot seemed to fix it. The same thing happened again Friday and a reboot seemed to do the trick again. Then this morning (Sunday) all heck broke loose.

It happened again, I rebooted, and half my local channels were missing from the guide - they weren't in the 8200 range either. I rebooted, didn't fix it. I tried a check switch, and it didn't work, so I got the "matrices aren't the same" or whatever message. I called tech support, the level 1 person had me reboot, didn't work. Then had me try to do a check swith, and here's where it got really weird.

When I selected the point dish option, the screen would start to come up, then it would go to black and try to tune to channel 77. So they sent me to ATS. After numerous reboots, I was finally able to do a check switch and it seemed to be okay. About 5 minutes after I hung up the phone, I got the "acquiring signal" black screen, then it rebooted by itself. It seemed to be doing okay, but I called again, and couldn't get anything to go wrong, so the ATS guy said to try switching the inputs so if it happened again, I could see if it was the Box or the wiring.

So I switched them and did a reboot, and I was back to getting a black screen every time it booted up. It would boot, after the Dish logo screen, I'd get a blank screen, then a white X would appear in the middle of the screen for about a second, then I'd get the blue acquiring signal screen. Then it would show the channel in the info bar, but no picture and the guide had "no info available" for every channel.

I called again, and they had me do an NVM reset (after numerous reboots and I kept having the problem trying to do the switch check) and that didn't fix it, but now I could do a switch check. So I did that and it worked fine, and I have TV again, and both tuners seem to be working fine now, going on an hour. THey're sending me a new one and fortunately we didn't have much inventory right now.

It's really annoying to have to deal with this. I hope 1.10 fixes all this crap.

Dennis

Specks and Reds
03-16-03, 06:47 PM
This is the same exact problem I and others are having. In my situation everything you said is the same except I do not get a lock on sat input 1 #110. No one has the answer yet, except for getting a refurbished 721 from E*. I have a pretty good selection of movies and haven't been able to make myself send mine back. I keep hoping that L110 fixes the problem without E* having to admit they know about it. When I call tech support no one ever seems to know about this particular problem. After reading posts on this channel, everyone here knows that is not true. If anyone gets the "fix" for this please post asap!

Bob Haller
03-16-03, 07:35 PM
My original 721 and replacement both have had the lost input bug... E advanced tech denied knowledge of this one....

My replacement isnt as bad as the first one. Metros had input one quit completely.

Its a pain with a full HD. They should enable a way to copy between boxes for just this kind of situation

dbronstein
03-16-03, 08:39 PM
It's been about 6 hours now and it seems to have stabilized. We only have about 3-4 hours of recorded stuff left, so I'll do the swap when I get the new one.

Dennis

bbrownlee
03-24-03, 09:20 AM
Well, I hate to 'me too' this, but I will anyway. Exact same indications.
I'm contacting Tech Spt, will let you all know what happens.

drjake
03-24-03, 09:28 AM
This is often a sympton of a bad DISHPRO LNB or DP34.

dbronstein
03-24-03, 09:51 AM
One of the tuners completely died by the time I got the replacement. I installed the new 721 on Saturday and everything seems to be working fine now.

Dennis

rcwilcox
03-24-03, 10:10 AM
I just got a 721 that I think the dealer had used for a while as it was authorized when I got it but I never could get a steady signal on input 1. I switched coaxes and the problem persisted on input 1. ATS sent me (not quite that simple they sent me to Suwannee to pick up a replacement and when I got there they told me they never have 721's there) a replacement and all seems well now

b_brownlee
03-24-03, 09:46 PM
Well, I talked to ATS this evening....

Started off by telling them 'let me tell you what I did, we might save some time.' Told them I: reset using power switch, reset by pulling the card, reset by pulling the power cord, swapped the two input cables. In all cases, the signal was unreliable. The signal strength meter on the aiming menu jumps all over the place for input 1, but is solid on 98 for input 2. I also notice a whole lot of disk activity while the tuner trys to lock on. (receiver temp is steady in the 100-115 range)

They figured right away a problem with the number 1 tuner and made arrangements to send me a new unit. We didnt really even go through any troubleshooting steps. Could have had it sent overnight, but to save $10, took the ground shipping. They actived an old 301 for me and gave me a credit for a month so I'd have service while I waited. I will probably leave the 301 activated anyway.

Whole process, dial to hangup was probably 20-30 minutes. most of it me jabbering about what I read on the net, how much we liked it, etc. It was very easy to work with them, when I treated them with respect and tried to help out with as much good info as I could give.

So, that said, I also get most of the symptoms that others have gotten. I can get a good picture if I tie up the #1 tuner using the PIP and swap to tuner 2 on the big screen. Havent really checked out recording yet, can anyone confirm that the PVR will use tuner 2 if nothing is being used (the unit is off)? PVR playback is working fine.

Oh, and when I told him I'd read of a few others with the problem (but admitted they probably had 10s of thousands in use and I only knew of a couple of people with the problem) he asked that I include references to places I had read of the problem (here) on the problem description I'm sending in with the old unit.

This is the first place I turn for info (like the guide problem of a few weeks ago), maybe we get some more viewers.....

Thanks all for the help....

Jacob S
03-24-03, 09:53 PM
The dang Dish PVR's have some type of issue with them and much more so than the DirecTv PVR's obviously or we would be hearing more about DirecTv PVR's going bad and having problems like this.

Mike Russell
03-25-03, 09:44 PM
I've really liked my 721 for the last 6 months, but the last few days it seems to be getting slower when you hit the PVR button. The green screen starts at the top of the tv then goes down slow. Also while watching, it will hang for a second or two about every 10 minutes.

Bob Haller
03-25-03, 09:49 PM
If you have lots of events scheduled this can occur. Exceed 65 and it will lock up altogether. Count your scheduled PVRs you might be near that limit.

Bill R
03-26-03, 07:58 AM
I have found that it helps to re-boot the 721 about once a week. That seems to clear up the "slowness".

You can re-boot the 721 by holding in the power button for at least 5 seconds.

Big D
03-26-03, 08:36 AM
I agree with Bill R, every time my 721 slows down, I re-boot it and it goes back to normal. I do not keep a large number of timed events, so that is not the only reason things slow down. I believe it is just the operating system getting bogged down over time and needs a fresh start, same as my desktop computer needs a re-boot once in awhile. Usually once a week or so I see a noticeable slowdown and do a re-boot.

Mike Russell
03-26-03, 10:56 AM
I gave her a boot and now she's fast again. Thanks guys.