508 won't soft reset

[mike1002]

I'm less than a month into a replacement 508. My first one ended up going into skips and macro blocks and 'Acquiring Signal' messages. The new one has been performing nicely until a few days ago. It started macro blocks and skipping. I did a soft reset (hold power switch on front panel until red light comes on). The red light never came on. It DID appear to reset but it makes me think something has changed. Has anyone else that has gotten a new 508 recently noticed this behavior? This is my software version : P169DCDMD-N
And this is the Bootstrap version : 17DBDCMD
I sure will be glad when Dish's engineers figure out why we have to keep rebooting these things to get them to act properly. I have noticed also that if I record Worldlink I get all sorts of skips and macro blocks. But when I watch it live it doesn't do that. On the other hand other channels that I record come out fine. All of the chapters of Dune on Sci-Fi came out great. Not a single problem. TechTv comes out fine too. Could it be that Wordlink is on a weak transponder and periodically it drops in strength (enough to screw up a recording but not enough to mess up live)? I find it hard to believe but I guess stranger things have happened. This is real aggravating. I am now into my 2nd 508 in 5 months. My Dad bailed to DirecTV late last year and he has not a single problem with his series 2 DirecTivo. I'm afraid if this continues I'm going to be leaving Dish and heading to Direct when my contract is up. This is just too flakey to be acceptable.

Mike

[gcutler]

I have both a SA TiVo (running a 4900) and a 508 and I like both units, but your statements are totally valid. The best of both worlds would be a combo DirecTTiVo or a DishTiVo (which will never happen). Unless you have a specific reason to stay with E*, making the jump to D*might be your best option???

[MikeW]

I've got similar issues with the 508. NBA TV happens to be the worst. When watching live, no problems. When watching from the buffer, I get 3 second skips and pixellation every 3-5 minutes. I watched the Acadamy Awards delayed about 45 minutes last night. Not a single bump throughout the show. My belief on NBA League Pass is that because the PQ is improved for these channels, the Hard Drive is unable to keep up. I'm not going to send this thing in, as I believe I'd have the same problem with another unit anyway.

[DarrellP]

My belief on NBA League Pass is that because the PQ is improved for these channels, the Hard Drive is unable to keep up.
This is not true. Many premium channels that have a higher bitrate playback just fine. Other people have reported problems with the NBA channels.

[airpolgas]

In case someone responsible for programming in either Dish or NBA TV is fololowing this, add me to the stat. I have the same problem with NBATV like MikeW. Good thing NBA Daily keeps looping so now I just wait for the loop instead of going to the buffered copy.

[smaccormack]

My newest 508 (the third one) operates exactly the same on re-boot. Notwithstanding the absence of the record light, it seems to re-boot just fine and so far runs better than the first or second.

[narnia777]

I have the same problem with my 508, digital glitches and skips with pixelation on
Hallmark Channel, not while live but only when playing back from pvr, really strange. At least I'm not alone. Is there anything i can do to boost the signal on that transponder?
It happens everyday on the same program that I record.

[mike1002]

I suspect we are hosed. I think it is a problem with the design of the unit or the components that are used in it. Not withstanding the people that I know will jump in and say they have no problems. My Dad has a DirecTivo and a friend has a ReplayTV and neither has problems with their units. I read all the time about problems with the entire line of Dish PVRs. Which leads me to believe that it is just bad equipment.I have a little over 6 nonths to go on my year obligation and I will be bailing out of Dish. TV shouldn't be this problematic.

Mike