508 with weird symptoms finally dies

[Lisa G]

Hi all,
Made the switch to my 508 a few months ago from my DP7200. Been reliable since. The past week I have noticed weird DP like problems. I saw missing numbers from the time on the channel banner, ie" --:55, or 10:--, the color pattern would reverse on the timer page listings, and 15 hours of protected recordings just disappeared overnight...I never even had that happen with my dp's... Last night I was setting up the weeks recordings, well under 50, when I got a message that I was maxed out on timers. Ok, went back, double checked and removed some of the later ones. Then all heck broke loose. The box would turn itself off then on, get the acquiring signal 015 message, a video screen for almost 30 seconds, and the box would turn itself off, again. Seemed to be caught in a loop. Wouldn't stay on long enough to do a switch check, or any diagnostics. I tried soft boot, hard boot, leave card out, pulled the power cord finally for 10 hours and prayed. It didn't help. Called csr this am and they are ra'ing me a new box. She said it did not sound like a hard drive failure. Has anyone else had this happen? I knew how to baby the 7200, but I could not find anything online to help me with my 508 symptoms. I got my DP reactivated, and of course it is working perfectly. No new software or anything simce I got the 508. I will say that I had forgotten the ease of the interface on the DP as compared to the 508, but would like my 508 back. Appreciate any ideas or suggestions, especially while I am waiting for my replacement to arrive. Thanks,
Lisa

[Jacob S]

I have noticed missing numbers on the channel banner on a 721 and it has been pixelating and losing satellite signal.

You will find that there will be symptoms before a failure a lot of the time.

[Mike D-CO5]

The symptoms sound a lot like the character that Linda Blair played in the " The Exorcist". Send for a priest... and pray like you've never prayed before!

[lisa g]

I think that I used up all of my prayers on my old dishplayers. I'm not sure that there is enough to go around with these pvrs!

[gcutler]

Lisa G, I really think that dish really uses sub standard parts and you might have traded one problem for another. Do you have extended warranty? If not, is a switch to D* and DTiVo a valid option?

[Jacob S]

It is a fact that someone is using substandard parts or does not know how to put these things together when it comes to Dish if they are having so many problems yet DirecTv PVR's are not having such issues as this. I would get a Tivo standalone PVR but the amount of hours and recording quality is lower than the ones that are made in combination with DirecTv receivers and the price is quite high.

I would think it would be cheaper for Dish to put a little extra money into these receivers to PREVENT them from going bad in the first place because maybe they would actually save money on not having to fix and replace these receivers.

[Lisa G]

I may have switched one problem for another, but I do have the extended warranty. I do not have the option of switching back to Directv, who I had from '94 til '96 because I am a full time rv'er. I can't get the programming that I need from Dtv, and to be honest, Dish has helped me out everytime I have needed it. I was really trying to find out if my 508's problems were specifically unusual or had others seen similar things. I appreciate the assistance of the group, because I can avoid calling the CSR's if I can find similar problems solved by others here. Thanks to all.

[styxfix]

The 508 has been out for less than a year, so it should still be under the one year warranty. I just had my 508 replaced when my hard drive crashed.

[Lisa G]

Got my replacement today, took two phone calls to the csr's since the first one neglected to actually activate my receiver. Why it should take two phone calls when I only called to deactivate the DP and activate the new one I do not know. So far, the 508 seems to be ok, except it thinks that I live in England, at least that is what I am guessing by the time it is showing on the info bar.....I was told it would fix itself. We will see.

[TerryC]

Lisa, that has happened to me often. Somehow the activation doesn't "take" the first time. It happens.

The England time is, I believe, correct. Greenwich Meantime. It looks at that, then adjusts for your time zone, I believe.

[Jacob S]

It takes a little while after initial activation to update the time zone that you are in but goes by a basic time zone by default before the update of the correct time zone takes place.