Feature Request: Download Current Software Again

[paulcdavis]

On the software updates screen, when it reports "no updates available", a button should be added for "Download Current Software Again".

This should reduce the number of 921s being returned to Dish for replacement since I think that the frequent crashes of the 921 are corrupting the software on the hard disk - causing errors that re-booting cannot fix.

Downloading the current software again should fix most of the problems users are reporting after their 921 crashes that remain after re-booting unless they really have defective hardware.

[Slordak]

I would think that the receiver would actually have a mirrored / backup copy of the installation bundle still stored on the hard drive. Whether or not the unit is in any condition to make use of this after a catastrophic failure is a different issue, though; if the unit suffers a major hard disk failure, the last thing that users are going to be able to do is perform a full download.

[paulcdavis]

If there is a mirrored/ backup copy of the installation package on the hard drive, the question would be whether or not any of the various re-booting mehods (soft re-boot, smart card re-boot, power off re-boot) re-install the back-up copy or just boot the installed software. Does anyone know the technical differences between the three kinds of re-booting?

If there is a back-up copy of the installation package but none of the three re-booting methods re-installs it, then a system setup screen should have an option to re-install the back-up copy and then re-boot.

[DonLandis]

I would call advanced tech support on your idea to redownload but I would bet they could trigger it via sat. I'm almost certain they can do that by your request. Technically, I know they can because I was told so at CES but whether you can get to the right person via phone to do it is the real question. I was also told the the 921 is the most advanced design as it would take a near act of God to make the receiver brain dead from bad download. The basic I/O system is in memory, not the hard drive so not everything comes from the hard drive. Sound familiar? Your computer works the same way. BIOS. They can force a format and reinstall from remote just like a computer network! I don't recall them saying there was a backup copy in the 921, however.

[David_Levin]

The basic I/O system is in memory, not the hard drive so not everything comes from the hard drive. Sound familiar?

Wonderful dreams of a Dishplayer (Classic) Like upgrade to a 400 gig hard drive flash through my mind :roundandr.

They could do this for us if they wanted to.

[paulcdavis]

I would call advanced tech support on your idea to redownload but I would bet they could trigger it via sat. I'm almost certain they can do that by your request. Technically, I know they can because I was told so at CES but whether you can get to the right person via phone to do it is the real question. I was also told the the 921 is the most advanced design as it would take a near act of God to make the receiver brain dead from bad download. The basic I/O system is in memory, not the hard drive so not everything comes from the hard drive. Sound familiar? Your computer works the same way. BIOS. They can force a format and reinstall from remote just like a computer network! I don't recall them saying there was a backup copy in the 921, however.

I talked to advanced tech support for over an hour after a 921 crash caused guide display problems ( only 6 lines of programs, guide screen shifted up such that program title off screen, and white box frames displayed around time and program descriptions fields) Re-booting(several times) did not fix the problem so I asked for the sofware to be downloaded again and was told it was impossible. Getting to a person who knows how to force a reinstall I guess is the problem. The only solution the tech could offer was to return the unit for replacement. I would assume that the software that formats and displays the program guide is on the disk and is not burned into ROM. The rest of the menus and functions are OK, so I plan to wait until the next new update (from the number of identified bugs should be pretty soon) before getting a replacement unit.