Blue lines coming.... [Archive]

FarNorth

10-11-04, 11:27 AM

I've had my 921 for about 6 months, one of the early adopters. Other than the known issues, the 'press stop-stop recording' deal that annoys all of us, I really don't have any complaints. I've had one - ONE - timer misfire in the last 3 or 4 months. 100% of my recording is satellite, probably 50/50 HD vs. SD.

When I first got it, I saw the occasional blue line, I really had to hunt for it but a flicker here and there. Lately, though, it is becoming much more common and when it happens, it is ALWAYS on SD, usually on stuff I record daily. Letterman and Kimmel have some evidence of it on vrtually every recording. I've never seen it on HD.

Thoughts? Cures?

Mike D-CO5

10-11-04, 02:29 PM

I took somebody's suggestion on this site about doing a power cord reboot nightly and I am not seeing the line as much any more.

I put a surge protector with a switch you flip on and off and I plugged it into my monster power strip , so I can flip the switch to power cord reboot easily. I do it every night before I go to bed and I have definately seen very little of the blue/red/green line anymore.

It is a bit of a pain considering the $1000.00 I spent on this receiver. You would think it would at least have good consistent picture quality for a hd receiver, which is supposed to have the best quality you can get. I just hope that they have a software update coming down the line that corrects this issue.

The funny thing I have noticed is that it NEVER happens on my ota local channels , only the sd channels over satellite. It happens the most on Dish local channels.:mad:

BobMurdoch

10-11-04, 03:59 PM

A reboot fixes it (pulling the card or a power cord off/on reboot. This also cures the bug where the wrong name is put on a recording (it usually shows the name of the show that is on before it).

If the names start going hinky on you, check your timers list... they should be organized with the next timer scheduled to fire followed by the next, etc. Reboot the unit and the timers will be lined up correctly again.

William_K_F

10-11-04, 08:57 PM

Hello,

I noticed a blue line running from top straight down about 2/3rds of the way down the screen recently.

I thought this blue line thing was a hardware bug that was fixed after the first models were sent.

I just bought mine about a month ago new. How can I tell if I have an old model if indeed this was an issue with older units that was later corrected?

Thanks.

-William

Mike D-CO5

10-11-04, 09:57 PM

All the origional 921 dvrs with the hardware problem had to be sent back to Dish to fix and sent back to the customer. The newer ones have no dishwire ports in back or have a metal piece over the ports. The new blue line problem is related to software issues according to the advanced techs at Dish. Follow the above posts on how to do a powercord reboot to make this go away. I do one daily and I have seen much less of this problem now.

Sailor

10-12-04, 09:40 AM

I have had my 921 since early January, and use component outputs. This last month the blue line problem on SD would not go away, period. I called Dish and asked for Adv tech support and they had a guy call me back authorizing a swap. He told me this was a specific hardware issue and that swapping it out was the only thing that would fix it.

BobMurdoch

10-12-04, 09:44 AM

I doubt it. I still have one of the originals (I got mine in January) and I occasionally get the blue line. A reboot cures it, but it has been coming back more often lately. I don't know why.

dishbacker

10-12-04, 10:55 AM

I doubt it. I still have one of the originals (I got mine in January) and I occasionally get the blue line. A reboot cures it, but it has been coming back more often lately. I don't know why.

Same here.... Didn't get my box until late June, but a reboot of the box fixes the line down the middle problems for a while... it does eventually come back though.

FarNorth

10-12-04, 11:47 AM

Yeah, that's sort of my experience, it comes and goes. I thought that either:

1. some of the upgrades would make it go away permanently or

2. it would gradually get worse and need to be replaced.

Neither seems to be the case.

BobMurdoch

10-12-04, 01:00 PM

It sounds like some kind of bug that manifests over time. I have NO idea what would trigger this from software standpoint, but I wish they would solve this. The 5 minute reboot cycles don't help either from a patience standpoint......

lujan

10-12-04, 03:26 PM

Has anyone noticed this line problem with the DVI output? I have not noticed it since I changed the output on the 921 from component to DVI.

Mike D-CO5

10-12-04, 05:27 PM

I have mine on dvi and but I notice it over component as well. It made no difference .

bloom

10-12-04, 05:49 PM

Has anyone noticed this line problem with the DVI output? I have not noticed it since I changed the output on the 921 from component to DVI.

I only have a dvi cable hookup, and the blue-red-green line problem started up about two weeks ago.

FarNorth

10-12-04, 08:45 PM

Mine's on DVI. I don't think it has ever been hooked up via component.

FarNorth

10-14-04, 11:07 AM

FWIW, I did a power cord reboot and the blue lines appear to be gone.......for now.

Mike D-CO5

10-14-04, 08:30 PM

FWIW, I did a power cord reboot and the blue lines appear to be gone.......for now.
Do one every day and you shouldn't see them much anymore. I have been doing mine for like 10 days right before I go to bed, and I don't see them anymore.

Ronald K

10-15-04, 07:17 AM

I have the blue line in the middle of my screen.

You say a periodic reboot fixes it?

Didn't one of the emergency downloads (I guess that doesn't narrow it down) cause the 921 to reboot nightly?

Mark Lamutt

10-15-04, 08:43 AM

Yes, and yes. Seemingly contradictory I know, but that's the way it currently is.

Rogueone

12-14-04, 12:33 PM

ok, gee and I thought my TV was going bad!! haha

I need to visit a little more often I think:)

Anyway, I'm a little confused on this blue line thing. I have a dozen or so blue lines in HD, during dark scenes. it's like they are paired up, 2 will be 4 or 5 inches apart, then a gap of at least double that, then 2 more, across the screen. Keep in mind, this is a 65" widescreen, so 5" leaves room for so many lines so far apart :)

is this just a video driver? do i just need to do a power reboot every night or two? I can handle that I guess. crazy whack if you ask me, but if it works great.

But if this doesn't sound like the correct blue line issue, please let me know. Also, so happy to have OTA guide now! I finally know what the heck show I'm about to watch haha

kmcnamara

12-14-04, 02:33 PM

Rogue, it sounds like you have the hardware blue line problem. I believe the only way to fix it is to send it in.

Mark Lamutt

12-14-04, 02:39 PM

Rogue, if the blue lines that you're seeing are thin (one line thick), then it's the video driver probably. If they are thicker than one line thick, then it's the hardware issue that plagued 921s back in February, and will need to be sent in to be fixed or replaced.

Let me know which it is - if it's the thicker version, call dish and ask to speak to the 921 support team. If they don't call you back within a day, email me your contact info along with the problem description, and I'll send it to them directly.

Rogueone

12-14-04, 04:33 PM

yeah these are thick, at least the thickness of a finger (keeping in mind the size of the screen, and this is a model from January/Feb. odd that it wasn't there till the last 2 months or so.

and there ain't NO way I'm sending it in. They can send me a replacement, and I'll swap the HD and send this one back, but I got 15 hours or so of shows on there, and I record about 12 hrs a week worth. I ain't giving up my HD PVR, ain't gonna do it. no way no how no time. aint' happenin'

*******S! why NOW! doh!

haha
but I ain't giving it up, nope. they gonna have to send me a new one and let me swap the drive. ain't loosing all those shows I haven't had to chance to watch yet :) i'm always a week between all my fav shows haha. I don't watch ANYTHING live anymore, even football. I won't even consider Dtv because they don't have the 30 sec forward skip function. I ain't ever getting rid of my dish pvr as long as it is the only one with that feature haha

make sure to tell them I ain't givin' up my box! no way! never! no! no! no! no!

damn faulty hardware, damn damn damn, I ain't givin' up my HD! nope nope nope !!

:soapbox:!pride:dance07::icon_da:!Devil_lol :uglyhamme :bonk1:!pu****!:blackeye:

Rogueone

12-14-04, 05:05 PM

ok get this. Just called dish, and the lady on the phone went searching for the blue line issue. Found notes about blue lines, case has been around since January, so it seems to be about the hardware issue.

She read the notes. In a nut shell, "do NOT RA the receiver. have the user use DVI or sVHS. send in a unusual error (something like that) report" Or they kidding me! their advice is to stop using the RGB?! haha how pathetic

anyway, I couldn't do the report cause I'm not at home and my wife wasn't answering the phone. I wonder what kind of stuff they are going to tell me since they are saying the Rep can not offer a RMA. hmm

Onawa

12-14-04, 08:40 PM

Since 211 I am seeing very thick (1/3 the screen) when I'm in the guide or DVR menu and the screen is small in the upper right corner. It happens in HD, SD and OTA. Is this problem related? Also lost caller ID today. Going to do the power cord reboot.

Mark Lamutt

12-15-04, 11:44 AM

Onawa - very thick what?

Rogueone, you've been around here long enough to know (or at least you should by now) that the first and 2nd level CSRs can't RA a 921. The 921 support team are the ones that can authorize that. The problem is with the component solder conenctions where they exit the receiver. You just got done saying that there was no way no how you were going to RA your receiver until at least you watched the shows on it now. So, calm down, watch your shows, and when you're ready to get it replaced, ask the CSR to talk to the 921 support team. They're the ones that can help you out when you're ready for it.

Rogueone

12-15-04, 12:37 PM

i was being silly, not serious. except for the not sending it back part :)

I'm hoping they'll be willing to work with me on the recordings issue, because most of what i record is OTA HD stuff. I didn't realize the advanced support weren't the ones who do RA's, just waiting on the techy guys i guess to call me back and discuss the problem

heck, if it's just a solder joint, I'll break out my iron and heat it up hahaha

Onawa

12-15-04, 01:05 PM

Sorry, very thick lines. After a bit of searching I did find that you had mentioned this Mark.

Power cord reboot did get my caller ID back.

Rogueone

12-15-04, 02:30 PM

did a smart card reboot with mine, didn't help the lines.

Noticing some interesting things about these lines. When I bring up the PVR screen, I see about 6 thick blue lines (thick means 1" on a 65" widescreen) through the green background, vertically, spaced not quite equally, and not all the same intensity.

Watching movies i've recorded on HBOHD and OTA HD, I don't see the blue lines with black backgrounds, but with more like greyish backgrounds. i was watching the start of Last Samurai and notice a lot of blue lines during some of the scenery shots, where the area the lines show up is darker shades, but shades more of grey or foggy sky covered ground say, and there were at least twice as many blue lines, along with they seemed to be paired up.

any of this make sense between the hardware and driver based lines? does it give any clues as the severity or anything?

Mark Lamutt

12-15-04, 03:11 PM

Rogueone,

Take a look at this post from last year: http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=186436&postcount=1

Do your blue lines look like that, or something similar to that? If so, it is definitely a hardware failure issue. At one point last year, Dish was having you send in the broken 921 to be fixed. But now they just replace them.

If your blue lines don't look like that, could you upload a picture or two of what they do look like? I'd probably be able to tell you if they're a driver problem or a hardware problem.