Questions and Comments About the 721

[SpencerKat]

I have a few questions and comments about the 721.

I've had mine for a few weeks after getting a replacement for the first one, which had a bad hard drive.

On this site I see references to "soft reboots" and "hard reboots".
· What is the difference between the two?
· How do I do each one?
· Does either one cause the loss of recorded programs or timers?

Like other people, I have had intermittent problems with backspacing with the remote.

Last night, for the first time, the Guide button did not work.

Is there a way to remove channels (shopping, religious, etc.) from the EPG, as I could do with the DishPlayer, without using Favorites lists?

Is there a Tips and Tricks site for the 721?

The wireless keyboard that I used with my DP 7200 does not work with the 721 (because the 721 is UHF?). Is there an easy and inexpensive way to use the wireless keyboard with the 721? The 721 onscreen keyboard is very slow.

I'm glad I replaced my DishPlayer with the 721, but the 721 certainly has its share of bugs. I do like the 2-tuner capability and the stability compared with the DishPlayer, but there is still a lot of work to be done in regard to improving the usability and stability of the 721.

Thanks for any and all answers and comments.
Richard

[Jacob S]

A soft or hard reboot should not cause the receiver to lose any timers or DVR Events.

The difference between a soft and hard reboot is that you pull the smart card out then push it back in for a soft reboot and you do this along with pulling the power cord (or pressing in on the front power button for about 4 or 5 seconds - until the receiver turns off on the newer receivers or DVR's). Most generally a soft reboot does not take as long as a hard reboot.

On the 721 you cannot hide locked channels (but you can hide adult). There is no way to hide the locked channels on the "All Sub" or "All Chan" favorite lists. It sure would be nice to have this function. What was nice about the DishPlayer was that you could select which channels you wanted on the "All Chan" list by deselecting it without having to lock them and you could also do a search by channel name and it would give you the list of shows on that channel and the time that it would come on.

[SpencerKat]

The difference between a soft and hard reboot is that you pull the smart card out then push it back in for a soft reboot and you do this along with pulling the power cord (or pressing in on the front power button for about 4 or 5 seconds - until the receiver turns off on the newer receivers or DVR's)So, Jacob S, are you saying that a soft reboot is simply pulling and reinserting the smart card, and a hard reboot is pulling the plug or depressing the front power button for 4-5 seconds?

[boylehome]

So, Jacob S, are you saying that a soft reboot is simply pulling and reinserting the smart card, and a hard reboot is pulling the plug or depressing the front power button for 4-5 seconds?
I think that a hard boot is a power cord unplug. I think that the power button does the same as the smart card. Cutting the power allows the charged capacitors to discharge and any remaining data is erased, thus a better refresh upon startup. If I'm incorrect on this please let me know.

[retiredTech]

a reboot should clear up your loss of guide

since yor favorites can contain any number of channels (not limited to amount per list)
You can have any channels you want in the guide (however this will not change what shows up in your search function)

as for a wireless keyboard,
you can use the usb port to input a (wired or wireless) standard usb keyboard

[SimpleSimon]

boyle: I'm not sure about the tiny details, but yes, "hard reboot" is to pull power. "soft reboot" is to hold the front-panel power button. AFAIK, pulling the card is NOT actually a reboot, but can do useful things.