501: Back To Back Timer Bug

[Tony S]

Last night I had three back-to back timers set for HBO: Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and The Wire. I had the Sopranos set to start one minute early, and the other two set normally. The first timer functioned properly, but the second and third timers never fired.

At 9:05 I noticed that the Six Feet Under timer did not start, so I tried to press the record button to start the recording. The 501 then displayed the timer conflict screen, complaining that Six Feet Under was already recording (but the timer never started). I had to delete the Six Feet Under timer (the one that failed) before it would let me record Six Feet Under. (The 501 thought that the timer was executing, but it never started).

When 10:00 came, it was the same story...the timer for The Wire did not start, and I had to go to the Timers screen to delete the timer for The Wire before it would let me record the show.

When my 501 had software P153, back-to-back timers (on the same channel) never worked. However, I haven't seen this problem at all with version P154 until now, but I guess that the problem is still there.

I reset the 501 and I am hoping that I do not see this problem again, but I have seen a couple of other posts (on DSBForums.com) with people experiencing the same problem with P154, so appears as if this bug is not totally gone.

This has happened to me also with the P154 software. I tape Letterman and Craiggers back to back and had to edit the times to get them to work.

I also had a nasty bug where I was recording a movie and watching another show on the PVR and the PVR kept recording WELL after the movie had ended...like 8 hrs and counting. I had left the show I was watching in the Resume - Restart - Cancel screen while it was recording the other movie...I guess that caused the error <shrug>. I just happened to see it was still recording several hours later and was able to stop it before it erased everything I had already recorded.

[jericho]

I just experienced this problem this weekend recording two programs back to back on the same channel. I have also experienced it with 2 programs back to back in time but on two different channels. Can anything be done to fix this, or will I have to send in my reciever to get it fixed? If anyone has found a solution to the problem I would love to know what it is.

[Tony S]

Jericho, I am pretty sure that the back-to-back timer problem is a software bug because this problem has gotten better and worse with various software versions. The problem was supposed to be fixed in version P154, but for me, it only improved things to the point where back-to back timers fail occasionally instead of all the time.

I don't think that sending in your receiver is the answer to this problem because it is a software bug. I guess we will have to wait for the next software version.

If I have back-to-back shows on the same channel, I just create one long timer to record all of the shows at once. (Select the first show to record the normal way - then use the Timers screen to extend the end time).

This is the only remaining bug that I have experienced with my 501, but it is annoying! Dish, if you're listening, please fix this bug in your next release!!!.

[DarrellP]

I had this issue Friday night as well. Also, my 501 has spontaneously rebooted 4 times in the last 2 days. Bye-bye 501, this ones going back to Dish. (Long story, there's more).

[kstuart]

Tony S - how often do you reset your 501 ? (ie press and hold front panel power button for 5 seconds)

[Tony S]

Originally posted by kstuart
Tony S - how often do you reset your 501 ? (ie press and hold front panel power button for 5 seconds)
I reset my 501 whenever it exhibits a problem or does "something strange". I have to admit that since receiving P154 my 501 has been behaving very well (except for the occasional back-to-back timers failing) so I have not had to reset it very often.

Ken, maybe you're right. Perhaps I should reset it once a week even if I don't have any problems. I'll try it and see if it helps the back-to-back timer problem.

[Haywood]

This is my first post here but I've been lurking for a while. I've got two 501s that have the same problem and want to know why doesn't Dish address this?

I'd love to have Charlie's email address...

[Neil Derryberry]

Welcome Haywood!

As a former E* subscriber, I had a 501. I never had any trouble with the unit, not even the back-to-back bug. I know the 501 is a computer of sorts, but I'm not positive that a weekly reset is needed. I don't think it would hurt, but I'm not so sure it would help - It seems that 501's that have problems ALWAYS have problems, and the units without problems always seem to be fine. So, here's a suggestion... let's gather data on the 501's here that have trouble, and see if there is something in common between them... say build date, hard disk make/model, serial numbers in close sequence.... something along those lines.

[Randy_B]

As a routine, I reset our 501 every Sunday evening. Rebooting the OS once a week seems to help a lot.

[cnsf]

I am about to replace my 2 Dishplayers with 501s this weekend? Any suggestions? Where can I find guidance on resetting/rebooting, etc.?

[Randy_B]

Hold down the power button for a 5 count is all it takes to reboot.

[jericho]

I'm just wondering, where do you get these software updates for the 501 that some of you are talking about? And how do you install them?

[Randy_B]

Software updates come automatically. There is nothing you can do with the 501 except wait for your units turn.

cnsf, I still prefer my DPs over the 501. Our 2 DPs have been great since the last software fix. The lack of info and order on the timer screen for the 501 still makes me nuts.

[Haywood]

I tried the reset and now the back-to-back recording problem has gone away on both of my 501s.

Thanks for the suggestion guys, you learn something new every day...

[John Corn]

Haywood, Charlies email address is ceo@echostar.com. :)

Glad to hear your problem is gone. :righton: