Searching for Signal after 6.3a upgrade

[diverbryan]

A couple of days ago I received the 6.3a update from DTV on my HR10-250 receiver with the oval 3LNB dish. Since the update, I get searching for signal message, but it depends on which channels I have each tuner set to. I have noticed this only affects the HD channels which get the message when the opposite tuner is on a SD channel. For example, I can have both turners set to HD feeds such as 509 (HBO HD) on one and 543 (SHOW HD) on the other and they both come in just fine. If I change the channel on either tuner to a non-HD feed, like 501 or any other SD feed, then I get the searching for signal message for the tuner I didn’t change the channel on. On the signal meter, I have excellent reception for all 3 sat's so that is defiantly not the problem, that and the fact it was working perfectly before the update.

I spent several hours on the phone with DTV tech support and reset the box, went through guided setup several times, still no change. I was trying to convince them that this just happened after getting the 6.3a update, so it has to be a software issue, but they refused to believe it. Has anyone else experienced something similar?

Thanks!

[diverbryan]

Well, had the Direct TV service call today and after showing the guy what was happening, he agreed with me that is was probably due to the upgrade and unfortunately there was nothing he could do but call it in. After waiting on the phone for what seemed like forever, he finally talked to someone in advanced technical support and the only thing they said they could do was send me out another box. I asked if it would be another HR10-250, they said “most likely”. The tech also let me know that he had seen this problem at other locations several times and replacing the box was all they could do. Unbelievable. Well, I guess I’ll just have to see what shows up on the doorstep in the days to come.

[philtymps]

Just received my 6x upgrade and have experienced this problem as well. I'm hoping that it will be addressed in a future patch. Replacing the entire unit with the same model isn't going to do anything. The problem is the result of a software upgrade, and so the solution is going to have to be a patch to that software.

I'm just hoping that Tivo engineers aren't consipiring to inflict pain on D* Tivo users to get back at them for D* dumping Tivos in favor of their own :( D* branded recorders.

[wilbur_the_goose]

Is it time to unplug my TiVos from the phone connection?

[diverbryan]

Is it time to unplug my TiVos from the phone connection?

I would unplug my phone and not let the upgrade take place if I knew now the problems that it would bring. Sure, under v3, the unit was slow, but at least it worked like its supposed to. I agree with the earlier post, that this is a software problem and sending a new box out is not going to resolve anything. However, I'm going through the motions and will call them back once I get the new box installed and get the same results.

[diverbryan]

Just a quick update before I head out on a business trip. On the advice of the DTV tech, (which was really a contractor and not an employee of DTV) I did a “reformat” which consisted of selecting the delete everything option under the setup menu and waited the 2 hours for it to complete. After it came up with everything wiped from the system, I started going though all the processes and checked the signal. Still the same thing. If I am on 509 on one tuner, then switch to a non-HD channel on the other tuner, I lose the signal on the previous tuner. Does not matter which tuner I’m on, still the same scenario. The ‘new’ box came today, but I won’t have time to test it until Friday, which I will then post an update afterwards. Any bets on the outcome?

[Wolffpack]

I'd say you indeed have a hardware problem. Many others have received the software update and not had this same problem. I have two units updated without this problem. Get a new unit on order before they run out of HR10's....if that's what you want.

[diverbryan]

I'd say you indeed have a hardware problem. Many others have received the software update and not had this same problem. I have two units updated without this problem. Get a new unit on order before they run out of HR10's....if that's what you want.

That’s what I initially thought at first too, however if it was truly a hardware problem, why did it only happen right after the software upgrade? And how is it that I am getting strong signals and can get HD on both tuners at the same time, but when I change either tuner to a non-HD channel, the searching for signal comes up on the tuner still sitting on the HD feed? Also, I have talked to other folks and they are seeing the same thing and even one person on the dealdatabase forum had luckily backed up their v3 software and did a restore and the problem went away. That sealed the deal for me. I am thinking most likely something happened during the upgrade that resulted in some part of the software was corrupted or didn’t load properly…something like that. I did get another HR10-250 just as I was leaving town on a business trip, so I’ll be testing it out later this week. If it works, I’ll do a quick backup and restore to my original unit and test it again to confirm my suspicions. I just wish DTV had a better support process to reload the hard drive in the units completely.

[Wolffpack]

That’s what I initially thought at first too, however if it was truly a hardware problem, why did it only happen right after the software upgrade? And how is it that I am getting strong signals and can get HD on both tuners at the same time, but when I change either tuner to a non-HD channel, the searching for signal comes up on the tuner still sitting on the HD feed? Also, I have talked to other folks and they are seeing the same thing and even one person on the dealdatabase forum had luckily backed up their v3 software and did a restore and the problem went away. That sealed the deal for me. I am thinking most likely something happened during the upgrade that resulted in some part of the software was corrupted or didn’t load properly…something like that. I did get another HR10-250 just as I was leaving town on a business trip, so I’ll be testing it out later this week. If it works, I’ll do a quick backup and restore to my original unit and test it again to confirm my suspicions. I just wish DTV had a better support process to reload the hard drive in the units completely.
Over on DDB there were reports that the slices were "out there". So you could conceivably re-upgrade your unit from 3.1.5. At least make a backup of your new HR10 before 6.3a is applied.

[annenoe]

Is it time to unplug my TiVos from the phone connection?

That's what I did. It's not clear how many boxes have been negatively affected but from reports I've heard (on tivo and directv forums), the two biggies are the one referenced here and a fairly serious audio drop out problem. The release sounds buggy.

I agree with OP - I'd rather have it run slow than not at all. Folders are not that big a deal.

[diverbryan]

Pretty much confirmed that the problem I’m having is NOT hardware related today. Hooked up the new HR10-250 and called DTV to have it activated. Everything was working perfectly and checked the software on the box and it was 3.1.5. In order to rule out the hardware, I swapped the hard drives on the unit with my original one that has the 6a upgrade and got the same problem with the new box. I’m hoping that something went wrong with the update on the old box and when the new box gets the 6a upgrade, I will not have the same problem. Now I’ll just have to wait for the 6a upgrade to come down again…after I make a copy of the 3.1.5 before it gets whacked of course. :)

[jcaldwell]

Just received the 6.3a upgrade Thursday. I immediately noticed when changing between certain channels a very brief "Searching for Signal on: Antenna In" before the signal locks in. Upon testing today, I verified this only occurs when switching between over-the-air local digital channels received by antenna and not when swtiching between local SD channels received by satellite. While I was testing this today, the HR10-250 locked up and would not respond to any commands. I was forced to unplug the unit and restart. This is the first time I've ever been forced to do this (never once did this occur with 3.1.5f-01-2-357).

Also, within 30 seconds of switching to my local Fox OTA for the first time since the upgrade, I experienced about a 10-second audio drop out and have other drop outs since. I tried 88 last night (I live in a FOX O&O market) and although I did not hear any complete dropouts, the audio periodically "clipped," sounding like it was on the verge of dropping out.

[69hokie]

Received the 6.3 update this morning. My HR10-250 had been performing flawlessly. Upon turning on everything on this morning, the tv picture (Samsung plasma) was showing a duel picture with a greenish tint to everything. At first thought the PIP was malfunctioning or a television problem. Quickly deduced that the upgrade had somehow caused it and that the HR10-250 signal to the tv was the culprit. I unplugged the receiver for about a minute and restored power. After boot up, everything returned to normal and has been so all day. Anyone else experienced this on receiving the new update? It made me think I was watching my HR20 for a minute with all the problems the new HR20's have experienced.

[sadrand]

My DVR has frozen 4 times since 6.3a was installed. JCALDWELL's post below has helped me identify when it happens. My antenna doesn't always pick up local channels well depending on weather or whatever. I sometimes go to a antenna channel to get HD. If it doesn't come in, I switch to the same DTV channel which is not HD in my area. I have done this many times, but since 6.3a, this causes my system to freeze. Resetting the system is the only thing that unfreezes the system. I'll just have to try to avoid doing this until a patch comes in.

[jcaldwell]

My DVR has frozen 4 times since 6.3a was installed. JCALDWELL's post below has helped me identify when it happens. My antenna doesn't always pick up local channels well depending on weather or whatever. I sometimes go to a antenna channel to get HD. If it doesn't come in, I switch to the same DTV channel which is not HD in my area. I have done this many times, but since 6.3a, this causes my system to freeze. Resetting the system is the only thing that unfreezes the system. I'll just have to try to avoid doing this until a patch comes in.

Upon turning on my set for the first time today, I was on the local NBC digital channel being received by antenna and my HR10-250 would accept no commands at all. Had to unplug and restart for the second day in a row.

[diverbryan]

The new box DTV sent me was updated last night with the 6.3a upgrade. Since then, it is now exhibiting the same behavior as the old box. Called DTV today to inform them as such and was transferred to the advanced support team. After retelling the story, she put me on hold and confirmed it was definitely a “software glitch” (her words) and she sent it to engineering for action. She said to check it again after 72 hours and call back if it was still not working. She gave me the impression that engineering was going to jump right on it and send out a software patch inside of 72 hours which I find highly unlikely. I feel like I was just blown off to be honest. But I’m going to be the good little customer and give them their 72 hours to see if they can fix the software problem. In the mean time, I have a backup of the drive and was wondering how you “switch back” to the original boot partition that has the 3.1.5 load on it? I’ve seen a few posts about using bootpage, but want to make sure I have the proper commands to use. Thanks for the help!

[Wolffpack]

You must pull the drive from your HR10 and put it in a PC. Then boot from a Tivo friendly CD into Linux (PTVUpgrade has these LBA48 CD images).

You would then use the 'bootpage' command to first see what your current boot partition is (hda4 or hda7) and then use 'bootpage' to alter that. The problem you could run into is that the MFS (the partitions on the drive that contain a database for storage of guide and show info and recordings) was converted from 3.1.5 to 6.3. Going back to version 3.1.5 with a 6.3 MFS could eventually cause you problems also.

The best bet is to restore from an original 3.1.5 disk image that contains the 3.1.5 OS and 3.1.5 MFS. I have those backups and I'm seriously considering going back to 3.1.5 so I can watch 24 in HD when it starts. Not to mention the World Series.

[immax45]

You must pull the drive from your HR10 and put it in a PC. Then boot from a Tivo friendly CD into Linux (PTVUpgrade has these LBA48 CD images).

You would then use the 'bootpage' command to first see what your current boot partition is (hda4 or hda7) and then use 'bootpage' to alter that. The problem you could run into is that the MFS (the partitions on the drive that contain a database for storage of guide and show info and recordings) was converted from 3.1.5 to 6.3. Going back to version 3.1.5 with a 6.3 MFS could eventually cause you problems also.

The best bet is to restore from an original 3.1.5 disk image that contains the 3.1.5 OS and 3.1.5 MFS. I have those backups and I'm seriously considering going back to 3.1.5 so I can watch 24 in HD when it starts. Not to mention the World Series.


Is this problem limited to the 3Lnb dish?

Also, now that I have pulled my phone line, will I continue to get updated guide info through the Sat?

[rod456]

The new box DTV sent me was updated last night with the 6.3a upgrade. Since then, it is now exhibiting the same behavior as the old box. Called DTV today to inform them as such and was transferred to the advanced support team. After retelling the story, she put me on hold and confirmed it was definitely a “software glitch” (her words) and she sent it to engineering for action. She said to check it again after 72 hours and call back if it was still not working. She gave me the impression that engineering was going to jump right on it and send out a software patch inside of 72 hours which I find highly unlikely. I feel like I was just blown off to be honest. But I’m going to be the good little customer and give them their 72 hours to see if they can fix the software problem. In the mean time, I have a backup of the drive and was wondering how you “switch back” to the original boot partition that has the 3.1.5 load on it? I’ve seen a few posts about using bootpage, but want to make sure I have the proper commands to use. Thanks for the help!


I would suggest elevating your problem to the first line supervisor or speak with advanced support as well. If both boxes are doing it, I doubt it is a software problem since there are way too many boxes working just fine (not including the OTA problem) just fine. Just my humble opinion though, cause I didn't stay at Holiday Inn Express last night.

[bwaldron]

Also, now that I have pulled my phone line, will I continue to get updated guide info through the Sat?

Yes, you will.

[Wolffpack]

Is this problem limited to the 3Lnb dish?

Also, now that I have pulled my phone line, will I continue to get updated guide info through the Sat?
I do have a 3LNB dish. Not sure if that's the problem. You'll continue to get guide data with or without a phone line.

[Andrew_J_M]

I had a similar problem several months ago on 3.1.5f. On the third service call the tech changed the multiswitch to a WB68 (even though I was still on a Phase III at the time). That fixed it.
That was after the first tech who called changed ALL the connectors and the second told me a tree was blocking the signals.

[BigSey]

Upon turning on my set for the first time today, I was on the local NBC digital channel being received by antenna and my HR10-250 would accept no commands at all. Had to unplug and restart for the second day in a row.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm getting the exact same symptoms as you. In a year and a half, my HR10-250 did not freeze up once. Since the update, it's happened about 5 times. I was getting the Fox HD OTA audio dropout as well but I didn't seem to notice it while watching the game last night. I did notice that there was a software download last night so maybe there was a patch installed.

[MoInSTL]

Just received the 6.3a upgrade Thursday. I immediately noticed when changing between certain channels a very brief "Searching for Signal on: Antenna In" before the signal locks in. Upon testing today, I verified this only occurs when switching between over-the-air local digital channels received by antenna and not when swtiching between local SD channels received by satellite. While I was testing this today, the HR10-250 locked up and would not respond to any commands. I was forced to unplug the unit and restart. This is the first time I've ever been forced to do this (never once did this occur with 3.1.5f-01-2-357).

Also, within 30 seconds of switching to my local Fox OTA for the first time since the upgrade, I experienced about a 10-second audio drop out and have other drop outs since. I tried 88 last night (I live in a FOX O&O market) and although I did not hear any complete dropouts, the audio periodically "clipped," sounding like it was on the verge of dropping out.

The Searching for Signal is annoying even though it's brief. I rebooted as there was no movement on the OTA Signal Strength screen. I was able to watch OTA, just not check the signal. Was very strange. Thankfully a reboot fixed the meter. Was hoping it would fix the Searching for Signal. I did notice that it pops up most often when switching to another channel that wasn't being watched or in the buffer.

[diverbryan]

Called the advanced technical support team for the second time I was told to call back after 72 hours. Basically, I have been completely lied to both times by this group. It would seem they use the “call us back in 72 hours” routine as a means just to get you off the phone. I was told by the second person, who even gave me a badge number for whatever good that is, that a “ticket” was being opened for this problem and to call back if the problem still existed. Of course I’m still having the problem and when I called back, this new rep in the group showed no record of any ticket or anything being escalated. This company has to have the worst support I have ever seen.

Thanks to a few folks in the forums I have been reading, my only choice is to try to replace the multiswitch on the dish and see if that helps in any way. I have the original 3 LNB dish (which was originally just a 2 LNB that was upgraded with the kit from DTV) and it is the only thing left as a variable in the equation. I certainly do not expect any support from DTV anymore. I just recently got Verizon FiOS installed for the internet and I will most definitely be looking into their HD and DVR offerings due to this experience. Unbelievable. Sorry for the rant, but I cannot understand how a company can send an “upgrade” out and piss off so many long standing customers without a care in the world.

[jmschnur]

I get similar probelms (but perhjaps not as severe) now with 6.3a and the 3lnb dish. I certinaly expect Direct TV to do its job for us.

Joel


Called the advanced technical support team for the second time I was told to call back after 72 hours. Basically, I have been completely lied to both times by this group. It would seem they use the “call us back in 72 hours” routine as a means just to get you off the phone. I was told by the second person, who even gave me a badge number for whatever good that is, that a “ticket” was being opened for this problem and to call back if the problem still existed. Of course I’m still having the problem and when I called back, this new rep in the group showed no record of any ticket or anything being escalated. This company has to have the worst support I have ever seen.

Thanks to a few folks in the forums I have been reading, my only choice is to try to replace the multiswitch on the dish and see if that helps in any way. I have the original 3 LNB dish (which was originally just a 2 LNB that was upgraded with the kit from DTV) and it is the only thing left as a variable in the equation. I certainly do not expect any support from DTV anymore. I just recently got Verizon FiOS installed for the internet and I will most definitely be looking into their HD and DVR offerings due to this experience. Unbelievable. Sorry for the rant, but I cannot understand how a company can send an “upgrade” out and piss off so many long standing customers without a care in the world.

[diverbryan]

Problem solved!

It would seem that DTV does not take existing customers into consideration when they send out new software updates. I changed out my old, original dish LNB setup with the 3 LNB head that has the built in multiswitch and what do you know, the problem instantly went away. For those others that are experiencing this same issue, and I have received many emails to that affect, my dish was the original oval with the add-on for the 110 sat and the SMS 4 port R20 multiswitch attached to the back of the dish. This configuration worked fine with the 3.1.5f software, but the 6a upgrade apparently didn’t like it too much. So, just changing the LNB corrected everything. Now I’m wondering if I should call DTV tech support and tell them how to correct this issue with everyone else. Maybe I’ll just send them an email and have them call me back after 72 hours.

Thanks so much to everyone who responded and I hope this experience helps others as well.

[MoInSTL]

Problem solved!

It would seem that DTV does not take existing customers into consideration when they send out new software updates. I changed out my old, original dish LNB setup with the 3 LNB head that has the built in multiswitch and what do you know, the problem instantly went away. For those others that are experiencing this same issue, and I have received many emails to that affect, my dish was the original oval with the add-on for the 110 sat and the SMS 4 port R20 multiswitch attached to the back of the dish. This configuration worked fine with the 3.1.5f software, but the 6a upgrade apparently didn’t like it too much. So, just changing the LNB corrected everything. Now I’m wondering if I should call DTV tech support and tell them how to correct this issue with everyone else. Maybe I’ll just send them an email and have them call me back after 72 hours.

Thanks so much to everyone who responded and I hope this experience helps others as well.

I have a triple LNB oval dish and I still get the searching for signal. It's not an add-on AFAIK. It was installed under the mover connection in January.

[diverbryan]

I have a triple LNB oval dish and I still get the searching for signal. It's not an add-on AFAIK. It was installed under the mover connection in January.

Are you having the same symptoms as I was? (you can read my earlier posts for more detail) In another words, do you only get the searching for signal on the HD feed when you have the SD feed on the opposite tuner? If so, are you using a multiswitch or the built in one on the LNB which has 4 feeds off of it?

[msmith]

I have a triple LNB oval dish and I still get the searching for signal. It's not an add-on AFAIK. It was installed under the mover connection in January.

I had this problem last night after getting the 6.3a update.

Have you tried "Auto-Detect Satellite" (or something like that - it's 3rd on the Satellite/Antenna menu)? That fixed my problem with odd transponders on 119.

It seems that the update comes out set for a particular multiswitch, which you may not have.

[MoInSTL]

No multi-switch. My OTA is a separate line. So it's the switch installed on the sat. I have 4 lines off it and as I mentioned OTA I had run on it's own.

I haven't noticed the pattern (switching to SD/HD from the opposite tuner). I'll try to pay more attention to it.

My sat signals are all in the mid-90's so I have not re-run the auto detect set-up. I can give that a try though.

[diverbryan]

Now that the signal issue with HD channels is taken care of, I’m now experiencing the OTA audio dropouts like several other people are getting. I’m pretty much done at this point with DTV. This is not a service I can continue paying for with programs that are unwatchable for all intensive purposes. Good luck everyone, I’ll be canceling and moving to a quality service like FiOS…I’m done with this company.

[JLucPicard]

all intensive purposes.

See ya. By the way, it's "all intents and purposes"

[Wolffpack]

See ya. By the way, it's "all intents and purposes"
WOW, that one gets massacred way too much!