Dish Network PVR 721 hard drive mysteriously wiped clean. Recovery tips?

[Cobalt-Bleu]

3 nights ago, my Dish Network PVR 721 (dual tuner) was working just fine. I watched a recorded show until about 1 AM. When I turned off the system, it had about 18 hours of record time remaining but I don't think I had any programs set to record overnight. The next day, I turned on the system around noon.... only to find that all my recorded programs had been wiped out and I now had 100+ hours of record time available. Ugh. It had also erased all future record events.

Furthermore, I now can't seem to pause live TV or rewind or use PIP without locking up the system. I don't dare try to record a new show if there's still a chance I could recover the previously recorded material off the hard drive.

I tried doing a front panel reset (several times over the course of the last few days, actually), and unplugging the system then plugging it back in, but to no avail.

Tech support at Dish Network just basically said "this happens sometimes" when the box receives new information or a software upgrade, records an error and tries to fix it... and fails... so it wipes clean the hard drive. From reading others' tales of woe online, I'm now finding that this experience is far more common than I had previously realized.

Can anyone offer data recovery tips or point me towards a company that offers such services that actually has experience working with PVRs/DVRs (and not just desktops)? I'm not concerned about losing a few hours of sitcoms but there were some older, protected recordings that were work-related that I'd really hate to lose permanently. I called one company but the guy who answered the phone made it clear that DVR work was "beneath" him -- he made it very clear that his rates started at $1200 and he didn't think anyone would ever want to spend that kind of money to get back a few lousy TV shows.

Also, given the flaky behavior of this system currently (not being able to pause, for instance), are the system's problems more major than just having a clean hard drive?

Any tips would be appreciated! Thanks for reading.

[finniganps]

The data is gone. If pause isn't working ask for a replacement box if you're under warranty. If you're not, add the warranty in case you have other problems later so that you can get it replaced.

[Cobalt-Bleu]

Ugh. Is the outlook really that dismal? I fear you're right.

If I have to get a replacement box, I'm thinking I should avoid other 721s, only because I'd be getting an older, refurbished model.... so instead I should make the leap to a newer generation.... yes? Do you have a favorite, newer dual-tuner PVR to recommend to those of us who were really loving the 721 up until last week?

[Mike D-CO5]

Go with the 625 dvr if you want sd programming only. A 622 for hd. Both work on the same software and use name based recording wich is much better than the digital vcr that the 721 is . You can upgrade with Dish and they can check under the dish n up equipment page and see what you can get . You should be able to get a 625 dvr for like $69.99 if they send it to you and I think it is 99.99 if they install it. They will give you like $10.00 for the old 721 sd receiver if you turn it back into them.

[finniganps]

Don't give them the 721 for $10 - you can sell it for more since it's still working. Also, I believe the 625 includes a monthly DVR fee, unlike the 721 which does not have the monthly DVR fee.

[bhawley]

All hard drives eventually fail. Backup is your friend.

[neljtorres]

Hi Guys:

I did this a couple of weeks ago and it is working no perfectly.

ThomasTrain gave me this advice.
There is a little trick for these 721 receivers that "might" work for you and it basically forces the unit to reinitialize the hard drive.

1) Unplug power from the unit and remove the cover
2) Unplug the hard drive ide cable from the main board (Do not remove the hard drive as this will break that little 'hard drive warraty' sticker, only unplug the IDE cable from the main board connector.
3) Plug the unit back in a wait for the failure message about the hard drive
4) Unplug power from the unit again and plug the hard drive IDE cable back in and replace the cover.
5) Finally, plug power back in a let it run for about 30 to 45 minutes.

This will force the unit to completely wipe the PVR partitions on the hard drive and rebuild and reformat them.

WARNING: this procedue will ERASE all recordings and timers. One of my units did this to me and it resolved my problems with it.

The nice thing is that this doesn't void you warranty since we are simply using the recovery features that are build into the unit.