721 - single tuner?

[cmaier]

Will the 721 work with only one tuner hooked up?

I have to signals where I want to put the box, but I want
to keep one of them hooked to my 6000 (I'm getting the 721
instead of the 508 for the extra storage, interface, and for
future use when I rewire things a bit).

I just have this scary vision of "aquiring satellite" showing up until
I hook the second tuner up
:)

[drjake]

It does work, but it has all kinds of issues.

[cmaier]

What sorts of issues? I haven't had much luck finding that
sort of information. I understand that it can't download software
when the only tuner is in use, etc., but I would hope there aren't
any serious problems using it this way?

[Jacob S]

Is there any issues if you do not have two timers firing at the same time? Why could they not make it an option to make the timers function as if there was one satellite connected and make it show a conflict when there is another timer to fire at the same time with just one satellite connected with a software upgrade?

[cmaier]

If you're saying that it assumes it has two tuners and so a conflict is hard-coded to mean *three* simultaneous records, that's a silly bug. I'd consider it just an annoyance in my case, though, since I seldom am likely to run into it.

[cmaier]

So far, inconclusive results. It seems like the cable needs to go to tuner #1 or not much happens. Now I got it booted up and it
is showing the info channel - the guide "feature is downloading" - has been for awhile.

Will let it sit for awhile and see what happens - hopefully both cables don't need to be in for that.

As it turns out, even though I have two cables there it probably won't help - the switch matrices apparently need to be identical, and since one of my boxes is a 6000 one of the two wires has the other switch on it so it can pick up three satellites.

[greylar]

I had my 721 hooked up to just one tuner for awhile and I noticed the following.

1. Check switch is messed up, (takes forever)

2. Guide will only download on a full reboot or check switch (see above).

3. On occasion the receiver would get confused and try to use the second tuner as the main display resulting in the infamous lost lock error which required a reboot to fix.

All these problems were resolved when I added the second line.

G

[cmaier]

Eww. You mean you have to reboot (or check switch) just to download the program guide data?

That's fairly horrible.

I guess I'll think about moving the box upstairs where I have two lines to the same switch in fairly close proximity (will still need to do a little wiring). Yuck.

[boba]

DISH designed the 721 to only work with two inputs just to make it hard for do it yourselers. Actually I think their engineers aren't in the real world, but truthfully it is not supposed to work with only one tuner.

[MattHarrell]

Well, it will work. My initial 721 had a messed up second tuner and the techs led me through a number of routines to get the latest software on it to see if that fixed anything.

Anyway, you really need to have two inputs going to it but all the 721 cares about is that the check switch menu is the same for both. So, both inputs could come from the same feed and it should cause the checks to stop.

Of course I think the software updates are only on one of the satellites so you'll have to check on which one to use

[greylar]

With only one tuner hooked up I would get the guide but everything would say no info available except for the programs currently playing and the ones immediately after that. Once I did a reboot I would get 48 hours worth of info but no new info would be picked up so that in 48 hours I would be back to just the current shows.

G

[scooper]

Do you have it connected to a Dish500 ? The Extended guide is currently only available on 110.

[greylar]

No but now that I have both tuners I do get the 48 hour guide.

[cmaier]

Matt - I would think hooking both inputs to the same feed would be Bad. I may give it a shot though :-)

My problem right now is that it downloaded the new software - now it starts up with the dish logo, gives me the "checking harddrive" business, moves to the "aquiring signal" screen, then goes to a gray screen with an x-windows "x" cursor in the center. Then it turns black and repeats the sequence. Over and over. Happens with or without the one tuner wired (i also tried wiring just to the other tuner - haven't tried wiring to both).

[cmaier]

Some more info for anyone interested...

After hooking up the second tuner (a 30 foot coax winding through my hall :-) the rebooting stopped. Then it gave me a message about "bad disk"

That didn't seem so good.

So I rebooted manually, and now it is "install new drive image" - looks like it never finished the software install in the first place because it wanted both tuners hooked up (or so i am guessing).

[cmaier]

Heh heh. Now it works - I disconnected the other tuner, got the box authorized, and paused a channel (whee!)

BUT, the time is wrong! It thinks its 3AM! Oi.