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Freezing/Pixelation issues on your Genie? Here's how you can help

109K views 191 replies 64 participants last post by  Stuart Sweet 
#1 ·
If you're experiencing freezing or pixelation issues on your Genie, post a description here. Also, do a keyword search for SENDREPORT -- this will give you the opportunity to send a report to DIRECTV engineers. I can't guarantee it will help, or that they'll even see the reports, but if you do that and post the report here I'll try to get the attention of the right people.
 
#77 ·
We started noticing the pixelation/stuttering/pausing about a week ago. First it was on NBC on SNL, but not ESPN. We've seen it on CBS/Amazing Race tonight. It happens at sporadic rates, sometimes 10 minutes in between, sometimes back to back to back.

We got our HR-34 in Feb of 2012. We are currently on 0x744.

My report code is 20131020-176E

It appears that this pixelation never happens during commercials.
 
#79 ·
Stuart Sweet said:
If you're experiencing freezing or pixelation issues on your Genie, post a description here. Also, do a keyword search for SENDREPORT -- this will give you the opportunity to send a report to DIRECTV engineers. I can't guarantee it will help, or that they'll even see the reports, but if you do that and post the report here I'll try to get the attention of the right people.
Thanks for your help, Stuart! I've used SmartSearch to send a report.
 
#82 ·
Just got off the phone with tech support for the fourth time this month on this issue and they still fail to recognize this as a known problem. Is no one else calling in?? I referred the rep to this thread and she had never heard of DBSTalk!! Anyway the latest suggestion is to do the complete master reset where the hard drive is re-formatted. Has anyone tried that?

HR34-700 Apr 2013
HR22 Dec 2007
 
#84 ·
Doing that will erase every single recording and series link and favorite list, etc. It would be like getting a factory reburished "new to you" box.
 
#85 ·
I did call in a few weeks ago and they replaced my HR44 with another new (non-refurbished) HR44. They stated that this issue is seen due to a possibly failing hard drive.
Mike 204 said:
Just got off the phone with tech support for the fourth time this month on this issue and they still fail to recognize this as a known problem. Is no one else calling in?? I referred the rep to this thread and she had never heard of DBSTalk!! Anyway the latest suggestion is to do the complete master reset where the hard drive is re-formatted. Has anyone tried that?

HR34-700 Apr 2013
HR22 Dec 2007
 
#86 ·
My hr34 got updated to 744 and watching recording of 49ers jaguars on local Fox. Pixelation / stuttering continues. Does it make any sense to keep doing send reports? I'm planning on scheduling all sports recording on my HR24 from now on. Won't be giving any recommendations to my friends to get a Genie any time soon until direct gets its act together.
 
#88 ·
VaJim said:
What is DTV saying about this when we call in...?
As always, it depends on the CSR who answers your call. So, in the end, it doesn't matter what they say.

The best thing you can do is submit a report. The engineers see those and it may help solve this issue.
 
#89 ·
I personally think the pixelation is happening on the Genie if you record the same show on multiple receivers. I did a test of my theory b/c i was getting alot of pixelation on shows recorded on both such as late night with david letterman. But then also the other receivers wouldnt pixelate. So i've run this theory a few times by recording a few of my favorite shows only on the Genie in my living room and sure enough no pixelation problems at all.
 
#90 ·
Athlon646464 said:
As always, it depends on the CSR who answers your call. So, in the end, it doesn't matter what they say.

The best thing you can do is submit a report. The engineers see those and it may help solve this issue.
I called dtv today. In the end. I was told to set up a recording on the genie in the known time/channel that's been causing a problem. Then I was told to set up the same recording on one of our other machines (hr-21) thus producing a dual recording. If we continue to see the problem on the genie and NOT on the other machine. Dtv may end up replacing the genie. If the problem is on both machines then dtv said its with the broadcasting and they would work it from that end. All of this was annotated on our account for when we call back. We do have the protection plan.
 
#91 ·
HR 44-700 20131027-3582

Big time freeze watching SNF on NBC. I had the World Series in the buffer and was able to switch to with the live picture. Upon switching back to the picture was still frozen. Hit the replay button and picture came back froze again when I did the 30 second skip. All working now.

I had my C41 going upstairs on the same channel and it did not experience a screen freeze, either time it occurred.
 
#92 ·
I watched three shows this evening all recorded today on my HR44-500. Two were fine (on CBS DNS and Showtime East) but Boardwalk Empire on HBO East went crazy at about the 40 minute point and we had to repeatedly stop and resume it in order to be able watch the rest of the show.
 
#93 ·
gregftlaud said:
I personally think the pixelation is happening on the Genie if you record the same show on multiple receivers. I did a test of my theory b/c i was getting alot of pixelation on shows recorded on both such as late night with david letterman. But then also the other receivers wouldnt pixelate. So i've run this theory a few times by recording a few of my favorite shows only on the Genie in my living room and sure enough no pixelation problems at all.
That wouldn't explain it in my home. I only have the HR44-500 - no other HRs or any other clients. I have a TiVo Roamio and basic Comcast cable as backup, but now I'm using the TiVo to watch all network shows since the HR44 freezing is so bad. Watched the entire World Series last night on the TiVo - no issues at all.

I have to use the HR44 to watch Fox News Channel, and the freezing is terrible on there. I'm very disappointed.
 
#94 ·
Hitting the six second rewind works the best here to get past the freezes (which will also go through on their own after quite a delay) Not that that's exactly a fix, but to minimize a bad situation.

I watched the WS on HR44-200 with no hiccups, but the problem still exists here. (Ever seen a pickoff play to end a WS game??)
 
#96 ·
Laxguy said:
Hitting the six second rewind works the best here to get past the freezes (which will also go through on their own after quite a delay) Not that that's exactly a fix, but to minimize a bad situation.

I watched the WS on HR44-200 with no hiccups, but the problem still exists here. (Ever seen a pickoff play to end a WS game??)
Incredible. And the fact that his run was irrelevant made it 1,000 times worse than if he were the tying run. Poor kid.

Sandra
 
#97 ·
I'm so glad another poster mentioned the "Boardwalk Empire" fiasco. The last 15 minutes of my recording were so messed up, I just couldn't believe it! Playback froze every 2-3 minutes. (About 90% of my recordings freeze at some point.) I think this pretty much proves that the issue is not an individual receiver-specific one.

As far as the MRV theory is concerned, I never record the same program on multiple boxes and have had the freeze/pixelation issues since getting my first 44 back in March! I was one of the first in the Denver test market to get one, and have been reporting the problem since then. They replaced the box, but the freezes have persisted.

It's clear to me that this is either a software or firmware issue. Despite what the CSRs are saying, DTV knows about it - and they've known about it since they started rolling out the HR-44. Why they haven't done a darn thing to fix the problem is totally beyond me. I think a call to Retention is warranted.


Sent from my iPhone using DBSTalk
 
#100 ·
I just got off the phone with Case Management. (Took four calls to reach someone who seemed to be somewhat coherent.) According to the rep I talked to, DTV has no record of any known freezing/pixelation issues. She claims that they have received no calls and no reports of these issues. So, if you post here saying that you called, be aware that it's probable that the person you talked to either didn't take any notes or, worse, did absolutely nothing except listen to your complaints and schedule a service call.

In any event, the only way that DTV will take any action is to schedule a service call so that the technician can actually see the freezing/pixelation issues. This means that you should save these recordings and get a service call scheduled. Getting more people to do this might help to open DTV's eyes to the problem. The rep also claimed that the issue might be the result of a software glitch that's making the hard drive fail. When I asked her what she thought the chances were that hundreds of HR-34 and HR-44 hard drives were failing on the same exact recorded program, on the same exact channel, at the same exact time in the recording, she had no response.

Since I deleted last night's "Boardwalk Empire" recording, I'll have to find another one that freezes before my service call on Wednesday. This shouldn't be too hard!
 
#101 ·
You may be barking up the wrong tree. CSRs cannot possibly know all the issues that have been/are being worked on, much less reported. I have every confidence that this is a software issue that'll eventually be remedied. There will be a few exceptions, where there are also hardware issues.
 
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