[Brandito]

I believe my box is faulty.

i randomly get the message that it's acquiring signal when switching channels, but switching channels again and then switching back and the channel comes in again. this is in all types of weather and happens on random sd and hd channels.

another thing is it fails the sat 103(a) test, yet we have the exact same box in another room, obviously connected to the same satellite as mine, and it acquires this particular satellite just fine.

something really small that i've noticed as well is the sound effect the box makes when you perform a bad command on the remote doesn't seem to work when in dolby digital. if i'm on a DD channel it will just mute the audio momentarily, but on non DD channels the sound plays fine. not sure if that's just a problem with my 5.1 reciever, the h21 in general, or maybe just my box. either way it's not a big deal on its own, i won't lose any sleep over it, but it's just another nail in the coffin if it is a unique problem.

then there's the autotuning that seems to be all sorts of screwed up, though according to another thread this issue may be with the software for the h21 in general.

btw i went through all the troubleshooting with DTV over the phone, all connections are tight, BBC is connected properly, everything seems fine, except for the problems i noted. DTV tells me i have to own the box for 30 days before they'll give me any service though, kinda dumb if you ask me, but whatever, the box functions well enough right now, but i fear it will eventually die, sooner than later.

an h20 we previously owned had the same problems with acquiring sat signal and it eventually would no longer acquire a signal at all. DTV eventually sent us an h21 to replace it and this problem has not resurfaced since, so my best guess is my h21 is going through the same thing the h20 was.

i realize this thread may not seem to have a point, but i'm more or less just wondering if anyone else has gone through the same.

 

[litzdog911]

What happens if you swap the "bad" H21 with the "good" Receiver in the other room? Does the problem stay with the "bad" H21, or does it only happen in its room?

 

[K4SMX]

I believe my box is faulty......DTV tells me i have to own the box for 30 days before they'll give me any service though, kinda dumb if you ask me.....

Has anyone ever heard of this?

.....an h20 we previously owned had the same problems with acquiring sat signal and it eventually would no longer acquire a signal at all. DTV eventually sent us an h21 to replace it and this problem has not resurfaced since, so my best guess is my h21 is going through the same thing the h20 was......

Your H20 problem may be unrelated, particularly if it was an H20-600. Looking forward to the result of litzdog911's suggestion, although that wouldn't account for your DD problems.....

 

[bigbw]

same thing happens to me, but it has not happened since the software update last week..

 

[Brandito]

seems it acquires the signal now, not sure what's changed, maybe it doesn't acquire till after activation, however i'm about 95% sure i checked shortly after it was activated the first time and it was a no go, also check a day or two after that and still nothing, but hell it works now?

 

[larry34]

i just received a h21-100 for my h20-600 that was replaced. My h21 is doing the same thing. Its very annoying! I downloaded the newest software last night and it is still doing it.

 

[Brandito]

well i talked to dtv again yesterday mainly to have them reset our signal so i could get my local channels again after a powerloss (every time the box loses power i lose ALL my settings as well as local channels and have to redo the setup)

but i also told them i was still having issues and they said they'd send me out a new box, i'm pretty impressed that i didn't have to fuss too much to get a new box, they really didn't even inquire any further as to what my problems were. i do wish that these boxes had better firmware though, the autotune problem is really getting on my nerves, and actually i lied about it losing everything with powerloss, for whatever reason it remembers the autotune history, but not my autotunes. i did notice last night that a couople phantom auotunes showed up, it's really the weirdest thing i've ever experienced.

i'd love to get the newest firmware, i'm still on 407E, and no future upgrade is scheduled. is there a way to force a firmware update? seems like that's what you did...though maybe i'm just misinterpreting.

 

[hdtvfan0001]

Has anyone tried having DirecTV "reset" the box from their end?

 

[larry34]

UPDATE

I just got off the phone with Direct TV. They re-sent the authorizations from their end to my h21. She also had me take the batteries out of my remote and hold down the #1 key for 10 seconds. This reset my remote as well. The box doesn't seem to be doing the searching for signal error anymore when I press the previous button.

You can force an update to the latest national software update anytime. You do it the same way you do a CE release.

 

[Brandito]

You can force an update to the latest national software update anytime. You do it the same way you do a CE release.

which is how......?

also, i've noticed mine doesn't do the searching as much anymore, maybe not even at all, been a couple days since i've seen it, and seems to happen less frequently.

still requested a new box because of it losing all my settings after a power loss, and some other issues, hoping the new one fixes everything.

 

[larry34]

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=90847

see the 4th post in this thread on how to force a download

 

[hdtvfan0001]

UPDATE

I just got off the phone with Direct TV. They re-sent the authorizations from their end to my h21. She also had me take the batteries out of my remote and hold down the #1 key for 10 seconds. This reset my remote as well. The box doesn't seem to be doing the searching for signal error anymore when I press the previous button.

You can force an update to the latest national software update anytime. You do it the same way you do a CE release.

Glad to hear the suggestion to do this worked out for you.

On occasion, I have seen this happen, so there was nothing to lose in trying it.

Its great that things are working out well for you now.

 

[Brandito]

just tried to force an update and i still have 407E.

i was thinking, is the code to input in that thread only for CE firmwares? what about firmware that's already being released? say in a staggered release? i suppose it's possible that those firmwares are not forceable?

 

[larry34]

Turn your native off. Supposedly, these new boxes have problems with switching aspect ratios. My H21-100 stopped doing the searching for signal after I changed native to off. I hope this helps as well.

In fact, the Direct TV technical support person I talked to told me that they are told to suggest that you always turn native to off. They have alot of problems with boxes that have native turned on.

 

[scott0702]

I am also having issues with my replacement H21 receiver. The same thing is happening with the 771 searching for satellite. I've called Directv 3 times regarding this. One techical support individual suggested resetting the receiver which I did. He then said it's the b-band converter is going bad so they sent me a new one. This did not resolve the issue. I tried multiple resets and reinstalled software and still no luck. I called tech support again and explained the entire story and asked them to replace this receiver as it could be faulty. The rep referred it to a case manager and said someone would call back within 2 hours. Nobody called. I called back again to try to get this resolved and they said the case manager team is closed and they are the only one that can assist me. So now I have to wait for the call and of course it seems to be only during business hours which I'm not home. So now once the case manager leaves a contact number I'll have to wait until Saturday when I am home so that I can be in front of the receiver. Very frustrating. My H20-600 was working just fine.

 

[sundude90]

My H21-100 also does the "searching or Signal" once in a while.

 

[Brandito]

turn native off. someone suggested this is what causes the problems, which seems plausible since the receiver is switching the signal it sends to your tv almost every time you change the channel.

i've turned native off myself recently and just let the receiver upconvert everything to 1080i, no more acquiring signal messages.