[mitchflorida]

The biggest delay is when I try to access my recordings list or the current programming list. Takes about six seconds between pressing the remote button and having the DVR respond. I called up the DTV CSR and he said that is normal because my DVR is using 90 percent of its recording capacity.

Is there any way to speed up the response time of the HR-24? It seems slower than molasses.

 

[RunnerFL]

If you're using the DirecTV remote that came with it try this:

Put remote in TV mode
Press and hold Mute and Select until the green light flashes twice.
Enter 9-6-3 on numeric key pad.
The green light on remote should flash twice.
Press the Channel Down key.
The green light on remote should flash twice again.

Then clear NVRAM by doing this:

Tune to channel 1 and give everything time to load, about 30 seconds should be more than enough. Then press the red, red, blue, blue, yellow, green buttons in that order. You should then see a "nvram/flash is cleared" message on screen.

 

[John Strk]

Also try deleting some recordings to free up available space.

My HR20-100 was slow for a long time since I always had less than 15% available HD recording space but I now always have it around 25-30% or more available and I've noticed it responds much quicker. That combined with the HD GUI and latest firmware updates it's a better box

 

[mitchflorida]

i tried your suggestion and it did seem to work very well. I had called up the "Technical Support" expert at DTV and he had no such fix. He just said I needed to empty out my DVR recordings! Kind of sad, really.

In terms of your instructions, should the remote be in TV mode the entire time? I never saw the "nvram/flash is cleared" message, but it must have cleared it anyway.

Can you tune it to Channel 1 at the beginning, or do you have to wait, as per your instructions?

Thanks, will use this again if it ever gets sluggish.

 

[RunnerFL]

i tried your suggestion and it did seem to work very well. I had called up the "Technical Support" expert at DTV and he had no such fix. He just said I needed to empty out my DVR recordings! Kind of sad, really.

In terms of your instructions, should the remote be in TV mode the entire time? I never saw the "nvram/flash is cleared" message, but it must have cleared it anyway.

Can you tune it to Channel 1 at the beginning, or do you have to wait, as per your instructions?

Thanks, will use this again if it ever gets sluggish.

The remote should only be in TV mode for the first set of instructions. The two suggestions I provided are separate and have nothing to do with each other.

Clearing NVRAM should be done with the remote controlling your DVR. You should see the cleared message in white text in the lower left area. Depending upon the size of your TV it may or may not be in an area with a white background making it harder to see.

With the remote controlling your HR24 tune to channel 1 and wait a few seconds, probably no more than 15 then enter the colored key sequence provided above.

 

[bt-rtp]

One more thing I find that helps is to go to a sports channel such as ESPN on channel 206 and then press the exit key a couple times. For some reason that kills something running in the background (score center ?) and speeds up channel changing and menu interaction.

 

[The Merg]

One more thing I find that helps is to go to a sports channel such as ESPN on channel 206 and then press the exit key a couple times. For some reason that kills something running in the background (score center ?) and speeds up channel changing and menu interaction.

Hitting Exit on an Active Channel disables the active features. In the case of ESPN, it disables ScoreCenter.

- Merg

 

[JerryMeeker]

I called up the DTV CSR and he said that is normal because my DVR is using 90 percent of its recording capacity.

FWIW, I recently upgraded both of my (owned) HR24's to 2TB drives, so both are currently less than 10% utilized. Response is very snappy. Over the course of the years I have used DTV DVR's, when utilization goes over 50%, I consider it a sign that a capacity increase is needed. If you wait too long, there is the risk of losing all that recorded content.

 

[Rich]

i tried your suggestion and it did seem to work very well. I had called up the "Technical Support" expert at DTV and he had no such fix. He just said I needed to empty out my DVR recordings! Kind of sad, really.

Not really sad, more like well informed. The HRs do slow down as the HDD approaches full. So do computers.

In terms of your instructions, should the remote be in TV mode the entire time? I never saw the "nvram/flash is cleared" message, but it must have cleared it anyway.

Can you tune it to Channel 1 at the beginning, or do you have to wait, as per your instructions?

Thanks, will use this again if it ever gets sluggish.

Every time one of my HRs gets sluggish, which is rare, I flush the Guide Data and that seems to cure the sluggishness. Not having normally slow HRs, I've never seen any difference after using the NVRAM clearing method, but I have always gotten the "cleared" message.

Rich

 

[Rich]

FWIW, I recently upgraded both of my (owned) HR24's to 2TB drives, so both are currently less than 10% utilized. Response is very snappy. Over the course of the years I have used DTV DVR's, when utilization goes over 50%, I consider it a sign that a capacity increase is needed. If you wait too long, there is the risk of losing all that recorded content.

I've been running a 24-500, our main viewing HR, all year long with less than 20% Available on the meter. It has a 2TB internal drive in it and it has gone as low as 15% Available and has shown no sluggishness at all. I kinda think D* fixed this problem without telling us about it. The rest of my HRs are at about 50% Available. Three years ago, I would have definitely said that when your external/internal drive reaches 30% Available, watch out for the the HR to start bogging down. Now I don't know quite what to think.

Rich

 

[Rich]

I realize posts 9 & 10 are contradictory, but I can only tell you what I've seen and the 24s don't seem to have this problem, as far as I can tell.

Rich

 

[lparsons21]

Overall my 3 HR24-500s are running better than they ever have. But I have to clear NVRAM weekly to keep it that way. Since that is so dead simple, I don't consider it an issue. And note, I don't worry about how much is on my hard drive, I've not found that to be an issue even when I get down to about 20% or so, which is very rare.

Since the hard drive, external or internal, is married to the receiver and not the account, I don't use them much for things I want to archive.

Now to get unified recording management...

 

[veryoldschool]

Time to clear up a myth that I've been spreading.

Clearing NVRAM was never needed.

What was happening was being on channel 1 for 30 sec.

Going through the whole colored button pressing, merely caused us to stay on channel 1 for 30 sec.

"Live and learn"

 

[mitchflorida]

Not really sad, more like well informed. The HRs do slow down as the HDD approaches full. So do computers.

Every time one of my HRs gets sluggish, which is rare, I flush the Guide Data and that seems to cure the sluggishness. Not having normally slow HRs, I've never seen any difference after using the NVRAM clearing method, but I have always gotten the "cleared" message.

Rich

All I can say is what the DirecTV CSR told me didn't help me at all. And a full dvr would have no effect on a slow guide response. The NVRAM clearing made a noticeable difference for me. A competent CSR would know of that technique. I shouldn't have to go to a private message board like this to get the right answer.

What does pushing 9-6-3 on the remote control do?

 

[Rich]

All I can say is what the DirecTV CSR told me didn't help me at all. And a full dvr would have no effect on a slow guide response. The NVRAM clearing made a noticeable difference for me. A competent CSR would know of that technique. I shouldn't have to go to a private message board like this to get the right answer.

But, did he suggest flushing the Guide Data? I never said that a full HDD would have an affect on using the Guide, it will affect the performance of the HR.

Rich

 

[RunnerFL]

What does pushing 9-6-3 on the remote control do?

It keeps the "Mode ID" signal from being sent with every remote keypress. Less data being sent gives you faster remote/UI response.

 

[mitchflorida]

But, did he suggest flushing the Guide Data? I never said that a full HDD would have an affect on using the Guide, it will affect the performance of the HR.

Rich

No, he didn't. How do you flush the Guide Data?

 

[Davenlr]

No, he didn't. How do you flush the Guide Data?

Reset the dvr, then when it comes back up to live TV, reboot it again.

 

[Rich]

Reset the dvr, then when it comes back up to live TV, reboot it again.

Right, but it's got to be done within 30 minutes. To clarify, the HR has to rebooted twice within 30 minutes.

Rich

 

[RunnerFL]

Right, but it's got to be done within 30 minutes. To clarify, the HR has to rebooted twice within 30 minutes.

Rich

If you're rebooting it, waiting for it to get to live tv, then rebooting it again that's definitely inside 30 minutes.