[alanz]

We had a big thunder storm roll through earlier tonight and lost power. The HR21 is plugged in to a surge protector and the other devices plugged in to it are fine.

After the storm had passed through and power was restored the HR21 became stuck on the 'Almost there' screen (30+ minutes). I did some searching and found a suggestion to force a new firmware update which I did and got 0235. It got all the way through the download to 100% but then froze again. I gave it about half an hour and then hit the red button to reboot, hoping that the update was complete and it just needed to reboot. However, I am stuck on the 'Almost there' screen again.

I'm trying the firmware download again, but if anyone has any suggestions to revive the machine I would love to hear.

Thanks.

 

[veryoldschool]

pull the network cable [if you have it plugged in]

 

[alanz]

I tried that as well but no dice It's stuck at the end of the download again, sitting at 100% complete but nothing else is happening (except the blue light going round and round...).

pull the network cable [if you have it plugged in]

 

[veryoldschool]

I tried that as well but no dice It's stuck at the end of the download again, sitting at 100% complete but nothing else is happening (except the blue light going round and round...).

So, it has downloaded the software and is sitting at 100% [complete].
Remove the net cable and rbr [red button reset under the card access door] after a good 15 min of sitting "there".
If this doesn't work for you then remove the power cable for a good 15 min. Then power it back up and just let it boot.

If still no luck, please post back here.

 

[Stuart Sweet]

Agreed with my friend Mr. Oldschool... unplugging for over 15 minutes can work wonders.

 

[alanz]

I pulled the network cable early on in this whole process and it has remained out, so this does not seem to be the problem.

I tried unplugging for the 15 minutes this morning (ended up being closer to 30 mins) but once again it sat there at the 'Almost there' screen with the blue lights going round and round. I had to come in to work, so I have left it unplugged.

The HR21 is only 9 weeks old, but we have it 70% full so it's going to suck to get it replaced and have to find all those shows again

Thanks for the continued help.

So, it has downloaded the software and is sitting at 100% [complete].
Remove the net cable and rbr [red button reset under the card access door] after a good 15 min of sitting "there".
If this doesn't work for you then remove the power cable for a good 15 min. Then power it back up and just let it boot.

If still no luck, please post back here.

 

[DogLover]

Is it possible your dish got moved during the storm?

 

[veryoldschool]

Is it possible your dish got moved during the storm?

If it was able to download software, it doesn't seem like it.

 

[DogLover]

If it was able to download software, it doesn't seem like it.

Missed that part - time for more coffee.

 

[alanz]

Also my other (SD) receivers are working OK.

If it was able to download software, it doesn't seem like it.

 

[veryoldschool]

I pulled the network cable early on in this whole process and it has remained out, so this does not seem to be the problem.

I tried unplugging for the 15 minutes this morning (ended up being closer to 30 mins) but once again it sat there at the 'Almost there' screen with the blue lights going round and round. I had to come in to work, so I have left it unplugged.

The HR21 is only 9 weeks old, but we have it 70% full so it's going to suck to get it replaced and have to find all those shows again

Thanks for the continued help.

"bummer".
[if there is a "upside" you're still within the 90 days free service/replacement]
It seems to be getting hung before it starts to look for a SAT signal.
About the only thing left is to:
1) Remove the two SAT cables.
2) Boot it up and see if it will get to the white screen "searching for signal", which would be the step beyond "Almost there".
3) If so then pull the power cord and connect the SAT feeds and try again.
4) If not then connect the SAT feeds and try to download the software again.
5) If you can download the software, but still can't get beyond "Almost there", try removing the BBCs on the SAT feeds.
If you still can't get it to boot at this point, I'm "out of tricks" and a replacement/service call is all that is left.

 

[groove93]

Does the "771" message appear after it says "Almost There"? If so, there should be a way to get to the "Signal Strength" menu to see what numbers you're getting.

If you don't get the 771 error message try and hit the menu button on your remote to see if you can get to the Signal Strength Menu.

 

[veryoldschool]

Does the "771" message appear after it says "Almost There"? If so, there should be a way to get to the "Signal Strength" menu to see what numbers you're getting.

If you don't get the 771 error message try and hit the menu button on your remote to see if you can get to the Signal Strength Menu.

With:
"but once again it sat there at the 'Almost there' screen with the blue lights going round and round."
It hasn't gotten that far in the boot sequence.

 

[alanz]

I'll try all those things tonight. My other thought was that maybe the 251 update might get things kick started, but I'm at D*s mercy as to when that gets rolled out to South Carolina.

"bummer".
[if there is a "upside" you're still within the 90 days free service/replacement]
It seems to be getting hung before it starts to look for a SAT signal.
About the only thing left is to:
1) Remove the two SAT cables.
2) Boot it up and see if it will get to the white screen "searching for signal", which would be the step beyond "Almost there".
3) If so then pull the power cord and connect the SAT feeds and try again.
4) If not then connect the SAT feeds and try to download the software again.
5) If you can download the software, but still can't get beyond "Almost there", try removing the BBCs on the SAT feeds.
If you still can't get it to boot at this point, I'm "out of tricks" and a replacement/service call is all that is left.

 

[alanz]

Removing the cables unfortunately did not help, and neither retrying the download, even though the box has been shut off all day.

I called D* and they have a new DVR on its way to me (for free, thankfully this happened just within the 90 days). Making me think about the protection plan if a summer thunderstorm is going to kill the box. While waiting for the replacement, is there any more drastic (i.e. risky) action I can take to try to revive the box? I don't want to open it up or anything, but since it's going back to D* in a couple of days I'm willing to give almost anything a shot at this point.

Thanks

"bummer".
[if there is a "upside" you're still within the 90 days free service/replacement]
It seems to be getting hung before it starts to look for a SAT signal.
About the only thing left is to:
1) Remove the two SAT cables.
2) Boot it up and see if it will get to the white screen "searching for signal", which would be the step beyond "Almost there".
3) If so then pull the power cord and connect the SAT feeds and try again.
4) If not then connect the SAT feeds and try to download the software again.
5) If you can download the software, but still can't get beyond "Almost there", try removing the BBCs on the SAT feeds.
If you still can't get it to boot at this point, I'm "out of tricks" and a replacement/service call is all that is left.

 

[veryoldschool]

Removing the cables unfortunately did not help, and neither retrying the download, even though the box has been shut off all day.

I called D* and they have a new DVR on its way to me (for free, thankfully this happened just within the 90 days). Making me think about the protection plan if a summer thunderstorm is going to kill the box. While waiting for the replacement, is there any more drastic (i.e. risky) action I can take to try to revive the box? I don't want to open it up or anything, but since it's going back to D* in a couple of days I'm willing to give almost anything a shot at this point.

Thanks

"If you still can't get it to boot at this point, I'm "out of tricks" and a replacement/service call is all that is left."

And I really am.
You're "stuck" so early in the boot cycle, that there isn't much that can be done.
"only thing" left would be to leave it unplugged longer, but the chances of it doing anything are dropping fast.
"I once had" a receiver that was "close to" where you are, and could only get it back if I unplugged it over night [almost 12 hours].

 

[ironwood]

If you get a replacement then why do you need to revive the old box? Leave it alone its probably dead. Dont "open" it or they will charge you a full price.

 

[bdrozda]

This happened to me several months ago. Turned out it was nothing more than a lost handshake of the HDMI connection.

If you are using HDMI, turn all equip off. Unplug the HDMI. Connect via component, S or composite. Reset to reload software and the program should complete.

After that, reconnect the HDMI (after powering off TV) and all should be OK.

We had a big thunder storm roll through earlier tonight and lost power. The HR21 is plugged in to a surge protector and the other devices plugged in to it are fine.

After the storm had passed through and power was restored the HR21 became stuck on the 'Almost there' screen (30+ minutes). I did some searching and found a suggestion to force a new firmware update which I did and got 0235. It got all the way through the download to 100% but then froze again. I gave it about half an hour and then hit the red button to reboot, hoping that the update was complete and it just needed to reboot. However, I am stuck on the 'Almost there' screen again.

I'm trying the firmware download again, but if anyone has any suggestions to revive the machine I would love to hear.

Thanks.

 

[Hansen]

That's a bummer you have to replace it and lose all those recordings. Since you were aleady at 70% so quickly, think of this as a good opportunity to go out and buy a 750 MB or 1 TB esata drive and hook it up to the new HD DVR to get more recording capacity.

 

[alanz]

Sadly this also did not help and the symptoms remained. I have 'acquired' the most important of the lost shows, the rest can be easily recorded again on the replacement DVR. From this point on though I'll be double recording the shows that don't get shown again on my media center PC.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

This happened to me several months ago. Turned out it was nothing more than a lost handshake of the HDMI connection.

If you are using HDMI, turn all equip off. Unplug the HDMI. Connect via component, S or composite. Reset to reload software and the program should complete.

After that, reconnect the HDMI (after powering off TV) and all should be OK.