[Schyler]

I watched television Sunday night on the HR20 with no problems.

When I got up Monday morning, the menus and overlays were working, but there was only a black screen was behind them. The one recording (on an SD channel) that had happened overnight was empty. Trying to play it immediately gave a keep/delete prompt.

There were no error messages of any kind. The machine thought it was working fine.

A red button reset fixed the problem and it hasn't recurred, but the empty recording remained empty.

It seemed as though the machine had lost contact with the data coming in from the tuners.

 

[cookpr]

Welcome to the sporadic lockups or bugs...

As I have told most, they dont happen everyday or even often, but sooner or later, they will get ya.

At least it was an 'unobtrusive' lockup...and did not interfere with your viewing. But I am certain your trust and faith in the system has taken a bit of a dive.

And before others get on here, you better make sure your cables are tight and that somehow you dish is still outside (sarcasm)

 

[paulman182]

I had about one lockup a week till the last update. They were all when it was first turned on in the morning and did not interfere with anything.

No problems at all here since the last update.

 

[Vinny]

I had about one lockup a week till the last update. They were all when it was first turned on in the morning and did not interfere with anything.

No problems at all here since the last update.

I'm not sure that lock ups will ever disappear completely. Let's face it; all you have to do is go to another forum and read about problems with every conceivable DVR (including Tivo forum) from DTV, DISH or cable. Every machine has it's issues; all that we can strive for is a STABILE system that processes the commands it's being sent from the remote. Once in awhile when the moon and planets aren't alligned properly, something bad will happen.

 

[btmoore]

[/FONT]

I'm not sure that lock ups will ever disappear completely. Let's face it; all you have to do is go to another forum and read about problems with every conceivable DVR (including Tivo forum) from DTV, DISH or cable. Every machine has it's issues; all that we can strive for is a STABILE system that processes the commands it's being sent from the remote. Once in awhile when the moon and planets aren't alligned properly, something bad will happen.

My Sat-t60 has not crashed in years, so it is clearly doable, and should be a very reasonable expectation.

IMO the box should not crash, record, play, ff, etc. with 99.999% success.

 

[Vinny]

My Sat-t60 has not crashed in years, so it is clearly doable, and should be a very reasonable expectation.

IMO the box should not crash, record, play, ff, etc. with 99.999% success.

I completely agree....its that 0.001% that takes us all by surprise.

I was using the HR10-250 prior to the HR20 and I'd have to say that it was nearly perfect. I do expect the HR20 to get there (someday)...I just wish it was someday soon.

 

[racingdna]

I watched television Sunday night on the HR20 with no problems.

When I got up Monday morning, the menus and overlays were working, but there was only a black screen was behind them. The one recording (on an SD channel) that had happened overnight was empty. Trying to play it immediately gave a keep/delete prompt.

There were no error messages of any kind. The machine thought it was working fine.

A red button reset fixed the problem and it hasn't recurred, but the empty recording remained empty.

It seemed as though the machine had lost contact with the data coming in from the tuners.

I have had this happen once as well...the 2nd day I had the system. However, 4 weeks later it has not repeated.

 

[deebeeeff]

[/FONT]

I'm not sure that lock ups will ever disappear completely. Let's face it; all you have to do is go to another forum and read about problems with every conceivable DVR (including Tivo forum) from DTV, DISH or cable. Every machine has it's issues; all that we can strive for is a STABILE system that processes the commands it's being sent from the remote. Once in awhile when the moon and planets aren't alligned properly, something bad will happen.

I have had two TIVO units from D* (non-HD, of course) for years and have never had a crash with either one.
And so far my HR-20, which has had many other problems, has yet to have a crash or lock-up.:nono2: :eek2:

 

[matto]

Neither the DSR-704, which I've had for 3 years, or the HR10, which i've had for 2, have ever crashed, locked up, or misbehaved.

Is it too much for me to expect the same from the HR20?

Did D* act in bad faith by not disclosing to me that it would be dramatically less reliable than the other DVRs they've sold me?

 

[pappys]

I watched television Sunday night on the HR20 with no problems.

When I got up Monday morning, the menus and overlays were working, but there was only a black screen was behind them. The one recording (on an SD channel) that had happened overnight was empty. Trying to play it immediately gave a keep/delete prompt.

There were no error messages of any kind. The machine thought it was working fine.

A red button reset fixed the problem and it hasn't recurred, but the empty recording remained empty.

It seemed as though the machine had lost contact with the data coming in from the tuners.

Did you happen to notice if the Info screen showed a 3LNB or 5LNB dish? If this happens again, please post in the latest software version posting....
I had this happen tonight as well. I noticed that that the box changed my setting, and I could not change it back, but the red button reset changed it back for me.

 

[Schyler]

No, I didn't think to look at the info screen. I couldn't have imagined the box changing its own dish settings.

Why would the 3LNB setting completely kill the incoming programming, though? It wasn't just MPEG4, it was everything.

I'll check for that if it happens again.

As for the software issues thread, it's become so huge that it's overwhelming. Maybe it needs to be a subforum?

Heck, you could probably have three subforums: hardware issues, software issues and signal/mpeg4 issues. Of course, then the problem becomes determining which is the problem.

 

[edpowers]

I completely agree....its that 0.001% that takes us all by surprise.

I was using the HR10-250 prior to the HR20 and I'd have to say that it was nearly perfect. I do expect the HR20 to get there (someday)...I just wish it was someday soon.

The fact that 320 people are viewing this forum at the moment might be proof that the failure/lockup/problem rate is WAY WAY WAY above the .0001% number. In my smallest of small sample sizes (which basically makes the statistic useless but I'll show it anyway), the number is 2 failed recordings out of 20 total. One failed with a bsod and the other with breakups (with transponder at 95%). So my HR20 is operating at a 10% failure rate. I would be very happy if that number fell to 1%, I would be shocked and thrilled if it ever drops to .0001%.

In comparison, I have 3 SD Directivos, 2 HD Directivos (bought them immediately when they were released) and 2 old UltimateTVs. Out of all those units, I have never had a failed recording that couldn't be attributed to poor OTA signal reception or failed hard drives. I have had 2 or 3 random reboots with my HD Directivos over the past few years. Probably at around that .0001% level or maybe a bit higher.

 

[pappys]

No, I didn't think to look at the info screen. I couldn't have imagined the box changing its own dish settings.

Why would the 3LNB setting completely kill the incoming programming, though? It wasn't just MPEG4, it was everything.

I'll check for that if it happens again.

As for the software issues thread, it's become so huge that it's overwhelming. Maybe it needs to be a subforum?

Heck, you could probably have three subforums: hardware issues, software issues and signal/mpeg4 issues. Of course, then the problem becomes determining which is the problem.

I would think it could be possible for it to kill all of the programming. It may just be a software bug, and for whatever reason is trying to find a 3lnb and getting itself lockedup. (Sorry, not tech enough to explain in computer lingo).