[TheMoose]

I recorded several shows tonight & when I went to watch them & hit play they didn't play & the delete this program box came up.
It did this on all the shows.
I did a red button reboot & all the shows are gone.
What's up with that??

 

[beestea]

I recorded several shows tonight & when I went to watch them & hit play they didn't play & the delete this program box came up.
It did this on all the shows.
I did a red button reboot & all the shows are gone.
What's up with that??

I just got my HR20 last weekend and am noticing this same problem.

First problem I noticed is that even though I had two tuners enabled, if one show was recording, if i "browsed" channels enough with the second tuner eventually it would come up and say there was a recording conflict even though only one tuner was busy.

Second problem I noticed is all of my channels would go either Black or Grey, however menu's etc would still work.

Third problem I noticed is what you mentioned... any show I tried to play would immediately just say "delete this program"

Problems 2 & 3 could be fixed with a reboot or reset everything ... but eventually they come back.

At this point Im really fed up with this DVR and really want to go back to my DirecTivo

 

[Tom Robertson]

beestea,

Welcome to the forums! :welcome_s

Yes, you both have found a common, painful, but intermittent defect with the HR20. The unwatchable recording which comes in two flavors: the ones that self-delete on a reboot and the ones that actually can be played with some patience and fast forwarding (usually).

If the recording survives a reboot, you usually can get it to play by starting it and pressing FF or slip until the screen displays the show. Then you usually have to rewind to the start of the episode again.

Some people have reported that immediately after pressing play, pressing the 6 second jump back button will also work sometimes.

I sure hope that directv will have these problems fixed very soon. A DVR that can't be relied upon isn't much of a DVR. As much as I like some features of the HR20, I can't be happy to have had 3 of my units lockup this past week. Had I been on vacation, they would have done nothing for me.

Good luck,
Tom

 

[skierbri10]

Welcome to the broken box.

 

[trmaier]

So how many people are having this "unwatchable recording" problem? I just noticed several posts about it in the past few days, and had not noticed many posts about this previously. I have been having this same exact problem, off and on since I had the HR20 installed (approx. 5 weeks). Unfortunately, since that corresponded with moving into a new house, I have not had alot of free time to "troubleshoot" this problem and have lived with it (until now). It is becoming quite unacceptable. Is there any know fix, or workaround to an unwatchable recording that self-deletes on a reboot? Any way to get it to play before having to resort to a reboot, and hence a self-delete? Any idea why this is happening?

Thanks!

Tom

 

[Tom Robertson]

How many are experiencing is a tough question, we don't have hard numbers here. Seems like several posters here have experienced it at some time, and some have had it regularly.

Its an odd problem in that some people started having the problem after the latest release and others have had fewer problems after the latest release (0xFA). Other people have had better luck after adding a power supply to the system.

Good luck,
Tom

 

[glennb]

Welcome to the broken box.

Thanks for that really helpful reply.

 

[LameLefty]

I did not have any unwatchable recordings at all until a day or two after 0xFA rolled out, and the ones I had started with the NFL Network HD game on ch.95 Thanksgiving night. That recording and nine that followed (a mix of MPEG2 SD, MPEG4 HD and MPEG2 HD) all had the same symptoms the original poster. None could be played no matter what I tried. Red-button reset fixed the box and deleted the recordings. No more unwatchables since then. We HAVE had two GUI lockups in the intervening 3 weeks, however. :rolleyes

 

[TheMoose]

Yes, you both have found a common, painful, but intermittent defect with the HR20. The unwatchable recording which comes in two flavors: the ones that self-delete on a reboot and the ones that actually can be played with some patience and fast forwarding (usually).
Good luck,
Tom

I've had the ones that appear with some FF but this was the first time I had the delete box pop up immediatly after hitting play.
It seems to be working fine again after the red button.
I do not have trhe OTA update yet either, though I didn't see anything about a fix for this in the release notes.

 

[islesfan]

I think you don't see much about it here anymore because we've all had them, we know about the bug, and we've stopped taking the time to report them. I had one last night, for example, but I didn't bother to take the time to log on and post, since we all know and experience this problem. Until D* stops wasting time with updates that add new features, it would be nice if they would just get the features they have working. Then we can look for OTA, VOD, and all that other fun stuff. First let's just get the DVR feature working!

 

[BJM]

I had the unwatchable bug the within the first 48 hours of installation last week; since I did a system reset (not red button, just power down, the first option), the bugs have been much less. [0xfa]

 

[paulman182]

I have had more lockups during 0xfa, and my first unwatchable bugs ever.

I did not lose the recordings when I hit the red button, but I had already deleted a few, thinking they were corrupted.

I'd sure like the new update!

 

[machavez00]

I have had a couple "blank recordings". I hit FF and Viola! the recording was there. I have had only 1 missed recording

 

[TheMoose]

I have had a couple "blank recordings". I hit FF and Viola! the recording was there. I have had only 1 missed recording

That trick has worked for me in the past but this time it wouldn't let me hit FF it went straight to the delete screen.

 

[Adam]

Has anyone continued to have this issue with the latest software release? I have this issue every few days with an earlier version, but I'm hoping that there is a fix for this as part of the improved recording stability upgrades in the latest software.

 

[rgc1042]

Has anyone continued to have this issue with the latest software release? I have this issue every few days with an earlier version, but I'm hoping that there is a fix for this as part of the improved recording stability upgrades in the latest software.

I have the same 'will not playback problem' even with the 108 upgrade. Last night I was recording Criminal Minds (mpeg 2 Los Angeles). Tried to play 15 minutes into program. Froze, no key combination would get me out. Finally brought up Delete screen so I deleted it. Recorded CIS:NY at 9:00 on both tuners, one on LA mpeg2 and one on OTA. Ten minutes into program went to OTA recording, played OK. Do not know if this will be successful in the future. Will try some additional HD programs tonight.