[dserban]

I had these installed two weeks ago. Every couple of days, the C31 lose connection. Reseting it does not do anything, I have to reset the server and in the process lose recordings in progress. After reset it works for a couple of days and then does it again.
I am getting ready to call the technical support but I would like to know if other people experienced this and how did they fix it.

Thank you.

 

[Stuart Sweet]

My suspicion is a bad cable or bad connection, or a cable run that's too long.

 

[Drinyth]

I'm having the same problem here. I'm a relatively new customer (first time poster on DBStalk too ) and have a HR34 and two C31 clients. The service worked flawlessly for the first week, but after that (possibly coinciding with a software update rolled out on Oct 31st) I started having problems with my C31 devices.

When I power the C31 on, it'll show a blank grey screen. I can usually browse the menus, show listings, and guide but the C31 will never play a recorded show or live TV. When it gets in this state, even a full RBR won't resolve the problem. I must reset the HR34 unit before the C31 client will come back.

At first I thought it might have been a defective C31 unit, so I swapped the C31 that I use regularly with the the C31 in the guest bedroom. The second C31 began having that exact same problem though, so I don't think it's a hardware issue.

I've read of other people on a different forum having this same problem. I don't think it's a cabling or bad connection. Like I said, it worked fine for the entire first week. And I'm able to resolve the problem by rebooting the HR34 unit. But it only stays fixed for a day or sometimes less before the C31 units run into the same problem again.

I'm hoping that a future software release will fix this problem. I have no idea if/when a release is planned for these devices? I sympathize with the original poster though. It has been quite annoying to reset the server and lose recordings that are in progress on a daily basis to resolve this grey screen issue on the C31s.

 

[keebler21]

I've been having very similar issues with two C31 clients... My cables aren't bad since I just moved into a brand new house about a month ago.

Usually a reboot will take care of any issues - other times not.

 

[harsh]

By all means, contact DIRECTV ASAP. DIRECTV cannot fix something that they don't know about and if they're losing connection, the devices may not be able to notify DIRECTV themselves. If nothing else, maybe they can give you a timetable on a fix.

You also need to make sure that the resolution process starts before the installation honeymoon (30 days?) is over so that you don't have to pay for service calls.

 

[Beerstalker]

For those of you having problems, is your DirecTV network hooked up to the internet? If so is it hooked up using a wired cinema connect kit, wireless cinema connect kit, or an ethernet cable hooked up to the HR34/Genie Server? Can you check to see what IP address the C31s have when the issue happens? I'm wondering if these are more DHCP/router IP address issues.

 

[Drinyth]

I called DirecTV this morning to let them know of my recurring issue. They weren't of any immediate help, but did say that it was a known problem. They didn't have any sort of time frame as to when it might be fixed or anything, though.

My HR34 is connected to the Internet via an ethernet cable. I'll check the IP addresses of the C31 the next time the issue comes up and report back. Starting yesterday, I've taken to just leaving the C31 on at all times so I don't have to mess with rebooting the HR34 so frequently. I'm hoping that by not powering the device off it'll never get into this grey screen degraded mode, but we'll see!

 

[veryoldschool]

I'm wondering if these are more DHCP/router IP address issues.

For the clients I doubt it's DHCP, since they use a 169.xxx IP between server and client, even with a router connected.

 

[keebler21]

I called DirecTV this morning to let them know of my recurring issue. They weren't of any immediate help, but did say that it was a known problem. They didn't have any sort of time frame as to when it might be fixed or anything, though.

My HR34 is connected to the Internet via an ethernet cable. I'll check the IP addresses of the C31 the next time the issue comes up and report back. Starting yesterday, I've taken to just leaving the C31 on at all times so I don't have to mess with rebooting the HR34 so frequently. I'm hoping that by not powering the device off it'll never get into this grey screen degraded mode, but we'll see!

I leave my C31's on all the time and still have these issues... I'm sure once they get some more software updates out that it will help correct the problems since they are very new.

 

[dserban]

I called the tech this morning. After several tests that showed a networking error, he transferred me to his manager.
I have an appointment with the technician next week. I hope he will be able to solve the problem.

 

[Drinyth]

I leave my C31's on all the time and still have these issues... I'm sure once they get some more software updates out that it will help correct the problems since they are very new.

Bummer to hear that they still grey screen despite leaving them on. There goes that idea...

After several tests that showed a networking error, he transferred me to his manager.
I have an appointment with the technician next week. I hope he will be able to solve the problem.

Do you remember what tests that you ran to show the networking error?

 

[veryoldschool]

Do you remember what tests that you ran to show the networking error?

You can run a system test from the HR34 and it will report network errors, but these can also come from "just turning off" the C31s, even when there isn't a network problem.

 

[Drinyth]

You can run a system test from the HR34 and it will report network errors, but these can also come from "just turning off" the C31s, even when there isn't a network problem.

Hmmm. Interesting. I just ran the system test on my HR34 while both of my C31 clients were on and functioning just fine. I still received the network error message.

I'm going to wait until the clients do their grey screen magic and run the system test again to see if I get anything different.

 

[veryoldschool]

Hmmm. Interesting. I just ran the system test on my HR34 while both of my C31 clients were on and functioning just fine. I still received the network error message.

I'm going to wait until the clients do their grey screen magic and run the system test again to see if I get anything different.

This may be due to a firmware issue more than anything else.
My C31 seems to not have this problem, and has worked better with component than HDMI, but I already had the special component cable here to use.

 

[veryoldschool]

"OK" I've been given some info to ask about:

What else is on your network?
Are there any: DLNA servers or clients on the same network, such as PCs with media sharing turned on, Smart TVs or IPTV boxes?

 

[Drinyth]

"OK" I've been given some info to ask about:

What else is on your network?
Are there any: DLNA servers or clients on the same network, such as PCs with media sharing turned on, Smart TVs or IPTV boxes?

Out of that list, the only thing that I would have would be one Smart TV. That Smart TV is connected to a C31 client and not the HR34. I don't know if that detail matters or not?

 

[Drinyth]

My C31 seems to not have this problem, and has worked better with component than HDMI, but I already had the special component cable here to use.

I was thinking about giving component a try, but I don't think it'll help. I've tried switching the input source when this happens to get the TV to try and rescan for devices to no avail. And the C31 will actually display menus, playlists, and the guide (albeit with a grey background [maybe I'll take a screenshot of what I can see the next time it happens]) leading me to believe if it were some kind of HDMI issue, I wouldn't be seeing anything at all.

The issue always has fixed itself upon a reset of the HR34 and without touching anything on the C31 or that clients TV. I would think that if there were a problem with the C31 or that TV, that a HR34 reset wouldn't do anything there.

 

[veryoldschool]

The issue always has fixed itself upon a reset of the HR34 and without touching anything on the C31 or that clients TV. I would think that if there were a problem with the C31 or that TV, that a HR34 reset wouldn't do anything there.

I tend to agree with you. The question was if there was/is anything on the network that might cause the 34 to have problems.
Do you know your router's settings very well?
There are some reports that this could be a uPNP issue and you might try turning it off in your router's setting.

My router doesn't support uPNP, so I can't turn it off, but then I don't have the problem either. :shrug:

 

[Jodean]

only grey screen of death i run into is when the client isnt actually activated. They will work again for a while if the server is reset, but then after a day back to grey screen.

try a resend of auth

 

[Drinyth]

I tend to agree with you. The question was if there was/is anything on the network that might cause the 34 to have problems.
Do you know your router's settings very well?
There are some reports that this could be a uPNP issue and you might try turning it off in your router's setting.

My router doesn't support uPNP, so I can't turn it off, but then I don't have the problem either. :shrug:

Alright. I've disabled uPNP on my router. I'll post back if/when the grey screen issue comes back and uPNP is off.