[jasonblair]

I've been a happy DirecTV customer since 2000, so I finally convinced my parents to make the switch. They went all-out and got THREE HR-24's connected with MRV/Whole Home. I am assuming the installer used a SWM-8.

Well, there's a problem. When my parents go to play a recorded show, it's just a black screen. If you pause it, the progress bar and info show up, but nothing in the picture.. Just black. I went into setup to check the settings. All of the tuners show mid 90 signal strength on all 3 boxes for 99, 101, and 103, and the boxes are set to share the recordings with each other. I thought possibly the MRV was not working correctly, but it is the same whether trying to watch a program on the local box or from a remote one. Then I thought it might be a bad receiver, but it does it on both of the receivers I tried. (I didn't try it in the master bedroom.)

I did a reset on all of the boxes, and it fixed everything! But only for a few hours. My mom called me the next morning, and the problem was back. I went over an did another reset, and once again, everything was fixed! But again and again, it only fixes the problem for about 12 hours.

Mom has called DirecTV to come out, but the CSR keeps having her do a reset, and when everything works, they tell her the problem is solved and there is no need to send out a tech.

Does anyone have ANY idea what the problem may be? Could one bad receiver be messing up the whole system? Could some bad cable runs from the SWiM be sending noise that partially screws up the boxes? I'm just throwing out crazy suggestions... HELP!

Thanks!

 

[jasonblair]

And just to be clear... When I say a reset fixes everything, what I mean is that the recorded shows that just appeared as a blank/black screen are completely viewable... So it is not that the receivers are not recording the shows. Black but if you try to watch the show around 12 to 24 hours after the reset, it's back to being a black screen.

 

[RACJ2]

When I was getting black/gray recordings, it was due to power fluctuation issues. Once I put the DVR's on a UPS, it eliminated that issue. If your moms DVR's aren't on a UPS, you might give it a try.

 

[veryoldschool]

I think you'll need to play with this a bit more.
It isn't the cabling, nor do I think it's the whole home/MRV.
It does sound more like a receiver issue, "BUT" this needs to be verified.
Check when this is happening, if local playback is bad on all receivers, or if it's just on one.
This should narrow it down a bit.
Next would be to see if it plays locally fine, that it also plays remotely, "but" if you have one that isn't playing locally, "I'd expect" this same one to not play a recording remotely too.

 

[veryoldschool]

When I was getting black/gray recordings, it was due to power fluctuation issues. Once I put the DVR's on a UPS, it eliminated that issue. If your moms DVR's aren't on a UPS, you might give it a try.

While that might be the case, none of mine are on a UPS and work fine. "I'd tend to think", it is another problem, because a reboot shouldn't "fix" a power issue.

 

[RACJ2]

While that might be the case, none of mine are on a UPS and work fine. "I'd tend to think", it is another problem, because a reboot shouldn't "fix" a power issue.

You're lucky... Possibly because you don't live in Texas, where we have power issues in the scorching heat of the summer. This past year, they even had to resort to rolling black outs, so the grid didn't get overloaded.

I was having the gray recording issues prior joining DBSTalk. So I wasn't as informed and never tried to see if a reboot would recover the program. So I guess what your saying is, with power issues you usually can't view the program after a reboot.

 

[veryoldschool]

You're lucky... Possibly because you don't live in Texas, where we have power issues in the scorching heat of the summer. This past year, they even had to resort to rolling black outs, so the grid didn't get overloaded.

I was having the gray recording issues prior joining DBSTalk. So I wasn't as informed and never tried to see if a reboot would recover the program. So I guess what your saying is, with power issues you usually can't view the program after a reboot.

While I may not be "lucky", there are reasons I don't live in Texas. :lol:
The HR20s were known to be susceptible to problems with poor quality power. I'm not sure the newer models are any better.
When a reboot "fixes" something, it normally is within the receiver.

 

[jasonblair]

I think you'll need to play with this a bit more.
It isn't the cabling, nor do I think it's the whole home/MRV.
It does sound more like a receiver issue, "BUT" this needs to be verified.
Check when this is happening, if local playback is bad on all receivers, or if it's just on one.
This should narrow it down a bit.
Next would be to see if it plays locally fine, that it also plays remotely, "but" if you have one that isn't playing locally, "I'd expect" this same one to not play a recording remotely too.

I'd be able to be more specific if it were happening on my own system. Unfortunately, it is at my parent's house, which means all I get is nightly calls saying, "our TV isn't working. Can you come over and fix it?"

 

[veryoldschool]

I'd be able to be more specific if it were happening on my own system. Unfortunately, it is at my parent's house, which means all I get is nightly calls saying, "our TV isn't working. Can you come over and fix it?"

Best I can offer is what to look at the next time you need "to fix it".

 

[Xsabresx]

You're lucky... Possibly because you don't live in Texas, where we have power issues in the scorching heat of the summer. This past year, they even had to resort to rolling black outs, so the grid didn't get overloaded.

I was having the gray recording issues prior joining DBSTalk. So I wasn't as informed and never tried to see if a reboot would recover the program. So I guess what your saying is, with power issues you usually can't view the program after a reboot.

LOL must be a DFW issue. I dont get power outages at all in the summer. Funny thing was that both neighborhoods on either side of me got hit with the rolling blackout but I never got it.

 

[spartanstew]

LOL must be a DFW issue. I dont get power outages at all in the summer. Funny thing was that both neighborhoods on either side of me got hit with the rolling blackout but I never got it.

Must just be localized to RAC's house, as I don't get them either