522 hard drive cleaning question

[ibleedblue]

I've had a 522 for about 9 months now. If you've seen my other threads, it's obvious that I'm not too happy with it. I think I got one of the crap boxes as I've had every problem that has ever been listed and continue to have problems with A/V synch with L2.07.

Anyway, for the last 5 weeks I've been getting the warning screen about the hard drive having errors and needing to be cleaned. I can clean it or cancel it and I choose to cancel it because there are still some shows on the hard drive that I'd like to watch. But everyday the message box tells me that it will clean itself in 7 days. This has been going on for 5+ weeks now...well over 7 days. I sent Dish an email and they said to call but I have a feeling if I call they will simply want me to delete my recorded programs and see what happens. That's not something I want to do. Has anyone else seen a similar problem(?) from their 522?

 

[Bizzach]

That sounds very odd!

 

[Smith P.]

I recall some remote control key sequence for re-init a disk of PVR501 , I think you could use the procedure for your PVR522.

 

[ibleedblue]

I recall some remote control key sequence for re-init a disk of PVR501 , I think you could use the procedure for your PVR522.

Would this cause the programs on the hard drive to be deleted? I've got several movies stored that I've not yet watched. Thanks!

 

[JFS7931]

You might try using Protect on the programs you dont want deleted. I haven't really tried but it might help.

 

[Smith P.]

Seems to me that method will erase whole disk and will rebuild it from scratch.

 

[Foxbat]

If these programs are something you can't live without, it sounds like it's time to dump them to VCR/DVD and try cleaning. That way, if the cleaning clobbers your recordings, you still have backups. (Just like a computer!)

I used to be rather anal about my old tapes. Then, DVD box sets were released, and now I have my shows, and in WS DVD form. Higher quality, widescreen, and they take up less room.

 

[TuxCoder]

And last much longer (er, just never really wear out over multiple viewings).

 

[ibleedblue]

I figured cleaning would be the answer, but I just don't want to dump my recorded movies yet. I'd take them to tape if I could play them back in surround sound, but I can't do that with my el cheapo vcr. I don't have an external dvd burner, so that's outta the question too. Oh well. Guess I'll live with the cleaning screen every morning. I'm up to 6 weeks and counting now.

 

[rhollinger]

I had the same thing, L2.05 it was prompting me to clean every day (always saying in 7 days it would do it anyway). At about 5 days L2.06 came out and it stopped prompting me. Then L2.07 came out and it started prompting me again. I didn't get 7 days, everything was gone in 3. I guess it's possible that even though I warned my wife to be careful and not hit select (the default to clean) that she may have done so, but I don't think she did as I tried to be the first person to turn it on every day just for that reason.

I still think it's *really* lame that a cleaning requires deleting everything. Every computer file system in the world has a clean/repair option that simple cleans/repairs the file system and you may lose a file or two if they are corrupted, but generally not everything. I'm tempted to request credit for the couple of PPVs that were on there. (like that would happen)

Oh well...good luck. I saw a cheap DVD burner at walmart for $169 if it helps. The brand was obviously something you've probably never heard of but for $169 if it records a DVD and keeps the surround sound it might be worth it.

 

[TuxCoder]

The brand was obviously something you've probably never heard of but for $169 if it records a DVD and keeps the surround sound it might be worth it.

That was just the problem for me... the simpler 'surround sound', specifically Dolby ProLogic Surround Sound, it most likely will preserve on a recorded DVD. However, I need more than that. I could not find a DVD recorder other than the mythical Philips DVDR740 that would record a Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 stream, let alone even have a digital audio input to even record incoming PCM. All the ones I saw out there only have analog audio inputs. Granted, my video would still be analog S-Video but at least I'd be halfway to a full digital copy. The DVDR740 was supposed to be released in September. FWIW, it looks like it will be a very nice recorder, many good features, and reasonably priced... if it ever gets released.

So, I just resorted to building a HTPC with DVD writer drive. I first installed Windows to quickly make sure all my hardware was OK. I was quickly disappointed when I could not capture full resoultion NTSC (720x480, 30 fps) without either massive frame drops or bad A/V synch (even with no frame drops). This was with at least 3 different capture programs. So I moved on with my main plan, Linux, and now I capture full resolution just fine, ~50% CPU load (Athlon-XP 1900+) and NO frames dropped, digital audio via Audigy 2 ZS Pro, perfect A/V synch. Now I'm working on getting the DVD authoring software set up.

 

[wasii]

Have you tried doing a non-volitile memory dump?
It won't wipe the drive or your settings, but it clears corrupted entries in the EPG - it also does a complete reload of the system software. I tried it and it did WONDERS for my unit - no more guide errors, no more time delays, so far no GODeath or VODeath (knock wood)... seemed to stabilize the unit (for now).

Here's a link to the post that mentioned it:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showpost.php?p=222596&postcount=10

(it's info for a 710, but I tried it and it worked on my 522)

But if the system is REQUESTING a disk rebuild, the HD may really need it bad... not sure if that trick will work for you.

Why the heck can't they design a way to dump your timers/preferences/etc. to a SMART CARD you could plug into the NON-FUNCTIONING SMART CARD PORT on the unit?

If they insist on rebuilding your hard drive on a whim, the least they could do is save you the hours you spent on setting up the unit... I can back up the recordings on a VCR but I'd rather not spend the wasted time reprogramming the box.

 

[ibleedblue]

I've not tried that, but if it'll work without deleting my programs then I'm doing it tonight! Thanks!

 

[ibleedblue]

Have you tried doing a non-volitile memory dump?
It won't wipe the drive or your settings, but it clears corrupted entries in the EPG - it also does a complete reload of the system software. I tried it and it did WONDERS for my unit - no more guide errors, no more time delays, so far no GODeath or VODeath (knock wood)... seemed to stabilize the unit (for now).

Here's a link to the post that mentioned it:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showpost.php?p=222596&postcount=10

(it's info for a 710, but I tried it and it worked on my 522)

But if the system is REQUESTING a disk rebuild, the HD may really need it bad... not sure if that trick will work for you.

Well, for anyone reading this thread in the future, this sorta worked. I don't have the screen pop up telling me my hard drive needs to be cleaned now, but I also have a blank hard drive!! It erased everything, which is exactly what I wanted to avoid. Oh well. It was a shot in the dark anyway. System seemed to operate normally again until I tried to skip back on tuner two this morning and it froze. Hit the live TV button and that did nothing, so turned tuner 2 off and that solved the problem. I skipped back on tuner 1 last night with no problems, but didn't check this morning. It's amazing to me that a company would put such a POS on the market knowing full well that it was a POS.

 

[gatorz]

My 522 updated to L231 last night, and tonight right in the middle of watching TV I get the dreaded "Cleaning Hard Drive...."
wow thanks dish