811 blank screen and green dots

[a2zvisa]

Within the last 72 hours, while watching all of the Olympic coverage between the Dish stations and my local NBC HD feed, I've experienced an annoying situation. I've complained about something similar to this before (THREAD: 811 Receiver blank screen problem ). After watching OTA NBC HD signal for at least 30 or more minutes and I return to regular sat programming, my screen goes blank. Even returning to OTA gives negative results. Just a blank screen. Channel up and down, check switch, power receiver on and off, negative results. I unplug the receiver and wait the several minutes or so to acquire sat signal and guide info, I'm back in business! But of course, with Olympic HD coverage OTA, I've had to do this many times.

As a side note, just within the last 24 hours, I've noticed a series of green dots appear across the top quarter of the screen. When I change channels, and you see the transparent info banner along the top of the screen, as soon as that disappears, the green dots appear. Turning off the receiver for about 15 minutes has temporarily removed them but they reappear real quick. By the way, the dots do not appear when any menu or transparent banners are up. No dots with the guide. No dots on the other component input that have a DVD player on. I did move the sat receiver to the other inputs and the dots followed.

I call Dish this morning about these two problems. They (paraphrasing) said that they will notify the tech dept. about the blank screen problem. As far as the green dot problem, they said it was bad component cables. I disagreed with her but went along with it. I just happened to have a new set of cheap Pr Pb Y cables and installed them. What do you know. Green dots still there. I called Dish back, explained it all again and they are going to send out a new receiver out in a couple of days.


Any thoughts?

a2zvisa

 

[NightRyder]

This is already being discussed here....

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=25308


NightRyder

 

[styxfix]

This should be a known problem. Hold the power button on the receiver for about 5-10 seconds. This will reboot the 811 and most of your problems should disappear. This forum will probably give you better advise than most of the DISH CSR.

 

[JAL]

I called Dish Network CSR's repeatedly about this problem. They even sent to my home an "advanced tech" to examine my connections outside. Dish replaced my legacy SW64 with a DishPro Quad, because they found a rust stain on a barrel connection on the switch. The tech said this was causing my problem. I didn't believe it, but was willing to try, since I have all DishPro equipment. About an hour after he left, the same thing started happening again (e.g. the blank screen). I also get the green dots, which go away after a hard reboot. So, I called Dish Network again, and they finally connected me to a software tech, who explained that they were aware of the problem, and they are working on to "code" to remedy it. As some may know, if you are watching a local OTA for more than 30 minutes, then press the guide button, the 811 loses its connection with the satellites, and must reboot. So, to avoid this problem, after watching OTA, press a satellite channel number directly without hitting guide first, and this will not occur. Also, I can assure you the green dots have nothing to do with your cable. I am hooked up with a DVI to HDMI Monster cord, and have the same problem. What a frustrating experience!

 

[waltinvt]

This is already being discussed here....

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=25308


NightRyder

That thread said nothing about the green dots problem.

 

[waltinvt]

Within the last 72 hours, while watching all of the Olympic coverage between the Dish stations and my local NBC HD feed, I've experienced an annoying situation. I've complained about something similar to this before (THREAD: 811 Receiver blank screen problem ). After watching OTA NBC HD signal for at least 30 or more minutes and I return to regular sat programming, my screen goes blank. Even returning to OTA gives negative results. Just a blank screen. Channel up and down, check switch, power receiver on and off, negative results. I unplug the receiver and wait the several minutes or so to acquire sat signal and guide info, I'm back in business! But of course, with Olympic HD coverage OTA, I've had to do this many times.

As a side note, just within the last 24 hours, I've noticed a series of green dots appear across the top quarter of the screen. When I change channels, and you see the transparent info banner along the top of the screen, as soon as that disappears, the green dots appear. Turning off the receiver for about 15 minutes has temporarily removed them but they reappear real quick. By the way, the dots do not appear when any menu or transparent banners are up. No dots with the guide. No dots on the other component input that have a DVD player on. I did move the sat receiver to the other inputs and the dots followed.

I call Dish this morning about these two problems. They (paraphrasing) said that they will notify the tech dept. about the blank screen problem. As far as the green dot problem, they said it was bad component cables. I disagreed with her but went along with it. I just happened to have a new set of cheap Pr Pb Y cables and installed them. What do you know. Green dots still there. I called Dish back, explained it all again and they are going to send out a new receiver out in a couple of days.


Any thoughts?

a2zvisa

What type of monitor do you have ?
I have the 811 receiver and the 34" monitor (RCA) that Dish sells in the HD in Box deal.

I've had a very similar thing happen to mine a couple of times. With me, they were actually more like green dashes, 2 lines of them across the top quarter of the screen, about 2" apart vertically and maybe 3/4" horz spaces between dashes.

Both times it happened I was fooling around with trying to get OTA signals. Both times required me to shut everything off before they'd go away. I was never sure what caused the problem but I'm pretty sure the problem manifested itself in the monitor, because last time it happened, the lines remained even when I switched between inputs from the 811 & 508.

I posted about this twice both here and other lists and never got any replys. I never did call Dish about it because it's only happened twice.
WaltinVt

 

[SimpleSimon]

... Dish replaced my legacy SW64 with a DishPro Quad, because they found a rust stain on a barrel connection on the switch. ...

Welcome aboard!

At least you got a LNBF/Switch upgrade out of it.

 

[timmyt101]

I've had the same screen blackout problem since getting 2.69. Have to reboot/reacquire and then all is OK. Go figure.

 

[WeeJavaDude]

I called Dish Network CSR's repeatedly about this problem. They even sent to my home an "advanced tech" to examine my connections outside. Dish replaced my legacy SW64 with a DishPro Quad, because they found a rust stain on a barrel connection on the switch. The tech said this was causing my problem. I didn't believe it, but was willing to try, since I have all DishPro equipment. About an hour after he left, the same thing started happening again (e.g. the blank screen). I also get the green dots, which go away after a hard reboot. So, I called Dish Network again, and they finally connected me to a software tech, who explained that they were aware of the problem, and they are working on to "code" to remedy it. As some may know, if you are watching a local OTA for more than 30 minutes, then press the guide button, the 811 loses its connection with the satellites, and must reboot. So, to avoid this problem, after watching OTA, press a satellite channel number directly without hitting guide first, and this will not occur. Also, I can assure you the green dots have nothing to do with your cable. I am hooked up with a DVI to HDMI Monster cord, and have the same problem. What a frustrating experience!

Is your TV and LCD? I suggest changing the input to DVD without a DVD in there and putting your TV on VIVID. Do you see any green dots? Just a guess, but green dots usually indicated dead pixels on an LCD. Just a thought. Most people don't notice them because they are far from the screen and you cant tell with the TV on. Oh.. get real close to the Screen when you try this test.

As to the comment of the 30 minutes of OTA. I don't think the 30 minute statement is fact, but is your experience. I have watch more than 30 minutes of OTA and not at to power reset my box. I have had the blank video issue twice since I have had 269.

I have noticed an increase in the Acquring signal bug. In my configuration, 269 has aggreviated it a bit.

 

[a2zvisa]

I have a Phillips 34 CRT. I did a power button reboot twice and now the dots are gone. Watch OTA for an hour this morning and now dots are back!

 

[GaryPen]

I have noticed an increase in the Acquring signal bug. In my configuration, 269 has aggreviated it a bit.

I thought you said, shortly after the download, that 269 almost eradicated it.

 

[WeeJavaDude]

I thought you said, shortly after the download, that 269 almost eradicated it.

I should be more specific since this might not be a 2.69 issue. I have noticed in my environment over the last week that the Acquiring signal issue on my box has increased in frequency. I also have notice that in my case it is not tied to sitting on one OTA channel for a long duration. I have seen this pop up when changing from a Dish channel. I am going to keep an eye out and see what transponder it indicates when this occurs.

I don't recall ever saying that 2.69 seems to have helped greatly. I do recall, saying that I was not seeing it a lot lately (Last 6 months). I was getting it about 1 every 2 days. I saw it last night about 3 times in an evening while watching the olympics. Wonder if it could be related to 3 HD per transponders... Hard to tell, but I don't think it is a 2.69 issue. Sorry if I made it sound that way...

 

[WeeJavaDude]

I have a Phillips 34 CRT. I did a power button reboot twice and now the dots are gone. Watch OTA for an hour this morning and now dots are back!

Well there goes my LCD theory. Interesting.. how big are the dots?

 

[JAL]

I have a plasma, and the green dots look like dashes, sort of like equal signs, across the bottom third of the screen. They are not present when the dishnet program guide or menus are displayed, and not present on DVDs, etc. The dashes go away when I do a hard reboot of the 811.

 

[GaryPen]

I was getting it about 1 every 2 days.

That's still pretty often. How often do you get it now?

 

[WeeJavaDude]

That's still pretty often. How often do you get it now?

Like I said.. when I have sit down and watch TV on the 811 the other day I saw it about 3 times during the night. Two of the times were rather close together and does not match how people are saying it happens (i.e. sitting for a long time on an OTA station).

as for how often before. I never really counted and I was given an "at most" number. My guess it is much lower than that but wanted to be rather conservative.

Well it was low enough of a frequency where I did not find it annoying. It is not at the point were it is borderline annoying and climbing.

 

[GaryPen]

I'd end up pitching the 811 out of the window, if it was my primary receiver. This new "blank screen" bug sounds just as annoying as the "acquiring signal bug", maybe even moreso as it happens when going to a sat channel from OTA, not just the EPG.

The Dishies can defend the Dish programmers until they're blue in the face. It doesn't change the fact that Dish developers, programmers, project managers, etc are basically incompetent. Period. There is no valid excuse for the crap they keep spewing out. Garbage in = Garbage out.

 

[WeeJavaDude]

I'd end up pitching the 811 out of the window, if it was my primary receiver. This new "blank screen" bug sounds just as annoying as the "acquiring signal bug", maybe even moreso as it happens when going to a sat channel from OTA, not just the EPG.

The Dishies can defend the Dish programmers until they're blue in the face. It doesn't change the fact that Dish developers, programmers, project managers, etc are basically incompetent. Period. There is no valid excuse for the crap they keep spewing out. Garbage in = Garbage out.

So you have a term now Gary "Dishies" ..cute... Nice flame bait !sadroll Well personally I have seen this bug once since 2.69. It is no were near the number of times I have seen the acquiring signal issue. Not to say I will not see it again, but I would not give it the same weight as the acquiring signal one just yet.

2.69 fixes a lot and yes it did introduce some bugs. In my opinion it fixed more than it broke from a large margin. This one may be on the high on the customer pain threshold, but only time time will tell how high and how frequent it is.

As to the incompetent comment... Well It sounds like you are back on the track to DirecTV when your contract ends. I am sure you can recoup your 721 and 811 costs and break even on the hardware.

Gary, here is a little software release fact! Every software update that occurs introduces new bugs while other ones get fixed. What you hope as a developer, that more bugs are fixed than are introduced and that new ones that are introduced are not catastrophic.

IMHO, The fact that this new bug may have been introduced with 2.69 does not make Dish's engineers basically incompetent. Yes there is a well known fact that Dish has a basic software quality issue. However, having a basic software quality issue is a fair cry from stating that everyone within Dish's development team is basically incompetent.

IMHO, Dish has a process development release issue and not a bunch of totally incompetent people. This actually is seen more commonly in companies with a very strong hardware focus without a strong software process in place. I am stating this from experience.

But since everyone has a right to their opinion feel free to continue your personal insults. Actually I wouldn't expect less from someone with the statement "People are idiots" and your current avatar.

 

[GaryPen]

So you have a term now Gary "Dishies" ..cute... Nice flame bait !sadroll

I've used that one many times before, along with Dishites, Dish Kissers, and other fun terms to describe folks that have a very weird emotional attachment to a utility company.

As to the incompetent comment... Well It sounds like you are back on the track to DirecTV when your contract ends. I am sure you can recoup your 721 and 811 costs and break even on the hardware.

It'll depend on what Dish, DirecTV, and even Cable have to offer when the time comes. I'm hoping Dish gets its ship together by then. Doubtful. But, I'll miss the Superstation WPIX if I switch. However, the lure of superior equipment is strong. I have no doubt I can sell my 721, 811, 311, and 510 for heap big wampum. (Actually, I'm putting the 510 on Ebay any day now.)

Yes there is a well known fact that Dish has a basic software quality issue. However, having a basic software quality issue is a fair cry from stating that everyone within Dish's development team is basically incompetent.

No it isn't.

IMHO, Dish has a process development release issue and not a bunch of totally incompetent people.

The issue you speak of does not typically come from a bunch of competent people.

But since everyone has a right to their opinion feel free to continue your personal insults. Actually I wouldn't expect less from someone with the statement "People are idiots" and your current avatar.

That statement has always been there, regardless of my ever-changing avatars. It is my credo, my motto, if you will. It's accuracy is proven on a daily basis at work, on the street, when driving, while watching the news, when reading opinion polls, and whenever I attempt to go to the EPG directly from an OTA channel on my 811.

 

[WeeJavaDude]

I've used that one many times before, along with Dishites, Dish Kissers, and other fun terms to describe folks that have a very weird emotional attachment to a utility company.

I actually have been meaning comment on your humor. Sarcism and wity humor usually does not translate well in this medium and at times it is misread and taken the wrong way. What is typed as jest or humor can sound very demining and insulting to the person reading it from their context. This does not mean the person on the other end does not have a sense of humor or that the person on the sending end is being nasty, it just means that sutle humor does not translate well in a forum context.

As as a fun term.. Well that is your opinion.

It'll depend on what Dish, DirecTV, and even Cable have to offer when the time comes. I'm hoping Dish gets its ship together by then. Doubtful. But, I'll miss the Superstation WPIX if I switch. However, the lure of superior equipment is strong. I have no doubt I can sell my 721, 811, 311, and 510 for heap big wampum. (Actually, I'm putting the 510 on Ebay any day now.)

I have been thinking about selling my 508 too since I got a 721. Well were ever you go I am sure you will through your critical eye and comments their way.

The issue you speak of does not typically come from a bunch of competent people.

Disagree. I have personally worked with competent people within a broken system and seen the external results. I am not saying that Dish does not have incompetent people. I am sure they do. All companies do and it only takes one person in a key position to be incompetent to create the results we are seeing. To generalize that that dish engineers, project managers, etc are incompentent is an unfair assesment in my book. However, since I personally don't have experience with the all members of the development team, project managment team, and release team I could be wrong. Do you Gary?

That statement has always been there, regardless of my ever-changing avatars. It is my credo, my motto, if you will. It's accuracy is proven on a daily basis at work, on the street, when driving, while watching the news, when reading opinion polls, and whenever I attempt to go to the EPG directly from an OTA channel on my 811.

Yes I have noticed it for some time. It does help someone like me see where your opinions are coming from and put them in their proper context. You forgot to mention "Dishie posts on this forum". <- Humor.