921 newbie, is this thing quirky or what?

[kluken]

OK I have held off 921 for while until price dropped. Finally got it and hooked it up, well the HD via DVI is amazing on my Hitachi 57! Now the fun startsm I have seen some references to the 921 being quirky and believe either I have a bad unilt or the 921 must still be in beta ! I have had it installed fro 24 hours and have had to do 2 cold (pull plug) reboots! Seems the problems stem from when one tuner is recording and you do much of anything with the other. Earlier I was recording on one tuner and was flipping channles on the other, once I hit some HD channles the unit came to a crawl and finally pretty much stopped responding to MENU or Guide commands! Once the recording stopped the problem did NOT clear up. Cold reboot fixed it. Then tonight while recording I hit the DVR button then START OVER and unit stopped responding. It woudl power off and back on giving me channle control back, but DVR and MENU buttons woudl not respond. After recording stopped pulled plug again and all is fine. Has anyone else seen this? Is the unit bad? or is this what I should expect for Dish BETA products! Oh VOOM where is your DVR??

 

[dfergie]

I was one of the first of the 549$ 921 owners, I do a boot every now and then but...other than a few dpp44 related probs, mine has performed perfectly...I have 3 Replays and a 6000u... the 921 rocks(btw I also have D* and was about to get hd from them when the deal came about...might still)

 

[SimpleSimon]

The problem is the crappy software, not your unit.

I've seen (and still sometimes see) the problems you're talking about. Often a cold boot isn't necessary, just get it to some SD channels and wait for it to catch up.

I suggest that you take things a bit easier until you find out what the box can actually handle.

 

[kluken]

The problem is the crappy software, not your unit.

I've seen (and still sometimes see) the problems you're talking about. Often a cold boot isn't necessary, just get it to some SD channels and wait for it to catch up.

I suggest that you take things a bit easier until you find out what the box can actually handle.

Yeah that was my thoughts, I guess I had too many expectations for a solid box that has been out over a year! I was spoiled with my 501 which maybe has been unplugged 2 or 3 times over the 3 or 4 years I have it. I did try leaving it on an SD channle to catch up, maybe powering it off for a while would have helped, I am somewhat dissapointed that this "top of the line" E* receiver is still so quirky. It seems slower than my 501 at doing just about everything.

 

[SimpleSimon]

I find the 921 guide to be faster than the 501 - at least for the things I do.

The rest of the stuff seems about the same - or at least close enough that I don't notice any difference.

 

[styxfix]

I was having many of the problems you are having with your 921. Many of issues were cleared when I replaced my switch (SW-64). It seems, despite passing the switch test, my previous switch was causing all kinds of errors on my unit. My unit hasn't froze up once since the switch was replaced.

 

[kluken]

I was having many of the problems you are having with your 921. Many of issues were cleared when I replaced my switch (SW-64). It seems, despite passing the switch test, my previous switch was causing all kinds of errors on my unit. My unit hasn't froze up once since the switch was replaced.

I don't have an external switch, just what ever is in the LNB for the Dish 500. I know my signal strengths peg the meter so maybe I need to run a new switch test then cold start the unit.