Thanks to information shared by some of the pioneers here at Satellite guys, I decided to venture down the path of installing a third Hopper. I found some pretty useful wiring diagrams floating around, so I used them with slight modifications to accomodate my 6 Joeys. (I used a Duo Node for the 3rd Hopper instead of a Solo, so I could use the extra client port for connecting the Joeys rather than tapping everything.)
Once I connected the Hopper to the new wiring, the fun began. The Hopper start-up screen came up right away and then went black. Even after following all the Hopper troubleshooting recommendations for installation, I could not get any other screen to come up but the initial start-up screen. I was only able to get the 015 screen to come up twice to do a factory reset -- then it would start-up and go back to the black screen again.
I tested everything and eventually ended up moving the two old Hoppers and 6 Joeys to the new DPP33 switch (which was cascaded off my original DPP44) and the new Duo Node. The old system continued to work fine -- the new switch, Duo Mode and wiring were all good. Then I connected the new Hopper to my original Duo Node and DPP44 setup. I actually got the 015 screen and was able to do another factory reset.
Well about this time, my son came into my Den and took over the TV to play XBOX. Sensing that there was something else at play, I decided to connect the Hopper to a spare monitor that I had on my desk using the HDMI cable that came with Hopper. What do you know, all the black screens were suddenly replaced by the correct installation menus. In fact, it appeared that at some point in my messing around the Hopper had already downloaded the latest software and was running S217. Once I finished the installation wizard and had the correct monitor resolution set, I reconnected my TV with the original 15' HDMI cable that I run around the perimeter of my den. (It had always worked fine with my VIP722 and Joey previously.)
So, it looks like most of my installation nightmare was caused by the way the factory installed Hopper software interacted with the 15' HDMI cable - probably too long a distance to carry the default 480i resolution to my TV. My advice is that if you have installation issues that don't make sense, try to change out the HDMI cable.
The 3rd Hopper is now successfully fully integrated into my Hopper/Joey system. I have to also thank the Dirt Team for helping me through this. They activated the Hopper within minutes of my request and offered many suggestions to get through the installation process.
Once I connected the Hopper to the new wiring, the fun began. The Hopper start-up screen came up right away and then went black. Even after following all the Hopper troubleshooting recommendations for installation, I could not get any other screen to come up but the initial start-up screen. I was only able to get the 015 screen to come up twice to do a factory reset -- then it would start-up and go back to the black screen again.
I tested everything and eventually ended up moving the two old Hoppers and 6 Joeys to the new DPP33 switch (which was cascaded off my original DPP44) and the new Duo Node. The old system continued to work fine -- the new switch, Duo Mode and wiring were all good. Then I connected the new Hopper to my original Duo Node and DPP44 setup. I actually got the 015 screen and was able to do another factory reset.
Well about this time, my son came into my Den and took over the TV to play XBOX. Sensing that there was something else at play, I decided to connect the Hopper to a spare monitor that I had on my desk using the HDMI cable that came with Hopper. What do you know, all the black screens were suddenly replaced by the correct installation menus. In fact, it appeared that at some point in my messing around the Hopper had already downloaded the latest software and was running S217. Once I finished the installation wizard and had the correct monitor resolution set, I reconnected my TV with the original 15' HDMI cable that I run around the perimeter of my den. (It had always worked fine with my VIP722 and Joey previously.)
So, it looks like most of my installation nightmare was caused by the way the factory installed Hopper software interacted with the 15' HDMI cable - probably too long a distance to carry the default 480i resolution to my TV. My advice is that if you have installation issues that don't make sense, try to change out the HDMI cable.
The 3rd Hopper is now successfully fully integrated into my Hopper/Joey system. I have to also thank the Dirt Team for helping me through this. They activated the Hopper within minutes of my request and offered many suggestions to get through the installation process.
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