Anyone else having recording problems from new software?

[HighlanderCFH]

I was on the phone with Dish advanced tech support for over 3 hours last night over an issue that they helped me with last week -- and then it surfaced again last evening.

I'll list all the problems down below after this brief explanation. Last week they said my software was corrupted and had me do a partial download to solve the problems explained below. It worked for a few days, then recurred -- with additional problems -- yesterday.

The first person I spoke with said it looks like the hard drive is failing. Then an advanced tech support man advised that Dish began a MAJOR upgrade of its system (its info source, or something like that) and that it will be all complete 24-48 hours from now. They advised that other customers are having the same problems and that it was not the hard drive -- said all the problems would correct themselves after the upgrade is complete.

I do not believe them.

Here is a list of all the things my H3 & Joey started doing yesterday.......

* earlier this week the H3 stopped recording all series timer events, would only record single-event timers. Dish had to remove the software and replace with a fresh download. I lost all of my favorite channel settings and had to rebuild all of my series event timers, but it seemed to work okay afterward.

* March 1, more problems. The H3 failed to record several series timer events earlier today. So far it has missed 7 event timer recordings today, starting at 7:05 a.m. It is now 6:30 p.m. and the SCHEDULE tab is displaying all of these events as if it is still yesterday.

* each time I try to record a live TV program, I get a 1281 message called TIMER CREATION FAILED, "please try back later."

* The H3 became very erratic in responding to the remote. Same with the Joey. H3 either refuses to obey a button command, or it takes multiple presses to get it to respond.

* Trying to change channels on either H3 or Joey often results in a black, silent screen.

* channel fails to change when pressing it on the program guide. Repeatedly pressing SELECT gets no response at all.

* Program guide shows various program descriptions in Spanish.

* Some recorded content was somehow shifted from one folder into another one.

* I cannot access recorded content. It is a fight with the remote to navigate to a desired recorded program -- then, when I press the SELECT button, the program fails to respond, will not play, etc. I press SELECT repeatedly, but it will not play. This is happening with both the H3 and Joey.

* I did a red button reset on the H3, but the above problems persist. I then unplugged both the H3 and Joey for over one minute, but the above problems continue to happen. All of these resets were repeatedly done again when I was on the phone with tech support.

Has anyone else had these problems? Or am I just continuing on with my streak of bad luck with Hoppers?

 

[camo]

Yes couple other threads about this. Nothing got recorded yesterday, timers disappearing, black screens while scrolling guides and auto reboots. Not sure what happens today. My understanding Dish is aware of the problems.

 

[HighlanderCFH]

Thanks. That verifies what the tech told me. They could not say when my timers might become active again, but said this "update" should be complete by tomorrow or Friday. Maybe these problems will begin clearing up then.

 

[Troch77]

U344?

 

[dennispap]

It s not just the H3. I have the HWS and am also having the problems.

 

[nagol99]

I am also having several of the same issues and you reported. It all seemed to star about 2 weeks ago with pixelization and loosing the picture and sound for up to 10-15 seconds sometime. After a hard reset (unplug power) I lost al signal and could not get any picture at all. Called tech support and they sent someone out. The replaced the hub in the attic and a barrel connector outside, I have not noticed so much if the loss in picture/sound but have noticed a lot of the issues described in the original post. Unresponsive remote, changing channel and get black screen for 10 seconds before it responds and a few others. Also noticed that prime time any time has not recorded for 2 nights. Called support and they told me there were aware of these issues and working f to resolve them. Verified I was on U336 version, she had me put all Joeys and hopper 3 in stand by mode to force software update, but so far that has not happened. Hopefully they get this fixed soon!

 

[HighlanderCFH]

Very frustrating, to be sure. My H3 is running on U334 from 1/4/17. I still cannot record anything. All my series event and single event timers have disappeared from my schedule even though they are all still listed under the TIMERS tab.

Every time I try to record from live TV, it says 1281 timer creation failed, please try back later. The big questions are WHY is this happening and HOW MUCH later should we try back?

Essentially, my H3 has been reduced from a DVR to just a non-recording receiver -- and not a very good one at that.

I don't understand how a major company like Dish can be so technically inept that their software updates cripple so many DVRs instead of seamlessly blending in without notice.

If I understood the people from the Phillipines last night (they were all very nice, but hard to understand), this massive update will have something to do with the source of the program information that we receive, along with some other things.

I just hope it is worth it. In the meantime, I'm going to ask Dish if they can waive the 14 remaining months on my 2-year committment so that I can escape from these Hopper woes without penalty.

 

[KAB]

Very frustrating, to be sure. My H3 is running on U334 from 1/4/17. I still cannot record anything. All my series event and single event timers have disappeared from my schedule even though they are all still listed under the TIMERS tab.

Every time I try to record from live TV, it says 1281 timer creation failed, please try back later. The big questions are WHY is this happening and HOW MUCH later should we try back?

Essentially, my H3 has been reduced from a DVR to just a non-recording receiver -- and not a very good one at that.

I don't understand how a major company like Dish can be so technically inept that their software updates cripple so many DVRs instead of seamlessly blending in without notice.

If I understood the people from the Phillipines last night (they were all very nice, but hard to understand), this massive update will have something to do with the source of the program information that we receive, along with some other things.

I just hope it is worth it. In the meantime, I'm going to ask Dish if they can waive the 14 remaining months on my 2-year committment so that I can escape from these Hopper woes without penalty.

Have you tried a power plug reboot?

 

[HighlanderCFH]

Before I called tech support, and several times during the call, I did power plug reboots repeatedly. Had no effect on the problem, then they said my H3 is fine and that the problem is coming from Dish's end.

 

[HighlanderCFH]

The problems continue, and now -- at 9:23 p.m. -- the H3 abruptly shut down and I got a blank screen. Seems to be doing either a reboot or upgrade. Looks like 1 a.m. came early today.

 

[iadubber]

Try partial reset. That seemed to work for me and I got all my timers back that were missing. At least for the last three days it has resolved my error creating timer issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[HighlanderCFH]

Didn't work. In fact, as a test I just tried to record a regular non-premium channel and it said recordings are not authorized on that channel. It was just a basic channel that I've recorded many times. In another forum I saw someone advising to unscrew the incoming cable (from the dish) from the back of the Hopper, then unplug the power cord for 30 seconds, then wait for the "acquiring signal" screen, then screw the cable back on and do a front panel reset. That person claimed this fixed the problem -- although this was from 2014, so apparently these problems are nothing new to Dish even though they continue happening 3 years later.

Problem was that, with the coax cable removed, the Hopper just sat there without trying to reboot until I put the cable back on. Then it rebooted and continued its refusal to record anything.

If there are any dish employees here, can someone try to arrange a waiver for the 14 months remaining on my latest 2-year agreement? After problems with FIVE hoppers -- and now this -- I should not have to keep putting up with these technical snafus and would like the option of seeking another TV service without having to pay a penalty.

 

[HighlanderCFH]

Dish has told me that a system upgrade is what has been causing these timer recording issues and that they did not know when the techs would have the situation resolved.

Here is an excerpt from an email I received from Dish: "We are experiencing technical issues from the last update that we are still trying to fix. There is no set date or time for the fix but we are working on it."

I ended up doing a manual software update download and my H3 has been recording just fine for the past week.

However, a new problem has arisen that I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced. My Joey is connected to a secondary TV right next to my main TV (with the H3). As such, I can watch two shows at the same time. But, for the past week, the picture/sound disappears from the secondary TV. It will be gone for perhaps an hour, then it suddenly comes back on for a period of time. Then it goes out again. I don't know if this is related to their update or if my Joey has become faulty.

Any thoughts on this?