Got my sat system going again but don't know if its permanent

[JimP]

Yesterday morning when I turned on my sat system, I got an error 015 message where it wasn't incrementing the process number as the system tried different transponders on various satellites. I could still retrieve previously recorded content and play them, I just couldn't get anything "live" off of the satellites. ...and can't help but wonder if the overnight update caused this condition.

I tried the 10 second power button reset, didn't help. Called Dish Support who had me go through menu/system setup/installation/system info/. On this screen, item "g" showed big red "x"s under satellites 119, 110 and 129 after item "a" incremented through 100% which I think is a counter for test completed. Dish said that they need to get a tech guy out to look at it. I told her that I'd rather get my local guy out who installed it and that I'd take care of it.

Called local installer and for whatever reason didn't make it out.

Last night I got tired waiting and decided to try something myself. In the past, I've often found that what restarts electronics sometimes is as simple as turning things off, unplugging everything, let things discharge, reconnect and power back on. I did this with the 722 disconnecting the sat cable, unplugging the power cable then after a few minutes reconnecting them. Then I did a 10 second power button press.

Well sat reception returned. Checked the installation system info screen and I had green blocks where I formerly had red "x"s. So for now, the system is fully operational again. Sat reception is back to what it use to be.

My question is whatever it was that got stuck, is it permanently fixed or is it likely to do the same in a few days? Is this a know characteristic of a part that is in the failing process?

Thanks in advance for any helpful comments.

 

[rcdallas]

Could be anything... only one way to tell...

 

[JimP]

How informative

Anybody else?

 

[WIrving]

Sounds vaguely like a problem I was seeing a few weeks ago. What was happening was that there was some sort of problem with certain OTA channels (so it seemed to be a regional/market kind of thing), such that when the overnight update occurred (3 a.m. by default), the receiver would go nuts.

The sypmtom would be that you'd turn on the TV and receiver, and you'd be stuck at the 'acquiring satellite' screen. It would never progress past step 3 of 5 - it'd just switch to a different transponder/satellite and start back at step 1. (Is that what the error 015 message says? I don't remember...) I saw this on both a Vip 622 and a 722.

The only way to clear it up was to get rid of the offending OTA channel from the receiver's memory; problem was, you couldn't get to the "Scan locals" screen to individually delete local channels. You had to do a "restore system defaults" or "factory reset" (I forget exactly what it's called...it's somewhere in the System Setup section of the menus). That erases the scanned OTA channels from the receiver and things suddenly start working again. (BTW, the "restore defaults" doesn't wipe out a lot of other stuff - your favorites lists remain, although their names go back to "List 1", etc.; timers stay intact, etc.)

Once things were working, if you didn't re-scan for OTA channels, the problem didn't come back. But if you re-scanned your locals, things would only work okay until the next night's update would cause the problem again.

It was speculated that only a small number of local OTA channels were causing this, and it had something to do with the program guide update process getting fouled up. I never did pin down which channel was causing it for me; this problem was supposed to be fixed in the 610 software release, and as far as I can tell, it was.

SO....I dunno if this describes what you saw. It doesn't sound like you wound up doing a "restore defaults". But if you have OTA channels, it sounds like you might've seen something similar to what I saw.

As I always say, if the problem doesn't recur, well...it's not a problem.

-WIrving

 

[STDog]

Maybe LNB drift?

Go back to the diag screen. Once it finishes the tests does it say anything? Check the details screen.

 

[JimP]

WIrving,
I don't have OTA wired through the 722. They're on a Tivo S3 sitting under the 722. If it happens again, how can you get to the program guide to see the OTA channels?

STDog,
Diagnostic screen?? The only one I see has to do with testing broadband or phone. If you're talking about the System info screen under the installation menu, item "a" shows a "good" status. Is that what you're referring to?

LBN drift sounds interesting. I'll do some reading on it and see if it sounds familiar.

 

[WIrving]

WIrving,
I don't have OTA wired through the 722. They're on a Tivo S3 sitting under the 722. If it happens again, how can you get to the program guide to see the OTA channels?

Since you don't do OTA via the 722, the problem you saw was definitely not the one I'm talking about. In any case, with the problem I had, you couldn't get to the program guide. You could hit 'menu', then some of the options would be available, some grayed out. "Restore factory defaults" was available somewhere under "System Setup", I think. Once the factory defaults were in place, the 722 could then successfully acquire satellites again. It was weird...

Good luck,
WIrving