HR-21 Problems

[fishman23]

Hello,

Last Firday I had DirecTV installed and got a new HR-21 box. As soon as the installer hooked it up he said, "hmm thats odd". The power light didn't come on and the light ring only had a few of the lights working. He said the boxes were too expensive for him to carry extras in the van with him so he left me a number in case I ran into any problems with it.

After about an hour of (amazing) viewing, the channel I was watching and recording (SPEED HD) all of a sudden went out. It didn't say searching for signal, didn't say anything, the screen just turned grey. I switched over to the SD channel and it worked fine. I tried some other channels and they came in great. However, some others didn't like Fox HD, CBS HD, and Fuel HD. Those are a few I can remember that did it...while their SD counterparts came in fine. Some that did work were ESPN HD, HBO HD, ABC HD, NBC HD...

I went to my recorded programs to watch what I had just recorded on SPEED HD and it wouldn't play either! I got the same grey screen. I restarted the box, which took about 6-8 minutes and everything worked fine again. It wasn't long though before it did the same thing on those same channels. I went back to my recorded programs and again it didn't work. I hit fast forward on the remote and could see the program! It will fast forward and rewind through it fine. When I hit play the picture almost instantly freezes and the audio plays about 5 seconds before stopping.

Anyone ever had this problem?

It isn't a problem with the signal. It's always 95 or above on both tuners each time I check it.

Surely it's the box? I can't even watch recorded programs when this happens. I don't think it's a problem with my tv or anything, because like I said, it works fine for an hour or so. Sometimes it will go a little longer but I still have found myself resetting the box 4-5 times a day. I called and they almost acted like they didn't believe me. The installer had told me they'd probably mail a new box and a box for me to return the old one in. However, they're sending a tech out Thursday to check out the "connections". That's fine with me, but I better get a replacement box. Unless you guys have heard of this problem before? The lights not fully working on the box leads me to believe it may be damaged, at least I hope so.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[fishman23]

Another issue I'm having about 50% of the time is that all of my local channels are "breaking up". It doesn't do it all the time, but it's enough to get me worried. It does it on all the locals, FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC, CW, & PBS. It doesn't matter if they're HD or SD. Usually the audio is still fine but the picture is full of artifacts. Sometimes it will get so bad that the audio gets choppy and finally I get a 771 Signal error.

But... you guessed it! I check my signal and it's 90-95+ on each tuner. Even more strange, all the none locals in HD or SD come in as expected. I was watching the Pro Bowl on Sunday and it was good until the end of the first quarter when it became unwatchable. I checked the signal and it was fine. I ended up going into the bedroom where we have a standard DVR and older TV. Signal was fine, no breaking up. At least I was able to watch the game, but not in HD.

I've checked other forums and nobody else had reported this problem in the Knoxville, TN area.

Could this also be a problem with the box? Seems odd that it would only do it on the locals though while everything else is good. Between this and the problem I talked about in my original post, I'm about to pull my hair out!

 

[BluegrassGuy1976]

Check channel 480/481. This is the B-Band Convertor Test channel. Since it sounds like you're having problems on the HD channels, this could be a likely culprit.

When you tune to these channels 480 should read:

"103 B-Band Odd (13V) BBC confirmed working"

Likewise 481 should read:

"103 B-Band Even (18V) BBC confirmed working"

If it says Searching for satellite on one or both of those, most likely, it's either the B-Band converters on the back of the reciever ( the little dongles connected to the cables), a faulty LNB possibly, the dish may be misaligned slightly, or the reciever is bad. Since you just had it installed you should be able to have a service call at no charge to correct the issue.

 

[joed32]

I think you need a new box, had an HR20 that was doing almost the same thing.

 

[fishman23]

Bluegrass, 480 & 481 both said "confirmed working"

Joe, thanks for the input. Hopefully I'll get a new box Thursday and it will solve these problems.

 

[joed32]

Good luck to you.

 

[fishman23]

Tech came out last night, replaced my HR21, still had problem of HD Locals acting up and losing single. He realigned my dish and took the 103 signal from 78-80 to 95-97 and problem solved. No lockups on the DVR like before now either so I think I might be ok. It was doing it about every hour before and it's been running 12 hours now with no issues. I'm guessing my problem was a buggy receiver and sub-par signal to 103. He was a little stumped at first but seemed very knowledgeable about the way this stuff works. Very happy customer now.

Thanks for the help all.

 

[bfpdb25]

I have a pair of HR21 receivers and they both are doing the same thing that you mention, freezing up on Speedchannel. spoke to Customer ser and was walked thru several things, after all else failed was told to do ahard reset by unpluging power for reset, this fixed it only temporialy, just froze up for 4th time during Nascar Truck race, am ready to throw them away, bottom line did the dish reallignment fix your problem??

Dan in ARK

 

[fishman23]

It froze up again on me today. Only SPEED HD, FOX HD, FX HD, and FUEL HD are affected. I can't watch these channels live or anything I've recorded from these channels when it locks up. It's only doing it once a day, so I guess I'll keep doing a 5 minute reset.

HD locals are coming in great now. At least I did get that sorted out.

Next time it happens to you, check if you can see those other channels I mentioned above.

Oddly...those are all in the FOX "family" of networks. When it freezes, can you rewind and still see the program? But the picture freezes instantly then the audio after about 5 seconds.. as soon as you hit play? Does it affect your recorded programs? I thought it was really odd that I couldn't even watch something from those channels that recorded perfect.

 

[iFIX Solutions]

I am having the exact same problem. It always seems to be the NASCAR race on Fox that has the issue. I have only had my receiver for about 6 weeks. DTV was going to charge me to send a new receiver out. After getting the call elevated I have a new receiver on the way at no charge. It is discouraging to know that a new receiver is still giving you the same issue. I'll follow up after my new receiver shows up.

 

[iFIX Solutions]

They just delivered my 3rd receiver (2nd replacement) reciever. With the first replacement the problem with watching while recording seemed to go away but I had huge issues with slow guide and some live and recorded shows just being a black screen. I have not hooked up the 3rd HR21-700 yet but I do not have high hopes for it at this time.

 

[audioman]

Download

They just delivered my 3rd receiver (2nd replacement) reciever. With the first replacement the problem with watching while recording seemed to go away but I had huge issues with slow guide and some live and recorded shows just being a black screen. I have not hooked up the 3rd HR21-700 yet but I do not have high hopes for it at this time.

Be sure to force a download to get the newest software by entering
02468 when the receiver is starting. (The blue welcome screen)
This may solve your issues. Without the software download new receivers act just plain goofy.

 

[Eric_C]

Did they check everything?

The guy wasn't motivated enough to make sure you had a properly working box and gave you a BS excuse as to why he didn't want to go get another, he obviously did a poor job of pointing your dish....I would bet this wiring and crimping skills might not have been upto the task either.

 

[audioman]

Did they check everything?

The guy wasn't motivated enough to make sure you had a properly working box and gave you a BS excuse as to why he didn't want to go get another, he obviously did a poor job of pointing your dish....I would bet this wiring and crimping skills might not have been upto the task either.

Crimping is not allowed anymore......

Must be compression fittings.

 

[Dog6869]

HELP!! My HR21 is locking up almost ever time I try to pause or rewind a live program.. I hit the reverse key on my remote the DVR locks up and goes into the pause mood Which I can not get out of.. Plus it shows on the time window on the bottom 1 to 2 hrs old and that I can not rewind the program at all!!! Most of the times I have reboot the DVR!!! Has any one else had this problem??? Yes I have hard booted it and I have unplugged it for up too 2 minutes… this is a temporary fix but soon it goes back to doing the same thing.

 

[rogdenn]

HR21 problems

[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']I received a replacement for my old TIVO HD DVR in the mail I installed it and everything appeared to be fine for only a couple of weeks. Then many of the shows had pixilation which was minor to where the entire screen would go green, the video would cut out completely and so would the audio. There are no obstructions and the weather was clear and I never had these problems with the TIVO. Some of the shows when recorded resulted in a black screen when the show was played back; it indicated the hour long show was recorded.

Sometimes I watched part of the show and appeared to be recording properly and when I played it back later it was again blank. Two shows that were recorded showed that they were recording, they were on the “list” but the unit froze up, I could not stop, rewind or fast forward. I could however change channels. I waited until the end of the shows and pushed the red button to reset the unit. The remote would then operate the unit properly, but neither show was recorded

They have done the following: replaced my dish, replaced the multi-switch, replaced the B Band converters, downloaded new software and replaced several units. The HR 21 has been replaced I believe 4 - 5 times and I am still having the same problems.

The tech said that is a problem with these units as with the previous model. I am thinking of cancelling and going with Brighthouse cable. Any issues with Brighthouse?[/FONT]