HR-21 problems

[kidpsyco]

I have been around and around with DIRECTV. I have had 6 technicians out to my house. I have had 4 new receivers. I have had my issue escalated.
When I have the HR-21 plugged into the Ethernet port, about every 48 hours it will lock up to the point it is completely unresponsive. I need to hit the reset button to regain functionality.

Now since the latest software update, every 12 hours I get a searching for satellite signal message. When I hit the reset button all the sudden it can find the satellites again.

Am I crazy, I just called DIRECTV and they are going to send out another technician. I have already had the dish and LNB replaced, all the cable, the receiver. And we have done reformats, reinstalls of the update and resets to factory default. I just cannot believe that it is only my HR-21 that is having these issues. I have another receiver that has had no problems at all, although it is a old zenith. Even when my HR-21 says searching for satellite signal the zenith is working just fine.

Every time a “lead” technician comes out they stair at it for a few minutes then say they can replace it again if I want.

Is there something really wrong with these HR-21s or do I live on an old Indian burial ground.

 

[charper1]

When you leave the ethernet disconnected does the receiver work fine ?


...and then when you reintroduce the ethernet back it craps again?

 

[iwc5893]

Since everything else has been replaced, maybe the issue is with your router/ISP? It could be how the router is assigning internal IP address, or a bad ethernet cable, etc...

 

[Rey]

Welcome to satguys. did they ever at anytime change your bbc's?

 

[kidpsyco]

The HR-21 does not lock up when the Ethernet cable is unplugged.

But after the latest update, weather the Ethernet cable is plugged in or not, about every 12 hours I will get a searching for satellite signal message, until I reset. Then everything is fine again for another 12 hours.
Why would a bad Ethernet cable or connection cause the HR-21 to crash? I would think that it would just cause on-demand to not function. In any case I also have my Xbox 360 hooked up to the same switch without any issues. The switch is plugged into the wall, which goes to the main panel where the router and cable modem are.

After about 40 hours or so it will start slowing down, it will take 5 seconds for the guide to come up. In another hour or so, it will take 10 seconds for the guide to come up. The next morning it will not turn on. If I leave it on, it will not turn off. Eventually it will become completely unresponsive, none of the buttons will work and it will not have any sound or video. Then I hit the reset button and it is good for another 48 hours. But I don’t even get to that point now, with the searching for satellite problem. This is the fourth HR-21 that has done this. The HR10-250 I have works just fine.

I don’t know much about the receiver or its software, but it is acting like it has a memory leak.

I don’t know what a bbc is.

 

[Rey]

The HR-21 does not lock up when the Ethernet cable is unplugged.

But after the latest update, weather the Ethernet cable is plugged in or not, about every 12 hours I will get a searching for satellite signal message, until I reset. Then everything is fine again for another 12 hours.
Why would a bad Ethernet cable or connection cause the HR-21 to crash? I would think that it would just cause on-demand to not function. In any case I also have my Xbox 360 hooked up to the same switch without any issues. The switch is plugged into the wall, which goes to the main panel where the router and cable modem are.

After about 40 hours or so it will start slowing down, it will take 5 seconds for the guide to come up. In another hour or so, it will take 10 seconds for the guide to come up. The next morning it will not turn on. If I leave it on, it will not turn off. Eventually it will become completely unresponsive, none of the buttons will work and it will not have any sound or video. Then I hit the reset button and it is good for another 48 hours. But I don’t even get to that point now, with the searching for satellite problem. This is the fourth HR-21 that has done this. The HR10-250 I have works just fine.

I don’t know much about the receiver or its software, but it is acting like it has a memory leak.

I don’t know what a bbc is.

the bbc is the part that is attached between your coax cable and the hr21. there is a gold sticker on it with revision info etc etc. BBC stands for broadband converter. also check to see if your hr21 is over heating. go under menu setup and then info to see your current temperature. if it's above 120F then you have a problem. let us know

 

[kidpsyco]

Yes they did change the BBC's. Internal temp is 113.

The "Lead" tech came by today. He found the problem within three minutes. He went outside to the dish and brought back in a female/female coax coupler. He showed it to me and it had white interior plactic. He said that was the wrong kind. The plastic needed to be blue. So he told me he replaced it with a blue one.

Now the HR-21 is not susposed to lock up anymore.

 

[Rey]

Yes they did change the BBC's. Internal temp is 113.

The "Lead" tech came by today. He found the problem within three minutes. He went outside to the dish and brought back in a female/female coax coupler. He showed it to me and it had white interior plactic. He said that was the wrong kind. The plastic needed to be blue. So he told me he replaced it with a blue one.

Now the HR-21 is not susposed to lock up anymore.

i hope it doesn't. let us know kid.

 

[iwc5893]

Yes they did change the BBC's. Internal temp is 113.

The "Lead" tech came by today. He found the problem within three minutes. He went outside to the dish and brought back in a female/female coax coupler. He showed it to me and it had white interior plactic. He said that was the wrong kind. The plastic needed to be blue. So he told me he replaced it with a blue one.

Now the HR-21 is not susposed to lock up anymore.

Why is there even a coupler anywhere in line? It should be a continuous run except for switches and ground blocks.

 

[kidpsyco]

I don't know where the coupler is, the tech was at the dish and already had it put back together when he showed me the white one.

As of this morning the hr-21 is starting to have a significant slowdown in response to remote commands.

 

[Rey]

I don't know where the coupler is, the tech was at the dish and already had it put back together when he showed me the white one.

As of this morning the hr-21 is starting to have a significant slowdown in response to remote commands.

have you experienced anymore of the other problems?

 

[rad]

I don't know where the coupler is, the tech was at the dish and already had it put back together when he showed me the white one.

As of this morning the hr-21 is starting to have a significant slowdown in response to remote commands.

Did you download the CE software this weekend since one of the items that it was to fix was UI becoming "sluggish", my HR21 which has seen that problem is running fairly good on this new code.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

Why is there even a coupler anywhere in line? It should be a continuous run except for switches and ground blocks.

When my AT-9 was installed it came with a short cable which was to be installed on one of the ports (with the continuous cables going to the other three). The short cable was for hooking up a meter for alignment. After alignment, a coupler was used to connect to the fourth long cable. I never checked to determine the color of the dielectric.

 

[kidpsyco]

Completley locked up now. I just hit the reset button... Now it will be back to normal for about 48 hours untill it will lock up again. Guess it's time for tech number 8 to come out.

I have software V 0x255 Wed 7/23 at 2:49a

the temp is currently at 115

 

[scooby2]

Similar issue here. 2 HR21-100's that seem to get slower over a period of time. 48-72 hours after a reboot its taking a good 30 seconds to change channels. Leave the ethernet unplugged and its the normal 5 seconds to change channels.

That is my only real complaint about these dvrs. They are so dang slow. It makes channel surfing nearly impossible. Either via the guide or just changing channels.

 

[dwatts]

I have been around and around with DIRECTV. I have had 6 technicians out to my house. I have had 4 new receivers. I have had my issue escalated.
When I have the HR-21 plugged into the Ethernet port, about every 48 hours it will lock up to the point it is completely unresponsive. I need to hit the reset button to regain functionality.

Now since the latest software update, every 12 hours I get a searching for satellite signal message. When I hit the reset button all the sudden it can find the satellites again.

Am I crazy, I just called DIRECTV and they are going to send out another technician. I have already had the dish and LNB replaced, all the cable, the receiver. And we have done reformats, reinstalls of the update and resets to factory default. I just cannot believe that it is only my HR-21 that is having these issues. I have another receiver that has had no problems at all, although it is a old zenith. Even when my HR-21 says searching for satellite signal the zenith is working just fine.

Every time a “lead” technician comes out they stair at it for a few minutes then say they can replace it again if I want.

Is there something really wrong with these HR-21s or do I live on an old Indian burial ground.

i have the same problem with my HR21. when ethernet connected, it locks up and cannot be powered on without resetting. with it disconnected, it works fine. i also have x255 firmware. i called directv and they acted like i was the first person to ever experience this. anyone have a fix? i really wanted to try Video on Demand. thanks - dave

 

[JNEUBY]

I had problems with the HR-20's freezing on re-boot and had to unplug the ethernet cable for the reboot to complete. Even though this is not your problem I thought I would mention it since somehow the ethernet port does have some type connection with the software and could cause problems other than VOD.
I believe a software update fixed my problem.
Check your power supply, are you getting full 120 volts power to your receiver? Check it with a volt meter.
If you have a surge protector, try swapping it out with a known good one. Surge protectors go bad and cause all types of problems.

 

[Monkey House]

HR21-100

I have had almost exactly the same issues, and definitely see a difference when the network cable is not connected to the receiver. I did go throught the menu and send a report off, is there anyway to view the report? Also, how can you get updated software?

 

[almaden]

Identical HR-21 lockup problems

Hey guys, a little late to the discussion, but I can confirm almost every detail of kidpsyco's lockup scenario. I am having the same, identical problems on my HR21.

(1) Unexplained H21 lockups every 24 hours.
(2) Sluggish response to the remote control, gradually slowing down.
(3) Weird "looking for Satellite" messages on one of the two tuners.

I am on my third HR-21 in a 5 month time frame. Essentially the HR21 locks up every 24-48 hours, and they only way to recover is to hit the red reset button. The following describes my HR21 behavior to the exact letter:

After about 40 hours or so it will start slowing down, it will take 5 seconds for the guide to come up. In another hour or so, it will take 10 seconds for the guide to come up. The next morning it will not turn on. If I leave it on, it will not turn off. Eventually it will become completely unresponsive, none of the buttons will work and it will not have any sound or video. Then I hit the reset button and it is good for another 48 hours.
​

Before I found this forum, it never occurred to me it could be the ethernet connection to my home network.

I had a DTV tech come last week to examine my complete install. He made some minor adjustments to the dish, swapped one of the LNBs, and replaced some coax couplers. The signal strength at the HR21 is 88 and above for all transponders on both tuners. He checked the inline BBC and measured the signal strength coming from both coax cables w/o the HR21 hooked up - everything got a clean bill of health.

He was optimisic that the adjustments to the dish might solve the problem. 24-hours after he left HR21 #2 locked up again. DTV sent me HR21 #3 two-days ago and it is locking up too.

I am going to try running the HR21 this weekend w/o the network cable attached and see what happens.

 

[almaden]

As an update, it appears that the network connection is what was causing the HR21 to crash. I moved it to a different TV in the house with no network connection and it did not lockup after 24 hours...same results when I moved it back to the original location.

I received a call late Friday, 9/26 from an "escalation specialist/case manager" from DTV, someone dedicated to making sure a critical customer case is handled. After reviewing all of the note on my problems, I offered the theory that the network connection was the root cause of the problems. I mentioned this forum and thread, and offered to send a link to the case manager so that he could forward the information to DTV engineering.

Amazingly, he declined, saying my case notes were all that he needed. I tried to stress the point that multiple DTV customers are seeing almost identical problems on the HR21, and that it is not an isolated incident.

The lost of a network connection is not a big deal. The VOD feature was interesting, but not the end of the world, and the ability to browse pictures and media from a PC pales in comparison what I can do with my Xbox 360 or XBMC moded Xbox.