My 211 DVR function is activated

[rcbridge]

I called about 4:30 eastern and spoke to the automated voice, and was asured that it is active, since then nothing, rebooted receiver and it recognized the HD and said to call for activation, finally got through to a person and he was no help so he pardoned himself to get help, his answer was there are some glitches and it won't be activated until tomorrow!!

For those who had it working is it still working??

 

[ljdonato]

Yes, it is still working here....

 

[chikagobnd]

I called about 4:30 eastern and spoke to the automated voice, and was asured that it is active, since then nothing, rebooted receiver and it recognized the HD and said to call for activation, finally got through to a person and he was no help so he pardoned himself to get help, his answer was there are some glitches and it won't be activated until tomorrow!!

For those who had it working is it still working??

Well, I'm with you...I just called Dish for the 10th time in the past 24 hours about my EHD supposedly being activated(of course, I've already been charged the activation fee) but still have no DVR function. She was going to resend the "hit" to my receiver and said to wait 10-15 minutes. If I don't have function by then, she told me to call my local retailer(since I'm in an MDU) to come look at my box. There is nothing wrong with my box, but I guess that will have to be my next step in trying to resolve this issue if this thing doesn't activate tonight. Wish me luck!

 

[BobaBird]

How many timers and events? Are they stored in memory or on the EHD?

 

[Smith P.]

If I get this update for my vip211, will I be able to watch live tv while it records a show on another channel?

You better start reading the thread and other one - 211 have only one sat tuner, what another channel you want watch ? If OTA, then - yes.

 

[FriedSlug]

Well it only took me 50 minutes on the phone with Dish but my 211 now has DVR capabilities and is showing 73 hours and 15 minutes of HD recording time left on my new 750GB WD My Book Essential Edition.

 

[Jim5506]

How easy/difficult is it to swap EHD's for the 211?

Is it just a matter of unplugging one and plugging in the other?

 

[chikagobnd]

Well it only took me 50 minutes on the phone with Dish but my 211 now has DVR capabilities and is showing 73 hours and 15 minutes of HD recording time left on my new 750GB WD My Book Essential Edition.

Any idea on what Dish did to finally get it working?

 

[FriedSlug]

First off they said it was activated. It wasn't. Called back and was told that the service was not available in my area. I convinced them that it was and asked them to try something else. The tech got a supervisor and they asked me to keep the 499 error code on the screen while they sent another hit to the box. Whatever they did the message disappeared and the format message came up. Hope this helps.

BTW, both of the techs I spoke with did not seem to know this was available and they kept asking about my 622 that I activated the EHD last year.

Hope this helps a little. Good luck to all.

 

[monroef]

It works! But it was a little difficult. The key is to make sure they send the "hit" while the activation screen is still displayed. So, if it goes away before they get on the phone, unplug the drive and plug it back in to make the screen reappear.

 

[dishMIKE]

In considering hooking a 211 for my parents does a 211 require a phone line hook up?

 

[bigticket]

It works! But it was a little difficult. The key is to make sure they send the "hit" while the activation screen is still displayed. So, if it goes away before they get on the phone, unplug the drive and plug it back in to make the screen reappear.

GOT it!! You are the man !! The trick is to have them resend the "HIT" when the message is on the screen. Thanks again...

 

[bigticket]

In considering hooking a 211 for my parents does a 211 require a phone line hook up?

Does not need phone line hook up.

 

[Ray S]

It works! But it was a little difficult. The key is to make sure they send the "hit" while the activation screen is still displayed. So, if it goes away before they get on the phone, unplug the drive and plug it back in to make the screen reappear.

After my initial call to activate the external hard drive (Western Digital, MY Book Essential), I waited an hour and a half and did not get the activation notice screen or the format screen. I have the 211k. I called teh. support. He said he would send a "fresh signal" to 211. He said that the hard drive had been activated on there end and that the signal he was sending was not directly related to activating the DVR but that it might help. While still on the phone and in about thirty seconds a notice appeared that the hard drive had been activated and then the format notice. I had been watching regular programing and did not have it on the activation screen. The DVR functions are working fine.

 

[bigthrust]

Just got my family room 211 activated.

3 calls to CSR (finally tech support got it working with a second "hit")

Using an external drive setup that I built with a 200gb EIDE drive. So, it is basically a kit. No problems interfacing. The 200gb drive gives me 18.x hours of storage for HD. Enough for now, but I plan to expand. I wish there were way to take SD space for HD.....hmmmmmm...

DVR functions work just like me 611, Sweet!

 

[chikagobnd]

After my initial call to activate the external hard drive (Western Digital, MY Book Essential), I waited an hour and a half and did not get the activation notice screen or the format screen. I have the 211k. I called teh. support. He said he would send a "fresh signal" to 211. He said that the hard drive had been activated on there end and that the signal he was sending was not directly related to activating the DVR but that it might help. While still on the phone and in about thirty seconds a notice appeared that the hard drive had been activated and then the format notice. I had been watching regular programing and did not have it on the activation screen. The DVR functions are working fine.

Well, I tried having the signal sent with the message on the screen...didn't work. This is the 4th "hit" on my box with nothing...At this point, I don't think it's gonna happen for me.

 

[8bitbytes]

... I wish there were way to take SD space for HD.....hmmmmmm...

HD space and SD space are the same space. It gives you two measurements for what the whole space can store, one for HD and one for SD. As you record each it will change both numbers.

 

[dlsnyder]

Just got my family room 211 activated.

3 calls to CSR (finally tech support got it working with a second "hit")

Using an external drive setup that I built with a 200gb EIDE drive. So, it is basically a kit. No problems interfacing. The 200gb drive gives me 18.x hours of storage for HD. Enough for now, but I plan to expand. I wish there were way to take SD space for HD.....hmmmmmm...

DVR functions work just like me 611, Sweet!

Its all the same space. The estimates for HD capacity vs. SD capacity are different because the file sizes are different for HD and SD programs. An empty hard drive is an empty hard drive, and you can record any kind of content you want on there.

 

[Jim5506]

There is no SD space vs HD space.

HD recordings and SD recordings share the same HDD space.

By the way, the 499 screen thing appears to be valid. I was on hold so long that it timed out and my 211 did not take the hit, so when I called back I told the tech rep (Donna) to hit my receiver while the 499 screen was up and after about 2 minutes it bagan formatting the drive, rebooted, downloaded the 9 day guide and now it is WORKING!!

 

[bigticket]

How to watch recorded programs ?