My 211 DVR function is activated

[8bitbytes]

The procedure I used to turn off my Western Digital, My Book, Essential that is connected to the 722 was to unplug the USB cable to the WD hard drive. The WD would turn off and it had no adverse affect on the operation of the 722. However when I attempted to disconnect the USB cable after the 221 was turned off, it made the 211 reboot and then it had to go through the download of the guide. The same thing happened when I turned off the 221 and then unplugged the power cord from the 211. The screen said the hard drive was unplugged and the 221 had to be started. After I turned it back on, the guide started to download. The DVR function is intact and is working but I have not recorded anything to the hard drive.

It looks like the WD will have to stay on all of the time. This is not good.
It may be necessary to purchase the WD hard drive that is recommended by Dish. Does anyone know if it (or the other hard drive recommended by Dish )has a manual switch to turn it off and what the affect is on the 221?

I would recommend buying one of the drives designed for 24/7 high temp use like in surveillance equipment and then leave it on 24/7.

Look for the Seagate model SV35.3 - it is specifically designed for multiple video streams and high temperature operation. then put it in a reliable external enclosure.

Newegg.com - Seagate SV35.3 ST3750330SV 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives


They are not like the FreeAgent drives that have a sleep mode.

 

[Juan]

I think he is using a seagate drive right now. So, do WD My book Essentials have sleep mode. Maybe that's why I lost all of my channels last night, and had to reboot my receiver. How would you disable sleep mode while it is hooked up to the 211?

i hooked mine to a computer and did it there

 

[jerryez]

Dish strikes again!

Called the automated number and activated my 211 external Hard drive for $39.00. That did not work, so I phoned a CSR and told them what I had done and that the hard drive3 was not activated. He said he would send me a hit and I should wait 15 minutes and try it again. Later, when I tried it, it worked perfect. Then today, I went online and checked my recent billing activity. Yep, two charge for an external hard drive activation on 11/19 for $39 each. I had to call and spend 10 minute on the phone to get them to remove one of the charges. Now, I will wait until tomorrow and see if the extra $39 charge disappears. BEWARE, WATCH YOUR BILL!

 

[Carl B]

Called the automated number and activated my 211 external Hard drive for $39.00. That did not work, so I phoned a CSR and told them what I had done and that the hard drive3 was not activated. He said he would send me a hit and I should wait 15 minutes and try it again. Later, when I tried it, it worked perfect. Then today, I went online and checked my recent billing activity. Yep, two charge for an external hard drive activation on 11/19 for $39 each. I had to call and spend 10 minute on the phone to get them to remove one of the charges. Now, I will wait until tomorrow and see if the extra $39 charge disappears. BEWARE, WATCH YOUR BILL!

And Charlie wonders why Dish has developed such a bad reputation for customer service. It is like the loons are in charge of the asylum.

 

[BBfromCA]

411 receiver update

After another hour and a half and 2 hang-ups by CSR, the 411 receivers are still not "in the system".

They told me that they would call me when that happened (I won't hold my breath).

They know that the 411's are set to accept the EHD (and it is in their books that they are ready), it is just that they can not seem to enter the receivers into their "system".

I find this very disappointing.

 

[chikagobnd]

After another hour and a half and 2 hang-ups by CSR, the 411 receivers are still not "in the system".

They told me that they would call me when that happened (I won't hold my breath).

They know that the 411's are set to accept the EHD (and it is in their books that they are ready), it is just that they can not seem to enter the receivers into their "system".

I find this very disappointing.

Well I don't understand why they don't have this taken care of. When I inquired Dish about whether 411's would also be capable of the EHD function(as I have a 211 & 411), I was told they were all capable...and that was on November 11th. So why it's not ready with the rest of them is anyone's guess. Of course, I talked to about 10 Dish reps between the phone and online to get my 211 activated. None of them were able to get it to work...then when I was able to try it the "automated" way without talking to a CSR, it activated immediately. The customer service is atrocious at best!

 

[BBfromCA]

I wrote an e-mail to Dish regarding my problems with the 411 receiver. I received this message back. It was nice to get a quick reply:

Thank you for your email and bringing your concern to our attention.

I have forwarded your concern to our back office support team for more information. The External Hard Drive activation for non-DVR receivers was implemented on 11/19/2008 and it is possible that our systems have not been fully updated. I will follow up with your concern as soon as I have a firm answer. We thank you for your patience in this matter.

I apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused you and please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.

Thanks,

Gregory Wall

DISH Network Corporation

Executive Communications

 

[Jim5506]

I was successful in connecting an 80GB WD EHD to my 211 today.

Haven't gotten the nerve to disconnect it and try the 250 again.

The 80GB only gives me 7 hrs of HD recording.

 

[Jim5506]

Good news.

I reformatted my WD250GB EHD at work today. I also installed an 80 GB EHD at noon today and it inserted an additional step where it ran a system integrity check (code 770). After that the 80GB EHD worked.

Tonight, after recording Smallville, I put the 211 into standby mode and the activity indicator light on the 80gb EHD stopped blinking. I then disconnected it and connected the WD 250GB EHD.

I turned the 211 on and it detected the EHD and at first said the drive was the wrong size, so I unplugged the USB and reconnected it. Drive was detected and found compatible, format screen came up - OK, drive was formatted and 211 rebooted, downloaded guide data and is now operating as an external hard drive to my 211.

Moral of the story is DO NOT UNPLUG an EHD while the receiver is active - put it in stand-by or unplug the drive.

One thing of interest, my timers are still intact, so that data must be internal to the 211, not on the EHD. Fast Forward and rewind appear a bit clunky, but that might be a function of EHD response.

Now I have 23.5 hours of storage space instead of the 7 hours I got with the 80 GB drive.

One more thing: I have now successfully recorded two HD streams simultaneously (one OTA and one off Sat) with my 211. Nice touch.

 

[Smith P.]

"One more thing: I have now successfully recorded two HD streams simultaneously (one OTA and one off Sat) with my 211."
Could you check if you could play something from EHD while writing HD sat and HD OTA same time.

 

[eddieras]

After all the talk and promise and waiting, it's here. I picked up an external hard drive, checked to be sure I had the correct software version for my VIP211, plugged it in, made a phone call, bit the bullet for yet another USB activation fee (previously paid for my 622), did a hard re-boot, waited a couple of minutes, walked through the series of install messages, and magically the transformation is complete. It all works. Pause, reverse, forward, jump back, jump forward, record, playback, everything my 622 does. The process could not be easier, and the tech on the phone with me could not have been nicer. Thanks Jamison!

This is very kool everyone. This site has been terrific in providing the information, the whats, and the hows, to getting the most out of my home entertainment equipment.

The new EHD I picked up is a Western Digital My Book Essential 750 GB. It's my third (the other two are on a 622 and a 722). They've performed flawlessly for me since day one of the USB capability last year. Why not stick with a proven product.

do these not go into sleep mode? i have a maxtor 500 for my 722 and it goes to sleep - have to power on/off all the time - i want more suitable for my 211

 

[Jim5506]

"One more thing: I have now successfully recorded two HD streams simultaneously (one OTA and one off Sat) with my 211."
Could you check if you could play something from EHD while writing HD sat and HD OTA same time.

Yes, it works.

FFW/REW is even more clunky probably due to USB 2.0 data rate, but it definitely does work.

You can record two HD streams while watching a third pre-recorded one.

 

[jayiw]

Ok got a 500gb Seagate Freeagent Desk EHD. Plugged it in and it detected it. Message popped up telling me to call the number. I opted to get an agent rather than do it through the system because of what I read here. As I got the agent on the phone the message went away and it went back to the tuner normally. I unplugged the EHD and replugged, DVR Activate message came back again. I agreed to the $39.95 charge then the agent then activated it and in around 2 minutes the screen changed from the "call to activate DVR functions" screen to "Formatting EHD, Will reboot, etc". A few minutes after that my 211 is now a fully functioning DVR. It took around 10 minutes most of which was the formatting of the EHDand rebooting of the 211. Sweet! The only concern I have now is this whole sleep/stand-by mode the Seagate EHD may have.

Jay

 

[Jim5506]

Unlike the 622/722 the 211 is constantly buffering data to and from the EHD as long as it is active.

This will keep the drive from going to sleep.

When you drop the 211 into stand by the drive can go to sleep and just wake it up and reboot the 211 when you wake both up.

Hopefully if you wake up the EHD first, the 211 will never know the EHD was asleep.

You know, Dish might consider using this recording method for the EHD on the 622/722 to alleviate the EHS sleep mode problem AND make them more flexible.

 

[Foxbat]

Called the automated number and activated my 211 external Hard drive for $39.00. That did not work, so I phoned a CSR and told them what I had done and that the hard drive3 was not activated. He said he would send me a hit and I should wait 15 minutes and try it again. Later, when I tried it, it worked perfect. Then today, I went online and checked my recent billing activity. Yep, two charge for an external hard drive activation on 11/19 for $39 each. I had to call and spend 10 minute on the phone to get them to remove one of the charges. Now, I will wait until tomorrow and see if the extra $39 charge disappears. BEWARE, WATCH YOUR BILL!

Yep, same thing here. I'm on the Live Chat now to get it cleared up.

 

[dmag]

EHDs and sleep mode

I have a VIP211 and hooked up a My Book Essentials 500Gig hard drive right out of the box.

It has been working since yesterday morning (after two calls to Dish. One to the have the CSR activate it and one to the tech support line to actually get it to work)

As of this morning the EHD has continued to operate without going into sleep mode and the VCR functions are still fully active.

I have the VIP set to autoupdate at 5am every morning but I have the inactivity feature turned off. Not sure if that is whats keeping the drive from dozing off. I also have some recordings scheduled for later this week but I don't think that has anything to do with it.

We will see, after a few more days, if the drive stays active.

 

[gjh3260]

I have a VIP211 and hooked up a My Book Essentials 500Gig hard drive right out of the box.

It has been working since yesterday morning (after two calls to Dish. One to the have the CSR activate it and one to the tech support line to actually get it to work)

As of this morning the EHD has continued to operate without going into sleep mode and the VCR functions are still fully active.

I have the VIP set to autoupdate at 5am every morning but I have the inactivity feature turned off. Not sure if that is whats keeping the drive from dozing off. I also have some recordings scheduled for later this week but I don't think that has anything to do with it.

We will see, after a few more days, if the drive stays active.

Thats the EHD I was thinking of getting.......I was wondering about the sleep mode issue.

 

[Jim5506]

The way the 211 accesses the EHD is completely different from the way the 622/722 do. The 211 is constantly buffering data to and from the EHD, whereas the 622/722 only read/write the EHD when you order it to play or transfer a program.

It appears that the 211 will keep the EHD awake unless it goes into standby, maybe even then.

Dish engineers might look at adding the buffering to the EHD on the 622/722 to alleviate the EHD sleep problem and maybe, just maybe enable direct writing of data to the EHD, skipping the transfer process completely. Of course this would take a little space from storage on the EHD, but it would be trivial.

 

[allargon]

Anyone confirm the 750GB drive limit? I see a 1TB Buffalo USB 2.0 drive on sale for $139.99 at Fry's this weekend.

 

[eddieras]

The way the 211 accesses the EHD is completely different from the way the 622/722 do. The 211 is constantly buffering data to and from the EHD, whereas the 622/722 only read/write the EHD when you order it to play or transfer a program.

It appears that the 211 will keep the EHD awake unless it goes into standby, maybe even then.

Dish engineers might look at adding the buffering to the EHD on the 622/722 to alleviate the EHD sleep problem and maybe, just maybe enable direct writing of data to the EHD, skipping the transfer process completely. Of course this would take a little space from storage on the EHD, but it would be trivial.

I'm new to all this EHD stuff - having just got a maxtor for my 722 - would the constant buffering and no sleep wear these off the shelf models down quickly? i've seem some people recommend getting an internal hard drive designed for dvr and use a case with it - more geared for the rigors of daily/ constant use.

is that overkill ? or should we be considering that? any advice appreciated! thanks!