THE OFFICAL DIRECTV EQUIPTMENT THREAD
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well dtv is going to fedex me a new receiver because they dont know when they will be able to fix the 745 bug they are also giving me a credit. they are going to send me a hughes receiver hd are these receivers any good.
Directv is replacing my box
I have been experiencing the same problem with the Samsung 360 giving a x745 error. Mine received the software upgrade on 10/5 too. After speaking with numerous agents I finally asked for a supervisor and was informed that the Directv and Samsung are going to replace the 360 boxes as result of the software upgrade problem. They are overnighting one to me.
Yikes! I guess we'll all pay for this mistake in rate increases.
I have been experiencing the same problem with the Samsung 360 giving a x745 error. Mine received the software upgrade on 10/5 too. After speaking with numerous agents I finally asked for a supervisor and was informed that the Directv and Samsung are going to replace the 360 boxes as result of the software upgrade problem. They are overnighting one to me.
Yikes! I guess we'll all pay for this mistake in rate increases.
Yes they have been bad updates on some of the 360's. Not as wide spread as the rca rh receiver problem, but it is there.
I'm a new subscriber and it's interesting to see these postings. My 6-week old Samsung SIR-TS360 received the software version 1.2.12 upgrade Thurs Oct 7 at 2AM or so. Problems began that day and the upgrade change was my first suspicion after perfect operation for six weeks. My problems sequentially included intermittent and momentary audio/video blanks, then accompanied by pixel distortions, then blank-screen problems with message to insert access card (but with return to normal screen within a few seconds), then problems with blank-screen and the 'for ordering call X745' message, also a new problem today with 'searching for signal' problems on all of the Sat B & C channels. I have rebooted so many times my access card is probably worn out. I'm patient to the point of persistence and spent four (yes 4) hours on the phone Saturday waiting and talking to various Customer Svc and Tier Two folks -- to no avail. A few spoke of the version 1.2.12 download problem which I had already suspected, while many had no clue including a Tier Two supervisor. Some said a warranty replacement receiver was needed but 'nobody' would take responsibility for doing so -- I was forwarded to at least a dozen departments from Alabama to Arizona with no resolution or action on the part of DirecTV. To the shame of DirecTV, Circuit City has now offerred to replace the receiver gratis, even though the 30-day return period has expired. But I am concerned about obtaining another Samsung SIR-TS360 receiver and possibly experiencing the same download and same subsequent problems. Circuit City also has a Hughes model if I want, I don't have the model number but it would of course be hi-def with DVI output.
Does anyone have knowledge about quality and reliability of Hughes vs Samsung hi-def receivers?
Thanks for any helpful input.
Mac
Does anyone have knowledge about quality and reliability of Hughes vs Samsung hi-def receivers?
Thanks for any helpful input.
Mac
From the http://www.hns.com/ site (the Hughes DirecTV Systems Support page), Hughes Network Systems says they no longer manufacture DirecTV systems equipment -- so obtaining their HTL-HD receiver from Circuit City does not seem attractive. But with DirecTV not responding about a fix for the Samsung SIR-TS360 receivers I feel 'up the creek.' Maybe Circuit City can bail out DTV a little more and get a Sony or Toshiba HD receiver for me? I'll find out today.
Mac
Mac
I have noticed on some of the SD Channels the the screen gets lighter then darker. This doesn't happen all the time but it does happen and it is getting very annoying do you think this problem can be related?
Thanks
Thanks
LOL, Samsung and fuzzy seem to go hand in hand! I have a Sammy 55" RPTV and it refuses to hold convergence from more than 7 days! Which reminds me, it is time to get on the phone with Ultimate Electronics and find out where in the hell my part is after 4 weeks now!!!
The 360 is highly regarded here, I would verify your cabling and put in a call to D*, you should not be fuzzy.
The 360 is highly regarded here, I would verify your cabling and put in a call to D*, you should not be fuzzy.
Further info relative to my earlier posts, of possible help to others:
I am told by a DTV rep that DTV will now manufacture the Hughes receivers under the DTV name. However, I had already obtained a new replacement Samsung SIR-TS360 yesterday (Oct 11) from Circuit City by that time, after being assured by a 'Tier Two' Tech Spt guy at DTV that the software version 1.2.12 upgrades were no longer being downloaded, and that replacement TRS360's should therefore not be problematic.
However, even before calling DTV for activation of my new receiver, the initial booting of the receiver to download the Guide data suddenly brought up a window wishing to download the verson 1.2.12 upgrade, with Yes or No options. Before I could find the remote and select 'No' the dowload automatically started. I pressed 'Exit' and the download stopped at 5% and under Setup I found the download had failed. This 'download 1.2.12' window subsequently appeared about every 15 minutes when I selected 'No' each time.
When calling DTV about activation I first expressed concern about the upgrade attempts and one attempt was made during our telecon when I again selected 'No.' The rep suggested I disconnect the phone line for a few days as he stated the 1.2.12 download problem had been almost like a computer-virus, affecting some Samsung receivers but not others, but that he thought all such downloads had been stopped and that 'nothing' would be downloaded even if 'Yes' was selected. The activation was quickly completed and TV reception once again seemed perfect including the HD channels. (I have a Hitachi 51" projection TV.)
But upon return from briefly leaving the room, the system was in the process of rebooting and I found from Menu>Upgrades that software version 1.2.12 had been automatically downloaded. Duh...of course this was done via satellite, not the phone lines, this should have been so obvious to me.
But, lo and behold (yeau, I'm an old fart), the receiver was not detrimentally affected, Wow, what a relief!! In fact, one feature of this download apparently allowed reception of alternate HD air-antenna channels -- or at least I did not have these previously when I scanned all available channels. These 'alternate' channels are indeed separate HD channels to the basic local-air channels, like ABC on my channel 17 now has a '17-1' HD channel, ditto for my local NBC and Fox channels, but 'not' for CBS or PBS.
Happy ending to a five-day fiasco with DTV. Yeau, I know this download problem must be a nightmare for the computer-programming and technical guys and gals at Samsung and DTV, and I have strong empathy for and with them. But communcations within DTV, or lack thereof, concerning this problem and mis-communications with DTV customers deserves thorough review by DTV management. I also feel that a process of communicating info about upgrades and other technical and general matters to DTV customers be developed -- or maybe I need to check further at the DTV web site since I'm a rather new customer? But I will be greatly surprised if I find 'anything' concerning details of the 1.2.12 download.
Hope this info helps someone.
Mac
I am told by a DTV rep that DTV will now manufacture the Hughes receivers under the DTV name. However, I had already obtained a new replacement Samsung SIR-TS360 yesterday (Oct 11) from Circuit City by that time, after being assured by a 'Tier Two' Tech Spt guy at DTV that the software version 1.2.12 upgrades were no longer being downloaded, and that replacement TRS360's should therefore not be problematic.
However, even before calling DTV for activation of my new receiver, the initial booting of the receiver to download the Guide data suddenly brought up a window wishing to download the verson 1.2.12 upgrade, with Yes or No options. Before I could find the remote and select 'No' the dowload automatically started. I pressed 'Exit' and the download stopped at 5% and under Setup I found the download had failed. This 'download 1.2.12' window subsequently appeared about every 15 minutes when I selected 'No' each time.
When calling DTV about activation I first expressed concern about the upgrade attempts and one attempt was made during our telecon when I again selected 'No.' The rep suggested I disconnect the phone line for a few days as he stated the 1.2.12 download problem had been almost like a computer-virus, affecting some Samsung receivers but not others, but that he thought all such downloads had been stopped and that 'nothing' would be downloaded even if 'Yes' was selected. The activation was quickly completed and TV reception once again seemed perfect including the HD channels. (I have a Hitachi 51" projection TV.)
But upon return from briefly leaving the room, the system was in the process of rebooting and I found from Menu>Upgrades that software version 1.2.12 had been automatically downloaded. Duh...of course this was done via satellite, not the phone lines, this should have been so obvious to me.
But, lo and behold (yeau, I'm an old fart), the receiver was not detrimentally affected, Wow, what a relief!! In fact, one feature of this download apparently allowed reception of alternate HD air-antenna channels -- or at least I did not have these previously when I scanned all available channels. These 'alternate' channels are indeed separate HD channels to the basic local-air channels, like ABC on my channel 17 now has a '17-1' HD channel, ditto for my local NBC and Fox channels, but 'not' for CBS or PBS.
Happy ending to a five-day fiasco with DTV. Yeau, I know this download problem must be a nightmare for the computer-programming and technical guys and gals at Samsung and DTV, and I have strong empathy for and with them. But communcations within DTV, or lack thereof, concerning this problem and mis-communications with DTV customers deserves thorough review by DTV management. I also feel that a process of communicating info about upgrades and other technical and general matters to DTV customers be developed -- or maybe I need to check further at the DTV web site since I'm a rather new customer? But I will be greatly surprised if I find 'anything' concerning details of the 1.2.12 download.
Hope this info helps someone.
Mac
Thanks for the replies! I called D* and they said it was probably the reciever. But I've had it for more than a month so I have to contact Samsung. I then called Samsung and they said that they wanted me to send it in. The problem is their turnaround time, 3 Weeks! Don't they understand that "It's Football"! I might just wait until December to send it in.
martin, welcome to Satelliteguys.us!
People have had issues with that Samsung model though they appeared to get better over time. If you can I would swap that thing out with a Hughes HTL-HD. I have that particular receiver and I haven't had a lick of trouble with it. It displays both HD and SD just fine though I have noticed the picture quality degrade thanks to NFL Sunday Ticket taking up bandwidth. If you have locals you will probably notice the worst on those. Directv is supposed to fix the PQ issues by next summer though.
People have had issues with that Samsung model though they appeared to get better over time. If you can I would swap that thing out with a Hughes HTL-HD. I have that particular receiver and I haven't had a lick of trouble with it. It displays both HD and SD just fine though I have noticed the picture quality degrade thanks to NFL Sunday Ticket taking up bandwidth. If you have locals you will probably notice the worst on those. Directv is supposed to fix the PQ issues by next summer though.
Not so happy an ending after all, the saga of DTV's 1.2.12 download continues:
A DTV rep called early this afternoon (Monday Oct 12), yeau via telephone, asking if everything was working ok now (like DTV Cust. Svc and 'Tier Two' Tech Spt maybe did something to help -- not in my case, see my prior posts.) I was working in the garage at the time and told him everything seemed to be ok last night, with the new receiver provided by Circuit City and the latest 'surprise' 1.2.12 download, and I really enjoyed the 'extra' HD channels for several of my air-antenna channels. I learned that reception of these was part of the 1.2.12 download, but that it was primarily designed to resolve problems/issues that many customers were apparently experiencing (not me, pic quality and operation had been great, except I didn't realize I was missing the 'extra" HD channels for local air-channels -- these are a real 'plus,' a great viewing experience as are any of the HD channels and movies.
However, upon checking TV late this afternoon I found that things had changed for the worse, and is still worse this evening after rebooting and troubleshooting. My CBS local channel 3 is now identified with an ABC icon (no picture), although my usual 'air' channel 3 for CBS is also still present, there is no change in my ABC channel 17 (air) and 17-1 (HD) and 17-2 (HD local weather and Doppler radar), the 'extra' HD channels for two separate NBC 'air' channels are now gone, and 'all' Fox channels are gone including HD and our usual 'air' channel (I had 55 air, 55-1 HD and 55-2 HD Spanish-English last night.) All of my local air-channels are also of poorer quality than last night and when compared to prior connection directly to my TV rather than through the DTV Samsung receiver, some are worse than others, having 'really' bad reception.
I'll call DTV tomorrow, maybe some additional action can be taken, however, I suspect yet another programming 'fix' is in order. The technical guys and gals must be going nuts while working who knows what kinds of hours...?? But their efforts will pay off and things 'will' get better ya know. (I have great empathy for those who are really trying to resolve these technical problems and feeling the stress -- your efforts are greatly appreciated.)
Btw, I see lots of views at this string but no recent posts. I guess 'No posts' means you have the same or similar experiences or are just curious...? At any rate I hope this helps someone, maybe even as input to a DTV Tech Spt guy or gal.
Regards,
Mac
PS - We live in a rural area, the above channels plus a couple of PBS and misc channels are all we get via rotorized roof antenna. But this is better than the good 'ol days (?) when everyone watched one of three channels plus PBS and compared their viewing the next day during a break. Yeau, I'm an old fart and recall trying to 'see' a boxing match (maybe Sugar Ray Robinson?) on something like a 9" TV screen through a reception of mostly 'snow' as a kid -- and thought it was great. New technology is wonderful but sometimes fraught with problems.
A DTV rep called early this afternoon (Monday Oct 12), yeau via telephone, asking if everything was working ok now (like DTV Cust. Svc and 'Tier Two' Tech Spt maybe did something to help -- not in my case, see my prior posts.) I was working in the garage at the time and told him everything seemed to be ok last night, with the new receiver provided by Circuit City and the latest 'surprise' 1.2.12 download, and I really enjoyed the 'extra' HD channels for several of my air-antenna channels. I learned that reception of these was part of the 1.2.12 download, but that it was primarily designed to resolve problems/issues that many customers were apparently experiencing (not me, pic quality and operation had been great, except I didn't realize I was missing the 'extra" HD channels for local air-channels -- these are a real 'plus,' a great viewing experience as are any of the HD channels and movies.
However, upon checking TV late this afternoon I found that things had changed for the worse, and is still worse this evening after rebooting and troubleshooting. My CBS local channel 3 is now identified with an ABC icon (no picture), although my usual 'air' channel 3 for CBS is also still present, there is no change in my ABC channel 17 (air) and 17-1 (HD) and 17-2 (HD local weather and Doppler radar), the 'extra' HD channels for two separate NBC 'air' channels are now gone, and 'all' Fox channels are gone including HD and our usual 'air' channel (I had 55 air, 55-1 HD and 55-2 HD Spanish-English last night.) All of my local air-channels are also of poorer quality than last night and when compared to prior connection directly to my TV rather than through the DTV Samsung receiver, some are worse than others, having 'really' bad reception.
I'll call DTV tomorrow, maybe some additional action can be taken, however, I suspect yet another programming 'fix' is in order. The technical guys and gals must be going nuts while working who knows what kinds of hours...?? But their efforts will pay off and things 'will' get better ya know. (I have great empathy for those who are really trying to resolve these technical problems and feeling the stress -- your efforts are greatly appreciated.)
Btw, I see lots of views at this string but no recent posts. I guess 'No posts' means you have the same or similar experiences or are just curious...? At any rate I hope this helps someone, maybe even as input to a DTV Tech Spt guy or gal.
Regards,
Mac
PS - We live in a rural area, the above channels plus a couple of PBS and misc channels are all we get via rotorized roof antenna. But this is better than the good 'ol days (?) when everyone watched one of three channels plus PBS and compared their viewing the next day during a break. Yeau, I'm an old fart and recall trying to 'see' a boxing match (maybe Sugar Ray Robinson?) on something like a 9" TV screen through a reception of mostly 'snow' as a kid -- and thought it was great. New technology is wonderful but sometimes fraught with problems.
As for me, I'm still awaiting the replacement HD receiver D* promised over the weekend.
The glitches - dropouts, breakups, error messages - intensified greatly Monday night, eliminating all service. They relented a bit last night, allowing some service.
There still is no mention about any of this on D*'s troubleshooting sites or FAQ. And I'd bet anything that most first-tier tech support personnel are still in the dark about it.
(I use the term 'in the dark' intentionally, as that is the best way to describe my current HD service.)
The glitches - dropouts, breakups, error messages - intensified greatly Monday night, eliminating all service. They relented a bit last night, allowing some service.
There still is no mention about any of this on D*'s troubleshooting sites or FAQ. And I'd bet anything that most first-tier tech support personnel are still in the dark about it.
(I use the term 'in the dark' intentionally, as that is the best way to describe my current HD service.)
You can also try www.18inch.com/ Bruce has some nice and informative diagrams on his website. He also sells inexpensive supplies.
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