TIVO DVR error message "81"

[tknopf]

When I attempted to record programming, I received an "error #81" on all three of my R10 Tivo boxes today. It stated that my DVR service needed to be activated? I've never seen this before. My HD Tivo was fine and able to record. When I called D*, they said they would take care of it. After unsuccessfully trying to deactivate and reactivate my Tivo boxes(access cards), the rep. finally said to unplug the receivers for 30 seconds and let them reset. I did and all is fine. Anybody else ever have this happen? Any thoughts as to why?

 

[dishrich]

Power glitch??? Software glitch??? Sometimes it does happen, even with the best DVR's.
If you have power issues, you should seriously consider a UPS on your Tivo's - even a cheap one is inexpensive insurance against these type of problems.

 

[benj]

This is kind of a long shot; the non-R15 Tivos rely on guide and object data streamed from some specific transponders in order to enable the recording feature to work correctly. If you miss those specific transponders, you will eventually lose the ability to record. The symptoms would resemble somebody who doesn't have the DVR service on their account, but DTV customer service will say that it is on the account, resend signal multiple times and nothing will change.

We had a customer last week who was living way out in the country who was living along the side of a hill- the tech called me out to help him t/s the issues the customer was having- which he attributed to signal loss due to a lengthy cable run. Turns out that the cust had no line of site and no amount of relocating could fix that. Due to the slope of the hill, if you moved back away from the trees, it just made stuff worse. Checking the signals showed that every transponder was fluctuating in the 50's. There was absolutely no signal on transponders 2,6 and 10. Transponders 2 and 7 happen to be the transponders that guide data is sent down. The Tivo would also not record either . We ended up relocating the dish higher up the post is was mounted on, using an extended mast and then swapping out the old 18" dish for a 36" FTA dish I had lying around in the shop. My goal to get the db boost the larger dish would provide so that he could get an okay signal- get the missing transponders back so that he could record and get him some decent service until they moved a month later. All signals improved to the 80's and 90s and I got the missing transponders back. Signals were still fluctuating though because we weren't quite able to clear the top 10 or 15 feet of trees. We went back in and reset the receiver which- you guessed it, now had the ability to record.