"Warning 981" message - Two days in a row

[JonBlack]

We have a 722 receiver that has given us a "Warning 981" "Boot Recovery" message two mornings in a row. This message is on screen lasts for at least 2-3 hours before finally going back to normal. It may be longer, as we turned on the TV/722 at 8:00 AM on both days and finally came on at around 10:00 AM today and 11:00 AM yesterday.

Is our 722 on its last legs or is something going wrong with Dish's nightly updates???

 

[Hall]

A quick search suggests there's probably nothing wrong with your receiver. What's happened is it's downloading a sofware update (not a guide update) and lost signal during the download, corrupting the file(s). Odd that it happened two nights in a row... One time I could believe.

Is it still working okay otherwise ?

During CLEAR weather, unplug the receiver from the wall outlet for a few minutes and then reconnect and let it try again.

 

[CK SatGuy]

Supposedly the 981 message pops up if the satellite signal gets blocked during the download process. This makes me wonder what's your signal strength on all of the sats. Go to menu, system setup, installation, and then system info and see if it shows a good signal on all the sats.

 

[ZachS@DISH]

This message appears when the software download process is interrupted, disturbed or corrupted. As ckhalil18 said, this can be caused by a loss of signal or power during the download process. If this happens again, we would want to replace the receiver.

 

[JonBlack]

Everyone,

Thanks for the response!

The receiver works fine once it comes back on. I thought it was odd that it happened two nights in a row, so I'm a little concerned now. Now that I think about it, it was very cloudy early this morning (don't think it rained) and it did rain the night before. I'm going to blame it on the rain and see what happens tomorrow morning.

 

[JonBlack]

Also, when I get home this evening I'll check the signal strengths and see if something is off there.

 

[JonBlack]

It's back again for the third day in a row and it was clear last night. I got home really late last so I didn't have a chance to check the signals but my wife the DVR works fine once it comes back on. I guess something is wrong with the 722 at this point, so I better copy the DVR shows to a EHD. This is the message I'm getting.

Warning 981

Boot Recovery
Bootstrap Id XXXX
Hardware Id XXXX
Receiver Id XXXXXXXX

Vital program information
will now be downloaded
into your receiver.
Do not disturb or unplug
the receiver until this
screen disappears

PROGRESS BAR IN THIS SPACE​

 

[mikethedishguy]

this is a system error, most likely hardware related, if the XXX are in the message it is reloading software, kinda like reloading windows on your computer, basicly new DVR is in your future.

 

[JonBlack]

this is a system error, most likely hardware related, if the XXX are in the message it is reloading software, kinda like reloading windows on your computer, basicly new DVR is in your future.

Actually, the "XXXX" are actual numbers and letters.

 

[ZachS@DISH]

Actually, the "XXXX" are actual numbers and letters.

It sounds likes that we need to replace your receiver. I can get this started for you if you would please just PM your account information.

 

[JonBlack]

PM sent - Thanks Zach!

 

[peano]

My buddy had the 981 error on his 722. He replaced the hard drive and it fixed it. Part of the download must need to write to a sector on the HDD and if that sector is bad....981.

 

[JonBlack]

My buddy had the 981 error on his 722. He replaced the hard drive and it fixed it. Part of the download must need to write to a sector on the HDD and if that sector is bad....981.

Sounds reasonable to me. Fortunately, I have a replacement receiver on the way.