The Official AVS Dish DTVPal DVR Topic! - Page 38

I'm also at F202 and I can't set a timer out past the time for the latest guide data (PSIP for me). For example if I have any channel that has data out to three days, I can schedule a recording on any channel (regardless of whether that specific channel has guide data or not) for any time in those three days. However if I have that 3 days of guide data and try to set a timer on any channel for 4 days out, I get an error. I'm sure it'd be an easy fix for echostar, given if I set a timer with the timespan I have guide info for and set it up as a recurring (daily or weekly) timer, it schedules them out well past when I have guide info for without problems.

Sounds like fighting the temptation to upgrade firmware has finally paid off! I get to use my timer settings

Mainly for Jim Kane:

I downloaded 202 immediately upon receipt of the box. I don't have any problem setting the timer for a "No Information Available" channel. For example, using this procedure:
Menu
Timers
Create
Type: DVR
Repeat: Once
Channel: WROC 8.1 (Kane understands why I chose this)
Next
Set timer for 1/19 10:00 AM 30 minutes
Done

I did the same for WROC on 1/20 at 10PM, and again it was accepted. Thus, I have the same result as sivartk but with F202. So I don't think that's the issue here and have no clue what is. I also have not ever seen a reboot although I'm not using the unit for live TV nor have I had both tuners active simultaneously.

H'm, that's interesting. I thought we found a difference between F201 and F202. Must be something else related to the guide.

2 months is how long the beta testers had them. Retail users have had them for about 2 weeks.

So someone within the company must have leaked out the "rebooting" problem that was alleged to have happened 10-12 months ago?
Must have been leaked about the same time as the 2008 CES show. Must have been a disgruntled employee?

Some readers are seeing the date 01-07-08 on the first post in this thread and think most everything in the first post is a year old.
Maybe a clearer statement about adding updates would resolve that misconception.

Can ANYONE tell me why it's a good idea to update the firmware?

....Any fixes? New features? Improves operation?

So many downloaded the new firmware 'just because'.
Others hoped to correct problems.
Guess I'm one of the lucky ones. After two weeks ...
still running original firmware.
Zero problems...no lock ups, no rebooting...etc.

After reading this thread, someone would be scared to death to order one.
I say , go for it. Your only reading problems some are experiencing... others, like myself are 100% happy.

Wonder if there was a poll how many are disappointed and how many are satisfied and problem free.

For those with problems..Sorry for your pain.

Good idea! Why don't you start an owner's poll?

-phil

Quote:
"Good idea! Why don't you start an owner's poll?"

+1

I've had that on probably every recording I've done. I expect it actually. I do have some channels that barely come in. The full show is there though. No reboots or freeze.

I have set all twelve of my timers the old fashion 'vcr' way. I have not 'tagged' them in the guide. I also have set padding before and after to zero.

Sparky - are you able to record two programs while watching and skipping commercials on a third previously recorded program?

Yes, I think having a "known problems" section is must. I would just list the issues with the comment that we don't know how widespread the issues are (without a scientific poll where machines are put through a similar test suite, there's really no objective way to determine this). To maintain the integrity of that first post it's essential that known problems be clearly mentioned - especially those for which there is no known solution (or even acknowledgment from the manufacturer that it's an issue). To me the existence of such a problem would be a determining factor in purchasing the unit.

A poll would obviously be lopsided, since the majority here will be those looking for the answer to a problem.

Most users that are problem free and satisfied will be watching TV, and not participate in a poll.

I'm not Sparky, but I can


A simple poll might be in order:
No reboots/freezes
Reboots & Freezes

It's is difficult to get an accurate count of pleased and displeased people because the people with problems get the majority of the post, as they should, trying to work through the issue. It looks skewed.

Can't say that I've tried that....sorry.

How about "Reboots or Freezes"

I wouldn't know how to do that...really

Anyone wanna do this?

Example:

1. I'm 100% happy, no problems

2. I'm for the most part happy

3. Very frustrated and not happy

4. Wish I could get my money back..

No, nobody can. As I said in an earlier post, I personally would only update the fw after it's been posted on the web (and NOT through ethernet) AND the reason for the update is posted as well, like what issues the new fw is supposed to address.

Not useful information. Especially since many of the posters with problems go out of their way to say they are still happy with the unit.

I vote for the poll suggestion of the previous poster: a simple poll of "reboot and/or freeze" vs "no reboot and/or freeze". It would also be useful to tie in something that dates the unit in time, such as a "serial #" or a "date received". This could give us a general picture of the relative number of units with problems and how the situation evolves with time.

Another theory on the reboots: I was surfing trying to find information on a Sony laptop that started up and shut down almost immediately. One site said that there were bad capacitors (see below) in the power conditioning circuits that caused it to overheat and shut down to protect itself. It said that there was a software fix for some operating systems, but not Linux. It suggested replacing the caps AND adding a copper plate between the CPU and the heat sink, with appropriate thermal grease.
Some of the accounts of reboots seem to come when we ask the Pal to do a lot of things at the same time, presumably generating heat. We are also advised not to let the Pal get hot (as in an enclosed cabinet). Also, someone said that they had put their Pal on a surge protector and did not have any problems (presumably filtering out any of the power surges any power conditioning capacitors would have captured as heat).
So can anyone experiencing many reboots comment on the thermal environment and/or surge protectors in their setup?
Badcaps - the PC world has been plagued with problems created by bad capacitors produced in Taiwan. Supposed one firm stole the design from another firm, but got it wrong and produced many bad capacitors that were used in many different brands of PC. Maybe the PAL got some of these, but I would think they had been built long after the problem was identified and precautions taken not to use any caps from known bad sources. See http://news.cnet.com/PCs-plagued-by-...3-5942647.html, which says, in part, "Defective capacitors found in the Dell Optiplex workstations, some Apple iMac G5s, HP xw-series workstations made in 2004 and PCs with the Intel D865GBF motherboard have been found to bulge, pop, leak and crust over, causing video failure and periodic system shutdowns. " The article also says that there have been more recent problems with caps from a Japanese company in Dell computers, so the problem may still be current. Perhaps someone who has cracked a case can take a close look to see if there are any bad caps.
I did have a "freeze" last night, as opposed to a crash. I came home to a recording in progress and the Pal would not respond to the remote until I did a remote-based shut down (green light off, red light on). Then it was fine, as was the show I was recording (incidentally, folks, thanks for telling me about "chasing" a program).

I have looked at these units and through the online manual. Not sure what kind of guide that it has. Just what type of TV guide does this unit use? TVGOS as in the Sony dvrs and such, or is it something else?
Thanks,
Michael

Yes, it uses TVGOS where available, PSIP when TVGOS is not available.

OK, I have a poll at:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1105110

Got mine on Christmas Eve. Immediately updated firmware before using it.

No problems at all. Happy with picture quality, recorded multiple things at once, chased replay on recording in progress, etc.

Nashville, TN area. My TV guide data looks good for the most part, TV guide logo shows, only the ABC channel here has issues with No Information Available past 24 hours. Maybe that station isn't giving TV guide the correct information and even TV guide is having to simply harvest the 24 hour PSIP for that one channel?

So again, no reboots or anything but 100% satisfaction here. I'd love to order another one, but afraid my wife would thump me in the head and throw the budget at me after everything we've bought in the last month or so, lol.

Will yours let you schedule a manual timer for the ABC channel with no guide data? Others are getting an error when they try to do that.

Thanks to all who have experimented with setting manual timers for a timeslot NOT covered by guide data. I've learned from your reports that some units allow it, others throw an error, and that the firmware version does not seem to make a difference. Sigh...

While I have no path forward to resolving the errors, I have more support for whining to E* about the bug. And some consolation that I'm neither alone nor crazy. (Well, at least no crazier than usual...)

Again, my thanks for taking the time to experiment and report. This is a great community.

Jim

It uses the same data (TVGOS digital data) that the Sony units use, but with a uglier interface (okay, less polished) and features removed (I.e. searching only HD programming, by genre, name based recordings, etc).

If you look over at the Sony DHG-HDD250/500 thread it seems that many are having rebooting issues in the last couple of weeks, too. Maybe it is a TVGOS issue (some are using digital TVGOS on their machines)

Link

Could it be the way the stations are transmitting the data? Is this a geographic occurrence? Are in others in your area not having the problem if you are and vice versa?

I spent about 2 hours watching recordings while it was recording on both tuners. I used it fairly heavily (skip ahead/back, fast forward/reverse, pause, played with the browse and info while watching, chase play, etc.). I did not have any reboots or freezes (this time or any time since I got it Dec. 23).

I did notice that there were breakups (a frame of pixelated blocks) during skip backs, but I'm not sure I didn't see these while a watching a recording while it wasn't recording anything else. It didn't really bother me though (my Dish satellite DVRs don't do this however).

This is my theory at the moment. Some area's TVGOS data has something in them that is causing problems in the DVR (crashes and reboots), while other area's don't have anything in the TVGOS data that will cause a problem (no reboots).

Perhaps some type of buffer overrun that is not being caught by the DVR software like they are always fixing in browser software.