The Official AVS Dish DTVPal DVR Topic! - Page 53

Did it increase your amount of available recording time?

Interestingly, if you just go to the DTVPal site directly, and then click on support, it says "TDVPal DVR Software Downloads - Coming Soon". If you click on DTVPal DVR at the top of the page, THEN click "support", you get the downloads.

Also, when I tried to order online, it was first showing up as a non-secure site. Later, after logging into my dishnetwork account first, the DTVPal.com site showed up with "https:", so WAS secure!

Clearly, these guys need some lessons in software/firmware development and testing.

Does anyone know what F202 fixes yet? I'm this close to ordering one, but wonder if I should wait until they actually fix the reboot issue. I'm a little distrustfull when these guys say the reboot issue is "firmware".

No clues on what if anything was fixed on F202.

Curiously, the file name has "TR50" in it. (That would certainly be simpler to write then "DTVPal DVR".)

Sounds like it may still be the inside name for it, originally 'Echostar Sling TR-50 DVR'.

[quote=Sailn;15561713]
Something I do and it has worked well for me years now. I recently purchased a CM4228 pointing west and a cyd-1430 to point south each with a separate 7777 channel master preamp. The cm4228 Bowtie antenna's db gain is excellent from channels 7-10 and from 30-69 but is not as good from channels 14-35. The CYD 1430 channel master is great from channels 14 to 35. I have both on a rotor so I have high gain throughout the spectrum. I chose to eliminate VHF-lo (2-6) because all ATSC in my area don't use those channels thus making the size of antennas required extremely small compaired to what I previously had and now have much higher gain than I did with my 20 foot long combination antenna.

Here is how I get the two antennas to play nice with one another. When I have problems with the two antennas competing with one another I simply turn off west or south antenna's preamp by means of x-10 remote power plug modules. This instantly takes care of any interference.

Try it. You get the best of both worlds.

Tried two different usb drives, one made by Kingston, one by SanDisk....followed the instructions on the website without results.

When I insert the usb drive, it's recognized but that's it.
The Pal DVR doesn't give any other screens other that a USB divice has been inserted.
After 30 seconds, that goes away and I sit there staring at the screen ..waiting .

Nothing

Perhaps we now know what F202 fixes: Support for firmware updates through the USB port.

Did you create the new folder in the flash drive named "update" (without the quotes) and put the file in that folder?

Does anyone have a link for the F201 software? Interestingly, I updated my firmware to 202 a week or so ago and then a few nights ago, I had two occurrences of the unit rebooting and downloading the guide data during a recording all within an hour. Never had that issue with the original. Makes me think the F202 is a bad update. Anyone find the F201 software?

Yes I did. Created the new folder (without the quotes)
Went over the instructions more than once.
Was very careful to follow the instructions.

Just waiting for others to post how it went with them.

Maybe my failure to install the new firmware was a good thing.
After all......I ask myself, why did I even try.
It's doing just fine with the original firmware !!

Ideally when using the USB update method -
use a flashdrive, that has been formatted with FAT32, so there is no "applications" that may try to load. Some brands of USB sticks may work better than others. I have a Sony 256 MB one that works like a champ.

Follow the instructions as given - folder off the root called update, and don't change the name of the update file / extension. It should be just over 8 MB . Make sure you have extracted it from the zip, and it's the .upd file that needs to be in /update .

What file format was your thumbdrive? Maybe it is looking for a FAT32 format. I know most newer (larger) drives are format NTFS out of the box.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

fat32

If you don't get an Axxx error this won't help but if you go to http://tech.dishnetwork.com/departme...ver/tr50.shtml the errors are described. Some just state the obvious but some give suggestions on what to do.

Can you record to the external drive? This should be interesting if it does.

Sweet! Thanks for that link.

edit: A652 is not listed.

edit2: They also don't have reboots listed. They have frozen video and in the help for it is recommended powering off each night. I wonder if anyone that is having freeze/reboot issues is leaving their unit on all the time? I turn mine off each night.

Someone had a signature previously that listed firmwares F202 and F203. Now I cannot find that signature. Does anyone know why F203 was listed?

Interesting Error Codes:

A613 You can only set a maximum of 5 timers.
A612 Shows screenshot of overlapping timers instead of just a message. (Much more detailed)

A613 would be more applicable the the DTVPAL, not the DVR

Well had my first reboot this evening.

Also the last two maybe three days some of my recordings have broke themselves into two different segments usually toward the end of the show and I end up missing like a minute or two between the segments.

Update went fine for me...just like it said in the instructions. Make sure you aren't using one of those flash drives that has encryption and that its just a normal formatted USB drive. I had all kinds of other folders in there as well but it looks for the 'update' folder to update. I don't see any difference so no need to really update now anyway.

Thanks, Will! Great find!
Have a look under Symptom->Overheating:

"Symptom
Rebooting, or message stating that their DTVPal DVR is overheating.

Cause
This message appears when the DTVPal DVR's temperature is too high for it to operate properly.

Prevention
This can be prevented by keeping the DTVPal DVR in an open area with adequate airflow to avoid overheating.

Troubleshooting

1. Verify the DTVPal DVR is in an open area to receive good airflow for cooling.

2. If the DTVPal DVR is in an enclosed space, the DTVPal DVR must be moved to prevent damage from overheating.

3. Unplug the DTV Pal DVR from the AC electrical outlet, plug the DTV Pal DVR back in and power it on.

4. If the problem persists please contact us or a local independent retailer for additional assistance."

Questions:

Does a house qualify as an enclosed space?

I wonder where you can find a "local independent retailer"? Also, it seems the may have left off a few causes:

5. Malfunctioning hardware.

6. Improperly-designed hardware.

7. Firmware bugs.

8. If connected via HDMI, make sure your TV is not instructing the DTVPal DVR to reboot itself just when you are recording or watching a show you really care about.

9. Verify your DTVPal is not plugged into a switched outlet.

According to the manual, the operating range is 40-113F, so unless you have it installed in a tightly enclosed cabinet or next to a heater, heat would seem unlikely. Has anyone seen the overheating message? Anyone care to simulate to see if it actually exists ?

By the way - for those following along. I'm going on 3 days now and no power cycles since moving from HDMI to Component, however, it has been noticeably cooler in my house the last few days too. I also remember there being a fair amount of heat at the HDMI connector when I unplugged it so now I'm wondering if its the temp drop or the cable. I'll know when this cold front moves out. In either case, there was a VERY noticeable change in behavior for the better over the past three days. Enough change to say my problem has been resolved.

bfdtv

Thanks for keeping the first post updated.

Everybody should check it out every so often, its a great review.

Thanks again

Jay

[quote=honeymonkey;15565302]
What happens when you want to watch 2 stations and each is on a different antenna?

RegGuheert




Can you answer these questions for us please.