Channel Master CM-7000PAL HD DVR - AKA Dish DTVPal - Page 16

The CM-7000PAL DVR never had any firmware updates over its product lifespan. The Channel Master CM-7000PAL DVR was an exact "clone" of its predecessor, the Dish DTVPal DVR, with the exceptions being the "Channel Master" name on the front of the device, the menus showing Channel Master (instead of Dish) and a different color scheme for the menus. P Smith points this out in his previous post above.

The DTVPal was introduced in December 2008 with firmware version F201 installed. When the first units started to arrive at purchaser's homes, firmware version F202 was already available. Over the next 7 months (through July 2009) Dish continued to work on the firmware and subsequently released firmware versions F206, F207 and F208 (the latest/final version to date). Firmware versions F203, F204 and F205 were never publicly released on the Dish website and were only internally used by Dish to "polish" the firmware.

The Channel Master CM-7000PAL DVR was released with firmware version F400 which for all practical purposes is the same as the Dish F208 firmware (with the exceptions noted above). While the Channel Master F400/Dish F208 firmware is not perfect in all aspects, it is believed that Dish/EchoStar felt it was "good enough" and no further revisions were ever released. The fact that both products have been discontinued leaves very little hope for any further firmware updates at this time. In addition the Dish DTVPal website no longer even offers the F208 firmware for download which suggests that customer/technical support for this product has been totally abandoned by Dish/EchoStar.

Thank you for the information. I like the Dish platform. I was under the misapprehension that Channel Master was selling this DVR as a Dish clone. So I thought it was like a business sideline. Now it sounds more like a hardware and software dead end. I mainly want to be able to record things like David Letterman [minus the monologue] and the Olympics when they are in town over the air. I decided that I would never again pay $600 annually for television in spite of liking the Dish DVR.

Are there other HD alternatives for OTA scheduling and recording? I'm pretty sure everything else requires some sort of subscription.

See the AVS thread for the new Channel Master CM-7400 OTA HD DVR which requires no subscription.

Okay, cool. So they are still making money on these devices apparently? That was my impression that Dish licenses or sources their DVR technology from Channel Master. Or do I have it backwards?

The CM7000-pal never been upgraded/modified since original/custom F208/F400 issued.

CM-7400 has no relation to dish or CM, it's just other OTA DVR branded by CM and selling by CM. Who is the designer ? When you'll open it, postp ictures - I would tell you .

Hmmm. Well, the remotes look suspiciously similar to Dish remotes.

I can tell with a confidence - CM7400 is not dish product. More info I'll post at dedicated thread soon.

The CM-7000PAL is still listed on CM's homepage but Amazon and Walmart on-line no longer carry it, so it may be discontinued, in fact. The CM 7400 is the new model so I doubt that anything in the way of firmware updates will happen for our CM-7000PAL DVR's. Mine is working great and I have almost two years left on the SquareTrade waranty I bought for it. Not sure what I'll replace it with when it dies. The CM 7400 seems to have many, many problems from what I've read.

You should have plenty of content from the dedicated CM-7400 thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1360146

Crutchfield is no longer listed as a supplier.

I saw an ad for the DVR in the Fry's ad a few weeks ago. I get two newspapers and thus two Fry's ads. The L.A.Times Fry's ad is 4 pages and no CM DVR ad. The local newspaper (Ventura Co Star) has an 8 page Fry's ad and it included the CM DVR.

Rick R

Perhaps you talking about CM7400 model, not the 7000 - then see other thread.

Perhaps you should re-read - I did post a lot of technical info there.

so if the CM-7000Pal is similar/the same as the Dish one - can I do the same hard drive upgrade with my CM-7000Pal?

I can't post a link, but the main forum thread about the Dish DTVPal shows memory upgrade options, and I want to know if the same hard drives would work for increasing the memory capacity in the CM-7000Pal.

thanks,
tat2ng

It would be beneficial for you to read the thread from beginning. Take a look on post#1008 also.

I've had the unit for several months - no issues.

Today, after returning from work, I tried turning on the unit via remote - no go. Tried that a few times. In the past, sometimes, if I turn off the TV, the channel master remote responds, tried that too - no luck

I unplugged the unit, waited a few minutes then plugged it back again. I saw the green and red light come on and saw the main channel master splash screen, stating "Loading, please wait".

A minute or two later, I see the "The program guide info is now being downloaded to your CM-7000PAL DVR. This can take a few minutes to complete. Please wait or press "Select" to stop.

Once the downloading completes, I see a TV channel for a split second, then, the unit reboots again, and the process starts all over again.

As of now, it continues to be in a loop.

Has anyone experienced this, and if so, what was the workaround ?

Thank you,

Try the ideas in http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1099071 forum thread's first post.

After you get your machine running again be sure to turn off the auto update feature. It serves no purpose and seems to cause problems.

thank you for the feedbacks. I left the device unplugged for a couple of days, which was not necessary, I'm sure.

I also disconnted the antenna coax cable to the unit, which allowed me to access the menus.

I deleted all my programming schedules, and immediately did a reset of the unit.

I also turned off auto updates

Once the unit was up and running again, I connected the coax antenna cable, and started the setup process from scratch, as if it was a brand new unit.

A few mins later, the TV guide was back up, but only one day's TV was visible, the rest listed as 'no information' - which wasn't a big deal.

I was able to watch my previously recorded shows. In addition, I also scheduled a show to record that same evening.

Next day, in checking, all was well. The scheduled show from the previous evening was indeed recorded. The TV Guide showed schedule for the rest of the week.

All is well, again :-)

Was there any Software updates issued by channel master for the CM-7000

Thanks

no

Thank You for the very quick reply.. Kind of you

Was any indication/hints of the possible event ? Have you contact CM/e* and got a note from them ?

Thanks Psmith. I was just curious.

If it will happen, you will see this over all threads !

I was just curious if there ever was an update in the life of the CM-7000pal. The answer was no. The Cm-7000pal has been discontinued. So I highly doubt there will ever be an update issued.

Thanks for the help

If the [greed] company (e*) would release TR-50 source code to Open Source ...

You misunderstood. I am not looking for an update. I was just curious if CM put one out for this box (ever) And I got the answer (NO)
Edited by keyboard21 - 7/11/12 at 3:51pm

I've got a question about my new CM-7000 (which I bought as a backup to my DTVPal, but I think I'm going with it for my primary now.) I occasionally get a screen that says that it could not establish the connection for updates, and is unable to update. The weird thing is, I've got automatic updates disabled (Setup/Updates/Disable). Just wondering what is going on. I also noted on the DTVPal Message Board that the CM gets way better reception with the exact same inputs, location and antenna position, than the DTVPal. It's been concluded that it's a fluke, I think, since they are identical units, but I'm happy about it because previously, ABC came in at 61-68, now it is 85-90.

If you did not check signals by different model same minutes, then the numbers doesn't play.
HW wise CM absolutely the same as TR50, could be some variation by different batch of chips but it's within specs.
I would change AutoUpdate value with two reboots just to be sure it changed.