Anyone ever do a "Hard Reset" of a R15 D*TV Receiver?

Originally Posted by IronHorse

My D*TV R15 has been flawless for a few years, never had a problem. It appears something on my desk was laying on the remote and caused the HDD to do continuous recording until it filled up (I think). I had never used the DVR function in this unit as its connected to an eyeTV setup on my iMac and it just allows me to watch D*TV programs while I'm working/surfing or whatever. The eyeTV has its own dedicated DVR function which is much better for me as it puts stuff on my HDD if I even want to record anything.

Anyway, when I power it on, I get the blue screen telling me to wait a few seconds, and eventually that goes away and the red LED for REC on the front panel lights up and I can't access the menu to flush or even reformat the HDD.

Incidentally... I can't find a section on DirecTV much less one on non-HD. So I'm posting here hoping someone knows a back door that will allow me to get access to the List function so I can erase everything or reformat the HDD. Anything.

Thanks

Originally Posted by IronHorse

I can't get to a screen that says "Searching for Signal" and the red LED on the front panel comes and goes accompanied by a sound like a drive trying to seek a path. Not the click of death you get on some IBM HDDs LOL... but a much longer sound... a few seconds of a hum, then nothing, then it starts again.

I've tried the normal stuff; reset button behind door, power down and pull card for 3 minutes, power down overnight, can't get anything so I was hoping somebody had a backdoor approach like a secret key sequence on the front panel since it doesn't seem to be responding to the remote either.

Tempted to open it up and reformat the HDD on my own. Don't know if anyone's done that but I have heard some people replaced the HDDs on their own. Just looking for some guidance on even extreme approaches.

As an aside... I'm in Western Mass... and my D*TV HD box was pixelating like crazy this morning and a little bit during the Giants game last night. Sky is clear, sun is out... anyone else experience this? My son had the same problem he lives 3-4 miles away. Sun spots LOL?

Originally Posted by ncted

For help with this might I recommend DBStalk or Satellite Guys? They have technical discussions in which employees of Directv and Dish participate, and they would have more experience with this type of procedure.
-Ted

Originally Posted by veryoldschool

I have to say this is funny.
While I can't speak for any of the Dish involvement, I do know a fair amount of the DirecTV aspect.
Satellite Guys has burned themselves with all relationships with DirecTV, in any meaningful way.
There are a lot of helpful people on DBSTalk, but most don't work for DirecTV.
We do have a relationship with DirecTV, but we don't work for them.

Originally Posted by ncted

I have found helpful employees of D* on both sites over the years, although not always identified as such publicly. I really don't care about the disputes between the 2 forums. Seems petty and pointless on both sides. Both have helpful members, some of which work for the satellite companies. I post less on DBStalk because people tend to be more responsive, so I don't feel the need to chime in, but I use it a lot for reference.

-Ted