Satellite receiver "rebooting" problem?

[Richard]

I'm on Direct TV. I've got a total of three receivers working and ONE of them is a HD unit.

Only the HD unit does the following as best as I've been able to ascertain.

Every now & then while watching tv, the picture will simply "die" as though someone has turned the receiver off. Looking at the receiver, the green light is on. The first time this happened I thought the (brand new) HD tv had blown up.

After maybe 60 seconds or so, all the sudden the lights on the receiver blink and it goes into what I'll call reboot mode where the lights cycle through each light a couple times in a circular fashion... then I'll get something like "Welcome to DirecTv" on the tv screen. In fact it DOES seem as though the receiver is rebooting. At the end of this process, it will say something like "please wait while we download the tv stations" or something like that.

If I were to literally unplug the receiver unit, killing what ever is in its memory, then plug it back in, it would do the same exact thing as it does here.

Again, I've only noticed this happening on my HD unit, I also think I've only noticed it happening when watching a HD channel. It's only happened a couple times so I've not had too much opportunity to check for a pattern.

My first thought was DirecTV was sending out some kind of blaster signal to blow up any counterfeit cards and for all I know, that STILL might be the issue (I have no idea how that works or even if they still do that)

So, anyone else having any issues with their HD box rebooting on its own every now & then for no apparent reason?

I might say again that ONLY this third receiver seems to do this. The other two have never done it to the best of my knowledge. This third receiver is also the newest one I have.

It is REALLY annoying when it happens and if its something that needs fixed I want to fix it, if its DTV doing it, then I want to know that too. I can't fix something until I know what the problem is.

 

[woodchuckie]

Mine isn't HD and it's pretty old but it will turn off on it's own and less than a minute later it'll come back on usually on the same station it was on. I haven't tried to find out why I just blame it on the age of it.

 

[Richard]

Just hung up with DTV.

For those interested, they put a new satellite in orbit in July. During the month of September they are going to ADD 70 high def channels and over the next year, add another 70 high def channels. Seems if you do the HD routine, you need a "B band converter" plugged into the back of the HD receiver (the converter is either included with your unit on purchase, or available for free from them) If you do NOT have this converter you will not get the new HD channels.

During this talk, I was put over to tech help about my rebooting issues.

He said the unit should NOT do that and he suspected that my receiver wasn't taking the software download they were sending out. He gave me a way to try to force the download to it.

Steps:

1. Hit the reset button (located near the card I think he said)
2. Upon seeing the blue welcome screen, type in "02468" and NOTHING else. Seems typing in 02468 will be enough to tell the receiver to force the download automatically.
3. Allow the receiver to continue its boot process and you're done


Scenario 2, if the above does not fix the problem

Steps: Go into your Menu/settings/setup screen and hit "reset everything" which should do a complete reinstall of all settings (you will have to pick language, zip code...everything...)

He said if THAT also didn't fix it then they'd want to know about it and would simply replace the box.

I'll be trying this when I get home tonight. I'll try the first fix and give it a while, if that doesn't work, I'll try the second fix & see what it does.

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Richard,
I dont have HD either but my " Dish Direct" will occassionally lose the satellite signal and do something similar to what your describing. Worst case scenario for me is to call "Dish" on the phone with my !-800 # and let them take care of the problem on their end !

 

[Unclebuck257]

Very interesting to read your post on this!! We have Direct TV also and we have had the exact same problem you've had, a number of times too. The wife got talked into a new receiver box about two months ago, which also upgraded our TIVO so it now holds twice the number of recorded shows the old box did. We now have a Diect TV DVR Plus box.

This "just shutting off problem" happened with our old box, so I figured this new box would clear that up. I was wrong and the system shutting off for no reason at all, right in the middle of one of our favorite shows usually, still happens. The re-booting, as you described, then takes place and we're back on line again, minus of course what happened in the show we had been watching while we were off line and re-booting. Usually near the conclusion of a show and we missed "who done it"!!

Not being thrilled with this, I inquired of Direct TV if they would deduct that "downtime" from the "use" time on my monthly bill, accordingly. At that point, I now had Direct TV not being too thrilled with my new billing arrangement suggestion.

Apparently, you and I should be greatful that Direct TV merely exists and we are responsible for paying Direct TV for our monthly fees, no matter whether it's up or down, on or off, because they are Direct TV. Something about their satellite being up VERY high so that it almost reaches into the heavens and a junior god complex then comes into play.

Anyway, rest assured the next time your sitting there watching something for 45 minutes and you're just about to see the conclusion and who done it, and your system turns off by itself, there's another family in Texas swearing at Direct TV just like you are!! LOL!!

 

[RonMar]

I have had direct TV HD for about 4 months now and mine (H-20 receiver) dosn't reboot by itself. A couple things you might want to look for in your installation is excessive heat at the receiver. loose power cords or receptacle wiring could also be causing power problems. I troubleshot a friends similar problem back to a loose wire in a circuit breaker one time. Turning on another light on the circuit caused the whole entertainment system to drop off line and recycle

One thing I have noticed with the latest software upgrade is that the remote responds slower(lags by as much as a second) as it has more data to look thru to perform your selected command such as "Guide" or "Channel up". I called them on this and it had already been reported. Hopefully it will be sped up in future upgrades. You will need that converter mentioned to get the new channels and also any existing HD channels you get as they will be shifting their whole HD broadcast scheme.

I started out with Dish network HD back in January. I had been a dish customer for 9 years at that point. Dish has problems with their HD service in the North West. One of their birds(129?) had a problem at launch and apparently a damaged antenna. The antenna footprint would not reach far enough to cover the North East(no sig in Maine). So they pointed it a little more to the East. This put Western Washington on the edge of the antenna footprint. The sattelite also has a slight wobble and you could set your watch by the HD channel dropouts every 15 minutes(very annoying). All the service techs that came out knew about it,in fact the first installer mentioned it, but sold it as "occasional interruption" I think of occasional as perhaps once a week or month, not 4 times an hour... Dish did give it a good try. They initially put up a single large dish pointed at that sat alone to improve signal level in this area. Their techs came back out 4 times trying improvements but it wasn't enough this far West. Their customer service was also very good. They very generously credited my account for loss of service. I work with sattelite communications, so I think they got tired of me accurately identifying their problem I think I payed a total of $10 for the entire 3 months of service while I worked with them on the problem before I cancelled and shifted to Direct TV.

The basic HD package with Direct TV has a few less HD channels than Dish did, but it also costs a lot less. I am very happy with mine so far, but I am curious as to how the package will change with the new HD upgrades they are doing. It might be nice to see a few more channels in HD(once you see it you will be hooked), but I really don't want to pay much more.

 

[tlbuser]

I'm on Direct TV. I've got a total of three receivers working and ONE of them is a HD unit.

Good luck! I went through that scenario back in Jan / Feb. DirecTV never got my HD system up and running. Be very careful of their fine line stuff. All of the new equipment is now on "lease only" terms, no matter where you get it from! They didn't want to send me a new receiver unless I agreed to a new contract term. I replied that I would go to Circuit City and just buy one for $99.00 and hook it up myself. They said I could, but once they activated it, they would then "own it" and would lease it back to me @ $5.00 /month
I ended up doing an early termination for "failure to provide adequate service". I now just use the HD "on air" channels and am happy not to be paying for the priviledge

 

[VABlue]

If the downloads don't work out, check the power connections and wiring all the way back to the box. I've had DTV since the early 90's (still have my original Sony reciever - $600 brand new, about $5 now!) and have never had any issues with them. Customer service, billing, and technical performance has always been fine for me. Like everyone, I wish it didn't cost so much!

Thanks for telling us about the B-band converters, I'll have to check my HD box to see if I have one yet. I'm also interested in what might be happening with basic HD service...

 

[tglass]

Good luck! I went through that scenario back in Jan / Feb. DirecTV never got my HD system up and running. Be very careful of their fine line stuff. All of the new equipment is now on "lease only" terms, no matter where you get it from! They didn't want to send me a new receiver unless I agreed to a new contract term. I replied that I would go to Circuit City and just buy one for $99.00 and hook it up myself. They said I could, but once they activated it, they would then "own it" and would lease it back to me @ $5.00 /month
I ended up doing an early termination for "failure to provide adequate service". I now just use the HD "on air" channels and am happy not to be paying for the priviledge

Had directv about a year and a half ago. Receiver quit working so I called them about a replacement. Finally someone real answered (I know this is the same everywhere) and was told sure we'll send another, but there will be a charge. In reply I say but they are free to new customers. I've been one for 5 years and never late with a payment. Isn't that worth somethig? In reply, we'll still have to charge you. After a moment of silence and thought I said well, just terminate my service. This tells me what you think of your old customers. Then the supervisor comes on and will send one free immediatly at no charge. Sorry guys, I For One will not and do not have to give you the privilage of my bussiness. Too late. Next morning-different service. Last time I checked I was the customer.

 

[dmartin88]

Just hung up with DTV.

Steps:

1. Hit the reset button (located near the card I think he said)
2. Upon seeing the blue welcome screen, type in "02468" and NOTHING else. Seems typing in 02468 will be enough to tell the receiver to force the download automatically.
3. Allow the receiver to continue its boot process and you're done

/QUOTE]

Hi Richard, I had a similar issue with a unit a few months back and the forced download cleared my problem, hope it works for you as well.

I've had DirectTV service for many years and this is one service where I recommend the $6.99 per month service plan if you have a few receivers or the more expensive versions. We have 6 receivers, 2 of them HD and the plan pays for itself with very few uses. Last week, we had a power hit and took out an HD receiver, just rebooted continuously. Called it in and they said they would have a replacement out in 2 days, it arrived the next day. We have a lot of power hits with our coop electric service so my experience may not be like others but this wasn't the first receiver they replaced.

A few months ago, our dogs decided the remote in the bedroom would make a good chew/play toy. Called it in and new one arrived in a couple of days and yes, I explained what happened to it, didn't matter how it was broken. Both replacements were "refurbished" but are working fine. Might be something to think about as it doesn't take very many $199 receivers to go bad to pay off but others can think differently and I like the ability to call it in and have a new one on the way.