Direct TV R-10 freezing

[hyper_earl]

I'm a newbie, so be kind. I recently graduated to the DVR world. I have a Direct TV R-10 and upgraded my dish. It seems that I can't get through a whole show or recorded movie without it freezing and pixelating (sp?) for a second. Hope this isn't normal but any advise would be appreaciated. The signal strength on all satellites are strong.
Thanks Steve

[pmhacker]

i am having the same problem. I get pixilation and freezing at least once a show. I have also been having problems with shows not recording. the box seems to lock up.

[DesignDawg]

This isn't possible TiVo DVRs are perfect.

[beartrap]

I bought a new R10 at the end of October, and both of these problems (monentary freezing/pixelization and receiver locking up) happened to me right out of the box. I called D* and tried all of their suggestions, none of which worked, and brought it back to the vendor for an exchange. The replacement unit has never done this stuff. I have heard of other people having the same problem with new R10s. It is not normal. You have defective units which you should replace. Hmmm... maybe you got the one that I returned?

[Outback Paul]

I'm having the same problem. I just came to this site to see if anyone else was having this problem. I switched to D* about 3 weeks ago.

[rminsk]

This is usually the sign of a failing disk drive.

[hyper_earl]

Thanks all for your response. Guess I should go exchange it or contact D

[dtremain]

Thanks all for your response. Guess I should go exchange it or contact DExchange it. It sounds like a bad unit. We have an R-10 in my son's room and it doesn't have pixelation problems or freezing.

[mjitkop]

Do you notice the problems as you are watching TV in real time too or does it only happen when you are playing a recorded show (or the buffer if you are behind live TV)?

[hyper_earl]

I notice it when playing live tv. Of course, it does record that way too.

[rigs49]

How many units did you return Beartrap? Seems to me that it was more than one. lol

[dgiannoni]

My R-10 seems to lock up so that I can't watch live tv. The only way to correct the problem is to do a system reset. This problem occurs about once every two weeks. The first unit I purchased had the same problem but occurred overy other day. Could this have to do with my single LNB satellite dish? Would upgrading to a multiple LNB dish help correct this problem..

I'm pretty frustrated with this problem. Also, I have the same problem is that the picture locks up for a second or two and clear up. This occurs once every few hours.

please help..

[pmhacker]

I recently purchased a R-10 and had the same problems. i called DTV and they replaced it at no charge and I have not had the problem since.

perry

[dtremain]

My R-10 seems to lock up so that I can't watch live tv. The only way to correct the problem is to do a system reset. This problem occurs about once every two weeks. The first unit I purchased had the same problem but occurred overy other day. Could this have to do with my single LNB satellite dish? Would upgrading to a multiple LNB dish help correct this problem..

I'm pretty frustrated with this problem. Also, I have the same problem is that the picture locks up for a second or two and clear up. This occurs once every few hours.

please help..It's clearly a defective unit. You shouldn't have kept it. Try to return it.

[mlklein]

had the same problem with my first one and the replacement they sent. Turns out that this completely stopped when I got the 6.x software update. Force a few calls and you should be OK once you get the update.

[beartrap]

had the same problem with my first one and the replacement they sent. Turns out that this completely stopped when I got the 6.x software update. Force a few calls and you should be OK once you get the update.

Huh? I thought that all R-10s shipped with the latest and greatest software, and anyway, there hasn't been any update for the R-10 yet, has there?

[wgegan]

I had the same problem... return it ! My replaced R10 works fine.

[Oneota]

I got an R10 for my parents for Christmas, and theirs did this. Called D*TV, insisted on an R10 replacement (they wanted to send an R15), the new R10 works flawlessly! W00t.

[beartrap]

How many units did you return Beartrap? Seems to me that it was more than one. lol

No, just the one, although I've responded with my story to several different posters who have reported the same problem. Seems to be not uncommon for the R-10 to have stutter and system freeze problems out of the box. Dollars to donuts that Wal*Mart simply put my returned unit back on the shelf. I was in the store yesterday, and I stopped over at the D* display to see what they had in stock. A few R-15s, some HD receivers, and one R-10, in you guessed it, an open box. They probably won't discount it, either.

[mike62]

I too bought an R10 to add along with my Hughes and it immediately began the freezing, pixelating, sometimes a black screen. I bought it from a former sponser on here, Value Electronics, and when I called them they replaced it immediately. Problem is my replacement R10 began doing the same thing too. Not as bad as the first one but same issues and very annoying.

To add to the problem I called Value Electronics Friday, 2/24/06, and was told by the rep. (Sherry) she would call me back but that has not happened yet. I asked about a bad batch of hard drives in their R10's and she said they did have some.

Now I wait.

[Anewman]

Even though Signal strength could be high, WIND could jiggle the dish around enough to cause the pixelation/freezing. Some recievers are more susceptible to this than others.

We have taken a R-10 on road trips(RV with TRACKVISION) and every over pass/bridge we drive under results in about 5-10 seconds of freezing/blank screen, while an old hughes box with no Tivo does not even blink when going under bridges and such. This is at highway speeds of course.

[missaklein]

OK.....so I have been having all the issues that you ALL describe in this discussion thread. I started to notice the issues right away, but since I am new to having satellite TV, I just thought that the pixelation and delays were due to satellite, NOT because of the TiVo DVR.
I lived with the problem for a while including the resets without calling because I at least knew that a reset would 'restore service' so I could keep watching TV. Didn't think much of it until I started to have to reset the receiver 2-3 times a day or more (I got mine mid-Sept 05).
Well, issues persisted - through holidays - but going through troubleshooting with first and second level not very fun - repeat the same story twice or more...NOT FUN! Anyway, I finally got sick of and called on Jan 10, 2006. They told me to reformat which took me a while cuz I had to watch everything that I wanted. After reformat, problem seemed to lessen, but not go away and now it's getting worse and worse - I missed Dr. Phil because of it freezing up...now I'm really pissed! Booooooo!
So....tonight I called D* and they of course made me explain the issue twice. Note after Jan 10th call they did admit I might need a new DVR, but NEVER told me that I would have to pay for it or sign a service contract due to leasing. Tonight, they told me that...urgh! Apparently, even though I've been having the issue since practically Day 1, since I waited until Jan 10th to call, I am OUT OF WARRANTY (no one ever explained a warranty option to me). Replacing it via D* will cost me $100 - is it worth it? And if so, what equip. do I ask for specifically?

How do I know what version of code I have on my receiver/DVR?
If there are defective drives out there, has anyone heard of discussion for addressing with the manufacturer?
How do I run diagnostics on it or check for failures and associated error messages?

Thanks!
(BTW - I am not the same as mlklein above....)

[tbeckner]

This isn't possible TiVo DVRs are perfect.This is usually a sign that the hard drive is failing, if you are receiving a strong signal.

And an extra note to "DesignDawg", all DVRs, any make or model can have this problem at any point in their lifetime. This not something that Motorola, Moxi, Scientific Atlanta (Cisco), ReplayTV, DirecTV, Dish, LG/Microsoft, Sony, TiVo, Humax, Swann, Dish, Samsung, Sharp, or Microsoft (UTV), can stop from happening from time to time.

As a special note, I have what will soon be a six year old Sony TiVo DVR, which is still running its original OEM hard drive and an additional 60GB Maxtor that I added to it when it was only a couple of months old back in 2000 and I have never had a problem with it. In other words, the Sony SVR-2000 has been running almost non-stop (except for two days when I moved in 2002) for 5 years and 10 months with its OEM HD and 5 years and 8 months with two hard drives and no other modifications. It has nothing to do with it being a TiVo or a Sony, because back then Sony used the same parts except for some remote control programming.

I do know that my Sony SVR-2000 will not likely make it another two years, but then again it has been great while it lasted.

I have three HDVR2s that have not had a single problem in what will soon be three years of continuous use, unless the problems where caused by a messed up DirecTV feed.

[rogrrr]

My R-10, which i bought in Jan 2005, freezes up about once every week or 2, usually in the buffer mode, never that I can recall, in the recording mode. In fact, one time it froze in the buffer (or live) mode while something was recording on the other feed. Interestingly, it never stopped recording that feed until I finally restarted the unit. I learned this, of course, after the fact. Usually, the R10 freezes up when I "exercise" it, constantly using the 8-second return button to review sports plays, for example. However, I'm pretty sure it's never frozen on actual recordings. Perhaps the key, I suppose, is to simply record every live show that I'm going to "screw around" with. It never freezes "by itself", only when I play with it. I just wondered if there was another way to allieviate the problem without doing a hard restart.

[profbobo]

I’ll chime in as well.

One of my R10s is experiencing exactly the same thing. The other one has no problems at all.

The problem box will pixelate or stutter every 20 minutes or so. It seems to happen on both tuners at the same time. I was watching live TV and it stuttered. I switched to the other tuner and hit replay. I saw the stutter in the buffer on that tuner as well.

This leads me to believe it’s not a tuner problem but something else.

We don’t put the R10s in stand by. We just turn off the TV.

Sometimes we’ll turn on the TV and the screen will be blank (black). No audio or video. It’s that way on all channels. Other times we’ll turn on the TV and the video is frozen with live audio playing. If I switch the channel, it’ll go blank screen on me with no audio. It won’t record shows while there is a blank screen.

Also, the stutter shows up in recordings.

Sometimes I’ll see the banner that I need to activate my service. Sometimes my System Information screen says Account Closed. Other times it says Account in Good Standing.

A reboot will fix it for a while.

Signals are strong. Temp is Normal. Both R10s were purchased brand new in sealed boxes at the same time.

I see a couple posts saying it’s the hard drive and others saying the box is bad; get it replaced.

Has anyone just replaced the drive in a box that does this? If so, did a new drive solve the problem?

I’d be tempted to replace the drive if it will solve the problem. I’d like to avoid the "return your new box and get a beat up refurb that might have the same problem" game with DirecTV.

Thanks in advance for any replies,

Joe

Actually there are two threads that seem to talk about what I am experiencing.

This thread and help! R10 feed turns to black every few days (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=292929).

[Kablemodem]

I’ll chime in as well.

One of my R10s is experiencing exactly the same thing. The other one has no problems at all.

The problem box will pixelate or stutter every 20 minutes or so. It seems to happen on both tuners at the same time. I was watching live TV and it stuttered. I switched to the other tuner and hit replay. I saw the stutter in the buffer on that tuner as well.

This leads me to believe it’s not a tuner problem but something else.

We don’t put the R10s in stand by. We just turn off the TV.

Sometimes we’ll turn on the TV and the screen will be blank (black). No audio or video. It’s that way on all channels. Other times we’ll turn on the TV and the video is frozen with live audio playing. If I switch the channel, it’ll go blank screen on me with no audio. It won’t record shows while there is a blank screen.

Also, the stutter shows up in recordings.

Sometimes I’ll see the banner that I need to activate my service. Sometimes my System Information screen says Account Closed. Other times it says Account in Good Standing.

A reboot will fix it for a while.

Signals are strong. Temp is Normal. Both R10s were purchased brand new in sealed boxes at the same time.

I see a couple posts saying it’s the hard drive and others saying the box is bad; get it replaced.

Has anyone just replaced the drive in a box that does this? If so, did a new drive solve the problem?

I’d be tempted to replace the drive if it will solve the problem. I’d like to avoid the "return your new box and get a beat up refurb that might have the same problem" game with DirecTV.

Thanks in advance for any replies,

Joe

Actually there are two threads that seem to talk about what I am experiencing.

This thread and help! R10 feed turns to black every few days (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=292929).
I went through this and the first attempt was to replace the access card, but it didin't help. Now I am waiting for the replacement from DirecTV. I got my R10 as a refurb in the DVR4ME deal. These refurbs must appear to be ok to DirecTV since they work normally for a while. I just hope the replacement I get doesn't have the same problem.

[profbobo]

I went through this and the first attempt was to replace the access card, but it didin't help. Now I am waiting for the replacement from DirecTV. I got my R10 as a refurb in the DVR4ME deal. These refurbs must appear to be ok to DirecTV since they work normally for a while. I just hope the replacement I get doesn't have the same problem.

Yeah, that's my concern. People are sending in their R10s for the freeze/pixelate problem. DirecTV looks at them and they seem fine. They don't watch TV for 20+ minutes and notice the reported problem. They get boxed up and put in the Use for Replacement Queue. If this continues for too long, the only R10s DirecTV will have to send out as replacements with will be the problem ones.

Of course I don't have any way to confirm this is what's happening. That's just my guess.

If the problem occurs because of a bad hard drive, I'd rather replace the drive myself and keep my R10. Has anyone confirmed if the freeze/stutter/pixelate and then blank screen problem is indeed because of the hard drive?

[rogrrr]

profbobo, do you live in an area that gets a lot of thunderstorms? That would explain the simultaneous pixelations between the 2 tivo's. That's a dish reception problem, not a tivo problem. In any case your problem does not sound like mine. Mine has been on its best behaviour lately...probaby cuz I haven't been messing about with it so much.

[Kablemodem]

I've hooked up my new R10 and it seems to be working fine, so not all the replacements are defective.