help! R10 feed turns to black every few days

[cowsop]

I recently bought an R10 from valueelectronics, and every few days the live tv will be completely black with no sound. Tivo continues to record the programs, but the recordings don't show up in now playing. A reset of the tivo fixes everything, but then a couple days later it'll go back to the black screen. The tv that has just a regular cable box always works fine. Any suggestions?

[Kablemodem]

The R10 I got in the DVR4ME deal was doing the same thing. A restart would fix the problem. Eventually I got a bunch of messages saying that my DVR needed to be activated (it already was) and then that my account was closed. I called DirecTV and they sent me a new access card, whcih I installed yesterday. I don't know if the black screen problem has been solved yet, but I'll keep you posted.

[cowsop]

wow quick reply, thanks. and i get the dvr activation messages too, even when it is activated. tell me if the new access card fixes the problem. also, i used the access card i had before instead of switching to the one that came with the tivo. could that be the problem?

[goony]

Many people have used 'recycled' cards (moved from another receiver activated on their account,) without the described problem - very strange indeed.

[JimSpence]

I'd put the access card that came with the R10 and activate it with that card.

[tbeckner]

I'd put the access card that came with the R10 and activate it with that card.Great idea and good post.

BTW, I thought that the RID machines (the R10 is a RID machine) married the cards and the machines, so you couldn’t use a previously used card in an R10. So the R10 should have been activated with the original card or a new card, but not a previously used card.

[codespy]

In the past, DTV would remarry cards at will if you told them it was a replacement receiver. They have cut down on that I think around March 1st. You can no longer get a receiver from seller x and get a card from seller Y and have them activate. You could use any of your old cards starting with the P4 and up to activate the receiver.

[cowsop]

ok, i'll activate the card that came with the R10 and update you guys in a couple days

[codespy]

You should be good to go with that.

[jjn]

cowsop

I bought a R10 from CC in Jan. The same thing happened to me, live tv would be black with no buffer being recorded. I could watch recorded progams.
The only way to resolve it was to reboot.
After the 4th time in 2.5 months I called DTV and asked for tier 2 dvr support.
In less than 5min I had a replacement on the way. (took 5 days)
The replacement was a refurbished Samsung 4080.
I was thrilled!!!! :)
It started to have problems with the sound not working on the Samsung.
After the 2nd time I again called DTV and got a replacement sent. (took 3 days)
The replacement was another R10 :(
Just ordered another DSR 7000 shell from Weaknees on Wed.
I'll take the hd out of the R10 and put it in the 7000 (after install a new image) and it should work great. :)

[cowsop]

The thing is im pretty happy with the R10, and im scared to call DTV because they might send an R15.

But if the new access card doesnt fix the problem, would it be wiser to call DTV or valueelectronics? I think DTV is the better option because it seems like valueelectronics is out of R10s.

[sirJ]

Have you tried a clear and delete all? It may be the access card but if normal troubleshooting did not correct it over the phone it is very unusual to replace the access card. Do you have the protection plan from dtv? They will cover the replacement, it won't be an r10 probably but it will be a comparable receiver.

btw...
marrying access cards is a very common practice. Assuming of course that the access card is not stolen. March 1st hasn't changed anything. I'm assuming of course you may be refering to when the dtv lease program started. Really, if you have the protection plan nothing has changed unless the receiver is not covered. Then, instead of the $49 it was to replace (plus s&h) it is 14.95 under the lease and a 2 year commitment. Unless you want to own the receiver which is now $149... no break in price. but that is for a regular receiver. I believe it is $300 bucks for a dvr or hd. woooo

[cowsop]

Thanks for the help guys, i ended up calling DTV and theyre just gonna send another receiver for free, and NOT the R15. He said it'll definitely be a Tivo. Which is fine by me

Also, the guy I talked to said that the access cards were defintely not the problem. i dunno if he was right or not, but he sounded pretty sure that it didn't matter.

[tonypitt]

I have the same problem with my unit that you do. Unfortunately, DirecTV replaced it with another unit which I installed on Thursday. This morning it did the black screen problem again.

I have another Tivo (non R-10) in another room, so I went ahead and swapped the two units today. I'm going to see if the black screen problem follows the unit or not.

If it's not the unit then it must be an extremely erratic multiswitch or cable problem.

Hopefully yours will be solved better than mine is going so far.

[tvn]

I've had the same problem. My two good R10's work in whatever room they are in. This third Tivo (also an R10), which is a replacement for an R10 that had the same problem, freezes momentarily once every twenty minutes. I switched the multi-switch, RG6, and now, rooms. My first two R10's work flawless. But the third has problems. It was losing programming within a day or two until I switched it to the bedroom. It's fine except for the occasional momentary freeze. I'm anxious to see how it behaves in a few days. Meanwhile, I'm backing up all my records on the other R10's. At some point, even the R15 will be more reliable. I think there is something wrong with some R10's.

[Kablemodem]

The R10 I got in the DVR4ME deal was doing the same thing. A restart would fix the problem. Eventually I got a bunch of messages saying that my DVR needed to be activated (it already was) and then that my account was closed. I called DirecTV and they sent me a new access card, whcih I installed yesterday. I don't know if the black screen problem has been solved yet, but I'll keep you posted.

To update, the access card did not fix the problem. DirecTV is sending me a new TiVo. At least they say it will be a TiVo.