Anybody Else have this problem?

[BruceShultes]

My HR10-250 has been working fine since June.

Today I received a message "Please activate your DVR service" even though it was currently recording a program.

When I tried to change to another channel, it said "invalid access card". I pulled out the card and re-inserted it and then the picture returned, but the sound kept going off and then coming back on.

Also, there was a delay of close to 10 seconds between pressing any button on the remote and the action being taken by the box.

Since the box was updated to 6.3a over the weekend and I have been reading some of the other threads, I then re-booted the box. For now everything seems to be working fine.

By the way, I put my hand on the top of the box and it did not seem to be hot.

1. Has anyone else seen similar problems?

2. Did the access card just come loose?

3. Is it possible that I did something to cause the problem?

4. Should I consider using Instant Cake to change the box back to 3.1.5f?

[JimSpence]

If it happens again, I'd call DirecTV to see if they can send a reauthorization code. I doubt this is a 6.3 upgrade symptom.

[Fripp1]

I am having the same problem with my HR10-250. It is miserable. It started happening just once in a while about a week ago and has become increasingly worse, like every 3 minutes or so. It is not just the fact that he “invalid card” window pops up. It's that the video pixilates and drops the sound for 15 seconds so that you have to re-wind to see what happened on the program every 3 minutes. It makes programming frustratingly unwatchable.

Bruce, were you ever able to fix your problem? Did Jim’s suggestion of asking DirecTV to send a re-authorization code work?

Has anyone else had this problem and found a solution? I have tried unplugging the unit and re-inserting the card. I’m still having the issues.

More details on the problem:

- Affects both live and recorded programming. After the 15 second video/audio drop you can rewind the programming and the audio/video is fine. Meaning the recording itself is not corrupted, just the delivery/output for those periods (not an OTA reception problem).

- It only affects digital/HD programming i.e. OTA. I’m not positive if it is affecting satellite HD programming, but I believe so. SD satellite programming (both recorded and live) is unaffected.

- It somtimes says "Invalid Access Card" and somtimes "Please insert you Access Card".

- I am still running 3.1 so this is not a 6.3 issue.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? It is driving us crazy!

Thanks in advance,

Josh

[duanej]

Access cards do go bad occasionally. Call DTV and get a new one.

[Fripp1]

So it’s a simple as a bad access card? That’s great news, Duane. I much prefer that to a hardware problem.

I just don’t understand why a bad access card results in the pixilated/dropped video and sound. If it was a bad access card, wouldn’t I just be denied access to all programming? Is the Tivo just getting confused when it is sent a signal to “check” the card and while it is using its resources to do sort that out, the video and audio playback drops?

[LlamaLarry]

- It somtimes says "Invalid Access Card" and somtimes "Please insert you Access Card".I had this happen one time on one of my three 6.3a boxes. Was made worse as it happened while I was away for the weekend, so I missed all my recordings from Friday afternoon to Sunday night when I returned. :(

We did not even have to reseat the card for it to go away, just the jiggling from dropping the access door was enough. The box in question is my oldest HR10-250, so I could be on board with a hardware/access card problem rather than an OS issue.