OK people, We need to organize and push DirecTV for a fix!

[BHyde]

I'm in Connecticut also. My DTivos haven't rebooted since Thursday.

Does the problem seems to have disappeared for other people?

DirecTV told me today that Tivo has sent out a software "update," which he said isn't a full-blown software upgrade, addressing the rebooting problem. He says it comes in via the phone line.

I have a Samsung and an R10 with the original hard drives.

Unfortunately, I'd already replaced one of the hard drives (on the other Samsung) with a new, larger one from WeaKnees. At least I've got more hard drive space now. But the DirecTV guy suggested I wait a few days before plugging the telephone line back in on this set to make sure the problem seems to be gone permanently from my other two DTivos.

[Rich584]

Originally Posted by MikeF

Post your exact version numbers of the software so we can see if you got some type of update or something.

Mine is 6.3-01-2-381. I had no reboots until three days ago and yesterday. I went thru all my wiring and found that only one of my TiVos is hooked up to the 5 LNB dish. And that one had not rebooted since the last national release for the Hi Def HR20s.

So I went up on the roof and connected all of them to the 5 LNB dish. This is absolutely the last thing I can do with hardware. If this does not solve my problem, it HAS to be the software.

Just checked and I received a Service Data Download last night.

[Mark Griswold]

Checked my DTivo yesterday. Still running 6.3e-01-2-151. Haven't had a reboot in 3 or 4 days.

Oddly, I did notice alot of "Press Thumbs up to record" popups lately. In fact, had one that persisted for about 10 minutes until I got fed up with it, went back to NPL and restarted the show from the beginning, then it disappeared.

Also, still have been having alot of pixelation and audio dropouts, but I think thats more of a signal strength problem. I've got a tree in the front yard that I think has grown tall enough to cause me some trouble.
Hopefully when the leaves drop it will get better, but I think I'm going to have to get the chainsaw out this spring.

[rbtravis]

Originally Posted by Mark Griswold

Checked my DTivo yesterday. Still running 6.3e-01-2-151. Haven't had a reboot in 3 or 4 days.

Oddly, I did notice alot of "Press Thumbs up to record" popups lately. In fact, had one that persisted for about 10 minutes until I got fed up with it, went back to NPL and restarted the show from the beginning, then it disappeared.

Also, still have been having alot of pixelation and audio dropouts, but I think thats more of a signal strength problem. I've got a tree in the front yard that I think has grown tall enough to cause me some trouble.
Hopefully when the leaves drop it will get better, but I think I'm going to have to get the chainsaw out this spring.

Haven't you heard Al Gore's message?
Save a Tree - Move the Dish!

[Mark Griswold]

Originally Posted by rbtravis

Haven't you heard Al Gore's message?
Save a Tree - Move the Dish!

LOL. Would if I could.

Sadly the tree would have to come down sooner or later so I can widen my driveway.
Heck, the way I've been driving over the roots, I'm surprised it hasn't died yet.

[rbtravis]

Do it quick - You will probably need firewood for next winter - remember it takes a year of being stacked before it is dry enough to burn.

[gtfurman]

I haven't had my Hughes SD-DVR40 or my R10 freeze or reboot in the past couple days. I took a quick look last night and thought there was some pixelation. I'll take a much closer look tomorrow and get the software numbers and the dates I got them. At least it's progress.....
Tom in CT.

[robpickles]

I haven't replaced the drive in my R10 yet with the one I bought from Weaknees.

I still get the "buffer" problem from time to time but have not noticed any recent reboots.

I don't know if i am just catching it in time before a reboot occurs or not or if it is happening when I am not home. Haven't seen any "partial" recordings or "split" recordings either that some people say they get when their unit reboots.

My HDVR2 with the new drive with 6.2a is working perfectly.

Rob

[c9house]

I have also stopped having reboot issues and I also have been getting more thumbs up messages on the screen.
Version # has not changed.

[gtfurman]

Things seem better now. No more freezes or reboots for a couple of days now. Just checked the software and latest "Service data download" dates. My Hughes SD-DVR40 is running 6.3e-01-2-151 with a download of 3:00am today (10/17). My R-10 is running 6.3e-01-2-521 downloaded today at 3:05am. So far it's working normal it seems, hope this dosent change!!!!!

Tom in CT.

[gtfurman]

Oh by the way...just checked my notes here, the above software version numbers are the same ones I had on 10/9 when I finally called DTV support. I'm not much of a tech guy, so maybe those of you who are would know, but was DTV able to send some kind of a "PATCH" that fixed things yet not change the software version number?
Just wanted to put the info out there, and of course i'm curious about the fix.

Thanks,
Tom in CT

[dtremain]

Originally Posted by gtfurman

Oh by the way...just checked my notes here, the above software version numbers are the same ones I had on 10/9 when I finally called DTV support. I'm not much of a tech guy, so maybe those of you who are would know, but was DTV able to send some kind of a "PATCH" that fixed things yet not change the software version number?
Just wanted to put the info out there, and of course i'm curious about the fix.

Thanks,
Tom in CT

I've seen improvement as well. My belief, looking at everything (and I've only suffered two actual reboots on one unit and no problems at all on another), is that the problem is based, at least partly, on something that has happened to the actual data stream of programming from the satellites.

I had experienced pixelation and then temporary black screens which would recover within seconds. Then, it escalated on 10/9 to a hard reboot (where I had to restart the unit myself) and, an hour later, a soft reboot (where the unit restarted itself). Since then, I have had no more re-boots, but still the brief pixelation and black screen effect. That seems to have declined in severity and occurrence until it is almost non-existent.

In any case, it has only occurred when the unit was tuned to a local channel.

I see similar trends in other messages.

I am concluding then that the problem may well involve 6.3e since that's when it seems to have begun. It also may involve the movement of channels to afford the new hi-def channells (I am an SD subscriber, and get my only hi-def signals over-the-air), but also clearly has something to do with the actual signal, particularly of local channels.

Perhaps, they have begun to fix whatever was causing the problem in the local signal. They have not updated the software since 6.3e, but things clearly are getting better but are not totally resolved.

By the way, the differences in your software numbers only indicate the two different model DVR's you are using. They indicate exactly the same software version.

[CTjon]

Mine hasn' t frozen in several days now (probably will be when I get home). There is part of me that wishes this would continue so I could justify a HD replacement to the boss (while we are changing lets head to the future or some such thing that she really won't buy anyway).

[HellFish]

Originally Posted by gworkman

I've got a feeling the tactic of locking your system down to a previous version is not going to work for long. Remember, this all started back in December when DirecTV was working on "enhanced guide data". This update made all Tivos go crazy and DirecTV removed the ehancement while waiting for Tivo to "fix" it.

....

At some point, you'll have a choice between enabling MRV and having a working Tivo. It will no longer be an option to keep the old software because it will be unable to process the guide data.

Hacked Tivos have been tremendous for me and I will certainly miss the functionality. I just fear that we simply won't have a choice in the near future.

This was posted way back on 10/10/07, but I haven't seen anyone comment on it.

The reboots of December/January were the result of the data stream not being compatible w/ 6.2. Since then, we now have 6.2a, which may have had more changes then just the DST issue. It's possible that 6.2a also has the fix, so we may be able to use 6.2a for quite some time without worrying about our Tivo no longer working with the new data stream.

If you notice, no one that still has 6.2a installed (like me) is experiencing the same problems as those with 6.3e.

It is worth mentioning I also used this work around on 6.2 which edited the syslog.conf file, and I still currently have that line commented out on my Tivo. So I don't know if this will have any impact later down the road.

[lmd]

I am in CT too - along the shoreline. My TiVo has not rebooted or frozen in several days.

I was scheduled for a service call last Saturday - at DTV's insistence. When the local service company called to confirm, they said that this was a known problem in CT and that there was nothing they could do, but that they would come out anyway. So I called DTV and asked if they were finally admitting to the problem. The rep checked and said that they knew about the problem and that the tech bulletin said "absolutely no service calls." I cancelled the visit because I knew it was useless anyway - who wanted to spend a nice Saturday waiting at home for a repair guy who could do nothing! What an outfit.

But, bottom line, so far so good.

[Mark W]

I have had no re-boots or freeze ups in about a week either. It looks like they fixed something. I wish we knew what.

[rbtravis]

Originally Posted by Mark W

I have had no re-boots or freeze ups in about a week either. It looks like they fixed something. I wish we knew what.

They sprinkled nutmeg on the Satellite.

[milo99]

i had a couple of reboots over the weekend, and one again last night. Seems like Wednesdays at 7-7:30 pm EST it happens. although last week it didn't. Luckily, it's not happening during primetime recordings...

[chuckg]

Originally Posted by Mark W

I have had no re-boots or freeze ups in about a week either. It looks like they fixed something. I wish we knew what.

Something in the CT spot beam(s) obviously. Probably Guide data as it is highly unlikely Local Channel Guide Data is downloaded on national channels.

I have no personal knowledge as to how Guide Data is actually downloaded.

[robpickles]

Well...

I had a few of those "partial recodings" this weekend.

A couple of shows got chopped at the end. Was this due to a reboot? I have to assume it was. I wasn't watching it when it happened, but I know I still get the "buffer" problem from time to time so it must be forcing a reboot when the buffer gets all jerked up.

Rob

[retrodog]

I've been getting partial recordings for about two months now. It's about every 5th or 10th recording. I'll lose the last 1/2 or 1/3 of the show. This is getting old. I'm ready to kick someone's ass over it. Who does that need to be?

[RichJBJ]

I am in Colorado and I'm about to miss Rocktober-fest (Rockies in the World Series) because DirecTV decided they don't want me to have a Tivo receiver anymore.

It's probably not a conspiracy, but I'm not really sure how they could have tested the latest "upgrade" without stumbling upon this hard drive malfunction.

They totally botched my Tivo... and to make it worse, they want to replace my Tivo with their custom DVR C R A P! No thanks... this is Shady business practice! I'll join the class action suit if anyone wants to spear head it.

I am expecting a Manager/Director call from DirecTV within 24 to 72 hours to discuss the issue. I will be asking him to credit my account the $99.99 it will take for me to purchase a new Tivo from Circuit City.

The only reason I joined DirecTV was for my Tivo... so sayonara DirecTV if this is your business practice.

RichJBJ

[dtremain]

Originally Posted by RichJBJ

I will be asking him to credit my account the $99.99 it will take for me to purchase a new Tivo from Circuit City.

Huh?

The DVR that Ciruity City is selling for $99.99

is the very same "CRAP" that Directv is offering you.

Yeah!!! That'll show them.

[robpickles]

Originally Posted by RichJBJ

I am expecting a Manager/Director call from DirecTV within 24 to 72 hours to discuss the issue. I will be asking him to credit my account the $99.99 it will take for me to purchase a new Tivo from Circuit City.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that call.

Last time DirecTv said they were going to call me back over an issue - they never called.

Rob

[pbod153]

Well I fixed my tivo 2 weeks ago and have not had an issue since. I bought the instant cake software and installed the hard drive into my tivo. I unplugged the phone line so the software would not update to 6.3e. went from many freeze ups and reboots daily to not a single one for two weeks.
upgrade while your at it. I picked up a 320gb maxtor drive from staples for about $70 shipped and have been smiling since.

[NYG8OR]

I am in New York (Long Island) and the past few days this problem has gotten worse, not better. The picture going black (w/ sound) now lasts approx 10 seconds as opposed to the 1-2 seconds previously. Additionally, there are now some picture freezes without sound that last a few seconds and when the pictures returns it is with very odd colors which last a few seconds. I have noticed this begin to happen a few days ago.

It is interesting that those in Connecticut seem to have gotten better, while my issue has gotten worse. I am going to call DTV in the next few days.

Any others getting worse and not better?

[Naipes]

Originally Posted by pbod153

...I picked up a 320gb maxtor drive from staples for about $70 shipped and have been smiling since.

Wow, that's a good deal on a HD!

To my knowledge, my DirecTiVo has been working well, without rebooting or locking up, for about a week now. Maybe they got it fixed , or maybe they're through collecting data in our area , or maybe something else , but whatever it is, I'm glad it's finished . "Knock on wood"

[NYG8OR]

As mentioned above, I am still having the picture issues with freezing and pixelation lasting a few seconds. Well, I called DTV last night.

They first offered to send a tech. After I indicated that it might be a software issue, the rep put me on hold to "read up". She came back on the phone and stated that the known software issues relate to freezing up of the Tivo hardware and not the picture problems I described. She offered to either escalate the issue to their engineers or to send a tech at a cost of $70. I told her I thought the problem was on their end and did not want a tech at a cost of $70 if the problem was theirs. She also offered to replace all 3 of my units. I said I would take a tech, but if the tech found no problem with my setup and that it was their issue, I was not going to pay the $70. In the end, it has been escalated to engineering (presumably this is the first call on the picture issues and not freezing) and that it would be investigated and someone would email me within 72 hours. I am not holding my breath for that email.

As she stated that there are no known engineering problems related to the picture issues, I would suggest anyone else who is still having these picture issues to call.

[LacyinTX]

I haven't read this entire thread, but add me to the list of folks with problems with freezing, audio loss and color issues. I thought my Dtivo was dying. I am glad (and not glad) to hear it isn't just me.

The color issues have been getting more frequent. The audio has only happened once or twice. The freezing happened for the first time last week during "The Contender". At least that is a show that replays all the time, so I caught it at the second showing.

I am very frustrated, but I am not giving up on my DTivo. I don't have the option to switch to cable because I live out in the country. I don't want to trade Dtv for Dish. So I guess I will call and complain and then wait and see. *shrug*

[Naipes]

Yeah, I spoke too soon. I came home from work today and my DirecTiVo was frozen. Required a reboot to get things going again. Grrrrr Figures...