questions on sudden 722k failure

[piranesi]

Suddenly this morning my 722K won't get past the "starting up" screen. It freezes there for awhile, the fan runs and runs, and then it shuts down and starts over and does the same thing again...forever. I called my local installer who told me they couldn't get someone out for another ten days, so they just told me to call Dish and have a new one sent out. It will be here in two days. In the meantime, since I have a few days to try and figure this out:

My questions.

1) A tech. was just out here four days ago and had to move the dish on our roof because of a tree LOS issue (I'm suddenly glad I didn't cancel the protection plan). Is there anything he could have done that would cause a receiver to have this problem a few days later?

2) Are there any possible troubleshooting measures for a receiver that won't even get to a menu screen that don't involve opening up the box (since I have to send it back).

 

[garys]

Have you tried to unplug receiver? Sometimes that will bring it back.

 

[piranesi]

Have you tried to unplug receiver? Sometimes that will bring it back.

Yeah. I tried all the normal stuff. Unplugged it. Tried a different outlet. No power strip. Unhooked the coax from the back of the unit.

It was a very reliable box until this morning. It's the first DISH box I've ever had that didn't suffer periodic lockups. now I'll probably be getting someone else's refurbished trouble to deal with!

If nothing else, I'd love to get it running one last time to save a few of my wife's favorite shows onto an external drive before shipping it back.

 

[boba]

Did you remove the coaxial cable from the back then unplug and replug with the coax still unplugged? With the recent dish work the receiver could detect a short and shut itself off so as lomg as the coax was connected it would detect a short?

 

[piranesi]

Did you remove the coaxial cable from the back then unplug and replug with the coax still unplugged? With the recent dish work the receiver could detect a short and shut itself off so as lomg as the coax was connected it would detect a short?

No difference.

Here's something weird, I think. Whenever I first plug the unit in (coax hooked up or not hooked up, doesn't matter). It doesn't start up...but the fan runs really loudly and will continue doing so without actually attempting to boot up unless I actually press reset. Then I get the endless "starting up" cycling.

Another detail: during this it does register first the green light for TV 1 and then switches to the yellow light under "mode" indicating one television (I think). I never paid attention before to see in what order those lights flash normally.

 

[piranesi]

UPDATE: Suddenly working again????

Update: The darned thing just came on after I tried unhooking the coax yet again. It cycled through four or five times and then I left for awhile and when I came back it was acquiring signal. The only difference this time is that I did "shake" it a bit this time. But it did still take at least four tries to start up.

So now my questions are this.

1) Now that I can get into the menus, is there anything I should look for to diagnose whether this was a one-time thing or the beginning of the end?

2) DISH is sending me a replacement unit. Do I have a certain amount of time to make up my mind about whether this one is "back" or not? Can I send the replacement back unopened (or even opened)?

3) If I go with the replacement unit, can I access the stuff on my external hard drive, or does everything get erased when you hook it up to a new receiver?

 

[navychop]

1. Bow the East, pray to the West, burn some butter before your favorite icon. Maybe one to the god of hard drives.

2. Don't chance it, although I successfully did that with a 721 lo these many years ago.

3. Shove everything you can, IMMEDIATELY, onto one or more EHDs. Most important stuff first. Since you are on the same account, the new receiver should see everything just fine. If the new receiver wants to reformat the drive, don't let, just restart.

 

[piranesi]

Are there any diagnostic counters that are worth learning about, just to satisfy my curiosity about what's going wrong?

For instance I notice the counter "Fail umount Count" is at 83. That would seem to indicate something specific is failing, right? But I haven't found anything online about what "umount count" is.

I remember on my old 622 there were specific counters that indicated a failing hard drive, where if the tech saw a certain number, they would automatically replace the unit.

Also is there a way to tell if a replacement unit is new or a refurb (that might play a role in whether I try and save this one...I'd rather not get into the refurb - failure - refurb. - failure loop that I was in a few years ago). Do they even have new 722K's or are they just recirculating old ones now?

 

[boba]

Look for REMANUFACTURED on the plate on the back of the receiver. Seeing you are only leasing the box you don't have much to say about what is provided to you.

 

[Drizzt]

Another detail: during this it does register first the green light for TV 1 and then switches to the yellow light under "mode" indicating one television (I think). I never paid attention before to see in what order those lights flash normally.

That's normal for when it starts up.

It was a very reliable box until this morning. It's the first DISH box I've ever had that didn't suffer periodic lockups. now I'll probably be getting someone else's refurbished trouble to deal with!

You said that you had other units fail also, is there good airflow to the unit? Lots of dust getting sucked into it? What about the eletrical outlet, has it been tested to make sure it has the correct polarization? I've found that when units repeatedly fail, there is often times electrical issues or heat related issues.

 

[piranesi]

That's normal for when it starts up.



You said that you had other units fail also, is there good airflow to the unit? Lots of dust getting sucked into it? What about the eletrical outlet, has it been tested to make sure it has the correct polarization? I've found that when units repeatedly fail, there is often times electrical issues or heat related issues.

The other failed receivers were quite some time ago and actually in a different room. This one has been solid for probably 2 1/2 years (I just checked my oldest recording and it goes back to October, 2009. I have kept up with all the discussion of airflow on the forum and have this one in an open shelf with a lot of space around it and a USB fan circulating air through it. Also, the first issue showed up when the unit rebooted after "checking in" and it had been off for some time at that point. So I don't think it's a heat problem.

The outlets have all tested fine as well. In fact, I just had a quality control inspector from DISH out to check a recent dish move and he tested everything, outlets, coax, lines from the dish into the house.

It hasn't gotten caught in the endless "starting up" loop again, but it did freeze up and reboot last night while watching FSC. That's the first time this receiver frozen up in at least a year or more, so I do think it's just starting to crap out.

I would still like to know what "Umount fail" is in the counters. Anybody?

 

[Voyager6]

It sounds like one of the arms on the HDD stuck. When you shook the unit, it came free. The HDD is definitely on the way out, so keep the replacement. I don't think that anyone has explained what most of the counters mean. I usually just check the software version and HDD temps. You could ask one of the DIRT members for an explanation.

 

[dwarren2]

Don't chance it. Dump the internal HD to the external. Install the new receiver. One important thing when doing so is do not plug the ehd in till after the new receiver is up and running. Otherwide it will not boot up.