What the **** is wrong with my ViP622 DVR?

[Pepper]

Random lockups, always while recording something and the interface is off, that is, a never changing screen saver. No response to the remote or front panel. Only the power button reset or pulling the plug will get its attention.

At least I thought it was random. The past two lockups occurred at 8:01pm last Friday, and 8:01 this Friday. When I found it locked, I rebooted, the recordings kicked off again, then it locked up and rebooted about 10 minutes later.

Just a coincidence that both times it was recording the same show? Or is the show just so bad (Hart of Dixie) that the dear thing is tryin' to protect what few brain cells I have left?

 

[thomasjk]

Time for a replacement 622 or upgrade to a Hopper.

 

[Scherrman]

Time for a replacement 622 or upgrade to a Hopper.

Or just upgrade to a 722k.

 

[foghorn2]

It's old .

 

[navychop]

So ye can update that 46 Ford to a late model Fairlane or a current year Rolls. But pay for the privilege.

Not to put too fine a point on it.

Not that it's perfect. I'd like to recover my ability to transfer to EHD and I'd like the icons to match the show titles. But these are annoyances, not major problems.

I honestly think Dish should hire outside, well respected, experts to look at what's wrong with their software team(s) and come up with a plan to correct their failings.

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[dfergie]

One of my 622's is getting flaky on 129, mainly local signals low (other & 211k read good), I've changed LNB, coax & separator and 'tweaked' signal at dish ... have a feeling I'm going to need a replacement soon. and Thanks, but I'm happy with the 622's.

 

[primestar31]

Bad internal drive. I'll bet money on it.

I had to replace mine several times before I finally just upgraded to a 722k I bought off another SatGuys for a good price.

 

[Scherrman]

It really shouldn't be a big deal. The 622 is almost 10 year old so it's normal for it to fail. It's time to upgrade. If you like the setup you have just upgrade to a 722k. If you don't want to renew a contract then just purchase one, it will be very easy to swap out,

If you really want to be updated to the latest equipment then go with the Hopper. Make sure you do your homework first though. The Hopper is more expensive so make sure it fits your needs well.

 

[mike123abc]

I would move the programs I wanted to an external hard drive and have the unit swapped out by Dish.

 

[TNGTony]

I traced the lock-up/reboot issue with my 622 to the LAN port. The 622 reboots nearly every time the internet gets flaky at my house. And that is more often than I would like. I disconnected the LAN cable and all was fine for a week. I reconnect the LAN cable and the first instant we had a micro-outage of connectivity the 622 froze and rebooted.

 

[snissen]

Great detective work, TNGTony! (And a great service to all of us with flaky 622 receivers.)

So what do you plan to do about it? Leave the LAN cable disconnected except during maintenance hours and on demand events? Swap for a newer x22 receiver or a Hopper? Upgrade your ISP?

 

[dfergie]

I need to try that also ...

 

[primestar31]

You can buy a ethernet to USB adapter for quite cheap. I bought one for my old laptop when the internal ethernet port went bad. Get one and just plug it into the front or back USB port, and plug a ethernet cable into it, and see what happens...

It might not work if the device isn't a full pc, but you never know until you try.

 

[Pepper]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

A long time ago, I did some research and found that the main functional difference between the 622 and 722 was the size of the drive. I got a ST3500830SCE and plugged it to the box, leaving the original in there in case I ever needed to swap it back. This gave me considerably more space. I have now swapped back to the original, will see how it behaves, and run diagnostics on the drive I removed. There were a couple of recordings that were corrupted, I have never deleted them to keep the 'bad space' from being re-used, perhaps there are other 'bad' areas that it hits occasionally with the recordings or buffer, causing the lockups. Just my current theory.

My Internet has also been flaky of late, another thing to consider as the box just locked up again (and at the same time the Internet flaked out) as I was typing this. I've just yanked the Ethernet cable.

Regarding the 722k, does it do PiP in single mode?

 

[primestar31]

Yes, 722k does PIP in single mode just fine. Unlike my 622 (retired), my 722k has never had any problems or trouble-making quirks.

 

[jerryez]

Since the 622 has been out, I have went thru move receivers than there has been years. I never replaced a receiver unless it was going bad. Just be glad that it lasted this long. I can't even remember the model numbers, but in the year before my Hopper, I went thru three 722s.

 

[DishDave]

Had the Hopper for a Week went back to my 722k and 211k To me those are the best 2 receivers Dish has ever made. However I did like the 712 and the 508 back in the Day.

 

[navychop]

Had the Hopper for a Week went back to my 722k and 211k To me those are the best 2 receivers Dish has ever made. However I did like the 712 and the 508 back in the Day.

712? 721 or ViP612?

 

[TNGTony]

I hated giving up my 721 when it was taken out of service. I still have a working 501 on my account doing the job.

To answer the question about what I did with my 622 to prevent it from rebooting, I connected the 622 to my home network through a second router wireless bridge and a VPN instead of a LAN cable directly to the main router. This mitigates the problem, but does not solve it completely. The advantages of continued connectivity outweighs the random reboot issue most of the time.