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FearTheVoices

Last reply Apr 10, 2014 · posted in DIRECTV General Forum

Thinking of switching from Dish to DTV...Questions

So i have been a pretty happy customer of Dish Network for about 7yrs now. However I am pretty unhappy with the new updates to my 1st generation hopper and how it has effected it's speed and also giving other issues at the same time(freezing ect..) I tried getting a 2nd generation Hopper but they want a new 2yr agreement which i think is bogus since the main feature of the 2nd gen hopper is built in sling, which is something i lost when i upgraded to the original hopper(from the VIP922)

I signed my mother up for DTV a couple years ago to get her to switch from Comcast(Dish wasn't available due to the line of sight) and she has been pretty happy with it. I think when she signed up she got the next receiver down from the top of the line one, but the menu system seems to be the same as the newer ones they advertise so i imagine they are all the same. Anyway...the one HUGE thing that bugs me about her DTV setup is all the pay per view channels and other fluff that is between all the channels you actually want to watch. Is there any setting to get rid of all of these or do you have to manually setup your own channel list to avoid these types of channels? It really ruins the whole experience IMO when you have to go through pages and pages of ads or pay per view stuff that should be at the tail end of the channel list, not spread out in sporadic sections it seems.

So..in addition to that above.

- What is there flagship receiver model

- On average how much better is the PQ HD channels compared to Dish? A percentage in your opinion would be good i guess. When watching at my mom's house it really does seem like night and day compared to what i have with Dish, She has the same top model Samsung plasma as me, only 1 year newer so i doubt her TV is causing the much better PQ itself.

- With Dish I can always call and find something to complain about every few months and get seemingly $10 off for 6 months or more, free HBO/Starzs or alike programming for 3 months at a whack. They are VERY good about this i must say and i have probably had free HBO/Starz/Cinemax about 10-12 times in 7yrs now. Can the same be done with DTV?

- SD programming is not a huge issue for me as i watch mainly HD, but i understand that DTV's is considered worse than Dish's from what i have read.

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FearTheVoices

Mar 1, 2014

Thanks..

So i just went through the DTV website just checking stuff out and adding it to the cart and got to the checkout screen. The chat specialist showed up so i asked him if there was a grace period after installation and he said no, if i cancel the next day i am charged with a $15 fee on top of another $475 fee or whatever....LOL that is comical. They think i am actually going to sign up with them if that is there policy?

dalyew

Mar 7, 2014

I switched from Dish last summer to DirecTV & just like you have noticed between your Dish PQ & your parents Directv PQ, directv pq blows Dish away. I'm a bit of a videophile so I may notice more than the average viewer. I've also noticed that the difference in pq is also more significant on the better TV's in my house, which are all over 50" Samsung & Panasonic plasmas, except one 32" Vizio LED.

Overall I think my Directv experience has been better than with Dish but I do miss some of the Hopper features, but those are just minor. The major feature of Dish I missed I made up by getting a "Sling" type box.

Btw, my main reason for leaving Dish (at least the straw that broke the camel's back) was technical problems with my original Hopper and Dish's insistence for me to pay $200 for the upgrade while they were upgrading others for free. I was willing to up for 2 more years on my contract but felt insulted by the lack of a reason why colleagues got free upgrades & they insisted on me paying. Of course the day I canceled they offered me the free upgrade & other goodies to stay but I already got Direct installed & saw that beautiful picture. ... no more hazy picture like the beginnings of eye sight depreciation. Haven't looked back since.

rfc

Mar 17, 2014

FearTheVoices said:
Thanks..

So i just went through the DTV website just checking stuff out and adding it to the cart and got to the checkout screen. The chat specialist showed up so i asked him if there was a grace period after installation and he said no, if i cancel the next day i am charged with a $15 fee on top of another $475 fee or whatever....LOL that is comical. They think i am actually going to sign up with them if that is there policy?

I switched from D* to Dish 5 months ago. Local HD channels have mosquito noise. I don't remember D* having it with HD Locals. Bothers me so much I purchased an OTA indoor antenna. Much better. D* wants me back. I explained that I would be interested in coming back if I could have 24hrs to compare their PQ to Dish. It seems that in really really fine print some where, it is written that a customer can terminate service within 24hr and not be charged. It was explained that it's 24hr, not 24hr and one minute or you'll be locked into the 2yr contract. D* is willing to replace my old dish with the new one, replace the 75 cable they installed in the past with a new cable and provide a Genie. Ask to speak to a supervisor about the 24hr situation.

rfc

Mar 17, 2014

dalyew said:
I switched from Dish last summer to DirecTV & just like you have noticed between your Dish PQ & your parents Directv PQ, directv pq blows Dish away. I'm a bit of a videophile so I may notice more than the average viewer. I've also noticed that the difference in pq is also more significant on the better TV's in my house, which are all over 50" Samsung & Panasonic plasmas, except one 32" Vizio LED.

Overall I think my Directv experience has been better than with Dish but I do miss some of the Hopper features, but those are just minor. The major feature of Dish I missed I made up by getting a "Sling" type box.

Btw, my main reason for leaving Dish (at least the straw that broke the camel's back) was technical problems with my original Hopper and Dish's insistence for me to pay $200 for the upgrade while they were upgrading others for free. I was willing to up for 2 more years on my contract but felt insulted by the lack of a reason why colleagues got free upgrades & they insisted on me paying. Of course the day I canceled they offered me the free upgrade & other goodies to stay but I already got Direct installed & saw that beautiful picture. ... no more hazy picture like the beginnings of eye sight depreciation. Haven't looked back since.

I'm glad I read this post. I too am a videophile. Every 4-5 yrs I upgrade my gear. I now have a Sharp Elite PRO-70X5. The bigger the screen the more it shows a bad signal. Garbage in garbage out. BD is the best, followed by OTA then satellite. I had D* for 10yrs and decided to give Dish a try. I should have keep D* when I switched to Dish to compare, but I didn't. My bad. Locals in HD on dish have a lot of Mosquito noise and I'm focused on it now. I don't remember D* having that issue, but I was not looking for it. The only way I'll be able to find out is to go back to D*, keep Dish and compare. D* wants me back and agreed to replace my D* dish with a new style, replace the 75 wire and provide the Genie. They said if their PQ is no better than Dish, I can terminate within 24hr at no charge, no contract. However if it's 24hr and one minute, I'm locked into 2 yrs.

Would you say that your local HD channels on D* are better than Dish?

Locals get compressed the most. I figure if D* does a better job with locals, then all the other less compressed channels "should" have better pq too.

I will take a $200 hit leaving Dish and a lot of the perks they offer as a new subscriber. So going back to D* will cost me. Videophiles like myself have a hard time justifying a better dollar deal for a lesser quality picture. And that maybe because of the equipment. Smaller tv screens typically don't show imperfections as clearly as the larger screens do. A HD tv (not 4K) 40" vs 70" screen has the same pixels. The pixels get larger as the screen does. So they show digital noise more.

My question here is how well does D* vs Dish provide a signal with their equipment. Maybe the Genie is better then the Hopper? The Hopper converts to 1080 where the Genie let's native signals pass through. Example, my local Fox does 720. The hopper converts it to 1080 and may not be doing a good job of it. Where the Genie will pass it as 720 and let my TV or processor up convert it to 1080. The Genie passes what ever the signal is. The Hopper, you must go into the menu and choose what you want. 480, 720, 1080. I like that the Genie passes the native signal. Also the question of bit rates and compression affect how each company provides the signal.

FearTheVoices

Apr 9, 2014

Still thinking about switching now again...This whole thing of being charged a ETF fee with no grace period still boggles my mind though. Would i have a better chance of getting something like a grace period if i called?

Jimbo

Apr 9, 2014

rfc said:
My question here is how well does D* vs Dish provide a signal with their equipment. Maybe the Genie is better then the Hopper? The Hopper converts to 1080 where the Genie let's native signals pass through. Example, my local Fox does 720. The hopper converts it to 1080 and may not be doing a good job of it. Where the Genie will pass it as 720 and let my TV or processor up convert it to 1080. The Genie passes what ever the signal is. The Hopper, you must go into the menu and choose what you want. 480, 720, 1080. I like that the Genie passes the native signal. Also the question of bit rates and compression affect how each company provides the signal.

The Genie as with most all D* HD recvrs, will pass the signal thru in its native form as well as having the recvr do the processing, it depends on how you want to use it ...

It will do either.

acostapimps

Apr 10, 2014

So the Hopper don't have a choice in keeping the resolution the way you want it, but instead switches to the native resolution to that channel that's broadcasting in?, in other words uncheck unwanted resolution 720p or 1080i/p and stays that way regardless of the channel HD or SD, instead just flips to the default resolution for that channel.

Posted Via The FREE SatelliteGuys Reader App!

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

20 minutes ago · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Tech News Weekly 441

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL5XFOpX4_A

Direct YouTube Link - Tech News Weekly 441
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

20 minutes ago · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Home Theater Audio: JBL SCL-6 Speaker Custom Build! #shorts

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CRhynF2RE20

Direct YouTube Link - Home Theater Audio: JBL SCL-6 Speaker Custom Build! #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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teachtom

22 minutes ago · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Problem when I switch from Bonus View channels back to regular Dish channels

Hello everyone, new guy here. I'm trying to solve problem I'm having with Dish bonus view channels. When I'm watching the bonus view channels then I switch back to regular dish channels, after few minutes the screen flips to black and after 30 seconds flips back to regular channels and continues to flip back and forth until I turn off TV. After I wait 30 minutes and turn back on , I can use regular channels again. So, its after I switch from bonus view channels to regular dish channels the problem starts. Been trying to fix this for a month, but no luck
Here what I've done.
i contacted Dish support and they sent me a new Joey3, but no help. Switched to a different HDMI input on TV, no help. Used different HDMI cable , no help. Used different electrical wall plug, no help.
Finally got a Dish tech to check it. He ran all systems check and was OK. Finally he brought in a small TV and plugged in the HDMI out from the Joey to the small TV. He could not get the problem to occur on his small TV, so the new Joey was working OK. So, then the problem must be myTV. He made some phone calls and came back with the answer that there must be a problem with the analog to digital switch in my TV. Has anyone ever heard of a problem like this, or is it time to be looking for a new TV? My tv LG OLED65C8PUA. TV has been trouble free til now. Thanks

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dfergie

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!

Last reply 33 minutes ago · posted in What's Cooking?

What's For Lunch?

We have a Breakfast and Dinner thread so...

Continuing from the Breakfast thread, found Cornbread mix so ...
Yellow Cornbread Mix
2 Hatch Green Chiles -diced
1 Egg
2/3 cup of milk
add to greased pan
Bake for 400f 20-25 minutes(From instructions)
now to put together and try... this to go with pinto beans...

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TRG

Monday at 3:34 PM

Pork shoulder, refried beans, cheddar and chopped green chile burrito with a pint of pale ale.

Its nice being able to have a pint with lunch during the week or whenever. I've been enjoying the retired life.

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dfergie

Monday at 4:27 PM

TRG said:
Pork shoulder, refried beans, cheddar and chopped green chile burrito with a pint of pale ale.

Its nice being able to have a pint with lunch during the week or whenever. I've been enjoying the retired life.

View attachment 191651

Congrats! I love retirement, no wake ups, no e-mails...
Leftovers for lunch, bacon wrapped salmon fillet from Saturday and a KFC thigh from Friday, Tea.

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TRG

Monday at 4:50 PM

dfergie said:
Congrats! I love retirement, no wake ups, no e-mails...
Leftovers for lunch, bacon wrapped salmon fillet from Saturday and a KFC thigh from Friday, Tea.

I've been retired since October. It was very strange at first. But I'm loving it now.

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TRG

Yesterday at 4:11 PM

Creamy flat chicken enchiladas with green chile, beans and rice.

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dfergie

48 minutes ago

Layered Spicy Dorito / chili cheese Frito pie casserole…real sugar Pepsi

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TRG

33 minutes ago

I had a very unusual but delicious 1/4lb hotdog with cream cheese, raspberry preserves and chopped Hatch green chile. It is an unlikely combination but it works.

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N5XZS

Last reply 44 minutes ago · posted in Over the Air Television By RabbitEars.Info

New low power station with CP has been granted. "Albuquerque "

New low power station has been granted by the FCC and the new call leter is K33OB-D on RF ch. 33.

Will run at 15 KW ERP, this one runs from the Westside same location as KWPL-LD a HC2 owned station.

It's going to be aimed at eastern part of Albuquerque, so it's tightly focused beam pattern.

This new station is owned by Digital Network and what kind of programmings is unkown at this time.

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N5XZS

Yesterday at 4:51 PM

Yeah, there are some diginets like Heartland, Retro, The Family Channel diginetworks that we already have here in this market and we don't need duplicates, but bring the new diginets on like the Rev'n, Karate Acton movies, different kind of music videos on the new station. :hatsoff2

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comfortably_numb

Yesterday at 4:54 PM

N5XZS said:
Yeah, there are some diginets like Heartland, Retro, The Family Channel diginetworks that we already have here in this market and we don't need duplicates, but bring the new diginets like Revn, Karate Acton movies, different kind of music videos on the new station.

I watch MovieSphere Gold channel a lot. Many recent movies on that digitnet

N5XZS

Yesterday at 4:59 PM

Yes that's a good channel MovieSphere, only thing is the missing CC on it.

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comfortably_numb

Today at 1:35 AM

According to the FCC listing, the tower is near I-40 and Juan Tabo:

FCCInfo Results

FCC Info is a Radio and Television Station Search Engine provided by Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc.

www.fccinfo.com

primestar31

44 minutes ago

comfortably_numb said:
According to the FCC listing, the tower is near I-40 and Juan Tabo:

FCCInfo Results

FCC Info is a Radio and Television Station Search Engine provided by Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc.

www.fccinfo.com

Many of these in my DMA are on cell towers, so don't always reach very far because the towers aren't very high.

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Linus Tech Tips

50 minutes ago · posted in Linus Tech Tips

I Found Free Money in the Tech House

Time for another AWESOME video from Linus Tech Tips!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FoAOhbeo5Y

Direct YouTube Link - I Found Free Money in the Tech House
Linus on Facebook
The LTT Store

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Today at 1:32 PM · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Hollywood Faces the AI Tipping Point with Robert Tercek

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOgBoy9ScCY

Direct YouTube Link - Hollywood Faces the AI Tipping Point with Robert Tercek
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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zippyfrog

Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Today at 1:28 PM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Price Increase on Owned Equipment?

Did anyone have a price increase today on their equipment? I own my VIP211k's, and they have been $5.00. My bill that I received last week shows the "add-ons" as being $5.00. However, I just logged into my Dish account, and my "add-ons" are now $10.00. Did the additional receivers go up by $5.00 recently?

As I mentioned, my last bill shows $5.00 and under the notes, nothing is mentioned about a price increase.

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zippyfrog

Today at 11:29 AM

However, when I make a change (tried to add the Columbian pack for $2 so I could generate my bill) and there is a new line - it says "Access for TV" - whereas previously that line item was not there. I hope they aren't charging $5.00 for the initial TV now...

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telstar_1

Today at 11:45 AM

Apparently it's not an "owned receiver" fee but rather an extension fee that's applied to 2nd and subsequent viewing. Maybe that played into their decision to force a box at every TV- garnering those fees

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zippyfrog

Today at 12:34 PM

telstar_1 said:
Apparently it's not an "owned receiver" fee but rather an extension fee that's applied to 2nd and subsequent viewing. Maybe that played into their decision to force a box at every TV- garnering those fees

Possibly. In theory, $9 of the base pack has a rental fee built in. But now is this $5 a chance to get a little more? I don't know for sure. According to chat, it is a glitch and will be resolved in a timely manner, but we shall see. Part of my thinks there is a going to be a new charge, whether it is now or this fall. Here in Illinois, the law requires we are given 30 days notice of any fee changes, but I have not been given anything.

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MikeD-C05

Today at 1:11 PM

These fees are why streaming has caught on so well across the country and DISH is losing subs each quarter. Soon won't be enough subs to be profitable.

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telstar_1

Today at 1:28 PM

Does cable charge box rent?

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Bruce

Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Today at 1:16 PM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Dish Satellite now under 5 Million subscribers/Sling under 2 Million.

With the 1st Quarter Report just released, Dish lost another 180,000, now at 4.84 Million.

Sling now at 1.79 million subscribers, down approximately 190,000.

For comparison, YouTube TV now has about double the subscribers of Dish and Sling combined.

DISH & Sling TV Lost Over 366,000 TV Subscribers In Just 3 Months | Cord Cutters News

EchoStar Corporation, the owner of the DISH Network satellite television service and the Sling TV streaming platform, continued to experience steep declines in its pay-television customer base during the first three months of 2026. The company reported a net loss of approximately 366,000 pay-TV...

cordcuttersnews.com

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fmj77

May 11, 2026

I'm surprised Dish still has that many subscribers. I don't know a single person in my area that is still with them after getting either Starlink or fiber at their home. They all cancelled Dish and went with streaming. I used to get offers pretty regularly in the mail to come back to Dish, but no more. Haven't seen one in a couple of years now.

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Bruce

May 11, 2026

fmj77 said:
I'm surprised Dish still has that many subscribers. I don't know a single person in my area that is still with them after getting either Starlink or fiber at their home. They all cancelled Dish and went with streaming. I used to get offers pretty regularly in the mail to come back to Dish, but no more. Haven't seen one in a couple of years now.

Only about 3.6% of Households in the United States, still have Dish Network.

For comparison, YouTube TV has about 10%.

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Yespage

May 18, 2026

$25 a month for 1 gig, for two years with Spectrum. I'd be darned that their router was MUCH better than AT&T's. I didn't realize that what I thought was something else was the bloody router. Those buffering issues stopped when I swapped... after AT&T refused to lower my bill, after 25 years of high speed internet service. They wanted $80 or so a month for 1 gig, with no drop to a lower speed.

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telstar_1

Jun 2, 2026

I despise that most of all. I'm going to talk to a remote?

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tsunami2311

Friday at 11:03 PM

Yespage said:
$25 a month for 1 gig, for two years with Spectrum. I'd be darned that their router was MUCH better than AT&T's. I didn't realize that what I thought was something else was the bloody router. Those buffering issues stopped when I swapped... after AT&T refused to lower my bill, after 25 years of high speed internet service. They wanted $80 or so a month for 1 gig, with no drop to a lower speed.

1gbit up and down here from att start out great was suppose to be $60 for life of service, with years time it went back up to $80 I complained about they gave us $49 for year which about to end, I Wonder what prices will be when it "up" I in no way like ATT fiber service there DNS that are hardcode and unchange able in the router are some WORSE DNS I ever used. you know how much of pain it is to change DNS setting on EVERY single wireless device...

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mwdxer1

Saturday at 3:08 AM

Bruce said:
Only about 3.6% of Households in the United States, still have Dish Network.

For comparison, YouTube TV has about 10%.

I dropped Dish a couple years back after having them for 25 years. The pricing got higher and after we got high speed internet, I watched it less and less. It got to the point all I watched was TCM for classic movies. Many of them are on You Tube now and a Premium subscription is $14 a month. A far cry of the $100 a month was paying with AT180, Supers, and locals. I get locals OTA anyway. I took down the dish several months ago and tossed it. I owned all my my equipment, so nothing to return. Do I miss a traditional cable type service? No way. If I want one I have all of the free live streaming with Roku, the Fire Stick, as well as Google TV. Right now as I type this, I am watching episodes of "The Midnight Special" from 1976 on You Tube, ad free. Dish was fine for many years. I do not regret buying the equipment and installing it myself (No installers in 1999). I enjoyed Dish for many years. My thoughts, Dish & Direct will be forced to merge in time, or they both will be gone. Even cable companies are getting out of TV. Some are only selling the internet and phone packages.

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tanman

Sunday at 12:01 PM

telstar_1 said:
I despise that most of all. I'm going to talk to a remote?

Hello Computer On Phone GIF - Hello Computer Hello On Phone - Discover & Share GIFs

Click to view the GIF

tenor.com

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nelson61

Monday at 8:20 PM

A lot of it flows back to the 4 big networks.
Cable and satellite are their money tree.

But, in reality, each market need 1 or perhaps 2 news feeds - not 4 or more

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MikeD-C05

Today at 1:16 PM

nelson61 said:
A lot of it flows back to the 4 big networks.
Cable and satellite are their money tree.

But, in reality, each market need 1 or perhaps 2 news feeds - not 4 or more

In my area we get 2 news feeds spread over 4 local stations.
ABC/NBC (TEGNA)
Same news cast simulcast over both channels.

CBS/Fox (Sinclair)
Same news casters at 5pm, 6pm, 10pm.
Fox shows an hour at 9pm but same news casters.

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lordodogg

Last reply Today at 12:54 PM · posted in DIRECTV General Forum

HR44 rebooted overnight?

Hello again, haven't posted here in a while.

This morning, around 6:30am, I woke up and found the front panel lights on my HR44 on (I leave it off all the time as it is co-located with one of my Geminis).

Immediately thinking that either a reboot or power outage occurred, I checked the software version, and found that it's still the same release that was sent out last month.

I then ruled out a power outage by checking the clocks on my appliances and seeing that they're still correct (they reset when there's an outage, somewhat similar to the "blinking 12" on VCRs).

I then confirmed a reboot by checking the Upcoming Recordings (fka To-Do List) and seeing that the number was much lower than before (it always resets after a reboot).

I am definitely guessing what happened (and it may very well be actually what happened) is that the "Reset Required" prompt may have come up sometime overnight, and it eventually timed out and rebooted automatically. IIRC that prompt comes up when new software "plugins" have to be installed.

Would like to hear your thoughts, especially since I probably haven't talked to some of you reading this in a while (was a former CE member, left almost a year ago).

Thank you all in advance!

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Tom Speer

May 20, 2026

My HR54 blue light is on this morning. I think you ae right about the plugins. They are tweaking things in the customer National release. What version does your HR44 Genie have now? I think you are probably on the same varsion as the CE group today.

lordodogg

May 20, 2026

I believe mine says 0x1D7F

Tom Speer

May 20, 2026

That is what I have.

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lordodogg

Today at 12:54 PM

Happened again today & have new software, 0x1d88

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