612 locks up or freezes

[LED]

I had a new 612vip installed by Dish in the middle of June. It started locking up (freezing) when I would fast forward a recorded or a paused program. It would freeze for 15-45 seconds and then continue what it was doing. It would do it 1-3 times a night.
I received a replacement 612, 7 days ago and I installed it.
The replacement receiver does the same thing. It locks up or freezes when I fast forward anything. It doesn't do it as often, but it is really annoying.
I am in the process of calling Dish for a replacement again.
Is this a problem in all 612's? I have had nothing but equipment problems with Dish. I had a 510 that would erase recorded programs.
My old legacy receiver works great.

 

[TheKrell]

I have two leased (but I believe brand new) 612s and neither exhibit this problem.

 

[seeno]

Mine doesn't lock up or freeze, but I have had the box for 2 months and I get pops and clicks every once in a while. It's definitely coming from the box, because after a soft reboot it goes away. I've had this problem right from the moment I got the box. Probably have done at least 5 reboots in 2 months. Will call Dish if the problem doesn't stop.

 

[LED]

By a soft reboot, do you mean holding the power button down?
That does a reset of most of the box. Pulling the AC power will do a major reset.
I have tried both at different times. It still locks up.
Now Dish wants to send a tech out. I guess they think I installed it wrong. If it works, it is installed correctly. We will see after Dish leaves tomorrow.

 

[seeno]

Yes, soft reboot means holding the power button down. Hard reboot means unplugging the AC power. Usually a soft reboot will solve my problem.

 

[seeno]

A quick followup. In the last 2 days my 612 has been freezing more, and not when I'm fast forwarding. Just at random times during a program.

 

[LED]

That's interesting. Sounds like the same problem just showing itself differently.
I have a Dish tech coming over today to "fix" my problem.
I will probably have to keep getting new 612's until I get one that works.
I wish they made another dual input single output reveiver with a big hard drive.
Do they make a 712?

 

[LED]

new 612 locks up

Yesterday a Dish tech replaced my 612 with a different one, and he checked my installation. Guess what, the new 612 locks up just like the previous 2.
I have done some more checking while it's frozen, and none of the remote buttons work except the TV power.
I cant even power the receiver off when it's frozen. It locks up for 10-20 seconds and then continues on.
I have done several hard resets to no avail.
All this happens recording or pausing in SD mode.
Now I don't know what Dish will do. I guess I will call them and see.
This is very irritating. I don't think they have another model receiver that is similar to the 612. The 722 is for 2 TV's.
Can anyone explain what single mode is on the 625 and 722 receivers?
I don't want to run 2 TV's with the receiver, I want it to operate one TV like the 612 does.

 

[TheKrell]

Unbelievable! (I mean that rhetorically, not literally.)

These receivers aren't overheating, are they? How about environmental causes? As a test, can you move it to some other (even nearby) location, or flip it up on it's side?

 

[LED]

I know, it sounds impossible, but it's true. I have it in a semi closed shelf, so I put in 2 fans that keep the area at room temp. It's definitely not hot, just barely warm. I did pull it out as far as I could, it fails so rarely that I will leaving it out for a longer test. I had a DVR 510 in the same spot, and all it did was to erase recorderd programs on it's own, but that is a known problem for 510's.
It's not even close to any other electrical box. My stereo amp, DVD player, VCR and TV are not close. The closest boxs are the VCR and DVD player about 10" above it, and I have them on a power strip that I turn off except when I need them.
I did a few searches on line, and 612's have been known to lock up occasionally.
I wish that if folks are having lock up problems they would leave a msg here.
I think Dish is aware that this is a problem. They said that if I have further problems thay would consider an upgrade. There is only the 625 and the 722 dvr receivers. The 625 isn't an upgrade. I guess that leaves the 722.
I'l keep you updated.

 

[TheKrell]

I am suspicious of the fans and/or noise or sags on the power line. Many years ago, I also saw some bizarre behavior from some semipro video equipment that was plugged into a surge arrester. Plugging it into the wall fixed that problem. BTW - you don't have any electrical service (high current) wiring going through the wall behind your equipment, do you? I remember trying to locate a CRT in a certain location at work, and it turned out I couldn't do so because the magnetic field from the 150 amp circuits on the other side of the wall was too strong and caused the picture to waver.

BTW - my 501 never erased recordings unless I told it to. I think that had the same software load as the 510. But the 501 had such a small disk that Dish never insulted it with that damn VOD crap... So maybe my excellent 501 experience does not apply.

The 625 is indeed not an upgrade since it's a standard def receiver. Probably they meant to say "622", which is a silver version of the 722 with a smaller disk.

 

[JEFFinINDY]

Yesterday a Dish tech replaced my 612 with a different one, and he checked my installation. Guess what, the new 612 locks up just like the previous 2.
I have done some more checking while it's frozen, and none of the remote buttons work except the TV power.
I cant even power the receiver off when it's frozen. It locks up for 10-20 seconds and then continues on.
I have done several hard resets to no avail.
All this happens recording or pausing in SD mode.
Now I don't know what Dish will do. I guess I will call them and see.
This is very irritating. I don't think they have another model receiver that is similar to the 612. The 722 is for 2 TV's.
Can anyone explain what single mode is on the 625 and 722 receivers?
I don't want to run 2 TV's with the receiver, I want it to operate one TV like the 612 does.

Since you're having problems with the 612, you can probably talk them into giving you a 622 or a 722. While they can control two TVs, they don't have to. In single mode, you get two tuners (+OTA) along with picture-in-picture and the ability to flip back and forth between tuners with dual live buffers.

 

[LED]

I did unplug it from my surge protector, no change. There is nothing close enough to cause an EM effect.
Dish doesn't have much info on a 622, what is the difference between a 722 and a 622. I know it's 100, but seriously how much smaller is the drive in a 622?
Other than drive size, are they the same?
They aren't promoting the 622, their web site has very little info on it.

 

[TheKrell]

The 622 is silver; the 722 is black.

 

[HIFI]

don't know if it's related to your problem or not but I was on a service call yesterday on a 222k that was freezing up after replacing the LNB and the receiver the problem was still there verified all connections and cabling.then as a last resort unhooked the HDMI and reconnected it using component cables and all was good

 

[JEFFinINDY]

I did unplug it from my surge protector, no change. There is nothing close enough to cause an EM effect.
Dish doesn't have much info on a 622, what is the difference between a 722 and a 622. I know it's 100, but seriously how much smaller is the drive in a 622?
Other than drive size, are they the same?
They aren't promoting the 622, their web site has very little info on it.

The 722 replaced the 622. Except for color and hard disk size they are nearly identical, save for a few internal components. There are refurbished 622s out there, and you can get them on eBay as well.

I'd ask for a 722 if possible.

 

[LED]

I had a Dish contractor here, and he installed the 722k receiver.
I have no more lock up problems. The tech was very competent.
Now I have another ?. The 722k does not have the OTA connectors, and it does not have an S-video output. I really would like to have the OTA connectors.
I need the S-video connector, because I don't have my new HD TV yet, and probably wouldn't have it for a couple of months.
The composite video audio output is not nearly as good a video signal as the S-video.
Dish claims they don't have the regular 722 with all the connectors I want.
Does anyone know if Dish still makes the regular 722?

 

[HDdude24]

I have to say mine is also doing the same it's pissing me off! should I replace it or get a 722k? Also did it extend your contract?

 

[HIFI]

Does anyone know if Dish still makes the regular 722?

I order at least 70 a week for our office and have had no problem getting it or the k series
I do believe they are reman units though

 

[kb2vgp]

Just a thought, but you may want to either check for yourself or ask the tech if the system is properly grounded. You never know, a grounding issue could be creating your problem.