ALl DVR Events Gone, but I didn't delete them -- Help!

[AngryStamen]

First off, sorry for the EXTREME length of this post, just wanted to be detailed.

Last night, I decided to rescan my OTA locals into my ViP 722, since I figured there may be some changes since the digital transition occurred last friday. (I'm in Pittburgh, PA, by the way.) It scanned in the channels just fine, but I noticed that while some channels in the guide mirrored the information shown on the satellite equivalent channel, a couple other channels did not mirror the information...they just read "Digital Service across the whole channel. I tried a soft reboot (press-and-hold the power button), and it started back up, but still the same guide listings. It was late so I decided to unplug the DVR and deal with it the next day.

I went to work today, and when I came home today at ~6:30-ish, I plugged my box back in. I should say that we were on the cusp of a pretty major storm here in Pittsburgh...heavy rain, etc., so I thought that maybe that was the reason it was taking so long to start back up. It was on the "Acquiring satellite signal" screen for at least a half hour, cycling through transponders, and progress, never quite getting back up and running. When it would get back up and running, I started getting an error message when I tried to access the DVR recoridings: "Unable to access this feature at this time. Data not available." Anyone ever see this message.

I continued to unplug-plug in and I was able to get back to my recordings. Watch one of them, and then switched to a channel that was recording. It was having problems, freezing up, locking up, so I attempted yet another power-button reboot. After some more reboots, I got it back up and running, but when i attempted to access my DVR recordings....the list was EMPTY!! The strange thing is, though, that although the list was empty,[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] at the top of the list, where it shows how much space is remaining on the DVR, it shows the same amount of time as before, when my list was full of recordings...it shows HD: 19hr 14min, SD: 122hr 24min. It's like the recordings are still taking up the space, they are just not being shown, if that makes sense.

Needless to say, I freaked out, and called Dish Network immediately. I got a girl who had me go into the menu, System Setup (6), Installation (1), System Info (3). She had me go into Details, and scroll down to the Value list, which read as follows: Value: 0:0, Value: 1:0, [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Value: 2:0, Value: 3:0, [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Value: 4:4, Value: 5:0, [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Value: 6:0, Value: 7:-2, [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Value: 8:1, Value: 9:5.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
She then asked me to go back to the main System Info screen and tell me what I saw on f...it is HDD over a green background. She said that there was nothing to be done and that I've lost my recordings and she would send out a new box. I was devastated! I have over 35 hours of HD recordings and they're gone forever? How could it be, since the time remaining was still listing as if there are recordings on the box?

I decided to try Dish chat, and after an attempted power button reboot, we did an unplug-plugin reboot. Now, I'm back to getting the error message, Unable to access this feature at this time. Data not available.

Can anybody help me? Is there ANY way to recover my recordings?!?! Should I try resetting to factory defaults? Any help is EXTREMELY appreciated!!
[/FONT]

 

[Pen15head]

two possibilities, either harddrive shot or no epg info. open the guide and press 666 browse (left blue button). this should prompt the guide to update. if it doesnt, run checkswitch test which will also prompt for guide update after signal acquisition. if after the guide does update and you still do not have access, then the receiver probably needs replaced.

 

[AngryStamen]

I'll give the above a shot...also wanted to mention that I just did another power-button reboot. It came back on and the same error appeared when I attempted to access my recordings. I put it into standby, and when I hit the "ok" button to go back to tv, I'm getting the following message:

Error--311

An issue has been detected that may affect your ability to record or pause live TV.

Unplugging the power cord of your receiver for one minute and then re-plugging may resolve the issue.

If you continue to see this message, please contact Technical Support.

Reference: 0521

 

[Pen15head]

error 311 pretty much means the harrdrive is toast. sorry man. there is one chance, but it will most likely only be a temp fix till the error happens again.

from the diagnostics screen, there is a special sequnce of buttons you press on the remote which will force the receiver to format the harddrive. i know its on here somewhere in the forums, but could not find it. im sure someone here can step up and let us know what it is.

 

[Stargazer]

All the timers were erased on my father's 522 a few days ago but recordings were still on there.

 

[TNGTony]

It really looks like the HD took a dump and you really need to have the box replaced. Sorry. I feel your pain!

See ya
Tony

 

[DishGuise]

First off, sorry for the EXTREME length of this post, just wanted to be detailed.

Last night, I decided to rescan my OTA locals into my ViP 722, since I figured there may be some changes since the digital transition occurred last friday. (I'm in Pittburgh, PA, by the way.) It scanned in the channels just fine, but I noticed that while some channels in the guide mirrored the information shown on the satellite equivalent channel, a couple other channels did not mirror the information...they just read "Digital Service across the whole channel. I tried a soft reboot (press-and-hold the power button), and it started back up, but still the same guide listings. It was late so I decided to unplug the DVR and deal with it the next day.

I went to work today, and when I came home today at ~6:30-ish, I plugged my box back in. I should say that we were on the cusp of a pretty major storm here in Pittsburgh...heavy rain, etc., so I thought that maybe that was the reason it was taking so long to start back up. It was on the "Acquiring satellite signal" screen for at least a half hour, cycling through transponders, and progress, never quite getting back up and running. When it would get back up and running, I started getting an error message when I tried to access the DVR recoridings: "Unable to access this feature at this time. Data not available." Anyone ever see this message.

I continued to unplug-plug in and I was able to get back to my recordings. Watch one of them, and then switched to a channel that was recording. It was having problems, freezing up, locking up, so I attempted yet another power-button reboot. After some more reboots, I got it back up and running, but when i attempted to access my DVR recordings....the list was EMPTY!! The strange thing is, though, that although the list was empty,[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] at the top of the list, where it shows how much space is remaining on the DVR, it shows the same amount of time as before, when my list was full of recordings...it shows HD: 19hr 14min, SD: 122hr 24min. It's like the recordings are still taking up the space, they are just not being shown, if that makes sense.

Needless to say, I freaked out, and called Dish Network immediately. I got a girl who had me go into the menu, System Setup (6), Installation (1), System Info (3). She had me go into Details, and scroll down to the Value list, which read as follows: Value: 0:0, Value: 1:0, [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Value: 2:0, Value: 3:0, [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Value: 4:4, Value: 5:0, [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Value: 6:0, Value: 7:-2, [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Value: 8:1, Value: 9:5.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
She then asked me to go back to the main System Info screen and tell me what I saw on f...it is HDD over a green background. She said that there was nothing to be done and that I've lost my recordings and she would send out a new box. I was devastated! I have over 35 hours of HD recordings and they're gone forever? How could it be, since the time remaining was still listing as if there are recordings on the box?

I decided to try Dish chat, and after an attempted power button reboot, we did an unplug-plugin reboot. Now, I'm back to getting the error message, Unable to access this feature at this time. Data not available.

Can anybody help me? Is there ANY way to recover my recordings?!?! Should I try resetting to factory defaults? Any help is EXTREMELY appreciated!![/FONT]

To be completely honest, I'm not sure if you got a message that would've prompted deletion of all of the dvr recordings or not. What you do have is the 024 message that states data not available which is tied closely to your EPG. In regards to trying a quick fix or work around, really the only examples of a work around that I can give you at this point is unplugging for half an hour, go directly into a power source rather than a surge protector and see if it allows the guide to download completely and access of the information. This rarely works but you wouldn't have come here if you weren't desperate for something off the wall that may happen. I've seen hard drive failure (basically what it's indicating) get resolved by simply bypassing surge, allowing the static that may or may not be inside the receiver to be discharged and then powering back up iwth a direct power source. If that does work, get on the horn pay the 39.99 and get an external hard drive.

If I'm not mistaken value 7 is crucial here as well, it should read 4. Anything other than 4 and it's almost always complete hard drive failure.

Try what I've mentioned and see if it works. If it doesn't sorry but this is the reason external hard drives are always a good choice.

Please also note that attempting ~10 hard resets (unplugging and replugging) could be an issue that caused this scenario.

 

[tygold]

I hate to say it, but its done for
Hard drive failure on the 622 and 722 receivers are a very common problem, and unfortunately there is no way to recover the recordings once lost.

 

[AngryStamen]

How EXTREMELY frustrating to lose over 35 hours of movies/TV shows because of a faulty DVR!! I really think that DISH should do more than just replace the box...I'll have to press them on it, of course.

I just don't get it...the list is empty, but the time remaining indicates that the box can tell that there's SOMETHING there!! INFURIATING!!!

 

[Stargazer]

I would be extremely irate and ask for a credit if something like that happened to me because you lose several month's worth of movies on it if you have saved content on it. I have an external hard drive now but I record the movies and special events to it but my series shows goes to the internal hard drive.

 

[navychop]

....Hard drive failure on the 622 and 722 receivers are a very common problem, .....

I'd like to see some support for that statement. I daresay it is more likely that HDD problems are FEWER with the ViP series than with earlier models. If it were "a very common problem" we'd be hearing a lot more about it, and Dish would have made changes. It certainly costs them money to replace a unit with a failed HDD, so it is in their interest to minimize such problems.

I've had 6 or 7 721s come thru my home, due to failed HDDs and power supplies. I've lost PPV movies, etc. Certainly have not seen such problems on my ViP622 or either ViP722.

 

[rrmills]

I'd like to see some support for that statement. I daresay it is more likely that HDD problems are FEWER with the ViP series than with earlier models. If it were "a very common problem" we'd be hearing a lot more about it, and Dish would have made changes. It certainly costs them money to replace a unit with a failed HDD, so it is in their interest to minimize such problems.

I've had 6 or 7 721s come thru my home, due to failed HDDs and power supplies. I've lost PPV movies, etc. Certainly have not seen such problems on my ViP622 or either ViP722.

I think the real quote should be "Hard drive failure is a very common problem", because it's true for a lot more than just Dish DVRs. As drive size and speed increases, so does the failure rate. At least with our PCs, we have easy options to back up our data because disks are so cheap. A little harder with our DVRs.

 

[Pen15head]

ive had the same 722 for two years, flawless performance. my dad and grandpa have never replaced their receivers either, and my grandpa is still running a 501 he got back when dish first released it.

if you want to keep recordings for extreme periods of time, get an external hdd. face it, the receiver is a computer, and the harddrive has moving mechanical parts that could fail from heat, friction, static, and normal wear and use. if you must keep the programming forever, then back it up like you would on your computer. get a dvd burner and hook it up to your dvr rec.

i guess im lucky i have a short attention span. i rarely have more then 10 hours of hd on my 722. i delete something right after i watch it. the few movies that i just couldnt do without that i recorded i just burnt on to dvd.

 

[Pen15head]

oh still sucks ya lost your programming. ive met a few people who take the death of their dog easier then the death of their dvr.

 

[Stargazer]

501/508 = LOTS of problems for me, mainly due to tuners burning out. I had one hard drive failure with one of them. I have had a few refurbished 522's have issues but didnt have any issues with any new 522 I had. The 722 I have had since last November and it has given me no hardware issues. I had to reboot it from time to time due to some software bug but other than that, it has worked great. I have no issues with the external hard drive functionality.

 

[AngryStamen]

I just found a post over at DBSTalk that might help my situation...it suggests that I try re-orienting the DVR (turning it on its side) and boot it up to see if the hard drive will read temporarily. Anyone ever try this, had any success?

BTW, thanks for all your suggestions, and condolences, for my dilemma!!

 

[navychop]

Love to hear if it worked. Sounds like the old "put your dead HDD in the freezer and....."

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I just found a post over at DBSTalk that might help my situation...it suggests that I try re-orienting the DVR (turning it on its side) and boot it up to see if the hard drive will read temporarily. Anyone ever try this, had any success?

BTW, thanks for all your suggestions, and condolences, for my dilemma!!

I seriously doubt you'll get your stuff back. Just have Dish send you a new unit. We've all experienced lost recordings (heck back in the SD days, whenever they did software releases on my first DVR, the darn thing would wipe the hard drive. Terribly irritating.

But at least you know it wasn't an evil plot by Tivo to disable your DVR.

 

[rrmills]

Love to hear if it worked. Sounds like the old "put your dead HDD in the freezer and....."

Don't joke, this actually worked for me once with a nearly-dead laptop HDD.

 

[Hall]

Don't joke, this actually worked for me once with a nearly-dead laptop HDD.

This is used as a quick fix, i.e. salvage what data you can off of the HDD. After you get the data off, you trash the drive 'cause it WILL happen again.