DirecTV HR2x Mass Lockups overnight 10/6

[Bunnyman]

Had to reboot my HR20 this morning. Turned everything off and went out for a couple of hours. When I got back I had to reboot all over again. WTF?

 

[tigerfan33]

Is this sent out with a software update??

Does this explain wht this is happening the last few weeks for some people??

 

[skottey]

I've had intermittent problems with my HR20 not responding to the remote over the last month or so, but this morning it was totally locked up. Neither the remote nor the buttons on the receiver had any effect. Rebooted and it worked -- for about an hour. So far I've had to reboot three times. I should do it again but I guess I'll just give up and watch one channel. At least I seem to have lots of company. And at least my other two receivers (both old fashioned non-HD) seem to be working fine. I assume the problem must be on their end but they'd better fix it soon or they will have a mass uprising. This is ridiculous.

I don't understand how the problem can be at their end with a one way transmission. They send a signal, our boxes receive it. Doesn't a bad software or guide update seem more likely, even though they are denying it? If they treat their engineers anything like they do their channel additions as of lately, it could be a case of a virus in the boxes, put into the code of one of the past updates. Maybe somebody thought it would be cute to see if they could make everybody's box lock up on 10/6/8... whatever that date means. Can somebody explain how a problem of the boxes freezing up in the world of satellite TV could be at their end?

An afterthought- I have my Ethernet hooked up for On Demand. Does everybody else that is locking up have their Ethernet hooked up? It could certainly be a virus with all these boxes connected to the Internet. It could be anybody in the hacker community... not just a DirecTV employee gone nuts.

 

[sundude90]

Here is the official response from DirecTV:

Quote:
There was a broadcast anomaly that was causing this problem and a fix was put in place at about 2:35 PM ET. We are sending out a re-set this afternoon to boxes starting on the East Coast that should resolve the issue. Let us know if customers on the East Coast experience problems after the reset.
Any boxes that were manually reset after 2:35 PM ET should already be working normally.

I got home at 4pm EST and my R22-100 would not turn on, and anything that was in the to do record did NOT record, including stuff after 2:35PM ET. I called up Directv at around 4:30pm EST and talked to Tech Support and she said that they are working on it still and that they will be doing a software update as soon as they get it fixed.

So I don't think I got that reset you were talking about Jason.

Thanks,

Josh

 

[Ronnie-]

I think you had to manually reset it anyway. If it was locked up it would have to be reset to receive the update anyway (if I am thinking correctly)

 

[jcrandall]

Sundude, your box would have needed to be rebooted at some point after it locked up sometime this morning. This should hopefully prevent it from happening again after you reboot it (which has happened to many people around noon today).

 

[david75]

Both DVRs Dead Simultaneously?

Both of my HD-DVRs were working fine last night. This evening, both would not come on and appeared to be totally dead. I pushed the reset button and the power and eventually both restarted as if they had lost power. Both are on UPSs, so that's not likely, and there are no signs of a power failure elsewhere in the house.

I'm new to the HD-DVRs. What would cause both to do this simultaneously?


Thanks,

Dave

 

[jcrandall]

Is this sent out with a software update??

Does this explain wht this is happening the last few weeks for some people??

My understanding is that is isn't a software problem. Something in the broadcast (satellite to your box) went wrong. This could be guide data, authorizations, actual channels, lots of things.

There was no software release last night, so that isn't it.

They can issue a reboot command to your box, and after the fix, that may be necessary. Don't be alarmed if your box reboots one more time.

 

[Jimbo]

Both of my HD-DVRs were working fine last night. This evening, both would not come on and appeared to be totally dead. I pushed the reset button and the power and eventually both restarted as if they had lost power. Both are on UPSs, so that's not likely, and there are no signs of a power failure elsewhere in the house.

I'm new to the HD-DVRs. What would cause both to do this simultaneously?


Thanks,

Dave

Dave,
D* has an issue with alot of them the past few days, I am sure they are re evaluating what they may have done.

Unplug your units for a few minutes and plug them back in, they should reboot and you should be good to go.

Also, WELCOME to the Site

Jimbo

 

[goober22]

There is an issue with DirectTV that is affecting the HD/DVRs. It is a wide-stream issue. They are aware of it and say they should have it corrected soon. The unit may reset (or lockup) again this evening, but should be fixed at that point. Reboot if needed. Some error seems to have been inserted into the data stream.

 

[skottey]

My understanding is that is isn't a software problem. Something in the broadcast (satellite to your box) went wrong. This could be guide data, authorizations, actual channels, lots of things.

Well, I doubt they added any channels... LOL

 

[OlgaTheCat]

The End is in Sight?

On Jason Crandall's assurances, I just rebooted. Working okay for now, but I'm withholding judgment.

Skottey, if they sent out a bad software update or something like that, I consider that a problem "on their end." They need to fix it. But you may be onto something. My intermittent problems started about the time I hooked the receiver up to my network for on demand. I've disconnected that -- no loss, since I never found anything worth downloading. Hopefully things are getting straightened out, but they sure haven't distinguished themselves in this whole fiasco.

 

[jcrandall]

The problem affected thousands of boxes that were not connected to a network/internet. This was not an internet related problem.

Whatever it was, it came from the satellite stream.

 

[Ronnie-]

The problem affected thousands of boxes that were not connected to a network/internet. This was not an internet related problem.

Whatever it was, it came from the satellite stream.

I agree, it was far to random based on what was posted on the boards today. I would really love to hear exactly what went on, although I know we wont

 

[sundude90]

Thanks Jason. Are you saying that they don't need to issue a software update to fix your receiver? So they can do a fix, during there reset?

But, when they did the reset at 2:35, why didn't that reset mine so it worked again? What does it have to be already reseted for their reset to work?

It PO's me that non of my recording did record today. Those are important to me. I can reset my receivers if I ain't home, but I sure wish I could off.

Thanks, for all you help Jason!

 

[DJ Matt]

I don't feel like reading through this whole thread to get my answer. My box locked up. I unplugged it for a minute and plugged it back in, but then apparently there are still issues. if you turn it off again you can't get it back on unless you unplug the power cord and plug it back in. What the hell did DirecTV do and whats the latest software for it? Very confused.

 

[DJ Rob]

After rebooting my HR21 and sitting down to watch the news, it has rebooted on its own twice now

 

[TARDIS]

Problem started at my house???? I started having problems LAST THURSDAY where if I shut off my receiver for any length of time it would not respond when I would go to turn it back on (I had to hit the red reset button and after it rebooted it would work fine). We also had a pretty severe thunderstorm last Thursday and after I had the same problem a few more times over the weekend I thought something must have happened to it during the storm. So when I got home today from work and had to hit the red button yet again, I decided to call DTV. It was when the automated phone msg (from DTV) came on that I realized that I wasn't alone with this issue except, it didn't start today for me.

 

[jcrandall]

Yeah, the issue overnight essentially froze the box, so it couldn't receive a reset command from D* until YOU reset it.

If it makes anyone feel better, this type of thing is VERY rare.

 

[jcrandall]

I don't feel like reading through this whole thread to get my answer. My box locked up. I unplugged it for a minute and plugged it back in, but then apparently there are still issues. if you turn it off again you can't get it back on unless you unplug the power cord and plug it back in. What the hell did DirecTV do and whats the latest software for it? Very confused.

See post 100.