DirecTV2PC no longer recognizes DVRs

[johnnylisa]

Hello,
I have two HR24 DVRs connected to my home network. I recently shut off the DVR receiver connected to the SWM and DECA adapter to rearrange the wiring. I have DirecTV2PC installed on an HP computer running Windows XP Media Center, service pack 3. The program operated correctly on the system until I restarted the DVR. Now the program searches for the DVRs, but cannot find either.

I have tried resetting and restarting both the router and DVR, and restarting the computer and running DirecTV2PC with the firewall and anti-virus program disabled with the same result. Network Magic shows both DVRs on the home network and they both confirm that they are connected to the internet. MRV is working for both DVRs and the DECA lights are all green. Can anyone advise me on what else to try to make the program work as it did before?

Computer:
HP Media Center m7334n
AMD Athlon 64X2 Dual
Core Processor 3800+
1 GB RAM

Router:
D-Link DIR-655
Firmware version: 2.00
Connection Type: DHCP Client
Advanced DNS disabled

DirecTV DVR 1:
HR24
IP Address: 192.168.0.104

DirecTV DVR 2:
HR24
IP Address: 192.168.0.106

 

[ts7]

Can you verify the IP address of the computer (make sure it is in the 192.168.0.x range and doesn't share the same address as either of the DVRs). You might also try to "ping" the DVRs from the computer and see if there is a response - if you get a response, the problem is likely with the software if no response, it is likely a cabling or configuration issue.

 

[Jimbo]

Can you verify the IP address of the computer (make sure it is in the 192.168.0.x range and doesn't share the same address as either of the DVRs). You might also try to "ping" the DVRs from the computer and see if there is a response - if you get a response, the problem is likely with the software if no response, it is likely a cabling or configuration issue.

How do you go about Ping'ing the DVR's ?

 

[ts7]

How do you go about Ping'ing the DVR's ?

Sorry I didn't include more info previously...

I don't have much experience with Windows XP Media Center, but on Windows XP, I would go to Start -> Run and type CMD then hit enter. That should call up a window with a command prompt. The OP already has the IP addresses of the DVRs, so it would simply be a matter of typing ping 192.168.0.104 followed by the enter key. If all is well there should be 4 responses saying "Reply from 192.168.0.104: bytes=32..."

If there are "Request timed out" or "Destination unreachable" messages, then that would indicate a problem with the network, not the software.

While at a command prompt, typing ipconfig will show network information about the PC, most importantly the IP address.

Ping and ipconfig are like a screwdriver and hammer when it comes to network troubleshooting.

Note: You may need to disable the firewall on the Windows XP machine to get ping to work, but as I understood from the original post, that was already done.

 

[Jimbo]

Sorry I didn't include more info previously...

I don't have much experience with Windows XP Media Center, but on Windows XP, I would go to Start -> Run and type CMD then hit enter. That should call up a window with a command prompt. The OP already has the IP addresses of the DVRs, so it would simply be a matter of typing ping 192.168.0.104 followed by the enter key. If all is well there should be 4 responses saying "Reply from 192.168.0.104: bytes=32..."

If there are "Request timed out" or "Destination unreachable" messages, then that would indicate a problem with the network, not the software.

While at a command prompt, typing ipconfig will show network information about the PC, most importantly the IP address.

Ping and ipconfig are like a screwdriver and hammer when it comes to network troubleshooting.

Note: You may need to disable the firewall on the Windows XP machine to get ping to work, but as I understood from the original post, that was already done.

Thanks ts7,
This is not meant to hijack the thread, sorry johnny.

I guess my question would be, how did you come up with the IP address of the recvrs, or is it listed in the setting on the recvr ?

 

[raoul5788]

Thanks ts7,
This is not meant to hijack the thread, sorry johnny.

I guess my question would be, how did you come up with the IP address of the recvrs, or is it listed in the setting on the recvr ?

IIRC, it's in the receiver menu.

 

[johnnylisa]

I have successfully pinged both DVRs.

Jimbo, the receiver IP address, MAC address, gateway, etc can be found in the "Advanced" section of the Network page. I can get the exact menu page sequence when I get home.

 

[nvguy38]

FWIW...

I had the same problem when I recently upgraded my home network with a new router (can we say gigabit??!!). Anyhoo, seems that each receiver was trying to use an IP that was not contained within my new router's DHCP table. Most routers are configured similarly on the LAN side, so it may be the same problem with yours considering your receiver IP's mentioned above looked like mine did before I manually changed them. I simply replaced the 0 with a 1 whereas the old was 192.168.0.104 the new would be 192.168.1.104. Even though all links were green and both receivers were shown as connected to the router, the IP's containing the 0 value were not correct. Once I changed them, everything worked perfectly!!

Peace!

 

[jcrandall]

I hope you wanted Gigabit for something else, IIRC the HR2x boxes only have 10/100 network cards.

 

[johnnylisa]

OK, long story made short - I replaced my shiny new DLink DIR-655 router with my old dusty Linksys WRT54G router and DirecTV2PC now works just like it is supposed to.

Are there any router gurus out there that can tell me what to compare in the routers settings to determine what about the DLink router is causing a conflict with DirecTV2PC?

 

[nvguy38]

OK, long story made short - I replaced my shiny new DLink DIR-655 router with my old dusty Linksys WRT54G router and DirecTV2PC now works just like it is supposed to.

Are there any router gurus out there that can tell me what to compare in the routers settings to determine what about the DLink router is causing a conflict with DirecTV2PC?

Please see my response above. I think those steps will solve your issues as I had the exact same problem when I swapped routers.

 

[nvguy38]

I hope you wanted Gigabit for something else, IIRC the HR2x boxes only have 10/100 network cards.

I know the HR2x boxes are ethernet only. I wanted to eliminate the bottlneck between my PC & cable modem as both are gigabit capable. Now, it's only the devices attached to the router that are less capable.

Peace!