Have to REBOOT my Dish 625 all the time

[buffee]

I have had this DISH DVR 625 since July 23rd. One week after I received it, the hard drive crashed & they had to replace it.
Then on Nov 3, all of a sudden at 5:30 pm-TV 1(not tv 2--ONLY tv 1) just lost the picture & sound. I still had the menu and I could change channels but no matter where I went, just a blank screen. I called DISH and of course all I had to do was reboot, go thru the transponders and it was fine.
Last night at 11:30 on TV2(in my room) same thing happened. Of course it only affected my tv not tv 1, so I rebooted again and it was fine. What is going on?
Am I going to have to reboot this harddrive every day?

 

[bacchus101]

I picked up a 625 in January and have not once had an issue, compared with my 508's which have been somewhat flaky over the last year.

Once they got out the new software for the 625, which was right around the time I got the receiver, the TV2 issues that were reported (black and white) seemed to totally go away.

I have really been problem free.

Do you happen to keep your DVR penned up in a small, warm enclosure?

 

[buffee]

No my DVDR is on a HUGE entertainment center in a space that is designed for something way larger. It has plenty of breathing room. front, back, & up. There is at least 5 feet between it and a wall.
This is very strange.
On saturday when this did it,, we had watched a movie from 12-2 pm. then turned it off. then at 5:30 we went to watch the news and nothing. No pic/no sound.
Yet TV2 in my room was perfectly fine. I called dish & they told me to reboot(I should have known this) and then it was fine.
Last night I was watching tv on TV2 and decided to switch channels at 11:30 and the same thing occurred and when I got up and checked, tv1 was fine, so I rebooted it again..then all was ok. But I'm not going to be very happy if I have to reboot this thing every day. Could it have been something defective thru the company that did my dish install. They are a very shady co. I have written them a letter, the BBB and I wrote to the CEO of Dish Network about their service practices.

 

[installwell]

i've twice seen this exact problem with the 625. I've had no problem in either case getting the dish tech to allow an RA and replacement of the receiver.

based on multiple customers telling me the same thing - Unplugging the unit for 15-30 minutes and plugging it back in will bring it back to life for some time, but it will happen again within the day or the week.

bad part is you will lose all your recordings with the replacement of the unit.

it would seem you have a bad apple. But I can tell you there are many many MANY 625's out there that have had no problems at all.



(I found no TRUE fix for it and have even tried ALL outputs from the unit when it is in that "black screen" mode. ALL the outputs, except TV2, are black screen just the same. I suspect something inside that handles the video output is overheating or possible cold soldered and just failing.)

 

[buffee]

Replace this unit, this would be the 2nd time in 4 months. Thats absurd. By the way I never lost anything I recorded, its still all there..every show.
Why exactly would UNPLUGGING the entire unit. for 1/2 hour help this problem. I'm confused.
The first time it occuured, the tv & unit had been off for at least 3 hours so it wasn't hot, not even warm.

 

[installwell]

Replace this unit, this would be the 2nd time in 4 months. Thats absurd. By the way I never lost anything I recorded, its still all there..every show.
Why exactly would UNPLUGGING the entire unit. for 1/2 hour help this problem. I'm confused.
The first time it occuured, the tv & unit had been off for at least 3 hours so it wasn't hot, not even warm.

Dish wont allow us to swap the hard drive from one unit to another(even though it can easily be done in less than 20 minutes), so if the 625 is replaced, you will get a fresh new hard drive. Thus, losing all of your recordings.

im sorry you've had problems with your unit but the black screen problem is known to dish and it is an internal failure of the unit. replacement is the only fix I am aware of. it is not a cabling or power problem something INSIDE the 625 is broken.

even though the 625 itself is not "hot" there is possibly a component inside that either has a bad connection to the board(cold solder) or is defective and running MUCH hotter than it is designed to. one component inside the unit overheating would not make the whole thing hot.

both the above ideas are just a theory i have based on failures of other equipment and computers ive seen many many times in the past. I dont know for sure what is exactly wrong with those 625's that have the exact problem you are describing.

 

[buffee]

9 days after I got this dvdr, the hard drive crashed, so they had to replace the unit. so this would actually be the 3rd unit since july 23rd.
Its wierd when I called dish...the first time they sounded very unaware of problems with this unit..she had no idea why this might be happening. From what your telling me DISH is very aware of this problem.
Well its been 48 hours and it hasn't happened yet again(knock on wood) at least rebooting recovers it quickly but I really don't want to be doing that all the time not for what I pay each month. Gee when I had just a regular dish receiver, it was problem free for 6 years.

 

[bacchus101]

From what your telling me DISH is very aware of this problem.

I don't think this is that common. Like I said earlier, I have not had one 625 issue in almost a year of ownership. You might want to check the max/min/avg temps just to see if it is running hot where you have it.

Most Dish network issues for me in 9 years have been software based. I have never had to replace a unit based on a hardware failure...

 

[buffee]

how do I check the temp? The unit is sitting in a HIGHLY ventilated area...at least 3 times the size of the unit and there is at least 3-4 between it and the wall.

 

[bacchus101]

how do I check the temp? The unit is sitting in a HIGHLY ventilated area...at least 3 times the size of the unit and there is at least 3-4 between it and the wall.

Menu : 6 : 3 : Counters (Page down 6 times)

Here are my stats to give you a normal range:

HDD High Temp: 122
HDD Low Temp: 105
HDD AVG Temp: 114

 

[buffee]

ok so I must be slightly "retarded" I got to menu & to the counter...what does page down 6 times mean?

 

[bacchus101]

ok so I must be slightly "retarded" I got to menu & to the counter...what does page down 6 times mean?

In the top right of your remote below "aux" you should see page. You want to click the down arrow 6 times to get the the portion of the counter message that has the temperatures.

 

[buffee]

Did it. Temperture is the same as yours. Its been 4 days since its done it, so I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed. thanks for your help & patience.