Stuck at "Receiving Satellite Info"

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geddy2112

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Mar 16, 2005
6
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Seattle
Hey Guys,

Been having a problem since Friday afternoon and I have searched everywhere for similar issues and solutions with no luck. First I will give you a brief overview of my current setup; Slimline 3 dish (not SWM), all 4 LNBs feeding a Zinwell 6x8, one HR23, and 3 H21 receivers with B-band converters. I also have MRV enabled through my ethernet connections on the receivers (thanks to the help of this forum)... I have been a DTV customer since '98, do most of my own work (I'm in the business), I am in the Seattle area, clear line of sight, great signal, no problems in 3 years with this configuration.

Okay, on Friday, I installed a 42" plasma in my daughter's room which required me to unplug one of my H21 receivers. When I plugged it back in it would hang at 0% on step 2 of 2, Receiving satellite info and give a 771 searching for satellite signal error. Now I remember when the original install was completed we had the same issue on initial setup. I would have to go in, repeat satellite setup which would automatically come up with 03: Slimline-3 and 02: Multiswitch (still does) and when I would hit continue it would verify setup and give me 5 boxes with green check marks and a red x - (as I remember, it was something like 4 were good and 1 was bad). It would then give me the option to proceed, it would finish setup, and everything would always work fine. The only times I would need to do this was when I would occasionally pull down a new CE firmware download, and even then, it was not very often that I would have to do it. It would never be an issue when cycling power. That option no longer shows up, so I am stuck at that point... So, the first thing i do is swap my sweet B-band converter with another known working one from my other receiver; no luck. I check my satellite signal to see if there is a problem there; 101 - almost all in the mid 90s, 99c - all high 80s, 103ca - all upper 80s to mid 90s, 103cb - same thing. Noticing that I don't see 99s or 103s that I recall being there, I move to my HR23.

I check the signal meters on my HR23, and sure enough I see the same results as above, but with 99s and 103s there. So to verify that I am making the correct selection, I look at the info screen and see slimline 3 and multiswitch as the correct option. Thinking my H23 may just be bad, I go to repeat satellite setup on this receiver and end up with the exact same problem... damn. Now I have 2 receivers down. I have to leave the house to run a few errands, so I leave both receivers unplugged while I am out. When I get back home that evening, I start over on the HR23 and still cannot get passed step 2. I looked at the firmware dates and see that the HR23 firmware is from 11/30, and the H21 receivers all have firmware from around 8/3.

Back to the original H21... I know I am now in the CE download window, and figuring that my missing "continue anyway" step may have something to do with a previous firmware update, I figure that may be a good next step. I reboot the H21, force a download, and now I have the slick new HD interface. Watching everything proceed, it whips right through setup and everything is great. No errors, no bypassing, success! Sweet... this interface is cool, guide is fast, I'm all in. So I start the the firmware update on my HR23, then jump over to my other 2 H21 receivers and get them going on the download. Not smart... When all of them get to the setup screen, same issue: 0% on step 2 of 2, Receiving satellite info, 771... ugh!

Since all of my equipment is in a wiring closet and easy to get to, I now hook one of the H21 receivers up directly to one of the LNB feeds, disconnecting everything else and bypassing the 6x8 switch. Same result... killer signal strength, no 99s or 103s, stuck at step 2. I try each individual LNB feed, same. I hook the 6x8 back up and run just one receiver, same. That leaves me thinking that I either have a problem with the LNB, or this is still a firmware issue. It's late, I'm tired, and I’m irritated... I leave the receivers unplugged all night and start fresh the next morning. I force another firmware update on one of the H21 receivers and it just says "searching for new firmware" but never finds it... I let everything run its course, try it again, and this time it says it found it, downloads it, and restarts. It reverts back to the old boring blue interface and still sticks at step 2 of 2. I reluctantly call DTV tech support, actually get a girl on the line that was really knowledgeable, nice and helpful... but we get nowhere after another hour of troubleshooting. She says DTV has me listed as having a SWM setup in their system, but she corrects that for me. She sets up a service call for Tuesday, waives the service fee, and puts a note on the repair order to have an actual DTV service rep answer the call - not a subcontractor in a minivan with a magnetic sticker on it (thank you).

I have been trying resets and firmware downloads off and on all weekend. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated...

Thank you.
 
Hi there, Your a long timer here yet don't post ?

Welcome to the Posting side of things.

After reading what you've done, I originally thought it was a bad connection or coax cable, till you moved stuff around and it did it elsewhere as well.

Now I think you have a bad LNB as they are all doing it, sounds like it's in the Going bad stage.

When the D* tech gets there, I'm curious as to weather they will just replace the bad LNB or move you over to the SWM set up.
Personally I wish they would leave that option to the sub, but where I live they are changing every one tom the SWM stuff which works fine, just takes up another spot for power and adds another piece of equipment to go bad, but the benifits of only needing 1 line is a nice feature to have.

Good luck and let us know what they found !
 
Thanks Jimbo,

Yeah, I've been around here for a while, but I don't have that much expertise or experience with the current stuff to comment on it. I also like to research all of my options and be thorough in my troubleshooting before reaching out for help... but it is greatly appreciated.

Have you seen behavior like this from an LNB going bad before? I would think that if it were going bad, I wouldn't be able to download firmware, or not have killer signal, or something like that... but again, I don't know exactly how the LNB and the receiver communicate to get past this step.

When I put this system in my current house about 3 years ago, I researched posts heavily on this forum before beginning a fresh system. I installed a Comm-deck, pulled all of the cabling, installed the 6x8, bought a mast and struts online (thank you Solid Signal)... had everything ready to go for the installer. I actually chose to stay away from the relatively new SWM stuff at that time because we get a fair amount of snow at my elevation, and I had read quite a few posts about guys complaining that rain and snow fade seemed to be worse with the SWM stuff.

I will just have to wait for the tech I guess and see where we end up. I will post back after we get it resolved.

Thanks guys.
 
Forgot to mention that I have tried pretty much every dish option in the list for setup, and they all come back with "A satellite signal could not be detected. Please check your installaton and re-test."

When I look at the signal strength after each of these, it is always fine. What exactly is it looking for to trigger the download process?
 
Do you have a ground block outside? If so I woul recommend checking the connectors there to make sure there is no corrosion. If not, I'm going with the LNB too. I doubt the tech would swap it to SWM since all the lines are there already.
 
Do you have a ground block outside? If so I woul recommend checking the connectors there to make sure there is no corrosion. If not, I'm going with the LNB too. I doubt the tech would swap it to SWM since all the lines are there already.

Good point.
 
Thanks Hutch,

My ground block is in the attic, directly below the dish. My roof is kind of a pain to get up on and I like to keep all of my connections inside if possible. Everything is solid there too, but thank you for the suggestion.

I may try and go up there tonight if I can get a hand pulling out the ladder to check things out... I get full signal strength on every output of the LNB, but who knows. I'll feel like an idiot if it just some bird crap on the LNB or something! :rolleyes:

Thanks again.
 
geddy2112 said:
Thanks Hutch,

My ground block is in the attic, directly below the dish. My roof is kind of a pain to get up on and I like to keep all of my connections inside if possible. Everything is solid there too, but thank you for the suggestion.

I may try and go up there tonight if I can get a hand pulling out the ladder to check things out... I get full signal strength on every output of the LNB, but who knows. I'll feel like an idiot if it just some bird crap on the LNB or something! :rolleyes:

Thanks again.

If its in the attic it's unlikely to have any bad connectors. It's sounding more like a bad LNB more and more
 
Took care of it this afternoon... swapped the LNB and everything went right through. Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it.
 
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