Hi all, I have read numerous threads about these errors but given that there are so many scenarios, I thought I'd start one more. In addition, it seems frustrating that so many people start threads but very few have the final resoultion of what actually solved the problem posted at the end of the thread. That's my plan.
I've had Direct TV for just under one year now. I have the Genie system hooked up in my living room where I have my only HD TV and a DVR. In the other 3 bedrooms I have SD TV's. All in all, 4 TV's hooked up in the house. In late October, during the World Series to be exact, I started getting error message 771 on multiple TV's. I'd be watching TV in the living room and get the error while at the same time my daughter would holler out that she had an error. The problem was intermittent in October but has progressively gotten worse. Eventually I started getting errors 771 and/or 775 on multiple TV's at the same time.
Odd scenari: Sometimes I go home for lunch and watch TV but I rarely get the error message during the day. However, at night the messages were far more frequent. In addition, the error messages seemed more frequent while watching the HD channels and movie channels too. Not sure if it is all a coincidence or not, but just thought I would share that information in case it leads somewhere.
About 10-days ago I made my first call to DTV and they had me search the house for my SWM box. It was not located in the living room next to Genie but rather it was hidden in the master bedroom. They asked if I had a solid green light and it did. They had me unplug both coax cables going into the SWM box (one at a time) and touch the tips to ground and remove static electricity. I did that. Then, they asked me to unplug the power from the surge protector for 1-minute until the green light was out and plug it back into a wall outlet rather than the power strip. I did all that and checked the system and the errors went away for about 24-hours. The following night the errors were back.
I decided to do some more troubleshooting and look at all the connections to each of the 4 receivers. Most were really tight but a couple needed 1/4 turn and after doing that the errors again seemed intermittent. However, a few days ago the problem started getting much worse and now one of the two errors are on almost constantly. I called DTV back and after a few more resets and discussions DTV told me I needed a technician to come out. I disagreed, I'm a doit yourself type guy who enjoys tinkering and fixing problems. If a tech comes out to my house, I'm going to follow him around like a puppy and ask him to walk me through ever single thing he is doing. He will hate me....so I don't really want to go there yet but I realize I'm just a few frustrating incidents away from that. I'm actually okay with that, as long as I have done my due diligence. My biggest let-down failure will be if the guy comes out and finds the problem in 30 seconds. So, what steps can I take to fix this myself? Also, what are some of the common fixes that worked?
One other thing, while I was talking to one of the technical support guys he eventually said that he believed my SWM power box has failed and needs to be replaced. I'm really tempted to go on eBay and buy a brand new one for $12. But, given that my green light is solid I'm wondering how often that is the actual problem. Any way to test these out? How often is the box the problem?
In some of the forums I read about the connections outside getting corroded. I live in Sacramento, CA, its almost always warm and sunny with just a number of winter rain storms. What are the odds that something corroded given that its only been 11-months since everything was installed.
My home is 15-years old, all the coax was installed 15-years ago but its up in the attic, no moisture, no people walking around up there, etc. If you look at the coax, it still looks brand new.
Lastly, I've read about using a multimeter to test. I have a multimeter, but that's one tool I never really learned how to use properly so any advice on what settings to place on the meter and what ends to touch where would be appreciated.
Help.......Rob
I've had Direct TV for just under one year now. I have the Genie system hooked up in my living room where I have my only HD TV and a DVR. In the other 3 bedrooms I have SD TV's. All in all, 4 TV's hooked up in the house. In late October, during the World Series to be exact, I started getting error message 771 on multiple TV's. I'd be watching TV in the living room and get the error while at the same time my daughter would holler out that she had an error. The problem was intermittent in October but has progressively gotten worse. Eventually I started getting errors 771 and/or 775 on multiple TV's at the same time.
Odd scenari: Sometimes I go home for lunch and watch TV but I rarely get the error message during the day. However, at night the messages were far more frequent. In addition, the error messages seemed more frequent while watching the HD channels and movie channels too. Not sure if it is all a coincidence or not, but just thought I would share that information in case it leads somewhere.
About 10-days ago I made my first call to DTV and they had me search the house for my SWM box. It was not located in the living room next to Genie but rather it was hidden in the master bedroom. They asked if I had a solid green light and it did. They had me unplug both coax cables going into the SWM box (one at a time) and touch the tips to ground and remove static electricity. I did that. Then, they asked me to unplug the power from the surge protector for 1-minute until the green light was out and plug it back into a wall outlet rather than the power strip. I did all that and checked the system and the errors went away for about 24-hours. The following night the errors were back.
I decided to do some more troubleshooting and look at all the connections to each of the 4 receivers. Most were really tight but a couple needed 1/4 turn and after doing that the errors again seemed intermittent. However, a few days ago the problem started getting much worse and now one of the two errors are on almost constantly. I called DTV back and after a few more resets and discussions DTV told me I needed a technician to come out. I disagreed, I'm a doit yourself type guy who enjoys tinkering and fixing problems. If a tech comes out to my house, I'm going to follow him around like a puppy and ask him to walk me through ever single thing he is doing. He will hate me....so I don't really want to go there yet but I realize I'm just a few frustrating incidents away from that. I'm actually okay with that, as long as I have done my due diligence. My biggest let-down failure will be if the guy comes out and finds the problem in 30 seconds. So, what steps can I take to fix this myself? Also, what are some of the common fixes that worked?
One other thing, while I was talking to one of the technical support guys he eventually said that he believed my SWM power box has failed and needs to be replaced. I'm really tempted to go on eBay and buy a brand new one for $12. But, given that my green light is solid I'm wondering how often that is the actual problem. Any way to test these out? How often is the box the problem?
In some of the forums I read about the connections outside getting corroded. I live in Sacramento, CA, its almost always warm and sunny with just a number of winter rain storms. What are the odds that something corroded given that its only been 11-months since everything was installed.
My home is 15-years old, all the coax was installed 15-years ago but its up in the attic, no moisture, no people walking around up there, etc. If you look at the coax, it still looks brand new.
Lastly, I've read about using a multimeter to test. I have a multimeter, but that's one tool I never really learned how to use properly so any advice on what settings to place on the meter and what ends to touch where would be appreciated.
Help.......Rob
to Satelliteguys Rob!
