This 811 is the biggest pile of crap ever!

[Tee-Dub]

Ok, this probably isn't a new topic here but I am furious. After watching an OTA digital program for about 4 minutes, when trying to pull up the guide it goes through the whole 015 finding satellite routine. Then it wants to update the guide. I hit cancel and go to HBO, which it pulls up fine and gives me the program info. When I pull up the guide again it wants to update the guide, but hangs up at the last second and wont finish. This happens to me so often, I am about to smash this heap of trash with a sledge hammer just to get some satisfaction. When calling Dish Network's support, of course they tell me that this is how it is supposed to work. What a load of BS.

Any tips or solutions? My old PVR508 works so flawlessly I'm about to take it out of the bedroom and give up on HD all together.

 

[charper1]

Hangs up? Are you implying it is calling out on the phone line? Which it doesn't do. My 811 works fine. What OTA antenna are you using? What are your distances from the towers? Are your towers all in the same direction? What software version? Give us some details.

 

[Tee-Dub]

By "hanging up" I mean it freezes up when attempting to download the program info. What does my OTA have to do with it? It is a roof mount model from RatShack. All broadcast antennas are in the same direction and are approx 11 miles from me. My local digitals come in perfectly. It is when I try to go back to sat reception from the OTA channels that it gives me problems.

 

[rocatman]

I know you shouldn't have to do this but to avoid frustration, never go to the guide (EPG) from your locals. Switch first to a satellite channel and then go to the guide. There is nothing in the guide for the HD locals anyway. If have your analog OTA channels in the guide for info on the major networks and want to see whats on your locals, I would suggest you switch to a low satellite channel like channel 101 and then page down to the locals. You also need to turn the receiver off at night or when not in use so the guide can download by itself. This should reduce the number of times you get the download guide mess(age). This work around is a lot better than a sledgehammer in the long run.

 

[snathanb]

I know you shouldn't have to do this but to avoid frustration, never go to the guide (EPG) from your locals. Switch first to a satellite channel and then go to the guide. There is nothing in the guide for the HD locals anyway. If have your analog OTA channels in the guide for info on the major networks and want to see whats on your locals, I would suggest you switch to a low satellite channel like channel 101 and then page down to the locals. You also need to turn the receiver off at night or when not in use so the guide can download by itself. This should reduce the number of times you get the download guide mess(age). This work around is a lot better than a sledgehammer in the long run.

I can second that... I use a programmable remote, and have programmed the power button to turn on/off my entire AV system. It has probably been about 2 months since I got the dreaded "searching for signal" bug when hitting guide from an OTA local.

 

[keith]

If you leave the 811 on OTA your guide will break. Just this morning I switched from OTA to satellite and the 811 locked solid, requiring a reboot. This is very repeatable on my 811. I know the 811 will require a reboot if I leave it on OTA for a while. That's one of the reasons why I now use a 6000 on my main TV.

If you read these forums, you should know that if you watch OTA then switch to satellite without using the guide then cross only the fingers on your left hand and face directly West while opening the guide you might not lock up the 811, LOL.

Keep on complaining to Dish and hope for better things in the next software update. I feel your pain!

Keith.

 

[Tee-Dub]

That is the thing. I have been going to a sat channel to avoid this problem, but sometimes that doesn't work. That is what I did last night when it froze up solid.

What is the "proper" re-boot method for this box anyway?

 

[mike123abc]

Ok here are some tips to work around the 811 problems.

1. If you leave the 811 on OTA too long it will lose the ability to use the guide (I think the actual amount of time is just being on OTA when you pass the hour or half hour mark). To fix tune to a satellite channel and wait until "info" shows the correct information. Then the guide button will work (it may have to download again, but most of the time it will work). If you hit guide before info works, you will be out of luck.

2. If info starts to show the wrong information on the program, then the guide has become corrupted (happens every few days to me) you have to go hold the power button down on the unit until the picture freezes. Then you can let go. The box will then reboot. It takes its own sweet time about it. The picture stays frozen a bit, then it will go black, you will see some flickering then you will get the aquiring satellite message, then download of the guide.

 

[WeeJavaDude]

That is the thing. I have been going to a sat channel to avoid this problem, but sometimes that doesn't work. That is what I did last night when it froze up solid.

What is the "proper" re-boot method for this box anyway?

Press the power button and hold it for a count of 15 seconds should do it.

 

[GaryPen]

If you read these forums, you should know that if you watch OTA then switch to satellite without using the guide then cross only the fingers on your left hand and face directly West while opening the guide you might not lock up the 811, LOL.

If you stand on one foot and sing the Chinese national anthem (in Mandarin, not Cantonese), while doing the above, you should have no problems at all. It's simple really.
I don't know why people are always bashing the 811, when there are such simple workarounds to only 4 or 5 or 6 or so major bugs. They're just crazy perfectionists!

 

[jerryez]

You must turn off the 811 when not in use to give it time to download the guide. This is a crock of s**t, but the truth. Dish should fix the receiver, so that it will download the guide whether its' on or off.

 

[NightRyder]

You must turn off the 811 when not in use to give it time to download the guide. This is a crock of s**t, but the truth. Dish should fix the receiver, so that it will download the guide whether its' on or off.

It will download guide when on, it just interrupts your viewing while doing it. All Dish single tuner receivers work this way and unless they change the way the guide information is streamed it is not going to change. So....put the receiver in standby when not using it and save yourself the headaches.

NightRyder

 

[keith]

It will download guide when on, it just interrupts your viewing while doing it. All Dish single tuner receivers work this way...

Aha, what we users thought was a bug is really a feature! I have yet to see my 6000 interrupt the show to download guide info (except after a check switch or loss of signal), but then again, I never modified my usage pattern to circumvent the 811 "features" or accommodate the 6000.

Perhaps I am just lucky with the 6000 and unlucky with the 811.

Keith.

 

[WeeJavaDude]

Aha, what we users thought was a bug is really a feature! I have yet to see my 6000 interrupt the show to download guide info (except after a check switch or loss of signal), but then again, I never modified my usage pattern to circumvent the 811 "features" or accommodate the 6000.

Perhaps I am just lucky with the 6000 and unlucky with the 811.

Keith.

Keith it does it in chunks. Just slide to the right and you will hit it. The 6000 does not keep two days worth of guide info. It keeps a few hours. As for the guide the 811 getting guide info.

1) The 6000 keeps a minimum of guide info and gets the rest on demand as you scroll to the right. That is why you never see an acquiring guide info because it does not have to manage a lot. However, when you scroll to the right to see more guide info that is when you feel the pain and a lot of pain in my opinion (Previous 6000 owner). Also try Themes on the 6000 and you will soon appreciate what 2 day guide offers. Even in its current implemenation.

2) The 811 keeps a longer amount of guide info. I fully understand the argument that we should not see the 811 getting guide info and it should be transparent. I agree here and I think Dish needs to work on this algorithm a bit more.

3) The guide download after the aquiring signal is obvious a side effect of the acquiring signal. My guess is since it gets into the acquiring signal mode it is not sure the validity of the guide so it downloads a new one. The 6000 and the 811 both have the acquring signal bug.

4) I would agree that having that acquiring signal pop up when you press the guide followed by the downloading guide is very annoying. I hope they fix this one eventually and the downloading guide in this case would disappear. They way it looks to me is the bug is the acquring signal; downloading guide data following is an artificate of the bug. Could be wrong but that is my take on this one. I see it about once every 1 to 2 weeks.

I am not sure if you are making a point that the 6000 handles the guide better or not. Having owned both I would arguee even with the current implementation of the 811 and its guide issues that it is better than the 6000's implementation. What they need to add is lazy routine that runs in the background and updates the guide as it sees the information come through.

As for the 811 being a pile of crap.... Well we all have our opinions on that one.

 

[GaryPen]

As for the 811 being a pile of crap.... Well we all have our opinions on that one.

That's correct. There're the ones who think it's crap. And, there're the others, who are wrong.

But, in all fairness, it's not really a pile of crap. It's just a piece of crap.

 

[WeeJavaDude]

That's correct. There're the ones who think it's crap. And, there're the others, who are wrong.

But, in all fairness, it's not really a pile of crap. It's just a piece of crap.

And thanks for proving my point Gary....

 

[Foxbat]

Aha, what we users thought was a bug is really a feature! I have yet to see my 6000 interrupt the show to download guide info...

Errrr, when you press "Guide" on a 6000, you interrupt the program you are watching. If you're lucky, you'll see information out past an hour, but usually, you'll see "No Info" while the 6000 populates the Guide.

Most of us with 811s have set it up to do picture-in-guide, so we're annoyed when the picture goes away and the "Retrieving program info" screen pops up. What's annoying about the OTA situation is you'd think that the 811 could use its satellite tuner to update the EPG all the time.

I was at a friend's house recently and I was using his 3900. Pressing the "Guide" button here brought up the current programming info, the next program, and a couple of "No Info" entries, just like a 6000. The difference from my 811 was that instead of the program in the P-i-G window, there was a message that the receiver was updating the EPG information. You could arrow up and down through the guide while it was retrieving instead of being stuck. When it was done, the Guide had full information and the program we were watching appeared in the window. Now that's how the 811's EPG should work.

 

[keith]

Errrr, when you press "Guide" on a 6000, you interrupt the program you are watching. If you're lucky, you'll see information out past an hour, but usually, you'll see "No Info" while the 6000 populates the Guide.

I never use the guide for anything other than the current time slot or the next program. 6000 works perfect for me! Why do I want to know what's on 2 days from now?

Keith.

 

[Poke]

Hmm never had any of those issue's with my 811! Works like a champ so I think if you are haveing that many issues get them to send you another one. I know some folks are going to have issue's but that does not mean everyone will. There are useally other things that also play a part of some issues. Overall so far the 811 Rocks for me!

 

[NightRyder]

Hmm never had any of those issue's with my 811! Works like a champ so I think if you are haveing that many issues get them to send you another onw. I know some folks are going to have issue's but that does not mean everyone will. There are useally other things that also play a part of some issues. Overall so far the 811 Rocks for me!

A lot depends on how you use it. My 811 is only used for satellite HD, I have a 508 I use for SD. I don't use the 811 for OTA (none available) so the majority of the bugs don't effect me. I always put my 811 in standby mode every night so I don't have the guide updating problem anymore. I use DVI connection to my set so I miss out on most of the "dark video" problems. In my case the 811 does what I need it to do with minimal hassles. Would I want an 811 for my only receiver? No, I'm to addicted to having a DVR, 9 day search-able guide, etc and want to see where the 942 will be, functional wise, about this time next year.

NightRyder