ViP722, meet Mr. Shotgun

[navychop]

Yesterday my primary ViP722 failed to turn on. Not by the remote or by the power button. No problem, I just pulled the card and all was well.

Happened again today. And then I tried to go to play a DVR item, and I rec'd this message: "Unable to access this function at this time. Data not available." Oh joy. After pulling the card I got a message about perhaps losing some functionality in recording or playing OTA items off the DVR, and to pull the plug for one minute. Well, that sorta worked. I immediately tried to move all my DVR'd stuff to an EHD, estimated time 10 hours. After a few minutes, the machine locked up. The picture froze and no more transfer was occurring and there was no response to any remote command.

Eventually I got it going again, and tried to move just 3 programs to the EHD. Failed again. Neither of these two attempts actually succeeded in moving anything to the EHD.

More soft and hard resets, and card pulling. Finally got to where I could try to move to the EHD again, which I tried with just one hour long program. It started, and said it would take about 27 minutes. Rather long, eh? But I could no longer get to my timers, I just get the "unable" message. But as of this writing, it is still trying to move the single program over.

Any ideas? Yes, I know the HDD is failing & I'll have to call Dish. But I'm hoping to salvage as many programs off the DVR as I can.

 

[navychop]

The single transfer was successful. And it looks like I can (temporarily) access my timers. Got to write them down fast.

 

[TheKrell]

Put a strong fan on that hdd!

 

[navychop]

I have it on a laptop cooler. Been there almost since day one. But I like your thinking- going to set up fan now.

I've set it to transfer 2 of the 20 remaining programs I'm trying to save. One hour and 4 minutes estimated, for 2 programs, each about an hour long. Sure seems to me it used to transfer faster. HD programs. If it works, I'll try to set it to move the other 18 overnight. And if that works, I'll move the final 2 over, programs that I planned on just abandoning. And THEN I'll call Dish.

Dear Dish: Take my money. Offer me a replacement with a higher quality HDD and I'll gladly pay an extra hundred for the trouble. I went thru this too many times with my old (dearly departed) 721. All 6 (or was it 7) of them that passed thru my home. Lost programs, including PPV, each time.

P.S.- 5 minutes into the transfer, it is now estimating over 1 hour 9 minutes to transfer.

 

[tigerfan33]

I feel for you Navy. I went through two 722's in one month before I got my third which is working fine (knock on wood). It seems several people will go through alot of boxes before they get a good one. My ole reliable 622 is still going strong after 3 years of use.

 

[jrp]

My three year-old 622 has been nearly trouble-free, just the VERY occasional freeze-up. When the time comes to replace my 510 (which will likely be soon), I think I'll insist on a 722k.

 

[navychop]

Well, the two transferred OK. I've now set the remaining ones to transfer overnight. 8 hours and 5 minutes, estimated. I hope it works.

I've set the fan to blow on it, although the case was rather cool. It's now almost cold with the fan. Can't hurt.

I've got the timers from the failing ViP722 now set on my second ViP722 (which had a few of it's own timers), and a few of the recordings transferred to EHD (mostly OTA ER & DH). Hopefully, I'll get most if not all of them saved. Then I'll call Dish for a replacement.

Tomorrow, I'll buy another EHD, since my current two are almost full. With just one ViP722 recording, it'll fill up fast.

Oh, how I miss the Archos. I was really counting on being able to copy HD off Dish and carry it to my RV to watch. Kinda hard to do now.

I think when they make an offer to replace my 508, I'll decline. Maybe I should just sell it now. It really isn't used.

 

[navychop]

Failed. And it looks like it erased my entire DVR HDD. :rant:

 

[jwgreen68]

Failed. And it looks like it erased my entire DVR HDD. :rant:

Been there, done that. It's very frustrating. I was told that once it reaches that stage, it's near impossible to transfer anything. Was your 722 new or refurbed? I've had absolutely no luck with the refurbs. If Dish knows overheating is a big problem, why not add a case fan? Just seems too simple.

 

[navychop]

New. And both my ViP722 units have laptop cooling fans under them.

 

[jwgreen68]

New. And both my ViP722 units have laptop cooling fans under them.

I'm beginning to think that Dish receivers have great features but crappy quality.

 

[gadgtfreek]

That sucks. I've started storing all my shows on the EHD's the day after they record, I just dont trust the DVR to hold up as well.

 

[bebop]

Before you do this:

................

You could try this for better airflow :

 

[TheKrell]

And both my ViP722 units have laptop cooling fans under them.

I fail to see how a laptop cooling fan under the receiver will do anything for the disk. Did you take the cover off the 722 in order to blow on the disk, or just blow on the outside?

 

[Voyager6]

Hopefully, you have reviewed the 622/722 cooling thread. There are many good solutions for cooling the HDD. I used a laptop cooling fan on my 622 for quite awhile. I am now using the [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Mobile-Fan-External-Cooling/dp/B00080G0BK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=industrial&qid=1248295024&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: Thermaltake Mobile Fan II External USB Cooling Fan - Us: Industrial & Scientific@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qK1C-adTL.@@AMEPARAM@@51qK1C-adTL[/ame]. The important thing is that you must check your avg. temp regularly. Keeping it under 120 is essential for reliable use.

 

[navychop]

It was not running hot.

Anyway, this morning I tried it again. The only way to get the power on was to pull the card. Then I was able to get to the DVR, which magically had the programs still listed on it (last night the DVR listing was blank). So I set it to transfer to EHD. And it promptly froze.

I'll try again tonight before calling Dish. Maybe one program at a time. Could be a long night.

 

[navychop]

That sucks. I've started storing all my shows on the EHD's the day after they record, I just dont trust the DVR to hold up as well.

Likely to be my future course of action as well. I think I'll spring for a hardware RAID solution as well. That might keep peace in our household.

Of course, maybe I should follow Bebop's recommendation, just before I ship it back to them.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Hehe. I took the top off mine and used the USB fan. Im down to a 93 degree avg temp

 

[bebop]

Likely to be my future course of action as well. I think I'll spring for a hardware RAID solution as well. That might keep peace in our household.

Of course, maybe I should follow Bebop's recommendation, just before I ship it back to them.

- good to know that someone is enjoying my posts. It can be such a headache when stuff like that craps out on you, so it's good to laugh a bit in the midst of the frustration. Good luck.

 

[bebop]

Something that hasn't been discussed as much is the temperature difference between an EHD and the 722/622 HD. It appears to be a problem with the 722/622 overheating and causing HD issues, so that's just another good reason to use an EHD where you can keep the disk cooler than the receiver does. My EHD is in another room away from the TV cabinet and out in the open. I'm a lot more confident that the EHD will last than the 722 HD, since I already had one die on me.