# THR22 hard drive issues or somethings else?



## Trebor1 (Apr 29, 2004)

I had my first THR22 installed about 4 weeks ago with a new dish.

On all recordings and time slip live Tv I would get a few artifacts/blocking during playback. It resembled occasional signal interference but never appeared during live playback so I ruled that out. I assumed a corupt hard drive so I had DTV send out a replacement.

The replacement THR22 is doing the same thing.

Has anyone else had this issue or have any idea what might be causeing it other than another bad hard drive? It seems unlikely that I would get 2 bad units doing the same thing. Is there anything eles in the "chain" that might be causeing this?
Thanks for your time.

BTW
What are the "in line filters" on my cables coming into the THR22 for?


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## ncted (May 13, 2007)

My HR24s do this as well. Very annoying. I assumed it was just bad code, but perhaps it is a hardware limitation.

-Ted


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Those "in line filters" are "B Band Converters". They are required in order to see signals from the 99 and 103 satellites if you are not using SWM.


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## Trebor1 (Apr 29, 2004)

stevel said:


> Those "in line filters" are "B Band Converters". They are required in order to see signals from the 99 and 103 satellites if you are not using SWM.


Thanks, Stevel

I am not sure what to do at this point. All 3 of the other SD D*TiVo's are not exhibiting this so I dont think it is physical interference of the signal to the dish. Is there anything else anyone can think of that would be causing the picture to "block" like rain fade only on the HD D*TiVo?

BTW
Dont know if it makes a difference but I am not watching or recording any HD stations. All my signals are in the 90's and live TV is perfect.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

It's certainly not a common problem that I've seen posted elsewhere. Can you post a video clip of the problem?

Also, check your signal readings on the HD satellites (99 & 103º) and post back your results here.


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## MacQ2 (Oct 17, 2006)

Have you tried setting your Tivo output video to 720p?

I had those sorts of problems on one channel and reducing from 1080i to 720p cured the problem.

It could well be something in my TV, or very remotely a problem in my A/V receiver - all I know is it fixed it and I cannot tell any difference in picture quality.


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## lawrencetd (Apr 6, 2005)

Just spotted this thread &#8211; I had a similar problem with my THR22 bought from Weaknees (with the 2Tb upgrade). Here&#8217;s the email I sent them. These problems started developing 4-5 weeks after I got the unit.

To Weaknees Support:

I noticed in the last week that most recordings were starting to experience pixilation and drop-out as if the satellite signal was obstructed (my dish has a clear view of the sky). Fortunately, I have another older TiVo and a DirecTV DVR as well so I first switched the SWM cable between my DirecTV DVR and the THR22 to see if the problem followed the cable - it did not. 

I then set some programs to record on both DVRs concurrently and the content on the DirecTV DVR is pristine but the content on the THR22 breaks up at various points throughout the show.

Next I started looking at earlier content that I had recorded when I first got the new unit and noticed that some of that content is also now affected (it was okay before).

The latest issue is that TiVo menus also started freezing for a second or so before rendering the menu (I just get the green background).

So I have a faulty unit for sure.

They sent me a warranty repair ticket so it will be about 7-10 days before I get it back.


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## Trebor1 (Apr 29, 2004)

MacQ2 said:


> Have you tried setting your Tivo output video to 720p?
> 
> I had those sorts of problems on one channel and reducing from 1080i to 720p cured the problem.
> 
> It could well be something in my TV, or very remotely a problem in my A/V receiver - all I know is it fixed it and I cannot tell any difference in picture quality.


SD display. No HD involved in this setup but thanks for the suggestion.
Trebor


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## Trebor1 (Apr 29, 2004)

litzdog911 said:


> It's certainly not a common problem that I've seen posted elsewhere. Can you post a video clip of the problem?
> 
> Also, check your signal readings on the HD satellites (99 & 103º) and post back your results here.


All signals on all feeds that I should be geting 90+.
Looks just like quick rain fade blocking or picture stutter.


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## Trebor1 (Apr 29, 2004)

lawrencetd said:


> Just spotted this thread  I had a similar problem with my THR22 bought from Weaknees (with the 2Tb upgrade). Heres the email I sent them. These problems started developing 4-5 weeks after I got the unit.
> 
> To Weaknees Support:
> 
> ...


Just setup a tech appointment for Sunday morning (yes, Easter)since they already sent me one replacement that exhibits the same problem. They are going to correct the terrible install I had a couple of weeks ago and bring out another new D*TiVo. Hoping the 3rd time is a charm


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

Keep us posted on what the Tech finds. In the mean time, can you post a video clip of the problem?


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## MacQ2 (Oct 17, 2006)

Trebor1 said:


> SD display. No HD involved in this setup but thanks for the suggestion.
> Trebor


Ah. I'm just curious - what video output options do you have with the SD TV? 480i? 480p? Do you even get to choose?

Thanks


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

MacQ2 said:


> Ah. I'm just curious - what video output options do you have with the SD TV? 480i? 480p? Do you even get to choose?
> 
> Thanks


How are you connecting your Tivo to your SDTV? Composite Video connection is strictly 480i, regardless of what resolution the Tivo is set to output.


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## MacQ2 (Oct 17, 2006)

litzdog911 said:


> How are you connecting your Tivo to your SDTV? Composite Video connection is strictly 480i, regardless of what resolution the Tivo is set to output.


My bad. I thought you could do 480p over composite or S-video. I guess not - nevermind.


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## kprinkki (Jul 17, 2002)

One of my 4 thr-22's is doing the same thing. I have the stutter like a rain fade, but it will pause and hang and then double speed the people talking and finally catch up. It will do it 10-12 times during a 1 hour show. It will not do it in live tv only recordings or buffer. Any update from service tech?


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## Trebor1 (Apr 29, 2004)

Update.
My issue has been resolved. It is a bad hard drive according to the tech that brought me my brand new THR22. I have had no stutters,blocking, jump to next tick while FFW,ect.
I had been given 2 refurbished units that both had the same issues. There isnt much documentation with the reps of this as there just are not that many of these units out there in use so please call and get your units replaced.
The tech corrected the intall issue after activating and verifying the unit was working properly so we know it was not a signal, multi-switch or wire issue.
The tech did a great job, DTV called a few hours later to confirm that my issue was fully resolved and a DTV inspector came out Monday to make sure all was well.
Good job DTV and thanks to all the members of this community!


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## leres (Jun 1, 2001)

I have this problem and am convinced it's *not *the hard drive. I've used two different drives, both new Seagate (Pipeline HD ST2000VM002 and SV35.5 ST2000VX000) and both have problems with both satellite and OTA recordings. My dish has SWM and I have an HR22-100 that never glitches.


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## Trebor1 (Apr 29, 2004)

leres said:


> I have this problem and am convinced it's *not *the hard drive. I've used two different drives, both new Seagate (Pipeline HD ST2000VM002 and SV35.5 ST2000VX000) and both have problems with both satellite and OTA recordings. My dish has SWM and I have an HR22-100 that never glitches.


Do you think its a software issue or possibly some other hardware issue inside the box?

Non of my SD DTiVo's exhibited my issues and the new(3rd) HD TiVo is working flawlesly.


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## rick31621 (Jun 20, 2004)

I just checked my signal strength and have several 50s, 60s & 70s on 99 & 103 while I have 90s across the board on the others. I am set-up & paying for HD programming, should I be concerned and call for a tech to readjust my dish?

Thanks


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Are these on the "c" or "s" satellites? For example, 103c. If "s" then those are spotbeams and it's normal for some of them to have low signal strength if they're not for your area.


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## lawrencetd (Apr 6, 2005)

lawrencetd said:


> ........next I started looking at earlier content that I had recorded when I first got the new unit and noticed that some of that content is also now affected (it was okay before).
> 
> The latest issue is that TiVo menus also started freezing for a second or so before rendering the menu (I just get the green background).
> 
> ...


Well Weakness replaced the whole unit and sent me another (about 4 weeks ago) - and it was fine to begin with but in the last couple of days the dreaded freezes and pixilation artifacts have already started to creep in again. I don't know if it's an issue as the drive starts to fill up (my 2TB drive is only at about 15%) or a firmware or hardware issue but this is concerning. So right now it's "on watch" while I see if the same issues start to affect the recordings I already have on the drive like the last one as well as new ones.

Deja Vu!

LawrenceTD


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## htroberts (Jul 7, 2003)

lawrencetd said:


> Well Weakness replaced the whole unit and sent me another (about 4 weeks ago) - and it was fine to begin with but in the last couple of days the dreaded freezes and pixilation artifacts have already started to creep in again. I don't know if it's an issue as the drive starts to fill up (my 2TB drive is only at about 15%) or a firmware or hardware issue but this is concerning. So right now it's "on watch" while I see if the same issues start to affect the recordings I already have on the drive like the last one as well as new ones.


Any update? I'm seeing what I think are similar problems.

My signal strengths are okay but not great--95+ for everything except transponders on 103, which are consistently in the mid 80s, so I've got someone coming to realign the antenna.

We seem to have the most trouble with channel 242, which is on 103, but I don't have trouble on any other receiver, only the THR.

I'm considering replacing the disk, but it's not clear whether people have found a manufacturer/model that's consistently trouble-free. I prefer not to simply get a replacement DVR since my wife would be very upset at losing the recorded programming we do have.


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## chargersfan (Sep 18, 2010)

Anyone can confirm the solution? Is it really the hard drive? I've got same issue from one of the two THR22 installed very recently. Issue I've noticed is the same which is recording shows on USAHD (Ch 242) and has pixelation/stuttering/"blinking".

My Satellite signals seems to be ok (in the 90s).

I've already called DirecTV so I'm scheduled to get a replacement (will the replacement unit be refurbed although I just recently got this completely brand new?)


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## turls (Feb 6, 2000)

chargersfan said:


> I've already called DirecTV so I'm scheduled to get a replacement (will the replacement unit be refurbed although I just recently got this completely brand new?)


You are pretty much at their mercy on that one, just depends what they send.


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## chargersfan (Sep 18, 2010)

I got it and looks like a new unit (came with original box with remote and power cord). Everything seems to be working ok now. Will see if the issue creeps up.


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