# 6.3e on standard-def units -- is it really a problem?



## tivoupgrade

Hello,

With the recent software update to 6.3e on the standard definition DirecTiVo units, I've seen my fair share of posts, like this one, and this one, mentioning problems after the update.

As has been mentioned in previous posts, software updates typically result in a higher number system failures during a short period of time because they are installed on "dormant" partitions of the hard drive which may be defective. Once the update has taken place, failures can crop up very quickly and the end result is that it can look like its the software that caused the problem.

I've seen this happen many times over the years, and I'm only aware of one situation (an update to the Series1 DirecTV TiVo units) that there was actually a bug that caused "random" system reboots.

The reason I'm starting this thread is to see if there is something more to it. I've seen a few posts where people have complained of system lockups and have also ruled out defective hard drives as the problem, that makes me wonder. But with that said, most people who have complained of system lockups (in the upgrade center and underground) don't seem to want to run diags on their drives, so its really difficult to tell whether its the software or the underlying hardware.

I'm interested to know who ISN'T having a problem, and who IS having a problem with the recent update. AND, if you ARE having a problem, what type of unit do you have?

I'm attaching a poll, so if you can respond to the poll and reply with your comments (especially if you are having a problem), that would be good to know, as well.

The reason I'm distinguishing between the R10 and other models is because the hardware is slightly different than the other Series2 DirecTV TiVo units. I'd prefer to list ALL the models, but the number of poll options is limited to six.

Lou


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## innocentfreak

I have the RCA DVR120 and my friend has the Samsung 100 hour unit and my mother has the R10. Her R10 has rebooted twice on me while watching a show and browsing the to do list. She is on a brand new upgraded drive.

My friends Samsung unit has also been upgraded and completely freezes and reboots. It happened several times when I was over at his house. It happened during a major storm where he kept losing signal. We thought at first he was getting power surges when it rebooted even though it was on a surge protector but then it completely froze and had to be rebooted. When I got home I found my Rca with original drive completely frozen. Then a few days later during a storm it rebooted as I lost signal, but my other Rca unit was fine.


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## chuckg

S4040Rs purchased 7/6/04 and 9/17/04 Flawless operation. Only record via List Guide or Manually Record by Channel and Time.

Weaknees system 6.2a Seagate DB35s installed 7/02/07
No problems  :up: until:
8/24/07 approximately. 160GB unit 6.3e activated.
Powering up... and other problems soon started.
8/28/07 Roughly. 320GB unit 6.3e activated.
8/31/07 320GB Power up..... Started trouble log. Log note: F#@k!
8/31/07 Clear and Delete 160GB as had a bunch of non-logged problems.
Logged a bunch of problems mostly on the 320GB unit.
9/13/07 Clear and Delete 320GB
May be a five day pattern for 320GB unit.
Clear and Delete did absolutley nothing for either unit that I could detect.
9/19/07 Removed 320GB and replaced with 40 GB 6.2a drive. Not a single problem since. Five days was the 6.3e norm.
9/20/07 Removed the 120GB and replaced with 40 GB 6.2a and not a single problem since.


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## Pt121

Well, I have a Samsung Sir-S4080R and a Phillips DSR-708. Both of these units have started rebooting by themselves since the 6.3e update. The samsung likes the 10PM-12:30AM time frame to reboot and the Phillips likes the evening 4:30-6:30PM time frame. 

If I have something that needs to be recorded, I can reboot manually and it won't reboot later that night and most likely til the next night. So, it doesn't have anything to do with an time or does it....its confusing. You would think if it was time related it would reboot anyhow within the time frame whether I reboot manually or not, but it seems to work until the next night. If I leave it be, then it will just reboot within the time frames I have posted each day. Wierd...ehh?

I have just installed the DVRupgrade 250GB hard drive for the Samsung unit. I let it connect to DVR service one time when I first set it up and have since pulled the Phone line out and hopefully it will not update from the 6.2a version that came on the drive. I'll see how it goes.

Patrick


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## tivoupgrade

> Samsung S4040R 320GB w/6.3e dumped for 40 GB w/6.2a 9/19/07
> Samsung S4040R 160GB w/6.3e dumped for 40 GB w/6.2a 9/20/07


chuckg et al,

If you still have those drives with 6.3e on them, do you have the skills/desire to look at the log files which sit on /dev/hdX9 in /var/log/kernel? If not, no big deal, just wondering if you happen to have that...

Either way, though - could you run diagnostics on the drives using the diagnostic utilities that can be downloaded from here?

Would be really cool if we could eliminate the possibility of you having bad drives, although it sure seems like more than a coincidence that people with multiple units are having problems.

_pt121 - if you don't have a PTVnet kit, and you don't want your unit to update, unplug your unit from the phone line, and although you will get "nag" messages to make your daily call, your unit shouldn't update and will continue to work fine. The only difference will be that to use pay-per-view, you will need to order from the directv.com site, or call to order a PPV._


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## Pt121

Thanks Lou, 

I will keep the phone line disconnected. I don't usually order any PPV movies, so that really doesn't matter. The drive I had in the Samsung is a Western Digital WD800BB. I've downloaded the WD tools from their site and will, if I have time, try and run them over the weekend to see how the drive does.

Patrick


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## dtremain

Neither my Samsung 100 hour or my R10 is having a problem that I would relate to the software update.

I am having momentary blackouts only on local channels in the New York area. It seems to happen about once an hour and has been happening for a few weeks. There's a little pixelation, the screen goes black for about five seconds, the audio generally continues however, and everything returns to normal.

A Google search brings up a thread of other people in the New York area having the same problem over the same period of time with their Directv signal. It only affects the local channels and never happens on the national "cable" channels.

Since other people are having exactly the same problem and it only affects the locals, I suspect that it is something other than the software ujpdate.

It is quite annoying, however.


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## rvfrueh

HDVR2 and R10. Both updated the same day in early september, and ever since then, they've both been rebooting, with apparently no rhyme or reason. They lock up, usually while recording, and never recover.


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## StinkingWally

I started web searching for similar problems when my R10 started seemingly random reboots end of August/ begining of September. Almost went the hard drive replacement route until I started seeing all of the different forum posts including the DirrecTV site. I'm waiting to see how this shakes out before going through all that. I think it's 6e and not the drive.


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## Zephyr

However, R10 reboot problems started prior to the 6.3 recent upgrade on my unit. We are seeing new problems since the update, particularly slow response when using many of the key functions. Knock on wood... we have seen several days go by without a reboot. Have not hooked up telephone since 6.3 added. So, for now, reboots have been miraculously cured. My confidence level is less than 50/50 that we are out of the woods.


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## ST1100A

Both of my DSR-708's started having problems after the 6.3e update - reboots, color loss, go to live TV and have a black screen, some recordings listed as Partial with a record time of 0:00.

Read on the forum about the update going to a new sector and having a bad hard drive. OK, the units are three years old or so. So I ordered two replacement drives from Weaknees.com (300 GB each, one for each unit as a total replacement). 

Get the drives and put them in. They were preloaded with 6.2, and I had no issues with either unit - Cool, I fixed it!! Then the 6.3e download was loaded back onto the units (should have yanked the phone cord, but I thought the issue was the drives). 

They now reboot at least once a day. Lose color (press pause - colors back!). Get black screens when you go to live TV - sometimes. I think the 0:00 recordings are from the black screens, we set both tuners to unused stations at night so the unit has to change channels to record - seems to be working so far.

So for the people saying it's bad drives - sorry, it's bad software, at least for my units!!! Oh, and except for the upgrade in drives and the extra fan kit Weaknees sells (only in one, the one in the entertainment center - I thought the drive was going bad due to heat) my units are stock and unhacked.


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## Legoman32

I have been having problems for weeks right after the 6.3e upgrade. I have a Hughes SD DVR40. A few weeks ago the freezing started. The signal strength was always going in and out constantly. mostly out. no reboots, but basically always searching for a signal. Last week it stopped. Screen went black and now nothing. Hard down. Unplugging and rebooting only gets to "Almost there, just a few minutes", then black screen. Doesn't respond to anything. I assume this means my hard drive is dead?? Also, quite annoyingly, I can't seem to get the signal strength any better. I have and older Sony receiver, from before my TIVO that I hooked up to see if the signal strength was related to the upgrade or something else. I'm guessing both. I really hate not having access to the programming I paying for, not to mention, the frustration with the signal strength.


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## rbtravis

ST1100A said:


> Both of my DSR-708's started having problems after the 6.3e update - reboots, color loss, go to live TV and have a black screen, some recordings listed as Partial with a record time of 0:00.
> 
> Read on the forum about the update going to a new sector and having a bad hard drive. OK, the units are three years old or so. So I ordered two replacement drives from Weaknees.com (300 GB each, one for each unit as a total replacement).
> 
> Get the drives and put them in. They were preloaded with 6.2, and I had no issues with either unit - Cool, I fixed it!! Then the 6.3e download was loaded back onto the units (should have yanked the phone cord, but I thought the issue was the drives).
> 
> They now reboot at least once a day. Lose color (press pause - colors back!). Get black screens when you go to live TV - sometimes. I think the 0:00 recordings are from the black screens, we set both tuners to unused stations at night so the unit has to change channels to record - seems to be working so far.
> 
> So for the people saying it's bad drives - sorry, it's bad software, at least for my units!!! Oh, and except for the upgrade in drives and the extra fan kit Weaknees sells (only in one, the one in the entertainment center - I thought the drive was going bad due to heat) my units are stock and unhacked.


Consider buying Instantcake and PTVnet from DVRupgrade. The current version is 6.2a which you had working. Answer yes to the Disable phone question and unplug in the phone after the initial setup. make sure you have a logon to directv so you can order pay per view (if you desire) and your Tivo's will not upgrade to 6.3e unless you plug in the phone line and force it. Hence your problems will be eliminated. Good Luck.


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## tivoupgrade

Legoman32 said:


> I have been having problems for weeks right after the 6.3e upgrade. I have a Hughes SD DVR40. A few weeks ago the freezing started. The signal strength was always going in and out constantly. mostly out. no reboots, but basically always searching for a signal. Last week it stopped. Screen went black and now nothing. Hard down. Unplugging and rebooting only gets to "Almost there, just a few minutes", then black screen. Doesn't respond to anything. I assume this means my hard drive is dead?? Also, quite annoyingly, I can't seem to get the signal strength any better. I have and older Sony receiver, from before my TIVO that I hooked up to see if the signal strength was related to the upgrade or something else. I'm guessing both. I really hate not having access to the programming I paying for, not to mention, the frustration with the signal strength.


*legoman32 *- If your unit isn't booting at all, it sounds likely to be a hardware problem. More likely the hard drive than anything else.

ALL - thx for your responses so far. Trying to keep an open-mind and be objective here, with history as a backdrop for my own predispositions. Looking at the survey and the discussion so far:

1) the sample size is still small
2) the number of people that are having problems is relatively high
3) there is something to be said for the possibility that folks who aren't having problems at all, may not even have found this thread (the forums do attract more folks with problems than folks without them, IMHO)
4) many folks haven't ruled out hard drive problems
5) there are several folks with multiple systems having problems - that sounds like more than a coincidence

So, right now, I'm leaning towards the notion that this is not the typical fallout that occurs during an upgrade, but still trying to be objective; hopefully more people will respond to the poll and post their observations.


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## vicmeldrew

tivoupgrade said:


> *legoman32 *- If your unit isn't booting at all, it sounds likely to be a hardware problem. More likely the hard drive than anything else.
> 
> ALL - thx for your responses so far. Trying to keep an open-mind and be objective here, with history as a backdrop for my own predispositions. Looking at the survey and the discussion so far:
> 
> 1) the sample size is still small
> 2) the number of people that are having problems is relatively high
> 3) there is something to be said for the possibility that folks who aren't having problems at all, may not even have found this thread (the forums do attract more folks with problems than folks without them, IMHO)
> 4) many folks haven't ruled out hard drive problems
> 5) there are several folks with multiple systems having problems - that sounds like more than a coincidence
> 
> So, right now, I'm leaning towards the notion that this is not the typical fallout that occurs during an upgrade, but still trying to be objective; hopefully more people will respond to the poll and post their observations.


well add me to the list; my tivos were both flawless until this upgrade - both stock; now both freeze and reboot; something is wrong and needs to be fixed


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## tivoupgrade

vicmeldrew said:


> well add me to the list; my tivos were both flawless until this upgrade - both stock; now both freeze and reboot; something is wrong and needs to be fixed


vicmeldrew - I don't see you as having responded to the poll - you can do that at the top of this thread (that is the closest to 'a list' as there is at this point...


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## Mark Griswold

My HDVR2 started experiencing pixelation and loss of audio shortly after 6.3e. I haven't seen any random reboots though. On one occasion, the unit locked up while playing a NPL recording, right at the point where the pixelation occurred.


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## dtremain

Mark Griswold said:


> My HDVR2 started experiencing pixelation and loss of audio shortly after 6.3e. I haven't seen any random reboots though. On one occasion, the unit locked up while playing a NPL recording, right at the point where the pixelation occurred.


You're in Connecticut. Has the problem been with New York local channels?

That seems to be an issue affecting more than just DVR users.


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## CaptainLate

Add me to the list of R-10 owners having problems since the software upgrade.I have not had a single problem with my R-10 in the 2+ years that I have owned it.After the software downloaded in early September I get random picture dropouts,audio dropouts and color dropouts on some channels.Most of these occur on my NY local stations with poor quality picture on those locals,but they happen on other channels as well(Sunday Ticket,Encore).These take place a couple of times per hour.I never had any of these issues before this and will leave it up to the technically astute members of this forum to draw their own conclusions about these issues.My R-10 is unmodified and connected to the phone line with both the composite and S-video cables connected.Thanks in advance for any answers that are forthcoming


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## Beer Geek

I have a HDVR2 that I've had since '02 (IIRC). The only change was swapping for a pre-formatted 80GB Weaknees drive a little over a year ago. Since the 6.3 change, my HDVR2 has frozen multiple times (black screen, no response to remote, green and red lights both on), and the video blanks out for a second when you switch between menu screens (like going from a show title to the show info screen or to the playback itself).

Dumb question- if I have a zippered HDVR2 running fakecall (which I'm about to turn on w/ DTV), do I still need to disconnect the phone line to avoid 6.3?


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## Mark Griswold

dtremain said:


> You're in Connecticut. Has the problem been with New York local channels?
> 
> That seems to be an issue affecting more than just DVR users.


I don't get the NY locals, I'm in "northern" CT. But the problem is unrelated to locals, for me anyhow. Happens on many different channels


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## dtremain

CaptainLate said:


> Add me to the list of R-10 owners having problems since the software upgrade.I have not had a single problem with my R-10 in the 2+ years that I have owned it.After the software downloaded in early September I get random picture dropouts,audio dropouts and color dropouts on some channels.Most of these occur on my NY local stations with poor quality picture on those locals,but they happen on other channels as well(Sunday Ticket,Encore).These take place a couple of times per hour.I never had any of these issues before this and will leave it up to the technically astute members of this forum to draw their own conclusions about these issues.My R-10 is unmodified and connected to the phone line with both the composite and S-video cables connected.Thanks in advance for any answers that are forthcoming


I'm having the same problem, but I haven't seen it on any channels other than the locals (I don't get Encore or Sunday Ticket). It seems to be a problem occurring in the New York Area and with on-the-air channels:
http://forums.directv.com/pe/action/forums/displaysinglethread?rootPostID=10282751

So, I'm assuming that it doesn't have anything to do with the software upgrade because it seems so localized and some of the people on this other thread appear not to have DVR's.


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## chuckg

DVRupgrade

I only have Macs. I am going to send them back to WKs and they are going to restore them to 6.2a which worked quite nicely on the drives with nary a problem for about 6 weeks. My two units are working quite nicely again, thank you, under 6.2a on the original 40GB drives. When I get the DB35.3s back, I may let one 40GB unit upgrade to 6.3e and see what happens.

I only record via List Guide or Manual Channel and Time. Once every month or three I use the Search function but could readily do without it. No other Tivo feature is of any use to me so I don't need nor want any upgrades.


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## markbox

There are a few used computer shops on University Ave.
where you could probably get an old PC clone chassis,
CD-ROM drive, IDE cables and a power cord for cheap.

Then download the MFS Tools Boot CD iso image and burn 
to CD-R with your MAC.

Hook up your 40 Gig original drive as primary master
(jumpered as master) and the new larger drive as 
secondary slave (no jumper), boot the chassis with 
the MFS Tools Boot CD and backup/restore from your
old drive to the new drive with one command.

It may even be cheaper to go this route then to have 
to send your drives out to a third party for imaging.
You'd then be prepared for future drive imaging as well
(particularly if you plan to let one of the new drives
update to 6.3e again).

Or you could drive to my place in Martinez and we 
could do the imaging there (I work in Berkeley BTW). )


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## lmlight

I thought that my unit was dying when this started. Then I read the posts here and find that I am in the same boat as many others with the 6.3e upgrade: R-10 Unit. Very sluggish remote response, random reboots. Haven't noticed any audio or video problems. Has there been any "official" response from DirecTV, or word of another upgrade?


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## pgorbas

I have noticed my DSR704 got this version at some point. Over the last few weeks my unit has been locking up more and more - usaally a hard reboot brought it back - but today a hard rebbot is only bringing it back fo 1 ro 10 min before it locks up again ( frozen picture, unresponsive to controls ).

I don't know if this is harware of software at this point.

I have yet to see anyone post any solutions either.


Look like it time to say good bye to direct tv.


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## pgorbas

I was just a the phone with DTV support - they said:
1) Reformat the hard drive ( using the Tivo Erase Everything option )
2) If that doesn't work get a replacement unit - they did say if they would charge me and what I would get.

Either way all my recorded shows are gone...- at I have at least 300 G worth - yes we had gotten behind on a lot of shows - had some show like Supernatural every episode back to 2005 )

I am thinking if I am going to loose all my programs, and the trouble WAS the hard drive - I may as well just go for the replacment unit - or I will go though the entire ness again in a few weeks or months.

Oh get this - cust support said they have had NO REPORTED PROBLEMS with anyone using the 6.3e01-2-101 software, whereas there are dozens, if not hundreds of people with that software reporting lockups.


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## Pt121

Well after much time trying to get a utility to work, I finally finished testing the drive. Long story short:

*Samsung Utility would only work on Samsung Drives.
*Seagate Utility would only work on Seagate Drive.
*Western Digital ISO image must have an error on it because it keeps asking for License Text file that is clearly on the Disk but says its not there. Finally went old school and just downloaded the Floppy version of WD Tools and it worked fine. Don't know what is up with there ISO image file. It will boot fine if no WD drive is detected, but lets you know it won't do anything unless a WD was there. Once a WD was put in, is when It gives you the error. 

Anyhow....I'm rambling on...venting.

Results for the Western Digital WD800BB hard drive that was in my Series 2 Samsung unit.

Quick Test: No errors
Extended Test: No errors

So far after putting the DVRupgrade 250GB drive kit in, the first night, more then 24 hrs. after the install, no reboots with the 6.2a software. Hopefully it continues.

Patrick


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## pgorbas

Anyway - DirecTV offered a replacement unit for $20/two business day shipping = a 100 hour DVR unit - I think it is their R15 model. I'm not real happy about this - I lost 300+ hours of recorded shows, get DirecTv's software which most people agree is not as good as the old TiVo service, I am down to 1/4 my recording capacity and it is costing me $20 for this downgrade. I figured this was about the best deal I was going to get.

Does anyone know it the directTv brand DVR can be hacked with larger recording capacity like the DTiVo's could?


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## dtremain

pgorbas said:


> Anyway - DirecTV offered a replacement unit for $20/two business day shipping = a 100 hour DVR unit - I think it is their R15 model. I'm not real happy about this - I lost 300+ hours of recorded shows, get DirecTv's software which most people agree is not as good as the old TiVo service, I am down to 1/4 my recording capacity and it is costing me $20 for this downgrade. I figured this was about the best deal I was going to get.
> 
> Does anyone know it the directTv brand DVR can be hacked with larger recording capacity like the DTiVo's could?


Discussion of the R-15 is nor permitted here by the moderators.

Try www.dbstalk.com.


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## ustewjt

Both of my stock DSR-708s are freezing once a week and require a cycle of the power in order to be working again. Rather frustrating to say the least. No problems encountered prior to the "6.3e" software "upgrade" :down: .


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## gRAVEdgN

My Hughes SD DVR40 has begun to reboot randomly and have signal problems once the software update was installed.

Signal strength according to the test is 80+.
Hard drive was removed and tested with SpinRite and no problems found.

After last nights 2:31AM Service Datacall in the durn thing now reboots much more often and now has locked up 4 times requiring pulling the plug cold restart to get it back.

I am very close to dropping DirecTV and going over to cable.


Blagh


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## rock_doctor

74% of those who responded are having problems after the 6.3 update... 

mark

It is now 76% of the 102 respondents (10-3-07)

-------76.5% of the 136 respondents (11-10-07)

-------76.5% of the 199 respondents (11-18-07)


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## Vin

dtremain said:


> Neither my Samsung 100 hour or my R10 is having a problem that I would relate to the software update.
> 
> I am having momentary blackouts only on local channels in the New York area. It seems to happen about once an hour and has been happening for a few weeks. There's a little pixelation, the screen goes black for about five seconds, the audio generally continues however, and everything returns to normal.
> 
> A Google search brings up a thread of other people in the New York area having the same problem over the same period of time with their Directv signal. It only affects the local channels and never happens on the national "cable" channels.
> 
> Since other people are having exactly the same problem and it only affects the locals, I suspect that it is something other than the software ujpdate.
> 
> It is quite annoying, however.


You've described exactly, the problems I've been havng with an *RCA DVR40 and an R10* (hence, I'm not sure how to respond to the poll). I'm not as certain as you though that the problems aren't software related....I had no issues before the update.


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## Pt121

Vin said:


> I'm not as certain as you though that the problems aren't software related....I had no issues before the update.


I would think the answer would be clear then.

As for me, the only issues that had me pulling my hair out was the reboots. So far(knock on wood) since my Drive upgrade with the 6.2a software, I haven't seen any reboot issues as of yet.

I just got a small problem about 20 minutes ago, something that I forgot about with the earlier software release. When coming off a menu to live TV the Video was stuck on the menu backdrop, but was getting audio from a station. Switching between tuners wouldn't get rid of it. All it would do is leave the video from the other tuner, but with the audio still from the other channel....trying to back and forward with the buffer didn't do anything. However, all it took was changing the channel on the affected tuner and then all is cleared up. I had forgotten about that, but it doesn't happen often at all.

Patrick


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## robpickles

I have an R-10 and a HDVR2 that both experienced the same problems after receiving the 6.3e update.

Rebooting was only the first problem.

The other is a strange buffer problem which occurs daily and explaned fully in the following quote from another thread.

Since then I have bought two new hard drives from Weaknees and replaced the HDVR2 drive with the new one containing the 6.2a software. Since replacing it and leaving the phone line un-attached to avoid the update, it has had NO PROBLEMS at all. I am going to replace the R-10 drive this week as well and let you know if I have similar success.

Rob 



> I just had the starangest thing happen to me.
> 
> First off let me say my R10 has also been having reboots since getting 6.3e.
> 
> It's been rebooting pretty steadily once a day or every other day at around the same time frame - between 5:00 pm and 7 pm.
> 
> I also am starting to beleive that these reboots are NOT a coincidence. I find it odd that everytime someone calls to complain or report a problem, DirecTv doesn't know anything about it, never heard of a similar problem from anyone else when we know it has already been reported a number of times and that they are trying to switch out our Tivos for their crappy R15 DVR.
> 
> But to get back to the 'strange' thing that happened to me a little while ago. I was watching Star Trek Voyager on Spike and right after it was over I had to go to the pharmacy to pick up some medicine. There was a second part of a two-parter coming on so I figured I'd record it and catch up when I got back.
> 
> Anyway, I went to record it and all of a sudden it kicked back to the beginning of the 30 minute buffer Tivo records while watching live tv. I thought I accidentily hit the skip key but I had not. When I went to reset it back to real time it wouldn't reset and jumped back to the head of the recorded buffer again (and it didnt jump like normal or beep like it would if I had done it). I tried it again and it did the same thing again. So I chocked it up to the quirkiness of the unit and shut down.
> 
> When I got back from the pharmacy I turned the Tivo back on and noticed the same 30 minute buffer was playing YET AGAIN. How could this be? I was out for at least 20 minutes or so and it had to have shifted into the next 30 minute segment of the channels that were left on. I decided to change both channels to totally different channels and try to reset all the buffers manually. Well.. this worked. Both channel buffers reset and i went back to Spike and started watching the 2nd episode of Voyager in real time.
> 
> I just thought this was a very odd quirk and thought it might be related to the reboot problem somehow. I came up with this theory because now it is almost 6pm and the Tivo hasn't reset tonight ...yet.
> 
> Is it possible that the 'update' causes the buffer to fill up and lag then lock up the unit somehow causing the Tivo to have to reboot itself? It's weird that they always happen around the same time of day and within hour or half hour moments.
> 
> What do you think? Regardless I think we need to start seriously questioning what DirecTv is doing with their updates and if their is some alterior motive going on here.
> 
> Rob


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## Tim32672

Just for the record after I downloaded 6.3 I had all the problems (reboot, non-response from the remote and so on) I saw a thread that said you need to re-connect to the DVR service and it will download a patch and clear up all the problems, After doing this last night it seemed to clear up everything remote response is great and so far no reboots Give it a shot it cant hurt.


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## robpickles

Tim32672 said:


> Just for the record after I downloaded 6.3 I had all the problems (reboot, non-response from the remote and so on) I saw a thread that said you need to re-connect to the DVR service and it will download a patch and clear up all the problems, After doing this last night it seemed to clear up everything remote response is great and so far no reboots Give it a shot it cant hurt.


Has the software version changed after you did this? Just curious...

::glimmer of hope::

Rob


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## Tim32672

6.3e01-2-521 is what it is now... not sure what it was I should have looked but didn't sorry...

when I connected it did download and install something I am not sure what it was but the unit is acting the way it was before the 6.3 was installed... hope it works for you. ..


----------



## dtremain

Vin said:


> You've described exactly, the problems I've been havng with an *RCA DVR40 and an R10* (hence, I'm not sure how to respond to the poll). I'm not as certain as you though that the problems aren't software related....I had no issues before the update.


If you go to this thread:

http://forums.directv.com/pe/action/forums/displaypost?postID=10282751

You will see that the problem relates to New York locals, which you, of course, are getting in Clifton, and that the original poster doesn't even have a DVR, thus no 6.3e to worry about.

Those two facts make it clear to me that this issue, at any rate, has nothing to do with 6.3e and is a problem with NYC locals.


----------



## tivoupgrade

dtremain said:


> If you go to this thread:
> 
> http://forums.directv.com/pe/action/forums/displaypost?postID=10282751
> 
> You will see that the problem relates to New York locals, which you, of course, are getting in Clifton, and that the original poster doesn't even have a DVR, thus no 6.3e to worry about.
> 
> Those two facts make it clear to me that this issue, at any rate, has nothing to do with 6.3e and is a problem with NYC locals.


Actually, I (the original poster - or do you mean of that other thread?) do have several DirecTiVo units running 6.3e, but have not experienced problems. We do have at least one customer (that I know of) having a problem, and he is not in the NYC region. Again, I'm confused by the pronouns in your post; maybe I'm not fully understanding what you meant by "this issue" - do you mean this issue, or THAT issue?

At this point, nothing is clear to me right now, other than the fact that the data we've been collecting here suggests that it is definitely something more than the typical "bad hard drive scenario" we've seen play out during software upgrades.

It is certainly possible that there is more than one problem related to the upgrade, as well....


----------



## tivoupgrade

Tim32672 said:


> Just for the record after I downloaded 6.3 I had all the problems (reboot, non-response from the remote and so on) I saw a thread that said you need to re-connect to the DVR service and it will download a patch and clear up all the problems, After doing this last night it seemed to clear up everything remote response is great and so far no reboots Give it a shot it cant hurt.


Tim,

If you are able to find that thread, can you please post a link to it here? I'd be very interested to see that - obviously, something is amiss, and it would be good to see if there is any confirmation of that; especially from DirecTV.


----------



## Tim32672

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=5547147

where I found the idea...

This is the quote:


DouglasPHill said:


> Update, my DTIVO only froze the first couple of days and seems to be working fine now. The one problem is it has not had a successful phone connection since the 6.3e update.
> According to these forums, when an update is ready, the DTIVO installs it based on the phone call. But since my DTIVO can no longer make phone calls, due to 6.3e breaking this feature, how is my DTIVO going to get an update that fixes this? lol


----------



## dtremain

tivoupgrade said:


> Actually, I (the original poster - or do you mean of that other thread?) do have several DirecTiVo units running 6.3e, but have not experienced


I mean the OP of the other thread. Sorry for the ambiguity. He/she only has a D10 and a D11 according to the posting. Therefore, the problem that that poster, Vin, and I are having does not seem to have anything to do with DVR's, and, therfore, nothing to do with 6.3e. Since everyone reporting this exact problem has New York locals, and it only occurs with the locals, I'm pretty certain that that particular problem has nothing to do with the software upgrade to DVR's.

I disagree with your contention that this string demonstrates a widespread problem and not one that is hard drive related. In the past, when there have been widespread problems, like the guide information problem last fall, Threads on it would quickly go to 16 - 20 pages. Threads that go to two to three pages in a week or two, with a handful of people repetitively posting, don't really prove anything one way or the other.

The possibility of the new software interacting with a bad segment on the hard drive is much more likely given the past history of software updates and the symptoms that people report (re-boots at varying intervals). IMHO.

Also, the disproportionate number of users who replace hard drives and add other mods and hacks to what are supposed to be "black boxes" to the consumer biases the issue. Directv cannot be expected to anticipate these issues in its software.


----------



## tivoupgrade

dtremain said:


> Also, the disproportionate number of users who replace hard drives and add other mods and hacks to what are supposed to be "black boxes" to the consumer biases the issue. Directv cannot be expected to anticipate these issues in its software.


Thx, after reading through everything again, I assumed you meant that other thread; makes sense to me.

On the above, I agree there is some potential bias there. I also think there is bias when asking a 'loaded question' like the one I asked because I think the forums usually have more people with problems, looking for answers, but with all that said, something is not right. When we started seeing a couple of our own customers with problems, it started to get me wondering whether it was more than just the "bad drive" phenomenon... I think the larger number of folks that answer the survey, the better visibility something like this will get at DirecTV - in fact, I'd bet they are already aware of the problem by now and are planning another software release...


----------



## peggyrh

As of yesterday DirecTV still isn't acknowledging there even IS a problem - their response is to have someone call & try to convince me I need to replace my 2 - R10's with R15, then be obligated to a new contract& pay for the replacements! When I try to explain it isn't my units, it's their software upgrade, they act like they have no idea what I'm talking about - their lack of respect for their customers knowledge (as well as total lack of customer support) just amazes me - & each soft reset is pushing me closer to switching providers.


----------



## ejg25

My Samsung DirecTiVo is affected, also. It's never had a problem with any other update, in four plus years. And the last time it had spontaneously rebooted was at least a year or two ago. Since the update, it's rebooting on average once a week.


----------



## Vin

dtremain said:


> If you go to this thread:
> 
> http://forums.directv.com/pe/action/forums/displaypost?postID=10282751
> 
> You will see that the problem relates to New York locals, which you, of course, are getting in Clifton, and that the original poster doesn't even have a DVR, thus no 6.3e to worry about.
> 
> Those two facts make it clear to me that this issue, at any rate, has nothing to do with 6.3e and is a problem with NYC locals.


After reading that thread I can certainly understand why you don't think the problems have anything to do with 6.3e but you have to admit, it's quite a coincidence that these problems arose around the same time as the software update. I'd say it's a VERY BIG coincidence......wait, "there are no degrees of coincidence, there are just coincidences....."  Sorry, my life often seems like a Seinfeld episode!

Anyway, whatever the problem is I hope it gets resolved soon before my wife drives me insane!


----------



## dtremain

Vin said:


> it's quite a coincidence that these problems arose around the same time as the software update.


They also arose around the same time that Directv expanded its HD offerings and upped its bandwidth use for them. That seems like a more likely correlation, given the two points I make above.


----------



## Pt121

ejg25 said:


> My Samsung DirecTiVo is affected, also. It's never had a problem with any other update, in four plus years. And the last time it had spontaneously rebooted was at least a year or two ago. Since the update, it's rebooting on average once a week.


Well count yourself lucky. My Samsung units was rebooting just about every night around 10PM-12AM. Every once in a while it wouldn't do it, but that was very rare indeed. It was uncanny how it just liked that time frame. It had gotten so bad that I would manually reboot it during the day, just so it wouldn't reboot that evening while recording my Season Passes. Once I rebooted during the afternoon, it typically wouldn't reboot until the next evening.

Now, since my installed my new hard drive from DVRupgrade(250GB) I haven't seen any reboots as of yet(knock on wood). I haven't upgraded to 6.3e and I have no intension of doing so either. I ran Western Digital Tools on the drive, that was in the unit, and all tests come back with no errors on the drive. Once I feel real confident of this new drive, I will more than likely upgrade my Phillips unit, which is having the exact same problems wit hthe reboots. Although, that unit doesn't do it quite every night....more like 4 times a week.

As far as DirecTv is concerned, I have pretty much got the same responces as others in this forum. They totally deny that there are any problems with the software. All they want to do is take the units I own and replace then with leased units+2 year commitment+an extra $4.99 a month for the leased units. I see no advantage to this at all. I've seen the newer units and I don't like the way they work. The emails I've sent just let me know that someone will get in contact with me and said if I can't wait to call them. But we all know what happens when you call them....it ends up as a slap in the face as far as I'm concerned....I don't know about you all. I got one call from them. It was on a Sunday, while I was working, and said they would call me back the next day. Well, I'm still waiting almost 3 weeks later. I even sent another email to them about this and this is the responce I got.

" Thanks for taking the time to write us back and let us know about the trouble you've been having with your DIRECTV system. I'm sorry for any frustration that this may have caused you. I appreciate the opportunity to assist you with this.

Upon review, I found that your concerns had already been forwarded to the appropriate department for review. With this, just please allow ample time for one of our specialist to contact you to discuss how we can help you.

I know this is an inconvenience for you, I apologize for that and I thank you very much for your patience and understanding.

Sincerely,"

Well, I'm still waiting.

Patrick


----------



## Numanoid

Been having the pixelization and audio dropouts on recordings, as well as system freeze-ups for the last few weeks on my HDVR2. 

Strangely, the hard drive in my series one Philips DSR6000 also died a week ago or so. Just a coincidence?


----------



## rbtravis

Directv has approximately 15,000,000 customers, 2,500,000 of whom have Tivos, only 84 replies to survey 65 of whom reported problems. The number of problems reported is probably less than their average daily turnover. If you want Directv to take action and you have had a problem report it. If you want the problem fixed so your TiVo will again work both DVRupgrade and Weaknees are distributing 6.2a solutions and drives. I suggest you take action, because with these numbers 65/2500000 I think Directv will stick with original game plan.


----------



## NoCleverUsername

I have an HDVR2 and an R10.

The R10 has had issues since day 1, so I don't think 6.3e made any difference. It seems much flakier than my HDVR2.

As far as I know, the HDVR2 is fine. I just haven't been using it as much lately because of where it happens to be in the house.

Other than the R10, most of my pixellization issues seem to affect all the DirecTV receivers in the house, not just the DTiVos, so again nothing to do with 6.3e.

No unexpected reboots, at least not since the HDVR2's original drive was replaced, but that was well before 6.3e.


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## TivoJD

I have a Samsung SIR-S4040 that has the freezing problem and an R10 that has the same problems with 6.3e. Either a black screen or frozen video. A friend of mine just dumped her 2 Hughes DVR40's with 6.3e because of the freezing problems and now has 2 R15's. I replaced the R10 with a Samsung SIR-S4080 that has 6.2a (unplugged so it won't get the update). Over the past 3 days the SIR-S4040 with 6.3e has frozen 4 times and the SIR-S4080 with 6.2a has been fine, not one thing wrong. Never had any problems with any of them til the 6.3e upgrade. Thankfully I have one that is reliable! The SIR-S4040 is destined for a larger hard drive with instantcake 6.2a.


----------



## wedgecon

rbtravis said:


> Directv has approximately 15,000,000 customers, 2,500,000 of whom have Tivos, only 84 replies to survey 65 of whom reported problems. The number of problems reported is probably less than their average daily turnover. If you want Directv to take action and you have had a problem report it. If you want the problem fixed so your TiVo will again work both DVRupgrade and Weaknees are distributing 6.2a solutions and drives. I suggest you take action, because with these numbers 65/2500000 I think Directv will stick with original game plan.


So your saying that only 65 people are having problems?

I am willing to bet DirecTV is geting a lot of calls, but we will never know. Even if DirecTV was getting thousands of calls a day on this problem the CSR's would still not know anything about it or say anything even if they did. DirecTV in the past has tended not to tell their CSR's anything until they have a solution.

The two solutions above are not an option for anybody who does not want to lose their recordings. I will revert the software back when I have watched all of the shows I have recorded since there is no way to revert back to an older version without losing the recordings.

It would be much easier for me if DirecTV would release a fix soon so I don't have to worry about losing shows. I have been lucky in that all of the reboots seem to happen between 5:00 and 7:00 PM so I have not missed a recording.


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## rbtravis

Quote me correctly only 65 people reported problems in this forum. The number has since risen to 70. I am sure others may be having problems. They did not bother to report them in the survey. If the number gets significant I am sure Directv will address the issue. In the mean time your choice is take action yourself and provide a temporary solution or sit and wait and do nothing. The choice is yours.


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## LDLemu4U

I have noted that this thread was started 27 Sept. Thursday last week. I have a Philips DSR 704. Which started acting up 25 Sept. Tuesday. Would just hang on the Welcome page and won't boot up. 26 September Wednesday D* started their 21 new HD channels. I suspect that D* made changes in the data stream to affect the older TiVo. My problems did not recur by late Friday and have had no problems from that time on.


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## Numanoid

Tim32672 said:


> Just for the record after I downloaded 6.3 I had all the problems (reboot, non-response from the remote and so on) I saw a thread that said you need to re-connect to the DVR service and it will download a patch and clear up all the problems, After doing this last night it seemed to clear up everything remote response is great and so far no reboots Give it a shot it cant hurt.


Thanks for this post. I made my HDVR2 reconnect to the DVR service last night after seeing this post and it seems to have stopped my recording problems (pixelization and audio dropouts). I've watched about 30 minutes of a recording made after the update and haven't seen a single issue yet (versus recordings made before being almost unwatchable). We'll see how it goes regarding the frequent lockups.

I suggest that others should try it and see what happens.

Thanks again. :up:


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## Mark W

I should have looked here sooner. I thought it was just my hard drive going on my Hughes with the stock 120MB. I was really bumming about the fact that I would have to replace it with a stock spare 40GB unit that I have. Heres my symptoms (gets interesting):

Over the past month, I had freeze ups maybe twice. Just thought it was freak occurrences. But over the past few days, I have found the unit either frozen on a black screen unresponsive, or frozen on live tv, unresponsive, numerous times. The stock 80GB Hughes DTivo in the bedroom has had the same symptoms twice over the past few days. This morning though, things got VERY interesting. I got dowstairs, and of course the Tivo was frozen on Conan Obrian, who looked like he was dancing with some woman in an I Dream of Jeanie type outfit on. After a mild amount of cursing, I pulled the plug, and waited for the reboot process. I go up to the bedroom, turn that TV on, and what do I see? The EXACT SAME frozen image! Conan Obrian, with the I Dream of Jeanie lady! Im scratching my head about this one. How could that be? These are stock units, not hacked or networked.

I just called home, and my wife said that both units are frozen again, not on the same thing this time. This is not good.


----------



## snookuda

I have the R10 and it has been freezing (reboot fixes it) approximately every couple of days since the 6.3e upgrade. The response rate from the remote seems a touch slower as well. I called DTV a few weeks ago and offered to send out an R15 but i turned it down. I was hoping there would be a fix since so many others have had similar problems.


----------



## rbtravis

snookuda said:


> I have the R10 and it has been freezing (reboot fixes it) approximately every couple of days since the 6.3e upgrade. The response rate from the remote seems a touch slower as well. I called DTV a few weeks ago and offered to send out an R15 but i turned it down. I was hoping there would be a fix since so many others have had similar problems.


 I have seen some R10 users in the DVRupgrade forum talking about ordering Instantcake and PTVnet. Instantcake to roll the version back to the last R10 version and PTVnet so the phone does not have to be plugged in hence no auto updates from above. You can view these at WWW.DVRupgrade.com Good Luck


----------



## tivoupgrade

rbtravis said:


> I have seen some R10 users in the DVRupgrade forum talking about ordering Instantcake and PTVnet. Instantcake to roll the version back to the last R10 version and PTVnet so the phone does not have to be plugged in hence no auto updates from above. You can view these at WWW.DVRupgrade.com Good Luck


Just to clarify here... There is no PTVnet software for the R10 (the hardware is different than other Series2 DirecTiVo units), but simply unplugging the R10 from the phone line will give you the same result (except for the fact that you'll get the "please make a call soon..." nag message).


----------



## Numanoid

Numanoid said:


> Thanks for this post. I made my HDVR2 reconnect to the DVR service last night after seeing this post and it seems to have stopped my recording problems (pixelization and audio dropouts). I've watched about 30 minutes of a recording made after the update and haven't seen a single issue yet (versus recordings made before being almost unwatchable). We'll see how it goes regarding the frequent lockups.
> 
> I suggest that others should try it and see what happens.


Well, I'm sad to say that this didn't solve the problem completely after all. Some of the recordings made after the "Connect to DVR Service" are error-free, while others are still suffering from the audio and video glitches. The fact that it is now apparently a random thing makes me even more bewildered.


----------



## paloverde

tivoupgrade said:


> Just to clarify here... There is no PTVnet software for the R10 (the hardware is different than other Series2 DirecTiVo units), but simply unplugging the R10 from the phone line will give you the same result (except for the fact that you'll get the "please make a call soon..." nag message).


OK, so I had the rebooting after 6.3e thing, and couldn't recover. SO I ordered and installed a new disk from weaknees. Now it's viewing live tv but won't do any recording until I plug the phone line in. I do not want it to "upgrade" to 6.3e, so I don't want it to dial in.

What's the safe way to get past this stage? Do I just have to do one test call and then unplug it?

This is a totally unhacked DirecTivo HDVR2. (Basically I just want it to work again.)

Thanks!


----------



## Dave2010

I have a stock Samsung 30Gig unit that now often displays black and white images. Also, it is failing to dial out. In the past two weeks, the unit completely froze up once and I had to do a hard reboot to get it active again. Before this, the unit had been flawless for over 3 years. I am glad I found this thread before I wrote the problem off as a hdd issue. With so many others seeing similar issues, I hope DirecTV fixes the problem. Hopefully, I can get my unit to dial out again.


----------



## tivoupgrade

Dave2010 said:


> I have a stock Samsung 30Gig unit that now often displays black and white images. Also, it is failing to dial out. In the past two weeks, the unit completely froze up once and I had to do a hard reboot to get it active again. Before this, the unit had been flawless for over 3 years. I am glad I found this thread before I wrote the problem off as a hdd issue. With so many others seeing similar issues, I hope DirecTV fixes the problem. Hopefully, I can get my unit to dial out again.


I've not heard of this problem, before and it sounds more like a hardware issue, and possibly NOT a hard drive issue. If anyone else is seeing this problem as a result of the 6.3e upgrade, I'd be interested to know, but this sounds like a problem with the unit, itself.


----------



## dcstager

I'm wondering if the upgrade has been sent out to every unit. I have a Hughes DVR-80 and still have 6.2a running. It has not upgraded to 6.3e and the SwSystem entry in MFS does not contain any new files. So is the upgrade in the satellite stream or downloaded via a daily call? I'd like to upgrade with slicer, but nothing is there.


----------



## Dave2010

tivoupgrade said:


> I've not heard of this problem, before and it sounds more like a hardware issue, and possibly NOT a hard drive issue. If anyone else is seeing this problem as a result of the 6.3e upgrade, I'd be interested to know, but this sounds like a problem with the unit, itself.


tivoupgrade, thanks for the reply. Here is an update to my problem with dialing out. I found the problem was due to a lot of interference on the phone line. I unplugged the phone line from my Tivo and the interference went away. Now I assumed it was the Tivo causing the interference. I investigated further and figured out if I unplugged the power from my SlingBox, which is downstream of the Tivo, the interference went away. So this would mean the SlingBox is feeding back upstream to the Tivo (not good at all). Perhaps it is just a coincidence that all of this happened after the 6.3e upgrade.


----------



## tivoupgrade

Dave2010 said:


> I investigated further and figured out if I unplugged the power from my SlingBox, which is downstream of the Tivo, the interference went away. So this would mean the SlingBox is feeding back upstream to the Tivo (not good at all). Perhaps it is just a coincidence that all of this happened after the 6.3e upgrade.


Sure sounds that way. There really is no way to know for sure because it could also be that when running 6.3e, your unit is more sensitive. That may also be the cause of other problems people are experiencing.

From some of the other posts I've been reading, it looks like there are certain reps at the call centers that are 'acknowledging' that there is a problem. I've heard nothing more than that, though; hopefully more will develop.


----------



## robpickles

paloverde said:


> OK, so I had the rebooting after 6.3e thing, and couldn't recover. SO I ordered and installed a new disk from weaknees. Now it's viewing live tv but won't do any recording until I plug the phone line in. I do not want it to "upgrade" to 6.3e, so I don't want it to dial in.
> 
> What's the safe way to get past this stage? Do I just have to do one test call and then unplug it?
> 
> This is a totally unhacked DirecTivo HDVR2. (Basically I just want it to work again.)
> 
> Thanks!


You can make the initial call and setup with the phone line in and get past this stage without fear.

I was also concerned about this. I ran the setup and made that first call and right after I disconnected the phone line.

Rob


----------



## Dad440

OK, just to see what happened after having my main R10 freezing and rebooting, I have started keeping better track of what some have said.

I ONLY have problems over the last 5 days if one of the tuners is on a local channel here in CT. One R10 was stock, and never had any problems before about 3 weeks ago. Second R10 was upgraded to Weaknees 250 Seagate HD exactly 13 months ago. Same issues of freezing 1-2 times per day, and rebooting at least 1-2 times a day if one tuner is on a local channel.

I have a 3rd brand new R10 that I got way back when I heard DTV was dropping TIVO DVR's, and I took it out and put it in a 3rd TV position which had only been using 1 channel non-DVR original tuner box. I updated that unit with brand new program card, let phone initially verify, then unplugged it 5 days ago while it was still on ver 6.1 

I had no problems with this new third one rebooting or freezing, even if left on local channels for 3 days....then I plugged phone line back in...and it updated to 6.3e. Yesterday, and again today with at least one tuner on local channel it froze up while displaying local channel. I could still hear audio, and could cycle between tuners, but saw nothing on 2nd tuner. 

Only way to resolve freezing is to either press red reset button by card, or unplug/plug power. Never had any problems over last year until this started about 3 weeks ago (mid to late Sept). 

I have called Directv 8 times about this, including 4 times having it escalate to a supervisor in my service plan tech support area. Last two calls, both supervisors were aware of the issue. Also, I did notice several episodes of heavy pixelation while I was watching and recording Bionic Woman. First time I saw that, but it did not reboot.

if it does reboot while a show is recording, when it comes back online, it starts recording programmed show again....minus the several minutes of rebooting.

I mentioned about just buying InstantCake to one of the DTV supervisors who said he is reading these forums, and he alluded to the 6.3e upgrade will happen even if I unplug the phone cord. Doesn't that just "frost your beer" if he was right.


----------



## CJSOX

I live in Merrillville, IN and I've been having the rebooting problems for about 3 weeks to a month. It's a new unit I bought in July, and had it a HD added by weakness in Sept.
But everything seems to have happened with 6.3. Sometimes the picture goes to black and pushing any buttons do no good. Or it will just freeze on a tv show and have to reboot. 

Sometimes it reboots in the middle of rebooting. It usually does it every 2 to 3 days.

I have a Hughes HDVR2


----------



## TivoJD

Dad440 said:


> I mentioned about just buying InstantCake to one of the DTV supervisors who said he is reading these forums, and he alluded to the 6.3e upgrade will happen even if I unplug the phone cord. Doesn't that just "frost your beer" if he was right.


I don't think that is true. I got a used SIR-S4080R from ebay that had 6.2a on 09/07/07. Its been up and running for over a month now without the phone line plugged in and its still 6.2a.


----------



## chuckg

Dad440 said:


> I mentioned about just buying InstantCake to one of the DTV supervisors who said he is reading these forums, and he alluded to the 6.3e upgrade will happen even if I unplug the phone cord. Doesn't that just "frost your beer" if he was right.


Mine haven't upgraded back to 6.3e since I put the 6.2a drives back in 3 weeks ago and disconnected the phone lines.

Only when this site is loaded with announcements from all over the country from users using various and sundry models that the *6.3e problem* has been solved will i connect the phone lines.


----------



## rubybear

I just voted on your poll. I have a 2-year old Samsung S4080R DirecTV Tivo, and the thing has been locking up every day between 12:45 and 1:00 pm, PST. If I don't manually reboot it, it will stay locked up until I do, even if I turn the TV off. I have daily recordings set up for 1:00 and 3:00, and if I don't happen to be home to reboot before 1:00, it doesn't record. It happens whether I'm watching live TV or watching a previously recorded show.
I read the post where someone said he manually reboots daily, and it doesn't then lock up for the next 24 hours. I'm going to try that tomorrow, before it locks up on it's own, and see if that works. 
I don't suppose all this rebooting is good for the hard drives, but what else are we gonna do, when DirecTV turns a blind eye to problems it causes its loyal customers? Shame on them...


----------



## rvfrueh

rvfrueh said:


> HDVR2 and R10. Both updated the same day in early september, and ever since then, they've both been rebooting, with apparently no rhyme or reason. They lock up, usually while recording, and never recover.


As of 10/16 - no fix - Just got a Case Management Agent, new department added in the last few weeks to handle customer sat. They've seen this, or at least lots of reports. We've had a tech checking the sat dish, replaced LNB, replaced cables, and boosted our signal a point or two.

According to the Case Management Agent, they are a high-level support group, with case numbers for tracking, and special phone numbers. In the lsat 3-4 days, a release has come from management, that says that a hard drive failure has been revealed by the software. It's hardware, not hte software that's at fault, and there is no information about the satellite stream info.

He can suggest Weaknees to repair a borked TiVo. (DTV officially recommends people go there?)

As of 10/11/07 the engineering department is working with TiVo to determine other possible solutions for the intermittent reboot problem.

The CMA's really nice, and very knowledgeable - he appears to be trying to help.
It does appear as if there is real data on a solution being worked on - no expect date.

Right now, he may be able to offer me no lease payments on the R15, but that's as far as it goes. There is obviously no real solution right now.


----------



## wedgecon

rvfrueh said:


> As of 10/16 - no fix - Just got a Case Management Agent, new department added in the last few weeks to handle customer sat. They've seen this, or at least lots of reports. We've had a tech checking the sat dish, replaced LNB, replaced cables, and boosted our signal a point or two.
> 
> According to the Case Management Agent, they are a high-level support group, with case numbers for tracking, and special phone numbers. In the lsat 3-4 days, a release has come from management, that says that a hard drive failure has been revealed by the software. It's hardware, not hte software that's at fault, and there is no information about the satellite stream info.
> 
> He can suggest Weaknees to repair a borked TiVo. (DTV officially recommends people go there?)
> 
> As of 10/11/07 the engineering department is working with TiVo to determine other possible solutions for the intermittent reboot problem.
> 
> The CMA's really nice, and very knowledgeable - he appears to be trying to help.
> It does appear as if there is real data on a solution being worked on - no expect date.
> 
> Right now, he may be able to offer me no lease payments on the R15, but that's as far as it goes. There is obviously no real solution right now.


I really hope there are people at DirecTV who know a lot more than this. We know it is not a hard drive problem as many of us have tried several drives and the reboot continues.


----------



## chuckg

rvfrueh said:


> As of 10/16 - no fix - Just got a Case Management Agent, new department added in the last few weeks to handle customer sat. They've seen this, or at least lots of reports. We've had a tech checking the sat dish, replaced LNB, replaced cables, and boosted our signal a point or two.
> 
> According to the Case Management Agent, they are a high-level support group, with case numbers for tracking, and special phone numbers. In the lsat 3-4 days, a release has come from management, that says that a hard drive failure has been revealed by the software. It's hardware, not hte software that's at fault, and there is no information about the satellite stream info.
> 
> He can suggest Weaknees to repair a borked TiVo. (DTV officially recommends people go there?)
> 
> As of 10/11/07 the engineering department is working with TiVo to determine other possible solutions for the intermittent reboot problem.
> 
> The CMA's really nice, and very knowledgeable - he appears to be trying to help.
> It does appear as if there is real data on a solution being worked on - no expect date.
> 
> Right now, he may be able to offer me no lease payments on the R15, but that's as far as it goes. There is obviously no real solution right now.


This amuses me!  I put 2 WeaKnees Seagate DB35.3 drives in running 6.2a without a problem. Each started having problems soon after the 6.3e upgrade and continued till the old drives back in.

If it is a hardware problem, then there is something wrong with my WeaKnees Seagate DB35.3s that is incompatible with 6.3e!?? Which makes it hardware?


----------



## rubybear

Well, manually rebooting didnt prevent my recorder from rebooting itself at 12:45 pm again today. I wasnt home, but I had set up a recording from 12:00-1:00 pm. Sure enough, its now on my Playlist in two parts: First part exactly 45 minutes, 2nd part 4 minutes. At least it didnt freeze up the entire afternoon. Thankfully, my 1:00 & 3:00 programs were recorded.

Do you suppose this is the time the satellite updates the on-screen guide, and something gets screwed up in the software? 

I havent called DirecTV, because I think it is futile. I dont have an hour or more to be on hold and talk to someone off of a script, who doesnt care one bit about the software glitches they are causing us. They have one goal, Im sure: Make every one of their subscribers give up their TIVOs, no matter what manufacturer, or the fact that they were the ones who gave them to us in the beginning, and downgrade to their crummy version of a DVR. If it werent for the fact that they offer channels that I cant get with DISH (my only other satellite option), I would leave DirecTV now. 

Do any of you remember that when they first updated to version 6.2 last December, hundreds, if not thousands of TIVOs started rebooting themselves several times a day? Back then, they tried to tell me my recorder was bad, too, and tried to get me to switch to their DVR. Exact same issue. Tell me they dont have an agenda! They finally fixed the glitch in their software, and my unit was operating just fine until this latest software update.


----------



## robpickles

I find it funny that they STILL are saying the problems are due to faulty hard drives.

As Wedgecon said, we already proved it is NOT bad hard drives by replacing the units with new drives setup with 6.2a and they work perfectly.

It's just another excuse in the long line of CSR bull**** to keep us from really getting on their case. How long do we take it?

Rob


----------



## leftstrat

I've also been having problems since the update, including the color being gone, freezing on a screen, etc. Took the drive out, and inspected with SpinRite, no problems. I think the software update may be overpowering the processors. Mine is a DSR-708. 

I truly hope this gets fixed soon. I've got a feeling that the testing phase wasn't as long as it should have been...


----------



## TivoPete1

I, too have been experiencing the same pixilization and "freeze" issues that require rebooting as a temporary "fix" on my Hughes HDVR2. I also have an R10 that has been experiencing color loss and goes "black" for a quick moment and it has the remote pushbutton "delay" problem documented elsewhere in this thread. 

I call DTV today and the tech rep informed me that "some Tivo units may experience "re-setting" due to a "corrupt hardrive" when upgraded to the 6.3 software. The only solution offered by DTV was to replace my unit(s) with the DTV DVR. When I declined, the DTV Tech rep suggested I call "Weaknees". When I asked to be connected to a "level 2" tech rep I was told that DTV no longer has level 2 tech support. 

I then called Weaknees as I installed their larger hardrives in my Tivos. They informed me that they were aware of the issue and that they refer to the 6.3 DTV software upgrade as "planned obsolescence". They also informed me that they cannot find any reason for the 6.3 upgrade. They said the only current solution is to replace/reformat the hardrive and then leave the phone line unplugged. 

It sure looks to me like DTV is attempting to force Tivo users to switch to the DTV DVR. However, their actions may force me to "switch" to cable. 

Does anyone think DTV is going to fix this problem or is it really a transparent attempt to pry our Tivos from the "holdouts"?


----------



## rvfrueh

Let me rephrase - per DirecTV, machines which are constantly rebooting, which is defined by them as up no more than 10 minutes before it reboots again, are hardware failures. All others are caused by something they're working out with TiVo engineers. The first case gets you a new DVR, and the second case gets you nothing except the option of a new DVR and some goodies.

However, he did recommend that possibly I purchase a new/used R10 or HDVR2 from eBay, activate it and disconnect the phone cable so it doesn't get the new update, and use it to record, and disconnect my other 2 and use them for playback only, until there is a fix available.

There was no script this time around, and he did acknowledge that the average CSR shouldn't be telling people to CDA.


----------



## tivoupgrade

TivoPete1 said:


> Does anyone think DTV is going to fix this problem or is it really a transparent attempt to pry our Tivos from the "holdouts"?


I don't think there is any conspiracy afoot to mess up the existing units out there to steer folks to their more current platform. I do think that fixing bugs on these platforms will always be a lower priority than their more current platform, unless their overall stance with TiVo changes, but I'd hardly called that a conspiracy.

In all likelihood, they are aware of the problem, and I'd guess it will be addressed with another software update at some point. Perhaps it may not be until the 2008 update that has been promised, or perhaps it will be sooner, it really depends on how bad this problem is relative to others.

In the interim, we've posted these recommendations for workarounds, on our forums.

BTW, I spoke with a supervisor in Customer Retention at DirecTV today and she said that she has heard about the problems, and also hears from many people who would like to see newer DirecTV products with TiVo-technology in them. She said that she logs every request and passes it up her management chain.


----------



## rubybear

Unlike many of you who have a lot of technical savvy, Im just a 57-year old granny who wants to enjoy watching and recording TV shows. A lot of you have offered very complicated solutions to the 6.3 software glitch that has affected us with TIVOs of one brand or another, and Ive tried to make sense of them. What really needs to happen is that DirecTV issue a patch for its TIVO users; otherwise it seems they are creating a monopoly by forcing their subscribers to buy or lease their own brand of DVR.

That said, I have gleaned here and there from these forums what appears to be a workaround, as convoluted as it is. At least, my DVR hasnt rebooted for 2 days while using this workaround. That or DTV has fixed the problem, which would be refreshing.

My TIVO has always frozen/rebooted at the same time, 12:45-1:00 pm, PST. So I am now making sure that both tuners are set to cable channels, instead of locals, during that time, and it appears to be working. I daily record something at 11:00 on a local station, however, so in order to make sure that tuner is back on a cable channel at 12:45 when Im not home, Im going to record something from 12:30-1:00 on a cable channel, and hopefully that will work.

I am thinking that the glitch happens when they are sending the daily Onscreen Guide through the satellite to our DVRs. If DirecTV is reading any of these forums, maybe they can learn something about how to fix their software problem by seeing what we are doing for workarounds. Sure hope they care enough to try.

My equipment: 2-year old Samsung S4080R DirecTV TIVO, original, no modifications.


----------



## Pauli

rubybear said:


> Unlike many of you who have a lot of technical savvy, Im just a 57-year old granny who wants to enjoy watching and recording TV shows. A lot of you have offered very complicated solutions to the 6.3 software glitch that has affected us with TIVOs of one brand or another, and Ive tried to make sense of them. What really needs to happen is that DirecTV issue a patch for its TIVO users; otherwise it seems they are creating a monopoly by forcing their subscribers to buy or lease their own brand of DVR.
> 
> That said, I have gleaned here and there from these forums what appears to be a workaround, as convoluted as it is. At least, my DVR hasnt rebooted for 2 days while using this workaround. That or DTV has fixed the problem, which would be refreshing.
> 
> My TIVO has always frozen/rebooted at the same time, 12:45-1:00 pm, PST. So I am now making sure that both tuners are set to cable channels, instead of locals, during that time, and it appears to be working. I daily record something at 11:00 on a local station, however, so in order to make sure that tuner is back on a cable channel at 12:45 when Im not home, Im going to record something from 12:30-1:00 on a cable channel, and hopefully that will work.
> 
> I am thinking that the glitch happens when they are sending the daily Onscreen Guide through the satellite to our DVRs. If DirecTV is reading any of these forums, maybe they can learn something about how to fix their software problem by seeing what we are doing for workarounds. Sure hope they care enough to try.
> 
> My equipment: 2-year old Samsung S4080R DirecTV TIVO, original, no modifications.


Heh, for a "granny" with not a lot of "technical savvy", you have pretty good analytical skills


----------



## coolcastro

My D-Tivo has had all the problems listed. I was leaning more towards the fact that the hard drive was probably failing. (About 3 years old, maybe more) Then I got a phone call from a friend that was having the same issues. She has a Phillips branded Dtivo and mine is an RCA. What are the chances that we both have a hard drive failure at the same time?

By the way...She has been paying for the DTV equipment coverage plan. I don't have the heart to tell her that they are just going to send the new DTV DVR and not "fix" her beloved Tivo.


----------



## rbtravis

coolcastro said:


> My D-Tivo has had all the problems listed. I was leaning more towards the fact that the hard drive was probably failing. (About 3 years old, maybe more) Then I got a phone call from a friend that was having the same issues. She has a Phillips branded Dtivo and mine is an RCA. What are the chances that we both have a hard drive failure at the same time?
> 
> By the way...She has been paying for the DTV equipment coverage plan. I don't have the heart to tell her that they are just going to send the new DTV DVR and not "fix" her beloved Tivo.


You can both buy a new Hard drive along with software from Instantcake by DVRupgrade and be back up and running in no time. If you dont connect the phone line you wont get 6.3e update.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136185
retail package for safer shipping


----------



## RichJBJ

I called and spoke to a rep. She told me that it was my Tivo that was outdated as well... It just can't handle the new and improved technology that DirecTV is pipeing out now. I politely asked to speak to her supervisor. I told the Supervisor that I knew what was going on, and that DirecTV was responsible for the corruption/upgrade. I informed him that there were hundreds of people (thanks to this forum) who were experiencing the same thing. I wanted to know what he was going to do to fix the problem. He assured me that Tivo and DirecTV were "likely" working on the problem. He offered me their DVR, which in his words, "is a considerable upgrade... 100 hours of recording, faster response times, blah blah blah...."

I told him that it just wasn't Tivo, and he said it was better than Tivo. I said that this all sounds very suspect. Seems like sabotage to me. I told him I wanted my account credited for this inconvenience, and he said he could only send me the new DirecTV DVR (without Tivo), for the low low price of $19.99 (S & H) and a 2 year commitment. 

Sounds like fraud to me. I don't remember getting an upgrade from Microsoft Windows that broke my computer's hard drive!! Someone needs to file a Class action suite if these bozos can't figure it out. I'll sign up

They broke my Tivo, and I want it replaced... with a TIVO!!

They tried to peddle a 3rd party vendor - weaknees - com - , who want like over $100 to ship you a new hard drive with instructions. DirecTV is RECOMMENDING this!! I told them fine, as long as they rebate the $100+ to my account. Instead, they decided to waive the Shipping and Handling Fee ($19.99) as an alternative. WOW... WHAT A DEAL!!! Of course, the best part is that I'm on the hook for 2 years if I accept.... no thanks, not after this crap!

Not sure I trust DirecTV much after this dibacle. They have a lot of 'splaining to do!

I decided to call Tivo directly and inform them that DirecTV was trying to persuade me to cancel Tivo and go exclusively with DirecTV. Tivo rep could only apologize for the inconvenience and the negativity, and was unfortunately unable to help me because the matter was all on DirecTV for this software update.

Great... both companies sound like they work really well together.

Bottom line... DirecTV has broken my Tivo. I want them to send me a new Tivo. I will continue my plight and update all of you when new information becomes available. 

We all need to stick together on this though. Don't let DirecTV send us the crappy DVR "upgrades" that has us canceling the Tivo subscription that has changed most of our lives!!! <-- a little dramatic, but still true

RichJBJ


----------



## tivoupgrade

RichJBJ said:


> We all need to stick together on this though. Don't let DirecTV send us the crappy DVR "upgrades" that has us canceling the Tivo subscription that has changed most of our lives!!! <-- a little dramatic, but still true
> 
> RichJBJ


I had the opportunity to speak with another DirecTV rep today and he was pretty candid about acknowledging that there is a problem and also that many people prefer the TiVo to their own brand of DVR. Unfortunately, he was not in a position to do anything about anything (other than ensure that my account was in good standing at that the HR20 I was activating was set up properly in their system -- btw, I am activating the unit because customer retention gave it to us at no charge, along with the dish, and without having to extend my contract, so we are trying it out).

In any case, I think the right thing to do is to continue calling when there are problems, use the workarounds for keeping your unit stable (if you are comfortable doing it) and hopefully they will address the problem longer term.

Lou


----------



## rbtravis

tivoupgrade said:


> I had the opportunity to speak with another DirecTV rep today and he was pretty candid about acknowledging that there is a problem and also that many people prefer the TiVo to their own brand of DVR. Unfortunately, he was not in a position to do anything about anything (other than ensure that my account was in good standing at that the HR20 I was activating was set up properly in their system -- btw, I am activating the unit because customer retention gave it to us at no charge, along with the dish, and without having to extend my contract, so we are trying it out).
> 
> In any case, I think the right thing to do is to continue calling when there are problems, use the workarounds for keeping your unit stable (if you are comfortable doing it) and hopefully they will address the problem longer term.
> 
> Lou


LOU - HR20 What is this world coming to? All is LOST


----------



## Dad440

I'm giving them a bit longer to see if this is really their way of trying to get rid of all of us old R-10 Tivo users. I don't want their higher HDR prices. I don't have a HDR TV.

I am 100% sure this is not a hardware issue. The freezing and rebooting still happens if one tuner is left on a local channel (seems mostly with NBC), including last night on one of 3 TV's. If they don't care about us long term customers, then I will look for service with my old cable company (which has upgraded and uses TIVO), or look at UVerse.

Screw DirectV after treating us this way.


----------



## scorpiosting113

pgorbas said:


> Anyway - DirecTV offered a replacement unit for $20/two business day shipping = a 100 hour DVR unit - I think it is their R15 model. I'm not real happy about this - I lost 300+ hours of recorded shows, get DirecTv's software which most people agree is not as good as the old TiVo service, I am down to 1/4 my recording capacity and it is costing me $20 for this downgrade. I figured this was about the best deal I was going to get.
> 
> Does anyone know it the directTv brand DVR can be hacked with larger recording capacity like the DTiVo's could?


 Don't take the DirecTV version of DVR. You are much better off even if you spend a little more to send your TIVO unit to be upgraded and go back to the 6.2x software. I have a DirecTV version of DVR, 100GB unit collecting dust. The feature/functionality and user interface sucks. No comparision at all. If you have to, you can get it, but I am strongly advising against it. DirecTV's response to this issue is really poor.


----------



## thommygeenh

Dad440 said:


> I'm giving them a bit longer to see if this is really their way of trying to get rid of all of us old R-10 Tivo users. I don't want their higher HDR prices. I don't have a HDR TV.
> 
> I am 100% sure this is not a hardware issue. The freezing and rebooting still happens if one tuner is left on a local channel (seems mostly with NBC), including last night on one of 3 TV's. If they don't care about us long term customers, then I will look for service with my old cable company (which has upgraded and uses TIVO), or look at UVerse.
> 
> Screw DirectV after treating us this way.


Same here. Although I forked out over $100 for a new hard drive, which has solved all the problems 6.3e brought (now back to 6.1), if they continue down this path away from Tivo, then over to Comcast with Tivo I go...they have just introduced their new Comcast with Tivo DVR to the New England area, so I'm keeping an eye on that as an open option. When I spoke to D* last Friday I told them I will not give up the Tivo, for their R-15 Standard Def. DVR, and she said she would forward that to the higher ups. Not holding my breath on that. I had gone thru 6 of the R-15's over a 10 month period...never again. Now when I call D*, I make it a point to mention to them that I now have the option to go to Comcast with Tivo, each time I speak/e-mail them.


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## rbtravis

thommygeenh said:


> My Tivo unit is definately, an R-10 Directivo Standard Def, Series 2 unit, and the last version it had before the 6.3e disaster, was indeed 6.2a.


 I thought you said your R-10 was running 6.2a and was the only one in the country doing so. I know you never make mistakes.


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## thommygeenh

rbtravis said:


> I thought you said your R-10 was running 6.2a and was the only one in the country doing so. I know you never make mistakes.


You missed my other post after the one you quoted:



> Thanks very much to everyone for all your help. Replacing the hard drive sometime this weekend...hopefully it will put this unit back to the way it was...flawlessly reliable! Oh...and I stand corrected...my software version was 6.1a as everyone informed me.


----------



## Cosmic

Tim32672 said:


> 6.3e01-2-521 is what it is now... not sure what it was I should have looked but didn't sorry...
> 
> when I connected it did download and install something I am not sure what it was but the unit is acting the way it was before the 6.3 was installed... hope it works for you. ..


When I turned on my TV this morning around 11:30 am, the picture was frozen. The tuner was on MSNBC and the show was "Morning Joe", so it froze somewhere between 6:00 - 9:00 am.

Checking my system info I find:
Software Version	6.3e-01-2-*521*

Service Connection:
Last Successful:	Tuesday, October 21 at 1:48 am
Last Attempt: Tuesday, October 21 at 1:48 am
Last Status: Succeeded
Next Scheduled:	Thursday, November 1 at 3:47 am

Service Data Download:
Last Successful:	Tuesday, October 30 at 2:30 am
Last Attempt: Tuesday, October 30 at 2:30 am
Last Status: Completed

This is an R10 model that has locked up several times since 6.3e.

I also have an RCA DVR39 and an RCA DVR80. The DVR39 hour model has never frozen but the DVR80 hour model has frozen once.

The DVR39 has 6.3e-01-2-*121*.
The DVR80 has 6.3e-01-2-*121*.

Both of these have "Service Download" dates/times within minutes of the R10 (10/30).

What I find interesting, is the Service Number of the R10 begins with *521*-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx. The SN of the DVR39 is *121*-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx. BOTH begin with the suffix of the software version. However, the DVR80 - with 6.3e-01-2-*121* has a Service Number *321*-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx.

Anyway, in response to *Tim32672*, I seem to be running the "latest" on my R10 and it froze this morning. I've never been watching (or recording) when/if any of them have rebooted, but occasionally, I'll hit the "30 second skip" and it skips to the end of the program (and I have to "SPS30S"). I had thought maybe we'd lost power during the night for a second or two, but now I'm suspecting they've been rebooting.


----------



## Cosmic

Okay, I went back and read *ALL* the posts and now believe my problem may very well be caused when one tuner is left on a local channel, as the R10 records Monday night shows from CBS. The DVR39 that has never frozen is in the den and only used occasionally to watch Sunday ticket (both tuners). I'm going to experiment tonight.

This has happened before (software upgrades affecting DTiVos) and they were eventually fixed. However, I wonder how many people took DTV up on their offer to "upgrade" to one of their machines?

Conspiracy????


----------



## rubybear

Well, just when I thought I had some control over the freezing, DTV decided to do it at a different time of day, right in the middle of my TIVO recording 'Heroes'. Grrr!! I ended up missing a 10-minute chunk between 9:33 and 9:43 pm, PST. 

We can control the freezes if we know when they're going to do whatever it is they do to our TIVO's, by making sure neither tuner is on a local channel, but what do we do when we're actually recording something on a local channel?

Funny thing, while I was watching TV last night, I was also filling out a survey about communications, and I was specifically asked to rate my satisfaction with my satellite tv provider on a scale of 1 to 6 . Guess what, DirecTV got a 1 from me!


----------



## rbtravis

rubybear said:


> Well, just when I thought I had some control over the freezing, DTV decided to do it at a different time of day, right in the middle of my TIVO recording 'Heroes'. Grrr!! I ended up missing a 10-minute chunk between 9:33 and 9:43 pm, PST.
> 
> We can control the freezes if we know when they're going to do whatever it is they do to our TIVO's, by making sure neither tuner is on a local channel, but what do we do when we're actually recording something on a local channel?
> 
> Funny thing, while I was watching TV last night, I was also filling out a survey about communications, and I was specifically asked to rate my satisfaction with my satellite tv provider on a scale of 1 to 6 . Guess what, DirecTV got a 1 from me!


Who is the manufacturer of your TiVo? What version of software are you running? What state are you located in? What is the model number of your TiVo? What is the size of your hard drive? How old is your hard drive? We need to know the answers to these questions in order to respond to your questions.


----------



## rubybear

rbtravis said:


> Who is the manufacturer of your TiVo? What version of software are you running? What state are you located in? What is the model number of your TiVo? What is the size of your hard drive? How old is your hard drive? We need to know the answers to these questions in order to respond to your questions.


Okay, I have a 2-year old (Aug 2005) Samsung DirecTV TiVo, Model #SIR-S4080R. I don't know where to find the size of my hard drive, but in my system information, it says it has 67 hours of recording time, more or less. This is the original receiver I got when I signed up with DirecTV, no hard drive additions or modifications. My software version is 6.3e-01-2-381. I live in California.


----------



## rbtravis

rubybear said:


> Okay, I have a 2-year old (Aug 2005) Samsung DirecTV TiVo, Model #SIR-S4080R. I don't know where to find the size of my hard drive, but in my system information, it says it has 67 hours of recording time, more or less. This is the original receiver I got when I signed up with DirecTV, no hard drive additions or modifications. My software version is 6.3e-01-2-381. I live in California.


6.3e is the version that has been causing all the problems. If you want to loose them you could go back to 6.2a with Instantcake from DVRupgrade. After the initial install unplug the phone line and the freezing should stop. The only other hope is to wait for the upgrade that Directv has promised for the first quarter of next year. if you decide to wait I would suggest you don't leave your TV tuned to FOX local channel
because that seemed to be involved in a lot of the problems. Good Luck.


----------



## tedy

I have also been experiencing lockups of the nature discussed in this thread. I have a Samsung SIRS-4040R that has been upgraded with a 250GB WD hard drive. I finally broke down last week and called DTV after locking up during the world series (on FOX!!! - local channel). The rep told me the hard drive was going so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. The next day the 250GB went in with the help of MFSLive and WinMFS. Guess what? The unit started locking up again yesterday. Has locked up 3 times since. I have the 6.3e upgrade and it always happens after a service connection. I just wanted to officially log my complaint here because DTV doesn't seem to be listening.


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## mikesmithfl

I recently bought a 2nd Samsung 4040R because I had lost the 18v on sat2 input on my original 4040R and it wasn't able to switch right, effectively giving us only 1 input most of the time.

The more recently purchased 4040R is 3 months older than my original and now has an upgraded WD 120GB hard drive. It came with 6.2a and I luckily made a backup on an old spare drive, before installing the new WD drive, just in case.

It's running 6.3e now, only because I hadn't heard about so many people having troubles until today. I can't tell if it's 'freezing' but it is suffering from LOTS of pixelation and dropout on late night CBSE recordings, so much so that at times you can't even see the show, the audio is missing and the color occasionaly disappears. And - it doesn't always record the whole show but stops about 3 to 10 minutes early. So far I've noticed it on Shark & CSI:Miami, not all the time, but for the last 3 weeks. I don't use CBSW as often, but so far so good on that network.

Before I did the upgrade, I wrote down the satellite performance numbers on all the channels, to compare with the old receiver. All the regular channels were between 78 and 96 input levels. Since the 'upgrade' to 6.3e the input levels are averaging around 35 to 40 on a clear day. Maybe they changed their calculations for the testing, but that's a big difference otherwise.

Keeping my fingers crossed that it won't start the freezing...


----------



## dtremain

mikesmithfl said:


> Before I did the upgrade, I wrote down the satellite performance numbers on all the channels, to compare with the old receiver. All the regular channels were between 78 and 96 input levels. Since the 'upgrade' to 6.3e the input levels are averaging around 35 to 40 on a clear day. Maybe they changed their calculations for the testing, but that's a big difference otherwise.


I haven't heard of anyone else here losing signal strength after the upgrade.

You may have more going on than just the upgrade problems.


----------



## Tburt

I did not see the option "My R10 and Samsung S4040R are both working flawless." Of course I did not let either of them dial in to "upgrade" to the newest software. I am glad I once again waited. They will stay unplugged until I see Tivo and DTV fix the bugs.


----------



## CharlieB

I just noticed this thread the other day. I haven't had my R10 connected to a phone line since the second week in August, when I moved. I was going to let it call in this week. Glad I'm still on 6.1a.


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## tivoupgrade

Tburt said:


> I did not see the option "My R10 and Samsung S4040R are both working flawless." Of course I did not let either of them dial in to "upgrade" to the newest software. I am glad I once again waited. They will stay unplugged until I see Tivo and DTV fix the bugs.


If you are running 6.3e, then please choose "option 1" but if you are still on 6.2a, then please don't respond to the survey. Clarification on the options I chose are in the first post of the thread (I could not create a survey with a choice for every model, and it was with R10 units we first became aware of the problem)...


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## WillieWildcat

I have 2 R10's that I have added HDD's to. They were working perfectly until the 6.3e upgrade and now I have the "Random Reboot" problem on both units.


On another note, I decided to unplug both units for 30 minutes. After that, I haven't noticed any reboots. That's not to say there haven't been any, I just haven't had it happen while watching.


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## dtremain

WillieWildcat said:


> I have 2 R10's that I have added HDD's to. They were working perfectly until the 6.3e upgrade and now I have the "Random Reboot" problem on both units.
> 
> On another note, I decided to unplug both units for 30 minutes. After that, I haven't noticed any reboots. That's not to say there haven't been any, I just haven't had it happen while watching.


An easy way to tell is to set the channel filter to something other than "movies." If the unit re-boots, it iwll default back to movies.


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## cmorr70

O.K. I've occaisonally visited this web site since early this decade. I have (2) DSR704's which now have 6.3e and are "freezing up" on occaison. I have learned the hard way that when I have technical problems to check this site out to see what's up before going to the "replace the harddrives" step.

Well what do you know, more software problems with D* and Tivo. I hate this custody battle. I need to be EMANCIPATED!!!!!!!!!! 

I will someday be free of both. I will never go over to SA Tivo. I can deal without them. D* is a little harder, but sooner or later, SEE YA!


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## Tim32672

Cosmic said:


> When I turned on my TV this morning around 11:30 am, the picture was frozen. The tuner was on MSNBC and the show was "Morning Joe", so it froze somewhere between 6:00 - 9:00 am.
> 
> Checking my system info I find:
> Software Version	6.3e-01-2-*521*
> 
> Service Connection:
> Last Successful:	Tuesday, October 21 at 1:48 am
> Last Attempt: Tuesday, October 21 at 1:48 am
> Last Status: Succeeded
> Next Scheduled:	Thursday, November 1 at 3:47 am
> 
> Service Data Download:
> Last Successful:	Tuesday, October 30 at 2:30 am
> Last Attempt: Tuesday, October 30 at 2:30 am
> Last Status: Completed
> 
> This is an R10 model that has locked up several times since 6.3e.
> 
> I also have an RCA DVR39 and an RCA DVR80. The DVR39 hour model has never frozen but the DVR80 hour model has frozen once.
> 
> The DVR39 has 6.3e-01-2-*121*.
> The DVR80 has 6.3e-01-2-*121*.
> 
> Both of these have "Service Download" dates/times within minutes of the R10 (10/30).
> 
> What I find interesting, is the Service Number of the R10 begins with *521*-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx. The SN of the DVR39 is *121*-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx. BOTH begin with the suffix of the software version. However, the DVR80 - with 6.3e-01-2-*121* has a Service Number *321*-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx.
> 
> Anyway, in response to *Tim32672*, I seem to be running the "latest" on my R10 and it froze this morning. I've never been watching (or recording) when/if any of them have rebooted, but occasionally, I'll hit the "30 second skip" and it skips to the end of the program (and I have to "SPS30S"). I had thought maybe we'd lost power during the night for a second or two, but now I'm suspecting they've been rebooting.


And I have to admit my unit was good for about a week, but it is getting bad again, the biggest problem I have is the un-responsive remote when fast forwarding I have had it go all the way to the end of a show before it stops. I can hear it DING and see the light turn yellow on the front It just dont stop. The other problem is changing channels, getting into the guide and menu.

Sorry if I directed any one in the wrong direction. I hope there is a fix in the works. 

For the record I haven't had any problem with the re-booting or freezing just remote not being responsive.


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## abzarod

Here is my situation and what I've done to resolve it:

I have a stock Philips DSR704 that was never hacked or even opened. It still had the original 40GB hard drive in it.

Over the summer (sorry don't know exact timeframe), it started occassionally losing color. A simple pause and un-pause would fix that problem. Just a minor inconvenience.

Over the last few weeks, we would see very severe pixelation issues and rarely a freeze. At the time, I thought my hard drive was dying.

After calling DirecTV and resetting my 704 a few times, the front light stayed yellow and was totally unresponsive. After the next power cycle, I got no light in the front. I opened up the box and found that only the fan was running (no power to the hard drive).

It appeared that coincidentally, my power supply died at the same time. I ordered one on eBay and replaced it and my hard drive powered up again. However, the pixelation problem was back and the system was now rebooting any time I tried to do anything. At one point, I checked the version and it had one of the 6.3e versions (sorry don't know the exact version), so I decided to bite the bullet and go to a larger drive using InstantCake and a used hard drive I had.

After running the InstantCake installation and putting the new drive in, the rebooting problem had been solved (I'm now on 6.2a-01-2-301), but the pixelation problem remained. (Phone line is disconnected.)

It seemed like this was only on certain channels (Nickelodeon being one of them much to my kids' dismay). Other channels worked perfectly fine for the most part. Initially, I thought maybe there was a problem again with this larger drive (since it was a used drive) or possibly my coaxial tuner cables had gotten bent or messed up with all the connecting and reconnecting.

I Googled pixelation and came across an obscure reference to an s-video issue (might have even been on another type of DVR). I had both the s-video connection and the yellow RCA video connected. I unplugged the yellow video cable and VOILA! No more pixelation!

I am again a happy camper. I can now hold out a little bit longer for a High-def DVR.

Not sure if this will help anybody, but hey just thought I'd share since I've gotten a lot of good information from these forums.


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## cshaffer18

Really reaching my wits end with this crap. Occasional freezing, and quick black flashes...both I can somewhat tolerate. What I can no longer tolerate is the constant re-booting of the entire unit. I guess it started about a month ago, and then seemed to get better for 2 weeks (probably just dumb luck) and the last few days has done it at least once within the first 1-2 hours of watching - both live and recorded tv. A quick re-start would be one thing even with losing my 30 sec skip, but it's a 5-7 minute process to get back up each time. Also have lost some recordings when it apparently re-booted during a recording when I wasn't home. If it does it during my Giants game Sunday, I may strangle someone through the phone!  

If DirecTV doesn't fix this soon, I will be off to dreaded Cablevision or maybe try Verizon Fios. Anyone tried these options or have thoughts on them?

I have a Hughes SD-DVR40. Upgraded original HD to 2 160GB drives a couple years ago - never a problem until the 6.3e.


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## cshaffer18

One other note, I called DirecTV a couple weeks ago after getting real annoyed and finding some odds and ends on another site about a possible software problem. They denied there was any problem with the software, and tried to get me to jump through some useless hoops, like unplugging etc. I complied, just to eliminate any doubt. They then tried to send me a new unit, which I refused - I told her I didn't want their crappy DVR software, and would continue to suffer with this until they either fixed it or I drop my service.


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## cmorr70

abzarod said:


> it started occassionally losing color. A simple pause and un-pause would fix that problem. Just a minor inconvenience.


I thought this was a problem with my 8 year old big screen, but that's too much of a coincidence that if I pause it and then hit play it goes away. I too have s-video hooked up. Should I unplug s-video, in favor of rca ? Has your loss of color become a non-factor with rca ?


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## rock_doctor

cshaffer18 said:


> Really reaching my wits end with this crap.


Some people think rebooting the unit before a game or important show will reduce the chance of spontaneous rebooting. You may consider this before the game. I do (as do most) share your feelings. I actually called Dish last month to get a real price on converting over. It was just going to cost too much to loose all of the current hardware (3 stand alone receivers and 4 TiVo's) to go with them and end up leasing everything. I am not a big fan of leasing. I will tolerate the cost of new hardware when I can keep it but having to give it back makes me feel like they are cheating me. Regardless of what the CSR says they are well aware there is a problem. They told me they get hammered with calls during sporting events...

mark


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## abzarod

cmorr70,
Just to clarify, I originally had a cable plugged into all three video outputs on my DSR704, both of the yellow RCA AND the S-video. I'm not sure why I had it that way without totally moving my very large 55-inch projection TV. I know the video to my TV was going through the S-video cable as when I unplugged the S-video, I lost the picture. When I unplugged the yellow RCA right next to it (I believe that's Input 2's video), the pixelation problem went away. (I believe, but am not sure, that Input 1's video goes to my VCR that I never use).

So just to recap, I currently AM using S-video and do not have the yellow RCA composite cable plugged into the one right next to it (Input 2), but on Input 1 I have all three RCAs plugged in (yellow, red and white).

Hope this helps.


----------



## goony

Note to anyone that calls DirecTV about these issues:

If they try to say that your hardware is going bad, ask them why people that leave their phone lines _unplugged_ and are running older software on their DTivos *are having none of these freeze/reboot issues!*

I'm just curious what the DTV droid will say if you tell them this... (the droid may utterly fail or reboot when confronted with this master stroke of fact and logic!)


----------



## gshumaker

goony said:


> Note to anyone that calls DirecTV about these issues:
> 
> If they try to say that your hardware is going bad, ask them why people that leave their phone lines _unplugged_ and are running older software on their DTivos *are having none of these freeze/reboot issues!*
> 
> I'm just curious what the DTV droid will say if you tell them this... (the droid may utterly fail or reboot when confronted with this master stroke of fact and logic!)


They are saying that the software update revealed hard drives issues and that is why those of you that have not allowed the update are not having the problems. Sounds very fishing to me too!!


----------



## tombo501210

Has anyone considered DirecTV having intentionally induced these problems into DirecTV TiVo based units? Possible reason...to get customers to switch to DirecTVs non TiVo boxes? I have. 

I have never heard of anyone releasing software updates without testing. I think they know exactly what they are doing. I gave them 30 days (clock started 11/1/07) to correct the issue else I am filing a written complaint to the FCC.

The very least they can do is roll back (I'm not affiliated with Walmart) the software update. When I suggested this to the DirecTV CS, he said that's impossible. These people are idiots and I'm looking forward to writing my complaint and theory about what I believe DirecTV is doing and sending it to the FCC.

What do others think?


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## wedgecon

I do not believe it is intentional, but there testing is rather limited. Due to the way that software is upgraded on the TiVo they can not do rollbacks, this has been discussed over the years and I forget the exact technical reasons.


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## Tburt

If they are saying that the software update "reveals" hard drive issues, what about the people that install brand new drives and 6.3 screws those up? Fishy...very fishy.


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## Pauli

tombo501210 said:


> Has anyone considered DirecTV having intentionally induced these problems into DirecTV TiVo based units? Possible reason...to get customers to switch to DirecTVs non TiVo boxes? I have.
> 
> *I have never heard of anyone releasing software updates without testing.* I think they know exactly what they are doing. I gave them 30 days (clock started 11/1/07) to correct the issue else I am filing a written complaint to the FCC.
> 
> The very least they can do is roll back (I'm not affiliated with Walmart) the software update. When I suggested this to the DirecTV CS, he said that's impossible. These people are idiots and I'm looking forward to writing my complaint and theory about what I believe DirecTV is doing and sending it to the FCC.
> 
> What do others think?


It is very possible that they are doing a good amount of testing and not seeing these problems, especially if the problem is being caused by regional local feeds. I'm in the Los Angeles market and there has not been a single reboot or freeze on either my R10 or Philips S2 DTivo in the 2+ months that 6.3e has been installed.


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## dtremain

Pauli said:


> I'm in the Los Angeles market and there has not been a single reboot or freeze on either my R10 or Philips S2 DTivo in the 2+ months that 6.3e has been installed.


Yes. I think that it is a localized issue, but clearly, one of the most affected areas is the NYC market. And, with all due respect to you guys on the "left coast," as someone who once worked in media, I can assure you that New York is the biggest media market in the world. The networks consider the New York locals to be their "flagships."

So, it probably would have been a good idea to make sure everything would be okie-dokie here.


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## NytOwl666

Be care full on conspiracy theory comments. Big bro has been cens*ring our posts.

RE: Not in LA: I'm in the LA market and have the freezes and reboots on R10, HR10, and DVR40s. Across TiVo versions 6c through 6e. Last Friday I had 3 reboots in 1 hour on just one unit!!

Interesting that it has been quiet for a couple of days. But Fridays are the big recording days in this house...


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## Pauli

dtremain said:


> Yes. I think that it is a localized issue, but clearly, one of the most affected areas is the NYC market. And, with all due respect to you guys on the "left coast," as someone who once worked in media, I can assure you that New York is the biggest media market in the world. The networks consider the New York locals to be their "flagships."
> 
> So, it probably would have been a good idea to make sure everything would be okie-dokie here.


Yes, it would behoove their product test team to make sure that everything works well in the NY metro area. However, if they are like my company, most of the testing is performed in India. Such is life these days...


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## Vike Oden

I've been experiencing the lock up issue with both of my Dtivos. I have a Hughes S2 and a Samsung SIR 4080R. Both have been flaky since the 6.3e update. At first I thought that it might just be because the Hughes is about 4 years old, then it started happening to the newer Samsung so I came to check the forums and SURPRISE, SURPRISE, other people are having the same issues. I also seemed to have lost my Season Passes! They show up to manage them but it says that there are no upcoming episodes for shows that I know have them. I've had to manually recording everything that is normally automatic since Monday (11/). I hope this is fixed soon somehow. This isn't cool!


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## NytOwl666

Well it couldn't last! Friday was a debacle. Numerous reboots across 5 boxes Friday. One box rebooted 5 time in 90 minutes! Another 3 reboots during Ghost Whisperer. Another 2 reboots.

All but the R10 was recording on CBS in the LA Market. The R10 just froze recording non-network channels and I had to pull the plug to get it to go again.

Not feeling loved here...

Hello Cable? I have 2 million users for you...


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## rbtravis

I have tried Comcast cable and I know the feeling of not being loved. Try them and you too will come to know it.


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## Wekiva

I had read in some of the 6.3e complaint posts about FOX possibly being a culprit. So this week I've made sure my tivo was NEVER on FOX. I even switched the one show I watch on FOX to the TIVO unit that has a dead modem and isn't on 6.3e. The result is that for the first time I am no longer experiencing the freezing issue. I was freezing at least 3 or 4 times a week consistently for the last few months until I forgo FOX. Maybe this is a coincidence but it sure seems to have fixed the issue for me.


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## NytOwl666

So, now we stay away from CBS and Fox. Pretty soon all those advertisers won't be getting any viewing from the DTiVo crowd. Guess we'll be left out of the Neilson crowd too...

More reboots today. None of the boxes are on 6.3e. Mostly 6.3c except the R10 which is unfortunately 6.3e...


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## robpickles

People,

It is definitely NOT a local channel issue.

I have done several tests and no matter what channels are set the problem still occurs.
I have tested it on several different combos of channels and the buffer isue ALWAYS repeats.

The ONLY time it does not happen is when the channels are set to XM stations. The buffer does not record the XM stations so it doesn't back up and get stuck. But who wants to have to switch their stations every night when we go to bed?

Rob


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## Lord Vader

So do these reboots plague SD Series 2 DTIVOs with 6.2a or 6.3e?


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## freebird01752

Well the work around that I have used is turning off the sat 2. I have had it set this way for over a week and it seems to have stopped the reboots. So yesterday i set it back up to have sat 2 on. I had no problems for about 4 and a half hours then it rebooted and rebooting that I had to unplug it. Turned off sat 2 and no more problems. So I will keep hoping for a fix.
This is on a Hughes DVR-40 that is our second unit that just catches the overrun of shows that I want to watch but wife doesn't.
Hope this might help.

Steve


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## iancull

(thanks DVRupgrade for sending out links to these discussions)

For information in case it helps ...
Our Hughes DV120 started behaving as if it's hard drive was dieing a few weeks ago - I never thought to check if it was after the 6.3e update. Anyway, it would freeze for 5s or more sometimes during playback, occasionally freezing so that it needed an unplug-reboot ... got worse over time.

I ordered a new drive from DVRupgrade; it did download the 6.3e update. The problems we had continued! Still had a freeze-ups, maybe not as many, but it would generally be dead to the world when we got home from work.
Also, the playback picture would regularly pixelate - worst was the SciFi channel if I called up the guide on top; you could see the picture "underneath" break up, and hear the audio dropouts too. Close the guide and the picture recovered. Generally, rewinding would repeat the dropouts so it had been recorded bad!

We gave in and ordered a completely new Weaknees unit (now a Philips but apparently just about identical box). It also downloaded 6.3e and has been working *perfectly* since day one.
So it's not just 6.3e causing problems - maybe the upgrade stresses the system more and brings out latent half-failures? The fact that SciFi failed when the guide was up suggests there was simply too much processing (or hard drive access) for the system to keep up; why SciFi I don't know! Couldn't find any other channels doing the same.
The new unit is I think electrically identical, connected to the same dish and receiving the same channels, but working fine - so it's fresh new hardware can cope while the old box cannot.


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## wedgecon

iancull said:


> (thanks DVRupgrade for sending out links to these discussions)
> 
> For information in case it helps ...
> Our Hughes DV120 started behaving as if it's hard drive was dieing a few weeks ago - I never thought to check if it was after the 6.3e update. Anyway, it would freeze for 5s or more sometimes during playback, occasionally freezing so that it needed an unplug-reboot ... got worse over time.
> 
> I ordered a new drive from DVRupgrade; it did download the 6.3e update. The problems we had continued! Still had a freeze-ups, maybe not as many, but it would generally be dead to the world when we got home from work.
> Also, the playback picture would regularly pixelate - worst was the SciFi channel if I called up the guide on top; you could see the picture "underneath" break up, and hear the audio dropouts too. Close the guide and the picture recovered. Generally, rewinding would repeat the dropouts so it had been recorded bad!
> 
> We gave in and ordered a completely new Weaknees unit (now a Philips but apparently just about identical box). It also downloaded 6.3e and has been working *perfectly* since day one.
> So it's not just 6.3e causing problems - maybe the upgrade stresses the system more and brings out latent half-failures? The fact that SciFi failed when the guide was up suggests there was simply too much processing (or hard drive access) for the system to keep up; why SciFi I don't know! Couldn't find any other channels doing the same.
> The new unit is I think electrically identical, connected to the same dish and receiving the same channels, but working fine - so it's fresh new hardware can cope while the old box cannot.


Complete and Utter BS, software does not "strain" a hard drive. It has been proven over and over again that this is not a drive related issue. It is known that not all units are affected but one's that are will not be fixed by a new hard drive. Now a power supply on the other hand may be an issue but it is not a bad hard drive. I have tried two new hard drives and a new power supply and I have problems with 6.3e, when 6.3a is installed no problems.


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## tivoupgrade

Wedgecon,

Did you actually read his post (or any of mine) before responding in the way you did? You might want to read it again, because you've missed Ian's point entirely. Although I don't entirely agree with the analysis and wouldn't generalize anything from a single case, I wouldn't call what he's said "complete and utter BS!"


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## wedgecon

tivoupgrade said:


> Wedgecon,
> 
> Did you actually read his post (or any of mine) before responding in the way you did? You might want to read it again, because you've missed Ian's point entirely. Although I don't entirely agree with the analysis and wouldn't generalize anything from a single case, I wouldn't call what he's said "complete and utter BS!"


I did and it is complete and utter BS as I stated. It has been proven time and time again that this is not a hard drive issue. Since you want to sell more drives you have an bias in wanting people to upgrade to new hard drives so you can not really be 100% trusted.


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## tivoupgrade

wedgecon said:


> I did and it is complete and utter BS as I stated. It has been proven time and time again that this is not a hard drive issue. Since you want to sell more drives you have an bias in wanting people to upgrade to new hard drives so you can not really be 100% trusted.


Oh, I see, this is an attack on ME, not Ian.

You might want to read the whole thread. I never said it was a hard drive issue.

And by the way, you know why I can be 100% trusted? Because I am honest.


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## rbtravis

wedgecon said:


> I did and it is complete and utter BS as I stated. It has been proven time and time again that this is not a hard drive issue. Since you want to sell more drives you have an bias in wanting people to upgrade to new hard drives so you can not really be 100% trusted.


I have followed his advice, it has worked for me and he can be 100% trusted. I have used his Instantcake on all 5 of my drives, which you don't have to buy from him (I got mine from www.newegg.com and www.Tigerdirect.com) allowed all 5 to upgrade to 6.3e and all 5 are working perfectly. If you listen to Tivoupgrade remember that he is there to help you not to criticize you as are some other posters.


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## wedgecon

I did not say you are dishonest, just biased in favor of wanting people to replace their drives. I have bought Instantcake, ptvupgrade and the LBA48 boot CD from you and they are excellent products. I just want people to stay focused on 6.3e as the problem, not hard drive issues.


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## restino

rbtravis said:


> I have followed his advice, it has worked for me and he can be 100% trusted. I have used his Instantcake on all 5 of my drives, which you don't have to buy from him (I got mine from www.newegg.com and www.Tigerdirect.com) allowed all 5 to upgrade to 6.3e and all 5 are working perfectly. If you listen to Tivoupgrade remember that he is there to help you not to criticize you as are some other posters.


Maybe I missed something...

You guys are saying that if I use the InstantCake to format my drive then the problem does not exist?

How is that possible? How does DVRUpgrade change the Tivo software code to solve the problem?


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## tivoupgrade

wedgecon said:


> I did not say you are dishonest, just biased in favor of wanting people to replace their drives. I have bought Instantcake, ptvupgrade and the LBA48 boot CD from you and they are excellent products. I just want people to stay focused on 6.3e as the problem, not hard drive issues.


Well, you are still wrong.

DVRupgrade has a variety of ways to make money, but first and foremost, my interest is in approaching every problem analytically and making good recommendations based upon facts and empirical data.

Once again, my assessment of this particular situation, and my recommendations are posted here. To put it shortly, a retrograde of the software is the best recommendation I can make given the facts I have, and to be honest, I really don't care how you do it. Some people will choose our products and services and others will not.

If you think that is BS, that is your opinion and I highly recommend you start your own thread to discuss that, please don't taint this thread which I intended to be used to get to the root of things.

I have spent YEARS on this forum and if you look at my posts you'll see that I have been consistent in my attempt to dispel rumors and generalizations about the best way to solve TiVo-related problems.

I have SHARED our best practices with folks, not hidden them from the community.

Do I feel that it helps our business to be open with the community, yes. Do I spend an enourmous amount of money as a sponsor of this community, yes? Do I want to sell more stuff as a result of that investment, absolutely.

Do I capitalize on situations like this by hawking disk drives? No.

You really don't know me or what I actually care about - so to accuse me of anything is what is BS. Please answer the poll, provide any data that you feel is appropriate to the topic of discussion here, and leave your personal accusations out of it. It is not relevant to this discussion.

Thanks,
Lou


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## tivoupgrade

restino said:


> Maybe I missed something...
> 
> You guys are saying that if I use the InstantCake to format my drive then the problem does not exist?
> 
> How is that possible? How does DVRUpgrade change the Tivo software code to solve the problem?


Restino --

We don't make any changes. The issue (that some people are having) seems to be related to 6.3e. Some folks have found that replacing their TiVo or other aspects of their hardware environment, has solved the problem. Others have found that it makes no difference at all.

What does seem to be a common factor is that those who have problems with 6.3e (its not that everyone does, but if you look at the poll results, of those who have responded, a good percentage have) did not have them with 6.2a.

With that in mind, a retrograde to 6.2a has solved the problem for many. And that is what rbtravis is talking about; because the version of InstantCake for these models has either 6.2a or 6.1 (R10); not 6.3e.

Another thing to keep in mind is that hard drive failures DO crop up at times of software updates; I won't go into the reasons why, but it is still considered to be a good idea to run full diagnostics on a hard drive in ANY system that is having problems. Until you've done so, you haven't ruled that out as a possible problem. Beyond that, we've made recommendations to our customers on our own forums; the jist of it is getting 6.2a on your system in some way or another.

That is the best recommendation I can make to solving the problem. We have plenty of folks with 6.3e that haven't had a problem, and for all I know the root-cause of the problem could be marginal hardware or some other issue. But putting 6.2a on the system seems to be an approach that is working for more people rather than less.

Hope that helps.


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## restino

actually he said upgraded using your software and becuase of that...

"allowed all 5 to upgrade to 6.3e and all 5 are working perfectly"

which i don't understand. maybe he needs to reply to explain or maybe he is just lucky.


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## tivoupgrade

restino said:


> actually he said upgraded using your software and becuase of that...
> 
> "allowed all 5 to upgrade to 6.3e and all 5 are working perfectly"
> 
> which i don't understand. maybe he needs to reply to explain or maybe he is just lucky.


I think, and this is based on other posts I've seen by rbtravis on this issue, that he never had a problem with 6.3e to begin with. I'm sure he'll chime in again.

What I can say, with relative confidence, is that if you are having a problem with 6.3e, and you are certain that you don't have a bad hard drive, and you go and install 6.2a on a drive and let it update to 6.3e, you will most likely have the same problem.

What I can say, with some confidence, is that if you are having a problem with 6.3e, and you are certain that you don't have a bad hard drive, and you go and install 6.2a on a drive and DON'T let it update, you have a better chance of not having a problem.

If you are not certain about your hard drive, and you are going to the trouble or are considering opening up your unit, I highly recommend you run diagnostics on the drive and just rule that out. Believe it or not, it is still the most common cause of problems, this subject notwithstanding, so humor everyone and just rule it out as a potential problem.

Then... consider the options, which do include, just doing nothing and waiting to see if there is ever any resolution to it.

BTW, I am not 100% convinced that this is a problem with the 6.3e software. The reason for this is that I think there could be some marginal hardware issues that contribute to the problems. Now, whether that is a flaw in 6.3e in that it may be less tolerant to certain things that 6.2a was tolerant of, or whether its a flaw in the hardware or perhaps a failure in that the hardware is no longer performing within the margins that is should be performing, is speculation. IE. There is really NO way to know without more information.

And, even though there is a disproportionately high number of survey responders who are having problems with 6.3e on their units, it doesn't mean this is a good poll. I have a feeling that people who aren't having problems, for the most part, aren't hanging out in these forums and finding this thread. IE, its a lot easier to find sick people in a hospital ER than on the street and there are lots of people who only come to TCF when they need help or have a problem - so the whole thing can be skewed.

My personal belief is that there is probably less attention being paid to QA on these releases than in the past, simply because TiVo is a 'legacy' platform for DirecTV, so its a lower priority. I don't think its a conspiracy and realistically its probably a combination of marginal hardware, software that is not robust, and the fact that there aren't enough $ flowing to motivate DirecTV to actually address the issue.


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## rbtravis

Sorry I just got back. My systems consist of 2 hard drives either Western Digital, Maxtor or Samsung, All 500GB drives are Maxtor. The drives are mounted on Weaknees twinbreeze dual drive brackets. They all have Smartstart's from DVRupgrade plugged into the primary master. They all have circular IDE cables because there is less restriction on the Airflow. I used PTVnet and Instantcake to load in 6.2a and let Directv upgrade to 6.3e. Then I ran PTVnet force to enable the USB ports. I then use TiVo Web Plus to show me my space breakdown. All machines are RCA DVR40's the only failure was a bad USB port for which I replaced the motherboard. after that all is working well. If you are having problems I recommend using Instantcake to reinstall 6.2a and unplug the phone line. I haven't had to do this because all my RCA's are running cool and quiet with no problems.
http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/accessory_nomodel.cfm?SID=1&Product_ID=375
http://www.9thtee.com/SmartStart-DS.pdf


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## restino

smartstart? new motherboard?

my oh my, and i thought i loved tivo lol

do you have the TiVo keychain? 

rbtravis, im just courious what heat levels your tivos run which is found on your system info screen?


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## rbtravis

restino said:


> smartstart? new motherboard?
> 
> my oh my, and i thought i loved tivo lol
> 
> do you have the TiVo keychain?
> 
> rbtravis, im just courious what heat levels your tivos run which is found on your system info screen?


37 to 38 degrees centigrate


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## restino

I just noticed, thanks to someone else, that this thread is for SD units.

If I have HR10-250 units that I want to install software on then I should or should NOT be installing 6.3e? My cake iso image came with 6.3e a few weeks ago.

Instant Cake site shows: "InstantCakeHD for these units is now shipping with 6.2a of the system software; this software includes updates for the recent DST changes."

Sorry I have gotten confused a bit with all the talk of different versions.


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## SMcColl

The first time it locked up on me was a few thursdays ago in the middle of The Office while I wasn't home (of course). What's interesting is my phillips 6000 AND my R10 both locked up at precisely the same time. How do I know? Because when I fired up my TV that night, both were stuck on a Windows Vista advertisment or some sort of laptop ad where there was a Vista sign on the laptop. They were BOTH frozen on that. Now, it happens at least once a week.

Somebody up there hates us and hates the fact that we like TiVo. I want to switch to cable.


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## iancull

I just want to say, in NO WAY was my post intended to attack DVRupgrade - I surely hope that wasn't how I wrote it.
The reason I did an "emergency purchase" of a new unit was because my wife & I simply can't live without a working Tivo any more 

BTW: If anyone wants the old (driveless) Hughes SD120, they can have it for the cost of shipping - it's doing me no good now ... and maybe as suggested here, with a 6.2a drive installed, it'll still work OK.


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## rbtravis

iancull said:


> I just want to say, in NO WAY was my post intended to attack DVRupgrade - I surely hope that wasn't how I wrote it.
> The reason I did an "emergency purchase" of a new unit was because my wife & I simply can't live without a working Tivo any more
> 
> BTW: If anyone wants the old (driveless) Hughes SD120, they can have it for the cost of shipping - it's doing me no good now ... and maybe as suggested here, with a 6.2a drive installed, it'll still work OK.


I suggest you keep the old unit for parts. You never know when you may need another power supply or motherboard. If you want I have old tivo 40GB drives I removed from my machines that have DVRupgrade 6.2a. You can have 1 for the cost of postage. I just don't want to loose money on shipping, you will end up with a working unit. Just PM me your address if you want one.


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## mmallory

Have all of you with problems called DTV? They are telling me they haven't heard of the problem. This almost made be blow a gasket yesterday. DTV tells me that at least "5" people need to call in, with the same model DVR, to get a response. They should call and ask to speak to, get this, "upper management".

Both of my Hughes units have the random pauses. A new drive didn't fix it, but I didn't know to stop the upgrade so I have the dreaded 6.3e.

Mark


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## rbtravis

mmallory said:


> Have all of you with problems called DTV? They are telling me they haven't heard of the problem. This almost made be blow a gasket yesterday. DTV tells me that at least "5" people need to call in, with the same model DVR, to get a response. They should call and ask to speak to, get this, "upper management".
> 
> Both of my Hughes units have the random pauses. A new drive didn't fix it, but I didn't know to stop the upgrade so I have the dreaded 6.3e.
> 
> Mark


 Standard Directv training, Sgt Schultz response, I know nothing, hear nothing, would you like to try our new dvr? Trust me they have received more than 5 calls.


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## cshaffer18

Aggravated, I decided to shoot an e-mail off to DirecTV today. Here was the response:



> Thanks for writing and letting us know that you're having issues with your Tivo receiver. I apologize for the inconvenience, please allow me to assist you.
> 
> The upcoming software download for DIRECTV with TiVo receivers, currently planned for early 2008, will provide enhancements for the Series 2 TiVo platform. Customers with a DIRECTV with TiVo Series 2 receiver will be getting enhancements, including a Recently Deleted Folder and Overlap Protection, as well as access to DIRECTVs Remote Booking feature.
> 
> You can also call our technical support center at 1-800-531-5000 and select the option for technical assistance. Our Technical Support agents are trained to walk you through a number of troubleshooting steps which are too difficult to try to talk through over email. You may also find some helpful information at the DIRECTV Technical Help forums on our web site. Just visit http://forums.directv.com/pe/index.jsp to find answers to your questions.
> 
> Thanks again for writing, we appreciate your patience and hope we're able to fix the problem quickly.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> ----- -.
> Employee ID. ---------
> DIRECTV Customer Service


What do you guys think? Anyone else get any kind of a response like this that another upgrade is coming?


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## llurgy

We knew there was an update coming for 2008, we were just hoping that we didnt have to wait until then for them to correct the 6.3 software.


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## iancull

If the next update does correct it ...


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## Tburt

iancull said:


> If the next update does correct it ...


The next update's bug, err I mean feature will have our Tivos catch fire and explode. But rest assured, D* will offer you a R15 to replace it.


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## chuckg

> The upcoming software download for DIRECTV with TiVo receivers, currently planned for early 2008, will provide enhancements for the Series 2 TiVo platform. Customers with a DIRECTV with TiVo Series 2 receiver will be getting enhancements, including a Recently Deleted Folder and Overlap Protection, as well as access to DIRECTVs Remote Booking feature.


You will note that correcting the problems experienced by many of us with the activation of 6.3e is not mentioned.


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## jonceramic

tivoupgrade said:


> BTW, I am not 100% convinced that this is a problem with the 6.3e software. The reason for this is that I think there could be some marginal hardware issues that contribute to the problems. Now, whether that is a flaw in 6.3e in that it may be less tolerant to certain things that 6.2a was tolerant of, or whether its a flaw in the hardware or perhaps a failure in that the hardware is no longer performing within the margins that is should be performing, is speculation. IE. There is really NO way to know without more information.


Hi all, just wanted to say that I came to these forums for these same issues everyone else is having. Normally, I read various forums for varius roducts, and everyone describes slightly different things with slighty different symptoms occuring randomly.

Now, I read multiple threads from the last 2 months (about as long as we've been having the exact same symptoms - see my post here before Turkey day when I thought it was the harddrive - http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=375450)

We too have noted our worst problems during The Office and CSI (as many posters have noted in certain threads.)

However, our signal has only had weird pixelation problems on Sat 2 which receives our kids channels (we are on the Family plan.)

When I check the satellite, for some reason, we're at 60% or so. I will have to go out and adjust the dish I guess. I noticed some posts attributed this issue to possibly bad signal data.

Oh, we're in the St. Louis area if it matters.

Jon


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## tivoupgrade

This discussion is encouraging...


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## tivoupgrade

Has anyone monitoring this issue received 6.3f yet, and does it appear to have resolved the issue?


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## tivoupgrade

Anyone having reboot problems, as a result of an upgrade to 6.3f?


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## bumeister

tivoupgrade said:


> Anyone having reboot problems, as a result of an upgrade to 6.3f?


Yes.

Prior to the most recent upgrade, I was experiencing the intermittent freeze problem. After the upgrade to 6.3f, my intermittent freeze problem has become increasingly frequent, and I now also experience multiple spontaneous reboots per day. I think I counted 6 reboots and 4 freezes yesterday alone.

I'm not happy.


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## tivoupgrade

Here is another thread you may find useful if you are having problems with the recent updates (problems dialing into to local setup numbers)...


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