Philips DSR708

[fi3ndlich]

I currently own a Philips DSR708 Directv Tivo. We purchased this unit about a year ago when we lived in a different area of the US. Recently we moved to an area that in order for use to receive local channels via Directv we have to have a seperate satellite. So in other words we have 1 dish that is for all of Directv programming and 1 dish just for local channels. The older style receivers cannot use the 2 dish setup like the newer ones can. THis is the case for my DSR708. I contacted Philips about this and they said for 100 bucks I can send it to them and they can reprogram it to work. This seams really dumb to me. Paying 100 bucks for someone to take 10 minutes to do some simple work.

My question here is does anyone know if the programming that would allow it to work with 2 dishes is stored on the harddrive or if its something stored on the prom. Is there anyone here who has ran into this same issue and fixed it themself. I would like to take care of this myself so I can once again use it to view and record local channels.

If you need more information from me please PM me.

Thanks.

[ThreeIees]

I have a DSR708 and have to get my locals off of a second SAT at 72.5 and my DSR708 works fine. What s/w version are you at. I'm at 3.1.1e I think and it can handle the second SAT.

All you should have to do is get the newest s/w. Either call DTV or get the slices and install yourself.

ThreeIees

[fi3ndlich]

Thank you for your reply.

The version that is currently running on mine is 3.1.1e-01-2-301
My local channels like most are in the 5-20 channel range. They show up on the onscreen guide but the receiver cannot tune them in.

I am unsure what else I should try.

[fixn278]

Did you rerun guided setup so it could detect the additional sat?

Did you try calling DTV?

[fi3ndlich]

Yes I reran the guide setup. More then once even.

According to the online manual for my mulitplexor it says that since my satellite has to use the Flexport to get its signal that FlexPorts can only be access with the latest AGP (Advanced Program Guide) satellite receivers. Earlier non-AGP satellite receivers can select the first 4 ports only (101/110/119 satellites)

This would explain why my receiver cannot get the signal from the other satellite but my question still is is there a way to update my receiver myself to get it so it can read the AGP?

Thanks

[fi3ndlich]

To add a bit more to this

I just ran throught the sat. setup again. I am wondering when you get to the spot that you can test your signals how many sats can you test. I can only test 3. The 3 from my main dis which would be Satellite 101 A
119 B and 110 C
I cannot get the local sat. Is this an option when you go to your signal test? If it is I wonder if it would be possible to fine an image of a newer DSR708 to try and put on a HD.

Thanks

[fixn278]

3.1.1e is the latest and should support the additional sat.

Are you sure your setup (dish & multiswitch) is working properly? Have you hooked up another known-working receiver to be sure you are getting a signal from all 4 sats?

[fi3ndlich]

Yes currently i have a directv receiver hooked up in the livingroom that we watch local channels on without a problem.

[PlainBill]

Yes currently i have a directv receiver hooked up in the livingroom that we watch local channels on without a problem.

OK, ThreeIees says that a DSR708 at 3.1.1e picks up locals from the 72.5 satellite. You can watch locals on another receiver, so you know it's not the dishes or multiswitch. That reduces the problem to either the software (and hacks) on your DSR708, or the DSR708 hardware itself. It seems to me the next test is to restore an unhacked copy of 3.1.1e to a spare drive, run clear & Delete Everything, and see if THAT will pick up your locals.

5 Quatloos says that a new 3.1.1e image will work.

PlainBill

[fixn278]

Just to be sure it's not a cabling/multiswitch port problem, you could move the Tivo to the same spot the working recevier is.

[fi3ndlich]

Ok guys here is the deal,

I have tried putting the DSR708 on the same input of the receiver that works. This did not help. I have never hacked this box before. I got this for christmas last year and took it fresh out of the box so the original image is currently on the system there for I have no way of putting anything on the system either. I would be willing to void my warranty and try putting an image on it but I have no way of getting a fresh image.

This is the dilemma I am faced with.
Nothing makes sense.

[fixn278]

Ok guys here is the deal,

I have tried putting the DSR708 on the same input of the receiver that works. This did not help. I have never hacked this box before. I got this for christmas last year and took it fresh out of the box so the original image is currently on the system there for I have no way of putting anything on the system either. I would be willing to void my warranty and try putting an image on it but I have no way of getting a fresh image.

This is the dilemma I am faced with.
Nothing makes sense.

If it's still under warranty, then use it and have it fixed. If you haven't hacked it, and it doesn't work on a known good line, then there is obviously something wrong (software or otherwise). Start with DTV support, and if they can't help you, have it fixed/replaced under warranty.

[fi3ndlich]

The warranty on the unit itsef has expired. However it is still covered by BestBuy under the extended warrant. I have spoke to philips on this matter and they said that they would need to reprogram it and it would cost me 100 buck. So I spoke with Bestbuy and they said since it technically works then they cannot honor their warranty either. Annoying. Anyhow I dont really want to try and damage it just so I can risk taking it back to best buy who knows if they will honor their warranty then anyway. So as far as I am concerned It really does not have a warranty on it. Sorry for the confusion.

[fixn278]

The warranty on the unit itsef has expired. However it is still covered by BestBuy under the extended warrant. I have spoke to philips on this matter and they said that they would need to reprogram it and it would cost me 100 buck. So I spoke with Bestbuy and they said since it technically works then they cannot honor their warranty either. Annoying. Anyhow I dont really want to try and damage it just so I can risk taking it back to best buy who knows if they will honor their warranty then anyway. So as far as I am concerned It really does not have a warranty on it. Sorry for the confusion.

Tell the Best Buy folks that if you have a bicycle and only one wheel turns, then it is broken. The same goes for a recevier. It has to pick up all of the channels it is supposed to, to be considered working.

As far as Phillips, they are just going to load the latest software version (which may or may not fix the problem). You could do that yourself, but why open the box, void the extended warranty, and let the Best Buy people take your money in exchange for nothing?

You paid for a warranty, don't let them get away with it.

[fi3ndlich]

I agree completely but I have already gone down that road with them and it is a losing battle.

Looks like the only way to get it fixed is to break it. How lame.

Does anyone here know if I should be able to see and test the signal strength of the 72.5 degree satelitte?

I dont even have it listed in my setup but I dont know if its suppose to be listed there either.

Oh ya just spent 1 hour with Directv Philips support. How pointless. The guy spent 30 minutes and all he did was search tivosupport forums while i was on the phone. UGH

[ThreeIees]

I agree completely but I have already gone down that road with them and it is a losing battle.

Looks like the only way to get it fixed is to break it. How lame.

Does anyone here know if I should be able to see and test the signal strength of the 72.5 degree satelitte?

I dont even have it listed in my setup but I dont know if its suppose to be listed there either.

Oh ya just spent 1 hour with Directv Philips support. How pointless. The guy spent 30 minutes and all he did was search tivosupport forums while i was on the phone. UGH

fi3ndlich,

Its not clear to me if you have called DTV technical support. I have used them when I was trying to get locals on my Series 1 DTiVo and I can tell you the tech hung in there all the way with me. The original helpdesk/DTV rep quickly realized she was in over her head and she sent me to tech support.

Have you called DTV and tried to repair your issue?

If not, why not?

If so, what did they say? How long were you on the phone with them?

I really think you should be able to get your problem fixed through them.

ThreeIees

[PlainBill]

Given the system has not been hacked, I also would suggest you take this up with DirecTV. Contrary to what they told you, it is new enough to receive the 72.5 satellite, and it has the latest software. Insist on getting transfered to a level 2 tech, or ask to speak to a manager. It is ridiculous they cannot make this work for you. I would also file a complaint with the FTC over Best Buy's behavior. Granted, they never expected to honor the extended warranty when they sold it to you, but that's no excuse.

PlainBill

[fi3ndlich]

After speaking with Philips technical support and from the suggestions from everyone here along with knowing that others have gotten their systems working last night I was able to get mine to work. However it was a bit tricky.

Since I had previously set mine up where I used to live and it pulled local channels without the need of a second dish I think this is what was causing my issue.

To get it working this is what I had to do.

First thing I did was reset it back to defualts. Wiped it clean. This may or may not have needed to be done but since I was to the point of wanting to break it just to get BBY to fix it I knew everything would be gone anyway.

Next thing was to run though the entire setup process.
The first time thought the receiver does not detect the 72.5 dish.

Once this was completed I could not see my local channels in the guide nor could I tune to them. It would just say channel not available.

I called directv to make sure that I had them for this receiver and they said yes so I tuned to channel 495 and then 496. These 2 channels are what pull the local channel grid to your receiver. After I did that I was able to see the channels on my grid and I was able to tune to them how ever I was back to the same place I was before. I could see them but no picture and no sound. Just a blank channel. Now channel 495 and 496 said they were unavailable. At this time I nicely asked the Directv support person to transfer me to Level 2 support. The guy was like oh well there are more test we need to do blah blah blah. I pretty much told him everything I had already done and that at this point I knew as much about this setup as what he did. Finally he sent me to level 2.

After I got to level 2 I was speaking with a lady there. ( ULTRA NICE ) I explained to her the situation and she had me run the auto detect satellites now since I had already done the previous steps listed above. During the 10 minute satellite detection I was telling her about how Direct TV workers could not get this working and how they said that this reciever could not work with this setup and how they would swap it out but only for a 40 hour receiver. She got super appologetic and stated that under no circumstance is an employee from directv ever to down grade equiptment. If you have an 80 hour recorder then they swap it for an 80 hour recorder. She also said that if they would have taked 2 minutes out of the 2 hours they worked on it and asked a supervisor that they would have known that the DSR708 supports the second satellite.

After the receiver ran the auto detect this was the first time it ever detected the 2nd dish. It now listed all 4 satellites it found. After we finished this process I went to my local channels and it still did not tune in. Everything was still a blank page. At this time I tuned back to channel 495 and 496 and was able to see at the bottom the Test 13 v etc. message and the test 18v etc. message. This meant that the receiver was now able to work using the multiplexer and should be able to see the dish. So in order to get the dish to pull the signal the Level 2 support ladie forced the dish to make a request by doing something back where she was. Once she did this the channels tuned right in. Within 30 minutes I had my entire pogramming guide and was able to view all my local channels.

Hopefully this will not happen to anyone else but if it does I hope this helps them out too.

Thank you to everyone here with their suggestions and comments.