Searching for Signal after 6.3a upgrade

[Diverbryan]

A couple of days ago I received the 6.3a update from DTV on my HR10-250 receiver with the oval 3LNB dish. Since the update, I get searching for signal message, but it depends on which channels I have each tuner set to. I have noticed this only affects the HD channels which get the message when the opposite tuner is on a SD channel. For example, I can have both turners set to HD feeds such as 509 (HBO HD) on one and 543 (SHOW HD) on the other and they both come in just fine. If I change the channel on either tuner to a non-HD feed, like 501 or any other SD feed, then I get the searching for signal message for the tuner I didn’t change the channel on. On the signal meter, I have excellent reception for all 3 sat's so that is defiantly not the problem, that and the fact it was working perfectly before the update.

I spent several hours on the phone with DTV tech support and reset the box, went through guided setup several times, still no change. I was trying to convince them that this just happened after getting the 6.3a update, so it has to be a software issue, but they refused to believe it. Has anyone else experienced something similar?

Thanks!

[mr_zorg]

I do get a couple seconds of that while it tries to lock on to the signal, which it does and then it goes away. It never used to do that before, but since it only lasts for 2 - 3 seconds for me it's no big deal.

[mdm180]

I do get a couple seconds of that while it tries to lock on to the signal, which it does and then it goes away. It never used to do that before, but since it only lasts for 2 - 3 seconds for me it's no big deal.

I have seen this as well since 6.3a

[louiss3000]

I see this on OTA channels, a brief flash of the 'searching for signal' message. I have not seen this on sat channels however. Have anyone else experienced this? This began at the 6.3 upgrade...

[cheer]

I see this on OTA channels, a brief flash of the 'searching for signal' message. I have not seen this on sat channels however. Have anyone else experienced this? This began at the 6.3 upgrade...
Yep, on OTA only. Doesn't seem to affect anything.

[snoots]

I see it also on OTA. They need to fix it ! It never happened prior to the 6.3 and 6.3a updates. It does matter, I bet the kernel or tv logs have entries for each of these "hiccups" Between this and the audio dropouts they need to get their "****" together and correct it !

[Diverbryan]

I just did a quick double check and it is happening with my OTA channels as well. It’s like certain HD and SD combinations on the tuners knock out the signals for some reason. They have a tech coming out on Friday and it’s going to be interesting to see what they think they will be able to do. I’ll post the results here afterwards. Funny thing, when I was on the phone with them the other day, the rep mentioned the upgrade offer for 99.00 to which I replied, “yeah right…I’m going to send you more money for this kind of service? Are you crazy?” That pretty much ended the discussion on that subject.

[Diverbryan]

Well, had the Direct TV service call today and after showing the guy what was happening, he agreed with me that is was probably due to the upgrade and unfortunately there was nothing he could do but call it in. After waiting on the phone for what seemed like forever, he finally talked to someone in advanced technical support and the only thing they said they could do was send me out another box. I asked if it would be another HR10-250, they said “most likely”. The tech also let me know that he had seen this problem at other locations several times and replacing the box was all they could do. Unbelievable. Well, I guess I’ll just have to see what shows up on the doorstep in the days to come.

[ryan94z]

I took the 6.3a upgrade this weekend. Now the tivo hangs at "aquiring guide info" 0%. After that screen fails and dumps you to "tivo central" I checked the sat signal strength and I'm getting no (or limited) signal on the following sats/transponders.

Sat 101 Transponders 2, 28
Sat 119 Transponders 23, 25, 27(40%), 29, 31(40%)

I'm not sure if this is related to the upgrade, or something else, but it seems like an odd coincidence. Has anyone else seen this sort of thing? It seems to be a more exptreme version of the original posters problem.

[Diverbryan]

Just a quick update before I head out on a business trip. On the advice of the DTV tech, (which was really a contractor and not an employee of DTV) I did a “reformat” which consisted of selecting the delete everything option under the setup menu and waited the 2 hours for it to complete. After it came up with everything wiped from the system, I started going though all the processes and checked the signal. Still the same thing. If I am on 509 on one tuner, then switch to a non-HD channel on the other tuner, I lose the signal on the previous tuner. Does not matter which tuner I’m on, still the same scenario. The ‘new’ box came today, but I won’t have time to test it until Friday, which I will then post an update afterwards. Any bets on the outcome?

[ryan94z]

Just a quick update before I head out on a business trip. On the advice of the DTV tech, (which was really a contractor and not an employee of DTV) I did a “reformat” which consisted of selecting the delete everything option under the setup menu and waited the 2 hours for it to complete. After it came up with everything wiped from the system, I started going though all the processes and checked the signal. Still the same thing. If I am on 509 on one tuner, then switch to a non-HD channel on the other tuner, I lose the signal on the previous tuner. Does not matter which tuner I’m on, still the same scenario. The ‘new’ box came today, but I won’t have time to test it until Friday, which I will then post an update afterwards. Any bets on the outcome?

FWIW, I did the clear and delete everything last night, no dice. So tonight, I restored a 3.1.5f image and everything is back to normal. I'll see if I get 6.3a tonight and I'll try upgrading again. Fingers crossed I guess.

I also noticed that those same sat/transponders have the same reading in 3.1.5f as they did in 6.3a and I have no ill effects. I'm baffled.

[ryan94z]

I got the 6.3a slices last night, and upgraded just a moment ago. The TiVo can no longer get a sat signal, and I'm hosed again.. :( I guess I'll try to find 6.3 slices and go to that version since all seemed to work. If anyone happened to save the 6.3 slices, not 6.3a please send me a PM, I'd be very greatful.

[whitepelican]

I got the 6.3a slices last night, and upgraded just a moment ago. The TiVo can no longer get a sat signal, and I'm hosed again.. :( I guess I'll try to find 6.3 slices and go to that version since all seemed to work. If anyone happened to save the 6.3 slices, not 6.3a please send me a PM, I'd be very greatful.

Isn't 6.3 still on your alternate partition? I've switched back and forth between 6.3 and 6.3a several times now by just flipping the bootpage.

[ryan94z]

I was a bit overzealous, and restored a backup of 3.1.5f, so 6.3 is gone.

[Diverbryan]

Pretty much confirmed that the problem I’m having is NOT hardware related today. Hooked up the new HR10-250 and called DTV to have it activated. Everything was working perfectly and checked the software on the box and it was 3.1.5. In order to rule out the hardware, I swapped the hard drives on the unit with my original one that has the 6a upgrade and got the same problem with the new box. I’m hoping that something went wrong with the update on the old box and when the new box gets the 6a upgrade, I will not have the same problem. Now I’ll just have to wait for the 6a upgrade to come down again…after I make a copy of the 3.1.5 before it gets whacked of course. :)

[Diverbryan]

The new box DTV sent me was updated last night with the 6.3a upgrade. Since then, it is now exhibiting the same behavior as the old box. Called DTV today to inform them as such and was transferred to the advanced support team. After retelling the story, she put me on hold and confirmed it was definitely a “software glitch” (her words) and she sent it to engineering for action. She said to check it again after 72 hours and call back if it was still not working. She gave me the impression that engineering was going to jump right on it and send out a software patch inside of 72 hours which I find highly unlikely. I feel like I was just blown off to be honest. But I’m going to be the good little customer and give them their 72 hours to see if they can fix the software problem. In the mean time, I have a backup of the drive and was wondering how you “switch back” to the original boot partition that has the 3.1.5 load on it? I’ve seen a few posts about using bootpage, but want to make sure I have the proper commands to use. Thanks for the help!

[victor]

I actually was seeing this exact behavior with both my HD DVR and my SD DVR. I traced it back to my splitter. If I run the signal direct from the dish to the DVR it works fine, but when I run it through the splitter it happens about once a week and rebooting the DVR seems to fix it for about a week or so.

I noticed this after moving to a new house with a new dish but with the same splitter I'd been using for years with no problems. I have also tested it a couple of times by putting the splitter on and taking it off and I can pretty reliably reproduce it with the splitter.

I haven't tried another splitter as they are to expensive to buy just to test. I've been just rebooting occassionally to compensate so I can get the signal in all rooms I'm paying for, but have just wired it direct again to see if the problem goes away as reliably as it did before with 3.1.5f.

I'll post back in a few days and let you know the results.

[Diverbryan]

Called the advanced technical support team for the second time I was told to call back after 72 hours. Basically, I have been completely lied to both times by this group. It would seem they use the “call us back in 72 hours” routine as a means just to get you off the phone. I was told by the second person, who even gave me a badge number for whatever good that is, that a “ticket” was being opened for this problem and to call back if the problem still existed. Of course I’m still having the problem and when I called back, this new rep in the group showed no record of any ticket or anything being escalated. This company has to have the worst support I have ever seen.

Thanks to a few folks in the forums I have been reading, my only choice is to try to replace the multiswitch on the dish and see if that helps in any way. I have the original 3 LNB dish (which was originally just a 2 LNB that was upgraded with the kit from DTV) and it is the only thing left as a variable in the equation. I certainly do not expect any support from DTV anymore. I just recently got Verizon FiOS installed for the internet and I will most definitely be looking into their HD and DVR offerings due to this experience. Unbelievable. Sorry for the rant, but I cannot understand how a company can send an “upgrade” out and piss off so many long standing customers without a care in the world.

[Diverbryan]

Problem solved!

It would seem that DTV does not take existing customers into consideration when they send out new software updates. I changed out my old, original dish LNB setup with the 3 LNB head that has the built in multiswitch and what do you know, the problem instantly went away. For those others that are experiencing this same issue, and I have received many emails to that affect, my dish was the original oval with the add-on for the 110 sat and the SMS 4 port R20 multiswitch attached to the back of the dish. This configuration worked fine with the 3.1.5f software, but the 6a upgrade apparently didn’t like it too much. So, just changing the LNB corrected everything. Now I’m wondering if I should call DTV tech support and tell them how to correct this issue with everyone else. Maybe I’ll just send them an email and have them call me back after 72 hours.

Thanks so much to everyone who responded and I hope this experience helps others as well.

[Diverbryan]

Now that the signal issue with HD channels is taken care of, I’m now experiencing the OTA audio dropouts like several other people are getting. I’m pretty much done at this point with DTV. This is not a service I can continue paying for with programs that are unwatchable for all intensive purposes. Good luck everyone, I’ll be canceling and moving to a quality service like FiOS…I’m done with this company.

[PlainBill]

Now that the signal issue with HD channels is taken care of, I’m now experiencing the OTA audio dropouts like several other people are getting. I’m pretty much done at this point with DTV. This is not a service I can continue paying for with programs that are unwatchable for all intensive purposes. Good luck everyone, I’ll be canceling and moving to a quality service like FiOS…I’m done with this company.
A reality check might be in order. Many people have reported audio dropouts on OTA, particularly on Fox. I was getting numerous audio dropouts on Fox's World Series coverage - and I have a SD receiver. This points to a problem with the network signal, not with DirecTV or the local broadcaster.

PlainBill

[victor]

Ok, after a week and a half with no splitter I haven't lost a signal at all. It would definitely seem to be an issue between the LNB and the splitter. I don't know that it's specifically a 6.3 problem as I saw it prior to the upgrade. I saw it when I switched to a new dish using my existing splitter and I can reliably duplicate it.

Are all of the other folks experiencing this problem using a new dish?

I still have the old dish and I think perhaps my next move is to move back to the old dish and see if the problem goes away. If it does then that should define the problem definitively - at least in my situation.

[PlainBill]

Ok, after a week and a half with no splitter I haven't lost a signal at all. It would definitely seem to be an issue between the LNB and the splitter. I don't know that it's specifically a 6.3 problem as I saw it prior to the upgrade. I saw it when I switched to a new dish using my existing splitter and I can reliably duplicate it.

Are all of the other folks experiencing this problem using a new dish?

I still have the old dish and I think perhaps my next move is to move back to the old dish and see if the problem goes away. If it does then that should define the problem definitively - at least in my situation.
A couple of points: Unless you're doing something unusual, it's a multiswitch, not a splitter. Using a splitter will cause lots of problems.

It has been reported that the oval phase 1 dish (multiswitch on the back of the dish) doesn't work well with 6.3a. The oval phase 3 dish (integrated LNBs and multiswitch) works well, but that has only 4 outputs. Perhaps a good powered 4 x 8 multiswitch and the phase 3 dish would work if you need maore than 4 lines. Or you can always put up another dish. :eek:

PlainBill

[victor]

My bad for the wrong terminology, I do mean multiswitch, and not splitter. I was just reporting back my findings - as promised in a previous post - supporting the idea that the problem is with the hardware configuration more so than with the software. As I said, I was seeing this prior to the 6.3a update.

Thanks for the correction.