Tutor
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6 Messages
Extremely Choppy Playback
Hello,
I have been nothing but floored by DirecTV and have sworn by it to everyone I know since the day I got it several years ago. I want to keep keep DirecTV rather than switching back to cable, but I will be forced to do so if this can't be rectified.
I have a HD DVR that I have used for a few years, and as of late, the playback makes anything and everything unwatchable. It skips, "lags", chops, whatever you want to call it, at least once every 30 seconds and often times it is every 3-5 seconds. My issue came to a boiling point when my Sunday Ticket was made unwatchable and ruined opening weekend. I know that it is not a signal issue because if I press the go-back-a-few-seconds-button (I don't know what it's called, but the button that goes back 8 seconds or so, and I will refer to it as the replay button) enough times, the recording (this also happens for live TV though) will play perfectly. VOD is super choppy as well.
Nothing responds quickly anymore either. Hitting rewind, replay, List, fast forward, etc, all take anywhere from 1 second to 20 seconds before the player does anything. The average is somewhere around 5 seconds. It is particularly painful for the replay button, as when I am watching a sports broadcast and would like to see a play again, by the time the DVR processes the command, it goes back to a point that was actually AFTER when I hit replay in the first place.
I was told by support that I cannot have the current shows I have DVRed transferred to a new DVR. Is this accurate? I have several recordings on there, many very old, that I would like to keep. Some of them have extreme sentimental value to me.
Is there anything I can do to try to resolve this? Is there anything that I can do to keep my recordings? I simply can't watch TV, live or recorded, the way things are now. I really REALLY do not want to go back to my cable company. Are there any fixes?
Also, for what it's worth, I have the $5.99 (or whatever it is) protection plan for the DVR. If that doesn't save me from this, what the heck am I paying the monthly fee for? I've read several other threads on this issue, and it seems none of them were really ever solved. Is there anything I can do?
litzdog911
ACE - Sage
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46.4K Messages
14 years ago
Sounds like your DVR's hard drive is dying. See the procedure below to run the drive diagnostics. Perhaps that will help. But if your drive is dying, then replacing the DVR is the solution. And, unfortunately, there is no way to transfer content to a new DVR. The replacement will be free with your Equipment Protection Plan.
Run the Built in Self-test (BIST) to try and repair your hard drive. To run the hard drive checks, please follow these steps:
* Reboot DVR via Menu -> Parental, Fav's & Setup -> System Setup -> Reset -> Restart Receiver
* When they see "Running receiver self-check" press select
* You will see "Entering Diagnostics Mode..."
* Select Advanced Tests Menu -> Hard Drive utilities -> Surface Test
* Warning: This process could take several hours to complete. You may want to run it overnight.
The good news is that every attempt is made to save programming. This is less destructive than a reformat all and could provide you with a more stable system if you are having problems that appear to be related to the hard drive.
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glassgorilla
Tutor
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6 Messages
14 years ago
Thank you for the response - there was a death in the family that evening so I am just now getting around to this.
I ran some of the tests. I will have to verify these as they are off the top of my head from a week ago. I think the surface test failed. I don't remember if there was a particular error code or not. I also ran some of the other tests; all failed. The only specific error I remember was the Smart Short Test, which failed at 2% or 3% with error 0x77 (again this is all from memory).
Live TV has become watchable, almost flawlessly, but hitting the replay button so that I'm only seconds behind live is as unwatchable as things I recorded years ago.
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Edit:
I did some googling and I see this post of yours to someone else. I'm pretty positive I am experiencing the same error.
The smart short test said "fail 0 x 77". Trying the File system verification test now.
Hard drive is toast. Call DirecTV to request a replacement DVR. It's free if you have their Equipment Protection Plan, or within 90-days of installation. Otherwise ~$20 for shipping. Or ~$50 to have a tech come replace it for you.
I suppose I can't deny it any longer. I need to replace her.
Is there any specific/direct number to call about getting it replaced? I'd like to avoid spending a lot of time troubleshooting the same things when everything is pointing to a dying hard drive.
Also, do you know how long it takes for a replacement to arrive? Because of the death, the sentimental programming has become even sentimental-er. I'd like to see if the DVR will cooperate long enough to try to record some of the stuff to DVD. However, I don't want to lose another weekend of my wallet-busting Sunday Ticket.
Thanks again for the help. Through my searching, you appear to be quite the valuable problem solver around here.
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kgj
Mentor
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36 Messages
14 years ago
Yea, now that you said LIVE TV is ok but when you use the replay button it's choppy, sounds definitly like hardware issues. Hold down the INFO button on your remote, and when the screen comes up, run test. What diagnostic code do you get when the test is finished?
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glassgorilla
Tutor
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6 Messages
14 years ago
Yea, now that you said LIVE TV is ok but when you use the replay button it's choppy, sounds definitly like hardware issues. Hold down the INFO button on your remote, and when the screen comes up, run test. What diagnostic code do you get when the test is finished?
I will try this when I get home and report back, although unfortunately as I said in my edit, it sounds like it's only a matter of time before the whole thing explodes.
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litzdog911
ACE - Sage
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46.4K Messages
14 years ago
Call DirecTV to request a replacement DVR. It's free if you have their Equipment Protection Plan, or within 90-days of installation. Otherwise ~$20 for shipping. Or ~$50 to have a tech come replace it for you.
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