Contributor
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2 Messages
HR34 issues
I am a brand new customer with an HR34, switching from cable/TiVo HD. At first I was appalled at the complexity and non-intuitiveness of the remote and menus thinking there's no possible way the rest of the family can adjust to this. But now I think I must be encountering some pretty serious software bugs. At least I hope (!) these are bugs and not considered "normal", so I'm hoping others can chime in and confirm or set me straight...
1) First and most critical, the Exit button doesn't seem to work -- at least not when it's supposed to. Per page 15 in the manual (as well as what my installer stated), "Press Exit to get out of any menu screen and return to live TV." Makes sense, but it doesn't work that way. The Exit button only works in very simple cases: Press Menu, then press Exit, and you're back at live TV; Press Info, then press Exit, and you're back at live TV. In ANY other case pressing the Exit button does nothing! Press "Guide", navigate around a bit and decide you want to go back to the channel you are currently watching, press Exit -- nothing. How in the world are you supposed to get out of the Guide without using the Exit button?!? The only solution I've found is to select something -- if you want to stay on the same channel, you have to find your way back to the exact same program and time and select it. Takes forever!
Likewise, press "Menu", then choose any other sub-menu item (Smart Search, Manage Recordings, CinemaNow, etc.), then try pressing Exit -- nothing. Press "List", then Exit -- nothing. (I did discover pressing List again gets me back to live TV...)
Tell me this isn't normal?!?
2) Every menu and the guide is unbearably slow -- press "Guide" and it takes 5-8+ seconds to come up. Same with "List". "Info" and "Menu" come up fast, but as soon as you just select a sub-Menu (even just setup), there's the same slow pause before the next menu appears... When search results are displayed and I'm trying to scroll through the list, as soon as I hit the last visible item in the list and press down so that the next result is displayed, there's the same long pause before the next item shows up. Try scrolling through a list with 5 second pauses between each press of the down arrow...
Those are the show-stopper issues. On to others I've found:
3) Pressing the right-arrow is supposed to bring up some nifty TV Apps. Nope. I press the right-arrow, a "Loading TV Apps...this will take a moment" message appears, then nothing ever happens. Guess it just dies.
4) Thinking I must be doing something wrong, I read about Channel 1 being a customer information / instructional channel. I have a channel 1, the Info says it's the Customer Information channel, but it's completely dark. What gives? Guess I need help getting help...
5) When I press the "Active" button I guess I'm supposed to receive local weather, games, etc. The channel comes up with some small video feed, but there's no data displayed.
6) Interactive channels (news mix, sports mix, etc.) don't work -- I can't arrow around and select different channels to hear the audio like I'm supposed to be able to...
K, I'll stop there -- you get the picture. These seem like some pretty significant defects. There's no way this box is ready for prime time -- and I know I saw the box download and install the latest software while the installer was here. I'm just hoping somebody can tell me these are all known issues and the next software version will magically fix everything, and it's being released within the next day or two...
Otherwise, I want a refund. Buyer's remorse is setting in...
njohn21
Teacher
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13 Messages
13 years ago
Have you tried a red button reset (behind the access card door)? Also what model of receiver do you have. Title says HR34 but description below says HR24. Can you give the details of your entire setup? The exit button should exit the screen no matter what. How long has your system been setup? How are you connected to the internet? I'm a few miles south of you in Indianola, and I love my DirecTV system! It's not the speediest system ever, but that is outweighed by the other benefits!
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TexasBrit
ACE - Expert
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14.1K Messages
13 years ago
I could answer some of these, but since I don't have an HR34 I can't answer them all. Post here http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=198305 where you can get a response from people who have had HR34s since the field trials. http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=198305
*I am not a DIRECTV employee, and the views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.
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dcd
Expert
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20.7K Messages
13 years ago
I don't have an HR34 either, but some of the questions indicate that the complete networking (connection to Internet) features have not downloaded as yet. Example, TV Apps are the last to load and can take several days.
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hackerfeld
Contributor
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2 Messages
13 years ago
(Yes, I meant HR34 -- I had to choose HR24 from the list because HR34 isn't in there yet...)
Well, it seems a restart again 36hrs later resolved many of these issues -- at least the Exit button now works when it should!!!
Performance is still slow, but about twice as fast as it was before.
Interactive channels now work, as does channel 1.
TV Apps still don't work, but at least now it tells me they haven't been initialized and to try again later.
The only thing not working is Active button with local content; looking in the settings info, it looks like my zip code is set to 00000 -- ideas on how to change/set that?
There's one or two other sporadic glitchy things (like, sometimes when you enter a channel number, it changes to the channel and then the system appears to completely freeze for 10+ seconds before coming back to life), but I'll report those separately if I can get a better description as to exactly when it occurs...
(Boy, having these things documented and giving customers a heads-up would go a long way...)
Thanks!
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dcd
Expert
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20.7K Messages
13 years ago
my zip code is set to 00000 -- ideas on how to change/set that?
No need, it has no effect whatever. The ZIP code system is to furnish the installer with the basic dish settings but most installers don't use it.
As to the channel change delay you're seeing may well be due to the channel you're changing to has a different resolution thus forcing the HR34 and your to reconfigure. If this bothers you, you can set the HR34 to always send the same resolution which will have a positive effect on speed. It's done thus: Menu -> ....setup -> system setup -> HDTV -> resolution -> take the mark of all but the 1080i and possibly the 1080p (if your TV is capable). Also, under display, set native to off.
I know that originally you were taken aback by the complexity of the remote, but if you're like me, you'll come to appreciate the depth of capabilities of the system.
Edit add: If you're like me, you'll eventually record everything you watch so will seldom actually change channels, you'll just select the next recording to playback.
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