Just installed a new 6131 and when I do the check switch I hear some kind of whistle from the inside of the receiver.... :confused:

Is that normal?

No, that's not normal as far as I know. Try the check-switch with the satellite input disconnected and see if it still makes the noise. If so, you may need to call Bell about a replacement receiver. If not, it may indicate a faulty cable or a bad connection.

After testing it look like is it cause by the cable between the sw44 and the receiver. I had no signal and when i plugged in another (working) cable it worked so for now i dont know if it is the cable or the sw44. The bell tech is comming tomorrow to check it.

Hi there,

I have a 6131 connected to a Denon AVR-788 via optical and a Panasonic TH-50PX75U via HDMI. I am using a LaCie 750GB external hard drive to record.

I recorded this week's episode of House in HD off Global HD West, and near the end of the episode at around the 57min to 58min mark (where House is playing the piano) I get a nasty crackling noise (sort of like a crackling fire pit).

At first I thought it was a problem with my AVR, but the noise is reproducible every time I play the clip whether it's through my home theatre speakers or my TV speakers. I even ruled out my AVR by downloading a remuxed MKV copy with DD 5.1 (448kbps) to play on my PS3, bitstreamed using the same optical cable to the same optical input on my AVR and got no such crackling.

Just wondering if anyone else has gotten similar problems. Any help would be appreciated, or any redirection to another forum that may be of more help.

I recall one or two instances where the Audio cut out, and was replaced by a loud HISS of about 1 or 2 seconds during House, and another show that aired on Global HD. It was unusual, and not the audio dropouts that have been mentioned before. I suspect it was a Global issue, or Global's feed to Bell. I haven't heard it on any other station.

-Mike

I recall one or two instances of static hiss during House last week. We watched a recording of it from the Global East HD feed, so it's possible that the problem was in the original feed from Global. Bottom line, you're not alone.

Yeah, I remember that loud hiss too, but the situation I cited is a different timestamp.
I believe the loud hiss was near the beginning of the show, around the 10 minute mark.

Just got my 6131 last Friday. Hooked up a brand new 80g Western digital Hard drive in an old ADS enclosure I had lying around. The receiver recognized I plugged something in but kept tell me to go to Bell's website for some reason.
I plugged the EHD into my computer and created one partition then did a complete format (Win XP). Once done plugged it back into the 6131 where it recognized the hard drive and offered to format it for me.
Works great.

I have a 640 gig EHD connected to the 6131 and have had issues with the drive disappearing. When I've left the receiver for a long time (6-8 hours), on pushing PVR button on remote, the system responds with a message indicating that I should connect an external hard drive to realize the benefits of the PVR. Power cycling of the EHD and the receiver clears this. I've turned off the satellite update feature and there has not been any problems with the EHD for the last few days.

I added a 500 gig EHD to my 6131 on the weekend. I'm having the same issues with the PVR functionality disappearing overnight. I turned off a couple of scheduled update features that I found enabled in the main menu and will check to see if the PVR is still working tomorrow. My EHD light is always on or flashing and it always feels warm to the touch and is vibrating slightly so I don't think it has some unadvertised sleep mode that is causing the 6131 to get confused. When it gets into this state, if you unplug the USB cable, the 6131 puts up a message indicating that the USB device was just removed so it still knew that something was there...

Well the 6131 survived the night as a PVR. I turned off the automatic/scheduled updating of the guide info and some kind of inactive receiver standby mode and that seems to have done the trick. I don't know which one did it but I also don't care at this point. I should mention that when the PVR functionality was disappearing, doing a re&re on the USB cable made the 6131 recognize the EHD and offer to reboot to enable the PVR functionality, but that never worked. I always had to force a hard reboot by unplugging the receiver to get it back to PVR mode. Thanks to standers for posting the line about turning off the satellite update feature!

I just got a 6131 and here is what is happening:

Received the 6131 receiver and it worked fine. Then, 2 days later, I plugged in a 1TB External Hard Drive which it recognized immediately. I went through the process of formatting the HD. Then, when it rebooted, my TV screen started to blink from a black screen and back to the TV programming. It blinked continuously back and forth until I turned off the TV and then back on. It does this about once per day. The only way to resolve this is by shutting off the TV and then turning it back on. It has never done this until I plugged in the HD.

Note that when it blinks, it is NOT the TV that is shutting off. The TV light remains on during this blinking. The receiver & HD also stay ON during this.

Any idea what this could be related to?

How does the 6131 connect to the television, HDMI or Component? It sounds like some sort of hand shake issue. Have you tried rebooting the receiver (by holding down the power button for 10 seconds)?

-Mike

It connects through an HDMI cable that came with the receiver. Haven't tried to reboot it, but will give that a try when I get home.

It connects through an HDMI cable that came with the receiver. Haven't tried to reboot it, but will give that a try when I get home.
If the power button reboot doesn't clear it up, unplug the receiver for 10 seconds or so. The CSRs at Bell also tend to suggest that you disconnect the satellite cable when you unplug it, but I don't know if that makes the receiver do anything differently when it comes back on.

When I had PVR issues with my 6131, front panel power reboot didn't fix the problem but unplug the receiver reboot did.

Got the 6131 yesterday, It is very compact, in comparison to the 6100 it is replacing. I got the unit mainly for the PVR capabilities and the add on feature of the EXT HD. As I had a 500gig sata Seagate barracuda 7200 not been used I went out an bought a Taotec ultimate 3500 case, $20.00 at pccyber.com.The case is all black aluminum with black plastic stand to hold the enclosure upright on its side. Standing next to the 6131 it looks good. Has a green led to show it is on, and flashing blue led when writing to the drive.
Connecting the HD to the 6131 was just a matter of plugging in the power adapter and the USB. The 6131 saw the HD and request to format. Took 4-5 minutes with the 6131 going to a blank screen, reboot, and download guide at the end. I wasn't expecting this and at first I taught the 6131 had died.
According to the menu 'my recordings', I will get 66Hours of HD and 495Hours of SD. By the way there is no info in the manual on how to do recordings, you learn on the fly trying and reading the on screen help. I was very impressed with the quality of the HD recording, is was identical to the HD feed.

My only disappointment is the 6131 does not have UHF remote capabilities, something the 6100 has. I would like to hear how I might be able to add on this feature if possible.

Plug HD into your computer and test it there.Possibly it is a new drive.If so, it has to be initialized first.

My only disappointment is the 6131 does not have UHF remote capabilities, something the 6100 has. I would like to hear how I might be able to add on this feature if possible.

There is a kit available, but I am not sure how you might be able to order it, I received it when Bell sent the replacement 6131 for my 6000. The kit I have is from Dish "IR-to-UHF Pro Upgrade Kit" If you search the forum you should be able to find information about it.

Should my new 6131 be on or off while waiting for the activation/programming?

thanks!

Bell says it should be on.

Bell says it should be on.
Hmmm, it has been 2 hours now and none of my programming has been added... and the time is still incorrect, it is 7 hours ahead of my local time?