Tried that and still no go, sometimes it it just sits trying to do a switch test forever with nothing connected. The reciever seems flakey in general, seems to have isues powering up and down at times.

Want to get another PVR anyway so figured I try a new reciver and go from there if needed.

OK, my 6131 still won't recognize my Comstarr 320 GB EHD. I had formatted it on the computer before plugging it in to delete everything off of it. Called Bell, they say I "need to undo the formatting done by the PC and let the receiver format it"....How do I "undo the formatting done by the PC"?????????(even they couldn't answer that one!

P.S. - my 9242 picks up the drive no problem...........................

Is the hdd married to the 9242, and that's why it's not recognized by the 9241?

No, I jsut plugged it into the 9242 to see if it could see it, and it detected it right away asking if i wanted to format it. The 6131 does not see it at all????

I just bought the 6131 Bell Receiver. PVR works but the sucky part is that you must leave your receiver AND hard drive on at all times 24/7, 365 if you want the Receiver to "remember" there is a USB hard drive attached.

Otherwise if you unplugged one or the other or both, in order to get the PVR running again you have to go through the same set up again as the first time you plugged the external USB Drive in, which takes about 4-5 minutes to cycle through, all of which time you cannot watch TV. It will not erase your recorded shows however.

Bell support admitted this is a problem with these receivers but would not offer a refund on purchased receivers from them. They would not offer an upgrade. They said they'd take the receiver back but will only refund $100.00 of the $200.00 plus taxes they charged for the receiver. Sucks to buy from Bell. Whereas you could take it back to FutureShop.

So you are stuck with the sucker. What is really needed is a software update to the receivers firmware so that it recognizes if the PVR is attached should you turn the Hard Drive off.

Leaving the Hard Drive on all the time will hurt the life of the drive, and use electricity. It gets hot from being left on.

Simply, put this Receiver is not ready for the market yet.
I do leave my EHD (LaCie 750GB) on 24/7, but I always turn off my 6131 whenever it's not in use, which causes no problems for me.

Although it probably consumes more electricity, I thought hard drives were better off in the long run operating 24/7 rather than constantly being turned on and off again. I'm sure if I'm wrong about this point, someone else will correct me.
FTR, my EHD barely even runs warm layed on my rack on its side about 1.5 inch away from my AVR.

How long has it been since you bought the receivers and talked to Bell about returning them?

All Bell Recievers should be left plugged into the Hydro, 24/7 as they will update any software overnight. They also download the Guide Data overnight, so by unplugging them, you risk using old software and not having an upto date guide.

Lots of people on here leave EHD's on all the time but I would turn mine off if I was going away for a weekend, same as the receiver, if I had no recordings scheduled.

Hi,

I have a couple of questions.

I just bought the Bell TV 6131 receiever. I currently do not have HD but I have been sucessfully using the SD satelite hookup (Bell Xpressview 91) with my old system. I was assuming that by hooking up the new receiver I would at least get the same channels as my old setup did. Not the case. The signal strength comes in at 48% and the satellite name is not displyed (Shows "Locked - Name not Acquired). My older receiver gets 85% signal strength using the same dish and LNB.

I know I need a larger dish to get both satellites for SD and HD programming. The dish I have at the moment is the round 18" dish.

Question #1: Why doesn't the 6131 get a good signal from sat 91 when my old receiver did?

Question #2: Will at standard dish kit work with the 6131?. Such as the ******** 24" eliptical with 2 x DSS dual LNB. Also, Will a standard switch like the SW-21 work with the 6131 receiever?

Thanks for any advice you may have.

Drewlioo

Re 1: It should. There is no reason why it would not work as a SD receiver. Did you run a "check switch"? Is the firmware up to date?

Re 2: The Bell standard dish is now the 20" dish with dual LNB capabilities. The SW21 or SW44 are the most commonly supported switches for running Bell. This is convered in many of the sticky threads in the installation forum.

If you plan to subscribe to HD at some future point though, you may/should qualify for a free upgrade and install by Bell. Lots on this in other posts. If you don't plan on adding HD to your subscription, then there isn't much point in adding support for the 82 sat (unless you want the international stuff on there - but again I would think you would qualify for the free upgrade).

Go into system menu, and check how the switch is set up. It is probably set up as a SW44 and by the sound of things you have a SW21. Therefore, Run Check Switch, part of the signal strength menu screen. As far as the dish it will work with the 6131 for only the SD channels. If it only has one LNB and you bought your 6131 new from a retailer, you are entitled to a free Dish Upgrade, of either a second LNB, or if you do not have a Y adapter on your current dish, you are entitled to a complete upgrade of a new dish. Your retailer, or Bell should be able to tell you if you are entitled to free install, or if you have to do it yourself!

Currently I have no switch since I am am using one LNB. It's weird that the 6131 has problems getting a good signal. As for a firmware upgrade, how can this be done if the receiver doesn't aquire the satellite?

Even though you do not have a switch, run the "check switch" option regardless. The receiver needs to auto-detect your setup, including not finding anything other than a direct line to your LNB.

After running that, check to see if you get a higher reading on any other transponder. Some broadcast higher than others.

Please report your location and the transponder checked.

Is your cable run straight to the receiver using RG6 cable or do you have any connectors in there as well?

I had exactly the same problem with a new 6131 last week. The problem is the firmware is not up to date. The firmware should be V166. My 6131 had 65%, locked name not acquired even though I was getting 100% on both satelites using my older 6141 on the same connection. Speaking with Bell Tech Support, my 6131 managed to download the new firmware even with 65% signal strength. So I suspect yours will do the same even with only 45%. Once the new firmware was in, the signal strenght went to 98% and 100% on the 2 satelites.

Run a Check Switch, then turn OFF the receiver using the front Power Switch. Within a few minutes you should see a message on screen that it is downloading data and not to disturb the receiver.

When it is finished you should have the newest available firmware and your signal levels should have risen dramatically.

Do NOT activate the receiver if you are going to ask for a Free HD Upgrade, if you do, you will no longer be eligible and will have to pay.

Thanks for all the help.

I will try this when I get back home in a few weeks. I will be installing my own
dish for HD so I will activate the receiver.

[portions deleted]

This morning my ehd stopped working with the 6131, so it does not function as a pvr. I tried rebooting, disconnecting one and then the other, but for some reason the receiver will not recognize the external drive. I have a 6141to which I attached the external drive and all worked well. The external I have been using with the 6141 works perfectly and I swapped that to the 6131, and again no results.
So, exam question. Before I phone the Bell people (which I dread doing), has anyone any views on troubleshooting?

Does your 6131 drive work on your 6141? If yes, phone Bell. If not, then the drive may be corrupt

Both External Hds work with the 6141. Neither work with the 6131.

Wow, talk about the power of the telephone. Had the phone in my hand dialling Bell support, and decided to try one more time to see if I could get things going. Rebooted both units again, and, voila, back in business. Gotta love those gremlins living inside those boxes!
Sorry to take up space on a non-problem.

I received my 6131 as part of the upgrade program a few weeks ago. I turned off the screen saver function a few days in. Now however, when I come home from work and go to watch TV, about 80% of the time, when I hit the guide button, the unit turns itself off and goes through a whole reset procedure. It eventually comes back on an the loading status bar appears on the screen and then it's back to normal until the next day. The process takes about 3-5 minutes and drives me and my wife nuts. Anyone have any ideas?

Anyone have any ideas?
Call and ask for a replacement.