first post:

I've had my 9200 for about 2 months. This morning I was watching the world cup when my hard drive started making a crazy high pitched/high speed spinning noise, like it was going to take off!

Tried to turn off the rec'vr with the remote but it wouldn't work. Rebooted it and it was ok for a few minutes then started with the same noise.

I unplugged it for the day -- got home and it was worse. This time all the lights went off on the front, the screen froze, then went black, then a blue light came on on the front.

Then I got an error screen -- Error 05a1. I called BEV, it was after hours (i'm calling from the left coast!) and the tech told me to call back tomorrow and talk to a supervisor...

Anyone have this happen to them?

minimalist

The high pitched sound you describe sounds, to me, like a head crash. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_crash

Something you never want to happen. Drives can handle minor head crashes (they are built to). I banged my computer against a wall by accident and heard my drive make the same noise. Been running fine for a couple weeks now though, so I cross my fingers. But since yours was sustained and continued to happen, sounds like the drive is toast. Hopefully there isn't/wasn't important stuff on there. Bell should replace the drive, if that's the problem. Tellin ya, those drives run way too friggin hot. The fan on the bottom should run, but at least mine doesn't:eek:

I agree with K15 - likely the HDD is toasted (literally). Bell will send you a new 9200 and hopefully you will be back up and running in a few days.

minimalist - welcome to the world of BEV replacements. They have a track record of replacing your clean, unscratched 2 month old 9200, with someone else's reconditioned box. For what it is worth, when the BEV customer service rep finally says that they will be sending you a replacement, question them on whether you will be getting a refurbished box or a new one. They may promise new, but that rarely happens. Many replacement stories here about scratched face plates ...

Let us know what you end up getting and how this turns out. Good luck.

Just got off the phone with BEV, they are sending me a 'new' rec'vr. "yes it will be a new rec'vr" the onlt problem is that it won't get here until monday or tuesday.... No TV for 5 days! I pushed them for a few months of free programming so we'll see if that pans out!

Dang, I just got the same error message on my 9200. It isn't making any unusual disk noises but now I've lost some recordings I would have loved to watch.

http://www.user.dccnet.com/jonleblanc/images/9200-error_05a1.jpg

I'll be calling BEV very shortly.

This points out to me how BEV PVRs that don't allow external program backups really mess up an individual's desire to archive recordings for personal use, which is allowed by law.

Anybody asked them if they can send a new HDD drive instead. If it would happen to me, I would be the first to ask and install the drive myself. There must be a procedure on how to format it.

Other question: I see that they use the Maxtor 250GB drive. Can I order one from Tigerdirect and keep it as a backup drive just in case mine goes bad? When it will be out of warranty, I can do whatever I want with my receiver.

Any comments,
Pestyjoe:D

pestyjoe, here's the answer to your Maxtor question:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=31010

Prior to calling BEV about the Error 05a1 message and the subsequently missing PVR recordings I did a few things:

manual hard reset by pressing console's power button for about 10 seconds
machine went totally dead for about 2 minutes
no luck reviving it with remote or console power buttons
pulled power plug for about 10 seconds, plugged it back in
console very slowly came back to life
console reloaded satellite data and guide info
no Error 05a1 message this time
all proper front panel idiot lights lit up this time
all PVR recordings are now back as they originally wereThe End. Or is it... ?

I would suggest formatting the hard disk and doing the HDD long diagnostics test to ensure it is working correctly.
see here: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=46510

Thanks Falcon, I'll look into that.

Just one other thing... any secret voodoo on how to activate the USB2.0 port for file transfers? :D

I had the same error message and was on the phone with a BEV rep after trying some reboots. He told me to send my unit back to EV for another one.

I said "really, there's nothing we can try. maybe, give me a supervisor.".

He came on the line about five minutes later and the first thing he suggested was to unplug the unit for 5 minutes. He stayed on the line while we did this.

Five minutes later, the unit worked fine and the error message was gone, my hard drive was back. One week later, the problem has not returned.

I'm crossing my fingers.

Glad to hear yours came back like mine did, wildman. I ran the tests that Falcon told us about and everything is fine. I think anyone who has the "Error 05a1" message appear should just power down their 9200, unplug the power cord, go for a nice walk, then replug it and power it up.

I also received an 05a1 error on my one week old 9200. The hard reboot worked and seems to have cleared up a minor stutter problem while watching recorded programs as well. Been one day so far.

While on hold with tech. support (who eventually dropped my call), I searched this thread and found the above fix. Thanks! Tech. had me checking dish connectivity...

Hint when calling Bell - get the agent code (will be EX####). When I called back to complain about the dropped call (tech. had my phone # so should have called back??), they had no record of my first call and said there was nothing they could do without the agent code.

We encountered the 05A1 error a couple of weeks ago. Because the 9200 was still functioning apart from the recording capability and because I was overly busy at work, I left the 9200 in that state. In the past few days, I have tried unplugging the 9200 and leaving it unplugged for over an hour. After replugging, it would try to come back (green light on TV1) but fail and then continue to retry periodically. I had given up hope after a day but after another day, it returnedto life, but still with the 05A1 error.

I then tried to do the first disk drive diagnostic. I was able to go to the memory dump screen and initiate the diagnostic, but the test ended quickly saying the test was complete and also saying no drive found. At that pont there were two red lights on (TV1 & TV2) and I couldn't find a way to leave that error display. So, I unplugged the 9200 and left it unplugged for a while. When I plugged it in again, the green light came on for a minute or so and then went out and the two red lights came on again. Those red lights flash slowly (every two or three seconds) and appear to be happy to do this for hours (I left the 9200 in this state and I checked the lights every now and then). I have repeated the unplugging and the green light and then red lights situation seems to be quite solid.

If I power off by pressing and holding the power button, then the 9200 shuts down and does not revive unless I unplug it, but as noted above, that doesn't appear to allow me any access.

We have had our 9200 for over a year. Our 9200 had exhibited some of the flakiness that has been widel noted, but nothing serious until the recent 05A1 error occurred. Prior to that we the 6000 receiver since 2001 without any obvious problem. I suspect there is nothing to do but buy a new unit but I thought I would note the symptoms for the record. Thanks for any thoughts.

kingston, you're probably right in your guess that there's nothing you can do. The hard drive has probably failed, and you can't do much of anything about it without voiding the warranty. Hard drives are quite reliable, but they can fail, of course.

If you are told you are getting a NEW unit, check it as soon as it arrives, on the label outside the box, where the Receiver R00 Number is printed look for very small printing at the top that says "Reman". This will instantly tell you it's not new. Express Vu have had a "stop sell" on the 9200 for several weeks because they have no more NEW units........

Second check, open the left hand front door, if you see just a card slot, you got a new unit, if there is a card, you got a Re-manufactured one.

Nimiq 1

Thanks very much for the information.

I haven't been back on because of a work overload, so here is a brief update.

After a couple of days, the receiver did revive one more time (without recording capability, of course) for a stretch of three or four days. This time the error at startup each time was not 05A1, but 04EE. After that run of "good fortune", the receiver went in to its flashing red lights on TV1 and TV2 pattern and persisted in that for the next many days. In this mode, there is no picture whatsoever so no possibility of accessing menus.

I finally called Bell Support this morning after (belatedly) realizing that we have been renting the 9200 since February, 2006 (it was the earlier 6000 that we had purchased several years ago). It must have a quiet morning because I was connected to a first level tech support person right away. He was quite friendly, albeit a little tired, and after ten to fifteen minutes and a few holds, he transferred me to a senior tech person. The nicest thing I can say about him was that he was sullen. He really wasn't interested in the "techy" aspects -- lights, error codes. I was thinking we could have a great discussion about the meaning of "05A1" and "04EE" errors but it was not to be. All he really wanted to check was if I was on the right "channel" as he termed it -- because there was no picture. I was puzzled that he didn't seem to care about what the receiver was doing or what lights were on. He did have me, twice, press the power on button ten time while the unit was unplugged. I would guess that's in case the contact is a bit dirty -- I can't imagine what else that would accomplish. We rather reached an impasse after twenty to thirty minutes so I asked if there was someone else I could speak to. There wasn't, but after a few more minutes, he said he would send a replacement unit (I am guessing it won't be a new one from reading the postings) in three to five business days.

I know tech support can be difficult and I have done software application support associated with our development work and I know it can be draining, but I don't recall taking an uncooperative attitude, although perhaps I did at times.

All in all -- a stressful procedure.