My Bell 9242 is dead: What to do?

[Amy]

We moved almost two weeks ago & moved our 9242 with us. We had a satellite installer come out a few days after we moved & everything seemed OK. We didn't have the TV in the right room so he just hooked up the 9242 where it belonged and all of the lights and all were going like normal.

I wasn't too worried as I figured all of my timers would be recording and we could watch them when we got the TV hooked up. Last night we decided to move the TV and hook it up because I was getting worried that the drive might be full.

We could not get the 9242 going, it would power up, the drive would spin, then all of the lights on the front would flash and it would shut down. We tried unplugging it from the power bar, putting in just the wall socket, unplugging the sat in cables, resetting, nothing. My DH somehow managed to get it running by messing around with it a lot, but all of the recordings were gone

He left it on last night and this morning I checked again and the only recordings were new ones from last night after it was finally up and running and from today. All of our timers are intact, but 200hrs of programming has disappeared :'(

I was reading several threads on here and decided to try to unplug & plug it back in, hoping that my recordings would magically come back, but now it won't start up at all. It just keeps shutting itself off like before. I've had this receiver for over a year & never had any problems with it.

One thing I'm now worried about is that the installer put the receiver on it's side when he hooked it up. When we went to hook it up to the TV it was on it's bottom like usual and neither me nor DH put it that way. Is it possible that it fell over while running and screwed the internal HD?

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm renting so I think bell will replace it, but I really don't want one of the new receivers & this model is now discontinued.

Thanks!

[Q]

Amy,

There are other diagnostics to run here but they are at your own risk.

If you are renting you will get the exact same model receiver replaced. I would cut my losses with the lost shows and call for replacement right away.

Q

[dosborne]

Unfortuantely, there is a 0.000001% chance that you would be able to recover any recorded shows.

Without knowing what your DH did, there is no way of knowing how or why the shows were deleted.

I agree with Q, get a replacement as soon as possible and hopefully catch some reruns/reairing of the shows you missed.

Running the IRD on its side is not a problem, as long as the vents are clear. A slight drop (falling over) is unlikely to have caused any real issues, although these units are sensitive to many factors and a "minor" data error in something critical like the FAT can mean a complete loss of existing programming.

As for the unit powering up, then shutting off, it could be a signal/cable issue, but is more likely hardware failure.

[Amy]

I just got off the phone with BEV.

The receiver is up and running again, but it took many, many times of me resetting in order to make it happen. It seems to be ok once it's up and running, it's just getting it to boot up that's the problem. I talked to my DH and he said that he didn't do anything special to make it turn on, just patience and resetting.

So BEV is telling me that this is a common issue they are having with the 9242s and that the tech department is working on an update to resolve this issue. I told her I lost ~200hrs of saved programming and she that is also a common issue that other are experiencing. I don't know if she's blowing smoke or what, but I find it hard to believe that it's common that others are having their entire stored programming deleted.

She told me to disable the inactivity shut off so that the unit can do it's auto-updates and is giving me a credit and that's about it. There was no offer to send out a new unit and she didn't seem to be concerned that I couldn't turn it on, she said just leave it on for the time being.

Is there a way to force the unit to check for updates? I tried changing the time to a few minutes from now but it didn't seem to do anything.

[ScaryBob]

Those flashing lights were most likely due to a hard drive error and reformatting of the drive. It's difficult to say what happened but it was likely something to do with the move, maybe moving or unplugging the unit while it was recording. A credit for lost programming is appropriate in such cases. Nothing can be done about the programming except to wait until it can be recorded again.

[Amy]

Should I be asking them to send me out a replacement or wait and see what happens? I'm concerned that I'll start saving new programming and it'll disappear randomly again

[Jillycat]

My 9242 PVR won't power on. We disconnected the unit when our tenant moved out in December and tried to reconnect it but now it won't even turn on.

Any suggestions you may have please.

Thank you for your help.

[raredx]

I would suggest that the first thing you try is to do a front panel reset. Open up the front panel trap door on the right side and press and hold the power button for 20 seconds. Even if you do start to get results make sure you keep pressing it for the full 20 seconds. Once the time is up, release the button and then wait, be patient, sometimes it will take a real minute or two before starting up.
Failing that, I would remove the lines from the dish and try the above again.
Good Luck
Terry

[Jillycat]

Thank you for the suggestion, but it didn't work. When I tried to get some support from Bell, they told me that it was just broken and sometimes, these receivers just lose the power!!! WHAT!?! I only bought it a year ago, but of course the warranty just ran out. She said they could fix it for $162, but they are on sale for $200 now, so why would I fix it.
Garbage equipment......going to find another provide who might actually know the meaning of customer service....have had enough of Bell. Very disappointed in this company and absolute crap equipment!!!

[Pinza]

I think you will find that the $200 price is ONLY for new Customers so you will not qualify.

Most electronics have a 1 year warranty, you have exceded that so, by Bells thinking you must replce it. The replcement cost of $162, for a $499 receiver would appear to be a reasonable offer, or are you just going to dump everything because of this.? Your 9242 as it stands is worth $0.

You should reasearch an offering from Bell called "Dish Care", it would have covered you for replacement of your 9242, I would never be without "Dish Care".

[nontek]

My purchased 9242 has quit working after 23 months - diagnostic got me to reboot etc and I troubleshot with Bell technical to no avail - seems likely that the hard drive is defective. I live in Vancouver BC and want to keep the 9242 as my son has the other TV in his bedroom. Can anyone give me any advice as to where I might get this repaired? Many thanks

[Pinza]

Try calling Bell, they offer an RMA replacement for $149, or if you are technically inclined, the Drive can be replaced but you MUST find the exact model. There are details of this procedure on this forum.

[nontek]

Thanks for your help Pinza - Their tech support did not offer this when I tried to trouble shoot the 9242 on the phone but after reading your post i called the sales office and asked and eventually they offered a RTA for $149 + shipping of $13. I checked and they confirmed they were shipping a 9242 - so as a non-techie - that is the way that I am going. I am in BC and they also offered the Dishcare for $6/month so it looks as though that plan is now available here.

[Pinza]

Glad to help out.

That is new, if Dish Care is now available out there, I will make enquiries myself, just to satisfy my curiosity.....lol

[nontek]

Yes - the CSR was new to the job - so it could be that he was mistaken about Dish Care in BC. But if it is available I will take it out when the warranty on the RTA unit expires which I presume is 12 months from now.