July 18th: DSR530 Code CC Fixes, Features & Bugs

[Uncle Woodsy]

Hi tlamm !
Are you saying that I should have returned the fried 530 to SC instead of Future S ??
Why would SC agree to replace a 530 bought at a local store ?
Where did you buy yours ?

[smp01]

SC will take it back and give you a fresh one for nothing except shipping. They have unoffically given everyone a 1 year warranty from the release date of stable code - "Jim Cummins Guarranty" - or words to that effect.

Not too sure if they consider CC stable, but July 18 2006 is the date of CC.

Officially, a fried 530 can be replaced for $99 from SC, which is only paid when/if you need it and is pretty close to the exented warranty that FS or BB will cost.

Other SC receivers are covered by the monthly multi-receiver fee.

[satellite]

Officially, a fried 530 can be replaced for $99 from SC, which is only paid when/if you need it and is pretty close to the exented warranty that FS or BB will cost.

Actually, its $199.

In
the case of the DVR530 HD, Star Choice offers a special program whereby Customers may replace defective or
damaged Receiver(s) that are no longer subject to the manufacturers limited warranty for refurbished Receiver(s) at a
purchase price of $199.00.

http://www.starchoice.com/english/cu...warranties.pdf

[smp01]

Sorry - it was late - my bad

[Lester]

Well I figured I would keep those interested updated. Had a serviceman attend today and he installed a new LNB. There has not been time enough to see if the Audio dropouts ar fixed but will keep the results posted. Immediately I have a brighter and sharper picture and the signal strength on both feeds are 91 and 89 respectively which is a big boost over the 65 to 75 with the old lnb. Hopefully this has resolved my problems
Lester
ps Sorry about not answering your pm earlier Superbry but only just noticed it

[tlamm]

Sorry for the late reply. BUt Yes.. You just call starchoice.

[Wolfpack]

I had a strange one yesterday with my 530. I turned on the TV and the picture was shrunk to the top left quadrant of the TV. It looked like the "picture-in" guide, but without the guide data. It wasn't a problem with the TV, as I checked all the TV picture settings.

I did a front panel reset and it came back with a normal picture.

[BCScott]

I've had the same thing happen once or twice. Front panel reset clears it up.

[whoca]

So how about it guys. All you need to to is set the timer to record several shows (preferably in HD) back to back on different channels and then start watching the first one before the recording is finished. Skip forward and back occasionally as anyone would during the playback and hey presto, before the first hour is up you will have locked up the 530 running CC code!

I've had the same thing happen to me with my 530 on CC code.

I haven't tried the above scenario recently and my 530 has been quite stable of late. During my first week or two (with the CC code already) I had a lot of hangs requiring soft reboots through simple usage. I was trying to use the 530s first receiver to feed my Tivo but it just proved too unreliable.

I now have my Tivo hooked up to a 505 in another room so at least if the 530 hangs, I don't lose both planned recordings on my Tivo and the 530 :-).

[starchoice]

Has anybody had this happen?

On two separate occasions, when I recorded a show, the DVR shows the name of the program with a "+" at the end of the title. When I went to watch one of these recordings and select the title it shows up twice, as if it were recorded twice. After I watched the show and deleted it, both entries deleted. The DVR list only shows a "+" after the title and the two identical titles only appear after entering the program.

[starchoice]

Lately, I have been getting audio drop-outs on both live and recorded material. The signal is good as I have other receivers as well to compare. It's only the 530. It only lasts a couple of seconds and it is usually accompanied by some very minor pixellation. It happens a few times within a program and on different channels. Anybody know what might be the source of this?

[ARR]

This is a known anomalie and not generaly a cause for concern.
It happens when the timings are off slightly between the program and the guide.

When it goes 'OVER' it will place a "+" sign on the DVR list and then in the recording details, show the next program.
In this case, it's still the same program, so it shows it twice.

The "+" was an attempt to deal with a timed block recording.
Set it for several hours and it will indicate the first program recording up front and then all the programs inside.
Because it is a BLOCK recording, there can be NO seperation when deleting the program.
BUT, when viewing, it will advance to the index to start the program at the correct point.

[timmytee]

After multiple reboots on 3 phone calls to *C, power cable pulled, hold down the power switch with the power off, swap sat cables between #1 and #2, re-authorize the receiver, etc, etc, it would still:
lock up on a channel, and not change
lock in a diagnostics screen
refuse to turn on with the remote
refuse to record a show
leave a stub recording behind, of no length
not dsiplay a picture at all

I called *C, they referred me back to the store (within 30 days of purchase, brought the receipt) and got a new unit - and I managed new cables and a remote for all the hassle.

So find a way to get a replacement???

[John D]

I've had my 530 for about seven weeks now. At first, with the CC code, the unit worked pretty much flawlessly.

Within the past couple of weeks, I've been having some issues crop up. One of them is that the unit is having more trouble recording one program while I am watching another. Sometimes it works fine, but other times, the unit will lock up. The picture will freeze, but the recording bars will still be moving, indicating the recording is still going on. Obviously, when I reset the unit, I get a broken recording. On the couple of occasions this occured, I could still watch the broken recording up til the end, then I could watch the remainder on the other recording.

The other issue has been that while watching a certain recorded program (nothing specific -- has happened with at least two separate programs), the unit locks up much more frequently. During one program I wanted to watch, I had to reset the unit a half dozen times or so to finish watching the program. During the second program (the evening news), I had to reset the unit several times also, but I got so angry, that I ended up just deleting the program (luckily, it was on later in the night as well). These heavy lockup incidents seeem to be on random programs. I can still watch other previously recorded programs without a problem.

Right now, I still have 17 or 18 hours of HD recording space on the HDD. I've read about the increasing problems as the HDD gets used up, so I've been trying to keep my recorded programs to a minimum. The problems first started occuring when I had about 15 hours of HD recording space, so I made an effort to get rid of some stuff.

I'm wondering if a factory reset would make any difference and maybe clear up some gremlins that may have cropped up. I would like to keep my recorded programs to watch, so I believe I can get a factory reset without HDD erase. Does anyone have an opinion as to whether or not a factory reset will make any difference in my situation? I'm at the point now where I really can't trust the unit to record important stuff. Racing season is coming up soon and I was hoping to be able to start recording the races and then start watching them part way through to free up some afternoon time and also skip some commercials. I am certainly worried about that plan now.

[timmytee]

I'm not sure what that is, but I recommend *C be on the phone when you do it