Uverse DVR Crash--All Recorded Programs Lost

[swack]

We've had Uverse TV for a few weeks and have had great experience with it until tonight.  We were watching one channel at 8:59pm and right when the clock clicked over to 9:00pm we had hit the RECORD button on a show in the GUIDE.  There were also 3 other shows scheduled to record at 9:00pm.

We're not sure how or why, but the Motorola VIP1216 DVR crashed and went into a strange hung/rebooting state for a few minutes.  During this time, one of the screens we saw had 3 or 4 small circles or dots on it.  After a few minutes, the box stabilized and we were able to watch TV again.  Also, it began to record the shows that it was recording just before it crashed. 

Now, however, when we go to Recorded Programs, we're missing all of our previously recorded shows.  OUCH!  We had at least 30 shows that now are apparently lost forever.

We called Uverse Tech Support and explained our situation to a nice agent named Eli.  He put me on hold for a few minutes, and when he came back he pretty much read back to me what I had just told him.  Bottom Line: Sorry you lost your recorded shows.  If it happens again, we'll probably send a tech out to replace your DVR.  IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN???  If it happens again, I'm not sure how long I'll remain a Uverse customer! 

If there are any Uverse engineers reading this, take it from a fellow engineer (computer networking)...this is a PROBLEM that needs to be FIXED.  I'd be happy to help someone re-create the situation if they'd care to try it.  I'm sure it'll happen again with other customers.

Has anyone else experienced this or something similar?  Has anyone else lost all their recorded programs? 

I think Uverse technology is great.  But obviously there are bugs that need to be worked out.

[spd2demun ACE - Master]

I'm guessing it was nightly maint., but it should not have erased all of your recordings.

[dzar_1]

The way AT&T sees it, you are renting the equipment from them and they own it and all the "stuff" on it. I had the same issue and they won't even let you back up your recordings so there is nothing you can do (short of hooking up your own DVD or DVR to the output of the AT&T box and then recording all your saved shows... in real time!)

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

Does anyone know if there is a way to get a Directv dvr to record video from stb dvr?  The DTV service is disconnected so i don't thin the dvr will take the signal.  If someone knows how please pass along the info.

[callmeox ACE - Wizard]

IIRC, The DirecTV DVR's record the MPEG stream directly off of the satellite and there's no other inputs available, so the answer is no.

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

Thanks that is what I figured.

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callmeox wrote:

IIRC, The DirecTV DVR's record the MPEG stream directly off of the satellite and there's no other inputs available, so the answer is no.

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[swack]

Has anybody had their DVR crash hard and lose all their recorded programs though?  I'm just trying to get a feeling for how widespread this problem may be.

Thanks.

[dzar_1]

I had mine replaced via Tier 2 support. All the data are there but AT&T refuses to move them to the new box. No, the box did not crash and remove the recordings or render them useless, but the effect was the same; through no act of my own, I lost all of my recordings. (And I was also asked to do "factory resets" that I was warned would remove all my recordings in the past.)

[Scott53]

All Hard Drives are marked with a MTBF rating, this stands for Mean Time Between Failures, so expect the HD to crash sometime because they all will someday. 

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

Oh no!

[Pip_2]

Haven't you ever had one of your HD's crash RC? I mean on your computer. To me, it's a HD. Same difference, whether in the STB or on your computer, or an iPod etc.

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RCSMG wrote:
Oh no!

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[RCSMG ACE - Master]

I have had hds crash but I knew that the dvr is a harddrive as well, just hadn't thought about it crashing.  And when I saw the post it just brought it face to face with me that the dvr hd could crash.

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Pip wrote:

Haven't you ever had one of your HD's crash RC? I mean on your computer. To me, it's a HD. Same difference, whether in the STB or on your computer, or an iPod etc.

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RCSMG wrote:
Oh no!

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[dzar_1]

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RCSMG wrote:
I have had hds crash but I knew that the dvr is a harddrive as well, just hadn't thought about it crashing.  And when I saw the post it just brought it face to face with me that the dvr hd could crash

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And this is a problem with digital music servers, too. Due to DRM issues, many DMS server canufacturers don't give users an easy way to copy (and I mean image an identical copy) of their HDs. Hence, when my 500 GB music server with 600+ CDs loaded on it crashes, I have to reload the entire thing, again! (Well, not really as I've hacked it and I can get a complete copy, but I've not been able to hack the DVR in such a way as to make it as easy; certainly removing the HD and imaging it will work, but that's not easy nor something that AT&T will condone).

It's a serious issue that digital media companies need to address.

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

You know what would really be cool?  If not only could you backup your dvr, but ad another hd to the stb and use the external hd to record more programming.  You could have unlimited record space.  Unlimited!

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dzar wrote:

And this is a problem with digital music servers, too. Due to DRM issues, many DMS server canufacturers don't give users an easy way to copy (and I mean image an identical copy) of their HDs. Hence, when my 500 GB music server with 600+ CDs loaded on it crashes, I have to reload the entire thing, again! (Well, not really as I've hacked it and I can get a complete copy, but I've not been able to hack the DVR in such a way as to make it as easy; certainly removing the HD and imaging it will work, but that's not easy nor something that AT&T will condone).

It's a serious issue that digital media companies need to address.

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[prf]

The power went out in our neighborhood three days ago. Since then, I have to reboot the UVerse box in order to watch television. Otherwise, I see a blue screen with an instruction to press "OK" on my remote, but this button has no effect. So, I called ATT, which scheduled a service call for the next day. So far so good. I was told that there probably is something wrong with the box and it will have to be replaced. I inquired about recorded programs. The helpful techie said that he would indicate on the ticket that I wanted to save these programs, but he didn't know what could be done.

The service tech arrived late with no advance phone call. But hey, he got there, though with no idea what he was supposed to do. Hmmm. I showed him the problem. He told me that I shouldn't be using an HDMI cable. Let me say that again: I was told by the ATT Uverse tech that I shouldn't be using an HDMI cable to receive high def signals with my hi def service. Right. The techician told me that he would swap the receiver, but my programs would be lost. I asked him why he couldn't save them to another medium. He scratched his head and asked me how I would do it. I sure don't know, but there's a USB port on the tuner and my television has a bunch of ports as well.

By now, I had gotten the uneasy impression that of the three beings in the room, two human, one feline, the tech was third in line. After five weird minutes I escort him to the door, having deciding that I would rather keep my current programs and surely there's a way to save them to another medium. In any case, this tech has a real future in fast food, which is where he should be building his career.

The bundled DVR is a terrific feature, but it's like going back to the stone age regarding disk maintenance and data security. Surely a solution is on the way, whether it comes from ATT, a third party developer, or a hacker. I'm patiently waiting.

[spd2demun ACE - Master]

First, try training your RG; this will help the whole system come back faster after a power outage.

Koolkid has a great Interative RG Trainer here.

When you press OK on the remote, you are not going past the blue Press OK screen?  Is the ATT button (top left) pressed (and blinks red) when OK is pressed?

What happens if you press the OK button ON the front of the DVR?

Another thing you can try is to unplug the DVR at the back of the unit; wait for the 3 front lights to flash (a few seconds) and plug it back in.  That should not cause you to loose your recordings and is another way of doing a soft reboot.

Kitty sounds smarter than the tech you got, sad to say.

The USB ports are not turned on at this time for an external HDD, but might be in the future.

Others here can give you some tips on making HDMI work.

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

Good thing you let that tech leave, he would have given you something you didn't need and you would have lost your recordings.  If you buy a dvd recorder you can record you programs to dvds or if you have a vcr you can store them on videotape.  But then they wouldn't look as good.

[prf]

Thanks for the info and advice, spd2demun. 

>First, try training your RG; this will help the whole system come back
>faster after a power outage. Koolkid has a great Interative RG Trainer here.

As it turns out, I was able to get the box running normally for now by following an unusual reboot sequence (see below). I suspect this is nothing nothing more than a short-term fix, but I'll save the link to RG trainer and run through it the next time there's a failure.

>When you press OK on the remote, you are not going past the blue
>Press OK screen?  Is the ATT button (top left) pressed (and blinks
>red) when OK is pressed?

>What happens if you press the OK button ON the front of the DVR?

Yup, the ATT button blinks red. I had that along with the OK button on the DVR.

>Another thing you can try is to unplug the DVR at the back of the unit;

>wait for the 3 front lights to flash (a few seconds) and plug it back in. 

>That should not cause you to loose your recordings and is another way

>of doing a soft reboot.

I previously had disconnected from the DVR and from the wall. The odd sequence that worked was to disconnect (again) from the DVR, then wait, as you note. Then, press and hold the power button on the DVR for a long time (>10"). What happened is that I had to reset to the aspect ratio (options-system settings), which on previous reboots had remained in the customized setting. I think what was happening is that despite my efforts, the system was not actually resetting.

>Others here can give you some tips on making HDMI work.

The HDMI cable has worked fine from the outset. Why the techie volunteered that bit of wisdom is beyond me.

Also, in response to the message about using a recordable DVD as back-up -- that idea makes sense. I notice that since Blu Ray won the HD spec war, the price of recordable HD-DVD units has gone in the tank.  

[spd2demun ACE - Master]

I certify you a tech now!   Glad you found something that worked.

[marmyers]

I think it's pretty widespread.  We had 3 failures with DishNetwork and now have lost all our programs on the ATT dvr that is less than 6 months old.  I think it happened during the night when the maintenance is done.  DishNetwork told us to turn it off every night.  We turn it off every time we turn off the TV.  So, that doesn't help.  It was interesting that list was not lost, only the programs.  I flipped out this time!!  Now, I really think it's a good idea to get a back-up dvr.  Does anyone know how do rig it up?

[sworksguy]

/startRant

Just faced this for the SECOND TIME.  first time, the tech came out for freeze issues, and just replaced the DVR. stated that the lost shows were unaviodable.

Today, the system slowing died.  first, we lost the programming information.  Then, the menu choice for Recorded TV.  Called tech support, and requested a L2 resource.  This offended the L1 folks, but, they were suggesting Disaster Recovery settings; again, costing me all my recordings.

We tried rebooting several times, then tried pulling new firmware; it appeared to start working again, allowing the DVR to reboot, and for us to navigate to channels. Then, that died as well.

Through a few more reboot attempts, the DVR appeared to go into DR mode itself (NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!), and then, ended up with a single red 'X' in the middle of the screen.  It's toast now.

Between this, the fact that I have NEVER had the download speeds that I pay for, save for one terrific day when a field tech was here and changed some gateway settings (of course, the slower speeds resumed only a few hours later)  I am less enthusiastic about recommending this service.

Please o great AT&T U-Verse service folks, just give me what you PROMISED ME.

/endRant

[TAIAC_1]

We just lost all of our recorded programs today.  Quite a bummer.  In the morning when I turned on the TV the screen was blank with a little X on the screen.  I reset and it took several minutes to reboot.  Later I went to my recorded shows and there were none there.

I decided to call customer service and  went through their reset process.  I was told that they were sorry and sometimes it happens.  I wanted to know if I had done something wrong and really didn't get an answer.  It is making me think of switching to a different provider.  They didn't even offer anything for the inconvience...

[mibrnsurg ACE - Geek]

If or when it happens again, try an unplug/plug in for 30 seconds hard reboot, will reset

everything, but won't lose recordings.  A bummer that you lost all the recordings.

Chris

____________________________________________________________________

Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
1-800-983-2811 to avoid Mr. Voice Recognition
YRMV IMHO Simply a U-verse user, nothing more

[dzar_1]

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TAIAC wrote:

We just lost all of our recorded programs today.  Quite a bummer.  In the morning when I turned on the TV the screen was blank with a little X on the screen.  I reset and it took several minutes to reboot.  Later I went to my recorded shows and there were none there.

I decided to call customer service and  went through their reset process.  I was told that they were sorry and sometimes it happens.  I wanted to know if I had done something wrong and really didn't get an answer.  It is making me think of switching to a different provider.  They didn't even offer anything for the inconvience...

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Unfortunately, your experiece is typical. AT&T's boxes have proven to not be reliable (I've had my DVR replaced three times and at least one other time I had the dreaded X and a hard reset to fix it also removed my recordings). AT&T will gladly tell you that there is no way to back up your recordings and thay they are sorry if this happens; heck, they even warn that this can happen in their terms of service (which noone reads, of course).

Remember, even if AT&T tells you that they need to replace your DVR, they will not offer any way to move your recordings to the new one. They simply don't care. They see those recordings as theirs, not yours, and feel no need to do help you in any way.

Sorry for sounding harsh, but I've been through this enough to know that if I ever record something I care about, I need to copy it to DVD as I have no confidence in AT&T's equipment.

[fatsuki]

We just lost all our recorded programs today.  We've had U-verse for about three weeks and had about 20 programs recorded.  This thread was started in 2008 and after reading these posts i'm seriously worried.  This appears to be an ongoing problem and AT & T doesn't seem to be doing anything to fix it.

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

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fatsuki wrote:

We just lost all our recorded programs today.  We've had U-verse for about three weeks and had about 20 programs recorded.  This thread was started in 2008 and after reading these posts i'm seriously worried.  This appears to be an ongoing problem and AT & T doesn't seem to be doing anything to fix it.

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Unplug your dvr for 30 seconds and then reconnect it.  After it boots up check your recordings.

[fatsuki]

Did that, everything is still gone and it just crashed again.  This time we only had one show recorded but it was erased too.

[randyl]

sure sounds like a bad hdd

call  in and tell them the hard drive is failing

my take

randy

[wizard4nh3]

the first thing i'm not sure why we can't watch the dvr when theres no dsl signal has anyoner ever seen the hard drive but if there is won you would not be able to watch your backups because each dvr encrypts with it's own code .