Re: HD Boxes Restart

icplano · ‎07-28-2007

I am constantly having to restart my HD box. Is this normal?

coconut76 · ‎07-28-2007

Not sure if it is normal but it seems that my box restarts by itself.... Sometimes when I am in the middle of watching a show. Very frustrating.

noeck1c · ‎07-27-2007

Your box should not do restarts if there is no obvious power failure. Sounds like you may have an overly sensitive power fail detection problem. Power lines have switching spikes on them and can cause restarts of equipment with insufficient filtering. Check with U-verse Tech Support to see if there may be a software setting to add filtering if not you probably have a faulty unit (set top box or gateway).

U-verse tech support is first class and have provided excellent response for me.

Koolkid1935 · ‎07-27-2007

No, they restart on their own, due to probably faulty code.

My box restarts every once in awhile (once a week), it is a normal thing until they fix it.

One thing I should note is that it restarts while trying to multi-task, like recording 2 shows while browsing the guide or changing channels. This overloads the box, and does the typical Windows thing (these boxes do run on Windows CE BTW), restart.

Edit: Oh, and don't blame this on my HDMI connection, as this 'rebooting' only happens on our DVR, never on our other box using HDMI.

Message Edited by Koolkid1935 on 07-29-2007 01:29 AM

icplano · ‎07-28-2007

Yes, I have noticed that I am rebooting my DVR box about as much as my computer. A little frustrating. I am weighing the pros and cons, as I am not sure that it is worth it.

Koolkid1935 · ‎07-27-2007

I haven't had to actually manually reboot my DVR, as when it freezes or gets overloaded, it reboots itself.

stevestr · ‎10-28-2005

I have managed to crash my DVR box once already in the 3 days I had it. Recording 3 streams and browsing the guide. The box did reset itself. Annoying to say the least. Don't get me started about the rest of the DVR "features."

Uturnaroun · ‎07-29-2007

My DVR box seems to be the opposite. It handles heavy loads very well. But if we are just watching TV or even if the box is off and not doing anything it will just restart. It doesn't happen a lot, but it still happens.

garrek99 · ‎07-27-2007

I haven't had any restarts with my machine.

I did install a cpu fan behind it though and it stays cool as heck. May be that is a factor.

Koolkid1935 · ‎07-27-2007

Funny thing is, the DVR actually HAS a cooling fan positioned right beneath the HDD, but I have never had a time when it has been on, another software bug?

Uturnaroun · ‎07-29-2007

I can always hear a fan running on my DVR. Does the DVR have more than one fans, or just one?

Koolkid1935 · ‎07-27-2007

No, just the one. I can hear the HDD spinning, but no fan. If you lift up the DVR (very gently if it is on), you can see the fan there.

Uturnaroun · ‎07-29-2007

Well then I can confirm that the fan is running on my DVR.

gmae02 · ‎07-30-2007

Until they fix it?? Any idea when that might be? It is pretty frustrating when you are watching and/or recording a show and then you have no picture for 10-15 minutes. Most of the time it only affects the DVR unit, but has affected all receivers on one occasion. Fall episodes are coming up. I would like something reliable. Please ATT, get it together. I should have never switched. Please dont market something if it cant deliver.

Koolkid1935 · ‎07-27-2007

Uturnaroun wrote:
Well then I can confirm that the fan is running on my DVR.

I realize your U-verse is down right now and that you are on dial-up, so I don't expect a reply immediately, but do you think the fan thing has anything to do with the 3988 upgrade? Did you notice your fan on when you still had 3970?

Uturnaroun · ‎07-29-2007

Actually, I don't recall hearing a fan before the update. Maybe it could have been fixed with this 3988 update. And BTW, I'm back up on U-verse now.

Koolkid1935 · ‎07-27-2007

I will take note of this when(if?) I get the update. It will be interesting if it is fixed, might keep the components a little cooler.

Message Edited by Koolkid1935 on 07-30-2007 11:56 PM

martingermany · ‎07-28-2007

I don't know if it's the update or what, but today after we had a little power outage during the thunderstorms here, the box tried to reboot, but never got past the screen with the two cogs and then jumped to the red X with a square underneath.

Countless tries to reboot both the STB and the RG and nothing. Called Tech Support and they'll have to send someone out tomorrow afternoon. My wife is PI**ED. It's her day off tomorrow and she usually watches all the daytime shows (Rachael Ray etc.) and now won't be able to.

I love the service in theory, but we've been having so many problems, it's really frustrating (and hard to keep the Misses pacified). TWC might have sucked, but I never had to have a Tech come out.
In the now 5 months of UVerse I had to call tech support 5 or 6 times and ha to have them come out twice.
That's just not acceptable, especially when many of the functions they advertise with aren't available yet.

Sorry for the rant, but it's really upsetting when a service you want to love keeps underachieving. It's like your child that keeps screwing up and disappointing you.

Message Edited by martingermany on 07-31-2007 07:56 PM

Uturnaroun · ‎07-29-2007

Try this:

1. Disconnect all of the cat5 cables from the back of the RG in the Local Ethernet section.

2. Unplug the RG for about 10 second. Then plug it back in.

3.Wait for the RG to boot up completely (its done when both the service and bradband lights are solid green.

4. Reconnect all the cat5 cables. Restart the STBs that are having problems.

See if that help clear the problem.

garrek99 · ‎07-27-2007

Remember I was telling that my DVR hadn't crashed. Well, scratch that. It died even with a huge fan behind it. What I did notice though is that it crashed under burden. I was going through menus really fast and it just stopped and restarted.

Sorry for giving false hope with the fan thingie.

martingermany · ‎07-28-2007

Thanks Uturnaround.
I've read that tip on Uverseusers.com, but it didn't work. :-(

UPDATE:

I tried again several times early this morning and after once just getting an X without dots or squares I tried one more time and it worked. So I have my service back and could cancel the Tech, but this is still not very good for a service that wants to gain customers. If this happens again, my wife will insist on switching back to TWC.
So AT&T, get your act together!!!

Message Edited by martingermany on 08-01-2007 02:26 PM

Koolkid1935 · ‎07-27-2007

Uturnaroun wrote:
Well then I can confirm that the fan is running on my DVR.

After I got the 3988 upgrade this morning, the fan in my DVR still isn't running. Maybe it is temperature controlled? My DVR never has gotten that warm. There isn't any dust on the blades or anything to suggest it ever has been running, and in 4 months time, you would think there would be some dust on there.

gmae02 · ‎07-30-2007

I checked my version and it is 3988. I'm in KC. I still have the same issues as far as the DVR unit rebooting and lag time between the remote and the tv. I also have times when the picture gets scrambled. Is help on the way or is it time to give up on ATT.

Uturnaroun · ‎07-29-2007

Koolkid1935 wrote:

Uturnaroun wrote:
Well then I can confirm that the fan is running on my DVR.

After I got the 3988 upgrade this morning, the fan in my DVR still isn't running. Maybe it is temperature controlled? My DVR never has gotten that warm. There isn't any dust on the blades or anything to suggest it ever has been running, and in 4 months time, you would think there would be some dust on there.

Well I was bored last night and wanted to watch some recordings so I moved the DVR into my room. I have the A/C running in there most of the time and the fan stopped running so I guess it is temperature controlled.

Koolkid1935 · ‎07-27-2007

What is odd is I have my PS3 folding on the shelf below the DVR, so a lot of heat naturally gets sent up to the DVR, but surprisingly, the metal case of the DVR does a good job dissipating heat.

Uturnaroun · ‎07-29-2007

I so. I think the reason the fan comes on in mine is because in the living room we have this cloth type thing ontop of the DVR. It is thin and has holes in it but I guess it is enough to make it hot. My sister has birds so we had to put something ontop of it to keep it clean.

Koolkid1935 · ‎07-27-2007

BTW, when I said folding, I didn't mean it was literally folding...that would take some heat to do

My PS3 runs Folding@Home (http://folding.stanford.edu) 24x7, except for when I watch a blu-ray movie, or play a game every once in awhile.

Uturnaroun · ‎07-29-2007

How did you get that to run on a PS3?

Message Edited by Uturnaroun on 08-02-2007 11:19 PM

texaslabrat · ‎07-27-2007

Uturnaroun wrote:
How did you get that to run on a PS3?
Message Edited by Uturnaroun on 08-02-2007 11:19 PM

http://folding.stanford.edu/FAQ-PS3.html

How do I get a copy of Folding@home for the PS3? If you have PS3 system version 1.6 or later, you will see a Folding@Home icon in the Network column of the XMB (PS3 menu). Just click on the icon and that's it. If you don't have 1.6 or later, please perform a system upgrade.

Message Edited by texaslabrat on 08-02-2007 09:48 PM

Koolkid1935 · ‎07-27-2007

Oh, I have been so busy reading/replying to posts on Uverseusers, I forgot about this thread!

Texas got it right, it is built into the new firmware.

The PS3 is really a piece of crunching hardware. It can get a 400,000 frame workunit done in 8 hours, where it takes my computer (running the single core edition) a few days for a 500,000 frame workunit. I have since found out about the SMB client, and now I run that on my moms computer and mine (once I get the RAID issue figured out anyways...)