DirecTV Disables HDTV DVRs and Receivers. Oops!
Well, it’s not very often that you will hear us complain about DirecTV s service, but yesterday I went to watch the news and couldn’t get my HD DVR to respond at all. I thought that maybe it had gotten unplugged somehow. Nope. It would not respond to entries on the wireless remote control or by pushing buttons on the front panel. I was pretty much stumped as to the cause, let alone as to the solution.
I ended-up unplugging the power cord of the receiver for a few seconds, then plugged it back in again. It worked, although it took the receiver a good 10+ minutes to cycle through a half-dozen or so status messages while it was “booting up”. The HD DVR actually took longer to boot than Windows 95! I had thought this to be an isolated incident, but it turns out that I wasn’t alone.
Below is an excerpt from an e-mail that I just received from DirecTV this afternoon. It seems that quite a few people must have experienced the same “glitch” that I did. DirecTV’s “official” method for getting your HDTV DVR and receiver un-stuck is to press the reset button. That should work just as well as the “unplug it, then plug it back in” method that I used. Fortunately, I didn’t lose any programming that was set to record on the HD DVR. Those of you who haven’t turned on your HDTV sets today may want to do so though, just to make sure that your DirecTV DVR or satellite receiver hasn’t turned into a zombie like mine did.
IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT YOUR HD DVR OR DVR RECEIVER
In our effort to improve and expand our service, we experienced a temporary technical glitch. If your HD DVR or DVR receiver is not responding to your remote control or front panel commands, you can resolve this issue by pressing the red “Reset” button located inside the small door on the front right corner of your receiver. Please allow about 15 minutes for your receiver to complete the resetting process. Once completed, your picture will return automatically. Unfortunately, any show you may have scheduled to record yesterday will not be available on your DVR.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. Our promise is to provide you with the best television experience, and to resolve any issues that might arise as quickly as possible. If you have any further concerns, please do not hesitate in contacting us at 1-800-347-3288.
