VIP 922/Dish Network

The VIP 922 is an advanced SlingLoaded Hybrid HD Multi-Tuner DVR¹, manufactured by Echostar Technologies LLC.²
This book page is intended as a User Guide for the Dish Network version of the 922.

(Looking for a better picture graphic of the 922 that is also royalty-copyright free. A high quality back-panel photograph is also needed for contribution here.)
Quality Picture of 922

Echostar 922 Brochure PDF

1. Echostar Set top boxes website.
2. Echostar Press Release - January 13, 2009. New Product receives 'Best of CES' award.

Introduction

Welcome to the Online User Guide for the Dish VIP 922.
This Guide is made by and for users of the 922, and for those considering obtaining a 922 from Dish Network.

The genesis of this guide is a desire expressed by many users that they would like to see an online guide that explains more about the 922 than what is currently available from Dish Network. Dish does have a few things that they offer. First, Dish has built into the 922 an online version of help files, available from Menu > 6th icon on the right, top row - 'Help,' which contains a fair amount of information. Note that additional info is available by pressing the Red jump button.

Second, Dish has built approx. 26 tips into the initial screensaver screen when the 922 is off. If you watch the screen, and press the forward, reverse, or fast-forward or fast-reverse buttons, you will see each tip, one at a time.

Third, Dish has an online page that contains some information about the 922, and all are recommended to read that page and several subpages, especially the 'More Info' sub-section.

Fourth, there is the troubleshooting guide that Dish delivers with the 922 itself. And then there is the ad hoc environments of the various online 922 user or support groups. All of these things are good. This effort is to draw together the best of what is available, and bring it all together in one updated online User Guide.

This guide is coming along! It's currently under construction, and we welcome additional help in writing, formatting, editing, etc. You don't need any special permission. Just dig in! Thanks. You can look at how other things have been formatted, but don't worry about formatting if you don't 'get it'. If you put in the content, others will know how to format it. Correct, concise content is what is important right now.

Installation

Preparing for tech arrival

You have ordered a 922 VIP from Dish Network, or are about to do so, and it is time to think about things regarding your installation. To be honest, TV plays a much more important role in most households than it should, but you are ordering a 922 in hopes that its capabilities will put you more in control. And it will. But you will be happier for a long time if you simply put some thought into your installation before the day of install. Once the technician arrives, he/she will be asking several questions of you, and you need to be ready with some steady and ready answers. This User Guide will seek to "fill you in" in the ins and outs of 922 installation. We will cover the installation of a brand new unit for a brand-new Dish household, and if there are additional considerations for those who are replacing or adding to their already-in-use Dish receivers or other DVRS, then those can be added at the bottom of this section.

It should be noted up front that, while Dish correctly identifies the hard drive in the VIP 922 as 1 Terabyte size, it does not really say the following additional and important piece of information: You get 1/2 of the Terabyte for customer recordings, and Dish gets 1/2 of the Terabyte for its "Instant VOD" offerings, in case you want to take advantage of the movies that Dish will record from Satellite to DVR in the wee hours of the morning for per-movie fee. The theory Dish has is that many might want to take advantage of wanting fairly recent VOD offerings in High Def or 3D without having to wait for download times or without taking up internet bandwidth. This is the reason why you will see only 500MB available for your use. Many 922 users believe this is enough, but we highly recommend the purchase and USB-installation of at least a 1 Terabyte External Hard Drive (EHD) so you can offload your favorites, just in case you have a hardware failure of your 922, needing replacement. These EHD's are now fairly inexpensive, and we recommend you pick one up for less than $100. Make sure it is a DVR-compatible EHD.

Homeowner install checklist

1. Research and choose package carefully as to what level of Dish service, and what premium services you will want. You will be offered some free short term premium service(s).

2. Plan out a day for installation, about 2 weeks - 3 weeks out, where you or a knowledgeable adult would be able to be at home during the install. Give good directions to your home. First thing in the morning installs are most reliable for arrival time.

3. Call up Dish to order. They do not currently or generally make the 922 available over their internet ordering tool. Some long-time well-paying customers will be able to obtain a "free" VIP 922, rather than pay the $200. fee.

4. Make appointment, and be there 1 hour before, and be prepared to wait. Arrival will depend on how long the previous install required. Don't blame the tech for being held up by previous appointment or by the weather. It's not their fault.

5. There will be preferences and choices to make during the on-site installation process. Decide many of these things ahead of time, or be prepared to make quick decisions while the tech is there. Here are the basics:

a. Where do you want the outside dish to be located? (Have a preference, and then a couple of back-up locations, and be prepared to be flexible. There needs to be a clear view, free of trees. Some locations are tricky. Would you allow the dish to be on your roof? Attached to the side of your house? Attached to your deck? On a pole in your back yard? Front yard? If you are in an association, condo, or apartment, are there any rules about this?

b. Where do you want the VIP 922 to be installed inside the house? Normally, you would want to choose your primary television-watching location, which is also likely your best High Definition HDMI television set. It is best to plan the location for the 922 unit, and to make sure it is a location that has plenty of air flow and "breathing room", as it does give off some heat when it is in full operation.

c. What are your TV2 locations/sets? You might have one, two, or more television sets in other room(s) that you want to feed over house coaxial cable from the TV2 coax output of your 922. In most cases, this works out well, due to most modern houses being equipped with a coax cable located in each main room. You will receive only one TV2 remote, however, no matter how many TV2 sets you intend to supply with the TV2 signal. You will have a choice of 16x9 output or 4x3 output.

d. Will your TV2 Remote connect and operate from the places you want to use it? Although in many homes, this is not a problem, there can be an issue with operating TV2 remote from the places in your home you intend to use it. Write up a list of locations and positions to test the full operation from the TV2 remote - and make sure you will go through the whole list with the installing technician "in-tow", so they can see where there is a problem. In some far-reaching locations of the home, just pointing the TV2 remote up, or in a different angle, can result in successful remoting. Make sure you are doing page up and page down actions on the TV2 remote, as that tends to cause multiple, seemingly unstopping paginations - just on a single button press of page up or page down.

6.Make sure you have Broadband Internet via Ethernet cable available to your intended 922 location. One of the distinguishing features of the 922 is that is it "Sling-loaded", meaning that it is accessible over the web and over some mobile equipment apps. Therefore, it makes great sense to set-up as great an ethernet connection near the 922 installation location as possible. If you have direct-wire Cat 5 cable to the 922, that is best. But you can also use other methods as mentioned elsewhere in this guide. (See Sling section.) It works best to have an active internet connection ready-to-go on day of installation, with the maximum speeds for uploading and downloading as you can afford, and as is locally available. For some, the Slinging is essential. For others, it is a nice-to-have. You will have to contemplate what place of importance you give this feature, and how much time, energy, and cost you want to expend to make this work best for you.

Day of installation

1.Be there, ahead of time, for your appointment window. The installer could be running behind at a previous location, so you need to prepare for that - but the installer could also be running ahead of schedule, so we recommend making yourself available for at least an hour on either side of the appointment window.

2.Make sure an adult is present to meet the installer. The adult should be prepared with answers from the list above, and should be ready to make quick decisions to answer technician questions and recommendations for all of the installation parameters, such as location of dish, cable runs, location of 922 and TV1, and TV2 locations.

3.Make a computer available, connected to the internet. Allow the technician to help check on the internet connection and Sling capabilities of the 922 at the end of installation.

Set-up

Updates: (Settings > Updates icon)

You can set the time at which the VIP 922 updates once per day from Dish Network. This is the time at which the firmware, software, and guide updates will primarily occur. The default is likely 3 AM on your 922. You may want to set this at another time of your choosing. Preferably it is a time that you are LEAST likely to use the 922. The unit does not need to be "on" for either TV1 nor TV2 nor Remote use active, and in fact, if there are scheduled recordings during this time, the unit will delay the update.

TV2 Viewing: (Settings > Shared View)

The Shared Viewing feature is defaulted "OFF" on the 922. TV2 will have no picture or sound until you activate the Shared Viewing feature using the menus. Settings > Shared View > On > Save

Questions to ask of installer

1. Is my receiver you are installing brand-new, and never-before-used?

2. Tell me about my Dish(es) and where they are pointed, and show me the strength of the signals from the various satellites. Which satellite is sending my local channels?

3. Have you used some clear-caulk to fill-in around any holes you made into the house?

4. If any roof installation was required, have you sealed-off any potential holes made in the roof, from any weather conditions?

5. Have you set up my TV2 the way I need it, to all of the TV2 sets I have in mind? Will the TV2 remote work from all of those locations?

6. Did you leave me the box and all of the materials that came with the receiver(s), in case I need to ever return any malfunctioning receiver?

7. Can you help me set up some of the features, and make sure I can connect to the 922 with Dish Online and Dish Remote Access?

Features and Functions

Channel Lists

There are 4 custom channel lists that can be constructed for a user - accessible on both TV1 and TV2 outputs, regardless of whether in Duo or Single/PIP mode. To construct a list, one would press "Guide" button repeatedly until the "Edit Lists" selection is highlighted. Then choose the "Select" button on the remote. Arrow down, then arrow to the right until reaching the list you want to customize. Pressing Select will produce two choices: "Edit Channels" and "Edit Name". Recommend that you set a name first, and then you can select channels that apply to the category or person for which you name the list. Note here: Free Preview channels currently on Dish Network can be viewed and added to a Channel List, but when the preview ends, there is currently a bug where you cannot remove a channel that you no longer are subscribed to see. Therefore, either make sure you are always scrubbing the exiting Preview channels before the end of the month, or, as some folks do, name one of your Channel Lists a "Preview" list, and only put Preview Channels on that one - and perhaps you won't care as much when the preview is over, and you are left with a red channel number and a message that you aren't a subscriber.

Channel selection

To select a channel, you have several options:

Direct-tune any channel with the channel number on the remote's number pad
Hit the Guide button (multiple times to your desired Channel List) and us page up / page down, or channel up / channel down, and then Select
Use the Green button to select a "favorite" Quick Clicks channel (provided you have set some up on that screen
Right-arrow to instigate the browse feature - to which you can arrow up and down, and Select a channel you desire
Use the 'Recall' button on the remote to go back to the channel you were watching before your current selection
Use the "Input" button or the "Swap" button on the remote to change to the current channel on the other tuner (provided you are operating in Single/PIP mode.)

Recording

Remote Controls

EHD's - External Hard Drives

Shortcuts

Currently assembling a list of shortcuts on the 922:
.... as of Software Release - S1.15

Note: The following shortcuts use the ">", which should be interpreted as "first do this button, then do that button", rather than pressing at the same time.

MENU

Menu = Menu list of icons

Menu > Menu = 'System Info', including Software & Firmware versions, Sling info, and Remote Location & Un-Link, Remote battery level

GUIDE Buttons

Guide = First press will go to Guide on current list

Guide > Guide = Cycle through Guide Lists, including an Edit Channel Lists option

Guide > Page Up = Up by one set of menu lines

Holding down on 'Page Up' will first do a single page up, and then continuously and quickly roll upwards until released

Guide > Page Down = Down by one set of menu lines

Holding down on 'Page Down' will first do a single page down, and then continuously and quickly roll downwards until released

Guide > Skip Forward = Ahead by a 3 hour period

Guide > Skip Back = Back by a 3 hour period

Guide > Fast Forward = 1 full day ahead

Guide > Fast Reverse = 1 full day back

Guide > Cancel = Back to Live TV

Guide > View Live TV = Back to Live TV

Guide > Info = Content Listing info

> Button: Record This

> Button: Record Series

Guide > Red = Guide list selector

COLOR Buttons

Red = Currently only functional after selection of other screens, not functional during normal TV view

Green = Quick Clicks (Favorites) screen, with cursor on the Middle Icon of the Linear Icon Selector at top

Green > Red = Each press, while on Favorites, will cycle through consecutive cursor placements:

Lowest left-hand Favorite > Numeric pad > Middle Icon of the Linear Icon Selector at top > (and cycle back to beginning)

Green > Red > Select = Your "ultimate favorite" selector, if you fill the lowest left-hand 'Quick Click' with your most favored channel.

Yellow = 'Settings' screen

Yellow > Red = Jump between banner and screen menus

Yellow > Green = Diagnostics

Yellow > Yellow = Point Dish

Yellow > Blue = Broadband Setup

Yellow > 1 = Remote Settings

Yellow > 2 = Parental Controls

Yellow > 3 = Phone line Setup

Yellow > 4 = Dish COMM Setup

Yellow > 5 = Caller ID Setup

Yellow > 6 = Diagnostics

Yellow > 7 = Closed Captioning

Yellow > 8 = Shared View Settings

Yellow > 9 = Record Plus Settings

Yellow > 0 = Over the Air Settings

Blue = 'Broadband setup' screen

DVR Button

DVR = Each press will cycle through a rotation of four Media:

My Recordings > Daily Schedule > Timers > Rentals > My Recordings, etc.

Additional Buttons

Input = Each press will toggle/swap between TV1/TV2

DISH Online and DISH Remote Access, Slinging, and Network

Need contributors to list information here.
Categories could include links to these online tools, as well as functions, what to expect, and how to best set-up for network and remote use, etc.

DO (Dish Online) and DRA (Dish Remote Access) are the web tools and apps by which the 922 Slinging capability is accessed. At this point, Dish Network and Sling have determined NOT to offer a Direct Sling client application. Although the Menu > Menu will show you the Sling Finder ID and Sling Password number, there is no currently offered client that can utilize that information. We should also stipulate up-front that many users have found the Sling capabilities to present some difficulties. We have asked one of the forum experts to offer some instruction here, and hopefully that can happen in the near future in this Wikibook user guide.

The only requirements needed on the router are UPnP enabled and anonymous ping allowed. You are not required to forward any ports on the router.

These are the current Internet/PC requirements:

High-Speed Internet Connection (Cable/DSL/Fiber)
At least 1.5 Mbps download bandwidth (WAN or LAN)
For DISH Remote Access Mobile App: At least 150 Kbps upload bandwidth
For DISH Online Computer Browser: At least 600 Kbps upload bandwidth

Additional recommendation for optimal viewing:
LAN bandwidth of at least 3.0 Mbps
Note: The faster your Broadband Internet connection, the higher quality your video will be.

Hardware & Software Requirements for DISH OnlineMinimum
PC RequirementsMicrosoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 with latest updates
Pentium 4 class processor or equivalent with 256 MB of RAM
Internet Explorer 7.0 or above, Firefox 3.5 or above

High-Speed Internet connection
You will likely only be satisfied with outbound slinging if you have 1MB outbound speed or higher
Minimum Mac RequirementsMac OS 10.5.7 (Leopard) or later
Intel-based Mac with 2 GB of RAM
Safari 4.0 or above, Firefox 3.5 or above
High-Speed Internet connection

Tips & Tricks

Need contributors to list information here. Add any tips and tricks that do not seem to fit in other categories.

1. Recording a Clip: If you want to save a little small clip - something that you just watched on Live TV, say it's a song or a funny skit or memorable news item, you can still record it as a clip (as long as you don't change the channel.) Just use your reverse key to go backwards into the buffer, back to just before where you want to begin the clip. Press Play. Then, at the moment where you want the Clip to start, press the red-dot Record button (just below the pause button on the remote.) If the entire contents of your clip are already in the buffer, then immediately proceed to Press the white-square Stop button (to the left of the Record button,) and confirm you want to stop the recording. You will have your clip. If you want, you could also fast-forward to Live TV, and watch until the moment where you want to then Stop the Clip. Note that It does not work to stop at another point in the buffer (wish it did) but the clip will contain everything from the moment of the Record button mark up to the current Live TV moment in the buffer. This is a neat trick if you don't want a whole program (or didn't record the program,) but wish you had a clip of what you just watched!

2. Ultimate Favorite: If you want to set-up an 'ultimate favorite' channel - something that you want to be able to quickly get to at any point, then you can set-up the Quick Clicks (Green button) to have your ultimate favorite channel in the bottom left-hand rectangle. This will require that you at least have the first column set up with channels, because the channels are placed on Quick Clicks in a pattern of down first column, then down second column, then third. Once this is set-up, if you are on a channel and want to have a quick change to your ultimate favorite, you could press, in order: Green > Red > Select. (You can also just remember the channel number, and type the numbers into the remote keypad. Remembering your favorite channel numbers is actually the best direct-tuning-method until Dish reorganizes the way Quick Clicks works.)

3. Saving the Internal Hard Drive Recordings on Partially working 922: If you have a 922 that is "mostly dead", but lives for a short time before failing, but not long enough to transfer your recordings to an EHD (External Hard Drive) - then you might try disconnecting the satellite feed cable(s) to the 922. In this way, it should prevent the unit from trying to connect with the Satellites, giving you more time to transfer one program at a time to an EHD, before the unit dies completely, and before it is replaced.

4. Keep track of Dish Free Previews, and eliminate the free channels from your channel lists before a preview ends. Dish Perks and Dish Free Previews, which are linked toward the beginning of this Wikibook, clearly spell out which channels are being offered free, and which package (and above) they normally are found. Do not let a free channel stay on your channel lists beyond the free preview, *unless* you are already part of the allowed packages, or will sign-up for an allowed package, as an expired non-subscribed channel will appear RED on your channel list, and due to a current bug, will not be removeable as long as you are not subscribed, or until the next free preview of that channel.

Bleeding Edge & Trouble-Shooting

Need contributors to list information here. This section is reserved for "bugs" and "operational edginess" about which users commonly share some frustration.

TROUBLESHOOTING

New User Advice

First 48 hours. There are many who do experience issues with their 922, and this is especially true when the unit is new to a household and user.If you are a new to a 922, or new to a replacement 922, you need to know that there are a number of item downloads which will occur from Dish Network over the first 24 to 48 hours. Do NOT panic if the box is less than 2 days old / 2 days connected. These satellite downloads will occur to give your box the various items it needs to operate properly. If you don't see all of the guide or icons or even hard drive size at first, don't worry. New users, Check back on it after the 24 to 48 hour time period.

Essential EHD. USB External Hard Drives are very inexpensive, even for a 1 or 2 Terabyte unit. Get one, and make sure you are archiving / transferring your most important recordings over to the EHD from the 922. This will ensure that you do not lose your most favored recordings if your 922 has a major hardware, firmware, or software issue that is unresolvable, requiring a replacement. Don't wait until 'some day', which is usually the day after you lost your internal hard drive recordings. Order one now, and get it plugged-in, and use it at least once per week to archive your favorite recordings, and you will thank yourself for spending the extra cash, and you will also find the "pressure is off" when it comes to hard drive space.

First things to check...
One should not necessarily always blame the 922. While the box itself may be the cause of problems, it is important to first do everything you can to remedy any issues that are outside the box, such as the three types of supply to the 922....

1. Electrical. Make sure your electrical AC power, where you are plugging the 922 power cable, is providing clean AC power that is properly grounded. Possibly in your situation, you could temporarily move the unit to another location, or temporarily connect a long 3-prong extension cable in order to connect the 922 to another "zone" of the household current, if you are having problems that are suspiciously caused by electrical 'upsets.'

2. Satellite. Make sure you have a grounding block properly installed on your satellite feed, and beyond that, to ensure that other than the grounding block, you have a straight, clean, non-spliced coax cable without any extra couplings, where interference of some kind could be causing problems.

3. Internet. Make sure you have good internet connection. The best, of course, is a direct Cat5 ethernet cable directly from the household Cable or DSL modem to the back of the 922. Second best would be to use a Dish AC Powerline Ethernet Sling link at the modem, because the 922 was built to communicate directly with that over its own AC power connection - however, do not introduce any surge protector or other device that might interfere with the Sling link signaling that is sent over an unused frequency on the household AC current. Another manufacturer's powerline ethernet system would work, as long at connected to the ethernet port of the 922. Third best is wireless bridge, but you are entering into increasing problems with wireless.

Beyond these incoming connections, it makes sense to work with the 922 hardware itself...

4. Soft Reset. After checking and ensuring your best incoming power and signaling, the next troubleshooting step to take is a soft reset. You can do this on the 922's front panel. On the left side is a black door that swings open and to the left. Simply use your thumb and fore finger to hold the top and bottom of the 922's front panel, approximately 3 to 4 inches from the left, and pull open gently. Inside you will see a small red reset button. Press this, and the unit will soft-reset. Many issues are eliminated with a soft reset.

5. Hard Reset. After attempting a soft reset, you can try a hard reset. This involves temporarily interrupting the AC power to the unit. Disconnect the AC power cable from the three-prong AC home outlet. Leave the machine unplugged to power for at least 1 minute. Plug the unit back to AC power. The 922 will then perform a hard reset, which will look similar on-screen to the soft reset, although Dish Support assures this will reset more features and functions than the soft reset.

6. System Wizard. If you hold down on the "0" number key for 3 seconds, you will enter the System Wizard screen. This will allow you to choose either Backup or Restore. Read the message below the Last Backup Date, and perform Backups and Restores, as needed. Read the messages carefully when restoring. It doesn't operate with the logic you may think, but it is a brilliant and distinguishing feature for Dish Network 922's. If you DO have to ever replace the 922, you will likely be able to use information stored on your remote to replenish channel list and timer information to the new replacement unit, even if your existing 922 receiver is inoperable.

7. Dish Troubleshooting Codes. If you see any 3-digit codes appear from your Dish GUI (Graphic User Interface) on the 922, you can look these up in the manual that should have been given to you by the installer (or inside your box,) or you can look them up here in the online version of Dish error codes.

8. Cabinet Overheating?. There should be some attention paid to air flow around the 922 box, and making sure that it is not in an air-tight cabinet where it could experience overheating. The box runs fairly warm, and if it is in an enclosed space, it might be subject to higher temperatures than what it should have inside the box. Make sure there is at least 3 inches of open space surrounding the unit's top and sides, in addition to ensuring good air flow. Some suspect overheating is related to a symptom of extra high-fan noise. Make sure the unit is sitting flat on all four of its feet, and that there is adequate air flow around the unit. You can get some Hard Disc Drive temperature diagnostics by going to Yellow button > down 4 icons > Diagnostics > Right arrow > Page Down button several times to near the bottom. You can see:

HDD High Temp

HDD Low Temp

HDD Average Temp

An average temperature of the Hard Disc Drive could be around 110-115^oF and be thought of as normal. If the hard disk drive reaches a temp of 140^oF, then a warning message will appear to indicate the unit will soon shut down, due to reaching the maximum temperature allowed.

9. TV2 Remote troubles. We'll mention it here, but troubles with the TV2 remote have more to do with the installation and location of the main 922 unit and antenna situation vís a vís the remote 2 handset, and the direction it is pointing. Further tips may be available under Setup on Installation. But you need to realize that the software works fine for Remote 2, and it usually is that the UHF signal between remote 2 and the 922 antenna can be weak, and that will cause some paginations that don't seem to quit, or some delayed or non-responsiveness to button presses. If you move to another room closer to the 922 / antenna, check to see if that solves your problem, which will confirm signal strength to the antenna. Sometimes just pointing the remote in a different direction in your room, or changing the angle of the antenna, will improve your remote 2 capability.

Hard Drive Transplant. In my experience these DVR's always run very warm and have poor airflow. I get about 1 year on a ViP922. Symptoms start up then eventually your box is frozen. If it's already too late- your recorded shows are locked on a dead 922 - and you did not transfer everything before it froze - all is not lost if you lease your ViP922 from Dish Network. Your shows could be intact on the old internal hard drive. Follow Dish tech support and obtain a replacement 922. This will take a week. When it arrives, hold your old one for another day for surgery. Connect the replacement 922 to SAT, A/V and power, allow it to download and start working normally. Authorize your new 922 via phone, chat or login to your Dish account. Make sure they authorize your new box for the external hard drive option, and if you have an over the air tuner card, transfer that from your old 922, and install that. Check that your new ViP922 is working ok, all your channels, you can see your optional external hard drive in the browse feature of the DVR. Then put both 922's on the bench. With no A/C power connected - from the old 922, pull the internal hard drive and set it aside. To do this remove 4, back cover screws (black,) then slide the cover back about 1/2 inch and tilt upwards to remove. Then remove three internal hard drive brace supports screws (chrome)- two are on the back of the unit, one is on the right side near the fan. Disconnect hard drive power and data connections. Lift support brace upwards, just enough to unbolt the hard drive from the four rubber shock mounted screws and remove the old hard drive. There are probably further details on the web. Next, with A/C power disconnected, remove the new 922 cover to expose the support brace for it's internal hard drive. Disconnect the red SATA data cable and power cable. Place a non-conductive pad over the hard drive brace (cloth kitchen pot holder etc) and set your old hard drive on top with the power and data connections near the cables. Fish the short cables through the support brace and connect your old hard drive with the power and data lines. With your new 922 connected via SAT, A/V connections, also your external hard drive via USB power up the DVR and allow approx 5-8 minutes for it to boot up. It should now show your old hard drive and it's shows. Also all your timers. Begin the media transfer to your external hard drive of the shows you want. If you need more space, you can have several external hard drives, the DVR doesn't care. Just up plug the hard drive (after all data has writing/reading has ceased) - you will see an alert that says USB device disconnected. Click ok. Then connect your second external hard drive and continue your media transfer. While transferring, take the time to note your timers with pencil/paper. Might help when you need to reprogram 150 timers. Once done, your can reverse the transplant process, putting the old hard drive back into your old 922 so you can ship it back. I also mark my DVR's with drafting tape and write OLD and NEW on covers chassis and hard drives so I don't get them mixed up on the bench.

KNOWN BUGS in Current Software Version S1.15

There are several known bugs in the current version of software, most of which have been reported to Dish already. It is helpful to know what they are. We are hoping many of these will be resolved in the next software release.
1/20/2012 - New Software Version S1.16 was released. It is being evaluated as to how many of these bugs below were fixed.

1. Inability to delete Channels no longer subscribed from oneʼs custom channel guide lists: When a subscriber has channels, either because they are part of a package, or because they are offered for free preview, they can select those channels on one of their custom guides. However, when the channel is lost, either due to a package change, or the loss of a free preview, that channel name is listed in RED font in the actual Guide, and not-usable, but on editing the channels for that custom Guide, the channel is not listed for the user to un-select, and it is impossible to get the unsubscribed channel off of oneʼs custom channel list.

2. Overnight Update refresh causes loss of currently selected Guide and reverts to default ʻMy Channelsʼ guide: The Daily Update refresh, usually selected by the user to be sometime overnight, causes the loss of the current selected Guide, and the Guide reverts to the default of ʻMy Channelsʼ (all the channels to which you are subscribed at Dish,) which most users do not want. Most users have a main custom guide that they consistently use, and they desire the guide to continue as the selected guide, even after the Daily Update.

3. On selection of new Guide - GUI insists you select and then always arrow-down to guide channels: For those users that do change channel guides from one guide to another, whether that be to a 922 standard guide, or to a custom channel list, once the user has selected a guide, the selector stays on the selector instead of moving to the guide channel listing. Current functionality requires the user to arrow-down each time they change the Guide Selector, to the top row of the channel listings, in order to use that guide. This is highly annoying.

4. Pause - never able to see the screen paused without Dish 922 on-top graphics: Pausing a screen (with pause button) does not ever allow the user to see the paused action without Dish graphics on top. In other words, sometimes when a user pauses, they want to see the screen content in its entirety. It is not just because they left the room for a few minutes. They are interested in the paused content. But Dish has not given that option, and the Pause will bring up the timeline and Pause Icon, and those will not go away until the pause or play buttons are pressed. The only other option for the user is to press the Cancel button, which temporarily will show the Top Banner guide information instead of the timeline. This reverts to the timeline after 5 seconds. But at no time is one allowed to see a paused screen without Dish information on top.

5. Incorrect Episode #ʼs in guide: Episode Numbers in the Guide information are incorrect, sometimes even in Season 1 of a series, and almost always incorrect in the later seasons of a TV Series. We believe this is caused by a deficient code translation of the Tribune Media guide information feed. The feed is likely supplying Season and Episode information, and Dish likely has a code-translation to a Total Episode #, which often fails, giving erroneous Episode numbers.

6. Slinging instability: Ever since the introduction of Dish Online and the near-shut-down of Dish Remote Access, the Dish Slinging from the VIP 922 has been unstable, and works well sometimes, but not other times. Some users complain that the level of instability has increased, and that before Dish Online, there was a much higher stability with the slinging. In addition, there is no direct client offered currently for the slinging, and unless one is on a PC and has an older version of the Desktop sling software, one must use either Dish Online or Dish Remote Access. [This is an area that may have been improved in S116, but that is difficult to know or find any documentation. Certainly the Dish Remote Access is again on the decline, and Dish's recent approach to that site seems to indicate it is on its "last legs."]

7. Manual and Dish Pass Timers NOT onboard the 922, but only via remote access: Users of other Dish models make repeated pleas to introduce Manual and Dish Pass recording timer set-ups to the Dish 922 itself. They are not currently onboard in the current software. You have access to Manual timers in both Dish Online and Dish Remote Access, and you also have access to a Dish Pass timer in Dish Remote Access. [Dish Pass, even on DRA has been found to not work at all, so Dish Pass, or the ability to record anything with a certain word or phrase in the title, or certain name of an actor, etc., is not possible on the 922.]

8. Wrong percentages on Internal Hard Drive: Occasionally, some users, especially in the first month of installation, can see a wrong percentage concerning Internal Hard Drive space used. Sometimes the percentage is wildly impossible, such as 200%+. This does not impact performance, and falls into an annoyance, but is often corrected after a month or two of normal use. Suggestion is to simply save more things to your internal hard drive, and occasionally check for correct estimated percentage. The Dish Online and Dish Remote Access online tools can help to get a better percentage. Dish Remote Access also attempts to estimate the number of HD and SD hours still available.

9. EHD not available Online or on TV2 in Duo Mode: External Hard Disk Recordings are accessible via the 922 TV1 (and Solo mode mirror to TV2,) but the drop-down does not occur via slinging (online or local LAN) and not available on TV2 if you have the 922 in Duo mode. They *are* available on TV2 if you have Solo/PIP mode selected. It is easy to change from one mode to the other via Settings (Yellow button) > 2 icons down > 2 icons right.

10. Daily Schedule temporary Timer loss: There appears to be a newer issue in Nov/Dec of 2011, where users have noticed that there is a sudden loss or disruption of the Daily Schedule. When this happens, the timer items may say "No information available" and when highlighted, will actually contain some information to the right side of the Daily Schedule screen. But these kinds of timers will not record. Some have found that the timers can be just a temporary loss, and while nothing can be done about the one day's timer events, the rest of events appear normal the next day, having done nothing. [This appears to be related to the number of Timer events possible on the 922, and when the number of events is exceeded (even skipped events,) the Daily Schedule can experience a temporary memory loss.]

11. Browse Feature's reverse up/down logic: The Browse feature (right arrow) takes you to an channel & page up/down world that is opposite of the up/down world that the Guide Channel Lists have. The opposite logic is somewhat confusing. To explain Dish's thinking, they determined on the Channel Lists, you should have up mean you are going up the list, and down going down the list. However, on the Browse feature, up means up in Channel number, and down means the direction of lower channel numbers. [Upon further examination, it appears that if the Guide Display Setting is "Ascending", it causes this problem. If set to "Descending", the browse and guide operate the same way. So bug here would be that the choice of "Ascending" should also be matched by 'Browse' feature, but it is not.]

12. Slo-mo back-jump: The slow motion (press pause, then use the back/forth arrows to control,) works fairly well until one wants to go back and forth over a certain point in the recording. You might proceed to the spot where you wanted to review in slo-mo, so you then pause, and then start forward at 1/15 or 1/4 speed. You see the spot you want to see, and now you want to review it again. You pause, and then go backwards, only to find you have suddenly jumped to a much earlier spot in the recording.

Blockbuster Movie Pass

This section is reserved for Blockbuster Movie Pass, which is not currently available on the VIP 922, nor on the current software release S1.15.
The most recent 922 forum indications from 922 users is not to expect the S1.16 release with BBMP (Blockbuster Movie Pass) until January 2012.