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6100 Troubleshooting

29K views 91 replies 43 participants last post by  57 
#1 ·
Help with 6100s

Hi, and thanks for having me as a member.

Over a year ago, I purchased 4 BEV 6100 receivers at an auction. They came with no cards in the slot. They sat in my basement for the last year until this week when I decided to subscribe to Bell, finally.

Unfortunately, the sales rep at Bell told me that the receivers were basically no good, as I need to buy smart cards and even then they may not work because of some reason or another, like maybe a firmware update.

I don't believe them. We on the internet are a resourceful bunch and I'm sure someone on here has been in the same boat i'm in.
Can anyone offer any guidance on how to get two or three of these receivers working once I've subscribed to expressvu?

Thanks and take care.
 
#28 ·
My 6100 gets stuck 'downloading guide'

So my trusty little 6100 has been great ever since I got it but now out of the blue the guide just does not work. When I hit the guide button it starts to download the guide and when the progress bar gets to the end it just starts over again. I've left it on for over half an hour and eventually it just quits out of the guide and if I go to the guide again it just does the same cycle.

Flipping through channels normally works and I can see the programs when I hit up/down/left/right but I'd like my guide back...

Is my IRD just dying? or is there a fix?? thanks!
 
#30 ·
This has been a longstanding issue with my 6100. The problem is the guide now contains hundreds of more channels than Bell was offering when the 6100s came out and the puny little memory in the 6100 used to store the guide is at capacity.

If my 6100 gets stuck in the guide download cycle, about the only thing I've found to force a guide download to complete is to do a "check switch". In particular, the last stage of the "check switch" process is a guide download that never times out. You can also try powering down the 6100 overnight, which, IIRC, results in the guide download occurring overnight.
 
#32 ·
The problem is the guide now contains hundreds of more channels than Bell was offering when the 6100s came out and the puny little memory in the 6100 used to store the guide is at capacity.
If you were to hide all the channels you do not want to see in the Guide, would that reduce the amount of Data it downloads.?

doesn't it have to be powered 'on' to get the guide downloaded?
No, the receiver will get the Guide Data while off.

You can also force a download of the Guide by removing the Smart Card, wait for the System Info Screen to show, then re-insert the Card.
 
#34 ·
If you were to hide all the channels you do not want to see in the Guide, would that reduce the amount of Data it downloads.?
Interesting thought - might try that tonight. To be clear, this is a different procedure from creating a "favourites" list of only those channels you watch on a regular basis - the "favourites" list is just an overlay on the full guide, so you are still updating the full guide with every download.
 
#35 ·
Actually, hiding channels is very similar to creating favorite lists as far as the receiver is concerned. The receiver accepts the guide update package, processes it and then decides what to display(or not) in various categories based on your lock, hide, favourite, etc. selections.

Because communication is one-way, you can not tell the satellite not to send data for specific channels. Nor will the receiver reject or delete data based on locked out or hidden channels. If you lock out or hide a channel and then restore it, you will see that the data is still there.
 
#36 ·
6100 Analog Audio Issue

Hi All,

I just installed a 6100 in my home using the Component and RCA Audio outputs from the receiver to my Samsung LCD.

The issue I am having is there is a low buzzing/humming/interference type sound when watching any channels (SD or non SD). The sound is not loud and it is not a huge issue as you can still easily watch tv. I was just wondering if this is a known issue with these receivers and is there an easy fix?

I've tried using both sets of audio outputs on the receiver and tv and even switched the cables around (by putting the red in the white and white in the red in receiver and tv.) And unfortunately using the Digital out will not work for my setup.

Thanks.
 
#40 ·
I'm not totally up to speed on these satellite STBs, but if they allow you to control the volume in the STB, then it may be worthwhile setting that volume to "max" and then controlling the volume with the TV. Most remotes can be programmed to control the TV's volume.

With cable STBs one can set the output volume to "fixed" and this provides the highest/best signal to the TV. If the volume is controlled in the STB (via the variable rather than fixed setting), then the S/N ratio is often low, causing hum/audio issues. Just a thought from someone who doesn't know every function available with the particular STB.
 
#41 ·
None of the current or even the last generations of Bell STB's allowed Volume Control via the STB. The last models that I can recall, were the 1000, 2700 and maybe the 4700. These are all very old models now.

I would probably start by making sure they are both in the same hydro outlet, after that I am lost.

Is it possible to borrow another STB to see if it just your that may be faulty.?
 
#45 ·
I have a 6100 receiver that's gone wonky on me. First lost all HD channels so I swapped cables at the SW21 and then performed check switch. Got HD channels back but lost regular channels. So thought I had a bad switch so I got a new one but same issues. Checked the signal strength with dish finder and appears good for each dish. Signal strength on receiver is good for whatever dish is coming in. Talked to tech support and they performed resets etc. etc. but still no joy. It seemsed to act up just when the weather was getting warmer. One odd thing though.. when 91 dish is on I can't get all the channels, 400 TSN is not available says error but some SportsNet channels are available.
Not sure what else to do except to line up a service call. Any sugestions?
 
#47 ·
Can I run two 6100 HD recievers and a single 9200 off 1 dish?

I have a 3100, 6100 HD and a 9200 HD PVR running on 1 bell dish. I want to replace the 3100 with either a used 6100 or a 9242 HD PVR. Is either or both posible with a single SW44 switch? Or what would it take to do this? Im sorta novice on this.

Thanks!
Derek
 
#49 ·
Basically, swapping your 3100 for a 6100 requires no changes to your current switch and cabling setup.

If you swap the 3100 for a 6100 however, you will have a problem with your current setup because you will have 5 tuners and your switch only provides 4 outputs.

You may want to consider the DPP44 as well (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=79131). You'd be able to run all 3 of your receivers on a single switch, no matter the model (you could even run 4 dual tuner receivers if you wanted). You would also save a cabling run for the second tuner of the 9242 replacing the 3100.

The downside is that the DPP44 is more expensive and you will probably need to upgrade to DP lnbs. I don't believe Bell has ever shipped DP lnbs.
 
#50 ·
I am sure that has just confused the OP a little despe666.

swapping your 3100 for a 6100 requires no changes
OK, I agree, IF the OP has an SW44.

Then you add;

If you swap the 3100 for a 6100 however, you will have a problem
Nope, that is the same as above. You mean, "If you swap the 3100 for a 9242 however, you will have a problem. Yes I agree.

Then you suggest looking at DP equipment, while I know it does work and work well, the OP has already said that he is a Novice, so IMHO adding another level of confusion is uneccessarry.

If the OP does choose DP & DPP equipment and has a problem, bell will not be able to help, as they do NOT use DP LNBF's or DPP44 switch's yet, I would suggest this route is best left to more experienced "novices".

Whilst Bell TV do NOT use DP LNBF's they DO use DPP Twin LNBF's that can feed a DPP44, just as an FYI.
 
#52 ·
Audio Loss on 6100 Reciever

Good Day All,

Yesterday afternoon at aprox 2 PM Ottawa time I experienced the strangest thing. My audio went silent. I am connected (audio) to a Denon 1611 reciever via Optical cable. I know my way around these things and checked all possibilities, Toslink working (red light in tip), Input settings correct (HDMI and optical 1), etc. Other functions were OK (x-box, blu ray player). I called the service dept where I bought the receiver and they suggested that it might be the sat box since all the settings appeared to be correct on the Denon. I re-booted the sat box twice to no avail. I was getting ready to perform the last drastic step....the AV reset when my wife said to give the sat box one more try. After going thru all the motions, the program guide reloaded and voila....sound back on. The weird part about this is that the TV in the basement is also connected to a 6100 and there was no interruption down there. Any one else experience this before? Is my upstairs 6100 dying??........weird.
 
#53 ·
6100 - No digital audio signal

Hi.

I believe I have found the cause of the problem, but would like a second opinion from those who may have seen this before ...and thoughts or things/sets to avoid on the next step to 'fix' this.

I have 6100 (bought new 4 years ago from Bell) connected to a Toshiba HD DLP TV with the sound run through to a DENON AVR Receiver. The 6100 & TV are side by side at one end of the room but the DENON is 20+ feet away.

Until yesterday, the sound was running on a pair of analog cables to the DENON - when I finally got hold of a reasonably priced 25' toslink cable to bring the 5.1 digital audio to the DENON - unfortunately no sound!

Trouble shooting, I re-checked the DENON assignments, tested the new optical cable through my DVD player, reviewed and tested all the optional Dolby/digital/PCM assignments on the 6100 ...and while poking around saw that there was no light signal at the end of the cable when connected to the 6100.

Browsing several posts on the forum for similar problems, found none - and finally called Bell TV who indicated there were no other settings to check and concluded that the 6100's digital audio output was dead.

The set's digital audio output could have been defective when I bought it as I never tried to use digital audio until now, but then it might have worked - I'll probably never know.

...to 'fix' this:

- the first & simplest solution is to replace the 6100 with a $60 refurbished & warranted unit from Bell TV. On this Bell replacement, it seems from posts I have read - there is a chance the unit I may end up with could be the 6131 with some limited PVR capabilities.

- alternately, a full function PVR @ close to $500 with possible discounts bringing it down to about $200 ...although I don't have much use or needs for a full function PVR.

Any ideas/replies would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

cadesmarais
 
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