Trouble adding an old receiver to my account

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lonnien

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My Mother-in-Law had her 2700 receiver die and tech support said to simply buy a new receiver. I had another 2700 given to me by my Father so I put it in and it worked just fine for the free channels.

After registering the new receiver on her account I was told to shut the unit down and power it back up in 20 seconds. Lo and Behold the system acted precisely like her old 2700. Please wait for signal. A quick check of the system page shows the smart card is all zeros. The proof they nuked the receiver is that the firmware went from Copyright 2003 (worked) to Copyright 2007 (didn't work).

I phoned Tech Support and they deny any possibility of nuking the smart card and I have a receiver problem so must either buy a new receiver or a new smart card. Total BS from Tech Support friends.

On the Bell website it says you cannot buy a new smart card and must wait until you are sent a replacement (supposedly for free).

My questions is simple --> why did they force a download of firmware they obviously knew would nuke older systems, and why did they not offer to get me a new smart card expressed out asap? Is there any way to speak to someone who cares about this sort of thing? All I want is to get my Mother-in-Law a working system so she can get her Fox News.
 
What do you mean by put it in? Put what in what? A smartcard will only work with the receiver it was originally sold with. Your M-I-L's smartcard would not work in your dad's receiver if that's what your saying.




They did not nuke anything. Receivers will automaically download new software when they are shut off, EXX firmware is needed for the card swap. Is there a card in your receiver now, what type? IS it inserted all the way, the card slot/card might also be damaged or dirty. Has the receiver ever been used to pirate Expressvu?

I don't know why you make such absurd accusations against bell? Why would they "nuke" your receiver? What would they gain from this? I believe bell takes a net loss on most is not all new receivers they sell.
 
I "put in" a new receiver and smart card and then phoned Bell to register it, after I determined that it worked. I determined that it worked by the fact it received a signal and showed the free channels.

Not absurd accusations at all. I realize and understand that Bell is changing their encryption scheme and that a new technique is required to combat piracy. That is OK by me. My question is why they insist on sending new firmware, before they intend on making the switch, when they knew full well that it will invalidate the older receivers and smartcards.

I understand that a free smart card replacement is in progress. Why did tech support not have a way to get my MIL a new smartcard ASAP? Why did they tell me that I needed a new receiver and later back peddled that to a new smartcard, both of which I would have to buy? They automatically loaded new firmware that caused two perfectly good smartcards to be invalidated, before new cards were received. I had no choice in the matter and had to make more than a few phone calls to get most of the story. The bottom line is that my MIL has been without her Fox news for over 3 weeks now.

No, I am not making absurd accusations. I find it absurd that Bell would load new firmware which removed service to a loyal and paying customer and then have tech support indicate it was her problem due to a failed receiver. Her only option from them is to buy a new receiver or a new smartcard (which the website FAQ says is impossible). That is what is absurd.
 
Please note that this thread is for FAQ questions regarding the smartcard swap. It sounds to me like your posts belong in the RANT thread instead of this one although I think I will split it off into an "activation" thread instead..

Firmware updates do not "nuke" or otherwise invalidate older smartcards. In fact, it is just the opposite. Older firmware versions cannot recognise newer cards that were produced after the firmware was released. An old firmware version will result in the smartcard number showing all zeros.

Old cards are not disabled in formware for the exact reason you are posting here - to allow people to signup with older equipment. New cards will be sent automatically by Bells system when required.

The card update program is clear on which version of firmware is required (E6xx in most cases with a few exceptions) as these versions enbale the new cards. The current cards will continue to work for "free" channels to allow people to sign up and to allow people to swap (I still haven't received my new cards and many others haven't yet either).

There is no reason at this time why your MIL cannot activate the 2700 using the smartcard that came with it as long as it is a second generation card (i.e. one from the first card swap). A new card will be sent automatically to replace any pre-current-swap cards.

There is a slight chance that the card died when the activation commands were sent down to it, but the more likely cause of the issue is the contacts on the card and on the card slot.

- try another card in the slot. You will likely (you should) get errors, but when you pull the card out, you should see the smartcard numbers on the TV. This will tell you if the slot is working.

- clean the contacts on the card with a dry soft eraser (no liquids!) such as a white plastic or pink one. Don't press too hard, and just remove the oxidation.

The following information is critical if you want further help.
- The current firmware version in the receiver - easy to get
- the current card type - this may be harder if your card or card slot is not working. Maybe you can get the info from another person with a receiver (again the card won't enable programming, but you should be able to get the full DNASPxxx information). Alternatively, on the back of the card there are a couple small letters/numbers (EX07 for example). Post those.


As posted above, card slots are often damaged by pirating, so if this unit was ever used for non-legitimate purposes, chances are it has been modified or damaged and may not be usable.
 
If the receiver was working fine at your home and suddently can not get signal at your mom's home at the same location she was having trouble herself with her receiver I will check the installation



How did you determine that?
Did you check to make sure there was signal on at least 6 transponders (3 odd, 3 even)?
Did you make sure it had the latest software version?



If they don't you might have problem getting all the channels you suscribe to



It doesn't... I has some clients calling to re-activate an old 3100 when their 5900 died and they were waiting for replacement. Their software was E535 and current software, back then, was E541. Even with outdated software we could see the right numbers of smartcard and receiver and the activation worked fine cause the next day I checked back their account and they had not called back



They have a way to send one when the current one is defective. It cost the client 69$ if receiver is not under warranty, same as if a client buys a receiver that has no card. In you case I don't think it's the card who's defective.



When there is a smartcard swap the cards are replaced for all the clients FREE OF CHARGE to them
If your current smartcard is defective and needs to be replaced and your receiver is no longer warrantied (1 y and +) then you have yes, to pay 50$ to get a new one



Not really...

First thing I would do is to check if cables are hooked correctly...
The cable comming from the dish in SAT IN, not TV/ANT IN

Second thing check the signal...
Go to MENU 6-1-1
How high is the signal?
Change the transponder to 01-02-13-14-31-32...
If the signal is higher than 70% (or around there)

If it's not I would fix my dish or call EV for a tech
I would try removing and reputting the card in a few times (in most cases it would end up showing the numbers)

If it works I would call EV again for them to send me a hit to get the programming restarted or go on line and use the REFRESH MY PROGRAMMING option
If it din't work I would still try to have a hot sent or to use the REFRESH MY PROGRAMMING option...in some older models it is common to see a S0000000000 smartcard number, which ends up working after the activation. It is therefore possible that the agent, as it happens too often, took down the numbers, telling you he was activating it, added it to the account and forgot to either add and a/o (a little sugn that agents add in the equipement section to give the programming to the second receiver) or to switch the added receiver (yours/the good one) in the A postion that is showing active and to put the defective receiver in the B position that is showing deactivated. Since it was never in the ACTIVE position your receiver never got activated and therefore is still showing S000000000

 
The point being missed is that older 2003 firmware and older smartcard acquired signal just fine and showed the free channels, because the receiver was not added to the account.

As soon as I added it to the account and restarted as requested the firmware copyright became 2007 (it was updated) and the smartcard shows all zeroes and does not acquire a signal. Two older 2700 receivers did this. It cannot be cables. It was the new firmware which does not recognize the old smartcard. I doubt that the smartcard is damaged, but the end result is the same.

I do think this is relevant to the card swap program. They should either change the firmware to accept the older cards and the new cards or not push the firmware until they are sure that everyone has new cards. My MIL has not yet received her card. Is there any contact in Bell to get her moved up on the list for a swap?
 
Your point was not missed in my post. I have an old 2700 that is unsubscribed that has an original card (ROM3 from before the first swap) that gets the "free" promo channels with current firmware. I use it to align sat dishes.


Please provide the info I requested above and we may be able to help you out.
 
Sorry, it is just not worth this much effort. The first 2700 and smartcard were subscribed and doing just fine. After it quit my MIL got in a technician who was advised by Bell support techs to buy a new receiver. I put in another 2700 that was just fine and showed the free channels, and after it was activated it ended up precisely like the subscribed unit. Firmware did this. Not hardware failure.

I have an old Starchoice receiver from my HDTV upgrade and I can get it activated for her.

Thanks for the help, but Bell caused this with bunked firmware and they basically refuse to do anything about it, except sell my MIL something, either a new receiver or a new smartcard. I have asked how she could get bumped ahead for the smartcard upgrade nobody knows how to do that. All the Bell team did was lose a long time subscriber. Such is life.
 
Lonnien,

I think what happened to the second reciever you tried to install for your MIL, was loaded with a card from before the last card swap. So when you tried to update it with new firmware it would not work because it was from the nagra 1 stream. I believe the last card swap took place in 05. And yes it would view the open free channels before the update. So yes it would need a new card no matter what to be able to view todays stream.
As for your MIL's reciever, yes Bev has nuked some of the cards, and she should be able to get a replacement card. Did she reciever her new for for the card swap currently going on? If so did this card that died happen before or after the swap?

I do know 2 other people that this has happened to in the past 2 weeks. And Bev admitted it was their fault and is replacing the cards, but it was taking up to 2 weeks to get the new cards in. Both users had upgraded to their new smartcards about a week before their cards registered all zero's. And both have 2700's.
 
Yes a few new nagra 3 cards are "duds" maybe (0.1-1%), but the original poster is claiming that the firmware "nuked" his receiver. I don't believe he even received his narga3 smartcards yet so there would be no charge involved anyway to get one sent out. If he got a new card, popped it into the receiver and activated it i'm sure all would be fine.
 
Would you (OP) mind providing the first 4 numbers of the smart card you have in there after the letter "S"? (see back of card).
 
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