DirecTV customers woke up to gray screens on Tuesday after an automatic update crippled HD DVRs.

You didn’t need a tweet from DirecTV to learn about an an automatic update that crippled HD DVRs overnight.

By morning, frantic customers and loved ones were already doing what they could to reboot the boxes, or were calling their custom electronics (CE) pros with tales of woe.

“My wife called as I was on the way to work this morning. Kids were up and couldn’t watch Curious George,” wrote FINS on remotecentral.com.

On the same site, edizzle reported: “It is the update for 3D. all 5 of my boxes were frozen and i have already fielded dozens of calls. most were fine after one RBR (red button reset), some required two. 3D on 6/11 channel 106. get your goggles ready.”

Indeed, DirecTV subscribers are waiting in anticipation of 3D World Cup soccer action that kicks off on June 11 on ESPN 3D.

Added this from a CE pro with the user name Fiasco: “I’m going out to a house tomorrow afternoon to fix their DTV boxes (they have 7).” We’ve certainly seen our share of such widespread HD DVR installations for individual homes here at Electronic House.

DirecTV posted this message on Twitter earlier this morning:

HDDVR customers: If your HDDVR will NOT power on, unplug the unit from the wall, wait 15sec, then replug, & repeat 1x to restore service.

That seemed to do the trick, except for remotecentral reader SignatureSV, who got a “gray screen of death lol” even after four RBRs and two unplugs.

by Julie Jacobson

Custom Installation Services, LLC – Charlotte and Boone NC’s Source For Quality Home Theater Surround Receivers/Electronics From Onkyo & Marantz!