How to repair a satellite receiver?

As satellite reveivers have become more complex incorporating Internet Access, PVR functionality with large (200+GB) harddisks, more things can go wrong. On one hand we expect them to be an appliance - we push a button and everything works, on the other hand we demand the flexibility, firmware upgrades, software upgrades etc. They should be PC and appliance at the same time.

Having such a nice engine ridden with software bugs and unpredictable crash behavior an upgrade was overdue.

On my PVR upgrades have to be performed via an old style RS232 Null modem cable which can cause all kind of havoc. First of all: Which current state laptop has a serial interface in the world of wireless and USB? So only an old notebook will do the trick. But then those tiny utilities from the IT stone age with close to zero error handling can ruin the machine and take their time to do it, as the connection is slow. And there are myriad of binaries to chose from.

So I asked the manufacturer for help and got a nice 3MB attachment - upgrade utility and binary.

Unfortunately my Receiver decided to go into hibernation after this upgrade procedure.

The learning: Do not expect that a Satellite receiver behaves like a PC ... and call the dealer.