Does its proper code number come in the instruction book for the remote that comes with it?

I (and DirecTV) thought I had one, then two, bad HD sat receivers when the remote would not control all the functions on it a few months ago. It turned out that there was a code for that model that was in the literature at DirecTV, but not in the instruction book that came with the remote. Neither I nor the DirecTV people suspected that I was using the wrong code until I got super-anal and techy and said, "This does not work with the code in the book, WHICH IS ABCDE." They said, "why, no, that is the code for another model. The correct code is AFGHQ!" I changed the remote to that code and all was well.

If you have remote code problems with DirecTV, be sure to tell them WHAT code you are entering, not just that you are entering the code in the book!