I had to do that once about 6 or 8 years ago. Everything went fine.

I was on DISH for around 9 years or so! It a no brainer. Your credit card size card is program to block out programming that is not offered in your plan. Just insert the card in the DVR slot and turn on your TV and then your DVR and it will guide you through the steps 1 at a time. May take up to 25 minutes to complete so be patient.

I am getting a "smart card" error message. Fleeting. When recording a few minutes after midnight the incredibly fleeting message occurs and the recording stops. The next night the same programmed recording happens without incident insofar as I can tell.

Dish customer service tells me they cannot help me unless I am in failure now.

I will go to the dish users forums and ask there, sometimes they answer there too. But, I'm first asking here because I happen to be here. Is this a known problem or something unique to my situation?

Try unplugging your Dish receiver for 1 minute and then plug it back in. That initiates the reset procedure in the microprocessor and may make the issue go away.