A method for receiving a multi-level error signal having more than two logic levels includes oversampling the multi-level error signal to provide sampled symbols, wherein a first level of the multi-level error signal indicates no error, and second and third levels of the multi-level error signal indicate first and second error conditions, respectively. The sampled signals are de-serialized to provide sets of symbols. A start of a symbol period is determined in response to detecting that a given sample is different from a prior sample, and the prior sample indicates no error. The sets of symbols are filtered to provide corresponding output symbols based on the start.