Using the TiVo Service

I recently replaced my series 2 TiVo with a refurb TiVo HD.  Digital channels work perfectly, but I've noticed that it won't display any analog channels (I see only black) unless I reboot.  Rebooting restores the analog channels for an hour or so, and then they all disappear again.

If left alone for a while after a reboot to restore the analog channels, I'd later find that the TiVo had the 30-minute buffer filled (on both tuners), but the picture was frozen when at the most-recent end of the buffer. If I rewound backwards to watch video from the buffer, it would work, but neither the picture nor the timeline bar would update until I hit Play again. I'd hear the ba-doop ba-doop, see the two green arrows indicating I was fast-forwarding or rewinding, but the marker in the timeline wouldn't move and the picture wouldn't change. Once I hit Play, though, it would essentially "wake up" and jump to the new position.

Additional info:

• I did the hard drive test and it passed with no errors.
• I'm not using a splitter on my cable
• Doing the TiVo cable signal test is useless--it refuses to let me tune any channel below 100, so I can't test any analog channels.
  
• If I run the cable straight into my TV, the TV can tune all the analog and digital channels flawlessly.
• Installation of cablecards had no effect

I did find others with this problem on tivocommunity.com (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=413026), but was surprised to find no similar posts on this forum (maybe I was just looking in the wrong place?).  The general consensus seems to be that it's related to the v11 software update, and a lady I spoke with at TiVo thought that she'd heard of customers having the same problem.

Anyone else here having the same problem?  More importantly, can anyone confirm that TiVo is really aware of the issue and, if so, when can we expect a fix?  This is a pretty unacceptable bug.

Thanks.

I've only had my Tivo for a few days.  During this time, I've encountered a staggering number of "issues".  I experienced the same symptoms as the OP - I wasn't able to get SD until after a reboot.  I also agree that this is absolutley unaccepatble. 

So far I'm not impressed with Tivo.  Bugs galore. The primary reason I got it was for Nteflix streaming and that only works some of the time.  

C'mon Tivo give us something that actually works or this thing is going back.

I had the same problem. You told TiVo that you receive HD over the air and by cable. Remove the over the air and that will take care of your problem. For some reason only a few of the support techs no of this problem with the HDTivos. It took me months to get it corrected. Finally I found a tech who knew excatly what to do. Good Luck.

james1997 wrote:

You told TiVo that you receive HD over the air and by cable. Remove the over the air and that will take care of your problem.

What do you mean by "told TiVo"?  You mean in guided setup?  If so, then no, I'm quite sure that when I did guided setup that I chose "cable only".  I've done it several times now trying to fix the problem and I'm positive I never chose air and cable.

Having the same problem. Called TiVo support and they said I needed the cablecards replaced. Had Comcast come to replace the cablecards twice now, still didn't fix the issue.

If this isn't fixed soon, I'm seriously considering switching away from Comcast to DirecTV and live with their inferior (but more reliable) HD DVR. 

gpan wrote:

Having the same problem. Called TiVo support and they said I needed the cablecards replaced.

That's too bad.  It's most certainly not a cablecard issue because it happens even when no cablecards are installed.

I bought this tivo 11-24-08 for a christmas gift and we hooked it up today and I only get a picture for about 30 min or so then it looks like it pause the movie but won't unpause and if I change the channel it goes grey and stays grey everything else works but the live tv I do not have cable cards and tivo said do a restart and it did the same thing then tivo said to do a hard restart did the same thing then tivo told me to put a cable ampifier in line I happen to have one and it still did the same thing I need help no hair left lol tivo is no help

I got the Tivo HD Box for Christmas.  After I updated to the new software, this problem has happened twice.  I have found that it only happens after I have recorded a program and then gone and watched it.  Once I was done and deleted it and tried to go back to live television, that is when I got the gray screen.  Since it has only happened when I've done this, I would say it is a bug in the software itself.  Maybe I'm just lucky and it's only happening when I watch a recording.  Anyone else noticing it just when they are done watching a recording?

I would hope they have this figured out very soon.  How long has the new version been out since I'm new?

I have the same problem, and my setup is much more simple than even yours.

I have a Tivo HD.  NO cablecards, I have all analog basic cable ONLY.

At some point during the day, seemingly randomly, I will try to get to a channel and the screen is totally black- the guide and Tivo screens show up fine. 

SOMETIMES- going into settings and changing the video output format will fix the problem.  But lately that has not worked.  My TV supports all video output formats.

My Series2 ran for 5 years without incident and my wife is demanding that I re-install it.  She uses this a lot more than I do, but I'd think that Tivo would take this seriously, no?

Thanks.

A friend of mine that has had his TiVo for about a year just recently started having this problem. Also, I purchased a TiVo box for my parents and they, too, are having this issue. Neither of them use cablecards. I wonder if it is due to a software update?

p.s. - I can't comment as mine isn't hooked up yet and will use cablecards (FiOS).

We are having this problem as well.  We bought the TiVo at the end of November and just started having the problem within the past two weeks or so.  We had a Series1 TiVo for 8 years with no software problems (my husband did replace the hd), so this is pretty disappointing to us. 

Please, if you're having this problem, call TiVo customer service so that they know many people are having the issue and will do something about it quickly!

I have been seeing this problem as well on my new Tivo HD, analog cable only.  Both tuners are black, any shows scheduled to record don't, saying there was no signal on the tuner.  Happens every few days at random times, since version 11 update (only had it for a few weeks before that, but never saw it happen).  Also it may be related to coming out of standby, so I've stopped using that...

To fix it when it happens, I have noticed that if I change the channel on one tuner, then switch to the other tuner and change its channel, then switch back to the first channel, both tuners get their signals back without having to reboot.

I have had my Series 3 for over a year, didn't change anything, and now I am getting the blank grey screen on both tuners and missing shows being recorded.  I too am using analog cable only, no HD Cards. I can see the guide and the show banner info, and I can watch pre-recorded shows.  I can switch the input on my TV and see that my cable connection is coming through when TiVo is blank.  So clearly, TiVo is not understanding the live TV connection somehow. 

Unfortunately the fix mentioned above (changing channels on the other tuner) doesn't always work for me and now I have to reboot to fix it.  And it seems to happen more frequently, at random.

I haven't seen any posts that seem to give a long term answer on solving this problem.  Is it a software update that recently happened?  Does anyone know if TiVo is working to resolve this issue?

cantlivewotivo wrote:

I haven't seen any posts that seem to give a long term answer on solving this problem.  Is it a software update that recently happened?  Does anyone know if TiVo is working to resolve this issue?

TiVo told me (and others) that yes, indeed, the problem is due to a recent software update, that lots of users are having the problem, and that they're working on it.

The best thing you can do is call TiVo and report the problem.  The more people who complain the better, because presumably we'll see a fix sooner.

I'm having the same problem with my Tivo 2 DT. I have tried everything to fix this with no help. I have a analog setup with the cable connection coming out the wall and into the Tivo. A reboot solves problem and then a day later I start losing channels again. HELP!