Live TV and record won't work!

[swarrans]

I just went to play back a recording Tivo made today and instead of the recording there was just a blue screen (the programme data was showing though - BBC 1 etc).
Recordings I've made before today are fine.
Went to Live TV and got the blue screen saying "try changing channels etc" Did all the suggestions including a re-set and checking connections but still have the problem.
The Sky box and connections are OK cos the picture appears if I press "direct".

Any ideas please?

Simon

(this makes me realise how much I depend on Tivo - I'm in a panic!)

[Savana]

We've had the same problem since Christmas Eve - blue screen and no record capability. I spoke to Tivo Support here, who arranged for a software update, but they admitted that it sounded more like the tuner was broken.

As Thomson no longer services Tivo boxes, they suggested I look up a couple of companies that do service them. Apparently they advertise on this site but I've yet to find them - anyone have any ideas where to look?

I can't believe how dependent I've become on my Tivo and would appreciate help ASAP.

[blindlemon]

Tuners are available - try eBay - but fitting requires soldering skills so if the tuner is broken and you can get Freeview or Freesat then that's probably your easiest solution. And you'll have more channels and better picture quality too :)

[swarrans]

I never use the RF connection and the input is via Sky (see my original post) so presumeably my problem can't be the tuner?

Simon

[6022tivo]

you say bbc1?? could the tivo be trying to record bbc1 from the RF input and not scart. check in channels you receive?? I could be wrong and often am.

p.s. I assume you have rebooted the tivo?

[Glesgie]

When you say you pressed direct, do you mean AUX on the TiVo remote ?

[teresatt]

I've just had the exact same problem this morning. We were watching TiVo while it was doing a long download over the modem. Now we have a blue screen the same as Swarrans and I can't get any Live TV. AUX bypass gives us a picture from the cable box. TiVo changes channel on our cable box, but it won't show a picture. A restart has made no difference.

I've also lost all my icons in Now Playing. This was a large update from TiVo, could it have cause a problem?

Help!! I can't bear to be without my TiVo. How can I possibly watch TV without it? I must try not to panic.

[6022tivo]

three people, now i am worried?? has your sw version changed?? with you saying large download?? lthough it would pend a 2am restart

[teresatt]

I've just spoken to TiVo customer services and they haven't had any other similar problems.

I'm really, really upset now. I just can't go back to my old VCR, especially as it gives a very poor picture on my plasma and I can't possibly watch anything live without interruptions as I have a son with severe learning difficulties.

I'll have to track down somewhere for a repair, but in the meantime how do I survive?

[teresatt]

These people do repairs:

http://www.pacelink.co.uk/tivo.htm

I've just ried to ring them but got no reply. I'll try on Monday. I bought my current hard drives from them set up with all the software on them.

Oh my God! Life without TiVo!

[ndunlavey]

Does it have to be Sky? You could get a HDD Freeview PVR - there's a summary of twin tuner ones here http://www.emsee.co.uk/pvr/

[blindlemon]

Oh my God! Life without TiVo!Don't panic. I suspect, given the fact that a number of people are seeing this, that it's not a hardware issue with your machine.

Have you tried switching off both the STB and your TiVo and then switching them back on again, STB first? Sometimes the TiVo loses track of a connected STB and this can fix it.

Another recent case is reported here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=3645027&&#post3645027) too.

[teresatt]

Yippee! I've got my TiVo back. If I was younger and fitter, I'd be doing cartwheels.

I tried another restart and again it didn't work, so I pulled the plug and powered it down for a minute. Then when it came back we had a picture again.

I am so very, very relieved. How can we become so dependent on one device? I don't spend all my time watching TV but the thought of no TiVo is unthinkable.

TiVo has lost the cable box picture before, but a restart normally fixed that. Now that TiVo has restarted I'll have a heck of a job getting my serial PPP link to connect again to my laptop. It usually involves me uninstalling and installing the devices until it connects. Then I can put all my channel logos back on and get endpad running again. Phew!

[teresatt]

Does it have to be Sky? You could get a HDD Freeview PVR - there's a summary of twin tuner ones here http://www.emsee.co.uk/pvr/

Admittedly twin tuners would be nice but aren't essential. We get by with one tuner and only very occasionally miss a programme due to clashes that can't be resolved with repeats. However, currently there is no other PVR with as many useful features as TiVo. I don't have Sky so Sky+ is out and I don't want a PC running Media Centre. Even the very latest PVRs are lacking some very basic features such as bookmarks and chase play. I'm always on the look out for something to upgrade to, but there isn't anything. Telewest are about to release a triple tuner PVR with HD capability, but I bet I'd be dissapointed with the software.

[ndunlavey]

I suggested it not as an upgrade, but because you were looking for a stop-gap to let you pause live TV while your TiVo was being repaired. I'm pleased that your TiVo is in better health than you thought.

[teresatt]

I had considered a FreeView PVR but I was hoping I could get my TiVo fixed fairly quickly so that it wouldn't be worth getting one. I have been looking at FreeView PVRs because if Telewest's new all singing, all dancing PVR isn't as good as TiVo, I'll stick with TiVo and the standard cable box and replace my VCR with a FreeView PVR to effectively give me a partial second tuner. The PVR I have my eye on is the Topfield. I like it because you can tinker with it like TiVo.

[swarrans]

Mine's back too!
Crumbs, this feels like winning the lottery!
Basically, I just did what Blind Lemon suggested and unplugged both sat and Tivo, left them for a while and then plugged back in and hey presto...

Not only has this convinced me of Tivo's indispensibility but now I'm going to take the plunge on Mode zero (again) as the only thing I'm less than happy about on Tivo is the quality deterioration. I tried Mode zero a year ago but never with iicset and I couldn't live with the lurid colours on my plasma.

Thanks so much for the help.

Simon

[teresatt]

Simon, I'm glad you've got your TiVo back as well.

Would you believe it? Telewest cable is now down in the Midlands. We've had to watch Sea of Souls on BBC1 'live'. At least my son was in bed so no interruptions, but I was bursting to go to the loo by the end. This 'live TV' is no good.

[Kissxofxdeath]

Sadly mine is still broken. I have tried turning off the TiVo AND the cable box but that didnt work. And I tried resetting the TiVo just for Aerial rather than Aerial and Cable but that didnt work either. So I am running out of options. I am concerned that the is probably not the hard drive given I am still able to watch my Now Playing stuff which suggests that it is not the hard drive thats broken. Could it be the lead between the cable and the Tivo? Its a bit old and since its an analogue cable box, its just a wire. On the other hand, Ive been working on the end bit and theres plenty of metal connection exposed so unless its severed itself internally it seems a bit unlikely its the wire.

Thoughts welcome.

KoD

[swarrans]

Hope you sort yours KoD. I know nothing about cable boxes, but it certainly might be worth you trying the cable between your box and Tivo (and would be kinda consistent with the problem Terresat and I had with Tivo not seeing our boxes).
I guess if you've tried aerial only and it didn't work that is rather worrying though.

Very best of luck...

Simon

[teresatt]

Kissofxdeath, I'm sorry to hear you've still got a problem. Do you get a picture on AUX bypass?

[teresatt]

Sorry, if you don't get a picture on aerial only, you're probably not goiung to get one on AUX bypass either.

I don't know what else you can do apart from contacting pacelink.co.uk and risking an expensive repair.

[Kissxofxdeath]

THe strange thing is that I DO get a picture on AUX bypass. So I guess it follows the cable must be fine. But can it be the drive? But if the aerial reset doesnt work, what on earth does that mean about the TiVo?

KoD

[blindlemon]

Hang on, are you saying you get a picture on aux-bypass with the TiVo set up for aerial only?

I have one more test to try and determine whether you have a motherboard or drive problem. If you have a DVD player or VCR with a SCART output, put a DVD/Video into the player, hook its output up to the AUX SCART on your TiVo and press Play. You should be able to see the player's output if you press aux-bypass. Then disconnect all RF leads, re-do Guided Setup and specify Aerial+Digital Terrestrial (freeview) as the source. This will force the TiVo to try to record from the AUX SCART. During GS it will scan all channels and won't find anything. This is not a problem. When you get to the STB setup part, just accept your current settings as there is no actual STB to control (although the TiVo doesn't know that!). When it asks you to choose a STB control code (fast, medium, slow etc.) you should be able to see the player's output coming through - so just hit Enter to accept the first code. When GS is complete you should be able to watch the player's output via Live TV and record it by pressing Record on the remote.

If the above gives you what looks like a working TiVo with no blue screen error then either you have a problem with the RF tuner, or it's a drive corruption problem. However, if you can currently see your cable-STB via the RF input then it can't be a RF tuner problem, so the only thing left would be drive corruption - probably something in the database or a system file somewhere that controls the input switching.

[Kissxofxdeath]

Sorry I was unclear. When I tuned it through Aerial only, I got just white noise. However, when I plug the cable back in I can view cable perfectly if I press Aux.

Thanks for the final tip but unfortunately I am very busy doing some work for tomorrow at the moment but I hope to get a chance on Monday evening to try it out. Thanks and I'll definitely let you know what happens.

KoD

[fister]

This happened to mine this week also. I was running FTP on the TiVo. I unplugged it and restarted - a warm reboot *did not* fix it. Had to do it twice. But I disabled MFSFTP on the TiVo the second time round.