Suggestions recording channel we don't get!

[TiVoEvan74]

Our Humax has the 7.2.2 upgrade...

Today I noticed that it was recording a show on channel 67, BBC America, but we don't even get channel 67 and I even checked to make sure that it was unchecked in the list of channels...

What gives?

Any notions TiVo related folks?

[stevel]

Was it unchecked in the list "Channels You Receive"? That's the one that counts.

[TiVoEvan74]

It was unchecked under Settings, Channels.

And we don't get it... never have. We have basic, lifeline cable which gives us the basic 5 channels just to avoid messing with the antenna.

I wonder if there's a programming glitch in suggestions in the new OS... the message from TiVo did cite "improved suggestions" or some such as the 3rd of the big new features of the upgrade.

[JimSpence]

But, was is unchecked in the Channels You Receive list? If it is unchecked in the Favorites list but still checked in the CYR then it will record.

[mick66]

But, was is unchecked in the Channels You Receive list? If it is unchecked in the Favorites list but still checked in the CYR then it will record.


A series 2 doesn't have seperate lists any more and you can't have it checked as a favorite (actually now they get the thumbs up) but not checked as a channel you receive. I doubt that TiVoEvan74 could misinterpret the the Tivo channels screen.

[dtreese]

If it's not listed in your channels, it sounds like something worth reporting to customer service.

[TiVoEvan74]

Thanks, Mick, appreciate the vote of confidence!

Here's the odd thing... we're on the lowest tier, most minimal lifeline cable service or whatever it's called... meaning that we only get 5 channels... but the entire set of the REGULAR cable channels do show up in the list. Why is that? Cable company or TiVo responsible?

Only the ones we've checked will show up in the programming guide... and any unchecked ones in the past did NOT get suggestions recorded. In fact, I remember turning off MTV2 (which we happen to get even though it's not part of the lifeline 5) and that stopped recording suggested shows on that channel or their even showing up in the Suggestions list.

In the past 5 months of use, our TiVos have never recorded a Suggestion on a channel we don't actually receive and it just happened within 24 hours of the OS update--and only on the one TiVo that got 7.2.2.

Leads me to suspect that the new Suggestions sub-routines in the new OS are causing the problem.

[TiVoEvan74]

Well it's almost definitely the new 7.2.2 that's making this problem.

I just had to stop it from recording a show on the History Channel, another channel we don't get.

The Toshiba with 7.2.1 only records suggestions on the channels we actually get. The Humax used to, also.

Not good! Not good at all!

Plus, I also noticed that a whole bunch of our Thumbs Up on the Suggestions list have vanished-- we probably a dozen plus--and now it's only 3. I'm going to have to turn off Suggestions entirely if this keeps up.

[ZikZak]

What's your setup? No cable box I assume? Very weird. This might be something you need to notify the tivo folks about. Try sending a PM to TivoJerry.

[stevel]

Over in TiVo's support forum, TiVo staff have already been alerted about this.

[TiVoJerry]

What are your guide options set to display? (All, Channels You Receive, Favorites)

[TiVoEvan74]

Favorites only!

TiVo support e-mailed me with an interesting solution... to re-do the channel guide set up but then to do an oddball sequence of key presses that brings up a hidden cable set up, with different basic tiers.

It took forever, but finally took, resulting in a shorter, but still larger, channel list. I've unchecked everything but what I'm interested in, and restored it to favorites... we'll see what happens with Suggestions!

[JimSpence]

Remember, the suggestions will record from channels that are selected in the Channels You Receive list regardless of what the Favorites list has.

[TiVoJerry]

Is anyone still seeing this? If so, what time of day are the suggestions recorded?

[medhead]

Yes, I am still seeing this on my recently 7.2.2-updated 540 series 2. A few days ago I saw that TiVo was recording channel 704 on my cable box, which is FoxHD. I don't have HDTV, so I have that channel unchecked as a channel I receive. It happened sometime in the late afternoon I believe, but I can't be sure.

It also recorded something on one of the Cinemax channels, which I also don't get, on Sunday 3/26 at 11:40 AM (according to my recording history).

[swinca]

I've seen it happen too. I have a 240 series connected to digital cable. I don't have HD, so all of the HD channels are unselected in my channels list. The Tivo tried to record a suggestion on one of the HD channels. I checked to make sure it wasn't a new channel that had been added but it was unselected. It happened late in the afternoon.

[DavidSTiVo]

One of my new boxes (iirc it's on 7.1) is doing this too, don't remember the time of day, but it's a channel in the 500-600's - which I don't receive any of, and don't have any marked as received in channels received setup menu.

When it records on one of these channels I don't get, Dish prompts an error that states something like, "You don't get this channel, press up/down to continue." Of course, TiVo doesn't do this, so I miss my other scheduled recordings until I find out press "up" on the old Dish remote. :mad: :( :mad:

TiVoJerry, I'm going to send you a link to this thread with my service number. Thanks.

[jbsmith_05]

i am experiencing the same issue...i have a brand new series 2 - 80 hour (recieved from tivo 3 weeks ago). i have general cable, no cable box. every now and again i will turn on the tivo only to get the blue screen telling me it tried to record a suggestion on a chanel i dont recieve. i have selected only the channels i recieve under settings ,channels, and i dont have any favorite channels setup.

anyone figured out how to fix this yet....i sent TiVoJerry a more detailed version of this message as well..

JBSMITH_05

[NewYorkLaw]

Last night, my tivo did the same thing. It "recorded" a channel I don't get but when I went to play all I had was 2 hours of black screen at high quality.

It's a channel I never got.

[arment]

happened to me too... quite annoying

[NewYorkLaw]

Too bad, since it did accurately suggest something I *would* have liked!

Pete

[jbsmith_05]

well at least its not just my box....from reading this thread it sounds like its not isolated to satellite or cable.

however mine doesnt actually record the chanel it just says it tried to...so i dont have hours of waste space so to speak

[martynl]

I just saw this problem too. A suggestion was recorded from channel 120 (Starz Cinema Pacific) at 11:20am today despite the fact that 120 is not in our 'channels you receive list' and was not there earlier today either. I only noticed because this is actually a movie I do want to watch.

I checked back thru other suggestions, and there was one other that had the same problem. It was recorded a couple of days ago, also on the Starz family of channels.

I don't think I've received Starz since I had this Tivo, certainly not for several years. These channels don't appear to either be in the 'receive' or favourites list. It does seem to be possible to navigate to them in 'live tv' but this also seems to apply to any channel that I don't receive. I couldn't navigate to them with the guide visible.

Thanks for helping,

Martyn

PS: Despite this issue, the suggestions in 7.2.2 are /hugely/ improved over previous versions. They used to be this good, but have not been for several versions. They are now back to as good as they were a long time ago (pre-7.0). The change to ignore most single-thumb items is completely correct and generates much more useful suggestion content.

[TiVoEvan74]

As the OP, I can report back that the problem still exists! I did the special hidden trick that TiVo Support recommended that got our channel line up to be considered as basic-lifeline cable (fewest channels). That still listed more channels than we actually get (and didn't list at least one that we do, but don't watch). I unchecked the extras in the channel list. Everything seemed to have been OK, until I checked Suggestions today.

In there, on different afternoons this past week, TiVo recorded the Drew Carey show on a channel we really don't get (static picture and no sound, not part of our basic package). The shows were recorded at 2 pm.

The problem is not too big a deal, so long as it doesn't record some 3 hour movie or a Drew Carey marathon. In which case, it would knock out a bunch of the Suggestions that we do like watching, but don't want a Seasons Pass for.

[Hunter Green]

Add me to the list. TiVo went to HBO (channel 300 on DISH) at about 8:30 this morning to record The Day After Tomorrow as a suggestion, causing my DISH box to get stuck all day. Fortunately, nothing important was lost. (Boy, I wish TiVo would give me an IR code that does Channel Up before every channel sequence, though.) 7.2.2 on a Series 2, lifetime service.

[martynl]

FYI: Still happening here.

Martyn

[NewYorkLaw]

Me, too.
Pete

[Lurkingrue]

I've been on the phone with TiVo this morning about this very same problem, and -- after getting the problem elevated -- dealt with someone who said it was recording the wrong channel (i.e.: it is a problem with the channel-changing). I explained that this wasn't the problem, as both my TiVo and cable box are changing properly, but recording "shows" on channels I don't recieve.

At this point, the person who I spoke with basically accused me of lying, and said that he didn't see a problem. I politely asked to speak with someone else, and was put on hold for 40 minutes. Finally, a supervisor said that this *wasn't* a software problem ("We have millions of TiVo users, and nobody else is having a problem like this. We debugged thoroughly and this isn't a problem.") and suggested I reset my thumbs up/down. I did so, and am waiting to see if I end up with 3 hours of black-screens tomorrow morning.

Glad to see that I'm not the only one having a problem here. If I lose TiVo suggestions on my box, I might just up and move to another DVR system instead.

[TiVoJerry]

We are working on this issue but the phone agents have not been made aware of it. I apologize if their skepticism is high, but it takes several reports to get them to believe that an unusual behavior like this is occurring, especially when it doesn't happen to a large number of customers. We generally do not bring the phone reps into the loop until later in any investigation because our understanding of the problem is constantly in flux and agents may give out old information.

Based on Lurkingrue's post, I've asked that our second tier of support be notified so they can coach the first level appropriately in case they get more calls in the future.

Sorry you spent so much time on the phone for this.
Jerry

[jayfest]

Thank you, TiVoJerry, for letting us know what's going on. At this point, when I experience a problem like this one (which I did), I actually feel more comfortable trying to find a resolution here (or at least to find out if others have had the same problem) than on the phone with technical support. But strictly speaking, that really isn't the way it ought to be, since it discriminates against the (presumed) majority of TiVo users who don't use this forum. I agree to some extent about your rationale about leaving the phone reps out of it, but there has to be some point fairly early on where even "old information" and a vague "we're looking into it" would be better to hear on the phone than a complete denial of the possible existence of the problem, after they've gone through the ways the user could have screwed it up. And if the CSR ever gets to the point where s/he wants to call the user a liar, they should just lie themselves and say "thank you, we'll look into it" and hang up. If it turns out to be a real problem, it will presumably get fixed when enough people call in soon enough.

[DaveLessnau]

I'm having it, too. It just finished recording the 1:20pm showing of "My Blue Heaven" on HBOC (Ch 204). We don't get the channel, it's not checked in the "Channels You Receive" list, the only thing in our Favorite Channels list is Fox News (Ch 55), and the Guide is set to display the default "Channels You Receive/No Filter".

[TiVoJerry]

...... If it turns out to be a real problem, it will presumably get fixed when enough people call in soon enough.

We're not waiting for more people to call in and are investigating now. It will be a little longer before I'll know what the resolution will be.

[NewYorkLaw]

My tivo has done it twice more (oncce yesterday and once today) after several days of it not happening..
Any idea when this will be resolved? It's frustrating to see movies that WOULD interest me in my suggestions folder only to get there and see nothing!
Pete

[Vancouver]

For what it is worth it is happening to me too with Shaw Cable in Canada using a 540 with a digital box. It is getting accurate likes for suggestions I would love to see and then disappointing me when all that is recorded is a message from shaw for the length of the program saying that I could call them to activate the channel. :(

In terms of timing it is not limited to a certain time of day from what I can tell. It generally happens on maybe 1 out of every 10 suggestions that are recorded.

[NewYorkLaw]

My last recording for a channel I don't get was not a "suggestion" it was from an actor wishlist.
Pete

[NewYorkLaw]

For what it's worth, my Tivo is still recording shows on channels I don't receive.

TivoJerry: ANY NEWS?

Pete

[stevel]

Jerry's on vacation for a week or so. You probably won't see anyt response until he returns.

As far as I know, TiVo engineers are still working on the problem.

[NewYorkLaw]

Thanks.

[Vancouver]

We look forward to his return, and a positive update on tracking down this bug. :)

Cheers!

[mm3ss690]

The same thing is happening with my Tivo:

Series 2 TCD140060
Software vers. 7.2.2

It recorded the movie "Rudy" on Tues. 4-18-06 @ 11:20 AM on Starz, a channel that is not checked in the list of channels I receive.

What's real weird though is it was a PARTIAL recording lasting 1 hour, 15 minutes.

Since when does Tivo record partial suggestions?

[Roryap]

I recently switched from cable TV to dish network, and I've tried to modify the list of 'channels I receive'. The same thing happened...it's recording suggestions on channels I have indicated I don't receive.

With the dish receiver i have, it displays a message onscreen for those channels, and you can't enter a new channel manually. This is key because this is how Tivo changes the channel once its done recording a show. (you have to press the up or down button on the Dish remote to leave this message screen; again, you can't type a number ie 4+3+4 for the new channel).

Meanwhile, Tivo thinks it's recording something (which is fine, I don't mind it wasting space so much), but when it's done, it can't change to another channel, and it gets stuck. I return hours later, and Tivo has been recording what it thinks is 3 different shows on 3 different channels, but its still stuck on that stupid Dish Network notification screen!!

Well, I hoped there would be a solution by now... any updates, TIVO?

[NewYorkLaw]

I have not noticed it for a week on my tivo..
Pete

[TiVoJerry]

We have a fix and will be sending it out soon, but for now it will not go out to all customers. Due to this being a functionality issue for Echostar users, they will be receiving it automatically. I expect to have more details first thing next week.

[Hunter Green]

I had it happen again yesterday. Unfortunately, I won't have to worry about it either way in a few weeks. :( My new DISH HD DVR is sitting in a box waiting for the installer.

[Chris_Morris]

Thanks for the update Jerry, I can't wait to turn suggestions back on.

[mm3ss690]

Any chance we can get an update on when this will be released to all customers?

Because I'm still having this problem. It hadn't happened since 04-18-06 and now it has happened the past two days:

05-16-06: Recorded "The Incredibles" on Starz! 1:37 minutes (Partial)
05-17-06: Recorded "Contact" on HBO 0:53 minutes (Partial)

I noticed something strange happening when I turn on my television (after having not turned it on all day) on the day it has recorded these suggestions too:

The screen is black with a frozen static-like line running horizontally across (kind of resembles the static you'd see when fast-forwarding an old VCR). When I turn the channel though, everything is back to normal.

TivoJerry, I hope you let us have this fix soon. :(

[NewYorkLaw]

I'm also still waiting patiently...
I had to re-set my 30-second skip a couple of days ago, so I assumed that I had received some sort of update... but apparently not. (or not one to address this issue, anyway).
Pete

[Vancouver]

I am glad to hear that you have tracked it down. I wonder how we can apply to have it pushed out to our machines, as I have been having the problem again this week. :(

Cheers!

[TiVoJerry]

The fix will be included in 7.3, which is due out soon (I can't be more specific than that). I'll be posting links to the priority page when it becomes available for this version.

[DavidSTiVo]

Am I the only one who still has the exact problem with DISH? I have 2 TiVo boxes with 7.3x and they still record channels in the 400-600's - - there are NO channels checked off in this range under "channels i receive". Since I'm using DISH boxes, they get stuck on the "Attention, you don't receive this channel, press enter to continue" (Error #13) screen, which destroys all future recordings. I returned from vacation last night and my To Do list on both boxes was filled with the static error message.

What's going on!?!?!?! :mad: :confused: :mad: :confused: :mad: :confused:

[DavidSTiVo]

>punt<

[NewYorkLaw]

I'm still having the problem on one of my series II's, and I've been PATIENTLY awaiting help on this issue for MANY MANY MONTHS. I have 7.3, which made the problem occur less often, but it has not gone away. It still happens at least once a week.
TivoJerry keeps promising resolutions, but never delivers. I'm just tired of complaining.
Pete

[TiVoJerry]

I see.

Four months ago I make the statement that a fix is coming. The software rolls directly to all Dish customers, then to the entire population of Series2 boxes, even followed by another update (7.3.1) and I don't get a single complaint until 9/17, for which it receives a punt because I didn't happen to respond immediately (over the weekend no less). :confused:

Follow that with another response for which I'm accused of making continual promises to fix a problem that up until now has been considered fixed, keeping in mind that you mention this only happens to one of your units. Wait four months and then pounce. Nice, guys. Real nice. :mad:


How about we pretend for a moment like maybe I had no clue that there was still an issue for anyone at all, seeing as how these are the first mentions in a few months? Maybe give me a chance to look at these new reports before accusing me of never delivering (disregarding the fact that NewYorkLaw appears to have other Series 2 boxes that aren't experiencing this while we're at it)? If anyone else out there is experiencing this issue, please chime in so I can get a better understanding of the scope. Feel free to give me a lashing while you're at it. :rolleyes:

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, how about we get to the heart of the matter and blow the cobwebs off the investigation again? Send me a PM with your 15-digit TSN. I'll turn on logging and open up a new report to engineering once we capture an occurrence in your logs.

Or we could continue back and forth with snarky responses so the whole forum knows that each of us feels slighted?? I'm sure that approach will help me convince engineering that this is still an issue deserving further attention.

Maybe I'm shooting myself in the foot by going off on a little rant here, but I'm caught off guard this morning with tone being presented. I know you're upset, but you couldn't have given me a little warning over the past four months??

[DavidSTiVo]

Jerry,
I apologize if my post got under your skin. It was by no means a dig at you personally. I've been on these forums for over 5 years and I know that you're an invaluable asset to the community. The reason for my punt wasn't to draw your attention, it was to bring the thread back for others that may have missed it since it was burried after one day. I never expected you to reply in 15 minutes, especially on a weekend.

Back to the issue at hand:
I have two boxes that have been doing this for months and months. I'll PM you the service numbers along with a link to this thread.

Again, thanks for your help!!!! >>GENTLEMANLY PAT ON BACK<< :)

[NewYorkLaw]

TivoJerry,
It's true I have not complained for several months, but you said a fix was coming soon and you asked us to be patient. This is not the first thread on this issue. I think I originated another thread that predated this one, and at that time I gave you the TSNs (April 6 2006), but you never responded directly to me.

Eventually, on this 2nd thread, you did respond, but said to be patient, which I was.

As I said in my last post, which was not meant to be an attack, I was tired of complaining, and the problem is relatively rare (once a week, maybe twice - when it was originally several times a day). I would not have even re-posted, except that someone asked whether there were others still experiencing the problems. And, yes, I am.

I was starting to think that I was the only one with the problem -- thinking maybe it was my cable provider not sending signals on channels I was supposed to be receiving according to the guide. Nonetheless, I never missed anything I wanted and never found anything "phantom recorded" that I was upset not to have actually recorded.

Privately, I will email you my TSn for the machine with the problem, let me know what else you need from me.

[NewYorkLaw]

TivoJerry,

Today, I woke up to this recorded suggestion on a channel I don't receive:

9/27/06: channel 709 UHD, 4am, XX Olympic Winter Games from Italy. 2 hours of black screen.

I forced two connections to upload, as you asked.

Please let me know if this helps.

Pete

[TiVoJerry]

Please confirm the following:
1> Did you confirm that 709 is currently not marked in your Channel List? If there was a lineup update for this channel, it is possible the channel was defaulted ON.

2> At the very beginning of the recording, does the recording show the satellite receiver's banner for a few moments? If so, does it show the channel changing to 709?

Thank you

[NewYorkLaw]

TivoJerry,
It correctly moved to that channel, and it *was* marked in my channel list, though it was not previously - so you must be correct in that a lineup changed something.
I will go through and make sure there are no more channels selected that should not be, and let you know if it should then happen again.
Thanks for your prompt attention to this!
Pete

[NewYorkLaw]

TivoJerry:
It's starting to look as though I was not really suffering from the "problem" I thought. Now that I've removed those channels that must have gotten there form lineup changes, all has been good.

Thank you for your attention to this! If it happens again (after I have ruled out the lineup changes) I will let you know.

Pete

[DavidSTiVo]

TivoJerry:
It's starting to look as though I was not really suffering from the "problem" I thought.
Same here! Instead of changing to channel 243, the cable box banner at the beginning of the recording said channel 24. TiVoJerry guided me through some easy fixes like cleaning the IR blaster/receiver and adding the second blaster so I have one above and one below the box. I also pulled both out away from the box so the emitter is about 1.25" away from the receiver. Seems to be working better!

THANKS JERRY!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TiVoJerry]

Glad to hear it's working better for the both of you. You had me worried that something was still broken with Suggestions! I'm just sorry that you had to endure the issue for so long because the symptoms got mixed in with a known problem at that time.