tivo recording wrong channel?

[camelland]

I'm sure this has been posted somewhere before, but I didn't find it :(. Please forgive, and if you know where I can find the answer, or know the answer yourself, I'd be most obliged if you would enlighten me!

We have tivo series 2, serial cable connection, motorola box, and we have comcast motorola cable box. this happens with pretty much any channel, at any time of the day, and really started in earnest about 2 weeks ago - when the look and feel changed...

I don't recall this happening with any of our season pass items - until last night, until then only items I've gone in and requested individually - like movies or cooking speacials.

We'll see the proper channel appear in the info banner as tivo changes channels, and then it flips to a different channel and records whatever is on. Last night was the only exception to the season pass rule - it was supposed to record Bill Maher on 551 only it went straight to 553 (*not* Bill M.).

If anyone knows a fix to solve this issue it would be **greatly** appreciated!

camelland

[mick66]

Have you tried restarting the Tivo to see if that does the trick?

[camelland]

yes - 1st thing i thought of... (reboot it's memory, kill the memory glitch, or something like that) unfotunately no luck yet with unplugging/replugging it.

[Moebius]

Did you see the bad channel change happen live? Like for example, did it miss a channel entry (51 instead of 551 or such) and try and do a channel up/down and re-enter or did it just go straight to 553?

In either case, I'd power cycle the cable box (by unplugging, not just turning off and on). I've been using this setup (S2, serial, moto box) pretty much since the day the AT&T special hit, and have found that every once in a while, often after the cableco pushes a firmware update or some manner of change, the serial port goes wonky. Then I see the missed changes and TiVo ending up not knowing what channel it's on. Every time so far, unplugging the cable box for about 5 minutes has resolved this problem.

[susandennis]

Wow. SAME exact problem - Motorola box on Series II serial connection - usually only 1 channel off! I can watch it. It should go to channel 30 at 7 p.m. for the baseball game. I watched it Sunday night. It went from channel 5 to channel 29.

Last night I put it on channel 30 before the ballgame and it did fine.

I have a couple of other shows I routinely record that it misses about half the time - again one number off.

All of the misses are on channels 30 and above - it has not missed a lower numbered channel. Weird.

Am unplugging the cable box right now for a hard reboot. I'll monitor and report back.

THANKS!!

[susandennis]

It may be too early to declare total victory but there has clearly been some success since I rebooted the Motorola box.

I set it to record the two channels it routinely was missing - over several different time slots yesterday and it switched channels perfectly every time. I noticed just now that it correctly switched for the regular recording of one of the programs it was missing about half the time before.

Whew. And thanks!

[camelland]

i'm glad you had success...

I have NOT had success with unplugging the tivo box! i wish people would stop asking me this (it's not just here...)

yes - it records fine if i put it on the correct channel beforehand. it has not screwed up if i do this - - yet.
however i can't wake up at 3 am, than again at 5 am each morning, nor am i able to run home everytime it's about to record something!!! this has got to be a software problem! i can't believe there's no other fix... TIVO PROGRAMMERS - YOU LISTENING? WHERE'S THE PATCH?????

you mention channels 30 and up - meaning no 'network channels' as in ABC, NBC etc., right?
not so here. FOX, as well as ABC have screwed up here. luckily if i'm at home at night i try to remember to change the channel 1st, or to check the thing (with PIP) and make sure it does change corectly.

have you noticed:
when the tivo box says it's recording BBC and
you're actually *seeing* GameShowNetwork - \
then you try to change the channels with the remote it won't do anything - becuase it thinks it's on BBC, even if you are seeing it clearly isn't?!?!?!

i used to love tivo - i **never** had missed shows with the VCR!!!!! unless i forgot to set the recorder.

[susandennis]

I came back because the two channels that were being the problem fixed with the reboot.

BUT, I just discovered that a now I have it on another program/channel. And, oddly, it's now BBCA (162 here). However, I just did a couple of tests that did not fail. (Test: change channel to 5, set to record 162 in 5 mins. Watch what happens.)

It's very annoying. This particular TiVo is getting ready for a move. It's being replaced by a Toshiba TiVo/DVD player. I'll be interested to see if the problem persists.

[satmaster]

You need to rerun the channel changing setup so that Tivi can try sending the channel signals at a slower rate. That should solve yoru problem.

In the old software you could just select a slower rate now its automated.

[camelland]

ok, this makes sense. i have run the channel changing setup again, and will see what happens. it didn't take very long to run, so i hope it fixed whatever it was that was screwy. :-)

i realized last night that it is only 1 of our boxes doing this... the older, 80hr box. the newer 120hr box has been unaffected...at least so far.

[camelland]

reporting back...

well tonight it was supposed to catch part 2 of 2 on bbc.
went to 162. saw it on the info banner.

just when we thought it was fixed! it wasn't.

low and behold it changed it's mind,
went to 163 and proceeded to record andy griffith!

running the channel lineup thing did not help.

any other suggestions?

to recap what we've done:
boxes have been unplugged to cycle power - lost count of times
channel setup in tivo has been run twice

[John Galt]

I'm having the same problem. I wqill try re-running the channel setup and then unplugging overnight.

This problem is only happening on the two-year old Tivo..the new one still works.

For now.

I'm starting to hate Tivo.

[camelland]

let me know if overnight makes any difference. i'll see if i can reschedule some things (i prefer to record late night airings) and try it...

yes we have not noticed a problem with the newer tivo. this past month has been a total drag with tivo. but the last 2 years were great!!!

this afternoon i did the following. it took over an hour to do it all.

reran the channel setup,
clicked throught all troubleshooting screens, related or not,
reran the guided setup,
restarted tivo

and lo, it decided andy griffith on 163 is what i wanted instead of 162! - nothing personal andy! :=)

is this a tivo problem? - tivo has done some upgrade that some of the older tivo boxes can't handle? in which case tivo ought to offer those of us having this problem a new box!
or
is this a cable problem? the cable boxes - motorola with comcast anyway - can't handle the tivo upgrades?

if this is the case then it's a classic example of companies that ought to be talking to each other aren't...

at this point i am inclined to think this BB isn't the forum to find the answer, and people having this issue who have figured it out aren't reading this... the only way to get an answer is to start vocalising to the cable or tivo people - but which one? this is not an issue where you want to end up with both sides saying "it's them"...

[JorSha00]

Try switching the TiVo boxes and see if the problem follows the TiVo or stays with the cable box. If the TiVo has the same problem with the other cable box, call TiVo. If the new TiVo has the same problem with the cable box that the other TiVo had a problem with, call your cable company.

At least by doing this, you will have some leg to stand on when they try to blame each other...and take it from someone with experience, they WILL try to pass the blame. If they say that they can't help you, ask to speak to a supervisor because I have found that the first people to take a call only have BASIC knowledge and, therefore, usually cannot fix more complicated issues...so they just say there is nothing they can do and pass the blame to someone else so they don't have to deal with it/you anymore. (I'm not bitter...really...well ok, maybe a little. :))

Good luck! :) I hope you get your problem fixed.

[susandennis]

Try switching the TiVo boxes...

I'm actually going to do that tomorrow. Current Series II box is being replaced (well, just moved to another input group) and Toshiba TiVo/DVD coming in to take the spot.

I'll be able to test the problem which I still continue to have when trying to record shows on 162 via SP. Most of the time it lands on 162 and then slips right up to 163.

I will report back.

[camelland]

cool, thanks! let us know please what you learned.

on the way back from rehearsal tonight it hit me - we have a new tivo with a motorola cable box and serial cable connecttion upstairs with no problem and the older tivo with a motorola cable box and serial cable downstairs *with* problem.... i'm liking the idea that it's a tivo issue and not a cable *box* issue. however the problem could still lie in the cable feed, i guess.

we got a letter from comcast today. they've been upgrading our area to fiber optics. now i know enough about cabling to know that fiber optics is a whole lot better than rj45 or cat5 cables - but is this acting in tandem with something else maybe and that's causing the hiccup??? anyone??

[44th_Thumper]

I am having problems that have cropped up in the last week as well. Last Sunday one of my newer S2 boxes stopped changing channels via the Serial Port on the Motorola Cable box. 12 hours later the one in the living room stopped working, 12 hours after that the one in my bedroom stopped working.

I put the IR blasters on the first unit but it doesnt change channels correctly. What happened to the old IR setup where you could choose from a few codes? Now it takes thirty minutes to test all the different channel changing options for a Motorola Cable Box and the Tivo still doesnt change channels correctly.

Yes, i have rebooted all the tivos. Yes, I have unplugged all the cable boxes. I had absolutely no problems for the last three years prior to last Sunday, now none of my boxes work.

To clarify, this isnt an issue where the TiVo is changing to the wrong station...it isnt changing channels at all. The TiVo thinks it is because i get the channel change banner on the TiVo, but the cable box does nothing. This is very frustrating.

I am in Texas, the Rio Grande Valley area and have Time Warner Digital Cable. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If you are in the same area and are having the same problems please post a reply.

Thumper

[annenoe]

All,
I just searched on myself and found this:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=283876

I seem to remember that a bunch of us suddenly went wonky with channel changing after a software update and my serial connection stopped working. As I remember it, it didn't affect all the boxes.

Because you are all suddenly having a problems, and some of you have the exact same setup, I wonder if you got some sort of a software update that is only affecting some of the receivers.

I definitely remember in my case that the tivo on my sony receiver stopped changing channels while the other tivo (connected to an RCA receiver) was working fine.

Can you all verify current SW version, and can you find out when it was downloaded? Did your problems start after a sw update??

[CJOakwood]

Great - I am glad that I am not the only one having this issue [threadid=302075]

What I have notice, as I stated in my post was that if the Tivo box decided that there was no audio it would perform a channel up.

Does Tivo support monitor this community? I would assume we would hear from them.

A few years back - I remember reading on Tivo support site with an issue like this and they recommended to configure the Digital Cable box to be something other then Motorola ... maybe I will try that.

[Vendikarr]

I am having problems that have cropped up in the last week as well. Last Sunday one of my newer S2 boxes stopped changing channels via the Serial Port on the Motorola Cable box. 12 hours later the one in the living room stopped working, 12 hours after that the one in my bedroom stopped working.

I put the IR blasters on the first unit but it doesnt change channels correctly. What happened to the old IR setup where you could choose from a few codes? Now it takes thirty minutes to test all the different channel changing options for a Motorola Cable Box and the Tivo still doesnt change channels correctly.

Yes, i have rebooted all the tivos. Yes, I have unplugged all the cable boxes. I had absolutely no problems for the last three years prior to last Sunday, now none of my boxes work.

To clarify, this isnt an issue where the TiVo is changing to the wrong station...it isnt changing channels at all. The TiVo thinks it is because i get the channel change banner on the TiVo, but the cable box does nothing. This is very frustrating.

I am in Texas, the Rio Grande Valley area and have Time Warner Digital Cable. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If you are in the same area and are having the same problems please post a reply.

Thumper


I only have one TiVo, but the same thing just happened. I have a motorola cable box, and the darn thing worked in the morning when it recorded a cartoon for my son, but by evening, the thing won't change channels. I have Comcast with a Motorola cable box. Is there some way to check the cable box and see if the serial port has been disabled by the cable company?

[John Galt]

To clarify, this isnt an issue where the TiVo is changing to the wrong station...it isnt changing channels at all. The TiVo thinks it is because i get the channel change banner on the TiVo, but the cable box does nothing. This is very frustrating.

I am in Texas, the Rio Grande Valley area and have Time Warner Digital Cable. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If you are in the same area and are having the same problems please post a reply.

ThumperI have Time Warner Cable, live in Houston, have a motorola cable box, have noticed the channel won't change (not on all channels though...Channel 62 (travel) comes in as VH1), and started noticing the problem about 2 weeks ago.

I have the identical setup upstairs, bought the TiVo Series 2 at Christmas (which works fine), and have a 2-year old Tivo downstairs with this problem.

It sounds like Tivo screwed up a software update and don't want to admit it.

[JimSpence]

What channel # is VH1?

[susandennis]

My particular issue (Motorola box/Comcast/serial connection)... SP set for BBCA 162 goes to channel 163 about half the time.

This happened with my Series II TiVo box. This weekend I swapped it out and replaced it with a Toshiba RS-TX20. Same cable box. Monday and Tuesday 162 recorded. Today it slipped to 163 and recorded that instead.

I don't have another cable box to swap with so this is the end of my testing. So far this is just mildly annoying. If/when it gets in the way of a critical program, clear off the warpath.

[camelland]

so you've tracked it down to 'most likely' your cable box, if that's the only continuing item in the chain that has *not* been swapped out for testing...

we had 2-3 days where bbc recorded correctly and i thought it might have magicly fixed itself, but noooOOOOOooo. proved me wrong last night. bbc, and as has actually always been the case, 1 of the hbos and a few other movie channels lower down are still flipping up one. at times i forget ang think it's something with the remote becuase i'll type in 1-6-2 and i'll see it go to 12 then 6 then 162 finally...

no matter what, i'm thinking it's definitely the channel recognition with the cable box that's looking like the schoolyard bully and not tivo. great. those of us with comcast, another reason to yell 'monopoly' and try to get another cable company up here! <grr!>

i just haven't had the energy to call and spend 8 hrs on the phone convincing the peon who answers to transfer me to a supervisor right off the bat... maybe when it does this to a show that isn't repeated later in the week will be my breaking point. :)

at the time when i do call i'll be sure to post whatever it is i learn..................

[camelland]

last night tivo was supposed to record Treasure Hunter on channel 5 - tivo went there, and then flipped to channel 4. That did it. I called comcast. Here's what I found out.

Becka answered - she knew nothing, of course. I asked for a supervisor not really expecting one on July 4th and was transferred to Doris in WA state. she refused to give me her last name, her city or her employee ID#.

She knew nothing about this. I got a lot of "I don't know" and "I won't do that".

I was apparently the 1st person to call in with this problem. Her response: "One person calling in with an issue will not make a difference."

When I asked what version of the firmware was the most current and how to find out what I was running, I was told "We will not open a cable box" and "We are running the most current versions on all our boxes". The firmware dept. is not her dept. and she would not transfer me.

She did offer to email the correct dept. for this problem - but refused to Cc: me on it (ok, I can maybe understand that because I could see employee email addresses) and didn't sound happy when I requested she could forward that email to me (deleting all other addresses). She offered to let me know if she heard anything back from them and did not sound happy when I said I wanted her to email me (she did ask for my email address) if she hears anything or not. Maybe we will, maybe we won't...

She kept referring me to Tivo support, not believing it was a Comcast issue since she hadn't heard anything about this issue before.

She wanted me to tell her what we should do...I suggested 3 things right off the top of my head to try - including offering customers who experience this problem a new cable box to see if that helped - but of course 1 needs to make sure it was running a different version of the firmware JIC - to eliminate or confirm for troubleshooting.

She did accept that my stated fact that someone is always the 1st person to report an issue, but restated it takes more than 1 person calling in with the problem to get that issue resolved.

She said she had not received anything from her headquarters alerting her to any issues of this type what-so-ever, or that Tivo had even been in touch with Comcast about any issues.

She said "If it's really an issue someone at Tivo (would not say what dept. or person's title) would contact Comcast and alert them to the potential problem and then work together to solve the issue." Then rephrased a few minutes later as "If it's a major problem...".

Would not answer my question on how do I reset the channel software - I think she said that wasn't her dept. ( I was trying to type with 1 hand while holding the phone with the other, talking to her or listening to her all at the same time that a few of my senteces in my notes got cut off).

She also said "Tivo would know if Tivo has contacted Comcast" - but there's no way she would know if they had, nor did she mention a person's title or the Tivo dept. that would have made contact.

So there you have it. Comcast, or at least Doris, has no information about this and doesn't believe it's actually a Comcast issue.

Solution suggestions:

*Every time* anyone has this problem - - call both Tivo and Comcast - there might be just enough of us giving them enough of a headache they'll see this as a major issue and resolve this much quicker.

Comcast Support # 877-824-2288
Tivo Support # 877-367-8486