How often does your S3 crash/reboot? [Text View]

sobenski

11-05-2006, 11:44 PM

whoops! that poll option was supposed to be "2-3 times" -- Anyone know how I can go back and fix that??
---
Mine crashed just now at 8:30, just as it was finishing recoriding the Simpsons, but was supposed to continue recording The Amazing Race. So it cut off the end of the Simpsons Halloween Special! :mad: :mad: and I have a good 4 minute gap in TAR ... arghhh....

This is far from the first time I've had a crash. I've witnessed it happen about 5 times, and it probably happens a lot more when I'm not around. (I can tell it's restarted while I'm gone because I have to set up the 30 second skip over again...) It tends to crash right at the hour or half hour, which makes me think the problem is related to when it is starting or finishing recording a program.

Are other people experiencing crashes this often? I'd guess I'm at 2-3x per week.
I'm on Comcast, bay area, using 2 cablecards.

UPDATE 11/10:

Called Tivo about it and they opened a case no. They said first I have to call Comcast and have them swap out both CableCards. (I'm trying to schedule that now...) If that doesn't fix the problem Tivo says they will consider whether a unit replacement or hard drive replacement is necessary. Would love to hear whether others have found the problem goes away with new CableCards.

alee

11-06-2006, 12:38 AM

Franco

11-06-2006, 12:45 AM

Time Warner Cable, North Texas. 2 TiVo Series3s. No crashes ever.

geekmedic

11-06-2006, 01:50 AM

Up and running for about 5 weeks now without a single problem! Woohoo!

moyekj

11-06-2006, 02:04 AM

I can cause the Tivo to reboot almost on demand by tuning to the Los Angeles HD NBC OTA feed. Staying away from that toxic channel by taking it out of the channel lineup is the only solution for now.

Kelster72

11-13-2006, 04:36 PM

For things like these, it is probably helpful to list your cable provider. Talk of these 'toxic' programs have me worried, but I have yet to experience one.

I'm on TWC NYC, Southern Manhattan. No crashes, ever.

I'm also on TWC, Southern Manhattan. I have had several crashes, each time when trying to access "HBO on Demand" or other "On Demand" channels. I hold my breath each time I have to do another Guided Setup. This is my 2nd Tivo 3. The first one completely crashed on a restart and went into a perpetual retart loop.

For now, I've taken the "On Demand" channels out of the channel listing until someone comes up with a solution.

ashu

11-13-2006, 04:54 PM

I'm also on TWC, Southern Manhattan. I have had several crashes, each time when trying to access "HBO on Demand" or other "On Demand" channels. I hold my breath each time I have to do another Guided Setup. This is my 2nd Tivo 3. The first one completely crashed on a restart and went into a perpetual retart loop.

For now, I've taken the "On Demand" channels out of the channel listing until someone comes up with a solution.

On Demand isn't even supported on the S3 anyway, because the CableCards are one way.

Or are you (keeping the channels in the list) hoping to be able to record shows manually on the channel number, after calling your cable company over the phone and requesting it?

Leo_N

11-13-2006, 05:00 PM

I'm also on TWC, Southern Manhattan. I have had several crashes, each time when trying to access "HBO on Demand" or other "On Demand" channels. I hold my breath each time I have to do another Guided Setup. This is my 2nd Tivo 3. The first one completely crashed on a restart and went into a perpetual retart loop.

For now, I've taken the "On Demand" channels out of the channel listing until someone comes up with a solution.

Are you talking about OnDemand Or PayPerView? OnDemand will not work with the S3. PPV will work but only if your cable system allows you to call in by phone and order the program. Also, any PPV channels must be on a static channel and not a SDV channel.

Leo_N

11-13-2006, 05:01 PM

Are you talking about OnDemand Or PayPerView? OnDemand will not work with the S3. PPV will work but only if your cable system allows you to call in by phone and order the program. Also, any PPV channels must be on a static channel and not a SDV channel.

Heh, I see Ashu beat me to the punch :)

Jiffylush

11-13-2006, 05:09 PM

Time Warner Cable in Charlotte, less than a week still, but no crashes!

edit: TiVo Series 3 of course

ashu

11-13-2006, 05:39 PM

Heh, I see Ashu beat me to the punch :)

True, but the shorter lead time forced a minimal, undetailed response with me propagating further confusion between OnDemand and PPV :) Your response is more complete.
Nicely done!

Rob Helmerichs

11-13-2006, 05:53 PM

Mine has locked up on me four times, each time when I turned on the TV; twice with the TiVo already on, and twice off. Somebody suggested it must be an HDMI issue (which makes sense to me, since on two occasions the TiVo received no input before it crashed, but all four involved turning on the TV), so I switched to component cables last night. We'll see if that does it...

If so, I hope the upcoming software update fixes the HDMI issue!

ashu

11-13-2006, 06:43 PM

The HDMI issue is on your TV's end. With a TV (or an intermediary switch) that implements HDMI/HDCP well, there are no known (to me) reports of S3 crashes.

I would take it up with your TV manufacturer, but you're likely to get the run-around.

A SIMPLE, relatively cheap (if all else fails, and it is, as I speculate, not an S3 issue) solution would be to get an intermediary HDMI switch like the $120ish 5x on monoPrice.com. This apparently 'tricks' all connected devices into never realizing they don't have a direct path to the TV and has ... vaguely by my understanding (CYA statement by me, read the avsforum threads on his and related issues as well as th ability of switches to work as GOOD interpreters) ... avoided HDMI synch/renegotiation issues.

Good luck!

Rob Helmerichs

11-13-2006, 06:57 PM

Well, it just locked with the composite connection, so that ain't it after all.

ashu

11-13-2006, 07:06 PM

Well, it just locked with the composite connection, so that ain't it after all.

Agreed. RMA!

<edit> Wait ... when you turned the TV on? Odd!

CrispyCritter

11-13-2006, 07:50 PM

Did you remove the HDMI cable altogether from the TiVo? As Ashu said, very odd. Withhout HDMI, unless you confused video in with video out, there's no signal coming from the TV to the TiVo at all. Turning the TV on shouldn't affect anything. Are you sure the TiVo isn't just constantly rebooting, and you only notice it when you turn the TV on?

Another possibility that you should possibly investigate just because it's dangerous and not because it's likely, is that you have a bad overloaded electrical circuit (bad UPS???), and turning the TV on is reducing the power to the TiVo (startup power requirement for some TVs is large).

Rob Helmerichs

11-13-2006, 08:12 PM

It only happens (so far, anyway) when something is recording, and the recording always gets cut off (and the clock freezes) at the moment I turn on the TV.

Now, it's entirely possible that as soon as I hit the power on, I then hit the TiVo button so I won't get live TV when the TV kicks in, and that TiVo button is what's triggering it. But then it's odd that it only happens when I turn on the TV, and not while I'm watching.

Strange. Very strange.

Right now, Ultimate Electronics and TiVo have different ideas about how Ultimate should handle this (TiVo wants me to exchange it, and Ultimate wants to send the bad unit to TiVo for service). Hopefully, that will be resolved soon. It's going to be a hassle, however, logistically--I have to arrange a time to make the exchange, then have the cable guy come out to install the CableCards, when I will have watched everything recorded so far and still have time before anything else records. That should be fun!

Rob Helmerichs

11-14-2006, 12:14 PM

OK, I'd like to elaborate, because this is driving me crazy.

I have an S3, hooked up to a Samsung DLP TV and a Sony audio system. I use a Harmony 680 to control it all. Normally, the S3 is set to always be on (that is, when I hit the on or off button on the Harmony, nothing is sent to the S3; I do it that way because I like to see the display where it tells you what is recording even when I'm not watching TV).

The lock-ups happen when, and only when, I hit the Watch TV button on the Harmony. I usually also hit the TiVo button before the TV and sound system kick in, because I'd rather start at the TiVo menu than live TV. They also have only happened when something is recording, sometimes on both tuners, sometimes only on one.

In all but one case, what I end up seeing is a blank screen with a no-input message from the TV. In the one case, I saw part of a TiVo menu (I believe it was the background and the header, but none of the rest of the text).

In every case, whatever was recording was cut off at the moment I hit the Watch TV button. The face of the TiVo shows the usual text; nothing changes, including the clock.

I tried switching the HDMI cable for a component video cable, but it still locked up.

The lock-ups never occur while I'm actually watching TV.

The thing that is freaking me out is, there's nothing that I can tell that happens to the S3 when I hit Watch TV that doesn't happen at other times, except for the HDMI handshake, which can be excluded as the culprit because the lock-ups occur when I'm using composite video. Otherwise, the only thing I'm sending to the TiVo is the TiVo button, which I use all the time without incident. It's only when I turn on the TV that it locks up. So I can't figure out what's happening at start-up that's different than at other times, which might be triggering this.

Any ideas?

ashu

11-14-2006, 12:51 PM

a. (on the Harmony) Try re setting up your Activity for the S3 after deleting the S3 and the activity completely. it MAY be sending something spurious like a reset request (VERY unlikely, but worth trying)
b. When you say you switch to using component & composite as tests, you DO disconnect the HDMI cable completely from the TiVo's output, right?
c. Check your S3 receipt and hurry up your tests to ensure you can RMA it within the 30-day (or 90-day?) window ... it might just be faulty. Luck of the draw.

You say you hit the activity button on the Harmony and then quickly hit the Menu button again because you prefer to start int he menu. Keep those trigger fingers in check and be a wee bit patient to debug this issue!

Leo_N

11-14-2006, 12:53 PM

You say you switched to component input. Did you pull the HDMI cord out from the back of the TiVo also? If not it will still be looking for a HDCP handshake.

If the HDMI cord is out, I'd suggest trying to use without the Harmony for a bit, just to make sure no funny code is being output from that. Failing that, RMA it.

Leo_N

11-14-2006, 12:54 PM

LOL, Ashu you just barely beat me to the punch again :)

ashu

11-14-2006, 12:56 PM

Scheisse, and the same 3 exact tips too!

Get Out Of My Head!
while you're in ther, if you spot my brain, let me know! I've been looking for it

Leo_N

11-14-2006, 12:58 PM

Scheisse, and the same 3 exact tips too!

Get Out Of My Head!
while you're in ther, if you spot my brain, let me know! I've been looking for it

Heh, will do!

Rob Helmerichs

11-14-2006, 01:02 PM

Yes, I removed the HDMI cable entirely.

I'm past the 30 days when Ultimate Electronics will exchange it, but well within the 90 days P&L warranty from TiVo.

I guess what I'm going to try first is not hitting the TiVo button right away, and if that doesn't work, then try the original remotes.

jchapman

11-14-2006, 03:19 PM

I actually have to reboot my Series 3 every few days. If I don't reboot it live TV (and any recordings that are made) starts 'stuttering' every 3-5 seconds, regardless of the channel being tuned or the cable card being used. The audio drops for a second or two and the picture freezes or shows digital "blocks". It's not a signal strength issue (Series 3 reports 95-99 strength), and it goes away for several days after the Tivo is rebooted. End result is I have to keep rebooting the TiVo if I want it to work. And even then, the partial recording problem hits pretty regularly.

Willin

11-18-2006, 08:50 PM

I can cause the Tivo to reboot almost on demand by tuning to the Los Angeles HD NBC OTA feed. Staying away from that toxic channel by taking it out of the channel lineup is the only solution for now.

That is amazing. I just reallized I have the exact same problem! Most recordings on Los Angeles HD NBC OTA feed have been partial recordings. I've switched all of my NBC recordings to my other S3 which has cable cards and it records fine through Cox cable. Checking the signal strength for the Los Angeles HD NBC OTA feed causes my S3 to reboot EVERY time.

moyekj

11-18-2006, 09:29 PM

That is amazing. I just reallized I have the exact same problem! Most recordings on Los Angeles HD NBC OTA feed have been partial recordings. I've switched all of my NBC recordings to my other S3 which has cable cards and it records fine through Cox cable. Checking the signal strength for the Los Angeles HD NBC OTA feed causes my S3 to reboot EVERY time. Yup, same deal for me - recording the Cox cable re-transmission is fine - go figure... Hopefully this will be fixed in next update whenever it hits.

missiontortilla

11-18-2006, 11:10 PM

I can make my S3 reboot anytime I want! Simply Type 4-1!

DTap

11-19-2006, 12:48 PM

Never. TW Cincy Cincinnati. I have stopped using Galleon though because it seems to kill the Tivo's network connection and cause me to have to reboot.

The_Bear

11-19-2006, 01:12 PM

Mine seems to reboot since I attempted to setup the wireless network. Without that it seems stable, but with the Tivo wireless adapter it seems to happen about once ever 3 hours or so.

pashasurf7873

11-22-2006, 12:03 AM

i'm having a similar problem with my S3 freezing up when i use the harmony power on/off feature.
there is another string about harmony remote / tivo freeze ups.
any others having similar problems?
i have a sony kdf50xbr

Rob Helmerichs

11-22-2006, 07:40 AM

As I said in The Other Thread, it's been about a week, and no further lock-ups. So, in my case at least, it seems to have been a Harmony problem (maybe signals getting crossed or mixed if I hit the TiVo button while the TV is still turning on).

What I'm doing is hitting the Watch TV button on the Harmony, and then waiting until both the TV and the sound system are up and running before entering any other commands. So far, so good!

laria

11-22-2006, 08:00 AM

I voted 1 but then I remembered the other one has done it (sorta) twice.

TiVo A has locked up 2 times during an initial power on. It locked up during "a few minutes, almost there" the very first time we turned it on, and then after we were all done guided setup we turned it off for a few days while we finished assembling the stand until the HDTV arrived. Both times, powering it off and then back on was fine.

TiVo B has locked up 1 time. A couple days ago I turned on the tv and it was in a very strange state, where the video looked like someone had left it on pause. I hit the TiVo button to go to the menu and a partial menu showed up over the "paused" video (no menu backdrop, the frozen image was behind the menus, and I only had the highlight bars on the menu, no text). After a few more button presses of Live TV/TiVo to try to unstick it, it stopped doing anything at all and needed a reboot.

Edit: The one with the weird menu thing was turned on by a Harmony 880, so I will try setting up the activities again. We have noticed that it spends a looooonnnnng time sending out something whenever either TiVo activity is selected. Like, the TV and receiver are already on and it's still on the screen telling you to keep it pointed at the stuff for a good 5-10 seconds after. (I have missed my peanut so much though, that I've gone back to the peanut to control the TiVos after the Harmony has powered up the system since instead of 3 S1 remotes on the coffee table, we can get away with just the single S3 remote :))

greg_burns

11-22-2006, 08:27 AM

micmason

11-23-2006, 11:39 AM

My series 3 rebooted itself and now I can't activate the 30 second skip.

sharding

11-23-2006, 11:48 AM

My original unit crashed a lot. I replaced it about six weeks ago, and I haven't had a single crash since.

George Cifranci

12-31-2006, 06:39 PM

Just experienced my first spontaneous S3 reboot. I have had my Cable Cards since only this past Friday. Anyway, I was watching "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" on HDNET (I was FF and REW around the movie while it was recording) and it was also recording Battlestar Galactica on UHD on the other tuner when suddenly the screen froze and the system rebooted (sigh).

I just checked it and I got a Green Screen that said a serious problem was detected and that it would take 3 hours to fix it. But, the screen went away after a short time and I got the powering up screen again then everything was back to normal. It even started to record the shows it was in the middle of recording.

wrh30

12-31-2006, 07:05 PM

Man I was going to order one of these and get the VIP deal BUT after reading all these problems I just changed my mind... Holy Cow! I will just stick with my reliable S2

wrh30

12-31-2006, 07:09 PM

Only 66 percent polled have had no problems at all?? Thats terrible somethings not right

greg_burns

12-31-2006, 07:13 PM

Only 66 percent polled have had no problems at all?? Thats terrible somethings not right

Seems pretty optimistic for a forum where everybody loves to complain. ;)

Probably get the same results if asked about an S2.

BTW, mine locked up for no reason last night for the first time. I only noticed because the clock was frozen and had the wrong time. (Was watching another source.)

Don't let the VIP deal get away if you want one. :up:

Rob Helmerichs

12-31-2006, 07:15 PM

Only 66 percent polled have had no problems at all?? Thats terrible somethings not right
I suspect most people whose S3s haven't crashed wouldn't have reason to open a thread called "How often does your S3 crash/reboot?"...

wrh30

12-31-2006, 07:21 PM

I suspect most people whose S3s haven't crashed wouldn't have reason to open a thread called "How often does your S3 crash/reboot?"...

You do have a point there, Guess this thread would attract mainly only the people with problems...Didnt think about that

knitsafghans

12-31-2006, 07:42 PM

Two tonight alone. Probably about 5 times in 2 weeks.
We are with Cablevision.
We also have frequently encountered the "unauthorized channel" screen (maybe 6 times in the 2 weeks we've owened it).
We're using a regular TIVO remote, so it's not the Harmony problem. We don't have TIVO wireless adapter so it's not that.
No particular pattern to the reboots. Tonight the first time we had just finished watching a DVD, son switched to HDMI input, got an HD channel, then switched channels. It rebooted. Second time, we were watching a show, paused, then rebooted.
We do watch alot of TV, so 5 times isn't "constant" but it's still quite annoying, especially coupled with the authorization problems.
Any suggestions?
Kim

susani8

12-31-2006, 07:57 PM

Just experienced my first spontaneous S3 reboot. I have had my Cable Cards since only this past Friday......

I just checked it and I got a Green Screen that said a serious problem was detected and that it would take 3 hours to fix it. But, the screen went away after a short time and I got the powering up screen again then everything was back to normal. It even started to record the shows it was in the middle of recording.

I just now had that happen. I was watching a previously recorded PBS HD show (only 5 minutes left of a 2 hour show [sigh]) and it suddenly stopped, went black and the "powering up" sign came up. After a few seconds I got the green screen as described above. I've had my S3 and the cable cards since the 17th of November, and the only spontaneous reboot I've had was the update to 8.0.1c. Has anyone else seen the "green screen" and what does it mean - is something ugly starting after such good performance?

Help please!

edit: I saw the "3 hour" thing and turned the TV off and left - so I don't know if it's still there!

George Cifranci

12-31-2006, 08:50 PM

I just now had that happen. I was watching a previously recorded PBS HD show (only 5 minutes left of a 2 hour show [sigh]) and it suddenly stopped, went black and the "powering up" sign came up. After a few seconds I got the green screen as described above. I've had my S3 and the cable cards since the 17th of November, and the only spontaneous reboot I've had was the update to 8.0.1c. Has anyone else seen the "green screen" and what does it mean - is something ugly starting after such good performance?

Help please!

edit: I saw the "3 hour" thing and turned the TV off and left - so I don't know if it's still there!

I don't think there is anything we can do until TiVo releases a software update.

richlove

01-13-2007, 07:34 AM

I have a harmony remote. I suspect that the Series 3 reboots related to the Harmony are really HDMI issues. When you use the Harmony Remote to switch inputs, It takes the HDMI input away from the TIVO for an instant while switching.
To test this theory, just remove your HDMI cable from the back of the TIVO while it is on. When I do that with mine, it reboots immediately.

I also get re-boots when there is nothing happening with HDMI switching. It is always when I am trying to play back a show I have recorded. It gets to one spot in the recording and freezes the picture on the screen then reboots. This has happened to me about 5 times since I purchased the TIVO December 1, 2006 (about 6 weeks now).

Also, about half of those reboots ended up in an endless loop of reboots over and over.
The only way to stop the reboot loop is to pull the cable cards and let it reboot sucessfully one time. Then select an analog channel like channel 5. After you get a picture, plug the cable cards back in. That works.

Sure getting tired of this. I love this TIVO compared to the Time Warner DVR but this is wearing me down. Have been patiently waiting for the 8.1 firmware release that hopefully will fix this problem (and the audio and video dropouts).

Rich

sommerfeld

01-13-2007, 08:13 AM

Crashed a couple times due to a toxic over-the-air channel issue; hasn't crashed since I got 8.0.1c
(I'm not counting the times I deliberately provoked the crash to help the tivo folks understand the problem..)

gwsat

01-13-2007, 01:47 PM

I’ve had my S3 up and running for about three days. It has been rock solid so far. I am encouraged that it will continue to be reliable, as the SA 8300HD and a predecessor 8000HD, which the S3 has replaced, were trouble free, too. As it happens, I have to connect any DVR to my HDTV via component cables, as the DVI port on my 3-plus year old HDTV is incompatible with HDLP devices. Fortunately the picture via component is perfect, indistinguishable from the PQ of an OTA HD telecast picked up on my TV’s built in tuner.

Krenath

01-13-2007, 02:36 PM

I had originally thought my TiVo had crashed once after I got it, but the next time it did so, giving me nothing but a blank screen and no menus when I turned the TV on, I tinkered around a little first.

After connecting composite cables, I managed to have full functionality and control. It wasn't locked up, it turns out, it had just stopped outputting to HDMI (or the television had stopped inputting from HDMI, but I have no way to verify which at the moment)

It seems that, for some reason, I am occasionally losing the ability to watch the TiVo over an HDMI connection. Composite works just fine.

Picture quality is about the same, I'm just annoyed that I have to have more cables between the television and DVR than I'd originally planned. I like the nice, neat, single-cable solution.