Tivo Series 2 - No Video Out Only Black Screen

[davevt98]

My tivo does not show any live TV and appears not to receive a video signal. However, I am 100% positive that the video signal is fine since I have two other tivo's hooked up to the signal.

Does anyone know what the problem may be? Is this a hardware problem? Any fixes?

Thanks for the help.

[mick66]

I am 100% positive that the video signal is fine since I have two other tivo's hooked up to the signal.


They can't be hooked up to the same signal. The signal would have to be split somewhere and signal strength on one part of the split isn't necessarily the same as signal strength on another part of the split. Tivos in general do not have great tuners. What looks fine when routed straight to your TV may not be a strong enough of a signal for that Tivo, but may be for another Tivo.

If I were you, I'd be testing this tivo by directly connecting it to the cable from the wall.

[davevt98]

They can't be hooked up to the same signal. The signal would have to be split somewhere and signal strength on one part of the split isn't necessarily the same as signal strength on another part of the split. Tivos in general do not have great tuners. What looks fine when routed straight to your TV may not be a strong enough of a signal for that Tivo, but may be for another Tivo.

If I were you, I'd be testing this tivo by directly connecting it to the cable from the wall.

Thanks for the reply but I have a four way splitter that is connected to four tivos. The video cord connected into this problematic tivo was originally connected into a different tivo and received a perfect signal.

Any other advice/suggestions would be very helpful. This unit has lifetime and am not looking forward to tossing it in the garbage.

[wscannell]

Is it possible the TiVo is in standby? Try pressing the TiVo button and see if the video comes back.

[worachj]

If its a new hookup make sure the cable is connected to the cable In and not cable out.

[davevt98]

Thanks again but I have tried everything. I use to repair tivos and did upgrades on the hard drives but I have never seen this issue. The tivo software appears and you can do everything except you cannot view or record live tv. Very strange but please keep the advice coming.

[worachj]

Is the Tivo correctly setup for the type of connection you are using? Cable, Cable box or satellite. Recheck the channel setup.

Check the channel list. The TiVo service will search for programs on the check marked channels only. Also, the CHAN UP/DOWN button skips channels that don’t have a check mark in this list.

Channel Changing. If you have a cable or satellite box, your DVR needs to send it a signal to change channels. It can do this through an IR (infrared) or serial connection. Make sure that the connection described on this screen matches what you have used to connect your cable or satellite box to your DVR.

Use the troubleshooting screens on your DVR. Go to TiVo Central and select Messages & Setup, then Troubleshooting.

Your DVR is having trouble tuning to the channel you are on. Follow these steps to restore the video:
• Try changing channels. If the blue screen appears on just a few channels, you may be tuned to a channel to which you do not subscribe, or you may be experiencing a weak signal on a channel to which you do subscribe. If you do not subscribe to the channel, you should take it off the “Channels You Receive” list. If you do subscribe to the channel, wait 24 hours to see if the signal improves, or call your cable or satellite provider.

• If you have a satellite or cable box, go to Messages & Setup, Cable/Satellite Box, Connection to DVR. Verify that you chose the same cable on this screen that you used to connect your satellite or cable box to the DVR.

• If the blue screen appears on every channel, and you have a cable or satellite box, make sure it is turned on.

• You may be experiencing a temporary cable or satellite outage; check with your cable or satellite provider.

• Your video cable may have come loose. Make sure all the cable connections on the back of your DVR are secure.

• Verify that you are receiving a video signal by temporarily connecting the video source directly to the TV. If you still do not see any video, there may be a problem with your cable, satellite or antenna equipment.

• The cables you are using to connect your DVR to your TV or other equipment may be damaged or defective. Try exchanging the cables connected to the DVR with other cables that you know are working properly.

[mick66]

Why ask for help if you're just going to ignore it?

They can't be hooked up to the same signal. The signal would have to be split somewhere and signal strength on one part of the split isn't necessarily the same as signal strength on another part of the split. Tivos in general do not have great tuners. What looks fine when routed straight to your TV may not be a strong enough of a signal for that Tivo, but may be for another Tivo.

If I were you, I'd be testing this tivo by directly connecting it to the cable from the wall.

Thanks for the reply but I have a four way splitter that is connected to four tivos. The video cord connected into this problematic tivo was originally connected into a different tivo and received a perfect signal.

Any other advice/suggestions would be very helpful. This unit has lifetime and am not looking forward to tossing it in the garbage.


Like I said, just because the signal is strong enough for Tivo A, doesn't necessarily mean that it's strong enough for Tivo B. The strongest signal you have is comming directly from the wall connection before the splitter. Connect the Tivo there. If it works, you know that you have a signal strength problem. If it doesn't work, then it's likely the Tivo has a bad tuner.

[ripper1981]

My tivo does not show any live TV and appears not to receive a video signal. However, I am 100% positive that the video signal is fine since I have two other tivo's hooked up to the signal.

Does anyone know what the problem may be? Is this a hardware problem? Any fixes?

Thanks for the help.

I'm having this exact problem. Everything was working fine until today (12/13) when I got the Fall 06 Software Update (8.1) and suddenly I can't get live tv thru the tivo at all. I can hear audio, but the screen is just completely black. I can still see the menu from the cable box.

We have a second cable box downstairs that works fine with the other tivo we have. Also, I've checked the cable by plugging it straight into the tv and it works fine. This leads me to believe that it has to be a tivo problem.

I have Millenium Digital Cable in Seattle, WA. There are a few coax cables on the back of my cable box that loop back into itself. One reads "RF IN" which is connected to "To RF In." I read in another thread about some RF bug in the 8.1 update. Could this be the cause?

Can anyone help? This is extremely furstrating :(

Ripper

[ripper1981]

Why ask for help if you're just going to ignore it?



Like I said, just because the signal is strong enough for Tivo A, doesn't necessarily mean that it's strong enough for Tivo B. The strongest signal you have is comming directly from the wall connection before the splitter. Connect the Tivo there. If it works, you know that you have a signal strength problem. If it doesn't work, then it's likely the Tivo has a bad tuner.

I tried this (I'm having the same problem as the original poster). It is not a signal strenth issue. I had the cable split, so I got rid of the splitter and plugged the cable directly into the wall. Same problem :(

[ripper1981]

** Update: I'm back up and running now.

Turns out it was the cable box. I swapped it out with a different one from my cable company and all is well now. Very odd that this would happen the same day that I got the Fall Update -- makes me think it is related to the RF thing on the cable box I'd mentioned (this new box doens't have that same setup).

So, DaveVT98: Try this. Let me know if it helps.

Ripper

[Bergamo]

Are the people who are unable to see video also missing all of their channels in the programming guide?

After upgrading my Series 2, I am unable to see live TV and my channel list is completely empty (with all attempts to fix it having failed).

[Bergamo]

Are the people who are unable to see video also missing all of their channels in the programming guide?

After upgrading my Series 2, I am unable to see live TV and my channel list is completely empty (with all attempts to fix it having failed).

More info on this thread:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=331347

[ryandelany]

One of our Tivo's just started doing this today. We have an older S2 (the black one) which still works fine, and the newer one (54x) which has the following symptoms:

Screen is black
Guide still works and shows all channels correctly
I can start a recording and it shows up in Now Playing (but nothing gets recorded) and then when I go to the Now Playing screen after I stop recording, it magically disappears

I unplugged my input to the Tivo and plugged it in to the TV - works
I can play shows that are already on the Tivo (so the RF output works)
I restarted the Tivo

Any other suggestions? I find it hard to believe there is something wrong with the Tivo physically, this Tivo isn't very old and there are no other symptoms that would indicate hardware failure. I don't have a cable box on this TV, just the cable straight in to the Tivo RF in, and an RF out to the TV.

Please help!

Ryan

[ryandelany]

As an update to my earlier problem of having a black screen, unplugging the Tivo and plugging it back in seems to have resolved the issue. Very odd behaviour after the update to 8.1.

Ryan

[torii]

I have had the same problem recently. I would reboot my tivo and it would fix it. Then it started not fixing it so I figured it was something with my cable box so I got a new one. Things were working again until this last weekend when it went to a black screen again. I powered the tivo down and it came back but this is irritating! I have done everything that everyone has mentioned in this thread and the common denominator seems to be my tivo box and the change in software.

[skubish]

I started having this problem about 1-2 months ago when there was a software update on my S2 Tivo. It is really pissing me off because when it happens nothing gets recorded. As a temp fix I am thinking of plugging it into a programmable time so I can have it power cycle everyday.

[knewgie]

I am having a similar problem with my series 2 Tivo. The input is blank on live TV, but Tivo still tries to record. However, the shows it records are listed as being 0:00 Partial recordings. It does the same thing whether the signal is split or not (but when it is split, and the Tivo input is blank I can still watch live TV through the other signal). I have my Tivo hooked up to an antenna currently (yeah, no cable) so it can't be a cable box problem. If I reboot Tivo by unplugging it and pluggin it in again it works fine, though all programs recorded in the meantime are blank. It wouldn't be much of a problem, except for the fact that my Tivo does this sporadically, an average of once every two weeks or so. I never know when I'm going to come home and find out that Tivo missed a recording or two.

[hagjohn]

I'm also having an issue with my series 2... Screen is black and I can get the sound but no video. I can view recorded shows from before this issue and I can view the guide and I can hook up my cable box to the TV and it has video.


Fixed: rebooted my cable box and picture came right up.