Help! S3 is playing but will not respond to remote control or front panel buttons.

[bareyb]

My new S3 is showing a movie right now, but will not respond to remote control or front panel buttons. I'm stuck watching this movie and it won't let me out. What's worse is I've already seen it. The LEDs are all dark except when I send a command to it from the remote then one of them lights briefly as per normal.

Is this a known issue that is being worked on or should I think about returning my S3 for a new one? It's a fairly serious problem since a reboot doesn't fix it. I'm still within my 30 days at Best Buy so I probably can get a new one.

This is the second time it's happened. Last time I had to do a hard reboot (since the thing won't respond to commands) by unplugging it and even that didn't fix the problem. The next day it was back to normal. That was two days ago and now it's at it again. What gives? Anyone heard of this problem? I did do a search a found no mention of this with my search string. Any help or advice deeply appreciate. I hate to return it if it this is fixable.

[snathanb]

Do you have a plasma TV? I believe they can cause the S3 to exhibit said symptoms.

[hookbill]

snathanb, why would a Plasma TV cause this?

Well, if he is correct then the first thing I would do is try a component hook up. For the life of me I can't see how it would matter what kind of TV you have would cause this.

My second idea is bring it back to BB. And quick, I don't know if they give 30 days with this. Probably just 15 but I'm not sure.

[wackymann]

snathanb, why would a Plasma TV cause this?

Well, if he is correct then the first thing I would do is try a component hook up. For the life of me I can't see how it would matter what kind of TV you have would cause this.

My second idea is bring it back to BB. And quick, I don't know if they give 30 days with this. Probably just 15 but I'm not sure.

Some plasma TVs interfere with the infrared remote signals of the S3. There were many threads about it back in Sept.

[windracer]

But the OP said the hard buttons on the front of the S3 weren't working either. The plasma wouldn't cause that. ;)

[bareyb]

I have an LCD and as the previous poster said, the hard buttons wouldn't work either. This morning it's working again... I'm at a loss. I just hate to return something and add to the churn rate on these units. I also always have to ask myself, "what if I get a worse one?" I've heard stories of endless reboots etc. Plus it means another trip out here from the Comcast guy... I'll let you guys know what happens. :o

[Wangooroo]

I have an LCD and as the previous poster said, the hard buttons wouldn't work either. This morning it's working again... I'm at a loss. I just hate to return something and add to the churn rate on these units. I also always have to ask myself, "what if I get a worse one?" I've heard stories of endless reboots etc. Plus it means another trip out here from the Comcast guy... I'll let you guys know what happens. :o

Why another trip froom comcast? Just unplug the cable cards from the old S3, place into the new S3 and run guided setup. I did not need another visit from the cable company to swap out a unit.

[vstone]

Ther were some issues with remotes not working when the S3 first came out. Then memtion of them seemed to disappear. I had this with a plasma TV. I returned it to Best Buy and got one with no problems. The problematic one wouldn't respond to every remote button at once, but would eventuallu execute them all in groups of 2 or 3. I don't remeber having problems with the front panel.

My theory was that the remote sensor is connected to a port to the CPU. When the sensor receives a command, its interface is supposed to notify the CPU that a command is available (like raising a flag). The CPU then reads the command from the sensor interface and lowers the flag. If the flag is not raised immediately or the CPU doesn't respond immediately then the sensor interface will continue to buffer commands until it overflows or the CPU answers the flag. I beleive this flag rasing and/or CPU response was not working correctly.

The front panel likely has a similar interface aor they may be intertwined.

It may be possible that there was a bad batch. Maybe there is another.

Swap it out for a different unit.

[bareyb]

Why another trip froom comcast? Just unplug the cable cards from the old S3, place into the new S3 and run guided setup. I did not need another visit from the cable company to swap out a unit.
The Comcast guy had given me his cellphone number and told me to call him directly if I had any more problems. So I decided to call him and he's gonna be here in two hours. I have to say I'm no unimpressed with Comcast's service so far, which is a HUGE surprise to me. Anyway, he said to let him install the cards and get them married to the new unit. So I'm off to Best Buy with mixed feelings. Can I get a group "crossed fingers" for success? I'll let you guys know what happens. :o

[Hairking]

I was recording a football game. The Time Display disappeared but there was a red button and text "NFL game".

I did not want to interrupt the recording. Tivo would not respond to the remote or the front panel.

I kept hitting the tivo button ... and the format button on the front panel. Eventually, something I hit got a response, because the Tivo came out of this "standby Like" mode.

Has been fine since.

I called TIVO support and got the response that they have not seen this problem before. She did not seem to be interested in my discovery that some combination of buttons got the Tivo back again. She stayed by her recommendation that I should power it down.

[bareyb]

Well the new one is all installed. The Comcast guy installed both cards and all is well. I seem to be getting conflicting advice from my TiVo as to whether to run "Guided Setup" again. One screen tells me to do it and then when I start to do it, another screen tells me I ONLY need to run guided setup if I've changed zip codes or am running a new config such as adding a terrestrial antenna. Any advice as to which way to go? Redo guided setup again or not?

[windracer]

It won't hurt anything to redo Guided Setup ... except you'll have to go through the Channel List again and deselect the ones you don't want.