TiVo HD - All Video Vanishes

[tt881]

Hello. Twice now I've managed to get a TiVo HD into a mode where no video displays. When I say no video, I mean no video. The menus appear but the background light bulbs video is missing -- just black screen. The unit continues recording, but you can't play any videos and live TV is just blank. It's as if everything is working except MPEG playback. This doesn't happen spontaneously, but I'm unsure of the sequence that causes it. A reboot cures it. Running the latest (c) system.

Anyone else seen this? Thanks.

[aaronwt]

Yes. I saw this when I had my TiVoHD for use with just analog recordings. the box had a problem with a signal that was too strong and this would be the result of that. I went through a several boxes to get one that worked properly. All the boxes I tried that had serial numbers with 802C and 802D had this problem. I finally got a box with 802F and 803 that were newer that didn't have the problem. OF course it doesn't matter anymore since I only using them now with FIOS and all digital channels.

[rcamille]

Have either of you upgraded the internal drive?

I posted a similar problem a couple of days ago, but there were no replies to the thread. Here is an excerpt of my problem, which is similar.

I have a TiVo HD which was upgraded to a 500gb drive last week using winmfs beta 5. I did an mfscopy. The upgrade was completed one day before software version C was automatically downloaded. I am on Cablevision of Long Island with NDS Cards.

On two separate occasions, the unit has blacked out.

The first time I was changing the video setting from native to 1080i and when I hit the Live TV button, the screen was just black. It did not tune to anything. If I hit the TiVo button, the menu came up, but there was no background - just black.

The same thing happend on another instance when I was doing a wishlist search. Once I was done with the search, i hit live tv and the same thing happenend.

The only way I could figure out to remedy the problem was to restart the system and rerun guided setup (but of course the cable cards did not initiate properly on reboot, so I needed to remove them and reinsert them).

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Is it because I upgraded the drive or is it the new C software version? or just a bug that I coincidentally found 2x this wekeend.

[tt881]

At least in my case, I don't believe that analog or digital recording modes have anything to do with this. The problem occurs during menu manipulation or changing modes between live video / playback video / menus -- I am not sure of the sequence yet. It does not happen when the remote is not currently being manipulated.

Once in this mode, everything seems normal except the black background to menus (instead of the normal MPEG bulb video) and lack of live or recorded playback -- just black screen when you try. Live video shows normal channel banners, but again, the video is black and no channel audio. Recordings in progress are intact when checked later, at least so far. A simple reboot restores normal functioning, no need to repeat Guided Setup in my situation.

This feels like a timing issue. As you know, you can often see the MPEG background movie come on a fraction of a second after hitting the TiVo button from live mode (for example) as the MPEG playback engine comes on. Somehow the box is wedging in a mode where it thinks MPEG output is in progress but it really isn't.

My box is from new stock within the last couple of weeks, unmodified, running the (c) release. I've seen this blackout effect twice over the last couple of days. Since I've had the box so short a time, I have essentially no experience with it under the earlier (b) release so can't assert whether this problem appeared with (c) or not.

[tt881]

Additional thought on this. Note that normally, when leaving recorded program playback when you hit the TiVo button, there is usually a brief flash of a black screen as the top menu slides in, just before the background video commences. I believe this problem relates to some timing issue at that point, but once in that mode you can't get out without a reboot. This is assuming a lack of hardware problems, of course. As noted, I've seen the problem twice over the last couple/three days.

[rcamille]

We are definitely experiencing the same problem.

Since you have not upgraded your drive, I can rule out my new hard drive as the culprit. I never had this problem with the b software version.

It has to be something with C software upgrade. We need to get the word out to TiVo. Please call in your problem and I will do the same.

[cody_dingo]

I'm having this issue as well, exactly as described. It's happened to me twice in the last week.

I bought my TivoHD from DVRUpgrade, with a 250gb drive in it.

[tt881]

Any specific suggestions on the best way to report this issue? I have not been overwhelmed with the telephone support staffing so far. I'm still trying to find someone who understands how to change privacy preferences for example, and I am not confident that a detailed technical problem report like this will get through their front line phone folks intact.

[rcamille]

Any specific suggestions on the best way to report this issue? I have not been overwhelmed with the telephone support staffing so far. I'm still trying to find someone who understands how to change privacy preferences for example, and I am not confident that a detailed technical problem report like this will get through their front line phone folks intact.

Not really, except to ask to get transferred to a senior troubleshooter. Perhaps it woudl be worthwhile to start another thread asking if anyone has an inside track to a knowledgeable technician. It has to be a bug in the C Software update.

[joneSi]

Same problem here on my THD upgraded with 750gb drive. I have the original drive intact, and would go back to it, but it looks as if the upgrade didn't do it. Could be a software issue. Mine never did this before, only with the new software (C2 or whatever the latest as of 9-12-07 is). I don't think it is upgrade related, but then again there may be a little something that was missed in the mfstools goodies for the THD

joneSi

[tt881]

Again, my unit is new, case never opened, completely unmodified. So your hardware upgrade is almost certainly not related to this issue ...

[sergiu]

exactlly the same. brand new unit with c software unmodified

[rcamille]

Can everyone experiencing this problem please indicate the following:

Video Output Setting (i.e. 1080i fixed, Native, etc)
TV Connection - Component or HDMI

I am wondering if either of these factors has an impact on this issue.

Mine is set to Native via HdMI.

[tt881]

I'm mostly at 720p Fixed. I have spent some time in the Native setting, but I believe the error mode has always occurred so far when I've been at 720p Fixed. This may be utterly irrelevant though. And always HDMI connection.

[rcamille]

The first time I experienced the problem I was changing my video output setting (in the menus - not the front panel button) to fixed 720p. It occured when I hit the Live TV button.

I have now set my unit to fixed 1080i (i know, not optimal), but I am curious if this works.

[BetaEleven]

Can everyone experiencing this problem please indicate the following:

Video Output Setting (i.e. 1080i fixed, Native, etc)
TV Connection - Component or HDMI

I am wondering if either of these factors has an impact on this issue.

Mine is set to Native via HdMI.

Brand new Tivo. Just got the CableCARDs yesterday. I have mine set at 1080i fixed (for my old Mitsubishi TV, only this and 480P seems to work) and I'm using component video for the feed.

[paslax]

Same problem.

Fixed 720P
HDMI + Component (I hooked up the component after it happened the first time using only HDMI. It has happened several times since.)
OTA/Analog Cable

After hitting the live TV button and everything is black, I get the thumbs-down noise whenever I try to change channels and nothing happens. This seems to make me think that it is a software problem and not a video output problem. Just my theory.

Only the TiVo button will get me back to the menu (without a background). Only a reboot of TiVo seems to solve the problem.

[megazone]

It has to be a bug in the C Software update.Bug yes, 'c2' software no.

I haven't seen it yet on my HD review box with c2, but I did encounter it once in an earlier revision - b1 or b2 I think. So it isn't new in c2. I did tell TiVo about it at the time, so they know about it. But it seems pretty rare overall, and I haven't seen it repeat or been able to make it.

[SAH2]

I have it also using 720 Hybrid with HDMI.

My problem is slightly different in that it seems to happen right after changing the video output format and then selecting something from the Now Playing List. I will get the Tivo background with the lights, but the video will not play. When I use the back button, I get the selection you normally see after finishing a video - Do you want to delete or keep this. I choose Keep as I never really played the video.

The only way to fix this is a reboot. I do not have the problem if I don't try to change the video output.

[garrettoomey]

I am having the same issue that all video is gone, but menus still work. I called Tivo support, and I was told that this was a known issue. A software update would be released to fix the problem, but no time frame. Mine was a new Tivo HD before upgrading the hard drive, OTA and analog cable only. It has happened on multiple resolution settings. I have the same Tivo connected to feed 2 rooms. HDMI in 1 room and component in the 2nd room. When it happens, it does effect both outputs at the same time...
-G

[rcamille]

Bug yes, 'c2' software no.

I did tell TiVo about it at the time, so they know about it. But it seems pretty rare overall, and I haven't seen it repeat or been able to make it.


Thanks!!

[Evilmonkee]

Figured it for a software bug. Have an unmodded THD with c2. Problem is just as the OP described. Use the 1080i fixed mode with HDMI/optical. Seemed completely random while within tivo menus. Easy enough to fix with a reboot but hope the fix(among many others) comes soon.

[paslax]

Easy enough to fix with a reboot but hope the fix(among many others) comes soon.

Easy enough to reboot for sure, but I've had to do it twice now while Charter tech is here and let's just say that he's not the most patient guy to begin with. Makes it hard to authoritatively blame Charter for the cable card install issues when TiVo is crapping out at the same time.

[moyekj]

If it's any consolation it's happened a few times with 1 of my Tivo S3 units - all channels dark on 1 or both tuners but the Tivo overlays work fine. No CC problems reported in the menus when in that state and a reboot cleared the problem right up. I did a lot of debugging trying to figure out why only that S3 had this problem sporadically while my other S3 did not. One difference is the S3 exhibiting the problem was plugged into a UPS. So I decided to take it off the UPS and (perhaps by sheer coincidence) I have not had the problem since. (The UPS is a 12-year old cheap one so I figure it doesn't do much good anyway, and I'd heard of issues caused by "cheap" UPS devices that don't put out proper sinusoidal AC power so figured it was worth a shot. May have nothing to do with the problem but thought I would mention it).

[int2str]

Same problem here:
1 CableCard tuner stops working on my S3 every once in a while. Only rebooting fixes it.

[Warhawks]

Just got my THD hooked up and cable cards installed...

I have having the same exact problem. I put it to anything other than 480p and I get a black screen and must reboot in order to change it back. All my HD channels are in fact HD, but I don't understand why i can't change the output through the tivo to "NATIVE" like the manual suggests, since my Samsung Hl-T5089S will accepts ALL formats.

I need some help!

[PSUMattDE]

How did i know i'd find something about this here?? :)

It just happened to me yesterday morning for the 1st time - I have the Tivo HD connected via HDMI set to Native.

It happened to me after I was watching some photo's streaming from my PC.

I had no idea what was going on.

This was the 1st i'd seen it in the month i've had Tivo - and i'm on the "c" software version.

[tmark]

My screen goes blank for Live TV - seems to happen after an update. Need to restart system.

Tivo HD
SA cards.

This must be a software problem, if restarts always seem to do the trick. Would not be hardware. This probably hapens ONCE a day, which seems to coincide with updates

[icatar]

This happened to me this weekend during the Yankees/Red Sox game :mad: . I was recording the game, and watching it time-shifted maybe an hour behind, at the first FF speed. I went to turn on the Closed Captioning, but then when I returned to viewing the game, it was just all black. The record light was still on.

I rebooted the unit to get the video back, and the game continued recording (as a second recording). I finished up on the first recording until the moment of blackout, then finished up the game on the second recording.

It was very scary at the time thinking I might miss a couple hours of the game!

1080i Fixed, HDMI.

[silypuddy]

I've also experienced the same problem. It's happened at least twice. Come out of the main menu to watch live tv and I get grey.

It even happend once while I was on the phone with tivo support trying to fix a cable card problem. He didn't seem too fazed by it because we were trying to get my cable cards to work.

I wonder if this is a problem with tuning a channel via the cable card? It's the same grey screen I get while waiting for a channel lock when flipping channels. Every time it takes more than a second to lock, I begin to grimace thinking I might have to restart.

480i Fixed, S-Video. (Yes I know it's SD, but the Samsung 5271 is in the mail)

[BPlexico]

This has happened to me once. I only have had the unit since yesterday. No modifications to box - Tivo HD - NATIVE for video - using HDMI connection. Everything works save for viewing LIVE programming then I get a grey screen. Software is up to date. A re start resolved the issue.

Barr

[koensayr]

Interesting Thread. This just happened to me as well. I've only have the Tvio for only a week. I think I was running in 1080i Hybrid, my software version says 8.1.7c2-01-2-652. I'm connected to my Pioneer Elite 940 via component cable.

Has TIVO said anything about acknowleding this as a problem yet?

A restart seems to have solved the problem for me...

[uforia]

HDMI
Fixed 1080i
Multistream cable card
Stock, no drive upgrades, latest SW levels
Samsung LCD LNT4065F

I'm really tempted to send this back and get the S3 with the $200 rebate. At $100 more than the Tivo HD, it's really tempting for the slightly larger HDD and faster, more responsive UI. I already have one S3. I'd just have to go back to 2 cable cards for the bedroom.

Hope they make the Tivo HD experience better and fast.

[Warhawks]

I'd love to return mine, but I used a lifetime gift subscription card on it...only a mear 3 days before the frickin' S3 went down with a $200 rebate and the CC coupons...ugh!

[lessd]

I just installed a friends TiVo-HD unit and 3 hours after i left his home the same thing happened to their TiVo, no channels. I checked the System Information and saw that the HDMI was not enabled so i thought it may be a problem with the new HDTV they just purchased, but after doing a soft re-boot on the THD the problem fix itself. After reading this thread I will now report it to TiVo.

[rkleim]

has happened to me 2 times on a new (3 weeks) tivoHD. Exactly as described, all black but menus, recording still works, reboot fixes the problem. Happened with different video settings and different TVs hooked up (just got a new TV).

In my case, the first time happened when checking signal strength (after coming back to live tv), I have heard of people having problems there, but prob. not this. The second time it was when perusing the online movie listings for my area (over the ethernet connection), occured when returning to live tv.

It is annoying, but rare. Now I check the box each morning to see if it is still OK, and it is. Both incidents happened when I was doing "non-standard" things.

If it occurs again, I'll report it. Would be nice to know for sure if Tivo is working on it and if is software. I can wait and put up with anything if only they are working on it. This would also save us both the expense of the call to cust svc.

I've had tivos since 2000, so I know to give them a lot of leeway and trust. They do great things, so I don't let temp probs upset me. The HD box takes some getting used to, but I LOVE IT!!!

[silypuddy]

It sort of happened to me again yesterday.

I was flipping channels and tried to tune in ESPN2HD and got a grey/black screen. I thought "great Comcast is messing with my service."

I then stepped down one channel and was able to get ESPNHD so I then stepped back up and got ESPN2HD no problem.

I wonder if this is a CC only problem?

Next time it happens, I'm going to try and pop the CC's out and push them back in vs. a reboot.

[Stinkweed8]

I accidentaly started a new thread, moving it here.

I had this HD Tivo installed (the installation took 2.5 hours...COX ineptitude). Last night I turned on the tv, it was recording the news (as indicated by the red light), but the live TV was completely black (no show information either). Changing the channel gave the BAD BOING sound, and had no effect. Changing the tuner was black screen too.

I have had to reboot a couple of times before (I get the cablecard error screen), so I tried rebooting to see if it helped. Well, after waiting 5 minutes to reboot, the live tv was back. The odd thing was that the channel I was recording WAS recorded. There was video on the recorded news program.

This seems to be a buggy device. Its kind of a pain, especially for my wife who loves the EASE of Tivo, and is technologically incapable of troubleshooting issues. She wants it to just work, which my S2 Tivos always have.

Settings: NATIVE
Wired: COMPONENT to an ONKYO A/V R

[JVOLLEY1]

I have been contemplating on getting the TIVO HD, but with this current problem, guess I will be waiting to see what the resolution will be? Does anyone know if this has been reported to TIVO?

[paslax]

I have been contemplating on getting the TIVO HD, but with this current problem, guess I will be waiting to see what the resolution will be? Does anyone know if this has been reported to TIVO?

Personally, I don't believe that this issue is a reason to hold off. I experienced it several times - from the time that I bought it until I got the cable cards installed and working - over the course of two weeks. I have not experienced this issue in the two weeks since then.

I believe that there is something valid in the comment above about this issue only occuring when doing non-standard things (settings).

[Stinkweed8]

I believe that there is something valid in the comment above about this issue only occuring when doing non-standard things (settings).


Now I remember that this happened JUST after I had messed with teh parental control settings...I changes some settings and turned off the tv...when I turned it back on I got the black screen and had to reboot.

[koensayr]

My particular setup uses a single Multi Cable Card? Could that be the issue? I like the idea of removing and then re-inserting the cable cards.

Has this happened to people who DON'T have cable cards?

Why spend the extra $200 on the Series 3? Me thinks they are offering the rebate so they can end of life the damn thing...

[paslax]

My particular setup uses a single Multi Cable Card? Could that be the issue? I like the idea of removing and then re-inserting the cable cards.

Has this happened to people who DON'T have cable cards?

I had it happen a few times before any CCs were installed. It also happened a few times after the Motorola S-Cards were installed.

[net114]

I've had my unit for two days, and this happened to me today. Running Native. It seemed to be something with going into the menus with Amazon Unbox and such, and then switching back. Possibly a software problem with switching resolutions, but not sure. I would also not hold off for this problem.

[silypuddy]

I just had a blank screen issue last night but I didn't have to reboot. It failed to tune in a channel on the first try. I then flipped to a channel where I got the signal and then went back to the blank channel and it tuned on the second try.

I'm running software ver 9.1.L5-01-2-652 with two SA CC's. Has anyone called into Tivo with this and gotten a response worth sharing?

[kmdmb]

New HD hooked up Thursday night. No mods no cable cards and running hybrid. Mediacom and antenna. Same problem 3 times now. Need a fix soon.

[aus1ander]

Same problem here, happened for the first time today (had the TiVoHD for a couple months now).

720p Fixed.
HDMI.
OTA digital and analog cable (no cable cards)

[lessd]

Now it happened to my unit today, reported it to TiVo, the HD TiVo CS said he had 4 reports already and TiVo knows about this problem, he does not know if the new 9.1 software fixes it or not. (I don't have 9.1 yet)

[Charles R]

I was flipping channels and tried to tune in ESPN2HD and got a grey/black screen. I thought "great Comcast is messing with my service."

I then stepped down one channel and was able to get ESPNHD so I then stepped back up and got ESPN2HD no problem.
This is the issue I have been seeing for a few days.

[HD4me2]

New HD hooked up Thursday night. No mods no cable cards and running hybrid. Mediacom and antenna. Same problem 3 times now. Need a fix soon.

One week old Tivo HD video failed on day 2. HDMI connection, output set to 1080i fixed. No CC, no service registration as yet. OTA via antenna and TWC analog only cable.

Switched to native mode, OK. Switched back to 1080i fixed and video failure. Thought it was a fluke, but happened again yesterday.
This time service was registered and software is at c2 version and 500GB esata added. Failure must have occurred while TV was off and no remote activity at all. After turning TV on, black screen no video.

All symptoms as described by other posters to this thread.
Reboot fixes the problem but that is no way to live.

[rockymountaind]

Not a good first post, but...

It's happened twice in the 4 days I've owned the box.

Component
Native
2 Mot S-cards
Latest sw

:(

[StuMan8424]

It has also happened to me a few times over the past week or so. I don't have cable cards yet and my Tivo has no modifications. I think the times that it has happened have been when I've gone to the menu, and when I come back to live tv my screen is just gray. Attempting to change channels makes the thumbs down sound. The guide pops up and shows information, and the main menu works but with no background. I've had to restart to fix the problem.

[HD4me2]

Happened again this morning. This time the video loss only affected tuner 1. Unlike the previous episodes, this time recordings and tuner 2 video is OK.

No rhyme or reason to this. Had just added an HDTV program to season pass and upon returning to tuner 1, black screen. Changing channels on tuner 1 to DTV OTA or analog cable did not help.

This getting to be irksome and if a fix is not in place before the 30 day cancellation period expires, the HD will be returned.

[aus1ander]

I'm sure TiVo is working on a fix. Be patient. There hasn't been confirmation that the new SW doesn't fix this problem, so if it persists after the upgrade (9.1), keep calling the CSRs.

[turbovr6]

Sorry, started new thread but here is where I belong. I have the same issue. I have a Hitachi 1TB internal drive from WeakNees and using OTA. I will Contact Customer service. Happens when I hit Live TV sometimes. Like something is wrong with the vider decoder. Using 1080i fixed with HDMI.

[randomsolutions]

Happened to me 2 times in the last week. Almost missed Heroes. If they don't fix this soon Tivo loses my business after 7 years.

HDMI
Fixed 1080i
2 cable cards
Stock, no drive upgrades, latest 9.x SW level (TivoHD)

[Phillysports8982]

I've had my tivo series 3 hd since july and I periodically get these problems of a grey screen on channels, it is definitely a CC issue because lets face it they are horrible. I've had Time Warner out 3 times to reset the cards, which works for a little while..

I just wish there was some way for Tivo to help

[rockymountaind]

I've had my tivo series 3 hd since july and I periodically get these problems of a grey screen on channels, it is definitely a CC issue because lets face it they are horrible. I've had Time Warner out 3 times to reset the cards, which works for a little while..

I just wish there was some way for Tivo to help

I think the problem being discussed is different from the "grey screen", and it's not related to CC (some reports are from owners with no cards).

With this issue, the video processor (?) freaks. You can see static menus (Now Playing, Watch Live TV, etc), but there's no background animation. And if you try to watch anything, recorded or live, you get black. Rebooting makes it all better. At least that's how it's gone for me.

Yesterday, I did get the background, but all recordings were inaccessible. Pressing play just left the blue background. Stopping resulted in a "keep or delete" screen. All recordings were affected. Rebooting fixed.

So 3 major errors in my first 10 days of ownership.

Dang.

[rockymountaind]

Called CS today and was told this was not a known problem. Mentioned something about checking signal strength, that 9.1 was being rolled out this week and ended up with a "take it back to CC and get a new box".

[kirk1701]

I think the problem being discussed is different from the "grey screen", and it's not related to CC (some reports are from owners with no cards).

With this issue, the video processor (?) freaks. You can see static menus (Now Playing, Watch Live TV, etc), but there's no background animation. And if you try to watch anything, recorded or live, you get black. Rebooting makes it all better. At least that's how it's gone for me.

Yesterday, I did get the background, but all recordings were inaccessible. Pressing play just left the blue background. Stopping resulted in a "keep or delete" screen. All recordings were affected. Rebooting fixed.

So 3 major errors in my first 10 days of ownership.

Dang.

yep, same here.

Didn't know what caused it but after reboot all the programs I was recording on both tuners were saved. I just had to wait two hours till the recordings were done in order to reboot it.

720P and using component video

Called tivo support since I had some other problems already also with freezing with menu's and just got the replacement box in tonight. Still have the issue's with menu's freezing but not as bad.

Probably end up returning for a refund while I'm in my 30 day return period.

[Rez]

I've got both a TiVo HD and a Series 3. The TiVo HD is hooked up via component and I have not seen this issue, but with the Series 3 which is using HDMI (720 fixed) I've run into this several times after the new software update.

Only a dance of powering the receiver, TiVo and display on and off has resolved the issue. I know the TiVo is alive as I get feedback beeps from hitting the remote buttons, but the display remains blank.

In case it helps - Series 3 connected via HDMI to a HK AVR 347 and then to a Panasonic plasma display.

[rockymountaind]

I've got both a TiVo HD and a Series 3. The TiVo HD is hooked up via component and I have not seen this issue, but with the Series 3 which is using HDMI (720 fixed) I've run into this several times after the new software update.

Only a dance of powering the receiver, TiVo and display on and off has resolved the issue. I know the TiVo is alive as I get feedback beeps from hitting the remote buttons, but the display remains blank.

In case it helps - Series 3 connected via HDMI to a HK AVR 347 and then to a Panasonic plasma display.

You get a true "black screen"? I can actually see the menus and select items.

I'm hoping 9.1 undoes whatever has been done, but see that randomsolutions is reporting the issue after the upgrade as well :(

[rucka]

I was having a similar issue BEFORE the update, so I'm not sure it is part of the problem.

[Hoosier_1701]

I've seen this happen once too. Brand new Tivo HD. No cablecards installed yet. Analogue only through Comcast. It is set to 1080i fixed over component. It happened after I had forced a daily update, right after it finished the "loading" section. Only a reboot got the video back. I'm on software 8.1.7c2.

[rockymountaind]

I was having a similar issue BEFORE the update, so I'm not sure it is part of the problem.

Before c2? If so, then it's been reported on 3 different sw levels. Dang.

[Doit2it]

Happened twice to me. Once before 9.1 update (1st day of hookup, 2 weeks ago), once last night (5 days post 9.1). I have serial number 803 so that didn't make a difference. I am not using CCs but I do use manual recordings on QAM HD stations. My settings are Fixed 1080i and I use HDMI cable.

[kirk1701]

We'll, my issue has not got any better and the new tivo HD is freezing on menu's right out of the box (mainly when I brows by favorite channels) so while I'm still within the 30 days I'm thinking about returning for a full refund and wait till the issue is fixed down the line.

[turbovr6]

Now running 9.1 software. Now running native mode to my sharp aquos tv. I still use only OTA. no cable cards. Has not did this for a week yet. Lets see what happens

[rockymountaind]

We'll, my issue has not got any better and the new tivo HD is freezing on menu's right out of the box (mainly when I brows by favorite channels) so while I'm still within the 30 days I'm thinking about returning for a full refund and wait till the issue is fixed down the line.

I think I'll do the same.

[kirk1701]

Thought things were getting better with my newly arrived tivo exchanged unit.

Freeze ups when accessing favorite channels was down to a 5 second wait which could be tolerated as almost normal.

However, tonight I went into "Music, Photo's and More" just browsing the fetures and selected "sculls and Bones" then I backed out when I seen it was just a game. Thats when the background went grey and no video or sound just text of the menu and I had to restart the unit again.

Unit two days old, against my better judgement I want to keep it but kicking myself for not sending it back yet :eek:

[hooper]

Same thing here. Playing music from my networked computer. Going in and out of folders and changing songs, the background went black. Tried live tv and screen was all black. Reboot fixed this issue.

TivoHD
9.1 sw
720p hybrid
2 S Cards

Seems like more than a few folks have had this happen when using some of the network functionality....

[johnnylundy]

Same problem as above, even after 9.1 downloaded today. Oddly, I never saw the problem with 8.1.

It's too bad they don't have a logging mode we could turn on so the exact system actions could be seen right before the blank screens.

[turbovr6]

Got a complete lockup last night when I pressed Live TV. All video black. Yellow light does not even blink. Had to pull power cord. Tivo HD, 1TB Hitachi drive, 9.1 software. Video in Native mode. No cable cards. I use only OTA. WTF?????

[johnnylundy]

One of my scheduled recordings didn't record as the TiVo says there was no signal on channel 40.

So this morning I repeated Guided Setup. When Guided Setup came to the screen where it asks you to state what channel you receive on a certain numbered channel (for it to determine your lineup), the TiVo background disappeared and there was no video behind the menu screen.

It did not interfere with finishing GS, and I rebooted after that and for the moment I have both tuners OK, with signals mostly 100% but a couple of channels at 80 and about 5 at 92-95%.

Has anyone gotten any replies from TiVo about this?

[rcamille]

If you read through this thread you will see that I experienced this problem with the earlier software version. I spoke to a TiVo Tech support rep today. She told me that I was the first person she spoke to that has reported this problem. Then she placed me on hold and spoke to her supervisor, who advised her to open a case on the issue. She did tell me that TiVoPony regularly scans this forum and has undoubtedly reported the bug to the programmers already. Lets keep our fingers crossed that they will get this fixed.

For whatever it is worth, I can only replicate the problem when I am a layer or two (or deeper) into the menus and press the live tv button. If i backtrack through the menus and choose watch live tv, it never seems to happen.

[johnnylundy]

For whatever it is worth, I can only replicate the problem when I am a layer or two (or deeper) into the menus and press the live tv button. If i backtrack through the menus and choose watch live tv, it never seems to happen.

Thanks for making note of that. It could be the workaround we need. So to restate, if you always go to Live TV from the TiVo Central menu, and never use the Live TV button, that is apparently a way to avoid this?

[rcamille]

Thanks for making note of that. It could be the workaround we need. So to restate, if you always go to Live TV from the TiVo Central menu, and never use the Live TV button, that is apparently a way to avoid this?

To date, that has worked for me. If/when that changes I will post in this thread.

In the meantime, if everyone else can try to pinpoint exactly what they did before the dreaded black screen appeared (and report it here and to TiVo tech support), i am sure it would be helpful to the TiVo programmers.

[houman]

I have noticed similar problem, the tivo hd is recording shows on cable, I turn on the TV, I get a brief flash (I can't read it fast enough) saying HDMI connection not supported or something like that, then black screen, but I can go to Tivo menu with the Tivo button and I can go to my HD channels (unencrypted HD via QAM -- no CC's), and I can read the menus, but I can't go to any SD channels, the only solution is to restart.

Also when it happens, the shows that are being recorded are never recorded (they're stuck at 0sec), and you can't play them either...

-H

[robm15]

I had this problem last night for the first time. My TivoHD is 2 weeks old, has 9.1 software, with analog cable signal, no CC's, and no upgrades to the hardware.

I was starting a recorded show from the now playing list. The screen went black like it always does immediately before playing, and then stayed black. When I pushed the Tivo button it went back to the menus, but the background was black. Menus functioned fine, and no other show in the NPL would play. After restart all was good, and all the shows I previously tried during the blackout, played fine.

[boogie]

I just got my TIVOHD hooked up w/2 CC's. I was switching between different video output modes and noticed it would do the black screen/black menu thing when I pressed "live TV". I had to reboot to get any picture back.

One way around it was to not press "Live TV", but to back out and select "watch live TV" through the TIVO menu

[johnnylundy]

I just got my TIVOHD hooked up w/2 CC's. I was switching between different video output modes and noticed it would do the black screen/black menu thing when I pressed "live TV". I had to reboot to get any picture back.

One way around it was to not press "Live TV", but to back out and select "watch live TV" through the TIVO menu

Try repeating Guided Setup after a reboot. That cured the problem for me. Haven't seen it in a week, and I was seeing it every day.

And don't change the video if you can avoid it - that is when my problem started.

[paslax]

Happened again today when listening to music over the network (wired). I hit the Live TV button and the screen was black. Pressing Ch-Up or Ch-Down results in the thumbs-down noise. Only resolved by a restart.

[ecovelli]

I have the TiVo HD, set to Native using the HDMI cable with two SA Cards from Comcast.

I use the remote to put the TiVo in standby. This black screen problem seems to surface the next use after I use the remote to put the TiVo in standby while an HD program is on. It also sometimes seems to happen if I am watching a live HD program and the TiVo changes the channel to record a non HD program.

I have had several problem with the (C) software. This is the most persistent. I lost my cable card validation, it reset my video settings, etc. I've also had several crashes.

On my TiVo Series 2, no problems except once. This was the opposite of the TiVo HD. The unit displayed the TiVo background, but no menus and no response to the remote signals (other than the boing sound). Had to pull the plug and no other problems since.

[bobjjones]

Tivo HD < 1 week old, 2 cc's, HDMI in native mode.

It has happened twice. Once the menus were great, went to watch a recorded show, it was just black. I deleted that show (dammit) and went to watch another (at this point the video was still in the menu). Same thing. But this time when I went back to the menu nothing at all in the background.

I'm not sure what happened the first time.

Bob

[ic316]

"Black screen with menus" bug happened to me today for the first time.(Have had tivoHD for 2 weeks) We had been streaming music from over the network connection previously, so there appears to be some correlation. restart resolved it.

TivoHD
9.1
1080i Fixed
HDMI
2 S CableCards

[Mars Rocket]

I have a brand new TiVo HD, updated to v9.2 yesterday. Today the Comcast guy came out to install the CableCards, and during the install of the second card I got the black background/no video problem. This made it impossible to test the channels because all I would see was the channel banner and a black background. I rebooted the TiVo (which takes a loooooooong time on this unit compared to my old S1) and everything seemed fine.

I then started Guided Setup to get the new channels, and got the black background/no video AGAIN, making it impossible to confirm the channel lineup. There were only two choices anyway, so I went into advanced mode, chose one, and continued. After GS was done I rebooted again and it seems OK for now.

Not a good first impression.

[Gai-jin]

I have a brand new TiVo HD, updated to v9.2 yesterday. Today the Comcast guy came out to install the CableCards, and during the install of the second card I got the black background/no video problem. This made it impossible to test the channels because all I would see was the channel banner and a black background. I rebooted the TiVo (which takes a loooooooong time on this unit compared to my old S1) and everything seemed fine.

I then started Guided Setup to get the new channels, and got the black background/no video AGAIN, making it impossible to confirm the channel lineup. There were only two choices anyway, so I went into advanced mode, chose one, and continued. After GS was done I rebooted again and it seems OK for now.

Not a good first impression.

This is similar to my experience. I got my cablecards on Monday, after having just installed the tivo. Since then, I've run into this glitch a few times. I believe when this occurs the cablecard channel test screen says 'no channels available' if you try it. (I've had quite a bit of trouble, but I think these two issues seem to go together.)

Makes it really tough to know for sure whether the problem is with the cablecards, tivo, or provisioning info on the cableco side when this issue comes up right in the middle of the install/troubleshooting process.

[lessd]

This is similar to my experience. I got my cablecards on Monday, after having just installed the tivo. Since then, I've run into this glitch a few times. I believe when this occurs the cablecard channel test screen says 'no channels available' if you try it. (I've had quite a bit of trouble, but I think these two issues seem to go together.)

Makes it really tough to know for sure whether the problem is with the cablecards, tivo, or provisioning info on the cableco side when this issue comes up right in the middle of the install/troubleshooting process.

Please report this to TiVo (I have) as its a problem that not very repeatable, If you don't spend time using the TiVo menus it does not happen too much but i am bumed the it happens in v9.2, although i have not seen it yet with 9.2J.

[Johnwashere]

This happened to me today. I just bought this tivo hd a few days ago at circuit city. Im runing 8.1 and just got my tivo from circuit city. The screen went black for me and I could not see any video. I tried switching chanels and my analog chanels worked for a litle bit, i swithced to the other tuner and a hd show was still running, then switched the chanel and it went black. I then switched to a analag chanel and it worked, then i tried switching a couple minutes later and the other analoag chanels did not work so all were out. then all of a sudden the tivo restarted on its own. it worked for a minute, then went black for 30 seconds or so then came back in and started working. I hope this problem does not come back!

[Endorphine]

Well I am sad to report that I gave up on the two different TivoHD's it tried for over 3 weeks to get working. I also had the video disappearing all the time, and the cable company did everything in their power to help me out. Every time I called Tivo they blamed it on the signal strength or the cable company.

I sure wish Tivo would put out a product that worked without so many serious bugs. I still have two different series 2's, and my old one still suffers from the double button push.

[koensayr]

Interesting. This happened to me once right when my TIVO was installed. Though since then it hasn't happened since. Perhaps there was a bug in the original firmware and after the unit is installed for a bit a software update clears it up.

I wonder what is going on...

[zaknafein]

I saw this several times, but haven't seen it since 9.2 came around.

[jgerry]

I'm still on 9.1, output via HDMI, resolution set to native.

I've had it happen twice now. Anything that's recording when it happens seems to be fine, so I wait for any recordings to finish, then reboot. Very annoying.

[Saturn_V]

Happened twice- Grey screen with menus displayed- no video or audio displayed. I've had the unit since October 6th. (purchased from Amazon)

720 Fixed, HDMI, Analog Cable & OTA HD. Original HDD, no cable cards installed. 8.1 software.

FWIW, the last time it happened, both tuners were recording...but I waited until both were finished to restart the box. Both programs (analog and HD) were recorded normally. I'm guessing it may be a display issue.

[bkdtv]

Happened twice- Grey screen with menus displayed- no video or audio displayed. I've had the unit since October 6th. (purchased from Amazon)

720 Fixed, HDMI, Analog Cable & OTA HD. Original HDD, no cable cards installed. 8.1 software.

FWIW, the last time it happened, both tuners were recording...but I waited until both were finished to restart the box. Both programs (analog and HD) were recorded normally. I'm guessing it may be a display issue.If you are experiencing this issue, sign up for 9.2 because it fixes the problem. If you sign up now at http://www.tivo.com/priority/, you should have the new 9.2 software by Wednesday.

The 9.2 release doesn't appear to fix the HDMI sync issue with a limited number of displays, but for that problem, switching video inputs or turning the TV off and back on will restore video.

[TomRaz]

Saturn what color do you have configured for the sides of your letter box screens, gray or black ?

What I found is if I have the letterbox configured for gray and the no video happens then my background on every screen is gray.

If I have it configured for black, then all the backgrounds are black when the problem happens.

I am running component for my video and I have one series M cable card with no ota.

Assuming we are all talking about the same problem, 9.2 did not fix the problem for me I am waiting for a replacement Tivo HD to arrive.

[hooper]

In 9.1 this issue was 100% reproducible by forcing a connection and then clicking live tv while in the connection status screen.

[aljack3]

Ditto on the problem.

Brand new TiVo HD unit just out of the box Friday.

720P fixed, version 8 software, no cable cards.

[Saturn_V]

Saturn what color do you have configured for the sides of your letter box screens, gray or black ?.

I'm configured for gray. And that's the background color when all video disappears.

Hmmmm. Should hold off on the 9.2 upgrade if it doesn't solve the problem??

[Mars Rocket]

As I posted above, I got the 9.2 update before I had this problem, so it definitely doesn't fix it. I haven't seen it happen since the first time, though.

[Islanti]

As I posted above, I got the 9.2 update before I had this problem, so it definitely doesn't fix it. I haven't seen it happen since the first time, though.Same here, 1 time only shortly after 9.2. Never happened on my other two Tivo HDs (running 9.2 also). Strange.

[Mars Rocket]

It just happened to me again.

I was looking through the menus and everything was fine. One show was recording. I went to play an HD show that had recorded earlier this morning, and the screen went black. Right arrow just resulted in the drumbeat sound. Left arrow took me out to the menus, but the background was black. I couldn't play any other shows - they all just gave me a solid black screen and I couldn't do anything except exit out via the left arrow. The position indicator showed no length to the show (it was empty - no green part at all). The show that was recording didn't work either.

I was able to change the background from black to gray by going into the letterbox color menu and making the change, but the system still didn't work. I also tried switching the video output format from 1080i Fixed to 720p Fixed but that didn't help either.

After a reboot everything was back to normal, and both the show I originally tried to watch and the show that was in progress both looked fine.

Has anybody from TiVo acknowledged that this problem exists? Is it worth calling them? My past experiences with TiVo phone reps leads me to believe they have no clue about problems and just work from a script, but I'd like to have the problem on my record in case it crops up later on.

[TomRaz]

Saturn try setting your letterbox color to black and I bet when the problem happens again your background will be black instead of gray next time.

Mars I spoke to a second level support person at Tivo last week that acknowledged he had seen the same issue and it was sometimes resolved with a Tivo HD hardware swap out.

He also told me it didn't matter what version of software I was running it would not resolve the problem.

On that last point I believe he is correct since I have had 3 versions of software so far and the problem happens with all three versions.

I suspect their is some type of hardware problem that has not been resolved in production or they are hoping to fix the problem in a future release of firmware.

I am going to send back my original failing unit to Amazon and I have order a Tivo HD from Tivo directly hoping to do the lifetime transfer option.

That assumes the new unit from Tivo is more stable than the one I received from Amazon.

I am confident the problem will get worked out otherwise I will send #2 back to Tivo under their 30 day return policy.

[uforia]

I've had 9.2 on my THD since the day it was announced. Today I had all video disappear again (no menu backgrounds either). Reboot was the only thing that fixed it. So this has probably happened 10-12 times in the 6 weeks I've had this unit. I hadn't had it occur for a couple weeks, but this was the last straw. I called Tivo support (no hold time either!) and their sending me a replacement unit.

[jgerry]

I've had 9.2 on my THD since the day it was announced. Today I had all video disappear again (no menu backgrounds either). Reboot was the only thing that fixed it. So this has probably happened 10-12 times in the 6 weeks I've had this unit. I hadn't had it occur for a couple weeks, but this was the last straw. I called Tivo support (no hold time either!) and their sending me a replacement unit.
It's good that they're trying to remedy the issue for you, but I wouldn't expect a new unit to fix the issue. Does anyone really think this is anything but another software bug?

Personally, I wouldn't let them replace my TiVo, mostly because I'd have to get Comcast to come back out, yet again, and re-pair my cable card. No way.

[Mars Rocket]

It's good that they're trying to remedy the issue for you, but I wouldn't expect a new unit to fix the issue. Does anyone really think this is anything but another software bug?

Personally, I wouldn't let them replace my TiVo, mostly because I'd have to get Comcast to come back out, yet again, and re-pair my cable card. No way.

I've read reports that the card ID (the Data part?) is really the only thing the Comcast servers care about, in which case moving the cards to a new unit would still work.

I've been wondering myself whether this was a software or hardware issue. There's no hard evidence either way, except for the fact that a reboot always seems to fix it. This makes me think it's software setting a register somewhere incorrectly. This of course begs the question as to why so few people seem to be experiencing it.

[Keith Mickunas]

I had this happen for the first time today, and today is when I got 9.2 installed. I've had my unit a couple weeks and it was running 8.1 and working good.

A couple things to note on mine. First, I was playing music for the first time today from my PC. I hadn't tried that stuff before. I turned the TV off to see if the music would continue. The sound went away for a bit, as is typical with my receiver because of the way it handles HDMI, and when the music finally started again it kept going out and coming back on. I turned the TV on and the screen came back, then I tried to go to live TV and after that all I got was the black background and the menus.

My experience seems to indicate it could be an HDMI glitch of some sort. I'll try reproducing it in the next day or two.

[ClifG]

I also hit this for the first time right after getting the 9.2 software. Hit it last night and again tonight. I don't remember exactly what I was trying out last night when it happened, but tonight it happened right after I was browsing some shows stored on my server via the TiVo Now Playing menu.

There may be something to the network activity correlation.

I'm in native mode, component out (so not an HDMI glitch in my case), and the box is only a week or two old. Never had this problem with my old software (8.1.7 I think is what it was) but now hit this twice in two days with 9.2. Only a reboot fixes it. :(

[pjhartman]

My experience seems to indicate it could be an HDMI glitch of some sort. I'll try reproducing it in the next day or two.

I've hit this same error, and I'm currently using S-Video connection (HDMI cable should arrive today) so IMHO it's an issue with the TiVo's video output.

The Tivo overlays (menu, time bar, etc.) show fine, but there's no video transmitted.

[uforia]

It's good that they're trying to remedy the issue for you, but I wouldn't expect a new unit to fix the issue. Does anyone really think this is anything but another software bug?

I don't disagree at all. But I know that there are people out there with a THD that haven't seen this issue. So I'm willing to try a different box, although I've seen several people indicate they went through multiple boxes while trying to fix this.

I have to swap my 1TB hard drive anyway so I hopefully won't have to re-pair the cable card. If it's software, then I'd have the issue regardless of using the fresh hard drive or my existing 1TB drive.

[texaslabrat]

Add me to the list experiencing the problem

9.2J, 720 fixed, component. Took Tivo out of standby this morning, menu came up fine. I noticed there was a suggestion program recording. I hit the live TV button...and just a black screen. No Tivo screen overlays..just black. Was able to get back into the menu, but when I did the background graphics were gone (just black background at this point). All the menus worked, but Live TV didn't. Reboot fixed it.

[HDRyder9]

I'm experiencing the exact same problem. After multiple visits from my cable company and many calls to TIVO, TIVO is sending me a new Tivo HD. I'm pretty sure I'll have the same problem, though.

Geeeesh, this is frustrating. I haven't had a single 24 hour period when my new Tivo worked properly and I've missed dozens of shows that should have been recorded and weren't.

[Mars Rocket]

...I've missed dozens of shows that should have been recorded and weren't.

The problem as I experienced it did not affect recordings in any way, just the ability to view them. Even when the black background was in effect, the recordings continued as expected, and once I rebooted I could view them.

[paslax]

I've hit this same error, and I'm currently using S-Video connection (HDMI cable should arrive today) so IMHO it's an issue with the TiVo's video output.

The Tivo overlays (menu, time bar, etc.) show fine, but there's no video transmitted.

I disagree that it's a video output issue. After pressing the live TV button and getting the black screen, try pressing channel up or channel down. You will hear a "thumbs-down noise". That would imply that this is more than just a video output issue. (Disclaimer: I haven't had it happen on my 9.2J yet, so maybe things are different now. But that's how it was with 8.3 and 9.1.)

Also, according to user experiences, this issue correlates 100% with having recent NETWORK activity. With the increased number of network features introduced in 9.2, I expect the complaints to start piling up.

[HDRyder9]

OK, it's getting curiouser and curiouser. I got tired of rebooting Tivo every few hours or so. So, I just left it alone. Here's where it gets weird. The second tuner started to work again, after being "gone" for about 12-18 hours.

Also, some new values have appeared on the cable card CP screen. I sure wish I knew what all those values mean. If I did, maybe I could diagnose my problem.

Edit: My joy didn't last long. Now both tuners are dark and Tivo needs rebooted just to operate. I actually think I can recreate this problem by using the "Live TV" button.

[TomRaz]

Well I had the same problem and contacted Tivo support and they suggested replacing the hardware. I received a repalcement Tivo HD today from Tivo directly and it does the same exact thing.

The replacement unit came with 8.1 software, but my original unit had the same problems with 8.1, 9.1 and 9.2J software.


So it is either a software or hardware problem that has not been resolved yet. I am using one SA M series cable card.

I guess I can tolerate the problem assuming Tivo fixes it in the near future.

[gardavis]

I also hit this for the first time right after getting the 9.2 software.

Me too. I read the update message, deleted it and then, I think, went to live TV and just had gray. Reboot fixed it.

This is about the first time I had to reboot the HD Tivo for a problem since I got it a few months ago.

1080i/hdmi/ota

Gary Davis

[HDRyder9]

Well I had the same problem and contacted Tivo support and they suggested replacing the hardware. I received a repalcement Tivo HD today from Tivo directly and it does the same exact thing.

The replacement unit came with 8.1 software, but my original unit had the same problems with 8.1, 9.1 and 9.2J software.


So it is either a software or hardware problem that has not been resolved yet. I am using one SA M series cable card.

I guess I can tolerate the problem assuming Tivo fixes it in the near future.

This appears to have been a known issue for weeks if not months. Tivo has released v9.2 which supposedly fixes this. It does NOT. Just in case anybody is confused, it's still broken.

[szatkoff]

I experienced this for the first time last night. THD with 9.2j. I have had the unit since the end of August.

[rfolsom805]

I've had my unit since the first week they were out (so I've had it just over a year now) and this problem JUST STARTED a few weeks ago.. I've not had any issues with the unit at all since I installed it last year. This HAS to be a software bug of some sort.

[NaperTiVo]

Two THD's, has happened on both of them. They are both 3 days old. One happened pre-cablecard the other post-cablecard. Each time happened when pressing Live TV. Version 9.1. Is there anybody who has had a THD up for more than a couple weeks and not had this happen to them?

PLEASE BE A SOFTWARE BUG! And please fix it soon!

[doodles]

I've had the black screen of doom several times of the past month I've owned my new TiVo HD. I've noticed that it has happened during specific times:

- after forcing a connection to the TiVo network and getting a new software update.
- after playing and stopping several songs off my PC quickly and losing the network connection
- after downloading a show from Amazon Unbox.

From reading previous posts, seems like the common denominator with the problem is that the network connection is always somehow involved. Something is being downloaded or transferred when it happens.

Oh yeah, and I have 9.2 and it happened yesterday when playing songs off my PC!

[tnwahoo]

Hi all -

Well, this is therapeutic! I was feeling so picked on... I get the same black screen and the restart will fix it for a few days. What I've noticed on my system (HD with cablecards, using wireless network) is that I only get black screens on the 'standard' cable channels, not the digital ones. (i.e. the ones that I could get without a cable box show up black screen, while the digital ones are fine...)

So, I do a restart about once a week - but the recordings that were scheduled during that time are either a recorded black screen or a 'partial' recording of a black screen. Since I travel a fair amount and am not at home daily, it gets pretty annoying to get home and find half of my lineup didn't record!

Has anybody seen this and or figured out a fix? There for awhile I got numerous 'repeat guided setup' messages, but figured out that the reboot pretty much does the same thing in a lot less time. (And no, the guided setup did not make a difference.)

Thanks everybody!

[TomRaz]

I spoke to 2nd level Tivo Support again today concerning the black background issue. They admitted they are aware o the problem and they are working on a fix at this point.

Hopefully they will resolve the problem soon with a software fix.

[RickNY]

seems like the common denominator with the problem is that the network connection is always somehow involved. Something is being downloaded or transferred when it happens.

Im going to agree on this.. I bought my THD about a month ago -- the bug happened when I was first setting up the box -- while it was in the middle of downloading the full guide data for the first time with a force connect.. I hadn't had it happen since then, but was on phone with Tivo rep to diagnose a CableCard issue, and it happened for only the 2nd time while I was on the phone with her after a month of it not happening since the first time. She replaced the box (which was running 9.2), and the new box did the same exact thing during the initial setup. After a few force connects, the new box was brought to 9.1..

Heres where it gets interesting.. Since TTG/MRV/TTGB was activated on both boxes, I transferred my shows from the original Tivo to Tivo Desktop.. That unit then experienced the issue several times during the transfer.. I subsequently transferred the shows again to the new unit, and once again, while it was doing the transfer, the new unit went to the black screen several times. All told, in the past two days, during the heavy network traffic transferring shows, Ive had the issue come up at least 6 times on the 2 units, all requiring reboots.

Rick

[jskaras]

Glad (?) to hear that it's not just my box that is having issues. I got the series 3 when it first came out and it has worked flawlessly until the last couple of weeks. One tuner will work fine but when I switch to the other tuner the screen is intermittently greyed out. No obvious precipitating factors. Interestingly, today only the digital channels were out on the second tuner. Analog still worked. First tuner was fine. No signal malfunctions on CC diagnostics. Reboot restores all functionality to both tuners.

[RickNY]

. One tuner will work fine but when I switch to the other tuner the screen is intermittently greyed out.

That doesnt appear to be the same issue thats discussed here -- that problem sounds like a tuning problem -- I would guess signal related if the CableCards are both reporting they are fine. The problem we are talking about affects the whole user interface losing its background graphics, and the complete loss of all audio and video.

[zaknafein]

Been a couple weeks since I got the 9.2 update, and I haven't seen this problem again, where I was seeing it quite a bit before.

[Allanon]

I have two unmodified Tivo HDs and both have this problem, It occurs when flipping through menus. This problem occurred when version 9.1 was installed and with version 9.2. I have 2 single stream cablecards in one box and the other has one multi-stream cablecard. The problem has occurred when using native or 1080i fixed as a video output and both Tivos are hooked up to the TV using HDMI.

[johnb73]

Im also seeing something similar to the black screen issue on my Series3 which happens periodically, and only started the night of the last service update (9.2?)

I use HDMI through a Yamaha receiver to a Pioneer plasma. When I power on my receiver, I heard audio, but when I turn on my tv i drop audio and have no video as well. Tivo is seemingly unresponsive. Does not even output on s-video. Front panel shows signal received from the remote but has no effect on a/v output. I cant use the remote to restart, so I have to unplug which makes me very nervous about my HDD.

There was only one instance where repowering the receiver/tv regained functionality. All other times I repowered them several times. Ive also unplugged the HDMI cables.

[thardie]

I'm just very dissapointed that we've gone through 3 software releases (8.x, 9.1 and now 9.2J) and they all have this dissapearing video trick. I've been repsonsible for 4 of these units being purchased in the last week, and I think I'm going to have to warn people to hold off until TiVo can get a handle on their QA problem here...

[Gai-jin]

I think the main thing is that it's a *relatively* uncommon issue when the tivo is under normal use. In my experince anyway, the issue occured after doing a lot of activity in the menus. Forcing connections, using the cablecard test screens, changing channels you receive, etc.

Now that the tivo is setup the way I want it, I haven't been messing around in the setup menus much, and haven't seen the issue again since just after I got 9.2

[CrispyCritter]

Just to add my story, since I have a pretty bare minimum setup and thus can rule things out.

New TiVoHD last week. Just cable, composite TV connection, no cable cards - will add cards at Christmas time after I get my wife an HD TV.

After guided setup I went through changing settings. When I tried to view live TV afterwards, I got gray screens. Going back to the menus, they had no background. Reboot fixed everything.

No further problems. Updated to 9.1 and then requested 9.2. 9.2 installed fine and I tested MRV of HD shows from our S3 yesterday. Worked fine. However, I did not test Live TV after the 9.2 installation (it was a manual reboot). This morning, all live TV channels were gray, but I had the background for the menus. Checking the logs, there were no shows or suggestions recorded after I got 9.2. This was a very sharp dropoff, especially given I still have room for suggestions. "Recording History" explanation for the missing shows
This program was not recorded because either the TiVo HD DVR is not authorized for this channel, the program was not purchased, or the program was not available in your area.I passed by the set last night (my wife's on a business trip, so the TV wasn't used), and it was showing it was recording two shows, both of which were not actually recorded. I rebooted this morning and everything looks fine now. I have live TV and it's recording.

Given my minimalist setup, my problem is obviously not a cablecard issue, not an HDMI problem, not a signal issue (my other S2's all were fine in this period with the analog signals, as was my S3 with its digital signal). It's only barely possible it could be HD related at all - the transfer and test of one HD movie is the only time I've done anything with HD on this machine, but it is the case the problems started around the time period I was transferring and momentarily viewing this program.

The problem either occurred on the 9.2 final reboot, or it occurred during the heavy ethernet MRV usage immediately after.

[Pvgibbs]

I had the dreaded gray screen twice - once before CC install (directly after service update) and once a couple days after CC install. A reboot fixes it, but going to call Tivo to complain anyway -- they need to know it impacts people.

I also get short gray screens while tuning or going from Tivo Central to Live TV...but I can live with that issue.

UPDATE (after about 10 mins on hold and chat w- Tivo HD tech):

According to the Tivo Tech he has heard of this happening on HD's (but not series3s). After explaining the issue 3x and some back and forth...He said the new software update should fix it.

He placed me on a priority list for "9.2" (which I later had him clarify was "9.2.1J")

I really wasnt in the mood to press him on the 9.2.1J "fix"

In any case, my advice is to call Tivo so at least there is a building of "case files" about the issue.

[DrBlove]

So I just started having the same issue with my Tivo series 3, Motorola m-cards, HDMI output, 9.2 software, external hard drive 750 gb

Will give a data dump of what I noticed.

I noticed the issue because some shows that I set up to record were not being recorded. Played around, could not figure anything out, so I thought it was just me. Next day I could see on the OLED front that a show was being recorded, after it was done I went to watch it a couple of hours later, and it was not there... This really perplexed me to why it was just deleting shows...

I then went through the shows that had recorded and stayed recorded and one of them was totally black, and in the time line arrow, no green... I deleted this show.

I decided it must me something about the tuners, Cable Card 1, no problems, Cable card 2, I thought that no channels are coming in (which was odd since the previous night I recorded two shows at the same time and they both came in) So started flipping around channels on Cable Card 2, and some channels work specifically local HD channels and IONSAT (I have no idea what this channel is), but local non-HD channels (the non HD equivalents did not work), nor low analog cable channels lik FX or Spike or SciFi... (which is why when I was able two channels at the same time last night).

Now an odd side note: I started playing around with changing channels and switching cable cards. (Remember CC1 totally works, CC2 only kind works, having issues) So if I go to channels on CC1 that do not work on CC2 say channel 32, then flip to CC2 (where this channels had not work) now it works on CC2. I think what happens here is that the Tivo forces the CC flip to CC1 if CC2 goes to the same channel, since if I tune CC1 to a channel that CC2 is on the channel does not come in. I guess interesting?

Anyways spent lots of time talking to Tivo folks, got no where... talked to the Cable Company they "hit" the cable card, nothing really changed (though reading through this forum makes me think this is not a CC issue)...

So I guess this is a long way to say, me too... also I have rebooted 5-6 times, that does not fix anything (for me)

[kdmorse]

I just had this problem on a brand new TivoHD with 9.1. I seemed to provoke it by installing a completely unconfigured MCard, and attempt a channel test. After that - no video, no background on menus, no live tv, etc.. I could move arround the menu's, but all video was gone everywhere.

A reboot cleared it up - hopefully never to return.

-Ken

[tmesser]

Add me to the long list of people experiencing this problem. I first saw it during the CableCARD install at the end of September, and I figured it was a random occurrence related to that, but this has persisted through 8.1, 9.1 and 9.2. It's happened three times since I bought my TiVo HD six weeks ago, and it only seems to happen after I've been in the video menus.

Because others in this thread have called TiVo and received replacement units only to have it happen again, and getting my Comcast CCs paired properly was a fiasco, I have no interest in calling TiVo to have them send me a replacement unit.

9.2J, HDMI, 720p fixed, 2 S-Cards, no upgrades/expansions.

[mpmclaugh33]

I have had this problem too. I have had the TivoHD less than a week and it happened once. I don't have cable cards yet so thats not the cause. Mine is a gray screen...maybe black vs gray is related to which color you have set to display the bars for 4:3 viewing. My issue occurred when going to the screen to check signal strength. I was getting decent signal strength on all the channels I checked but could only see a gray screen. signal 70% or better.

haven't seen it happen again but I haven't had the unit very long.

Native, HDMI

[sidsub]

Add another Ditto here -- happened twice. Exact same symptoms as reported, and I have no clue what I did to trigger it.

TiVo: please fix this promptly!

Thanks.

[soopergeek]

Not so sure this is a rare issue. I just purchsed my TivoHD and this has happened a number of times. I need to reboot each time. Very annoying. Not sure, but it may be that this happens when I use the network connection.

[tomers]

Same here. Black background with menus happened to me 3 times in 5 days.

TiVoHD. 9.1. HDMI. Native.

I noticed that when it happened, in the System Information menu the HDMI Status field is blank when it normally would show "HDCP enabled". A reboot fixes the problem.

[janry]

I've had the black screen of doom several times of the past month I've owned my new TiVo HD. I've noticed that it has happened during specific times:

- after forcing a connection to the TiVo network and getting a new software update.
- after playing and stopping several songs off my PC quickly and losing the network connection
- after downloading a show from Amazon Unbox.

From reading previous posts, seems like the common denominator with the problem is that the network connection is always somehow involved. Something is being downloaded or transferred when it happens.
Oh yeah, and I have 9.2 and it happened yesterday when playing songs off my PC!

My thoughts exactly. I only operated my HD for a few days without the network but did not have the problem until the network card arrived and I connected to the network. The 1st time the problem occurred was after a TiVoCast transfer, and then last night after the daily service connection.

Has anyone had the problem whose HD is not connected to a network?

[dkaleita]

I just bought my second HD TiVo, and after setting it all up with cable cards, etc., the first thing I tried was transferring a show that I had previously recorded on my slightly older unit (9.2 SW in both). I selected a show and told it to transfer. It seemed to be doing something (blue light came on), so I selected a second show to transfer as well. But as soon as I pressed the Live TV button, I got the BLACK SCREEN. Menus work, but no video.

Other strange things happen when the screen is black: if you select a show from the Now Playing list (which you can do since the menus still work), the TiVo thinks the show has a duration of zero, and immediately asks you if you want to delete it. If you say no, and reboot the TiVo, everything seems to come back to normal. If you wait until after the blue light goes off before rebooting (several hours in my case), then the transfer of shows does properly complete and you'll find the transferred shows on your TiVo after the reboot.

This is 100% repeatable; I can make the black screen happen at any time at will just by sequentially selecting two shows to transfer, and then pressing the Live TV button.

[chefelf]

I just had this problem happen to me for the first time. My TiVo was setup last Wednesday (5 days ago) with two CableCARDs. I just got the black screen problem for the first time this morning.

A reboot fixed the problem. I'm just hoping this isn't a frequent occurrence.

[TiVo Troll]

I don't use CableCARDS, and initially (right after completing Guided Set-up) had the OP's problem on all of HDTiVo's analog channels. I suspected a bad A/D encoder.

After rebooting once the problem hasn't recurred. I did call TiVo to report the condition and create a case # for the record just to protect warrantee rights if necessary.

[showard594]

Pre 9.1: I have seen this black background working menus issue several times when playing in the menus, switching around quickly etc.

Since 9.1 it I have stopped playing around and it the problem did not occur. Same with 9.2j or what ever that version was.

However, since I got final 9.2 it has happened twice in the last week when just coming out of standby. Of course the restart fixes the issue.

I hope this gets resolved soon.

[mpmclaugh33]

I just bought my second HD TiVo, and after setting it all up with cable cards, etc., the first thing I tried was transferring a show that I had previously recorded on my slightly older unit (9.2 SW in both). I selected a show and told it to transfer. It seemed to be doing something (blue light came on), so I selected a second show to transfer as well. But as soon as I pressed the Live TV button, I got the BLACK SCREEN. Menus work, but no video.

Other strange things happen when the screen is black: if you select a show from the Now Playing list (which you can do since the menus still work), the TiVo thinks the show has a duration of zero, and immediately asks you if you want to delete it. If you say no, and reboot the TiVo, everything seems to come back to normal. If you wait until after the blue light goes off before rebooting (several hours in my case), then the transfer of shows does properly complete and you'll find the transferred shows on your TiVo after the reboot.

This is 100% repeatable; I can make the black screen happen at any time at will just by sequentially selecting two shows to transfer, and then pressing the Live TV button.

The transfer shows from one tivo to the TivoHD is the same scenario that just gave me the black screen again for the second time. I selected a show to transfer, then another and then went to live tv. I will try to reproduce again before I go to bed...don't feel like waiting for the tivohd to reboot for 5+ minutes right now.

I've only had my TivoHD for a week and a half and its happend 2 times. Seems like this is not a rare occurrence based on reading this thread. Once I reproduce it a few times I will call Tivo support just so they know its happening frequently to a lot of people

[benh57]

This has happened twice to me in 2 days of having the TivoHD... very annoying.

[mpmclaugh33]

OK, first thing. This thread and this one - http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=372716 are basically the same thread. Maybe somebody can combine the two. It seems this problem is relatively common or at least not uncommon.

I had the black screen, only menus working again last night. Third time its happened in 2 weeks. 2 of the three times it happened were when I was looking at system info/diagnostic info. Here is a question for everyone having this issue:

Is anybody having this issue NOT using an HDMI connection? What I noticed last night is when the problem occurred, in the system info screen HDMI status said nothing instead of HDCP Enabled. after the reboot it said HDCP Enabled and worked fine. If you are using HDMI, do you have a "cheap" HDMI cable or a "good" one? I would consider mine to be a cheap cable. For people who have swapped out HDMI cables to a better one, has the problem gone away? I am inclined to think this issue is HDMI related. Everything else seems to function except displaying video. Recordings still record and if you change the channel, the tuner reflects the channel change.

Lets post some HDMI related info here and see if we can find some commonality between those of us having this issue.

[fergie8]

...
I had the black screen, only menus working again last night. Third time its happened in 2 weeks. 2 of the three times it happened were when I was looking at system info/diagnostic info. Here is a question for everyone having this issue:

Is anybody having this issue NOT using an HDMI connection? ...

Yes, I am NOT using an HDMI connection. I've had my new TiVo for less than two weeks. I'm connecting with component cables from my TiVo HD and I've had this issue happen at least four times so far.

[CrispyCritter]

OK, first thing. This thread and this one - http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=372716 are basically the same thread. Maybe somebody can combine the two. It seems this problem is relatively common or at least not uncommon.

I had the black screen, only menus working again last night. Third time its happened in 2 weeks. 2 of the three times it happened were when I was looking at system info/diagnostic info. Here is a question for everyone having this issue:

Is anybody having this issue NOT using an HDMI connection? What I noticed last night is when the problem occurred, in the system info screen HDMI status said nothing instead of HDCP Enabled. after the reboot it said HDCP Enabled and worked fine. If you are using HDMI, do you have a "cheap" HDMI cable or a "good" one? I would consider mine to be a cheap cable. For people who have swapped out HDMI cables to a better one, has the problem gone away? I am inclined to think this issue is HDMI related. Everything else seems to function except displaying video. Recordings still record and if you change the channel, the tuner reflects the channel change.

Lets post some HDMI related info here and see if we can find some commonality between those of us having this issue.I'm quite unconvinced it is the same problem. I suspect there are at least two causes of the related problems, if not more. I would guess there are correlations to
1. Initial installation of a new OS
2. Heavy ethernet usage
3. HDMI
4. exit from standby mode.

Which of these are causes, and not correlations, I don't know.

For the record (as I said earlier), I had the problem with no HDMI, no component, no cable cards, and analog signals, all connected to an SD TV.

[RickNY]

Lets post some HDMI related info here and see if we can find some commonality between those of us having this issue.


Its not HDMI related -- I'm using component video, and its happening to me.. Others have reported the same.

[lessd]

Its not HDMI related -- I'm using component video, and its happening to me.. Others have reported the same.

When it happened to me i even went to composite outputs and the problem was still there, a soft re-boot fixed it and it never happened again for me anyways so i never called TiVo about it.

[njdtivo]

I spoke with Tivo tech support today and the HD specialist told me that they are aware of the problems and that they are HDMI related. She told me she didn't know when there would be a fix.

[Graymalkin]

I had this problem today, but none of the usual suspects seem to be involved.

Unmodified TiVo HD, 9.2a-01-2-652 software, analog cable (no CableCards), 480i fixed, S-video connection (it's an old TV).

A soft reboot fixed the problem, but I still get one second's worth of black screen when changing channels.

[lessd]

I spoke with Tivo tech support today and the HD specialist told me that they are aware of the problems and that they are HDMI related. She told me she didn't know when there would be a fix.

They (TiVo) may have a HDMI problem but its not the one on this thread that we are talking about, the blackout comes from all outputs, I know because i tried all four. The problem may be that when the HDMI thinks its being cheated (by error of some sort) it shuts down all outputs.

[boettcht]

I just set up an HDT for my parents on Friday night (cablecards installed on Sat) and the Tivo went into this mode 7 times since turning it on, 3 of them before the cable cards were installed.

I could not figure out what was casing it, I saw it go to the black/gray screen once while watching live tv, during a channel change, & browsing tivo menus.

Called tech support late Sat. night and they had me do a 57 kickstart and let me go while it did the kickstart, 20 minutes after booting up the tivo went back tot the gray screen.

Called tivo back on Sunday and they are replacing the box, they did not give me any explanation of the issue. What is the likely hood that this is going to be an issue on the new box?

The screen is present on component & composite outputs.

[Islanti]

I'm not even using HDMI on the box and have seen this happen twice on only one of my 3 Tivo HD boxes.

[TomRaz]

I had the same problem with one Tivo HD unit that I purchased from Amazon and Tivo advised me to send my original unit back to Amazon and get it replaced.

I decided to get a refund from Amazon and purchase one directly from Tivo. And the same thing happened with that unit. It doesn't seem to matter what version of software you are running or what output mode you are using.

Tivo support has told me they are aware of the issue and are working on the problem.

Hopefully they will have a fix soon

[dslunceford]

Did guided setup on two THDs this evening in anticipation of install Wed.; wanted to be certain to get 9.2 on the box before my cc install. Just did a quick hook up using composite/RCA jack and the wireless Ethernet for connectivity. No TV signal at all coming in to the box

First box, no issues, took 5 forced calls to get 9.2. Second box, guided setup was fine, after first forced call, background screens went away and there was just gray screen, otherwise menus worked. Forced call again, got 9.2, restarted and backgrounds are back.

The only thing i did differently was I selected "no cablecard" on first box (as I didn't have them yet); on second box, I selected "yes, cablecard" in GS, then simply skipped the install step.

[hartebeest]

I've just had the same problem for the first time.

TiVoHD with no mods, installed about 2 months, CC installed about 6 weeks ago
9.2a-01-2-652
multicast CC
component
native
Comcast cable (in Arlington, VA)

I initially had the ESPNHD/ESPN2HD problem about a week ago - ESPNHD worked, ESPN2HD was black, but all other channels that I tried were working. Later, ESPN2HD was working again. Then several days later, I noticed other HD channels missing, but non-HD still looked fine. Then today, I lost all non-HD channels and the only channels that worked were the local HD channels. I called Comcast and while I was on the phone I was going through the CC diagnostics menus and got the black background behind the menus and then all channels were gone. I then rebooted and after the "few more minutes" screen came up, it froze. Stayed there for almost 40 minutes. I unplugged the box and after it rebooted everything works.

When I was in the diagnostic menus, both cards had 100 for signal strength and appeared to be tuning properly. SNR was about 36dB for both. But when I tried to test channels, I got "No Channels Available."

Since my problem appeared to occur in phases over about a week, I can't remember if there was a common denominator to the occurrence of problems (e.g., using menus, live TV button, network connection etc. as others have reported).

[steinercat]

I've experienced the sqame problem on an unmodified THD.

Philips 1.3a HDMI cable.

the black screen freaked me out as I just got this thing hooked up last Friday.

Could it be the quality/type of the HDMI cable? I doubt that as the Philips HDMi cable is pretty darn good.

[pjhartman]

Could it be the quality/type of the HDMI cable? I doubt that as the Philips HDMi cable is pretty darn good.

Folks not using HDMI have also experienced the black screen problem.

[uforia]

I had the same problem with one Tivo HD unit that I purchased from Amazon and Tivo advised me to send my original unit back to Amazon and get it replaced.

I decided to get a refund from Amazon and purchase one directly from Tivo. And the same thing happened with that unit. It doesn't seem to matter what version of software you are running or what output mode you are using.

Tivo support has told me they are aware of the issue and are working on the problem.

Hopefully they will have a fix soon

I had this issue with my original box and had it replaced by Tivo a few weeks ago. I have not seen this issue with the new box at all, although I've not purposely tried to make the issue reoccur. I have gone in and looked at system info, diagnostics, forced some updates, and have copied shows via MRV and have not had the problem again.

I was very skeptical that the new box would not have the same problem. Since I had both the new one and bad one at the same time while doing the swap, I popped the hoods on both and tried to see a if there was any difference. There were actually 2-3 chips that had later version numbers on them. None were obviously an MPEG decoder or anything that'd lead me to think it could fix the issue, but I've not had the issue occur again.

So, if Tivo wants to replace the box, I say let them. Just hopefully you can copy your shows off to another Tivo or PC so you don't lose them. We cannot, in any way, say they've fixed the problem on newer boxes, but it may just be the luck of the draw.

[ajcadoo]

so i got a tivo hd last week and plugged it in to my cable. i was only able to recieve the first 100 channels because they are not digital. i find out that it is only possible to watch digital channels with two S-CARDS or one M-CARD. a cox installer came to my house today to install the multistream card and after a couple of problems he finally got it to work. He then tests the channels, but every single one is BLACK! he tells me, "if there are no channels in the next couple hours, call tivo." so i do call tivo and they tell me, "have your cable provider to 'reactivate' the card." so i call back my installer and he says, "nope, thats not a problem. the card has already been activated and it is ready!" my installer suggests to get a new box. do i need to? are there any ways to fix it? HELP PLEASE! this box, by the way, was purchased brand new from amazon.com.

[expletive]

Same problem for me, brand new box from amazon with 2 cablecards and latest software. Using component cables. For me i can reproduce it with some regularity by going into the setup menus and then trying to return to video. This is definitely not an HDMI issue unless, as some suggest, HDMI is looking for a handshake when one is not necessary. I get all the menus but no video playback or menu backgrounds, just grey (which is what my letterbox color is set to). Very annoying. I know this issue is slightly different than those with absolutely NO video but they do seem to be related.

FWIW, my video output setting is 1080i Hybrid.

[Marc421]

Same problem. Brand new TiVo from Amazon this week. Two cable cards installed yesterday and twice now, black screen.
Running with HDMI out. 1080i fixed. Screen goes black menus stay, no live TV with menus.

[AZrob]

I had the blackout menu again tonight, a week since the last time. Of note this time: I have been trying to get TTCB to work this week, with very little success. All day I tried to get it to work, and then finally a transfer successfully started. But when I actually tried to go to the screen to see the show that was being transferred to Tivo - bam, got the black screen. So maybe there is something to this idea that increased network traffic and/or decoding of a show being transferred is correlated with this issue.

Has anyone had this problem while in Native format mode? That was suggested to me by Tivo this week, but I never got around to switching to it.

Rob

[wokNroll]

I experienced this same problem with my new (unmodified) Tivo HD. No cablecards yet. I am using 1080i fixed output via HDMI. It has only happened once so far and a restart of the Tivo box fixed the problem.

[lessd]

I had the blackout menu again tonight, a week since the last time. Of note this time: I have been trying to get TTCB to work this week, with very little success. All day I tried to get it to work, and then finally a transfer successfully started. But when I actually tried to go to the screen to see the show that was being transferred to Tivo - bam, got the black screen. So maybe there is something to this idea that increased network traffic and/or decoding of a show being transferred is correlated with this issue.

Has anyone had this problem while in Native format mode? That was suggested to me by Tivo this week, but I never got around to switching to it.

Rob

This is a known problem, it does not depend on anything you the owner does as it will happen when using the composite outputs also. After it happens a soft re-boot will fix the problem and for the 15 units my friends and I own it does not happen again (yet), again do a soft re-boot don't unplug the TiVo. I do hope TiVo will fix this problem.

[Marc421]

Sorry, but it absolutely happens again after a soft reboot as documented in 6 pages of posts here and my own experience. You and your friends are very lucky.

I only hope it is a temporary software issue. Seems to happen when I am playing around in system settings or accessing photos/music from my macs.

[CrispyCritter]

Sorry, but it absolutely happens again after a soft reboot as documented in 6 pages of posts here and my own experience. You and your friends are very lucky.I disagree. That's only true if you believe that there is only one cause for the problem. There's absolutely no evidence for that belief. I certainly believe that for you (and many others) it will happen again after a soft reboot. But that is not true for everybody.

[TiVo Troll]

Two THD's, has happened on both of them. They are both 3 days old. One happened pre-cablecard the other post-cablecard. Each time happened when pressing Live TV. Version 9.1. Is there anybody who has had a THD up for more than a couple weeks and not had this happen to them?

PLEASE BE A SOFTWARE BUG! And please fix it soon!

It is likely a s/w related glitch or bug.

I experienced the HDTiVo blankscreen problem on two occasions, first right after initial running Guided Setup. There was no pix on analog channels but then they started coming in intermittantly. At first I thought it was caused by a bad a/d encoder, but a soft reboot fixed it.

Then, a few weeks later, right after installing an 'M' CableCARD (and then rerunning Guided Setup) the same thing happened. Again a soft reboot fixed it. It hasn't recurred.

[mpmclaugh33]

Has anyone had this problem while in Native format mode? That was suggested to me by Tivo this week, but I never got around to switching to it.

Rob

I use Native format and its happened to me 3 times.

[Marc421]

I disagree. That's only true if you believe that there is only one cause for the problem. There's absolutely no evidence for that belief. I certainly believe that for you (and many others) it will happen again after a soft reboot. But that is not true for everybody.

So for some it only happens once and a soft reboot fixes the problem forever?

And to be clear I was responding to Lessd's assertion "After it happens a soft re-boot will fix the problem".

[TiVo Troll]

When it happened to me i even went to composite outputs and the problem was still there, a soft re-boot fixed it and it never happened again for me anyways so i never called TiVo about it.

I use two outputs simultaneously, HDMI and Component (to a DVD recorder), and blank screens appeared on both, both times it happened.

Since my HDTiVo was brand new the first time it experienced the blankscreen issue, even though a soft reboot 'fixed' the problem, I called TiVo Tech Support the very next day to initiate a Case Number, to protect my warrantee rights in case blankscreen became a sleeper issue.

[lessd]

So for some it only happens once and a soft reboot fixes the problem forever?

And to be clear I was responding to Lessd's assertion "After it happens a soft re-boot will fix the problem".

Forever is a long time, I have seen the problem on about 6 of the 15 units I helped friends install and when the video goes it goes from ALL outputs as i tried them all I also tried changing resolution to every one TiVo had, still no video, with a soft re-boot the problem went away for good as of now for the 15 units i know about (I now do a one soft re-boot on HD-TiVos that don't show the problem). The problem could come up again tomorrow or 5 years from now, I can't answer that question but TiVo should. I had one fail in the first guided setup but I completed the setup (even the start-up video would not play, only a blank screen for that time). Again a soft re-boot fixed the problem. My sample of HD-TiVos is small compared to this board but large compared to any one person on this board. (anyone need a 160Gb SATA new Hard Drive as i have about 15 of them)
Don't get me wrong, this is a problem TiVo should be addressing, they know about it and i hope it can be fixed by software. V9.2a does not fix the problem.

[AZrob]

Forever is a long time, I have seen the problem on about 6 of the 15 units I helped friends install and when the video goes it goes from ALL outputs as i tried them all I also tried changing resolution to every one TiVo had, still no video, with a soft re-boot the problem went away for good as of now for the 15 units i know about (I now do a one soft re-boot on HD-TiVos that don't show the problem). The problem could come up again tomorrow or 5 years from now, I can't answer that question but TiVo should. I had one fail in the first guided setup but I completed the setup (even the start-up video would not play, only a blank screen for that time). Again a soft re-boot fixed the problem. My sample of HD-TiVos is small compared to this board but large compared to any one person on this board. (anyone need a 160Gb SATA new Hard Drive as i have about 15 of them)
Don't get me wrong, this is a problem TiVo should be addressing, they know about it and i hope it can be fixed by software. V9.2a does not fix the problem.

Thank you, Les, for your helpful observations, since none of us has access to a larger sample of Tivo's. If you do start to hear of repeat occurrences I'd appreciate knowing about them...I'm talking to a couple of 2nd Tier techs at Tivo, and they can use all the data on this issue we can give them. It's obviously not such a glaring problem that it has risen to the top of their list yet, but the more we report it, the more likely it will receive proper attention.

Rob

[Mars Rocket]

I've only seen this problem twice: once on 10/19, when I was installing the Cable Cards, and once more on 10/22 while browsing through the menus. I haven't seen it since then. I have repeated Guided Setup once in the interim to add OTA channels, and I think the unit has been rebooted once or twice for other reasons since then (drive upgrade).

So now I'm at the 4+ weeks mark with no black screens.

[Isprex]

This has happened to me on multiple occasions and I've only had the unit for a few days. Hope they come up with a fix soon.

[IMFletcher]

just got my tivohd up and running on friday. i experienced it once that day and again tonight. i've watched very little inbetween though

my screen goes gray, not black. i use 720p fixed, and hdmi

same symptoms - menus work, but have gray underneath. all shows are gray no audio. can't even watch a previously recorded program.

disturbing - my twc dvr never lost the ability to function as a cable box......

[Mars Rocket]

my screen goes gray, not black. i use 720p fixed, and hdmi


The color you see behind the menus and instead of video is dependent on what you have the TiVo letterbox color set to. You can choose black or gray somewhere in Settings...

[uforia]

Has anyone noticed that the majority of folks that claim they've seen this issue are consistently saying that they just set up their Tivo? Or only had it running for a day or so and they saw the issue a couple times? I don't know that this really means anything, but I know that I saw much less of this issue after the software updates came through. Sure, I saw it again (which is why I got my unit replaced by Tivo... and haven't seen the issue on the new one), but I saw it again which much less frequency (with my old unit).

Does anyone agree that this is a pattern?

[CrispyCritter]

Does anyone agree that this is a pattern?Oh yes, I've noted it a couple of times. There's very clearly a bug related to a new setup, or a new OS version. But there are other causes as well.

[arwild01]

I set up my TiVoHD yesterday and I experienced this with the "out-of-the-box" software version (didn't look to see what the version# is shipped with). Then I got it again this morning after it rebooted with the "Fall 2007" software version.

TiVoHD with HDMI into a Denon 3808CI (repeater) then HDMI into a Mitsubishi WD65733. Two single channel Motorola CableCARDs.

[willelm]

This sucks. My new HD box was working fine last night after I hooked it up. Today the thing spontaneously just stopped getting several basic cable channels. Seems to be the same black screen that SO many have described here. Add me to the list too. By the way, the reboot doesn't even work for me. :mad:

[lessd]

This sucks. My new HD box was working fine last night after I hooked it up. Today the thing spontaneously just stopped getting several basic cable channels. Seems to be the same black screen that SO many have described here. Add me to the list too. By the way, the reboot doesn't even work for me. :mad:

When you first set up the TiVo-HD it can take a long time to change channels but that goes away with time.

[IMFletcher]

Does anyone agree that this is a pattern?

hard to say. i had mine running a few days while waiting for the cablecard installer (why they require a person to come out is a topic for another thread.....) and did all the software updates. by the time i got the CC in, i was already up at 9.2. only then did i start seeing it - but of course thats also when i really started using it for real.

[f0gax]

I'll get in on this too....
I've had a TivoHD for about a month or 6 weeks.
Came with a back-level software version. Not sure which one.
The black screen problem happened within a day of setting it up, even before the cable cards were installed. Happened again a couple weeks back. And then just now.
720p Fixed, Component

The first time I was just in and out of menus, nothing specific that I can remember.
Second time I was setting up a season pass. I ended up letting "Earl" finish since the light was on, and then rebooted.
The most recent occurance was after starting a Tivo.Net transfer to the Tivo.

Like many have said (I've only skimmed the thread) there doesn't appear to be much rhyme or reason to what triggers it from a sequence of events stand point.

[wmhjr]

Folks, I just posted another thread about this as well as some other issues. I've had my THD for a week. I'm taking it back and am done with Tivo. Here's the problem.

1) I need the unit to be reliable. Period. When the unit fails within 48 hours and goes into this mode, that is a sign I need to think about.

2) The unit is SO hard to get setup (CCs) and I get charged for setups. A truck has to roll to my home any time there's a problem, and I need to pay. Not Tivo. Me. So, just swapping out the units is frankly a non-starter.

3) From reading this thread, it appears as though we're supposed to just accept that this will happen. Absolutely no indication that Tivo is even attempting to address this.

4) Tivo support has been extremely difficult to reach and has provided absolutely no value whatsoever. Their comment is that these things "sometimes just need rebooted".

I can get a full refund for both the unit and the service (which I intend to do on Monday). So, my question now is whether I retain Comcast with the 8300s (which can take eSATA storage) or Verizon Fios with the moto 6416-2s (which Verizon prevents from taking eSATA storage). But, it looks like no Tivo for me.

[ji0005]

Folks, I just posted another thread about this as well as some other issues. I've had my THD for a week. I'm taking it back and am done with Tivo. Here's the problem.

I can get a full refund for both the unit and the service (which I intend to do on Monday). So, my question now is whether I retain Comcast with the 8300s (which can take eSATA storage) or Verizon Fios with the moto 6416-2s (which Verizon prevents from taking eSATA storage). But, it looks like no Tivo for me.


Your point is valid for sure... but the grass isn't necessarily greener where you are headed.

My Tivo blank screen issues went away once I had cable cards paired properly.

[wmhjr]

Your point is valid for sure... but the grass isn't necessarily greener where you are headed.

My Tivo blank screen issues went away once I had cable cards paired properly.

It's actually where I was. I've been running SA8300HDs for almost 3 years, so I've got plenty of experience with them. I know their flaws, and they certainly have some. But, they virtually never ever require reboots or lose video. And there are other THD problems I've uncovered.

My cablecards are properly paired now. Everyone (including Tivo and Verizon) agrees that they are properly paired.

[TiVo Troll]

Has anyone noticed that the majority of folks that claim they've seen this issue are consistently saying that they just set up their Tivo? Or only had it running for a day or so and they saw the issue a couple times? I don't know that this really means anything, but I know that I saw much less of this issue after the software updates came through. Sure, I saw it again (which is why I got my unit replaced by Tivo... and haven't seen the issue on the new one), but I saw it again which much less frequency (with my old unit).

Does anyone agree that this is a pattern?

YUP!!!

[BMoreE]

Going on the theory that this is video-conversion related... (and to be clear, I'm talking about the "menus visible, but background black/gray, no video" case, not the "some channels black/gray, but others there" case)...

Has anyone had this happen to them while their Tivo is set to "Native" video output mode? I was originally at 720p and had the problem 4 or 5 times (in the first week, pre-cable-card, limited usage.)

I switched the "Settings...Video...Video Output Format" to be "Native" as an experiment. So far, I've been fine for a few days while I've been playing with TTG downloads and other online features. The downside is that as I switch channels (and even swich between different Tivo menus) the changing of aspect ratios sent to my TV makes it twitter for a second as it re-syncs with the new input mode. But that's a heck of a lot better than a 10 minute reboot.

Keeping fingers crossed... I know people have said this problem is only sporadic. But before I switched, it was nearly daily.

(p.s. $5 says I'll be posting here very soon with a "well, so much for that..." The post-post jinx!)

[mpmclaugh33]

I had the issue again for the 4th time. Menus work, no video. It happened for me when I was transferring a show from a PC and then 20 minutes later I selected a show to transfer from a second Tivo while the other show was still transferring.

This issue is becoming frustrating to me. I have altered my behavior in order to not risk having the issue and needing to reboot. I used to transfer shows all the time, select a few and have them queue up. Now I am nervous every time I select more than one show to transfer and more often than not avoid doing that. I really need to call Tivo support and report the issue just so they continue to get calls.

I am surprised that no one who works for Tivo has yet to comment on this issue in this forum.

[threshar]

I've had a TivoHD for oh, a month or so.

Generally it works fine, but what I see happening is the gray screen syndrome happening more. WHen this happens, my menus are fine, I can go and watch something else, and it seems to only affect live tv. I haven't found any rhyme or reason for it yet. Sometimes changing the channel fixes it, sometimes not. Sometimes changing to an HD channelf ixes it, sometimes not. It is highly annoying.

I've also noticed (I haven't made a confirmed connection between that and this) a number of recording show up in the history as not authorized for the channnel, when I know I get that channel because other things record on it too (Food TV, in this case).

It is discouraging to read this thread. I've been using tivo for years, but the quality seems to be going downhill.

Unit is great when it works (which is most of the time I'd say)

Hopefully tivo will fix this soon.

[fergie8]

...
and to be clear, I'm talking about the "menus visible, but background black/gray, no video" case, not the "some channels black/gray, but others there" case)...

Has anyone had this happen to them while their Tivo is set to "Native" video output mode?
...

Yes.

[slongo]

Going on the theory that this is video-conversion related... (and to be clear, I'm talking about the "menus visible, but background black/gray, no video" case, not the "some channels black/gray, but others there" case)...

Has anyone had this happen to them while their Tivo is set to "Native" video output mode? I was originally at 720p and had the problem 4 or 5 times (in the first week, pre-cable-card, limited usage.)

I switched the "Settings...Video...Video Output Format" to be "Native" as an experiment. So far, I've been fine for a few days while I've been playing with TTG downloads and other online features. The downside is that as I switch channels (and even swich between different Tivo menus) the changing of aspect ratios sent to my TV makes it twitter for a second as it re-syncs with the new input mode. But that's a heck of a lot better than a 10 minute reboot.

Keeping fingers crossed... I know people have said this problem is only sporadic. But before I switched, it was nearly daily.

(p.s. $5 says I'll be posting here very soon with a "well, so much for that..." The post-post jinx!)
I've had my TiVoHD set at "native" from day one, and still have this issue.
Even more discouraging, I had my original unit replaced with an exchange and this one has the same problem.

I opened a case file with TiVo Support the very first day I setup the TiVoHD - had the black screen occur twice while navigating the menus. I also let Support know the exchange unit is doing exactly the same thing and had this noted in the case file in the event I want to return the unit. In the meantime, I'm hoping for a software update to fix the problem (though I'm not holding my breath).

When I asked the support person if there were plans to fix the problem, he could only say that software fixes are always "in the works", and he could not confirm there is a planned release to address this specific problem.

[rakawski]

I have two TivoHD's that are about a month old. Both will randomly have the tuners go black. I can change channels but everything is black. Recordings don't record with the message not authorized or unavailable. Rebooting the Tivo causes everything to work great again. This usually happens every 48 hours or so. I can't watch live tv or any recorded shows until I do a reboot.

I have 9.2a-01-2-652 on both units and Scientific Atlanta M cards in both.

[willelm]

So my earlier post which started, "This sucks..." needs to be retracted. Turns out Comcast fouled up the programing of my cablecards. After spending considerable time on the phone with the (very helpful and patient) Tivo support person we found the authorization code on the cablecard to be wrong. I called Comcast and explained things and the problem was fixed within seconds. They "re-hit" my cablecards to straighten out the error and I'm in business. Now it's everything that I hoped for!

Thanks, Tivo! Sorry I doubted you. :D

[rakawski]

One of mine died again today. The one thing I've noticed is that is if I go into the CableCard Setup and go under diagnostics for under the CableCard menu I get:
Failedtoload 'CableCARD///apps/diag.html' I get this for pretty much every option under the CableCARD menu. Rebooting and I get video back. :(

[DoozerM]

I'm a brand new Tivo subscriber and had it running less than 2 days (no cable cards yet) and am having this issue. I have a Series 3 and a Tivo HD. So far I am seeing this on my Tivo HD, but have not played much on my series 3 to see if it happens there too.

[TiVoPony]

Hey all, this thread was brought to my attention and I wanted to let you all know that we're aware of the issue, have been able to replicate it, and are working on a fix.

Our apologies for the inconvenience, and as always appreciate the detailed reports here on the forum. They're always helpful in tracking down these corner cases.

Pony

[TomRaz]

Pony thanks for taking the time to acknowledge this thread and the good news that Tivo is working on the fix.

Hopefully it will be a software upgrade that fixes this issue :up:

[ZXTT95]

I've also had this problem, on my second TiVo HD. The first one, which I got in October, hasn't done this. The second had one episode soon after setting up and one more after the SW was updated to 9.2a. I don't know how long after the update, because I don't have cable cards yet so these units aren't doing much.

[ado]

I purchased a new Tivo HD on Sunday and the issue occured the first day. It's happened a couple times a day, even after the installation of 2 s-cards. The resolution is set to Native, so I'm sure that video-conversion has nothing to do with this. If something doesn't change within a week or so I'll be returning it. I really do like it, but the slow interface and black screen are getting more and more agrivating, to the point where the comcast dvr doesn't look that bad. Of course the interface on the tivo is nicer, but I value a faster, problem-free interface rather than nicer graphics. I hope there's a fix because I really want to keep it.

[SeRv0]

Thanks for the post Pony. Good to hear it's being worked on.

You may want to let TiVo Support know about this. When I called to report the problem, I was told to stop using my surge and noise suppression strip and switch from HDMI to Component. Neither of these changes helped.

I would have rather heard "we are aware of the problem and will contact you as soon as the fix is ready".

[Balzer]

I've had this issue happen probably about 8 times since I purchased my TivoHD the first week after it's release. Most of the times it happened, only the analog cable channels went black. The digital and HD channels worked fine. Only one time did all the channels quit working. Reboot always fixes it. After the first few times, which occurred a couple weeks after I received the Tivo, I called Tivo support. The first CSR couldn't figure it out, so she gave me a reference number and transferred me to an advanced tech or something, who said they would look into it and call me back. A couple days later, they left a message on my VM asking if I could remove the cablecards for a while and let them know if the problem still occurred. I didn't do that since I must have the cablecards for my HD shows. But in the months since then, it only happened a few more times, so I just let it go.... But good to know they are working on the issue. I should have followed up more I suppose, but it wasn't a big issue for me, since it happens so infrequently.

[ZXTT95]

I purchased a new Tivo HD on Sunday and the issue occured the first day. It's happened a couple times a day, even after the installation of 2 s-cards. The resolution is set to Native, so I'm sure that video-conversion has nothing to do with this. If something doesn't change within a week or so I'll be returning it. I really do like it, but the slow interface and black screen are getting more and more agrivating, to the point where the comcast dvr doesn't look that bad. Of course the interface on the tivo is nicer, but I value a faster, problem-free interface rather than nicer graphics. I hope there's a fix because I really want to keep it.

Funny you should mention the Comcast boxes. My Moto 3416 just rebooted about an hour ago when I tried to change channels. As usual for these things, there's no guide data or "My DVR" when it comes back until it downloads a bunch of stuff. It also rebooted maybe a month ago when I tried to set up a new series recording. Sometimes it doesn't respond to button clicks, occasionally it erroneously claims to be 100% full and won't record until something is deleted. I still don't know how to extend a recording for a show that has already started (other than recording the next show).

They've fixed a few of the other problems over the years to the point where it's much better than my old 6412 was, but these things are not problem-free.

Edit: None of which makes the TiVo crapping out any more acceptable, but at least I feel I can expect them to pay attention to the problem this year/decade.

[bweeston]

Just 8 days ago I had Cox in Phoenix install my M-Card. Everything looked fine, but over the next week, when I turned the TV off at night and didn't use Tivo until the next afternoon, the only channels available were the basic cable channels. If I restarted the Tivo, everything came back. I called Tivo support while only being able to see basic cable channels. Working with them we noticed several error messages when looking at the diagnostic page for the cablecard. Tivo support declared the cablecard defective so I called Cox. Cox hit the cablecard again. Still no cable beyond basic channels. In fact, I started getting grey screens popping up while I was watching live TV. I called Cox back again to ask them to "undo" what the previous tech had done. They couldn't see what she had done that could be undone. This time they re - paired the cablecard with their equipment. I asked the Cox support person if the coax cable could be the culprit. She said it was possible. After hanging up, I realized that I was splitting the cable from the wall outlet between two devices, one was the Tivo. I attached a different coax cable and only one cable between the wall outlet and the Tivo box. All of my channels came back up. All of the error messages were gone. I got up this morning and turned my TV on. My movie channels were up and running and there were no error messages in the cablecard diagnostics pages.

Maybe swapping your coax cable or making sure you are not splitting your wall outlet between multiple devices will ensure your cable company's equipment can maintain a reliable connection to your Tivo. Connect only one cable from the wall outlet to your Tivo and see if your problems go away.

[DoozerM]

I am curious to know if the blank screen happens to anyones tivo that owns ONLY 1 tivo. When I set up my first tivo, the install went fine. I set up the second and did NOT have ENABLE TRANSFERS selected and it was fine. I had to re-set up the 2nd and had the ENABLE TRANSFERS share video button selected - and immediately saw the blank screen. Also, I followed someone's earlier post about not hitting the live tv button anymore and also following the menu's BACK up to root to get to live tv - and so far... no more blank screens. I'm sure its just a matter of time though......

[ChadS]

One of mine died again today. The one thing I've noticed is that is if I go into the CableCard Setup and go under diagnostics for under the CableCard menu I get:
Failedtoload 'CableCARD///apps/diag.html' I get this for pretty much every option under the CableCARD menu. Rebooting and I get video back. :(

Same thing is happening to me. :(

[dianebrat]

I am curious to know if the blank screen happens to anyones tivo that owns ONLY 1 tivo. When I set up my first tivo, the install went fine.

Mine was operating as a single tivo, and did not have cableCARDs or activation when it did it the first 2 times.. I'd think your assessment isn't going to be valid (and that it was just darn bad luck)

[ado]

This is my first tivo too and the black screen happened the first day I got it. I noticed one other thing too, the new photos app has a much nicer look and feel than the rest of the tivo menus. Go to Tivo Central > Music, Photos, Products & More > Photos & Slideshows. The menu here looks like it is in the right aspect ratio, the other tivo menus looks a bit stretched. Message to Tivo, if you're marketing a Tivo HD please made the menus in 16:9 and not stretched. It looks much nicer if they are formatted right.

[mulscully]

I see in this post most are referring to the background going black, but still having menus.. is this a different problem then the one I am having black screen period and unresponsive to remote? my amber light on the front of the THD lights up when it is in the black screen mode, so the tivo is receiving the remote signals, but no video, or no sound out the optical port either... I needed to reboot a few times to get it working...

[lessd]

I see in this post most are referring to the background going black, but still having menus.. is this a different problem then the one I am having black screen period and unresponsive to remote? my amber light on the front of the THD lights up when it is in the black screen mode, so the tivo is receiving the remote signals, but no video, or no sound out the optical port either... I needed to reboot a few times to get it working...

Your problem is not the problem that started this Thread..I would get an exchange for your TiVo.

[mulscully]

I saw this only once, not sure if that warrants a return

[rainwater]

Your problem is not the problem that started this Thread..I would get an exchange for your TiVo.

Actually, it could be the the nightly channels going black issue I have. If that is the case, both of my TiVo HD's do this every night if I turn on suggestions, so returning it would not help. For me changing channels helps though.

[bweeston]

Just 8 days ago I had Cox in Phoenix install my M-Card. Everything looked fine, but over the next week, when I turned the TV off at night and didn't use Tivo until the next afternoon, the only channels available were the basic cable channels. If I restarted the Tivo, everything came back. I called Tivo support while only being able to see basic cable channels. Working with them we noticed several error messages when looking at the diagnostic page for the cablecard. Tivo support declared the cablecard defective so I called Cox. Cox hit the cablecard again. Still no cable beyond basic channels. In fact, I started getting grey screens popping up while I was watching live TV. I called Cox back again to ask them to "undo" what the previous tech had done. They couldn't see what she had done that could be undone. This time they re - paired the cablecard with their equipment. I asked the Cox support person if the coax cable could be the culprit. She said it was possible. After hanging up, I realized that I was splitting the cable from the wall outlet between two devices, one was the Tivo. I attached a different coax cable and only one cable between the wall outlet and the Tivo box. All of my channels came back up. All of the error messages were gone. I got up this morning and turned my TV on. My movie channels were up and running and there were no error messages in the cablecard diagnostics pages.

Maybe swapping your coax cable or making sure you are not splitting your wall outlet between multiple devices will ensure your cable company's equipment can maintain a reliable connection to your Tivo. Connect only one cable from the wall outlet to your Tivo and see if your problems go away.

Well, I was wrong. Same problem was there when I went home that night. Had to reboot to get my channels back. I've got Cox coming out this afternoon to swap out cablecards hoping that fixes something.

[bmgoodman]

I see in this post most are referring to the background going black, but still having menus.. is this a different problem then the one I am having black screen period and unresponsive to remote? my amber light on the front of the THD lights up when it is in the black screen mode, so the tivo is receiving the remote signals, but no video, or no sound out the optical port either... I needed to reboot a few times to get it working...

I had this exact problem last night on my 11-month old S3. It was otherwise operating normally in that I could see this Tivo's "Now Playing" list from both my Series 2 DT and my PC, but there was no output to the TV whatsoever (audio or video). I tried powering the TV off and back on and then I unplugged and replugged the HDMI cable. The little light flashed on the front panel to show it was at least sensing the remote control keypresses. On the second reboot, all seemed well.

(This is a stock S3, with 2 m-cards added about a month ago. No external storage.)

[c3]

I see in this post most are referring to the background going black, but still having menus.. is this a different problem then the one I am having black screen period and unresponsive to remote? my amber light on the front of the THD lights up when it is in the black screen mode, so the tivo is receiving the remote signals, but no video, or no sound out the optical port either... I needed to reboot a few times to get it working...

Are you using HDMI? If so, that's a well-known problem but not the same one as this thread.

[pauljb55]

I'll add my 2 cents and throw my problems upon the board for some help and hopefully very little flame...I have had my HDTivo for about a week. Everything was working fine, minus 1 dead card. But the one card that did work I got everything...no screen problems or anything. Using HDMI and 720 fixed. When a tech came out last night to supposedly bring an MCARD...(yeah right) he switched both motorola CC's with a comcast braded versions...once they were paired I only watched for a few minutes and then went to bed. Got home today and blank screens on both tuners...restarted the unit and everything was good...for about 30 minutes. Restarted again and redid guided setup...and it happend again 30 or so minutes later....same issue?

[Mars Rocket]

I'm really starting to think it has something to do with initial setup or Guided Setup. I only experienced the problem twice, and both times were shortly after I had initially set up the unit.

[pauljb55]

you could be right. I am working on 15 hours and no problems....knock on wood

[SoonerOrLater]

I have the same problem on a new Tivo HD DVR (652-0001-8032-xxxx) with the new update 9.2a-01-2-652.

--------------------------------
TiVo user since 2000
Current setup:
* TiVo HD DVR v9.2a
* M-Card from Time Warner Cable (California)
* HDMI out @1080i fixed

[pauljb55]

spoke too soon. I checked my tv and the station it was on was still there...but I change d the channel and now...back to black

[bweeston]

I went back to component video and optical audio instead of my HDMI connection. Gone all day without losing any channels. It seems my problems began the day after I started using HDMI with my TivoHD.

I noticed that whenever I turned my TV off, the HDMI indicator on my receiver would flicker off and then come back on. I'm assuming something else must have happened when I also turned off my receiver which acted as the conduit for HDMI between the TivoHD and the TV. I don't know or understand how this could be interfering with the cablecards holding their pairing with the Cox equipment.

[ado]

No black screen for three days now, hoping that it stays that way. The only problem though is that comcast added 6 new stations and tivo has no data for them. It's kind of a pain to have to report new stations every time they are updated, whereas with a comcast dvr they update instantly.

[fadden0]

I picked up a TiVo HD this morning, replacing a TiVo Series 3 that couldn't seem to get along with the Motorola M-cards (long story, written up in the "Comcast CableCARD" thread). I had no problems setting it up, though I was unable to verify channels right away because the (upgraded to 9.2) box wasn't displaying any video. A reboot cleared it up.

I spent the afternoon exercising various features, including setting up season passes and transferring files to and from my Series 2. Before heading out to dinner I queued up a couple of TiVo-to-Go requests.

When I came back, the current channel was showing grey, and a program on Showtime HD had failed to record (the usual "0 minutes long" grey problem). With some fiddling I was able to view channels again. With some more fiddling I lost the ability to see any channels, and the video behind the menus became solid grey.

It seems like the basic problem here is that the device is losing the ability to devote an MPEG decoder to playback. The animations behind the menus are just video streams. If you can't allocate a decoder, you can't show the menu streams, live TV, or recorded programs. You don't need an MPEG decoder to *record* programming, so that can continue to work, and from what I've read here in some cases it does continue.

The loss of the ability to record suggests a more general issue (i.e inability to allocate hardware resources), or it could be parallel and only partly related.

Whatever the case, this is really annoying, and I was disappointed to learn from this forum that the problem has been around for so long. I'm encouraged by the idea that it's related to TTG transfers, since I can live without those. (I'd feel a little better if someone from TiVo explained what we should and shouldn't do to improve our chances...)

What really bugs me here is that the issue that really pushed me toward replacing my current cable box + TiVo Series 2 DT setup was the occasional IR blaster screw-up. I occasionally end up recording the wrong program because the IR blaster and cable box don't communicate very well. If the TiVo HD is going to require the same level of monitoring and hand-holding, it's value to me is substantially reduced. (No HD output... yet.)

[ZXTT95]

I ordered the service for the second box tonight. I had lost video twice before, once soon after initial setup and then sometime after the 9.2 update. I hadn't looked at in a couple of days (the first week free service had expired and I don't have cable cards yet), ordered the service, went to force the connection to get the new status and found that live TV or recorded video would display a frame only.

If I turned to a channel, I'd get one frame from that channel, but no more frames (as in video). The background to the menus were still animated and I was able to force the connection, get the new status for the box. After reboot, things returned to normal.

I don't know if this is another variation of the basic problem, or something different.

[steinercat]

:(

ABC on HD is now completely blacked out.

Cox Las Vegas
Channel signal is 96
SNR is 35
myDVR Expander
HDMI

*have rebooted
*have re-inserted HDMI
*have powered down THD

This just happened randomly today...and the channel hasn't come back on since.

What is the *ideal* SNR for cable (not FIOS) on a THD? And will the attenuators fix my problem?

I'm starting to get frsustrated with this.

[jrm01]

Ideal SNR would be 31-32 for cable also, but I would think that 35 would just cause macro-blocking or pixelation not total blackout. Any way to test to see if your provider has just lost this channel temporarily? Neighbors having this problem? Have another HD set?

[fadden0]

Today I got the same symptom as ZXTT95: a single still frame would show on live TV channels and recorded video, and the video background was frozen. This happened a few minutes after my CableCARD was "hit".

Why did they hit my card? Because I lost some of the premium channels (no Showtime, but HBO okay). Looks like the person at Comcast who entered my data the first time around didn't make the new data stick, and so I lost access to some things. This also explains my problems recording off of Showtime last night -- it wasn't caused by the "grey screen" problem after all.

The "still frame only" concept fits with my theory (device loses the ability to allocate MPEG decoder resources), though it sounds like it's able to feed the start of a data stream in; somehow the decoder isn't able to continue to process it.

This also fits with the causation theories that have previously been posted: network activity (like TiVo-to-Go) and CableCARD authorization hits can put the box into this state. I'm going to avoid the former, and hopefully don't need any more of the latter, and will see where this ends up.

I called TiVo customer support to see if they had any answers. The person I talked to sounded like they had never heard of the problem before (and this is after navigating to the "trouble with HD that isn't related to CableCARDs" part of the tree). Are there a batch of boxes with bad hardware? Or do so few people use network features that this just hasn't been a problem? I have 30 days to return or exchange with Best Buy...

[batchannel]

It's happening to me too, and I'm suspecting that it has something to do with the resolution switching that's going on. Like on a PC when you change resolution, the signal goes out for a second as the graphics card switches modes and forces a refresh of the whole screen. Some applications (like games) will themselves force a new resolution and sometimes it glitches and the resolution screws up. The Tivo HD must be switching resolutions frequently, such as the (probably) 480i of their menus to the higher resolution of the 720P or 1080i of live television and back again to SD resolution for live TV or menus. Lots of room for issues here if the video card is getting overwhelmed.

[gracea]

Could this be related to the SNR level being too hot, like what is happening with the FIOS pixelization?

[rcamille]

It's happening to me too, and I'm suspecting that it has something to do with the resolution switching that's going on. Like on a PC when you change resolution, the signal goes out for a second as the graphics card switches modes and forces a refresh of the whole screen. Some applications (like games) will themselves force a new resolution and sometimes it glitches and the resolution screws up. The Tivo HD must be switching resolutions frequently, such as the (probably) 480i of their menus to the higher resolution of the 720P or 1080i of live television and back again to SD resolution for live TV or menus. Lots of room for issues here if the video card is getting overwhelmed.

No that is not the cause of the problem. The TiVo menus are 720p. Users who set their resolution to 720p fixed (or any other resolution for that matter) have experienced the black (or gray) screen of death. TiVo is aware of the problem and is reportedly working on a fix. Be patient. Even with the minor inconvenience of having to reboot occassionally. It is still the best piece of electronics you can attach to your TV.

[BurnBaby]

Today I got the same symptom as ZXTT95: a single still frame would show on live TV channels and recorded video, and the video background was frozen. This happened a few minutes after my CableCARD was "hit".

I had this still screen problem on Saturday. Happened only once. I rebooted the Tivo and everything was fine. Was there some sort of Comcast upgrade this weekend? I know my local Comcast has had some recent channel changes. Or is this still screen problem something that is common with the Tivo HD? Btw, my programs still recorded. Once I had rebooted, I could view the recorded programs with no problems.

I called TiVo customer support to see if they had any answers. The person I talked to sounded like they had never heard of the problem before (and this is after navigating to the "trouble with HD that isn't related to CableCARDs" part of the tree). Are there a batch of boxes with bad hardware? Or do so few people use network features that this just hasn't been a problem? I have 30 days to return or exchange with Best Buy...

I haven't read thru the entire history of responses to your problem, but have you thoroughly checked out that this isn't an authorization problem on the part of Comcast? When my cablecards were first installed, all the encrypted channels were grey. The problem was on Comcast's end and was fixed by them properly adding the cablecards to my account.

[fadden0]

It's not an authorization problem. I had that too -- it affected the recording of some (but not all) of the premium channels. That one I got straightened out on the phone with Comcast. (Tip: Motorola M-cards should say "Val:V" on the Conditional Access page, not "Val:?". Short for "Validated".)

The "no MPEG decoder" problem affects the video backgrounds behind the TiVo menus. Comcast authorization issues should not affect the ability of the box to play internal video streams.

batchannel: due to poor calibration on my rear projection set, most HD modes are unavailable, so mine stays fixed to 480p on component inputs. Changing resolutions is not required. The triggers seem to be authorization hits and TiVo-to-Go activity combined with "live TV" activity.

I've been carefully avoiding TiVo-to-Go and inter-box transfers, and haven't had any issues since. Keeping fingers crossed.

[AZrob]

I have an open case with Tivo on this issue. They apparently have enabled logging on my Tivo HD in order to nail down the issue. I was just asked today by the tech if I knew of a way to replicate the issue. I do not and so far I don't think anyone else has either. It appears to come at a variety of times. Just last night, all I was trying to do was view a previously-recorded SD show when it happened. I get it about once a week.

But I thought I might as well ask: has anyone out there found a way to force this to happen? If so, I'd be happy to pass it on to the tech who is investigating - apparently my case has been "escalated" to a research team.

Thanks,

Rob from AZ

[TiVo Troll]

Early this morning, for the third time since I got it about 2 months ago, HDTiVo displayed the 'blank screen' issue.

A Teleworld Paid Program was being recorded while I watched another recorded program. When the program I was watching ended the screen went blank. All menu's worked.

Attempting to change channels didn't bring a picture but the Teleworld program continued to record showing a picture. I didn't attempt to stop the Teleworld recording. When it ended there was no picture from any channel.

I immediately performed a soft reboot and HDTiVo played its neat cartoon and started up normally, displaying all channels.

Yep; there's a glitch. TiVo's programmers have a job to do.

[Marc421]

Azrob,
I have experienced and it has been reported that the problem can occur when after fiddling with resolution settings or anything to do with the TiVo settings and then go back to menu and then live video all quickly it can bring about the problem. I had the black screen twice within days after setting up my TiVo Hd and now in the last 3 weeks or so it has not happened again.

[AZrob]

batchannel: due to poor calibration on my rear projection set, most HD modes are unavailable, so mine stays fixed to 480p on component inputs. Changing resolutions is not required. The triggers seem to be authorization hits and TiVo-to-Go activity combined with "live TV" activity.

I've been carefully avoiding TiVo-to-Go and inter-box transfers, and haven't had any issues since. Keeping fingers crossed.

Correct me if I'm wrong, fadden0, but aren't the Tivo menu screens generated originally at 720P resolution? If so, you would still be experiencing resolution-switch between your Tivo and your TV as you go between Tivo menus and video that is 480p.

Also, unless you avoid the HD channels entirely, there will be either 720P or 1080i switching to 480p going on when you watch those channels. So that could still be a factor in triggering the problem.

I do agree that TTG seems to be an aggravating factor. All I did was try to initiate a simple PC-to-Tivo transfer last night (though it failed right away -- another issue) and right after that I got another blackout.

Rob

[pauljb55]

Its been 72hours and no problems...

[kdmorse]

I do agree that TTG seems to be an aggravating factor. All I did was try to initiate a simple PC-to-Tivo transfer last night (though it failed right away -- another issue) and right after that I got another blackout.

All the times I, or my friends, have seen the problem, it fits with the following theory: "If garbage gets shoved into the video output processor, the video output processor stops processing all video".

This includes a few times during initial CC setup, once while rewiring the coax, twice when I tried to play a failed TTG program, and once when I tried to play a MRV'd program too fast. In all cases one could understand how the stream could have been corrupted in just the wrong way, and given the mpeg decoding chip a small heart attack.

This also somewhat explains why people seem to see it more often in their first 48 hours of operation. This includes setting up, cabling the box, playing with CC's, your first MRV, your first failed attempt at playing a video off your PC, etc... Afterwards it does occasionally happen - but it is far less frequent (for most people) - as they're not doing the same sorts of things they did in their first 48 hours with the box.

-Ken

[fadden0]

AZrob: it's not switching resolutions, it's scaling the output. I'm not familiar with the TiVo hardware, but they likely have a chip that does the alpha-blending / chroma-keying to composite the graphics and video, scaling both on the way out. If I were using "native" output mode it would be adjusting the scale factor when I went in and out of different types of video streams, but since I'm using "fixed 480p" the chip should just get set up once. In any event, the scaler is most likely over in the NTSC/HD encoder, not in the MPEG decoder.

kdmorse: I'm not entirely convinced of the "garbage" theory, since sometimes you get junk coming in from Comcast (or at least I do). I wonder if the disconnected cable caused the tuner to go through some sort of signal acquisition procedure that hoses the MPEG chip. You could get something similar when the authorization hits arrive.

[hddude55]

...

Because others in this thread have called TiVo and received replacement units only to have it happen again, and getting my Comcast CCs paired properly was a fiasco, I have no interest in calling TiVo to have them send me a replacement unit.

.... Good lord, I didn't find this thread and related ones until tonight! I had my S3 replaced last week -- the 6 months old one started having frequent audio/video drops of several seconds duration. The new one -- and it was brand new -- sporadically went to a "snow" screen and audio continued to play but no controls would work and I had to unplug/plug back in to restore the picture and controls. This problem seemed to occur after I had recently turned on the TV after it had sat idle for several hours, but I'm not convinced that was anything but a coincidence.

I now have another brand new replacement of the replacement, and yes, it too has started doing the same thing. I have played with video output and now have it on 1080i Fixed but suspect that won't really matter, if I understand what others have tried and failed. One guy mentioned hitting the Guide button brought back the picture. I'll give it a try the next time it happens.

FYI, I didn't have time to get cable cards installed in the first replacement and the cable guy won't be installing until this weekend in the latest new machine, so that suggests to me cable cards have nothing to do with this particular bug.

I did notice both "new" machines were built last month and say R3 or something of the sort next to the build date. I was told by a tech at TiVo that newer TiVos have had some hardware tweaks. I wonder if that could be part of the problem, but I realize some people in this thread have had their machines for many months so software seems the more likely culprit.

[hddude55]

Azrob,
I have experienced and it has been reported that the problem can occur when after fiddling with resolution settings or anything to do with the TiVo settings and then go back to menu and then live video all quickly it can bring about the problem. ... Interesting. This happened to me tonight with my new replacement unit. It was set up by default for 1080i Fixed and I changed it to Native since that setting worked fine with my previous Series 3 box. But tonight, soon after making the switch I got a blank screen/frozen controls with audio working, so after rebooting I set it back to 1080i Fixed. Perhaps it wasn't the setting that was bad, but rather just the fact I messed with the setting?

[ZXTT95]

hddude55,

This thread is about video, as in the TV signal, recorded shows and animated menu backgrounds, no longer playing, resulting in either a blank background or a background stuck on one frame. The TiVo still responds to everything else, including all menus. Audio does not play, except maybe in sporadic bursts as the the TiVo attempts to play the video. If your TiVo is locking up, you have a different problem.

Anyway, I noticed my 2nd TiVo HD had gone stopped showing video again. Both tuned channels were blank. Initially, the menu background was animated, but it froze soon after. Strangely, one channel was working - the subchannel (or whatever) associated with our NBC affiliate. For example, channel 8 is analog, channel 8-1 is digital HD and 8-2 is the digital subchannel, which displays weather info. It stopped working after a few minutes of messing around though.

As usual, a reboot cured it. My other TiVo HD has never done this, but is on 1080i fixed. The failing TiVo has been on Native, but I switched it to 1080i fixed now to see if that affects things at all - not that that is a solution.

[CrispyCritter]

Good lord, I didn't find this thread and related ones until tonight! I had my S3 replaced last week -- the 6 months old one started having frequent audio/video drops of several seconds duration. The new one -- and it was brand new -- sporadically went to a "snow" screen and audio continued to play but no controls would work and I had to unplug/plug back in to restore the picture and controls. This problem seemed to occur after I had recently turned on the TV after it had sat idle for several hours, but I'm not convinced that was anything but a coincidence.Hmmm. It's possible it's not a coincidence. There's a number of TV models that emit strong IR and other noise, especially as they warm up. The normal TiVo symptom on these is that responses to the remote become very sluggish, but it's not out of the question that it could cause more serious problems. The TiVo could be spending all of its time trying to respond to hardware interrupts from the IR sensor and decide if they were from remote commands. It might be worthwhile experimenting a couple of times and see if anything else strange happens when the cold TV is turned on.

[hddude55]

hddude55,

This thread is about video, as in the TV signal, recorded shows and animated menu backgrounds, no longer playing, resulting in either a blank background or a background stuck on one frame. The TiVo still responds to everything else, including all menus. .... With all due respect to your efforts to prevent thread hijacking, the "issue" doesn't seem that narrow at least according to some posters like AZrob who seems to be a frequent contributor to this and a "competing thread" that he suggested should be merged with this one. He wrote in the competing thread, "... there are variations: you can have black screen on some channels but not all, you can have black screen on all channels but not the menu backgrounds, or you can have black screen on all channels and all menu backgrounds. I have experienced all 3 variations in just 2 weeks." If my experiences should be discussed in a different thread I'll be happy to do so, but I think I'm going to have to be convinced by others here that I'm in the wrong place.