Partial Recordings?

[ShadeD1]

I'm having a problem with my TivoHD only doing partial recording. On some shows (about 25%) it only records 1/2 to 3/4 of the program. It shows that it is a partial recording but does not record the end. Any ideas?

[jrm01]

THD will stop recording if it loses signal. Are these HD recordings/ have you checked the signal strength? Also check the channels under Diagnostics for low SNR (under 32).

[bguzik]

I'm having a problem with my TivoHD only doing partial recording. On some shows (about 25%) it only records 1/2 to 3/4 of the program. It shows that it is a partial recording but does not record the end. Any ideas?

You can also get more info from the To Do list Recording History to see if there is any explanation...

Barry

[uforia]

I have the same problem. And it's a problem, not a clip or anything like that. I have channels that go black sometimes. Changing channels and coming back to it sometimes fixes it, sometimes it doesn't. I'm fairly certain this is the same issue.

Others have indicated similar problems with very similar symptoms. Restart is usually the only thing to fix it. I'm starting to reboot every day just so I don't miss recordings. What a pain....

[aqqqwerty]

There are many posts about this problem ie: 6 mins recorded on a 30 minute program. This problem has been determined to be a Tivo S3 issue and not a cable issue. (from reading all the posts) So far I have only experienced on 1 of my 2 S3 HD DVRs, the one with the cable card intalled. I have not had the cable card installed on my second HD S3 DVR yet and have not had this issue. One would assume the cablecard as the issue, but read the posts. It seems to be te S3-s problem and not every cable companys cablecards. Charter,cox,comcast etc. Many people are upset that Tivo is stating that they have not heard of this problem even though the forum is full of complaints about this issue. I have not found one post from Tivo yet telling us they are aware of the issue. If I am wrong please enlighten me. Contact Tivo to log your complaint so that it gets addressed in the next service update. Total bummer to sit down to watch an episode on your season pass only to discover you only have 12 minutes of it:down:

[CrispyCritter]

Nobody has determined it to be a general TiVo S3 problem and not a cable company or cablecard problem. TiVos can get into bad states, presumably sometimes in the middle of shows, and eventually need to be rebooted, but that's a totally different thing from performing a partial recording and then being fine afterwards, which seems to be your complaint. Lots of complaints of cablecard mappings going awry, and channels dropping off for a while and such - all of which can cause partial recordings that fix themselves and none of which are TiVos fault. We would be seeing many more complaints if there was a general TiVo problem.

[cpurrin1]

I own two Series 3. This problems has been happening on the one with bigger hard drive several times each week. It's caused great distress in house.

[bpollard]

sucks... I hope rebooting the DVR fixes the issue...
If it helps, I have a DVR expander as well.

[jefsta]

Your probably experiencing the reboot problem and just did not realize it. That is why it is only recording part of the show. Read the "Series3 is randomly rebooting" thread.

[Capmeister]

I am new to HDTiVo and this just happened to me. Going away from the channel and back fixed it, but I had to record later versions of the show manually. I rebooted this morning to try to avoid the problem again. Is there any fix/update on this issue? Anything I can do other than reboot once a day?

[Capmeister]

Okay, going away from the channel sometimes fixes it, but one time I had to actually check signal strength on the bad channel to get it back. This now happens daily, randomly, on both my HD and HDXL. It's highly annoying.

[Capmeister]

I called TiVo about this and while they couldn't/wouldn't say it's a known issue, they are aware of it and are working on a fix. Heh. I love political correctness. I asked if I should reboot daily. He said no, but a couple of times a week couldn't hurt. Meh.

I hope they get this fixed soon!

[bkdtv]

Capm,

Do you have a My DVR Expander? Partial recordings with a failing My DVR Expander are discussed in the TCF Known issues posted, link in my signature.

[Capmeister]

Capm,

Do you have a My DVR Expander? Partial recordings with a failing My DVR Expander are discussed in the TCF Known issues posted, link in my signature.

Nope. This is an XL and a normal HDT both. Randomly happening. Brand new boxes, less than a month old. No modifications other than on M-card each.

[memoody]

If I may jump in here... I have a TivoHD with M-card and it is almost two years old. When I first bought it, I replaced the hard drive with a 750 GB drive and have had no problems until recently. I noticed that 2-3 recordings were only 45 minutes in length when they should have been 1 hour. Then while watching a recording the other night, the playback just kind of froze - I couldn't fast forward or rewind - eventually it kind of freed up and went back to normal. The same thing happened last night, and I realized something else - the show I was watching was still recording (I was 15 minutes behind), but when it got into this "frozen" state during the playback, the recording - even when I went to live TV - had stopped too. I stopped the recording and the last 15 minutes was chopped.

So here's my question: is this most likely a problem with the hard drive? If so, I'm fine with just replacing it but don't want to go down that road if there could be another cause (Cable Card, software, etc.). Since bkdtv indicated problems like this with the DVR Expander hard drive, I'm guessing that's my problem here, but I'd like some confirmation. Thanks!

[Titleist]

If I may jump in here... I have a TivoHD with M-card and it is almost two years old. When I first bought it, I replaced the hard drive with a 750 GB drive and have had no problems until recently. I noticed that 2-3 recordings were only 45 minutes in length when they should have been 1 hour. Then while watching a recording the other night, the playback just kind of froze - I couldn't fast forward or rewind - eventually it kind of freed up and went back to normal. The same thing happened last night, and I realized something else - the show I was watching was still recording (I was 15 minutes behind), but when it got into this "frozen" state during the playback, the recording - even when I went to live TV - had stopped too. I stopped the recording and the last 15 minutes was chopped.

So here's my question: is this most likely a problem with the hard drive? If so, I'm fine with just replacing it but don't want to go down that road if there could be another cause (Cable Card, software, etc.). Since bkdtv indicated problems like this with the DVR Expander hard drive, I'm guessing that's my problem here, but I'd like some confirmation. Thanks!

I don't think it's a hard drive issue, I've been having the same issue with my box for the last month. The picture goes grey, then it quits recording at that point. If I catch it while it's still recording (not really recording anything past the grey screen) and change the channel then change it right back, the channel looks fine but the recording lost all the show from the time of the grey screen. Hopefully they are working on this issue?????

This wasn't such a big deal until now since the new season has started and we missed most of Community, Modern Family and NCIS (ok it was only NCIS LA, but still :(


Does anyone have any info?

[aaronwt]

I have several S3 units. I have never experienced this problem unless the OTA signal drops off. I've never seen it on my connection with cable cards.

[Mantaray7]

I just started having problems with partial recordings in the last month or so
I do not have cable I only use an antenna and I did not have this problem when
all TV stations switched over to the digital signal.
I did have and noticed even on a clear day my tv picture will freeze or there is some digital noise or the sound is choppy with all of the above.

Now its a partial recording problem I have had an hour show only record 59 min's, Then another hour show recorded an hour plus a minute.
and all others have been any where from 2 to 7 minutes.
and I missed several premiers this past week. :(

It does not matter what channel, time or day of the week the show comes
any of them can be a partial recording. :(

I was on the phone with tivo this morning and they had me do a hard drive test
takes about an hour and is still running. I am fine with replacing the hard drive expander unit if I have too, But not looking forward to having to replace my tivo unit.

[bpollard]

I never have had this problem again since getting a new expander. though I suppose that I could have tried to just unattach it and then reattach the expander. However, since the expander was under warranty, and I had to unattach it any ways, I just figured to replace it.

[huckl3b3rry]

I just started having problems with partial recordings in the last month or so
I do not have cable I only use an antenna and I did not have this problem when
all TV stations switched over to the digital signal.
I did have and noticed even on a clear day my tv picture will freeze or there is some digital noise or the sound is choppy with all of the above.

Now its a partial recording problem I have had an hour show only record 59 min's, Then another hour show recorded an hour plus a minute.
and all others have been any where from 2 to 7 minutes.
and I missed several premiers this past week. :(

It does not matter what channel, time or day of the week the show comes
any of them can be a partial recording. :(

I was on the phone with tivo this morning and they had me do a hard drive test
takes about an hour and is still running. I am fine with replacing the hard drive expander unit if I have too, But not looking forward to having to replace my tivo unit.


I'm having the same issue with stutter and recordings cut short (pretty much every football game!!!). I just noticed it in the last software release. I first had it occur on over-the-air channels so I switched to recording only the cable channels and they are doing the same thing so I know it's not just a signal issue. I do have a WD DVR expander that has caused other issue with responsiveness before, but never had it affect recordings, etc. I have a ticket open with Tivo.

[Qwertinsky]

I believe this is the same problem I am having in this thread

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=453961

and this one...

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=417499

[Mantaray7]

I'm having the same issue with stutter and recordings cut short (pretty much every football game!!!). I just noticed it in the last software release. I first had it occur on over-the-air channels so I switched to recording only the cable channels and they are doing the same thing so I know it's not just a signal issue. I do have a WD DVR expander that has caused other issue with responsiveness before, but never had it affect recordings, etc. I have a ticket open with Tivo.

My hard drive test passed with flying colors
but I am still having a partial recording issue
along with the menus getting stuck for several minutes
or not having any text in the menu pages at all :eek: :down::down::down::down:

[V7Goose]

HDD problems can show up in lots of different ways. If you are having any type of problems with recordings, I would strongly suggest you look up the kickstart codes and run the ones that physically test the hard drives AND the ones that check the file structure and databases for problems. This is even more important if you are using an external drive with your TiVo.

In addition, if you have recordings that are missing something on the end, check your stats to see how long the RiVo has been running. A spontaneous reboot will obviously stop a recording, and it does take some time after it comes back up before the program information is updated and it can re-start the recording. In some cases, the program may already be over before it is ready to start recording again.

My suggestion for spontaneous reboots is the same as above - run kickstart codes to check HDD and database. Info on kickstart here:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showpost.php?p=5643823&postcount=2

[Loquitur]

I have an HD XL with a TA and an S3 and have recently started getting partial recordings with both of them. Each of them have 2 cable cards and have been working fine for a long time. On Friday at 10:00 PM the HD XL was recording 702 and 704 (CBS and NBC) and both recordings stopped 38 minutes into 60 minute programs. Then on Sunday my S3 on 766 (Food Network) got 65 minutes of a 90 minute program when only that one tuner was recording. I don't believe the Tivo's rebooted because I have the onscreen clock up on both of them and the clocks were not interrupted. Any ideas? Very annoying, to say the least, especially for programs that don't repeat.

Susan

[cc0n01]

I have an HD XL with a TA and an S3 and have recently started getting partial recordings with both of them. Each of them have 2 cable cards and have been working fine for a long time. On Friday at 10:00 PM the HD XL was recording 702 and 704 (CBS and NBC) and both recordings stopped 38 minutes into 60 minute programs. Then on Sunday my S3 on 766 (Food Network) got 65 minutes of a 90 minute program when only that one tuner was recording. I don't believe the Tivo's rebooted because I have the onscreen clock up on both of them and the clocks were not interrupted. Any ideas? Very annoying, to say the least, especially for programs that don't repeat.

Susan
Check this thread if you are on Cablevision. There have been problems in the areas where they switched to all digital.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=456532

[Loquitur]

Thanks for that info. I do have Cablevision but I'm a long ways from LI. I'm in the Westchester and Points North Division in Dutchess. I would be interested to know whether Cablevision has gone all digital in this area. I tried to Google it but am probably not doing the search right because nothing on point is coming up.
Susan

[Mantaray7]

HDD problems can show up in lots of different ways. If you are having any type of problems with recordings, I would strongly suggest you look up the kickstart codes and run the ones that physically test the hard drives AND the ones that check the file structure and databases for problems. This is even more important if you are using an external drive with your TiVo.

In addition, if you have recordings that are missing something on the end, check your stats to see how long the RiVo has been running. A spontaneous reboot will obviously stop a recording, and it does take some time after it comes back up before the program information is updated and it can re-start the recording. In some cases, the program may already be over before it is ready to start recording again.

My suggestion for spontaneous reboots is the same as above - run kickstart codes to check HDD and database. Info on kickstart here:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showpost.php?p=5643823&postcount=2

THanks for the information, as I mentioned I already ran the KS 54 program
as all hard drives passed, I will have to try the other KS programs.

[Mantaray7]

Here is another question about partial recordings

My Tivo is plugged into my DSL modem for channel guide information.
I have been having problems with my DSl signal cutting out no longer then
several seconds each time it happens but the DSL drop outs happen thru out the day and night. Could this be the cause of the partial recording problem

Thanks.

[Mantaray7]

Ok I am going to try to explain what I did and what happened to my tivo this past tuesday night.

After getting home from work I decided to just un-plug my external hard drive,
A moment after doing this the tivo re-booted all by it self with a message that the external drive could not be found and with two choices
one being to reattach the external drive and the other to remove it.
So I choose to remove the external drive but had to plug it back in first so I could remove it.

After doing that I was given a warning message that all information and programs would be lost,
No big deal as I was loosing shows to partial recordings any how.
After the hard drive was removed, Then I had to re-set up my tivo, Just like everyone has to do when they first buy one.
(No tivo subscriber info was needed since that info is on file)

So I put in my zip code and let the tivo do the channel search answered all questions on the screen by pushing the select button,
you all know the drill.
Now after doing all of this and the tivo rebooted and came back on,
one of the changes was having the Tivo live Guide instead of the grid guide,
I also noticed my problem with poor reception was gone and the lag time I had changing between menus was also gone.
And to date I have recorded three different shows all being an hour long,
with No Partial recordings, and tonight I have two shows on at the same time on different channels and I believe these will record with out any problems.
So it seems all of my problems were being caused by the external hard drive, I may hook it back up one day to see what happens, but right now everything is working like it should
I believe these problems occurred because of small off then on again power outages that I get once in awhile
which can mess everything up,
My tivo was always plugged into a surge protector but I have since plugged it into a surge protector wit a battery back up.

[krgoldman]

I notice that there has not been any more discussion on this for a year or so. I have a TiVo HD with a Western Digital expander, and I have suddenly started having partial recordings. Do we know if the expander IS the cause of the problem? I have worked on it with TiVo, essentially shut everything down. Disconnected the expander. Reconnected the expander, turned everything back on. They also had me turn off the overlap protection. It didn't help. Any new ideas on this? Thanx!

[Teeps]

Does your system require a tuning adapter?

[lillevig]

I notice that there has not been any more discussion on this for a year or so. I have a TiVo HD with a Western Digital expander, and I have suddenly started having partial recordings. Do we know if the expander IS the cause of the problem? I have worked on it with TiVo, essentially shut everything down. Disconnected the expander. Reconnected the expander, turned everything back on. They also had me turn off the overlap protection. It didn't help. Any new ideas on this? Thanx!

I suppose that you have ruled out spontaneous reboots as the cause? I saw that on an older box. It either caused a several minute truncation of the recording or caused the recording to be split into two portions with a several minute gap between the pieces.

[bpollard]

when I had this problem with my series 3 with expander, I removed the expander (and everything worked fine). put the expander back and there were problems. I then put the expander back and had problems.
while the expander was under warranty, I exchanged it under warranty and everything worked thereafter

[unitron]

I notice that there has not been any more discussion on this for a year or so. I have a TiVo HD with a Western Digital expander, and I have suddenly started having partial recordings. Do we know if the expander IS the cause of the problem? I have worked on it with TiVo, essentially shut everything down. Disconnected the expander. Reconnected the expander, turned everything back on. They also had me turn off the overlap protection. It didn't help. Any new ideas on this? Thanx!

The drive FAQ

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=370784

has a lot of discussion on externals and apparently the eSATA cable is often to blame even though it just sits there.

[krgoldman]

Does your system require a tuning adapter?

I'm not sure what you mean by a tuning adapter. It does us a cable card.

[krgoldman]

I suppose that you have ruled out spontaneous reboots as the cause? I saw that on an older box. It either caused a several minute truncation of the recording or caused the recording to be split into two portions with a several minute gap between the pieces.

Yep, no indication of partial reboot. In fact, I sometime record the HD and SD version of a show at the same time. The HD version is partial, the SD version is fine, which, if you think about it, is kind of weird.

[krgoldman]

The drive FAQ

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=370784

has a lot of discussion on externals and apparently the eSATA cable is often to blame even though it just sits there.

Interesting. About a year or so ago the TiVo would not even boot until I disconnected the eSATA cable, so I replaced and all has been good until recently.

[unitron]

Interesting. About a year or so ago the TiVo would not even boot until I disconnected the eSATA cable, so I replaced and all has been good until recently.

Maybe all that gold-plated oxygen-free copper goes bad after a while anyway.

[krgoldman]

Maybe all that gold-plated oxygen-free copper goes bad after a while anyway.

Well, I just ordered a new cable. It is easy and inexpensive to replace, and I don't lose all the shows I currently have stored. If this doesn't fix the problem, the next step will be to disconned the drive entirely.

[lillevig]

Yep, no indication of partial reboot. In fact, I sometime record the HD and SD version of a show at the same time. The HD version is partial, the SD version is fine, which, if you think about it, is kind of weird.

That is weird. As a bit of a tangent, I recorded both the HD and SD channels for an old B&W Turner Classic Movie just to see if the HD channel really sent more data. It did. Must be a lot of data needed to put those black bars on the side of the 4:3 movie. :rolleyes:

[Teeps]

I'm not sure what you mean by a tuning adapter. It does us a cable card.

If you don't know what it is. Then count your blessings that you don't need one, to get all of the promised stations on your cable system.