Rebooting, rebooting, rebooting...

[ManOfSteele]

I have two TiVo HDs and after the August 8 software upgrade, the units have been rebooting much more frequently than they had been previously. At least once a day I'd say, maybe more (I'm not always there to notice it). During the Olympics when I was recording day long broadcasts it became obvious this was happening, and then again during the US Open tennis. But my wife says that even when she's just watching live tv during the day with nothing recording the TiVos some times reboot.

That fact that they are both rebooting makes me think it is strictly a software problem. I assume I'm not the only one who's seen this problem?

[HomeUser]

I sure hope I do not regret posting this (knock on wood).


I have 2 TiVo HD's and the original S3 they are all monitored at 60 Second intervals using Nagios (http://www.nagios.org/) service monitor. Two of The TiVos have responded to all of the 1 minute checks for at least the last 7 days the 3rd was off-line between 1 and 2 minutes (not long enough for a reboot) 36 hrs ago (it missed one check). There are not any partial recordings that would indicate a reboot on any of the TiVo's either. The TiVo's are powered with Battery backup supply's.

Reasons that I know of for random reboots.
-Toxic Channel / Cable Card.
-Momentary AC power drop-outs.
-Power cord not firmly connected.
-External drive going into standby, Unresponsive or becoming disconnected.

I suppose it is possible that a Toxic Channel (bad data) is not properly handled by the TiVo software causing the reboot. Do you notice if it happens when one of the tuners is on a certain channel?

[ManOfSteele]

Well, it just rebooted and I'm pretty sure that it was on CNNHD. The other tuner was likely on Headline News.

The power cables are all snug. As for momentary AC power dropouts I don't think that's happening. The two TiVos are plugged into the same surge-protected power bar as the TV and I have not noticed another other devices demonstrating any kind of interrupted behavior. Also, I don't have an external disk so it can't be related to that.

So, that leaves this "toxic channel" item. How do I verify if this is what is truly happening? Both TiVos are behaving this way. They are both hooked to the same cable connection (split of course), both have Comcast m-cards, are on the same power bar, the same receiver, and the same TV. They are also both hooked up with an AVcast video distribution system that lets us watch the TiVos from any TV in the house. The fact that both are exhibiting these random reboots points to some common factor, but what could it be?

Would this Nagios system be useful?

[ManOfSteele]

The other thing I've noticed that's happening, again on CNNHD, is that the picture suddenly freezes. The clock continues to progress, but if I hit Replay, it will replay the last ten seconds or so and then freeze at exactly the same spot. This particular spot is not what is currently on CNNHD at the moment but whatever was playing at the moment the hang first occurred. It seems like it will hang there forever. I end up changing channels and that seems to clear it up. I strong suspect it is another manifestation of the same problem.

[HomeUser]

The other thing I've noticed that's happening, again on CNNHD, is that the picture suddenly freezes. The clock continues to progress, but if I hit Replay, it will replay the last ten seconds or so and then freeze at exactly the same spot. This particular spot is not what is currently on CNNHD at the moment but whatever was playing at the moment the hang first occurred. It seems like it will hang there forever. I end up changing channels and that seems to clear it up. I strong suspect it is another manifestation of the same problem. If you are adventurous you could try one of the un-supported run at your own risk Kickstart codes (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5126687&&#post5126687)

So, that leaves this "toxic channel" item. How do I verify if this is what is truly happening? Both TiVos are behaving this way. They are both hooked to the same cable connection (split of course), both have Comcast m-cards, are on the same power bar, the same receiver, and the same TV. They are also both hooked up with an AVcast video distribution system that lets us watch the TiVos from any TV in the house. The fact that both are exhibiting these random reboots points to some common factor, but what could it be?
lock out the problem channels in Channels that I receive. You might check "Signal Strength" in "Messages & Settings" --> "Settings" --> "Channel Settings" you might find that selecting one of the channels will cause a reboot.

Wonder if the AVcast could be causing some kind of a loop what channel does that work on? be sure it is locked out in channels that I receive.

Would this Nagios system be useful?
Very useful for monitoring the downtime of the TiVos. Nagios is also useful for monitoring other devices on your network.

[richsadams]

I have two TiVo HDs and after the August 8 software upgrade, the units have been rebooting much more frequently than they had been previously. <snip>

That fact that they are both rebooting makes me think it is strictly a software problem. I assume I'm not the only one who's seen this problem?Sorry to hear your TiVo's are behaving well. I'd initially wager it was a hard drive issue if you were experiencing reboots on one unit and that TiVo's built-in diagnostic and repair programs called "Kickstarts (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showpost.php?p=5643823&postcount=2)" might correct data corruption, etc. and if not a new hard drive would be in order.

However the fact that they are BOTH rebooting (and apparently rebooted even before the most recent software upgrade) makes me think it is a signal problem...possibly exacerbated by a software upgrade. We have the exact same software and none of our TiVo's EVER reboot.

You could try a couple of the Kickstarts, however as mentioned, I'd focus on the TiVo diagnostic screens, SNR and particularly the RS Corrected and Uncorrected errors on the channels that seem to be giving you the most trouble. A call to the cableco may be in order.

Best of luck and let us know how it goes.