Black Screen

[WaldorfSalad]

I've had the HD Tivo for less than a day (its still on version 8.1) and already a couple of times, for no apparent reason, I get a black screen. That is, its no longer possible to see any program content on any channel. If I press the Guide button I get the guide (with a black background) but can't change channel. Up/Down channel doesn't do anything, neither does pressing Play or Display, etc. If I press the Tivo button I get the Tivo menus but with a black background. So, the visdeo output (HDMI) is obviously working. Going to standby and back doesn't help. Only if I do a restart do I get program display back. Anyone else had this problem, know what causes it, how to avoid it, etc?

[RoyK]

It is a known issue. See this thread (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=413206) among others.

Note that black and gray screen issues are the same thing - it depends on whether you have your letterboxing background set to black or gray which you see.

[ThAbtO]

Yes, a service update will fix it. A subscription to tivo service is needed also.

[RoyK]

Yes, a service update will fix it. ...

Let us pray.....

[bkdtv]

You can force a few connections to the TiVo service under Settings -> Phone & Network screen to speed the process of downloading the latest software. At some point, the Phone & Network screen will say "Pending Restart" which means a software update is ready to install. At that point, you can restart through the menus and the TiVo will proceed to install the latest software.

The TiVo would normally do all this on its own, forcing the connections as above just speeds the process by a few days.

If you get the 11.0b.E2 (?) software, then that has TiVo's current fix for the "loss of analog tuners" issue. If you got another version of 11.0, then it doesn't have the fix. TiVo is rolling out E2 to a number of customers now, but I don't think everyone has received it.

[WaldorfSalad]

It is a known issue. See this thread (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=413206) among others.

Note that black and gray screen issues are the same thing - it depends on whether you have your letterboxing background set to black or gray which you see.The thread you referenced is concerned with cable cards. I don't have cable cards. To start with currebtly I have OTA and basic cable (Comcast) until I decide if I want to upgrade the cable service and get cable cards.

[WaldorfSalad]

You can force a few connections to the TiVo service under Settings -> Phone & Network screen to speed the process of downloading the latest software. At some point, the Phone & Network screen will say "Pending Restart" which means a software update is ready to install. At that point, you can restart through the menus and the TiVo will proceed to install the latest software.

The TiVo would normally do all this on its own, forcing the connections as above just speeds the process by a few days.

If you get the 11.0b.E2 (?) software, then that has TiVo's current fix for the "loss of analog tuners" issue. If you got another version of 11.0, then it doesn't have the fix. TiVo is rolling out E2 to a number of customers now, but I don't think everyone has received it.As I'm using OTA for my HD locals then it would be the digital tuners that are the being lost would it not?

[bkdtv]

As I'm using OTA for my HD locals then it would be the digital tuners that are the being lost would it not?Reading your first post more carefully, that was a separate issue that was resolved back in 2007. You should no longer see that issue after updating to the 11.0 software.

That said, you could still be missing one or more OTA digital channels if your local broadcast station(s) recently turned off their analog signals and changed the frequency of their digital channels.

Here's what I wrote in another thread:
When you do a channel scan to add channels to your TV, it scans channels and then uses the PSIP information to add the appropriate channel to a built-in list. For example, when the channel scan on my TV hits frequency 34, it adds that channel as 9-1 because that's what the PSIP for frequency 34 tells it to do. Whenever I tune channel 9-1, I am actually tuning frequency 34.

TiVos, DirecTV DVRs, Windows Media Center, and other products that use Tribune guide data work differently. Whenever they connect to download guide data, they download a regional channel list from Tribune that includes these mappings. The list from Tribune tells the TiVo that 9-1 is frequency 34. The TiVo uses the information on this list, not the information from the broadcaster's PSIP.

Performing a Channels -> Channel Scan will only add detected channels that aren't already on the Tribune list downloaded by the TiVo. Running a channel scan on the TiVo will not update the mappings on existing channels, as it does on your TV. Mappings are only updated on the TiVo when Tribute updates their channel list.

An obvious problem arises if a broadcaster changes its broadcast frequency (at the analog shutoff) and Tribune has not updated their list to reflect this. Channel 9-1 might point to frequency 34 when it was moved to frequency 9 with the shutoff. The result would be a black screen when you select that channel.

If all the stations in a market agreed (or were required) to do the same thing, then we probably wouldn't be having this problem. However, that's not what happened. In many of these markets, there are four stations doing one thing, four stations doing another thing, with three or more stations having changed their plans in the 48-72 hours prior to the shutoff. Some broadcasters chose to shutoff the analog and move their digital channel to that frequency, some chose to shutoff their analog and keep the digital channel on its existing frequency until other upgrades were complete, while others canceled their earlier decision to shutoff analog. It's a mess.

In most instances, Tribune appears to have correctly remapped the major networks that shutoff their analog signals last Tuesday. If, after running Channels -> Channel Scan, you see OTA channels without guide information, and/or tuning a OTA channel only results in a black screen, then you should call TiVo immediately and report a lineup change so it gets fixed. Lineup changes for OTA channels typically take 3-5 business days.

There should be less ambiguity / uncertainty surrounding the June 12 shutoffs at 12:01am. Regardless, you may want to force a connection (under Settings -> Phone & Network) when you get home on June 12, just to be sure that your guide data for that Friday reflects the changes made that morning.