Sony Tv Causing My Tivo To Freeze

[pashasurf7873]

SONY Tv Causing My Tivo To Freeze I have a S3 for my sony kdr50xbr and after a week of HD bliss, it kept freezing when i would turn the tv on in the morning, so after 2 days of that i used exclusively component, thinking the problem was with hdmi. the problem persisted, tivo sent a new box and after a week the same problem started to occur. It only happens when i turn the TV on, leading me to beleive the issue is related to the hdcp 'handshake' process.
There was an earlier forum with others with Sony TV's who were reporting this same issue.

Anyone out there have any advice or suggestions. i Called tivo and they insist they are not aware of the problem.

[Bighouse]

Originally Posted by pashasurf7873

I have a S3 for my sony kdr50xbr and after a week of HD bliss, it kept freezing when i would turn the tv on in the morning, so after 2 days of that i used exclusively component, thinking the problem was with hdmi. the problem persisted, tivo sent a new box and after a week the same problem started to occur. It only happens when i turn the TV on, leading me to beleive the issue is related to the hdcp 'handshake' process.
There was an earlier forum with others with Sony TV's who were reporting this same issue.

Anyone out there have any advice or suggestions. i Called tivo and they insist they are not aware of the problem.

This is a dumb question perhaps, but might it have something to do with the way you're turning your TV on? Might it be a conflicting remote control signal of some sort?

[bareyb]

What makes you think it's the Sony TV? Have you tried hooking it up to another TV to see if the problem goes away? The fact that it remains even when you switched from HDMI to Component makes it seem a little less likely.

[pashasurf7873]

The freezing problem happens about every other time i turn the TV on, with remote or manually. the reason i think its my Sony is because it ONLY happens when i turn my TV on and because in another forum there were 3 other posters with the same problem and they all have SONY TV's.
PS When my S3 freezes, it does not respond to either the S3 remote or when I use the buttons on the face of the S3. The only way to recover the S3 is to unplug it.

[bareyb]

I had that same thing happen a couple of times on another S3. I swapped out the box and it hasn't happened since. I do indeed have a Sony TV but I didn't necessarily make the correlation between the two. I felt it was a bad box or bad cable cards. I still have two S3 boxes connected to the same Sony TV via HDMI and no problems at all.

Kinda makes me feel like the TV wasn't the problem. At least not in my case. I posted about the problem here on the forum and while others had experienced the problem, nobody had tied the problem to the Sony TV. It might just be statistical coincidence in that Sony probably sells more TV sets than anyone and therefore it might follow that people with that issue would run into other people with that issue who also happen to own Sony TV's. Just a coincidence. It may freeze with any brand of TV. That's why I was asking if you had tried another brand of TV to see if the problem goes away. If it persists then you have a problem not related to the Sony TV. Just something to think about.

If the new box freezes up like that again I'll update my post here. I really have a gut feeling it was due to my box having a jammed card connector and an old style Cable Card. Once he got me all the same type of "newer" cable cards (think they are the "green ones") installed in my new box, the problem seemed to dissappear.

[George Cifranci]

I am using a S3 with my Sony SXRD R60XBR1 hooked up via HDMI without any issues.

UPDATE: Scratch that. I was hit with this issue as well. See post #19 below.

[gastrof]

Isn't it Sony TVs that were getting Series 2 video in black and white? Or maybe it was Sony VCRs that were recording in black and white off Series 2 TiVos?

[hookbill]

Originally Posted by gastrof

Isn't it Sony TVs that were getting Series 2 video in black and white? Or maybe it was Sony VCRs that were recording in black and white off Series 2 TiVos?

I have a Sony Wega, no freeze up problems for me.

[talkingtiki]

Could it be a voltage drop on the powerup of the TV? I would try plugging the tivo or tv in via an extension cord to another outlet on another circuit and try it again. My other thought would be some sort of magnetic interference on the powerup screwing with the tivo. Try moving the tivo a few feet away from the tv and see what happens.

[pashasurf7873]

thanks for the replies. i'm more baffled than before. maybe my sony has some bug, cause i had the same problem with 2 series 3's. but my xbox360 and oppo dvd player are not affected by it.
regarding the power supply, i have it running through a Monster reference power center 3500, so that seems unlikely. i will try a new outlet just in case.


SO NO ONE ELSE HAS HAD THIS PROBLEM??

[AbMagFab]

I'd say it's a power problem. I'd suggest getting a cheap ($40) UPS, not surge surpressor, and putting the Tivo on that. This way you'll avoid any drops or spikes in power, and it's a good idea anyway.

The Monster Power Center's just a glorified surge surpressor, and can't deal with poer drops, it just cleans the power.

[pashasurf7873]

i'll try that, thanks. i guess there's not too many other sony tv/tivo s3 with this problem. so frustrating.

[T-Shee]

I would try removing the HDMI connection from the TV (reconnect the S3 to the TV using ONLY the component cables that shipped with the S3). If you still get the freeze-up, you can eliminate the HDMI as the culprit.

It's very weird. A ground-loop that spikes on startup?

What else is connected to the TV? You may need to eliminate all other devices, ie remove CD/DVD player, game system, etc. to narrow this down. Do you still have a cable box with a connection to the TV? for example.

I've seen some weird ground-loop problems with HT setups that were traceable back to the cable system.

[skydivewags]

How do you know it is locking up when you turn the TV on???? Maybe the TiVo is locked up before you turn on the TV.

Like another poster suggested, hook up another TV to it. I would just get a small TV, and hook it up through another output, and turn it on first, see if it is locked up, then turn on the Sony.

I find it highly unlikely that the display device is causing anything to happen.

[devildog80]

I have a Series 3 and Sony 60" Flat Screen projection. It worked well for a week and now every time I power off, when I power back up, all I have is snow on the screen. The only thing that works is powering off the TiVo and TV and power back up, resetting TiVo. All of my components are on a surge surpressor.

I can't figure it out

[SCSIRAID]

Originally Posted by devildog80

I have a Series 3 and Sony 60" Flat Screen projection. It worked well for a week and now every time I power off, when I power back up, all I have is snow on the screen. The only thing that works is powering off the TiVo and TV and power back up, resetting TiVo. All of my components are on a surge surpressor.

I can't figure it out

Next time it does it... try unplugging the hdmi cable and then plugging it back in. Of course Im assuming you are using HDMI.

[AbMagFab]

Originally Posted by devildog80

I have a Series 3 and Sony 60" Flat Screen projection. It worked well for a week and now every time I power off, when I power back up, all I have is snow on the screen. The only thing that works is powering off the TiVo and TV and power back up, resetting TiVo. All of my components are on a surge surpressor.

I can't figure it out

That's an HDMI problem with the TV (rarely seen with Sony's). What model TV?

[nhaigh]

I have the exact same problem with HDMI. For some reason when the TV Powers up it can cause the TiVo to hang. I changed to Component with audio via the TOS Link and the problem went away. I guess that means it cannot be a power issue or a conflicting remote command.

I needed the HDMI for Blu-Ray at 1080p any way and as the TiVo is only 1080i the Component connection is fine.

[George Cifranci]

Originally Posted by George Cifranci

I am using a S3 with my Sony SXRD R60XBR1 hooked up via HDMI without any issues.

I spoke too soon. I was hit with this issue the other day. There is another thread on this issue here (started on 11-30-2006) where I posted about it...

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...3&page=1&pp=30

Check out Warlord46's post here where he mentions a workaround...

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...&&#post4684276

These threads should probably be merged.

[pashasurf7873]

sorry to hear that, I've been in contact with warlord, unfortunately his workaround doesn't seem to work for me. We need to somehow make Tivo aware of this frustrating issue, when i call they say they haven't heard of it (right!).
i'll keep trying different setups and report back. I have noticed it happens less often if I use just component, but not a total fix.
Aloha

[George Cifranci]

Originally Posted by pashasurf7873

sorry to hear that, I've been in contact with warlord, unfortunately his workaround doesn't seem to work for me. We need to somehow make Tivo aware of this frustrating issue, when i call they say they haven't heard of it (right!).
i'll keep trying different setups and report back. I have noticed it happens less often if I use just component, but not a total fix.
Aloha

Email them and give them the links to these 2 threads. I will do the same.

[DeathRider]

After reading thst thread, would it be possible to just disconnected the HDMI cable from the TV so there is no connection between the TiVo and TV while thw TV is off?

I would think it easier if it works, still would be a PitA...

[pashasurf7873]

so far what seems to work with the least problems is to use only component cables, turn the tivo off after the TV turns off, then the next time i turn the tv back on, i wait till tv is on and THEN i power on my Tivo. 2 days now with no freeze up. Crossing my fingers every time.
Aloha

[SCSIRAID]

Originally Posted by pashasurf7873

so far what seems to work with the least problems is to use only component cables, turn the tivo off after the TV turns off, then the next time i turn the tv back on, i wait till tv is on and THEN i power on my Tivo. 2 days now with no freeze up. Crossing my fingers every time.
Aloha

Why are you turning the Tivo off? Do you really mean OFF or do you mean STANDBY. You really dont even need to take it to standby.

Are you saying that even with a component connection (no HDMI cable connected) your tivo locks up when you power on the TV? If so.. it sounds like you have a power problem.

[skydivewags]

Again, I ask, how do you know it is locking up when you turn your TV on?????

Perhaps it locked up by itself while your TV was off.

What kind of screen are you seeing?????? ( where is it locked up? )

If you have another small TV, hook it up through another output, and turn it on first to see the status of the TiVo before turning on your Sony.

As an electronics technician, I am telling you, you need to start doing some troubleshooting.

I highly doubt that your TV ( a simple display device ) is causing any trouble with your TiVo. If the TV is sending any bad signal through the component cable, that means you have a defunct TV, and you need to take it back.

I would put money down that turning your TiVo off, is simply preventing it from locking up while your TV is off, for the simple fact that the TiVo is OFF!!! It sounds like you need a new TiVo.

[bareyb]

Originally Posted by skydivewags

Again, I ask, how do you know it is locking up when you turn your TV on?????

Perhaps it locked up by itself while your TV was off.

What kind of screen are you seeing?????? ( where is it locked up? )

If you have another small TV, hook it up through another output, and turn it on first to see the status of the TiVo before turning on your Sony.

As an electronics technician, I am telling you, you need to start doing some troubleshooting.

I highly doubt that your TV ( a simple display device ) is causing any trouble with your TiVo. If the TV is sending any bad signal through the component cable, that means you have a defunct TV, and you need to take it back.

I would put money down that turning your TiVo off, is simply preventing it from locking up while your TV is off, for the simple fact that the TiVo is OFF!!! It sounds like you need a new TiVo.

That's what I've been saying all along. I simply don't see how it's possible. MAYBE the HDMI "might" be the culprit since there is at least SOME type of communication going (the "handshake") but beyond that unless that TV is sending something BACKWARDS through the component cables I don't see how this could be possible.

I also had this same problem and it was not related to my Sony TV at all. I swapped my box and got new cards and one of the two fixed it. Not sure why nobody has taken the time to plug the S3 into a different TV... I really think people are barking up the wrong tree.

[pashasurf7873]

when i said off, i meant standby, and the reason i know its when i turn the tv on is because i have connected a 13" tv to my composite out to test it. works fine, as soon as i turn my sony tv on (connected by component and/or hdmi) the screen on the small tv goes black, somtimes accompanied by a screeching static noise, on top of that the tivo and the clock are frozen on the exact time i tuned the tv on, and will stay frozen that way until i unplug the unit.
and yes it does it with comonent also. there are other threads, including this one with others experiencing the same problem.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...3&page=1&pp=30

thanks for the feedback

[bareyb]

Originally Posted by pashasurf7873

when i said off, i meant standby, and the reason i know its when i turn the tv on is because i have connected a 13" tv to my composite out to test it. works fine, as soon as i turn my sony tv on (connected by component and/or hdmi) the screen on the small tv goes black, somtimes accompanied by a screeching static noise, on top of that the tivo and the clock are frozen on the exact time i tuned the tv on, and will stay frozen that way until i unplug the unit.
and yes it does it with comonent also. there are other threads, including this one with others experiencing the same problem.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...3&page=1&pp=30

thanks for the feedback

It's awfully weird to me that you are NOW saying you plugged in another TV. You were asked several times if you did this over the last four days or so and posted several times without any mention of it. Temporary amnesia?

[George Cifranci]

Originally Posted by pashasurf7873

sorry to hear that, I've been in contact with warlord, unfortunately his workaround doesn't seem to work for me. We need to somehow make Tivo aware of this frustrating issue, when i call they say they haven't heard of it (right!).
i'll keep trying different setups and report back. I have noticed it happens less often if I use just component, but not a total fix.
Aloha

Your TV is the 50" Sony SXRD correct? KDS-R50XBR1 ? When your TiVo freezes is the screen completely green?

That is what I saw on my 60" Sony SXRD KDS-R60XBR1 once so far.

I have mine hooked up to my TV via one of the 2 HDMI ports. One time I came home and turned on the TV (the TiVo at that point is on all the time and I don't use standby) and when the screen came on it was a solid green. After I pulled the power cord from the box and plugged it in and it booted up ok, I looked at the shows it had recorded and it had successfully recorded a show 2 hours prior to me turning on the TV. So it died sometime between then and me turning the TV on.

As for what actually caused it to lockup is unknown at this point. It only happened that one time. I had since used Warlords advice and have been putting the TiVo in standby mode when I am done watching the TV for the evening and turn it off.

[MrHat]

maybe the tivo is defective. seems to be the case with mine. i have a sony tv. i dont think thats the problem...neither did tivo tech support