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Constant reboots - after upgrade to 21.10.1.v11-USC-11-849?

Discussion in 'TiVo Bolt DVR/Streamer' started by kswartz, Oct 14, 2020.

  1. Oct 14, 2020 #1 of 11
    kswartz

    kswartz New Member

    25
    1
    Mar 31, 2005

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    In the last 24 hours or so -- I think consistent with the timing of this latest update -- almost every time I go to play ANY recording on my TiVo, it goes to a black screen for a few seconds, then does a HARD reboot. (Not a reboot of the UI, the whole machine restarts.)

    It always comes back fine, but anything I try to play, the same thing happens.

    Out of six attempts, I did get it to work once. I tried connecting to the service and looking around in the settings for a while, then was suddenly able to play back two programs. I went to start a third -- back to the reboots. Tried again 15 hours later...every try results in a reboot.

    The obvious first thought is that it's a hard drive failure, but I am able to stream any of these programs to an iPad with no problem at all. So it's certainly not a problem with the recordings.

    I know my power supply is going, because the machine usually takes a dozen or so attempts to restart if I unplug it (which is why it's been on a UPS for the last few months). But I have a hard time imagining that the simple act of initiating playback of a recording would cause some kind of burst in power requirements that would cause a restart, especially if it streams fine.

    So based on that, I am hoping this is a software bug related to the latest update. Frustratingly, there is no way (still...after hoping this would change in the last 20 years) to get any kind of debug or diagnostic information about what is causing the reboot, which brings me here. Has anyone else been experiencing this? Or is it time to call this device totally shot?

    UPDATE: I thought to try something else. I am able to play back videos streamed from another TiVo on my network. So playback by itself does not appear to be the issue. Then again, neither is playback of specific programs if I stream them (and given the one time it worked, it had failed on that same program in earlier attempts).

    TIA,
    Keith
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2020
    mllacey likes this.
  2. Oct 14, 2020 #2 of 11
    Hikr

    Hikr New Member

    2
    1
    Oct 14, 2020
    Yes!
    I’m having the same problem today with my Bolt OTA. Every time I try to watch a recorded program it results in system shutdown and reboot. I can watch live OTA or a streaming program without issue. During the last week or so I have had a couple of shutdown reboot cycles but not consistently like today.
    Does anybody have any solutions, this is very annoying.
     
  3. Oct 14, 2020 #3 of 11
    Tempestsystems

    Tempestsystems New Member

    2
    1
    Oct 14, 2020
    I have the same problem. The issue has nothing to do with your box. I have 4 Tivo boxes in my home (all different models) and they are all rebooting.
    The rebooting occurs when the Tivo service tries to access a pre-roll ad. For some reason, this is causing every box to reboot each time the pre roll ad is accessed.
    I plan to call Tivo customer support in the am since tech support is gone for the day.
    The only temporray way around this is to disconnect your network (wired or wireless) when playing back a program. If there is no network access, the preroll add is not accessed and playback is fine.
    In other words, if you are using wired ethernet, just unplug the ethernet plug before trying to play back a recording and the problem will disappear. Hopefully, tivo will fix this problem in the next 24 hours
     
  4. Oct 15, 2020 #4 of 11
    Hikr

    Hikr New Member

    2
    1
    Oct 14, 2020
    I have found once you have selected a recorded program to watch, immediately push the skip button on the remote to bypass the preroll add and prevent the system crash.
    Hopefully they will address this issue soon to prevent the need for this maneuver, or better yet do away with these annoying adds altogether.
     
    mllacey likes this.
  5. Oct 15, 2020 #5 of 11
    keithg1964

    keithg1964 Ragonk

    195
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    Feb 2, 2006
    Texas

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    I have had this update for a while on my bolt and have had no issues at all.
     
  6. Oct 15, 2020 #6 of 11
    kswartz

    kswartz New Member

    25
    1
    Mar 31, 2005
    Thank goodness I'm not alone -- I was starting to suspect the pre-roll ads, as well. I wasn't sure, because some of the programs that caused the boot were ones that didn't typically run a pre-roll ad.

    But after an hour of experimenting last night, and ruling out SD vs. HD, or old vs. new, the one thing that did consistently play well was anything recorded on a PBS station. They never play pre-roll ads. (Also: I can watch something that is actively recording on Live TV. But if I exit Live TV and try to watch from the beginning, it fails again -- now it makes sense. It tried to play an ad there.)

    The pre-roll ads annoyed me before. But now they've turned my TiVo into a brick, so this is the definitive "I'm done with TiVo" move.
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2020
  7. Oct 15, 2020 #7 of 11
    kswartz

    kswartz New Member

    25
    1
    Mar 31, 2005
    Confirmed - this workaround does the trick. Thank you for posting this Hikr.

    I've had a TiVo for 20 years, and I can't remember them ever having a bigger QA f-up. On a feature that nobody ever wanted, at that. This elevates to the level of demanding a public apology, but I won't hold my breath.
     
  8. Oct 15, 2020 #8 of 11
    Tempestsystems

    Tempestsystems New Member

    2
    1
    Oct 14, 2020
    I had the same problem on multiple channels. I called Tivo Tech Support. While they are investigating, they had a simple fix. They simply permanently 'disabled' all pre roll ads on my tivo boxes.
    A customer can't do this on their own; one has to request tech support to do this. Call lasted <5 minutes. Fixed the symptom but not the cause.
     
    HerronScott likes this.
  9. Oct 16, 2020 #9 of 11
    DonaldBurns65144

    DonaldBurns65144 Member

    129
    1
    Jan 10, 2011
    USA
    Trying to use the Youtube app locks of both of our Bolts about 50% of the time. A couple of minutes ago my wife locked up one just by selecting "Guide" and got a reboot. Software seems to get buggier with each update, IMHO.
     
  10. Oct 20, 2020 #10 of 11
    edheitz

    edheitz New Member

    1
    0
    Oct 20, 2020
    I have the same problem. I called tivo support early this morning hoping to get the ads disabled, but no.
    The rep walked me through a few steps including a forced connection to tivo service, then confirming the problem continued. I hoped this would disable but I think she just wanted to confirm connection.
    She would up telling me to try deleting an offending recording then recovering it. It did successfully play after being restored.
    Then she said this was the "workaround" I should use.
    When I protested she said she this was a known issue (3 calls already for her in first 20 minutes of her day) that they were working on fixing.

    So no joy from Tivo support for me....
    I'm just disconnecting the network cable. That works. I'll reconnect every few days for program info and any software updates and also when I want to use Netflix or Amazon with it.
    I guess I'll note the software version to see if it's time to test again.

    What seems weird to me is that Bolt is at my parents' house. I have another at my home (purchased only a few weeks later) and on that one I have yet to see the problem (I assume mine has updated too). Could it be the internet provider (Trouble on Verizon FIOS, not mine on Comcast) ??? just a thought.
     
  11. Oct 29, 2020 #11 of 11
    DomTT

    DomTT New Member

    1
    0
    Oct 29, 2020
    I have found that as well but it doesn't always catch it
     

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