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Parental Controls = System Lockup

Discussion in 'TiVo Series3 HDTV DVRs' started by Armchair Bronco, Nov 19, 2009.

  1. Nov 19, 2009 #1 of 2
    Armchair Bronco

    Armchair Bronco Loyal TiVo User

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    Aug 8, 2008

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    Without exception, whenever I enable Parental Controls on my early-adopter S3, the unit invariable locks up, requiring a hard reset. It usually takes no more than a day for the TIVO to get in this state.

    When I start up the TV and provide the password, I can navigate the guide, but that's it. I can't get to live TV and I can't get into any menus to turn off PC.

    And so: my wife and I have stopped using PC even though we have 3 kids who also use the TIVO. :thumbsdown:

    ***

    As an anecdote, add my name to the list of parents who think that the Parental Controls feature looks like it was implemented by a summer intern @ TIVO. Given the quality of the overall TIVO UI experience, the PC feature is, to put it bluntly, a JOKE.

    TIVO is not alone in this, either. The parental controls features on Windows Vista and Windows 7 were both clearly an afterthought. In 3 minutes, I can dream up more useful PC features for Windows than the Program Manager in charge of this feature @ MSFT was able to imagine in 5 years.

    Parents want: A) lots of granularity for setting different parameters; and B) features that actually work and don't lock up the DRV or computer! Is that too much to ask?

    Apparently so. :mad:
     
  2. Apr 19, 2012 #2 of 2
    porsche944

    porsche944 New Member

    7
    0
    Apr 9, 2007
    Thanks. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I've called Tivo a few times. They said they had never heard of this problem before, and offered no solutions, but I couldn't believe I'm the only one with this problem.

    I've had my unit for a number of years, but only recently enabled parental controls as my kids are just old enough to use the TV themselves. My symptoms are similar, maybe not identical.

    When the lockup occurs, I cannot get to Tivo Central. I can't watch any recorded shows. I usually can't switch tuners. I can't pull up the channel guide. I can still watch live TV. I can view info on the show. I can change channels. I can pause, rewind, ff, live TV. Pretty much nothing else works. I have to hard reboot by pulling the power cord. The failure seems to occur immediately upon entering my parental control passord. If it's working ok, then it works fine until I go away long enough for P.C. to reactivate. the lockup doesn't always happen, but does occur frequently, probably five times a week.

    Also, this happens on my old series 2 as well, a Toshiba RS-TX60 with DVD burner, but somewhat less frequently. I can't believe this is an isolated problem. Both my Tivos? Is no one else seeing this (or does no one use parental controls?). I welcome any suggestions as well as being pointed to other mentions of the same problem at least, for confirmation.
     

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