[Ruth]

Hi folks,

My S1 Tivo now has the blue "cannot display live TV" screen. Been like that for about 24 hours, but I just noticed it.

Here's my setup. It has been working just fine for about a year:

I have cable. It's split. Half goes to a digital cable box, then to TiVo #1. TiVo #1 is an S2. Live TV is working 100% fine on TiVo #1.

The other cable feed goes to TiVo #2 via coax. There is no cable box (it just gets the broadcast channels). This is the TiVo that no longer has a video signal.

TiVo #2's cable feed gets a decent (not great) picture if you bypass the TiVo. I also swapped out the coax cable, to no effect. Restarting the machine does nothing.

Maybe this means my video signal is too weak? But it's throwing me off that one of the TiVos is working fine. If the signal were weaker now for some reason, wouldn't you expect to see that on both machines? And why would I suddenly have this problem after it's been working fine for so long?

Anyway, can anybody help me out? Thanks!

 

[Billy66]

Hi Ruthy,

You mean the blue screen that used to have the sad TiVo face right? As you have guessed, that's what comes when the TiVo doesn't detect a strong enough signal. The questions of why now etc would be nice to answer, but I think your main goal is to simply have it working again with or without those answers.

I see three realistic possibilities here.

1. Your cable signal coming into your house is a little weaker.
2. Your S1's ability to tune properly is on the fritz.
3. The splitter you are using is degraded to the point that it is causing loss.

Of these, I think 1 and 3 are the most likely.

Do this. Go to your splitter and disconnect the input there. Then connect that feed into your S1 directly and see if that solves the problem. What we're hoping here is to identify the cause as either 1 or 3. If it works, breathe easy and get another splitter or an in-line amp (they also make amplified splitters). If it doesn't work, then we need to investigate #2 more seriously. For this, drag that tired old VCR out of Steven's room and hook it up. Send the coax output into your TiVo and then press play. Tune your TiVo to either channel 3 or 4 (whichever your VCR outputs to). Make sure you are playing a non-macrovision tape. If you still get sad TiVo blue screen, that would be indicative of the TiVo not being able to tune properly any longer.

Report your findings back. Good luck.

Edit: Another thing to try if you determine the coax input to be faltering would be to re-run your GS and have your S1 use the RCA outputs from your cable box and have your S2 use the straight coax feed effectively making TiVo 2 which is an S1, TiVo1 and Tivo 1 which is an S2 TiVo 2. Say that 3 times fast.

My money is on the splitter.

 

[Ruth]

Thank you Billy. I knew you'd be the one to help. I'll get on it and let you know what happens. I hope it's the splitter too, 'cause that sounds easy to fix!

 

[Billy66]

Don't thank me until I've done something more productive than run my mouth. If it works, thank me then.

 

[Ruth]

Nope. You get thanked now, like it or not.

 

[Billy66]

Well, if you have to thank me, go ahead. Just be gentle and don't wake me up.

 

[Ruth]

OK, so I've completed all of Billy's troubleshooting tests. Nothing worked.

Cable unsplit directly from wall to TiVo #2 = no signal
Output from VCR tape into TiVo #2 = no signal

OK, so this means my S1 can't tune channels anymore? And if I am understanding you right, my best shot now is to swap out my TiVos, so that the TiVo with no tuner is attached to the cable box, so that it doesn't need a functional tuner? Ha ha ha. Sounds like a blast. I don't suppose there's an easy way to fix the tuner?

 

[Billy66]

Well, bummer Ruthy. Sounding now like a bad tuner. So yes, try the cable box with the RCA jacks to the S1 and I think you'll be back in business. Do remember (if you haven't already) to get your cables set up the way they were previously so they feed both Tivo2 and the cable box.

 

[Ruth]

Woe is me. I tried re-running GS on the malfunctioning TiVo. I was going to hook it up to the digital cable box, taking the tuner out of the loop.

When I got to the video input stange, I plugged in the inputs from TiVo #1 (working perfectly on TiVo #1). Result: No video.

So, it isn't recognizing any video input from any source, even when it shouldn't have to use its tuner to see them.

Billy and I chatted about it and we think that the TiVo is just broken and there's not an obvious way to fix or work around it. I'm just down a TiVo, I guess. So sad! Anyone see any flaws in our analysis here or have any more ideas? Thanks.