HD recording problem - as in it stops

1386 Views 12 Replies 7 Participants Last post by bkdtv, Nov 20, 2007

leevick

Discussion Starter · Sep 16, 2007

We recently got a TiVo HD and after some initial problems we're up and running except for one problem. Sometimes it decides to stop taping a show we've requested because, well, just because. I tried to tape the UT football game on Saturday and got 3 minutes. Today I was 2:45 into the Texans game and stopped. Maybe my wife programmed it to hate football. Today I was watching the game (started late, trying to catch up to real-time) and noticed that it was taping the game and some TiVo suggestion on the other tuner. Then things seemed to lock up a bit and when I went to live TV it wasn't even showing any channels. After a minute or so I could change channels properly and all was back to normal but it had stopped taping (even though the 4 hours I requested wasn't up yet). Could this be a cablecard issue? Tuner issue? Bad box? Gremlins? Help! Thanks!

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threeonparfive

· #2 · Sep 17, 2007

leevick said:
We recently got a TiVo HD and after some initial problems we're up and running except for one problem. Sometimes it decides to stop taping a show we've requested because, well, just because. I tried to tape the UT football game on Saturday and got 3 minutes. Today I was 2:45 into the Texans game and stopped. Maybe my wife programmed it to hate football. Today I was watching the game (started late, trying to catch up to real-time) and noticed that it was taping the game and some TiVo suggestion on the other tuner. Then things seemed to lock up a bit and when I went to live TV it wasn't even showing any channels. After a minute or so I could change channels properly and all was back to normal but it had stopped taping (even though the 4 hours I requested wasn't up yet). Could this be a cablecard issue? Tuner issue? Bad box? Gremlins? Help! Thanks!

My new TivoHD stopped recording 45 minutes into recording the UT/California game 3 weeks ago! And I even made it the entire night (had to work) without hearing anything about the game.

It had no problems with the UT/Florida game which I started watching about 45 minutes in and caught up with live just after half time. Now that was a game I could have stood for it to stop recording

I'm on Comcast with 2 Motorola cards. I too wondered if it could be a card problem. I know I didn't loose power because it's on a UPS.

I did notice the damn thing rebooting for a service update (shortly after 9pm EDT) right in the middle of when it should have been recording Monk a couple of weeks ago. What's up with that???

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leevick

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 17, 2007

I'm starting to think it is a cablecard issue, I'll try calling Comcast today. I've got the M-card and usually it works fine, but like I say sometimes it will just stop recording. Last night I was watching the San Diego game (mistake if you're a Chargers fan) and it did it again. When I switched to live TV I got the "acquiring channels" message. A minute or two later everything was fine. In fact I might could even live with the interruptions if it went back and continued recording, but it doesn't! This is a major problem...

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threeonparfive

· #4 · Sep 17, 2007

leevick said:
I'm starting to think it is a cablecard issue, I'll try calling Comcast today. I've got the M-card and usually it works fine, but like I say sometimes it will just stop recording. Last night I was watching the San Diego game (mistake if you're a Chargers fan) and it did it again. When I switched to live TV I got the "acquiring channels" message. A minute or two later everything was fine. In fact I might could even live with the interruptions if it went back and continued recording, but it doesn't! This is a major problem...

Perhaps the major problem here is really that you and I need to stop TiVoing the games of the teams we like. It doesn't sound like they've got a good track record when we're watching the games

UT won their game two weeks ago that was only available on Video Seat which I was told I could receive with cable cards

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lessd

· #5 · Sep 17, 2007

Now the emergence cable broadcast signal will stop all recording on any TiVo using cable cards, I do not know if that the problem here on this thread. The recording will not pick up after, like with the loss of power the recording will pick back up after the boot is done.

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jcsprankle

· #6 · Nov 20, 2007

I'm having the same problem. I've got a Tivo HD and M-card through Comcast working for about two weeks and had this happen twice. First, it happened with ER last week. My wife noticed the record light went off and re-started it. Yesterday, we scheduled the American Music Awards to record. 52 minutes into the 3.5 hour program, Tivo stopped recording for some reason. This time, we didn't notice until tonight.

I'm thinking this is also related to the cablecard but I don't know why I think that. Anyone have an idea of what's going on?

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mrfeb14

· #7 · Nov 20, 2007

I am having a similar problem. i have comcast with M-card installed in my TivoHD and i notice i can't even get programs that are scheduled to record. Four times now it hasn't recorded things in the to-do list, and when i check it says the show wasn't recorded due to loss of power or dvr was unplugged (this was not the case). I have no problem with it recording when i'm actively using the tivo, as in watching something previously recorded while it's recording something else. But, when i leave it alone (in standby or just totally on in live tv mode) it won't record anything almost like it freezes up.

Today When I got home I noticed the record light was on like it should have been, but when i turned the tv on to check the red dot was not on either tuner indicating it was recording and it wasn't even on the channel it should have been recording on either tuner. As soon as i hit the info button again, the tivo changed to the channel it was suppsed to be recording and started recording what was scheduled (only got the last 2 minutes of the program). It almost seems like it is timing out when there is lack of activity.

I have only had my cable card for 5 days, maybe it really is a cable card issue. When i had it running after i first got it only with OTA HD channels i had no problems. Has anyone contacted tivo and started a ticket?

TivoHD Comcast in Concord CA with one M-card

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jcsprankle

· #8 · Nov 20, 2007

I'm using Comcast in Houston, TX with an M-card. This is becoming a real problem for me. It happened twice tonight! It only recorded 6 minutes of Rules of Engagement (30 min show) and only recorded 38 minutes of Heroes!

If this continues to happen, I'll have to move my crappy Comcast DVR back to the living room and use that!!!!

Can anyone help?? Do I need a new cable card? I'll call Tivo tomorrow and hope for the best.

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mrfeb14

· #9 · Nov 20, 2007

I spoke to comcast last night and it didn't take me long to get to a level 2 CSR that was in the HD department. After about 20 minutes of questions and checking cable card info pages we finally figured out the problem. Problem 1 was after cable cards were installed it required HDCP acceptance for every channel no matter if premium or non premium. Second problem i had is my tv has HDCP compliance but was too old (from 2004)and when the tv is off it wasn't sending the proper signal and therefore the tivo would not record or stop recording mid program if it wasn't receiving the proper HDCP signal. I ended up rehooking up my tivo using component cables and after a lot of testing it worked. So my suggestion would be to call tivo and open a ticket and get to level2 CSR... and if you have your tivo hooked up using HDMI that may be your issue.

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jcsprankle

· #10 · Nov 20, 2007

mrfeb14 said:
I spoke to comcast last night and it didn't take me long to get to a level 2 CSR that was in the HD department. After about 20 minutes of questions and checking cable card info pages we finally figured out the problem. Problem 1 was after cable cards were installed it required HDCP acceptance for every channel no matter if premium or non premium. Second problem i had is my tv has HDCP compliance but was too old (from 2004)and when the tv is off it wasn't sending the proper signal and therefore the tivo would not record or stop recording mid program if it wasn't receiving the proper HDCP signal. I ended up rehooking up my tivo using component cables and after a lot of testing it worked. So my suggestion would be to call tivo and open a ticket and get to level2 CSR... and if you have your tivo hooked up using HDMI that may be your issue.

I do have the Tivo connected via HDMI. I don't have a real problem with going to component if that's what it takes. I plan to call Tivo today but I'm at work so I don't know what I'll be able to do.

Did you call Comcast or Tivo? Which one was able to resolve your issues?

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mrfeb14

· #11 · Nov 20, 2007

oops, didn't notice my error until your post JCSprankle, I contacted TIVO last night not comcast and they were able to resolve my issue.. total time onthe phone trouble shooting with level2 CSR at TIVO about 35 minutes.

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stark

· #12 · Nov 20, 2007

I had the same problem a couple of weeks ago with my Series 3. I restarted the Tivo and haven't had any problems since.

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bkdtv

· #13 · Nov 20, 2007

If you are experiencing this problem, then I would suggest you take a screenshot of your System Information -> -> CableCard Conditional Access screen and post it here. That way, members can verify that Comcast activated your CableCard(s) correctly.

Even if the CableCards are activated correctly, the TiVo will stop recording if there are too many signal errors -- or your signal is so weak that it drops out. If a signal is too strong, they same thing can happen.

Tune to one of the 'problem' channels and look under System Information -> Diagnostics. What does it list as your signal strength, SNR, and Uncorrected Errors?

If your signal strength is in the 60s and/or your SNR of less than 32dB, then your signal could be too weak and an amplifier may be required. If your signal strength is 100dB with a SNR of 37/38dB, then the signal could be too strong. If the signal is too strong, that will cause signal errors, resulting in pixelization or audio dropouts, and a halted recording if they get too bad. The signal errors (and pixelization) must be pretty bad to halt a recording. Do you see any pixelization on those recordings leading up to the spot where the recording stopped? If so, that would be 'proof' that your signal is too strong. In that case, you would need an attenuator to reduce the signal.

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