[Chas_M]

I have recently starting noticing that the TIVO S3 is not maintaining correct system time. This started shortly after the 8.1 update. Up to that point, the TIVO was 100% perfect. I don't know how soon but I noticed it when I was using the Guide to record a program. The guide was showing a calendar date at least one day previous to the current day and a time totally wong with wall clock time. Then I noticed the time on the INFO window as also incorrect.

I then looked at the program and setting to see the status of the most recent program guide updates and found that the dates of the next update were previous to the current date. Obviously, system time was very wrong.

Doing a restart had no effect at all! The only way of correcting the situation is to force a download from TIVO of the program Guide information. On completion, the system time was correct and the Guide was correct too.

The system time and guide status remain correct for a day or so, but then revert back to losing days and time. Again, a forced update resolves the problem.

Anyone have any ideas what's causing this situation?

 

[Bierboy]

Might try redoing the guided setup...it's a bit of a pain, but it might help.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Check to make sure your daily connects are working. It sets the time on each connection.

 

[mercado]

I also started seeing this on my S3 shortly after the 8.1 update. Box was connected via
phone line and had variable amounts of time drift: one day the clock would be 50 min
behind, another day 5 hrs. At first I thought this might be a DST-related issue but now I'm not sure what's going on.

I've connected the S3 w/ Ethernet now to ensure that connections/clock sync occur more
often- I've already missed several programs this week due to Tivo malfunction.
Hopefully this will get resolved soon, as I'd prefer to use my Tivo wireless adapter for S2 TTG transfers..

 

[SanDiegoDude]

I recently noticed my Tivo S3 unit's clock is keeping poor time. I noticed because shows kept starting about a minute into it. So after keeping a close eye on the time, I realised it is losing about 90 seconds every day. It resyncs the time when it performs the daily update...usually in the early morning, but by evening it's well over a minute behind, causing the recording of shows to be behind. I hate missing the first minute+ of shows. And yes, I realize I can go in and program it to pad a minute at the beginning of shows, but that's not the point, I shouldn't have to do that.

I also have an SA8300HD, and that cheap piece of junk keeps time precisely, so I find it inexcusable that an $800+ TiVo isn't able to keep precise time.

I'm going to call TiVo out on this one. I'm wondering just how many other S3 owners are experiencing this, and how many don't even realize it...

--Raleigh

 

[abredt]

I recently noticed my Tivo S3 unit's clock is keeping poor time. I noticed because shows kept starting about a minute into it. So after keeping a close eye on the time, I realised it is losing about 90 seconds every day. It resyncs the time when it performs the daily update...usually in the early morning, but by evening it's well over a minute behind, causing the recording of shows to be behind. I hate missing the first minute+ of shows. And yes, I realize I can go in and program it to pad a minute at the beginning of shows, but that's not the point, I shouldn't have to do that.

I also have an SA8300HD, and that cheap piece of junk keeps time precisely, so I find it inexcusable that an $800+ TiVo isn't able to keep precise time.

I'm going to call TiVo out on this one. I'm wondering just how many other S3 owners are experiencing this, and how many don't even realize it...

--Raleigh

Me too ! !

This morning my unit froze on 9 am yesterday. Nothing after that got recorded. Pulled the power and replugged it, no change. Forced a connect and it's OK now.

Did you call TiVo? What did they say?

CB

 

[moscovitzd]

Noticed the wrong time tonight. It was 4 hours off and I lost recordings because of it. I forced a connection to Tivo and the correct time was set.

 

[CraigHB]

Fortunately, my S3 keeps good time. I have a big atomic clock on the wall above it and I've never noticed a discrepancy.

The TiVo's internal clock is a hardware function. The software synchronizes it when the TiVo makes its daily call. Normally, an internal clock that doesn't keep time is not something related to software. The hardware has to be replaced which means a new mainboard. There may be a problem that's causing the software to fail in reading the clock, but if it's drifting by some regular amount between daily calls, that's certainly bad hardware.

 

[moscovitzd]

Same problem this morning on the S3 that had the clock problem last night. At 11:28 AM the Tivo thinks its 3:41 PM. More lost recordings. I called Tivo to open a case on this problem. Forcing a call into Tivo corrects the time but the unit is not maintaining the correct time. They told me I picked up a recent update last night and they needed to correct something on their end. I wasn't aware of this but apparently they can push out small updates without requiring a reboot. Anyhow... the fix is to rerun the guided setup. I'm doing this right now. I asked if others having the same problem could just rerun guided setup and the CSR suggested the affected users call in first. I am speculating they want your TSN to send out a fix to the affected units.

 

[abredt]

The clock problen occurred again - the 2nd time. Called TiVo and he said just keep forcing a phone call whenever it happens and they will "track it." I told him that was unacceptable and I want it fixed NOW and demanded to talk to his supervisor.

After 15 min on hold, he came back on and said it's a problem with the CMOS - the internal battery that runs the clock - and they will replace the unit for $50. Told him I know all about CMOS and they do not die in 4 months.

After 15 more minutes he came back on and claimed that HE talked them into doing it without a charge.

They charged my credit card for $799+tax, are sending me another unit, and will credit my credit card when they get the old one back. Actually, the unit was doing other funny stuff, so I'm glad to replace it. (Sometimes it would record a half hour show, but start it 9 minutes before the show started and go an extra 9 minutes - so I didn't miss anything, but it was very strange. It would record the next shows without the strange stuff.)

CB

 

[rainwater]

Told him I know all about CMOS and they do not die in 4 months.

(Sometimes it would record a half hour show, but start it 9 minutes before the show started and go an extra 9 minutes - so I didn't miss anything, but it was very strange. It would record the next shows without the strange stuff.)

Hmm, well, the symptoms are exactly that of a bad internal clock. So it would appear the CSR was exactly correct. There's no way that the software is changing the clock except during a guide data connection so if it is changing throughout the day, then TiVo correctly diagnosed the problem.

 

[Roderigo]

Sometimes it would record a half hour show, but start it 9 minutes before the show started and go an extra 9 minutes - so I didn't miss anything, but it was very strange.

Did this happen when you started recording something that was already on? If so, that's expected behaviour. When you press record from live tv, tivos often record a bit extra at the beginning. On the S3, if you're recording SD programming, it can be more noticeable than S2s, as the buffer sizes are larger to accommodate the higher bitrate HD channels.

 

[abredt]

Clock Problem # 1 - The clock did not slow down during the day. For 2 weeks it was exactly correct, then suddenly got changed to 29+ hours earlier (on the previous day.)

Clock Problem # 2 - It did not happen when I started recording a program in progress. It added the 9 minutes on a program on the To-To list, then recorded that channel for 39 minutes.

CB

 

[Chas_M]

Since my original post on 3/1/2007, the S3 has not had any problems with time keeping. The clock as viewed on the system information page always rolls over to the next minute within a few seconds of my atomic clock.

Due to the large and sudden discontinuities of time that had been happening, I suspect it was a software problem that has now been fixed by a minor update pushed by Tivo.

 

[ahcloned]

I can add that there seems to be a problem with keeping time.

I have new S3 that has been in use for a week. It has updated itself to 8.1.

It seems to gain a few minutes each day. It updated around 12:30am and by the next evening it was 3 minute fast. I had a network issue and it missed a day and was 5-6 minutes fast.

A daily update sets the clock and all is fine for awhile. I think there may be a software issue. It is a stock unit no upgrades.

I'm using digital cable but no cablecards yet. Only have analog stations and rebroadcast OTA ATSC channels right now. (cablevision yonkers, ny)

Is this time issue a problem for people using OTA ATSC or cablecards?

Does the S3 sync time with the digital signals?

Any ideas?

ahcloned

 

[CharlesH]

Does the S3 sync time with the digital signals?

On the daily call, it first connects to an NNTP server somewhere on the Internet to set the clock. The clocks can be "tweaked" to slow them down or speed them up a bit (or the system adds in fudge factors, I'm not sure which), but I can't say if this is an issue here. The clock setting routine could have had a nasty glitch.

I have never understood why the clock in my expensive computers can drift a couple of minutes per day, whereas my old cheap digital watch drifts no more than a few seconds a month.

 

[abredt]

My clock problem happens when the unit makes its daily phone call - but not every time. If I disconnect the phone line, the clock is fine. Using a different phone number does not help.

They sent me a new unit and will reverse the charge on my credit card when I return the old one, but I haven't had a chance to install the new one yet.

 

[gwsat]

Fortunately, my S3 keeps good time. I have a big atomic clock on the wall above it and I've never noticed a discrepancy.

The TiVo's internal clock is a hardware function. The software synchronizes it when the TiVo makes its daily call. Normally, an internal clock that doesn't keep time is not something related to software. The hardware has to be replaced which means a new mainboard. There may be a problem that's causing the software to fail in reading the clock, but if it's drifting by some regular amount between daily calls, that's certainly bad hardware.

My S3’s clock, too, is precisely correct all the time. I have an Atomic watch and several Atomic clocks and have learned they synchronize to the exact second when they receive the download signal from Colorado and will maintain that accuracy for several days between connections, if necessary. Whenever I have compared my S3’s clock to the Atomic clock in the TV room it is precisely correct.

I feel certain that the S3’s clock, like all modern electronic clocks, is regulated by a quartz crystal, but, like an Atomic clock, it is checked and, if necessary, corrected whenever a new download occurs. If the timekeeping is fast or slow by a few minutes in the 24 hours or so between downloads, then it’s likely a quartz crystal problem; but if it keeps good time from day to day and then is grossly wrong immediately after a download it has to be a software problem, it seems to me.

 

[ahcloned]

It looks like I must have a bad unit. My S3 continues to gain 2-3 minutes each day between calls. It is a big problem as it sometimes misses the end of programs.

Since this thread hasn't gone wild with people saying "me too!!" it must be me. I will call and see what tivo has to say about it.

Unless 8.3 has some kind of bug fix I guess I will be getting a new unit.

ahcloned

 

[AlanWe]

Fortunately, my S3 keeps good time. I have a big atomic clock on the wall above it and I've never noticed a discrepancy.

The TiVo's internal clock is a hardware function. The software synchronizes it when the TiVo makes its daily call. Normally, an internal clock that doesn't keep time is not something related to software. The hardware has to be replaced which means a new mainboard. There may be a problem that's causing the software to fail in reading the clock, but if it's drifting by some regular amount between daily calls, that's certainly bad hardware.

My Tivo S3 started losing time and was starting recordings late, such that I was missing the first 10-15 minutes of the 5:30 p.m. evening news. I replaced the clock battery, blew out some dust and it has been fine now for several weeks.