Hey all - I'm brand new to these forums; hopefully I won't repeat any issues listed on TiVo Community. Alright, here's the gist...
I have a Series 3 HD TiVo. Worked great from early January through mid July, with no problems whatsoever. (It was never moved from its shelf, where it's sitting all alone - nothing stacked on top, plenty of ventilation, and not near any subwoofers or anything that would cause interference.) All of a sudden, it started freezing ONLY during recorded programs. Live TV plays just fine, it's just playback of recorded shows. (Menus also "stutter" and respond slowly, from time to time.) The picture freezes, plays for half a second, freezes again, and repeats for about a minute, when it suddenly "snaps out of it" and plays for another five minutes, when it freezes again. It's unwatchable, to say the least.
Called up TiVo in July, and of course I restarted, resetted, and cleared and deleted everything... removed the power cable - nothing worked. So, they sent me a new one (after charging my credit card), and I sent mine back (and was reimbursed for the charge). Brand new TiVo - no worries, right?
Wrong. It had the SAME issue. Not a similar issue, but the SAME freezing problem, and ONLY on recorded programs.
So, I've tried contacting them multiple times, with no answers (in fact, they just have me repeat the same steps as before, to no avail.) I find it hard to believe that two Series 3 boxes would have the same problem, but there you go.
In terms of my setup, I'm using two Scientific Atlanta CableCards, courtesy of Time Warner Cable in Manhattan, the TiVo is connected via HDMI to my HDTV (video settings are at 1080i fixed), network is connected via ethernet, and the power cable is hooked up to one of those giant Monster Cable surge protectors (so no worries about electrical surges that would damage the TiVo.)
The only thing I can think of, which I've suggested to TiVo, is that this is a CableCard compatibility issue. Again, Live TV is perfectly fine, and I'm getting all my channels loud and clear, but still... I used the same CableCards in the old Series 3 as I do now in the new one, and I have the same issue. I've seen mention on the forums of "S model" and "M model" CableCards... If the CableCards ARE the issue, which model should I use? Is there a firmware update for the CableCards? Am I on the right track at all?
Does anyone else have this issue and/or suggestions of how to fix it? TiVo doesn't seem to think it's the CableCards - in fact, their latest suggestion was to cover the front of the TiVo, in case there's IR intereference. (Which seems silly to me, because if it was receiving a "pause" command from another remote, wouldn't the pause menu pop up on screen?) At any rate, I tried covering the IR port on my Series 3, and it didn't work. I even tried disconnecting ALL other nearby appliances, EXCEPT for the HDTV and Series 3, and it STILL has the freezing issue. And, TiVo doesn't want to send me a new box because they can't believe that two Series 3's would have the same issue, but they also aren't making any suggestions that actually work.
Again, my TiVo is well-ventilated, surge-protected, never moved from its shelf, and nothing is stacked on top of it... I've kept up with all the service updates, and I have NOT modified it at all with external eSATA drives, etc. What could the issue be?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading this super-long post, but I thought I'd be thorough in my description of the issue. Take care, and I look forward to hearing from you~
I have a Series 3 HD TiVo. Worked great from early January through mid July, with no problems whatsoever. (It was never moved from its shelf, where it's sitting all alone - nothing stacked on top, plenty of ventilation, and not near any subwoofers or anything that would cause interference.) All of a sudden, it started freezing ONLY during recorded programs. Live TV plays just fine, it's just playback of recorded shows. (Menus also "stutter" and respond slowly, from time to time.) The picture freezes, plays for half a second, freezes again, and repeats for about a minute, when it suddenly "snaps out of it" and plays for another five minutes, when it freezes again. It's unwatchable, to say the least.
Called up TiVo in July, and of course I restarted, resetted, and cleared and deleted everything... removed the power cable - nothing worked. So, they sent me a new one (after charging my credit card), and I sent mine back (and was reimbursed for the charge). Brand new TiVo - no worries, right?
Wrong. It had the SAME issue. Not a similar issue, but the SAME freezing problem, and ONLY on recorded programs.
So, I've tried contacting them multiple times, with no answers (in fact, they just have me repeat the same steps as before, to no avail.) I find it hard to believe that two Series 3 boxes would have the same problem, but there you go.
In terms of my setup, I'm using two Scientific Atlanta CableCards, courtesy of Time Warner Cable in Manhattan, the TiVo is connected via HDMI to my HDTV (video settings are at 1080i fixed), network is connected via ethernet, and the power cable is hooked up to one of those giant Monster Cable surge protectors (so no worries about electrical surges that would damage the TiVo.)
The only thing I can think of, which I've suggested to TiVo, is that this is a CableCard compatibility issue. Again, Live TV is perfectly fine, and I'm getting all my channels loud and clear, but still... I used the same CableCards in the old Series 3 as I do now in the new one, and I have the same issue. I've seen mention on the forums of "S model" and "M model" CableCards... If the CableCards ARE the issue, which model should I use? Is there a firmware update for the CableCards? Am I on the right track at all?
Does anyone else have this issue and/or suggestions of how to fix it? TiVo doesn't seem to think it's the CableCards - in fact, their latest suggestion was to cover the front of the TiVo, in case there's IR intereference. (Which seems silly to me, because if it was receiving a "pause" command from another remote, wouldn't the pause menu pop up on screen?) At any rate, I tried covering the IR port on my Series 3, and it didn't work. I even tried disconnecting ALL other nearby appliances, EXCEPT for the HDTV and Series 3, and it STILL has the freezing issue. And, TiVo doesn't want to send me a new box because they can't believe that two Series 3's would have the same issue, but they also aren't making any suggestions that actually work.
Again, my TiVo is well-ventilated, surge-protected, never moved from its shelf, and nothing is stacked on top of it... I've kept up with all the service updates, and I have NOT modified it at all with external eSATA drives, etc. What could the issue be?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading this super-long post, but I thought I'd be thorough in my description of the issue. Take care, and I look forward to hearing from you~