[fredcamp]

I have enjoyed the TIVO with no problems for a little over 2 years. The TIVO was working fine when I went out of town for Christmas. When I returned, I saw a very snowy picture on the TV screen. I removed the TIVO from the network and plugged the cable straight into the TV and the picture was fine. The shows that were recorded on the TIVO prior to Christmas will play fine, but all subsequent shows are very snowy. I have checked the cables, and everything seems to be OK. Has some component gone bad inside the DVR? What has caused the sudden appearance of snow on the TV?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[gastrof]

How is your TV getting the signal from the TiVo?

Is your cable source an outlet on the wall that you can change cables on, or is it just a cable sticking out of a hole in your wall?

If the former, have you tried changing to a new cable?

If the latter, have you considered calling in your cable service and showing them the problem?

Some have said TiVo tuners require a stronger signal than many TV tuners do, but it seems odd there'd be that much of a difference.

You don't use a cable box, do you?

We really could use more details...

 

[fredcamp]

We do not use a cable box. We have checked the cables and they are fine. The setup is basically the cable coming into the TIVO, and then from the TIVO to the TV. This connection worked fine for over two years, and is not working now. If I bypass the TIVO and plug the cable directly into the TV, the picture is perfect. When going through the TIVO, the picture is snowy. This happens whether the TIVO is plugged in or not.

Any other details that you need? Thanks.

 

[litzdog911]

It's possible that your incoming cable TV signal is weaker, causing snow when connected to the Tivo. As gastrof points out, Tivo tuners are not as sensitive as most TV tuners, so you need the strongest possible signal. Has your cable company or neighbors done anything that could have changed your cable TV signal?

If you're convinced that the cable TV signal has not changed, then the problem must be a failure in your Tivo's tuner.

 

[jschvach]

I've been having the same exact problem. My Tivo worked perfectly for 2 years, now all of a sudden, the picture is snowy.

Nothing has changed. Same hook-up/setup for the last 2 years. Same cable provider.

Is it possible that all of a sudden the cable signal is weak?? Even after 2 years of it not being a problem??

 

[Southcross]

I've been having the same exact problem. My Tivo worked perfectly for 2 years, now all of a sudden, the picture is snowy.

Nothing has changed. Same hook-up/setup for the last 2 years. Same cable provider.

Is it possible that all of a sudden the cable signal is weak?? Even after 2 years of it not being a problem??

yep... its an analog signal, so if there was suddenly something on the line (somewhere in the "block" of cable transmission) a source of interference or noise... bingo, your gonna get "snow". Likely if that is the case, other people in the same "block" will experience the noise too. Unless the line was the culpret. I had an issue about a year ago where I lost all internet connectivity, they had to run and bury a new line to my place. Can only assume that maybe moisture entered the original cable and rotted it from the inside out.

You may want to give the 'ol cable operator a call, it might not be a random incident.

 

[Xmancan]

I now have the same problem on standalone series 2 Tivo. It is not about weak input signal. The picture is snowy even on the Tivo start-up screen on both RF and component composite output.

The TV is fine. If I hooked it up directly with DTV converter box and it is clear.

Any idea would be appreciate.

 

[sonicfan11]

I now have the same problem on standalone series 2 Tivo. It is not about weak input signal. The picture is snowy even on the Tivo start-up screen on both RF and component composite output.

The TV is fine. If I hooked it up directly with DTV converter box and it is clear.

Any idea would be appreciate.

I am having the exact same problem with my Tivo Series 2 box as XmanCan's post above. Was there any solution to this? New cables? The box just started doing this on its own. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JimboG]

It's 2010. You might want to get a high definition TV source.

 

[Jonathan_S]

I am having the exact same problem with my Tivo Series 2 box as XmanCan's post above. Was there any solution to this? New cables? The box just started doing this on its own. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If you've already replicated XmanCan's testing then the problem pretty much has to be internal to the TiVo.

* Testing with RF and also with composite should rule out cables and a single bad output.
* Testing with another device would rule out problems with the TV (assuming you tested with the same TV input(s) you previously tested from the TiVo. And ideally you'd reuse the same cables as with the TiVo tests; just to have that extra confirmation that it wasn't a cable problem.)
* The fact that it's showing snow on the TiVo startup screen means is a problem with the output half of the TiVo.
(Although you should be able to double check that by using TiVo desktop to copy a newly recorded show to a PC and see if it's snow free)

Unfortunatly if it is the TiVo I'm not sure how to fix it. Snow means a problem in the analog side, so it might be a loose connection or a cracked solder joint. But that's just random guessing.