Tivo problems after last night's lightning storm

3943 Views 39 Replies 13 Participants Last post by jbjust, Aug 23, 2007

jbjust

Discussion Starter · Aug 17, 2007

Last night was the worst lightning storm that I've ever seen. So bad that I would have ordinarily unplugged my Tivo S3 even though I'm using a surge protector. Unfortunately, I also have a cold and wasn't thinking clearly because of the NyQuil.

So... I wake up this morning and there is no audio or video coming from my Tivo. I unplugged the unit, waited 15 seconds, and plugged it back in. All the lights on the Tivo look normal (it's even recording a program now), but I get absolutely no audio or video.

I had several other things on the same surge protector that appear to be unaffected (e.g., my plasma, XBox, and DVD player). My throught is maybe the surge came through the Coax, which I had neglected to run through the surge protector (my cable line is buried, so I didn't think of it as a big risk). We never completely lost power last night, though it did flicker enough for my bathroom radio to lose it's preset station information (but not enough for my alarm clock to lose the time).

Any thoughts on troubleshooting this thing. I really don't think it's the power supply since the unit seems to be working normally except for not sending any audio or video signal to the TV.

1 - 20 of 40 Posts

aaronwt

· #2 · Aug 17, 2007

A UPS is your friend. It should be required for a TiVo. The flickering power can wreak havoc on electronics which the UPS will protect inthat situation.

jbjust

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 17, 2007

I realize that now and will buy one this weekend -- assuming I still have a Tivo to use it with.

jrm01

· #4 · Aug 17, 2007

Are you sure it is not your TV? Have you tried it with a different input source? Are you using HDMI? If so, you may have to reset the TV (usually pulling the plug) as well as the Tivo.

jbjust

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 17, 2007

I haven't tested all of the other inputs, but I was able to watch HD OTA this morning no problem.

jrm01

· #6 · Aug 17, 2007

jbjust said:
I haven't tested all of the other inputs, but I was able to watch HD OTA this morning no problem.

Thru Tivo, or direct to TV?

jbjust

Discussion Starter · #7 · Aug 17, 2007

OTA directly to the TV. I don't have any OTA running through the Tivo right now, I run it directly to the TV on the rare occasion I want to watch a third thing while taping two others.

jrm01

· #8 · Aug 17, 2007

That eliminates the Tv as the problem. Still may be an HDMI problem (if you're using that) that could be fixed by resetting the TV (pull plug).

platbr

· #9 · Aug 17, 2007

jbjust said:
Last night was the worst lightning storm that I've ever seen. So bad that I would have ordinarily unplugged my Tivo S3 even though I'm using a surge protector. Unfortunately, I also have a cold and wasn't thinking clearly because of the NyQuil.

I lost my first month-old DirecTivo to a storm, so I sympathize. I'm not sure where you're located, but a close friend in MPLS had a home burn to the ground (everyone's OK) as a result of a lightning storm two nights ago, so it could have been worse

.

If you're within your warranty and are unable to get any output... I'm guessing you'll just have to send it in. That's what I did for my DirecTivo. I always liked that they had "insurance" you could have on your bill for just this occurrence.

As for a UPS --- if you watch you can frequently find smaller ones for $15 - 25, on sale at the major office supply stores. I run anything with a hard drive on UPS, now, after the loss of the DirecTivo.

litkaj

· #10 · Aug 17, 2007

aaronwt said:
A UPS is your friend. It should be required for a TiVo. The flickering power can wreak havoc on electronics which the UPS will protect inthat situation.

Most UPS units do not output an actual sine wave, causing the efficiency of some electronics to drop dramatically and causing others to not work at all. If you are going to buy a UPS then make sure that it outputs a true sine wave, not a stepped sine wave or, gulp, a square wave as a few el-cheapo units do.

Personally, I go without a UPS but a quality power conditioner instead.

jrm01

· #11 · Aug 17, 2007

litkaj said:
Most UPS units do not output an actual sine wave, causing the efficiency of some electronics to drop dramatically and causing others to not work at all. If you are going to buy a UPS then make sure that it outputs a true sine wave, not a stepped sine wave or, gulp, a square wave as a few el-cheapo units do.

Personally, I go without a UPS but a quality power conditioner instead.

Are there any pure sine wave UPS units for <$100? Can you recommend any?

I'm using Monster Power Center (stage 2) and feel it is working well (appears to even have improved analog audio). I have had several power failures withut problems.

jbjust

Discussion Starter · #12 · Aug 17, 2007

I bought it in February, so I'm probably out of my warranty period (though I think that my Amex doubles the warranty). Am I correct that there is only a 3-month warranty from Tivo?

jbjust

Discussion Starter · #13 · Aug 17, 2007

Has anybody had a situation like this where the box appears to work, but there is no audio/video. If it just wouldn't power on I could understand that, but this seems very unusual.

moxie1617

· #14 · Aug 17, 2007

litkaj said:
Most UPS units do not output an actual sine wave, causing the efficiency of some electronics to drop dramatically and causing others to not work at all. If you are going to buy a UPS then make sure that it outputs a true sine wave, not a stepped sine wave or, gulp, a square wave as a few el-cheapo units do.

Personally, I go without a UPS but a quality power conditioner instead.

I didn't think a pure sine wave was important for devices having switched power supplies, like computers and our Tivos.

jlib

· #15 · Aug 17, 2007

moxie1617 said:
I didn't think a pure sine wave was important for devices having switched power supplies, like computers and our Tivos.

That is my understanding, also. Not to mention that all the output is transformed into direct current. There would be no way to discern DC derived from a square wave as opposed to a sine wave. Granted, the inefficiency of running a square wave through a power supply designed for a pure sine wave would probably not be a good idea for a heavy inductive load like a power amplifier or any kind of AC motor but in the TiVo's case it is very low power and for brief moments.

aaronwt

· #16 · Aug 17, 2007

I've been using non pure sine wave UPSs for years. Every audio, video, phone, and pc component I have is connected to a UPS and I haven't had any problems the last 6 years. I get power surges and brown outs all the time. With out everything being on UPSs i doubt they would last through all that.

jtreid

· #17 · Aug 17, 2007

jbjust said:
Has anybody had a situation like this where the box appears to work, but there is no audio/video. If it just wouldn't power on I could understand that, but this seems very unusual.

I had a similar experience back in my early esata days where we lost power several times. Most of my problems were freeze then maybe reboot. I do recall it being black one time. However, unlike your case, a reboot cured it. I use component and optical.

I assume you are using HMO. If so, can you get to the congrats screen via http://IP or see listed in the tivo server access control or ping it with your network? If you can, I would assume that it is at least booting up and operating in normal operation. Although I guess it could still talk, but be failing somewhere else in the boot process.

I wouldn't think you would lose audio and video unless as stated before it is and HDMI problem. Try going another video/audio route to see if you get anything.

jbjust

Discussion Starter · #18 · Aug 17, 2007

I'll try shutting the power down to everything when I get home from work and will report back. I don't have HMO set up, unfortunately, since I use my Xbox for showing photos on the TV.

brermike

· #19 · Aug 17, 2007

This may be way off base, but could the problem be the output format (e.g. 480i, 480p, 720p)? Perhaps, it got reset somehow and is now outputting in an invalid format for your tv. Just a thought.

jbjust

Discussion Starter · #20 · Aug 17, 2007

Brermike: I thought about that, but I think my plasma accepts pretty much any format and wouldn't the audio come through if that were the problem?

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