[lagreca]

I have had this problem in the past, and my parents are now having it. In both cases, it was a series 2 tivo hooked up to a cox digital cable box.

Everything was working fine, however after a week or two the tivo starts recording a black screen, until the digital cable box is shut off, and turned back on.

The problem seems to point to the cable box crashing after prolonged use. After a power cycle, it starts working again.

Has any other Cox customer experienced anything like this, or know of a solution?

My solution in the past was kind of a pain. I had to continually call cox, and swap cable boxes, until they sent me one that was stable, and wouldn't crash.

 

[ZikZak]

My solution in the past was kind of a pain. I had to continually call cox, and swap cable boxes, until they sent me one that was stable, and wouldn't crash.

There ya go.

Or you could put it on a line timer to shut it down once a day.

 

[JimSpence]

Could the cable box have turned itself off or gone into a screen saver mode after a long period of perceived inactivity? If so, check the menus in the cable box and turn off this functionality.

 

[gastrof]

I have had this problem in the past, and my parents are now having it. In both cases, it was a series 2 tivo hooked up to a cox digital cable box.

Everything was working fine, however after a week or two the tivo starts recording a black screen, until the digital cable box is shut off, and turned back on.

The problem seems to point to the cable box crashing after prolonged use. After a power cycle, it starts working again.

Has any other Cox customer experienced anything like this, or know of a solution?

My solution in the past was kind of a pain. I had to continually call cox, and swap cable boxes, until they sent me one that was stable, and wouldn't crash.

If it's the box that's the problem, then this isn't a TiVo problem.

It's a problem with your cable company using cruddy hardware (or programming it with cruddy software).

Really doesn't have anything to do with this forum. The same thing would have happened if you didn't have a TiVo and were feeding the box into a TV set only.

 

[lagreca]

Really doesn't have anything to do with this forum. The same thing would have happened if you didn't have a TiVo and were feeding the box into a TV set only.

Except that the normal person won't sit down and watch hundreds of shows on end for weeks at a time, only to discover that the cable box will crash on them. Only my tivo is that patient

I posted here, because I figured that had to be other tivo users that put their Cox cable box through the same "torture" and wanted to see if they have the same problems.

 

[lagreca]

Could the cable box have turned itself off or gone into a screen saver mode after a long period of perceived inactivity? If so, check the menus in the cable box and turn off this functionality.

Nope, no screen saver mode. The box just stops responding. The only way to make it work again is to power cycle it.

 

[GoHokies!]

If the box isn't working right, just go swap it out. Most cable places will let you do a 1 for 1 swap at a local office without a truck roll or any fees (other than your time and gas). Tell them that it has left you unable to watch TV and demand a refund on part of your service and you may even get some money back on the deal.

Also, where is your cable box installed? Heat is really hard on cheap boxes if you're storing it in an enclosed case or around a lot of other heat producing items (like a Tivo) without enough air circulating.

 

[Johncv]

I have had this problem in the past, and my parents are now having it. In both cases, it was a series 2 tivo hooked up to a cox digital cable box.

Everything was working fine, however after a week or two the tivo starts recording a black screen, until the digital cable box is shut off, and turned back on.

The problem seems to point to the cable box crashing after prolonged use. After a power cycle, it starts working again.

Has any other Cox customer experienced anything like this, or know of a solution?

My solution in the past was kind of a pain. I had to continually call cox, and swap cable boxes, until they sent me one that was stable, and wouldn't crash.

The SA box from Cox are not stable and your solution is the only way to obtain a stable one (I did the same thing). The SA DVR did the same thing until I added an eSATA drive and everything became stable.

 

[lagreca]

Johncv,

Thank you for the confirmation. I just wanted some assurance that I wasn't the only one with this problem.

I wish cox would apply pressure to SA to get them to release more stable firmware. But I guess we are the minority.

 

[TheNumberSix]

I live in a Cox market. I have two SA boxes and they have been running for months on end with no reboots or turn-offs.

The last turn off they did was a forced reboot when Cox did a firmware update for Daylight Savings Time. There was no way around that!

 

[gastrof]

Then naturally, this proves it's a vindictive move on the part of Cox Cable to drive only selected subscribers insane.

Maybe they do it by house color?

 

[jkovach]

Every few years I've have to exchange my Cox SA box, because it starts to spontaneously turn itself off, sometimes several times per day. I assume it's a failing power supply or overheating issue.