[etexlady]

I've read the sticky about stuttering, etc. but my problem is not mentioned. When I turned on my TV this morning, TIVO gave me the blue troubleshooting page with the statement that it cannot display live TV. I tried all the potential remedies suggested. When the cable is connected directly to the TV, the display is fine, only TIVO is having a problem. I can hear garbled cable audio when I switch to another channel but the screen shortly goes to the blue screen again. I can watch recorded programs and the box was apparently working last night when it recorded several shows from the To Do List. This is a refurbished 40 hour Series 2 that I got last summer. Any ideas or suggestions before I call customer service?

 

[buddhawood]

how is your uinit hooked up? Do you use a seperate cable box or straight into the tivo?

 

[etexlady]

I have a separate cable box.

 

[Shawn95GT]

I would see if you can get a different make cable box from your cable company. Even better, if you don't need the cable box for the content you are recording, ditch it.

My '540' S2 didn't like the SD cable box from Cox at all. I'd get periodic troubleshooting screens and a nasty stumble / pause / garble at the beginning of every recording.

I gave up and put the cable box in the kid's room - lol.

Since I left Cox cable and went to Qwest VDSL I haven't had any problems.

Shawn

 

[etexlady]

Thanks for the responses. I spent over an hour on the phone with tech support last night and still the problem is not resolved. We modified the hook-ups, replaced coax cable with composite, etc. and nothing worked. The final suggestion was to repeat the guided setup. I've done that but the blue screen remains. This morning I plan to start over and remove all the cables and hook them up again being certain it's done correctly and try guided setup one more time. I don't have much hope that it will work but don't know what else to do.

Shawn, I don't have much choice regarding the Cox cable box if I want more than basic cable. It's a Motorola box and the tech did ask me specifically about it and the model number. I've had it a little over a year and I assume it is what Cox still offers. The TIVO, my second one, is a Series 2 540 so I very well could be having the same problem you had. I suppose I could move the TIVO to a bedroom that does not have digital cable, thus no cable box, and rent a DVR from Cox for the TV that the TIVO is moved from. Or, horrors, hook up the VCR and go that route again for the programs I record.

 

[Shawn95GT]

In my case I didn't lose much by not using the cable box. It was some of the Discovery tiers and I think Toon Disney that was truly missed. It was at least the first 100 channels or so that I could tune w/o the box. If they are further along moving to digital in your area you may be more dependant on the box. It was an acceptable compromise for me.

I think what was happening is that the Motorola box would actually shut off the video signal while changing channels which confused the heck out of the Tivo.

 

[etexlady]

Wish we had some alternatives here to cable or satellite but I have to work with what's available. Interestingly, I just turned on the TV again in preparation for disconnecting and reconnecting all the cables and it's working just fine.....no blue screen. At least I know it's apparently all hooked up conrrectly. I do notice that the blue screen appears momentarily when changing the channels. So, I suppose, based on your experience, I can expect the same problem to appear again.

 

[Shawn95GT]

My bet is that you'll get freezing video (but the sound will be fine) at the beginning of every recording. It only lasts a few seconds, but it's annoying.

Shawn