# Mini unresponsive and requires reboot



## Watwo51436 (Mar 17, 2018)

Hi everyone, I’m new to this community and am hoping I can get some help. 

I have 4 TiVo Minis (not Vox). At random times I can turn on my TV and get a blank screen. TiVo remote does not wake up the mini. I have to power cycle the mini. I’ve talked with support for months and nothing. 

Also the boxes will sometimes freeze up requiring a power cycle if using YouTube. 

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.


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## ramiss (Jan 30, 2014)

Watwo51436 said:


> Hi everyone, I'm new to this community and am hoping I can get some help.
> 
> I have 4 TiVo Minis (not Vox). At random times I can turn on my TV and get a blank screen. TiVo remote does not wake up the mini. I have to power cycle the mini. I've talked with support for months and nothing.
> 
> ...


This may not be your issue, but we were having mini freeze issues with noise on one of our coax lines.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk


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## Watwo51436 (Mar 17, 2018)

Thanks - but I’m connected via Ethernet. I was using MOCA but had my house wired thinking the MOCA was the issue.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

Turn off power save and don't use standby on the DVR, there have been some issues with Minis due to that.

The Youtube lockup bug has been around for a long time without a fix, sorry.


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## Watwo51436 (Mar 17, 2018)

slowbiscuit said:


> Turn off power save and don't use standby on the DVR, there have been some issues with Minis due to that.
> 
> The Youtube lockup bug has been around for a long time without a fix, sorry.


Thanks. I'll check this.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## DrewTivo (Mar 30, 2005)

No help, but I seem to have a similar problem. Screen says "press tivo button or live TV", which I do on the remote with no response. Reboot solved it.

(I also had a remote that wasn't pairing, but that seems to have been fixed via a long call with support).


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

With the latest Hydra update, I used my Mini VOX to play YouTube video for two hours. The content was usually in 1080/p24. Not a single problem. I could not get past 20 minutes before now.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

I switched to a cheap Roku stick instead, much faster with no 'Loading' delays or lockups. Good to know that Hydra actually fixes something that's broken with the old UI on the Mini.


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## Watwo51436 (Mar 17, 2018)

JoeKustra said:


> With the latest Hydra update, I used my Mini VOX to play YouTube video for two hours. The content was usually in 1080/p24. Not a single problem. I could not get past 20 minutes before now.


Great to know. Thanks! Gonna try now.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## ohboy710 (Jun 30, 2008)

DrewTivo said:


> No help, but I seem to have a similar problem. Screen says "press tivo button or live TV", which I do on the remote with no response. Reboot solved it..


I have the same problem with one of my older minis. I have "press tivo button or live TV" whenever I turn on my tv.. but nothing works until I reboot the mini. I've just gotten used to rebooting the mini before I can watch tv (since it's only in the basement) but a fix would be nice.


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## jeffrypennock (May 18, 2006)

ohboy710 said:


> I have the same problem with one of my older minis. I have "press tivo button or live TV" whenever I turn on my tv.. but nothing works until I reboot the mini. I've just gotten used to rebooting the mini before I can watch tv (since it's only in the basement) but a fix would be nice.


I'm also having this issue. Serieally rebooting but sometimes it locks up in as little as twenty minutes. Updated to Hydra and that didn't fix. Other mini in my house doesn't really have this problem, just one of them. Anyone figured out how to fix or will I just need to buy a new one?


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

I had trouble with several Mini's losing function of the RF portion of the Remote.

Switching to IR would allow for full operation, minus the RF Remote part...

The only cure seemed to be a Mini replacement.

-KP


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## DrewTivo (Mar 30, 2005)

ohboy710 said:


> I have the same problem with one of my older minis. I have "press tivo button or live TV" whenever I turn on my tv.. but nothing works until I reboot the mini. I've just gotten used to rebooting the mini before I can watch tv (since it's only in the basement) but a fix would be nice.


I'm still having this problem with one of my Minis. Any solutions?


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

Did you try switching the Remote to IR Mode?

-KP


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

ohboy710 said:


> I have the same problem with one of my older minis. I have "press tivo button or live TV" whenever I turn on my tv.. but nothing works until I reboot the mini. I've just gotten used to rebooting the mini before I can watch tv (since it's only in the basement) but a fix would be nice.


A reboot takes a minute or so. As a test, use that time on the front end: put the Mini into Standby when you are done. Then, when you want to use it, hit the TV power button and Live TV button. Does that have any effect?


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## DrewTivo (Mar 30, 2005)

kpeters59 said:


> Did you try switching the Remote to IR Mode?
> 
> -KP


How does one do that?

For whatever reason, it's not recognizing the paired remote after a period of time. I can use a different remote, which drops to IR mode, and control it. But it doesn't work with RF, and if I try to pair the Mini's remote again, it doesn't pair (times out). It also doesn't recognize other remotes in RF mode.

But, as soon as I reboot it immediately recognizes the remote in RF mode.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

For a TiVo RF Remote...

To toggle to:

*IR mode :: *press and hold *TiVo+C ... *until the remote's LED flashes *red*

*RF/BT mode :: *press and hold *TiVo+D ... *until the remote's LED flashes *amber*
There are also instructions for doing a global reset on a remote, as well as erasing remote pairings from a DVR.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

There's another way, when using a Mini, to have an RF remote drop to IR mode:

unplug the Mini.


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

Does it switch back to RF afterwards?

I've run in to 3 Mini's that would lose RF capability after a time. The only way (I've discovered) to reacquire RF was to reboot the Mini's. I can't recall if I just unplugged them or used the Menu reboot. I suspect I unplugged them, so maybe I already know the answer...

TiVo replaced all of them at request via a phone call.

-KP


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## DrewTivo (Mar 30, 2005)

kpeters59 said:


> Does it switch back to RF afterwards?
> 
> I've run in to 3 Mini's that would lose RF capability after a time. The only way (I've discovered) to reacquire RF was to reboot the Mini's. I can't recall if I just unplugged them or used the Menu reboot. I suspect I unplugged them, so maybe I already know the answer...
> 
> ...


In my case I had to do hard reboot. (Is there a soft reboot in menu? I couldn't find it).


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

DrewTivo said:


> In my case I had to do hard reboot. (Is there a soft reboot in menu? I couldn't find it).


I have two (three if you count the VOX) Mini in my bedroom. I keep them all together for updates and testing stuff. When my family visits, I deploy them. But I do unplug them a lot. If I forget to plug one in and use its remote, that remote will drop to IR mode and then controls the Mini that I run 24/7 and is "my" Mini. I have always simply applied power to the Mini and then its remote is happy and returns to RF mode. I hope this clears up any confusion.

A Restart is a menu item under Help. I call this a soft reset: Thumbs Down, Thumbs Up, Play, Play.


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