# Motorola TA Issues w/ Tivo Roamio Plus



## gbruyn (Mar 20, 2012)

I've had my Roamio for a few weeks now and love it. I have had a reoccurring problem with the Motorola tuning adapter with it however:

It seems that my Motorola tuning adapter is losing lock or signal but the light on the unit doesn't change to blinking. It's only until I switch to a channel that requires it's function do I realize it's not working properly. I've missed quiet a few recordings because of this. It used to happen once in a while on my XL4 as well, but it's happened 3-4 times already in the few weeks I've owned the Roamio. 

A simple restart of the TA usually fixes the problem. Sometimes though I need to restart both the TA and the Tivo to get it to lock back on again. I haven't quite figured out the magic of these stupid tuning adapters.

One thing I have noticed that the Tivo is sending signals to the TA for EVERY SINGLE command. For example, if I change the volume on my receiver using the Tivo RF remote, the Tivo sends a signal to the TA (can tell because of the red status light). Maybe the TA is just getting too many signals and gets confused and looses lock. Even if I hit the Tivo button, the TA gets a signal. Like I said, basically everything I push on the RF remote, triggers the TA red light (meaning it's getting USB signal from the Tivo). Seems like that could be an issue?

Perhaps I have a bad TA? Maybe a signal problem? Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

TA Specs:
Motorola MTR-700
Platform Ver: 1.37

P.S. On another note, it seems as my TA is sometimes letting channels TIME OUT. Numerous times, I've turned on the TV to a black screen on a certain SDV channel. Once i switch the channel up and then down, it works fine, but it seems as though it's letting the channels time out even when one of the 6 tuners is currently tuned to that channel but not recording. Is that normal?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Yes, TA gets every remote press via USB. It needs to know if you are interacting with the TiVo for timing out SDV channels. So that's normal.
For an SDV channel to time out is exactly the whole point of SDV, so it's working as designed to go black after a while of no interaction with the TiVo.
1.37 is latest firmware confirmed to work for up to 6 channels at once. That's the firmware version I have and no problems here.

Obviously missing recordings is not normal, but that may well be something other than the TA as is being discussed in other threads - too high signal & SNR levels for example, or old CableCard firmware.


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## ahwman (Jan 24, 2013)

gbruyn said:


> I've had my Roamio for a few weeks now and love it. I have had a reoccurring problem with the Motorola tuning adapter with it however:
> 
> It seems that my Motorola tuning adapter is losing lock or signal but the light on the unit doesn't change to blinking. It's only until I switch to a channel that requires it's function do I realize it's not working properly. I've missed quiet a few recordings because of this. It used to happen once in a while on my XL4 as well, but it's happened 3-4 times already in the few weeks I've owned the Roamio.
> 
> ...


I'm having the exact same issues as you. I'm also using a Motorola TA and have had to power cycle it 4-5 times over the last 1-2 weeks. This wasn't happening with my XL4. Sometimes if I leave my TiVo tuned on an SDV channel for an extended period of time and power on the TV I will get an error indicating a problem with the signal on that channel. Usually I can simply change channels and come back to the problem channel and it will tune again, however lately that's not always been working and forces me to power-cycle the TA. Perhaps TiVo can make some changes to their software to better deal with these situations...


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## dinglehart (Dec 4, 2002)

I have the same model and firmware version as you and I am seeing the same issue. In the last 48 hours I've had to reboot the TA twice. Both times it froze during prime time when all 6 tuners were trying to record.


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## gbruyn (Mar 20, 2012)

I'm starting to think this is a communication issue between with Roamio and the Motorola box. After getting everything working with a TA restart, I go into TA diagnostics and view all the pages and even took pictures. When the problem happened again, before I did a restart, I went into the diagnostics and took pictures of all the screens again. Nothing changed in the diagnostic screens from working to not working. So either I have a bad tuning adapter that doesn't realize it's loosing lock or something else is going on.

This is getting super frustrating!


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## ahwman (Jan 24, 2013)

gbruyn said:


> I'm starting to think this is a communication issue between with Roamio and the Motorola box. After getting everything working with a TA restart, I go into TA diagnostics and view all the pages and even took pictures. When the problem happened again, before I did a restart, I went into the diagnostics and took pictures of all the screens again. Nothing changed in the diagnostic screens from working to not working. So either I have a bad tuning adapter that doesn't realize it's loosing lock or something else is going on.
> 
> This is getting super frustrating!


I very much doubt it's a problem with your tuning adapter. That said, I was told by TiVo that this is an issue with the tuning adapter firmware and that TiVo is working with all parties involved to rectify the issue. However, at this point I would tend to agree with you that it is in fact a communication issue between the TiVo and the tuning adapter much like the suggestions not recording bug that has finally been fixed. I almost missed the baseball game the other night because of this issue, fortunately I happened to check and see that there was no signal on the recording and power cycled the tuning adapter. This is becoming too much work...


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## twcoll (Oct 10, 2013)

Same boat here... 
Just purchased the Roamio Plus this week and having sporadic issues with random channels not wanting to tune in properly. 

I still have the DVR boxes from the cable company (Charter in Center WI), so when I ran into this issue, I attempted to tune to the channel on the cable company's DVR. It came in just fine so I then tried it on the TiVo and then the channel(s) came up without any issues. Don't know if it was coincidence or if Charter's cable box opened the line of communication from 'the mother ship' for the SDV. 

The thing is, I'm not certain where the blame goes because there were times when the Charter DVR would not tune to a channel when we used those exclusively. I wonder if it could be an issue with not enough bandwidth in our area; however as others have stated, they didn't have this issue with their previous TiVo's prior to Roamio (this is my first TiVo.)

I am a very technical person and don't mind tinkering or the occasional reboot, however it's not looking good at the moment because I assured my wife that the TiVo transition would be painless. If we don't get a clear resolution in the near future, I will sadly have to return my TiVo within the 30 day window and monitor these forums to await the fix if one ever comes around.


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## gbruyn (Mar 20, 2012)

Has anyone here who has had the issue gotten Charter to come out and replace the TA? I'm thinking that's the only thing I can really try. But if someone has already tried then maybe I shouldn't even waste my time. 

I emailed TiVo today as well. Waiting to hear back from them.

I wonder if the issue is with the 6 turners vs less for the XL4. Maybe we can disable 2 tuners and see if it still happens. Anyone know how to do that?

I just hope TiVo acknowledges this issue and gets it fixed ASAP. I can't imagine a firmware update from Charter/Motorola would be a quick process.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

gbruyn said:


> I can't imagine a firmware update from Charter/Motorola would be a quick process.


 I doubt it's a TA firmware problem as I use Motorola MTR-700 TAs with Ver 1.37 that work fine.


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## gbruyn (Mar 20, 2012)

Moyekj --- you have Charter as well and a 6 tuner Roamio?

No issues with your TA??!?!?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

gbruyn, look at my signature area. I'm with Cox and using a 6 tuner Roamio Pro with no TA related issues. I think Margret or information from tivo.com states that as long as you have Moto TA firmware 1.37 you should be fine for 6 tuner support.

Note that you should also check your CableCard firmware version:
Settings-Remote, CableCARD, & Devices-CableCARD Decoder-CableCARD options-CableCARD Menu-CableCARD Status
Firmware required for 6 tuners:
FW* 6.25


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## Gene S (Feb 11, 2003)

moyekj said:


> Note that you should also check your CableCard firmware version: Settings-Remote, CableCARD, & Devices-CableCARD Decoder-CableCARD options-CableCARD Menu-CableCARD Status Firmware required for 6 tuners: FW* 6.25


What is the manufacture of your cable cards? Mine is Motorola, and mine is listed as FW 03.31,-.-,03.25
My Motorola TA is fine at 1.37

This info is from my XL4. My Roamio doesn't arrive till Tuesday, then I need to call Charter to give me another TA and M-Card.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Gene S said:


> What is the manufacture of your cable cards? Mine is Motorola, and mine is listed as FW 03.31,-.-,03.25
> My Motorola TA is fine at 1.37
> 
> This info is from my XL4. My Roamio doesn't arrive till Tuesday, then I need to call Charter to give me another TA and M-Card.


*Cox headend with Motorola CableCards & TAs*


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## gbruyn (Mar 20, 2012)

Who knows... maybe this is just a Roamio/Charter/Motorola issue. I just had them swap out my tuning adapter and the new one is doing the same thing!


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

gbruyn said:


> Who knows... maybe this is just a Roamio/Charter/Motorola issue. I just had them swap out my tuning adapter and the new one is doing the same thing!


 Have you checked your CableCard Firmware version?


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## gbruyn (Mar 20, 2012)

Moyekj:

I have 2.65 and I'm seeing that this might be the issue? It seems weird that having to reset the TA would be caused by an old CableCard firmware but maybe it is? Once the TA is reset, it seems to work fine (all 6 tuners) for a while (days) until I need another TA reset.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

gbruyn said:


> Moyekj:
> 
> I have 2.65 and I'm seeing that this might be the issue? It seems weird that having to reset the TA would be caused by an old CableCard firmware but maybe it is? Once the TA is reset, it seems to work fine (all 6 tuners) for a while (days) until I need another TA reset.


 Yes it could well be the problem. Perhaps you should follow the procedure to limit your Roamio to 4 tuners only (Margret posted in one of these threads), then reboot, then see if the problems persist. If you don't have any problems that way then it points to the CableCard firmware not supporting 6 tuners properly.

To set 4 tuners:
Go to Settings > Channels > Channel List
and enter following number sequences using the number buttons on the remote. This will tell Roamio to only use 4 tuners:
88634


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## gbruyn (Mar 20, 2012)

Ok. I'll give that I try next time I'm home . I'll report back next week to see if the problem happens again.


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## gbruyn (Mar 20, 2012)

Just an update. I had Charter replace the Tuning adapter last month. I had the same issue of having to reset it the night after they swapped it out. It has happened one other time in the 2-3 weeks since having it swapped out. So maybe I did have a bad TA? It's been working great pretty much ever since it was replaced.


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## ahwman (Jan 24, 2013)

gbruyn said:


> Just an update. I had Charter replace the Tuning adapter last month. I had the same issue of having to reset it the night after they swapped it out. It has happened one other time in the 2-3 weeks since having it swapped out. So maybe I did have a bad TA? It's been working great pretty much ever since it was replaced.


Is your Motorola TA still working well?

I don't know if I'm having the same issues as you, but I was having a nightmare with SDV channels and my Motorola TA and had to power-cycle it at least once/week and sometimes more often than that. SDV channels would stop tuning and I'd get the dreaded V53 error message until I power-cycled the TA and often times I would have to power-cycle it more than once to get it working again. On top of that often times it wouldn't go back in sync and I would have to keep power-cycling until it would finally sync again. I had the most senior cable tech visit my home and he found that the db level was way to high on the return path which he said would explain my issues. After correcting the levels, I was hopeful the problem was fixed, however I had to power-cycle it the very next day. After that, I went 13 days without an issue and sure enough last night I lost my SDV channels once again forcing me to power-cycle the TA twice to get them back. At this point, I'll probably swap out my TA, however I doubt that will solve the issue. This SDV has been a total nightmare for me...


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## gbruyn (Mar 20, 2012)

Swapping out the TA has definitely help my issue. It's much better than it was. I seem to have to power cycle the TA once every 3-5 weeks now. That's about norm for me previously with the Tivo Premiere. Once every 3-5 weeks is at least tolerable although not ideal...


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## ahwman (Jan 24, 2013)

gbruyn said:


> Swapping out the TA has definitely help my issue. It's much better than it was. I seem to have to power cycle the TA once every 3-5 weeks now. That's about norm for me previously with the Tivo Premiere. Once every 3-5 weeks is at least tolerable although not ideal...


Can you describe exactly what happens to cause the need to power-cycle your TA? I would like to see if it matches up with my situation to help better determine if this is an inherent issue with Motorola TA's.

Also, what firmware version are you using?

Thankyou!


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## Pedweld (Dec 31, 2013)

Thanks for the info on the TA Platform version. I have called Charter customer support several times and the technicians tell me that they do not have any TA's that support more than 4 channels. My TA has version 1.34, not 1.37. 

Is there any way to break through the wall to speak with someone at Charter that may know what I am talking about? The best I have been able to acheive so far is for them to promise to call me back when they get an answer. My thought is that this call will never happen.


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## shalamigri (May 8, 2014)

Pedweld said:


> Thanks for the info on the TA Platform version. I have called Charter customer support several times and the technicians tell me that they do not have any TA's that support more than 4 channels. My TA has version 1.34, not 1.37.
> 
> Is there any way to break through the wall to speak with someone at Charter that may know what I am talking about? The best I have been able to acheive so far is for them to promise to call me back when they get an answer. My thought is that this call will never happen.


I saw this post and just had to chime in on it.

I don't use a TIVO, but I do have an Ceton INFINITY 6 eth network tuner.

When I connected my new TA fresh out of the box, the Ceton diag webpage said that the firmware was 1.33 and the tuners available was only 4. The page also said that the TA wasn't resolving. I contacted Charter and they did something on their end to initiate it. Once I saw that it initiated, I asked them if they could push out a firmware update and they responded that they couldn't do such a thing. After I hung up with them, I noticed that the TA was flashing yellow. When the light became steady, I checked the TA page and low and behold the firmware was updated to 1.37 and it showed 6 tuners. Could the box have 2 or more firmware versions on it and simply uses the one that it needs? I don't know.


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## macwhizROC (Mar 14, 2007)

I just got a TiVo Roamio Plus after a forced interlude with DirecTV's Genie that interrupted 12 years of TiVo ownership. Hopefully, Cox Cable will make good on their promise to make it work right tomorrow...

Cox's Enfield CT system use Motorola devices. I'm not the only person that's gotten a new-in-box MTR-700 TA with 01.33 firmware... and Cox doesn't have an operable firmware download for the TA just now. After escalating the issue repeatedly, I'm now told that I've identified a systemwide issue that they're working to fix. I don't know if that's my local system, the regional system...

This is after being told, by Cox's CableCARD self-install help desk, that Cox _did not have the capability_ to update the TA firmware _because they don't manufacture it_. That was the answer I got after the rep consulted with several supervisors.

It really seems like the only way to get the cable companies to honor their obligation to provide CableCARDs and TAs that support as many streams as their highest-capability DVR offering is to complain incessantly and file regulatory complaints.

I'll follow up after Cox is out to address my issue tomorrow.


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## mmf01 (Jan 31, 2011)

As some others have mentioned, I'd check the SNR of the TA, not the actual channel. 

You can check this in...
Account & System Info
Tuning Adapter
Tuning Adaptor Diagnostics
Downstream Status

Should say...

Carrier Lock YES
SNR (Mine is 24) Good
The key part is it saying "Good" after the SNR

Below at bottom it should also have the SNR and Carrier lock status.

If any say "FAIR" or anything worse than "GOOD" you likely have a cabling issues.

I'm running a MTR-700 on Roamio Pro in COX market. Previously when on a Premiere my TA said "FAIR" and I had a boatload of issues with the TA and issues with the box that were likely TA related.. At the time, the SNR and signals under DVR diagnostics looked fine too. I replaced the run from the splitter to the box and viola the signal was then "GOOD" and didn't have problems from that point forward.

Hope this helps


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## nooneuknow (Feb 5, 2011)

If you are using the IN and OUT ports of the TA to make the connection through the TA to a Roamio Plus or Pro, I suggest using a splitter with one leg to the TA and the other leg to the Roamio. This is especially due to the Plus/Pro supporting MoCA, which I'll guess might be active.

Since it's a Motorola TA, the split should be enough.

If it was a Cisco TA, I'd say to place a MoCA PoE filter on the leg going to the TA coax IN.

TAs were not designed to properly pass the frequencies that MoCa operates on. Cisco TAs tend to malfunction even with a split, without a PoE filter to keep the very high power MoCA frequencies from getting into the internal RF amp.

Even when MoCA isn't a factor, there's still been cases where using the coax OUT port of the TA has been problematic for some. It can often depend on any number of factors if/when the inline connection method works, or doesn't.

It's worth a try.


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## dglion (Dec 9, 2012)

I have TWC and kept loosing my SDV premium channels at about 5 PM everyday. I had several TWC technicians out at various times, they checked; all my connections, SNRs on all devices, replaced my Motorola TA, verified all my settings were correct at the head end and still couldn't find where the problem was. 

After much research on my own I decided to turn off the TiVo Suggestions in the TiVo Central settings. I had off the record confirmation from a TWC cablecard division tech that TWC gives priority to their boxes for Premium SDV channels (not channels they are required to provide equal access to). This was causing the lock confirmation to drop out for those channels on the Roamio when the hard drive was full. Of course, with Suggestions on, the disk was always full. 

I haven't gotten confirmation that this is the cause but I haven't lost any premium channels since I turned Suggestions off more than a month ago. Today, I turned them back on, so we'll see what happens.


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## donzg (Jan 27, 2015)

Hi I have been experiencing the same issues with SDV channels all of a sudden disappearing from my Roamio. I have TWC as well and has anyone had this issue resolved other than splitting the signal from wall to TA and swapping out the TA?


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## ahwman (Jan 24, 2013)

donzg said:


> Hi I have been experiencing the same issues with SDV channels all of a sudden disappearing from my Roamio. I have TWC as well and has anyone had this issue resolved other than splitting the signal from wall to TA and swapping out the TA?


I spent an entire year getting to the bottom of this and the issue was with the Motorola firmware pre v01.40. Interestingly enough, the main fix in v01.40 per Motorola is to prevent the TA from leaving "Active" mode which was exactly what was occurring in my case whereby the TA would enter "GetSgInfo" which caused the TA to send erroneous tuning requests or time-out until I power-cycled it . Of course Motorola is blaming this issue on the tuner chipset sending out of spec commands/garbage and causing the TA to fail (sounds like passing the buck to me). In any event, when this issue occurs, check your TA diagnostics (Switched Digital Video Status Page) to see what state the TA is in at that time. If it says "GetSgInfo" which stands for get service group info, then this is your problem. If it says "Active" then this is not your issue... If you're not running firmware v01.40, you'll want to call your cable provider and ask them to push the new firmware to your TA.

Best of luck to you...


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## CoxInPHX (Jan 14, 2011)

ahwman said:


> If your not running firmware v01.39, you'll want to call your cable provider and ask them to push the new firmware to your TA.


The most current version is actually v01.40 and most providers have already updated.



TiVoMargret said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Below is my current understanding of the cable companies that are updating the firmware on their Motorola/Arris Tuning Adapters to version 1.4.
> 
> ...





TiVoMargret said:


> Here's the story:
> 
> Motorola/ARRIS Tuning Adapters need to be updated to version 1.40 of the firmware, in order to be compatible with current CableLabs device certificates.
> 
> ...


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