# Premiere tuner(s) "stalling" periodically



## sar840t2 (Mar 1, 2003)

I noticed this for the first time after the fall update or after Comcast Video On Demand being enabled (I'm not sure which). It is happening on both my Premiere Elite (20.2.2-01-2-758) and Premier (20.2.2-01-2-746).

I don't think this has ever happened on the "current" tuner, but am not 100% positive about that.

The behavior (intermittently) is that if I switch to one of the other tuners, either with the Live TV button, or using the Info button and then selecting a different tuner, the video output is black and the progress bar is showing the green triangle to indicate it's playing. The channel banner displays the name of the current show on that channel. I can rewind a little and start playback, and it plays until it gets back to the point it was at when I switched to that tuner, and freezes (I presume if I were to stare at it long enough it would go to a black display).

It's clearly _*not*_ the current show (one time it was a show from 1-2 hours ago, another time it was a show from the previous day).

I don't believe that me interacting with VOD (which needs a tuner) is causing this, as it's happening on the (2-tuner) Premiere that I rarely watch, and I haven't done VOD on that one other than right after it was enabled.

I have rebooted fairly recently and the problem persists.

Changing the channel make the problem go away (not surprisingly). What I'm not sure about is, if the TiVo decides to record something on that same channel, whether it will blindly try to record without switching channels (which might cause it to try to record the garbage on that tuner).

I don't believe I have missed any recordings due to this - the only obviously wrong recordings (that I've seen so far) were likely due to either sports or election coverage running late.

At worst I've seen two tuners in this state on the Premiere Elite, and one tuner in this state on the Premiere.

This is on Comcast (Seattle area) so no SDV or tuning adapter is involved.

Is anyone else seeing this?


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## seakurt (Aug 4, 2007)

YES! Came here today to see if anyone else is having this problem. I wasn't sure what to call it, but "stalling" describes it well. I have the 4-tuner Elite and if I switch to another tuner using the "Info" button and selecting an already tuned station, I frequently end up with a black screen and the progress bar showing either the past 30 minutes, or as you observed, sometimes a half-hour segment that was recorded hours ago. I can rewind through the recorded segment and play that video, but as soon as it gets to the end of that the picture goes black.

The only thing (other than a reboot) I've found to fix it, is to channel up or down several times to reset all the tuners to new channels -- that seems to "wake up" the stuck tuner(s) for a time.

But this keeps happening. So far I've not found it to have prevented a show from recording, so maybe it's the action of tuning to that non-current tuner that causes it to freeze.

I had enormous problems getting Xfinity on demand to work (new cable card and after many phone calls finally finding the right person who knew enough to see that they didn't have all the codes from my TiVo that they needed), but XFinity is working now.

I too had the problem arise when the new software update and Xfinity dropped, so not sure which it was. Guess I'll have to bite the bullet and call TiVo...


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

I've seen this happen only once a while back. I have a Tivo HD that is connected via antenna (OTA).

I turn on the TV and see a picture but it is frozen. I expected I was going to have to reboot, but that wasn't the case.
The buffer was frozen in time. I could RW and watch what was there, but at the end the Tivo would just freeze on a black screen.
Rewinding led me to figure out what the program was and by looking at the guide, I found out it was stuck that way for 5 hours.

Changing the channel "woke up" the tuner, but it also destroyed any evidence of finding out what happened. I should have looked at the DVR diagnostics before I changed the channel.


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## kbtivo (Apr 6, 2006)

Had this happen to my 2 tuner Premier this morning.


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## sar840t2 (Mar 1, 2003)

Jake - PM sent (sorry for the delay). Thanks for taking a look.


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## HDRyder9 (Aug 2, 2007)

My Tivo HD just started doing the exact same thing about 2 weeks ago. No update, though.


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## Tony Chick (Jun 20, 2002)

I've seen issues like this occasionally and its always related to my Tuning Adapter and SDV channels. Not sure if its the Tivo not telling it what to do correctly or some issue with the TA itself. The stream the Tivo is tuned to seems to get switched away at the head end


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## xander777 (Feb 23, 2010)

I am having the exact same problem on both my Premiere's since the update. If you leave it alone for 3 hours or more, the 2nd tuner will go black. You can rewind and you get a picture, but as soon as it catches up to when you switched to it, it goes black again. Happens every day since the upgrade. The only way to get around it is to change the channel and then back again. No SDV or external adapters attached.


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## pcbrew (Mar 15, 2008)

I have seen a similar situation twice in the last 30 days or so. My 2-tuner Premier will not tune any channels - Time Warner digital cable with Motorola tuning adapters or even OTA on either tuner. 

I know the cable & antenna signals are good as my TivoHD in the other room works fine. The only solution has been to re-boot. I will have to try cycling through more channels if it happens again.


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## sar840t2 (Mar 1, 2003)

Jake, I have some more information from another failure today. Both the Premiere and the Premiere Elite were stalled on one tuner (not the tuner currently being viewed).

I hit DVR Diagnostics on both of them, and there are definitely some unusual entries for one tuner on each TiVo when compared to its other tuner(s).

For the Premiere Elite the unusual entries were for tuner 0, while for the Premiere the unusual entries were for tuner 1 (IOW I don't think the tuner number is relevant).

On both of the TiVos, every entry for the misbehaving tuner was blank (i.e. showed a dash) *except* the following:
Tuner: 0 (or 1)
CableCARD Association: None
RC State: Available
Current Tuning Status: Not Tuned: General Tune Error
Tune State: Not Tuned
Last Channel Used Plan: STD
CCI Byte: N/A
Time Since Tune Start: xxx seconds (incrementing)
Time Since Signal Lock: xxx seconds (incrementing)
Pending Tune Status: No Tune Pending

Many of the entries that are blank on the misbehaving tuner are not blank on the other (behaving) tuner(s).

Hope this helps.

Thanks ... Mike


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## BHyde (Dec 14, 2003)

I am so glad someone brought this up. I have noticed this problem also. It only happens, and not all the time, when I try to switch to a tuner using the info button on the peanut remote. It is so weird - last night at 11:20, the problematic channel showed the very first few seconds of Dexter, which had begun 20 minutes earlier, and then went black - and the only way I could get anything on that channel was to go to Settings - Channels - Signal Strength. 

I just got the update on my other box, an XL4, and haven't noticed if this problem recurs there also.

Hopefully, there will be a fix coming out soon.


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## BHyde (Dec 14, 2003)

It happened again, as I was writing the last post. This time, however, the Tivo did something entirely new. I used the input button to go to channel 1950, which it said was Showtime showing "50/50." Instead, however, I got a weird porno-type show called "Dave's Old Porn," which as far as I can tell is not currently being shown on any of the channels I get. There was the green line near the bottom of the screen showing that this had been taping for the last half hour. However, it froze up within seconds after I tuned to it. I could go back a full half hour, and that is how I found out the name of the show that was on the tuner. What is even more weird is that the input button's listing of tuners also showed another tuner on 1950 with "50/50" and when I tuned to it, that show was showing. 

What is going on?


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## sar840t2 (Mar 1, 2003)

tivosupport_jacob said:


> sar840t2,
> 
> I have updated your case and it's being researched.
> 
> Thanks!


I appreciate it Jake!


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

BHyde said:


> It happened again, as I was writing the last post. This time, however, the Tivo did something entirely new. I used the input button to go to channel 1950, which it said was Showtime showing "50/50." Instead, however, I got a weird porno-type show called "Dave's Old Porn," which as far as I can tell is not currently being shown on any of the channels I get. There was the green line near the bottom of the screen showing that this had been taping for the last half hour. However, it froze up within seconds after I tuned to it. I could go back a full half hour, and that is how I found out the name of the show that was on the tuner. What is even more weird is that the input button's listing of tuners also showed another tuner on 1950 with "50/50" and when I tuned to it, that show was showing.
> 
> What is going on?


It could have had something to do with your cable company or showtime. It has happened MANY times where porn came on channels during odd times


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## Tony Chick (Jun 20, 2002)

Dave's Old Porn is a comedy show on ShowTime with Dave Attell, so its not actually porn


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## rpg93 (Nov 28, 2012)

I am having the same issue with my XL4. Would love to send Jake my info, but I don't have enough posts on the forum yet to PM. Will be watching and hoping for a fix.


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## sideshot (May 9, 2008)

I have had this happened on my XL4 and it appears that all the tuners are on the ch your trying to watch if change the other tuners it works


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## ernestclau (Nov 29, 2012)

Jake,

I have the same problems and I already replaced the cable card twice already. Since I am a newbie on the board, I can't send a PM to you. Can you email me directly so I can provide my information to you? 

Thanks,

Ernest


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## beejay (Feb 3, 2001)

sar840t2 said:


> J
> On both of the TiVos, every entry for the misbehaving tuner was blank (i.e. showed a dash) *except* the following:
> Tuner: 0 (or 1)
> CableCARD Association: None
> ...


Yeah, I just realized that this is what is happening for me too.

Also, for the Cablecard 
Decrypt Record Channels 3 (2 3 1)

when turner 0 is at fault.
Changing the channel on tuner 0 makes it return to the normal
Decrypt Record Channels 4 (2 3 1 0)

I'll send my information.


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## xander777 (Feb 23, 2010)

The new 20.2.2.1 update seems to have fixed this problem for me.


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## BHyde (Dec 14, 2003)

Do I need to call in if I sent you a private email with my service numbers?

And FYI, on the TiVo with the problem, my Elite box with four tuners, service # 758-2001-901F-BB54, the DVR Diagnostics screen is blank. On my other box, a two-tuner XL on which I've not yet seen this problem - although I view it much less frequently, there IS a working screen on DVR Diagnostics.


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## emanon256 (Nov 16, 2009)

I purchased a Tivo Premier recently and started having this exact same problem yesterday. I called and was told that its a Comcast Issue. However, no matter what I do I can not get that channel unstuck. I changed both tuners, and I can still not watch NBC, I get a blank screen and when I rewind I get a show from yesterday. I even re-set up my old Tivo and NBC works fine, so its not a Comcast issue.

I have had Tivos for 7 years now and this is my third, I have never had a problem before and always got a new one while the old one was still working. This time I broke down and got a lifetime subscription and am wonder if it was a mistake.


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## HDRyder9 (Aug 2, 2007)

What happened to the post from tivosupport_jacob? I want to send my information, too.


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## sar840t2 (Mar 1, 2003)

HDRyder9 said:


> What happened to the post from tivosupport_jacob? I want to send my information, too.


He now has 0 posts, so it looks like they all were deleted.

I hope this wasn't a scam.


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## beejay (Feb 3, 2001)

It does seem a little strange.

Can we know that someone who is identified as tivosupport here really works for TiVo?


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## sfpegasus (Dec 15, 2004)

My issue seems to be similar. TiVo Premiere, OTA 5.1 appears all black. Changing to 4.1 works fine, but back to 5.1 and it's all black again.

Going into "Signal Strength - Antenna" will initially show no signal strength and a second later it will jump up to 95 and instantly bring the picture back.


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## beejay (Feb 3, 2001)

sfpegasus said:


> My issue seems to be similar. TiVo Premiere, OTA 5.1 appears all black. Changing to 4.1 works fine, but back to 5.1 and it's all black again.


Not the same issue.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

beejay said:


> It does seem a little strange.
> 
> Can we know that someone who is identified as tivosupport here really works for TiVo?


I was beginning to wonder. You would think there would have been a global announcement about TiVo support becoming active on the forum.

I think his posts being deleted proves he works for TiVo, and his "help" here wasn't sanctioned by them.


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## xander777 (Feb 23, 2010)

steve614 said:


> I was beginning to wonder. You would think there would have been a global announcement about TiVo support becoming active on the forum.
> 
> I think his posts being deleted proves he works for TiVo, and his "help" here wasn't sanctioned by them.


Yes, It was real. I submitted my info to him and received the following response via email from TiVo:

Thank you for your continued patience in working with us on the blank tuner issue you reported. Your Premiere unit recently received our most current software release 20.2.2.1. We are optimistic that this release may have corrected the blank tuner issue you encountered when attempting to tune to your second tuner after not using the TiVo for a period of time. Please let us know if your unit is still having this issue, if so we will be happy to continue working on it for you. Thank you for being a TiVo customer!

The case reference number referring to this issue is xxxxxx-xxxxxx. Please continue to use this case number should you contact us in regards to this particular issue. In order to reply to this email, please log into My Support at www.tivo.com/mysupport. Replies directly to this email will not be received.

Sincerely,
David

TiVo Customer Support Representative
www.tivo.com/support
http://forums.tivo.com

Stop with the conspiracy theories. It adds nothing to the discussion and isn't helpful to anybody.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

xander777 said:


> Stop with the conspiracy theories. It adds nothing to the discussion and isn't helpful to anybody.


Who said anything about a conspiracy?

I believe he was real, but it has been tradition that TiVo does not allow their customer support people to post to this forum as represenatives.
It doesn't surprise me that Jake's posts were deleted.


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## sar840t2 (Mar 1, 2003)

xander777 said:


> Yes, It was real. I submitted my info to him and received the following response via email from TiVo:
> 
> ... Your Premiere unit recently received our most current software release 20.2.2.1...


Did that fix it? I didn't get a similar email from them.


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## xander777 (Feb 23, 2010)

sar840t2 said:


> Did that fix it? I didn't get a similar email from them.


Yes, it fixed the problem.


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## xander777 (Feb 23, 2010)

steve614 said:


> Who said anything about a conspiracy?
> 
> I believe he was real, but it has been tradition that TiVo does not allow their customer support people to post to this forum as represenatives.
> It doesn't surprise me that Jake's posts were deleted.


I apologize. Caught me at a bad time. No excuses.


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## sar840t2 (Mar 1, 2003)

xander777 said:


> Yes, it fixed the problem.


Good to hear. My two Premieres are still stuck on 20.2.2-01-2-xxx (and I just verified one of them has the problem today).

Ah well, it sounds like they have it figured out, and it's not affecting the "current" tuner or any of my recordings so I'm not too concerned.


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## BHyde (Dec 14, 2003)

I haven't seen any posts on this problem for a few days, and hope that means the problem has been resolved for the rest of you.

But for me, it seems to be getting worse. Now two tuners on the four-tuner device (the one they sold as a Premiere Elite, then renamed) are sometimes stuck on the black screen. And I am also now seeing the problem on my two-tuner Premiere XL.

I finally called Tivo support yesterday, and the person to whom I spoke was courteous, but not helpful. He basically told me that he had added the information about me having problems on my two-tuner Tivo, but offered no idea about a solution. He suggested I call back in a couple of days.

For years I've had both Comcast using a Tivo HD DVR (first the Series 3, then Premiere XL, then Premiere Elite) and DirecTV using an HR-DVR. I much preferred using the Tivo, but DirecTV had way more HD and the quality of its HD DVRs kept improving, though still not up to Tivo simplicity. Comcast has gradually added more HD so that it has now has more than DirecTV, with the exception of premium movie channels, where Comcast recently reduced the number as part of adding many additional other HD channels. It also does not provide BEin in HD. When the four-tuner Tivos and HD guide were released, I cut way back on my DirecTV subscription - basically just to keep SundayTicket and Fox Soccer HD. THen Comcast added Fox Soccer HD. So my reasons for keeping DirecTV reduced. With a DVR, there is less importance in having multiple premium movie channels because you can record and save movies at times you wouldn't actually be watching TV - although that doesn't mean it's nice to have the extra channels. Most of the time I've done alright since Comcast reduced the number of HD premium movie channels.

I had been planning, when the pro football season ended, to cancel DirecTV.

But this problem with the Tivo stuttering has got me down. So I'm reconsidering. DirecTV has its new five-tuner device - although it doesn't seem to be quite as user friendly as the Tivo - I do like having recordings go on all four tuners all the time. 

And dealing with DirecTV customer service reps is always so much better than dealing with the people at Comcast customer service, who never seem to know anything. Plus the Comcast bills are infuriating - Comcast is charging for services it tells our state utility agency it provides for free, but I can't get Comcast to do anything.

So . . . the upshot may be to say goodby to Tivo and Comcast.

Hopefully, the stalling issue will get solved. But how long do I wait?


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## beejay (Feb 3, 2001)

BHyde said:


> I haven't seen any posts on this problem for a few days, and hope that means the problem has been resolved for the rest of you.


I'm still on 20.2.2, but the problem seems to have gone away for me. I check every morning to see and haven't had the problem for over a week. Before that it seemed to happen every day.


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## sar840t2 (Mar 1, 2003)

BHyde said:


> ...But this problem with the Tivo stuttering has got me down...


"Stuttering" doesn't sound like the same issue I was describing. That said, a few people have reported getting version 20.2.2.1 (not 20.2.2-01) and the stalling problem has gone away for them.

I received an email from support a few days ago saying that the new version had been "pushed" to my TiVos (not sure of the actual terminology they used), but it doesn't appear to have been installed yet so I can't verify the fix for myself.

Mike


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## BHyde (Dec 14, 2003)

It sounds like we have experienced the same problem. Instead of "stuttering," I probably should have kept using the word "stalling," since that word has commonly being used on this forum to describe the problem of turning to a tuner and finding it blank. Your earlier description below perfectly matches the problem I've been seeing, but it has spread to two tuners sometimes on my four-tuner "Elite" box:

"The behavior (intermittently) is that if I switch to one of the other tuners, either with the Live TV button, or using the Info button and then selecting a different tuner, the video output is black and the progress bar is showing the green triangle to indicate it's playing. The channel banner displays the name of the current show on that channel. I can rewind a little and start playback, and it plays until it gets back to the point it was at when I switched to that tuner, and freezes (I presume if I were to stare at it long enough it would go to a black display)."

I hope your update solves your problem and that, when I get it, does so for me as we'll.


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## m_jonis (Jan 3, 2002)

well 20.2.2.1 didn't fix anything here. lost several recordings and constantly having to reboot. obviously a problem with the tivo software.


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## BHyde (Dec 14, 2003)

Is anyone else still having this problem?

I had gotten a recent message from Tivo Customer Support saying that Tivo believed it had solved the problem, but watching the inauguration today I saw that it's still happening on my four-tuner Tivo. Cycling through my four tuners, one of them was black, on the local NBC station. But going back, there was a 30-minute recorded buffer that I could see, of events that had been recorded a couple of hours earlier.

I also have a two-tuner Premiere box that I watch less frequently; so I don't know if the problem is still recurring on it.

I called Tivo, and now they want me to get a different cable card to see if that solves the problem.


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## beejay (Feb 3, 2001)

BHyde said:


> Is anyone else still having this problem?


I still see it, but, for whatever reason, I am still on 20.2.2


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## m_jonis (Jan 3, 2002)

Still getting the issue. What's odd is that last night, it would not tune HGTV HD no matter what. The Tuning Adapter status showed that tuner 0 was "tuned", but everything else (or almost all the settings) were blank or: NA

This morning it was tuned.

When I tuned to it, all I'd see was a black screen with the "pause" button in the bottom.

It NEVER does this on the non-Premiere units I have (I have 3 TivoHD without major issues although occasionally get the "channel could not be tuned, press Select" issue that happens with the SDV channels).

I'm about ready to call Tivo and cancel my service and go to the nasty TW DVR. Better to have a crappy DVR that records stations vs. a Tivo that won't record things because it cannot tune.


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## cityboy72 (Jan 10, 2013)

Hello. We are having the same issue on our XL4.

Call Tivo and open a trouble ticket.

Thats the only way Tivo software engineers can keep track of these problems and research fixes.

Thanks!


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## DaveDFW (Jan 25, 2005)

Tivo is supposedly working on this issue, at least on the four-tuner boxes. A representative posted the following:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=9503984#post9503984


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## sar840t2 (Mar 1, 2003)

DaveDFW said:


> Tivo is supposedly working on this issue, at least on the four-tuner boxes. A representative posted the following:
> 
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=9503984#post9503984


I'm not convinced that is the same issue. The issue I described in this thread can be fixed by changing channels, and doesn't appear to affect any tuners that are being used for live TV or for recordings. The issue(s) people are talking about in the "Losing all channels" thread appears to persist until you reboot - much more of a problem than mine.

Oh, and to close the loop somewhat, I *did* finally get an email from TiVo in response to the ticket opened on my behalf by the disappearing Jacob (Jake?), telling me my boxes would receive a fix, but to the best of my knowledge I still don't have the fix and am still on 20.2.2-01-2-xxx.


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## bmusic (Aug 6, 2007)

I'm having the same problem, where when switching tuners, the TV screen goes blank. My work around has been cycling the TV and receiver.

Today, I also noticed the video, but not the audio cutting out when trying to watch something through Netflix.

I have a XL4. I suspect it's something with the HDMI video.


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## m_jonis (Jan 3, 2002)

cityboy72 said:


> Hello. We are having the same issue on our XL4.
> 
> Call Tivo and open a trouble ticket.
> 
> ...


While that may be prudent, the problem is that tech support will tell you all sorts of stories like:
1) It's your power outlet
2) It's your cable strength (it's either too weak/too strong)
3) Reboot your Tivo
4) It's the HDMI cable
etc etc etc.

I, for one, don't want to spend an hour on the phone going over stupid things that have nothing to do with the issue just because Tivo support has a script they have to follow.


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## jeffm1911 (Dec 28, 2012)

m_jonis said:


> While that may be prudent, the problem is that tech support will tell you all sorts of stories like:
> 1) It's your power outlet
> 2) It's your cable strength (it's either too weak/too strong)
> 3) Reboot your Tivo
> ...


I have an XL4 with Time Warner and the dreaded TA, and I have the same issue. I called Time Warner and they said to replace the TA, Go Figure... 

Since DVR Diagnostics said "not tuned wrong ta state" for the tuner that was having the problem at the moment I agreed with them at first, but after digging into the multiple threads on this issue I don't think the TA has a thing to do with it.

I'm going to replace the TA to humor Tivo support, but I have no confidence it will change a thing.


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## sar840t2 (Mar 1, 2003)

This morning both of my TiVos proudly announced that I had received the "Fall 2012 update". I'm sure I got that already last fall (20.2.2-01).

I'm now at 20.2.2.1 (which is what TiVo support promised me in December). Maybe they did another small update and forgot to change the title for the announcement. Maybe since I was on the "priority" list for the real Fall 2012 update I got a preliminary version when it was originally released and they only just caught that. Who knows.

Anyway, maybe this will fix the stalling (which was still happening on 20.2.2-01 as recently as yesterday).

Mike


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## beejay (Feb 3, 2001)

The "-01" is not part of the release number. (Doesn't it now show 20.2.2.1-01 for you?)

I did get the same "Fall 2012" update today. This what most people got months ago. It's been so long that I can't remember what gets changed but I don't recall it being anything I cared about.

I did have the "stalling". It didn't particularly worry me but I'll watch to see if I still have it.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

beejay said:


> The "-01" is not part of the release number. (Doesn't it now show 20.2.2.1-01 for you?)
> 
> I did get the same "Fall 2012" update today. This what most people got months ago. It's been so long that I can't remember what gets changed but I don't recall it being anything I cared about.
> 
> I did have the "stalling". It didn't particularly worry me but I'll watch to see if I still have it.


Some TPs still had 20.2.2 and some had the full 20.2.2.1, all my TP-4 have 20.2.2.1 from the time I first set them up. I went to the TiVo priority list and for my older TP-4 (Oct 2012) I was told that it was already on the list, my two newer ones went on the list without problems.


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## sar840t2 (Mar 1, 2003)

Ignoring the -01, both TiVos went from the old Fall 2012 version - 20.2.2 (*) to the new Fall 2012 version - 20.2.2.1.

* I can't be sure of the previous version, just going by what I entered in my original post, but I am positive that previous version was the Fall 2012 version we all were excited about in the fall (I forget what was so exciting now).


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