# TiVo Mini VOX/4K reviews and comments thread



## Mikeguy

On this the eve of the TiVo Mini VOX/4K, I thought that it might make sense to establish a separate thread where users' reviews and comments on the new Mini could be consolidated. Feel free to use this thread for that purpose. 

I separately have put up a TiVo Hydra/Gen4 User Interface reviews and comments thread and a TiVo VOX/voice remote control reviews and comments thread (both under the TiVo Coffeehouse - TiVo Discussion sub-forum), to try to make it easier for people to find what they might be looking for. Feel free to use those threads as well.

Exciting times!


----------



## thyname

Taken from my post on the other thread: the voice control does not work.


----------



## Mike5454

Just installed TiVo mini with the Vox. Software loaded but continually crashes to a black screen or a screen with a right pointing arrow. I have two bolts that are the older version of the software is not uploaded on them yet. I ordered two vox remotes. Those haven’t arrived yet. Right now I have a TiVo mini on a black screen but is not doing anything and will not stay loaded


----------



## preilly44

Just to confirm, I have a Tivo Bolt+, I have a Mini Vox arriving on Tuesday and a couple 2nd gen Tivo Minis. Once I upgrade the Bolt+ to Hydra, everything else should upgrade automatically and (hopefully) work normally, right?


----------



## BryanSD

Mike5454 said:


> Just installed TiVo mini with the Vox. Software loaded but continually crashes to a black screen or a screen with a right pointing arrow. I have two bolts that are the older version of the software is not uploaded on them yet. I ordered two vox remotes. Those haven't arrived yet. Right now I have a TiVo mini on a black screen but is not doing anything and will not stay loaded


My understanding is that you'll need to update your DVR (Bolt/Roamio) before you update the Mini. Some details here (but doen't explain why your screen would be blank): Tivo Vox boxes launch/available October 29th


----------



## High Technology

Mike5454 said:


> Just installed TiVo mini with the Vox. Software loaded but continually crashes to a black screen or a screen with a right pointing arrow. I have two bolts that are the older version of the software is not uploaded on them yet. I ordered two vox remotes. Those haven't arrived yet. Right now I have a TiVo mini on a black screen but is not doing anything and will not stay loaded


I would suggest disconnecting the cable line (assuming you are using MOCA) or the Ethernet wire, unplugging the power from the Mini and plugging it back in. Let it fully boot up (and because I am old school, give it a few minutes to stabilize/finish doing it's thing for a bit) before reconnecting the cable/ethernet cord. Then give it a few minutes to reconnect to the network -- if it doesn't reconnect after a few minutes, do a regular reboot or disconnect the power for 5 seconds (do not disconnect any other cables this time).

I had a similar experience and resolved it this way when I tried to connect a Mini Vox to a Premiere XL4 -- since it failed, I decided to forgo the downgrade and resolved the black screen / white arrow by doing the above.


----------



## CharlieC

High Technology said:


> I would suggest disconnecting the cable line (assuming you are using MOCA) or the Ethernet wire, unplugging the power from the Mini and plugging it back in. Let it fully boot up (and because I am old school, give it a few minutes to stabilize/finish doing it's thing for a bit) before reconnecting the cable/ethernet cord. Then give it a few minutes to reconnect to the network -- if it doesn't reconnect after a few minutes, do a regular reboot or disconnect the power for 5 seconds (do not disconnect any other cables this time).
> 
> I had a similar experience and resolved it this way when I tried to connect a Mini Vox to a Premiere XL4 -- since it failed, I decided to forgo the downgrade and resolved the black screen / white arrow by doing the above.


I am experiencing a similar issue and have tried disconnecting the network cable and rebooting, but to no avail. It appears it is not connecting to the TIVO server - shows up as last connect June 12, 2017. If I try to force a connection, as soon as the download starts, about 2%, I get the grey arrow, and then the screen goes black. I am going to let it sit for an hour - hopefully it is downloading - before I try rebooting again.


----------



## CharlieC

Update - I let it sit for about 30 minutes and then restarted. It came up, and when I clicked Live TV button on the remote, I got a white error box - Error V66 - Cable Card needed! On a mini!. I rebooted again, and now all I get is a blue error across the screen - it won't respond to any buttons on the remote.


----------



## High Technology

Just to clarify, do you have a host TiVo that is already on Hydra? You need that first, as the Mini needs something to connect to that is already on Hydra.

Assuming you already have a host TiVo with Hydra already on it, pull all of the cables again, then plug back in only the power and HDMI (not the cable / ethernet) and see what happens. If it comes back up, plug in the cable/ethernet and give it some time, and try what I suggested in the previous post.

If that doesn't bring it back, unplug again and this time plug all of the wires back in (including the network) and see what happens. Once you get back to the main menu go into Settings, and select a Host DVR that is your Hydra DVR. Even if you are already set to connect to that box, select it again.

If that error 66 comes up again, try going to the GUIDE and then picking a channel. If that doesn't solve the issue, try to enter a channel directly (one that you know you get).


----------



## JoeKustra

CharlieC said:


> Update - I let it sit for about 30 minutes and then restarted. It came up, and when I clicked Live TV button on the remote, I got a white error box - Error V66 - Cable Card needed!


I'm surprised it wasn't error V666.


----------



## CharlieC

High Technology said:


> Just to clarify, do you have a host TiVo that is already on Hydra? You need that first, as the Mini needs something to connect to that is already on Hydra.
> 
> Assuming you already have a host TiVo with Hydra already on it, pull all of the cables again, then plug back in only the power and HDMI (not the cable / ethernet) and see what happens. If it comes back up, plug in the cable/ethernet and give it some time, and try what I suggested in the previous post.
> 
> If that doesn't bring it back, unplug again and this time plug all of the wires back in (including the network) and see what happens. Once you get back to the main menu go into Settings, and select a Host DVR that is your Hydra DVR. Even if you are already set to connect to that box, select it again.
> 
> If that error 66 comes up again, try going to the GUIDE and then picking a channel. If that doesn't solve the issue, try to enter a channel directly (one that you know you get).


When I activated the mini, I received an email that said I needed to force a connection twice, supposedly to update the software, correct? The version of software I have on the host DVR is 20.7.4.RC2 Isn't that what I need?


----------



## CharlieC

High Technology said:


> Just to clarify, do you have a host TiVo that is already on Hydra? You need that first, as the Mini needs something to connect to that is already on Hydra.
> 
> Assuming you already have a host TiVo with Hydra already on it, pull all of the cables again, then plug back in only the power and HDMI (not the cable / ethernet) and see what happens. If it comes back up, plug in the cable/ethernet and give it some time, and try what I suggested in the previous post.
> 
> If that doesn't bring it back, unplug again and this time plug all of the wires back in (including the network) and see what happens. Once you get back to the main menu go into Settings, and select a Host DVR that is your Hydra DVR. Even if you are already set to connect to that box, select it again.
> 
> If that error 66 comes up again, try going to the GUIDE and then picking a channel. If that doesn't solve the issue, try to enter a channel directly (one that you know you get).


I have tried both scenarios that you suggest. I cannot get to a guide to select a channel - I get the BLUE ARROW screen right away


----------



## High Technology

CharlieC said:


> When I activated the mini, I received an email that said I needed to force a connection twice, supposedly to update the software, correct? The version of software I have on the host DVR is 20.7.4.RC2 Isn't that what I need?


No, 20.7.xx is not Hydra -- that's the Quattro interface. I believe the Hydra builds are 21.7.xx

What Mini do you have? The one that has been out for a couple of years, or the new Mini Vox with the voice remote? If you have the Mini Vox and are not planning on updating the host DVR to Hydra, then I THINK the Mini Vox can downgrade to the prior software, but the voice functionality won't work (since Hydra is needed to use the voice functionality and the host DVR and the Mini must be on the same version).


----------



## CharlieC

High Technology said:


> No, 20.7.xx is not Hydra -- that's the Quattro interface. I believe the Hydra builds are 21.7.xx
> 
> What Mini do you have? The one that has been out for a couple of years, or the new Mini Vox with the voice remote? If you have the Mini Vox and are not planning on updating the host DVR to Hydra, then I THINK the Mini Vox can downgrade to the prior software, but the voice functionality won't work (since Hydra is needed to use the voice functionality and the host DVR and the Mini must be on the same version).


Okay, that's the issue then. The host has 20.7. I am surprised the product was even able to begin setup if that was the case. The only way I see how to upgrade to Hydra is to submit a form on TIVO.com and wait 48 hours


----------



## High Technology

If you want Hydra, yes. I think there is a link in the Coffee House, and people are getting it pushed pretty quickly (like an hour or two), but I haven't been following that thread.


----------



## osu1991

CharlieC said:


> Okay, that's the issue then. The host has 20.7. I am surprised the product was even able to begin setup if that was the case. The only way I see how to upgrade to Hydra is to submit a form on TIVO.com and wait 48 hours


You can submit the TSN to Tivo, it hasn't taken more than 30 mins to an hour if you do a manual connection after submitting.


----------



## CharlieC

osu1991 said:


> You can submit the TSN to Tivo, it hasn't taken more than 30 mins to an hour if you do a manual connection after submitting.


I will try that then. Thanks


----------



## CharlieC

CharlieC said:


> I will try that then. Thanks


It looks like it may have been as simple as that. The update went thru, I rebooted the Mini box (the new VOX one) and it appears to be working properly. I'll keep my fingers crossed though.


----------



## High Technology

Cool, enjoy it. The voice functionality (what little I've used of it) is pretty cool. It seems to understand words far faster than my iPhone 6S does, and the accuracy makes Siri look daft.

I'm currently watching an episode of Madam Secretary on another box. I walked out to the kitchen to get a drink and picked up the voice remote and from LiveTV I asked "What shows was Tea Leone in", and then separately asked it "What movies was Tea Leone in". It got both perfectly, so I think (I didn't know she was in some much).

I then asked it to find movies with Han Solo -- which it transcribed as HANS SOLO, but it found all of the Star Wars movies (including the animated ones which have a Han Solo character). 

Thinking about Harrison Ford, I asked it if Apocalypse Now is on (I didn't know if it was airing anytime soon, I just always remember a young Harrison Ford as a corporal at the beginning of that movie) -- it pulled up a option to record it on EPIX.

All pretty darn cool - I think I am going to need to buy one of these remotes for one of my Bolt(s) just to play with, even though I am a universal remote user. Heck, since the Mini Vox is in the kitchen, I might just steal the remote and use a Bolt remote in there since I'm not using the Bolt remotes.


----------



## Nak

I had the same black screen issue. After hours of reboots, etc. I finally got a message allowing me to downgrade the mini software. (I did not want to go with hydra because of the loss of PC-->Tivo video transfers.) Anyways, I finally got it working with the old interface. I have only 3 apps, Youtube, Pandora and Netflix. Nothing else; no Amazon or xfinity or Plex or anything else is available; no option to manage apps exists. Other than that it seems to work well. Netflix and Pandora seem to be just as snappy as with my bolts. My older slide remote with a USB dongle works fine with the Mini Vox. I can not initiate PC-->Tivo transfers with the mini, but after initiating the transfer on the DVR itself, I can stream the show while it is still transferring.


----------



## jcthorne

So Plex and Amazon Video do not work on the new Mini Vox running gen4 interface? When will this be functional?


----------



## JoeKustra

I need another Mini. I don't want/have Hydra. I have two questions:
Will the new Mini work with a host on 20.7.4?

Will the new Mini work with the Roamio/Bolt RF remote?


----------



## HerronScott

JoeKustra said:


> I need another Mini. I don't want/have Hydra. I have two questions:
> Will the new Mini work with a host on 20.7.4?


Ted indicated that it would but it would be downgraded when connected to a 20.7.4 host (apps will still be limited).

Tivo Vox boxes launch/available October 29th



JoeKustra said:


> Will the new Mini work with the Roamio/Bolt RF remote?


The Arris documentation indicates it has both RF4CE and Bluetooth® wireless interfaces.

Scott


----------



## donsullivan

I upgraded my Roamio Pro to a Bolt Vox (4 tuner) and swapped one Mini for a Mini Vox yesterday. So far, I am not a happy camper at all. I have 3 other original Mini’s connected as well. All devices are hard wired gigabit Ethernet. The old minis and the Mini Vox have all been upgraded to Hydra. Boy wasn’t that a PITA to get completed. Nothing but cryptic error messages including one with a bad URL error message-totally useless info. All of them had countless cryptic error messages and countless Network Connects and reboots to finalize. 

The whole setup to get everything to work is the farthest thing from consumer friendly I’ve ever seen from TiVo. I’ve owned Tivo’s Since 1999 so I’ve seen everything they’ve created over the years. A new consumer will never figure this mess out. All of the minis keep displaying ‘There are no channels selected in the channel list’ when I hit the Guide button. The only way I can get the program guide to display is reboot the box. One of them had to be rebooted 3 times today. This makes the Mini (old and new) useless for watching live TV, I can only watch recordings from the Bolt 

This does not feel like a solution ready for prime time. If this doesn’t stabilize, I’ll be returning them and going back to my Roamio. Way too many basic functions are not working.


----------



## buildersboy66

donsullivan said:


> I upgraded my Roamio Pro to a Bolt Vox (4 tuner) and swapped one Mini for a Mini Vox yesterday. So far, I am not a happy camper at all. I have 3 other original Mini's connected as well. All devices are hard wired gigabit Ethernet. The old minis and the Mini Vox have all been upgraded to Hydra. Boy wasn't that a PITA to get completed. Nothing but cryptic error messages including one with a bad URL error message-totally useless info. All of them had countless cryptic error messages and countless Network Connects and reboots to finalize.
> 
> The whole setup to get everything to work is the farthest thing from consumer friendly I've ever seen from TiVo. I've owned Tivo's Since 1999 so I've seen everything they've created over the years. A new consumer will never figure this mess out. All of the minis keep displaying 'There are no channels selected in the channel list' when I hit the Guide button. The only way I can get the program guide to display is reboot the box. One of them had to be rebooted 3 times today. This makes the Mini (old and new) useless for watching live TV, I can only watch recordings from the Bolt
> 
> This does not feel like a solution ready for prime time. If this doesn't stabilize, I'll be returning them and going back to my Roamio. Way too many basic functions are not working.


Yep so agree! This is a total JOKE! My minis had issues before the update, and I am sure those were never fixed with hydra. At this time I am also having same issues as "don". Actually when the software upgrade was happening on the mini's, it seemed as it failed. Was in a loop...I pulled the plugs on both and rebooted them! Then they were loading hydra upon boot. Total reset after all this does not totally reset the minis either.


----------



## nrnoble

I need help understanding something general that applies to the new Mini VOX, but applies to a many other small electronic devices.

*Why do some manufactures continue to use "wall wart" style of power supplies when there are better options for external power supplies?*

I do understand that many devices need external power supplies because often the power supple is as large, or larger than the device. The focus of my question is their decision to use a wall wart style over other options that are better in terms of consumer use.

Example, an external power supply that uses a standard power cable


----------



## mrizzo80

Can anybody with a Roamio (not sure if they all use the same chipset, but I have the Plus) on Hydra that also bought a Mini VOX compare performance between the two?

I'm wondering if I can put my Roamio in the basement (not connected to a TV) and just use a Mini VOX as a headless unit in my living room. I know that will work, but would it be noticeably better than the Roamio experience? Performance on the Roamio is still perfectly fine for me, but faster is always appreciated.

Are there any negatives to using a Mini as the primary box?


----------



## Mikeguy

mrizzo80 said:


> Can anybody with a Roamio (not sure if they all use the same chipset, but I have the Plus) on Hydra that also bought a Mini VOX compare performance between the two?
> 
> I'm wondering if I can put my Roamio in the basement (not connected to a TV) and just use a Mini VOX as a headless unit in my living room. I know that will work, but would it be noticeably better than the Roamio experience? Performance on the Roamio is still perfectly fine for me, but faster is always appreciated.
> 
> Are there any negatives to using a Mini as the primary box?


Only having one tuner?


----------



## ej42137

nrnoble said:


> I need help understanding something general that applies to the new Mini VOX, but applies to a many other small electronic devices.
> 
> *Why do some manufactures continue to use "wall wart" style of power supplies when there are better options for external power supplies?*
> 
> I do understand that many devices need external power supplies because often the power supple is as large, or larger than the device. The focus of my question is their decision to use a wall wart style over other options that are better in terms of consumer use.
> 
> Example, an external power supply that uses a standard power cable


In what way is that better than a wall wart? A WW can plug into the socket without an unsightly box lying on the floor. An extension cord will convert it to the external power supply form factor if you really like boxes cluttering your carpet, or need to have multiple warts on a power strip.


----------



## nrnoble

Thanks for you opinion. Anyone else have some insights?


----------



## drew224

nrnoble said:


> Thanks for you opinion. Anyone else have some insights?


I was onboard with your initial comment but he raises a good point. The 'wall wart' (nice term by the way) is more versatile. If you can accommodate it, it's cleaner and if you'd rather not, you can keep some of those short extensions around. It's really the better option.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B013...nsion+cord&dpPl=1&dpID=41zrYU22ugL&ref=plSrch


----------



## nrnoble

drew224 said:


> I was onboard with your initial comment but he raises a good point. The 'wall wart' (nice term by the way) is more versatile. If you can accommodate it, it's cleaner and if you'd rather not, you can keep some of those short extensions around. It's really the better option.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B013...nsion+cord&dpPl=1&dpID=41zrYU22ugL&ref=plSrch


Thanks for the link. Worth considering as work around. Clearly the designer of those short cables had wall warts in mind.

A wall wart is OK if there is only 1-2 wall warts among several devices, thus my original question would seem a trivial. It becomes a bigger cabling mess and far more annoying when there are several wall warts like I have in my entertainment system and elsewhere; some are so poorly designed\large that two of them take up an entire power strip because in combination they block the use of available outlets. Example two wall warts that point at each other, each block the use of two outlets or more. The solution, temporary or long term, requires chaining power strips where each strip has 2-3 connected devices rather than max connections. No where close to ideal or tiddy. Using cable ties does not bother me to keep cabling organized and out of sight with all devices that have external cabling of various kinds\uses.


----------



## Sparky1234

Does it understand your voice 100% of the time? Do you have anything good to say to the Vox? lol.


----------



## jcthorne

It seems the trouble with the Mini Vox not supporting Amazon video is running deeper. Amazon has cancelled or indefinitely delayed ALL Vox Mini pre orders and no longer shows them available from Amazon for order.

Amazon does not sell streamers that do not support Amazon video.


----------



## oryan_dunn

jcthorne said:


> It seems the trouble with the Mini Vox not supporting Amazon video is running deeper. Amazon has cancelled or indefinitely delayed ALL Vox Mini pre orders and no longer shows them available from Amazon for order.
> 
> Amazon does not sell streamers that do not support Amazon video.


Well then, Amazon should get to work updating their app to work on the new mini....

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk


----------



## drew224

Sparky1234 said:


> Does it understand your voice 100% of the time? Do you have anything good to say to the Vox? lol.


I only got one yesterday so I haven't played around extensively, but so far it's understood me every time. It shows what it thinks it's hearing in plain text at the bottom of the screen as you talk. It's missed a few small words here and there, but it's always caught enough to make sense of what I said. The few things I've tried have worked, except turning captions off and on with voice. It got what I said correct on the screen, but said it couldn't do that.

One particularly nice thing I've found is that you can just say something like 'change the channel to HBO' and it does. This is really nice cause we moved to Comcast recently and haven't learned the channels.

The Vox is also a bit snappier than the mini it replaced. Again, I only played with it for like an hour last night, but I'm happy I made the switch so far.


----------



## Sparky1234

drew224 said:


> I only got one yesterday so I haven't played around extensively, but so far it's understood me every time. It shows what it thinks it's hearing in plain text at the bottom of the screen as you talk. It's missed a few small words here and there, but it's always caught enough to make sense of what I said. The few things I've tried have worked, except turning captions off and on with voice. It got what I said correct on the screen, but said it couldn't do that.
> 
> One particularly nice thing I've found is that you can just say something like 'change the channel to HBO' and it does. This is really nice cause we moved to Comcast recently and haven't learned the channels.
> 
> The Vox is also a bit snappier than the mini it replaced. Again, I only played with it for like an hour last night, but I'm happy I made the switch so far.


That's good news.


----------



## JoeKustra

Question. Does the new Mini run warm? Anything in System Info about temperature? MBT or ODT?


----------



## Mikeguy

jcthorne said:


> It seems the trouble with the Mini Vox not supporting Amazon video is running deeper. Amazon has cancelled or indefinitely delayed ALL Vox Mini pre orders and no longer shows them available from Amazon for order.
> 
> Amazon does not sell streamers that do not support Amazon video.


Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but, Amazon selling the Mini VOX as of just now: https://www.amazon.com/TiVo-Streami...&qid=1509567521&sr=8-1&keywords=tivo+mini+vox.

Amazon is one of the sellers (altho is out-of-stock--"Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information.").


----------



## jcthorne

Th


Mikeguy said:


> Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but, Amazon selling the Mini VOX as of just now: https://www.amazon.com/TiVo-Streami...&qid=1509567521&sr=8-1&keywords=tivo+mini+vox.
> 
> Amazon is one of the sellers (altho is out-of-stock--"Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information.").


Thats the trouble, they indefinitely postponed all preorders that were supposed to have shipped on Sunday. No date when they will ship any.


----------



## mlcarson

Wall wart style power supplies are a relic of the past -- I hate them. They have no purpose in modern electronics. You should be using surge protectors on any sensitive electronics so you don't plug directly into the wall receptacle.. Some houses have whole house surge protectors at the breaker box but this is not the norm. So you end up having to get extension cords in order to plug into the surge protector or having to get multiple surge protectors since the wall wart plug will take up most of the room on a single surge protector.



nrnoble said:


> I need help understanding something general that applies to the new Mini VOX, but applies to a many other small electronic devices.
> 
> *Why do some manufactures continue to use "wall wart" style of power supplies when there are better options for external power supplies?*
> 
> I do understand that many devices need external power supplies because often the power supple is as large, or larger than the device. The focus of my question is their decision to use a wall wart style over other options that are better in terms of consumer use.
> 
> Example, an external power supply that uses a standard power cable


----------



## jtrippe77

Probably going to upgrade to the Vox mini here soon for the 4k. I hope this is the right place to ask but is there a forum in the Tivo community to sell my previous generation mini? I'm trying to offset the Vox mini costs a little.


----------



## JoeKustra

Buyer/Seller Area

If you look to the far right on the line with Home, Forums, Main TiVo Forums, TiVo Mini there is a little item. It's probably got a name, but I know if you click on it you can see all the forums. One at the top, one at the bottom.


----------



## jtrippe77

JoeKustra said:


> Buyer/Seller Area
> 
> If you look to the far right on the line with Home, Forums, Main TiVo Forums, TiVo Mini there is a little item. It's probably got a name, but I know if you click on it you can see all the forums. One at the top, one at the bottom.


Awesome, thank you!


----------



## chicagoenergy

Mini Vox is much faster than my G1 Mini. The Bluetooth works great. Netflix appears to stay open in the background so when you exit and open the app it loads almost instantly. The G1 seemed to close (or exit) the app and then reopen (or reload) which took at least 20 seconds to open. 

Mini Vox Netflix Menü appears to be worse than the G1 which makes no sense. I’m trying to figure out why. The Netflix menu is way over saturated with red but the video looks good.


----------



## chicagoenergy

Oh, and Mini Vox has the whole cable card error message as the G1. Hydra related but the hope was there. 

Just resetting every day.


----------



## jtrippe77

I saw on another thread that one web site had a rebate on the Mini Vox. However, I can't find that post even using the search box. Does anyone know what site that is?


----------



## jcthorne

Now that the apps have been released to the Mini Vox I am generally pretty happy with it. Except for the remote. It simply refused to pair with the box in RF mode. IR works but the RF pairing fails every time. Spent an hour on the phone with tivo. I really thought at the end they would give up and send me another remote, nope, they actually told me the vox remote will not work with a mini. No mater how long I tried to explain it was a new mini VOX and the VOX remote came with it, she would have nothing of it and maintained it would not work.

Not sure what to do with it now. Order a new remote from Amazon and return the defective one? I hate doing things like that but what am I to do here?


----------



## chicagoenergy

Connected a G1 Mini to the same tv as the Mini Vox and discoverered it is the Mini Vox that is having issues. The menu system is so blurry and has huge color issues. The G1 Mini looks so much clearer and crisp. 

Vox is being returned in the morning. :-(


----------



## zoiks66

Either I’m the unluckiest person in the world, or the TiVo Mini Vox have crap build quality. I spent hours tonight trying to set 2 of them up, upgrading from revision 2 TiVo Minis that worked fine over Moca.

After restarting my Bolt and having it connect to Tivo’s servers a dozen times, the new Mini Voxes were finally able to connect to the Bolt. But then I noticed the Channel Up button on 1 of the Mini Vox remotes doesn’t work. That button feels dead with no click when you press it. Then I noticed that the remote for the other Mini Vox won’t pair with it over Bluetooth. So I tried to pair the remote with the bad button to it, and it won’t pair either.

So in summary, after fighting 2 Mini Voxes tonight for hours, I have to exchange them both for new ones - 1 has a bad remote, and the other has bad Bluetooth. The only store within 50 miles of me that has the Mini Vox in stock is a Best Buy 30 miles away, so I’ll be spending a couple hours tomorrow driving to pick them up. I wish I hadn’t decided to upgrade.


----------



## Jim1348

I currently have a TiVo Roamio OTA. If I add a TiVo Mini VOX, can I control the TiVo Mini VOX with a Slingbox?


----------



## southerndoc

Was the new Mini (Mini Vox) supposed to have 802.11ac? I saw it rumored in a lot of websites, but I realize they aren't 100% accurate. Just curious if I overlooked it in the specs.


----------



## drew224

geekmedic said:


> Was the new Mini (Mini Vox) supposed to have 802.11ac? I saw it rumored in a lot of websites, but I realize they aren't 100% accurate. Just curious if I overlooked it in the specs.


Nope. Still just Ethernet and MoCa 2.0


----------



## drew224

zoiks66 said:


> Either I'm the unluckiest person in the world, or the TiVo Mini Vox have crap build quality. I spent hours tonight trying to set 2 of them up, upgrading from revision 2 TiVo Minis that worked fine over Moca.
> 
> After restarting my Bolt and having it connect to Tivo's servers a dozen times, the new Mini Voxes were finally able to connect to the Bolt. But then I noticed the Channel Up button on 1 of the Mini Vox remotes doesn't work. That button feels dead with no click when you press it. Then I noticed that the remote for the other Mini Vox won't pair with it over Bluetooth. So I tried to pair the remote with the bad button to it, and it won't pair either.
> 
> So in summary, after fighting 2 Mini Voxes tonight for hours, I have to exchange them both for new ones - 1 has a bad remote, and the other has bad Bluetooth. The only store within 50 miles of me that has the Mini Vox in stock is a Best Buy 30 miles away, so I'll be spending a couple hours tomorrow driving to pick them up. I wish I hadn't decided to upgrade.


Seems like bad luck. I've added 3 Mini Vox in the last week. One had some pairing issues with the remote, but I just followed instructions someone posted in these forums and that worked the first try.

It does take a little while for the bolt to authorize a new mini. If you order through TiVo they add it as soon as it ships so it should be authorized before you receive it. Otherwise, I usually add it as soon as I get it and wait like an hour or two, force a connection on the bolt and then start guided setup on the mini later.


----------



## zoiks66

I exchanged the 2 Mini Vox today, and the new ones worked fine. I found that adding a Mini Vox to your network (I use Moca) works best if you do this:

1. Register any new Mini Vox to your TiVo account.
2. After you have registered each Mini Vox, go to your main TiVo unit (a Bolt running Hydra in my case) and under Network Settings, connect to Tivo’s servers and do an update.
3. Repeat step 2 and do another update with Tivo’s servers on your main TiVo unit.
4. Unbox, hook up, and go through the guided setup for the Mini Vox, 1 Mini Vox at a time.
5. Repeat step 4 for any other Mini Vox you have.
6. If your Mini Vox remote does not pair for Bluetooth, move the Mini Vox to another room with a TV in your house, and pair it there. One of my Mini Vox remotes wouldn’t pair in a room where my Bolt was on the other side of the wall. Once I moved the Mini Vox to another room, it paired for Bluetooth correctly.

Doing this avoided the dreaded V70 error during setup, where the Mini Vox cannot connect to your main TiVo unit.


----------



## HerronScott

Tivo Mini Vox remote will NOT pair in RF mode

This has worked for some people.

Scott


----------



## jtrippe77

Anyone get their mini Vox working with a harmony smart remote? It doesn’t seem to be in the database. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## Banana-Heads

Sorry if this is a dumb question but I'm relatively new to Tivo. I have a Bolt I got with the $99 offer and G1 Mini running through MoCA.

If I upgrade the Bolt to Hydra, will the Mini work with the VOX remote voice commands as well or do I need to buy a new Mini VOX? I've heard there are pairing issues as well which is a concern.


----------



## jcrandall

The older minis will work with Vox remotes, you just need to upgrade your Romario or Bolt to Hydra, which will trigger the mini to update, and purchase the Vox remote with Bluetooth dongle which TiVo sells together for $45.


----------



## jcrandall

I had a Mini and this upgrade worked fine. Ultimately I decided to purchase the new mini Vox for the speed improvements and 4K capability as it is a highly used TV. For my lesser used TVs I will likely just leave them without voice capability and on the old minis.


----------



## HerronScott

Banana-Heads said:


> If I upgrade the Bolt to Hydra, will the Mini work with the VOX remote voice commands as well or do I need to buy a new Mini VOX? I've heard there are pairing issues as well which is a concern.


The Mini would have to upgrade to Hydra and should work with voice commands as well once you purchase a VOX remote for it, but as you mentioned there are pairing issues reported with a92 (v1) Mini's.

Scott


----------



## 13thGeneral

nrnoble said:


> Thanks for the link. Worth considering as work around. Clearly the designer of those short cables had wall warts in mind.
> 
> A wall wart is OK if there is only 1-2 wall warts among several devices, thus my original question would seem a trivial. It becomes a bigger cabling mess and far more annoying when there are several wall warts like I have in my entertainment system and elsewhere; some are so poorly designed\large that two of them take up an entire power strip because in combination they block the use of available outlets. Example two wall warts that point at each other, each block the use of two outlets or more. The solution, temporary or long term, requires chaining power strips where each strip has 2-3 connected devices rather than max connections. No where close to ideal or tiddy. Using cable ties does not bother me to keep cabling organized and out of sight with all devices that have external cabling of various kinds\uses.


I always wondered why more poducts don't have the brick built into the unit. I get that footprint and cooling is a factor, but i still think it'd be more accomodative with today's modern lifestyle of owning so many devices. Everything is not only fighting for shelf space, but also power access. Plus, paired with the desire (need) for a tidy and safe environment, it's just disappointing to still be wrangling with piles of cords, wall-warts, plugs, and powerbricks, as well as the need to have powerstrips, surge protectors, and (isc) battery backups. Most homes don't have the proper modern electrical infrestructure, like breaker box surge protection and good grounding, so these things remain quite necessary.


----------



## buildersboy66

Any setup/activate issues at this time? TIA


----------



## Banana-Heads

jcrandall said:


> I had a Mini and this upgrade worked fine. Ultimately I decided to purchase the new mini Vox for the speed improvements and 4K capability as it is a highly used TV. For my lesser used TVs I will likely just leave them without voice capability and on the old minis.


T


jcrandall said:


> The older minis will work with Vox remotes, you just need to upgrade your Romario or Bolt to Hydra, which will trigger the mini to update, and purchase the Vox remote with Bluetooth dongle which TiVo sells together for $45.


Thank you.


----------



## lentiman

I just got my Mini 4K VOX working. Downgraded to match my Roamio Pro, all on a gigabit ethernet network. Finally got my remote paired with the Mini. After solving all of these problems this is what I've noticed so far after having not used it very much:

The signal just stops, randomly and frequently. Complete black screen to my brand new LG OLED, no signal detected. Have to remove power and reboot.
When switching to Netflix (the only app I've used so far) the Mini will totally lock up. Required very long wait or powercycle restart.


----------



## PaperFriend

I have 4 older minis and I upgraded them all to Hydra along with my Bolt+. On all of them I was able to assign a shortcut to ‘live TV’. I just purchased a mini Vox and got it setup. The problem is I like having a shortcut for ‘Live TV’ but it is not an option on my new mini Vox


----------



## aaronwt

So how is the setup for the Mini Vox now? Have all the Kinks been worked out?

I ordered a Mini Vox today instead of ordering a second Vox remote. My plan it to move my Bolts to another area where I can't hear them and just use the Mini Vox in my 4K setup. I'll be picking it up from Best Buy this evening.


----------



## lentiman

I don't understand. There is a Live TV button on the remote, just like there used to be. Isn't it easier to just push the remote button?



PaperFriend said:


> I have 4 older minis and I upgraded them all to Hydra along with my Bolt+. On all of them I was able to assign a shortcut to 'live TV'. I just purchased a mini Vox and got it setup. The problem is I like having a shortcut for 'Live TV' but it is not an option on my new mini Vox


----------



## lentiman

I'd plan a day for the Mini Vox to communicate to TiVo for proper setup. But otherwise my dropouts seem to have stopped and it's working as it should. I also have the same plan: every 4K TV on a 4K Mini Vox and the Roamio Pro hiding somewhere. Rarely is anyone watching LiveTV. I'm waiting to roll things out for the Amazon app and supported HDR though. Currently if I want to watch HDR I just use the internal apps on the TVs.



aaronwt said:


> So how is the setup for the Mini Vox now? Have all the Kinks been worked out?
> 
> I ordered a Mini Vox today instead of ordering a second Vox remote. My plan it to move my Bolts to another area where I can't hear them and just use the Mini Vox in my 4K setup. I'll be picking it up from Best Buy this evening.


----------



## GatorBlues

Is it possible to synch multiple Vox boxes with Bolt for a viewing party? I.e., is there a mode where the Vox extenders and Bolt will share the same tuner so that your pause, FF, or RW commands will be transmitted to multiple screens at once?


----------



## ghoitt

lentiman said:


> I just got my Mini 4K VOX working. Downgraded to match my Roamio Pro, all on a gigabit ethernet network. Finally got my remote paired with the Mini. After solving all of these problems this is what I've noticed so far after having not used it very much:
> 
> The signal just stops, randomly and frequently. Complete black screen to my brand new LG OLED, no signal detected. Have to remove power and reboot.
> When switching to Netflix (the only app I've used so far) the Mini will totally lock up. Required very long wait or powercycle restart.


I am having the same problem on my new mini VOX Plays fine the the screen goes black for 2-5 seconds then back on. Sometimes over and over and some times just a few times but very annoying. The unit doesn't really lock up as show continues to play just no video or audio. Anyone have a solution? Only happening on new VOX Running Hydra here.


----------



## aaronwt

I installed my Mini Vox this evening. Just like with my Gen 1 Minis, setup was very fast. I had zero issues. First I made sure I activated the Mini Vox at TiVo.com before plugging it in. And I also gave it a name and had my other Tivos make a connection before plugging in the Mini Vox.

So the Mini Vox booted up, installed the update, and when it was done I could see my Bolt and Roamio and link to any of them. The Vox remote quickly paired and so far I've seen zero issues. The thing that took the longest was it booting, installing the update, and then rebooting. But even that was only ten or fifteen minutes.

So I'm glad I waited and didn't have to deal with the issues that were around at launch. It's nice and quick. Speeds seem to be similar to the Bolt.

Although I still need to checkout some of the apps. The only app I've looked at so far was Plex. And that behaved identically to Plex on my Bolts.


----------



## aaronwt

I tried Hulu, Pandora, and Netflix apps. Pandora and Hulu behaved properly. But with Netflix I noticed issues with it showing the content in UHD. When I would first open up Netflix, it would show the titles available in UHD. But after a few seconds they would change to HD for some reason. The Sys Info is showing HDCP 2.2 like it should. And I'm only using 2160P24/30/60 for output. But considering the issues I read about other people having, I can't really complain much about the Netflix issue. Especially since this would not be a primary device for streaming apps any way.

It's been working great streaming shows from my Bolts and Roamio so far. Hopefully it stays that way.


----------



## aaronwt

Ok I figured out a temporary solution for the inconsistent showing of the Netflix UHD titles. I needed to remove the 2160P24/30 output option from the Mini Vox. So now I only have 2160P60 selected for an output resolution. And every time I go into Netflix, it consistently shows UHD for the appropriate titles.

But I do see another issue, and this is with the Youtube app. In the Stats for nerds info it shows viewport info. With my Bolt and other UHD devices, it always shows 1920x1080*2. But with the Mini Vox it only shows 1920x1080*1.5. And I thought that was the actual resolution being output. Since I have a 3840x2160 TV 1920x1080*2 makes sense. But 1920x1080*1.5 does not make sense.

Otherwise the Mini Vox streams the actual youtube content well. And like my Bolts I've seen connection speed bitrates, in the Stats for nerds info, up to 137Mbps when watching many of the UHD videos.(I'm on the FiOS GigE tier)


----------



## Buckeye3d

Any noticeable speed / performance differences (besides 4k) between the Mini Vox and Mini v2?


----------



## aaronwt

I know it's easily faster than my Gen 1 Mini. Speeds on the Mini Vox seemed similar to the Bolt to me.

According to the info in the Youtube settings, the Mini Vox has a BCM7438 chip in it. A dual core ARM with 10,000 DMIPS.

While the Bolt has a BCM7449. Which if the info I found online is correct, is rated as having 12,000 DMIPS.


----------



## aaronwt

I setup the $149.99 Mini Vox I got on sale from BestBuy this evening(I'll return the one I paid $179.99 for at BestBuy). Again I had no setup issues. The remote paired properly. And it could see all my TiVos once it connected.

Again I registered the Mini Vox at TiVo.com before plugging it in. And I also had all the TiVos make a connection before the Mini Vox got plugged in. So when the Mini Vox was booted up, you go through the guided setup. Then it rebooted to install RC8. Then when it came back up I could see all my TiVos and stream their recordings.


----------



## erpeters33

Does anyone know why Last Channel doesn’t work? Is the Vox Mini on a Vix Bolt limited to one tuner?


----------



## aaronwt

erpeters33 said:


> Does anyone know why Last Channel doesn't work? Is the Vox Mini on a Vix Bolt limited to one tuner?


It's one of the bugs they need to fix.

The mini is limited to one tuner. The tuner it's using just switches to a new channel. At least that is how it worked with my gen 1 minis prior to hydra.


----------



## JoeKustra

aaronwt said:


> It's one of the bugs they need to fix.
> The mini is limited to one tuner. The tuner it's using just switches to a new channel. At least that is how it worked with my gen 1 minis prior to hydra.


Well that usually correct. If you are on a channel and switch to a channel that is on the host but not the one used by host's TV, you will move to that tuner and get its buffer. Sorry to go off-topic.


----------



## erpeters33

Going to return my Vox and mini Vox. Too many bugs. Terrible. Channels blink out every few seconds. Recorded shows migrated from my old Tivo won’t play reliably. Channel changing dog slow. I have an all GigE home network and yet this whole thing just fails. Epic epic fail by TiVo. And a shame because there’s a lot I actually like about the new UI.


----------



## aaronwt

erpeters33 said:


> Going to return my Vox and mini Vox. Too many bugs. Terrible. Channels blink out every few seconds. Recorded shows migrated from my old Tivo won't play reliably. Channel changing dog slow. I have an all GigE home network and yet this whole thing just fails. Epic epic fail by TiVo. And a shame because there's a lot I actually like about the new UI.


I'm glad I'm having none of those issues with my Vox mini and my TiVos on Hydra.

Channels don't blink out. I can watch any show that was transferred prior to or after Hydra. And channel changing is the same as it was before Hydra.


----------



## GinoDivx

I noticed many people here were not able to pair Vox remote with Vox Mini. I am in the same boat - I have a downgraded Vox mini, and the remote only works in IR mode. Is there a known pairing procedure for downgraded Vox minis? Thanks!


----------



## Phil T

I got my Mini VOX today. I put the batteries in the remote before I powered up the Mini and the remote did not pair. I was able to manually pair it under remote settings. 

Just a point of interest: I have been using a Mini V2 with Cisco WET610N wireless bridge. It is not recommended but has been working great. I hooked the Mini VOX to the bridge and it did not like it. Unwatchable breakups on live TV. Not a big deal, just swapped the Mini V2 back and all is well. Maybe because the Mini VOX demands more network resources?

I put the VOX on my 52" Sony in the basement with wired ethernet and it is working fine.


----------



## JoeKustra

Phil T said:


> I got my Mini VOX today. I put the batteries in the remote before I powered up the Mini and the remote did not pair. I was able to manually pair it under remote settings.
> Just a point of interest: I have been using a Mini V2 with Cisco WET610N wireless bridge. It is not recommended but has been working great. I hooked the Mini VOX to the bridge and it did not like it. Unwatchable breakups on live TV. Not a big deal, just swapped the Mini V2 back and all is well. Maybe because the Mini VOX demands more network resources?
> I put the VOX on my 52" Sony in the basement with wired ethernet and it is working fine.


I'm going to connect my Mini VOX tomorrow. I'm going to be using a port on a RE6500. I have two v2 Mini boxes and a TV on it already. I'll let you know if it has any problems. Today I ran (on a v2) YouTube video for an hour without any problems. That Cisco looks like the WUMC710 that I have used without problems, but it's 802.11ac.


----------



## JoeKustra

Mini installed. Two quick observations. The remote seems to have issues. Frequent stuttering.

Great news for some people: the RJ-45 Ethernet connection doesn't have LEDs. No more blinking.

With sound effects on, and you go to a program with DD, they stay off even when you go back to TiVo central and no Video Window.


----------



## Phil T

JoeKustra said:


> Mini installed. Two quick observations. The remote seems to have issues. Frequent stuttering.
> 
> Great news for some people: the RJ-45 Ethernet connection doesn't have LEDs. No more blinking.
> 
> With sound effects on, and you go to a program with DD, they stay off even when you go back to TiVo central and no Video Window.


How does it do with your RE6500?


----------



## JoeKustra

Phil T said:


> How does it do with your RE6500?


No problems. Anything you want me to test? I was able to watch a recording from a Roamio on 20.7.4 but didn't spend time with anything else. Note that its host, a Roamio on RC9, could not watch the same program. V111 error.

It sits next to a pair of v2 Mini boxes, so I missed the LED blinking right away.


----------



## I WANT MORE

Got my Vox mini, it was already registered to my account, hooked it up, put batteries in the remote and away we go. No problems.
Well, except for the Amazon app not taking my password but worked around that. 
Happy camper thus far.


----------



## Phil T

JoeKustra said:


> No problems. Anything you want me to test? I was able to watch a recording from a Roamio on 20.7.4 but didn't spend time with anything else. Note that its host, a Roamio on RC9, could not watch the same program. V111 error.
> 
> It sits next to a pair of v2 Mini boxes, so I missed the LED blinking right away.


I tried swapping the V2 and VOX Minis again yesterday. The VOX works OK for a while on the wireless but then started throwing V66 errors. Works fine on wired ethernet. The V2 is happy on wireless. I am considering running RG6 to the bedroom so I can do MOCA. I am just nervous that my 5 year old wireless bridge is not a long term solution for the bedroom TV.


----------



## JoeKustra

Phil T said:


> I tried swapping the V2 and VOX Minis again yesterday. The VOX works OK for a while on the wireless but then started throwing V66 errors. Works fine on wired ethernet. The V2 is happy on wireless. I am considering running RG6 to the bedroom so I can do MOCA. I am just nervous that my 5 year old wireless bridge is not a long term solution for the bedroom TV.


Never saw a V66 error. I'm running RC9 on both boxes and I expect RC11 to be sent out soon. Only 25% of the credit goes to my RE6500. The rest is for the R8000 router.

Only Hydra error so far is V111 on Roamio when trying to play a recording on either 20.7.2 Roamio boxes. No error on the Mini VOX.


----------



## sonicboom

Just installed a VOX mini, replacing my gen 2 mini.

So far - disappointed!

It connects to the TiVo service. Check!
It streams recorded shows from my romeo. Check!
It streams Netflix. Check!
It does NOT stream live tv from the Romeo. Wait - What!?
Live tv channels stream for about 1-2 minutes and then stop with a V87 error.

I use MOCA for the network connection. 
Not a network problem, as other streaming content works.
Plus - My gen 2 TiVo mini worked flawlessly - and all I did here was swap it out for the VOX.

Of course in the process I had to change my Romeo to the new user experience.
The new UI is very different - too soon to judge, but first impression is one thumbs down.

Regardless of the GUI, without the ability to watch live TV... it's going back.


----------



## JoeKustra

sonicboom said:


> Just installed a VOX mini, replacing my gen 2 mini.
> It does NOT stream live tv from the Romeo. Wait - What!?
> Live tv channels stream for about 1-2 minutes and then stop with a V87 error.


I replaced a v1 Mini with a VOX. It streams (recordings) from my Roamio on 20.7.4 fine, and from its host on Hydra fine. Its host Roamio can't stream from the non-Hydra Roamio (V111 error). Using wired Ethernet to a wireless bridge.


----------



## sonicboom

TiVo rushed the mini VOX out the door. It is not ready for prime time. Buyer beware.
This is coming from a guy who bought the first TiVo ever, and has been a long time no drama customer.

2 hours on the phone with TiVo support, rebooting this & that, connecting to TiVo service again and again, pulling plugs.

VOX is buggy.

I swapped out a next-gen mini with the VOX, same hook ups (moca) - and now I’m worse off then before. After the support marathon, NOTHING streams.

TiVo support then said, pull out the coax for an hour, then retry - and then they hung up.
What!?

Not to mention, TiVo support would be closed for business by then.

Not happy with TiVo right now.

The VOX will most likely go back (I have a couple more experiments to try).
And now Im stuck with this ****ty new TiVo user interface.
It’s slow, unintuitive, buggy, and unresponsive at times.
Is it too much to ask, when I press the guide button, that the guide come up?

The family is not happy with me.

You let me down TiVo.


----------



## Phil T

I ran some RG6 yesterday to the bedroom and set up the Bolt VOX, Mini V2 and Mini VOX on Moca. I used a 4 way splitter I picked up at Home Depot. Everything is running great and the Mini's seem to be more responsive. Stopped by the Comcast office today and they are installing a POE/Moca filter for free tomorrow.


----------



## aaronwt

sonicboom said:


> TiVo rushed the mini VOX out the door. It is not ready for prime time. Buyer beware.
> This is coming from a guy who bought the first TiVo ever, and has been a long time no drama customer.
> 
> 2 hours on the phone with TiVo support, rebooting this & that, connecting to TiVo service again and again, pulling plugs.
> 
> VOX is buggy.
> 
> I swapped out a next-gen mini with the VOX, same hook ups (moca) - and now I'm worse off then before. After the support marathon, NOTHING streams.
> 
> TiVo support then said, pull out the coax for an hour, then retry - and then they hung up.
> What!?
> 
> Not to mention, TiVo support would be closed for business by then.
> 
> Not happy with TiVo right now.
> 
> The VOX will most likely go back (I have a couple more experiments to try).
> And now Im stuck with this ****** new TiVo user interface.
> It's slow, unintuitive, buggy, and unresponsive at times.
> Is it too much to ask, when I press the guide button, that the guide come up?
> 
> The family is not happy with me.
> 
> You let me down TiVo.


My Mini Vox has been working great. The only issues I've run into are the hydra bugs. Otherwise it has been rock solid connected to my GigE network and streaming from two Bolts and a Roamio. It's the only TiVo I use in my UHD setup now. I put my Bolts in a different room since they can be a little noisy. While the Mini Vox is silent.

Sent from my Tab S 10.5 using Tapatalk


----------



## JoeKustra

aaronwt said:


> My Mini Vox has been working great. The only issues I've run into are the hydra bugs. Otherwise it has been rock solid connected to my GigE network and streaming from two Bolts and a Roamio. It's the only TiVo I use in my UHD setup now. I put my Bolts in a different room since they can be a little noisy. While the Mini Vox is silent.


I'll go one step further. The Mini Vox is working better than its host Roamio. The Mini can play transferred recordings, the host can not. Only issue with the Mini: that glossy black surface shows dust quickly.  Ok, I'm single.


----------



## FishTank1701

Is the newest Mini the first model that allows commercial skip? It’ll be replacing an old two-tuner Premier that’s getting twitchy. It’ll be hard wired, and connected to an older 1080p TV, so 4K isn’t a big deal, but I’d really like to have the skip feature that my Bolt+ has.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## aaronwt

FishTank1701 said:


> Is the newest Mini the first model that allows commercial skip? It'll be replacing an old two-tuner Premier that's getting twitchy. It'll be hard wired, and connected to an older 1080p TV, so 4K isn't a big deal, but I'd really like to have the skip feature that my Bolt+ has.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


My Gen 1 Mini does commercial skip too. They all do. But I guess it might be tied to the host TiVo? Roamios and later have commercial skip.


----------



## gweempose

Do you have to run Hydra on a Mini Vox? I'm thinking about buying one, but it seems like there are a lot of bugs with Hydra. For the time being, I'd prefer to run the classic UI, and then upgrade to Hydra down the road. FYI, I am not currently running Hydra on any of my TiVos.


----------



## buildersboy66

Out of box issues will create a mess, that's where some may have zero patience or no knowledge of self fixes. Somewhere I read TiVo wants to move past bug fixes on the mini vox and prepare for what? There are issues on the V2 mini you refuse to address to say the least. The mini vox should be perfected, for retail of $179 is pure extortion. 

As far as the mini vox goes right now for me, I have 2...they are stable after you get your remotes paired and updated. Needs some work still.


----------



## JoeKustra

gweempose said:


> Do you have to run Hydra on a Mini Vox? I'm thinking about buying one, but it seems like there are a lot of bugs with Hydra. For the time being, I'd prefer to run the classic UI, and then upgrade to Hydra down the road. FYI, I am not currently running Hydra on any of my TiVos.


It should automatically install 20.7.4, the classic UI, when you select a non-Hydra host. I haven't tried it yet.


----------



## gweempose

JoeKustra said:


> It should automatically install 20.7.4, the classic UI, when you select a non-Hydra host. I haven't tried it yet.


Cool. So the only thing I'll really be missing by not running Hydra on the new Mini is the voice control, right?


----------



## JoeKustra

gweempose said:


> Cool. So the only thing I'll really be missing by not running Hydra on the new Mini is the voice control, right?


If you consider using a completely different UI nothing, then right. Like I posted, I have not done it yet. I already have v1 and v2 Mini boxes. I haven't been able to make voice control work. I haven't tried very hard.


----------



## aaronwt

buildersboy66 said:


> Out of box issues will create a mess, that's where some may have zero patience or no knowledge of self fixes. Somewhere I read TiVo wants to move past bug fixes on the mini vox and prepare for what? There are issues on the V2 mini you refuse to address to say the least. The mini vox should be perfected, for retail of $179 is pure extortion.
> 
> As far as the mini vox goes right now for me, I have 2...they are stable after you get your remotes paired and updated. Needs some work still.


$180 is a little high. I'm glad I was able to get a Mini Vox from Best Buy for $150 on Cyber Monday. And return the one I got from Best Buy for $180.


----------



## DFWDave

Picked up a Tivo Mini VOX to use on my one and only 4K TV. Also saw this as an opportunity to replace a buggy v1 Mini.

The 4K TV (Sony) was previously the home of one of my Roamios that was connected via MOCA. No issues using it as a host tuner for half of my 5 minis using this MOCA connection. Some are MOCA connected, others are Ethernet.

Moved the Roamio to the TV that had been served by the v1 Mini that was acting up. Connected via MOCA as it had been connected in the other room.

Had issues with the Mini VOX where certain live tv channels stream for about 1-2 minutes and then stop with a V87 error (as others have reported). Changed the config to use Ethernet instead of MOCA, and this appears to have fixed the issue. Note that the Roamio previously connected in this room used the same MOCA connection without issues including hosting a tuner for minis. 


I got Netflix, Amazon, Plex, etc to show up, but I haven't been able to get Netflix or Amazon to present me with UHD options like I'm used to seeing in those apps native to my Sony TV. My goal is to stay within the Tivo GUI as much as possible, which is why I chose to put my only 4K Tivo device on my only 4K TV.

My wife hates the Hydra interface. I've taken it in stride, there are pros and cons like with anything else.


----------



## cjkillian

Hello. Will the Tivo Vox remote work with the 93000 model mini without a dongle? I want to order the 4K mini, but I want to use its Vox Remote with my older mini. What are my options?


----------



## JoeKustra

cjkillian said:


> Hello. Will the Tivo Vox remote work with the 93000 model mini without a dongle? I want to order the 4K mini, but I want to use its Vox Remote with my older mini. What are my options?


One option: use IR mode. Everything works in IR mode. No voice support of course.


----------



## ratso

With a Bolt and Roamio I could never reliably get Live TV to work. Way too frustrating. I spent more time with TiVo tech than watching live tv. I’ll revisit buying one when they figured out this issue.


----------



## aaronwt

What issue? I link my Mini Vox periodically between two Bolts on FiOS and a Roamio on OTA. Live TV works great, recordings work great streaming to my Mini Vox. Amazon and Netflix both stream in UHD as well.

And I've used two Mini Vox units with the same results. I returned the first one since BestBuy wouldn't price match when they dropped the price $30. So I returned the first one that was $180 and bought the second one for the lower price.


----------



## TrueEddie

aaronwt said:


> Ok I figured out a temporary solution for the inconsistent showing of the Netflix UHD titles. I needed to remove the 2160P24/30 output option from the Mini Vox. So now I only have 2160P60 selected for an output resolution. And every time I go into Netflix, it consistently shows UHD for the appropriate titles.


THIS!!!!

Thank you so much, I've spent the better part of the last two days trying to get UHD to show up in my MINI VOX Netflix app. Was working everywhere else I used the Netflix app but not the TiVo.


----------



## asinshesq

Does anyone notice a material difference in video quality between the mini vox and the bolt vox? I have two brand new samsung 49" qleds, one hooked up to a new bolt vox and the other hooked up to a new mini vox (using the bolt vox as the master). Both the mini vox and the bolt vox have resolution set to to auto (so for both I am using the tivo scalar rather than samsung scalar). Both samsungs have the same picture settings (the default settings that samsung labels 'dynamic'). Both are hard wired to my switch and router via ethernet (cat 5, unfortunately). So this should be a pretty good test.

The picture quality on the mini vox feeding the samsung is considerably worse than the picture quality on the bolt vox feeding the samsung. The picture coming out of the mini vox is substantially softer and seems washed out as compared to the picture coming out of the bolt vox. To make sure I wasn't imagining this, I played back the same recorded content on each and paused each at the same place in the recording...no question about it, the mini vox picture looks noticeably worse.

Are others having that experience? Any chance that is due to a defective mini vox?

Btw, anyone know whether the bolt vox and mini vox scalars are better than the scalar in a new samsung qled?


----------



## I WANT MORE

How do I get native video output? 
Or is it still broken? 
My Sony 900e does a great job of upscaling and I'd rather let it work.


----------



## aaronwt

I WANT MORE said:


> How do I get native video output?
> Or is it still broken?
> My Sony 900e does a great job of upscaling and I'd rather let it work.


It is still broken in hydra.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## alexb

ok i so read the thread, am i right in the only thing a mini vox gives me is 4k output for one app over a normal mini (plus the voice remote)?


----------



## JoeKustra

alexb said:


> ok i so read the thread, am i right in the only thing a mini vox gives me is 4k output for one app over a normal mini (plus the voice remote)?


If you mean on the plus side, you also get a faster processor and a nicer case. If you mean on the minus side, well .....  you read the thread.


----------



## krkaufman

Didn't really think this warranted its own thread, but I felt compelled to note an error in TiVo's FAQ for the Mini VOX (link):

*How many TiVo Mini VOX boxes can be supported on one TiVo network?*

Up to ten TiVo Mini VOX boxes can be supported by one TiVo network containing TiVo BOLT, BOLT VOX, Roamio or Premiere DVRs. One tuner is used each time a TiVo Mini VOX is on the network. Therefore, depending on the number of TiVo DVRs and tuners you have available, you may not be able to have all ten operating simultaneously.

TiVo BOLT, BOLT VOX and Roamio devices allow for dynamic tuner allocation, so the tuner is only used when the TiVo Mini VOX needs it and is released back to the DVR for use when the Mini VOX isn't in use. TiVo Premiere DVRs do NOT support dynamic tuner allocation, so any Mini VOX connected to a Premiere is allocated a constantly dedicated tuner and therefore reduces the tuners available for the Premiere DVR.​
Dynamic tuner allocation is available in all compatible Mini hosts: all 4-tuner or greater TiVo DVRs. It'd probably also be worthwhile to note that a tuner is not required when streaming from an Internet streaming service.

(Also, the description may leave 2-tuner Premiere owners thinking they could add a Mini VOX. And I haven't seen anyone test the limit of 10; I thought the max was simply controlled by the account device limit of 12 active boxes.

CC: @TiVo_Ted

p.s. Prolly wanna get the BOLT OTA added to the compatible DVRs list under the Specs tab.


----------



## KB4MTO

I cannot recommend the Mini Vox 4K right now. I have the Mini Vox 4K and my experience isn't the best. If my Roamio OTA 1TB is being used (streaming, OTA, or recorded media), the mini will either work great or will fail with constant V87 connection errors about every 30 - 45 seconds. I have spent weeks looking for the problem and cannot find any. The problem is intermittant, and it doesn't follow anything happening on my network, so every attempt to locate the problem fails. I posted my Mini stats, but I haven't gotten any replies, so I'm not sure if they are good or not (I think the PHY settings are good, not sure about signal levels).

I just received new splitters specifically for MoCA networks, so next weekend I am going to replace all of my splitters with those. If that doesn't fix it, I will either buy the Bolt OTA with it's own antenna to replace the mini, or abandon the Tivo line completely and find a new solution.

That's my2 cents 

--Hank


----------



## aaronwt

KB4MTO said:


> I cannot recommend the Mini Vox 4K right now. I have the Mini Vox 4K and my experience isn't the best. If my Roamio OTA 1TB is being used (streaming, OTA, or recorded media), the mini will either work great or will fail with constant V87 connection errors about every 30 - 45 seconds. I have spent weeks looking for the problem and cannot find any. The problem is intermittant, and it doesn't follow anything happening on my network, so every attempt to locate the problem fails. I posted my Mini stats, but I haven't gotten any replies, so I'm not sure if they are good or not (I think the PHY settings are good, not sure about signal levels).
> 
> I just received new splitters specifically for MoCA networks, so next weekend I am going to replace all of my splitters with those. If that doesn't fix it, I will either buy the Bolt OTA with it's own antenna to replace the mini, or abandon the Tivo line completely and find a new solution.
> 
> That's my2 cents
> 
> --Hank


I mainly use a Mini Vox for my TiVo viewing. Since it launched last year. I stream recordings from two Bolts on FiOS and a Roamio on OTA. I've never seen a V87 error on my Mini Vox.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## ohboy710

I have a Mini VOX that's about a month old and it locks up about once every three or four days. I have to unplug and it reboot it for it to work again so even though it's faster than the old ones I'm not impressed.


----------



## aaronwt

Both my Mini Vox and v1 Mini never need to get rebooted. Except for a software update. Otherwise they just keep chugging along without issues. And since the are on a UPS, like all my electronics, they aren't going to lose power. Unless there is a 10+ hour long outage.

But today I decided to drop down my FiOS package to the Custom TV package. I am just sick of the bad video quality from FiOS now. As well as the bad video quality from DC OTA channels.

So I dropped down to a custom TV package from the Ultimate HD tier. And I still have Gigabit Internet and phone service. But now my monthly price will be around $96 after all taxes and fees instead of the $152 it currently is. And Then I will be paying for a streaming service for most of my TV watching. But I will still be paying around $25 less a month than before with just FiOS.

So I will be using my TiVos much less from now on. Well at least that is my plan right now. I'll see how it goes for the next month or two.

I'm just wondering if this is the beginning of the end for me with TiVo? I'm not sure. But some of the streaming services are finally at a level where I can use them instead of my TiVos. Although if the video quality from FiOS had not deteriorated so much over the last couple of years, I would have never considered doing this.


----------



## eric9603

aaronwt said:


> Both my Mini Vox and v1 Mini never need to get rebooted. Except for a software update. Otherwise they just keep chugging along without issues. And since the are on a UPS, like all my electronics, they aren't going to lose power. Unless there is a 10+ hour long outage.
> 
> But today I decided to drop down my FiOS package to the Custom TV package. I am just sick of the bad video quality from FiOS now. As well as the bad video quality from DC OTA channels.
> 
> So I dropped down to a custom TV package from the Ultimate HD tier. And I still have Gigabit Internet and phone service. But now my monthly price will be around $96 after all taxes and fees instead of the $152 it currently is. And Then I will be paying for a streaming service for most of my TV watching. But I will still be paying around $25 less a month than before with just FiOS.
> 
> So I will be using my TiVos much less from now on. Well at least that is my plan right now. I'll see how it goes for the next month or two.
> 
> I'm just wondering if this is the beginning of the end for me with TiVo? I'm not sure. But some of the streaming services are finally at a level where I can use them instead of my TiVos. Although if the video quality from FiOS had not deteriorated so much over the last couple of years, I would have never considered doing this.


What streaming services are you looking at - DirecTV NOW, YouTube TV, etc? I've tried pretty much all of them over the last few months, but I keep coming back to TiVo because of the rock solid DVR. Also, when we have family or guests over they just seem confused trying to figure out something other than a regular FiOS STB or TiVo. In my opinion, none of the streaming services have quite figured out how to make that smooth or reliable yet. But on the flip side, the picture quality when using them with an Apple TV 4K is fantastic.


----------



## slowbiscuit

If you're watching a lot of YT or other apps on a V1 Mini I can guarantee that it will hard lockup on occasion. I am interested to know whether that's still an issue on the Vox Mini.


----------



## aaronwt

eric9603 said:


> What streaming services are you looking at - DirecTV NOW, YouTube TV, etc? I've tried pretty much all of them over the last few months, but I keep coming back to TiVo because of the rock solid DVR. Also, when we have family or guests over they just seem confused trying to figure out something other than a regular FiOS STB or TiVo. In my opinion, none of the streaming services have quite figured out how to make that smooth or reliable yet. But on the flip side, the picture quality when using them with an Apple TV 4K is fantastic.


No question the TiVo UI is better. But TiVo has no control over the quality being sent it from FiOS and OTA in the DC area. Both have gone majorly downhill in quality the last few years. The terrible quality is the only reason I switched to using streaming services to watch most of my content. Since the streaming services easily have better quality than FiOS and OTA in my area now.


----------



## aaronwt

slowbiscuit said:


> If you're watching a lot of YT or other apps on a V1 Mini I can guarantee that it will hard lockup on occasion. I am interested to know whether that's still an issue on the Vox Mini.


I've tested that a couple of times last quarter watching Youtube content for a couple hours. It never locked anything up on my Mini Vox.


----------



## JoeKustra

+


----------



## dbpaddler

aaronwt said:


> I've tested that a couple of times last quarter watching Youtube content for a couple hours. It never locked anything up on my Mini Vox.


Haven't tested the mini vox yet as I just got it, but I do prime and Netflix on the OG one and haven't experienced any lock ups.

Question, the hdmi cable that comes with the box is 4k capable, right? Knowing tivo, I don't want to assume.


----------



## aaronwt

I use Monoprice certified cablea with my UHD devices. The HDMI cable that came with my Vox mini is probably still in the box. Just like all the HDMI cables that came with my HDMI TiVos since 2004. I rarely ever use the cables or batteries that come with my devices.


----------



## dbpaddler

aaronwt said:


> I use Monoprice certified cablea with my UHD devices. The HDMI cable that came with my Vox mini is probably still in the box. Just like all the HDMI cables that came with my HDMI TiVos since 2004. I rarely ever use the cables or batteries that come with my devices.


Pretty much the same. This is my first outboard 4k device. So all my cables are older. Just put an order in for new cables but they won't be here until next week.

Don't really care a ton about 4k. My JVC pj is still 1080 and have no desire to drop the coin for the 4k equivalent. That's the only place I really care about cabling.

The only nice thing with the Vox is the universal search including the apps I'd use through the TV. Now I won't have to switch inputs to use apps. Just go to them from the search.

Sent from my SM-N960U1 using Tapatalk


----------



## sm4194

Currently have a Tivo Mini V2 hooked up via ethernet to a Tivo Bolt and consistent experiencing stuttering and freezing on Prime Video The only resolution is to unplug the mini which fixes the issue for a day or two. 

Can anyone let me know if the Tivo Vox Mini is more stable for watching apps such as Hulu, Prime Video and Netflix. Thanks.


----------



## JoeKustra

sm4194 said:


> Currently have a Tivo Mini V2 hooked up via ethernet to a Tivo Bolt and consistent experiencing stuttering and freezing on Prime Video The only resolution is to unplug the mini which fixes the issue for a day or two.
> Can anyone let me know if the Tivo Vox Mini is more stable for watching apps such as Hulu, Prime Video and Netflix. Thanks.


The host isn't used for streaming. I don't have any problems with Prime or YouTube. I have both V3 and VOX and have not had any streaming problems. The VOX is faster.


----------



## krkaufman

JoeKustra said:


> I have both V3 and VOX and have not had any streaming problems. The VOX is faster.


v2? (v3 == VOX)


----------



## JoeKustra

krkaufman said:


> v2? (v3 == VOX)


Yeah, that was unclear. I should have said A93 and A95.


----------



## NYHeel

Just confirming that the Mini Vox can do 4k even if the linked primary TiVo is a Roamio. Is that correct?


----------



## krkaufman

NYHeel said:


> Just confirming that the Mini Vox can do 4k even if the linked primary TiVo is a Roamio. Is that correct?


Yes, for the streaming apps, to the degree that the Mini VOX and each app supports 4K & HDR -- but not for any 4K broadcasts.


----------



## vasilemj

I am looking at a Mini Vox primarily to extend live video coming from a Roamio OTA. Is everyone happy with the live video functionality of this box or is it ever pixelated? I have the option of using an HDMI switch on my existing box and running a roughly 35 foot run to the new TV but figured this was easier.


----------



## kpeters59

I do both...

I mostly just want the same thing going on all my TV's. But, on occasion, I want a different show to display. So, a Mini fits the bill perfectly.

-KP


----------



## aaronwt

vasilemj said:


> I am looking at a Mini Vox primarily to extend live video coming from a Roamio OTA. Is everyone happy with the live video functionality of this box or is it ever pixelated? I have the option of using an HDMI switch on my existing box and running a roughly 35 foot run to the new TV but figured this was easier.


I've had no issues whether I use my Mini Vox connected to my wired network, or use it connected to a wireless Bridge. The video has been fine.


----------



## JoeKustra

vasilemj said:


> I am looking at a Mini Vox primarily to extend live video coming from a Roamio OTA. Is everyone happy with the live video functionality of this box or is it ever pixelated? I have the option of using an HDMI switch on my existing box and running a roughly 35 foot run to the new TV but figured this was easier.


There is no video issue as the above post indicates. However, a Mini and its host close together on the same channel may (will) exhibit a lag in video and audio. The video is no problem, but the audio will be a problem. I have two Mini using two different hosts. The Mini always is about 1/2 second behind. But it could just be my wireless bridges, so you'll need a second opinion.


----------

