# Playback Choppy on Mini



## The Merg (Dec 2, 2007)

So, I am noticing that I am having an intermittent issue with my Mini. I am connected to a Roamio Pro via MoCa and most of the time everything works fine. I am finding that at times when I go to play back a recording on the Mini, the playback is choppy in that every 2-3 seconds the playback cuts out to a black screen for about 1/2 a second or so. If I go to the Roamio Pro and play back the recording, it plays just fine. A restart of the Mini does not rectify the issue.

Any one else seeing something like this?

Thanks,
Merg


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Just playback? How about real time TV?


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## Time_Lord (Jun 4, 2012)

The Merg said:


> So, I am noticing that I am having an intermittent issue with my Mini. I am connected to a Roamio Pro via MoCa and most of the time everything works fine. I am finding that at times when I go to play back a recording on the Mini, the playback is choppy in that every 2-3 seconds the playback cuts out to a black screen for about 1/2 a second or so. If I go to the Roamio Pro and play back the recording, it plays just fine. A restart of the Mini does not rectify the issue.
> 
> Any one else seeing something like this?
> 
> ...


I suspect you have a network issue, most likely substandard/incorrectly run ethernet wiring. Remember the Mini puts a high load on the network and any error will need to be retransmitted and the 100Mb/s connection that the mini uses can be quickly consumed attempting to retransmit errors.

I've posted many comments previously regarding poor network (both ethernet and CoAX) cabling and some suggestions on how to properly run the cabling.

for MoCA see these:
Mini on ethernet and develop a stuttering problem? Try this

-TL


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## The Merg (Dec 2, 2007)

JoeKustra said:


> Just playback? How about real time TV?


Basically on playback, but have seen it on LiveTV. Usually, when it happens during LiveTV, it occurs after coming out of watching one of the streaming services. Doing a channel up/down resolves the issue.

- Merg

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## The Merg (Dec 2, 2007)

Time_Lord said:


> I suspect you have a network issue, most likely substandard/incorrectly run ethernet wiring. Remember the Mini puts a high load on the network and any error will need to be retransmitted and the 100Mb/s connection that the mini uses can be quickly consumed attempting to retransmit errors.
> 
> I've posted many comments previously regarding poor network (both ethernet and CoAX) cabling and some suggestions on how to properly run the cabling.
> 
> ...


I don't think it is specifically a network issue. I am using MoCa and the wiring should be solid. Also, it seems that the issue only occurs for certain episodes. What I mean by this is that if I notice the issue with a specific episode of a show, I can normally watch other episodes or other shows without issue. If I go back to that one episode, the issue persists. A reset of the Mini does not resolve the issue. I will try a reset of the Roamio to see if that fixes it for the episode in question this time.

- Merg

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Time_Lord (Jun 4, 2012)

one question, do all the videos play properly on the Roamio?

If the answer is yes then you have a network problem, if the answer is no then you have a problem with the Roamio

-TL


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## The Merg (Dec 2, 2007)

As far as I know, they all play properly on the Roamio as when I have the issue, I normally just watch the episode on the Roamio. However, if the issue was a network issue, then it wouldn’t restrict itself to one recording and not others. When the issue pops up, it will be just one recording and all others will play back without issue.

For example, I try to play Episode 1 and it is choppy. I go to Episode 2 and it plays back fine. I go back to Episode 1 and it will still be choppy. No matter how many times I go back to that one episode, it will be choppy.

- Merg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Time_Lord (Jun 4, 2012)

you have a network issue....I know you said your cabling "looks fine" but the funny thing about networking is cabling can look fine but have all kinds of problems that can only be seen with testing equipment that result in strange performance.

Depending upon the program the network bandwidth varies, I've seen anywhere from about 7.5Mb/s to about 20Mb/s for live HD tv, Netflix, YouTube, etc use much less bandwidth which is why they tend not to trigger network issues. The higher the network utilization the more errors you will have and it will start to degrade your network performance. You have limited bandwidth on the network, MoCA or Ethernet and if you are taking errors your network the utilization will start to climb rapidly due to the retransmissions, and the more retransmissions the more bandwidth being used which results in more errors generated and more bandwidth used... in other words the network will become self destroying.

I'm assuming you are using MoCA on the Roamio as well.

Several suggestions
1) make sure all the F-connectors are properly fitted eg no braid/shield exposed, dialectic (center white insulator) properly inserted
2) nothing is kinked rough rule of thumb, minimum bend radius is approx 4x the cable diameter, anything smaller can potentially cause issues
3) make sure you are using RG-6, *not* RG-59
4) leave no unconnected ports on a splitter, unconnected CoAX turns into an antenna and can cause issues
5) most (all?) modern splitters should work but make sure is supports frequencies at a minimum range between 500mhz to 1675mhz, you'll probably find most of them now listed as 500 - 2000mhz (2ghz) (MoCA 2.0 uses up to 1675Mhz)
6) be careful with amplifiers, they not only amplify the signal, but the amplify (and add) noise, plus they have to be bi-directional
7) each splitter cuts the signal by roughly the number of ports, (2 by half, 3 by thirds, etc) ideally you want to home run all your CoAX and use a single splitter with the minimum number of ports needed.

If you are using ethernet on the Roamio -
1) make sure the RJ-45 connector is properly fitted (not pulling out of the connector)
2) nothing is kinked rough rule of thumb, minimum bend radius is approx 4x the cable diameter, anything smaller can potentially cause issues
3) Cat 5e is the minimum spec required, higher will work but offers no advantage, anything lower is pot luck. (cat5 will work perfectly fine too but I don't want to start a war)

note - many of the cheap ethernet cables can be hit or miss

You can take or leave my advice you choice, but if it was me I'd be looking at my wiring.

-TL


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## ResultsOriented (Jul 6, 2007)

I have a Tivo Roamio Pro and four Tivo Minis (original version) connected by MOCA with a carefully constructed network that complies with the well-written checklist that Time_Lord provided in his post. It has worked well for years but upon returning from a vacation two weeks ago, I noticed intermittent YouTube choppy playback on all four Tivo Minis (but not the Tivo Roamio Pro). I went into Network Troubleshooting and found that all my MOCA connections were strong and that very few packet errors had occurred. I also tested HBO Go, Netflix, and Prime Video on the Tivo Minis. Each of them work flawlessly. It is only YouTube that is stuttering. I called Tivo Support last week. They checked my connection history and confirmed that my Minis have maintained strong signals. The support representative said that they have gotten other calls recently about YouTube having choppy playback on Minis and that it has been referred to their engineers. They asked if the engineers could contact me to help troubleshoot the problem. I agreed but haven't heard from them yet.


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## The Merg (Dec 2, 2007)

@Time_Lord:

I'll clarify some of what I said... When I said that my wiring looks fine, it was because I installed it and it had been tested before and after. There are no kinks in the wires. The wires are set up as homeruns from a splitter off the FIOS cable modem. As I only have the Roamio Pro and the Mini, I only have those two from the splitter along with one other coax that goes to a WiFi extender. All three devices are connected via MoCa. The fourth port on the splitter is capped. When running Network Troubleshooting on the Mini, all the values come back within range. It is showing no bad packets or errors.

Interestingly, the show that most recently gave me the issue on the Mini I had deleted as I had watched it on the Roamio. I pulled it back out of the Recently Deleted folder and tried to watch it again on the Mini. It played without issue, whereas for 3 days in a row every time I had tried to watch it on the Mini previously I had the choppy playback issue.

The choppy playback issue is not even during times of high network usage. I normally encounter it when I am the only person in the house (or late at night when I am the only person up).

- Merg


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

What OS version are you running, TE4/Hydra or the previous UI?

How is the Mini connected to its display, via HDMI, composite or component?

Do you have multiple Minis or just the one? (i.e. Can you swap Minis and/or HDMI cables to rule out an HDMI [port/cabling/handshake] issue?)


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

ResultsOriented said:


> I have a Tivo Roamio Pro and four Tivo Minis (original version) connected by MOCA with a carefully constructed network that complies with the well-written checklist that Time_Lord provided in his post. It has worked well for years but upon returning from a vacation two weeks ago, I noticed intermittent YouTube choppy playback on all four Tivo Minis (but not the Tivo Roamio Pro). I went into Network Troubleshooting and found that all my MOCA connections were strong and that very few packet errors had occurred. I also tested HBO Go, Netflix, and Prime Video on the Tivo Minis. Each of them work flawlessly. It is only YouTube that is stuttering. I called Tivo Support last week. They checked my connection history and confirmed that my Minis have maintained strong signals. The support representative said that they have gotten other calls recently about YouTube having choppy playback on Minis and that it has been referred to their engineers. They asked if the engineers could contact me to help troubleshoot the problem. I agreed but haven't heard from them yet.


Solution: Get Roku or Fire sticks. YT on original Minis is just asking for trouble, like hard-lockups, slow or stuttered playback etc. I had the same probs and Tivo's never going to fix this, they've had plenty of time.


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## The Merg (Dec 2, 2007)

krkaufman said:


> What OS version are you running, TE4/Hydra or the previous UI?
> 
> How is the Mini connected to its display, via HDMI, composite or component?
> 
> Do you have multiple Minis or just the one? (i.e. Can you swap Minis and/or HDMI cables to rule out an HDMI [port/cabling/handshake] issue?)


I am running Hydra. The Mini is connected via HDMI and I only have the one Mini.

- Merg


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## Firebox_Chuf (Aug 5, 2019)

Hello,
I learned that all my TiVo devices needed to be plugged into same unmanaged ethernet switch. 

I observed the choppy problems when the data serving TiVo was plugged directly into router. I now feed above unmanaged switch directly from router.

1) Router (EdgeRouter12) >Cat6A> Unmanaged switch (Cisco 16Port)

A) Unmanaged switch (Cisco 16 Port) >Cat6A> TiVo Mini A
B) Unmanaged switch (Cisco 16 Port) >Cat6A> TiVo Mini B
C) Unmanaged switch (Cisco 16 Port) >Cat6A> TiVo DVR A
D) Unmanaged switch (Cisco 16 Port) >Cat6A> TiVo DVR B


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