# TiVo Mini needs to be unplugged and plugged in again to reset



## tvmaster2 (Sep 9, 2006)

for about the last six months, our Tivo Mini, connected to a Roamio, seems to lose connection quite often, solved only by unplugging and plugging in again. The TiVo and Live TV buttons get locked out and nothing will either wake up the Roamio, or the Mini. I can't be sure where the problem is.
All my TiVo units (Roamio, Mini, Premiere and TiVo HD) were previously getting IP addresses via DHCP. I've changed that today, and given them all static addresses. If this fails, does anyone have any other troubleshooting tips? Could it be one of the switches/routers the units are connected to?
Thanks


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

tvmaster2 said:


> for about the last six months, our Tivo Mini, connected to a Roamio, seems to lose connection quite often, solved only by unplugging and plugging in again. The TiVo and Live TV buttons get locked out and nothing will either wake up the Roamio, or the Mini. I can't be sure where the problem is.
> All my TiVo units (Roamio, Mini, Premiere and TiVo HD) were previously getting IP addresses via DHCP. I've changed that today, and given them all static addresses. If this fails, does anyone have any other troubleshooting tips? Could it be one of the switches/routers the units are connected to?
> Thanks


What model is your router. Has anything moved that might be causing interference?


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## 2004raptor (Dec 31, 2005)

I have problems with one of my minis every now and then. Typically I will unplug my modem, router, all switches and tivos/minis. Plug in the modem and let it sync, then the router and let it sync. Then the main switch. Then the switch nearest the roamio. Plug in and force a connection on the roamio. Then the switch near one mini. PLug in and force connection on mini. Then the switch near the other mini. Plug in and force connection on mini. :relieved::relieved::relieved::relieved:

The other day I was getting some serious stuttering on one mini and it was late. I was too tired to do the above. I just unplugged the Ethernet cable for ~10 seconds. Plugged it back in and all was fine.


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## tvmaster2 (Sep 9, 2006)

JoeKustra said:


> What model is your router. Has anything moved that might be causing interference?


Not to my knowledge. It sits beside a small satellite receiver, that's it. It's the most recent model of Mini, 2?


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## tvmaster2 (Sep 9, 2006)

so there's only a couple of us who've had this problem? I've assigned fixed addresses to all my TiVos now, but that didn't help. I'll try a different switch and a new, network cable next.


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## cnsjones (Aug 13, 2016)

There are more than a "couple" And I have the same problem. Go here:

TiVo Mini requires a restart every day | TiVo Troubleshooting | TiVo Help Forums

If anyone solves this, please post! My Mini worked god for about five months, but after over night or a few hours, the Tivo button or Live TV button will not wake the mini; have to unplug and restart it.


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## tvmaster2 (Sep 9, 2006)

cnsjones said:


> There are more than a "couple" And I have the same problem. Go here:
> 
> TiVo Mini requires a restart every day | TiVo Troubleshooting | TiVo Help Forums
> 
> If anyone solves this, please post! My Mini worked god for about five months, but after over night or a few hours, the Tivo button or Live TV button will not wake the mini; have to unplug and restart it.


yup, that's exactly what happened to mine. Worked well for the first half of this year, then went bad.


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## tvmaster2 (Sep 9, 2006)

cnsjones said:


> There are more than a "couple" And I have the same problem. Go here:
> 
> TiVo Mini requires a restart every day | TiVo Troubleshooting | TiVo Help Forums
> 
> If anyone solves this, please post! My Mini worked god for about five months, but after over night or a few hours, the Tivo button or Live TV button will not wake the mini; have to unplug and restart it.


have you had any luck solving this yet? I ordered a replacement from TiVo. Plugged it in, set it up, and within 90 minutes the replacement had locked up and needed a physical power cycle.
Tivo CSR said "hook it up to the same router/switch as the Roamio"
what would be the point in that? Both units would need to be in the same room, so that's silly. Yes, it may troubleshoot a Mini networking problem, but I already know the Mini can't do what all my other streaming boxes do, namely work.


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## thyname (Dec 27, 2010)

tvmaster2 said:


> have you had any luck solving this yet? I ordered a replacement from TiVo. Plugged it in, set it up, and within 90 minutes the replacement had locked up and needed a physical power cycle.
> Tivo CSR said "hook it up to the same router/switch as the Roamio"
> what would be the point in that? Both units would need to be in the same room, so that's silly. Yes, it may troubleshoot a Mini networking problem, but I already know the Mini can't do what all my other streaming boxes do, namely work.


Some of the TiVo reps are idiots. I have encountered several of them, some with ridiculously stupid ideas and suggestions


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## tvmaster2 (Sep 9, 2006)

thyname said:


> Some of the TiVo reps are idiots. I have encountered several of them, some with ridiculously stupid ideas and suggestions


I'll try something if the reason makes sense, but as this is a device which is supposed to work throughout a wired, networked home, placing the unit beside the roamio on the same router seems pointless, as the mini will always be on a different switch in a different room.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

tvmaster2 said:


> I'll try something if the reason makes sense, but as this is a device which is supposed to work throughout a wired, networked home, placing the unit beside the roamio on the same router seems pointless, as the mini will always be on a different switch in a different room.


This might give you more to think about. Every morning I put my kitchen Mini on-line and watch real time TV. Yesterday I was playing with streaming and I pulled the Ethernet cable from the host Roamio. Streaming worked fine. I plugged the Ethernet cable in and forgot about it. A Roamio will automatically switch to wireless when Ethernet is not available. It will switch back when Ethernet returns.

This morning I put my Mini on-line and it couldn't find its host. I looked at devices and it was there. It would not connect. I have two Roamio boxes, so I switched to the other Roamio and ate breakfast. The Mini worked fine. I tried to move it back and it would not work. I then pulled power for a few seconds, and when it can back up I had no problems switching to the original Roamio. Draw your own conclusions. I conclude that if the host changes its IP address for any reason for any amount of time the Mini will be pissed. Both host Roamio boxes have reservations, so they always have the same IP address with Ethernet. But you can never have the same IP address for the wireless and Ethernet ports.


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## zubinh (Jun 7, 2004)

tvmaster2 said:


> for about the last six months, our Tivo Mini, connected to a Roamio, seems to lose connection quite often, solved only by unplugging and plugging in again. The TiVo and Live TV buttons get locked out and nothing will either wake up the Roamio, or the Mini. I can't be sure where the problem is.
> All my TiVo units (Roamio, Mini, Premiere and TiVo HD) were previously getting IP addresses via DHCP. I've changed that today, and given them all static addresses. If this fails, does anyone have any other troubleshooting tips? Could it be one of the switches/routers the units are connected to?
> Thanks


Any luck resolving this issue? My mini is doing the same. I use Moca. I've tried using component instead of HDMI but that didn't work. My next step is to fiddle with the router settings but I was hoping to avoid doing that. Thanks for any advice


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## RoamioPete (Apr 3, 2017)

New cord cutter here. We opted to go with the Roamio and a mini and setting up the mini and connecting it to the Roamio was a bit of a booger. The mini refused to connect to the Roamio. I tried manual IP address set up etc. Nothing. Kept saying it needed to be on same network, which it is. 

Finally staring at the Roamio it dawned on me that I had the connected ethernet cable attached to the Modem and not the Linksys router. I moved the cable over and that fixed it thank goodness.

Only thing is once in a while it won't show me live TV or I'll get the spinning wheel of death but it hasn't happened much lately. I have it hooked up to a wifi extender.

It's been a nice add on.


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## tvmaster2 (Sep 9, 2006)

zubinh said:


> Any luck resolving this issue? My mini is doing the same. I use Moca. I've tried using component instead of HDMI but that didn't work. My next step is to fiddle with the router settings but I was hoping to avoid doing that. Thanks for any advice


Yes, and it was the simplest, stupidest thing ever: the remote. Apparently the Tivo remote I was using was either paired to another Tivo in the house, or is malfunctioning. When I grabbed an old Tivo Premiere remote and started using it with the Mini, all the problems stopped, and I haven't had to reset it once since then. Try that and let me know


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

RoamioPete said:


> Only thing is once in a while it won't show me live TV or I'll get the spinning wheel of death but it hasn't happened much lately. *I have it hooked up to a wifi extender.*


That'll do it--something to keep your eye on (TiVo wants a wired connection to be used and doesn't "support" a WiFi extender or Powerline adapters (although people have had success with both--it's very idiosyncratic and a big YMMV), another possibility to keep in mind).


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## zubinh (Jun 7, 2004)

tvmaster2 said:


> Yes, and it was the simplest, stupidest thing ever: the remote. Apparently the Tivo remote I was using was either paired to another Tivo in the house, or is malfunctioning. When I grabbed an old Tivo Premiere remote and started using it with the Mini, all the problems stopped, and I haven't had to reset it once since then. Try that and let me know


Hmmm...Thanks, I'm using a Harmony One Remote though. I'll have to check the settings to make sure I'm using the right model #.


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## RoamioPete (Apr 3, 2017)

Mikeguy said:


> That'll do it--something to keep your eye on (TiVo wants a wired connection to be used and doesn't "support" a WiFi extender or Powerline adapters (although people have had success with both--it's very idiosyncratic and a big YMMV), another possibility to keep in mind).


It seems so odd to me that this thing wasn't built to at least fully support wireless connection + ethernet. I mean really, how many folks have their house fully hard wired in all rooms for internet?? I'd venture to guess 80%+ folks are like me, in that they rely on wireless for all their needs, heck all the new TV's, streaming devices are all set up for wireless, so manufacturers see that as the go to option.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

RoamioPete said:


> It seems so odd to me that this thing wasn't built to at least fully support wireless connection + ethernet. I mean really, how many folks have their house fully hard wired in all rooms for internet?? I'd venture to guess 80%+ folks are like me, in that they rely on wireless for all their needs, heck all the new TV's, streaming devices are all set up for wireless, so manufacturers see that as the go to option.


How do you exit the Mini when you are finished with it?
1. Ignore it
2. Hit TiVo button
3. Put Mini into Standby
What device is your wireless bridge?


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## RoamioPete (Apr 3, 2017)

I believe it's the Netgear Wifi Extender.

Not sure what you mean by "exit the Mini". When I'm done watching TV or whatever, I just power down my entertainment system and the Tivo just goes into sleep mode. When I fire up the system the next day, the screensaver just says "Hit Tivo or Live TV button" and then I'm back to watching TV.

FYI. This is the extender: N300 - WiFi Range Extender


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## tvmaster2 (Sep 9, 2006)

For some reason, the one Tivo remote caused the Mini to lock up upon first button press.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

RoamioPete said:


> I believe it's the Netgear Wifi Extender.
> 
> Not sure what you mean by "exit the Mini". When I'm done watching TV or whatever, I just power down my entertainment system and the Tivo just goes into sleep mode. When I fire up the system the next day, the screensaver just says "Hit Tivo or Live TV button" and then I'm back to watching TV.
> 
> FYI. This is the extender: N300 - WiFi Range Extender


I have three Mini boxes on wireless bridges. One on TiVo wireless N, one on Linksys WUMC710, one on Linksys RE6500. When I say exit I should have said finished. However, your description of the message indicates the Mini has not had power removed. There is no defined sleep mode. There is idle, which is when it's at TiVo Central. There is Standby, where is stops sending audio & video. You can check this by seeing if there is still a tuner in use on the host (Info then Down). The four hour timeout releases the tuner and the Mini goes into that screen saver mode you described. I would suggest that you hit the TiVo button when finished. I put mine into Standby so that EAS tests won't make the Mini grab a tuner.


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## RoamioPete (Apr 3, 2017)

Gotcha. Thanks for the tip.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

RoamioPete said:


> It seems so odd to me that this thing wasn't built to at least fully support wireless connection + ethernet. I mean really, how many folks have their house fully hard wired in all rooms for internet?? I'd venture to guess 80%+ folks are like me, in that they rely on wireless for all their needs, heck all the new TV's, streaming devices are all set up for wireless, so manufacturers see that as the go to option.


I think that a wireless Mini would be great as well, and I'm in your camp and agree with you; I don't have built-in Ethernet in my 1985 home (did many homes, at the time?) and barely have coax (2 rooms; likewise, my telephone line).

In defense of TiVo (egads!), though, I think it has to do with the current state of wireless combined with the great amount of data that gets transferred/streamed for video--the tech. just doesn't seem to be fully there, yet. (Although Slingbox will seem to do it, to a PC--I'm not sure what the differences are, there, and how Slingbox manages (I'm guessing that part of it is the smaller size of PC screens).)

When Ira Bahr, one of TiVo's grand poobahs, was asked about the possibility of a wireless Mini here last year (in a really informative 20 Q/A thread--you might enjoy reading it), he responded (it's just easier for me to quote it), "We currently do not have a wireless Mini on the roadmap. We deliver the highest quality MPEG2 without major compression. The TiVo Mini is truly an extention of our core product, and as such should work with the same quality as you experience from your main TV. Pet peeve BTW on DTV commercials advertising wireless: they overtly suggest that there are no wires at all running from the client to the TV."

20 Questions with Ira Bahr - TiVo's Chief Marketing Officer

I think that many people, like Joe, who have gotten a "wireless Mini" to work have a very robust router and WiFi extender system. Unfortunately, my home WiFi really suffers, which I'm guessing centers on a nice but seemingly blah-performing ISP-provided DSL modem router.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

I says a lot that the new Canadian Bolt doesn't have wireless.Update 20.7.1 is now out


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

JoeKustra said:


> I says a lot that the new Canadian Bolt doesn't have wireless.Update 20.7.1 is now out


?!? Does it at least come with string and tin cans?!?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Mikeguy said:


> ?!? Does it at least come with string and tin cans?!?


It is pretty, in the area of a newer Blu-ray player. I like the smaller footprint. I don't know if it will show up in the U.S., but perhaps there is a relationship to your thread on why have a sale on Bolts. Since it is running 20.7.1, there must be a path to seeing at least a MSO version. And, as you know, I feel the internal wireless is a waste of circuitry. I just wish someone with a Bolt would tell me their internal wireless supports a Mini.

Anyhow, I can't cause any Mini to die. I can't cause my Premiere to lose its guide data. I'm not doing well on duplicating failures.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

JoeKustra said:


> And, as you know, I feel the internal wireless is a waste of circuitry. I just wish someone with a Bolt would tell me their internal wireless supports a Mini.


Ah, and so, the Canadian box doesn't come with wireless but you can connect a WiFi bridge to it? Another extra expense, but it does get the price of the box down (but then up again, for the WiFi consumer, after buying a bridge). Personally, I just want it all simple and that works . . . .


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## SugarBowl (Jan 5, 2007)

Our mini was refusing to wake up each morning. We would get a black screen (and the tv would say 'no input' ). None of the TiVo remote buttons would do anything. I had to unplug the power from the mini and replug it in. 

The problem seemed to follow my kids and their Netflix/YouTube watching. They would watch something on Netflix or youtube, then pause the show, and go away for the night. I removed Netflix and YouTube apps and haven't seen the problem since.


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## bricketh (Jun 22, 2005)

I bought a Mini last week as part of the discounted "TiVo Renewed" deal, and when it would go into Standby mode, the remote wouldn't wake it up. Upon closer inspection, pressing the buttons on the remote after standby didn't even make the light on the Mini blink. Since I have several Minis that work fine, I swapped JUST the Mini that was faulty (leaving everything else the same, and even pairing the remote that came with the refurbished Mini with the replacement unit from my bedroom to try and isolate the issue). The issue followed the refurbished Mini after it went into Standby mode again, and we configured that the existing Mini that I installed to replace the refurb unit was working fine when exiting Standby while using the refurb Mini's remote.

Rather than reboot the Mini, which was what we had been doing to solve this issue for the last few days, I grabbed my old Series 2 TiVo remote from the closet (IR only), and used it. It worked perfectly with the refurb unit, so I suspect that the RF chip in the refurbished Mini isn't activating when recovering from Standby mode. I assume using the network remote control (through the TiVo iPad app) would work fine too, but I didn't test that. 

In any case, since I was able to confirm that the issue was the RF function on the refurbished Mini, and not the remote control that came with it, I contacted TiVo, and they agreed to issue an RMA replacement without further troubleshooting being necessary. I was concerned that they were going to have me go through some print out of troubleshooting steps, and drag it on for days, but was pleasantly surprised that he understood everything I had done, and agreed that this was sufficient troubleshooting to proceed with the RMA. 

While it's not a fix for those suffering with this issue on older units, it is at least my experience with the root cause. Maybe it isn't the same for others (I saw one guy mentioned correcting his issues by connecting a USB-powered cooling fan to the TiVo USB port, and using it to cool the Mini, but that didn't seem to help others in that thread). YMMV


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## bricketh (Jun 22, 2005)

A quick update... the replacement TiVo Mini works fine, even after sitting idle overnight.


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## bricketh (Jun 22, 2005)

Unfortunately, TiVo slipped in an extra $30 shipping charge on top of the advanced replacement charge of $99 for the defective Mini, which is ludicrous. Making matters worse is that they not only failed to disclose this charge to me when I was told about the refundable $99 fee, but when I got a follow-up email that mentioned the $30 shipping fee, I called immediately and TiVo said that there was no such charge billed to me. They said it was possible it was an error in the email, so I took them at their word until today when I reviewed my credit card statement, which clearly showed the $30 charge along side the $99 charge. I have fired off an email to TiVo about this, and will call them when they open tomorrow morning, but I'm frustrated by this tactic, which feels underhanded. 

After being a very loyal customer for 17 years, and getting friends and family onto TiVo during that time, this feels like a slap in the face. It would be different if they told me about the fee, and I could have made a decision on what I wanted to do, but to slip it in without notification (or authorization) then to deny it was charged when I called after seeing it in the RMA email I received is hugely disappointing. If anyone else follows my advice on getting a TiVo unit RMA'd, keep an eye open for hidden charges, and push back on them! That isn't right, and certainly is not representative of good customer service.


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## bricketh (Jun 22, 2005)

TiVo did the right thing and refunded the $30 shipping charge.


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## Dan286 (Mar 6, 2017)

tvmaster2 said:


> for about the last six months, our Tivo Mini, connected to a Roamio, seems to lose connection quite often, solved only by unplugging and plugging in again. The TiVo and Live TV buttons get locked out and nothing will either wake up the Roamio, or the Mini. I can't be sure where the problem is.
> All my TiVo units (Roamio, Mini, Premiere and TiVo HD) were previously getting IP addresses via DHCP. I've changed that today, and given them all static addresses. If this fails, does anyone have any other troubleshooting tips? Could it be one of the switches/routers the units are connected to?
> Thanks


This happened on my Tivo Mini. For me it's a flakey UHF remote receiver in the Tivo. When it happens no UHF remote will work on that mini until I reset it. However the Iphone APP Tivo Remote and non UHF remotes will work.

Forgot the shortcut but try turning off UHF for the remote and it may resolve your problem as it did mine.


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## Doctorhifi (Apr 15, 2002)

Finally found a way to SOLVE this issue for me. For the last 2 years one of my Tivo Minis was intermittently going into 'sleep mode' ( you know- where it shows a bouncing 'Press Tivo or live TV button" message and becomes completely unresponsive to the remote control until you power cycle the Mini). I tried multiple fixes found around the net including new router, new power supply, new HDMI cables, using a powered HDMI splitter, etc. Nothing worked. 
Finally, I purchased one of these HDMI over Cat5e converters:
*HDMI Extender Over CAT5/CAT6 by OREI with IR Upto 164 Feet - Loop Out - 1080P Full HD Signal Distribution (EX-170C)*
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084GF6W53/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and this _*immediatel*_*y* solved my problem. No more having to rebooting. Prior to the install of this device the Mini, without fail, would have to be rebooted multiple times each day. After installation, the problem disappeared completely. So for those of you at wits end looking for a solution, may I suggest picking one of these up on Amazon and giving it a try.


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