# Roamio Wont Start, Middleminderror?



## Out with Fios (Dec 4, 2018)

Well I'm starting to think I may be taking advantage of the free 30 day return... Got home today and the box was not displaying anything on the screen. the mini could not see it, I could not see it on online TiVo and through the TiVo app I'm getting a middleminderror which means nothing to me.

I restarted the Roamio several times with progressively longer off times (several hours) and the best I got was the startup screen displaying before my TV eventually said no signal on that input. Changed the patch cable that goes directly from the box to the G1100 router, still no dice. I guess that port on the router could be bad but I don't know why that would happen.

There are some features about the TiVo that I think are really nice, but if I continue to have problems at this rate I can't see them being worth it (first Cyber Monday box was DOA, and I've only had this box up and running for under a week). That said I was excited about the box rentals going away for terrible Verizon hardware, I'm a bit torn about all of this. Guess I'll need to call tech support tomorrow, not sure when I'll actually have time since I'm travelling.

On another note what is with the box deleting things before it is full (~40%) if I have it set to keep all episodes until space is needed. I don't remember the exact wording of the settings but that is generally how I had them set.

Do the onepass settings that are only available online actually function differently from the (fewer) options available through the box directly via the remote? I hate when web browser apps and phone apps don't match, now there is yet another level of native device application not matching...


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

I would telephone TiVo Customer Support for technical assistance. They can walk you through what needs to be tested and otherwise done. You could have received a bad unit--no need to torture yourself.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Send it back. The TiVo CS will have no clue what a Mind error is. Your NVRAM is probably corrupt.

Mind - About Mind


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## Out with Fios (Dec 4, 2018)

Oh boy. hopefully I can get to this today otherwise it'll have to wait until Sunday night when I get back. Would a mind error be cause by me in any way? Or did I actually get one bad unit per week? I haven't even sent the first bad box back yet. I thought the Roamio was supposed to be the more stable hardware


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

JoeKustra said:


> Send it back. The TiVo CS will have no clue what a Mind error is. Your NVRAM is probably corrupt.
> 
> Mind - About Mind


But the CSA will be able to set it all up, sending out a replacement unit. And, as is my wont, I would ask them if they would be so kind as to throw in a gratis Slide Pro remote as well . . . .


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

I think if you return it within the 30 days, you'll be better off purchasing again new...

-KP


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## Out with Fios (Dec 4, 2018)

Mikeguy said:


> But the CSA will be able to set it all up, sending out a replacement unit. And, as is my wont, I would ask them if they would be so kind as to throw in a gratis Slide Pro remote as well . . . .


I know I've been screwed by their hardware twice in two weeks, but do they actually give away $90 remotes or do I have to push for that? I am genuinely annoyed with this purchase, nothing is ever as easy as it should be.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Out with Fios said:


> I know I've been screwed by their hardware twice in two weeks, but do they actually give away $90 remotes or do I have to push for that? I am genuinely annoyed with this purchase, nothing is ever as easy as it should be.


I have gotten it or similar in the past, by making a polite case. ("Hey, don't you think it would be nice for TiVo to try to make up for this inconvenience, by . . . .") Needless-to-say, YMMV.


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## Out with Fios (Dec 4, 2018)

Well No dice on that remote, they don't seem to be making them right now. I'm not sure if the Vox replaced it, but that is pretty dumb if it did. Not that I've used the keyboard version but it seems like it would be much more functional than the voice control I have on the Mini.

At any rate, if the third box fails in a week I'm just going to go back to the Verizon hardware I didn't return yet since a reliable yet crappy interface is still way better than an unreliable nice interface... which even still with all the hydra stuff is a bit weird. I still don't get why it starts deleting things before it is full.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Good luck with the new box--third time's a charm!


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## Out with Fios (Dec 4, 2018)

Hopefully, considering my 30 day trial is looking more like a 3 day trial at this point I might call them again tonight and see if I can at least extend my trial period to something where I actually get to use their equipment during the trial period.

I think I'm going to try to downgrade from Hydra this time so I can try the older software too. It seemed like there were some things I was running into that only sort of worked the way they should. Such as I couldn't figure out how to stream video to a PC on online TiVo which their promotional video on their site it looks straight forward but it is an older interface.


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## Out with Fios (Dec 4, 2018)

As a side note, it seems that the quickest way to get through the CS phone call is to tell them you've relocated the box to another TV in the house for testing with different power outlets and cables etc. (which I did do) but once I've said that both times they came to the conclusion the box is not working correctly instead of making me chase down everything about my home network or whatever else they might make you do.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Out with Fios said:


> Hopefully, considering my 30 day trial is looking more like a 3 day trial at this point *I might call them again tonight and see if I can at least extend my trial period to something where I actually get to use their equipment during the trial period*.
> 
> I think I'm going to try to downgrade from Hydra this time so I can try the older software too. It seemed like there were some things I was running into that only sort of worked the way they should. Such as I couldn't figure out how to stream video to a PC on online TiVo which their promotional video on their site it looks straight forward but it is an older interface.


I did that years ago, and TiVo had no issue with doing so.


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## Out with Fios (Dec 4, 2018)

So... It's looking more like three strikes than third time is the charm. I didn't yet try plugging it in to another TV with all different cables and power, but when I plugged in the latest box before quitting and going to sleep it once again did not work. Plug it in and I get the TiVo starting up screen, then just a few minutes screen, and then it stops sending signal to the TV and the box starts flashing a green light about once every 2 seconds (which is also audible from whatever circuit is flashing the light maybe?).

The HDMI connection is also considerably looser on this one, I did try a different cable because of this, but it displays the startup screen so I don't actually think that is a problem. At this point it looks like I'm running weaknees out of my basement since I have 4 Roamios sitting on the table (they kept sending new units so fast I didn't bother swinging by FedEx yet). The only one that probably works is the $20 CL unit that doesn't have a subscription. I'm guessing I could Frankenstein a functional box together with all the parts I have at this point, but that doesn't feel like the right thing to do on a recent direct purchase.

Normally I would think being 0-3 would be user error, but the second unit actually worked for a few days and I didn't do anything different there. The reliability issues have me strongly considering calling it quits on this whole thing even though I really want to switch to TiVo. I think the icing on the cake is that every renewed box comes with a sheet that says it was tested and yet 2 out of 3 seemed to be DOA, not sure what kind of tests they run, but it doesn't seem to be complete.


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## Out with Fios (Dec 4, 2018)

Also If I return the box(es) to TiVo, does anyone know if I can return the Mini through Amazon, or do I have to sell it? The mini seemed to work very well, but will be very useless to me if I can't get a functional roamio on my network.


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

Out with Fios said:


> Well I'm starting to think I may be taking advantage of the free 30 day return... Got home today and the box was not displaying anything on the screen. the mini could not see it, I could not see it on online TiVo and through the TiVo app I'm getting a middleminderror which means nothing to me.
> 
> I restarted the Roamio several times with progressively longer off times (several hours) and the best I got was the startup screen displaying before my TV eventually said no signal on that input. Changed the patch cable that goes directly from the box to the G1100 router, still no dice. I guess that port on the router could be bad but I don't know why that would happen.
> 
> ...


Sorry you are having such a difficult time with your Tivo Roamio Pro/Plus? I am not an advocate for the new hydra software as it seems to be an ongoing work in progress, and the process seems to be SLOWLY fix one thing and break another. Some folks do like and advocate it though, although a lot of folks seem to forget that when this new version was introduced, it was pretty clearly stated by Tivo that current Tivo users were not the "target" audience, although broadly welcomed by Rovi/Tivo as ongoing beta testers. Consider going back to the older more stable? interface.
The Fios router you have does have builtin MoCA 2.0 and if there is also coax connected to the G1100, you might want to try connecting just via MoCA, (remove the Ethernet cable) and see if you have any better luck. Also, although many folks like "new", these are really untested, no matter what a slip of paper says. The problems you are describing pretty clearly seem to indicate bad units and if you are going to give up, you will likely find that Amazon's return practices are much easier than Tivos. Also, consider some of the "used" units sold with lifetime or All in sold on this forum, eBay Auction Central or via Ebay. The prices these days are pretty good and sometimes include a larger/upgraded hard drive. Good luck.


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## Out with Fios (Dec 4, 2018)

So I'm using the Roamio OTA 1TB version with cable card bracket harvested from a CL Roamio basic on the cheap. I'm aware this is a bit hacky but it did come in handy which I'll get to in a second. The 4 tuner versions of the Roamio are not MoCA devices so your suggestion doesn't really apply. Also I had the MoCA network all figured out and running the mini in another room. I'm using the G1100 as the MoCA bridge.

Anyway after stepping away from this for a second I realized I do have a second power supply from the CL box... and wouldn't you know boxes 2 and 3 from TiVo both actually seem to be functional. I'm not actually sure what is wrong with the other power supply that it will get through the start up screens without crapping out and keep the box lights on, but then a few minutes in, either go to a boot loop on box 2 or just stop displaying anything on the TV on box 3. Also on the third box with the bad power supply it would restart if I connected and disconnected the HDMI which I thought was odd behavior.

Anyway I guess the next step is to call TiVo, request the replace my power supply as I shouldn't be using my own after 3 days of use, and return the first and third boxes. The newest box seemed a bit quieter but had some other odd behaviors I don't find as desirable.

So I have yet to be able to watch anything on online TiVo with Hydra, maybe I just don't know where to look, but is that functionality gained by switching back to TE3? I guess I should learn to use KTTMG and switch the box to TE3? I still don't get why there are so many things in "going away soon"


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Out with Fios said:


> So I have yet to be able to watch anything on online TiVo with Hydra, maybe I just don't know where to look, but is that functionality gained by switching back to TE3? I guess I should learn to use KTTMG and switch the box to TE3? I still don't get why there are so many things in "going away soon"


Normally you don't have to worry about the Going away soon as that only indicates they could be deleted if you need space to record new shows. What is your disk space utilization?

Scott


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## Out with Fios (Dec 4, 2018)

47% There were only 3 shows in it when I just checked. Last time around 40% there were 20+ shows going away soon. The online app seems to only be useful for creating and managing one passes. I can't see what shows I have recorded, recent deletes or watch any content.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Out with Fios said:


> 47% There were only 3 shows in it when I just checked. Last time around 40% there were 20+ shows going away soon. The online app seems to only be useful for creating and managing one passes. I can't see what shows I have recorded, recent deletes or watch any content.


The online apps (even TiVo's old Desktop) have always used the date stored with the program. When you get bored, check the "Keep Until" date on a program. Don't delete it. Notice that date moves daily. If you set the count for number of shows to keep from its default of 25 to All, you will never see yellow dots in My Shows.

Just ignore the yellow dots. It's broken. So is KUID on transferred programs.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Out with Fios said:


> 47% There were only 3 shows in it when I just checked. Last time around 40% there were 20+ shows going away soon. The online app seems to only be useful for creating and managing one passes. I can't see what shows I have recorded, recent deletes or watch any content.


You should be able to see what's recorded under My Shows in TiVo Online (make sure you have the right TiVo selected and listed in your account since you have several at this point correct?). Since you have a Roamio OTA that does not include any streaming capabilities without a TiVo Stream device (Roamio Plus/Pro have a Stream built-in and the Bolt models have streaming functionality included).


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Out with Fios said:


> I can't see what shows I have recorded, recent deletes or watch any content.


Oh and under Manage you should be able to see your ToDo List and Recording Activity.


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## Out with Fios (Dec 4, 2018)

HerronScott said:


> You should be able to see what's recorded under My Shows in TiVo Online (make sure you have the right TiVo selected and listed in your account since you have several at this point correct?). Since you have a Roamio OTA that does not include any streaming capabilities without the a TiVo Stream device (Roamio Plus/Pro have a Stream built-in and the Bolt models have streaming functionality included).
> 
> View attachment 38355


Man, I thought the stream function was included in all Roamios. That is a bit annoying since the stream isn't available new anymore and appear to have had questionable support in the past.



















So in certain views I can see some of the recordings, but All shows puts a circle on the screen and then it is just black. What's really odd is sometimes I'll create a onepass and two will show up in my manager (which is semi desirable for creating separate rules for new and repeat) but I can't find anyway to make two onepasses on purpose.

Same thing goes with the to do list and recording activity, they just don't load. Anyway I guess I'll start shopping for a stream on ebay, thanks for clearing that up for me.


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## ScottPNW (Dec 23, 2018)

Out with Fios said:


> Well I'm starting to think I may be taking advantage of the free 30 day return... Got home today and the box was not displaying anything on the screen. the mini could not see it, I could not see it on online TiVo and through the TiVo app I'm getting a middleminderror which means nothing to me.
> 
> I restarted the Roamio several times with progressively longer off times (several hours) and the best I got was the startup screen displaying before my TV eventually said no signal on that input. Changed the patch cable that goes directly from the box to the G1100 router, still no dice. I guess that port on the router could be bad but I don't know why that would happen.
> 
> ...


I have had my Roamio and Mini for about two years I estimate. About 1 year in, the Mini stopped receiving RF signals from the remote, so it essentially bricked. I had to climb into the closet to power cycle it. It took me about a year and multiple calls / hours on the phone with Tivo, and they finally replaced the Mini. About a month after the replacement, the Roamio stopped communicating with its iOS application and threw the middleminderror. A couple of days ago I emailed Tivo for support and they haven't responded yet. So my point is, my hardware worked for a long time before I saw this error, but now I see it. The Roamio does not send a video signal to the TV, so although it runs, it is essentially bricked too. The interface from Tivo.com cannot reach the Roamio either, so it is a pretty catastrophic failure. So now I am looking at a Comcast box. I hope Tivo figures this out, but I am not going to spend another year troubleshooting its crappy hardware. If I don't get a solution quick, I will cancel and go back to the cable company.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

ScottPNW said:


> ....... If I don't get a solution quick, I will cancel and go back to the cable company.


You're new here (and welcome!) but I suspect you don't realize this forum has no connection to TiVo, and your post most likely will not get any attention from TiVo employees. TiVo support is not the greatest and in fact you are more likely to get help on many problems here. However posting threats to cancel and go back to cable will have little impact on TiVo.


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## Out with Fios (Dec 4, 2018)

ScottPNW said:


> I have had my Roamio and Mini for about two years I estimate. About 1 year in, the Mini stopped receiving RF signals from the remote, so it essentially bricked. I had to climb into the closet to power cycle it. It took me about a year and multiple calls / hours on the phone with Tivo, and they finally replaced the Mini. About a month after the replacement, the Roamio stopped communicating with its iOS application and threw the middleminderror. A couple of days ago I emailed Tivo for support and they haven't responded yet. So my point is, my hardware worked for a long time before I saw this error, but now I see it. The Roamio does not send a video signal to the TV, so although it runs, it is essentially bricked too. The interface from Tivo.com cannot reach the Roamio either, so it is a pretty catastrophic failure. So now I am looking at a Comcast box. I hope Tivo figures this out, but I am not going to spend another year troubleshooting its crappy hardware. If I don't get a solution quick, I will cancel and go back to the cable company.


I'm assuming you tried power cycling your box? Did it display anything on the screen at all during that time? Mine would show the startup screen but never make it to anything useful when the app was displaying the middleminderror. As I mentioned, it turned out to just be a bad power supply, so if you have access to another 12 Volt 2 Amp power supply it is worth trying, I didn't actually check to see what the mini uses. I've never had a power supply failure create the partially working symptoms on another device, it's usually kind of all or nothing so it didn't even occur to me as a possibility.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Out with Fios said:


> I'm assuming you tried power cycling your box? Did it display anything on the screen at all during that time? Mine would show the startup screen but never make it to anything useful when the app was displaying the middleminderror. As I mentioned, it turned out to just be a bad power supply, so if you have access to another 12 Volt 2 Amp power supply it is worth trying, I didn't actually check to see what the mini uses. I've never had a power supply failure create the partially working symptoms on another device, it's usually kind of all or nothing so it didn't even occur to me as a possibility.


Be aware that wall wart power supplies can have different polarities (center contact + or -), so before you sub one that isn't made for your TiVo, verify it has the correct polarity.


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## Out with Fios (Dec 4, 2018)

So as an update, I called and requested a new power supply. The tech support only asked me if it was a two prong power supply... not sure why they didn't just go based on the model box I told them I have. I think I responded with something along the lines of "Yes 2 prong, it is a 12V 2A power supply"

And today this power cord (the URL on this is power card?) arrived instead of this power supply.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Out with Fios said:


> So as an update, I called and requested a new power supply. The tech support only asked me if it was a two prong power supply... not sure why they didn't just go based on the model box I told them I have. I think I responded with something along the lines of "Yes 2 prong, it is a 12V 2A power supply"
> 
> And today this power cord (the URL on this is power card?) arrived instead of this power supply.


Sigh, frustratingly sad and comical.


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## Out with Fios (Dec 4, 2018)

So as it would turn out the 2 prong question would appear to be from a script as the next tech support person gave me the same question. Although this time she phrased it as 2 or 1 prong... I guess a barrel jack is considered 1 prong and a C7 connector is 2... on both of these the prongs are on the box side, but I was imagining the wall outlet. The fact that I said it was 12V 2A should have helped the first time still. Oh well


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