# HD recording of 0.00 length



## pvthndl (Jan 5, 2007)

Twice now, my S3 has 'recorded' HD shows and when I went to view them they have a length of 0.00. Both are season passes and both have recorded correctly in the past. It happened to Boston Legal on Tuesday and Desp. Housewives on Sunday. Other shows (HD and non-HD) with season passes record just fine. I have rebooted with no change. Any ideas?


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## dconner (Mar 13, 2004)

I've seen this happen when I was getting "black screen" on a channel because my CableCard authorization was screwed up.

It seems like when that happens, the Series3 "compresses" the recording rather than just giving you 60 minutes of blackness, which the Series2 would do in similar circumstances. You might want to make sure you're getting the channel correctly, you're pointing at the right channel with the Season Pass, there weren't any power outages or other weirdness at the time, etc.


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## pvthndl (Jan 5, 2007)

Well, I just checked. Both of these shows are on the HD version of ABC. It seems to be coming in just fine now, and I have recorded other ABC HD shows - even other episodes of these season passes just fine. I have had the S3 for about 2 months now and have never seen any problems with the cable cards. I will try and be around during the next recording of these shows to see if there were any power outages, but other shows that were on at the same time as these were recorded no problem. Still a mystery.


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## Gregor (Feb 18, 2002)

Check the Conditional Access screens in the cable card menus to see if the cards are subscribed.


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## pvthndl (Jan 5, 2007)

I assume that the cable cards are working fine since I have been using them for 2 months, get all of the right channels including HD when I look at them, and have successfully recorded many HD programs before. My understanding of the cards would indicate that they are therefore performing correctly. Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.


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## Gregor (Feb 18, 2002)

Well, the zero recording length indicates that Tivo didn't detect a signal on that channel.

It may be that your cards are not subscribed correctly.


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## George Cifranci (Jan 30, 2003)

I got a few 0:00 (partial) recordings the other day. The reason was that when my TIVO went to record those shows they were unavailable. Time Warner here in Columbus screwed up CableCards so that most HD channels weren't available for about 10 to 12 hours. So in my case it was Time Warners fault and not the Tivo's.


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## pvthndl (Jan 5, 2007)

That sounds most likely. I cannot see how my cards would not be subscribed correctly since they work whenever I am watching TV and have recorded many shows on all channels within the last 2 months since install. I have both HD and non-HD versions of these two shows now tagged for recording next time and we'll see if it was a temporary thing.


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## brian-esq (Mar 13, 2007)

I have also had this problem come up routinely. The only time I have the 0.00 recordings is on the network HD feeds (ABC, CBS, NBC) coming through my Cable Cards. I had to resort to recording these channels via antenna. I was missing too many shows.


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## chrispitude (Apr 23, 2005)

I am having this problem too. It didn't record the latest Desperate Housewives and the wife was not happy, which means I am not happy.

- Chris


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## kosherbacon (Sep 12, 2005)

I had this problem when I tried to record a program on a channel that I thought that was part of my lineup and was not. I can't imagine that ABC is not part of your lineup though. Sounds like there was s signal problem with ABC at the onset of the recording. At least ABC lets you download the episodes for free afterwards, right?


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## ygiagam (Dec 21, 2006)

As of last night, Monday 03/12, I am still getting recordings of zero length on some channels. I am on TWC Columbus OH. I cannot reach customer service - I keep getting a busy signal. I just sent them an email. Hopefully they can get this fixed. All this after it worked great for more than two months. SIGH!


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## pvthndl (Jan 5, 2007)

I successfully recorded DHW Sunday night in HD (I also had the non-HD recorded just in case). So, I think I agree with others that this appears to be a random occurrence that my provider, Charter, just drops HD at certain times. My Cable Cards have never shown any problems, so I think it is a signal issue from Charter.


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## pvthndl (Jan 5, 2007)

Oh, and Chris, tell your wife that last Sunday's show was a repeat.


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## segaily (Aug 3, 2003)

Did you ever check the cable card screen. When I had a problem with getting shows somtimes on a channel and not at others it turned out one of my 2 cable cards had been messed up by the cable company


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## Audiodynamics (Jan 11, 2007)

It happened to me Monday night while recording 24. 

C'mon Now! If it happened during any other show, I wouldn't be so mad. 

I'm glad I never deleted my 24 Season Pass from my Pioneer Elite DVR-57H Series 2. I still caught the episode, but not in HD. Perhaps I should duplicate all of my Season Passes on the Series 2 as a backup?

I've had my S3 for 2 - 2.5 months. In that time, the 0.00 length recording issue has only occurred perhaps 2 or 3 times.


The following scenario may have created the problem? 

During the time when 24 should have been recording, I was uploading new firmware into my surround processor. Prior to the firmware upload, I had to unplug all HDMI cables from the surround processor, including the HDMI cable from the S3. Also, the HDMI cables had been unplugged well before 24 should have been recorded, so it's not as if I unplugged it at 9pm on the dot.

The S3 was in Standby at the time. Therefore, all video circuits were powered down.


With my JVC 5U D-VHS deck, whenever I switch on the HDMI output while recording a show over firewire, I get a hiccup in the recording at that point. Turning on the HDMI output just freezes the 5U for several seconds and I lose that portion of the recording.


This is a wild shot in the dark, but perhaps an HDMI glitch is what's causing the S3's 0.00 length recording issue?


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## matthewc (Dec 17, 2006)

Audiodynamics said:


> This is a wild shot in the dark, but perhaps an HDMI glitch is what's causing the S3's 0.00 length recording issue?


I get this sometimes and I use component. Good thing I have the Series 2 as backup.


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## bmgoodman (Dec 20, 2000)

I now have 4 suggestions recorded off of multiple OTA digital stations and every one is a 0:00 "Partial" recording. If I watch these stations live via Tivo, I notice only rare signal dropouts, but nothing that should consistently cause the recordings to fail.

(I do NOT have an HDTV, fwiw. I am connecting to my standard TV with a component cable--no HDMI involved.)


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## pvthndl (Jan 5, 2007)

OK, maybe it's just me because I started this thread, but it seems like this is happening more often than just a random set of circumstances (bad CC, uploads of firmware) could explain. We all seem to have similar situations...previously working S3 that has recorded successfully just creates a 0.00 HD recording randomly. 

Hey, TiVO, if you're monitoring this, can we get an explanation from you guys on what may be causing this?

My own guess is that it is a drop in the HD signal from the provider. However, it seems to be happening a lot, and also I would expect to get many other HD recordings of random length as the signal dropped out somewhere during the show. I have never seen that on my S3. So, unless a mid-show signal loss triggers the deletion of the whole recording, I think this theory is weak - but still the best I can figure out.


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## TJBChris (Jul 15, 2004)

My S3 just did this tonight (again). Circumstances: S3 with Sci-Atlanta cable cards. Both tuners recording while we watch a show from the Now Playing List. Recording is "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader" on an analog SD channel, and the one-hour special of "The Office" on NBC HD. 8:25 rolls around and our pre-recorded show ends. I hit Live TV, and am greeted by a blank screen, with the banner telling me it's "recording" The Office. The length is 0:00. Cablecard screens SHOW BOTH CARDS AUTHORIZED, but the TiVo's Diagnostics screen shows the Tuner State as "Not Currently Tuned" (same thing that tends to show when I get partial recordings). Flip to the other tuner; it's functioning properly and happily recording "Are You Smarter..." Flip back to the malfunctioning tuner. Same blank screen. I hit channel up, and immeidately try to re-tune the channel that "The Office" was recording on. The channel is there, tunes, and the signal is fine. Of course, the damage is done now, I've missed 25 minutes of the hour special, and it doesn't look like it's re-airing (according to the guide data).

We have resorted to setting up anything we care about to record on the Series2, as the S3 can't be trusted to complete a recording on any channel, *analog* OR *digital*. This problem happens on analog and digital channels (both CC and non-CC digital). And yes, the analog (lower) channels here ARE really analog... (Tuner Diag screens confirm that)  

I really wish I'd left the Lifetime sub with the S2...Oh well; hindsight is 20-20.  

-Chris


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## webrichmond (Mar 16, 2007)

I have a series 3 also. I have had mine for 2-3 months, and mine has given me the 0.00 record time since the beginning. comcast here in richmond has been to my house multiple times. different cards. phone techs. i have even contacted tivo three times. i get these 0.00's every day for multiple channels. tivo has even sent me a new s3 to see if it was the box. they did charge my credit card until i send the other one back. but that didn't work either. then they told me it was a software problem on their end and that an update was to be coming soon. that's been over a month ago and still no fix. 

please someone figure this out!!

i've even gotten to the point where i feel like giving up.


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## bmgoodman (Dec 20, 2000)

Since all of my 0:00 recordings are from OTA digital stations, could people be looking at this problem backwards? People seem to focus on some issue with the cable card status causing the 0:00 recordings. Might it be that something which is causing the 0:00 recordings is also causing a problem with the cable card status?


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## Audiodynamics (Jan 11, 2007)

bmgoodman said:


> Since all of my 0:00 recordings are from OTA digital stations, could people be looking at this problem backwards? People seem to focus on some issue with the cable card status causing the 0:00 recordings. Might it be that something which is causing the 0:00 recordings is also causing a problem with the cable card status?


I don't record OTA, but I agree with your logic 100%.

I have Comcast in CT and SA Cable Cards. I think the issue is with the S3 and not the cable cards. Since most of my recordings are glitch free (except for the occasional audio dropouts + pixelization) and my cable cards operate flawlessly 95% of the time, there must be some odd chain of events which causes the 0.00 recording glitch. While I can find plenty about Comcast to complain about, I'm not jumping the gun to blame them or blame the SA cards. The 0.00 recording length issue is a universal S3 issue, regardless of which company's cable cards are installed or whether the broadcast is OTA.

Considering the sophistication of the TiVo software, you would think there would be some type of monitor that would verify if scheduled recordings are recording properly or not and if not try to correct the situation. Then perhaps we might only miss the first few seconds of a program.


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## matthewc (Dec 17, 2006)

Audiodynamics said:


> I don't record OTA, but I agree with your logic 100%.
> 
> I have Comcast in CT and SA Cable Cards. I think the issue is with the S3 and not the cable cards.


I tend to agree it is Tivo. The question becomes is it a hardware or software issue? My replacement box is on its way. Maybe I will get an answer.


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## jpdst22 (Jul 1, 2003)

I have to admit that I have also started to get a lot of these lately. I can't say for sure, but I seem to think I started to notice this increase right after I got the latest software update on my S3. Prior to that I don't recall ever missing recordings like this. Again, I can't say for sure but does anyone else seem to notice these post the software upgrade or have you always had this problem?


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## Peter000 (Apr 15, 2002)

I'm getting this and I know EXACTLY why... Gregor was right in my case; my CCs are not authorized correctly. I'm only successfully able to record the local channels on my CC, and some random other channels (like Sci Fi). When I manually switch to other channels I get a grey screen that says call to authorize cable card. The tech help over the phone is useless. I have a tech coming out on Wednesday. (TW NYC)


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## pvthndl (Jan 5, 2007)

Come to think of it, I only started getting these 0.00 recordings after the recent software upgrade also. Could this be a problem with the new upgrade?

Peter, I have not seen this problem with my S3 and the CCs. I have never had them display a gray screen and they have always shown me the correct content when I surf them manually. 

I've been 2 weeks or so without a 0.00, but it still troubles me that they seem to be occurring to a lot of people.


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## Peter000 (Apr 15, 2002)

I don't think it's a problem with the TiVo upgrade... but may be a problem with a CC upgrade. I know my CC's got an upgrade recently and that's when all my troubles started. It sucks... I've been without reliable service for a month now. Between the clueless techs, and having to reschedule missed appointments and such.

And even before that I would regularly get a "Black Screen" when the TiVo sat idle for a few hours. I'd change the channel, and a picture would come back. I call TiVo and they blame the Cable Cards. I call TW and they don't take responsibility for it either. It's getting very tiresome.


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## hornblowercat (Mar 4, 2007)

Have you checked your Pids? Put your TiVo on the problem channel, go to TiVo Central, Messages and Setup,System Information, then go to your Diagnostic screen. Are your video pids the same as the PCR pids? If they arn't that is the problem and this must be fixed at head end.


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## Peter000 (Apr 15, 2002)

Hm. I don't even know what these Pids you speak of are. But I'll go check.  How do I communicate that to the dumba** techs at TW? How do I get them to let me talk to someone who will actually understand all that?


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## hornblowercat (Mar 4, 2007)

Peter000 said:


> Hm. I don't even know what these Pids you speak of are. But I'll go check.  How do I communicate that to the dumba** techs at TW? How do I get them to let me talk to someone who will actually understand all that?


Well, I gave you the easy part. The hard part follows. First check your pids then get back to me and I'll try to help.


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## Peter000 (Apr 15, 2002)

PIDs seem the same for all the channels I checked.


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## Peter000 (Apr 15, 2002)

However, the card diagnostic screen says "waiting for auth from CP" or something like that. So I'm assuming they need to be reset somehow at Time Warner.


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## hornblowercat (Mar 4, 2007)

Indicates they are not paired properly.


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## LJJ (Nov 14, 2004)

Same problem here tonight. Been working fine since Sept. Double checked the CP Auth and PIDs are OK on both cards. I had two shows back to back on the same channel and the first one recorded with length of 0. Second one is fine. It is Fox Sports HD and both shows are in HD. Hope does not happen again.


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## jacksonian (Nov 3, 2003)

Just had my first 0.00 recording after working fine since October.


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## jacksonian (Nov 3, 2003)

My diagnostic screen shows they are authorized, but I couldn't find any PID's, where is that info?


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## glassonion (Nov 26, 2006)

So what does video PID and PCR PID mean if they are different? Most channels they are the same, but I notice occassionally first tuner will be different (vPID same as audioPID but not PCR)?


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## topjazz (Dec 5, 2003)

I can't actually go to the "bad channel" because they're all bad. For the past 24 hours, I'm not getting any channels. Under Diagnostics, I have a blank for 'signal strength', and PCR PID, Audio PID, and Video PID. Of course, this is after having the tech out to the house 5 times in the last 3 weeks.

I've owned a Tivo since 1999, but it seems the S3 was a poor decision.


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## Derow (May 20, 2005)

I'm having the same problems as Peter000 and also live in Brooklyn (Park Slope) and am dealing with the same idiots at TWC. I wondered if you'd resolved your problem and if so, if you could give me any advice. I had an outage last night that began with pixelation at about 8:50 while I was recording American Idol. That recording didn't finish and gave me a :57 partial. Next I had two shows recording at 9:00 and got 0:00 partials for both. When I turned on live TV at 10:30 everything was fine, but I lost my internet connection briefly about 30 minutes later and when I turned live TV on there was some pixelation. Don't know if the two were related. Level 2 "Broadband Specialist" told me that there was a temporary outage last night nearby (Windsor Terrace) that might have affected my signal. Supposed to get a tech out here next week who is familiar with cable cards, but the last guy had never seen one before and was useless. I'm getting pretty fed up with this and would like to solve the problem or at least know whom to blame.


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## HeyBillyA (Mar 18, 2007)

Just to add to the statistics, I've had 3-4 0:00 recordings, too. I've had my Series 3 for less than a month. I have Comcast and Motorola CC's. No OTA service. I didn't pay close enough attention to note which channels or definition.

Sounds like it is a TiVo problem.


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## markp99 (Mar 21, 2002)

Three 00:00 recordings today on a 1wk old S3. All were suggestions. Hmmm...

I deleted the recordings. Just now I went back just to the "Recently Deleted" folder (~30 mins after deleting them) to make note of the affected channels; the 00:00 recordings did not appear.

I'll be looking for this issue more carefully!


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## pvthndl (Jan 5, 2007)

Well, I have not had another 0.00 recording since I first opened this thread. It is troubling that so many others seem to have this issue. With so many configurations, different suppliers, different scenarios, the only thing that is constant with all of these reports is the S3. My guess is that this is an S3 glitch, but I have no way of proving this. Hey, TiVO, any comment?


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## mburnno (Oct 1, 2003)

I'm glad that I am not the only one having this problem. I live in Maryland and have comcast using the SA cards and I also get the partial records which drive me up the darn wall sometimes. I have called comcast and they keep telling me that they see nothing wrong on their end so they have to send a tech. out to my place. Ok this is going to be fun, the funny thing is that my CC picks up all channels under 99 which is analog and ALL HD channels which are above the 100 channels. That makes no sense to me why are the digital channels dropping but the HD working? Sometimes I wonder if they have a person or a computer program auditing accounts making sure all accounts are coded properly and if there not they just drop it from the system which causes problems. Its odd that when I first got my Tivo setup everything just worked perfectly and I had no problems and now a few weeks later things aren't working so good any more. Hum, nothing has changed on my side and nothing has changed on my tivo to my knowledge so can it be the cable company?


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## mburnno (Oct 1, 2003)

hornblowercat said:


> Have you checked your Pids? Put your TiVo on the problem channel, go to TiVo Central, Messages and Setup,System Information, then go to your Diagnostic screen. Are your video pids the same as the PCR pids? If they arn't that is the problem and this must be fixed at head end.


Hornblowercat, what exactly does the PIDS do at the head end? I am having this problem on my S3 unit.


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## jvanaken (Feb 12, 2003)

Hornblowercat: 

I'm also having this problem with my S3 unit. ( Software Version 8.1.1-01-2-648 ) All channels seem to be fine now, but I've had to reboot the machine five times this week. Before that, I never had a problem with my unit. 

Anyway, one of my CableCards is recording an Analog signal, and the PCR PID has a "-", while the VIDEO PID = 33. The other tuner is set to a HD QAM 256 signal, where the PCR and VIDEO PID are both 64.

So, what does this PID information tell you, and does anybody know why this is happening in the first place?

Thanks in advance.


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## bloozeman (Feb 14, 2003)

I originally posted my recent experience the other night to the only partial recording thread I could find at the time. Basically after a lockup and then are hard reboot (pulled the ol plug) my S3 recorded 75+ 0:00 partial shows (72 were suggestions). I have only OTA so it is definitely not a cable card issue. Yesterday I received the grey screen for the first time on one of my tuners. After switching to the second tuner (which was working fine) and changing channels I was able to switch back to the original tuner with the grey screen and access all of my HD channels. It seems to me this is definitely a TiVo issue!


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## paslax (Apr 20, 2004)

This issue is preventing me from making the leap to the S3. Tivo - I hope you are listening!


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

paslax said:


> This issue is preventing me from making the leap to the S3. Tivo - I hope you are listening!


You may want to put this issue in perspective. There is no doubt it is aggravating to those who have it, but the great, great majority of S3 users have little or no problems. I had one 0.00 recording, about a month after I got it. I was upset, and ready to strangle someone (hey, don't mess with my Greg The Bunny). I've never had one since. And I've had my S3 for over half a year now.

Yes, the problem does exist for some. But you are missing out on the best HD DVR on the market. And the S3, while not perfect, is far superior to anything else out there.


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## cotton168 (Aug 8, 2006)

Like what *astrohip* said, not everyone is getting the partials. I, unfortunately, was one that had my very first partial Tuesday during the results show of Dancing with the Stars. It only recorded 5 minutes and the screen just went blank. I searched some threads about partials and took another poster's solution which was to reboot my S3. The partials haven't come back (recorded Grey's Anatomy without a glitch) so knock on wood that on Monday and Tuesdays Dancing with the starrs it would be okay.


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## KurtONeill (Feb 8, 2002)

I just troubleshooted this with TIVO and she was excellent and determined the problem causing this is that my Cable Card 1 was not authorized. She took me to the screen for cable card Menu in settings. Then had me click on each card and under the menu item conditional access a list of codes come up. The unauthorized card said enabled by CP=no. The other card said authorized. I am trying to get Verizon FIOS to authorize it over the phone. If the can't they will have to send a tech out with a new card and fix it. 

Just an update Verizon was able to authorize the card and as of now it seems to be working. I will let you know if it eliminates the 0:00 recordings.

I hope this helps everyone.

Kurt


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## Carlos_E (Mar 12, 2007)

The first one happened to me last night. I checked the Card settings and both cards are authorized.


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## bmgoodman (Dec 20, 2000)

I feel compelled to chime in again to say that I'm still getting 0:00 recordings on OTA HD broadcasts. My S3 does NOT have any cable cards. It seems that there is something going on with Tivo. Sure, CableCards might significantly raise one's chances of getting 0:00 recordings, but if it was exclusively a CableCard issue, then I wouldn't be posting here....


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## jvanaken (Feb 12, 2003)

I've also checked my cable cards each time this has happened. Every single time, the card are reported as authorized. But when I go to Live TV, the screen is a uniform gray.

Reboot, and everything works again.

I feel certain that this is a software problem, as this never happened before TivoCast and the like showed up in my menus.

Just how widespread is this, anyway?


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## Carlos_E (Mar 12, 2007)

jvanaken said:


> I've also checked my cable cards each time this has happened. Every single time, the card are reported as authorized. But when I go to Live TV, the screen is a uniform gray.
> 
> Reboot, and everything works again.
> 
> ...


I don't get a gray screen, I get a black screen. If I click info on the channel it shows the show info but it's like the channel doesn't lock. After a few minutes the picture will come in.


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## KurtONeill (Feb 8, 2002)

I have never had 0:00 using the antenna so I figured it had to be cable card related.


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## cotton168 (Aug 8, 2006)

It's really interesting that some of us get the gray screens while others get the black ones. I got the gray screen which meant that I was not able to get any kind of picture on that particular channel. Rebooted the machine and everything came back on.


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## gwsat (Sep 14, 2006)

In the three-and-a-half months I have had my S3, I have had about three recordings come up as 0:00 with a black screen. It has always happened on cable channels, never on OTA channels. Given the well known dicey nature of CableCARD technology and cable company implementation, its not surprising that stuff like this happens from time to time. That said, I have never been seriously inconvenienced by the problem. The first time it happened was on Cox OKCs Channel 170, the Soap Channel. As a result of that glitch, I discovered that neither of my CableCARDs will produce anything but a black screen on Channel 170. Go figure. Its such a minor matter that I have yet to call Cox and ask them to fix it.


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## tach32000 (Jan 28, 2004)

I have had my S3 for exactly 1 week. 

Today, while watching some TV it was suppose to be recording a Fight preview show on HBO. I hit play while it was in the process of recording it, and it had a 0:00 length.

Immediately went to the Cable Card -> Test Channels and had HBO HD on both cable cards coming in.

This is not a cable card issue....and after just moving from D* to Cable and an S3, I really am hoping it gets resolved SOON.


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## Replacement (Oct 22, 2006)

KurtONeill said:


> I just troubleshooted this with TIVO and she was excellent and determined the problem causing this is that my Cable Card 1 was not authorized. She took me to the screen for cable card Menu in settings. Then had me click on each card and under the menu item conditional access a list of codes come up. The unauthorized card said enabled by CP=no. The other card said authorized. I am trying to get Verizon FIOS to authorize it over the phone. If the can't they will have to send a tech out with a new card and fix it.
> 
> Just an update Verizon was able to authorize the card and as of now it seems to be working. I will let you know if it eliminates the 0:00 recordings.
> 
> ...


Was the Cable Co able to fix your card over the phone?
I have 1 of my 2 cable cards saying that the AUTH: MISSING_PROGRAM_REKEY and I was hoping that I don't have to wait for the Tech to come over and fix it.
I also have had some 0:00 recordings, there was 3 of them last week and it was a HD channel (CBS I think).

I have had such a headache with these crappy Cable Cards and the Techs who try to install them but don't know what the heck is going on. It took them 3 times out to get them going when I first got the S3 and 1 time since. This is beginning to be a MAJOR inconvenience. (Rant over)


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## Derek Nickel (Oct 7, 2003)

Have you checked the suspect channel(s) in the Cable Card menus. I had a similar problem. Sometimes UHD was available, sometimes not. It turned out that one Cable Card was incorrectly configured and was missing about 2 dozzen channels, UHD being on of them. The other Cable Card was fine. So it was hit or miss when I tuned in one of those channles that it would work.


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## KurtONeill (Feb 8, 2002)

The cable company was able to fix it over the phone. I have had no 0:00 recordings since it was fixed.


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## cathylynnfarrell (May 7, 2004)

We have started getting the blasted gray screen with 0:00 recording length. If we reboot, the channels are visible again..for awhile...but then go gray again the same day. It's mostly on the HD cable channels, so we keep missing the Planet Earth series!!!! Major drag. I've read through this entire thread, and it sure seems to be a TiVo problem, since even those recording OTA are having this happen. My cable cards are both authorized. So, I'll be going through the annoying phone triage with TiVo tomorrow. I love TiVo, but if they don't get some of the bugs worked out with the Series 3, they may really alienate this once devoted user... By the way, I read these boards frequently but didn't sign on until now in order to let you all know that the problem is apparently widespread. Someone up above indicated that only a few people are having problems. I wonder how many are really having this problem but just don't come here to post. It's too bad TiVo doesn't monitor these boards.


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## bmgoodman (Dec 20, 2000)

Here's my newest data point. Allow me to reiterate that I have no HD in my setup, aside from the S3. I have no cable box nor cable cards. I have extended basic analog cable.

I've been getting suggestions recorded from OTA digital for ages now. Although I can tune these channels and watch them live with few dropouts, it seems I get 20 recordings of 0:00 for every 1 recording Tivo completes (again, on the digital OTA channels).

Monday night, I noted that Tivo was recording 24 from the OTA digital FOX channel. It was 9:27 ET, and the program showed 27 minutes with (partial) in parentheses. I pushed play and saw that it had actually begun recording 24 and had NOT stopped at 0:00 as so often happens.

Here's the weird part: Last night, I went to Now Playing and I see that episode of 24 now shows up as 0:00! SO, what happened to the 27 minutes that appeared to have been recorded? I couldn't even get the episode to play the first few seconds I had watched on Monday night. It immediately gives the option to delete the recording as soon as I push play. 

Are these 0:00 recordings really problems at the beginning of shows, or is something else going on during the broadcast that causes Tivo to vomit up the entire recording?


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## rdrrepair (Nov 24, 2006)

bmgoodman said:


> Are these 0:00 recordings really problems at the beginning of shows, or is something else going on during the broadcast that causes Tivo to vomit up the entire recording?


I thought the same thing too. I remember loosing a 24 to the dreaded 0:00 once. I could have sworn that I saw the show in buffer and when I went into my Now Playing list it said partial too. This was over a month ago - I had to Amazon UnBox it to watch my missing episode.

I think you might be onto something - I believe that it's vomiting up the whole show.


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## IJustLikeTivo (Oct 3, 2001)

jacksonian said:


> Just had my first 0.00 recording after working fine since October.


I got one yesterday. It has happened once before. No real pattern that I can discern. Just a 30 minute recording that was really 0 minutes. Odd.


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## ivyvine420 (Mar 14, 2007)

It's the cablecard(s) doing it and it has nothing to do with HD programming at all (it can happen to any channel/recording). I have Comcast and I am in the SF Bay Area, I have no idea if it is affecting many Comcast users all over the country or just a certain area, or if it is even affecting any other Non-Comcast CableCard users (other cable companies).

I started noticing it a few days ago, it will happen (randomly it seems) to any program being recorded when the cable card screen (initial screen once card is inserted) pops up on the display (either for cable card #1 or #2). You hit clear to make it go away, and you go right back to what you were doing (usually watching), these are always Now Playing shows for me as I do not watch Live TV...

There has been 2 times that after hitting the clear button, it has frozen with the blue tivo settings menu background (no actual text on it) like it was backing out of settings before going back to your currently being watched tv show. As I was recording at these times, we just switched over to the 2nd Series 2 (without cablecards) that we have until we receive our Return Authorization email and UPS label to return it. It seems that after I go and check on any of the programs recording at that time (I can't say for sure if it does it - the 0:00 - for both tuners each time that screen pops up, or just for the one Tuner that the screen showed (Cablecard #1 or #2 listed at top). 

It is getting frustrating now, having to deal with it all, I have no idea if this is part of the whole "Comcast messing around with their cablecard settings" stuff or not, but I don't like to have to make sure I have my computer or other series 2 tivo record all my favorite TV Shows just in case this happens to it while recording (just so that I can have a backup to watch).

 

Just read more posts from below, saw people complaining of problem without comcast cable and some without cable cards. I know that the cable cards are involved in my cases as it brings up that cablecards screen. I have no other issues (that I know of) with this after I press clear (other than the 2 freeze ups), except for the 0:00 recordings listed. I can try and test out whether the actual Live TV on the cable channel is working after I get one of these again to add more info to the pool...

*** Also, I wonder if the new Software Update will end up helping with this at all? I really like that I will now stop recording a Tivo Suggestion and go ahead and totally delete it (like my series 2 does) instead of me stopping it, deleting it, then deleting it from the deleted items folder. I also LOVE the new "more options" under Now Playing recorded items, I hated having to go and search for more episodes/airings for items, going through the menus and all the way back to Now playing (and so on if for more than 1 item). And the HD folder is now at the bottom of the screen (right above the Tivo Suggestions) which is nice and much better organized... ***


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## Ian (Mar 7, 2000)

Just happened to me...

Two day old S3, came home this evening and saw that the TV screen was blank (black) when I turned it on. Hit the TiVo button, then checked the now playing list.

Both "King of the Hill" and another random suggestion apparently recorded at 4PM, as did another show...

...yet when I played them back, King of the Hill was a 0:00 recording, while the other show recorded fine.

KotH was on FX, the other show was on TBS - both basic cable.

I'm using two cablecards.

Any thoughts?

-Ian

(Time Warner in NYC, by the way)


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## Ian (Mar 7, 2000)

Oh, this is interesting...

Watching one channel and I notice that the other tuner is recording a suggestion... I switched to the other tuner, and it was a blank screen (should have been A&E).

So I stopped the suggestion, and guess what... still blank screen. I flipped between channels a bit, and while the others work, this one does not.

Hmmm, I wonder if the problem might actually be with the cablecards or Time Warner - since obviously, this time it can't be the TiVo's fault.

What are your experiences?

-Ian


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## Ian (Mar 7, 2000)

A-hA!

It's not the TiVo at all, one of my cable cards is totally down.

Great to have figured that out... now all I have to do is get the 2nd card working again before Lost begins later tonight.


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## cathylynnfarrell (May 7, 2004)

They tell me they think it's a cable card issue and they have turfed it to Scientific Atlanta who makes the cards (at least in my area, with Brighthouse Cable, that's what they use.) They indicate that they've been getting examples of the problems to forward to the engineers. I would implore all of you to contact Tivo and tell them the problems you are having, so they can get enough info to sort this out. I remain concerned about the people who DON'T HAVE CABLE CARDS who are still having this problem. I am not convinced this isn't a Tivo problem rather than a cable card problem.  
I have been a devoted tivo user, but this SUCKS, especially after paying $800, taking a MONTH to get our cable provider to understand what was involved to get the S3 hooked up, and now we can't watch/record some of the main shows we want.
Reading some industry reviews, they are saying that Tivo may be history in a few years, even as they concede it's the best design out there. But you can't charge these exorbitant prices and have these significant quality issues.


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## cathylynnfarrell (May 7, 2004)

I just am troubled that those that use antenna and no cable cards are having this problem also, so I called back.....
They believe that those who use OTA are having problems with signal loss. If I remember above posts correctly, however, that doesn't seem to be a totally satisfactory answer.
Supervisor told me that they have had lots of calls on this, it was discussed in a meeting last week, and they are actively working on it. 
The front line tivo people, including the supervisors are NOT ALLOWED to read these forums. He 'thinks' the engineers do read them, at least at times. There is so much info here that I think it would be helpful for them to read and sort this problem out! I've asked that the message be passed on to alert someone to read this thread, but doubt I was taken seriously . So, again, I ask that you call tivo and tell them the problem you're having, so they can use the info to FIX THIS!
I notice that there are around 70 posts here, but over 2000 reads, so I bet there are a lot more people out there with this problem than would initially appear.


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## gwsat (Sep 14, 2006)

gwsat said:


> In the three-and-a-half months I have had my S3, I have had about three recordings come up as 0:00 with a black screen. It has always happened on cable channels, never on OTA channels. Given the well known dicey nature of CableCARD technology and cable company implementation, its not surprising that stuff like this happens from time to time. That said, I have never been seriously inconvenienced by the problem. The first time it happened was on Cox OKCs Channel 170, the Soap Channel. As a result of that glitch, I discovered that neither of my CableCARDs will produce anything but a black screen on Channel 170. Go figure. Its such a minor matter that I have yet to call Cox and ask them to fix it.


I post here to follow up on my earlier problem. In the two weeks since I posted the foregoing, I have had no more examples of the 0:00-black screen syndrome. Maybe I wont. Hope springs eternal.


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## cathylynnfarrell (May 7, 2004)

I continue to have 0.00 recordings every single day. Several of them. Sometimes if I reboot it solves the problem for a few hours, then back to 0.00 recordings. Real bummer


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## bmgoodman (Dec 20, 2000)

cathylynnfarrell said:


> I continue to have 0.00 recordings every single day. Several of them. Sometimes if I reboot it solves the problem for a few hours, then back to 0.00 recordings. Real bummer


Are you on 8.3 yet? I got 8.3 two days ago and I now have had two successful HD OTA recordings. I won't say this problem is resolved, but I am hopeful. I'll post back after I have more data points.


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## monkeyboy1010 (Nov 17, 2000)

Just a general thanks to those posting on this thread, I started having 0.00 recordings show up in my list, quickly checking these postings I was able to troubleshoot the problem. Just needed the cable company to ping the #2 card again to re-authorize. Trouble solved.

Thanks again


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## cathylynnfarrell (May 7, 2004)

bmgoodman said:


> Are you on 8.3 yet? I got 8.3 two days ago and I now have had two successful HD OTA recordings. I won't say this problem is resolved, but I am hopeful. I'll post back after I have more data points.


I don't know what this means. I'm not sure what being on 8.3 refers to. Sorry if I'm letting my ignorance show!!


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## MegsMommy (Mar 22, 2006)

I just logged in here to see if I could find the URL address for my cable box because all three shows I recorded tonight show up as 0:00. I did see the recording light on while Grey's was recording the end, but when I went to watch it, nothing. If I put them in deleted, they show the whole thing.. very odd.

I do not have HD and I use a cable box which seems to be tuning in the channels just fine.

Oh yea, just wanted to add, I just got the spring update a few days ago.


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## KevinG (Sep 3, 2003)

Bumping an old thread...Sorry...

Happened to me last night. (SA cable cards). Happened to catch it in the middle of the problem...

Went to the now playing list, told it to start playing something that was in the process of recording, and I noticed it was zero length, black screen. But it was still recording it...

Went to live TV, and, sure enough, black screen. Changed the channel, it warned me about stopping the recording (must have been recording something on the other tuner as well). I told it to stop the recording. Changed the channel, then back to the one that was black, and it was fine now. Recorded the rest manually.

Any hopes of seeing a fix on this ever?


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