# Cable Box Time Wrong



## DaveLessnau (Nov 10, 2000)

Last night, I noticed our TiVo not starting a recording when it should have. The cable box time clicked over the hour, but the TiVo didn't do anything. A minute later it started recording. I went through various checks and finally determined that the time displayed by the cable box was 1 minute (actually, 55 seconds) fast (two atomic synchronized clocks, two TiVos, and the internet confirm this). Prior to the switch to DST (I'm assuming that's the key event), the cable box's time and the TiVo agreed on the time. I'm using Cox (FL - Gulfcoast) cable and have sent them an email letting them know about the problem. Because of this, I'd recommend checking your own cable box's time against multiple, confirmed accurate sources, and, if it's wrong, letting your cable company know.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

Ok I have to ask - why does it matter if your cable box time is off 55 seconds? Does it effect when a program starts? 

Thanks,


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## cheerdude (Feb 27, 2001)

David,

The only clock that your TiVo box cares about is its own.

Jeff


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## Krellion (May 17, 2002)

Have you tried rebooting the cable box? Unplug it for 10-15 seconds. That should cause it to resync its clock. Of course, if that doesn't work, that means wherever it's getting its time signal from is off as well and you can't really do much about that besides call and complain to Cox.


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## DaveLessnau (Nov 10, 2000)

I was making the assumption that the time displayed by the cable box was the time the cable company was using to schedule their programs. If that time is fast by one minute, that means my TiVo recordings would be starting one minute into the show (because the TiVo would be starting at the correct, accurate, time). Also, yes, I did several reboots of the cable box (boxes, actually -- both of them were fast) to try to clear the problem. No change.

For me, it's moot. Just a few minutes ago, I brought up the TiVo's onscreen Guide and noted that the time displayed in the upper right corner again matched what the cable box said. I compared the cable box display to my handy dandy, atomic synchronized watch and the cable box is once again accurate to within one second. Hurrah! I can't believe the cable company actually changed their time so quickly based on my email. They must have caught it themselves. I'll probably get an email in three weeks or so saying there's no problem.


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## gastrof (Oct 31, 2003)

DaveLessnau said:


> Last night, I noticed our TiVo not starting a recording when it should have. The cable box time clicked over the hour, but the TiVo didn't do anything. A minute later it started recording. I went through various checks and finally determined that the time displayed by the cable box was 1 minute (actually, 55 seconds) fast (two atomic synchronized clocks, two TiVos, and the internet confirm this). Prior to the switch to DST (I'm assuming that's the key event), the cable box's time and the TiVo agreed on the time. I'm using Cox (FL - Gulfcoast) cable and have sent them an email letting them know about the problem. Because of this, I'd recommend checking your own cable box's time against multiple, confirmed accurate sources, and, if it's wrong, letting your cable company know.


As mentioned above, your cable box's clock has NOTHING to do with your TiVo.

The TiVo uses its own clock to start recordings and change channels at the appropriate time.

Sounds more like the TiVo started the recording a bit late.

This could be the fault of the local channel or the network, starting the show early (if indeed you missed anything).

If you want to avoid this sort of thing in the future, "pad" your recordings to start a couple minutes early!


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## gastrof (Oct 31, 2003)

DaveLessnau said:


> I was making the assumption that the time displayed by the cable box was the time the cable company was using to schedule their programs...


Most of what you get on cable is NOT scheduled by the cable company.

The cable channels and the networks do that themselves.

All your cable company does is pick up the signal coming from those channels, cable and OTA, and send those channels to you thru the cable.

The one exception is if your cable company has some sort of local channel for public service use or something along those lines. In that case THEY are responsible for content and timing.

All other channels are just carried by your cable company, not controlled by them.


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## Punkywilma (Mar 18, 2007)

I am having the same problem that Dave had. (And most likely is having again)

The actual time that the cable box says is nearly a minute faster than what it actually is. So for me, my dvr starts to record at say 7pm, but it is really 6:59. So it ends up chopping off the ends of all my shows. Basically the last 2 minutes of all my shows are gone. I am getting a minute of something else at the beginning and losing the endings.

If you have Cox (like I do) you can turn to weatherscan (ch. 324) and see exactly how off the time is. I was aware of this the first time and it fixed itself. Now it is fast AGAIN. 
It really is a pain. I have called Cox TWICE and it is still not fixed and I am unhappy with the tech guys response of, "oh, wow um, I'll have to send that up." It is not like i expect the exact time it is going to be fixed, but how about a little tech info.

Grrr. Logistically, it's hard to change the time of all the recordings. Because you run into different hours and only being able to record X amount of things at one time. Sigh, aint technology grand?

If anyone else is having this problem, call Cox and report it. It is most likely the only way to get anything fixed.


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## gastrof (Oct 31, 2003)

If you're talking about your TiVo, it's not affected by the time displayed on your cable box.

The two have NOTHING to do with each other.

If, when you say "DVR", you're talking about a cable company DVR, why are you mentioning it on a TiVo forum?

Do you OWN a TiVo?


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## mick66 (Oct 15, 2004)

Punkywilma said:


> I am having the same problem that Dave had. (And most likely is having again)
> 
> The actual time that the cable box says is nearly a minute faster than what it actually is. So for me, my dvr starts to record at say 7pm, but it is really 6:59. So it ends up chopping off the ends of all my shows. Basically the last 2 minutes of all my shows are gone. I am getting a minute of something else at the beginning and losing the endings.


No offense, but it sounds like you're talking about a cable company DVR and not a Tivo. That being the case - _We don't care!_ this is a Tivo discussion forum. If you have a problem with your cable company and the DVR you are renting from them, find an appropriate forum to discuss your problem. This isn't the place.


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## Punkywilma (Mar 18, 2007)

Wow, Thanks for the rude welcome. AND I have both. AND the time is causing a problem on BOTH. With the TIVO it is missing a minute off the beginning and the DVR is losing 2 minutes off the end. I only spoke of the DVR because it is much more problematic losing 2 minutes off the end. AND it spoke directly to Dave's problem because I also have Cox (gulfcoast) so it is obviously a Cox problem.

AND I posted because you were all telling him the time wouldn't do anything wrong to his TIVO, when i knew it had because it caused the same problems for me.

Sheeesh. Again, if you have Cox, please call to try to get them to speed up and fix this problem.


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

Punkywilma said:


> Wow, Thanks for the rude welcome. AND I have both. AND the time is causing a problem on BOTH. With the TIVO it is missing a minute off the beginning and the DVR is losing 2 minutes off the end. I only spoke of the DVR because it is much more problematic losing 2 minutes off the end. AND it spoke directly to Dave's problem because I also have Cox (gulfcoast) so it is obviously a Cox problem.
> 
> AND I posted because you were all telling him the time wouldn't do anything wrong to his TIVO, when i knew it had because it caused the same problems for me.
> 
> Sheeesh. Again, if you have Cox, please call to try to get them to speed up and fix this problem.


Could you please explain how your Cox cable box having the wrong time affects your TiVo recording times?


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## gastrof (Oct 31, 2003)

Punkywilma said:


> ...With the TIVO it is missing a minute off the beginning and the DVR is losing 2 minutes off the end...


For your TiVo, you need to "pad" the recordings. After setting up the recording, you can tell the TiVo to start itself a minute (or more) ahead of time.

I always do this because I don't trust the channels and networks to start shows on time.

I also set the recording to run five minutes long at the end, too.

I don't know how you set your DVR, whether by start and stop time, or by just choosing a show from a grid listing, but you may be able to also have it record a bit longer than the show's end...so the recording will cut off after the show REALLY ends.

As a side thought, networks have been known to end shows late. It may not be your box. It could be the show's running long.

Anyway, if you set things up to start a bit early and end a bit late, you should be all set.


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## GoHokies! (Sep 21, 2005)

Punkywilma said:


> Wow, Thanks for the rude welcome. AND I have both. AND the time is causing a problem on BOTH.


No, it isn't. The time on your cable box has nothing to do with when you Tivo starts recording.

If you're missing a minute off of the beginning of shows, it's the TV stations that are staring early (or your Tivo clock is off, but since it sets itself every time it calls in, that likely isn't the problem).


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## mick66 (Oct 15, 2004)

Punkywilma said:


> Wow, Thanks for the rude welcome.


  
As others have stated -It's not even remotely possible for your Tivo to be affected by the time on your cable box.

Thanks for the laugh. I really needed it. :up:


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## gastrof (Oct 31, 2003)

I now think what was being said was that BOTH boxes had problems with their clocks, one a minute or two fast, the other a minute or two slow.

In either case, padding on both ends should solve the problem.


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## Punkywilma (Mar 18, 2007)

mick66 said:


> As others have stated -It's not even remotely possible for your Tivo to be affected by the time on your cable box.
> 
> Thanks for the laugh. I really needed it. :up:


The entire gulfcoast region for Cox is having multiple problems, it is not just that the clock is wrong, the feed is not starting at the "correct" Tivo time. So the multitude of problems are, but not limited to, inaccurate clock times and inaccurate start times.

Cox is currently working on a patch but the problem is from a satellite where we (gulfcoast) are getting our feed so like the nice poster said, pad the times and it will be ok. Although it is increasing its error about a second an hour, so make sure the padding is at least 5 minutes both ways depending on your particular time problems.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

Unfortunately, Punky, in this instance they are correct, though they might have been a little harsh about the way they told you. The problem in your case is one of two things.

The first possibility is that the channels you are watching are starting the programs early or late, which is possible (and it's a problem that has been the case more and more as time goes on, as broadcasters want to make sure that you keep watching their particular channel and don't change to anything else). Basically, the thought is that if the programs start a little earlier or a little later than right at the hour/half hour, and the programs move from one right into another, the viewers won't have the chance to flip to something else. NBC made this practice famous, but everyone is doing it now to one extent or another.

The second possibility is that BOTH your cable company DVR, _and_ your TiVo, have inaccurate clocks. The two aren't linked (directly), but it's possible they're both off. Your cable box synchronizes it's time with a computer back at the cable company, and then that in turn should synchronize it's time with one of a series of time servers ("NTP" servers, the technical name for them). Similarly, your TiVo synchronizes it's clock with a computer back at TiVo headquarters in California, then THAT server synchronizes it's time with an NTP server someplace.

The posters are correct when they say that the time on your Cox DVR has absolutely nothing to do with the time that your TiVo uses to start and stop recording. The two don't talk to each other, and don't exchange information in any way. Your TiVo gets it's program guide information from TiVo, Inc, which in turn gets the info from a company called "Tribune Data Services" in Chicago. Your Cox box (hey, that sounds like a cool name for it) gets it's info from a computer at your cable company, which likely gets it's information from the company that publishes TV Guide, Gemstar-TV Guide International. The two never come close to talking, with the possible exception that they both eventually get their time of day from an NTP server.

As for the bit about the problem being "a satellite where [you] are getting [your] feed," well... it's entirely possible that there's a bit of what we geeks might call latency... or a delay as the signal gets received from the satellite. After all, it takes a little bit for that signal to go up to the satellite and back down. However, the latency would be constant, and would be typically measured in milliseconds, not minutes... and there is no way that the latency could increase over time, it's a fixed constant based in the rules of physics. So, no, that cannot possibly be the source of the problem.

If I had to bet, because both the Cox DVR and the TiVo synchronize their times on a regular basis, the problem is more likely the first one - that the programs are just starting early or late.

Whatever the solution - if you find that some of your programs are getting cut off on a regular basis, you do have the right solution - pad the time by a minute or two. If you have a dual-tuner box, this isn't all that bad of a solution, as you don't have to worry about overlap... but if you have a single tuner TiVo, and record back-to-back programs, then you might have a problem with another program getting cut off. Unfortunately, until broadcasters get back to starting right on time (and this isn't likely - if anything, the problem will get worse), this is just a problem DVR owners will have to deal with.


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## mick66 (Oct 15, 2004)

Punkywilma said:


> The entire gulfcoast region for Cox is having multiple problems, it is not just that the clock is wrong, the feed is not starting at the "correct" Tivo time. So the multitude of problems are, but not limited to, inaccurate clock times and inaccurate start times.


Too bad that's not the topic of your 1st post. It's not even mentioned in your second post. It still doesn't change the fact that your cable box clock has absolutely no effect on your Tivo.


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## DaveLessnau (Nov 10, 2000)

Punkywilma,

It's odd. But, as I noted in my previous post, Cox seems to have corrected the time error here. My cable boxes still agree with my TiVos to the second. Yet, this morning I also got an email from Cox saying they are aware of the problem and are working on it. Maybe they're correcting the time manually (here) each day until they get a proper fix. Hope your setup gets better soon.


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## Punkywilma (Mar 18, 2007)

DaveLessnau said:


> Punkywilma,
> 
> It's odd. But, as I noted in my previous post, Cox seems to have corrected the time error here. My cable boxes still agree with my TiVos to the second. Yet, this morning I also got an email from Cox saying they are aware of the problem and are working on it. Maybe they're correcting the time manually (here) each day until they get a proper fix. Hope your setup gets better soon.


I believe they are manually fixing it for now, mine is better today. (only 10 seconds fast)
Hopefully it will be perm. fixed soon.


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## Mike Benedict (Oct 30, 2021)

Yes, you can change Start/Stop times for individual programs, or series of a program. I want to set the default for all programs.


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## cwoody222 (Nov 13, 1999)

It’s not unusual at all for different electronic devices to have slightly different times.

My TiVo doesn’t exactly match my iPhone which doesn’t exactly match my Alexa which doesn’t exactly match my Ecobee.

Your issue is that broadcasters don’t care about the exact time. They start and stop shows when they want.

So even if your clocks were exactly correct, the recordings may start early/late.

The solution is to pad recordings on your TiVo to start and/or stop a few minutes early.


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## CharlesH (Aug 29, 2002)

DVRs are just computers running a proprietary user interface over some standard operating system, and get their time from time servers on the Internet, just like your PC or smartphone does. Which servers they use and how often they sync with them depends entirely on the software in the device.


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## mattyro7878 (Nov 27, 2014)

Is your microwave showing the correct time? It has as much to do with Tivo recording as your cable box.


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