# New HR10-250 Audio Dropout Problem



## High Technology (Apr 16, 2006)

Over the past week I began to get repetitive and frequent audio dropouts with my HD TiVo. These now happen about once or twice a minute, and are extremely annoying. My video is fine, and I don't experience any pixelization, etc. at the time the dropouts occur. While I have had periodic audio dropouts since I've had this thing, they've only been a handful of times (at most) during an hour-long show.

My unit is hooked up to my receiver using the optical cable, and these occur on both SD and HD channels. Also, they happen on older recorded material, that previously didn't have the dropouts. I have swapped the end of the optical cable that's plugged into the TiVo to a DVD player and had no audio drops with a DVD feed. 

Are these the beginnings of hard drive problems, and if so, why doesn't the video drop too? 

Or did Directv/TiVo do something new to the software? I have the same version I've had for a while, yet my 30-second skip feature deactivated itself again (this was usually a telltale sign of some kind of software patch/upgrade).

I've tried the clear season passes/To Do at the direction of Tech Support, but that didn't solve the problem. A few weeks ago I bought a spare WD 250GB drive that I was planning to use to upgrade the TiVo, but I suppose if I can't get this resolved I might try a drive swap to see that works...

Has anyone else developed this problem in the past week, and if so, have you been able to fix it?

Thanks.

Craig


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## Cornloaf (Feb 18, 2004)

I had a horrible flashback when I read this post. I remember when this problem happened with my old HDVR2 after they did an update. I think it was broken for about 2 months. I think that is when I first found tivocommunity and saw that it was a common problem. SO ANNOYING! Maybe you can try hooking standard audio cables and see if the sound drops out still?


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## High Technology (Apr 16, 2006)

I tried the analog hookups after I posted my message, and the audio dropouts disappeared completely. I then swapped the optical cable back to the DVD player, and again, no dropouts. So this is definitely something with the TiVo and not the cable or my receiver. The lack of dropouts with the analog cable also suggests this isn't a hard drive problem...

Spoke with Directv, and they think its the digital output gone bad. I find that somewhat strange, since it worked fine for the past 18 months. Had my 30-second skip not disappeared conincidentally at the same time, I might be more believing of a hardware problem. But I associate having to reset the 30-second skip with some kind of software patch...

Directv offered a replacement, but I am hesitant to give up a box that's worked perfectly for the past 18 months to get a potentially questionable refurb. There are also a few things I've recorded that I don't want to lose!

Is anyone else having this issue now with their HD-TiVo?


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## eddiwill (May 13, 2002)

My DD audio drops out all the time on all the HD channels EXCEPT the locals that I get OTA (though that still "runs through" my DirecTivo box). 

This also happend on another unit I had before this (replaced for different reason). I think these things have a flaw or there is going on with the signal. The moro....sorry, "technicians" they send out have NO IDEA about any DD audio problems. It's just not worth it to try and swap out yet again... just another nudge toward cable for me.


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## rcwalters (Nov 15, 2003)

Mine started doing just the same thing, a couple of weeks ago. I came here tonight looking for the solution. So.....who knows the solution?


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## Cornloaf (Feb 18, 2004)

Why don't you let them swap out your receiver but ask for some "alone time" with the old one before they take it away. Make sure you take a torx driver with you and swap out the hard drives.


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## IOTP (Aug 7, 2001)

I don't have audio drop out, I have intermiddent 110 sat dropout.

No matter what I try, no matter what I do. 110 just goes bye-bye. Come back in 30-40 minutes, all is ok.


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## Beckzilla (Jan 27, 2005)

High Technology said:


> Over the past week I began to get repetitive and frequent audio dropouts with my HD TiVo. These now happen about once or twice a minute, and are extremely annoying. My video is fine, and I don't experience any pixelization, etc. at the time the dropouts occur. While I have had periodic audio dropouts since I've had this thing, they've only been a handful of times (at most) during an hour-long show.
> 
> My unit is hooked up to my receiver using the optical cable, and these occur on both SD and HD channels. Also, they happen on older recorded material, that previously didn't have the dropouts. I have swapped the end of the optical cable that's plugged into the TiVo to a DVD player and had no audio drops with a DVD feed.
> 
> ...


 I have had this problem intermittently and it does it on all channels. I restart the recorder and the problem goes away every time.


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## High Technology (Apr 16, 2006)

Cornloaf said:


> Why don't you let them swap out your receiver but ask for some "alone time" with the old one before they take it away. Make sure you take a torx driver with you and swap out the hard drives.


I would happily do this if it would let me keep my recorded shows -- I thought I read somewhere that the shows are tied to the individual device. Will this work?


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## Beckzilla (Jan 27, 2005)

High Technology said:


> I would happily do this if it would let me keep my recorded shows -- I thought I read somewhere that the shows are tied to the individual device. Will this work?


 As far as I know this will not work as the hard drive is tied to the unit in some way. I tried it once and got error messages and recorder would not work at all.


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## Beckzilla (Jan 27, 2005)

High Technology said:


> I tried the analog hookups after I posted my message, and the audio dropouts disappeared completely. I then swapped the optical cable back to the DVD player, and again, no dropouts. So this is definitely something with the TiVo and not the cable or my receiver. The lack of dropouts with the analog cable also suggests this isn't a hard drive problem...
> 
> Spoke with Directv, and they think its the digital output gone bad. I find that somewhat strange, since it worked fine for the past 18 months. Had my 30-second skip not disappeared conincidentally at the same time, I might be more believing of a hardware problem. But I associate having to reset the 30-second skip with some kind of software patch...
> 
> ...


 Losing your 30 second skip is most likely from a power outage. It only takes a fraction of a second of power loss to lose your 30 second skip.


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## Camelot One (Feb 20, 2002)

I started getting audio drop outs last week, and at the same time noticed both my 30 second skip and List sort options were gone. I haven't checked to see if the unit received an update, because I'm not sure what it was running before.

I am 100% certain there have been no power outages, my box is on a big enough UPS to keep it running for at least 4 hours.


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## High Technology (Apr 16, 2006)

Well, it looks like I am not alone -- but are there enough of us to get Directv to look into the issue??? If you have this audio dropout problem, where the dropouts occur frequently (at least every couple of minutes), please:

1) Post here (if you haven't already), and

2) Call Directv and make them aware of the issue.

Thanks everyone!

Craig


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## jginaz (Aug 1, 2004)

Mine has done this since I got it after the big price drop last year. I just use analog because I didn't want the hassle of returning it. I haven't used DD for a while, but I'm pretty sure it drops out on local TV as well.

JG


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## eddiwill (May 13, 2002)

Correction: I said earlier that mine doesn't have the audio drop out on locals-- it does. 

It's really annoying. This is the 2nd unit I've had with this issue and I don't feel like getting yet ANOTHER...

I have, however, noticed that several others with this problem have Pioneer A/V receivers, as do I. I wonder if the Pios are more "sensitive" to signal issues or something? I don't know which I would rather have be the culprit!


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## High Technology (Apr 16, 2006)

FWIW, I have a Denon AV receiver and didn't have any significant audio dropouts until this issue cropped up a couple of weeks ago.

Given the handful of people that seem to have my constant audio drop problem, either my unit went bad, or there is an issue affecting only a handful of the units out there.


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## Don B (May 13, 2000)

I posted elsewhere on this forum but just to let you know you're not alone.

My 10-250 is about 6mo old now and audio problems started recently like you described.

It's definetely the 10-250 and perhaps with a software upgrade they could correct it but reading other threads saying tivo on the way out with directv and then recently given an extention leads to even more confusion on this unit.

Was considering adding yet another 10-250 but this problem isn't going away without outside help and that may not be forthcoming. 

It's a great unit but regardless of costs it needs to work correctly to warrant spending even more money on another one, or even having them send another replacement won't apparently gaurantee the same problem will return.


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## garyhartaz (Nov 30, 2003)

My 10-250 is also having the exact same issue. It started around the middle of April and I cannot get it to go away. DTV had to made some sort of update because it has worked fine since December when I purchased it.

Considering other have had the same issue in April, I say it is DTV. I will be calling in the morning and raising some hell!


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## tnedator (Dec 4, 2003)

I just got mine on Friday, so I wasn't sure if it was my unit, or the HD channels, but I am getting audio drops/warbles periodically. During CSI Miami I hade 5-8 little sound glitches. A couple times it sounded like a word was repeated, other times it just dropped for a half second to a second.

I also noticed some video pixelation in CSI when they had a scene with flash bulbs going off. Reminded me of the old days of DirecTV (10 years or so ago) when you would have the screen pixelate on scenes such as lightening flashing.


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## garyhartaz (Nov 30, 2003)

So what is the deal with this? Can anyone confirm a change in firmware or an update in the middle to end of April that would cause so many of us to post with similar if not exact audio issues?

I have unplugged my unit, waited a minute, powered back up and still have the issue whether it is a SD or HD program. If I switch over to the old fashion composite LR audio connectors, I don't have the issue but I miss out on the 5.1 and superior sound through my AV receiver!!

Solutions, comments?


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## r_wolfcastle (Apr 29, 2005)

I am also seeing this audio dropout problem on my HR10-250, on both HD and non-HD channels. I'm not sure precisely when it began, but I'd say somewhere between 4 and 6 weeks ago, so mid-late April. My unit is 13 months old.

My software version is 3.1.5f-01-2-357, but I know of no way to find out when that would have been pushed down from the satellite in order to correlate its arrival with the audio dropout problem.

Most of the time I just get audio dropouts lasting 2-4 seconds each, and the video is fine. But sometimes the audio dropout is accompanied by a brief video freeze. The video freeze is never as long as the audio dropout -- usually it is about a second or so.

I've restarted my recorder a few times, but the audio dropout occurrence is unpredictable enough that I can't really say whether a restart helps at all or, if it does, for how long.


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## eddiwill (May 13, 2002)

Mine is still doing it. Seems that there are more and more audio drops per hour than before. Why they don't get the upgrade out for this box is beyond me. They seem to be willfully squandering the goodwill they spent so long building. Once Comcast has Tivo DVRs, I will have decision to make...


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## dps1165 (May 26, 2006)

I have been experiencing the same problems, and would love a solution. I notice it most on OTA broadcast, but I believe that is because they remain the ones most watched. At first I thought it was signal quality, so I have been up and down the possible solutions of OTA signal strength. I am between 80 and 90 signal quality and dont believe it is SQ. The size of the problem varies some shows I simply delete because they are not watchable, but most of the time a live with 3 to 4 disruptions in a 1 hour episode. Given some of the bandwidth and speed discussions I have read through, I was wondering if this was simply an issue of the system being able to handle the data throughput. Is the problem amplified when recording two HD channels at the same time?


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## JJChandler (Sep 7, 2004)

I'm having the same experience as R_Wolfcastle. Audio drop out with brief video freeze. I haven't changed anything in my system that coincides with the problem starting 6-8 weeks ago. I've been checking this forum for the last 3-4 weeks to see if anyone comes up with a solution. I've had 2 units with HD failure and this isn't the same problem. I've seen the same issues with CSI Miami as described above. I'm going to wait and try to better document when and where I see the drop out. I can't bring myself to call tech no-support.


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## chris_h (Dec 17, 2003)

I just scanned thru this thread, and thankfully I am not having this problem. Here are some questions that might help to troubleshoot it, that I do not see answered by most posters (some do).

1) Does the problem occur on both D* channels and OTA?

2) Is the problem in the recording or on playback? If you zip back 8 seconds and the same part of the show plays okay that had an audio dropout before, then it must have been recorded okay, and it is a playback problem. If the audio is identically bad on all playbacks, then it is likely a recorded problem. If it is bad but different, perhaps some sort of FEC problem?

3) Do both SD and HD show the issue?

4) If you are only seeing this on OTA (maybe those are your only HD channels?) then it may make sense to check out the local OTA forum over at AVS. If you are in the Sacramento area, KOVR has an issue with their diversity switch out at the transmit towers (that switches between microwave dishes). This causes freezes/skips in both audio and video despite strong signal strength from the towers.

5) I actually think it might be helpful to post the brand/model of the receiver to see if there is a patern. 

6) Does it only occur on programs with 5.1 channel sound, or other programs too?

7) Has anyone seen it on their analog audio outputs, or only on toslink?

8) For those folks seeing on only a group of channels, is there anything different about those channels (maybe all on the same bird or transponder, etc) ?

I realize that thes are some pretty detailed questions, and not everyone will take the time to answer them, but they might help to point in the right direction. I sure hope so.


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## gquiring (Dec 13, 2002)

I doubt D* is going to fix any HR10-250 issues. I have called several times over the past year and they NEVER admit to any kind of issues. All we can hope for is the new HD DVR will be better. If not I am switching to Dish. I have been a D* customer since 1995. Back then they were best thing going, but the last 2 years they have degraded severely.


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## dps1165 (May 26, 2006)

I just scanned thru this thread, and thankfully I am not having this problem. Here are some questions that might help to troubleshoot it, that I do not see answered by most posters (some do).

1) Does the problem occur on both D* channels and OTA?
I see the problem on both OTA and D*. But only with HD

2) Is the problem in the recording or on playback? If you zip back 8 seconds and the same part of the show plays okay that had an audio dropout before, then it must have been recorded okay, and it is a playback problem. If the audio is identically bad on all playbacks, then it is likely a recorded problem. If it is bad but different, perhaps some sort of FEC problem?
I belive the problem is in recording. The same glitch occurs repeatably on playback. I also see it live. Although, live is seldom watched, more just to see if it is happening

3) Do both SD and HD show the issue?
I only see it on HD

4) If you are only seeing this on OTA (maybe those are your only HD channels?) then it may make sense to check out the local OTA forum over at AVS. If you are in the Sacramento area, KOVR has an issue with their diversity switch out at the transmit towers (that switches between microwave dishes). This causes freezes/skips in both audio and video despite strong signal strength from the towers.

5) I actually think it might be helpful to post the brand/model of the receiver to see if there is a patern.

6) Does it only occur on programs with 5.1 channel sound, or other programs too?
I only see it with 5.1 channel

7) Has anyone seen it on their analog audio outputs, or only on toslink?

8) For those folks seeing on only a group of channels, is there anything different about those channels (maybe all on the same bird or transponder, etc) ?

I realize that thes are some pretty detailed questions, and not everyone will take the time to answer them, but they might help to point in the right direction. I sure hope so.[/QUOTE]


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## blueliner17 (Jun 18, 2006)

A Couple of notes from my experience:

1) some channels have a lot more audio dropouts than others, for instance world cup soccer(ABC) = no problem, but US Open golf (NBC) frequent stuttering, on average once a minute

2) problems seen always also occur on playback 

3) only occurs on Toslink, and only on DD5.1 audio

4) changing the channel on the OTHER tuner (typically to channel 999) seems to help.


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## tbh999 (Aug 29, 2001)

I've had this problem since day one. I posted a a couple of notes here and got no feedback so I just switched to analog and forgot about it. I would like to have DD but nothing I could do would get the digital audio output to work with out constant dropouts.


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## wes000 (Apr 5, 2004)

I have been having this drop out for the past few weeks. I am using the HDMI cable to the tv only for the video. My componet inputs are all being used. I am using the composite white and red cables for audio. This is so annoying and it seems to happen with everything I watch, whether it is recorded, HD, SD or over the air antenna. 

I may call DTV since this unit has 2 months left on its 1 year warranty.


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## njmurvin (Apr 17, 2003)

I have the problem on one of my HDTivos but not the other. I am using analog cables directly attached to the plasma built-in amp (for the time being).


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## vjd3 (Mar 15, 2002)

My brand new HR10-250 (refurbished) has this problem right outta the box. My old one doesn't, but it locks up periodically, probably a harddrive problem. Sigh.


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## rcbray (Mar 31, 2004)

tbh999 said:


> I've had this problem since day one. I posted a a couple of notes here and got no feedback so I just switched to analog and forgot about it. I would like to have DD but nothing I could do would get the digital audio output to work with out constant dropouts.


I recently started having continual problems. Today I received/installed a new optical digital cable (from Blue Jeans) and everything now works great. Problem was obviously my old cable.


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## jbernardis (Oct 22, 2003)

I don't have dropout problems when I connect (using TOSlink) directly to my receiver. I do have dropouts, however, when I connect (also using TOSlink) thru a felston digital delay device to correct the lipsync issue. I have tried at least 4 different felston boxes as well as a new box from a company called alchemy with similar results. I am convinced it is the HR10-250.


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## cpkramers (Sep 27, 2006)

We have the HR10-250 with the same audio drop out problems. It is seemingly random, and lasts for only a second or two. Happens on multiple channels. I can't say for sure when it started, but I know everything worked fine for quite a while after the system was installed in December '05. I use an optical cable for audio to a Sony reveiver.


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## eddiwill (May 13, 2002)

I am still having this problem (from Day 1). It's incredibly irritating, particularly when a 1 hour program has 12 or so drop outs. 

Interestingly enough, I was looking over a Dish forum for their Vip622, and there are a LOT of users with what looks like this exact same problem (though some flat out lose the audio altogether, not just a drop out). 

All seem to be using HDMI and optical cable, like most here. I wonder if their is some shared hardware component or software code that would cause this?


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## bpiercey (Mar 21, 2007)

My HR10-250 also has this problem. I've had it for about 2 years without a problem. Over the last week or so this problem croped up and has gotten progressively worse. I have found that changing both tuners to XM radio chanels sometimes fixes the issue temporarily. This is really anoying. Is there any new info on this problem?


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## temp357 (Feb 18, 2004)

Have any of you tried going back to 3.1.5f? I did and all of my problems went away.


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