# Blank screen



## brian1269 (Jul 24, 2003)

I've been having this issue for a while. Had it with my Premiere Elite and continue to have it with my Roamio Plus, which I've had for about a month.

Sometimes when I hit play on a show or go to live TV from the My Shows menu, the screen will go completely blank. I can hit buttons on the remote and I see lights on the unit responding, and I can hear the TiVo sounds also, but there is no audio or picture from live TV or the recorded program. It won't go back to the TiVo menus, it won't do anything at all except make TiVo sounds. The only thing that will bring back the video is restarting the unit. I've tried unplugging the HDMI cables, tried changing inputs, turning the receiver on and off, nothing works except a restart. It still records shows during this period.

Anyone else experiencing this and have a solution? It doesn't do it a lot, maybe once in a 1-2 week period.


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## heifer624 (Jul 12, 2009)

If your having it with Premiere Elite and Roamio Plus... I would say either HDMI cable or TV trouble. Do you have a good HDMI cable and what resolution does your TV function best at?


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## brian1269 (Jul 24, 2003)

The HDMI cable is something that came to mind, and after it did it again tonight I've switched them out. We'll see what happens. I have the output set on 720p from the TiVo.


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## heifer624 (Jul 12, 2009)

I have a SAMSUNG H7150 Full HD 1080p TV and it goes Blank sometimes when I have the TIVO set on 1080p, so I keep the Tivo's output on 1080i and it solved my problem.


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## L David Matheny (Jan 29, 2011)

brian1269 said:


> I've been having this issue for a while. Had it with my Premiere Elite and continue to have it with my Roamio Plus, which I've had for about a month.
> 
> Sometimes when I hit play on a show or go to live TV from the My Shows menu, the screen will go completely blank. I can hit buttons on the remote and I see lights on the unit responding, and I can hear the TiVo sounds also, but there is no audio or picture from live TV or the recorded program. It won't go back to the TiVo menus, it won't do anything at all except make TiVo sounds. The only thing that will bring back the video is restarting the unit. I've tried unplugging the HDMI cables, tried changing inputs, turning the receiver on and off, nothing works except a restart. It still records shows during this period.
> 
> Anyone else experiencing this and have a solution? It doesn't do it a lot, maybe once in a 1-2 week period.


I've seen this discussed, and I see it myself occasionally with my basic Roamio (used for OTA). Just back into the My Shows list and play the show again. I think this happens due to a bug in TiVo's software.

Oops! I just reread your description. I've never had to restart my Roamio. If you can't use the left arrow to get back to the My Shows list, then you're experiencing a different problem from mine, but I still think it's probably a bug in TiVo's software.


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## brian1269 (Jul 24, 2003)

L David Matheny said:


> I've seen this discussed, and I see it myself occasionally with my basic Roamio (used for OTA). Just back into the My Shows list and play the show again. I think this happens due to a bug in TiVo's software.
> 
> Oops! I just reread your description. I've never had to restart my Roamio. If you can't use the left arrow to get back to the My Shows list, then you're experiencing a different problem from mine, but I still think it's probably a bug in TiVo's software.


Yeah I think it is going back into the menu because I can hear the sounds, but it's not showing anything, just a black screen.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

You could also test which resolution your TV works and set the highest resolution (and only 1) in the settings/video menu.

Most TVs has problems when its always changing the resolution, most go blank for a few seconds and others can do weird things.

This can happen when you change channels on the Tivo, play a recording that was recorded in a resolution different from the current screen.


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## brian1269 (Jul 24, 2003)

ThAbtO said:


> You could also test which resolution your TV works and set the highest resolution (and only 1) in the settings/video menu.
> 
> Most TVs has problems when its always changing the resolution, most go blank for a few seconds and others can do weird things.
> 
> This can happen when you change channels on the Tivo, play a recording that was recorded in a resolution different from the current screen.


It had been set on 720p only, the one that was automatically detected to be the best.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

On Series 3 and Premiere, it should be FIXED resolution set, not native or hybrid.

If it is set that way and you still get blanking, then resolution is not the cause.


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## brian1269 (Jul 24, 2003)

It did it again tonight. Was watching a recorded program when the annoying nightly EAM test interrupted the show. After finishing, I went back and clicked play on the show, and the screen went black, no video or audio from the show. I could still hear TiVo sounds when I pushed buttons on the remote, but no video.

Before this occurred again, I hooked up a new HDMI cable from the TiVo to the receiver, and from the receiver to the TV.

I tried the HDMI on a different input into the receiver and also the TV. I tried HDMI directly to the TV. I unhooked all the HDMI cables and tried composite cables directly to the TV, still no video, could still hear just TiVo sounds (from the TV). Also tried the "resolution" button on the back of the unit, and the display actually comes up saying what resolution it is, but still no video.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Can you temporarily remove the receiver and just have Tivo directly to TV. If it happens again, the receiver was not the cause.


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## brian1269 (Jul 24, 2003)

ThAbtO said:


> Can you temporarily remove the receiver and just have Tivo directly to TV. If it happens again, the receiver was not the cause.


Yeah I did it sorry, just edited my previous post to show that.


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## brian1269 (Jul 24, 2003)

When this happens, the entire system seems to quit functioning. Programs won't delete out of the My Shows list. I can't modify or add any Wishlists or Onepasses. The only way to get back to the TiVo menus from the black screen is to unplug the USB cable and the window pops up telling me there is no tuning adapter connected, and it lets me get back into the menus. When I look in the System Information screen, beside HDMI status it is blank.

The only way to make it get back to normal is to reboot. Then I can use all the functions again and HDMI status shows HDCP enabled. Until it happens again, which seems to be happening more and more frequently since I received the 20.4.6 update.

I have called tech support, the only thing they tell me to do is lower the signal strength and SNR. But I don't see how this would cause the entire system to stop working and no video being outputted at all. But I did add an attenuater to make them happy, and the signal strength is in the mid 80s and SNR around 34 (the acceptable range they claim). And of that didn't fix anything.

I cleared thumb ratings and program information. When I had this issue with my previous unit (a Premiere XL4) it fixed the issue with the blue circle and not letting you edit wishlists and season passes. But it's still happening. Can anyone think of anything at all that could be causing this?


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## telemark (Nov 12, 2013)

Suggestions moved to other thread:
http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10437593


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## Benny10 (Aug 12, 2017)

brian1269 said:


> I've been having this issue for a while. Had it with my Premiere Elite and continue to have it with my Roamio Plus, which I've had for about a month.
> 
> Sometimes when I hit play on a show or go to live TV from the My Shows menu, the screen will go completely blank. I can hit buttons on the remote and I see lights on the unit responding, and I can hear the TiVo sounds also, but there is no audio or picture from live TV or the recorded program. It won't go back to the TiVo menus, it won't do anything at all except make TiVo sounds. The only thing that will bring back the video is restarting the unit. I've tried unplugging the HDMI cables, tried changing inputs, turning the receiver on and off, nothing works except a restart. It still records shows during this period.
> 
> Anyone else experiencing this and have a solution? It doesn't do it a lot, maybe once in a 1-2 week period.


Did you every get this fixed? I have the same exact problem.


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## Benny10 (Aug 12, 2017)

Do you ever get this fixed? I have the same problem.


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

Have you tried the 'Clear' button?

I've seen where there 'seems' to be a pop-up message or screen that never pops up and, apparently, the Clear button 'dismisses' it...ymmv...

-KP


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## brian1269 (Jul 24, 2003)

This is still happening, sometimes daily and there is no solution as far as I'm aware of.


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## bilbothejust (Nov 15, 2017)

brian1269 said:


> This is still happening, sometimes daily and there is no solution as far as I'm aware of.


I've had the same problem on my 4 day old Roamio OTA. Connected to an Onkyo 4k Rcvr --> Sony 4K tv. I've had some success by switching the HDMI input on the TV from one port to another and back to the Tivo connection. Sometimes this works. This is really frustrating. Just about ready to log a service request with Tivo.


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

It can be important what order you turn your equipment on.

Maybe start at the display and work your way back. Maybe even wait for it to fully turn on so the HDMI HDCP is fully prepared for the 'handshake'.

-KP


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## bilbothejust (Nov 15, 2017)

kpeters59 said:


> It can be important what order you turn your equipment on.
> 
> Maybe start at the display and work your way back. Maybe even wait for it to fully turn on so the HDMI HDCP is fully prepared for the 'handshake'.
> 
> -KP


Good idea. Thanks KP. I'll give that a shot and update my post tomorrow.


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## bilbothejust (Nov 15, 2017)

bilbothejust said:


> Good idea. Thanks KP. I'll give that a shot and update my post tomorrow.


Ok. well I tried various turn on procedures and you are right, if you start with the TV, then the receiver all seems to be ok. 
The real problem with my setup is, I use a Harmony One remote and if I'm watching Apple TV for example and press the TiVo to watch with the Harmony, things get all out of whack. Blank screen, sometimes audio. I then have to drag out the TV remote and manually switch between several different HDMI inputs to get the TiVo screen back. So much for the Harmony remote. I'm holding out hope that someone has figured a way to do this. I set delays between actions but no luck.


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

There’s an option to ‘change order that devices turn on’ for each Harmony activity.
I also usually set the Activities to ‘Leave unused devices on’.

-KP


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## bilbothejust (Nov 15, 2017)

kpeters59 said:


> There's an option to 'change order that devices turn on' for each Harmony activity.
> I also usually set the Activities to 'Leave unused devices on'.
> 
> -KP


Thanks KP. That will be my next try! Cheers.


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