# Show was not recorded due to a problem getting a tuner



## billfr (Oct 23, 2015)

Hello all,

I have been a tivo owner for about 6 weeks. For the first time a show setup in Onepass did not record.

The message in History was: _*This show was not recorded due to a problem getting a tuner*_

The show that did not record was the only show setup to record at that time. In fact it was the only show set to record for the entire evening.

I told tivo tech support I was channel surfing at the time the show was set to record. They suggested that my channel surfing was the reason the show did not record.

Is that possible? Any cable company DVR I have used has given me the option to stop watching the channel I am on or cancel the scheduled recording.

Any advice will be appreciated. I find it hard to believe you cannot channel surf if recordings are schedule.


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## Ieolus (Oct 20, 2006)

Which TiVo do you own?


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## billfr (Oct 23, 2015)

Thanks for the reply

Roamio OTA , purchase about 6 weeks ago

When I spoke with Tech Support they had me check the diagnostic screen for the following:
Signal Strength: 72
SNR: 29
RS Corrected: 0
RS Uncorrected: 0

Based on those numbers she said "the signal will be good enough to assign a tuner to record"


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## sar840t2 (Mar 1, 2003)

Wild guess - if none of your tuners was on the channel it needed to record, it would have popped up a question on the current tuner asking permission to change the channel on the *other* tuner.

Possibly that popped up and you accidentally responded "No"?


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

sar840t2 said:


> Wild guess - if none of your tuners was on the channel it needed to record, it would have popped up a question on the current tuner asking permission to change the channel on the *other* tuner.
> 
> Possibly that popped up and you accidentally responded "No"?


It wouldn't make sense to do that unless the unwatched tuners were busy recording, and in my experience it that's the way it works. The TiVo CSR's explanation makes little sense as well, I think he was just trying to avoid admitting he didn't know. Channel surfing isn't going to be a problem unless all tuners are busy recording, which OP said was not the case; my wife channel surfs all the time, and we only see that message when all tuners are in use. I'm sure that there was some other reason it had a problem allocating a tuner, perhaps a bug.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Once in a while it may attempt to change the tuner being watched even though others are free or recording suggestions.


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## UCLABB (May 29, 2012)

ej42137 said:


> It wouldn't make sense to do that unless the unwatched tuners were busy recording, and in my experience it that's the way it works. The TiVo CSR's explanation makes little sense as well, I think he was just trying to avoid admitting he didn't know. Channel surfing isn't going to be a problem unless all tuners are busy recording, which OP said was not the case; my wife channel surfs all the time, and we only see that message when all tuners are in use. I'm sure that there was some other reason it had a problem allocating a tuner, perhaps a bug.


First, one can't channel surf if all the tuners are recording unless you just surf the recording channels. In theory it should pop up if all but one tuner is recording and another recording is about to commence. However, I'm pretty sure I've had it pop up when there were more than one tuner available, probably just a glitch. None of this answers the op. Signal strength of 72 seems like on the low side and maybe it was lower the instant it was supposed to start recording? Sometimes crap happens. About once every two months or so I'll get a recording that just stops before the show is over for seemingly no reason.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

UCLABB said:


> First, one can't channel surf if all the tuners are recording unless you just surf the recording channels. In theory it should pop up if all but one tuner is recording and another recording is about to commence. However, I'm pretty sure I've had it pop up when there were more than one tuner available, probably just a glitch. None of this answers the op. Signal strength of 72 seems like on the low side and maybe it was lower the instant it was supposed to start recording? Sometimes crap happens. About once every two months or so I'll get a recording that just stops before the show is over for seemingly no reason.


72 is the normal value for signal strength for an OTA after AGC settles down.

I know that I will be recording CBS and NBC tonight. I set tuners to those channels. I will be watching MSNBC. I will never see a message to change tuners. Mild OCD.


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## billfr (Oct 23, 2015)

Hello,

Thanks to everyone for replying. There is definitely a chance I missed the popup. I have seen the popup before. 

Hopefully this was just a one time thing.

I would be curious to know how the tivo determines when to record live TV.

Are all 4 tuners always recording? 

A previous post mention how to set the tuners up right before a recording. How do you do that?

Thanks


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

billfr said:


> Hello,
> 
> Thanks to everyone for replying. There is definitely a chance I missed the popup. I have seen the popup before.
> 
> ...


While there is "dynamic tuner allocation" you can influence their settings. First, you can not set all tuners to one channels without a restart. Yes, all tuners are buffering 30 minutes starting when you select the channel.

Hit Info, then down. You will see all the tuners and their channels. If you select one of those channels you move to that tuner and get its buffer. If you select a channel not currently in use, your tuner gets switched to that channel and you start a new buffer. So....

I look at my channels in use. I move to a tuner that will not be needed to record. I select that channel, then use the guide to select the future recording channel. I repeat that until I run out of recordings or tuners. I only have a basic Roamio, so I don't spend a lot of time doing this. I record late night, so I preset NBC, CBS and Comedy Central. The fourth tuner is the one I'm watching and I hardly ever see a pop up. Works every night and I also record prime time.

I'm unclear what you mean by "I would be curious to know how the tivo determines when to record live TV."


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## UCLABB (May 29, 2012)

billfr said:


> Hello,
> 
> Thanks to everyone for replying. There is definitely a chance I missed the popup. I have seen the popup before.
> 
> ...


Yes, all tuners are recording (30 minute buffer). In other words you can on each tuner go back 30 minutes and play. Not sure what you mean on "...how to set the tuners up...".


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## HD_Dude (Sep 11, 2006)

jrtroo said:


> Once in a while it may attempt to change the tuner being watched even though others are free or recording suggestions.


That happened to my OTA this morning. I was recording only one channel, and a notice popped up at 7:59 AM, saying 'TiVo needs to change the channel to record (the other program). Do you wnat to change channels or cancel the recording?'

I was surprised, since nothing else was recording - just one channel - and nothing else scheduled.

With four tuners, I wasn't expecting that kind of issue, ever.

Is the OTA easily confused?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

HD_Dude said:


> That happened to my OTA this morning. I was recording only one channel, and a notice popped up at 7:59 AM, saying 'TiVo needs to change the channel to record (the other program). Do you wnat to change channels or cancel the recording?'
> 
> I was surprised, since nothing else was recording - just one channel - and nothing else scheduled.
> 
> ...


It may have been confused and trying to get the ads from the Discovery Channel. You don't get it and I don't either but I have caught it with the info screen showing the Discovery channel displayed. It also had the red LED on, which is how I caught it at 5am.


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## wpatters1229 (Nov 11, 2003)

If there is a glitch in the cable feed will that cause this? We record CBS Morning and if it missed catching it at the beginning wouldn't it just record regardless of what was on that tuner? I mean if there is nothing wouldn't it still do the record process in the computer? So the fact that it did not record anything tells me the processer screwed up. Now is this a sign that the TIVO processer is on the way out?


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

Damn it, I've seen this twice in two days now on my Roamio. Had only seen it 2-3 times in the almost 2 years I've had the Plus and now this. Only tuner in use (other than live TV) was for Comcast on Demand so I suspect this may have something to do with the issue. Wasn't channel surfing etc. and is not a signal level issue.

This is a real problem because shows don't record when you get the 'problem getting tuner' error, and you have no idea that it failed unless you knew it was supposed to record something. The really dumb part is that the box doesn't retry the recording every few seconds until it gets a tuner. I caught it failing just now on the PGA Tour event at Pebble Beach on Golf Channel and was quickly able to start the recording in progress using the guide.

A reboot is not a fix, it will come back.


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## snerd (Jun 6, 2008)

I saw this last night on my Roamio Plus at a time when only one or two shows were recording. A mini was also in use at the time, perhaps that played a role.


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## billfr (Oct 23, 2015)

Since I started this thread I have not had the problem again. So in my case it was a one off.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

Had another one happen yesterday, after I had rebooted the box earlier in the morning. No Mini was in use nor was anything else recording, but On Demand was being used.

This has gone from a rare event for me to a regular occurrence, but it still only happens on a single recording every once in a while.

The real problem, as mentioned, is that the box apparently gives up right away when it encounters this problem instead of constantly retrying the recording for a minute or so (at least). And the error given is completely unhelpful.


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