# No audio on all channels unless rebooted



## ReidWings (Nov 1, 2004)

For the second time this week, I have turned on my Series 3 to find no sound on any channels or on recorded programs. I have the audio going out from both the digital optical out to my receiver and via HDMI to the TV and NEITHER gets any sound. 

When this happened previously, I rebooted and everything was fine. Now, things are recording and I don't want to reboot it. 

Any tips on how to get the sound back without rebooting? And yes this started since I got them 8.1 update.


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## ReidWings (Nov 1, 2004)

Argh...it just happened again. I shouldn't be forced to restart my tivo every few days in the middle of watching a show because of this. Anyone heard of this happening before? 

I was half way through a show, and viola...no more audio. After restarting, the audio works again.


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## shoek (Jan 23, 2002)

Just to let you know, I have it to. Just since 8.1!
I have 2 S3 TiVo's, and I've seen it on both.
On one, I just use analog audio direct to the TV, and I've seen it there a few times but have not needed to reboot -- just change the channels a few times.
On the other, I let HDMI carry the audio to a Denon 2807 receiver, then on to the HDTV. I tried all sorts of things tonite when I found it without audio, but ended up needing to reboot to get the audio back.
When the audio was not functioning, I hooked up a digital audio cable to the S3 and the receiver, but that was not getting any audio bits. The receiver knew that it was hooked up digitally, but did not display the audio program source (eg: dolby, 5.1, etc)

One other thing... I get the TiVo sound effects when it is in this state, but not the audio from playing a recording or watching LiveTV.


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## rrichter (Mar 11, 2007)

I've got it also. Same story - it showed up with 8.1.1, it's been two days in a row now. Reboot gets the audio back, I can hear the Tivo noises, but live TV and all shows are silent. It's sort of the reverse of what I normally get, where the program audio is there and the Tivo bloops are not.

I'm not sure that people posting "I've got this problem" will fix anything. Has anyone reported it to Tivo?

Strangely enough, I;m also in Ann Arbor...


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## zickdl (Apr 7, 2004)

I also have the same problem. When I reboot, the sound comes back on.


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## shoek (Jan 23, 2002)

OK, so everyone who has this problem lives in Michigan? That couldn't be a coincidence, could it? 

Is everyone using Comcast?


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## PressureDrop (Sep 20, 2004)

Audi has gone out 3 times on my new one but all it took to get it to come back on was to hit the TiVo button and then go to Now Playing and scroll up or down and it started making the standard noise. Then go back to live, Rewind and everything that had been silent then had audio. 

Based on what I have seen the issue on mine is with output not with anything else.


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## zickdl (Apr 7, 2004)

I have comcast. When I reboot the tivo, there is sound for the prevously recorded shows that recorded during the time I did not have any sound.


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## ReidWings (Nov 1, 2004)

zickdl said:


> I have comcast. When I reboot the tivo, there is sound for the prevously recorded shows that recorded during the time I did not have any sound.


Same for me. I'm on Comcast and when I reboot, the shows that record with no audio do have recorded audio. Like the others, tivo sound effects work when this happens. It hasn't happened to me in the last few days, so I'll try changing channels a bunch of times if it does again. Glad others finally responded and so I know it's not just me! Weird that we are mostly in Michigan.


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## zootpix (Mar 12, 2007)

Three times my S3 has lost audio to my Samsung LCD TV via HDMI. The optical out to my Sony ES receiver still worked, and all TiVo sound were OK as well. Reboot fixed it all three times. 

I have not tried the above referenced sequence to avoid need to reboot, by will try it if it happens again. 

This has also only been since 8.1.1. 

Something in the air in Michigan, or could Comcast be sending out some bad audio juju?


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## Anchorman (Mar 2, 2002)

shoek said:


> OK, so everyone who has this problem lives in Michigan? That couldn't be a coincidence, could it?
> 
> Is everyone using Comcast?


Well, here's another S3 located in Michigan (Jackson) with the exact same problem. 

Yes I have Comcast. It has happened twice in the past couple of weeks. I have tried everything under the sun, but the only thing that has worked is a reboot. I also get the Tivo sound effects but no other audio. And I also noted that programs that were being recorded during the sound outage had normal sound after the reboot. But playing the recorded show during the outage produced no sound.

Since the sound appears to be getting recorded, but not output from the S3, that seems to exonerate Comcast, and point to a defect in the S3. That being said, it seems really strange that almost everyone posting in this thread is in Michigan.


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## Anchorman (Mar 2, 2002)

PressureDrop said:


> Audi has gone out 3 times on my new one but all it took to get it to come back on was to hit the TiVo button and then go to Now Playing and scroll up or down and it started making the standard noise. Then go back to live, Rewind and everything that had been silent then had audio.
> 
> Based on what I have seen the issue on mine is with output not with anything else.


We have been out of town for the last two days. When we got home today, my S3 had no audio again. I have tried the above steps and also tried changing channels, etc. I have also gone into settings > audio and played around changing things but nothing seems to make any difference.


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## philwojo (May 16, 2004)

I am not sure I have the same problem, I am in the burbs of Chicago and just using OTA no cable. When I have my audio go out on me, usually when I power on my system I just switch the audio feed on my receiver to something else, then back to the feed for the TIVO and it restores it. Again, not saying it will work here, but something to try if you haven't and better than rebooting.

Phil


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## jjcali (Oct 29, 2003)

I have the same problem in Southern California using Charter cable. Just paid $50 to TiVo to swap my S3 because the audio drops all day, making me reboot several times a day, and also the machine reboots all by itself randomly all the time. I'm using HDMI cable direct to my TV. Also having problems with "partial recording" of season pass shows - records only 1 second of the show. I think the cable cards don't switch and tune fast enough sometimes and the TiVo thinks the channel is not tuned and stops recording. 

But all of these problems started with the software update. The TiVo rep claimed it was not the software. Now I don't believe her and have wasted $50!


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## jab33 (Mar 20, 2002)

I also have the same problem. I am a Charter Cable customer in Long Beach, CA. I have HDMI connection from Tivo to TV. At first it only seemed to happen when fast forwarding or rewinding - sound would be gone when the video started to replay. Strangely, it seemed to occur mainly when I would playback The Daily Show. Seemed to happen only on play back of recorded programs, but also occurred once on live TV while I was in another room. Only way to get any sound back (other than Tivo sounds) is to reboot. Happens once or twice a day.
I reported the problem. I am in my 90 day purchase window. They had me completely clear and reset the whole system. Seemed to work for awhile but the problem has returned. Tivo has approved a return and replacement. Still it is a hastle, and since they seemed to be unaware of the problem there is no guarantee the new machine will be different.


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## jjcali (Oct 29, 2003)

well my replacement is here and thus far has been operating normally - no partial recording, no audio drops requiring reboot, and no random rebooting on its own. It worked well out of the box and continues to work well since installing the software update yesterday. fingers crossed.


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## yooper (Nov 25, 2006)

Same problem in Ann Arbor, MI. Happened twice within this past week.

However, within the past week I switched from HDMI (1.1) to toslink and component. Never experienced this particular problem with HDMI even though the latest Tivo software was installed upon release, but have the issue with toslink. 

Who knows, it may have showed up irrigardluss.

Mark


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## tome9999 (Oct 17, 2006)

I have had this problem twice now as well in the last week or so. I am also in Ann Arbor, MI.

Also, I still get sounds from the Tivo (bong bong when hitting buttons, bing when going to Tivo menu, etc etc). Just no sound on recorded or live shows until a reboot, then all is fine. I did not have this problem prior to 8.1 but it sure it strange that a bunch of us are experiencing it on Comcast in MI.

I got a call from them a couple weeks back asking for my CC #'s and I gave them all that info. Their recording said they were making some changes and if I didn't give them info I would lose some services. I am wondering if the audio loss could be related to the changes they made....

-Tom

ps: I should add that I am connected via HDMI
pps: this just happened to me (for the second time) this evening about 6pm.


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## ReidWings (Nov 1, 2004)

tome9999 said:


> I have had this problem twice now as well in the last week or so. I am also in Ann Arbor, MI.
> 
> Also, I still get sounds from the Tivo (bong bong when hitting buttons, bing when going to Tivo menu, etc etc). Just no sound on recorded or live shows until a reboot, then all is fine. I did not have this problem prior to 8.1 but it sure it strange that a bunch of us are experiencing it on Comcast in MI.
> 
> ...


Interesting, they also called me for my CC numbers. They wrote it down when they installed, good to see they are competent [/sarcasm].

I've been audio dropout free for about 5 days now (fingers crossed).


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## sjperry (Nov 21, 2006)

I'm a Detroit area Comcast subscriber and having the missing audio problem too. Not in the last week or so, but numerous times within a few weeks, and once again today.

Not sure from the previous posts if I should be complaining to Tivo or Comcast. Despite the coincidence of several of us being on Comcast in same area - hard to believe that a Comcast issue would be fixed by rebooting the Tivo. Also, interesting that that the recorded shows have audio (just takes me a reboot to hear it!) which also makes me think it's not a cable related problem.

And, it did seem to start right around the time I got the 8.1 update. 

Any further news/suggestions?


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## shoek (Jan 23, 2002)

I have 2 S3's, one connected via RCA audio and component video that has the problem once a week or so, and another connected via HDMI a/v that has only had the problem once. 

I called TiVo support about this today. Got a tech who said she was 2nd level support. Described the problem, including a reference to this thread and the cluster of us who live in Michigan, have Comcast, and have had the problem only since 8.1. 

She did a bit of research, and came back and suggested I power off the S3, eject the cable cards, put them back in, then power it back on. I did that and will see if it happens again, but I doubt it helped.

She then offered to contact another dept. to see if they had heard of anything like this. Seemed like I piqued her curiosity when I told her that programs recorded while the audio was out had audio when played after the reboot. She came back and said she wanted to transfer me to their Research team.

I talked next with Jared, who was very interested in the fact that sound effects still worked, and that recorded programs had audio after the reboot. We theorized that it probably didn't have anything to do with the audio output hardware, but probably more with the MPEG audio decoder, which may be in a bad state when this happens. He put me on hold again, and came back and said they have had a few reports of it and that engineering was looking into it. He got some more info from me, said he would contact me when he heard back from engineering, and we were done.

I suggest all of you who have the problem call in about it. That's the only way to get it high enough on their engineering radar to get it debugged and hopefully fixed.

s.


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## hddude55 (Jan 5, 2007)

My wife turned on the TV this morning and no sound, so she turned it off. (We have Cox Cable Phoenix and TIVO's sound is connected to the TV via HDMI. We have had no prior sound problems in the two months of series 3 ownership.)

After hearing my wife's report I turned on the TV and there was still no sound. I switched to my antenna that is connected directly to the TV --not through the TIVO -- and the sound was fine. Then I flipped back to the TIVO and sound magically returned. My action obviously didn't reboot the TIVO, but somehow it seemed to bring back the sound. Weird, huh?

I sure hope this is a software bug in the new 8.1 and not an impending hardware failure.


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## hddude55 (Jan 5, 2007)

shoek said:


> I called TiVo support about this today. Got a tech who said she was 2nd level support. Described the problem, including a reference to this thread and the cluster of us who live in Michigan, have Comcast, and have had the problem only since 8.1.
> 
> I talked next with Jared, who was very interested in the fact that sound effects still worked, and that recorded programs had audio after the reboot. We theorized that it probably didn't have anything to do with the audio output hardware, but probably more with the MPEG audio decoder, which may be in a bad state when this happens. He put me on hold again, and came back and said they have had a few reports of it and that engineering was looking into it. He got some more info from me, said he would contact me when he heard back from engineering, and we were done.
> 
> ...


I just spoke with a woman who is probably a first level tech. She was clueless about this issue and said there was no such known problem as far as she had been informed. I told her about this thread and she promised to report my issue to her supervisiors. I wonder if TIVO does anything with repeated complaints other than hope the complainers will disappear?


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## sjperry (Nov 21, 2006)

> I just spoke with a woman who is probably a first level tech. She was clueless about this issue and said there was no such known problem as far as she had been informed.


shoek, Did they give you any sort of ticket number that others should reference when we call in?


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## Anchorman (Mar 2, 2002)

sjperry said:


> shoek, Did they give you any sort of ticket number that others should reference when we call in?


I called about this issue on 3/21/07. The tech asked me to call Comcast and have my cable cards reset to see if it helped. After the cards were reset the problem was still there. Only a reboot of the Tivo will bring back audio. 

The case number they gave me was: 6434173


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## yunlin12 (Mar 15, 2003)

I have a slightly different problem. I've recorded a few sporting events on FSN+ (410 on Comcast here in the SF Bay Area) recently with no audio. Last night A's game was one. However, audio is present on other channels, as well as all the Tivo sound effects, we were also watching the Giants game on local Fox HD through cable at the same time. I rebooted the S3, and then the audio is back on the A's game. But when I went back to the part of the A's game recorded before the reboot, audio is still out on that. I've only seen this on FSN+ I think, and it seems like a recent thing, maybe afte 8.1.1.


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## slimoli (Jul 30, 2005)

yunlin12 said:


> I have a slightly different problem. I've recorded a few sporting events on FSN+ (410 on Comcast here in the SF Bay Area) recently with no audio. Last night A's game was one. However, audio is present on other channels, as well as all the Tivo sound effects, we were also watching the Giants game on local Fox HD through cable at the same time. I rebooted the S3, and then the audio is back on the A's game. But when I went back to the part of the A's game recorded before the reboot, audio is still out on that. I've only seen this on FSN+ I think, and it seems like a recent thing, maybe afte 8.1.1.


Try this:

Tune to ch 410 and press INFO
Go to the AUDIO icon 
See if there is an AC3 (Dolby Digital) and analog tracks
If there is a DD track, select it and check if there is sound
If there is a DD track and no sound, that's the problem. The S3 always select the DD (AC3) track if it is present, even if there is a blank track. If that's the case, call Comcast and ask them to send only the good track, in this case the analog one.

Sergio


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## rockom (Apr 6, 2007)

I have had similar problems however was not smart enough to reboot. The point here is that I am not in Michigan but do have Comcast.


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## yunlin12 (Mar 15, 2003)

slimoli said:


> Try this:
> 
> Tune to ch 410 and press INFO
> Go to the AUDIO icon
> ...


Since after the reboot, the audio came back on the A's game, I guess whatever caused the problem had gone away by that time in the game. I also already deleted the 1st part of the A's game recorded before the reboot (silly me). FSN+ is usually not broadcasting, so I'll have to wait till next time this happens to check.


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## PressureDrop (Sep 20, 2004)

Ours has stopped doing it every other day but still does it a couple times per week. When the audio goes out if I do the TiVo menu and scroll up/down it comes back and upon rewinding anything that was live with no audio the sound then returns (which means the cable cards and Comcast are not the problem in my logic). It should also be noted that when the sound goes out ALL the sound is out - No TiVo menu noises either.

I am guessing this is a TiVo problem and the next time it happens I will call in (along with the rest of you who already have  ).


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

i get same 'no audio except tivo sounds' as others have reported since 8.1

auburn hills, mi - also comcast, but that CAN'T be related, since all audio is actually recorded during saved shows.... just can't be heard until rebooted. neither saved nor live can be heard until rebooted.

rebooting clears issue every time, but my wife is exasperated, as she is unable to remember the warm reboot button press sequence

non-tivo antenna audio is normal at all times


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## yunlin12 (Mar 15, 2003)

slimoli said:


> Try this:
> 
> Tune to ch 410 and press INFO
> Go to the AUDIO icon
> ...


This happened again today on A's game on FSN. I went to the info screen in live TV, and it shows 2 audio track, English DD and Unknown language (zul) DD. I switched from English to Unknown and back to English, and the audio is back.

Since the game is also being Tivod, I went into the NPL, and played the game from there. The beginning of the game still has no audio, but starting at the point where I messed with the DD setting, the audio is available.

It seems that Tivo may have had problem picking up the audio at the beginning, and was thrown off, and messing with the DD setting reset it.


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## pconahan (Apr 9, 2007)

Yep, count another Comcast customer in Ann Arbor with the identical problem (no sound until reboot, although Tivo sounds still come through). Happens several times a week.

Someone mentioned some keystrokes to do a warm reboot. Could you post that? A cold reboot takes forever!

I'll call tech support and see what happens. Thank God for this forum!


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## Marsh Marigold (Jul 4, 2005)

I am sure this is a coincidence - but I am a Comcast customer in Plymouth Michigan, and I am also experiencing No Audio Until Rebooted. 

It happened once a couple of months ago, but rebooting fixed it so I thought nothing more about it until about two weeks ago when it happened again. After rebooting I was good for a couple of days but now it has been three days in a row that I have to reboot to get any audio whether from saved or "live" progams. The TiVo boops and beeps are unaffected so I don't think it is a problem with my AV receiver. Shows are recorded with sound and play back fine once the system is rebooted, so I don't think it is a problem with Comcast.

This plus the sound dropouts are really becoming annoying. How am I supposed to pick my American Idol???


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## Carsten (Feb 5, 2007)

I havent read all the posts, but I got it a few times as well. To fix it I usually Pause the show and hit play again. That seems to fix it for me (TIVO -> HDMI -> HD TV).

Sometimes when that doesnt work I rewind a bit and fast forward and it works. Only have it about 1 time (I think) when both methods didnt work.


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## Chuck S (Apr 13, 2007)

I talked to Tivo about this problem 3 days ago. I have two series3 units, one of which was replaced for the problems described here. Specifically, Tivo sound effects work, but live TV and recorded program stop producing audio output. This output is suppressed in both the digital and analog audio outputs. Programs are recorded with the audio, though. The problem seems to increase in frequency as time goes on. Why? I have no clue. The only solution is to restart the unit, which is a real problem if it is recording at the time. The last 4 times I called about this, I was told that this was not a known problem; this time I was told that engineering is going to be issuing an update to fix the problem, but no clue as to when. This is happening to both of my series3 units so regularly that they are becoming almost useless. Please call this in, and get a ticket number. I think that this is a huge problem, and we need to start applying pressure, as warranty clocks are ticking. If any Tivo rep tells you that it not a known problem, please ask them to escalate the issue. I will check with them tomorrow and publish the results on this thread. Please do the same. By the way - I'm Michigan/Comcast also!


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## pconahan (Apr 9, 2007)

Just called TiVo again. They had told me a few day ago to disconnect HDMI and use component video jacks. Problem re-occurred even with component video. Today the rep said the "no audio/Tivo sounds audible" probelm was now a known issue and the engineers are working on it, but no firm date on when the fix will be available (although she did say the fix would be automatically pushed to all S3 machines when it is available).

Looks like it's a waiting game for now, although I do encourage folks who haven't been issued a case # to make the call to tech support (877-367-8486) to keep Tivo's feet to the fire.


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

two days went by without having to restart, but yesterday morning required a reboot if i wanted to hear anything but tivo bleeps and boops.

sigh

okay, i'll call cust serv on monday i promise




UPDATE: called on tuesday 17th, told "known problem" got a case #


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## sdamask (Jan 9, 2005)

Oddly enough, I'm seeing it too and yes, I'm a Comcast subscriber in Ann Arbor. It never did this before the 8.1 upgrade on the S3 though.


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## Chuck S (Apr 13, 2007)

I talked to Tivo again today. They now claim that according to their records, the audio problem software patch they are releasing is only for series 2 units. They also claim that they have no record of this problem on Series3 units. I told the rep about the large number of forum posts, and was told that Tivo does not read the forums because "the forums are full of misinformation." This tells me that we all need to call this problem in again. I will be talking to the rep tomorrow, and will post my ticket number. I am tired of being told that this is an unknown problem with Series3 units, particularly since I have reported it twice before, and have even had a unit replaced for this problem. Again, please call in and post your number. I am moving to the certified mail approach, and would like to list as many open tickets on this "unknown" problem as I can. Thanks


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

Chuck S said:


> I told the rep about the large number of forum posts, and was told that Tivo does not read the forums because "the forums are full of misinformation." Thanks


funny! they even POST on this forum...

however, it IS full of misinformation snicker


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## Sterling252 (Mar 4, 2007)

This happens to me as well but I can usually get audio back by going to Tivo Central and then back to the program. There has also been occasions when I'll get part of the audio (I think specifically whatever background noise there is) but not the audio of spoken words. Odd.


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## Omikron (Feb 27, 2006)

This exact problem has happened on my Series3 exactly twice in a single day, but that's it. I would hear TiVo UI sounds, but no audio from any recorded programs or any live channels until reboot.

CC: Mediacom
TiVo: Series3
SW: 8.1.1
Output: HDMI
TV: Mitsubishi WD-52527

This problem is experienced in Iowa.


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## rrichter (Mar 11, 2007)

I just called Tivo, and have some new information, hopeful at least.

Background: I live in Michigan, and have the audio drop problem for several weeks, with increasing frequency.

The Tech I got seemed very knowledgeable, and told me that switch the audio output from Dolby Digital to PCM will restore the sound, although not on straight Dolby Digital. Messages and Setting->Settings->Audio->Dolby Digital or something similar.

I noticed that there's message you see along that path that says something like "You may not hear Tivo sounds when using Dolby Digital format." I suppose it should also say "You may not hear TV sounds when using Dolby Digital format from time to time." 

I also think it's correlated with my daily schedule download, although I haven't removed the connection to see if the problem goes away...

Tech also said they have coded a fix for the Series 2 that has been pushed and is undergoing test. After they're sure it's good enough, they will incorporate into Series 3 code base. He told me there was no audible difference in PCM versus Dolby Digital.

So, two open questions:

(1) Why is this primarily seen in Michigan?
(2) Is PCM really equivalent to Dolby Digital?

Test out the fix... post back here, please. Tech said that switching to PCM will yield immediate results, although Dolby Digital output will still be messed up.


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## rehr0001 (Sep 17, 2006)

This has been discussed elsewhere too. There is probably more than 1 issue, but 1 of them is this:

The tivo and certain dolby digital decoders do not play well with each other. You can reset your tivo, or you can reset the device that has the DD decoder (your receiver or your TV) and it will fix the problem temporarily (until you change between a DD source and a non-DD source, ie analog cable channel to digital cable channel). 

If you change your output to PCM as recommended by the previous poster, your problems will likely be solved.

On a TV there won't be any difference between DD and PCM (your TV can't output 5.1 since there are not 5.1 speakers).

If you are using a receiver and have it hooked up to a HT speaker system, there is a noticeable difference.


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

it's been almost a week since last 'no audio' i haven't switched output tp PCM or done anything at all

i will switch to pcm now, just to continue the WAF


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## yooper (Nov 25, 2006)

I too have not had a problem for a couple weeks. 

During a time of frequent problems, lost audio happened around 7-8 times within a two week period, all needing re-boots.

Tivo offered me a new S3 when I called to discuss the issue, and while I still have that option, I don't want to lose everything on my hard drive. I also have the feeling that new hardware wouldn't help a thing, and I may still have the same problem.

Perhaps it was an issue with Comcast, and it has since been fixed?

Anyone from MI still having this issue?

Mark


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## ReidWings (Nov 1, 2004)

yooper said:


> I too have not had a problem for a couple weeks.
> 
> During a time of frequent problems, lost audio happened around 7-8 times within a two week period, all needing re-boots.
> 
> ...


I am still having this issue in Ann Arbor, MI. Happened again yesterday. Tried switching to PCM, but this was no help. Restarted tivo and everything is working fine for now.


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## yooper (Nov 25, 2006)

Well, I spoke to soon, happend again last night to me as well  

I find it interesting that I'm in A2 as well, and we both lost audio on the same day. 

Really ticked me of too, It was late and I just planted myself on the couch with my dinner on my lap, powered up, and saw a mouth moving but cound not here a thing.


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## tome9999 (Oct 17, 2006)

I had this happen again today. I hadn't read the board in a while and didn't see the Dolby/PCM suggestion so I didn't try it. Will try it next time.

I haven't called in the problem yet but I agree that it does seem more frequent then it was. I have had it happen about a dozen times since my original post on the first page of this thread. I was kind of hoping it might get fixed in 8.3. I will call it in tomorrow just so here is a record.

I was messing with various setting and changed the video to "Native" and got screwed as I couldn't see anything. I had to connect a composit cable from Tivo to my TV to see the menu and reset the Video output. Sheesh.

-Tom

ps: I am in AA MI as well....


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## Roderigo (Mar 12, 2002)

tome9999 said:


> I was messing with various setting and changed the video to "Native" and got screwed as I couldn't see anything. I had to connect a composit cable from Tivo to my TV to see the menu and reset the Video output. Sheesh.


Somewhat off-topic, but you can use the Format button on the front of the S3 to change the output format, without being able to see things on your TV. Some people don't see the button, which is basically under the clock. When you press the button, the front panel shows the setting as you change it.


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## tome9999 (Oct 17, 2006)

Roderigo said:


> Somewhat off-topic, but you can use the Format button on the front of the S3 to change the output format, without being able to see things on your TV. Some people don't see the button, which is basically under the clock. When you press the button, the front panel shows the setting as you change it.


Thank you! I had not even noticed that button before. That will be handy in the future. That is what I get for not reading the directions!

-Tom


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## rrichter (Mar 11, 2007)

After I switched to PCM on 4/20 as described above, the problem went away. It came back tonight, even stranger. I couldn't reboot (was recording a few things) so I had time to really try a bunch of things. Switched back to DD from PCM and got what felt like an HDCP cutout - I could hear 2-3 seconds of audio before it cut out. I went over to a non-HD program, and the 5 seconds of audio I could hear was really echo-ey and somewhat garbled. Just more information, no real help, I know. After reading the other fora, I'm hoping that the 8.3 update will solve all my problems...


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## jab1981 (Jun 2, 2002)

Add another user near Ann Arbor on Comcast having this issue. Glad to hear it's not just me! 

I've only been having the problem since 8.1, but 8.3 has made the issue worse so far. I got 8.3 yesterday and had to restart it twice during a few hours of viewing. After turning it on this morning the sound was gone again! 

Same description as the rest of you... S3 w/audio through Dolby Digital. I'm using component cables. I wonder what's going on and why it seems to be location specific.


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

Michael Gwynn said:


> it's been almost a week since last 'no audio' i haven't switched output tp PCM or done anything at all
> 
> i will switch to pcm now, just to continue the WAF


no more problems until last night.... no sound this morning. it has been the longest stretch with full audio in more than a month.

when i went into the menu to change to PCM last week, i saw that it was already set to PCM the entire time.

i didn't think to try this before today... i went into the cablecard section and tried the 'raw feeds' (you know, where you have to press CLEAR to exit) and there was no sound there either. which proves nothing, i suppose, since recorded shows have no sound until rebooted.

not in AA, i'm in AH (auburn hills)


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## jab1981 (Jun 2, 2002)

jab1981 said:


> I've only been having the problem since 8.1, but 8.3 has made the issue worse so far. I got 8.3 yesterday and had to restart it twice during a few hours of viewing. After turning it on this morning the sound was gone again!


Well it's now happened for the fourth time in 3 days since getting 8.3. I hope this gets fixed up soon. It's not a HUGE problem unless I'm recording something, but it does take a good while for the darn thing to restart every morning.


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## daniel.graves (Dec 22, 2003)

We have 2 S3s, one (bought direct from Tivo) is OK, the other (bought from a reseller in NYC) has the "no Audio/Tivo sounds audible" problem intermittently. We can get the audio back by going back to the Now Playing menu, then restarting the program.

In Los Angeles with Time Warner cable...


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## jab1981 (Jun 2, 2002)

jab1981 said:


> Well it's now happened for the fourth time in 3 days since getting 8.3.


Well ever since I posted this last week I haven't had a single issue. It's good to have my Tivo back! I know now that I've mentioned it the sound is probably cutting out I type. But it's reminded me once again what a great piece of equipment Tivo is and how rarely I've ever had problems with it. I've been through a series 1, 2 and now a 3 and this has been my first major issue. Hopefully they can get it ironed out soon.


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

yesterday, i had no audio, 'page back' has never worked for me. had to restart.

last night, i got 8.3

let's see what happens next...


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

no audio again this am... 8.3 made no difference on this issue drat!


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## jab1981 (Jun 2, 2002)

Well after a good run of 11 days I turned on my TV today only to be greeted with no sound once again. I wonder what would cause it to go from having no audio for 3 days straight and then running perfectly for the next 11.


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## ooryl2 (May 14, 2007)

I just had this happen to me today. Tivo (8.3) has only been in use for 2 full days! Lansing area (Grand Ledge), MI Comcast here. Hopefully this will be the only time for me.


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## tome9999 (Oct 17, 2006)

It happened to me yesterday again. 8.3 didn't fix it. I played with the Audio settings but this did not bring back the sound - only after reboot.

Time for a call to Tivo...

-Tom


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## kjstorch (Dec 12, 2002)

I live near AA as well and have been seeing this same problem since upgrading to 8.1. For awhile it was twice a day, then it seemed to get better, but over the weekend, the wife said it happened 3 times in one day.


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## tome9999 (Oct 17, 2006)

I opened a case. They want me to try component video cables instead of HDMI. I will give it a try even though I see in this thread that that doesn't seem to matter.

-Tom


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## dahdah (Sep 6, 2003)

Same problems in Massachusetts. RCN >cable card > HDMI. For a while switching channels would restore audio. Now that doesn't help and the problem is happening more frequently.


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## SandDune (Apr 7, 2007)

For me, switching inputs on the TV to something else and back again seems to reliably fix the problem. I used to turn off and on the TV, but that seems to work less reliably. I have yet to actually have to reboot my TiVo to get the problem fixed though.

Also, and this may not be relevant, it seems to happen to me most often when the channel the TiVo is currently tuned to is one of the analog channels.


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

again, this am no audio except tivo sounds. ONLY a reboot brings back all audio for me each time. 
I've been on PCM the entire time.
8.3 made no changes to this issue.

drat - drat - drat


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## tome9999 (Oct 17, 2006)

Are you using HDMI or Component cables?
-Tom


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## bevansmd (Jul 14, 2004)

I also have had this problem two times since 8.3 upgrade. I live in Des Moines and have Mediacom so I don't think it is a Michigan issue. I use component cables and my audio output is via optical cable to my receiver. Rebooting fixed issue.


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

tome9999 said:


> Are you using HDMI or Component cables?
> -Tom


component


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

going to the cablecard menu and viewing any channel's raw feed is the same... no audio except tivo sounds until reboot

(however, i'm not certain how 'raw' that feed really is. i probably shouldn't have called it raw)


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

i had to restart again today

for the first time, i tried the recommendation 'switch inputs of the tv itself' that someone helpfully added here a week ago.

didn't work i had to restart to hear any content audio


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## ooryl2 (May 14, 2007)

2nd time for me this morning. 7th day of TiVo ownership.


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## jab33 (Mar 20, 2002)

I posted on page 1 about my experience. In short, had my series 3 replaced because of the problem. New machine has same problem. Tried switching from HDMI to component cables, still had problems. Tried switching from Dolby digital, still have problems. It doesn't seem to occur as often as at first, maybe twice a week. Usually happens in the first hour of watching prerecorded shows when I get home in the evening. 
Someone mentioned a "warm reboot" in an ealier post. Can anyone tell me what that is, or more importantly, how to do it? I've resigned to live with the problem, but would sure like to find a more convenient way than cold rebooting to get the sound back.


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

jab33 said:


> Usually happens in the first hour of watching prerecorded shows when I get home in the evening.
> Someone mentioned a "warm reboot" in an ealier post. Can anyone tell me what that is, or more importantly, how to do it? I've resigned to live with the problem, but would sure like to find a more convenient way than cold rebooting to get the sound back.


that's different than my experience... if i understand you correctly. you're saying that the audio drops sometime DURING your viewing session?

mine has never dropped during hundreds of hours of playback, which is the only way i watch tivo - i never watch live

my audio drops sometime during the night or early morning, as far as i can tell

a warm reboot is a restart from the menu choices
a cold reboot is pulling the power

i would recommend a warm restart over a cold reboot


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## tome9999 (Oct 17, 2006)

Michael Gwynn said:


> that's different than my experience... if i understand you correctly. you're saying that the audio drops sometime DURING your viewing session?
> 
> mine has never dropped during hundreds of hours of playback, which is the only way i watch tivo - i never watch live


Yes, this is my experience as well. I have never had audio stop while watching or even while switching between content.

Only after some long-ish period of time of not viewing, and pushing the power button on the remote does it come up with no audio (other then tivo sounds).

-Tom


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## ooryl2 (May 14, 2007)

Happened today the second day in a row, 3rd time total since I got the TiVo a week ago. I've only had this happen after the sleep timer turned the TV off at night. I've never had it happen while I had the TV on watching live or recorded. Changing outputs doesn't help, I usually use HDMI. Tried using the optical out for my stereo and nothing but the TiVo sounds. 

So far it hasn't been too big of a deal for me, I just restarted the box before I left for class in the morning. I could see it being an issue though... if the audio issue happens and a show is recorded before I restart, will the recording have audio after restart?


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## tome9999 (Oct 17, 2006)

ooryl2 said:


> I could see it being an issue though... if the audio issue happens and a show is recorded before I restart, will the recording have audio after restart?


That is a good question that I have wondered myself.

I suspect however that the sound will still be recorded ok as I find it hard to believe that I have been lucky enough to restart my Tivo every single time before another show happened to get recorded. I don't watch tv all that much so I may go days to a week or more sometimes. So I suspect that the problem is just being exhibited with audio output and not on input.

I could of course be entirely mistaken....

-Tom


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

i'm really only speaking for myself, but i BELIEVE that all recorded content contains audio after reboot.

so i'm pretty sure the audio output is the issue, not anything to do with incoming signal, no matter the input path, antenna or cable


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

no audio again this morning

sigh...


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## KidGloves (Dec 13, 2002)

I'm in Macomb MI. I'm also experiencing lost audio for live and recorded shows on both analog and Toslink digital output, though I do hear the navigation 'bings'. Restart fixes the problem; been happening for the last few months. 

I called Tivo, they were of course sympathetic and offered a replacement unit (at my $49 expense + Comcast $30 service visit fee), but I told them I would hang tight while this thread pans out.. clearly not a hardware problem IMHO.

Audio Outage Log:
5/30/07
6/1/07 (evening)
6/3/07 (evening?)
6/19/07 (been two weeks since I lost audio!)


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## ReidWings (Nov 1, 2004)

I've been free of audio dropouts since the 8.3 update. Keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way.


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## tome9999 (Oct 17, 2006)

Michael Gwynn said:


> no audio again this morning
> 
> sigh...


Seeing this and the message after yours, I went to check mine. Shock of shocks... I have no audio either.

I don't believe this is a coincidence. We all live in SE Michigan and all go out at the same time?

-Tom


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## tome9999 (Oct 17, 2006)

Called Tivo to update my case (audio dropped out on component connection as well as hdmi). They wanted to send me a new unit. I put them off and the guy put me on hold for a long time. He came back and said it is being referred to second level support and I should get a call back within a couple weeks.

-Tom


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## CrispyCritter (Feb 28, 2001)

tome9999 said:


> Seeing this and the message after yours, I went to check mine. Shock of shocks... I have no audio either.
> 
> I don't believe this is a coincidence. We all live in SE Michigan and all go out at the same time?


Yes, it's been very clear to me, and I suspect others, that the signal in Michigan is the original cause of the problem for a large number of you. However, that doesn't absolve TiVo of its responsibilities; it should not react to a bad signal by completely stopping handling audio unless rebooted.

One thought I haven't seen suggested before: Is it possible that it's originated by an EAS (Emergency Alert System) test? Those are normally done late at night so you don't often see it live, and by design take over the audio and video. Perhaps the Michigan system sends something strange and the S3 never recovers the audio. It fits at least some of the evidence you folks have given.

To test it, you Michigan folks can keep track of your outages, along with your location (different parts of the system may be tested on different nights) for a while in this thread. After you get a few dates you should be able to talk to the cable company and find out if there's a match. They'll know their EAS dates since they have to log all their tests to prove compliance with the regulations.


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

wow - 2 days in a row, no audio in the am

that's a first! 

it's not a 'good' first, though...


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## KidGloves (Dec 13, 2002)

happened again tonight, 2 days after the last one (i'm keeping track by editing my initial post). this is growing intolerable.


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## tazzmission (Oct 15, 2002)

Same audio issues for me too. HDMI connected to a Panasonic Plasma.

If I change the channel a few times or power off the TV and power it on again audio is back.

Sharp AQUOS in the bedroom connected to my other Series 3 has never had this problem


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## ooryl2 (May 14, 2007)

CrispyCritter said:


> Is it possible that it's originated by an EAS (Emergency Alert System) test?


It's not EAS, happened to me again today (3rd time) at 1:15 am. I had the tv on at the time, watching comedy central. Just went out during a commerical and didn't come back on.


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## tome9999 (Oct 17, 2006)

tazzmission said:


> Same audio issues for me too. HDMI connected to a Panasonic Plasma.
> 
> If I change the channel a few times or power off the TV and power it on again audio is back.
> 
> Sharp AQUOS in the bedroom connected to my other Series 3 has never had this problem


Your issue seems different then what is being discussed here. None of us have ever been able to get the sound back without rebooting the Tivo. Also, some of us (me included), have had this happen via HDMI as well as component connections to the television.

-Tom


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## ooryl2 (May 14, 2007)

ooryl2 said:


> It's not EAS, happened to me again today (3rd time) at 1:15 am. I had the tv on at the time, watching comedy central. Just went out during a commerical and didn't come back on.


And AGAIN today at 3pm while watching Fox Sports... I'm just glad the race was cancelled today so the audio didn't drop during that.


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## tome9999 (Oct 17, 2006)

ooryl2 said:


> And AGAIN today at 3pm while watching Fox Sports... I'm just glad the race was cancelled today so the audio didn't drop during that.


You know it's interesting though that the audio is recorded. So if you were watching something and recording it, the sound would be there. I wonder if after the sound goes out and you start recording a live show if it would contain audio. I suspect yes, but it would be interesting to see. I have yet to have the problem happen while I am actually watching.

-Tom


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## KidGloves (Dec 13, 2002)

tome9999 said:


> You know it's interesting though that the audio is recorded. So if you were watching something and recording it, the sound would be there. I wonder if after the sound goes out and you start recording a live show if it would contain audio. I suspect yes, but it would be interesting to see. I have yet to have the problem happen while I am actually watching.
> 
> -Tom


This is getting SF irritating. I've lost audio every day now for the last three days. I'm staring at $80 bucks and the inconvenience of a service call to move CableCards to find out if a new unit will help.


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## ooryl2 (May 14, 2007)

tome9999 said:


> You know it's interesting though that the audio is recorded. So if you were watching something and recording it, the sound would be there. I wonder if after the sound goes out and you start recording a live show if it would contain audio. I suspect yes, but it would be interesting to see. I have yet to have the problem happen while I am actually watching.
> 
> -Tom


Hmm I haven't noticed if the audio is still there or not, haven't been recording anything during a drop. I'll have to check it out and try recording something if (when really) it happens again.


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## GMZ (Mar 21, 2007)

Well, this started happening on my S3 back in March and April along with audio/sync problems on numerous channels. I finally called TiVo Tech and he opined that it was a "hardware" problem and we did an exchange in early May. Until last night there had been no problem at all and the audio/sync problem had cleared up (except where Comcast feeds were messed up and I found that out from a Comcast tech).

My wife was watching something and at the commercial it went out and she came to tell me and I thought to myself, 'do I really have to deal with this garbage again?'

The answer is obviously yes and she's plenty angry considering that these new boxes are not cheap. Anyway, it looks like I'll be contacting techs again tomorrow and going back at it. In general, TiVo is a very good company but I recall a channel changing lag problem we had on the Series 2 that went on and on and on until they got the software issue ironed out so speed at resolving these issues seems to be absent.

I would think that they would want to amend that since Comcast is always trying to push its own DVR's and drag people away from TiVo (a Comcast plot?)

One thing's for sure, I'm tired of dealing with this nonsense and having to go into trouble-shooting mode when all I'm trying to do is relax and watch TV.

I'll report on my talk with the tech. I'm in Michigan as well but regardless of what Comcast is doing, the S3 has to handle it better.


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## ReidWings (Nov 1, 2004)

Damn damn damn, just happened again. First time since the 8.3 update. I thought I had gotten passed this. I can't force myself to reboot until intermission of the stanley cup finals! This is terrible without sound. 

Tivo, please admit this is a problem and FIX IT!!


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## GMZ (Mar 21, 2007)

KidGloves said:


> This is getting SF irritating. I've lost audio every day now for the last three days. I'm staring at $80 bucks and the inconvenience of a service call to move CableCards to find out if a new unit will help.


One of the things I was concerned about when I swapped out my S3 boxes was the re-installation of the cable cards but you can forget about that as a problem if you are merely transferring your present cards to the new box since all you have to do is pop them out and back into the new unit. The tech, on the phone, said just pull 'em out and re-insert and I did.

Of course, if you swap out the cards for new ones then the Comcast tech has to call in the codes and pair them up for you and that means a service call.

Other than that you won't have to pay for a service call.


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## jkh21 (Apr 5, 2002)

Same problem. Boston, Comcast, New Series 3, Optical Digital into B&K 307 Receiver. Ran fine for 2 weeks with no CableCards. Installed CableCards today smoothly -- but no audio all channels. Restarting Tivo DID NOT fix.

Swithed to component audio (red/white RCA cables) into B&K and audio works.

Setting up second S3 now...


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## hayswj (Jun 14, 2007)

Same here.. Comcast Cable Little Rock, Ar... Had the audio stopped when I turned it on in the morning and only way to fix it was a reboot. Called in and they sent me a refurbished unit. Worked fine until 8.3 update and then it did the same thing when I got home this evening. I'm going to contact Tivo.... I'll update as I hear anything.


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

again today, no audio any live channel and no recorded audio until rebooted

however, i've been gone 4 days, so it could have been any of those days that it happened


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## KidGloves (Dec 13, 2002)

Had a nice 2 week run without losing audio..



KidGloves said:


> I'm in Macomb MI. I'm also experiencing lost audio for live and recorded shows on both analog and Toslink digital output, though I do hear the navigation 'bings'. Restart fixes the problem; been happening for the last few months.
> 
> I called Tivo, they were of course sympathetic and offered a replacement unit (at my $49 expense + Comcast $30 service visit fee), but I told them I would hang tight while this thread pans out.. clearly not a hardware problem IMHO.
> 
> ...


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## hayswj (Jun 14, 2007)

Mine is still doing it.. Some days it does it 3-4 times other times it takes 3-4 days between audio stopping.. No reasonable excuse for it.. Tivo keeps calling asking if the problem is fixed and I tell them no and they keep trying to replace the unit.. I already did that and it didn't have a problem until it updated the firmware.. Supposedly I am getting a call Thursday from a tier 3 support. We will see.


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

no issues since 6/19, today is 7/7 17 days wow, i wonder if something has changed somewhere

however, i had to restart today to regain audio


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## Motor_Head (May 27, 2007)

I have the same problem (and have had it since a week after getting my S3 for Father's Day). I called Tivo Support, and was traded a new S3 (I have to pay for shipping the old one back). It worked fine for a week, then I left for a vacation, came back home and no audio.

I reboot, and sound is back on everything. I also live in Michigan and have Comcast.

Based on the fact that everyone who is discussing the "No Audio, except Tivo sounds, until reboot and then audio is ok including recorded shows" problem live in Michigan and have Comcast, I think that is the root of the problem. I will keep everyone updated.


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## jab33 (Mar 20, 2002)

I am still having the same problem as I posted previously. Basically having audio drop out when I am watching a recorded program and while either fast forwarding, reversing, or jumping ahead or back, and usually during playback of The Daily Show or The Colbert Report recorded from The Comedy Channel - about 95% of all occurances. I've had 1 occurance while watching live TV (and not FFing or REVing), and a couple of times when it went out during the night when no one was operating the TV. Its hard to understand how it could be related to one channel or a particular program, but that seems to be my experience. I'm just wondering if the audio signal is different in some way from one channel to another? In any case, it seems to be more of a "software" problem and I don't think exchanging equipment will help until they figure out the cause of the problem(s) - at least it didn't help in my case to exchange for a new machine.


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## jab33 (Mar 20, 2002)

Also wanted to previous post - after rebooting, within a few seconds the cable card "goes out" (black screen with message to contact the cable company about the cable card failure). This is cleared and picture returns when I press the "Clear" button. This then happens again immediately, but after I clear it a second time the machine is back to normal.


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## Motor_Head (May 27, 2007)

Let me ask the other Michigan people:

Does your Cable Card go to the black screen every night at 10:00pm?

Maybe this information can help track down why we are losing sound.


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## xultar (Jun 15, 2005)

Came home yesterday. Tivo on...no effin sound. ATL/Charter. It's the first time for me and I'm really angry. I've rebooted and nothing. I get Tivo noises but no audio from the shows

IT'S THE SOFTWARE UPDATE....FIX IT ALREADY TIVO!!!


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## Anchorman (Mar 2, 2002)

Motor_Head said:


> Let me ask the other Michigan people:
> 
> Does your Cable Card go to the black screen every night at 10:00pm?
> 
> Maybe this information can help track down why we are losing sound.


I am in Michigan and I have never noticed my Tivo going to a black screen at 10:00pm or any other time unless I was in the cable card diagnostic screens.

I did have two instances of the "no audio unless reboot" back in March, before 8.3 came out. Then, the problem seemed to go away until recently. In the past two weeks it has happened three more times.

It's never happened while I was watching TV, only when I am turning on the TV after it has been off for some time. I believe it probably would have happened whether the TV was on or not, it's just that I haven't seen it happen during viewing.

I do know that any recording that is in progress when the fault happens or is started after the audio is gone will have audio, so the audio is always present on the incoming cable signal but the audio circuits in the S3 are not handling it properly.


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## Marsh Marigold (Jul 4, 2005)

Has anyone gotten to the bottom of this? My S3 comes up "no sound" except for Tivo boops at least once per week. Yesterday it happened while someone was watching live TV, which was a first for us. I can discern no rhyme or reason to which channel, which show, what time, anything, since it (almost always) happens when the TV is powered off.

Every night when we turn on the TV I cross my fingers to see if I have to reboot or not.


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## zortek (Jul 19, 2007)

I also get the audio dropout which will return with a reset. I am also able to regain audio (sometimes) if I hit the reverse button and then hit the play button. As far as the Comcast cablecards go, I now do not receive any premium service on one of the cards. I am unwilling to pay for a service call. I have left several messages with the cablecard guy at Comcast with all of the card info with no success. Jeeze - TiVo and Comcast!?!? Does it get any bettr?


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## KidGloves (Dec 13, 2002)

KidGloves said:


> Had a nice 2 week run without losing audio..


I am still losing live TV and playback audio about 1-2 times per week. Tivo now seems to acknowledge that this is a known issue, and that a box swap will not correct it. The tech I spoke to did say that it is reported that pressing the 'instant replay' or 'rewind' button (while watching live TV I presume) 'resyncs' the audio.

If anyone can try that next time they lose sound please let us know (I'll do the same of course).


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

no audio outages since 7-7 i hope that i don't jinx myself by reporting this...


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

UNBELIEVABLE! i DID jinx myself! - this morning, no audio until rebooted


wow, that means that it's not software or hardware related, it's karma related...


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## Rich.Wolfson (Nov 27, 2004)

Michael Gwynn said:


> UNBELIEVABLE! i DID jinx myself! - this morning, no audio until rebooted...


Mine (actually all three-2 S2s and a Pioneer 57H) are doing something slightly different. At some point the audio stops and all that it takes to get it back is a channel change. It can happen randomly in the middle of a program but it seems to look like that it happens with a channel change or even a commercial break. It always comes back with a channel change but is mighty inconvenient when it happens in the middle of a recording as that makes the show unwatchable.

Am I the only one with this specific symptom? I do believe all have 8.1 at this point.

Rich


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## Anchorman (Mar 2, 2002)

After going several months with almost no loss of audio (I was beginning to think the problem was fixed) I am now experiencing the problem much more often. For the past two weeks, it is happening more like 5 times per week.  

This is getting to be a REAL pain in the a$$.


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## cjut01 (Apr 26, 2007)

My issue just started a week ago. I have no audio on my HDMI link. Analog audio is OK. Rebooting and even power-cycling does not work to recover the audio. It is just gone.

As others say, I do get the menu beeps just fine.

Has anyone gotten ANY satisfaction on this issue? Do we need new CCs? a new Tivo?

Is anyone seeing this lately? I live in NY and am on Cablevision.


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## Anchorman (Mar 2, 2002)

After going 3 or 4 months with rarely seeing the problem I am now having it happen almost every day and sometimes more than once per day. Today, the audio dropped out while watching a recorded show. Whatever is causing the problem is captured in the recorded show and is repeatable.

The show is:
Orange County Choppers
EDS/Byron Nelson Championship Bike 2 (2007)
Recorded: Thursday 8/2/2007 at 9:00 pm
Channel: 36 TLC (analog channel)

The audio is normal until a series of commercials starts. I fast forwarded through the commercials. At the end of the commercials, I hit play and then back 8 seconds. At that time the audio was gone. I rewound back to the portion of the show before the commercial, and the audio that had previously been there was gone.

The commercial is about second hand smoke and smoking around children. At the end of the commercial they put up a 1-800 number for the Free Michigan Tobacco Quit Line and right after that, the audio drops out.

I noticed that between the Tobacco commercial and the point where the show resumes there is another commercial that was apparently deleted, but they left a tiny bit of it (less than a second) there. It shows a woman holding up a box of Arm and Hammer Advance White toothpaste. If I single step through this shot there are only six frames and then the show starts. I strongly suspect that this is what is somehow triggering the audio dropout failure. 

Sometimes when I rewind and play through this area, the audio continues to work ok, and then I can rewind and play through the same area again and I hear a small pop sound and the audio drops out. This is just before the show resumes.

In case anyone else in Michigan has this show recorded and would like to try and replicate the problem, this is 12 minutes into the show, and would probably have to have been recorded from Comcast to get these same commercials.

I tried to call customer service and give them this information, but wait times are more than 20 minutes now and I don't have that much time available. I will try later.

Too bad Tivo2Go doesn't work, because maybe I could capture this portion of video and send it in to Tivo and finally get a solution for this problem.


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## Michael Gwynn (Aug 7, 2000)

no audio saturday am and no audio sunday am -- sigh



this might be the first time that i've experienced the problem on two days in a row...


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## ReidWings (Nov 1, 2004)

Like everyone else posting, I went a long time without this problem and it suddeny came back in the past week or so, with a vengeance. It has happened around 5 times in the past week.


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## cjut01 (Apr 26, 2007)

cjut01 said:


> My issue just started a week ago. I have no audio on my HDMI link. Analog audio is OK. Rebooting and even power-cycling does not work to recover the audio. It is just gone.
> 
> As others say, I do get the menu beeps just fine.
> 
> ...


More news on my particular problem, via some diagnostic work. I have Tivo-HD coming into HDMI2 and Denon DVD-2910 coming into HDMI1 on my AVR-987. All worked fine for months. Week ago, no sound from Denon through HDMI link for Tivo, DVD worked fine. Analog audio fine from Tivo.

Swapped DVD and Tivo on the HDMI inputs, the problem followed HDMI 2. I could get Tivo audio on HDMI1. HOWEVER... this only lasted for 1 power cycle. Then I lost audio on HDMI 1. Got it back intermittently.

So it seems as though the AVR has problems processing the audio reliably, but if there is any "good" news, at one point it was not even processing it from it's cousin, the Denon DVD player. Strangely enough- at one point like others in this thread, I got the menu beeps, but no other audio.

Has anyone had any similar problems? Like I said my setup was working fine for months (except for the video sync problem on HDMI switching, which I was resigned to live with).

I will be putting a call in to Denon service in the AM. Service visit may be in my future.


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## Pete327 (Aug 14, 2007)

Anchorman, you may have stumbled into something if you can actually REPEAT the problem.

Like so many others, I have a S3 using Comcast in southeastern michigan. The audio drops out occasionally while I'm watching, but usually when I'm not watching. It won't come back unless I reboot. I've only had the S3 for about 2 weeks now, but have had to reboot about 10 times.

Today, I came home to find the audio gone and finally decided to call TiVo (and check the message boards to find this thread!). My case number is 7213210 but I was very discouraged to hear that she had never heard of this problem even though I quoted the many other users with similar problems on this forum. She told me to try Component cables rather than HDMI and call back if the problem happens again.

From the previous posts, I am deducing that the problem must arise from some kind of glitch in the Comcast feed in Michigan that causes the glitch in TiVo's software. Since we know the audio is still actually there and being recorded, it must have something to do with the audio output drivers. Mine went out tonight between 6:45 and 8:45pm while I was gone. The TiVo recorded constantly while I was gone but I haven't been able to recreate the problem as Anchorman did by replaying the recorded show. Your idea that a local commercial is the cause is sounding like the most plausible reason I've heard so far.

Anyway, if anyone is watching while the glitch occurs, please post what time, channel, etc so we can try to recreate the issue again. Unfortunately I didn't record the same show that Anchorman did or I would check that one myself.



Anchorman said:


> After going 3 or 4 months with rarely seeing the problem I am now having it happen almost every day and sometimes more than once per day. Today, the audio dropped out while watching a recorded show. Whatever is causing the problem is captured in the recorded show and is repeatable.
> 
> The show is:
> Orange County Choppers
> ...


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## erikg (Aug 20, 2007)

I have been following this thread for a few months since I took the plunge and bought two series 3s in April. My setup includes:

(1) Series 3 Living Room
HDMI to TV
Component Video / Optical to Receiver

(1) Series 3 Bed Room
HDMI to TV

I experience the audio drop out on both of my units at least once a week. I subscribe to Comcast and I do not have any HBO channels but I do have HD service and I too live in Michigan around Lansing. I have Motorola cable cards with each unit having two. 

This morning on my living room box there was no audio when I checked at 6:40a.m I called Tivo and was told not to change anything until it happens again and then I am supposed to call and they want to check signal strength, cable card settings again to narrow the problem down.


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## nmurphy (Nov 3, 2003)

Last night I had this same problem. TiVo beeps and boops, but no other audio. I just rebooted and all audio is back. (Thank's to this forum!) I live outside of Boston and have RCN as my provider. 

I swapped audio inputs on the AV receiver (Pioneer) and everything else played. Just no audio coming from the TiVo.


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## romulus (Jan 6, 2005)

We have been having the post-commercial audio-loss problem for a few weeks now. Like it most (it seems) who have reported this problem, we have Comcast. As far as I know it is only happening on one of our two setups. I can't tell if it's a Tivo problem or a Comcast problem -- we rarely watch live tv (duh). Could be a Comcast-with-Tivo edge case? In any case, the one time I did catch this happening "live", I called Comcast, and the CS rep was useless, they just insisted there were no signal errors and told me to check other channels -- which of course generally results in the sound coming back on the original one.

The sound loss always seems to happen between the :20 and :45 mark, and always at the break where local commercials end, and it flips back to the network feed, and usually in an "unclean" way. The sound usually comes back during the final commercial break, at the same point. This all smells of Comcast doing something wrong or sloppily, and its either screwing up their boxes, or screwing up Tivos.


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## skillsrhodes (Apr 4, 2003)

I live in Boston with RCN as well and just started having this problem. Just out of curiousity, have you been recording Sox games from NESN HD? Last night and tonight it was fine until the Sox game started recording then when I came back later the audio was gone.

skills



nmurphy said:


> Last night I had this same problem. TiVo beeps and boops, but no other audio. I just rebooted and all audio is back. (Thank's to this forum!) I live outside of Boston and have RCN as my provider.
> 
> I swapped audio inputs on the AV receiver (Pioneer) and everything else played. Just no audio coming from the TiVo.


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## mmcisaac (Feb 25, 2007)

I have been having these audio problems since last christmas, too. I am also in the Detroit Metro area, with Comcast. I too called in, got to level 2 support, who recommended a full reset. Lost all settings, history, programs, seasons passes, etc. and it only reduced the incidence frequency slightly. I have found that if I catch it RIGHT AWAY, a quick "8 sec skip back" will sometimes repair the issue, but if I turn it on with no sound (like coming home from work) a reboot is required. Recently I tried the new show "John from Cincinatti" (can't recommend it by the way), but not only was it riddled with audio drop outs, it actually froze my DVR in the same spot repeatedly. Not just audio drop, but COMPLETE freeze. Had to unplug to reboot. If any TIVO engineer reads these posings wants to try repeating the issue, try that show (the HD version), I suspect it is a particularly glitchy feed.


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## nmurphy (Nov 3, 2003)

skillsrhodes said:


> I live in Boston with RCN as well and just started having this problem. Just out of curiousity, have you been recording Sox games from NESN HD? Last night and tonight it was fine until the Sox game started recording then when I came back later the audio was gone.
> 
> skills


Hmm, I do not think I have been recording Sox games. I am watching them on NESN HD, but d/n think I have recorded them. I know they are not a scheduled item - I like to watch live. I do see that NESN HD sometimes has video issues. Freezing and cutting out. This happens on both of my sets. One without TiVo at all. I will pay more attention tonight.


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## nmurphy (Nov 3, 2003)

I continue to get no audio, except beeps and boops, about every other day. Started on Monday, happened again Wed; Fri; Sun) Every time a re-boot solves the problem. There is no pattern that I can figure out on stations or recording - just every other day.

Has anyone been able to solve this issue? TiVo support suggested it was a cable card issue, which I d/n think is true.

Again, I have RCN as my provider, and Moto cards. I have no video issues at all.


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## chazas (Jan 18, 2007)

I have a 2-week old S3 and this just happened to me last night - no audio except for Tivo sounds, on digital or analog. My S3 is hooked up to a Denon receiver by optical cable and RCA. I have FIOS service in the DC area, so the Comcast/Michigan theory isn't valid. Playing with the audio settings did nothing. I did not have the benefit of this thread but rebooted as a last resort - and was surprised it worked. I hope this is not a sign of things to come - I bought an S3 rather than an HD because I wanted to avoid the HD glitsches.

I will call Tivo tech support and report this.


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## nmurphy (Nov 3, 2003)

chazas said:


> I have a 2-week old S3 and this just happened to me last night - no audio except for Tivo sounds, on digital or analog.


This is not happy news. I am getting a replacement S3 from TiVo, and was hoping this audio problem had to do with the age of my unit. Did you buy your S3 new? The one being sent to me is a re-furb. I am tempted to tell them to forget it.


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## TiVotion (Dec 6, 2002)

I never knew this problem existed until last month. Had a friend over to show off my new TV, and all I could get were the TiVo sound effects. No sound on recorded or live TV. I thought it was my stereo receiver, I drove myself mad switching inputs and modes on the receiver. Finally in desparation I rebooted the TiVo.

I've had a Series 3 since week one of release, and never noticed this until last month. Now I've run into the problem a couple times since I discovered it. Weird indeed. Verizon FIOS, Moto cablecards.


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## chazas (Jan 18, 2007)

nmurphy said:


> Did you buy your S3 new?


Yes, new unit purchased from Circuit City.


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## TivoInNY (Dec 19, 2002)

FWIW, I'm throwing my hat in the ring. Just experienced this problem for the first time a couple of days ago and again tonight, both around 11:30pm. I've had my S3 since January. 

I think the time of the audio drop coincides closely with my schedule updates, but it could also have been watching the same show. It seems that it could be related to either/or based on reading through this thread.

Anyway, audio goes silent, while the Tivo sounds are fine, requires reboot to fix. FIOS in NY. Just switched over from Cablevision a few weeks ago and couldn't be happier. Hope this isn't a glitch in the FIOS feed triggering a glitch in Tivo software. If it happens again, I'll call Tivo to be sure it's logged.


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

I just stumbled upon this thread, and glad I did. I've been having the sudden vanishing audio problems for about a month, on and off. I'm in FL (Sarasota) and my provider is FiOS. When I first called it in to Tivo, they had me do the reboot. Thought it was an isolated instance until it happened again about a week ago and then again yesterday.

Yesterday's response from Tivo tech support was that they were aware of the situation and were working with VZ as it was cable card related. From reading this thread, it seems like it's more than just VZ; it's Tivo and cable cards, in general. They went on to tell me that a software update will be coming soon that should address the audio issue.

This just adds to the list of CC/Tivo/FiOS problems I'm experiencing, as pixelization has also reared its ugly head again and I have VZ "supposedly" working on that.


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## Ames (Sep 18, 2006)

Happened to me twice today and I've been running fine since these things came out a year ago. I'm on Mediacom in Iowa.


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## bevansmd (Jul 14, 2004)

Echoing Ames above. I had this problem a couple times a few months ago. Now it happened twice today requiring me to reboot. I wonder if it's related to the unit hooking up for update/download. Mediacom in Iowa. Should I call Tivo everytime this happens?


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

I have two Series3s, and only my original one does it. I also have Moto CableCARDs and FIOS in the Tampa Bay area. The first time it happened was the first week of August (a few weeks after I switched to FIOS) and a reboot always fixes it. I have it connected to my AVR via toslink, and to my TV via RCA, both are affected.

The manufactured date of the one with issues is August 27 2006
The one without the problem is May 17 2007


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

bdraw said:


> I have two Series3s, and only my original one does it. I also have Moto CableCARDs and FIOS in the Tampa Bay area. The first time it happened was the first week of August (a few weeks after I switched to FIOS) and a reboot always fixes it. I have it connected to my AVR via toslink, and to my TV via RCA, both are affected.
> 
> The manufactured date of the one with issues is August 27 2006
> The one without the problem is May 17 2007


Ben, you may have noticed my post a few back. Not sure what my manufacture date is, but it's certainly got to be early 2007 if not 2006. Maybe there's something to that. Allegedly "it's being worked on" by Tivo and a software update with be forthcoming quickly.


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

Ron and anyone else. 
The manufacture date is on the back, next to the plug.
I think it might be helpful if we all record it to see if there is some correlation. 
There are differences in the unit in at least one regard, as the front panel displays are different colors. (also annoying)


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

bdraw said:


> Ron and anyone else.
> The manufacture date is on the back, next to the plug.
> I think it might be helpful if we all record it to see if there is some correlation.
> There are differences in the unit in at least one regard, as the front panel displays are different colors. (also annoying)


I'll find it later and post. Today's project is to run a dedicated 20amp line to my home theater area. I'm convinced my eqt. is power starved from the 15amp shared circuit currently being used. Besides, I can't think of a better day to do an attic crawl in FL.


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

Ben, my date of manufacture is Feb. 24, 2007.


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

So much for that idea, my other Series3 just did it.
Actually, both my Series3s lost their audio today, and both happened to be on ESPN HD when it happened. My older Series3 did it during a commercial break, when a SeaDoo commercial (I'm pretty sure it was locally inserted) came on. Not sure about the other one, as I wasn't watching it at the time.


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## bevansmd (Jul 14, 2004)

This is my 3rd day in a row that late in the day I have no audio without rebooting. I waited until a recording was done before rebooting. I have been looking at my settings trying to find a correlation with anything and it always seems to be after the VCM connection happened. Anyone know what this is? My service connection happened at 4:39AM and I was fine earlier in the day. Watched a dvd and then went back to tivo and no audio despite it being fine earlier in the day. Does anyone know what the VCM connection is and if it could somehow be causing the error?


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

I hope that there's been enough complaints registered with Tivo and that they are really "working on it" as they say they are. What's strange is that, at least in my situation, it went for months without audio loss, and only started happening with regularity, recently. Tivo "claims" a software download that is planned will cure it.


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## Release (May 9, 2007)

Add another one to the list that this is happening to. No problems for months, 3 times in the last week, restarting the unit gets it back and then it mysteriously drops again.


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

At this point, I'm leaning towards locally inserted commercials by my provider. The last time it happened, it was during a local commercial on ESPN HD. I think it might be happening more to me now, 'cause normally I never watch commercials, but with football season in full swing I'm stuck watching them. 

Moving forward, I'm going to try to leave both my TiVos tuned to the live TV and keep checking so that I can try to isolate the problem.


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## Marsh Marigold (Jul 4, 2005)

mmcisaac said:


> ... Recently I tried the new show "John from Cincinatti" (can't recommend it by the way), but not only was it riddled with audio drop outs, it actually froze my DVR in the same spot repeatedly. Not just audio drop, but COMPLETE freeze. Had to unplug to reboot. If any TIVO engineer reads these posings wants to try repeating the issue, try that show (the HD version), I suspect it is a particularly glitchy feed.


I TiVo'd every episode of John from Cinci, and had no problems. The show was weird, but that wasn't TiVo's fault. (It was fun spotting all the Deadwood alumni...)

But - On Topic - my no-sound-until-rebooted (NoSUR), after several weeks of remission, occurred sometime between Friday Aug 31 (PM) and Sunday Sept 2 (PM). I make it a habit to leave the TiVo on "watch live TV" when powering down because it seems to NoSUR less often than when I leave it on the "Now Playing" screen. A silly superstition, really.

FWIW, my Series 3 is dated Oct 24 2006.


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## kmackenz (Aug 22, 2003)

Release said:


> Add another one to the list that this is happening to. No problems for months, 3 times in the last week, restarting the unit gets it back and then it mysteriously drops again.


Had the Tivo since last Christmas... and first time about 20 minutes ago no sound. Rebooting now. Very frustrating. I am new to FIOS and have also been experiencing lots of pops etc. when changing stations. Mostly non digital stations...


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## Pete327 (Aug 14, 2007)

I lost audio again last night so I can't comment on when it happened or what was playing at the time. I'm glad to hear that its not just happening in Michigan and its not just Comcast. I hope that means Tivo will take this issue more seriously and start working on it. It really has to be something with the cable companies/cable cards though that cause a glitch in the Tivo software. Very strange.

So I called Customer support because I have an open case (see below) and mentioned that it happens when I use HDMI or RCA audio cables. They put me on hold for about 5 minutes and said that I qualify for a replacement unit and will pay for the shipping. I didn't ask if it was a refurbished one or new. I declined the offer. From what I'm reading on this forum, a new box is not going to fix the issue. Besides I would lose all my recorded programs.

So anyway, Tivo techs, if you are out there, I really hope you are working on this one.



Pete327 said:


> Anchorman, you may have stumbled into something if you can actually REPEAT the problem.
> 
> Like so many others, I have a S3 using Comcast in southeastern michigan. The audio drops out occasionally while I'm watching, but usually when I'm not watching. It won't come back unless I reboot. I've only had the S3 for about 2 weeks now, but have had to reboot about 10 times.
> 
> ...


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## tome9999 (Oct 17, 2006)

I haven't posted in the while and don't have much to say. It continues to happen about once a week for me and is damn annoying.

Come on Tivo fix the problem!

-Tom


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## kmackenz (Aug 22, 2003)

Pete327 said:


> So I called Customer support because I have an open case (see below) and mentioned that it happens when I use HDMI or RCA audio cables.


Wondering then, should I call support so the issue is logged?? Not sure I'd want a refurb, but wondering, why do they think that will help?? If Tivo thinks a HW replacement will do the job, why do people think a SW update will fix it?


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

Officially recording the issue it a good idea, but I'd also try to take note of what was on the TiVo when the audio cut out. I'm really thinking it's locally inserted commercials. TiVo just needs to update to make the S3 more resilient to badly spliced audio.


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

I am completely convinced it is locally inserted commercials now.

It has happened to me twice tonight and both times during a locally inserted Beef 'O Brady's commercial on ESPNHD. 

Only thing I can think of is that the MPEG decoder doesn't like the way the cable co' (FIOS) is inserting the commercials, so it crashes, requiring a reboot.


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

bdraw said:


> I am completely convinced it is locally inserted commercials now.
> 
> It has happened to me twice tonight and both times during a locally inserted Beef 'O Brady's commercial on ESPNHD.
> 
> Only thing I can think of is that the MPEG decoder doesn't like the way the cable co' (FIOS) is inserting the commercials, so it crashes, requiring a reboot.


Ben, I can't honestly recall when it's happening. However I'm pretty certain that it's happened, at least once, to my wife on channel 8, and we know that there's no locally inserted commercials on our local stations. Now that I've been paying attention, my audio hasn't failed. Go figure.


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

Actually that's not true, all the local channels insert some of their own commercials. WFLA's are easy to tell because they insist on cropping the top and bottom. Usually it's the last 2 or 3 commercials that are local. So when watching national programing, look for when the commercials switch between 4x3 to whatever ratio it is when WFLA upconverts. If NBC isn't boradcasting HD it can be really hard to tell because they upconvert the national feed too, so the aspect ratio won't change. 

It is entirely possible for FIOS to insert their own commercials on these channels as well, but I don't think they do.


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

bdraw said:


> Actually that's not true, all the local channels insert some of their own commercials. WFLA's are easy to tell because they insist on cropping the top and bottom. Usually it's the last 2 or 3 commercials that are local. So when watching national programing, look for when the commercials switch between 4x3 to whatever ratio it is when WFLA upconverts. If NBC isn't boradcasting HD it can be really hard to tell because they upconvert the national feed too, so the aspect ratio won't change.
> 
> It is entirely possible for FIOS to insert their own commercials on these channels as well, but I don't think they do.


I was thinking you were referring to Fios inserted commercials to the national cable channels. Yes, I understand about the locally inserted channel 8 commercials.

I'll keep an eye on it.


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## starling72 (Apr 28, 2003)

My S3 has lost audio on all recorded and live programs and I'm absolutely certain it only happens when I'm watching an HD channel (such as ESPNHD) with a national HD broadcast and it switches to an inserted or non-HD commercial. I can change the channel from HD to SD with no issue...it's the darn inserted stuff on HD channels that's causing it for me, and it's happening multiple times per day now that football season has kicked off. :S

Guess it's time for me to call it in to Tivo, too...or stop watching ESPN or other national HD programming (yeah, right).

**my cable provider is Mediacom and I live in central Iowa. My S3's born on date is October 20, 2006. It was purchased from Amazon, brand new, back in March/April and has had no issues until the last week or two with this intermittent (becoming more frequent) audio crap.


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

Now I've lost audio at startup. Set it in standby last night, after watching an HD channel. Turned it on today, to watch football, and no audio. Had to reboot.


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

Thats pretty interesting Ron. I know the the buffers still record even the unit is in standby, but I'd think the decoders would be idle. I wonder if standby does anything more than just turn off the video out.


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

bdraw said:


> Thats pretty interesting Ron. I know the the buffers still record even the unit is in standby, but I'd think the decoders would be idle. I wonder if standby does anything more than just turn off the video out.


I really don't know, Ben, however I called it in to Tivo support, inasmuch as I have an open ticket with them on this issue. They did confirm that it's a problem that they are working on, and not just specific to Fios, and that the next software update, eta unknown, is to address this as well as the Fios pixelization issues. Sounds like they are getting lots and lots of calls, which is good.


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## bevansmd (Jul 14, 2004)

This happened to me 4 days in a row. Called customer service....on hold for 45 mins. They said they were not tracking a problem like this...it was new to this customer service rep. He offered to replace my unit with a refurbished tivo for 49.99 as I am beyond the 90 day warranty. Told him I have an extended warranty through weaknees. He denied that it was a software problem. Said there will be a software update in the next week or so for tiling/megablocking problem but nothing for the audio problem.

This makes me think maybe it is a hardware problem. I'd rather deal with it now before we hit primetime when I will be recording multiple things. Rebooting then would be a major problem! What do you think? Contact Weaknees for the extended warranty?


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

I don't think it's hardware, it affect both my S3s and one of them was just warrantied for another problem

My solution is to not watch commercials. It works pretty good till I use the break as a chance to hit the fridge.


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## wbradney (Mar 4, 2003)

Interesting. I had the same thing happen last night -- first time I've ever seen (or rather not heard) it happen.

There's a thread over at dslreports that suggests that the Verizon FIOS STB might also have this problem:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19043440-North-NJ-No-Sound-on-all-Channels


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## cella7 (May 1, 2005)

I'm glad I decided to come here to see if others are having this problem, because Tivo tech support told me that NO-ONE else is having this issue. Nice.

I'm in Des Moines and have Mediacom for cable. I've had this problem for about the last two weeks, and noticed a pattern... the audio will stop working right after a Mediacom commercial. The audio will cut out whether I am watching live tv or a recorded broadcast. I think I now have the proof because I can *MAKE * the audio stop working. I've got a recording of a show that has an inserted local Mediacom commercial. When I play the commercial, the last second of its audio cuts out and there's no more audio after that. The only way to get audio back is to reboot the Tivo box. But if I play the recording and _fast forward_ over the commercial... no problem. Sound will work just fine.

Now that I know others are having this problem and I've got proof (at least in my mind), I'm calling Tivo back (this will be the 6th time on this issue). When I told the Tivo tech support guy about the local commercial on my last tech support call, he acted like I was nuts and said that they would be getting calls all over the country if that was true.

If I have any luck with them, I'll post an update.

(And just a note, I've always had good experiences with both customer service and technical service at Tivo, but their response to this problem is very disappointing.)


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## rudiger (Feb 6, 2002)

I thought I would chimed in on this.

I been seeing this problem occuring lately, twice over the past 72 hours. I'm thinking this occurs when one channel is on ESPNHD. I was watching a lot of college football Saturday night so I left the channel on ESPNHD and when I woke up the next day I had no audio at all. Tonight I was watching Monday Night Football and it cut to a local commercial and the sound cut off. Both times I had to do a restart to get the audio back.

I'm going to leave it on ESPNHD and check it again tomorrow morning. 

FWIW, I have a Series 3 with two cablecards on TimeWarner in Carrollton, TX.

rudiger


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## tome9999 (Oct 17, 2006)

cella7 said:


> I'm glad I decided to come here to see if others are having this problem, because Tivo tech support told me that NO-ONE else is having this issue. Nice.
> 
> I'm in Des Moines and have Mediacom for cable. I've had this problem for about the last two weeks, and noticed a pattern... the audio will stop working right after a Mediacom commercial. The audio will cut out whether I am watching live tv or a recorded broadcast. I think I now have the proof because I can *MAKE * the audio stop working. I've got a recording of a show that has an inserted local Mediacom commercial. When I play the commercial, the last second of its audio cuts out and there's no more audio after that. The only way to get audio back is to reboot the Tivo box. But if I play the recording and _fast forward_ over the commercial... no problem. Sound will work just fine.
> 
> ...


That is great. I haven't heard of anyone being able to reproduce it at will. If that is true Tivo tech should be able to find the cause. Good luck getting them to look at your example in detail, and keep on them for all of us!

Thanks,
-Tom


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## kas25 (Mar 10, 2003)

NJ with Fios. It happened last night. Not just HD channels and it hasn't happened since I rebooted.


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

cella7,
I've witnessed the same thing.
Local Beef 'O Brady's commercial on ESPNHD, does it every time. If I fast fwd it doesn't do it, but if I rewind and play again, it reboots every time. For the rest of the evening, every time other local commercials came on, I would rwd and play them again and no problem. Then that Beef's commercial comes on again, and again the audio goes out. 

I did this on both my S3s with the same result. One is almost brand new and the other was bought day one. 

I'm going to call TiVo as well as my provider (FIOS).


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## ATB (Sep 28, 2005)

This happened to me this week for the 1st time. I'm in NJ on FIOS.


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## turbobozz (Sep 21, 2006)

Series 3 w/ Verizon FIOS in MD.

Seemingly more and more frequently I turn on my TV and only have TiVo sound effects for audio on both live TV and recorded programs.
Until I reboot my TiVo.


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## Rickster29us (Jul 9, 2007)

I have the same problem with the audio going out while watching. I have not tried the TIVO button and then doing a rewind to see if the sound comes back. I have done a restart. I am on the Verizon FIOS system in Maryland. I reported it to TIVO today. They said they never heard of it. I told them to check their forums and they will see a lot the problem. I got a case number in case it happens again. A note... I also lose the sound on the RCA audio cables that go into my DVD recorder so it is not just the HDMI.


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## TiVotion (Dec 6, 2002)

FIOS in Tampa here too, and it's happening on my S3 1 or 2 times a week now (after not having noticed it for like a year). I'm not sure when or why it's happening, only I have to reboot to get the sound back.

Here's something else odd - and maybe related? I also have a FIOS HD set top box (non-DVR) that I keep to access the on demand stuff. Twice now, I've switched to the TV imput that the STB is on, and the STB picture is frozen (no sound either). I can pull up the FIOS guide, etc, but the picture is still frozen. Switching to another channel makes the video go back to normal.


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## erikg (Aug 20, 2007)

Happened again today some time between 5pm and 8pm. Spoke with a very unhelpful tech support representative that told me it was not Tivo's problem and that it was with the cable company as it was their cards that are not receiving the necessary authorization periodically. This led me to believe that he was in fact not in the know and wanted me off the phone as the previous tech support representative wanted me to call back so she could check the cable card status. I wish I would have gotten his badge number so I wouldn't ever end up with him again but I was told to call Comcast which stated that the cards checked out fine and that it was Tivos fault. I love the blame game. Additionally I asked why the video would be fine on every station but not the audio and he said it was the cable cards fault because they were not "fully authorized" such as that only for the video portion and not audio. Wow... 

Another restart fixed the problem. Has anyone pulled their cable cards out and reinserted them before restarting to see if it fixes it?


(2) Tivo Series 3
Motorola Cable Cards
Comcast: Michigan


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## Flojomojo (Dec 30, 2001)

I've had this problem 3x this week, after seeing it much less frequently for a few weeks now. I can't reproduce the error, but it definitely seems like a software glitch. I find it hard to believe that programming or commercial insertion would have this effect, but I hope a fix is on the way. Rebooting the Tivo takes too long for this to be happening almost every day.

I tried switching the audio output from dolby digital to dolby - PCM to see if that makes a difference.

I'm in MD with Verizon Fios and a pair of motorola cable cards, too.


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## bhoyt47 (Sep 13, 2007)

Ok, just thought I'd chime-in here. I recently purchased a TiVo Series 3 DVR and tried to get it to work with Time Warner Cable in Sherman Oaks, CA.

The behavior that I believe I'm noticing involves the loss of the audio signal on SOME HD channels, but not all. It can be remedied by rebooting the DVR but it's only a temporary fix. I haven't yet tested exhaustively to determine what/how many channels are affected, nor have I tried to replicate the the problem of the audio signal dropping out during local commercials, but I'm going to try.

Also, I'm running component video from my TiVo into a Denon receiver, which is indicating that there is no audio coming in from the TiVo on ESPN HD. The TiVo on-screen menu seems to think that there IS a dolby digital signal (it says that i'm receiving the "primary audio track (english)" but then the dolby digital icon is not highlighted in the info screen.

Does anyone know if/when there is likely to be a software fix to this problem?


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

I'm on FIOS in MD and I lost digital audio on one of my S3's last night. I don't recall if it ever cropped up on the other S3 but I think it may have happened one other time. In any case, it hasn't been a recurring problem on either of my S3's that I'm aware of. A reboot of the affected S3 and it was up and running again.


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## kmalone576 (Jul 1, 2007)

I also woke up this morning to no audio -- second time its happened. 

I also have Verizon Fios in Maryland. Switching TV input to Verizon STB shows no apparent problem. No audio on Tivo (except system sound effects) via both HDMI to TV or digital optical to receiver. Reboot resolved (for now) the problem. I have system 8.3. Hope this gets fixed soon. Until now I've had no problems with the S3 Tivo since I've had it (since 6/07)


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

kmalone576 said:


> I also woke up this morning to no audio -- second time its happened.
> 
> I also have Verizon Fios in Maryland. Switching TV input to Verizon STB shows no apparent problem. No audio on Tivo (except system sound effects) via both HDMI to TV or digital optical to receiver. Reboot resolved (for now) the problem. I have system 8.3. Hope this gets fixed soon. Until now I've had no problems with the S3 Tivo since I've had it (since 6/07)


Have you called this in to Tivo Support? They need to know that it's not just several isolated cases.


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## bhoyt47 (Sep 13, 2007)

Ok,
So, I think I may have solved this problem (at least in my case). Fundamentally, the problem is related to what I THOUGHT was a separate issue. Yesterday I had the cable guy out here and we determined pretty conclusively that the reason that I was not getting any signal from some non-digital (under 100) channels was because I had a bad CableCARD that had not been properly configured by the first cable guy. We were able to determine this because we were able to tune those channels just fine using the OTHER CableCARD/tuner. Let me try to explain:

Assume that you have 2 CableCARDS: A and B. A is working properly, B is not working properly. Remember, you also have 2 Tuners (A and B). CableCARD A is associated with Tuner A and Card B with Tuner B. This is an important distinction because you have to remember that, just because Card B isn't working, doesn't mean that the Tuner B doesn't work. Tuner B will continue to be able to display non-encrypted content.

In my case, this meant that Tuner B could display Channel 33 (C-SPAN) just fine, but that when tuned to Channel 38 (CNN) I got nothing. The reason that this problem was difficult to isolate is because the TiVo is "smart," in that it will not allow you to tune both tuners to the same channel. So, when I tuned Tuner B to CNN and got nothing, and then I switched to Tuner A and tried to tune IT to CNN, instead of changing Tuner A to CNN, TiVo simply switched me back over to Tuner B! Because there's not on-screen way to tell which Tuner you are currently looking at, I assumed that neither Tuner could tune CNN. However, once I tried turning Tuner B to C-SPAN and THEN switched to Tuner A and turned IT to CNN, I got CNN just fine!

This was a major breakthrough. So, we made arrangements for the Cable Guy to come back tomorrow (Friday) with a new CableCARD which we will try to configure for Tuner B. Hopefully this will solve the problem. This still left me with my problem of not having an audio track for ESPN-HD (channel 424). Given all of the comments I've heard here and the conversations that I've had with TiVo reps saying that this is a "known issue" for which there is a software fix in the works, I assumed that the cause had to be something else.

This morning, however, I woke up thinking I'd try to find out if the problem existed on channels other than ESPN-HD. Just to be thorough, I turned the TV on and I turned to channel 424 (ESPN-HD). Much to my surprise, there was an audio track! Why? Well, because when I hda turned it off, yesterday, after resolving my "other" issue, I had left the TiVo on Tuner A! After my initial surprise at finding an audio track on ESPN-HD I quickly tried the test I had come up with yesterday (changing to a different channel, switching tuners, and then tuning back to ESPN-HD on Tuner B). Guess what: NO AUDIO, just like i had been experiencing the day before. I THINK this may mean that, for some reason, the audio track on ESPN-HD is encoded but the video track is not, whereas for many other channels, both are encoded. (Just a hypothesis). Broadcast channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, etc.) can be tuned by both tuners because (of course) they are not encoded!

Potentially, this would also explain why the problem goes away when you reboot the TiVo. If most people, like myself, have a properly setup Tuner A and an improperly setup Tuner B (properly setting up CableCARDS seems to be something that most cable guys are not very familiar with, especially 2 in the same machine), and if the TiVo reverts to Tuner A by default on reboot, then the problem would be fixed until you start fiddling with channels/tuners. Anyway, again, this is just a hypothesis, but one that would certainly explain things in my case.

At this point, as long as I use Tuner A, I seem to be able to tune audio AND video on any channel that I am supposed to receive. Of course, since I can't tell TiVo which tuner to use when recording programs, this doesn't do me much good for scheduled recordings, but at least it solves my problem for live TV. It is my hope/belief that when the cable guy comes back tomorrow with a good CableCARD and we go through the proper setup process (which TiVo customer support says involves sending a "Pairing Hit" to the specific card, as opposed to the normal activation hit that the cable guys are used to), then Tuner B will work and all will be resolved. I'll check back in tomorrow after that's done to update everyone. Wish me luck!


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## DeathRider (Dec 30, 2006)

> The reason that this problem was difficult to isolate is because the TiVo is "smart," in that it will not allow you to tune both tuners to the same channel. So, when I tuned Tuner B to CNN and got nothing, and then I switched to Tuner A and tried to tune IT to CNN, instead of changing Tuner A to CNN, TiVo simply switched me back over to Tuner B! Because *there's not on-screen way to tell which Tuner you are currently looking at*, I assumed that neither Tuner could tune CNN.


actually, if you use code:

S-P-S-InstantReplay-S

it should display the info in a line at the bottom of the screen...

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/printthread.php?t=324251

I also get the audio missing on my S3. Seems a least once a week now. Seems it just started a few weeks ago.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

I can't say that I've tried tuning both tuners to the same channel on either of my S3's but I was able to do it on all of my DTivos and HDTivos with no problem. If you'r eunable to do it on your Tivo then I'd say it's more of a glitch than a "smart" function.


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## jauburn (May 18, 2006)

I have the SAME PROBLEM.

ON TWO UNITS!



ReidWings said:


> For the second time this week, I have turned on my Series 3 to find no sound on any channels or on recorded programs. I have the audio going out from both the digital optical out to my receiver and via HDMI to the TV and NEITHER gets any sound.
> 
> When this happened previously, I rebooted and everything was fine. Now, things are recording and I don't want to reboot it.
> 
> Any tips on how to get the sound back without rebooting? And yes this started since I got them 8.1 update.


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## jauburn (May 18, 2006)

I just read through more of this thread. Here's what you can forget:

1. This problem is not relate to Michigan or to Comcast. It's a tivo deal. I'm in Maryland with Verizon.

PEOPLE, CALL TIVO AND REGISTER YOUR DISPLEASURE. DON'T WAIT FOR OTHERS TO DO IT. THEY WON'T.


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## cella7 (May 1, 2005)

Since my last post, I called Tivo and spoke to a supervisor. He said that they are aware of the audio problem and it being related to EBS tests and Amber alerts, but he hadn't heard about locally inserted commercials causing issues. He seemed to take a lot of notes and was especially interested that I could duplicate the problem by replaying the recorded commercial, and said he would pass my case number up to their Engineering department. He also mentioned that they can turn on logging for specific boxes to aid in isolating the problem, so I might be contacted. It was a positive conversation with him, however... 3 days have passed and I haven't heard anything from them (much like my Tivo box).

I agree with others, Tivo support needs to be hammered by us on this. There's no excuse for anyone to be told that Tivo has never heard of this problem. To quote the actual supervisor I spoke to, "These things aren't cheap. You paid a lot of money for this and we need to get it fixed."


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

cella7 said:


> .................."These things aren't cheap. You paid a lot of money for this and we need to get it fixed."


At least they've got that part right. Now we need a fix.


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

It's not simply locally inserted commercials, it's a specific locally inserted commercial.

Every time I've witnessed the problem it's been a Beef O' Brady's commercial, so today I finally recorded it, and sure enough every time I play it back as soon as the girl says "See you at Beef's" just before the end of the spot, the audio goes out till I reboot.

I'm going to call TiVo tomorrow, as well as FIOS. Then when I get done with them, I'll contact Beef's and let them know I won't be eating any of their wings till it's resolved. For now I'll just avoid this commercial, which should be too difficult since I have 30 seconds after it comes on to catch it.


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## hanks (Sep 14, 2007)

I have 3 hd tivo units - all have the problem. I'm on hold waiting for tech support. They said the wait was 2 minutes - now going on 15.


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

Haha, yeah I'm on hold too. Same deal, wait time is five minutes its been 15.


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

Ok, just talked to Lucas, he said he's heard of the issue before, they're working on a fix and my case # is 7405354.


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## Ilene (Dec 26, 2001)

Thought I would join the party. 
Since 9/11, I have had to reboot my S3 every morning to regain audio. 

Here is what I was told when I called TiVo Case #740557

1) unplug TiVo
2) eject both cableCards, do not remove
3) disconnect the wireless adapter
4) power up "naked" S3
Watch regular channels - see if it happens again (mine seems to be occurring during the night).

If it happens again - call back to get new TiVo box.
If it doesn't, call back and they will have you try various combinations to "nail" the issue. Could be bad cableCard, could be network. 

And I thought I wasn't going to Beta Test for them anymore.


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## skivo (Aug 2, 2007)

Same thing has been happening to our S3, started this week -- third time now so I found this thread and called support. Maryland FIOS input source. No audio on recorded or live content, but remote clicky sounds / gongs are generated. Same symptoms with both analog output (going to TV) and optical digital (Dolby or PCM or alternate audio -- nothing made a difference).

Nearly two hours hold time waiting first for someone to take my name, assign a case number, tell me to restart the S3 (and cleared the problem) and put me back on hold for an "HD specialist". She wasn't interested in other folk's case numbers.

Finally reached the next guy (1 hour 12 minutes into the second call) who said this is a known issue with a software fix expected to be released "within the next month or so." I asked what version and he said probably version 9 which will include many new features (to include program transfer).

My case number is 7406779.


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

Tonight, while watching the Yankees/Red Sox on ESPN HD, the audio went out at the start of an ESPN inserted commercial. I tried rewind back to the point I know there was audio, but audio was lost. So, at least in my case, once a commercial knocks out my audio, I can't duplicate it by rewinding the buffer, as has been reported by some others and then must reboot. I already have an open case number with Tivo on this issue.


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## JustAllie (Jan 5, 2002)

skivo said:


> Same thing has been happening to our S3, started this week -- third time now so I found this thread and called support. Maryland FIOS input source. No audio on recorded or live content, but remote clicky sounds / gongs are generated.


+1 (but with Northern Virginia FiOS)

The Series3 in my basement has the same issue. 

At least it gets (temporarily) fixed upon reboot. But obviously there are times when I'd rather not reboot!

I hope there is a software fix soon.


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

Happened to me again, this AM. Turned on the system and the Tivo S3 had to be rebooted. Second time in less than 24 hours.


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## paulywally (Sep 29, 2006)

Same problem here. It has been happening since Spring. It is just more frequent now. 

I actually witnessed it happen. It was during a commercial while watching ESPN HD.

Pauly

Des Moines, IA
Mediacom


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

Now it's happened to me twice today upon system turn on. Mind you, my Tivo S-3 is never really off, in fact, not even in standby. Earlier today, after reboot, I watched some TV. Then shut off my display and audio. About 15 minutes ago, my wife goes to turn everything on, and we have video but no audio.

Either I have a very, very sick Tivo S3, or the problem has gotten epidemic.


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

I think it just depends on the frequency of the bad commercial. If I avoid ESPNHD it doesn't happen at all. When football is one it happens every time, so Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.


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## boio (Jun 18, 2007)

I've had what sounds like this exact same no audio issue since I first bought my series3 tivo in June, but up until this week it never occurred very frequently. Symptoms - no audio on any of the outputs (RCA, optical, or HDMI) during any playback or live tv, not even tivo sound effects. In menus I get all the tivo sound effects. Rebooting restores all audio - even on programs that were being recorded while I had no audio - sometimes I wait for a show to finish before I reboot so I can watch it with audio later...which really seems to rule out a problem with the recording side of the house, it's just the playback that's malfunctioning. For the past couple days it's been occurring almost every time I come home, so I finally decided to bite the bullet and call TiVo.

The CSR I talked to was great. Once I started talking about no audio she quickly nailed down the symptoms to this issue ("After rebooting does the same program that had no audio before the reboot have audio?"). She mentioned a few people had reported this, and that in the past they had sent out replacement TiVo's, but they have determined that this does not solve the problem. I was put on hold so she could check on the current status of the issue.

After being on hold I was asked who my cable provider is, and what type of cable cards I have. She said they initially thought it was an issue with Comcast subscribers in a particular area, and it wasn't until recently that they discovered the issue was more wide spread. She said they were gathering information and looking for any kinds of similarities between customers who are experiencing the issue (is it just me - or does it seem that everyone with an S3 has this issue?), and that I would probably receive a call back from engineering within five days or so with an update on the status. (TiVo doesn't seem to have a good track record on actually following through with call back promises, so I'm not really holding my breath. If they do I'll be pleased though...)

I'm with everyone else. *CALL CALL CALL.* If you're experiencing this problem don't hesitate, just call it in. Clearly a lot of people have come to this thread, experienced temporary relief from the issue, and decided not to bother as I did months ago. I wish I had just called it in earlier, because this is getting to be really annoying. TiVo's great and all, but not after dealing with the pain of getting working cable card's from my provider, and now dealing with a reboot every day when I get home. Here's hoping TiVo engineering can figure it out sooner rather than later and the update gets pushed through quickly!

If only they had a feature to schedule a reboot before I get home, while nothing is scheduled to record... then I wouldn't notice this issue so much


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## jrm01 (Oct 17, 2003)

boio said:


> If only they had a feature to schedule a reboot before I get home, while nothing is scheduled to record... then I wouldn't notice this issue so much


How about a simple plug-in lamp timer scheduled to go off and back on just before you get home?


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## rtinker (Oct 24, 2005)

I too found this thread recently, and it was because somebody referenced it from the TiVO forum where I posted something. Since some people over at TiVO seem to think that the problem does not exist, or that this forum is not realiable, those of you who have called and gotten a ticket number should find the thread "HD Sound Lost" (Here is a link) and post their ticket number. You know what they say about the squeaky wheel....

I have Verizon in Maryland, but if it counts, I am originally from Michigan. 

I had it happen once last week - figured it was a Verizon cablecard issue, so I actually deleted the recorded show so I could reboot the box and then record another airing of the show. After it happened again I got clued in to the fact that it was live TV and recorded shows, and that the content of the shows recorded after the problem started was not affected.

My phone call to TiVO was another horror story - waited 17 minutes, got disconnected. Waited 23 minutes, got disconnected. Waited 20 minutes, got connected, asked the guy if he would call me back if we got disconnected and he said "No". ... Would not offer any direct number either. So, it was good that I did not get disconnected again as I was already mad about this problem, and that would have probably made me go to work for the USPS just so I could go postal!

I got the "I don't see any other complaints like this." story, which is why people really need to post on their forum, and get a ticket number if you do not already have one.

I have the component output and digital audio connected to my home theatre receiver, but most of the time I watch my S3 from another TV in the house - I use the composite output going to a modulator so that from any TV in the house, I can tune to channel 80 to see my TiVO. Thus, the TiVO is never powered off, and as far as the TiVO goes if it is monitoring the load on the outputs, there is always a "TV" connected and turned on (the modulator).

If the problem is due to commercials, amber alerts, or nightly tests, then I need to figure out how to get my TiVO to stay on the menu or "Now Playing" list - I figure if the live TV output is not being routed to the device outputs, then perhaps the problem won't happen. I'm just not sure if there is any way to prevent it from showing Live TV after a while of inactivity. Perhaps I need to start playback of a program and press pause before I go to bed every night.

I think the business about replacing the hardware is either due to tech support really being clueless as to how common this is, or it is TiVO trying to buy time for them to figure out how to fix the problem in software.

I'll share my other Cable Card story too... Had lots of problems with pixelization while watching recorded shows. It was frequently so bad that it would take me 5 minutes to get through 45 seconds of the program, and most of the time the TiVO would reboot itself. To make a long story shorter, I found out that the warm boot of the TiVO does not reset the Cable Cards because they still have power - you need to unplug the unit. Since I am in to Home Automation with HomeSeer, I am very close to putting an appliance module on my S3 so I can reset it remotely. (My S3 is in the basement.) Upon insisting that I get new Cable Cards, the tech who came out also used his test equipment to measure the signal strength, and he made some changes so that he got the strongest possible signal at the S3. Whatever the original cause, whether it was Verizon service or a nearby storm, when the pixelization starts happening, it continues on every recorded program until the Cable Cards are hard reset (power off). Since the tech got me 100's on the Cable Cards' signal strength, I have not had this particular problem happen again.

Back to the original problem - call TiVO, post at THEIR forums, and let's get them to get this fixed. I feel really sorry for those of you here who have been experiencing this since March!


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## hmelman (Nov 19, 2006)

TiVo Series 3 bought Nov 2006, running 8.3.1
Denon AV-3805 via optical digital cable using Dolby Digital
FiOS TV in the Boston Area

I have the same problem and was happy to find this thread. Sometimes I can't hear TV sound though I can hear the TiVo sound effects. This is the same on all channels (HD or not) and continues until I restart the Series 3 which solves it temporarily. This started in Aug 2007, happened 3 times so far. One time it was while watching a recorded episode of the Colbert Report on Comedy Central during a commerical at the end of the episode. When it happens my receiver's display indicates that no signal is coming to it.

I called TiVo Customer Support today to report it. I had a short wait and the 1st level support person was nice, took my info, gave me a case number, transfered me up. The 2nd level person said it was the optical cable! When I asked have you heard of the problem he said no. When I said it's on the forums he said he personally hadn't heard of it and didn't know if others at TiVo had but they do check the forums, just not him. He suggested unplugging the opt cable and trying without it which if the problem goes away that would prove it's the cable. I said that wouldn't narrow it down since I don't have HDMI it would switch from dd to pcm and since I still got the sound effects pcm worked fine. Then the line went dead.

I called back. Another short wait and I was talking to another 1st level support person. I told him I was just talking with 2nd level and gave the case number but he didn't transfer me up. He asked me about problem with sound dropping on live tv, I told him it was also recorded tv too and described problem. He suggested unplugging and replugging. I told him resets do solve it temporarily. He checked with technical guy since he reported this last week.

He got back to me and said TiVo is aware of issue and is working on it. They didn't need any info from me which surprised me a little. That would imply they understand the cause though the 1st level guy wouldn't confirm that. My case number is associated with the problem. I offered to try to test any fix but he was again non-commital. I asked if I would be informed when a fix was developed, he said only via the normal notice when new software is downloaded to the TiVo. I'll call back in a few days to check on progress.


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## sepstein (Sep 26, 2002)

I just called this in for the first time, and was told this was a known bug. 

I was also told that a software update is due in November. Anyone able to confirm that timeline?

Steve


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## bevansmd (Jul 14, 2004)

My response from Tivo customer support was just to replace the tivo unit. I use optical audio out but have seen posts from people with hdmi audio as well. I have had this problem recur the again the last two days. I am reluctant to exchange out my unit now because I have a vacation planned next week. I have an extended warranty but am not convinced this is a hardware issue. Tivo told me they had a software update for last week to help the tiling issue. I don't know if this happened or not. They denied any software issues when I called them a couple weeks ago.


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## turbobozz (Sep 21, 2006)

turbobozz said:


> Series 3 w/ Verizon FIOS in MD.
> 
> Seemingly more and more frequently I turn on my TV and only have TiVo sound effects for audio on both live TV and recorded programs.
> Until I reboot my TiVo.


I now have a recording that I can play through and force the no-audio-except-for-sound-effects glitch to happen.
Calling TiVo Support tomorrow.

The other day, I noticed the sound going out when I had Comedy Central on in the background while working on my computer.
Today I recorded a Comedy Central show to see if I could capture the glitch.

Details for your entertainment:
TiVo Series 3 unit ordered from TiVo at original release
- using HDMI for TV audio usually, but I also have the toslink/optical audio going to my receiver (for movies, etc.)... both are affected by the glitch
- using an external eSata drive (I highly doubt this matters)
- using wired ethernet for networking (again, I doubt this matters)

Verizon FIOS in Prince George's County, MD
- 2 Motorola CableCards (obvious, no?)

Channel 170, Comedy Central
19 Sept. 2007
~7:17pm
Scrubs - "My Friend With The Money"
~17mins into the recording
The glitch happens towards the end of a Chevy commercial when a local Brown's Toyota commercial starts.


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## DrASK (Nov 25, 2006)

This first happened to me on 05-Sep-07. It just happened for the fourth time tonight. Same as everyone else. HDMI connection. I can hear Tivo sounds, but no sound from programs or live tv. Rebooting the box makes it all better. I have RCN as my provider. I am in Lexington, MA.

The first post in this thread is from February of this year. How can this problem not have been fixed by now?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

DrASK said:


> This first happened to me on 05-Sep-07. It just happened for the fourth time tonight. Same as everyone else. HDMI connection. I can hear Tivo sounds, but no sound from programs or live tv. Rebooting the box makes it all better. I have RCN as my provider. I am in Lexington, MA.
> 
> The first post in this thread is from February of this year. How can this problem not have been fixed by now?


I guess they need to replicate it. I have no problem like this with my 5 boxes spread between 3 different HD sets. 
Heck they are still probably trying to figure out the difference between mono and stereo. I'm glad I don't need to mess with the analog channels anymore since I got FIOS. After a few weeks the TiVo people still didn't know the difference between mono and stereo from the analog channels.


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## hmelman (Nov 19, 2006)

turbobozz said:


> I now have a recording that I can play through and force the no-audio-except-for-sound-effects glitch to happen.


I'm curious if fast forwarding over these recordings causes the sound to go out?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I've been leaving all my S3 and TiVOHD boxes on 24/7 this week. I usually put it in standby. The couple of times I didn't have any audio, all I had to do was switch HDMI inputs and back again and the sound was there. But this sometimes happens with any of my HDMI devices if I leave them on and turn the TV off.


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## jrm01 (Oct 17, 2003)

Several people have reported getting software update 9.1.1.5 last night. Those with the audio problem should look for it and see if this fixes the problem.


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

I just forced a connection, however the new software update did not download.


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## bevansmd (Jul 14, 2004)

I have had this loss of audio happen frequently several times a week. Most of the time it must happen while I am at work because when I go to watch tivo there is no audio. I have been watching both live TV and a recorded program where this happened while I was watching a program. Both times it went out right at the end of a local mediacom commercial. Once while watching TLC network live and the other during a recording of The 4400. After rebooting everything was fine but it is reproducible with watching the recorded show The 4400. The audio always goes out after the Mediacom commercial is gone. My audio output is optical to my stereo.


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

I spoke with a engineering liason today at Tivo. He told me that the new software, which is currently being rolled out slowly, is supposed to fix this problem as well as the pixelization issues. However they are rolling it out very slowly in order to measure the effectiveness of the fix in smaller groups (not sure the definition of smaller groups) before it goes out to the entire Tivo S3 nation. He told me to expect mine within about 2 weeks.

He also told me that it's the audio track on commercials that's causing this. He went on to say that I should temporarily change my audio track to SAP in the interim and that should eliminate losing audio.


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

Ron Tobin said:


> He also told me that it's the audio track on commercials that's causing this. He went on to say that I should temporarily change my audio track to SAP in the interim and that should eliminate losing audio.


¿Hablas Espanol?


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

bdraw said:


> ¿Hablas Espanol?


There's a Tivo setting for what language you want secondary audio track to be in. Selecting English prevents Espanol.


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## davidjschloss (Sep 25, 2007)

Just read through all the pages about this. I can confirm this posting



> Scrubs - "My Friend With The Money"
> ~17mins into the recording


Before I found this forum, I tried all the rebooting and cable issues. Last night I plugged my Tivo via HDMI into my tv directly instead of via my receiver. This AM not only did I find that the audio was gone, but my picture froze during a recording of scrubs on comedy central.

Here's what I think: the reason this happened in michagan comcast first then seemed to spread was that they were the first to improperly drop in commercials. ESPN clearly does it (I don't watch ESPN) but I do have 2 comedy central shows set to record. which leaves my tuners to Comedy Central usually overnight. (Sometimes one is on food network or food network hd.)

I think that this problem crops up as improperly added commercials and signal updates are added to local feeds.

I'll call tivo tomorrow to log this too.


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## davidjschloss (Sep 25, 2007)

Oops one more thing I forgot to mention.

My Tivo s3 goes through a sony STR upscaling receiver. When this no audio problem first cropped up, my receiver was, at the same time as I had no audio, displaying an orange LED that indicates it's in Cinema Sound Mode (or some such) which I'd never seen before. This light is NOT illuminated when the audio is working and is ALWAYS illuminated when the problem is happening.


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## bevansmd (Jul 14, 2004)

Thanks Ron for the feedback. I could use a little bit of extra help with your instructions because this problem is driving me nuts and when I called customer service 3 weeks ago they told me they were unaware of the problem. They told me about the update planned but said it would do nothing for the audio problem, just the pixelation. It sounds like you are talking to a much higher level of customer support than I was. They just recommended switching out my box.

As far as SAP, I see where to do that in settings, audio. Will this interfere with my dolby digital on stereo/hd broadcasts? I have the language default set to english. Will I notice a difference in most programs?

Thanks for your help and persistance.


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

bevansmd said:


> Thanks Ron for the feedback. I could use a little bit of extra help with your instructions because this problem is driving me nuts and when I called customer service 3 weeks ago they told me they were unaware of the problem. They told me about the update planned but said it would do nothing for the audio problem, just the pixelation. It sounds like you are talking to a much higher level of customer support than I was. They just recommended switching out my box.
> 
> As far as SAP, I see where to do that in settings, audio. Will this interfere with my dolby digital on stereo/hd broadcasts? I have the language default set to english. Will I notice a difference in most programs?
> 
> Thanks for your help and persistance.


Bevansmd:
You've got to get beyond level 1 CSRs in order to speak with anyone who understands the issues. I've been speaking to both "supervisors" and the engineering liason, who readily acknowledge both the audio and pixelization problems. They said, specifically on the audio that they are pretty certain that they know what's causing it -- an audio flag in commercials. As a temporary work around I was told to change the SAP to alternate, but leave language at English. So far, it's still passing dolby digital, and they told me that on some broadcasts it would and others it might not. Haven't really noticed any downside to this temporary work around.

I've also been told that swapping out my STB will solve nothing and again they firmly believe both of these to be software issues.

Stay tuned.


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## cella7 (May 1, 2005)

I switched my audio to SAP, but it hasn't seemed to help... Mediacom commercial still knocks out my audio. I hope that software upgrade comes soon... and works!


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

cella7 said:


> I switched my audio to SAP, but it hasn't seemed to help... Mediacom commercial still knocks out my audio. I hope that software upgrade comes soon... and works!


I suggest that you call Tivo and try very hard to get to level 2, or above, support. So far, I've had no audio dropouts by using SAP, however maybe I've just not happened upon a commercial that could knock out the audio.

Good luck.


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## Matt Healey (Sep 26, 2007)

I just found this forum. I live in Brookline Ma., use RCN, with normal audio cables and have had the same problem. I contacted Tivo about this and had a less than positive experience. I will be following up with them later this week to see if I can get to the bottom of this.


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## Hank (May 31, 2000)

Funny, I'm also in Brookline, MA with RCN, and have experienced this problem for several months now -- but increasing quite a bit in the last month or two.

An interesting twist the last time around... I was away for 5 days or so, and when I came back, both my S3 and my S2 HUMAX DRT800 (via RCN cable box) were without audio tracks.

I had to reboot both of them to restore the audio.

I figured it was a Tivo bug that would be worked out eventually... until a friend (who posted in this thread above) asked me "hey, have you been losing audio on your S3?". YES, YOU TOO??!! Then he directed me to this thread. As you can see, I'm no TCF noob -- I just never had time to search for a thread describing the problem.


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## sagres (Sep 23, 2007)

Same problem here... S3, Charter, Long Beach, CA I will follow the suggestions and contact Tivo.


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## Rich.Wolfson (Nov 27, 2004)

Hank said:


> ...
> 
> I had to reboot both of them to restore the audio...


I have been lurking this thread for a while. I have two S2s and one Pioneer 57H that have done it on and off for a long time. Each time changing the channels brings back the sound and I have never had to reboot. Usually this does not happen in the middle of a recording but it has happened during a race and as everyone else always at a point when a commercial is inserted.

Are you folks able to get sound back with a channel change and not a reboot but does a reboot bring sound back on something that was recorded when the sound dropped as it has been said in this thread that the sound is actually there?

Just gathering a bit more information before I call and let TiVo know that this is happening to me too.

Rich Wolfson
Cablevision Digital in New Jersey


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## davidjschloss (Sep 25, 2007)

I'm getting nowhere with Tivo, can't get above Tier 1. If someone who is having more success can pass this to engineering.

Lost audio today and couldn't reboot because it was recording two shows. Decided to poke around Tivo in the meantime. 

We've got a few shows from Amazon Unbox on the S3, and so I was playing one of them. I fast forwarded a bit and then hit play and I got a fraction of a second of audio. Like just enough to hear a syllable of a person talking. 

Rewind, same thing happens. Fast forward and rewind, and it works every few stops.

So, whatever's cutting out the audio is overriding something that wants to play it. (This is my assumption based on the fact that it plays a second of that audio from Unbox.) In this case it's as if it's sending output and then says "oh wait, not supposed to do that.

Incidentally, I switched Tivo to do SAP based on the above, and got it right at the end of recording two shows that run until 10p and then switching channels to two others that record at 10. One of the two (It's always sunny in philadelphia) failed to start recording. The recording history list indicated that it failed because of "an internal error". Perhaps it couldn't switch to SAP fast enough? Or has anyone else seen these internal errors before?


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## rtinker (Oct 24, 2005)

I guess we are expecting too much from TiVO to hope that they will address this issue. According to the TiVO Service Agreement, we just have to put up with this - the service agreement doesn't even say that your TiVO has to work!

19. Warranty Disclaimer. YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE TIVO SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. TIVO MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE TIVO SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, ALLOW YOU TO RECORD, VIEW OR TRANSFER ANY PARTICULAR PROGRAMMING, OR THAT USE OF THE TIVO SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE; NOR DOES TIVO MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE TIVO SERVICE (INCLUDING THIRD PARTY CONTENT), THAT ANY DEFECTS IN THE TIVO SERVICE WILL BE CORRECTED OR THAT THE TIVO DVR OR TIVO SERVICE WILL BE COMPATIBLE WITH ANY OTHER SPECIFIC HARDWARE OR SERVICE. FURTHER, TIVO DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE TIVO SERVICE OR THE TIVO SERVERS THAT PROVIDE YOU WITH DATA AND CONTENT ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. YOU (AND NOT TIVO) ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY MAINTENANCE, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. TIVO ALSO ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY, AND WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES TO, OR VIRUSES THAT MAY INFECT YOUR TIVO DVR, TIVO SOFTWARE, OR OTHER HARDWARE. TIVO AND ITS SUPPLIERS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, REGARDING THE TIVO SERVICE OR TIVO SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON- INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS. Because some jurisdictions do not permit the exclusion of implied warranties, the last sentence of this section may not apply to you.


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

bdraw said:


> It's not simply locally inserted commercials, it's a specific locally inserted commercial.
> 
> Every time I've witnessed the problem it's been a Beef O' Brady's commercial, so today I finally recorded it, and sure enough every time I play it back as soon as the girl says "See you at Beef's" just before the end of the spot, the audio goes out till I reboot.
> 
> I'm going to call TiVo tomorrow, as well as FIOS. Then when I get done with them, I'll contact Beef's and let them know I won't be eating any of their wings till it's resolved. For now I'll just avoid this commercial, which should be too difficult since I have 30 seconds after it comes on to catch it.


I received the software update a few days ago, and have been carefully watching for any reoccurence of problems noted with the v8 software. Last night, while watching the NL Tiebreaker baseball game on TBS, there was the above referenced Beef O'Brady's commerical which is locally inserted. What I noticed was that the audio would pop in and out, and I was watching my processor also not getting a lock on the audio track. But I never lost the audio totally and it did not require a reboot. Once the commercial ended, all went back to normal.

It's appearing that the v9 software has definitely made some progress toward dealing with a bad audio track issues. I'm certainly alot happier that no reboot was required. And that was the only commercial that seemed to cause any audio issues.

Progress seems to have been made.


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

Wow, that fantastic. Neither of my TiVos have received the update yet.


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## TiVoJerry (Jul 26, 2005)

Feel free to sign up for the priority list and let us know how it goes.


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## sagres (Sep 23, 2007)

Thanks for the link TiVoJerry. I wish Tivo phone support had mentioned this link once during the many conversations I've had with them about this problem!


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

Got the update today and played the clip I saved that always made my audio go out with the previous version. The audio drops out for a second now then comes back. 

So the update was able to resolve the problem by not flipping out from the messed up clip.


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## Ron Tobin (May 13, 2004)

bdraw said:


> Got the update today and played the clip I saved that always made my audio go out with the previous version. The audio drops out for a second now then comes back.
> 
> So the update was able to resolve the problem by not flipping out from the messed up clip.


Ben:

Is your saved clip the one with the Beef O'Brady's commerical that I described above?


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## bdraw (Aug 1, 2004)

Yes, that's the one.


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## TiVoJerry (Jul 26, 2005)

sagres said:


> Thanks for the link TiVoJerry. I wish Tivo phone support had mentioned this link once during the many conversations I've had with them about this problem!


The priority list was not available until late Monday, 10/1.


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## erikg (Aug 20, 2007)

I am jinxing myself. Two S3' units with 9.1 and no audio problems in a week. Although I had this random video drop out while I was watching a recorded Family Guy episode. The screen went to static and no amount of button pressing worked. The other tivo which was on had no problems during this time. When the tivo came back it was still playing the episode and I could rewind through it with no recurrence or problems. How odd.


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## Teledatageek (Jun 26, 2004)

My dad's HD all of a sudden lost its audio on Sunday. Time Warner came out yesterday, tried a new Multistream card with the same results. Without the card installed, sound works. 

They spent hours on it but in the end think the Tivo HD has the problem, I tend to agree at this point. Software version is 8.1. I signed him up for the priority update to 9.X in the hopes that resolves, but maybe the box is a lemon.

We're within a few days of the 30 day return window at BestBuy...

Should we just return it and call it a day? Oh, another weird thing that is going on with it, is that it takes a few tries to get the wireless adapter to realize a password is not on the wireless network, that happens with every reboot.

Comments would be appreciated!


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## BillL (Oct 6, 2004)

My audio has always worked fine for the year that I've had my S3. I got the 9.1 update last week, which fixed my pixelation by the way, and now my recorded analog programs contain no audio. This is frustrating!

Live TV I still have audio for the analog stations.


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## sagres (Sep 23, 2007)

Quick update: Version 9.1 installed 10/6 and the audio problem seems to be resolved. Happy days are here again.


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## turbobozz (Sep 21, 2006)

I just got the 9.1 update and ran through my recorded Scrubs audio glitch.
It still drops audio, BUT doing almost anything (like skip back, skip forward, change program, etc.) now restores audio.

Good news.


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