Tivo box fault

[MartyDowling]

I have had the Tivo box for a number of years now and it is starting to develop problems.

1 using catch up and the programme will stop playing, a message spears saying there is a temporary fault but the fault reoccurs at random times.

2 using Netflix or YouTube,  the programing will drop out, a message comes saying Internet connection lost. The programmes normally play for approximately 60 minutes before this happens. 

The problem with Netflix and youtube does not happen when watching via their apps. 

The box is ventilated and all cables secure. The box has been rebooted several times. Memory capacity at 68%

The problem has been reported by phone without any solution.

[japitts]

The TiVo is an old box running old hardware, there's no getting around that. If you're using streaming apps or OnDemand a lot, and you have VM broadband, you'd get a much better experience from having a V6. However, all that said...

All the issues you've mentioned are symptomatic of a TiVo with internet issues. This box has its internet connection inbuilt and doesn't use your home broadband. Quite often issues with streaming & VoD are caused by the 'net connection failing.

On the front-left of your TiVo are a series of green lights. Second from left has a painted heart symbol next to it, and represents the online status. If ever this flashes, it means the onboard cablemodem is failing, which will cause precisely the issues you describe.

Is yours flashing? Once you can confirm that (and therefore whether this is your issue) we can advise the best way forward.

[MartyDowling]

Hi sorry for the delay in answering I just wasn't expecting your helpful reply to be so prompt.

The green light with the 💚 symbol is normally steady but flashes when I go on to Netflix etc. 

I forgot to mention that I get some pixelation on a few of the channels including occasionally on BBC.

Our TV is a three month old Sharp smart TV.

Again many thanks for your prompt answer.

[japitts · Accepted solution]

If the green light is flashing, then your TiVo's net connection is failing - which will affect all online services. That includes OnDemand, streaming, TV Guide updates, the lot. It's a fault which is best reported.

Although your live TV channels pixellating is a separate problem, it's indicative of signal issues on either your incoming cable feed or your box. Reboot the box once, if issues persist - there's something awry which will need VM to rectify. Either by an engineer visit or replacing the box.

Either wait on here for VM staff to respond (may take a day or so), or call into faults to report your issue (150 from a VM phone, or 0345 4541111 from any other phone). If you choose the latter option, I would recommend being specific and mentioning "my online heartbeat light is flashing".

[MartyDowling · Accepted solution]

Thank you very much Japitts for the help that you have provided.  I will give it a couple of days to see if anyone from VM responds, it would probable take the same length of time waiting for a response if I called them direct. 🤔

Again many thanks for your time.

Marty

[Akua_A]

Hi @MartyDowling,

Welcome to our community forums and thank you for your first posts.

Sorry to hear about your TiVo box issues. We are glad to see @japitts gave great advice in regards to this.

Were you able to reboot your box as advised? Have the issues persisted since posting?

Please get back to us when you can.

Thanks,

[MartyDowling]

hi

Yes I rebooted the tivo box as suggested,  I have also checked that the cables going in to the rear of the box are secure. This procedure has been carried out several times as I have reached out to your technical team by phone. On each occasion they say that they have tested the equipment remotely and there is nothing wrong and yet the problem persists.

It would appear that this is an intermittent fault as we can watch catch up and Netflix for maybe an hour or more but then suddenly the programme will drop out and a message box comes up stating that the Internet connection has been lost.

Another problem with catch up and recorded shows is that a message will pop up to say that there is nothing to show in folder, and yet when we selected the folder all programmes where there. Reboot and hey presto there they all are and we can continue watching.

Hope this helps

Marty Dowling

[japitts]

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@MartyDowling wrote:

It would appear that this is an intermittent fault as we can watch catch up and Netflix for maybe an hour or more but then suddenly the programme will drop out and a message box comes up stating that the Internet connection has been lost.

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Is the heartbeat (online indicator) light flashing when this happens? That's the TiVo's indicator of the internet connection.

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@MartyDowling wrote:

Another problem with catch up and recorded shows is that a message will pop up to say that there is nothing to show in folder, and yet when we selected the folder all programmes where there. Reboot and hey presto there they all are and we can continue watching.

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From the sounds of it, you have bookmarks in your "my shows" view which are shortcuts to OnDemand programmes. Can you take a picture of this popup message, and post it on here? It's not something, off-hand, that sounds familiar. Unless you've perhaps got a mixture of OnDemand & recorded programmes in a particular folder.

[MartyDowling]

Hi thank you for the prompt reply.

In answer to question one. The heartbeat light is steady until connection is lost and then flashes.

In answer to question two. This has only recently started to happen and has only happened twice in the last 6 or so weeks, if it reoccurs I will take a photo of it and forward it to you.

Hope this helps

Marty

[japitts · Accepted solution]

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@MartyDowling wrote:

In answer to question one. The heartbeat light is steady until connection is lost and then flashes.

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Your box has a fault - either wait for the staff to respond on here, or call in and be specific that your online light is flashing.